suileach

Beeswax candles reflect flickering light onto a brass-coated boiler engraved with the words "Solve Et Coagula". The gargantuan boiler sends torrents of steam into rigid pipes that exert force onto innumerable pistons and turbine blades. The motion is harnessed to propel energy into gargantuan cogs and gears that move liquid metals, herbs, and resins into a series of alembics. Balm of Gilead, benzoin, frankincense, balsam of peru, beeswax, saffron, galbanum, calamus, hyssop, mastic, lemon balm, and white sage. This blend is so freaking amazing I'm struggling to find words for it. It's like...like an engine fueled by honey mead, crushed flowers, and warm, spicy resins. I recognize the Balm of Gilead from Sagittarius - god, I LOVE this note - and when I first opened the vial there was a strong, almost peppery bite of some kind. At first I thought I'd opened the wasabi honey scent (Nostrum Remedium) by mistake! The beeswax is abso-effing-lutely GORGEOUS in this. I want to eat my arm. It is that delicious and realistic smelling. I rarely have luck with BPAL's honey or beeswax, which has typically made me quite sad indeed, as I adore honey. But this..this works on me and by far surpasses my expectations. GET THIS SCENT. It is awesome. It's like wearing happy, buzzing mechanical bees! eta: This is super long wearing! It's now 14 hours later, and my arm still smells like honeycomb.

Harvest Moon is celebrated in almost every culture, and the bounty of the season is marked in a myriad of ways. Harvest Moon touches the Equinox, the festival of Janus, the culmination of Homowo, the "crying of the neck" in Cornwall, and the Women's Festival of the Moon. This is a day that celebrates abundance and beauty, fertility and progress, and the light of this full moon blesses new undertakings and reunites lost loves. The Harvest Moon, by definition, is the Full Moon that falls closest to the Autumnal Equinox, and thus, it shares some of that Sabbat's characteristics. This Full Moon was thus named because it rises within half an hour of the sun's setting, in the Northern Hemisphere, and at this time farmers are able to work longer into the night by the light of this Moon. As the year draws to a close, the Full Moon rises an average of fifty minutes later each night, with the exception of a few nights surrounding the Harvest Moon, which only rises 10-30 minutes later. This moon is also, to the human eye, the fullest and largest of the year's Moons, hanging gloriously huge, yellow and low in the night sky, and many lunar illusions play tricks our eyes at this time. The Harvest ushers in many celebrations, including the Equinox and the Festival of Janus, God of Doors. Janus is the Roman Lord of Gateways, beginnings and endings, and transitions. Thus, the Harvest Moon is a time for blessing new ventures, the onset of new and progressive phases in one's life, and rites of passage into adulthood. This time of year also marks one of the Festivals of Dionysus, Lord of Ecstasy and the Vine. This Harvest lunacy combines the autumnal scents of balsam fir, cedar, juniper berry, clove, saffron, damson plum, sage, black cherry, and fennel with the crushed wine grapes of Dionysus and Janus' lingum aloes. Wine 'n pine fir. Has an astringent scent at the start and it smells more like a winter blend due to the powdery fir. But it warms as it sits on the skin, the wine becoming more full-bodied, and the plum becoming sweeter. Wine and grape notes don't typically work on me, so I'm impressed by this one, which doesn't go all grape-candy on me. Sage is also present, lingering around the edges of the scent to lend a distinct herbal touch. Clove only makes itself known on drydown, and it works as an accent rather than overpowering the blend. Ultimately, this is a great, seasonally-evocative scent, but one I would be far more likely to use as a room spray or tart. It doesn't really suit me as a perfume. It should be liked by fans of L'Inverno and The Shivering Boy.

Cardinal earth: the essence of control. Solomon's Seal, pine, amaranth, ambrette, cypress, wild tobacco, and hemp. My apologies that the first review for this scent is not a positive one. I'm a Capricorn, so I was looking forward to this scent. I am sad, sad, sad that my wonky skin chemistry ruined my own Sun Sign scent on me. In the bottle: Pine. On: Yep, I still amp pine. This isn't a wet, sharp, resinous pine, though, like they often are. Instead, it's soft, dry, and barky. It stays that way for the first five minutes, and then... ...Oh no. OH no. Something in this goes all cat urine on me! omfgwhy. It's not simply reminiscent of cat urine, it's *just like it*. I have a cat who used to mark a lot, so I'm unfortunately quite familiar with the smell...this smells exactly like fabric permeated with old cat pee. I don't know what note is responsible for this, as pine and cypress are the only notes in this I'm really familiar with. I didn't wash it off, because I had to give Capricorn a chance, cat pee or no. Let me say, this scent is a tease - occasionally the uric acid scent is *gone* and I just get a light, earthy pine...and then the urine comes back and wafts around me (yea, urine got throw). Much like my experience with a wool sweater I have that has an old cat stain that just will not budge. I look forward to being horribly jealous of hearing how wonderful it is on people who are not me. eta: It is definitely the fault of my body chemistry and not that of the scent. I put some on a piece of fabric and it smells wonderful!

Hm! Light floral, watery bluegreen in nature. Gardenia, are you there? Something in that waxy-white floral category, anyway. My nose also detects something a bit spicy, almost like pimento (though I sincerely doubt there's any of that in this blend) and a vague, breezy, bergamot-like citrus. It reminds me every so faintly of a commercial perfume my grandmother used to wear, possibly Wind Song. Misty, floaty, feminine. I actually...like this. It's a floral and an aquatic, and I like it! Will wonders never cease?

In a word: creamy. In more: The creamy undertone of this greatly gentles the florals - jasmine is a Big Big No for me in everything else I've tried, but this *might* be workable, if it continues to behave. In the vial, I got only a faint whiff of the Celery Peanut Butter smell that my nose typically gets from jasmine. The olive blossom rounds this out - overall, an almost green, Spring-like floral. Thick, waxy, heavily-scented hyacinth petals and a woodsy, somewhat gourmand cream. A lovely surprise! ..Later: Still gorgeous. Mmm. The cinnamon really helps this scent form a coherent whole and perhaps, as I amp it, assists in the drowning of the jasmine. Overall:

Much sweeter than I was expecting. It reminds me a bit of Faeu Boulanger, which is amusing, as I was trying out Death Cap in the hopes of finding a dirt and decaying matter blend over which I could layer Faeu Boulanger to ground it! I'm quite liking Death Cap all on its own, though. It's sweet, soft, green and misty, with a hint, as it dries, of crumbling mushroom cap. ...Okay, and now it's turning to sunscreen. I do finally detect some dirt in here, but it's buried under the great big glob of Banana Boat that someone spilled all over said dirt. Normally I like blends reminiscent of that particular scent, but this is just much too sweet, cloying, and powdery.

In vial: Soft green, herbal, luminescent. On me: Mint comes out! So pretty and refreshing. It has the same feel as a cucumber melon type scent - that cooling, pale green feel - but, unlike those, I quite like this. Some time later: Oh my goat, this is gorgeous! The violets have come out to play now, but they're actually behaving themselves and just lending a poignant sweetness to the mint. So creamy and sweet! Between this and Torture Queen, I smell wonderful! This is fantastic. If I can get over my 'if I wear mint, people will think I've spilled toothpaste on myself!' mental block, I'll like it even more.

Smooth, electric, bright white. The tea and ambergris are the big players on my skin, with the gardenia, musk and ozone-like chrome lending support. It's oceany, in a way, and reminds me a bit of Kiyohime Changes From A Serpent and R'lyeh. Just...brighter, and less murky than those scents. I'm waiting to see if the tea will continue to behave - I often get a harsh, metallic drydown from it. Crossing my fingers, because this is fantastic, and a big change from the types of scents I normally wear. Wow, this really softens; I'd almost say it gets fuzzy as it dries. It's all rounded corners now; the chrome has lost its blinding gleam. It's a creamy, almost downy musk and ambergris, with the tea and gardenia still lending an uplifting quality. The drydown several hours later isn't as impressive; it's blandly musky and too muted. I'll give this a few more tries before making a decision. I do love the first few hours of wear.

Huh. When I opened this decant the first few times for sniffing, all I got was a big wallop of pine. Today, I get a big wallop of clove. Once it touches my skin, the vanilla comes out, sweet and warm. The sharp pine sap remains for a minute, but it's soon shoved out of place by cinnamon and clove. I smell like I've been rolling around with wanton abandon in my spice drawer. There is nothing subtle about this scent - if you want spicy, here it is!

This worried me in the vial, as the lilac was prominent and touched only lightly by a cool undercurrent of hyssop. The warmer notes come to life on my skin and for a brief time it becomes a warm, spicy floral - quite pleasant! - until the lilac once again rears it head, devouring the rest of the notes. And then my skin chemistry renders this truly disastrous indeed - I get this odd whiff of something funky, almost fishy from the throw at about 6" away. I don't know what went wrong, but I suspect that perhaps babylonian musk is the culprit, because that fishy note has a hint of powder to it. And when musks go bad, they go powdery. I feel as though this could be an incredibly lovely, unique blend on those with more cooperative skin chemistry. Sadly, I am not among those so blessed.

I just don't know how to describe this. It fits the inspiration so perfectly - a desiccated hand, yellowed and rough with sinew, dripping wax, and the sulfuric stench of a lit match... The bark note is dead on. Independently of reading the notes, I was thinking that I smelled bark. Indeed! It grows smokier after a few minutes. The hand, full of unholy mischief, does more than light the way; somehow, a fire starts. Parchment and dry leaves go up in flame; black ashes and soot scatter. Several hours later, the smoke and decay are gone, leaving behind a soft, mellow beeswax. This is an eerie, disquieting scent and quite an experience to follow through its various stages.

Whoa. Intensely sexy. Inez dances with you in a hot room, an old phonograph scratching out a love song. This is her scented hair, the humid weight of summer, her red heels tapping on the wooden floor, and the sweat beading between her breasts. From there, her perfume rises - musk, glowing amber, dry sandalwood, heat... Holy hell, this is sex in a bottle. Nothing like O's post-coital scent, but a feminine skin-scent reminiscent of desire and lust. It entices, draws you closer, heats the blood, brings words like 'devour' and, well, rather less coherent things, to the forefront of the mind. My skin almost completely eats this after an hour, but I certainly don't think I'll mind re-slathering this one. ...In short?

Gorgeous! Golden apples and glistening swirls of caramel are topped by a fluffy cloud of whipped cream. A wonderful dessert-like blend that positively sparkles with joy and pleasure. The caramel in this is positively luscious - so different, to my nose, than the usual BPAL caramel that unfortunately tends to turn to dust when it hits my skin. And, somehow, the teak doesn't turn on me either! This blend makes me feel like grinning from ear to ear. I love it! ...Sadly, the apple takes over after a half hour, stomping heartlessly all over the delicious cream and caramel and grinding them into nothing. Ah, but for a brief time, I thought I could actually wear apple...alas! A fleeting love affair.

Sniff test: Sophisticated, timeless, feminine. The honey - delicate and sweet - is the main note here, surrounded on all sides by an airy profusion of pink summer flowers in full bloom. It reminds me fleetingly of my grandmother - impeccably clean and lady-like. I'm not sure I'll be trying this one in the shower, as the scent seems a bit light and subtle for my soap preferences, but it really is lovely, and I look forward to smelling L'Estate in other forms.

An interesting scent of the woodsy-oriental type. Much less dry than I was expecting! There's a sweetness lying underneath, almost a tang of fruit. This smells rather like a masculine version of O - sex and powdery amber - the honey replaced by saffron and woody notes. The cedar is strong but functions mainly as a backdrop, grounding the sweet, heady golden amber. After an hour, it has become sweet enough to remind me of another phallic scent - Harikata. Overall: Pretty sexy! I amp sweet notes and amber, making this much less dry and incensey than I think it would otherwise have been. Very wearable for me personally, and a scent I would love to smell on someone else.

Looking at the notes, you don't think 'agony', but the oil as a whole has a bitter, lovelorn air to it. Dried up tears and burned love letters, indeed. Harsh with ozone and dusty keepsakes that bear a touch of an old love's perfume. It grows sweeter and fruitier over time, becoming somewhat like an angry version of Hungry Ghost Moon; then the lavender appears, rounding out the scent and bringing a new softness to it. It's a gentle, soothing lavender - the grogginess of too many tears sets in, and sleep comes to ease the pain.

Vial: Dirty. Earthy. Dry. On: Wow. Warms up intensely. It still has a dirty, gritty edge, but there seems to be a sweet evergreen like terebinth pine or juniper present. There's also a prickly, wintry berry. Five minutes elapse and the warming trend continues! I have only a brief time to wonder if amber is present when suddenly: AUGH. CAT LITTER. Oh gawd. This is not your simple, ordinary cat pee scent, but rather a deep medley of soggy clay and ammonia, with a soupcon of plastic tray.

This is a refreshing, bracing scent. It has a cooling vibe to it that's reminiscent of the feel of aquatic blends, but without the laundry detergent smell I get from those. Actually, it reminds me just the slightest bit of the 'seafoam' note in Moana. The overall tone is green, and my nose has to be a foot away from the area of application to pick out the individual notes. Honey is there, yes, and the scent of dry tea, as well as the crisp green of wasabi. Very pleasant and smooth, and not at all harsh or biting. The throw has a richness to it that's difficult to describe...almost glowing and amber-like. And I daresay it reminds me of Earl Grey! I really like this and I am incredibly pleased that I can finally wear something with a cool, green, watery vibe to it. I suspect it would be a great blend to wear in the morning to shake off the doldrums. I think I'll be reaching for this imp a lot this summer!

La Primavera Yes, these wrappers really are gorgeous! They seem to have the same female figures that grace the Four Seasons bottle photos that were posted in one of the Will Call threads. I snipped the ribbon very, very carefully, so as to minimize damage. Sniffing the bar through the plastic, I got a delicate orange blossom and freshly mowed grass smell! Creamy and subtle. After I took the bar out of the plastic, the oakmoss made itself known more. This is an outdoorsy scent, but not in the way of Manly Man Lumberjack scents. It's grounded, soft, and unisex. It has a linens drying in the sun vibe. This is the first BPTP/SRTC soap I've used (I have a bar of Shub that I haven't opened!), and I found it to be silky with very good slip on my skin. It left my skin soft, clean, and very subtly scented. Would be good layered with: Banded Sea Snake

This is tooth-achingly sweet in the bottle. Sugar-spun tropical frosting. The ginger - a very rooty kind - takes on a wee bite on my skin, but it's still exceedingly fluffy and sweet. I'm not sure what to make of this scent. There's something about it that my nose interprets as acrid/sour once it's on my skin for a few minutes (this is a skin chemistry thing, as I occasionally have this problem with certain scents). It's almost the metallic tang of canned citrus fruit. Probably going to let it rest for a while and re-test another day before making a decision. ...ew, no. I do believe that what it smells like on me is spoiled milk! I haven't had dairy milk in ages, so I didn't remember that particular smell at first. But...yes. Definitely a sour/buttermilk kind of scent on my skin. Ugh.

The immediate impression of this that I get is: murky and brown. It brightens on my skin, becoming spicier and cooler. The dragon's blood in this mingles subtly with the mint to become the cold, sinuous dragon's blood of Serpent's Kiss. This is a cool and powerful dragon -- resting but deadly. The sage and lavender raise the scent to a higher pitch, and suddenly, you catch the scent of a flower still blooming on the scorched mountain side... This reminds me of nothing so much as the secret entrance to The Lonely Mountain, where Smaug, coiled on his mound of treasure, lies in wait. This is the most interesting resin-based scent I've ever smelled. It is incredibly unique and powerful; chilled by the other notes, the dragon's blood maintains its spicy bite. I only applied a miniscule amount, but it is very strong on me. Ultimately, I don't think it's to my personal taste (I knew I was taking a risk with the dragon's blood and frankincense), but it is truly an amazing scent. eta: Hours later, this scent is still quite present! It's dried down to a green, herbal, somewhat sweet dragon's blood and frankincense.

In the vial: Fruity and juicy, smelling of mashed up tropical fruits and damp, oozing greenery. On me: GAH. Astringent. It smells like something I could strip paint with. Lordy, this is strong on me and I just can't move far away enough from my arm to stop the nasal assault. I think bamboo might be the culprit. I remember this cleaning fluid scent from Neo-Tokyo, but this has way more throw. ...I think it means to do me in.

Spiced rum, and how! In the vial, it reminds me of Egg Nog. The flash of vanilla fades quickly on my skin, and the pineapple comes out to play. And it gets spicier! Goodness me. There's a cool, creamy component to the throw that isn't apparent up close...I think it's the coconut. When I get near my arm, I'm overwhelmed by the spicy rum. Drydown is a cinnamon candy scent. On the whole, I prefer Egg Nog as my rum scent, and the fruit and coconut in this fade too quickly on me for it to be unique enough to be worth getting.

This is a dirty, somewhat sour gardenia on me. It reminds me a great deal of The Unheavenly City, which smelled like roses dragged through mud on me. This one smells like gardenia dragged through mud! Oddly, sniffing it gives me an unpleasant taste in my mouth, as if I've just bitten into a hunk of soap. I almost ordered a bottle unsniffed, because I love gardenia and orchid...but I'm glad now that I didn't, as for some reason this just doesn't smell good on my skin.

The awapuhi comes out much more strongly in this than I was expecting. I've only ever smelled it in shampoo, but it's the same smell here -- sharp, dry and grapefruit-like. There's a salty undercurrent, cool breezes and saltwater drying on the skin. The awapuhi becomes sweeter after a while...and stays strong for hours! The throw is gorgeous and amazing, but up close the awapuhi is just too sharp for me. I really like to sniff my arm frequently to smell what I'm wearing, so I think this is a pass. Too bad, as the sea foam note in this is perfection.