OctoberGwen

This smells exactly like the perfume, which is to say ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY DELECTABLE. I adore Eat Me - it's the only foodie scent I am ever happy to wear, and now my whole house smells like it.

Luscious, delicious vanilla cake, balanced perfectly by the red current so it doesn't veer off into nausea-producing sweetness. It does not smell like butter or sugar, it smells like the sum of its parts: rich, gourmand cake. Not frosting....just cake. This atmo spray lasts and lasts; after one spritz, I could still smell it very distnctly several hours later. Warning: after a while, you will start raiding the cupboard for yummy things to consume.

Oh, my. I don't recall cedar behaving like this on me before, but all I'm getting is slightly sour pencil shavings.

I had very high hopes for this, as benzoin and each of these florals is really lovely on my skin. Sadly, the aniseseed takes over and ruins all The Pretty. It seems to be even stronger than even plain old anise, which was....disappointing.

 

If you like tuberose, carnation, and lilac and have a fondness for anise you will probably love this.

Like all the other OLLA scents, this is smooth, sophisticated, and seamlessly blended. The benzoin and sandalwood balance each other quite beautifully, and whatever is providing that hint of faintly-marjoram-scented waistcoat, its softness keeps everything from smelling too dry. Kit is cozy, and not aggressively masculine. He's very wearable.

This is an absolutely beautiful classic 'light' musky blend. My skin eats it so much that I really have to smush my nose to my wrist to catch the drydown; otherwise I'd be desperately hoarding this one.

I find Funnel of Love a deep and rich example of Beth's distinctive patchouli (if you want gritty, check out #OccupyWallStreet), lent a great deal of complexity by the other elements. The only other notes I can pick out are the red musk and maybe a faint hint of leather - it's blended pretty seamlessly. There is a slightly incensey vibe.

 

Smooth, deep, earthy, and very sexy. I'll be holding on to this one.

I quite like this, but it IS very red musk-heavy and I also am starting to feel like I have plenty of these type of blends in my collection. It's tough for me to pass up anything with red musk and "sweet wild tobacco", though.

 

So as I said, very red musky with lovely touches of tobacco and a general woodsiness. The clove is a mere whisper, which is just the way I like it.

 

 

June 23, 1868 is precisely, exactly what I've wanted every floral scent, ever, to smell like. It is floral perfection. Full stop.

 

Butterflies, Flowers and Jewels Attending was close, but too sweet for me. Lilies and Languors of Virtue is too much lily. Fae is too ethereal, and the oakmoss doesn't do it for me in that blend. Hell's Belle has...terribly sad associations for me now. But this. This is PERFECT.

 

Lovely, lovely English country garden flowers, made grown-up and sophisticated by the tonka and tobacco. If you are a floral fan: RUN, do not walk, and buy this gorgeousness now. Before I grab it all.

 

Definitely multiple bottle worthy. My new Go To non-rose floral. Thank you, Beth.

OMG, I LOVE BETH'S AMBERGRIS ACCORD SO GODDAMN MUCH.

 

This is absolutely gorgeous, and for me is right up there with Eve for favorite OLLA scents. Stunning, musky "of the ocean but not aquatic" ambergris, grounded and given depth by the lovely resins and wood note. There is nothing sharp or discordant here whatsoever; this is sexy, soft, snuggly, and absolutely perfect.

 

A close-to-the-skin scent which I'm quite happy to slather.

 

Multiple bottle worthy.

This scent is so compelling, I can't stop sniffing my wrists when I wear it. I can pick out individual notes if I try (a beautiful blend of rose water, Middle Eastern spices, incense, and moss), but it's so masterfully blended that if I stop focusing it just becomes a glorious mix of wafts from the ages. It makes me think of the cobblestone streets of ancient cities in Europe; spice markets in the desert; luxurious rooms filled with books and priceless antiques. And I haven't even seen the film yet.

 

Eve has shot into my Top Ten, and thank the Gods I had the presence of mind to get two bottles, as she was the first of the OLLA scents to sell out. I really, really love this.

This is absolutely stunning, and the first frank-dominated blend I can actually wear. Beautiful, beautiful resiny/incense love. Frankincense sweetened by (I assume) whatever liquidambar is - unlike tinyvulture, I am too lazy to google-fu - and grounded by the white sandalwood.

 

LOVE.

Balame and zeezee kind of nailed this scent with their combined reviews, so I'll just say that my nickname for this one is "The Disquieting Rose."

 

On me, this is mostly white rose and oakmoss but I can sense all the other components. It absolutely smells like a Victorian gunslinger; Beth's magic at work once again.

I found Ava pretty enough but with none of the depth or mystery of Eve. "A nice vanilla floral" sums it up for me.

This blend is made of so much win. I loooove black musk, and myrhh is one of my favorite resins. I thought the motor oil would be awful, but it's just enough to give Streets a slightly dangerous edge.

 

I will almost certainly need a bottle.

I...don't even know where to begin with this one. It smells exactly, exactly the way it's supposed to, given the description. Some will probably find it too medicinal, but rosemary is one of my plant totems and I absolutely love the smell of it. I didn't think the 'bland plastic' note would be at all pleasant, but to me it's reading as 'clean' here. I definitely get the violet leaf and a whisper of the opoponax.

Really, though, this scent is all about the sum of its parts. In a word: wow.

I wanted to love this, but something turned very funky on my skin - it had to have been the 'honeyed' quality of the patchouli, despite the fact that honeyed patch has worked for me in other blends. Color me sad, because every note here seemed made of win.

Good Lord.

This is practically a 'who's who' of notes that don't work on me: honey, bourbon vanilla, hay, and some jasmines. But wow: Hal is lovely. It's on the sweeter side, but it manages to stay out of nauseous territory for me. It is syrupy, and I get a lot of jasmine and vanilla honey with an undertone of hay and a very slight woodiness. It smells golden, deep and warm. I think I will really enjoy this in the Winter.

I love resiny blends, but apparently this is too straight-up resin for me. I am getting way more frankincense than myrrh; this is not at all sweet on me and in fact is pretty masculine. Too much so.

 

I need my non-amber resins to be tempered with something else, apparently.

Sexy, musky, resiny orchid. The notes blend together beautifully, and I don't get frankincense, honey, nor fig individually - which is good. This is gorgeous, and I'm thrilled to have a bottle.

The honeyed jasmine is the strongest note on my skin, and it's really pretty. The raspberry wine is also evident and lovely, and is not doing the typical wine thing on me (that is, amping into disgustingness.) I do not detect the champaca at all, and I think the sandalwood is just giving it a nice base.

 

Any fans of jasmine should try this one!

Mmmm, I love this, and tinyvulture's description above is exactly how it strikes me as well. The florals are simple and gorgeous and the frank and pepper balance them perfectly, adding just a touch of resiny, spicy kick. Really beautiful.

The purple grapey wine scents never work on me, and this is no exception. I get none of my beloved Haitian Vetiver at all until the far drydown, and even then it remains buried under the wine and fruitiness.

Lucy, Kissed is my very favorite dark and macabre scent so far. It is super evocative, yet also smells fabulous.

 

Hexennacht '05 is dark and witchy. Voodoo and Whitechapel are super evocative, but they are general catalogue scents and thus don't fit your "hard to find" criteria. (I'm not quite sure why you want to start with super rare LE's, but whatever enhances your BPAL experience!)

Oh, so pretty - the same soft musky fur note from Ivanushka, with a light brush of flowers. This is soft but has good presence and staying power. I wore it with Silkybat hair gloss today and I have to say...I smelled great.

 

I love this and I am so happy I found a bottle.

Oh holy fuckballs. I'm so glad I read aphrodite's review of this; otherwise I might have let it pass me by. I freaking LOVE this stuff.

 

The same smoky beeswax note as the Candlelight atmo, with...other stuff underneath it to lift it up. I don't get classic lily at all, nor fruity pom, nor wine, nor rose. Everything just comes together beautifully to create one magnificent scent.

 

I bought a partial, and a decant, and will straight away be ordering at least one full bottle from the Post. Maybe two. And I have a lot of atmosphere sprays.

 

That's how good this is.