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Shadwell had turned out to be about five feet high and wore clothes which, no matter what they actually were, always turned up in your short-term memory as an old mackintosh. The old man may have all his own teeth, but only because no-one else could possibly have wanted them; just one of them, placed under the pillow, would have made the Tooth Fairy hand in its wand. He appeared to live entirely on sweet tea, condensed milk, hand-rolled cigarettes, and a sort of sullen internal energy. Shadwell had a Cause, while he followed with the full resources of his soul and his Pensioner's Concessionary Travel Pass. He believed in it. It powered him like a turbine. Roll-ups, mildewed raincoat, sweet tea, and condensed milk. In the bottle, this smelled of tea and saltwater - very aquatic, with just a hint of black tea. No sign of the dreaded mildewed raincoat. On my skin, this blossomed into a complex, beautiful aquatic, the tobacco mellowing out the sweet milky tea, and making it sophisticated instead of saccharine. There's a hint of the sea behind the main notes, but it's not overwhelming, and doesn't ping my allergies. I believe this would be great for men as well as women; it's very gender-neutral. Definitely a keeper. ETA: I tried it on again today, and suddenly, it's a dead ringer for Thunder Moon. Seriously masculine and sporty - still clean and salty, with a hint of milky tea, but whoa - today it's way too masculine for me.

Ay, thou art welcome, heaven's delicious breath! When woods begin to wear the crimson leaf, And suns grow meek, and the meek suns grow brief And the year smiles as it draws near its death. Wind of the sunny south! oh, still delay In the gay woods and in the golden air, Like to a good old age released from care, Journeying, in long serenity, away. In such a bright, late quiet, would that I Might wear out life like thee, 'mid bowers and brooks And dearer yet, the sunshine of kind looks, And music of kind voices ever nigh; And when my last sand twinkled in the glass, Pass silently from men, as thou dost pass. Dry, cold autumn wind. A rustle of red leaves, a touch of smoke and sap in the air. This is the scent I've looked forward to - some of my favorite autumn smells, all rolled into a single perfume. In the bottle, this was sharp and masculine. Ooo, very sharp. Wet, it transformed immediately to the scent of mouldering leaves, with an overtone of men's cologne. Dry, the throw is all wet, decaying leaves (which I find quite pleasant), but unfortunately, when I bring my wrist to my nose, all I smell is cheap men's cologne and a whiff of musk. On the whole, I think my skin chemistry has played me false once more.

In the imp, and on first application, this was sweet vanilla with a richer undertone. Wet, it was vanilla and a sweet scent that seemed familiar, but which I couldn't quite identify. Dry, a warm vanilla amber. Dry, 10 minutes later, the amber is going a bit powdery. Oddly enough, I kept getting wafts of this spicy resin that reminded me a bit of Morocco. ::sniffs the arm:: Nope, still vanilla amber. ::moves arm away:: Spicy! Up close is soft and warm and sweet, while the throw is all hot and sultry spices.

I was really expecting this to be cloying, but it's a faint floral in which no one note dominates. When I first opened the bottle, it smelled like...well...a beauty shop. Don't know why it sparked that particular association, but there you go. Dry, my skin is drinking this up, so that it's a close-to-skin kind of fragrance. Very unexpected.

In the bottle and on my skin, this reminds me a lot of Miskatonic University, except with a salty, peanutty undertone. After allowing it to warm up a bit, the peanutty aspect is strongest - I imagine once this ages, it's going to be fantastic. I like it very much indeed.

The first note out of the bottle is a complex evergreen; there's the sweet pine from 'Skadi', but there's also some deeper, more resinous notes. Underneath that is a slushy note - not so much snow as melting ice. It's a very clean fragrance, and I think it would appeal to a wide variety of people. I like it, though I'm not head over heels about it (I much prefer my Skadi). To me, this smells like the tail end of February - cold and sleet and evergreens heralding the coming of warmer weather.

Alas, on my skin this is the sour note from Beaver Moon without the extra sugar for leavening. The pumpkin might as well be nonexistant. ::sigh:: Damn my skin chemistry.

I was absolutely certain I would love this. Pumpkin and beeswax? All right! What could possibly go wrong? In the bottle, it was delicious, buttery pumpkin. Yum! Wet, the pumpkin burned off quickly, making way for beeswax and...beer? Dry: Yup, sweetened hops, beeswax, and maybe a whiff of asphalt. No pumpkin at all. Wah! But I love pumpkin! No fair! ::pouts:: Ok, ok, Looked at objectively, this is a wonderful, fragrant, sweet-but-not-foody, grownup perfume. It smells of fall, with a hint of leaf-scent, and the dead-on smell of the inside of a jack-o-lantern, and the longer I wear it, the better it smells. It's just not the foody pumpkin I wanted.

Sticky pine sap and vanilla car air freshener. A world of no.

In the bottle: mmm, brown sugary. Wet: Crisp, clear apple. Dry: Y Halo Thar Brown Sugar. Reminds me a powerful lot of Sugar Skull '05. Dry, much later: Caramel Apple! Mmm, now I'm hungry.

In the bottle, this was nearly the twin of my beloved Pumpkin Queen. Alas, that's where the resemblance ends. Wet, this was all sweet pumpkin, but as it dried, it gained a slightly plasticky vanilla scent with a gingery undertone, but the pumpkin is completely gone. I'll keep it to try at other times of the month, but so far, it doesn't seem like it will work for me.

This was an unexpected frimp in my last order! In the imp, and wet on my skin, this was a light, sweet chocolate scent. Drying, it got redder and redder, as the darker tones of the scent warmed up from my skin. Dry, it's a sweet and fruity scent with a dark base note - reminds me a lot of Unheavenly City, actually.

So beautiful. I opened the bottle to a scent memory: me at four or five years old, sitting up underneath my Granny's arm, happy and content. It's a very 'blue' scent, feminine and floral, but not 'girly' or commercial-smelling. I quite like it, and I am not a floral person.

I'm not sure what I was expecting; but this smells like dust. Dry, it smells specifically like a bottle of men's cologne covered in a thick, choking layer of dust. Very, very evocative. Soooo not for me.

Mmm, tree sap. Some kind of pine-related goodness, but some of those can cause reactions in me. And cue headache. ::sad music:: After a few minutes, the tree sap backs off, and now there's a citrusy-resiny scent. Ten minutes later, my skin has almost completely absorbed it. Huh.

LIX In the bottle, wet to dry: Smells like a Lemonhead candy.

On my skin, kind of a generic, low-throw yellow-floral perfume. ::shrug:: Florals and me were just not meant to be.

In the imp: Mmmm, buttery! This usually means that it will smell godawful on my skin. Wet: Mmmmmmmm! Butterscotch! Drying: Cloying-sweet butterscotch. Dry: Baby powder. Aw, man!

In the imp, this smelled watery and clean. On my skin, it immediately turns to...well...P.inched with Four Aces, without the coffee. I swear I'm not making it up. I've even tried it twice at different times of the month, and it still has that warm, creamy undertone that Pinched does. The only thing missing is the coffee! I have no idea what, if anything, those two scents share. ::boggles:: Isn't skin chemistry weird?

Wet, this is sharp and sour, very bitter-ish smelling. Made my nose wrinkle. Dry, this is a dry blend of many unusual flowers, with a slightly green undertone, growing fainter as it dries. It's got a wispy throw, which lends itself well to the 'night-blooming' aspect. Interesting, but not for me.

Hmm. I can see where some might say it's near to P.umpkin Q.ueen in tone (same amber, I believe), but on my skin, it is all powdery frankinscense, and is giving me one hell of a headache. Glad to know I won't be pining for it.

This smelled of tea liberally mixed with some sort of fruity syrup - a sweet and deep scent that was nearly cloying. Very unusual, and I think I'll have to try this three or four times to really get a handle on whether I like it or not.

In the bottle: Generic floral Wet: LiliesLiliesLiliesLiliesLilies. Did I mention Lilies? Oh, sure, there's a little something cool underneath them, but it's difficult to discern. Dry: As it dries, the lily gets fainter and fainter and fainter until I have to lift my wrist to my nose to smell anything. All throw has vanished. When the lilies are finally gone, there's a faint trace of what I'm pretty sure is the orris, but nothing else. Verdict: Where's the hyacinth? I wanted hyacinth! No cucumber, either. Meh.

This is heavily aquatic, with the florals subsumed beneath deep watery notes. Very unusual - I think with the right skin chemistry, this could be amazing. On me, it's rapidly heading for 'dryer sheets'. As with many of BPAL's aquatics, it's also giving me a headache.

I confess, this was a huge surprise. I expected it to be uber-masculine - between the vetiver and the lavender, I thought it would be much like any other 'gentleman's blend'. Boy, was I wrong! In the imp it was kind of sharp-smelling, and I wrinkled my nose at it, expecting it to be godawful on my skin. Wet, it resolved into loud lavender. Dry? It's this gorgeous complex lavender scent, sweet without being cloying, old-fashioned without being old-ladyish. It has a faint suggestion of dusting powder that serves to keep it soft and gentle without slipping into baby powder. Just beautiful. I traded for the bottle thinking it would be good for my husband, but I'm keeping it for me. ETA: Today, I went to put it on, seeking the lovely complex lavender, and got...lemon. This seriously smells like a lemon drop. I picked the bottle up three times to make sure I had the right one. It's just another lesson that I should try perfumes periodically all month, and not just make decisions based on one day's wear.