ellebelle

1.5 oz gin ½ oz dry sherry ½ oz lemon juice 1 tsp pumpkin butter 2 dashes of Averna amaro Pour the gin, sherry, lemon juice, pumpkin butter, and liqueur to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake that mofo and strain it into a rocks glass filled with ice and a strong, spicy ginger ale. Stir gently, and garnish with a cinnamon stick or human finger bone. This is lovely! It's a bright, effervescent fizzy scent, reminiscent of the fizzy note in the atomic luau blends or perhaps velvet pink kitty. There is a light autumnal note in there from the pumpkin, but pumpkin haters take heart! It is not powerful. More it just adds a buttery richness to the scent. I love this and I see it being worn frequently.

Lush carpets, the heavy purple of deep mourning, stretch to touch walls covered in peeling, fading wallpaper and threadbare tapestries. The trompe-l'œil frieze is grotesque: misshapen creatures cavort lewdly, leering and clutching one another in strange embraces. The walls are hung with massive dust-caked portraits of ancestors long-dead, and desiccated calla lilies curl morosely in crystal vases set on ornate end tables. Whiffs of opium, tobacco smoke, sherry, and cologne hint at crumbling decadence and the echoes of buried perversions. This is a strong opium scent, which is a note that I love. In the wet stage, this is just a giant blast of opium. As it dries, more of the notes become apparently - I get whiffs of the tobacco smoke which add a "dirty" aspect to this scent and then I get something in the background that is very sour smelling and sharp. It is this note which is making me sad because the rest of this is gorgeous. As it goes to the full dry down, that sharp/sour note goes away and I get beautifully rounded opium/tobacco smoke/sherry goodness. I have to think on this as wet and dry and beautiful, but that dry down phase is a little rough for me. I have to wonder if this has myrrh in it somewhere, because that seems to be a common note in blends that I associate with that distinctive sour/sharp scent.

The Amalthea Gossamer Ring: flecks of pink ice haloed by rose-tinted amber. For me, this scent is definitely in the "snow" category of BPAL scents. I don't get much Amber or Rose specifically - more of a rounded, adult smelling ice scent. I think the Amber is taking the edge off of the snow note because I don't get that ozone-y scent here. Ugh, this is a terrible first post!

METAL TIGER A new year's blessing! Peony, China's national flower, with bamboo for flexibility, plum blossom for perseverance, courage, and hope, tangerine for wealth, orange for happiness, lychee for household peace, pine resin for constancy, golden kumquat and quince for prosperity, narcissus and King mandarin for good fortune, cypress for longevity, and peach fruit and hemp to represent the fourth phase of Wu Xing, with a splash of blazing red of dragon's blood... to help you scare away the rampaging Nian. In the bottle: Smells like a slightly woody grapefruit with a little floral tossed in there. Since there is no grapefruit in this, I have to assume that is the melding of all of the fruit scents - or perhaps the lychee? Wet: Lychee, lychee and more lychee. Maybe some orange and tangerine tossed in there. Wet, this is a very bright citrus scent. No sign of the florals, the woods, or the dragon's blood resin. drydown: I start to smell the peach a little more, but this is a still predominantly a light, fruity scent. The grapefruity sharpness wears off on the original drydown and Some of the more floral notes ground it a bit. I do not get any dragon's blood resin, so for those scared of this note, it might still be worth trying this. verdict: If you liked Hungry Ghost Moon, I think you'd like this. They are definitely in the same scent family. Also reminds me a bit of Boabhan Sith (with the grapefruit sharpness).

LORD TEISHIN WITH A DEMON BEHIND A SCREENBlood red musk, Spanish mandarin, candied red fruits, Chinese geranium, red pepper, and effervescent tangerine pulp. This is really interesting... it is a kind of peppery, effervescent citrus. The tangerine note from BPAL is always kind of sparkling to me, and this is no exception. The geranium and the red pepper are adding the spicy note that co-dominates this blend. Red musk is usually a little so-so on me, and I don't find this blend particularly heavy on the red musk. The muskiness blends in with the other notes. On the dry down, the spicy-musky scent takes over this blend and I lose the citrus entirely. This does not surprise me, as citrus rarely sticks with me. Really interesting. I like this, but I think if I wore it next to me face it would give me a headache as it has quite the powerful throw.

ENLIGHTENMENT OF THE COURTESAN JIGOKUDAYUSilken coconut, angelica, soft golden incense, tiare, carnation, and Asian pear. This is very, very sweet both in the bottle and wet on my skin. If I didn't know the notes, I would have thought that cream and sweet pea were elements in the blend. It has a very sweet, creamy feel to it. I think that the sweetness comes from the fruit in it and maybe the coconut. This does not smell at all like suntan lotion to me, so maybe "silken coconut" is different from regular old coconut? Sadly, I do not get a strong carnation or tiare smell, which is too bad as they are my favorite note. Instead, everything blends together into ... sweetness. This, to me, is in the same scent family as Agape and blends like it. Pretty and quite girly. As it dries down, the scent does not really morph. Low throw.

I hope this is the right place for this? I really like the release Last Unicorn Lilac Wood, so I thought I would take a chance on this blend (based on speculation that LU = Last Unicorn). This to me is the strong scent of broken stems and sap and a hint of lilac. In other words, not so different from the released version. I would say that the prototype is grassier than the released version and lacks the hint of sweetness that is present in the released version. But overall, this is quite pretty and does not stray too far from what is released. I like them equally.

THE LADY OF LAKE RONKONKOMA Lake Ronkonkoma is rumored to be a bottomless lake and conduit to the netherworld. The gods of the Lake demand an annual sacrifice, using the restless spirit of a long-dead Seatauket maiden to lure unsuspecting men to their doom. Balsamic, reedy water, sweetgrass, algae, loosestrife, and lady’s slipper. I find the Lady of Lake Ronkonkoma to be a salty aquatic in the same family as Jolly Roger and A Fit of Artistic Enthusiasm. Wet, it smells almost a little bit floral and kind of bright. As it dries, it darkens into a reedier, saltier scent - I'm envisioning a lake bottom with this scent. This is a unisex scent to me - it smells good on me, but I think it would smell good on my boyfriend as well.

The Land of Cheerfulness: blood orange and apricot with Chinese geranium, Italian bergamot, langsat pulp, cardamom, white peach, and white sandalwood. On me, this is bright and cheery - very citrus heavy with the predominant note being bergamot. It reminds me strongly of some of the "metal" Chinese new year scents. On dry down, I get a touch of the peach and sandalwood. I got no cardamom or geranium at all. So pretty and so perfect for spring. This was my first lunacy in ages and I love it.

Blue-ribbon squashes, tomato vines, pomegranate rinds, grand displays of hay bales, copious amounts of American beer, and an eleven-ton monstrous cheese. This sounded so strange, but it's a beautiful, sweet, green scent. I definitely get the vegetal note from the tomato vines and the squashes and I think that the sweetness is from the pomegranate rind. Nothing smells like stinky cheese, so whatever that notes is just rounds it all out. Simply stunning.

MOON OF HORSES One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt. Grape vines, cinnamon, frankincense, olive leaf, red wine, saffron, stacte, galbanum, costus root, smoke, and brimstone. This is a really interesting scent. This is fresh out of the mail, so my opinions MAY change. But! In the bottle, I smell mostly grapes and wine. When this is applied to the skin though, the first scent I can only describe as vegetal. Not green, like grasses or herbs, but green like the BPAL scents with the tomato notes in them. My nose detects easily the olives and the smoke/brimstone scent, but I can't pick out any of the other scents individual. Cinnamon fearers, rest easy; I cannot smell cinnamon in this a bit and it does not give me a skin reaction. Overall, I don't know if I really like this or not. It is certainly an interesting scent. Try this if you like the earthy scents.

BAKUNAWA Ang bulan namon sang una, sang una Guin ka-on sang bakunawa Malo-oy ka man, i-uli, i-uli Korona sang amon hari. In the far-flung mists of time, long before man walked the earth, Batala, the Omnipotent Creator, set seven moons in the sky. The radiant dance of the moons enchanted the bakunawa, dread serpents of the oceans. In thrall to their gluttony and longing, the bakunawa rose out of the depths of the sea to swallow the moons whole. Hypnotic, luminous lunar herbs and blossoms radiating forth from a blend of midnight musk, jungle orchids, oakmoss, and palm. I guess I'm first? I put this on before I remembered what was in it. It is a very well-rounded scent - so much so that it was difficult for me to pick out any notes in particular. I thought for a moment that it might have opium in it because it's kind of a dark, musky scent but I think it was the midnight musk I was smelling. The herbs are particularly not present. It's mostly orchids and black musk on me. I was hesitant in ordering this, but I like it very much, actually! It's a grown up, sexy kind of scent. If you like BPALs with opium or black musk as a predominant note, give this a try.

THE ORCHARDS OF HELL Pomegranate, mint, aconite, black poppy, white rose, narcissus, willow bark, wonder-flowers, asphodel blossoms, and poplar. I had actually hoped for more pomegranate in this, but it's not a major player. The first squirt smells heavy on the narcissus but as that fades, it leaves a rounded, refreshing whole. I like this because it's a scent you can spray that doesn't scream "ROOM SCENT" - it just freshens, and I think that's nice.

Antiwar [and] anti-everything-that's-smelly: sweet red patchouli and orris root with bourbon vanilla, caramelized labdanum, peru balsam, and almond milk. This is tested straight out of the mailbox! The wet stage is all almond extract on me (which is usually how it is for me with anything that contains almond.) However, that fades quickly and I get mostly sweet resins. The patch is there, but it's not super strong. It's kind of a swirling, sweet, resiny scent - it's pretty reminiscent (to my nose) of Misfortune Teller v3, but with a patchouli base note. It's really nice - a winner!

Very green - I would guess grass or dandelion as one of the notes. Also a little of the BPAL dirt note and either lillies or orchid. I'm on the fence on this one - I think this is really pretty. It's a green aquatic scent that - at least to me! - doesn't go to cleaner.

Yep, I agree with zankoku_zen. Herb, some kind of spice, and a sort of salty/rummy scent. I would love this as a candle, actually, but it's a little too masculine for me.

I feel like maybe this goes much stranger on my skin than anyone else's who has reviewed thus far. The first blast is that sort of musky spicy scent, but the dry down on my is tea. I smell that distinct lemony note that I associate with scents where tea is a major component. Pretty, but not for me.

I'm really surprised that Miss Anna isn't getting more love. In the bottle there is something harsh and a little unpleasant smelling but as soon as it goes on the skin it morphs into a beautiful, soft scent. It has an almost vanilla quality to it from the cacao (I think perhaps white cacao?) and almond mixture. The predominant floral scent I get is that of cherry blossoms and wisteria. I can't really smell the violet at all. The sum total is a wispy floral backed by a warm vanilla-ish base. The drydown is a tiny bit powdery - I suspect that this is the violet making itself known. Still, this is a pretty scent.

Anthesteria, one of the four central feasts of Dionysus, is held for three days during the month of Anthesterion-- the time of blooming. It is a celebration of the birth of spring, expressed symbolically though the ceremonial opening of the pithoi containing the previous year’s vintage. A time of joy and drunkenness, it is both a celebration of earth’s renewal and springtime’s bright passions and a festival of the dead. During the three nights of Anthesteria, the ghosts of our ancestors roam the streets. This commemoration of death and rebirth, passion and springtime was one of the few, precious moments when all were equal in the Hellenic world; during Anthesteria, man, woman, and child, free man and slave, human and spirit were all unified under the auspices of Nature’s great cycle. Dénthis wine and Bibline grape, with honey and a touch of thyme and oregano. For me, this is mostly white wine. It seems like the same wine scent from Horreur Sympathique and from Bon Vivant. I also get some sticky sweet honey as well. No thyme or oregano to speak of. There is almost a tropical feel to this scent - I get an almost quince like effect from the wine and honey. Pretty!

This went to straight up baby powder on me.

Blackwood and sandalwood, cashmere and Moradabad brass, camiki and pippali, Kali Mirchi and sesame, all swirled in a warm mélange of incense and jaggery. To me, this smells like soap at a fancy restaurant. I can't pick out any specific notes other than a well rounded soap smell.

LE REVENANT Comme les anges à l'oeil fauve, Je reviendrai dans ton alcôve Et vers toi glisserai sans bruit Avec les ombres de la nuit; Et je te donnerai, ma brune, Des baisers froids comme la lune Et des caresses de serpent Autour d'une fosse rampant. Quand viendra le matin livide, Tu trouveras ma place vide, Où jusqu'au soir il fera froid. Comme d'autres par la tendresse, Sur ta vie et sur ta jeunesse, Moi, je veux régner par l'effroi. - - - Like angels with wild beast's eyes I shall return to your bedroom And silently glide toward you With the shadows of the night; And, dark beauty, I shall give you Kisses cold as the moon And the caresses of a snake That crawls around a grave. When the livid morning comes, You'll find my place empty, And it will be cold there till night. I wish to hold sway over Your life and youth by fear, As others do by tenderness. -- Charles Baudelaire, translation by William Aggeler. A shroud of gardenia, narcissus, and sandalwood with ambrette seed, white cognac, muguet, davana, and white musk. On me, this is almost all white musk, all the time with a touch of high white florals. I was hoping for that rich cognac smell, but I don't get any of that.

I find this to be fruitier than I expected. The first whiff is all pomegranite and it remains pomegranite heavy as it dries. In the drydown, the pomegranite is backed by soft woods which are sadly a little pencil shaving-y on me, and the smells are not blending as I would like them to. On the fence - I have to let the settle and see if I like it better in a couple of weeks.

I like this very much - a nice clean citrusy smell. I get very little herbaceousness and practically no lavender.

This is magical. The olive blossom note is the same as in tabella, and there is just the slightest hint of incense over a very light peach. Not sweet at all and very complex. I love it! Wish it were a perfume.