edenssixthday

The Elephantine Colossus - This is pretty! Tons and tons of red musk, a hint of sweet, frothy root beer, and underneath it, all sorts of foodylicious yumminess. I can't hardly ever wear the sweet, foody scents, especially not those with baked goods and caramel, but somehow, this works, and it works well! I do get a hint of the popcorn, which is actually a note I enjoy, but not as a perfume, so I love that it's in this scent, but light enough to just catch faint traces of it here and there. I really like this a lot. I wish it were a bath oil so I could bathe in it!

The White Lady of Durand Eastman Park - This is one that based on the ingredient list alone, I figured could go either way on me. It opens up with a blast of narcissus and bergamot, which would typically be death on me, but the other notes underneath creep up around the edges and make me think perhaps it's something I'll end up liking after all. Once the scent dries down, the narcissus and bergamot ease back significantly and give the white tea and tobacco flower a chance to step up, and it's very, very pretty after all. The jasmine bud is present and while identifiable as jasmine, it's not OMG JASMINE. Rather, it's soft and gentle, almost watery and wispy, and it blends gorgeously with the white tea. While it opens up like the sharp stomp of someone's combat boot on your face, upon drydown it turns out to be quite wispy and ethereal, very pretty, and reminds me of The Unicorn not necessarily in the way it smells, but in its overall feel.

Pumpkin Latte - I can't believe I haven't reviewed this yet since it was the Halloweenie I was most excited about and the first I tried. It's awesome! It smells just like a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. It's full of sweet, creamy coffee, sweetened with pumpkin syrup and spiced with lots of cinnamon. Foody scents don't usually work on me, and I was afraid this one would have that plasticky edge that most sweet scents get on my skin, but it's perfect. It remains true throughout the life of the scent. It doesn't last as long as I like on my skin, but in a scent locket, it smells amazing all day long and makes me crave a visit to Starbucks.

The Infernal Lover - This is predominantly a red musk on me. I don't smell much of the honey, just enough to sweeten the musk a bit. It's pretty, but when I want red musk, Hollywood Babylon still does me just fine.

The Creeping Mist - This is a beautiful scent. There's nothing "ill-omened" about it at all! It's a clean, watery, bright floral. The lotus does not turn bubblegummy on me as it can often do. The linden and yuzu are definitely the strongest notes - a soft, pretty floral that I love blending with a bright citrus that I normally can't stand somehow works amazingly well on me. There's the faintest trace of rooty orris that grounds the scent and keeps it from floating off my skin. It's really, really lovely.

BTMEN - This smells like violets and day-old roadkill. It's really gross.

Gothic Horror - This is mostly dusty incense and oud on my skin. I don't smell any of the sweet benzoin or my lovely, favorite myrrh, or any clove of any sort. It's just a dry, incense scent, and a pretty generic incense at that. I do get a Gothic church feel from it, like standing in a 13th century Gothic cathedral that contains the ghosts of the scents of bygone centuries.

Plum - I should just quote Invidiana's review word-for-word, starting with the thanks to SDB for the testable sniffy of this, moving on to the way plum is usually thick and and slightly smoky on me. I definitely expected the same plum that I've grown to love in Hellion v2 and Mme. Moriarty. And just like Invidiana, I expected the delicious dark juiciness I love, but instead, I get something kind of floral. There's a trace of the plum I love, but it's far in the background. It's also got a plasticky, synthetic edge to it. Boo to you, Plum SN! I'm going to just stick with the plum scents I love.

The Ferris Wheel - This is less about the metal of the actual ferris wheel (although there is metal and maybe some grease in there) and more about the fresh-air experience of riding a ferris wheel, and feeling a warm summer day's breeze on your skin and the scent of summer flowers in the air and even a hint of sweat on your skin. It doesn't seem scary enough for a Carnaval Diabolique scent. I'll be interested to see if the released version is a touch more evil than this proto.

PW7 - This is a citrus/ice/mint scent. It's sweet and actually smells kind of like a lemon slushie topped off with a sprig of fresh mint from the garden. Because of the sweet citrus, it definitely reminds me more of a hot summer day type scent that cools you off with it's refreshing scent. It's an awesome scent and I kind of think I love it.

The Ides of March 2009 - I used to hate iris until I discovered BPAL's iris note, which I love. However, the first thing I smell in this is the gross, bitter iris that I am used to smelling in commercial perfumes. Right behind that is the bergamot, which is another note that tends to not play nicely on my skin, and it's also smelling bitter. There's a the faintest hint of rosemary, but I don't smell any of the other notes I would have expected such as the lemon rind, balsam, benzoin, or amber. It's pretty much a bitter iris-bergamot mix backed up with a hint of rosemary. Definitely not for me.

The Lady on the Grey - This opens up with the soft, delicate scent of the pale petals mentioned in the scent description. It's a pretty and ethereal floral and I think I smell some light resins beneath the layer of flower petals, but then WHAM!!! it suddenly and instantly turns to soap. Gross, floral soap that's been sitting in an old lady's guest bathroom soap dish for way too long. Ick.

SGR4 - I have a barely testable sniffy of this, so I may not be getting the full experience, but I don't smell the same notes as ZZ does above. I do smell the green musk (love it!) and the general "greenness" of the scent, but I don't smell juniper (which I love) and I don't smell grass (which I tend to dislike). I think there may be a hint of white mint and dirt in it. It's simultaneously earthy and ethereal. It's also a bit on the sweet side, but not in a foody way. It's an interesting scent, and something I would have been interested in trying more of it if it were released.

Anjali v3 - This is absolutely the most gorgeously perfect winter scent. When it's wet, it's a sugary-sweet evergreen scent, as if a pine or fir tree has been laden with sugared berries. As the scent warms up on my skin, the sweet fruit note becomes identifiable as plum, but I still think there may be some berries in there with it. The evergreen remains the base of the scent, but when it warms up on my skin, spices become identifiable. I'm not sure what spices -- other reviewers have mentioned clove and ginger, which could be possible, except clove tends to amp on my skin and it's not doing it in this blend. No matter what, it's a gorgeous sweet-fruit, spice, and evergreen scent that's so amazingly gorgeous and absolutely the perfect winter scent. I'm adding a bottle to my wishlist right now!

Cesky Krumlov v1 - Dry woods and incense, maybe a bit of white sandalwood, and bitter (but nice) herbs, and maybe a bit of dust and/or stone. It has an old feel about it, and actually reminds me a lot of the smell of Kostnice (the place, the not the discontinued BPAL scent).

Lilith's Tea Party - There is nothing about this that should have gone wrong on me, but while it starts out with the scent of sweet tea, cake, and strawberry, it quickly turns to plastic on my skin, which is sooo sad because it's a tea scent that I just love at first, and those are rare.

Ginger Skulls - I was hoping this would be more ginger and less everything else. Rather, it's mostly quince on me, with a hint of sweet pear, and the barest trace of spicy ginger. It's very sweet in a candied way, and something in it sadly gains a bit of a plastic-like on my skin after only a few minutes of wear. After 45 minutes, I can't find a trace of it on my skin. It fades quickly.

Sibyl - I am sooo grateful to my WeHo angel for having the opportunity to try this. It is one of the prettiest BPALs of the year, if not of all time. I it so much! The Egyptian musk and vanilla are the strongest notes on me and they blend beautifully. The honey is thankfully not the one that smells like poopy diapers on me! It's not strong, but gives the scent a hint of sweetness that the vanilla can't do on its own. The mandarin lends the scent just the right amount of brightness, and the tea rose is faint, but gives the scent the faintest hint of dry powderiness (in a good way!) It's mostly the Egyptian musk and vanilla, though, and it's heavenly. Absolutely heavenly.

Spawn of the She-Devil v1 - On me, the red musk dominates the blend. Not far behind it is a dark or black musk and the dry, earthy scent of coconut husk. Black musk usually doesn't smell good on me, and sadly, this is no exception. I was hoping the other notes would overpower it, but it just smells "off" on me because of the black musk. The red musk and coconut would have awesome, though, if the black musk hadn't tainted them.

CT V (O): CCLX (260) - This is a stunningly beautiful scent. It's definitely got the base of O, but there's not so much in it that it turns to plastic on my skin, as O tends to do. Its top note is a spicy resin scent -- like a perfect balance of myrrh and ginger, perhaps? As it mellows on my skin, something faintly green pops up its head, but an hour later it's completely gone. For most of the life of the scent, it's a warm, golden, resinous scent with a hint of O's amber and honey. It's really, really beautiful - one of the prettiest CT's I've encountered.

Independent - Champagne! I love BPAL's champagne scents and this one is awesome! It's an effervescent, sweet champagne with a touch of citrus, kind of like a mimosa that's heavy on the champagne and light on the OJ. Oh, it's sweet, juicy, fizzy love. I tried it at a MnS and have never owned any myself. I wish I had some to wear right now!

GOP - I like a lot of woody scents, but this one just smelled dank and awful. It's heavy, rotting wood. There's nothing sweet or cologne-like in it on my skin. It's just icky, heavy, rotting wood.

Tricksy - This is an awesome patchouli scent. It's really heavy on the patchouli and is strongly woody, like an autumnal bonfire but without the smoke. I get very little honey, just enough to sweeten it a touch. It reminds me a lot of an earthier, woodier, less-sweet Samhain, with which Tricksy would layer gorgeously.

Slaugh - One of the best BPALs of all time! It opens up with a strong, sweet root beer scent, which I absolutely love, but as it warms up on my skin, the tonka bean and it's golden buttery, vanillic scent really comes out, blends with the earthy champaca (or is that the tea?) and turns into sweet and warm wonderfulness that's a million times better than just the sassafras on its own. It doesn't last as long as I'd like, but it's worth reapplying. This is a massively huge winner for me.

Wad of Chewed Up Strawberry Bubblegum - The label on my imp also does not say "strawberry", just "Wad of Chewed Up Bubblegum." This opens up with a blast of super-sweet, sugary, Bazooka bubble gum. And then it quickly dissolves into the scent of sharp, medicinal Pepto Bismol, after which the mint in it becomes really overwhelming...and then the entire scent dissipates within 30 minutes. There's absolutely nothing strawberryish about this. It's a huge disappointment. I was hoping for something like the Lolita prototype with strawberry.