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BPAL Madness!

zankoku_zen

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Everything posted by zankoku_zen

  1. zankoku_zen

    Baby’s First Con Panel

    I get chocolate chip cookies and a ton of fudge. I do get a wee bit of butteriness but it's more like the smell of a Keebler Elf Fudge cookies. It smells delicious, actually. Good throw and wear length. Very yummy.
  2. zankoku_zen

    Apocalyptic Horseprincess

    Loads of peppermint, hint of raspberries and plum with sugar. Very sugary. Good throw and wear length.
  3. zankoku_zen

    Admete

    There's a watery, tropical, kelp and marine musk. It's very Sturgeon Moon, with a touch of salt. Medium throw and wear length.
  4. It was genetic engineering at its finest: they created a breed of human to sail the stars: they needed to be possessed of impossibly long life-spans, for the distances between the stars were vast; space was limited, and their food supplies needed to be compact; they needed to be able to process local sustenance, and to colonise the worlds they found with their own kind. The homeworld wished the colonists well, and sent them on their way. They removed all traces of their location from the ships’ computers first, however. To be on the safe side. The scent of white-hot metal and stardust, limned with glowing bergamot aldehyde. I really enjoy the Chariot - there's a metal note like in Torture Queen, a citrusy chypre. It's bright, sophisticated, and for those people that want a masculine cologne that smells more like a commercial perfume, should really try. Good throw and wear length.
  5. zankoku_zen

    Vampire Tarot: The Pope

    This is a seriously sexy clove cedar. There's a strong cedar note on wet that recedes, as the clove is coming and blooming. The frankincense adds a sweet resin note as a background. This one seriously sexy blend.
  6. zankoku_zen

    Bluebonnet

    Watery blue and smells like bluebonnets and green stems. This smells very Spring-like, wildflowers and it's got a great throw. Very floral. It goes a little soapy on drydown but its gorgeous and springlike and very wildflowery.
  7. zankoku_zen

    White Fir

    Crushed pine/evergreen needles, a bit of natural sweetness and woodsy. It smells cold and sweet, and very wintery. It's very refreshing in this warmer autumn days. Cool, but not cold.
  8. zankoku_zen

    Beautiful Macabre

    Ink-black patchouli, red and black musks, honey carnation, red currant, and oakmoss. On wet, I get mainly a red and black musk combo. As it dries, I get a whiff of the patchouli at the very bottom, but there's also touches of carnation. To me, the oakmoss gilds both of the musks. It smells dark and haunting. But also very luxurious. This like the equivalent of a black velvet cape. It's luxurious to the touch and wraps around you so stylishly when you're off to your nefarious undertakings under the moonlight. Good throw and wear length.
  9. zankoku_zen

    Dragon with a Jaunty Cap

    A sassy strawberry red musk chypre. So neither BPAL strawberry or red musk have been great notes for me. With that huge caveat, Jaunty Cap is probably the most surprising dragon to me. I've been loving the BPAL strawberry note that has been in use lately (ever since 2012), since it stays fresh and sweet on me as opposed to turning to plastic. That said, sometimes it would be too sweet. And here, the red musk has been sweetened and tamed. For me the strawberry is more like strawberry leaf, as there's quite a bit of fresh greenness around the edges. There's also another element on the drydown that grounds the musk down. I've decanted all of the 2017 dragons, and this is the one I'd keep for myself. Part of me wanted to lie in the review and go "Horrible, give to me for proper disposal". Medium throw and great wear length.
  10. zankoku_zen

    Dragon Side-Eye

    Golden peach and black oudh with lychee, auburn musk, and Italian bergamot. Peach, lychee, and musky oudh. I get a fair bit of both lychee and bergamot on wet, but it dries to a peachy-musky type of blend. I am really intrigued by the auburn musk in this blend and hope that it makes an appearance in others, so I can get a better sense of it. Fruity, peachy, and definitely with whiff of lychee in it. Medium throw, medium wear length on me.
  11. zankoku_zen

    Eclipses Be

    Clovey roses and a whiff of carnation. I am really digging whatever clove note the Lab has been using recently. Good throw and wear length. This sort of reminds me to the BPTP Red Rose blend.
  12. zankoku_zen

    No Pls

    Dismissively forbidding: white musk, honeyed orange blossom, and orris slammed by black pepper, tobacco absolute, blue musk, and cedar. No Pls, you win as the strangest of the Dragon blends this year. I get mainly blue musk, cedar, whiffs of both tobacco and black pepper with just a hint of orange blossom. To me, you smell like a perfume pencil. Its like if you dreamed that you had this pencil, and instead of writing, it just squirted perfume. Yup. That's how I envision this working out. Great throw and wear length though, so A+ for performance, and A++ for weirdness.
  13. zankoku_zen

    18 June 1860

    Silvery lavender, sweet amber and hot metal. This is a very interesting lavender perfume. It's very wearable, very bright, and not somnolent at all. For those of you that are a fan of Lilith's lavender blends, this one may be a match as well. Good throw and wear length.
  14. zankoku_zen

    Wild Honeysuckle

    Green, viney, honeysuckle. Fairly realistic. I do love this note and would love it as a bath oil or atmosphere spray.
  15. zankoku_zen

    Seven Word Story: Envy

    Slightly woodsy sandalwood, with orris and carrot-seed. The carrot-seed as a mournful note, and there's a tiny bit of vanilla on the drydown. This one smells like cold marble, sandalwood, and mournful florals. Beautiful and haunting. Medium throw and wear length.
  16. zankoku_zen

    Harvest Moon 2017

    Mulled spices, dry leaves, clove, a mishmash of other Fall notes, and yes this smells like fall, autumn breeze, and baked goods. This is the smell of a cozy sweater by the fire. The smell of baked goods in the oven. The dry crackling of leaves as they rustle in the wind. Medium throw and wear length.
  17. zankoku_zen

    Spiced Rum Buttercream Coffee

    Boozey rum with a ton of spices. In some ways this reminds me to Pais of Canela. Cinnamon, clove, cardamom all make an appearance over a bed of boozey rum and a swirl of buttercream. I'm sort of really digging this. Medium throw and wear length.
  18. zankoku_zen

    Hope

    2016 version Bear in mind, I haven't tried Hope in a long long time. And my tastes have changed. On wet, it smells most strong of rose water. As it dries, I get the sugared aspect much more and I'd definitely call it a sugared rose water at this point.
  19. zankoku_zen

    Disastrous Twilight

    I am amping up the flowers in this one. I get ylang ylang, orris, blue amber, and a touch of sandalwood. But really its sharp white florals over an amber base. It's sort of a starry dark grey blue sort of night. Medium throw and wear length.
  20. zankoku_zen

    In Hideous Darkness

    Cedar, vetiver, tobacco and amber. I agree that this smells like a smokier, dirtier Jacob's Ladder. Instead of it being golden, this is a much more gritty, smoky, dark grey sort of blend. Whiff of sage. Actually, I think this would make a fantastic male amber blend on the right guy. UGH. Medium throw and wear length.
  21. zankoku_zen

    Irish Coffee Buttercream

    Sweet, cream, sugary butter cream and coffee. There's a whiff of booze to this. This is sort of what I wanted Misk U to be minus the wood and wood polish. Sadly, its almost too sweet on my skin. Medium throw and wear length.
  22. zankoku_zen

    Mabel

    UGH, this has the same clove/tobacco base that Voodoo Queen does but I get more amber, rose, and a touch of chypre on it. But oh yeah, this is lovely. It's that clove/tobacco leaf base that I love though. Medium throw, great wear length. And while lovely to smell, do not get this on your finger tips and then attempt to eat the cookie. I tasted more of the chypre than I smelled on my skin. Let's just say chypre was not made to be tasted.
  23. zankoku_zen

    America's New Gods

    Rubber, grime, effervescent Fresca, and ozone. Yeah, I don't get this either. But HELLO SCENT WONDERLAND TRIP. This is sort of like the Disney version of It's a Small World, but instead of giving you a five minute tour of a diorama of around the world dolls singing loudly and cheerfully, it's more like a five minute tour of a gritty neighborhood in a city that you've been warned is too dangerous for a tourist like yourself to be wandering through. Low throw and low wear length.
  24. zankoku_zen

    UOH11

    This one definitely has some cedar in it because I get that woody, slight-just sharpened pencil that I typically get from cedar. There's a slight sandalwood undertone to this cedar note though. There's a bit of cocoa in there as well, and would agree with Midnight_Aeval that this seems like a less sweet version of Banshee Beat. It's aged pretty well though. Medium throw, and medium wear length.
  25. zankoku_zen

    Surly Dragon

    Swanky-citrus booze with a dash of pink pepper. This one is kinda pithy on me, and its sour-sweet, fizzy and citrusy. However, it disappears on my skin after an hour. BOO.
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