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KezzieZ

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Everything posted by KezzieZ

  1. KezzieZ

    From Whose Eyes As They Glance Flowed Love

    I’m not particularly in the mood to make an especially in-depth review, but this is still one I have to say something about. I smelled this and my brain said Lush’s Rose Jam right away. It’s not a perfect match, I’m sure, but that’s still what I think when I smell this- despite no lemon note. This one is definitely really good, and my favorite of the perfumes I tried from this particular release (I also tried out Entwined with Swarming Snakes and Precious Beauty). If anyone’s curious on “most throw” out of the bunch, it’s probably Precious Beauty. This perfume mostly smells sweet and a bit floral (definitely specifically rose). The sugar doesn’t tend to smell specifically “spun sugar” most of the time, aside from one time I walked inside a building after being in the heat and sun for a few minutes. I think that some of the other notes help to pull back the sugary aspect a bit to keep it from going full cotton candy most of the time, which I’m perfectly fine with.
  2. KezzieZ

    Looking for a BPAL that Resembles a Favorite Perfume

    I remember kind of liking this one Geek Chic Cosmetics perfume called Witch of the Wilds (yes, it was a Dragon Age one). Finding info on it is kind of difficult, but the notes list I found (not sure if it’s the full list or partial) said: Nag champa, blackberry, oakmoss, amber, vanilla, violet, clove, and fire & smoke.
  3. KezzieZ

    Looking for a BPAL that Resembles a Favorite Perfume

    I’m looking for a dupe of a difficult to find perfume my grandma likes called Heaven Sent. Going to do some researching of my own on the listings in the shop, but I thought it may be helpful to get people’s takes over here as well, since I feel like someone may have a good idea of some interesting picks to check. Top Notes: orange blossom, mandarin orange, and bergamot Mid Notes: rose, jasmine, and lily of the valley Bottom Notes: musk, oakmoss, sandalwood, and patchouli Thanks ahead of time for any potential recs!
  4. KezzieZ

    Ghost Music

    Gloomy and bare the organ-loft, Bent-backed and blind the organist. From rafters looming shadowy, From the pipes tuneful company, Drifted together drowsily, Innumerable, formless, dim, The ghosts of long-dead melodies, Of anthems, stately, thunderous, Of Kyries shrill and tremulous: In melancholy drowsy-sweet They huddled there in harmony. Like bats at noontide rafter-hung. Robert Graves Sheets of white musk and lavender curling around a melancholy song of violet root, iris, neroli, and honeysuckle. This is a fresh and unsettled bottle from my Halloweenies order, so take this all with a grain of salt. In the Bottle: It smells powdery and sweet in a way that feels reminiscent to a frimp I tried of Jailbait. Maybe the musk and honeysuckle? I think I also smell elements of the violet root and lavender, but Ill admit Im not the best at picking out notes. Wet on Skin: Im not sure how to describe this. The smell sort of reminds me of ozone. Its a clean, borderline soapy smell. Theres a very light, sort of citrus scent that I think is the neroli. Later: Im smelling more of the floral stuff again. Definitely the honeysuckle so far, though not nearly as strong as the Single Note Wild Honeysuckle. I think I still smell the neroli and maybe some lavender. I assume the earthiness Im beginning to pick up is the violet root. Im not sure what iris smells like, to be honest. Id say this scent fits the melancholy mood it should have. It smells like a very clean, slightly sweet ghost to me. Im not sure how to feel about it otherwise. Its not a bad Halloweenie, though Im not certain that its one that speaks to me all that much. If youre looking for a more subtle and feminine spoopy scent, this could be worth a shot.
  5. KezzieZ

    Schönperchten

    In the Bottle: This smells cold in a distinctly minty way to me, mostly. I think the snow may be amping the mint in the bottle. Wet: Still gotten some strong mint going on, though I can definitely smell the lavender as well. It's a little harder to catch some of the notes, but I figure they're keeping this a bit more reined in. About an Hour Later: It's definitely gotten lighter now, a little less herbal and cold but it smells powdery and soft. I'm starting to smell something sweet and I think it's the vanilla and amber. In general, it smells fairly clean. If it always wears like this, I may need to try it out in a scent locket to see if it lasts longer that way. It's certainly not bad, though in its fresh state, I'm not feeling getting a second bottle. This may be worth a shot, especially if lavender and mint are your thing, since it starts off so strong in the beginning.
  6. KezzieZ

    What BPAL would this fictional character wear?

    I'm not sure anyone else on here is in the same brand of nerdery, but I think it could be fun to hear if anyone has any particular Homestuck/Hiveswap ideas.
  7. KezzieZ

    What BPAL would this fictional character wear?

    That sounds really nice! I’m half surprised I hadn’t checked out the reviews here in the forum. Might look into that a little more later.
  8. KezzieZ

    What BPAL would this fictional character wear?

    Sure thing! Here’s some ideas of various sorts: GC/Currently Available: Midnight- Whip (black leather and damp red rose) Nuff said, though something from the Somnium category could also be good, if a little on the nose. Kyoka- Little Sister is Watching You (electric, aldehydic cherry blossom) It’s mostly stuff like the “voice in the air” description that made me think of her for this. Haven’t tried it, so I don’t know how it differs from other cherry blossom stuff. Froppy- Plague of Frogs (rubbery, wet, and warty) This one’s mostly a joke, especially since I have no idea what it would smell like. Bakugou- Streets of Detroit (black musk accord, Ethiopian myrrh, and motor oil) Haven’t tried it, but people love it and it sounds a tad edgy. Deku- Druid (a woolen robe infused with the scent of a vast, primordial forest: ancient trees, fertile soil, wild herbs, spring grasses, and burgundy pitch incense) I guess it’s the green hair, but I think of something cozy and forest-y. Kaminari- Lightning (lightning slashing the midnight skies over the endless reaches of the ocean. The electric tang of ozone, marine notes, and a drop of sharp rain) Another one I’m mostly suggesting out of theme, especially since it’s another I haven’t tried. Charity (also still available, I think): Todoroki- Fuck this Heat (slivers of ice to cool things down, lavender and hops flower to soothe the nerves) Partially a joke, but he’d probably like a cool and refreshing scent anyway. All Might- Spiced Rum Buttercream Coffee (coffee and rum laced with allspice, nutmeg, clove, star anise, cardamom, and cinnamon gently whipped into buttercream) I don’t know why I think he’d like it, but it smells great. Plus, hey, the proceeds go to good stuff. Shunga Lupercalias: Momo- Courtesan with Secret Lover (green tea, plum blossom, white musk, jasmine blossom honey, and lemon peel) It smells very proper to me. Uravity- A View of Cascading Cherry Blossoms (cherry blossoms, white musk, and crushed strawberries) Another sweet and relatively simple one. It matches well with the Kamisuki hair gloss (cherry blossoms, white tea, vanilla orchid, and a drop of strawberry). Iida- Hoîru (bourbon vanilla and suede leather, tonka and patchouli, pale amber and blackened tea leaf, coconut husk and cashmere) It sounds proper and kind of fancy. I have a bottle, but I’m still getting used to it so it’s tough for me to pin it down. Couldn’t think of as many actually unavailable ones that I think suit different characters but, unless I’ve said otherwise, I’ve at least tried all of these.
  9. KezzieZ

    What BPAL would this fictional character wear?

    I haven’t tried this one, but Bayou sounds like a good thematic match for Froppy. Sadly, most of the stuff I have so far are limited editions or seasonal, so I feel like a lot of my suggestions based on stuff I’ve tried will lead to disappointment. Even so, I could imagine Uravity going for something simple, sweet, and summery, so I might lean Single Note: Wild Honeysuckle for her.
  10. KezzieZ

    Recs for my next order- sweet and spiced?

    Sadly, some of the stuff I’d like to recommend, like Smut and Pumpkin Sugar, aren’t available for the time being. I definitely second Spiced Rum Buttercream Coffee because it smells DELICIOUS as well as The Eternal Queen since that’s very floral. I’d say my most confident rec that I haven’t seen is Lady Una (honey musk, green tea leaf, blackberry leaf, vanilla bean, and fae spices). I wouldn’t say the spices are all that strong, but the honey musk certainly is. I have a suspicion that I tend to amp honey notes, though. It’s not super spiced, but I’m trying out Xanthe the Weeping Clown from the Carnaval Diabolique line and it’s pretty sweet (plenty of guava and spun sugar in particular, though it also has white pepper and apple blossom in it). Also, I’m glad you like Kitsune-Tsuki! That’s one of the few full-sized GCs I have at the moment.
  11. KezzieZ

    All Hallows Chaos: Samhain Hair Gloss

    #12 Part of this may be hopeful wishing on my part, but I smell something that smells like the sugared musks of Smut. When I had mentioned buying this hair gloss in these forums, Puddin’ had mentioned he recently mixed some up with Smut 2006 in it and I think that may just be what I got. I love it!
  12. KezzieZ

    The Storm

    I’m just going to do a short review since I’ve had this one on for a little while and it doesn’t seem to particularly morph or anything. This is a new bottle, so it could change as it settles anyway. On me, this smells basically how it ‘s described: There’s a berry smell with a floral and salt grounding it. Besides that, there might be some ozone in the background. Before I tried this, I was beginning to worry that maybe The Storm would be too much (maybe the salt amping much or the blackberry being heavy and syrupy, but neither happened). It sort of reminds me of 51 and I think it would be nice in the summer, since the seaspray element gives a beachy feel and it’s kind of a lighter scent. I’m mentally debating ordering a spare bottle.
  13. KezzieZ

    Dead Leaves and Vanilla Incense

    This is fresh and unsettled (I got a bunch of Halloweenies this year), so this is subject to change. In the Bottle: Dead leaves, definitely. It smells super bitter to me in the bottle. Wet on Skin: Still bitter dead leaves. It sort of reminds me of bell peppers, which isn’t exactly a compliment from me. I think I can smell incense in the background. This has some throw to it, too. It smells nicer from a distance, but part of that is that I’m trying an imp of The Lights of Men’s Lives on my other arm and that oil is vanilla beeswax candle goodness. Later: I feel like the dead leaves are calming slightly, thank goodness. I smell more incense now and I think maybe a subtle smoke note along with it. The incense smells a little more generic overall than specifically vanilla, but there may be a hint. I think I’ll see what aging does for this. That bitterness at the beginning isn’t the vibe I was hoping for, though this is the first Dead Leaves scent I’ve ever tried, so it was technically a gamble.
  14. KezzieZ

    All Hallows Chaos: Samhain

    #3 Im trying this fresh and unsettled, just like Samhain earlier, so this stuff could be somewhat subject to change. In the Bottle: This definitely smells more like a dark red fruit version of Samhain. Its less bitter maple syrup than the regular smells in the bottle to me (at least, judging from the first sniff I had of Samhain in the bottle). Wet on Skin: I think the other #3 review is on to something with the red musk theory. This smells familiar to me, but its difficult to place without the frame of reference a notes list would give. Samhain is pretty far in the background at first, making this version a tad gentler from my perspective. Later: The bonfire vibe I have from Samhain feels both lighter and more accurate in this version. Samhain in general is becoming more apparent now. The red musk or whatever it is keeps things a little sweetened and amplifies the apple and mulled wine. The spices are still present, too. This may be fading more to the soft bonfire scent or could be a bit of a morpher. Overall, I like this blend. It softens Samhains harsher edges, though Im sure thats not what everyone would want from a Samhain blend. The stage its in at the exact moment makes me worry that it could soften a bit too much, but I do sense some throw and stuff. Ill see how it goes in future testing. EDIT: Fixed a typo and the apostrophes disappeared again. Thats pretty weird.
  15. KezzieZ

    Samhain

    Truly the scent of autumn itself -- damp woods, fir needle, and black patchouli with the gentlest touches of warm pumpkin, clove, nutmeg, allspice, sweet red apple and mullein. 2018 Version This is my first time trying Samhain and its a fresh and unsettled bottle, so Im sure this will be VERY subject to change. Ill probably update this with a follow-up in a week or so to get a slightly better impression. Also, I have a bottle of the All Hallows Chaos version (#3) that Ill test later on. In the Bottle: It smelled almost like slightly burnt maple syrup or something. I felt the scent was beginning to change, but I wasnt willing to sit around and huff the bottle to puzzle it out. Wet on Skin: It smells sort of like a bitter bonfire when I put it on. I think that must mostly be the black patchouli and maybe the damp woods? Drying: Fortunately, this has been settling down as I wear it. Theres still a bitter and smoky aspect to the scent, but its more in the background than it was before. I smell warm apple and spices, as well as a hint of booziness; presumably the mulled wine, though its all giving me some sort of alcoholic spiced cider vibe. I think I smell a little bit of pumpkin in there, but its not really a major player to my nose. I think Im picking up more on the fir as well. Essentially, it smells like drinking apple cider at a bonfire near some woods. Its a pretty good scent so far, when I dont mind something that has a slightly bitter edge to it. Ive seen this perfume described as smelling like an evil, sexy thing and I think I can understand that vibe. If youre looking for something gothy or autumnal, then this seems worth a shot. EDIT: For some reason, all of the apostrophes and quotation marks disappeared from my post? Dont know why.
  16. KezzieZ

    How do you apply your BPAL oils?

    I typically just buy a mess of wand caps and put those in my bottles. Right now, I’m waiting on a BPAL order with some so that I can better test my bottle of Lilith Poundcake (as well as the stuff coming in with the wand cap order itself).
  17. KezzieZ

    Druid

    This one was an imp that I got from an order a little while back. I’ll admit, the notes had me a bit shy to try it. Whole I didn’t expect it to be bad or anything, I’m just not a personal fan of some of the listed notes and I’ve never played a druid before. Still, it doesn’t hurt to try. In the Imp: It smells like an old forest with some sharp, citrusy smell. Wet on Skin: I definitely smell the forest: trees, soil, and cut gress. To be honest, I find those sorts of smells a bit stifling, but it definitely does its job of having the proper atmosphere. The citrusy note seems to back off pretty quickly, or maybe settles more into another tree scent. Dry: it’s very faint now. I mostly smell fuzzy wool with a small, underlying sweetness. It makes me thibk of a cozy scarf or sweater. I feel like there’s still something green or earthy there, but it’s super light and I can’t catch an exact beat on it. Some of the sweetness might actually be from some Pumpkin Sugar I wore yesterday that I had bought on the previous year. I’m kind of interested to see how this might do in a scent locket, especially since I don’t feel this one will last all that much longer.. While dirt and grass in particular feel stifling to my nose, I’m still curious because this does smell properly atmospheric for the druid class, which is cool, even if I’ve never personally played one.
  18. KezzieZ

    Spiced Rum Buttercream Coffee

    In Bottle: I swear, in the bottle, this perfume smells like a tea blend I really like (Mycroft by Cara McGee on Adagio's website). I definitely smelled the spices (cinnamon and cloves in particular, though certainly others I can't accurately identify on my own) as well as the coffee. The buttercream and maybe the rum give it an almost chocolatey sweetness, but not overbearing like the actual chocolate note in Bliss; I'll admit that Bliss smells delicious, but I'm not a huge fan of smelling like I slathered fudge on my wrists. Wet on Skin: I feel like the rum picked up. Still getting the spices and buttercream with maybe a little coffee lingering. There's a fruitiness (definitely that rum) to it that I don't think I smelled as much in the bottle. It's all pretty warm and pleasant. Approx. 1 Hour Later: The buttercream is pretty faint by this point, but the coffee amped up a bit. The spiced rum is definitely still there, too. Overall, this is nice. I'm not the biggest person on foody smells, including coffee, but this one's pretty good. I feel like it has really good throw, but I'm not sure I'm the best judge for that. Chose one of these (these meaning this scent and the Irish Coffee Buttercream available) since it was also a charity scent, but I'm glad I picked it up in general. I think I'll particularly want to use it during the cooler weather and holidays as a warm pick-me-up.
  19. KezzieZ

    Mary Shelley

    In Bottle: Floral perfume, incoming stormy weather, and a citrusy bite (maybe the lightning notes). Wet on Skin: Same, but it softens a bit. There's still a small sharpness, though I feel like I'm mostly getting that floral perfume. Actually, it feels that the stormy notes and florals tend to morph back and forth in strength. It does have some throw to it, though it may be because the fans in the house are on full blast. Several Hours Later: I had fallen asleep for several hours, so it's understandably weakened by that point. It smells more on that citrusy/stormy side. I still get a little floral in there, but it isn't as strong. There's also a bit of a warm, maybe boozy note in there with a little anise (I guess that's the absinthe, though I don't know what that actually smells like). Honestly, it's a cool scent, though I think the florals were a bit much in the wet stage for me in this case. Still, I'd solidly recommend trying out a sample to see how it goes.
  20. KezzieZ

    I Too Beneath Your Moon

    Still somewhat forgoing my usual format for reviews, though I feel I'll get a bit more in-depth with this one than Smut (my other favorite Lupercalia scent). This starts off as green apple (or maybe apple simply tarted up by the lavender and/or bergamot that can also be smelled) and vanilla cream. I think the white patchouli is somewhat hanging in the background at first. The vanilla cream feels like it could have been cloying without the apple to settle it down; as it is, the whole thing smells great to me. Later on, the white patchouli moved forward and the apple died down to a small fruitiness. The vanilla cream is still kept in check. Honestly, I had veen mildly concerned about the patchouli since some other patchouli scents have been way to strong for me (like Masquerade or Obsidian Widow), but the white variety patchouli in this is a pleasant muskiness as far as I can tell. Overall, this is the favorite of the Lupercalias on my first year purchasing any (also got Hoiru, Smut, Womb Furie, and Diligent Instruction for the Bridal Night). In fact, it's one of my favorite BPALs in general since I have a bad habit of falling in love with limited editions (such as The Serpentine from the Lilith collection). VetchVesper might be right about the whole lavender thing since The Serpentine is lavender-heavy.
  21. KezzieZ

    Smut

    2017 Version I'm not doing my usual review format since I didn't write down my observations and while wearing it (plus, I happen to be wearing a different scent at the moment). This smells somewhat like Snake Oil to me, weirdly enough, but better. I'll be the first to admit that I've tried Snake Oil a couple of times and it just hasn't worked for me. It's not bad, but it's not incredible. Smut, on the other hand, is like a version of Snake Oil that works on me. There's also something to it that reminds me of back when I tried Dee, but more gender neutral. Basically, the musk is super nice, the boozy notes aren't too strong, and the sugary part balances it nicely. The whole thing is... pleasantly spicy, I guess? And pretty gender neutral, like I mentioned. It sometimes seemed to morph a bit, but never into unpleasantness. Smut and I Too Beneath Your Moon are the winners as far as Lupercalia scents I've tried.
  22. KezzieZ

    Aquarius 2016

    Fixed Air: the essence of knowledge. Not the possession of knowledge, per se, but the desire for knowledge, the path itself, and the drive to seek truth, both personal and universal. This is a scent of progressiveness, modernism and intellectual curiosity, and of unpredictability and independence. This is the perfume of the humanist and inventor, electric with caprice: clove, mastic, and spikenard with benzoin, tonka, sweet vetiver, frankincense, and white pepper. I've been waiting for this one to come out and was super curious about how it would smell, since I'm an Aquarius. This review isn't going to be very exacting since I'm not really all that seasoned when it comes to BPAL perfumes. Usually, I stick to the safer sounding stuff outside of trying out frimps. In Bottle: There's a lot going on. I don't know a lot of these notes, but I think I smell cloves and frankincense, at least. Wet on Skin: I think I smell pepper and tonka as well. The perfume as a whole is sort of making me think of cinnamon, but not quite. It's sweeter and more medicinal. Maybe some of that is the benzoin, but that's one of the notes I don't know. An opinion I got is that it smells like lily of the valley. I don't know what that specific flower smells like, but I'll admit this does kind of have a general lily smell. Approx. 1 Hour Later: It was basically the same by that point. Occasionally, it would morph a bit in terms of which notes were stronger, but it smelled overall the same. I think this one is a keeper. While I'm not sure if it's as much of my style as other perfumes I've tried, it's interesting, and I think I'll wear it once in a while. I'd say the closest other full-size perfume I have to this one is probably Nasty Woman, though there's certainly differences.
  23. KezzieZ

    Aziraphale

    Ethereal musk, blonde woods, and dusty Bible accord. I was really interested in this perfume once I noticed it. I love the book Good Omens and I've been really hoping to find a bookish perfume that's not too masculine (I tried Dee and it was pretty awesome, but a bit too masculine for me and I wish I could have tried a bottle of The Book, but I finally got to shopping around in BPAL after the cutoff date for that one). In the Bottle: The scent is very cologne-y. Lots of wood, cedar-y, and I think I can smell the dusty book note as well. This somewhat reminds me of a drier version of Dee (also without the leather there). There's also something sort of similar to pencil shavings in the way that the notes combine. In general, it's pretty strong. Wet on Skin: The wood is settling down a bit. It's still pretty strong at the moment. Approx. 1 Hour Later: The scent is getting a little sweeter. Maybe that's the particular musk that the description mentioned? I like this much more now that it's settled down. I really like this one. I think at some point, I may try layering it (maybe with Good for more initial sweetness or a single-note perfume if I see one that's interesting and available).
  24. KezzieZ

    The Serpentine

    I hade no idea where to post a review for this. Glad I finally found the topic. This was one of the main items in a Trading Post order I made. In a previous Black Phoenix order, I was given a frimp of Dorian, which I reviewed previously in the forums and really liked (there's some note I feel keeps me from loving it, but it's one of my faves so far anyway). Needless to say, when I found this in the Lilith 2016 lineup, I had to try it. In Bottle: It smells like Dorian, but more floral and with a tad more vanilla. Basically, exactly what it should smell like (granted, I have no clue what snowdrops actually smell like other than floral). Wet on Skin: It's sort of the same on my skin. The scent is a more floral version of Dorian, maybe a little sharper (in an almost citrus way) and less musky in general. I'd say the additions of the flowers and extra vanilla makes this more on the feminine side than regular Dorian is. I'm enjoying it so far. Approx. 1 Hour Later: It's pretty much the same right now. I genuinely enjoy this scent. ------ I think I'm going to be heartbroken when this one discontinues (I may try to get an extra bottle before it does). The Serpentine smells amazing and I think it's my favorite perfume so far. The florals and extra vanilla cut Dorian in just the right way to my nose. Considering the timing of the month, this may smell different on me later, but I'll be more than glad to try it out pretty often in between new stuff. Additional: Since I got this review up late, I did order an additional bottle of The Serpentine before the Lilith orders closed.
  25. KezzieZ

    Machu Picchu

    This frimp I recently got sounded pretty darn good. I haven't tried anything that's all that fruit heavy or tropical, so I was very curious from the start. In Bottle: I smell something like mango or guava, maybe some coconut and banana as well. I also get florals and some greenery. Wet on Skin: There's sort of a citrusy edge there now. The whole thing smells tropical, mostly like in the bottle. While someone else said it smells soapy (and I think I understand the vibe they're getting it from), but I don't really think it smells soapy personally. Approx. 1 Hour Later: Faint amber and that's about it. I think my skin eats this particular scent. There's basically nothing left on me. ------ While it wasn't terrible by any stretch, the time it lasts on me is not anywhere near economical enough for me to consider it even if I loved it. While it is that time of the month, I doubt that would make such a dramatic change in duration all on its own. This one's just not for me, but I would recommend trying out an imp if you like tropical smells (and to test if the duration is any better on your skin).
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