LadyLuckDoubt

In the Bottle A wet, yummy combination of dry, crisp berries, and a hint of flowers, and a subtle, suede-like leather. It's ALMOST cologney. Almost. On Me What happened here? The leather-- GONE. There's wood popping out-- now I smell like tart woodiness, and florals-- rose and something else-- is there carnation hanging around?-- and that's it. The cologney smell has vanished entirely, and it's not at all unpleasant, just not what I expected. It's also very subtle, then again, I was wearing this when I had a cold, so I mightn't have picked up on the scent too well, but I reapplied it a few times. My six-year-old son thinks it smells nice on me, though.

In the Bottle OMFG! I can smell beeswax! This is so cool! I love beeswax and wanted To Helen just because of it-- and it's in here too, and just YAY. I can detect something strong and astringent-- I assume this is the balsam or the 'balm-- there's a slightly lemony hint, but it's not cute, sweet lemon, it's a cold and intense lemon, just the way I like it. On Me Interesting. This is like The Antikythera Mechanism's more serious and less soft big brother. After a bit on my skin, the astringentness goes away and I've got beeswax and frankincense as well as a coppery, metallic edge and something really woody. But it's a dark wood-- teak again? Maybe. It's a compliment-getter, too. My BPAL-curious friends think it smells nice on me and I got asked by someone "Mmm... what BPAL is THAT!?" (in a positive way) by someone not-BPALy. My six year old son likes it, too. It doesn't have a REALLY long life and an intense throw on me, which doesn't bother me greatly because, hey, it's a GC, and I can just apply it when I need to. I swear, I freaking LOVE this, and huzzah for the Steampunkies. No joke, I'm buying bottles of this stuff unsniffed, and they have, so far, ALL worked for me.

In the Bottle Soft green florals with a hint of wood. VERY subtle. On Me First time I wore this, I had a cold, and I couldn't smell much barring the slightly woody note which I think is either cedar or teak. What I could smell, though, I liked, though I couldn't smell it for long. The second time I wore it was tonight, and here's what happened... First off-- it amps. I'm getting the woody coming through loudly, but also a lovely dirt smell, and underneath that, white florals-- lily and daphne and baby's breath. Gorgeous. Everything tones down though-- first to go is the dirt (AW!), then the wood REALLY amps-- a few hours later, I'm left with a faint echo of woody astringentness, and the lovely flowers. This is gorgeous-- not at all silly or absurd, either, IMHO-- it's a very sensible yet individual fragrance, and yep, it worked on me. Pity it isn't that strong, though, because I want to slather it, and unfortunately, I only have one bottle. Also: I'm kicking myself for a) not ordering a few bottles when it came out, and not ordering the Tshirt. I LOVE the bottle art on this one.

In the Imp WHOA! A strong, very foody scent-- there's that cakey smell and cardamon. Yummy. I'm iffy on the cakey smell, though: this note can go extremely nasty on me. On Me Not bad at all! Cinnamon's nice and loud, the cakiness is under control. It's got a decent throw and a good life on it. I'm not sure if it's me, but it certainly isn't bad. I love it in the imp, and it's cute-- I don't think I need a bottle though I'm pleased that I got to try it.

In the Imp A confusing mix of leather and wine and something a tad dusty. On me Oh, terrible tormentor, why do you do this to me? And that's not meant in a good way. From the moment I apply Wanda (and I applied it as a bedtime scent) all I got was this hideous stench of rotting meat on my wrists. I kept hoping it would morph and do something else, but it didn't-- it dulled in intensity, and in the morning, my pillow smelt leathery and kind of all right, but on me? Wanda's fragrance doesn't agree with me at all.

The Lab kindly frimped me, and this was most awesome because I've been wanting to try this for AGES. In the Imp Florals-- jasmine of some description and a deep smokey violet, and spices and resins. Purdy, very feminine-- not really what I expected. On Me I amp the jasmine and-- is there rose in here, too? I love it. It's got a sandy, earthy edge to it, somewhat dry but without being too weird or boring. Initially the throw is strong, but it calms down: a few hours later I still have it and it does down to something smelling like equal parts jasmine, rose, and red wood of some type. I can't believe how floral this is! Still, it's very pretty, and the herbs or the wood or whatever we've got going on don't make it an entirely floral blend. I may buy a bottle-- it's not as pressing as some others, but still, this is lovely.

I bought a bottle unsniffed because: a) Steampunk, Spiders! c) Rose and red wine! In the Bottle Roses with a dark, smokey, sexy edge, which is probably the pinot noir, and possibly-- violet? A dark geranium? I'm not sure, but it's floral. Yep, I'm going to love this. On Me Moist, lush dark red roses. They're sexy roses, too, playful and delicious and loud, but there's a hint of something intense bubbling under the surface. But... I amp rose. I'm really not picking up anything else, though I can distinguish that this isn't quite the same rose as, say, The Atrocious Attic (dusty and pretty), Love In The Asylum (smokey and cold) or Peacock Queen (Fresh-cut and dewy roses which smell utterly natural). Yes, there is something metal in here some-fucking-where, but it doesn't jump out at me. It's like the wine: it's there and it's part of the bigger picture, but it's not the most obvious detail to spring to mind. I'm not getting the sage others speak of at all (which is funny: after trying Corazon, I thought I amped sage. Apparebtly not always). It's rose with an interesting, dark backdrop which sets the stage for it beautifully. Yep, I love it. I wore it to bed last night over Lush's rose deodorant talc and their ordinary talc (also rose scented) and you know what it made me think of? American Beauty. It's a coquetteish, but intelligent rose. And I love it. P.S. No idea where the heck the jasmine went, either: I tend to amp jasmine and jasmine tends to love me.

Yes, I bought this unsniffed. Because the idea of smelling like industrial waste was far too cool to pass up. In the Bottle No industrial waste. Just a single note of vetiver- being a vetiver lover, this doesn't upset me though it's not totally what I expected. There's too much green and warmth for industrial waste. On Me This is Malediction!lite. It doesn't have that same loud fieryness that Malediction has, making it a LOT more subtle and inoffensive, and there's a dryness that comes through after awhile. The notes I'm identifying first off are vetiver, then there's something woody and smokey-- I'd say cypress at a guess, and then there's a bitter, harsh-but-hard-to-pick-out note which reminds me of a cheap gin and tonic. Combined, though: not bad at all, but not at all coal and creosite. After less than an hour, it's all but gone, or my nose has adapted to it. There is a slightly lingering metallic note left over, which makes me happy. Overall-- not bad, and I'm hanging onto my bottle of course, but I did expect something more... ashy and carbony, I guess. And less green and alive, more dead and burn-offy.

My bottle of Jazz Funeral is WAAAY lemony, whereas the imp I got wasn't, and was a lot more boozy. I kinda hope the lemon ages out, because they're very different and lemon and I don't get along so well.

I think they changed it because the postage prices went up, d00d. When I first ordered an imp pack, it was one item, but I'm pretty sure it's now two, and if that's what the website is saying, I'd go with that.

I bought a bottle unsniffed, in with my Mother's Day present order. Just the concept, and the artwork, and the combination... sounded, as I said at the time-- heartbreakingly beautiful. In the Bottle Extremely medicinal tang, smells like Dettol antiseptic mixed with vertiver and a touch of Beth's lovely metallic blend. Already I've got high hopes. On Me Wow: it gets even better. The Dettol smell (which I thought was cool) has faded down, teakwood dominates, with a soft dark hue-- the black vanilla and tobacco coming through. This is lovely-- very unisex, very classy, and a natural woody smell, but sweetened slightly with the vanilla. It reminds me of a more red-toned wood Tiki King. If you missed out on the King, grab yourself some of this lovely invention-- it's utterly divine. I've been sniffing my wrists for the past hour. It's seriously very close to magic, and has instantly snagged a place as one of my happy-making comforty BPAL scents.

I love Dee on me! Sure, it's not girly, but it's PURE UNADULTERATED SEX. Amusingly enough, it makes me think of an ex of mine, even though he didn't wear any kind of scent. Frederic is fairly boyish, too, same with Doc Constantine, Isaac, Malediction, Hell's Tavern, and Fenris Wolf. I think The Ragged Wood would be amazing on guys, too. And Mechanical Phoenix, if anyone can find some, is gender neutral to the extreme, IMHO. Personally, I think everything's pretty much gender neutral, and I love vetiver, which is very "male" so nothing is taboo for me. Sometimes the "male" smelling things go sweet and girly on me-- I think Czernobog smells feminine on me, Wrath and Rage do as well. Amongst my friends, we got some Czernobog on one of the guys, and it went stale and bitter and boring on him. *sob* Things I'd personally LOVE to smell on guys? - Snake Oil - Fenris Wolf - DEE (though I might get scary!lewd if I did) - Miskatonic University - The Lion - Drink Me (no crude jokes, people) - White Rabbit - French Love - Bitter Moon - Jazz Funeral The one I know works on a male friend of mine? Wolf Moon. He used to wear it out to this club I went to and get compliments all the time. When he ran out, I went and found him a bottle.

In the Imp Nice collection of florals (some form of rose, lily and sweetpea?) with that graveyard dirty smell, and the green, dark herbs reminiscent of The Ragged Wood. Can't WAIT to try this. On Me The dirty smell lingers and I like it-- it's cold and dark, and the florals peep through making it quite solemn and yet pretty. About an hour later, though, the florals just amp. The dirty smell has gone, and it's a VERY strong floral blend, and there's a note of something plasticy popping through. It calms down eventually, but I don't get any of that dirt back-- just a jumbled, loud buzz of florals.

In the Imp Okay, this smells intense. I'm detecting the patchoulli and musk, not sure about what else is in here. On Me Initially, it smells very high-end. A friend told me it went like Poison by Dior or whoever on her, which is what got her into it. In the first fifteen minutes, it IS like that on me: only lacking the plastic note of the conventional, and it's nowhere near as "loud." I'm liking it. About half an hour later, it sweetens, and there's vanilla and musk present, with a cedar-y undertone. It's pretty, and nice, in a dark, understated sort of way, but it hasn't grabbed me to the same level as other BPALs have. It's still a bit smoky, but not too smoky. I suspect there's a touch of Dragon's Blood in there somewhere, too. All in all-- yummy and beautiful initially, and I can see why it's got the rave reviews and the obsessive devotees... I don't think I'm one of them, though.

In the Imp A dark, old worldy scent that's almost rusty and heavy on the patchoulli and amber. On Me The rustiness and the patchoulli fades, and amber pops out and makes itself visible. And it's gorgeous. It's dark and intense, and has great throw and an excellent life: on me, I've got amber, patchoulli and musk, but something else... is there a touch of vetiver in there? Maybe some vanilla, but it's a dark vanilla-- not a sweet candy plastic vanilla at all. Whatever: it's beautiful, and I'm glad I tried it. I want a bottle.

In the Imp Strawberries and cake. I'm detecting a creamy note, too-- and I'm crossing my fingers that it doesn't do what other cramy notes do on me-- go dodgy. Hellcat and Love's Philosophy were famously horrible on me because of that note, which is sad-- it smells gorgeous in the imp, and it's always seductive to me. And it usually goes hideous. But, as always-- it's so yummy. I want this to work SO effing badly! On Me Ooh! It works. Initially it's pretty much all strawberries and I'm assuming the cake has not clashed because it's been overridden. They're sweet, syrupy, sugary strawberries, with a tweak of something almost fizzy-- like Sprite's been thrown into the mix! About fifteen minutes later, the cake comes through: it's buttery, homemade cheesecake base, though the fluffiness of that Sprite-like smell makes me see the cupcake connection. And for some reason, the strawberry smell keeps everything in check. This is lovely: unfortunately it doesn't last long, so I'll slather when I have an extra-special need to smell deliciously girly, because this stuff makes me feel damn near edible. It reminds me of Knave of Hearts, only with strawberry instead of blackberry (again, I think the blackberries toned out the nasty-making cake note on me with that one), and without the roses.

In the Imp Oooh, yummy-- it's sweet but it's almost herbal, and a LOT more subtle than I thought it would be. It's a bright, delicious-looking red: perfect for the concept, and I can't wait to try it! And it's thick and oozy, but-- there's no vertiver! (Which tends to be oozy for me.) On Me The mango doesn't do what I assumed it would (I assumed it'd go CRAZY) but sits politely back so the sage and lavender contend for top dog position. And it's not quite as sweet as in the imp and as I'd thought it would be: but dammit, it's gorgeous. It's a dry, real kind of scent: almost Dragons' Blood but without the resinous bit that overrides everything. The sage gives it a woody dryness, the lavender sort of pulls everything together and stops it being too weird, strangely enough. And it's aged nicely-- I can imagine how this would have been early-- a lot perkier and probably with a louder mango note: this is beautifully balanced and just sheer awesome and amazing. I would kill for a bottle. I knew I was going to love this, and unfortunately, I do.

In the Imp The myrrh is really prominent, but there's a delicate floral undertone. Overall, it's not especially exciting to me. On Me Wow: the throw is intense. The myrrh takes a backseat for the jasmine, and there's a touch of amber and maybe violet coming through. I'm not getting the rose at all (and usually I amp rose something chronic.) Wow, too: This is nice. It's a sophisticated floral-- jaded with the dustiness of the myrrh, but not at all boring or miserable: it glows. And I can smell it on me hours afterwards-- it's beautiful. And it joins my list of needed bottles.

In the Bottle Very subtle, tangy wood scented stuff. Reminds me of those Chinese furniture import places which used to be a lot more numerous in Melbourne in the 80s. On Me Okay, this is rank. I can get the bamboo, I can get the tobacco, but it just combines nastily and smells bitter and rotting and in general, extremely unpleasant. The throw isn't so hideous that people are dropping dead around me, but honestly, I can smell it and it's just not doing nice things to me. It reminds me of when I was stupid enough to try and pick up a possum when I was 14, and I got possum-sprayed. There is a faint caramel undercurrent which I'm hoping is going to storm out and kick arse, but sadly, it doesn't. I smell like bitter, rotting bamboo which has been left in water for too long, and cat spray. I'm so sad about this: I love tobacco, I love bamboo, and the black coconut idea interested me, and none of these notes did anything nice. I did NOT get any of the pretty fruits mentioned, no spices, really, but this hideous pungent blend of nastiness. About six hours later, I've noticed something: I can't smell it anymore, but I can smell a gorgeous waft of something like Tiki King. AHHH! The black coconut! It came out of hiding once the chaos was all over. My verdict: I don't know what to do: I'd feel guilty swapping or selling this to someone (unless they truly madly deeply wanted it), but I'm not likely to wear it ever again. The black coconut at the end was lovely, but... that's why I've ordered a whole bottle of Tiki King: I get that effect instantly rather than having to sit through six hours of rotting bamboo for it.

In the Bottle Uh-OH. Reminds me of Scherazade, but with strawberries. Eeek! Very intense and incensy and "red." I'm concerned. On Me Initially very hippy-trippy, though that changes pretty quickly and things balance out. I'm left with a warm, sweet, sinfully delicious smell. I can detect the amber and the cherry, the musk is obviously there, but for me, the dominant note is the strawberry. It's very similar to Strawberry Moon-- but while Strawberry Moon smells "pink," and light, this is a heavier, darker red. VERY red. The throw's pretty good, and the life seems to be pretty long, as well. I'm almost tempted to add this to my bottle wishlist.

In the Bottle I could swear, there is vetiver in there, and it pretty much dominates everything. Which is not at all what I expected, but still, I love the 'ver, so I'm happy enough with that! I'm also getting a hint of something else-- florals-- but they're hazy and way overshadowed. On Me Can we say MORPH, ladies and gentlemen??! Seriously, this changes. What was a somewhat masculine, strong blend heavy on the vetiver (I'm assuming it was the myrrh/cypress blend?) pretty much goes, but I'm getting instead a dry rose, sugared violet, and lily. It's like it's completely reversed from what it was in the imp: there's still the warm musty myrrh, but it's now in the background instead. And damn, this is pretty and has gone to my 5ml list. (Just as I was crossing a lot of things off!!!) By the end of the day-- and yep, it has a good life on me-- I can still smell it (my partner likes it, and my oldest son likes it!) though it's changed again. It's like a tea rose with a breezy men's cologne in the background. Seductive, individual, and classy. I like it a lot. It's complicated, though, and the more it dries down, the harder it is to pick the individual notes. But yes: it's lovely.

Okay, I bought this because I was curious. I wanted to know if it smelt like the original Paris Hilton perfume, which I actually like. The notes sounded similar, and I thought the concept was a good one: good causes benefitted from the sale of the perfume, and while I don't have any major beefs with Ms. Hilton (except her irresponsible attitude towards pet ownership) like Beth said, the idea of her being able to get off scott-free because she's rich made me sick. So I've been wanting this for ages. Thankfully, I got it through DirtyPrincess on the forums-- thankyou! In the Bottle Dry, dusty florals and a sour note. On Me Initially, this is quite vile. It has this old-lady-perfume smell to it, musty and kind of gross, with an undercurrent of fine florals and a hint of something woody. This is sort of how I imagined The Atrocious Attic would smell only there's a plastic note which reminds me of the Jennifer Lopez blends. On dry-down, and it does take awhile to dry down, it's quite pretty. The dusty old-lady edge is still there, but it's not dominant any more and actually adds something to the blend. I'm getting-- I think-- ozonics of some description, oakmoss, what smells like orange water, and YES-- I was right! There IS tuberose in there. And that vague-arsed woody note-- like cedar or something... The throw's reasonably good, and the life-- well, I've only been wearing this for a few hours, but it's still there. I actually quite like it. No, it's not really like the original Paris Hilton blend-- it's more like a classier, natural version of Just Me and Heiress (and I can't stand them because they just smell musty and plastic-ish and boring-- really synthetic... and this ISN'T) combined, and I wouldn't say this is particularly youthful and girly, either. It's quite sedate and almost conservative, with an arcane sense of humour, though. The sort of perfume I can imagine one of those Katharine Hepburn types wearing.

In the Bottle Tropical florals and fruits with a dash of something dark and bitter underneath. Not sure how this is going to work on me. On Me Oh my GAWD. Something bizarre happens and this shit morphs. And it's not at all into something tropical and sweet, either, which is what I expected-- it smells like expensive shampoo I used years ago: intense and heady and very high-end. I think there's some type of orchid coming through, but there's other stuff in there. SOME kind of wood, I'm supposing, and hibiscus. All very exotic, but with a seriousness I haven't gotten from the other Tiki blends. All the others I'd wear out to a beach party-- this, though, is different. I'd slap some on before going out to a job interview or to something where I was meeting people I haven't encountered before-- it's very much a "power" blend on me. It's lovely and feminine, but at the same time, it's got some serious moxie. What amuses me, too, is that of Tiki King and the Queen... the King is a lot softer and sweeter and more "easygoing" than this. This is high-amped expensive floral intensity. A total power suit blend. (Funny, I did this review without reading the key notes, and it seems that I got the hibiscus!) Also-- I never got the banana smell someone else mentioned (which I was sort of looking forward to) and the "tropical"-ness faded down the moment it went on my skin. Nor did I get the sweet tarts/bubblegum/candy smell other people have mentioned here.

In the Imp Whoo! It's boozy, making me thing of a flavoured liquor, along the lines of Galliano or Midori or something. But very much golden. On Me The booze note goes away and I'm left with a delightfully fruity, but not overly sweet smell which matches the description. It's lovely, and I just keep wanting to sniff my arms. It lacks the crystalline fizziness of Te Po and Blue Fire, but is still very much a tropical Tiki blend. It's gorgeous.

In the Imp Sweet, light, and fruity. Reminds me a bit of what Eris eventually smelt like on my skin. On Me Very VERY subtle. Pretty much fades down the moment I put it on, though a few hours afterwards, I lose the fruitiness and there's a slightly dusty intense floral blend happening with a sharp woody note coming through.