Blood onmy hands

I've been loving coconut scents lately, so I was super-excited to try Gwyneth. I like bpal's rose, tonka, orchid, and skin musk as well. Unfortunately, I amp the rose in this enough that it overwhelms most of the other notes, and it goes a little powdery on me. Calla lily is one of the lily notes that I can't pull off, because it just goes soapy-fresh on me. The combination of amped up rose and soapy lily just makes me smell like an expensive bar of rose soap, and I'm not really a fan of soapy or clean blends. I can never smell anything like tonka or coconut with this blend, though it's a faint rose soap and smoky sage after several hours.

I was upset when I first sprayed this, because it had a sharp, perfumey floral quality to it. It mellows down into a soapy-clean floral smell with a cold ozone-y note. The longer it sits in the room or on some fabric, the prettier it gets. It turns less soapy and sharp over time, and more into just a clean chill. It's not the pine and snow scent that I was hoping for, but it's still nice. I wouldn't want this as a personal scent, but it's a wonderful linen fragrance.

Upon first spritz, I thought that this was a little too dark for me, but the L'Autunno spray is definitely growing on me. It smells like wet soil, dry/rotting leaves, and a distant swirl of smoke at first. It starts off rather smoky on my linens and then morphs into more of a clean, chilled smell. I think that the tea gives it a crisp feel. It's like a chilly, wet autumn day, raking up damp leaves with the scent of a burning leaf pile somewhere off in the distance. A day later, the most lovely clean smell is left behind, with no trace of smokiness. I think that the atmosphere sprays are my favorite things out of this inquisition.

In the bottle, this reminds me of blends like Bad Luck Woman Blues and Tiresias. The molasses and cinnamon sugar smell like rich caramel and the other notes add an earthy, herbal, woody quality to the blend. In the bath water, this is mostly foodie sage for me, like caramel with a hint of spiciness and the dry, herbal sage. It's almost too sweet for me when it's in the water, so I'd definitely have to be in a foodie mood to bathe with L'Autunno. On my skin, it's amazing how much this shifts. The foodie/sweet aspects fade to the background and the myrrh & sweetgrass pop out. The myrrh is smoothly resinous and the sweetgrass adds a scent of dry grasses. It's a little bit smoky, like burning sage, but not enough to bother me. The touch molasses adds just the right hint of sweetness. After the disappointment of the spice crazed L'Autunno perfume oil, I'm glad to see that this doesn't have an overwhelming cinnamon note. The myrrh and sweetgrass in this bath oil are gorgeous.

Aelopile is kind of a mess on me. I'm not crazy about sour citrus notes or smoky scents, and this has both of those elements in it. I amp verbena and I really hate it in bpal blends. It's a sharp, tart, sour, lemon-y smell that's hyper at first and then subdued a bit with a smoky woods note in the drydown. The amber lends a light sprinkling of baby powder that doesn't really help matters after about a half hour. Smoky, dry, masculine woods, sharp lemon, and a hint of baby powder. Obviously, not a scent for me.

I wasn't too excited about trying Faeu Boulanger, because I haven't been impressed with mint+violet scents that I've tried in the past. This is a pretty nice scent, though, and I'm glad that it isn't overwhelmingly minty on me. It's the only Wunderkammer scent that I've actually liked (though I still haven't tried Bezoar). I like the watery, effervescent smell to this. I keep switching between thinking it smells of aquatic cucumber, watery honeydew melon, or cucumber & grapefruit. It's a watery, clear, clean smell with a bit of zip to it. There's also a sweetness to this that is pleasant and not overwhelming. It's almost like a mix of candied violet and soapy-clean violet on me, with the background of green, watery, pulpy aquatic smells. The mint is cool, clear, and almost sugary on me. In the drydown, the mint slowly fades away and this is mostly sweet violet and clean aquatic on me. It's a pretty scent, and rather unique... I think I'll keep my decant of this one.

I was completely wrong about these four seasons inquisitions. I thought that I would love L'Autunno, like L'Inverno, like L'Estate, and hate La Primavera. The exact opposite has turned out to be true (love La Primavera, really like L'Estate, am iffy about L'Inverno, and hate L'Autunno - though my favorite thing out of the entire four sets is the L'Estate atmosphere spray, which I've been wearing as a perfume <3). I digress. L'Inverno smells better in the bottle than it does on me, so it would probably be amazing on the right person with the right skin chemistry. In the bottle, this is a frosty plum that reminds me of a less sweet and more sophisticated Midwinter's Eve. Very lovely. On me, my boy said this smells like "cleaning supplies and syrup," which definitely doesn't sound good, lol. I think I get mostly the plum and lily, and they're going wonky on my skin. The plum sweetens and starts to remind me of grape candy, and the lily starts going to baby powder. Over time, this starts to turn plasticy and strange. Grape candy and plastic, which makes me smell like some awful grape scented toy, and I've never cared for the artificial grape smells. I think I'll keep this and see how it ages, but it's definitely not something that I'd wear at the moment.

Hawthorn, fig, myrrh, carnation, toasted almond, red and green apple, patchouli, wood smoke, and Indian musk. L'Autunno is definitely one of my biggest bpal disappointments ever. I LOVE apple scents, and I also love fig, myrrh, and patchouli. I thought that this would be awesome with the red and green apples and no spice notes listed. Unfortunately, in the bottle and on my skin, this is nothing but spice. This isn't a pleasant spice to me either, it's a sharp, astringent type of cinnamon. It's like sharp cider spice without the apple. This gives me a headache, and it smells nothing like any of the listed notes (at least not to my nose or on my skin). I'm heartbroken that this doesn't smell like apple to me at all

Hand of Glory is not what I was expecting. I expected it to be dark and woodsy from the leather, sandalwood, and oak. I thought that it would be spicy from the pepper and nutmeg. And it's nothing but super-strong, sickly-sweet honey musk on me. It stays that way for hours. It doesn't change at all on my skin, except to go just slightly powdery in the drydown. I don't care for a strong, super-sweet honey scent, so I wish that some of the other notes were present on my skin...

I'm glad that I purchased the entire La Primavera set, even though this soap would have scared me away from it. I have the worst time trying to wear white florals and I can't pull off sharp citrus notes. The La Primavera soap & atmosphere spray are headache-inducing and sharp smelling for me, but the perfume and bath oil are gorgeous. Dry, this bar of soap smells like generic, hotel room floral soap. Wet, this is more strongly scented than most of the BPTP soaps have been, but I don't really like it (that figures, lol). It's generic white floral soap with a shot of sharp lemon. And, as with most of the BPTP soaps I've tried, I found this to be really drying to my skin. I just had to try it to see how it compared to the rest of the set...

I've had a hard time reviewing L'Estate bath oil, because I'm kind of on the fence about it. Sometimes I love this, and I love it in stages, but sometimes it's just too much cloying, sickly sweetness for me. It reminds me a lot of Eden, which I have the same problem with. It's a little too much honeyed sweetness and a green sort of smell. In the bottle and in my bath water, this smells *amazing*. I can smell sweet peach, lots of fantastic, fresh spiciness from the cardamom, and all of the other notes rounding everything out and adding a complex smoothness to the blend. It smells like that on my skin for a while, as well, though a bit more crisp and almost lemon-y rather than peach-y. In the drydown, though, it leaves a smell like honeyed green leaves on my skin. Sometimes I like it, and sometimes it's just a sickly sweet smell that I have to scrub off...

Trying on Aeronwen & Knucklebones in the same day has firmly cemented my hatred for black musk. Knucklebones & Aeronwen are two of my favorite carnaval artwork pieces (the dark haired fellow in the art for this actually looks kinda like my ex-boyfriend, lol), I was excited for the orange in both of them, and the black musk ruined both scents for me. The bay rum and lime really try to save this scent for me. The bay rum smells almost bitter-spicy on me, tropical & masculine, with the zing of lime giving it even more of a tropical feel. Like Aeronwen, I never can smell anything even remotely like orange in this, but the black musk is crazy-strong and smells like smoky, cheap, musky-clean men's cologne. Black musk, on me, smells like the cheap and overwhelming cologne of men that I try to avoid, lol. The tobacco makes the black musk even more smoky and unbearable, and a little bit gritty. Cheap, dark, musky men's cologne with a touch of smokiness and a bit of zingy lime and bay rum. I don't smell anything orange-y or any gin. It's masculine, and I'd probably think it was great on the right man with the right skin chemistry. Unfortunately, I can't pull this scent off myself. It smells cheap on me...

Aeronwen is probably my biggest disappointment of the grindhouse, just because I had such high hopes for her and she's only 'okay' on me. She has my favorite artwork of the set, and I love all of the notes in this except for the black musk. I was hoping for delicious fig and sweet orange over a base of resins and amber. The only notes that I can really pick out of this blend at first are the fig and black musk. The black musk gives this a clean, cheap cologne sort of smell, and the fig adds in a dry woodiness with just the barest touch of sweetness. I love bpal's fig notes (Intrigue = LOVE), and I love the fig here, but the black musk doesn't do anything good for me. It has more of a redwood smell and a bit of spice to it in the drydown, but it remains mostly black musk on my skin. Aeronwen is like hints of wonderful smells hiding under black musk, just out of my reach. I might keep my decant and see how this ages, but it's not full bottle worthy for me at the moment.

I was hoping that this blend would be reminiscent of The Haunted Palace + lilac on me, but The Maltese Cross just isn't working for me. First on, I get the watery, salty aquatic smell that other reviewers have mentioned. Then, a bit of sharp, watery orange (not as sweet or rich as blood orange usually is on me) and sweet, buttery lilac creep in. I love lilac when it's a good, natural smelling lilac, but this comes off as too sweet at first, and has a sharp, chemical, hairspray quality in the drydown. As this dries down, the amber starts to turn everything to baby powder. This goes from watery orange, sharp musk, and sweet floral to sharp, fake-y floral and baby powder on me. I usually love lilac, blood orange, ambergris, and frankincense, but this turns too sharp and powdery on me.

On me, this is a sharp rose that threatens to turn soapy and hints of a smoky incense. It dries down to something like rose dusting powder with a spike of sharpness and a hint of smoke... There are definitely rose-and-incense blends that I like a lot more than this one (Parlement of Foules, mainly <3 but I like Rose Cross more than Tabula Smaragdina as well). I prefer a sweet rose and smooth, glossy resins. Tabula Smaragdina's rose is sharp/soapy and dries down to powder on me, and the incense aspects are smoky, so I'm not loving this...

This spray actually reminds me of fall more than summer. There's a crisp, cool, spicy dryness about this scent keeps making me think of the smell of fallen leaves. Other than that impression, I also get a delicious, edible smelling spice and a sweet, foodie vanilla. I think that this spray is my favorite scent of the L'Estate set, followed by the bath oil. I really love the vanilla amber paired with the spicy ginger

In the bottle, this smells like earthy, dark, red fruit. On my skin, it's still red fruit, but with a perfuminess from the lily, a tangy sharpness from the blood, a spicy lift from the clove, and an earthy/smoky smackdown from the leather. I love the ivy and blackberry leaf notes, but they're nowhere to be found in this blend. As this dries down, Blood Garden is mostly a tangy blood, tart currant, and spicy clove on me. This is like The Obsidian Widow, but Blood Garden isn't as good, dark, or complex as Obsidian Widow. Still, it has a similar 'red' feel, and I do like this blend. It's just that the Widow is so much better on me, and has that similar red feel, so I compare the two and this one comes up lacking quite a bit.

I hate tuberose (sharp, cutting, chemical white floral to me), but I couldn't pick out that note in the La Primavera bath oil or perfume oil. I can definitely smell the tuberose in the atmosphere spray, and it adds a familiar sharpness that I don't enjoy. The oakmoss adds an earthiness to this that I really like. It makes me think of flowers poking up through wet soil, except the flower that's stabbing through is a sharp, perfumey tuberose. I had my boy sniff the throw pillow that I sprayed with this and he said it smelled like "bad women's perfume and dirt." Neither of us could pick out the fruits or citrus... I'll stick with Down the Rabbit Hole for my totally awesome dirt-and-flowers scent.

The La Primavera set has been such a pleasant surprise for me . I tend to be a floral-hater, and somehow I really like the La Primavera bath oil and perfume (am iffy on the atmosphere spray and hated the soap). I hate tuberose and iris, and have trouble with lemon, grapefruit, and gardenia scents. If I rub this directly on my skin, I get a little bit of the mint along with the lemon, sugar, and floral. The mint makes it cool, the lemon makes it fresh, and the sugar and floral are soft and sweet on me. The mint fades quickly, though, and then this is mostly sweet orange, lemon, and floral, which makes me think of a soft, pretty orange blossom with a sharp zing from the lemon... In the bath, it's more of a crisp scent (sweet mint, snappy floral, and something that smells herbal to me?), while it's more of a sweet, soft orange scent on my skin afterwards.

L'Estate reminds me of Midnight Mass and verrrry strongly of aged A'arab Zaraq. It's a smooth, cool, sweet, resinous sort of amber with touches of sweet floral. I thought that this would turn to baby powder on me, as bpal's amber almost always does on my skin, but this isn't powdery on me at all. I don't get any of the dreaded golden musk either. It's just cool, smooth, sweetened amber and a bit of cool lily. I'm so surprised that this isn't powdery on me and that it doesn't smell warmer. I expected a hot, sunny sort of amber, but L'Estate makes me think of laying in the shade on a summer's day, feeling the cool ground and looking up at elegant blooms... I like this. So far, L'Estate and La Primavera are both keepers for me

This was the season that I was least excited for, but so far it's my favorite (granted, I still haven't received L'Autunno or L'Inverno, which I was more excited for, but I like La Primavera more than L'Estate, lol). I was pretty sure that this would be awful on me, because I hated its soap version (headache inducing florals and dish soap), and I *hate* tuberose, jasmine, and ylang ylang. I don't have good luck with lemon either. I only bought this so that I would have a complete set of the inquisition. Somehow, though, this actually smells rather nice on me. In the bottle, this is exactly what I was afraid of. Perfumey florals that make my head ache. On me, though, it quickly mellows down and loses all of its sharpness and its perfumey muskiness. It actually smells like sweet citrus on me. I keep thinking of pink grapefruit with extra sugar on top. There's also a soft, floral quality here, almost like dewy, wet flowers. La Primavera is a fresh, wet, surprisingly soft, citrus-floral. It's clean, soft, and slightly sweet... in the drydown it's sort of like a lemon pie with extra sugar and the soft floral. I was surprised to go back and see that this didn't have a sugar note in it. I'm amazed that this doesn't give me a headache. La Primavera has three of my most feared notes in it, and I'm actually liking it. I'm still not sure how often I would actually wear a scent like this, but it's a floral that I can actually wear without getting ill.

I've gone through a whole decant of Ashlultum, just reapplying and hoping that this blend starts working with my skin chemistry. The thought of lilac, coconut, and vanilla tea has me swooning, but I can't really pick out any of the listed notes from this blend. It smells 'floral' in that weird way that doesn't really smell like flowers or any particular flower. Ashlultum starts off as a musky, vague floral smell and then dries down to something like musky floral baby powder and floral shampoo on me. I catch a whiff of suntan lotion coconut every once in a while, but mostly this is clean floral and musk on me. I usually amp and fear tobacco, and I can't find any tobacco in this either. I get light, clean floral and a hint of coconut, and this blend fades pretty fast on me...

I loved Midway, liked Midnight on the Midway, and by the time we get to Stormclouds Over the Midway, I'm not really liking the progression on the Midway at all, lol. In the bottle this smells like dry, papery, slightly sharp opium flowers. Papery, dried flowers with sharp, cutting edges. The opium's very white sharpness mixed with the soapy sharpness of the ozone is already scaring me. On my skin, this starts off not-so-bad. It smells like crinkly, dried flowers, a waft of incense, and cool air. Sadly, that stage only lasts about 30 seconds on me, and then Stormclouds morphs into dish soap with smoke. Headache on the Midway. Dish soap and sharp, white smokiness. Too sharp and too soapy for me

I really like Heavenly Love & Earthly Love. I've been waffling over whether or not to get a full bottle, but I probably won't ever spring for a 5ml. This is a nice scent. It's mostly sandalwood on me - dry and slightly powdery woods with hints of sweet, resinous incense at its edges. I probably won't end up buying more of it though, because it's such a subtle scent on my skin. It doesn't have much throw or very good staying power. Plus, I still love Midnight Mass a lot more than any other woody/incense blend. I'd probably reach for Midnight Mass, Cathedral, or Faustus over this blend. Heavenly Love & Earthly Love is a subtle sandalwood with hints of church-y incense and resins. I wish that it had better staying power on me. A lot of the Salon blends are very light and quick to disappear on my skin, and this is no exception.

This sounded great to me up until the brimstone and daemonorops. The Contract probably would be lovely to me without those two notes. As it is, this is okay on me, but probably not something I would reach for very much. The smoke and floral in this seem mismatched to me. The Contract has moments that I enjoy where it's hints of sultry red musk, a dry paper-y woodiness, and incense smoke. Other moments, it's mostly something like woodsmoke and soap made with sweet, half-rotten flowers. All in all, it's a bit too smoky for me, and I'm not loving the floral qualities.