petrichorandleather

I'm not going to lie, this smells horrid in the bottle and I really didn't want to skin test it...

but I did and I'm glad!

In imp: Straight up bug spray, that's all I'm getting.

On skin: Lemony sweetness pushes through that bug spray scent and melds with it to create

something interesting and not altogether unpleasant.

It reminds me of an old fashioned perfume, very familiar from childhood, not for me but oddly

sentimental, I keep sniffing my wrist and just don't know what to make of it!

Dry down: A warm lemony-ness just stretches it's arms out languidly and envelops my wrist,

the more it melds with my skin chemistry the more I think I actually like it. At dry down I could

actually wear this occasionally.

Verdict: Vintage perfume, bug spray and lemonheads.

EDIT: Ok, so now it's rose with a hint of lemon. What a morpher, but so fun! I still like it.

If Azathoth oil had a personality it would be dark and broody, sitting alone in a dank cave next to a bonfire.

This is dominantly vetiver, I don't really get anything else apart from what smells like woodsmoke.

It's pungent and smells 'dirty'. I think I get a bit of pepper as well. I'm just not a fan, it's a very interesting

one to sniff though!

An authentic martini with a twist of...grapefruit? Lime? Something pungent and a little bitter.

The overall effect is very zingy, almost makes you want to pucker your lips.

It's not for me, off to swaps!

In the bottle and on the skin I'm getting black tea and....mint?

As it dries the black pepper is deepening it, if I breathe deeply

I feel like I might sneeze...the black pepper is REALLY authentic!

Black tea, mint and black pepper. It's not offensive but not for me.

Hello everyone! So I'm relatively new to BPAL...I have about 20 imps and 3 full sized bottles of oils.

A trend I've noticed when I'm trying bpal is that scents with a bouquet of notes turn very bad on me,

the individual notes are mostly unintelligible and become very overpowering, usually resembling old

fashioned strong perfume on my skin. However, bpals that have worked for me include Spanish Moss SN,

French Tobacco SN, Shanghai, 51, Blueberry Picking and Peach I (2013).

Now, I don't know if this is because my nose is untrained or just that I like simple, uncomplicated scents,

but I'm hoping that based on the above preferences that you lovely bpalistas can guide me in the direction

of winners! TIA!

Wow, I'm in ecstatic love with Ectoplasm!

in the imp: bright, bright lemongrass softened by davana. Gorgeous.

on the skin: If it is possible, this has gotten even brighter and borders on lemon pledge,

but not to worry, it melts into the skin and warms immediately. The white amber sort of glows.

This feels like the perfect perfume to wear on a windy summer day kite-flying. Sounds silly

but it really does! I need a bottle.

In the imp: Potent french lavender, seriously beautiful and pure.

Wet on skin: french lavender and ink black resin, wow.

I can almost smell licorice if I breathe very deeply. This has serious throw!

Dry down: I was expecting the orange blossom and tea notes to

present themselves but they never did. All I get is a very strong lavender

fighting with a very strong, prominently inky resin. Ink screams on my chemistry

apparently. I'm torn on whether to keep my imp or not. It needs dilution!

in the bottle: IRIS! Wow, hitting me right in the nose again and again. It's overpowering every other note.

wet on the skin: Iris with neroli bravely trying to fight for its place. Neroli is losing and still all I get is IRIS,

very harsh.

dry down: And just like that, the iris recedes and violet sashays to the front, dancing with quiet neroli.

The iris never leaves though, she just broods in the back.

final thoughts: Though it's nice I am extremely particular about florals and this one just doesn't do it for me.

It's a tart floral with a powdery finish that I'm not fond of. Off to swaps.

This is horrid on my skin. I don't get any of the pinkness or vanilla, nothing.

I get an assaulting noseful of old fashioned, harsh perfume and I am not

capable of picking out any individual notes in the imp or on my skin.

I am always stunned by bpals that go so incredibly wrong on me, especially

with the stellar reviews posted above.

Off to swaps. </3

2014 version

imp: mexican hot chocolate

wet: full on hot cocoa mix with cinnamon before being mixed with milk. I get no creaminess at all

and briefly encounter that unpleasant plywood smell, though it flees as quickly as it came,

thank goodness.

dry: milk chocolate bar sprinkled with cinnamon.

It's alright and I'll use my imp, but I am by far more enchanted by Gelt.

I got a sniffy of this in a decant circle order and I'm surprised by how much I love it.

It has a very pungent, tangy smell mixed with a rosy-geranium scent as posted above.

I swear I'm almost smelling a tiny hint of dill in this too, but maybe it's just my nose. o.O

It's a keeper, I want a full decant, at least.

Edited to add: I also have to agree about it being very reminiscent of a soap drawer long

since abandoned. My great grandmother's bathroom with paper lined drawers and fineries

covered in a fine layer of dust. It is very evocative for me and is probably why I love it very much.

I don't know what to think of Wanda. I made the mistake of applying -not very much at all- too much and it is kicking me in the nose!

With my particular chemistry it smells like grape with a hint of sickly artificial watermelon and a pungent undertone of....red musk??

It's an altogether funky scent on me, WAY overpowering. Yikes. o.O

This came as part of my first order, and is my first review as well.

Origin: Straight from the lab.

In the bottle: You can be holding this 3 feet away and as soon as you open the bottle

fresh ripe crushed blueberry assaults your senses in the most pleasant of ways.

Wet: Blueberry quickly (too quickly for my liking) morphing almost bubble-gummy (the real sugar kind) then stepping back for honeysuckle

and lemon verbena to have their moment.

Dry: Honeysuckle-bubble gum-verbena with a tiny undercurrent of blueberry running through.

This dries down and wears to be very close to the skin. It softens on me into a delicious honeysuckle bubblegummy suede on me.

Crazy but I'm mad about it. Will be purchasing another bottle asap.

Edit: I am so curious about how this will age. I've heard that scents can be "quiet" straight from the lab. Looking

forward to its metamorphosis!