edenssixthday

Halloween: Los Angeles - This scent reminds me of a time when I was about 8 years old, and I stood in my grandparents' front yard in Riverside County and watched the hill behind them burn. The scent is beautiful. It smells exactly like LA in the fall -- slightly charred dry grasses and warm air, maybe even a hint of hot asphalt.

All Saints 2010 - This smells completely different to me than the previous versions, and it's my least favorite. The rose in it is very, very heavy, and white florals -- the lily of the valley in particular -- give it a high-pitched, cloying sweetness that is just not a good scent for me. I barely smell any of the incense notes, and the frankincense and myrrh don't warm up and glow on my skin with this version as they did with previous versions.

A Howl In The Darkness - On me, most of the notes don't come through -- it's predominantly an ozone and verbena scent with a hint of pine in the background. Very fresh, crisp, pretty, and totally gender-neutral.

Dawn: Cernunnos - This is really, really, REALLY gorgeous. I mean, it is truly awesome in every meaning of the word. This scent is so full of "win" notes (except for fig, ick), and it's amazing on my skin. Thankfully the fig doesn't ruin it! It's very woody - all sorts of delicious, warm wood notes, but mostly sandalwood (the most awesome sandalwood!) -- and very herbal. But it's a million times better than what I'd ever think if I heard the generic term "woods and herbs." The fig (!) and myrrh both give it a bit of sweetness that warms the whole thing up and keeps the woods from being too dry. OMG, I really, REALLY love this!!!

 

I think that may be the first time I've given a BPAL scent THREE "wub" icons. that's how good it is.

The Decrepit House - I agree with Little Bird that this has an Antikythera Mechanism vibe to it, but nearly as sweet. It's very heavy on the black musk, oakmoss, and pathcouli. It's definitely a woody scent, and very dark, heavy, almost scorched in its pungentness. I feel like there's got to be vanilla in it, but that could be because of the AK association I have with it. It's a bit on the cloying side for me, but I still kind of like it. I think I would wear this if it weren't so heavy on the black musk, which rarely works well on me. Still, it's tempting, because it's *so close* to being awesome on me.

Pomegranate IV - This was the one scent of the Pom Patch I was most excited about -- everything about it sounded like a win. But something about it is really, really wrong on my skin. I don't at all like the way the pomegranate blends with the cocoa and thyme. The rest of the notes are there and smell nice, but it's obvious that with my particular skin chemistry, those three notes synergize to create a spectacular funk on my skin. It smells like a chocolate bar died and rotted to hell on me.

Odd Portents - I thought for sure the lavender and black currant in this would ruin it for me, but it doesn't! It's a really beautiful scent on me. Oddly, I get no musk at all. Rather, it's a very husky and incensey herbal scent on me. I really love geranium and myrrh, and they're the dominant notes in this, along with the black rose, which is definitely a dark, deep rose without being heavy. It's a very pretty blend with good staying power and a nice, solid, but not overwhelming, level of throw.

Halloween: New Orleans - When I first got my Weenies, I decided this may be my favorite of the bunch. It definitely reminds me of fall in NOLA, and the time I spent playing in the parks and running around on the levees and drinking at the Fly after school. God, this smells just like fall in New Orleans - fresh but humid air, tons of that heavy, gorgeous Spanish moss, and something sweet just below the surface. And then... oh no... it turns to plastic on me. Something in this blend hates my skin, and it depresses the hell out of me because it was such a perfect scent before it turned. Okay, I'm still not sending it off to swaps; it's going to get a run in the scent locket first to see how that works out for me.

Thirteen (8/10) - I don't usually like the Thirteen blends, as they're usually way too chocolatey and foody for me, but this one... this one's a winner! It doesn't smell good to me at all in the bottle. In the bottle, I'm mostly smelling chocolate, pink pepper, and bergamot (three of my least favorite notes) with a bit of honey (which is "iffy" on me). But I tried it anyway, because we all know how BPAL can change with skin chemistry, and sure enough, it blossoms into something positively gorgeous on me. I keep catching wafts of it and just can't believe how good it smells! The dark chocolate note is there, but it doesn't turn to dust or plastic on me as chocolate usually does (dark chocolate seems to work better on me than any other chocolate), and I can't smell the pink pepper or bergamot at all on my skin once it dries. The honey note is there, and its one of the sweet, smooth honeys that doesn't smell cloying or sickeningly sticky. I think the pimento berry is what's making all the difference here -- I'm discovering over the years how much I love that little note. It just really smells both sweet and spicy on me at the same time and is awesome! The tobacco grounds the scent, but it's not too earthy. This is a beautifully-blended scent, and while I put the bottle up on my sale page after sniffing it, now that I've gotten up the nerve to try it on my skin, I'm taking it off my sales page and hoarding it for myself.

Mabon 2010 - I don't recall how this compares with the original Mabon, but this one was a disappointment. I really wanted to smell myrrh and blackberry wine, but most of what I'm smelling is sage, chamomile, hops, and a bit of nuts. It's comes across as fairly masculine and herbal on me and really isn't my type of scent at all. It is fairly subtle and doesn't last very long on my skin, either.

Ecclesiastical Excesses - Everything about the ingredient list screamed "winner!!!" at me. But I'm pretty disappointed after trying it on. It's a rose-and-frankincense scent that's kind of generic and bland. On my skin, it doesn't blossom at all. It just sits there, kind of flat and dead. I'm sure it smells fabulous on the right person, and I thought for sure that person would be me, but it's not.

Ghoulish - Oh, I love this! Sweet, syrupy cherry, sweet shredded coconut, and sweet, syrupy amaretto all blend together to make so much deliciousness I can hardly stand it. And unlike most foody scents, this one does not turn to dust, band-aid, plastic, or burnt plastic on my skin. Instead, once it dries down, it disappears. Completely. POOF! GONE!!! So instead, I will wear this in a scent locket and see if that works better, but I might find that everyone I encounter gnaws at my neck, because this smells way too good not to eat.

Pomegranate V - When I first applied this, it smelled entirely of pomegranate juice and amber. I knew it was a winner from the get-go, and then as it warmed up on my skin the opium came out, as did the cardamom (two of my favorite notes in the world) and the other notes were there, but far in the background. This is stunningly gorgeous on me, but not nearly as dark and heavy as I expected from the scent. It's dryer and reminds me of early fall when you hear the dying leaves rustling on the trees in the breeze, as opposed to later in the season when the dead leaves rustle against each other as they're blown across the ground.

Dawn: Priestess - Priestess is a really beautiful, rich, deep, strong scent. Granted, I love myrrh, patchouli and rose, and jasmine isn't usually a problem for me anymore. I don't really smell the jasmine in this much at all. For the first two hours I wore this scent, I had no idea there was jasmine in it and was surprised when I read the ingredient list. The myrrh and rose are definitely the strongest notes on me. The patchouli gives them both a bit of an earthier grounding. The scent is fairly incense-like, but not in a smoky, hippie kind of way, more of a high church kind of sacred scent. Just as Dawn: Maiden is innocent and Dawn: Mother is mature, I would say that Dawn: Priestess is sacred. Really, really lovely.

 

ETA: It has an above-average level of throw, so no need to slather. Also, the staying power of this one is really phenomenal!

Dawn: Maiden - This scent reminds me of both Katrina van Tassel and Pink Snowballs in it's sweet, innocent rosiness. The rose is light, soft, pink, and sweet and not nearly as dry as most tea rose scents. The milk and olive blossom really give an innocent, youthful type of feel to the overall blend. The heliotrope really sweetens it up and the honeysuckle, oddly, doesn't suck on my skin in this one. The honey is there, but blends beautifully with the other notes (especially the milk) as to be barely discernible. This is a really gorgeous soft, sweet rose scent, and while it reminds me of Katrina von Tassel and Pink Snowballs, it's a hundred times better than either of them. This one is bottle-worthy.

Dawn: Mother - This is a stunning scent. It's very rich, deep, dark, and mature. It's a "floriental" in nature, and that frankincense really gives much depth to the rose while the saffron warms it up and the honey sweetens it. The honey is very light -- just enough to add a hint of sweetness to a deep, smoky, rich rose scent. I really love this. It's very grown-up, beautiful, and verging on sexy.

Licorice Bats - When I first apply this, I'm disappointed and think it's the first licorice scent I didn't love. When first applied, it's ultra-sweet, and the cocoa note gives off a weird dry scent that doesn't seem to blend well with the licorice. But 10 minutes later, when I sniff my skin again, it's become a lovely, gorgeous, beautiful, fantastic licorice scent. The cocoa is still there, but rather than simply not blending well with the licorice, it's now providing a really nice base for the licorice. The smell kind of reminds me of what it might taste like to eat a Mike & Ike along with a tiny bit of Tootsie Roll at the same time. It's definitely candy-sweet, yet grounded with a dry cocoa. I love it.

Marshmallow Pumpkin - This reminds me a ton of the Pumpkin Pie bath oil -- super spicy and pumpkiny. There is loads of cinnamon in this, but also a super-sweet marshmallow scent. I'm actually bummed out about this one because for me, the pumpkin and marshmallow is an awesome combination, but there's way too much spice for me to be able to wear this happily. The marshmallow definitely comes out stronger the longer it's on my skin, but unfortunately, the spiciness doesn't fade nearly as much as I wish it would.

Bogle - Oh wow, this is awesome! It's like this big mixed-up, mish-mashy, jumble of rowdy, boisterous scents. As I'm reading the scent descriptions, I keep thinking, yep, I smell that one, and that one, and that one... and so on. Every single note listed is present and accounted for. As it dries on my skin, the vetiver, tonka, and frankincense, give it a nice warm depth, and the rest of the notes swirl around each other creating this amazing amalgamation of scents that are unique and distinct, yet together they create something that's so warm and delicious -- foody, but not really in a gourmand way, but more like the way you would pick up multiple scents in the air all at the same time wafting your way from different corners of the farmer's market and rather than thinking, oh those don't belong together, the scents blend perfectly to become the scent you identify as the farmer's market fragrance. That's what this is like, only the individual, unique scents all come together to create Bogle, which is like no other BPAL I've smelled before. It's phenomenal!

Candy Corn Coated Candy Apple - I'm not usually a fan of apple blends, but I keep trying them because one or two times, I've tried apple blends that were AWESOME. This one's pretty good. It opens with a blast of crisp, juicy apple, but as it warms up on my skin, I can smell the candy corn coating, and it's delicious! It's tooth-achingly sweet, though, and probably more for someone who likes both apple and sugary scents. I'm very glad I tried it, but I just don't see myself choosing this apple scent over, say, SGA.

Harvest Moon 2010 - This is my favorite of the Harvest Moons so far. When I first put it on, it smells very green and fruity, but as it warms up on my skin, the dry leaf scent really comes out and blends beautifully well with the wine and plum, which give a sweetness to the autumnal leaves. I smell apple and juniper berry, clove, and mulling spices around that, which gives the scent a lot of texture. The amaranth is quite identifiable, too, giving the scent a hint of dry graininess that blends wonderfully with the other notes. Overall, it's a perfect fall scent full of dry leaves, dark fruits, woods, spices, and grains. It's really wonderful for the first 30 minutes or so, but then something happens on my skin, and for the next several hours, all I smell is the amaranth. Stupid skin chemistry.

Flor de Muerto - I thought I would hate this because I hate the smell of real marigolds. I put them in my garden to keep the bunnies away from my pretty flowers. It works, but they also keep me away because they stink so bad! I was really surprised when I put this on and smelled a really pretty, golden floral. I never smelled any of the spice that some other reviewers have noted. It's just a very pretty scent, almost a single note floral, but without the high-pitched, headache inducing cloyingness that so many florals have. It's just really feminine and very beautiful. It also has above-average staying power on my skin, although the sillage seems to decrease significantly after drydown.

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!)

Pomegranate III - Oh, pretty pretty! This is very much like a Middle Eastern-style scent. Reminds me of the Halloweenie version of Khajuraho. It opens up with a blast of date and spicy clove and right behind that is a wave of sweet, dark, deep, red, juicy pomegranate and husky, sexy myrrh. As the initial blast fades away and the scent starts to warm up on my skin, I can also smell the sandalwood and a tiny hint of lavender -- so tiny that even I, the lavender-hater, can still handle this scent. Overall, it's an incredibly beautiful, complex scent, with a cornucopia of scents and "flavors" about it. It's really awesome. I just wish it were stronger and lasted on my skin longer. For a myrrh blend, this fades too quickly from my skin (my skin usually grips on to myrrh and won't let go).

This opens up as a subtle and fairly generic floral scent with a swirl of smoke all around it. It's actually really lovely! This is the second "cigarette smoke" scent I've tried and loved, so I guess that's a note I really like. The cocoa leaves give the scent a bit of an earthy dryness. It's cocoa-y and dry-leafy at the same time. I have no idea what chichi is and how it may be adding to the overall scent. Sadly, this scent is very subtle when it's wet and virtually non-existent when it dries down. I put it on, finished my makeup, left the house, started the car, and by the time I got on the road 5 minutes after applying, it was totally gone -- not a trace to be found.