Invidiana

This is one of those where you really need to wait for the full drydown to experience all the layers. It starts out deceptively dusty and woody, much like the cellar Montresor and Fortunato found themselves in, but gradually deepens from that dusty brown scent to a rich deep reddish-brown that encompasses the sweet sherry and berries and orange peel with just a touch of dread from the patchouli at the end. A masterful way of capturing that character and scene!

This is a mysterious, hazy dark floral with the addition of delicious tart black currants. I definitely get the blackcurrant, which I love , the black amber mingles with it to add a sexy depth, and the blue musk and cedar really add that hazy component that makes this scent all the more alluring. The lavender brings on a faint drowsy quality that is true to being bewitched by magical creatures. This is how I do florals!

My skin tends to do well with chocolate, and this one did not disappoint. In fact, it went above and beyond what I expected because I was a little afraid of the pepper, but it's not peppery at all. The "pepper-smoked" aspect really just adds a smoky, sexy depth to the sweet creamy caramel, and the dark chocolate deepens it all the more. Absolutely love.

This is very true to pumpkin cheesecake--it smells exactly, and I really mean exactly, like the one I had at Maggiano's last week. My skin tends to do well with cream/dairy notes, and the spiced pumpkin and cream cheese are in a smooth and perfect balance. Also, the delicious honey graham cracker crust really shines through! I'm a sucker for dessert-foody scents, and this is one of my all-time BPAL faves

Yes, definitely lilac in this...but I get a sense of something berry-ish as well that balances out the lilac and keeps it from being too Easter (I don't know, lilacs just always remind me of Easter). The berryish part reminds me of Midnight Kiss, and while I happen to prefer Midnight Kiss, I'm going to test this out a few more times and see what happens.

Tart mandarin and sticky, earthy fig, both notes I love, come together in this fierce, sweet blend that's downright dripping with temptation...the temptation to eventually turn my imp into a full bottle. Neither dominates the other; they're both perfectly balanced.

Though I've never been to New Orleans, this is truly evocative of that area; I can totally imagine the sinsiter-looking marshes and bayous with gnarly tendrils of things hanging everywhere, bringing up visions of the kinds of places Lestat de Lioncourt haunts. It starts out really green wet but quickly dries down into a smooth and sweet dark floral in the same family as Roux-ga-Roux (though they're not the same).

This is another one of those atypical summer scents that has my name written all over it. There's salty, resfreshing seaspray deepened and sweetened by the blood accord. It's...it's an evil beach, that's it.

YUM. This is straight-up, mouthwatering butterscotch-y buttered rum. I be gettin me a bottle o'this, matey!

The rose isn't in your face, the myrrh sweetens it up a bit, and the musk is lovely. Not sure if this particular blend is "me", but there's something mysterious about it that's going to make me try it again.

There is something honey-ish about this blend, which I really like; there must be honey in the 'burnished gold' note. The incense as a smoky and sweet support base for the honey, and the sage can be a little sharp initially but fades on me in the drydown. Definitely not as sharp-metallic as I expected something like this to smell; a pleasant surprise. After this, I'm definitely looking forward to Gold Phoenix even more!

Unfortunately, my skin doesn't get on very well with this at all. The notes look like they should all work on me, but maybe it's the petitgrain--it's the leaves and twigs of the bitter orange plant, and my guess is that on me, petitgrain+patchouli=disaster. Whether it's the petitgrain or a certain combination of any two or more scents in the blend, whatever it is, my body chemistry instantly turns it into sharp black pepper. This is why I am thankful for the existence of imps.

This is another one of those that really needs to dry down before you can get the full scope of it. Wet, it starts off very woody and smoky, almost too masculine, but the feminine notes emerge relatively soon. For anyone afraid of rose blends, the rose just blends into the other florals seamlessly without being prominent. Santa Muerte reminds me of a woodier, smokier version of Mictecacihuatl. Beautifully done!

This comes out as a very true lilac to me, with a hint of dragon's blood in the background; odd, since I usually amp dragon's blood over florals, but then again there are quite a few florals here up against the dragon's blood. Reminds me more of Easter than dragons Guess that's just how it played out on my skin.

Errr, this comes out as really strong lemon verbena on me, much like lemon cleaner. It's made even more pungent by the rosemary. Proof that not everyone's skin works with every blend, even yours truly who has success with things like cream and chocolate. Ah well, it's always good to try.

I can definitely see how this is evocative of angels with all the white florals. The whtie sandalwood and frankincense deepen it a bit without making it too "dark" for the theme, and the frankincense adds just a slight resinous sweetness. For those of you afraid of rose, it isn't too prominent at all, just hangs in the background. It's a lovely scent; not really my type of thing, but still lovely from an objective standpoint.

I was a bit leery of the verbena, but it doesn't come out on me at all. This one was a pleasant surprise--no verbena, and I absolutely love it! It actually reminds me of this cherry-berry soap BBW had years ago that I couldn't stop huffing Of course after they ran out, they never brought it back. Now I've got it all bottled up; the juicy cherry and champagne grape really come to the front, the citrusy stuff gives it tang, the musk some sexiness and the florals and ginger an exotic twist that isn't too typically "summer". Luscious!

Unfortunately this one wasn't true love on me. It was a very, very dry incarnation of the Great and Illustrious Carnation of Doom (which I amp like all doom) on an equally dry patchouli and frankincense background; I was hoping for the frankincense to save it, actually, but this type of frankincense turns out to be a really dry church-incense type and not at all the sticky-resinous type; overal this ultimately ends up very perfumey and just not for me personally.

This smells exactly like what I'd imagine one of those pumpkin-cranberry-cake-whipped cream trifles you see in holiday magazines to smell like. I'd actually rather have the scent than the taste because I prefer to waste my calories on other things But never mind eating trifle, the scent is divine; creamy, dreamy pumpkin and white chocolate, sweet brown-sugary caramel, and just a hint of tartness from the pomegranate. It's basically Thanksgiving in a bottle

No worries, this is not a dirty or grassy scent at all. It's like yummy baked spiced pumpkin with brown sugar, with the sweetness tempered by the leather. My skin amps sweet stuff, so I'm not really getting much soil or water-weeds, and I feel the pitch mixing in with the leather gives it that dark, earthy undertone that's like the fitting Sleepy Hollow backdrop of a black night. There is a very slight salty/aquatic undercurrent, which must be the water-weeds, that isn't jarring at all, just mixes in smoothly as if you salted the baked pumpkin a bit. I knew this was a winner

No one worry here, there's no literal smell of electrical discharge, just plenty of cool evergreen and sparkling ozone. This actually reminds me a lot of Snow Moon, perhaps less sweet and more piney and chilly. I could have sworn there was some sort of juniper in here, but that could be my nose playing tricks on me. I love this as I do most Christmasy scents and will definitely seek out a bottle.

The snow-covered foliage of the Black Forest and the fruit and woods of apple and almond trees. Knecht Ruprecht, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways: this scent is a beautiful combination of glistening red winter fruits--not apple-dominant just because apple is the only fruit specified in the notes, but a balanced blend--swirled with chilly evergreens and a slight hint of sweet almond to finish it off. This scent definitely gets me all nostalgic about Christmas.

This is a softer rose than Rose Red, which is a bit spicier and mintier in comparison. I thought I could detect a hint of evergreen somewhere, but maybe that's just ozone giving it the chilly "winter rose" feel. It dries down to a soft red rose, possibly the feel of rose petals covered by a light snow. Many thanks to the kind forumite (you know who you are!) who included a partial bottle of this in her package. It's a light and pretty red winter rose, ladylike and sophisticated.

This is a beautiful melange of all things Christmas: red berries, holiday spices and warm woods with whiffs of evergreen and cookies baking in the background. It's basically everything you'd expect to find and smell in a warm and cozy house on Christmas Eve.

Wild English roses, French gardenia, vanilla, honey, golden ginger, blood orange, pine resin, pink pepper, crushed berries, tuberose, bergamot, and geranium. I was pleasantly surprised by this one. On me it's mainly a mix of the roses, oranges and sweet notes wtih a soft floral undertone and a zing of pink pepper. It's a stirring and vivacious scent; not sure if it's me, but still pretty.