moon_lemming

Wowza. Knecht Ruprecht is a surprise hit for me. I didn't even expect to LIKE it, but I think I really dig it. At first, it's intensely woody, with a big smash of apple fruitiness on top. The wood smells like pine on me, but I'm bad with woods, so take that with a grain of salt. As it dries, it turns more piney, with a hint of something else that keeps it from being all green. It does bring to mind a wintery forest. It's not as lovely on me as it is in the bottle, sadly. It's a little too "Christmas tree" for me after drydown, but I bet it would make a gorgeous room scent.

2006 version When I sniffed Punkie Night in the imp, and as I dabbed it on, I thought to myself that I'd found the one BPAL apple blend that would work on me. It smelled like a mouthful of crisp apples and tart cranberries. As it settles into my skin, it picks up a sour note underneath, very craft store. But that wanders away after a few more minutes, leaving a scent behind that fits the description perfectly. It might be a tiny bit too room scent-ish for skin wear, depending on your sensibilities; it definitely leans more toward apple cider than apple orchard, with a nice dollop of cranberry juice. All told, it's not the sweet, fresh apple scent I was hoping for, but it's still pretty damn good. This is tied with Creepy as my favorite of the 2006 Hallowe'en scents. 2010 version Smells the same as my memory of 2006's version. I was all primed to get a bottle of this, then I thought -- do I really need this if I have Poisoned Apple? I don't know. This is less "sinister" than Poisoned Apple but I'm already planning on getting Lambs-Wool. How many apple blends do I need? (Although I do dearly love apple perfumes.) I'll have to think about it.

When I first sniffed the buttery pumpkin scent in the imp, I thought: Disaster! Oh no! But for the first few minutes on, Pumpkin Queen seemed like she might be the one BPAL pumpkin blend that would work on me. Warm spicy pumpkin bread. Yummm. Sadly, after ten minutes the "buttery" note does what it was born to do and keells the goodness dead. Now it's mostly wax and a teensy bit of ginger, with a hint of amber. I still have not given up hope for a BPAL pumpkin blend that works on me, but this isn't it.

Patchouli, cinnamon, cloves, and the sweetness of tonka to keep it from being too sharp. As it dries, I can smell some ginger as well. It's good! Masculine but not so much that I can't wear it. I'll echo the sentiment that this is a great fall scent. This is the last of my OotD testers, and I think, in this case, I saved the best for last.

At first, Brides is a sweet nondescript floral dripping with honey. The lily amps up after a couple of minutes, but settles back down rather quickly. This blend reminds me of Al-Araaf, actually, just a little less soapy. It's very feminine and it's a nice not-too-loud floral. But sadly, something in it makes me sneeze, so I don't think I'll be keeping it.

Okay, The Castle sort of creeps me out. I smell something that might be resinous . . . I think this is what other reviewers mean when they say "resinous," anyway. I smell old wood and empty rooms. I really can't imagine wearing this regularly, it would freak me out a little too much. In the actual scent department, I think there's a little too much pine; my skin amps pine tons. Spot on representation of the castle itself, I have to say.

Whoooa. Wintergreen Lifesavers. In the bottle and on my skin, that's all I get for about five minutes. As the drydown progresses, I can make out a little bit of greenery, mostly fir. There's a tiny drop of a good, sweet floral in there, too. That's all, though. It's not a BAD scent -- especially since I have a cold and it's making me feel a little more clear-headed -- it's just not something I'd wear.

LEATHER. That's what I smell in the imp -- not the leather from De Sade, a more work-worn leather. On me, the tobacco peeks out and the pear jumps ahead to keep it from getting too masculine. Morris is a welcoming, easy kind of scent. It really brings the character of Quincey Morris to mind. This is a brilliant portrait. And it's a great perfume, as well; I'd love to try it out on a man just to see what happens. The only downside is that it doesn't have a lot of throw. All the better for nuzzling.

This smells divine at first, a sweet but musky blackcurrant with a helping of tea rose. Sadly, after about five minutes the hyacinth takes over, as it is wont to do on my skin, and game over: it's in Detergent Land now, and it's never goin' back.

At first, Seward is all smoke, but that clears up after a few minutes on my skin, and the tonka pops up, along with something that's almost kool-aid sweet. Maybe it's the champaca flower -- I'm not sure. It's a leetle too high of a note for me, but it does smell good in moderation, and the sandalwood never even starts up its search-and-destroy mode. eta: about ten minutes after application, a bit of ginger starts to show up, which cuts the sweetness nicely. Still too sweet to wear heavily, but it might be okay if applied lightly.

What sounds like a lovely combination of spices and other goodies turns to generic powdery men's cologne with an undertone of sandalwood on my skin. I can't really make out any notes except the sandalwood. Oh skin chemistry. I think it's safe to say this one just isn't gonna work.

To my nose, there is nothing hazy, soft, or misty about Empyreal Mist at all! It's a bright, bright fruity scent that reminds me of a slightly soapy version of The Body Shop's Mango/Peach shower gel. Delicious; I think this would be a perfect pick-me-up scent. Fades superfast on me, though.

The woods combine to remind me of a cross between a cedar chest and pickles. I'm not sure why. I don't get any rose, and this is just way too medicinal for me to wear. Wood strikes again. (Hehehehe.)

This blend is hot. Totally not me, but hot and super-masculine. The woods do exactly what I thought they'd do and amp unbearably, but the musk tames them after a few minutes. The leather peeks through just the tiniest smidge. Not at all something I can pull off, but damn if I don't want to smell it on a man. (And by "man," I mean MAN, not boy; on a "boy" this would smell poser-iffic.) Don't get me wrong, I think the right woman could pull this off as well, I'm just not her.

Guava, orange peel, white pepper, spun sugar and apple blossom. Ah! I was trying to put my finger on what the smell of this in the imp reminded me of. Sobe makes a piña colada-ish drink that smells pretty much spot on to this. Xanthe fades FAST on me. Three minutes after application, it's almost nothing but ghosts. The guava is the strongest on my skin, with apple blossom peeking through. It's good and fruity while it lasts, but it's gone before I can really appreciate it.

In the imp, I smell something that reminds me of new carpet, and black cherry candles. On my skin, the new carpet smell goes away quickly, and black cherry rushes up to the front. There's something unpleasant in the mix, though. It might be the patchouli? Or the cardamom. I'm not sure which. As it dries, it picks up a suggestion of Red Hots that never quite goes away. My skin plus Phantom Calliope equals strangeness. Seems fitting, but it's not something I'd wear.

This one is very pretty! At first, I get nothing but lemon drops, but the coconut shows up to the party quickly, followed by a swoosh of vanilla. It would almost be too sweet, but there's a musky anchor holding it all down; I'm not sure if it's the black musk or the opium. Either way, it's quite lovely.

This sounds like damning with faint praise, but Melisande really isn't that bad for a jasmine blend! The jasmine and violets blend well with the vanilla; although it's still too soapy for my taste, it's not so bad that I need to scrub it off, like I feel with most jasmine blends. I'm not going to keep it, but it's nice to know not all jasmines amp to a million on my skin.

Before I ran to BPAL.org to check out the description for Antonino, I thought it must have oranges or something in it. I have a very strong scent memory associated with this smell, but I can't quite put my finger on it. I think that the fig/lemon combo is probably the culprit as far as the "orange" scent goes. As it dries, the plum comes out to play and it becomes more obvious that the citrusy scent is verbena. It does have a little bit of a cedar edge to it, although I don't see that mentioned in the notes. It's not really something I'd wear, but I'll admit that it smells good, even with the cedar, which I normally associate with hamsters.

Initially, I was afraid to try this because I always suspect "night-blooming flower" to mean HAHAHA WE'VE GOT SOME JASMINE OF DOOM FOR YOU KAREN. Sometimes I should listen to myself. Although there's no horrible detergent effect here, there are some florals in here that my skin amps. This smells SO GOOD in the imp, like sweet sugary fruit, but on me, it's Ivory soap. Oh, florals, why must you hate me so?

I expected this to smell like a variation of Snake Oil, maybe darker. (Not necessarily a good thing as far as my chemistry is concerned.) But on me, it smells like . . . Blood Kiss! I read Carolyn's review, and I think we must have similar chemistry, because I have to agree with it. There's also an undertone of something that smells a little like black tea that gets a stronger as time goes on. That might be the patchouli leaf? I'm not sure. I do like it a lot. It's very sexy. I knew there was a reason I'd put off ordering a big bottle of Blood Kiss.

When I first put the Organ Grinder on, all I can make out is HEAVINESS. This is the way that Snake Oil smelled the first time I tried it on. It was my first BPAL and all I could think was "omg, I smell like a box of incense! I'll never be able to pull this off." It picks up a nutty edge pretty quickly, and as it dries, it quiets down into a creamy almondy smoky scent with a tip of pine. Miraculously, my skin is not amping this pine like it normally does. It's interesting, but it's not really "me." It's really too masculine for me, and honestly, the scent unsettles me a little, although I'm not sure why.

I ADORE Queen of Clubs, so I was hoping her man would be just as successful. Or maybe I was hoping the opposite, since hunting down a bottle would be a pricey proposition. Anyway, King of Clubs is a lovely earthy oil on my skin, with a hint of tobacco and none of the fruitiness that I pick up on in Queen of Clubs. It definitely feels like the "masculine" version of QoC. Sadly, it fades very very quickly on me.

Before I even start my review, let me note that I have almost no compatibility with BPAL chocolate blends, with few exceptions (like 13 '05). In the imp, The Candy Butcher's scent reminds me of the way the chocolate coating on Goobers tastes. Like creamy milk chocolate studded with raisins and cranberries. Very nice. On me, though, it develops a plasticky undertone that goes sort of musky, and has that infamous "pencil shaving" aura, although it's not nearly as stand-out as it is in Bliss. eta: In a bit of a pleasant turnaround, waiting half an hour has turned Candy Butcher into a mostly-cream musky scent with a tiny hint of chocolate. Like a chocolate-tinged Antique Lace. It's very pretty, but I'm afraid something in the mix is giving me a headache. Still, the scent change was a GREAT surprise!

Mmm, Dorian Plus! I hate to only review a blend by comparing it to another blend, but it's just so obvious that I can't help it. At first, Theodosius is a creamy vanilla tea blend with a cologne-y tinge to it, but as it dries on me the cologne effect wears off and it becomes a lot muskier, I guess because of the white musk. The jasmine leaf apparently isn't the same thing as jasmine (duh, but I wasn't 100% sure), because my skin amps jasmine like a crazy thing, and I can't find it in here. It has good throw, lasts quite a while, and it smells so good. If I hadn't just stocked up on Dorian, I'd be getting at least one bottle of this one.