yeahbutnobut

Penumbra In the bottle: red musk, amber, tobacco and a bit of lavender. Wet on skin: juicy pomegranate joins in, along with sharp neroli and moonflower. Dry on skin: this is gorgeous! The purple musk in here smells, to me, like red musk, and I love that! I also smell the black amber, sweet and resinous, combined with the lavender I get a scent almost like the Emathides, but not identical. The pomegranate note is nice and strong, it’s sharpness enhanced by the neroli. And a gorgeous tobacco smoke swirls through the scent. This is deep red and shadowy, but with a hint of fruitiness. After a while: this has sweetened up, lost it’s sharpness, and now this is all about the musk, amber, tobacco and pomegranate, which in here has turned to a wonderful wine-like note, very rich and red. It’s like the pom in Mme Moriarty. At times I swear I even smell a hint of blood accord, something about this reminds me of the Blood Garden, Mort de Cesar or Crypt Queen, it’s even a little bit metallic like the blood scents. The amber is sweet and dark, the musk is rich and red, the tobacco is sublimely smoky. This smells a little bit like Midnight Kiss as well, but a bit fruitier. This smells magnificent. The scent moves through stages of blood musk, pomegranate wine and purple incense, rich and sumptuous and mysterious. Verdict: this is stunning! I loved Lunar Eclipse, but this may be even better! It’s a beguiling and shadowy beauty, luring me in with wafts of smoke, amber, tempting pomegranate and lavender, laced with hints of red. I adore the purple musk-it’s a lot redder and deeper than expected. It starts off very lavender-y but then the pom kicks in, merges with musk, and the scent gains those sanguine crimson tones that makes it such a darkly seductive delight. Purple Phoenix was really bad on me but this is wonderful. It’s another one of those musky incense with fruit scents that Beth does so well, and I’m glad I bought two bottles. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Of course. If you like this, try: Midnight Kiss, Emathides, Blood Garden, Lunar Eclipse, Mme Moriarty, Crypt Queen, Dark Delicacies, On Darkness

Day of the Skulls In the imp: honeyed, sweet flowers. I smell beeswax, rose and another floral note. Wet on skin: this is almost like Katrina Van Tassel, of all things…honeyed creamy rose. Dry on skin: a gorgeous rich rose gilded with frankincense and honeyed beeswax, with a hint of extra sweetness (the cocoa?) and one of the other floral notes, with a sandalwood base and a hint of tobacco. This is splendid! It’s a lot more complex than KVT now, but there’s a slight similarity with the honey and rose, although this also reminds me of other honey-rose scents like Lady Luck Blues, and now also of the incense-rose scents (Rose Cross, Tabula Smagradina etc). Very rosy, a lot more than expected, but as a rose lover, this makes me happy. After a while: eventually the rose is taken over by the most gorgeous sweet fresh floral note! is this cactus blossom? Whatever it is, it smells luscious and almost like orchid or champaca, a sweet white floral scent. This is covered in beeswax, and by this point the tobacco has also strengthened a little, now this smells a bit smoky. The drydown is a mix of smooth honeyed floral with an almost hay-like sandalwood and golden tobacco overlay, with hints of rose and incense. really lovely! Verdict: if Dia De Los Muertos and All Saints had a baby, it would be this. This takes the best of both scents and mixes them perfectly. There’s the frankincense-glazed rose of All Saints with the tobacco and chocolate and heady white florals of DDLM. It starts off as very rosy, with frankincense and beeswax adding golden accents. The scent then gradually sweetens and the floral changes into those exotic cactus blossoms (I think?), still with the incense sticking around. The tobacco (a paler, blonder variety than usual) and sandalwood with the luminous florals add a dry, bright, ghostly tinge to the scent at drydown. The flowery notes are not too loud though. This is really nicely balanced. I’m glad I have a bottle-I love rose and incense scents, and this is a really unique take on the theme. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Yes! If you like this, try: Dia De Los Muertos, All Saints, Rose Cross, Lady Luck Blues, Tabula Smargadina, Libra 07, Magdalene, To Helen

Summer Summoning Spectacular In the bottle: a fusion of Pancake Breakfast, Sugar Skull and Al Azif. A kind of burnt caramel incense. Wet on skin: now I smell grass notes, green grass with sweet smoke. Dry on skin: this is a really intriguing one. Very complex with lots of facets. It smells of green grass, burnt grass, different kinds of smoke, pancakes, maple syrup, and that wonderful Al Azif incense, which is fitting to the theme! The grass note is strange-at first it reminds me of Dog Days which I love, but then it develops a bitterness, and smells of burnt grass (not dry grass, but singed grass) and even a hint of burnt dandelion. Almost like the hellish version of One to Tie. It’s a slightly acrid burnt smoky note that I’m not sure I’m digging. I do get incense smoke too, which I prefer. The pancake note is obvious but it’s not failing on me like it did in Pancake Breakfast. The sweetness here is halfway between the Spring Training’s caramel corn smell and the sweet rich dark amber-myrrh scent of Al Azif, with a dash of treacle. After a while: the Al Azif scent has faded a little and the grass, instead of it going all balmy and gorgeous like in Dog Days, now smells even more burnt, and develops a bitter green scent which is almost floral and soapy. I’m not so keen on that kind of grass note. On the plus side, I smell more pancake (which smells like a true pancake scent) and less syrup. But I’m really not keen on the burnt, charred grass and dandelion scent here. Verdict: this is what I’d imagine the aftermath of Carnaval Diabolique to smell like. Sweet burnt treats, caramels, the remains of fairground sweets trodden into the grass, the scent of sinister burning and chaos, and a whiff of incense. Very atmospheric, but it’s a shame that a couple of notes in here are not working on me at all. The grass is too bitter and harsh, soapy and charred. The incense is gorgeous, a thick sweet myrrh-resin, but sadly it gets pushed aside by the scent of scorched dandelions and floral grass. The pancake/syrup note is also strong but doesn’t bug me too much. I never got coffee from here. Ultimately, not a keeper. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Sadly, no. If you like this, try: Al Azif, Pancake Breakfast, Spring Training, One to Tie, Sugar Skull

MVJBA: Dog Days of Summer In the bottle: mushy grass clippings, soft hay, and something sweet…maybe dandelion too? Wet on skin: definitely dandelion! This reminds me of the Schoolhouse and Sagittarius. Dry on skin: very green and a bit bitter, like bitter lettuce or weeds…though it also reminds me of my galbanum essential oil. But for now this is gorgeous! It smells like mellow summer foliage, dandelions, clover, a hint of drier grass notes as well. The warmth and humidity of summer is captured well, but it’s not an oppressive humid smell. It does have something edgy to it from that sharp greenness, but the great thing is that it isn’t that green note that turns soapy. I think this is more like the agreeable grass note in Blade of Grass. In fact, the more I smell this, the more I am sure this has fig, or fig leaf, in it. something reminds me of the deep green with the sweet-fruity undertones I got in Eden. After a while: the scent loses that initial fresh greenery and turns drier, more and more like dry grass clippings, dry lawns, a touch of something sweet and golden (beeswax?), pollen and warmth. Near-endless sunshine and heat hazes. The scent is now spot on like dry grass and withered weeds, and golden hay…I can almost hear crickets when I smell this. Not so much of a muggy scent now, this is now a tiny bit arid, and I like that. Not arid in a desert-y way, but more like a ‘hosepipe ban’ summer…oh yes, this is the scent of the summers I haven’t seen for ages. The scent becomes even softer, a tad dusty, sweeter, more golden and then it becomes evocative of that wonderful smell of summer evenings. Balmy air, a tinge of dust, warm hay and grasses, the setting sun turning the landscape to gold, the mellowest time of day. The drydown that I get from here is fig! I’m very surprised, but delighted…it’s a dry grassy fig scent. like a lighter, less sweet Strangler Fig, it even resembles Aeronwen to an extent. But this is a really gorgeous warm fig with dry summer grasses and warmth and a bit of sun warmed skin too. Verdict: I’m on the lookout for the perfect grass scent, and I’ve also got a thing for astronomical mythology/folklore so I was very interested in trying this scent…and thankfully, it works. Most grass/wildflower scents don’t, but this is an exception. It’s not exactly the smell of mown lawns, but this is the smell of dry summer grass and a little something extra which to me, smells like figs and sun warmed skin musk and dandelions. And most importantly-no soap! It smells just like the perfect lazy summer, sultry heat, chilling out in the garden, sun shining down on a lawn that’s just turning dry. If this were a song, it’d be the Kinks’ ‘Sunny Afternoon’. This is the scent of summer heatwaves in a bottle-but without all the nasty stuff (sunburn, flying ants, mosquitoes, that horrid clammy sweaty feeling you get when it’s too humid, etc). This scent, as well as the sunny goodness of L’Estate, makes me crave a good, proper summer again…none of those ‘monsoons’ like we had this year and last! This is one of the few grass scents I love and had to get a backup of. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Yes and I bought a MVJBA pack to get another bottle!

Blue Fire In the imp: blueberry! Sweet delicious gorgeous blueberry! Wet on skin: now I can smell the gin, and the scent gains a boozy effervescence. Dry: blueberry and gin. The gin is very strong here, it smells just like the gin in 21, that smell of clear, cold juniper, only this time, with a hint of blueberry and papaya. I smell a faint hint of lemongrass, but it’s not as strong as I expected that note to be. The strongest note for now is the gin, and the blueberry seems to have quietened down a lot, which is a shame because the blueberry note was so lovely. After a while: the blueberry note, which is very sweet and almost creamy, really wafts! All around me is a cloud of blueberry and I love it. however, when I smell my skin where the perfume was applied, all I smell is sweet gin, which is not as nice as the lovely blueberry that I smell on the scent’s throw. It seems that the gin note totally dominates and by the end I hardly smell that blueberry waft any more…just sweet gin, not as sweet as before but a lot drier and more bitter as well. Verdict: I adore, adore, adore the blueberry in here. It smells sweet, juicy, bright, happy, delicious and blueberry-tastic. But once it hits skin, that gorgeous berry scent gets rudely pushed aside by an almost bully-like gin note. It’s gin first, sharp and juniper-scented, with blueberry as an afterthought. The scent doesn’t improve much at drydown either, with still more overpowering gin. I’ll have to see if this one works better in a locket because…blueberries! Crawdad is lovely but not blueberry enough, but this is too heavy on the gin for me… Emoticon rating: (but a great big for the blueberry note) Is it a keeper? Not really. If you like this, try: Crawdad Dream, Golden Wave, Rangoon Riptide, 21, The Hamptons, Swank

Blood Moon 08 In the bottle: very metallic, as in, like the metal scents. A bit sweet too. Wet on skin: smoky, nutty, vetiver-y even! I can smell sweet musks and woods, and metal. Dry on skin: a chaotic, wild musky incense with hints of grassy herbs, and a very metallic feel to it. This has an iron note to it-it smells like the way blood tastes, it is rusty, but there’s also a sharper, steely note to it like a sword. It reminds me of the metal note in Robotic Scarab in that this metal smells genuine and true, without turning soapy or ozone-y. The incense, if there is any, is predominantly black dry smoke, not resins. There is a hint of Ivanushka to the musk, but this is the dark side of the ‘deer/mammal/fur’ musk scents. After a while: ok, now it is turning soapy. What the hell? There is nothing in the note list that usually turns to soap…this smells like the reaction I get with ozone and some floral notes. And there are no ozone or floral notes in here…oh wait a minute, there are ‘forest flowers’ here. But I wasn’t expecting them to amp and turn to soap. This smells much too much like washing powder now, with that metal note now turning even more metallic, and the gorgeous musk, wood and smoke notes being pushed aside. It now smells muddled, a bit messy, a clash of rough bloody notes and clean soapy ones. Verdict: I loved the original Blood Moon. It was all spicy musky woodsy goodness. I thought this would be similar-improved by incense. But this failed pretty spectacularly on me. Instead of the warm spicy musk with hints of blood accord I expected, I get sharp metallic notes, rust and soap. There is some musk here, and woods, but I don’t smell incense. Though at times this does also resemble Hunter Moon 07, this is a lot more violent. HM was more like a cosy scent of autumnal warmth and a touch of spiced wine with warm fur and incense. This is the hunt in action. It’s unnerving and frantic, it makes me think of blades, it’s not a quiet scent. The images this scent evokes are not pleasant. It also reminds me of the Black Tower in it’s mood, slightly apocalyptic, a scent of battle. I find it a very uncomfortable scent to wear at first, with it’s blood and metal sharpness, and then wham. It turns to soap and washing powder. What the? Though seeing the reviews, I'm not the only one who gets soap here. Needless to say, I’ll be swapping or selling this one off. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? No-I have two bottles of this but I don’t like it… If you like this, try: The Bloody Sword, the Black Tower, Hunter Moon 07, Tintagel, Ivanushka, Phoenix Steamworks

Snow Glass Apples In the bottle: mmm, this apple is promising because it reminds me of the one in Mock Turtle’s Lessons. A crisp sweet apple, juicy and tempting, and surrounded by coldness. Wet on skin: ok, now it’s gone rather sharp on me, as apple scents usually do, but I also smell that ‘sweet snow’ note, and a watery mint. Dry on skin: hmm. This is intriguing. As apple scents go, this isn’t bad. it’s not turning fake or sharp or cloying or artificial on me. It smells of frozen apples. Or like a chilled apple martini. It’s a glassy and cold apple scent, mainly green apple on ice, with mint, a hint of sharp glassy ozone (a bit like the House of Mirrors glass note) and an undertone of that sugary snow note from the likes of Ice Queen, Snow Flakes, Moon of Ice to name but a few. It’s actually really nice. After a while: ok, this isn’t as nice any more. It’s not doing the worst that apple notes usually do on me, but something in here is turning overripe and cloyingly sweet. Maybe it’s apple blossom, but at times this smells more like plum blossom. Plum blossom and my skin don’t really get on. But there’s still a hint of green apple to this scent which is pleasant, and the ice/snow notes are very pretty now, slushy and watery and a bit melon/cucumber-like. And the sugary sweetness is lovely. I’m just not keen on the overripe fruit scent in here. Verdict: I bought this on the off chance that this could be the perfect apple scent, but sadly it wasn’t to be. It’s not the apple note that caused problems as usual, but something else that turned cloying and sickly. For a while this was really nice, smelling of frozen apples, just like I hoped for. A hint of that sweet snow note with mint and a bit of airy ozone, and a good apple note. but then something here-I’m guessing a floral note-turns on me and does the same thing that certain blossom notes do on me-turns bad, a bit cloying and like rotting flowers and fruit. So sadly, this isn’t the perfect frozen apple. I think that Snow White fits that role-I get an apple note from that scent. Plus a lot of the autumnal warm apple scents work a lot better on me. My bottle now has a new home. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? No, sadly. If you like this, try: Mock Turtle’s Lessons, Hesperides, Snow White, Poisoned Apple

Sticky Pillowcase In the imp: strawberry flavoured hard sweets and candyfloss. Wet on skin: sharp sour sweets and strawberry candyfloss, and a hint of linen. Dry on skin: it’s a sugar rush, but not as sweet as I expected. I’m shocked at how tart this scent is on me. It’s mainly strawberry, but it smells like those strawberry sour sweets, this scent is almost acidic, contrasting with the sugary notes of candyfloss and bubblegum. Oddly, it also smells salty, which I’m guessing is the saltwater taffy? I also smell, surprisingly, a lot more of the pillowcase than I thought I would-there’s a clean linen scent underneath the sticky strawberry sugar. And then at times I get whiffs of the candy corn-the same caramelised popcorn-y scent from Trick or Treat, but this is very fleeting. After a while: this then smells very much like Beaver Moon 07, a very similar strawberry note, like strawberry sugar…but then I realise this actually this smells a lot like Bloody Mary now. It has that same lollipop smell to it…it smells like I’ve smeared a sticky strawberry lollipop on my skin. I’m tempted to lick my wrist now! Thankfully at this point the sourness is a lot less apparent, I also don’t get much lint/linen. There’s a hint of marshmallow, very faint, in here too. The scent then completely loses that sourness and becomes a little too sweet. it reminds me of Treat 1 now actually, but maybe a little more sugary, less fruity? This is almost pure lollipops on me now, strawberry lollipops with a bubblegum filling. Verdict: I was expecting this to be very, very sweet. I was actually surprised by how sharp it was, even sour. Like sour sweets. The strawberry note here is a bit artificial, but that’s to be expected because this smells like sweets. But I think I’m amping the scent of the pillowcase itself, as it smells a bit like a clean ozone scent, almost salty, but leaning towards laundered linen. But where’s the marshmallow and candy corn? It does improve at drydown when it smells less sour, and turns to a Bloody Mary-style lollipop scent, like I’ve licked a strawberry lollipop and rubbed it on my skin. This isn’t a caramel sugar scent (unlike Gooey Pillowcase, which I prefer), this is a white/pink sugar scent with fruity sharpness. Sadly, it’s too sour at the start and tooth-aching at the end for me to really like it…maybe if it were a little creamy or vanilla-y, I’d prefer it. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? No. If you like this, try: Sugar Skull, MB Bloody Mary, Bon Vivant, Beaver Moon 07, Xanthe

CTIV: XVIII In the bottle: frankincense! Maybe a bit of myrrh? It reminds me of a less smoky Midnight Mass. Wet on skin: resins!! Beautiful glorious frankincense! Dry on skin: oh, this is wonderful stuff. It reminds me of Midnight Mass, Meshkenet and maybe Valentine of Rome. It’s frankincense, and lots of it. not so much a burnt and smoky frank note, this is more like the pure resin. It reminds me a bit of the frankincense a friend brought back from Oman. Though there may also be some myrrh here too, and possibly either a musk note, or perhaps a floral or green note of some kind? Possibly a herbal myrrh, as this reminds me of Anubis as well. but this is exactly what I wished for in CT-a resinous scent. After a while: the scent loses that sharpness from before, becomes darker, smokier, now it’s got a hint of burning to it, it also smells dusty and desert-y. It’s still heavy on the frankincense but now I think I smell more myrrh, a slightly bitter myrrh with a smoky darkness to it. I think there may be galbanum in here now, that explains the greenish resin scent, and I think there may also be some spikenard in here too. It also reminds me of a frankincense-heavy version of Blasphemare Reliquary. There’s something almost Egyptian about this scent, maybe it’s resemblance to Meskhenet and Great Cry in Egypt is what makes me think that. It smells like dry crumbling and very ancient resin clinging to papyrus…indeed, the more I smell this, the more I am sure that there’s a papyrus note in here! It’s a light and papery-reedy scent over the dark moody resins. There’s even a hint of saltiness, which to me, evokes natron… Verdict: I have half wondered if this is custom blended for me. I know it’s not, but this is the kind of CT I’ve been hoping and wishing to get for so long, I can’t believe I have got it in a bottle. This is a resin lover’s dream! It smells like all those wonderful incense scents all blended together. Frankincense and myrrh at their best! It starts off heavy on the frankincense, but then goes towards a myrrh-y scent, and then it goes into a stage which reminds me of those Egyptian scents I adore-scents like Meshkenet, Great Cry, Anubis etc-it even hints at smelling of desert sand, ancient stone, papyrus, mummy wrappings, it even smells old, aged and dusty, and golden. It’s not a sweet resin-I don’t smell amber here. It also smells predominantly like unburnt resin but there are hints of incense-burning resins too. I love this one, my favourite CT scent of all time I think…can’t wait to see what aging does to it. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Yes! CT is such a risk so I’m so glad I have a bottle that’s right up my street.

A Blade of Grass In the imp: holy crap this really, really does smell like fresh grass and autumn leaves. Wet on skin: huh? Now there’s a weird funky pungency in here…other than that, it smells of leaves. Dry on skin: other than that strange, decayed and pungent musky note that I smell here (almost like valerian?) this smells spot on, and I mean spot on, like the autumns of my childhood. Crunchy dead leaves, damp earth, grass, the remaining hints of green, tree bark…this is the scent of early October when the days are still fairly mild, but the seasons are changing-it’s not an Indian summer scent as such, but it’s not a cold autumn scent either. The weird pungent note disappears about 30 seconds after application, merging into the decayed vegetation scent. After a while: the scent is a little more ‘blurred’ now, and has turned just a tiny, tiny bit soapy, but not in a bad way-it doesn’t detract from the fact that this still smells like the perfect autumn scent, like crunchy leaves and dry mossy bark and a hint of the last grass of summer. Now I smell more a mushy leaf scent, like wet leaves, and more a tree-like scent (not wood, but bark and twigs). Verdict: this is the scent I wanted to get from October. This is the scent of autumn, bottled. Or rather, autumn days. This lacks the smoke of an autumn night, or late autumn. But it smells like early autumn days, so much so that it sends shivers down my spine. It smells like walking through Hampstead on a sunny day when the leaves are falling. It smells like exploring the woods and the smell of the earthy woodland floor and the grass of open parkland. It smells like the bark of the trees and the decaying leaves and earth. It smells of conkers and acorns. It smells like running into piles of leaves and messing about in them, I can almost hear the leaves going crunch underfoot. It’s so impressive, and it smells so accurate, so natural, I’m floored by how authentic it is, and so happy to find an autumn leaves scent that works on me and smells just like it should. Bravo Beth! Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Yes! If you like this, try: Graveyard Dirt, October, To Autumn, Dog Days, School House

Harvest Moon 08 In the imp: a fruity version of October or L’Autunno spray. Wet on skin: the ‘autumn leaves’ note mixed with fruity cherry, plum and grape. Dry on skin: now I smell a hint of the grainy and fruity notes of previous HM scents, but this time mixed with the ‘autumnal’ scent from October, L’Autunno spray, Death of Autumn etc. I’m ambivalent about this autumn leaves note, while sometimes it can smell nice, at other times it smells overwhelming and borders on smelling soapy or like cleaning products/air freshener, and sometimes it’s not dry or smoky, not ‘dead leaves’ enough for me, it’s too green and moist. This mixes the autumn accord with a strong cherry note which smells sweet and almost like a cherry dessert, but not cloying or medicinal. I also smell plum here, and a hint of grapes and herbs. No spices yet, but I do smell dry wheaty notes. After a while: something in here is turning on me, one of the fruit notes is turning sour. Maybe the cherry reacting with the autumn notes? On the plus side, I now smell the saffron and the scent sometimes reminds me of that lovely ‘autumn in a warmer climate’ scent I got in Death of Autumn. But I’m now not keen on the autumn leaves note here, and the cherry has turned really sharp, in an unpleasant way, it’s acidic, piercing and, worst of all, turning a little bit vomit-like on me… The drydown is a slightly sickly version of the older Harvest Moons. However, at times, there’s something in the spicy mulled cherry note mixed with hay/grain reminiscent of that legendary scent, Lughnasadh. Yes, this reminds me slightly of Lughnasadh. Not identical, and Lugh is spicier and more agreeable on me (it doesn’t have that sourness) but there is a resemblance. Verdict: of the Harvest Moons, this is the one I like least, I’m afraid…it just goes wrong on me in many ways. At first I get the green-soapy and slightly masculine autumnal note from in L’Autunno and All Hallows Eve sprays and some of last years autumn scents, and I really am not crazy about it-it’s too perfumey and green and doesn’t smell dry and brown enough to be autumnal for me. and sadly, it gets worse, when one of the fruit notes (I think?) turns to vomit or pickles on me, a sour and uncomfortable scent. the only good thing about this scent is that when it doesn’t smell sickly or like autumn cologne, it smells like that elusive scent, Lughnasadh. But this is fleeting. Overall, I am not at all keen on this. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? No. If you like this, try: October, previous Harvest Moons, Death of Autumn, To Autumn

Huesos de Santo In the imp: delicious creamy orange cake! Wet on skin: orange! I love how orangey this is…I can now smell anise in here as well. Dry on skin: sweet candied orange, almost like marmalade! Delicious! I also smell the cake base, which does indeed remind me of Eat Me but without the intense vanilla and berry notes. There’s a lovely sprinkling of aniseed on top, which I really like because it does indeed remind me of those Spanish biscuits with anise in them. There’s a hint of custard but to me this is more like an orange buttercream topping for the cake. After a while: this gets even better! I don’t get much in the way of flowers, but I now get a lot more custard! And what delicious sweet vanilla custard cake touched with orange (I love the orange note in here) and I really like the interesting twist that the anise adds. Now I get more of the Eat Me vibe that other reviews mention, but the custard is a bit like Egg’d Mailbox, but with orange instead of the carnation-ish vibe I got in Egg’d. however, at times, there’s a hint of spice to this scent too. The drydown is all gorgeous custard. I hardly get any floral notes in this scent at all. Verdict: this is my favourite of this year’s Halloween releases. Orange cake, anise biscuits, sweet vanilla custard, all blended wonderfully. I don’t get flowers in here-just the gourmand notes. Most BPAL orange notes are too gentle, too soft, they fade fast or get buried in the other notes. But not this one! This is the kind of orange scent I’ve been looking for-a gutsy orange sweetened with sugary notes. It’s a marmalade glaze over a delicious Eat Me style cake base and there’s a bit of anise which adds something unusual to the scent without being intrusive. And then, once the orange and anise calm a little, the custard really comes to the fore. This is a wonderful note-creamy but not sickly or sour, not eggy either, but vanilla-flavoured and smooth. I didn’t realise I could love custard notes so much but this is perfect. Orange and anise cake seems to be a popular theme around the etailer perfume world this Halloween, and this is hands down my favourite scent of this kind. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Yup, and I have a backup coming. This is so different to other BPAL foodies I have. If you like this, try: Eat Me, Egg’d Mailbox

L’Estate In the bottle: ohhh, I smell sweet gorgeous amber and a hint of floral. Wet on skin: sweet delicate golden amber gorgeousness. Dry on skin: this is absolutely beautiful! Sweet vanilla amber boosted by silky golden musk and sandalwood, and a touch of floral-this lily note isn’t turning to soap on me, yay! The amber is sublime, I can smell the vanilla, but most of all I can really pick out the Nepalese amber, which smells a bit like Arcana’s Nepalese amber note (and, in turn, like those Ambra de Nepal scents) and I wonder if there’s a hidden cardamom note to this. It is a tiny bit spicy, but in a subtle way. Overall this scent is golden, warm, sultry and evocative of sunset colours. For some reason, it makes me think of summer holidays, there’s a very exotic feel to it. It also reminds me of Mouse’s Long Sad Tale, that mix of floral notes, vanilla, sandalwood and magnificent amber. After a while: this just gets better and better. The amber gets smoother, sweeter, more wonderful. This blend really glows, radiating scent off the skin. the scent is so golden, it’s the colour of late evening sunshine, it’s a scent that makes me think of that balmy and gentle warmth at the end of a hot day, mellow and welcoming. It’s just so beautiful, perfect amber enhanced subtly by floral notes, vanilla, musk and sandalwood. The musk that lingers at drydown is a dry Egyptian musk scent, reminiscent of sun warmed skin with a hint of sand. This then turns into pure golden amber and vanilla and musk. I can’t stop huffing my wrist, it is absolutely beautiful. Possibly my new favourite amber scent, along with the likes of Inez. I also adore the way this wafts. Verdict: this blend more than makes up for the gloomy summer weather I’ve been having here. It is sunshine in a bottle. Pure liquid gold, this is a glorious blend of ambers with a beautiful golden musk, lifted with subtle floral notes and sandalwood, with a hint of spice. It smells very regal, a solar scent, but very feminine, luminous, shimmering, the scent of a sun goddess. It is like the scent version of a mellow summer sunset, and it seems to glow so radiantly from the skin, a very uplifting scent. I am in love with that spicy Nepalese amber with it’s cardamom-ish nuances! interestingly there seems to be a slight variance with my bottles-two bottles smelling a bit lemony, but the other being a purer amber scent, which I prefer. But I love both versions. I’m keeping at least one backup bottle of this scent! Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Oh yeah. If you like this, try: Mouse’s Long Sad Tale, Inez, Hermia, Hymn to Proserpine, Lyonesse

Lune Noire In the bottle: very similar to Black Moon, but sweeter. Wet on skin: this sharpens a tad, but now I also smell some frankincense, gardenia and champaca. Dry on skin: mmm, frankincense! I can really, really smell the olibanum now and I love it. It’s the same gorgeous smoky peppery resin from Meshkenet, and it gives this scent a hint of something Egyptian which fits the label perfectly! Underneath this wonderful resinous note I can smell the floral notes, orchid and gardenia and champaca. I also smell a hint of pear and amber, and the beautiful blue musk unites all the notes. But above all, this is a scent of incense wafting over heady nocturnal blooms. After a while: oh, I love this olibanum note so much! It smells exactly like burning incense does, like the kind of scent that lingers in churches…I love that scent. In here the incense is coupled with those rich sweet floral notes, orchid being the most dominant one. The white amber adds a luminous sweetness, the blue musk is faint but I smell it’s ethereal ‘night air’ scent wafting through here. The combination of resinous incense and floral notes is gorgeous. The incense lingers, develops that lovely ‘smoke hanging in a sacred space’ scent, and the floral notes sweeten, with the amber note showing up a little more. I don’t get clove or moss here, but that doesn’t matter because this is wonderful. Verdict: a spectacular scent. it’s floral incense with ethereal touches of musk and amber and fruit. I can smell rich heady moonlit night flowers, with that wonderful airy blue musk-but the best thing about this scent is that fabulous olibanum, the scent of burning frankincense wafting over it all, almost like sacred lunar incense. I love Black Moon, and this is similar, but I think this one is nicer, because of that magic touch of incense. it also resembles the Egyptian scents that I love so much. The champaca doesn’t take over, nor does the gardenia-I think the incense and musk keep these notes in check. This is a wonderful scent, one of my new favourites of the ‘night blooming/night air’ scents! Emoticon rating: Yes, I have three bottles. Is it a keeper? If you like this, try: Black Moon, Meshkenet, Nuit, Urania, Midnight on the Midway

Mead Moon In the imp: mmm, the same delicious honey from Honey Moon, but mixed with O’s honey. Wet on skin: now the honey becomes lighter and sharper, and the lemon comes out! Dry on skin: sharp wild honey mixed with fizzy tangy lemon! This is very much like O now, only lighter and more summery, not as sweet. the mead is a sharper honey than I expected, the promise of Honey Moon-style honey has faded, but I like this. It has a wildflower-y, pollen-touched scent to it. and it’s definitely not boozy. The lemon note smells just like lemon drops, right down to the hint of sherbet. I don’t smell spices yet but I smell hints of herbs. The scent wafts too. After a while: the tangy honey does eventually tone down and the scent I’m left with is that honey I love so much-the Honey Moon/Hony Mone honey. Sweet, rich, rounded and translucent, golden and a little bit floral. in fact, this smells almost identical to Honey Moon now, only less floral, but there’s definitely a flowery note here. Oddly, I smell no cinnamon or cloves here. Just sweet glowing honey. The drydown is more of that wonderful honey, and it gets sweeter and sweeter until this becomes a less floral, more herbal version of my beloved Honey Moon. Verdict: this is a gorgeous honey scent! It’s not perfect-at times the honey is a tad too sharp-but the drydown is well worth it. It starts off with a sharp honey made even more tangy by lemon, and herbs too. No spices as far as I can smell, but overall it smells of rosemary and lemon infused wildflower honey. Almost like O, but more outdoorsy. But then it gradually turns to that beautiful Honey Moon/Hony Mone honey blend that I love so much-that rich, sweet, full bodied and glistening golden sexy honey with a touch of herbs. Really stunning. I never get anything boozy like I did with Hellcat. I can only imagine this honey note improving with age. I still prefer Honey Moon, but I’m certainly keeping a bottle of this scent as well. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? I have a bottle! If you like this, try: O, Hony Mone, Honey Moon, Litha, Fairy Wine

Parthenope In the imp: mossy wet flowers, smells like a cross between Roux Ga Roux and Banded Sea Snake. Wet on skin: mossy flowers…and it seems the honeysuckle and jasmine aren’t turning bad so far! Dry on skin: mmm, this is very pretty! It smells primarily of moss and honeysuckle with jasmine, which is veering on smelling bitter but thankfully isn’t smelling too bitter, this is actually quite nice. It reminds me primarily of Roux Ga Roux, the mossy scent is very similar, like a thick green Spanish moss scent, a damp moss boosted by the gentler, more powdery oak moss. Amazingly the flowers aren’t soaping on me as they normally do. The scent seems to quickly lose that bitterness and turns to a powdery mossy sweet floral. After a while: whoa, this scent has throw! And the floral notes still haven’t turned bad on me, yay! Now this smells like a sophisticated powdery moss-musk scent, like a kind of moss scented dusting powder, with hints of soft sweet flowers. It smells like what I wanted Tupapau to smell like. I think I now smell a hint of sweet benzoin here. It’s not as wet as it was before, but the scent brings to mind a pale greyish green colour like that of oxidised bronze, or like the green of Parthenope’s skin in the picture. The drydown is not too different, still that powdery green moss and soft musk scent with a hint of gentle flowers and even a hint of resinous benzoin, which is doing really lovely things here, like it did in Thalassa. This isn’t too aquatic, but at times it hints at it. Verdict: another Grindhouse scent containing jasmine that I can wear! She’s not as instantly loveable as Daiyu but this scent is so intriguing and wonderful in the way that it contains jasmine and honeysuckle, hints at aquatic, and actually works on me very well…so rare is this occurrence, I wound up buying a bottle. this is moss, musk, and a hint of floral. it’s almost swampy in a Roux Ga Roux way, but much too soft to be considered truly swampy, this scent is a soft powdery green scent, like green skin musk with hints of benzoin and jasmine. Almost like Thalassa’s quieter sister. It’s gorgeous but because of the fact that there are times when this turns to extreme powder on me, I have to be in the right mood to wear it. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Yes. If you like this, try: Roux Ga Roux, Thalassa, Banded Sea Snake, Eos, Tupapau

L’Autunno bath oil In bottle: molasses! This smells of cinnamon and treacle. Very caramelised. On skin: I applied this to skin after showering, and I like it a lot! On first, it smells like cinnamon sugar and molasses with a nutty undertone. Not sure why I smell nuts here, but there’s definitely an almond/hazelnut thing going on, which reminds me a bit of Ventriloquist’s Dummy. I also smell cedar, a lovely woodsy scent mingling with dark smoky patchouli. Something in here is going beautifully smoky, like a subtle hint of bonfire wafting over the spicy sweetness. I fear this will turn too caramelised/treacly over time. But thankfully it doesn’t…in fact, this gets even nicer at drydown. It’s all cinnamon and brown sugar (very similar to El Dia de Reyes, without coffee) with an undertone of cedar and patchouli, a gorgeous smoky note wafts over it all. I also smell a lot of myrrh at this point, it’s the myrrh that smells just like the resin, and has a slightly musky/golden feel to it. There’s also a similarity to Devil’s Night by now, and I love DN so this makes me very happy. This, after L’Estate, is my favourite of the bath oils. Spicy, earthy, woodsy and smoky, it’s another gorgeous autumn scent that will layer very well with many of the Halloween LE scents.

L’Inverno bath oil In bottle: a chilly champagne/white wine scent with a hint of something soapy and clean. On skin: I applied this to skin after showering, once on the skin, the floral notes bloom. I can smell white lily and jasmine now. The citrus notes of citron and sparkling grapefruit also show up. the grapefruit is chilly and effervescent, giving an impression of champagne here. I can also smell the fir, which gives the scent a cold evergreen touch. This is quite different to the perfume, which had a definite snow note to it, this lacks the snow note, but has a different kind of icy tone to it. the scent is very clean in tone, almost soapy. At one point it resembles Spiked Punch, which I disliked, and goes all sharp and almost smells like toilet cleaner. This stage is thankfully short lived. The scent then turns into a pleasant soft floral with white musk and cold fir. Almost like flowers covered in frost, delicate beauty with a piercing sharpness, like shards of ice. But ultimately, this scent isn’t for me, as it returns to that sharp soapiness a bit later. Not my thing, I’m afraid.

La Primavera bath oil In bottle: tuberose and plum blossom. On skin: this is very pretty! The tuberose is dominant, followed closely by the plum blossom and the rose. The PB in here is different to the one in the perfume, in that it’s not the Hanami-like one, but the one that is in Earth Rat and Peony Moon etc. This PB usually turns bad on me but in here it’s behaving, maybe because it is not as concentrated. I can smell hints of violet and orange, a little bit of sweetness from the sugar cane, a touch of green from the dandelion, and underneath there’s a rich white gardenia note. but this scent is dominated by the florals. And it’s very pretty. Though sadly over time, the PB note does gradually turn on me. not turning downright bad on me, like it usually does, but smelling a tiny bit cloying and wilted, and overwhelming the other flowers. I can smell traces of rose, and still a decent amount of tuberose, but the plum blossom is a little too much for me-even if I were to use this in the bath. I much prefer the more crystalline-smelling PB in the perfume, and the scent of the spray.

L’Estate bath oil In bottle: beautiful peachy amber with something almost lemony or tea like. On skin: this notoriously leaky oil has scented my whole house with the most wonderful mix of peach, amber, beeswax and carnation for some time now. And now I try it on my skin…and it is just as gorgeous! I’m a bit surprised at the strong lemony-herbal note I get on my skin-is that honey myrtle? It’s nice though, smells a bit like bergamot, a tea scent even. And then I realise that I am smelling cardamom, and I love that note. Underneath that I smell sweet peach, sweet vanilla, glowing amber and the most delicious beeswax. Over time the cardamom and bergamot-like note calm down and the scent gets even better…now I smell the rich vanilla and amber, and more of that glorious beeswax. This scent really does glow off the skin, it is warm and luxurious and also mellow, evocative of that golden hour before sunset when the air is balmy and the gold light of the evening sun shines beautifully over everything, a blissful time encapsulated in scent. This is a beautiful bath oil which I could gladly use as a bath scent or after-bath moisturiser. I’m glad I have two bottles.

Daiyu In the imp: like a chilled acai and green tea infusion. Wet on skin: acai and tea! This smells like the berry in Australian Copperhead, but sharper and purer. Dry on skin: now I smell the jasmine, and it’s a nice jasmine like the one in BiggerCritters, which is heady and strong but not bitter and acrid. The scent is mostly jasmine and acai now, with just a hint of tea. This is such a pretty fruity floral! the berry is sweet and bright with hints of apple, pomegranate and currant, the jasmine is rich and flowery, the tea adds it’s green tanginess, the white musk binds everything together. I don’t smell any chrysanthemum. After a while: this gets even nicer! The jasmine here is so pretty, not sharp at all, just how I like my jasmine to smell. It’s also sweet, or is that the berry? It smells like softly sugared berries and jasmine, but also like a cool refreshing drink made from tea and berries. I think it reminds me of an iced green tea from Whittards, which is berry flavoured. There’s a pomegranate-like feel to the fruitiness here (it reminds me of Flower Song at times), but a little bit lighter. This doesn’t smell like it, but there’s a similar feel here to Cheshire Cat and Xanthe, that mix of fruit and floral and gentle white sugar. The scent then fades into a lovely berry-tea scent, sweet and pink with a touch of tartness from the tea. It still has that ‘iced fruit tea’ scent, I still get that pomegranate like note, and also some cherry blossom at times. I could see myself wearing this a lot in summer. Verdict: this scent really took me by surprise-a jasmine scent I can wear! I love the smell of jasmine flowers but very few BPAL jasmines work on me-this one does. This is jasmine-heavy, but it’s such a lovely jasmine note, I fell for it immediately. The scent overall is a fresh fruity floral. the acai note is crisp and sweet, a berry with a hint of pomegranate. I don’t smell much chrysanthemum, but the tea adds to the tangy freshness, it’s almost like a fruity chilled tea drink. The jasmine adds it’s heady floral to the delicate fruit notes but doesn’t weigh it down. This scent smells cool, refreshing, and delightful. I wasn’t expecting to love this so much but this one is a big hit-one of the best BPAL jasmine scents. Perfect for warm, sultry summer evenings. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? I think I need a bottle. If you like this, try: Australian Copperhead, MB BiggerCritters, Xanthe, Cheshire Cat, Flower Song, Spell of Amourous Love

Faeu Boulanger In the imp: fresh mint and something almost reminiscent of cucumber! Wet on skin: lime? I swear I smell lime here…or something citrus-y. now this smells a bit aquatic. Dry on skin: ooh, this is very pretty indeed! This smells like a soft minty mist mixed with a hint of something like wet autumn leaves and dewy greenery, and a touch of citrus and ozone (gentle watery airy ozone, nothing stormy here) too. This scent really does evoke mist and dew. It smells wet, cool and humid, amazingly evocative of a cold dewy misty morning. The violet isn’t very strong for now. There’s something almost reminiscent of one of the ice notes Beth uses, the one that smells a bit like cucumber and sugary evergreen notes, except this lacks the sweet evergreens and the frozen feeling-this just feels cool and wet. After a while: the mint and wet cucumber-y smell does tone down and the violet becomes a bit more apparent. This bog violet note is very different to other BPAL violets, not sweet or dusty-powdery, I’d say this is more like the violet in Crow Moon or City in the Sea. All around this violet note, I smell soft airy ozone. The scent then develops a strange waxy white petal scent, something I usually get in scents with certain lilies or sweet pea, but those notes are not listed. The ozone also starts to go a bit ‘tumble dried’ on me, which I’m not keen on. Verdict: this was so gorgeous when freshly applied. Mint and mist! Ethereal and delicate wisps of wet, cool vapour with greenery, dew, violet and citrus with the extra freshness of mint and cucumber. No mushrooms. It was pretty much a spot-on mist scent and I was in love. But sadly, this stage was short-lived. Then it turned into a generic violet-y soapy floral with squeaky-clean ozone. Bah. I wanted bottled fog! I loved the start of this scent and thought it was a shame that it turned slightly disappointing at drydown. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Sadly no, despite the lovely first stage. If you like this, try: Roux Ga Roux, City in the Sea, Crow Moon, Sea of Glass, Dian’s Bud, Squirting Cucumber

Sir Hugh Ockram’s Winding Sheet In the imp: I can smell something green and herbal which must be the hyssop, and sandalwood. Wet on skin: now I smell clean linen and dust. Dry on skin: a clean, lightly floral-white musky scent of clean white linen. And yet, this clean smell is very old-smelling too. Like linen that’s been clean, but also dust-covered and eaten by moths. It smells aged, yet also fresh. Interesting contradictions here. I also smell the dust note which is so realistic, I’m surprised I’m not sneezing yet. The sandalwood enhances the dryness of the scent and the hyssop adds a hint of dry herbal to it all. The linen reminds me of Dirty, and I’d be inclined to call this one Dusty because of it’s old dust-covered feel. After a while: there’s a moment when this veers dangerously close to smelling weird, developing a sourness which is a bit funky on me. but then the scent turns into a really lovely sandalwood-linen-floral scent which, unsurprisingly, reminds me strongly of Shroud. The linen note here is much more pronounced whilst in Shroud it was just hinted at, and Shroud had a smoky note which this lacks. But the sandalwood is lovely now, a little bit spicy as well. Verdict: an intriguing scent. it smells of laundered linen, but with a coating of dust. Like a decades-old tablecloth with a vase of flowers on top, that hasn’t been cleaned or dusted for many, many years. Old and worn, but oddly clean, almost soapy, too. It’s almost like Shroud, but even more cloth-like. There are moments when the scent turns strange and sour, and I’m not so keen on that. But other than that, this is a pleasant linen fragrance-not sure if it’s me, but it’s unusual enough to warrant keeping the decant. I do prefer Shroud though, when it comes to ‘cloth’ scents. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? The decant, but not bottle-worthy. If you like this, try: Shroud, Zephyr, Veil, Dirty, Eshe

The Maltese Cross of Sanctus Germanus In the imp: blood orange and amber! ohh, I love those notes… Wet on skin: oh no, lilac, please don’t ruin this amber-orange, please… Dry on skin: it seems the glorious amber and orange aren’t letting the lilac ruin this. This is predominantly amber and orange, which I adore. Blood orange is one of my favourite orange notes and this shows it off to the full. And of course lots of amber makes everything good. I can also smell the ambergris, and maybe a hint of frankincense. The lilac is lingering, it smells a tiny bit bitter, and I fear it will jump in and smell wilted as it sometimes does, and I hope it doesn’t because the golden citrus-resin scent, reminiscent of Three Gorgons, is wonderful. After a while: it seems this scent is going faint on me, sadly. Though when I smell it close up, the amber (and ambergris), orange and lilac are the most obvious notes. This reminds me slightly of Bruja, only not as sweet or heavily resinous. The amber-orange combination is still as lovely as ever, and the blood orange now reminds me of Kunstkammer. The ambergris has added a slightly salty skin-scent to the amber which is lovely. But that lilac note…it seems to be turning wilted, which I really hoped wouldn’t happen in a blend so full of resins and bold citrus. The amber is desperate to shine, as is the orange, but the pesky lilac in here seems to get in the way. it’s the only note that’s preventing this scent from being complete love on me. however I absolutely adore what this turns into after a few hours. A golden scent of amber and ambergris, rich and resinous and edged with hints of frankincense and orange. Verdict: this was another lilac-y CD I wanted to love-I mean, it has gorgeous golden resinous notes in it, and my favourite citrus note, blood orange! And I could smell the incense and the orange and the amber in the bottle…but once on skin, lilac suddenly goes mad on me! And it’s not a nice, discreet lilac, but the kind that smells bitter, acrid and wilted. It keeps itself restrained for a little but then it almost ruins the scent-though not quite, not with all that wonderful resin and juicy orange in here. Only after a few hours wear does this become the perfect citrus-resin. But sadly, the lilac means that this isn’t one I’m jumping for joy over. I may have to retest my decant to see if the resins get stronger with age, or I’ll have to stick to Three Gorgons for my orange-amber fix. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Maybe... If you like this, try: Three Gorgons, Haunted Palace, Kunstkammer, Ecstasy of St Theresa, Lucy Westenra

Ashultum In the imp: a gorgeous rich jasmine/gardenia like floral. this is beautiful and tropical-scented. Wet on skin: lilac and a white jasmine-like floral. The lilac is turning a little bitter now. Dry on skin: I don’t know what to make of this. The lilac note is really harsh and piercing and bitter for now, like it was in White Moon. But underneath I smell hints of vanilla and coconut and musk, a bit of smoky tobacco as well. I also smell a white floral, which, when mixed with the coconut and vanilla, reminds me of Tiki Queen. I’ll see what the lilac does and then make my mind up. After a while: ah, that’s better. The lilac has toned down a bit (still lingers though) and now the sweet white floral musk scent is much more apparent. Is this mysterious floral Babylonian musk? If so, I want to see more blends with it. I can also smell the coconut note, which is gorgeous and reminiscent of Eden. The vanilla note doesn’t smell tea-like to me but it smells wonderful, probably enhanced by the tonka. There’s a wonderful summery ‘beachy floral’ scent to this, exotic and fresh, but not as heavy as other ‘island flower’ scents. It actually smells like a variety of jasmine, or like how I wish most jasmine scents could smell on me. The scent eventually loses that lilac sharpness and turns completely into that wonderful white floral scent edged with coconut. It smells like a cousin to Black Pearl, a similar pale musk, coconut and floral combination. The scent then turns into a much more floral scent, losing that rich vanilla-coconut and becoming more lilac-centred, a tiny bit powdery, though the lilac now is a lot nicer than it was at the start. Verdict: I really wanted to love this scent but I’m still not sure about it. I will need to retest my decant (now aged) because I really love the white floral, sensual musk and tropical coconut aspects of this scent, almost like a sister scent to Tiki Queen, a sultry exotic floral goddess scent. but then there’s the lilac. A tricky note. especially this lilac, which goes all harsh, screamy, piercing and brash on me, before going wilted-smelling. It stays like that for about an hour before becoming more tolerable as a floral-musky-coconut scent. I really love that feminine, summery floral scent, but the lilac seems to get in the way. will need to try this one again-I don’t want to give up on it. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Not sure. I want to love it, despite the lilac. If you like this, try: Tiki Queen, White Moon, Night Thoughts, Upa Upa, Black Pearl