badseed1980

In the bottle: mostly neroli up front, which I like. Looking forward to wearing it. On me: the neroli fades into something much more demure. I’m having trouble picking out individual notes. Sometimes I catch a little frankincense. It’s green and fresh. The verbena comes out more as it dries down. It’s not a sharp “lemon Pledge” smell, and it gets a little sweetening from the neroli, which is coming back a bit in a softer form, turning it into almost a lemon candy. I’m really not getting much lavender at all. It smells like…a nice beauty product? Something I wouldn’t mind having sometimes in a lotion I put on at bedtime, though not necessarily something I want to smell like all day. Over time, it becomes relatively pleasant but unexceptional, with very little throw. Take 2: the neroli never hit me as hard this time. The verbena is strongest, but there’s a cool herbal-floral backdrop to it. It reminds me of standing in the shade in an herb garden on a warm, sunny day. It’s cool and pleasant and somehow neutral. Again, a nice scent for a soap or shampoo or something, without actually being soapy. But then the frankincense REALLY comes out. Not sure how I feel about this.

I got this one as a frimp, probably because of my history of ordering stuff with amber in it. I never really paid it much attention, but today, looking for a change, I gave it a whiff. I'm a little friendlier to fruity scents than I used to be, as long as they are warm and not cloying. Tamora is one I've come to enjoy a lot. The fruity note in this reminds me of the peachy note in Tamora, but not exactly the same. Maybe it's just amber plus fruit giving that impression. Tenochtitlan is lovely and warm. The herbal notes are not wet and green, but sort of dry and lightly bitter. Not getting a huge amount of any particular herb. I may need to try more blends with sage in them, because sage is also in my usual ride-or-die, No. 93 Engine. Verdict on Tenochtitlan: I am really enjoying this one for the warmer weather!

I feel like I have written praises to this scent a dozen times, but they keep disappearing. Or maybe I'm just losing my mind. Anyway, this is 100% my absolute favorite BPAL scent ever, and I swear it has saved my sanity over the past year or so. It's hard for me to pick out individual notes in this, but I definitely get a resinous warmth and an herbal note that is not fresh-grassy, but dry and slightly woody. This is probably the sage. The beeswax doesn't remind me of the honey notes in other perfumes, but is more like a real, softly sweet, golden beeswax. There is nothing heavy about this scent. It is dry and warm and light, and smelling it makes my head clear and my spirits lift even on really hard days when everything is depressing and exhausting. It's as good as a meditation session. No: better. I don't need to put the work into trying to get my mind right, but instead this perfume subtly nudges it into a better place. I am wearing it...not quite exclusively, but close to it.

Definitely getting some green tea on this, and a little citrus. There's also a slight fruitiness to it, but not a terribly sweet fruitiness. Probably fig and/or lemon. I actually like the smell quite a bit. It's pleasant. But it's not something I want to KEEP smelling on MYSELF.

Oh gods. I'm in love. I just got a nearly-full bottle of this for free from a neighborhood Buy Nothing group. It's amazing. The clove is definitely the most prominent note up front, but even then, it manages not to come across as getting whacked in the nose with a pomander ball. It soon gets balanced out even more by the amber, saffron, and sandalwood which create a lovely incense-like feel. This actually reminds me of an incense that I might blend myself for ritual purpose. There's a warmth and spiciness to it as well as a serenity and depth that are absolutely wonderful. I am so lucky to have scored this!

I bought an imp of this a year ago when I was seeking scents for summertime, as all my fall and winter favorites were feeling too heavy. I've become really enamored of Lyonesse. I love ambers in general, and this one is lightened and softened so nicely by the vanilla and the sandalwood. The lily isn't a heavy one like some of them can be, which is nice. I also feel like the ambergris adds just a hint of aquatic sharpness. All in all, this is one of those lovely blends that's more than the sum of its parts. If it were a color, it would be grey-gold, the color of the light when the sun is peeking out from a clouded sky.

Oh, this was a TOTAL WIN. A friend was selling some of her BPALs, and I called dibs on this one. I love orange blossom (fell in love with Vixen last summer), and have no issues with sandalwood in general. I didn't have much experience with champaca, though I know it's often a component of nag champa incense, about which I have mixed feelings. The sweet incense note of the champaca is sharpened a bit by the bright orange blossom, and given some backbone by the sandalwood. Is it a little bit hippie-ish? Maybe? But overall, the blend is elegant and delightful--a perfect warm weather perfume.

Hadn't worn this one in a long time.The initial scent for me when I sniff the imp is very much that cherry-like almond scent. On me, as it dries, it turns oddly...peachy? I almost thought I'd accidentally picked up my imp of Tamora! It's weird, I don't get any of the cardamom or myrrh. Saffron is a distant whisper. It's just really very fruity. Pleasant, but perplexing!

This past summer, I was looking for some warm-weather scents, and in the middle of my browsing, I saw Horses listed. It didn't sound like a warm-weather scent, but I knew from the description that I needed to check it out. I've sometimes been disappointed when I've bought scents based on the imagery evoked in the description/inspiration on the website. Sometimes I lean too heavily on that, and don't look closely enough at the notes to think about whether they'd actually create a scent that could work for me. In this case, though, I looked at the notes too. Amber is my absolute go-to. Beeswax? I love it, and love honey notes in the scents where I have them. Fire? Hmm. Could be anything. Could be interesting. I did something unusual for me, committing to a whole bottle of something I'd never smelled because imps weren't available. I'm glad I did. This perfectly matches the description and the scent works so well for me. On me, this scent is hot and dry, lightly sweet and slightly sharp--like woodsmoke even though it doesn't smell like woodsmoke. To me, it's a bonfire on one of those winter nights that's cold and crystalline and dry, breathing in wisps of smoke and feeling the flames warm your skin.

I got an imp of this as part of an order that was a quest to find some good summer scents. In the imp: huh, it's a perfume. I don't get a lot of differentiation of notes in here. Nice enough. There's some musky, floral stuff going on, that's about all I can tell. On me: Oh. Wow. Those flowers are leaping out now. I'm getting what I know to be ylang ylang, which I love in general, but there's something about it--an almost fruity creaminess I'm not used to from pure ylang ylang that almost makes me think of gardenia. And there's a skin musk in there that makes me think a bit of Sed Non Satiata. I feel like I put it into the same category with that scent. It's warm, sexy, but not seductive-sexy. To me, it's cuddling naked after sex with a long-time partner on a warm afternoon with the windows open to let in the smell of flowers. I could see this being My Summer Scent. I adore it. I want a bottle.

When I first put this on, it was mostly sandalwood with some lemongrass. After about 15 minutes or so, the rose has started to come out, making the whole thing a little more rounded. All I can think of is, "I smell like a hippie." Not a head shop hippie, but a Whole Foods hippie. A yoga class hippie. I have in my mind this little spa with hot tubs and massage therapy in Northampton, MA where my husband and I have gone on dates. I smell like I belong there. This is very much NOT a scent for me to wear in general, but I think it would make a marvelous scent to add to a massage oil or a bath when I just want to relax and pretend that I AM, in fact, at that little spa and that I have time for things like going on dates on the other side of the state.

I tried an old imp of this (from the amber imp pack) today, as I'm working my way through old stuff I never wear to see how I like it. The description sounded just lovely, but I was really disappointed. Wet, I got mostly sandalwood. It was a rather sharp sandalwood, but the edges of it softened pretty quickly with the amber, and I got a bit of the rose. Oh, nice! Not my favorite, but not bad at all. But then, gradually, the rose got more and more obnoxiously present until it really overwhelmed the sandalwood and amber. While I've been known to wear a little rose, it's usually a sweeter and more powdery rose (think a culinary rosewater scent). This was a much more perfume-y rose that just did not work on me. It's a scent for rose-lovers, not one for amber-lovers--at least, as it behaves on my skin. Boo.

So this is my review of this scent from six years ago. I don't think I ever touched the imp again after that, until today. Today, I have tried it again. The peach is still the most obvious, in-your-face note up front, but I'm getting a bit more of the amber and sandalwood, with a whisper of the heliotrope. It no longer seems to have the same longevity that it did six years ago, as after only 30 minutes or so, it's faded significantly. I'm finding it very pleasant, though, and may consider wearing it more often this summer. It no longer strikes me as cloying, and it seems better balanced.

When someone compared this to Habanita, I was excited. That's my favorite non-BPAL perfume. Like most people, I'm finding that in the imp, the leather is really prominent. It also seems that my skin amps leather, as I'm not getting a lot of other distinct notes as I wear it. I do like it, but I'm not getting the orange blossom or other florals or the amber, really. There's enough other scent to take the edge off the leather, and make more pleasant than a pure-leather note, but nothing that adds a lot of character of its own. There isn't a lot of throw on me. It's OK, but not one I'm going to want in a full bottle. EDIT: OK, I just realized I reviewed this...FOURTEEN YEARS AGO. OMG. I have had the imp that long? I just...wow. Or maybe I got another imp at some point? Anyway, yeah, my opinion hasn't changed!

I have had an imp of this for several years, but never really used it. I just gave it a try at the recommendation of some lovely folks here on the forum. I'm so sad, though--it's not doing anything for me. I'm actually thinking of washing it off. I tend to love BPAL amber scents, and two that this one has been compared to--O and Haunted--are scents that really work well for me. But somehow, this one is just striking me as very heavy and unpleasant. I can detect some good notes in there, but they're all wrapped up in stuff that is not very nice. It's weird because I'm someone whose favorite non-BPAL perfume is Habanita by Molinard, which is an extremely old-fashioned scent, and I really don't mind a bit of sharpness in some perfumes. On me, though, Brisingamen is unpleasantly sharp, sour, and old-fashioned. It reminds me of some old perfume bottles my grandmother had--ones she bought for the vintage bottles rather than for the perfume, which she never wore. I can get a BIT of the spicy dusty sweetness that other people mention, but it's only a trace, and so fleeting while the rest of the scent lingers. It's possible this might eventually fade into something wearable on me, though. Now, interestingly, I was going to get up and wash it off when I was done writing this review, but it's almost like it heard my thought, and it may in fact just be starting to transform into something a bit more mellow and wearable. OK, Brisingamen, I'll give you a little while longer and maybe sniff some coffee beans before I sniff my wrist again. EDIT: Nope, sorry. it's not happening. The offensive smell toned down after a while, but never turned into something I really liked. I ended up washing it off and replacing it with Haunted, which is SO MUCH nicer on my skin.