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I wish I had written down my thoughts about Dionysia when I first got the decant 18 months ago. The only thing I remember about it was thinking that it had benzoin, patchouli, and mahogany in it, so I'd give it a while to age. But now I don't remember what it was about the scent that I disliked when it was fresh.

I'll tell you what I do know, though: The aged version is FAB.

Raspberry notes sometimes go weird and chalky on me -- it's not.

Frankincense sometimes gets too high-pitched and sweet on me -- it's not.

This is all deep and beautiful with a plum overtone. The throw isn't super strong, but it's basically exactly at the level I like: I can catch whiffs of it from my wrist from time to time, but I don't feel like I'm sitting in a cloud of it. When I put my nose directly to my wrist, I don't like it as well (it's a bit too sweet), but the wafty scent is great. A deep, dark, sweet plum.

I didn't get lemon from this at all. I got grapefruit. It smells like the same grapefruit top note I get from Manhattan. Maybe because of what else is in with it, I'm not sure. The citrus scent fades out after an hour so, as citrus notes do, and what's left is a really nice musky skin scent. It's not loud at all, it's sweet and clean-smelling. I wouldn't say "fresh" because it's too musky to be fresh.

I can see why people have described it as smelling like soap, but that's not what leaps to mind for me. It's just nice and soft.

Creamy, sweet violets. Personally, I really like this scent. I've worn it several times while just hanging around the house, and I enjoy it. I like violets -- it's one of the few floral notes I truly like and don't just tolerate -- and this sweet soft version is pretty. The creamy part of the chocolate note goes a little bit wonky on me after an hour or so (creaminess tends to do that on me), but unless my nose is right next to my skin I don't notice it. So that didn't bother me too much.

My husband, though... not his fave.

He walked in the room about an hour ago and said, "Something smells weird in here." I said, "Does it smell like wet dog? Because the dogs were just out in the snow." He said, "No. Smells like BPAL. But one I don't like." I held out one wrist. "Nope, not that one." Held out the other wrist. "It's that one. It smells better close up, but from the doorway it doesn't smell good."

Poor White Chocolate and Sugared Violets. Voted icky by the hubby.

(Also, he could smell it from the doorway? Damn. I just put some oil on my wrist. I thought the scent was just in a small little area right around me. I couldn't even smell it that well. Sheesh, I wonder if I'm bowling people over with my perfume without realizing it.)

This is sweeter and bolder than I expected, and it also smells a bit sportier than I would have imagined. Sort of like cologne, but without any kind of twang. It's smoother than cologne smells to me. It's actually kind of fresh scent, but usually when I think of fresh I think "green," and this isn't green at all.

Personally, I'm not really getting musky or sexy from this like other people did. It's one of those scents that I like and I find entirely pleasant, but it's not enough of a standout to make me want a bottle of it. It's what I think of as an everyday scent, not something for a special occasion, but something you could wear all the time.

Nummy. I'm pretty sure I can smell all four of the listed notes for this scent. Probably the most prominent one on my skin is the wood note, but it's not the sort of scent that you sniff and think "That smells like wood." Yeah, it has a woody tone, but it doesn't smell like a stick of wood. The coffee and pipe smoke are really good in it.

My husband tried it on when I got the decant a long time ago, and it got the raised-eyebrows "Ooooo!" reaction from him. So now he has a bottle of it. It's too masculine for me, but it smells GREAT on him. He loves scents like Misk U, and this one has a similar feel.

Pink, cloudy, and sweet (but not teeth-achingly sweet). It smells fluffy and girlie. The cherry and strawberry in it are there, but they're kind of a backseat to that fluffy sort of marshmallow-y scent. They just make it smell PINK.

I loooove this one. I think every time I've worn it I've gotten a compliment. Other people like it too.

This was the only "Velvet" scent that I bought a whole bottle of, and I'm super glad I did.

Yep, clove for sure. Dry wood and clove. The clove is a trifle overpowering for my taste, but I don't really like spicy scents. People who like spices should definitely try this, though. It's warm, dry, and very pleasant. It doesn't smell particularly masculine, either, if you were worried about that.

Smells just like the description says: red jelly. It's quite wine-y at first, but that only lasts for a few minutes on me. Then it's a bright fruity red scent. I've tested this three times, and all three times it had almost no staying power on me at all. Fades out within 30 minutes. So it's not a keeper for me. I like the scent, though!

Smells like alcoholic cherries when it's wet. Then it smells like pastries. Then after an hour the only thing left is soft apricot with just a hint of pastry crust. Interesting. I like it. Smells yummy. (Not when it's wet. It's a bit harsh when wet. But I like it a lot when it's dry.)

Fruity and very sweet. I'm sitting here sniffing trying to pick out which note is strongest, but I don't think I can. I wouldn't have guessed there was violet or pear in this -- those are pretty distinct on me, and I can't smell them. Just a wee bit of coconut. It's not too fruity, like FRUIT. I think the caramel and floral notes keep it balanced.

This is a very pretty magnolia scent. It's lovely with the peaches. It smells so... southern. Light and not too heady at all. I like this one. Smells like springtime. I don't go for florals much, and I can't see myself needing a whole bottle of this, but I'll hang on to the decant. Hopefully I'll remember to wear it in the spring.

I automatically try anything that has red musk in it. I like that musk a lot. It's a prominent note on my skin (and it lasts forever), but I enjoy it a lot so that's all right. The difficulty here is that I end up wanting a LOT of red musk blends, and my rational thinking tells me I don't need tons of them. Pick a few that are particularly good and very different from each other, and let the other ones go. So although it's a note I love, it's also a note I have to be pretty ruthless about.

Except with this one. Surely I have room in my BPAL box for one more. This one is fabulous. It's deep and smooth, and the red musk is there but not too loud. I love the patchouli, honey, nutmeg, and caramel with it. It's a much more complex-smelling scent than other red musk blends I have.

It was a little bit harsh when it was wet, but give it a chance! When it dries it warms up into something spectacular. I think it's beautiful.

Mmmmm, nice. Really nice. A dry cocoa scent that's not dusty at all. It's sweet, with a lovely musky undertone. It doesn't smell foody or like a big chocolate bar, which for me is a plus. I like cocoa scents but not chocolate scents too much. I find this scent warm and comforting, and entirely enjoyable.

For some scents, I think it's good for spring, or it's good for the daytime, or I'd wear it when I'm feeling cranky, or whatever. This isn't one of those. This is something I'd wear it all the time. And guess what? I think I will. Yep, I could use a bottle of this one.

This smells like jasmine tea on me. Honestly? Not such a bad thing. I kinda like jasmine tea.

Unfortunately for me, jasmine is one of those notes that's really loud on my skin, and even though I'm tired of it after about 10 minutes it likes to hang about for hours. So this one doesn't work for me. But I imagine that if I didn't amp the jasmine so much I'd probably like it. It's got a little spice to it that smells good with that tea note.

Er, lemon-flavored throat lozenge. Really. Which is better than when it was wet, which was Lemon Pledge. I expected lots of honey, but that's not what I got. It calms down when it's dry, but it doesn't seem to be entirely losing the tart lemony scent. Honey and I usually don't get along all that well, but I keep trying blends with honey in, just in case one works. Looks like I'm going to have to keep looking...

I didn't get along with the Egg Nog perfume -- it smelled strange and plastic-y on my skin. But I was willing to give this one a whirl because coffee plus egg nog sounded great. I'm happy to report that this does not smell plastic-y on me at all! I'm very pleased about that. I was afraid I'd be disappointed with this. The spices are mild, and the liqueur scent is just barely there. Since I can't wear Egg Nog, this one is a very nice substitute! It smells warm and comforting and yummy.

Very nice! I was worried about the red ginger (that has given me some allergic issues in the past), but it seems to be fine. I love the red musk with the fruits -- gives the scent a good balance. Sometimes red musk can overwhelm. Not in this one, though. It's sweet and red-smelling, and the musk is actually rather gentle.

Quite lovely. I'd like a bottle of this one.

Floral, fruity, and a little fizzy. (Or maybe that's because most of the "Tiki" scents smell fruity and fizzy to me so that's what I was expecting.) The fruit isn't overly sweet and the floral notes in it are lovely. It's just a little... tart, I guess. Slightly a bit too YAY CHEERFUL for my personality. I feel like if I tried to wear this someone would say to me, "What in the world makes you think you can get away with wearing that scent?" I like it, but maybe on someone a little younger and a little less crotchety than I am.

Foody + rum but it doesn't smell fresh. I guess that's the cigar smoke and greasepaint. I wanted to say something like this smells a little dirty, but it doesn't smell dirty, it smells like the absence of fresh. lol. Not dirty per se, just not particularly clean.

I don't think I smell any licorice in here, mostly sweetness and rum with some smoothness underneath. It's not a bad scent, and my husband says he likes it, but it doesn't suit me personally. If someone sitting next to me on the train were wearing this I wouldn't object at all. It's just not what I want to smell for several hours in a row.

Argh. I read the description for this and was hoping for a lovely pumpkin/coffee combination. I thought that sounded fantastic. What did I get? Practically a spice single note. There's maybe a little bit of coffee in there, perhaps a tiny bit of chocolate. My nose has to be right next to my wrist to smell it, though. When my wrist is the normal distance from my nose, all I smell is spice. That's it. It's not a bad spicy scent, it's fine. Just really not what I wanted out of this at all.

I'm pretty disappointed.

I'm a huge rosewood fan, and I love pumpkin too, so this one was kind of a no-brainer for me. I wasn't sure what they'd smell like together, but it turns out that I can't really smell much pumpkin in this at all (maybe a wee smidgen giving it some smoothness) so I didn't have to worry.

I think just adding tea rose to this would have made it too rosy for me, but adding sandalwood as well keeps it balanced. Not too rosy, not too woody. Very nice.

I'm keeping my bottle for sure.

This one smells like one of the Tikis to me. Fruity and fizzy. The problem with scents like this is that I can't really tell them apart too much. The all just sort of smell fruity and fizzy. It's a nice scent and it smells exactly like the description, it's just not my cup of tea personally.

I wasn't interested in this when it came out because I don't usually like carnation, sweet pea is generally a killer note for me, and apple is too overpowering. Well, I was a dipsquat. This doesn't smell like any of that stuff I don't like. I mean, yeah, there is apple in it, but it's not overpowering at all. More like an undercurrent rather than an in-your-face note. It smells great with the other sweet fruity scents and the vanilla cream.

I'm a dummy. Should have gotten more of this when I had the chance. It'd be perfect to wear in the spring and summer.

Very perfumey. Like something my mom used to wear in the 70s. Before I checked the notes I thought maybe it had opium poppy in it or something -- that's how perfumey it smells on me. It kind of smells like a metallic floral. The gardenia comes out when it's dry, but for me that's not really a plus.

This one smells great at first (just like the description) but then turns into that strange plastic-y scent on my skin. It's not the oil's fault, it's my skin's fault. It does this a lot. I'm used to it. Still disappointing when it happens, but not unexpected. I have other chocolate scents that work fine, so I probably didn't need another one anyway.