Akurarei

Eldritch Dark In the Bottle: Heavy Leather and Dirty Musks On My Skin, Wet: (ha!) A blast of leather, dirty musk and sweet....resin? rose? something delicious.... On my Skin, Dry: The leather subsides, the dirty-ness of the musk vanishes, but leaves behind the potency of the red musk, and a gorgeous resin-y sugared rose blooms Verdict: this is glorious! I'm trying to decide if I can afford a backup bottle of this - oh, budget, why must you taunt me so?!

In the bottle: Quite strong berry note On my Skin, Wet: Still very berry, but there's also a dirty mint note On my Skin, Dry: Dirty minty fruits Verdict: Not sure - it's by no means a 'bad' scent, but it's not what I was looking for either...

I look forward to Rose Red, Snow White and Peacock Queen every year (though sometimes not all of those appear, sadly)

PUMPKIN CLOVE CANDLE This is my first BPTP candle - I absolutely LOVE this scent! It's warm but not sweet, a nice balance between the pumpkin note and the clove note (though the clove has a subtlety to it, like it is veiled). The wax melted very evenly despite being in a drafty spot. As far as size goes, I was expecting it to be either a little wider or taller. It's about the circumference of a 12oz can of soda, and about a quarter shorter than said can. What a great seasonal candle! i'm tempted to get a back-up before it leaves for the goblin dungeon in December!

Theme in Yellow To me, this smells like a toned-down pumpkin latte with a note of wax in the background. I picture this scent as capturing the moment where someone sits on the porch, lights all the jack-o-lanterns around them, has his/her coffee, and also holding a beeswax candle - enjoying the dimming light of fall. in a nutshell

This is a combination of dry leaves and maple syrup on me - it's absolutely lovely, and very evocative of fall! (ETA, if this is ever offered as a Bath Oil, I will be hoarding )

In the Bottle: Rose and dryness On My Skin, Wet: A seriously strong burst of dry leaves! On My Skin, Dry: Beautiful blend of red leaves and red roses. The rose note has the same 'density' as the red rose in The Peacock Queen. Verdict: Absolutely gorgeous! it's a perfect fall blend, and I love the simplicity of it!

Phantasm (GC) This delicate, spectral perfume gives rise to an eerie distortion of of the senses. It bestows an ephemeral, ghostly, and truly haunting quality to your presence. Green tea, lemon verbena, jasmine and neroli. my summary of it is "Lemony Green Tea" Shunga:Tea (LE) Darjeeling tea, lemon verbena, star anise, and honeycomb. It's a perfect Honey-Lemon Tea Yuki-Onna (LE/Ressurrected) The Lady of the Snow, Winter Ghost, Snow Queen. A chilling, haunted blend of bergamot, lemon verbena, sandalwood and jasmine. My synopsis is that it is Lemon & Sandalwood Purple Spotted Swallowtail (LE) Black plum, opium poppy, dusky amber, opoponax, castoreum accord, dried berries, tolu balsam, clove bud, and lime No lemon is listed, but my nose translates something into lemon Summary is "Lemon, Cloves & Poppy" Yellow Snowballs (LE) Because I am very, very crass this year. Slushy white mint, vanilla cream, lemon drops, grapefruit, and yuzu! My notes describe this one as citrus snow/lemon ice Aopile (GC) Smoldering coals heat the device from below, and steam hisses through two curved pipes, rotating the shining brass sphere. Glowing amber and citrus, labdanum, verbena, cedar, and oud. Notes to my nose are Lemon/Grapefruit & CEDAR

Hi Funny you should ask... Today I'm wearing a fabulous apricot blend... HALOES
 (Retail Only Salon, call Courtney at Healthy Living in Vermont, 802.863.2569) Haloes, Louis Welden Hawkins Oak, tonka, vanilla, white sandalwood, lily of the valley, white ginger, amber, and apricot. Haloes is oak/vanilla/apricot on my skin. Oak is a pretty distinctive note. I'm not sure how you'd feel about it if you don't like patchouli. I tend to like darker woods & resins, and I love me some patchouli (and Depraved). I've not tried any of the following, but a few general collection scents from the lab including an apricot note include: SIREN
 A thrilling, exotic blend — deceptively sweet, but spiked with malice. White ginger, jasmine, and a touch of vanilla and apricot. GRAND GUIGNOL Our Grand Guignol perfume is a shot of sweet apricot brandy. KATHARINA 
A strong, willful blend with a soft, utterly lovely soul: white musk with a trickle of bright, sharp apricot and orange blossom. PANDY (don't think this one's impable) Fresh white musk, honeycomb, sweet apricot, elemi, orange blossom, and mischievous pink pepper. Hi! Thanks for the suggestion on HALOES! I actually have this one from taking a vacation in Atlanta a while back, but it doesn't speak 'apricot' to me, mostly vanilla and heavy woods. generally I like dark resins and woods too, but patchouli is a death note that very rarely works for me. I also have SIREN, but it doesn't have a distinct apricot note for me either - that one is all vanilla, ginger and jasmine. I've been eyeing PANDY, but orange blossom and pepper generally turn 'sneezing powder' on me, but I may try to find an imp on the forum. THANKS I'll have to revisit the other two - it has been a while since I've played with those frimps. Any other suggestions out there?

Is there another scent that uses the same Apricot note that's found in Depraved? I really like that Apricot note, but the patchouli kills it for me in that blend - and I haven't found a Apricot note that smells similar, or is that potent in another blend...am I out of luck?

In the Bottle: I detect soft florals and something deeper, but I can't distinctly recognize it. On my Skin, Wet: More soft florals, a touch of musk, and something dry like dust. On my Skin, Dry: Still mostly soft florals, smells like iris to me, a gentle musk that is mostly gone, and dry honey-powder (not baby powder, it's a sweet, somehow foody powder). Verdict: I really expected this one to be more pungent and diabolical. It is soft, faint and demure. I'm so glad that I got a bottle of this! it's a very gentle Halloween scent, and actually quite nice in summer too!

Has anyone suggested Alice ? Curiouser and curiouser. Milk and honey with rose, carnation and bergamot. The carnation tends to overpower this one on me as I wear it, but if carnation behaves on you, this could be a good one for you to try.

This one smells like sweet olives and air to me - it's very light and actually makes me think of summer

Peony Moon 2013: I got married wearing the original release of Peony Moon, so all future releases will have some level of immediate love from me. In the Bottle: Sandalwood and florals, but the sandalwood is light & crisp, not heavy and thick. On my Skin, Wet: Dry, soft sandalwood and slightly sweet pink florals - I don't pull a distinct species out. There is a very slight fruity-ness to this stage, but it's really subtle. On my Skin, Dry: Still fairly sandalwood dominant, but it's still a light, crisp version. I still get some pink florals, but I still can't pick out a particular variety. The fruity-ness fades away, leaving a very airy memory of plums. Verdict: A very different version of my beloved wedding scent, but definitely in the same class of beauty. This one is just drier and not as lush as the original. Still a very appropriate spring scent.

I get a perfumey peach and jasmine from this blend. The jasmine seems 'green' though - I'm not familiar with a green smelling jasmine, but I will admit that my experience with jasmine is rather limited. It's a very nice spring scent.

This one is a little odd - it's definitely a half winter/half spring spring scent. it's very well blended, and not one note sticks out in particular. I do get trace whiffs of patchouli though - but it's an earthy & gentle patchouli, not a loud & dirty one. As i'm wearing this, I really like the fact that it's a half & half sort of scent. it's unusual but I like it for that reason.

Congrats on your upcoming nuptials! I wore a Lunacy for my wedding month (Peony Moon for a March wedding) I felt it was both appropriate and I *loved* how it smelled, that's a win-win My husband isn't big on wearing scents himself, but he is reminded of our wedding day whenever I wear Peony Moon now. Maybe there's a scent out there that you can 'designate' as YOUR wedding day scent? Congrats again! Many wishes for a long, happy marriage

The Vine In the Bottle: Pears in a bed of heavily sugared cream On my Skin, Wet: A blast of not-yet-ripe pears, along with a touch of cream and dark honey On my Skin, Dry: Equal parts not-yet-ripe pears, sweet cream, and dark honey - but it's as if it's only the impression of these notes, rather than a cornucopia of scents. it's the memory of the scent, as it were. Verdict: It's a soft, fresh scent for Spring not overly girly, though I have a hard time picturing a man wearing this. Lovely.

In the Imp: Strong spices & a thick, stinky musk On my Skin, Wet: A blast of sweaty red musk On my Skin, Dry: The sweaty musk dissipates, to reveal a nice red musk cast, with notes of spicy, slightly peppery cinnamon underneath. Verdict: Pretty once dry, but rather assaulting on the senses in the first application.

LOL all I get is cinnamon with a faint spicy carnation undertone. not a fan of this.

Witchblade for when I have something difficult to deal with Sara Pezzini just tends to make me confident overall Penumbra tends to unleash my strategic plot-making side O_O

If you can find it, try the Shunga blend "TEA" - Darjeeling tea, lemon verbena, star anise, and honeycomb. it's a sweet lemon tea scent, which you can probably layer with a light floral scent.

Frimp Test To me, this smells like the lavendar honey cheesecake of Beaver Moon of 2011, minus the lavendar. it's got the same honey note, delicate & sweet, mixed with something slightly creamy & a touch of something slightly musky & sweet too. If I ever run out of Beaver Moon 2011, I am replacing it with this

Tested a Frimp In the Imp: fresh green lillies - nothing else On my Skin, Wet: A burst of greenery with a touch of white lillies It's a very pretty light & fresh type of greenery. On my Skin, Dry: Almost only the fresh greenery. Mostly disappeared too. Over Time: Gone

To me, this was wet, fresh cut grasses with touches of white florals on the drydown. It was surprisingly strong, too.