SophieCedar

I ordered The Raven and the labbie was kind enough to include a frimp of this. Very thoughtful! Wet: rose geranium right off the bat. The indigo musk, night-blooming jasmine, and plum start to twine with it quickly. Meaty warm benzoin is lurking in the background.. Drydown: a poignant patchouli joins in.. color impression is definitely an inky fluid blue black. The rose geranium stays dominant. Smells like a strange soap. I'm just happy that I don't smell urinal cakes or BMs like some other people!

Wet: Like others have said, definitely like they mixed O and Snake Oil. I was hoping the arabian musk was going to have more throw. Oh well... the spices are sharp and unique, plum wet & rounded, not heady and sweet. Drydown: my nose adjusts to this too quickly! I can smell it if I'm moving around (close to whirling dervish action). I believe it's perfect for those who are sensitive to smell, but I'm a smell junkie and need to drown in it in order to be satisfied.. *slather slather slather*

Wet: very meaty fruity flesh? there's a cranberry fruitiness but the only thing I can equate it to is skin coated in some fruity lotion surrounded by incense. There's a jumble of smells right now. The lily isn't there. the Mediterranean spices are there a bit. Drydown: the musk that was causing the fleshy smell has subsided. Now its sharper cranberry, smoky lily and spices (with a light light touch of ginger) smoothed together by the musk.. whew. Overall, pleasant and reminds me a bit of thanksgiving dinner here in Maine before the turkey (or tofurkey) comes out of the oven.

Mmm. Debating a bottle. Wet: Similar to arabian musk but smoother...where arabian musk is very pungent and hangs in the your nasal cavities, this glides through my nose like very fine incense. There's a sweetness of almond but it actually sticks around instead of disappearing immediately. Drydown: this makes me realize that red sandalwood is my favorite out of all the sandalwoods. Also, that carnation loves my skin, no matter what form. I smell and feel heavenly. Total brain vacation scent. The cassia just makes the whole thing a touch more intense without sharpness. Love love love.

Wet: strong white musk, like almost hippie shop shaman oil strong. I never thought I would smell that from a bpal scent! Water violet (sweet and slightly aquatic) and ylang ylang are dominant as well. I don't get any magnolia? Dryness of white sandalwood is there. Drydown: sweet refined expensive bath soap...not in a negative way. Reminds me a bit of Bat Woman but whiter and lighter. Very soothing! I can smell a touch of the magnolia. Some may reach for Dirty when they've had a hellishly fun night... I don't. This will be my "everything is ok. Hit the delete button on your memory bank" scent.

Brings peace to the spirit, a sense of calm and fulfillment, and attracts the aid of beneficial spirits. Very similar to Dirty, in my mind. There's a slightly greener edge to it. Light flowing green as others were talking about. It weakens quickly but makes me feel fresh & new while it's there.

Wet: strong red apple with a hint of opium and hemlock. No oleander at this stage. Drydown: a more bitter tang appears as the sweetness wears off. Oleander appears but is slipping in and out of the frame. I was hoping for a bit more opium here. Still nice but I wanted it headier instead of dry green bitter w/ red apple.

Wowowowooww. I can't believe a generous forum member gave me a sample of Cake Smash! Very greatful.. Wet: Creamy thick cream cheese frosting and cooled red velvet cupcakes! Smells like valentines day at my house last year! (minus the Wulric I was wearing and accidentally ate off my fingers..) Drydown: I can smell wafts of the SO and Doc Constantine but not really the Dorian, at first. Dorian comes out a little bit later. Lovely foody scent!

Wet: First thing that rushed towards my nose was a butter note. Pumpkin slowly trailing behind it like a bratty brother on the way home from school. I had to do a triple take at the ingredients because I totally didn't believe that it had tea rose or rosewood included. The pumpkin is so lush and pastry like! Drydown: Finally get the rosewood, sandalwood, and tea rose here. Lovely scent. The pumpkin dried out and moved to the back of the line. Bitter, clean, soothing, pumpkin!

Wet: soapy wet popppy and opium. Not dark resin opium, more of a lighter version, like belle epoque. Drydown: sweeter and softer. Much more enjoyable. Color impression is dry red.

Wet: I smell something like plumeria or sweetpea? Possible that it's the orris and linden flower mixed with lotus. The yuzu comes out quickly with the white ginger adding an exclamation point. I noticed yuzu is one of the lab's favorites for reanimated life, ghost, etc etc spooky notes. Works well in giving a sharp sense of awareness. Draws my senses to a focal point compared to say the floaty dreaminess of Shadowy and Sublime. Very misty.. not musty, musky, or foody. Drydown: the linden flower is finally notable. The lotus sticks around, which is surprising. Orris has a tendency to disappear on me.. White, slightly sweet, clean. I notice the tanginess yuzu tends to create on the sides of my tongue is still there.. even though the scent has almost disappeared. Interesting effect!

Saving grace: Fortunately, the pepper doesn't go completely rancid on me (which it's usually very wont to do). Wet: wet and furry, but not warm coconut + strong strong white sugar. Golden green angelica is notable as well. Drydown: drier, of course. More pepper, making this a sharp, acidic, spicy blackened blend of coconut and sugar. The angelica has disappeared. Confused about this one. It smells like my biker jacket under a baking sun? Weeeiiirrrd.

Reading the description, I figured this would be perfect for me. I purchased a bottle off the forum, without testing a smaller amount. Wet: OK, not a good idea to test randomly while at work. Especially considering we have a strong ventilation system...the red musk and smoky vanilla are STRONG and permeated quickly. I panicked and rushed to the bathroom for removal... Starting over in the comfort of my own livingroom...plus husband has a cold, so he won't be able to detect the explosion... I can now detect wet plum along w/ the smoky vanilla and red musk. Something else hits my nose like honeycomb? Think it's the clove mixing w/ red musk and a touch of patchouli. Mixed with the orchid and frankincense billowing, this is very thick, almost suffocating, during this phase.. not that it's a bad thing. There are worse smells to be suffocated by... Drydown: orchid, thyme (Styrian herbs? all I could find online was Styria is a SE region of Austria.), plum, red musk, and tonka. Something develops that's very sweet and candied at this phase. I smell like a musky gourmet lollipop. I was hoping to smell more peru balsam (one of my favorite singular notes.. vanilla sap). Interesting and glad I have a bottle. Baffled about the development, therefore I'll keep reaching for it.

Wet: nose away from wrist, the 1st note to run towards my nostrils was rum and a soft frothy aquatic note. Closer to wrist, I smell aged wood. Possibly a pine note. I can smell diluted flowers.. carnation and white rose maybe. Very rounded and meaty, not sharp or green. Drydown: smells like a lingering vegetal aftershave base.. musky w/ woods and a haunting of previously strong flowers. Seductive, with a sharp touch of aquatics and wood. An attention getter at this phase, if slathered.

I had avoided ordering this one for almost a year now.. the chocolate peppermint turned me off. But then again, now that I've been collecting for almost a year, I'm starting to get into the bizarre scents I avoided for so long. Wet: chocolate peppermint, grapefruit, tangerine, lime with geranium and oakmoss. strong even distribution combination. A paradox indeed that all these are notable! Dry down: the geranium peppermint greenness and oakmoss stick around with a ghostly citrus air. Peculiar!

I try to stay optimistic in my reviews, but this was.. sigh. In the bottle: apple, plum, dry leaves and a touch of smoke. nice! Wet: I hate to say it but must be honest.. On my skin, smells like a rancid compost pile, peed upon, then lit on fire. Sorry for the mental picture but Oh boy.. this one does not work on me, unfortunately. I've never had such a bad experience with a bpal scent... that's saying a lot after about 500 scents! The juniper and ivy combine forces with smoke, wine, spices, & dry leaves then amps to this loud impenetrable wall of gross. Drydown: I hung in there (lest we forget Encroaching Madness..? I'm hopeful.) It doesn't turn right on me at any point.

Wet: Moist ripe musk and sandalwood with earthy light violet and a touch of another wood (which my nose is not smart enough to identify). Very sensual and earthy but not overpowering. Drydown: Very translucent with a touch more dry wood. Imperial flowers=lily and light rose or tuberose? The violet is barely there and vetivert only offering a woody earthy base. Nice but I need to come back to it. I think I blew out my snooter...

Wet: Lovely, crystalline musk and jasmine with light clean rose and moonflower. Drydown: more incense and sweeter. The rose and jasmine turned down the volume. Not soapy on me, like others have complained of. I'm quite surprised this is working, considering the notes. The moss came out more and joined the incense and jasmine to make a heady sweet earthy floral blend. I place it in the same category as midnight or nocturne.

Wet: violet and white sandalwood with a touch of iris. Smells dark and feathery! Drydown: I can smell a bit more neroli here. Surprising as I was expecting the neroli to shoot out at me when wet, instead..the violet has turned much sweeter and the musk is notable now. Iris took over for a brief second but passed. Very accurate picture! I really like this after it's burned off a bit as the violet keeps creeping into the background and musk continues to push through. Just gets darker and darker but retains that glossy polish.

I've been trying to review this for 3 days now... was starting to convince myself that I'd never get around to it! Wet: This is sweet and meaty with dried fruit. Lavender, currant, myrrh, and something that smells like cocoa? The frankincense is tempered by the sweet dried fruit. There isn't a distinctive rose here. Surprising considering black rose is the 1st ingredient and this is a relatively dark oil.. Drydown: lovely scent but disappears! Can smell a touch of amber incense and bourbon geranium but super light.

The Gothic Lit set has me blown away. Each has been very complex and so well blended. Wet: Mint sage and brown musk with ozone. Feels exactly like a cool night with whipping wind. The brown musk isn't exactly petting zoo.. Reminds me of staying at an off season cabin in the White Mountains early November after the 1st light snow.

Most amusing scent I've ever experienced. In imp: smells like stale urine warmed against rotting foul clothing.. this is horrible! Wet: I smell flowers.. but still having the shivers from that urine stench and can't shake it... Allowing this to mature on my skin is equivalent to letting a poisonous insect crawl on me because a zookeeper promises it's friendly and only bites when provoked.... Drydown: I can smell the honeysuckle, chrysanthemum, and hydrangea. I think the addition of balsam is what makes this magically urine-ous. Being that there's over 600 types of helichrysum, I can't really determine what part it's playing...strange strange strange. Smells fresher and more beautiful, but I have wet phase PTSD...

Reminds me of a rich expensive perfume that I always wanted and never bought.. then forgot about once I got into BPAL. This is complex, opulent, and stirring. The moroccan amber is amazing and actually sticks around without turning the blend to powder. Ambergris and magnolia are the second most notable. The bergamont is tart & sweet with mint giving a green fresh yet edible bite to it. Wisteria provides a whisper of sweet & sad (my favorite) but it's just a whimper instead of a whine. The myrrh just ties it all together and provides that shadowy element... Completely perplexing and I want to drown myself in it then roll around in some velvet pillows and silk sheets. It's actually making me salivate? Strange! There's an undercurrent of pepper during the wet phase but it mellows in drydown. Buying a bottle along with the unsavory gravediggers for sure.

Wow. In imp: dirt note.. booze. I'm intrigued... tell me more. Wet: dirt, oakwood, dark booze with a slight vodka top note, and wet weeds. This is awesome and very realistic. Debating a bottle, as this simulates all the nights I've wandered around graveyards... Drydown: wet weeds and a brandy note. Warm rich oakwood. Color impression brown red with dark starry skies. **Amazing**

When first applied I smelled faint rose.. that was it. I did a second application and smelled the sandalwood and rotten cloth, then faint rose. Strange and very light. I'll keep it for the awesome label Absinthetics made.