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BPAL Madness!

Marla Moreau

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Everything posted by Marla Moreau

  1. Marla Moreau

    Brimstone

    In the imp and wet on skin: freezing cold strong pine pitch. Evergreen sap... it even feels cold on my skin, not getting fire from this at all... more like the woods during a snowy winter. *shrug* Dry down: this smells christmasy on me O_o Strong evergreen sap and woods. No smoke or fire at all, very cold scent. Disappointed, glad I got an imp before going for a bottle. I smell like a craft store during christmas time when it's completely dry. All the pine is giving me a headache. Where's my smoke and fire, dammit? I wanna smell like burning houses...
  2. Marla Moreau

    Gomorrah

    I need to find a bottle of this ASAP, this is beautiful on me. I can't stop sniffing my wrists! In the imp: fresh dark herbs, not sweet fig Wet on skin: fig comes out more, but is not sweet at all, almost like a dry fig, herbs and woods start to amp, incensey. Dry down: Incense! Beautiful incense with sharp fresh fig in the background. Fantastic throw after it dries. My skin turns this into something so so awesome, I feel like I'm surrounded in a cloud of incense and someone has left me an offering of fresh figs on the altar. Loving how strong this is, I'm amping all the right things, apparently. 10 out of 5 stars.
  3. Marla Moreau

    Season of the Inundation

    SQUEEE! I'm sooo happy with this. In the bottle: rich sandy soil, like being at the beach... dirt and aquatic and sand. Wet on skin: same as above Dry down: same as above, the beachy impression fades and changes to wet soil, like putting your hands into the ground after it rains, then myrrh comes out and sweetens it up a bit, giving it an incense feel, but the soil never goes away (yes!), it just gets "drier". I might get a brief distant whiff of florals, but they are not prominent and go away fast (yes! not a floral fan). It keeps evolving and becoming more complex, dry soil, sand, and complex herbs and resins/incense. I definitely feel "ancient Egypt" from this, and the name fits the impression so so well. I was lucky to find a full bottle, gonna have to attempt to make it last. I think I'll be wearing this one a *lot*. 5/5
  4. Marla Moreau

    Water Phoenix

    This is my first time exploring an aquatic scent, and wow I love it! In the bottle: Green and blue, don't know how else to describe it... salt water and greenery, lush, I'm not getting cologne from this at all. Wet on skin: Like in the bottle, but softening with frankincense and juniper berry. Not getting any florals or sweet pea, which is excellent. Dry down: I guess some floral is coming out, but it's... murky? Like submerged in dark water at night. Not a fan of florals but this is nicely blended with water and musk, it does not smell girly or flowery. Also lavender is coming out. Juniper comes out later and give it a nice sweetness. Over time it mellows out and aquatic notes are not as sharp. More juniper coming out. I really like this blend! It does not go soapy or cologne on me. I never get a sweet pea smell. Keeper. Very happy this was the first BPAL aquatic note I tried and no regrets buying the bottle. Not something I'd wear everyday, I prefer incense scents. Unisex bordering on masculine, but not so masculine that I feel like a dude wearing it. I like the throw on this more than close to the skin smelling, the throw is a bit warmer, must be the frankincense, a note I always love. More frankincense as it fades, love it.
  5. Marla Moreau

    Anactoria

    2010 aged version. I was so lucky to find a bottle of this on Ebay and impulse buy before testing! Wet on skin to dry down: Mmmm.... very nice. Something in my nose is telling me I smell sharp blood, but it's in the background. The musk amps nicely on me, but is tamed by the amber and honey. Amber and honey are warming up... amber, honey, dragon's blood, and blood now. Loving this blood note! I can definitely tell it's there, getting that taste of metal in the back of my throat after I sniff my wrist. Good balance of sweet and musk, making neither overwhelming, and blood on top. All the notes blend beautifully on me, to the point it's hard to pick out individual notes. I still smell incense and blood, I can pick out the musk, and over time a slight dry note which I think is the kush. It feels like sitting in an old Arabian harem after "festivities" have already taken place, hookah is being smoked and incense is gently burning, the smell of blood and sweat in the air. Sweetness fades over time, musk and blood, sweetness and kush comes back. Mellows out over time, the notes still playing, more dry grassiness coming out now with deep complex musk close to the skin, juicy currents sweetened lightly by honey, incense (amber) and blood. Decent staying power. 2 hours later and it's still morphing, powdery incense, blood note is integrating Very unisex, very well blended, my skin loves all of these notes, definitely going in my favorites pile! Yum! ... a bit later and it's a sweet cigar. Just a sweet cigar, like taking a cigar out of the wrapping and smelling it. And it's amping, like WHOA, CIGAR. Hmm. That's odd... reevaluating.
  6. Marla Moreau

    Harvest Moon 2010

    In bottle: Not certain what the base is, but whatever it is I would take a shot of it if a drink that smelled like it if it was placed before me. Slight overtone of incense AKA potential? Maybe... uncertain. Definite apple and dry leaves. Wet on Skin: Rotting apple pieces with dry leaves, My roommate said that in the crook of my arm it smelled like potpourri, and on my wrist it smelled like something pleasantly unisex... I think wrist amped the nice incense notes and the crook of my arm amped the apple spice potpourri kind of thing. But neither to a clearly discernable degree of notes - not obvious. No complaints, just seeing where it goes. Dry Down: Something amps that's part of the base notes, the apple is more sweet and somehow that makes the blend smell more sour/unpleasant. I'm just getting potpourri... then it fades and I'm getting apple... blossoms? Slight white floral. But if I keep sniffing my skin it goes back to that potpourri smell with the apple and spice amping? Ends with a glade candle apple cinnamon scent, apple fades to faint warm apple pie in background, then cinnamon amps big time, which I like typically, but not so much here with conflicting notes. Fades extremely fast and very low throw, if not for the cinnamon amping. Faint aroma of warm milk and cinnamon smoke in the background, then nothing. Literally nothing at all an hour later, prolly less than - then black tea with orange incense aroma suddenly... I like this part, some chemical reaction, but so so faint. Verdict: Disappointed by the fading to the point I would literally bathe in this in hopes of it working on me. It's a very unique blend that I think would be great on someone whose body chemistry was different from mine or someone who likes very close to skin . The confusion only makes me wish it didn't just absorb into my skin more so I could leave a better review. I'm a little sad about this one, I wanted it to work. I'll try it again after a fresh shower, if it doesn't work, selling.
  7. Marla Moreau

    Mad Hatter

    Nope, not for me. Trying this made me learn that I amp mint like nobody's business. At least it was just an imp. In the bottle: Lavendar, Citrus, and Mint Wet on skin: MINT Dry down: MINT... smells exactly like mints you would buy at the checkout line at the grocery store, powdery mint (wintermint? peppermint?), I don't like it at all. Blegh. I smell like I've been trying way too hard to freshen my breath. Dry: Less intense mint, can smell a bit of lavender very briefly after a couple of hours, then it goes back to nothing but powdery mint. Never even detected a hint of musk, sadly. I can now add mint to my "oh hell no" list along with rose and other bright flowery notes. Apparently my skin also eats citrus, which is too bad - I would love for something citrus to work on me.
  8. Marla Moreau

    Black Orchid

    This is a review for Black Orchid Prototype 5 - unreleased version. In the bottle: a nice, mild, earthy scent with orchid, not too floral/overwhelming. I like it, though the orchid dominates the earthiness. Wet on skin: ugh, orchid amps right away, earthiness is gone gone gone... it's giving me a bit of a headache. Too much floral. I was hoping for more soil/earth/patchouli, but all I'm getting is headache inducing florals. Waiting to see if it morphs. It's been about 20 minutes, trying to stick through it, hoping the earthy scent amps. Dry down: not for me. bought in a lot on ebay along with a bottle of Nahemoth, which I love... this is way way too flowery and gives me a headache. There is a soapy aspect as well. It does mellow out eventually, but then it just ends up smelling like sugary flower candy with astringent and not as overwhelmingly floral, but am still not a fan. A couple hours later and I can smell the patchouli and I like it, very close to the skin, no throw. I like it a lot at this stage, don't love it, but it's finally where I thought it would be and acceptable - like orchids with dirt in the background - this lasts very briefly and then it's a powdery perfumey floral again, no thanks. I really was hoping the earthiness would be the more prominent note, but it's not. Smelling my wrists is still giving me a mild headache. Going to have to sell/trade this bottle. Edit: When looking at review pre purchase, I believe I thought what I was buying was v5 versus the unreleased v5. Live and learn... I wanted deep earthy patchouli. Unreleased v5 is, indeed, very watery and extremely floral dominated.
  9. Marla Moreau

    Nahemoth

    Edit: I *just* realized why I love this so much - it smells just like kyphi! I was lucky to find an almost full bottle on Ebay, I love this. It's dark and lovely. In the bottle: dry fruits and incense/resin, almost smells like a strong dry fruit liqueur... not sweet (yay), mixed about half and half with a strong incense. I love it! Really not sweet at all, a very unisex scent reminiscent of dark rituals. Not smoky, dry. Wet on skin: Smells like an apothecary - very herbal. The plum is a faint note and quickly gets overtaken by musk, becomes more wet. Dry down: The musk died down within 15 minutes, getting a lovely rich deep dark fruit in the background with incense and sweet woodiness. This is by no means foody or girly. The plum seems to come out to play a bit, like it's going from dried to ripe, surrounded by musky incense. A mild plum sweetness behind the more dominant notes. Faint plum mixes with incense and woods. It's a morpher - plum seems to fade and come back, fade and come back. Seems to get more herbal versus musky as it fades, also seems to get more spicy and complex. There must be patchouli in here too because it's a little earthy, which makes me love it more - and I also smell fig. Can't stop sniffing my wrists. Overall: Very happy. If you like scents that are "ritualistic" "complex" "dark" "occult shop" "herbal" and "incense" - you'll love this. The fruit was not at all prominent on me, just gave a twist to the undertone that calmed down the musk. Strong throw. Just for comparison - I typically hate scents reminiscent of strong perfume, sweet fruit/candy, florals, cologne, and overly masculine or feminine scents - and I'm SO happy with this. 5/5
  10. Marla Moreau

    The Scales of Deprivation

    For me, this is okay in the imp, but absolutely amazing on. I usually have a problem with vetiver, but it's interesting to observe how my skin amps and plays down other scents depending... in this one, the sandalwood took over completely at the end, and even 24 hours later I still smell like strong incense (a slightly powdery nag champa like scent) - vetiver nowhere to be seen... love it. I guess I amp sandalwood, which is good to know. In the imp - fresh sage and lemon, definite vetiver, vauge frankincense in the background, a "sharp" scent. I can't pick out the lavender or sandalwood. Wet on skin - light lemon and sage, layered over lavender, layered over incense in the background... no vetiver at all, scent instantly gets "darker". Drydown - Fresh herbal... freshly cut herbs with incense in the background... notes of specific herbs are less distinct but all mingle together nicely - clean and fresh while also dark with warmth creeping up behind it. Still no vetiver. Over time the herbs fade and get darker as the frankincense takes over - but it lasts for a while. For me, the sweet frankincense becomes prominent for a while, then finally the sandalwood amps and stays. I love this and definitely want a bottle... 5/5
  11. Marla Moreau

    Czernobog

    I really wanted this to work, it smelled so so good in the imp, but unfortunately turned into male aftershave/shaving cream/irish spring soap on my skin. Thanks, vetiver. At least now I know it's the vetiver that has that effect, I was suspecting it along with spanish moss and labdanum - but from trying other scents with the latter and not the former... nope, vetiver. Rundown: In the imp: Warm, musky, chaotic in the background, complex... I love it so much I just want to be surrounded with it for hours and breathe it in. Wet on skin: Starts to get mild almost right away... I start to smell rich dark myrrh and musk underneath. A little sweetness comes out. No vetiver. I love the combination of the musks and the myrrh. Incense with rich dark juicy red fruit. Like licking a still beating bleeding heart in the middle of a sacrificial ritual by a secret society in an old church in the middle of the woods at 3am (my visual)... very rich and ritualistic. Drydown: The richness fades into a light smoky incense as the ritual is complete, the church abandoned, and dawn breaks. Only vague hints of what happened remain, kicking up some of the incense essence when the initiates come to sweep in a cloud of sweet smoke billowing with citrus rind during and getting stronger after (love that) - there is a lemony note here. The chaos settles, there is a brief smell of rot. Then it pans to the secret society members taking showers, shaving, spraying on generic men's deodorant spray, forgetting about their experience, kissing their wife and kids, and going to their 9-5. The nice part lasted for about an hour to and hour and a half on me. I wish each morph lasted longer, except for the last part. But it definitely tells a story. Another imp designated to room spray/burning oil... or I may use it for brief meditations; even though it doesn't last very long, I do love the morph until the very end..
  12. Marla Moreau

    Masquerade

    In the bottle: Patchouli mixed with sharp yet vague citrus, and green/pine, hints of orange in the background. Overall "acrid" and strong, but also wet. I loooooved this in the bottle, so much, unlike almost everyone else. I love strong scents like patchouli, just wish it lasted longer. Wet on skin: Same as above, yay. Too bad it only lasts for a minute or so. Drydown: The strong patchouli quickly dissipates and it becomes a nice soft incense with orange blossom and what must be carnation in the background. It's pleasant, but more of a close to the skin scent, not much throw, but love the scent. Carnation might be the one floral I can handle besides very very dark violets.
  13. Marla Moreau

    Delirium

    In the frimp: apples, *strong* roses, slight hint of citrus in the background. The strong rose gave me a headache almost right away, I'm not a huge fan of rose scents. From the reviews I was hoping it would be more toned down by the lemon than it was. Wet on skin: apples and rose, mostly rose... still really not liking it. Bursts of apples, which is better, but mostly overwhelming rose. Dry down: not changing much, all powdery rose now... cloying and unpleasant. Old lady perfume. Rose just doesn't work on my skin... it explodes. Headachey now, going to wash it off.
  14. Marla Moreau

    Bruised Violet Compound

    Just got this in the mail, and I'm happy I bought a full bottle. In the bottle: *strong* violet and patchouli... very very "wet" smelling, the violet was overwhelming for me versus the patchouli Wet on skin: the patchouli and violet fight for dominance briefly and then settle into an order with the patchouli in the background fading, a little sweetness from the currant starts to come out. Drying Down: The sweetness of currant comes out more and plays with the violet, which becomes more dusty. I can definitely see this being a cellar with the floor covered in dusty trampled violets with the scent of wafting home made red currant preserves. Patchouli is in the background amping everything up. It's actually a little overwhelming in sweetness briefly and makes me dizzy if I keep smelling it. There is a surprise at the end when the patchouli comes back out as a prominent note and sits side by side with sweet yet tart violet. This is very calming and makes me feel like meditating in nature, by water where violets are growing, no longer sweet so much as tart and fresh. Like violets coming back to life outside. Triggers my body to relax and merges very nicely with my chemistry. The last note to come out strongly is the moss with the violet fading in the background, the fading violet prevents it from smelling too aftershave like and is definitely still there, but I can see where the aftershave comment came from. ...Oh no wait, I'm wrong. All of the above keeps playing as I walk around and keep sniffing. Patchouli comes back, then fades, sweet violets again. I love this! It keeps changing... Definitely a keeper, but use sparingly... it's strong. I was hoping for more of a soil note, but I love love love this. 4/5
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