fairnymph

I have so much to test - I'm still not done testing 'Weenies or Yules! - but when my Lupers arrived, I had to test this immediately. It has the most exciting combination of notes I've seen in...forever, and I had high hopes.

 

Sweet and fruity, lightly boozy! I get lots of mandarin, a little bit of quince, and a fair deal of honey and vanilla. It's *almost* too sweet, but the quince and mandarin add a tart juiciness that keeps this from being cloying. The cognac smells like fine light brandy, and there is a little hint of astringency here, but I don't think I'd guess it were tobacco without the notes.

 

Oh, glorious, glorious fruit! The quince and mandarin explode on my skin, especially the quince. It's like quince jelly - definitely a sweetened quince, though it's still tart. I also get a pear note, though that could be the quince, which has strong pear undertones. Those are coming through strongly here - it reminds me of the white pear note in The Perilous Parlor. The mandarin's holding well for citrus on my skin but it has faded a little.The quince is definitely in command, and followed closely behind by a glorious, rich honey note - the honey here seems to meld with the cognac, so I get this boozy syrupy thing that's absolutely stunning. The vanilla is next, and is also rather syrupy, like high quality vanilla syrup used in coffee drinks. Still only a whisper of tobacco.

 

This is getting sweeter and sweeter on my skin, as if the quince jelly has evolved into a heavier quince paste. The honey has an aromatic quality, almost floral-perfumey, that honey sometimes does. This is dark, dark coloured, intensely flavoured honey - not pale regular 'ole clover honey. The mandarin fades a little more and takes some of its citrusy tartness with it, which I think contributes to the scents increasingly overall sweetness. The light booziness of the cognac holds, and the tobacco is starting to emerge a little. It's a really interesting and to my nose, unique note - definitely golden, not dark and aged, but bright, almost with a hay-like quality - a sort of dry warmth but with that classic astringency of tobacco and a hint of smoke - it really adds depth and body to this otherwise almost candyish scent.

 

This isn't a dramatic morpher, more of a smooth evolver - the mandarin even sticks around, which is a true rarity (my skins loves to devour citrus). It's mostly honeyed quince, with slightly cologney-perfumey note from the tobacco, which actually does sort of morph, into a very smooth, sophisticated note that really cuts the near-syrupy-cloyingness of the scent and grounds the scent. The vanilla too softens a bit, becoming almost musky, a skin-like scent, creamy and soft, merging with the creamy, only very vaguely boozy, sort of golden-musky cognac. Very sophisticated, yet sweet and fruity and feminine - I'm so happy this is as wonderful as the notes promised. It ends up being an intimate, sexy scent, like a golden post-coital glow. I shall hoard many bottles of this one.

 

Also - fantastic throw and longevity.

oh, mint green is kinda cool...they look white on my laptop screen. (my ridiculously-bright-at-3-am laptop screen..lol)

 

Definitely mint green, in that 70s kinda of way (appropriately....) - not white!

 

Michelle, thanks for the Luper pics.

 

I like this years Shungas much less than the prior two years. The text is so huge and blocky and doesn't really mesh with the label art IMO. At least it makes me covet Needlework much less. :\

wow, you weren't kidding about the labels being boring..LOL

 

ah well, at least the parchment designs are pretty. ^-^

 

Mhmm. They're pretty much mint green new GC labels. And sorry for the bad pic - I can't find the charger for my proper camera's battery.

That sharp, piney-hairspray snow note - BOO. Where is the snow in the notes? I see no snow or ice. Then I get a lot of florals and cologney white amber. It's complex, feminine, rather traditional, a little heady and a little sweet. I can pick out *maybe* a little plumeria, but barely - well-blended, this is.

 

Still PINEY SNOW FAIL, in fact more strongly and harshly so. Whyyyyyyyy. i do get some musks now, and the white amber in this is beautiful, and I also get some ozone (I got some before, but it's more obvious now). A bit of hyacinth and a bit more plumeria this is sweeter and almost fruity. Also more gardenia - it's a bit bright/sharp, but not the amping kind or the headache kind. The lily of the valley is there giving the heady feel, but it's light.

 

This dries quickly. I think the plumeria and mogra (i.e. jasmine sambac) are merging on my skin - to me they're similar florals anyway, both sweet and tropical and pleasant. They're stronger, but better yet, so is the hyacinth and it has a lovely fruity brightness, with a lightly tart/tangy edge. This would be so lovely with the damn pine-snow, which refuses to calm down, let alone go away, and is making my rosacea flare quite badly.

 

Not much morphing. Still 80% piney snow. The hyacinth continues to amp a bit, and it's very lovely. The lily of the valley stays light and doesn't even go powdery at all. The musks and white amber are soft and smooth and round out the blend...well, except for the nasty harsh snow. Now it really reminds me of something, with the fruitiness of the hyacinth - The Snow Maiden, or Ice Queen, or both. It's in that vein.

 

After several hours, the oakmoss finally comes out, and I'm left with it, light musks and white amber over faint sweet flowers, but sadly still tainted by the harsh piney-snow. I never got sandalwood, and the gardenia was always so nice, and the florals were altogether beautiful here - but totally ruined by the snow. If the drydown were it, I could maybe handle it - but I can't wait 6 hours for a perfume to be okay. Lower throw, and not-so-great longevity.

 

Banshee Beat and Sweet Life!

 

Btw, I am dying to see the Ode to Ares labels. DYING, I tell you!

Sweet and foody! Slightly buttery, caramel-y rich cake (gauffrete, really!) and a bit of De Sade-style sharp powdery leather. There is something here that could be coal dust...a stony sort of note that I quite like, but I'm not detecting any licorice.

 

More leather, and the licorice comes out in force immediately. This also turns to a darker sort of foody, caramelized sugar, like the topping of creme brulee, less buttery cakey (although the butter note is still there and reminds me of movie popcorn - it's actually quite a nice foody note, not too sweet or heavy. There's also a creaminess to this blend which tempers the sharpness of the leather. The licorice is now the strongest note, followed by the gaufrette, then leather, then barely detectable coal dust.

 

Ugh, the leather is amping, and its sharp chemical-powder is clashing with the still-a-tad buttery caramel cake in a most nauseating way. The still strong licorice - never a note I like in perfume - doesn't help either. And it's definitely LICORICE, not anise or fennel. I am getting a bit more coal dust, which to me smells a bit like vetiver and crushed stone - an interesting and not unpleasant mix, but overwhelmed here. The leather note here and overall feel of this blend reminds me a great deal of Spanked.

 

Doesn't seem to be morphing anymore - the leather is now in command, much as it is in the drydown of Spanked, followed by strong black licorice, and then shortly thereafter a rich caramel cake note that stays true on my skin (no weird mustiness or plastic, but it's still much too foody for me), and then a little gritty vetiver and soft stone dust to round things out - an interesting and relatively unisex blend with great throw and good longevity.

Bright, somewhat sweet, intense florals. Gardenia front and center, dazzling white, with heady ylang ylang and a lovely clean lily note just below, while sweet pikaki brings up the rear. Hmm. Not as bad as I'd feared, but the gardenia is intense, and the ylang ylang (a note I detest) is definitely noticeable. But the pikaki and lily are lovely - in fact, the latter is the loveliest lily note I've ever smelled.

GARDENIA- quite intense, and it has that slightly...sour/off aspect that a certain gardenia note does on me. I can handle some gardenias, but this is not amongst them, I don't think. The pikaki (also amped) has a smoothness that takes it down a wee notch, though - takes the edge off. The ylang-ylang is magically much fainter on my skin, barely detectable in fact. Or maybe gardenia has killed it. The lily is about the same, but can't really compete with gardenia and I have to search for it. Still absolutely stunning - it reminds me of linden, or else there is linden in here as well - sweet and bright and yet soft and fresh.

The lily is amping, and it has both citrusy and green qualities - it's so feminine and fresh and girly and innocent and mmmm I love it! It can't beat gardenia, but it can make itself known, at least. The ylang-ylang has also amped up a bit, unfortunately, and it's either merged with the gardenia or else my brain has grouped it that way - the two heady, too-much florals. But yeah, this is still GARDENIA. The pikaki has faded a little, so this is a bit less sweet.

Huh. This is not so bad - the gardenia is still the sour kind (that z_z would call 'wet wool'), and ylang ylang is still heady, but the lily manages to shine amidst it all. It's not the least bit soapy, but it's gone a tiny touch powdery, in a very nice way. Most it's fresh and pure and girly, and it goes nicely with the smooth sweetness of the pikaki. The top two florals are dealbreakers for me, but I would LOVE to see more blends with this lily note. Great throw, but fades a bit over time.

Dirty hippy patchouli, lots and lots of patchouli, sweetened by a fair deal of vanilla. The hemp is there in force too, earthy and sort of musky in that way that um, marijuana can smell, green and weedy in general. Definitely smells like hippies.

 

Even MORE patchouli - this is very strong and earthy and hippie-ish as noted, but it is NOT gritty or rooty or actually soil-like, thank god. It's not black patchouli. The vanilla is also much stronger, heavy, rich and sweet, in fact cloying, although even in all its ubervanillaness it's not a strong as the PATCHOULI. The hemp is in third place but not by much - it's a little fresher and greener, with a sort of bitter herbal edge, and it also adds a sort of dryness, the way that sage does.

 

This is definitely a heavy, intense, bourbon-y vanilla and it's amping on me rapidly. This scent reminds me quite a bit of the Illustrated Woman, it's even going a little smoky - I'd bet on tobacco.This is also getting spicy - clove, is that you? And a tad plastic and sharp, which makes me definitely think clove, though sometimes vanilla does that on me, too. The hemp has gone even drier, not quite dusty, but almost. And there is a woody note here, very warm and dry, a well-behaved cedar. This is much more complex than the notes would suggest; there's definitely a lot more going on.

 

Wow, that vanilla is amazingly strong. And btw, this oil dries very slowly and has incredible throw. The vanilla is by leaps and bounds the strongest note now, and is just almost too much for me - it's very sweet and very rich, one of the most vanilla-y scents I've tested. The cedar has amped up a bit, while the patchouli & clove hold, and the hemp has faded a little bit. Vanilla >>>>>> cedar >> patchouli & clove > hemp. Less smoky. More sweet.

 

Super sweet, foody, rich, syrupy VANILLA with earthy-hippy patchouli, warm, dry cedar and dry herbal hemp, with a hint of sharp clove (this fades down after its initial emergence). It definitely comes together and I can see how many would find this to be a sexy blend - it's definitely hippiesh, and WAY too sweet for me. Very strong throw and longevity.

So you just have to remember to manually add ".jpg" to the end of the address when you copy and paste it.

 

--M

 

PS: I agree with TwilightEyes... and there are enough of us that work with PhotoShop that I'm sure we could find SOMEONE who'd be willing to make the pictures look vintage for you.

 

Thank you! I never knew you could just add an extension like that!

Deep golden oil. Fresh, bright fruity-floral. I definitely get the citrus, a little of the freesia and some not-bad jasmine, and the eucalyptus is lovely in this. Also, some ozone and a definite resin base.

 

Smoother, still bright, but more polished. I don't find this discordant at all. More freesia and unfortunately a little more jasmine as well - it's a bit heady, but not soapy or cat-pee-ish. The lemon is the strongest citrus note, surprisingly as usually yuzu is very strong. And I'm still loving the very aromatic and not at all Vicks-ish eucalyptus. I get more of the resins, which are pretty nice.

 

This reminds me a bit of The Zieba Tree, but more unisex and a little deeper. I'm not sure this entirely smells like perfume to me - more like really nice lotion or soap (though it is not actually what I'd call soapy, it is very clean).

 

Hmm. It is going a little soapy, but tolerably. The ozone is still holding very nicely, as is all the citrus. And the resins remain in the background, a smooth base that doesn't overpower. However it still smells like a non-perfume body product to me. Moderate throw and good longevity.

Dark amber-orange oil. Sweet nutty resins, waxes, and incense with herbs and florals - wow, quite a jumble indeed. The almond jumps out first, then the verbena, myrrh, hibiscus and frankincense. It's very complex - bright notes, dark notes, heavy notes, light notes, etc. Nothing I really like, though. :\

 

Quite foody; sweeter. A very foody almond note, almost buttery? It clashes in a revolting manner with the Pledge-y verbena. The hibiscus is a nice tart note and the heliotrope is gorgeous as usual, and the pomegranate too, juicy-tart-sweet. This myrrh is STRONG, dusty and smoky from the get go, and the frankincense too, that cloying woody-incense sweetness. I'm not sure where the waxy sort of note comes from, but it's there. The poppy's a little spicy and dusty, but faint. Not getting any carnation, patchouli, opponax or hyssop, though a little fresh-green myrtle peeks out.

 

This stuff has mega throw, unfortunately for me. It's getting sweeter and sweeter and richer and richer. The almond is INSANELY BUTTERY, fake and rancid - it's like butter and tonka joined in with the nutty almond - and the combo with the verbena is one of the worst things I have ever smelled. Something in here has also turned into major PLASTIC. This is also dustier, darker, more incensey...all things I hate. It's been 5 minutes but 5 minutes too long - off to the sink before I become nauseated.

 

Cold minty snow (the dual gentle mints snow note from Ded Moroz, yay!), very light, fresh, almost citrusy chrysanthemums, and a clear glassy sort of note - this reminds me of House of Mirrors, quite a bit. I don't get amber. But this scent really does evoke the description beautifully!

 

Mintier! This is a lot mintier than Ded Moroz, and in fact now it reminds me a lot of Tulzcha, but without the white pepper - much gentler and with a colder vibe. This really does feel like soft snow to me, clean and fresh and quiet - finally a snow note I can wear! The 'mums are stronger, still citrusy but a little sharper, vaguely astringent in a refreshing way, with an herbal, grassy sort of undertone - it reminds me a lot of tea, actually. Still no amber, and still that glassy, bright feeling.

 

The minty snow holds beautifully while the mums amp, becoming more and more citrusy and tea-like, very bright and fresh but in a smooth, calming sort of way - I find this a very gentle and relaxing scent, again, so fitting with the description. I think the amber is white amber, bc I do get a bit of bright cologney-ness that reminds me of Torture Queen and other blends with a strong white amber presence - I also don't group white amber with other ambers as it's cool and smooth on me, not warm or powdery like other ambers.

 

This seems to sweeten slightly over time and become more musky, which I attribute to the emergence of vanilla musk - the late emergence is typical behaviour for this note on my skin -. and the notes merge together into a superbly well-blended whole. This reminds me of several other blends (The Girl, Ded Moroz, Torture Queen, Julia Stone...) and is distinctively BPAL, but still terribly unique in its own right.

 

Gently cold, sweet & snowy peppermint and spearmint over smooth, tea-like, citrusy chrysanthemums, rounded out by clean, bright and slightly cologne-y white amber and skin-soft vanilla musk. It's very faintly powdery in a wonderful way (I never thought I'd pair 'wonderfully' and 'powdery'). Fresh and light yet not fragile; this has a rounded depth to it. Tranquil and stunning; quietly feminine. Low throw but decent longevity.

 

This is the only snow scent to ever work on my skin. Many, many bottles of this one are required.

Woody, earthy, dark, sour. Lots and lots of VETIVER, which is very murky here, and then other indistinguishable dark herbs and woods and some sour musky civet. Sharp and masculine and a little scary.

 

Even MORE vetiver - this is Vetiver SN! Except there's a strong dark, dusty, bitter incense note here - a fuckton of myrrh, to be precise (I hate myrrh). I do get a bit of sweetness, very distantly, from the birch, and I get some rather medicinal mentholic herbal notes. Even more sour, and yes, the civet does smell a little cat-pee-ish, as well as intensely musky, but in a sort of bad BO musky way.

 

Wow, this just gets worse and worse. It's even more sour, and it's so acrid it makes my eyes water - the civet is that menacing! And the brutal, very gritty-dirty-rooty-harsh vetiver only adds to this blends unpleasantness on me (it reminds me greatly of the note in Brimstone). That myrrh has amped, too, and the herbs are familiar, bitter and dried and like medicine you dread swallowing. I don't get cat pee anymore, but now I get some black musk, whcih is heavy and sweet (thought not enough to combat the harsh and sour aspects of this blend), and that sweetness clashes sickeningly with everything else.

 

Not much morphing beyond initial drydown - this is VETIVER VETIVER VETIVER, gritty and harsh, followed by dark smoky dusty myrrh, cloying black musk and unpleasantly sour civet - other woods and herbs somewhere in the background but they're totally overwhelmed by the notes of DOOM. INTENSE throw and longevity. Absolutely masculine.

Light, delicately aquatic, almost luminous - it doesn't feel cool, but does evoke mental images of frost and ice, and I do get the light musks (a little creamy, they remind me of the musks in Dorian), and the soft camellia. Pretty and feminine, with a bit of dried autumn leaves below, and then at the end of the inhale, the gentle bite of red peppers, spicy and vegetal.

 

Stronger, less delicate, and a little soapy in an aquatic sort of way; also much more green, more a fresh leaf note though I still get the dried leaves as well. I get an actual cold, vaguely icy note - a gentle mint, to be precise, and a really nice gentle mint - so subtle I can barely pick it out, but it does add a lovely cold edge. The red peppers are smoother now, less vegetal and more just light spice - in fact it reminds me a bit of pink pepper. The musks are amping already, and they're fabulous.

 

Morphing; the dried leaves have come out a lot, and the peppers have turned back to their vegetal state, smelling acridly bell-pepper-ish - that sharp sort of note, but with a slightly burning spicy-pepper afterbite. I don't get any maple, and the camellia is overwhelmed almost entirely. The musks and soft mints are still incredibly beautiful, but they've taken the backseat - this is all leaves and red pepper.

 

I could maybe put up with the leaves (though I don't like 'dry' sorts of notes), but I can't put with the bitter-spicy-sharp red pepper and it, like so many spices, amps continuosly over time on my skin. Really a shame because the lovely soft mints remind me of the cool mint blend in Ded Moroz, and the camellia/musks combo is so much like Dorian, but without Dorian's heavy sugary sweetness - these musks really do shimmer and glow. Good throw and longevity, and pretty unisex.

Thanks for sharing, fairnymph! I like the U one, that's very stylish.

 

As for putting the code in your actual posting, you need to go to the webpage where your photo is - copy the URL and then come back here, click the little button that looks like it has a picture in it (is everyone's layout the same? for me it's the 7th button from the left above the text space, to the right of the emoticon button - see below) - that will open up a little box where you can paste in the URL (image location) - click OK and you're done!

 

 

If you want to go back and edit your post to do that, you'll need to choose 'Full edit' from the drop-down options so that you get the toolbar with the buttons you need

 

Yeah, I tried that and it doesn't work, it gives me an error saying that the url needs to end with .gif and my image URLs don't. And they're jpegs.

 

But thanks for trying!

 

ETA: I think maybe it's cause my pics don't end in .jpg either, but....I use LJ to host my pics and I would like to continue doing so, and LJ's pic urls simply don't end in .jpg. Also I believe I have tried to post images in that format before (when they did end in .jpg) and it still didn't work. I've modded forums and post on many, many forums in a variety of codes and this is the only forum that won't let me post pics!

 

U from the Mutter Museum

 

&

 

Cthulu in Love

 

I'll take pics of Banshee Beat and Sweet Life as soon as those bottles arrive. Is anyone jonesing for any other bottles while I have my camera out and photoshop open?

 

Also, if anyone knows how to do the code so that images actually display in the post, and could enlighten me, I'd be very grateful!

 

Extremely pale yellow oil. Sweet and light and fruity right at first - berries?!? - followed by cream egg nog and lightly spiced, definitely boozy coffee. Blind, I wouldn't guess egg nog or goat's milk, though there is definitely a creaminess here. But it's a light scent, not rich or heavy or cloying. I'm very surprised. And the spices are delicate.

 

Instantly much more coffee, and the berry is raspberry, so this is like an eggnogg latte with kahlua and raspberry syrup. Strange! There's also an immediate plastic note, probably from the raspberry but could also be the coffee, which is already turning stale on my skin. I get the eggnog thing now, because a strong nutmeg note has emerged. And a sort of sour tang that does indeed smell a little like goat's milk, but this is pretty light and inoffensive.

 

This is morphing very quickly, and it's not even drying fast. The raspberry note is still really strong but it's turning incredibly plastic, and the coffee is turning incredibly stale. This is also less boozy, and less creamy - more slightly sour (but still pleasantly so) milk. The nutmeg clashes distressingly with the raspberry and coffee overlords. This is such a strange jumble that even though I can detect other (light) spices, I can't identify them.

 

Rasperry-plastic sour milk with a faint hint of stale coffee and nutmeg - the coffee has just vanished! As has much of the sweetness, most of the creaminess, and the eggnog vibe. This really smells like raspberry flavoured milk (not dissimilar from strawberry milk), except rather artificial-plastic. The sourness isn't bad - it's not like other sour milk notes in bpal, there's something I really like about it - it reminds me a bit of the cream note in Horn Amalthea, I think. Actually, I'm sure about that. Good throw, but this fades fairly fast.

 

 

This one was really not what I expected and QUITE the morpher.

Eden, I can see we have similar skin chemistry bc clove is an asshole on me, too.

 

Extremely pale lemon yellow oil. Pine needles, deep pine resin, and strong woody clove - this is not as sharp as I expected, but it's dark, intense, and mentholic, almost medicinal. The pine and pitch are strong than the clove. This is also surprisingly sweet in a resinous/woody/deep sort of way.

 

Sharper, more sour, with more traditional BPAL pine (aka cheap nasty pinesol) and also much more clove, very woody-spicy, it reminds me of mulled cider and pomanders, a cold-weather almost-foody note. Less sweet, and brighter as a result of the sourness - which is almost citrusy - yeah, I do think there is some type of citrus here, bc the pomander association is strong. The pitch has settled below though it's still very strong, with the pine, clove, and citrusy note on top. Still pretty mentholic-medicinal.

 

Oh it's definitely sweet orange, and it has amped as this is drying - it's beautiful and juicy, with fruit, pith, and peel, like a whole orange freshly crushed - it reminds me greatly of Gaiman's Orange - the very same note. The clove unfortunately has amped - it's that sharp, sort of plastic-chemical, medicinal-mentholic type that my skin always amps. It's spicy and woody, but more so sharp. The pine has calmed down a bit and lost most of its fake edge, revealing more of the pitch instead, which is a much nicer note - deep, dark, and surprisingly smooth. Less intense throw overall as it dries.

 

That damn clove just keeps amping and it's so, so intense and sharp; also, the pine pitch has turned somewhat from resin to incense - it's gone all smoky, and I don't like smoky. So basically it's piney CLOVE INCENSE trying to smother some delicious sweet orange which is holding on, but just can't really compete. Of course, the one time an orange note holds on my skin, it has be under the rule of CLOVE INCENSE. Fail! Very strong throw throughout, and powerful longevity. Pretty unisex, I'd say.

Pale lemon yellow oil. Surprisingly light, almost aquatic - I think that comes from the grassiness of the hay? But it's lovely. The bilberries and honey and hazelnut are strongest, especially the HONEY, although the sweetness, which is pretty strong, hits rather late on the inhale. I do get a bit of carrot, but I can't pick out the elderberries. The hazelnut is not that bad!

 

More carrot and a little more hazelnut - this a little more foody. But there's still a lot of that bilberry, which to me smells like a really light bluberry - sort of like, faintly blueberry flavoured water - it's delicious! I can get a bit of the darker, tarter elderberry. The carrot adds sweetness to this, but the honey is actually smoother and less syrupy on my skin, so this isn't a cloying blend. The hay is a gorgeous soft note and very light, not at all like hay absolute - not sour or sharp in the least.

 

This is going buttery on me; the hazelnuts are clearly amping more and more. Ugh! This would be so lovely without them. I absolutely adore the wild, light berry notes here, the honey is delicious, and the carrot is so interesting (and also yummy)! And the hay note is hands down the nicest hay note I have ever smelled, it's similar to the drydown of the hay note in Tattie Bogle, but way better.

 

Very slow to dry, but it's fading even before it's fully dry! Actually, the hazelnut is what's fading the most - maybe there's hope? The elderberry and carrot are the most distinct notes now, with the honey and hay and bilberry blurring together (though still very much present) behind, and the hazelnut on top, nagging.

 

Final drydown (well, it never dries, but long term) is elderberries and honey primarily, carrot and buttery hazelnut next, bilberry and hay last. It's interesting how the elderberry takes over and this is quite a morpher. I'd absolutely adore it sans hazelnut, and while this is the least offensive hazelnut blend I've tested, I still hate nuts in perfume, especially foody-buttery ones. Good throw, and after a little initial fading, great longevity.

Golden-yellow oil. Very herbal in a savoury-foody way, kind of like some sort of curry? The basil and spices in combo are doubtless the cause. I get a lot of ginger and clove especially, then the basil, then the dusty-smoky-dark myrrh, then black pepper. Not really getting any metal, and I do get dragon's blood but it's overwhelmed here by everything else.

Still very much basil-spicy curry, still oddly foody. Unpleasantly. The red ginger though is a little sweet (and the sweetness clashes with everything else badly), and it's a really note on its own, I can tell - fresh, bright, invigorating without being 'hot' or at all powdery. The clove is stronger on me - clearly the sharp type that I amp, and I get a weird sweet soapiness that is the air freshener DB. I get the metal now quite strongly - it has that nutmeg tone as iron does on me, but it's different from other iron notes I've smelled, more metallic. This is actually tangy and it really does smell like dark, dense iron. I get a little rust, even. Not a bad metallic note at all, much nicer than the other iron note, such as the one in the Iron Phoenix prototype.

Wtf, this is making my skin burn & itch & redden. This seems to be happening a lot with BPAL lately so I think it's my skin, but geez - annoying. And it's not even dry yet - this is very slow to dry, and it has super strong throw. The iron continues to amp on my skin, as does the delicious red ginger - woot! Unfortunately, the dragon's blood has amped a little too and turned on me predictably, and it's making the rosacea on my face itch badly. I get more black pepper too, formerly a light note, and the clove has surprisingly not amped more. The amping of the red ginger and DB have made this much less like a savoury curry. The myrrh is a bit stronger, and dustier and more incensey, blech.

This is all about the ginger (which goes nicely sweet/musky) in the later stages, and to a slightly lesser extent, the iron metal. The ginger is the same note from Loaded Gun, which I adore, but the presence of the still-too-strong sharp-plastic clove, dusty black pepper and incense/myrhh, as well as the odd savoury hint of basil and sneeze-inducing DB-air freshener make this unwearable for me. Also the skin reaction. But it is less horrible than I expected. Definitely masculine. Strong throw and great longevity.

Slightly murky freshwater aquatic - very evocative, it reminds me of how the ponds I grew up near smell. I get a bit of a rain-type feel, too. I can totally smell that there are fish and other creatures in this water, and weeds, and stones. All of that is in here - amazing! Then more faintly, as a separate layer, is the blend of herbs - green, a little gardeny, but not fresh - these are dried herbs. Not medicinal or mentholic, and I can't pick out anything from the melange.

 

Saltier (brackish, to be precise) and even more obviously aquatic - stronger on my skin overall as a scent. Cleaner. It's not a cool scent, however - it's not refreshing the way many aquatics are. Something(s) here add warmth and even a little dryness. Very intriguing. I get some sweetness, which could be herbal or some type of resin, and much more of the herbs The herbs are still very much dried, almost dusty, and they feel a bit dark, maybe even reesinous. Also a little woody? Quite complex. The herbs are very familiar but I still can't identify individual notes. But this definitely reminds me of at least one other BPAL blend.

 

It reminds me a little of Sturgeon Moon - the strong brackish aquatic base with super-realistic pond notes is the same - but otherwise they're pretty different scents. This gets even saltier as it dries, though it's still brackish and not oceanish. Definitely still pond/river. The herbs have, surprisingly, greatly faded, and are still a seamless blend I can't pick apart. I was imagining the wood, but not the vaguely resinous quality. This isn't the least bit soapy, and it's extremely unisex. I like the subtle aquatic sweetness that has increased just a tad.

 

This fades a lot on my skin, down to a soft brackish aquatic with a hint of herbal, almost smoky-warm resin. It suits the concept perfectly and plays beautifully on my skin, but I'm not especially wowed by it. I think I just prefer oceanic aquatics, and this is just a little too plain for me - no notes I really love to make it stand out. But also no bad notes. Very unisex, and the best of the Iteru line for me so far, but still not a winner. Very low throw and poor longevity.

 

At least I don't get dirt/soil like others are mentioning, not in the least.

Sniffed: Lots of balsam on top, beautifully piney-fresh (but not like the BPAL pine note, like real pine) with just a bit of resinous depth, lightly sweet, very natural vanilla (it's almost musky, not foody or heavy at all), a definite sort of beautifully ephemeral dusty paper note, and soft leather - to my nose, it smells like a very light 'old leather' note. This reminds me quite a bit of Quincy Morris, though this is of much less sweet and has that strong top balsam note.

 

Wet: Balsam like WHOA; this is extremely woodsy, a deep, beautiful evergreen forest, cool and densely wooded. Very, very evocative. A little sweeter, but this vanilla note - it's unlike any vanilla I've ever smelled. It really does smell RAW, and is the least-sweet vanilla note I've ever smelled - it's very subtle, and I'm not sure that I'd peg it as vanilla in a blind test. I get more of the paper note, quite a bit, and to my nose it merges with the balsam - kind of a wood pulp sort of note, really interesting and again, evocative. The leather is so faint still that I'm still not positive of its type. This brighter, less subdued and no longer dusty on my skin.

 

Dry: This dries pretty quickly, and as it dries the vanilla immediately starts amping and gaining sweetness. Now it reminds me of opening a jar with a vanilla bean in it - not a crushed vanilla bean or the paste or extract - but whole bean sniffed before it's been opened. The balsam is still strongly in command, but it's less overwhelming. It's a bit deeper now too, more resin and less greenery - though it's still quite bright. It works well with that lovely paper note (which is a new note to my nose). The leather now emerges more; actually, I do think this is LEATHERS, multiple types. I get a little old leather, and a little of the leather in Sacrifice - fortunately no chemical-plastic-powder De Sade/Spanked style.

 

Later: The balsam continues to soften, though this is still a very masculine, green scent - it's turning more dry-wood-pulp/papery - I think there is another wood here, or else just a balsam I haven't tested before - I get something like a dry sandalwood, almost cedary but not quite. This may sadly be too woodily dry for me. The vanilla is really something! It's sweeter yet, but it has an almost balsamic tone - it's very much raw, very natural, outdoorsy, masculine. Dark but not in that boozy way or a smoked way. The leathers are fainter - they were never strong, and they fade on my skin over time - a sure sign that there's none of the sharp leather note, which always amps on me.

 

Summary: Sweet, rich, almost musky crushed raw vanilla beans and piney/wood-pulpy sawdust - this does go dusty on me, and the balsam loses nearly all of its greenness after a couple hours, going to dry, dry wood. There's definitely a strong dry wood in here, I think a sandalwood of some type. I get only a little hint of old suede leather in the drydown, it's really the vanilla that eventually takes the reins, though the dry woods are just below. The vanilla is almost too intense for me, and the woods almost too dry - I think this would be much more awesome on a man.

 

It's a beautiful scent, but I'm not sure I can pull it off - I should also retest when I'm at a better point in my cycle. I do think this blend will make many people very happy!

Dark and woodsy; lots of evergreeny-hemlock, dark, dark resins, intense, dark tobacco and a little fresher cypress. Masculine, HEAVY, dark. Not getting the lettuce or plum at all, and not even the sweetness of the styrax.

Hemlock and cypress, whoa! This is all about the evergreen woods. The hemlock smells like real pine (not BPAL's usual 'air freshener/cleaner pine' note), like crushing actual pine needles of some sort between your fingers, very evocative. The cypress has that light citrusy aspect that brightens this a tiny bit, but the hemlock is definitely dominating this blend. The olibanum is pretty strong too, sort of smoky-woody, definitely resinous, but not incensey. The tobacco is dark and astringent.

Ohhhhh this is SO much better! The plum and styrax have come out and are gorgeously deep and sweet, jammy in a lovely way. A little wild lettuce has emerged too, it's almost juicy, watery and cool and helps lighten this otherwise still very heavy blend. The hemlock has greatly receded while the cypress has amped a little, so that this is a fresher woodsy scent, again, less dark and less heavy and less overwhelming.

Plum is in command, that rich, black plum note of Hellion and Mme Moriarty. The tobacco has smoothed out into a rich, sophisticated note that reminds me of the note in Quincy Morris, though it's also faded a little. Unfortunately the oibanum has turned much more like frankincense - sweeter, smokier, even a little dusty - this may be the dealbreaker in this blend for me.

I think this is just a shade too dark and masculine for me, and that smoky-woody olibanum makes it so. Such a shame, bc the plum and tobacco notes are utterly gorgeous, the cypress and lettuce lovely though the latter is sadly very faint, and the hemlock is totally manageable. It's resiny, woodsy, dark plum and tobacco. No metal in this blend that I can ever pick out. Great throw and good longevity.

Bright and citrusy - lots of Pledge-y verbena, metallic gold, beautiful sunny heliotrope, a little rooty angelica and warm resins. It does smell very appropriate for the concept. I get more gum arabic than frankincense.

 

Super, super verbena-y, with also amped angelica and less so, heliotrope. This is really the first strongly metallic gold note I've smelled and I like it! It's amped too, fortunately, as is the gum arabic. The frankincense is still hiding - there's a bit of sweet warmth, but not much wood or smoke or darkness. This is a very bright and clean, shiny-feeling blend.

 

Dry, the verbena has burnt off a little bit - thank god - but it's still the strongest note here, and it gives the blend a very strong throw. The heliotrope has amped quite a lot and sweetens this blend subtly - this is one of the most heliotrope-forward blends I've tested. That angelic has turned a little powdery, but it's nicer like this; I prefer it softened and without that rooty tone. I really like the gum arabic, surprisingly - it's very smooth and comforting and almost creamy, and balances the tang of the gold nicely.

 

Verbena continues to fade but sadly the heliotrope is fading a little now too. Even more sadly the metal note has almost completely disappeared, Angelic and gum arabic are still nice and smooth, frankincense is still absent. Now I feel like I get...lilac? A heady floral. From where, I don't know. I also get a little orange peel. WTH, these came out of nowhere!

 

Final drydown is a mixture of heady lilac and Pledge-y lemon verbena, over much light, almost creamy-smooth, slightly powdery angelica and gum arabic and a bit of glowing heliotrope, and the tiniest little glimmer of golden metal. Unfortunately the surprise lilac note makes my face itch badly, and I can't ever handle this much or this type of verbena. No frankincense at any point, at least. Strong throw and longevity.

GOOD LORD THIS IS STRONG. It's like I've been dropped in a vat of strawberry bubblegum - oh yes, that's it, wild strawberry bubblicious, EXACTLY! This is so pink it's scary. This is pink to the nth degree. And now the mimosa emerges more forceful, very sharp and bitter as always on my skin, and oddly a little sour too, and this is really clashing terribly with the strawberry, so that the whole blend smells incredibly artificial/chemical/plastic.

 

Egads. It's not morphing, but 1) could it get any worse? I think not and 2)could it morph in a good direction? I doubt it. This is just not something my skin can handle. This is the really bad type of strawberry that is used in the older BPAL blends that is fake and plastic on me, and mimosa is always a sharp, acrid chemical note on me, too, and together they appear to be synergystically evil. I rename this scent Super Artificial Toxic Pink Dye #666.

 

This also has the throw of Satan but fortunately washes off easily without lingering. Thank god.

 

x infinity