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This is The. Most. Fabulous. Candle. in EVER.

Now that I got that out, it is leather dominant. Warm, spicy leather. But when burned, it was a smooth spiced bourbon smell with the leather and patch hiding in the background. I love it both ways! It's just amazing and really warms a room and sets the mood for- well, it's true to its name, we'll just say that.

My husband got me two of these for Christmas, and after seeing how much I went into raptures over them, commented that I should find out if they make a perfume in that smell- because they ought to and I should get some.

I didn't mention the 3 bottles in my BPAL box. shhh!

A stunning coconut. Light, smooth, very vaguely floral.

I love the white amber and musk in this, it ends up being a very "white" scent without the strong floral I associate with whiteness.

Now, if only my skin liked coconut...

deep, rich and resinous. On my skin it turned into a powdery dry myrrh. I like it, but it's not magical on me.

I was fortunate to get a testable bit of this. It is amazing!

Soft leather and woods dominate.

To me, this smells like a gentleman's hunting cabin in the woods when it has just been opened up for the first time in a while and the fellow steps inside, taking a light puff at his pipe. It's got a bit of a musty, dry feeling to it- but it's a ruggedly comforting scent at the same time.

My only sadness with this scent is that I do not have more.

This goes on as VETIVER. Not the kinder, gentler vetiver of the recent single note, but a harsh and bracing sort.

Which, you know, is appropriate. I've been using this for my studying during finals week, to keep me focused for my material reviews. The first time I used it, I didn't have much intent assigned to it, and ended up getting ALL THE HOUSE DECORATIONS up both inside and out, gift lists, shopping lists, and to-do lists written, and about half the Christmas gifts wrapped. But I didn't study.

Subsequent usages, I've pulled out my textbooks and notes, focused on my goal, and dabbed a bit onto the pages and my hands. And my, hasn't it been impressive in the results!

It has amazing staying power, and does something on me that is truly magical. It seems to know when I'm past the point of needing to focus and can relax. There isn't any particular time-frame for this. It's been from 1 hour to 11 hours.

When the time for complete, dogged determination has passed, the scent changes. What started as harsh vetiver and stays that way as long as I need it, turns into a gorgeous creamy gleaming scent with a hint of patchouli to it, so it calms and relaxes me when the work is done. I have no good explanation for it, but I really like that it does this.

eta: I figured it out. When the magic happens it transforms from vetiver to glowing vulva.

This is my absolute favorite linen spray now.

It's piney without being overwhelming, and has a slight metallic edge and old, homey earthy-ness to it. It makes me think of soldiers tromping through a cold wintery forest, then resting in a little wooden house, dirt floor, warm fire, sidearms resting against the wall in the background.

Just absolutely gorgeous!

off the top of my head, definitely the decrepit house!

I was SO hopeful for this one, because myrrh and resins in general typically love me, and it sounded like it could be one that wanted a bottle and a backup.

Not so with Heretic. I tested liberally, anticipating the gorgeous scent- and I got musty, smoky incense.

Well, that was wet. So I waited 20 minutes- still the same.

3 hours later, it hadn't changed any. I'm sad that I'm not getting any of the beauty that others are- it is exactly like Cathedral and Midnight Mass on me. And both of those were also a rather unpleasant sort of incense, where I couldn't pick out any other notes.

I'm guessing this means the lab's frankincense note just plain doesn't like me.

Oh, heaven.

I missed a chance at this a while back, and am blessed to have received a decant to love.

Wood scents can be hit or miss with me, but this one is stunning. It is the soft teak of Glowing Vulva, most definitely. There's something earthy lingering under it, perhaps a touch of dark patch? It's got a shining, resinous aspect- not sure what is contributing for that.

But what makes this glorious, to me, is the clove! I can't tell if it's the only spice, but it's certainly dominant. It's not quite the sweet clove of the SN, nor is it quite the bitter clove of Smiling Spider (although it's closer to that). It's an earthy clove, much like the scent of crushing a whole dried clove.

As it dries, all of the notes coalesce and it gets about impossible to pick them out- which is delightful.

So: overall impression- crushed clove on a backdrop of creamy, resinous teak and musky warm darkness.

My gracious but it's gorgeous on me!

Thank you so much to my NYCC fairy for helping me get my hands on this!

For me, Badgers is soft, sweet patchouli-leather. I was nervous about trying it, because honey and honeysuckle generally amp up on me and turn everything into dripping sweet sugary rot. Here, they don't.

The leather is barely-there, and is softly supple sort. Patchouli reigns, but definitely not a dirty patch. This is a tamed, soft, creamy patchouli.

The sarsaparilla works with the honey/honeysuckle to give a faint sweetness and a hint of barely there spice.

I don't detect the vanilla at all, at this point. However, knowing how BPAL vanilla and patch age into rich gorgeousness, I'm planning to set this back in the humidor for a good while and try it again.

As a fresh oil, I clearly see comparisons to Banshee Beat by virtue of being a soft, rich, non-dirty patchouli. The scent lasted upward of 12 hours on my skin, and the long-term dry phase resembled a sweeter BB without much vanilla. I suspect that after aging a while, the vanilla will emerge and the resemblance will be stronger yet.

This is currently my number one scent, and I can't believe I haven't reviewed it!

Wet- Strong spice that made me nervous the first time I smelled it.

Dried down: a gorgeous blend that- you know, I swear this oil just resonates on the same frequency as my natural pheromones or something, because it seems to take my natural skin scent, enhance it x 100 and amplify the good bits, adding a kick to it. Cinnamon spicy, a bit musky, a bit resinous, I think a bit of creamy almond perhaps. I definitely don't get any of the floral that others note, which is interesting because I usually amp up florals to the exclusion of anything else.

The real test: This stuff WORKS. No, seriously. Spoiled for TMI

Coincidence? I think not.

Verdict: In addition to a half-dozen imps, I now have two back-up bottles.

I was thrilled to get a decant of this to try, because SANDALWOOD!!!

Wet, it comes on as a strong powedery floral with a bit of astringent element to it

On drydown it is still largely floral, although it's one of the less overwhelming florals I've encountered. Perhaps a tiny bit of incense? But incenses generally don't get along with me, so...

Definitely not working magic on me, and I was so hopeful after the number of reviews saying sandalwood!!! It seems to me that all the sandalwood does for me is blunt the potency of the incensy floral a bit.

Well, I knew it was a gamble with incense and floral in there. So I gambled and lost on this one.

I got this scent with high hopes, since some woodsy notes have been gorgeous on me, and the reviews sounded ever so promising.

However- wet, this is a bit repulsive to me.

And dry, it stays that way.

It's got a sharp but musty green to it, and I would never guess there were woods or incense in it without the notes. I'm beginning to realize I have a consistent dislike of anything with herbs or herbal in the notes- piercing pungent green is just not for me, and will overwhelm anything else that might be in the blend once it touches my skin.

Gorgeous concept, horrid on my skin.

A thick, dark oil. In the bottle it was harsh and burning. I questioned whether I would care for it at all, in spite of my love for vetiver in blends.

Wet: Criminy that's powerful! I had to just breathe through the wet stage, because it was insanely potent. Dark, harsh burning grass.

Dried: It's still very dark and dry with the distinctly pungent aroma that is vetiver, but it's no longer so shocking and it's doing vetivery magic on my skin.

2 hours later: The man walked up and started sniffing me, went straight to my testing wrist, and expressed great approval of this scent on me. "you like it? really?... Oh, wow- THAT kind of like!"

5 hours later: I may possibly need more of this. Yes, indeed.

Remarkably, this lasted over 24 hours on my skin, and for me it turned into one of those scents that isn't so much a scent on the body, but almost an extension of what is naturally there.

Verdict: dark, intense, scorched and dry. Also, remarkable for loving my chemistry and having impressive influence on the man. Definitely a keeper, and I'll keep my eyes open for more.

It was a long time ago that I was in Anatomy lab for medical school.

 

The smell that got to me worst wasn't so much the flesh itself, but the formaldehyde. That kind of off, rubbery, dry, smell that envelops you and first year medical students, and you can't get out of anything...

Yes, THIS. Last year was so horrid! This year I go in after the first years are done and sever ligaments and such so we can learn to accurately feel positive tests done on a patients. So last year I actually got acclimated to it. This year I'm in there regularly but infrequently enough that it is a stomach-roiling shock each time.

I have imps of most of these scents, so I'm thinking I'll try my way through them on my twice-weekly body visits! Thank you all so much for the suggestions!!

i would choose something very minty. like a lick it, maybe. ultraviolet was a good suggestion. perhaps something super clovey would be effective too. you want something to really attack your nose instead of the death stench

 

may i ask what you're training for?

DPT/Ph.D- Physical Therapy, emphasis in wound care. And Neurorehab.

I do have a couple lick it imps and ultraviolet! I'll have to try them! Lots of good ideas!

I have all of those! Will definitely have to try Wrath, since I'm not head over heels for it.

but I'm definitely not using cinnamon! It's my note of glory and I would be heartbroken to have it tainted.

How apropos would Embalming Fluid be if it had that potency? hmmm... maybe Delousing Powder or something else that's been described as lemon cleaner?

I do a fair bit of working on cadavers for my training (better than learning on live people, right?) and I enjoy working with bodies. Except for the smell. I can NOT get past it. I tried the vicks vaporub under my nose, and I think I burned my sinuses. So I'm wondering about using the BPAL to help make it more bearable.

And after today I'm quite sure that some scents would be more fitting than others- Obviously it would need to be fairly strong and have decent throw. Which aged Snake Oil normally does for me- plus it's gorgeous on my skin. But I learned that Snake Oil + formaldehyde + the tank next to me with the body that is horribly and uncontrollably moldy is a recipe for the dry heaves. I swear, it may have actually enhanced the death scent.

I prefer my death to smell of black musk and opoponax, but so far not enough strength to the blends I've tried to reach the nose!

I'll probably try absinthe tomorrow, but I'd be glad for suggestions!

I also thank allidavie for a tester!

On me wet, this was a boozy, foody melange of cakey heavy caramel and musk. My nose may have been playing tricks on me, but I could have sworn.. something plummy, almost?

On drydown, a sweet strong cocoa appeared to mix in with the rest. My thoughts at this point are that I smell like musky German chocolate cake soaked in alcohol. It just didn't like me.

After all the hype (and seeing that eBay auction), I was expecting something just stunningly gorgeous. But it really did not like my skin. At all.

So I'm doubly grateful. For getting to test this, and for my pocketbook having dodged a bullet!

On me, this was all lily of the valley and sharp, herbal sage. I can pick out patch and sandalwood undertones but they ground the floral element rather than standing on their own.

Smelled stunning in the bottle, not so much on me.

This smells like home to me.

I'm from Southwest Kansas originally, and this smells like the first day of the wheat harvest.

Mostly a field of sun-warmed, golden heads swaying in the breeze, warm grass and the slight nuttiness of wheatberries in their heads.

It has a hint of sharpness like right at the spot where it's being cut down and the scent of xylem, phloem, and chlorophyll is coming from the fresh-cut stalks. And yes, it does actually have a hint of cicada buzzing in the sun, I swear.

I can almost feel the rumble of the tractor going through the field, and the itch of climbing in the trailer full of fresh cut grain and getting covered with chaff, and the taste of fresh wheat berry gum, just smelling this.

It's not something I'd wear normally as a perfume, but is amazingly evocative- and now I'm feeling homesick. I may have to be careful with this!

*eta: on later drydown- about 3 hours later- this is a second skin scent. It no longer smells like I'm wearing a field, but like I took a nap in a pile of hay and have just a hint of it still lingering on me. Very nice!

The Glass Eater is dirt- not graveyard dirt intense, but a distinctly dusty earthy note, and a sharp gleaming crystalline edge- almost like wet sparkling sand with a bit of dry dirt sprinkled on top.

I recognize this scent. This is Doozers without the vegetal/radish note.

CVI

How has no one reviewed this yet??

wet, it's sweet and sugary, like a light pastry with snake oil and a brushing of something floral- saffron?.

On drydown, oh my god. This is like Underpants + Snake Oil.

Holy WOW.

MCCLVII: I get a light sunny green with a floral that's not overly sweet but has a bit of warmth to it. It's making me think of the Sweetgrass SN, perhaps with some heliotrope?

Reading the notes, I desperately wanted to love this.

On me, this oil was a sweet, rich, chewy tobacco rope. The kind the old-timers keep warm and almost melting in their overall pockets and chew on while their wives are in the general store.

I will say it's the same sort of sweet tobacco as in Pinched, so if you liked that this one is worth a shot.

Unfortunately for me, my husband *strongly* dislikes that scent, and I have some intense negative scent memories associated with it, so someone else will have to love it for me.