alyelle

In the imp: Moss, myrrh, sandalwood and maybe a hint of rose if I sniff carefully. Wet: Moss (so much moss), honey, rose and rose water (yeah, I can tell them apart, it's so weird - like smelling Turkish Delight and a bunch of roses at the same time), the barest hint of saffron. I can't quite tell what's Eve and what's leftover traces of my Lush soap. Dry: Warm, sunshine-covered roses and sandalwood, dampened by the moss; a bitter hint of wood and saffron, and the slightest waft of dust. After a few minutes the rose starts trying to doing what it usually does on me, which is amp to high heaven and drown out any other note. Not this time. Hi, Irish moss, it's so nice to meet you. After several hours, Eve turns sweet and ... slightly fruity. In a very nice way. The throw is medium-strong on me; life is 9+ hours. A gorgeous scent, overall, and one I actually wish I'd bought. (I have such terrible luck with things I risk a bottle on that I've taken to ordering decants only.) I'm not yet as desperate for this as I was for Snow, Glass, Apples, but if anyone's got a bottle they're looking to rehome, I'd be delighted to hear from you. Stars: ★★★★★

I don't usually like BPAL's rose. I amp it, but I don't wear it well, and all too often I find myself smelling of migraine-inducing potpourri after ten minutes. I *do* love vetiver, but had I not bought a Lupercalia decant set, I would probably never have tried this. Bottle: vetiver and labdanum. A dark, smokey scent that I wouldn't have guessed contained rose at all if I'd not known it was there. Wet: Ah, and here's the rose now. Wet, red and dewy, the sort I absolutely love to smell in public gardens. It's followed by a smash of tar and vetiver. Judging by the reviews I've read, I must wear vetiver better than most. I'm profoundly glad for it in this case. Instead of sickly powder, I've got a deep, smokey, woodsy scent, like log cabins burning in a pine forest, and a faint waft of dewy rose underneath it, more memory than scent. Dry: This remains all spice and smoke after the initial drydown, with a very gentle undercurrent of rose that - shock of shocks - stays rose. No potpourri. No headaches. No washing my wrists twice or three times to remove the trace of nanna talc and drawer liners. This is a gorgeous blend, and if it returns next year (or in the future), I'll buy a bottle. Medium throw, but a shorter lifespan than I'd have expected, given how strong it is for the first couple of hours. Stars: ★★★★

Long overdue review for my goblin squirt, which I have just used the last of freshening up our new house's linen cupboard. It's very tricky to isolate single notes from the blend - initially I get a eucalypt/mint smell, quite cold and damp, with just a hint of BPAL's winter snow note. Quite similar to Brooms of Steel, actually. Once the scent settles it rounds out into a warmer, earthy smell. One reviewer mentioned tonka, which I'd agree with; dabbing a tiny bit on my wrist results in a softer version of the notes I get from vanilla and tonka based perfumes. Overall, a beautiful scent and one I wish I had more of. Stars: ★★★★½

Imp: cool, sweet, decaying autumn leaves Wet: slightly spiced winds, a sharp green sap, maple (not foodie though, very plant-like) Dry: sweet, warmer than the wet stages, sunshine over freshly strewn maple leaves I thought this would resemble October from the description, and I agree with the initial reviews, it is just like a younger version of that scent. Warmer and sweeter, definitely early autumn before the bitter chill sets in. I actually prefer October on me, so I don't mind only having a decant of this, but if it comes back in the future, I'll probably consider a bottle (and if not, definitely another decant or two). Throw is pretty light, it wears very close to the skin, but the life is around my usual average, if not a bit better - maybe 6-7 hrs. Stars: ★★★★

Imp: A very complex blend! Apples, clove, tree bark and fallen wet pine needles; sugar and spice with a cold undercurrent of ozone. Wet: Pumpkin, spices, rain in the woods, apples and hazelnuts in cellar storage. A kitchen in winter, bright but cold, slowly starting to heat as spiced wine brews. Dry: A delightful blend of pumpkin and spices, more like pie than soup, with the faintest hint of apples 2013 version. I've not had the chance to try earlier versions of Samhain (there was always something in the 'Weenies I wanted more) but this year's blend is gorgeous. There was no stage that was unpleasant, and unlike most of the other patchouli blends I've tried, that note doesn't dominate; as you can see, I hardly get any, which is a refreshing change. I particularly love the odd 'cold but warm' feeling of the wet and early dry stage - it's the comforting feeling of being indoors with the brightest, warmest lighting when it's pouring outside and the whole world is grey. The throw is strong (don't put it on before bed) and the life is better than average, upwards of 8 hrs on me. Stars: ★★★★★

Lily of the Valley, Calla Lily, stephanotis and a drop of cherry. Imp: mainly lily of the valley, with a hint of medicinal cherry Wet: pure dewy green lilies Dry: a strange morphing process - first the powdery scent I usually associate with lily of the valley; then a moist green fragrance, almost melon-like; then a sweet, piercing combination of stephanotis (I assume; it's the one note I'm not very familiar with) and cherry. Freebie from the lab with my last order, and again, not one I'd have chosen. Lily of the valley is like rose on me - it usually becomes Your Grandmother's Talc within minutes. This one thankfully didn't. The cherry in the final stage was quite different too; normally I'll either turn a cherry blend into cherry blossom or cherry medicine. This was fruitier, and almost drowned out the other notes, but it rounded off over time, culminating in a gentle floral. Floral's not really my thing, but it was nice to try. Stars: ★★★

Imp: dust, apples, and the faint traces of ozone Wet: sweet and cold; more like apples in refrigeration storage than cellared burlap sacks Dry: a soft, sweet, almost powdery apple, with a dusty undertone that grows gradually fainter with time. Overall this reminds me a lot of Snow Glass Apples, but without the strong earthiness that has. The darker, dust scent here is almost imperceptible, except at very close range, and despite the snow notes the apples are sweeter and warmer. The throw is minimal, and the life probably a bit lower than average on me - maybe 3-4 hours. It's a lovely scent, just very delicate; reapplication is definitely necessary. I'm glad I tried it, I do love an apple-based fragrance, and it would be a pretty decent substitute for anyone unable to get their hands on Snow Glass Apples. Stars: ★★★★

This is a scent I'd never have chosen for me; the lab sent it as a frimp in my last order. It's intriguing, and slightly bizarre. In the imp and wet on my skin, it's almost entirely cherry and clove, with hints of the dragon's blood. Uusally I amp cherry but as this one dries, the cherry vanishes entirely. It moves from clove to wet salt to a warm, sticky scent that is the embodiment of its name. It's not unpleasant, just odd. And probably not one for me, but then, most of the dragon's blood scents aren't. Stars: ★★★

Imp: A dark, spicy herbaceous scent, with barely any honey at all. I quite like it! Wet: Sharp, yes, but not herbal or bitter; somehow sharp and powdery at the same time and pierces right through to hit me in the temple. This might be one of those unfortunate scents that trigger my headaches. Dry: A cool, white floral with powdery overtones. It reminds me rather a lot of magnolia blossom. This smells nothing at all like I'd have expected it to from the imp. The end result on me is basically the polar opposite of the oil, and that's rather disappointing - I love the scent of it unapplied. The final stages aren't bad, though I'd have to try it again to work out whether I like them enough to sit through the almost-headache-inducing stage of wet to dry. The throw's pretty good, I definitely only need a small amount. ★: 2.5, pending another test.

Freebie from the lab Imp: Chocolate (?!) and leather. Wet: More cucumber than courgette, and yeah, they smell different to me. A spicy warmth works its way up almost immediately.It's the same scent I get from a lot of the forest blends, most of which I've noticed have vetiver listed, so I can only assume that vetiver doesn't do the usual smoky/wet/green thing on me. Instead it's a warm, brown tree scent - perhaps what you might smell if one of Tolkien's Ents sat sunning itself in the clearing of a pine forest. It's the fragrance I *always* want when I buy something that mentions a forest in its description, so I'm very happy about it. There's also the barest hint of leather under the surface. Dry: The spicy vetiver scent for ages, and then a very light musk towards the end of the day. The cold vegetable smell never returns after that first initial swipe. Overall, this is nothing like what I expected when I saw it amongst my imps. What it is is absolutely lovely, and I will definitely buy one when the freebie runs out. Probably an imp, but if it ages well, a bottle. ★: 4/5.

Freebie from the lab Imp: A strong, nutty chocolate - hazelnuts and almonds I think - with sweet, almost amber-esque overtones. Wet: Florals and baby power; no nuts or chocolate at all. Dry: A soft, spicy powder. This one's very strange on me - normally I will amp patchouli to high heaven, but Tezcatlipoca is almost entirely floral talc. I wonder if there's musk involved somewhere; it's always been a bit of a hit and miss note, and the powdery smell I get is very similar to what a lot of the musk-based blends end up doing. For a scent with such strong components, it has a surprisingly short life, only 3-4 hours, and a pretty weak throw. No stage of the morph is unpleasant, but it's definitely not a fragrance I'll use. ★: 3/5.

Imp: Light, white notes - honeydew, pale tea, a squeeze of citrus Wet: Musk, fairly prominently, with overtones of sweet, woodsy smells Dry: A sickly-sweet, soapy smell that I had to resort to scrubbing off. It's only the second or third fragrance that's disagreed with my skin to the point of washing it off instead of letting it wear naturally, and I wish I knew why. None of them seem to have common elements. :/ ★: 1/5 on me, which is very sad as I love the concept.

Imp: Honey, champagne and sweet pea, all notes which should be innocent but are somehow dark and sensual here Wet: Very sweet honey and pomegranate, quite a lot like the initial stag of Swank. No alcohol at all, and none of the dark and sexy smell from the imp. Dry: There's really nothing black about this scent on me; it's white and pink and sparking champagne diamonds. Overall it's quite lovely, but not really me. The throw is pretty decent, but it lasts only a few hours hours, which is pretty short compared to my usual BPAL wear times. Stars: ★★★

Imp: Cherry cough syrup. Wet: Woody, much more so than the imp smell would lead you to believe! And much more dominant than the cherry note on me. It's a deep, rich mahogany with a sweet undertone that's proper cherry blossom, not the cough syrup smell of earlier. Dry: Quite weirdly, the smell of solder being heated. I don't even know. But I actually quite like the scent of solder being heated so although it's not something I'd go looking for in a perfume, I'm finding it very comforting all the same. If I sniff really hard, the cherry tone is still there, but it's mostly melting solder. Overall: After an hour or so it morphs back to the wood smell, with a hint of lacquer or solder. One review said pencil shavings, which is almost the scent I'm getting, but there's still a teeny bit of fruit. I definitely amp mahogany like no-one's business, that's for sure. I think I'd have liked more/stronger fruit notes. Layering with one of the blackberry-based scents or even Chokecherry Honey might help get the effect I'm after. I'll keep it for now to see how it ages. ★: 3/5

I resisted this forever because musk and I tend not to get on, but I finally bit the bullet and ordered an imp with my Yules. I'm so very, very glad I did. Imp: sweet lavender, overlaid with the slight bitterness of hot brewing tea Wet: VANILLA. Cake-mix vanilla, summer lemon trees, the smell of sunshine on clean sheets - this morphs quickly through all three of those, and by quickly, I mean in under a minute. Dry: the very first review for this scent is spot on; this absolutely brings to mind images of a proper English gentleman, a tea parlour, and an encounter with his naughty side. There's a deep earthy tone which I'm guessing is some sort of oak? It smells very much like other oak-based perfumes I've tried, and if I remember correctly, that's one of the more common bases to use for a fougère. It's woody, at any rate, though not overpoweringly so - I've been wearing Conservatory Tableaux for two days, and Dee before that, and it's nothing even close to how woody those two are. There's a waft of lavender and lemon every so often, but mostly a warm, rich vanilla sugar and tea combination that's a strange combination of alluring and comforting. I don't know that I'd recommend this for alpha-males - it's more Russell Brand than Russell Crowe - but it's a beautiful, masterpiece of a scent, and definitely one I'll be buying multiple bottles on. 5/5!

I don't try many florals and every time I do, I'm reminded why that is. Imp: soft, powdery lilac with a hint of wysteria Wet: very sweet - mainly lilac, with an undercurrent of rose and something that smells bizarrely like sunblock. Dry: rose, mainly. Unfortunately most BPAL rose scents smell like potpourri or powder on me. This one's on the potpourri side, which I'm grateful for, as I don't really want to have to wash it off. The lilac fades almost to nothing after ten minutes and after about three hours, the wysteria makes itself known. It's lovely but very delicate, and I rather wish it didn't take quite so long to arrive; I'd be more inclined to put up with the wafts of rose if the wysteria were stronger. Alas, even when it does come out, it's generally overshadowed by the rose. A very pretty scent for someone, but that someone isn't me. Stars: ★★

In the imp: lemon. Wet: ... lemon. Dry: lemon. Lemon is one of the few BPAL notes I can't wear - unless I fancy an instant migraine. I persisted with this in the hope that the initial citrus would die off but it just got stronger. I'm sure it would be lovely on someone else; on me, it does exactly what Lolita does and tries to convince you that you are, in fact, in the middle of an overly ripe orchard with no hope of escape this century.

Imp: Juniper. All juniper, all the time. Wet: Just picked, smack you in the face, wet handfuls of mint. And a wee bit of woodiness. Dry: After 10 minutes, I start to get hints of lotus, but a stronger sense of the cherry gumdrop fragrance others mentioned. After 20 minutes, it's more raspberry, and overall the effect is odd - while it's definitely a 'dark' scent, it's also very warming and friendly. After a couple of hours, it's just a light sweetness. Overall a pleasant fragrance, but not really me. ★ 3/5

Mine's a decant and in its imp, I get a delightful blend of honey and apricot, sort of what I imagine fairy wine would smell like. On my skin, however, I get an instant red rash which had me scrubbing it off inside of five minutes. I'm super sad, because the fragrance I get from the bottle is just glorious. Normally this is something that only happens with cinnamon blends (the review above that mentions cinnamon makes me wonder if perhaps there isn't a hint of that in here too) so I thought I'd be safe with this. I'm willing to believe pepper would do the same thing though, so I'm going to have to check through my current imp stash and see whether there's anything else that incorporates pepper and if I have the same reaction. Needless to say, this little one's being re-homed.

I don't do well with rose scents, but I was given a partial decant of this by a lovely forum member I bought some other imps from, so I figured I'd give it a go. Imp: wine, tea, and the cloying, sickly scent that I smell with all rose blends. Wet: surprisingly lovely! A warm black tea, frankincense and papery, dry roses. No wine at all, and none of the overly sweet smell that rose normally gives me. Dry (10 mins): ... oh. I amp resins and incense notes, but I also amp rose - which is probably why I don't enjoy it, to be honest. And in the frankincense/rose contest, the rose is now winning by a whole lot. dry (6 hours): alas, poor Yorrick, he was overwhelmed by roses. After three or four hours I start getting hints of beeswax, but it's pretty much all rose, all the time. Overall it's not an unpleasant scent, regardless of how this review looks. On someone that wears rose well, it would be beautiful. The throw is excellent, it was still quite strong after eight or so hours wear. But it's not a scent I'd have ever chosen and it's definitely not one I'll need to track down more of. Had it stayed what it was at the 10 minute mark, I might have been tempted. Stars: ★★★

If I never bought another BPAL scent again, I'd still die happy. I've been pining after this since it was first released and actually managed to find a full bottle just in time for my birthday this year. And it's perfect. Snow Glass Apples is one of my favourite Neil stories, and everything about this blend evokes it in the best possible way. Everyone says it's green apples, but not to me - I get sweet, deep blood-red apples, dripping juice. The snow is there too, hard-packed, violet blue, and there's a hint of wind down a chilly stone corridor lingering around the top notes. I loved The Hesperides and to some extent, this reminds me of the eventual drydown I got from that, but Snow, Glass, Apples is infinitely more delicate and lovely, and so utterly creepy for all it's sweetness. I replaced The Hesperides with Pomona in the end, and I'll still wear that as my everyday apple fragrance, but there's nothing that could ever top this for me. It's perfect, absolutely perfect. 10 out of 5!

In the imp: Tobacco, mint, and spice - especially pepper Wet: Cold and airy. There's a strong hit of mint at first, then pepper, then something almost alpine - perhaps the bloodroot. I've not seen it in any other scent I've tried and have no reference for its smell at all. Dry (1 hr): A lovely base note that's similar to tonka - I'm guessing the opoponax - and some planty overtones. Thistle and dragon's blood (not one of the best scents for me, I hope that wears off soon), and a hint of cumin peeping through. The pepper burns away by the end of the first hour. Dry (6 hrs): Still quite strong, the throw is good. Scent wise, there's a very soft vanilla on my wrists - where it's coming from, I have no idea, but it's like proper crushed vanilla beans - and on my elbows, there's traces of the spices, with sweetness from the fig. And yes, the dragon's blood did burn off too. Sadly, the mint also vanished after a short while, which is a shame; I liked the coolness it brought to this blend. Overall, very pretty, and definitely my favourite so far of this year's Phoenixes. But I shan't be hasty, I've got four more to try. ★: 4/5

This imp is now around three years old, and like a lot of the Ars Amatoria scents, I think age improves it. In the imp: Honey. Thick, dark, musky honey. Which baffles me every time. Wet: Vanilla dominates but still traces of honey, very similar to the scent you get from Lush's "Honey I Washed the Kids" soap. Dry (1hr): A slight citrus scent, but otherwise almost pure narcissus - it's dark and black and earthy. Nothing at all of the vanilla. End of day: Mainly vanilla/citrus. The narcissus burns off faster than the other two, and what's left is still strong, but not overpowering. On the whole, I like this, certainly much more than I'd thought I would when the imp first arrived. It reminds me a little of O, which also took a while to grow on me. If I had to choose between this and O though, I'd go with O every time. Stars: ★★★

In the imp: A fizzy, amber/lavender scent that is somehow earthy and ozone at the same time. Wet: Two small swipes - it smells quite strong - and that fizzy scent amps up beyond belief. It's replaced quickly by a gold citrus (not lemon though!), then a rich, warm amber after a minute or two. Dry: Initially an amber scent similar to Mouse's Long and Sad Tale, but with an orange or satsuma undertone. (I'm coming to the conclusion that I amp amber, because anything even vaguely ambery ends up smelling like Mouse on me.) After a few hours, it's pure amber. And very potent - I definitely won't forget I've got this one on. End of day: A hint of musk finally starts to come through at the 6-8 hour mark - I assume because the amber is slowly burning off. It's fainter by bedtime, but on the whole, this is one powerful scent. It lasted through three sinks worth of dishes and was still definitely discernible without too much sniffing for it. Stars: ★★★★½

In the imp: Must, but pleasantly, like from antique books; an underlying warm, fruity smell; spicy wet leaves and earth. Wet: The earthiness amps immediately, as does the fruit - this is like walking through a rich, crumbly-soiled vineyard as the last of the fallen summer fruit rots into the soil. (It sounds horrifying but it's actually really lovely.) And somehow, at the same time, there's a note of long-dry earth, as if no rain has fallen in years. It's quite an odd sensation. Dry (1-2 hours): An increasing mossy note, as well as something sharp under the wet/dry earth. The spice also strengthens; overall, the effect is very similar to what Dee does on me. End of day: The throw is excellent! This took a good eight hours to wear down to the point where I had to consciously sniff for it, and once it morphs into it's two-hour stage, it doesn't change any further. It's not a fragrance I'd ever have picked for myself, but I love it, and I'm definitely considering a whole bottle. ★: 5/5