Mountaingrrl00

At first sniff, this smells like fire, complete with a bit of sulphur - reminding me of Fire Eater from the old Carnaval Noir series, one that was admirably novel but not that wearable. The only note I can pick out is frankincense. It didn't appeal to me, and it was the last of my current batch of decants to test. I'd been looking forward to it a lot and was afraid I'd be disappointed. Once on my skin, though, it blooms into this amazing, warm, festive mix. If I look at the description, I can identify the beeswax smoothly underlying everything. The oak bark is very smooth-smelling. The saffron and bergamot are bright and sunny, the vanilla orchid and ambrette warm and creamy. The frankincense is no longer sharp now, but more like a soft resinous perfume. As someone who loves Midnight Mass and Jacob's Ladder, I love Thousands of Lights even more. So so beautiful.

I love this! It starts out aromatic and juicy on me, fruity-floral in a rich, exotic way. I think that's the davana and plum at the forefront, mixing with the smoky and resinous blend in the background. Something in here reminds me of sandalwood -- maybe that's the Spanish moss? It's a very seductive scent altogether, with its deliciousness and depth and softness. The fruitiness recedes a little over time, but this isn't much of a morpher on me. This is on its way to becoming one of my very favorites.

Reminds me so much of Emeraude! I looked up the notes and confirmed that my nose was onto something - it's the bergamot-vanilla-jasmine-amber combination that's giving me that association. It's super strong on me, and very vanillic. Powdery-sweet, musky, sex-kittenish.

This is my kind of perfumey scent. It goes on strong, with a very heady opium and blast of clove that's like a traditional spicy-gourmand perfume. It has a lot of throw initially Even with the strength of the beginning it comes across as complex. The orris reveals itself next, dry and delicate and still sweetened by the clove. It dries down soft and musky and has tremendous staying power, but ends up closer to the skin. For me it's an evening, winter kind of scent, wonderful for being dressed-up and festive.

Sentimental Initiation is strong on the clove and not too sweet.

How about Morocco? It's resiny and creamy but not too heavy, and it doesn't smell at all like medicine.

I got Orata's sniffie, and I really like it. It's clean musky grapefruit and, yes, grapefruit peel, at first. The drydown reminds me of Jacob's Ladder although they don't share a single listed note.

I'm someone who can't wear rosewood, and I seem to bump into it quite a bit! BPAL-wise, the strongest rosewood note I've encountered was in Kostnice, a GC scent that was discontinued. It's also in Seance, Libertine, Endymion, Dee and Ave Maria Gratia Plena.

I love spicy scents. I don't usually like sassafras, and BPAL's sugar scents often don't agree with me, but somehow this all works on my skin. It's like wearable spice bread without any of my butter/pastry notes of doom. I can't really pick out the plum at all, but it's yummy just the same.

Sometimes you just can't go by the written descriptions. I never would have considered buying this or even getting a sniffy. Except for the leather, there's not a note in Dwarf that would have appealed to me. And soot-covered? Ick! Or so I assumed, until I actually sniffed this and fell in love. (Thank goodness for Meet & Sniffs.) In the vial: rich, tangy and somehow familiar. It reminds me of the barn and tool shed behind the house I grew up in. And of summer air after a good rain -- but for once it doesn't give me an ozone headache. I guess it's the "chips of stone" I'm smelling. The leather is like the kind in Kroenen, very butch. The tang is prominent. On wet: There's something so charged and alive about it. And also nuzzly, now that the leather scent has gotten softer. Dry on skin: a very appealing shiny-smooth metallic note, and something deliciously earthy. I get an after-the-rain association again, but this time there's earth and plants involved. This is so sexy it might get me into RPG.

The Vampire Bride goes through a blood phase on me.

The black soil element attracted me to this one. It's rich and true, and really prominent at first sniff in the vial. Wet on skin, I get tart pomegranate too. The Lab's pomegranate has been hit-or-miss with me, sometimes going too candyish or fizzy, but here it's naturally tart and tannic, blending nicely with the soil. There's a light herbal-honeylike note on drydown, which I take to be the asphodel and wonder-flowers. The scent doesn't last long on me, but I sure enjoy it while it does.

Araw Ng Mga Patay has a lovely true banana/banana-leaf note that lasts pretty well.

This smells amazing - it has not just the sweetness but the musky and floral qualities of real honey. The strength and throw aren't excessive, and it didn't clash with my perfumes. The gloss itself didn't work as well as I'd hoped on my long, coarse, curly hair -- it felt silky going on, but left my hair feeling dry later in the day. I'll find a better home for it and stick with coconut oil and Mead Moon!

Busting out the Calaveras here.

I can't stop huffing my wrist. This is so mysterious and compelling. In the vial: Soft and grey and otherworldly. I get the aquatic vibe, except I don't have the words for it. It's a rain/mist/fog kind of aquatic, not the marine/waterlily/citrus kind I'm used to at all. Wet on wrist: Sharper, greener. Moss and violet leaf. Dry: Soft slightly sweet wet violets, soft greenery and deep secret resins.

This is mostly strong cinnamon and nutmeg on me, and that phase lasts a long time. I do get more sweet pumpkin and just a hint of coffee as it dries down. It's a warm, simple comfort scent I imagine will be a nice pick-me-up on certain winter days.

Smells like a walk through a tropical nursery -- banana leaves, then creamy, waxy flowers, then a ripe, burnt-sugar scent, followed by the scent of dry autumn leaves outdoors. Very pretty and unusual. Edited to add: dries down to a warm and sweet vanilla-caramel scent. Stays close to the skin.

Is there anything with violet and anise?

The plum in Snooty Rose is marvelous. Rich and aromatic but still bright from the bergamot. Romanti.Goth is my favorite dark plum scent -- not so available, though.

THE CHINESE DANCE Green and black tea, King mandarin, violet, blackcurrant, and wormwood. First impressions: citrus, clean, green, fresh, sparkly, gender-neutral. No particular note dominates. The teas are definitely present but they balance each other out, so the black tea isn't too astringent and the green tea isn't too powdery. In some ways this smells light and summery, but there's also a deeper scent underneath that's herbal and earthy. Wet on skin: there's more sweetness from the mandarin and violet now, and at the same time the sharpness of the tea comes forward. I still have a strong "fresh, sparkly" impression. Dry on skin: I love that the slight bit of fruitiness is still lingering. I think that may be the wormwood as well as or instead of the king mandarin. It's both citrusy and green, in the way litsea cubeba is. The green tea is soft. There's a slightly bitter earthiness that blends in with everything else in a way I like. It lingers as an earthy tea for a long time. Some of the complexity fades, but not the refreshing quality.

For a leafy fig tree scent, try Strangler Fig. If you like it mellower and warmer, try Intrigue. Biwa is my favorite not-too-sweet black currant BPAL.

Try this thread: http://www.bpal.org/topic/15581-best-iris-scent/

The Unsteady Governess is doing nicely in the hot weather.

In the vial I get ozone and metal. On my skin, it warms up to a soft, green resin scent. It actually reminds me a lot of Midnight Mass, but a bit lighter.