Blood onmy hands

Anesthesia is so wonderfully calming <3. On me, it's like equal parts sweet, chilly peppermint and cool lavender (and the sweet lavender here reminds me of TKO). I love TKO, but I sometimes find it too sweet, so I think that Anesthesia will be my go-to blend for a relaxing sleeptime scent when I don't want so much sweetness. I think that this is too minty for me to wear as a perfume, but it's definitely one that I'll like dabbing on before bed to help me relax.

My first thought was that this reminds me of the tobacco flower note in The Lady on the Grey (clean, cool floral with a slightly gritty, sharp edge). It's like that floral + sweet honey. It's a little too clean and sharp for me, and I like a lot of bpal's other honeyed floral scents a lot more...

Black musk is usually bad (cheap, musky men's cologne) and overpowering on me, but I love tonka and geranium, so I was excited for this scent. Aaand... Mr. Croup isn't as good as I had hoped for or as bad as I thought it might be, lol. The black musk here is strong and masculine, and smells slightly dark and smoky on me. The geranium adds a bit of a spicy, green feel underneath the musk. And I don't smell anything like tonka or porcelain, but something smells like dry wood chips underneath the musk. That dry wood smell gets stronger on me over time. Mr. Croup is a little too dark, musky, and smoky for me (and then smells too dry after a while). I tried it on my husband and he said it was okay (gave it a 6 out of 10 score), but neither of us really like this enough for me to justify keeping it.

I don't get any sort of wine scent from this either. My bottle is mostly a sweet, dry tobacco with a light, spicy clove and a cool, damp feel from the fog, I think. It reminds me of fall's crunchy, spicy, dead leaves and crisp, damp air. This isn't quite what I was expecting (I was expecting a heavy, sexy scent, not crisp and earthy), but I'm still happy to have a bottle.

Something in this is very syrupy-sweet on me, like a sweet, resinous-woods. Maybe the massoia bark? I get that strong sweetness with a hint of sharp, smoky opium. It's pleasant enough, but the drydown (after about 45 minutes) is when it gets really gorgeous. It still has that heavy sweetness, but a warm, dry, soft spiciness (yay bay rum <3) also creeps in and I can smell the dark leather note as well. My husband said this is too sweet for him to wear, but this is something that I can see myself wearing quite a bit. It's a rich, dark, heavy scent on me, very sweet and not overly spicy, with just enough opium and leather to keep it interesting.

Volt is all sweet, candied mint with bracing menthol in the bottle and on my skin at first. It's like a very sweet peppermint candy. I can smell hints of a refreshing lime as well, and it makes me want to lick my arm. As it dries down, this takes on a fresh, watery-spicy men's cologne sort of feel that reminds me of The Sea Rat for some reason. In fact, Volt is like Sea Rat Lite on me somehow, with the refreshing mint and lime making it light, summery, and cleaner smelling. The leather adds a subtle, smoky darkness that I wouldn't even be able to identify as leather without reading the list of notes. I really like this, though I do find it very masculine. Sweet, watery men's cologne with bright mint and lime, something spicy, and hints of smoky, woodsy leather. I'm going to hand over my bottle of Volt for my husband to wear this summer.

In the bottle, this has a sweet, pleasant soapiness that reminds me of Tony. On my skin, this turns suddenly sharp and perfumey. It's like sweet floral soap with sharp chemical hairspray layered over it. I don't smell anything like blood or ashes. And then after letting this settle for 15 minutes, the sharpness is mostly gone and I'm left with sweet soap. It's not quite as creamy, smooth, and pleasant as Tony, but it's almost identical on my skin. I was really intrigued by the thought of clean soapiness layered with the lab's blood note, so I'm really disappointed that this is all soap on me...

Bpal's amber often turns to baby powder on my skin (though I don't have trouble wearing amber from any other company). Hunter turns powdery, but oddly smells sort of like powdery violets on me :/. It's like lots of warm baby powder, a hint of violet, and a perfumey herbal twang from the clary sage. I can't really pick out the clove, though it might be adding to the warm feel of this blend. And I don't smell any leather for the first hour or so that this is on my skin, and then a light whisp of leather (reminds me of the leather in Liz) appears underneath the powder. Hunter is way too powdery for me... ETA: Retried my bottle of this recently and this is my updated review: Baby powdery musk and a whiff of new car leather. It doesn't make me think of a Hunter... it's not a wild and untamed sort of scent... smells very chemical and manufactured, actually. Baby powder, perfumey musk, and new car leather. The leather has gotten stronger with age, but it's not a leather note that I really enjoy, and this is still too powdery for my tastes.

This reminds me of another bpal scent that I cannot place, and it's making me crazy :/. I get a slightly bitter, almost soapy greenery that also smells rather watery (almost grassy, almost evergreen, almost cucumber, but not quite any of those things). As it dries down, this is sweet honey and a watery, green, slightly floral smell. The cool, watery aspects smell a bit like a man's cologne on me. I think that Deadly Nightshade Honey is my least favorite of the 4 current honey blends in R's Garden. It smells very strange and mismatched on me...

The lab's Hemlock blend smells oddly like sage, bubblegum, and a hint of medicinal eucalyptus on me, and I get that same smell here. The addition of honey makes it more enjoyable, but it also makes this blend a little too sweet for me. After about 15 minutes, this is almost all honey, with just a little bit of something medicinal drowning underneath the sweet, golden honey. Out of the 4 current honey blends in R's Garden, I find this to be the sweetest and most heavy on the honey note.

On me, Oleander Honey smells like someone dipped lotus in some sweet, golden, floral-y honey. Lotus smells soft, creamy, and a little like bubblegum on my skin, and so does this blend. Creamy, warm, sunny floral, a drizzle of honey, and a hint of pink bubblegum. It gets slightly more perfumey-floral and clean smelling in the drydown, but it still smells nice and sweet. The perfumey/musky-floral sharpness actually helps to keep this from going too sweet on my skin. I don't usually like honey scents (honey is often either too sweet or the note goes oddly metallic & bitter on me), but I really like Oleander Honey and Yellow Jessamine Honey. I can see myself wearing this a lot over the summer. ETA: Re-testing from a 2016 frimp from the lab. Thick, creamy, super-sweet honey. The creamy part makes me think of a generic white lotion smell and natural beeswax. I don't get the floral or much of that bubblegum feel anymore. Lotion and beeswax scented with a very sugary, thick honey. Cloying. Something sharp and fruity reminding me of maraschino cherries as well, but just a hint of that. Heavy, strong, cloying, sugar overdose of sweetness and creamy lotion and beeswax.

I liked this when I first got it, but it has gotten sort of sickly sweet with aging, and is starting to remind me of bbq. The opoponax is syrupy sweet and smells a lot like bbq sauce when mixed with the black pepper and smoky wood. The drydown is a bit off and sour...

On me, Witchblade is like equal parts red musk (which sort of smells like warm musk, earthy patchouli/incense, and a hint of something fruity like red currant on me), clean metallic cologne, and warm, golden amber. The mix of amber and clean metal reminds me of House of Mirrors, but the red musk keeps the blend smelling heated and somewhat earthy. I like this blend well enough, but there are red musk blends that I like more and metallic blends that I like more than this one. I do enjoy Witchblade more layered with Sara Pezzini, but that might just be because I love Sara P. so much.

The Curator seemed kind of masculine to me, so I slathered it on my husband when it first arrived. I was surprised at how much it reminded me of Priala on him. It smelled like spicy cinnamon and bright resins. It's spicier on him than it is on me. On me, this scent smells warmer and much sweeter (to the point that I find it rather cloying and sickening). I get light spices, myrrh-like resins, and a hint of something cool and herbal that doesn't last into the drydown. It's just way too sweet for me, like resins drenched in syrup and spices mixed with sugar. Too much.

I adore Sara Pezzini. I would fall instantly in love (or in lust?) if I ran into a lady who smelled like this. It's like the scent of clean, soft, pale skin that's fresh and cool from a shower, verrry lightly dusted with a sweet honey powder. In the drydown, the leather joins the mix and it doesn't smell like leather exactly, but adds this really sexy, slightly darker, almost smoky edge to the scent. Everything about this is stunning and sexy, but in a quiet, cool sort of way. It reminds me of Liz a bit, as though they could be in the same family of amazing, girly leather scents, but this isn't as sweet as Liz and it's more of a clean scent. Hard to describe, but Sara is *gorgeous.* I'm in love with this scent and need several bottles asap so that I can bathe in it

I thought that I would love this, but Bette Noir falls flat on my skin. I can't pick out any of the listed notes at first, except for the smoke in "smoky amber." As it dries down, I can smell something sour and fruity, that could be the plum or the berries, and something is also going intensely soapy. I don't think that I've had an issue with any of the listed notes going soapy on me before, so I don't know what the problem might be here. On me, Bette Noir is super-soapy bar soap, sour fruit, and something sharp and perfumey total failure.

Lamia starts off gorgeous and then after about five minutes, it softens and becomes pretty lackluster on my skin . It starts off as a burst of rich, sweet black currant and creamy coconut with amber and myrrh warming the scent up <3. And then the black currant disappears (and along with it, a lot of sweetness and depth) and I'm left with light coconut, plastic-y peach, and clean, perfumey floral. After fifteen minutes, the coconut has disappeared as well and I'm left with a clean, perfumey floral that's slightly plastic-y and not so much peachy anymore. It's sad how awesome this is at first and how quickly it morphs into a bland, clean floral...

The fruitiness here smells like a cross between watery apple, melon, perfumey berry (like a Bath and Body Works sun ripened raspberry, I think), and a hint of wintergreen on me. It's clean, watery, cool, and slightly sweet. I don't get a strong honey smell from this or the strong sweetness that I usually get from honey. I'm not so fond of this one. Something about the minty fruitiness smells slightly medicinal and cough syrup-y on me at first, and then something like soft, fruity shampoo after a half hour.

I think that this might be my favorite of the Infused Honey scents. I get a little bit of something like cool evergreen, but it's mostly a honeyed spice smell that's sort of like spiced cola on my skin at first. Sticky-sweet and spicy, but with enough of a woodsy note to keep it from being cloying. The drydown is golden honey, spices, and a touch of green woods (not so much of a cola smell in the drydown). I think that this is the most honey-heavy of the Infused scents, and it has lots of throw and staying power on me. I feel like I'm surrounded in a cloud of sweet, golden honey and soft spices. I like this a lot, but I think I'll save my decant for colder weather.

Thisbe is dry, dark mulberry, tart lemon, and bright, tart rose. The mulberry is strong for about five minutes and then I'm left with a tart, strong, perfumey, lemony-rose. It gets sharper and more perfumey-floral the longer that I have it on. Thisbe is very strong with lots of throw, and a little too sharp and tart for my tastes. I wound up washing this one off after about an hour.

Pyramus smells like a very sweet, sugared, cool lavender with clean tea and a hint of soft musk. It's like a delicious, sugared lavender tea . I think that I'll wear this a lot over the summer, as its cool, clean feel will be great for hot weather. I can smell something a little darker and slightly herbal in the drydown, which I guess is the dragon's blood, but it's not strong enough to ruin the blend for me. I really like this, and might have to upgrade my decant to a full bottle.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this scent at all, and was surprised that it smells like oranges. It's fresh, juicy, and sweet, like I've just peeled a ripe orange and smushed it on to my wrists. In the drydown, there's something sweet and honeyed underneath the orange that makes me think of picking wildflowers. I don't smell any of the greenery, herbs, or pine that other reviewers have mentioned. Meliai is delicious, sweet, juicy, refreshing orange and a bit of honeyed, sunny wildflowers on me. It smells very summery, pleasant, and cheery to me. I'm going to love my imp and might need a full bottle of this one...

I love the color of this oil (a very dark brown that I can't see through at all). And I really like the scent as well. The Forest Reverie reminds me of The Zadok Allen Vineyard. It's like a very dark, thick, not-so-sweet, grape wine (definitely not as sweet as most of bpal's wine notes). Underneath that wine-like scent is a sexy, confident, smoky, dark floral perfume smell. There's also a little bit of something earthy, like patchouli, that smells like a touch of dry leaves. The earthy quality gets stronger in the drydown, but doesn't overpower the fruitiness. It makes me think of an evil, sexy lady sipping a dark wine in a forest at fall, feeling very peaceful and content with herself. I'd say that this is fruity and earthy, with a smoky floral edge. I like this one a lot.

I love frankincense, lilac, and myrrh, and I like plum and rose as long as they're not too strong, so I was excited about this scent. Unfortunately, I'm kind of let down by how strong the myrrh is. I can't really pick out any of the other notes at all. Sweet, smooth, golden, resinous myrrh. I might be able to smell some dark, glossy plum, but if I didn't know that there was supposed to be plum here, I doubt that I'd ever identify it. I'm surprised that I don't smell any rose, because rose is usually insanely strong on me. Tons of myrrh and a hint of plum. I might keep my decant of this to see if it gets more complex with age.

I get a hint of clean, sweet orange blossom at first, but after five minutes this is all sandalwood and hints of incense. The sandalwood here is darker and more woodsy than the white sandalwood, but still similarly powdery and clean. It's like dry wood, baby powder, and a hint of sweet incense smoke. Very heavy on the sandalwood. This one does have decent throw and staying power (lasts about 5 hours on me), but I don't love how dry it is or the powdery edge from the sandalwood. I wish that the orange blossom were stronger.