filigree_shadow

When I first put this on, I didn't like it at all. There was a chemical scent in it that reminded me of something that I have a very unpleasant association with. It doesn't smell exactly like that other thing, but vaguely reminiscent. It reminded me of it enough that I said, "Bleah! No way. Absolutely not." Well, after about 20 minutes or so, that chemical scent went away, and what's left is leather and tobacco. Maybe a couple of light herbs, and no soil. It smells really nice. Rugged, manly, a little dusty... pretty much exactly like a Traveller. I initially got this decant not for myself but because I'm always looking for new scents for my husband, and I think he might like this one. Maybe with his skin chemistry he won't get that wet phase that I dislike. I'll hand it over and see how it goes.

I'm another one who liked the original Chaste Moon, and I get so attached to some scents that if something else comes out that has the same name but smells different from the original, I have a tendency to not like it, no matter whether it's a fine scent in its own right. This, sadly, is one of them. It smells like a cold creamy scent at first, and then turns completely into a soft white floral. Which is fine. I'm picky about florals but the soft white florals are usually my favorites. BUT. It's called Chaste Moon, and I have something specific in mind when I see that name, and this ain't it. So... although I grudgingly admit that this is pretty and I do like it, I am fiercely loyal to the 2005 version and I know I'll never wear this one. I already have a couple of white florals in my BPAL box, and I'll stick to those.

I tried this one not because it's something I thought I'd like, but only because I always like to try everything. I'm not a fan of anything that smells herbal or "green," and I did not expect this would be a winner for me. But... eh, I like to try everything once. Imagine my surprise. This is lovely. It doesn't smell like herbs to me at all. It smells CUTE. Light, fruity, a little squishy, and yeah, green, but not in that harsh soapy herbal way at all. More like a watery green. It's a happy, clean-smelling, bright scent. Definitely a winner for summertime. I've worn it three times since I got the imp, and I've enjoyed it every time. Apparently I like green musk, because I adore 51 and I liked Pollution too. I'll have to remember when I see green musk listed in notes that I should try those ones.

With a note line-up like this one has, I was pretty sure I'd like this. I do. The leather actually takes a backseat to the other notes, and the amber is behaving itself and not turning powdery. It's a deep, shadowy, dry scent -- not too dark, and not loud. The amber rounds it out nicely, and gives the whole thing a soft feel. Very nice. Quite sexy, in an understated, growly sort of way.

I picked up on that same sour note at first that other people have been smelling. Not sure what that is. It fades out a bit though, as it's drying. What it ends up smelling like is a clean, shiny leather scent. It's kind of sweet, and there's an element of sleekness to it. Like, the leather isn't just shiny, it's also a bit slippery. It's not bad, but I like other BPAL leather scents better.

Goodness. Urine, potatoes, and stank. Maybe I shouldn't have read through the reviews before I put this on! Ha, it's okay, though, because it smells nothing like that on me. Vetiver is usually my friend -- a lot of you guys got lucky and can wear chocolate and cream and honey notes. I can't. They smell like plastic or play-doh on me. Vetiver, though? Yep. I can do that one. This is not the dank musty thick kind of vetiver, it's the dry reedy kind. I'm having trouble putting my finger on what else I'm smelling in this. It's sweet -- I was looking for some sort of fruit in the notes and was surprised that there isn't one. The musk and tonka are nice with this vetiver, they keep it from being too dry and give it a deepness. I can't seem to lose that sweet note, though. This almost smells like vetiver-flavored candy on my skin. It's a little strange. I don't object to this scent at all, but I really only need a couple of vetiver scents and I already have some other ones I like better than this one.

It's kind of a sharp rose scent at first, which was a bit nose-crinkling, but then the other notes came up as it was drying. The moss came out, but sadly I don't think sharp rose and moss is my favorite combination. It's too harsh for my nose. I like the musk in this, and I also like the dryness of it, but the rose+moss combo isn't working for me. I'm picky about roses when the rose note is prominent -- they have to be that dewy watery soft kind of rose and not the kind that smell green and thorny. Luckily the amber in this isn't going powdery on me, which is a relief, but even when this scent is fully dry it's still a little too rosy for me.

Swiped the imp wand across the back of my hand and took a sniff, and thought, That's weird. Fizzy pineapples or something. I swiped more oil across my hand and put some on my wrist, and sniffed again. Still getting the slightly fizzy pineapples, but with an undercurrent of amber. The scent is sweeter on my wrist than it is on my hand but the overall wafty scent is kind of a sweet, dry fruit scent with some light florals behind it. Nice, and pretty for summer. You don't want to get too close to it, because up close it smells a little weird, but when my arm is normal distance from my nose, I like it. Sadly my skin is turning the amber to powder, like it usually does, but if it weren't for my skin chemistry messing this up I think it would be a perfectly pretty scent.

This smells like salty patchouli and sarsaparilla on me, with a strong, beautiful watery over-current. Not overtly aquatic -- more airy. Just a wee hint of rum, and I don't think I can pick out any leather or gunpowder. My imp is probably about a year old at this point -- if I had tried it a year ago I don't think I would have liked it this much because patchouli and sarsaparilla are both notes I like to age. I put a swipe on the back of my hand at first to see whether I liked it, and I did, so I swiped some more on, plus the inside of my wrist. The oil on the back of my hand definitely smells saltier, and the oil on my wrist definitely smells sweeter. Nice. The overall wafty effect is deep patchouli and airy salty aquatic, which is quite pleasant. It's harsher when my nose is right next to my skin, but anybody who's got his/her nose right on my skin needs to step the hell back anyway. I'm more interested in the scent that wafts. It's a good summer scent -- I'm not sure I'd like it as much if I had tried it in the winter.

On me, this smells like creamy chocolate-mint combination (not unlike mint chocolate chip ice cream -- the mint is not nearly loud enough on me for this to smell like Thin Mints), plus an intriguing base of oakmoss. I'm not a huge fan of cedar, and thankfully it's not coming out in this. I don't wear perfumes that I suspect other people might find possibly offensive -- no dirt, no loud heady florals, no strong musks -- because I'm around lots of people all day long at school, and often in fairly close quarters (crammed together in a classroom where someone might be stuck next to me for an hour). During the day, I choose scents that I think other people might enjoy. This is one of them. It's soft, exceedingly pleasant, and borderline yummy. I honestly cannot imagine anyone objecting to this. On the contrary, it's one of those sure-fire compliment winners. I'm working on my second imp of the Crocodile now, and I'm probably going to tack on a bottle to my next order because I don't think this wee ickle imp is going to last much longer.

Blood is too precious a thing in these days of dishonourable peace, and the glories of the great races are as a tale that is told. A distillation of force, conquest, power and fury: dragon's blood, myrrh, black pepper, labdanum, benzoin, leather, fire, and steel. NOTE: I'm probably not the best person to review this because my skin tends to amp dragon's blood, which makes it difficult for me to smell the other notes. The dragon's blood in this is pretty strong on my skin at first, but it fades out into a slightly powdery dark scent. I can smell some pepper for sure, and a little bit of leather. Kind of a metallic undertone, but it's barely noticeable. This scent seems more masculine than the other dragon's blood blends I've tried -- it's darker. I like it a lot!

An unexpected winner for me. I haven't really liked a hazelnut scent since one of the old Hearth scents (can't remember if it was 04 or 05 that smelled particularly nutty), and although I sold that bottle a long time ago I have missed it from time to time. This one is good too, and this decant will be a nice substitute when I miss Hearth. I can tell it's a nutty scent, but it's not overpowering, and it's also not a buttery nut scent (that's just a bit too much for me). It's more dry. Like roasted. The berries make it kinda sweet, and I think the hay and carrot are contributing to that dry quality. I like this one a bunch.

DIRT. THERE'S DIRT. I almost bought a bottle of this during the Singing Moon update because I loved the concept and the art. I'm glad I didn't. I would have been upset to find out there's a soil/dirt note in it that's not listed in the description. I can't handle the dirt scents. That's not all it smells like, but I wouldn't be able to tell you what else is in this. Mostly it smells like a very sweet dirt scent with a touch of something dry (something woody and planty). No lavender, no autumn fires, no ocean.

Blueberries that are kinda sour at first but turn sweet, and something definitely foodie with it. I don't know what. It's not cream... maybe vanilla or vanilla bean. Hard to tell. Seems like there's a little bit of spice too. Blueberry isn't one of the fruits I like in perfumes, although this scent smells perfectly good -- it's just not my taste.

Smells like cocoa, musk, and some kind of brown resin. And a touch of spice. It's too musky to be "foodie" to me -- this is not what I'd call a foodie scent. I like this, but I don't love it, and I don't go after these rare one-offs unless it's something I love. I leave it for someone else who will wear it. So my little tester will find a new home.

Strawberry and cake. Can't really detect carnation, and just a smidge of grapefruit. The strawberry smells good and squishy (and not strange/artificial and acidic like it does sometimes on me) and the cake is mainly background. It's mostly a strawberry scent on me with just a touch of foodie-ness as backup. I like it, and I don't really have any other straight-up strawberry scents (usually can't wear them because they don't work on me), so I want to keep this one around. My husband likes strawberry scents.

I loooooved Beaver Moon 05, and I got a decant of this a long time ago, tried it, and said, "Bleah! Not at all like Beaver Moon! Patooey!" Turned up my nose and threw the decant in the back of my imp box. Haven't worn it since. I'm going through my imp box now trying to get it sorted, and I half-heartedly decided to try this one again. The only thing I remembered about it was that it had cherry in it, and I assumed that I hadn't liked it two years ago because it smelled like cherry cough syrup or something. Imagine my surprise when I smelled it. It smells very close to Velvet Unicorn on me, which is one of my A++++ favorites of this year. What the hell was I thinking two years ago? Being a dork, I guess, as usual. This is all creamy and soft and pink and beautiful. It's a totally adorable scent, and I love it. Yeah, it's nothing at all like Beaver Moon 05, but it's fab in its own right. If I didn't already have a bottle of Velvet Unicorn I'd be trying to hunt down a bottle of this asap.

I don't really smell any cherry blossom in this. Not sure about the vanilla musk, either. I do smell the moss (it's much more feminine-smelling than moss usually is), but there's something oddly aquatic about the scent. I didn't expect that. It has a masculine cologne-like base, with a sweet feminine musk over the top. Unusual. Once I got over being disappointed over not smelling cherry blossoms I realized that I like the scent, even though it's not what I was expecting. OK, I decided to put more oil on, just to see what happens (maybe I didn't put on enough), and I smelled cherry blossom right at first (for like 8 seconds) and then: soap. Like pure white soap. *shrugs* I have no idea what's going on here. Don't think this one's going to work for me, though.

Musky. mossy, dry, and masculine. I liked the imp-swipe test area so much that I swiped the oil all over my throat, too. At first my nose was sitting in a cloud of spicy petitgrain, but then it turned into a delightful dark mossy scent. The oil that I got on my fingers turned into a powdery scent, the test patch on my arm is a deep dark musk, but the scent that's wafting up from my throat is most definitely oakmoss-centered. It's a warm, cozy, comforting scent to me. Reminds me of my husband more than a bit. (Shhh! No one tell him that a perfume with the word "Goat" in the name reminds me of him. I'd never hear the end of it.) I like it on me, but I'll certainly be handing it over to him to try, too.

I've had this decant for several years now. When I first got it, I tried it and thought it was too acidic and unpleasant. For some reason I stashed it in the back of my imp box instead of swapping it, and now I've found it again. So I decided to give it a whirl. My tastes have changed a bit since then, plus I'm sure the oil has changed in three years, too. It was slightly acidic and darkly fruity -- not juicy at all -- at first, but then when it was dry it changed to mostly a cantaloupe scent. You'd think with those billions of fruit notes in there I wouldn't be able to pick out a particular one, but that does seem to be the prominent note. Soft and sweetly fruity. Still not my fave of the fruity scents, though, so this time it goes in the swap box for sure and not shoved in the back of my BPAL box.

Bold, creamy rose. I don't get much honey out of this, but mostly soft rose petals. It's strooooong on me, though. Just a little bit is plenty. I've put a little test swipe on my skin each day for the past three days because I kept meaning to getting around to writing a review for it, but I kept procrastinating. Then the next day I'd say, "Oh, I never wrote that review, I ought to do another swipe to refresh my memory." So I've kind of been smelling this a lot in the past few days. It's the kind of rose scent that I like (and I don't like many of them), but it's not my favorite one. I'm half tempted to hang on to the decant, but I think I like Pink Snowballs better than this one. So probably this one can go.

Compassion, eloquence, introspection: Chinese musk and rain, with salty oceanic notes, frankincense, juniper berry, lily of the valley, lavender, cinquefoil, and sweet pea. Usually, the aquatic scents aren't a big hit with me. They generally just smell clean to me. I mean, I like smelling clean as much as the next guy -- it's better than the alternative -- but I don't wear perfume to smell clean, I wear perfume to smell like something else. This one is a bit different, though. Sure, it smells aquatic, but it's softer than aquatics usually are on me. It's sweet and floral and a bit herby in addition to the water notes. More feminine than aquatics usually are. It seems like it has a bit of an airy quality in addition to the watery quality. This is probably one of my favorites of the aquatics.

I'm bound to like anything with copal in it, and I like this one a lot. It smells like a musky honey scent, but it also has a twinge of the sort of traditional-cologne-type scent I associate with copal. Thankfully the honey isn't going awry on me at all in this one. It's a good, warm, sweet, musky scent. It's not loud, so I don't have to worry that I'm going to knock anyone over with my perfume. I like that kind. ETA: I decided to do a full wear of this rather than just a test, and it's quite perfumey on my throat. It reminds me of Prada perfume -- it has a similar feel. I got more of the light honey scent when the oil is on my arms, but on my throat? Traditional perfume. That's what it smells like. And that's right what my nose is in the midst of. It's not bad at all -- I like it -- but I don't often have the opportunity to wear this sort of scent. It smells like a grown-up special occasion type of scent, and I'm just not very high-brow.

I didn't think this would work on me, based on the notes (chocolate goes wonky on me, "creamy" scents tend to smell strange and artificial), but I wanted to try it anyway, just in case. You never know. Well, I could have safely avoided it. It did just what I thought it was going to do. However, before the whole thing boarded the bullet train to hell, it smelled like a wonderful marshmallow scent with just a hint of coconut. I liked it a lot. My skin chemistry just can't handle scents like this.

This is a bold, non-heady floral. It seems like I don't smell those very often. Normally, if a floral blend is strong on me, it's usually one of those heady overpowering scents like tons of jasmine or something. Not this one. It's perfumey, yes, but not in a stinging zingy way that reminds me of hairspray like some of the perfumey florals do. I couldn't tell you what any of those Swedish flowers smell like, so I really have no idea what I'm smelling. Orchid tends to smell similar to lily on me, and that's not what I'm getting out of this at all. They do smell like white flowers, I can tell you that much. I'm trying to think of something in the GC that this reminds me of, and I'm not coming up with anything. It's a very "traditional" type of scent and different from most BPAL oils. If you like the non-heady florals and you're looking for something that's a bit on the mature side and doesn't have rose in it, try this one. It smells sophisticated and elegant to me.