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In the old church, there was a back prayer room. In the corner there was a secret door to the crawl space under the stage- this scent smells like that space Wet: opens with a heavy black inky cloud, very similar to India Ink. Boy describes it as “it feels like you’re opening the door to a place that hasn’t been opened in a very very long time” early dry-down: the leather binding starts coming out. This is not a stiff leather, or a new leather- it’s the floppy soft binding of an old old parchment manuscript that’s been used and worn and loved. late dry-down: on the boy it’s musty and leathery, fading nicely on the skin. On me, the ink makes a resurgence and sticks around. Definitely in the vein of Two-Ply Bristol SN, Burning Book SN, India Ink SN after getting a good feel for it- it’s almost the way I imagine the library of Alexandria might have smelled

In the bottle, this smells like the box of imps I keep on hand for responding to "BPAL? What's that?", or my first box of oils when I was trying everything and hadn't figure out my notes of love and hate yet. Everything- really truly. I smell a little more like a minty-fruity-green and floral, though. on: it's not unpleasant at all, but really is a mishmash. I don't get anything foody or earthy or dark at all though. it's staying with the red fruit/grapey type and a little herbal and a good dose of soft sweet flowers once dried down. My theory is that I'm noticing those aspects most because those are the things I rarely ever put on my skin, so they are jumping out. It's a crazy chameleon melange of a smell! I suspect this won't be going on my skin much, but I kind of really want to open the door when I get home at night and have this smell meet me.

I should preface my review by noting that I am a vetiver lover, and scents such as malediction and devils claw are among my favorites, along with a penchant for layering everything with the vetiver SN. I am also a heavy patchouli lover, so I was all kinds of excited to see the notes in this! By the notes, this should be the most amazing thing on my skin. But it flopped for me. Wet, it is a raw power with at least a 40 ft throw. But not a vetiver-power, or at least not the kind I would expect. I can smell the notes I love, but they are pungent as if they went to the gym 3x a day for a month and never once took a shower, then rubber their sweaty nethers on my nose. My dogs actually recoiled, and I did almost wash it off. But I'm nothing if not stubborn with a skin test. Dry, same.... 2 hours later, same... 8 hours later, THIS IS AMAZING AND BEAUTIFUL AND STUNNING! I smell like a shadow of smoke and earth, a memory of fire and darkness. I am spirit, I am darkness, I am primeval beauty. I have never had a vetiver/patch blend come off so foul on me. This also did have the strongest throw and lasting power of any oil I have tried, as I can still smell it on my skin 36 hours later. And it did turn beautiful and has stayed that way for at least 28 hours of it.... but those first 8? Man. I just don't think it's gonna be worth those first 8 hours to me, unless I plan ahead and put it on before bed so the in-your-face can die down overnight.

Djinn is also nice for the smoke intense aspect

As a provider I wear only skin-scents with low throw, which on me are generally musks, resins, woods. As a patient if I know I need something particular, I usually reach for TALs first- things like fortitude and healing. Embalming Fluid is one of my go-to scents for general office type things medical

I was really looking forward to this one! wet: it started out as a sweet, soft evergreen forest with golden mist. So beautiful, so promising- reminding me of my beloved Hamadryad, actually. 15 minutes later, dry: I want to cry. All the beautiful notes, and I love them, and they turned to Play-Doh on my skin! Play-Doh, I tell you! *sobs* I really want it to work for me so I'm going to try again during my time of month- how can these wonderful notes DO this to me?

Mod Note on review topic location: From BPAL's FB page: "...our con exclusives include a set of brand new Wig Sprays (in the style of our atmo/linen sprays)..." A blur of red musk and smoke dotted with mascara, khol smears, and a splash of booze. In the bottle, Red Wig is straight up red musk. The complexities only started showing on dry down when I spritzed my sheets. The smoke isn't gritty really- it is more the smell of an all-nighter in a club, wafting hints of smoke, definite boozy note, and yes- makeup. i didn't actually love it completely in the bottle but it is really growing on me! Not a note similarity at all necessarily, but it has a little of the "feel" or a similar vibe to what I got from F54. Only musky instead of juicy, if that makes any sense.

My take on this one is that it smells very very much like a Velvet Unicorn atmo. Candy pink fluff!

Effervescent, sharp, and a little bitter: pink grapefruit and champagne. Brilliantly pink and bubbly, sugary-sweet and tangy. The head of fizz on this is filling my nose with bubbles. It has a wonderful lasting power and throws attitude everywhere around it. sometimes the simplest things are the best. A grapefruit juice mimosa is exactly perfect.

I've skin tested this several times trying to figure out why it smells so familiar to me. It isn't exactly a "me" scent, but is so so pretty. I did side by side testing with xkcdl13, with antique lace, with Celeste. It is un-lavendered TKO on me. Vanilla TKO. Sweet and pillowy and soothing, in a vanilla version. TKO on the other arm agrees.

Another Tobacco SN- I had to get it! Where French Tobacco SN was heavy, sweet, and chewy, almost to the point of being foody on me, Bulgarian Tobacco is lighter, drier, almost a little smoky- still sweet but in a light softness rather than a caramelized feel. This smells like walking into an excellent cigar and pipe shop, the dry but rich smell wafting from the humidor and the familiar comfort of popping the top off a jar of loose pipe tobacco. I kind of adore it!

I was so hopeful for this one, but alas, it is not to be. In the imp I can smell that soft leather and vanilla and a wee bit of rose, so.... on to the skin and.... ROSE ROSE ROSE single note ROSE! It obliterated all the beautiful complexity, and did not change one bit from the moment of application to an hour later when I had to wash it off. ohhhh well. I just can't wear rose notes without smelling like a florist shop.

I bought a bottle blind, and I'm so glad I did! Wet, this is a sibling to Haute Macabre with patch, leather, and sweet almond. Also reminiscent of Badgers. On dry down, the almond faded away and I was left with a soft, earthy leather that clung close to my skin. Low throw, and crosses that magical line from "that smells good" to "you smell good". 30 hours later, hot shower water hit the application points, and what wafted up then had faded on any identifiable notes, softly mineral ... The same kind of mineral note I got from black opal with a lighter touch and kinnabari with a lot more of it. I had actually forgotten about applying this until I figured out what that amazing scent was from. Yes, I stayed in the shower as long as I could for the smell! Definitely a morpher on me, and every stage was glorious. I'm going to need more.

I get.... COFFEE. coffee coffee coffee, with some chocolate underneath. It is SO strong, I can't get it out of my nose- and those are both death notes for me. It's actually making me feel a little ill from being so overpowering. Can't win em all... and this one hates me.

ETA: found The Inn being sold here http://www.bpal.org/topic/82867-velvets-rare-finds-emporium-a-series-of-important-updates/