absinthetics

I generally do not like mint scents, but I love the crystalline features of winter scents. Frost Moon surprised me, in that wet and in the bottle it is this gentle, even fragile mint scent... but on the wrist and on drydown, you can clearly smell the lotus and the aquatic note smells almost like cucumber. I almost traded this away simply because it was minty, but on me... I don't smell the mint at all, just this refreshing quality that must be where the mint has gone.

This vein of chocolate is like powdered cocoa. But there is something plasticy about it that off sets it to my nose. Maybe it's meant to be a note of 'dangerousness' ad described in the artwork. There is also something a bit woody about it, something that I have found in common with everything in the carnaval.

Cherry-almond, marzipan... is the best description I've heard of this one.

There is also something very woody about it. It is definitely a keeper if for only how unique it is.

Unfortunately I am not a fan of either of the notes in organ grinder, and together I find the scent to be ... almost a little sour. The milk and the pine react together to accentuate all the things I do not like about Milk and Chaste moons, white rabbit, obatala etc.

If you're a milk fan, you should try this out. If you aren't though....

In the bottle this is all amber, pathcouli and opoponax

Wet, the myrhh comes out...

There is something a little sweeter in here, ... I will definitely have to pick up another bottle of this, for the sheer mystery.

For me, in the bottle you really smell the pear and lotus. It is extremely fruity with only a touch of floral. (Exactly as how I had thought it would be)

However, when it's on it turns to a bit more of the floral, the musk and orchid are much more noticeable.

The one sad part is that it doesn't last that long on the skin. I think this may be the scent that goes into my locket. I'm a huge lotus fan.

Aquatic... earth tones... in the vial.

However, on the dry down the flowers come out. I'm not sure if this feeling is deep and dark and sad...or if there is hope at the end.

Cairo.... mystefies me. It's this deep and somehow dark incense, that has a bite of citrous. The first time I smelled it though, I could have sworn I got a dusty feel, like pyramids.... but then it returned to this cloying...incense. It's a keeper if only because it shows the artistry of the lab.

voluptuous myrrh is right! Voluptuous is the best word for this, it hits you over the head with its round...voluptuousness. The red wine is the next thing that hits you pretty hard, and it almost feels over-ripe. The sweet notes that trickle in later are just too little and too late, in my opinion.

Though it smells like much in the imp, this could be a very interesting scent to wear on the right night...in something red.

The first thing I smell in this is the berries. They're lovely, fresh, dew covered, and delicious. The freshness mixes with the grass and the budding florals and becomes this ...greenness around the fruit.

Well...I have to review this one. However, it's very simple to pick out.

This is a sweetened, and for some reason lemony anise. For me, the lemon is much more strong than anything 'absinthe' about it. On the dry down, the anise all but fades away to this ghosty undertone. To me, this seems more like the scent of a little green fairy who may exude anise from her little pores.

A slightly sweet, resinous scent, of the perfect base insense with a touch of the wood of the church itself.

I can't stop smelling my wrist. It's ... comforting, and even a little uplifting.

Indeed, I feel sanctified.

Chrysanthemum Moon was the first moon I was really excited about. I'm not the type of BPALer that prefers one type of scent to another, my likes sort of localize in different genres. With that said, I thought Chrysanth moon would fall right into a (or more than one) little niche.

In the bottle, my first sniff disappointed me a bit. I was really hopeing for the creamy ginger that everyone kept talking about. I only get a wiff of that after several passes, my first impression is a green, yet musky floral. It was pleasant though, and had a warmness to it I can't really put my finger on.

However, the ginger creamyness comes after drydown. There is still a hint of floral, but it bleeds out (at least on me) into the faintly ginger musk on my skin. There is definitely a creamyness to it, and .... it still retains itself as one of my most favorite moons. However, it didn't achieve the dramatics that most of the first reviews claimed. But then again...there isn't much 'dramatics' in the vein of opiates.

BEB#2

The oil is quite dark and there's an interesting tartness to it that becomes at the same time rich and earthy. However, the tartness is mixed with a sweet note that I can't put my fingers on. It reminds me like a mix of Corazon, Mabon and something bubbly like that note in Whippoorwhill.

Ha! I knew Midsummer's Night smelled like Drakkar. I call it my 'boy smell'. Whenever someone comes over (i have the air freshener in the den) someone says 'it.. it...it smells like...like' BOY! My apartment of 2 girls smells like a hot sexy man lives there. Just the way I like it.

Ehem. Anyhow, I've never actually 'smelled' the bergamot or verbena in Drakkar. For me, Vicomte has a blatant undertone of the lemon scent. I have yet to find something from BPAL that smells like Drakkar. But then again, I wasn't really looking... since I have a bottle of Drak lying around for emergencies. =X

This is a gentle mint, but mint nonetheless. There is a floral touch to it and this hint of citrusy floral in there. It is indeed myserious... but it is just too much mint for me. It is not the mint of ultraviolet though, in my opinion, it is more like Lick It and Spooky.

LYONESSE

This scent has inspired me to be a first review, even though I doubt my ability to pick out notes. So I will review it... a bit more on impression.

In the bottle -- If this scent had a colour, it would indeed be golden ambers-- like the faded golds of medieval ikon halos, flaking but vibrant... and haunting. The ambers and musk are beautiful and somehow bright. In the bottle it seems a bit more traditional than I expected, the vanilla is a bit hard to find under the sandalwood and orris root. There is definitely an aquatic-ness to it, but it's almost like an afterglow. Primarily though, i would say it was definitely an amber-musk at this stage.

Wet -- Here is where the vanilla leaps out at you, Lyonesse shows its character when wet and on the skin. It's a little more light hearted and feminine here. The gold has softer edges and becomes a bit more 'princessy' when you thought it would be more for a 'queen'. I can smell the lily now, when I didn't think I could before. The vanilla adds a creamyness to the floral.

On the skin, and dry down -- On the drydown, the two natures seem to intermingle, and the scent just seems to ... glow. It is feminine and pretty, but regal and elegant. The stargazer lily comes out even more so now and it doesn't seem as creamy as it did before, but you can certainly tell there is vanilla in there. The dryer tones come out here, yet it somehow remains vaguely aquatic. I suppose it smells 'older' when it dries down. And reminds you of the history behind the beauty that are the legends of Lyonesse. In a way it's this 'mature' and musky vanilla scent. The dry down is my favorite part, and really... it simply 'glows'-- a happy, perfect, even a bit yummy 'glow'.

All in all, Lyonesse is extremely beautiful and every girl should have a bottle.

KUMARI KANDAM

This scent has inspired me to be a first review, even though I doubt my ability to pick out notes. So I will review it... a bit more on impression.

In thebottle -- this scent is a cool, wet incense. I have to say it smells like a beloved child of Whippoorwhill and Ice Queen. The spike of frost is a touch piney, a touch sharp. But the papery and aquatic feel of the whippoorwhill-like notes wet it down, and melt the queen to something a bit more somber. It's amazing how something green and aquatic can hold that 'hint of decay'. Beth did something amazing with that.

Wet -- Wet, she dies down a bit. The clay, the dark, and cold grotto chambers of the sunken city come to mind. Long abandoned hallways, memories of inhabitants... the piney scent dissipates into an incensy aquatic. Something I've never smelled before. It's delicate and old, but you never forget the 'ice'.

On the skin, and dry down-- For me she sweetens up a bit. The incensy notes become more accessible and it becomes a bit more delicate, a bit more vacant and haunting. I can't decide if this scent embodies a perfect winter scent, or would be a lovely solace from the staggering summer heat. Regardless, on the dry down she gets a little more earthy, and the 'clay's begin to form. You can also get the feeling of those 'hothouse' blooms, as they seperate from the aquatic notes.

Unseelie is frisky, and playful, in a spritely way. But it definitely has a dark sense of humor. It is ethereal and gossamar, but close at home with nature. A fantasy-forest at night, if you will. It transports you to a place where you're not quite sure if up is up, or up is down. It is an ethereal, night-flower that converts through several different phases during its long lasting repartee. Unseelie is an herbal, darker floral frangrance. It has hints of fruit that are bound by a grassy, nature-ness.

It's lovely.

Resinous.. throaty... the lilac is the bubbably and vaguely powder smell that you pick up from the imp and detect on the skin.

This is definitely a vaguely floral amber... but a dark amber because of the myrrh. Bruja, to me, is golden-heavenly in the amber way of Jacob's ladder, but feminine and sexy in a way that is wholly its own.

My first impression was a good one.. it was aquatic, but it soon becomes a soapy, herbally lavender. I don't get any citrus notes at all, it simply turns into a bit of an 'old lady' perfume. A shame, I really wanted to like the elementals.

Red phoenix was nothing like blood moon for me. Bloodmoon is sweet, red phoenix is pure incensey.

Similarly, Gypsy queen for me had a fruityness...while baghdad... is incensy. I seriously dislike baghdad but on the other hand would actually buy a bottle of gypsy queen.

Talvikku is cold, but not too minty ... that gives it the Nuclear winter feel. The pine is there...but Talvikku is one of only a handful of scents I actually like the pine in. There is definitely some dublin-esque in this..but there is a hint of berry in there, that is almost reminiscent of Mabon. I would recommend Talvikku to anyone willing to give pine one last try. =)

pine, a light citrus, a hint of sweet ozone.. yes.. but it's very very strong in the vial.. i am actually warry of putting it on as all of these notes are not to my taste. It is perfumy and clean in a somewhat jarring way... I was glad to have tried it, but I think this is not for me.

demure, and a little playful, but dark.. and refreshing lily... I have to update later with just what it is like on... like throw and duration.. but I was impressed with how delicate this was... but with just enough sneakyness to warrant the 'black' title.