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BPAL Madness!

filigree_shadow

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Everything posted by filigree_shadow

  1. filigree_shadow

    Morgause

    I'm pretty sure there's night-blooming jasmine in this, because that's what I smell. Maybe a little bit of violet, but not much. I'm not really getting fruits or incense, mostly just the jasmine. That's too bad because I probably would have liked violet and purple fruits. When it's totally dry it seems like I can smell the violet better, but it's still not strong enough for me to like this. I just don't get along with jasmine.
  2. filigree_shadow

    Catherine

    Catherine reminds me of Bess, except less pretty and more soapy. There are just a handful of BPAL scents that honestly smell like soap on me, and Catherine's one of them. I'm not sure why -- don't know what exactly in there is making it smell that way but some rose notes tend to have that effect on me -- but it smells just like those cute little flower-shaped soaps people put in their guest bathrooms.
  3. filigree_shadow

    Envy

    I can't tell there's lime in this at all, just herbs (including mint). It smells herb-gardeny, which is something of a comfort scent, to me. I mean, this scent makes me feel relaxed. It's not something I'd wear as perfume, but I'd buy a bath oil that had this scent. It's just so... I don't know. Calm? Damn, now I want to take a bath. I wonder if I could figure out how to make bath salts with this imp. Hmmmm...
  4. filigree_shadow

    Eternal

    This smells pretty much just like gardenia on me. I can tell there are other floral notes in there with it, but I would never have been able to guess what they were. Gardenia is the only one I can identify because it's overwhelming everything else. It usually does that with my skin, though, so this is not a surprise. But I can say this scent is soft. Not bold and eye-watering. Rather delicate and pretty. As it happens, gardenia is one of my least favorite floral notes due to overloading myself on gardenia-scented stuff a few years back. I used to love it. Maybe in the future I'll love it again. But for right now, this isn't what I want to smell.
  5. filigree_shadow

    Danse Macabre

    I think this is a masculine scent, which is a shame because it smells damned good on me. I don't usually like cypress and frankincense goes too sweet on me, but they're both behaving themselves in this one. It has a deep dark woodsy scent hazed over by some smokiness. Very little throw, though. Like, next to nothing. I tried to get my husband to wear this but it wasn't his cup of tea, so I guess the imp will get passed along. I'm kind of sad about that, though, because I like this one.
  6. filigree_shadow

    Prada fragrance...

    The unreleased BPAL Black Orchid reminded me of Prada right away. I have no idea if they share any notes, but I put some Prada on one arm and Black Orchid on the other, and they smelled very similar to me.
  7. filigree_shadow

    Kumiho

    Mostly a clear, slightly tart citrusy tea scent. A little bit of ginger adds zing. I think this is a lovely scent -- crisp and delicate, and not overly feminine. Refreshing and light. I'm slightly picky about tea scents, but I like this one. I wouldn't have guessed I'd like it, but that's why I keep trying all BPAL perfumes. Not sure if I'd be able to use a whole bottle of this, but I do enjoy wearing it.
  8. filigree_shadow

    Ophelia

    This one is maybe a little bit watery, but mostly it smells like rose. Not a soft dewy one, a rather green one. It smells like a fresh rose and as rose scents go it's not bad... just not the kind of rose scent I like. I like the softer ones.
  9. filigree_shadow

    Black Pearl

    I sometimes get Blood Pearl and Black Pearl confused, but I keep track of them in my head by remembering that this one has more coconut in it. Or, at least, the coconut seems stronger in this one. They both have iris/orris and musk, and I prefer the dry orris and blood musk in Blood Pearl to the more floral iris and bright white musk in this one. Just a personal preference. I think this is a fine scent, but for this type of scent I prefer Blood Pearl.
  10. filigree_shadow

    Séance

    This smells quite woody and dry on me, with just a touch of a sweet rose scent. It manages to be deep but delicate all at once, which is very pleasant. I usually like rosewood scents, and I definitely like this one. I'm not sure how often I'm in the mood to wear something like this as perfume, but I do know that if I came across a bottle in a swap I wouldn't turn it down. This is just too pretty to pass up, even if I wouldn't wear it that often.
  11. filigree_shadow

    Fae

    I got an imp of Fae a long time ago, right when I first started buying BPAL. I expected to love it because I love all the notes except oakmoss, which is hit or miss. I put it on and thought it was overwhelmingly sweet and fruity, like candy. Also it seemed super strong. I kinda shrugged and put it in the back of my imp box, and I've never worn it again until I got it out to write this review. I have no frickin' idea why I thought it was like candy. I have it on right now, and I don't smell anything like what I remember. It's a beautiful musky heliotrope scent with the bergamot sweetening it up and a little bit of peach playing around the edges. It's really lovely, and I feel like a huge fool for letting it sit at the back of my imp box all this time. This is exactly the sort of scent that I love to wear in the springtime. It's bright, cheery, and pretty. And it has graduated to the "LOVE" compartment of my imp box.
  12. filigree_shadow

    Madrid

    I adore the mimosa in this one. It's really cute and sparkly. Unfortunately, cute and sparkly mixed with red wine evidently smells like grape juice to me. It's not straight-up grape juice, but it's a little too close for my comfort. I can't tell there's any clove in this, to be honest -- just the barest hint of a spice, but I wouldn't have been able to identify it as clove.
  13. filigree_shadow

    Ravenous

    Red patchouli usually doesn't work on me very well, although other patchoulis are fine and often beloved. It tends to smell somewhat sour on my skin. So, instead of like a nice tart citrusy orange scent, I'm getting a rather sour orange. However, it's not bad. Definitely not something I feel like I need to wash off or anything. I'm kind of enjoying it. It's not the sort of thing I wear as perfume because I don't usually go for the orange scents, but it's an interesting combination and I do like it.
  14. filigree_shadow

    Black Opal

    Black Opal smells sweet and powdery on me. It's very soft. A bit feminine. It does smell like a very appropriate scent for its name. Unfortunately it has no throw whatsoever on me; it's so faint I can barely smell it even when my nose is right next to my wrist. So although it's not a keeper for me personally, I can certainly see why people like it.
  15. filigree_shadow

    Dreamland

    This is a beautiful floral. One of my very favorite ones. In fact, Dreamland, Bearded Lady, and Beatrice are usually the only overly floral BPAL perfumes I ever wear. It's clear, fresh, and a bit sweet. Not cloying or heady at all. Just pretty and feminine. Elegant, even. I can't smell the carnation in this and I don't know what osmanthus smells like, but I can tell there's tuberose, iris, and musk in it. Simply delightful.
  16. filigree_shadow

    The Haunted Palace

    I always like red musk, and I like it in this one even though it's not very strong here. It's sweet from the blood orange and vanilla, and soft from the rose and heliotrope. I like all the listed notes for this scent except gardenia, and I can't smell that in this. So I suppose it's not too surprising that I like The Haunted Palace a lot. It smells sexy, warm, and sweet. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's my very favorite red musk blend, but it's up there.
  17. filigree_shadow

    Spirits of the Dead

    For some reason that I can't figure out, in my head I confuse Spirits of the Dead with the Evening Star. For at least a year I've had a mental note that I didn't like Spirits of the Dead because it was too floral. Apparently I'm a big dummy. Evening Star is the one that's too floral. I like Spirits of the Dead just fine. This is a pretty soft tea scent. Not tea with some sort of fruit (I tend not to like those scents as well), but sweet, clean, tea. I recognize the linden blossom from The Unicorn, and I like it here just as much as I like it in that one. The scent isn't as dry as I was expecting it to be -- not dry at all, in fact -- it just smells lovely, like springtime. I like this one a lot.
  18. filigree_shadow

    The Sleeper

    Night-blooming jasmine, opium poppy, wild rosemary, Calla lily, oakmoss and crypt musk. Mostly what I get from The Sleeper is jasmine. The night-blooming variety is usually a little better for me than regular jasmine, but it's still too much for me in this one. It seems musky and a bit cloying. It's not nearly as bad as other jasmine perfumes I've tried lately (i.e., Ligeia) but still too much jasmine for me to like it.
  19. filigree_shadow

    Evening Star

    Hmmm. I like all the notes in this, so why don't I like this? I'm not sure. I think it's because it's just a floral with nothing else there to balance out the floral notes. Seems like the poppy is strongest on me. I could have done with more moonflower and gladiolus. Ah well. I'm so picky about florals that they don't work for me more often than they do, so I shouldn't be that surprised that this one isn't for me.
  20. filigree_shadow

    The City in the Sea

    This smells sweet and salty on me, and not overly aquatic. Clear and fresh, not murky at all. It is rather refreshing, but I'm not an aquatic scent kind of person. My husband is, and he said that he likes this one but likes R'Lyeh better.
  21. filigree_shadow

    Annabel Lee

    Annabel Lee smells like all the listed notes. That's probably not very helpful as far as reviews go, but I would swear I can smell every one of them in this. It's light, pretty, and airy. The sweet pea isn't making it too sweet for me, thank goodness, and I like the cucumber and moss combination. It smells vaguely planty without smelling green, and I like that. Reminds me a bit of Blue Moon without the herbs. Maybe something like Kindly Moon. Quite lovely.
  22. filigree_shadow

    Alone

    I first tried this about a year and a half ago, and my only notes were that the gardenia was too strong for my liking and the whole scent was just too strong period. I tried it again today, and all I'm getting out of it is cardamom with some patchouli giving it a more earthy feel than usual. Can't smell any floral notes in it at all. The cardamom is overpowering. I don't get along with cardamom, so this one isn't for me.
  23. filigree_shadow

    Pumpkin Patch I (2005, 2006)

    I smell a tiny bit of pumpkin at the beginning, but then only apples and spices. It doesn't smell like a juicy red apple, it smells like those dried apples that you get in trail mix sometimes. After it's on for about 20 minutes, it's purely mulling spices. That's it. A wee hint of apple underneath if I sniff really close, but from a distance it's just spices. That would be okay, except for the way I've totally overdosed on mulling-spice-scented candles during autumn over the years. When I smell mulling spices I immediately think of candles. This really does smell fantastic, and much better than any of those multitudes of candles I've burned, but not something I personally can wear as perfume. If I were ever going to wear any perfume with an apple scent, though, this would be the one. It smells delicious.
  24. filigree_shadow

    Pumpkin Patch III (2005, 2006)

    Historically I don't do that well with pomegranate in perfumes. For some reason as soon as it hits my skin it smells like bathroom air freshener. Enter PP#3. The only pomegranate scent I've found so far that I can wear. I can only smell the pumpkin right at first, and even then just a hint of it. This scent is so sweet and candy-like that it's comparable to Midwinter's Eve or Bordello. It's not the same scent, but it's that sweet on me. Just smells like candy. Not pumpkin-flavored candy, just fruity candy. Sugary, even. I think of the Pumpkin Patches as being pumpkin scents, even though two of them don't smell like pumpkin at all on me. So most of the time I forget I even have this one. When I think I might like to wear a sweet scent, I never automatically think of the Pumpkin Patch. I ought to leave this one out in a prominent place so that I remember it.
  25. filigree_shadow

    Pumpkin Patch V (2005, 2006)

    Oddly, I can't really smell the pumpkin in this one except right at first. It has none of the buttery goodness I was hoping for. The galangal is kinda strong, and the whole scent ends up as an ivy + galangal combination after a few minutes and stays that way. This one was my least favorite of the Pumpkin Patches because of the way galangal likes to amp up on my skin.
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