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BPAL Madness!

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... This is a Mexican paean to La Huesuda: dry, crackling leaves, the incense smoke of altars honoring Death and the Dead, funeral bouquets, the candies, chocolates, foods and tobacco of the ofrenda, amaranth, sweet cactus blossom and desert cereus.

In the bottle: Holy jumping bejeebus Jasmine!!!
Wet on skin: maybe its the fact that I havent slept in 24 hours but I'm picturing little Jasmine devils with pitchforks attacking my face. Yeah, its the lack of sleep...
I love Jasmine but this baby is STRONG!
Drydown: okay, theres a lil tobacco wafting out... the Jasmine is still going strong. (teach me to slather eh?)
Its starting to temper a little, I like it, the Jasmine is overpowering enough that I cant pinpoint specific notes besides the tobacco, which I tend to amp. I like it. But as I said, I like Jasmine.
(note: the capital J on jasmine was intentional... this is definately jasmine with a capital J)


Edit to say: the very drydown stage of this is d.i.v.i.n.e. I love this!!! Edited by Silvertree

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Okay, let's hear it for aging! I was just trying a few scents from my massive swap pile and decided to give Dia de los Muertos another shot. My decant is from 2007, and when I first tried it, it was heartbreakingly floral on me. I mean, seriously, it was a jasmine festival and jasmine does not like me. So, not a good scene. And I tried it again probably a year later with similar results.

 

But now? In the vial, it's floral yet light and cool. On my skin, it's a bit of a bright floral at first, but it settles down quickly. And then? MAGIC! It smells like...autumn air and cakes and flowers and magic. :wub2: The only problem is that it seems to fade quickly. I need to put on more, though I dread the initial burst of OMGFLORAL if I go too heavy. But it's really so worth it.

 

And I only have a decant, of course. :cry2:

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***2009 version***

 

I was a little apprehensive after reading the reviews saying one of the recent incarnations of this had been overly floral, but I need not have worried. The 2009 version is a beautiful scent, unlike any BPAL I've tried so far. It's sweet, but not foody, and very well-blended. It's hard for me to pick out individual notes, but my overall impression is of fruits, cake, and a touch of incense. The fruity note smells a bit like the subtlest apple to me, but an exceptionally natural and aromatic apple. My guess is there's no apple in there at all, but that's just what my nose is telling me. I like this a lot.

 

I'd say it sticks kind of close to the skin and has moderate staying power.

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Unlike the previous reviewer, this one (09 version) is decidedly floral on my skin. The jasmine is tempered by a medley of other things I can't separate. I'm guessing this will be very pretty with a little aging.

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In the imp I get a very heavy floral. No leaves, no incense, no food stuffs, just heavy florals. Looks like I'm gonna pass on this one as a locket tester as well.

 

The heavy florals start disappearing. In fact, wet, almost the whole scent stats disappearing! Now it's a very , very light semi sweet food floral scent.

 

Bizarre! After a few hours it's an incensy, almost honey like plastic. Blah. I'm not seeing any great redeeming transformations here, honestly. The honeyed plastic, if anything, becomes more pronounced.

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Oh my gosh! This is very, very close to Samhain 08 on my skin. It has that same warm, honeyed base and I think I can smell the leaves! Its less harsh and astringent than samhain and I can detect a bit of floral in there but this is gorgeous! Not at all what I expected from the description! I think I have to wear it a few times to see if its me- I still like the apple from Samhain more but this might make a great work scent!

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In the Imp: Sticky sweet alcohol and incense? Getting some of the cactus blossom. I can't describe it too well because this certainly appears to be a new array of notes for me, but it seems yummy!

 

Wet: I see you've joined the party, tobacco, though you're not giving me an overwhelming sense of lung cancer so you're all right by me. I must say this is perfectly evocative of what it's trying to replicate, if I close my eyes I can just imagine a bunch of people living it up on a dusty road, the scents of nature melding with the treats created by the celebrators. I like the autumnal presence of the "crackling leaves" which keeps this from being overloaded with too many candy-ish and floral smells.

 

Dry: As warm and welcoming as I think this is, I believe it could work for either gender with the balance struck between robust sweetness and the strength of the tobacco with leaves. Amazingly I don't consider this cloying despite how many full-bodied, rich aspects it's tossing together. And by the way, it has an awesome throw even after a few hours.

 

Verdict: I'd still consider this too sugary for my usual fair, but I would looove it emanating off of someone else. In fact, I may have to hold onto the imp for a while to see whether I could stand it in my hair or such, because it's so incredibly luscious without being too syrupy. Caught between a 3 and a 4 for the final score but for now I'm saying...

 

Rating: 3/5

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DDLM 09: Almost a marigold single-note on me. None of the deeper notes are present at all. There is a slight bit of honeyed sweetness, however. If you hadn't told me that this was DDLM, I might like it...as is, I keep comparing this to DDLM 04, and it falls far short.

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2007 Dia De Los Muertos

Honeyed floral incense. Not for me. Way to floral, and way to sweet. I think there is too much going on here for me to appreciate, especially when so many of the notes inside are just Meh.

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I have the 2009 version.

 

This is seriously one of the most beautiful Halloween BPALs I've ever tried, and one of the most complex blends. One moment I get sharp florals, the next I get chocolate and tobacco, the next I get honey.

 

Reviewers who have said this smells very much like Samhain 2008 are right on the mark, I think. It has that same autumnal sweetness. What a beautiful scent! So glad I swapped for a bottle!

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Another seasonal classic I've not yet tried. The cactus blossom is jumping out at me and stomping all over the other notes here although I'm picking up on some jasmine too. Very floral. I'm not getting the foodiness here at all that I'd expect from the description. It's ok but cactus isn't really a note I love. Glad I finally tried it though!

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The description of this sounded lovely, so I was going to get a bottle unsniffed. Due to the awesomeness of the 'weenies this year, I had to pick and choose and decided to get a decant of this. On to the review.

I get no cocoa, incense, or fruit (well, maybe a sickly sweet fruit when it's wet..). What I get is a cloying fake floral. If this is what cactus blossom smells like, I want nothing to do with it. Kind of jasminey, actually. I'll see how this ages, but I definitely don't need a bottle. :(

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This one got randomly picked for this evening. ('09 version) At first is was 100% florals, which is fine, I like florals. After it dried, though, it turned into this weird fake-y, wanna-be expensive cologne which was very sharp floral.... I don't know how else to describe it. Now, it's mellowed beautifully into a faint, but warm cocoa-y succulent floral with the barest whisper of greenishness to it (the greenishness isn't sharp like grass, but more of a fresh vibrancy). I quite like it. I'm going to reserve bottle judgment until later, but it's definitely up for consideration.

 

I also want to note that this might not be the best time of the month to test scents, if you know what I mean. I've not really noticed my body chemistry changing whilst entertaining the "visitor", but with new scents, I can't say for sure. I'll retest all the ones I've tried this week and update my thoughts on them if necessary.

Edited by wl552

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09 Version:

 

HOLY JASMINE BATMAN!!! Gah! This is thick and cloying. And I can barely detect any of the other notes here. Not for me.

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2009:

 

Hm. Jasmine is one of my Notes of Doom, and I don't get jasmine at all from this. Instead I get an incensey, complex floral with cocoa and tobacco. Definitely tobacco. It's the most perfumey BPAL I've ever loved, and all I have is decant remnants, so I think I'll be trying to swap for a full bottle. While some of the other Halloweenies smell to me more like they would make great room scents, this is definitely a body/hair scent to me, and it's evocative of its name somehow. Not a very helpful review, but I'll wear it again and give better details later. :)

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Sniffing the imp doesn't smell too promising. It definately has the potential to turn to a floral soap on me. When on I can smell florals and soap. This doesn't bode well. This may be the 4th out of 4 Halloween scents that just don't work on me. I think the jasmine is coming out, but it smells like wee, this tends to happen on me if there is no vanilla.

 

Once dry it doesn't smell as soapy as I was expecting but I never smelled any smoke or leaves or food or chocolate, just dissapointing florals. I doubt I will be wearing this again.

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This is for the 2009 version. Wet, it was a blast of florals. I couldn't quite pick out the jasmine, and I don't know what cactus-flower smells like, but it reminded me a little bit of a spicy department store perfume, minus the headache. Dry, I got a cider-y smell, but still very floral. It seemed to morph a lot over the next few hours, with the cocoa and spices coming out (not like a chocolate bar, but like the powder.) I never really got the cake. There was some suggestion of smoke, but it's not prominent on my skin. i thought I got a whiff of something aloe-like in there at some point. I can never remember exactly what (unsmoked) tobacco smells like, so there may have been some in there) throw seems very good and it's lasted nicely past the eight hour mark. Overall, this is actually closer to what I was expecting from Samhain, but this is playing much more nicely with my skin. It's nice, but I'm not sure if I love it on me.

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***2009 Version ***

 

in the bottle: Really, really, really sweet florals. It reminds me the perfume that my college roommate wore our sophomore year (she used to really strongly spray it on).

 

wet: Wet, it is still very floral, though tempered with a foody sweetness. I have to assume that is the cactus, and or the candies. The smells is still overwhelmingly floral.

 

drydown: ... and, more floral. It smells like jasmine, as others have noted. Although, unlike many florals, this one did not go to babypowdergrandma on my skin, but kept its integrity. Staying power was moderate - four or five hours, though fades quickly.

 

verdict: I got a decant from one of the circles. I think I'll keep my decant, but no need to buy a bottle.

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This is for the 2009 version, having just received a decant from Gatesofrockinroll (thanks again!).

 

In the imp: wow. a very piquant floral. I get jasmine, honeysuckle and stargazer lily, with a green at the end that makes me put the cap back on. But I'm intrigued.

 

Wet: The green calms down and I get the florals only. I usually don't like overly flowery stuff, but this has something else to it. Unfortunately I'm new and inexperienced with isolated scents so I can't name what's happening in the background.

 

Drydown: Ugh! Who the hell put craft store mulled cider scented oil on my wrist?!!!

 

Three hours later: Tobacco. Incense. Clove cigaret. Every now and then cocoa powder and a flower.

 

Dia de los Muertos took me on a really weird journey, and for that along with how it smells on me now, I'm considering a full bottle while I still have the opportunity.

 

Edited: I have purchased a bottle while it's still live. I love this one on me and as an oil to burn.

Edited by sheena

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Dia de los Muertos 2009

 

This is lovely; it starts off Jasmine, Pepper & Resins. It melds into a kind of All Souls with a spicy floral beat to it. Not foody, not floral, but earthy and heavenly at the same time.

 

This is from the imp, and it has aged since it arrived. When I first tried it, it was hugely Jasmin. But as it aged over the month, the other ingredients have bloomed. Definitely will purchase a bottle, as it is an overall Autumn/Winter scent - even though Autumn/Winter is only a state of mind in LA!

 

:wub2:

 

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In the imp: Florals and foodie scents all mixed together. A bit like my BPAL box, but not exactly.

 

Wet: Tobacco and smoke and leaves--here's another morpher. And there's chocolate, now, as well.

 

The dry-down: Every time I sniff my arm, another note comes out to play, and then mixes back into the blend. All the floral notes and the foodie notes have turned into an amazing sweet-but-not-too-sweet mix. I have some of the 07, I think, stashed away, so will have to do a comparison test later.

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2009 version

 

So, I put this on to test right before the SO got home. When he walked in and came to give me a hug, without any prompting, he told me "Mmmmm, you smell good!". Without any prompting!! Wheeee!

 

So, on me this scent is very perfumey and not something the SO normally likes. It's almost, foody incensey? If that makes any sense? Lovely and a definite keeper! This scent lasts forever and doesn't change much for me from application to drydown.

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2009 version:

 

I only get floral from this. I'm sad, I really wanted some leaves, incense, chocolate, and tobacco to come out. It's a pretty floral, but I have other favorites.

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Dia de los Muertos 2009

 

In Bottle: Ooh I definitely get the cactus blossom, and leaves. Not sure if I like it.

Wet on Skin: This is surprisingly floral and much less incense than I expected.

Dry Down: Bleh... Too sweet, that weirdly synthetic smell from floral.

Dry on Skin: Synthetic floral.

Overall: 2/5 Really let down by this scent.

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