zankoku_zen

Oh Hellgate - you are pretty masculine. Like black musky and smoldering brimstone kind of masculine. No copper or clove for me, which would have added another dimension to this blend. *sigh*

Okay, at the beginning this was delicious. I could smell the citrus and the blood orange and it was totally yummy. Then that disappeared and I was left with sunflowers. And now, on the drydown, I have soapy sunflowers and geranium. I'm kinda torn on this. I love geraniums and there are not enough BPAL geranium blends out there. On the other hand, just getting a whiff of this makes me think I should put on Winter Stress Relief Elixir instead.

Thick cherry syrup with cinnamon. This one is quite foodie, and the cherry is very sweet, but it reminds me to cough syrup. Sad.

This one is a soft musky rose with a hint of lavender. It's soft and girly, and very comforting. I can see this being appropriate for a young girl. That being said, not a fan of roses, so pass.

I think I amp up hazelnut because that's basically all I smell. Hazelnut + a hint of buttery pumpkin. I have to say though that this year the pumpkins have been less buttery... or perhaps of the blends I have tried all contain a note I amp up, hence drowning the pumpkin? I wish I had gotten the coffee --- I sort of wanted the Pumpkin Spice Latte everyone talks about!

Ah, this one is indeed black lily and moss on me. Overall its a dark, sophisticated femme fatale/noir heroine blend. Dark, seductive, bold. This is worn by the kind of woman that wears red lipstick and carried a pearl handled gun strapped to her thigh. On the drydown, there is a slight incense overtone to it, which of course just adds to the gorgeousness of it, and yet there is also a chypre kind of feel to it. Again, not the kind of blend that I go for, but this is one gorgeous piece of artistry.

GRAPE! This is that lovely luscious grape that I get from High John the Conqueror. Sweet, juicy and delicious. It kinda reminds me to the japanese grape gummies. TASTY.

Okay, this definitely has patchouli, tobacco and musk. On wet, I get a big slap of dirty patchouli - its almost gritty. As it dries, I get more of the tobacco and musk mixing in. And yes, there is a touch of spiciness there that I want to say is carnation. Not my kind of blend, but goddamn, this is fabulous.

Black sage, ivy-twined rowan, thistle, snapdragon, heather, gorse, fumitory, and anise. I kinda enjoy this - in the same way I enjoy Host of Air. Whereas HoA is a fresh, green spring, Carlin is much more of autumn in it, darker, cooler, less bright. This goes a little soapy on me. Unfortunately, I still prefer HoA.

Being an amper of rose, while this starts of with the buttery slap of pumpkin on wet, it quickly becomes a pumpkin-rose blend, and becomes utterly dominated by the rose. Meh.

This one is a very 'white' and ghostly blend. The jasmine is well behaved, and along with the ylang ylang it gives this a very ethereal floral feel. Very crystalline, very clear. There's a certain bit of sharpness however to it that while apropos (as this no ordinary girl, in fact she's dangerous to your health) doesn't sit right to me.

LOVE this. It's apples and spices. Like apple cider, but with a little milk, cinnamon, ginger and a hint of clove. Tasty. Originally, I was hoping for a Mabon-like scent, but this is sweeter, less woodsy and no blackberry. With that said, this is still very very tasty. I sense bottle worthiness in this one.

Cake Smash begins on wet with the same kind of cake note that you get in the Floating Brain and MB: Closet. However, as it dries, I get more of the Snake Oil and Doc. Constantine. If the Dorian is there, it is overwhelmed. I get something that smells a little more like white cake as opposed to red velvet. I definitely amp up the Doc Constantine in this one. It's not bad, but its not a blend that calls to me.

Boo is an odd mix of sugary cotton and plastic. BPAL cream note invariably turns into plastic and the sugar adds a sweetness. There's this soft cotton note, this actually quite lovely, but combined with the cream, it makes me think of Barbie clothes. Yup. Skin chemistry for fail. Again.

Mircalla on me begins with a giant wet slap of red musk. Like aggressively, sensual red musk. Almost like the Red Musk SN. As it dries, I get the barest hint of cloves and vanilla. On the drydown, I get the balsam mixing with the red musk, and that's pretty much it. I get the 'cool' notion that other do, but at the same time, the large doses of red musk make this a very sensual blend.

On wet, I really get this medicinal lavender. Its got an overlay of eucalyptus, but the lavender is almost salty and heavily aquatic. As it dries, I get more of a sandalwood/cedar, and it sort of dries down to that with a slightly aquatic vibe. I didn't like it on wet, but on the drydown, it is oddly appealing. Not enough to keep, but enough to enjoy its unusual smell.

Oh Cristina, you are definitely a nutty one. I mainly get chestnuts and florals. I get a slight 'vanilla' overtone to the entire blend. Not into nutty blends, but I can see people who are into Wezwanie/Hold liking this one.

I get the foody almond and cake goodness.... and then rose comes out in the drydown. And it dries to ROSE with a hint of almond. GRRR.

Mmmkay, bear in mind that my skin chemistry eats citrus in like.... seconds. I think. In any case, on wet, I get this giant burst of tangerine which is pretty and lovely, but as it dries, I think the cream kinda goes funky on me and I get this bubblegum + strong salty aquatic, which I think is the ambergris amping on my skin (as it got some of the same commonalities as Ebisu). It actually makes me think of an aquarium. I might retest in a few days, as this is right out of a swap package and I tend to give oils at least three days to settle down before I test them. On the whole however, I'm not sure this blend is for me. Which is sad, since I really enjoyed the tangerine at the beginning and would have loved to have it stick around. And I freaking wish I had gotten the orange creamsicle that everyone is talking about. Oh skin chemistry, you are made of LOSE.

So this is very much violet. On wet, the opoponax gave it a really sharp quality to my nose. And it dries to a very delicate, green sort of violet. There is a slightly earthy whiff to it at the end. Very light on me, very short throw.

Definitely red roses. It actually reminds me to Rose Red (you know the rose blend that we tend to get around Yule time) in that deep, red fragrant rose blend. The sandalwood adds a whiff of dryness, and the bergamot shows up on the drydown with a touch of juicyness. Not a giant rose fan, and this one veers into the soap territory a bit, but overall, not a bad rose blend. Medium throw on me.

Oh god, this is a bit of a mess.... and yes, the blend gives the impression of 'sluggish', like it just drags on. So on me, the frankincense and gardenia tag team this into some sort of dirty, resinous blend. There might have been the hint of pear here, sometime. Not now. Perhaps a whiff of lavender. Guh. If you like slight fruity frankincense, give this a whirl.

On wet, it definitely reminded me to Pink Moon 05 - there was a certain sugaryness against a sharp carnation note. As it dries, I got more of the 'daisy' note, which again, is a little green and sharp and kinda reminds me to dandelions. Fortunately, that sort of calms down and just dries to a very soft, sugary sort of daisy. It's like if the daisy had some sort of nervous high pitch conniption, fainted, and now she's fine. I'm not sure this is bottle worthy, but part of me really really wants to keep the imp because there aren't enough BPAL blends out there with a strong 'daisy' component.

#9 I got a sniffie of this - and hmmm, I have to say I get the sugared vanilla tea of Dorian, but there's something else there... balsam I think? It smells a little spicier than usual. And slightly more manly.

Ahhh... Orange. In theory, I should love you. Really. You are supposed to be the pinnacle of all ORANGE. The orange so perfect and rare, you MUST work. In the vial, you are deep, orangey, the kind of just squeezed orange smell you love. On wet, you pretty much are that. On the drydown, the orange zest comes out.... and it's bitter. Perhaps a touch of ginger in there as well? No mind. I think I may sill love you. But really, you drydown to some sort of bitter orange flavored PEZ candy. The kind that is powdery, sugary and FAKE. Oh, and dismal throw. My skin eats this up. Crunches you down like some sort of Pez candy pellet. Which you smell like to me. Orange PEZ. Another EPIC fail. But yeah for dodging a bullet?