lady_pandora

I'm not a huge fan of metallic notes, but I liked Bard (which I loved because the honey amped up and drowned out the brass, so YMMV, lol), and Lead Phoenix, which I only had a tester of, but it was kind of plum-and-metallic. And Fortuna Dubia went metallic on a few of us for some reason, though there's no indication in the description.

I almost passed this one by, which would have been a BPAL tragedy! I had to make some culls from my initial decant order, and Sept bit the dust. And then the reviews started coming in...and I finally decided to track down a decant and give it a try. Wow, this is gorgeous.

It's pretty simple, really--a beautifully sophisticated "perfumy" rose, with a slight hint of foodiness from the vanilla. I can't make out frankincense, but that's the way rose and frank work on me; they blend seamlessly. I love it.

Oh, and it's white wine, but if you can get your hands on Symmakhia, it's gorgeous (Vanilla, heliotrope, red sandalwood, pear, black lily, white wine grape, and white rose.) and is really Valentine's to me--the vanilla has kind of a white chocolate vibe in this one to me. So it smells like roses, wine, and white chocolate--voila, romantic evening!

This is really pretty, but includes a lot of notes I'm less familiar with, so I probably won't do this justice! The early stages are mostly citrus over pine resin with a hint of smokiness, and then I start getting a beautiful floral blend in the throw while the skin scent stays more fruit/pine. One of the notes I know is peony since it's also in Dormouse, but there are other florals here too. It settles into a sophisticated, well-blended "perfumey" scent where it's hard to pick out any one note. It makes me think of being outdoors in spring while lots of different things are blooming at once.

I'm glad I like this, because I would have had a hard time parting with that adorable goodboye (or girl) in the bottle art.

Lots of honey and a soft hint of pepper! This flirts with plastic and play-doh a bit in the early going, but settles down to a pretty, mildly peppery, candied sort of scent. There's a slight resemblance to scents like Bengal, but it's Bengal's shy little sister. I don't need a ton of this, but it's pleasant.

I have been wearing Candles Moon for the grim spring days so common in Seattle, but the past few days we've had sunshine! I've been wearing The Passionate Shepherd to His Love, The Gaoler's Daughter, 413 US 15 and Harper. When the lilacs start to bloom, I will be wearing Cave of Treasures and Eusapia. And spring is perfect for Mad Tea Party faves: Alice, Against Idleness and Mischief, Mouse's Long and Sad Tail, Queen of Hearts.

Yes, can't believe I forgot Against Idleness--I think I forgot it because I've been wearing it all winter too! Also want to add Hell's Belle to my list.

Spring! Anybody swapping their scents as the seasons change, and what are your picks this spring?

Yes! I've been trying to work some old neglected spring scents back into my rotation, including: Khajuraho, Shadow Witch Orchid, Jezebel, Delight, Loralei, and Vasakasajja. Less neglected, but also getting back into the rotation: Do the Dancing Maidens Sleep, Les Bijoux, Lady of Shalott, Bewitched, Persephone, The Dormouse. Plus my Luper faves from this year: One Perfect Day, Courtesan with Secret Lover, Pink Fuzzy Handcuffs, Swans on the River. And I think Eyes Skyward, Eyes Shut will probably be joining them.

Staying at my parents' house over the weekend, I rediscovered my father's "Le Male" by Jean Paul Gaultier.

 

The top notes of this Jean Paul Gaultier cologne for men include fresh mint, bergamot, and lavender. The middle notes are represented by orange blossom, cinnamon, and cumin. In the base notes, you will find cedar, sandalwood, tonka bean, and vanilla to add a sweet warmth. Its spicy notes make this cologne best for winter and night wear.

 

What from BPAL might be similar?

The masculine take on orange blossom makes me wonder about Tavern of Hell: White gardenia, ambergris bouquet, lavender fougere, orange blossom, melissa, tobacco flower, coriander, ebony wood, ylang ylang, absinthe and aged whiskey.

I've been spending a lot of time with verbena lately, since I've been using an almond-verbena body wash, so the verbena blast that starts out The Fool's Rose was super familiar to me. It's not a really lemony verbena on me, but definitely herbal, just this side of medicinal, very clean and soothing. I could see it being a TAL scent for healing.

The skin scent is almost all verbena at first, while the throw is incensy from the frankincense. I can't really pick out rose, but one quirk of my skin is that rose and frankincense are usually pretty seamless on me, and that happens here too. The rose reads as just an extra dimension to the frank.

Over the course of the scent, the verbena fades out and I'm left with mostly frankincense, very pretty. I could see wearing this when I'm not feeling well or need a pick-me-up. I wouldn't call it a rose scent per se--if you're not a huge rose fan, you might still like this.

Oooh, frankincense is great! Les Bijoux and Cicuta are a couple of my faves, and I'm also loving the new Fool scent Eyes Skyward, Eyes Shut. I think it's in Cairo too, though unlisted. I have a special place in my heart for rose/frank blends--the two notes work really well together on me.

Body Time in Berkeley is closing down so no more China Rain perfume oil. It's a light musk with white florals and a green top note. Anyone familiar with China Rain and BPAL who has any recommendations?

It's probably been 10 years since I've smelled China Rain, so this is a stab in the dark, but Swans on the River kind of reminded me of my memory of it.

This is lovely! It starts out with a sweetened lemon and gradually morphs into a creamy, sweet, but floral-instead-of-foody vanilla. It started reminding me of something, and it took me a while to follow my synapses down the rabbit hole and figure out what it was, but then I put my finger on it...Regan??? Seriously, on me this smells, after the early lemony stages, a lot like I remember Regan smelling. I sold my imp years ago and can't directly compare the two. I have no idea why the notes are coming together like this on me--as far as I know, they only have one note in common, the vanilla--but I'll take it. Definitely will be a bottle purchase. If you think in colors, this one's a bright sunny yellow.

This smells like iced lemon cake floating over a fairly mild patchouli. It's kind of an odd combo on paper, but it's working on me, and I like it. There's more icing in the early stages and more patch later on.

I love Lilith. She ages well too! My bottle is probably 10 years old and totally lovely.

Cairo has red wine, and does not officially have rose, but a lot of us thought we smelled rose in it.

Swans on the River is definitely worth a try too. I'm still not sure I've accurately teased out which note is tuberose, but it's such a pretty blend.

Mmmm, I love this. It starts out creamy floral (much heavier on what I think is the vanilla flower, than on rose) with a little mandarin, and I'm beginning to think I LURVE mandarin with florals, because OMG. It's the kind of scent that's a floral, not a gourmand, but you still kind of want to eat it anyway. Later the red musk comes out. So far, red musk is behaving on me, adding sex appeal to the blend without amping up too much. This feels similar to Hell's Belle, and I suppose Lilith was the very first belle of Hell! I love this; it's just my kind of lush decadence.

Hell's Belle, Les Bijoux, and in the currently available LEs, Fortuna Balnearis, Who Would Not Tremble Too, and Courtesan with a Secret Lover

Sometimes tobacco can take over a blend on me, but in this one, it plays nicely with all the other incense notes to make the most dead-on impression of a particular head shop that I've smelled yet. And I do have kind of a personal-empowerment association with that place, so it works! I was worried about this one, but it's a keeper.

Like others, I get the BIG SMOKE BLAST early on--this is vetiver in its most charred, woodsmoky incarnation, and lots of it. I began to worry I'd arrived late to the Sabbat and found only the smoldering remains of the bonfire! And it does this for like an hour and a half, which is a little longer than the "early stage" of perfumes usually lasts on me.

But when it turns, it turns good. I start getting incense smoke and intact wood and a sweet beeswaxy vanilla to round it out, almost like a corrupted Midnight Mass out in the forest, and I freaking love it. It's a longish wait for this stage, and I'll probably have to apply sparingly, but wow.

Verdict: Hanging on to it until fall to see how often I reach for it then.

I've been out of the loop for awhile now.

 

If I like Eve, which is rose, apple blossom, honey, and something else I don't remember off the top of my head, is there something I should be keeping an eye out for?

Well, there's no apple blossom in it, but try the current Luper, One Perfect Day--it's a really pretty rose with honey and some other stuff.

This is mostly an ethereal, white, slightly waxy floral with some unidentifiable greenery in the background. The floral sometimes smells more waxy gardenia, sometimes more misty tuberose (at least I think this is the tuberose--it's in Lullaby and Fairy Thorn). Beautiful, and evokes water without actually being an aquatic. Rainy days and teal clothing make me want to wear this.

It's kind of faint on me, and that's my one possible hesitation about a bottle--will the faintness keep it from becoming a great love, or will it just mean I have to slather, thus using more oil? Maybe I need a bottle after all!

I bought this for the ACLU and didn't even expect it to work on my skin, but this is fantastic! The thought I keep coming back to is "This is what Aureus should have been." I tried Aureus a while back and my skin just sort of evolved it wrong--first I got ALL THE WOOD and then ALL THE PATCHOULI instead of the different notes hanging together harmoniously. Fortuna Populi Romani, on the other hand, all works together on me in a harmonious way.

I get golden wood, a quiet patchouli, and an impression of something citrusy at first, and then the citrusy note goes away and vanilla starts to come in and sweeten it up. This isn't foody at all, though; this isn't Monster Bait: Underpants on me. It's maybe a little like Palmyra, but with the balance tilted more toward the wood and less toward the leather. Mostly it's the impression of the sun on clean blonde wood. Beautiful and gender-neutral. A great scent for lazing about in the sun with a book and a coffee or beer. So glad I blind bottled this.

ETA: I re-listened to the Hamilton cast album the other night and I've decided this is the scent of the "My Shot" scene where they drink and solve the world's problems. I think I'll wear this when I finally see the show in a few weeks.

I keep moving Briar Rose in and out of the swaps box. I can't make up my mind what I think of it! It's definitely a challenging blend. You do kind of have to get through the briar-hedge to get to know this one.

It starts out bitter, dusty, kind of dank. Khus is vetiver, and it's strong in the opening. This is a rose locked up in the tower, or buried in the root cellar with the witch's herbs. At this stage I'm really appreciating the craft of it, liking it conceptually, but not necessarily wanting to smell like it myself.

And then it blooms. It turns into a lovely soft rose with just a hint of the dusty/basement thing, and the whole thing goes faint for a while, and as time goes on, it gathers strength again and I would even say it becomes a sweetened rose, reminding me, of all things, of Pink Fuzzy Handcuffs, which I've been wearing a fair amount lately. Is this the ambrette? The mandrake? I'm not sure I know what either of those really smells like.

Where do I wear this? On what occasion shall I smell like a basement for an hour and then sweet rosy heaven for the rest of the evening? Briar Rose confuses me, but I think I'd regret parting with her!

RED MUSK RED MUSK RED MUSK and maybe a little bit of spice and also some RED MUSK RED MUSK RED MUSK for good measure. Drat you, skin!

Elf starts out with a blast of moss, then I get evergreen with a hint of roundness or sweetness to it. Pine and its friends can sometimes be harsh, but here it's smoothed out, and I think that must be the beeswax and amber working their magic but without really standing out on their own. There's a hint of berry, and maybe a little mint; it's the cooling sensation like in Wolf Moon 2016. This is a Yule-ish scent to me. I like it and will be keeping the imp.