LadyLuckDoubt

(I was frimped with this when I bought a bottle of War from Strangemodgirl: thankyou SO much!) In the Imp Warm, delicious amber and woods. It's making me think of a brighter version of The Antikythera Mechanism, which I absolutely adore. I knew I'd love this when I saw the description. (It was on my WL even though I couldn't get in on a decant circle with it-- I was always planning on getting a bottle.) On Me Oh, hello gorgeous! You wanna kill me? Sure, go ahead, anything you like, m'dear. This is amazing: decadent and beautiful, and increasingly complex the longer it stays on my skin. Yep, there's still the amber note dominating, and the teak, but other, more subtle influences are hanging around, too-- the sandalwood in combination with the other stuff means that it's there and detectable, but it's muted a fair bit: it isn't that earthy sandalwood I'm used to, but a polished, sexy sandalwood. I haven't placed the carnation, but I'm wondering if it's doing its job quietly and behind the scenes, and just helping balance everything out. The overall effect? It's warm and playful and lush, but also insanely beautiful. I'm glad I got to try the decant, and glad I ordered a bottle. There is, of course, a possibility of me getting backup bottles up the wazoo here, because I suspect it'll age beautifully, too.

In the Imp Blue florals, with a hint of beeswax. Pretty. On Me It doesn't change that much-- I'm detecting lilac and bluebells and beeswax still-- thankfully the ginger isn't kicking my arse, and it's all very balanced and pretty and sweet. There's lily in there, and I love lily. It smells delightfully innocent (which I love, particularly with Marcilla's artwork!) and very soft and girly. But it's different-- I don't see many blue-florals around, and I'm loving it based on the novelty of that alone. I'm buying a bottle, because I'll be kicking myself if I don't after it's gone.

In the Bottle Yummy, creamy chocolatey goodness. Softer and warmer and not as intense as, say, The Candy Butcher, though, and not quite as innocent as Bliss. This shall be interesting... On Me Oh, man. This smells like heaven and sex and a nice warm blanket all at once. It pretty much stays that way on me, too-- something is seriously working here. I find it very feminine, but with an edge which a lot of women's perfumes don't possess-- that must be my old friend vetiver working its wonders. The chocolate isn't bitter or sickly or weird-- it smells damn near edible, and I'm sure that's the vanilla doing its thing with it. And there's a smokiness, too, which I love-- it's note a nasty incense smoke, either-- I can't quite describe it-- it's a complex, grey, ashen smoke, if that makes sense. But not a "recent" smoke reminiscent of camp fires-- it's more like ash that's been around for a long, long time, and it isn't overly noticable, either-- but it's there and it polishes off this scent beautifully. Honestly, this is absolutely stunning. I want to huff my wrist and then make out with it and fall asleep next to it and make it a damn fine breakfast the next morning. Seriously-- Ahhhhh-mazing.

In the Imp Leather notes and lemon, with a beautiful teak undertone. Yum. On Me Initially I get the leather-- it's shiny, patent leather, though, and the lemon is making itself known, but the woods aren't. I kill wood notes! What does it actually smell like on me? A fetish shop which has had citrussy air freshener sprayed around in it. For about an hour or two, then, it's vanished entirely. I'm disappointed: I have a New York obsession and this just didn't work on me. I SO wanted it to, too.

In the Bottle A soft blend of something dark and close to chocolate, softened with vague citrus and rice water. I suspect that's the tonka doing its magic. On Me Amp city, d00d! The initial throw is intense-- I feel like the entire bus can smell it on me. It's rich and chcolatey with grapefruit-- white grapefruit DEFINITELY-- it's a cold, bitter note. As it dries down, the chocolate note vanishes-- I'm wondering if there are a few ingredients common with Bitter Moon in here, because they smell very similar-- but this is colder and the florals are drier. In a couple of hours, it's a dusty dry floral with a waft of grapefruit making things interesting. It's perfect for the concept. I'm SO glad I got some of this. Particularly glad that I got a bottle of it, actually.

In the Imp Smells a bit cologney and leathery. I could actually care less what it smells like-- the concept is cool and I'm going out. On Me Wow: talk about a complimentary leather: it works on me. Seriously, it's warm, and it's sexy and it's... strong. It doesn't morph a great deal, either, but it stays there, and it's extremely cool-- it's tough and amazing and damn: I feel confident wearing this stuff. And it would have broken my heart if it didn't work (as Wanda failed to) because, hello-- excellent concept. Who DOESN'T want to smell like the Finnish goddess of sadism? Also, I got a compliment on it. I think I really really need a bottle.

I think you've got to slather a bit, or wear strong ones: your Bvlgari and other normal perfumes come in a spray bottle, right? So one squirt is pre-measured out in a way-- it's not like BPAL where you can wear a toothpick-tip amount if you like. Twilight is pretty and has pretty good throw. Smells like Joy, too. Snake Oil is strong, everyone loves it and it's sexeh and reminds me of Poison. The ones I've gotten compliments on are... there are a few, and the compliments are often from people hugging me and smelling it. Corazon, though-- nope-- the girls at my local nail salon were all "YUM!" about it. If you're really worried they don't like it, maybe go, "Hey, guys, I bought this perfume the other day... what do you think?" and see what they say. If you make out that it's something only recent, they might be a bit more honest. Another thing, is maybe they're used to the Bvlgari and they're subconsciously associating it with you. and every time they see you, they smell "your" smell and think, "Mmmm! It's Denise! Good times!"

In the Bottle GROSS. Seriously-- it smells like mouldy, slimy grey dishwater. Not only am I debating applying it, I'm thinking "remind yourself why you bought this in the first place." On Me It takes awhile to settle down, but when it does, it's warm, almost nutty and fruity-- that's the fig. And the musk lies just underneath that. Huffing my wrists on the tram this afternoon, I'm thinking, "Damn, this is good stuff." At one stage, it goes absolutely STUNNING on me-- regal (as others have said) and expensive and just utterly divine. I agree that it's going to age well when I smell it like this: wow. A few hours later, not much is left, but there's a slightly figgy, smoky, musky scent lingering very lightly. It's weird and it changes, but there are some beautiful moments. The opening act is pretty revolting to me, though.

In the Bottle Metallics-- brassy-like metallics, and a hint of lemon verbana. On Me Initially it smells pretty much the same-- it's reminding me of Kataniya to a level-- I'm getting the almost garagey grease-smell combined with the metals. Underneath, there's soft citrussy ozone, but it's hard to place exactly what's in it. It's got a decent life to it, though, and good throw-- Thursday night is my "going out for drinks with friends" night, and just about everyone commented on it!

Upon Opening Smells strong and like everyone else has said, a combination of lavendar, clove and cinnamon. Using It I didn't have a lot of time and quiet space to actually do anything ritually with it-- school holidays, kids running around, etc, but had planned on getting some work done on one particular piece I'm writing. Funnily enough, the previous night, I'd worn LaFlamme (for an entirely different purpose!) and woke up with ideas for the thing I'm working on. (And yes, they were sexeh ideas!) What I did was dab a little HoH on my fingertips, and rub them briskly together, concentrated, and inhaled, thinking about what I was hoping to get done. My main hope was to "get back on the horse" as I've neglected that poor fic for awhile. Anyway, I had about 45 minutes, and I got a bit of writing done. Despite my sons racing around the house and being obnoxious-- I found HoH REALLY good for focussing and concentrating on a creative level. I love the scent, too-- that's a bonus-- but as a magickal oil, I'm curious about how it'll work with a bit more planning and ritual. I'm already thinking that I'd like to curl up in my study, on the couch with my laptop and a big cup of tea, and just write while I have some HoH in an oil burner.

I haven't read the entirity of this thread, but I got rashiness from... Inferno. (Well named one, that!) But only on my throat, for some reason. I washed it off, and then applied makeup removal cream to the area-- I think the oiliness in there did what a carrier oil would have done and lightened it up a bit, and it stopped the burny sensation. I've noticed, too, different times I get different reactions. Phoenix Steamworks made me slightly itchy the other night, yet when I applied it today, I had absolutely no dramas. I suspect for me (I don't usually get allergies to ANYTHING-- my skin is like leather!) it wasn't so much as the oil, but the oil in combination with other stuff-- maybe things I'd eaten or drunk or what-have-you.

In the Bottle Light and fruity, strikes me as very subtle. I'm getting pear and maybe some apple and a sweet floral. CUte. On Me Initially, a burst of pear and then apple. LOTS of suagr. Then things calm down, and somehow I'm left with a sweetened, caramalised apple dusted with cinnamon and cardamon. It's gorgeous and I'm huffing my wrist. I'm not getting guava or bubblegum at ALL, though. Doesn't bother me, because what I got, I LOVE, but... weird.

In the Imp Hmm... what's this? I thought I was going to adore this-- it's just a smudge of dirt and some moss. Mayeb a HINT of florals, but I expected more. On Me Hey, roses! Roses with a sharpness of something else-- I'm guessing it's that mossy note. And there's a soft, sweet coconut coming through a little-- though the roses, doing what it always does on me-- is amped so high you've really gotta look for other notes. That said, this isn't the same as other rose blends: there's a dark sweetness to this blend-- it's definitely not innocent.

In the Bottle A weird green mismatched blend of who-the-heck-knows what. Seriously, I have no idea: I'm getting a light grassy smell and just this...s trange blend of other stuff. On Me Initially, it smells almost fungal. Seriously, like rotten mushrooms. The musk and ginger vy for dominance, and then out comes the patchoulli. Oh dear: patchoulli and I aren't friends. But it dries down and the patchoulli behaves itself-- I'm left with a smokey, warm musky blend. A few hours later-- musk and honeysuckle. It's pretty when it dries down-- not at ALL what I expected for something alled War-- very light and sweet-- but rather nice all the same.

In the bottle Softly warm and ambery, with a cologney zing and some quiet florals. This is pretty and demure. On Me Ooh, yum: this is a regal, glistening combination: the amber takes a backseat, for once, and the orange is warped by the florals, making it quite hard to tell what's what. I picked lilac, and I picked orange (but not as sweet and citrussy as standard orange) and what I suspect is the ambergris giving out the cologneyness. A few hours later, bye-bye ambergris, it's floral city with a twist of orange. Interesting morph, and a very pretty, fresh perfume.

In the Imp Masculine, astringent and cologney and with a hint of lime-- YUM! On Me Hey, check this out-- I apparently amp lime. It goes on, and it loses a fair bit of its darkness and maleness-- it turns into Te Po and Blue Fire's limey green sibling. The throw is great, and I smell fabulous-- not to mention, the life of this stuff-- it lasts AGES on me. Towards the end of the day, it smells remarkably similar to the Coke Zero I'm drinking, which is freakish and cool. I think I still want a bottle, but I want to try L'Heure Verte first to see how they compare. Note-worthy: Interestingly enough, my son tried some of this, and it disappeared on him in about three seconds. Seriously: no smell at ALL-- he was a bit disappointed, and I was just tripped out.

In the Imp Soft, barely-noticable florals with green tea. VERY faint. On Me Oooh! Hello chrome! It's fresh, slick chrome with a dusting of florals-- lemongrass, maybe, and lily of some description. But the chrome is the dominant note for me, the throw is great, and this is so damned pretty that I want to go swimming in it. It's strange, but it's also really elegant-- the chrome note gives it that "Just what the heck is IN here?" quality, and it's in a good way-- it smells expensive and decadent, though otherworldly, like it just turned up here from outer space. I've never smelt anything like it before, and it's so beautiful and well-blended that it's surreal. I love it. Am SO ordering a bottle (as I suspected I would when I first saw it.)

In the Imp Hmm, let's give this a go: it's light and fresh and I can detect lily in there and I'm about to head off to work. Somewhat fresh and floral, but not particularly green-- it's pretty and inoffensive and light. On Me FLORAL AMP! Awesome: it comes out of its shell on me-- even though I'm getting a cold again, I can smell glorious, beautiful flowers. It's like... don't laugh at me-- it makes me think of when I was a little kid and altar serving after we'd had flowers in the church: calla lilies and white roses and orchid. They're dignified church flowers, but they go loud and awesome on me, and... just... wow.

Metallic notes with Indian musk, tobacco flower, and African balsam. In the Bottle Somewhat cologney and thick-smelling, I'm getting ozonic notes with vetiver and balsalm. On Me Stays pretty much the same. It's lovely-- and the metallicness is coming through on this quite strong-- very brassy and cool. I'm not getting much in the way of florals, but I don't mind: I like it for what I'm getting here. It's not soft and pretty, but it's not meant to be, and there are other steampunk scents for that. This is TOTALLY the fragrance I'd wear out if I was going for a steampunk look, too. Moreso than any of the others I've tried. It's a strong, loud, very cool and unisex fragrance-- and I don't regret getting myself a bottle at all.

In the Imp It smells foody and warm-- not at ALL what I expected, so I wondered if my nose was playing up thanks to too much booze and too many cigarettes over the years. Nope, my partner agrees with me. He sniffs and goes, "Mmmm-- that smells very foody, doesn't it?" Reminds me of a slightly more fruity version of Drink Me. On Me Okay, BPAL often tends to morph like no one's business on me, and goes to strange extremes-- but this is one of the most extreme and weird ones I've witnessed. Within minutes, I'm wondering why I thought it was foody at all-- it's a light, breezy, and very pretty floral. Soft lotus and a pale, crystalline jasmine (not that "Oi! Get in my way and I will FUCK YOU UP!" jasmine from Twilight, gawd love it) with a sweetness that I'm suspecting is the acai berry. And something reminiscent of bluebells. This is extremely feminine and very very pretty. Of course I want to find out what it smells like on boys now. And yes, I plan on finding out, because I'm planning on snagging a bottle.

In the Imp Hmm! Smells warm. Maybe floral. I knew I wanted to try this for ages and can't quite remembr why-- it doesn't stand out when opened, but what the hey... On Me ARRRRRRGH! Fucken A! This was why I wanted to try it: it's amber and musk and the throw is amazing and damn, this is sexy perfume and I feel like an absolute goddess wearing it. Partner says there's flowers in there. I'm not sure. Let's check the BPAL website-- I'm right. After a few minutes, there's a faint paperbarky smell appearing underneath the musk and the amber, but largely, it's amber and black musk dominating, and it smells regal, sexeh and utterly divine. I want to bathe in this stuff.

In the Bottle Ew! Cherry-flavoured kids' cough syrup. Gross. On Me Wow: this changes, and quickly. Initially smelling this, I was thinking, "Why the hell did I want to try this in the first place?", upon application it morphs. In place of the cherry cough syrup, there's this dark sophisticated, and extremely well-blended perfume which falls together so beautifully and effortlessly that it's really hard to pick the notes. This smells high-end and decadent, darkly intense and lovely-- but it's taking me ages to work out wtf is in it. At a guess, I'm going to go with purples, hence the name. I'm sure there's some variety of violet lurking around, and possibly lilac. There's sage, there's a fruitiness, and some variant of amber. Perhaps, keeping with the purple theme, there are berries of some variety-- but they're not your regular sweet ones-- there's a sharpness there, too. And damn, it's nice. It lasts a long time, too. The throw is quiet, but it's one of those lovely sniff-your-wrist-for-a-pick-me-up scents, and was a nice choice for a fairly dull night at work because I had ample opportunities to do the wrist-sniff without anyone thinking I was nuts. (Ahhh, night shift!) I now want a bottle of this. I can see myself wearing this to formal occasions and when I want to feel sophisticated and gorgeous!

In the Bottle No idea what the heck is happening here-- I'm getting a dry, musty smelling scent which is almost fungal in nature. This reminds me of Destroying Angel. No loud proud strong vetiver, and no violets. On Me Okay, we have violets which have been growing in a dank, airless attic. This is making me sad-- the mustiness is really off-putting for me, and makes me sad for the violets, because I love violet and this and my skin chemistry is just not doing them justice. I'm totally not getting any vetiver, either, or anything else: just mustiness and violets, and the violets don't dominate, either. Looks like I've found a BPAL which doesn't like me. This makes me sad: I love both vetiver and violets and assumed this would be a winner for me.

In the Bottle Sweet milk chocolate. Really good stuff, too. The temptation to bite into the imp is amazing. On Me Ahh-- now I see why they're saying "chocolate milk." Because that's what it's doing on my skin: something's gone creamy-milky on me. And... wow. I don't remember chocolate milk smelling like this since I was a little kid. Creepy-weird-sentimental-nostalgia alert here, folks. Seriously. This reminds me of being in school tuckshops when I was a schoolkid... even though I wasn't big on drinking milk anyway. Just... wow. I'm still tripped out by the accuracy of this on my skin tone. I keep smelling my wrists and being tripped out by it.

In the Bottle Sweet, syrupy chocolate, making me think of chocolate icecream topping mixed with brown sugar. On Me Pretty much the same thing. It doesn't smell as "wet" after awhile, but slightly more powdery, has a great throw and a decent life on my skin. My partner thinks I smell "yummy" and liked it. I think I smell yummy, too, even though chocolate tends to be iffy on me. It actually reminds me of Regan, with the same sort of intensity and charming-without-being-cloying sweetness. And like I said about Regan, "This smells like the chocolate note Theirry Muegler tried to do with Angel. Only it worked this time." Though this is sweeter and softer and far more childlike than Regan. It's adorable, and I need fun things to do where I can turn up smelling yummy.