puellacaerulea
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Everything posted by puellacaerulea
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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White Gardenia & Vanilla Cream
puellacaerulea replied to zankoku_zen's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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In Necessarias Unitas
puellacaerulea replied to zankoku_zen's topic in Gifts with Donation or Purchase
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. -
This starts out extremely lemony on me, but the lemon notes calm down and the floral and musk notes come out more as it dries down. Even though the lemon calms down, this is definitely a very "yellow" scent, with the lemon adding brightness to the moonflower and mugwort. The white musk is subtle, adding a faint, sort of creamy note in the background. Surprisingly, I can barely pick up the snow/frost note, but it may just be blending especially well with the lemon. After drydown, I'd say the lemon and the moonflower are the most prominent notes. Overall, a very pretty, chilly, citrus and white floral blend.
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In the bottle I get the soft cedar and ambergris, as well as that bright, chilly, almost fruity note that I associate with BPAL's snow scents. The snow note amps up a ton after application, but it eventually settles down. After drydown, I mainly get a soft blend of cedar, ambergris, and coconut husk, with just a hint of the snow note -- a unique but atmospheric combination of warm and cool notes. This one's very light and subtle, with very low throw after drydown. Definitely evocative of its haiku.
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In the imp, I get mainly honey and vanilla, backed up by the mallow flower -- sort of like O, but with more going on beyond the honey and vanilla. Once I apply it, my skin starts amping that woody backbone others have been mentioning -- it must be the sandalwood and orris, but the combination reads less like sandalwood to me and more like a polished wood (at this stage, it reminds me less of O and more of Lawful, weirdly enough). I'm not entirely sure how I feel about how that specific type of wood scent plays with the honey and vanilla, but it does give the scent a strong backbone that takes it outside the realm of foody. Relatively low throw, but great staying power -- about 13 hours later, there are still lingering hints of it, with that polished wood aspect considerably mellowed out.
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So patchouli isn't one of my favorite notes, but honeysuckle emphatically is, so I wanted to at least try a decant of this. In the decant and once on, it's all glorious, potent honeysuckle. As it dried down, the patchouli amped up a ton and a weird, vaguely plasticky undertone came out. Fortunately, said weird undertone went away after drydown and more of the honeysuckle came back, but this is more patch-heavy on me -- earthy, not overly gnarly patch, with a hint of honeysuckle to sweeten it. Probably going to pass on a full bottle since I was hoping for something more honeysuckle-dominant, but need to test my decant a few more times to be sure.
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In the decant and once on, I get mostly clove. The hay starts to slowly come out more as it dries down, but it stays pretty subtle, mostly adding a sort of warmth to the clove scent. Has good throw and lasted about 5ish hours on me. Warm and autumnal, and an alternative to what you might expect from cold-weather spice blends. Definitely one to grab if you like clove. Not sure if I need a full bottle, but glad I have a decant.
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In the decant: Evergreen and wood notes, with a blast of something green and mossy. As it dries down, the green notes fade in favor of the evergreen and wood notes, staying pretty consistently evergreen-forward with a hint of those mossy, green notes after drydown. The effect is less Pine-Sol and more sticking your nose into some fresh pine branches. If you like evergreen or woody scents, this is definitely one to try.
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This is a little more traditionally perfumey than I expected, but it's really pleasant -- cedarwood in the decant, with just a bit of smoke and a dry, non-sweet vanilla in the background. Definitely not rustic or pencil-shavings cedar; this is a more sophisticated wood note. It seems to stick close to the skin; I had to slather a bit in order to get a good whiff of it. I started out amping the vanilla hard, but the cedarwood makes its way back out after drydown and winds up well balanced with the vanilla. Low-ish throw and inoffensive; could be good for work or wherever you want something a little more subtle. Haven't ruled out a bottle purchase of this one.
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In the decant: Salt, assorted fresh/aquatic notes, and something weirdly warm that is vaguely like corn chips? Once on: The corn chips go away (phew), and the salt amps up. I'm having a hard time picking out specific notes other than the salt, but they're clean, fresh, and slightly minerally. Once the weird corn chip note goes away, there's very little morphing -- just salty freshness. Very much a unisex scent, and I could see this being great in hot weather. Medium throw, and there's been very little fading after six hours of wear. Bottle purchase for sure.