sarada

I was eager to try this scent because I love smoky lavender blends (and I love the painting, what with the red hair and the gloom!). I like just about everything listed in this blend...and when I first sniff it, it is a very strong, piercing lavender, with a hint of something like men's cologne.

 

Once on, it remains very strong -- lavender through an amplifier, wearing black leather and spikes. It's masculine in the only way that I tend not to like masculine scents, i.e. a bit like a strong cologne. That's odd, since these notes rarely do things like that on me. The black musk is working overtime, drowning out everything else but the lavender.

 

I love tobacco in perfume, but I don't get much in here, not a lot of that smoky lavender that I love in things like Agony of Loss or Gaueko. It's sharp lavender darkened and deepened and drenched in cologne. All that said, I still like it, mainly when it has dried down a bit and loses that metallic edge. And the vanilla? Not present at all to my nose.

Am I the only Cocteau Twins fan who gets "Frou Frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires" going through their head every time they look at the name of this blend? No? Anyway...

 

Without looking at the note list, the first thing this made me think of were little boxes of Japanese incense at Garland of Letters in Philly. That sort of generalized, perfumey incense scent from high quality Japanese incense. So the fact that this includes 'green tea incense' as an ingredient is not too surprising!

 

Although the scent is not overly strong in the imp, the musk basically reacts with my skin like a coal over flames, and every ingredient springs into life as soon as it is warmed a little. I get the slight sourness of rice wine (which bears some similarly to a smoky-sweet-sourness that I like in Hungry Ghost Moon and Tamamo no Mae) and a little bit of a dusty, woody scent but overall it is the soft perfume of many, many sticks of Japanese incense -- some burning, some gathering dust on the shelves.

 

Just like the painting, it's a muted green-grey with glimmers of yellow-white. I don't actually find this to be watery or aquatic at all once it is on my skin, because the green tea incense and musk just steal the show and march around swinging censers of billowing pale green smoke in every direction. This is a good thing.

 

I really like this but I had to wear it around for awhile to get the full effect. For a better idea of the visual aspects of this scent please refer to Ah Xia's beautiful review!

Sniffing this, I could not remember any of the notes except tonka, which is strong and sweet in this blend with its peculiar smoky vanilla tones. It has a slightly roasted quality to it -- but tonka is foremost. That, and a powdery note that I had thought might be apple blossom but now I see: it is lilac musk. Yes, that's definitely the sweet, powdery scent of lilac, but it is strengthened a bit by musk, that amplifies and disperses it a little higher and stronger. It does remind me of the lilac note in His Station and Four Aces, though overall this blend is more dominated by the roasted smoky vanilla-like scent of tonka.

Some dark green notes emerge later, which must be the myrtle and blackberry leaf -- and I'm guessing benzoin adds a little to the smoky feel while adding some of the staying power and sweetness of a lovely resin.

There is an underlying fruity sweetness as well that never quite makes it foody, but does create an appetizing blend of sweet, tart and smoky scents. If I had wound up with a full bottle of this instead of just an imp I'd have been perfectly happy to keep it. Fans of the Dogs Playing Poker series might enjoy this because it combines some of the elements from those, in a less tobacco-filled setting. I'm really digging the idea of smoke and lilac playing together, but the tart fruits and sweet tonka really ground this in almost edible tones.

I had to go right ahead and order a bottle of this because I love moss and wood blends, I love dark musk and sage scents are just amazing. I thought this might be something like Carfax Abbey, which also prominently features mossy wood, and yes, it is just a bit!

Dark musk actually has a tendency to sort of sweep scents up and add to their throw and staying power, so I am immediately surrounded by a dusty cloud of pale mosses and paler woods. It is not a wet, earthy moss, but rather the dry pale moss that clings to the sides of trees -- and the dusty pale trees we also see in scents like Yggdrasil. It is beams of dusty light illuminating a quiet grove, and coaxing bursts of fragrance from the herbs that grow along the edge of the forest.

Sage is also pale and dusty in this blend, lazily floating on the air, blown in on a breeze. It is the dry, herbal scent I have been waiting for -- set against a backdrop of an enchanted wood. While Carfax Abbey brought to mind an abandoned wooden church covered in wood dust, this is purely an outdoor scent, though similar in feel as far as the muted, dusty tones. Solemn and dreamlike, with herbal flourishes that are the olfactory equivalent of a movement in the woods that you catch just out of the corner of your eye.

Oh beauty! This is a light sweet aquatic honey. A delicate nectar suspended in beads of the freshest, clearest, cold water. Like honeysuckle drenched in rain or moist, succulent white blooms floating down a crystalline river. I am not sure exactly what grass of parnassus should smell like, but imagine a crisp, green grass crossed perfectly with honeysuckle at the height of its fragrance, all in the middle of a gentle rain. Other florals intermingle as it develops, and at the moment it is just a bouquet of sweet summer wildflowers in my mind, an intoxicating bouquet warmed by the sun and cooled by the rain. I might have more to say at this dries, but what a rush of sweetness and light this is!

The honey/honeysuckle is the strongest in this, particularly at first, strangely crisp with shimmers of white flowers and green grass. I can't really say I've smelled anything else quite like it.

Aquatics usually don't work for me -- I tried to like Storm Moon a couple of years ago but it was too fleeting, too perfumey. I went into Thunder Moon hoping that it would capture that wonderful after-rain scent in the summer, when mist rises from the hot earth, and the smell of damp vegetation hangs in the air.

This is not murky, but it is certainly wet and refreshing -- yes, there's that summer ozone scent, but it is not as perfumey/cologney as most aquatics are. The scent of dry, toasty straw and parched grass lingers, somewhat like that in Scarecrow, and a faint wisp of smoke -- over it all a succulent wet damp floral (but not an aquatic floral, it's not lotus...just something faintly green and fragrant). But it's undeniably a rainy scent, those other notes never drown it out.

Time will tell if this is something I can wear in the longterm but I'm enjoying the early stages and there is a promise of a thunderstorm here today and every day this week, so I'll try this a lot over the next few days. Not generally being an aquatic/ozone fan though, I still really like this so far, probably because of the "sun-scorched grass" and the hint of warm amber that keeps it from dissipating on my skin instantly.

It's a little like Szepasszony in the summer, to be honest. Instead of being white-blue in a cloud of hailstones, riding atop a sheet of ice, she comes in on a beam of summer light, drenching the parched land.

Drydown (several hours later): Wow, check out that amber coming out! Incredibly, after it dries down there is a distinct resiny odor, like amber resin that was burned and is now extinguished. A really lovely surprise. Keep in mind that my skin lives to emit resinous odors. This is the perfect finish for my tastes.

Back when this first came out -- well, first of all I don't think I had joined the forum when this came out, though I was into BPAL at the time. Anyway, the presence of coconut would likely have been a dealbreaker for me because my avoidance of coconut at that time was complete. Since then I've learned that just about any BPAL scent can work on me if my mood is right. And now, looking at the ingredient list, I could cry, because there hasn't been another scent quite like this!

 

If I could concoct my ultimate dream blend it would probably contain: "oakmoss, vetiver and opoponax with black plum, wild blackberry, soft woods" -- stop right there! That's perfect! I couldn't ever wish for anything more! Earthy, slightly sweet, woody with dark purple berries. The other notes gave me pause -- white musk, vanilla and coconut made me a little uncertain in my early days when I could more easily have (perhaps) obtained this.

 

And guess what? it's just perfect on me. The sweetness is understated, and it has that same wonderful "slightly sweet mossy wood with just a touch of warmth to it" that King of Clubs has. The coconut is dry and barely noticeable, which is good. Sparkling plum and dark sweet berry dazzles, while the woods anchor the blend.

 

I have just a tiny bit but I will treasure it and seek out more. In the meantime, I do have King of Clubs, which is similar in some respects, and that's something to celebrate. Maybe layering it with something with strong berry notes will create a similar effect. Also, this is very very similar to Queen of Spades to my recollection, much moreso that then other King/Queen combos have been. Strangely purple and golden but shot through with rich creamy brown.

 

Ah well everyone's got to have an unobtainable holy grail, right?

I wasn't really planning on keeping this, because it's far stronger on chocolate than I tend to like wearing -- I love the Oct. 2006 version for some reason, but that's the only chocolate blend that I've ever like (despite eating the stuff every day, religiously...I don't like to wear it, go figure!). But I have kept it around and I'm always debating what to do with it. I've only really worn it once, and I have mixed feelings about it, but I just keep thinking I'll regret it if I part with it...because I always regret parting with everything!

 

The strangest thing is that aside from chocolate -- a dry, not overly sweet chocolate at that -- it reminds me somewhat of a pet store. Why is that? I guess it's the catnip, plus the sandalwood might be reminding me of woodchips (I love the smell of woodchips, but it has a decidedly petstore feeling just this once). There's something strangely crumbly, dry and herbal about this. I think I get what the above reviewer was saying about thinking of marijuana...the catnip and other herbs really seem to be taking my mind down that road as well. Or at any rate, some sort of dusty, dry herbal smell.

 

I get a few hints of the spices, which all happen to be spices that I like -- huge cardamom fan here, and love the cloves...eventually everything warms up and shakes off the dust, and the chocolate mellows down into a nice, warm, spicy herbal blend but I'm never quite sure whether I like it or not. I'll probably keep it around for awhile until finally I have to keep it because it reminds me of that beautiful spring in 2007.

I was unexpectedly frimped with a sniffie of this coveted scent, and I'm really glad I had a chance to try it! I knew it wouldn't be my usual kind of scent (sounded kind of foodie, the only fragrance type that I rarely go for) but I really love berries and especially currants, so I was optimistic.

 

It is actually more on the wearable side than I expected. My personal note of doom is the 'buttery' scent that pops up in many blends and fortunately it is barely present in this, though it does have a strong, cakey, caramel, vanilla sort of feeling. Although it reminds me a bit of that sort of "candles that smell like cake" scent that turns me off, I love currant and berry enough that I can focus on that part of it...the slightly tart, purple-red bit...and the caramel/vanilla doesn't bother me quite so much.

 

After awhile, it just becomes a really nice, sweet currant/berry with a touch of a warm vanilla and that's something I can kind of groove with. It mainly reminds me of Eat Me, and I don't think that I could tell the difference between the two if I wasn't smelling carefully...but if I was a fan of this particular category of scent it would probably be a holy grail, since it's composed phenomenally well.

 

Very very happy to have been able to test this!

Shanghai Tunnel reminds me of a camping trip in a rainstorm at night -- dark, mossy, green and woody, with steam rising off of wet rocks. There is a shot of something almost menthol that comes and goes, which particularly makes me think of slick, mossy hot stone, but otherwise it drifts between varying shades of dark, shadowy green, layers of musty, murky moss and dusty soil. Even more than a tunnel it makes me think of a cave in the woods where you run for shelter at night during a storm. It even reminds me of the mildewy scent that our canvas tent would pick up in the basement at my parents' house.

 

I'm trying to pick out what specific wood or tree scents are in this and I'm not even sure. Could be a hint of evergreen or cypress, and something like redwood or red sandalwood, but it's like the forest itself: so many different textures and layers of similar shades of green and grey-brown that it's hard to pick things out individually.

 

I love murky, wet, mossy places. This is wet woods and caves. Absolutely gorgeous and I am thrilled to have a bottle. Unlike anything else, and I hope there are more murky mossy wet scents in the future!

I'm testing an imp of this, and of course the deep red color is influencing my perceptions a bit -- it actually looks like dragon's blood darkened by red musk to me. My first sniff of it, incredibly, reminds me of that jumble of scents that greets you when you walk into a store that sells a lot of oils and incenses -- this is the impression that red musk usually gives me, but it is not too heavy in this scent. I really don't know what gardenia smells like on its own except that I like it in certain combinations (generally with fruit or incense scents), but there's something in this that reminds me of the Hanging Gardens, which boasts "three gardenias" so I am guessing that is the culprit.

 

But really what strikes me in Unheavenly City is what I think must be dragon's blood, not only because of how brightly red it glows, but the distinctive cherry-like scent of DB, which gradually fades into something like a sweet floral. This is heightened by the incensy musk and the general sweet, heady floral scents in the background. It's actually quite a lot different than I expected, as I'd describe it as a very floral dragon's blood with a touch of red musk -- and maybe, since it reminds me a little of the late drydown of Blood, a hint of something like clove (but just a hint). It is a deep, and constantly-changing fragrance that I think will smell radically different on individuals (and it sounds like it does, from the reviews!). I think I'm happy with an imp, so I'm glad I was able to get some!

I didn't buy Gemini right away...I went back for it a couple of days after I thought about it a bit and realized that some of my favorite blends are lavender plus something smoky, resiny or incensy (Old Scratch, Agony of Loss, and Gaueko, for example). How can I pass up a chance at another one?

 

Just as I hoped, this is a deep, resiny lavender that takes off as soon as I apply it, and wreaths me in a dark, dusty smoky lavender cloud. Not a piercing, incisive lavender, the resin softens it somewhat. And creeping up in the background, a beautiful, honey-sweet hint of orchid, which reminds me a bit of the humid greenhouse blooms that loom over The Premature Burial.

 

It's amazing how this fills the air around me, I love things that blossom on my skin like that, blending the sharp herbal lavender with smoky, grounding resins and highlighted with gentle sweet orchid. It's different from the other dark lavender blends that I love, but that addition of the orchid takes it into another realm that I just was not expecting. Of the three Zodiac blends so far this year I like this one the best, though the year is still young!

I've had this for a week and I've only just now been able to compose my thoughts concerning it! My initial desire in purchasing BPAL was to have oils that smelled like incense, so I could always carry the scent with me. Philosopher in Meditation is a little different from the other BPAL incensey blends, but shares a few common notes...

 

The grapey scent reminds me of Urd, but without that strong champa. It's a little bit like the 'black wine' in Horreur Sympathique as well though not nearly as overwhelming as it is in that blend. I'm not getting a lot of a 'smoky' feelings, but I definitely imagine loose, soft incense that you would sprinkle over coals. The sort of mossy (in texture, not scent), thick, crumbly chunks of natural incense.

 

It's got a glistening, flickering deep soft warm glow to it, glossy dark brown relieved by specks of gold light.

 

Anubis is definitely a cousin, moreso even than Cairo, but it is not overwhelmingly sweet. A shade of Urd, a dab of Al Azif. But overall if you like incensy blends this is one to get. I feel a little spoiled by the vast variety that I have in this particular category now!

I like to get in early with reviews whenever I can, but it's taken me days to contemplate this one! I love rose, so I knew I'd enjoy it, but this one really needs to dry down on my skin for me to get the full effect.

 

I first wore this to my high school reunion the day that I got it in the mail -- I put it in a locket so it would last all night (and it was held at a place called the Rose Garden, so it fit). I did get wafts of it throughout the night, but I think it wears best on my skin actually. Because something really magical happens with Rose Moon, after it's been on for a few hours.

 

When I first put it on, it puts me in the mind of, well, a washroom in a Victorian tea room. This is not a bad thing, but it definitely makes me think of milled rose soap and a sort of powdery scent. Looking over the ingredients, I can tell you what the culprit is in the powdery bath/soap scent, and it's blue lilac. Violet leaf may be adding a bit to that soapy quality.

 

However, it's nice, and since I love rose, I'm digging it in this phase...it's very fresh and tender. I need more floral and rose blends that are light like this, without going into my usual smoke and resin routine. Everyone needs a change of pace sometimes!

 

But a long time after I put it on, something amazing happens, and the patchouli kicks in. I don't smell patchouli as such, but the warm, dark resiny scent begins to warm up and deepen and darken the rose, like a wispy, smoky cloud drawn across the moon. It goes more in a direction that you might expect Love in the Asylum to go, though not nearly as strong. Still, that slightly smoky, darker, more earthy warmness really rounds it out.

 

So Rose Moon is a winner -- it sparkles like a cloud of pink powder suspended in the moonlight around you when it first goes on, and then turned into something warm, dark and sultry. That's just on skin though, it stays more of a painted porcelain pale pink rose in the locket, which is also lovely!

Roadhouse has that dandelion scent that is in One To Tie...

 

I'm wearing the latter today, and though it's a bit greener than Roadhouse, they've got a similar feel!

I can't seem to get enough of this!! This is my favorite of the lunacy round this month and I've been slathering it constantly since I got it yesterday. It's also the perfect scent for this time of year: its sweetness is magnified by the sudden warmth in the air but it still has the sense of fresh green shoots and sun-warmed damp flowers that I like in the spring.

 

Indeed, it is very much like Hungry Ghost Moon but there is a strong peachy note in this -- I don't know where it's coming from but for some reason I had been expecting this to be peachy, too. A slightly sweet and sour note like rice wine sweetened by ginger lingers up in a burst of smoky warmth. The skin musk keeps this one going where it might otherwise dissipate, and the lab's musks are marvelous on me, clinging to me and releasing bursts of dark sweetness all day.

 

Very much a Hungry Ghost Moon sister, but with a hint of a smoky musk and a strong but fleeting burst of peach that calms down into sugary ginger as it wears. Just spectacular. I will wear this all summer in vast amounts.

Three weeks is still within the time they say is their current turnaround: 14-21 business days (i.e. 3-4 whole weeks, since only M-F are business days), notwithstanding items with a 'component issue' . Now that they appear to be moving over the Tokyo Stomp backorders and the 13 order bump it will probably speed ahead to May in no time!

If you want smoky lilac, the departing Dogs Playing Poker (in the Salon) scent His Station and Four Aces might fit the bill though that might have gone offline last night...

 

Ouija has both lilac and smoky notes in it, as well!

 

Brimstone and Djinn are good GC ones for that smoky scent, and could layer well with most any floral...though Phantom Queen is my favorite GC scent for the 'spring floral' smell. Poisson d'Avril is my favorite LE scent for the spring floral!

Anyone have 13/Luck label art to share?

 

Meanwhile, look what I found in my antique postcard collection today...

 

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t239/xe...ishpostcard.jpg

 

I thought that I had this tucked away somewhere!

Warm amber musk, Satsuma tangerine, black tea leaf, cardamom, cherry blossom and cinnamon.

 

Despite my love of the name and inspiration for Bakeneko, I didn't order a bottle at the time because it was such a huge update, and I don't like cinnamon-orange type scents, which I assumed it would be.

 

But then after trying it some time later, it grew on me. First, it's incredible in a locket. It positively smoulders. The amber musk is a comforting embrace of sweet golden warmth, and the amber shines through like a glowing ember. There is not a strong hit of cinnamon, which is good news for me since I vastly prefer cardamom. It definitely reminds me of my spice and tea cabinet -- when you open it, cardamom and cinnamon bark mingle with the scent of dozens of bags of loose leaf black tea, in my kitchen.

 

This is a much more warm and ambery scent than I expected, and it never just becomes a potpourri-type spice/citrus scent as I feared. Tangerine is preferable to orange for me -- it's lighter, and the hint of cherry blossom also reminds me of a cherry blossom tea that I have. Mild, mellow, understated, but it really comes to life on me, as anything with an amber or musk base does. Finally got a bottle, so now my Therianthropes are all lined up in a row and happy!

This is actually very strong on me, with a lot of staying power and waft. I found it to be a sweet but light tobacco not unlike Perversion, and the sweetness even has a hint of something not entirely unlike coconut. Muskiness causes it to swirl around and waft in a pleasant haze.

 

Oddly, I never smell leather in this but I am sure that its lending a bit of stability to the blend. This is quite unlike the other tobacco and leather scents in the DPP line, and it never for a moment smells like the bad cigar smell I feared. It's just a toasty, moist, smoky warm sweet tobacco hanging in a room without ever feeling stifling or uncomfortable.

 

All in all, probably my third favorite of the series!

Lilac is one of my favorite smells in nature -- in early May I stop by every lilac bush I pass and stick my noses in them, moaning at how beautiful they are. I'll pull off the road if I see a good stand of lilac bushes to run out and stick my nose in them (on country roads, that is, not the Turnpike!).

 

Lilac in perfume though doesn't always work so well -- it is the definition of the "powdery" scent, since it is very reminiscent of bath powders and sprays when it's used in perfumes, even in beloved BPAL.

 

But here we have the perfection of lilac in perfume form. Seriously -- if you like lilac but don't think it can work on your skin, try it. The leather and musk bring it to life, make it deeper, stronger, less powdery and project it around you as though you were a walking lilac bush.

 

There is a type of loose incense I've loved for years and years, by Wild Berries -- a lilac that burns deeper and stronger than any other, without ever smelling like a powder puff. This is definitely the perfume version of that scent. Slightly smoky, weaving through the air in thick pale purple tangles. I am in lilac heaven. You'll pull off the road to sniff ME now!

I love the dandelion in Roadhouse and I like grassy scents so this sounded like a sure thing to me -- and it is!

 

I haven't tried the single note of dandelion but I'd imagine it's very close to this. This is just bright yellow suns and fuzzy white moons of that crisp, succulent scent as it drifts across a meadow on a warm summer breeze. This is a fresh-mown lawn with all of the little decapitated dandelion heads drifting through the air.

 

It's so straightforward in its simplicity and beauty there's not much to say except: if this sounds good to you and you think you'll like it, you probably will! I'm not sure how long it lasts on me since I haven't had it on for long, but I imagine it would also work well in a locket or other dispersal method as well. I can't wait for it to warm up so I can wear it outside. I feel like there will be grass stains on my arm just from trying it!

I hesitated to get this and then sprung for it at the last minute. I really like the combination of tobacco and rose and have always wanted more in that vein -- Love in the Asylum has been the only one that really fulfilled that craving for me so far.

 

The idea of it being perfumey concerned me, but as soon as I sniffed this I knew I was in the clear. Oh, you have to like rose, but it is a pale rose, and I feel like this is a lighter version of Love in the Asylum, since I can smell that warm tobacco and the crisp bite of leather in the background.

 

They also give it staying power, some throw and a bit of sweet smokiness. All the time drifting pleasantly without becoming cloying.

 

I would also not be surprised if the "perfume" element of this might include a dash of carnation. But the overall impression I get is one of a soft smoky rosiness, and the only blend I can think of for comparison is LITA, which is definitely a scent-family I was hoping to get more of.

 

All of the Dogs are pretty much a success for me so far!

I spent all day wearing and reapplying Kelly Pool to try to figure out how to describe it.

 

I went in prepared for it not to be the woody teak scent I had expected, but also not really knowing what worsted wool smells like except in dim childhood memories.

 

The main impression that I get from it is softness. Not the pure fluffy gauzy down of, say, Bunny Musk, because it lacks the sweet and floral elements. It's more of an ethereal softness, with a trace of something like sawdust. A boarded up room with a ray of light seeping from one window, dust motes suspended, casting shadows on faded and torn pastel wallpaper. Soft woolen blankets are still piled on the forgotten bed.

 

As it dries, I am reminded of Yog Sothoth. Yes, it distinctly smells just like Yog did when it was fresh. In other words, the Numb comparisons do make sense to me, but this is not cold or frosty to me, and does not have that violet tint around the edges. Just the weird floating tufts of slightly musky, dusty wool, and I supposed I can convince myself that I smell something along the lines of rosewood. There's a scent also like the dust of many kinds of incense that have built up on your countertop over the course of weeks of burning stick after stick. That incense dust quality increases as I wear it and apply a fresh layer.

 

You know what, though? I like it. I like it a lot. I liked Yog a lot too. I don't know quite how to describe it otherwise except that it is a fragrance unique to BPAL and worth experiencing. I'm glad I got a bottle! For a heavy hit of teak I'll reach for Pulcinella. But this is a unique addition to my stash.