luna65

Katharina has orange blossom, and it strikes me as more of a floral accent than fruit, though the peach is the strongest note. Still, I think it's a very bright and pretty scent, if you like the other notes the blend uses as well.

Thanks to nursekins for the imp. Imp: I love the way Bastet smells in the imp, mostly almond, but the saffron and the cardamom keep that note from completely taking over in the blend. Skin: My chemistry really amps musk, so I don't get the same Hello Saffron! reaction I get from Underpants. The amber and the myrrh are lending their respective heat as well. Drydown: This is beautiful: rich and warm, definitely my type of scent. If anything, the lotus never becomes readily apparent on me, unless the golden type is more spicy, in which case it just melds with all concerned. It's a fragrance fit for a (cat) goddess!

Thanks to lorajc for the decant. Vial: Pure peppermint oil, and my sinuses are miraculously cleared! Skin: Underneath the peppermint is a hint of creamy sweetness. My skin started mildly tingling a few minutes after application. Drydown: This fades on me rather fast, but leaves a nice buttermint type of scent. I'm thinking it would make a refreshing bodywash, especially with the type of heat we've been having lately.

Thanks to Blood onmy hands for the imp. Imp: The sweet almond is the most prevalent note when I sniff this, but there are hints of the honey mead and buttercreme. Skin: Some note ends up smelling like soap, initially. I'm thinking it's the almond, as I don't believe I've had issues with the rest in other blends prior to this experience. There's a sour quality as well, and I wonder if the liquor is a bit much for my chemistry initially. Must be that "wicked bite" Beth spoke of. Drydown: Thank goodness this evolves into a more sensual blend, to be sure, I think the hazelnut comes to the forefront and tames the other elements. In the end it's less foody and more warm, I smell sexy but not quite yummy. I just have to remember to let it breathe, as it were, and get to the happy ending.

Thanks to lorajc for the decant. . .and Ah Xiu for assistance above and beyond. Vial: Spicy vanilla icing. A very smooth vanilla with that piquant note of saffron. Skin: The saffron becomes very dominant, I think this is the first time this has happened to me with a BPAL containing this note. I'm not complaining, mind you, because I love saffron, but this is different than I expected. Drydown: The sandalwood smooths it out, this evolves into a skin scent with me, dry and sweet. It's sexy in the fact that someone would have to get very close to discover that I smell yummy (a monster would have to be in my pants to take the bait), I wish I could have gotten some of the booziness and retained some of the vanilla. It's like the last two notes disappear completely on me. As much as I love the entire concept, and especially the one for Underpants, its' reaction to my chemistry is such that I probably won't freak out if I don't ever manage to get a bottle.

Of the ones I've tried thus far, the two that have lasted the longest on me (i.e. over 8 hours) are Red Lantern and MB: Underbed. The latter, in fact, seems to last forever when anything is scented with it - I dipped one half of a Q-Tip in my bottle to use for scenting my car more than a week ago and it still smells as strong as the first day!

Thanks to Gwallahay for the bottle. Bottle: I am Musk, hear me roar! You know what this reminds me of? Remember, Boomers and GenXers, the type of musk incense you could buy in the 70s? This takes me back, seriously. The first whiff is exactly that 70s-era dark musk, before Jovan changed everything and popularized the sweeter types. A second sniff reveals a nice boozy note. . .golden rum, but if there are any others I'm not discerning them. Oh yeah, this is TEH SMUT alright! Skin: Immediately after application I can smell the sugar fighting for dominance. But this is MUSK people, and will not be repressed. So thus they begin a drunken dance of seduction. Drydown: Fortunately, musk and I get along just fine, so this settles down after a while and makes me smell oh so sexy. I guess the musk and the sugar needed the booze to get in the mood, so no more hints of debauchery - just the sweaty blissful aftermath. And the color of this. . .so deeply dark you know it means business! Great freakin' word, great freakin' oil.

Thanks to clover for the imp. Imp: A very stately and elegant floral. I get a recollection of the Marquise in her yellow dress (when she goes to counsel Cecile) in Dangerous Liaisons. Skin: The peach is floating on top of the florals, I'm guessing that this type is lighter than the accords used in other blends. Drydown: The vetiver gives it a sort of green undertone, and the galbanum makes this very Continental, like others have said, this is incredibly reminiscent of classic French perfumes; I suddenly feel like I need to don a dressing gown and write letters to all my admirers.

Thanks to Blood onmy hands for the decant. Vial: The oak is definitely present in the vial, it's more of a wine-y type of scent than on my skin, altogether deep: toasty and fruity. Skin: The berries take over completely. Have you ever smelled the first press of a harvest? This is the scent: almost overpoweringly sweet with berry, grape and vanilla notes. Drydown: After a time I can smell the oak again, a resin-like undertone. I love to smell this, although I'm not certain I'd like to wear it. I'll have to have a certain oenophile I know take a whiff and see if it makes him think of a certain terroir.

Thanks to Blood onmy hands for the imp. Imp: Warm and dry. Spicy and sweet. I get more of the amber and the spices, especially the coriander, which is giving me a sort of cocoa reference. Skin: The sage and the hyssop become very prominent with my chemistry. And the epazote is a sharp note as well. Drydown: This is incredibly evocative of the southern desert (I actually lived in the Mojave desert for nearly a decade) in the dry sharpness that develops over time, so I am reminded of being there exactly. And sage is a fairy ubiquitous reference when it comes to that clime. I can dimly make out a hint of the prickly pear and the poppy (?); but I don't get any of the sweetness on me that I smell in the imp, so this would be a nice experiment for a scent locket.

The intoxicating perfume of exotic incenses wafting on warm desert breezes. Arabian spices wind through a blend of warm musk, carnation, red sandalwood and cassia. (Thanks for clover for the imp.) Imp: The carnation and the cassia are the strongest notes I sense when sniffing the imp. Skin: My chemistry is amping the musk, which is delicious, but it's muting the spices I fear. What I discern is a musky, flowery sandalwood. Drydown: Eventually the carnation appears again, but the cassia remains fairly quiet. This is a very sophisticated type of scent, very warm and decadent, though I'm not sure if I get the true sense of Morocco from it, but it's romantic in an ancient sort of way nonetheless.

Thanks to Blood onmy hands for the decant. Vial: Very sweet floral. My nose finds the rose and the vanilla right off the bat, with just a hint of the heliotrope. Skin: The amber comes out immediately and makes this into a warm opulent floral, with that "golden" quality which amber always seems to possess for me. Drydown: After a time I can detect the other notes, primarily the gardenia. The musk is making everything blend nicely. This does have an air of grandeur to it, like the queen's chambers when she is absent and only her scents remain: her toiletries and the countless flowers which grace the room. It makes me feel very haughty and privileged; but I don't know if I can live up to that standard often enough to track down a bottle, though I'm glad I managed to get an decant.

Thanks to clover for the bottle. Bottle: The florals are very strong, almost astringent, in the bottle. I can't really make out any other notes. Skin: Again, very floral, but after a few minutes I can make out the suggestion of incense and burning leaves. Drydown: This is an incredibly powerful scent, almost heady in its' throw, and I can see where the ambience is part of its' creation. That overwhelming sense of ritual and revelry. The fragrance evolves on me into a flowery dusty sweetness which is completely evocative of being in a sacrificial place - regardless of the deity being honored. I particularly like the smoky and chocolate notes that become apparent after a time. Yet another olfactory journey that is entirely enjoyable!

Thanks to Blood onmy hands for the decant ('05 version). Vial: Oh sweet sweet gingerbread. Like with white (sugar, not cream cheese) icing. Skin: The spices are singularly prevalent on my skin, especially the nutmeg and the clove. Drydown: As with many spicy scents, everything seems to merge into a warm veil once dry. Poppet ends up smelling less like gingerbread and more like a sophisticated spice-based Oriental on me. But it's delicious nonetheless. I love gingerbread, so how could I not love the Poppet?!

Thanks to Blood onmy hands for the imp. Imp: I get a sweet-salty-smoky vibe from this, and even though there's no specific aquatic note I'm thinking it's the iris' doing. Skin: The coconut and hazelnut become more prominent, and the smokiness is accentuated, so the coconut on me is more of a dry woody note, I'm assuming. But it reminds me of being in a harbor, any harbor; that melange of odors that tells one they're not far from the sea. Drydown: The musk almost completely takes over once dry and gives the oil a very complex and sophisticated body, again like a classic perfume of the old school. I enjoyed how evocative this became once on my skin, which is one of the hallmarks of BPAL, of course; the olfactory journey we take with each scent.

Thanks to all who provided me with decants and a bottle, even! Bottle: The blackberry is most intense in the bottle, I find, as it's the first note that comes forth, riding a wave of red velvet cake essence. Skin: The bourbon emerges immediately, looking for a good time. The blackberry is flirtatious, looking for the hook-up. I feel like I'm at a decadent restaurant where someone's ordered the dessert bomb and we're waiting for the gueridon to roll up and be set aflame. Drydown: The buttercreme eventually gets all concerned to behave and smooths it all out, so what remains is a yummy berry frosting, kinda like the icing my mom used to make for my cherry chip birthday cakes with vanilla frosting and raspberry Kool-Aid. Somehow I could see myself fighting the The Closet Monster for this goodie.

Thanks to Blood onmy Hands for the decant. Vial: Pure sugar, which I'm assuming is the cupcake accord. Skin: The sugar evolves almost immediately into something more complex, a flowery sort of vanilla. Drydown: A hint ot graham cracker crust starts to emerge over time, and then that creamy quality of the cheesecake, but it's rather subtle, more like the suggestion of cheesecake than the thing itself. Kind of like when you walk by a bakery and everything is so blended that it reminds you of various odors, but you can't necessarily pick out anything specific. Because this doesn't manifest that strongly with my chemistry, I'm thinking it would make a nice lotion for layering with another scent, as it gives me a delicate sweetness.

Thanks to nursekins for the bottle. Bottle: In its' liquid form, it is easier for me to detect every note of Underbed: the chocolate, the spice, the cakey vanilla, the sweet nuttiness of the coconut. Very rich and warm. Skin: The cassia really takes over once on skin and ends up making the cocoa more dusty than foody. Note to self: do not use in crook of arm, aye carumba! Drydown: Eventually the angel food accord emerges, and the cocoa melds with the cassia to smell something like Mexican hot chocolate. The coconut turns into more of a toasted note than the specific scent. But this is delicious, I bet the monster under my bed would take the bait!

Thanks to nursekins for the imp. Imp: The spice appears a little more prevalent than the rose, there's a crisp dry sense to the scent, almost as if the roses have been dried and stored in patchouli leaves, or something similar. Skin: The rose emerges in moments, and I get an overall powdery impression, which I'm guessing is the influence of the musk. Drydown: What remains in time is a very smooth and subtle mix, I think my chemistry is amping the musk; which is fine, although I wish the rose would have remained a little stronger. But this is a lovely sophisticated type of scent, along the lines of a classic perfume minus the way in which many of those concoctions will become cloying in their evolution.

Thanks to oceandreamer001 for the bottle. I felt I had to wear Red Lantern several times before I could do justice to reviewing it. This is, without a doubt, once of the most complex perfumes I have ever worn, not only in terms of its' myriad notes, but in the way it evolves over the course of time. Metaphorically I'd say it's a lot like certain wines - the wine you drink upon opening the bottle is not the same wine you drink an hour later after it has had time to breathe. Bottle: An incredibly heady sweetness greets my nose upon opening the bottle. The most prominent notes are the caramel and the black current. It is not merely sugar, but a deeper sense of sweetness, with a particularly thick and liquid body. Skin: Within minutes, perhaps even seconds, other notes emerge. The amber and the black coconut create yet another type of sweetness, more ruminative than mouth-watering, and the tobacco offsets the delphinium, bringing forth a powdery quality. The drydown reinforces that this is a dense, complicated type of scent; creating an evocation of a time and a place that we can only reference with the imagination. When people say things like, "You smell like a brothel," what they mean to say is a person smells loud and gaudy, without realizing that the true scent of licentiousness is more like Red Lantern: a type of olfactory delirium. The opium comes forth on my skin after a time, sweet again, but that sickly-sweet smell that certain substances are known to have. The final veil that remains is a wall of spice anchored by the tobacco and the opium, which add up to an almost musk-like quality. Drydown: As others have noted, this scent has a particularly tenacious quality, one of my wearings lasted about 15 hours, give or take. And on other mediums Red Lantern retains that initial gourmand-gone-wild sweetness; I can imagine making myself and others quite hungry if I wore it in a scent locket. It almost seems superfluous to say that I love this, but declarations of true passion are often without reason. I hope someday in the near future I can do justice to this ephemeral alchemy by creating a milieu with words in much the same way that Beth has constructed it with scent.

Thanks to nursekins for the imp. Imp: The cinnamon bark is quite potent, and I wonder if the pepper is amping it up, I get an incredibly hot sensation upon sniffing Bengal in the vial. Skin: Cinnamon is the strongest primary note, and then about five minutes later the skin musk allows the other notes to emerge, primarily the honey and the pepper. The ginger and clove seem to merge together, courtesy of my chemistry, into something that is probably akin to a chai or pumpkin pie mix. Drydown: In the end there remains a lovely spicy melange, difficult to articulate except to say that I do smell like a spice market, or at least the memory of one; as the scent quiets down but does not fade, thankfully. Bengal is delicious and enigmatic, to be sure.

Thanks to nursekins for the imp. Imp: Very very bright apricot. A beautiful kind of sweetness that is playful without seeming to be overly immature. Skin: The orange blossom appears and bolsters the apricot, to my nose it was strong but not overpowering. With each sniff I kept wanting to declare I smell so pretty right now! Drydown: The white musk eventually tempers the fruit and embarks toward sophistication, a sweet warm golden kind of scent. Unfortunately, as with some others, it did not last too long on me, three hours at the most. But I'm a fan of fruit/musk blends so I'm definitely a fan of Katharina!