arithmetock

Pumpkin with white sage, cherry tobacco, honey, smoky vanilla, cedar, and pine. In the bottle, this is so strong that when I took my first whiff, I had a minor coughing fit. I think it's the tobacco or the sage that's making it so overwhelming. Even when it's dry on my skin, I'm not getting any pumpkin, though the honey does start to come out. It's not as sweet as I thought it would be, but maybe my chemistry is just being weird. Overall, I'm kind of disappointed with it. But since I'm an optimist, I'll hang onto it and see how it ages.

This definitely made me nervous when I smelled it in the bottle. I got a strong whiff of that band-aid smell I keep hearing about. Thankfully, once it starts drying on my skin, it goes away and is replaced by a nice spicy, smoky aroma. I don't get any apples or pumpkin, sadly. But overall, I enjoy it. EDIT (10-20-08): Well I've had more time to get to know this fragrance, and I no longer simply "enjoy" it...I loooooove it! That band-aid smell, for me, was probably just a mental thing. Once I was able to more accurately pick out the notes, I no longer smell band-aids at all, not even when it's wet. I definitely smell the apples now, too. I love it so much, whenever I wear it I can't stop inhaling my wrist. EDIT #2 (11-23-08): One more interesting (though unsurprising) thing to add: I've been wearing Samhain all day and after my evening shower, it all washed off except for the patchouli! So if you don't like patchouli as a single note, be careful with this one.

Very floral. Jasmine is very strong, I guess? I get the patchouli, but no vanilla at all. It's nice, but not bottle worthy.

I got this as a frimp, which is good because I never would have tried it otherwise. I'm not sure I like patchouli, and frankly almond scares the hell out of me. Though the almond is strong in the bottle, it mellows out once it's on my skin. After that, it's mostly just jasmine (which I love). I wouldn't get a bottle, but I'm definitely enjoying the imp.

This smells very nice and fresh in the bottle, but once on my skin it develops a bit of a weirdness. Sort of fruity, sort of mediciney. Not totally sure what to make of it yet.

This one starts out very lovely. I smell mostly rose when it first hits my skin. The tea eventually comes out, but I don't think my chemistry and tea get along very well. This would work for me in a locket, I think.

What I smell most is the rose and the citrus. I really enjoy this one a lot. Definitely considering a bottle.

Very light, very sweet. It's a very innocent scent. This seems like something I'd wear to bed, and not just because of the name!

This is the scent that made me realize I love jasmine. I think Rapture is absolutely wonderful, and I'll definitely be getting a bottle. It's fresh and lovely, and a total confidence booster.

Very strong patchouli. I'm still very much on the fence about whether or not I like patchouli, and this blend is a little over the top for me. If I wear this one, I'll have to dab it lightly. But aside from it being a little too strong, it's a nice scent.

Very earthy and spicy. For some reason, I swear I can smell peanuts. I might be going crazy, though. This really isn't the scent for me, but I might enjoy smelling it on someone else.

I can smell the coffee, but the buttery note is even stronger. I really wanted to love this one, but when it's on my skin the butter note becomes stronger and stronger until it's all I can smell.

Skin chemistry is a very weird thing. In the bottle and first applied, this is a lovely aquatic floral. But on the drydown, it goes through a VERY bizarre phase. This sounds weird, but it starts to smell like a public bathroom. Unpleasant, very cloying, almost painful to my nose. But when it finally dries down completely, it goes back to being floral and lovely. Very odd indeed. I'll hang onto this one, but I may just use it in my oil burner.

Lovely, fresh, crisp apple with a BITE. For some reason, this was very strong on me. I put just a little on each wrist, and I was still smelling it strongly almost 25 minutes later. It's very beautiful, but I have to be careful with it!

This is absolutely my favorite of the Halloweenies. When I'm wearing it, I love to just hold my wrist up to my nose, and take a slow deep breath in. It's just heavenly. The orange mellows out once it's dry on the skin, and I don't smell any florals at all. Very cakey indeed.

I can hardly smell the leaves, but that's ok with me because I love the scent of grass on its own. This is a perfect representation of the very tail-end of summer, when the weather hasn't quite cooled down yet, but the leaves are starting to change and fall.

I love this one. I mainly smell strawberry. Not fresh strawberry, but definitely high-sugar strawberry candy (yum). I can even smell the lint, but it's very faint, and serves to mellow the scent down just slightly, so that it's not TOO sweet. Of all the scents I have so far, this one certainly smells the happiest.

HELLO BROWN SUGAR! In the bottle, this is so sweet it almost makes me light-headed. It settles a bit on drying, but this is quite a sugar rush (obviously). I can't say I particularly love it; I suppose I need to be in just the right mood to wear it. Either way, I'm keeping the bottle.

For me, this scent will always serve as a reminder to actually TEST a bottle before making a judgment. I'm really new to BPAL, and at first I didn't realize how much a scent will morph on your skin. When I first opened the bottle, I didn't like it at all. I'm still not very good at identifying notes, but something about it smelled definitely off to me. But since I bought a whole bottle unsniffed, I thought I better give it a try before selling it. And...what a difference! Once it's dried on my skin, it smells so lovely. Floral, with a slight hint of powderiness (which totally works for me). I'm definitely a fan of this one.

Pele is very soft, and definitely floral. I got it as a frimp, but I'm considering getting a bottle. Not because the fragrance itself is unbelievably amazing (though it is very nice), but because it reminds me so much of my grandmother. She was born in Hawaii, and this is EXACTLY what her house and garden smells like. Total memory in a bottle for me.