Lycanthrope

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.

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.

Oh, this is like Pit and the Pendulum incense + Hatmethit (that fishy Egyptian river scent).

 

 

 

 

 

 

...

 

OH, GOD. This is like incense and Hatmethit, neither of which worked well on me.

 

The incense is dark, spicy, dry, rough, and resinous. Leaning on the myrrh side of things. The fishy scent is more of a soft, metallic, glinty aquatic suggestion, but tied in with that strange slitheryness that Hatmethit had on me. Together, this smells like... mushroom soup.

 

Please, do not use this as any type of frightening review, because what I obviously can't wear may be someone's HG!

 

Try this if your fish is Catholic and enjoys attending Church.

 

I can't wear this, sadly. My fish is a damned atheist!

Wet this smells like motor oil and gasoline.

On, the sharp, bright oily notes turn into a very eerie blend of tossed, dry dirt, and a little dust. Very strong on the 'stone note' (the craggy, pumice-like, gritty note). It still smells like gasoline every now and then. I wonder if that's the rhododendron? There really isn't very much, if any at all, of the usual 'snow' or 'ice' notes in the foreground.

This smells like hiking, but the part after you've fueled up a car and are covered in dust, and got a little of the gas on your fingertips while filling.

Very evocative, but definitely not 'pretty' or a traditional perfume!

Another that I'll keep the bottle and probably try it a few more times prior to seeing if I want any more. I don't think anything like this has been in the lineup before.

Try this if you loved Moai, although they aren't quite the same.

What a very odd scent.

Wet this smells like a funkier Snake Charmer on the top note. On, definitely a citrus-y lemon like scent (that's the tea I bet). The violet is peeking around and trying to do a little smooth bruised thing like in Nothing But Death but never quite makes it. There is definitely a high pitched tone from both the tea and the lily that is granting this a sharp tone. I really do like the violet petals when I can smell them, but this is primarily a complicated, bleak and high pitched scent full of contrasts.

The violet is like a wub-wub-wub sound thrumming around in the background.

Don't think I'll need more than this one bottle but I'll be testing it a few more times.

ETA:
Several wears of this over the past week. The dominant notes remain tea and lily, it's a lush, fresh lily, and overall this is, to me, not a purely violet perfume. It's one of these polarizing perfumes where there's plenty of plush, deep, purple notes yet they are counteracted with the higher, slightly citrussy tea and heady lilies. Both musks probably are anchoring or balancing the two but themselves are not terribly evident. This does not smell like the siberian musk single note, nor does it smell a lot like the Snake Oil / Charmer family. It's mostly a complicated floral. I like it. Considering at least one backup.

Dude. Image of a shopping cart (with small slots) filled to the brim with 5 mLs.

 

Love!

Very, very weird.

In the bottle it smells like a bunch of greenery and a soft, white floral. On my skin, I don't know what the f*ck.

It's like one of those quiet unassuming withery-looking ghosts that you see from a distance, all innocent and quiet looking, but you get too near and then tendrils spring out, latch onto your skin and as you watch in horror, something completely unexpected, and shocking, emerges.

On my skin, this turns into perhaps the lushest, bizarre tropical-bloom on my skin. No green detected on my skin. The undercurrent is a constant thrum of white-like honey, drippy with pollen, I think of gold, yellow, ivory, when I smell this. It has a really intriguing soap-y topnote, which curls 'up' (ugh, I can't even describe this right).

I don't know.

This is a single note: experience.








What the f*ck in the most wonderful way possible.

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.

Mmm, I can definitely tell that this is blended into some of my favorites, like The Apothecary, Bayou, Jazz Funeral...

But the single note definitely does not play well on my skin - it's sharp, earthy, but more of an airy, dry, clod-of-dirt type of smell, and then the single note spirals higher and higher, being a sharp, biting presence. Not grounded. Which is kind of like spanish moss! Drydown is slightly lemony, but only a touch. I've never smelled true spanish moss up close, but this evokes the dangly gray bits.

I got two bottles, and may be able to dirty up some scents with it, but it's not purely pleasant, if that's what you are looking for.

I have been looking for the elusive cucumber-tinged, original Blue Moon but haven't found it quite yet.

That said this is very pretty. Starts of with a heavy cologne bite that scared me a touch, likely it was the blue musk and tea, clary sage, doing a little oddness. There are so many components and initially the blend is a touch sharp around the edges but then becomes a very indescribable, soft, hazy scent. I don't know, but Blue Moon hasn't ever been 'blue' in color to me in terms of scent association.

Not terribly lemony. Misty. Reedy? And like... glowy. Beautiful, and I wish I'd ordered another one. But not moistly cucumber, which I was kind of hoping for.

I felt that this was syrupy, awesome, dark, sultry and just a dead ringer for Snake Charmer / Snake Oil, but it's definitely got a dirtier kick at the drydown, probably because the swirl of other components of other blends hides the slightly dank, musty (in a good way, srsly!) dirty drydown. It definitely has a strong, sweet, almost resinous first hit but then it's just far too debauched for me at the end.

 

Still... I want to mix this with things and have a wild time, like...

 

Neutral Elf Cleric... NO ACTUALLY DEMONSPAWN

Well, I dunno how Beth does it, but this perfume smells like vengeful glowing eyes.

Oh, I suppose I should describe it. This is definitely not my usual style of perfume, but it is ferocious, tenacious, but like, tenaciously floral. But yet, in a good way. Ugh, I'm rambling. It's quite sweet to my nose, with a softer jasmine than usual, with the gray amber this is like, um, a very angry night time garden. Ur, I guess the sweet is not sugary sweet, as in heady sweet, like the head notes of white florals without the indolic chew. Smells like bone-white flowers. Angry... flowers... Not something I can really pull off, but it's really pretty.

ETA: ZOMG! Vanillllllaaaaa /nom

2012 vintage!

Let this one develop on your skin for a wee bit. My initial impression was not favorable, but I was rewarded with a little patience. I took a chance and grabbed more of this version, since the 2007 version was a beautifully salty, very green bladderwracky, misty blend. 2012 Singing Moon is definitely not similar although it does still retain a very misty, ethereal quality. I would say this is less smoky, less marine.

If I would have to sum this up it would be 'misty rocks.' In the background there is something almost like lemon, maybe the sundew? It's a peep of reedy white citrus, otherwise all the other notes blend together into a cloudy, gray (in a good way) scent over very faint rocks (not quite an overt stone, like Black Opal or Kumari Kandam). There is not a dominant dirt note, nor do the herbs run away and make this super leafy or green. Ambergris does make its appearance, but on my skin it has always been a super awesome intestinal secretion (note) and it hasn't ever really amped on me. This has a very unobtrusive potency, so it seems ideal for a perfume for non-perfume wearers or work situation. I would say this veers slightly towards masculine only in that it has a gentle, smooth, simple cold musk-like quality. Over time, this turns a bit more floral, but never really super aquatic. It is definitely NOT minty, or BPAL Ice-slushy, which I kind of am a sad-panda about.

It is similar to Leanan Sidhe but not as sweet, if I had to compare it to something from the GC.

I'll play around with my one bottle, I do have the feeling in my situation I'd pass over this for a full-on aquatic or marine, just given my tastes.

Mmm.

 

Wet, reminds me very much of the top note of Clemence. Glorious, ruffly wet carnation petals. Does have a bit of similarity to LUSH's Potion lotion but where that goes more towards the rosey-aromatic petal part, this single note deepens a touch. I can definitely tell this isn't a faint carnation, this is definitely a 'red' category, the kind of red you see on frighteningly strong lipstick, like, drag queen fire engine red (Gurrrrrrl!).

 

Drydown is a little weaker overall, and adopts a much more rose-y, Rose Otto kind of sharp drydown. Mid-to high-pitched, uniform note.

 

Fun, because I'm going to run through my carnation blends and start searching for this now. I have definitely smelled this note before in Alice, Clemence, etc.

 

Also, this is a good learning experience for my hoarding, since I love the smell of this and adore carnations, but I think this will end up like my Fenris Wolf prototype - adored on occasion but glanced over for the final or finalized blends.

 

ETA about a few days later: it's super awesome, but really strong and definitely sharp. The edges on this are not blunted out. It's kind of like if you were to paint things with one shade of cadmium red, it's bold, it's present, it's red, but it is definitely a single note! I think I'll layer it onto things, though, hrm... like, put a string of carnations with some of my Yule blends.

My must have from the Salon is:

 

Cloister Graveyard in the Snow.

Definitely has that ethereal winter snow ice vibe that is one of my favorite BPAL themes.

 

Runner ups are:

Death of the Gravedigger (for dirty snow... slush... so accurate!)

Lucretia (kush + violet, nothing else like it, very rich)

Itaso ... blarh blarh... no Fuzoku (I remember liking this because of the delicate sweet floral, understated, but nommy)

 

A lot of the Japanese Art Salons were wonderful on me, like Fox Fires, Itaso...

 

I have to also put a thumbs up for Philosopher in Meditation which is like a less bristly Brimstone or other smoky incense blend. Sweet without being syrup golden sweet (for me like Cairo).

So... maybe I asked this upthread, maybe not. I've tended to avoid certain perfumes because the true resin/extract are contact sensitizers, and as a result don't find myself gravitating towards blends like, say, Kubla Khan, since they have balsam of peru listed as an ingredient. Anyone have any experience at all with BPAL contact sensitizing (i.e. over repeated application, more and more blistering?) I have a wheal reaction to cinnamon so a few blends are out but it appears to be a purely isomorphic response.

This is a lot like Lights of Men's Lives, in that it is a full bodied wax and heat aroma. The smoke is subtle. The effect of the creamy beeswax aroma is a light, light honey like scent but mostly cream with just a subtle hint of smoke.

 

Very pretty. It's 3 pm where I am at and I feel like a little candelabra is behind me. I may have to get more.

 

Playing Diablo III concurrently makes it extra creepy.

Fresh, wet, pulpy pumpkin from the imp.

 

I got this with my Candlelight atmospheric spray order.

 

Wet, still frighteningly that Jack type buttery pumpkin, with a hint of that crunchy ribbon candy orange tang in the background. As it dries down, the pumpkin takes second seat to this very strong orange essential oil / juicy orange aroma. If there is sugar here it is the faint, not particularly caramelized type and is subtle, either that or flattened beneath the high heel spike of this orange diva "You are SO not America's Next Top Model!"

 

Overall drydown is a sweet hard candy orange with a goopy center and background of pumpkin, which is most definitely fun but not my style!

So candy like so sweet. Not as planty as I remember my prior, hoarded version being. Still sweet, like strawberries dusted with light powdered sugar. Maybe just a hint of grass, but this moon is mostly ripe-honey sweet berries dripping with... well... honey!

Wet from the bottle whiff, definitely a dry, non-terribly gritty patchouli, the kind of patchouli that drinks at Starbucks and buys things from REI and remains generally unshaven but may not have been in his or her local city's Occupy. Yes, the unshaven applies to all genders

 

On skin, it's mostly a combination of the drier woods (sandalwood comes on strong here, as well as ebony). I'm not detecting too much if any osmanthus or vanilla orchid since the woods are so strong. Over time the woods do start to die back somewhat while remaining a coherent whole. If the musk and florals are present they are doing their thing from in the sound booth or as props, since I can't pick them out as players.

 

Even after a further dry, it's interesting because now I'm getting the hints of a few burnt down florals, over a sharp wood.

 

Strangely, I would have loved this scent about in the middle of its drydown, but after it goes all the way on my skin it is not something coherent I would want to smell like

 

Well, BPAL, you win some, you lose some!

Weirdness express shuttlecraft, prepare to depart from the U.S.S. Lycanthrope.

 

The scent from the bottle is blueberry skin and a few sharper flowers / cologne notes. On my skin... a frightening mix of cologne sharpness (bergamot?) that makes me concerned that this is going to fail, and fail hard. Patience, my shapeshifting lunatic, patience. Over time the orris root asserts and in a way grounds this scent with a dry rooty violet-esque tone, the lilac definitely increases in strength and the blueberry continues to exist as an interesting fruity back note. The overall effect is a creamy iris with juicy blue fruit.

 

I really like this a lot!

I'm really not sure how to classify this scent. It is a powdery gourmand, but not really 'chocolate bar' nor 'coffee spiked with orange,' nor is it an orange scent. It's very intriguing. In the bottle I'd say it smells most like a fancy milk chocolate truffle or an orange jelly chocolate stick. On the skin it has that initial foody smell of smearing those orange, rectangular things on your body. However, after it gets a chance to dry a bit, it... melts into something much more complex. Never strong, mind you, so if you're looking for throw, this moth is quietly stalking your sweaters from afar. There is this persistent very subtle orange-like top note (ebony-orange?) and overall as it dries down this turns into an orange-kissed powdery wood. I'm not getting my usual reaction to tobacco, which is 'blarhg?' So that's nice...

 

A bottle may last me though, so I'll see how I'm feeling before moth season passes

Definitely starts off very strong and sweet with the blood orange, has a bit of a 'Bayou' feel, but without quite as much sharp jasmine floral + water. This is more soft vanilla cloth with a hint of orange rind and a rather subtle jasmine than the usual suspect of a grand, potent floral. It is nice, but I think I'll still reach for Bayou when I want my jasmine fix.

Wet and bottle, grapefruit, grapefruit, grapefruit, rinds, and even the pulp, smash a pip between your fingers, grapefruit. Given time to calm down, the grapefruit segues and mixes with the topnote of the lily, which is a heady, casablanca type, reminds me of LUSH's Lily Savon/Ghost, touch of dry from the wine, dry burnt sugar, and then the other supporting agents are probably there but very quietly in the background.

Citrus Lily, with good throw. Fairly complex.

Towin' da Scrotum Boat.

This tanuki's scrota-quota is apparently a bunch of sweet, ripe honeydews rolling down the river for his big-balled compatriots.

On the skin, fresh, wet, drippy melons, that dry down a bit and remain the cool sweet flesh of the flavor. Honey presents itself then as a waffle/foody topnote that almost brings to mind those Japanese melon-flavored flaky pastries. I'm sure there is an overaching, cool, airy green musk above the rest.

It's very nice.

TOW DEM SCROTUMZ

(coming soon to A+E or TruTV)