zankoku_zen

Oh god, this is a very lush white floral. Heady magnolia, oleander, carnation and frankincense. This is a quiet, contemplative, blend that would have been right at home with the Funereal Oil line. Lovely, classic, white florals. ETA: Huge throw. Like massive. This sucker apparently loves my skin and one dab is very very heavily scented for me.

Yes to Twilight's Lush bomb reference. Yes to the lavender, patchouli, fig and vanilla. So on wet, it's more of a lavender fig blend. As it dries, I get more vanilla, more patchouli and 1000x more snuggles. This blend is ultra comforting, ultra snuggling, and just want to envelope you in one giant hug. This blend tells you it will always love you, no matter what. This is BPAL's version of Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up. Minus the cheese, and 100x the adorableness. Hearts a flutter, and off to hunt me down some more.

Venustas, you make me so torn. It starts out as a very femme fougere. It's practically all fougere, all the time. And as it dries, I get more of the vanilla and myrrh and it ends up fully dry, as a slightly powdery, slightly rosey skin musk. It has very low throw at this point. But what I do smell is a deeply feminine, deeply comforting, skin musk perfume. It has such a deep feminine energy to it, and love. You can tell how much love when into crafting this blend. There is a gauzy dreaminess in this blend about the woman that is yet to be. So beautifully nuanced and complex. I find Venustas to be a deeply evocative blend. Perhaps because I am a parent that I find it to be so resonant, but this is may be by far my favorite Lilith blend.

I really and truly wanted to love this. On wet, I get loads of blueberry and lemon, a fair amount of lavender but it just smells fresh. This is a sunny, green, fresh blend. This smells like an afternoon picking berries in the sunlight. As it dries, it turns more into a heavy lemon candy blend. In some ways, it reminds me to Lemon Scented Sticky Bat. Fresh, summery, lemon.

Strong chicory coffee and baked goods. As it dries, I get more of a bitter coffee note with burnt edges on it. Sadly, my skin eats this up. But on wet, oh yeah, coffee and baked goods. Very foodie. Very coffee.

Oh, oh, oh. So I get grass, coneflowers, daisies, and I swear a touch of dirt. This is very Host of Air-like, but less airy and definitely more grounded. In feel, it sort of feels more like the Silver Stream from the Coraline blend though. It is a very pensive and contemplative blend, slightly somber but encapsulates the very notion of walking through a cemetery and realizing these were people, and now this is their home, and you are visiting at the moment.

Oh man, I get something that smells like fresh laundry in the sun, green herbs and wild flowers. i swear is there some heather or ivy going on in here? But yeah, overall, fresh summery laundry. In alot of ways, it reminds me to Papow (the blend that was made in honor of Puddin's dog) with the summer outside, the fresh wildflowers and grass. It's simple, evocative of a summer day in the sunshine outside, and just powerful. Flying Kites to me is not just a perfume - it's a moment in time with someone that is truly loved that is being shared publicly. It's the remembrance of a moment so powerful that even those that have not experienced it can catch a glimpse of what it must be like.

On wet, this is pralines and cream. And then it morphs. I get something that smells almost like melted coconut suntan lotion. And then it dries to a creamy almond and powdered sugar blend. Soft, powdery, almond.

Caramel bananas, a hint of nuts and Dorian. As it dries, the bananas remain, and a slightly more resinous vanilla comes out. It's pretty much a resin vanilla-banana blend on me. Slightly masculine, I do have to say. It's warm, contemplative with just the right of silliness thrown in. Its actually a very comfortable blend.

Dark, sexy pom. I get a fair amount of blackcurrant which adds a dark berry note to it all. Fruity, rich, pom. It doesn't seem to last all that long, but perhaps its not as strong as a scent as some of the other atmos. (I did only half a squeeze, so that may be it!)

Fruit currant, green tea, and a dash of light roses. It's nice, light and only slightly rose. Very pretty, indulgent without feeling overwhelming, and the green tea/currant adds a bit of playful freshness to the blend.

Sweet creamy vanilla jasmine. This jasmine straddles the line between cat pee and smelling like fresh jasmine blossoms. The sweet creaminess of this is subtly sexy and drop dead gorgeous. Very sensual, feels super pampering. Unfortunately, no one in this house really enjoys jasmine. If it had been any other flower, I would have kept it.

Sweet, classic, 50ish style perfume. Phlox is a light, pinky floral that smells classic and fresh. Honestly, this is something that you'd use to enable either your mother or grandmother in that it has a nostalgic, classic floral perfume scent to it. Very springlike!

Snowy vanilla with just a touch of mint. This one was cuddlier than I expected. It's definitely more of an eucalyptus mint, and I get more of a 'snow' note to it with a good liberal dose of vanilla. Fun, festive, and definitely great for a winter time bath.

Blue Ringed Octopus Spittle smells mostly of coconut and melon. I don't really get mango, and maaaybe a whiff of mint. It doesn't seem to be all that strongly scented. I do think however that it was made to combo perfectly with Lemurian Seaweed for something that smells more like a dip in tropical ocean water. If you're looking for a beach experience, I'd definitely use both Lemurian Seaweed and BROS in the bath.

Lemurian Seaweed smells like what it purports to smell like - aquatic greenness. I don't really get the lime, but I do get a whiff of the seabuckthorn berry and overall it smells like green aquaticness. There's something very cool and refreshing about it, but I wouldn't bathe in this solely for the blend. Lemurian Seaweed seems to have been formulated for either comboing with another blend or for those individuals that really want their water to smell more like ocean water, but don't necessarily want to bathe in the actual ocean.

Howlet's Wing sort of smells like Sprite to me. I get a crispy lemon and ginger scent. There's enough sweetness from the honey to sweeten both the lemon and ginger, which are the predominant players. Admittedly, its fairly faint, but I'm only testing a small bit of it. I imagine you'd have to use a fair amount of product to get a stronger bath smell.

The (Not So) Penitent (Mini) Madgalene is a blend that would be very much at home in the Phoenix Steamworks line. It has a resinous base, creamy wax, smoke and a touch of vanilla. If you're looking for a more sophisticated, and more wearable version of Phoenix Steamworks, I'd give this a try. There's a 'gleaming' component to the blend that is beautifully executed, and it gives a different aspect to resinous perfume.

I get a fair amount of almond actually in this blend, followed by lilies, with touches of anise and herbs. It ends up as a mix of almond and what I'd consider a sophisticated white cologne. It was comforting, female, and just enough of the ephemeral to let you know that something special is bound to happen. Lily Witch smells like an adult female, one that is used to having one foot in one realm and one foot in another.

For me, carnation always ends up smelling peppery, and I think that I may also amp up that note. I wrote down that it smelled like a peppery resin. And I feel like it was carnation and sage, with hints of both fig and honey over a cedar base. It was both somber and pretty, a sort of remembrance of happy days that are long gone except in memory.

Avunculus was very interesting for me because I definitely amped up the aquatic element in this blend. I got the ocean, amber, and hints of pear and coconut on wet. It dried down to something very masculine and manly on me. It was a manly aquatic. Honestly, if you believed in mermen, this is what they smell like. Sunlight, ocean, the sand and surf in the beach. Golden, manly, aquatic.

Straight up super sweet pink cake. This smells sweet, and pink, and like cake. Pretty much the description nails the scent straight on. I've had problems with BPAL's cake note on me before, and as it dries it gets more plasticky. I suspect it may also have strawberry in it, which also has a tendency to go fake and plastic on my skin chemistry. If however you can handle both the cake and strawberry part, as well as adore smelling like pink cakes, this one is for you.

Pumpkin Lace on me was heavy on the tobacco, spices and the caramelized sugar ended up smelling like maple syrup. It dried down to a maple syrup heavy, spices, and as it dried I got more of the sandalwood mixing in on the background. It actually ended up with a strong throw, gender neutral edging toward the masculine on me. I tested this alongside jewelbug and on her skin, it definitely was spicy and the pumpkin was more present. For me though, it was a heavily Victorian inspired blend indeed, but more like Victorian manly as opposed to Victorian female. Loved the tobacco, and the heavy autumnal feel of it though.

Marshmallows and chocolate. This is actually a really sweet, cacao heavy blend on me. I get massive amounts of marshmallow, cocoa powder, honey, patchouli and maybe a hint of sandalwood. In some ways, it does remind me to Silkybat HG with with more sweetness, more cacao and and definitely marshmallow. It sort of makes me think that this is this year's version of Badgers, but more foodie. I can also see the similarities to Black Temple Burlesque Troupe. So, if you loved Silkybat HG, Badgers, or BTBT or have ever wanted to smell like a chocolate marshmallow, hunt down some Little Maggie.

My skin literally eats this up. I get whiffs of apple, mint, vanilla, jasmine and orange flower. On me, this is a sweet, delicate apple blossom + other florals sort of blend. White, delicate, sweet.