filigree_shadow

Very floral, very tropical, and hoo boy is it strong! Goodness. I should not have put quite so much on. It's not a heady overwhelming floral, it's more in the breezy category. Maybe that's because it smells so tropical to me, I'm not sure. I'm not getting the sour/sharp/astringent scent other reviewers described at all. It smells clean and pretty and quite feminine to my nose. This is not the sort of floral scent that I normally wear but I don't object to it at all. It smells unusual and alluring, to me.

Well, whaddya know. I had two different bottles of the original Midway at different times, but I didn't wear it because it had a plastic-y scent on me that was very disappointing because I like foody scents so much. So when the Resurrected version came through I didn't buy a bottle because I didn't think it would work on me. Now I'm trying some of the Resurrected version now, and it seems to be working on me okay. A little bit of that plastic scent, but it doesn't seem as prominent. I can't pick out anything that smells particularly like funnel cake or apples or taffy, just a soft sugary foody scent. Hmm. Maybe I should see if I can find a bottle of the Resurrected version...

It smells like burnt sugar to me at first, and then it smells very caney. Almost reedy. It has a dry, vegetable-like smell, similar to celery but more leafy. It doesn't seem like it's all that sugary, to me. I can't really smell any fruits in it either. Just kind of a sweet leafy scent. It's not bad at all, but I'm not sure I'd want to wear it all that much. The celery-like scent is fairly prominent on my skin, and it's not the type of scent I usually think of as perfume.

Fizzy blueberries! That's what it smells like at first. But then the blueberries fade out and what's left is a fruity gin, but I can't really place the fruit scent. It's not identifiable as blueberry anymore. I think I can smell a little bit of lemongrass in it, but not too much. Seems mostly gin when it's dry.

Wow, L'Autunno is definitely my favorite of the Four Seasons. Kinda crazy, considering that I don't usually like apple scents, but I sure do like this one. The apple isn't bright and crisp, it's smooth. Smooth like the apple in cider. There's some great spices in this, and it's warm and comforting. The smoothness in it reminds me a bit of pumpkin -- like that sort of butteriness you get from pumpkin sometimes. I can smell some smoke in it too, but it's not prominent and it smells spicy. Spicy smoke? Yeah, I know, weird. But it works. Awesome. I like this one a lot.

I really wanted this one when I read the description, but now that I've tried it I'm not so sure about it. I think I like it, but something about it reminds me of cardboard. I know that sounds awful, and I hate saying it, but it's the truth. It's a little off-putting. I have figured out, though, that I really have to give ambers a while to settle in and age. It's not fair to judge them straight off because sometimes they smell a little off on me at first. I'm not going to give up on this scent yet because I think it will be very lovely for me in year or two. It already smells warm and glowing, and I think it'll be even better in a while.

Pine and... uh... pine. It does seem to be a softer sort of pine than usual, but to be honest I can't really pick out any other notes. My skin is horrible with pretty much all "winter" scents -- it turns them all into basically the same scent. Cold forest. That's about it. I keep trying them just in case I find one that works, but so far I haven't had much luck.

I saw jasmine, ylang ylang, and lemon peel in the description for this one, and I didn't think it would work for me. That wasn't very clever of me. I actually don't smell any of those notes in this perfume. Florals, yes, and sweetness. It's not heady or overwhelming, though. It's bright and cheery, but it has some depth to it, too. I think the oakmoss and violet leaf in it are both particularly nice touches. They give it a soft grounding that I don't usually smell in floral perfumes. This is quite pretty.

Trick or Treat doesn't smell like candy corn to me. It smells like toffee, cinnamon cookies, and rum. All together. It's not overwhelming or overpowering or obnoxious, it's just MMMMMMMM. When I first started trying BPAL perfumes I went through a foodie phase and then I sort of grew out of it because sometimes foodie scents tend to smell like plastic or play-doh on me, and I didn't like that very much. However, there are a few BPAL foodie scents that smell absolutely wonderful on me, and I kept those. Trick or Treat is one of them. It's freaking awesome, and I have 4 bottles of it -- one of my biggest bottle hoards. I love it.

When I first put this on, I have to admit that my very first impression was this: "Gross." It did not smell good. At all. I think it was the sage that I was having trouble with because it smelled very herbal and kind of medicinal. As it dried, though the blackberry came out a lot more. It's softer in this one than it usually is on me and actually balances out that purple sage pretty nicely. My skin has a little bit of trouble with red patchouli, so in the end I don't think this one's going to work for me, but it's too bad because I enjoy the blackberry in this. Smells good with sage and lemon blossom.

This smells like patchouli, orris, and a little bit of clove on me. Possibly more resins, but it's hard to tell. It has an odd, artificial scent on my skin, and I'm not sure why. Those notes all usually smell pretty true on me -- I don't generally have problems with any of them. Something about the combination smells off to me, though. I think it's because it smells so dry, and I like patchouli to smell deep and rich. I like other BPAL patchouli scents and resin scents better than this one, personally.

Apples. Lots of apples. And a leetle bit of caramel. Mostly it's a sweet apple scent with a very slight creamy undertone from the caramel. I bet people who like apple scents love this one, but I'm not really an apple sort of gal. I've liked apple & rose combinations in perfumes, but it seems like all the other scents I've tried with apple haven't been my thing.

It smelled a little bit like something foody at first, but within 5 minutes it switched to something definitely perfumey. A bit floral and slightly metallic, and like incense. Very strange. I had thought this would be a foody scent, but on me it's not. It's a pretty perfumey scent, but it's not at all what I was hoping for.

I smell fig and spices at first, and it's not as dark as I thought it would be. I can smell the redwood in it, but it's not a dominant note. It's surprisingly soft on me. Usually fig is quite loud on my skin (which is all right with me because I like it), but I put quite a lot of oil on for this test, and it's still pretty faint. I usually like fig and orange combinations, and I like this one. I'm not sure about the spices, though. They make the scent a little weird for me. I think Aeronwen is all right, but I like some of the other Grindhouse Ladies better.

I do not know how to review this scent. I don't know what it smells like. I guess wood? And a little bit of cardamom? But... it doesn't really smell like that. The wood is like really really green wood or something. It doesn't smell like any wood note I'm familiar with. Hay absolute? I don't think I smell hay, either. I get what a previous reviewer said about smelling something kind of pickle-like. Yeah, it's kind of like that. It's sour-tart like a pickle is, but try applying that quality to wood and see what scent you get: Bezoar. It's just very... odd. I'm not saying that I don't like it, but I'm not sure I like it either. Perhaps I should hold on to the decant for a while and try it later on.

Well, this is unexpected. It smells fruity. Rather like a citrus fruit. I thought armoise was supposed to smell a like a camphory wormwood, but I don't smell any of that in this. Awapuhi is like a ginger, right? I guess I can smell a little bit of something that smells gingery in this, but not too much. I'm just really surprised because I thought this would smell like herby cedar and I didn't think I'd like it at all. Instead it smells fruity and rather bright. It smells fresh and kind of tropical. I think it's the armoise that I'm smelling when it's dry because it seems sweet and a little tart. Not at all what I thought it would smell like, and I like it more than I thought I would!

I smell herbs at first, and then something that smells like a white flower... doesn't really smell like jasmine to me. Some myrrh and dust and that sweet white floral scent. This one reminds me a lot of the perfumes in the Ars Moriendi category. It smells like a funereal floral to me. It's pretty, but it's a bit too floral for me personally. I tend to like the bright fruity-florals best, and this isn't one of those.

I didn't order a bottle of this because honey and I usually don't get along, but then I regretted not getting a bottle and a very nice forumite offered hers in a swap. I'm so glad! The honey is actually behaving itself in this one, and it's balancing out the jasmine wonderfully. See, I actually sort of like the scent of jasmine, but my skin amps jasmine so much that I can never wear any jasmine perfumes because they end up being a humongous heady jasmine cloud. Not in this one! It's a sweet and deep rich scent with just a jasmine overtone. It has the quality of jasmine that I like with none of the jasmine qualities I don't like. Very beautiful and feminine, and I'm quite pleased that I now have a bottle of this.

I smelled the dragon's blood in this as soon as I put it on, and I generally like dragon's blood. However, this scent smells harsh. The herbs -- particularly lavender -- and cedar are fairly strong in it. I like dragon's blood because it smells comforting to me, but with this combination of notes it doesn't smell comforting. It smells bold. This Dragon Moon isn't my kind of scent, I'm afraid, but it's pretty interesting to smell dragon's blood in this sort of scent.

This is a surprisingly soft scent. It seems that the chamomile and mallow are strongest, with a little bit of musk and some light florals. It's not herby at all -- it smells a bit floaty. Like a cloud. It's a very gentle floral. It smells like all the floral notes are cushioned. I really like the softness of it. Very pretty.

By all accounts, I shouldn't like this scent. Don't like any of those floral notes, and I avoid pine and juniper berry. The only notes in this scent that I usually go for are benzoin, vanilla, and bergamot. Yet, for some reason, I like The Ragged Wood. Because of the pine in it, it has the sort of tone that I get from Yule scents without the cold/slushy note that those invariably have. The floral notes are light and not overbearing at all. The juniper berry sweetens up the scent a little bit without making it overly sweet. It's soft, pleasant, and pretty.

Musky and dark, and the wormwood makes it very interesting. It smells like just a slight hint of licorice, but you don't get blasted with a licorice scent. It's mostly resins and musk with a hint of that sweet wormwood. Luckily for me I can't really smell any basil or galangal (I don't really like those notes). It smells dark and deep and a bit broody. It's a very good fall scent. Also, this one is my favorite of the 2007 Celestial scents -- it's the only one I'm keeping a bottle of.

It does smell like fruit punch -- nice and sweet with that red Hawaiian punch type of scent. I don't smell much booze in it at all, but maybe something that's just a little bit fizzy. It's softer than I was expecting, and I like it better than most scents that smell like drinks. Seems like a good springtime/summer scent.

It smells white and fluffy, and it seems like it has a little hint of something pink in it. It's sweet, but not overbearing. I think this is a very good interpretation of a marshmallow scent. Also, although I sometimes have trouble with BPAL foody scents developing a plastic or artificial-smelling scent, this one doesn't do that. It's good.

Odd. I thought I had posted a review of the 2004 version already, but I don't see it. Here it is: I had high hopes for this, but it smells very plastic-y on me. BPAL's "cream" note is notoriously bad on me, but I had hoped that maybe it would work in this one. No such luck. I think I'd probably like if it weren't for the plastic scent. Oh well. I have a bottle of Arcana's Egg Nog layering note, and that one does work on me. So I'm not overly sad about BPAL's not working. And here's my review of the 2007 version: As with most of BPAL's "cream" notes, this one smells rather artificial on me. I like the spice in it, but the plastic undertone doesn't smell very good. There are other foodie BPAL perfumes I can wear, but usually something with cream tends to smell not so great on me. This version is better than the 04 version, though -- that one had a much more distinct plasticy tone on my skin. I think the nutmeg is stronger in this version. Also the brandy and rum notes aren't too strong at all. It would be great if I had more cooperative skin chemistry. In short: The 2007 version was better on me than the 2004 version, but I still have some trouble with it.