madeleine

Persepohne captures the character perfectly, I think. On me, there's not much pomegranate, but it's a riper, wetter rose than I usually get from BPAL perfumes. It's a bright, lush, girlish scent. Which, honestly, isn't really my thing but I think it's gorgeous and evocative. I'll probably wear it every now and then, just because it's so nice.

Haunted started out sweet amber, which was nice but kind of boring. I'd rather stick with boring, though, because it turned into a dusty, dry scent with too much sweetness. I smelled like someone's crazy grandmother - a dusty old house with too much potpourri or Yankee candles or something. Also, it hurts my nose a bit, maybe because of the dryness. I definitely pass on this one.

This was a mistake. My skin chemistry hates, hates, hates Wrath even though it's worked well with other notes present here and I actually really like dragon's blood and cinnamon. On me, Wrath is slick, plastic, artificial, too sweet, medicinal. It's just not a good experience. So of course it lasts forever. Sigh.

I tried this because I wanted to find a scent that blended amber and rose together. Also, I love the amber/saffron/musk combination - it smells delicious on me. For about three minutes I got all the notes (or most of them) especially the amber. But once it dries down all I get is the rose. Like, only rose. And while I really like the sleepy way it comes through in Seraglio, in Baghdad it's just dry and overpowering. I may try layering it with something (Brinsingamen, maybe) to mute the rose note, but I'm not sure.

I was really indifferent about this until about half an hour in. It started out very evocative, but not particularly attractive on me. There was plenty of chilly danger and malice (the ginger seemed quite cold, plus there was a very very faint cigarette smell) but it wasn't really...something I wanted to smell. However, after a while it warmed up a lot. There's still an edge, but it's a hot edge. I only get the barest whiff of vanilla, but the apricot, ginger, and jasmine combine very nicely. Exotic is exactly the word I'd use. I actually like this a lot, now.

Creamy and golden. If this were lotion, I think I'd probably love it, but on my skin it's just too flat. I like perfume to have more nuance, especially when amber is involved. Seriously, amber is my favorite note but my skin really amps it up. So I need something more than sweet amber if I want to stay interested in the scent. It's really nice - a smooth scent. I don't know about glittering, though.

I really liked Penitence so I wanted to try some other resin-y scents and see how they worked on me. And I do like Cathedral, but it smells almost exactly the same on my skin. I get a whiff of green-y cedar when I open the imp, but on me and dry it's all frankincense and myrrh. When I press my nose directly to my skin there's a bit of heat and the cedar again, but it's not a scent my skin amps up. However, they're very nice together. Kind of Thanatopsis + Penitence. And it lasts foreeeever! But I think I'll stick with Penitence for my resins, or try a resin/floral mix or something.

Silk Road really is a panoply of scents. The primary note for me is cinnamon, but I find that even when the cinnamon is shouting at me, I am always aware of other scents in the background. Clove, maybe myrrh and a bit of rose. There's amber (of course!), and something that might be almonds. Oranges and ginger. For a while about half an hour in it has a sunscreen-y edge that I like (Follow Me Boy does the same thing, but I don't like the direction Follow Me Boy chooses to go on my skin) and then a grainy, smooth scent comes in to compliment the cinnamon. The grain and cinnamon notes are the most prominent when it's really truly dry. One thing I like about Silk Road is that it doesn't feel like perfume, but like you smell like this naturally. It's something I could imagine a Byzantine empress wearing, no problem.

I don't like the way alcoholic drinks smell, usually, but I love the idea of this scent. And I do love the tart/sweet strawberry flavor and fresh scent. In the vial, it's primary strawberries (cooked, or fresh with sugar) with a champagne edge that makes it a bit grown up. Wet on me, it's EXTREME strawberries to begin with. As it dries, the champagne amps up. So it becomes a bit more adult and dangerous, but still with the sweet, sweet strawberries. It reminds me of a Bond girl, but not a dumb Bond girl - a cool Bond girl. (Not Pussy Galore, she's too hardcore for this.) I like it a lot, and enjoy it!, but I don't think I want a big nottle of it.

In the imp, I can smell the spices clearly. It's like they've been layed over rose petals or something. On my skin, however, it's a very Victorian rose - all lace, corsets, good manners, parasols and just a little bit of dust. It's not a "wet" scent at all, but definitely dry. While I enjoy how effectively it sets an image for me, I don't think I'd want to wear Lucy's Kiss. It's...not really me.

Tintagel is a wonderfully evocative scent that...can't make up its mind on my skin! It starts out very herby - the junper, bayberry, etc - and clean in a way that reminds me of books like Wise Child. Herbs being thrown on the fire to scent smoke, thatched huts in Cornwall, one of the flashbacks in The Dark is Rising etc. The dragons blood takes forever to show up, but when it does it brings the spices - cinnamon? - in with it. The story stops being about "ordinary" people and becomes about warlords and ladies. There's a good deal of roughness to it, but these people have power from more than just ability. It's like a room being cleared for a returning soldier. Really reminds me of the film Becket, or anyway, the sets for the movie. So I like Tintagel a lot, at least partly for what it makes me think of.

Thanatopsis smells like Christmas. The way the pine and the amber combine remind me of Christmas trees and incense, and the juniper is a sharper note like the cold weather. So it's beautiful, but much too masculine for me. And I don't want to go around worrying I might be set on fire. Gorgeous and definitely worth a try, though.

The dominant notes here are the peach, amber and vanilla which mix into a velvety scent that I like a lot. It's a golden velvet. The example that springs to mind is from a book: Quest for a Maid. Anyway, amber velvet figures prominently in the book for a bit, and I imagine this is that fabric made into a scent. Rich, luxurious, golden. Powerful? I would have liked something with a bit more of an edge to it - claws or knives beneath the velvet. Tamora was a bitch, after all. But it's really a beautiful scent and I may get a bottle.

From what I understand, Shanghai is disgustingly hot and humid a lot of the time. My idea of the city is not at all like this perfume - but BPAL Shanghai is lovely. A perfect hot weather scent. It's fresh and green, really lifts you up. The way the honeysuckle comes through is beautiful. If I smelled like this naturally, I would go through life always happy.

In the bottle, it smells like nothing so much as cough syrup. (Robitussin, maybe. Been a while since I had any.) On me, it starts that way by becomes sweeter and deeper - I suspect the currants and mahogany. But I can't like it: it's too insecure and babyish. The Red Queen is the perfume a starlet might choose if she's just starting out. Her make-up is flawless and she's got great posture - to look at her you'd never guess she's faking. The scent gives it away.