edenssixthday

The Gilman House Hotel - I wasn't too excited about this, and apparently others weren't either because in the decant group I ran, only one person signed up for this blend. I was surprised when I opened the bottle to find it smelled warm and woody. When I apply it to my skin, I definitely smell the wood notes, but they're quickly overpowered by a very green smell of must and decay, but it's not unpleasant. The longer it's on my skin, the more pleasant it becomes, and the more obvious it is how exquisitely the notes are blended. Immediately after drydown, it's fairly green, earthy, and organic, and also kind of dusty. A couple hours later, it's become a predominantly dry wood scent without much in the way of the wet and musty tones. This scent would have fit really well into the 2007 Haunted House series.

Inganok Jewelers - I would definitely love to have the ring that's on the label. So pretty! So crazy that Beth can capture the scent of stone and silver -- because that's exactly what this smells like! The stone note reminds me a lot of the stone note in Shanghai Tunnel -- earthy, but clean. The silver is bright and definitely gleams! The overall scent has a slightly powdery quality about it. When I first applied it, I only put on the tiniest drop, but the scent was so strong that I had a negative visceral response to it. After about five minutes, I just couldn't stand it, so I tried to wash it off. It wouldn't wash off, and the throw seemed even stronger after washing! About an hour later, it's settled down into something I like -- very pretty, and when I catch a waft of it, I like it better than the scent that I smell directly on my skin. It's an interesting scent, but when I want something silvery, I'll likely grab my Silver Phoenix, so I won't be keeping this one.

White Chocolate, Strawberry, and White Pepper Truffle - When I open the bottle, the first thing I smell is ultra-sweet strawberry sauce. Behind that, I smell the white chocolate. Where's the pepper? The strawberry is not the typical BPAL strawberry. If you're familiar with Isle of Eden's strawberry note, that's more of a sweet strawberry sauce -- the type served on pancakes or funnel cakes -- that's what this is like. It's DELICIOUS and I wish I could drink this bottle of BPAL. (There are a few other bottles from this update that smell like they'd taste delicious if they were really food or drinks!) On my skin, the white chocolate comes out even stronger than it does in the bottle. The strawberry and white chocolate are super sweet (and again, where's the pepper?) and gooey and sticky on my skin. Mmmm.... nom nom nom! Sadly, after about 30 minutes, it starts to take on a weird plasticky/dusty smell, which for me, is par for the course when it comes to foody blends. This is another one for the oil burner and the scent locket. If you're a sugary-sweets "foody" type, I think you'll love this. Mmmm!

So far, this is my 2nd favorite from the update. It's GORGEOUS. On me, it's predominantly a dark, tea-rose type scent that's bolstered by the smooth and sweet beeswax, the dark, resinous frankincense, and the tiniest hint of sweet, boozy, dark red wine. It's very feminine in a heavy, dark, and Victorian-gothic-romance type way. The throw is amazing for the first couple of hours, but at around the 2 hour point, it starts to fade quickly, leaving behind a weird after-scent on my skin that's kind of flat and powdery. But that's entirely beside the point because when it reaches that stage, I can just reapply a teeny tiny bit (since a little goes a very long way). This is really beautiful and I can't wait to dress up and wear it on a night out.

Womb Furie - This is really pretty. It's exactly what you'd think it'd be -- Snake oil and honey. It's very sweet and smooth. It has the powderiness about it of O, but without the cloying qualities of O. It's got a hint of plastic about it, but fresh Snake Oil usually does on me. I like this a lot better than plain Snake Oil and I'm delighted that something in my skin chemistry changed so that I can now wear honey scents without smelling like poopy diapers. This isn't the type of fragrance that makes me want to forsake the rest of my BPAL collection, but it's really nice, very pretty, and I will enjoy wearing it, especially as it ages.

Aatos Polemoio - You know what's my favorite thing about this scent? EVERYTHING! I love that this has two notes in it that are usually pretty awful on me (cedar, black currant) and one note in it that's merely "okay" on me (saffron); yet, somehow, when they're blended together, they equal OMG AMAZING!!! I've been decanting all the scents from the Lupercalia update, and I've gone through about half of them so far, and of the first half of the update, this is by far my #1 favorite scent. I would have never guessed I'd love it so much. Cedar usually smells like pencil shavings on me and black currant usually smells like cat pee. But this blend is dark and woody and spicy and uber sexy. I think I'd love this even more on a guy, but I love it so much I'm going to keep on wearing it myself, too. It's dark, heavy, and masculine in a feminine sort of way (?!). It's got a lot of "texture" about it. This is one of those scents that makes me wonder if I couldn't just order of bunch of bottles of it and get rid of the rest of my BPAL collection. I love it love it love it love it love it!!!

Ü Mütter Museum - Seriously? People love this shizzle? Really? Honestly, I'm shocked. To me, this smells ghastly. It smells like someone made a reduction of dead people and poured it in a bottle. I washed it off, smothered my arm in deodorant, and the foul odor still worked its way through.

 

So everyone else loves it. I guess that means I need to give it another try in a few days in case there's something hormonally wonky going on with me.

Quick Grope Under The Mistletoe - Basically, this is the Yule version of Samhain. Upon initial application, I smell lots of sweet apple and some deep, bitter evergreen notes blended with patchouli and spices like clove, nutmeg, and cinnamon. I also feel like there's a little bit of musk in this, as it reminds me just a tough of the delicious musk in Faunalia. As it warms up on my skin, the clove does what clove always does, and that is to push everything else behind it and take centerstage. Clove is such an attention whore, and for a while, this is all about clove clove clove, as if nothing else in the world matters except for clove! The longer this is on my skin, the clove backs off a touch and while it still remains strong, I'm able to smell the evergreen, patchouli, musk, and other spices, too. The apple is there, but barely. Again, the closest I can come to describing it is to say Quick Grope Under The Mistletoe is to Yule what Samhain is to Halloween. It's a winner and next holiday season, I'm going to use a little of this in my oil burner so my whole house smells delicious like this fragrance (and I hope the apple note stays strong when using it as a room fragrance!)

XCDL13 - Oh wow, this is amazing! It's a rich, deep, sweet, boozy vanilla. I love vanilla notes, but they usually turn to plastic/band-aid on my skin. This one, however, stays true. I've been wearing it for about 2 hours and it hasn't disappeared, whereas most vanillas that don't turn to plastic/band-aid disappear on me within 30 minutes. There is a definite boozy quality to this... kind of reminds me of what happens when you mix vanilla Stoli with cream soda. In fact, now that I wrote that, I realize that's exactly what it smells like! Mmmmm!!!! I'm so glad to have procured a whole bunch of this and no one's going to pry it from my grabby little hands!

 

ETA: I came back to add that I applied this around 5:45pm in the evening, and could still smell it strong when I went to bed around 11:30pm. When I awoke at 6:00am, I couldn't smell even the faintest trace of it. So it wears off somewhere between the 6-12 hour point...which for me, means it has amazingly long wear, since most scents burn off my more quickly than that on my dry skin.

The Malignant Dreams of Cthulhu in Love - This smells super chocolatey in the bottle. As soon as it touches my skin, it smells like salty chocolate. It smells delicious! The most wonderful part is that the chocolate in this blend doesn't "turn" on me the way most BPAL chocolate notes do, and it stays true throughout the life of the scent on my skin. While the chocolate is salty and has a hint of heaviness about it initially, as it dries down, it really does become mostly a chocolate scent that's boosted by the faintest trace of kelp, which kind of makes me sad because I love kelp scents and was hoping it would be stronger in this, but I'm not too sad because of the fact that I finally found a BPAL chocolate scent that note only stays true, but that I like, and which lasts on my skin for a decant amount of time. All is good.

Blue Moon 2009: Brian's Interpretation - Very interesting! This is totally different from what I expected. It's incredibly white and dry on my skin -- shimmery and luminescent like moonlight. The cypress, frankincense, and iris are the strongest notes on me, giving this blend a dry, woody type of feel about it. I'm curious if the "delicate woods" note includes white sandalwood. The chamomile and Clary sage give it an herbal quality, and the moonflower sweetens it up a touch. It's really pretty, fairly subtle, and has about average staying power on me.

 

Raven Moon - This was so close to being a great scent that I had to try it several times before I was certain it wasn't going to work for me. With most scents, if there's even the shadow of a doubt, it goes in the swap/sale pile. This decision was much more complex than that. Black musk does not usually work on me, but in this case, it actually behaves itself and provides a really gorgeous base for all of these other lovely notes to play around in. The red chili gives the dark musk more of a red musk-type scent about it and I love the way the red chili and the spicy nutmeg interact in this scent. The vanilla and benzoin sweeten up the scent, but not in a super-sweet way; rather, they give it a sweet creamy-like quality that keeps it from being too earthy. The myrrh adds a nice bit of husky resin to the scent. The problem note in this blend is, sadly, the patchouli. I love patchouli, but it's bringing an arid dryness to this scent that is keeping it from being just perfect on me. The patchouli isn't strong, but it is still the culprit that makes this scent one I have to pass on, which is sad, because I love this other than the patchouli, and normally, I love patchouli. Good thing there are a kajillion other BPALs to love so I don't get to sorrowful over the loss of this one!

Thirteen (Nov 2009) - Like almost all of the other 13's, this one is close-but-not-quite. I do think I like this one the second-best of all the 13's, though. The prune is actually the strongest note on me, and I love it's dark juiciness that almost reminds me of a dark, syrupy honey. I don't smell the chocolate in this at all, which is awesome since the chocolate note is typically the downfall of the 13's when it comes to my particular skin chemistry. This scent is strongly floral, but not in a feminine or high-pitched way -- it's more herbal and earthy. The prune remains the strongest note throughout the life cycle of this scent. Even though I really like the prune note, there's just a bit too much prune for my test in this particular blend. Still, it's unique and pretty and it's got a lovely level of throw, so maybe I'll give it another go before I give up on it.

 

Lilith vs. the Giant Crab - My very first response to this scent was "creamsicle!" That's not too far off-base, but the fact is, it's more than just creamsicle. The tangerine is really bright and tangy. The tonka and ambergris give it a depth and a warmth that a pure orange-and-cream scent simply wouldn't have. The benzoin sweetens up the creaminess of it, but the dry sandalwood balances out the benzoin, which could otherwise be too sweet in this blend. The only note I can't identify is the pear, which is good since I don't usually like pear. Overall, this is a really fantastic scent and something I fully intend to get a lot of use out of this coming summer. It's the perfect bright, fruity summer scent that will keep a smile on my face and a hop in my step.

Sleipnir - This smells like cereal -- like grains and dehydrated fruit and nuts coated in a buttery-sugary glaze. I don't normally like foody scents, and they don't normally like my skin, but I am surprised to actually like this one and it behaves on me. Still, I don't tend to prefer foody scents for my personal fragrance tastes, but I am going to put a little bit of this in the dryer with my bed linens and I think it's going to make them smell really cozy and comforting and perfectly lovely.

Falling Leaf Moon - From first sniff, this reminded me so much of Samhain that I came to this thread and did a search for the word "Samhain" and was blown away at how many times it was mentioned. So it's not just me! To me, this is almost exactly like Samhain without the apple fruitiness. It's incredibly autumnal, positively gorgeous, and something I would wear a lot if I didn't already love Samhain so much.

Gacela of the Dark Death - When I sniff the bottle up close, I smell something gorgeous and amazing. It kind of reminds me of what I smell when I open up my BPAL drawer for my "dark/sexy/autumn" scents. When I open the bottle, all I smell is pitch. Heavy, thick, syrupy, and slightly astringent pitch. Within two minutes, the clove starts to warm up on my skin, and as clove will usually do on me, begins to rear its head and roar...and roar...and ROAR. Oh yes, in the end, this is a clove single note on me. On me, clove is like the bad guy in an old Western film, who comes charging into town, guns a'blazing, shooting and killing all the good guys, rapes the women, drinks the whiskey, robs the bank, and then proceeds to gallop around town, shooting his gun randomly into the air as a sign of his victory, gloating in the faces of all the cowards, women and children who wish they had the will and the skill to draw and quarter him because he just killed everyone they love and they want to see him die. Yup, that's what clove is like on me.

 

I actually think I would like this on someone else like my husband. Just not on me. My skin and clove don't play so well together.

Ogygia - I am having terrible luck with my BPAL testing today. Every time I try on a scent that I should like, it turns out to be worse than the previous one I just tried. This one is something I should love -- an ocean aquatic with kelp -- right up my alley! But it's just horribly rotten on me. It smells like... I don't know. It just smells awful. And it's soapy. Very green and soapy. Like Irish Spring. I'm definitely going to wash my arms now. I'm covered in all sorts of BPALs that went wrong on me. Maybe my skin chemistry's off today (?)

Litha 2009 - I loved the original version of Litha. This one, not so much. This smells like soapy honey and parsley. It's actually a nice honey (since honey doesn't always play so nice on my skin -- I'm looking at you, O!), but the parsley... OH EM GEE it is green and bitter and STRONG!!! I can smell a hint of gardenia beneath the honey and parsley, but that's it. This is a really bad one on me. Must try to wash it off now!!!

Diable en Boite - This is a really interesting scent. It's dark and woody, slightly spicy, and yet has a ribbon of sweet fruity-floral trailing through it. The musk and redwood are the foundation of this scent with the clove giving it some kick, and the peach blossom smells more like straight peach, giving it a sweetness that is quite enchanting. For the first time ever in a BPAL scent, the black currant is not turning to "cat pee" on me. This is a gorgeous scent, yet something about it -- something I cannot quite put my finger on -- is not quite "me". I'd rather smell this on my husband than on myself.

Old Man Ackerman's Instructional Toys - In the vial, this is bright, citrusy, fizzy, and has a nice metallic tang to it. On my skin, it's much more metallic and loses the fizz and citrus. On my skin, there's something "off" about it... something about it reminds me not only of the smell of metal, but of the taste of metal. I don't know if that makes any sense or not. The smell of this makes my mouth pucker. To me, it's not entirely bad, but it's also not good at all.

Voyeurs Among the Cherry Blossoms - I don't typically like cherry blossom fragrances...unless they're BPAL's cherry blossom note. This is a gorgeous "pink" scent -- a lovely floral bolstered harmoniously by the vanilla musk. It's sweet, pretty, and sexy. The moss is a really nice touch, as it gives this scent a little depth and texture. I really like this one. A lot.

It's a discontinued LE, but I found Velvet Unicorn to be OH EM GEE PINK SUGAR!!!

Season of the Emergence - This is a strange little blend. It's not perfumey at all. It's the scent of green, growing things and fresh grains. It opens up with a blast of cucumber and radish, but quickly settles down into a very soft and subtle, warm, grainy fragrance that's backed up with the mellow scents of seeds and roots and herbs. It's actually a really fascinating scent that's entirely different from anything other perfume I've ever smelled. However, having said that, I also have to admit that it's not the type of fragrance I'd ever choose to wear as an olfactory representation of myself. It's unique and interesting, but I'm going to have to pass on this one.

June Gloom 2009 - This opens up as a super-floral. I smell none of the lemon that the original June Gloom had. Initially, I think it's just another floral blend, but then something happens, and I start catching wafts of gorgeousness and I really think I've got a winner here, and right about the time I decide to put out an ISO for some more of this, something goes horribly, horribly awry, and I end up with the scent of floral soap that's been sitting in the back of my great-aunt's closet, collecting an inch of dust and cobwebs for more than 40 years. What a shame something so pretty can turn so horribly wrong on my skin.