hangingfire

I like to drink martinis Two at the very most. Three, I'm under the table, Four, I'm under my host. -- Dorothy Parker A tribute to New York’s 21 Club on West 52nd, formerly the speakeasy Jack & Charlie’s Puncheon Club. This is the scent of the perfect martini: The Perfect Martini, as an idea, has infinite possibilities. For me, the Dry Martini remains an American symbol of elusive perfection, a kind of pagan Holy Grail. The dedicated Martini drinker views this deceptively simple cocktail as a true if fleeting, salvation, ... As in religion, one may not have actually witnessed the Conception of the Perfect Martini, but one accepts on faith that it exists, and that it takes away the sins of the earth. -- The Martini, Barnaby Conrad III This scent is dedicated to all the mods on the BPAL forum as thanks for their hard work, friendship, and for all they do to make the forum a pleasant, safe, and friendly place. (Oh my god, am I first?) I love (Tanqueray 10 gin) martinis, I love Dorothy Parker, and so I couldn't resist this scent. In fact, I ordered a 5mL unsniffed. In the bottle: Herbalicious and slightly boozy. There's a junipery note that I associate with good gin (oh, hurray, it's a GIN martini!). It's sweet and aquatic too, very clean-smelling, with a slightly fruity note. On, wet: The juniper, a slightly piney scent, seems to predominate. The sweet fruity thing holds pretty well, too -- now it seems almost lemony. It balances out the juniper nicely. Drydown: It's staying pretty true through the drydown: piney, aquatic, and slightly fruity. Not much of a throw; you have to get up close and personal with it to smell it. As time passes, the pine aspect calms down, leaving a berryish, aquatic smell. It actually reminds me somewhat more of a gin and tonic than a martini; I keep catching a note that reminds me of tonic water and lime. Nonetheless, I find it delightful. And it only gets nicer as time passes. I suspect some people might find this smelling a bit like a certain household cleanser on them, especially if they find the juniper running rampant. For me, I find that it's a clean, refreshing kind of scent (albeit one with a suggestion of decadence under the junipery freshness). I think I might try layering it with Black Forest, to bring out the pine notes. It's also a pretty gender-neutral scent -- I might try and persuade the husband to test it as well. Very nice. I suspect I'll get a lot of use out of this. And I second the huzzah to the mods.

I have absolutely no idea how to describe this. It stays very true from bottle to application to drydown, and it's very beautiful -- but the notes are all so subtle that I can't really separate them out, and can only talk about Kindly Moon in terms of its overall effect. It's floral, very feminine, and the fruity element is sweet without being cloying. There is absolutely nothing earthy, spicy, or musky about it -- and yet I like it a lot. Very ethereal, evanescent, and really hard to pin down. But a really good treatment of the floral theme.

This one really clears the head -- both literally and metaphorically. I suffer from bad seasonal allergies, and this blend goes right through them. It's great for pushing through the mid-afternoon energy slump, and for regaining focus on one's work. I've been dabbing a small drop on my palms, rubbing the hands together and inhaling, which works well. (It also smells very much like Celestial Seasonings' "Tension Tamer" tea. It's the combination of mint and lemon that does it.)

In the bottle: Sweet and musky. And it reminds me of something else. On, wet: Aha, I know -- it reminds me of Haunted Palace. Only instead of HP's orange, Mme Moriarty has pomegranate. Still, the sweet/musky notes are very similar to my nose. Not that I mind -- Haunted Palace was my favorite DiMV blend. Drydown: The vanilla/fruit sweetness fades after a while, leaving earthy red musk. Very nice!

In the imp: sharp, almost bitter grapefruit-yuzu. On, wet: Very grapefruity and sharp, but less bitter than the initial impression. Very close throw. Drydown: The florals become increasingly more noticeable as it dries, and several hours later, the florals are almost all that's left, and that very close to the skin. Well, I'm a total sucker for citrus, so I knew I was going to like this just from the description. It's like a sharper-edged Baobhan Sith, and I like it a lot.

In the bottle: Rose, sandalwood, and florals forward. Not getting so much of the musky stuff just now. On, wet: More emphatically rose. Still not ... Drydown: Oh, wait, that's where the myrrh and resin notes are. Miss Murray is a tricksy one, that's for sure. Comes on all light and floral at first, and then you start to get the hint of something darker going on, and it slowly becomes more heavy and mysterious as it dries. If anything, it reminds me a lot of the League of Extraordinary Gentleman Mina, even more so than the original. Very nice indeed.

In the bottle: ...yep, that's teak, cedar, rose, and labdanum, in more or less that order. On, wet: The labdanum note is stronger, with the teak providing a spicy, sharp backdrop. The rose is present but not strong; it mellows out the sharper wood-resin notes nicely. Drydown: Mostly it's about the labdanum now. The other elements fade or blend to add a bit of complexity to the overall labdanum-ness of the blend. Woody, smoky, a little sharp. It's like All Saints' evil sibling.

In the imp: cool and green, with an aquatic undertone. On, wet: Smells like bracken in a forest after a heavy rain -- earthy, wet, green, with a bit of crushed grass. Lovely. Drydown: A little less earthy and more aquatic; also a slighty winy note makes itself known. Not much throw at this stage, unfortunately, but it's really nice. Thumbs up. I may try layering it with Death Cap for a full-on forest-after-the-rain effect.

Apparently I have to simply avoid all BPALs with berry notes in them. Which is a shame, because there were a lot of other things about The Jersey Devil that I really liked. In the imp: Cranberry, with earthy, woody notes. Nice. On, wet: BERRIES BERRIES BERRIES. And if I got up close to my wrist and sniffed, there was the pleasant, damp earthiness and touch of pine, but for the most part, BERRIES. Drydown: Husband asks if there's some kind of air freshener in the car. *facepalm* And he's got a point -- all I can smell is BERRIES, and as it dries, it turns into a musty BERRY smell, with none of the sweet damp earth scent. Bah. Stupid skin chemistry, amping the berry scent like that. Off to the swaps. Fortunately, Death Cap has all of the earthiness that I liked, and none of the berries.

In the imp: Cinnamon, amber, patchouli. All very strong and in your face. On, wet: Mostly cinnamon and amber; the patchouli adds a "dirty" undertone to it. Not much in the way of sandalwood, as far as I can tell. Drydown: Ah, there's the sandalwood. It's mostly that and the patchouli now, with a haze of amber. I like it, but I'm not sure it's for me. Especially given that the husband is not keen on patchouli.

In the imp: ? Bubblegum? Fruity bubblegum? Hmm. On, wet: Peachtastic. Very fruity, with only a hint of amber to weigh it down. I feel very girly; it's also very strong. Drydown: Ah, now that's more like it. The ambers warm up and come to the forefront, with the peach as a backdrop. It's like a frillier, non-spicy Bastet. I like.

In the bottle: Rich, sweet vanilla and fruit. A little cloying at first blush, which worries me. On, wet: Oh, better now. The vegetal elements cut the sweetness, as does the ginger. Drydown: It just keeps improving as it goes. Much less sweet and more complex, playing the grapefruit, wood, and ginger notes off each other against a background of vanilla. Very, very nice. Up there with Holiday Moon as my favorite lunar blends for the year.

In the bottle: Sweet, faintly bubblegum-cherry-floral. Hmm. On, wet: Very sweet and flowery -- there's dragon's blood in this? Really? After a little while, the bamboo notes I remember from Holiday Moon (astringent, green, sharp) make themselves known as well. Drydown: Wow. Nice. A good balance of sandalwood and bamboo, rounded out by the floral and dragon's blood (finally there) notes. I have really, really liked all the lunar blends so far this year -- this one's another winner!

Frimp with my Dragon Moon order! In the imp: Piney and musky, kind of like Black Forest, but less astringent. On, wet: Hello, musk. The pine tries to hold up its end, but this blend is really more about the musky, earthy elements on me. And holy god, is it strong. Wearing it to work may have been a mistake -- and that was just one little dab on one wrist. Drydown: Sweet, earthy musk. And I no longer feel like I'm walking around in a giant cloud o' musk, thankfully. I like. It's less aggressively sexy than some of the other musk blends that I have -- a bit more all-occasion. Or, well, most occasion, anyway.

In the imp: Wet, citrusy, cold. Suggestive of yuzu or grapefruit, maybe lime? On, wet: Much as it was in the imp. Drydown: The citrus is less marked; it's more of a straightforward aquatic. Long-term drydown is faintly spicy, almost suggestive of amber. Really lovely, although it doesn't quite displace Szepasszony as my favorite aquatic to date. Still, definitely something any aquatic fan should check out.

In the bottle: Strong on the grapefruit; the rest of the notes aren't too obvious. On, wet: Grapefruity with an oddly sour note. Uh oh. Drydown: Ah, much better. My skin amps the ginger for a while, and then it all settles out to a pleasant-but-sassy gingery tea scent with a bit of added sweetness and fruity zing from the apple blossom and the grapefruit. A perfect summer scent. I'm so glad that I bought the bottle!

In the imp: A luxurious, dry sort of perfume. Reminds me somewhat of Yog-Sothoth, actually. On, wet: Resemblance to Yog-Sothoth and Chanel No. 5 much more marked. It's got the same airy, light characteristic. Drydown: The woody, incensey notes become more marked, perhaps a faint amber-y aspect as well. It's definitely in the same family as Yog, though, so if you liked that, you'll like this as well.

In the imp: A fruity, minty aquatic -- kind of like a mojito, really. On, wet: Mint is very strong. The fruit gives it a slightly bubblegum note. Drydown: The bubblegum note fades off pretty quickly. The result is a light, airy aquatic with a minty edge. I would love a shower gel or soap that smelled like this. I like mint, but not necessarily as an all-day perfume.

In the imp: Fresh, cool, zippy acquatic/ozone. I can already tell it's a winner. On, wet: Similar to R'lyeh, only without the strongly grapefruit/yuzu/citrus note. Drydown: Stays cool and fresh, very light and ozone-y -- in fact, the ozone note seems to become stronger with time. It really does smell like static electricity. Definitely a big winner for me.

Someone standing in front of me at the Sisters of Mercy show in Austin had some fabulous rose scent that I think she was wearing in her hair -- I almost asked her if it was BPAL, but never had the chance.

In the imp: Floral-tastic. Lilies and lilies and more lilies. Makes me sneeze, too, just like the real thing. On, wet: Slightly warmer and almost amber-like in character (the honey note, I guess), but still powerfully floral. It doesn't smell like a tiger lily, but it certainly evokes the visual idea of one. Drydown: The floral aspect becomes a lot less strident. The drydown overall is very subdued. This is really great, although truthfully it's not something I see myself wearing -- I'm more a rose person than a lily person, when it comes to florals.

In the imp: Tea and carnation, which reads almost as a citrusy note. Very fresh. On, wet: More emphatically floral now, as the rose makes its presence known. Drydown: Rose and carnation, with a slight herbaceousness from the tea. Very pretty and light. Not sure if it's my style, but it's a nice blend.

In the imp: Straight-up citrus, evenly balanced between citron and lime. On, wet: Overpoweringly lime. I'm not really getting much else from it at this point. Drydown: Still mostly lime. The lilac finally makes a rather vegetal appearance; unfortunately it ends up going rather sour on my skin, as lavender often does. I can also get a little of the white musk, but unfortunately the lilac just isn't working on me. Darn shame. Normally I really like citrus scents, but the lilac and I don't seem to get along.

In the bottle: Chocolate oranges. This is promising. On, wet: Still chocolate oranges. Of course, chocolate scents rarely last on my skin, so I'm curious to see how this will pan out, Drydown: First sign of trouble is a harsh, woody note, which is familiar to me, although i can't place it. What I do know is that it doesn't really work. It gets less harsh, but the eventual drydown manages to be both cloying and woody. Something about this one doesn't agree with my skin at all. Drat. I'm glad I got to try it, anyway, but it just doesn't work for me.

In the bottle: Plum! A slight fresh green note, but mostly plum. On, wet: Plum! There's some faint florals as well; it reminds me of Kitsune-Tsuki, but without the variety of jasmine that didn't quite work on my skin. Excellent; I liked Kitsune a lot except for the jasmine. Drydown: The plum finally stops hogging the spotlight. Peony and ginger, faintly reminiscent of Mi-Go now but with a less persistent fruit note. The musk lingers as a soft undertone. Loverly. Between this and Holiday Moon, I'm really enjoying the lunar oils this year.