zankoku_zen

Tuberose, jasmine, and lily are the most prominent players. I get a tiny hint of opium tar but in general both the tuberose and jasmine tag team it into oblivion. Great throw, and great wearlength (just my luck!) If you're a fan of either tuberose and jasmine, try this! I have to say that the BPAL jasmine note as of late has been of a nicer variety than previous years, but still dredges up the cat pee incarnation for me.

I get plum, a metric ton of white lily, and hints of musk. As it dries, I get more of the red musk and a touch of patchouli. In general though, I went "Moonlit Plum is that you?" But it lacks the dreamy quality of MP. It's more of a perfume/musky sort of blend. There's something slightly agitated about this. Lilies, plum, and musk.

Sweet vanilla sandalwood (what I was hoping for in A Lady Tall and White) with touches of pink pepper, labdanum and saffron, bringing some spice into this and preventing this from just being a boozy vanilla/sandalwood. Average wear length, low throw on my skin. I find it strangely compelling and am almost tempted to hunt down a bigger bottle.

Fresh apples, tinge of poppy seeds, tinge of dry herbs and a hint of hay? This smells like a fresh, crisp Autumn morning. There's something almost too breezy about the atmo that I'm not totally in love with. It's fresh, pleasant, and very much like apple.

Light plum, subtle florals and a dreamy crystalline quality to it. Its soft, cozy and dreamy.

I neglected to review this oil before! Fortitude doesn't smell like a perfume - I get notes of earth and maybe some cedar, definitely woodsy. But it smells rooted, and something that you can depend on. I've used this oil twice - once I applied it after an extremely stressful day that wasn't over yet, even if I was done... and once after using another TAL bath oil for grief (not sure if I used Release BO or Grief Water BO). Either way, in both instances Fortitude helped me stay standing - figuratively, metaphorically, and maybe even literally. Fortitude is there when you think you can't dig any deeper. It bolsters you in those times when you are about to give out so that you don't. This stuff is amazing.

I'm only reviewing the scent of this since I just received it, but because the decanted bottle was leaky, I had to transfer it from containers. I get a nice, goopy honey and the bath oil seems thicker than the regular BPTP oils. It's nice, floral and not too foody or sweet. Mr. zee_zee wandered into the bathroom as I was transfering the bath oil and said that it smelled nice. ETA: I've used this bath oil to help foster empathy and communication, and it works really well for that. I think the notion of "sweetness" definitely applies.

La Primavera smells like spring - soft florals, rays of sunshine, and actually quite peaceful. It doesn't have a lot of throw compared to other BPTP sprays - but some of that may be due to age. However, I do occasionally get a whiff of it and it smells sunny and happy.

I have to agree with bneandsidhe's assessment of this blend. This is a great foody blend for non-foody lovers. I get warm gingerbread, hint of aquatic, hint of leather that isn't overwhelming. In general, it straddles the line between foody/nonfoody the same way that Star Promenade straddled that line as well as the cold/warm line. For me, its cozy, slightly masculine and I am vaguely surprised on how well this works. It's lovely. I get an average wear length, but the throw sticks pretty close to the skin. Not in love, but certainly very glad to try this! ETA: So in the bottle this is even more masculine than the tester I got. I swiped it on mr. zee_zee and he is really amping up the leather note. He gets a spicy leather, and its not his thing. I think its nice, but he doesn't care for it.

I really get the pine and snow on wet. The middle drydown transitions into a snowy sandalwood and dries down to a sandalwood with a hint of vanilla. It takes several hours though. Medium throw and medium wear length. Its not an instant love but I would be interested to see how this ages.

Dark lavender, green tea and inky resins. Its a dark sleep blend, the kind that makes you realize that nightmares are also dreams, making the saying "I hope all your dreams come true" become terrifying.

Musky resin, with hints of tobacco and black currant. Its a dark, slinky sort of scent and yet I don't love it. I think because I wanted something more tobacco heavy and got a musky resin blend instead. Low throw and good wear length. Dark, musk, resinous.

Touch of ginger, warm resins, and a oudh. In general, I find it a heavier scent than say Dorian, without being in your face sexy like Black Clove Tobacco, which I also adore. I would put this down as sophisticated salon hair. Warm, sexy, fun.

Dorian. As a hairgloss. It's just magnificent. And to think that this a GC hairgloss. Meaning all awesomeness available, all the time. So today in a mad rush to get ready, I blowdried my hair at a higher heat setting, and I got a ton of flyaways. I used the Dorian HG, two squirts, and my hair looked better and NO flyaways. I find that hairgloss works must better late fall to early spring, when the humidity is low here in DC. Over the summer, it has a tendency to make my hair a bit too heavy. But in the winter? Super fab hair!

Metal, grease, and wood. There was a touch of ozone on wet, but it dries to a summer breeze, summer flowers with an overlay of metal, grease and touch of woods. This would be very at home with the Phoenix Steamworks line. Steampunky. ETA: I got a full decant to test and definitely more aquatics and ozone in it. I'd say a fair bit of oakmoss. On the drydown, it's still pretty aquatic but you get the metal, grease, and a touch of woods.

Dark florals. This smells like wildflowers, a touch of either marigold and/or mum, and a touch of a dark, velvety orchid. Feminine, dark, sophisticated florals.

2010 version. So far, I've tried 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2014. This one smells like blackberries, something that smells almost mentholic, pine and musty dirt. I also have some Samhain 2005 again and will try that and re-edit my review then.

2014 version I really get the caramel cake bit, with incense, and just a whiff of beer. It's incensey-foodie on me. Low throw, but decent wear length. If you fancy the cake/incense combo, go with this.

2014 version Oh Samhain, its been 10 years already! I think there's been a Samhain almost every year Weenie update. This one is cider, heavy autumn spices, and a touch of woods. In general it is more spicy than I expected, and veers more into the pumpkin pie. You know how mulled cider smells? This one is mulled cider surrounded by woods. Fall, spicy, woodsy.

Orange blossom, verbena and myrrh. So this one is citrusy florals, hint of lemon and a resinous background. It smells fresh and clean, and reminds me to Jean Nate. Decent throw and wear length. Bright, citrusy, perfumey.

2014 version Leaves, white musk, cocoa incense. On wet, I get more of the dry leaves bit, but as it dries, the white musk and cocoa and incense come out. I think it ends up less foodie than the previous incarnation of Sonnet which I tried, and more into the dusty cocoa/incense arena. Dark, dusty, incense.

2014 version This toggles between black cherry candy and cherry cough syrup. Definitely get cherries. On wet, it's more black cherries but as it dries I get more of the cough syrup bits. Sweet, candy, black cherry. Eh, pass.

Sweet, dark, lavender. This is lavender, with a touch of sage and rockrose. The base almost smells masculine to me in the drydown. In fact, after 30 minutes, I would qualify this as a masculine, slightly lavender sophisticated cologne. Low throw, decent wearlength. Off to try this on mr. zee_zee.

Pumpkin, fig, and cedar. I get the figgy newtons reference, I really do but I also get a sharp cedar note that undercuts all of the foodieness of the blend, in a way that breaks up the sugar and sweetness. Decent throw, decent wearlength. I get why this is so popular, as it really does smell delicious when you ignore the cedar. Which I almost can. Almost. Figgy, foodie, cedar.

I really get the sage, grass, ivy and rose-wood. No pumpkin. This is probably the most floral/green smelling pumpkin blend I've ever tried. I definitely amp up the rosewood and grass note on the drydown. It sort of smells like some high end soap. Good throw, decent wear length. Green, rosy, soap.