Poenari

I was gifted a partial bottle of this today, and it was the first time I had smelled it. Sniffing blind from the bottle with no clue of the notes except for the name, it immediately reminded me of standing in a redwood forest, with mingled scents of the various trees. The earth note is a dry but deep earth scent, not the same dirt note I get in Zombi and Graveyard Dirt. I put some on my wrists after I got home, and I really get all the woods. Pine and cedar dominant with a kind of spicey bite, but what a gorgeous dark woodsy scent. After about 30 minutes, it sweetens and softens as if the muguet and amber are toning down the cedar. This is a very gorgeous scent!

It is the lady of midnight and she has arrived! She of Two Faces, She Who Eats Filth, the Death Caused by Lust – Tlazolteotl – is the Aztec goddess of the regenerative function of the earth, human sexuality, and fertility. She represents the active female principle in the eternal cycle of life feeding death and death feeding life. Her arms, dressed in flayed skins, embrace mirrored principles of sin and purification: she inspires lust, depravity, overindulgence, vice, lechery, and licentiousness, and is also empowered to cleanse and forgive moral, spiritual, and fleshly sins. Her scent is a melding of her symbols and offerings: chapapote and black copal with cacao, black honey, maize, and cotton blossoms. I found this imp at the bottom of my Yule bottle box and had never tried it, so decided to give myself a good slather before my shower this morning. What a lovely scent on my skin! It smells like a very dusty incense from the copal, the cacao isn't foody but gives it almost a patchouli vibe, and the cotton blossom keeps the vetiver in check. This is a smokier, darker version of Nasty Woman on my skin. Fitting for the goddess it represents. This is a bottle worthy blend for me!

This is so well blended! Although I can detect most of the notes, they meld into one another in a swirl of gourmand deliciousness. The scent is softer and sweeter than I expected. The leather and patchouli keep it from going totally foody, but the vanilla and pumpkin and fruit take it right to the edge. I was going to wear Nasty Woman to vote today, but I'm really glad I chose to wear this instead. If the lines are long, this isn't offensive and yet I am making a statement.

This is the version of Samhain I have always dreamed about. I do like to wear Samhain in the autumn, and have bottles from a few different years. Usually they are heavier on the fir and woods, with a slight medicinal scent. This one is sweeter, more fruit-forward, and lacks the medicinal note. I am so happy I was able to get a bottle!

OMG keep f*cking up, because every time I try one of the "mistakes" I love it. I adore Snake Oil fresh and aged and in-between. This blend is like Snake Oil lite on my skin. The "cream soda" smells like the vanilla syrup I ask to be added to my Diet Coke in restaurants. This Snake Oil variant will be perfect for wearing when I am in close quarters and not wanting to overwhelm people, but still need that whiff of Snake Oil for myself.

My bottle is #4. I am in love! This is my first ever Chaos Theory, after buying BPAL for 12 1/2 years, and it's a winner! These are the slightly sweet, dry, warm red leaves. I'm not good at picking out the other notes, but it seems like a smooth musk and maybe a bit of myrrh. I can't wait for my friends to test this when we see each other next weekend, and get their take on the notes. I can't stop sniffing my wrist.

Pugsley hair gloss smells like my tortie kitty Mina and reminds me of her personality too. It's a gentle musky tea scent with just a hint of attitude. Mina is a catloaf with a hint of tortietude. Pugsley is just perfect.

I ordered my bottle of Hal back when the OLLAs first went live, during the Great Forum Crash of '14. I posted my review on a FB page that no longer exists, and forgot to post one here after the forums returned months later. So this overdue review is for my OG Hal. I rarely buy decants, but in the case of Hal, I got a decant first. The reason is simple: jasmine, spoiler of scents for me. I adore the song in the movie and just had to at least try the scent. Imagine my delight when it was a luscious exotic floral without the "bad jasmine" association! I promptly ordered a bottle. Unfortunately, in the full bottle, my experience was quite different. All jasmine, the "bad kind", and there was no way I could wear it. I swapped it away a few months later and never looked back. Sorry jasmine, you and I are never going to be friends. I did manage to use up my lovely decant over the years, but don't think I want to risk another try. Let the good memory remain.

I ordered my bottle of Adam back when the OLLAs first went live, during the Great Forum Crash of '14. I posted my review on a FB page that no longer exists, and forgot to post one here after the forums returned months later. So this overdue review is for my OG Adam. I am always leery of leather scents, as I don't care for it on my skin. But I couldn't *not* order a bottle of Adam to go along with my Eve. Unfortunately, it was almost a single note chemical leather on me, and I knew I would never wear it. I swapped it away a few months later and never even considered replacing it. There are plenty of scents that I love, so no reason to feel bad that I have an occasional miss.

I ordered my bottle(s) of Blood Popsicle back when the OLLAs first went live, during the Great Forum Crash of '14. I posted my review on a FB page that no longer exists, and forgot to post one here after the forums returned months later. So this overdue review is for my OG Blood Popsicle. I love it! There is a hint of dragon's blood here, but it is not as strong as dragon's blood usually smells. It is a note that I love, but my favorite dragon's blood scents are generally very dark: Dragon's Heart and Blood in particular. This hint of blood might be touched with a kiss of red musk as well, another note I adore. Some have described a cinnamon note, but I don't detect that myself. What I get is a bit of frost- you know how a freezer has that frosty smell when you open it? It's not a specific scent like Beth's snow notes, but a slight tickle of cold in your sinus as you inhale. Blood Popsicle is just as described, and yet indescribable. I love it. Mine has aged very well, with little to no change. It's great for hot summer nights!

I purchased my bottle(s) of Eve as soon as the OLLAs went live in 2014. Unfortunately, that was during the Great Forum Crash of '14, and my review was posted on a FB page that no longer exists. I forgot to post it when the forum finally returned months later. So this review is for OG OLLA Eve, from back in 2014. I love OLLA Eve. She is the exotic scent that I wish Morocco smelled like to me and on me. Unfortunately, given that Morocco is GC and affordable/sustainable, I am actually nose blind to it and can't smell it on my own skin. Thus my love for Eve. I don't actually detect rose as a distinct note in Eve, and I usually amp rose. She is a gentle breeze amidst the walkways and alleys in the bazaar, with hints of spices, flowers, and the exotic scents swirling together. Aged now, Eve is as gorgeous as ever. I was tempted to add more bottles to my collection when the OLLAs were resurrected, but I decided to let others experience her. I don't wear mine often, as I prefer to really savor her as something Special, reserved for times when I am with loved ones and friends. She is beautiful, exotic, and yet unassuming and inoffensive. Just as ageless vampire Eve can intermingle with mere humans in the movie, present but not intrusive, so too can her namesake scent.

I love OLLA Eve. She is the exotic scent that I wish Morocco smelled like to me and on me. Unfortunately, given that Morocco is GC, I am actually nose blind to it and can't smell it on my own skin. Thus my love for Eve. I don't actually detect rose as a distinct note in Eve, and I usually amp rose. She is a gentle breeze amidst the walkways and alleys in the bazaar, with hints of spices, flowers, and the exotic scents swirling together. I didn't hesitate to buy two bottles of Eve w/Sage. Upon first sniff, there is unmistakably the scent of Eve, but this time she has more of the dry spices of the desert clinging to her. The sage gives her more of an incense aura, which is even more to my liking! This blend is more long-lasting on my skin, too. I am sorry that Beth goofed up anjug of gorgeous Eve, but so delighted that we can benefit from the mistake. This is absolutely gorgeous!

The grasping tentacles of vice: black musk, tobacco absolute, opium poppy accord, smoked khus, and oily black opoponax. I adore this! This octopus is hiding in the depths of the lake, in a swirl of smoky ink. There is nothing aquatic here, despite the name. It's a dark, inky but slightly sweet musk on my skin. It's so very well-blended but perhaps the touch of sweetness comes from the tobacco. I don't really know. Those dark smoky opium notes all agree with my chemistry. The perfume has lots of staying power. I wore it on the 6 hour drive home from Chicago and couldn't stop sniffing my wrist all day. This bottle is my most valuable memento from C2E2 for reasons. Thank you Beth for your time and attention at the Con and our lovely conversations and hugs! edited to add: I've been wearing this almost daily since I bought it. Now that it's had a bit of time to rest, the smoked khus is more apparent on my skin, and the overall scent is less sweet than it was the first few times I wore it. I do tend to amp smoky notes, especially vetiver, and khus is another term for it. I love smoky scents and this one is a real beauty.

The minute I saw Beth's announcement, I knew I needed eleventybillion bottles of this. Unfortunately, I could only afford two. I'm not complaining, however, as I am one of the lucky ones. Snake Oil is one of my very favorite scents of all time. I love it fresh, aged, and usually as a base in the other related Snake Oil scents. Patchouli is a lifelong love of mine. And then there's Beth's Dragon's Blood, another note I adore, especially in Dragon's Milk. So when this "oops" of Beth's was announced, BE STILL MY BEATING HEART! Fresh from the mailbox, the Snake Oil was the first thing I smelled, with just a hint of dragon's blood. I've been wearing it every day for five days in a row, and it's getting better and better. The extra patchouli makes the Snake Oil smell like it's supersized, and the dragon's blood and honey give this a Dragon's Milk sweetness, but it's not as sticky-sweet as DM can be on my skin. I'm going to go through my first bottle too fast, but what a way to go. Beth, thank you so much for sharing this "oops" with us! It really is the scent of my dreams. I love this, and am putting away my second bottle to age because this is going to be Ah-may-zing in the future, given its beauty now.

I adore Mme. Moriarty perfume and am rationing my original bottle of her while I'm able to wear the more recent release of the perfume with wilder abandon. I obviously voted for Mme. Moriarty in the lunacy poll, and although I would have LOVED a bath oil, it was a no-brainer to order the hair gloss. Scent-wise, my bottle is definitely that scent I love, but it is very soft and I was surprised by that. The lack of strength and throw make the hair gloss wearable in many more settings, but I was really hoping for a stronger WOMAN in my bottle of hair gloss, as she is in the perfume.