maribouquet

Scent: At first this is minty, like pennyroyal or an Andes chocolate mint candy, but as it dries I smell powdery vetiver, and perhaps a touch of something citrus? Of all the vetiver blends I've tried, this has been the most wearable - it's still a note that is too peppery and reads too much like dank leaf mold to my nose, but it's not overpowering here.

Efficacy: 100% satisfaction. If this smelled like roast duck dung, I would still wear it because this stuff works! I put it on thinking it was the Voodoo blend, just taking it for a scent test drive -- imagine my surprise when I heard back from several people I've been waiting to hear from at work, created opportunities for several others, and landed myself a part-time work-related job that will not only give me a nice extra source of cash flow, but also will provide me with the material for a really great future work project.

AND my long-time crush asked me out for drinks on Thursday!

Forest, you are a frigging genius! GLEE GLEE GLEE!

This fades very quickly on me. The lavender here is straightforward, and the pennyroyal gives Pain a minty feel that reminds me of Penthus.

It's not really me, so off to swaps it goes.

In the imp this smells like cherry honeycomb.

But on me? Well, let's just say that with the exception of cherry, Blood Kiss is a list of notes that do not like me. This turns into sticky, sweat-sour puke band-aids when it meets my chemistry.

Off to swaps!

wet: moss and black earth, rimed with salt

As this dries on me, a resinous, very lightly fruity scent emerges; I think that might be due in part to the ravensara and/or the sandarac, both of which I have not smelled before, but the internet tells me they are slightly fruity and mastic-like, respectively.

Dry: Has an undertone that reminds me of the Crucible of Courage and Anthelion TAL oils...a bit floral, a bit dusty, but not sweet or sneeze-inducing by any means. (Frankincense? Greek tea flower?)

I like how much this changes on me and how the different notes take turns coming forward. Sadly, the mossy/earth notes in Oborot turn a bit sour and spiky on my skin.

Though it's not to my taste or chemistry, I think this is a fantastic, original resin and earth blend. It definitely has a wild, forest-mad feel to it: low to the ground and running, with a sweet hint of magic.

edit for spelling

This has a very strong lemongrass note, which overwhelms everything else for the first half hour or so. Eventually I can smell some of the sandalwood and a bit of a nice, mellow patchouli.

I fell asleep with this on, and the next morning it smelled much more balanced and soothing, like a quiet, empty meditation room.

It's too lemon-heavy for me to wear, but it's lovely once it's calmed down -- too bad that takes so long on my skin.

This is a pretty, promising floral in the imp...once on: Add to the list of scents which jasmine turns into overwhelming burning tires. Oh well!

Judith is very musical. You know how with some blends, on a long, slow inhale, the notes come to you in a tumbling rush like the notes of music? This is one like that: the chestnut is a warm, caramel horn, followed by the middle tones of lily, steady and high like a flute, all capped at the end with a lilting flourish of tangy citrus that is the mandarin mandolin. Heh.

The magnolia and musk come to life as this soaks into my skin, and all the notes are there, playing together.

This is beautiful. It makes me think of baroque music.

It also fits the colors and mood of the painting extraordinarily well: warm, brown, a little smug, the strength of blood or the red of autumn leaves, proud, composed.

imp/wet: cinnamon bubble gum

on: the patchouli starts to warm up, dusky and sensual

Unfortunately, so does the burning like fire. Tanin'iver turns my skin red and stings...argh, noooo!

I was really digging this, which was a very pleasant surprise given that I am not a fan of most patchouli blends.

Maybe I'll try diluting it with some jojoba and see if that takes the fire out of it enough to wear. If not, I'm afraid to say it's off to swaps...

Lavender is the note I am most familar with here, and Kalahantarika begins as a strong lavender with an unknown, pungent edge - maybe the balsam?

Hyssop I've heard of but do not know, and the others? I put this on before bed last night, and dreamed I was a goddess asleep on the ocean floor for a hundred and fifty years. Jonquil and elemi were the names of great sea birds that had disappeared to extinction while I was gone, and when I resurfaced I cried and cried.

I don't like the way Kalahantarika smells on me as it dries - I smell something almost urine-like (!) and sharp like salt flats or a tidal bed. I'm sorry this doesn't work on me as a fragrance, because I'm enchanted by it and everything it seems to stir up in me.

The first waft of scent brings to mind an immediate image of a wet, white flower. The lily and frankincense are the only two notes that are familiar to me, and the lily is very strong at first - they remind me of Kostnice a bit.

Waves of keening floral sweetness - pretty, sad, rather transfixing.

eta: aha! there is the cedar, coming out in the background after several minutes - nice!

ADDED Nov. 8:

First I smell lilac, and then the lily stomps all over everything. Lily!

When this is wet, I smell peach and apple blossom beneath a honeyed fig glace and a baby-bite of thyme.

But BPAL honey is not usually kind to me, and Cupid dries down syrupy and a little sour. Not a keeper for me, unfortunately.

Lavender and lemon balm, strongly herbal...maybe a hint of anise in the drydown? It smells piercing and soothing at the same time.

I like Nanshe; it is the only Somnium oil that works on/for me.

I notice that my dream imagery is much clearer and more symbolic when I wear this to bed.

This is like the heat of a banked fire: darkening, ashen sweet, and absolutely hypnotic. My skin brings out the resin sweet, syrupy texture of the myrrh, and the cinnamon is hell-hot and subdued at the same time. I smell it and I just want to get closer and closer.

GUH, Sri Lanka is amazing. The cedar is a warm complement to the sandalwood, the patchouli is mellow. Something in here gives the blend an almost sweet roundness - the gum mastic? Maybe the olibanum?

I adore this. Yes, it is more on the masculine side, but it is so warm and round that it has a very grounded, earth-mother aspect to it, too. Utterly sensual. Mmmmm.

*wants*

imp/wet: Sharp, Oriental citrus

dry: Money

After five minutes the amber and mint start to emerge and they are unexpectedly gorgeous together. This is superbly blended...makes me think of cocktails at a shiny, sleek bar. Mmm, and there's just a hint of leather. This smells like the cloakroom at a very expensive, oak-paneled restaurant in Midtown east. Fur coats, bankers and rich artists, a small brass dish full of creamy mints, sleeves slipping away to reveal bare, hungry arms.

The teak and the leather bring Manhattan to a finish that I don't find all that wearable on me, at least not day to day. But I would love this for a locket, or to scent a coat or the inside of a handbag. Might get an imp for my mom, too.

Woo! This is bubble gum sweet in the imp with a hit of something pungent that I think is coriander, and/or possibly the epazote. It calms down a bit as it dries, but it is still too cleaning-fluid sweet on me.

I am intrigued by the dry, spicy notes underneath though - really unique.

I'm really digging this Peruvian amber note - it is the palest of golds, and glints. Overall this is a very light, bright scent full of fresh, high air, fruit (wish I could place those! Papaya?) and a soft floral.

I like this. I don't know if I would wear it, but I want to get a bottle for my friend Lorena, with whom I went to Machu Picchu a few years ago. I think it would smell superb on her.

This is a pretty, somehow juicy violet with the barest hint of spiced incense wafting beneath it.

Not my thing though - violet reminds me too much of so many childhood bubble baths with Mr. Bubble! Not that I don't love bubble baths, just that it's not a scent I can bring myself to wear as an adult. Oh well!

I'm so sorry, guys. I want to give you a thorough review of Faiza, so that you'll decide to try it for yourself, but I can't form a coherent thought. I can't even pick out the notes (blame me, not Faiza!), partly because they are indeed a serpentine mass of teeming, dark sensuality. Perfectly blended.

A lithe, dark bouquet, soft and cool, yet hissing with undertones of a powerful, mesmerizing charm.

I'm hopelessly in love.

Boys and ladies who love boy-like scents, I think you could easily wear this, too. It feels feminine to me but is not overly floral and has a shadowed green edge that would suit a more masculine palate.

Fellow jasmine victims, don't be afraid! I can say with the utmost shock and delight that the jasmine in this is mellow, both in strength and in its willingness to stay calm and not turn into burnt rubber.

At first I smell tangerine and soft, black tea. Then Bakeneko sweetens up a bit as the amber musk begins to warm up along with a low purr of cherry blossom. This is a very dry scent, almost sagely sinister in its feel, settling at last into a dry cinnamon and cardamom tea curled against my skin.

imp: strong, astringent green tea with the tang of lemon (which at first I couldn't identify - thought it might be an unknown, bitter Asian fruit)

wet: the lemon is a bit more apparent

dry: lemony green tea

I can't smell the honeysuckle at all. Still, this is a very refreshing scent, like a new spring leaf with the sunlight streaming through, turning it a luminous, yellow-green.

I might try layering this with Garden Path with Chickens...

imp: orange blossom and something floral

wet: tangy, a little like dishwashing soap

dry: Sharp, lemony dish soap citrus. Maybe some lavender?

This just doesn't do much for me - just kind of sits there flatly. It's not bad - miraculously, I can't sniff out the jasmine! - but it's not good on me either, really.

imp: sweet, stinky orange powder & the tang of lavender

wet: the powder feel is gone; this is sharp

dry: fades to almost nothing in about 15 minutes; I'm left with a waxy, slightly spiced gum scent.

I can't make out the spices, and my nose wants to read the lotus as citrus (though lotus is far too sweet for me, I've found - the sharp sweetness of this blend should have tipped me off immediately!)

Whoa. WHOA. This is gorgeous. And miraculous...Guys, I do not like amber, and can't wear jasmine, and Moscow just doesn't care.

This rich, beautiful smell reminds me of the Amber Room, which, yes, is in St. Petersburg not Moscow, but I think captures the intense spirit and regal beauty of the scent -- a warming, golden orange amber with the winter spike of tangerine, the dark afternoon tea-scent of bergamot. After a few minutes the rose and lily peek out, lending a sweetness and deceptive fragility.

I think I detect a hint of jasmine at times, but it is faint and fleeting, and never realizes the true evil that jasmine can become for me. Ohhh, thank you, thank you Moscow.

I am testing this as part of the Wanderlust circular swap, and though I will have to pass this particular imp along, I will certainly be getting my own. I would get a bottle, but I don't trust that jasmine not to stage a coup. We'll see.

Very pretty, lush floral in the imp and wet, but my nemesis jasmine makes it unwearable for me.

Of all the BPAL jasmine blends I've tried, this one comes the closest to working. The lemon and honeysuckle are lovely together.

ETA: I spoke too soon! After an hour, it's Burnt Tire City. Oh well. I have Bayou when I need my Ponchartrain fix!