schackjj

In the Bottle: Spices! Lots of different spices. Some ginger. This reminds me most of Jingo-Kogo.

Wet: Terrific depth, and not so much like J-K on the skin (drat). Lots of dry spices here. I can't decide whether I like it in this stage or not...

Drydown: This is Jingo-Kogo's rough-and-tumble older cousin. Definitely some rough edges. I don't think it's for me, though.

In the bottle: Another desert scent. How does she DO that?

Wet: This is similar to Nigredo at this stage. I'm getting a muddle of notes.

Drydown: What a surprise - sweet sugar!

In the Bottle: This was a tough one. My husband guessed lilac.

Wet: Floral, with a slight bakery note.

Drydown: In the early drydown, this is like sitting under a purple lilac bush. You sense someone walking by more than actually seeing them, because you catch a whiff of their croissant as they pass

The bakery note disappears as the person goes on down the street, and you just inhale the lilacs.

I knew this had to be jasmine or gardenia, and I see from the other reviews it is gardenia. I pick up zero peach, and wouldn't you know it, gardenia being my nemesis, this has absolutely fabulous throw. I suspect it will have incredible wearlength too. Sigh.

It's been forever since I've tried the original. I'll amend if I get around to doing a side-by-side comparison.

In the Bottle: Incense. This surprised me. I expected fruit and spice, which is what it smelled like (to me) at DD.

Wet: There it is. Very pronounced fruit, must be the plum, and cinnamon, which doesn't usually cause me problems, thankfully. I like this a lot so far.

Drydown: The incensey vibe comes back and takes over the plum note, then it goes to mostly cinnamon. This would be a terrific fall/winter scent.

Medium throw, still going strong at the one hour mark.

In the Bottle: Lime sugar, like you could drink the bottle

Wet: Lime juice and rind. This is really really good.

Drydown: The lime evaporates, and it goes vaguely sweet and foody. Cake? Not very long lasting, as others have noted, but would probably do really well in a locket

In the Bottle: Juniper, eucalyptus? something in that family that always smells like Vicks to me

Wet: Same, very strong.

Drydown: This note starts to soften really quickly, and a floral note appears. Unfortunately, my nose isn't sophisticated enough to identify what it is, or what else might be in this blend. It doesn't go soapy, though, and this scent has really good wearlength.

In the Bottle: Pink candy and a teeny hint of smoke or brimstone, something like that.

Wet: This reminds me of a bagful of some sort of candy, but I can't quite recall what kind... There's a hint of cinnamon, just a wee bit.

Drydown: Oh. My. God. A bit of almond, pink candy, and brimstone. Then it goes to pure divinity. No, not the candy (but that, too). As in Webster's: the state of being divine

I am so hoarding this.

In the Bottle: Elusive. Can't pin it down.

Wet: Wintry. Reminds me very slightly of Tomoe Gozen, though TG is quite a bit softer.

Drydown: A wintry floral, then it just goes soapy on me. Aw

In the Bottle: Foody! Smells like cookies

Wet: Same, but with anise, and they smell like they should have been taken out a few minutes sooner.

Drydown: Still cookies. This stays very true. I had my son smell it & he said little kids would be chewing my arm off

Maybe my nose is broken?? See below review.

In the Bottle: Lemon sugar. Srsly.

Wet: Lemon rind, pure lemon rind (and I know what it smells like)!

Drydown: Morphs to floral soapiness. Woe

May try this in a locket...

My experience was totally different

In the bottle: Very aquatic, with a dash of something tangy.

Wet: A dirty, murky aquatic. A little bit of vetiver might be giving it that 'dirty' feel, but my nose isn't that good, so possibly something else. Salt, definitely. And dirty stuff, like you'd find on the shore. The different notes elbow to the front and then lose their place.

Drydown: Suntan lotion! I'd call this one Beach in a Bottle

In the Bottle: Defnitely floral. Gardenia,maybe? I hesitate to test this, because gardenia hates me *takes a deep breath (metaphorically speaking )*

Wet: Aaall floral

Drydown: I missed the early drydown due to errand-running (will have to retest), but the late drydown was pure cake!! Not strong, but unmistakable

In the Bottle: Alcoholic (gin?) and a wisp of smoke.

Wet: Same, with softer alcohol.

Drydown: The impression of alcohol goes away. Brimstone and smoke, softened by some sweetness and possibly a dash of...orange? The longer this wears, the more I like it Not a lot of throw, though.

In the Bottle: Musk and floral?

Wet: About the same.

Drydown: Unfortunately, this goes straight to soap on me. I can't ID the floral(s), but I can strike off a few. It's not rose, gardenia, jasmine, heliotrope, lotus, or carnation (the ones I love and detest ).

In the Bottle: Dusty, "quiet," very faintly sour

Wet: REALLY sour and not citrusy sour. This usually means floral (to my nose, florals = sour). That's all I'm getting.

Drydown: Headachingly floral. This has to be one of the evil stepsisters, Jasmine or Gardenia. Whatever else is in here is being stomped flat by the floral notes. I went to the p.o. and the counter lady commented that someone smelled really good (I think she meant me, though I disagreed). This stuff has serious throw

Three hours in, it's tamed way down, the florals have almost vanished, some kind of citrus has appeared, and this scent sparkles! Who'da thunk it?

I couldn't wait to try this one because there was so much interest already

In the bottle: Definitely not foody, maybe a little mint way down in there? Very hard to tell what's going on

Wet: Hmm, this stuff is thin, that may not be a good sign for lasting power. Nose clearing!! Something sharp, one of my unfavorite florals?

Drydown: There's some citrus in here, orange maybe? Yup, definitely orange. And then a light musk comes in. Not terribly long lasting but beautiful. I'd like to try this one in a locket and see what happens

Coconut? Lemongrass? I didn't get either one of those

In the Bottle: Light and pretty. Floral candy? A strong spice hiding in there somewhere.

Wet: Really pretty. An impression of coolness.

Drydown: To me, this has three main components: something floral (but very light and appealing, unlike the usual Floral Notes of Death on me), the coolness (I don't think it's menthol/eucalyptus/juniper/mint, hmm), and perhaps sugar. They marry surprisingly well

In the Bottle: Subtle kitchen-type spices, a dry sand dune vibe.

Wet: A little sweetness. I'm not liking this stage. I can't ID any individual notes and the spices have disappeared.

Drydown: Soft cinnamon has come out and just a hint of sweetness now. But the sand dune impression is still there. The way the scent holds together makes me think it was meant to be part of the Egyptian series.

At the one hour point, this still has good throw.

In the Bottle: Sweet and foody, but hard to pin down.

Wet: Sweet, creamy (without being milky) and cakey, undertone of something...marine, maybe?? It doesn't match up, I desperately hope it burns off. Bleah.

Drydown: Interesting. This has turned into a rootbeer float, with a dash of smoke. I have to say I'd like it better without the smoke, especially since it goes very smoky in the extreme drydown.

It still has pretty good throw 90 minutes later. It's wafting around me quite nicely

ETA: 3 hours in, I can see why some say this is a good Jingo-Kogo substitute. There's just a bare whiff of smoke left, and it's definitely reminiscent of JK now

I'm always amazed how much these oils vary from person to person

In the Bottle: V. citrusy. Sharp grapefruit in there.

Wet: Sharp to the point of sinus-clearing on me, prob. the grapefruit (keep in mind gfruit is not my friend)

Drydown: Softening down to be kind of generic, can't pick out the gfruit nearly as clearly. Something else is grounding the blend, but my nose isn't sophisticated enough to tell you whether it's musk or not. An hour in, there doesn't seem to be much scent left, but the wearer isn't the best judge of wearlength and no one is around to tell me

Morocco, Phobos, Eclipse, Black Phoenix, Dana O'Shee...

I the 10 mls. Could we petition the lab to do a limited run of them again?

If The Perfumed Court isn't authorized to sell BPAL, and I think it's established that the owners don't want unapproved sellers to do that...why are they doing it? I've heard mention of BPAL lawyers, wouldn't they just send off a cease and desist letter?

Wet: Ozone and metallic, with just the barest whiff of menthol.

Drydown: This softens really fast, and the menthol goes back to wherever menthol goes in it's off hours. Why am I getting an impression of thunderstorms and...yes, crackling telephone lines?! I don't usually catch impressions, but Construct definitely evokes that