Little Bird

I've found myself reaching for Berenice quite a bit as Spring rolls in. It's just the perfect enchanting floral on me, and it reminds me so much of the lilies that used to grow around my house in Missouri. Very clean and sweet and spring appropriate

Sahasrara is very purple to me. Somehow purple-sweet-incense. Phantom Queen also gave off a purple vibe to me. I'm not sure why some scents paint such vivid color pictures when I smell them though.

There are so many sweet BPAL scents that it's almost overwhelming to think about, lol. If you like violet and sweet scents, you might want to try out Marie... it was very sweet candied-violets on me. I'd definitely second (or third) the recommendations for Akuma, Hollywood Babylon, and The Hamptons... they all smelled rather candy-like to me and reminiscent of Jailbait. You also might want to try Jester and The Red Queen. Dragon's Milk is also over the top sweet to me, in the best possible way. If you like chocolate, you might want to check out Vice, which is sort of Jailbait + milk chocolate.

A lot of people get pineapple from Tzadikim Nistarim... but that's the only one that really comes to mind. I haven't found a BPAL that really reminds me of pineapple yet though

(Disclaimer of sorts: My Chakra work is, uh, minimal at best... so these will be more purely scent-based reviews, not reviews on effectiveness... as I imagine that would vary from person to person.) Manipura is a wonderful, rich spicy scent. My mother said that it smelled like vanilla and ginger to her in the drydown, and I concur. It’s very warming, comforting, and lovely. Scent-wise, this is one of my favorites of the Chakra blends.

I think that there is jasmine in Swadhisthana, but it’s not overpowering or nauseating as it usually is on my skin. It’s rather sweet and coated in something that smells spicy and slightly dusty. It stays a very sweet and unobtrusive jasmine on me. Not one of my absolute favorites scent-wise, but still nice.

Ugh. Muladhara is very overwhelming on me. A tiny dab is insanely strong and has a lot of throw... and smells like charred BBQ. I think that this might have vetiver and cedar in it, because both of those have a tendency to smell off and reminiscent of bad BBQ on me. It’s sweet and woodsy and reminds me a bit of sweat in the drydown. The smell just really distracts me and puts me off probably my least favorite of the Chakra blends.

At first, Anahata almost smells a bit like lime to me, but not as sweet or juicy as lime usually is. This is also rather floral, but I’m not sure what sort of floral it smells like to me. A sweet and slightly soapy floral. I liked it a bit at first, but after a few minutes this went intensely soapy and sour on me, and started to give me a headache

When I first put Ajna on and the smell hit me, I recoiled in horror. It is rather astringent and has that cool eucalyptus-menthol bite to it. I also might smell some anise here. It was awful and medicinal. Then, after a few minutes, this started to get more pleasant as the menthol smell faded away. I think that I can smell powdery sandalwood in the drydown, and still that hint of anise. Something about Ajna is very airy and relaxing. Smell-wise, Ajna is one of my favorites, after Manipura and Sahasrara... personally, it was the one that I felt a real connection with.

On me, Vishuddha is all sweet lemon citrus and powdery spices. It is more like lemon head candies than a fresh lemon smell. After a half hour or so, still sweet lemon candies and a slight powdery scent, but it loses a lot of its spiciness. Overall, Vishuddha is very pleasant. This one isn’t as long lasting and doesn’t have as much throw as most of the other blends. I don’t notice it much after the first hour on my skin.

Most of the Chakra blends have such amazing scents. Sahasrara smells rather anise-like in the background, but it is not overwhelming or off-putting at all. At first I think that I smell some lavender in this one, and there’s a very powdered sugar sweetness to the whole blend that I find very pleasant. After an hour or so this began to remind me a bit of sweet cola and incense. And it somehow still manages to smell very purple. Sahasrara’s scent is captivating and pretty. It’s very purple and sweet, but still incensey. Incense-candy. It stays strong for hours... 8 hours later there is still a rather strong, sweet incense scent wafting from where I applied it. Definitely full bottle worthy and my favorite of the Chakras

The Vortex has a very odd and distracting smell on me. It smells of lemons and, uh, fish. Perhaps fish that have been dead for a few hours, that strangely pungent odor that they get. I’ve tried it out a few times now, and had to wash it off before reaching a half hour mark every time, though the lemon does get stronger over wear. I just can’t think about anything but rotting fish when I have this on, and it makes me feel nauseous and anxious. Strange. Sometimes I hate my skin chemistry.

I was very hesitant to try this one out. Sniffing it in the bottle, it was pure jasmine. Just way too much floral for me. On me... ugh. Jasmine. In all of its smoky, yellow, headache-inducing glory. I was hoping that the juniper berry might be able to cut the jasmine here, but no. My skin is amping this up into jasmine single note, as usual. 15 minutes later. I find myself wishing that this did not have so much throw. This might be the strongest jasmine ever. Rose geranium? Nope. Juniper berry? You wish. “And the will therein lieth, which dieth not.” The jasmine dieth not... even well after a half hour, a headache, and repeated hand washings.

Initially, Montresor was the Maelstrom blend that I was most excited to try out, blinded by the delicious sounding “black fruit and vanilla” part of the description. In the bottle... smells like grape flavored bubblegum. On me, smells like sweet, thick grape juice and oak trees. Something about this strikes me as very regal, like a row of tall oaks along a well kept path, leading up to a great castle. This is probably supposed to smell like wine of some sort, but I’ve never drank alcohol, so I can’t draw the comparison at all. This doesn’t smell boozy on me at all though. After 15 minutes or so, there is something complex and spicy about this. The overall effect is something very natural to me though... not so much a boozy manmade blend as it is something you might find out in the forest. The enchanted forest of your wildest dreams. A half hour later, this is very unique and has easily been holding my attention as it shifts on my skin. It’s not overpowering at all, but it does have a good deal of staying power and throw on me. I actually believe that I can smell a bit of burnt vanilla along with the oak and sweet grape fragrance in the drydown now. It reminds me a bit of LUSH’s Cherie Ripe massage bar. After a couple of hours, I’m getting mostly a powdery grape scent. Overall, Montresor is better and more complex then I ever imagined that it would be. This is one of those scents that I’ll wear several times and notice something new about it with each wear.

If my boy were to wear Usher and I were to wear Berenice, we would be the most perfectly scented couple ever. I don’t much care for this one on me (not sweet enough to be one of my personal fragrances, lol) but I’m definitely keeping the bottle around because I think that it smells like heaven on the boy. Oh, and the boy likes it too, so I’m not really abusing him. It smells of a sophisticated men’s cologne, shot through with a clean orange citrus scent. My mother sniffed it and said that it smelled “foresty”... and I suppose that I can see that as well. After about an hour, Usher loses a lot of its citrus punch and takes on a soft, minty-cool quality. I like it even more when it hits the minty stage. Overall, this is a wonderful clean-citrus and light-mint scent that I love on anyone but me.

In the bottle this smells rather like Centzon Totochtin, nothing but insanely rich cocoa. I’ve been very put-off Centzon ever since I accidentally spilled an entire bottle on my pants... so the smell made me feel a bit nauseated. On my skin, the thick cocoa smell falls into the background and it smells like an explosion of spices. It reminds me a bit of Tezcatlipoca, with the cocoa lingering in the background and holding everything together and the vetiver offering something darker and colder to the blend. I never smell any of the dragon’s blood. 15 minutes later, this is nothing but musk and it smells rather perfumey on me. I was worried that the smell of the perfumey musk might give me a headache, but The Tell-Tale Heart pretty much vanished on my skin before I even reached the half hour mark. For a scent that I thought would be really strong and overpowering, I’m surprised by its poor staying power on me. I like the first ten minutes or so on my skin, but its similar enough to Tezcatlipoca on me that I’d never really choose to wear this one.

Oh, this is yummy, but it reminds me of something that I cannot quite place, and it’s driving me crazy. This smells like some pleasant memory from my childhood that I can almost reach, that I almost recapture the feeling of, but I cannot quite make it. *sigh* And then it hit me just now - Persimmons. Wild persimmons... the way that they smell and taste when they’re sweet. I’ve only seen or eaten them once before in my life. My family and I used to live in Missouri in a little back country town. When my father and I drove to pick my mother up from work one day, we parked for a while next to what happened to be a wild persimmon tree. He assured me that they were okay to eat and they were pretty tasty little fruits. I haven’t seen one since then, but I remember how happy I was, just talking to my dad and sitting on the hood of his truck... Fortunato is all fruity persimmons in the bottle and on my wrists (the “bitter berry”). A quick burst of zesty orange citrus comes out for a few minutes, but fades away pretty quickly. I also get something woody and a bit earthy, though I never smell really strong patchouli, it’s more of a light grounding note in the background. This smells very much like being outside and laying under a persimmon tree I really love this one.

In the bottle this smells like a cool, subtle floral. It strikes me as somewhat aquatic, but I can’t imagine why. On me, very Old Spice-esque men’s cologne. It’s incredibly spicy and incredibly masculine. After a few minutes, the spice calms down a bit and I am getting that aquatic smell in the background again. A half hour later. Spice. Spicy florals, spicy spice, and spicy incense. It’s not foodie spice or even clove and cinnamon spicy... it’s like a sexy men’s cologne sort of spice. After an hour, more of that freshly aquatic scent came into play. It’s like taking a deep breath by the ocean on a chilly day. There’s still the same sexy spice here as well though. The warm spice against the coolness is really nice. I could never really pick out any of the listed notes individually... at times I thought that I smelled hints of carnation or incense. This is really well blended and something that I might wear myself, but would absolutely adore on the boy.

In the bottle this reminds me more of Al Azif’s smoky qualities than Midnight Mass’s smooth, sweeter incense. It’s also a bit sharper than Al Azif. I am awful at describing incense blends. On me, The Pit & The Pendulum takes on a slightly burnt quality, but not in a bad way. It’s the smoky haze that you get from burning incense. After about 15 minutes, I can smell a dusty cedar-ish wooden note behind the incense. This is like an old wooden church with incense burning inside. Nice, but too woody for my tastes. It’s strong on me for about an hour, but fades quickly after that, leaving behind a faint trace of smokiness. This is more smoky and powdery than I would have liked. I really love Midnight Mass, and I like Al Azif... this one is my least favorite out of the three. ETA: With some aging, this does take on more of Midnight Mass's smooth, slightly chilly sweetness in the bottle. However, on me and the boy, it kinda smells like violet baby powder with just a hint of cedar. On the boy, it is especially powdery. He also thought it smelled very soapy to him throughout the day.

In the bottle, this smells like a little 5 ml full of black potting soil. I cringed. On my skin, this is really fascinating and lovely. The Premature Burial actually became one of my favorites out of the Maelstrom (no match for Berenice, but still gorgeous in its own right). First on it is perfumey dirt, grasses, and dusky black orchid. I kept seeing a hazy dark purple whenever I closed my eyes and sniffed my wrists. It was very strong too, lots of throw with this one. I think that what I liked most about The Premature Burial is that it is so sweet on me. Black orchid is one of the few florals that I really love, and it is showcased very well in this scent. The dirt smell didn’t bother me as much as it has in all of the other blends that I’ve tried. It was more perfumey and sweet here, and was wonderful mixed with the black orchid. After a few hours, the dirt smell faded completely and I was left with nothing but sweet florals. I tried this one on my mother as well, because she also loves orchids, and she fell in love with the scent right away. I may have to buy another bottle for her

Berenice was the Maelstrom blend that I was least enthused about... lily usually goes soapy on me, amber usually goes to baby powder, and white musk tends to smell like cheap hair spray. So this is full of notes that my skin chemistry tends to butcher. Still, when I first opened my package, I sniffed each of the Maelstrom blends from the bottles; and Berenice and Usher were the ones that smelled the best to me initially. On my skin, this smells pale, clean, and sweet. The white musk is dominating, and actually not turning on me. Yay! Over a few minutes the lily picks up and offers a sweet floral note behind the white musk. It actually smells like real lilies and not dish soap. That might be a first for me. Gods, this is beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Have you ever smelled something so good and so perfect that you couldn’t really talk about it or describe it? That’s kind of how I feel about Berenice. This is very feminine... but not in a childish or overly sweet way. This smells like the scent of a beautiful young woman who is still innocent, but haunted by some tragedy or affliction. Great staying power and throw as well. I am not a poet or even a very good writer, so I’ll just say that Berenice is excellent and that you should all definitely buy a bottle, even if lilies and whatnot usually do not smell so good on you. And I really really love this one. Berenice is hands-down my favorite of the Maelstrom.

In the imp, this is definitely interesting. On first sniff, my brain screeches, “Rose! Sulphur!” but then on a second sniff, it came off as a very strong rose with a slightly sour, but not altogether unpleasant, edge. On my skin, still that creepy sulphur-esque note is lingering in the background. The rose itself here is pretty pleasant. Not a powdery, sweet rose (which I actually prefer)... but a strong, blood red, spicy rose. It smells like something that is trembling with malice and cruelty. This strikes me as a sort of poisonous rose with razor sharp thorns. This is the sort of rose that really hates you and would laugh if you were dying some horrible death. Something about this is just creepy and actually smells hateful. The Imp of the Perverse isn’t one that I’ll probably ever wear again. The sulphur smell calms down considerably after a half hour or so and I’m left with a strong, spicy rose scent with a lot of throw... but something about it is still just ‘off’ and doesn’t feel right to me. Glad that I could try this one... and, in a way, glad that I don’t want another imp or a full bottle.

I got my first new-style imp label the other day on a frimp of Faustus I love the phoenix art so much, it makes me want to start collecting imps. And I can't wait to see the rest of the Maelstrom bottles... c'mon perverse parcel.

I don’t like musk, amber, or orange scents… so I was really hesitant to try this one. It was the thought of a rainforest-ish scent that drew me in. Plus, well, it just has a cool name. In the bottle… smells kinda like Smut, Jacob’s Ladder, and a mixture of a citrussy men’s aftershave lotion. There’s a spiciness in the bottle that I’m hoping carries over when I try it on. On my skin, spicy-perfumey-musk. 15 minutes later. This is light and a mix of things that don't really work well on my skin. Perfumey musk, powdery amber, and some sharp floral notes. In the drydown, this is more of a hot, heady, lightly spiced, musk. It clings close on my skin, but every once in a while I will catch a bit of it. This isn't a favorite for me. The light but ever-present musks, hot florals, and powdery amber just aren't anything that I would normally wear.

In the bottle, this smells like the most wonderful, clean lavender scent. On me, this is a really captivating fragrance. It is sort of soapy, in the way that it reminds me of laundry soap at first, but it isn’t badly soapy or off-putting. This also has a very chilly sweetness to it that I'm loving. It dries down to a very sweet, pleasant lavender, but definitely more complex than just plain lavender. After about an hour, the soapiness has faded away entirely and there is more of an herbal chamomile and cool floral scent behind the sweet lavender. I might love the Sleepy Moon. Overall, Sleepy Moon is light, sweet, cool, and clean on me. It’s unlike any other fragrance that I’ve tried, and I wasn’t expecting to like this one, but I do. It doesn’t make me feel sleepy, but this would be a great casual fragrance… one that I would wear just to make myself happy. I could also see this being a very calming scent, maybe a good one to wear when I have presentations or am feeling anxious about something. ETA Sleepy Moon has become my favorite lunar blend, and one of my favorite LEs of all time. I've really come to appreciate the cool, airy, sweet lavender. It's so calming and helps to clear my mind, while also smelling wonderfully unique and sweet. It's like a cool breeze on a summer night, only better.