Voleuse

This is sweet and, oddly, a bit plasticky and dusty--almost like there's some plaster of Paris in the blend. After a little while, the sweetness is identifiable as vanilla, though I'm not sure whether I can discern the other notes. This is really quite lovely and evocative, but the plastery bits prevent the blend from becoming quite wearable for me.

Two hours later, I caught a gorgeous whiff of violet-and-vanilla sort of scent, and discovered it was this! Neat! Based on this, I suspect it might be a bottle-worthy blend, but I'll definitely have to be patient.

In the bottle, this is all cake, but upon application, it's sweet cucumber and a bit of warm cake. It's faint, and over time, the cakiness fades. This is light and pleasant. Very innocent and sweet, but not long-lasting.

Wood and a bit of men's cologne--and the cologne gets more prominent as time passes. There's eventually musk, as well, and unfortunately it's the kind of musk that ends up smelling a bit rank. It's also faintly aquatic, without any of the flowers others noted. Overall, though, it's a nice wood and polish sort of scent, dignified and masculine.

Huh, this is rather citrusy on first sniff, which I didn't expect. It's a few minutes before the sharpness fades, but then it becomes a nice balance of citrus (bergamot?) and chocolate, with the faintest hint of tea. I like this stage of the blend, but unfortunate, it ends up mostly bergamot on me, with only a tiny bit of chocolatey tea.

Sweet fruits and a hint of smoky incense. This is pretty, and for some reason, much sweeter than I expected. Over time, it stays very true to the grapefruit, but not so juicy as to be an extreme fruit blend. Instead, it's sweet and warm. This feels more like a springtime scent than a yule one, but I suppose that's the point.

This is so pretty! I'm not very good at recognizing any of the individual notes, but overall this is a soft, rounded floral. It's sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. It's very close to the skin on me, soft and sophisticated, but the throw is pretty weak. It is quite nice, though!

This is much rosier than I expected! It's rather like rose and resin, and something almost citrus but not--maybe that's the lychee. Even over time, the intensity of this doesn't fade: sweet, sweet rose and resin. This seems like it should be old-fashioned, but it's so demandingly present at the same time. Impressive.

Oh, my! On first application, this is a demanding violet, nothing like the softness of Faith (or is it Hope?) or Violet Ray. It's definitely sweet and sexy, but a step bolder than the others. Over time, the pseudo-sharpness fades, giving way to something faintly herbal. The violet is still there, but it's tempered. It's still sweet, but less intensely. (I don't get vanilla at all.) A nice, close-to-the-skin, sexy scent.

This is GORGEOUS. On first application, it's juicy and almost intensely sweet, with a hint of florals fluttering in the background. When I sniff deeply, I catch lavender and moonflower, and it makes for a wonderful, cool blend. After a few minutes, though, the blend softens, becoming musk and moonflower, with a faint hint of sweetness. It's just as wonderful, but so different from the first impression.

In the end, the melon-y sweetness of this is ephemeral, with a halo of musk that grounds it. Lovely.

Hmmmm. This is a bit soapy on first application, then it rounds out to clean amber and florals. Very feminine, though it makes me a tad sneezy. So far this is nice, but not the smoky sexiness I expected.

After fifteen minutes or so, I find myself very thankful for the (possible) floral stompiness, because I get the faintest edge of wrongness I sometimes get from amber + musk, which usually ends up extremely unpleasantly for me. (There is some version or combination of musk that inevitably smells like civet in a bad way. I haven't figured it out yet.) Instead, the musk is harnessed by soapy florals, so that the blend hints of both, but doesn't smell quite like either.

After forty minutes, this is a warm musk, with a hint of spice and soapy florals that suggests this is a woman's blend, without being super-feminine. This could be extremely sexy, I suspect, but I don't have quite the right chemistry for it. I'm glad I have it, though--I'm curious to see how it ages.

I never thought I could describe a patchouli scent as gentle, but this is definitely a soft, nostalgic sort of patchouli. The woods are a good counterbalance--not towering, terrifying woods, but rather a twisty, friendly forest with winding paths and nice, springy places to sit and read and take naps. This is a bit dusty, as well, like an old and well-loved library. This isn't something I would normally wear, but it's enticing and evocative.

This is a fresh and lovely aquatic, a bit cologney and very cool and clean. I like the way the aquatic balances out what could be quite musky, so that it's soothing instead of aggressive. There's a hint of saltwater in the background, but overall this is very "ocean sweet" to my nose. It gets sweeter, juicier over time. This is a great scent for warm weather.

I am a lover of honey and Snake Oil blends, so I had high hopes for this. On first application, this is an intense honey sweetness, reminding me of the richness of Athens. It lightens in a second, though, to a more flowery, playful honey. I don't get any Snake Oil hints, aside from a slithery spiciness, very subtle, in the background.

On first application, this is a lovely, creamy hot chocolate--like El Dia de Reyes, but without the spice. (I keep wanting to say this is minty, but that's purely because of my mental associations, as I usually have mint hot chocolate with marshmallows, rather than just plain hot chocolate.) There's something a bit chalky behind it--perhaps the puppet aspect of the blend, but to my nose, it morphs into hot chocolate mix, rather than hot chocolate in liquid form.

This is more incensey than I expected, which is silly, because half the notes are incensy in one way or another. I like the way the vanilla sweetens the blend, so it's not quite overpowering, and combined with the spices, I find this quite intriguing. Over time, the incense-slam fades, leaving sweet, spicy vanilla and a kiss of patchouli. This has decent throw, but I'm more impressed by how long it lingers.

On first application, this is sweet and creamy, like high-quality, made-from-scratch cupcake frosting. As it dries, it gets spicier, but as I've experienced with Egg Nog in the past, the overall scent fades quickly. On the bright side, this doesn't get as plasticky on me, but what lingers is mostly unexceptional. Ah, well.

For some reason, I'm always wary of honey, so this blend came as a pleasant surprise. The honey is perfectly tempered by the floral notes, balanced so it doesn't become cloying, as honey often does with my chemistry. There's an herbal note in the background as well, which in turn keeps the florals from growing too strong, and it adds a bit of spice, as well.

This is beautiful, though I'm not head-over-heels. Thankfully so--I've seen the heartfelt pleas for bottles. *g*

Hm. This is very...foresty. Not evergreen, exactly, but green and cool. There's something like...a lake, vast and rippling, and a brisk wind, and a hint of sunshine. This is gorgeous, peaceful, patient.

Oh, WOW. This is rich and sweet and cakey and warm. It's not super-creamy, but usually cream ends up plastic on me, so that's good. The Snake Oil lends a nice spiciness to the blend, but I can't really separate anything else out. I really like this, though--I'll definitely have to hunt a bottle down now.

Oh, weird! This is totally the banana note from Manila + Graveyard Dirt! On first application, the banana is clear and punchy sweet, but in a minute this becomes sweetness and dirt, dirt, dirt. In the end, it's a nice waft of sweetened earth. I love how evocative this is.

This is so very, very, very green grass, barreling out of my wee vial to tell me it isn't quite winter yet. I don't get leaves very much at all--there's a hint dryness, of sweet warmth, but the grass is rather overpowering.

Huh. On first sniff, this actually strikes me as boozy cake. Really boozy cake, dripping in fruity syrup. As it dries down, the cream puffiness of it starts to come through, light pastry oozing with cool, luscious cream. I'm getting honey rather than caramel, but then again, almond tends to turn things wonky on me. Over time, the almond takes over, so I get a sort of caramelized almond scent, crumbling to lumpy bits of burnt sugar.

Berries and flowers, but to my nose, in a strongly generic sort of way. Coldly bright, I think. Over time, the florals get more complicated--the poppiness of it gets clearer as it dries, and lush greenery lies underneath. I actually lose the berries completely, though I think the honey keeps it sweet instead of totally green. This ends up being...a heap of freshly sheared poppies, still damp with dew. It's not unpleasant at all, but it's definitely quite different from "floral perfume," as we might conceive it. Herbal flowers, maybe, but not.

Sweet and bready, and though I can't pin down the kind of sweet this is, it's intense. Honey and peanuts, except not, and a hint of oranges. This is really interesting! I don't get incense, but there is the tiniest breath of smoke behind this. Over time, I get the effect of incense more--a kind of resiny, smoky halo--that surrounds the orangey cake of the blend. I don't get beer at all, which is surprising. Nicely surprising, I suspect.

Huh. In an odd turn of events, this one smells like my dad. It's the musk and the lemonish verbena, I suspect--he's one for light cologne, and this is his kind of scent. (Alas, he is a bit clumsy, so he wouldn't take to BPAL's tiny bottles.) ANYWAY. As I can't disassociate the smell from my dad now, this isn't a scent for me.

But! As it dries, the lemonish scent disappears, and this becomes more like a musk-and-metal scent, not heavy, but definitely metallic. I can catch the tiniest hint of carnation and powder, but otherwise, the florals don't appear for me at all.