Haltija

My Mother wears a ton of BPAL but her first love will always be a department store fragrance called Royal Secret. So far I haven't been able to find a BPAL that smells anything like it but I would like to find one that's similar, for her.

It has citrus top notes, middle notes of jasmine and rose and then bottom notes of sandalwood, musk, myrrh and I have seen some places say it has amber in it but I cannot be perfectly sure on that.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated (:

The most stunning, soft blend of tea and vanilla flower on me when wet. Dry it deepens with the gorgeous black orchid and musk. There is something about this that every time I smell it I feel like a veil of comfort has been draped over me and I love it. Definitely will be needing a bottle.

I think skyelyric and I must have the same skin chemistry because I got the same shampoo smell from this, but orange shampoo and very fake orange at that. I so wanted to get the pretty scent I got from the decant, alas.

Bracing, sweet peppermint when it first goes on. Very nice because it does smell like the peppermint used in Lick It blends and it's amazing since we didn't get a Lick It scent this year. It has that same strong body cooling sensation on me that The Snow at Noon has.

Toward the dry down though this clean note begins to make it's presence known and it verges on the line of smelling quite soapy. If it would of stayed the way it smelled during the wet stage the whole way through I would of maybe had the plan to bottle upgrade, but my decant will do.

Definitely does remind me of My Baby and a Baby Goat. But I think a part of me enjoys this one more (:

I smell the sheep's milk but it's very faint. All in all it's incredible coconut cream with the lightest dash of soft cinnamon. Simple but very lovely

You know when you smell something with a ton of cooling notes and your body almost feels cold when you take a whiff? Yeah, this does that to me.

It's really crisp, cold and I get the white mint, fir first off. The mint isn't super strong and it's not overwhelming the other notes as they try to come out. The elemi lends a almost fizzy quality and I barely get any white tea, which is a shame because I would of liked to. It's a really evocative scent for the Winter season but my decant will suffice.

Interesting!

This one is in the same family as The Waters of the Well of Wisdom from the Ragnarok collection and I enjoy that one a lot. Except this one has a underlining touch of barely there spicy wood. The herbs are definitely along the lines of thyme, maybe a little rosemary.

I don't wear obviously noticeable herbal blends often, but when I do I like for them to smell like this. Very nice

PERFECT!

This one is just wonderful and I will be needing several bottles before the Yules go away

Pure creamy marshmallow goodness with the softest bit of vanilla you could possibly imagine. If this is foodie it's more on the sophisticated fluffy side of foodie, like a marshmallow macaron. I definitely agree with Sadari on this, it smells like you put your face inside a bag of marshmallows, inhaled and just stayed there.

It's got low throw on me but I don't mind re applying and slathering. It's a scent I would wear for myself anyway, it's snuggly and just makes you feel happy.

This is Le Pere Fouettard without the sweetness and a bit of a cold, crispness to it.

Simply put, I adore it!

This is the one!

I have been trying a ton of Phoenix blends since 2013 and I have yet to own a full bottle of one, that is changing with this one. This is the first one I will upgrade to a bottle because I just can't even handle how amazing it is on me. Something about it is very "active fire" like the review above. In the decant I can distinctly smell the cedar and cinnamon, nothing else really. On the skin the cedar is so gorgeous blended with the cinnamon and amber, no pencil shaving smell here. It smells smoldering, red, bright and very addictive. The first thing that exited my mouth was "This smells like it belongs in Harry Potter"....

Just perfect!

This review will be straight to the point.

This has become one of my favorite Crimson Peak scents ever. There is just something about it that I cannot explain. It's soft, elegant, mysterious. It flows with such a tenderness that is just absolutely stunning. On me it's very delicate and non invasive and very much a scent I wear for myself and not other people.....

It's the most creamy violet incense you could imagine with not a hint of chrysanthemum, on my skin at least. Violet and Violet leaf are notes I adore very much so this is being upgraded to a bottle ASAP. Bravo Beth (:

In the beginning stages of this it smelled so nice, very very floral with a heavy sophisticated vibe about it. It's definitely a white floral and I get no eucalyptus blossom at all, mostly just lily and iris.

But oh my goodness the more and more it dried it just became more and more stifling, I had to wash it off because it almost felt claustrophobic.

Absolutely stunning in the decant.

On me though it's just myrrh and sandalwood. I really wanted to get poppy and musk out of this. I have let it age for a while now and tested it twice with the same result. It's nice because I love both of the notes that dominate on me, but I will not upgrade to a bottle.

Creamy, soft and wispy vanilla rose with hardly any wood notes coming out on me personally. It's delicate and truly beautiful.

Oh goodness, I am first!

I immediately smelled this one first and sprayed into my hair when I got the package. In the bottle it's nearly identical to the most crisp, delicious apple cider without a heavy spice base, soooo good. On the hair it's still predominantly apple and no spice, and I definitely get a red apple note but it's still tart, not tart enough to be a green apple though. It really does smell like pie but almost like you took the apple pie and right when it was about to be done you took pieces of the apple skin and put it on top to be baked into everything else.

It is a incredible Autumn and early Winter gloss. I will cherish my bottle (:

I love this one!

The dirt is strong when it first goes on and I don't mind it, I enjoy it a lot because Beth's dirt note is probably my most favorite. It can sometimes border on smelling a little clean, a little sweet. The longer it sits the more of a musky, red clay note comes out and it's blending together with the dirt so beautifully. The dry down smells very similar to Penny Dreadful because there is almost a spicy thing happening in the underlining layers, and since Penny Dreadful is one of my favorite BPAL blends it comes as no surprise that I adore this one too.

Very popular in my book and I will be needing a bottle (:

In love with this one!

This was one of the scents I was most nervous about when it came to testing my decants. In the decant itself this is quite sharp and a little strange but have no fear, it becomes beautiful. Wet on the skin it immediately reminds me of White Rabbit, the black tea note in it for sure. This is a tad tangy and a lot fruity with a very dominant distinct black tea note and the berry to me is definitely red berry. I agree with someone above in saying it's reminiscent of rosehip tea a little. Either way I love it and I have nothing else like it in my collection. Every waft I keep getting is just making me happy.

Will for sure be upgrading to a bottle.

I love this for bedtime.

When I first put it on I got a blast of moonflower and I adore that note, floral wise. Lavender made it's appearance shortly after, entwining itself with the tuberose and the tuberose was lending it's almost candy heady sweetness. The whole blend still stayed really floral from wet to dry down though, a white floral to my nose. It's not super heavy nor does it go soapy at all.

It relaxed me super easily for sleep and put me in a good mood. So this decant is definitely a keeper (:

I love this one so much!

Just the most gorgeous masculine cologne. It's cooling, crisp and a little spicy with a undertone of something metallic. It almost feels like it belongs with the Steamworks scents. I could see any woman and any man being able to pull this off. I am thinking about upgrading to a bottle.

Dusty and soft leather first off, almost goes very powdery. I never smelled India Ink so I don't know if it's the same ink note from that one but I do smell one and it's actually quite nice. The powdery tone stays for a while until it starts drying. That's when the "ghostly chill" comes out and it does smell like a cool breeze wafting over old leather book pages, it's so interesting.

I like this one but I don't know how much I would wear it. Will keep my decant though (:

This turns out very soapy and sharp on me, almost smelling like a medicine. No, actually the more I smell it the more it reminds me of this lotion I smelled all throughout my Grandma's house when I was a kid.

That part of it is quite comforting but it's still very heavy and powdery nonetheless. I will keep my decant but not upgrade to a bottle.

This one is incredibly strange but yet I cannot stop sniffing while it's on.

I agree with the two previous reviewers in saying that it is extremely woodsy, almost metallic in a sense. I get this bitter, biting and very sour almost medicinal thing happening when it's wet. When it begins drying I almost get the faintest hint of......... cinnamon? I know cinnamon distinctly and that's seriously what I smell, what a odd little thing. The blood musk smells like red musk to my nose. Truthfully it almost smells like a little spicy version of The Forbidding Foyer on me, interesting.

I definitely don't need a bottle of this one but I want to keep my decant to see what aging does to it.

Goodness gracious this is strong!

When I smelled the decant I was hit with the same "rotting vegetation" type thing that Arachnae experienced, it was not what I expected. Now, keep in mind I absolutely love vetiver so take my review with a grain of salt, especially if you hate the note. But I really like this one once it is on and warms up with my chemistry. It's sharp, gritty, dark and severely earthy. I don't get a single ounce of sweetness and I don't get a real fizzy quality from it either and I know elemi can bring that out in blends. I get pure black musk, frankincense and vetiver from beginning to end.

It's powerful, primal, and very masculine. Though, I do not think a woman could not wear this. I would wear it and feel 100% comfortable. All vetiver fans will definitely rejoice with this one.

Lucille is far from simple when you take the first whiff of her in the bottle or even in the first stages on the skin. On me though she blossoms and makes her stand with becoming a gorgeous deep plummy dark floral with a base of ylang ylang and a tiny tiny touch of lily.

I can't get enough of her honestly and like Poenari said, florals of any kind aren't usually my everyday thing, but I love dark florals the most when I do wear them and truth be told Lucille is the dark floral of my dreams. I will cherish her and I may even spring for another bottle. Absolutely divine!

I agree with Lycanthrope in saying that there is something very "Fae Forest" about this one with a backdrop of heavy moss. When it's first sprayed the moss is what first jumps out at me and I can detect chamomile but it's hardly there. The violet is there but it's also tamed as well until it begins to settle around the room. The violet is gorgeous and not stifling or too much, in my opinion.

I don't detect oak, unless it's the sort of "mist covered wood" smell that I am getting but when I inhale deep enough it does smell like mist covered wood with the soft florals blowing into the distance, moss under your feet and the trees covering over you like a canopy. It's very Spring and Summer appropriate and this decant will be very appreciate when we get back to those seasons. Lovely!