edenssixthday

Melainis - Put caramel or black musk in any blend and it pretty much ruins it for me. But this has so many other great notes that I love that I just had to try it. I should have known. The dominant note is the teak, backed up by the ruinous black musk and horribly sweet and cloying caramel. Behind all of those disastrous top notes, I smell the gorgeous scent of oakmoss and patchouli, the slightly astringent labdanum, and a hint of husky frankincense. They're so obviously such great notes that I am really sad that the dominant notes ruin this blend for me. I really wish I could make this one work because I can definitely see how some people could find this an incredibly dark, sexy, and gorgeous scent, but those damn caramel and dark musk notes just foul it all up for me.

Dark Chocolate and Cherry - I don't tend to like chocolate notes in my fragrances, so I didn't even bother to order a decant of this one. But I got a decant as a frimp, tested it out, and fell in love. It smells like a boozy cherry cordial! The chocolate and cherry are both very true scents. In this particular blend, neither note smells artificial or syrupy, as they tend to do. When I sniff my skin up close, I do get a weird "after-scent" that reminds me of nail polish remover, but I'll still wear this (I just won't sniff my skin up close!) I think this is a great scent, a bit on the heavy side, and an absolutely perfect "pick-me-up" during the long, cold, winter months.

Wild Hunt - I definitely understand the naming of this blend. It's a strong forest scent (full of bark and leaves and dirt and green, leafy underbrush and moss) and it has a definite musky quality to it that reminds me of the musks in Buck Moon. It's an interesting scent, but not one that appeals to me as a personal fragrance. ETA: I was just testing this again and this time, I swear I can smell a hint of civet. It's not bad...it's just...civet. Just a teeny tiny bit. Very interesting!

Maud Ruthyn - This is primarily a rose scent, but it's not your typical rose. The wheat is actually really strong and blends with the rose in a way that tames it and tones it down, making this a sweet, floral, yet earthy scent. The nectarine is barely discernible, yet lends the slightest bit of a juicy sweetness to the scent, and the honey lends an almost silky texture to the scent. I don't smell the myrrh at all. This is really beautiful -- a subtle and light scent that's absolutely perfect for summer.

Flower Moon 2009 - When I first apply this, it smells like a heavy wildflower scent. It doesn't seem much different than the '05 version. And then... and then... about 15 minutes later, the scent has dried down and warmed up, and the honey bursts forth, pouring over those wildflower notes with its sticky sweetness and rather than turning into poopy-diaper-honey (as honey tends to do), it starts to smell just too damn pretty for words. I think this may be my favorite BPAL honey scent of all time. It's springtime in a bottle...and it kind of makes me hungry for a whipped honey sandwich. The staying power and throw are most excellent. I'm loving this one!

Bah! - I took my own sweet time getting around to trying this one because I don't like coffee, chocolate, or whiskey BPALs. It's just too bad I took so long to try this one, because I LOVE IT!!! I don't know how Beth does it, but somehow she put together a blend using three of my least-favorite notes, and it works. It works amazingly well on me. This is the smell of fresh-ground, dark-roasted, boozy coffee with a hint of dusty cocoa and the smallest spoon of sugar. Makes me want to make a Starbucks run!

Eanach Dhuin - This is definitely an aquatic scent, but not the salty, kelpy, marine-aquatic I love so much. It's definitely a fresh-water aquatic. Immediately behind the aquatic notes is the scent of blackberry leaf and heavy, water-logged wood. It's got a strong, cologney scent to it. Overall, this smells like a men's cologne. I think I would really like this on a dude, but I can't wait to wash it off of my own skin.

Manners Among Men and Women in the Red Light District - When I first apply this, the only thing I smell is a very dry sawdusty scent. It smells like pencil shavings, or cedar wood. Soon, I can smell something slightly medicinal, which I'm guessing is the sake, and then not far behind it, is the scent of apricot (a note I wish BPAL would use more often). I think I would love this scent if it were more apricot and sake and less wood, but the wood note overpowers the others and there's something about it that makes it smell like really bad men's cologne (with a nice bit of sweet apricot in the background. Oh, I do love that apricot!) I'm afraid this one won't be worn again by me.

White Rose - Oh wow! I had no idea this would smell so good! This decant has been sitting in my pile for a long time, totally untested because I didn't feel particularly compelled by it. I've been really missing out! The first thing I smell when I open the vial is the white rose, followed immediately by the scent of sweet tea. After I apply it and it's been on my skin for a couple of minutes, I can smell the coconut meat, and the sweet tea takes on more of an identifiable vanilla note. The vanilla-tea is the strongest note, with the rose and coconut tied for second place. This is a fairly subtle fragrance, not overpowering in the least. It's feminine and sweet, and the type of fragrance I tend to prefer to wear a lot in the spring and summer. I'm so glad I finally tried this one!

Velvet Dogs Playing Poker - On me, this is just ghastly to the point where I can't even imagine how some people could like it so much. It's got really heavy caramel and dry, bitter wood notes, reminding me way too much of Monster Bait: Ventriloquist's Dummy. I don't smell coffee at all. The pipe smoke scent comes out after it's been on my skin a bit, but it doesn't smell warm and inviting; it smells more like an ashtray. I'm guessing it's a skin chemistry thing, but this is just really, really awful on me.

Velvet Pink Kitty - I don't think BPAL has a boozy, gin scent that I don't love. This fragrance is definitely boozy and heavy on the juniper gin scent. It's slightly fizzy, and very strawberry-sweet. It reminds me a lot of what you might get if you layered Velvet Unicorn with Twenty-One. I love this scent. It's a happy, party scent and it definitely has an above-average wear-length.

Velvet Panther - This scent sounded absolutely amazing, with the exception of the very scary dark musk, which can ruin just about any scent on my skin. When I apply this, it smells dark and woody and leafy, but also slightly sweet, and then...WHAM!!! The dark musk kicks in and turns the whole thing in on itself and begins to smell like really terrible, cheap, men's cologne on me. The scent is really bad on me, but the level of throw is quite nice and the staying power is about average.

Velvet Tiki - I really thought this would be an amazing scent, but sadly, it doesn't do a thing for me. I think the strongest note is the pineapple, followed closely by the orchid and passion fruit, but there's something in this (the papaya, I think) that just destroys the scent for me. I can't smell the vanilla, coconut, or frangipani at all. Without that dastardly papaya note (I can't stand fresh papaya, and apparently, I don't like it in perfume, either), I think this would have been an awesome floral-pineapple scent that would go crazy over, but sadly, it's just not going to work on me.

Velvet Tiger - When I sniff this in the bottle and first apply it, it's gross, stinky vetiver. "Wet" vetiver is one of the vilest scents on the planet, IMO. However, once vetiver dries down (on me), it turns into the most gorgeous, gravelly, rough, dark, and sexy scent. So I give this a chance even though it stinks awfully at first. Sure enough, within 20 minutes, the scent starts to take on that huskiness that I love so much about dried-down vetiver, and not long after, I notice that mixed right in with it is the bright scent of sweet orange. It's got a hint of spice about it and a smoky, woody feel and all of these scents together make it a really powerful (but not over-powering) and regal scent. It's a really amazing scent and in my opinion, a true work of art. I'm really amazed by how this one is blended. It's just so perfect. The throw is really strong when it's wet, and the wet vetiver is so offensive that I wouldn't ever apply this in or near a public place, but if I put it on at home and then go out, by the time I get where I'm going, the scent has settled down to the point where it's not overwhelming and it has a lovely level of throw. The staying power is also quite excellent. I'm very, very pleased with this blend!

Velvet Unicorn - I love it. Love it. Love it. LOVE IT. It's very rare that a candy-sweet perfume will stay true on my skin and not take on the scent of burnt plastic. But this one.... ohhhh, this one is soooo sweet and yummy and gorgeous! My first thought the first time I tried it was "This is Aquolina Pink Sugar done BPAL-style!" I've worn it many times since then and I definitely stand by my first impression that it strongly resembles Aquolina Pink Sugar (one of my favorite froufrougirly perfumes), but it's definitely not a dupe. This is predominantly a cotton candy scent sweetened with pink, sweet, sugary, fruity notes. The strawberry is probably the most dominant note after the cotton candy scent. There's also something creamy and almost slightly milky about this scent (maybe the merangue?) that my skin grabs onto and warms up, and which makes a gorgeous base for the rest of the fluffiness of the scent to rest on. This is by far my favorite sweet BPAL scent based on fragrance alone, but add to it the absolutely perfect level of throw and the amazing wear length, and it's a huge, huge, HUGE winner in my world. I have three bottles and they will all be very loved.

Wasabi, pu-erh and Touareg teas, green cedar, myrrh, white sage, khus, frankincense, and coriander. Velvet Cthulhu - On me, this is an incredibly bitter, green scent. It's almost astringent. The scent is highly pungent on me -- a little tiny bit on my wrists fills the entire room. I can definitely see why some people I know are raving about this one, but it's just not right on me... it feels like the bitter greenness goes wonky on my skin, even though it doesn't actually "turn" like some notes do. Overall, wearing this is not a particularly pleasant experience for me. However, I can say it has really good staying power!

Velvet Bandito - Wow, this is a surprise hit! This (along with Unicorn) is my favorite of the Velvet series. Prior to trying it, and based upon description alone, I would have guessed it would be an unpleasant scent. I almost didn't order it. Instead, it's an amazing scent! I normally can't stand scents with notes of cedar and dust in them, but this one... it's just... WOW!!! It's warm, heavy, spicy, and woody. It doesn't smell like cloves to me, like everyone else is saying, but it's close. It plays out differently on my skin than the typical BPAL clove scent. The only thing that could make this scent even better would be a couple of drops of sassafras. I layered Velvet Bandito with Hellhound on my Trail, and daaaaamn did that make for a good-smelling perfume!!! I highly recommend this layering combo. When I wear it, people tell me I smell amazing. I'm definitely buying a backup bottle of this one!

Velvet Nudie - When I first apply this, it smells clean and soapy. It's not bad, but it's certainly not what I expected. As it dries down, it loses the soap scent and is mostly a bland rice scent - neither floral nor sweet. It's kind of flat and "blah". It definitely doesn't work well with my skin. Too bad, because I hear it's gorgeous on some of my friends!

Dia - This is a lovely, light scent. It's very subtle on me. The coconut and tobacco flower are the dominant notes. The coconut is not sweet, suntan-lotion coconut. It's more the scent of fresh, raw, coconut meat. The tobacco flower is subtle and grounded by the oakmoss. This scent is really lovely and something you could wear in almost any setting. It's just really, really pretty. Thanks for this one, Beth!

I love vanilla, heliotrope, pear, and white rose, but put all of these notes together and sadly, this smells like fresh, powder-scented baby wipes on me. It's very strong, very sweet, very powdery, and makes me think of a freshly-changed baby butt. Not that clean baby butts aren't sweet and all that, but I don't want to smell like that myself. This has to go in the sale/swap pile.

Medb v4 - It starts of with a fresh, green, green, very green grassy scent that's sharpened by the scent of something that's quickly gone soapy. Another reviewer smelled sweet pea, and sweet pea is one of my #1 "soap" culprits and always turns soapy instantly, so I wouldn't be surprised if that's what's happening here. As it sits on my skin, I feel like I can smell something slightly damp beneath the surface, like wet leaves, but it's very light and not heavy at all like the autumn leafy scents traditionally released by BPAL. This scent is really bright and bold upon first applying it, but within 5 minutes it fades and becomes extremely light and about as ethereal as a grass scent can be. It fades completely within 30 minutes.

Rappaccini's Greenhouse Atmospheric Spray v2 - If this were to ever be released, I would buy a bottle. It's gorgeous. It's definitely got the green notes other reviewers mentioned, but it's not grassy or heavy. It's light and sweet. I smell the scent of moist earth, cucumber, lush green plants, and sweet tuberose. It's perfect for spring and summer.

Oak King v4 - This goes on with a really sharp, astringent feel to it, and to be honest, I can't stand it. I'm really disappointed because I tend to really like BPAL blends that use oak in them. Once it dries down, that sharp, pungent odor mostly fades away, and then, it's a fairly one-dimensional woody scent -- very masculine, IMO. It takes about 2 hours for this to settle down on my skin to the point where it becomes reminiscent of the oak in other BPAL blends, and I really start to like it at this point. However, it's not really worth the initial 2 hours of wear to get to the pretty oak scent. I can see how it would work on some people, but it's definitely not for me.

St. Lucia v8 - When I first sniff this, it smells like sweet, cinnamony sticky buns. Mmmm! But the moment it touches my skin, it becomes cinnamon sticky buns with cinnamon, CINNAMON, AND MORE CINNAMON!!! Whoooo, there's nothing subtle at all about this blend. It's fiery cinnamon (maybe a bit of spicy pepper, too?) and very bakery-like foody, but mostly cinnamon. And then, about 20 minutes into wear time, it turns to plastic, and another 20 minutes later, it dies and I can barely detect it on my skin. I think it would work better as an atmosphere spray than a personal fragrance -- at least for me.

Orange Phoenix v6 - This is exactly the smell of sticking your thumbs into an orange and splitting it open, peel and all. It has that amazing and strong scent of bitter orange peel, along with the sweet citrus scent of fresh orange juice dripping down your arms. It's delicious. As it warms up on my skin, the orange peel gets stronger and there's a deeper note of orange that reminds me more of BPAL's blood orange note than their plain Orange note. As the scent begins to dry down, the sweetness is taken over by the bitter scent of the peel, which keeps it from being too candy-like. Unfortunately, the bright citrus notes of this scent fade within 20 minutes, but what's left on my skin at that point is a trace of orange with a hint of something creamy and musky. This creamy/musky scent lasts on my skin for hours, although I can only smell it if I sniff up close. I never do fully detect the powdery scent of orange blossoms that other reviewers smell, but there's something about this blend that slightly reminds me of Jezebel, which indicates to me there must be some well-blended orange blossom in there. This is gorgeous. Because it fades so quickly, I don't know that I could wear it on my skin, but if it were ever to be released, I'd buy a bottle to use in scent lockets and in my oil burner. Edited because I'm a spaz.