tinyvulture

At first I get honeyed peach or apricot. I guess that's the cognac because it can go fruity on my skin. After a minute the peach disappears and I get a lovely, warm, floral. Honeysuckle. It's one of my favorite flowers and it is so perfect with the golden amber. Truly a celestial, awe-inspiring scent. So beautiful! No fig or myrrh for me. It fades far too soon. I wish it stayed around longer.

My first impression is eating Fig Newtons sprinkled with cinnamon, while burning incense. Purring Pulsar says honeyed raisins, I get where that comes from. To me it's figs. Sweet, buttery dried fruit. The cinnamon really hits its stride after a couple minutes, and at this point I'm not getting any other notes, just so much cassia. I don't know what kyphi smells like but I assume that's the incense note I'm getting. I like it, but I prefer Chimera for a bold cinnamon scent.

This is a lot like Samhain to me in the bottle. It just screams DRY LEAVES! I can never have too many autumn leaves blends. Here, the leaves note is softened and blends in seamlessly with dry patchouli and dark green ivy. I can't think of a much better combination than leaves and patchouli. I can't pick out any tonka or coffee. I love it, it's a keeper.

Obviously it's foodie. A sweet dessert. I don't know what suet accord is. I'll just say this is a sweet, rich custard, with a light fruitiness, pear perhaps. After a few minutes I can pick out the treacle -- that familiar, burnt-sugar note (think Kill-Devil, Sugar Skull.) It's not a must-have, but a nice, cheery and celebratory scent.

In the decant vial, it's a frightful brownish-green oil. But the scent is heaven for a pine fanatic like myself. Heavy, sweet pine resins, fir and spruce as well. The opoponax adds more sweetness and darkness. A sinisterly sweet scent, if you will. I agree with nightwing, it's almost got a berry note that, IMO, sends it reeling towards "holiday potpourri". But then the tobacco note pops up and adds an interesting complexity. Thinking of adding to my bottle wishlist.

Love at first sniff! There's a light, bright white tea note, and smooth beeswax, contrasted with a woodsy, intense, almost harsh sandalwood note. Such an unusual yet lovely combination. After a few minutes, a sharp lemony note. So it's lemon tea? I dislike it at this point. It's like a harsh cleaning product. Fortunately the lemon quickly mellows out. It leaves behind a splash of citrus, but now it's sweet rather than sharp. I like it again.

Plum, where are you? You too, vetiver...where are you hiding? All I'm getting is tobacco and geranium. Tobacco and florals are never a great combination on me. Tends to smell like hairspray. I can't believe I'm not getting any plum or vetiver. Huh.

The ultimate beeswax scent. It's like a sweet vanilla candle. Simple, subdued, so lovely!

At first there's a stately, stuffy quality that reminds me of being in a high-end furniture store. It's a strongggg floral, Maid of Orleans (jasmine) and carnation are both super intense. The mango and coconut are there if I really look for them, lending a tropical, pina colada vibe. They get deeper over time, morphing the scent from a stuffy floral to an elegant beach party. Not really what I expected.

At first all I smell is wine. ??? Maybe my nose is confused and it's the hops I am smelling. After a minute, I get something metallic, dark leather, and cold stone. And a literal coldness...breathing it in leaves a cold feeling in my throat, but it's not eucalyptus. This is one that's hard to put into words. Masculine and a little sexy. Could totally be Tyrion Lannister's scent.

Done and done: fuzzy cacao-drenched hazelnut with hay absolute, black pepper, and nutmeg, laced with stripes of wild plum and white sandalwood. In the decant vial, I see globules of dark cocoa swimming in golden oil. On my skin, I get mostly cacao, with background notes of sandalwood and hazelnut. No plum at all. Reminds me a lot of Velvet. I like it but I probably have enough chocolatey blends at the moment!

Beautiful sweet resins and incense: benzoin, labdanum, olibanum, galbanum, mastic, ahhh! I don't know which is which, but they all combine to make my nose happy. Starts off like sweet root beer at first, then more peppery and woodsy. No idea about betel leaf or angelica, unfamiliar to me. But I am wondering if betel leaf bears any similarity to olive leaf because I am getting such a distinct olive note! Similar to Haloa, Angeronalia, which contain olive leaf. It's a mystery. Anyway, to sum up, warm, heavy incense, plus olives!

I love having a bottle of this to dab on my wrists during the hottest, most miserable days of late summer and get an instant blast of autumn nostalgia! Makes me feel (wishful thinking) as though cool fall days, Halloween, and pumpkin pie are just right around the corner. Pumpkin spice, with sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg all accounted for. Cinnamon and clove are the heaviest spices. Just the right amount of foody sweetness. Not buttery like Jack, not like raw pumpkin either. It's pumpkin pie filling or a Starbucks PSL, spicy and warming. Love!

Well, I don't know what makes an extrait an extrait. But this is a gorgeous, fruity blend. The pomegranate is ripe and juicy to bursting, and the guaiac wood and peru balsam woodsy notes support the pomegranate beautifully, as does the warm amber. After a minute, the patchouli comes out, also blending in perfectly. I'm not really getting any floral from this. I'd call it a distant relative of Florence (which is amber/red berries, while this is amber/pomegranate.) I love what amber does when mixed with fruit! So sparkling and elegant. And I especially love this amber/fruit combo thanks to the addition of woods and patchouli. Just perfect.

Think Antique Lace + woodsy resins. Powdery vanilla and sandalwood, and also a slightly medicinal, disinfectant note...the benzoin? As it dries, I also get a "clean linens" note, and a gentle breath of rose thanks to the rockrose. It's a fluffy, light scent, very mild. It may be a bit too delicate and restrained for me to need a bottle, but I like it.

Buttery, rich baked goods. At first, smells so much like pineapple upside-down cake. Welsh cakes apparently contain currants, but I'm not getting that. I'm not picking up any lavender either, but Celryanna said lavender tea in her review, and I can see that. A nice foodie blend, actually similar to Stygian Nougat, but I think I prefer Stygian Nougat because its lavender note is more pronounced. Oh, and I don't notice any beer at any point, if you're worried about that.

Stargazer lily! I recognize it from my beloved Juliet. But this isn't sweet like Juliet. It's more of a soapy floral. There are other floral notes, but I'm not familiar enough with stephanotis or delphinium to pick them out. I don't notice any bergamot or rose. It's OK but I'm not in love.

Mostly jasmine, and other florals I can't pinpoint. A little breath of dry sandalwood. No moss. Very gentle and delicate, like a soft mist. Pass, not my style.

My favorite Yule and one of my favorite BPALs ever. Should be a TAL with its sheer ability to put a smile on my face. Strawberry jelly donut, dusted with powdered sugar. Amazingly realistic. Tooth-achingly sweet. You can really smell all of the components -- the fresh-baked yeast donut, the blood-red filling, the white dusting of sugar. Amazing, and such a happy, fun scent.

Saaaage! I've never come across a perfume that's mostly sage on me, so this is cool. The clean sage entertwines with the woodsy cedar. It reminds me of New Mexico for some reason. It's totally a unisex blend. There's a little bit of figgy sweetness, and greenness of ti leaf, but not much. Mostly sage and cedar.

Coconut and peach! With hints of champaca, amber, and vanilla. No vetiver. Wow, I love it! Warm and sweet, sexy, earth goddess. Not how I envision the Lamia, but as a perfume it's right up my alley! Although the notes are different, it reminds me quite a bit of Urd. Strong champaca = hippie head shop!

Samoa Girl Scout cookies! Coconut and caramel, so good! It's like a booze-free Red Lantern. Then there's the creamy, understated nuttiness of the macadamia note. This may be my new #1 BPAL. Love it.

Apple cider and buttercream in equal proportions. There's a touch of whisky, but it's definitely a foodie rather than a boozy scent overall. It dries down to sweet white vanilla cake with buttercream frosting and just a hint of apple. Lovely, a must for foodie folks!

Frankincense and myrrh, kind of reminds me of Pentitence but not as sweet, more herbal thanks to the bay leaf. It's interesting, but my preference is for sweet incense blends. It doesn't have much throw on me, either.

Invigorating and clean, like a really good quality soap. As for notes, I get tart lemongrass combined with sweet amber. Oddly addictive, I can't stop sniffing it!