BPAL: The Imp swapping

[gwydion]

The Frimps:
PONTARLIER (Wanderlust): (Company says: The legendary birthplace of the Green Fairy. Swiss ferns, lilac, blackcurrant, Gallic rose and lavender with a dollop of sugar and absinthe.)

In bottle: A lovely light floral scent, fairly androgynous as florals go, with lilac and lavender dominant, with the ferns and absinthe granting it a pale green edge that plays very well with the dominant florals. It’s a little bit wicked. The rose and black currant are understated, joining with the sugar to smooth things out. Wet: The blackcurrent and rose are stronger on the skin and it edges the whole blend towards the feminine. It’s quite lovely, layered and nuanced. Dry: Comepletely different. Apparently fern has the most staying power, with a bit of black current giving it a gentle fruity touch. The florals fade back to the point of being a gentle kiss. Nice. Very nice.

Ordered:
AJNA: THE THIRD EYE (TAL, Chakras): (Company says: The Meeting of Shiva and Shakti. The Two-Petaled Lotus: perception and command. The mind's eye, intuition, truth found in dreams, imagination, vision, and light.)

In bottle: Strong and sharp. Heavy on the incense, pleasantly herbal, with a faint touch of chalk. The incense is familiar, but I’m not placing it. The scent has a lot of depth, and a hint of sweetness. It has a thread of anise running through it. Wet: The sharpness resolves into some sort of evergreen needles. The incense mellows out and does lovely things with the anise. I’m guessing that floral is lotus, but I’m not great with florals. This is completely different on the skin than in the bottle, gentle, yet strong, sweet, yet a touch sharp. Lovely. Dry: Now it’s all dried flowers popourri, though a particularly nice blend of flowers and herbs. I wish I could place that incense, but it all blends well. It is sweeter and more floral than I generally like, but it works with my skin way better than I had any right to expect.

ANAHATA: THE HEART (TAL, Chakras): (Company says: The Love of Krishna, The Breath of Vayu, the Garden of the Kalpa Taru The Twelve-Petaled Lotus. Compassion, unconditional love, psychic healing, empathy. Anahata expresses the ability to follow ones heart, outside the jurisdiction of karma. Decisions truly made in Anahata are unbound by corrupted emotions and unfulfilled base desires. This is where we hold the image of our divine self. This is the quiet and stillness of our true center.

In bottle: Rather sweet and over ripe. I’m getting maybe dragon’s blood or some berry and some supporting florals as the main scent. I’m not good with florals, but I’m guessing lavender, rose, and maybe lotus, maybe jasmine, maybe lily, or maybe something else. This is not my sort of thing. Wet: The lavender stands out more as does the rose. It turns a little nasty on my skin, but I expected that, along with the rose pretty much eating everything else. An herbal thread steps forward more. Dry: Jasmine dominant, with an herbal under scent, and maybe a touch of dragon’s blood or something similar.

BROOD XIX (LE): (Company says: Tree sap, hay, almond blossoms, moss, hemp, corn stalks, acorn, sweet amber, and rice milk.)

In bottle: This is really unusual. It is almond dominant with a rich tapestry of hay, corn, acorn, and sweet rice milk backing it up. The other elements are soft, but distinct. Wet: The rice milk ends up nearly coequal with the almond which stays dominant by a hare. The other elements spread out a little, but still provide strong support. The moss and sap are now just strong enough to darken it by a hair. The amber is understated and serves as a sort of glue holding the elements together. I really like the way this is blended, smooth, sweet, and hearty. I can think of nothing else in the catalog close to this, and I do love unique blends. Dry: The hay, hemp, and corn end up blending with the almond and acorn to make this wonderful sweet hearty effect. I love this, but am left groping for words.

CHAOTIC (RPG): (Company says: A whirling mélange of multicolored musks with wasabi, rooibos, heliotrope, and mastic.)

In bottle: Heliotrope dominant with a surprisingly strong rooibos as support. I say surprisingly, as in Rl rooibos is fairly mild, but this definitely smells like it concentrated. It is very sweet. I’m not sure I like mastic. Do not expect much kick from the wasabi. It’s mostly heliotrope tea, though. Wet: Heliotrope dominant still. Did I mention the heliotrope? It’s a lot of heliotrope. The mastic blends better now. The rooibos becomes more background, but the wasabi starts asserting itself a little. The musks are mostly subsumed into the heliotrope, really. Dry: Mostly heliotrope with some musk.

FIGHTER (RPG): (Company says: Leather, musk, blood, and steel.)

In bottle: mmmmm…. Leather. This is a particularly bright leather with the musk, blood, and steel blending in beautifully to create a scent that perfectly evokes a sexy, sexy warrior. Yum. Wet: vaguely fishy. O.o I think I’m parsing the leather accord and musk incorrectly. The blood gets a touch shrill. I do love the way the steel and the leather go together though. The fishiness softens with wear and it definitely appears to be my brain reading the leather wrong. Dry: The fishiness goes. It is still dominant leather, but the musk pulls it darker now, with a touch of blood.

GOOD (RPG): (Company says: Shimmering celestial musk with vanilla, white honey, acacia, and sugar cane.)

In bottle: This is very gentle and sweet with the pale musk, vanilla, honey, and sugar forming a block, with an understated acacia playing about the edges. The musk is vaguely dominant, but really, it’s a matter of accent in the block. Wet: A lot more acacia. The honey emerges as the leader within its block, but really they do work together. I’m not sure I like the acacia with this group of soft pale scents. It’s too bold a contrast for me, but your tastes may be different. Dry: Really pretty on the dry down, a sweet vanilla musk with touches of the other elements.

GNOME (RPG): (Company says: An explosive blend of effervescent golden ginger and black peppercorn with sarsaparilla, gurjum balsam, nutmeg, gear lubricant, and smoke.)

In bottle: Ginger and balsam dominate. I’d say the gear lubricant and spices are a distant second. I can barely find the sarsparilla. This is reminding me of a lot of champagne scents, and smells like carbonation feels. I can tell already this won’t work with my skin chemistry, which doesn’t mean it won’t work for others. Wet: Ginger dominant. The sarsparilla fails to overtake the balsam, but it’s a touch more distinct. Honestly, I love ginger scents, but I think it gangs up with the balsam to to beat most of the other components unconscious. Dry: Mostly balsam.

HUNGRY GHOST MOON 2011 (LE, Lunacy): (Company says: Offerings of sweet rice, ginger candy, sugar cane, smoky vanilla and rice wine mingle with a ghost's perfume of white sandalwood, wisteria, ho wood, ti, white grapefruit, and crystalline musk. This scent is tempered by the presence of ten herbs, woods and resins used in the purification of the spirit.)

Note: I’m seeing the main difference in the ingredient list between this and the 2006 is sweet rice for aloe.
In bottle: In the bottle it’s much sweeter than my aged bottle. I’m getting a ginger dominant blend with a strong sweet rice and sugar cane presence. I would put the woods and grapefruit a distant third. The other elements form a complex background for the dominant scents. I do see why this has a separate entry, as the emphasis and effect is still lovely, but quite different than the proportions in the older blend. Wet: More grapefruit than in the bottle, but still ginger dominant by a hair, with sweet rice and sugar cane a close third. The wisteria is more distinct, but well blended. The musk is more noticeable. The woods ground it. I’m really liking this, and not sorry I acquired some. Dry: It stays ginger dominant, but the other elements end up creating a lovely, complex support. It is delicate, but with decent throw.

MANIPURA: THE SOLAR PLEXUS (TAL, Chakras): (Company says: The Howl of Rudra, The City of Jewels The Ten-Petaled Lotus. Dynamic energy, willpower, autonomy, self-esteem, self-expression, ambition, analytical thought, intellectual activity, astral force, the fire of the spirit, assertiveness, laughter, rage. Manipura controls the radiation and distribution of prana throughout the system, and contains a protective energy that helps shield the soul from negative activity that may occur in the other chakras.)

In bottle: Yummy. This is sweet and heady with a touch of sharpness. It is fittingly warm and bright, yet strangely comforting. Elements are familiar, but hard to place. It has a floral element that may contain sunflower and a spiciness that suggests carnation, but may not be. I’m not particularly good with florals. It’s got a dominant incense I’m not placing, but I do detect sandalwood. I do think it’s got similar herbal content though. I’m suspecting pepper, but I’m not placing some of the other spices. Wet: Okay, now I’m getting cassia instead of carnation. The florals are softer on the skin and ply really well with the incense. The underlying herbs are a bit acrid here. Dry: A faintly floral, chalky, incense blend. Not bad, but not stunning.

MULADHARA: THE ROOT (TAL, Chakras): (Company says: The Thunderbolt of Indra, The Hand of Brahma The Four-Petaled Lotus. Security, stability, courage, manifestation, survival. Muladhara is the root of all matter, the basis of physical existence. Through this chakra, you draw down spiritual energy and cause it to take physical form. In this chakra, the three primary psychic channels materialize. Within Muladhara, sleeps the Coiled Snake, your spiritual potential, and here it remains, sleeping, until you arouse and it work to bring it back to Brahman. All of your samskaras take physical form in this chakra.

In bottle: Extremely chalky, mostly herbal. This does smell like roots. It’s got some florals and spices as well. The incense is patchouli dominant, but it’s a smooth patchouli rather than eau d’ hippy. I wouldn’t be surprised if this has orris and maybe vetiver in it. There is a hint of wood. It’s giving me rather a headache and I’m afraid to skin test it given the way my sinuses are throbbing.

PALADIN (RPG): (Company says: Immaculate white musk, sweet frankincense, bourbon vanilla, white leather, and shining armor.)

In bottle: Very soft, and more perfumey than I was expecting. I do like the way the musk, leather, and vanilla complement each other. The frankincense is understated, but gives it a bit of edge. Wet: Rather vanilla powdery. The vanilla and musk are strongest, with a touch of leather in support. The other elements are very soft. The whole effect is delicate and there is not much throw. Dry: Mostly vanilla musk.

SAHASRARA: THE CROWN (TAL, Chakras): (Company says: The Glory of Shiva The Thousand-Petaled Lotus. Inspiration, consciousness, thought, understanding, transcendence, consciousness beyond reason, bliss. Spiritual, emotional, mental and physical perfection. Sahasrara grants us a glimpse of our greater Self, our destiny, and our real responsibilities in this lifetime. This is the pursuit and realization of truth. This is the quest for Samadhi.)

In bottle: Pleasant incense blend with quite a bit of sharpness and fruitiness to it, with the usual herbal undertone for chakra blends. Fruit dominant. I’m suspecting amber and maybe frankincense component of the incense. It’s rich and heady over all. Wet: I’m loving the way the frankincense and the rich juicy fruits blend. The herbs stay distinct. I’m really liking this one. Dry: Mostly frankincense and chakra herbs, sort of chalky with claws.

SWADHISTHANA: SACRAL (TAL, Chakras): (Company says: The Glory of Vishnu, The House of Varuna, One's Own Abode The Six-Petaled Lotus. The unconscious, the sweetness of life, desire, pleasure, sexuality, procreation, emotion. Swadhisthana is the manifestation of passion, the reconciliation, balance and union of the masculine and feminine within ourselves. In Swadhisthana, we learn to give and receive pleasure. It is the stimulation of the life force, the basis for life itself, and our force on the physical plane. In this chakra, our samskaras are cloistered, and in this chakra they find expression. Because of the highly sexual identification of this chakra, many find its temptations and trials very difficult to overcome.)

In bottle: This has a shockingly green edge that I’m guessing is cucumber over a soft sweet fruit, vanilla, and the usual herbs. This is not entirely fortunate in the bottle with the green and red clashing. Wet: is that amber or musk? It’s edging the blend towards sexy and going well with the fruit and maybe jasmine, but not so well with the cucumber, which is luckily fading into the herbs. Five or six minutes later, all the green is gone, leaving something warm and somewhat sexy. Dry: This wears well, going to soft gentle amber with a touch of fruit and jasmine.

VISHUDDHA: THE THROAT (TAL, Chakras): (Company says: The Joy of Sarasvati, The Akashic Essence The Sixteen-Petaled Lotus. Creativity, self-expression, communication, sound, vibration, and the wisdom to know right from wrong. Vishuddha confers the gift of speech, and thereby the ability to determine and pursue your desires and aspirations. The activity of this chakra also confers the ability to understand how to learn from life's pain, suffering and hardship, and with work, grants the knowledge and strength to transform our trials into growth. When Vishuddha is closed, we suffer from spiritual entropy. When it is open and utilized, our sorrow blossoms into wisdom.)

In bottle: Sweet and oddly sexy over the usual herbal background. I’m getting a strong musk as the dominant note, with maybe some amber support. There is a floral I’m not placing at all as a secondary. It’s a gentle floral, and not any of the usual suspects. There is a touch of something tangy, that I’m suspecting would have been in the lemon range in a younger sample. Wet: The citrus is likely lemon grass or maybe lemon verbena, as I’m not amping it as I do true citrus. It’s still fairly faint, but blending well with the musk to give it a tangy edge. The herbs are particularly strong in this blend and provide good support for the musk, which remains dominant. This is not ideal with my skin chemistry, but should be rich and sexy opn someone with less natural musk. This is very well blended. Dry: Much more strongly herbal now, with the musk blending in.

THE VORTEX (TAL, Chakras): (Company says: When used in conjunction with the oils that correspond to the four basic chakras [Muladhara, Swadhisthana, Manipura and Anahata] the Vortex helps one to reconcile, conquer and break free of the circular patterns of consciousness without knowledge that are associated with that chakra.)

In bottle: Strongly lemony over mostly herbs. Wet: Mostly lemon with something floral I can barely make out over the tart lemon. I’m thinking iris, hyacinth, one of those purple flowers, but I’m not good at identifying florals. There’s something that smells the way sticky feels that I’m not placing. Dry: Lemon, lemon, lemon.



Winners: Rogue, Brood XIX
Runners Up: Hungry Ghost Moon

Comments

[sanat.livejournal.com]

Somehow I found note listings for the Chakra blends ages ago, and thought Swadhisthana would smell good on Aaron. Had Vishuddha for ritual purposes but lost it a while ago.