Thimbleviolet

As a self-confessed floral addict, I just love coming across a blend that is very floral but completely different to anything in my collection. The Garden in Winter threatens to go a bit soapy while wet, but then dries into a beautiful bouquet of mixed flowers. I get a lot of lily, but nice lily, not the soapy/powder kind. A bit of rose in the background maybe? Then something warm and unique which must be the poppies I think? Fresh poppies don't really smell like anything but I sort of get the spirit of poppies. When I brush my hand across it I get a moment of crisp, yellow primrose, so I'm pretty happy all round. Do I need a bottle? I'll see how it lasts over the day. All too many nice florals do a vanishing act on me, it's only the ones with staying power which are keepers.

2013 Version The first thing I get is mint, which I'm guessing is the minty snow everyone's talked about but which I've never picked up on in a snow scent before. Then I get pine; clean, woodsy pine - not cleaning product at all. The mint gradually fades and I get more pine and woodsiness. This is like standing in a pine forest, taking big deep breaths of slightly damp forest air. I don't get any berries unfortunately, and no snow aside from the initial mint. I like this, but I have other 'forest' scents already, and this is a tad too masculine for my tastes. Definitely glad I got a decant though.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who got fruit notes in this! Was starting to think I'd mixed up my decants. To start with I get pine, with a bit of conifer, this quickly mellows out into the BPAL 'snow' note, familiar from Snow White. Then I get something fruity, the closest thing I can think of is the redcurrant from The East, with maybe a touch of floral, not at all what I was expecting. Fortunately, the lab's snow loves my skin and has decent throw and staying power, while softening into a creamy delicious scent. The berry/redcurrant seems to fade after a while and it ends up more like Snow White but less sweet. Alas, I can not smell true narcissus in this. This is my second attempt at finding a blend that smells like fresh daffodils (the other being Crowned with calm leaves she stands) I will live in hope! I really like this, whether I get a bottle will depend on the other Yules I like this year.

In the bottle this is juicy citrus fruits, but on me it quickly turns to soapy florals. I think the lab's freesia might be a death note for me, which is heartbreaking because my favourite scent in the world is fresh freesia flowers. I think this could actually be unisex, despite the florals, it's a very clean, cologne like scent.

This was the most appealing of all the decants I got and the first I tried. Cool white florals with a touch of dry sandalwood. The rose is there, but it's a cool perfume rose and not a lush 'turkish delight' rose. This is a shadowy, soft but lingering scent. I have a LOT of white florals, and this one is colder, drier and more incense-y than the others. Closest comparisons would be Gossamer and Moonshine and Mist. Masses of throw. I'm already wearing Brisingamen (not a wallflower either) and so I put the tiniest dot of oil on my wrist and I am now sitting in a veritable cloud of sheer white gauze and faded lace. This is what your grandmother's wedding gown should smell like (even if it actually smells of mothballs.) Not sure if I need a bottle. Will have to compare it to Gossamer and Moonshine and Mist and see if it's different enough to warrant one.

I'm really disappointed in this. I had hoped for the 'face full of daffodils' scent of my dreams, but it was not. One thing I will say for Crowned: this smells like Scotland in April. I'm not sure how, but something about bulbs pushing their way through the soil and faintly sappy dandelions comes through - then my skin devours it. I reapplied twice, but it disappears. I was left smelling faintly of vitamin e cream.

I have to begin with a disclaimer: I'm a sucker for lilac. Anything with lilac or gardenia is usually a safe bet for me. That said, I don't think this is an overly lilac cloud inducing blend. It's there, soft and sweet in the background, but it is the other notes that make this what it is. In the bottle: A slightly herbal, heady floral with faint hints of spice Wet: Hello anise! This goes spice-rack for a bit, and I can just smell the carnation Drydown: Ooh, lovely purple florals. I know it says white, but this is a purple floral on me. The lilac and tuberose go 'starry' with the benzoin and there is a faint hint of the anise in the background. Good throw and staying power. When I put this on this morning I thought 'nice, but I have a lot of lilac and I'm not crazy about strong anise.' Now I am seriously considering a bottle because it morphs into this gorgeous, nocturnal, sparkling and slightly warm floral. There is definitely something magical about this.

In the bottle: Buttered popcorn (I'm guessing this is the 'cream' note.) Wet: Still buttered popcorn, a very yummy scent if you like foodie scents. Drydown: The popcorn dies down and the floral comes out, it's a very perfume like floral, well blended but still somehow unnatural. I do like the scent in this phase. 8 hours later: Bug repellent. How on earth did that happen?? Verdict: One of the strangest BPAL scents I've yet tried, I'd swear it was three different perfumes. None of the stages appeals to me enough to want a bottle though

I'm amazed at how different this seems to smell on various people. I get pure vanilla and white musk. I'm not sure what the 'snow' note is meant to be, but to me this is just creamy and soft and white. More like Snow White's skin than her namesake. I have a lot of white floral scents, and I don't get much floral from this. I'd put it in the same category of scents as Morocco, but without the spice. Not sure if I need a bottle as I'm not that big on vanilla. I will probably use up the imp, however.

In the bottle: Interesting. I don't immediately get rose, I can smell the green stems and maybe something fruity-floral Wet: Oh dear. I smell like disinfectant. Or possibly, a rose bush sprayed with some sort of pesticide. Dry down: It mellows a little, but is still strong enough to make my nose tingle unpleasantly. Still searching for hints of rose in this, but it's just disinfectant and greenery. Going to wash this off... Verdict: Not a winner for me, sadly.

In the bottle: Rose syrup. That rich, turkish delight fruity rose scent. A little sweet. Reminds me of a climbing rose, deep velvet red, that grew on a wall near where I used to live. On the skin: The sweetness disappears. This is a heady rose, a little darker and definitely haughty. Drydown: My wrists eat it up in a matter of minutes. However, the oil I put in my hair is still there and I catch whiffs of it throughout the day. It's cooler now, and less fruity. Almost feels as if there is some other floral note in there I can't quite catch. Verdict: The best of Beth's Rose scents I've had the chance to try so far. I like it better than Rose Red, Snooty Rose and Black Rose. The SO complimented it too, and noticed that is was different to my other floral scents. If only it had a bit more throw and staying power!

In the bottle: Sugary sweet gingerbread, doused in icing. Also smells very much like a chai latte with six sugars or there abouts! I make my gingerbread with honey so this isn't quite the smell I'm used to. Wet: The sweetness fades very quickly and the cinnamon amps up. Raw, hot cinnamon burns my nose for a few minutes. Drydown: The cinnamon fades just enough to let the other spices come through, I can catch ginger and nutmeg and maybe a hint of baked biscuit. Verdict: This has surprisingly low throw on me, something like Morocco which is also spicy but with more musk creates a cloud of spice. It may be because I put it on fresh out of the shower though. I will reapply later in the day and see if it lasts longer. I'm not sure if I'll keep this one yet, it's not as amazing as I had expected and far sweeter, but it might grow on me and the SO likes spices so I'll have to get his opinion.

In the bottle: Hmm, smells like soap. Wet: Still soap, sort of a bubble bath smell. Drydown: The soap fades and the lovely white florals come through. This is Lilac Wood without the woods, and is the closest thing I'd found to Moonshine and Mist, although I'm not sure which notes they share. There is something sharper in this though, I'm not sure if it's ginger or licorice or something else, I only catch the barest hint now and then. Gossamer wears very close to the skin, not much throw or staying power but that's normal for white florals on me. Definitely a keeper as I hoard white florals. If you miss Moonshine and Mist and can get a bottle of this it's a good match.

Wowowowow! I bought this bottle unsniffed from BPAL etsy, and boy am I glad I did! This is exactly the scent of the 'fairy shop' I used to frequent as a little girl. It wasn't a tacky, plastic sequinned wand sort of place but a perfect bower of enchantment run by a lovely old couple who made most of the products themselves. Flower Moon is exactly like the incense they burned in that shop. Wet: I get heavy, incensey full blown blooms and something that reminds me more of amber than honey. Dry down: The wet scent is still there, but there is another layer that I can smell when I hold my wrist away. It's powdery (in a good way) and reminds me of Australian wildflowers under a blazing sun, especially everlastings. Maybe a faint hint of wysteria too? Throw: Really quite powerful on me, and my skin eats oils. A little goes a long way. Definitely a keeper and so far my favourite of this order!

... Her perfume is a crush of Irish herbs and flowers, Gaelic mists, and nighttime dew. I have a 2yr old aged imp of this, and when I initially got it, Leanan Sidhe did not stand out but since then I have tried it again and grown addicted. On me this amps jasmine, almost pure jasmine like wearing jasmine absolute, this is day jasmine not night jasmine. It is tinged with some faint white florals and something lightly green, more like dew soaked grass than herbs though. It has a decent throw to start with, but fades over a few hours and requires close wrist-sniffing to detect. Colours: white, green, lilac and a touch of gold Impression: It is early morning and the mists still hang heavy in the air, you are walking barefoot on dew soaked grass studded with tiny wild flowers. To your right is an old stone wall covered in blooming star jasmine which glows softly in the morning light.

I tend to go for florals AND my skin eats up BPAL, so I have big problems in the lasting/throw department. Of those scents that I regularly wear The Lilac Wood is the only one which lasts all day and has a decent throw. Veil also lasts for most of the day but I have to sniff my wrists to tell it's still there. Titania has both a decent throw and longevity, but I've gone off it a bit lately as I'm not that in to peaches. Most of the scents that I really love like The Lady of Shalott and Leanan Sidhe require constant re-application.