scarletgenesis

In the bottle at first, this smelled like conversation hearts...you know the ones with the powdery finish? Just like those. But on.....oh my, on it's all orange and clove and a small bit of anise. Later, the orange fades a bit and the anise, clove and even cumin (but only slightly) come out to play their sinister, yet hauntingly sensual games. This is a wonderful blend and combines some of my very favorite notes. This might require a second bottle while it's still available. Gorgeous. My only complaint is that it doesn't have as much staying power as the other clove blends I've worn from bpal, but I'm willing to deal with it. I might try it in a locket to see how it fares, but either way I'll be loving this every time I wear it!

WOW. So when first on, this is very heavy on the leather, with a slightly smoky scent. The vanilla is there, but in the background. It's beautiful and like an old archive, but one that's well kept, and not particularly dusty. I do get the wood notes mentioned previously, but on me they're less OMG TREES and more just a nice smell of the kind of fresh cut wood you smell at a hardware store or in new wood furniture. As this wears, the leather and vanilla even out more to a lovely, relaxing, and yet sensuous (yes I think books are sensuous) blend. It's gorgeous really and just what I'd hoped for on me. Even better, I could still smell this on myself a full 24 hours after first applying. By this point, it was smelling like amazingly gorgeous smoky vanilla. This is beautiful at all stages and has probably the best staying power of any bpal oil I've ever tried. I hope to buy another bottle sometime soon, because I think that this blend just shot into my top 5 list.

This was the one Inquisition scent I got during this round. At first, it seems like everything is just blended together in a nice, but unremarkable oil. Boy, was I wrong! Once on my skin, this blossomed into something stunning and sophisticated. I can pick out individual notes on my skin. The star anise is the 'star' in this blend, but I also can pick out a spicy rum (but it's not overly boozy which is great), vanilla, peppermint (just a hint), and smoky lubricant. Really, I can actually get the smoky oil scent that kind of permeates this and elevates it from really lovely, to simply gorgeous. I'd love to have another bottle of this eventually. It's really wonderful! I can't stop sniffing my skin!

In the bottle, this is bourbon vanilla with an almost woodsy incense smell.... Once on, the vanilla becomes both softer and more complex, and the chamomile/herbaly nature comes out. This is really soft and sexy. Just beautiful.

To my nose, the vanilla notes in TKO are like AL. In fact, I think TKO smells like AL with lavender added. So if you like lavender, you might want to also try TKO (which reminds me that I need a new bottle soon)

I see where people are getting the rose. On me, it's like a sweet caramel rose, with a bit of cherry/almond. I'm not a fan of rose and it isn't what I expected or hoped for but it's kind of nice. Even though rose is not listed in the notes, this may be the first "rose" scent I can wear b/c it is so toned town by the caramel and almond. Also happy that the caramel is not overwhelmingly cloying on this. All in all, not what I expected, but rather nice and I'll enjoy my decant!

At first sniff, this is straight apple pulp and lots of it, but it becomes quickly apparent that there is something more complex at work here. On my skin the apple pulp is very juicy and fresh, like apples picked on a crisp fall day. I think I'm getting some of the other notes here too, albeit subtley. One thing I am pretty sure of is that I smell the same blackberry note that is in Blackberry Jam & Scones. As this dries down more I also get some of the tartness found in pomegranate. All in all a scent that is more complex than initially thought, with the glorious red apple notes shining through as the stars of this beautiful blend. Sigh. I love BPAL's apple blends and they love me back!

This is interesting. What a morpher. When in the bottle, it's very sweet and cakey smelling. On my skin, when first applied, I get mostly buttercream and some cupcake. But after about 30 minutes, while the buttercream is still faintly there, it morphs to....musk? This is the 2nd time I've worn it and the first time I figured it was a fluke. But it did the exact same thing this time. Musk. A lovely, creamy musk, to be sure, but not at all what I was expecting. I was hoping to keep that cupcakey scent all day. Ah well, can't win em all.

WOW. At first, this is all blackberry jam....it has some sweetness, but also some of that tartness that I adore about blackberries. I can almost smell the stickiness, if that makes sense...sorry to mix sensory descriptions. So after it dries, the scones start to make an appearance. The scone scent is perfect...crumbly, a bit doughy, and mild...not much sweetness at all. Just like real scones. This is a lovely scent and I shall cherish my bottles! Oh, and lots of staying power!

On me, I am happy to say that Agape is like Love's Philosophy with fruit! It is soft and creamy and lovely with a hint of tangyness. Not much more to say about this one because it's rather simple in its loveliness! Glad I got to sniff a friend's bottle before this went down. I almost didn't bother because of the guava, but I'm glad to report that the guava is nowhere to be seen on me!

Wow. This is the least 'foody' of the Thirteen blends I've tried and my favorite. Even though the base is dark chocolate, I barely get any....just a hint of that and the brown sugar. On me (at least right now) this is mostly gingers and nutmeg. It's spicy and dark without being sinister. Interestingly, the chocolate and sugar are more noticable in the scent locket than on my skin. Perfect to wear today, Friday the 13th!

Beautiful and calming, which is really what I need right now. Gorgeous lavender stands out but the bergemot is there...and I might even detect something very crisp like mint. This is herbal and beautiful and will require at least another bottle. I don't think I've smelled another BPAL like it (except TKO, which is softer and which I only wear at bedtime). I have some scents that are my confidence and power scents. Others are my sexy scents. Pontia just became my calming scent. Wonderful job, bpal!

In the bottle this is a conglomeration of dark, resinous notes. I definitely can pick out the tobacco and oakmoss and possibly the teak and frankincense. On my skin I get a tiny bit of the uber smoky caramel from Red Lantern and the anise and clove come out as well. I'd love the clove to be more prominent but the scent definitely softens as I wear it so perhaps it will emerge more later. The black musk is an undercurrent of sinister smirk permeating the whole blend. Very nicely executed! Is it me...or is this like a darker version of Winter of our Discontent?

rawwwrrrrr! In the bottle, this is VERY caramel, smaller amounts of dark chocolate and a tiny bit of pepper. But I was happy to see that on my skin everything reversed. The pepper is promanent with the dark chocolate secondary. The caramel is really in the background, which is great, b/c it stops it from getting too sweet. Lovely, sexy and warm...Like dark brown satin sheets under a velvet comforter.

I had a feeling this would be my favorite of the inquisitions and I was right. The wine is a cross between syrupy cherry and spiced apples. The orange adds a bit of tang and the spices make me just say "Guh". Funny, the first day I wore this to work, a friend came in and was telling me about spending New Years in Vienna. She talked about how cold it was and that all these vendors were selling this great drink called Gluhwein. It was fairly amusing, as I'd not told her about my perfume at all. I wonder if she could smell it and it reminded her of the drink. Anyway, it's lovely and wonderful and sparkly!