yeahbutnobut

Ichabod Crane In the imp: a really weird smell-somewhere between soapy and buttery. Wet on skin: that unusual soapy-juicy-buttery smell, now with a sourness to it. Dry on skin: this is really bizarre on me. the dominant note is sour cream, that’s the first thing that hits my nose, a rancid and curdled cream smell. Maybe it’s the cream note mixing with the wool? I can also smell a soapy note, not like the wool in Kelly Pool but definitely along the lines of clean laundry. This clean note clashes with the sour cream. I also get black pepper, which in here smells quite savoury. I get hardly any tea or beeswax, for now at least. After a while: the scent becomes a little bit more coherent by now, but I’m still not crazy about it. the wool note has gone all soapy-detergent on me, the cream note still smells sour and curdled, and I think the muguet may also be soaping out on me. where’s the tea and beeswax? This smell is really not good on me. The scent only becomes more tolerable after a few hours, when the clean wool calms down, the sour milk fades a little, and I smell the tea! There’s the tea, at last! And it’s a really nice black tea with a hint of smoke and beeswax. Verdict: this was just wrong on me. it started off smelling strongly of rancid milk, and there are few milk notes that turn so sour on me but this one does. I smell something very soapy and dusty, I’m guessing the wool mixed with the lily of the valley. And a pungent black pepper. The notes do not gel well, and I’m not at all keen on the smell of rancid cream or soapy wool anyway. It’s only a few hours into wear when I smell the more pleasant notes of tea and beeswax. But I don’t like waiting through stages of notes that smell so bad on me to get to a nice tea-beeswax finale. So I sold this one off. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? no. If you like this, try: White Rabbit, Kelly Pool, Milk Moon

Wensleydale In the imp: fresh and clean soap. Wet on skin: floral soap and fluffy laundered towels. Dry on skin: now this smells like bubble bath! Soft mounds of bubbles and the floral soapy scent of the bath foam, mixed with lily of the valley soap and rose perfumes, this really is the scent of a bathroom full of luxurious soaps and fluffy towels of fine Egyptian cotton. It’s the scent of soap and laundry, but it is different to Dirty in that this smells warmer and more evocative of soapy bath water than dry linens. There’s something in this scent that reminds me of the hand soaps they have in country hotels and pubs, it’s clean and soapy and approachable, but very traditional in scent as well. the warm clean powdery scent that I get is similar to Delousing Powder. After a while: this now smells more and more like an ozone scent. less wet soap, less floral bubble bath, and now I smell more of the clean cotton, which, at this point, smells tumble-dried (in that there’s a hint of static to it). it’s a little bit more detergent-like now too. Verdict: this scent really isn’t my thing. It is soapy, but a little too soapy. Though I rather like how it starts off. it smells like taking a bath with kid’s bubble bath, a slightly neutral floral-based scent, with a wet steamy warmth to it that makes me think of a warm bath and soft towels. I quite like it for a while, I even smell hints of clean musk to it. but then the scent goes way too ozone-y for my likings, and the ozone reacts badly with my skin, turning to the washing powder/tumble dried scent I’m not so keen on. So not really my thing at all. But it is very realistic as a soap scent! Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? not really. If you like this, try: Dirty, Delousing Powder, Pool of Tears

Saloon #10 Whoa, this is an intense scent! it smells of heavy, heavy leather-think Quincy Morris or Auguste Dupin. This is saddle leather or rawhide. The tobacco is also very strong here and it’s a tobacco I don’t like-a sticky, treacly pipe tobacco, which smells cloying and thick. When I spray this I also smell something boozy at first, like whisky or some other strong liquor. Once that fades, the leather comes out and I smell worn wooden floorboards and that thick tobacco. At times the tobacco goes smoky and I even wondered if someone was smoking outside and the smoke had wafted through the window, but it was this spray. Not only that, but this is incredibly strong stuff. One squirt is enough to make the whole place smell of a rugged cowboy saloon. Needless to say, I don’t really like this scent-the leather is too strong and the tobacco isn’t my thing. (it may be nice as a shoe spray though, as the leather does smell like a cobbler’s, that leather shoe scent) and even stranger, my mum likes it. She said she liked the smell of ‘peppery leather’ in the house. I was expecting her to complain about it! but I’m not keen on it, it’s a little too rugged and rough for me.

Goblin of Yuletide Yet to Come :love!: This is probably my favourite room spray of the series (haven’t tried Past yet though) and it may possibly be my favourite of all the BPTP sprays I’ve tried! It smells just like incense, real resinous frankincense and myrrh, like I’ve been burning the stuff inside my house. No, it smells even better than that because there's nothing charred to it at all. It smells just like the way frank and myrrh incense does when it’s burnt properly, and the smoke lingering in the air. I don’t smell much love, and I’m not familiar with styrax but I think it’s like benzoin? If so that explains why it’s slightly sweet. There’s something outdoorsy to it, it’s a cool incense, I think that’s the gentle powdery-green oak moss that conveys this feeling. When I smell this, I get a visual of incense drifting out of an ancient church on a winter’s day. The air is crisp and chilly with frost, and all is silent. The incense scent is inviting and calming and hints at promises of warmth, luring me indoors, to come out of the cold. This scent is beautiful, meditative, and soothing. It’s also perfect for use in my campus flat because incense is forbidden there (fire regulations!) and I can now make my room smell like incense without burning anything! I really hope there are more incense/resin scents in the works for future (GC) room sprays because this is such a wonderful scent and I am using it so much, I know I’ll run out of it fast!

Either Midnight Kiss or my old NYE standby, New Year's Eve in Dogville.

The Fainting Couch I got a squirt of this in my Inquisition order. I love getting prototypes/unreleased scents. Anyway, in a nutshell, this smells of roses. Though this is different to the rose scent of Queen’s Croquet Garden. Whilst that one is a fresh, outdoorsy rose, this is more like dry rose petals, and a much more vintage rose scent. Very Victorian, there’s something aged and a little old fashioned (in a good way) about it. I think there’s also a little bit of violet, and maybe some orris, in there as well, something that adds a powdery and traditional scent to the rose. It reminds me of Madame Tracy, if I were to compare it with a scent in the GC. It reminds me of Lucy’s Kiss, or maybe London, but this is a more complex scent, there’s more than just rose in here even though that’s the dominant note. This is really gorgeous as a room scent. The distinguished and classy rose scent makes my room smell rather posh, even if it certainly doesn’t look it! I have to say I am pleased with the squirtiness of the Goblin Squirts. They may be small but they spread the scent very well. The spray comes out as a fine mist as opposed to a concentrated stream of scent, which is perfect for a room spray which needs to diffuse well.

Gelt In the imp: oh! Delicious powdered milk chocolate. Reminds me of Velvet and the 13s. Wet on skin: now I smell the amber! And whoa, what an amber note! Dry on skin: chocolate glazed with rich glowing amber. This is stunning. The chocolate has lost the initial ‘drinking chocolate mix’ smell and now goes into a Belgian milk chocolate scent, creamy and luxurious. But it’s the amber that’s really grabbing me. This golden amber isn’t the usual golden amber I’m familiar with but a much more complex and exotic creature. It reminds me of Tunisian Amber from Attar Bazaar, it’s rich and heady and golden and oriental with spices and all sorts of intriguing facets. It’s the kind of amber scent you’d expect to smell on a perfume stall in a Middle Eastern souk. But this time, it’s mixed with chocolate. And this combination is downright incredible. After a while: the amber and chocolate are very well balanced here. I smell them both in equal measure. The amber is still as beautiful as it was when it started, full of richness and luminous gilded tones. The chocolate has become a little sweeter, a little creamier. It’s still a dry chocolate though, reminds me of the El Dia de Reyes chocolate note. I smell hints of vanilla now. It doesn’t change too much-it just stays as a constant and delicious scent of chocolate and amber. Verdict: imagine chocolate stored in a treasure chest full of exotic spices and perfumes from the East, carried by desert caravan on camel back, across golden sand dunes in the sunset. That's what this brings to mind. It’s delicious milk chocolate but with one of the most beautiful amber notes I’ve smelt in BPAL, ranking up there with the Nepalese and Egyptian ambers. This amber smells complex and thick and resinous, and it’s golden scent conceals spices and incense, a very ‘oriental’ amber scent. I’d say this is a sister to Boomslang-not as dark and deep as Boomslang but the exotic chocolate theme is there. There’s something to it like aged labdanum, something like myrrh, and a non-foody sweetness too. The chocolate goes so well with it, and this scent is a lovely balance of the two notes. This is probably one of my favourite chocolate scents and I know I need more! Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Yes! If you like this, try: Velvet, 13 (any), Bliss, Boomslang, El Dia de Reyes

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn In the imp: pine and orange and ohhh. That’s what I exclaimed when I smelt this-ohhh. I can’t describe it otherwise. Wet on skin: pine! Gorgeous sappy pine, and delicious blood orange, and honey! Dry on skin: blood orange (whoa, lots of that!) and pine sap. This smells beautiful. I adore the pine sap in here. It smells rich and resinous and warm, nothing Christmas tree about this pine. In fact it reminds me of cypress sap in here for some reason. The blood orange is a bold, gutsy citrus which is almost like grapefruit in here, bittersweet and tangy. I can smell honey too, and a floral sweetness from heliotrope, and patchouli. This is a really intriguing blend of notes and I like the way they are mingling…it smells like rich dark greens and oranges and golds and browns. I agree with the painting analogy. This reminds me of the Illustrated Woman fused with Angeronalia. After a while: the orange sure is persistent! And that’s not a bad thing. It is a lot more bitter/peely than expected though, but in a good way. now I think I can smell more of the linden (interesting light floral) and heliotrope, and something that may be musk. The honey goes all beeswax-y now, and the scent seems to have lost it’s sweetness. But this is still really nice. At this point it reminds me of Pepper, but less floral, much more pine-y. There are times when I am unsure about this-something in here wants to turn rubbery. I have no idea why but I seem to smell something like rubber or plastic in here-it’s fleeting, but it pops up now and then. It’s a real shame because I love the pine and orange in here, but it seems to be going flat in the way that Illustrated Woman did. Maybe it’s the patchouli? Normally I like patch but maybe this variety/combination is a bit strange on me. it could also be the linden-I’m not familiar with this floral. Where’s the amber gone? The scent changes again at drydown-turning to a sort of beeswax-pine scent with a patchouli-musk base. It reminds me of Hexennacht now, a similar mix of evergreen and a hint of incense and musk. Verdict: I loved this at the beginning, a wonderful scent of thick pine resin with bittersweet blood orange backed up with honey and flowers and patchouli. I can’t say why, but this scent seems almost jubilant, a celebration of nature, it’s earthy but a bit flamboyant too, bright colours and vivid scents. This explosion of notes does tone down a little as the scent progresses, and sadly it seems to go a little rubbery on me, which is strange. Almost like a waxy-soapy-plastic at times. I think it’s possibly a floral thing. But it could be a certain blend of honey, patch and pine that may not work, as I think this was the kind of scent that put me off the Illustrated Woman. Though this rubbery scent doesn’t always pop up, it does improve after a few hours. I’ll keep the bottle of this scent, try it again, and I’m sure it’ll improve with age. I just love that just-dry stage too much to pass my bottle on. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? I think so. If you like this, try: Illustrated Woman, Angeronalia, Pepper, Hexxenacht, Stranger in Camp

Mictecacihuatl In the imp: mahogany and tobacco. This is a deep brown scent. Wet on skin: a honeyed note which I’m guessing is agave nectar, with tobacco and brown woods. Dry on skin: here comes the copal! Now this smells like a wonderful mix of copal and tobacco backed by rich woods (I’m sure mahogany is in here) and rose and honeyed nectar, with a spicy mixture which, to my nose, contains pimento or pink pepper, maybe even chilli? The copal is a gorgeous resin note which is a little bit gentler than frankincense, and also a bit more ‘crumbly’ in feel (I can’t describe it better, sorry), and the tobacco is strong but not obnoxious. After a while: the agave is interesting, it is sweet but not too much, almost like honey but not quite. Over time I smell similarities with this note and the sweetness in Sturgeon Moon. Sadly, SM went soapy on me and it seems that this too is going the same way. I never thought that agave could be a soapy note but that’s what seems to be happening here. It does smell a bit more honeyed now, but I also smell less of the copal and tobacco, and more of the spicy woods. I love the dark, spicy resinous notes here but I’m not so sure of the soapy smell. Verdict: this starts out as very promising, a strong tobacco scent with glossy brown woods and spices and a lovely copal note, with a hint of honey which I assumed was agave nectar. But then it did something I really didn’t expect in a scent so heavy with resins, deep woods, spices and smoke-it turned soapy! I really love the rich exotic Aztec spices and resins and the tobacco is lovely, but the soap? Not so much. I have a feeling it may be the agave doing this. I got a reaction like this in Sturgeon moon, though in SM, the aquatic notes made it soapier. I will retry this scent again, just in case aging gets rid of that pesky soapy note. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? I’ll keep the decant for retesting. If you like this, try: Tezcatlipoca, Ogun, Greed, Santa Muerte, Sturgeon Moon

Pumpkin IV 2008 In the imp: mint? I smell mint here, or caramel and buttermints. Wet on skin: I still smell mint but it seems to be morphing into pine, now I also smell pumpkin. Dry on skin: this is what happens when the Illustrated Woman meets Pumpkin V from last year. This has the same mix of pine and tobacco and honey as IW, but with the rich golden pumpkin and creamy vanilla as Pumpkin V 07. The cherry tobacco, a note that usually goes crazy on my skin, is subdued here-it’s like the tobacco in A Bold Bluff. The honey is actually sweeter than IW, a fluffy and milky honey almost like that of Dana O’Shee, and I love that kind of honey. I get very little cedar or sage. After a while: this gets really nice. There’s something about this reminiscent of the pumpkin-beeswax scent of Pumpkin Smash, meets the vanilla of Pumpkin V 07, with added tobacco. The tobacco in here is lovely, it smells more like a dry cigar tobacco than a cherry one. It gives the scent a lovely smoky aspect. I also love the ‘milk and honey’ scent this has. At times the tobacco and vanilla come out more and this reminds me of pumpkin-y Pinched, and at other times the honey goes all beeswax-like and it reminds me very slightly of Hand of Glory. Verdict: this is my favourite pumpkin in this year’s patch. I love most of the notes here but was wary of the pipe tobacco, which has been known to turn incredibly cloying on me. but not in here! Here I smell more of the honey and vanilla, and they are gorgeous. Sweet but not overwhelming, they dominate the scent but make everything gently creamy. Intriguing woodsy/sappy notes come in, from the pine and cedar, but they don’t take over. The tobacco is so subtle, more like a gentle leafy tobacco, smoky and dry. Even the pumpkin stays quiet. I wasn’t expecting to love this but I do, and I’m glad I got a bottle. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Yup, I have a bottle. If you like this, try: Illustrated Woman, Pumpkin V 2007, Dana O’Shee, Piper at the Gates of Dawn

Gluhwein In the imp: smells like honeyed mulled wine, or a stronger Fairy Wine. Wet on skin: glorious sweet honey over a delicious sweet wine note. Dry on skin: the honey note sharpens a tad, but now this reminds me of Mead Moon, but with a darker red wine note to it instead of golden mead. This is really wonderful. It smells a little different to the gluhwein I’m used to because of the honey-I’ve not had mulled wine with honey in it. but it works so well here, and the wine note underneath the honey does smell like real mulled wine, the spices in it are perfect-I can smell the cardamom, the citrus peel, the vanilla. And it does remind me of Fairy Wine, but much more wintry. After a while: oh my goodness, this has just become incredibly wonderful! It’s not the smell of mulled wine, but I love it all the same. What I smell is a glowing golden honey with a sweet fruity-floral undertone. It’s familiar but I can’t say what it smells like…some kind of fruit juice, or lotus? After a few sniffs, I finally figure it out…it reminds me of Tum, but this is so much nicer. It’s not as sharp and herbal, a bit heavier on the honey than the grape, and the grape note is darker and boozier. But I think it’s the combination of honey, wine, bay and clove that makes it similar. And this has crazy, crazy throw. It wafts all around me and I get whiffs of honey and spice every now and then. Verdict: I’ve been hoping and wishing for a BPAL mulled wine scent, and finally they made one…and it’s wonderful! Admittedly, it doesn’t smell like the mulled wines I’m used to, but it’s such a gorgeous scent in it’s own right so that doesn’t matter. The scent is mainly honey and wine with hints of spices and citrus peels and sweet vanilla. It smells like a stronger version of Fairy Wine, warmer and richer, but with more intense notes of honey and wine, and with the flowers replaced with subtle spices and citrus. This is also almost like a winter Mead Moon. The drydown of this scent, honeyed sweet grapes with vanilla, is irresistible. This scent is perfect for wearing at any time of the year, not just around the festive period. And it makes me want to make a mulled wine with honey in it. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Yup! If you like this, try: Fairy Wine, Mead Moon, Madrid, Athens, Death of Sardapanal, Tum

Scattered Gloom In the imp: a dry, dark, ancient resin scent. Like really, really old myrrh. Wet on skin: holy shit, resins! Ohh, the olibanum in here is wonderful! Dry on skin: beautiful resinous incense! This scent reminds me, initially, of a darkened Midnight Mass. (A midnight black mass?) the resins are dominant, with the beautiful olibanum, frankincense with a spicier, smokier edge, taking the lead. The sombre bittersweet opoponax is underneath, and I can smell hints of opium smoke, the combination of opoponax and opium reminding me of one of my favourite scents, Event Horizon. I’m not familiar with mandrake and can’t really smell the currant, but I love this deep, hypnotic blend of resins and opium. This is what I was hoping to get in Laudanum and Hades. After a while: the olibanum gradually gives way to opoponax and opium. Oh, this is so good. I can still smell the frankincense but now the myrrh-like scent of opoponax is in charge. It smells deep and brooding, a moody resin scent. There’s a wonderful ‘ancient’ scent to this resin, like it’s been aged for millennia. I also smell the opium, one of those hit or miss notes-and in here, it’s definitely a hit. It adds smokiness but doesn’t go bad on me. It’s a lovely dry smoke scent. Verdict: I adore BPAL resins so much, and here’s another stunning resin-incense scent. This is like a darker version of the frankincense and myrrh scents, shadowy and foreboding yet also hauntingly beautiful. I can smell frankincense and myrrh’s dark twins, olibanum and opoponax, ruling this scent, which I love. The resins are rich and smell almost antique, aged, very rich. I can’t really smell the currant or the mandrake but the opium adds it’s dark smoky intoxicating scent to the resins in the best way possible, without taking over. It’s just very well balanced in here. The only disadvantage is that this seems to fade a little faster than my other resin scents, but I think this will not be a problem when this scent ages-and I bet it will age wonderfully! Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Of course. If I had the opportunity to get another bottle, I might well try and get one. If you like this, try: Midnight Mass, Blasphemare Reliquary, Ligur, Minotaur, Hades, Laudanum, Event Horizon

In the imp: wonderful warm herbs, but with a hint of wet floral. Wet on skin: I can smell thyme, and rosemary too…a bit of cypress. And lots of bitter grassy flowers. Dry on skin: once dry I smell a lot more of the thyme and cypress, which is a good thing because I love Mediterranean herbal scents. The initial grassy wet floral notes worried me because they almost always turn to soap, and there’s still the potential that they could rear their soapy heads in here too, but for now, the warm, balmy scents of cypress, thyme, myrtle and something like sage or rosemary are dominant. Probably thanks to the cypress (which in here smells less like wood, and more like that wonderful cypress sap scent) this isn’t a kitchen herbal, but a more natural ‘summer evening in the Med’ scent. After a while: the oleander (a note that seriously disagreed with me in Tisiphone) seems to be gearing up to wreak havoc on this scent, as I smell whiffs of something vaguely like hairspray under that lovely deep green scent of herbs and cypress. Now it brings back memories of my Sicilian holiday in 07, reminds me of the smell of herbs there, and I love that. I just hope the flowers in here don’t ruin this! The floral notes still want to pop out and soap out but the cypress is restraining them, as is the thyme, which smells so wonderfully true, it’s almost like I’ve rubbed a bit of the herb on me. I’m surprised as to how long the herbal notes stick around here. The scent always verges on turning to soap but thankfully it doesn’t. Verdict: this one, considering the hints of soapy floral and grass that I smelt here, worked a lot better than expected. For one thing, I adore the smell of the cypress and thyme here. It smells very similar to how the air smelt when I was in Sicily-at night; the air would reek beautifully of the nearby cypress trees and the herbs growing on the hills. I can almost feel the sultry heat and hear the crickets and the sound of the sea…I love those Mediterranean style herb scents because they always bring back happy memories of summer holidays…this one is no exception. The only thing that stops this scent from being herbal-cypress perfection is the oleander and possibly the crocus, and those mysterious unnamed floral notes. They threaten to turn this scent into something truly bad, but the cypress and thyme step up to them, barring their way. I do like the scent because there aren’t enough dry herbal scents in BPAL, so I wouldn’t mind getting more. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? I’ve just found a half-bottle, which is enough for me to get my summer herbs scent fix. If you like this, try: Lear, Parentalia, Nero, Tisiphone, Danse Macabre

Hay Moon In the imp: pollen, hay, mimosa? It’s a bit powdery and dry, but definitely hay-scented and golden. Wet on skin: oh, this reminds me of something from Nocturne Alchemy! It’s reminiscent of their sand note, and I love that! Dry on skin: gorgeous! This smells of golden hay mingled with desert sands, or at least, it evokes that image. Dry, golden, warm, sunkissed. I also smell hints of pollen here, like mimosa pollen or maybe grass pollen (good thing I’m not allergic!) and the amber here is shining underneath it all. I don’t smell much honey or cardamom, but I do smell grains, like wheat. And the scent still reminds me of NA, with that sandy and golden feel to it and a hint of papyrus and Egyptian musk, but this one is a lot more powdery, the dustiness here is reminiscent of the Ifrit. This scent is very, very different to Bezoar, whilst that had an amber-balsam note and a lot more hay, this is cleaner in scent, powdery and yellow and evocative of dry climates. After a while: the scent doesn’t change too much, it does become a bit more powdery and dusty with time. I also smell a more defined hay note, but I’m surprised as to how powdery and sandy this smells, hot and arid, this is summer, but it’s more like a dust bowl than a ripening hay scent. I like it though, how heated and dry this smells, really desert-like, and even a tad smoky, almost bringing to mind fires in the tinder-dry vegetation…yup, it’s the scent of an August heatwave! The drydown is a bit like Scarecrow, but sweeter, less like oily straw and more like dusty grain. Verdict: this was totally different to what I expected. I was expecting something along the lines of Scarecrow, but softer, mixed with Bezoar. What I got was an unexpected but interesting scent of dry golden dust and pollen with hints of grain and hay. It’s arid, almost desert-like, but there’s also something almost floral to it. it’s very powdery, a little too much at times, but when it becomes a subtle sandy dusty scent with hints of amber, I really like it. I think because it reminds me of another perfume from another company, which I love, that’s why I’m quite fond of this, even though it doesn’t smell at all like I was expecting it to smell. I just wish I got more cardamom and honey from it… Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Yes. If you like this, try: Scarecrow, Bezoar, Ozymandias, Ifrit, Viparlabda, Sunflower, Dog Days

Trampled gingerbread cookies, scattered rum balls, and indestructible, rock-hard fruitcake and a gargantuan squirt of musk. Invasion of the Flesh Eating Reindeer from Uranus In the imp: gingerbread, but also some musk! Mmm! Wet on skin: now it sweetens as the fruitcake and rum notes come out. Dry on skin: this is gorgeous. Now I can really smell the fruity boozy smell of Christmas cake soaked in rum, mixed with proper home made gingerbread made with fresh ginger, and over it all is that wonderful musk. The musk soothes and tames the spices and intensely sugary notes. It’s the same musk as Reindeer Poop and possibly the same musk as Ivanushka and Buck Moon, the fuzzy deer musk which smells like warm fur, cosy and sexy at the same time. But unlike Reindeer Poop, this doesn’t turn all sharp on me. Naturally, this scent also reminds me of Shub, because of that sexy ginger with a hint of spicy musk/incense aspect, but this is a lot softer than Shub. After a while: the scent seems to change from spicy musk with smokiness (reminiscent of Devil’s Night) to a dry gingerbread, then to a fruitcake scent, and back again to musk. It’s really delightful. the gingerbread does seem to go a tiny bit burnt-smelling like in GP05, but in here I like it-it’s a smoky gingerbread. The musk seems to keep the foody notes under control. I don’t smell caramel amping up or overwhelming treacle. The scent then stabilises into a balanced blend of gingerbread and musk with creamy vanilla. Verdict: a delightful fusion of Shub and Gingerbread Poppet, with added hints of Fruitcake and Reindeer Poop. And then some. This is probably my favourite ginger scent! It’s got lots of gourmand elements in it but I think the musk and even the ginger help to stop the foody notes from overwhelming. This smells initially like very spicy gingerbread with a sexy musk undertone, but then moves into fruitcake and spiced vanilla, but still keeps that ginger and musk background. At times it is indulgent, at times sexy, at times a little mischievous, but always smells cosy and warm and inviting, never cloying or sickeningly sweet. This is the perfect Yuletide fragrance…and it’s got one of the best perfume names ever, so how could I not fall for this scent? Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Oh yes. maybe even backup-worthy. If you like this, try: Shub Niggurath, Gingerbread Poppet, Saw Scaled Viper, Ivanushka, Devil’s Night, Reindeer Poop (if you can get it!), Fruitcake (ditto!)

Stormclouds over the Midway In the imp: nag champa and a hint of smoke. No stormy notes. Wet on skin: the incense warms up and I smell opium now. Dry on skin: actually, this isn’t too bad. I was expecting OZONE! but I don’t seem to smell much in here. To me it’s more of a humid, muggy scent than an electrical note-more like the air before a storm. I do smell incense, which does indeed have a plum like feel to it, reminiscent of Hellion and the Witch Queen but not identical. Not a sweet plum, but a dry, tart and smoky one. It’s more of a nag champa incense than a resinous one. It’s a darker version of Midnight on the Midway’s incense. I also smell a dark green note, maybe the wormwood? And there’s a little bit of opium too. After a while: it gets a little bit soapy at drydown, but the stormy ozone doesn’t really show up in this scent, which is a good thing for me since thunderstorm scents turn to detergent on me. this doesn’t. now it has that same ‘night air’ scent that Mid on the Mid has but overall, it’s dominated by what I’m sure is wormwood. I’ve not been sure of this note before but there’s a note to this that is deep and green, a bit herbal and slightly absinthe-y, but not boozy. I really like it. there is a problem with this scent-it goes really faint on me very fast. Verdict: I’m surprised at this one-I was expecting electric ozone of doom. But I don’t get much of it. The stormy scent I do get is more of that humidity that builds up before the storm actually breaks, wet and oppressive, but not crackling with lightning, just yet. But it is ominous, evoking the heavy air and the purple-grey sky hanging overhead, just before the heavens open. I do smell some pleasant incense and opium wafts too, a fruity plum incense reminiscent of Hellion (but not as sweet) but the note I get a lot of-and now I feel I can recognise it better-is wormwood. A pleasant greenish herbal scent that was apart from the other notes in this scent, I’m sure that’s wormwood. The scent does fade, and overall it’s not really my thing, but it’s good to see (or smell) a storm scent that doesn’t turn to washing powder. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Not really, but I actually don't mind this scent. If you like this, try: Midnight on the Midway, Thunder Moon, Visiting the Temple…at the Winter Solstice

La Primavera In the imp: this is so pretty. Tuberose and the most gorgeous jasmine note! Wet on skin: gorgeous tuberose and jasmine, now with orange blossom and lemon. Dry on skin: if the plum blossom ruins this I will scream. Because right now this is the most beautiful mix of tuberose, orange blossom and jasmine! So often, BPAL jasmine turns sour on my skin but not in here. Here it smells like jasmine should. The lemon and orange blossom add a sharp citrus scent with a hint of something sophisticated, like a cologne, to it. I can smell a bit of oak moss too, and I think the jasmine is fleshed out a bit by the ylang-ylang, but overall this really shows off the tuberose. It also reminds me of Hanami, one of the few plum blossom scents I can wear, which is a good sign. After a while: it seems that the plum blossom in here is very much like the ume note in Hanami, which means it is not going cloying and doing the ‘Doom Blossom’ thing on me, but smelling light and fresh and airy. Now the PB is dominant, mixing with orange blossom and tuberose. The moss grounds the notes very nicely. This is so pretty! It’s delicate and fresh and a little bit watery, floral but not heady, a tiny bit perfumey in a sophisticated yet youthful way. Verdict: it’s a miracle! A plum blossom and jasmine scent that actually smells wonderful on me! Usually these notes take over and ruin a scent, but not here. I think this PB may be a different kind to the usual, and the jasmine is also a nicer variety. The scent starts off as a wonderful sparkling citrus-floral fragrance, bright and playful and fresh. It smells youthful and feminine, a bouquet of happy spring blooms. The scent then goes into that same breezy yet sophisticated blossom scent I got in Hanami, which I love. This one is a little more complex with orange blossom instead of cherry blossom making this a little bit tangy, not sweet. As I was born in spring, the fact that this scent smells so lovely on me makes me very, very happy. I’m glad I managed to get a bottle! Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Definitely. If you like this, try: Hanami, E Pluribus Unum, All They Had Seen

Sturgeon Moon In the bottle: whoa, this is very, very aquatic. With a hint of floral cucumber. Wet on skin: now something aggressively green seems to be rising out of the watery notes! Dry on skin: this is really odd. It smells like a green salad on me now. Not just because of the cucumber, but something in here smells like red cabbage or lettuce, and also rocket. Fresh and green and salad-like (almost like Virgo 07), and also very wet, the greenery smells watery, and there are aquatic notes surrounding the greenery. I even smell that hint of sand. There’s also a very weedy scent, like dandelion. I also smell a hint of floral and some moss too. After a while: the scent smoothes a little. It still smells very very green, now less like salad and more like wet weeds (there’s definitely a feel of pondweed to this) and lichen. Unfortunately it seems the watery notes are now turning a little too soapy for my likings, because I get this washing powder scent appearing now. Sadly this then turns to a green-leafy soap scent. I think the aquatic, or cucumber, maybe even the agave note, has backfired on me. Verdict: this was strange on me. normally I tend to fare better with freshwater aquatics than with marine ones. It started promisingly with it’s scent of greenery and water, almost like a cucumber and lettuce salad mixed with outdoorsy green notes like weeds and reeds, and a little hint of lapping water on the shore of a lake. Then the pondweed scent gets stronger, and then it turns to soap. I never get plum or benzoin, or even musk, from this. The aquatic notes seem to be turning too clean for my likings. Though, after trying Mictecacihuatl, a totally different scent which had a similar soapy reaction on me, I wonder if it’s the agave that’s going wrong. The good thing is that this scent doesn’t smell like sturgeon (or caviar) on me at all! I just wish it kept the lake shore with greenery scent I got at the start. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? No. If you like this, try: Singing Moon, Virgo 07, Mictecacihuatl

Hanerot Halalu In the imp: mmm, honeyed beeswax with a bit of citrus. Wet on skin: oranges glazed with honey. No olive or smoke yet. But I smell something a little musky? Dry on skin: this is beautiful. it’s very hard to describe this other than it is so gorgeous-and smells different to what I expected. This to me has a scent of oranges and honeycomb (the wax and the honey itself) with a hint of olive oil (though this olive smells nothing like salad oil). I love Beth’s beeswax note and this is full of that wonderful stuff. There is a hint of something a little smoky, though not on the level of Hand of Glory. This is a gentler version of HoG. I don’t know why I smell oranges but I smell a strong orange note reminiscent of bitter oranges, or candied orange peel. It’s a lovely bittersweet orange. It reminds me somewhat of the orange-honey scent I got in Thaleia, though much softer, less juicy. Strangely I also smell anise? a hint of something a little spicy. After a while: it still has that wonderful orange and honey scent, but now I smell more of the beeswax itself…and the smoke. Which smells not like the fiery smoke of Hand of Glory, but of candle smoke. I love the smell of blown out candles, and I smell it here. Soft waxy wisps of smoke with a glowing scent of warm orange and honey, and a little bit of olive (which now smells like the leaf and the blossom as well as the oil). I was disappointed by Chanukkiyah, this is how I hoped it would smell…it lacks the gourmand notes that went wrong on me. There are soft skin-scent nuances that pop up now and then, but this overall is a soft warm orange-gold scent of orange beeswax and candle smoke with olive and honey…this is a very smooth scent, luminous, well blended, harmonious. it gets so beautiful at drydown when the scent wafts with something that’s hard to put into words other than ‘golden’ and ‘sweet’ and ‘warm’ but even that is not enough to describe just how lovely it is. it’s got a reassuring, soothing feel…it’s strange because I get that soothing feel from a lot of the olive scents-Tzadikim Nistarim and Banded Sea Snake come to mind. Verdict: I can’t get over how beautiful this is. It has a golden sweetness which is not honey, not amber, not vanilla, yet it hints at them. It seems to be a golden sweetness that defies description. it’s very different to any other beeswax scent…the word ‘transcendent’ comes to mind. Simply put, it’s the ultimate beeswax candle scent, enhanced by sweet orange and olive oil. It is the smell of candlelight-not just because of the candle smoke, but it brings to mind the warm, flickering, comforting light of candles, warm golden tones in the darkness. Light at the darkest time of year. It makes me feel like there’s a warm glow inside of me when I smell it…truly glorious. I need three bottles at least. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Of course! If you like this, try: Hand of Glory, Channukiyah, No 93 Engine

This scent is really, really growing on me. The first try, I sprayed it directly on my bed, smelt it, and I wasn’t so sure. I was expecting this to smell like De Rode Sko, which I adore, but it is actually a lot sharper than DRS and also quite different. The ginger in here dominated and the orange note was a little bit sharp for me. But on the second try, when sprayed in the air as an atmospheric spray (as opposed to a linen one), I quickly fell in love. Now I keep spritzing the corridors with it because it smells so festive. Like a pomander boosted with extra spice. Gorgeous bittersweet oranges with tangy ginger and sweeter cinnamon and clove. It’s the perfect jolly Yuletide scent, and I really like it. what’s more, it lasts for ages! Even with orange in it, a note that normally doesn’t last long…I love the way this not only lingers, but diffuses extremely well-one spray in the corridor, and the whole upper and lower landing smells like Christmas!

Ooh, pictures? I'd love to see the new GC labels (and I'm tempted to buy a GC or two just for the labels!)

Orange Thanks to dpoulsen for generously including a sniffie in a swap! In the imp: orange, of course…but this is more complex. it’s like orange and heliotrope and amber with orange blossom. Wet on skin: juicy orange, orange peel, neroli, and golden sweetness. Dry: oh crap. I feared this would happen. In other words, I think I’m in love! This, to me, smells like a bold, full bodied Seville orange, the scent of its peel and the scent of its juice. I say that because it reminds me of the aromatic and bittersweet orange juice that I drank when I was in Seville, squeezed from local fruit. And it reminds me of marmalade (like Down the Rabbit Hole). But not only that…I also smell the orange tree’s blossom and leaves, and also a wonderful sweet and golden backdrop which to me smells like amber, vanilla, and a dash of heliotrope. After a while: ok, so the original orange ‘zing!’ has faded a little, but that’s citrus for you. However, this orange note is pretty persistent, its juiciness has gone but its bitter peel scent still lingers. Now I also smell more of the orange blossom/neroli and the sweet base notes that seem to anchor the volatile orange notes, to ground them. Now this smells a little more perfume-y, I’m guessing there’s some white amber here…or maybe white musk and tea? And something vanilla-like. The final drydown reminds me a bit of Lady Lilith, but stronger, sweeter, but also a bit more citrusy. It’s white musk and a sharper, effervescent citrus which is either kumquat or mandarin. And some amber too. After a few hours I swear I even smell a hint of frankincense! And I love that! Verdict: this is, without doubt, the One Orange Scent to Rule Them All. And I’m smitten by it. Sunny and vibrant Seville orange backed up by orange blossoms and gorgeous sweetness. The drydown is a little more sophisticated in feel, less zesty but still wonderful. This makes me realise that there are too few ORANGEY scents in BPAL-there’s this and Huesos de Santo, but this isn’t as sweet and sticky as Huesos, this is fresh and bright, not sugary and indulgent. The closest thing I have to this is Ra, which I adore and have lots of, and also to a lesser extent, it resembles Sol Invictus, but this is also very different to those-the orange is more ‘out there’, fresher, juicier, more dominant and straightforward. There’s a similar ‘fresh orange juice’ thing in Lustration as well-maybe I can try layering Lustration and Ra to see if I get a similar scent? I’ll have to see if I can track down more of this (easier said than done!) because my sniffie, it seems, is spent. Dammit, another rarity that I’ve fallen madly in love with… Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Oh yes-and I crave more. I think I’ve tried as much from my sniffie as I can.

L’Autunno In the bottle: smoky sweet spicy apples. Very heavy on the apples. Wet on skin: apples! Lots of apples in here, but now I also smell figs and smoke and something nutty. Dry on skin: the apple notes are sadly trying to screw this scent up, and the fig’s a little too sharp (I like my figs brown and mushy and sweet) but I really like the other supporting notes-the wood smoke note is fabulous, incredibly evocative of autumn. There’s also something here that brings to mind dead leaves upon soil, and tree bark. Lots of earthy patchouli in here. I can smell some almond (this smells like toasted nutty almond, not bitter almond/amaretto) and maybe a touch of musk as well, the carnation is what makes this smell spicy, and there’s a nice myrrh note underneath. Here’s to hoping the apple tames a bit. After a while: mmm, this is actually improving! The apple is doing the same thing as it did in the latest 13 scent-it’s softening and merging with the other notes. In fact, this now smells less like the fresh apple from before, and more like cooked apples…almost like apple compote, which I love. My mum’s apple compote is one my favourite things about autumn. This also reminds me of another favourite autumn dish-apple crumble. This is a crumble of apples and figs, topped with almonds (and I swear I’m getting something buttery, like pastry) and spiced with cloves. Mmm. Around it lingers the scent of smoke and the earthy scent of leaves and soil and twigs. The more I smell this, the more I love it. After a moment when I fear the apple will turn bad again, when it goes sharp and a bit sour, this then dries down into a gorgeous spiced patchouli with sweetness and fruit-it actually reminds me of Alone, or the Phantom Calliope with apple instead of cherry. For some reason, I get cassia and cardamom here. The patch sticks around for ages here-it’s really strong-almost aged-patchouli, with sweet spiciness. Verdict: though not as wonderful and ‘instant love’ as L’Estate, this is a really gorgeous seasonal scent! At first I wasn’t so sure as the apple was very sharp, I thought it wouldn’t be nice on me. But then the apple calms a bit and gains a ‘baked’ smell, which I love. It smells like apple tart (a bit like a Tarte Tatin, actually, but not as caramelised, and it also reminds me of apple crumble) with figs and nuts and a background of myrrh, spices and really strong patchouli. This patch becomes dominant as the scent fades and sticks around for ages, even resisting showers! This is a lot nicer than expected and like many apple scents these days, it seems to work better on me than usual. I like it a lot but I’m not sure if it’s my favourite, when compared to Fearful Pleasure, which I think I prefer as my definitive autumn apple scent. I’m still not sure whether I need my bottle. I have a feeling it will age really well though, and a little goes a long way. either way, this is a wonderful autumnal fragrance. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Definitely an imp’s worth. Maybe the bottle? If you like this, try: 13 (June 08), Samhain, To Autumn, Fearful Pleasure, Harvest Moon (any)

Hellhound on my Trail In the imp: rich vanilla with a gritty ‘voodoo’ base, herbal and dark. Wet on skin: bourbon vanilla and something almost boozy, like absinthe. And some bay rum too. Dry on skin: now I can smell the HJ root. It reminds me somewhat of the voodoo scent, High John, but it doesn’t have too much of a chemical/antiseptic undertone like what I got in HJ. There is a very medicinal scent to the whole fragrance though, like a cupboard full of mysterious healing herbs. I also smell the bay rum and all sorts of unknown, unusual herbal notes. I get whiffs of brimstone too…and this does, indeed, have a hint of something (not unpleasantly) sulphurous to it. subtle, but I can pick it out. There’s a metallic, almost dragon’s blood or absinthe like cool-woody-resinous scent, which I think is the HJ. The tobacco is very quiet, and now even the vanilla takes a back seat. After a while: oh, that’s changed a bit, and it’s changed for the better! Now the vanilla makes a comeback, and it’s absolutely gorgeous. And it’s joined by the tobacco, and the scent is now very similar to Antikythera Mechanism, which I adore. The tobacco-vanilla combo is very similar to that, and it’s almost like there’s a hint of teak or patchouli here as well. I still smell the herbs, the HJ root and the bay rum, and the BR in this scent doesn’t overwhelm and make this smell too aftershave-y or soapy as it usually does. The scent does seem to veer into slightly soapy or medicinal territory. Something about the HJ or bay rum in here smells a bit clinical, like some kind of sterilising product, alcoholic almost, but in a clean way. it does smell soapy but not too chemical or bitter like the HJ notes sometimes go. Bay rum does have a habit of going a tiny bit weird on me. the only thing that’s constant is that incredible vanilla. However, after a few hours, something in here turns into Morocco on me! maybe the musk? But I kept saying ‘why am I smelling Morocco here?’ but that is a good thing because I love Morocco, and this is a vanilla-heavy version of that scent…fringed with those mysterious roots and herbs. Verdict: this is a voodoo version of Antikythera to me. the same combo of wonderful vanilla and tobacco from AM, but with a mysterious base of intriguing herbs and smoke and a dash of bay rum. I adore the vanilla in here-gorgeous rich Bourbon vanilla-but I’m not so keen on those strange herbs and roots in here. I think it’s the High John and possibly the brimstone, and definitely the bay rum, that make this smell odd on me. it smells medicinal-at first this is a pleasant kind of medicinal (as in, herbal) smell but then it goes all chemical and the HJ starts to have the same kind of reaction as dragon’s blood on me whilst the bay rum smells like a soapy men’s cologne. The only thing I love about this scent is the drydown, which is pure Morocco on me. but apart from that, I’m not sure about this scent. I’ll keep my decant, just to see if age brings out more of the vanilla. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Not sure. If you like this, try: Antikythera Mechanism, Tombstone, Morocco, Oblivion, High John

... This is the scent of pure graveyard dust, spattered with grave loam and dusted lightly with tombstone moss. Graveyard Dirt 08 In the imp: mmm, that lovely wet mushy mushroom-y smell of watered soil. Wet on skin: smells just like mossy tombstones, wet soil and decaying plants. Dry: mmm, this is gorgeous! It smells uncannily, realistically, just like the smell of forest soil after a hard rain. Very similar to the first incarnation, actually. Only this time I smell more in the way of forest-y notes, I can smell bark and leaves and bids of decaying wood, old soil, mushrooms, moss, even hints of greenery and at times, a hint of spiciness or nuttiness. This is Graveyard Dirt, but with an autumnal twist. Now I really want to layer this with Blade of Grass for the ultimate ‘autumn in the woods’ scent. Sometimes I swear I smell a hint of eucalyptus in here as well, or camphor. After a while: like the previous version, this seems to fade rather fast, but even though it is fainter after about an hour, a trace of scent remains, and this smells really nice. It now has this haunting catacomb like scent…less like a cave and more like a crypt, I can smell cold stone, there’s a moss note to this which is green and a bit dusty. I smell cool lightless underground air. Hints of coffin wood. and all around, a slightly unnerving, yet oddly comforting sweetness, of all things. I’m amazed at how catacomb-y this smells, it reminds me of the way the air smelt inside the Capuchin catacombs of Palermo. It reminds also me a bit of Queen of Clubs with the fruits and flowers removed, but the earthy notes remaining. Verdict: I loved the original GD, but comparing them, this is my favourite. The mushroom scent I get in both versions is less pronounced in 08, and a bit too much for me in 05. This one is a bit softer in scent, but seems to stick around longer. There are also hints of that ‘autumn in the rain’ scent of wet mushy leaves and decaying vegetation that I’ve smelt a lot in real life these last couple of months, a melancholy but beautiful scent of nature. 05 was a wetter soil scent, like soil that’s just been watered or rained on, this has that aspect to it too but there’s also a stony scent, like tombstones or crypts, a damp stone scent which I love…this comes out more in the drydown, adds a really subterranean scent to it all. A marvellous improvement on that amazing dirt scent that was the first Graveyard Dirt. I’m not sure I’d wear this often unless I was writing a story or setting a mood (as in I could wear it because I love it, but not as a ‘public perfume’, ie for going out), but I’d love to use it as a room scent or layered with something else. It’s a masterfully blended, very authentic scent. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Yes! this is the ultimate dirt/earth/stone scent! If you like this, try: A Blade of Grass, Penny Dreadful, Zombi, Premature Burial, Burial, Madeline, I'm guessing most of the Graveyard Book scents (even though I haven't tried any yet)