tdiym

Labdanum.

when I open my box of BPALz, THE most wonderful smell comes out -- a mixture of all my oils and for years now I've wished for a scent that smells like that. So much so that I've even considered taking one drop of each and every one of them and putting them all into a bottle (great idea, right? ).

And then I got a frimp of Mage from the lab with one of my orders.

O!M!G! this is IT! It's that smell when I open my BPAL box!! Yeah, it's resinous and deep and has patchouli and maybe even dark orange in it.

My BPAL box is heaven in a box. This is deep, dark heaven in a bottle.

I had truly hoped this wouldn't really have muskiness to it, but what could I expect after reading the reviews?

Musk is a note of doom for me, and I was hoping people were describing it as "musky" just because there wasn't any other word fitting to describe it. Nope, I was wrong. Muskiness is in there, and I can't get past that. It's sort of sweet and musky/soapy on me. Not for me. I'll hang onto it and hope that it will age into something deeper and more sophisticated somehow. I just can't deal with musk at all.

Midnight Mass, which is a Yule and is frequently available either as a recurring Yule offering or on the aftermarket, is very incense-y

when i was young, i studied at art school in the bowels of the big art museum in my city, and this fragrance is the smell of walking down those wide, flat concrete steps under the museum entering the school. it's fall when the air is cool and the smell of turpentine and linseed oil are fragrant hallmarks that the bustly world of downtown was upstairs, outside, and behind me. it signals the entry into another world underground: exciting, interesting, challenging, creative, stimulating, unique.

wet in the bottle i got turps from the resins more than i got ink but i put it on and huffed sniffed and was transported back in time and place. now that it's dried down, here comes the linseed oil, too. instant nostalgia. art school. perfect.

I get that kind of berry thing going on, too. It must be something in the "traditional lunar oils". I don't get as much wood as I expected and it's sweeter than I expected, too. I'm still on the fence about this one.

On me, at first strong and distinct marigold, which I like a lot. Dry, it reminds me quite a bit of Lines Written Among the Eugenian Hills, which I also like a lot. I hadn't noticed the similarity at first, but it's been aging and has gotten smoother and more blended. Very nice I like this quite a bit.

This smells piney to me, and that's the only distinct note I get. I got it more because of the event than the fragrance, so even though it smells like nothing in particular on me, I'm keeping it anyway. I never get anything that I can pick out other than the pine, but it's not even very piney. It has a whole lot of different things going on, the berries, the herbs, the pine, but nothing becomes distinctive enough for me to recognize and like or dislike much. Overall rating: meh

This is a very lovely Hunter Moon, unlike earlier ones. On me, it's apples and spice, something I wouldn't normally be interested in ("too foody") but this is more complex and earthy while staying sweet and not going all sour and wonky on my skin after a couple of hours. It doesn't morph much on me, just a nice sweet complex primarily appley scent. Makes me wish I had hoarded ordered a back up bottle

I love this one! I's defnitely sweet apple but much more interesting with the spices and then as it dries down it starts to develop something almost slightly sour under the surface. It's great for me, just like Halloween, sort of sweet, but with a bite underneath.

I just received this yesterday so maybe it needs to take some time in the bottle to rest. Brand new out of the box it was very powdery, powder being one of my death notes. After a day I put a little bit on and unfortunately I'm not getting much apple from this one. It has lost some of teh powder but I had wanted more apple and less of the other stuff. This one is a disappointment for me. meh.

This starts out like very dry chocolate on me. About mid morning it became very fruity, like overripe fruit. Not unpleasant, just very sweet. And at the last part of the afternoon, I kept noticing a wonderful, perfect sweet honey. I was wondering where that luscious honey smell was coming from -- and then I realized it was me! (well, it was 13, actually) The final drydown is The.Perfect.Honey.

Must.get.more.

I love this one. I ordered it late on a whim and I'm so glad I did. It's definitely different from the usual things I love and the apple ingredient would have made it something I would not have tried b/c I would have dismissed it as being "too foody".

This is wonderful, very smooth and sweet appley, but the spices and leaves make it very mellow and keep me from smelling like a fruit stand. Pretty decent throw b/c an office mate sitting across from me can always tell when I've opened the bottle. It lasts a couple hours on me and then I have to (get to!) reapply it. It's wonderful and I love it and now I wish I had ordered a back up bottle! Definite win.

i get mostly pine in this but it's sweet and very smooth. must be the berries. it's very pleasant, sweeter than what i usually wear but it's a nice change. i'm glad i got this one.

wow.

horse chestnut honey is the love child of Tomoe Gozen bath oil and Kill-Devil. dark, rich, sticky and sweet.

i'm not much of a foodie fan but this is so much darker (like Kill-Devil) that it doesn't seem foody to me in the usual way.

this is the rich, sweet honey i've been looking for.

i totally love this and definitely need to get a bottle...(at least one! )

i got this as a frimp in a lab order and loved it immediately. i get a sort sweet, dry patchouli. i don't know how i missed this when the marchens came out and i'm glad it's still available because i definitely need some!

2010 Version

This reminds me a lot of Cathedral

It reminds me a lot of Cathedral, too. I really liked the smokiness of Midnight Mass, but it lasts only about 30 minutes on me and then it's completely gone. I would really love this if only it didn't disappear right away on me.

I had trouble with this one, too. I got mostly a funky, strong dirt/asphalt smell that was kind of chemically and not particularly pleasant. I tried it on a day I felt like I was coming down with the flu, and it bothered me smelling it enough that I couldn't bring myself to give it another chance. This is one that I don't like.

I don't get autumn dry leaves, but green leaves, and a slightly grassy smell in there, too. This was the first one I put on from my shipment, and it's green and fresh. It's fairly light on me and faded more quickly than I'd have wished because I like this very much. I have always loved the smell of leaves, so this one is a winner for me.

I think it's unfair for me to evaluate this in the bottle, because it doesn't smell like that at all once it's applied. In the bottle, to me there's almost a medicine-y undertone but on my skin, there's no hint of that.

On my skin, it's woody and smoky. It doesn't remind me of anything else, the smoke is subtle but unmistakable. The grass is light, so on me it smells like smoky wood. I love this and definitely will be purchasing at least one back up bottle.

i get only jessamine from this, and of all the honeys i tried, it's the only one that is going into my swap pile. it's just too flowery for me. it's a very strong flower fragrance, like very intense, extra strong jasmine, very sweet and to me, completely overpowering. i get no honey in this at all, neither in the bottle or on my skin.

i get the same slightly minty honey as the other reviewers. it smells a little "dry" on me, too. i tried all the honeys when they came out, and i chose 5 mls of this and deadly nightshade honey "sight-unsniffed". I chose wisely since Dolls Eye and Deadly Nightshade (Rapcinni's Garden) were the two i liked the best. doll's eye smells a little more herbaceous and not as sweet as deadly nightshade, so i have a "good, sweet" honey (nightshade) and a spiky, slighty devilish honey (dolls eye), depending.

 

i do intend to try all the newly released honeys just as soon as my budget allows it

i think i tried all the honeys that came out and of all of them, this one is the one i like the best. it smells like a true honey on me, not overly sweet but as if i just opened a jar of honey and that's the smell. there's almost a "dryness" to it, but on me it truly smells like a jar of honey.

i intend to try all the new honeys, too, just as soon as my budget allows.

on me, this is a pure, sweet cedar, and i love cedar.

i don't get the orange or anything else, except it just makes the cedar a totally smooth, sweet, and clean-smelling wood. i completely love this. this is my favorite of the steamworks by far.

this is another one where i use the bath oil as regular fragrance and like it best of the set. i tried the 5 ml oil once when i first got it, and reading the rest of the comments here, maybe i ought to try it again, but i've been wearing the bath oil all this time because i love it. on me, it's just sweet honey and currants and is a very summery-smelling fragrance for when the weather is hot and i can't wear my usual dark resins and patchoulis. i love this for its sweetness. it's a very lush and summery thing...