edenssixthday

AF25 - Really bright, sweet floral, but not quite as sharp or heady as some of the other AF* prototypes. This one opens with a huge blast of ylang ylang, which I'm not really that keen on, and has the distinct presence of gardenia behind the ylang ylang, and gardenia is another note I'm not a big fan of. I know there's more in this -- maybe woods or resins -- but I can't really discern any of the other individual notes. It has a definite Southern Belle quality about it, as if it may have been intended for the District line of blends.

Butter Arsenic - Oh God, I love this! It opens up with a really strong blast of almost chemical-like resins, but that calms down immediately upon drydown, and then I keep catching wafts of the most amazing dark and warm scent around me. It's amber without being powdery, and there may be a bit of sandalwood in it, and maybe some opoponax, but I'm not sure about that guess at all. It's just warm and resinous and so beautiful. I am so glad I had the chance to try this out, but I'm so sad that there's not much chance of finding more!

Nagarjuna v2 - Unidentifiable resins, an overly-sweet musk (maybe a vanilla musk of some sort?), and something really soapy. I don't find this scent enjoyable at all.

Hearth v2 - This is gorgeous. It's got tons of fir and evergreen notes, maybe a hint of hollyberry or something else very sweet and berry-like, and a thin layer of crusted-over snow beneath it. There may even be a hint of cherry tobacco in this, as with the released version of Hearth, but that could just be my brain making things up as it tries to process and decipher the various notes in this. It's really gorgeous, but sadly, it fades super fast on my skin. I put some on and less than an hour later I can't find it on my skin at all.

Ares v3 - This opens up with a ginormous blast of medicinal wintergreen and eucalyptus. It's really, really powerful. As it dries down, it becomes predominantly a dragon's blood scent, with a nice level of that wintergreen/eucalyptus scent behind the dragon's blood. I'm also guessing perhaps a hint of cypress and maybe some thyme? (I'm totally guessing on those last two!) While it opens up with a huge blast of nauseatingly medicinal odor, it settles into something really beautiful. When I sniff close to my skin, I think, "Nice, but not for me," but when I catch a random waft of it around me, I'm really intrigued by it. I think it's absolutely perfect in it's current form, so I'm guessing the reason it hasn't been released is due to component issues, because as far as the blend goes, it's perfect.

PPGC580 - I smell cedar and other blonde woods. I do get the faintest trace of a sharp, medicinal type scent that I think is coming across as eucalyptus for some -- and maybe it is -- but it's faint on me and disappears within the first few minutes of wear. Mostly, this smells like freshly sawed blonde wood. It takes me back to 1983 when my dad spent a significant amount of time sawing wood in our garage as he built my sister's and my bedroom sets that summer. This smells like the wood shavings on the cement garage floor.

Mouse's Long & Sad Tale v5 - I was excited about the lemon & cake descriptions this was getting, but what I smell is more of the lemon-sugar icing that's often served over a bundt-type cake. It's very sugar and lemony and there's not much else to it, with the exception of something faintly sour in the background, as if it's about to turn on me, but it never does. It remains the scent of slightly sour, sugar-sweet lemon icing throughout the life of the blend.

Imperious Tiger-Lily - This scent wasn't remotely as floral as I anticipated. In fact, it's mostly frankincense and an earthy, rooty scent (must be the ginger root?). As it dries down, the neroli really comes out and it becomes a frankincense-neroli scent. It a resinous herbal fragrance, and nothing like the lily fragrance I was anticipating.

XCDW5 - This is a melange of melon, lime, grass, dirt, and cucumber, as well as possibly a little pear. It's very fruity, very green, and has a hint of earthiness, but mostly is a sweet mish-mash of green fruits and plants. I love it, but sadly it fades from my skin very, very, very quickly.

P08 - I seem to be the only reviewer who likes this! This is really bright, booze-soaked cherry -- a maraschino-like, cherry-cordial-like cherry. There's the tiniest hint of chocolate in the background, not enough to turn really foul on my skin, but enough to be highly reminiscent of a chocolate-covered cherry cordial. It dries down to something significantly less sharp, boozy, and sweet, and becomes more of a softly-sweet, subtle cherry scent. If this were a shot, I'd drink it down in about .0001 seconds.

Taphophobia v2 - Dirt scents almost all smell pretty much the same to me. This one smells like dirt with something medicinal about it, maybe even some black musk or black amber or labdanum, but mostly just thick, dark, wet dirt.

Hatshepsut v3 - This is a really beautiful fragrance. It's warm and sunny, slightly woody, slightly resinous, slightly floral, slightly tropical, slightly dry, slightly this and that, and yet fully stunning and really lovely. I get a huge amount of throw from the tiniest little dab. I put on a little dab before I left my house for work and every time someone comes in my office today, they want to now what that pretty smell is. I don't understand why this hasn't been released yet. It's absolutely perfect in every way possible.

Giant Squid - Apple! A lovely, spicy apple. Wait... what? There's no apple of spice in this blend? Color me confused. Hmm. Maybe it's the combination of green tea and aloe that somehow comes across as apple? but where's the spice coming from? Where are the other notes in the listing? What I smell doesn't remotely add up to the ingredient list. Odd. Either way, it's a lovely, spiced apple and it would be wonderful for fall if I didn't already wear Samhain constantly during the autumn season, so I'll be passing it along for someone else to enjoy.

Nepthys v2 - Frankincense/incense, resins, and woods. Really lovely, husky, and warm.

ETA: Oh wait, yes, there's a bit o' musk in there, too. Warm, sweet, fuzzy musk...but just a tiny bit!

PSX54 - Still searching for a milk chocolate blend I can wear. This one smells like milk chocolate and vomit on me. Why does milk chocolate have to hate me so much?

Absinthe v7 - I love the released version of Absinthe and I love this version, too. It's delicious lemon verbena and tons of anise poured over a yummy, sweet sugar cube. There's none of the mint that's in the released version, but otherwise it's got a very similar feel about it. It's delicious. Mmmm!

PP32005 - This smells mostly like a big whiff of Jack and a tiny bit of crisp, autumnal, green apple...but mostly like Jack, sweet and buttery pumpkin. And there's the tiniest hint of spice -- maybe allspice? It's delicious. But it fades from my skin quite fast.

Harlot v2 - This is the same rose that's in the released version, but there's a lot more of it, and no cinnamon. Instead of cinnamon, there is a small dose of another spice... clove perhaps? If there's anything else in this, I don't smell it because the rose overwhelms it. It's a lovely rose, and smells phenomenal on my skin. I like this much better than the released version!

Tiki Princess - MELE KALIKIMAKA!!! This smells like Christmas in Hawaii. The ala ala wai nui is a reaaaaallllllyyyyy strong, green scent that's almost piney, and on my skin, it's by far the dominant note. Behind it is a bit of a nice, suntan-lotion type coconut. And then 10 minutes into the wear time, as it starts to dry down, this scent does what so many sweet scents do and it starts to go flat and dusty. Only it smells like flat and dusty coconut-covered Christmas trees. <--- that is what I think of my stupid skin chemistry.

Iron Parasol v1 - This is a sweet fruity-floral scent that's dominant on the fruit side of things and far beneath the floral is an edgy bit of metal. The fruit is definitely nectarine, but I feel like there may be something pink or red and sweet, too. As for the floral, someone else mentioned tuberose, which is one of my favorite florals, but sadly, I don't smell it in this blend. The floral is more generic. The scent disappears from skin quickly, within a few minutes. When I first got into BPAL, I was a fruity-floral girl, and I'd have probably gone nuts over this. My tastes have changed, and while this is pretty, it's definitely not the type of scent I tend to be drawn to anymore. I'm very glad I had the chance to try it.

VILF - 80% of everything about this screamed WIN! but I wasn't sure about a small handful of the notes. Turns out it really is a WIN! It's predominantly leather on me with a delicious vanilla-clove thing going on behind it. The other notes all blend gorgeously well in the background, each contributing to the scent, yet barely identifiable as a unique component. This is an extremely well-blended scent, and one that is definitely gender-neutral. I would love to smell this on my vampire, on my human minion (a/k/a my husband), and on me.

Philologus - This opens up with a blast of men's cologne, but quickly settles down into something warm and slightly sweet. I can't distinctly identify any of the individual notes, but the overall impression is that it's masculine and full of golden warmth, a hint of smoky woods, and a trace of sweetness. It's really, really gorgeous and makes me wish I could convince my DH to wear BPAL! I'd love to snuggle with him while he's wearing this scent. It's not particularly sexy, but more warm and comforting and snugglicious.

Interfector - This opens up with an overwhelming sweetness that reminds me of caramel or brown sugar. It's not a type of sweetness I like at all. After a few minutes, I find it so utterly nauseating, that I have to go wash it off...however, after washing, the sweetness is gone, but the rest of the scent is still present, and it's gorgeous! It's definitely woody and tobaccoey with the faintest hint of frankincese's huskiness. It comes across as predominantly masculine, but I can see how many woman would enjoy it, as well. If I could get this post-washing scent from this blend from the beginning, without the cloying sweetness (bunn, is that you?), I would wear it regularly in a heartbeat. It's warm and lovely.

Misericordia - Oh look, three of my nemesis notes! Surprisingly enough, it doesn't smell as awful as I figured it would, considering the presence of cat pee I mean, uh, black currant, lavender, and magnolia. The lavender is definitely the dominant note when the blend is wet on my skin, but as it dries, I smell more of the labdanum, opoponax and amber, thankfully. I don't smell the magnolia or cat pee black currant at all during any stage of this scent's life on my skin. It's a very subtle scent on me and mostly a woody-resin type scent with the tiniest hint of rose otto and a nice, sweet musk that I've never smelled before and I'm assuming that's the castoreum accord (beaver musk? Really?) Overall, this is a nice scent, surprisingly so given my skin's particular chemistry, but I prefer darker, heavier, stronger scents, so it's ultimately not for me.

Vespillo - I love this! It smells like a new age shop. The iris, sage, and patchouli are the dominant notes, giving this scent a dry, incensey-type scent. There's a hint of clove in the background spicing things up just a touch, and for once, I actually like what neroli adds to a blend -- it's much more herbal than floral in this scent. I don't smell the jasmine at all. I really love how the iris and patchouli work together, in particular, to make this scent sort of a smokey, incensey floral scent that's not remotely floral (I know that doesn't make sense, but it's true! It's an unfloral-floral!) I really love it. I can totally see myself wearing this when I want something that I find soothing, calming, and even meditative to a degree.