Seismogenic

Gosh I have not logged in in forever. But desert scents happen to be a thing toward which I gravitate, so!

In terms of GCs:

*Lear is very arid to me. Dusty, dry, not hot but certainly not cold. The sage note in there is hugely reminiscent of the Mojave Desert.

*51 is meant to be desert. The initial juicy green notes counter the aridness to some degree, but they disappear quickly on me, leaving dry salt flats and heat-steeped sand.

*Ozymandias has already been suggested, I see.

*To me, Aureus is desert-y. I understand that some people get more incense out of it, so your mileage may vary, but on me, it's the sun-baked cedars and Joshua trees on the eastern side of the San Gabriel Mountains.

*This may be more scent association for me than for many other people, but Santa Eularia des Riu is very much the Inland Empire desert (ok, fine, coastal sage scrub) in spring. Arid, warm, with citrus on the breeze.

As for LEs:

*Sailing Stones of Death Valley legit smells like Death Valley. It's a yellow and tan rocky desert with just that hint of dry alkaline lake. I love it.

*Kinnabari (prototype) is a red desert, a la Utah.

*Windy Moon smells like dry hot Santa Ana Winds sucking the moisture out of everything and threatening it with smoke. I hear that some people get something aquatic in it, but to me, it is dry dry dry.

*In logical sequence, Halloween: Los Angeles is a chaparral brushfire. Doesn't get hotter and drier than that.

*Amicitia has sage and chaparral as notes, and is spot-on SoCal desert on me.

I play a whole bunch of different kinds of music, and on performance days, I'll often try to pick a scent that's somehow relevant to something on the program that day.

It could be something very literal - ie, I wore Danse Macabre for an orchestra concert in which we played Saint-Saens' piece by the same name.

Sometimes it'll be wearing a Wanderlust scent related to where the music we're playing came from - I've worn Versailles for a concert of French Renaissance music, and Florence for a concert of Italian music. If we played a Russian program, you'd better believe I'd be wearing Country of Eternal Light.

If there's something relevant in a literary way, I might wear that. I went through all the Illyria scents I have (which is, granted, not hugely many) the year we did a program of English Renaissance stuff.

And there are times where I'll wear something that may not be relevant in name or inspiration, but have scents that I still associate with the music. As an example, the scents of clove and incense are ones I strongly associate with Javanese gamelan, since there's always incense in the rehearsal room, and since clove cigarettes are popular in Indonesia (and therefore among gamelan musicians). There's no Central Java BPAL (though that would rock), but Panther Moon has that clove-and-incense smell that's right for that in my mind.

SO, I've got an unusual one for you guys!

You may recall me posting two years ago about suggestions for an anthropomorphic fault line. Well, I'm at that whole anthropomorphization trick again, but this time, the character is a bridge.

Specifically, he is the personification of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. If you're curious, he's the guy on the right in this drawing.

Naturally, my question is what BPAL best suits an insecure anthropomorphic suspension bridge with a bad knee.

I had a couple of thoughts already:

Halloween: San Francisco would be obvious enough, since this is a Halloween costume of a San Francisco landmark. I would go for that no question if not for the fact that a big steel bridge should probably smell metallic.

Phantom Cow of Yerba Buena Island was another thought, since Yerba Buena Island is the Bay Bridge's midpoint; a tunnel through the island connects the cantilever span with the suspension span. But again, I think there should be some metal involved, and not so sure about the milk note in this context.

Tinfoil Hat has nothing to do with San Francisco, but it's both metallic and aquatic on me, which makes the most sense without considering the context of conspiracy theories.

So, what would you say to this? One of those three? Layering? Or is there something else both metallic and aquatic that I should be considering?

Thanks!

I am so incredibly excited about this one. I believe that the first thing I ever posted in the "Fantasy Island" part of the board was the hope for a Santa Ana Wind or California wildfire scent. I effectively got Santa Anas with Windy Moon last year (that's how it smells on me, anyway!), and now here's the fire! The fact that Halloween: Los Angeles is thus tagged with time and place makes it even more appealing to me, since Southern California + October = Fire in my mind. The Esperanza Fire in 2006 was huge and occurred in the last week of October and was my first exposure to this phenomenon; the series of fires in 2007 were even bigger, and led to blood red moons right around Halloween. The 2008 season got worse in November, and 2009 did its worst in September, but the connection between fire and Halloween in the greater L.A. area was already set for me. So I'm excited for that, but also for the notes - all of the desert-y scents I've tried so far have been good on me, and I also generally do well with smoke scents, so this bodes well.

In the bottle: First sniff is actually kind of syrupy sweet, but it becomes more smoky before I even finish breathing in. There is definitely oh-so-familiar dried grasses and brush behind that smoke.

Wet on skin: The initial impression of sweetness is gone. This is all about smoke and dry brush right now. There's maybe something a little spicy about the brush, but really, it's dry dry dry and incendiary. I can't pick out the individual plants, but this definitely smells like a southern California hillside.

Drydown: Freshly dry, the initial sweet note is sort of back, though nowhere near as strong as in the bottle. It still goes away quickly within one sniff, and leaves smoke and dry brush. I still can't pick out one plant from another, but that's the chaparral ecosystem for you! At one hour in, the sweet note has disappeared again. The smoke has also become more intense, which totally makes sense, since that's generally what happens the longer a fire burns! It's a very dry smoke, and underneath it is still all that dry chaparral.

Five hours later: There's no appreciable difference between now and the one hour mark, actually. It's the same blend of smoke and heated dry grasses and brush. Not much of a change in intensity, either.

End of the day: A bit of smoke and a bit of ozone. Still very present.

Overall: Funny thing here: if I were to go outside and the air smelled like this, I would go, "OH CRAP" and start thinking about evacuation routes while loading irreplaceable things into my car. But the air does not smell like this right now; it's the oil on my wrist, and in this context, it's an awesome smell. That is to say, this really well and truly does smell like a late summer California brushfire. It's exactly the right combination of plants under the right ridiculous heat, and from there, it only makes sense that there's a lot of smoke. When the smell is not coming from an actual fire, I can appreciate how it's a sort of strange semi-arid incense; I don't have to feel bad about thinking it's a good smell like I would if there were actually a wall of flame advancing down the mountain toward campus or something. In terms of related scents, I'd say the nearest relative is Windy Moon, which makes sense, since that was meant to be a hot dry wind with a hint of smoke (and since it smells like Santa Ana weather on me). This is a more specific scent, though - it really does get a location and a time of year into that bottle. Even if it weren't good on me, I'd keep it, for that association with what fall in southern California means. Luckily, it's actually good on me, too!

The mere fact that this scent exists makes me ridiculously happy. Maybe I should feel a little bad, since the Halloweens that inspired this scent were not Beth's happiest, but that doesn't change the fact that San Francisco is my very favorite of cities. I am madly in love with the place - it's somewhere completely comfortable to me, and I sincerely hope I end up here permanently. I know I'd posted on the forum in the past that I hoped there'd be a San Francisco scent some day, so my squee was over the top when this was released. Honestly, this could have smelled like all of my death notes plus cat litterbox and I still would've ordered it, because it's San Francisco, but even aside from the inspiration, the notes in this sound beautiful. I do well with rain notes and leaf notes, and the description of this is very evocative, even without a mention of the specific cityscape. I admit I haven't been in San Francisco actually on Halloween, but I've been here in all four seasons at some point, and I'm excited to see how this matches up.

In the bottle: Absolutely and completely dead on for a pile of wet leaves. Not leaves that are wet and still on trees, but leaves that have fallen and soaked in the rain. Not getting anything but the subtlest hint of the salt air, though.

Wet on skin: Wet leaves still, but also rain. It's definitely raining fresh new water on those leaves now. It's a clean and soft rain. The salt air is still very very very subtle, perhaps even more so now that there's the freshwater note.

Drydown: Freshly dry, the salt air is a little more obvious. It's still not as strong as the rain or the leaves, but it's back there - and this makes sense, since it's harder to smell the ocean if it's pouring freshwater from the sky. I think the rain note is more prominent than the leaves right now, if anything, but this balance still works beautifully. At one hour in, all three main components are playing well together: rain and wet leaves are pretty evenly balanced, and salt air is subtler over them, but is still present. It's a soft scent, pretty close to the skin, but not actually anywhere near disappearing.

Five hours later: Largely the same balance as at one hour. If anything, the saltwater is more prominent now, and the leaves are less prominent, but everything is still there. It's softer than before, but I don't have to sniff hard to tell it's still there.

End of the day: Salty air, mostly, with maybe a little rain behind it. No more leaves. Very very soft now. I'm only picking up these notes at this point because I'm shoving my nose on my wrist.

Overall: This is a soft, somewhat melancholy, gorgeously evocative scent. It's a blend with distinct components, but in the case of any cityscape - visual or olfactory - it's specific elements rather than a homogeneous whole that really represents the place. I am still so so thrilled with how exactly the opening stages of this smell like piles of wet leaves - I'd say the leaf note is comparable to October or to what I remember of Falling Leaf Moon (though less spicy than the latter), and the rain note is the same one from Visiting the Temple of Auspicious Fortune Alone on the Winter Solstice. At first, to be honest, before the saltwater showed up, that combination didn't so much remind me of San Francisco as of the piles of damp wet leaves I helped rake as a kid in northern Virginia. Once the salt air did come out though - and it's the same salty note as in Phantom Cow of Yerba Buena Island, which totally makes sense, since these scents represent the same Bay - that shifted this to definitely representing a rainy day late in the year in the City by the Bay. My only "complaint," if you could even call it that, is that I wish this had a bit more throw, but I might not be giving that aspect the most fair assessment, since I did wear this through a very busy day (that included walking on the Golden Gate Bridge, riding a cable car, eating chowder in a bread bowl by the wharf, milkshakes in Ghirardelli Square, and general wandering around the Mission District, among other things - really!). But the reason I'd like more throw is because I want to smell this more, and that's because it's gorgeous. San Francisco or no San Francisco, this smells really beautiful. The fact that it represents this City just ices the cake. Thank you so much for this one, Beth!

Based on the notes alone, this is probably not a scent I would have picked up. Given the inspiration behind it, though, how could I not? The whole Black Helicopters line cracked me up, but this one has the added bonus of being a geological conspiracy of sorts. That is enough to make me need to test it, even in the face of being a bit allergic to white sandalwood!

In the bottle: Extremely dry and dusty, with a sweet undertone.

Wet on skin: Much the same as wet in the bottle - dry dry dry, and ever so slightly sweet. It's a powdered sugar kind of sweet, for certain.

Drydown: Freshly dry, the sweet note is a little more prominent. It is, however, still an incredibly dry sort of sweet, and it mixes well with the extremely dry stuff that was more prominent when the scent was wet. Picking out specific notes within this is proving difficult! One hour later, the sweetness has calmed down again, though it hasn't entirely dissipated. My primary impression is dry dry dry and pale.

Five hours later: This is getting very faint, but it still has the same quality as in the one hour mark: very dry, dusty, and pale, with only a subtle hint of sweetness.

End of the day: Very very faint sweetness.

Overall: As I said before, this isn't the kind of scent I would have necessarily picked up on its own, but I like it quite well! It's soft and comforting, actually, and my fears about the white sandalwood and my allergies were unfounded. Most importantly, though, I think this scent absolutely spot-on nails the concept it's going for. It comes very very close to some of the Lab's other geological scents - Black Opal in particular, though also a similar soft feel to Death Cap - but that bit of sugar-sweetness is just enough to make those rocks seem fake. And that is what this is meant to be - fake rocks on the fake moon! If I were not in on that joke, I'd probably be grumbling that this isn't mineral enough for me, but knowing the exact inspiration…pardon the pun, but this rocks. And makes me smile. I'm glad to have it!

I'm not going to even pretend that I didn't immediately think "1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire" when I read the description of this scent. It should surprise nobody that my mind went there before I even finished reading the list of notes. It's a fascinating and terrifying event that relates my field of my study and one of my favorite cities in the world, and I squee'd out loud to see a BPAL oil that could so easily be construed as representing it, even if that wasn't the actual intent. (Though, I should also note, the oil was available exclusively on 16-18 April, and the 1906 earthquake was on 18 April. Also, the label art even looks like San Francisco! Behold:

)

SO aaaaanyway, I had to try it for that reason alone! Also, the notes themselves do sound good…

In the bottle: Dark and smoky, with some smashed wood and creosote, but also surprisingly sweet. At times, oddly reminiscent of cola, or, at least, cola with FIRE.

Wet on skin: Immediately far less sweet, which is a good thing. I'm definitely getting the burned wood and creosote loud and clear, with dry ash and smoke backing it up. The sweetness isn't entirely gone, though; it's become a bit spicy now. I'm wondering if that's the blood note, perhaps?

Drydown: Freshly dry, it's even less sweet, though still somewhat spicy. The ash and cinder notes come out a lot more, overtop what is definitely charred wood. Less creosote now, but I think the tar and asphalt are starting to make themselves known. At one hour in, things have settled into a combination of slightly spicy smoke, dry ashes/charred wood, on top of a hint of hot tarry asphalt.

Five hours later: Fainter, but largely the same blend as at the one hour mark. It's a warm blend of burnt wood and scalded tarry asphalt. Still spicy, though I can't quite figure where the spice is coming from.

End of the day: Very faint charred wood with just a hint of tar. Not particularly spicy anymore.

Overall: Should I feel bad about thinking that a scent meant to emulate a city that has been knocked down and burned up smells good? Particularly if the concept of that scent reminds me of a very real thing that happened to my favorite real city? Well, uh. Maybe I should be feeling bad, but that doesn't change that I think this scent is awesome on me. I think it nails how one would imagine the post-fire combination of heat and spent combustibles (that hot asphalt note is particularly striking), which is intense and a little freaky. But at the same time, it's warm and smoky and woody and spicy, and those are a kind of scent that I love and that work well on me. So yes, I will say that I like smelling like this particular destroyed city. Maybe that's part of the whole fascination with cataclysmic events that so many people seem to have. I dunno. Long story short, Sky City After == win.

(Aaand I will probably wear this every April 18th for ever or for as long as I still have some of this. And I will probably wear Sky City (Before) every April 17th. But I'll have to follow this up with Priala or some other phoenix scent, because San Francisco rose from the ashes after the quake and fire and…AHH I AM SUCH A NERD.)

I'll say right off the bat that I'm not familiar with Irredeemable. I do, however, draw a lot of cityscapes for non-fictional places, and I like the idea of trying to portray a cityscape in scent. I'm a little wary of some of the listed floral notes going in to this review, but at the same time, a lack of any sort of greenery in a city is kind of sad, so I will not let those gardens deter me!

In the bottle: Light, airy, and clean. There's a soft and sweet plant component, but there's definitely also that bit of metal and asphalt also sharing what is clearly spring air.

Wet on skin: Cool spring air, the sort of flowers that are more for visuals than for smell but still have a sort of crisp smell anyway, a bit of asphalt, and that glass note I recognize from a few other scents. The metal is still there, but subtle.

Drydown: Freshly dry, I immediately get more of the marble/asphalt note, but the other notes remain mostly the same in balance. It's more obviously a fresh spring day in a city rather than just outside in general. At one hour in, the plant notes have faded to near oblivion. I'm pretty much left with just the cityscape - asphalt and marble, that glass note, and the slightest hint of something metallic. It's still a fresh spring morning, and this is a very clean city.

Five hours later: Mostly asphalt now, with that little bit of metal still hanging in there. There's a bit of ozone in conjunction with both of these, but it hasn't taken over. Not really getting the glass anymore, and the plants are looong gone.

End of the day: A subtle hint of ozoney asphalt.

Overall: This is awesome! It is very clearly urban, with the asphalt and metal and glass all present and accounted for, but these are not dark and oppressive tightly-lined buildings. This scent gives me a clear mental image of impeccably-maintained streets lined with light-colored structures, with an open and blue (and smogless!) sky visible between the buildings. The plant notes add to the impression of being outside, but they don't make this too rural. I'm going to have to agree with the Lab's "urban paradise" description here. Very much a keeper!

As the owner of a large black cat with yellow eyes, I would have been remiss not to try Panther Moon on principle. However, the notes also sounded like winners to me, so I gave this a test at Will Call and at Bat's Day. I liked it immediately, so I decided to pick up a bottle and write a more proper review!

In the bottle: I definitely get the musk, the mandrake, and a whole bunch of resins, but those resins are blended so well together that it's hard to tell which is which. There's a hint of the anise, but it's subtle.

Wet on skin: Whoa, the oil itself is a dark golden color! Predominantly resiny, dark and a bit sweet. The musk smooths it out, but there's still some dryness that I suspect comes from the mandrake.

Drydown: Freshly dry, the champaca comes strongly forward. It's not overwhelming the other things, but it's quite prominent. The resins, still very homogeneous, are the second most prominent thing, and the musk's still smoothing it all out. On the whole, it's a strong scent. At one hour in, everything has calmed down quite a bit, though the scent's still very present. At this point, it's champaca on top of smooth resins and overlaid with a little musk. On the whole, it's dark, but not murky.

Five hours later: Still very present, though now it's definitely a dark resin blend with an edge of champaca, as opposed to vice versa. The musk is still there, but remains more in the background. Still very smooth and and well-blended.

End of the day: A light presence of a smell that still qualifies as dark: resiny, spicy, and warm.

Overall: I agree with everyone who says this scent really bottles the panther. It's dark, smooth, and warm, and it certainly does have a bite! This is powerful stuff, and a little goes a long way, but the way it goes is wonderful. It's the right combination of incense, resin, and musk so that I can't really categorize it as one of the three above others. I'm very glad to have this one! I'm also guessing it's going to age wonderfully.

Oh my goodness.

That label art for Giant Squid.

LAWL, I tell you. EL OH EL.

!

I...am kind of curious about the scent, but I may just have to try and get my hands on an empty bottle, just for that label.

If you can get your hands on a bottle of Pa-Pow (which is a pretty recent LE), there are definitely plenty of grass and wildflower notes along with the sunshine and puppy fur. It's very much a California meadow in particular, and I love it.

I was gifted this one by a friend, and I'm not entirely sure what to make of the notes just yet. That is to say, I'm wary of the florals, but hopeful that the other notes might temper them. However, I'm a little concerned that vetiver being listed as the first note means it's the only thing I'll smell. Time to test and find out!

In the imp: Predominantly vetiver, though perhaps a little sweeter and drier than usual.

Wet on skin: Still almost entirely vetiver, with the slightest floral edge.

Drydown: Freshly dry, there's still a heck of a lot of vetiver, but the florals are coming through more clearly. It's the rose in particular, but there's a whiter floral edge as well. I'm not picking up any cinnamon, but it's not impossible that leather is part of why this is a little drier than vetiver usually is. At one hour in, it's vetiver with a little bit of rose and jasmine, now backed up more clearly by leather. None of the other notes come close to taking over from the vetiver, though.

Five hours later: Still plenty of vetiver! The leather's about as prominent as the vetiver by this point, though. There are still subtle hints of flowers, but nothing overt.

End of the day: Hint of vetiver.

Overall: I think this combination of notes works very well for the poem that inspired the scent. The dirty vetiver and worn leather mixed with flowers definitely makes sense for the sort of roguish outlaw romanticism here. That said, I don't particularly like how this scent works on me. The vetiver is just a bit too overpowering, but at the same time, I don't particularly want to smell like jasmine or gardenia, either. I appreciate this one on principle, but I think I'll be swapping it.

I'd been eyeing this one for a while, though I hadn't jumped forth to test it sooner because no notes were listed. But more recently, I saw (or heard, I can't quite recall) a review comparing Aureus to the scent of walking among ponderosa pines on a sunlit afternoon, and that kind of sealed the deal that I needed to get an imp and try it.

In the imp: Warm amber, light spices, some sort of light wood.

Wet on skin: Amber and light wood, slightly dry but not completely parched. I'm now not sure if I'm getting spices or some other resin that's a little sharper than amber.

Drydown: Freshly dry, the light wood may be more prominent than the amber now, though both are still quite evident. I'm also getting a hint of something smoky now, though it's a sweet gentle smoke. Still uncertain on the presence of spices or other resins. At one hour in, things are quite similar to the freshly dry stage - gently smoky light wood, amber, and perhaps a bit of dust.

Five hours later: Still not much has changed, other than everything fading a bit. Light wood, amber, dust, maaaaybe a little less of the smoky note than before.

End of the day: Amber, with just a hint of wood.

Overall: Gorgeous. I like wood, amber, smoke, and dust/dirt notes all on their own, so the combination of them has to be a win. I also may still have been swayed by that description of trees, though, because Aureus gives me a mental image of hiking leisurely along the back of the San Gabriel Mountains with bright light filtering through the trees and onto the dust stirred up by walking. The smoke must be from campfires; it's not the malevolent smoke of the kind of fires that the San Gabriels tend to get. I could sum up how this smells to me with a picture, even:

(Yes, that picture also happens to contain the San Andreas Fault. Shutuuuuup.)

So yes. Gorgeous! I can see myself using this imp and upgrading it at some point.

I am not exactly the Lord of War type. I don't quite identify with the Sauron-looking dude on the label. But when there are interesting notes, there are indeed interesting notes! I wasn't quite sure what would happen with this one when I tested it at Will Call, but all my fears of overbearing cocoa or patchouli were not realized. It ended up awesome, so I bought a bottle.

In the bottle: Patchouli and juniper on top, with a smooth dark backdrop. The frankincense is definitely in the backdrop, and if I sniff harder, I think I pick up on a hint of the cocoa.

Wet on skin: Pachouli, juniper, and frankincense are still most prominent. The backdrop has dried out a bit already. I don't think I get the cocoa anymore, but the balsam is showing up more now.

Drydown: Freshly dry, the patchouli has calmed down and the frankincense and balsam have become more prominent. It's pretty darkly earthy, with a bit of an edge from the juniper and perhaps also the thyme. At one hour in, the edge has softened a bit, but the blend is overall the same. Maybe slightly less patchouli and slightly more balsam at this point, and I think I may also be getting the oakmoss.

Five hours later: Largely the same as at one hour, though fainter and perhaps slightly drier.

End of the day: Balsam, frankincense, and oakmoss. They're soft, but they're far from completely faded.

Overall: After a full day of wear, still awesome! Oh so awesome. This is quite dark, earthy, outdoorsy. It's strong and lasts long, so I don't need a lot at a time, but I like it very well, and I think that bottle was an excellent purchase on my part, even if I'm about as far from a Lord of War as it gets.

Septima_pica gave me an imp of this one, and I actually hadn't initially heard of it. Once I figured out what it was, I thought it was pretty darn awesome to be gifted something that's discontinued and might be hard to get to try! I'm intrigued by its description as well - as a resident of southern California, I am well acquainted with the midday sun, so let's see how Ahathoor measures up.

In the imp: Bright amber, spices, and a bit of citrus. One of the spices in particular is familiar, and yet I'm not entirely sure what it is.

Wet on skin: Very bright sweet-spicy resin, still with a familiar note that I can't quite place. I think there's a subtle wood note under there, too, but I'm not quite sure.

Drydown: Freshly dry, this is still bright, sweet, and spicy. I'm also pretty sure there's a wood note under there, though it doesn't serve to dry the scent out. At one hour in, I'm more certain of the wood note; it and the spicy resin are the most prominent things, though both have faded.

Five hours later: Very faint now - a bit of dry wood and warm resin. Still having trouble figuring out precisely which one.

End of the day: Gone.

Overall: I think this nails the bright hot sunlight thing. In the early stages of wear, this is absolutely hot and golden and intense. I suppose that, given it's the noon specifically, the fact that it fades quickly makes sense, but in terms of me wearing it more, that's not a point in its favor. I like the scent quite well, but the fading thing means I'm not devastated that I'll ever be able to have more than an imp of it.

Another silt scent! I adored Season of the Inundation's silt note, so I was thrilled to see that listed again here. I was also curious about a greenery scent that's vegetable rather than forest, but indeed, the silt (and a test at Will Call) is what pushed me over into bottle territory here.

In the bottle: Chlorophyll-sweet and mineral-dusty.

Wet on skin: Soft rich silt, with an edge of greenness. This greenness is a very specific type - like the soft fleshy leaflets that come out of a seed first, rather than the mature leaves. It's overall less sweet now.

Drydown: Freshly dry, silt is still the main note, though the fresh green is still definitely there. At one hour in, the plant aspects are a lot more prominent, though fortunately not to the point of drowning out the silt.

Five hours later: Quite faint by this point, and largely greenery as opposed to silt. There's the slightest hint of something salty going on, but it's not persistent.

End of the day: Gone.

Overall: Yay silt scent! I have to say, I do like Season of the Inundation better for my soft sweetish dirt scent needs, but Season of the Emergence is still very nice, and certainly quite unique compared to other BPALs I've tested (largely due to the vegetable notes). It very much smells like springtime, which is a good smell to have in a bottle.

While most fruit notes tend to disappear on me within a matter of an hour or less, I've found that apple lasts longer, and that I quite like the way it smells. I also quite like amber, so those were reasons enough to try Verdandi.

In the imp: Soft apple, more sweet than tart, and amber.

Wet on skin: A smooth mix of apple and amber with a very slight herbal edge.

Drydown: Freshly dry, the apple seems more tart now, as well as more prominent. The amber is still there, but is more of a backdrop. I do get a gently herbal/spiced element to this, but I canʻt quite pick out what the herbs specifically are. At one hour in, the apple has mellowed back to something sweeter, and blends very nicely with the amber. The herbs are still indistinct in terms of specifics, but also still definitely there.

Five hours later: Amber is definitely the main note going on now. There's an edge of a fruity sweetness to it, but that's not particularly prominent. The herbs have also faded to near nothing.

End of the day: Faint amber.

Overall: This smells something like a summery relative of Fearful Pleasure, though that may just be the combination of apple and spices/herbs. The amber really helps it stick around and stay fresh. I like this one, and think it'll work well on days that are warm (but not too hot). I'll keep the imp around!

This is one of those scents with a long list of notes that I like. It had been sitting on my wishlist for quite some time until Ralenth kindly gave me an imp. Thanks so much!

In the imp: Cedar and carnation, backed up by vanilla. There's a little bit of an edge to it as well, which is probably the lavender and sage; it's not that easy to tell which one is more predominant here.

Wet on skin: Still plenty of cedar. The carnation is still there, though less prominent, and the sage is much more distinct now. The vanilla's still back there, but it seems like more of a texture than a clear note right now.

Drydown: Freshly dry, cedar still comes first, with sage still in second. The background notes have become much more homogeneous, as something smoothly dark. At one hour in, the balance remains largely the same, though I think I get a little more lavender contributing to the sharpness that's already there from the sage.

Five hours later: Less carnation now, and perhaps a little smoother on the whole, but still very present. The musk and leather are starting to be more noticeable, though not overwhelming.

End of the day: Leather, musk, and vanilla with just a little bit of a dusty edge, soft but definitely still there.

Overall: Oooh, this one is nice. Everything in this blends very well together, so it's a pretty homogeneous thing, while still retaining the bits of character that I particularly like out of the individual notes. Definitely keeping this one.

I got Czernobog as a frimp from the lab, though it's one that I'd thought of as intriguing due to the notes and the mythology. I like musk as a scent component, but haven't tried anything that I can think of in which it's listed as the very first major ingredient, so we'll see how this goes.

In the imp: Dark and musky, with an inexplicable edge of something that smells almost like citrus. I have no idea what's up with that.

Wet on skin: This is predominantly musk now, and I think I get some myrrh as well. I still can smell the mysterious citrusy thing, though it's much more subtle already.

Drydown: Freshly dry, this is a whole lot of musk. The weird citrus thing is entirely gone now. It has been replaced, oddly, by something that smells quite a bit like thick smoke. It doesn't smell smoky like vetiver or myrrh might alone, though; perhaps this is how they combine? At one hour in, musk is still by far the main thing going on, though it has softened and sweetened quite a bit by now. I still get that weird smoky note, but it's also more subtle.

Five hours later: It's all about the musk, which is soft and sweet by now, but still very present.

End of the day: Soft and musky and still very much there.

Overall: Not entirely sure about this one. I like musks as components of other scents, but having several of them as the main thing going on seems a tad like overkill to me. Not unpleasant, but not so much my thing. That smoky thing going on in the earlier stages of wear was also something I'm not entirely sure about. I like smoky notes in general, but for some reason, in combination with all the musks, it almost smells like pipe or cigar smoke, and that's not something I particularly want to smell like. I may end up swapping this one, but we'll see.

I'm performing Saint-Saens' Danse Macabre in an orchestra concert this afternoon, so what better reason to test this oil today? That piece is why I wanted to try this one to begin with, in addition to the fact that the scent notes sound interesting.

In the imp: Astringent and heavy on the cypress, with something dustier backing it up.

Wet on skin: Still lots of cypress, but not quite as sharp as before. The oakmoss is definitely more distinct now, and I think I may be getting the hazelnut more prominently out of the dustier background.

Drydown: Freshly dry, this is cypress, oakmoss, and hazelnut in that order. I get a little hint of other stuff further back there, but it's still indistinct. At one hour in, the cypress has calmed significantly, and blends more homogeneously with the oakmoss and hazelnut.

Five hours later: Oakmoss is the main note now, while the cypress is pretty much all gone, and the hazelnut with it. It's at this point that I think I get a little bit of frankincense, but it's subtle.

End of the day: Very faint oakmoss.

Overall: This is an unusual and intriguing combination of notes, and I like it! I think it works well as a scent in and of itself, but I also think it's aptly named in the context of the Saint-Saens piece (and other symphonic examples of a danse macabre, like in Mahler's Fourth Symphony). The sharpness of the cypress absolutely strikes me as a representation of the deliberately out-of-tune violin solo representing Death, and the odd combination of the other dark and dry notes seems a good way to describe stumbling bones in scent. I also love that this is a music-based scent in general, and I'd love to see more of those in the catalogue, since this one works so well. So yes, in short, glad to have this imp!

This, honest to goodness, has a list of notes that are very well things I could have listed as wants for a custom scent. Amber? Yay! Sage? Win! Redwood? GIMME! Teak? Yes. And the BPAL snow note? Gorgeous. Add these notes plus the awesomeness that is Russian folklore, and you get me buying a bottle of Ded Moroz unsniffed.

In the bottle: Soft woods, amber, and a hint of snow.

Wet on skin: Soft snow, amber, a hint of sage, and an even smaller hint of wood.

Drydown: Freshly dry, this is a lightly sweet mix of amber and snow, sharpened only a little bit by sage. I occasionally get whiffs of the wood at the base of this, but it's subtle. At one hour in, there's less of the snow and more of the soft wood underneath the amber. I would still say the amber is the predominant scent here, but it doesn't prevent the other notes from being smelled.

Five hours later: Much the same as at one hour, though fainter: amber, soft wood, and an edge of sweet snow.

End of the day: Plenty of amber left, with a bit of ozone.

Overall: Sooo. Goood. This is beautiful and contradictory - it manages to juxtapose cold snow with warm amber and woods, which fits the story, and which somehow still works in scent. I am so pleased that many of my favorite notes work well together (though I also wouldn't have been upset if the redwood had been more obvious). I also like that this works well within the cooler climate of winter, but it's not so unabashedly about winter smells, despite the snow note, that it wouldn't work as a cooldown sort of scent in summer. That unsniffed bottle? Glad I went for it!

I'd been meaning to try this one for quite some time now; the fact that sales of the Orisha oils in January went to Haiti earthquake relief tipped me over that this was the time to try it. The notes in Ochosi intrigue me, as does the description - the Orisha representing the search for knowledge, and the boundary between sanity and madness? Sounds like the Orisha of graduate students to me!

In the bottle: Soft sweet shea with a gentle underscoring of something indistinct dusty.

Wet on skin: The sprucewood comes out a lot more, though the sheer keeps it from getting too dry or dominant. There's a very faint heroines behind that all.

Drydown: Freshly dry, the spruce and the shea hold about equal ground in the balance, and both are gentle soft notes. The herbs are still extremely subtle; I only notice them if I'm actively thinking about it. At one hour in, either the shea has receded slightly, or the herbs have become more prominent. The spruce seems to be at about the same level as it was earlier, but the other notes are more of a mixture than before.

Five hours later: Essentially the same balance as at one hour - soft dry wood, a hint of herbs, backed up by light sweet shea. It's faintish now, but it has been a pretty subtle scent from the beginning, so I don't think it has actually faded much.

End of the day: Maybe a tiny bit of sprucewood left.

Overall: This is a relatively simple scent, but a very nice one. It's gentle and outdoorsy and fresh. I think it'll be particularly nice for days when the weather is hotter, as well, since it's pretty light. So what this means is that getting a bottle of this was a very good call, even independent of the earthquake benefit.

Looking at the description for this one, I realize that what I really want is the actual toys. Alas, the Miskatonic Valley is quite far from the greater Los Angeles area, so I'm going to have to content myself with just the oil.

In the imp: Shiny metal (yes, it smells shiny) with some dust and something almost citrus-tangy.

Wet on skin: Still largely shiny metal, but the citrus-tangy thing has become a bit stronger. There are dusty notes still back there as well, and I think I may also be getting something almost oily as well.

Drydown: Freshly dry, the metal has come down in pitch quite a bit. It's more balanced with the tangier note, which is, at this point, not quite so citrusy anymore. Unfortunately, it's starting to veer toward chemical. Still getting dusty stuff back there, but not much. At one hour in, there's still that definite sour chemical note. It overlies interesting metal and dust, but it's a bit more present than I'd like.

Five hours later: The chemical and citrus notes are gone now, and the metal has also largely faded. What's left are various shades of dusty and rocky. I can tell there are several things in the same family of notes here, as opposed to one homogeneous mix, but that makes sense, for a bunch of discrete toys.

End of the day: A little bit dusty and ozone-y.

Overall: This is me making a sad face. I wanted this one to work so badly, for the sheer awesomeness of the concept, but the fact is that it smells like dust and metal and cleaning fluid, rather than just dust and metal. By the five hour mark, everything is pretty great, but that's an awful long time to wait to get to the good part. Wah!

I'm intrigued by this one because I honestly have no idea what it's going to smell like. All I can gather is that musk will be a major component, but combined with other things? Can't even guess! I also kind of had to go for a decant of the cicada scent, considering I have experienced two plaguelike periodical cicada emergences in the Washington DC area.

In the imp: This is already hard to describe! There's some soft musk, and something chilly over top of it, but between that, there's something warmer and slightly sweet and I have no idea what it is.

Wet on skin: Gentle musk with a light dusting of snow is still the main thing I get. I think I'm starting to detect the autumn leaf note that I know from other blends, but it's still distinct from the warmer sweetness that I get from the middle of this in general.

Drydown: Freshly dry, the notes are becoming more distinct, and more clearly exactly what they're supposed to be. The sweetness comes from bell peppers and a vague floral note. Combined with that autumn leaf note, it forms a middle ground for a scent that is underlaid by soft musks and crystallized over by faint frost. Everything balances perfectly right now. At one hour in, not much has changed, and that's a fortunate thing indeed. Still a gently sweet center with musk underneath and frost overtop.

Five hours later: Still quite prominent, especially given that this is a rather soft scent to begin with. I get a little less of the frost now than before, but still a gentle bell pepper sweetness with leaves and soft musk.

End of the day: Very soft faint musk.

Overall: This is definitely not like any other BPAL I've tested so far, and I say that in a good way. It's an intriguing combination of notes, and I love how the frosty notes really do seem to coat everything else without obscuring it. I'm definitely going to hold onto this decant, but as much as I love how this works as a concept and in its execution, I think it may be a little too sweet for me to wear regularly enough to warrant a bottle.

Snow, moss, and dirt! Three BPAL notes that I know I like, so how could I not try this? Also, I think "fracas" is a wonderful word, and it should be used more often. Yes.

In the imp: Straight-up snow note - cold, fresh, and ever so slightly sweet.

Wet on skin: Fresh snow and a bit of dusty moss.

Drydown: Freshly dry, snow is still the predominant note in here, but I get a little bit of moss and dirt behind it now. It's subtle, but it's there. At one hour in, the dirt and moss are more prominent, balanced in relatively equal parts with the snow.

Five hours later: Mostly moss now, fainter, but still present. There are hints of dirt and snow left, but I think the snow note seems to be transitioning to ozone around now.

End of the day: A little bit of moss and ozone.

Overall: I like this! It's light and wintery and playfully messy. It is, appropriately, largely snow, but the little bits of moss and dirt are a nice ground underneath, in scent as well as in mental image. I debate on whether or not it's a bottle candidate, though, since I have other things I like that include the snow note as well as a more complex backdrop. I'm absolutely hanging onto the decant, though, and I'll test a few more times in contemplation of a bottle.