tinyvulture

in the imp, Boomslang is a dark chocolatey brown color. when i apply it to my wrist, it smells exactly like a Tootsie Roll candy. as it dries, it smells sticky and syrupy. like rich chocolate syrup with a hint of molasses. it’s not at all powdery like most other BPAL cocoa scents i’ve tried. i don’t notice any teak or rice milk. after it dries, the Snake Oil asserts itself. the cocoa and the woodsy, spicy incense notes of Snake Oil seem to be vying for dominance. sometimes the cocoa is stronger, but then i sniff again and the Snake Oil hits me. either way, it always smells good.

full-bodied red wine, extremely fruity and sour. there are also herbs, but i couldn’t say exactly which ones. as it dries, a very strong wine smell remains, but it’s tempered with faint incense and something tangy that reminds me of olives. olive leaf, maybe? i’m not hankering for a bottle, but i'll use this imp from time to time. probably on cold days, as it’s a very warm scent.

at first i smell a buttery graham cracker pie crust... filled with pencil shavings! is this a foody or a woody blend? well, it's both. the soft, dry cedar and sweet, mouth-watering caramel and butterscotch don't seem like a match made in heaven, but they combine really well. it's long-lasting, too. later on, the dark patchouli comes out more, but i never do smell any apricot. a truly unique scent. i have a feeling this imp will disappear in no time!

oh my goodness. i’ve died and gone to incense heaven. this incense isn’t churchy, and it's not hippie. it’s heavy and resinous and dark, but also warm and slightly sweet. i haven’t tried schwartzer mond for comparison (but i think i need to!) definitely one of my favorite incense blends, right up there with my beloved athens and the pit and the pendulum.

i mainly smell the aquatic notes and green ferns (like fresh-cut grass, but a little sharper), with just an undertone of wine. i’m usually not big on aquatics, but i admire the complexity of this one. it’s tropical and cooling – you can almost feel the cool island breeze on your skin. this is definitely a “salty” water scent – and it stays salty, rather than turning cloyingly sweet on my skin like most aquatics do.

Strong black tea with a squeeze of lemon, over soft faded leather. After about 5 minutes, the lemon goes all soft and powdery and slightly floral, and the leather lingers faintly. The tea is still going strong, though – it’s really the main attraction here. Nice… but a little less masculine than I was expecting. My husband doesn’t do florals. That’s OK, I think I’ll wear this one myself

this smells exactly like pineapple upside-down cake! pineapple, cherries, and buttery cake. yum! i’m not sure what else to say. it’s a fun, sweet foody scent; i like it a lot. (it doesn’t smell like turkey. not at all. )

this makes me think of a perfume that a grandmother would wear – a classy, stylish grandmother. “classic perfume” indeed -- powdery and lightly floral. the rose water is soft and lovely, and combines beautifully with the sweet tobacco smoke. (i’ve really been blown away by the “smoke” notes in all of the dog blends.) the leather is barely there. an nostalgic, polished, feminine scent. at first i didn't think it was "me", but it grew on me in no time, and now i just love it.

the other day at work, i forgot i had applied this, and i kept saying, “what smells so good?” it was me! it’s extremely long-lasting, with great throw. warm spiced bay rum with hints of vanilla and almond. smells sexy on my husband but i’m definitely wearing it too. we need a bottle to share, asap!

i can’t get past how much this smells like department store cologne. astringent and grassy. i smell the sweet citrus of the orange, and some assorted florals, but i can’t smell the incense or the copal -- which i was really looking forward to, since i have some copal resin sticks that i adore. i definitely can’t wear it, and i don’t really like it on my husband either. although, he loves it! to each his own!

the frosty, slushy pine from talvikuu and snow bunny is dominant here. it contrasts with the lush florals. is this a winter or summer scent? i’m not sure. i can’t smell anything like clay or stone. mint and soft incense round out the scent. the slushy note has always irritated my nose when i try to wear it, but i do like this as a refreshing room scent.

a combination of some of my favorite notes – incense, smoke, and wood. of course i love it. the pipe smoke, the strongest note, really smells smoky – and sweet. the mahogany is true and rich and dark. i’m trying to think where i’ve smelled this incense note before in other blends, but i can’t place it. it’s not “churchy” like midnight mass or all souls. this is something else entirely. it smells old and dignified, spicy and intriguing, sweet and dark, all at the same time. i must acquire a bottle.

i have a theory that there’s a theme with all the seven deadly sins blends -- “too much of a good thing.” they’re all so strong, right on the edge of overdoing it and being unbearable. lust is so heady and intense, and gluttony has every kind of sweet you can think of crammed into it. yet, they still work, and that is their genius. this rose is bold and in-your-face. it makes me think of over-the-top vanity and obsession with beauty, to the point where something beautiful (like a rose, or a natural beauty) becomes overkill (like 1000 roses, or a heavily made-up, plastic surgerized kind of beauty). there’s nothing powdery or delicate about it. this blend is for when you want to stand out and be noticed. p.s. i don’t know what narcissus smells like, so i can’t say how it plays into this scent. to my untrained nose, all i smell is rose, rose, rose.

cherries and cream! sweet and tart and juicy. i’m thinking hot cherry pie with a dusting of powdered sugar, served with a scoop of rich vanilla ice cream that’s melting into the warm fruit. i don’t need a whole bottle of this, but the imp will get lots of love.

pure mint and vanilla, with hints of coconut, chocolate and root beer. mintier and less buttery than snowblind. haven’t tried lick it yet, so i can’t draw a comparison there. very sweet, like mint chewing gum. breathing it in seems to clear my sinuses. i’m saving this one for the hottest summer days. lovely.

there’s a fruity sourness to this that i don’t care for. like pineapple soaking in warm milk. i adore other BPAL milk blends, so it’s just this particular combination of fruits and milk that turns so cloying on my skin. the honey, fig and date are rich and sweet, but the sour fruit is just too overpowering. off to swaps.

From the description, I thought this might be a bold fruit and incense blend along the lines of my beloved Depraved. But it’s far more subtle and homey -- more like a dried fruit potpourri. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate it in its own way. The combination of peaches and orange with cinnamon and cloves is warm and comforting -- reminds me of the holidays. But I don’t smell any patchouli or incense -- the dark, sexy elements I was hoping for. I’ll probably use it as a room scent for my kitchen.

I love the tobacco in this. It combines so well with the leather and adds a wonderful, sweet spiciness and a hint of vanilla. And the soft, warm musk is ever so gentle and comforting. “Delicate leather scent” seems like an oxymoron but that’s exactly what this is. There’s nothing bold about it, but its softness is appealing.

This is a perfect addition to my beloved collection of forest blends. I love how individual they all are. This one is heavy on the fresh evergreen and pine, while the woodsmoke adds a smoky dimension that turns quite sweet after it dries, similar to Nocnitsa or Hexxennacht. But while I think of those as autumn scents, this one is all summertime. The sun is shining through the tree branches as you pitch your tent and hike down to the lake and then, as the air cools down, you build your campfire and get the smores ready. Warm and comforting. A definite keeper.

Buttery sugar cookies and sweet, slightly tart key lime pop up here and there, but it’s mostly rum. I recognize the rum note from Grog. It’s the one that turns sort of Playdoh on me It also seems like there is a tiny touch of cinnamon. I’d like some incense or a candle that smelled like this – it would make a great home scent. But it’s a little too sweet and foody for me to wear.

this is an extremely strong floral. some jasmine notes smell good on me and others don’t. the star jasmine in this blend seems to hate me. and i’ve never been able to wear magnolia. it’s making me sneeze, actually. i love orchids, but they’re overwhelmed here by the other floral notes. i can barely make them out, and i can’t smell any rose at all. the amber lends its usual wonderful soft warmth, but it’s not enough to tame the overpowering jasmine and magnolia combo. swapping.

clean, sharp grapefruit and ginger notes. this will wake you up and clear your sinuses for sure! the apple blossom sweetens it up a bit. cheerful and refreshing. a bright spring/summer scent.

On me, this is a blend of rich cherry tobacco, powdery sweet tonka (smells like marshmallows!), and something minty… like eucalyptus, sorta, but not as medicinal. On my husband, it’s straight-up cherry tobacco with no trace of tonka sweetness. I’m not sure what hops smell like (are they minty?)… all I know is, this doesn’t smell like beer, and I don’t get any similarity to Roadhouse. I like it -- it’s complex and comforting, a scent you want to curl up in.

this blend, to me, smells like a “traditional” woman’s perfume. the rose is beautiful and seems to tie all the other notes together. it’s a little citrusy from the orange blossom, a little fruity from the peach, and a little sexy from the skin musk. i can’t really smell any myrrh or frankincense. i think this is another one of those scents that is so complex that it’s impossible to pick out every individual note. and it’s so finely blended that the orange blossom, which usually amps up on my skin, is restrained and seems to be in perfect harmony with the other notes. it’s strong and long-lasting, drying down to a rosy peach softened by the powdery skin musk. really nice.

a blend of herbal/mossy and aquatic notes. as with most aquatic blends, this one goes a little fruity on my skin at first and almost smells like watermelon. but after a few minutes the sweetness fades and it’s probably one of the “truest” aquatic scents i’ve tried thus far. it really does smell like a deep, murky body of water, full of green plant life, algae or seaweed. i’m not really picking up any citrusy bergamot or minty eucalyptus. there’s something clean about it, but something dark and foreboding at the same time.