crystaltongue

A buttery pumpkin spice with some notable apple and just a slight lingering hint of peach. In the bottle, it's just your average candle store pumpkin spice, but on the skin is where the magic happens. It dries into something rich and nutmeggy and good enough to eat, with a yummy sort of butterscotch note that somehow stops short of being cloying. Possibly a bit too sweet a scent to wear every day, but definitely a cozy and lovely choice for blustery winter afternoon.

The scent of an extremely expensive menswear store. In the bottle and wet on the skin, the sandlewood and black pepper dominate. As it dries down, the bergamot and orange blossom quietly make themselves known, but the pumpkin remains virtually indetectable. The net effect is somehow both expensive and mysterious, just like the giant yard skeleton himself. Personally, I find it a little too masculine by itself to wear for my taste, but layer it with something a bit sweeter and there is MAGIC to be had. I tried layering with Snooty Rose and have officially discovered my permanent perfume choice for meeting with vice presidents, rich donors, and members of board.

This one was been a surprise star among my social circle. A beautiful vanilla, with a lingering amber warmth and just enough champagne to keep it from being insipid. Several of my friends requested decants from my bottle after smelling it, to the point that we had to order a whole extra bottle to have enough to around. As a fun side note: I appear as Princess Leia at a lot of charity events, and this is the perfume I always wear with that costume, so it has sort of become Leia's signature scent.

This has the unfortunate distinction of being the only BPAL scent to actually make me gag. The mold smell was so overpowering and disgusting that I could not detect the other notes. I am guessing from other folks' reviews if I had been able to stand to leave it on longer that might have faded, but unfortunately if you are sensitive to mold scents, this probably not the scent for you.

My new favorite scent. Wet, it is all green apple, but as it dries the clover and elderflower make their presence known. It comes across way more floral on my skin than on any of my friends who tried it, so your mileage may vary, but I love the balance between the crisp apple and the almost dreamy clover and elderflower. Definitely the smell of an apple from a fairytale, and I am thrilled.

Wet out of the bottle, very green and sap like from the fern. As it dries, the cardamom comes forward, with the wood being a notable secondary note. Reminscent of wandering deep into a damp evergreen forest, without any specific evergreen scents. I don't think this will be my everyday kind of scent, but my housemate wears it frequently and it's always pleasant to smell on her.

This was my first imp! Folks have described it well in the bottle: vanilla and sweetpea first, with amber as an afterthought and sandlewood in hiding. Wet on my skin, the sweetpea fades almost right away, and the sandlewood comes forward. Dry, the sandlewood and vanilla harmonize perfectly, with the amber giving it a beautiful resinous note and the sweetpea just a whisper of complexity that keeps me sniffing it all day. It lasts well too - a tiny drop applied in the morning is still detectable at the end of the work day. Definitely considering upgrading to a full bottle on this one

This one is fascinating in its interactions with body chemistry. In the bottle, fruits with a strong floral note. But the moment it goes on the skin, all bets are off. On my roommate, the fruit notes disappeared and the florals came forward, becoming powdering and almost matronly. She ended up washing it off. On me though, it's something else entirely. Wet, it's fruit loops. Fruit loops and wax. As it dries the peach, pear, and grape start to balance out some, and the waxy note disappears. It stays super fruity, though, with the floral notes barely detectable. There is a lusciousness that comes after it fully dries which is intriguing. Not sure this is going to be the scent for me, but it's definitely one you need to try yourself to find out what it does for you.