Aveya

Source: Swap

Preconceptions: Nothing - this was offered as an empty/tester for fun. Figured yay why not.

Bottle: Tart, acidic, dark, fruity.

Skin: Holy smokes, batman. This is dark, fruity, musky. Based on the other reviews I feel like I have a different scent in my hands. If it weren't for crystal clear bottle labels I'd be convinced I had something different.

Drydown: Plum musk, deep, dark, rich, thick. I'm only getting the barest hint of floral. It's mostly just carnation, ripe plum, sandalwood, and a cognac touch. UH MAZING.

Verdict; Dark, fruity-rich, spiced-floral edge. Feels very womanly and adult. Purple-tinted black.

Source: Forum swap

Preconception: Flipping LOVE peach and fruity blends. Vanilla creams are to die for. Rose can amp but 70% of the time I love it anyways. Tobacco is my newest adoration. I'm hoping to loooove this scent. Only thing I'm worried about is Hay. It seems to go weird on me. But based on other reviews I'm assuming it will be peach/rose heavy and Im not worried about the hay.

Bottle: Amazingly fruity plump creamy beautiful.

Skin: Kind of does a vanishing act on first apply. Just a really faint cream with hints of peachy ripe fruits.

Drydown: Red rose fruit. If roses had fruits, this would be the smell. Rose with a vanilla edge, and a fruity pulse. Surprisingly beautiful. Not as peach heavy as I was hoping. Now I just really want a peach-tobacco scent (and am going to go googling to see if it exists) because that's what I got all hyped up for.

Late drydown: ... Hi hay. Plastic playdough weirdness on the menu again? Yep? Yep.

Verdict; Beautiful feminine red rose, with deep velvet fruits, and a gentle sweet vanilla down. Assuming Hay doesn't do weird things on you, it's beautiful.

Source: BPAL etsy shop

Preconception: Honestly, I'm a Tiger. And they don't come along all that often. So I just wanted it

Bottle: Light, fruity, kumquaty.

Skin: Gentle florals and fruits. Very well blended,I'm not going to give myself a headache trying to unwind this one. If fruit was a floral, this would be that.

Drydown: Fairly faint, low throw lychee and peony. Earlier I got more clutter but it seems to settle into the softest lychee peony blend. It's absolutely uplifting and beautiful.

Verdict: No regrets. Light, fruity-floral. Very lovely. Girly and soft.

2011 Version

This is another bottle that made it pass my pre-screen reviews and into my "wear it all day" box despite me not actually ever reviewing it. It's a bottle conspiracy. So I didn't review this one like I should, I just slathered it on and ran off to work, unaware.

General vibe - super sultry sexy. Musky, caramely, heady, smooth. Very red, very foody, very boozy. I want to love this so much. But I just can't. It's the caramel. I'm realizing, generally, caramel on my skin is like when caramel crystallizes when you cook it. It's always really grainy on me, almost bready, just wrong. Which is super super sad.

So, Red Lantern has hints of something absolutely amazing and beautiful - but then caramel crystallizes and turns into blegch on me. AMAZING throw, long wear. As scents that go wrong seem to do.

I was really excited to finally grab a bottle of TKO. So many rave reviews, and I LOVE lavender cream/marshmallow/vanilla blends!!

But I think I've been spoiled by some of the LE lavender blends, because TKO didn't really hit the spot for me. It's a lot like Daybreak or other lavender blends that are classic lavender, smooth sweetness, and generally beautiful. But TKO had a sharp medicinal edge in it, that just rubbed me wrong. Reading over reviews I see people mention eculyptus, lemon, and maybe myrtle.

In any case, it makes TKO get knocked out of my favorites due to that green sharp edge. It's enough that it actually wakes me up if I try to sleep with TKO on, so that's a huge huge bummer.

Verdict; Lavender marshmellow clouds, lines with a green tart/medicinal edge.

I'm really really confused.

So, I had a bottle of Sound of Insects in my "keep" box. Not my "love" box, but my - passed initial tests and needs a full day or two trial to make sure I want to keep it - box. It implies that I won't put on a scent that smells like butt and run off to work upsetting my office co-workers all day lol.

But this one, it didn't pass today. It was OK. But it wasn't anything to write home about. So I got on to go review my old review and edit with a "NO GO DIDN'T WORK".... and there's no review. I never reviewed this. HOW DID YOU GET IN MY BOX?

Ahem. Review time.

Source: ... I really don't know now.

Preconception:

Bottle: Strangely floral. But with a kick of citrus under it?

Skin: Same as bottle oddly. A little bit fruity, mostly citrus, has a nice zippy zing to it. Generally feels orange and soapy. But not obviously soapy. More of a well perfumed soap.

Drydown: That's the problem. It didn't have much throw and didn't do a lot for more. Overall after the initial zippy zing, it was too light and faded off into the distance. I think black tea is the lingering scent, and unfortunately black tea doesn't really have any kind of presence. There's no backbone/base note really binding it for me personally. It's just light and airy.

Verdict; Zippy, almost licorice-esq. Black tea and citrus prominent. Has a soapy edge to it. Short lifespan on me.

Source: Swap!! Yay

Preconception: Apricot? Loved depraved. Red Musk? F yes. Clove? My favorite. Vetiver? .... ... Well. We're not on speaking terms.

Vial: Basement! Dirty grass! How exciting.

Skin: Apricot bloooooms which is amazing. However vetiver's sort of grassy dirty basement thing plus apricot is a real curiosity of a scent. It's like, actual apricot. Picked it up off the ground, dusted off the dirt, took a bite, it's tart and maybe not quite ripe yet. The pit is astringent if you bite in too far.

Drydown: Red musk and Clove start to creep in and overtake. It's a very strange combination with the vetiver again. It becomes fruity sweet musk but with a violent cleave down the middle of a spiced earthy almost astringent blend.

Curious battle between sweet fruity red musk, and dark, tart, dirty, earthy vetiver and clove. Has a vibe similar to Depraved for me (in the sense of contrast) but in this scenario I'm not sure if it's working for me. Thing is - I'm not sure. I'm in love with it one moment, then despise it the next. And I keep coming back to examine it because that really fascinates me.

Verdict: Sweet fruity musk, spliced with bitter earthy spices. Medium throw and nice wear length.

Source: Decant Circle

Preconception: My last toss to Myrrh to prove it's not wet basement. Fully expecting wet basement.

Vial: Honestly nothing. Sort of empty

Skin: I'm torn. I smell something but yet nothing. I'm anosmic to this? I get a musky wet nothing, topped with cinnamon. Very light touch of something green.

Drydown: This one fades fast on me. I'm left with a murky herbal vague spice.

Verdict; Myrrh you failed to prove anything to me. :|

Source: Decant Circle

Preconceptions: Literally a training moment for me. I've come across all these notes and been confused about them. I'm hoping this will help me unwind them.

Vial: Sweet tart woody. Frankincense I believe.

Skin: Musks just insta-bloom. Frankincense backing but these musks just engulf you like a fog machine and magic smoke billowing towards you. Prepping you for the show.

Drydown: This is shockingly beautiful. I've been on a kick with tobacco and honey blends lately? And when those blends engulf you they're extraordinarily smooth. This blend FEELS the same way - the dark mysterious engulfing feeling. But instead of cloying / smooth / smothering, it's like actual smoke. Airy, physically light, but deep and full.

Verdict; What every witch wishes her house smelled like 24/7. Or maybe it's just me. Flippin' beautiful, incensed musks, earthy spices, full bodied yet ethereal. Strong throw at first but tames dramatically.

Source: Decant Circle

Preconception: In love with Tobacco lately, and on a learning-voyage with Frankincense. Excited but unsure.

Vial: Wood. Slightly lemon.

Skin: Lemony woody. I'm finally figuring out this is frank. Hi, frank! Extra-wood version.

Drydown: Pepper comes across STRONG for me. But pepper + cedar = pencil shavings. Specifically pencil shavings in a plastic container. Because it even has this like, acidic element to it, as well as the feel of static cling. Like the shavings just wont quite come out so you gotta stick a finger in there and get all the dust into the can. And then you're gonna smell like that for the next few hours.

Verdict; Pepper crusted wood.

Source: Decant circle

Preconception: Worried about this being too masculine, but I can't turn down berry scents or tobacco scents lately. Excited but concerned.

Vial: Manmusk and berries.

Skin: Initial burst of fruit and ambery wood. Aha, this must be peru basalm, with an added omph of sweet from berries. Tobacco also peaks out and comes across on me as the lovely beautiful sweet thick version of Tobacco I've ran across. Alas I still haven't gotten my hands on the SN yet, but one day I will.

Drydown: I am SO surprised this isn't going full masculine. Instead this is going super fruity on me, in a dark goopy sort of way. I'm getting Crawdad Dream scent-memory flashbacks, plus beautiful thick and sweet tobacco. Lovely spices bubble up and pop periodically in this thick tar-like goo. This is so beautifully perfect on me. I'm sold.

Reminds me of the dark sweetness in Pure Applesauce. The term "tar" was used and that applies here as well. Thick tar-like sweet tobacco, with berries melted in.

Verdict: LOVE THIS. Fruity dark wet sweet tobacco.

Source: Decant Circle

Preconception: Sage is relaxing, love it. Patchouli is my Soul Mate. Lavender is my love affair. Tobacco is my sultry alter-ego. Lotus Root is my soul. The other notes are new to me. But generally? I'm super flippin' pumped for this one.

Vial: Herbal, soothing, smells amazing.

Skin: This thing has a robust cast. In order of appearance;

Lavender, Blooming beautiful lavender, strong and proud. Then once I think it's going to be a lavender single note, this dirty edge peaks out and prevents lavender from going smooth and mellow. Instead it gets gritty and bright. Dirty. Patchouli alters the course. Then it gets more melded. Something spicy and strange tingling in. At this point I'm unsure about the blend. It's now cluttered and full. Confusing conflicting notes for me. A bit of chaos for the soul?

Drydown: it eases off the confusion and melds more peacefully into an almost creamy herbal blend. It's natural, dirty / earthy, slightly dusty, but with a solid dark, almost resinous base. I don't get much lotus at all unfortunately.

Verdict; Not a scent for me, but definitely an herbal-lovers dream. Very relaxing yet invigorating as well.

Source: Decant Circle

Preconception: Preeeettty sure I'm going to hate it. But I have this inability to pass up campfire scents. Because I just... so much emotion comes out. So, I got this one emotionally.

Vial: Sweet campfire. Sweet? That's a surprise.

Skin: Sweet campfire! Maybe it's the beeswax. it's not sugary or honey based, but it is sweet. Gently natural sweet. God that's absolutely stunning. This isn't a roaring fire, this is a nice controlled campfire. You can still smell fresh wood, unburnt. And the fire smoke is gentle and not abrasive. It's a nice nook where this fire is, no wind pitching soot into your face. This is a perfect storytelling fire.

Drydown: Leather starts to peak out more, but it sort of steps up as the smoke steps down for me. But that underlying sweetness continues. In this stage it starts to feel more pine and outdoorsy than earlier. But generally it's a sweet warm beeswax with a faint edge of soft cozy leather and campfire smoke. SO FLIPPING BEAUTIFUL.

Verdict: A surprising hit. This is the best emotional pick I've ever had, and will be buying a bottle. The scent itself comes across masculine-leaning, but could be worn by anyone with ease. I'm going to go slather it on my husband right now. Dee is his scent at the moment, this might usurp it.

Edit: Husband at first is ALL leather, and some smoky background. We'll see how drydown goes.

Source: Decant Circle

Preconception: It's impossible for me to pass up trying honey. I still haven't figured out frankincense, and floral isn't my thing. So ... no idea. Weary but had to try.

Vial: Green, tart. Strangely herbal.

Skin: Suntan lotion. I feel so bad to derive this down so simply but this is legit like a coppertone tanning lotion? Not sunblock, mind you. My dad is like anti-sunblock for whatever weird reason (Like, you have red-head children how can you even) but always uses sun tanning lotion. I used his SPF 4 (lol 4) once because I had nothing else and this is that. It smells good in a weird way? Tropical-esq, tart, but sweet.

Drydown: It's so hard to sniff this without going SUNTAN LOTION but there is more to it. It's like a citrus-esq woody resin, super sweetened with honey, and a nice gentle white floral humming in the background.

AKA: Suntan lotion

Verdict: Beautiful but my poor brain will never be able to sniff without wanting to go to the beach with my dad.

Source: Decant Circle

Preconceptions: I'm unfamiliar with most the notes really. But lavender is a fav of mine so I figured why not!?

Vial: Herbal sweet leather.

Skin: Lavender I loooove you. Comes across very sweet. It reminds me a lot of Daybreak! Swoooon. It's got the same fuzzy sweet lavender thing happening. mmmm

Drydown: There's no coconut bloom like in Daybreak, instead it stays pretty solid. Absolutely beautiful. Sweet vanilla-esq resin olfactory-ly dyed with lavender.

Weirdly the leather feels absent on me. But it's not. I think my nose just merges it with the other scent and I forget it's there. It's in the sniffing equivalent of aftertaste where I smell the leather. After a massive inhale and slow exhale it's there tingling. But other than that it's not a big note to me at all.

Verdict; Daybreak, - coconut, +sweet resins

Source: Decant circle

Preconceptions: I love clove. I love cardamom. I love spices. Black musk has been amazing and horrible. Wood of any kind could go #2 pencil. Frankincense is a weirdo to me. I'm expecting a general spicy weirdo scent.

Vial: Heya weirdo! You smell funky. Like, dirty damp maybe moldy funky. I'm going to put you on my flesh though.

Skin: Sorta like, freshly moistened dirty socks. ... Cool.

Drydown: Eases out of gross sweat socks and into a much lovelier scent. Musky is dominant, very very very musky. The spices tend to lend to the animalistic dark gritty edge and come across less as dominant notes. It's almost leather or dirty skin musk. Sexy in a really gritty way.

I think this will be a hit for some. Dark, brooding, gritty, but warm. First-take masculine, but is really very non-binary. Comes across as strong and powerful - could be wicked delicious on the right person.

Source: Decant through Swaps

Preconception: I want thick red apple with super prominent clove and vanilla-heavy burbon. These are all notes I swoon for.

Imp: Super plump crisp red delicious. I was scared based on all the other green apple comments in reviews? But this is 100% red delicious, or maybe Gala, to me.

Skin: Mmm cloves. The apple is strong, wet, crisp. Then the clove sneaks in slowly and starts adding that glorious yet oddly mellow clove-vibe to everything. There's a weird floral-esq note that starts to poke through here - assuming blackcurrant bud. That adds a bit of a floral tartness that for a brief moment threatens to go craft-store apple candle on me.

Drydown: Craft-store scare vanishes as soon as I think it. And clove just continues to add a smokey depth to the apple base.

Verdict: Corrupt, dirty spiced apple. This is a scent made for me. Based on the other poor reviews I'm betting I can hunt down a bottle somewhere.

This is loooovely. I'ma be layering it with some vanilla.

Source: Swap (decant)

Preconception: I've got a daydream about what skin musk smells like, so always try it out.

Vial: Apple blossom!

Skin: Caramel/Teak pops up. Balanced by apple blossom and a creamy bright-ness.

Drydown: This is actually really beautiful. It's a soft, chewy milk-caramel with a sweet light fragrant apple-honey syrup on top. It's surprisingly light and feminine on me which I did not expect. It's got a musky natural edge to it that's growing on me.

Verdict; Sweet apple flavored milk caramel, on top of a musky skin base. Surprisingly light and feminine, really beautiful.

Source: Decant from a swap

Preconception: I'm hesitant with cakes. I LOVE the scent in bottles/vials but once it hits my skin it goes too caramel-y or bready? Something offsetting about it. but I keep trying

Vial: One vial sniff of this and I was in pure heaven. I've never hard a King Cake but oh. my. god. I'm going to now. So sweet. Beautifully complex. This little vial sniff I could do all flippin' day long.

Skin: AAANNNND there's the caramel bread every cake does on me. It's softer than other cake blends I've tried, not so obviously off - there's an almond smoothness to it. But the sweetness seems to have tempered off fast.

Drydown: I'm surprised because the Almond sweetness in the bottle actually came BACK after some time on my skin. Usually once it's gone it's gone. I'm fascinated. It's still combating the caramel-breadyness, but it's much much much improved over other cake blends I've had before. The sweetness is also holding on a bit more as well. Impressive! The longer it sits, the more the bread-caramel vanishes and the almond cream cheese beauty returns.

Verdict; if the vial-sniff was the same on my skin I'd own five bottles.

Source: Amazing decant from a forum swap

Preconception: I have a soft spot for peony - it blooms almost every year on my Birthday (May 30th). I had a few peony bushes alongside my house when I was a child, always enjoyed the blooms with my mom on my birthday. And now that I have my own house, It happened to have peonies alongside the house as well. And year after year they bloom right on my birthday, give or take a day. It's one of the few florals I have any connection with. Also - Unicorns. FING GIVE ME UNICORNS! - I'm hoping the floral will be gentle, and the vanilla/apricot will be big players. I can hope.

Vial: Pure rose.

Skin: Rose heavy. I amp it. I didn't think rose-tint would become the star of the show.

Drydown: Rose-like, vanilla-sweet, lavender is barely noticeable, apricot faint but sweet-tart. "Sugared" is gentle. Peony-Rose dom. The lavender was SUPER faint on me - I usually notice it right away but this blend it got buried under the lush rose-peony combo.

Source: Decant from a swap, 2013 version

Preconception: I want to love it sooo bad, but chocolates have been flat and chalky on me.

Vial: Nesquik powdered mix.

Skin: Oh my goodness. Blooms into exactly-as-described land. Has that slight foody-tint that the BPAL coffee's get on me. Reminds me for a moment of Pumpkin Latte (my go-to coffee blend) but then eases back into spiced chocolate land.

Drydown: I ruined my test a little bit by going out and doing some hard labor garden work and worked up a sweaty mess. BUT - an almost vanilla-sweet bloom overtook and was absolutely beautiful and comforting. Loved it.

Verdict; Exactly as advertised. Rich chocolate milk & coffee with all the fixings.

I'm not sure if this is one I'll wear or not. I'll fiddle with the imp for a while longer. Maybe pick up an imp from a decant circle in the future releases if they come out.

Source: Decant Circle

Preconceptions: Honey amps, wood = #2 pencil, ambrette seed & hay = foody gloop, Jasmine = nemesis. I uh, yeah don't know. I heard rave things about Hal though? So wanted to try a sample.

Vial: Floral honey?

Skin: OH wow. This is all kinds of... perfect blend. F the individual notes here. This becomes a sort of encompassing, warm, sticky, heady, beautiful creation.

Drydown: Honey prominent, but by no means sticky cloying. I'm thinking the Jasmine is keeping the honey from going too dark and sticky? Honey is cut through by a light floral (that doesn't read as "floral" to my nose - just a gentle natural lightness) and allows it to reveal an earthy/woody undertone to this sweet honey. The longer it sits the less honey there is and the more woodyness it becomes. Which is opposite most honey blends on me.

Verdict: This is beautiful. Warm, engulfing, honey-wood. Dark and sweet. Deep and mysterious. Earthy and surreal.

Swapping out only because this won't win out over the others in my keep box. I know I'll go for twenty scents before this one. But - still beautiful.

Source: Decant circle!

Preconception: I tend to love soft leathers (Dee, my darling). But assume it won't work on me and I'll have to slather my husband with this randomly.

Imp: BOOZE and a little leather.

Skin: ... What on earth, why does this smell like fruit? This combo is killer. It's also bizarre. It smells juicy - almost like a fruit. Leather fruit? A new kind of Zombie fruit? It smells sweet, tart, earthy, and of course leathery. Oh. Em. Gee. This is a cool scent. My brain can't stop sniffing this new leather zombie fruit. I know it's not fruit. But DO I? It's sweet sweet leather. Soft and gentle. Shaggy is a great term.

Drydown: Sweetness slowly tones down, and patch makes a bigger appearance. But that leather high note stays, still with that punch from the rum. Patch makes it more robust but isn't obvious. And I love me some patch, not a prominent note here to me. More of a backing, earthy-adding element.

Verdict: Youthful, hippy-esq in the classic fringe leather attitude. Sweet and unisex.

I know my hubbers won't wear this one, it's not him. And I won't wear this, it's not me. But I'm really glad I got to try this out. Awesome scent.

Source: Decant Circle

Preconception: I never turn down a coffee blend. But so far I've found very very few blends I keep and want to wear. I'm always disappointed in some way.

Vial: YES! THIS! THIS COFFEE SCENT! - Spice strong. But I like my coffee spiced!

Skin: No disappointment here! Cardamon is strong but I like that. Tobacco and coffee are swimming together in the background, spices are forefront and super bright.

Drydown: BPAL Coffee and tobacco linger around all day, with a nice soft spicy touch. I have to be careful not to wear this when a little dehydrated - it vanished from my first test off the back of my hand. In a better spot after some lotion it had much better throw for longer. Might be a re-applier for me, but worth it.

Verdict: I usually get Masala Chai lattes when I stop in coffee shops. This is that, for me. The scent of coffee (which I love) all around me, but then strong milky spices in my cup. Yum.