Malaena

ITP: Chemicals with a citrus quality.

Dry: Citrus soap with a bit of a powdery edge.

Verdict: Arg...

ITP: Chemicals.

Drying: Early on in the drying stages it smells fairly burnt and has a lot of tobacco. In an hour it has calmed down and is now something I don't have the nose/knowledge to describe. A bit of spice, a bit of tobacco, and a whole lot of sexy. I never detect mint or orange blossom and up close to the skin a bit of that burned quality remains. After a bit more time the burned quality disappears and is replaced by fir and balsam.

Verdict: We have a winner. I'll wear this when I want to feel powerful, confident, and sexy!

This smells just like the apple pie moonshine that I make. It smells EXACTLY like it! My mind is blown.

On me it smells like a citrus potpurri. It has a bit of herbyness to it which I'm thinking is the oakmoss and/or lavender. I like lavender but I'm not familiar with the BPAL version. I'm completely unfamiliar with the scent of oakmoss, though.

It smells like slightly smoky incense on me. It's very meh.

This started off very interesting. It was a mix of things I could never hope to identify sweetened with vanilla. After 15 minutes it was all vanilla. After the 30 minute mark it was going powdery...powdery vanilla. Ick.

After washing it off it does leave a pleasantly light vanilla skin scent, though.

This one was the decant I was most looking forward to trying in my most recent order. I'm so disappointed. Dionysia on me smells like walking into Pier One. A melange of 50 potpurris coming together in that eau de Pier One. Where is the fruit?! Skin, how I hate thee!!!!!!

I got this as a frimp from my wishlist from the wonderful Alainn. It just arrived yesterday so I gave it overnight to settle.

In the imp: Wood and tobacco.

Dry: At first it's woods and tobacco with just a hit of sweet vanilla. The dryer it gets the more the wood and tobacco shifts to the background. Fully dry the woods disappear altogether and what is left is a wonderful, lightly sweet vanilla with a hint of tobacco.

Verdict: Mmm, sexy.

ETA: I retested after it had a chance to rest. Its a very light vanilla with a hint of tobacco that clings to the skin. I can only smell it if I put my nose at least an inch away from my skin. I will keep the imp but it's not a bottle purchase for me.

Thank you, Triia! I have been spending an embarassing amount of time reading reviews...

I think your recommendations are great! I already have all but The Cat and Oblivion on my wishlist already!

I haven't tried any boozy, leather, or tobacco scents. Vanilla is okay so long as it's not what I call "scented candle vanilla."

Anne -That's a great idea! I'd not thought of that. I'm going to start thread stalking.

Thanks so much everyone! I'm going to hunt down the sniffies and do some stalking!

So, I've done two imp hauls and still don't know how to characterize what I like. (Yes, I'm a newb.)

I've tried the following (likes in green, favorite in purple):

Siren, Twilight, Santa Eularia Des Riu, Nyx, New Orleans, Muse, Euphrosyne,
Love-In-Idleness, Queen Gertrude, The Ghost, Caterpillar, Lolita, Hell’s Belle, Voodoo, Alice, Penitence,
La Petite Mort, 51, Blood Kiss, Defututa, Drink Me, Eat Me, La Bella Donna Della Mia Mente, Queen of Hearts, Elf, Vixen, Miskatonic University, French Love, Bensiabel.

From this I have gathered that bergamot, lemon, lemon verbena, lemongrass, ylang ylang, rose, and anything that smells like a sweet I want to eat are fail. Dragon's blood is iffy and jasmine amps.

I do have a notes of win/fail post but putting all this here saves you time! My apparent likes are citrus, fruit, patchouli, myrrh, frankencense, herbs, spices, resins, wood, musk, soft florals, honey, clove, and anything not in the dislike category since I'm still a a huge newb.

What the hell do I like? I'm so confused! What should I try next to cover my bases? Any and all suggestions would be much appreciated!

ITP: Rose and pomegranate.

Dry: At first it's rose and pomegranate with something I can't identify. After 10 minutes it smells like icky rose air freshener.

Verdict: My first rose blend. Apparently, I'm one of those people with rose-hating skin.

In the imp: Oooh, nice light floral with sweetness.

Dry: Oh my god; it's just jasmine. Jasmine jasmine jasmine. I think I have finally learned that BPAL jasmine hates me and I hate it. On my skin I never detected any other scent!!!!!!

In the imp: Cherry cough syrup. This gave me pause as I tried something last night with dragon's blood for the first time and it was a disaster.

Dry: Holy mother of god. It's honey, clovey wonderfulness. The cherry is very light and eventually disappears. I can't stop sniffing my wrist and I want to bathe in this zomghelpmeeeeeeee!!!!

ETA: I got a bottle at will call and holy hell it smells scary in the bottle!!!

This is a very sweet floral. On me it seems like the lilac and the leather are of equal strength and combine to make: SUPER SWEET LEATHER! This is not a winner for me.

This one smells like cherry candy on me with a wee bit of a powdery character. I think I have found that dragon's blood isn't my cup of tea...

This is an airy, fruity floral. It doesn't really have much impact for me. It's not good or bad, just meh. The melon is nice but it leaves too quickly!

In the imp: Holy crap, I want to to eat this. Vanilla coffee creamer!

Dry: Vanilla coffee creamer. I still want to eat this.

Verdict: I want to eat this but I don't want to smell of this.

Good gods, this one was a super sweet, super strong, rosey punch to the face. I suffered about 10 minutes of it and then had to go wash it off. Oi...

In the imp: I smell christmas trees!

Dry: At first there is a balsam scent with some backing sweetness. After about 15 minutes the most prominent note is sweet berries. 30 minutes later the berry has calmed and there is a floral note I can't identify with a woody backing.

Verdict: I love this one. At first I thought it would be a winter thing but I would wear this any time!

In the imp: Violets and ice!

Dry: Violets with the icyness of delphinium. It strikes me as something a well-to-do octogenarian would sport. After about 30 minutes the bitter chrysanthemum peeks through.

Verdict: This is lovely but definitely strikes me as a scent for an older woman.

This turned into Coast soap on me. Arg!

In the imp: Wonderfully spicy orange with a minty hint.

Dry: It starts off orangey and lemony with a bit of spice. Soon it morphs into a lemon cough drop.

Verdict: I think lemon anything, verbena/grass/the actual fruit, is a note of death for me. This will be swapped out.

In the imp: Good lord, did they accidently package up some pine sol?

On my skin: Woodsy, warm, sweet, mysterious. After a while the pine peaks out.

I was iffy on this one and kept it to age for a bit.

Aged in the imp: Ooooh, warm incensey woody goodness.

Aged on my skin: Even better than when fresh! The incense notes are about equal with the woody notes. A bit later the pine comes out and it becomes more earthy.

Final thoughts: This one is 100% awesome. Need more!

In the imp: Gardenia and Jasmine.

Dry: It smells like cheap potpurri or those pretty soaps you're not supposed to actually use.

After an hour: All that's left is vanilla.

Final thoughts: I like the vanilla but I'm not willing to suffer though an hour of icky potpurri soapyness!