HerbGirl

I have no idea what's going on here but it is lovely. Reminds me more than a bit of Armani's Mania for women - the original black cap not the awful newer one.

JASMINE. The day blooming sort. It does calm down after about an hour and boy does this one have some throw! Oof. There's also stuff going on underneath that's very nice but I can't tell what's what under the JASMINE.

I bought this, tried it and then put it aside to let it age a bit. It has mellowed into such a gloriously chewy tonka tobacco! I feel like I can almost smell the glowing aspect of frankincense hovering just above the tobacco and tonka and it is just divine. I will be wearing this a lot this winter. Yum.

LEATHER. 10 minutes later I start to smell the lab's blackberry note. I bet the leather will soften up with some age. Right now, its just too overwhelmingly black leather with a touch of berry.

This has been one of my favorites. Thick raspberry jam and doughy pastry. Can't be beat.

I was really happy to see this perfume oil and it is truly beautiful. The tulsi was very prominent at first but now I can barely sense it. It just gives the very white pottery type scent a green lift. The first time I smelled mitti attar was in 2004 and I will never forget it. This is a beautiful scent but I'm not picking up much, if any, mitti attar. The white sandalwood isn't as sharp as it usually is on me and I bet the mitti attar is helping to smooth it out. This was the perfume I was most looking forward to and it doesn't disappoint. Lovely, and truly unique.

My reviews of October '07 and '10 were from August 2010 so I thought I'd bump this for it's current release. I remember '07 was more cologney than I liked and ended up rehoming that bottle. '10 and '11 (which I am running out of now!) smell almost identical to me, both beautiful dark leaves, sap, autumnal air, and they are two of my absolute favorites. 2020's version of October is (thankfully) pretty good. Red leaves, sap, cold air, a touch of a cologne (which should age out) a hint of damp dirt and just a bit of smoke. It is what I expected and hoped for based on my previous bottles. Autumn in a bottle. Eta: The drydown has gone a bit powdery and cologney? Not sure what's going on. I will update if things change. Eta2: still seems very light compared to previous versions. Hopefully it will get stronger with age.

There's a faint hint of the dead leaves note here, but as many times as I've tried to find the black currant and/or golden champa, there's no black currant or golden champa to be found. This also dries down to a strange cigarette ash scent which I have never smelled before in any of my two dozen or so bottles of dead leaves scents. Eh.

Blue Tansy. No hay, no grasses. Blue Tansy is an herb so, there's that.

This review is for La Calavera Catarina 2020. I am assuming it is supposed to be a reissue since the notes are identical and there was no new topic created. I figured it would be appropriate for me to write the first review for this year's incarnation since I wrote the first review of 2011's. I bought this to be a backup of one of my favorite scents and boy am I disappointed. This smells nothing like my bottles from 2011. Not a bit. It smells like a non descript field of mushy spring thaw (no cold or icy notes) with a touch of peat or some kind of old manure (not poop, just the grassyish scent from horse poo). No roses. No chamomile. No leaves. No mums. So, this isn't a backup bottle for me because it doesn't smell like I was lead to believe it would. There's nothing "sharp" or loud here like I had expected and hoped for. No higher pitched loveliness like the original had. I am curious to read future reviews to see if maybe it was just my bottle. Blah. Eta: This morning there is just the faintest touch of mums or roses but it is so faint I can't tell 😞. Still nothing like the original, not even after 9 years of aging. I want to clarify that this is still a nice scent and I would wear it but it is nothing like La Calavera Catrina's previous releases. Eta: Aaaand based on the review below mine, I must have received a poorly mixed or mislabeled bottle. At least I know I was right. 😕

I don't get lavender at all but this the best smelling dryer sheet I've ever smelled.

I definitely smell the white musk but I also smell what my nose interprets as black musk. Pretty great.

I found myself doomscrolling this morning and grabbed my bottle just in time. Each time I use this oil it smells different! Today, it smells like a lightly sugared very potent neroli backed by a tiny bit of bergamot. If nothing else, I know I'm wearing this oil and it is supposed to help after the doomscrolling so I will do my best to relax. I love this scent.

Cold, bracing, snow flocked evergreens in 20 degree weather with the sun just coming over the mountains. This is the first BPAL bottle I ever bought, back in '07 and I can't believe I haven't written a review yet! I've been hiking in the snowy Alaskan mountains for the past week and this is the scent I was reminded of. THIS is what it smells like when the sun hits the snow flocked evergreens. As this has aged, there seems to be a tiny hint of sweet vanilla. I love this as much now as I did when I first got my bottle but it has softened a bit, smeared together a bit and has recaptured my heart. If there is one blend I would love to see return for Yules this year, it is The Snowstorm. 💜

I just wanted to say that this is absolutely beautiful. Dark, smooth patchouli, amber and dark wood. Holy wow. If you love patchouli, as I do, you just might love this.