strahlend

Named for the ambitious, vengeful poisoner Catherine deMedici, who used perfumes to perform her dark deeds. A sinful blend of orange blossom, rosemary and rose... allegedly the exact perfume she utilzed in her work. In the imp I smell the orange blossom and something I can't identify. I've been on an orange blossom kick, so I'm excited to try this out. Skin testing. It smells like something has soured on my skin, I think this is the rose - it very seldom works for me. There's something herbal in a medicinal sort of way, I usually like herbal scents but this seems to be clashing with the florals in an odd way for me. The orange blossom is far in the background. After a while the rose pushes forward and hogs the limelight. Sadly, this is a typical scenario with me and rose. The rosemary has mellowed out at this point and seems to be blending with the orange blossom to form a musky-floral base. This is my mother's name and I wanted to like this or to give it to her to try, but I can tell right now this is way too much rose to work for either one of us. Darn!

Never in a million years would I have thought that pine would work with cotton candy, but DOES and it's really amazing. In my decant it smells just like the description, the cotton candy smells just as one would imagine and the pine needles lend a unique green element - it's fresh and wonderful like standing in a forest. Even if you don't normally like pine I would suggest giving this a try. Skin testing: This is pretty incredible. I've never smelled anything like it. I get more pine and candy than wildflowers. I can't get over how well these unlikely companions marry together. It dries down to more cotton candy than pine. I don't usually do sweet and foody, but this will be a welcome exception. At this stage it reminds me of wearing vanilla perfume in a forest. It lasted for quite a long time on my skin too. Glad to have a bottle on the way. These Pickman Gallery scents are killing my budget! *edit* When I received my bottle from the lab it seemed different than the decant I had. The bottle seems to have much more of the flowers, less pine, less candy and it fades off of my skin within minutes. I really hope that giving it a week or two will give it time to develop and hopefully more closely resemble my decant.

In my decant this is a bright and zingy pink grapefruit. I'm especially fond of pink grapefruit in the summer, so with an eye toward the warmer weather I tried it on. On my skin the citrus is bright and clear for about half an hour or so, maybe a little less. After that point it softens up quite a lot and turns into the most beautiful, gentle, snugly scent. The zip has left the grapefruit and it's a mild, but detectable companion to the green musk. I'm not usually one for orris root and I'm not detecting it as a presence here. I couldn't name honey as a component just by sniffing, but it does have a lovely sweetness to it. I thought this was going to be a hot weather scent, but it's so warm, soft and gently sweet that it will be perfect for any time of year. In all honesty, smelling this makes me remember when my son was an infant. I used unscented products on him and I didn't wear fragrance myself - but I remember (14 years later) the smell of his little head. It's a very natural, clean (but not soapy) sort of smell, a smell that is difficult to describe. Baby heads just kind of have their own scent. Maybe that sounds weird, but it's a very comfortable and pleasant scent memory. I'm very happy to have a bottle on the way!

On first application I'm reminded of the almost medicinal herbal yet dark and musky opening of Schwarzer Mond. After a little while the warm soft musk reminds me of Blood Moon '05. A little longer and I'm thinking of the slightly boozy, linen, tobacco blend in Black Lace. This is a somewhat cologne-like, dark, musky, and all together intense blend. I know I leave a trail of this scent behind me even with a small application, and it lasts for a really long time even though my skin usually makes scent disappear. I totally love it.

A GOLDEN IDOL For again Scrooge saw himself. He was older now; a man in the prime of life. His face had not the harsh and rigid lines of later years; but it had begun to wear the signs of care and avarice. There was an eager, greedy, restless motion in the eye, which showed the passion that had taken root, and where the shadow of the growing tree would fall. He was not alone, but sat by the side of a fair young girl in a mourning-dress: in whose eyes there were tears, which sparkled in the light that shone out of the Ghost of Christmas Past. “It matters little,” she said, softly. “To you, very little. Another idol has displaced me; and if it can cheer and comfort you in time to come, as I would have tried to do, I have no just cause to grieve.” “What Idol has displaced you?” he rejoined. “A golden one.” “This is the even-handed dealing of the world!” he said. “There is nothing on which it is so hard as poverty; and there is nothing it professes to condemn with such severity as the pursuit of wealth!” “You fear the world too much,” she answered, gently. “All your other hopes have merged into the hope of being beyond the chance of its sordid reproach. I have seen your nobler aspirations fall off one by one, until the master-passion, Gain, engrosses you. Have I not?” “What then?” he retorted. “Even if I have grown so much wiser, what then? I am not changed towards you.” She shook her head. “Am I?” “Our contract is an old one. It was made when we were both poor and content to be so, until, in good season, we could improve our worldly fortune by our patient industry. You are changed. When it was made, you were another man.” “I was a boy,” he said impatiently. “Your own feeling tells you that you were not what you are,” she returned. “I am. That which promised happiness when we were one in heart, is fraught with misery now that we are two. How often and how keenly I have thought of this, I will not say. It is enough that I have thought of it, and can release you.” “Have I ever sought release?” “In words. No. Never.” “In what, then?” “In a changed nature; in an altered spirit; in another atmosphere of life; another Hope as its great end. In everything that made my love of any worth or value in your sight. If this had never been between us,” said the girl, looking mildly, but with steadiness, upon him; “tell me, would you seek me out and try to win me now? Ah, no!” He seemed to yield to the justice of this supposition, in spite of himself. But he said with a struggle, “You think not.” “I would gladly think otherwise if I could,” she answered, “Heaven knows! When I have learned a Truth like this, I know how strong and irresistible it must be. But if you were free to-day, to-morrow, yesterday, can even I believe that you would choose a dowerless girl—you who, in your very confidence with her, weigh everything by Gain: or, choosing her, if for a moment you were false enough to your one guiding principle to do so, do I not know that your repentance and regret would surely follow? I do; and I release you. With a full heart, for the love of him you once were.” Glittering gold and loss beyond understanding: antiqued amber, English lavender, vetiver, and tea rose. Initially there's a lot of vetiver happening here. It's the most prominant note in the imp and wet on my skin. After a considerable amount of time the vetiver has mellowed out enough that the lavender and rose start to come forward. More lavender than rose. I'm not getting amber here, but I'm guessing it's blending with the vetiver. When everything has mellowed and softened up it becomes a rich, warm scent. This smells sophisticated and expensive.

I swiped this on before I left the house this morning because in the imp it smells interesting - like anise and cool water. Then I had scent remorse all. day. long. On my skin this quickly became overwhelmingly anise-y and developed a chemical leather/musky rubber dimension shortly after. My skin ALWAYS eats up scent. Always. I can apply super strong scents like Agnes Nutter and have them disappear in a few hours. This scent, however, clung to my skin despite numerous washings. Murphy's Law of perfume - the scent you dislike the most is the one that sticks to you like glue and lasts forever. I wish I would have gotten some vetiver out of this, it might have helped to balance out the sweetness of the anise, but such was not the case. There are a hundreds of bpal scents I love, this is not one of them.

This smells really good. It seems like a very classic kind of scent. It's not as heady or powdery as I had expected, rather it's sweet and just a little tart and makes me think of elegant Noir movies. Testing – I really, really like this. It's hard to describe. It seems both shadowy intense and lightly effortless. This almost smells like it has some musk, tobacco or a very light touch of warm brown leather in it. It could almost go into powdery territory, but I don't think it's going there. I'm testing Cobra Lily on my other arm right now for comparison and it's sharper and more pungent - Black Lily is smooth, creamy, musky. Black Lily manages to feel both alluring and comfortable at the same time. I think this scent seems easily unisex, Black Lily isn't a typical flowery scent, it's like dusk in a bottle.

I am genuinely surprised to see people saying that this blend comes across as peppery. I've smelled peppery bpal blends and this isn't one of them. This reminds me much more of Smut. It's incensy and seems to have more than a little red musk in it. There's something about it that makes me think of musky corn. I totally believe that's something weird about me, but the association is so strong that I couldn't review it without saying so - I have that same issue with Smut. It seems a little salty too. It's not a scent I would normally think I would like, but I've felt compelled to dab a little on every day for about a week now. It's one of those scents that against all odds seems to call out to me loud and clear. I'm glad to have a bottle and will consider obtaining a back up for sure.

In the bottle my first impression is a resiny herbal scent with a dry wood that reminds me of cedar. There's also a soft, warm feeling that is probably the musk. There's a very slight floral fruity element too. All of these parts blend together really beautifully. On my skin the orchid and pear really come out. There are some herbal undertones, but this is mainly a light and pleasantly sweet scent. It doesn't scream flowers or pear, the notes just mesh together and bring to mind a cool moonlight garden. I can't say that I ever detect patchouli as a presence, but maybe that's just me. To my nose this smells very similar to the Black Moon '06 version.

I keep this spray in my car because it's so grounding and soothing. To me it smells like dark wood, a hint of cologne, the feeling of old leather and cigar smoke. It's fantastic and although the sprays last a long time I might need another bottle because this is one I don't ever want to be without.

Sensual, decadent, and enigmatic. Lavender, softly underscored by lotus and spice. I put this on and just a minute later my son walked by and said, "you smell like gum". I had to agree. I've heard people say that lotus smells like bubblegum before but when I've encountered it in blends before it didn't come across that way to me, maybe because of the other components it was paired with. This one though, the first half hour or so is all bubblegum. A while later I had forgotten I had it on but kept smelling something kind of sweet and spicy, like carnations, so it pretty quickly morphed toward the spice. It seemed like a pleasant and happy sort of scent, but it didn't rock my socks.

In my decant it's pretty faint, I don't smell much at all. Skin testing - it's a lightly musky, sort of creamy, gentle lemon scent. I can picture a lot of people really enjoying this blend, it has a classic feel to it.

Little Bird, you totally nailed it. I thought this reminded me of something but I couldn't put my finger on it. It does feel like it's in the same family with Antikythera Mechanism. It's slightly sweeter and not quite as woody. I agree with you completely. It's like a slightly foody version of AM. I don't get any sense of coffee out of my decant, nor does it seem vetivery in the least.

Sniffing the decant I get the feeling of orange blossom honey, a bit of vanilla and the tobacco leaf. Pretty spot on with the description. The brown sugar is not overwhelming as I feared it would be. This is a nice honey scent. It's not cloyingly sweet. It smells naturally sweet and just a little floral. This would be a lovely scent for a young girl I think. Something about the honey and tobacco reminds me a bit of Door.

Sniffing from the decant - my first impression was musty orange peel, then pepper. Lots of pepper. Not what I was expecting at all. Skin testing – first blast is rather pungent and unpleasant. Strong on the caraway, I'm guessing mandarin leaf is the green citrus I'm smelling, and peppercorn. Intense. This is some seriously strong stuff that is wafting up from my arm. Wow. I smell like a pomander rolled in pepper. Later - this scent has mellowed out considerably. It hasn't changed since the wet stage but it has become much softer and cohesive. I mainly smell the citrus components, the pepper and the caraway. The other notes never show up. It has kind of an exotic, almost woody kind of feel to it. It's an unusual spicy scent and I ended up liking it more than I thought I would.

This smells very much like a clean floral blend that would scent laundry detergent or pretty shaped soaps for the guest bathroom. I was looking forward to the calla lily and amber, but don't detect either one of them here.

This scent reminds me of an almond cookie sitting in a spice cupboard. It's quite pleasant, but not quite what I was expecting. I think I had envisioned something kind of strongly spiced and maybe a bit musky, whereas this is a little more on the sweet and edible side of the spice spectrum.

In honor of the black moon today and the new vintage of SM that was recently announced I thought I'd bust out my bottle from '08 that I've been hoarding and give it a review. In the bottle it seems kind of sharp and pungent. Sniffing a moment longer something warm and inviting comes forward and starts mingling with the pungent element and it seems completely different than my first impression. Wet on my skin I get that bandaids thing that other people have mentioned - but just for like, 10 seconds. During the first few minutes this is some strong stuff. Lots of patchouli, lots of slightly medicinal resins. The scent strength is intense and I feel like I could probably be smelled a block away. I have a problem with scents fading, so I'm digging that. After about 15 minutes or so this blend has mellowed out and turned into something FANTASTIC. It has a warm, smooth, soft wood, patchouli base. There seems to be some spice to it, reminding me of warm and fragrant clove. It sparks my imagination to think of visiting an exotic spice market with wood and spice and resins all wafting around. I would think there's some bay rum in here, but it doesn't seem to be a listed note, so maybe it's just a similar feeling. Overall this is a gorgeous scent and it's no wonder people covet it. Edit to add: I received my 2011 version today. It seems to me like the dry down result seems the same as the previous version, which is awesome. The start is a little different though, a bit more mild and not so intense. I'm going to chalk that up to aging. I'm glad to have this bottle as a backup for when my '08 bottle runs out.

This is one of those blends where I feel like I'm sniffing a different scent than all the other reviewers. On my skin this is simply amazing. The black musk is there, but not as strong or sharp as it sometimes is (Haunted, Black Temple Burlesque Troupe). What I get is a sense of a more mellow, warm dark musk and a feel of dry woods. It's like if a nice warm and musky gentleman handed you a bundle of fragrant dried twigs. It somehow manages to be intense but not overpowering. I'm head over heels in love with this scent right now and very happy to have my first backup on the way. After some more testing I think that the dry woods I described is actually a blend of resins and just a faint touch of oakmoss. I pass this one over way too often because in the bottle it seems very faint to me, but I realize that I just have a hard time smelling resin scents in their containers. I need to get this into rotation more often, it's fantastic.

This is much lighter than I thought it would be. It smells fresh, green, and spring-like. On my skin I get mainly an impression of soft sweet vanilla with a very light green coconut element. After a bit of dry down a little of the frankincense seems to come through. I'm not sure which note or combination of notes is giving me a floral impression, but since there aren't any florals listed maybe it's just me.

I've come to really love this scent, especially since The Macabray was discontinued. It's cool, minty, and clean without being soapy. I find it to be very soothing during the summer months when the heat tends to make me nauseous.

The pine and juniper remind me of Golden Priapus too, but where G.P. is layered over warm amber and vanilla sweetness - Ranger takes those notes and adds yet more woods and moss. This feels almost like it could be one of the Yule snow blends. I'm not picking up on the buckskin, hay or patchouli that might warm this blend up, to my nose it's more of a snowy forest scent. It's a very peaceful scent.

First sniff: all I can think of to say is... interesting. This smells like, a sort of fruity and pavement kind of leather. Vetiver's in the mix saying a big hello too. Skin testing: it's making me think of asphalt and bananas. There's a burnt... something... element to this. Given a moment to soften up the whole thing has calmed down quite a bit and it's softly musky in an interesting and unusual sort of way. It reminds me of a toned (way) down Gore Shock. I still can't decide quite how I feel about it. Usually that means that I'll keep sniffing it and keep sniffing it until I end up loving it.

First sniff impressions: very plush smelling, lilies, opium, musk, reminds me of velvet and heady flowers and other decadent things. Skin testing: the green tea is giving this plush scent a lift and suddenly I feel like I'm in an import store smelling a bunch of incense, wooden boxes, and tea all mixed together. Oh, wait a second. All of a sudden it's turning soapy. I think the green tea took over, I don't even know how that's possible. Now instead of plush and exotic I smell like a generic, floral, soapy, mess. This seems to be a skin chemistry issue since it smells so good in the bottle and for the first few moments, so I'm going to try it in a scent locket and see what happens.

Scent impressions: I'm not all that great at telling certain kinds of florals apart from each other, but this is most certainly a lemony-floral blend. In the bottle it seems like a musky floral, maybe lavender or lily. On my skin a completely different aspect emerges and it smells like a heady mix of florals, like standing in a garden - and over the top of that is a tart but green sort of scent and it does remind me of when I've pinched lemongrass or lemon balm in my fingers, how it's kind of planty-green but also lemony. I'm usually pretty aware of rose in a blend, but I'm not noticing any in here. After a while the more mellow florals re-emerge and it really softens up when the lemon zing wears off. I bought BTC for its utilitarian purpose and I will enjoy using it in that context, the scent is also pleasant.