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So uplifting! This is a wonderfully whimsical scent. I love it for spring and early summer. Just the sort of scent to wear to get you out of those spring cold snap-blues. Fresh, clean, citrus, bright. Very bright! Where I'd wear this: Early spring, when I'm ready for my first brunch Mimosa

A scent pulsing with vitality, warmth and insurmountable strength: dragon's blood resin, red and black musks, a throb of fig and a sliver of black currant. Ahh blood resin, you tricky thing. Sometimes I love you, sometimes you smell like bubblegum. In this instance, Dragon’s Heart is teasing at bubblegum without actually committing. I really like the black currant and fig in here, but it’s just not coming together for me. Warm, sultry, a hint of dark fruit. Where I’d wear this: Carnaval

Very strange at first sniff—almost grape and Starbursts? I expected the cassia to come out strong first. It settles into something very sweet and foody and unusual. Very different from other foody blends. Where I'd wear this: Mumbai, high summer, the markets

This is really pretty and I love it. I definitely smell the violet, and it's behaving very well! The sandalwood and balsam are mixing into an almost-cedar, which I love. Oakmoss to keep it from going too sickly sweet with the violet, and tea to soften it. Very nice! Where I'd wear this: Spring holiday in Seattle

What an unexpected blend! I don't know what exactly I was expecting with a blend called Black Cat, but I don't think it was roses. Yet, roses is what I get. Endless, dried roses. It's pretty, but I'm not huge on rose perfumes, so I think I'll pass this imp on. Where I'd wear this: Tea with Narcissa Malfoy

Harvest Moon is celebrated in almost every culture, and the bounty of the season is marked in a myriad of ways. Harvest Moon touches the Equinox, the festival of Janus, the culmination of Homowo, the crying of the neck in Cornwall, and the Womens Festival of the Moon. This is a day that celebrates abundance and beauty, fertility and progress, and the light of this full moon blesses new undertakings and reunites lost loves. The Harvest Moon, by definition, is the Full Moon that falls closest to the Autumnal Equinox, and thus, it shares some of that Sabbats characteristics. This Full Moon was thus named because it rises within half an hour of the suns setting, in the Northern Hemisphere, and at this time farmers are able to work longer into the night by the light of this Moon. As the year draws to a close, the Full Moon rises an average of fifty minutes later each night, with the exception of a few nights surrounding the Harvest Moon, which only rises 10-30 minutes later. This moon is also, to the human eye, the fullest and largest of the years Moons, hanging gloriously huge, yellow and low in the night sky, and many lunar illusions play tricks our eyes at this time. The Harvest ushers in many celebrations, including the Equinox and the Festival of Janus, God of Doors. Janus is the Roman Lord of Gateways, beginnings and endings, and transitions. Thus, the Harvest Moon is a time for blessing new ventures, the onset of new and progressive phases in ones life, and rites of passage into adulthood. This time of year also marks one of the Festivals of Dionysus, Lord of Ecstasy and the Vine. This Harvest lunacy combines the autumnal scents of dry leaves, mulling spices, balsam fir and spruce tips, cedar, juniper berry, clove, saffron, wild apple, sage, yarrow, and lily twined with Dionysus sacred grapes and ivy, a bounty of blackberry and pumpkin, deep russet sunflowers, the amaranth and lingum aloes of Janus, all touched by a gentle breath of festival woodsmoke and sweet wine. Picked this up at the August 2017 will-call after a quick wrist test and just now got around to trying it fully. It's really great. It has something in it that reminds me of The Jeweled Spider and I think it's the wine. Something deep-dark, spiced-sweetness, I could chew on. This is really fantastic. The best Harvest Moon I've smelled so far (2006, 2010, 2011, I think). It's an ancient Harvest Moon, before technology. A bunch of extended family and neighbors sitting around a dying fire, too drunk to realize they're freezing and stoke the flames up again. Mulled wine that's sat too long in a hot cauldron and is starting to go syrupy. It's not too sweet, not too spicy, not too dry. I really love this. Where I'd wear it: Trying to get into the headspace of a dark, medieval fantasy novel

[No additional description provided.] Much sweeter than I'd expect. It smells like picking out Christmas trees on a cold, frosty night.

Grape? Rose? Grape-y roses. I can't decide if I love this or hate it. As it dries, the grape goes more wine (thankfully) and there's this really unusual mix of dry rose and jasmine. Rose is usually a death note for me, but I love jasmine. Here, the rose is really working and I think I like this a lot. Maybe not enough for a bottle, but I'll keep the imp. Where I'd wear this: A long, dark walk home in a women-kicking-ass movie

Well unless your idea of hell is lavender, then I’d instead call this Tavern of Let’s Have a Nap. It’s a very relaxing scent! Starts out quite lavender-boozy, and dries into more lavender-tobacco. If I were getting a massage and having a drink (which sounds great), I’d imagine this to be the smell. Goes a bit soapy on me…that’ll be the lavender. Relaxing, floral, quiet. Where to wear this: On a rugged, studly man with a dark past

This is really pleasant. Clean, woody, and low-key. Not too dry but definitely not sweet, either. I like this a lot. Where I'd wear this: A "pack light" city-touring vacation, always appropriate

At first I wasn't sure about this one. It comes out so green and sharp. But the drydown is really lovely. feminine and sweet without being cloying. It smells ladylike and upbeat, but still quite soft. It's a very relaxing blend. I got a 5ml of this one from my fairy and I think it was a good decision. Where I'd wear this: Springtime walk through Kew Gardens, wearing a fascinator

Wet: very tangy mandarin/neroli. Stays about the same on drydown. Where is my rum and pink pepper?! I was so stoked for those notes, but my skin is just not having it. Where I'd wear this: A very vibrant day spa

Patchouli (maybe just red? not sure) sometimes goes weirdly bubblegum on me. When still wet, I get that bubblegum here. I was looking forward to the hay and cocoa in this, but I'm getting a dry/spicy bubblegum and little else. On drydown, it does get redder and spicier, and oddly cedar-y. It's nice, but I don't need a bottle. Where I'd wear this: A cornfield maze, when it's still too hot for autumn

Kind of musky peachy. It's a drier scent than I expected. I agree that it's a dirty/smutty scent. Wear length seems super short on my skin, leaving behind only a faint dry-peach after just 4-5 minutes.

I know this was supposed to be dismissively forbidding, but all the notes looked really intriguing to me so I had a fairy pick up a 5ml for me. It is indeed very dismissively forbidding. Wet, it's almost a Pine Sol cleaner sort of vibe, and that really scared me. But it dries down to a nice cedar backed by some blue musk. Not as sweet as I'd hoped (given the honeyed orange blossom) but still very pleasant. Where I'd wear this: A weekend 'off-gridding', Pacific Northwest

Sweet mint tea. As it dries, the mint loosens up, but I stil don't get any peach. The marshmallow may be making it a creamy mint tea, but no fruit. Actually, maybe some cooked fruit, like a peach cobbler, but it's still very faint. Where I'd wear this: Baking for the 4th of July

2015 version: Sweet and tangy. As it dries, it softens into something lemony and sweet with spices underneath. Not getting a cake note, but there is something buttery. It's pretty and autumny. Foody/oriental. Where I'd wear this: All Souls Day celebration, Santa Ana, California

Mm chocolate. Seems almost to have a bit of cedar in there, but maybe that's the flowers mixing with the leather. The incense is low, but I'm getting just a ping of bubblegum like I do with some incensey blends (can't figure out what type of incense, unfortunately). All in all, it's a pleasing scent, but not a bottle for me. Where I'd wear this: Chocolate and camping

Warm and spicy. Smells very natural, but enhanced. Like being in a tent in the dessert, watching someone work magic. Where I'd wear this: Burning Man

Sharp violets. I'm not getting any vanilla or gardenia, which is a shame because I love both. I like violets, but this doesn't do anything extra special for me. Where I'd wear this: Rescuing a princess from a dark tower

Cold and spicy (wasabi) with a bit of a citrus undercurrent. Very interesting and green. Not "hot", but an idea of heated greenery. Where I'd wear it: Sushi at the beach

Powdery patchouli and florally sweet. I expected this to be spicier than it's coming out on my skin. It's very soft and sweet, almost sickly sweet. No cinnamon redness on my wrist, though. It's giving me a bit of a headache like Love Me did (and smells similarly). I wish I could pick out the note they have in common. If anyone knows, a PM would be welcome! Where I'd wear this: Amsterdam Red Light District, winter

Smells very outdoors and medieval. Burning hay and men's spiced cologne. The scent of a rogue. Where I'd wear this: A 17th century pub crawl

I may be the only BPALer who doesn't love HJtC. To me, it smells straight up Fruit Loops. It's not awful, but I really don't love it. Fruity floral. Reminds me of fruit loops. Very grape. Where I'd wear it: A beer garden, late spring

A sad sea, crisp and limey. Frigid, somber waters around a desolate place. This is very lonely. The gardenia is lovely. A very rare aquatic win for me! I would consider a bottle! Where I'd wear this: The beach, Cornwall, dead of winter