gwynhwyfar

I returned from the dead to find that my beloved Eos was discontinued while I was becoming a zombie. (Rising from the dead just isn't what it used to be.)

 

Does anyone have any ideas at all for this one? I can't even find anything else with buttercup.

I acquired this through the generousity of Schackjj and I'm incredibly grateful for the experience!

 

In the bottle: Mint. Overpowering mint with something else trying to come through.

 

First on my skin: I had an 'oh, that's what that is!' moment as the mint resolved into eucalyptus.

 

Drydown: Yum. Nummy eucalyptus and dragon's blood.

 

10 minutes later: *lolcat impression* I haz a smell and it iz bad!

 

I'm not sure what happened between the drydown and a few minutes later, but my body chemistry turned this perfume into a retirement home. A lovely (for some definition of lovely) combination of a medicinal smell, something musty/dusty, and mothballs.

 

I'm thrilled to have tested a prototype, I LOVE the way this one smells in the bottle and for those first moments, but I think it's a safe assumption that this'll be moving on to another home, unless my SO has different results.

I loved (and still love!) the first Strawberry Moon. When I saw that there was another one, I jumped on it and ordered two bottles without a second thought.

 

Turns out... I really should have paused for a second thought.

 

In the bottle, this is a bright, pure strawberry scent. This smells JUST like a fresh bowl of strawberries just waiting to be nommed.

 

Then I put it onto my skin and for the first five seconds, it still smells like strawberries.

 

Sadly, that passes. After a couple seconds, it gets darker and within minutes, it smells of nothing more than bitter dandelion greens.

 

I can't see that this is going to age to a place of happiness for me, given the nature of aging and scents, so it's going to have to go find another home.

So far, this has been the biggest testing surprise of the Yule oils that I've tested. After I decanted it, it was driving me insane because it just smelled SOOOO good. Since I think every BPAL oil with a note of 'cream' has turned evil on my skin, I was scared of what it would do.

 

I shouldn't have been worried. Except that I definitely need a bottle of this, which might make the credit card sad.

 

You know what creamsicles smell like? This is that, only with peaches and the addition of honey and neroli and a little hint of gardenia. Entirely too good, without being overwhelmingly foody. Sweet and floral and fruit and yum.

This has been one of my favorite Yule scents since the first year that it was released. I'd be embarrassed to admit how many bottles I have in various years.

 

The scent is a rich land of amber happiness -- however, this year has been a surprise. Maybe I've forgotten what it smells like new or maybe there's some subtle difference with the 2008 version. This version is kissing cousins to what I have that's aged and well-aged, but it's more musky than what I was expecting. I don't know if it'll age to something as rich as what I have, but I suspect that I'll end up buying another bottle anyway. If only in the name of science.

 

In any case, this is one of my favorite BPAL amber perfumes. Though it's far from straight amber.

I love this, I really do. It's light and a little sweet and a little chilly and all around wonderful. The only problem, and it's a big one, is that my skin devours it and within a couple hours, I can't detect even the slightest hint of the perfume on my skin. So while I adore the scent, I don't really feel the need to acquire more of it. I wouldn't ever wear the poor thing.

I loved the first Blood Moon, which was a great 'dried hay and blood' scent on me. I was disappointed a bit that this one wasn't more harvesty, but I still got a bottle.

 

OMG. I should have gotten more. This one is a little sweeter and a little lighter -- a little more floral, but still has that blood note running through it. It's too incensely in the bottle, but luckily that clears up on my skin very rapidly. I may like this one better than the first. Maybe.

Wisteria and lotus and bamboo. I love this oil. It's light and sweet and floral and not at all overpowering. I wish that I got something more complex than I do, especially since there isn't a lot in the way of base notes that I'm getting, which makes me worry about how it'll age, but for the moment, I love it.

 

The drydown makes it slightly powdery, but not at all unpleasant.

 

ETA: This smells lovely with Fearful Pleasures. Just sayin'.

This made me want to cry. This was in the top-five for oils that I was looking forward to sniffing. Unfortunately, something in it or some combination of the notes means an instant headache for me. And not a little one, either. Decanting this was an interesting experience (I actually ended up wearing a mask to do so). It's very strong, but that's the best that I can offer, I fear.

Cloyingly sweet and a little rotten, this reminds me of the scent you get from leaving flowers in a vase of water until the greenery starts to decay. It isn't exactly unpleasant and it's definitely interesting, but it's not something that I really want a perfume for, or to use around my house. I'm wondering how this one will age, but I have no plans to acquire more than I have. I am impressed at the scent since it does smell so much like water-logged and rotting plant matter, though!

 

I want the complexity that a lot of other people have gotten from this. I can get a hint of it from the bottle. But. On my skin, the BPAL rose curse comes into action and I end up with single-note rose within almost seconds.

*sighs dramatically* If you're my scent twin (do I have one of those?), be warned. The rose will eat everything else and then rampage through Tokyo.

If you don't like fruit, stay away from this one.

 

Since I do like fruit and this one likes my skin ... I'm happy. *beams*

 

This is dried slivers of spiced green apples, those clove-oranges hanging over the fireplace scenting the air and a hint of smoke and wood. It's just a hint, so it doesn't make me wheeze. Mostly, it's just those lovely fruits, sweet and spicy and very edible.

 

Definitely on my short list for 'weenies that I covet.

I want to like this scent. In fact, I DO like this scent. The problem is, the scent doesn't like me.

 

Very woody and a little bit bitter, this would be a long-lasting perfume. I couldn't skin-test it, though, because of the overwhelming fir. It has the curse that almost all fir has -- I'm horribly allergic. I was hoping for an exception, but didn't get one.

This is a very biting, masculine scent. The vetiver is almost overpowering in this blend, though the moss and sandalwood hold their own. Very strong, with a lot of holding power.

I love rose so I keep trying the BPAL blends containing rose. And I keep learning the same thing -- BPAL rose loves my skin. BPAL rose loves my skin so much that with a few exceptions, it refuses to play nicely with any other notes and what I end up with is a pure rose note.

 

This blend is NOT one of the exceptions for me -- in the vial, it's an interesting woody/spicy/floral. On my skin, it's rose gone wild. Even with drydown and wear, that doesn't change - the rose is all that is there. It's a very nice rose, of course, but not what I was hoping for from this oil when I smelled it in the bottle.

I LOVE this oil. This was probably the 'weenie I was most looking forward to and it didn't disappoint.

 

While I had a surprise with this oil, it was a good surprise.

 

This is florals and the darkness of a nice peaceful swamp, but it isn't heavy. It reminds me very strongly of Chiroptera, but it's Chiroptera after turning into a vampire and hanging out with the wrong crowd. It's light and sweetly floral -- not at all overpowering. And no jasmine, for those who really dislike jasmine!

 

I really do <3 this oil and will be acquiring at least one bottle of it and maybe two.

Every year, I try this oil and every year, the same thing happens. The fir kills me. Or at least makes me wheeze. This year wasn't as bad as previous years, but I can't get past the fir.

 

Which is a shame, because conceptually, I love the idea.

 

So I guess my constructive information is -- if you're sensitive to fir, this might not be the scent for you.

This is another interesting oil ... not for me, but I DO like it.

 

In the bottle, it's chocolate, flowers, and something a little bitter/biting that I can't place.

 

On my skin, it's pretty much the same at least initially. As it dries, the bitter/biting note comes out and becomes stronger, but that does fade after a few hours. I like it, but there are other chocolate blends I like more. This is dark chocolate, not creamy milk/white chocolate.

 

Chocolate fiends, take note. Especially if you like your chocolate with friends.

This sounded absolutely delicious and wonderful. It was one of the oils I was most looking forward to sniffing and testing.

 

It is very creamy and sweet -- sadly, it doesn't suit me at all because on me, that cream overpowers everything else in the blend. All the sweet orange, the interesting hint of flowers. Everything vanishes underneath cream.

 

If you like creamy scents, this is probably for you!

This oil fascinates me! It doesn't suit me, I wouldn't want to wear it, but the oil is still absolutely fascinating.

 

I couldn't test it on my skin because it gives me a headache, but that didn't stop me from sniffing it several times. Because apparently, fascination overcomes pain.

 

It's a very dark scent -- very smokey and heavy. Definitely not for the faint of heart! It reminds me of the spirit bonfires we used to have before football games back in high school. I think that might be the source for the fascination -- since it reminds me of one of the few good memories of high school. It's very autumnal and interesting! Did I mention that, yet?

In the bottle, this is beer.

Wet, this is beer.

After drydown, this is beer.

Four hours later, this is beer.

 

Are you noticing a trend here? So did I!

 

This disappointed me because I gravitate to the blood accord blends. Since I can't really smell like I had a bender before coming in to work, this is definitely not the oil for me.

Sweet. Sugary. This is where sugar goes to roll around in more sugar and have sugary fun. The sweetness of this blend is overwhelming to me -- I like sweetness from time to time, but this really is like I rolled around in rock sugar and it's sticking to me.

 

It isn't for me, but if you're a sweet/sugar lover, you need to acquire this. Possibly in large amounts.

Initially, I love this one. It smells like a combination of freshly mowed grass and walking through crunching fallen leaves.

 

Sadly, that initial fades into something that's almost rancid, through the miracle of body chemistry. At least I have that brief moment of loveliness. Though that makes it worse when it turns into evil.

I like almost all of them, but my favs are Cottonmouth and Temple Viper, with Coral and Saw-Scaled being right behind them. I love Green Tree Viper fresh but it doesn't age nicely for my skin.

Blood Moon (blood accord, lunar oils, grainy scents) and Cracked Bell (blood accord and incense) if you can find them. Ditto Tell-Tale Heart from the Maelstrom series. Oh, and The Chilling Cellar has the blood accord, too.I LOVE it. I search it down and I cling to whatever I find with it in. I wish it was used more heavily. I would have mentioned Centzon Totochitin, loudly and repeatedly, but other people already did, so I'll just underline it. Hee!I have great hopes for John Barleycorn, but I don't know for sure yet.

I've never met anyone who really liked CT though, which always makes me paranoid the lab will stop producing it. :/

I don't really like it.I LOVE it. If the lab discontinued it, when they made the announcement, I would immediately order at least five bottles and hoard it because if I ever ran out of this oil completely, I would be incredibly sad. I suspect that there are a lot of other people who love it, too, but they don't want to admit it too loudly because, erm, yeah. 'I like this perfume that smells like chocolate and blood and booze.' ... kinda might as well hang the sign saying 'I probably am a wee bit kinky, too.' *giggles* *hangs her sign with pride*