Miss Lynx

Hmmm... a nicely spicy, musky, incensey scent, with very dark undertones - fairly appropriate to its inspiration. Although it's not bad on my skin, it does smell more like a men's scent than not. Sometimes BPAL scent designed for men do end up working on me, sometimes they don't, and sometimes it's kind of in the middle -- this would be one of those latter times. I can wear a scent like this, but it does smell a bit like I've been playing in the men's section of the perfume testers. In a way, this one is reminiscent of Scherezade, though Scherezade is undeniably feminine on me. It's like the High Priest is Scherezade's older, evil-cultist brother -- or butch sister, maybe. Or a spicier Loviatar, perhaps -- there's definite similarity there as well. I do kind of like its murky, musky, evil spiciness, but I think it may be a tad too heavy for me. Ultimately, I am not really butch enough to pull something like this off successfully. Grade: B

Rosewood and black cherry with white musk, red rose, red musk and a spark of lavender. On first sniff: soap! But a fairly nice sort of soap. The lavender definitely jumps out in front of the other notes once it's been on for a few minutes, but the others are still there to some extent. And the rose isn't dominating the scent as much as it usually does on me. Basically, it's a light, pretty, and, well, kinda soapy floral-musk. And very feminine, to my nose -- it seems odd that it's named for a male character. That is one girly king there. It seems like there's something citrussy in it as well, though I don't see any citrus listed. But there's a sort of tart, tangy element to it, which along with the lavender, makes it smell very... clean. Overall, it's a nice, light scent, but it smells far more like something I'd bathe in than wear as a scent. It smells like really nice soap, from some kind of specialty shop, but it's still, well, soap. Grade: B

Interesting... at first sniff, this is very, very green. I can definitely pick up rose leaf, even without having a clear sense of what that would smell like beforehand. It's very pungent at this stage, and not entirely pleasant. Somewhere between perfumey and medicinal. Once it settles in a bit, there's a definite woodiness coming out from underneath, which smells cedar-ish -- I suppose the rosewood, but it's smelling more like cedar to me right at the moment. And there's a sweetness overlaying it that's almost like rose (as in the actual flower rather than the leaf), but not quite -- I've noticed rosewood having a slightly "rosy" scent before, so I suppose that's where it comes from (and I suppose would account for rosewood having that name). At this stage, it's reminding me a bit of Pulcinella and Teresina from Carnival Diabolique, though there's still a little more greenness in it than that one has. It smells a bit like some kind of Victorian perfumed sachet, a sort of floral/woody/herbal blend. Or maybe a wooden box full of potpourri -- real, traditional, potpourri, not the perfume-doused wood shavings that pass for it these days. Not getting any discernable hazel, though. The longer it stays on my skin, the more the woody notes come out. It still has a gentle floral-herbal sweetness overlaying it, but it's now more of a wood scent than anything. It's quite subtle at this stage, nothing like the sharpness it has when it's fresh. And there's something very old smelling about it -- I don't mean in any sort of bad way, but more like the scent equivalent of some treasure you'd find in a vintage store. Very much a Victorian sort of feel to it. It lasts quite a long time, but seems to swing back and forth between likable and not so likable, with the end result that I really don't know what I think of it. It's very unique, though, that I can say. Maybe I'll try it at other times of the month and see if it settles down to a case of like or don't like. Grade: B, B+ or B-, from one moment to the next

This is a gorgeous scent, but very much not me. It smells like a sophisticated, expensive perfume... predominantly floral, but warmed by amber and musk, and with the fruit notes offsetting the florals nicely. Though alas, not enough to stop my skin from amping them all to hell. I almost feel like I'm repeating my review of Versailles here, since I had fairly similar reactions to both of them, but I would probably really like this one if my skin didn't amp florals (especially rose and jasmine) so much. I can smell just enough of the other notes to get an idea of how beautiful this scent could be... on someone else. So it's kind of an exercise in frustration. Bottom line: lovely, but not on me. Grade: B-

This is quite pretty, and I would probably like it a lot were it not for my skin's tendency to amp rose and jasmine so heavily. The citrus adds a nice touch of tartness and lightens the scent, and the amber mellows it a bit, but still, on me, the rose and jasmine are very aggressive, and throw everything a bit out of balance. It's a shame because, as with a lot of blends of this type, I can smell just enough of the other notes to get a sense of what it probaly should smell like -- on someone with different skin chemistry than mine. As it is, while I certianly don't dislike it, and can admire the artistry of it, I'd like it more if my skin didn't amp the florals so much. As it is, I guess this another case of "Nice, but not for me." Grade: B-

Ack! This smells like some hideous artificially-flavoured sugar-laden instant coffee, of the sort they try to pass off as "cappucino" in places that don't actually know what cappucino is. Not getting any old books or wood notes in here -- just cloyingly sweet fake coffee. Once it settles in for a while, the sweetness diminishes a bit, and there's a touch of something else there, which conceivable might be wood. But still it smells more spilled flavoured coffee than anything. And that is not anything I could ever see myself wanting to smell like. Hell, I don't even want to drink flavoured coffee! Eventually, after washing my hands, I could smell the wood a bit, but it was an unpleasantly sharp, acrid sort of wood. Not an improvement. It's not quite in the "Get it off me! Get it off me!" category, but it's solidly within in the "This is not going to touch my skin again if I can help it" category. Grade: D

This one had been on and off my wish list several times -- I loved the description, but kept worrying it would be too floral for me. Finally I got the chance to try it at a meet'n'sniff, and I liked it enough to swap for it. The floral component is certainly there, but it's very light - not overwhelming at all. And the fruit notes balance the florals extremely well, so that neither one dominates the scent. And the florals smells very much like real flowers, not floral perfume. It's quite sweet, but very light, fresh and ethereal, suitably enough for its name. And there's something just a little bit intoxicating about it, just a faint hint that seems to suggest that if you inhaled deeply enough, it might be mind-altering. All in all, quite nice, and very fae. Not altogether the type of scent I want in the middle of winter, but it will probably be excellent for spring, when I am all about the light, fresh scents. Grade: B

Mmmm, lovely. That is some nice-smelling insanity. Strawberry leaf apparently doesn't smell all that different than strawberry fruit, though perhaps a little less sweet, and the grapefruit adds a bit of edge without unbalancing or overwhelming it -- just toning down the sweetness, the way the hibiscus does in Maenad. Mania is, on the whole, a very pretty berry-musk that's slighty reminiscent of Bewitched and Lampades, and, especially Hollywood Babylon. With maybe a touch of Maenad as well. It smells a little less effervescent and more... grown up, somehow, than HB does. I really like it -- berries and musk are both nearly always great on me -- but given that similarity, I'm not sure how much point there is in buying a bottle of this one. It's not as dark as Lampades or Bewitched (which are two of my top favourites), but it's close enough to HB that I think when I start getting low on those two imps, I'll get a bottle of one or the other, but not both. It's just a case of figuring out which of the two I like best between now and then. But Mania is definitely a strong contender -- if madness smells this good, who needs sanity? Grade: B+

I wasn't originally drawn to this from the site description, but the reviews made it sound interesting... Chocolate floral? Sure, I'll try that! And indeed, that's a pretty good description of it. It's fairly light, and gentle, and definitely has some kind of flowers in it along with cocoa, and maybe something slightly citrussy or otherwise tart. It actually bears a fairly strong resemblance to 13, though a bit less complex. Which 13? Hard to say... It's almost like a middle ground between the two. The gentle, creamy chocolatiness is more like the original, but the slightly sharp floral edge is more like the Fall 2006 reformulation. As it dries down, though, the chocolate fades and it becomes more predominantly floral, and a little on the powdery side. Stil not bad, but not as interesting as it was earlier on. All in all, I'll stick with 13. Grade: B

Well, this is VERY definitely a dark scent... More so than practically any other I can think of that I've tried, except maybe Malediction. But thankfully, this is a lot less nasty-smelling than that was. It's not one I was ever interested in from the description, since it sounded like it would be far too masculine, but I tried it out of curiosity at a meet'n'sniff, and it didn't turn out as manly-man as I thought, at least on my skin. I think my skin chemistry has a tendency to soften dark musk a bit or something. It's by no means a feminine scent on me, but it is almost gender-neutral - dark and earthy and musky but not in that "Hi! I'm a men's scent!" way. It's actually kind of sexy - a bit strong at first, but after an hour or so, turns distinctly feminine on me, in a sort of dark, soft, incensey, slightly spicy way. I'm not sure if I like it enough to keep it, but I certainly don't dislike it... All in all, one of those unexpected surprises that makes me realize I am not always the best judge of what scents will work on me and what won't. Grade: B

This is one I never would have tried based on the catalog description - it sounds like it would way too floral. But I tried it at a meet'n'sniff where we didn't have the scent descriptions handy, and found it pleasant enough to swap for so that I could have a more thorough try of it. There is certainly a floral component to it, but it doesn't dominate the scent as much as you might think. It's strong at first, but settles down fairly quickly into a more balanced scent, where the florals are offset by the mandarin, and softened by the vanilla and sandalwood. it's very pretty, with a faintly decadent/intoxicating edge, suitably enough for its inspiration. More conventionally perfumey than most scents I tend to wear, but not in a bad way. There's a powdery aspect to it, but again, not in a bad way - more like a very nice, probably expensive, French body powder. It falls somewhat into the same general ballpark as Gypsy Queen, Desire, Jezebel and Magdalene for me, all of which are basically florals balanced with enough non-floral elements that I can actually wear them. Compared to those, it's a bit lighter, and less overtly sexy -- you could wear it to the office without anyone thinking you're trying to seduce your co-workers. It will probably be excellent for spring. Grade: B/B+

Interesting... My first thought was that it smelled a bit like some sort of medicinal herbal tea flavoured with blackberries -- the berry sweetness with an astirngent, bitter herbal undertone. Scents with hibiscus in them nearly always say "herbal tea" to me, probably because Celestial Seasonings puts that in pretty much every tea they make (which annoys me because I don't much like hibiscus to drink, but it's OK as a scent, and very effective at cutting down excessive sweetness with its tart edge). But once it's been on my skin for a little while, the florals rise up and give it a wholly different feel from that, more perfumey and more like other Lunacies I've tried (which have mostly been heavily floral). But the florals never get too strong -- the tart/bitter herbal edge keeps them nicely under control, so the result is a pretty much even floral/fruity/herbal balance. The contrasts in it are so strong that it smells a bit weird and unsettling -- there are notes in here that are very sweet and very bitter at the same time, which definitely makes for a unique scent -- sort of balanced and discordant at the same time, but in a way I find kind of weirdly appealing. There's also an aspect to it that's a lot like Bewitched, unsurprisingly I suppose given that there's blackberries and sage in both. Bewitched is one of my all-time favourite scents, so that's a good thing, but it's also got notable differences. The musk in Bewitched mellows it out nicely and makes the notes blend together more than is the case here; this one's a lot sharper -- more bittersweet, less warm and earthy. It has a bit of the same feel as some of the poisonous herbals in the Rappacini's Garden collection. All in all, a very interesting scent, and while it's not likely to become a top favourite, I do like it, and I can think of occasions when it would be excellent -- notably when I want to smell nice, but also send out a distinctly touch-me-not vibe, the kind of thing I've used Baneberry and Belladonna for in the past. Grade: B

On first sniff, this is surprisingly nice - more so than I had expected from the reviews, many of which emphasize the almond note (I hate almond, but frequently try scents containing it anyway, since it's not a long-lasting note on me and sometimes the scents are nice once it's gone). I hardly get any almond here at all -- it's mainly pine forest and apple, with an undertone of that "snowy" note that's in Talvikuu and a few others. I am not a big fan of that snow note -- it doesn't really smell like snow to me, just like some kind of synthetic chemical that wants to be snow. Kind of in the same ballpark as ozone, though not quite as foul. But the other notes in here are quite nice. It smells a bit like drinking apple cider in the middle of a pine forest, very fresh and clean and decidely wintery. Talvikuu with apples, pretty much (which is a considerable improvement over just plain Talvikuu, to me). I'd like it better without the synthetic snow note, but it's not bad as is. Unfortunately, it doesn't last very long, at least not at the strength I applied it at (fairly lightly). Maybe if I put on a bit more heavily next time...? Grade: B

Hmmm, not sure about this one. It seems to be more floral than not, though not in a conventionally perfumey way at all, and with some kind of vaguely unsavoury undertone - maybe the dirt note? And there definitely is a faint hint of something foody, presumably the pastry note. The flowers and accompanying herbal notes do smell very fresh, and not at all synthetic or perfumey -- it's very much like actual wildflowers of some sort. But it does have a touch of that fake-snow note which finds its way into so many of the Yule scents, but doesn't really smell like snow, at least not to me. There's something in the combination that reminds me a bit of Vinland. It's not unpleasant, at least not entirely, but on me at least, this scent doesn't really come together. It smells sort of... accidental. Like a bunch of different notes that just sort of happened to fall in together by chance. Which I suppose is appropriate to the chaotic nature of the creatures it's named for... Grade: C+

I would have thought this would be far too floral for me -- rose in particular tends to amp tremendously on my skin, so I have to be very careful of blends containing it. But the rose here is nicely balanced by the other notes, and not dominant at all. The strongest note I get from it is actually the honey -- overall it's more reminiscent of O than anything. The florals just add a bit of complexity and make the scent richer, and the sandalwood grounds it nicely, keeping it from being overwhelmingly sweet. Overall, quite nice, and not nearly as overwhelmingly girly as I'd feared. It seems to be slightly in the same ballpark for me as Desire, Magdalene, Gypsy Queen and the Masque, though less complex than the latter two. These are all basically floral-containing scents that actually work fairly well on me, because the flowers are balanced with things that keep them from stomping all over the rest of the scent. I don't know if Jezebel is enough of a standout to be worth keeping when I already have most of the above, but it's nice enough that I'm certainly considering hanging onto it. It's also a gentle enough scent that it doesn't require the "apply with caution" note to self that GQ and (especially) the Masque do -- it stays fairly close to the skin, which is nice when you don't want to overwhelm people with your scentedness. Yep... I think it's a keeper. And one I would never have picked for myself from the description. Thank the gods for random fragrance experimentation at meet'n'sniffs... :-) Grade: B+

Colour me discontented. I had extremely high hopes for this one - from the list of notes, it seemed there was no way it could possibly not be good. Spices and incense and musk and mandarin... This was the one I was most looking forward to out of all the Yule scents. And yet... *sigh* I wasn't that impressed with it once i finally got the chance to try it. I mean, it didn't suck, but it didn't wow me either. The different notes just kind of sat there and didn't really come together into anything more than the sum of their parts. My overall impression was of a slightly less root-beer-ish version of Laudanum. There were elements to it that I did like, and every now and then I'd catch a whiff of it that would be a bit happy-making, but then the next whiff would just be kind of blah, or sometimes even vaguely unpleasant... There's some kind of slightly off note in this that I can place. Plus, it had a bit of what I had sometimes referred to as the "Hi! I'm a men's scent!' vibe. I do often like scents that aren't conventionally feminine, including some that are intended for men, but there are some where the manliiness is just a bit much. So overall, I don't hate it, but I certainly don't love it. I'll probably hang onto the imp so that Kettu can try it once she's back into BPAL mode, since she was very excited by the description toom but unless she loves it, it's swap time for this one. Grade: C+/B-

I had no idea, initially, if this would work on me or not. It has several ingredients that are usually very good on me (myrrh, plum, fig, cognac), a few that are worrisome (orris, lilac) and some that I just wasn't sure about (violet is usually awful on me, but I don't know about African violet; grapes can be good or bad, fruit blossoms are likewise dodgy, and I have no idea what wisteria smells like). So I could see this being either lovely, or going straight to floral hell. And since my decant order wasn't going to be until after the scent came down, I had to decided whether to order a bottle unsniffed. I did end up ordering one, and now I'm glad I did. Because the good notes appear to be winning, and this is actually quite nice. It's a little sweeter than a lot of what I wear, and there is a definite floral component, but the other notes are holding their own. I can definitely see what people mean about it being a very purple scent, too. Interestingly, this is one of those scents that smells very different on different parts of my body. On my wrists the florals are much more in the background, and the foreground scent is more boozy fruity incense (which is a Very Good Thing). In the crooks of my arms, the floral components come out more, and it almost verges on being too floral, but thankfully never quite gets there. Overall it seems to fall into that sort of fruity-floral category that Yerevan, Lampades, Glitter, etc. do, and is pretty likable, though not necessarily likely to become a top favourite. But probably quite good for occasional wear. Only realy down side is that it fades fairly quickly -- within an hour or two, it's mostly gone. But it's pretty nice while it lasts. Grade: B+

At first sniff, all I get is verbena - that note tends to be very, very strong on me, and any scent containing it always comes off, at least initially, as super-sweet lemon drop candy. But as with a lot of aggressive top notes, it does tend to fade quickly, and then more complexity begins to emerge. A lot of different herbal notes start coming through at that point, with an incensey undercurrent. There's definitely some pine and juniper in there, but thankfully they don't dominate it, so it doesn't smell like every other Yule/Christmas scent out there. There also seems to be a sort of honey/beeswax note in there (though it's not in the list of notes in the description) that along with the lemon verbena makes it reminiscent of Litha, which I suppose is oddly appropriate in a way -- that the two solstices should mirror each other a little bit. It has a sunniness to it, but it's definitely a winter sun, not the warm sun of summer. The effect is more that of a bright winter day. It doesn't last terribly long on me, but it's fairly pleasant while it's there, once the initial verbena blast dies down. I wore it to the Yule ritual I attended tonight, and it did seem to help me get into the right state of mind. Overall I mostly like it, though not enough to wear it as a regular perfume. But enough to keep it for seasonal/ritual use. Grade: B

This is an odd scent... I avoided it last year because I assumed it would be too floral, but Kettu wanted to try it this year, so we ordered a decant and now I'm trying it too. It's actually not all that floral -- the flowers are there, but they don't really dominate the scents, not even on my floral-amping skin. There's some kind of wine or other boozy note in here, and some foody elements that thankfully don't stray into the nasty fake-butter territory that keeps me away from most foody scents, and something kind of herbal or foresty... There's an element to it that's reminding me of Perversion -- maybe the tobacco mixed with the wine? Not that it says there's any wine in it, but it smells like there is. And I think I'm starting to recognize cereus, because there's something in here that's reminiscent of Urd as well. It's definitely a complex scent, and less sweet than I'd imagined it to be, though certainly not without sweetness. And it's actually fairy subtle, not overpowering at all. At first the various notes don't really seem to mesh together, but as it settles in, they blend a bit more, into something that's really quite unique. I don't know that I need a whole bottle, but I'll definitely enjoy the imp, whether or not Kettu ends up liking it. Grade: B/B+

Like many other people, my first impression of this one, both in the imp and on my skin, was one of wintergreen overkill. Of course, there's no wintergreen listed, so I'm assuming what I was picking up on was actually one of the woody notes -- I know birch smells very similar to wintergreen, so maybe beech does too? Not sure. As it settles in more, though, that fades (thankfully -- I hate wintergreen!), and other notes come out. The currant is very much there now, and the slight honey-ish note of the honeysuckle and maybe a bit of the other flowers -- it's definitely picked up some sweetness, though not too much. It's definitely more of a naturalistic scent than a conventionally floral or fruity one, even though the flowers and fruit are noticeable. And I can definitely get the cool, clean mountain air feeling from this. At first sniff I thought I was going to hate it, but really, it's not bad at all once it gets past the wintergreen phase. It's a really nice, light, cool forest/outdoorsy scent that never strays into the cliched Christmas-candle territory that so many forest scents do. May be a keeper after all... Grade: Initially D, later B+

I'll second (or third, seventh, or whatever we're up to) some of the above recommendations -- The Lion, Aureus, Litha, Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo and Hymn to Proserpine (though I agree that one's more sunrise/sunset than bright sun), and I'm looking forward to trying Sol Invictus. But there are a few others that haven't been mentioned yet: Fae is extremely sunny to me, as is Coyote -- fresh new springtime sun in the former case, and warm summery prairie sun in the latter. Also, Bastet's Laughter from TAL -- bright, sweet, fruity sunlight, very uplifting. And last but not least, for me the very sunniest scent of them all is Aglaea: bright, golden amber, drenched in sparkling peach wine. It's so sunny I'm surprised the bottle doesn't actually glow. And it's generally the first thing I reach for if I'm feeling depressed on a grey day -- nothing else has quite that transformative power for me. If I could only choose one sunlight scent, that would be the one.

I tried a wee dab of this at the Halloween Meet'n'Sniff, and quickly afterwards decided I would likely need a bottle. This one and the ill-fated Samainophobia were the main two I was looking forward to the Halloweenies/Order of the Dragon decant order, and thought I was most likely to end up getting bottles of. Now, where Samhainophobia is concerned that was a terrible mistake (see my review of that one for the full horror story), but All Souls was another story. In the imp, it smelled surprisingly floral. I didn't think there were supposed to be any flowers in it, but there they were. Now, I am somewhat afraid of florals, since my skin loves to amp them, but I'll try almost anything, and I had remembered it as being quite different, so on it went. And at first, it really did turn into floral overkill on my skin. Where on earth was the lovely light incense scent I remembered?! Maybe I wouldn't need a bottle of this after all... But then, I sniffed it again a little later, and WHOA! Totally different. The florals -- white roses, I keep thinking -- had faded down to just a soft background presence, and what I mainly smelled was a beautiful, soft, ethereal incense scent. Not at all a heavy church incense kind of scent like Cathedral -- this one was delicate and light and a bit otherwordly. And awesomely beautiful. I am also pleased to say there was barely a trace of the nasty, cloying fake-butter smell a lot of the food-themed scents I have -- just a bit at the beginniing, before the florals blast it out of existence -- althought I think there was a soft trace of currant, and maybe a touch of vanilla. And that gorgeous scent is what remained for the next several hours, until it softly faded out. It doesn't have a huge amount of throw -- it's just a very soft, sweet, delicate, close-to-the-skin scent, but it's lovely, and really does seem appropriate to its name. It smells like something a soul would wear. Like spiritual purity, but not in a churchy way. It smells like the light of the full moon coming through clouds on a misty night, or like a trace of scent left somewhere that fairies have danced. The sweetness makes it almost a bit too perfumey for me, but it's breathtakingly lovely, and I think I may very well need a bottle. Grade: A ETA (Dec 1): A few more notes after further experimentation... I didn't end up ordering a bottle last night after all, although now part of me is wishing I had. It actually takes about an hour for it to develop fully into the phase I really love, and during that first hour it's way sweeter and more strongly floral than I really like. Plus it has a bit of that buttery nastiness at the very beginning, thought not too much. And I realized that the phase of it I like best is not unlike Al Azif, which is now a GC scent, so maybe I should just get that. All of this talked me out of ordering it last night. And yet... now I'm having regrets. I think I'm going to e-mail the Lab and see if I can add it to my order after all. It may not be perfect, but stages of it are pretty damn close.

Strange -- this smelled somewhat promising when I first applied it, kind of boozy and musky, with hints of other things adding complexity. So I left alone for a little bit to see how it developed, and now -- where'd it go? I swear it's only been maybe 20 minutes, but it's nearly gone! I can smell just a very faint trace if I put my nose right against my wrist -- that's all. I seem to have found another rapid disappearer, like Mantis and Silk Road and a handful of others that start out nice and then poof! They're gone. Well, maybe some further experimentation, putting it on other body parts, will help it last longer... Hmmm... reapplying, and making sure to smell it more often before it disappears, I'm now picking up a soapy note. Some of the other notes in it seem fairly nice, but the soap clashes with them. Overall, I guess this one really isn't for me. Grade: B-

Hmmm. Odd scent. There's definitely dragon's blood in here, but other things are toning it down enough to keep it from becoming as cloyingly sweet as DB can sometimes be. Thing is, I can't identify what they are. Sure, I've got the web description to go by, but by scent it just smells like dragon's blood plus... stuff. I don't know that I'm really getting smoke or steel or any of that, although there's a very non-perfumey feel to it. I keep thinking it reminds me of some other BPAL scent but I can't think which -- there's just something naggingly familiar about it. It's not unpleasant, but like Dr. John Seward, it smells like something that wasn't really meant to be worn as a scent. There are faint traces of something nice in it, but they're not quite strong enought to make it worthwhile for me. This one will probably get swapped. Grade: C+

On first snifff - Wow. Spicy! It smells like burying my nose in some really strong masala chai tea, complete with the slight black-pepper nose-burn. (Though looking at the description, it doesn't seem to have black pepper in it. Smells like it does, though!) It's very strong, and, for lovers of spicy scents, really nice. Definitely a certain kinship with Three Witches, but more complex and a bit darker. It definitely doesn't seem like a men's scent to me, just a ferociously spicy one, with incensey undercurrents. Very appealling, if a bit aggressive. But as it eventually dries down, the leather and wood come out a bit, and I could see it working well on a man, though it's not bad on me either. At that stage it does smell a bit like "Hey! I'm wearing a guy scent!" but not too much. I don't really see it as all that vampire-ish, though -- it's too hot, and I tend to see vampires as cold. The whole Evil Chai feeling is more what I would expect a Rakshasa (Indian tiger-demon) to smell like (never been sure why those get a rose scent in BPAL...). I like it, but I'm not altogether sure it merits a bottle purchase -- maybe if it kept that initial spicy heat longer, or if what it dried down to was a bit less guy-scent-ish. But it probably make a killer scent on a guy, or on a woman whose skin handled leathery/woody scents better than mine does. Grade: B+