hlinspjalda

In the bottle: Resinous, with an herby sharpness. Wet: Strongly anise. Must be the wormwood. Musk and resin also, and it's very pungent. Twenty minutes: More bitter now, less anise. There's a deep, dark sweetness under there (maybe the opoponax?), but this is dry and murky. One hour: Now it smells tanniny, with herby resin undertones. Three and a half hours: The dark sweetness is still there, and the bitterness has abated. There's still a tannin impression, but much fainter. I can pick out the galangal now, too, although it seems to be mostly resin. Six hours: Warm, sweet, gentle, but with a bite. Very persistent resiny notes and the earthiness of galangal.

In the vial: Violet, citrus, patchouli. Wet: Lotta floral. I get violet and a hint of ylang ylang. There's also citrus, but no patchouli or amber. Twenty minutes: Violet and patchouli, mostly. I hope this changes, because I can wear every other note in this perfume save the violet. One hour: Much better now. As I hoped, the violet faded some. It's still there, but it doesn't dominate any more. Now this is much more like I expected, with patchouli and amber and a hint of citrus. I expected it to be sweeter and spicier than it is, though. Two hours: Amber, patchouli, and something else. Most of the subtleties have gone. I like this, but it's not spectacular. Three and a half hours: Light amber with a breath of patchouli. It's pretty much done. Oh, well.

In the vial: Bright, piercing, and golden to the smell, like a cordial. I get chamomile and amber, with something else. Wet: Heady! This isn't like any other BPAL scent I've tried. I can't make out any individual notes. It's sharp, bitter, aggressive, but in the most amazingly pleasant way. Half an hour: Amber and frankincense with something sweet. I like this one a lot, but it's a little thinner now. Two hours: It's still a little thin, but warm and sweet. I like this one, but it might be too gentle. Three hours: Still warm and sweet. It would make a good daytime scent. Six hours: Nothing much left but gentle amber.

In the vial: Not at all as expected: sharp and herby. Wet: Amber and musk, with something still very sharp and herby No fruit or floral at all! Twenty minutes: This one is very strange. I can sense an aura of honey or something else sweetly floral, but on myself I don't smell it at all. Instead there's something very sharp, pungent, and bitter, almost like good gin with bitters and lemon peel. And leather. It's making me just the faintest bit dizzy. Hour and a half: Still very sharp and pungent, much more so even than myrrh. Yet the sweet aura persists! Where does that come from? It smells more like honey/amber now, and with a bit of tartness. This is a very odd one, not at all like what I expected. Two and a half hours: I went outdoors, and the sweet aura of honey/amber was all around me. But the wrists are still bitter. This is the first time I've actively elaborated on the name of a BPAL scent, but I can't resist it in this case. This one is cruel. It gives a sweet impression but when you get in close to it, the pain begins. I think I would have used a different quotation from the poem to illustrate this one: "Ah, ah, thy beauty! like a beast it bites, Stings like an adder, like an arrow smites." Four hours: Delicious, honey sweet amber now. Apparently wearing it to bed is the way to take the sting out of it. How appropriate! Six hours: Still sweetened amber. I feel so at home with this scent! I didn't know until I Googled it that "daemonorops" is dragon's blood, which is a type of rattan. And "kush" is apparently marijuana. Heh.

In the vial: White fleshy flower, closer to honeysuckle than anything else, but with a tartness too. Wet: Definitely smells like sweet tropical something, but that lingering tartness doesn't bode well. Twenty minutes: Much better now. The tartness has gone away, along with the sharper high notes of the florals. This is pleasant. One hour: Still a pleasant tropical. Some of the sweetness has declined, and there's more of the original spiciness obvious. It smells rather like an Easter lily now. Two hours: Still fleshy white floral, but the sandalwood is turning a bit sourish now. Three and a half hours: Sourish sandalwood and a sweet floral. I think this one is over too. I'm looking for a good plumeria for sentimental reasons, and this one isn't going to be it. "Thalia" works better on me.

In the bottle: Strong fruited iced tea. Wet: Fruit, floral, musk, vanilla in that order. A little heavy on the vanilla for my taste, but this has potential. Half an hour: Still the fruited tea base, but the ginger is stronger now. The vanilla is weaker, and there's another floralish scent too. It smells rather like a picnic in the early summer. One hour: Still fruity tea, but more aromatic. Two hours: Fruity tea. But the vanilla and musk notes have more staying power than the fruit, which is beginning to fade. Four hours: Still going strong. I like this one. Seven hours: Still there. I like this one, which works better than I feared it would. But I don't know how often I'll wear it.

In the vial: Orange bundt cake! I swear, it smells like a citrus-flavored cake. Nice, but completely unexpected. Where did that vanilla caramel overtone come from? One thing I'm sure of, this smells nothing like vampire tears. Wet: Markedly citrus, still sweet like a vanilla- and citrus-flavored cake. As it develops, some more spicy sweetness comes forward -- ginger? No trace of the jasmine, honeysuckle, or wisteria. Half an hour: Doesn't smell at all like a cake any more. Much more complex, definitely a floral now. There are some sweet elements (grapefruit? honeysuckle?) but something more pungent (white ginger? not, I think, the jasmine) is dominating. It's kind of nice to be wearing something that doesn't smell like amber! Three hours: Low-intensity overripe floral, white ginger with a side of jasmine. This smells a little more like a vampire! No fruit, no citrus, no cake. Wow, that one lost potency quickly compared to a lot of the others. Seven hours: Long since died down to a faint sweetishness. Not nearly as persistent on me as anything with rose, or amber. Some of the elements work on me, but not as a group. I don't think it works well enough on me to stick with it (even though I like how different it is from the name). But it made an enjoyable change.

In the bottle: Dark, tanniny, a bit sharp. Wet: Mossy, lavender, and a fleshy floral is coming up. Soapish, maybe from the moss. Half an hour: Yummy wow chewy, a lot of flavors here. There's sweet, mossy, woody, floral, and amber. One hour: It's gone a little dry, tart, and sour now. I fear that's the red sandalwood, which sometimes sours on me. Too bad, because this is otherwise complex and pleasant. Two hours: On the good side, amber; on the less-good side, oakmoss and sour sandalwood. I don't want this one to fail on me, but I think it might. It's just a little too dry and astringent for me. Four hours: Still sourish sandalwood and oakmoss. I'll probably trade this one away. Seven hours: Not much change. Persistent! Too bad it doesn't work better on me.

In the vial: Something floral, something spicy-sweet. Not at all what I expected from the forum topic. Wet: Very sweet floral cut with something very spicy. One hour: A while back this was hugely intense on me, very sweet, very spicy (almost like a cinnamon flower). Now it's gone suddenly very subtle. It's still quite sweet, but I can't make out what floral is involved. Definitely not gardenia, and it's not quite like honeysuckle either. Maybe freesias? Three hours: Still a very fragrant nectareous flower, but subtle. I will definitely keep this one.

In the vial: Sandalwood and something sharp and a little soapy; there's also something almost fruity about it, maybe citrusy. Wet: An unusual light rose scent and something citrusy. I like this, it's not heavy. Twenty minutes: Really high-quality Indian soap, sandalwood and rose together. Don't get any patchouli off this one, at least, not the hippie sort. This is light and very refined, more like a sandalwood fan wafting through the air. Hour and a half: Still high-quality soap. Too much sandalwood for my taste, I guess. It's lovely, but it evokes a specific culture too strongly for me to be comfortable wearing it. Three hours: Softer now, very gentle. Didn't last long (climate conditions?), but it doesn't smell quite so much like soap either.

In the vial: Sweet flowers (the gardenia?), sharp lavender, and something very bitter. Wet: Immediate strong sharp unpleasant gardenia with at least two very bitter notes beneath. Lavender very strong, too. This is headache country. 20 minutes: Wow, what a transformation! I get soft floral blend now with the secondary note something almost caramely or vanilla-ish. Underneath there's a bit of warm spice (not coriander). I don't notice the lavender at all. I'm not sure it's going to last, but I kind of like it. One hour: I think I have the sweetness: it reminds me of a Swisher Sweet cigar. So maybe that's the tobacco flower. Against all expectation, I'm really liking this one. I don't think it's me, but it works on me and that's a pleasant surprise. It stayed pretty much the same for hours. I may have to keep this one.

In the vial: It smells watery all right, with just a touch of lotus. Wet: Wow, it really does smell aquatic. I can pick out juniper and lotus, but I have no idea what else is in this. Half an hour: Lotus and something else. Baffling, but interesting, and still very aquatic. One hour: Lotus mostly. That note has a way of smelling almost vanilla-ish on me, and this blend is one of the most obvious examples. It's less aquatic than before, more earthy I'd say. Two hours: Still mostly lotus. Three hours: Lotus (wow, that last a long time on me!) but I have no idea what else is in here. No aquatic at all that I can notice. Five hours: Still faintly lotus.

In the bottle: Mostly ylang ylang, with a bite I don't recognize. Wet: Neroli immediately, with something thicker I sense at the back of my palate. This is heavy and strong. Twenty minutes: Wow, floral! But there's a bitterness, a tang on my tongue, almost an astringency. This one has a lot of throw, too. That may be the ylang ylang, which often amps on me (like what it does in "Phantom"). One hour: Not so much throw now, but still intensely floral with a bitter tang. It's really kind of interesting, although I'm not sure it's for me. Three and a half hours: Oooh, it's picked up a different fragrance now, almost honey-like. It reminds me a bit of the way "Hetairae" smells on me. That tang has settled out, and I like it better.

In the vial: Sweet, tangy honey. It reminds me of mead with citrus juice in it. Wet: The citrusy tang went away immediately. Now it's more of a honey-flavored floral. I don't get herbs, but it smells like there might be other flowers in it. Twenty minutes: Honey still, and floral, but there's something that makes me think of a meadow, like grasses maybe. One hour: Still honey floral with a grassy element. This kind of reminds me of "Mead Moon 2008" after the citrus dissipated. Two hours: Yep, still honey with some grassiness. It now smells a bit more aromatic and less sweet than before, quite a lot like tupelo honey. Five hours: Still a faint honey glaze on my skin; it smells like it grew there. Keeper, but I won't need more than the imp.

In the vial: Fleshy white flower, but neither sharp nor strong. This one is soft and with an aromatic base that I think must be the pear. Wet: Stronger tropical floral similar to jasmine. It smells like something blooming in the warm dark, elusive, something I can only sense with part of the inside of my nose. Definitely elusive. I want to grab it and hold it down so I can sniff it better. Twenty minutes: Still elusive, and less sweet now. There's a bit of spiciness to it, too. Three hours: It went through a sharp, almost headachy sequence but after about an hour it calmed down nicely. Now it's a slightly warm white floral, soft and sweet like "Loralei." I like it now that it's past the ramp-up.

In the vial: Jasmine, not so much pungent as bitter. That must be the myrrh. Wet: Definitely jasmine overlaid with myrrh. It smells dark, and very strong. One hour: Wow, myrrh and jasmine is a combination that really works for me. It takes all the piercing headiness out of the jasmine, and all the bitter out of the myrrh. Together they make a mysterious dark scent that I really like. Three hours: Much less strong now. I'm very happy that I could wear this, but I think that "Wicked," with the same basic contents of myrrh, jasmine, and rose, worked better on me.

In the vial: Myrrh, rose, sandalwood. Wet: Myrrh and something else resinous. The sandalwood (or something) smells kind of sour. The rose is slowly ramping up. One hour: In a warm damp room this smells sour and resinous on me. There's not enough myrrh and rose in it to make up for the sourness. It definitely smells dry and, somehow, stale on me. But when I went into a climate-controlled room it suddenly smelled much nicer. I could smell the rose and myrrh, and the blend seemed much better balanced. That's interesting. Three hours: Mostly mastic and sandalwood, with a hint of rose.

In the vial: Chocolate caramel. Wet: Chocolate floral and a resin. Twenty minutes: Oh, that's interesting: chocolate patchouli! It also smells smoky, a little warm and sweet. One hour: Yum! Patchouli and sweet floral with resin and, most surprisingly of all, the cocoa hasn't worn off. Not too many of the chocolate notes work on me, but this is the second that has. It's nice: not enough to be foody, but it adds an interesting depth to the blend. There's something slightly tart or sour; I wonder if that's supposed to be sweaty armor? Two and a half hours: Floral-resin with a trace of cocoa still. I like this. Four hours: It's fallen off a lot, but wonder of wonders I can still smell the cocoa as well as the florals. This is really very interesting; I think I'll keep it.

In the vial: Honeyed wine and something tart. Wet: Very grapey, with the honey. It smells a lot like Arnaldus of Villanova's recipe for "wine to benefit the whole body," which is wine boiled down by a third and then sweetened and spiced. There's a background of floral, too, but it hasn't developed yet. Twenty minutes: More grapey, less sweet than before. There's at least one sweet floral in there, but it doesn't smell like carnation. I like it, but it almost feels like my nose is on an overdose, like there are too many scents to tease out. One hour: Very grapey, also honey and a floral. Resin in the background. Still smells like a medieval boiled-wine cordial. Two hours: More honey than grapey now, with some less sweet florals obvious. I like it very much, but it still smells almost like something one would eat or drink. Three hours: Honey with pungent florals and a hint of grapes. I like this because I like honey scents in general, but this one's not as exciting as I'd hoped. Still, it's nice to be able to wear something with oakmoss in it and not feel icky. Four hours: More complex now, less honey, practically no grape. Still got some staying power, though. No sign of oakmoss or carnation yet. Five hours: Much as before, but some mossiness showing up now. Still nice.

In the vial: Smells like herby honey, only more tart and with apple. Wet: Fleshy floral on top, sweet floral in the middle, and herbs beneath. Very complex. Twenty minutes: Clover-honey, herbs, and moss. Smells like a meadow in July. One hour: Even more honey-like, but it's lost a lot of its initial complexity. Two and a half hours: Distant floral with some herby elements. The moss is more prominent now. Four hours: Mostly done now except for one herbal note that's unfamiliar.

In the vial: Floral with a patchouli background. Wet: The myrrh comes up immediately, darkening and spicing the floral. This has a lot of potential. Twenty minutes: "Dark" is the word here: dark myrrh, dark clove, even the patchouli reads dark. Very little left of the floral. This is intense and very moody. One hour: Still very dark, but not as intense. I like it a lot, but I'd have to be in just the right mood to wear it. It's not cheerful, or even particularly sexy. Two hours: Pleasant, but no longer dark or moody. At this level, I could wear this every day with no second thoughts. Four hours: This has long since fallen back to almost nothing. Curious after such a strong and intense beginning. Too bad; I kind of liked it.

In the vial: Myrrh and a little rose at first, then the jasmine develops as it hits the air. Wet: The jasmine ramps, but not painfully. This has potential. Twenty minutes: The myrrh has turned the jasmine into something darker, less sweet, but also less blaringly headachy than jasmine usually goes on me. The rose is there too, but it blends in very nicely with the jasmine. I got this as a long shot, because of the myrrh and rose, but it might be working better than I expected. One hour: Mmmm, this smells deliciously dark and spicy now, like carnation and clove only without the sharp bite of carnation. Wow, that's a big change; I can't make out any jasmine at all. I may have to keep this one. Two hours: Mostly dark spice now, but with some sweetness that still suggests carnation-clove. I won't say I'm sorry the jasmine went away, but it was kind of cool when it was still there. This now reads a bit like "Phantom," only not so nummy. Three hours: Myrrh all the way, but sweet, not bitter. In air conditioning it's quite pleasant; in heat and humidity, it smells tired and labored. Five hours: Fading, it's gone sweetish. But for most of the time this was really good, in a dark and mysterious kind of way.

In the vial: Strong peach but balanced by something with a lot of depth, maybe the amber? I think this smells amazing, sweet but rich like nectar or ambrosia maybe. Wet: The peach begins to recede almost immediately as the amber takes point. But the amber is better balanced than usual this time. Stronger impression of patchouli than I expected, too. Half an hour: Wow! This is more like what I was looking for: amber laced with sweetness that doesn't give me a headache. The musk is very subtle, more so than the patchouli. I have the impression the peach part isn't going to last as long as the amber, though; we'll see. Four hours: It's faint now, but still very pleasant. Two hours ago I couldn't stop sniffing myself, which is entertaining to do while knitting. I think I'd use this one for special occasions where I needed to smell really yummy for short periods of time. It will be interesting to compare this with Aglaea in a couple of days; that one also has amber, musk, and peach.

In the vial: Interesting! All the pungency of a lily (stargazer?), but not very sweet and not at all headachy. Would love to know what they cut it with! Wet: Something sweet and heavy, kept at bay by the lily pungency. It's all floral, but there's almost an herbal quality to it, it's so un-sweet. Twenty minutes: Although it's still dominated by floral, this has blended and developed nicely, and there's something very familiar about it, something herbal, off the beaten track. It's not a scent I trust, though. One hour: Fruity. It's almost fruity. There's still lily and something else (herbal?), but there's definitely the tang of fruit here too. Or maybe it's a light tea note? I don't know. But it's pleasant, and I like it. Two hours: The fruit has calmed down some but there's still a residue of it, along with a very nice floral. It no longer smells quite so much like lily. I wouldn't pick this to wear, but it isn't bad on me at all. Three and a half hours: Very subtle now, lasting less long on me than most florals do. Seven hours: Just a trace left.

In the vial: Sweet and tangy. Smells much more fruity than floral. I would never have guessed there was myrrh or sandalwood in this one. Wet: An instant of Juicyfruit Gum, then the floral came up, followed not 30 seconds later by the amber. There's the promise of something more bitter beneath, perhaps the myrrh. Ten minutes: Well, this is definitely another amber-floral on me, but the sandalwood makes it into something different from the others. I don't often have a lot of luck with sandalwood, but this one might work out pretty well. Half an hour: Agreeably complex. The amber has been folded back into the sandalwood, and the floral is much less strong than before. There's a dryness that might be the myrrh. Nothing dominates, but it smells pretty nice, less intense and more sneaky than most. Four and a half hours: I enjoyed sniffing this all morning, especially while I was tapestry weaving. Now it's dried off and the myrrh is dominating a bit of amber and a hint of floral. The sandalwood that makes this one something special on me has dissipated, for the most part.