puellacaerulea

In the frimp: Mostly heady, sticky-sweet honey, plus red wine. Not picking up any other notes yet. Once it's on: The myrrh amps up right away and takes the scent out of cloying territory. The honey is still a dominant note, but the myrrh and wine balance it out nicely, adding a spicy/resinous depth. Good wear length, without significant morphing after the myrrh initially amps up. I like this a lot more than I thought I would on first sniff. Not totally sure I'd wear this often enough to warrant a bottle, but we'll see how fast I go through the frimp.

In the imp: sweet coconut and rum, immediately followed up with strong, smoky, sharp tobacco. It's like a less obviously gourmand version of the October 2017 version of 13. This doesn't morph significantly on me, though the tobacco mellows out a bit and gets similar to pipe smoke (that sharp edge never quite goes away, though). This is primarily a sweet scent, but reads very unisex (almost leaning more conventionally masculine) to me -- the tobacco keeps this from going into full "girly" sweetness. I'm still undecided on whether the tobacco is too much for me -- going to hang onto my frimp and test a few more times.

This is an intense, soapy floral -- I don't think there's rose in here since it's not going powdery on me, but apart from that, the main impression is of an intensely white floral with something soapy underneath. It does settle down on me after about an hour into a somewhat lighter floral that could be good for warm weather, but I can't quite get past the soapiness. After about 4-5 hours, this mostly fades on me. If you like florals, you'll probably enjoy this one, but it's not quite my style.

This is a really different one! In the imp as well as on (this one doesn't morph much on me), I get a mix of dark green and resinous notes with something weirdly plasticky or rubbery. Also something minty -- I'm with the reviewer above who mentioned getting the impression of old, sticky chewing gum. Overall impression is strong, dark, and green, with that plastic-like note that makes me think of wires and cables. Definitely fits the name.

In the imp: very bright and fruity apple and bergamot. Once it's on, it goes through a brief sour phase before drying down to something surprisingly light and powdery, with a little bit of the apple still hanging out in the background. The baby powder aspect is probably the rose, which does that on me. I can't pick out the patchouli, musk, and teak specifically, but there are definitely some deeper notes keeping this from going full grandma on me. I can see this working for someone who wants a fruity scent with some heavier notes grounding it. I don't think I need a full bottle of this, but I'll hang onto the frimp.

2018 reissue: In the bottle, Ava's mostly tuberose and mandarin to me, with something bitter floating in the background (the almond?). Once I put it on, the vanilla and almond amp up and sweeten right away -- I can no longer specifically pick out the tuberose and mandarin, but they're definitely there in that the vanilla/almond combo is definitely not foody. It morphs very little after that -- I'm still getting a really gorgeous vanilla/almond/sophisticated floral, without the bitter undertone I got in the bottle. As of now, I've had it on for about 3 hours and it's barely faded. This leans a little more traditional/mainstream than most BPAL I've tried, but it's really amazing. I've never gotten a backup bottle of something before, but I'm seriously considering one in this case.

In the bottle: super green, grassy, and fresh! I expected all grass, all the time, but the lettuce note is also really noticeable. I agree with the reviewer above that it's reminiscent of the Gap's Grass perfume, but with more depth to it. It goes through a brief Irish Spring phase right after I apply it, but then the oakmoss and pepper come out to add some earthiness. After drydown, I mostly get oakmoss and grass, more earthy than fresh. I miss the initial fresh phase, but this is still a great warm-weather scent; highly recommended if green scents are your thing.

This one's very citrusy, but the incense keeps it from going full Lemon Pledge/bug spray. The incense note is lighter than I generally expect, which helps make it warm weather friendly along with balancing out the lemon peel. We've been having summer-like weather where I am, and I've found myself reaching for this scent quite a lot lately. As a bonus, it has great wear length on me -- I've been applying it in the early AM and can still smell it on my wrists 12+ hours later. Overall, this is a really nice, light, fresh citrus with some depth from the incense, perfect for spring/summer.

The black tea and vanilla notes led me to expect something along the lines of Dorian, but this is surprisingly very different! I mostly pick up the honey and vanilla notes in the imp and upon application, but a very clean, fresh, almost sharp note (the linen?) amps up fast. After it dries down, the honey, vanilla, and milk notes come back out, but they're balanced out by the linen/white pepper notes in a way that keeps it from getting overly sweet/foody. It's a unexpectedly clean/fresh take on foody scents, and I really like it! Likely to grab a bottle once my imp runs out.

In the imp and right after applying: super sweet plum! The floral notes take over as it dries down -- I mostly get jasmine and a more sharp and stereotypically "perfumey" floral (the daffodil?). I can't pick out the white musk at any stage. This could be a great spring/summer scent, especially if sweeter florals are your thing, but it's a little too much for me.

In the imp and right after applying, this is intense honey and vanilla plus something spicy and almost resinous to me (definitely the clove, and maybe also the vetiver?). After drydown, it calms down a lot -- I end up with soft honey, vanilla, and cherry, with some clove still faintly hanging out in the background. It's like O, but with a subtle added spicy sweetness (although I think the honey note is more intense in O). If you find the vanilla/honey combo in O too in-your-face but otherwise like foody scents, this is worth trying. (I'm on the fence about whether I need a bottle of this, but I'll definitely keep trying the imp.)

This scent's really interesting in that manages to be dark/woodsy and fresh simultaneously. In the imp, I get slightly smoky woods and lots of citrus -- it's almost like a stripped-down, darker version of Manhattan. When it dries down, the lemon tones itself down quite a bit, and the wood notes get a bit softer and more pronounced. It stays surprisingly close to the skin on me. It's still basically woods and citrus, but much less in-your-face and borderline Lemon Pledge/Irish Spring as it is in the imp. I'm really glad I was frimped this, because I don't know if I would have tried it otherwise. Seriously considering a bottle once the imp runs out.

Rose generally doesn't work well on me, but I liked the other notes (and the concept), so I decided to take a chance on this. In the bottle and immediately after putting it on, it's definitely myrrh-dominant, to the extent that I'm not able to distinguish the other notes. I also noticed a weird, sharp, almost astringent stage as it started to dry down (maybe the vetiver?), but fortunately, it calms down after a little while. This might be one case where rose's tendency to go powdery on me works in my favor -- once that happens and the vanilla comes out a little more after drydown, I get a soft, slightly powdery, but still myrrh-forward scent. I really like this once it reaches its post-drydown stage. If you like myrrh, you'll probably like this.

Was frimped this with my last order. I had reservations about this since BPAL's rose tends to go straight to baby powder on me, but something about the bergamot-rose combination keeps this from going in that direction on me. I mostly get the rose and citrus notes -- the plum, oud, and sandalwood are too subtle for me to really pick out. Instead of baby powder, I get a nice, fresh, citrus/floral blend. I probably don't need a 5ml of this, but I can definitely see myself reaching for the imp in warmer weather.

In the imp, this is really intense, sharp oak, with something slightly herbal and spicy in the background (maybe the chamomile?). For some reason it reminds me of the smell of old, polished church pews. The rhubarb comes out in a big way after it's been on for a bit, making the overall scent surprisingly sweet -- the difference between what I'm smelling on my wrist and in the imp is huge. The end result is a sweet rhubarb that's grounded a little bit by the oak in the background. It reminds me a lot of Libra 2016, with the morphing in reverse -- Libra's aggressively sweet in the bottle but gets balanced out nicely with the wood notes after applying, while Lawful gets almost too sweet as it dries down. I don't think I need a 5ml of this, but this is one to consider if you like sweeter, strawberry-esque scents.