edenssixthday

Vamp.Goth - This sounded so yummy -- I love rose, opium, and leather. However, all I smell is a deep, spicy rose that's a bit dry, almost frankincensey. No opium or leather to speak of. It's nice, but I have other rose blends I like more.

Veronica - When first applied, this is absolutely stunning. It's full of juicy pomegranate, bright ylang ylang, tart black currant and the powder softness of iris. As it warms up on my skin, the dastardly lily starts to turn a little soapy on me and beneath it all, I can smell the warmth of the oakmoss grounding the bright notes. The black currant never does turn to cat pee on me, which is amazing. If I don't sniff it too close, I don't smell the soapy lily, which is good. It wafts gorgeously around me. Overall, it's a beautiful, beautiful fruity-floral, but has more depth than the average fruity-floral scent.

Ninon - My first thought is that this is a really perfumey scent. It's very strong on the honey musk, tobacco leaf, amber, and orris root. I don't smell the lavender at all (thankfully!). The rose is very subtle and the sandalwood gives it a bit of dryness that's nicely balanced by the sweetness of the vanilla. It's an expensive, heady, glamorous scent. It's got a hint of plastic about it, which is probably the way the honey musk is working with my skin chemistry, or maybe the type of vanilla. It's very, very pretty but not really my cup of tea. It's very strong and a little bit goes a very long way.

Vampire Tarot: The Lovers - This goes on as strong, heavy, wet, loamy soil. However, as it starts to warm up on my skin, the scent of baby's breath takes over and the dirt moves into the background. I absolutely adore the baby's breath -- I don't know if it's used much in BPAL, but it should be used more! It's soft and sweet and not overtly floral. It's just so pretty! It's an interesting combination, the baby's breath and soil. I'm generally not a fan of dirt scents, so this isn't something I'd ever reach for, but it's also not remotely as frightening as I initially thought it would be. I just can't get over how pretty that baby's breath note is!

Kitty - I'm not a foody, and from the get-go, this is really foody, which means, I love it when it's wet, but I can see exactly where it's going to go wrong in about 5-10 minutes after application. It starts off with an uber-sweet French vanilla and strawberries scent, reminding me of some of the various cupcake perfume oils...or a Strawberry Twinkie type scent. As it warms up on my skin, the French vanilla starts to go to plastic and the strawberry is also super-sweet and plasticky, not remotely like most of the strawberry BPALs I really love -- this strawberry is very artificial. I don't smell the orchids or sandalwood at all. The bergamot is light, and gives a bit of brightness to the scent. And then there's the honey -- it's not one of the few honey notes I can wear. It reminds me of the honey in O, which turns to plastic on my skin. This one's just not going to work for me. It's super-sweet, artifical-smelling, and plastickey. (I hope the bath salt experience is better since hopefully my skin chemistry won't be able to ruin it!)

I'm not generally a fan of bath salts -- they just don't provide an edifying bathtub experience for me the way bath oils do. However, this is BPAL, so of course I couldn't resist! I got decants of all of the Courtesan bath salts and this was the first one I tried. The salts are different sizes and very oily. The decantress I used said they arrived double-bagged from the Lab, and even so, some of the second bags were starting to leak. She double-bagged all of mine, and there was oil in the 2nd bag, so Ziploc bagging these oils is not the ideal way to ship them. The Lab should spend the extra dough on putting these salts in containers. They can be ordered at a very reasonable cost at many places online. Anyway, I used my entire 3 oz decant, but I probably could have made do with half as much. The scent is lovely -- every note is discernible and identifiable, except for the clove, which I don't smell at all. The pomegranate, pimento berry, and plum are really bright and juicy, and they're deepend by the black currant (which does smell a little sour to my nose, as it always does to me), the carnation and the patchouli. The rose adds a nice touch of sensuality to the blend. There's a light sheen of oil on top of the water in the tub, and I can feel it moisturizing my skin, but not as heavily as the bath oils do. Several hours after my bath (about 3), I can still smell the faintest trace of scent pimento, carnation, and patchouli on my skin. But it's really light. It definitely layers really well with the Lola perfume oil. As for the salts, most of them dissolve within the first five minutes, but I spent quite a while lounging around in the hot waters of my bath this morning, and after 20-25 minutes, there was a still a fine layer of gritty salt on the bottom of the tub. Not all of the salts dissolve, apparently. It wasn't uncomfortable, it just felt gritty and silty. Still, I'm looking forward to my next bathtime with one of the other Courtesan salts. I still prefer bath oils, but this makes for a nice change of pace -- mixin' it up a bit in the tub.

Lola - This goes on as a bright pomegranate/plum/patchouli scent. As it warms up, the florals come out a bit more, and sadly, the Easter lily tries really hard to ruin this scent for me. I'm just not a fan of most lily notes. Aside from that, it's super pretty and reminds me of a deeper, darker Crypt Queen. After dry-down, it's mostly a subtle mossy carnation scent, as all the fruit notes have dissippated. It's incredibly complex and very well-blended. If it weren't for that stanky lily, I'd probably want a bottle.

Anthesteria - This is a gorgeous scent in the vial and when first applied. It smells like clear, cool, ice-wine grapes and reminds me of the The Chained Phantoms, which I adore. As it warms up on my skin, the wine/grape smell becomes a background scent, and the honey becomes prominent. Unfortunately for me, it's the same honey that's used in O, which means it starts to smell plasticky even before dry-down. I don't smell the herbs at all. This will have to be a scent locket fragrance for me, as it doesn't play well with my skin chemistry due to the honey in it.

Worm Moon 2011 - I don't like dirt scents and the last Worm Moon almost made me nauseated, so it took me quite a while to work up to actually giving this one a test run from the leftovers of my group. It does go on smelling distinctly of wet dirt (not mud, just fresh, springtime, damp earth in the garden) and the tang of coppery blood. It's not bad at all. In fact, as it dries down, it gets more and more wearable, and the earth note moves into the background while the wood and blood become dominant, and I could swear there are unlisted resins in this scent (myrrh?). It starts to remind me a bit about what I love about The Midnight Carnival. There's not much leftover from my group, but what little is leftover I'm keeping and wearing. This turns out to be a really amazing, amazing warm, woody, resinous scent that's deep and rich and sophisticated. I'm completely blown away by how awesome it is, especially compared to what I expected. I can't remember the last time a BPAL blend surprised me this much.

Lord Teishin with a Demon Behind a Screen - This is full of notes that should have been a complete win on me - red musk, mandarin, tangarine, geranium, candied fruit... but it goes on smelling extraordinarily soapy and dries down to a soap-and-citrus scent. Beneath the soapiness, I smell something that tells me that this had the potential to be amazing on me, but whatever's going soapy is just going really, really wrong on my skin. So sad!

Bones Trombone - I could tell right away from the scent description that this was going to be one of those foody scents that smells SO DAMN GOOD when it's wet and then turns to plastic and dust when it's dry. Sure enough, that's exactly how things go because my skin chemistry just cannot play nice with notes like marshmallow. However, before my skin chemistry screws up the whole thing, it smells so lip-smackingly delicious. I smell a ton of sweet, juicy blueberry and a ton of thick, heavy, sticky marshmallow cream and a bit of lemon meringue. I don't really smell the pie crust at all. The hemlock gives the scent a slight bit of a medicinal scent, but it's so faint that it's kind of an interesting and unique addition to the blend. If it didn't turn so wonky on my skin, I would probably not be able to resist buying many backup bottles. It's delicious.

Knockout Drops - With the white chocolate and white mint at the forefront, this reminds me so much of my beloved Victorian Virgins with Cherubs bath oil, which I wear as a skin scent constantly. As it warms up on my skin, the absinthe and lemon meringue become a little more evident, and it's a really phenomenal scent, but the white chocolate and white mint still dominate. It's awesome to the point that I want to buy a ton of bottles and layer it with my Victorian Virgins bath oil and forsake all of my other BPAL. Who knows, it could happen. (As my nephew would say: "NOT!!!")

Thunder and Blazes - Sniffed in the bottle, this is all green springtime grass and chunks of wet, sloppy mud. On my skin, it's grass grass grass mud mud mud. There's the faintest trace of something kind of tangy and sweet, but I can't put my finger on it exactly. The leather is distinct, but the grass and mud dominate the scent. It's only after about 30 minutes on my skin that the scent seems to really balance out, and the grass eases back a lot while the leather steps forward a touch, and turns into a mostly leather-and-mud scent. I don't tend to like dirt scents, but this one's not bad. It's still not for me, but it's a lot nicer than I anticipated. It seems pretty masculine to me, but grass, mud, and leather-loving women might disagree.

The Harpy Celaeno - This is a lot prettier than I expected after sniffing it in the vial. In the vial, it's dank and vetivery. However, the vetiver is barely noticeable when I first apply it, and the dominant notes seem to be the myrrh, tolu balsam, and orange flower. Upon drydown, the clove and metal both become a little more noticeable and add a nice layer of texture to the blend, but it really doesn't change much other than that. It's very pretty and feminine in mature kind of way.

The Amorous Tree - I agree with tartsquid -- this has lime zest in it, or something that, when blended, is very similar to lime zest. It's a bright scent, not woody like I expected, but more green, like the greenery of ferns or other light, green plants, but not heavy greenery like grass, dandelions, or thick tropical leaves. It's hard to describe - I've never smelled anything quite like it. The closest I can get to describing it is to say it's like dew-laden ferns and lime zest. When first applied, I don't smell the rose at all, but as it dries down, there's the faintest hint of rose, maybe white rose. The overall scent is bright, sweet, both soft and crisp, and very, very pretty.

Elli's Song - This is a very dark and bitter scent. There's a bit of sweetness from the black moss, but it's almost a death/decay-like sweetness, i.e., unpleasant, which could be a result of blending it with the ashes, as ashes is a note I rarely like, and often find to be quite off-putting. I don't smell the olibanum or patchouli at all. The vetiver is stinky when first applied, but vetiver warms up to something magical on my skin, which is probably the only thing keeping my testing of this scent from being a "wash it off now!" kind of experience. The sweetness dissippates completely as the oil dries down, and the ash becomes even stronger and stronger, until this scent pretty much smells like an ashtray. Maybe it is a wash it off kind of scent. It's morning, and I haven't my shower for the day, and this is making me think it's time to go jump in the shower.

The Midnight Carnival - Super sweet, super heavy, and my very first thought is, "This is loaded with blood!" yet, I see no blood in the scent description. As it warms up on my skin, the black moss, patchouli, and myrrh are the most dominant note. I love the depth and texture the moss gives the blend! The labdanum is really bitter and adds an interesting layer to the scent. I don't smell the florals at all, which surprises me, as lavender always goes awry on my skin, and narcissus and neroli are iffy on me. This is definitely a heavy, dark, woody-resinous scent that's simultaneously bitter and sweet. The longer it's on my skin, the more the dark myrrh amps, and the more I really, really love this scent. I'd classify this as a gender-neutral scent, probably well-worn by any man or woman who likes heavy and bittersweet resins and woods. Absolutely my favorite of the first two installations of The Last Unicorn scents.

The Ninth Cage - I tend to like sweet metallics, but I always would prefer to smell them on my husband instead of on me. However, I adore oak, so I'm curious how these two notes will work together on my skin. It's actually a really nice combination of warm wood and sweet metal, almost perfectly balanced. It's a very simple blend, but extremely evocative of the poor unicorn's cage. As with most metal blends, I love it, but I wouldn't ever wear it. It's got that cologney quality that makes me think I'd much prefer to smell it on my husband, and people who like oak and high-pitched, sweet, metal blends, would likely really enjoy this one.

Captain Cully - Upon sniffing the imp vial, my very first thought was "Dead Man's Hand!" I definitely smell the same amazing brown Wild West saddle leather that is in my beloved Dead Man's Hand. When first applied, that's all I smell, but as it warms up on my skin, the musk comes out a bit, as well as the dry woods, and a hint of dark, heavy porter. It's an awesome combination of notes that work really, really well together. I think the porter is the cherry on the sundae that really pulls the whole thing together so very nicely. It's definitely a masculine scent, 1000% sexy, and while I love it, it's not something I could probably pull off wearing. I'd love to smell this on a man. It's definitely a tough, rugged, handsome-man kind of scent. It's a perfect Marlboro Man kind of scent.

This is a scent that is really heavy on the frankincense and smells like a heavily incensed church. I had to Google guggul and onycha and it seems guggul is a resin that smells similar to myrrh, and onycha is something (?) used in incense. Well, all of those notes plus the styrax = an extremely heavy-on-the-resin type of scent. It's a bit on the dry side, from the frankincense, but not as monotone as some of the incense-type scents like Midnight Mass. I don't smell the deep purple fruits at all, as the resins have amped to the Nth degree (as resins tend to do on me - they love my skin!), but I'm pretty sure there's no blackberry or black currant in this, or otherwise my skin would smell like a heavily incensed church that's been sprayed on by a tomcat. Overall, it has a general feel about it that's both mystical and ecclesiastical in nature. I really like this scent, but as with many BPALs that I like, I probably wouldn't reach for it over other scents in the same category that I like more.

P.S. Even with the power of suggestion in place, I don't remotely smell the pizza spice the previous reviewer notes!

In the vial, this has the slightest hint of men's cologne, but it smells more herbal and complex than the typical cologney scent. Wet on my skin, the clary sage and chamomile jump right out in front of all the other notes, and since I adore clary sage, I can't help but smile and sigh happily when I smell it. As the oil warms up on my skin, the sandalwood becomes noticeable and blends beautifully with the chamomile and clary sage, and I detect a hint of the tobacco leaves, as well -- it sort of reminds me of the tobacco leaf note in Santo Domingo, and seems to be what gives the scent its masculine edge. As the scent completely dries down, the tobacco leaf becomes top dog, with the sandalwood behind it, and the faintest traces of the herbal notes in the background. I keep waiting and waiting for the raisin, as it's not a note used much in BPAL (especially the white Sultana variety, which I don't think we've seen before this) and the caramel, which generally destroys a scent for me, but I'm never able to detect either of them. I'm amazed that this is a caramel scent that I can wear! Still, after dry-down, it's a bit too masculine for my taste. If the chamomile and clary sage remained top players in this scent, I'd like it a lot more, but the post-dry-down result is a really nice scent, fairly masculine, and pretty much not something I'd ever reach for over my other favorite blends.

Molly Grue - Considering I dislike both fig and hazelnut scents, this is surprisingly nice! It opens up with a big blast of hazelnut with the sweet, meaty fig right underneath it, but after about 10 minutes, the hazelnut dissippates and the fig settles down, but even better is that the sesame and rice flower become noticeable, and since I adore those two notes, it turns out to be much nicer than I originally anticipated. I have no idea what the "cooking spices" in this scent are -- if I hadn't seen that in the ingredient list, I wouldn't have guessed there would be anything else in the blend, so whatever they are, their gentle and subtle. While this certainly turns into a nicer scent than I had anticipated, the fig is definitely present, and since I don't care for fig scents, I'll be passing this one along.

Minamoto No Yorimitsu Cuts at the Earth Spider - This goes on really, really soapy, which is likely the result of the castoreum, as the other notes are all wonderful on me all the time. Fortunately, once it dries down, the soapiness fades, and this turns into the most beautiful scent that is predominantly sandalwood with a hint of both teak and vanilla. It's really, really lovely. It's also extremely subtle -- I can't smell it at all unless I sniff my wrists up close, and even a light breeze outside doesn't pick it up and swirl it around me. I do prefer scents that are a little stronger, so as lovely as this is, I doubt I'd ever reach for it.

This goes on my skin with a strong blast of sweet resins and beautiful and ethereal blue musk, but as it dries down on my skin, the olibanum takes front-and-center, and gives the scent a very dry, dusty scent, like incense, which is only compounded by the other resins in the blend. I don't smell the floral note at all. It's got an interesting almost woody-scent about it, that I often get from olibanum. I adore blue musk, and it definitely lends this scent a hint of sweet wispiness, but overall, it's still an overly-dry and heavy frankincense scent, as the musk doesn't sweeten it up quite enough for my taste.

Enlightenment of the Courtesan Jigokudayu - This is an absolutely amazing scent. It opens up as an extremely sweet and juicy fragrance, but the juiciness is that of sweet pear, not your typical fruit punch/berry kind of juiciness. Initially, it smells like sweet coconut milk (real coconut milk straight from a coconut, not the coconut of pina coladas or suntan lotion) and pear juice and a hint of warm woodiness from the incense. As it warms up on my skin, the incense becomes less woody and more smoky, but very, very lightly so. The angelica grounds the scent and the tiare gives it a bit of an exotic floral scent and somehow, despite the tiare and coconut both in the same scent, it's not a tropical scent at all. The carnation was the note I worried about the most, but it's faint and gives the scent just the lightest touch of spiciness. After drydown, the coconut is still sweet and present, but there's also a slight nuttiness about the overall scent that I can't help but wonder if it comes from the coconut. While the scent dries down to something fairly subtle on my skin, it lasts a long time. I prefer the strength of uber-sweet juiciness of the scent when it's still wet, so I think this is going to become a much-beloved scent locket fragrance that will be absolutely perfect in mood for the upcoming spring/summer months.