This was the second of the 2 imps I bought off someone at LJ. This one wasn't quite full so the price was reduced.
Wanda: �...a deep red merlot with a faint hint of leather, sexual musk and body heat over crushed roses, violets and myrtle. �
Wanda was described in the forum reviews as sex in a bottle. Maybe I should have waited until I wasn�t alone to try it on. What the heck, here goes!
In the bottle: Yikes. Really strong and dark and fruity. It�s so strong I had to leave the bottle in the padded mailing envelope; it was reeking up the room. Not incensey; more like, I don�t know, grape candy? Whatever it is, it's awful.
Wet: While Cold Moon was nice & light in the bottle, and �eek! perfume!� on me, Wanda seems to have the opposite effect. Much less overbearing on my wrists. Still fruity, but to my surprise that�s not a bad thing. There�s something there besides fruit. Must be the leather but I can�t identify it as such. I don�t smell floral at all.
(aside: is my mouse pad going to end up reeking from these tests? Should I apply the scent someplace besides my wrist?)
Drydown: Okay, now I smell leather. The fruityness has mellowed out too. I guess it�s more like wine, but I hardly ever drink wine so I�m not sure.
Man, this smells good. It seems to be heading into the �me, but better� phase immediately. Does that mean it reacts better with my body chemistry than Cold Moon did? It could also mean that I didn�t apply as much, but I tried to use the same (very small) amount each time. If I smell like this all day, I will be one happy girl.
And now, a little later, the forum reviews are vindicated. It does smell like sex. I can�t explain it but it does. When does Georg get home?
Lasting: 3 hours later it was nearly gone. Maybe I did apply too little this time. Or maybe I accidently washed it off while rinsing a giant bunch of chard for dinner. I reapplied about a half hour ago. We'll see how it lasts tonight.
Overall: I must say I am stunned. Based on the description and the reek coming out of that bottle, I thought I would hate this. But put it on and it transformed into something wonderful. A bit warm for this weather, but it will be nice in autumn. It would seem that I have no idea what is going to smell good on me. I wonder how many of my big BPAL order will be hits and how many will be misses. I hope at least one of the �crisp, summery� scents works for me.
Repurchase? Oh yes.
6 Comments
Ooooh, that sounds so interesting!!!
Can't wait for my first imps to arrive. ;-)
How do you apply it, btw? Do you just tip the little bottle against your skin, or do you use an applicator of some sort?
The inside of the cap has a little stick that sits inside the perfume. Kind of like a bottle of nail polish, only no brush. I just dab the stick against my wrist. This stuff is so strong, if I tipped the bottle I would stink to high heaven!
Update: The second application was way too much. It's making my eyes feel a little watery. I tried to wash it off but it had already soaked in. Well now I know, never apply BPAL twice in one day :(
So of the oils are very light and can be reapplied, but not many.
And yes, your (fabric) mousepad will smell perfumy after many tests. Mine at work does.
Sex in a bottle- that was more Kali for me. But it has a bit of the same overtones as Wanda- booze, perfume, a tad of tobacco and chocolate but not in a sour way. You may like that one.
Its been really interesting to learn about my skin chemistry in this last year. I know one thing- never trust the bottle. You will almost always have a different scent wearing it.
Interesting. Wanda is one of those that I would never order, mostly due to the rose.
Your mouse pad will probably pick up a bit of fragrance, but not enough to be annoying. I just took a good hard sniff of mine, and there was barely a hint of collected scent -- and this is after 6 months of experimentation.
More likely to cause an issue will be the buildup of scents in your bath or vanity area -- imps do leak odor just a bit, and I eventually had to find someone to swap Scherezade to because it was taking over! I've taken to keeping my imps in plastic seed-bead tubes (available very cheap from Fire Mountain), which does a good job of controlling the problem and also provides extra protection against damage or leakage when I want to stick a couple into my travel kit. On the forums I've seen discussion of storing imps in plastic ammo boxes; apparently there's one variety that's the exact perfect size for them to fit!
Re-applying is something else you'll get better at with experience. I'd rather re-apply lightly a couple of times over the course of the day than be Reeking Perfume Woman for the first 4 hours!
i'm enjoying these reviews, sarah.
i've got such a sensitive sniffer that i'm not sure i could bear anything remotely perfumey, but i have to admit that you've got me curious. i hope you'll let me smell them next time i'm over. ;-)
coincidentally, ray has been using a lot of "icy hot" lately to help ease the pain in a sore elbow. I HATE THE SMELL OF IT. it's impossible to escape. i feel at times like my throat is closing up.
frankly, i don't know how i manage to live. almost every scent irritates me. generally speaking, unless it smells like warm hamburgers or something, i just don't want it near my nose.
I've found that testing on the inside of my elbow is a good place (for avoiding the stinky mousepad phenomenon.