fairnymph

In the bottle: Very woodsy-herbal; cypress, mint, geranium, and lavender. Mannish. Wet: Softer; the cypress is less overwhelming, and the lavender and geranium take fore. The mint is there but not as distinctly. I can smell the orange blossom now, and it's quite lovely. There's something sweet here too, maybe the passion flower? This a fresh, bracing scent, but I'd still call it masculine. Dry: Okay, this smells like toilet cleaner to me - at first whiff. Eek. Not LIKE a toilet, but the connection is enough to turn me off. I think it smells like this minty 7th Generation toilet cleaner I once used. It's also faded a lot in potency. Summary: Faint mint, lavender, geranium with hints of cypress and orange blossom in the final drydown. This would be good on a man, I think, but it's not ideal with my feminine skin chemsitry.

In the bottle: Kinda spicy - the carnation I think. Sweet and floral. A bit sharp, some greenness. Wet: More, wayyyy more pungent floral - surprise, surprise. Yeah, my skin DEFINITELY amps floral notes. Less sweet, or else it's overpowered by the now stronger floral. I can't smell the vanilla distinctly, which is good bc I don't usually like vanilla in fragrance. But there is a warmth here. This is a strong bpal - a little goes a long way! Hints of soapiness, probably from the neroli - which I otherwise can't smell, sigh. Dry: It's gotten alot soapier, and the floral notes are still really pungent and for me, overwhelming. I'm not familiar with the individual notes beyond carnation, but they are not delicate notes. Too acrid? And the combo of intense soapiness and intense floral is gross, and the sweetness is now making me think of old ladies. Summary: My least favourite BPAL so far. Too strong, too sweet, too pungent, too soapy. Yech. I had to wash it off - and even after vigorous scrubbing, it still lingers!

In the bottle: Bright very green/herbal but not very woodsy, lightly floral. Androgynous. The musk is very light. Hint of sharpness. No mandarin. Wet: Much more floral and less green on skin, peony and lily coming through more. Very faintest hint of pepper if I sniff closely. Slightly feminine and a bit sweet, but not at all cloying. I can smell the musk more too, but it's still nice and light. Dry: Green pretty much gone, musk stronger, floral still there as strongly but has gone a teensy bit powdery - but not in such a way that I find bothersome. Definitely feminine and holds pretty well. Summary: I like this one, but I'm not sure that's it distinctive or complex enough for me to buy a bottle. I wish it kept more of the green/herbal scents. At no point did I ever smell any mandarin. I still can't decide if this one is bottleworthy.

... Obatala’s ofrenda is soft, white and pure: milk, coconut meat, shea butter and cool, refreshing water. In the bottle: White, sweet, and creamy, yet somehow fresh. I can pick out the milk, coconut, and shea. Wet: The sweet coconut and milk almost make this foody, but somehow it's not. There is a distinct rainy, clean aquatic note - perhaps even something green or floral. Dry: The shea really amps, giving this a planty and somewhat waxy feel, and making the blend less foody. The aquatic note has mostly dissipated. Summary: Lightly sweet milk and coconut, with the latter and the earthy-waxy shea dominating. Soothing and yummy. Great throw and lasting power. Not my style, but I was pleasantly surprised. It smells yummy indeed.

In the bottle: Sweet, with strong ylang-ylang. Wet: Fruitier, and the rose is coming out. The ylang-ylang seems less dominating as a result, though it's still quite strong. It's still quite sweet, but I can't smell honey. Dry: Rose has faded, and I can finally smell the honey. Summary: This is a bit strong on the ylang-ylang for me as well as being sweeter than I generally like, but I do think deserves the name Eve!

In the bottle: Jasmine, something green, sharp. Wet: Softer, still very jasmine-y, but now somewhat herbal, with a nice sweetness. Dry: The buttercup has come out, and I think it's too sharp-green for me. Summary: The buttercup has faded, leaving a sweet-heady jasmine and honeysuckle blend - quite nice! Still, I think I'm going to give up on jasmine.

In the bottle: Sweet-tart pomegranate and rose! Wet: Rosier, much less sweet, but still some nice tart pomegranate fruit. Dry: Stays true! Summary: Good throw and wearlength. It reminds me much of Libra but it's simpler and tarter.

In the bottle: Extremely fruity, in a sort of bubble-gum way. Wet: The mimosa and other floral notes have emerged. I can't smell any spice. Still strongly fruity. Dry: Nicely balanced fruity floral. Lush comes to mind. An earthy spicy note has finally come out, though it's not strong. Summary: This isn't the type of thing I thought I would like, and I still don't think it's something I'd wear, but it's surprisingly yummy. I'd recommend this to anyone who likes fruity scents.

In the bottle: Traditional perfume-y white florals. Wet: Still very floral, a bit heady (jasmine, though this is a better jasmine than most on me, not overpowering) and a bit soapy (moonflower). Faint rose. Dry: I'm not getting any incense, but there is a mild warmth (maybe some type of amber?) and a hint of herbs, which I really like. The powder-soap of the moonflower is still tolerable. I LOVE the rose-jasmine combo in this. The rose took its time to emerge, but it's playing ever so nicely with the usually awful-on-me jasmine. Summary: This feels very refined and stately. It's heady, feminine, and BOLD despite being a straight white floral through and through. In the long term, though, the soapy-moonflower takes over. Alas.

In the bottle: Almost citrusy peach. Wet: Way fruitier, pink, almost bubblegummy, sweet grapefruity-peach. There is some warmth, doubtless from the amber, but I'd otherwise never think there was amber present. The musk is woefully light; barely detectable. Dry: There is maybe a dash of the myrtle emerging, but barely. It's still strong, strong pure ripe peach. A very ripe, deep peach - not like the peach of Fae which I find lighter and less ripe. Summary: Pretty much straight up, succulently ripe and fruity-sweet peach. Not usually my thing, but I have a weakness for peach, so I'll hang on to the imp for now and retry at some point. I ended up parting with it, as I just don't do amber. Lovely scent though!

In the bottle: Dry woods, flowers, violet, chamomile. Wet: Violet, primrose, and chamomile with a hint of citrusy bergamot. Slightly sweet. Planty and floral. Warm, dry rosewood and sandalwood. Dry: There's a sharp green note that has been slowly growing, which I really dislike. The flowers (now with rose) have gone a bit powdery, but are otherwise pleasant. The woods stay softly in the background. There's musk, but it's very light. Regardless, I can't tolerate that sharp note, which now that I think about it, could be a urine-y blackcurrant scent.

In the bottle: Fresh, light, slightly green floral. Cheerful, ironically. Wet: Very feminine, slightly sweet floral. It's a bit less fresh and headier (lilac?) on my skin. Smells very lily-like to me. And also a bit like lily of the valley. Dry: Eeek, it's going a bit soapy - noooooooo! It's also losing strength quickly. Summary: It's still lovely, and it has great throw. Even though it fades from full power quickly, it stops and stays at a moderate level. I keep getting whiffs from my hand and it's delightful, but when I bring my hand closer, I get that strong soapiness.

In the bottle: Green roses. Wet: Very fresh roses, less green. It's a clean rosy scent, not a heady one. Dry: Gah, it's going a bit soapy on me. I bemoan that fine line between clean and soapy. I wonder what is responsible for the soapiness? Summary: Rosy soap, although I have to admit, it never went dried rose - it was always clean, fresh rose, even when soapy. And it wasn't horribly soapy. (I now know that moonflower = soap on me, very often.)

In the bottle: Bright, fresh, green, and slightly fruity. Wet: Less green, floral coming out. Must be the orchids - it's quite heady, expensive-smelling, and very feminine. Dry: It's gone a bit soapy (??) and is now otherwise a straight floral. It's holding very well. Summary: A bit too heady for me, but otherwise a nice, womanly floral.

In the bottle: Fresh green cucumbery floral. Not grassy. Wet: Same, maybe a wee bit more floral. It's not a weak oil but it has a light feel. Dry: It's gotten a bit sweeter, but otherwise remains a fresh, green floral-cucumber scent. It's really lovely and refreshing. I think one of the floral notes (which are not heady - very delicate without being powdery) is honeysuckle. It's almost melony too, which doesn't really surprise me as both melon and cucumber are in the same family. Summary: Fresh, green-white, delicate cucumerby slightly sweet floral...yes I'm being redundant, but this scent stays so true on me, other than the mild sweetening over time. Possibly a bottle buy - I think it'd be a great summer scent on hot, muggy days. I would have never thought I'd like it based on the note description - thank god I got it as a frimp! I ended up getting a bottle.

In the bottle: Fresh, green-floral, hint of sharpness. Maybe some pine or something in the evergreen family? Wet: Floral-evergreeny. Warmer, deeper. I love both peony and rose and I can detect both these overtones. Dry: Stays true, good throw. Summary: Feminine, greeny-rose. Probably not a bottle buy, but I'll love my imp.

In the bottle: Sweet-honeyed, spicy lilies. Wet: Whoa, way spicier (ginger, and maybe cloves and cinnamon) and also sweeter. Less floral - which almost never happens on my skin. I must say the colours in the description - those bright, deep, exotic vivid tones - are perfectly evoked. Dry: Medium throw, but pretty weak lasting power. The sweetness and spiciness calms down a bit, but the lilies are never as nice on my skin as they are in the bottle. Summary: Very faint, spicy honeyed lilies. Gone within 2 hours despite slathering. Faint spice is not my thing.

In the bottle: Fresh, crisp apple and a hint of ozone. Wet: Sweet, fruity apple - still somewhat crisp, but riper. No ozone. A little artificial smelling, almost plasticky. A dry sort of woody warmth and a hint of spice. Dry: Spicy, artificial apple and a hint of dry woods. Summary: Sweet, ripe apples, warm woods and light spices. The plasticky scent dissipates, but overall this fades extremely quickly. Decent throw.

In the bottle: Sweet, woody-dry, floral. Wet: A tiny bit less sweet and more floral. But I don't like the floral notes in this much. The only notes I'm picking out that don't turn me off are the rose, lily, and black musk. The other florals I'm finding heady and cloying. Dry: Oh, it's much nicer. Softer and less cloying - instead it's now warm and comforting. Those notes I do like, especially the musk, have taken over for the most part and this has settled into a well-blended scent. Summary: Light, softly-vanilla sweet musk. Truly amazing how this has morphed! Low throw, weakish lasting power. Good if you like vanilla - sadly I don't.

In the bottle: Green, sharp, sweet and fruity. Delicious pear and lily of the valley. Wet: The musk has emerged in a nice light way. I can smell the lily of the valley more strongly and I don' t think it works on my skin - cry. The pear isn't nearly as strong, and the perfume has lost its sharpness. The rosewood gives this a lovely depth and warmth. Still on the sweet side for me. Dry: Sweet rosewood + musk with a hint of powder. Summary: I'm so sad the pear faded so completely and quickly, and that lily of the valley hates my skin. I think it'd be nice on someone else though.

In the bottle: Definitely gentlemanly. Clean, brisk, and yummy. Wet: Freshly showered, but not in the bad neroli-turned-soapy sort of way. Pretty light. I can't really distinguish many individual scents, the orange blossom maybe, and some mintiness in the background. This is really nice. Note: this smells TOTALLY DIFFERENT on a man. Crazy! Much yummier. Muskier, I can smell the florals, less overwhelmingly shower-clean as it is on me. It's warmer and more complex on a man. Delicious. Insanely so. I really can't stop sniffing. Dry: Stays the same on me after time, just a bit lighter, and muskier perhaps. On my bf, it stays similar to how it first was on him, but the throw doesn't seem to be all that strong - SIGH. Summary: This one is not for me, as I like more distinctly feminine scents. But I can see how it could be unisex, though I do find it a tad on the masculine side. On my bf, it's simply amazing (sexy, clean, delicious, warm, musky all at once), I should buy him 10 bottles! It'd be worth it even if I have to slather it on him to get it to last.

In the bottle: Very green, fairly sweet, a bit sharp. Light, clean smelling floral notes. Wet: Amped floral, but still some greenness. Mmm the lily of the valley is delicious, even if it's a little on the pungent side. For once I really can't smell any musk - nearly everything seems at least a tad musky on me. I think I can smell the sandlewood - it's a nice dry warmth that balances the green floral freshness well. Barest hint of soap, in a good way - clean but not truly soapy. Dry: It's faded alot - this is not a super strong bpal. The notes I can still detect are lily of the valley, sandalwood, and I think what must be green fig. It's nice - very feminine, refined. Summary: Lovely, but too floral, not bright enough for me personally.

In the bottle: Orange. With a hint of dark incense. Not really orange blossom, though. Wet: Same, maybe a wee bit more floral. Otherwise I feel like I've been harvesting overripe oranges from old, woody trees. Dry: This has become increasingly sweet; cloying. It really is just orange and patchouli, with very very faint hints of orange blossom and maybe other delicate florals. Summary: The patchouli has taken over; it's lovely but too much of a good thing can be bad. The sweet orange remains strong, and the floral note woefully light. Strong throw, moderate lasting power.

In the bottle: Baby powder. Delicate floral, sweet. Smells sort of like a baby's skin or breath, too. Wet: A bit less powdery, more jasminey. I can smell the rose more distinctly. Way more floral overall, but I'm not getting any frangipani - alas! Dry: Rose is fading, jasmine still going strong, and I'm maybe getting a HINT of the frangipani. But there is still a strong powder element. Any idea what's likely to be causing that? Rose and jasmine do not turn to powder on me, usually. I guess it must be the tuberose? Summary: Powdery rose-jasmine.

In the bottle: Slightly sweet-fruity, white, clean, feminine floral. A bit heady. Wet: More floral, less sweet, a bit soapier. Yes, I have nailed it down now - tuberose = soap on me. It's not unacceptably soapy, though. I can pick out the pear, I think. The rose and magnolia are pretty overwhelming. Dry: I can't smell any fruit any more. The magnolia has died down alot, so I'm getting more of the rose, which I love, but also more of the soapy-tuberose. Summary: Soapy magnolia and rose. I think magnolia is too heady for me. And something in this blend is making my skin itch. It was delightful in the bottle, what a shame. Not great throw, surprisingly.