themerrybaker

My nose may be off, but I get the scent of dried immortelles (sp?) and unfinished wood. So, the effect is of a peaceful quiet room.

One of the newer Salon scents is pretty work friendly: Satan with Sin and Death Interviewing. It is fairly subtle tea, clean, with unusual components that connote sophistication and prosperity. If only it would ward off the job-from-hell!!

I tried Thalia w/o reading previous reviews and got the impression of a fruity blend; guessing peach or apricot. The fruit was pear, and perhaps the additional sweetness is from the plumeria. Thalia is too sweet for me to wear everyday, but does evoke summer and sweet syrupy fruit.

At first Magdalene is dried rose petal with an undertone of what I thought was frankincense or hyssop (must be the Lab-danum). The orchid turns up much later as a sweet, powdery note. This is a fine floral for rose/orchid lovers and after a long while develops a romantic mood appreciated by even an anti-rose person. Just not a favorite but very nice indeed.

The peach in Imp is subtle for me. It adds just the right mellow note to the more traditional darker perfume components. Another scent I never would have tried, but find I adore.

A layered citrus musk with light florals. Had I not got for Satan&Death,etc. I would have purchased Orpheous unsniffed and been really happy to have it. If the light blends such as EBM, Unicorn, Ides, Dirty, are you thing (as they are mine) this will be up your alley as opposed to down your underworld. As with all the Salon blends Orpheus is a little more complex than the GCs.

Finally getting to try Annie B - a gift from a generous forum swap. At first I wood have guessed patchouli and vetiver. No wonder the vetiver is behaving so well - because it isn't really there and merely performing some sort of astral projection. Unless it is a stowaway? Other than that, I agree with many previous that the wood smells a bit like a cedar plank as opposed to a sandalwood treasure chest. I'm not really attuned to frankincense but maybe it is simply contributing to the harmonious whole. Very greatful to have received this I can see why it's such a favorite with so many.

Hungry Ghost Moon - a snappy ginger blend tumescent with ho-wood? No, not really. More like a romantic tropical vacation with mango (definitely need to eat more fruit - but that's what I get) and vanilla. HGM is very feminine and so appropriate for hot summer weather - it just gets better & better as it dries. I suppose this is the BPAL that breaks my rule against fruity blends!!

Fresh/budding rather than ripe rose, woody rather than leafy background. Parlement takes a while to develop the balance between rose and resin, but eventually gets there. I think this is much better on drydown when the resins start to rally. So grateful to be able to try this gift-imp.

I really like the wet, perfumey phase of Great Cry. For me, birds should sing, cats should hunt, and perfumes should perf their little hearts out. To cut to the chase, this is my favorite of the frank&myrrh scents I've tried. The hyssop doesn't get gamey, the musk doesn't play its bass at 2AM, and my faves: the cardamom and saffron get their respective grooves on.

A loose consensus seems to be that Kether smells like the comfort scent that makes you the happiest (babyhead, kittie, Aveda, delicate tea) and I wholeheartedly agree. For me the smell is zweiback: a little almond and cinnamon/allspice. As a very kind person gifted me with an imp, I also detect the scent of kindness. Definitely bottled magic.

The frankincense adds a woody note to the otherwise predominantly herbals. Fresh from the Lab, Resurrection seems to have a lot of rose geranium. Either my skin is acting as a geranium megaphone, or this oil needs to age a bit. The overall impression is rolling through an herb garden with a bunch of nekkid dudes.

Et Lux Fuit: light lemon honey with bright floral. It's something of a departure from the more syrupy honey offerings. Covered with honey but still clean. ELF goes into the love at first sniff category.

CCCXXXII -(332) In the bottle I like it because my favorite number is 8 and the digits add up to 8. At first sniff, it was "Plenty O'Musk" and I didn't have high hopes for it. I also thought there was some fruity floral. Wet, the overall impression is resinous, wood, musk, skin, vanilla, floral maybe? Well, I like them complex and this certainly is. A coworker definitely smelled vanilla. Drying and dry it does some serious morphing. At various times, predominantly salty skin (like in petitmort & eos), then sassafrass-vanilla, and fruity. I have been debating (unfortunately I mean this literally) with my wrist whether or not there is any cardamom or saffron. It reminds me a little of Tombstone, but better. More like dried fruits in a wooden tray in an exotic spice bazaar in the hot desert sun. And I was worried about getting a prune blend for my irreverent ex lax fruits joke. Got this just to play, but am very glad I did.

Actually, it was meant as a compliment. I think Rewil got the idea - something like gee, the Mona Lisa isn't up to Macha's usual standards!!

Phew!! I knew I could count on Macha.

I usually love Macha's labels, but maybe she was having a bad day or something when she did them for the Salon.

At first Trick or Treat has sugar and cinnamon and caramel. After a couple hours the sugar hangs around with maybe a little vanilla. Very sweet, foody, and undemanding: a good relax on the weekend scent. As an added attraction it has an adorable label.

On me, All Saints is Hymn Revisited. I get mostly rosey floral even after considerable dry down.

Devil's Night is dusty cocoa, sandalwood, and spice (cassia?) on me. It is not overtly foody, and has a pleasantly bitter undertone. DN will definitely get some rotation.

So happy to have gotten to try Queen of Diamonds. This queen is the type of scent I wore before branching out through the BPAL experience. The overall impression for me is a light, mildly sweet aquatic floral. Orchid usually doesn't work on me and too much citrus is boring. I really can't pick out any of the listed notes, but enjoy the cumulative effect. Would have liked a bottle, but there are others to enjoy, so no biggie.

Scales of Depp initially struck me as musky, but the more I wear it the more I enjoy the dusty sage and wood playing with the sharper lemon and vetiver. Its aromaticity makes this good for sticky weather.

I was dreading trying Envy given the description: Slithering Herbs (wtf)? I was worried about toothpaste and chewing gum, but my imp is very herbal with plenty of lime so I like this much more than I expected.

Sed Non Satia is another classic BPAL dark musk scent along the line of Snake Oil and its LE friends. The myrrh, honey, and patchouli play supporting roles. If the muskies are your favorites, Sed will be welcome in your collection. For me, I like it and will give the imp some rotation.

Bloodlust is my favorite of the dragon's blood scents I've tried so far. It smells exactly as the Lab has described it. The general impression is dark and resinous. Glad I got to try it, and like it, but prefer other types of scents.