Beary Strange

In the imp: wet leather and smoke, but not good smoke, more like liquid smoke

Wet: leather, smoke and a bit of dragon's blood

Dry: my skin amps the dragon's blood and leaves the other two notes in the dust, which as far as I'm concerned is a very good thing. It is leaning a bit soapy though, but I'm not overly bothered by the smell of soap-I think it smells clean.

Not fond of it in the imp or wet, but it's nice once dried. Not sure if I feel the need to get a bottle, but the frimp will probably get used.

Unfortunately I couldn't get to full dryness on this one. In the imp, it was bitter and acrid. And on me it was even worse, so much sourness in addition to the bitter. I can't place the smells but I feel like the comparison to band-aids is heading in the right direction, but way stronger.The sour bitter smell turned my stomach so badly I had to rush to get it off (washing + alcohol wipes and I still had to resort to covering it with a lotion). I wish I was exaggerating because I hate to have such a strong bad reaction to a BPAL scent, but omg.

In the imp: like a woodsy men's cologne

Wet: more woods as well as the tonka and incense

Dry: incense-y wood with tonka and a scent that reads as cedarwood to me; if I really concentrate I can smell the rosiness of the rosewood and the leather

I like it but while I like masculine scents generally, this one might be too masculine. So I decided to try it on the dude and it smells very different on him; his skin amps whatever cedarwood smell I'm getting, the vaguest whisper of menthol and I swear it smells like this one shaving cream. He said it was "ok" and compared it Brut. Washed off it smells like shaving cream on me as well.

There's no point in dividing this into stages because to me it smells exactly the same in the imp, wet and dry. It smells like Cool Water in soap form. I also get the comparison to dish washer detergent and Irish Spring. Or if you've ever smelled a candle that's supposed to smell of the sea. It's not a bad smell, just one of those scents I don't think of as a perfume. But, if you're having a DIY spa day at home, this would be a good scent.

In the imp: a scent I don't recognize; I get bitter with a vague fruit smell, I'm guessing it's the plum

Wet:plum and the musk has made an appearance; it's reading slightly sweet on my skin and a tad powdery

Dry: while drying, my skin started amping the musk and then fully dry, there's a lovely spice smell (it's a bit clovey, a bit cinnamony, a bit peppery) which is apparently the carnation

At first sniff I could not fathom why people like this so much, but dry, oh my word, dry it's so amazing. I'm really glad I received this as a frimp because it's proven an excellent way to discover things about my taste in scents. I'm guessing the smell that offends me so much in the imp and wet is plum, so I'll be avoiding that; but, now I know I absolutely love carnation in all it's spicy glory.

In the imp: headache-inducingly sharp frangipani and rose

Wet: same thing ^

Dry: sickly sweet rose bath beads and frangipani

I don't like this, which is such a disappointment because with the notes it contains, I should have loved it. Alas, the rose and frangipani are both way too sharp and artificial for me; it's not even my skin amping something, that's literally all I get in the imp as well. In addition, my skin had a bad reaction to the oil itself, which is a first for BPAL for me; I left it on long enough to get an impression of it dry and furiously scrubbed it off to relive the itching. :c

In the imp: what I assume is the civet and red musk; it's really strong, it practically smacks you in the face when you put your nose near it

Wet: red musk, resin and civet

Dry: mostly resin (from other posts I'm guessing that's the opium?) and red musk; I don't get any more of the animalistic civet scent at all anymore (or my nose has deadened to the smell--this stuff is pretty strong); there's also a slightly sweet smell coming out, similar in sweetness to Blood where it's not candy sweet but more sexy sweet

Overall, this is a very sexy, warm and heady perfume. After I looked up what smells to expect from civet and opium and the strong opening waft, I wasn't expecting to like this, but the combination of notes seem to work really well together. It probably helps that my skin seems to amp the red musk, which seems to really work for me.

In the imp: herbs and flowers

Wet: herbs, flowers and incense, a tad bit soapy

Dry: flower herbal soap with a side of incense; the description mentions "nighttime dew" and I definitely get something from this that smells of night, maybe a bit of chamomile or lavender is in this?

This turned soapy on me, but I don't dislike it. To me, a flowery herbal soap smells of clean, like a relaxing bath right before bed. The result is something that is very calming and soothing to me; this would make a very good bedtime scent.

In the imp: sharp bubblegum, like when you first unwrap a Hubba Bubba

Wet and Dry: the bubblegum brought some strange friends along when it met my skin--I smell spice and musk, competing right there along with the bubblegum. It's not a bad smell per se, but it's a weird combo to my nose and definitely not something I want to smell like. I got a second opinion and it's not just me; my skin is definitely amping some unlisted spicy musk note in this oil.

This will probably be the first scent to go to the swap side of my imp storage that I don't outright hate. It's just too weird for my taste.

In the bottle: jasmine, neroli and myrrh

Wet and Dry: honestly, this smells like all the notes to/on me. My skin really amps the neroli and myrrh, but I can smell all the other things too. I get: neroli, myrrh, rose, jasmine and bergamot in that order. They all blend together and sit really well on my skin. It sort of reminds me of this one flavor in traditional Christmas ribbon candy that is sort of spicy and citrusy, and just a tad floral. I don't notice much of a difference dry.

Another blind buy, I figured I couldn't go wrong when I love all the notes listed and I wasn't wrong. I especially love that the blend stays with me and it's not just a single note amping on my skin.

In the bottle: powdery musk

Wet: also powdery musk with the barest whisper of vanilla, which was a bit concerning

Dry: It smells like Lush's Pink Fun and I mean exactly like it. Which is incidentally my favorite Lush smell and I've long wished it came in perfume form (for those who don't know, it's a soap in play-doh form basically) --well, wish granted. As far as actual notes, it's a sort of powdery vanilla sugar scent with a mild tea background.

This was a blind buy based solely on reputation and honestly, I would have been happy with a straight up tea scent, which is what I was expecting, but the way it actually smells on me makes me so so happy.

OMG

In the imp: smells like a white russian with cherries

Wet: I get chocolate, cream, frosting, cherries (boyfriend says he smells maraschino cherry juice)

Dry: chocolate leaning more white chocolate than milk, and cherries with a hint of cream; there's also something warm that I can't quite place but that smells amazing. I can smell the orange but I have to really sniff and concentrate and I wouldn't have any idea it's there if I didn't already know it was. There's also a light bit of woodiness which is nice and not at all detracting from the foodie scent.

I LOVE this; it's foodie but sexy all at the same time. It even got a resounding yes from the boyfriend who ordinarily is so-so about me wearing perfumes. It has a light throw on me but it's not overpowering. I need need a full-size bottle asap and back-ups for days.

In the imp: orange and fresh laundry; it smells like a day at a beachside park

Wet: orange and lemon and very marine

Dry: the lemon overtakes the orange and there is still a marine scent fused with fresh laundry which becomes more dominant with time

I surprisingly really like this, though not necessarily on my person because of the laundry smell. I do think it would make an amazing room scent for spring and summer though and I may have to pick up a full size bottle in my next order for this express purpose. It's such a fresh, clean scent.

2016 version

In the imp and wet: it all blends so well together that I really can't pick out the single notes

Dry: my skin seems to amp the red musk, which to me smells sexy, warm and somewhat sweet; I could smell the incense while it was drying but now I have to really sniff to get it

I don't get "bonfire" at all from this and thank goodness-I've learnt fire scents aren't my friend. On me, this is almost single note red musk which is the slightest bit underwhelming (Idk what I was expecting but I just thought it would be more MORE) but that said, I really do like it. I do wish it had more throw though; I keep sniffing my wrist because I really can't smell it on myself otherwise.

***I never updated this, but this ended up becoming a predictable migraine trigger. I'm assuming it's the red musk because there was another BPAL (bought for my partner, he loved it and I can't remember the name) that did the same thing and had to get banned from the house. It's too bad, because I really enjoyed this scent.

In the imp: dirt, like straight up dirt is all I smell

Wet: dead leaves, dirt with a bit of wood and something that reminds me of Autumn

Dry: my skin seems to be amping some minor note that isn't listed but on my skin smells of spice. I'm picking up ginger, cinnamon, a bit of apple--it makes me think of spiced cider. The dirt is there as well. This scents reads very warm on me.

I don't care much for apple scents ordinarily (from the spiced cider it turns on me) but I actually really like this--it's so warm and autumnal. The only complaint I have is that the spicy apple scent smells much more like a room spray than a fragrance, so while I like it, I don't think I'll be buying a full bottle. It's too bad it's my skin turning it into spiced cider or I might be tempted to get one for my oil burner but looking at other reviews, it seems it normally smells of wood and dirt.

In the imp and wet: slightly minty, herbal aftershave

Dry: herby, light bit of dirt, juniper (which is where I'm guessing the mint smell is coming from), aftershave

As earthy scents from the Lab that smell of mint go, this is the least minty one I've tried so that's a plus. But it still does smell of mint, which I don't enjoy smelling like and will probably never enjoy in a fragrance. It also is very herbal and medicinal, which also isn't to my taste so this one is a major miss for me.

It definitely isn't just me picking up on a minty, medicinal smell and also, this scent has quite a throw apparently: I walked into the room and my boyfriend immediately declared that I smell of vapor rub so...

This smells exactly like the description to me/on me: dead roses and dirt. It makes me think of a grave flower arrangement that's been left to rot.There's also an undercurrent of what to me smells like dead leaves, but I believe is the moss. The rose smell is almost too strong, to the point that it burns my nose while it's wet but it's less intense in the dry down and the dirt comes more to the forefront. I think I may need to dilute this for the sake of my nose when I wear it, but I do definitely like it.

In the imp and wet: smells like vapor rub and herbs, very medicinal and strong

Dry: basically the same as wet, except maybe a bit less strong but not by a lot; I never get any berries or fruits, just straight up eucalyptus/vapor rub/ some sort of sports cream

The description doesn't lie, it's green--just not the right kind of green for me.

In the imp: whoa cake!

Wet: cake-scented candle (you know, that fake cake smell) and a hint of berries and sweetness

Dry: sweet, but not too sweet berry candies are at the forefront but the cake candle is still there

I usually don't like sweet or foody scents and this was a frimp, but I'm quite glad to have gotten it. I also seemed to have lucked out because it smells nothing like butter or popcorn on me. I'm not sure I'd wear it on it's own, but as I noted in another review thread, this smells amazing combined with Greed. I found this out by mistake because the throw from my wrists, one scent on each wrist, was intense enough to combine in the middle. Eat Me's sweetness combines perfectly with Greed's warm, woody smell and they are both going in my next order.

In the imp: dirt, moss, leaves

Wet: piles of mildewy leaves and a freshly made wooden chest, or fresh wood shavings.

Dry: the leaves and woodiness are still there, but there's a really nice warm smell that I can't identify. If I concentrate, I can pick up the patchouli and a bit of almond from the heliotrope but they aren't at the forefront on my skin

I love this scent; it's not a sexy or pretty scent, more comforting. I can see applying this before bed to relax.

Sidenote: I've been trying my imps one on each wrist and so far, the separate smells haven't really collided. But this and Eat Me I guess each have enough of a throw that they're combining in the middle and I have to say: it's a really nice combo. The woodsy warmth of Greed complements the berry candy and cake smell of Eat Me amazingly well. I feel like I'm in woodcutter's cottage while someone is baking. It's really lovely and I will definitely be buying a full size of each just to wear together.

Outside the imp, this has a nice, slightly sexy smell I'd expect from the name.

In the imp: flowers and a scent I couldn't identify until someone above brought up diapers and I realized: it smells like diaper rash cream

Wet on skin: it smells like flowery baby powder, which is nice but there's also this undercurrent of diaper rash cream

Dry: basically the same as wet, except less intense

Washed off: very nice, all flowers and no baby anything.

The is the second scent I've tried that smells better once washed away; I'm really not sure what to think of that. I might have to make a pile of imps I don't care for fresh on, but love washed off by the bathroom sink.

You know how some people hate the taste of mint? Well, that's not me-I love it. But the smell I absolutely hate, particularly on my person--it turns my stomach and burns my nose. And that's what this smells like to me, both in the imp and on me--MINT. It's that intense, it absolutely needs to be in all caps. In the imp and wet, the minty smell is overpowering; dry, I can pick up the moss and dirt, but the mint is still the main scent. It's not a sweet mint either, more an astringent mint. When I attempted to wash it off, the mint smell disappeared and all I get is moss and dirt, which is very pleasant, but it hardly seems worth it to go to the trouble of applying and then washing it back off again to enjoy this scent. I love earthy, dirt smells and I really wanted to love this but this is definitely going in the 'Nope' pile.

Strangely, my boyfriend doesn't smell the mint at all, in the imp or dry on my skin and I don't see people reporting it here either, so maybe it's just me or maybe I got a weird imp? I even double-checked that I had the right imp since mint isn't even listed as a note.

In the imp: very sweet cherry

Wet: sweet cherry with an undercurrent of dragon's blood

Dry: The dragon's blood is more obvious while the cherry is still there, but not at the forefront like it was. There's something else that I don't quite recognize that has an incense-y, heady quality which I take to be the myrrh.

For a scent named Blood, it's not as hard-hitting as I was expecting--even for the amount I slathered on, I think a person would have to get very close to smell it. But overall, I really like it and will definitely be getting a full-size bottle. It'd be a good perfume for days when I don't want my scent to be overwhelming.

In the bottle: Incense and a light bit of rose.

Wet: The incense comes across very strongly, to the point that I don't detect any other notes.

Drying: The incense is still there, combined with what I can only describe as aftershave. I don't mean that as an insult either--I quite enjoy the smell.

Dry: Incense and aftershave, with a light bit of dusty mustiness to it. To me, this is what I imagine a long undisturbed crypt would smell like.

I absolutely love this scent. It's heady and addictive; I haven't stopped smelling myself since I pulled it out of the mail and immediately put it on hours ago. On my skin, the rose really retreats and it's all about the incense. It also reads very masculine to me/on me, which again, not complaining about because I prefer gender neutral or masculine scents.