whisperstilled

In Imp: Sweet candied orange and something darker - the tea, I believe, and the wormwood. A little violet, maybe a little blakcurrant mingling with that orange topnote, but mostly orange, at least right now. Wet: The orange is a little less cloying now, and the tea and wormwood are coming out a lot stronger. The blackcurrant is coming into its own as well, and the scent is becoming much more complex, thankfully. I like this more the more it dries. It's starting to smell like a really good, well-blended tea. Dry: At the start I didn't have high hopes for this one, but the orange has died back and is now more of a citrus compliment to the other notes. The blackcurrant has come up strong, giving it a darker fruit feel, and the tea really grounds the scent out. I'm very glad this didn't end up being a one note scent, even if it is a little too fruity for my tastes. 3/5

In Imp: Light, spicy sweet, and nutty. Checking the notes, I definitely get the marzipan and rose, the tonka I recognize right away from Hellcat, and the rum from the same scent is there as well. The sandalwood is there in the background to round the scent out and keep it from going too floral or too foody. Wet: Strong almond. The closest relative of this scent is definitely Hellcat (rum, almond, tonka) but this has a floral edge to it that scent doesn't. I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing, since the sweet, dark foodiness of it doesn't seem to require florals as well. Dry: Becomes much more floral on the drydown. The rose busts out and swamps even the almond with its busty forthrightness. Now in the background I get a little marzipan, a little rum, and a whiff of sandalwood. How sad! The opening stages of this were really interesting, but I amped the rose so hard it killed them. Still, this turns out a nice sweet candied rose, at least on me.

I've been hearing a lot of good buzz about this one, so let's see what it has to offer! In Imp: Less strong than I had expected. Some leather, maybe a touch of coffee. I definitely get 'middle eastern spices,' in fact so distinctly that I can name the other scent the note is in - Morocco, which has the same 'middle Eastern spices' listed in its description. Wet: This smells like Morocco with leather. I don't really smell the coffee at this point, unless it's a background note I'm just not getting. There is a touch of hazelnut now, and some tobacco amping up strong with the spices and leather. Dry: While it's not quite the sex on a stick I was promised, this is still a really nice scent. This is a grown up lady perfume, the sort of thing you were to a fancy outing or a date you've a really good hunch about. Pleasant, not as strong as I'd expected, sexy and well-blended. 4/5

In imp: Orange, vanilla, and tea. Sweet, but the tea counters it and keeps it from going too candied. The sandalwood and the carnation are there, but more as backing notes. Wet: Sandalwood coming out strong! The tea is there, and the carnation, and the orange and vanilla have fallen to the background the second it hit my skin. This is turning into a really nice, almost resiny sandalwood and carnation blend. It reminds me a lot of Morocco, but with orange and a touch of vanilla to complement the carnation/sandalwood blend. Dry: This is one huge shocker for me. I wasn't super impressed in the imp, but on the skin it's positively lovely. Sandalwood, orange, carnation, and vanilla, with tea as a nice solid backdrop. Somehow clean, woody, and sexy all at once. A surprise hit!

My decant circle just arrived, and in it was the decant of this scent I was lucky enough to grab before it was discontinued. I'm really excited tot try it! In imp: I smell every note - warm mince pie, the resin, beer, and wood. They're all almost equally strong as well, though the beer and the wood hit me first. This is definitely a unique scent. Wet: Beer with strong wood and pie notes. The resin is there to make the scent more complex, but more as a note that weaves through, not one that makes itself known in its own right. I'm still getting almost equal strength from the notes, which is what I find most impressive. This is a scent with some throw too. Even though I have another scent on as well, I'm smelling it from my arm as I type. This is sweetening as it dries, giving more of the pie and the fruits in the pie and less of the beer, but the wood is still going strong. Dry: This dries down to a really nice, comforting scent, and absolutely does create an image in your mind, BPAL yet again perfectly capturing a scene in a scent. This is the scent of a rowdy Victorian Christmas party. The drydown has some of the beer but not too much, which is perfect, and sweet mince pie with wood to back it and a dash of resin. A really pleasant, unique scent. I doubt it's one I would wear every day, but it's a very comforting Yuletime wear!. 4/5

In imp: Leather and that dark red musk from Smut, plus the cream and the pie to give it a little warm foodie edge, but nothing that is immediately identifiable as smelling like food. This is really very nice. I don't get much of the pepper except as a light background spice. This is a very warm, very smooth scent. Wet: The sweet cream comes out a little more on the skin, mingling with the musk. Then the leather suddenly amps and comes to the fore, which I have absolutely no problem with. This has ended up being a nice sweet red musk and leather blend with just a little foodie edge. Absolutely fantastic. I can already tell this one will be a winter comfort leather scent for me. It's got a deeper tone to it than Robotic Scarab, one of my other favorite leather blends. Delicious, this is a soldier riding a well-worn leather saddle. There is tea there in the background, but just as a very light complementing note. Dry: Love it! The red musk didn't go sick plasticky on me which it sometimes does, and just smells like sweet musky deliciousness. The best way I can describe it is Smut+Leather, without the added accouterments that similar scents like VILF have. Fantastic! 5/5

In Imp: What an odd scent. It definitely reminds me of what flavored marshmallows smell like, artificial and candy sweet. The pumpkin lends just a tiny bit of depth, but this is pretty much pure crystalline marshmallow sugar with a little spice to it. Wet: Pumpkin and marshmallow, as advertised. It smells weirdly like a peep, and while it's totally accurate I think this one may be a little too one note sweet, even for me. Dry: Weirdly plasticky sweet, and I'm afraid it's just not for me. Into the swaps! 2/5

I happened to get a half decant of this one just last night, bizarrely enough, and it was discontinued today. Figured I would review it and then pass it on! In Imp: Sugary, floral, with some resin and incense in the background. There's also a surprising touch of ozone for the lightning which is quite nice. Wet: This is very much a grown up lady perfume. On my skin the floral elements come out - and I definitely smell some orchid in there, though I'm not sure what else. It's going a little powdery as it dries. Dry: This one goes painfully soft and powdery over time, but it's still a very nice scent. 3/5

I've totally been looking forward to this. What's better than wood, leather, and olive oil? Mmmm. In Imp: A strong green note that I assume is the olive oil, with a tiny bit of backing leather and strong wood. I was hoping for leather to be the predominant note here, and the olive is a bit strange - mingled with the wood, it makes me think of a home depot, not a sexy workshop. Wet: Again, almost bizarrely green. This smells more like olive leaf to me (such as in Alecto) than olive oil. It's got a bit of a lemon kick to it, and I still get almost no leather, sadly. Dry: Still mostly olive with little else. Disappointing. Where oh where is my leather? I'm going to assume this was a fault of my skin and not the oil, because I've heard great things about this oil from other people, but I can still only give it a 2/5.

I'm a big fan of wine scents and so far I've liked pretty much everything I've tried from this set, so I've got high hopes for this one. In Imp: Myrrh and a strange, sour wine note. Not necessarily bad, but odd. Incensey, with maybe a touch of the oils that seem to underpin this entire set. I definitely get patchouli as well, which I was hoping wouldn't rear its ugly head too much. Wet: How odd. All of a sudden the sandalwood and jasmine come to the fore along with the myrrh, effectively killing most of the patchouli. The wine has also faded almost immediately. Dry: How bizarre! I expected a wine heavy scent and I ended up with a strong floral instead, but that is the way of rose, I suppose. I get rose, some sandalwood and myrrh, and not much else. What a bummer! Not a bad scent per se, but not what I was looking for. 2/5

In Decant: Warm, oddly herbal wood. There's something in this that reminds me of my grandparents' house, and I can't figure out what. Strangely sweet. I definitely pick up the tobacco, and almost no patchouli, thankfully. Wet: Sweet wood with a layer of herbal topnotes mixing and mingling with the tobacco. This is one odd scent. Dry: As the scent dries it deepens and becomes more earthy than sweet. The moss starts to come to the fore and calm down the cloying tobacco absolute. This scent is, for the record, much nicer as it dries. At first I thought we really weren't destined to get along, since the herbal notes were so odd, but this dries down to a slightly cologney, masculine, woody base. I don't know what it is I'm smelling that's grounding this so well, but by the time it dries individual notes aside from the tobacco are hard to pick out. The black musk definitely does rear its head on the skin, and the woody, sweet tobacco quality of the rest of the scent keeps it from becoming as harsh as it usually does. This is a total unexpected hit for me in the drydown stages, 4/5.

I've been hugely looking forward to trying this fabled scent, and now I have a decant in my hands! In Imp: Strangely medicinal, like a fruity magic potion. Mossy and fruity at once, but not citrusy - these are dark red fruits. I get the raspberry and the plum, but something in here is oddly dirty - has to be the patchouli, which I was hoping would take a backseat on this. Wet: This smells like something to me and I can't identify what. Christmas potpourri, maybe? There is something strangely dry about this scent, like dried plants. The pepper and patchouli give it a dirty, rough, earthy background, with wisps of light red fruits floating on top. Dry: Unfortunately this just wasn't the revelation I expected. It's definitely interesting, however, not like any other BPAL I've tried. It's a little too potpourri, a little too processed incense. I guess I'm thankful - I can hardly afford to be a devotee of this scent!

I lucked out and got a tester of this from a kind swapper. I've been interested to try it out, so let's see how it goes. In Imp: Sugary florals. Reminds me immediately of Boo and something highly floral, like Black Butterfly Moon without the dirtiness. Checking the description - yep, vanilla orchid just about covers it. I get a background hint of leather and thankfully not too much amber, so hopefully this won't go sick baby powder on me as amber tends to. Wet: Sweet vanilla and orchid, absolutely lovely, with some leather grounding it. I only get a touch of mossiness. This is decadent and elegant. It reminds me of the impression my mom's perfumes used to give me when I was little - that they were meant for fancy grown up ladies. I cannot emphasize enough how good the sugary vanilla and orchid are in this. I love orchid, so this is straight up my alley. Dry: As it dries I get some of the earthy stuff in the background, including, peculiarly, the clay, which I expected to be one of those phantom notes that is in the description but nowhere to be found on the skin. It smells like flowers reaching their roots down through a layer of clay earth coated in moss, flowers with a strong fragrance of sweet vanilla sugar, picked by a hand in a dark suede glove. This is what a light leather scent should always be. Phenomenal.

In decant: I got a tester of this a while back and I really loved it, so I'm so happy to have a full decant! In the decant I get Sweet snake oil and tonka with a touch of herby sage and some really sexy leather backing things up. Wet: Ummm. Can I pause a moment to say how amazingly sexy this is? I don't usually like herbal scents, but the sage works so incredibly well with the leather and the sexy snake oil smuttiness. Snake oil/leather is officially a new match made in heaven. This reminds me a touch of VILF but without the chemical nature of the leather, less musk, with a softer effect. Dry: This has swiftly rocketed up to the top of my list for leather scents, which is a distinction for me absolutely. It's amazing. This is a wear-every-day kind of scent for me. 5/5!

In decant: A splash of aquatics and ozone and some STRONG violet. This immediately reminds me of Iron Parasol V1. It's so close that the relationship is uncanny - that same strange, sweet aquatic violet. All it's missing is the backing metallic note to be exactly the same. I also get some fruit in this somewhere, pear maybe? Wet: I'm getting a tiny bit of olive now and some moss, but the strong florals still sit on top of everything else and obscure it almost completely. Sweet and strong, with only a little of the mossy earthiness to ground it. Dry: Not really sure what to make of this one. It's a strong floral with good throw and a very distinct scent, but I'm not a huge violet fan. I'll probably keep this one around and test it again when my nose is not quite so plugged up. For now, good, but not really my style. 3/5

As a caveat on this review, I have a cold at the moment, but I am going to do my best with the nose resources I do have! In decant: Earth, wood, and booze. Great so far! Wet: Surprisingly soft. I was expecting something with a little more of a punch, but it's still really nice. I definitely get the weeds, the wood, and the dirt in the background, with the booze warming it up. Dry: Rum, dirt, and wood. I'm not a huge fan of dirt scents, but the rum and the wood stay stronger than the dirt in the background and make a paradoxically clean and slightly boozy scent. This is definitely Halloween, but understated as far as spooky scents go. Really nice! 4/5

This season's Ridiculous Scent! Creepy like Creepy and as spooky as Spooky, this is the scent of a black cherry and coconut amaretto confection gently laced with saffron. Wet: Almond sharpness here and back again, with alcohol making the whole thing even sharper and bringing out the cherry. This is a scent that packs some punch. Straight up the nose. I'm getting a tiny bit of coconut on my breaths out through my nose, but otherwise not much. Going to give this one time to sit and see how it morphs. Dry: 2 minutes: Getting that softening effect and the cherry is beginning to smother the almond. 5 minutes: There is the cherry and the coconut! From a punch in the face alcoholic scent as it began, this has died down into a more demure foodie scent, but still quite pleasant. The opening almond and cherry are a little strong even from this almond/cherry lover, and it's died down into a pleasant enough scent to deserve another try and a full all-day test to see how it does.

In decant: A pumpkin latte, 100%! A creaminess in the background, the sharp kick of espresso, pumpkin and sweet sugar. Wet: Coffee and pumpkin and oh my god BPAL has done it again. The way in which Beth manages to capture concepts never ceases to amaze me. So realistic I feel like I could drink it, and so well-blended that, on the skin, it's hard to pick out individual notes. The coffee has died back some, for the better - I'm getting more of everything else now, sweet pumpkin and spices and milk. Mmmmm. Dry: Autumn, you are here in the form of sweet coffee and pumpkin on my wrist! I intend to wear this everywhere. I like it even better than Blue Pumpkin Floss or Ghoulish as far as the foodie scents go this year. I am going to be smelling like the inside of a Starbucks come Monday morning. 5/5

In bottle: Red musk single note. As I exclaimed when I smelled it, "Hot dayamn." Infernal lover, you are one evil, sexy lady. Wet: I don't know why, but I feel like I smell patchouli in this somewhere. Regardless, it's creamy and sweet and glorious. It reminds me of Smut without so much of the booze. This is sex in its purest form. Dry: What more is there to say? Simple perfection. This is one scent that may even be improved by layering because of its simple but lovely nature. As it is, I will take a tumble with The Infernal Lover any time, even if it may cost me my soul. 5/5

In bottle: Verbena, pine, juniper, and a claw swipe of ozone. This is a clean forest scent with the herbs to back it up. It makes me think of the misty forest in The Wolfman. Not much on the musk end, which is a bit of a disappointment, so let's see how it does on the skin. Wet: Pine, herbs, and a touch of musk. This is a quintessential October forest night, with fog winding around the trees and a young woman fleeing from a beast. It's appropriately cold, a scent of icy terror. Dry: Evocative of the concept and still strangely clean, this wanders a little close to soapy but swings back because of the verbena and the herbs. The ozone dies down a lot on the skin, which here is to the scent's benefit. I can't quite decide whether or not I like this one just yet.

In bottle: Earthy spicy, juicy berries, and cavity-inducing sweetness that is still up my nose even after I take the bottle away. This is one strange, unique scent Wet: The berry comes out more on the skin, then begins a fight with the sweet pumpkin for dominance. This definitely smells like candy, but not necessarily like candy floss. Dry: As it dries the pumpkin comes out more. All I can think of is how much this reminds me of Halloween candy. It's a little reminiscent of Rosy Maple, I think it must be the candy floss element, and it's deliciously sweet. Maybe almost too sweet, even for a sweet tooth gal like me! An awesome candy scent, though we will have to wait and see how wearable it is.

I got a sniffie bottle of this recently with a testable amount, huzzah! In Bottle: Bubblegum! With maybe a touch of spice. There's also something intriguingly boozy here, in the background. Wet: Still bubblegum, but now there's cake! Bubblegum cake, delightful. Whatever was the booziness seems to be fading quick, but yep, this is moist yellow birthday cake through and through. Dry: Spicy birthday cake with some cream that has unfortunately gone a little sour on my skin. Citrusy - at first I thought I smelled lemon, but it's definitely orange, and the cake and bubblegum are both fading to leave a sweet, candied orange scent. I wish the cake had stuck around to play more, but as it is, still, what a morpher! Bubblegum to birthday cake to candied oranges. Very interesting and complex. 4/5

I've been wanting to review this one for ages, so I'm really psyched to get a chance to try it! In Imp: Rich almond, spice, and chocolate. We are so on the right track so far. I know some people hate almond, even if I don't really get why, I couldn't love it more. It's such a warm, unique note. Maybe it's all in having really good childhood memories of my mom's almond shortbread at Christmas. Mmmm. That's what this reminds me of off the bat. Wet: Continues to be rich, spiced almond. It's a little more faded than I expected. A little cinnamon too, but thankfully not overwhelming. Dry: There's a little citrus, lots of almond, and a touch of cinnamon. I wish this didn't fade so fast, but it's really nice all the same.

In Imp: Bright, metallic, ozoney. Smells the way way aluminum tastes. This isn't necessarily a good thing. There isn't much else going on here. Wet: A little better on the skin. Whatever is sweet in it is coming out or being amped on me, but then the metal comes back and adds a weird sourness. Dry: I like ozone, but this one isn't for me. It's actually making me a little nauseous. I like metal notes, generally, but whatever is in this is just not working on me, with a strange sour sweet quality I just can't get into that makes the ozone sort of awful. There is something aquatic in this, but not something I like. 2/5

In Imp: Hmm, not too good so far. Some musk, very herbal and sort of medicinal. The patchouli makes for a weird, slightly incongruous background note, and I don't particularly like the combination with the jasmine. I was hoping the musk, plum, and floral notes would be more intense. Wet: Musk and patchouli with just a tiny, tiny bit of plum and a good amount of jasmine. Weird on the skin, as well. It smells exactly like the potpourri at my grandparents' house, and that is not a good thing. The geranium isn't helping - I was hoping for something sweeter, but this combination of notes creates a weirdly strong grandma blend. Dry: This has not gotten any better as it dried. Bad potpourri smell, definitely not for me. 1/5