cfrancesca

On me this is a very sensual, heady, smokey almost boozy red musk blend. I find the notes well-blended at first and they create a heady booze-like note I'm getting (I'm really not sure where it's coming from) I find it intoxicating, exotic, strong, and very sexy. As it dries it the booze-like note starts to remind me of a boozy, kind of foody caramel note, similar to Red Lantern. So on me this is a mix of dirty smokey (almost incense-like) caramel, booze, and then add some red musk with soft hints of dark musk. In the background I get stronger clove, soft myrrh and dirty patchouli, I also get occasional hints of fruit but I couldn't tell it's mandarin. This is really one of the sexiest bpal blends I've ever tried. I'm not getting the vanilla orchid but it's probably smoothing and rounding everything else out.

 

I'm confused by this scent, it wasn't what I expected but it's something pretty amazing, however...it might be a bit too much for me.

 

 

I love this picture so much. The Ta-Ta reminds me a lot of Arabian Dance but closer to the batch that had a little more coffee, I actually find them so much similar that I kept thinking I had the Arabian Dance on. They do share many of the same notes except for carnation here, but I find the scent a little similar to some of spice notes in Arabian Dance, and there's also no hazelnut here so this doesn't have much of that sweet nuttiness in the coffee. I was a curious (and I admit a wee bit worried) about the 'boiled leather' but it smells like a lovely soft leather.

 

I'm getting a foody, dark roasted, sweet and smokey coffee with that soft, slightly sweet leather note I love (similar to the leather Le Pere Fouettard, CC Female, Liz etc) and hints of carnation. The tobacco, which I amp with time, adds a smokey, sexy aspect and the soft, sweet spiciness of the carnation also comes through a little bit more after a while. It's a really lovely blend, after a while the tobacco does get a little bit more stronger than I wish it would but I still like this very much. I just have to now re-evaluate my stash of the Arabian Dance, since I'm not sure I need to keep so many bottles of it.

In the bottle: I'm surprised at how and juicy this is, I think it's the closest to a true pomegranate scent I've encountered yet, to me it smells like a slightly boozy, softly spicy, crisp dark pomegranate juice. On my skin it's mostly strong dark pomegranate juice with some patchouli (which is surprisingly very smooth and smells amazing here, it adds a really nice darkness to the blend), oakmoss and soft woods. I actually like it quite a bit and it's very nicely blended, but I was hoping it would be more masculine-type scent (I'm not getting cologne) and that it would have less pomegranate, since I'm not a fan of very fruity scents. I think it smells very appropriate for autumn with spiced dark fruit juice over earthy dark woods.

I really wanted vanilla cupcakes and rich, creamy frosting but instead I got a chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, with little to no frosting. I amp the chocolate and it's mostly a soft, slightly dry, not too sweet cocoa-like scent. The throw is nice, warm and foody and smells of dry cocoa with hints of vanilla, but I find the overall scent soft. It kind of reminds me of the chocolate in Left his Nurse in a Crowd. It's a nice foody scent, just not what I was expecting so I'm happy these are already on their way to new homes.

This one starts off strong on the smokey, almost sweet resins on me. I'm really amping the frankincense, labdanum and styrax notes in here which create a strong, smokey resiny amber-type scent on my skin. In the background I get the sexy dark musk and little bit of the slightly brighter bright lilac fougere, but it's mostly gorgeous resins. If you like resin blends you should consider trying this one.

Initially this is herbal-basily on me, similar to the herbs in Antony and I could swear I also get soft, slightly smokey brown leather. A warm and bright citrus note starts to amp but stays well-blended with the other notes on me, I get a little bit of soft vanilla fougere in the background, the ambergis is soft and also stays in the background, the juniper berry is not coming up on my skin. This settles into a soft, warm, slightly smokey, dusty, well-blended leather herbal blend with a slightly bright citrusy vanilla fougere background. ETA: As I'm testing other scents I caught another whiff of it and I'm really amping the smokiness, it's probably coming from the ambergris.

This one broke my heart. I should've known since wisteria and I don't get along but I was hoping that somehow, it would magically work, but what I got was headache-inducing heady florals. I get all the notes listed, the strongest on me are the wisteria (as per usual) and white mint which together is just pure fail on me, in the background is the white chocolate, tuberose (which adds to the heady floral fail), lilac and hardly any white musk which I was hoping would be stronger. It's like a mix-up of Needlework, The Last Unicorn (without the coconut) and Knockout Drops, I love and own the latter two but on me they just don't smell good blended together. This has the most beautiful label too so it adds to the disappointment. The happy news is that this is already on it's way to a loving home.

On my skin, this starts off as a cool, sweet, juicy (almost watery) pink watermelon musk with a bit of moss, sweet pea and lilac in the background, it's really pretty! As it dries, the other notes start to amp and I start getting more oakmoss, lilac, very soft hints of woods and a little bit of the elemi is coming through now. At this stage the blend it starting to become a little earthier, the notes blend and create a background of soft mossiness with the barest tinges of citrus and herbs, and soft pretty sweet florals backing up the stronger watermelon note. This finally settles into a less sweet watermelon musk with softly earthy oakmoss and soft florals in the background, similar to how it started but not quite the same scent.

The King's Daughter took me on a beautiful ride. It started off sweet and youthful, struggled to gain ground in the middle and ended with a beautiful more mature, wiser scent still baring a resemblance of how it started but with a few changes and added elements it gathered in the journey along the way.

This smells a lot like Loli.Goth on me! It has that same pink musk and fruits combo which ends up smelling like a sweet and girly fruity musk on me, maybe strawberry, peach and raspberry? There's possibly a few more fruits in this one because it's fruitier and slightly tarter. I also get soft hints of pretty florals now and then, maybe a touch of slightly fuzzy iris, which has an almost vanilla-like scent in the background, I also get very soft woods which come out with time. I'm thankfully not getting the freesia, which I was worried about since it hardly ever works. I was hoping to get the doll's head scent which I strangely like the smell of, but I'm not getting any of it (at least not like I got from the Mimosa single note, which after a while smells exactly like a Barbie's head to me ). This has really nice throw and amazing longevity! I would keep this but I find it too similar to Loli.Goth which I already have.

On me, is mostly creamy soft coconut, well-blended vanilla musk, creamy roses, frankincense (which I usually amp) and soft woods. It reminds me of White Rose and a creamy, soft coconutty version of Parliment of Foules. It's a really beautiful, soft and ethereal. Though I was expecting this to be primarily a rose scent, I think it might be too similar to other rose blends I have to justify keeping it.

I find this a really nice, soft, well-blended and complex scent. I get dusty, almost resiny leather, soft clove, wood, and a bit of sweet, almost creamy lime, which is noticeable but subdued, more like a light sweet citrus and barely-there vanilla. I find it surprisingly light. As it dries, the olibanum gets very dry, dusty and slightly spicy/peppery on my skin (I usually amp it) and the gunpowder has a softly smokey, almost grittiness which amps on me with time. This reminds me slightly of the background dusty citrus and olibanum scent I get from Sibyl. The strong dustiness I get from this makes me not love it, but I do like the overall scent.

It starts of strong patchouli (I find it very similar to the kind in Banshee Beat and PRC12), the blend is dry with no sweetness at this stage. The other notes are very-well blended but I do get some smokey tobacco and dry woods peeking through. It settles into a warm, smokey, dark and earthy patchouli blend with soft wood and tobacco in the background. If you like your patchouli extra dark and earthy, I think you should give this a try.

This starts off as a complex sweet dark musk with a bit of red musk. It settles into an incensey, deep, dark, sexy exotic musk. It has similarities to some of those sweet, dark musky blends like WILF, Panther Moon and Male Nude, Arms Upstretched.

On me, this starts off like as very realistic, just peeled orange/tangerine type scent, dry and zesty, almost bitter, with just a hint of sweetness. I can't say I like it too much at this stage, I was hoping for the candy sweet orange that others got. Suddenly, this masculine-type scent start to amp, almost spicy cologne-like, could very well be cloves that saralaughs mentioned getting. There might also be some light benzoin (it reminds me slightly of Lilith vs. the Giant Crab) and very light musk in here. It finally settles into a strong citrusy, orangey, soft spicy cologne on me. It basically smells like if I'd just spilled a ton of orange juice on someone wearing a spicy men's cologne. I really like it overall, but I wish it had a lot ,less of that orange note.

 

eta 8/13 I wore Bakeneko today and it reminded me of the soft, spicy, slightly masculine background scent plus some of the citrus I get from this one, it's possible they share a few similar notes.

Unreleased prototype, no notes or description given.

 

On me this smells like vanilla musk, maybe some florals and a little amber and some woods, maybe? The vanilla is similar to the one in Celeste and Amaterasu v3 but a lot less sweet. There's also a sharp chemical-like scent in here that's ruining the scent for me.

This smells like pure citronella on me.

Unreleased prototype, no notes or description given.

 

I mostly get slightly sharp smokey opium, amber, and some resins from this one. As it settles I also start to get some tobacco.

 

eta 8/7: Testing it again today, I think there might also be some dark musk in here and possibly some woods too. It's a bit too sharp for me to love right now, but I think it will get better and smooth out with some aging. I find it smokey, dark and sexy.

This is nice and spicy, almost foody on me. I get a soft resins, sand, and warm spices - soft clove, slightly sweet ginger and dry cinnamon. This ends up smelling like chai tea on me. This is really nice and I don't even like clove.

This started out mostly a pretty, soft rice wine blend on me. I'm not sure what else is in here, but as it dries, I also get a fruity, creamy, slightly citrusy scent. Sadly, after a while, something turns sharp and the blend ends up smelling like hair dye on me.

Unreleased prototype, no notes or description given.

 

I get a gorgeous, light, heathery, sappy green scent, pretty florals (lilacs? maybe something else too) with a bit of soft, powdery vanilla in the background. It reminds me a lot of Lilac Wood but fresher and livelier version, I wonder if this is a proto for that one.

Unreleased prototype, no notes or description given.

 

This is pretty! I found it little difficult to try to pin down, but on me it smells like sugary, fuzzy, soft vanilla-tonka musk, a light, fresh, tart citrusy bergamot (there might be another citrus in there as well) and some pretty florals. As it dries, I also gets a bit of soft, smokey frankincense coming through, maybe a hint of sandalwood as well.

Unreleased prototype, no notes or description given.

 

I mostly get a fresh orchid scent from this one, it's slightly sweet and with a lush, sophisticated tropical-vibe. It's a bit heady at times but I find it really pleasant overall. It actually reminds me a bit of a less sweet version of Hi'iaka.

I get creamy, green sap-y balsam, soft and very well-blended leather and soft mint (similar to the mint in Green Tree Viper). It reminds me a lot of U, but without the vanilla note (though I also get something softly vanillic in here after a while). After a while it gets a powdery and soft.

I get strong earthy patchouli, dirt and something tart and menthol-like in the background. :ack

This has a strong medicinal, bitter herbal smell on my skin, I think it's one of the most bitter bpal's I've tried so far. In the background, I get some soft, boozey sweet fruits (maybe berries?) and soapy, watery florals.