edenssixthday

The Ecstacy of St. Theresa, Gianlorenzo Bernini.Frankincense, iris, white gardenia, Roman chamomile, amber, and agarwood. I was very excited about this blend because I'm a nut about a good frankincense blend, and the other notes looked like they would blend gorgeously with frankincense. Sure enough, it's a lovely blend. The gardenia is the only note that frightened me a bit, and while it's present, it's so soft and so subtle that I wouldn’t even guess it was gardenia if I didn't know better. The chamomile is probably the most dominant note, but it doesn’t have the soporific herbal quality that chamomile often has when it is a dominant note in blends; rather, it simply blends beautifully with the frankincense, tempering the huskiness of the frankincense with it's smooth, soothing qualities. The sweet soapy-fresh-in-a-good-way scent of iris is slightly noticeable, as is a very tiny sliver of woodiness. Overall, this is an incredibly gorgeous scent that is very classical in inspiration, quality, and design. It's very subtle, but oh-so-pretty and feminine. It's quite lovely and would be a beautiful wedding day scent.

Melancholia, Albrecht Dürer. Blue lilac, white sandalwood, stargazer lily, paperwhite narcissus, ylang ylang, delphinium, and cypress. I'm instantly surrounded by the heavy, thick, sweet scent of blue lilac. Close behind it is the strong and sweet scent of stargazer lily, one of my most favorite single notes. They smell gorgeous and fragrant and heady for the first few minutes, but that's when the ylang ylang butts in and in typical ylang ylang fashion, gives an overall acrid odor to the blend, making it smell almost chemically, like there are more than a few drops of acetone in the blend. The cypress also becomes evident at this point, adding its pungent greenery to the overall scent, which in turn creates an even greater sense of olfactory cacophony in this blend. The notes don't blend well on my skin at all. They clash and they clang and they seem to be in a constant shoving match to determine who's going to be the dominant note. Surprisingly, the stargazer lily wins the battle, becoming the dominant note, but the ylang ylang is still spouting its chemical-smelling nastiness into the mix, which ultimately ruins the blend for me. It's a heavy, heady, thick floral, and I would hazard a guess that only those who are hardcore floral fans would care for this one.

Lily of the Valley and opopponax. The Death-Horse - First, let me say: I am not a lover of Lily of the Valley. I think it's a gorgeous flower and I love filling a tiny vase with clippings of the dainty little bells, but on my skin, it's gross, no matter if the scent is BPAL or from some other company. And so, it goes without saying, that on me, this stinks. It smells like floral must and bitter resin. Even the opoponax, which I usually love, is completely tainted by the poor little Lily of the Valley. Must wash it off now...

ELLI'S SONG “Most shows,” said Rukh after a time, “would end here, for what could they possibly present after a genuine unicorn? But Mommy Fortuna’s Midnight Carnival holds one more mystery yet — a demon more destructive than the dragon, more monstrous than the manticore, more hideous than the harpy, and certainly more universal than the unicorn.” He waved his hand toward the last wagon and the black hangings began to wriggle open, though there was no one pulling them. “Behold her!” Rukh cried. “Behold the last, the Very End! Behold Elli!” Inside the cage, it was darker than the evening, and cold stirred behind the bars like a live thing. Something moved in the cold, and the unicorn saw Elli — an old, bony, ragged woman who crouched in the cage rocking and warming herself before a fire that was not there. She looked so frail that the weight of the darkness should have crushed her, and so helpless and alone that the watchers should have rushed forward in pity to free her. Instead, they began to back silently away, for all the world as though Elli were stalking them. But she was not even looking at them. She sat in the dark and creaked a song to herself in a voice that sounded like a saw going through a tree, and like a tree getting ready to fall. What is plucked will grow again, What is slain lives on, What is stolen will remain — What is gone is gone. “She doesn’t look like much, does she?” Rukh asked. “But no hero can stand before her, no god can wrestle her down, no magic can keep her out — or in, for she’s no prisoner of ours. Even while we exhibit her here, she is walking among you, touching and taking. For Elli is Old Age.” The cold of the cage reached out to the unicorn, and wherever it touched her she grew lame and feeble. She felt herself withering, loosening, felt her beauty leaving her with her breath. Ugliness swung from her mane, dragged down her head, stripped her tail, gaunted her body, ate up her coat, and ravaged her mind with remembrance of what she had once been. Somewhere nearby, the harpy made her low, eager sound, but the unicorn would gladly have huddled in the shadow of her bronze wings to hide from this last demon. Elli’s song sawed away at her heart. What is sea-born dies on land, Soft is trod upon. What is given burns the hand — What is gone is gone. The horrors of entropy, death, and decay: desiccated black mosses, vetiver, olibanum, patchouli, and ashes. Elli's Song - This is a very dark and bitter scent. There's a bit of sweetness from the black moss, but it's almost a death/decay-like sweetness, i.e., unpleasant, which could be a result of blending it with the ashes, as ashes is a note I rarely like, and often find to be quite off-putting. I don't smell the olibanum or patchouli at all. The vetiver is stinky when first applied, but vetiver warms up to something magical on my skin, which is probably the only thing keeping my testing of this scent from being a "wash it off now!" kind of experience. The sweetness dissippates completely as the oil dries down, and the ash becomes even stronger and stronger, until this scent pretty much smells like an ashtray. Maybe it is a wash it off kind of scent. It's morning, and I haven't my shower for the day, and this is making me think it's time to go jump in the shower.

HOLIDAY JOY Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough. - Emily Dickinson Clary sage, peppermint, blood orange, lavender, geranium, juniper berry, bay laurel, King mandarin, and opoponax. Almond oil, refined rice bran oil, fractionated coconut, rosehip seed oil, Citrus aurantium subspecies amara, Pelargonium graveolens, Lavandula angustifolia, Salvia sclarea, Juniperus communis, evening primrose, vitamin E, and our Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab perfume blend. I had a massage scheduled on Saturday, so when my bottle of this arrived on Thursday, I knew I'd be bringing it in with me. My massage therapist and I both agreed that it smells phenomenal. On me, it's mostly clary sage, geranium, juniper berry with some citrus to brighten it up. It's an extremely therapeutic scent -- very joyful in a calming and relaxing sort of way. I could smell the scent on my skin a good 9-10 hours after application. It's a very herbal scent that I would put in a similar category as Bitch or Holiday Stress Relief Elixir. It's just wonderful and I'm bringing it with me to my next massage, as well.

ARAW NG MGA PATAY The first half of Undas, this is the Day of the Dead in the Philippines. It is a time to remember those who have passed before you, and to do honor to your ancestors. Crypts are whitewashed, cemetery plots are weeded, cleaned, groomed, and decorated with bushels of bright flowers. Offerings of sweets are made to the departed and shared with the living, and toasts are made in remembrance. A cheerful, raucous celebration of life and death: bouquets overflowing with gerbera daisies, waling waling, sampaguita, ylang ylang, hibiscus, night-blooming dama de noche, santan, and everlasting flower with piles upon piles of bibingka, ube halaya, rice muffins, champorado, purple yam cake, and turon, and plates of gooey kalabasa leche flan. Araw Ng Mga Patay - In the bottle, this smells like boozy banana and flan and rice cakes and all sorts of deliciousness. I couldn't believe it didn't seem to be more popular, because it's so foody and sweet and delicious. However, the moment I put it on my skin, another note comes out that I can't smell in the bottle. It's sour and bitter and I've never smelled anything like it before. As it warms up on my skin, that bitter sourness gets stronger and stronger until it has completely overwhelmed every other note in the scent. I have no idea what it is, as there are so many exotic ingredients I've never heard of before. Whatever it is, it smells almost sweetly rancid, like decaying flesh, and it makes me gag. I'm so sorry the first review of this scent couldn't be more positive, but it's just a terribly foul scent on my skin. I washed it off after about 45 minutes because I just couldn't stand it any more.

THE HAG The Hag is astride, This night for to ride; The Devill and shee together: Through thick, and through thin, Now out, and then in, Though ne'r so foule be the weather. A Thorn or a Burr She takes for a Spurre: With a lash of a Bramble she rides now, Through Brakes and through Bryars, O're Ditches, and Mires, She followes the Spirit that guides now. No Beast, for his food, Dares now range the wood; But husht in his laire he lies lurking: While mischiefs, by these, On Land and on Seas, At noone of Night are working, The storme will arise, And trouble the skies; This night, and more for the wonder, The ghost from the Tomb Affrighted shall come, Cal'd out by the clap of the Thunder. Black musk, bay leaves, galangal, bourbon vetiver, blackcurrant, and rum. Oh, I love this! It's heavy on the black musk and rum. The vetiver is light and when it dries, it gives the overall scent the most awesome dark smokiness. The black currant does not turn to cat pee on me (!!!) and is barely discernible. Overall, this scent is darkly musky, darkly sweet, darkly earthy and herbal, and darkly sexy. I would definitely call it unisex. It has really good staying power and a light, but really, really sexy, amount of sillage. Bottle worthy? Oh yes.

Hellion v2 - What a plum-ilicious scent! On me, this scent is all plum and spice. It makes me think of an evil sugar plum fairy. The prototype is not nearly as dark and heavy as the released version of Hellion, but it's just as amazing -- just in a different way. Hellion v2 is extremely heavy on the plum. It's not a bright, juicy plum, but a dark, sinister plum with tons of yummy spices in the background. I can't tell you which spices. It almost smells like mulling spices -- clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, but not heavy on any one in particular. It's a beautiful scent. It doesn't have any throw at all on me, and I have to practically stuff my wrist up my nose to smell it, even after "slathering", but the scent lasts on my skin longer than the average BPAL blend. I'm just delighted to get to experience this prototype.

Sol Niger v2 - On my skin, this is heavy, heavy frankincense. There may be something else resinous in there (a hint of myrrh?), but really, it's about as close to a frankincense single note as you can get. Granted, my skin loves frankincense (so do I!) and amps it to the Nth degree. Any other notes are completely drowned out the by the heavy, dark, grittiness of the frankincense. I actually really love it, I just wish I could smell something else in there, too! It has amazing staying power, but again, my skin loves frankincense and clings to it all day long.

POMEGRANATE I Pomegranate, poet's jasmine, and benzoin. Pomegranate I - This is gorgeous. It's a beautiful, sweet pomegranate. The benzoin is far beneath the pomegranate, but gives the scent warmth, depth, and texture. And then there's the jasmine... jasmine can sometimes be scary on me, and it's pretty strong in the bottle, but it turns out to be balanced beautifully with the other notes and once it's on my skin, it harmonizes perfectly with my skin chemistry. This is a gorgeous fruity-floral scent that I just can't get enough of. It really packs a punch (a pretty punch!) when I first put it on, but once it dries, it has a pretty low level of throw and the staying power seems to be slightly below average. I it.

The next morning the old horse was found without his saddle, and with the bridle under his feet, soberly cropping the grass at his master's gate. Ichabod did not make his appearance at breakfast-dinner-hour came, but no Ichabod. The boys assembled at the schoolhouse, and strolled idly about the banks of the brook; but no school-master. Hans Van Ripper now began to feel some uneasiness about the fate of poor Ichabod, and his saddle. An inquiry was set on foot, and after diligent investigation they came upon his traces. In one part of the road leading to the church was found the saddle trampled in the dirt; the tracks of horses' hoofs deeply dented in the road, and evidently at furious speed, were traced to the bridge, beyond which, on the bank of a broad part of the brook, where the water ran deep and black, was found the hat of the unfortunate Ichabod, and close beside it a shattered pumpkin. Soil-covered crushed pumpkin, water-weeds, saddle-leather, and pine pitch. The Shattered Pumpkin - I don't like dirt scents at all, and pumpkin is an iffy scent on me, so I had the lowest of low expectations for this scent. I'm kind of surprised I went ahead and tested it, but I'm glad I did. It's truly amazing what Beth has done with this blend! The dirt and pumpkin notes are the dominant scents when sniffing in the bottle and when I apply it to my skin. They are in perfect balance and I can't get over how the pumpkin picks up the sweetness of the earth scent but the part of the earth scent that I don't like is pushed into the background. The longer it's on my skin, it takes on an almost effervescent sweetness, and then it starts to smell like cinnamon red hots. I double-check the scent description and am surprised that there's no cinnamon in it. After it's been on my skin for an hour, the dirt scent is completely gone, the pumpkin is present, and there's also a hint of leather and the faintest hint of green plants. This is a spectacular fragrance and I can't believe that I like it and I'm so glad I decided not to skip over this one! Edited to insert the Halloweenie subtitle

EBENEZER SCROOGE Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didn’t thaw it one degree at Christmas. External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. Foul weather didn’t know where to have him. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. They often “came down” handsomely, and Scrooge never did. Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, “My dear Scrooge, how are you? When will you come to see me?” No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o’clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge. Even the blind men’s dogs appeared to know him; and when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and up courts; and then would wag their tails as though they said, “No eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!” A dry, dusty, soulless scent, flinty with greed, sour with ill-temper: neglected leather, oakmoss, tonka bean, black pepper, cumin, and vetiver. Ebenezer Scrooge - I liked this one a lot. It opens up smelling like a typical, strong men's cologne, but as it dries down, the leather really starts to come out, and it begins to smell absolutely wonderful. I never smell the vetiver at all. The lovely oakmoss and tonka bean leave the scent feeling solid and well-rounded, and very warm and masculine. The leather doesn't really blend with the leather or oakmoss, but sits on top of them, as if the scent has layers or levels. It's not the black leather from Whip, but more of a well-worn, old, brown leather. Lastly, there's a hint of black pepper spicing things up, and I think that, along with the cumin, is of what makes it smell "cologney" to me, as black pepper is a note that's "iffy" on my skin. But it never overwhelms the other notes, and complements them rather well. It's not dry, dusty, soulless, greedy, sour, or ill-tempered. It's actually quite lovely, and while it's a tad too masculine for my own personal scent preferences, this is one that would smell amazing on my husband. It's got a ton of throw and the wear-length is quite long. I think people who went gaga over Rivet.Goth should consider trying this one out.

LOLA: HER BATH Pomegranate, red carnation, pimento berry, blackcurrant, red plum, rose otto, patchouli, and Indonesian clove. I'm not generally a fan of bath salts -- they just don't provide an edifying bathtub experience for me the way bath oils do. However, this is BPAL, so of course I couldn't resist! I got decants of all of the Courtesan bath salts and this was the first one I tried. The salts are different sizes and very oily. The decantress I used said they arrived double-bagged from the Lab, and even so, some of the second bags were starting to leak. She double-bagged all of mine, and there was oil in the 2nd bag, so Ziploc bagging these oils is not the ideal way to ship them. The Lab should spend the extra dough on putting these salts in containers. They can be ordered at a very reasonable cost at many places online. Anyway, I used my entire 3 oz decant, but I probably could have made do with half as much. The scent is lovely -- every note is discernible and identifiable, except for the clove, which I don't smell at all. The pomegranate, pimento berry, and plum are really bright and juicy, and they're deepend by the black currant (which does smell a little sour to my nose, as it always does to me), the carnation and the patchouli. The rose adds a nice touch of sensuality to the blend. There's a light sheen of oil on top of the water in the tub, and I can feel it moisturizing my skin, but not as heavily as the bath oils do. Several hours after my bath (about 3), I can still smell the faintest trace of scent pimento, carnation, and patchouli on my skin. But it's really light. It definitely layers really well with the Lola perfume oil. As for the salts, most of them dissolve within the first five minutes, but I spent quite a while lounging around in the hot waters of my bath this morning, and after 20-25 minutes, there was a still a fine layer of gritty salt on the bottom of the tub. Not all of the salts dissolve, apparently. It wasn't uncomfortable, it just felt gritty and silty. Still, I'm looking forward to my next bathtime with one of the other Courtesan salts. I still prefer bath oils, but this makes for a nice change of pace -- mixin' it up a bit in the tub.

THE SHADOWY AND THE SUBLIME Meanwhile, the deep impression made by this unknown tormentor, the monk, and especially by his prediction of the death of Bianchi, remained upon his mind, and he once more determined to ascertain, if possible, the true nature of the portentous visitant, and what were the motives which induced him thus to haunt his footsteps and interrupt his peace. He was awed by the circumstances which had attended the visitations of the monk, if monk it was; by the suddenness of his appearance, and departure; by the truth of his prophecies; and, above all, by the solemn event which had verified his last warning; and his imagination, thus elevated by wonder and painful curiosity, was prepared for something above the reach of common conjecture, and beyond the accomplishment of human agency. His understanding was sufficiently clear and strong to teach him to detect many errors of opinion, that prevailed around him, as well as to despise the common superstitions of his country, and in the usual state of his mind, he probably would not have paused for a moment on the subject before him; but his passions were not interested, and his fancy awakened, and, though he was unconscious of this propensity, he would, perhaps, have been somewhat disappointed, to have suddenly from the region of fearful sublimity to which he had soared —the world of terrible shadows— to the earth, on which he daily walked, and to an explanation simply natural. —The Italian, Ann Radcliffe A sudden and shocking insight into the vast, ineffable, overwhelming power of Nature, stirred by a vision or experience of perfected beauty and perfected terror, that changes the soul irretrievably. An epiphany: Moroccan amber, wisteria, ambergris accord, white rose, magnolia, white mint, angelica, bergamot, and myrrh. The Shadowy And The Sublime - Every time there's a big update, there's always one scent that I think I'll actually dislike, but which ends up being the biggest hit of the bunch. For the 2010 Weenies, this was the surprise winner. It has magnolia, bergamot, and wisteria, all of which are "iffy" notes that generally lean to the "no" side of the spectrum. But, it also has some of my favorites - amber, white rose, myrrh. When I sniffed it in the bottle the first time, it didn't do much for me, but the moment I applied it, those resins just blossomed with my skin chemistry, and I was surrounded by a swirl of myrrh and amber and ambergris, which are bolstered by the other notes -- the earthy angelica, the sweet mint, and the florals. The florals are not fully present in their own right, but they seem to boost the resin notes and make them bigger, better, deeper, stronger, and amplify their scent. The overall result on my particular skin is something that is strongly reminiscent of an opium-based perfume oil. (Or maybe there's just opium smoke/tar in this that's not on the ingredient list?) All of these notes blending together definitely leave an overall impression of a scent that I would categorize with my other favorite opium scents. I love this so much. It has amazing throw (a little goes a long way!) and above average staying power. (It's hard to get around to testing the other Weenies because I love this one so much I don't want to give up any skin time to things I don't think I'd like as much!)

Pissed Off Skeeters v2 - Lavender. Lavender, lavender, lavender. Oh, and did I mention there's a ton of LAVENDER in this? This is actually a very herbal scent beneath the massively huge blast of lavender. It's not the pretty, light lavender from Yvaine and TKO -- it's the heavier lavender generally used in the GC blends like Dove's Heart and Paris. My friend who picked this up described it as "bright, glowy." There actually is something bright and glowy beneath the lavender, but the lavender is amped so loudly on me that I can't for the life of me figure out what it is I'm smelling, except that it's very herbal, like something you'd smell in the natural remedies section of Whole Foods. My guesses as to what else is in here: rose geranium, pennyroyal, lemongrass...and hey, wait, do I smell a little dash of peppermint...or is that just the pennyroyal playing games with my nose? I feel like I can almost identify each of those notes in this blend, but I could be wrong. Anyway, if it weren't for my nemesis lavender, I think I'd probably like this blend, since I love this type of natural, herbal-remedy-smelling blend, and in fact, the longer I wear it, the more the lavender settles down and the more I really do like it... a lot! Edited because I haz teh dumb!

Tilt A' Whirl - I believe this is a prototype from an upcoming Carnaval Diabolique act called "The Rides" (at least that's the rumor I heard). Anyway, it's pure, sweet, pink sugar, cotton candy and, on me at least, nothing else. It's 100% cotton candy, and it's uber-sweet and yummy. Unlike Midway, which is the only other cotton candy BPAL scent I can think of, this one doesn't turn to plastic on me. It stays sweet and true and positively delicious. You're going to have a hard time not licking your arms when you're wearing this one!

Nigredo v7 - Dude, this is AWESOME!!! Vetiver/smoke/ash lovers are going to go nuts over this one. It's farging GORGEOUS!!! Wet in the bottle it smells like stanky wet vetiver, but fortunately for me, as much as vetiver stinks when it's wet, when it dries down on my skin, magical things start to happen. As it dries down, I can smell other notes beside the vetiver, and this is chock full of smoke, ash, and molten rock, along with the odd sweetness of sulfur, and everything that's dirty, gritty, grimy, heavy, dark, menacing and foreboding. This scent is sinister and uber-sexy. It was so tempting to pass it by when I sniffed it wet in the bottle, but I'm sure glad I remembered that my skin does good things with vetiver, because this is one of the most hardcore and awesome vetiver blends I've ever encountered. Move over Determination and Three Jacks -- Mama's got a new favorite vetiver scent!

The Ghosts of the Arroyo Seco Bridge - I think this may be my favorite of the C15 exclusives. I don't know what I expected, but I think I expected something a little more spectral and cement-like, since it's named after this famous California "Suicide Bridge." But it's a pretty, bright floral, possibly lilies, (although lilies don't usually work on me, so I can't imagine that's what it actually is), fresh greenery that reminds me of the iceplant that grows along many hillsides in California to mitigate mudslides, and there is a slight spectral quality about this blend, but it's not ethereal, if that makes any sense. It's ghost-like, but like a ghost you can almost touch, as opposed to a ghost you only see out of the corner of your eye, but which has faded into the most by the time you look at the exact spot where you thought you saw it. I really love this blend. Floral haters probably won't like it, but it's one of the prettier florals I've encountered in a very long while. The throw is really strong, especially when first applied, and the scent lasts and lasts.

ENCROACHING MADNESS It is the strangest yellow, that wall-paper! It makes me think of all the yellow things I ever saw—not beautiful ones like buttercups, but old foul, bad yellow things. But there is something else about that paper—the smell! I noticed it the moment we came into the room, but with so much air and sun it was not bad. Now we have had a week of fog and rain, and whether the windows are open or not, the smell is here. It creeps all over the house. I find it hovering in the dining-room, skulking in the parlor, hiding in the hall, lying in wait for me on the stairs. It gets into my hair. Even when I go to ride, if I turn my head suddenly and surprise it—there is that smell! Such a peculiar odor, too! I have spent hours in trying to analyze it, to find what it smelled like. It is not bad—at first, and very gentle, but quite the subtlest, most enduring odor I ever met. In this damp weather it is awful, I wake up in the night and find it hanging over me. It used to disturb me at first. I thought seriously of burning the house—to reach the smell. But now I am used to it. The only thing I can think of that it is like is the COLOR of the paper! A yellow smell. There is a very funny mark on this wall, low down, near the mopboard. A streak that runs round the room. It goes behind every piece of furniture, except the bed, a long, straight, even SMOOCH, as if it had been rubbed over and over. I wonder how it was done and who did it, and what they did it for. Round and round and round—round and round and round—it makes me dizzy! I really have discovered something at last. Through watching so much at night, when it changes so, I have finally found out. The front pattern DOES move—and no wonder! The woman behind shakes it! Sometimes I think there are a great many women behind, and sometimes only one, and she crawls around fast, and her crawling shakes it all over. Then in the very bright spots she keeps still, and in the very shady spots she just takes hold of the bars and shakes them hard. And she is all the time trying to climb through. But nobody could climb through that pattern—it strangles so; I think that is why it has so many heads. They get through, and then the pattern strangles them off and turns them upside down, and makes their eyes white! If those heads were covered or taken off it would not be half so bad. I think that woman gets out in the daytime! And I'll tell you why—privately—I've seen her! I can see her out of every one of my windows! It is the same woman, I know, for she is always creeping, and most women do not creep by daylight. I see her on that long road under the trees, creeping along, and when a carriage comes she hides under the blackberry vines. I don't blame her a bit. It must be very humiliating to be caught creeping by daylight! —The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman A yellow smell. Old foul, bad yellow things. Honeysuckle, chrysanthemum, balsam, hydrangea, and helichrysum. Encroaching Madness - "Old foul, bad yellow things." You know what else is foul and yellow? Urine. That's exactly what this smells like when sniffing it in the bottle. It's so gross it's retch-inducing. I wasn't going to skin-test this one, but then someone in the Seattle Will Call thread mentioned how funny it would be if Beth made a scent that smelled horrible in the bottle but lovely on the skin, and I thought... hmmm... yeah, what if? So I hitched up my britches and jumped right in. And wouldn't you know... it actually smells gorgeous on my skin. I mean, so gorgeous that I couldn't stop huffing away at my skin, partly because I couldn't get over how something so god-awful could become so pretty, and partly because it was just so damn pretty. On my skin it's fairly light. I don't smell the honeysuckle at all (thankfully, since it's not a good note for me). I'm not sure what hydrangea or helichrysum smell like, so I don't know what was doing what on my skin, but it is a gentle floral that is very sweet and incredibly feminine, pretty, and soothing. It's such a gorgeous floral that I'm tempted to find a bottle, or at least a partial bottle of my own. And if I wouldn't have built up the courage to try it out, I'd have never known how pretty it would actually turn out to be. It may smell like urine in the bottle, but on my skin, it's really, really lovely.

THE PHOENIX IN WINTER Blood and fire illuminate the darkness of winter: daemonorops, holly berries, and juniper berries in a snowdrift. This is my favorite of this year's anniversaries and second favorite of the whole Anni/Yule II update. It's a stunner. It's a soft wintery snow scent, but there's nothing Snow Whitish about it. I don't smell the daemonorops at all. The berries are what make this scent really spectacular. On the bed of softly evergreen-scented snow are the sweetest, juiciest berry fruits. It's a really pretty winter scent, one of the best winter scents from BPAL, in my opinion, and may actually take L'Inverno's place for my favorite winter blend. It does go a little flat on my skin, but only when sniffed up close. The wafts of scent I catch from it are still stunningly beautiful.

Queen and huntress, chaste and fair, Now the sun is laid to sleep, Seated in thy silver chair, State in wonted manner keep: Hesperus entreats thy light, Goddess excellently bright. Earth, let not thy envious shade Dare itself to interpose; Cynthia's shining orb was made Heaven to clear when day did close: Bless us then with wishèd sight, Goddess excellently bright. Lay thy bow of pearl apart, And thy crystal-shining quiver; Give unto the flying hart Space to breathe, how short soever; Thou that mak'st a day of night, Goddess excellently bright. The essence of the pure, unsullied virgin moon and of the huntress that stalks her prey by the moon's light: amaranth, musk rose, juniper, chaste tree, sweet bay, chamomile, rose mallow, Madonna lily, blue musk, wisteria, and iris. Dyan Moon - I tested at least a couple dozen new scents at Will Call, and despite how many amazing scents I encountered, Dyan Moon was the clear winner by a mile. It is so incredibly gorgeous and really well-blended. It was very difficult to pick out individual notes, but I definitely smelled the chamomile, the wisteria, and the musks. It's very much a slightly herbal musky-floral, is really soft and gentle, and very feminine. I don't think I've encountered such a beautiful lunar blend in a very long time. I'm so glad I have a bottle of this coming to me and I'm wondering if I shouldn't try to track down a second one eventually, as well.

Snappy-quick PMS relief. I have to say, my bottle of Bitch arrived just in time. It arrived not as I was suffering from pre-menstrual malaise, but mid-menstrual malaise, and let me tell you, it works for that, too. Yay! The scent is very different from the other Panacea blends. I am having a really difficult time identifying the individual notes, but it's highly herbal, and there is something in it that reminds me of camphor or eucalyptus, without the sinus-clearing quality that camphor and eucalyptus scents usually seem to have. I think there is a touch of citrus in this blend, but I can't for the life of me figure out which one, as it's very subtle, and a background note. I keep thinking I might be smelling some lavender, but as soon as I think I smell it, it is overwhelmed by the herbal quality of the blend, and I'm unsure if lavender is an herb used in this blend. Overall, it's not a pretty scent, and definitely not something I'd ever wear as a perfume. It's a very natural and organic scent. It reminds me of the wellness section of Wild Oats with the scent of all the organic and herbal blends floating around you. There is one herbal note in particular that is really strong, and I'm hoping that someone else will be able to pick it out because it's driving me crazy enough that I'm tempted to head over to Wild Oats and start sniffing things until I figure out what that herbal note is! This blend initially has amazing throw when it's wet, and as it wafts around me, I find the scent very calming and soothing. While I can't speak to its effectiveness against menstrual cramps, I can say that with respect to moodiness, irritability, and the general feelings of languor that often accompany my cycle, it is particularly effective. I don't feel nearly as sluggish, my temperament seems a bit more calm and relaxed, and in general, I just feel better. I definitely recommend this. I definitely will keep using this. I definitely wish I knew what that specific note is that I can't quite place.

La Mort Qui Danse, Félicien Rops. Black pepper, white ginger, Calla lily, and lily of the valley. This is An incredibly strong, floral scent. The slightly pungent and green notes of the lily of the valley are the strongest with the soft, gentle sweetness of the Calla lily backing it up and tempering the lily of the valley. The white ginger smells less like ginger root and more like soft ginger flower. The black pepper never becomes fully discernible, yet it’s obvious that it’s behind the florals, giving a touch of sharpness to the blend that it would have otherwise. This is a very strong, very white floral scent and if it were to be in any other BPAL category, it would most definitely be found in the Funereal Oil section due to the nature of this scent. If you tend to like strong, white florals, this may be a good one for you.

Citrinitas v4 - When I'm sniffing this in the bottle, it smells like a brighter, juicier, sweeter version of Jingo-Kogo. It strikes me as definitely being the same scent family. When I first sniffed it, I knew I had to get a bottle. What I didn't realize, since I'd been smelling so many other scents at the same time, was that I should have gotten myself more than one bottle! It's amazing. It's bright, sweet, citrus fruits, mostly orange, with a swirl of something sweet and creamy beneath the citrus. I don't think it's vanilla, I think it might be cream -- but it doesn't smell like a creamsicle. I noticed about 90 minutes after I applied it, that I was also catching wafts of very light violet around me. It happened as I was out and about in several locations, so I don't think that violet scent was coming from someone else, but I never could pin it down to the scent on my skin, either. I'll be very curious to see if any other reviewers note a violent component to this blend. The scent has a mild level of throw, but for me, it's got really great staying power. I was actually stressing about what I would do when my bottle of Jingo Kogo is gone, but I don't need to stress anymore because while Citrinitas is certainly not the same blend, it very much evokes the same mood to me as Jingo Kogo. I love it and hope everyone else hates it so there's more for me!

Scurvy v1 - This is the smell of a margarita on the rocks without tequila. It's full of lime, has a twist of orange, and has a strong layer of salt. It smells awesome on me, but fades from my skin fairly quickly. I wore some in a scent locket all day yesterday, and kept catching the most amazing wafts of lovely, bright scent. It's a fantastic summer blend.