Brianne

In the bottle: Sort of a dark fruity floral On me: I have to be honest and say that the only reason I purchased this one was because of the coconut. I'll take any coconut blend I can get from Beth! Because of the coconut, patchouli and tonka in this blend, I was expecting something warm, slightly sweet and earthy. What I got was something similar and yet... not what I was expecting. When it goes on wet, it's very much a dark floral. It's not slap-you-in-the-face floral, but the floral is definitely there. Coming off somewhat exotic actually. I have no idea what Devil's Trumpet is supposed to smell like, but I can say that this blend - when dry on my skin - ends up being mostly resinous anyways. Smoky resin is correct, it does definitely have a smoky quality to it. The patchouli is very present as well and lends a dark, earthy tone to this scent. Behind the patchouli and resin I would say it's just a generally fruity floral scent. Very hard to pin point exactly what floral, but it has a fruity note to it and is quite "perfumey" and darker (not like some of the airy or "white" florals like lily). Final note: This is way more floral than I was expecting and the coconut note - the whole reason I bought the blend actually - doesn't even show up. I do like the patchouli in this one, but I think this is just a little too perfumey for me. I'll hold onto it for now and see if my opinion changes the next few times I wear it!

In the vial: All booze On me: At first, this actually makes me think of marijuana. The tobacco and booze smells combine to make a VERY heady, sticky, kind of sweet, almost dizzying scent. It's almost sickly sweet smelling, and I don't like it at all in this stage. It's so strong and very overwhelming. So during the first 5-10 minutes, I feel like I'm one of the few people who just aren't going to like Perversion. HOWEVEVER - the very unfortunate pot similarity goes away thank goodness and the heady, overpowering throw of this one finally settles down. And THEN I can finally understand why this blend is loved. For me, the tobacco and rum in this are very nice but it's the LEATHER in this that really makes it awesome. It's just such a slick, wet black leather smell and it's dead sexy. And it still has pretty good throw too. Final notes: Once the initial 5 minutes are up I really like this blend for it's gorgeous leather note. Sexy, warm, slightly sweet and smooth.

The cobalt bottle with the papery label is probably the original, as it sounds like my own bottle of the original. I don't have a bottle of the second version though so I cannot confirm what the second one looks like, sorry!

In the bottle: sweet, delicious musk On me: I have to agree that this is sort of a manly blend, but yet I find myself wanting to wear it anyways. I think this is completely comforting, like a warm flannel blanket, cozy kind of way. I only get the tiniest little hint of floral, and it's just barely there - like you're in the woods and catch just a whiff of flowers on the wind. It's mostly a sweet musky blend with an herbal/woodsy quality to it. It's damn sexy. It's very "warm" smelling to me and slightly spiced and sweet with just a hint of herbal smell. Beautiful. Final note: I had no idea this was going to be so sexy. I would love to smell this on my husband, but I'm enjoying wearing it too because it makes me feel cozy and comfortable. I love this so much, I am so happy to have a bottle!

In the vial: fruity diapers On me: Jasmine can do awful things on my skin and end up smelling like dirty diapers. I really thought with Mi-go though, that I could avoid it's tyranny with all those other notes. Unfortunately, that was not entirely the case. It goes on pretty rank and the jasmine is just there full force. It worries me. I am VERY happy to say though that once it dries, the jasmine settles down and Mi-go becomes something much more pleasant. I have to say that it's a lot more floral than I was expecting. The fruit element is definitely there, but I would call this a fruity floral. It's very feminine and makes me think of a tropical bloom because it's rather bouyant and sweet and airy. I can definitely smell the white tea and light musk, which smooth this all out and keep it grounded. I swear there is gardenia in there though! I keep getting whiffs of gardenia - it's faint but very distinct. Final note: Hard to describe because it ends up melding well but this is a lovely fruity floral with a bright, bouncy vibe to it. Very pretty I think even if it wasn't quite what I was expecting!

In the vial: An airy slightly sweet floral similar to peony On me: I've never smelled Chrysanthemums before (or, at least, I wouldn't recognize the smell as being that) so I can only assume that this is what I'm smelling. It is similar to lilac and peony to me in that it's a airy, slightly sweet and creamy floral. It's not heady or in-your-face like most florals. So right off the bat, I like it. I would say this is much less of a floral scent than I was expecting and it actually makes me think of tea. Somehow, the ginger and red musk come together to make a sweet tea kind of smell so it's like chrysanthemum tea or something. It's creamy, smooth, slightly sweet and airy. There is a tiny little bite behind it which must be the ginger. Just delightful Final note: Not what I was expecting at all! I really like this one, way more than I was expecting to. It's slightly sweet tea like musk quality is so appealing to me, a really beautiful scent.

In the vial: Mmm that tart sweetness that you find in cheesecake and red velvet cake! On me: Wet, this goes on at first like that tangy sweetness I mentioned above but almost immediately settles into more of a cupcake smell. Then, right back to a tangy sweet quality but this time it's cream cheese frosting! All this morphing and it's not even dry yet! When it is dry though I find myself a little disappointed at my skin's reaction. Which is: a) to turn into a slightly sweet but slightly nutty smell. For some reason my skin just does this with some sweet scents, it seems so random to me but it does happen eat the scent I can barely smell it now and I did apply rather liberally. I can see where some people get a little bit of cinnamon at the end too because I am getting it now. It's quite faint and definitely a "red hots" cinnamon. So candy-ish. Final note: The drydown ends up like cupcakes on me but it's just so faint - I can barely smell it with my nose against my skin. The initial stage of this scent is so great, if only it stayed that way on me! I can understand the appeal for most people though who aren't having the issues I'm having!

In the vial: I am going to guess that is olive leaf I smell because it has a very dark green scent and reminds me of olives only... more masculine/earthy smelling On me: When this is wet, I have the very distinct impression that I AM wearing the smell of something feral and dark. It's quite animalistic and unique. As it dries down, my impression stays the same. There is a bitter - no, tangy is really the word I'm looking for - dark green smell to this that is so unusual. It's dark and musky otherwise with a smooth, masculine quality. Final note: I find this blend rather difficult to describe. I think I like it well enough, probably not enough to own a bottle (it's too masculine for me) but it's very interesting. That tangy quality I smell, which I think must be the olive leaf is really captivating and makes this blend stand out from some of the other musky masculine blends I've smelled. It definitely captures Lycaon I believe, it's quite feral!

In the vial: boozey sandalwood On me: This goes on strongly of sandalwood with a sugary backdrop that makes me think of sugar cookies. As it dries down, the sandalwood softens considerably and becomes creamier. Aside from the initial blast in the wet stage and what it smells like in the vial, I don't get much rum in this. The sweetness is very toned down and soft - so whereas this is a sweet blend, it does not come off as being "dessert-y". This is rather sexy in my opinion - softly sweet with that depth and woodiness that only sandalwood really provides. It works well together and I haven't yet tried a BPAL blend that smells like it. Final note: I want so much to say I don't care for this one, but I really do. Most of Beth's sandalwood blends end up with the sandalwood in the background on my skin. This is the first BPAL blend that I've tried where the sandalwood is truly front and center on me and I love it for that. It's a very soft blend though, it doesn't have a lot of throw on me unfortunately so I imagine I'll be using my 1/3rd imp rather quickly!

In the bottle: what else? Buttered popcorn! On me: When this is wet on me, it's extremely buttery and I can see where people are getting caramel from because there is a sugary edge to it that makes me think of caramel. As it dries down, the butter starts to settle in and the popcorn smell comes out a lot more. The more this dries, the fainter it becomes and the more it starts to smell like the wood note in Miskatonic University. My skin is just EATING this one by the second. Final note: I am really sad about how my skin has reacted to this one. It's so perfect when it hits my skin, but within 5 minutes the scent is barely there and smells of wood instead of popcorn. And 5 minutes after that? It's gone.

In the vial: Super sharp pennyroyal On me: At first, this goes on so sharp and odd that it is nauseating to me. Quite literally, I felt ill at first (I had a similar reaction to some other blend with pennyroyal, so it may just be that note I have a reaction to). Luckily, it settles and becomes something quite different - definitely makes me think of cologne - it's got a citrus and lavender backing that is fairly drowned by the sweet and dark muskiness. It's there, you can definitely smell it but I wouldn't call this a citrus OR a floral. It's rather sweet but I would definitely say this is masculine Final note: I know many women who love masculine scents, so if that sounds like you - give this a shot. It's too masculine for me, and makes me think of aftershave but at the same time it's pleasant enough. Slightly sweet, and with an odd backing of sort of but not quite citrus and sharp lavender.

Created in honor of the Slavic Black God of the Dead. A nighttime god of grief, evil, chaos and woe, he is paralleled by his twin brother Bylebog, god of light, joy, order, and good fortune. A combination of three musks, with splashes of dark myrrh, vetiver and mullein. In the vial: masculine and cologne-like On me: Ends up very incense-y but masculine on me. It's a classic warm, slightly sweet incense scent with a very dry spice from the vetiver. I could see a woman wearing this one, but it honestly makes me think of a man. The musks are just lovely in this, and if it weren't for the masculine edge of this, I would wear it myself! Final note: If incense scents are your thing, you'll like this one. It's very nice, rather classic smelling to me.

In the vial: soft vanilla On me: If you've ever tried a vanilla orchid scent, you pretty well know what to expect here. It's a beautiful vanilla orchid. If you haven't - it's a very soft "fluffy" vanilla and the orchid is also quite soft. It definitely doesn't leave you with a strong floral smell and it always makes me think of babies in that baby bath gel kind of way. It's soft, pretty and inoffensive. Sort of powdery and mildly sweet. Final note: I find this to be a very mild scent - the sort of thing I might want to smell like when I'm sick or after a late night bath.

In the vial: Shit, it's jasmine. On me: I always hope that jasmine will stay away from me in blends where it is not a major player. Those hopes are usually crushed though when I discover that in almost all blends with jasmine, jasmine will come and stink me up whether there are a million other notes in there or not. Soo..... yeah, diapery jasmine. Final note: Jasmine is bad to me, it just makes everything stink on me. If you don't have that problem with jasmine don't take my review to heart.

In the vial: Lemon pledge!! On me: Woah lemon. Man that lemon is something else. It really does smell like lemon pledge though - not quite like fresh lemon, more like lemon with something chemical behind it. It's a warm scent behind it too... sort of spiced and woody. Probably only lending to my impression of lemon pledge. Then... it sort of takes a turn for cooking spices. I still get the lemon but now it makes me think of a food smell - like... Thai cooking or something. It's very odd. Final note: Not sure if this serves it's intended purpose, but I do know that I don't particularly want to smell this way... very odd

In the vial: Crisp and sharp On me: This is actually so sharp and crisp that it comes off as slightly citrusy on my skin. At first, I thought for sure I was smelling yuzu. It still smells like that to me, but I think it is just because the aquatic note in this is so sharp. It almost immediately starts to turn a little soapy on me. And..... it pretty well stays that way. Final note: Started off as a sharp aquatic but ended up like soapy lily and nothing else.

In the vial: Woody and red On me: There is that red patchouli - strong, earthy and woody. There is something about the red patchouli that is always very distinctive to me. I can't quite put my finger on it though. The myrrh turns it very incensey almost right away though so now rather than being sharply woody, it's more sweet and heavy. I cannot smell the clove but I do catch a little ylang ylang, but it's quite slight. This dries very incensey on me with a slight spice Final note: This was way more incense like than I was expecting. In the long run, this is like scents such as Cathedral or Sol Invictus on me.

In the vial: Airy and slightly floral On me: Okay what I thought was floral was actually a soft apple smell with herbs. It is very airy though - kind of fresh and makes me think of clean linens. The herbs do give a sort of floral impression all together, but with a more herbally edge to it and the apple lends a soft sweetness to it. Though, overall, it's what I would call a "clean" scent. Nothing in particular really stands out in this blend, it all comes together very well. If this scent had a color, it would be blue-green Final note: Not a floral, not an herbal - I would classify this as a clean scent. If you like scents like Dirty, you'll probably like Phantom Queen

In the vial: diaper On me: I don't know what note is going so bad on me but I'm getting the diaper smell I usually only get with civet or sometimes jasmine. Underneath it, I can smell a sort of Snake Oil like scent, but that diaper smell is overwhelming and makes me want to wash this off. Final note: Didn't work well on me, even beyond the bad smell though I can see the comparisons to Snake Oil are right on

In the vial: Incense On me: Frankincense and then a very woody patchouli. So wood and incense. I am discovering that very resinous blends like this just aren't for me, they all smell pretty much the same on my skin. Final note: If you like Sol Invictus, give Cathedral a shot. It's too incensey for me but incense lovers should love it

In the vial: lemongrass? On me: This goes on a little like lemongrass to me - slightly lemony but subdued and herbally. Then the rose becomes apparent and I think that it was the combination of the rose with the rosemary that gave me a lemongrass impression at first. The rose is very strong and heady and is giving me a little headache. I smell a slight herbal quality to it which must be the rosemary, but the orange just doesn't seem to be there on me. Oh wait okay.... after a while I *think* I smell orange. More like orange zest though - very bitter. It's so faint though. Final note: This is mostly roses on me with faint rosemary and bitter - but very faint - orange

In the vial: Woody On me: It starts off as a strong patchouli but settles into sandalwood too - the result is a warm, earthy wood with spice. I think there must be myrrh in it as well as I'm getting that pencil shaving vibe I get with myrrh. Other than that though, there doesn't seem to be anything else going on in this scent. Final note: This is really no different on me than any of the other patchouli + sandalwood scents so there isn't enough about it that is different to make me like it.

In the vial: Frankincense On me: This goes on very masculine and is immediately a sort of incensey/spicey man's scent. Ambergris always smells lovely on me and this is no exception - it makes me think of Dorian actually - sort of sweet and quite spicey. It's backed by the incense quality of frankincense and a slight green herbally smell which I think is the basil and sage. I don't really get the leather or the grass, but the rest comes together beautifully and makes a wonderful cologne like scent. Final note: Very rugged and nice - this is a man's man's scent. I don't see a preppy guy wearing this, I see a rugged, rough around the edges kind of guy wearing this. It's an "older" masculine scent and very spicey and nice!

In the vial: a white, slightly sweet scent On me: It goes on very much as white tea at first. It's clean, but has a slight sweet quality to it that I find teas have on me. The carnation is floral and airy with a slight spice to it and it is just beautiful with the tea. Then the rose kicks in and instead of hating it, it actually ends up being rather toned down by the other notes. It's being kept in check so to speak. Instead of going all headachey and loud on me, it's being subdued behind the sweet softness of tea and carnations with a gentle spice. Final note: This is the second scent in a row I've reviewed with rose in it - which I normally dislike quite a lot - that I actually LIKE. The white tea just makes this scent beautiful, and whereas I'm not normally big on florals - somehow the sweetness and spice make them very appealing in this. It's innocent and playful and airy and not at all what I thought it would be! If you like Alice, try this.

In the vial: Fresh rose On me: The rose in this starts off rather green and very fresh. Like a just cut rose stem. The sandalwood and patchouli offers a warm woody quality to this that somehow really compliments the rose in a way I would not have imagined. This becomes somewhat incense like (if any of you have ever tried Felmaledictions Rose incense, it's like that but warmer and a little sweeter). These scents meld together beautifully to create a really wonderful aroma. Final note: Let me say that I am NOT a rose fan. I dislike rose quite a lot. It makes me think of grandmas and usually gives me headaches. This rose, however, is very nice! It just works well with the woody tones and I'm actually going to keep my imp of this. So even if you don't like rose, you might give this a shot anyways!