ND¢

In the bottle: Flowery and sharply sweet.

 

On me: Sickly sweet jasminey smell that keeps getting sharper and sweeter the longer I wear it. Oh, dear.

A very unusual scent. Olive-y and gentle. Very faint, and quite relaxing. But yeah, it was almost like smelling green olives in olive oil for me, too.

In the bottle: Leathery spice/forest musk? Lots of things clamoring for top billing.

 

On me: Sharp with the same acrid breathe-out whiff I had from Hexennacht. Really green, but I also get the leather. Cedar does not dominate, in contrast to... anything else I ever tried that had cedar. Even some things that don't have cedar seem to smell like cedar on me. Good thing I like cedar. A cinnamony spiciness, no patchouli. The greens fade into a wild-smelling leather with a soapiness that doesn't (thankfully) take over. And as a hint of soapiness it's nice, a gentleness that some of the notes would otherwise be lacking.

In the bottle: Sweet musk.

 

On me: Spicy, like cinnamon, gentler than Samhain was on me (this is a good thing, though I also like Samhain.) Very sugary, but a spiced, caramelized sort of sugar. Makes me think of autumn, camping, and is simpler than Samhain... I felt less overwhelmed by it. I agree with all the emphatically positive reviews... until it fades. It dries down to a sharp, spicy musk that, though pleasant, isn't the same as it was initially (smoke, sugar etc), and reminds me more of a generic, spicy musk perfume. Awww.

In the bottle: Berries and buttery sweet cake.

 

On me: This is more cassis than blackberry for my money, but no complaints... I prefer it. The buttery scent fades for a bit and there's a bit of sharpness after it dries some, probably the berry scent, which has gone caustic on me before. It smooths out quickly. Thank heavens. As I was smelling it at this stage, my fellow came in, sniffed the air (six+ feet away) and said, 'Smells like cake.' (This is perhaps the most positive review of a perfume he's ever given. Not one for perfume, my fellow.) I sniffed again... it does! The cake is back! Fades to a nice, light but rich, berry-cake. Bottle me!

Sure am glad I held off on reviewing this one for a while. I didn't like it at first sniff, and was going to get rid of mine... Happy day, I tried it again last night and had an entirely different reaction. Snake Charmer is a perfect feminine scent. And I'm not one for the sweet, fruity, and foody, or so I thought. This smell is outrageously girly, but dips down into a strong amber note to keep it from being too 'cutesy' and up into a fruit-sugar high note that adds a nice little kick. The notes blend perfectly, none standing out more than they should.

In the bottle: Honey and cinnamon.

 

On me: At first- pure cinnamon. It does smell a lot like tea sweetened with honey but the spices aren't sharp or cloying. Thankfully, the cinnamon mellows out quickly and it seems like a peppery honey-cinnamon. It'd be a nice room scent for the upcoming fall.

In the bottle: Musk, maybe a sort of dirt-like patchouli.

 

On me: No patchouli beyond the first couple of minutes, when there's a more green or dirt-ish scent. The musk is crisp, the sandalwood is subtle; I'd say about equal. The flowers don't come out on me. Nice and dry and somewhat imposing, for some reason.

In the bottle: Juniper.

 

On me: Juniper. A bit of rose creeps out from under the crush of juniper... to make pickling spices? No, no, that's patchouli. Very pungent. The juniper smell dissipates somewhat, leaving the rose more prominent as the blend fades. A very genuine, not at all perfumey or synthetic scent.

In the bottle: Sharp, musky but with some high sort of piercing herbal note. I'm thinking, 'this is going to suck and I'll be sad.'

 

On me: Gets more overtly herbal. It does have a sense of smoke, too... Then it sort of smooths out, smells less obnoxiously strong (this is after maybe three minutes.) I sort of like it (against my better judgement.) When you breathe in, it's very like breathing a strong herbal/tree smell, and when you breathe out, smoke. Slowly the herbal smell mellows into something that'd still be a bit strong for me normally, but doesn't have the overly-perfumey feel (or maybe the notes) that made Yggdrasil and Nocnitsa (the two other forestiest scents I've yet tried) not work on me. It smells fresher. After maybe ten minutes, I start to get a faint musk. Yeah, I'll stick with this.

In the bottle: A sort of cinnamony sharpness.

 

On me: The clove bursts out immediately and is overpowering. Spicy cinnamon/clove, spicy spicy... Honey is drowned by this. It, like Jack, sort of reminds me of a Glade Plug-In or potpourri.

In the bottle: Pasta spices.

 

On me: Pasta spices for a little while, with added sharpness of a sweetish cedar sort, then an oil smell comes up underneath. Maybe it's the olive leaf? Wince.The cedar isn't as overt as in, say, Lear. The 'oil smell' morphs a bit, becomes a little bitter and greener after a minute, so maybe it is the olive leaf. Then I sort of feel like I smell gum eraser. Something quite rubbery. Argh.

In the bottle: Sweetness, almost like a fruit syrup.

 

On me: Thankfully I don't get the grape soda/grape Jolly Rancher whiff. I get more of a spicy honey with a faint jasmine-y partner. It's very sweet, not in character for me, but didn't burn in my nose like Smut-- the other 'sweet' one I took a risk on-- did (I was sad.) It does manage to be sensual, but the honey-sweetness makes it seem very innocent. I could do with more musk to balance the sweetness. But then it wouldn't be Skuld, I guess. (Later I notice the ylang ylang smell is nearly gone and I have a gentle sort of honey musk. Very simple. I didn't think I'd like this, and it proved me wrong, so long as I can last through the initial application.)

In the bottle: Remember how I said the patchouli in Depraved wasn't like the patchouli I remember? The heavy, incensey patchouli that had negative connotations for me until I tried Depraved? This is that patchouli and I'm thinking, 'Uh oh.'

 

On me: Yup. A grapey, nag-champa-ey patchouli. It's hard to believe how well the muscadine goes with the patchouli until you smell it. Jury's still out on whether this smells good on me, because it is still *that* patchouli.

In the bottle: Reminded me of a perfume my mom had when I was little, but I can't be more specific.

 

On me: Still does smell more like a traditional perfume than most of the BPAL offerings I've tried. Classy, warm musk with the sharpness, maybe, of lavender. I don't feel that it's masculine (probably because of whatever perfume I smelled.) Definitely not 'girly,' though. It's pretty; dries to a pleasant, clean soapiness with, possibly, a subtle amber/musk undertone. Not really striking me as patchouli-ey at all.

In the bottle: Crisp and herbal. Not as Vita-bathy as Tempest seemed in the bottle, but that's what came to mind.

 

On me: Quite a bit like herbal baby powder, but not in a bad way. Doesn't have what I thought of as floral in Tempest. Green, but not grassy. The herbal notes outshine any moss or grass I might be smelling. A bit figgy and sharp after dry-down. Doesn't last long or have much throw (and my imp arrived so full from the lab I spilled some getting it open, so I had plenty on hand, so to speak.

 

 

(Edited for typo.)

In the bottle: TrailerTrashPrincess referred to an old perfume spray called 'Chill Out.' That. It reminds me of that almost exactly. Something light and wet.

 

On me: I smell sweetness, water, ozone. Finally the sweetness mellows out and the dirt undertone starts coming out, and it is an old/wet dirt smell. I don't get any wine smell. The combination of fresh, airy wetness and dirt is very interesting. I almost get the rottenness that some people are mentioning. I wish it suited me better.

Samhain '05:

After my experience with Jack, I was afraid this would smell tawdry, like one of those holiday candles, or potpourri.

In the bottle: Mulling spices.

On me: Immediately gets a better mark than Jack: It's more complicated, not buttery. Mostly I'm getting the nutmeg/clove/allspice and nothing of the woods, fir, patchouli. I'll wait a bit....

Within 10-20 minutes the patchouli and fir are coming out, giving it a nice complexity, not overwhelming the spices (I wish they were a bit more prominent.) Cider, spice, a tiny bit of woodsiness. It gets a little piercing when I sniff it up close, but it does remind me of fall in New England as someone else mentioned. I'd still class it as a situational scent (for fall and winter), but that's what the description says, so there you go. I'm not crazy with love for it, but the imp will have a place in my collection.

Edited to add lab description.

In the bottle: Woody and penetrating.

 

On me: Mainly cedar. Slight sage tempering the smell away from pure cedar. This is somehow evocative of... scratch n' sniff pickle scent. I think it's the sage and cedar combination. A dry, solitary sort of smell. I really appreciate straightforward blends like this, and since I usually feel that 'woodsy' scents aren't 'woodsy' enough, will seek out more of it.

There's an organic, living-being smell I find really startling, but actually compelling once I got over the shock. This honestly doesn't overwhelm me with lavender; I smell it only lightly, adding brightness to dark smells like tobacco and a bit of smoke and incense. Not getting much sandalwood. And that weird, weird animal musk. It is clearly a 'blend', atmospheric and evocative. This is the first perfume that's ever creeped me out a little bit. When I said that to my fellow he thought it was weird, so I came up with 'It's the first perfume that doesn't... smell like a perfume, so I'm tense, wondering what I'm smelling.' Then I realized Graveyard Dirt inspires a similar, though less intense, reaction in me. Think I'll be getting some more of this... the night god made me do it.

I'm really pleased with this one. It keeps giving off an aura of light sandalwood and spice, while having what people have described as a 'soapy' smell (imagine an almost neutral, yet somehow soapy-smelling soap.) Calming, yet maybe a bit more spicy than I'd normally wear, yet in a very clean and not at all floral way.

In the bottle: Lemongrass with some other herbs I can't identify.

 

On me: Anise starts peeking out from under the lemongrass. This smell, the lemony not-quite-lemon with sweetness underneath is associated with corporate bathroom cleaning solutions in my mind. It's an almost -perfect replication of the auto-squirt air freshener in the bathroom of the place I quit a few months ago. Oh NO. I can force myself to objectively see the appeal of this scent (it really is a pleasant smell, and largely as described by other reviewers, but I don't get a lot of anise) but I'll have to trade it, because other people love it, and this association just kills it for me. I hope I don't bring this up in anyone else's mind (sorry in advance if I did.)

In the bottle: It's like Severin, a bit.

 

On me: Light-musky leather. Smells a lot like Severin to me, but more leathery. I know this review could be more descriptive, but it's a very straightforward (and amazingly accurate) reproduction of the smell of leather. But it's not just leather scraps in some tanner's shop remainder box, it's a really good-smelling leather. A... sexy leather.

 

Sigh, off to order yet another bottle! Life's rough.

In the bottle: Sharp. I'm sure what I'm smelling is the pennyroyal.

 

On me: Pretty much. The pennyroyal is huge on me, and the lavender is lost. I really wish that hadn't been the case. It didn't smell 'balanced' (not that, given the description, I'd really expect it should.) It really is a cruel sort of smell. Not unpleasant to smell (though also not well suited for me); I'm just amazed how accurately the scent represents the name.

In the bottle: That's not dandelions. It's flowery.

 

On me: Okay, of course it's dandelions. STRONG dandelion smell at the beginning, and that's what I get. I really need something else to come up in this.... The fellow: 'Smells like a bath product.' Great. Five minutes later: I do think I'm getting the hemp smell, too, only a little. I do not smell like hops or beer, and I don't smell like it later, either.

 

Final analysis: Smells like tons of dandelions in the sun, and something more elusive and evocative that really gives it points with me. A floral, but not a typical floral (the dandelion does not wear like other floral smells.) It does have a nice, sloppy feel to it.