n3m3sis42

In the imp: I would describe this as a "bright" floral. Wet: Still very bright and floral. It reminds me of a commercial perfume I once tried when I was young, but I have no idea which one. It becomes a lighter floral as it dries down a bit, and it's now sort of reminding me of the smell of the Pert Plus shampoo I used to looooove when I was a kid. I'm sure that's not what it *really* smells like, so let's just remember that I am a perfume ignoramus, okay? Anyway, if it keeps smelling like this, at least I know I will love the smell of it in my hair. Dry: On me, this dries down very similar to Alice and Pink Moon (which smelled almost the same on me). It's not same smell, but I'm guessing it has some of the same notes--rose or carnation or honeysuckle--but without the sugar and cream. I've really only tested the 3 of these blends, so I'm sure that when I actually wear them all over instead of just dabbed on my arm, I will see a bigger difference. Anyway, it's a very pretty, light floral that I'm sure I will wear again and love.

In the imp: Something sweet, maybe fruity and sour, sort of reminiscent of (sorry) cherry cough syrup. A lot of blends smell odd to me in the imp. Wet: Cherries and almonds? Which somehow fades down to mostly dragon's blood and musk pretty quickly. This is not a bad thing. Dry: Dragon's Blood and musk. For some reason this is very subtle on me, but that may just be because I've burned out mysense of smell for the morning by trying too many different blends. Anyway, I would definitely wear it again. I think that blends with musk and patchouli have to age a bit before they really work on me, because they tend to blend *too* well with my skin otherwise. I think I like it, though.

In the imp: Incense? Musky incense? Wet: Still sort of incensey or maybe herbal... I'm guessing what I smell is the orris. I am not sure this review will be all that helpful since I don't really know what any of the notes (except coconut, obviously) smell like. Anyway, after it's on my for a couple of minutes, I think it smells a bit woody, and then the musk also starts to come out. I don't smell any coconut yet, which is okay with me because too much coconut for me is not a good thing. As it dries down, I am maaaaaybe starting to smell a little hint of the coconut, but if so, it's so well-blended with the other notes that it's not easy to pick out. What I am mostly smelling is wood and musk. Dry: The coconut finally comes out. I think that what I said in the beginning about "obviously" knowing what coconut smells like might have been wrong. I was expecting an in-your-face sweetness like suntan oil (because when I bought virgin coconut oil for my hair one time, it smelled that way, too). In this, the coconut seems to be lighter and sweeter. This is one of those blends where I am pretty sure I can smell all of the notes, but they are blended so well that together they are truly more than the sum of the parts. (Did that even make sense?) Very nice.

This was a frimp from the lovely Lab. In the imp: Definitely almond and cinnamon. Wet: At first the cinnamon is the predominant note, though I can smell the almond as well. I'm under the impression that "neroli" is a citrusy smell; if so I'm not picking up that note at all. This blends down to something sweet and a little spicy. The throw is very cinnamony, but when I put my nose to my arm, it's sort of a blend between the almond and the cinnamon. It's pretty, but thank goodness the cinnamon has calmed down a little bit because I was having mini-flashbacks to my college-freshman Goldschlager-hangover days for a minute there. Dry: Spicy cinnamon with a bit of sweetness underneath. Not something I would have chosen for myself, but it's pleasant and I will definitely wear it out sometime to decide if it suits me or not. Apparently, cinnamo does not burn my skin, but I think I may refrain fro putting this in my cleavage just to be on the safe side.

In the imp: Citrus and florals. Huh? Wet: Still smells like citrus and florals. Very light florals, with something sharp and lemony. That's odd... the notes in this aren't supposed to be lemony OR floral, are they? Okay, it's faded down to something sweet and fresh. I can definitely smell a hint of cream and a hint of fresh linens. Dry: Hmmm, today must be a weird body chemistry day, or else my skin totally eats up anything even remotely creamlike. I'll have to try this one another time, because all I am smelling right now is florals.

In the imp: Sweet almonds with cream. Wet: This smells similar to the way Dana O'Shee smelled when I first put it on--sweet and creamy. Unfortunately, it seems that my wrist is going to eat this up just the way it did with poor Dana. Dry: Boo. It's so faint I can barely smell it! I'm going to try it somewhere besides my wrist since my wrists tend to suck up fragrance anyway. I will update if that makes a difference. Edited to add: I finally got around to re-trying this one, and it did have better staying power once I slathered it on me. It smells sort of like an incense-y Dana O'Shee on me, which I rather like. My husband sniffed me and said that he liked the scent, but it wasn't his favorite. Which is sort of how I feel, but it might be worth a bottle purchase at some point.

In the imp: Mmmm, pumpkin pie. Wet: Spiced cookies! After a minute or two, I can make out hints of the peach as well. Totally foody. A little bit longer, and I smell a STRONG butter scent, and maybe burning leaves? The buttery/burning smell is *almost* strong enough to be unpleasant for a few minutes, but then it evens out and I am smelling yummy, buttery, spiced pumpkin pie. Dry: Sweet, creamy, buttery pumpkin. I am a fan of foody blends, and I love this.

In the imp: Orange, almond, and some sort of soft floral. Wet: Orange, almond, and honeysuckle. No, wait, that's rose. And the thing I thought was orange isn't orange, either. But it's citrusy--I imagine that's the bergamot. After a few minutes, I smell mostly rose, but still with that citrusy, spicy scent. This is odd... I could have sworn that people said this was a foody scent. Maybe it needs to age? My skin must do something odd with milk and honey--it's like it eats it entirely at first but then it comes back after a little while. The same thing happened with Dana O'Shee. Dry: This reminds me a lot of Pink Moon (which I guess makes sense, since they have very similar notes). I would definitely wear it, though it's nowhere near foody on me as I thought it would be. I think I need to age it and try it again, because my nose may be burned out from trying like 4 scents this morning (and I'm not sure I can smell anything accurately after Poisoned Apple).

In the imp: It smells very similar to this sweet almond massage oil I have (and love). Wet: Still smells the same, for about 5 minutes until it totally disappears. Comes back in about 5 or 10 more minutes, very subtle, milk and honey with a touch of almond. Dry: The same. Very pretty, but very subtle. I will try slathering and see what happens. Edited to add: The scent of this did come out a bit more as it dried down further. Mmm, caramel. Second edit: I actually wore this to work yesterday, and while I did have to slather it on, it had much more staying power than I'd expected. This scent is light and beautiful on me. It's definitely foody, but not oppressively so (although I like foodies so maybe I'm not the best judge). My husband loved this on me as well, so I will definitely be ordering a full bottle, possibly right now.

A perfect, lovely, gleaming red apple whose sweetness masks a swirl of narcotic opium, oleander, and hemlock. In the imp: Murky, sour apple. I can totally understand why it's "poisoned", because it smells a little scary. Wet: APPLE APPLE APPLE. Nothing but apple, and then after about 5 minutes, something that smells a bit like the "Apple Dumplin'" doll (I think that was her name--she was one of Strawberry Shortcake's friends) I had as a kid. This is not a bad thing. After a few more minutes, the scent "matures" and is apple with... something floralish. I'm guessing I am picking up on the opium now, but since I'm not really sure what hemlock and oleander smell like, I don't really know. Dry: Incensey, floral apple. I will totally wear this, and it's probably going on the big-bottle list.

In the bottle: Um... spices and... chocolate? Wet: Sort of smells like The Candy Butcher does on me, at first. Light floral with chocolate. It quickly changes to something smokier, and I think I am smelling... maybe musk and autumn leaves? I am having a hard time pinning down this scent, but it's very pretty. Dry: On me, the drydown for this one seems to be faster than it is with most scents. Maybe it's because it's (obviously) well-aged. It's not as sharp on me as it seems to be on some people; it's mostly light florals and musk. It does still have a smoky note to it, but it's very subtle. I ca see how it would be reminiscent of fall, and it seems to work on me.

In the imp: Florals and... pine? Wet: It's not pine, but there is definitely a sharp smell that I can't pin down. Almost no floral, though, on me. The sharpness disappears/blends in very quickly, and there is now a smell that is maddenly familiar to me, but I can't pin it down. Something I think I associate with my childhood, not unpleasant, but not necessarily perfume-related. I'm pretty sure that this is the same note or combination of notes that other reviewers are associating with "cola". Anyway, it smells different but good. As it's drying more, I can also smell the sweet note that people are associating with bubble gum. I still can't figure out what this reminds me of, though. Dry: I have no idea what this smells like, kinda of incesey, but it's pretty enough that I would wear it again. It's not really wowing me at the moment, but I will probably end up buying a full bottle just because I have ended up loving all of the Voodoo Blends once I wore them once or twice. I will wear this to work today and let you know if I notice any of the "voodoo" effects.

In the imp: Either very floral or very herbal, and I'm not sure which yet. Maybe a teensy undertone of clove or carnation. Wet: The amount that this oil changes once it is on my skin (in a relatively short period--maybe 10 minutes at most) is kind of crazy. When I first put it on, it is very herbal, with what I swear smells like parsley. I'm sure it's probably really pine, but I swear it smells like parsley to me. However, within about 10 minutes it has become a very light floral. It sort of reminds me of the most recent Pink Moon, and the fact that it's described as "funereal" flowers coupled with the scent makes me think that this is a lily note. Dry: This gets a little bit of a smoky quality as it dries, but it's still mostly light florals on me. Pretty, but not necessarily standout. I like it, but I'm not sure I need it. I would at least use up the imp I have, but I don't know if I'd buy more.

Uncontrollable passion and insatiable sexual desire: red musk, patchouli, ylang ylang and myrrh. In the imp: Musk, along with something else sweet. In the imp: More musk. It smells yummy, but where the heck is the patchouli? I don't know what ylang-ylang smells like. My skin tends to make a lot of things convert into a soft musklike smell after a while anyway, so I am guessing it probably also amps actual musk. We shall see what happens on the drydown. As it dries down, it definitely goes a bit more floral (is that what ylang-ylang smells like?), but only slightly. Oh okay, and I think I smell the patchouli a bit now as well. Oh okay, and here is the myrrh now, too. Dry: This scent is sweet and spicy and incredibly well-blended. It's way too early in the morning for me to tell if it's going to be an arousing one for me, but I would definitely wear it. I am starting to think that almost every BPAL works with my skin chemistry. Oh, my poor wallet!

In the imp: Something like pine or patchouli, with an undertone that's sweet and almost foody. Wet: Definitely patchouli, and a wood-like note as well, which I assume is the teak. The foody note disappears or blends in pretty quickly, but there is still a tang of something that smells a little like lemon (the neroli mentioned in the description?). After about 10 minutes, the black musk makes an appearance. My skin seems to be having a field day with this fragrance, first amping one note for a while, than another, then another. After a while, I notice that the foody note that I noticed at the beginning seems to be back a bit. This is gorgeously complex on me. Dry: I can't even begin to describe what this smells like dry, but it's so lovely I can hardly stand it. It's a bit of everything, really. Yet another fragrance that I'm going to need in a full bottle, and soon.

In the imp: Cherry cough syrup. I almost didn't want to try it after I sniffed it. Wet: Morphed quickly from cherry cough syrup to... cookies? Not quite, but something cookielike, I think. After 5 or 10 minutes, I definitely smell the leather. This is my first time trying anything with a leather note in it, and I think I like it. As it's drying, it seems to be blending really well, fruits and florals with that undertone of leather. I'm actually getting sort of excited sniffing it, it's really sexy. Dry: Sort of smells like candied plums and leather. Yummy!

The Hummingbird of Love, the Rose Sucker. A potent, benevolent, merciful love blend. In the imp: Florals. I'm not very good at picking up smells from within the imp, but I'd be tempted to say rose since this is "the rose sucker". Wet: Honeysuckle, but it seems like it might have some thing spicy underneath it, something like cloves. The spice goes away within about 5 minutes, and this starts to take on the soapy (but pleasant) smell I get from Come To Me. I remember that I thought I smelled honeysuckle with that one initially, too, so I am guessing that the two blends have similar notes. Maybe the honeysuckle note is what goes sopay on me, but it's not a bad soapy, it's a high-quality luxurious soap type of soapy. Dry: Unlike Come To Me, which retains a very "clean" (and still soapy) scent at drydown, this seems to dry down to rose on me. There is still an element of that soapy note, but I liked that smell in Come To Me and I like it in this one, too. I will have to give it some time to determine whether its stated effects seem to be appearing, but it definitely smells pretty. Edited to Add: I did feel nice and calm, and rather lovey today when I wore this. Also, after about an hour this smelled almost like pure rose on me, and it was gorgeous. For such a light floral, it does seem to have good staying power, and it got the husband seal of approval. I must be the only person here who has actually liked every single Voodoo Blend she has tried. Looks like another full-bottle purchase will be in my near future.

This was sent to me in a mystery imp pack by one of our lovely forumites. In the imp: This sort of has that "standard commercial perfume sample" smell in the imp, only without that headachy feel those give me. And with a woody undertone. Sorry, my nose is probably ignorant. Wet: This definitely has whatever note it was in Mandrake that made it smell strongly of pencil shavings. However, with Mandrake that's ALL it was on me, whereas this one has some very interesting herbal accents to it. After about 5 minutes, it's interesting because if I press my nose to my wrist, I smell mostly wood (which is smelling less like pencil shavings as time progresses), but the throw from this is very aftershave-y, like Old Spice or Aqua Velva (not sure which, but something my dad or grandpa used to use). Like one of those, only without the alcohol odor. This is not a bad thing. Dry: I'm not sure that the drydown is entirely finished, but this is the first oil I've tried so far where the throw is *drastically* different from what I smell when I sniff my wrist. The throw is sweet and herbal, still reminiscent of aftershave but definitely not JUST LIKE IT. I have a feeling that if I were less ignorant of the particular notes or had actually smelled commercial aftershave in the last decade it wouldn't really remind me of it, it just must have a similar note that gives me the same feeling. Because I think those aftershaves have heavy astringents, and that's not what I smell here at all. But I don't know what the common notes are, so aftershave it is. Oh, but anyway (sorry, it's early) if I sniff my wrist it's still basically ALL WOOD, ALL THE TIME. So weird, but I actually think I really like this one. This is not one I would have expected to like, and I really only had it on my wishlist because wearing a perfume called "Greed" tickled my fancy and I wanted to test the theory that I really do like patchouli even though I thought I hated it all these years. I will totally wear this again. Thumbs up! Edited to add: The more this dries down, the better this smells. Beth, did you put crack in this?

In the imp: Very sweet... almost too sweet, because of the floral-with-something-odd-underneath it way in which it's sweet. Sort of like some potpourri I remember from when I was a kid. I'm not sure I'm going to like this. Wet: At first it smells just like it did in the imp, but after about 5 minutes the weird note (which I have decided is almost fruity-smelling) subsides and it smells like the desciption--sugared flowers. I'm sort of scared of florals because of the way commercial floral perfumes can be so overwhleming, but this is soft, sweet, and pretty. Dry: This is light, spicy, and sweet. I've figured out that the weird note when I first sniffed this in the imp reminds me of cloves, which I see from a little digging around is probably from the carnation note. I didn't realize that carnations were "spicy", but now that this blend has had a chance to bond with my skin a bit more, I do like it. It does have an almost lotion-y smell to it, but it's pretty and I would wear it again. I'm not sure I need to go out of my way to look for a full bottle, but I'll definitely keep using the imp.

I got an imp of this today from another forumite (thanks). In the bottle: All I can smell is a very faint sweet smell. Wet: For a second when I'm putting it on, this smells just like Bliss to me--strong chocolate scent, almost nutty. However, almost immediately I start to notice an almost floral undertone. After about 5 minutes, florals are all I smell. I haven't read anyone else's reviews yet, so I have no idea if I'm the only one to get florals from this, but the description definitely did not mention flowers. It's not unpleasant, it's just sort of odd because I was expecting chocolate and cream. This blend seems to stay wet for a longer time than most other ones do on me, but it's also that time of month so maybe I'm wonky. Also, this has way more throw on me than anything else I've tried so far, but I think that might also be due to the aforementioned circumstances. After about 10 or 15 minutes, the floral has backed down a bit and it's now sort of a mixture of florals and some kind of candy. It has a chocolatey scent to it, and I can smell a little creaminess to it, but it's not really all foody. It's pretty, though. Dry: Basically, the floral and candy scents have blended into something that while it was totally not what I expected, is gorgeous on me. I only tried a tiny bit of this on my wrist, which pretty much eats perfume, but this seems to have good throw on me. I plan to wear this to work tomorrow, and if I still like it I will totally be buying a bottle of it. I love this!

I received this as a frimp on my first imp order. I'm not sure I would have ordered of my own volition, but that's part of the fun of frimps, right? I am the type who will try on ANY blend, just to see if I like it (even if I don't like the smell in the imp). In the bottle: Dirt and grass. Wet: Dirt and grass, but only the tiniest whiff of grass. I have heard of "dirt" notes in BPAL scents, but still being a major newb, I had never smelled one until now. After about 5 minutes on my skin, this starts to smell like something I recognize, but I can't for the life of me place it at first: wood mixed with something else. When I read through some of the other reviews on here, it hits me: pencil shavings. It smells just like pencil shavings. Dry: It still pretty much smells like pencil shavings to me. It's not really unpleasant, but I doubt I'd wear it as a perfume. I can't decide if this just doesn't work with my body chemistry, or if my nose is too unsophisticated to understand it. Either way, I don't think it's for me. (edited to fix typos)

I tried this today, at work. In the bottle: Soap. Not yucky soap, but as someone else said in an earlier review, that milled soap that smells nice (but still like soap). On me, initially: Still soap. Maybe soap with lemon. Dry: Well, this pretty much kept on smelling like soap with maybe a little lemon for a good 45 minutes to an hour. At which point, it started to smell like soap with maybe... honeysuckles? Not what I'd normally choose as a perfume, but not unpleasant either, and something I might actually wear now that I've tried it. I'm not sure about the intentions. People are usually nice to me at my office, and people have to "come to me" for help with a variety of things on a regular basis. I'm not sure if I'd notice the difference one way or the other, now that I think about it. I don't think I've quite got the hang of this intention thing just yet, but at least it's not like the time (last weekend) when I wore Queen to hang out with my parents. Ew ew ew. Verdict: Would wear again, and might even order a larger bottle of this one. Edited to add: I wore this again a couple of days ago, and this is definitely going to end up being a big-bottle purchase for me as the husband LOVES it and it has excellent throw and staying power on me.

I received this as a freebie from the Lab on my first order (which I just got last week, and I've now tried almost all of it, weeeeee). In the imp, this totally smelled like cherry cough syrup to me. I am pretty sensitive to the smell of anise, and I was pretty sure I could smell that. This made me a bit worried, because the time I tried Queen, it had an anise-y smell that made me feel a little sick (although it's possible that was due to circumstances that day and not an inherent aversion to anise). So when I put this on, I only used about half the amount I would normally put on. On me, it retained the cough syrup smell for all of 2 seconds before going almost totally anise. In spite of my fears, this wasn't horribly unpleasant, although I'm not sure I would like to smell like nothing but anize for 6-8 hours. Fortunately, after a few minutes I realized that I didn't *really* smell just of anise, because I began to recognize what must be the red musk peeking through. I think red musk works really well for me, as it was very subtle and not overpowering at all. After the first hour or so, this became subtle but still smellable, mostly red musk but with a good bit of anise and a tiny hint of cherry. I was really surprised that I liked this as much as I did, and it got the husband seal of approval as well (though I'm not sure as yet how developed his sense of smell is, or if he just says I smell good whenever I wear perfume). I will try this again today, in a more normal amount, but I think this may even be a big-bottle purchase just because it's so different from what I would have expected to like. And I think red musk may be a winner on me--it just seems to blend with my skin in a way that most things don't. ETA: If you have seen my other reviews, you might remember that I have mentioned that just about *everything* goes a bit musky or powdery on me by the end. All of the foody scents I've tried so far do it, although not necessarily in a bad way. Well, one reason that I think red musk might be a really good note for me is that this fragrance did not go powdery at all, and did not become intensely musky. The musk was there, but in a much more subtle and blended way than the musky fragrance that my own skin apparently likes to produce when it reacts with perfumes for several hours.

I wore this to work today. In the bottle, it smelled like... spicy herbs? I didn't get the grapey smell that everyone else mentioned. After I had it on for 30 minutes or so, it did start to smell a bit more grapey, but I'd still say the herbals were more powerful. This leveled off to a spicy herbal with hints of grape after 45 minutes to an hour, and then seemed to stay more or less the same until 6 or 7 hours later when I noticed that I smelled sort of... floral (but not in a bad way, and I don't always like florals). The smell on its own wasn't anything that wowed me, but it was pleasing enough and not something that seems likely to offend others around me. As for the stated effects, I did notice that I felt almost giddy for the first hour or so after I got to my office. This didn't exactly help me to be more productive, but it did make me feel social, which is something that's much more difficult for me than just managing my workload. I can totally see how this could have the advertised effects under the proper circumstances--there wasn't any real reason for me to need it today, I just liked the idea of it so much I thought I'd test-drive it. I would definitely wear this one again, and I'm going to consider it as a potential big-bottle purchase later, depending on how future test runs turn out.

In the bottle, my first impression was that it smelled sort of like... grandma? On me, initially, it was grandma and maybe soap. After 5 or 10 minutes, it started to smell like... licorice? Anise? I'm not very good at this. Then it went sort of powdery on me but still smelled like... I think anise. I used this sparingly because I wasn't sure I would like the smell. Edited because I re-tried this blend yesterday... I don't know why, but this time, it was totally different on me. Maybe it's because it was that time of month this time, but if so, I need to buy a full bottle of this just to wear that time of month. It smelled really pretty--sort of musky (and a little powdery or incense-y, but in a good way), sexy and commanding, like the name implies. I also noticed increased confidence and mental clarity all day while wearing it. My husband liked it, too.