Ceisdein

In Bottle: Medicinal, smoky, sharp, almost like burning eucalyptus. Not attractive at all. Wet and Dry: Holy... it smells almost exactly like the Fireside candles from Bath and Body Works. As it ages on me it's a rolling, warm mix of woods and smoke and sort of vanilla sweetness and pepper. That means it smells fantastic. FANTASTIC. Exactly what I had hoped for from Devil's Night and didn't get. Overall: Have I stuck body parts in the melted wax from a Fireside candle in hopes of the smell sticking to me? Yes. Yes I have. Yay, for this scent instead! I had written this one off as something I wouldn't like and now I am so, so glad I got a decant of it. Decent throw, middle of the road wear time and I love it.

In Bottle: Slightly floral cake and vanilla buttercream frosting. Tasty. Wet: Still cake and sugary glaze. Thick and rich. It smells a lot like orange-blossom pound cake, in particular. 15 Minutes: Something is going wrong here. It's turning to cake and plastic. And the plastic is growing. Dry: Awful, chemical, plastic, with no hint of sugar-cakey-goodness. Almost nose burningly so. I can't believe how much this changed. Overall: The start was fantastic. I'm not usually very pro-foodie scents but this was really good. I'm a little heartbroken over my crap chemistry. I'll have to test it in a locket and hope for the best. Edited to add: 2010 version!

In Bottle: Trees. Wow. Wet: Still trees. Real trees. That's impressive. Dry: Trees with hints of smoke. It runs around cologne but never actually drop into it for me. The longer it's on the more a peppery spice picks up. Overall: Smells just like a autumn forest, all sun-warmed leaves and smoky breezes. This is what I was hoping for from Nothing Gold Can Stay. It definitely loses some of the tree realism in the later stages but even then the pepper stage is nice. Masculine but I think I could rock it on the right occasions. Bottle worthy for me.

Strange. It's unripe fruit. From bottle to dry down, just unripe fruit.

In Bottle: Oh, apple cider joy! Joy I tell you! Crisp apples floating in cider with a hint of spices bubbling in there too. Wet: Spices are growing and I'm getting "Massachusetts country store". 15 Minutes: Aaaand... there goes my wonky chemistry. Cinnamon. Almost pure cinnamon. I'm gonna try to wait it out but it's like I shoved an cinnamon stick up my nose. Dry: Back to apple cider joy! A bit sweeter and creamier than before. Overall: The good news is that it's lovely. A perfect, sweet, rich, slightly spiced, cider scent. Fantastic for fall/winter. Bad news is that I have to smush my nose flat against my wrist to get any of the fabulousness. I've never, never, never had something die so fast on me. Less than a hour and it's all but gone. Might be one for a locket.

In Bottle: Sweet, bright vanilla and spice. A slight hint of something plastic. Wet: Oddly vanilla mint. Very sweet and cool. A tiny bite underneath from what may be the cardamom. 5 Minutes Later: Well, that was fast. The mint has gone screaming from the room at record speed, leaving only his socks behind. Now it's woodsy, musky and slightly spicy with only the barest hint that anything minty was there at all. The sweetness has died from a sugary brightness to a much more mellow honey-ish scent. That was an incredibly fast, dramatic morph. Dry: Spice bread with simple vanilla icing. Not a super sugary vanilla but a warm sweetness. The longer it's on the softer and drier it gets until I'm left with a cushy amber. Then, surprisingly quickly, nothing. Overall: Tiny throw and it is quickly eaten by my skin. That's bad. But the comforting feeling of it and wild morphing are good. Interesting. I can see this being fabulous for layering as it would just add a little depth to a ton of things.

In Bottle: Pine-Sol and lemon. So, it's a bit Freshly Cleaned Bathroom. Very sharp and stinging, almost chemical. It's not exactly calling "smear me on your wrists" but hey. Wet: The chemical spike dies the second it touches my skin, leaving a sweet pine and mint. There's still a drop of citrus but only a drop. Light and bright and a little bit fuzzy. Ah! I know! Vanilla-mint toothpaste. That's what this reminds me of. Good stuff so far! Dry: The mint and pine have toned down, though they're still there. A neutral musk has picked up a bit and turned it creamy, plus the whole thing is still pretty sweet. The longer it's on the more woody it smells but it never fully loses that light, bright tone. Teeny-tiny throw. Overall: It's just kind of there. That sounds bad, but it's not. If a girl just normally smelled good, that lucky combination of natural chemistry and random environmental things, she might smell like this. A good, general, everyday winter scent.

In Bottle: 3 week old vase water and sour bread mold. The mint green kind. For the first time ever with a bpal work, I'm very hesitant to try this. Wet: Um, yep. Same. Dry: Okay, the flowers have come out a bit. It's still awful. Now it's just sweet flowers put into a vase of old water, next to a loaf of moldy bread. I'm not sure if the throw is super big or I'm just so horrified by this that I'm super attuned to it. It's also clinging to everything. Overall: I really, really was hoping that this would mellow and bloom on me like it did for others. There's just enough sweet floral in there that I can imagine how it could smell lovely with the right chemistry. While there was no such luck on that count, it does paint a picture and it fits the Gilman piece perfectly. I get very vivid imagery off of it and will keep my decant for the uniqueness of it. That all said if it never touches my skin again it will be quite fine with me. Old foul, bad yellow things indeed. I'll also note that it to forever to wash off.

In Bottle: Super citrusy (the yuzu?). A little floral, a bit of green. Positively juicy. I love it. Wet: Very green. Nose bitingly sharp. Almost soapy but not quite. Medium throw. Don't love this as much. Dry: The green is dying back and it’s morphing into a light white floral with a hint of sharpness that I'm attributing to the citrus. Still bordering on soapy but it’s pleasant enough. Calls to mind the idea “spring laundry” if that makes any sense. The longer it’s on the more it drifts into sweet, white floral, sheets on the line. The throw has tightened up a bit. Overall: It’s quite nice. Fresh. Very clean. Brings out imagery of late spring or early summer and I can see it being great during that time of year. Side note: On my skin this dies pretty quick, within a couple hours it's completely gone. On the other hand it got on my sleeves and I could still smell it the next day.

In Bottle: Dry woods, soft musk, drying flowers and a slight sweetness that could be fruit. It's all really blended though and nothing is jumping out to the front. Very slightly aquatic. Wet: Much like the bottle only sweeter. Peachy. Light Throw. 5 minutes: Florals are picking up speed. Still very complex and it drifts from one scent to another quickly. 15 minutes: I can't pin this down for anything. 1 hour+: Woods and peach tea. In fact it smells remarkably like some unnamed tea I picked up in China. It don't know what it is but it's good. The tea and the perfume. Overall: This may be one of my favorite BPAL scents yet. Which is a bit of a shock since it tend to like the headier things like Samhain or Chrysanthemum Moon. This, in contrast, is super soft, subtle. Like warm ghosties.

In Bottle: All manner of sweetness. Caramel, pink cotton candy, strawberry syrup and something like a harsh vanilla under it all. When my cousin was a baby her parents stripped her naked, put her on a trash bag and let her go to town with a bunch of candy. She got more of in on herself than in her mouth and she kinda smelled like this. Wet: What just happened? Plastic. Straight up, fresh from the factory, plastic. Plastic with a shockingly big throw. 5 minutes: Same. The back of my nose is actually starting to hurt. 15 minutes: The plastic is dying down. A little. Which leaves me with... strawberry plastic. Reminds me of the smell of my Strawberry Shortcake doll when I was little. Not as pleasant though. 1 hour +: Sugary strawberry plastic. Still a pretty big throw. Overall: Something in here hates me with a passion. I ended up with none of the candy goodness the bottle promised. This was the first scent I was unable to leave on until it faded on its own. I had been looking forward to the sugar coma that other people got. *pout* Possibly one for a locket.

In Bottle: Lavender. There's something else there but I can't quite nail it down because lavender keeps slapping me and screaming Pay Attention. Wet: Lavender. Sharp, scary, strong lavender. Lavender is sitting up on her high horse poking me with a fondue fork. Impressive throw. 5 minutes: Maybe I'm just extra attuned to lavender because that's all I can smell. In the whole room. My salsa is even coming off as slightly lavender flavored. 15 minutes: Oh, it's calming down! Musk? Maybe. Something rich in the background. Some other florals are finally making an appearance as well, sweetening things up a bit. 1 hour +: Um. Wondrous. That attacking lavender has faded down and rolled together with the musk and sweetness delivery a blue, creamy, nectarous tone. It's not stomping around the room any more but it still has decent throw and a few hours later I'm still catching whiffs of it without huffing my wrists. Overall: It's great. Dark but not heavy, bright but not piercing, not to cold, not to warm. Perfectly neutral in the best, best possible sense. Nighttime at a perfect 72 degrees. When I run out of this bottle I'll buy it again.

Otherworldy golden incense, blooming wind-flowers, everlasting lavender, bluebell, a faint whiff of exotic sugared candies, and fae mist upon wet green grass. In Bottle: Grassy, sweet, sharp and floral with a slight, slight fruity undertone. Wet: Instant death. Soft, dusty incense and a sharp grass tone. No fruit, no sweetness at all. Light to medium throw. 5 minutes: Same. 15 minutes: Same. Throw is gone and now it's a completely on skin scent. 1 hour +: Eventually the flowers bloom a bit, giving the tiniest amount of sweetness. But not much. At about the 2 hour mark the scent disappears altogether. Overall: Well, my chemistry obviously gave me the finger on this one. The moment it touched my skin everything sweet, fresh and elaborate in the bottle just disappeared. Gone. This is the lingering smell two weeks after the Fairy Market has left town and I missed it. *pout*

An ethereal vintage, steeped with dandelion, honey, and red currants. In Bottle: A bright, effervescent berry. Tart and sweet. There isn't a heavy booze note which is nice. Instead there is a lushness that is backed up by a subtle, low, leaf note. Slightly syrupy. Wet: Same as in bottle. There is a Japanese grape gummi candy that has a coating that fizzes on your tongue. That's what this reminds me of. Wicked throw. 5 minutes: The berry has softened and thinned out a bit. The tartness has taken on a bit of a medicinal quality and the leaf note is picking up pace. 15 minutes: The medicinal note is dying. Thank god. 1 hour+: Oooo, this rounded out beautifully. The absence of the medicinal note as well as the further softening of the syrupy, candy tone has let the berries and greenery settle into a very natural scent. Just like a wild raspberry bush outdoors. Overall: Fabulous. I would have never thought this would appeal to me as much as it does. I love, love, love it. After it's morph is through I'm left with a sparkling happy scent that melds wonderfully with my skin. I smell like I spent all day outside berry picking. While pretty distinctly feminine to my mind I think this would work for almost any age group.

In Bottle: First and foremost there is a warm, thick, burnt caramel. Sharp, with a slightly boozy tang. A heavy smokiness hangs around in the background. Kinda smells like freshly scorched creme brulee. Wet: Same as in bottle but without any hint of the buttery tone that had been present. 5 minutes: The caramel has softened dramatically and sandalwood has risen, deepening up the scent. It's not heavy incense scent that associate with carved sandalwood but more the smell of chunks of freshly chopped wood. A sharp, smoky tone is blending with the woods to read as bonfire. A bonfire that someone has dropped some candy in by accident. Quite a strong throw. 15 minutes: Same as above but the general spiciness has strengthened and is beginning to read as spicy flowers in particular. 1 hour +: The caramel has burned into the background and now only lends a subtle sweet note to a blend of warm but subtle woods, spicy flowers and a slight dustiness. Not girly but feminine and quite serious. Still a decent throw. Overall: My skin eats caramel with impressive speed. Like a bully with a stolen horde of Halloween candy. So, on me, this scent didn't turn out to be the clingy blanket of burnt sweetness that the bottle promised. The final result was quite nice though, if unexpected. It had good throw but also didn't last as long as I anticipated, at about 4 hours. Since I liked the caramel of the early stages that's not entirely a bad thing.