puellacaerulea

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).

In the decant, it's mostly heady, tropical gardenia. Once it's on, though, the oakmoss and tobacco come out to play. I tend to amp oakmoss, but it doesn't get overly intense here, instead adding a muted green note that balances out the gardenia's sweetness. The tobacco reads to me as the somewhat sweet, chewy kind, but that might be how it's blending with the gardenia. As it dries down, I'd say the tobacco and oakmoss are the dominant notes, sweetened with gardenia. It's really pretty and sophisticated, and I can see it appealing to white floral lovers and noobs alike. I might want to grab a bottle of this one, especially as there's almost no gardenia in my stash.

I was wary of the incense note, but the combo of Darjeeling and cocoa sounded too interesting to pass up a decant. This starts as an appealingly dry, bittersweet combo of black tea and cocoa, but my skin starts amping the incense hard (I think it's champaca?), to the extent that it gets a little screechy. The incense does eventually settle and give way to the black tea/cocoa combo, but that screechy period is a bit tough to get through. If you're a fan of champaca, you might go for this, though.

In the decant, I mostly get the cool, minty, ozone-y snow note. Faint hints of grass come out once on, and slowly amp up as it wears. It's a cool blend of minty and fresh green notes. Fortunately, the grass doesn't turn to plastic on me this time around. Cool, green, and refreshing; could work well for late winter or spring/summer.

In the decant, it's mainly coconut and a muted, dry vanilla, with a slight hint of fig. Weirdly enough, what it most reminds me of is expensive, high-end coconut-scented soap (and I mean that in a good way!). It doesn't morph too much as it wears -- it gets a little warmer as the fig comes out a bit more, but the coconut and vanilla are still the dominant notes. Like a lot of this round of trios, it's surprisingly subtle and sticks close to the skin. it's a tropical and warm scent, but this is far from full-on suntan lotion. If you like coconut but want something fairly low-key, this might be one to try.

In the decant and once applied, I get soft sandalwood and bourbon vanilla, with the sage providing a slightly sharp, herbal counterpoint. The bourbon vanilla goes into a weirdly sickly-sweet phase for a few minutes after applying, but it settles into a pleasant, subtle sweetness that blends well with the sandalwood and sage. Mild and comforting, and has a bit of an autumnal vibe to me. Tempted to get a bottle, but need to finish testing my other menage decants first.

The myrrh and patchouli pop out at me first, incense-y and resinous. The other notes assert themselves quickly -- deep, green, mossy, and earthy notes all layered over the myrrh. Like incense mixed with freshly upturned earth and moss, in the best way possible. I recently started a small container garden, and just dabbed a little bit around the containers in hopes that the plants will get some benefit.

In the decant: Zingy pink grapefruit, with yuzu adding a touch of sweetness in the background. As it dries down, the white musk comes out more, adding some subtle grounding to the scent, but grapefruit is still very much the dominant note. If you like grapefruit, you'll love this. It's like a pared-down version of Bellicose Clam Alchemy Lab that swaps the lemony sweetness for all grapefruit, all the time. It does settle and fade pretty fast, but this might be a plus if you're looking for something that'll stick close to the skin. I wish it maintained a stronger throw for longer, but haven't ruled out a bottle purchase.

This one's a morpher for sure. In the decant, I get herbaceous lavender and a big wallop of corn-chip salt. Once it's on, the salt mellows and gets less corn-chippy, blending well with the lavender. The rain note is barely there at this stage, but it slowly amps up over the first hour or so of wear. At a certain point, it almost overtakes the salt. I do really like the end result -- a cool, atmospheric lavender/rain combo with a hint of salt. Unfortunately, my skin seems to eat it up -- it's mostly faded after two hours. Not totally sure if I'd spring for a full bottle, but will definitely keep using my decant.

In the imp: Woodsy notes (not necessarily pine/evergreen, just woods) and waxy, sweet berries. This doesn't morph much over time, and is surprisingly subtle -- it's definitely forest-like, but there's no Pine-Sol to be found here. Overall, a very low-key woodsy scent, something possibly worth seeking out if you're curious about forest scents but are wary of excessive evergreen notes.

I wasn't sure about 13 sugars, but I was curious enough to snag a decant. It starts out aggressively, cloyingly sweet, and almost fruity. Fortunately, it does mellow out after a bit -- the throw gets less intense, and the sweetness starts to morph into a more warm, subtle, molasses-like scent. Probably not something I'm going to reach for regularly, but I'm glad I tried it.

In the bottle, I get a musky vanilla floral with a strong side of smoke (think campfire smoke) and leather. There's a brief period of intense smokiness after I apply it, but it settles down quickly. If anything, my skin seems to eat up the smoke and leather -- after that initial super smoky period, the smoke and leather have almost completely faded, leaving me with a sweet vanilla floral. Which is nice, but I wish the smoke and leather were a little more prominent. Might give this one a try in a scent locket.

In the imp, the chocolate and lilac jump out at me. Once applied, the chocolate disappears almost immediately, and the other notes start to amp up, especially the oakmoss, wild lettuce, and violet leaf. The lilac's still there, but it's understated among a series of light, delicate green notes, with the orris giving it a slight powdery note. I never do pick up the coconut. Overall impression after drydown is delicate florals and greens.

In the bottle: Exactly what it says on the tin. Fresh, slightly green, slightly nectar-y pure honeysuckle. It takes a very faint powdery edge once on, but it's not super noticeable, and morphs very little otherwise. Medium-ish throw, and pretty good staying power (7 hours later, it's still faintly detectable on my wrists). Spring and early summer in a bottle, basically; glad I came across a secondhand bottle.

In the bottle, the first impression is clove, then soft leather, then black tea. The leather might stand out to me more because this reminds me a fair bit of Dead Leaves, Raw Leather, Bourbon Vanilla, & Clove, and so that leather/clove combo is familiar to me. Comparing what's in the bottle to how it fared on my skin, there's a slight sweetness in the bottle that gets lost on my skin. This doesn't morph significantly otherwise, staying mostly clove-forward with black tea (no milk or other spices here) and leather. It's definitely a soft, worn leather note, not the sharp smell you can sometimes get with black leather notes. This does lean a bit more traditionally masculine, but will definitely be putting it in my rotation come fall.

Oh wow. This is the closest thing I've gotten to a genuine old library/old books scent. In the bottle, I pick up soft, worn leather and dusty vanilla. The balsams amp up once on, and something also seems to shift with the leather, sharpening the scent considerably. I also start picking up slightly green, mossy notes at this stage (the balsams?), and the vanilla takes a backseat. Fortunately, as it wears, the vanilla creeps back in and softens the scent. Again, it's super evocative of old libraries to my nose -- sort of tweedily sophisticated and gender neutral. Great throw, especially in the first few hours of wear (I spent all morning on Zoom calls and was getting distracted by the scent wafting up from my wrists), along with really good wear length. While I like this a bit better in the bottle than I do on my skin, it's still great. I got this bottle secondhand, but I might have to go to the museum on my next trip home (here's hoping it'll be open again by then) for a backup.

In the imp: Yup, that's pomegranate and rose. Simple, fresh-smelling rose along with juicy pomegranate. The notes are balanced well, and this doesn't morph significantly, apart from rose's tendency to go a little powdery on me. The pomegranate note isn't overly sweet, and if anything it kind of tempers the rose note and gives it an almost solemn aspect, which seems apropos for the inspiration for this scent. (My imp is a few years old, so that might be why I'm finding this less intensely sweet than others did.) I could see this being a good rose scent for autumn.

In the imp, I get a surprisingly light, sweet take on juniper -- that might be the lotus providing the sweetness. Once it's on, the juniper amps up almost immediately, deepening and darkening the scent instantly. The mint's there, too, but it's playing second fiddle to the juniper, while the lotus has all but disappeared. I'd call this more a refreshing, evergreen-like juniper than I would an aquatic. I can see this working well in hot weather.

In the imp: Heady, steamy florals. Yup, that's magnolia. Once it's on, the musk (it reads like red musk to me) and spice amp up a lot -- I never quite pick out the mandarin. The spice is a little heavier than I'd like, but it doesn't overwhelm the florals. It has more of a classic perfume vibe to it, but the florals are lush in a way that evokes hot, humid summer nights. Going to pass on a full bottle since I can only see myself reaching for this on rare occasions, but will keep my imp.

This one starts off as a soft, watery, purple floral. Once it's on, the orris comes out in a big way, blending with the violet and mostly overtaking the lotus. The end result is a powdery, orris-heavy violet. A little too powdery for me, but I'll keep the decant for when I want this kind of subdued floral.

This is for a well-aged imp of Titania (not sure exactly how old, but pretty sure it's 2010 or earlier). It doesn't seem significantly different from how I remember it when I first got it -- intensely grape- and pear-forward, with florals in the background. While it manages to avoid being sickly sweet, the fruit notes are really intense on me, mostly overwhelming the florals. Unfortunately, this one just isn't for me.

I always regretted not getting this during its original run, so I was glad to recently snag a secondhand bottle. It's warm, soft, and nutty -- very much a harvest scent. While the vanilla, honey, hay, and nut notes are prominent, the vetiver adds a fantastic smoky complexity that keeps this from going full gourmand. It's warm and cozy, but more in a nutty, slightly smoky way than a sweet, vanilla-forward way. This is definitely going in my rotation come fall.

This one starts off very fresh and citrusy, with the mandarin adding a hint of sweetness to the yuzu, grapefruit, and lemon. After applying, the white musk amps up a lot, balancing out the citrus and keeping it from getting too aggressive. By drydown, it's primarily a clean white musk brightened up with citrus in the background. Would make a great warm weather scent.