moon_lemming

Oooh, a lot of things I can't pick out. This is my favorite kind of blend, it's like a huge mystery to me. (There are a lot of scents like that, hehe, my nose is very "beginner.") Smells a little cologne-y in the imp -- probly mostly because, like I said, I lack the ability to pick these notes out. AHAHAHA, this kind of reminds me of a LUSH scent while it's drying. I can't quite put my finger on it; it's good though. But sadly, when dry, the bay rum (I believe) ends up imparting an aftershave tinge that is a little too masculine for me.

Wow, this is probably the first lily scent I've tried that hasn't given me a headache. It's exactly what the description says -- golden, warm, gently honeyed lilies. On me, the "honeyed" part comes out a little bit more as Tiger Lily dries, which is a-okay with me. Very pretty! I'm not really a floral person most of the time, but I think this is one I'd reach for if the mood struck.

Mmmmmm, this is glorious. I'd expect no less from BPAL's signature scent, but sometimes "glorious" translates to "SCRUB IT OFF FAST" on my skin. In the imp, I smell ... cherries? Almonds? At first I think it's almonds doing their wolf-in-cherry-clothing thing, but it might actually be both. I'm not Super Nose enough yet to tell, sadly. It stays wonderful wet on my skin, with a nice creamy undertone that is pure LOVE. I really would go around kissing mirrors if it stayed like this, but sadly it turns a bit sharp and powdery ten minutes later. On the sort-of-plus side, it also fades liek woah, so it doesn't stick around long enough to get any worse. I think this would be a FANTASTIC locket scent.

WOE! I cannot smell the pear. It must be some sort of nose thing, because I can't find it in the imp or on my skin. Instead, I smell a strange almost rain-like fresh scent in the imp, and a sweet but detergenty floral on my skin. As time goes on, the floral becomes more tolerable -- a little fresher, I think -- but it's still definitely 100% floral, which is so not me.

Oh honey, honey. (Isn't that a weird word?) Mmmm. Athens is all honey at first, but as it dries it picks up some myrrh which eventually threatens to overwhelm it. My skin amps myrrh, so I'm not too surprised. There's a little bit of a powdery aftertaste, which could be due to some sort of floral. It's a beautiful "ancient" scent, very sophisticated and warm, but the myrrh is a little too strong on my skin for my taste.

Dew-covered berries and fresh green grasses with a faint breath of spring flowers. Hmmm. Wet, this made me think of a damp rose, even though there's no "rose" listed by name in the notes. Maybe it's because of the scent being called ROSalind. Power of suggestion and all that. Dry, it reminds me of Amsterdam, with the aquatics and the pretty florals. No detergent in sight! This is a lovely blend, very feminine and dainty. Not for me, because I feel like a clown fitting into a circus car when I wear dainty scents like this, but I can still see the beauty in it. (I didn't detect any grass, by the way, but my skin is very strange.)

Stephanotis, cyclamen, heliotrope, white rose and gardenia. This was a frimp, otherwise I'd never have tried it -- the description alone tells me that it will most likely be nothing but detergent on my skin. In the imp, Eternal is a gorgeous white floral, very pretty, sweet. One flower sort of leans over the others and pokes me in the shoulder. I think it's the gardenia, although I'm not sure. I'm not great at picking out florals. On me, it shockingly does not become a floral mish-mash, but instead firms into a sweet floral. It's the noticeable floral from before (gardenia?) and it stays strong as it dries. Not really my style, but pretty nonetheless.

OH MY GOD Y'ALL THIS TOTALLY SMELLS LIKE CHERRY PIE. Hehe. Nah, it's cucumber alright. On the grassy side of cucumber, not too sweet. This scent is great -- it turns a little aloe-y on my skin, but in a good way. It reminds me of my sister who used to wear cucumber-based lotions all the time. I'd never wear this myself -- feels like I'm stealing my sister's scent -- but I think this might be just the scent to enable her with. Awesome.

Oh my. This is very incense-y in the imp. I'm a little wary as I apply it. Something in the blend is way too high-pitched for me. An herb that has an astringent smell to it -- that's all I can smell once Bien Loin d'Ici is dry on my skin. This one was kind of chancey anyway since it has the oft-dreaded red musk in it; I was just hoping the stuff I love (honey, caramel accord) would balance it out. But the red musk isn't even at the party, it's just that one herbal scent dancing by itself! Sadly, this one is definitely not for me.

A perfect, lovely, gleaming red apple whose sweetness masks a swirl of narcotic opium, oleander, and hemlock. Okay, maybe every girl with fair skin, "rosy" cheeks, and dark hair feels this way, but I've always felt sort of connected to the Snow White story. Not as in "omg the hunter will take me into the dark woods any day now" but in a comforting way, like it was MY fairy tale, you know? So I was crossing my fingers as I ordered this scent. It doesn't disappoint! Poisoned Apple morphs from a pure crisp juicy apple scent (mostly red, with a tiny bit of green) to this complex incense-y apple scent. I adore it. Everyone's "evil apple" reviews are right on. It's going on my big-bottle wishlist.

Initially I wrote this scent off as "too masculine" and decided not to try it. I was frimped it in my last order, though, so maybe Fate knows something I don't. In the imp, all I can smell is some kind of musky incense-y blend. Can't pick out any notes. Except the musk, hehe. On me, it actually isn't all that masculine. I mean, if it worked, I'd wear it. Unfortunately the nice incense-y smell gets a lovely hint of cypress, then dives right into band-aid territory. Probably the leather -- BPAL's leather doesn't really work on me. [eta: I tripped over this review a few years later, and given what I know now, I'd say the band-aid effect probably has more to do with the pepper than the leather.] Yeah, it's not going to leave The Band-Aid Zone.

WOW. That is some buttery crust. I didn't realize this was going to be so foody. In the imp, yes, it is dead-on blackcurrant tarts. (Well, I'm thinking "blackberry" but a bit sweeter, so I guess it's as close to dead-on as I'll be able to recognize.) On me, all I can smell at first is the crust. Absolutely no rose, which makes me sad because I love me some BPAL rose notes. But as the minutes tick by, the crust gets lighter and lighter and the blackcurrant becomes richer and more berrylicious and pop! there's a squidge of rose in there. It's not cloying, just a hint. The blackcurrant smells DELICIOUS. I'm not sure if I'd wear this very often, but it is one of those blends that I love to experience from beginning to end, just because it morphs so much. It may even morph more -- I've only had it on for about half an hour. I'll edit if it does.

SPOILER ALERT! I love this scent so much I've already ordered a bottle of it. It's even more gorgeous in the imp than I thought it would be -- it's like an explosion of sweet pink citrus tempered by a teensy bit of pink florals. On me, it turns a little bit detergenty at first (that's how my skin interacts with florals, usually), but it soon settles down into a lovely soft pink floral that I think will be perfect for spring. It's sort of similar to the floral in Mouse's etc etc Tale. The best part is that there's about one week out of the month where, if I wear it, I can also smell the pink citrus on my skin. That's probably the time I'll where it the most, honestly. The citrus cuts the floral perfectly.

In the imp, The Dodo is almost ... disturbing. Which is appropriate, since the actual character makes me feel the same way. It's a weird combo of musk and lemon and woods with a cassia kick. On me, it's a lot less complex. Red musk and my skin only rarely work well together. In this case, it's a no go. All I can smell is red musk and cassia. I like cassia very much, but the combination just isn't doing it for me. About ten minutes into testing, a little lemon comes out, but the result is an even stranger scent. Plus the cassia is making my wrist itch. That doesn't really bother me usually, but it kind of tips the scale into "pass" territory. I guess The Dodo and I were not meant to be together. I've had so much luck with the other new scents in this category that it's all good.

Kumari Kandam is all ozoney aquatic on me at first, which is no surprise since my skin amps that kind of scent. As it dries, though, it takes on a complexity that I adore, like a snowy light floral with a hint of incense underneath. I really can't pick out any notes, it's so well blended. All I can say is that it's LOVELY and it sticks around a good long time on me -- eight hours later, I can still smell it. And this is from a girl who doesn't normally like aquatics. I think this might replace City in the Sea as my fave semi-aquatic.

Does that description not sound delicious? Like something you should please to be eating RIGHT NOW? I've got news for you: it smells that way, too. Before it hits my skin, Hellcat is a creamy honey-and-almond dessert, and it makes me a little hungry. On my skin, it's even better ... there's a spiciness underneath it that keeps it from being sickeningly sweet. This is one of those rare blends where I can smell almost everything listed in the notes -- and it's a good thing in this instance. Yum. The rum is the only scent that I can't really find. As it gets more used to my skin, the blend turns into more of a spicy honey scent than a sweet dessert. And again, I mean that in a good way. Every single stage of this scent is good! My only qualm with Hellcat is that I have to be in a certain mood to wear a honey scent, but this one is definitely a keeper -- it's like it was made especially for those moods.

I recognize this scent somehow, but I'm not sure what I'm remembering. Whatever it was, it must have smelled good, because damn this is nice. Sweet berries that, like a reviewer above said, remind me of Lipsmackers. Dry on my skin, it picks up a tea background and ends up smelling like blackberry tea (ORIGINAL, I KNOW) with a nice heaping spoonful of sugar. Bewitched is lovely. By itself, it shouts "GIRLY" and I imagine if you layered it with something a little spicy it would be quite sexy. Yum.

I started out with high hopes for Katharina, as I put it on and smelled delicious tangy apricots. The orange blossom combines with my skin in an unfortunate way, though, and it turned too sour pretty quickly.

Oh my god, jasmine that doesn't kill me ded! I thought it was impossible! The gardenia is even tolerable! Ahem. Anyway. I can certainly smell the sharpness of jasmine as soon as Euphrosyne hits my skin, but it fades very quickly, leaving a vanilla-sweetened white floral that's nice, even if it's not my cup of tea. Fades very quickly, though.

On first sniff, Kabuki is black licorice. Lovely. Seriously, I love that smell. It's why I love Absinthe (the oil). I could smell a bit of something fruity, like watermelon, that was most likely the cherry mentioned in the notes. Thankfully the musk doesn't turn the whole thing to powder once it's on me (its usual MO). The cherry all but disappears, though, leaving the delicious star anise behind. I do wish the cherry would stick around a bit more; I think I might try to duplicate this scent with Absinthe and a cherry blend that doesn't fade so quickly on me.

Mmmm, an earth scent. I love the Lab's earthy stuff. My holy grail is Queen of Clubs, and I'm always on the lookout for a GC back-up. So I'm mostly judging this by comparison. Nosferatu is turned-over soil and an herb garden gone to wildness with a wash of fruity red wine; as it dries, the wine notes edge toward a beety smell (weird, but that's what I'm getting). It's more sinister than Queen of Clubs, not as earthy-mama feeling. It's good, though. I do like it, I just like Queen of Clubs better. Nosferatu is more "soil" than "earth," if that makes sense.

A slightly floral powder on top of baby powder. That's all I get wet; that's all I get dry. I'll blame the orchid and white musk, both notes that don't usually work on me.

Dragon's blood and I have an iffy relationship. I can never figure out if I actually like the way it smells. At first, I thought Dragon's Heart was a winner. In the imp and wet, it's fruity and musky and deep deep red. Musks don't generally agree with my skin, but I thought the fig and currant -- notes my skin amps -- would keep them from going sour. I was wrong, though. As it dries, the blend takes on that sour powdery underbite that drives me nuts. This would make a good locket scent, though.

Ha. I read the "note list" as I was applying Chuparosa and thought, "WTF? Why am I smelling honeysuckle if this is supposed to be all about roses?" I started to question my Very Knowledge of Rose Notes. Then I read everyone else's reviews. Thank god, I've not broken my sniffer. Yes, it's honeysuckle. On me, it's pure soft honeysuckle up until about the five-minute mark, when the rose decides to show up. It's more of a tea rose than a red rose, and it blends nicely with the honeysuckle. It's a very floral blend, which I don't usually go for, but it smells ... nice. Not in an "oh, that smells nice" way, in a "kind" way. I think it definitely does its job, if the ten-minute effect is any indication. Sadly, as it dries, Chuparosa acquires a green undertone that goes bitter on my skin. Oh skin. It was nice (in both ways) while it was wet, though.

I really couldn't have told you what was in this oil based on a sniff of the imp. Desire smelled like a sweet musk, which seems contradictory to me. Looking at the note list, it makes sense, though. On me, unfortunately, all those notes that sound like they'd be so good together turn into a mish-mash of sharp-smelling powder. Definitely not for me.