azhure

In the vial: This really smells like chilly ice. Again I ask - how the hell does Beth do it?

On me - The icy scent only stays for the initial few minutes. Then it goes kind of muddy. Then vanishes, within about ten minutes.

In the vial: Red musk. Dusty red musk.

Wet: I don't know Beth does it - this blend is exactly like the description above.

Drydown: This fades very quickly to an indistinct musk. Woe.

In the vial: Warmth - mostly in the form of citrus.

Wet: The citrus amps up initially. There's something that turns almost bitter on me as well.

Drydown: Faint citrusy amber. Fades quickly.

In the vial: Cakes. And more cakes. Hm.

Wet: The cakes take over still, leaving nothing to the other notes.

Drydown: This fades to nothing rapidly. Argh.

In the vial: Peppermint!
Wet: Yummy peppermint, backed by sugar. This really is the perfect candy cane scent, Yummy.
Drydown: Sadly this fades really quickly on me I end up with just a very faint sugary scent.

In the vial: Incense!

Wet: This has a very bitter phase when I first put it on. It's actually quite faint on me, with little throw.

Drydown: Soft incense. And then a headache. Oh dear.

In the vial: Chilly florals.

Wet: The florals stay, and the berries come out slightly.

Drydown: This one fades away to nothing within about 30 minutes on me.

In the vial: Juicy holly berries.

Wet: Berries! The other scents play about in the background a little, but it's still mainly the holly berries.

Drydown: Faded berries and some greenery.

In the bottle: OMG cherry cough syrup. I cringe.

 

Wet: The cough syrup scent stays for a few minutes (during which I panic). I should know better - BPAL's cherry always softens on my skin. The cherry blends beautifully with the red musk into something deep and exotic. No star anise, unless it's very subtle (which knowing Beth, it is).

 

Drydown: This goes into all musk, as most blends that contain this note do on me. I'm not complaining - I love the musk.

In the bottle: Translucent rose indeed! This smells like a rose just on the edge of existence.

 

Wet: The moonflower tries to come out, but it and the rose get mixed together into an indistinct floral. It's nice, but I'd like to be able to pick out the individual notes more.

 

Drydown: This goes powdery as it dries, and then turns a little soapy and then powdery again. Pleasant, but nothing amazing.

In the bottle: Mostly tea and some sweetness.

 

Wet: This is a strange, indistinct scent at first on me. Then the tea comes out again, accompanied by the lemongrass. Which is odd.

 

Drydown: This dries down into an indistinct scent. Meh.

In the bottle: A faint dusty floral.

 

Wet: The vanilla and musk amp up initially - the musk isn't like it is in other blends on me. It's a lot softer, probably tempered by the other notes. I expected this to be quite floral on me, but the florals are very subdued.

 

Drydown: This dries into a lovely soft ambery scent, with the dusty florals remaining as well.

In the bottle: I can smell the wine grapes above everything else. It's *very* purple.

 

Wet: The wine grapes amp very briefly, giving me a flash of that "OMG PURPLE" scent. This fades quickly (at which I am quite pleased, I don't think I could stand having that around me for too long). The scent fades quickly into a melange of the plum blossom and other florals, with the myrrh playing in the background and softening it all.

 

Drydown: This dries down to quite a faint skin scent on me. I wish it was stronger and had more throw, because it's quite lovely.

In the bottle: I get mainly the champaca flower (love!) but little whiffs of the poppy smoke as well.

 

Wet: The smoke and sandalwood amp up initially - I despaired of this scent going all to smoke. Luckily there's enough sweetness to counter it, and after a while the smoke fades back, with the florals coming to the foreground.

 

Drydown: On me, this is like a lighter Khajuraho, with a hint more subtlety. Lovely. I'm glad I have a bottle.

In the bottle: Herbs - must be the sage I think.

 

Wet: The herbal scent comes out first, and remains for about ten minutes. After that the blackberry comes out - it fits the name of the blend well, for it isn't an overly sweet blackberry. The other scents all combine to give the blackberry a herbal background.

 

Drydown: The blackberry of the scent fades in about an hours, leaving a lovely dusty herbal scent behind.

In the vial: Boozey musk.

 

Wet: Oh God this is gorgeous - seep sugary musk. It's one of the stronger scents I've tried.

 

Drydown: Smut lasts and lasts. The booze notes go away pretty quickly (which is a good thing IMHO) as does some of the sweetness. It's the musks that make this - they weave in amongst each other, with one or other of them peeking out from time to time. As of 12 hours it's still going strong.

In the vial: Citrusy. A very orange scent, appropriately.

 

Wet: There's lemon of some kind in here, but it's almost bitter. Weird.

 

Drydown: My skin eats this in about thirty minutes.

In the vial: Cedar, cedar and more cedar. It's not a bad scent, but do I want to smell like it?

 

Wet: Cedar. And...yep, cedar. I keep on wondering where the wood scent is coming from.

 

Drydown: This softens a little. Only a little, mind, with the rose coming through very faintly. I don't have much luck with Beth's rose scents, other notes always seem to dominate. This isn't any different.

In the vial: Very faint incense.

 

Wet: This is a close skin scent for me. Still faint incense.

 

Drydown: The florals come out to play a little, but they turn the blend into something headachy. I'm glad at this point that this doesn't have much throw.

In the vial: Hmm, smoky and bitter.

Wet: The bitterness stays with me for a while - maybe an hour. I contemplate washing this off.

Drydown: I am glad I didn't wash it off - the musk, opium smoke and apricot flower combine into something glorious. Yummy and soft and very long lasting.

In the vial: A complex and heady blend. I get a lot of the patchouli leaf.

 

Wet: This seems a chaotic blend on me at first - the notes seem to fight with each other for dominance. The plum wins out.

 

Drydown: Faintly musky and not much else. I am sad, because I thought this would work on me.

In the vial: Peach.

 

Wet: Bright is a good word to describe this scent. It feels like I'm inhaling colours - mainly oranges and yellows. It's intoxicating. I actually can't pick out the individual notes, they blend together into a gorgeous melange of scent.

 

Drydown: My skin eats this a bit - I can't smell much except for faint amber and musk close to my skin. But I get these incredible whiffs of that golden peachy scent.

In the vial: Warm. I can smell the patchouli as well, which makes it slightly bitter.

 

Wet: The spices amp up initially, especially the allspice. I don't get much of the pumpkin.

 

Drydown: This one mellows into spicy woods. Warm, and for some reason very much unlike Samhain '05 (which went very bitter on me).

In the vial: Chilly - I get the florals, mainly lily of the valley.

Wet: Something berry-like comes out (maybe the raspberry leaf?). It smells like flowers in winter, with some berries on the side.

Drydown: The berry scent mellows out, and I'm left with a cool floral.

In the vial: Autumn leaves. It's a warm scent; at this stage I'm unsure about it.

 

Wet: There's a sharpness to this scent - I think it's the vetiver. I'm still unsure.

 

Drydown: This is when this scent becomes something else - the balsalms and geranium combine into something musky and completely gorgeous. It has a lot of staying power as well.