Rackham's Vanity

I'm getting juicy berries here...rather like Midwinter's Eve...yummy! I like Midnight Kiss a lot--and more than I thought I would. I wish my skin amped up the cocoa other reviews rave about, but I love having a "red" scent to wear that doesn't involve dragon's blood!

On first sniff Goblin reminded me of a Halloween bat scratch 'n' sniff sticker I collected sometime around 1982 (remember sticker collections?). On application, it was all sweet, candied patchouli. Awww! What a cute little goblin! But by the time I'd walked to university, only the patchouli was left, all the sweetness had gone, and the charming little goblin had turned into a real hell-raiser. Yeah! If you like patchouli, you cannot pass up this blend!

I have never had a scent morph so quickly on me before! Here were the three distinct stages of Hunter Moon on my skin: 1) (When I stepped out of the house) Super dry musk, super super dry. Almost made me a little sneezy. 2) (After walking for about a half mile, getting the blood pumping) As my skin warmed, the red wine came out, making the musk richer and much less dry. Loved the wine note at this stage, which was not apparent upon application. 3) (After getting home and working at my desk for a while) Buck Moon. Buck Moon. Buck Moon. Teh yummeh! Next time I wear Hunter Moon I'll pay closer attention to its subleties...I'm sure I missed a lot as I was running around town, preoccupied. But long story short: if you like Buck Moon, this blend is for you!

I never thought I'd find a floral I liked, but this may be The One. Ostara reminds of those rose and violet candies my grandmother always had around...tiny little creamy, sweet, pearl-sized old-fashioned candies that were made from roses and violets and tasted like them, too. Ostara's a fun, bright, youthful scent...honey and flowers all playing nicely together. Fantastic throw, too. Thank you, Beth, for creating a floral even a foodie can love!!

My heart is broken. Fantastic, cocoa-y, caramelly, spicy goodness...bliss for this die-hard foodie... But. Five dots on my neck became five large, red, itchy welts on my neck. For a foodie with less sensitive skin, this would certainly be a much-loved blend!!

This is a bright, soft, almost 'gentle' aquatic on me. It's all smooth and girly...and slightly sweet. Could it be the jasmine that evens it out? I can't pick out the jasmine note particularly, but something's holding this scent back from taking on that fantastic sharp ozoney note I love in other aquatics. Thalassa reminds me of the ocean really early in the morning, with the sunlight sparkling on the tips of all the waves, the breeze calm, and everything bathed in a warm, white light. Hmmm...in fact, this blend strikes me as the more feminine counterpart to Jolly Roger. I'm a sucker for aquatics, so it'll be Thalassa when I'm feeling delicate and refined, and Jolly Roger when I'm feeling like a scalliwag!

Wow. This was well worth the wait., and better than I could have imagined. I echo the sentiments of my fellow reviews who have called this the "perfect pumpkin scent." It's not as cloyingly sweet as Jack, but the same butter-pumpkin is there (of course). The addition of the gentle spicy-sweetness of the ginger is absolute genius, and paired with the citrus, Pumpkin Queen positively resonates with the image of golden, crisp Fall days. Love it, love it. *slathers*

A celebration of one of the first commercially produced perfumes of America's Old West. A rugged, warm blend of vanilla, balsam and sassafras layered over Virginia cedar. I really, really didn't expect to like this one. But dear god, it is amazing. It's a vanilla, so dusty and windblown, it almost carries the faint scent of tobacco and leather. But is that me just being wistful about cowboys again? So good. This is a tough broad scent. Annie Oakley would approve.

This did start out very sweet and Grog-esque, but almost immediately settled into tobacco on me. I was worried that it was a bit too smoky, but I grew it enjoy it, especially as the scent warmed into a garden of exotic spices. The coconut is very fait, but rounds out the spices softly and tempers the tobacco. This is a very naughty yet sophisticated and complex scent. The more I wear it, the more I like it!

Numb smells just like those little Victorian violet candies, all sweetness and violet. Pretty. Sweet. Pretty sweet, in fact. And, to be sure, a cooling scent. Not for me at all, but during a visit home, my mother lept upon the bottle with a "Wait, you don't like this? Then I'll take it!" and giggling, off she ran down the hallway. Huh.

The legendary site of the Viking colony in Newfoundland founded circa 985. Crisp northern wind blowing over loganberry, wild roses, prairie crocus, iris versicolor Linné, mountain avens, yellow birch bark, mayflower and maple leaf. Vinland was wonderful...green at first, and then the loganberries came charging forward. They were wonderful in this blend, smelling dark and ripe, almost like black currants. I also caught a whiff of hops in Vinland, although that could just be wishful thinking on my part.... And then the unthinkable happened...big red itchy welts on my neck. Breaks my heart...I really was enjoying this one.

This is the perfect green scent. Yggdrasil wet is sharp, piney, almost astringent, nearly aquatic. Whereas Nocnitsa dissolved from wet pine into sour moss on me, Yggdrasil says dry and even sweetens, with no sour note at all. By two hours in, Yggdrasil is a settled, living forest of massive hardwood trees, with the tiniest hint of doeskin (I swear I can smell it!). Because this scent doesn't morph around a lot like other scents, it gives the impression of steadfastness, of a certain "rootedness"...just perfect for the World Tree.

Buck Moon is so much lighter than I had expected; wet, it's nearly aquatic, all cool, crisp evening air and wet grasses. It's such a clear scent, and such an unexpectedly sweet herbal. It's very very delicate, with an underlying strength...it rather reminds me of a deer's legs...so fragile-looking, but so incredibly powerful at the same time. The musk doesn't appear for a good hour, and is very natural; it's like a softer, more subtle Coyote. Beautiful. This scent is all the beauty and power, grace and strength of a deer. I'm completely undone.

Santa Muerte was an unexpected surprise. I, like others, got dusty cocoa from the oil when it was wet! I can't explain it, but good lord, I'm not complaining!!! The sweetness of the florals in this blend leans towards foodie (again, no compaints from me!), and I keep getting whiffs of the wine note in Centzon Totochtin. My one complaint is that it hasn't got much throw, and it disappears completely by the end of the day. Guess I better buy a bottle and slather it on! Wow...yet another floral I love...go figure!

Rome starts out herbal and green on me, but within minutes the rose comes forward and stays there for the rest of the day. The chamomile never makes a pronounced appearance, nor does the juniper, which is very surprising to me, as juniper is usually pretty loud. However, all of the herbs to work to keep the rose from becoming soapy and too sweet; the herbs are there for a reason...but I wish they were louder than they are. Still, a keeper.

Huh. I was expecting hay, and Scarecrow is lovely sweet grass with no sourness to it at all. This isn't a dry scent on me, though I was sure it would be. It reminds me of high summer, warm wind over fields. Unexpected. And not nearly as masculine as I imagined. Pleasant surprise!

Thanks to a wonderful forumite, I am now the proud owner of an imp of Samhain. I have been fishing for this oil for a long time, and I must say, Samhain does not disappoint. Samhain is dark, pumpkin-pie-spicy earth on me, with none of the sour mossy note I get from Nocnitsa. For the first hour, there was a mild butter note, the same one I detected (strangely) in All Saint's, but it disappears and sweet loam takes over. In fact, Samhain smells a lot like Lush's Cupcake face mask, all bitter chocolate and deep, rich mud. Perfect. I am mad for this scent. It is the essential embodiment of the season for me: darkness, earth, decay, fire, and spice. Bravo, Beth!

Tintagel morphs very quickly on me, going through a fascinating and dizzying succession of apples, wine, spice, and a blast of evergreen (juniper?), before finally sliding into ripes berries with a green note lingering near the surface. Nearly an hour into its drydown, I get whiffs of an aquatic, which baffled me until I thought back to my own visit to Tintagel Castle in Cornwall over a decade ago: Tintagel's ruins sit upright on a rocky outcropping over the wild waves of the Atlantic. When I was there, I stood among the ruins near the edge of the outcrop, caught up in the sunshine (yes!), the blast of the wind, and the sound and the sight of the furious sea. My travel companion, my mother, came up behind me silently and caught me by the arm. She held me hard, and I turned round, confused. "What?" I asked, trying to shake off her grip. She searched my eyes frantically for a moment before her fingers loosened. "I thought you were going to go," she said simply. This is what Tintagel is: swirling waters, swirling winds, the scent of heavily ripened summer fruits, and green taking over the ruins of centuries; the oil Tintagel reflects this perfectly.

Kali is tricky. I love Beth's chocolate note, but I don't get it from Kali. Tobacco does not work for me, and I don't get it either from Kali. What I do get is a sticky, gooey, sweet summer scent, all flowers dripping with honeyed nectar. Kali is homemade rock sugar candy and banana splits. Kali is palm trees and aquamarine waves. Kali is dancing in the darkness by a fire on a pristine Caribbean shore. For a dark goddess, Kali sure knows how to have a good time.

I think 13 is a dead ringer for American Cream conditioner, except 13's just a tad more chocolatey! Nummies!

To me, 13 smells remarkably like Lush's American Cream conditioner, with more powdery chocolate. It's gorgeous. I can't think of a season in which this delicious scent would be out of place. For the first time ever, I can't wait until the next Friday the Thirteenth!

This scent is exactly how I imagined it to be. The combination of myrrh and patchouli evoke ancient, dusty churches and the lingering scent of centuries of incense and candle-smoke. I suppose it's the orris that lends the marked and surprising dryness to Dance of Death, though I'm not yet familiar enough with that note to say for certain. This is lovely and sorrowful. Definitely a big bottle for me, hopefully in time for Samhain.

I got freshwater aquatic out of R'lyeh, which made it immediately scary for me (I'm terrified of freshwater for some unknown reason). Whereas Ulalume is a sparkling light blue aquatic on me, R'yleh is a dark, deep, blue-green, freshwater swamp. I could even detect some aquatic vegetation and the briefest hint of stagnant water. I was surprised to find that Beth blends R'yleh with the ocean in mind, as I all I smelled was freshwater. Jolly Roger bellows "ocean" at me, but R'yleh does not. *shrug* My weird phobia aside, I really do like R'yleh. It's my favourite freshwater aquatic thus far.

Ouija went on almost sandalwoody, but then immediately calmed to a warm, creamy, rounded lilac scent. And that's when my skin broke out in itchy welts. The end.

Coyote is a breath of warm, herb-filled summer wind. I've been so caught up in aquatics lately, when I tried on Coyote I was immediately aware of its heat. I don't detect any animal-type musks or even that kitty scent I get from Black Cat in Coyote, but there is definely a soft, supple scent of suade here. It blends perfectly with the warm herbs. This has to be one of my absolute favourite BPAL scents. It's comforting, sweet (in a lovely herbal way), and warm...like a perfect August day.