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Blood onmy hands

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Everything posted by Blood onmy hands

  1. Blood onmy hands

    Gobo

    Gobo starts off heavy on the 'sugared pink grapefruit,' but quickly dries down to more of a vague, sweet citrus where I can't pick out any one note. I can see the comparisons to Sticky Bat, though I don't find this to be as lemony. I guess it's mostly tangerine in the drydown, with a sugary, creamy edge. This is a really nice scent, but it fades super fast on me (disappears entirely within a half hour) and I have vanilla/citrus scents that I like more (Lavanila's Vanilla Grapefruit is my go-to lately and is really strong on me for 6+ hours). ETA: With some aging, this has become one of my favorite bpals. I don't know why, but it's lasting a lot longer on me now. I usually smudge some of the oil on my jacket and the ends of my hair and I can smell it for 6-8 hours pretty strongly. It's sort of like marshmallows, salted vanilla cream and tangy lemon and tangerine custard. A fun, simple scent that makes me happy when I smell it. I've stocked up on a couple bottles of this one now.
  2. Blood onmy hands

    Une Folle Entreprise

    UNE FOLLE ENTREPRISE A mélange of silvery musk, iris, licorice root, black currant, apple blossom, patchouli root, violet, heliotrope, anise, and tonka bean. Un mélange: musc argenté, iris, racine de réglisse, cassis, fleur de pommier, racine de patchouli, violette, héliotrope, anis, et fève tonka. The musk is the star player for me here, but it's not a sharp or perfumey sort of musk, thankfully. This blend actually reminds me of Candy Phoenix (a more subdued and gentle Candy Phoenix, perhaps). First on, this is comforting, fuzzy-furry, slightly powdery, sweet musk. A gentle sweetness. I can pick out hints of anise if I really look for it, but it doesn't scream black licorice at all, and the anise disappears entirely on me after about fifteen minutes. There's a hint of patchouli and vanilla-y heliotrope at first that also doesn't last into the drydown on me. In the drydown, this is still mostly musk, but there's a candied black currant (like berry candy) that comes forth pretty strongly (and reminds me even more of Candy Phoenix) and a pale, cool, sweet violet. Une Folle Entreprise is rather light on me, clinging close to the skin and only lasting about 3 hours, but I do find this very pleasant and comforting. This is the sort of scent that I'd wear just for myself, or for a quiet night cuddled up with someone. A candied, gentle musk.
  3. Blood onmy hands

    Great Vampire Bat

    I seem to be in the minority, but Great Vampire Bat doesn't really work on my skin. It's a light, soapy, perfumey floral smell with whiffs of powder and sweet incense. It's the type of scent that would normally give me a headache, but it's light and subtle enough that it doesn't bother me in that sense. Within about 15 minutes, this has almost entirely faded on my skin into a hint of a floral scented laundry powder smell. Not for me.
  4. Blood onmy hands

    Vespertilio Proterus

    This scent is really strange and all over the place on me. It's fizzy, spicy, sour, tart, and powdery-creamy, often all at the same time. I love the idea of creamsicle and gingerale icecream floats, but this smells strangely dry, warmly spicy, and sour on my skin. Some of bpal's scents turn powdery and blah on my skin rather than sweet and creamy, and that sseems to be happening here. The other notes chatter around that powdery smell and this just doesn't work for me at all... Vespertilio Proterus smells like sweet tarts candy, baby powder, spicy ginger-nutmeg, fizzy ginger, and woody fig... which doesn't sound so bad to me, except for the sweet tarts, but the mix of all of those things together just makes me nauseous.
  5. Blood onmy hands

    Silver-Haired Bat

    This is such an odd scent, but I find myself craving it lately. It smells like dry wood, candy and mushrooms to me. Almost like sandalwood coated in pink hard candy, but a little musky and oddly earthy. So weird, but I find it addictive. My husband doesn't think it smells like candy or anything sweet at all. Every time I ask him to smell it on me, he says "it smells like a wooden cutting board. Just dry wood."
  6. Blood onmy hands

    Pteropus Leucopterus

    I like this a lot at first, as it goes on mostly white sandalwood (creamy, lightly powdery dry wood smell) and a sweet, warm, resinous frankincense. But the drydown loses a lot of the sweet incense/resin feel and more of the dirty patchouli and herbal sage come in, turning the blend a bit sour on my skin. Sort of a desert-y dry woods and sour, dry herbs blend.
  7. Blood onmy hands

    Ceanothus Silkmoth

    Jasmine is an iffy note for me. It almost always turns strangely sour and unpleasant on my skin, but sometimes it surprises me and smells like a sweet, sunny floral that reminds me of honeysuckle. The jasmine here is that pleasant, sweet variety (or else the vanilla and other notes are working wonders for me). Silkmoth reminds me of blends like Follow Me Boy and Yellow Jessamine Honey, but more complex (and with a bit of the humid, slightly sour moss that also reminds me of Bayou). I can actually smell almost all of the listed notes for this one. It's mostly a perfumey/musky-ish, sweet jasmine and vanilla, but it has a background of bright orange, warm and incensey smelling benzoin & oudh, and the swampy moss that make it more interesting. It's a warm, rich, complex, incensey floral on me. I'm happy to have a partial bottle of this one <3.
  8. Blood onmy hands

    White Chocolate with Lemongrass, Coriander and Almond Cream

    This kinda reminds me of Bella Lucce's Thai Coconut Lemongrass lotion. I don't really get any of the almond/cherry or coriander. It's just a creamy, sweet white chocolate and light, slightly herbal lemongrass. White Choco Lemongrass doesn't have as much throw or staying power on me as most of bpal's chocolate blends. It fades quickly to a light, sweet, lemony-herbal scent that only lasts about an hour and a half total on my skin.
  9. Blood onmy hands

    Narrow Opening

    Narrow Opening is mostly a sharp, perfumey floral. The rum and resins make it smell warmer and sweeter in the drydown, but I'm not really getting any of the leather and vanilla, which is what I was looking forward to. I get champaca flower (which smells oddly like iris or tuberose to me here), rum and frankincense...
  10. Blood onmy hands

    The Face of All the World is Changed, I Think

    This is such a weird scent. I was expecting mostly resins and rose (as those are the notes that would tend to amp up on me), but I can't really pick out any of the listed notes from this. Maybe the absinthe, as there's a bitter, herbal, green quality, but it doesn't really remind me of bpal's other absinthe scents. Sort of sour and powdery, green and herbal...
  11. Blood onmy hands

    Juniper Hairstreak

    In the bottle and on my skin, this is very heavy on the ozone. It's sharp, high-pitched, soapy and dry, like huffing a box of laundry soap powder. As it dries down, I can smell a bit of the cool cucumber, and it smells like cucumber melon scented laundry soap. Sickly sweet and soapy. Juniper Hairstreak is way too sweet, soapy, and dry smelling for me. It smells so much like a box of overwhelmingly scented laundry soap, and it gives me a headache (I get a headache if I stand in the laundry soap aisle of the grocery store for too long, and that's totally what this reminds me of). I don't get any of the musk, which is the note I was most curious about.
  12. Blood onmy hands

    Hoggle

    I had high hopes for this (spicy pumpkin, leather, and darker, earthier notes = yes, please) and was hoping that it would be strong on the leather, but this is almost no leather on me . I get spicy pumpkin and the weird sweetness that others have mentioned - sort of a maple syrup and boozy caramel sweetness. There's a bit of sharp smokiness in the drydown that I'm guessing is the tobacco, but mostly this smells like a cloying spice candle on my skin.
  13. Blood onmy hands

    Fairy Bites

    Fairy Bites starts off as herbal lavender and herby, slightly bitter smelling chamomile. I was worried about the peppermint, but I'm not really getting any mint from this one. And I was hopeful for the raspberry note, but I'm not getting anything fruity either. On my skin, this quickly settles into a warm, perfumey floral with dry, herbal undertones. I guess the floral notes are amping up on me.
  14. Blood onmy hands

    A Blot Upon The Earth

    I love vetiver when it smells of dry grass and light earthiness, but this seems to be that smoky, charred vetiver that reminds me of burnt bbq. The opium poppy is sharp and harsh (always reminds me of cheap hairspray) and slightly soapy. The opoponax sweetens things up in the drydown and gives this is a bit of an incensey feel, but mostly it's a harsh mix of smoky vetiver and sharp opium. I don't get anything fruity or plum-like here.
  15. I was curious about the tomato in this, but it's mostly chocolate, pink pepper and thyme to my nose. Kinda reminds me of the August 2010 Thirteen with pink pepper (which, unfortunately, smelled like scented markers and spicy bubblegum on me), but the chocolate feels darker and less artificial, and the thyme gives it a green, herbal edge. Warm, spicy, strange, herbal chocolate. I'm happy that I got to try this, but it's not something I'll need to track down more of.
  16. Blood onmy hands

    Tanuki No Senkimochi

    I think that this is my favorite of the set of Tanuki scents (probably the only decant I'll keep from the bunch, though I'm going to set it aside for my husband and not myself). It pretty much smells exactly as described. The cypress sap has a pine/evergreen smell to me, with a bit of woodsmoke and hints of sweet anise and myrrh. There's a bit of clean, slightly sharp muskiness on me as it dries down as well. I don't find that this one has a lot of throw, but it's a light, cozy, foresty scent that I do like quite a bit on my hubby.
  17. Blood onmy hands

    The Balcony

    I like my rose blends to be sweeter and more on the airy, fresh, dewy smelling side of things. Even with the honey, I find that The Balcony isn't sweet enough for me, as the rose has a perfumey sharpness with a background that is mostly a smoky, gritty, earthy combo (vetiver + patchouli). It's a dry, perfumey, smoky sort of rose on my skin. Smells a bit like charred wood on me.
  18. Blood onmy hands

    Tried Carnival Wax? BPAL suggestions needed!

    A couple that came to mind while reading your list of likes: *The Antikythera Mechanism (Steamworks) - "Teakwood, oak, black vanilla, and tobacco." *Perversion (Ars Amatoria) - "Smoky rum and black tobacco with a whisper of steamy leather with a splash of crystalline chardonnay, layered over a sensual, sweet, and deceptively magnetic base of tonka." *Rumpelstilzchen (Marchen) - "Firewood and ash with an oddly otherworldly blend of patchouli, cardamom, nutmeg, black pepper, tonka, vetiver, and myrrh."
  19. Blood onmy hands

    Samurai in a Graveyard by Night

    This is mostly a sour jasmine, green juniper/cypress, and dusty, dry wood scent on my skin. Settles into a dry, sour sort of floral scent, too heavy on the jasmine and woods for me.
  20. Blood onmy hands

    Nightmare

    I expected this to be sweeter with the black currant and myrrh, but I can't really pick out either of those notes. Nightmare leans towards being slightly soapy and more sharply herbal on my skin, like a mix of perfumey floral and herbal lavender mixed into a bar soap. The drydown is a little softer and slightly powdery, and I think I can pick out a gentle, earthy note from the oakmoss. Not my favorite lavender scent.
  21. Blood onmy hands

    Ae. Albopictus

    Very sharp and unpleasant . Albopictus kinda smells like perfume alcohol and reminds me a bit of bugspray. I normally love tomato leaf and geranium, but there's something bitter and herby about this that doesn't smell like either of those notes to me. As it dries down, I get more of the thick, sweet, warm beeswax & honey notes, but it's still mostly a sharp alcohol smell. I'm not sure what in this is turning so sharp and funky on me, because I'm normally fond of almost all of the notes in this, but this one isn't a keeper for me.
  22. Blood onmy hands

    Passion Butterfly

    Passion Butterfly mostly smells like a slightly bitter, citrussy, lightly herbal orange blossom on me (which I think is the petitgrain?). As it dries down, the amber gives it a baby powdery base, but it's mostly a citrus, blossoms, & herbal smell that really does remind me of butterflies. A creamy and delicate scent that doesn't have a lot of throw on me. I like this, though I prefer Tweedledee for a stronger, sweeter orange blossom scent.
  23. Blood onmy hands

    Sphaeromachia Gaumeri

    I really only picked up a bottle of this one for the label. Iris, lemon, red currant, coriander and cilantro are all potential Notes of Disaster for me, so I didn't have much hope for this scent. But it's not so bad. It's mostly iris and lemon with a little bit of anise and white musk. The lemon part of this reminds me of Lemon-Scented Sticky Bat, like it's somewhere between lemon ice and lemon flavored gummi bears. But the iris makes it more perfumey and sharp and less edible smelling. As it dries down, it's less sharp and turns slightly baby powdery, and I can smell a hint of the anise as well (but it's just a small amount of anise; I'm not sure I'd even notice it was here at all if I wasn't searching it out). After an hour, it's just a hint of something like faint lemon dish soap on my skin. I like my lemon scents to be sweeter and paired with vanilla, so this one doesn't work for me, but it isn't awful.
  24. Blood onmy hands

    Ruddy Daggerwing

    I'm not sure about this one; it morphs a lot on my skin. First on, this is like the best chocolate and orange truffle ever. It's like a rich cocoa powder truffle with a warm, sunny orange citrus. Decadent and sweet. But it has an undertone that reminds me of savory meat and pizza spice. Sort of herby-spicy. After only five minutes, I get no orange at all and only a hint of the cocoa. It goes through a phase where it's mostly a dark and smoky tobacco and the herby-spicy part reminds me of burning sage. About a half hour in, I can see aphrodite's comparison to Angel Innocent, as it kinda reminds me of Angel and Angel Innocent as well. Something about it smells a little like patchouli and a little like the powdery, nutty, warm sweetness of Angel Innocent. But it still has an undertone of pizza spice on me :/ All in all, Ruddy Daggerwing is like a mix of good + strange and disjointed on me. I love half of it, but it's like there's always something just slightly off putting about it. ETA: I gave this a full wear tonight and my husband absolutely hated it on me he said it smelled like 'burnt coffee - just all wrong.' I was surprised, because I didn't tell him that it had coffee as a listed note, and I can't really smell the coffee myself. But there you have it.
  25. Blood onmy hands

    Bernardino Dotted Blue

    When I first read the list of notes for this one, it just sounded like a jumbled mess of everything to me. I can't pick out most of the listed notes, though. It's mostly a powdery, sour floral and incense smell on my skin. The floral part reminds me of jasmine more than lily or violet, and the copal and tobacco seem to be giving it a smoky incense undertone. As it dries down, something in this goes very baby powdery on me. It's like baby powder, sour jasmine and bergamot, and a whiff of incense smoke. Gives me a headache after a while
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