Jilara

In the bottle, it's fresh-mown lawn. Wet, it amps up. It's now that bag of lawn trimmings, slightly wet and warm, after they've sat in the sun for an hour or two. Wow, overwhelmingly GRASS TRIMMINGS at this point. Drydown gets interesting, in that it goes aquatic. Um...the tang of salt spray? It's going all Jolly Roger on me! Wow, it's a grassy Jolly Roger! Seriously, add some green notes, and a distant memory of something vaguely warm and floral to Jolly Roger, and that's Blade of Grass at this stage. Dry, it's morphed again. The grass notes come up to the fore again, but with a warmth behind them, and the salt tang has dropped out. Strong grass, but with a slightly aquatic sweetness and a slight note of...hay? I think it's hay. I got a whiff of this note in Hay Moon. No leaves for me. It's grass and hay and sweet goodness. Definitely a keeper!

WOW! I put this on, and my housemate said "Whoah, it's candy apples in here! It's like the county fair!" This was from across the room. Now that's THROW! Interesting how everyone picks up apples, it seems, but there are no apples? The wet notes are all very fruity, with a bit of sweet spicing, but apparently it's something different from apples. I'm not complaining. Apple notes often go very bad on me, and this is divine! I pick up, as it dries down, something vegetal comes up in the background. I think of it as a basket of stuff out of the garden, warmed by the sun. It's nicely plummy in background, with a slight resinous touch. Dry...this is complex. There is a sweet resin with the plum-apple spice that's at the forefront. Knowing it's there, if I really sniff, I pick up a hinting of black cherry like a good black cherry soap. I don't get any identifiable herbal notes, despite the sage and fennel. The vegetal note has either dropped out or blended into something else, because it's definitely mutated into a lushly rounded fruit with just enough resin to keep it from being sweet. Fruits of the harvest. This is an AMAZING autumn scent, and an instant favorite!

I've been using a few drops of this straight, as a moisturizer, on areas of dry skin. It comes across with a nice tart fruitiness from the peach, then gets into a golden sort of overtone from the vanilla and amber, and the whole thing is like honeyed peaches with a golden afternoon glow. It does nice things for my skin, and the scent lingers all day long. My boyfriend says it makes me smell like a New Age shop. He means that in a good way.

By the pricking of my thumbs, something fruity this way comes! Wet, this is high and deep fruit with a dash of ginger. The redcurrant and blueberry harmonize nicely, and reenforce each other into something like a pie filling seasoned with ginger and vanilla. As it dries down, it goes a bit murky. I think it's the red musk note, but it's not the red musk I'm generally familiar with from other blends. It starts to smell warm and muddled, kitchen-in-baking-fruit-pies mode. The warming note might be the squash blossom, as those always smell sun-warmed to me. Dry...it's very familiar. Hmm, baked goods with blueberry filling... and then finally morphing into warm Blueberry Buckle babyfood, which is really very nice. It's a little weird and surreal, just like the description promises. The Blueberry Buckle babyfood was almost unexpected, which it shouldn't have been, given it's based off pregnancy dreams. But warm? Because it's definitely warm. Interesting, foody, and a real keeper!

On me, Sturgeon Moon is like a more intense version of Ebisu Making Love as Two Octopi Look On. In the bottle, I get something that almost makes me think of grapefruit, but with a more aquatic edge... Wet, the grapefruit quality is there for an instant, then drops out and is replaced by the cucumber note, with a floral background. Very, very green and refreshing. Drydown gets a note that is VERY similar to the nectarine in Ebisu. It's saltwater and cucumber and nectarine notes, and softly green. I don't get floral any more. Lasts very well, too. I liked Ebisu Making Love, but wow, this one I just LOVE!!

Al Azif Soap: An Arabic term that refers to both the chirping of nocturnal insects and the ambient sound made by the chattering of demons. This is the original title of the feared Necronomicon, the Book of Dead Names, penned by the Mad Arab, Abdul Alhazred. Water, Saponified Organic Palm Kernal Oil, Coconut Oil, Soy Oil, Fair Trade Organic Shea Oil, Sodium Lactate, Jojoba Oil, Castor Oil, Mysore Sandalwood Powder, and Al Azif.[/i] Wow, I'm the first to review Al Azif, the Soap! Pardon me while I squee a little, since Al Azif is one of my all-time favorite scents, and the soap is divine! This is the first of the soaps I've tried that seems extremely true to its oil counterpart. And WOW, it's very strong! Every time I wash my hands, it leaves them scented with Al Azif! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this soap! Despite the sandalwood powder, the scent it gives off is pretty much straight up Al Azif. Be warned, this dark brown bar is industrial soap. It has a lovely grittiness that must be from the aforementioned sandalwood powder. I had to check what it was, as it reminded me of some shower gel I had that contained walnut shell exfoliating agents. The extra cleaning power is really great for me, as I'm always coated in garden dirt, or grease, the black stuff that comes off the bottoms of dutch ovens that have been on the campfire, or the general dirt that comes from a weekend spent reenacting an earlier time period. It takes the grime off well, but is the usual easy-on-the-skin rich BPTP soap formulation that just feels rich and decadent on the skin. I don't mind the grittiness for everyday use, but be aware it IS gritty. But hey, it's demon soap: it should be a bit abrasive, right? All said, I think this is my favorite of the BPTP soaps so far. (Okay, I admit I haven't actually used the Snake Oil soap yet, just sniff it regularily.)

Wet: commercial perfume with a slight jolt of rootbeer. Drying down, it goes to musk with a slight hinting of wintergreen. Dry, it's all musk, with just a faint hint of forest. It reminds me a lot of Hunter's Moon, but has a bit more staying power on me than Hunter's Moon.

Wet: SEX! Marianne sidles up and rubs herself against your body. Hi, sexsexsexsex.... This is not the BPAL red musk I'm used to, and wow, that musk is...well, musky. With the red musk and black currant and patchouli, I was expecting something closer to Mme Moriarty, or maybe Midnight Kiss, but even dried down, Marianne is just all about sex. There's no fruit that I get here at all. I'm really looking for fruit or floral in this, but I get a sultry patchouli and almost smoky musk. She's sultry, she's warm and musky, and she wants to seduce you, NOW. Bedtime BPAL, not safe for work.

Wet, this is honey and lemon. Reminds me of those honey-lemon cough drops, but I mean that in a good way. The lemon seems to drop out as it dries down. There is a musky backnote that comes up and fills in the gap. This is so well blended that I can't really identify any notes except the honey, in the dry state. It's sweet and musky and delicious, but not in a foody way. Later note: oh crud, a few hours of wear, and it's gone weird on me. It's now honeyed dirty ashtray with a nutmeg chaser. Not good at all. Time to scrub it off.

Wet: hellooo Sen-sen! I had no idea you had a smell as well as a taste! Drying down: Oh, I see you brought your friend Soap along! And who's that? Lemon Pledge? Oh this is going to be just too unique. (Lemon Pledge takes off her coat.) Oh, you're Lemon Balm trying to masquerade as Lemon Pledge? That's a little more tolerable. Hope you stick around. But you really need to stop hanging around with Soap and Sen-sen. They're doing strange things to you. Dry: Soap decides to leave the party, having had Lemon Balm trade places with Pledge. Sen-sen is still hanging around, and now seems to be swapping drinks with Cardamom, leaving Lemon Balm in the background languishing. There is no sign of Hay, in any incarnation. Didn't get an invite, I guess. Honey might have breezed through, leaving only a vague memory along the way. The ultimate end result is spicy Sen-sen with a waft of lemon balm. Verdict: this is one strange party, and not really one for me. Actually, I could see putting this on a drier sheet, but not on me.

Opens imp and sniffs. That's weird, it smells like fruity rootbeer in here... Okay, let's try some of this on skin. Bakeneko sticks his furry little puss out and puffs a fireball. "Hi! Betcha I fooled you! Come play! We're having a cream soda party! I think we might even have a little of that great Strengthening Sassafrass stuff, if you're into tonics! But mostly it's cream soda. Slather some on and let's party!" "Um, I was told there was an imp in this bottle..." "Yep, there was. But imps don't hold their cream soda well, so I tricked him and got him to go off while I moved in and drank all his cream soda! I AM a trickster, after all! Mmm, we've also got some great cookies with lots of cinnamon. Here, have one! They go really well with cream soda!" So here I am, having a cinnamon cookie and cream soda party with Bakeneko. Not bad at all, actually. Kinda grows on you. After a while, you start thinking of how good a full bottle could be...

Oh, Instant Love! The same qualities that make me love Glowing Vulva and Sed Non Satiata seem to be immediately recognisable in Inez. Makes me think of one of my favorite poems, though the name is spelled slightly differently: "Oh saw ye not fair Ines? She's gone into the West, To dazzle when the sun is down And rob the world of rest. She took our daylight with her, The smiles that we loved best, With morning blushes on her cheeks And pearls upon her breast." Ahem, anyway, back to fair lady Inez...she is Dead Sexy! I put this on last night before bed, and it was an immediate hit with the boyfriend who was sniffing and saying "Okay, that's a new Black Phoenix, and I really like it!" Wet, the spiciness of the carnation and the red sandalwood seems at the forefront, with a crispness that might be the cedar. It's a very sweet cedar, if so, very nicely blended with the carnation and sandalwood. It's very sweet, but not quite honey. Drying down, the amber blooms out. Amber often goes "meh..." on me, so it's nice to have it be so noticable. The myrrh comes out later on drydown, as the cedar (if it is the cedar) crispness drops out. The sweetness is still a major player, like flowers in the dark. It stays spicy and woody for hours. Mmm, a sexy woman having a tryst in the warm darkness of a bower in the woods... After a few hours, she dries down to a soft sweet myrrh with a background of vanilla musk and very slight waft of sandalwood. Inez has shot straight to the top of my All-Time Favorites!

I had forgotten what was in this (except chocolate), so I am giving you a completely sniff-driven review, then seeing if I can see where it's coming from. In the bottle: CHOCOLATE! A very dark chocolate, much more intense than Bliss, but with a slight floral that makes me think of Vice. Wet: intense chocolate and a backnote of freshly-mowed lawn. For a couple minutes, I'm afraid I'm going to lose the chocolate to the lawn. Then the intense green grassy notes start to simmer down and the slight floral comes back. Drydown: the lawn starts to behave itself, and the chocolate comes back, with a hinting of El Dia de Reyes in the background, cocoa distinct from the dark chocolate. Waftings of light floral weave through. Dry: The chocolate is still here! A lot of BPAL chocolates vanish on me, including other 13s, but this has stayed, well-blended with a spicy hot cocoa, a herbal note, and a hinting of floral tea. Verdict: I like this 13! It's not a heavy chocolate, though it does seem to last. Notes: the floral I suspect is apple blossom and honeysuckle. It reminds me a lot of orange blossoms and orange flower water, which is one of the things that works so well in Vice. The spices must be what gives the El Dia de Reyes spicy cocoa quality in background. There is definitely something herbal not listed. The tea might be where some of the astringency comes from. I'm still trying to figure out the scent of fresh-mowed lawn.

Wet it's mint and ozone. There is something vaguely herbal in back that is probably the eucalyptus, but reminds me more of a local wild plant we call yerba buena. A friend describes this stage as reminding him of an old toaster warming up. Drydown brings out a caraway-like backnote and something metallic. Most of the mint and ozone morph out of here at this point. Dry, on me, it turns to herbs and caraway on a tin plate. Seriously. Then it starts to fade away. Verdict: I like the wet stage, but not the dry. Oh well, there are other Steamworks scents that work on me.

Yep, this is Stormhold! Wet, it's initially all about wet stone. As it dries down, this wonderfully charged ozone component starts to come out. This would also be a good scent for Dr. Frankenstein's castle! The ozone takes the forefront very quickly, and the mossy notes start to blend with the wet stone. This is really wonderful. It's every sinister castle on a mountain out of every old movie you can think of. Hmmm, yes, even Wicked Witches' castles... (Hmm, add a bit of Bonfire Night and you've got the castle of the Wicked Witch of the West...) This is very evocative. The sort of perfume to wear not only when you're settling in to watch Stardust, but also for an evening of old horror movies...

This is like a heavenly man's cologne. I find it intensely masculine, very leather and wood and pipe tobacco. It's sexy and compelling. A vague sweetness. No flowers. No real change over drydown. I gave a sniff to my housemate, and he went bonkers. He thinks it's one of the best men's scents ever. Neither one of us can visualize it on a woman. At least not on *this* woman.

Definitely evocative of night in the Olde South. However, it's all a bit much for me, with all the florals. I got decants of sampler sizes to try before committing, and I'm glad. I had thought this one would be a definite bottle purchase, but now Cathouse seems to be the least appealing of the collection. I can't fault it, but I'm just not into the overwhelmingly floral note in this one, especially since it's heavy on Evil Jasmine, and jasmine and I are old enemies, even if some of BPAL's blends with jasmine do work for me. One review mentioned it was "a little too sweet," and I find that accurate. I was hoping for the tobacco and vanilla and moss to be more of a presence and bring in a slightly more masculine quality. I'm sure if you're more into the sweet floral aspect, this one would be great.

Oranges, with a background of drier sheets! But the really good devine-smelling drier sheets, full of daisy-fresh scent. The orange is definitely more fruity and sweet, the marmalade, rather than the scent of fresh oranges. Very springie. This is definitely how a "room freshener" SHOULD smell! Lasts well, too.

Unfortunately, in my personal chemistry, Bruised Violet just goes "meh..." on me, and doesn't smell like much at all, let alone violets. Violet Ray is a nice light and "chilly" violet with a hinting of ozone. Quite nice, but doesn't seem to last too long.

Merlot, where are you? Have a drunk so much wine I no longer smell it? It's not the first time I haven't detected a wine note in a fragrance. That said, I am in love with this room scent! I sprayed it on the (suitably black) bedsheets, and it was like the aura of a very elegant tobacconist shop. How can it not have tobacco? I can smell a delicious rum-soaked tobacco predominating, with musky leather for backing. It is to swoon for! Interestingly comforting, too, for something called Dungeon. More making me think of a tweedy grandfather type, but a very elegant one, who probably smokes a carved meercham pipe.

In the bottle, it was almost a fruit rose, but then I sprayed it on the sofa cushion. When I first sniffed, I could smell only rose, like the old Coty Tea Rose perfume. But then the grass came out. Wow, what a blend. Tea rose and a grassy meadow, like rolling in grass and rose petals! My sofa cushions love it, and it scents the living room! This is SOOO good! The perfect springtime scent.

Yesyesyesyesyesyesyes!!! Why didn't I buy a bottle from the start? Wet, this is a creamy, dreamy bottle of the absolute best cream soda immaginable. You can see the frothy head in the glass sort of creamy quality to it! And then it amps up the vanilla and butter qualities even more, and gets something in the background I can't even identify, but it sure is GOOD. And finally, the sassafrass comes out to play. I was afraid I was going to get rootbeer, but it's definitely sassafrass, and just enough to lend intrigue and interest, rather than being a major player, letting the cream soda dominate the show while it adds a solid backing. Ohmigod this is good! I only wish real sodas (cream or otherwise) were this good.

So immaterial it's almost like wearing nothing at all... I had such hopes, and this was a vast disappointment. My skin apparently just eats this stuff. Wet, I get a hint of currant, and a vague waft of something that might be violet. Then it all disappears into dust. I am left with the smell of old dust, and nothing more. Not even interesting dust, just sort of that quality like an old attic that never contained much of anything to begin with. Waah, it sounded so promising I bought a bottle, and now it has forsaken me! It's not fair!

Cold violets. Violets under snow. I was expecting something closer to Darkling Thrush, with its chilly violet notes, so I'm not entirely sure how to characterize this. The violet in Darkling Thrush is warmer, somehow, while Violet Ray is chilly and etherial, as if it's a wisp of violet mist on a winter wind. It starts out sweetish with a hint of mintiness, but as it dries down, the mint and ozone qualities really come out behind the violet. The lilac is a vague floral background that never fully manifests, just lending background to the chill violet concoction. Sandalwood? Don't get it. Purple musk? No. A vague waft of ylang-ylang, that I almost mistook for jasmine when it was wet. Unfortunately, it doesn't last for more than an hour---zap and it's gone.

TRAINS!! It smells like a steam train! But the most polished and well-oiled steam train ever. It goes on wet with a smell of lubricating oil, then a bronze fitting smell comes out, and it becomes all about hot bronze with fascinating oils and polishes as it dries. It also has a slight undertone of brass and cannons just fired. But the overall impression is definitely that of a train engine.