kjirstiben

In the bottle, this is gorgeously vanilla. On my skin, though, the floral comes out immediately and strongly and for a while seems to be trying to fight vanilla in a battle to the death. In a half hour or so, a slightly scorched sour smell emerges (my skin chemistry's take on many sweet scents that it doesn't approve of) and I wonder if it's the sandalwood or sweet pea that's causing the problem here… But I'm afraid that it might be the vanilla itself (I'm having issues with some vanilla notes, it would seem). This never quite got there--it was always a bit plasticky on my skin. I think I'll try it in a locket because I really did love its scent in the bottle! Recaplet: Plasticky fight-to-the-death between sweet pea and vanilla. My rating: 1 of 5 (I'm not fond of it.) … with potential to change if it works in a locket or my hair. Color impression: Creamy ivory.

It must be the violet that smells so much like melons or some other, similar, juicy fruit--this goes on smelling slightly bitter, slightly sour, but in a good way (I know, sounds weird, but it's a nice bitter/sour/juicy fruit smell). During the drydown, it starts to sweeten up, and I can definitely start to make out the violet and the gardenia in here. After a couple hours, the vanilla emerges. At this point I'm afraid that it's the vanilla that doesn't work quite right on my skin--I've been having hit-or-miss experiences with vanilla lately. However, it sweetens the violet nicely. Gardenia never comes out recognizably in this scent--it blends with the violet into an unusual floral. Over time, the vanilla in this scent starts to take over. It turns into a very foody, very strong vanilla on me--vanilla with a teensy bit of violet behind it. Quite nice, and slightly unexpected after the first stages of this scent. Recaplet: Deep dark floral that sweetens into nearly pure vanilla-violet. My rating: 3 of 5 (Nice enough.) Color Impression: Lavender and cream.

Straight out of the imp, the oil smells soft and lemony, almost like a textile--linen, perhaps. There's some associated soapiness, too, and during the drydown it continues to amp until… Oh! It's tea--a clean, dry smell, and leather. Mostly leather, come to think of it, and a little tea. This scent wants to disappear on my skin. At 2 hours it's very close to disappearing--from that point on all that I can smell is the barest hint of a scent when my nose is applied directly to my wrist. Severin has definitely furthered my suspicion that tea doesn't like my skin chemistry… though thankfully this time it chose to disappear instead of morphing into something foul… Recaplet: Tea, then leather and tea, then nothing--and quickly! My rating: 2 out of 5 (Meh.) Color Impression: Milk-diluted tea brown.

Séance has befuddled me somewhat… it's not an oil that's easy to describe or to come up with a reaction to. Going on, I'm struck by a mushroomy character to the scent… it's got a vaguely floral accompaniment, but there's definitely something slighly dirt-like or fungal about the scent at first. Over time, the floral comes out slightly, and then the whole thing virtually disappears… it turns into a vague afterthought of roses, barely-there against my skin. Recaplet: Mushrooms and roses, then the ghost of roses. My rating: 2 of 5 (Meh.) Color Impression: Dried rose-petal pink-brown.

Initially on, this is an apple, maybe apple-blossomy scent. It's tart, with some slightly powdery floral to it. As it dries down, I can smell lemon and apples--just like a Granny Smith apple, sliced and brushed with lemon juice to keep it from oxidizing! For the next couple hours, it continues to be a straight apple scent, tart and green, then it starts to lose some of the sweet-tart quality that makes it initially seem so fresh and zingy. In its later stages, it turns from apples to apple shampoo. There's an apple-herbal quality to this that is a little surprising. It's a nice scent, a clean scent, but quite strong, and makes me keep thinking I just washed my hair! Not sure what I think at this point… Recaplet: Apples and lemon that turn into apple shampoo. My rating: 2 of 5 (Meh.) Color Impression: Yellow-green like Granny Smiths.

One of my first loves from my first BPAL order! (The other being Tombstone… go figure.) I loved it from the first but didn't have the nose to distinguish notes at first, so I put off reviewing it for a while. Schrödinger's Cat goes on a green, green citrus scent. I can smell lime and mint in it. It's sweet but citrusy all at once. There's an underlying green there too, the green of oakmoss, which gives it some depth and richness. After about two hours, the citrus has mostly faded and I'm left with a lovely, tart greenness. This kitty fades in about five hours to a subtle, green scent (the moss). This is a good green for me because (unlike anything grassy-smelling) it never develops a "scorched grass" smell on me. By the end of the day, this is a faint, green scent. I love that this is such a green scent and yet it still works on my skin! I've struggled for years (pre-BPAL) with grassy scents that go all wrong on me, hoping that someday I could find something refreshing and really green that stays true to the greenness over time. This scent is my first experience with that. Recaplet: Dark green, citrusy, minty goodness! Favorite. My rating: 5 of 5 (I LOVE IT!!!) Color Impression: Deep emerald green.

What an odd scent! It went on smelling like a savory spice to start with. I was thinking cumin, maybe--it reminded me a little of Mexican food--but I think I was mischaracterizing the nutmeg. As it dries down, this scent smells more dusty than savory, but still with that odd slightly dinner-spice scent to it. It eventually becomes a dry, dusty spice… not particularly sweet--a little peppery, even. Several hours in, and through its last stages, it continues to be a dusty scent, but now it's a dusty spicy oriental scent. Odd all around. I've heard that this one improves as you age it… I may try that, because this time through it just baffled me. Recaplet: Savory, then dusty spices. My rating: 1 of 5 (I'm not fond of it.) Color impression: Deep gray-brown.

Another early-chosen winner! Cathedral initially smells cedary on my skin, and as it dries down it retains its cedary and resiny character. It's very nice. The cedar, wood, and resin smell remains remarkably consistent through the (long) life of the scent. This is one oil that doesn't do a lot of metamorphosing, so you have to like the smell of woods and resins to wear it… (BTW, I think I amp cedar so it's possible that on someone else this would have more resiny character to it. I'm happy with it as it is on me, but it may not be a representative sample.) Recaplet: Cedar, wood, and resin--consistent through its long wear-time. My rating: 5 of 5 (I LOVE IT!!!) Color impression: The yellow-brown of a wooden church interior.

Initially applied, this scent is strongly orange with a dusty cocoa background. It's quite a mouth-watering combination, even if cocoa never really takes on a very "chocolate" character on my skin. Over the next hour or so, the cocoa/mandarin combination mellows and deepens and I find myself drawn to it over and over again. However, after a couple hours, the citrus fades away (which it tends to do), and the red musk of the scent emerges to take its place, accompanied by something vaguely herbal. While I don't have horrible experiences with red musk, it's just not an exciting note on me. Eventually, it's official: Red musk + herbs = Soapy meh. Recaplet: Delightful orange and cocoa for an hour, then soapy blahness. My rating: 2 of 5 (Meh.) -- though the beginning hour is worth a 4 or even 5 and kept the overall rating from being a 1 or 0. Color Impression: Clear? I'm not getting anything.

Moon of the Terrible goes on smelling of berries and the forest mixed together, and stays sweet, fruity, and foresty for its first two hours of drydown. At the two hour mark, however, I had a "burnt grass" smell emerge out of it that worried me--many scents never recover from this--but after another hour it had pulled out of that stage to become a very different scent, a subtle, tart, herbal scent that was quite lovely and something that I enjoyed smelling all day long. This is very unlike any other scents that I have to date. I like the character that the lychee gives it.

Initially, this is all about the sage and rose hips: it's tart and herbal. I can detect some juniper, too, an herbal-smelling evergreen scent. Over time, some floral qualities develop, but the scent remains primarily herbal. Around the 2 hour mark, a fruity scent emerged, and not long after that I started to get the "burnt grass" effect that I often get from green-smelling fragrances. However, surprisingly, the scorched smell goes away and the scent is now floral with a touch of… spice?... underneath. By its final stages, this scent is herbal, almost perfumey but faint, and with a decidedly evergreen edge to it. A very nice, very different scent, and full y appropriate to its January moon namesake.

This goes on floral, and I can definitely smell gardenias at first. As it dries down, it turns into a mix of florals and green--like flowers you smell while walking outdoors. I smell something that seems almost citrussy, then realize it is the juniper in the scent. Over time, this turns into a tangy herbal-floral scent, which eventually turns into a lingering floral-herbal soapy scent. It's not a sharp or unpleasant soapiness, just a clean, fresh herbal and floral combination.

Wow! This goes on as a burst of evergreens and powdery snow, with almost a citrus twinge to it. After its initial scent-burst, however, it quickly fades and in a couple hours I thought I'd detected it going sour on me (a problem I'm having with a lot of the Yules--I suspect it may be the snow note). However, Snow Bunny never goes 100% sour and icky on me. Instead, it stays soft and subtle in the background, and eventually fades out after a few hours. I never did get a sense of the "girly perfume" at all. Interesting.

As advertised, Jacob's Ladder is lovely resins, all combined together. It's got the same amber that I love in Gelt without the chocolatey foodiness. This scent is soft, low-key, and doesn't have a lot of throw. I like it a lot but I suspect that it is going to improve greatly with age (I suspect as much from all the reviews…).

Initially on, this was all vetiver, in its woodsy, earthy darkness. Over the course of the drydown, a touch of the anise emerges with the vetiver… nice. Through the next hour, the civet comes out to play, but it balances nicely with the other notes and gives some depth to the scent without hijacking it and turning it gross (which is what I had feared it might do). In its end stages, this scent has a powdery, deep, resiny character, full of unplumbed depths. Perhaps a little heavy for summer--this is a good autumn and winter scent, or maybe a nighttime going-out scent, for when you're feeling darkly powerful. Over all, this is a dark and resonant scent.

Going on, this oil had a smoky, spicy scent to it. It actually made my skin where I'd applied it feel a little hot, even tingly. It dries to a resinous, slightly smoke-touched scent, very pleasant and warm, and its end is a mix of pure resins. I liked this scent a lot, and it stayed relatively true to form, except that the almost-barbequey smoke scent from the beginning toned down more and more over the time that I wore it. This is a warm scent, something that reminded me of sitting in front of a wood-burning fire in a fireplace in the depths of winter.

Silk Road goes on my skin with a burst of cinnamony spice, then immediately starts to mellow as it dries down. The sharp edges of the spicy scent round and it continues to mellow. I was worried, for a bit, that this would disappear entirely. It turns into something that smells very like chai tea, then it is a combination of cinnamon and clove that is very dry-smelling. Over time, it is a scent that is all spices, a little wood, and some tea, and then, after a few hours, it disappears. A lovely, spicy scent, rather like Plunder in character. It has a short lifespan, though, at least on me.

This goes on as an earthy fruit… it smells dark, juicy without being overly sweet (it's not a jam smell). As it dries down, it smells drier, like dusty fruits, and the fruits themselves darken further, smelling more solid, more concentrated, like sun-dried versions of themselves. The whole thing feels concentrated and darkened.

The first thing I smelled in Kyoto was the star anise, which was a surprise because I'd forgotten anise was a note in this scent. Under the initial dose of anise, I could barely smell a soft floral undertone. After about an hour, this smells almost like wood--it's a drier scent, and only a little anise lingers on. Toward its end-stages, this turns into a light floral. It's nice, almost with a tangy or tart quality to it--I'm reminded of lemons or citrus, but it's not quite as zingy as that. Kyoto is a lightweight, pink-scented oil that would make a perfect spring sundress and cardigan scent. I look forward to using it for that purpose in the warmer months of the year.

A misty, almost luminous perfume: wispy linden blossoms, white flowers, and a touch of sweet herbs. This scent goes on flowery, but a light, clean, airy kind of flowers. It doesn't scream floral and it doesn't turn soapy, which is what most florals do on me. Instead this is noticeably white, luminous flowers. After a while, it develops an herbal tone--all the while it's a subtle, lightweight scent. Over the hours, the scent quiets down to a sweet, slightly lotus-like floral (meaning sweet in tone rather than sharp), mixed with a lily-like quality. It's a ladylike, ethereal scent, something I would feel proper wearing to church or high tea.

My notes for this, the day I was testing it, read as follows: "Bright-colored! Fruity! Starts to go sour around 1 hour in…" Sadly, like many sweet or fruity scents, this and my chemistry do not get along very well. The bright, sweet juiciness that made it so outstanding at first seemed to disagree with my skin--I will definitely be trying this one in a scent locket.

This scent is mellow, primarily wood with some fruit and vague sweetness underneath. While not unpleasant, it also was not outstanding to my nose. I may wait a while and see if aging and another scent test makes it seem more outstanding in character to me.

My first impressions of this scent were its dusty-seedy character. It smelled almost herbal or haylike. Later on, and I don't know why this occurred to me, but all I could think was that it smells like lotion! As time went on, this continued: it remained a non-sweet, plant-like scent (herbal, I suppose), that still reminds me of the scent of lotion. This wasn't exactly what I was expecting, and due to the fact that it had an almost "raw" feel about it, I think I'm going to let this one age for a while and see if it mellows out.

This scent goes on sweet and somewhat undifferentiated to my nose. (I read it as "fuzzy" if that makes any sense.) There's a quality here that I'm not super-fond of, similar to what was in Antique Lace: vanilla gone perfumey. The woods aren't sharp enough to balance it to my liking and the whole thing dries down to a fuzzy, faintly sweet, somewhat blah scent on me. For all the hype about the Antikythera Mechanism, I was underwhelmed--I far prefer the sharpness of No. 93 Engine.

Right away, this is cinnamon and vanilla. It reminds me of Pickled Imp, only I've got a little less of the "cookie" quality at first. There's a slightly plasticky overtone right when I first put it on. As it dries down, it becomes straight vanilla and cinnamon, a soft cookie scent. Oh, this is sooooo good! (I smell baked.) Supposedly there's honeysuckle in here, but all I ever smell is the vanilla and cinnamon, which is a lot like Pickled Imp but a softer, less spicy combination. It's very yummy and very sweet.