naeelah

Crawdad Dream didn't do so well on my skin, so it mostly just smelled like plasticky red currants and vanilla. I assume you can smell more of the full range of notes, but at least as a starting point, try Eat Me. On my skin, they smell almost the same, only Eat Me is a little sweeter and cakier. It's one of your best bets for a GC red currant blend. If you can smell a lot of the squash blossom, Pepper might be worth a try, for layering something over. It's a sweet, lightly spicy floral. On my skin, it's mostly a spicy honey vanilla scent just colored by the florals (although it's probably a lot more floral on most people). Paired with red currants, it's a little similar, to my nose. That's all I got.

A lot of people compare it to Chaste Moon. For something a easier to find, you could try Opuhi. Opuhi is vanilla orchid and ginger flower. The ginger is extremely light, and the overall character is light, breathy, vanilla, so it would definitely complement Castitas. Can't think of any GCs off the top of my head, but you could check out the new Lupercalia, Khrysee. Vanilla amber and orange blossom would complement Castitas, I think. For Frenum, maybe Cancer '07. It's a light, watery, slightly sweet and lettucey scent, some definitely similar. Desdemona might be similar, for a GC option.

They're all florals with cream, so I'd put them in roughly the same ballpark, yeah. Katrina is not as sweet, it's basically a simple, creamy rose. Gaoler's Daughter is sweet, but like peaches in syrup. I found it less immediately floral than Zarita, on my skin. The florals in G. Daughter are a little richer, not quite as bright. The closest GC match, as far as I can recall, is Fairy Market. It doesn't have the cream, but on me, it was mostly light, sugared florals. Very similar in character, but different enough to be something new. Hope & Faith are two other sugared florals, and for the cream component, you could try White Chocolate and Sugared Violets, if you like violets. Similarly, there's Antique Lace, which on me, is a lot of sweet, vanilla violets with a hint of musk. Alice is similar, with milk, honey, rose, carnation, and bergamot.

This really does smell just like a piece of hard candy. It's much less sweet than I thought it would be. Instead of being sugary or syrupy, it's quite tart and dry. It does bear a strong resemblance to Sticky Pillowcase, but that was a little bit bubblier and sweeter, to me. This is definitely dusky, and strong on something that resembles the "lint" note in Pillowcase. I don't immediately pick out any sugared pear or apple. This is all currant and pomegranate. Imagine "Fruit of Paradise" without the juicy component. If I breathe deeply, I get a slight sense of pear on the finish. (It stands out much more when the oil is wet.) I'm not sure if I'll keep it, but I am pleasantly surprised that the lab has so accurately captured the scent of a piece of old-fashioned hard candy. If you are afraid of this being overly sweet, don't be. I don't find it nearly as sweet as Sugar Skull, Sticky Pillowcase, or even Fruit of Paradise. Throw, for me, is soft. This smells fanTASTIC in an oil burner, BTW. Sweeter than it is on my skin.

I tend to amp oakmoss to the extreme detriment of anything else in a blend, so I had some reservations about this. When I first tried it, I remember my impression being of tart, purple fruit with flowers. Trying it now, my immediate impression is cool musk (similar, to my nose, to the lab's blue musk), cool, light florals, and a woodsy, herbal blend. I didn't realize there was lavender in it until I looked at the notes, so it blends very well. Pomegranate lingers on the finish. Once dry, it's a bit fruitier and definitely has a purple feel. The pomegranate here smells just like Fruit of Paradise -- sweet and tart at the same time. The fruit, florals, and musk are the most prominent notes, colored by bitter herbs and wood. The copal just adds a nice fuzziness that blends everything together. The sandalwood and oakmoss, mercifully, do not take over. On me, this is not a masculine or earthy kind of scent. I would say it's unisex, but in the truest sense of the word. I imagine this one varies a lot from skin to skin. For me, this is beautifully balanced. Definitely a decant to keep! The wear life is pretty great, too. After 3-4 hours it's going strong, and it still has a purple fruity feel, but the wood and moss notes are a little stronger. By the 6-7 hour mark, it's still surprisingly strong, but mostly sandalwood.

If you want a Snake Oil-y scent that will just be bright and creamy, try Australian Copperhead. Fresh, this was really green and flat on my skin, bordering on plasticky. It was blah vanilla and glossy berries. It had practically no noticeable Snake Oil component. I didn't like it. (A lot of people do love it fresh, but acai berry tends to be really meh with my skin.) I kept my imp for a year, and after about 9 months, it turned into a fantastic sweet vanilla berry snake oil. I find it perky and summery, not dark or spicy. So if you're lucky, it'll work for you fresh from the lab, and if you're unlucky, stick with it and you might like what it turns into. Coral Snake was also very light, fresh, and juicy when fresh. Kind of a Snake Oil fruit salad. Over the year, it turned into apple cider, so for me, it became a bit spicy. If you like apples, you'll love it.

[08 version] I avoided this at first because I wasn't sure if I would really got for a light, delicate [supposed] scent, but I think this has become my favorite rose and resin blend of the moment. (The reason I love BPAL is you can get whatever you want. You don't just have A rose and resin choice, you have severail.) This is very much the gentler, sweeter, more delicate sister of Rose Cross. Rose Cross is heavy, voluptuous red rose and thick, smoky resins. Tabula Smaragdina is rose with lighter incense and woods. The rose in Parlement of Foules is light and soft, definitely a more innocent sort of blossom. But it still retains a substantial "rose" character, unlike tea rose, to my nose. The resins are fuzzy and a little smoky, but not heavy or overtly incensey. Although this is a more delicate scent, rose and resins always bring a richness that keep it from being overly faint and shy. It's really lovely and very wearable. Very lady-like but not matronly. It kind of blends in and smells natural, in as much as anyone naturally smells of roses. It doesn't scream "perfume!" The rose note sticks around, faintly, for a long time, but in general, I have to call this short lived. Once dry, the throw is a bit soft and the wear-life is only a couple of hours. **Also, be sure to roll your bottle well before applying from it, because I can see in my decant that a darker oil settles at the bottom.**

CDXVI (previously reviewed by fairnymph) First impression is tart cherries, just like Bloody Mary. Tart citrus also becomes apparent on dry down, followed by a light, crisp floral. The longer I wear it, the more it strikes me as carnation -- it's light with a bit of a kick. Matches the tart fruit notes well. It's nice while it lasts, but it fades really quickly. DLLXV Was described to me as berry musk. It did indeed smell like that when I got it, but now it's much more floral. Has light fruits at first, maybe apple, cherry, and raspberry, and a little bright musk. Once dry, it's mostly floral with a hint of apple and white musk. Not getting a good handle on the flowers (I'm really quite bad at identifying many of them). Suffice it to say, it's not tropical, rose, ylang ylang, jasmine, or something else I can easily identify. I think iris might be present, as it has that sleekness.

I only tried a decant of this to start, although I love wax scents, because last year's similar scent was a little too olive-oily for me. But I'm pleased to say my fears are entirely put to rest. This is first and foremost a beeswax scent. Creamy, smooth, with a soft, sugary honey edge. For me, this is the strongest scent start to finish. The olive oil note smells incredibly true to life, just adding a faintly bitter, vegetal note to balance the beeswax. The smoke is never overwhelming. In fact, I can hardly pick it out. It's most noticeable, for me, after a few hours. It just adds a light haziness and deepens the blend. On my skin, for my tastes, this scent is perfectly balanced. Some people say it smells like a freshly blown out candle. On me, the smoke note isn't nearly that strong, but it's a good general description. Highly recommended if you're a fan of waxy scents, especially if you want one that's pure candle wax -- no sweetness, no florals, no spices, no nothing. Just wax! Sillage and wear life are excellent. Definitely one of my favorite Yules!

MCLIV - blackberry, currants, sage, amber? I'm feeling nose or brain dead, so I'm not going too well with the notes in this. I think this is the one that Gentleman Caller described to me as Lady MacBeth's English cousin, which is an excellent description. It has lots of grapey fruit in the bottle. It smells a lot like fresh red grapes, actually, but nothing like the lab's usual grape note. Once on the skin, it turns drier and tarter. It smells like blackberries and currants, I think. Similar to Eat Me, but more purple. There's a light herbal quality, maybe sage. It actually smells quite similar to Bewitched, on me. Unfortunately, it's pretty short lived, but it's nice while it lasts. DCCCLIII - pink pepper, tart cherries, plumeria? (other floral guesses: carnation, cherry blossom, a hint of sweet pea -- think pink) I gave this one a good huff and thought, "I know this note! It's....Bloody Mary!" Then I remembered that this was described to me as Bloody Mary crossed with Pink Moon, which, again, is an apt description. Wet, it has loads of tart cherries, exactly like Bloody Mary. It smells like cherry Kool-Aid. There's a dry, slightly abrasive edge to it that becomes stronger as the oil dries. Again, this reminds me so much of sniffing kool-aid in the packet. This dry note is definitely pink pepper. Once dry, it's very floral, with sweet cherries in the background. I can't place the floral note. Once again, it's a round, smooth floral that reminds me of plumeria or hibiscus or some kind of tropical bloom. The same note that turns up in practically every CT I try. ETA 1/6: On another try, it doesn't seem as cherry heavy, and the floral bouquet is a little clearer to my nose. I think I smell that same tropical bloom, but doesn't come out until the blend is long dry. At first, I smell other light, sweet blossoms. The pink pepper is very prominent but everything blends well together.

Ambergris accord, benzoin, teakwood, frankincense, myrrh, Mysore sandalwood, and incense. I have tried probably every BPAL incense blend at this point, and by far, this is my favorite. Every other blend has been too much of something -- too much sandalwood (I amp it and it becomes bone dry), too much frankincense (aggressively smoky and biting, on my skin), too much myrrh (cool and subdued), too many other components calling attention to themselves (cedar, black musk, etc). This one, though, is the perfect balance of soft smoky resins, dark, honeyed incense, and wood. No single note stands out, dominating the blend. It's not overly golden, not overly dark, not overly dry and woody, not overly anything. It's smooth and round with wood and smoke on the edges. A little sweet, and no sharpness. It glows, but it also has a soft haze. In short, this is the best of everything. I think I tend to amp sweet, so this takes one more of a honey characteristic as I wear it. It's quite similar to the Pit and the Pendulum, only sunnier, with more woods. It's soft but noticeable and the wear length is about average.

MCLIX- very red in the vial. Smells strongly of dragon's blood, smoke, and black pepper in the imp. On skin, the dragon's blood is very bold and fruity. For a while, the scent smells like smoky bubble gum. Some of the candy-like quality fades as it dries and it becomes a better balance of sweet resin, austere spice, and smoke. I don't know if I get any sense of florals or anything else from this. This is a lot like Wrath, only more peppery, which is fabulous, because Wrath was a little too nice and agreeable on my skin. I thought it needed more pepper. Definitely a keeper! ETA 12/10: Trying it again today, it smells like it might have lemon balm. I don't usually like lemon balm in perfume, but with dragon's blood, it's pretty neat. Definitely one of the more interesting CTs I've tried!

Wet, it's sweet, orangey cake and custard. A suggestion of anise lurks in the background. As it dries, the orange gets stronger and it overpowers the cake and custard quality slightly. But just for a little while. Once dry, the floral notes emerge and provide levity to the thick foody notes. The anise is stronger now, also adding coolness, but never making it overly licorice-like. It's subtle. Once totally dry, the flowers and anise are strong enough that the overall quality isn't really foody at all on me. Gourmand, yes, but very wearable. (I love foody scents but not as perfume, more for comfort.) Throw and wear life are both a little light.

BEESWAX! Lately I'm nuts about beeswax, and I've been desperate for a nice beeswax blend that was basically all wax. All of my other ones have heavy spices, or incense, or other things that make the scent darker or sweeter. This is PERFECTLY the scent of plain beeswax. There are other notes, but the main note is WAX! Glorious wax! There's a hint of something sweet -- maybe honey -- and a hint of something faintly green and something spicy. I think it might be cardamom. I don't get much spice per se, definitely nothing near Mead Moon or Hand of Glory, but there's a slight hint. When I first put it on, I felt like it had something slightly floral about it, but once dry, I don't get that sense. ETA 12/18: Now that the blend has settled a bit, the floral quality is much more pronounced. I was also testing a different imp than the one that came with my order, so who knows, maybe it just smells different. I still can't pinpoint the floral. It's a smooth, cool floral, but there's also something a little more effervescent. I thought some kind of lily at first, and perhaps there's some in the bouquet, but there's a noticeable sweet-tart-like quality now that makes me think red hibiscus. Ylang-ylang is also a suspect. (I'm certain there's more than one flower.) Also, once dry, I suspect there is some amber in the mix, but the beeswax note is so similar, perhaps the fragrance bouquets have some ingredients in common. After several hours, the scent returns to a purely waxy blend with just a hint of florals and spice.

I have a cold right now, so I'll have to update this when my nose is working a bit better, but basically -- Eat Me smells like Angel Food Cake with lots and lots of tart currants. The lab's red currant note usually goes a bit plasticky on me, and the black currant note is very jammy. I do get some jam-yness from the currants here, but fortunately, the red ones avoid going plastic. It's red and fruity like it should be. This is actually not as thick and foody as I thought it would be. The cake note is light on my skin, just a sweet vanilla with a hint of a baked/batter quality, and the tartness of the currants balances that well. Fabulous!

I thought I reviewed this when it was new, but apparently not. I got my decant when the scent debuted (a year ago?), and age has done it well. All I really remember about it when it was fresh was that it was quite strong on red ginger, which is to say that it was weirdly funky on my skin. Now, it's almost masculine. The funkiness of the ginger has tempered with time, so now it just has a pleasant spiciness. Wet, the red ginger and red musks are most apparent, and they're soon followed by sleek black spices. The spices are cool at first but become more peppery as they dry. The honeysuckle becomes apparent after a few minutes. Here, it smells just like fresh honeysuckle blossoms, sweet and succulent. They round out the spice and musk well. As it continues to dry, the patchouli becomes apparent. I usually amp patchouli, and I can definitely smell it here, but it doesn't take over. It's a cooler patchouli and not overly earthy. In the end, it settles on a powerful, sleek, red scent. The musks are the strongest, on my skin, but the other notes are there. Once dry, they blend together seamlessly. It's truly unisex, and definitely not foody at all. Try it if you like: Aries, The Bloody Sword, Mad Meg

MCCXLIX - I swear, whomever at the lab picked my CT bottles and put them in my package had some kind of innate ability to divine every CT blend that was based on gardenia. I have gotten at least 3 or 4 gardenia and greenery blends. So, this is another of them. I'm having an extremely difficult time picking out notes here, but basically, it reminds me of Manila, with gardenia in place of plumeria. It's a sweet, rich gardenia, with strong greenery, and what seems to be a hint of smoky resin. MCCXLVI - Bizarrely, Midnight Aeval has already reviewed this number, but I'm 95% sure I got this bottle directly from the lab. Comparing note descriptions, I think these bottles are nothing alike, so either the lab goofed and put the same number on two, or somewhere in the course of her bottle traveling around the net, someone made a type in the number. In the bottle, this smells like some kind of pastry. A buttered tart with raspberries. On the skin, a brown sugar quality emerges and, for just a minute, it smells surprisingly similar to Crumpet Rebellion. But then the buttery pastry goes away, and I'm left with a sharper base. There is definitely something a little smoky here, I think myrrh, and possibly a brighter musk, mingling with the raspberries. It has excellent throw.

Amazing! I tried this on without knowing the notes, and I guessed coconut, cocoa, and cool woods. So, verily, this one smells much as it should. The black palm smells like freshly opened coconut to me. A touch sweet, a touch waxy, a touch watery, and of course, a touch coconuty. Wet, it's all palm, and the cocoa fills in the shadows as it dries. The cocoa is soft and understated, much like in Velvet. It isn't a sweet, chocolate bar note. For a little while, it's pretty much all coconut and cocoa, but not as foody as you might think. Gourmand, definitely, but not sweet and heavy. The longer it dries, the more the wood notes emerge, and they really complete the scent. There seems to be teak, but I couldn't say what else. They're cool, dry, and -- yes -- shady wood notes. Unlike most blends, with which I amp wood out of control, it remains in the shadows here, grounding the coconut and keeping the blend off your dessert plate. I never pick out the fig, per se, but I guess its sweetness is blending with the palm and causing the coconut effect. The wear life is on the good side of average. This is well worth a try if you're a fan of fig or cocoa scents. ETA: On second try, now that I know to look for fig, I definitely smell fig as the top note. Combined with the cocoa and palm, it has a distinctly coconut-like effect, from a distance. Fabulous. It's a light, fruity fig, not a dark and earthy one. Try it if you like: Velvet, Freak Show, Strangler Fig, Obatala

I'm testing a decant of unknown age. At first, this is all earthy patchouli. It definitely has a darker character than plain patchouli, with no color description, and is slightly sharper. The incense takes a backseat to the patchouli, but it's there, adding a hint of smoke and darkness. After a few minutes, the citrus comes into bloom and becomes quite strong. The tangerine adds sweetness, but the lemon peel is stronger, for me. It feels vibrant and fruity to me, rather than like a cleaning solution. For about 10 minutes, the scent is almost all sweet and tart citrus, grounded by dark patchouli. Once the citrus notes begin to evaporate, it settles into its main stage: lemon-tinged patchouli incense. If I look for the geranium I can find it, but it doesn't stand out. To my nose, it mainly provides balance to the patchouli. It doesn't smell particularly rosy, just light. I can't place the musk or saffron at all. Although it starts out strong, it gets much lighter as it wears. Definitely worth a try if you're a fan of patchouli and citrus.

This scent is all sweet, voluptuous berries, with a hint of smoke and red grape. It starts out very strong on the berry and currant, but they balance out as they dry and let the thyme through. The berries are slightly tart, so they balance well with the jammy currant. The wine seems to be the same rich, grapey red wine that's used in Madrid, but it adds a note of dryness. The thyme adds an almost incense-like quality and it's a beautiful contrast to the rich redness of the other components. For me, the longer I wear the scent, the stronger the thyme gets and the more the sweetness fades. This is a good thing. Although I love berry scents and black currant, as a whole, this is a bit too thick and sweet for me, even with the thyme. Try it if you like: Lampades, Madrid, Blood Countess, Blood Rose, Bewitched

Strangely, I get no sense of wine from this. On me, it smells entirely like rich red rose and dragon's blood. It may have something to do with the fact I often amp rose, but I get very little sweetness from this. It's sweet when it first goes on, but that fades as it dries. The dragon's blood isn't as cherry-like as it usually is. It's a little bit sharper and drier than amber, but still smooth and a little powdery. It's more like myrrh. It balances well with the rose so I don't feel like either is taking over. Blood Rose is like a less smoky Rose Cross.

This sounds gorgeous in the description -- such a perfect interpretation of the painting -- but Lady Lilith unfortunately doesn't seem to like me. Wet, immediately, it's a lot of red musk (plummy, slightly rubbery) and mandarin. The white tea comes out and gives a lovely lemony quality that takes the edge off the musk, and the rose follows soon after. For a few minutes, it's gorgeous. I don't smell much of the vanilla or other components yet. As it dries, the red musk takes back over, and the poppy and violet emerge. All together, it has a strangely musty quality on my skin. The white tea, fleeting top note that it is, seems to be gone already. At this stage, when it's work with me rather than against me, it's a lush floral deepened by the musk and mandarin. It's predominately rose, but I do tend to amp rose. It reminds me a little of Marianne and similar blends, but they're worldly, erotic, baser characters; Lady Lilith is a fresh cream complexion flushed pink, classical beauty in its prime. A temptress on a pedestal rather than in a whorehouse. With the note description in front of me, I can pick out each component (although I never do get much vanilla), but as a whole, it blends seamlessly. I think this is very much in a classic perfume tradition. The top notes burn off within the hour for me, but the red muskiness lingers a good long while. Red musk tends to be a bit weird when young, so I definitely think this will improve with a few months of aging. Try it if you like: Marianne, Marguerite, The Haunted Palace, Moscow, Versailles, Three Brides

I wasn't at all sure what to expect from this. I like herbal scents, as well as honey and resins, so I thought it was worth a try. Wet, it's almost gourmand. The overall effect reminds me a lot of certain 13 blends, especially July '07. I think what I'm smelling is the peach kernel, honey, and almond, combined with the resins, but from a distance, it's almost like there's cocoa present. (eta: The palm is the note that smells almost cocoa-like.) The bitter herbals emerge underneath, but the honey sweetness is still on top...exactly like poison hidden in a drink. The frankincense and myrrh as acting as base notes, lending a faintly smoky character. It seems to remain creamy honey over bitter herbals, with a smoky base. I tend to amp sweet, so the creaminess is definitely far more predominant than the herbs, for me. It's complex, gorgeous, and very versatile. I love the scent and the concept, and I think it's beautifully realized, but this is one of the few BPAL blends that I do find a little bit sad and morbid. Try it if you like: Haloes, 13 (in general), Eisheth Zeninum, Love-Lies-Bleeding

This smells basically like you'd expect: Snake Oil + Dorian + Lavender. I can't so much pick out the other new notes, but if I think about it, this does have a light floral quality that Snake Oil and Dorian lack. Wet, it smells mainly like a less citrusy Dorian, with a lot of lavender. I can detect the Snake Oil as a base note. So it's all creamy tea and florals with a hint of musks and resins, not too sweet. Over the course of the next hour, the lavender calms down a bit and the Snake Oil quality becomes more predominant. It has that playdo-like quality that's common to fresh Snake Oil. Something about this combination of notes make it MORE play-do-like than just straight Snake Oil, on my skin. As it is, it's nice, but not stunning. Soft, creamy, calming. Not as sweet as TKO, but a little bit similar. The plasticky, powdery edge makes me think of baby dolls. However, I fully expect this to become amazing with age. Appropriately, like a small child, this scent is all potential. I just wanted to make a note of what it was like fresh, so I'll have a point of comparison when this blend grows into itself. -- UPDATED 6 Jan 09: Now we're talking! The blend has lost the lavender prominence and also lost the plasticy, cabbage patch doll edge. Miss Lilith is maturing nicely! At this point, it smells even more like you'd expect: Snake Oil with the bright musk and lemony tea of Dorian, with just a breath of light, smooth florals and the faintest whisper of lavender. I can't pick out the fennel at all. The lemony brightness burns off (unfortunately) once it dries, and here it smells basically like a version of young Snake Oil. The lavender really doesn't call attention to itself (if I didn't know it was here, I might not immediately pick it out) but it definitely changes the tenor of the Snake Oil.

I was a little dismayed by some early reviews of this, but as a long time lover of beeswax, creamy tea, black pepper, and weird notes (such as dusty wool) I kept my hopes high, and lucky for me, Ichabod Crane seems to like me. In the bottle it's a bit sharp and odd. Lots of black pepper and muguet. Wet, it has a strange, minty quality on my skin. I was hoping this would go away as it dried, and fortunately, it has. I can definitely smell the creamy tea and beeswax when it's wet, with a hint of black pepper, but the muguet and wool seem to predominate. The wool is similar to the lab's linens note, but true to the scent description, it has a dustier quality. (I'm not sure I find it as sheepy as the note in Queen Alice; White Rabbit is definitely the better point of comparison.) The muguet and wool find a nice balance with the beeswax and tea once dry. The wax isn't nearly as strong here as in, say, Hand of Glory; together, the wax and tea form a soft, creamy base that isn't too sweet. The lily and dusty wool float over it, providing levity and contrast. The pepper adds just the slightest edge. On my skin, I don't find this as spicy as White Rabbit, and definitely nowhere near as peppery as Aries '07. This is basically a dowdier version of Dorian, I think. I found Dorian a little bit too bright and musky, so this suits me perfectly. This is Dorian when he's old and content to stay at home, darning his socks. Slightly cozy, slightly effeminate, not quite the run of the mill. I love it! I'm sure this will age beautifully. Try it if you like: White Rabbit, Aries '07, Dorian, Glowing Vulva, Hand of Glory, Queen Alice, Lilith Victoria... ETA: 10/30/09 - after a year of aging, Ichabod is nice and smooth! The shrillness of the muguet is gone and everything blends beautifully. It's even woollier when wet but gorgeous when dry. The tea is easier to smell now, so after a few hours when the lily seems gone, it smells a lot more like White Rabbit.