Zorra

I like both rose and leather in a scent so I expected to enjoy this one. And if I had been prepared to be wearing a scent that is only rose, I might have enjoyed it, but I had expected there to be leather also. I smelled some leather in the imp, but once it hit my skin it was just rose.

A cacophony of curious scents: copaiba balsam, petitgrain, citrus rind, sinicuichi accord, betel nut, wasabi root, coconut palm, and wattleseed layered atop innumerable strange herbs, spices, and woods. When I first tried The Floating Market I was a bit disappointed: it started out with a herbal lemon note (lemongrass or lemon verbena or citronella, something like that) and after a while it was more smokey than anything else. And I had smokey perfumes I preferred. But today I am suddenly smelling something much closer to what I expected of this. There still is smoke, and herbal lemon, and I could imagine there to be a wasabi note indeed, but the scent is too complex to pin it down to a few notes. Like the floating market: too many different smells to unmix them

I tracked my shipment today and it tells me my package is in "EAST CHINA AREA - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC" and "Please contact DHL". HELP! Why is my package in China? It it supposed to be going to The Netherlands! Must I indeed contact DHL and if so, how?

At the time I was too late for a decant of this in the decant circle that had all the other decants I wanted, but my decanter was so kind to send me a testable tiny bit of it. I loved it, but I couldn't order a bottle then (Europe, I need a lot of money and place a big order with the shipment cost). I got one much later through eBay. And then it didn't smell at all like my lovely decant, it was screaming (fake) almond on me with perhaps some sour honey, very unpleasant. I left the bottle to age because I suspected that the tiny bit in the decant had gone through a rapid ageing process. And I may have been right, because today my bottle smells like once the decant did. And now I find it hard to describe, because I don't really get any individual notes. The almond is still there, but it no longer screams. There probably is some honey too, but no longer of the kind that makes me wash off scents. I don't get individual cedar or myrrh, but I can imagine them being there in the blend. Olive oil? I don't smell anything that smells like the olive oil I use in the kitchen. Nor sesame. On the other hand: there is much more in this blend than the notes I do smell or could imagine, so they could be there. I like to think it's just so well blended that this is the reason I can't pick out individual notes.

I went to a very good performance about the life of Mata Hari and I thought BPAL should have a scent named after her. Then I discovered there was one and a friend sent me an imp she had. I wasn't sure if I would like it, because I have tried some scents with a mahogany note that I didn't really like. I should not have feared the mahogany, for me it isn't there in this scent. What is more surprising, the roses only make a very short appearance. They disappear in no time at all, drowned in jasmine. I even tried layering with A Parliament of Foules because that is like nothing but roses on me. Forget it, Mata Hari made it disappear in seconds. I do get a mix of jasmine with something sweet that must be the tonka and vanilla and perhaps even the fig, just enough to take the edge of the jasmine. But where did the roses go? I mean, if a scent description starts with five roses one does expect to smell them. I am going to leave my imp alone for a week and see if anything changes with a bit more rest. I really want to love this scent because of the memory of that performance. 2020 edit to add that I soon loved the scent enough to buy a bottle. This is what I get from it now: I still don't get rose from Mata Hari. Five roses and I notice none. I still get a lot of jasmine. And, at the start, definitely coffee. I think the mahogany, tonka, fig and vanilla, though I do not smell them separately, are what is keeping Mata Hari from just enveloping me in a cloud of jasmine (with a hint of coffee). I would say that on me Mata Hari is jasmine with something dark below it that never really allows the jasmine to fly. Reading the notes I think I smell the fig note, which no doubt has part in the dark side of this scent. Tonka and vanilla I do not really smell, but I suppose they are responsible for the slight sweetness in the dark. I am not sure if I smell the mahogany. Although I have tried several scents with a mahogany note, I never managed to get a good idea of what that note was in the blend (probably because I did not like the blends). I have had this bottle of Mata Hari for several years now, and I still love the scent.

I got an imp of this as an extra with an imp I asked for. Surprisingly it's a scent I never tried, I do like patchouli. Which is what this is basically, it's a slightly sweet, slightly softened patchouli. I think it's the orange blossom that lightens it up and makes the patch less heavy. I don't get the carnation which is probably just as well because I have tried several scents with a carnation note that did unpleasant things on my skin. I don't now if I am getting the ambergris, I don't recognize that know well enough (perhaps I should collect some imps with an ambergris note and try to pin down what part is the ambergris). All together I really like Masquerade, although I am not sure if I like it enough to get a bottle. I will keep the imp at hand though, perhaps in one of my emergency imp sets.

There is this resiny sweet note that I think is the mahogany. But no currants, no wine. When I first tried this in 2013 I smelled a snow note, but not any more. I don't miss the snow, but I would have liked to smell some wine or berries (preferably the wine). I wonder if it will work to layer it with The Zadok Allen Vineyard, that one has a very strong wine. edit: typo

I was amazed to read the first reviews mentioning lavender, lemon(grass) and peppermint because I don't smell any of these. Perhaps the decant that someone sent me with a bottle I bought from them is old, there is not year on it and I know the lighter notes may disappear with time. My first thought was frankincense, thyme is a good possibility also. I didn't know what it was supposed to do until I read this thread so I can't say yet if it works for me. ETA: definitely frankincense and definitely a bit too old. So the rest was probably lost with time. It would probably no longer work because of that but I can't tell because I am not in need of protection.

I decided to test a couple of imps today and because so many seem to love Perversion I started with that one. As soon as it warmed on my skin I knew I didn't like it. I left it for a few minutes, but I had to wash it off. I had to wash three times before I didn't smell it unless I put my nose on my skin. Then I read the notes and knew I should have done that first: tobacco and I are not friends At all.

Why does this smell so lemony on me? Not lemon rind, but some lemony smelling plant, I couldn't say which though. I don't smell pine, or olive, or olibanum, it is not aquatic at all on me (and I worried about that because I am not very fond of aquatics), all I get when it touches my skin is this ... a lemon scent that is not lemon rind, not the fruit, but some plant, I just don't know which one.

I didn't think much of this scent a year ago. Today I tried it again and wow! Why didn't I get a bottle of this?!?

Are people comparing this to Bliss? Not at all! Bliss smells like plastic on me, this is a true chocolate scent! But the first time I tried it, very cautiously because of my horrible experiences with chocolate scents, the chocolate was only there when it was wet. After it had dried I smelled first coffee and sugar and then only brown sugar. Then I realized how little I had used so I reapplied and this time the coffee stayed also, but I still lost the chocolate on drydown. However, all good things in three and after all this is about the three kings, I had been cooking and washed my hands many times and when done I reapplied another time. And this time the chocolate stays! It's been four hours now and they're still all there: chocolate, coffee and brown sugar. Only the cinnamon I find hard to detect, but perhaps that is just because I am used to smell cinnamon with other spices and this time it is a sweet cinnamon. Thank you, three Kings, for this gift of scents. I must have been good in the past year!

I don't see The Marquis de Carabas mentioned yet (Neil Gaiman, Neverwhere): "A splash of bay rum, leather, dusty black wool, massoia bark, and opium residue." You would have to like the wool note though, it is rather strong (on me anyway). I love Lindworm, but of course that is rather hard to find. And Leather Phoenix has lots of leather but is hard to find, although I still see bottles of it offered in the forum sales thread.

Some scents with sandalwood (including those that do not have sandalwood as a note but some attar which still means there is sandalwood) give me an itchy skin where it was applied. The itch lasts for five days. With some scents it's a mild itch that may not appear until the next morning, some give me a horrible itch right away. The worst itches I got from scents that had neither sandalwood nor an attar in the description. One was The Book (and some other book scents gave me milder itches) and another one was Jolasveinar. I am sorry about the book note scents, because I liked those. And I am more sorry about some of the sandalwood scents because I very much like sandalwood. But there are also scents with sandalwood that do not give me an itch. Someone told me it is not the sandalwood itself that gives an itch, but the solvent that is used to extract the essential oil from the wood. So apparently it depends on the solvent used whether the sandalwood gives me an itch or not.

I think I must have a very old decant, I got it with another decant that was marked 2007. Because I hardly smell any of the notes and especially not the more volatile ones. I don't smell any citrus, nor ginger, nor (thank goodness) cologne. I think all I get is artemesia with perhaps a hint of nutmeg and perhaps a faint hint of cologne. At least this tells me that Spider probably changes a lot with ageing. I am afraid I would have to test a newer decant to be sure how Spider smells. (And I really must read Anansi Boys) ETA: Wait a minute, it should have vetiver, why don't I smell vetiver? That should stay with time? Do I have a mislabeled decant?

My decant bought from someone from this forum arrived today and it smelled so good I had to wear it. It's gorgeous. I wish I had tried to find a fairy to get me a bottle when it was available. It really jumps right into my top ten!

Finally my decants made it through the madness of christmas mail and I tried this one right after the package arrived. So it may be different tomorrow. But today I LOVE this. It is a very thick oil that lies on my skin in a dark yellow layer before I rub my wrists against each other. I have no idea what is in it (perhaps because I still have a cold). It reminds me of Vixen, but I like it better. Which is a horrible thought, Vixen has been high in my top-ten since I discovered BPAL. I held my wrist in front of the nose of the cat whose name I use here and she was very interested. I think indeed cats do like this, because with most scents she shies away when they are fresh on my wrist. I think I'll need a bottle of this. I hope I'll have the money to get one.

I think I'll wear Dragon Moon 2012 for Christmas. I know it was meant for quite a different month, but for me it is very much a scent for this season.

Seconding Vixen, Ravenous, Lust, and indeed if you can get it or when she has returned Mme Moriarty. (And I think I have to try Desire and Tombeur, which I have not tried yet.) ETA: Oh, and do read some reviews of the suggested scents before you make your choice.

I LOVE The Book, it's paper and ink and something that makes its faintly sweet in a booklike way. BUT The Book has given me the worst skin reaction ever. I had used quite a lot after a cautious first dab and then I went to a concert. Halfway the concert I realized I was scratching my wrist. I have had skin reactions before, usually to sandalwood (and was told I react to the solvent that was used to take the oil out of the wood, which makes sense as I don't react to all sandalwoods, just some), but those skin reactions start the next morning and are relatively mild. What I have now is driving me crazy. I need all my self control to not scratch my wrists until they bleed. None of the remedies that work on my usual milder skin reaction work on this one. This is the fourth day now, because it started the day I was wearing it. I do hope it won't last longer than the usual 5 days, but I am not counting on it. I wonder if I am the only one with this skin reaction.

I must have a different Apparition from everybody else. In the decants it smells perhaps a little like the descriptions above, but once on my skin there is a delicious sandalwood/oudh scent that doesn't get too woody because of the zdravetz. I can't really pick out the zdravetz, but it must be what is lightening the blend. I don't get anything that smells like the immortelle I have as an essential oil, but I could imagine it disappearing in the wood blend. The only thing I could say against this scent is that it doesn't smell cold or heartless at all.

Apparently I didn't review this when I first tested it. The first time, when it had just arrived, I was disappointed because all I got from it was jasmine. Today I tried it again and guess what? All I got was a very sweet apricot note. After a while I got some musk too, but the jasmine had hidden (almost?) completely.

When I was reading the first page of reviews, I was wondering if this was the same Queen I am testing now. But then I came across one review saying woodsy and musky. That is what it is on me: it's a strong, warm woodsy and musky scent. I am surprised that a scent can have so many different descriptions. I have a scents that to half of the reviewers smells like one description and to the other half like another one. But here there are dozens of different scent descriptions. I wasn't sure at first if I liked Queen, but the longer I am wearing it, the more I like it. ETA: I wonder if the way the scent is perceived changes with the hormonal cycle. I think I'll experiment with that.

To begin with: I would never think of this as a dark scent, nor as fathomless ocean deeps. It smells like a round, rather clean citrus. I love grapefruit scents, but I think there might be lemon in this too. And mint. I seem to smell a hint of mint. But I could be wrong, it could be something else acting the same, anise perhaps. It is probably the aquatic part of the scent, I have tried very few aquatics. So I would say that R'lyeh is an aquatic citrus scent. I fail to smell brooding evil or fathomless ocean deeps, I smell lemons and grapefruits that have floated on the ocean and are now washing ashore. R'lyeh is not my scent. I like citrus scents, but this one is too aquatic for me to feel comfortable with.

I wouldn't say Fairy Wine smells like RED wine. White perhaps, or dandelion wine, but not red wine. The Obsidian Widow has a red wine note (pinot noir, but that's a red wine grape). And The Zadok Allen Vineyard of course, but that was an LE. I couldn't think of another one right now that I tried myself. There are also quite a few scents that do not have a wine note but that reviewers think have a wine smell to them. You can enter 'wine' in the advanced search of the forum and then search the review section.