darkitysnark

Old Morocco

Ohhhh....

I've tried six of my ten imps from my virgin order and this is the one that is the most simpatico with everything I thought I wanted in a fragrance.

In the bottle I got the same creamy spiciness a lot of y'all seem to be picking up.

Once on me I couldn't stop sniffing my wrists. The spice was still there, but smooth and rounded like a warm river pebble under my tongue. A floral lushness blossomed as well. I'm not normally one for flowers, but the overall effect was so sensual and made the perfect antidote for this rainy grey day. I felt like a woman walking through the world with a delicious secret kept close to her heart.

The lasting power is pretty good on me. I can still (now almost 12 hours later) smell the ghost of it if I breathe deep. Which I do. Often.

The Mr., probably tired of my five day "How's this?" "What about this?" "And this?" test-a-thon, had this to say: "S'good. Not obnoxious."

I think this is going to be my first 5 ml bottle order. No. I know it is.

ETA: name of oil

I'm getting the same green herbally pleasant soapiness (and misplaced lemon) a lot of folks here are getting. It makes me think of late Spring/early Summer and I think it will make a great neutral scent on me, and a fabulous "nibble me" scent on the Mr.

Tintagel

Hm. I seem to have sped through the other notes very quickly to arrive at a subtle fruit/flower smell. By the end of the day I picked up nothing but a powdery femininity. I think I'm going to be one of those "needs to try it twice/thrice" to really get the gist of it.

ETA: name of blend

French Creole

I second (third? fourth?) the strong cloves impression. I've been dealing with a toothache this past week and have been sucking on cloves at work to soothe myself... this smell really put me at ease.

The Mr.'s first impression was of myrrh, actually. Granted, he current has a bit of a cold, but he put his nose right on my wrist and inhaled deeply to pick up that note.

I'm only about 20 minutes into wearing this, so I can't comment on lasting power yet, but the cloves have now been joined by a corrupted floral/masculine scent. Something forceful and assertive.

Hm... maybe I should build a scent library to sharpen up my descriptions...

ETA: The Mr. has deemed this one his favorite scent. Last night, over 12 hours after initial application, he sniffed my neck and made with the "rowr".

In the bottle:

It's a big green fist full of crushed woody herbs rolling up into my sinuses... that's the last time I sniff in a hurry in the morning!

Just on:

The lemon tones take a back seat to an incredible, full mouth herbal.

First 1/2 hour (drive to work):

I don't know how else to describe this, but the car is filled with the scent of used incense sticks. Not the actual incense, but the skinny wooden sticks upon which the resin is applied. It's a charred wood smell that reminds me of my grandmother's little shrine in Hong Kong at which we used to offer sticks of incense and little oranges. I can almost feel the frail, bendy sticks between my fingers as we kowtow.

Hours later:

If feels like my aura has been imbued. I can smell the lemon more prominently now, and it feels like my body heat is radiating the stuff. The wood went away (pity) and there is now an earthy undertone (the sage?).

This one is growing on me after that herb-slap from my initial snort. Gotta pace myself better. This feels like a more androgynous scent for everyday use.

Ah... my first ever review!

Dabbed on some Swank fresh out of the box on our way out to see "Hero" this evening, so my first impressions are a bit rushed...

In the bottle:

Sweet! Fruity! A little bit boozy! Mostly I smell red, if that makes any sense.

Initial application:

After the first few minutes (and several not so subtle wrist-sniffs) I got a huge wave of booziness. Not straight up alcohol, just sort of a rush of "adult beverage". The sweetness stays in the front of my mouth while this rolling, darker feeling is in the back of my throat.

Over the course of dinner-and-a-movie (about three hours):

The booze-effect dies down and is replaced by... more of that red smell. And something tart on the very edges. There's a soapy aftertaste when I inhale deeply. I haven't decided if I like it or not (which means probably not). It's really incredibly sweet (baby powdery, even), but I can almost feel the pithy seeds and membranes on the edge of the sweetness.

Staying Power:

Since this is my first BPAL scent, I don't have anything with which to contrast and compare. I don't wear perfume, but am extremely picky about my toiletries. I'm almost four hours into this first test, and I can still detect it pretty strongly. My control group (the Mr.) is suffering from a summer cold, so he's no help this go 'round. His gut reaction, btw, was to call it "nice, like potpourri". Sheesh. He keeps this up and I'm not sharing my imp of Wilde.

ETA: I ended up gifting this to my best friend. She instantly fell in love with it. It smells wonderful on her (not so crazy sweet) so I'm happy it found a good home.