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BPAL Madness!

zankoku_zen

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Everything posted by zankoku_zen

  1. zankoku_zen

    La Vague

    This for me at the beginning was super sweet juicy peach and champagne. It smelled like a Bellini. Fabulous. But in the drydown, more of the florals come into play. It is still a peachy scent, but I miss the effervescent quality it had when first applied. Still, all peach lovers should try it.
  2. zankoku_zen

    Noche Buena

    At the beginning, this is incensey, but in the drydown the plumeria comes out in full force. Can I call this purple? This is definitely a purple, sweet floral. I smell a hint of the azucenas. A tad too sweet for me. I was hoping the incense and the florals would strike a bargain. Alas, no.
  3. zankoku_zen

    Robin Goodfellow

    On me, this is definitely musky and masculine and brings to mind Old Spice, but not as spicy... but more woodsy and mossy. Just from the smell, this is perhaps a little too musky and mossy for my guy. Dynamite on the right guy though. Mmm... tasty!
  4. zankoku_zen

    Lady Una

    This is a very interesting scent. It's sort of like a more ethereal O, meaning if you combined Fairy Market and O, this might be their child. Well, at least on me it is. I get honey and sweet vanilla, and the swirls of something else. Much sweeter than I expected but I'm glad that the vanilla behaves. A very pretty, feminine, slightly foodie scent.
  5. zankoku_zen

    Fairy Wine

    For me, this is light and candy like. I was hoping for more of the ethereal quality that Fairy Market has. I do get hints of honey and dandelion, with just a sharp edge of booziness.
  6. zankoku_zen

    Long Night Moon

    Oh man, I never had the jasmine 'cat pee' phenomenon happen to me. Until now. For some strange reason, in this blend, the wet stage does smell really awful. After about an hour, the jasmine behaves and well, smells like jasmine. Bright, sharp, clear and crystalline. Perhaps too sharp. Combined with the awful wet stage, this one blend did not work for me.
  7. zankoku_zen

    Hearth

    This so didn't work for me. It was butter everywhere. Butterny nutty pine. Buttery nuts. Then finally, buttery smoky nuts. In any of its metamorphing stages did the butter let up. Sad.
  8. zankoku_zen

    Angeronalia

    This began oddly enough as a fruity incense sort of scent but now it's more of a mellow incense/sandalwood with hints of powder. No lemongrass, honey or blood orange, which were some of the notes I was hoping for the most.
  9. zankoku_zen

    Christmas Rose

    This is a very light green and chilly floral on me. I have no idea what hellebore smells like, but definitely nothing like rose, and something that must be akin to a slight earthy, creamy, light floral smell I've got going on. Unfortunately, after a few hours, it disappears from my skin.
  10. zankoku_zen

    The Snow Storm

    I had much higher expectations or maybe my skin chemistry eats certain components up because the main predominant notes are fir and cedar. I really smell like a tree. There is a certain chilly quality to it, but none that really evokes 'snow'. But rather, this is the forest a few hours before there is a snow storm with that 'snow' is in the air quality. Damnit, I wanted it to snow in my forest. That's my only objection. *Sigh*
  11. zankoku_zen

    El Dia de los Reyes

    At the beginning, the brown sugar and cocoa were too sweet. This was an extremely foody scent. After an hour, the coffee note is more predominant, and the coffee's bitterness balances out the sugar/cocoa sweetness so it makes a dynamic combination. Very tasty. This isn't a scent that I would wear very often, but I think I will keep the decant because it is SO yummy.
  12. zankoku_zen

    Archangel Winter

    The comparisons to Sea of Glass are spot on. It also echoed Szepasszony for me. This is a very clean, very ozoney, aggressively sharp to my nose. It also has a heavy lily component, like the kind found in Sea of Glass. To me, this smells like a better version of Sea of Glass. I wore SoG to a funeral, so to me this scent has a tinge of sadness to it. Very chilly and desolate indeed.
  13. zankoku_zen

    Wilhelmina Murray

    I was hoping for the blackcurrant to be a major player in this, but again the rose dominates. It starts out as a rather virginal, white flower sort of rose, and as time passes and it dries, it becomes muskier and darker. Blood-tinged indeed. As a Victorian romantic concept, and an embodiment of Wilhemina Murray's character and novel development, this is spot on. Bravo Lab!
  14. zankoku_zen

    Lick It One More Time

    This one starts so promising on my skin. I love the sugary minty vanilla... but the mint disappears as it dries and the vanilla takes on the plastic/burnt overtone. Not as bad as Tokyo Stomp, but it was the thing I was dreading with this incarnation of Lick It. So far, the best one for my skin chemistry has been Lick It Again. This one would have been even more gorgeous than LIA if the vanilla had behaved. Sadness.
  15. zankoku_zen

    The High Priest Not To Be Described

    Incensey. This was hot incense, leather and a hint of pepper on me. Very masculine, but I don't think my guy would appreciate this one. There was something almost ominous about this scent. I would think this is a perfect male Halloween scent.
  16. zankoku_zen

    Dian's Bud

    On wet, there is a very distinctive cucumber/melon note. Very cool, crisp and aquatic. As it starts to dry, the cucumber/melon freshness drops a little and I get a juicy sort of white floral. Overall, as it keeps drying the white floral smell predominates and becomes very sweet. I think this would make a great bridal scent. I loved the cucumber/melon stage but that didn't last long.
  17. zankoku_zen

    Charisma

    I have a half-decant of Charisma that I thought I'd use because I REALLY wanted something to turn out well. I had my second job interview today with a non-profit that I'd really like to work with. The interview went well. The first two interviewers said I asked a lot of good questions, and the CEO ended up staying an additional twenty minutes to talk to me and told me I was a good listener and talker. I think we really hit it off. Hopefully, they'll call me soon! And if they do, I totally am going to buy a bottle of Charisma! Call me a believer baby.... ETA: They called and offered me the job! Huzzah! The CEO even called me afterwards to welcome me and that he is super excited to work with me. Yeah!
  18. zankoku_zen

    Inferno

    Cinnamon. Cinnamon. Cinnamon. It's cinnamon in liquid form on me. I don't get a rash, but I do wish it were sweeter. Sort of like cinnamon sugar. In any case, I figured out I like cinnamon in my food but it's not something I necessarily want to smell like. If you do, then this blend is for you.
  19. zankoku_zen

    Hairy Toad Lily

    This one is definitely sweet, especially wet. I get a large bloom of somewhat rosey lilies. It's got a bit of a fresh edge, which makes me think cucumber. Strong throw and wear. Pretty, and not what I was expecting at all.
  20. zankoku_zen

    Swan Maiden

    This is a lovely white flowers smell with a hint of juicy fruitiness to it. I have no idea where the fruity smell is coming from but I do enjoy the sweetness it brings to it. Normally gardenia and I don't get along, which is why I originally shied away from this scent but here it is practically non-existant. Very lovely.
  21. zankoku_zen

    Midnight on the Midway (2006)

    Wow. This is right on sugared incense and night blooming flowers? You got. The incense is sweet and so are the florals. My husband says its a little soapy, but I am impressed on how dead on this is. And the throw? EXTRA strong. I put this on last night at about 8ish and now it's close to 8ish and it's still going strong. This isn't the kind of scent I'm usually attracted to, but I am blown away by how accurate this is to the description. Definitely an olfactory experience.
  22. zankoku_zen

    Dia de los Muertos

    This is a startlingly sweet floral for the first hour or so. After that, I get a more dusty, slightly cocoa vibe overlay to the initial impressions of flowers. And yes, I definitely do smell the cactus blossom (it is the same note I remember from Pumpkin IV, I think). I'm very torn on this. The initial stages, including wet, is very sweet and the floral bloom is almost overwhelming. The drydown is much better with a touch of chocolate to it.
  23. zankoku_zen

    Egg'd Mailbox

    Oh man, this must have vanilla because there is a slight plastic tone to it. It does smell custardy, and the plastic edge disappears after an hour or so. Foodie lovers should rejoice. This is yummy in the custard stage. It does make me think of vanilla custard/pudding. Mmmm... pudding.
  24. zankoku_zen

    Freak Show

    Starts out as floral and ends as foodie. Foodie what, I don't know. Freaky.
  25. zankoku_zen

    The Phoenix

    Salty ocean air! This one is a clean breeze of an ocean scent. The predominant note for me is the ozone, but it's got wood and something else carried in the breeze. Very lovely. Perhaps a tad masculine for my taste. Strong throw. YARR!
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