yakiguri

I'm starting to think that Damask rose is a bad rose for my skin, as it's quite high pitched in Maiden and it's making me sneezy. Ah well, can't win them all.

At first application I get a blast of sweet spicy orange, which was a little worrisome since I love the smell of orange but citrus tends to go rancid on my skin. After a few minutes though the rose, almond, and sandalwood come out to play, with tiny hints of orange blossom here and there. Seraglio is interesting, but while I love almond and I love orange I think the two together make a sickly sweetness that's making me queasy.

 

I'll give Seraglio a few months to let its notes hopefully mesh together better before I write it off.

I don't know which note is doing it, or if it's the combination of all of them, but I can't smell Jezebel at all. Nada. I put it on my skin and it just up and disappears. o.O I'm not anosmic to any of the notes so I have no idea why it's behaving like this. Maybe because my imp is new? I'll come back to it in a couple of months and see if the notes decide to make themselves known.

 

EDIT: I guess my skin chemistry was just off that day as now Jezebel is making herself known...and LOUDLY too. o.X I'm starting to suspect that a certain combination of notes, namely rose + sandalwood + orange = INSTANT nausea. I'm getting the same queasiness here that I got in Seraglio, and that also has rose, sandalwood, and orange. On top of that honey, which is usually a good note, is throwing the loudest tantrum on my skin EVAR and adding to the queasiness. Ugh.

I can't believe I haven't reviewed this yet. Though I have to say, on the fresh vs aged Snake Oil debate, I have to thoroughly side with the aged camp.

 

In my early BPAL days I thoroughly read reviews before placing my first purchases, and being too impatient to deal with samples I bought a few bottles unsniffed. Snake Oil was one of them. Upon opening the bottle I was greeted with a nose pinching, medicinal mess. Disappointed, I shunted Snake Oil into my NOPE box and put it up for sale.

 

Then I was frimped an aged imp of SO from a lovely forumite, and it was like the heavens parted, I was anointed with BPAL's heavenly scent, and I got it. Thankful my poor misunderstood bottle never sold, I pulled it out of the sales box and begged it to forgive me for writing it off so soon. My bottle had indeed blossomed into the creamy, spicy, heady vanilla goodness that makes Snake Oil such a beautiful blend.

 

So if you don't like Snake Oil at first, put it away for a bit as it's a late bloomer! If you find you like it afterward, buy two bottles so you always have one for aging and one for slathering.

I also had the "where's the leather?" moment when trying Whip, but then after trying it next to "truer" rose blends (Peacock Queen and Black Rose) the leather became more apparent. Granted it's an incredibly subtle leather, but it's enough to give Whip a more grounded base compared to other straight rose blends. I'm surprised at how subtle Whip's leather is considering that it's black leather, which can go acrid/chemically on me.

 

Oddly enough the rose in Whip has CRAAAAZY throw compared to other rose blends I've tried. It's not loud enough to make it a scrubber, but I wouldn't apply with wild abandon. Longevity is crazy long too for such a seemingly simple blend. Maybe a few months of aging will bring the leather out more and calm down the rose--we'll see, though I'm already sold on a bottle purchase.

Lick It Softly is exactly what I had hoped it would be--a nice musky minty vanilla with a dollop of sugary sweetness. The sugar is a tad cloying at first, but luckily doesn't stick around much and doesn't go sour/acrid as the lab's sugar note can be. The blend itself has surprising longevity, and wears off eventually to soft slightly minty vanilla musk. If it's this lovely after just a few days I wonder what it'll be like after a few months!

I've only recently started rediscovering and falling in love with rose, and I'm glad I chanced a bottle of The Peacock Queen unsniffed. I agree that this is a bright, lush, thick red rose, and I also somehow get the notion of dewiness though, like a freshly watered bloom. No soapiness or high-pitchededness anywhere. I don't know how Beth does it, but I'm utterly in love.

 

EDIT: This is for the 2012 version.

This is rose primly and quietly sipping at a cup of spiced black tea. I was hoping the rose wouldn't be too dominant (as it tends to amp) and thankfully it behaves itself. Can't wait to revisit after a few more months of aging.

I had such high hopes for Elf (especially since both Mr. Elf and I enjoy them, obviously) but all I get is super-soapy berries with a drop of herbs to make it slightly crunchy. On my skin Elf smells more like a bubbly tween with Herbal Essences in her hair than an ancient race of forest dwellers. :/

Welp, now I have a reference for petitgrain since that's all I get from this blend. It starts off with a blast of sharp woods almost to the point of being acrid. Eventually orange pokes its head in, but leaves no room for anything else but it and the persistent dustiness. Oddly enough it reminds me strongly of this bergamot black Russian tea I have. An interesting scent, but I'll pass on a bottle.

found it on tumblr

 

 

That pumpkin bottle art is too cute, and I think I'm finally convinced to pick up that bottle of Pumpkin V after all.

Sugary tea, soft tobacco smoke, and linen hit me right away, with a background of something sweet and vaguely perfumey that I can't place. Maybe it's the cognac? If so, I'm gonna dance a jig since usually booze turns acidic on my skin. Or maybe it's the leaves? Perhaps it's both, as after a few more minutes the sweetness deepens and melds more with the tobacco, tea, and linen. The more I sniff, the more I think it's the leaves--dry, crunchy, almost smoky leaves.

 

I'm glad I took a chance on a bottle right away, and I hope those who've wanted one get one.

Whew, definitely agree that this is a "you are right there" kind of scent but I wouldn't wear this, probably because all I get is the face paint, and it dries down into band aids.

Yup, definitely a dirty skin scent, but the good kind of dirt, like smelling the remains of a wild night out on your skin the morning after. I primarily get dirty coconut, which might be the orchid and fig leaf blending together. Tobacco and honey aren't as prominent and I'd like, but at least the frankincense is behaving and not throttling the blend like it has in others. I can just imagine how awesome this will be with some age. Bottle for sure.

Like many others, I'm on the fence about this scent. Luckily I don't get the dreaded vomit note, but frankincense is pretty dominant on my skin and can veer quickly into something nausea-inducing. A shame, since when the resin calms the eff down Famine turns into what would otherwise be one of my favorite tobacco blends. The tea, tobacco, and lilac definitely make this a drier blend than I normally prefer, but the dash of leather and musk keep it from going too brittle.

 

If only the frankincense wasn't thrust so much into the forefront, I'd definitely pick up a bottle. I'll most certainly keep my decant though, and may grab a partial if I see one.

Starts off as an absolutely nummy creamy pumpkin pie with vanilla ice cream, and to my nose is exactly like BBW's Creamy Pumpkin candle in perfume form. Unfortunately it's incredibly fleeting, and within just half an hour is nothing more than a very light vanilla'd pumpkin. The first bit smells so good though I'll risk a bottle and hope some aging will help it stick around longer.

 

EDIT 11/15: Nope, as pretty as this is it's just too damn fleeting for a bottle purchase. A shame.

As much as I ABHOR spiders I really, REALLY wanted this blend to work, as it was the only one of the Weenies notes-wise that leaped at me the most. At first application I get a green sharpness that reminded me of Interfector, and then immediately the Cuban tobacco took over and is absolutely SCREAMING on my skin. Dammit, I have to wash this off.

 

EDIT 11/15: Retried this blend and while the tobacco isn't screaming on me anymore, this is still too dry and fuzzy for my tastes. At least I'm getting more of the coconut this go around. I imagine if coconut cigarettes exist this is what they'd smell like.

I'm quite pleasantly surprised by this blend, it's foody yet not foody at all. Hay leaps to the forefront with the spice-cinnamon note others have mentioned, but it's neither screams its presence nor goes craft-store spicy. The pumpkin and leather are quite subtle, and the champaca so much I wouldn't know it was there without seeing it in the notes list. Hopefully aging will bring everything else out, and I'll definitely be grabbing a bottle.

 

EDIT 11/15: Going to forgo a bottle after all. The hay's too front-and-center and it's making me sneezy.

*swoon*

 

Crowley is like Jareth did the nasty with Mme. Moriarty. A juicy red burst of red musk followed by soft lilac and leather. The lemon rind I was worried would ruin this blend is luckily not strongly present. I wish I got more oakmoss and mahogany but that won't keep me from adding this to the bottle list. Yum.

Despite being comprised of mostly win notes, Miss Ida turned so VERY wrong on my skin. I don't know if I'm amping the lemon verbena that no one else seems to be getting, but I primarily get a harsh acid-ashiness that tends to crop up when citrus hits my skin. I get a cream note that I believe is the French Vanilla, but it has a twinge I can only describe as meaty that makes my stomach churn.

 

An hour or so later I *finally* get a soft vanilla'd gardenia/jasmine that's quite pretty, but I don't think I'm willing to wait that long to get to that point. I'll give Miss Ida another month in the aging box to behave and see what happens. On my recently-enabled friend it smells like all sorts of awesome from the second it hits her skin, and luckily she offered to buy my bottle if it doesn't work out. She might very well get a backup if more aging doesn't mellow it out.

Thanks to the lovely schackjj for the sniffie.

 

I went into this thinking it would be deep yet slightly sweet scent a la oakmoss, but what I got instead was a bright, aquatic clean green, like spring in a bottle. Wishing I had picked up a bottle, and will definitely start looking for this in blends.

Of all my Part 1 Weenies, The Lurid Library baffled me the most. From application to drydown, it kept reminding me of something, but I couldn't quite place it...then it struck me. On my skin, this smells almost *exactly* like vintage perfume, especially Chanel No. 5.

 

The Lurid Library starts off with a powderiness that's both bright and soft, which to my nose is quite similar to the aldehydic opening of most vintage non-reformulated perfumes, but without the bubbliness--and sharpness--that some aldehydes tend to get. I want to say there's a floral or two in the mix, but I can't decipher what it could be--since my nose is firmly putting this in the vintage category, it might be some sort of jasmine. Leather makes an appearance during drydown, but it's the soft, worn kind of leather of well-worn gloves rather than spicy black biker leather. Lovely, and classic.

 

The Lurid Library is less of a bookcase full of infernal tomes and more akin to finding your great-grandmother's secret love letters, the faded remnants of her perfume and her lover's cologne unfurling as you unwrap the delicate papers from their soft leather satchel.

This starts off with sweet soft vanilla and yummy juicy pears, then immediately heads straight into plasticville, running every red light along the way and refusing to budge once entering the city limits. >_< Vanilla is one of my most-worn notes, and Enlightenment of the Courtesan Jigokudayu proved I can wear pear, so I'm wondering what else is in the mix causing the plastic. Ah well.

Red musk dominates yet another blend. *sigh* As Third Charm dries I get slight sniffs of honey and woods but it's pretty much OH HAI I'M RED MUSK.

 

I don't know why I keep trying, red musk almost always shoves all the other notes out of the way...maybe I'm just spoiled since Mme. Moriarty was the first red musk blend I bought and no other has worked as well on my skin as that one has.

 

EDIT: Now that it's been a few weeks the red musk has finally calmed the hell down, and I get the thick spicy-sweet depth I love in my BPAL blends. Bottle for sure.

What a morpher! When I first tried this on earlier today I got mostly a sour mush that I suspect was the sherry making itself known--booze notes and I don't tend to be friends. Later on after a shower I tried this again and got pretty much all the other notes--sweet tobacco smoke and opium are front and center, with a dash of lily. I don't really get any cologne.

 

Will have to retry more to make a bottle decision.

 

EDIT 11/15: Now that my decant has aged more the sherry seems to have completely calmed down, and I primarily get sweet tobacco smoke laced with opium, lily, and a dash of cleanliness which I suppose might be the cologne. While pretty, I don't think I need more than a decant as it's not unique enough from my other sweet tobacco blends to warrant a bottle upgrade. I might snatch up a partial though.