wolfie13

In the bottle: Smells like bay rum Wearing: Still smells like bay rum, with the addition of an ozoney note (the "sea air", I suppose, though it's always more dryer sheet on me than not) and a touch of wood and a touch of a floral I can't quite pin down. This is reminiscent of Jolly Roger ("bay rum and salty, dry woods"), sans the leather, with the addition of a smidge of lavender maybe? But here's the interesting thing: while Jolly Roger was horrible on me, and the "sea" note here STILL never smells like the lovely salty sea air that everyone else seems to get, that note is much mellower than in it is in JR (where it was fake-perfumey-ocean-hell) And the wood note comes out, but this note, too, is softer than in JR (which had a creosote-like quality on me). And the "touch of perfume" that scared me in the description, is actually a nice addition. I like the complexity. In conclusion: I actually really like this. I will keep the imp and will likely put this on the bottle contemplation list.

In the bottle: Almond with an aquatic tinge. Wearing: Almond initially, but that fades away quickly. There is a nice intermediate phase where i get a little spice, a little floral and a little incense - a bit like Morocco with an added touch of floral presence. After about 20 minutes: Unfortunately the lily takes a more prominent stance, and a soapy lily at that. Still a little spice and incense in the background. But overall it's nice and light - I could see this as a lighter day-wear incense scent for those who wear the floral aspect well.

I would second Malediction! And also add the following that I would consider "dark" with varying shades of sinister....... Djinn Brimstone Umbra Saturn Typhon Czernobog Black Annis Gomorrah Schwarzer Mond Iago Sloth

In the bottle and wearing: I can smell each of the notes in this when I think about it, but the overall impression? It's that old house smell! Which I love when I enter an old house but I don't necessarily want to smell like. It's kind of spooky, dusty, musty. Old earth and wood. In the late drydown, it's a little softer and sweeter, but remains more or less the same throughtout wearing. I have too many other scents in this genre that I like better for wearing. Though this would be awesome in an oil-burner around Halloween!

This one is very interesting - and it IS quite changeable, perfect for a shapeshifter scent. In the bottle: It smells dark green - herbal and woody combined, with a touch of ginger. I like! Wearing: Smells like the bottle smell for a bit. Then the black musk starts coming through. This goes through a long-ish phase where it smells quite a bit like Count Dracula without the cloves. (The notes they share: Patchouli, ginger, wood, black musk, must be ones that my skin prefers.) However, the cloves (and leather) are what make Count Dracula for me so I'm feeling pretty meh at this point. CD without the pizazz. Then it gets a bit greener again - and yes, a bit powdery, - but in an interesting way- it's starting to smell very occult shop/magickal to me now. The final phase is lightest and mostly incense - getting a lot of the opoponax and frankincense at this point. This is not really reminscent of Schwarzer Mond on me at all - that one was much deeper and heavier and unchanging (and on me, at least, had a very "off" note) I'd be very curious to see what this would age like - I may end up keeping it to find out. ETA: Eh - I wore it again a couple more times, and it just always ended up a musky green-herbal. Not dark or resinous at all. And certainly not monstrous or bloodthirsty. Sigh. It went off to the swaps.

In the bottle: Piney and cold. Promising. Wearing: Sigh. This behaves on me pretty much like all of the lab's snow blends. I get a lovely cold forest for about a minute, and then everything goes super sweet on me in a fruitish-sweet floral way. The drydown is a sweet berry-ish scent, tonka (which I'm starting to realize is a note that can be really bad on me in abundance) and a touch of evergreen. For comparison's sake it smells like Snow Moon/Snow Bunny initially and the drydown is very reminiscent of Yew-Trees, actually (which I loved until the berry and tonka took over) It's better than last year's (which was an aquatic/heady floral nightmare on me) but still not a keeper. My moon hates me! Disclaimer: This is all clearly due to my wacko chemistry - I would defy you to tell the difference on my skin between any of the "snow" blends. It's downright bizarre.

So glad to finally try this one and it's the winner of my latest order so far. I never went near it previously as there were so many "smells like maple syrup" references - something I definitely do not want to smell like. Just goes to show you how different people's noses and chemistries are - this is gorgeous on me. Yup - it's incense and resin. But it's not overally "sweet" on me as it appears to be on others - which is odd as my chemistry tends to make EVERYTHING sweet. What I smell immediately as the dominant note is oppoponax - which I love! In fact this smells nearly identical to one of my favorite non-Bpal blends - Ava Luxe Oppoponax Intense. The main notes in that are opoponax, amber and benzoin (two notes that could be lending the "sweetness" some folks get). Frankincense in there as well. This makes me very happy, as I'd much rather buy Bpal One thing that is suprising, given it's such an intense scent - is that this one does seem to fade rather quickly me on me. The scent remains the same throughout - just gets lighter and lighter over the course of 2-4 hours or so........... But I love the light whiff of the remnants I get just as well. For reference, I'd put this in the same category as Aureus and Cathedral (two other faves. But different enough to warrant a purchase. Aureus is a top fave and that is warm golden incense/resin and this is dark, slightly smoky, slightly sweet incense/resin.) (ETA: I'm off to search for a bottle - this has officially jumped into the Top 10.)

This is largely the same on me in the imp and wearing - I really just get the lab's slushy snow note - which usually reads as an aquatic and floral on me. Being as aquatics and florals are usually a bummer on me, this is a bad thing. It's my chemistry though - most of the winter and snow blends all end up smelling the same on me and doing the same thing - turning into a rather loud, sweet aquatic, floral. As this dries down I do get some amber wafting around, but it's just not enough to convert me (and instead makes me long for the only amber/floral that has ever worked on me - Bruja. But I digress.) I'm just not lucking out much with the yules this year - it's the winter of my discontent.

In the bottle: Cool aquatic, with a touch of mint, a touch of the violet from Numb, a teeny bit of vanilla Wearing: The same at first - and I rather like it. Though the aquatic and floral elements shortly take over on me as usual, and I begin to rather dislike it. Drydown: Is much softer - it sort of goes back to all the inital notes, but more blended and lighter overall and a bit more of the vanilla. I actually quite like it at this point but it takes me a couple hours to get there, so I probably won't be investing in a bottle. I can see this as a more watery and less sweet cousin to Snow White - but that one had a plasticky aspect that disagreed with me. So if you had the same experience, but still want a scent in the same family, maybe try this one!

In the bottle: A bit of the "snow" scent, some pine and a bit of almond. Nice. Wearing: Well, the pine pretty much takes over on me, with a bit of almond lurking in the background, and a touch of floral that I sometimes get with the snow scents (though not overbearing like some.) sweetening up the whole thing Verdict: It's okay. For pine and almond I just love The Organ Grinder - it's a bit less pine, a bit more almond sweetness, with a touch of smoke where here there's that touch of flowers here, which just ruins it for me. Once again - if might be nice an oil burner if it retains the bottle scent.

First sniff: Yes as others have said, it's the cold, snowy, forest scent with a gentle waft of baked goods in the background Wearing: The same initially, but then the baked goods retreat never to return on me. Then it strangely smells a bit burnt. It's burnt pine at this point. Next this gets very loud and floral and sweet (the sweetness reading almost as pineapple on me for some reason.) Overall: Yikes. Not good. (But keep in mind it's likely my wacko chemistry. Most of the snow/cold/forest scents go floral and/or sweet on me. There is a note or combination of notes that does me in nearly every time.) However, this might be nice in an oil burner if it gave off the in-the-bottle scent.

Initial sniff - a little cakey, a little fruity, a little leafy Wearing: At first I get a lot of a slightly buttery cake with a touch of wine(reminiscent of Cockaigne) and grapes. It blends and mellows over a fairly short amount of time - I get the same notes but much less intense, joined by a light touch of frankincense and myrhh. It's very nice - and I also must say that this is what I was imagining All Souls would be like (but that one turned to rose incense on me). It's still a bit too foodie for me for it to be bottle-worthy, but it is interesting and glad to have tried it

In the bottle: Green! A little bit evergreen, a little bit herbal green. Wearing: Yet another sabbat oil that is just so evocative. At first a whoosh of evergreen and mistletoe - the Holly King! Then just moments later - the Oak King takes over - lots of light bright, lemony verbena and frankincense. Lovely.

In the bottle: I love it at this point - it smells dark and cold (without being a "snow" scent) - really getting lots of balsam and myrhh at this point and a tiny touch of orange, a wisp of smoke. Wearing: Uh-oh. I'm not gonna lie, people. The "rosey" aspect of the rosewood skyrockets ahead and takes over for a while. And the throw is quite loud and "rosey" too. Cry. After about 30 minutes: Okay, okay - the rose has calmed down quite a bit - overall the scent has taken a woody, smoky incense turn. And clove. Getting very clovey. (But my skin does amp that one, so you may get less). This reminds me of a cross between something like Harlot (the only rose scent i wore and liked) and Rose Cross. And cloves. I'm undecided on this one! At first I was like no way, but now I'm all - wait, maybe I love it! ETA: Soft spicy rose on the drydown. Ultimately not a standout on me.

In the bottle: chocolate and vanilla and a little bit of orange - almost cakey scent. Wearing: The same for a few minutes, and then it does become rather choco-floralish for awhile when I get a lot of the tea and lavender. A bit later, sandalwood pops out and mellows and blends things quite a bit. After 30 minutes or so: Still pretty chocolatey on me, with vanilla second, and a touch of the flower/tea/wood etc combined as the "third" note. The orange mostly disappeared on me, and I don't get specifics on other notes listed. This is interesting. It's actually what I thought Dia De Los Muertos 2005 would smell like when I got it at that time (however that one ended up being all floral tobacco on me.) In the end though, it's still too much on the chocolate for me. (Never a note that I like, so that's no surprise on my end - I just had to try, though!) I think that fans of the chocolatey versions of Dia, the other 13 and Velvet will be interested!

I have to agree most exactly with the post above! At first: Wintergreen, no doubt about it. And it is quite strong and bracing! I like all "mint" scents but this is striking more as a room scent than a wearer at this early stage (it smells a lot like a mint and woods room spray I had at one point) But have no fear - you do have to wait a bit, but only about 20 minutes, the wintergreen softens quite a bit and becomes more just a breath of cool air and the blend as a whole sweetens up a bit. As Springheel said "a sweet-minty-mossy blend with the tiniest of florals" Post-wintergreen blast, the drydown is very reminiscent of Snow Bunny on me. And Snow Moon as well. So if you missed out on those two, you might try this.

I ordered this with reservations. Because I REALLY wanted a scent called Count Dracula. And because I love most of the notes. But one of my evil nemeses resides in this blend. Leather. I love the lab's various leather notes - so rich and realistic! But they almost always become COMPLETELY one note on me. And here is the review: In the bottle: My god it's fantastic but not in the way that i thought it would smell. I get mostly ginger, neroli, sandalwood and some black musk perhaps. Wearing: It changes substantially and quickly, from a sharper and brighter spicy-floral-citrus-woody cologne-ish scent to something much darker and warmer. The cinnamon and clove jump right out to the forefront. And yes, the LEATHER. Now it's mostly - and remains - clove and leather. I'm sure the other elements are there filling in the gaps, and I do get a whiff every once in a while, but who's to argue with clove and leather? As lookinglass stated above - "Heavy clove...dark, like clove cigarette smoke wafting from the sexiest goth man in leather ". Exactly. (Which puts me in mind of a time some years ago..... in New Orleans it was... and leaving a goth club, with a sexy goth man - who was wearing leather. And smoking clove cigarettes. And bore a striking resemblance to Spike. Enough said.)

Sigh. I SO wish this had turned out on me as it has on others. Who wouldn't want to answer "Carfax Abbey" when asked what scent you are wearing?? However, here we go. First off, it's a lot lighter overall on me than I would have imagined. Yes, it's very nice in a "dry, dusty woods" way initially. I must say that I don't get much "incense" at all from this at this point or any other. But while this doesn't go floral on me, it does get very green! Shockingly so! I must be amping the heck out of whatever the "thin dusty herbs" are. And in fact they are not thin and dusty at all, initially, but quite grassy! The later drydown provides a more dusty green. But still the overwhelming note! I imagine that this will be a lot more like others have mentioned for most folks - but I figure in case anybody else shares my odd chemistry, you will know you are not alone!

In the imp: Mmmmmmmm - polished wood. Wearing: The rose comes out. I agree with whoever said it is a "green" rose - I smell a nice true rose with the addition of the leaves and stems perhaps. The strength of the the teak keeps this from becoming truly "floral". Late drydown: This goes through a bit of a soapy phase on me as some roses are wont to do, but not in a major way (and it's a nice expensive soap). Then the rose gets a bit powdery and softer as does the wood. It ends up smelling like when I open the drawers of my antique dresser in which my vintage clothes are stored. Verdict: I like it, it's interesting and well-crafted but I won't be needing a bottle. (I think my favorite "polished wood" scents are still Red Queen and Shadow - I guess I prefer my wood with fruit instead of flowers!)

In the imp: This smells luscious! Drinkable fruity, spicy red musk. Wearing: This becomes a pretty equal blend of the three notes my skin amps the hell out of - Dragon's Blood, Cassia and Red Musk. Later Drydown: The Cassia actually fades quite a bit. It's all DB and musk with a touch of smoke. I like blends with touches of each of these elements - but somehow the combo isn't right on me - too heady, too this, too that. (I would put this in the Red Phoenix, Blood Moon family as well - though it is not identical to either, of course.)

Discipline - Crystallization - Control - Constriction - Banishing - Destruction - Sowing discord - Death - Reverence - Endurance Wow. I really like this. Being a Capricorn and reading what folks have guessed some notes to be, I figured I'd be predisposed to do so, of course. But then I've thought that before and been wrong! (hello Schwarzer Mond) Okay, so I don't have much that's different from other folks reviews - yes, yes dark, woody, smoky and a touch spicy somehow. Its a bit sharp in the bottle and upon initial application but it becomes warmer and mellower quickly. As far as the actual notes - I seem to get Patchouli and Vetiver (for the earthy part) and Myrrh for the smoky resiny aspect. There is something lending a woody note that is cedar-ish but-not-quite here - a bit more piney - maybe its a different type of Cedar oil? I don't get any civet, but perhaps a touch of musk as others mentioned. I never get anything "sweet" from this, but I do get the softening just shy of sweet that I get with musk in most blends, especially some of the TAL I have. I actually got this to aid in the, ahem, bad habits and discipline (lack thereof) areas of my life, and consider it a bonus that I like the scent as well! (A relative of some of my other faves like Umbra, Penitence, Aureus.)

My review is nearly identical to the one above! In the bottle: Delicious dark cherry! (must be the cherry and cassis (black currant) combo) Wearing: Oh no! The cherry never really disappears but definitely fades to the background and this becomes a sharp scent - all verbena and cardamom on me! And disappointing! I had high hopes for this one - hopes involving the dark, rich, spicy cherry that others seem to get. (PS - I get the reddened skin reaction - which i had with Whippoorwill also - from the cardamom)

In the bottle: Mmmm, piney, with a bit of the scent of the forest floor thrown in. Wearing: This is just so lovely on me - at first. It really does smell like a summer walk through the pines in Jersey. But nooooo, the cranberry starts to come out and just takes over on me. I just end up with way too much of the "berry" aspect for my taste.

Almond milk, sarsaparilla, tobacco smoke, black patchouli and white pine bark. In the bottle: Almond Milk and Pine Wearing: Hmmm. This is so unusual, really. I get the same sweet almond milk (and it really does smell like a lighter more creamy variety than the straight-up almond in other BPAL) mixed about 50-50 with the pine scent and just a touch of sarsparilla. As it dries down I get some of the smokiness and it kind of takes the edge off the "loudness" of the other two strong notes. I do find myself wishing I got a bit more smoke and patchouli from this. (Though the close-up sniff reveals more of these elements.) It's really quite unique. The only Bpal that would be at all similar would be Tombstone. But it's Tombstone with almond milk substituted for the vanilla and a smokiness added. I had great hopes for Tombstone and it's unique components, but my skin really amped the sweet vanilla too much on me. The sweetness is more toned down in this, making it not quite foody, not quite foresty - it's hard to explain! Full disclosure: I just couldn't quite figure this one out initially and put it up for swaps right away. However, it's sitting here in my desk cabinet and I keep "testing" it and am finding it strangely unique and addictive. I'm going to go remove it from the list now! ETA: Still wearing this and actually loving it more all the time! And am continually amused by all the haters down-thread. Maybe I should base my purchases on "most universally disliked" BPALs. With a few excptions, these seem to be the ones that work most often for me!

Sheer musk, cedar smoke, fir needle, black amber and leather. In the bottle: This smelled amazing - like it would be my perfect dream scent. Evergreen, amber and a touch of leather. Wearing: Oh dear. Immediatelly upon application, this turned into a medicinal leather scent that stayed exactly the same way the entire time. My skin amps leather like crazy and this one is no exception. Unfortunately, nothing comes out on me to sweeten or soften the blow.