Leopard403

Love all these notes on their own, but together in Wembley they are a big ol' mess. Super pineapple-y when wet this starts out reminiscent of a Tiki Bar blend, but there is something about it very high and sour. I ended up washing this off.

Mokey is the kind of scent that makes me think I suck at reviewing scents, because I love it but I have no idea what to say about it. I don't really get soap and I don't really get a purple vibe, but I am in awe of how this can make you think that it is a really nice floral even though it isn't identifiable as a floral in any way. This is just the kind of scent that sticks close to the skin and it is just the way someone would smell rather than the way someone's *perfume* would smell. It's like coming out of the shower and having a mix of soap and shampoo and soft water and lightly-scented creams all over you, yet still being able to smell the scrubbed skin underneath. It is gorgeous and intimate. And is it me, or does Mokey sorta look like Dorothy Zbornak around the face there?

Boober is the Fraggle scent I almost wasn't brave enough to buy. But I did, and lucky for me. And it's funny how weird noses and skin chemistries are! There are several BPAL scents that turn to too-fresh dryer sheets or pure soap on me (some are clearly finely milled French soaps, but still: soap). Then comes Boober which is *supposed* to smell of soap and laundry, but doesn't! To me and on me, Boober smells like a baby's head: soft and a little sweet and a bit powdery but not to the point that you say "hey that's powdery!" It is that gentle scent that is clearly clean and fresh but not to the point that you say "hey that's clean and fresh!" because you are way too busy huffing that infant's head and thinking about how good it smells, and why can't they capture that in a bottle. Well here you go folks.

First impression: How can this combination of scents fade so quickly?!? Red is a lovely scent, bright and fizzy and not too overtly fruity. Almost reminiscent of the juniper/gin note in Velvet Pink Kitty and Blue Fire. Probably leaning more Pink than Red, if you want to get picky like that. But my skin just eats it. The red currant was the only note to stick around for more than 5 minutes...and even that only lasted about 10. I plan to try it in a scent locket and report back.

I've never smelled Winter Maiden so I can't make that comparison, but to my nose this could be a bath oil version of Faith. Mmmmmmm.

Yep, just pine tree for me.

I am utterly fascinated by this, because I can't smell it. Wet, dry, in the imp, on my skin: There is no scent.

Starts out Laffy Taffy pear: More of a gum- or candy-flavored pear than actual pear. But then it settles beautifully and smells like real pear with something creamy in the background. Unfortunately, my skin eats it: This only lasts about 10 minutes on my skin and there is no throw even when I slather. Sad.

When Blossoms in Springtime is wet, it is super-foody. But as soon as it dries, it smells just like the prior Vulva scents. Unfortunately, on my first full wear, it has given me a tremendous headache.

Blooming Rose is a lovely, well-blended floral that will be a perfect Springtime scent. Rose is prominent so you know it is there, but it is clear that this is a mixed bouquet. There is a slight undertone of fancy floral soap, which is probably related to the lilac, but somehow that works FOR it rather than against. I'm not sure what "white honey" is, but normally I amp all kinds of honey and I don't recognize the usual stuff in this at all because this is all girly flowers. Very dainty, but suprisingly long-lasting on me!

I gravitate toward rose scents, so I was really looking forward to Elizabeth of Bohemia. It turns out, I think, that I love rose, but don't love oude. The resinous scent under this rose is very cloying, and in fact this smells exactly like the time I had a brilliant but short-lived idea to make my own rose-scented gel candles. Elizabeth smells exactly like that, very much an in-your-face I AM A FAKE THING BUT I SMELL LIKE ROSE! scent. So though the rose is deep and lush and lovely there is a sort of chemical undertone that just ruins it.

At first, The Last Unicorn has a murky, muddy, vegetative scent about it; almost a dirty aquatic but not quite. Luckily this is a short first impression and the scent blossoms into something amazing. It is complex and seamless, so well-blended that no one note stands out above the others. It smells a little dainty, a lot sad: This is one of those incredibly evocative scents, and knowing the inspiration for it, it just all makes sense somehow. I could be a young girl again, wearing this scent and crying over the book and the film for the first time. But it works for me now as a woman, a little older and wiser with a little bit of Molly Grue inside of me, because this scent is wistful and peaceful and gentle and lovely. SO beautiful. I quite think it would work as a unisex scent, too, which means it is damned brilliant on top of everything else.

As I sniffed and sniffed at this--both wet and dry, both in the imp and on my skin--I thought "Why do I know that scent? What is it, what is it?" I read and reread the notes and pondered quite hard, and it just wouldn't come to me. I just sniffed again and it finally came in a sudden clear blast: It's a fresh pine tree.

This is pretty. The base is clearly minty, though the other notes smell more like citrus fruits than "yellow petals" to me. It feels sort of fuzzy and fizzy, more of a yuzu or blood orange citrus than a brighter orange or lemon scent. This is actually what I expected Yellow Snowballs to smell like. I find it a bit too masculine on me, but it would be lovely on a boy in springtime.

All sandalwood and tuberose on me. It is a high, white floral, as so many of the prettier Frankenstein Yules seem to be on me. Bummer.

I could have written this review myself. I am totally striking out on Yules this year.

I just don't get it. A Companion of the Same Nature is composed of scents that I love, that are magic on my skin. It's true that I tend to amp amber and that it has the risk of drowning everything else out, and I was willing to take a chance here because it sounded lovely. If I could have put money on which of my Yule decants I would love best, it would be this one. I knew I was in trouble when the decant arrived and the oil was a rusty orange color. That's usually the first bad sign, but I tried to disregard it. So I was so disappointed when, upon the first few sniffs, I could barely bring myself to put this on my skin; and once on my skin, it didn't get any better. This is a super-strong generic "perfume-y" scent that encapsulates everything I dislike about most bestselling eau de parfum sprays. So though I have a very full decant to swap away, I also have a headache and a broken heart.

Glad to say that on me, this is chocolate with gingerbread in the background rather than the other way around. It is gentler on my skin than many of the lab's "spicier" blends, too. Love.

I too get laundry detergent, but it is nice laundry detergent. Too masculine for me, but would be great on a guy.

Wet, this is a high white scent with no identifiable notes; just a mishmash white floral. Dry, it settles down and smells like expensive French-milled soap. Quite nice, but not really noteworthy.

Wet, this is all juicy pear. As it settles on my skin, the vanilla comes out with a very soft rose. (And I mean soft: I amp rose, and I can barely tell this is there. Maybe the "rose musk" is the secret!) I don't smell any honey or red currant, and the gardenia is only noticable if you know to look for it. Overall, this is a mild vanilla pear with slight floral overtones. It is quite pretty, but it doesn't last on me.

What is that on MAISON EN PAIN D'ÉPICES? It looks like an old sanitarium, but that can't be right, can it?

Agreed. I love Two, Five and Seven but it is a fresher, slightly redder rose scent and there is something identifiably green underneath. (Be careful, too: To my nose, as it ages, that green turns into beer. ) I also love Viola but in addition to the tea rose-y notes, there is something purple about it as well. When I think of it, I always picture the color pink swirling with the color lavender. It is more little girlish than the typical old ladyishness of plain tea rose. Ouija is really heavy on the wood, and I haven't tried Euphrosyne.

Wet, this doesn't smell like much of anything to my nose. On my skin, it is a rather bland aquatic. Not really my thing.

Wet, this is delightful. Like a Christmas tree decorated with superpink candies, crowned with tiny, rare nightblooming flowers. On my skin, all I get is salty boiled peanuts. I hate my skin.