SophieCedar

Wet: nose away from wrist, the 1st note to run towards my nostrils was rum and a soft frothy aquatic note. Closer to wrist, I smell aged wood. Possibly a pine note. I can smell diluted flowers.. carnation and white rose maybe. Very rounded and meaty, not sharp or green. Drydown: smells like a lingering vegetal aftershave base.. musky w/ woods and a haunting of previously strong flowers. Seductive, with a sharp touch of aquatics and wood. An attention getter at this phase, if slathered.

I had avoided ordering this one for almost a year now.. the chocolate peppermint turned me off. But then again, now that I've been collecting for almost a year, I'm starting to get into the bizarre scents I avoided for so long. Wet: chocolate peppermint, grapefruit, tangerine, lime with geranium and oakmoss. strong even distribution combination. A paradox indeed that all these are notable! Dry down: the geranium peppermint greenness and oakmoss stick around with a ghostly citrus air. Peculiar!

I try to stay optimistic in my reviews, but this was.. sigh. In the bottle: apple, plum, dry leaves and a touch of smoke. nice! Wet: I hate to say it but must be honest.. On my skin, smells like a rancid compost pile, peed upon, then lit on fire. Sorry for the mental picture but Oh boy.. this one does not work on me, unfortunately. I've never had such a bad experience with a bpal scent... that's saying a lot after about 500 scents! The juniper and ivy combine forces with smoke, wine, spices, & dry leaves then amps to this loud impenetrable wall of gross. Drydown: I hung in there (lest we forget Encroaching Madness..? I'm hopeful.) It doesn't turn right on me at any point.

Wet: Moist ripe musk and sandalwood with earthy light violet and a touch of another wood (which my nose is not smart enough to identify). Very sensual and earthy but not overpowering. Drydown: Very translucent with a touch more dry wood. Imperial flowers=lily and light rose or tuberose? The violet is barely there and vetivert only offering a woody earthy base. Nice but I need to come back to it. I think I blew out my snooter...

Wet: Lovely, crystalline musk and jasmine with light clean rose and moonflower. Drydown: more incense and sweeter. The rose and jasmine turned down the volume. Not soapy on me, like others have complained of. I'm quite surprised this is working, considering the notes. The moss came out more and joined the incense and jasmine to make a heady sweet earthy floral blend. I place it in the same category as midnight or nocturne.

Wet: violet and white sandalwood with a touch of iris. Smells dark and feathery! Drydown: I can smell a bit more neroli here. Surprising as I was expecting the neroli to shoot out at me when wet, instead..the violet has turned much sweeter and the musk is notable now. Iris took over for a brief second but passed. Very accurate picture! I really like this after it's burned off a bit as the violet keeps creeping into the background and musk continues to push through. Just gets darker and darker but retains that glossy polish.

I've been trying to review this for 3 days now... was starting to convince myself that I'd never get around to it! Wet: This is sweet and meaty with dried fruit. Lavender, currant, myrrh, and something that smells like cocoa? The frankincense is tempered by the sweet dried fruit. There isn't a distinctive rose here. Surprising considering black rose is the 1st ingredient and this is a relatively dark oil.. Drydown: lovely scent but disappears! Can smell a touch of amber incense and bourbon geranium but super light.

The Gothic Lit set has me blown away. Each has been very complex and so well blended. Wet: Mint sage and brown musk with ozone. Feels exactly like a cool night with whipping wind. The brown musk isn't exactly petting zoo.. Reminds me of staying at an off season cabin in the White Mountains early November after the 1st light snow.

Most amusing scent I've ever experienced. In imp: smells like stale urine warmed against rotting foul clothing.. this is horrible! Wet: I smell flowers.. but still having the shivers from that urine stench and can't shake it... Allowing this to mature on my skin is equivalent to letting a poisonous insect crawl on me because a zookeeper promises it's friendly and only bites when provoked.... Drydown: I can smell the honeysuckle, chrysanthemum, and hydrangea. I think the addition of balsam is what makes this magically urine-ous. Being that there's over 600 types of helichrysum, I can't really determine what part it's playing...strange strange strange. Smells fresher and more beautiful, but I have wet phase PTSD...

Reminds me of a rich expensive perfume that I always wanted and never bought.. then forgot about once I got into BPAL. This is complex, opulent, and stirring. The moroccan amber is amazing and actually sticks around without turning the blend to powder. Ambergris and magnolia are the second most notable. The bergamont is tart & sweet with mint giving a green fresh yet edible bite to it. Wisteria provides a whisper of sweet & sad (my favorite) but it's just a whimper instead of a whine. The myrrh just ties it all together and provides that shadowy element... Completely perplexing and I want to drown myself in it then roll around in some velvet pillows and silk sheets. It's actually making me salivate? Strange! There's an undercurrent of pepper during the wet phase but it mellows in drydown. Buying a bottle along with the unsavory gravediggers for sure.

Wow. In imp: dirt note.. booze. I'm intrigued... tell me more. Wet: dirt, oakwood, dark booze with a slight vodka top note, and wet weeds. This is awesome and very realistic. Debating a bottle, as this simulates all the nights I've wandered around graveyards... Drydown: wet weeds and a brandy note. Warm rich oakwood. Color impression brown red with dark starry skies. **Amazing**

When first applied I smelled faint rose.. that was it. I did a second application and smelled the sandalwood and rotten cloth, then faint rose. Strange and very light. I'll keep it for the awesome label Absinthetics made.

I was hopeful yet meh when I ordered a decant of this. This is amazing. Intoxicating and the throw lasts forever. Very distinctive and dark! Wet: it grabbed my attention immediately as the smell rushed toward my nostrils. I've only experienced throw like this maybe once before. The fougere and carnation is a perfect floral fit, for me. Sometimes girly flower blends are too much for my senses. The vetivert adds depth and a meaty blackened earthiness but the carnation prevents from making it easily identifiable. Not sure if it's yew berry or branch essence, but there's a purple berry tinge in the background. Drydown: it just lasts and lasts. exactly as described and incredibly bewitching.

Wet: minty and sugary with a faint watered-down whiskey. Not exactly Blanton's but not Jim Beam either... Apparently I like my mint juleps much stronger than Beth does... Drydown: faint whiff of whiskey and mint. Smells like the morning after. Oh well!

Whoew! Tobacco flower straight from the plant and white/golden honey. I was hoping for aged & dried tobacco but bees don't necessarily run around tobacconists shops puffing pipes and rolling cigarillos, do they... Similar to Door however more basic and stronger.

Wet: sweet violet and gardenia with a pouf of orris. Drydown: lilac violet gardenia, less orris, more ylang ylang. The sandalwood is lessened by strong florals but I can detect it somewhat. Further into drydown, lavender comes out and slaps the violet in the face for screaming for a decade. Nice and sweet, floaty, appropriate for the name, but not for me. Hanging onto it as my tastes change constantly!

Oooh wow. I thought I was ordering just another variation of lavender fougere... but no! This is sexy and amazing... Wet: lavender pouf with distinctive meatiness + strength of tonka and warm rounded amber. The lavender sharpness slides away quickly leaving a predominantly tonka smell. I'm in love. Drydown: still decent throw! The tonka is clinging on and becomes even more dominant. This and Perversion makes me realize why vanilla leaves me feeling empty... I could totally wear this every day for months and be happy.

Mmmm... waited a while before trying this one. It's delicious and decadent. Wet: I get more red wine rum and blood here. There's a vapor-like hint of dark ground cocoa too. Drydown: a bit more cocoa but not really in a sense that you would say "whoa there's cocoa in here!". Honestly smells like Blood with Vice on me! It fades a bit quickly. I like it very much.

Wet: lotus always amps on me. Smells like fruit punch soda! Drydown: I get the cherry everyone else mentioned but not in a bad way. The citrus is there but indeterminable in type. I wish the amber was a bit heavier so it would even the throw. Overall, sweet, cute, and nice.

Wet: Did my grandmother smoke opium? Seriously this smells like her house as I remember it! Maybe the opium tar smells a bit like the lacquered wood and wicker that filled her house. I think the rose was a perfume she was fond of. This is fascinating and comforting! Drydown: ok this is traveling it's way out of memory lane. Now that the notes have settled it smells more like opium tar and damask rose. I feel like I'm using Lush's Turkish Delight body polish and burning opium incense while in the shower. Very soothing to the system.

Dry sandalwood resins and spices. Makes me feel rather mysterious...! It also has a clean cedar edge to it. If I owned this when I was 18, when I had little concern about over-stinking my environment and more concern about manipulating my surroundings to something more dreamy, a bottle of this would have been GONE in about a week. ADDED Oct. 26: Wet: mmm. warm dry indian sandalwood and cedar. I feel like I'm sitting next to a warm fireplace with incense burning in the other room. Drydown: this one is pretty steady. same here.

Reading the description, I couldn't send payment fast enough for a bottle of this... Wet: whoa! holy throw! this is strong and incredibly sexy and feral. All notes in order. The red musk is strong but it's amping the honey too. Smells like heavy cream was poured over it too. Drydown: the red musk is in check and everything is awesome. I visited my hubby at work after testing, last nite. His reaction.... "Oooh! What are you wearing? *snnnniiifff* Mmmmmm! *sssssnnnniiiiffff* Grrrrr!" Needless to say, he loves it. Combined with Boo 2010 it's amazing.

OK getting a bottle of Boo this year helped figure out the notes in my CT Vanilla 137. It's basically Boo with strawberry/guava mix and a touch of resin. I'm quite relieved that this can be a back up for the eventual death of my favorite CT vanilla bottle! Creamy cotton candy and clean sweet cotton. I get a touch of sweet artificial strawberry from Boo where I get a stronger more natural strawberry/guava in my CT. Love it. Thank you, BPAL.

Wow! Totally sweet and slightly bizarre. Wet: strong cherry and booze with a touch of coconut syrup. Smells like many an evening when I was in my 20's .... Drydown: the cherry settles and it smells a bit like Gothabilly without the egyptian musk. The almond is sweet marzipan-like and the saffron gives an orange floral nectar glow to it. The cherry smells a tad cough syrupy to me however it that's only when I shove my wrist under my nose... Otherwise lovely and enticing!

Wet: smells like cinnamon caramel vanilla butter baked goods. Very yummmy. Drydown: goes through a piercing ginger phase that frightens me for second, then subsides. Goes back to warm cinnamon spice baked goodness but with some sweet resins burning in the background. Smells like my house during winter weekends!