aiobhan

Bottle: HELLO PERU BASALM HOW ARE YOU TODAY

Wet, applied: Okay the peru basalm is quieting down and I can smell the patchouli and black tea coming through. Hopefully the bergamot and vanilla warm up soon!

After an hour: Oh this is warming up so beautifully. The super resiny notes are starting to quiet down and turn just a little smoky. I can smell the bergamot and dark vanilla coming through, too. It's starting to get just a touch sweeter, darker, and warmer.

Overall thoughts: I really like this! I wish it was a little warmer and sweeter, though - maybe I'll layer it with a scent that's got a heavy vanilla base and see what I can do. Either way, it's a very lovely dark, smoky, warm scent, like if tea leave were smoked and then brewed, before anything gets added to it.

In bottle: ... Is that cherry cough syrup? Weird. But I do smell something buttery.

Wet on skin: Still REALLY strongly kind of almondy/berry and sharp. Not super pleasing. It's starting to mellow a little bit, though.

After an hour: Apparently my skin just hates almond accords, because the same thing happened to Louve by Serge Lutens - the almond gets really sharp and berry-like. THAT SAID, it's mellowed out enough that I can smell the caramel and pastry notes behind the almond. Hopefully after a few hours it's balanced out.

Worn all day: A wee bit of caramel, some sharp almond, and... not much else, actually. I wish it was more caramel! Oh well.

Wet: Bright, ripe plums, a little cream, and something weirdly grassy in the background

Drydown: Slightly more plummy and rich, but here come the wildflowers and it totally smells like Dawn dish soap.

After an hour: All wildflowers. No plum. No cream. Wildflower-scented soap and not the good kind. It gave me a headache and made me kind of nauseous, so I washed it off.

Boo It had such potential!

Thanks for the recommendations, guys. I'm already browsing the sale posts and eBay!

I don't mind waiting! I have missed out on the Weenies since like... 2006. So there's a lot of stuff I haven't had the chance to smell!

What's the BESTBESTBEST scent for autumn? Bonus if it's foody/sweet or warm and spicy! Dry, cool, and smoky scents just don't work on me D:

I would second Blood Amber, Spellbound, and Delphi, and also offer up Brisingamen and Harlot. I generally wear blends primarily containing warm, heavy scents like amber and I distinctly recall Delphi being too sugary and Spellbound too rose-y on me. If you want sweet and carnation, those two are probably your best bets.

You could always layer a sugar scent over a heavier scent, too, like Cathedral under High-Strung Daisies (which has both sugar and carnation scent notes!).

I put on Undertow for this evening's wear.

In the bottle: It's very, very crisp and clean. Strong, dark. The juniper really, really comes out wet. The mint is more like an afterthought that you catch as you pull away to take a fresh breath of air.

Just applied: When it hits warm skin, it's more lotus, a bit richer and warmer, but the coolness of the mint still comes through, stronger now, just a ribbon of scent in the moist feel of the lotus.

Dry: The lotus and mint come out much more. This scent reminds me of wet earth - sweet in it's own dark way. If I had to pick three words to describe it, I'd pick "deep", "wet" and "sharp". I love it.

I just tried 2/7 Imp's from BPAL today! Phantom Queen is my favorite out of the two so far.

In the bottle: You can really smell the apple blossom and the red clover. It's... wild, and potent and sultry.

Just applied: On, the meadowsweet, orchid and apple blossom really warm up fast. It's powerful and chaotic and hot. It still is so feminine, though, dark and smelling of sex. This is one of those scents to dab on your neck and collar bone just before a date - it reeks of sexual prowess in the best way.

Dry: It's still warm and vibrant, but it's less like the in-your-face smell right after application. It's like you're surrounded by this Queen in all her battle glory. The apple and meadowsweet come out very nicely, and it's tart, hot, saturated with smells of power and fantasies.

And honestly, this scent makes me think of rabid sex in a field of clover. If pheromones had a detectable scent, well, this would be them.

My first review ever!

Moon Rose

Wet: It smells like white roses soaked in warm water. It lingers in your nose after you take a whiff, and the scent fades into something almost nostalgic. If "raindrops on roses" was a smell, this would be it.

On: It warms up so quickly. The rose really comes out, but it's not sweet - it's opalescent, shimmering, like rose-scented mist. It's so pure and white.

Later: The rose has faded, not quite so potent - it's warm, comforting, and just a little sad. I'm amazed that this smell isn't sweet at all, so far. The flower in it is quiet, and the perfume reminds me of the lingering thought of roses, not the actual flower itself.

I adore this so far. It's subtle, feminine, and comforting, but somehow it's also a little lonely.