synthetique

Huh...contrary to some of the other reviews, this smells distinctly yellow and pale orange to me rather than green. Initial: My Sweetest Lesbia is a fruity floral scent that smells like sweet peach candy soaked in sour lemon juice over a backdrop of flowers, musk, and a small touch of something almondy. It's fairly reminiscent of Tamora, although this is much less cloying and sweet and instead smells "fresher". I don't smell anything particularly green in this, which is disappointing given I was most excited about the hay and catnip notes. Drydown: The sourness of the lemon starts to fade, pulling it back from straight up lemon juice to lemonade (think Fresh Sugar). The ambergris becomes a little more prominent. Overall, I'm a little disappointed in this scent. It smells like an odd fruity floral perfume, and while I love me some fruity florals, this one didn't do it for me.

Amber, heliotrope, golden sandalwood, peach blossom and vanilla bean. Wet: Tamora smells like Fun Dip candy, from the fizzy tart fruity candy to the chalky vanilla cream of the dipping stick. This is like peach gummy candy mixed with vanilla, and a bit of this odd bitter note as well. Dry: Even dry, it continues to smell similar to its wet stage, although it also takes on this weird "dirty clothes" smell. Gag. This one lasts on the skin for a longgggggggg time - I could still smell it on my skin 24 hours after applying, and that's after trying to scrub this off with highly scented detergent. I like fruity florals, and my favorite perfumes all either have a peach note or remind me of peach, but this was just...ick.

Received a frimp of this from a very kind off-forum swapper. Wet: Very similar to Snake Oil minus that odd "stinky"/BO factor I always smell in Snake Oil (perhaps the patch?) Dry: Powdery vanilla, cardamom, and amber. This is sure to please people who are fans of non-BPAL perfumes. I'm glad I found a version of "spicy vanilla" that works for me, but I don't think I'll be wearing this one that often and might just send this on to someone else who will appreciate it more.

When I first opened my imp of Kitsune-Tsuki, I got a blast of plumminess (mixed with some currants from a leaking imp of Eat me) that made me groan, as I'm not too keen on juicy fruity scents. Thankfully, Kitsune-Tsuki is mostly floral, with just a touch of fruit. Daffodil (or what I imagine daffodils must smell like) and jasmine stand out at the forefront, and white musk and plum just peek though the flowers. This jasmine isn't the super sweet, cloying jasmine I sometimes find in other perfumes; instead, this is reminiscent of the fresh Indian jasmine wreaths my grandmother used to weave and pin into my hair every night when I was growing up. There's a pleasant sort of waxiness to the scent (someone else mentioned candles) which I associate with the daffodils. Kitsune-Tsuki reminds me of a woman wearing plum silk walking over a snow covered field in late Winter, with daffodils and other flowers just waiting under that white blanked for the season to change. Even though it's floral and fruity, it feels most like a winter scent to me.

Just received my decant of Mother Ginger and I'm in love! This is my favorite BPAL scent to date...and now to figure out a way to get my hands on more! I strongly suspect Mother Ginger is one of those scents which improves with time. While it still has a fresh, ginger ale feeling to it, it doesn't seem lemony at all at the moment, and I presume that the "freshly cut ginger" aspect of it has tapered down in the year it has had to age. Even so, it still has a bit of that fresh cut flavor to it, which is partly why I love this so much! Mother Ginger is what I expected Sudha Segara to be like (although I like that one too!), and is just marvelous. This is ginger, cardamom (?), marshmallows, and cream in the perfect balance. The ginger in Mother Ginger is much more "fresh" and tart than it is in Sudha Segara, which can go almost soapy on me at times, but as I mentioned above, this is primarily a dreamy creamy sweet scent rather than a fresh one. Even though the description states that there's gingerbread in this, I don't really smell any. Gingerbread has a pretty distinct baked/cookie accord to it, and this scent doesn't have any of that at the moment. It just smells like a spiced ginger beer float. Wet: Sweet and spicy ginger ale, cream soda, served with ice cream, cardamom, and nutmeg. Dry: Marshmallow comes out and decides to play alongside the above concoction, which has lost its fizz. Gorgeous scent! I hope Beth brings this one back someday, or maybe a variation on this ginger and cardamom. Yum!

Ylang ylang, osmanthus, spring berries, and daffodil cloaked in hoarfrost. My review is for the 2009 Version of Snow Maiden. Wet: Sweet fruit and mint over pine. Very cloying, and reminds me of old, over-chewed gum. ::shudder:: Dry: Within minutes, the mint disappears and the daffodil and ylang-ylang come to the forefront. Still a little fruity, but without the mint it no longer smells like old gum. Smells a bit like a cranberry and pine blend, which is exactly what I was hoping for! It still maintains a cool edge, despite the disappearing mint. I would have preferred if it were a bit less fruity, but I still am glad I ordered a sample of this!