forspecial_plate

Ugh....I just lost the review I wrote for this!! I'll try again. Just got Red Moon today, and I can already tell I really like it. It's a warm, dry, and somewhat spicy scent to me, subtle, and stays pretty close to my skin. [Caveat: I had a cold recently and lost my sense of smell for a couple weeks, but I still think this is just a subtle scent on my skin.] The dragon's blood resin, and maybe orange peel, lend the scent a touch of sweet fruitiness. The dbr does not take over...it's really pretty restrained on my skin, which is unusual for me. Here it is very, um, well behaved. I am glad I got this. It reminds me somewhat of Corazon just because they both have this subtle quality while still being strong in a quiet way, if that makes any sense. Even moreso, it reminds me of The Great Red Dragon from the Salon, but not as woody as that scent, and not as sweetly floral (I think the Great Red Dragon has sweet pea if I remember correctly....). But the amber warmth is there. Red Moon also has a spicy feel almost like cinnamon, but without really smelling like cinnamon. That could be coming from the amber too. I will enjoy wearing this!

I found this scent very light on my skin. I didn't think 'almond' when I smelled it, and if I hadn't read the reviews, I'm not sure I would have thought of almond at all. I really didn't recognize any other notes. Even though it was super light, it lasted a long time. There was a faint element in there that reminded me of rubber or maybe leather, for some reason. Weird, I know.... This wasn't a very descriptive review. The scent is light, sort of sweet and slightly nutty, a little 'clean'. It didn't smell bad at all, but also didn't really grab me as something I want to wear a lot.

Speaking of 51, I found Incantation and 51 to be in the same scent family. Incantation is like the handsome brooding older brother and 51 is like the young pretty sister. To me the wood element is very similar in these scents.

Can it have a floral element? At the last meet 'n sniff that I went to, Knave of Hearts was a big favorite.

I think I've made more Kingsport comparisons than any other bpal scent.....and I'm afraid I'm about to do it again. But this really does remind me of Kingsport. It's like a brighter, lighter, slightly more feminine counterpart to Kingsport. This has less ozone and more 'yellow-ness', which I guess is pretty obvious looking at the painting and reading the notes. But there ya go. Really I can't describe it any better than the other reviews. I pick up a bracing sort of sea spray, bright and sweet, and a little fruity. Not so sweet that I can't wear it, and not too feminine, either, even with the breezy floral notes. I could definitely wear this, and will! Edit to add.....this scent lasts and lasts, for hours. I'm going on hour 8 now, and it's still going. I keep getting this warm, slightly sweet note or notes that reminds me of vanilla. I suppose that could be the amber and/or pear coming out. Really good stuff.

It was very interesting for me to try this and then read the reviews. I'm totally with those that got a big 'masculine' vibe from this. It starts out with a big flourish of lavender, which is a note I've always got along well with. But that does back off pretty quickly, and the other notes come forward. It's all blended together so I really couldn't pick apart the notes....and I didn't have the description with me, so I didn't know what notes were there anyway, except I remembered there was tobacco in it. Kind of a suffused golden and smokey scent, elegant, almost. Makes me think of couples slow dancing in a smokey lounge, to sultry jazz music. The extended drying stage of this totally reminded me of a classic, almost old fashioned men's after-shave. After reading the reviews I can't wait to try it again, and see if my opinion changes at all, and if I get any 'feminine' feeling from it. It's something I would enjoy wearing when in certain moods, but not all the time, and probably don't need a whole bottle of. But it is quite interesting and as usual, I love experiencing Beth's interperetations of the art. Edit: You know....something about this scent reminds me of a used ashtray. I think it's the golden resin, because copal sometimes goes out of control when I wear it, and tobacco doesn't usually have this effect on me. I don't think I can wear this any more. : (

I also get strong clove from The Smiling Spider, above all else. I can just detect the black musk, and couldn't really smell patchouli at all. The clove really dominates and lasts for hours on my skin, to the point of making me slightly queasy. In those long-ago times that I actually smoked clove cigarettes, they made me feel the same way, so maybe I'm just not a clove kind of guy. I really wanted to love this scent! I even made an iron-on tshirt with the painting. Oh well, 'twas not meant to be. I definitely understand the Count Dracula comparisons, and I love that scent, so I'll stick with him. I may keep the imp and try it again in a few weeks or even months, though. quick edit: I want to let this age for a few weeks or even months, just because I know patchouli can get better with age. I want more patchouli out of this scent, and maybe could even layer it with something else. Basically I don't want to give up on it.

I wanted to try this for a long time.....I thought I might like it. Unfortunately something about it really disagrees with me. Maybe it's the almond milk because it's the same sour-milk note in Milk Moon, which made that scent unwearable for me. It's a little more bearable here, because after a while I can smell the other notes teasing me from the background.....pine.....a little bit of something smokey.....but nothing can break through that heavy, sour, milky note. Just not something I can really enjoy wearing! Edit: Something told me to try this again the other day, and I'm so glad I did! This is yet another one of those oils that did an about face on my skin, and became something that I really like. I almost feel like revising my review completely, but I'll leave the first review up there as an example....this tends to happen sometimes with oils that don't work for me....all of a sudden they work for whatever reason. I think what I was smelling before was the almond milk combined with some of the other notes, and it came off as sour. When I tried it more recently, it came across as something deep, somewhat smokey, rich and almost creamy, strong but very calm and mellow. I think I'm actually getting the scent as it was intended this time, and I think I really love it. I may actually end up getting a whole bottle of this! I really am not picking up on sarsaparilla or patchouli, I think they just quietly contribute to the scent as a whole.

After reading the other reviews, I want to try this again....except I already knew I wanted to wear it again! Voodoo Lily smelled toasty and spicy to me, with some floral sweetness. It reminded me somewhat of the lab's Dragon's Blood, with toasty spices. Way back when this was introduced, someone mentioned that they smelled it or a prototype at the lab, and it reminded them of Djinn (if I remember correctly)*. I knew right then I had to try it, but after a while it sort of fell off my radar. I happened upon a frimp of it, and I have to say I really like it! I can see the comparison to Djinn a little bit, although this is sweeter and obviously more floral than that scent. My experience with lily is that it reminds me of bubble gum a little bit. This lily scent has the least amount of 'bubble gum' of any other lily I've tried from the lab (I think I've tried Black Lily and Cobra Lily). It's there, but just in little flashes, very brief, few and far between. I just like it! There is some powder that comes in, far into the dry stage. This could keep me from wearing it a lot but I'll definitely try it again. *Edit: Come to think of it, I think it was Devil's Claw that someone compared to Djinn, not Voodoo Lily. I have an imp of Devil's Claw on the way so I'll try it and see.

Very unusual scent. When I tried this I didn't have the description handy so I had absolutely no idea what I was smelling. All I knew was that it was sweet and slightly foody, almost a marshmallow fluff smell at first. Then as it warmed up, I finally decided it smelled like sweet wine and maybe some herbs. Honey? I had not a clue. It sure wasn't the honey note that I was used to smelling. I decided it was reminiscent of some Possets scents, so I gave the imp to Olympia301. She seemed to like it. Osun actually smelled good to me, and I kept sniffing my wrist trying to decide what it smelled like.....just not my thing, really, and not something I would wear.

The candy-fruity-fizziness of Pruno reminds me a bit of the Hamptons. I think the Hamptons is sweeter and lighter, and Pruno has a little more depth, and a hint of darkness.

Wow...reading the other reviews, I was interested in all the bpal comparisons other people got from this. I'll get to mine in a minute. After reading about Kyphi I was a little worried that this would be too fruity or raisiny or something. I needn't have worried. This scent is very, very good, and pretty much exactly what I was hoping for. Sweet smoldering wood. Dark, golden, contemplative. The fruity notes just add to the scent as a whole. The scent is subtle but does have a lot of strength. I think I put on too much yesterday so I'll remember that for future reference. But I just love it. For me, after a few minutes, I realized this reminded me strongly of Hunter Moon. After my mind made that association, it started to smell exactly like Hunter Moon to me. I had to actually put on some Hunter Moon for a comparison. While they are two different scents, the tone and 'feel' of the scents is remarkably similar to me. Hunter Moon has a deeper wine note, while Philosopher is more about woods. The fruit in Philosopher is sweeter. As the two scents dry they diverge a lot more. Philosopher ends up sweeter and slightly powdery. It's a wonderful scent I'll be wearing again, definitely.

Mad Meg. I love this scent. LOVE it. I was expecting a whole bunch of vetive like the Great He-Goat. Not the case. The whole scent is very smooth and subtle. Up close I can smell the earthy vetiver, and sweet orange. The throw however is something special. Enigmatic. It darts around and reminds me of things, elusive and hard to pin down. It kept reminding me of another bpal and I couldn't think of what. Then I realized it was reminding me of Mad Hatter. Why?? I don't know! But there it is. It's a great scent. Spicy, sweet and earthy. Very smooth and much lighter than I was expecting. Really fantastic. edit: I wanted to add that this lasted a really long time, and I kept getting little hints of that 'scorched' note in the throw....really fascinating the way this scent presents different facets of itself. Definitely worthy of a bottle purchase!!

I love the character in the book so I did want to try this. Smells weird in the vial. On my skin, though, a nice spicy scent comes forward. I almost smell cake or baked goods. Smells womanly to me, and strikes me as appropriate for the character. Very nice! Reading over the description, I don't think I smelled many of those notes. Very well balanced and blended scent.

This just about knocked me over with rose and nothing but rose. Tart rose. Extremely strong on my skin with tons of throw. I don't think I smelled any of the other notes. The rose started to turn sour and never did back off, until unfortunately I just had to wash it off. Just not a scent for me!

Sparkly wine or champagne at the start. Often I don't like wine or booze notes but this is very skillfully blended. Either that or Beth found an exquisite cognac note that just works well on me. Thinking back, I didn't smell clove, but did smell musk. Much later the scent took on an incense quality. I think tobacco sometimes reminds me of incense, so maybe it's the tobacco flower that made me think of incense. This smells very good and I'm glad I got to test it thanks to Olympia301. It's not something that I would wear often though.

Soft and pretty musks, seems somewhat feminine to my nose. Sweet and a little green. It's not so feminine that I wouldn't wear it, but I know I don't need to seek out more. Every now and then I think I can smell wine. Very pretty scent, strong and long lasting on my skin.

Floral with a spicy and tart kick. I want to say this smells like jasmine, beyond that I can't pick out other notes. Reminds me a lot of Bayou with the tart and almost humid feel. Doesn't morph much at all, and lasted a really long time on my skin.

When I tried this I didn't have the description around so I had no idea what notes were in it, except I knew there were a bunch of flowers. So...to me it smelled like a glittery, golden floral scent. At first I thought it faded really fast but then something resiny (I see now it must have been the amber) comes swelling forth and lasts for a LONG time. Thinking back, I couldn't really pick out any of the notes individually except maybe the amber. I just kept thinking it seemed like a golden scent. It's something I like and will wear again, and try to pick out more notes, especially the sandalwood which is a note that I love.

This is a light, almost dusty floral scent. Ever so slightly soapy at first. In my notes I wrote 'it's a dapper little bat'. I got hints of something citrus and something a little creamy. Probably just the nuances of the florals. This lasts a long time and it's the amber that comes out strongly for me, combined with the musk. A really good companion for Bat-Woman.

Spicy musky floral. Smells somewhat creamy, too. This is a unique scent. It's not mostly floral, musky, or anything else....just a blend all its own. It almost has a foody feel, but not quite. Later I can smell the musk really coming out. I know this isn't a great review but it's a hard scent to describe!

Brings to mind minerals and rock. To me it's not dank and dripping like I was expecting. It's more of a crackling scent and reminds me of Brimstone. There's a faint touch of pine and/or eucalyptus that peeks in and out. Later it smooths out and becomes rock with some cool condensation. Much later the pine becomes stronger, until it's nearly dominating the scent. It's a fascinating scent that seems 'elemental' to me.

I tested this today w/out reading the notes first. I found it to be light and airy, but regal at the same time. I don't know how to tell you what regal smells like but King of Clubs has that quality too. I did pick up a fruity note which I now see is the pomegranate. Other than that, I found it lightly sweet and a touch floral. I kept thinking there may be violet in it, but I see there is not, so I'm not sure what gave me that impression....just the combination of notes, I guess. A nice light scent, IMO, that I will try once more and decide if I can actually wear it. After reading the notes I want to test it again to see if I can pick out more individual notes. I did find it slightly feminine and that would be the only thing keeping me from getting more use out of it. It smells good though.....I did keep pressing my arm up to my nose to sniff.

I'm dying to know what Pruno and Privilege look like, even though I'll have Pruno in just a few days (or less)!

What, no love for Mr. Nancy? Because I love. Love that scent.... Reviews vary but extispex, it might be worth hunting down a decant. Some people say it's foody but not too foody. For me it's more on the sugary side but I didn't mind a bit. And some people think it's rather masculine. For me it's spicy, bay rum, and sugar cookies. Just great. I can't believe I still don't have a whole bottle of it!