puellacaerulea

In the decant and once on: The salt stands out the most, but there's also something more generally aquatic under there, which I'm guessing is the kelp note. As it dries down, the patch gets more noticeable, but it's never dominant and blends reasonably well with the salt and kelp. Worth trying if you like BPAL's salt note or fresh aquatics in general.

In the decant and once on: Very bright, loud yuzu and bergamot, with a slightly discordant undertone of cedar. Citrus and wood notes are an unexpected and kind of weird combo, but it kind of works. As it dries down, the cedar and musk amp up on me, making the yuzu less screechy, but definitely still a presence along with the bergamot. It eventually dries down to a soft cedar and musk brightened up by the citrus. It has a glowing, yellow quality, but without the loudness you'd expect if you sniffed it wet. Not yet sure if it's bottleworthy, but I definitely like it.

In the imp, I mostly get coffee and Irish cream, with a little bit of the wood notes. As it wears, the wood notes amp up more -- unfortunately, there also seems to be a skin chemistry fail on me, as it starts to go a little plasticky. Not sure what note is to blame. After drydown, that plasticky undertone starts to go away, leaving me with mostly the scent of Irish coffee -- I never fully get the old books note. Despite that, it's definitely evocative of old libraries and university buildings, and would make a great fall or winter scent. The skin chemistry stuff might keep me from getting a full bottle, but I'll hang onto my imp.

Didn't get this during its original run, ended up having FOMO (because it turns out BPAL's dandelion note plays really well with me), and luckily came across a secondhand bottle. In the bottle, it's surprisingly sharp and bitter, with the fresh earth note dominant. It stays sharp and weirdly cologne-y for a time after applying. However, as it dries down, the sharpness settles quite a bit and the dandelion note I love gets more prominent. The dirt's still there, but it's much softer and better balanced. The initial stages aren't great, but it's worth powering through to the drydown stage.

In the imp and once on: Almond! Lots of sweet almond; having a hard time picking out the other notes. As it dries down, the myrrh amps up a lot more. It is slightly powdery, but that and the hint of dark musk balance out the sweetness of the almond. Overall, dark (but not overpowering) and subtly sweet; worth trying if you're into almond or myrrh. Not yet sure if I need a full bottle (Wander Darkling in the Eternal Space will be meeting all my moody myrrh scent needs for the foreseeable future), but I like it and will hang onto my imp.

A sepulchral, desolate scent. Long-dead soldiers, oath-bound; the perfume of their armor, the chill wind that surges through their tower, white bone and blackened steel: white sandalwood, ambergris, wet ozone, galbanum and leather with ebony, teak, burnt grasses, English ivy and a hint of red wine. In the imp, I mostly get the leather, wood, and ozone, with a hint of the burnt grassy notes. As it wears, the leather and wood notes stick around and soften a bit, as muted, mossy notes start to come out. It's a somber, autumnal kind of scent, but surprisingly lighter than what the description might suggest.

In the imp and once applied: Strong, herbal, astringent cypress and juniper. As it dries down, the rose and chamomile amp up more and tone down the astringent notes. Rose tends to go powdery on me, but I don't notice it as much here -- the cypress and juniper could be balancing that out. Overall impression is rose and chamomile with a backbone of cypress and juniper -- the latter notes don't dominate the scent, but they keep it from being a pure floral. I was skeptical when I first applied it, but the drydown stage is better than expected. Will hang onto my imp.

Both in the imp and on, I get mostly a honeyed vanilla cream, with just a hint of dragon's blood. After drydown, the dragon's blood gets more noticeable, but this stays primarily a honey-vanilla scent to my nose. Pleasant enough, and definitely wearable if you're looking for a lighter take on dragon's blood, but not something I necessarily need a full bottle of.

Forgot I had a decant of this on hand, so. In the decant, I get the amber, coconut, and lemongrass -- bright, sunny, and summery. The coconut and lemongrass seriously amp up once on, heightening the summery impression. After drydown, the lemongrass and coconut settle down a bit, making more room for the amber and a hint of dandelion. I have a hard time picking out the lavender and grass notes. Overall impression: a little tropical, very summery, generally bright and happy. Will definitely reach for my decant more come summer.

In the imp and once on, this is very much a clean scent, with a hint of white florals, but not particularly loud white florals. Fresh, pretty, and unobtrusive. It gets progressively muskier as time goes on, becoming more obviously a skin scent. Throw is relatively low, especially after drydown. Worth trying if you want something clean and subtle. Not sure if I need a full bottle yet, but will hang onto my frimp to experiment with layering with the other RPG imps in my stash.

This starts out as straight-up champa incense, but after some wear, the myrrh amps up quite a bit, almost overtaking the champa and making the overall scent more resinous than smoky/incense-y. A little strong and dark for everyday wear, but I'll be hanging onto my decant.

In my decant, I get mostly olive blossom, black fig, and frankincense -- heavy, resinous, and more traditionally masculine, but the orris root is also noticeably softening the whole blend. My skin really amps the orris and ambergris, enough that they overtake the heavy/resinous notes almost entirely. They creep back in well after drydown, but for the most part, this is powdery, soft orris and ambergris with a touch of olive blossom. Fortunately, I really like orris and ambergris.

Before drydown, I get green fig, dry, non-foodie vanilla (think vanilla husk), and the earthy component that others have noted. My skin seems to really amp the fig, as it gets strong and significantly sweeter as the scent dries down. My skin eats it up almost entirely after a few hours. Overall impression is a slightly dusty, earthy-sweet fig scent.

This version of 13 starts out as mainly chocolate and coconut on me, slowly giving way to mostly a vanilla marshmallow scent as the day goes on. Well after drydown, I'm still getting mostly vanilla marshmallow, but with a pleasant, dry cocoa note mixed in. Overall, it's sweet, foody, and whimsical. Staying power is also great through all the various stages it goes through on me (11 hours later, still very sniffable on my wrists). Will hang onto my decant for when the mood for something fun and foody strikes.

In the decant: Mostly watery violet; the woods are tough to detect. As it dries down, the woods start to come out more, giving the scent more of a backbone and keeping things from getting into watery/soapy floral territory. The woods are subtle, but they complement the violet well. Soft and low-ish throw; this isn't an in-your-face floral.

In the decant and once on, I get heady, lush gardenia, with just a hint of vanilla in the background -- it's definitely an assertive white floral, but the vanilla seems to keep it from getting screechy. This lasts long, has good throw, and morphs very little. If you're a gardenia fan, it's worth tracking down a bottle of this.

In the decant and once on, I get the creamy, slushy version of the snow note, without much in the way of citrus. The herbs and white florals come out as it dries down, adding a floral and slightly bitter edge to the snow note. It's like a less lemony version of The Moon's My Own. Chilly, pretty, and perfect for a snowy day.

In the decant and right after applying: bright, white florals with a bit of green freshness to them. Not overly loud or screechy, white florals, but definitely white florals. As it settles, the florals get more subtle, and that green note is still there -- it reads almost like oakmoss to me. It's not unlike Tennis Match from the Lupers a couple years ago. Overall impression is a fresh, springlike greenish floral.

In the decant: Bright, sunny citrus, grass, amber, and hay -- it's kind of like Songs of Autumn IV, but with the addition of fresh greenness from the grass notes. As it dries down, the bergamot settles down and takes a backseat to the amber and honey, but doesn't fade entirely. The vanilla's there, but it's mostly hanging out in the background and adding some extra creaminess. This is fantastic -- bright, golden, and sunny. Definitely getting a full bottle.

In the decant, I mostly get the copal -- woodsy, but with a bright lemon-y aspect to it. Once applied, the coffee beans come out (and it's definitely coffee beans, not brewed coffee), creating a weird (but not unpleasant) counterpoint to the copal. As it dries down, the lemony notes fade, and I get more of that woody, slightly smoky, but clean scent others are noticing. It plays better with the coffee beans, but is still just a little dissonant. This is a strange one, but I don't dislike it.

In the decant and once applied, this is definitely heavy on the cardamom, but it doesn't totally overwhelm the coffee. Agreed with other reviewers that the coffee note is more beans than brewed coffee. (I like to throw a cardamom pod into my French press along with the ground coffee if I have some on hand, and this scent is pretty spot-on for what that smells like.) The vanilla does come out a bit more as it dries down, but it stays pretty subtle, mainly adding a little extra warmth to the cardamom/coffee combo. Overall, this is a warm, spicy-sweet scent; perfect for winter. Considering a full bottle purchase.

Like other reviewers, I get tons of leather in the decant and right after applying, such that I have a hard time picking up other notes. After drydown, the old books note really emerges -- dusty, soft, slightly vanilla-y. The leather doesn't go away, but softens quite a bit after drydown, and blends surprisingly well with the coffee note. Very much an "old bookstore" scent. Need to test it a couple more times before I commit to a full bottle, but as an English prof, this one's speaking to me.

In the imp, I get heady honey, white musk, and what my nose wants to read as vanilla but must be the rum note. As it dries down, the wood notes and something high-pitched and slightly metallic comes out, counterbalancing the sweetness. These notes slowly fade out after drydown, leaving me with primarily honey and white musk. It's a pleasant combo, but similar enough to other honey-based things in my stash that I can skip a full bottle.

In the imp and after applying, it's mostly the amber and vanilla, with the cypress adding a pretty green note in the background. I didn't expect cypress to go well with the other notes, but it's a beautiful combination. The cypress slowly fades after drydown, leaving a slightly smoky amber and vanilla combo. Low-ish throw, but great wear length. I think this might be my favorite of the Black Friday frimps.

In the imp and once on, I'm definitely getting the intense woods and resins others are noting, along with the men's cologne vibe. After a bit of wear, the patch, oakmoss, and vetiver start to come out more and tone down the woods. There's a hint of honey that blends surprisingly well and helps balance everything out, but the oakmoss, mahogany, and vetiver stay dominant. I don't find this as men's cologne-y once it dries down, though it does lean a bit on the traditionally masculine side.