DiesMali

In the imp: Sweet rose and pear juice. Wet on my skin: Mostly pear, with lily and rose. Dry: This started out very nice on me, full of sweet pear juice and flowers. It smelled like the pear I had for breakfast this morning, actually. Then...SOAP. Lily and rose usually work fairly well on me, but apparently not in this particular blend. It's very nice soap, but still too soapy to be perfume. However, as I love the legend and notes in this, I'm willing to let it sit for a while and see if it remains soap. Or maybe try it during mid-month, when I'm not about to start shark week (which makes my skin do interesting things with rose).

In the imp: Mmmm, sassafras and cedar. Wet on my skin: MMmm, sassafras and cedar with vanilla! Dry: I knew I'd like this, and I am not disappointed! This is a perfect balance of vanilla, cedar, and sassafras on my skin, with the balsam spicing it up enough to make it a sexy, head-turning cologne. I'm finding that I really like the Lab's sassafras and vanilla on me, and this blend is just heavenly delicious. It's a bit reminiscent of how Old Scratch smelled on me the other day, but maybe even better!

In the imp: Dry, bitter. Wet on my skin: Still dry and bitter, dusty, and musky. Odd, and somewhat unpleasant. Dry: I think I'm going to need to let this one age for a while, because it's just not working on my skin today. I usually do great things with amber, musks, and orchid, but not right now. It's almost all light, dry musk and dust, with something bitter-green that I think might be the hemlock. Will re-edit in a month or so if it improves!

In the imp: Cherry cough syrup. Wet on my skin: Cherry cough syrup. Dry: Gooooooorgeous. While this retains a spicy, almost medicinal note from the anise, it's no longer cough syrup. It's sweet, sexy, and sharp enough to mean business before pleasure. It's a RED scent. Juicy and a little dangerous. But! This isn't a heavy scent, despite the sometimes-heavy notes in it. It's cherry blossom light, wafting gently in the air. This might be another bottle scent (in case I don't have enough already).

In the bottle: Vague spices. Wet on my skin: Very faint, a little bit of musk and a little bit of spice. I can smell the saffron. Dry: While this is faint when wet, it strengthens as it dries. This is a warm, dusty, brown scent with dusty saffron and myrrh swirling through slightly-sweet musks. There is a hint of that sun-baked leather, but mostly, this is saffron, myrrh, and musks. It's lighter than some of the other blends I have with these particular notes, and more warm and dusty than seductive. I like!

In the bottle: Somewhat unpleasant, very medicinal and "dirty." Wet on my skin: The anise comes out right away, smelling like old-fashioned black licorice. Not the plastic-packaged mass-produced stuff, but the real kind you find in glass jars in dedicated candy shops. Dry: This remains primarily anise on me, inky and black, with an undercurrent of wet, thick spices and something earthy. It's a pungent mixture, but not a bad one in terms of scent. The feel of it, though, is disconcerting. It's actually the first BPAL scent that has been black in colour, inside my mind. Thick, viscous, inky black. Strange. I love it!!!

In the bottle: Dusty, minty vanilla. Wet on my skin: Much the same as in the bottle. Dry: Dusty, lightly-spiced woody vanilla and mint. It's a lot prettier than the name would suggest, and it's sort of a warm, foody scent. Interestingly, it is making me a little hungry, which is amusing in the context of this scent being evocative of a ravenous plague of locusts. This is the first of the Plagues series I've tried, and if the rest of them are this nice, I will be quite pleased.

In the imp: Wood! Wet on my skin: Living wood, slightly sweet fig, and something that my nose swears is cocoa. Dry: That cocoa note doesn't really fade, but it adds this really lovely, warm, fuzzy sort of feel to the scent. The rest of this is warm wood, fresh green fig leaves, and dry, faintly sweet figs. With cocoa. This is actually really nice, and it will make a good autumn/winter scent since it's so warm and comforting.

In the imp: Dirt and moss, I think? Flowers. Wet on my skin: Same as in the imp. Dry: It took a little while for this to bloom on my skin, but bloom it did. It's a gorgeous, spicy, earthy scent with magnolia flowers wafting through the air. The moss, dirt, and magnolia are predominant on my skin, and the booze doesn't really smell boozy, but instead spices up the top three notes. I was really not sure about this when I put it on, but it's really quite nice now! It's different enough from the other two "death" scents that I like (Sheol and The Grave-Pig) that I don't mind having this imp floating about at all.

In the imp: Green! Fruit! Wet on my skin: This starts out a little bit shampoo-like due to the berries and violet, but doesn't quite make it to soap territory once it begins to dry. Dry: This is a bright, green-gold, berry-touched forest scent. I can distinctly pick up the aspen leaves (living in the Colorado Rockies gets one used to that scent!), violet, honey, and lily. It's pretty but not yet stand-out. Thankfully, this is the one of BPAL's honey notes that doesn't go rancid on me. After it's been on a while, I start to get some light musk and a fainty woodsy-ness from the moss. I suspect this will smell great when paired with my imp of Paladin. I didn't order this, but I'm glad they included it so I can do that RPG layering thing.

In the imp: A dark, earthy, wet scent. Wet on my skin: This is very green, very dark, and slightly salty. A bit odd. Dry: This is mostly vetiver and what smells like bramble or ivy greens. Maybe grass. And maybe dragon's blood? It's sweet-salty, earthy, and deep green. Not a happy scent, and I'm not sure it is something I will wear again, though it was nice to try it once.

In the imp: Warm cocoa. Wet on my skin: This specifically smells like a specialty hot chocolate I used to make at a cafe where I worked. Ghirardelli cocoa, vanilla syrup, and hazelnut syrup. Dry: I love this. It's so warm and fuzzy and sweet and it smells delicious! The cocoa and vanilla mingle perfectly, with a bit of a spicy/incensed note to the mix. It's a comforting sort of scent, and I'm so glad to have this imp.

In the imp: This smells nasty. Wet on my skin: Cantaloupe and a very unappealing mix of other...stuff. Dry: The cantaloupe is the only pleasant note in this, at least on my skin. A few of them work on me in other blends, but definitely not in this one. This is a very musty and unpleasant scent on me, and I think the honey note in this is the one that's smelled rancid on me in a couple other blends. Urgh. I'm debating on whether I should wash this off or wait another hour or two to see if it changes. Leaning toward the former, since it's already been on a while and hasn't improved at all.

In the imp: Aquatic cologne. Wet on my skin: This is a salty, ozone-laden aquatic and not much else at this stage. Dry: Salty ocean and a teensy bit of rum for an hour or so. After it's been on an hour, a hint of damp leather and something dusty (wood?) starts to appear, but mostly this is a fresh aquatic scent. It's quite nice, and thankfully doesn't have grapefruit/orange in it like many aquatic scents do. Not something I'll wear often, but this will definitely be replacing Kumari Kandam as my go-to for when I need salty seawater.

In the imp: Smells exactly like the lilacs blooming in my backyard right now. Wet on my skin: Fresh, newly-bloomed lilac, green cedar needles and bark, and a bit of musk. Dry: That same fresh lilac, fresh cedar, with musk and a hint of the wisteria. It's very green and lilac and beautiful, and there's a slightly sharp edge from the lemon and tea. Those last two notes don't stand out by themselves, but serve to freshen and "green" the rest of the blend. I love lilacs (and realistic-smelling lilac scents), and this is definitely one. Pretty!

In the imp: Sandalwood. Wet on my skin: Spicy sandalwood and lush rose. Dry: This blend has dried into a beautiful, soft, spicy sandalwood-rose. It's perfectly balanced and oh so lovely. If I stick my nose right up to my wrist, I can smell earthy patchouli, but the throw of this is entirely the wood and rose. Gorgeous!

In the bottle: OH MY GOD Wet on my skin: OH MY GOD Dry: OH MY GOD. Okay, this has instantly become one of my favourite BPAL scents. I knew I'd at least like it based on the notes, but oh my god it's so gooood. This a gorgeously sexy amber, musk, almond, and vanilla scent on me, with this seductively gorgeous spicy edge to it from the lavender and Snake Oil spices. And THEN it's got this dark, earthy sort of base to it beneath the golden sweet-spicy notes. This bottle is going to get a LOT of use, oh yes.

In the imp: Dark florals with a little incense. Wet on my skin: This is nighttime flowers with a little incense and earth. Dry: Doesn't really change from wet, except the flowers strengthen just a tad. Definitely jasmine, maybe lily of some sort, moss, and wet earth. It's actually a bit similar to Sheol, but not as strong and with fewer types of flowers. It's pretty, but unremarkable. Will try it again in a few months and see what it does.

In the imp: Pleasant florals. Wet and dry: I'll just condense this by saying that I did not expect this to work on me when I read that it has mandarin in it. Orange and grapefruit makes me smell like dirty orange-scented Costco cleaning wipes, after I've cleaned the whole bathroom with them. Not even the rose, musk, and jasmine could save this from turning into cleaning wipes on me. I think I'll just go wash this off...

Blind tested the initial application, a frimp I would likely not have ordered myself since I'm not a fan of peach scents and I'm afraid of any citrus note that isn't lemon or lime (you would be too, if you'd smelled Baobhan Sith, Akuma, and various other orange/grapefruit blends on me). In the imp: Fresh, light fruit and flowers. Wet on my skin: ...That's peach, but it smells like real peach. Of COURSE it does, the Lab wouldn't use the gross artificial peach that makes its way into various generic body sprays. Oh! FLOWERS! Pretty flowers. Dry: I wouldn't have ordered this for myself, but I'm grateful they tossed this in to my order. It's gorgeous. Peach, white musk, flowers, and just a tinge of citrusy oakmoss. I would never have expected this combination to work on my skin, but apparently the Lab knew something I did not. It's a golden scent with tinges of pink around the edges. Why is this so pretty on me? I'm mystified, and pleased!

In the imp: Sweet incense and vanilla. Wet on my skin: Same as in the imp. Dry: I ordered this because one of my main WoW characters is a Priest-Paladin hybrid, and I am not disappointed. This is a beautiful, almost churchlike incense sweetened by vanilla and tempered by just a hint of soft leather and white musk. I do not get any metal from this, but that's okay. The rest of it is very pretty, and I can't WAIT to see what it smells like layered with Elf (my Priestadin is an Elf, of course).

In the imp: Burnt, deep spices and something I can't place. Wet on my skin: The Hopi people have a staple dish called Piki bread, made from blue corn flour and juniper berry ash. During this stage, this smells very, very much like freshly-baked Piki bread. I have no why, since there's no juniper or corn in it, but that's how my nose is reading it. Dry: ...and no more Piki bread. This is now a gorgeous, smoky clove, pepper, and dark musk scent. The wet stage was enough to make me like it, and it's even better dry. There's just a hint of sweetness from the tonka, and I'm not detecting the neroli. It's strong and dark, deep brown in colour. This is not something for someone who prefers sweet scents, but for those of us who like smoke, musk, and somewhat bitter scents, this is definitely something to try at least once.

In the imp: Something sharp and medicinal. Wet on my skin: This is very sharp and medicinal, and it reminds me a little of...something. Something with menthol or camphor in it. Tiger Balm, maybe? Dry: This is a very, very unusual scent. On my skin, it doesn't want to show me any wood or burnt grass. No, this is ozone, freezing metal, freezing rain on damp stone, and something sweet-salty that I'm pretty sure is the ambergris turning this into a cold, aquatic scent. This isn't so much the Black Tower as it is the freezing, briny sea crashing onto the cliffs below the tower. As it wears, the red wine note I know from Lilith appears, giving this a deep and tangy alcoholic quality. If I sniff deeply, I can find the burnt grass and wood, but the surface of this remains that strange, bone-chilling ocean and cold stone with wine spilled into it. Definitely a scent to set a mood, likely in my roleplaying adventures.

In the imp: Floral, that's about all I'm getting. Wet on my skin: This is a faint but dark scent on me even wet. Deep flowers and dark fruits. Dry: This doesn't change a whole lot as it dries. It's not a strong scent, but it is dark and mysterious. I get clear notes of orchid and blackcurrant, and a touch of the myrrh. The rest is all swirled together and difficult to discern, but the overall effect is sort of a hazy, lightly incensed floral perfume. I think I'd like to age this a little, just to see if it'll strengthen a bit.

In the imp: Unusual, pale floral. Wet on my skin: There's an initial blast of something sharp and medicinal, almost celery-like. That fades in a few seconds, giving way to a green, herbal floral scent. Dry: Once dry, this is a ghostly-light, ethereal, white scent. Lily, moss, and something dusty-powdery are the predominant notes in this. It's pretty and so very pale that I almost forget it's here until I get another whiff of ghostly white flowers. This scent is perfectly evocative of what it's meant to inspire!