whitsunweddings

In the imp: Plum, maybe the tiniest hint of Christmas spices.

Wet: Ooh, getting a hint of pastry. Very rich and fruity. Noms.

Dry: Aww bum. An odd mix of red gummy fruits (as BPAL's plum note seems to like morphing into on me), spices and pastry. Would probably have been a bottle purchase if it had stayed like the wet stage, alas!

In the imp: Et chaque fois, les feuilles mortes! Ahem. Dead leaves!

Wet: The leaves mixed with a vague sweetness.

Dry: I really like this. A crisp, foresty smell with a gentle sweetness wafting in the background.

An hour later: Belugh. The leaves disappear and it's just a nast generic sweet smell. Quelle bummer.

In the imp: Spices. Kind of warm, kind of soapy.

Wet: A pretty and somewhat syrupy spice cabinet kind of scent.

Dry: A very sweet and complex spiciness. I'm not entirely sure that it's 'me'... and yet there's something compelling about it, and I'll definitely be looking for a bottle. Another convert, I guess!

In the imp: That wonderful artificial cherry flavour.

Wet: (My baby likes...) Buttered popcorn, with what my mind interpets as 'artifical red flavour'.

Dry: Yeah, salted cherry. Odd, this one.

In the imp: Grape!

Wet: I wonder if this is the same note as Daphne Honey, which also smells a lot like grape... 'cause yeah, at the moment this is wine/floral/honey thing. Nice though.

Dry: A nice mixture of wine, honey and herbs.

Oh dear.

In the imp: Hmm, not promising. Zingy ginger and mothbally jasmine.

Wet: Gross. This honestly just smells like flyspray.

Dry: Burning rubber and flyspray. This is the first BPAL scent to make actively nauseous. I had to scrub it off after a few minutes.

In the imp: Lovely foody ginger and dark chocolate, oddly.

Wet: Like some amazing dessert featuring ginger and chocolate. YUM.

Dry: We have these massively popular biscuits here called Gingernuts, and this is like one of those, but AMAZING. And with chocolate. This is lovely, but proabbly too strong for daily wear - the throw is epic, but could probably kill a man at 30 paces.

Half an hour later: Has settled to a very sweet and spicy ginger, similar to Eclipse, and thus not unlike the pink sparkly ChiChi spray I wore in high school. I really do like this one.

In the imp: Definitely getting the milk and tea... and also a kind of funky, murky note that I take to be the 'mildewed coat'.

Wet: Strong 'mildew' and tobacco. Very masculine.

Dry: I get hints of the tea, tobacco, and milk, but the mildewed note is dominant on me. I really like the concept, but this is just too masculine for me. Also, it lasts for aaages - I put it on at 3 in the afternoon and could smell it at 10 the next morning.

In the imp: Almond, rose and orange. Lovely.

Wet: Fragrant orange and rose dominant, with slightly foody almond in the background. Makes me peckish for cake.

Dry: Really nice. Zingy and sweet orange with lovely spices, and the same rose note from my beloved Knave of Hearts in the background. Gorgeous!

In the imp: Sweet sweet sweeeet patchouli.

Wet: Patchouli, myrrh, honey, something a bit cologney.

Dry: A sweet but rather masculine mix of patchouli and sugary myrrh.

In the imp: Lime and grapefruit most prominent, with maybe a hint of peppermint chocolate. Smells like candy, or that blast of scent you get when you walk into the bodyshop.

Wet: Delicious. Mostly citrus, but I get lavender and mint as a nice herbal counterpart.

Dry: Beautiful fruity goodness, sort of like a much sweeter Catherine. This would have been bottle-worthy, but I found its staying power to be a little weak.

In the imp: Musky spice.

Wet: Something quite woodsy, mixed with spice.

Dry: Very sweet musk with a slight spiciness. This reminded me quite a bit of Morocco. My family actually complained when I wore this, so yeah.

In the imp: Sweet sweet sweet pumpki.

Wet: Pumpkin and amber.

Dry: Like an intensely sweet Jack, with a hint of tropical fruit.

In the imp: Licorice allsorts (which are pretty much just licorice and sugar), with a hint of cherry blossom.

Wet: Yup.

Dry: The same. A lovely little mix that didn't morph at all.

In the imp: Dirt... and peanuts?

Wet: Dirty peanuts, but also some perfume.

DryL The perfume and dirt are nice notes seperately, but together they really do smell like peanuts.

Half an hour later: The peanut smell is gone and I get a perfume scent (maybe a bit incensey, a bit spicy), mixed with rich dirt. Not bad.

In the imp: I'm not familiar with pennyroyal, but this honestly smells just likes peppermint candy.

Wet: The mint has gone a bit more herbal.

Dry: Just strong mint on me, no lavender at all. Would probably be good on a dude, but I might just think that because it reminds me of my breathmint-loving grandfather. Also, my cat went nuts when I wore this, so I looked it up and pennyroyal is in the same family as catnip. It's also toxic to kitties! So be sure not to let them lick you while you're wearing this.

In the imp: I can't pick out any specific notes, but it's dark, fruity, incensey.

Wet: Quite herbal.

Dry: A herby plum thing. Didn't really work on me.

In the imp: Sour bubblegum?

Wet: Yup.

Dry: A weird honey and rose thing (those are two of my favourite notes, so you'd think I'd love this). Quite sour, and yet soapy. I didn't get any herbs.

In the imp: Patchouli and cypress.

Wet: Cypress dominant, with the plum coming out a bit.

Dry: My arch-nemesis ambergris has appeared. DUN DUN DUN. It's not too bad though - mostly plum and matcha.

In the imp: Smells like feijoa.
Wet: It's doing that weird optical illusion-like (olfactory illusion?) thing that Black Hellebore Honey did. I can tell that it's white florals and honey, but at the same time it smells just like feijoa.
Dry: The feijoa buggers off and it becomes a really nice sweet white floral. Probably my second favourite (after my beloved Daphne Honey) that I've tried thus far of the Rappaccini's Apiary blends.

In the imp: Intense sweetness.

Wet: Honey and amber. So sweet!

Dry: Reminds me a lot of Possets The Girls Love Vanilla. I can see why so many people like it, but idk, it's just a bit sweet for me.

In the imp: Jasmine and rose.

Wet: Yup, incense coming out a bit. Sweet and nice.

Dry: There's a floral note that I don't recognise (moonflower, perhaps? that's quite reminiscent of ozone. It's not mixing well with the jasmine, which has gone all mothbally (as it's wont to do). The rose note is nice, but otherwise pretty meh.

My death row meal would probably be sushi followed by a good strong cup of tea, so I had to try this.

In the imp: Seems to be mostly wasabi. Quite medicinal.

Wet: Spicy black tea.

Dry: A sweet, vaguely medicinal, soapy thing. It's quite nice though - the wasabi is more vegetabley than pure spice, and it mixes with the sweet black tea quite well.

In the imp: Pure violet. Very pretty!

Wet: Yup!

Dry: A very pretty and understated floral. I'll be keeping my imp.

In the imp: I think this is the first 'dirt' scent I've tried, and I'm amazed by how true it is. I get evergreens too.

Wet: Mostly evergreen, with hints of rich, fruity earth. This reminds me quite a bit of the 'Down The Rabbit Hole' atmo spray.

Dry: Dirt and woods. Really nice! I'm going to try this as a room scent, so I can make my house smell like an ~enchanted forest.