Sakura Tsukikage

Is that same note in The School-House? ("Dandelion, white clover, balsam fir logs, and birchwood switches.")

This is very soft and sweet--I really do think the description is amazingly accurate. Soft cloud of spun-sugar snow, that somehow feels both sugary and like snow, and warm (like a kiss, I suppose, as per the description) and cold (the sharp aftertaste, almost, of snow, is something I actually do get a sense of from this--I think this is the same thing people are describing as play-doh, though it never exactly reaches that point of association for me) at the same time. Mostly it's just very sweet, but not overpoweringly so, a soft creamy almost cotton candy sweetness, but white, not pink, and it is somehow soft and snow-like. It's actually pretty strong on me, and lasted all day both times I wore it so that I could smell it even with my hands in front of me, but it seems like this is actually pretty common for me compared to others. I don't get a strong sense of coconut at all, but there were a few moments during the day where I got an impression of something white and coconutty, not the smell so much as as sense of it somehow. I also get a tiny hint of mint, but mostly it's just sweet, and not at all a sharp mint. I'm actually surprised by how much I love the simple sweetness of this! My bottle was a gift, and I debated another one, but I think the one bottle will do for me. Still, it's very lovely.

I thought The Lilac Wood from the Last Unicorn collection was an absolutely lovely flowery-grassy scent that really smelled like, well, a lilac wood. Roses, Pearls, and Diamonds, Good, Elf, and The Lady of Shalott were all quite lovely to me, as well. And I think Love-in-Idleness is just gorgeous--I don't even know what it is, a soft, almost chocolatey but fresh flower that makes me think of pansies even if they don't really have a smell! Sea of Glass is also really pretty. Aizen-Myoo and Baobhan Sith are also pretty in a more fruit/fresh sort of way, in my opinion. The recent LE Butterflies, Flowers, and Jewels Attending does have jasmine, but it doesn't stand out to my nose at all--it's a very sweet, very delicate but soft and warm floral sort of scent. Really really pretty, I thought.

Okay, in the bottle this is insanely buttery. Very, very very buttery cookie, almost shortbread, with some pomegranate creaminess and a hint of mint and powdery sugar far in the background. On, it's initially much the same. A bit plasticky at first, then very very butter cookie. After a while, it turns to thick but tart pomegranate cream overlaying powdered sugar and buttery cookies, and the cookie breadiness eventually fades so I just get a lot of pomegranate cream, but still the sense of, as another review stated, a pomegranate linzer cookie dusted with powdered sugar. At times during the drydown I get hints of mint floating around, but never very strongly. It turns into very sweet pomegranate creaminess toward the end, and it lasts forever.

In the bottle, I feel like I get all the listed notes--bright sugared plum, with some darker currant wafting around back there, the spiciness of cardamom, and the slushy snowy note I've gotten from so many of the lab's snow blends, like this year's A Winter Dawn, Skadi, and Moon of the Terrible, as well as past blends like Ice Queen and Monastery in the Mountains. Slushy for sure, but definitely very, very purple. On, I get more of the cardamom. It's bright purple fruits buried in slushy snow and sprinkled with spice. It's very, very plummy to my nose, and as the first review describes, the cardamom wafts in and out. The slushy snow note is still there and very present, I'd say equal, but it surprises me how well it blends with the others. After some time, I get a snowy but very sugary, bright, rich sugarplum. It surprises me how rich and almost juicy it is, and how very sugary. Overlaid with snow, with just a hint of spice. After some time, I have snowy sweet plums, just a bit frosty around the edges, with that hint of almost warm sparkly frost that I get from the snow note sometimes. Still very sugary, fruity, and sweet. I like it a lot!

Oooh, minty! But there's something else there, too, deep, sweet, creamy, definitely like marzipan to me, more than a more general almondy scent. My brother's verdict is: "that's minty fresh!" The mint calms down and settles into the marzipan for me--it remains sweet and creamy, and it actually has quite a lot of throw on me, and is lasting well so far after being applied this morning. It's cooling but rich, sweet, not quite almondy cream with just a hint of mint. I love the sweet creaminess of this, and the combination with that hint of mint to give it more of a fresh kick. It strikes me as sweet and rich but not too foody, either. I like it a lot!

Definitely agree with the first review--delicious in a strong, dark-golden way. It's bright, and I agree with an almost metallic tinge that I think might be the saffron and the heliotrope, but I'm not sure. There's a brightness to it that cuts the depth of the cedar and warm, rich amber, and a sweetness to it as well. It almost smells nutty, but it isn't quite nutty, either, just gives me that impression. There's a honeyed, almost bay-leaf-esque scent to it that I assume is the honey laurel. I was dubious of this scent in the imp, but I wanted to use it for its magical properties, so I used it anyway--but it's lovely on, warm and woody and sweet and just, yes, rich. It smells almost thick to me, but in a bright, polished, open, warm sort of way--I agree that it's almost snuggly. I definitely get the cedar, but it's a warm, deep, enriched, almost honeyed cedar, not a hint of pencil shavings in sight. Very nice indeed! And it's so cool of the lab to include these magical extras--I'm very grateful and it's awesome to be be wearing this!

This smelled so sharp and green at first sniff that I was a little scared of it, but on me, I actually really love it. It's a fresh, green, spicy resinous sort of blend with a nice smoky sweetness that probably comes from the ambrette seed (?), calamus, benzoin, and clove. It's not too heavy, and it has this sharpness that's not too sharp, and almost smells honeyed to me. The greenness (which I figure is the galbanum, since I recognize that green bright feeling from other perfumes) with the ambrette seed and calamus, burns off to take a back seat fairly quickly, and gets smoother. I don't get a lot of orange, but it feels like it's brightening things up. I think the main note I get is frankincense/olibanum, but it's sweet, spicy, and still somehow fresh. I like it a lot! Not sure if I'll seek out more than this decant, but I'm definitely going to use it up.

I love this stuff. I honestly think that this is my favorite BPAL/BPTP product I've tried yet. First of all, it makes my hair so shiny and smooth and manageable--I've never used anything that made my hair look this pretty and thick. And it helps with my ends splitting, too. So I definitely love the formula. But the scent of this is just perfect for me. It doesn't get any better than this; I love it. On my hair, I think I get mostly the yuzu and white ginger and lime, with the refreshing hit of white tea and just a bit of the soft but bright mint scent I associate with white mint. It's bright and bracing and fresh but also somehow sweet and almost warm rather than cold, and I think that's the white ginger. I love it sooo much. I bought a backup, but I can only hope there's a way to get more someday!

I love this. I love it so much I bought three bottles of it! This is my dream jasmine perfume, and it's just perfect. Sweet, heady, and rich but with that coolness, almost wateriness. It is a tea-like cool, wet jasmine, but very much a heady, thick, blooming jasmine flower, lush and tropical but not hot; this does strike me as very cool. It's clear and almost calm on my skin, but still rich and lush and gorgeous. I love it so much. And it has amazing throw, too.

I feel a little like the odd one out here, because I didn't expect any almond at all--I expected and wanted a snowy floral and that's what I got! This is a sweet, gentle, warm floral with the lab's snow note overlaying the top of it. The sort of rich but soft almost waxy scent of the blossom is the same note, I think, as the almond flower in The Penitent Magdalen--at least, the two blends smell very similar to me, the Penitent Magdalen more woody and almost clean, and this one bright and a bit chill, biting and fresh with the snow. Quiet and glittery, sparkling and clean, like the poster above me described. In the bottle I get both the flower and the snow in equal measure. Once on, it smells much the same, but as it dries, the snow sticks closer to my wrist, while the lovely sweet floral scent of the almond blossom is what throws and wafts around me, more, though I still get whiffs of snow. I also agree with the first review, in terms of the feeling of walking through a snowy landscape and getting the smell of early almond blossoms--which fits the the inspiration of the poem just perfectly. That poem is actually why I bought this scent, and I'm so pleased that it's as gorgeous as it is to me. I'm pretty confident in saying now that almond blossom might just be a favorite note of mine! Editing to say that I put this on yesterday around noon, and I can still smell it nice and present on my wrists twenty-four hours later! It doesn't have much throw anymore, but it's still very present. Yesterday it had what I consider to be the perfect amount of throw--you can smell it close to me and I can smell it wafting around me, but it's not going to bother anyone.

There's also A Winter's Dawn in this year's Yules: Pearlescent pink grapefruit, neroli, helichrysum, freesia, white mandarin, and rockrose rising behind a dapple of snowflakes. And though I doubt this is particularly snowy, there's also: The Mahogany Tree—Robin-red currants, soft nightingale-brown tonka, glossy starling-black labdanum, hearth-warm amber, mahogany sap, winter woods, a splash of Muscat, and gentle Christmas snow. And from my own personal approaching OCD list, I've got: Snowy Mountains and Kingfisher—Crisp ozone-tinged snow, muguet, white moss, sandalwood musk, white amber, honeysuckle, and white pear. (Shunga 2012, obviously includes some ozone) Monastery in the Mountains—Snow-capped mountain air, rich sandalwood incense, and deodar—the Tree of God. (Pickman Gallery, 2012) The Waltz of the Snowflakes—Vanilla-laced snow, graceful and sweet, with fir needle and black pine bark. (Yule 2010) Yellow Snowballs—Slushy white mint, vanilla cream, lemon drops, grapefruit, and yuzu! (This is obviously the mint snow, but in the interest of completion . . . ) Winter-Time—Sweet, soft snow. (Yule 2010) Hunters in the Snow—The scent of a calm, grey winter’s day: bare trees and cooking fires, thick blankets of snow, and icy, frozen rivers. (Will-Call November 2013) Ondurdis—The scent of winter wind blowing over snow-capped mountains. (Yule 2011) Cloth of Gold—Vibrant yellow petals bursting exultantly through a patch of snow. (Yule 2011) Okayaki—Olive blossom, cardamom pod, amber, morning star lily, bergamot, and a well-aimed snowball. (Shunga 2010) Woods in Winter—Wild hemlock and juniper berries scattered in the snow beneath leafless trees bedecked with glittering icicles. (Yule 2010) The Phoenix in Winter—Daemonorops, holly berries, and juniper berries in a snowdrift. (Anniversary 2010) Before the Snowy Window—Snow-dusted cherry blossom, passion flower, peach musk, and tuberose. (Shunga 2012) Dust of Snow—Snowflakes and hemlock leaves with snowdrop, iris, and Peruvian lily. (Yule 2011) Jolasveinar—Their scent is a mishmash of snow, dirt, Icelandic moss, marsh felwort, and the smushed petals of buttercups and moorland spotted orchids, with the barest hint of the scent of pilfered Christmas pastries. (Yule 2006, 2007, 2010-2011) Fern Frost—no notes listed, but fern, frost (Trading Post Inquisition, Yule 2010) I obviously haven't tried all of these, and some are more snowy than others (I'd say Snowy Mountains and Kingfisher doesn't strike me as particularly snowy, but I get a sense of it, I'm not sure about all of the others), but that's my addition to the list!

This one has such an adorable label, I totally agree. Just so cute! In the bottle, this one does smell sweet and a bit buttery, but it doesn't strike me as at all the same buttery pumpkin as other BPAL pumpkin scents. It actually reminds me of butterscotch, with a slight green undercurrent that still strikes me as slightly spicy, but still green spice, somehow. On, that greenness becomes a slight touch of pumpkin rind, while the rest of it is a warm, sweet pumpkin. I agree that it's not raw pumpkin, and totally agree with the previous reviewer who compared it to a wedge of pumpkin straight off the vine, cleaned and chopped, and warmed in an oven, not spicy but warm and sweet and you can still smell the green hint of the rind just a little tiny bit, perfect analogy. I also get that sweet thick beeswax smell and a hint of smoke. It really does make it feel warmed and glowing, honey-vanilla beeswax heating up that warmed-up half-cooked pumpkin, which sounds kind of weird, but smells yummy. There is a bright almost green freshness to it, but it's also warm and sweet and beeswax-y and creamy, like there's still just a touch of green in the pumpkin rind. The pumpkin is almost, but not quite, pumpkin spice, warm and creamy and melding with the beeswax to sweeten it in a way that makes it rich and smooth and almost spicy. On my wrist, it turns warmer and sweeter than it does on my arm. After a while this gives me a strong impression of the smell that comes off jack-o'-lanterns with the candle burning, smoky and sweet and candley but with that rich organic warm orange pumpkin smell around it, especially from further away. It actually vaguely reminds me of the sort of Japanese incense I smelled in Kyoto from a distance, but still with that touch of pumpkin-y warmth and sweet beeswax. I really love it, it's so perfectly autumnal, warm, and Halloween without being at all dark. I think it fits the poem perfectly (and I also admit to getting a bit emotional after putting it on and re-reading the poem, dang those scent memories)! It's gorgeous, though, and I love it. Smoky, candlelit pumpkin with a hint of warm sugar-sweet-beeswaxness (which is now a word, because I say so).

In the bottle, this is sweeter than I thought it would be, too! It's leaves, gold and brown in my head (the aspens?), lightly aquatic, and then snow. I also get a sense of brown fur. Somehow it makes me think both "warm" and "cool," like being outside on a cool late autumn day in a warm sweater. Overall it strikes me as light brown, like late autumn when the leaves have already fallen in a place where it doesn't snow much, down by the river. It's a bit very slightly spicy-musky-sweet, but still has that clear watery sense and maybe a very slight very unobtrusive floral. I like it. On it's much the same, but same grassier undertones deepen it in a way that wasn't there before. This wasn't what I was envisioning when I read the description, but it still smells uncannily like the description to me (I don't know how that works, it's a mystery)--warm brown fur, cool water and snow, brown sedges and leaves with just a touch of water lily. It really does perfectly fit the late October to November weather, and I'm really enjoying it and the way it makes me feel. It's a perfect quiet late autumn scent, somehow. It's not super strong on me and doesn't have the most throw, but I can smell it for at least a few hours after application quite clearly, so I'm quite satisfied.

In the bottle, I had much the same reaction The Poison Queen did--foody buttery cakey bready death, yikes. Still, most of the ones I've had a oh God no butter why reaction to in the bottle or imp I ended up liking on my skin, so I went for the skin test anyway. And I'm glad I did, because this one is extremely pleasant on. At first, it's a tangy thyme-lemony zesty blast that's a little overwhelming, but still gets my mouth watering, actually. It turns into something sweet and strong, creamy thyme-touched lemon over juicy sugary pear. The great lemon-pear scent hangs around me, more lemon when I get closer to my wrist and very much a sugared pear, overlaying that juiciness. Very sweet, but not cloying. I was afraid it would be too unbearably cheesecakey, but it's not; it's exactly the perfect amount to me. I love the pear note as well, and I am really getting it, as well as that sweet intense lemon-meringue lemon. It's very nice, and I'm glad I have a bottle of this one!

As soon as I saw the description for this, I knew I was getting a bottle--like Invidiana, I love mead, and the idea of pumpkin mead, something I'd love to drink in real life, was too good to pass up. Since the lab's honey and alcohol notes (especially the honey mead in Hellcat), have smelled delicious on me, I bought a bottle flat out. And I definitely do not regret it. My response to smelling this was . . . wow, this really does smell like pumpkin mead! I get the warm sweet but veggie richness of the pumpkin, but a definite sense of honey, thick, rich, dark, and sense, and the yeasty headiness that makes me think of mead or beer. To me it does smell like alcohol, but not overwhelmingly so. It's incredibly strong, so much so that I was a little overwhelmed sniffing it in the bottle, and it has fantastic throw. So yeah, I'm not going to be wearing this to school. That being said, it smells delicious, and I can almost taste the frothy, foamy head of the mead in the tankard. With it on, I get a clearer sense of the maple, and combined with the honey and pumpkin it gives me wonderfully sweet foody whiffs of something I want to eat immediately. If I sniff my wrist, I get a smell like I smelled mead on my clothes a few days ago, actually, but around me it still has that great pumpkin mead smell. Also, this lasts forever on me--I put it on yesterday around 11 am, and I can still smell it on my wrists tonight at almost 11 pm, so that's around twenty-four hours, with several hand-washes in between. It's quite close to my skin now, of course, but still there. Today, though, it pretty much smells exclusively like clover honey (and it's specifically clover honey to me, somehow, I can't believe it), dark and rich, but none of the other scents seem to have stuck around with it. I love this, and I'm very glad to have my bottle!

When I sniffed this in the imp, I also instantly noticed the green bitterness that hit me, and it scared me off a little. I know I smell the lettuce in the imp, and I think I smell the camphor and mugwort as well as the galbanum. However, once it's on, that calms down pretty quickly, and the other scents come out, especially the florals, with a touch of something juicier and wetter. It's rather strong on me, but doesn't have much throw--still I didn't put very much on, and it's startlingly strong when I get close, all the same. It smells very clean, not in a soapy way, more a way that reminds me of wet plants, and the color it suggests to me is a light green, a spring or mint green, rather pale (which is not to say it smells minty, because it doesn't, at all). It does have that sharpness to it, though. As time goes on, I get more sweetness--some time into wearing it, I'm starting to really love it, it smells clean and fresh and now a brighter, juicier green to me. It's very nice, and it does strike me as lunar somehow, though I don't think of the moon as green at all. It's gotten more floral, but still doesn't strike me as a floral--despite its strength, this seems like a rather elusive scent to describe, somehow or another. Several more hours in, it still has that clear, clean feeling, but I realize that I've been smelling something like jasmine, narcissus, and lily along with the galbanum and mugwort all along, but none of them struck me as such. After the initial burst of extreme lettuce-y bitterness wears off, I think the lettuce fades into the background and gives it that clean green scent I'm noticing--maybe with the papaya? I think I'm getting the papaya as well, but more as a juicy freshness and hint of sweetness than anything else. I started off very wary of this, but now I'm very fond of how clear and clean and bright it smells to me. It does smell a little "perfume-y," though--I don't mind that at all, but I know it bugs some people. But it's a perfume with lettuce and parsley very much in it, at the same time!

I have to say, I love Kumiho--after trying it, it instantly became my favorite scent, as a matter of fact (which beforehand had been the TerraNova White Ginger fragrance, funnily enough, even though that white ginger is a flower and I assume this ginger is, well, ginger). It's gorgeously fresh and light, but it still has presence enough to make itself known. It became one of my first 5 ml purchases from BPAL immediately. It's somehow cool and clear, yet still bright and refreshing, and not at all sweet on me. In fact, refreshing is the main word that comes to mind when describing this scent, which is probably why I like it so much, since I tend toward light and fresh scents in general. I vacillate on whether to describe this scent as white or light green, but either way, I definitely get the sense of drinking white tea with some of the bite and aroma of ginger added in (which, as others have said, is a very clean fresh sort of spice rather than a deeper or darker spice like cloves, or a warm red spice like cinnamon or paprika--not that I see a lot of paprika in perfume, probably since the aroma isn't that present, but you get my point, I hope). For me, ginger is a sharp white sort of spice, and that's the kind I get the sense of here, sort of calmed and smoothed by the tea surrounding it. For me, when wearing Kumiho I feel invigoratingly light and airy, but also sharp and aware. It actually really, really lasts on me. I was wearing it yesterday, and I could still smell it hovering in my hair and on my skin that night, after putting it on in the morning--even though I hadn't put any in my hair, just behind my ears. Then again, perfume tends to last on me. It also doesn't change much between the bottle and my skin; in fact, it pretty much smells exactly the same the whole time, just slightly softer as time goes on, but without losing that clean freshness from before. It actually strikes me as a very professional scent, and one I feel when I want to feel like I know what I'm doing. Anyway, I love it, and I'm so glad I found it, because I adore the way it smells and makes me feel!