filigree_shadow

I thought maybe there was a dribble of vetiver in here because I'm getting that lovely dark smoky feel from it that I get from vetiver. (Vetiver actually smells really good on me.) It's pretty evocative of an old dusty book, in the best way possible. It lightens up on drydown and acquires a very pleasant smooth sweetness that I enjoy a lot. Just a slight incense haze behind the dominant notes. I like the dry stage better than the wet stage, but the wet stage is pretty good too. This one is more my husband's kind of scent than mine, and he definitely likes it.

I'm not having great luck with this scent. At the very beginning I thought I was going to like it because it smelled floral but not heady or green, which are the types of florals I don't like. But then the ginger and pink pepper came into play and they made it smell a little strange. I was iffy about that stage. Then they sort of swirled into the background and the florals came out again. But they smelled odd. I'm not even sure what I'm smelling here, but I don't think it's something I like. Geranium? I don't know. It's not gardenia or rose, that's for sure. From reading other reviews, I can say that on my skin this doesn't smell anything like what other people are describing. Sometimes my skin makes a mess of anything with ginger in it, and I think that's what's going on here.

I knew I was going to like this as soon as I opened the imp. It smells wonderful to me. I can't really tell there's any rum in it, but I can smell the spices. The pineapple is pretty understated, the coconut smells like a dry husky coconut rather than suntan lotion, and the vanilla is smooth and beautiful. I think the spices from the spiced rum are really what makes the scent work for me. My only complaint is that it really isn't very strong on me at all. I had to put on oil twice because the first time I couldn't really smell it very well. But it seems to be lasting pretty long, so that's good. It smells tropical but not overly tropical, just pretty and sweet and fun. I like it a lot.

Ooo, nice! Very nice! I have trouble with some fruity blends smelling kind of acidic on my skin, rather than sweet and juicy, but this one doesn't do that. The pineapple and orange is a great, refreshing combination, and I think the passion fruit is what's making it smell kind of juicy. The rum isn't overbearing at all -- it combines very well with the other notes. Very summery and fun! I like it a lot more than I thought I would. It makes me feel happy.

This one's really boozey on me. Some lime at first, and then a little bit of almond and some black cherry, but mostly booze. It goes through a fizzy almond stage, which is kind of weird, but it ends up smelling... spicy? Like pepper or something. Wonder where I'm getting that from. It ends up smelling like liquor-soaked cloves. LOL, I have no idea why. I think my skin is pretty much freaking out on this one.

Sassafras, vanilla extract, oak leaf, CO2 butter extract, and onycha. Ooooo. Nice. I thought the sassafras might be too strong in this for me, and it is pretty strong at first. But then it gets a distinctly foody quality to it that makes the whole scent smell creamy and smooth. With that great sweet sassafras. This one's an unexpected winner for me. I'm still not totally convinced that sassafras suits me as a perfume scent, but I do know that I really love smelling this. So bollocks to what suits me! I'm gonna wear it anyway.

At first the violets in this are fairly strong, but as it dries it gets quite mossy and earthy with the patchouli root. But the violets and red currant keep it sweet. It never descends strictly into mossy/rooty territory. It retains a bright twinkle, but it seems like moss is the most dominant note. Not that that's bad! It's great in this. The moss and patchouli root combination smells fairly masculine to me, and although I like this scent quite a lot, it seems like it might be more at home on my husband. He's trying it on right now to see if he likes it.

The green tea in this is great, but I'm not overly fond of the lemon verbena. I've tried this one a couple of times because I honestly do love tea scents, especially in the summertime, and both times I've gotten an odd sharp powder scent from Shanghai. I don't know why. But it sort of tickles my nose and makes me feel like I have to sneeze. I wouldn't have thought any of those notes would do that, but *shrug*. After about an hour or so it's fine -- pretty, sweet green tea. I enjoy it at that stage. But I've been wearing BPAL for long enough now that I know that if I don't like the wet stage I never pick it up to wear it. Ah well. There are plenty of other tea scents in the BPAL catalog for me!

Straight up leather. It smells sleek to me, not really like a comfy leather jacket or a leather chair. It smells like shiny leather. Leather notes are usually exceptionally strong on me, and this one definitely is. Personally, I'd kind of like it if my husband had a bottle of this to layer with some of his other scents because I happen to really like leather notes on men. However, I'm quite sure that he could not be bothered to do something as intricate and involved as putting on two different BPAL oils at the same time. So I'll just continue to enjoy it when he wears Geek and Quincey Morris. Also, I happened to be reading through reviews and saw KyrieArashi's review that mentioned layering it with Lilith. Sounded intriguing, so I tried that. Hey, she wasn't kidding! Very nice. I didn't really like Wanda, but I like De Sade + Lilith. Hmmm. Perhaps I should have some of this for myself for layering...

It's aquatic, but it's also sorta salty. There are some light florals in there too. It's fairly sweet and light for an aquatic scent -- it's not like OMG I'M DROWNING IN THE OCEAN. It has a nice, fresh, kinda feminine twist to it. When it's dry it gets sweeter and less salty and I like it more.

Well, I had thought this might be a good one because I'm starting to like rose scents. I smelled a little bit of rose at first, and I thought it had some promise, but then this weird band-aid scent took over. That's freaky. Usually narcissus is kind to me. Perhaps my skin is picky about what narcissus goes with. It does seem to be telling me pretty clearly that rose is not the thing narcissus goes with. It's too bad, really, because I can tell that I like the rose in this. When it's fully dry it's mostly a pretty rose, but that wet band-aid stage is not something I'd want to go through more than once.

On me this mostly smells like cucumber, mint, and green tea at first. I thought I was going to like it a lot, because it's a great, clean, almost watery green scent. But then, unfortunately, the grass and sage come out. I don't really do very well with either of those notes. The cucumber is sticking around, but it's not quite strong enough for my liking anymore. It does smell distinctly GREEN, and I like that. But I'm not a grassy-scent sort of person. I will say that of the grassy-green scents I've tried, I think I like this one the best. I like that faintly wet cucumbery scent.

This one smells like dragon's blood and metal to me. The metallic tang is a bit hazy and not pointy at all -- I guess that's from the incense. It's sweet and it smells red to me, and that's probably why it makes me think of dragon's blood. It doesn't smell cold at all like many of the Yule blends do, nor does it smell stark. It's a warm scent with that metallic bite. This one is probably my favorite of the metallic scents I've tried so far.

Green and boggy, but smooth like aloe. This one and Whippoorwill remind me of each other, but while Whippoorwill stays green and boggy all through the drydown, this one sweetens up a lot. It doesn't have a swampiness to it when it's dry. It smells slightly floral but also like a dark aquatic.

At first this reminds me of Dorian, in that sweet way. It has a bit more of a citrus kick to it than Dorian does. But the drydown is heavy on the musk and light on the sweet. It does smell clean and fresh, and it's pretty light. I seem to recall this scent being more masculine a couple of years ago, but as it has aged it sweetened up. It smells more feminine now. I really like this scent, but it's a little too soft on me.

I didn't think this one would work for me, but I got a decant of it because it sounded like something that might smell good on my husband. On me, it's mostly a tea scent, but it's very green and it has a metallic character. It's a very deep almost (but not quite) aquatic green scent. It's bold, too. No soft squishy roundness in this one. I have no idea what green sandalwood should smell like because I can't remember ever encountering it before. I'm not sure what it smells like after sniffing this, either. Maybe without the moss I'd be able to pick it out more clearly. It's a surprisingly refreshing scent, and it's one of those scents I would like to smell on someone else but it doesn't suit me personally. It's a little too green and bold for me. I hope my husband likes it, though.

I'm not sure how I missed this one when it was up -- I usually adore BPAL's Asian fruity-florals. Maybe it was the yuzu in this that made it iffy enough that I didn't get it. I'm not sure. It definitely has that bright lovely plum blossom that I love so much, and the other florals are very nice with it. It's not as sweet as Fire Pig, and there's something in it that's a bit sharp and slightly powdery on me. I'm betting it's the yuzu. But the yuzu in this isn't nearly as loud and obnoxious as it usually is on me. Personally I like scents like Fire Pig and Budding Moon better than this one because I tend to like fruity-florals that lean heavily to the sweet side. But I know that for lots of people they're too sweet, and those people should try this one!

I took a gamble trying this one because although I like blue musk and moonflower, lemon verbena is usually a deal-breaker. It's trying pretty darn hard to ruin this scent for me. I think it's actually in cahoots with the lychee. It seems like there's some prettiness underneath those two (rose?), but I can't really get to it. Mostly what I smell is a lemony scent that's sharper and tarter than verbena usually is. So I guess this one isn't going to work for me.

Out of the list of floral notes in Swan Maiden, the gardenia one is the only one I usually avoid. This is startling because the list of floral notes I avoid is kind of long. A floral perfume with only one no-no flower in it? Almost unheard of, for me. And this? Aaaaah. Lovely. Exactly the sort of floral I like. It smells white, clean, and soft. Not heady, not humid, not green... just gorgeous. I can smell the gardenia in it, but to be honest it sorta seems like the orchid is stronger. It gets even more lush and wonderful as it dries. The florals I like that are a bit similar to this one (in feel, rather than strictly in scent) are Dreamland, The Ghost, Sepulcher, and White Moon. Those were all stand-outs for me, and this one goes on that list too.

Lotus root, mogra, mango, tamarind, cardamom, clove, almond milk, cashew, rice flower, coconut, supari, raisins, and incense crafted from aloeswood, red sandalwood, cedar, and spikenard. When the Yules came out I was reading through the notes for this one and mostly thinking Hm, well, possibly, but probably not, but maybe I -- OMG SPIKENARD. Dudes, spikenard is my nemesis. I do not just steer clear of it, I steer straight off the damn highway and take the route that goes through a different state in order to avoid it. It smells unbelievably foul on me in every blend I've ever tried that contained it. But a decant of Diwali showed up at my house, and by the time I got it I had completely forgotten what the notes were, so I put some on. I liked it. It smelled a little sweet, a little creamy, and a little spicy. Not too much of any one thing, just a very pretty, light blend. At first I can smell the mango pretty well, but when it's dry I think I'd probably try to briefly describe it as mostly almond milk with cardamom and some very pleasant earthy/woodines from the wood notes. It's an extremely likable scent to me. Soft and lovely. So imagine my shock when I was reading through the notes later and found out that THIS is the one that has SPIKENARD! And I actually like it. I would even like *gasp* a BOTTLE of it. And see, this is why I always have to try everything BPAL makes. Because really. You never know.

Well, I don't know what to tell you about this one. I've worn it probably 5 times since I got it, which is more than usual. However, every time I put it on I think Hmmm, yeah, I'm not sure about this one. There's something about it that I like a lot, but there's also something about it I don't like. I think the problem is that the amber goes powdery on me. If it weren't for that, it would be wonderful. It has this awesome creamy scent with the very alluring teak under it... but the powder. It smells so great even with the powdery part that I keep wearing it, but I keep being sort of mad at it for going powdery. I can't see myself giving up on it entirely, so I'm sure I'll keep the bottle around for a while and see how it ages. Maybe the amber will deepen a bit after a year or so. Edited many months later to add: Keeping it was a good idea!! I love it now after it's had a chance to age a bit. It smells wonderful now, and I'm so glad I didn't give up on it.

I got a decant of this one to try because so many people seem to like it, but I was pretty skeptical about it because usually pomegranate is one of the notes that tends to ruin a blend for me. My skin doesn't like it at all and either turns it into a bathroom air freshener type of scent or some hideous powdery-sweet Pez-like scent, except like a Pez that's been lost under the rug for a few months. This one does the latter. It's dusty-smelling and super-sweet, and not like a lovely juicy pomegranate scent at all. Ah well. Can't win 'em all. There are really only a handful of notes that don't work with my skin chemistry, so it's not so bad.

I recognize a little bit of orchid in there, but mostly it's gardenia. It's a tropical lush floral scent, very much on the smooth and soft side. I like this better than most gardenia scents, but I burned myself out on gardenia about 10 years ago (that's what wearing one scent every day for a year will to do ya), and I'm still not ready to wear a gardenia scent again. This one is quite pretty, though.

At first all I can smell is a fresh light lemon over coconut. Neither note is bowling me over, they're both playing nicely together. It's creamier-smelling than I thought it would be. Not sharp at all. Usually lemon is a little too tangy for me, but this lemon blossom is pretty nice. After it's completely dry, mostly it smells like a woody scent with a little bit of coconut. Very slightly tropical, I guess, but not too much. Oddly, I'm not getting a whole lot of musk out of this. It must be blending so well with the bark note that I can't pick it out. I like this scent, but it's not going to unseat Brown Jenkins as my favorite coconut scent.

I have to be very picky these days about which bottles I buy due to money issues, so unless I honestly love something I can't really justify buying a bottle of it. I tested a bunch of decants to figure out if I wanted any bottles from Lupercalia this year, and Sapphics was one of the two bottles I bought. On me, it's lovely. It smells dark but not too dark, and smoky but not too smoky. Kind of slinky. I think it's mainly a combination of grey amber, oakmoss, and myrrh that I smell on my skin, and it's a beautiful combination. To me, this seems like a dressed-up nighttime sort of scent. It seems more sophisticated than amber and myrrh scents usually are. I can see myself wanting to wear this as often as Trick #1 and Black Orchid, which are sort of my default grown-up perfumey scents. This one doesn't smell as much like traditional perfume as either of those do, though, it's more of a "wow, what is that" kind of scent.