filigree_shadow

Shoot. I missed the "upturned earth" part of this description before I put it on my skin. If I had seen that, I would have tried a much smaller test area. As usual, my skin amps the earth note like CRAZY. I'm testing 4 different BPAL oils right now, and as soon as I put Madeline on my arm, all I could smell was sweet, sweet dirt. I can't smell a thing from any of my other test areas.

 

That said... this is better than Zombi. Way, way, WAY better than ones like Graveyard Dirt or Premature Burial. Queen of Clubs and Zombi are probably the only perfumes with a dirt/earth note that don't make me dive for the soap next to the sink, and Madeline is better than either of those. I like that dry sweet ivy note with it, and the floral notes are very pretty.

 

Anyone who likes florals with earth notes really ought to try this.

I can smell lime at first, but after a while it's mostly just leather and lavender. Kind of an even blend of both. I think I can still smell a little lime in it, but not a whole lot. Sometimes I sniff it and think the leather is stronger, and sometimes the lavender seems stronger. It smells very masculine to me -- too much for me.

 

My husband wears leather scents very frequently, so I asked him to try this one. He said that he liked it but he likes other BPAL leather scents better. We're not likely to run out of leather blends for him any time soon (or any time this decade -- that's how many he has), so I suppose it's a good thing that he's starting to narrow down which leather ones he wants and which ones he doesn't!

I really thought I was going to like this one. I love plum and champaca flower. But unfortunately my skin has some trouble with some ambers, and apparently this amber is problematic for me. Prospero smells like sweet fruity powder on me. I'm not very happy about this result. I wish I got along with ambers better.

 

I suppose that's okay. I still have Bordello and Midwinter's Eve (and Bathsheba and Kitsune-Tsuki and Frumious Bandersnatch and pretty much every BPAL plum scent there is... )

Expected an overwhelming floral, but got a lovely tea-floral scent.

 

Yes, the floral notes on this are noticeable, but they're not overbearing on me. I smell tea, loud and clear, with the bergamot and nectarine making it bright and fresh. Maybe the barest hint of the beeswax in there giving it some smoothness underneath. This will be lovely in the summertime!

I like all the notes in Cytherea, so I assumed I'd like this a lot. I do like it, but it's not what I expected. It's much sweeter than I thought it would be -- it smells like sweet patchouli at first. Then some of the drier notes come in and make it smell a bit husky. (Not husky like thick, but husky like... um, a husk. Dry like that.) I was expecting something soft and deep, and instead this smells sweet and woody. The wood part of it seems more subdued after it's dry, and the vanilla is a little stronger. I like it better when it's dry.

 

I'll have to try this a little bit more to figure out whether it's going to grow on me.

 

EDITED 23 Dec 09:

I set this aside to let it age a while and see whether I like it better later. I thought it had potential but it just wasn't there yet. Well, I'm still not sold on it. It's one of those scents that I like, and I can see why other people love it, but it's just not a me scent.

 

The review I wrote initially still applies now. Except now it smells a bit more like dusting powder. The dryness and the woody feel is still there, but ... I don't know. I'm just not into this scent, I guess.

I like this more than I thought I would, probably due to the cherry tobacco. The white sage makes it a bit too herbal for my liking, though. The cedar and pine aren't very strong in this at all, but it seems smooth under the herbal scent. I know there are a lot of people who really go for the type of pumpkin blend in which the buttery pumpkin scent is tamped down a bit, but I happen to like that buttery pumpkin! So ones like this (and Pumpkin Patch 5 from the original run, and that grassy one from 07) don't end up being my favorites.

I like Pumpkin IV, but I don't think I like it enough to wear it over other pumpkin scents I like better (like Pumpkin II).

Hm, yeah... I smell lemon, grapefruit, and yuzu in this. Not really any pumpkin. The yuzu is too strong in this for me. I only like light citrus, and never harsh citrus (like yuzu). This one isn't for me.

Whoa, this one smells awesome. I thought I would probably like it just from looking at the description, and it's really nice. Not too much of any one note in here, it just smells smooth and warm. Very rich. Slightly more foody than I would have guessed. The leather and teak come out more when it's dry, and for me that's a plus. This one's a favorite.

For some reason this smells spicy to me. Not sure why. I'm not sure I like the pumpkin and mango combination all that well. It smells quite fruity to me. Smooth, but bright. I don't think this one is going to be a favorite of mine.

Ichabod was kind of a strange guy, and this is kind of a strange scent. It does smell like wool, and cream, and a little bit of black pepper. It's sweet and smooth, with a floral overtone. I like the tea and floral part of it, although I wish the cream would back off a little. I think I'll try doing a full wear of this one to see how well I like it for a day.

I got this one for my husband to try because I thought he might like it. He hasn't tried it yet, so I don't know whether he likes it, but I sure do. The leather in it doesn't smell like sleek black leather, it smells lived-in. The musk seems quite dark and masculine. It kind of smells like a cowboy sort of scent to me, and I happen to like that sort of scent. I definitely like this one.

I like this one pretty well. It smells very autumn-like to me. I can smell the apples and cider and smoke in it -- definitely some wood too -- and the sassafras scent gives it an unusual kick. A spicy orange scent is fairly prominent at first, but it mellows out as it dries. I don't think I'd need a bottle of this, but I'll probably keep the imp around for a while. It reminds me fairly strongly of all those "harvest" scented candles you can buy in the fall.

 

EDITED 12/26/09:

Kept this one around to re-test. I'm testing it again now, and... it has a definite alcoholic quality to it. Like rum. Reminds me of the boozey aura I got from Velvet Clown. Weird. I think this one just isn't going to work on me.

The soil actually doesn't smell strong in this to me -- I wouldn't have known it was in there if it wasn't in the notes. It did seem strangely almost alcoholic at first. It went through a fresh pumpkiny phase (not buttery, but fresh, like the fleshy part of a pumpkin) but I think the water-weeds are a little too much for me in this one. I wouldn't say it's off-putting, but it's not something I'm drawn to as a scent.

This smells salty at first. Kind of a salty, sweet amber. It's a bit odd. As it dries it gets sweeter and less odd. I think that when the rose part of the scent was coming out it was confusing my nose. It ends up smelling like a dry, slightly salty rose scent. It is unusual, and I'm not sure I've smelled a rose scent that smells like this before. I generally like the dewy ones best, and this dry rose isn't working for me all that well. It is interesting, though.

I wore this one the other day, and I liked it. It smells like spicy, peppery vetiver at first, and then the spices settle down and the vetiver evens out with the patchouli. I do enjoy this scent but it's too masculine for me personally. My husband might like it, so I'll hand the imp over to him and see how it goes.

This is a sweet scent that smells very young and innocent to me. There's some crisp green in here for sure (from the lettuce), and to me that smells a bit aquatic. The floral notes are really taking a backseat to that lettuce note. It smells fresh and clean. Pretty and spring-like.

I prefer Bensiabel to Prunella. I like the lilac in this one, and the leather with it is very, very soft. I don't mean soft like it's faint, I mean it smells like very soft leather. I can't really smell herbs in this, and the plum juice doesn't seem prominent at all. Soft lilac and leather for sure. I'm going to hang on to this one and do some re-tests and see how it goes.

I could really smell the wildflowers in this when I first put it on. I thought it would be a huge blast of plum, but I didn't get that. Mostly it smells like wildflowers with just a wee bit of a fruity scent with it. It's too much on the herby side for my liking -- there's something in this that's just not agreeing with me. It smells a little bit like a cross between tomato leaf and dandelion. When I come back this test spot after sniffing oils I'm testing elsewhere, I smell a big bunch of big purple fruit at first, but then the herbs always creep in.

This has a lovely, very light peach overtone at first, but it's overpowered fairly quickly by the osmanthus. The rosewood and sandalwood in it are rich and dry. It smells like a pretty floral. I think I'd like it better if the rosewood were stronger... I think I'll stick with Seance'. I was hoping this would be more rosewood and peach and less osmanthus and vanilla. Didn't work out that way for me, though.

I usually like the misty-moonlit sorts of scents, so when I saw the description for this one it was calling to me. It does remind me a little bit of an orchard (something in it reminds me of trees, but not pine trees or a wintry forest or anything like that -- it smells like sweet trees with dry leaves), and there's a nice bright scent over the top. Definitely evocative of a moonlit orchard.

This smells like yellow flowers for sure. Not even just yellow flowers, either, it smells like yellow-flower perfume. There's something in it that has that particular feel/scent that I associate with perfuminess. It's perfumey. Doesn't smell like a bouquet of cut flowers, it smells like perfume. Can't really smell any rose in it, though. It just kinda reminds me of gardenia and Old Spice. As you can probably tell, this one is not working for me.

Aha. Bitter and herby with stark wood notes. Yes, it does smell villainous. It also smells masculine, to me. This is not a scent I'd wear personally, but it's the sort of thing I usually like on my husband, and I'd like it as a room scent as well. Even though it's slightly harsh, it's also comforting. It smells warm and interesting.

Sweet, slightly fruity frankincense. This is much more complex than frankincense scents usually are on me. The spices with it are noticeable and make the scent quite interesting. It's a pleasant scent that seems very respectful and solemn, to me. Very nice.

This scent smells quite dry to me. Almost dusty. My skin is kinda picky with ambers, and I guess this one isn't the one for me. I do like the cocoa in this, but since I already have a favorite chocolate/cocoa BPAL (13 orange label), I tend to compare anything with cocoa/chocolate to that one. Orange-label 13 is still my favorite.

When I first put this on, it had kind of an orangey-resiny scent, and I'm pretty sure I could smell the mallow too. It had a soft overtone. The blood orange fades out over time, and it seems like mostly a sweet resin scent. I really like both linden blossom and heliotrope floral notes, but I can't pick them out very well in this scent. It does seem like after the orange fades out it's replaced with a sweet floral, but I wouldn't have been able to identify the floral. I already like this, but I think it'll be particularly beguiling after it has aged for a year or so.