Soupy Twist

I was afraid I was going to hate this because I don't like oakmoss, but it's lovely. Pitch and currants in the bottle, but it goes on as a crisp cypress. There's a tiny bit of mint briefly, then more cypress. After a few minutes I can smell the little wild strawberries. In the drydown a smoother, quieter pine returns.

Sassafras and vanilla in the bottle and on the wrist. Quickly dries to root beer, and then some creaminess comes in. Finishes as the perfect rendition of a root beer float. Beautifully executed; not something I'd wear.

Perfectly captures the essence of rose from bottle to wrist. If you like rose perfume, this is the one for you. (If you think rose perfume smells dated and sickly sweet, skip it.)

Fresh apples in the bottle. Goes on like biting into a fresh apple — the real juice of the fruit, not "apple juice." I love this so far! This softens into apple blossoms. Not getting any smoke or ash. Finishes as Salon Selectives.

In the bottle I get fruit, tobacco, and what I can only describe as "juicy wet chocolate." It goes on as flowers and that wet chocolate, but shortly after all the dark notes vanish and it's just tropical flowers, like hibiscus and osmanthus. There's a honey note which turns it too sweet for me, and then more tropical flowers. It's overall pretty, but frankly I expected something a lot fiercer from the goddess of destruction.

Herbs and patchouli in the bottle, although it's hard to pin down. Goes on as the moss, maybe, and I can definitely smell the cold iron. There's some dusty dry flowers in the background, and the patchouli resurfaces. There's a woody notes — the broom twigs? — and then it turns, quite to my surprise, into a generic perfume counter floral with a little patchouli. Not for me.

Moss, myrrh, and dust in the bottle. Goes on as moss and violet — there's something definitely sweet there, but it has a hard edge. This becomes oakmoss, but then quickly fades back to the slightly sweet incense. Probably fine if you like incense scents, but definitely not for me.

This positively shocked me because I thought I was going to hate it. Incense in the bottle, but it goes on as citrus peel. There's a brief sandalwood note, which is surprisingly nice, and then it turns into candied lemon peel! This becomes a lemony tea, which eventually dries to a lemon drop similar to Arcana's Ambrosia. Complex and interesting, although not a lot of throw or longevity. No sake or beans. It was gone in two hours.

Chicory and coffee from beginning to end, and too heavy on the chicory. A good idea which stumbles in the execution. I love a good coffee blend like Arcana's Caffeinated Death, but all I get from this is chicory. Café Mille et Une Nuits was "too much spice, not enough coffee" for me too, so I wonder if BPAL's coffee note just doesn't work for me.

(2011 version) Pretty much all the notes in the description. Leaves in the bottle, and it goes on as leaves and white cocoa (and it's definitely a white cocoa). There's a moment of musk and another of vanilla. The cocoa comes back, and it and amber and vanilla all move in and out of the leaves background. Finishes with a faint vanilla note.

Sourish pine in the bottle. Goes on as a cold pine, which gets a little dusty as it dries — very much "pines in winter." The edge sweetens a little after an hour, but I'm not getting any of the fruit trees.

Spices and cinnamon in the bottle. Goes on as what I can only describe as a cinnamon varnish: that sharp, ozonish edge to varnish, but not the chemical smell. I get some cloves and other spices, and a brief whiff of eucalyptus (which shouldn't work but somehow does), and then it's back to cinnamon. Doesn't last very long (maybe I have an old imp), but it's nice while it lasts.

Well, it's supposed to be a tea, anyway. Tea and something vaguely floral in the bottle. Goes on as tea and flower petals, but this soon becomes a nice lemon. The lemon fades after about 15 minutes and the entire thing turns soapy, and it's gone in an hour.

This is an odd one, maybe because of the formulation, maybe because the imp I got is several years old, but I like it. In the bottle there's a very fresh citrus/eucalyptus smell. It goes on as eucalyptus and I think yuzu is that grapefruit note. There's something that reminds me of a cleaning product, although not in a bad way. A little white bergamot comes in, and then it settles as that light yuzu/eucalyptus. (Yucalyptus?) Reminds me of what I hoped Arcana's Filthy Viking would be.

Marzipan in the bottle, but not in a good way. Goes on as physically sticky and a bit cloying. Turns into Jordan almonds, which isn't too bad, and some generic spices come in. There's a raw almond note — I really feel like this is the olfactory equivalent of eating Jordan almonds — but then a weird sourness enters. Then I get cumin? And at that point I just had to wash it off. Disappointing.

oh thank the gods I'm not the only one who keeps extensive, searchable records of sampling scents. I keep mine in a very basic FileMaker Pro database. I like spreadsheets for organizing, but I can't always fit everything I want to say into a single cell. I am impressed by the ones I've seen here!

I get sweet iced coffee in the bottle and on first application. Then it immediately becomes cardamom... and nothing else. I don't know where the coffee went! I get a tiny bit of tobacco after an hour or so.

Tobacco and a little smoky sweetness in the bottle. Goes on as tobacco with a touch of smoky vanilla. Eventually a little amber softens the edges, but mostly it's just... tobacco. A really nice tobacco, with plenty of longevity, but nothing else. I think my skin just amps tobacco to the point of drowning out all the other notes. Disappointing, because I saw all the love here for this scent and I really wanted to like it more than I did. I'll use the imp again, but it's not FBW.

You remember Salon Selectives, which had that distinctive artificial but pleasant apple-blossom scent? Pretty much that. A light apple in the bottle. Goes on as an apple blossom with touches of vanilla. This becomes that Salon Selectives apple, starts to deepen a little with the amber, and ends as a slightly-too-sweet fruity floral.

This might be the grapefruit I've been searching for! In the bottle I get sweet grapefruit (finally, not the pith and peel!). It goes on as sweet grapefruit as well and then sharpens a bit with ginger. This becomes a greener, lemongrass kind of note (not listed), drying to a grapefruity white tea. Marvelous. I have to agree with almost everyone that it vanishes quickly. But so pretty!

In the bottle I get fresh tobacco and something woody, maybe teak? It goes on as tobacco which has been smoked a little. There's a slight lime note (not listed, but you know those sneaky pirates), which turns into spices and bay rum (also not listed... but you know, pirates!). Ends as a lovely spicy tea. Unfortunately it vanishes on me after an hour.

In the bottle I get cocoa and cinnamon. It goes on as cinnamon, and then quickly turns to brown sugar. After a minute I get the cocoa, and it continues to be a mix of cocoa and sugar for the next several hours, with a little cinnamon on the edges. Marvelous, despite not getting any coffee scent. I bought a bottle unsniffed, and it has fulfilled all my hopes.

Clean, juicy, and hints of tobacco in the bottle. Goes on as a juicy rosin? Then I get maybe a little citrus and some linen, and definitely leather — a nice one. This becomes pipe tobacco. Then there's some "citrus aftershave" notes (probably from snogging Watson ) and it goes back to the rosin. Dries to a wonderful clean pipe tobacco. I love this. It has a lot of throw, which tobacco tends to do on me, and the longevity is amazing. Absolutely must get a bottle. I did try layering it with Watson, but the "lime aftershave" from that scent crowded out all the tobacco. Sorry, John.

Linen and lime in the bottle. Goes on as lime with machine oil, which dries to metal — not a bad scent, definitely a "well-cared-for gun." It continues to a cloth/tweed note, and then it's back to the lime aftershave. It's not a real lime, but a "lime-scented" product. There's a bit of something smoky in the back of the throat, and it finishes as that lime aftershave. Not terrible, but not something I'd wear again.

I coveted this for six months, and I can hardly express how disappointed I am. Apparently dragon's blood does not work on my skin at all, which is really a bummer because I have been a dragon fan in general for 20-odd years. Sweet in the bottle. Goes on as incense and soon becomes a bad stiff-leather smell — like when all you can smell is the tanning chemicals. Then I get the smoke, but it's more of a burnt cigar, which eventually becomes a cigar of incense.