zankoku_zen

Oh man, this one is mainly a red musk-patchouli, tobacco, a ton of khus, and maybe a whiff of apple and vanilla. Take the Gas Lamp Flare and make it darker, smokier, and in general less than an illuminating light, and more of a muted glow in the shadows and that's what you have with Lips of Flame. This one is dominated by the patch and khus on me. Dark, shadowy, musky, patch.

I can see why this one is SO popular. On wet, I got a giant hit of glistening red apple, and now that its had time to dry the other elements come out to play and I get a ton of smoky copal, hints of saffron and orange. At the very bottom, I think I get some of myrrh's more resinous presence. Red apples, smoke, and resin. And yes, it makes me think of gas lamps! I'm pretty torn on this. Part of me really enjoys it, and the other part of me doesn't think I'd actually wear it. But if you're into Victorian/Steampunk inspired blends, GET THIS NOW.

Very sweet pear and apple on wet. As it dries, I think I get the ambrette seed with a touch of star anise. It smells less sweet and fruity, and more musky with hints of green. At the beginning it was way too sweet, and now its something that is more gender neutral, not too sweet and with a fair amount of green in it actually. Still not the type of blend for me, which makes me sad since the name was SO awesome.

Whiskey and tobacco, with a nice snuggly brown musk anchoring it all. For me it's mainly whiskey and tobacco, and it very gender neutral. The musk reminds me to Hunter Moon 2004 as well. I feel like this one would work for a guy. Boozy, tobacco rich musk.

So, I would say that this is Spanked lite. For those of you that amped up the leather, fear not. Miss Fanny is mainly tobacco, clove, spiced rum with a whiff of smoky leather. For me, I wasn't fond of the original Spanked and found the leather overwhelming. I find Miss Fanny much more wearable, and therefore enticing. But if you dark, sultry, leather-like blends, give this one a whirl. She won't disappoint you.

Gardenia, airy jasmine, hints of rose and honey. This is a very light, airy floral. If you like gardenia, and just a brush of jasmine in your blends, this one is expertly executed. Very refined, pretty with a subtle sexiness to it.

ZAP! ZING! Libertas is exactly as promised. It gives you a sense of bouyancy, freedom and freedom loving. It has the same effervescent energy that being a young, single twentysomething year old has when they say "After me, the deluge" and just live it up for a night (which may or may not have a hefty tag on their credit card tomorrow morning, but you'll deal with that... later...). I finally got my hands on some Libertas and finally used it this morning after going through a pretty intense phase in my life. I sort of wanted a mental break from it, and this has given it to me in spades. If you are familiar with Icona Pop's "I Love It" (or Buckcherry's more rock cover of it, which is "Say F*ck It"), this is kinda like that song in perfume version. It's like the aftereffects of a rollercoaster, skydiving, or anything that puts you in an almost giddy, slightly euphoric, I can take on the world, the chains have come off, sort of way. Libertas is different from Release. I have a decant of Release and used it during the aforementioned intense phase, and the vibes are very very different. Release is about acknowledging and grappling with stuff, in ways that may push you into uncomfortable spaces in a way that makes it OK. Libertas is about getting your head out, getting a time out and maybe making you think you know what - some of that stuff is in your head and maybe it isn't what you think it is, and you know what, SCREW IT, because you only have one life and you can't spend all of your time being consumed by issues. Libertas isn't about being able to let go of things as so much as telling them to piss off for the night, because you're superfabulous and you aren't gonna waste more energy/headspace on that today. (Maybe tomorrow. Maybe). Also, as a big introvert, this actually seems to make me think, you know what, I could talk to people today. I could go to a party today, I could do anything I want today, really. Libertas is a yellow oil, that smells mainly of bergamot, lemongrass, bitter orange, and then dries to a more herbal/slightly resinous blend with hints of geranium and bergamot. If ever released, I would definitely get more.

I mainly get sage, cedar, patchouli and a touch of molasses. This reminds me to damp earth and leaves to me, mainly because of the cedar and the patch. I was sort of hoping for molasses cookies. But no dice.

I have to say that I got a decant in a clear plastic bottle, and you can tell that the oils separate, with a heavier, redder oil coating the bottom. It was imperative to really roll (I was reduced to shaking the thing) to get an even mixture. With that said, I got a very spring/summer blend that was mostly mimosa and iris, with a touch of white musk and vanilla for sweetness. It was fresh, delicate, without being overly flowery. I can see why the Chorion HG would be gorgeous, but definitely a springy blend. I'll spritz again and see if I need more.

Also must have been part of the same decant circle as magycmyste. On me the most predominant notes are the pumpkin spices. I get a touch of vanilla. In alot of ways, this reminds me to a cross between Gingerbread Poppet and pumpkin loaf with vanilla icing on it. Very foodie. Toothsome, tasty, pumpkin.

Red wine, hints of honey and thyme. This smells like boozey wine and red grapes with a fair bit of honey in it.

This one has some of the elements of Gun Moll - floral perfume, waxy texture, but with aquatic notes. So take Gun Moll and Black Ice. Stir. And you get this. Dark, grimy, floral.

This is the type of icy blend that has coconut, so read this review with a grain of salt. OMG BBW COCONUT AND LIME, IS THAT YOU?? I get: ginger, mint, lime and coconut. If you EVER wished that BPAL did BBW Coconut and Lime in anyway shape or form, try this puppy. I am serious. Coconut lovers rejoice.

Cherry blossoms, hint of metal, slight dryer sheet smell. This is pretty much a straight forward sakura blend. I sort of really love it because there aren't that many straight up cherry blossom blends in BPAL's repertoire. I think the slightly chemically/artificial note in it is deliberate, which is a subtle reminder that this isn't really real.

So I got a bar of Samhain soap as a frimp on a supermega order from a former decanter. This soap has been well aged. I have to say that it still smells strongly of Samhain. The notes that we mostly get are the patchouli, clove, and nutmeg. In general, its spicy, super fragrant and when you walk into the bathroom, it smells just like the Fall. mr. zee_zee is a fan. Villainess soaps for me have been hit or miss, but superaging the soap works really well. I may end up buying some Villainess just to age.

Orange, hay and tobacco. On wet, the orange is pretty predominant. And then you get peeps of hay and tobacco. It dries down to a hay/tobacco blend on me. And my skin totally eats this up.

Warm, woodsy musk. This smells like old incense and intensely smooth sandalwood. Slightly Asian in vibe. Deep, warm, woods.

On wet, its was a beautiful citrus heavy blend. Loads of yuzu, some of that lime, mandarin, and some thyme thrown in. It dried to a more herbal blend, with the thyme and cedar being some of the more predominant notes. Honestly, this would make for an awesome soap/bubble bath. Clean, flowery, citrusy.

Strong, green galbanum, bits of pepper, benzoin, and just something that smells sort of chemically. This one is a very discordant clash of warm and icy notes on me. The warm is the benzoin, galbanum and pepper. The icy being whatever smells sort of inky/chemically on me. It smells and gives off the vibe of something SMASHED TOGETHER. Literally smashed together.

Tonka, hints of orange blossom and sandalwood. This is light, comfy and very wearable. Soft, cuddly, brown.

Lemon, bergamot, hints of neroli, jasmine and cedar. Phaon is essentially a lemony sort of floral blend, with enough of the neroli and jasmine peeping through that it isn't completely lemony. The cedar adds a warm base to it all. And while this is summery and pleasant, I still amp up the jasmine on the drydown and this is not my type of scene. Phaon is also suffering from the comparison of me testing Star Promenade at the moment, which means that its really having trouble competing at this point.

Well, hell's bells. Star Promenade was the one that I was most excited about, despite my trepidations and I have to say that it smells beautiful and cool to me. It's gin, hints of metal strings, hay and apple. Both the peach blossom and apple do well to warm up and add spice to the cooler tones that both the gin and banjo strings bring, and while it ends up in the cool end of the spectrum, its a slightly fruity, slightly fizzy cool perfume. In alot of ways it reminds me to the Harvesters, but cooler/boozier and with apple instead of pear. Would not need more than a partial, but when you want to smell cool, interesting, and just a little quirky, Star Promenade is it. And now, off to hunt.

So CourtAnalyst/Strategist was kind enough to swap some stuff with me so I could get a small decant of Blessing atmosphere, which I really just wanted because I'm renting a new house, and wanted to ensure that we're not bringing any lingering negative feelings into our new space, and/or dispel any lingering feelings from any of the previous owners in the place. I would say that I didn't find the spray to be rose heavy, but smelled mainly of lemongrass and other citrusy/white flower notes. Neither mr. zee_zee or the zee_zee kid enjoyed the smell actually, and distinctively asked me not to ever use it. Again. No fear, since I had sprayed it mainly to bless our new place. I have positive associations with the spray and I imagine that anyone that is heavy into ritual would get alot of use out of this, particularly to ensure that said ritual has the right blank slate where to start from. Oddly enough, I can also see this being useful if you're decanting TALs on a regular basis. I find that this would probably put you in the right head space for the beginning of... anything really.

You're an odd duck Blackswallowtail. Not going to lie. I get creamy white orchids, licorice, hints of cool freesia and jasmine/rose. By all accounts, I should hate you. In fact with the rose, jasmine, fresia and licorice, the only things missing to the party are coconut and leather and this would be an unbearable blend. In fact, you have enough components that I dislike that if you were a high school girl, you should be the type that I'd find annoying simply based on the description. Instead, I find you more like the high school friend that you came to realize you should find annoying but it strangely quirky and okay in fact. Perhaps best to be enjoyed in small doses. Odd, quirky, licorice.

Patchouli, pepper, and wood. Totally loads of patchouli and wood, hints of pepper. And on me, the vanilla is MIA. So, passing this on to someone that appreciates patchouli.