filigree_shadow

I had high hopes for this one. I like rose a lot better now than I used to, and I really like the idea of this one. I think the coconut is just a little too strong for me, though. It kinda smells like coconut + rose + powder on me. It's not bad at all, but I'm kinda just now getting over my dislike of rose and I'm still very picky about that note. I don't usually like coconut notes all that well, so I think this combination is a little too much for me at the moment. In case my newfound "rose is okay" attitude continues, I think I'll come back to this one later and see how it is. It's interesting and certainly not simply rose. At some point I'll have to do some side-by-side rose blend comparisons.

Definitely smells like one of BPAL's Asian fruity-florals. A little more floral than Fire Pig et al, but sweet and fruity like that. I think one or two of the floral notes aren't perfect for me -- whereas Peony Moon, Budding Moon, and fruity ones like Kitsune-Tsuki have no disagreeable notes on me. So although this is indeed a wonderful scent, I already have a couple that I like even better than this one. It is very pretty, though.

This is strong on me and has a significant amount of patchouli in it. It's not a scent for someone who likes "just a touch" of patchouli -- it's for someone who really wants to smell it. It's fairly evenly vanilla and patchouli when it dries, which is dreamy, and there's a dry, almost green haze over the top of it. I guess that's the hemp. I'll be particular about where I wear this, but I will definitely wear it. I know some people who got tired of the scent of patchouli a long time ago and don't want to smell it anymore. Personally, I've been smelling it for 20 years and I'm not tired of it -- as long as it's good patchouli. This is for sure a good one. ETA 4/29/2012: Got this out again to do some side-by-side patchouli death matchin', and whoa!!! The vanilla has emerged as super strong on aging! Very smooth sweet vanilla. Overpowers the patchouli. Honestly I might want to layer some Voodoo with this now to balance out the vanilla a bit.

It goes on kinda planty, but then it blossoms. Reminds me of soft, sort of dewy petals. I would like this a lot except that something in this (one of the pale resins, maybe?) is going powdery on me. I like davana and was really hoping this one would work for me, but I don't think this is the one for me.

Very realistic, outdoorsy leather scent. I like the moss note with that rugged leather. This smells like very new leather to me, not like worn-in leather. Must-try for anyone who likes BPAL's leather blends!

I wasn't sure about this one when it came out because I have trouble with white chocolate, and raspberry often smells kinda chalky on me. I should not have worried. This smells delicious. I only smell a little bit of booziness right at the beginning, and after that it's all sweet chocolate-dipped fruit. Black raspberry seems to smell darker on me than other raspberry blends I've tried, and I really like it. The chocolate isn't going plastic-y at all, and the apricot smells divine, just like BPAL's apricot always does. I've worn this probably 10 times since I got the decant, and although I definitely want more, I never seem to see it on swap/sales posts. So now I'm kinda protective of my little decant. I'm getting to the point where it has become a "special occasion" perfume rather than a "I'll wear this because it makes me feel happy" perfume.

Hmm. It's that soft musk that smells like what Ivanushka smelled like to me. I can sorta tell there's almond in it, but it's not as overpowering as almond usually is on me. The other notes aren't yelling loudly, either. The wood notes and the resins are blended together wonderfully. The best word I can use to describe this is soft. I'm not amping anything in it, there's no distinct prominent note, and even though I put more than the usual amount of oil on for a test, it's not very strong. The thing is, I like it. I like it a lot. It smells lovely. But I really can't smell it at all until my nose is about two inches from the place where I put it. I like to be able to smell the perfume I'm wearing, especially when it's something as beautiful as this one. I guess my skin eats it up or something. I'm kinda bummed about this.

Yeah, I have no idea what's in this. It smells swampy, and a little powdery too. It's an odd scent. Other reviewers mentioned vetiver, but I can't pinpoint that note in here. It smells a little sour. It's hard to describe, and at this point my decant is very, very old. It probably changed a bit since it was new.

It does smell like desert rocks. Kind of arid and solid. But there's a touch of a very sweet watery green scent with it. This is exceedingly difficult to describe, but I know I like it. It smells... natural. Like being outside. It smells pretty fresh for being a desert scent -- I was kind of expecting something that smells hotter than this (something like Scarecrow, maybe), but this is nothing like that.

I don't smell anything that seems fruity in this -- I was expecting more of a currant scent. It's not bitter, though, which is what I was afraid of. It's leafy, and it does seem like there's a soft, metallic-smelling ozone in this, but it's dry. Definitely smells like autumn to me.

I've had this in my imp box for a looooong time, just sitting there waiting for me to write a review. It smells like nose-tingling mint, and some kind of floral. Slightly menthol-like. I'm not good enough at picking out floral notes to be able to guess what that note is, but it kinda smells like lilac to me. I'm not a mint fan, and I meant to move this imp along a long time ago. I'm sure someone would be pleased to have this.

It smells very sweet at first, with a chocolate undertone, and then it turns spicy. The various spices really take over. It doesn't smell at all like when I usually say something smells "spicy" -- generally I mean hot. Like cinnamon or cassia. This is a much more exotic smelling spice. It kind of reminds me of chocolate oranges with spices over the top.

Yeah, it does smell like gingerbread cookies and something orange. And it's 100% awesome. Delicious.

Darjeeling tea, lemon verbena, star anise, and honeycomb. Lemony tea. Fresh and invigorating. Very pretty, but not distinctly unlike the lemony tea scents I've tried from the GC. I feel like the anise could have made this more of a standout, but I guess my skin chemistry had other ideas because that note is not showing up at all for me. This is a great, pretty, cheerful scent. I always enjoy scents like this when I test them, but for some reason I never wear them. Not sure why.

I don't like aquatics, or pine scents, or jasmine, or most floral notes. OK, so why is this amazing? Honestly, I never wear aquatics or anything with a noticeable pine note. I keep trying aquatics thinking one of them might work for me, but they never do. They're too salty or ozoney or they remind me too much of a men's cologne. This one, though... it's watery in a pretty way, with the pine a nice solid background and the florals sweet and feminine. It also smells slightly like pineapple for some reason, which in my book is not bad at all. Gives it kind of a sweet tropical overtone. Hey, whaddya know. I think I found my aquatic winner. Only took me 5 years!

This smells like rye bread to me. I'm suddenly in the mood for a delicious reuben sandwich. Can't see myself wearing it as a perfume.

This is the 2009 version. When I first put this on it was citrusy and bright and cheery, and I thought I was going to like it. But then it turned powdery and strange. Crap. I suspect frankincense is the issue here. We often don't get along. When it's dry it smells like a very vaguely citrusy chalky incense. Not gonna work for me.

Smoky chocolate. Interesting. Because of the smoke, it smells a little like it has a wood note in it, to me. Cassia is usually a deal-breaker for me because I amp it a lot and I don't like it very well, but it's not overpowering in this one. It's right at the level where I wish it was in other perfumes. Because of the chocolate and what smells like a wood note, this reminds me a bit of How Doth the Little Crocodile. Except this is a spicier scent. ETA: The longer this dries down, the more I like it. It has gone from "eh, maybe I'll keep this decant" to "wow, that's really nice." I'm going to wear it for a day and see how it goes.

All I smell at first is loam. It's a very sweet dirt, not the dark muddy sort. After about an hour it gets a little bit herby, but mostly it still smells like dirt.

Very sweet floral -- I think maybe Lily of the Valley is just a little too sweet for me. I think I can smell a smidge of sandalwood underneath because it smells dusty.

Very summery. Big huge green grass. After about an hour or so it's a lot softer and seems vaguely floral, sort of like a meadow. When it was wet it was pretty sharp.

I didn't like this much when I first put it on, but when it dried it got a whole lot nicer. I like rosewood -- Seance is one of my favorite scents -- and this is great. I probably only need one rosewood blend, and I think Seance is the one. This is a close runner-up, though.

I'm not sure what this is supposed to smell like, but when I first put it on it was very sweet. Sweet as in some sort of exotic fruit that I wouldn't know the name of. After about 30 minutes it got a lot softer and smoother. It's very nice, but I'm not sure that fruity note is my favorite fruit ever. ETA: After about 90 minutes or so, I keep sniffing the air and wondering where that cologne-like scent is coming from. I tracked it down to the test spot of Meliai. It smells kinda like one of those sporty colognes at this stage. It is still not bad -- in fact I'm actually enjoying it -- but still probably not something I'd wear with any sort of regularity.

I have no idea why I never reviewed this scent. It's been a favorite for a long time. You'd think it would smell masculine, with the word "King" in it, but it doesn't. It smells like soft dark fruits with musk. Kind of a hazy plum, with a wisp of coconut. Basically, there is nothing wrong about this scent. Everything goes together perfectly. I wish this one and Queen of Spades could be resurrected. These are two of my most favorite BPAL scents, but I can hardly ever wear them because I have so little oil.

Lemony tea and ginger. It smells crisp, bright, and fun. This is the sort of scent that I enjoy but for some reason never wear. I don't know why that is. Maybe because whenever I'm in the mood for a sweet, tea-ish sort of scent, I automatically go straight for the Dorian bottle. I don't like this one as much as Dorian, but it's certainly not bad at all.