Ah Xia

This would be an excellent masculine scent--strong earthy patchouli balanced with a sweet thread of fresh carrot juice, complex, sophisticated and unusual--completely unique.

Gorgeous strong fresh lilac, possibly the best lilac-floral in the BPAL catalogue with just the faintest undertone of clean (not too herbal/medicinal) lavender. It is like an expensive French soap without being "soapy".

Bright and beautiful rose (like Rose Red, but fruitier) balanced out by the herbal dryness of chamomile--something very summery and fruity and elegant about this blend. It reminds me a bit of the discontinued GC Despair, which had rosewood and chamomile in it.

This is really lovely--wet, it is almost all beeswax with the darkness from the vetiver and a sweetness from the lotus. If you are familiar with Arcana's Holy Terror, it is quite similar without being as incensey and harsh. It is well-balanced and perfectly evocative of a dreary autumn evening!

CCNOW keeps timing out for me...it is just because so many are using it now? Every time I try to add something to my cart, it refuses to load

 

Intriguingly sweet and creamy sandalwood which is softened and rounded out by the rose without being an overtly floral blend. It reminds me of Dorian with a tiny rosy edge, sweet, refined and elegant.

Beautiful, grassy green with almost a fruity-floral candy-like edge. Pomegranate is not a note, but it reminds me a bit of a greener Swank. It's very vibrant and *alive* and not herbal/dirty/harsh at all. I would probably wear this quite a bit in spring and summer.

Wet, this definitely has a pimento-y sort of note and something that reminded me immediately of growing up on a farm. Not a hay-coumarin thing, but something a bit organic and visceral. As it dries down, it smells a bit dusty and the red musk is more apparent. The scent is not as heavy as the notes would suggest and becomes quite faint with my particular chemistry.

Vetiver, not harsh and scorched as it can sometimes be, but sweeter and very earthy yet still sinister. It's a strange melange of notes that definitely captures the unease one gets from viewing the painting. Very unisex but not too 'cologney'.

Initially there was strong evergreen, but it dries down to a sweet, incense-y blend like Midnight Mass. Sandalwood & frankincense are the most prominent on me, it is not as smokey and unpleasant as you might imagine from the note listing.

Bananas. With an edge of coconut sun-tan lotion. I must have weird chemistry.

I got this bottle by accident in an order, and sniffed it. It reminded me very much of Schwarzer Mond, but I like it better.

My Delousing Powder smelled like orange citrus creme powder...with a bit of amber. It was yummeh, like the center of a chocolate, sans chocolate. It's tangy and cheerful and very sweet! Just like louses!

To me, this fragrance it utterly bizarre. I'm a Cancer moon so I had to try it. First of all, when applied it has a very strange burnt caramel note on my skin...it might be the wild lettuce? It smells a bit like Scarecrow or Coyote or blends with a "grasses" sort of vibe. After a couple minutes it calms down and the barest whiff of chammomile and something very sweet come out. On me it is a very sticky floral...I'm happy I tried it but can think of no other BPAL this compares to.

This scent is very light and has a bit of a "green stem" undertone, and a bit of orris or violet. I am also getting a very strange note, almost like damp clay or rocks, or dew covered stones on a garden path. It's very remiscent of some of the Exhibit III Asian themed Salon scents, or like Orpheus without the sharp herbal overtones. It sticks fairly close to the skin and doesn't have much throw.

A very sweet, beautiful springy floral, like a lovely garden all in bloom. For some reason I think of bluebells when I smell it. I think I detect a bit of rose, a bit of lily, a bit of muguet, a bit of lilac, but it's very well blended and very very sweet. Rose sometimes doesn't work on me but this may be more of a tearose note.

A definite keeper and one for the floral lovers out there.

Similar scents: Asphodel, Melancholia, Black Lily

ETA: On the drydown, this has really come into its own...it's almost creamy and has a really depth to it, with a very decent throw.

This is the most evocative of the Salons I bought on the update.

 

It smells like a dream I had once, a vast endless plain of white snow and grey shadowy skies, near a frozen stream. In the middle of this landscape is a beautiful flowering tree unlike any found on earth, some exotic combination of lilac, cherry, wisteria and everything beautiful in spring, delicate blossoms covered with a wet dusting of drippy snow that makes black marks on the trunk of the tree and wet holes in the snow cover beneath, exposing tufts of long buried grass brilliantly, impossibly green.

 

As you sit and wait under this tree, there's a palpable sense of anticipation...a flash in the sky, a sudden light in the distance, and everything will change...carried on the wet, somehow alive breath of wind.

 

 

Who could know what this one would smell like? I'm a knitter so I had to get the one that smells like worsted wool. I was a little afraid of the woody notes, though. I was shocked to try it on and find out on me it smells *exactly* like Numb. That must be the worsted wool part. I don't smell any wood notes at all, just maybe a bit of dryness under the aquatic "wool" note. If you are a fan of Numb, don't shy away! This blend is no where near as dry and woody as the description makes it sound. To be honest, I prefer the wooliness of Queen Alice, but this is definitely a unique blend.

 

ETA: On the drydown, there is defintely a bit of polished table poking through. Clean, classic elegance, and one of the more "perfumey" blends that appeals to ozoney, sophisticated, unisex scent lovers. This ain't your grandma's wet mitten perfume and it ain't no dirty poolhall with a sticky floor either. This is a classy joint!

Holy pepper, Batman! With a background of sweet dragon's blood. I wasn't sure about this one...I liked the pepper in La Mort Qui Danse, but this one isn't working so well with my chemistry. It started to make me nauseated so I had to wash it off. Off to swaps for a new home, and someone who will cherish it.

I love this one. On me it smells amazingly similar to Roadhouse, except with carnation instead of dandelion. I'm simply mad for anything with cider in it. Gorgeous and can't stop sniffing my arm...a definite bottle purchase.

Xinnian kuai le, indeed! This is like the happy-go-lucky older sister of Hungry Ghost Moon, which is A-OK in my book! It's delicious, bright and fruity, crisp and wonderful! I don't really get much dragon's blood out of this at all, but I do get the unique and tangy scent of lychees, which makes me very very very happy. A definite multiple bottle purchase.

This scent is really fascinating. It's not the typical piney evergreen snow scent at all. It's very...forbidding and scary, like being lost in a sinister forest on the verge of nightfall, the trunks stained black with dripping water...it smells very much like a recently cut hardwood tree...you can smell the fresh wood sappy odor of the newly revealed bark, and in the distant background the wet, nighttime air of far off ocean, but not a friendly ocean, a wild, frothy, smashing against the shore kind of ocean with jagged rocks. *shudders*

 

I love it.

This is strangely like a musky wintergreen on me...the only note I can pick up so far. In the bottle it smells a bit grassy, going on wet just a soft, musky minty scent. I kind of like it but it doesn't have much throw...this is one very subtle corvid...

Holy hell! This is mucho cinnamon! It means business!!!! I kinda wished Shub smelled like this, too. Usually I don't like cinnamon but this is such a ferocious assault of uber-cinnamon it kind of works for me! It is rich, in your face, and dry. Not sweet like Red Hots candy. This is a really commanding blend -- and I think if you were really into the LE Shub that was more gingerbready, this might really work for you.

Whoa. This is super rich and foody. Chocolate, caramel, buttercream, sugary explosion. There is something grounding it all to keep it in check, sort of an incensy undertone to it. It is like a delicious well-crafted confection, almost a bit hazelnutty, too. What strikes me is how well it's balanced. Usually I don't like foody scents but whatever the base is makes a lovely pairing. This is worth trying especially if you are a foody, nutty rich scents lover.