zankoku_zen

Sea moss, algae, and kelp. This one is a straight up aquatic on my skin. Like a better version of Irish Spring. Neutral to masculine on me. Good throw and wear length.

Moss, amber, and mums. On wet, the mum note is stronger. It dries down and the moss starts popping out, as well as the amber, balsam and a touch of leaves. For me, this is a mossier, more aquatic version of Belle Epoque. Medium throw and wear length.

Juicy peach with red currant, and a touch of black currant. It's sweet, pretty, and peachy.

Smoky oleander, wispy jasmine and a touch of tobacco-like darkness from the ambrette. This is a foggy, cool Southern sort of scent. If you like the smells of jasmine or magnolia, as the oleander makes me think of magnolias... It's a cool, white, Southern gothic type of blend. Good throw and wear length.

A lot of myrrh and papyrus and just a tinge of vanilla. Sweet incense. Good throw and wear length.

Sweet, herbally rose blend. It may be rose geranium actually. For me, this smells like a kissing cousin to Mantle of Venus or the Planetary Venus blend. It's got that same soft pink vibe to it. I don't notice the same kind of punch from some of the other love TAL blends, but this one seems more geared toward romance? In that light, flirty, way.

Scent review: I got a dab of this on my hands as I was making a decant. It's red musky, with a touch of rose and almond on my skin.

Vibe-wise: This scent energetically reminds me to Black Cherry Love oil, but without the playful aspect. This is more about 'strictly business'.

Effectiveness: I'd say pretty effective. I have to admit that I have a pretty healthy libido. I'd be curious to use this when I'm not in the mood and see if it does in fact put me in the mood.

ETA: So edited to add that this is effective. On both men and women. YUP. That's all the details you're getting folks. Just, be careful what you wish for.

Strawberry candy. It's sweet, and perhaps too candylike for my tastes. I used a little bit, and maybe 90 minutes later it was gone.

Clove, cinnamon, and a touch of amber.

Cherry blossoms, wisteria, almond and cacao. So this smells like a Lupercalia. I get heavy sweet cherry blossoms with a brush of wisteria, and a base of almond and cacao which add a warm foodieness to the blend. It's a pretty intense cherry blossom scent. Good throw and wear length.

Heady lush night florals with jasmine and a touch of musk. I get a bit of currant but it just adds a whiff of fruity sweetness. This smells heavy, Southern, and nocturnal. Good throw and wear length.

Roses, beeswax, and a touch of frankincense and leather. This smells like a mix between the feminine and a dry scholarly book. Decent throw and wear length.

Vanilla plastic and a whiff of banana. The cream note in this blend doesn't work for my skin chemistry. Foodie. Good throw and wear length though.

Cool lavender mist. I get wispy lavender and a touch of ozone and oudh. It's a soft skin scent with decent throw.

Drowning in cream, cookies and a touch of tea. Very creamy, very cookie, very foodie. Low throw and average wear length.

Honeysuckle, touch of jasmine and green grass. This is the most honeysuckle BPAL that I can recall in a long long time. I get mainly honeysuckle, a whiff of jasmine. Good throw and wearlength.

Sadly mr. zee_zee hates on the BPAL jasmine....

Foodie chocolate hazelnut that dries to a soft tonka with a touch of cacao and pine. It starts off as a foodie blend but dries down to a soft, cuddly blend that I'd consider more of a skin scent. Low throw, good wear length.

Heavy carnation, touch of honey, touch of fruitiness on first whiff. This one is a very heavy carnation scent, but sweeter and more wearable than say HOD. Medium throw and wear length.

For you carnation lovers out there.

Boozy red wine and a hint of amber. Actually, is there pom in this wine? It sure smells like it! Good throw and wear length.

Boozy, vampy, red.

Bright orchid, jasmine, roses and a touch of cigar smoke. This honestly codes to stinky jasmine to me. It's bold, floral, and in your face. Great throw and wear length.

[No additional description provided.]

Again, thank you to a super generous BPALer who let me test these from her bottle. You're amazing, and thank you!

So, PSA starts off with all of the glorious pumpkin spice you can want. Clove, allspice, and a touch of cinnamon, and then the absinthe starts to peep out. The spice recedes, and I would put it more as a spicy absinthe, in which I get lemon and mint top notes, followed by hyssop, anise, and allspice. It's actually a strange mashup that I do like. I would call this smoothly blended. Medium throw, great wear length.

So if you like spicy and/or herbal blends, give Pumpkin Spice Absinthe a whirl. It's strangely fall like, and yet green at the same time.

Thanks to a very super generous bpaler that let me test it from their bottle. You know who you are!

So this is mainly cloves and bay rum. It's manly, dark, and very piratey. Good throw, and EPICALLY low wear length on me. My skin just eats this up. 90 minutes later and I get maybe a super faint trace of it on my skin.

*goes to cry under the Tree of Despair*

Faint black tea and a touch of sandalwood. The black tea and sandalwood combine into a slight licorice smell on me. Low throw and wear length.

Black tea, licorice, faint.

Vetiver, clove, rum and leather. This one reminds me to Ms. Fanny Phipphany. It's got that heavy, clovey, leather/patchouli blend thing going. Good throw and wear length.

Dominant, dark, leather.

Strawberry cream cotton candy. This one is sweet and sugary. I'm actually fascinated because typically cream notes go to plastic on me. Not this one. Medium throw and wear length.

If you like cavity inducing scents, this one is for you.