Invidiana

I was really holding out hope this would work because of the cake and tea, which is what it seems to be wet, but the drydown does disastrous things on my skin. The "strangely-glowing cucumber sandwiches" note takes over with a vengeance and ends up being very discordant with everything else, to the point that it starts to make me slightly nauseous and I have to scrub it off. It's not only the cucumber but something else in the "strangely-glowing" part that I can't quite place which clearly doesn't agree with my chemistry.

Wet this is all sharp herbal eucalyptus, mint and citrus, which is altogether very bracing and succeeds in making your eyeballs bulge out of their sockets. It's one of those "if you weren't awake yet, now you are" type of scents. The leather emerges fairly quickly, and while nowhere near as strong as DeSade is still too masculine for me taking the other notes into account. The sharp edges are softened somewhat as it dries down, and I can imagine it would play nicely with a guy but just isn't for me.

I knew I would love this, and I was completely right. It's at the same time dark and golden, an incensey and mysterious scent with a tropical overtone. Wet it's all vanilla amber, which is lovely in itself, but as it dries down the complexity really starts to shine through. The resins deepen, and smooth dark bed of vetiver and oude adds an appropriately sinister quality. All of this is washed in the velvety tropical orchid and champaca and coconut with just a hint of fruitiness from the blackcurrant and white peach. I absolutely love this and am so glad it will be available indefinitely.

First of all, the bottle art is amazing. I need to take a picture of it after my pounding skull has fully recovered from the trip. I first sniffed this from the neck, before even opening the cap. Right away I got the scent of an island, but a mysterious island--there is green in it, yes, but it's so much more complex than that. Thick foliage, tropical flowers, something else I took to be mist. It was mesmerizing. Wet, there's initially a lot of green and salty seaspray. It's another one of those for which you need to wait for the drydown to fully appreciate it. As it dries down, the vision of the island on which the story In Reilig Oran is set slowly begins to flesh itself out. The green, which is the shadowy green of a dark forest overrun with vines as opposed to the nauseating grass clippings I got from Strawberry Moon 09, has a hazy and even sinister quality that is right on target with the story and makes this one of the precious few green scents that I will actually wear. The seaspray also calms down into more of a sea mist as it was when I sniffed it from the cap, shrouding everything in further mystery. There is definitely a lush floral undertone to this too; possibly some orchid or gardenia, which add a hint of sweetness and femininity but are subdued enough to keep with the sinister vibe. A hint of earthiness is in the background though it doesn't come out screaming "dirt" on me but just adds to the shadows. When I read Neil's teaser description I was afraid that this would be too masculine, but I would actually classify it as unisex. Overall it's evocative of an ancient and otherworldly forest and a beautifully haunting scent. In Reilig Oran is very special to me because it is now permanently tied to the experience of meeting my idol Neil Gaiman and finding out that at my age, he was at exactly the same stage in his career that I am and would have never believed he'd become "this--this thing I am today". As a writer and artist myself who still works a desk job 40 hours a week, I almost cried knowing that even Neil started out like this. Every time I smell this, the memory that rushes back gives me a much-needed infusion of hope for the future, and I will never forget the one answer that forever changed my outlook on life. For that reason I will always treasure this bottle.

This is just about as sinister as you can get without the beast whisking you off in a black chariot. Wet there's more seaweed and oakmoss, but as it dries down they move to the background and let the impenetrably dark, but still just sweet enough, opoponax shine through along with the clove. Thankfully the pepper and pimento behave on me and add some emphasis to the clove without turning sharp. Finally, the tobacco note wreathes it in deliciously evil smoke that accents the rest of the blend but doesn't take over. If this is the way Ekhidna is now, I can't wait to see how it ages.

The Finnish Goddess of Agony, Torment and the joy found in inflicting pain on others. The Mistress of Torture, she has transformed in the modern era into the patron Goddess of Dominatrixes. The slap of slick, hot leather punctuates the warm, sensual embrace of black amber, red musk and dark, lascivious myrrh. I was hoping not to like this, that the leather would do terrible manly things on me like De Sade, but alas...I got an imp directly from the Lab by some happy accident and it's sexy as hell. The leather is smoky but not masculine smoky and really more of a backdrop for the intensely sensual resins and musk which just keep deepening as it dries down. It's a very heated scent, literally hot sex in a bottle. Until I manage to track a bottle I'm saving it for special occasions.

This is absolutely amazing. The cocoa actually doesn't come out very dry on me, probably because most resins sweeten on my skin, hence the gold amber sweetens it up. When you put the two together, it's like--royal chocolate. I love cocoa/chocolate notes in themselves but the addition of this rich and shining amber brings it to a regal and exotic level, like a gilded Middle Eastern palace. It's foody and yet not foody, just chocolate enough and just resinous enough; very well balanced and simple-sounding but with gorgeous depth.

I knew this would be a winner for me and had no qualms about ordering a bottle unsniffed. I was more than right; the rich cocoa vanilla stays at the forefront the entire time, but as it dries down gradually gets deepened by the myrrh and warmed up by the sultry sandalwood. I can't wait to see how it ages.

I love this because it's a combination of two fabulous things: rich sticky apricot and sexy, mysterious black patchouli. Sounds like it wouldn't work, but does it ever! It's like evil candy.

Dressed seductively and sumptuously, reclining in a bed strewn with glorious, sensual blooms, she awaits the arrival of her lover. Her breath is quick with anticipation, and her cheeks are flushed with passion: skin musk, wild orchid, champaca flower, amaranth, tonka bean, and French vanilla. This is just gorgeous--a sweet creamy exotic floral doused in French vanilla, warmed up by skin musk and made more sensual by tonka. If you think you don't do florals, it's things like this that converted me.

You really need to give this a chance to dry down to experience the total beauty of it, because it's a gorgeous incense, and I love my incense. It's one of those that doesn't smell of much in the bottle and wet but when it's dried down...amazing. It turns out to be a beautiful honeyed sandalwood incense with golden resins and skin musk warming it up further. The sandalwood emerges first, followed by the resins, and the honey just gives it that crowning touch that takes it to another level. Even though it's not listed in the original recipe, I'm stubbornly insisting there must be skin musk in it because it just has that warm-skin feel. It's not smutty but still an extremely sensual skin scent. Total love.

Dirty. Sexy. Citrus. Fruit and patchouli just do the naughtiest things together. The blood orange/mandarin, patchouli and amber are the most prominent notes on me, in that order; I don't get much peach or ylang ylang or violet but I can tell there's something additional in there giving it body, and I can tell there's a bit of ylang ylang adding to the seducive feel. If you like Depraved, which is in a similar vein except with apricot instead of orange, you're going to love this.

This is lush, creamy and exotic. I think if it was straight orange blossom and ylang ylang those would amp to eleven on me and turn it cloying, but the amber/ambergis, musk and coconut are able to hold their own against the florals and turn it into a velvety tropical scent. I get plenty of coconut, and the ylang ylang shows up more than the orange blossom; it's warmed up by the skin musk and grounded by the amber and ambergis. Like MCS said, it's like fancy sunscreen, or as I'd put it, seductive sunblock, but I love scents like that so if you're into those, don't miss this! I really want to get away to somewhere much warmer than New Jersey now.

This is for the original. Sniffing Beaver Moon I feel like I've died and gone to vanilla heaven, without all the calories. Vanilla cheesecake, vanilla cupcakes and mounds of vanilla buttercream. In the beginning I seem to detect a hint of coconut, which moves to the background pretty quickly. Not like I'd care if it even stayed where it was, because I love coconut, so it's great either way. Then the vanilla, butter and cream notes just keep getting richer...and richer...and richer...wow. I'm glad I have this for smelling and not eating, because I'd end up having a coronary before I turned 25!

Fantastically foody and rich, rich, rich. First it's a burst of sticky oozing blackberry jam, and definitely some brown sugar only making it thicker and stickier. As it dries down a wonderful creamy note emerges, I'm guessing sweet clotted cream, and finally a buttery pastry that has to be the crumpet. I know crumpets on their own aren't buttery but adding butter in perfume wont add calories, so I'm all for it! So put those three elements together--sticky fruit, rich cream and buttery pastry--together and you have a total dessertgasm. I absolutely love this and because a little goes a long way, my bottle will last me a really long time!

For a squid this actually smells really good. Thankfully I don't get any pot type of smell from the cannabis blossom but I guess the blossom smells very different from the actual plant. There is lots of seaspray when this is still wet, but as it dries down it fades to a slightly salty tang and the rich resins and tonka make an appearance and the tea gives it a bit of a resfreshing citrusy edge; not bitter like F5 came out on me, but beachy and exhilarating. There is a tiny bit of smokiness from the tobacco and galangal but nothing overpowering. I'm very glad I don't get the one note I was worried about, the aloe; maybe it just contributes to the coolness of the seaspray in the background, but it isn't prominent. I think this was the biggest surprise out of the Sakura-con scents because it could have been either a major win or major fail on me, but fortunately it turned out to be the first one.

Smoky, woody, and sweetly resinous. I love scents like this. When I first put it on it's very smoky and woody and I was fearing it would end up being pure man on me, but it the resins and honey emerged and quickly sweetened it up, with the woods still present but behaving and giving it a smooth background, and the tobacco smoke acting as a wreath of smoke and not overwhelming like the smoke in Djinn is on me. The pepper is a bit sharp in the bottle but thankfully it calms down after drying down on my skin and just adds a slight kick but nothing too masculine or sneezeworthy. The honey isn't a prominent note that really announces it's honey but mixes well with the resins, acting as a sweetening agent. All in all, very sexy for a sumo wrestler!

This is a lovely exotic and velvety floral. The vanilla orchid is the dominant note on me, a not-quite-foody but still silky and sweet vanilla which is given depth by the amber. Amyris is a flowering plant in the citrus family, and while I'm not getting anything citrus, along with the tubersose it's giving the vanilla orchid more body. All this is poured over a bed of white sandalwood, which warms it up and makes it more come-hither. Even though it's not overtly screaming sex, Echo is quietly sensual, and I love it.

Am I the only one who is absolutely loving this blend? *looks around* *hears crickets* I now waive responsibility for any permanent looks of shock acquired from reading this review. That said, it's like a lovely syrupy caramelized wood on me. No anise, no sharpness, nothing like that on my skin. I don't get much narcissus--just a tad wet but it quickly fades, which I have no problem with. After that it's dark and gorgeous opoponax that's got this caramelized quality to it, maybe as a result of blending with the wood or just because of the nature of this species of opoponax. I love oude and this is a rich, warm and sensual kind that does not disappoint. I have no idea what duosmon is and I basically scoured the internet for it, but whatever it is it's only contributing to the beauty of this on me; maybe that's what gives it the caramelly smell, who knows. Finally I do get the vanilla in the background which adds a velvety rich softness to the background. Overall, this is gorgeously dark and has a delicious bite, and I love it.

On me this came out exactly like a dusty, musty basement. It hits the nail on the head with the rotting wood alright, and it's a strong, manly rotting wood on me, seeing how my skin likes to amp many of BPAL's woods to high heaven if they're not doused in vanilla or fruit or caramel or something in that vein. I wouldn't be surprised if some moldy cedar was lurking in there. I have to say this would be interesting as a candle because I am strangely intrigued by the smell of haunted house, just not on myself and especially not when it veers towards uber-masculine territory.

If you can find it, Hearth 04 is a good one--lots of comforting cherry tobacco.

The black raspberry and apricot cordial (in that order) are the two most prominent elements on me, and I'm just fine with that. It's just boozy enough, which I like, and while it's fruity there's enough tartness there to keep it from venturing into cloying territiory (B&B Sun-Ripened-Raspberry, anyone?) I do get a background of white chocolate, and since this is a "truffle" scent I'd expect it to be more about the filling than the chocolate, which is really just the shell. I'm a sucker for the sweet and foody stuff so this is right up my alley, and the zero-calorie factor doesn't hurt either.

The notes all sounded like they should combine to make magic on my skin, but unfortunately this turns out way too masculine on me, as scents intended to be masculine often do. I expected it to be more dominent on the booze and musk, like a smoky-sweet booze, but it turned out extremely smoky on my skin with some very manly musk and booze and a hint of lime in the background and no trace of the orange blossom water. I can tell this would be sexy on a guy, but I couldn't pull it off.

Wow. I never thought there was a "creamy resinous wood" category of fragrances but apparently there is, and this is a shining example. It smells mostly of the cream in the bottle and wet, but in a minute or so it just blossoms into this amazing perfectly balanced scent of sexy, very sandalwood-esque teak absolutely drenched in creamy amber. There's a foody aspect to this but it's not a foody scent per se. I don't really get lotus out of it, maybe that just rounds out the blend with a touch more of femininity but I can't particularly pick it out. It also has amazing staying power, and my skin doesn't need much perfume to amp it around to begin with, which made me relieved that I won't have to hunt down another bottle.

No, this doesn't smell remotely like its namesake; it's a deliciously come-hither scent. It's more sugary wet, but as it dries down it blooms into its full blory with the golden honey and beeswax and copal resin giving it a beautiful richness and depth and the sugar cane adding a bit more sweetness to the sticky resinous base but not in a cloying way. Then the skin musk emerges, and while it's not exactly a smutty musk it's warm like human skin and extremely sexy. The vanilla flower adds a delicate dimension to this scent--it's in no way a faint or perfumey floral, just gets a feminine touch in the background. Now I love my Smut and simialrly smutty blends, but I also love this for being extremely sensual even though it isn't a "dirty" scent per se. Just need to keep the bottle safely hidden when I wear it to work, or else I'll surely get fired in half a second.