puellacaerulea

I've had multiple frimps of this for years, and yet somehow never gotten around to reviewing it. On me, this is a balance of green, herbal, slightly minty notes and anise. Not particularly boozy, just anise-y. I'm not normally a fan of anise, but combined with the green notes, mint, and faint citrus, it works. I think it's the balance of all the notes that makes the anise note read more like fresh star anise than licorice candy to me. Light, green, and summery. Would definitely consider a full bottle once I exhaust my frimps.

Was recently frimped a decant of this. In the decant, it's loads of pale florals brightened up with green and citrus notes. Pretty, but does have a commercial perfume vibe to it. It goes weird on me once on -- I'm getting something that smells vaguely like anise among all the florals. Is it how the linden is playing with the other florals? Is this a slightly indolic jasmine? I have no idea, but something anise-like is there and it's weird. It does start to mellow out later, getting less green and more jasmine-forward. Perhaps appropriately for this scent's theme, it doesn't last long -- it's completely faded on me in about four hours. I don't dislike it, though, and will keep it around for when I want a lighter floral. Privilege also had its run shortly before I got into BPAL, so I'm glad to have the opportunity to try something I wouldn't have been able to otherwise.

Yep, definitely a foodie scent. The milk and honey are there, but with an added sweetness that reads like maple syrup to me. It's also faintly boozy, so I'm not sure if this is actually maple or a result of how the wine note is playing with the other notes, but it's there. So, yeah. Warm, sweet milk, honey, and maple, deepened and made slightly boozy with the wine. It's similar enough to other gourmand scents in my stash that I don't need a full bottle, but I'll hang onto my imp.

In the imp, I weirdly don't get a lot of pine -- instead, I get something sticky-sweet, with pine hanging out in the background. (This imp is pretty aged, so I'm not sure if that's a factor.) Once on, it stays candy-sweet, fruity, and sticky, with the pine amping up just a bit. Not a fresh pine, but thick and sticky.

A friend gave me their imp of this a while back, but I never got around to testing it until now. In the imp, it's a mix of florals (rose stands out for sure, and maybe also lilies?) and some kind of wild, damp, reedy greens. Once it's on, things go wrong -- the florals get a little soapy and something turns to plastic on me (a skin chemistry fail I sometimes get with some green notes). The plastic does settle after a while, and I get slightly soapy florals with those slightly damp green notes. Not a fan of how this plays with my skin chemistry, but might try it in a scent locket.

This one starts off as primarily melon and chili pepper, with a hint of tobacco adding some depth and smoothness in the background. My skin seems to really amp the tobacco. I never do pick up the effervescent gin/juniper notes others have noted, but I get lots of sweet, chewy, lightly honeyed tobacco. The melon and chili are still there, adding some extra sweetness and faint spice to the tobacco, but this is still primarily tobacco on me. Still, this is lighter than I'd expect for a tobacco-dominant scent -- think tobacco that's wearable in the summer. I like this, but I'm probably okay with just an imp.

Was recently frimped this in a decant circle. This one isn't a big morpher -- both in the imp and once on, it's pale, watery, funereal flowers, with a touch of something slightly acidic. (I actually went looking for this review topic in Ars Moriendi first.) Overall, light but sort of somber florals with a slight aquatic vibe to them. Similar enough to other pale florals I have that I don't need a bottle, but will keep the imp for when I'm a floral mood.

The pine and juniper jump out instantly to me, both in the imp and once applied. This one's not a big morpher -- the cypress amps up a bit more as it dries down, but pine and juniper are very much the dominant notes. Very much a dark, cool take on a forest scent. Give this one a go if you enjoy forest-y scents. This could potentially make a good room scent.

In the imp, it's mostly fig and coconut -- rich, sweet, tropical. After applying, the sandalwood starts to come out more and gently tones down the foodiness of the scent. After drydown, however, the sandalwood fades and the fig, almond milk, and honey become dominant, while I can't quite detect the coconut anymore. Overall final impression is fig, almond, and faint honey -- definitely gourmand, but not as aggressively sweet as it might sound. Almond lovers might enjoy this one.

A gentlemen's blend, possessed of dignity, charm and refinement, but in truth masking a corrupted, hideous, soulless core. White musk, lime, lilac and citron. In the imp, I'm immediately hit with the lime and white musk. Citrusy, but not full-on Lemon Pledge. Definitely has a refined character to it. As it wears, the musk morphs subtly and the lilac starts to come out. I'm still into the clean citrus/musk combo, but there's something subtly off about it at this stage. I think it might be the lilac, which is normally a note I love, but there's something strange about it's playing with the other notes. It's not a gross combination or anything, but just something a little dissonant (which seems to line up with the scent description). This reads as gender-neutral to me, but I can see it leaning a little traditionally masculine depending on your own tastes. Similar to both Villain and the Lime and White Musk duet. Since I have a full bottle of the latter, I can skip a full bottle of this, but will keep the imp around for warm weather.

In the imp, the grapefruit stands out, sweetened by the red currant with hints of chamomile (I never fully pick up the lavender). Once on, the musk amps up a bit and the currant mostly fades, leaving me with an odd but not unpleasant combo of grapefruit and smooth musk. My skin seems to eat this up -- it's very subtle and low-throw after drydown. Not something I need a full bottle of, but will keep the imp around.

In the imp, I mostly get damp soil and moss combined with sweet florals. Really sweet florals. Like, candy-sweet florals. As it wears, the bay rum and bourbon show up and start to mellow the florals a bit. Overall impression is an earthy, slightly boozy, noticeably floral combo. Definitely an evocative scent once that cloyingly sweet phase passes, but not enough for me to need more than the imp.

In the imp: Pretty much everything you'd expect from an aquatic, but darker, greener, and deeper. It's not aggressively salty, but it's definitely a deep green, ocean-like scent, with something vaguely sweet hanging around. It goes a little powdery on me (not sure what note's doing that), but it's still primarily aquatic. I'd call this one unisex, but given it's darker and murkier than some other BPAL aquatics (it doesn't have the fresh, clean aspect of Undertow, for example), I could see it leaning a little more conventionally masculine.

In the bottle, I get lots of heavy amber and musk. I seem to amp the apple blossom, petitgrain, and rhubarb -- once applied, those notes come out and add a bright, slightly tart floral while the amber and musk lighten up a bit. I can pick out the leather note, but it's hanging out in the background along with the amber and musk. Overall impression is a not-too-intense amber underpinning bright, citrusy blossoms -- very different, in a good way, from the heavy scent I get in the bottle.

This one's a morpher! In the decant, I mostly get sweet milk and figs. Once it's on, I amp the cedarwood like whoa. For a while, the cedarwood and olive leaf notes almost completely drown out the milk and fig (fortunately, I like those notes). After drydown, the milk and fig slowly work their way back in; eventually, it's once again primarily a sweet milk and fig scent, with the cedarwood giving it a subtle backbone. Rich and sweet, but feels very summery (in that sense it reminds me of Nonae Caprotina from 2009).