Poenari

I love Beth's dragon's blood, but honey is iffy on me. I don't think I have any bpals with copal, though, so when offered a partial bottle in a swap, I was game! The dragon's blood is the opener, in the bottle and on my skin. Then the honey shows up to play! This is a thick sweet honey note and it mixes well with the dragon's blood! Hooray! After a while, the two mellow out and I detect a sweet bright muskiness that must be coming from the copal. What a lovely trio! This something I will wear when I need a scent that is "me" but not overwhelming to those around me. It's a lovely sweet resinous scent - perfect for a bright sunny autumn to winter day!

First sniff and I'm hooked! This now has to be one of my favorite Snake Oil variants. I'm very happy that the Snake Oil is definitely there... it's up front and center. But it only takes a minute for the apples to show up... a spicy apple, nothing fresh or green about it, as if it's been simmering on the stove and cooked down to softness. It blends into the Snake Oil and now I have a spicy apple Snake Oil, exactly what I had hoped for. I had a decant of Coral Snake way back in the early days of the CD release, and while nice, it wasn't enough to warrant a bottle. This one is deserving of backups, if it ever returns. Oh I hope so, but in the meantime, I'm delighted that I was able to swap for this and will cherish it!

Sweet patchouli, reminiscent of Banshee Beat/RR but sweeter. The patch is the same. Then HELLO HONEYSUCKLE! Lovely scent, and I'm glad I got to test this, but fortunately I have a lot of other patchouli scents in my arsenal and won't have to stalk for this.

Sweet wine and tart pomegranate. Sweeter than I expected, and not nearly as dark! Dries down to a slight spicy fruity pomegranate wine. This is lovely. Reminds me of Seven Word Story: Lust in many ways. If you like that one, you should like this one too. And they are different enough to need both!

Oh this is just wonderful. At first sniff, it reminds me of my beloved Autumn Leaves and Haitian Patchouli hair gloss! Wet, the patchouli note is right there, sweet but dry, and very grassy. It's one of my very favorite of all Beth's patchouli notes. As it dries down, the bay comes out, blending a spiciness into the patch. The tobacco is the glue that holds it all together. It's not distinct, so not a specifically chewy tobacco. After drydown, there is a real blending of the notes and it remains a warm, dry, and grassy blend... Like tall dry pampas grass, not lawns, but patchouli dominant. This puts me in mind of Puddin's Gourd of Deprivation atmo spray... Not the same, of course, but in the same family. I just looked back through the reviews, and the 2014 Halloweenies from the Lab and Trading Post included both of the scents I am reminded of here! That was one of my very favorite years for Weenies and I broke the bank on buying that year. If you have any favorites from that collection that includes patchouli (Tricksy too!) get this one! The vibe of this trio is very similar. Backup bottle for sure!

Being a sweet coconut and patchouli, I'm surprised that no one has compared this to Goblin! The red patch is gentler and sweeter but the coconut is a similar note. Not as sweet as Silkybat, but a similar vibe. This is lovely!

Oh I love this so much! This has the same leaves note as in my beloved Dead Leaves, Red Musk, & Neroli. I never would have dreamed of blending that note with Snake Oil and Dorian, but that's why Beth is the perfuming genius and I'm not. I can definitely detect the Snake Oil this, but not so much the Dorian or lavender. I really hope that Beth can blend more when the BIG MOVE is completed. I had intended to order a bottle but it sold out before I could do so. At least I was able to order a decant! In the meantime, I'm going to try layering my own Snake Oil and Dorian with SN Pile of Fallen Leaves to hold me over. I know I can't replicate this beauty, but perhaps I can find a way to placate myself until this returns.

Lovely wildflower honey and vanilla, with the red labdanum adding a sweet musky note to this. It's not complicated, it's very pretty and brighter than I expected. Decent throw and wear length.

Yes! And it's excellent!

I thought I reviewed this years ago but apparently not. I recently received a new imp of this and wanted to compare to my original thoughts. Once upon a time, when I was a wee bpal noob, I tried many varieties of rose scents. I found that they always turned to soap in my nose and on my skin. Rose Moon (2007) was my birthday moon and was happily the first rose that I could wear. I later found Zombi and fell in love - the dirt note kept the rose in check from turning to soap. Clermont became another favorite because the opium works so well on my skin with the rose. Fast forward 15 years, and my skin chemistry hasn't changed but my nose certainly has! I have finally learned to discern that tea roses and pink roses are best on me when they are the main notes; darker roses when matched with strong spice and incense notes; thus leading me to a new understanding of Beth's lovely rose blends and how I can now wear a wider variety of them! This is pink and sweet and innocent until fully dried down. Then it slowly blooms with a slightly powdery finish as the spices rise. Lucy's Kiss is another win for me! I'm so happy to find another lovely rose blend that I can wear.

Metallic bronze musk, indeed! This is amazing. The initial scent is a metallic and musky blast. Fortunately, the rest of the notes come in a whoosh of scent after the dry down, keeping this from going screechy in my nose. Patch, amber, and oakmoss- check! I do not get cumin from the green cardamom, thankfully, as I don't care for cumin as scent or seasoning. The tonka rounds it out with a sweetness. This is a prettier scent than I had expected!

I don't typically even try scents with strawberry as a note, but decided to get a decant and see what all the fuss is about. Well, this is delightful! Sweet ripe strawberries, indeed! It dries down to a greenness as the strawberry fades. It's a lovely scent, very fresh and pretty. I'm glad I tried this!

Oh this is beautiful! Upon application, this scent swirls around me with the myrrh most prominent, but quickly combined with the other notes to make a glorious scent evocative of ancient times. I get the same vibe from this that I do from OLLA Eve... Something ancient and mysterious, with the swirling spices, patchouli, and rose. This wears beautifully on me .. good throw and long lasting. Backup bottle worthy!

I guess I forgot to review this one! Now that it's aged a few years, I'm reviewing it as it smells currently. Basically this is a sheer skin musk on my skin. I get hints of an aquatic note, not specifically discernable, and no frankincense. I can see why this is a great layering scent. Layering perfumes isn't really my thing, but it's perfectly lovely on it's own. This is the kind of scent that I would have worn to work on our early morning meeting days, where I sat elbow to elbow with coworkers around a conference table. Pretty and inoffensive.

I never reviewed my bottle because my early impressions weren't that great. I pulled it out to wear today, and now that it is well aged, I really like this! It's a gorgeous vanilla marshmallow cake batter, with the cardamom keeping it from going cloyingly sweet on me. Wears close to my skin, although I can catch wafts of it. This falls in the realm of some of the other foodie scents that I don't wear often, such as Stekk, Boo, and even Eat Me! Nice when I need to wear something inoffensive to others, outside of my usual wheelhouse. I'm really happy that I'm a hoarder and don't let my scents go. This bottle's a keeper.