Nachtwulf

This might seem odd, but I have discovered a really nice scent for Autumn...actually a combination of scents, discovered while testing imps. Jack is the obvious thing. It smells (at least on me) of 'harvest spice' candles. But it's a little 'much', I think, because it's awfully sweet. But then, I tried a bit of 'Burial' just to test it, and discovered something interesting. The two scents (to me, at least) seem to mingle nicely without interfering with each other as I move about. One minute, warm spicy pie-like scent, the next, cool foresty green-ness. The overall impression I get is of sitting on a porch on an autumn night. Sometimes, you can smell the pie coming from inside the house, but then the wind shifts, and it's the damp greenery of an autumn night. I don't know why this works, but it does. And it keeps either one from tiring your nose out.

In the bottle: A clear, cool, almost appley scent, evergreeny but not obnoxious about it. Light, pleasant. Wet: The apple notes go away, and it lapses back down into a sweet sort of light pine fragrance. It's actually very similar to Jabberwocky, I think, though I haven't gone and compared the two right off. It's a bit sweeter I think, though... probably those elusive 'traditional lunar oils', whatever those are. I don't know if it's 'dark' or 'gloomy', but it's certainly pleasant. Dry: It gains a bit of spiciness (I think /everything/ goes a bit 'spicy' on me when it dries), more towards I'd say...juniper. Still faintly sweet, still evergreeny. It does fade into subtlety in a comparatively short period of time (I had to be right up on it, after wearing it to work today), but it's still there (and I'd like to see some alcohol based perfume last like that).c Final opinion: I bought a 5ml of this when it popped up on the forums, even though I hadn't gotten my imp yet. I figured I could flog it/trade it if it didn't work, but I have to say, I love it. I may trade off the imp (since I don't need /that/ much of it) but the bottle is definitely a 'win'. Some pine-type scents (Black Forest) go really sharp and unpleasant on me (bathing in pinesol anyone?) but this, and Jabberwocky both, retain the sweet pine of fresh forests, not the old sour pine of cleaning solution.

In the bottle: Kinda sweet, kinda pungent. It's sure not floral, and I'm not sure it smells like rum (although from what I recall, 'bay rum' is something entirely different than Captain Morgan's), but it's certainly nice enough. It's got a few sharp edges, but it's a long way from acrid. Wet: Ooh. I don't...know what this actually smells like on me, but I like it. It (like so much of BPAL) goes incensy, but it's an entirely different, non-resiny sort. I don't know why, but I feel like I've smelled it before, possibly in some new-age store someplace that wasn't obsessed with nag champa. It's a bit woody, but sweet, almost reaching out into vanilla, chocolate, or even faintly cherry-ish notes without being actually any of them. It retains some of the sharp edges, but again, refuses to go acrid. Dry: Mellows out a bit, but the general gist of the scent is the same, just a bit warmer, and a touch spicier. Final opinion: Definitely on my like list. It's another 'work' scent... something with enough throw that I notice it while typing, without being overwhelming and something I'm going to get utterly sick to death of after half an hour. I like that it's sweet, but still feels 'clean', and hints at a foody quality without smelling like you bathed in Torani syrup. Something that I, at least, could wear often and not get tired of.

In the bottle: A pleasant enough floral, I suppose. I don't know if I'd call it 'darkly aquatic'... it smells of soft, sweet flowers to me, more than anything, though pleasantly clean and clear. Wet: Snurf? SNURF? Okay, maybe my sniffer might not be in high gear right now, but... yeesh. It smells faintly of something sweet, like honeysuckle... a light, floral note, but really, it seems awfully...thin. (I don't think it's diluted either; the color of the oil is a deep brownish, and if it was watered down, it wouldn't be that color.) Of any failings it may have, 'overpowering' is sure not one of them. Dry: Still faintly sweet, faintly floral. Still not very aquatic, still inoffensive. Still something I have to squash my nose against to smell ANYTHING. Final opinion Well, it's nice, I guess. But I think I want a little more bang for my buck than this is apparently capable of giving me. I suppose it'd be good if you spend a lot of time in super-close quarters and you didn't want to gas out your compatriots, but I just don't think it's got enough 'oompf' for me.

In the bottle: Wow. o_o It's certainly pungent. But not bad, it's just all 'sharp and pointy' after me burying my nose in the warm cuddly spice of Jack and Hellcat. Still, it's not like the 'driving a spike up your nose' kind of sharp, but it's clear, a bit sharp, and yes, very masculine. Very Victorian indeed; makes me think automatically of a friend of mine because I always think of her when I think 'Victorian boys' . Wet: Hm. Reminds me of .... soap. Very /nice/ soap, the sort you get in boutiques, with raffia around it in a bow. (largely, I suspect, because I tend to buy soap with lavender and bergamot in it.) But soap nonetheless. It's the smell of getting out of the bath after a nice scrubdown with handmade soap. Dry: Clear, pleasant, mostly lavender with hints of other foo. Unfortunately, it still reminds me of soap. Final Opinion: Mmm. If I was into soapmaking, I'd totally use this oil. It's surprisingly masculine for being made up of flowers without any tobacco or leather notes, though I think it could've benefited from something warmer, like musk. It's clear, it's clean, its.... post-bath-y. It's nice, and doesn't offend my sensibilities in any way, but I STILL can't get past the 'I just got out of the shower' thing. Might just be me, though. (It also smells kinda funny when combined through 'throw' with Jack. But I /know/ that's my fault. )

In the bottle: Ah, Jack, the "poor man's Pumpkin King". I've heard a great deal about this, and have only today gotten my hands on a bottle. In the bottle? It smells... like butter. Butter with brown sugar in it, and very little else. Pumpkin? Where? Wet: Better on the skin than in the bottle. Still very buttery, but I can smell the peach and the clove and autumness. It's /very/ sweet, but not the 'crawl up your nose and die' sort (no, I STILL can't forgive Gluttony, why do you ask?). It makes me kind of hungry, though. Dry: Same as wet, as far as I can tell. Sweet spice, nutmeg and clove, butter, and an autumnal pie-ness that falls somewhere between apple, pumpkin, and peach without hitting any of them squarely. It /does/ remind me of Halloween, though, it does indeed. It's like those 'autumn spice' candles, but without the fake quality. Final opinion: Another for the 'success' bin, I think. I have apparently evaded the pitfall of it smelling over-buttery on me, and I don't find it cloying at all (like Thanatopsis). It -is- awfully foody, and not something I'd wear daily... unless it were October, in which case, I think it'd get a lot of mileage. Or for wearing to Thanksgiving dinner or such. It would seem terribly out of place in say, June, but for what it is, it's very pleasant. Ever buy one of those 'pumpkin/autumn spice' candles? That's EXACTLY what it reminds me of.

In the bottle: It smells... like cherries, to me. Cherries and cream. I /suspect/ this is mostly the rum and sweet almond, in all honesty, but I swear I smell cherries. Wet: It still smells like cherries. Only this time, with almonds. It's a very foody scent that reminds me of a hot fudge sundae, only without the chocolate. Cream and almonds, and maraschinos. It's not overwhelmingly gaggingly sweet, though, like Gluttony. It's a milder sort. Dry: It dries down to spice. It's /very/ spicy when dry, like cinnamon and nuts and the leftovers of baking. Or...buttered spiced rum. I think that's likely the closest. Although it might be kind of too-sweet for a man, it's got enough edge to it to avoid being too squishy-sweet-feminine. Once it's dry, I think 'pirate wench'. Can be sweet, but will probably rob you blind once you've passed out from the rum and the nookie. Final opinion: This definitely goes on my *heart* list. In fact, I think I shall hereby dub it the official perfume of dear Captain Jane Hawke, my pirate-persona. Means I'll have to pick up a bottle one of these days, but it's a catalog scent, so I think I can afford to wait until October.

In the bottle: Very light, sweet, a little fruity with a sharp edge (which I suspecct is the pepper and/or ginger. Not a powerful smell, and fairly pleasant. Wet: Mmm. Nice. Almost floral, though without any of the sharp notes I can't stand. Sweet, but not sicky-sweet. It has a certain clean quality that's appealing. It's not as fruity as one might expect from the list of ingredients, but then, that prevents one from smelling like fruit salad. Dry:It fades down to the sweet musk once it's dry, though there's still some ambiguous fruitiness wobbling around here and there. I think it falls into the 'work scents' category; the kind of stuff one can wear to work and not offend one's co-workers. (After all, aren't we -all- just brains in jars?) Final opinion Well, I can tell you I'm sorry this is a limited scent... ; But unless Black Broom still has a bottle of it come October, I suspect I'm out of luck. It's a very nice scent on me, not heavy and sweet, and I can see why it's so popular. I suppose I can continue to swap for imps of it, though.

In the bottle - Very strong cherry scent, though I think it's more like the fruit than the flower. There's also a sharp undertone, that's probably the sandalwood. It's sweet, and modestly pleasant, though I don't care much for the undertones. Wet - Again, mostly cherry. There's something 'else' in there (the other oils, I'd imagine) and it still feels 'off' to me, somehow, like they're clashing together. It also seems to be getting sharper, as the anise starts to override the fruitiness. Dry - Mmm. It's mellowed back out again. The cherry is totally gone, leaving the anise/sandalwood scent behind. Although I like the lack of sharpness from before, I'm not sure what's left really suits me. Final opinion - It's not bad, but I don't know that it's 'me'. It reminds me of old Victorian houses and drawing rooms, not Japan. I don't know that I /don't/ like it, but... hm. Jury's still out on this one.

In the bottle - You guessed it... it's floral. But it's a very -nice- one, all clear sweet notes, very pure and clean. I don't know exactly what the notes are, but I'm guessing it's mostly the wisteria I can pick up in the bottle. Wet - It remains fairly sweet on my skin, though the frankincense immediately becomes more noticeable. Still clean, still pretty; a light scent that nonetheless manages to retain a sense of 'self'. Wisteria, rose, and frankincense. Very, very nice. (And it doesn't go 'whump, I'm INCENSE' like so many things do!) DryThe rose is the last of the floral notes to take hold (not surprising really), mingling pleasantly with the residual woody scents. It still fails to be 'churchy'; it's all around a lighter, more springlike scent, yet completely lacking in the sharpness of most "light" scents. Final opinion - This is up there with my favorites. I like that it's floral, but not pungent, powdery, perfumey, or anything else unfortunate. It's also not overpoweringly stinky. ^__^ It's not as sweet as a lot of things, but it doesn't lose anything for its lack of sugary tones... it's a nice 'daytime' scent, something you can just wear and not worry about offending the allergies of anyone around you on the bus or at work. And the wisteria makes me happy. (I grew up in a house where the porch was /covered/ with a massive wisteria vine.)

In the bottle - Mmm. Sweet and floral, but warmer than some of the lighter scents (like Ophelia). I can't really pick up anything in the bottle /but/ florals. It actually smells much like a lot of BPAL in the bottle. (So many things smell so similar...) Wet - Hmmm. Nice enough, I suppose. The floral notes warm up a lot on my skin, which is probably the amber talking. Amber and....honeysuckle? Jasmine? I don't know. It actually smells rather like a less-offensive storebought perfume, like Poison or something. Dry - As it wears on, the florals largely go away, leaving what I would assume is the musk/amber/wood combo. It's still a little 'store-bought' seeming, but it's less cheesy. Final opinion - Another for the 'not bad, but I don't think I'll keep it' pile. There's stuff I like better, that's less overtly perfumy. It's not horrid, but it's not particularly noteworthy on me, either. ADDED 10/27/06: Mmhhh.. This is one of those scents that I tried, didn't make an impression, got another frimp later, retried, and fell in love with. Might've just been a 'bad skin day' the first time around, or possibly that its bottle-stage really isn't all that staggering. In the bottle, it just sort of smells kind of perfumey. This is usually a turnoff for me, as 'perfumey in the bottle' usually means 'soapy on the skin'. Aaah, but this is not soapy. Not at all. Now, I like ambers, as a whole, but unadulterated AMBER tends to end up smelling like powder on me. It's NICE, but I don't really want to smell like Little Old Lady. Good for after the bath (I have an amber-based lotion I got from Victoria's Secret that I use after my shower) but not for daily wear. This, however, is an amber with all the little old ladyness stripped out of it. It's fairly consistent from wet to drydown as being primarily amber, but the sandalwood sharpens the edges a little, and then there's the vetiver. I tend to amp vetiver into a sharpness that I don't honestly mind but a lot of people think smells of Simple Green (which isn't exactly the kind of thing to make me want to wear it a lot.) This blend, however, keeps it in check, and instead it remains a warm, wonderful amber that has enough else in it to keep it in the realm of 'golden' without being the least bit foofty. It's sweet, but not sickeningly so, and it doesn't scream PERFUME or SOAP at all. It's also nice in that the duration seems quite long, but you don't end up getting sick of it after an hour or two. This is definitely a win for the imp, and when it runs out, probably a bottle. I find myself reaching for the imp a lot, even over LEs like Jacob's Ladder.

The wild, untamed essence of lycanthropy. Primeval in its raw power and insatiable hunger: juniper, cypress and galangal with the barest touch of eucalyptus. In the bottle - What is it with me and pine this time around? In the bottle, this smells very much to me like Burial. If anything, it might even be a little more acrid and sharp. Wet - ....Wow, that's piney. Not pine-sol-y, but /awfully/ piney. I mean 'bludgeon you over the head with a christmas tree' piney. There's a sweet pleasantness under it, though, that makes it kind of nice. It lacks any of the florality (if that's a word) of Jabberwocky, and seems a little sweeter and spicier than Black Forest. It will also clear out your sinuses if you get close to it. Yike, eucalyptus. Dry - Eucalyptus fades, as I expected it would. A number of sweeter notes appear once it's dry...not incensy (for a change, since a LOT of BPAL stuff goes incensy on me), nor is it floral, it's just kind of sweet and pleasant with evergreen edges. Final opinion - I like this. It's kind of a tossup between it and Jabberwocky for 'favorite foresty smell', but I do like it. Not so much while it's wet (it's AWFULLY evergreen and the eucalyptus makes my nose itch) but once it dries, it's really quite nice, piney, clean, and sweet.

In the bottle - Very green. Very piney. It seems like that kind of 'acrid' sharp pine I don't like, though. In the bottle, that's about all I can smell. Wet - The acridity goes away in some part, when it hits my skin. It's still very green and woody, even more so than Black Forest. Dry - Still overtly piney and sharp. This, unfortunately, appears to be one of those 'pine-sol' type scents that is the norm for evergreen-based scents on my skin. Jabberwocky doesn't do it, but Burial does. I was hoping that it'd be darker and more earthy, but it really isn't, at least on me. Final evaluation - I think this shall be relegated to my trade pile. It doesn't suck, but there's other scents of the same kindred (Jabberwocky, for one) that work much better on me.

In the bottle - I know there isn't any honeysuckle in this (or at least it's not listed) but that's mostly what it smells like to me. I expected it to be earthy, and it isn't... it's sweet, a little incensy, and floral in the bottle, and to -me-, anyway, smells pointedly of either honeysuckle or night-blooming jasmine, neither of which is in the ingredient list. Any evergreen notes are kind of lost. I can pick up the musk, though, which is nice. Wet - Okay, now I can pick up a touch of pinishness, but it's mostly drowned by the musk. The honeysuckle note has vanished. It actually reminds me faintly of Halloween, of squashed greenery (since I'm usually hiding in or behind a bush) and a whiff of something weirdly sweet (that I've just determined is "fog juice") . This is a fairly happy smell for me, but other people might not have such fond associations for the smell of fog juice. Dry - Erm. Again, it doesn't omgsuck, but I just don't quite think it's what I want to smell like. As it dries, almost everything but the musk fades, leaving a weird, thick, cloying sort of scent behind that's sweetish, but not incensy, and reminds me of nothing more than the smell of warm latex and fog juice. I don't object to it, precisely, but... as a personal perfume? Final evaluation - I think this is another one for the swap stack. It's pleasant enough, I guess, but it's not as nice as some other ones I have, and the weird musky-fog-juice smell bothers me a bit when I catch an absent whiff of it. Maybe because it's sweet...but not actually /sweet/, it's more like some abstraction of almost-sweetness that doesn't quite manage to make itself enjoyable. It also has a LOT of throw, and the sicky-sweetish play-doh/fog juice scent just -isn't- doing it for me.

In the bottle: Clear, fairly sweet, but with sharp edges all over the place. I also believe there's a note in it that I can't smell at the moment, due to my current state of partial hyposmia. (There are some types of scent that come off as 'burnt chocolate' to me whatever they are. Rose, coffee, and cat pee (okay, no loss there) are among them. I'm picking up a whiff of that in here, so there's something I suspect I'm not catching.) Wet: Mmm. Opium. Mostly, I think it's that, with vetivert, and what I /swear/ is myrrh. It might have myrrh in it, but I can't find any honeysuckle in it at all. It's a warm, woody scent overall, with a touch of flowers creeping in at the edges. Dry-down: It gets woodier and darker as it goes, the floral notes subsiding to the background. It's not sweet like a musk, or spicy like sandalwood, it's a little incensy, and with a few sharp edges left but nothing acrid. It's more pleasant at a distance, a faint hint of an incense-soaked cathedral, than if you put your nose right on it, when the sharpness carries. Final deduction: I like it. I'm not big on florals, so the fact that the floral notes subside as it dries is definitely a plus. What's left reminds me of old dry arrangements on an altar, sodden in the residual incense of an old church.

In the bottle: Also sweet, also very light and floral. In the bottle, I like this one better than Ophelia; the sweet pea is lovely. It's mostly lilies and sweet-pea to me, though... I can't find any carnation in it, but then, carnations don't smell like a whole lot to me in the first place. Wet: ....Okay, there goes my biochemistry again. It's not bad, and I can still pick up the sweet pea, but it's gone a little...I dunno. Soapy. (And no, it's not where I just got done soaping my arm...) It's not bad, but it's got a 'perfumey' edge that's less like flowers and more like something fake and chintzy. (on skimming the forum, I don't feel bad; a lot of people seem to have gotten the 'soap' reaction) Dry: Still perfumey. The only real saving grace is the sweet pea, and I can't help being reminded of baby powder. Way too /much/ baby powder. Urfl. Will probably trade. (Which is too bad, 'cause it's pretty in the bottle.)

In the bottle: Sweet. Sweet, sweet, sweet, flowery, sweet. I can't smell the rose in it right now (rose is in my nose-dead list) but what I can smell is like night-blooming flowers. Very delicate, not cloying. Wet: Prettier on me than Desdemona. Still sweet, still light. A bit soapy, but not bad. Certainly about as inoffensive as florals get on me. Dry: ...I think this is the first floral I've ever found that /doesn't/ turn completely to soap (or cheap-ass perfume. Or bug spray.) It /does/ still retain a faint soap-ish scent to me, but it's a nice kind of soap. It smells of clean-ness, with no acridity. Just enough flower to be kind of floral, but not sharp or unpleasant. It has a very sweet under-note, that I /think/ is the lotus, and might be me actually picking up a bit of rose. Overall: Very pleasant, and not headache-inducing. I don't know that I'd wear it -often-, but unlike most florals, I could wear it if I wanted to.