hangingfire

In the bottle: it's fruity! Oh so fruity! With some jasmine too, but mostly it's FRUIT. On, wet: Okay, less fruity. The jasmine seems to be coming through more now, along with the musk. It's making me think of gardenias, actually. (Edit: And now, reading back, I see that I'm not the only one who thought of gardenia. Heh.) Drydown: It's really just about the jasmine and the peony now, with the musk and the ginger to ground it all. The fruit seems to be going powdery on me, as fruit almost always seems to do. Overall, a very pleasant floral with some zippy notes to make it interesting. I like. And the squishy brain amuses the hell out of me.

Thanks to Hedera! In the bottle: Whoo, very sweet. Fruity and flowery, which is starting to look like a serious trend in my collection. On, wet: Still sweet, more floral -- violets, maybe? Ah, now I can detect the aquatic, ozone-y notes, which remind me of Demeter's Gentle Rain. It's more of a background note, providing a setting for what reads to me as violet-ish, lily-ish florals and melon-plum-peach fruit notes. Drydown: It's a very uplifting scent. The sweet notes seem to walk a fine line between floral and fruit; one moment it's one, and it's the other the next. It's a lovely and delicious smell. Big thumbs up.

In the imp: Cherries, and...chocolate? honey? vanilla? It's really, really rich. On, wet: Very cherry and a little musky. Mostly it's the fruit. The vanilla sort of notes round it out a bit; I keep thinking of chocolate covered cherries. Maybe the chocolate smell is what happens when you put vanilla, musk, and vetiver together. Drydown: The cherry calms down and I think what I've got left is the vanilla, the musk, and the vetiver. It's very pleasant, but for vanilla blends, I think I prefer Dorian. Still, I think I'll finish off this imp at least.

I got a lot of bergamot out of Wilde, myself.

It dawned on me yesterday that with the exception of Yog-Sothoth and Brisingamen, all of my BPAL has some kind of food or fruit notes in it. How did that happen? Dorian in the imp: Really nice balance of musks and vanilla -- primarily it's the musk, with the vanilla sneaking around the edges. On, wet: hooboy, my skin loves the vanilla. Nice warm creamy smell. Not sure where the musk went, though. Early drydown: The musk is still AWOL, and the vanilla is going strong. Now I'm hungry. Teach me to put this stuff on before breakfast. Six (!) hours later: I can still smell it on my wrist; the vanilla has long since mellowed out, and it's back to the nice vanilla-musk that I found on first opening the imp. This is delicious and decadent. I'm going to add this to my next bottle order, along with Brisingamen.

Thanks to Blood onmy hands! In the bottle: It's all about the bergamot, baby! The patchouli puts in a guest appearance, but it's mostly the citrusy goodness. Actually, it reminds me of Dior's Eau Sauvage, only not quite as, well, sauvage. On, wet: Still mostly bergamot. A bit of lavender makes itself known, alongside the patchouli, and there's an herbal green note Drydown: The patchouli seems to have gone wandering, leaving the bergamot, herbal notes, and a bit of lavender to hang around. A little goes a long way, though; after sniffing and sniffing it to try and get the notes down, I've got a slight headachy feeling. It's a very sophisticated scent, very charming and elegant. Masculine but not aggressively so. I should persuade my husband to try it out -- it might smell better on him. EDIT, some hours later: Now the bergamot has mostly gone, and now I get all the other notes back: patchouli, moss, and lavender, mostly.

Thanks to Blood onmy hands! In bottle: Lemon! With some other mellow notes around the edges. On, wet: Oh dear. I'm having memories of the Lemon Pledge that my mother used to clean the furniture. It's VERY lemon, and all the mellow stuff is going away. Drydown: Still nothing but the lemon, but at least the Pledge note faded. Not a wearing perfume. I did dab a bit onto my pillow before I went to bed last night, and found that the spicy, gingery notes stayed around a lot more there than on my skin. Very soothing and pleasant, and I had some truly odd dreams. Will continue working with it more to see if a bigger bottle is worthwhile. Edit: AHA. I dabbed some on my pillow last night and finally remembered what the smell reminds me of: Badger Sore Muscle Rub. Must be lemongrass or lemon balm.

Thanks to gingersnapp! In the imp: The cap on the imp popped off rather gracelessly (there must be a trick to opening these things that I'm not quite getting 100% of the time) and splattered my fingertips. WHOA, CHOCOLATE! and some other stuff, but mostly CHOCOLATE. On, wet: Whew. A little less chocolatey, and a rum-ish, cinnamon-ish, sweet scent starts taking over. Drydown: The chocolate isn't nearly as pronounced. The smell that remains reminds me EXACTLY of the smell inside Tesoro's, a funky little imports shop in downtown Austin, which carries a lot of Mexican art and craft stuff. It's a neat scent, very unusual. Not sure if it's something I'll want a bottle of, but I'll definitely use up the imp; it has the potential to grow on me.

Thanks to gingersnapp! In the bottle: The florals come on strong at first, and the amber sneaks gently in afterwards. On, wet: Still floral, but the amber gains strength on contact with my skin. My skin has always adored amber; Brisingamen is no exception, it seems. Drydown: The floral mostly dissipates, but I don't mind -- the amber is lovely and rich. It's like an amber perfume I used to get at Whole Foods, only richer and more complex, and with more staying power. This one's a keeper. Definitely ordering a big bottle as soon as I get a chance.

Thanks to Pauline, from whom I bought a bottle. In the bottle: First thing I notice is all the florals, and the plum sneaks in -- a slightly tangy note just above all the florals. On, wet: Juicy and sweet, very strong on both the fruit and the floral. It's a very magenta-colored scent; it smells like biting into ripe fruit. Drydown: the fruit and floral mellows out, leaving a softer, musky sort of scent. Holy cow, the throw in this stuff is ridiculous. It calms down after about an hour or so, but for a while there I feel like a walking fruit stand. Overall: A very summery, whimsical fragrance. I'm not usually a florals kind of girl, but I can see wearing this when I want to turn the girliness up to 11 -- the fruit and the musk keep the florals from being cloying.

Woo! My first BPAL review. Thanks to ebayer phoenixrisingdolls, who is an expert packer of delicate things, and who threw in a delicious-smelling soap as well. In the bottle: slightly fruity? A little of the "laundry detergent" others are reporting, although it reads more as a kind of White Shoulders floral to me. On: Still getting the fruity; the detergenty aspect seems to be mellowing out. Slightly musky aspect coming through, ever so slightly. Drying down: Swear to god, this smells almost like Chanel No. 5 on me. A little of that, a little of White Shoulders, and a little extra something fruity and "round", for lack of a better word. Tasty. A little old-fashioned, but not too much so. Very elegant and clean -- the olofactory equivalent of Art Deco design. I am very happy with this.