Poenari

#159 I reached for my bottle this morning, as the weather is going to turn cooler today and feel like autumn. I applied and took note of the scent that has now aged for three years, and then went to look up my review to see what I initially thought. Well damn me, I never posted a review! So here it is, with my now aged bottle. Wet and in the bottle, distinctly Samhain, but without the initial nose-wrinkling effect I usually get when sniffing wet: typically from the fir and mullein. Applied on skin, and after dry down, this is a lovely version of Samhain where the apple is truly prominent. That is usually a hidden note to me! The fir and mullein are way in the background. After 30 minutes or more, this has worn to a lovely autumn apple scent, slightly spicy and with that distinct "Samhain" smell that no other Halloween-themed perfume has. I really love this version!

I rarely buy the lunacy scents, but with the description of late autumn leaves and stone fruits, this was a must for me. I adore Beth's leaves notes, and stone fruit includes peach and plum, which are big hits for me as well. In the bottle, there is that dead leaves note that I love! I barely detect fruit. Once on my skin, however, this blooms into a gorgeous scent, exactly as I had hoped. The fruit comes forward, and I feel like I get a well blended melange of peach, apricot, and plum. I am not detecting cherry. It's as if I am standing in a crisp pile of autumn leaves that is near a fruit stand holding ripened stone fruits. So happy that I bought this! It's just perfect for warm September days.

I received this frimp in my latest order and OMG it is such a perfectly "me" scent! I had not considered this one, but it is going into my list for a future bottle. On my skin I get a smoky scent that is a gorgeous blend of incense, dragon's blood, and a hint of lavender. Love this one!!

I received a frimp of this in my recent order, and don't remember ever trying it before. Since I didn't review it either, I really have no recollection of it. But one of my friends raves about it ( sammy!) so I have to try it and review while I remember! On skin, a rush of champaca! That's a good start! I didn't look up the notes before trying, but this is Beth's unmistakable champaca note. Then a hint of floral soapy sweetness, but not the way rose can go soapy. Hmmm. I had to look it up. Oh, yes, orange blossom! Sometimes it does that on me. Never in Vixen, but the ginger keeps it in check there. Ok, after dry drown and for the rest of the evening, it's been mainly a dry champaca incense. The sandalwood and orange blossom are really blended in a way that supports but doesn't disguise the champaca. This is definitely a lovely scent. I will wear it happily, but don't need a full bottle. I do have other scents with these notes that wear better on my skin.

I finally blind bottled this one from the Lab and I'm so glad that I did! This is a great blend of dragon's blood, red musk, a hint of spice, and cotton candy! It really reminds me of Blood Popsicle with cotton candy added to make it sweeter. Over time, it really doesn't morph in my hair, and I continue to smell the cotton candy along with the other notes. It doesn't last in my hair as long as my other dragon's blood or red musk blends do, but that's ok. Very happy with this bottle!

I grabbed this off the Lab's Etsy site when it appeared, as I never looked for a fairy way back when. It seemed to be the perfect scent for my memories of my recent trip to NOLA, and my bottle arrived two days after I returned home. What a lovely scent! This is a lovely floral incense. The notes are very well-mingled by this time, and the jungle orchid gives the incense the perfect touch. The incense is just dark and smoky enough to swirl around and envelop the orchid. In other words, you can't really distinguish one from the other, but the sum of the parts is a beautiful perfume. I love the earlier reviews mentioning The Mayfair Witches, as that is one of my favorite books and I loved seeing the house that inspired Ann Rice on my recent trip. Great new scent memory is made. 🖤🦇🖤

I've had this imp of French Love for forever and don't recall ever trying it. I packed it for my trip to NOLA, because it seemed perfect. I'm so glad that I did! I love dragon's blood and that is definitely present as the main note. But underneath that I get a spice note, probably cinnamon, and I detect some champaca. This is just wonderful - I do love my DB scents, but I believe that I like this even more than Dragon's Milk! Side note: this actually smells like the inside of a couple of boutiques I've gone into in the French Quarter. Not the stinky smelly Bourbon Street shops, but a couple off the beaten path. I need to order a bottle of this to be my NOLA scent memory.

When Beth mentioned this on her page, I knew I would need to snag a bottle, and I'm so glad I did! Beautiful honeyed red musk and vetiver, it's a kissing cousin to Bloodlust. Love it and it will age magnificently!

Received a frimp in my latest order, and when putting it away into my imp stash, I realized that I have never reviewed it! Without looking up the notes, upon application I could smell tea - green tea with a hint of lemon. As soon as it dried down, woah--- super sweet honeysuckle!! After an hour there is no tea present and it's all single note honeysuckle. Nice for a hot summer evening.

I took a chance on a decant of this, because jasmine typically never works on me. Each of the other notes is a winner and the fact that it's described as jasmine incense gave me hope. I wasn't wrong!! This is a lovely sweet tropical floral incense on my skin! Yes, I can tell that it's jasmine on top, but the other notes keep it in check from going wrong. TBH, I can't really separate the other notes, as they are all blended together so well. I'm doubtful that I would reach for this often enough to buy a bottle, but am so happy that I stepped out of my comfort zone to give it a chance! I'm going to NOLA in mid-August and this will be perfect to wear then!

Wow this is not at all what I hoped/expected. It goes very sickeningly sweet on me, with an initial blast that is not pleasant. I hate to say it, but it smells like pink urinal cakes on me. I have always liked apple and fig, but this is like a fermented mash and overly sugary. After drydown, it settles down and something spicy arises, probably from the amber. Unfortunately this remains too sweet for me to enjoy. I'm really glad I tried it though.

I never tried Psionicist either, and tbh mint, eucalyptus, and even blue and white musks aren't usually my thing. But then I remembered how good Green Tea Viper is, and jumped on buying a bottle as soon as this went live. I wanted it to work and branch out a bit from my wheelhouse, and this is absolutely perfect for that! Upon application, the mint and eucalyptus are there, but they are not overpowering at all. Then there is the musk, and the Snake Oil. Overall, this scent feels green and fresh and sexy all at once. I love this and it's going to get a lot of wear on hot summer days. Beth if you see this, please try to make more! Your happy little accident is making me happy too, and I would love to see others have the chance to enjoy this!

My decant traveled around for over a month while it disappeared from the USPS tracking system, so it is already slightly aged and the notes settled. This is a lovely fresh springtime floral. It definitely reminds me of the old B&BW Cherry Blossom scent I wore decades ago, only BPALed, so far better. The plum, honeysuckle, and gardenia add to the overall springtime floral vibe. It is not at all a lush heady floral. I could see me wearing this a lot. Bottle worthy.

My decant traveled around for over a month while it disappeared from the USPS tracking system, so it is already slightly aged and the notes settled. When my package finally arrived, this was the one I had to test first! My initial reaction was . Those who have been raving about it were right! I get an initial blast of red musk, because I always detect that first in a blend. However this is truly the sum of its parts and after the initial waft, I can't separate the notes from one another. It is super dark, super rich, red, fruity, resiny, intense, and I love it. Yes I definitely need a bottle.

My decant traveled around for over a month while it disappeared from the USPS tracking system, so it is already slightly aged and the notes settled. This is a very syrupy peachy apricot scent. I don't catch any of the other notes at first, but that isn't a bad thing. Then after drydown, I can catch the cardamom. Nice! If I didn't already have several other bottles of peach scents I would definitely upgrade this to a bottle. As it is, I really like it and will enjoy what I have.

So Fae is an oldie but goodie that I apparently never reviewed in here! I was in the mood for something light and fruity today, and no lie, a lonely imp of aged Fae was somehow sitting in my little imp case full of Snake Oils, Dragon's Milk, and other old favorites! It was meant to be today! Freshly applied, a very powdery musk... usually white musk goes sharp on me, but this one has a depth to it that I love, probably due to the age. I can't even distinguish the rest of the notes individually. It's a blend of musky fruit, yes more leaning to the peach side, but not specifically a peach note. All together this is so lovely, not ethereal as expected, and perfect for today's mood!

A little bit of dragons blood with some warm spice and a hint of golden amber. I don't really get metallic from this, but it is lovely.

2020 Version: Giving my blind bottle of 2020 Samhain a full wear today. I have several previous years of it, as well as the hair gloss and atmo spray, so I knew what to expect, other than that this year has cardamom listed as a note. This is the first one that has really given me the scent of apples! I never seem to get that from it. Finally an apple-y Samhain for me! Also, the menthol scent is much lighter than in my previous versions. This one is also sweeter. And a couple of hours later, I added a dab of the Cinnamon and Clove duet to it. That didn't really change it other than to remove the rest of the menthol note I always get from it. Great layering combo.

Lovely sweet cake with vanilla, buttercream, and lavender. Reminds me of a more grown up version of Sprinklecake, with lavender added. I bought this to wear around my 5 year old grandson and to let him wear. He loves it. Sadly, my daughter does not. He told me "mommy said the one with lavender is stinky." Well I disagree and will enjoy wearing this lovely scent.

I have had my bottle of Lorraine Cross since its first release in 2016 and forgot to review it. So my bottle has some nice aging on it. There isn't a lot to say other than that I've been getting so many hits on the rose scents that I have chosen lately, after thinking that all rose would turn to dreadful soap on me for years upon years of BPAL. LC is a lovely rose, powdery from the myrrh, but not in an old-fashioned way. Pretty sure that's the sandalwood keeping the dreaded soap at bay. This is gentler than I had expected, and won't shriek anyone's head off. Slightly sweet, gentle resins with velvety rose petals. Very happy to have this!!

Sticky sweet'n'sour citrus musk..that's all I get. Citrus isn't my thing, but at least this fades quickly.

I was certain that I had reviewed this years ago. Several of my reviews seem to have disappeared in the Great 2014 Forum Crash. As I pull out a bottle to wear and come across a scent that is missing my review, I'm trying to review again. So this is for my very well-aged bottle of Panther Moon. OMG it is so thick, sticky, and syrupy! Super throw too! Very thick sweet smelling black musk and nag champa blend. That's what I get! All the other notes simply melted into these two. I love it even more than when it was new! Long lasting too!

No one has mentioned cinnamon?! Well I get a strong cinnamon Smut from this! The red candy coating is made from cinnamon candies, and it is poured over a layer of Smut. That's it. Deliciously Smutty cinnamon candy, no apple. I really like it!

Received my frottle as a gift from a wonderful BPALer. This scent is a big surprise to me! Typically I don't care for almond as a note in my perfume, and I am always cautious about rose. This has them both right out of the bottle! On my skin, they blend and merge into a lovely gentle sweet rose, similar in fact to the rose in my beloved Rose Quartz Bedroom. I can tell there is myrrh here, as it's powder also swirls gently in and out of the rose. I typically amp cassia and opium tar, and yet I don't even get them as individual notes here! I really love this scent and will wear it for spring. It's very comforting and is suitable for wearing in company, if that being around people ever happens again. This perfume is another example of why you shouldn't rule out a BPAL solely based on the notes. Always give a skin test!

I've had my bottle since '07 and wore it today for the first time in a long while. I've been on a clove kick lately, with many newer scents that have clove. I looked this up to recall my review and didn't find one! Time to remedy that! Yes, this is clove. Also patchouli and sandalwood, with some sweetness. I knew I loved this, and I wore it a lot when I first bought my bottle, then as so often happens, I slowed down so as not to run out. Now that I know I have other gorgeous clove-forward BPALs, I'm going to wear this more often and so be it if I use it up. You only live once!