New Scent Reviews

So, sinus season has been over for awhile, and that means it's time to get back to scent reviews. I refuse to get a new batch of BPAL imps until I've reviewed my growing collection... so I better get cracking.

BPAL IMPS

Juke Joint

Bottle: Oaky wood (nice), very very subtle mint (also nice), a sort of earthy sweet (err..interesting?)

Wet: Whiskey barrel & tobacco sweet. Kind of like Mad Sweeney, but without the pumpkin spice.

5 Min Dry: Holy Shit! It's turned to baby powder. Sickly sweet baby powder! Get if off me! Sweet Zombie Jesus, get if off me!!!

Drying: Ok, the baby powder is abating a little, at least to the point where I won't hurl. I'm getting a little more of the wood notes, but not enough to make my sniffer happy. There's also a hint of something astringent like gin, but the ever present sweet powder cock blocks the promise of alcohol.

30 min: Sweet talcum over witch hazel. I'm done. Washing it off and don't plan to reapply.


Madrid

Bottle: Mmmmm. Smells like red. Candy red, like a big shiny cherry lollipop.

Wet: Shit howdy. The minute this hits skin, the sugar note amps up to butter cream with a hint of amaretto. I totally want to eat my arm.

5 min: There's a new bitch in town, and her name is Vanilla. But don't let the slutty dress fool you, this is a classy bitch. She's working it ol' school unlike those cheap vanilla tramps in all the storebrand soaps and lotions. She's got a boozy headiness, like taking a wiff of pure extract.

Drying: There's a whole Pachebel Canon going on here. Close to the skin, there are cloves & vanilla but walking about I keep getting a bright cheery fruit glow. I actually feel happier. Go figure.

30 min: Spicy, warm sangria. Almost a bit Christmasy with the red fruits, vanilla and spice. I was surprised that it did not go cloying on me. Definitely a fall/winter sniff. Very foody, and I don't normally like smelling like food, but it's definitely a pleasant imp. I read somewhere that men generally like foody scents, and this is definitely a smell to seduce Mr. Foody.

Conclusion: Keeper, but not something I'd wear often. I'll just store it along side those special black lace "I'm gettin' laid" panties.


Boabhan Sith

Bottle: Grapefruit Ahoy! Sharp & perfumey

Wet: Grapefruit and...juniper? Reminds me of the old Bath & Body Words "Juniper" lotion. Strong, but not overly obnoxious.

5 min: Bright. Happy. I'm suddenly inspired to trollop barefoot through a field of daisies on a warm Spring day. But damn, this imp is bossy and loud, like a really potent shampoo. Don't over apply.

30 min: The overall scent hasn't changed much on the dry down, although it has sweetened from the dirty grapefruit gangbang into a tea party love-in with an apple blossom orgasm. But there is nothing subtle about this scent, and it's not what I'd call sexy. It's a me-time scent for a bright sunny day.

Conclusion: I'm willing to give this scent a whirl outdoors, preferably when next I can trollop barefoot through a field of daisies.

New Imps

Yea! New BPAL sniffs are here at last! Alas, my sniffer is still broken from Fall allergies. Thanks to a combination of Claritin and Sudafed (or to be more precise, Generictin and Genericfed) I can breath, but my olfactory senses are impaired. I can sort of make out the stronger notes from each imp but none of the subtleties. So it looks as though comprehensive sniff reviews will have to wait a little longer. Poop.

The good news is that BPAL gave me not one but TWO frimps. Goddess bless those little goth sniff engineers. In addition to my order I received a sample of Madrid (Wanderlust) and Juke Joint (Bewitching Brews). The reviews sound intriguing. Totally appreciate how the BPAL staff actually makes an effort to provide frimps comparable to your order. They've never tried to force anything musky on me. Let's hope the trend continues.

I'll start reviewing once the goddamn fuckin' ragweed decides to finally die.

The Dormouse Review

The Dormouse (Mad Tea Party)

Bottle: Lemon and tea, in that order.

Wet: This is lemony with a capital L. It's standing very close to the border of that land called Pledge.

5 min: Pledgey-ness has faded, but I still mostly smell lemon. The tea smell is there, but it's more like dry tea, not brewed tea, and it's hard to find with all the lemon.

30 min: The lemon has continued to fade and now is back stage. In front there is a complex tea. Several different tea aromas working together, a little hint of lemon on the back. There's a touch of some smokey Oolong in there that's kind of nice.

Conclusion: Strangely there isn't supposed to be any lemon in this. According to the lab it's a blend of teas, a hint of herbs and some peony. Does peony smell like lemon? Or is one of the herbs lemongrass? In the end I'm not sure exactly what I think. I kind of like it, but I'm not sure that I like it for myself. The peony might explain why after a longer period of wearing I could smell a light floral around the tea, once the lemon faded out for me. This one will get another wearing for sure.

Amsterdam Review

This morning's review is brought to you by the letter T.

Amsterdam (Wanderlust)

Bottle: I get a light scent of watery florals.

Wet: Reminds me of a floral department, not smack you in the face strong, just like a fresh bouquet of flowers.

5 min: I smell tulips and fresh clear water, like a clean pond or fresh rain. I'm quite digging it. If I didn't have to leave for work I wouldn't be able to stop sniffing it.

30 min: Well crap, the honeymoon is over. Now it smells like what I remember Caress soap smelling like. I asked Jeff what he thought and he said it smelled like a commercial soap that was trying to smell pretty.

Conclusion: While I don't dislike smelling like soap, I'd rather soapy smells actually come from my soap. The good news is that after an hour and a half it was totally gone from me. I couldn't tell that I'd ever applied it. This imp should probably move along to another home, maybe someone else will have better luck with it.

Coming Attractions: BPAL sniffs

Just ordered the following BPAL imps:

1. Alice (Mad Tea Party)
2. Lightning (Bewitching Brews)
3. Sudha Segara (Bewitching Brews)
4. Envy (Sin & Salvation: The Seven Deadly Sins)
5. Sea of Glass (Sin & Salvation)
6. Baobhan Sith (Diabolus)

Reviews to follow!

Severin Review

I feel a bit timid posting after E.D.'s reviews. Maybe in time my reviews will grow up to be such works of art, but in the meantime I'll muddle through. I have been terrible, and not written down a single thought on any of my scents. So I'll be testing them all again, in no particular order to document the experience as best I can.

Severin (Ars Amatoria)

Bottle: First there is lemon and then a hint of tea. The lemon is mostly a sweet rindy smell, with a tiny citrus sting.

Wet: It's a kind of a musky meyer lemon scent. Not musky in an animal musk way, maybe dusky is a better description. It's got none of the sharp sting, or bright lemony aroma of the bottle.

5 min: I smell lemony leather. Like a leather coat that was rubbed with lemon peel. Maybe a little juice accidentally squeezed out, but not much. I can find the tea scent if my nose searches for it, but it's very much in the background. Not much throw to this at all.

I missed the 30 min mark, because of work. After 1 hour I can still faintly smell lemon, maybe tea, and maybe leather... I'm disappointed with how quickly this is fading away.

Conclusion: Not enough throw to satisfy me. In the end I was unable to discern what I was smelling, but I really do like it. I just wish I could smell it without my nose touching my wrist. Now someone is stinking up the place with some BBW product, so now I can't hardly get a whiff at all. Further experimentation is required, and based on other reviewers it may get stuck on Jeff to see what happens. I could see it possibly working well as a gender neutral scent.

Tara's BPAL Sniffs

As of 9/11/08

BPAL Imps
The Red Queen
The Dormouse
Alice
Severin
Eve
Amsterdam

5ml
Blue Moon (June '07 lunacy)