zankoku_zen

Chocolate and rum! This one smells chocolatey, but not overly so. It isn't very sweet. I love the inclusion of rum. It adds this dark booziness to the chocolate.

This one has some throw! Chewy tobacco and a touch of amber. It smells warm and cozy. LOVE IT.

Milky powdery hot chocolate. This is straight up sweetened chocolate - no woods, no marshmallow. Chocolate.

 

For all you Bliss lovers out there.

Prototype via Lab Ebay Auction.

 

Books of Blood is, I'm almost 100% sure of this, a reference to the Clive Barker series of horror fiction collections titled Books of Blood.

 

The #3 variant is heavier on the incense and musk. I smell incense, musk, but the leather is back. It seems slightly softer in this blend. There's also a green top note to it. Still masculine. Medium throw and wear length.

Prototype via Lab Ebay Auction.

 

Books of Blood is, I'm almost 100% sure of this, a reference to the Clive Barker series of horror fiction collections titled Books of Blood. Also, obviously a variant as opposed to #1.

 

This version is much softer, more dragon's blood resin, definitely redder in feel and scope. I think its the blood part quite literally. It's obscuring the musk and leather if there is any, compared to version #1. My skin really eats this up. So low throw and low wear length.

Prototype via Lab Ebay Auction.

Books of Blood is, I'm almost 100% sure of this, a reference to the Clive Barker series of horror fiction collections titled Books of Blood.

 

This one smells like musk, black leather, and blood. Soft, because I think this prototype has been kicking around for a while. Masculine and leathery.

 

 

 

 

Cool, minty, snow. It doesn't last long, but I agree that it is great for hot weather.

Chewy tobacco cedar and leather. It's very masculine to my nose. mr. zee_zee said it smelled nice though. Average throw and wear length.

Smoky, incense, and a touch of woodiness. Before you spray it, you do get the "charred sacrifices" and there's an almost carbonized meat smell to it, which thankfully DOES NOT come out when you actually spray it. Heavy, smoky, incense.

Cold spearmint and eucalyptus, with a touch woodsiness. However, after the initial minty cold blast, I don't feel like it really lingers on my hair. However, on wet, it was more in the gender neutral category. Almost masculine. I can see this appealing to the fellas.

I totally forgot about this one, but I did test it and its a chestnut, fig, booze and a touch of orange on my hair. Very foodie and festive.

Butterscotch, sugar, hint of apple and cake. Yup, this smells sweet and foodie. And like a baked good.

Fig, amber, and clove. UNF. I love me some clove and fig. I also dig amber. This scent is sweeter than I expected but UGH so good. Figgy amber, and that's all I ever wanted. Good throw and wear length.

Patchouli, coconut, tobacco, bay, and a touch of lime. Jaawi is spicy, exotic, and a morpher. It's like you took a bunch of different things, shook them up, and held them in a coconut husk for ages until it all melded together. Warm, sexy, masculine cologne. Good throw and wear length.

Red wine, red sandalwood, hint of cinnamon and copal. This is a very red blend. Incensey, red wine and red sandalwood. Dark and slinky. Good throw and wear length.

Honey, leather, amber and a touch of white florals. This smells exotic, leathery, and sunny. Good throw and wear length.

 

ETA: I have to amend this because I tried it out again and I am seriously amping up the champaca flower so its alot more floral. It ends up being a gender neutral clean amber-leather blend with a big dose of flowers. Sort of like a fougere cologne.

I got touches of pink floral sugar. It's mainly light sugar and rose, with a touch of both frankincense and mint on wet. It dries down to a rose marshmallow. Medium throw and wear length.

Minty, icy blue musk and a touch of pine. This one was an odd one, as it was mainly blue musk which is sometimes oddly powdery on me. Good throw and wear length. Chilly.

 

Chilly elemi, red frankincense, and something that smells like blood. This is both cold, warm and something that smells like sinew. For real. There's something kinda creepy about this. Perfect for those that love spooky blends and Halloween. Medium throw and wear length.

Cold, chilly powdered pink roses. There's something feminine and not quite right about it. Good throw and wear length.

Daguerrotype opens up as a cool citrus-type silvered white floral blend. On the drydown, I get a hint of soapy roses and musk. It dries down to something like Ectoplasm but with slight roses, and I do think this still may have davana in it. This would have been at home with the "Evening with the Spirits" line that BPAL released back in Yule 2014.

 

Cool, crisp, clean white floral.

Carbon is a Periodic Table prototype that has been floating about since 2011. It has been seen in NYCC and will calls back then.

 

Carbon opens up with what I consider a very citrus fougere. It's more of a traditional bergamot/rosemary type fougere but dries down to something earthier and warmer. I get like a vetiver-like note corrupting and grounding everything. It's smokier and warmer.

 

Carbon to me is a very masculine blend. It starts off as a sophisticated manly cologne, and then opens up as vetiver-dirt type blend. Good throw and wear length.

Nepthys is an Ancient egyptian goddess. Sister to both Isis and Osiris, she symbolizes the death experience, and is often the sister-wife to Set.

 

Nepthys is a cool green scent, much more leaves and moss. I get something almost salty clean from this blend. And something that smells almost antiseptic. As it dries, I get a hint of something woodier and warmer. It's almost like a slight bay rum note that I'm getting.

 

There's been other event exclusives that are Nepthys v2 and v4. This one is just straight up "Nepthys".

 

The prototype was previously reviewed in the BPAL Lunacy Thread New England version circa 2011.

 

Hathor is the ancient egyptian goddess of joy, feminine love, and motherhood. Per Wikipedia, she was one of the most important and popular deities throughout the history of Ancient Egypt. She is often depicted as "Mistress of the West," welcoming the dead into the next life. In other roles, she was a goddess of music, dance, foreign lands, and fertility. She was believed to assist women in childbirth.

 

Hathor was a watery reedy quality, a citrus overlay that makes me think bergamot, and a silty bit. She smells like a cool river, teaming with life. The citrus makes me think sunshine and summer.

 

I think there's a green pepper in there somewhere. And maybe some squash blossom? There's a very summer garden aspect to this blend.

 

The prototype was previously reviewed in the BPAL Lunacy Thread New England version circa 2011.

Pink roses, vanilla musk, and bergamot. This one is mainly a pink rose blend on me. I think the oudh amps up the tea rose. Good throw and wear length.