alicia_stardust

Parthenope is mostly moss and oakmoss on me. There's a touch of powder to it at first. Instead of this going too salty and aquatic and high-pitched, the musk sort of deepens everything into a salty, earthy blend that's green and damp. The honeysuckle and jasmine definitely sweeten things up but the mosses and musk really seem to keep center stage through the duration. The orris and benzoin add a nice touch of duskiness and warmth which keep this anchored as a mysteriously murky and sexy blend with an edge of darkness.

This definitely starts out with acai berry at the top of everything; it's dark and juicy and has just a tiny hint of astringent bite. The moroccan jasmine sits just under that and it seems to hold just the right amount of sweetness and headiness as it mingles with the chrysanthemum and tea leaf. Something about the other notes in this, whether it's the acai or the tea leaf or white musk, really seems to alter the jasmine's behavior in a very good way. This is the part where I say that if jasmine is an iffy note for you, try this one anyway!

Overall this has a sort of mysterious and layered Asian tea/floral vibe to it. The acai and tea leaf go so well with the florals. This doesn't really come across as too fruity or too floral and I think the tea and white musk really pull their weight in preventing that. Gorgeous and sexy and it sticks around for a long time with very little morphing!

Something about this is very regal, stately, antique, glowing. It positively glitters with hues of orange, red, and gold. I get a sort of amber-orange incense; almost sweet, almost feminine, almost candy-like, but definitely glowing amber. The lilac really pops through as a sweet, watery floral and the wood and frankincense really add a nice depth.

This starts out as a dusty, dry sandalwood and linen. It's almost sharp to the nose, but only until the oil dries. Then it gains a touch of mustiness before it sort of lightens into a more ethereal and sweet linen-like scent. That is most likely the hyssop's contribution.

I find this blend both beautiful and creepy. It stuck around for quite a while and once it settled it seemed to stay true with no further morphing. I don't get any sort of sharpness or laundry-like reminders in this at all. It's really nuanced and evocative in terms of all the subtleties of the linen sheet, woods, floral, and the creepy story behind Sir Hugh Ockram.

This might be among my favorites from Act V. It's all beeswax at first, but it quickly gives way to a touch of dry leather. The leather is subtle in comparison to the beeswax but the two meld together in a truly unique way. In the background, there is almost a touch of smokiness. The woods add a nice base and I really love the way the nutmeg sort of gives this blend a nice roundness.

This has a long wear length and average throw. The beeswax and leather together is seriously amazing and I can't express that enough. Also, for those that liked Pumpkin Smash, you might want to check this one out.

This is an herbal-rose-chamomile scent on me, with an almost incensey and powdery accent. There's a sort of watery floral vibe and I do get a cool hint of juniper that peeks in and out of things. This is one of those sort of ethereal yet strong feminine blends. Lunar. Glowing. It's truly beautiful, but it's so hard to really pin down in terms of reviewing it.

This is a very rich and warm vanilla but it keeps from turning too foody or cookie-like by the dryness of the spices. The clove and cinnamon sort of insert themselves into the vanilla which keeps them from being too strong or too faint. The pine sap is really fascinating. It adds a nice little earthy, dark bite to it yet remains a nuanced effect in comparison to the clove, cinnamon, and vanilla. I'd say this is definitely going to be a hit. Long wearlength and strong throw.

This one completely floored me. It is so freaking amazing and it's like nothing I've ever smelled before. It is positively luminous—a glowing, brilliant green pulpy swampy violet with a hint of mint. Ethereal. Fleeting. It is a work of art, pure and simple.

This has a sort of creamy-color to the overall scent, if that makes sense. I imagine dry crumbling parchment and brimstone, but then those are sort of contrasted by the daemonorops and the deep and juicy red musk which happens to be much more subdued than it normally is in a blend. The benzoin and incense add a resinous and atmospheric quality but here is where it gets interesting. Something about the way all of these various notes intermingle give off an almost blood orange-like quality. It's a little elusive and not extremely noticeable, but I keep finding it here and there. I can't think of anything to compare this to, but it's really worth checking out. The parchment doesn't go too dry and the red musk doesn't amp too much. It's lovely.

OMG. I have a soft spot for musks and resins and this one brings the musk. The black musk is so smooth and dark, almost shiny and ink-like. There is a soft oakmoss and wood accent to the musk that is really beautiful. I can't quite tell if it's the pimiento berry or the petitgrain that adds a slight woodsy-herbal aspect to this. This smells so different than I imagined and it is certain to age well considering the musk.

This is a beautiful rose incense. The woods and resins are gentle and well-blended and the rose is soft. It almost reminds me of Parlement of Foules but this one is better. I can't quite place which resins are in this but it's gorgeous. It wears well both on the skin and as a room scent. Just as Sarada said, resin and incense blends really drew me into BPAL and this one is a stunning new offering.

I pretty much love resins enough to roll around in them. The Blasphemare Reliquary is soooo gorgeous, and not just because I love resins. The combination of these particular resins with the damascus rose is just amazing and it's like nothing I've ever smelled before.

The rose is so subdued and diffuse; it's there but it seems to wind its way around the various resins in an almost ghostly fashion. The myrrh adds a nice darkness and the other resins are more atmospheric, complex, sticky, and warm. This could almost have a church-like vibe to it due to the resins, but it's not quite there; it's softer and darker in some ways and the ghostly rose is beautiful. This smells so good on me, but I bet it's a fantastic room scent as well.

This is a really, really beautiful leather blend. The leather is unlike any other leather blend that I can think of. Instead of being a sultry and strong leather, it is instead a smooth, papery, pale leather that is more subdued and yet still quintessentially leather. I really can't get enough of it. Beyond that, there is a touch of palm and greenery that evokes images of moist rainforest foliage. The moistness is there for that part of it and it really counters the dryness of the tanned leather. Lovely, warm throw and long wear-length.

Bezoar has a nice, warm, rounded quality to it. It definitely has a balsam vibe, though I am unfamiliar with the Copaiba and Tolu so I don't know which I'm smelling more of. I know that there is a golden, gleaming, sinister quality to this that I attribute to the way the hay and cardamom mingle with the balsams. And of course, there is a nice and smooth wood base in there.

I can't quite put my finger on what this reminds me of, if anything. There is just something about this blend that is both creepy and yet comforting. It's so warm and dry from the hay and cardamom and I really can't think of anything else that smells remotely like this. It's one to be experienced and it's one that I am willing to bet will grow on people. I already like it more after a second test run...

I am hit with hemp and fennel to begin with, and the fennel really amps up for the first handful of minutes. Once it settles, though, I get more of a dry and crumbly old and yellowed parchment-like paper. It's not quite dusty but it's got that dry, aged feel to it. There are a lot of herbs in here and none of them really stands out over the other; they sort of mingle around with the paper. The only exception is the opening of fennel and the closing of dried lavender. I can pick those out of the rest of them. This blend sort of has an ancient, magical quality to it but there's a mysteriousness there. I haven't tried this as a room scent but I bet it's a good one.

I have to admit upfront that vetiver is my biggest scent nemesis. Moving beyond the fact that this won't work on my skin, the vetiver and smoke aspect is really intriguing. There's a burnt sort of smoky woodsy aspect that melds with the vetiver, and as time passes there is more of a metallic orange-red blood aspect that comes out from underneath everything else. This is one of those blends that truly hits the concept and it sort of creeps me out. In a good way, of course.

The vanilla musk and chrome are what I notice the most in this. It has a light, sweet, cool vibe to the blend and the chrome is just metallic enough without being too sharp. I think the white tea pairs well with the chrome and they each seem to enhance the other; it's almost as if they are on the same sort of scent frequency. I do get a touch of the white amber and gardenia, especially at the beginning, but they are subtle nuances behind the vanilla musk.

I can't quite figure out what this reminds me of but it is cooler and lighter and cleaner than I had imagined. Anyone who loves the notes in this is going to love this. It's a very refined and nuanced clean metallic tea with vanilla floral and resins. Lovely.

This starts out as an almost salty ozone. There is just a touch of rain in there and I imagine dark clouds rolling in and a feeling of tension in the air. Just as soon as the oil dries, though, the ozone mellows out and takes on a lower pitch. At that point I start to really smell the incense smoke and opium tar. The opium tar has a dark, gummy quality to it and the smoke really does have a cool, bruised purple vibe to it. I can't really verbalize what the wormwood is like but it's in there, too. There seems to be a bit of a clear, crystalline brightness that shoots through this, even amidst the wormwood, opium tar, and smoke.

This has a good throw and the ozone aspect of it doesn't dominate. I really love the opium tar and smoke in this. It's cool, sweet, dark, and tumultuous amongst the charged rainclouds.

This is gorgeous, gorgeous. The fig hits me right off and it has a sort of sweet, sensual earthiness to it that is enhanced by the sweet orange. The redwood sits right behind the fig and doesn't come off as too strong or dry. As the scent settles, the amber is more noticeable and it adds a nice resinous, golden warmth to the fig. The dark myrrh and black musk remain a light nuance in the background but they definitely deepen this blend.

This has a long wear-length and about an average throw for my skin. Once it all settles and the amber, myrrh, and musk come forward a bit, the blend no longer morphs as it fades off. There is no powdery quality or anything of the sort. It's just a sensual, rounded, earthen fig blend with beautiful resins, a touch of sweet orange, and a touch of wood. Lovely!

Marianne is drop dead sexy. It has a dark red vibe to it and is mostly red musk and patchouli, but there is also a slight touch of juicy black currant that peeks through. The orchid is a bit dusky and is in line with the rest of the notes, but the mimosa, bergamot, and lotus sort of counter balance it. I can definitely smell the mimosa in there, though the bergamot and lotus are more elusive to my nose.

Overall this is a very demanding and confident blend. It's sexy, sultry, a bit dark, and very hypnotic.

Screaming Mandragora is a blend that is very much like its namesakes. It starts out strong and very distinct and as it dries it builds into a very quick fever pitch: very loud and a bit sharp. Then, just as quickly as it peaked, it mellows down into a smooth blend that sits close to my skin but sticks around for quite a while.

The first thing I smell in this is coconut. It's almost a darker coconut and there is a dry but smooth wood powder that is paired with it, possibly cedar. This is the fever pitch and just when I thought the wood would take over the blend, it nearly pulled a disappearing act. At that point, the blend is very smooth and a bit mellow. There's an earthy, rooty quality that is not patchouli or vetiver but it invokes the feeling of earth and dirt and twisted roots. There is a touch of greenness and muskiness and something almost fruity and red, yet it is not a typical berry-like scent and it remains subtle and masked. The woody, coconut aspect is still present through all of that, but it's very subdued and lends itself well to the earthiness.

Lovely, lovely blend and I wish I could get this in spades but instead I will cherish my imp. =)

Pepper got my attention at will call. She's very uncharacteristic of my usual favorites, but I want her around anyway. There's an overall sense of vibrance and spunk to this scent, probably from the ginger and pink pepper. This smells pink, but it's a coral-pink and the florals are kind of a soft medley behind the ginger and pepper. The vanilla really rounds this out and warms it, the honey adds a touch of earthy natural sweetness, and the blood orange adds a bit more oomph to this spunky little scent. Beautiful!

Exactly as described! It is fresh, clean, and cotton-like. I don't find it sharp at all, and it lends an overall lightness and softness to my mood. It's like the best smelling sweet cotton laundry you will ever smell in your life, but at the same time... I don't find it too laundry-like or soapy to be worn as a perfume, for those that like clean scents. There's almost a fruit-floral undertone that keeps this from getting too high-pitched and soapy. I like what was said somewhere above me: that this is like Dirty's more sophisticated cousin.

The East is a surprise hit. It's got a fairy feel to it, and there is an overall light and tea-like vibe with soft, gentle florals. The florals are sort of sweet and ethereal. There's a brief bit of smooth mint to accent the tea and florals, and the red currant gives off a nice jolt of vibrant red into this cool and airy blend. There's a wispy quality to this that I just love and it keeps the florals from becoming too floral, if that makes sense. It's well blended because no single note seems to dominate for very long and overall it is really unique and soft.

Stormhold is looming and dark, with cold smooth stone surfaces and clutches of moss hanging from crevices in it. There is a strong sense of stone and sharp rain and those two things seem to be the most prominent in this blend. This is so dead on that it's almost surreal. Perfectly evocative and atmospheric. It really gives off the exact feeling I had of Stormhold when I read the book.