cuervosueno

oh, I love me some copal. And vanilla. And black musk is nice, and sometimes I even like tobacco.

I do not like lavender.

And of course, on me and in the imp, it entirely dominates this blend.

When I first smell it in the imp, and when I put it on, it seems like straight up lavender almost, though there is something making it a bit sweeter.

When it dries, I get a hint of tobacco, and possibly copal. but now it is just a clean soapy lavender with something else to make it sweeter. Imagine someone who had bathed in lavender soap, and then had smoked a pipe of sweet tobacco. that's what I get from this.

Which was, alas, not what I wanted.

In the imp, this is hyssop and honey with a touch of dusty saffron. I like BPAL honey notes, but I'm not crazy about hyssop, and in the imp this ends up smelling, well, sweaty.

But on, it becomes creamy and complex. I get the sweetness of frankincense, but frankincense itself is not really standing out. Nor are any of the other notes. Instead, it is like a a layer of honey and cream over herbs, if that makes any sense. And that's not really right either--it's more like an exotic honeyed dessert that is going to be both sweet and savory.

Really, it is like nothing I've ever smelled, and I'm very intrigued. It's a golden scent, with a bitter herb note underneath. Rather like something sweet that barely masks the taste of poison.

so I got the imp pack and tried this and the Smiling Spider first, and on me they are very similiar, though they don't share a lot of the same notes.

And I like this better.

They are both dark, dry scents on me, with a hint of spice and bitterness. Smiling Spider is sweeter, from the cloves I suspect. Still, the initial dark bitterness is the same in both of them. They are dusty black scents.

This one turns heavily to vetiver, though, which is fine with me because I like vetiver. I get vetiver and a bitter spice, which I think is the cinnamon combined with the bitter almond. there is also the scorched smell, which makes this even darker.

I don't get the mandarin or the sage, though there is a slight sweetness to this which could be the mandarin.

Interesting scent....but I haven't decided yet what I think of it.

I got an imp pack of these new salons, and so I decided to try the ones I was most interested in at the same time.

That meant Smiling Spider went on my left hand and Mad Meg on my right.

I say that because in the imp these are very very similiar. A lot of bitter clove....that is definately the topnote.

But this one is more clove than Mad Meg. I agree very much with Shelldoo....this is very true to what it smells like in the imp, and on me it is mostly clove cigarettes. I get clove and patchouli, and that's nice.

Still, one of the things I like is the complexity of the Salons, and I'm afraid on me this one is not very complex. It does remind me of Count Dracula without the leather, so I suppose I like it more than the Count, but I'm not seriously enamored of it.

In the bottle: holy hell, that is some strong-ass pine. And yes, Terebinth pine (which is what turpentine comes from) with that clear-out-your-sinuses sharpness.

This is not at all like BPAL's other pine scents, at least not the Yule ones that I love.

That said, I like this. In the bottle and wet it is so sharp I think I'll never ever want to put this on. It smells like pine-tar soap.

But on that sharpness fades, and I get a lovely foresty scent others are mentioning. Not winter forest, but summer forest: warm pine, the faintest hint of woodsmoke, and the sweetness of birch and cedar (not like a birch tree, but like the birch essence, with is lovely and almost root-beerish).

I like this much more than I expected to.

I wanted to try this for the hops, mostly, because I love that bitter scent, and I hoped this would really feature it (like Roadhouse).

it doesn't.

when I opened my decanted imp, I thought holy shit what is that! I can't even describe it--it was just awful.

I didn't really want to put it on, but I've been a BPALer too long think it would smell the same on me.

Thankfully, it is different on, though I'm still not crazy about it. On it is tonka and cherry tobacco, mostly tobacco. No hops. It's like putting on a flannel shirt that belonged to someone who was smoking a pipe. Warm and fuzzy, but not really me.

Oh, this is lovely! I'm glad I was able to get a decant of it.

it smells just like you'd think: fresh and summery. I expected it to smell a bit like Roadhouse, but it doesn't really--while I can imagine dandelions in this, I mostly get a nice green scent, almost like fresh cut hay. It's golden green and happy.

Incense and dark woods. Nice! It smells like I imagine ebony would smell....not that I've smelled it. It's also just a wee bit sharp, as if it had pine in it.

I just got a wee smelly of this from a lovely forumite, and I like it, but won't be seeking out anymore.

This is an interesting scent. I used to shy away from everything with coconut because I thought I hated it, but then I started becoming interested. Obatala, for example, is one of my favorite scents. And I like citrus, so I swapped for an imp of this.

And was not disappointed. In the imp is it is sharp citrus, but immediately on my skin it turns creamy lime, but key lime rather than regular lime (you know, slightly sweeter than a regular lime but not lemon either?) It does very much remind me of Milk and Honey only stronger.

After a bit, the coconut comes out, and I love it in this blend. It is as if lemon were added to Obatala, which is a clean and crisp "white" scent (appropiately for the loa), so Shoggoth to me is a clean white scent with the brightness of citrus added.

It gets creamier and sweeter the longer I wear it, but the florals are only there to add sweetness on my skin--I can't pick out individual notes. And that's fine with me, since I don't like a lot of florals.

Overall this is great, and I may have to order a bottle.

Yes, very posh men's cologne (well, without the alchohol of course!). It has a bright golden scent that is quite appealing, and I suspect is the blonde tobacco. But the oakmoss amps on me, and those two scents together with leather really spell upscale men's scents to me.

there is also something fresh and almost aquatic about this.

The thing I love about the Salon's is that they are quite complex and not like anything in the general catalog. That is true of this as well, and though it is not a scent I need a bottle of, I have enjoyed trying it, and will have to decide the fate of my imp, though I suspect I will swap it.

What an odd scent! It is very silly.

On me wet and in the imp it smells just like graham crackers--slightly dusty ones. As it dries, the cardamom starts to come in with a vengeance, and it is so strong it almost makes me think there is some cinnamon in there too, though maybe not. At this stage, the effect is of graham crackers stored in a spice cupboard.

Chocolate? Nope. Cherries? Nope (but I wasn't keen on the choco-cherry combo anyway). Caramel? No, but there is bit of rich sweetness just starting to come through, so perhaps it will develop.

all in all, quite different than I expected.

Initial reactions: herbs and soft wood. It is green and astringent (not bitter for me) but with a very soft note beneath that I can smell the warmth from the benzoin (which was the main note that interested me in this blend).

It does feel like a walk in a summer meadow to me. I find it comforting, and can see why some would think it smells like a panacea blend. The hay note is golden and beautiful

I don't know what I'll think of this in the end, but for now, I am very much enjoying it.

eta: about an hour in, it has turned to warm incense with just a hint of herbs. I can see why some reviewers compared to an Indian store. it is gorgeous!

What a morpher, and what an interesting scent.

I got this from another forumite and had it confused with another of the Faces of the Heroine scents. I thought this was the herbally one, and was surprised to get the lovely scent of iris right away. Then I looked this up and thought, oh, this sounds nice.

And smelled nice at first. iris with something else I couldn't quite identify, and thankfully none of the Star anise. It was a light floral with a gilded feel, if that makes any sense.

but then it turned, and it turned pretty badly for me. It turned wierdly sharp/soapy almost like a floral scented deoderant. It really wasn't working at all on me. I hoped to go back to the lovely opening notes, but never did.

This one is not for me.

eta: I suspect it is the verbena that ruined things for me. It never really works for me, though I like the scent of the real flower.

I wasn't going to get this at first, but the reviews convinced me to try it. I do love vanilla, so that seemed obvious, but I wasn't sure what to make of the florals and the pink grapefruit. Still I was very tempted by the idea of a creamy citrus scent, and I'm not afraid of jasmine, so I went for it.

I can't decide if I'll keep it or not. It might be worth saving for awhile to see what happens with it. It is pretty much all floral on me--jasmine and gardenia I don't mind that, but the thing is, I like my jasmine storng (yeah, the stuff a lot of other people shy away from) and this is a bit subdued. When it first goes on, and in the bottle, I get a nice blast of the creamy citrus (creamsicle) scent, but it fades pretty quick and then goes into its floral routine.

And more to the point, one of the vanillas (or more) is not playing well with me. I agree that one of the vanillas is like the one in Tokyo Stomp, and cruel trick, that vanilla hates me! (And I'm a serious vanilla lover, so this makes me sad!)

Just like in Tokyo Stomp, everything starts out ok, but then the creepy plastic note makes its appearance. Luckily in Bigger Critter it is covered by the florals, but I'm just not feeling excited by this one way or the other so far. If I want a creamy floral, I like Zarita the Doll Girl better.

That said, sometimes scents surprise me, so i think I'll let it sit awhile before making any final decisions.

Damn it! this was my most lusted after bottle of BPAL for the longest time. I just knew it would smell like Snowblind (despite the fact that no one seemed to think it did).

But of course it didn't work on me at all!

In the bottle it surprised me by being a bit caramely, though that quickly gave way to the much-alluded to thin mint smell. (I'm in the minority here probably, but I don't really like thin Mints. In fact, I don't like chocolate with my mint at all, so I wasn't that thrilled by that.)

Then I put it on, and for one moment it was Thin Mint and I thought ok, I can probably deal though I was so sad it wasn't like my much beloved Snow Blind.

But then....evil! A cruel trick occurred! It turned plasticky!

I've heard people say some vanilla turns plastic on them, and I always thought thank god I can wear all of Beth's vanilla because that would be so sad. Well, apparently I can't wear THIS vanilla.

you know what is even sadder? Bigger Critters did the same thing, though thankfully Bigger Kritters wasn't predominately vanilla (ie. plastic) on me.

I still haven't found my BPAL holy grail of vanilla I guess, though Lick It and Lick It Again are closest. I guess I'll have to be happy with the two bottles of those I have.

But imagine me stomping off in irritation that my damn skin rejected this much awaited bottle of Tokyo Stomp.

Wow, this is interesting! I've been wanting to try this for awhile, and finally got to.

When I open the imp, and first put it on, it smells gorgeously of cakes. Sweet and creamy and delicious. I didn't try Beaver Moon, but I did think the person who mentioned cheesecake was right on.

That gorgeous cake fades pretty quickly on me, though. Then I get the sharp green scent of olive leaves, which I enjoy. I don't really get wine grapes, but there is a sweetness that might be that or the frankincense. I don't really get too much of the myhrr.

Overall, I like this quite a bit. Gourmand, without being foody, and then morphing into green and resins. I like it, but I guess it's ok that I only have an imp.

Finally got to try a bit of this. I didn't buy a bottle because I was wary of it....sounded too aquatic to me, even though I love the idea of black ice.

Well, it doesn't smell anything like black ice to me, though I suppose we all have our own ideas of what that would smell like. My idea of black ice is what you get at intersections in Fairbanks Alaska in the winter time: black ice where the ice on the road has thawed and frozen and thawed and frozen. Everything else is frozen--it could be -20 or -40. So the scent, to me, would not be aquatic or melty/slushy, but that bitter cold ozone scent that pierces your lungs at these temperatures. With a bright snow note too, perhaps.

Which is not what Black Ice is. When I smelled the imp, I thought damn that's familiar, but what is it? Then I decided what I was smelling was the "generic" BPAL light floral (ie. any I don't particularly like!) But when I put it on, it wasn't like that at all. It was......spearmint! Pure spearmint, though maybe I'm wrong about the pure. It was like spearmint gum.

I found this appealing, if unexpected.

But where is the vetiver? where is the asphalt? Where, for that matter, are the BPAL slushy notes I love so much?

Not a hint of them. And I was so surprised to read back through this thread and see so many people thought of it as pure vetiver--I got none! But I'm a vetiver groupie....and today in particular I had a serious vetiver fix by wearing the Great He-Goat. So perhaps subtler forms would be lost on me.

this is mostly spearmint on me, but it does have a very familiar aquatic note too that I puzzled over for awhile until someone mentioned cucumber. Yes, I'd guess it could have cucumber. I don't particularly like cucumber (I seem to be the only person on the planet who didn't like the old version of Blue Moon), but I don't seem to mind it in this (if that is what it is).

Overall, this is spearmint and cucumber. Not a bad scent, but not like its name on me, and I'm ok with little partial imp.

Warm spicy amber. this scent is soft, sweetish (but not foody) with a lovely warmth. I like it a lot at first.

But then the embalming spices take over. Or rather one in particular takes over, and I get heavy cinnamon. I like cinnamon, but it does tend to overwhelm on me, and that's what this turns to.

This is very like sugar skull on me, but nicer and with more caramel. Its a rich, gooy, desert smell that I quite like. But it is similiar to some other scents I have so I don't know that I'll keep my imp.

Odd, too, that on me it is nothing like the description. I can see the rum, but I get no lime at all.

In the imp, Spider smells much like the description, and much like other describe it: bright, slightly aquatic. I smell a slight bit of bergamot, and the vetivert is soft, giving it a slightly masculine undertone that is pleasant but doesn't scream vetivert (though I like the troublesome V, so that's not a problem for me). It's a nice bright green scent.

But here is the wierd thing: after awhile, when I sniffed the place I thought I'd put Spider, I got a lovely warm brown spice, slightly reminiscent of Mr. Jacquel but not as sweet. I decided I'd just somehow mixed up the imps, so I reapplied.

And after the brightness fades, I get it again. Warm, brown, spicy. I guess my skin must amp the nutmeg and ginger, because this completely changes on me. completely.

I like the warm nutmeg stage more than the opening stages, but I have other scents I like better so I won't be keeping my imp.

Holy Shit! this is straight up booze! In the imp it smells a bit like nail polish remover, but on the skin it smell like whiskey with a bit of something else, something slightly sweet and caramely, slightly nutty.

Do I like Scotch? No. Do I like Whiskey? No. Do I like Mad Sweeny?

You figure it out.

I never really got the lotus=bubble gum scent until now. Probably because I haven't tried many lotus blends!

But yeah--intriguing enough in the imp for me to try it, sweet and fruity. But on it is dragon's blood bubble gum. Yikes!

Then it starts turning even wierder--sort of like rotting fruit and dragon's blood bubble gum. Guess this isn't for me.

I didn't order a bottle of this because the lab's myhrr often doesn't work on me. I like sweet myhrr rather than true myhrr (I like oppoponax), and often the lab uses something that has the bitterness of true myhrr.

But I got an imp of this, and quite like it. It has the smoky/scorched note of Djinn (which I also like) but is also slightly sweet from the cinnamon, yet not overwhelmed by it. They myhrr gives it depth and darkness. Nice, and very like a phoenix.

Oops! I always spell it wrong! Myrrh, that's what I mean!

Not at all what I expected. this smells like some of the tea scents on me, but it is greener, and there is a hint of gardenia or another white flower in there. What I get is lovely jungley tea scent. Like sipping a very pale and delicate tea in a garden of hot house flowers.

Nice!

So I read the notes on this and saw some cuervo's scents of doom: dirt , moss, florals.

And I didn't get it.

but time has passed and someone offered some in a swap, and I forgot why I hadn't bought the bottle, and swapped for an imp.

and when I opened it, I thought, damn, look what I would have missed. Because in the bottle this is glorious--the snow and pine notes I love in Skadi, Snow Moon, Snow Bunny, et. al, that note that Yeahbutno describes well as pine/juniper/citrus. I really like that, so I put some on.

and yeah, y'all are right. This is one morphing mofo.

Because I get that slushy pine scent mostly. But it is sharper than usual, almost slightly metallic. And then after a bit I smell spice, but not cooking spice so much as sharp herbal/plant spice. And I thought I smelled a floral, but just when I began to get wary of that, it was gone, and I was back to sharp pine sap and spice. Sometimes I can smell the moss--which smells just slightly like oak moss to me, a note that adds all I can describe as a "masculine" note to scents. And sometimes I get the slightest whiff of baked goods, but only just slightly.

I don't, thankfully, get any dirt, and it does appear to be getting more foody. I can see the baked goods under the tree analogy. Or like something baking while a fresh cut tree is being brought in the house. Or all those smells mixed on someone's hands...

Its much more complex and interesting than I expected, and while I won't try and get a bottle, I'm glad I got to try it.