filigree_shadow

Well, this is unexpected. It smells fruity. Rather like a citrus fruit. I thought armoise was supposed to smell a like a camphory wormwood, but I don't smell any of that in this. Awapuhi is like a ginger, right? I guess I can smell a little bit of something that smells gingery in this, but not too much.

I'm just really surprised because I thought this would smell like herby cedar and I didn't think I'd like it at all. Instead it smells fruity and rather bright. It smells fresh and kind of tropical. I think it's the armoise that I'm smelling when it's dry because it seems sweet and a little tart.

Not at all what I thought it would smell like, and I like it more than I thought I would!

I smell herbs at first, and then something that smells like a white flower... doesn't really smell like jasmine to me. Some myrrh and dust and that sweet white floral scent. This one reminds me a lot of the perfumes in the Ars Moriendi category. It smells like a funereal floral to me.

It's pretty, but it's a bit too floral for me personally. I tend to like the bright fruity-florals best, and this isn't one of those.

I didn't order a bottle of this because honey and I usually don't get along, but then I regretted not getting a bottle and a very nice forumite offered hers in a swap. I'm so glad! The honey is actually behaving itself in this one, and it's balancing out the jasmine wonderfully. See, I actually sort of like the scent of jasmine, but my skin amps jasmine so much that I can never wear any jasmine perfumes because they end up being a humongous heady jasmine cloud. Not in this one! It's a sweet and deep rich scent with just a jasmine overtone. It has the quality of jasmine that I like with none of the jasmine qualities I don't like.

Very beautiful and feminine, and I'm quite pleased that I now have a bottle of this.

I smelled the dragon's blood in this as soon as I put it on, and I generally like dragon's blood. However, this scent smells harsh. The herbs -- particularly lavender -- and cedar are fairly strong in it.

I like dragon's blood because it smells comforting to me, but with this combination of notes it doesn't smell comforting. It smells bold. This Dragon Moon isn't my kind of scent, I'm afraid, but it's pretty interesting to smell dragon's blood in this sort of scent.

This is a surprisingly soft scent. It seems that the chamomile and mallow are strongest, with a little bit of musk and some light florals. It's not herby at all -- it smells a bit floaty. Like a cloud.

It's a very gentle floral. It smells like all the floral notes are cushioned. I really like the softness of it. Very pretty.

By all accounts, I shouldn't like this scent. Don't like any of those floral notes, and I avoid pine and juniper berry. The only notes in this scent that I usually go for are benzoin, vanilla, and bergamot.

Yet, for some reason, I like The Ragged Wood. Because of the pine in it, it has the sort of tone that I get from Yule scents without the cold/slushy note that those invariably have. The floral notes are light and not overbearing at all. The juniper berry sweetens up the scent a little bit without making it overly sweet. It's soft, pleasant, and pretty.

Musky and dark, and the wormwood makes it very interesting. It smells like just a slight hint of licorice, but you don't get blasted with a licorice scent. It's mostly resins and musk with a hint of that sweet wormwood. Luckily for me I can't really smell any basil or galangal (I don't really like those notes). It smells dark and deep and a bit broody. It's a very good fall scent.

Also, this one is my favorite of the 2007 Celestial scents -- it's the only one I'm keeping a bottle of.

It does smell like fruit punch -- nice and sweet with that red Hawaiian punch type of scent. I don't smell much booze in it at all, but maybe something that's just a little bit fizzy. It's softer than I was expecting, and I like it better than most scents that smell like drinks. Seems like a good springtime/summer scent.

It smells white and fluffy, and it seems like it has a little hint of something pink in it. It's sweet, but not overbearing. I think this is a very good interpretation of a marshmallow scent. Also, although I sometimes have trouble with BPAL foody scents developing a plastic or artificial-smelling scent, this one doesn't do that. It's good.

Odd. I thought I had posted a review of the 2004 version already, but I don't see it. Here it is:

I had high hopes for this, but it smells very plastic-y on me. BPAL's "cream" note is notoriously bad on me, but I had hoped that maybe it would work in this one. No such luck. I think I'd probably like if it weren't for the plastic scent. Oh well. I have a bottle of Arcana's Egg Nog layering note, and that one does work on me. So I'm not overly sad about BPAL's not working.

And here's my review of the 2007 version:

As with most of BPAL's "cream" notes, this one smells rather artificial on me. I like the spice in it, but the plastic undertone doesn't smell very good. There are other foodie BPAL perfumes I can wear, but usually something with cream tends to smell not so great on me. This version is better than the 04 version, though -- that one had a much more distinct plasticy tone on my skin. I think the nutmeg is stronger in this version. Also the brandy and rum notes aren't too strong at all. It would be great if I had more cooperative skin chemistry.

In short: The 2007 version was better on me than the 2004 version, but I still have some trouble with it.

Although I smell mostly plum and musk in the bottle, on my skin the cassia is quite heavy. I only get a little bit of patchouli and benzoin, and not much tobacco at all. Usually red musk is pretty dominant on me, but not in this one. I can tell there's musk in it, but I wouldn't have pegged it as red musk, which is weird because red musk is pretty distinctive.

Mostly it's just a red cassia scent, with some nice patchouli and benzoin underneath. It smells good, and I like it, but on the whole it's just a little too spicy for me personally.

This smells like a soft, meadowy musk to me. It's very nice, but quite soft. It wasn't very strong right when I put it on, and an hour later it was barely noticeable even right next to my nose. So although I like this scent, I think my skin eats it.

When I first put this on I wasn't sure I was going to like it. It smelled quite herby and a bit planty. Like plant roots? A little bit like that. I guess it's from the oakmoss.

However, when it warmed up, that herby/rooty scent pretty much disappeared. It turned into a sweet, deep resin scent. I can't really smell any pomegranate or lavender in it, and just a wee bit of neroli. Also, black amber is one of the worst powder culprits on my skin, and I get no powder at all from this scent. That's a very pleasant surprise.

I'm still not totally sure what purple musk smells like after trying Penumbra, but it doesn't smell black or red -- I think it's kind of in between. This is a lovely, softly resinous scent -- dry and slightly sweet. The moonflower comes out more after about 30 minutes or so and gives the scent a light floral overtone that I really enjoy.

This one ends up being a keeper for sure. Can't wait to see how it ages.

When I first put this on, it smelled like sweet red currant -- very bright, red, and fruity. As it dried, the red currant backed off and the blueberry came out. After about 30 minutes, it's a lovely soft fruity scent with some delicious-smelling tea and musk. Just a hint of ginger and vanilla.

I really like this a lot -- it reminds me of some of my favorite scents from the Mad Tea Party category. It's sweet and pretty and fun.

Hey, pomegranate is behaving itself! Usually pomegranate smells weird on me (like bathroom air freshener, to be honest), but not in this one. It smells lovely and sweet and not too strong at all. I like the river reeds with it, too. I'm not sure what barley smells like in perfume, but I don't smell anything that smells like a grain. Just a cute and sweet scent. I like this one much better than Fruit of Paradise.

Unfortunately, after about an hour it smells like fruit-flavored bubblegum or candy on me, and although I like that kind of scent in scrubs, it's not the sort of thing I usually go for in perfume.

But yay for pomegranate not always being bad on me!

Narcissus and poppy always contribute what I think of as a "stinging" scent to a perfume. They smell like traditional perfumey perfumes to me. It's not that I don't like them, but I certainly have to be in a specific mood to appreciate them. It's not a scent I'd wear if I were relaxing around the house or going out with friends.

This is that sort of scent, but I think it's better than other ones like this that I've tried. Often opium/poppy has been smelling like band-aids on me recently, much to my dismay. Not in this one though, and I'm quite pleased about that. I was afraid this would smell like band-aids straight off, and it didn't. I don't smell any lily, though. Tuberose either. (I like both of those floral notes, so I'm concentrating pretty hard to smell them, and it's just not there.) It's all narcissus and poppy on me.

I don't know. You know, this is a perfectly fine scent, and I enjoy it. However, I think perhaps I'm going to have to come to terms with the fact that I'm never going to be sophisticated enough or elegant enough to wear a perfume like this. It just doesn't smell appropriate on me.

I had an imp of this ages ago, but I swapped it away because I was in my floral-hating stage back then. Now I don't mind florals so much, so I wanted to try it again.

It's a very pretty soft rose scent, with sweet apple over the top. I don't smell any lemon in it, and that's fine with me because I don't like lemon much.

The apple and rose combination in Eve surprised me because I didn't think I'd like it but I did. I like it in this too. I should probably do a side-by-side comparison of Delirium and Eve and find out which one I like better.

I should be able to write a review of this scent without putting any oil on my skin to try it because my husband wears this fairly regularly. I can't do it, though. All I would be able to say is that I like it when my husband wears it.

So! I have a little test patch on my arm to remind me of what it smells like. Oh right -- this is the one that smells like baby wipes on me. It smells much better on my husband. It's mossy, and the lavender isn't that sharp herbal kind, it's the cologney kind. Also, the amber doesn't go powdery on him.

My husband just sniffed the Saint-Germain area on my arm and wrinkled his nose. He then announced that from now on he is the only one in our house who will be wearing it. That's fine with me! It really does smell great on him.

This smells like tea and honey and... green. I'm not sure how to describe that in scent words. It smells a little planty. I think it is a refreshing scent, and it does seem fairly invigorating.

It was quite strong at first, but after 15 minutes or so it starts to smell lemony for some reason.

I don't know yet how I feel about this scent. It seems like I like it because I keep sniffing my wrist, but maybe that's because the scent is so odd I don't know what I think about it.

On me, this smells like Pine Sol. Blech. I hardly get any vanilla -- it just smells like cleaning products.

On my husband, it smells a lot better. On him, the vanilla is much stronger and it balances out the pine and juniper quite well. It smells rather bracing on him, rather than astringent. It's got a nice woodsy aura with the vanilla sweetening it up a bit and taking the edge off. He says he doesn't like it as well as Tombstone, but he does like it.

I have trouble with dirt/earth scents basically always, but I wanted to try everything in the BPAL GC – just in case! – so I’m trying this one.

Uh… yeah, I could have safely given this one a pass. The dirt note in it is far too overwhelming for me. It’s not a pretty dirt (like in Zombi) or a lush black fertile dirt, it’s kind of an acidic dirt. I wouldn’t wear this myself, and I don’t think I’d like to smell it on someone else, either. This just isn’t the sort of thing I like.

I wish I had the type of skin chemistry that would allow me to wear a dirt/earth scent. Any dirt/earth scent!! Just one would be nice! No matter which one I try, basically all I can smell is dirt. I was testing 6 different BPAL oils on my arms while I was testing Nosferatu, and while I was sitting here typing all I could smell was earth from Nosferatu. It lasts forever, too. Two hours later, I still smell like dirt. All the other notes from all the other perfumes I had on have faded out, but the dirt is still going strong.

I’ve tried this one a couple of times – the first time I got mostly wine out of it and it wasn’t really my fave. I wasn’t willing to totally give up on it, though, so I’m trying it again now. This time I do still smell the wine scent (most strongly in the first 20 minutes), but after a while I can start to smell other notes as well. It’s difficult for me to distinguish what they are, but it’s not solely a wine scent. Possibly a wee bit of jasmine and some dark unidentifiable resins. I can only smell them when I sniff my wrist up close, though. From a distance all I can smell is wine. This is usually the problem I have with wine scents, but I still keep trying them hoping for one that breaks the rules. I guess this one isn’t the break-the-rules one, though. *sigh*

This is an unusual and intriguing scent. When I first put it on and sniffed it, my nose tingled a little bit. Maybe a drop of eucalyptus? If so, it isn’t overwhelming at all. I don’t smell any eucalyptus, and I wouldn’t have thought there was any in here except for the nose-tingle. The floral notes in this are soft and unobtrusive, and the whole scent really does have an airy white quality.

I like this one. Based on this test, I’m going to try wearing it for a day and see how it goes.

Also, I don’t think I tried anything with davana in it before Pollution, but I see it’s in Ether, too. I liked it in Pollution, and I like it in this. I think I need to add davana to the list of notes I like.

Just a twinge more pungent than I usually wear, but it's interesting. Smells very slightly orange-ish and slightly burnt. It’s not the dark musky scent I was hoping for when I tried it. Although I don’t mind this scent, I don’t think it’s something I’d wear. Something in it seems to be turning to powder on me, probably the amber.

This is a very perfumey floral, to my nose. It does smell dark, but it also smells like a traditional floral perfume. I tend to prefer the soft velvety floral scents to ones like these, so this one isn’t a keeper for me.