Nicnivin

I love the lush greenness of this scent! Although sandalwood was dominant in the bottle, the ivy takes centre stage on my skin, but its damp brightness is grounded by the rich sandalwood in the background. It's a soft, quiet scent that reminds me of ancient swathes of ivy crawling across castle ruins.

So, I love this. For me to say that is very odd indeed, as I tend to abhor sweet, foodie scents, and Dorian is among my most despised scents in the BPAL library. That said, although this has a scattering of cookie crumbs, the ash and herbs offset any sweetness, and just evoke a warm, soft memory of childhood, namely the experience of rooting through one of those Danish butter biscuit tins while sitting by the fireside. Although it goes on sweet-ish, that sugary note fades quickly and all that remains is warmth, and the traces left by an ancestor's ghost after they've walked through the parlour for a quick visit. This is definitely a "ghost of Christmas past" scent for me, and one that I'd happily wear at Yuletide.

My husband is very fond of this scent, but I just can't warm up to it. At all. That "madness" described by others basically translates to bug spray and foot odour with a hint of cat pee in a dark, wet cave, at least to my olfactory system. I'd have to lump this in with Troll as a scent that's rather fascinating, but nausea inducing.

We managed to get hold of a bottle of this that someone was selling on the trading post, and oh. my. gods. I don't know whether the fact that it has aged for several years has mellowed it out or not, but this is one of the sexiest scents I have ever come across in my entire life. My husband is an even bigger BPAL fanatic than I am, and his usual go-tos for sexy man-scents are Kroenen and Fighter, but this? Thisssss. It's what I imagine Bill from True Blood would smell like. The leather is prominent, but soft, and sharpened nicely by the sage and sweetgrass. I can't stop smelling him.

Dark, sharp, and malevolent. This is exactly how I imagined Black Annis would be, and it did not disappoint at ALL. Upon first application, the sharpness of the civet and vetiver took centre stage, but those faded quickly as the oak leaf and anise shone through. As it dried, the anise softened and the overall perfume became what I could only imagine would be the scent of dry, lonely bones languishing in the blackness of a desolate cave. This is the scent I will wear when working with Morrighan, once leaves have fallen from the trees and Annis herself is walking the woods once again.

This is one of the most gorgeous aquatics I've ever come across. Ever. My husband found a decant of it through the BPAL trading post, and picked it up knowing how much I love aquatic scents... and I couldn't be happier. Although I love Cthulhu for its murky depth and Egle for its multi-faceted whispers, The Octopus and the Abalone Diver is a high-pitched, ethereal aquatic that seems like a softer, gentler version of Oceanus from the Body Shop, which I wore religiously as a teen. Bottle: Freesia and oyster shells. Wet: Musky and salty. Notes that I couldn't quite put my finger on, but brought me back to seaside holidays when I was a child. Dry: The florals have shown up, but they're tempered by a fragrance akin to Fleur de Sel sea salt and warmed by the driftwood. This never went soapy on me, nor did it get cloyingly sweet. It's absolutely exquisite.

In the imp, it's all fresh and green and herbal with a slight floral note, but on me, it turned into powdery, soapy laundry detergent. It just doesn't work with my chemistry AT ALL. I do love how it smells out of the bottle, so I'm considering adding the oil to a water bottle and using it as a linen spray.

We bought an imp of Halfling just to try out because we love the RPG series, and I thought I'd give it a try just to see how it works on my skin. The verdict? I smell like a cookie. A delicious, warm, soft oatmeal cookie stuffed with nuts and raisins, fresh out of the oven. It's a cute scent that I might have worn 25 years ago, but in my current state of elder Goth-dom, it just ain't right. I'll pass this one along to my nieces along with Alice and Eat Me; sweet foodie scents that they love, but I just can't deal with.

It's likely just a question of something going wonky with my chemistry, but on me, this is Nanny Ashtoreth after she's taken her teeth out and put on her fuzzy wumple slippers. In the bottle, I smell the leather, wood, and berries, but on my skin? Gentle, warm wood and amber with just a whisper of florals. It disappeared within about half an hour, leaving just the tiniest gentle trace of polished wood. I'll have to give it another try at some point, but this might end up being another for my husband's collection: on him, it's all leather.

I would have loved this scent when I was a teenager, but at just shy of 40, it's too young for me. Apple dominates over all the other notes, and reminds me of a green apple shampoo that I swore by when I was in my mid teens. It's crisp and sweet, evocative of bright summer days, but it's light fruitiness just doesn't suit me at all.

A breathtakingly beautiful, mature floral. Carnation, rose, and lily work together well and create a very regal scent, while the jasmine, bergamot, and tangerines make me think of a Russian tea house. This is the scent that Anna Karenina would have worn.

By far, our most popular scent! Magnetic, mysterious, and exceedingly sexual in nature. A blend of exotic Indonesian oils sugared with vanilla. I really wanted to like this scent. I've read so many positive reviews about it that I figured I'd give it a try when I got it as a "frimp" in my last order, and it just doesn't work at ALL with my chemistry. Although my signature scent is Velvet, which has cocoa vanilla in it, the notes that are strongest on me are the myrrh and sandalwood, and woods/resins work really well on me. Snake Oil... makes me smell like a vanilla cookie rotting in an incense-filled brothel. It's cloyingly sweet, and the exotic spices, on me, give the impression of a wilted Nag Champa stick. I couldn't wash it off quickly enough.

What an incredible scent. This is so masculine, and powerful, and balances perfectly between the smoke, steel, and crisp vetiver. Fortunately the dragon's blood is just barely noticeable and "gentles" the harsher scents a bit, but this really is a strong, manly scent that's just. gorgeous. (I haven't tried it on myself, as vetiver + my body chemistry = compost heap, but on my husband? Glorious.)

Soft wood, dried rose petals, antique lace, and motes of dust caught in a sunbeam. This captures the very essence of a soft haunting; of a Grey Lady or beloved aunt who still walks a manor's halls. I'm a huge fan of rose scents, but unlike the youthful vibrance The Rose or Two, Five, Seven, this is a mature, well rounded scent that channels haunting melancholy without being dour.

This scent encompasses everything I love about Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes from the BBC series. Clear and crisp, the leather and high florals establish themselves first, followed by leather, a kiss of greasepaint, and the tiniest tobacco note. Tobacco goes far too sweet on me, but I absolutely love this scent on my husband. Sherlock has replaced Dee as my favourite scent on him.

I'd rate this a thousand stars if I could. This is the scent that the Snow Queen would wear: icy and crisp, with snowy conifers kissed with something oceanic. It's one of my favourite scents.

I would have never imagined that an orc could smell this good. When my husband told me that he was ordering an imp that smelled like zucchini, I think I arced my eyebrow into my hairline and told him he was quite mad. Fortunately, my preconceptions were unjustified: this is a gorgeous scent. On my husband, the vetiver and zucchini create a very crisp, "green" scent evocative of an early spring garden. The leather is just a subtle whisper in the background, and I'm delighted that it hasn't been sullied by the cloying sweetness so common to BPAL scents.

This is, without a doubt, one of the most perfect scents that I have ever tried. In the vial, it smelled woodsy and I could definitely smell the white tea and beeswax. Wet: pure sandalwood. It rolled around on me slickly and smelled like an occult shop. Drydown: the sandalwood faded and the oud and white tea got more assertive Dry: primarily oud, with a whisper of sandalwood in the background. A dear friend once brought me oud perfume from Bahrain, and this reminds me of that very scent. It has the crispness of forest walks in early Autumn, with just enough of an exotic kiss to be evocative of the Half-Elf. This has made it to my top 5 list, and I'll definitely order a full bottle.

I caught the mint and lilac in the bottle, but as soon as it hit my skin, it was -ALL- wisteria and tuberose. Florals and I don't always get along, and in this case, it was a monumental failure. As pretty as it might smell on others, I just can't wear it: I have a full bottle up for trade.

The most gorgeous perfume I have ever worn. Granted, sandalwood has always been a favourite of mine, but I found that the rich cocoa notes took precedence here, and I smell like I've been wrapped in a velvety (ha!) blanket of cocoa and bark. To me, the scent reminds me of an antiquarian bookshop somewhere, in which the owner is partial to dark, rich hot chocolate. It's cozy and warm and not at all dessert-ish. Absolutely gorgeous.

Rich, lustrous, decadent scent. It's deep and smoky on me, with all of the wine notes and none of the high-noted fruitiness some people have mentioned. I -love- this scent. It's a mature, sultry, feminine scent.

Winter starlight. In the bottle, it smells like chocolate mint with a slight floral kiss, and wet on my skin, the white chocolate just jumped out at me. Once dry, the tuberose and lilac came in to join with the mint, and after about half an hour, it all softened to a clear, crisp herby-floral, ethereal musk. I am in love with this perfume.