filigree_shadow

I will automatically try anything that has plum musk in it, and actually that note line-up reads like it should be a sure-fire win for me. For some reason, though, it's not. It doesn't really smell much like plum musk or patchouli (my favorite notes in the list)... it smells more like violet leaf and cypress. It's a dry, rather woody, sort of planty scent. I guess I can smell a little bit of plum, because I smell something that smells like a bright fruit and doesn't smell like violet. But it's not strong enough to save the blend for me.

I like this a lot -- none of the notes are particularly strong, they're all blended together very well. The tobacco and myrrh are a nice, dry, perfumey sort of scent, and the leather undertone is very grounding. Sometimes honey smells like play-doh on me, so I'm a little wary of it. It's fine in this one. Yep, I like this one.

Interesting. It doesn't smell like chicken feet (which I imagine smell horrifying), but it definitely smells like that dry, something's-on-fire scent that BPAL does so well. Slightly burnt herbs, and a very dry, smoldering kind of scent that is slightly disturbing but comforting at the same time. I think there might be something like vetiver in here -- not the dank dark musty kind, but the kind that smells like smoky grassy reeds. I'm picking up on that nutty scent others have mentioned, too, but it's not overwhelming for me. This is a very pleasant scent. It's not the sort of thing I wear as perfume, personally, but I definitely like the scent.

This is one of the very few forest/pine/evergreen-type scents that I like and would wear. Someone in a previous review on this page mentioned Snow Bunny, and that's one of the other ones I wear. This is very pretty -- it smells natural and pleasant and outdoorsy (without smelling like soap or cologne), and the white rose is a wonderful touch. It adds just the right amount of floral to it. I understand why there was much gnashing of teeth when Dublin was discontinued.

This is a nice scent, mainly mango and fig. The patchouli is a nice touch with it. I've had this particular imp for quite a while, and although patch scents usually get better with age, I'm pretty sure I liked this better when it was fresh. That's an odd experience for me.

I like the mandarin and musk, but this is very soft on me, and the mandarin is a little more acidic-smelling than I like -- usually I like the very bright fruit scents (like plum). Tangerine and mandarin go a little sour on me sometimes.

I like lilac scents a lot, but this one smells bitter on me. Not soft and fluffy. BPAL has other lilac scents I like better, so this one can safely go on to another home.

Nicely fruity. Soft -- not acidic or too bright. It's mostly soft and cute. I'd like to try it out a little more.

Kind of green and herby, but it also smells a little sweet, like a fruit. Mostly, though, it's quite herby, like a herbed soap.

This smells like a nice, pleasant cologne to me. A little salty, but mostly kind of a breezy aquatic. I'm not sure I'd be able to identify a "blood" note, but it does seem more complex than a standard aquatic.

I wasn't sure what to think of mango (or what my skin would do to it), and apart from red ginger being a death note for me (only thing I've ever had a bad reaction to), I wasn't sure whether this would work. It's great, though. There is something in it that very clearly reminds me of that spicy-doughy scent from Ghoul Hooligan (a personal favorite of mine). I don't really get much of the chai part of this, or the latte. But it is very warmly and pleasantly spicy, and the mango is not overpowering and is nice and round. Surprisingly, this one's a favorite of the Halloweenies.

More red musk than I was expecting at first, but give it 30 minutes or so. It dries down into an autumnal smoky musky scent that is extremely pleasant and very lovely. Very autumn. Extremely well done.

The red musk is the most identifiable and definitely most long-lasting note of the bunch. I agree with lahdeedah that it reminds me of Smut, but the red musk in it keeps me from thinking of Womb Furie too much. The honey isn't loud. If you like red musk, this one is a must-try. It's kind of a dry, slightly hazy red musk. It's nice, but... I'm a big fan of BPAL's red musk note, and I already have several RM blends. I'm not sure if this one surpasses others I already have. It's good, though.

This mostly smells like baby shampoo and honey to me. Not so much in the way of strawberries. It's not a bad scent at all, and I love the idea behind it... not really something I'd wear as perfume though. But kudos to Beth for being able to create a scent that smells like her little girl!

This is the final Full Moon of winter. The call of the crow signals the end of the frost, and their scent, of vervain, black violet, white musk, and Chinese cedar, is brushed by the last cold wind of winter on their wings, and the scent of evergreen boughs touched by the season's final flowers and the first blossoms of spring: wintersweet, green-barked dogwood, primrose, snowdrop, and lenten rose hellebore bouquet. At first this is a soft floral scent with the barest bit of evergreen behind it. It smells chilly, but it doesn't have that snow/slush note that overpowers everything else when it's on my skin. When it's dry it seems more like a floral/wood scent, but it's surprisingly bright. The florals aren't heady or overbearing, they're pretty and spring-like. Soft and hopeful. The wood in it smells sweet and new. There's another interesting scent in there that I can't quite place -- it smells a little bit herbal but not like a full-on sharp herbal scent. I'm not sure what that is. I think this is a lovely scent.

Bought a bottle of this unsniffed because I love the poem, and I thought the notes sounded wonderful. Sadly, the coconut note in this blend is the one that smells like artificial plastic on me. I have had trouble with coconut notes in the past, but sometimes they work -- not this one, though.

I can't smell any absinthe or anything that smells green -- this smells nothing like what I expected. What is smells like is JASMINE. That's it. Kind of a weird sour jasmine. It is so strongly jasmine that I actually wonder whether milo and I both got decants from a mislabeled bottle. That's how much this smells like jasmine and how little it smells like I expected it to smell. It really makes me think this is some kind of mistake, and I really do not think that I should try to swap/sell this partial bottle I have because I kinda doubt that it is what it's supposed to be.

I'm trying to whittle down my collection, and I'm trying to decide whether to keep La Mano Del Destino or #occupywallstreet. I have both of them on right now, and I'm doing a side-by-side comparison. I like BPAL's patchouli notes, but I really don't need more than a couple of patch scents. La Mano is a drier, more woodsy style of patchouli. Not earthy in the sense that it smells like dirt, but more of a woodsy earthy. I think the tobacco is giving it that dry feel. The cacao comes out more when it's dry. #occupywallstreet smells like pretty much the same patchouli, but it also smells like it has Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo poured over the top of it. Not kidding -- that's exactly what it smells like. It's not bad at all, but honestly it really does smells like patchouli and shampoo. Of the two, I like La Mano better, personally.

I'm trying to whittle down my collection, and I'm trying to decide whether to keep La Mano Del Destino or #occupywallstreet. I have both of them on right now, and I'm doing a side-by-side comparison. I like BPAL's patchouli notes, but I really don't need more than a couple of patch scents. This one is a drier, more woodsy style of patchouli. Not earthy in the sense that it smells like dirt, but more of a woodsy earthy. I think the tobacco is giving it that dry feel. The cacao comes out more when it's dry. #occupywallstreet smells like pretty much the same patchouli, but it also smells like it has Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo poured over the top of it. Not kidding -- that's exactly what it smells like. It's not bad at all, but honestly it really does smells like patchouli and shampoo. Of the two, I like La Mano better, personally.

This bottle has been sitting in my BPAL box since 2007. I originally intended to let it age for a little while, but... I kinda forgot about it. So it's just been sitting there. I remember thinking it was too green for me when it was fresh. It's still green, but it's more mossy/dry now, and the Snake Oil is stronger than I remember. When it's dry I can barely even smell any of that green/aquatic scent. I like it better now that it has aged, but with all the other Snake Pit bottles to choose from, this one isn't in the "favorites" category. So far I like all the Snake Oil combinations I've tried, but I like some better than others, so I have to be picky.

I definitely get a big blast of the cassis note straight away, which is how that note always acts on me. Oddly, I smell something that reminds me of bread with it. Well, no. Not bread exactly. More like a grain. Something that was like that grainy note that I smelled in the first Blood Moon and in Silk Road. However... while those ones smelled kind of like moldy bread on me (I didn't like either of them), this one smells gooooooood. I can tell there's frankincense in here because when my nose is up close I do smell something high-pitched. However, when my nose is in regular whiffing distance, it smells like a musky, slightly patchouli-ish, cinnamon scent. Red musk usually amps up like no one's business on my skin, but to be honest it's really buried under the cassis in this, and I can't smell it very well. I like this one.

Really nice. A little perfumey, and the amber is going just a touch powdery on me, but nothing I can't overlook. This is not buttery or cloying vanilla on me -- it's much, much more sophisticated than that. Copal is one of my favorite notes and it usually smells particularly good with my skin chemistry, and I think it's coming out more for me than it does for other people. I really like this one.

Why did my dumb ass not order a bottle of this one straight away? BPAL's peony note is divine, and I love vanilla orchid. This smells beautiful. Soft, pretty, feminine, and lovely.

A scent of transformation. He who desires to become an oborot, let him seek in the forest a hewn-down tree; let him stab it with a small copper knife, and walk round the tree, repeating the following incantation: On the sea, on the ocean, on the island, on Bujan, On the empty pasture gleams the moon, on an ashstock lying In a green wood, in a gloomy vale. Towards the stock wandereth a shaggy wolf, Horned cattle seeking for his sharp white fangs; But the wolf enters not the forest, But the wolf dives not into the shadowy vale, Moon, moon, gold-horned moon, Check the flight of bullets, blunt the hunters' knives, Break the shepherds' cudgels, Cast wild fear upon all cattle, On men, all creeping things, That they may not catch the grey wolf, That they may not rend his warm skin! My word is binding, more binding than sleep, More binding than the promise of a hero! Then he springs thrice over the tree and runs into the forest, transformed into a wolf. Balkan fir sap, dark mosses, Greek Mountain tea flower, black pine, salty ocean spray, deep black earth, and a moon-touched magickal incense of sandarac, frankincense, and ravensara. Hmmm, mainly this smells like fir and moss, and a little bit of that "salty ocean spray." It's a deep, earthy scent. It has a hazy and sweet overtone, but most of the scent is that rich earthiness. It has a very slightly pungent quality that I don't object to at all -- it fits in with the scent nicely. (Kind of like how really black dirt is slightly pungent but it's a good kind of pungent. Or how evergreen needles are kind of pungent but they still smell good.) Overall an interesting scent, but it smells masculine to me because my husband wears this kind of scent fairly frequently. Looks like he just acquired a new bottle.

This smells FABULOUS. But it's so soft. I can barely smell it. Believe me, I'm trying. I've slathered it on from the vial twice, and I still can barely smell it at all. Ten minutes later I'm not even sure where I applied it. I am very, very disappointed. With those notes, this one should have been a knock-it-out-of-the-park winner for me. Instead it's just barely there.