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BPAL Madness!

Aviatrix

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Everything posted by Aviatrix

  1. Aviatrix

    La Befana

    In the vial, this is a very pretty and sweet floral, though I can't quite pick out individual notes. At first, I get a huge amount of violet from this one. Violet can go both ways on me, but usually it works out. I'll see where this goes. After a while the violet has been tempered a little, and I get the sugar and candy notes, which are very pleasant. I am not getting any cypress, but it could just be that it's in the background grounding the blend. There is an overtone of something I can't quite identify, but might be the chimney dust note. I'm also not sure what happened to the lilies, but on the other hand, the scent is fine as it is. Overall, it's a very pretty and fun scent that makes me think of candy stores and holiday cheer! I am debating whether I need a whole bottle, but I'm definitely keeping my little decant!
  2. Aviatrix

    A Low Candle-Lit Room

    Whoa, there is something in this one that turns downright nasty on me. At first, I get mostly the stale fireplace ashes and a hint of the musk. Maybe a little bit of leather, but it's hard to say. As it dries down, however, it all goes sickly sour and actually leaves me feeling a bit nauseated. I have never had this happening with a BPAL, and in the vial it actually smelled okay. I have no idea what went wrong, but I'm sad it did. Maybe I will give it another try after I let it settle some more, hm....
  3. Aviatrix

    Winter Stars

    I have no idea what mugwort smells like, so I'm not sure if that's what I'm smelling from the beginning. There certainly is something a bit herbal in there, so that's probably the mugwort. It does seem fresh and sort of "blue" as the above reviewer said. The musk is there and is actually really pretty. The snow is not really noticeable, but lends a bit of coldness to the blend as a whole. I can envision a vast winter night sky dotted with cold, but beautiful stars.
  4. Aviatrix

    Go to Sleep, Darlings

    I can only agree with every other reviewer; this is indeed like Snow White! It is ever so faint, and from the vial I could almost not smell anything at all. Once on my skin, a little more of the scent came out, but I'm a little sad that it is sooooo faint, because it's really pretty. Snow White is one of my favorite blends ever, and this one is like a lighter version (I still think it has a floral element, just not as prominent as in Snow White). I am not getting any sugar from it, but super soft vanilla and something reminiscent of coconut, but all very, very light. Given the lightness of the scent, it stays very close to the skin, and on drydown I literally had to shove my nose into my wrist to catch the scent. I like it very much, but I'm not sure I'm going for a full bottle, simply because it is so faint that wearing it becomes almost pointless. But for a day when you need just a slight pick-me-up, and maybe on very warm days, I'm sure it's a beautiful scent to wear
  5. Aviatrix

    Almond Blossom

    I was very curious about this one, because I had never smelled almond blossom before, so I really didn't know what to expect. In the vial I get a very sharp kind of snow (I guess?) and some marzipan-like almond. The almond almost disappears on my skin, but is still faintly there when wet. There is also a faint, indistinctive floral hiding behind the snow now. The snow is kind of green and ozone-ish, and not exactly as sharp as in the vial. The drydown is not much different, except the almond traces are all gone now. It was certainly different from what I imagined, and I probably would have wanted some more almond. The hoar-frost and snow-wind were prominently there, though. I probably don't need a bottle of this, as I would never wear it, but Im glad I got to try it.
  6. Aviatrix

    Nuclear Winter

    In the vial and wet on the skin, this is a sharp mint and some ozone that definitely evokes the barrenness and emptiness of nuclear annihilation. I like it! It dries down to a more faint mint, but the nature of the scent doesn't actually change very much. It just becomes fainter with time. It was a different scent from what I had imagined, but I actually quite like it, and am happy for my decant.
  7. Aviatrix

    Penny Dreadful

    This starts out as pure dirt on me, a little sharp, but overall pleasant (I love the dirt note!). After a little while it dries down to a softer, rounder dirt mingled with what I assume is the noir heroine's perfume from the description. I can't really pick out any specific notes, it's just overall soft and a bit floral. Not too floral, though, which is good with me. Overall, I quite like it, but it doesn't have much lasting power on me. I might not buy a whole bottle (my favorite, go-to dirt scent is still Nocnitsa!), but I am very happy about my imp!
  8. Aviatrix

    Bread-and-Butter-Fly

    Initially, I get an almost citrusy feel from this. I don't know if that's the butter note acting up or it's the tea note I'm getting. Either way, I don't really like this stage. Luckily, it mellows out somewhat on drydown and I get more of the tea. Throughout there is an undercurrent of buttered bread running through it, and to be honest I am still undecided as to whether I like it or not. I think the final verdict will have to: It's light, much lighter than you'd expect bread and butter to be, and morphs finely throughout. It doesn't have much of a throw, though. It's not bad, but also not something I would normally wear.
  9. Aviatrix

    Picture Books in Winter

    While wet, this is a strong caramel scent to me. For some reason it reminds me a bit of Miskatonic University, but that may just be the overall warmth of the scent. When drying down, out comes the paper, which has an almost dusty quality. Very nice! There is a little bit of leather, but it's not a predominant note. The caramel is mostly gone by now. I don't actually get any crystalline flowers from this, but it's just the same, since I'm not much of a floral person. If anything, they might be in the background sweetening the blend a little. It doesn't appear to have much of a throw, but it's difficult to say, since I'm just testing it on my own with no one to comment on that. But it does seem to stick closer to the skin than I would have expected. I should add, I received the bottle today, so all the notes may not have settled entirely yet. Edited to add that I have now noticed this one doesn't last very long. A few hours after application, only a faint trace of leather remains. I still love it, though, and am happy I blind-bought a bottle immediately!
  10. Aviatrix

    Elegy No. 1 S. 196

    At first, I'm getting a big blast of bergamot with some white musk. Nice! Upon drydown, the delicious white sandalwood comes out, and it all blends beautifully. It reminds me a bit of Arcana, which I also love. It's a very refreshing, but at the same time warm, scent. I am not getting any ambergris, but that is probably due to me having never smelled ambergris, so I wouldn't recognize it...
  11. Aviatrix

    Hope and Fear Set Free

    On me this is almost a frankincense single note :-/ Don't get me wrong, nothing wrong with frankincense, but I was hoping for more vanilla. After drydown the tiniest bit of vanilla sweetness peeks out, but it never becomes more than just a sneaky peek, unfortunately. It's nice enough, but I think I'm just going to stick with my decant and not get a full bottle.
  12. Aviatrix

    The Perilous Parlor

    I was very curious about this one, since I've never smelled the BPAL pear note, as far as I know. It starts out as fresh, juicy, almost too sharp pear. Not much vanilla at the moment. After a short while, the pear mellows out and becomes very sweet and soft, and the vanilla pokes its head out at drydown, too. Overall, this is a very pretty, ever so slightly foody, blend that I imagine would be nice to wear on a rainy day
  13. Aviatrix

    Snow Scents!

    Any thoughts on The Old Goblin (I haven't tried it myself yet)? The notes are: "A crown of hardened ice and polished fir-cones." This is a great thread!
  14. Aviatrix

    Snow White

    This one stays mostly true from wet to drydown and doesn't change much in my experience. I get a very faint floral with some slightly coconutty goodness underneath. I still don't really understand what coconut is doing in here, since it's not supposed to be there, but it does smell kind of like a very sweet coconut. I have found that if I slather it, it tends to get a little too sickly sweet. It is a scent best worn lightly. It lasts a long time, but after many hours all I get is vanilla (?). It's definitely a winner for me and one of the scents I keep going back to from time to time when I'm in the mood.
  15. Aviatrix

    The Lurid Library

    This review is for the 2007 version that I recently bought here on the forum, so it was already aged when I got it. Wet it smells musky and sweet and then dries down to almost pure incense on me, with something else that I'm thinking is a kind of dust note (the old books, maybe). Not that I'm complaining, I love incense-y scents and this one is very light and sweet! It reminded me a little of Old Moon. I get none of the florals other reviewers have commented on. It does not have much of a throw and stays very close to my skin. It's a gorgeous scent nonetheless.
  16. Aviatrix

    Scents for dreaming

    I tried a couple of times to go to sleep with Nocnitsa in my burner and had these calming dreams, like being in a moist Eastern European forest, if that makes any sense
  17. I placed a European order on the 2/2 as well, and haven't heard anything yet - yay, maybe this means mine is on its way too! ....and I was just about to get really impatient.... Fingers crossed, anyway.
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