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BPAL Madness!

zankoku_zen

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Everything posted by zankoku_zen

  1. zankoku_zen

    Boadicea Hair Gloss

    This smells like patchouli, oak, leather, and a whiff of vetiver. It smells powerful and martial. Good throw and wear length.
  2. zankoku_zen

    Zoë Hair Gloss

    Ella’s best friend and Pickle’s nemesis! A voracious lover of food and all things foodlike: warm milk chocolate and Canadian maple syrup with amber and caramel. This smells like milk chocolate and caramel. It's soft, gooey, and chocolately.
  3. zankoku_zen

    Very Stable Genius

    A scent straight out of a deep-fryer: scorched, lard-addled potatoes, beef gristle, and a bit of bacon. Proceeds from the sale of this scent benefits the American Civil Liberties Union. BACON and ranch dressing potatoes. Seriously, this smells like bacon and ranch dressing potatoes. This smells like food. And smoky bacon. BACON BACON BACON BACON. Great throw and wear length, of course.
  4. zankoku_zen

    Like a Girl

    I mainly get a vanilla sandalwood skin musk. Very faint. This reminds me to Amaterasu v3, but honestly, with less throw. Almost non-existent on me. But hey, if you loved the Amaterasu v3, here's a good nice stand in substitute. I am gonna try this again, just in case it's me today. Because I really really liked what I was able to smell of it.
  5. zankoku_zen

    C#@T

    I get honeyed plumeria and a whiff of vanilla. This is a very feminine, pink blend to me. It's giving me a strong Regina from Mean Girls. Oh, you know the type. The ultra popular mean girl in high school, with her straight shiny blonde hair, who dared to cut anyone, ANYONE, if it suited her. And sometimes just for fun to see you bleed. Anything to show that she had the ability to hurt those around her. But, if you ever wished you could, for once in your life, scream BITCH, GET IN THE CAR, WE'RE GOING SHOPPING, give this a whirl. Slap that Mean Girls on streaming, and have a fun night screeching like a harpy. No judgement here. Except those shoes. Maybe we'll judge those shoes.
  6. zankoku_zen

    Eldritch Bloom

    Dark sexy orchid. It is reminiscent of Our Lady of Pain, but its a deep dark orchid blend. I mainly get plum, orchid, and opium tar. Dark, slinky, lady of the night orchid. Medium throw and wear length.
  7. zankoku_zen

    Orb Weaver Spider

    East African black patchouli, lilac, lavender, Italian neroli, King mandarin, Terebinth pine, and star anise. This is such an interesting patchouli blend On wet, its mainly lavender, lilac and citrus (from the neroli and mandarin). And as it dries, the patchouli comes out... and it dries to a citrusy patchouli blend. I'd recommend this to anyone who was afraid of patchouli. It's citrusy, light and clean.
  8. zankoku_zen

    Diabolical Fantasia

    I get tangerine, neroli, a whiff of woods and white musk. And then this DIES ON ME. Like dies. I get no throw, nothing. If I shove my nose against my wrist, I get whiffs of tobacco and neroli. *cries*
  9. zankoku_zen

    Sinister Harvest

    Crushed fig and white mint, white sandalwood, and black pepper. For me, this is mainly a fig with a peppery edge on wet. As it dries, I get more of a fig/sandalwood combination, and the pepperyness of the blend recedes to the background. It's a very rich blend, but I find fig blends to be very rich in general. Average throw and wear length.
  10. zankoku_zen

    Sinkhole

    We have the best sinkholes. Terrific sinkholes. Our sinkholes are tremendous. YUUUGE. No administration has ever had a sinkhole like this, believe me. Obama didn’t have sinkholes. Sad! The scent of a swamp self-draining: globs of wet earth, crushed grass, and untended dandelions sliding into a morass of moss-crusted opoponax, labdanum, and tar. Proceeds from the sale of this scent benefit the American Civil Liberties Union. This reminds me to Take a Knee - but if possible, this is grassier. There's grass, dandelions, and a touch of moss and dirt. But in general, this smells like freshly mowed grass, with a touch of dandelions. It's fresh, clean, and gender neutral. Did you want a grassy dandelion blend? Then pick this puppy up. Good throw and wear length.
  11. So while not my first CB, this is the easiest to review. It's like sunshine in your pocket. Carry around some solar energy with you. You ever wanted to have a mini-sun in your pocket or cradle in your hand? Yup. That's what you get. It's like the physical manifestation of the TAL Sol oil. I actually feed it occasionally in the summer by putting it out to catch some rays. Bright, happy, expansive.
  12. zankoku_zen

    High-Strung Daisies Hair Gloss

    I get mainly daisies, sugar, and whiffs of pink pepper. This smells like a bouquet of daisies. Light, floral, pretty.
  13. zankoku_zen

    A Robber's Castle Atmosphere Spray

    Smoke and gunpowder, leather and blackened daggers coated in a mixture of pitch and coal. The fact that there is no reviews from all of you BPAL leather lovers is criminal to me. This smells like a luxurious black leather, with enough of a chrome note and a touch of coal to keep it from being one dimensional. This smells like the aforementioned black leather coat that bad boy boyfriend that your parents are always warning you about - smoky, leathery, dangerous but 100% male. Sexy, masculine. All of my black leather lovers out there, holla at this one. Thank me later.
  14. zankoku_zen

    Dens of Sin Hair Gloss

    Bourbon-soaked tobacco and oak paneling. Goodness, why hasn't anyone reviewed this yet? Antikythera Mechanism, is that you? I get mainly woodsy tobacco and bourbon. This one is a strong blend - dark, deep, and woodsy. It's very gender neutral woodsy in my mind. Honestly, it smells like a gentleman's club to me - all that wood, the bourbon, the tobacco. Good throw and wear length.
  15. zankoku_zen

    Tomoe Gozen Hair Gloss

    A "warrior worth a thousand, ready to confront a demon or a god, mounted or on foot." Tomoe Gozen was a fierce, noble, and courageous samurai, first captain, as well as a renowned beauty. She was an excellent swordswoman, famed for her riding ability and her skill at archery. She fought for Minamoto no Yoshinaka at Battle of Awazu, and her forces were defeated. Legend says she was seen holding the severed head of one of her foes on the battlefield, and vanished, never to be seen again. Red currant, golden amber, blackberry, honey, and pink pepper. Red currant, black berries, honey and a whiff of amber. This is a red fruit heavy blend. If you enjoy juicy red berries, give this a whirl.
  16. zankoku_zen

    Perfer et Obdura

    Be patient and tough: clary sage essential oil, rue essential oil, steam-distilled vetiver root, white oak bark, and white sage from the TAL garden. I grabbed this out of instinct and didn't realize what it was until I dabbed it on. I get oak, sage, and vetiver from it as a smell. But more importantly, I get this nice earthy feel. It reminds me to both Aegis and Silva actually. It's like an Old Spice commercial. Look down. Back up, where are you? You're a mighty oak, planted firmly in the ground, and despite the slashing rain and the howling winds, you bear the brunt of the fury. You have weathered worst storms. You will weather this. What do you smell like? Back at me. It's a mix of sage, which you know drives those dark negative forces away, rue, which has been used in magical rituals since antiquity. It does wonders for your resilience, knowing you can count on yourself. Look again. The sage is now white oak bark which the mighty Jupiter himself has gifted you as protection. You have weathered worst storms. You will weather this. You will endure.
  17. This is my latest Conjure Bag. It feels like floating on your back, swimming while gazing up, because if you look around you, all you can see is water. One side effect for me is that whenever I sleep with this bag under the pillow I have some pretty deep sleep. It's a very 'deep' sort of feeling: watery and unfathomable. I picked up this bag because aside from the dream side of things, Neptune is also associated with idealism and compassion, and both of which at this time and living in DC, I feel a need for.
  18. zankoku_zen

    Peach X

    Peach, iris root, King mandarin, and lime rind. UGH. Was not expecting to be the first one. Peach X is pretty peachy, with a big hint of mandarin citrus and a touch of iris. It's a soft, delicate peach blend. For me, iris root becomes very powdery on the drydown, which gives this a very Pez-like dimension. I mean PEACH PEZ. Which immediately amps up the nostalgia factor, for no reason at all, whatsoever. Peachy, powdery, nostalgia.
  19. zankoku_zen

    Slay!

    The consummate host: she can fill oceans of time on the mic and still leave the crowd hypnotized. Polished black patchouli and blood-red vegetal musk, bakhoor oudh, tobacco absolute, fossilized amber resin, and bittersweet cacao. Red musk, oudh, tobacco, and whiff of cacao. The musk has traces of patchouli, which really make it more of a dark red musk to my mind. This one is musky, tobacco-y, oudh with some cacao in it. If you're into either musk or tobacco, this should be for you. It's very much in the red musk vein of blends. Sexy, dark, unapologetic. Medium throw and wear length.
  20. zankoku_zen

    Serving Gill

    A swimsuit with no padding: the perfect gender-amphibious look. Blue musk and blue chamomile with indigo musk, seaweed, ocean salt, fir needle, and a tangle of kelp. Seaweed, ocean spray, and a touch of blue musk. This one is fresh aquatic, with salt spray and a touch of fir. It starts off as a bit of stormy weather (big throw, in your face) and dries down to a blue musk with chamomile and aquatic notes. It's pretty soft after about 45 minutes. From stormy seas, to a cool blue cove of water. Good throw on wet, low throw on drydown. I'd say decent wear length.
  21. zankoku_zen

    Egg Nog Candle

    Sweet brandy, dark rum, heavy cream, sugar, and a dash of nutmeg. This smells like brandy, cream and a dash of spices. I got a tealight of this, so some of the scent is obviously dissipated due to the melting process but enough to give me an idea.
  22. zankoku_zen

    The Magi: Balthasar of Arabia

    Copaiba balsam, black oudh, Ceylon cinnamon, vegetal musk, and ambrette seed. Oudh, greenish musk, and a touch of cinnamon and balsam. This one has a greener edge than I expected. It's actually a fairly gender neutral/masculine cologne type and I'm surprised at the number of scents this update has had for the fellas. This one is nice and soft, and very pleasant. I'm actually going to try this on mr. zee_zee. Good throw and wear length.
  23. zankoku_zen

    Fortitude v45

    A working oil for activists. Use when you feel your momentum flagging, to keep yourself centered and grounded, and when you need a boost of strong, steady, stable force to keep yourself calling, faxing, writing, and marching. Myrrh essential oil, Himalayan cedar essential oil, juniper berry essential oil and dried berry, red patchouli and patchouli leaf, jasmine sambac essential oil and jasmine flowers, palmarosa essential oil, peppermint essential oil and dried peppermint from the TAL garden, green pepper essential oil (piper nigrum), palo santo C02 extract, tobacco absolute, and black cohosh from the TAL garden. Post-Justice Kennedy announcement, I was feeling very disheartened. I popped this on today to remind myself that the work is not done yet. It's so easy to despair these days. Or more importantly, use my privilege to joke about moving to Canada. But as a friend pointed out in another FB post, what about the people that can't leave and are stuck here? What about them. So we keep on trucking. And there are days when you have to remind yourself that you're still here and didn't leave others in the lurch is your stepping stone. And you push yourself to do better. This smells like woods, peppermint, and a touch of jasmine. And I'm off to resistbot at my Congressmen.
  24. zankoku_zen

    Venom - Resurrected

    Venom smells like poisoned berry fruit with a whiff of jasmine and lime. I can tell that this is going to age gloriously and just get darker and smoother as it ages and everything sort of melds together. This smells sophisticated, dangerous, and totally femme fatale seductive. Dark sirens that sing you to your doom. This is like the perfume equivalent of "Remember that when you ask for dreams to come true, nightmares are dreams too." DANGEROUS PERFUME FOR DANGEROUS WOMEN.
  25. zankoku_zen

    Pumpkin Butter Ice Cream Bath Oil

    Pumpkin, creamy vanilla, and a dash of nutmeg. It's a very non-buttery pumpkin and it makes me think of the rich darkness of pumpkin butter vs the sweet creamy flesh of pumpkin pie. I get some vanilla creaminess coming through. Delicious.
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