Lycanthrope

Monastery in the Mountains, Nicholas Roerich. Snow-capped mountain air, rich sandalwood incense, and deodar - the Tree of God. This is really brightly minty, slushy, Beth's snow note for sure. This reminds me of parts of Nuclear Winter and Kumari Kandam but being less sweet and breezy (in case of Nuclear Winter - less aquatic) and less floral (compared to Kumari). It's definitely snow-capped mountains. It has a pretty straightforward development on me - I don't get too much distinct sandalwood nor do I get deodar (haven't smelled it alone) as any separate note. It's pleasant but I have so many things like it already that I don't know if I'll need to get more.

Let the wind blow kindly In the sail of your dreams And the moonlight your journey And bring you to me We can’t live in the mountains We can’t live out at sea Where oh, where oh, my lover Shall I come to thee? Moonflower and iris root with French lavender, tuberose, white sandalwood, night-blooming gardenia, vanilla orchid, and moss. From the bottle this is a soft, unobtrusive, downy lavender. On the skin it immediately blooms with a bit of woods, and a little grittiness from the moss. By no means is this very powerful in terms of grassy or herbal. The orris is probably keeping this mix dry, as it dries I can get a little bit more of the lavender returning as like those fresh crushed florets between the fingers... like a hint of green, spike lavender, or something... With time the lavender settles and then this whole mix of 'white night florals' sidles up all like 'hey, babe. I'm a hot chick in a wedding dress. It's all like, sultry and stuff. Even though you're in a onesie pajama, let's do this.' So I get a slightly woodsy, rich, dry and moderately dusty sweet lavender supported by a chorus of white floral. It's nice! I'll have to try this as a sleep blend. It's very relaxing and reads like a Somnus blend. ETA: Over time I get a really weird association with LUSH's Alkmaar line. No clue why.

A voice on the airwaves: electric, aldehydic cherry blossom. This is a very straightforward but potent cherry blossom scent. It is heavier on the woodsy, 'fleshier' blossom aspects of cherry blossom. It starts off quite wet-smelling and then develops the dry floral sweetness after a few moments. In terms of aldehydes and electricity, there is a flash of metallic that is somewhat similar to Kataniya. As time passes and this is allowed to dry down, I am getting much less of the cherry blossom and more of a cologney base - not quite natural, making this into a somewhat surreal sakura. It's similar to Voyeurs amongst the Cherry Blossoms but definitely veers towards artificial in only the best way possible - this is an ominous, quietly mechanical cherry blossom.

Sadak in Search of the Waters of Oblivion, John Martin. Asphodel and opium-tinged water cascading over stone, with champaca flower, blue lotus absolute, passionflower, and a touch of somber Arabian musk. Wet, this is dark, shadowy, reminds me of the color midnight blue and the texture of velvet. On, this is a very dark, non-sparkly aquatic with a series of quiet, ominous flowers in the background. There is not much musk. Blue lotus is not a sweet, bubbly lotus like in Undertow. Overall, the effect is a subtle deep saltiness. Just like I would imagine Lethe/oblivion to be. This is a close scent, but with depth and a somber feel. Will keep testing this bottle to see if I want another or if I'll only use this for brief moments. I have diluted Blue Lotus absolute at home in jojoba and you can detect it around the edges of Sadak. It's beautiful, hypnotic, and narcotic.

A flourish of gardenias and gunpowder. Peppery florals right out of the bottle and on my skin. Whoof! Gunpowder dry! But those white florals are there, kind of like in Tissue and other comparable gardenias. And then, the gardenias bloom and I have gardenias starting to rise above the initial dry pepper. There is still a marvelous lushness for this white floral. I can't get away with shoving flourishes of gardenia into everyone around me, but if you can get away with that kind of behavior, please, obtain Kate Fulton. Especially if you love gardenias, since this reminds me of walking by those bushes when I was living in the South. In the end it's mostly a bouquet of gardenias, kissed by pepper.

O to make the most jubilant poem! Even to set off these, and merge with these, the carols of Death. O full of music! full of manhood, womanhood, infancy! Full of common employments! full of grain and trees. O for the voices of animals! O for the swiftness and balance of fishes! O for the dropping of rain-drops in a poem! O for the sunshine, and motion of waves in a poem. O the joy of my spirit! it is uncaged! it darts like lightning! It is not enough to have this globe, or a certain time—I will have thousands of globes, and all time. Do I take this exact photo of you every year, Lilith? Always on a see-saw, always laughing with all your heart. You are the joy of my spirit, you are my most jubilant poem. Crooked hazelnut and tonka with a touch of cacao and black pine. Wet, this smells almost a little marzipan-y, but definitely nutty. Hazelnut, yes. Like when you're biting into a toasted one and that top crusty toasty aroma. On the skin, whoa, whoa, egads, that nuttiness gets a little cloying, but then it burns off that first topnote and settles towards a more gentle, warm hazelnut aroma. The tonka lends this a sweetness or sugariness which is excellent. Oh. Now the pine comes back a little bit... kind of like the sort in Golden Priapus, so this is not completely and utterly foody. Ah, there's the cocoa, thrumming in the background. This is pretty gourmand, except for the pine, which steers it away from being BPAL Nutella SN. (... yes please). I like this, it's primarily forward as a chocolate hazelnut, sparkling with sugar but a little botanically unique with the pine. Like, chocolate dipped hazelnut crusted pine trees. Over time, the pine fades, and you're left with a pretty tasty desserty fragrance. Mmm. Nutella.

Black oak and sprucewood with opoponax, myrrh, black ambergris, and the silent ice of Niflheimr. Wet, this smells like... powdered sweet tarts? That doesn't last long, though, as this goes firmly into winter/Yule style pine, environmental greenery, and a delicious, sweet ice note. This has a similar feel to Skadi/Ice Queen/Almond Blossom from this past year's (and prior) yules, and the spruce is much more subdued than I would expect. This does not smell like a pine tree! The oak lends a slightly different base and veers this away from going Yulestyle. The ambergris is noticed mostly as a slightly salty ocean tang, and though I can't smell the myrrh distinctly, the opoponax does its weird grungy twang thing, which in this case makes the Ship of Hel creaky and splintery. This pretty much smells like the frozen, collapsing ships at the end of Disney's Frozen. Ooooo. I think I must obtain a bottle. This right up this wolf's alley.

I'm not getting much vanilla at all. Mostly a kind of sappy/stemmy green, with a light airy yellow-gold floral topnote. I think I get maybe a little hint of like a bourbon sweet vanilla, but still very planty, not very rich. It's nice... not sure I'm going to hoard it, although I did grab two. It's nice. Have to play around with this one and blending.

East Indian Mango, cassis, blackcurrant, orange carnation, sugared coconut, and Maid of Orleans. RUH ROH. I wish I had done my research, since Maid of Orleans: Jasmine Sambac. All that said, I am going to give this a trial! By my skin type, jasmine goes all wonky crazy on me. I've tried several variants like Auriculatum (turns into golden, lighter jasmine smashing), Grandiflorum (turns into a gigantic world wrestling foundation flower match on me) and the Sambac (which has an almost bourbon/alcoholic like twinge). That being said... In the bottle, this is a beautifully fruity, orange, squishy smooth tropical floral. This makes me think of sunny islands and sipping coconut based drinks by the water. The fruit notes must blend into a delicious little smoothie, since it's all there and like a tasty pina colada. I'm really reaching to find the carnation as it is one of my favorite notes, and I am wondering how orange carnation differs from the Spanish Red. Through this all the jasmine is crescendoing into a really strong white floral note that is overtaking the fruity drink. However, it's still quite nice, and not as unilateral as jasmine based BPAL can get on me. It retains a bit of its orange/fruit vibe but only faintly. The colada has been drunk and now we are relaxing under a bower of jasmine flowers. I would say if you are a jasmine amper as I am, this does not evolve well, however fans of lush, heady, tropical florals would definitely enjoy this.

By day, these tiny blossoms of white, pink, and purple appear withered, fragile, and weedy, but as evening approaches, they reveal their true magnificence: their petals open, and a rich, melodic perfume fills the night air. Initially, wet, from the bottle, this smells like a plush, round, puffy light purple flower, like wisteria. On my skin, the aroma develops a markedly sharper tone, like a... perfume, powdery aroma. Not really honey, per se, but this sweetens up and goes up in pitch and tone, such that it becomes a sweet, more light blue note, if that makes sense. An ethereal, light, night floral for sure.

A symphony of deviance, darkly beguiling: blood musk, red sandalwood, aged North African sweet patchouli, urfa pepper, yenibahar, and Turkish carnations. I guess the closest comparison to this is The Woman in Black. Sprayed, it's definitely very red-musky off the initial blast, and then it definitely gets a bit more floral and is lighter in spirit than The Woman in Black. The spices are a bit lighter, and the patchouli is not 'dirty,' it adds a nice leafy depth to the red musk. The carnations are definitely a tickling high, fainter presence so they're not front and center. All in all it's quite a nice, spicy oriental floral, with emphasis on the sweetness as opposed to the spiciness. It's like... uh, I guess part of the spicy part of Morocco but definitely more forward on the patchouli, so it's not quite as smooth as Morocco. I hope that makes sense.

Nom nom, smells like a dark blue-purple jam, grapey-blackberry. Applied wet, a big burst of the blackberry fruit which dries out and I get a chunky burst of patchouli! It's a drier one, and it doesn't stick around long since the fruitier notes re-emerge and keep the scent light. It's vacillating between the patchouli and the dark fruits. I'm definitely getting a sharp wine-y like scent but it's only the top schmears from a medium toned wine. Over time it becomes a bit more husky. I feel like this scent is on the tipping point between gritty and dirty, but keeps getting pulled into a jammy seedy fruit pulp aroma, smooth fruit. It's ok, but I'm not sure this is working with my skin chemistry. I think this may be a similar drier, not as dark patchouli like in Wild Woman with Unicorn, which I do like, but since it was balanced with green-ish wildflowers, in this situation it's a bit too much sweet and dark for me.

More of my wisteria kick! I love the note. My favorite is in Night Scene, although that gets a touch lemon-citrussy, and Cordelia is another one of my favorites, although it's a bit cedar-y and dries sharply musk on me. Bottle impressions, more wet tuberose with maybe a hint of the wisteria aura (that kind of shimmery-sticky gauzey smell). A touch of green in the background. On me wet, very tuberose forward. Wisteria is a side player, giving this a bit of a different vibe than some of the more tropical tuberose blends, or things like Muse, which are citrus/lime and elevated by the tropical tuberose. I'm not getting much moss at all while still wet and drying. As it dries, the waxiness of the tuberose still remains, but deep chuffs bring up droopy wisteria petals. I'm really not getting much oakmoss, unless it's quietly binding everything under the surface. With further time, there's tickles of the oakmossy note like in Fae, a slightly dry greenish powder behind a primarily tuberose base. This is certainly pretty - can't quite tell how people will react when I say it's Consoling Pussy...

A dry perfume, solemn and riddled with ancient, whispered secrets: brittle bones, the well-worn leather spines of forgotten books, crumbling papyrus, and the warm, strange scent of yellowed, crumbling manuscripts. A soft, musty and a little sharp (bone?) leather-patchouli. This is a neutral leather in terms of warmth, so more like 'Dee' leather rather than Quincy Morris / Brom Bones (cool, slick) and not fiery or red like The Red Rider. It kind of smells like paper, but is more of a dust and deep, thrummy woods kind of scent. I like it a lot but it's more atmospheric on me than pleasant, to my nose. Fitting!

Then said Jafnhárr: It was many ages before the earth was shaped that the Mist-World was made; and midmost within it lies the well that is called Hvergelmir, from which spring the rivers called Svöl, Gunnthrá, Fjörm, Fimbulthul, Slídr and Hríd, Sylgr and Ylgr, Víd, Leiptr; Gjöll is hard by Hel-gates. The first vision, obfuscated by fog sprung from Hvergelmir: a world within dream, formed of nebulous possibility. Thin strands of white resin-smoke, star jasmine, and white violet. This is a very pleasant, light incensey scent that reads primarily as a soft violet. It's not as lush as in Sybaris, per se, and definitely not as 'chewy' as Fleurette's Purple Snails, which was a robust, unfurling PURPLE violet. On the skin it's sweet, gentle violets, mixed with maybe a wisp of light sandalwood. The star jasmine I guess reads as a hint of misty floral, but this is not a jasmine-forward blend at all. It's mostly a slightly dewy absolutely beautiful violet, and I must get tons of it. Light overall throw, but it's delicious.

The Soiled Dove of Cripple Creek, proprietress of the Old Homestead. An elegant, polished scent: vanilla orchid, Siamese benzoin, white fig, amber and tiare. This is soft, and shiny, but subtle. Kind of like actual pearls! I have short hair, so I tested this on my skin (even if you're not supposed to). The tiare (pikaki?) and orchid rise to the surface and this is reading tropical very quickly to me, but the kind of fleshy tropical that you think of in rich tumbling leis of ivory petals. I definitely get fig as the next player, a fleshy sweetness, ripe, rich. Vanilla and benzoin play together as adding a hint of sugar beneath the now tropical flower-fig combination. Amber is probably there burnishing everything and grounding the other scents in a very quiet way. Definitely a classic white floral, with a bit of modern fig and vanilla to stabilize the high flower. I probably can't get away with using it, but it's beautiful!

Claude Monet A tiny shadow on the snow: black currant, sandalwood, and violet leaf against a white winter backdrop. This is surprisingly foody on me - more so like the vanilla-snow note (Kind of like Waltz of the Snowflakes), mixed with a hint of berry. The currant is not strong, but the overall scent does read a bit as 'soft snow berry tart,' which is wonderful. I think the sandalwood is adding the kind of crusty note that makes me think of pie. The violet leaf is not strong. This is soft and close to the skin, but would be great for anyone who enjoyed the soft vanilla-snow type note Beth uses.

Sylvia was their ringer, natch. Weremusk and carnation with coconut oil, verbena, vanilla orchid, lemon peel, and clove. Super tropical! I get mostly a brown, furry, fuzzy musk (of course!) and it's very heavily tinted with a tropical coconut. It's definitely a meatier, creamier coconut (so, like truly an oil, as opposed to fakey artificial sunblock smell). I get the verbena and lemon as a bright sunny tone, and since it's not on my skin it doesn't amp. The citrus lends a very tropical drink feel, so it's like a colada (but no pina?) The clove makes everything cuddlier, and I think it's the slight smoky sweetness I get at the end of the musk. Carnation is probably there, but I'm not reading that as forwards. I like this very much. It'd be perfect for early spring, summer... NATCH.

They are loves last gifts; bring flowers, pale flowers. A cluster of pallid blossoms, white frankincense, and a swath of black crepe. Has no one reviewed this yet? Whoa. I bought one out of my really strange 'orphan BPTP/BPAL' thing where if something has no reviews or hasn't been as popular, I tend to adopt a bottle, lol. It smelled kind of jasmine-y from wet sniff, probably the lily skatoles. It's definitely very creamy, maybe not pink stargazer lilies, but white ebony funeral home lilies. The frankincense does add a sweet resinous glimmer, but it's not super resinous. I think there's probably a touch of a fabric or linen note but it's not like, super lacey. It's predominantely a strong white floral, pleasant. It has only light power though, otherwise it's me getting used to the floral scent really quick. I think it's nice, definitely will use up the bottle but it'd be real strong for bedtime. Unless I use my coffin, then I guess that'd be just perfect!

[No additional description given.] So, fiber optics have a special place in my heart because I've always had a little crow in me - love sparkly things, shiny things. And now I do flow arts, many of which glow and sparkle. The bottle is adorbs, with the red BPAL icon struggling to peek over the giant paragraph of text in the name. Wet, it's definitely a pine, spruce-y type of scent. I'm trying to detect if there are other notes, nothing is abjectly metallic or tin-like, so not detecting the 'iron note'. On my skin, this is not exactly straight up pine, because I'm getting a... strange tiny edge of like sparkliness. Good god, I'm terrible at this hah hah! But it's certainly not like a cacophony of fruits, or other 'bright' notes that will occasionally represent multiple colors in the BPALverse. Drydown, it stays a lovely Christmas pine scent, without much deviation. Mild throw, so you won't destroy coworkers. If you love pine and spruce notes, this is a straightforward, but wearable, pleasant scent.

Paul Gauguin Tahitian gardenia and vanilla orchid, wild white ginger blossom, coconut, tiger orchid, and a skin-prickle of white musk. I really like this! Fresh from the spray top it smells very sweet, almost honeysuckle-ish, altough that's probably the awapuhi/white ginger blossom. The gardenia also is apparent but not the front and center player. I can detect both the sweetness of vanilla and a slightly citrussy orchid floral mixing together, it's definitely an exotic mix. The coconut does start coming forward... I was driving in my car today and sort of thought about LUSH Alkmaar, with the coconut twang and meatiness. The white musk is probably there but I can't really say it's super prominent. I'd love to save this for a tropical vacation.

A song of meagre comfort, lilting in the wind: orris root, white sandalwood, grey amber, and soft white chocolate. I really like this one! From the sprayer and spritzer it's a very buttery chocolate. I get actually a bit more milk chocolate, but not sure if it's because of the slight smoky sandalwood. I get a chocolatey violet, like a fine French confection. Sprayed in the air it definitely is a blast of foody, buttery vanilla-chocolate, with a dusty but violet/orris powderiness. I think there's definitely a bit of grounding from the sandalwood but by no means is it a very powerful woodsiness. The amber probably makes this glitter a bit, but I recall the grey amber being uber-smooth, and not terribly sweet. This reads as a slightly floral gourmand, in the violet-chocolate family. I kind of love it. Backups, plox.

This is a really floofly magic cookie bar on my skin, veering towards white chocolate fudge and marshmallows. Definitely foody, but a yummy foody. I like it. May need a few more bottles... medium throw.

Huh. This is very, very similar to Snow Bunny to me, maybe just a hint on the sweeter side and even less pine-y than Snow Bunny, but it's still a predominantly slushy snow note. It is the Nuclear Winter / Spearmint-y 'sweet snow' note. The mint really is a wisp. Not bad, but I think I can forego stocking up.

A ruthless, temperamental, passionate woman cloaked in an austere, elegant, and bookish exterior: bourbon vanilla chypre and peach-gilded jasmine with may rose, tobacco leaf, and bergamot. Sweet this is nectar-sweet, peach-juice drippy peach. After it is applied to my skin, the vanilla creeps up to make the peach more foody and dessert-y. I do get a touch more of the rose as the rest of the blend starts to solidify and back off from PEACHFACE'D to a fruity, floral scent. I can't always yank bergamot out of a crowd, but this is still very 'orange' in scent. I am a jasmine amper, but I can't really detect the usual flashy, takes no prisoners jasmine that is in some other jasmine blends I have (Corinna I'm looking at you). I have to say the tobacco is not terribly apparent. Over time, this remains mostly fruity, with light floral support, and maybe a touch of rindy bergamot citrus. Dominantly smooth, vanilla-kissed peaches.