Lycanthrope

I think the new additions are general catalog (they say they are entering Excolo), but they have only the option for bottles at this time. After further thought I ended up just getting a single bottle of the mayan deity, but... it was much more confusing than usual.

I cannot figure out for the life of me how to do a custom imp order on some new GCs - in fact everything is an 'imp pack' and I can't split a new GC into just a single 4.00 imp. Help!

The fruit is very strong in this. It's a tropical myrrh resin, although pretty quiet on the myrrh. There is a floral background but it doesn't really strike me as a violet scent. On me this starts going really weird, but I blame the passionflower, as this goes the way of most tropical scents on me - delicious initially and then kind of funky after a long drydown. Hours later this is still a touch fruity, but more like, orange rind, or the memory thereof.

 

I don't... really get science out of this, unless the scientist is clearly on a tropical beach.

I also am wearing Snow White on the other arm... and... that's all I get is the creamy almond-snow Snowcake like scent. Don't think I need more as I have plenty of vintage Snow White.

Camphorous, dusty, corrupted apples and ash.

 

Yiiiikes.

On my skin, this is a fabulous snow note.

 

Starts off even citruss-y sweet, like an orange-flower citrus, burns off quickly. Then goes right into classic territory of things like Talvikuu, Nuclear Winter, Skadi (but more floral). I don't actually picture flowers when I wear this. But, on me at least, it goes into DELICIOUS SLUSH territory. And I like me some DELICIOUS SLUSH. Have to wear versus Skadi to see which one gets my love this year.

 

Two paws up! Yay whore frost!

Preface: Mugwort smells a little like stanky-stank on me.

 

I get mostly a strong mugwort (that gummy, resinous stinkiness/herbalness), which is like a burnt sage leaf to my nose, a bit gummy, sticky, and dry. I get little mandarin or orange/like, and then a very gentle blue musk. The rockrose/costus is definitely adding a hint of sweet, but I am not getting a lot of iciness or even Beth's snow note. It's very narcotic. I think this may be a good bedtime scent if I can get through the strong initial burst of muggle-wart. With drying down the musk moves to the forefront and the whole scent does even out a tone. I love the concept, but I see this being less 'bright' and more 'gentle night.'

I get a huge hit of camphorous, eucalyptoid mint, rapidly decaying into a sharp lavender, with a very bizarre, slightly sweet 'round' drydown. It's pretty bracing and fresh. Herbal, and actually, if you like lavender, you'll probably enjoy this.

 

I get... um, as a color association, a speckled gray-black.

 

It does bring to mind labradorite, for some reason. Hrm. I like.

Definitely my interpretation of this scent is not necessarily a statuesque, strawberry-blonde heroine, but I see instead a little mischievous prince, blonde, with a hint of a goatee, kind of like a Liam Hemsworth of Princes, looking playful yet a bit devious.

 

To actually describe the scent, I suppose...

 

It is strong on the dry initial bite of cedar and the light 'acidity' of that note has remained on me throughout wear. The scent itself is definitely not strong and has less throw than I would like. It is a cuddly sort of thing, like a blanket or personal force field. I would have to say that the floral aspect of this scent is a mild radiance or a gilded edge rather than strong petals. The scent dries down surprisingly woody and nutty almost, a soft, hazy skin-scent that is a touch exotic. Amber does a little bit of that Lugubre Gondola prettiness but it is not strong!

 

Surprisingly unisex, worth a shot. Try this if you like, um... The Coiled Serpent, Aureus, um... maybe Penitence?

If you love atmospheric, pine forest scents, this is an absolute stunner.

It starts off with loads of spruce, with a hint of coolness from the snow. The spruce is magnificent, just like a fresh cut tree hauled into the room. The stone note is not terribly strong, but there is a touch of Beth's sweet snow note that is peeking through marvelously. I spray just a touch of this and instantly, I have the holidays surrounding me. A perfect christmas tree scent, wild, true, and marvelous. It does start out a bit auto-freshener with the spruce but give it some time to develop and bloom. It's a perfect, quiet, Grimm's fairy tale snow forest!

Wet: Smells masculine to me, an assortment of woods (I'm not very good at picking these out). The snow hits when wet, but is minor and overpowered by the woods.
Dry: Didn't try - woods don't work for me, so no dry test was done. This was off to the swabs/sales for me.

Courtesy of the wonderful mellifluous.

Sweet snow topnote is present. There must be a little bit of grey musk in this as the air smells slightly resinous and chilly. Just a hint of a smoke from the fires but no spicey warmth from that directly. The trees may be a hint of birch or a subtle woodsey note. The rest of the scent is very ozonic and marine in that it is a mix of powdery snow notes, ice, and the icy rivers. It's pretty amazing, I have to say. Smells like outside and camping.

So simple... vanilla, amber, oudh. On my skin, a little bit of a sweet resinous amber with vanilla, and the oudh heats up a touch and adds a sparkling smokey note. It dries down simple and sweet on my skin, like a marshmallow or some kind of odd LUSH marshmallow woods concoction. Sweet, innocent, simple. Tasty.

Wet, I get the schmear of fig and cedar together. There's a spicy, sugary note mixed with orange and honey, touched with a little sharp resin. It smells kind of like... a cedar fig yogurt with a sharp almond, a hint of spiciness and splintery woods, but other than that it is not a straightforward resin smell. It is very hard to describe. I would say closest to Strangler Fig with the creamy fig family.

Wet: Smells a bit like Aveda's Sapmoss, but this was always galbanum in my experience. On my skin this starts to develop a very strange pathway towards being a smoky, highly resinous slightly spicy orange-whispered clove. The overall tone of the scent is very much lighter orange-yellow with a bit of gold flakes showered in. It overall has a sharper resin tempered with only a hint of sweet orange. I like it, but it's also not a very 'pretty' scent. It's quite warm, orange and glowy.

These came in record time. Phoenixes in my mailbox!

Wet, this is a sweet, rich and complicated myrrh. Almost like the SN Myrrh topnote.
Immediately on the skin, it does not disappoint as a swirl of deep, chewy, brown-singed sweet sticky myrrh heading more on the side of smoky rather than sweet or pungent, arises from the tiniest drop on the back of my hand.
Over time, it starts to lighten just a touch but is not really heavy on the copal or frankincense. I think both of these sweeter resins give a touch of levity and an even, slightly bright high resin note to what would be a murky, mysterious, excessively but wonderfully dark swirl of myrrh. It's magnificently striking and I like this more then Penitence. All things considered, however, I would probably not need more than one bottle of this, as a tiny spot has refrickudiculous throw!

This is a touch more complex than the myrrh SN but any and all myrrh lovers must try this!

Please don't take this the wrong way.

 

I am a guy, and this perfume so embodies young pretty girlhood, that I feel wrong wearing it! It is a superbly beautiful white floral-orange floral scent with a perfect base of spices and resins. When I wear it it flashes to me unicorns and parties in the backyard with toddler girls and mixed drinks that are really made just of juice.

 

Then add the reality of me being a man in my thirties and the creepiness factor in my personal situation strikes. It is so wonderfully feminine that I. Just. Can't. Handle. It.

 

So, please, get this wonderful perfume but it is not unisex! On this gay guy it is so pretty it is disarming.

Sounds like it should have been awesome, but I am not someone who does well with bourbon vanilla. Having several frankincense essential oils the sharp resinous top note is what I am looking for. On me this starts off with a hint of the glowy white resin but turns very foody on me quick. Final dry down is a safe and well behaved vanilla. Not something I am reaching for, sadly.

Right.

 

So, this is exactly perfect. It's a warm, rich cedar forest, and sweetens up over time, without being too 'musky' or 'sweet.'

 

Also very appropriate for me, and more neutral for sure!

 

I will have to scrape together a little more to get an extra bottle or two.

 

I have short hair, but found myself using more just to get that foresty woodsy hit!

This smells very much like the October family of fragrances or Autumn Grove, but what a difference a little time to evolve provides! The smoke comes creeping up to the forefront and surprises you with a bit of a scorch, and the apple is not overpowering but does lend a tiny touch of autumnal fruit. It's very environmental and evocative. The myrrh is not strong, but this is a moody, sultry autumn spritz. Want more!

Whoa, dude, it's like a giant sexy pomegranate in a slinky black slipdress sidled up the to bar, bought a cosmo, and then slapped me.

 

So smooth. And yet so dark. Mmm.

Wet, this is planks and wood and creaky splintery floors.

 

As it's trying to dry down on my skin, it's vacillating between strong hits of cedar, wood shavings, and this odd scent I've smelled a thousand times before but can't identify but... what is that? I swear I've...

 

OH. LILY SAVON SOAP.

 

I'm getting a huge hit of lily of the valley, rising up with a touch of something... foggy, gassy, almost a touch gasoline-y. I'm a big time cedar amping fiend, and so for me this is a duality scent, both scents rolling and ebbing, waxing together, and on my skin unable to decide if it is going to sit still as a giant, stolid house like House of Night, or a haunting spirit. It mixes together into a little bit of a cacophony, unsettling, very potent.

 

It's musty white florals and predominantly strong lily (of the valley type), darkened and corrupted by dusty, smutty woods.

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, well, yeah, I guess that's a haunted house!

Dear Invidiana: I cannot post my reviews after your reviews, since you perfectly nail every scent with so much more descriptive ability and much clearer than I can!

 

I totes agree.

 

Doods.

 

This is like less gritty October.

 

I get more wet green leaf, intermixed with a light powdery wood, and slightly crinkly mostly yellow and orange leaves. There may be a bit more woodsiness to this than standard October with less... um, musty rot?

 

This, please note, is coming from a wolf who LOVES the smells BPAL uses to describe and embody decay.

 

 

 

 

Mmm.

 

 

/wolfpounce /leafsplash /rollrollroll

Wet, I get hay, sweetgrass, dry, crumbly, tan and gold grasses. There's a whisper of something lemon verbena-ish (or I'm crazy). Sweetness of amber rolls on through as a middle note and I get little Coyote and The Lion flashbacks. Not exactly sure what the dominant deep note is... it may be a dark musk of some sort because it's got that round sweet musk element.

 

I think what I'm pulling out as verbena is the berry-esque fruity tone noted in the review above.

 

The scent is kind of... a lemon-amber-black musk. On drydown the grassy element is not as pronounced, it's mostly a very predatory (and sensual!) amber black musk.

 

It's very pretty and atmospheric, but one bottle will do me fine.

Wo-pah, there's the pomegranate. I love eating the fruit. Years of buying The Fruit of Paradise ineffectively should have taught me that my skin does not play well with BPAL pomegranate. Wet, I can get the slightly smoky scent of myrrh taming some of the fruitiness into submission, and on, it's less syrupy sweet powerful. Over time, this does seem to be a pomegranate for me of a more wearable variety. The myrrh resin tempers the sweet but it still retains some juiciness. I'm not getting a lot of floral but on my skin this went directly to smokymyrrhfroot. Grown up pomegranate.

 

I will continue to play around with this bottle.

 

If you like resinous scents, like Penitence, and also a hint of bright autumn fruit, get this. I'm not so sold, but I'm a cold stone violet mint kind of wolf.

One of those very well blended scents that is hard to put into words, and definitely squishes into one of those olfactory squibblies that ends up making me sound like I'm just spouting out notes. Overall, this is interesting. Much sweeter than I expected. For some weird reason I keep thinking 'Big Red Gum.'

 

It's very smooth, and I am getting a very inky musk out of this. Maybe 'indigo musk,' as I feel like I've smelled this before. The scent is not woodsy, or terrifyingly sharp or bright. It has a moonflower like fleshy floral, and maybe some other really 'wide' white flowers (oh, God, that made no sense). It also has spices running through it, almost like a whisper of pepper that makes this whole fragrance edgy and not cold. It's a warm, visceral type of night musk. I wasn't sure what to expect.

 

I agree that this is like Night's Bridge, but without the stone and cologne like notes. Noctiphobia stays very close to the skin but it makes me think of menacing moments in the darkness. I'm not sure I need more than what I have, but this is a very evocative scent that pulls off the fearsome, pulsing heartbeat in the evening feel.

 

Plox to wear with: a deep burgundy and violet crushed velvet dress with blood garnet and silver rimmed necklace and earrings.