monsteralice

Wet: A bouquet of roses plus some other sweet flower - might be honeysuckle.

Dry: Essence of rose - smells like what "attar of rose" makes me think of. This is a cheerful rose, not an Edgar Allan Poe flower.

Finish: No change from dry.

Duration/throw: Still wafting at 10 hours. Had to wash it off the next morning so I could try something different.

All of the rose scents I have tried have lasted a long time on me - I think rose has a reputation for lasting, but there may be some body chemistry issue here too.

I think this would be very effective as a tool for magical work. I'll be keeping it.

I really wanted to love this, since it is the signature scent of BPAL. Alas, it was not to be

Wet: Woody, almond and anise

Finish: Powdery and a bit spicy

In between? Nice, but didn't evoke an emotional response.

I'm swapping this one. It deserves someone who will love it, not just give it the polite nod and move on to something louder.

Wet: Mostly mint.

Dry: Lotus with a little mint - I never got the juniper.

Finish: Lotus

Duration/throw: I got some wafting at the 6 hour point, after scampering a block or two.

Conclusion: It is okay, but not really me. Someone else will love it, I'm sure. Swap.

Wet: Thin Mints. A very fresh scent, a little cold and breezy.

Dry: Slightly sweetened mint tea.

Finish: A faint breath of cool air.

Duration/throw: I used more from the bottle than I would have from an imp, which must have affected the duration and throw because it was still wafting at 7.5 hours. This is the longest I have gotten waftage after application.

I love this scent. It works great in chilly weather, which matches the effect, but it should be grand on hot days when you need a cooldown.

Wet: Jasmine

Dry: A floral blend plus incense.

Finish: Flowery, with a sweet incense-y feel.

I like it. It's much warmer than I associate with Morgause from the Morte D'Arthur, with that semi-tropical jasmine, but there is a reason I'm not the perfumer...

Duration/throw: Had a good throw for the first 3 hours. Still strong on the wrist after 9 hours.

Wet: Crushed leaves and cedar. It's reminiscent of an herb garden or an apothecary's store.

Dry: A pleasant green and cedary smell, like a walk through sunlit woods.

Finish: A cedar closet filled with richly perfumed costumes of silk and velvet.

I like this a lot - it goes on the bottle list.

ON me, pure sugar cookie, very innocent smelling. But oh what a difference body chemistry makes - on the Tall Guy it was completly sexy.

Wet: Peaches and musk.

Dry: The peach fades a little bit and the amber comes out.

Finish: Amber predominates, but a little peach is still there. The musk blends nicely with the amber for a warm and friendly scent. I'm not sure I could ever pick the myrtle out of the blend.

Duration: Still there at the 5 hour mark and still sniffable when I went to bed that night.

All-in-all, Aglaea is a nice warm garden-party sort of scent. Regrettably, it's just not me, so off to the swap box it goes.

Wet - menthol and resin

Dry - wintergreen plus cedar or sandalwood

Finish - It's a very dry scent. Mostly sandalwood, I think, with something sweet and a little spicy.

Duration/throw - It stays close to the wrist, even at the start. Every once in a while I get a whiff of something like pencils or resin incense. After the initial fade there hasn't been much change in four hours.

It's a keeper, but I don't know if I'll put it on my big bottle list.

Wet: Rose and lemon with a little sweet fruit.

Dry: A very fresh scent - the idea of Venice, lush in the sunlight, with canals that don't stink and no mold problem. A little gem, like the Fenice theater.

Finish: Sandalwood and something flowery, but not straight rose.

Duration/Throw: Still good at 4 hours, present at the wrist after 8.

This is definitely a keeper for me.

Wet: Mixed fruits, with the rose rising rapidly.

Dry: Nutty, almost like marzipan. A little fruit and floral underneath.

Finish: Edible rose and musk.

Duration: This one lasted a long time for me. At 6 hours I was still getting occasional wafts, and at 9 hours it is still strong at my wrists.

This one is a keeper for me; I don't know if I'll get a bottle, but I will happily use up the imp.

Family get together - Verdandi - the crisp apple worked really well with the occasion and the food.

Xmas - We drove home Xmas day, so it was kind of depressing. Kumiho was nice and bright (for as long as it lasted).

New Year's Eve - probably Parlement of Foules, which is strong enough to be noticed.

Wet: Leather, apple, a little wine.

Dry: Less leather, something sweet coming out, maybe the dragon's blood? Spicy and woody, the blend is so nice it's hard to pick out individual notes.

Finish: Soft and spiced.

Duration: Some wafting at 2 hours. Gradually fades until at the 4 hour mark I have to have my nose to my wrist to smell it.

I want to test this one on the Tall Guy. I like it, but it's not an attention grabber on me, and I think it might be on him.

Could I ask everyone's opinion of the best/easiest to use tracking system? Say, if you had it to do over again?

 

I haven't chosen one yet, but I'm at the point where I need to, as I'm already forgetting which oils I've tried and I end up testing them again. So I can definitely see the value of a tool like this & I'd love some input from people who have used them.

I'm a luddite, so I use notebooks. I print out review sheets for the scents I get, and paste one on each page. Then in the front of the notebook I put a list of what the notebook contains. I write review notes on the pages and check them off when I've posted the review to the forum.

The notebooks I use fit in my purse, so I can take them to work to take notes on how the scent evolves over the day.

I'm in love with this scent! If only it lasted...

Wet: Strong ginger, with an edge of lemon.

Dry: Lemon tea.

Finish: Lemon tea. Then it fades <sobs>.

Duration: Faded very fast in a room with electric forced-air heat. It might last longer in muggier circumstances.

I love the scent, but I won't be getting a bottle because the duration is so short. I'll use up my imp and be happy doing so.

This one was a disappointment, because it had no staying power on me. It was completely gone in 2 hours.

Wet: Cinnamon and cardamom. No fruit, oddly enough.

Dry: The patchouli came up, but little fruit.

Finish: Slightly fruity, with strong cardamom.

Throw/Duration: No throw and the scent disappeared quickly.

Off to the swaps wit' ye!

The Apothecary is pleasant enough, but it's not one of the "OOOOH, I love this" scents. It will probably end up in the swap pile.

Wet: Very green, with a slightly sweet edge. Not perfume-y.

Dry: It dried very fast. The grass note is strong and it smells very clean and a little dry. Reminds me of an herbalist's cottage, with bunches of dried herbs hanging from exposed beams and maybe a stuffed crocodile.

Finish: The fragrance is very light. The scent clings to the skin. I was going to say that there is almost no throw, but I do get a waft if I move my arm precipitately. Sweet without being flowery.

Duration: Good for at least 4 hours.

Also tried it on The Tall Guy; I liked it better on him than on me.

Wet: Strong sandalwood with a touch of rose and incense.

Dry: Rose got stronger as it dried. Resins came up once it dried. There was something a little bitter just at the edge - maybe that was the moss?

Finish: Nicely blended scent. Smells the way I imagine the sweet paste used to anoint mummies must have smelled.

Duration/Throw: Medium throw. Spicy scent was still present after 8 hours.

A keeper, but not the top of the list for a bottle.

Wet: Definitely smoky, with wine note prominent. A green incense smell in the background.

Dry: Smoke gone, wine no longer prominent. Incense dominates.

Finish: Stays the same as when dry, but a rounder scent. Notes blend somewhat, but can still be picked out.

Duration: Stayed strong for about 4 hours, then gradually faded over the next four hours. Throw low to medium.

Wet: A wake-up scent, strongly lavender.

Dry: Sandalwood and something sweet come out. Lavender is still there in the back. A bit of incense, no discernable tobacco.

Finish: Lavender and sandalwood retreat, leaving the resin and incense.

Duration/Throw: Medium throw after it dried. Lasts a couple of hours, then needs reapplication. By 7 hours only the resins were left.

This is a keeper for me, not surprising since I like all but one of the listed notes. I like the eye-opening lavender start.

This is lovely. If it was still available I'd be placing an order for a bottle right now. Alas, I'm nearly a year too late to BPAL for this puppy, so I'll just enjoy my imp until it is gone. I think this may be my perfect rose...sob...

Wet: Strong rose with a spicy background. Can pick out the resins as an incense note.

Dry: The scents blend and the rose pulls back a bit. The effect is a spicy, incense-y rose, but it seems natural, like one of the roses bred for scent.

Finish: Rosy spice.

Throw/Duration: Good throw, about a foot away from my body at the 2-hour mark. Still strong after 8 hours.

Wet: Sweet and flowery, with a hint of something sharper, but unidentifiable.

Dry: Strawberry backed up with flowers. A very nice scent.

Finish: Stayed the same for hours. By the 9-hour mark most of the strawberry was gone, but the flowers were still there.

Duration/Throw: Good throw, still getting occasional wafts 3 hours after application. It was strong a few inches from the wrist at the 3-hour mark, faded gradually during the 6 to 9-hour period.

I like Maenad more than I expected from the description (but it didn't make me feel like I should run wild ripping men's heads off.) It's in the running for the big bottle purchase.

Wet: Rum, strongly so, then toasted almond with clove. The individual notes come sliding in like train cars to the platform. Not sure what sassafras smells like, so I can't pick it out.

Dry: The scents blend nicely, with almond to the fore. The clove makes it pleasantly spicy. Rum moves to the background and stays there.

Finish: The almond blends in, for a round spicy scent.

Duration: Lasts for a few hours, then retreats to nose-to-wrist level. Completely gone by 8 hours.

I did not expect to like this one, because I'm not fond of the rum scent other than in a glass. However, the rum blended in well enough to make for a very pleasant perfume. I'll definitely use the imp, if not get a 5 mL.

A very evocative scent: as soon as I opened the imp I remembered what it felt like to be 5, sitting under a backyard tree and playing with flower-scented dolls. Thus the power of scent...

Wet: Fruity, then a slightly plastic rose. Very strong, almost made me sneeze. The fruitiness must be the wine note?

Dry: The plastic tone disappeared entirely, leaving a very sweet and slightly fruity rose. Much girlier and less aggressive than Whip.

Finish: The wine note made itself known at about the 3-hour mark, as the sweetness receded. Drinking red wine in a rose garden.

Duration: Lingers nicely. I'm still getting whiffs at the 8-hour mark.

Very pleasant scent, but it's not me the adult and I don't want to wear a scent I associate with being 5. Off to the swap box it goes.

Wet: Very piney with an earthy note. Definitely a cold feeling, even though I usually associate pines with warm weather. The earthy note is almost like oak leaves, with that sort of astringency.

Dry: Pine blended with something warm and sweet. I can't pick out individual scents but the effect is slightly spicy. The throw is good - I don't need to have my nose against my wrist to smell it.

Duration: It didn't last as long as some other BPAL scents. A reapplication at about the 6-hour mark would have been nice, but I didn't bring the imp to work.

This is really nice, even with a (relatively) short duration. Definitely a keeper.