ImperatrixMundi

crebbsgirl kindly passed her imp on to me

I think this is my first coffee BPAL. Coffee with something sweet and dry, the paper/book note I guess. But I dont get any oakwood from this. Sometimes I think I smell coconut, which is odd because I can never smell the actual coconut note in any blend (yes, that is weird.)

Smells drinkable! Which bothers me because I can't drink it and start to crave coffee candy. Not one I am going to wear I think, but would be tempting as a room scent. But only if some actual coffee is around. Need coffee. Now.

Funny. I have to go along with the coca cola and lime impression. But with my chemistry the hostile takeover of myrrh is inevitable. I was wishing for more patchouli, clove and vanilla but all the notes burn away and leave with spicy-sweet myrrh. Not the worst thing that could happen but not what I was hoping for in any case.

It was "retail only", made for and available through the Dark Delicacies bookstore. They do not seem to carry it any more, I think, but here is a link to their website: http://www.darkdel.com/. But maybe you can find some on the forum.

Mag Mell smells like a spring smell, sweet and fresh. It has something fruity, even though it has no fruit notes listed. But I can't smell the ginger. It gets a bit sweeter and warmer as it dries down and the amber shows. But then it fades so fast and dries down to a faded, faintly sweet scent with a sour edge. Which is a pity because I liked it very much when it was fresh because it was not the typical aquatic but a bit greener and sweeter.

There is a damp floral bouquet here that I have smelled before, but I dont remember where. It has something wet and swampy. The moss/evergreen/cypress notes dont play well with it at all, it gets very sharp and unpleasant, I'll spare you my exact associations.

I know this is a thread about the Gaiman scents but you have me curious, now I want to read The Secret History. Guess I am easily enabled when it comes to books!

Good luck with the search for the Gaiman scents

Also try Dark Delicacies for a subtler kind of dark--not heavy, a little watery even, but with distinct resins and coconut that back up the floral.

Mmm, yes, I was going to say that too! I never even liked orchids but Dark Delicacies changed my mind about it.

Oberon is not really that dark but the patchouli in there gives it something earthy and a little sinister I think.

On me: faintly sweet, maybe slightly herbal, smells almost like nothing at all. Would have gone to swaps but since it is Odin it had to go to the boyfriend.

On him: I guess he gets rewarded for years of claiming to be an Odinist (seriously!). He wore it yesterday and I said hey, you smell really nice! What is it? I did not even recognize the scent until he told me it was Odin! On him the musk really comes out and has a wonderful sweetness, not really the typical musk scent, it smells more like amber. There is something herbal about it too, but not sharp or unpleasant but rather comforting and woodsy. The difference is incredible, this one must be made testosterone-heavy male chemistry!

Wow. The first thing that surprises me here is that I love the painting. Munch really never appealed to me that much but Love and Pain suddenly does. Maybe it is the scent that does it or a changed perspective since I last looked at the Salon.

On to the scent - right after application this really as the pain part going on, nearly all sharp lavender and copaifera. But the lavender quickly gives way to a soft, sweet, brown tobacco with a hint of vanilla. This stage contained a little too much tobacco for me and I thought I would pass this on. But with time the tobacco fades more and more and a subtle vanilla comes through, a smooth and dark vanilla scent that is not foody or artificial in the least. Whiffs of tobacco remain and the black musk, a note I normally dont enjoy so much because of it's powdery sweetness, comes through and mingles with the vanilla.

The colour impression suits the painting very well and if I may wax poetic - the transition of notes on the skin is like the transition of the feelings of the man in the painting, seeking comfort in the lap of the woman, from pain fading to bitterness to the comfort he finds in her arms. That may not be the standard interpretation of the picture but simply my interpretation accompanying piece of olfactory art.

There, you have read it and may now shake your head or throw up at so much slimy interpretation. But this is really an underrated vanilla scent, especially if you want one that is not foody. If you try this dont wash it off after ten minutes but give it a sniff after an hour and see if the lavender has burned away, it may be rewarding. The staying power of that stage is also great, I tried it yesterday evening and now I can still smell it on my arm in the morning.

Thanks to suneshinedaysandbliss for the frimp.

Peach, patchouli and cocoa are not something I would normally mix but somehow it works surprisingly well. Well, actually my mom used to make peaches with chocolate sauce from time to time, which is rather tasty and smelled like this without patchouli. The patchouli gives it a little earthyness and the other notes are just background sweetness. This would be kind of nice if I could wear the fruit notes but they dont really work with my chemistry, especially apricot and peach But it was nice to try and now I crave chocolate peaches. Argh!

The wine notes always amp like crazy on me, which I dont find too thrilling. This one is very dark red, really rich and bold and rather tart and it overwhelms the poor mimosa. Maybe a hint of clove.

Not my cup of wine in any case.

Lotus = Bubblegum

Paris = spicy bubblegum with lavender

One of my worst BPAL experiences so far. If you dislike lotus I cannot recommend this.

Something went wrong here, I get an ultra sweet, powdery and cloying scent. No distinct notes, nothing spicy at all. Just cloying powder. I know this is a very beloved scent but on me it is doom powder. The Ifrit did the same to me after a short while, must be something about these desert-type scents

A grey, murky, gloomy aquatic with vetivert. If you know Szepasszony - I think this smells very much like it with added vetivert, with the same weird nutty/celery (dont ask!) undertone I get from Szepasszony.

Ultra clean clean clean, sharp aquatic/ozone. Whoa. Would make a good bathroom spray but cant do it as perfume.

This is the sucess of my Lupercalia 2009 exploits

I can understand that some people say it smells like cologne, while wet the sharp musk and oakmoss give that impression. On me the three notes take turns being dominant on me, sometimes I get a lot of oakmoss, other times more cherry blossom or vanilla musk. The cherry blossom and vanilla musk are a great combination. This is my first cherry blossom BPAL but the note is very much like that which I have smelled from other companies. Vanilla musk is a sharp, bright musk with vanilla overtones.

This would be a sweet and a bit generic floral, not in a bad way, there is just so much you can do with those notes. But the oakmoss gives it a little greenness, that cologney edge that sends it over into unisex territory. I can wear this with no trouble but I could as well imagine this one on a gentleman who is manly enough all by himself so that he can pull off wearing something as neutrally sweet as this

I love it and might some day search for an other bottle.

I love chrysanthemums and bought a bottle from the lab unsniffed. Woe is me. Somehow scents that other people describe as warm and golden dont work out on me, I get the same problem I get with Inez. Maybe golden sandalwood hates me? The scent simply does not bloom on my skin, instead of a rich scent of wonderful notes all I get is a hollow and indistict scent dominated by vanilla There is some strange undertone that reminds me of the mushroom scents from Rappacini's Garden, but all too real. None of the notes except vanilla stick out and I can not pick out the chrysanthemum at all. This makes me so sad, it just sounded so perfect but no.

Do you have an olfactory blind spot? Mine must be coconut because I can not smell it anywhere, also not in Dia. So this is really a lot cleaner than I would have expected. My nose reads it as a laundry-clean scent with loads of oakmoss instead of the expected gentle sweetness of amber, musk and coconut. Cant pick out the tobacco flower. Only a few hours later a gentle sweetness develops and the oakmoss backs off a bit, but it really takes a long time to get there. That stage then reminds me a lot of Dorian but is much less sweet.

What a heartbreaker. I hope she finds love with her new wearer.

As expected Oblivion is dark and sweet, a little earthy with golden undertones. The saffron gives it a a heavy, opressive sweetness and makes me unable to wear this.

Really interesting green oil colour in the imp though, I have never seen any other BPAL with such a colour.

Dark, almost earthy cocoa with a fruity edge. I like that dark chocolate note but the fruity part is not for me.

This sounded promising and while it is actually a complex scent on me it was way too sweet, just cocoa and tonka and tonka does not like me at all, even if I like tonka.

The good news: Frankincense and Violet make a dark, smooth and sweet combination. I have some greek violet incense that smells wonderful.

The bad news: Cinnamon is nowhere to be smelled and the damn frankincense becomes stale powder in no time at all.

Le Sigh.

Mmmm. I love orange blossom. Orangy floral vanilla. Orange blossom has a deeply sweet and a tiny bit orangy scent, a little heavy sometimes but not as bitter as lab neroli. Really nice, the vanilla makes it creamy and the narcissus gently pushes it back on the floral side. It manages to be simple yet complex at the same time, more sweet and dark than you would expect.

This is my first civet scent and I cant pick it out in all the opium haze. Red Egyptian musk sounded fascinating too but is lost to me as well. I am floating in soapy, smoky, sweet, swirling opium poppy with a red background. But it is just too much opium, I suspect that is one of the notes I really amp up and it becomes so soapy.

This was a bit disappointing, dragon's blood and cinnamon were there but instead of being hot and peppery Wrath was rather medicinal, I smelled like a pharmacy.