Ms Density

On me, the patchouli is very prominent when wet but there's also something that seems to brighten it up. It has a weight to it but it doesn't smell heavy. As it dries, the sandalwood really comes out and I recognize it. I have some powdered red sandalwood at home and it smells just like that. I also detect the salty note that others have mentioned here, and I suspect it's Clary Sage. I used to mix sandalwood, lavendar and clary sage into some unscented lotion and I've always thought Clary Sage has a salty scent. Although there is one point when it's still wet that I find a bit odd, I adore this scent. It also reminds me of a couple of the Kama Sutra essential oil fragrances from the six scents kit, Hearing and Sight. I could see liking Anne Bonny more and more each time I wear it! This is a better version of the perfume I used to make for myself!

Not that Morocco needs any more reviews, but... I never thought I would understand what people mean when they say something smells creamy, but now I do because I've tried Morocco. This morning I layered it on. I put some Morocco into my hands and rubbed it in with my lotion. Then I put some on my wrists, below my ears and in my hair. The scent is so smooth and it doesn't overpower, so it's perfect for this type of layering. It's so perfectly well-blended too! I get hints of vanilla, musk, caramel, sandalwood, cedarwood, and spice. None of those notes overpower the others; they smell like they were spun together. It's the perfect balance of earthy, sweet, woods and spice. I'm certain this will be my first catalog 5ml purchase.

I almost didn't give this one a fair chance. I got this with my first order back in February and upon sniffing from the vial all I got was soapy grass. Since then, it's just been sitting in my BPAL box, neglected. I seriously considered swapping it, and probably would have if a convenient opportunity came along. I'm so glad I didn't. Even though I had tested it very lightly on my skin a couple of times before, I just didn't expect much. But this morning I put it on, four tips of the imp onto my wrist, rubbed together and onto my neck and into my hair. At first, as my husband had noted before, it was a very florist-y scent. Like the smell of a florist shop, particularly the green leaves of those florist flowers. What completely surprised me is the drydown I've got now. Musk and Amber, very lovely and sexy but so light. No wonder I never noticed it before. I get it now. The card. The grass and flowers of the maiden and the golden drydown of the lion underneath. The way that the musk and amber unfolds from the top notes reminds me of my interpretation of this card. The way that the lion represents a driving force, a controlled one, but such a source of raw strength. There is no doubt I'll be using this now.

I'm reviewing Silk Road after falling in love with it. Yes, that's right. My first experience with Silk Road conjured images of fruit stripe gum. All too often do I conjure up these quick judgements upon first trying out a fragrance. That's just not fair. No BPAL scent deserves the pigeon-hole treatment. I'm just too eager for the BPAL experience. I should start meditating or something before to clear my mind. It might seem ridiculous, but watch me try it. Silk Road has become my essential summer scent. There is nothing like stepping out into the hot sun and having this cinnamony, spicy musk radiate from you. I can almost visualize it, raying out like an iconographic halo in hues of red and rust and vibrant coral. This, to me, is Wanderlust defined.

Arcana, to me, is the perfect pillow/linen scent for summer. When I first put it on, I get a slightly sharp, slightly medicinal whiff of lavender and resins and herbs. But as it dries down, it gets really soft without going powdery. In fact, it reminds me of the scent of Avon's Skin So Soft. Since I spent most of my childhood summers slathering myself with Skin So Soft and lazing around on soft old sheets by the pool or in hammocks, well, it's nostalgic. I will definitely be using this as a bed scent. Or maybe I'll just use it on any summer night when I'm curled up on the couch under a soft blanket with the AC going full blast, after spending the day out in the hot sun. It's so soothing and comfortable, and surprisingly sensual.

Out of the vial, the scent reminds me of Strongbow—that almost effervescent alcoholic sniff of freshly tapped cider—offered to me on the front porch of a woodsy-smelling cabin where some caramel apples are being dipped nearby, and maybe a bowl of candy corn sitting out. The wood and the caramel are making out in the background, and the alcoholic apple scent is very crisp on top. On the inside of my forearm, the apple stays true and the scent of fermenting leaves asserts itself, merging with the caramel and the oak while the alcohol note dissipates. I really like this—it reminds me of an awesome Faun Fables song fittingly titled “Apple Trees.” Beautiful autumn twilight, and the full moon spying on a tryst in the apple orchard. Layered with Hellfire, it becomes the fragrant cigarette your lover smokes with you afterward.

Yep, almond/cherry scent in the bottle. Morphs on the skin into almond/incense/opium/smoky/slightly powdery scent. The thing about Black Phoenix is that it's very nostalgic for me. It reminds me of sitting out in the courtyard of my old apartment building with some old friends really late at night in the summer, smoking cherry cigars after sitting around inside drinking and listening to music and burning incense and telling stories in the dark, that cherry cigar smell and the incense that permeated our skin and clothes and hair wafting around in the late night breeze.

This is my first review! Wanda is my very first BPAL experience... the first imp I sniffed with my first shipment. Okay, so out of the bottle I thought it smelled like cherries and new mown hay. Eh. Since I knew I had several other imps to sniff and try out, I was saving space and just put a little bit on the ends of my hair. Then I moved on. For the rest of the day, I kept getting these whiffs of nail polish remover. Then I figured out it was Wanda. I was so disappointed... I had *really* wanted to like this one. So this morning I put some on just to give it a second chance... I very carefully applied Wanda to my wrists. I now know that Wanda needs skin to work its magic--it needs to mingle with the heat and fragrance of skin. I get deep copper wine, auburn leather, plums and the hint of dark purple-red roses. There is something utterly sensual about this--aroused skin, flushed with ruby port. It's a very visual scent--it is easy to imagine a calm, but empowered woman in the height of her sexuality. This wine is not sloppy or out of control, but the wine of ecstatic ritual. Very lovely.