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At first this reminds me of Dorian, in that sweet way. It has a bit more of a citrus kick to it than Dorian does. But the drydown is heavy on the musk and light on the sweet. It does smell clean and fresh, and it's pretty light. I seem to recall this scent being more masculine a couple of years ago, but as it has aged it sweetened up. It smells more feminine now. I really like this scent, but it's a little too soft on me.

I didn't think this one would work for me, but I got a decant of it because it sounded like something that might smell good on my husband.

 

On me, it's mostly a tea scent, but it's very green and it has a metallic character. It's a very deep almost (but not quite) aquatic green scent. It's bold, too. No soft squishy roundness in this one. I have no idea what green sandalwood should smell like because I can't remember ever encountering it before. I'm not sure what it smells like after sniffing this, either. Maybe without the moss I'd be able to pick it out more clearly.

 

It's a surprisingly refreshing scent, and it's one of those scents I would like to smell on someone else but it doesn't suit me personally. It's a little too green and bold for me. I hope my husband likes it, though.

I'm not sure how I missed this one when it was up -- I usually adore BPAL's Asian fruity-florals. Maybe it was the yuzu in this that made it iffy enough that I didn't get it. I'm not sure.

 

It definitely has that bright lovely plum blossom that I love so much, and the other florals are very nice with it. It's not as sweet as Fire Pig, and there's something in it that's a bit sharp and slightly powdery on me. I'm betting it's the yuzu. But the yuzu in this isn't nearly as loud and obnoxious as it usually is on me.

 

Personally I like scents like Fire Pig and Budding Moon better than this one because I tend to like fruity-florals that lean heavily to the sweet side. But I know that for lots of people they're too sweet, and those people should try this one!

I took a gamble trying this one because although I like blue musk and moonflower, lemon verbena is usually a deal-breaker. It's trying pretty darn hard to ruin this scent for me. I think it's actually in cahoots with the lychee. It seems like there's some prettiness underneath those two (rose?), but I can't really get to it. Mostly what I smell is a lemony scent that's sharper and tarter than verbena usually is.

 

So I guess this one isn't going to work for me.

Out of the list of floral notes in Swan Maiden, the gardenia one is the only one I usually avoid. This is startling because the list of floral notes I avoid is kind of long. A floral perfume with only one no-no flower in it? Almost unheard of, for me.

 

And this? Aaaaah. Lovely. Exactly the sort of floral I like. It smells white, clean, and soft. Not heady, not humid, not green... just gorgeous. I can smell the gardenia in it, but to be honest it sorta seems like the orchid is stronger. It gets even more lush and wonderful as it dries.

 

The florals I like that are a bit similar to this one (in feel, rather than strictly in scent) are Dreamland, The Ghost, Sepulcher, and White Moon. Those were all stand-outs for me, and this one goes on that list too.

When the Yules came out I was reading through the notes for this one and mostly thinking Hm, well, possibly, but probably not, but maybe I -- OMG SPIKENARD.

Dudes, spikenard is my nemesis. I do not just steer clear of it, I steer straight off the damn highway and take the route that goes through a different state in order to avoid it. It smells unbelievably foul on me in every blend I've ever tried that contained it.

But a decant of Diwali showed up at my house, and by the time I got it I had completely forgotten what the notes were, so I put some on. I liked it. It smelled a little sweet, a little creamy, and a little spicy. Not too much of any one thing, just a very pretty, light blend. At first I can smell the mango pretty well, but when it's dry I think I'd probably try to briefly describe it as mostly almond milk with cardamom and some very pleasant earthy/woodines from the wood notes. It's an extremely likable scent to me. Soft and lovely.

So imagine my shock when I was reading through the notes later and found out that THIS is the one that has SPIKENARD! And I actually like it. I would even like *gasp* a BOTTLE of it. And see, this is why I always have to try everything BPAL makes. Because really. You never know.

Well, I don't know what to tell you about this one. I've worn it probably 5 times since I got it, which is more than usual. However, every time I put it on I think Hmmm, yeah, I'm not sure about this one. There's something about it that I like a lot, but there's also something about it I don't like.

 

I think the problem is that the amber goes powdery on me. If it weren't for that, it would be wonderful. It has this awesome creamy scent with the very alluring teak under it... but the powder. It smells so great even with the powdery part that I keep wearing it, but I keep being sort of mad at it for going powdery.

 

I can't see myself giving up on it entirely, so I'm sure I'll keep the bottle around for a while and see how it ages. Maybe the amber will deepen a bit after a year or so.

 

Edited many months later to add: Keeping it was a good idea!! I love it now after it's had a chance to age a bit. It smells wonderful now, and I'm so glad I didn't give up on it.

I got a decant of this one to try because so many people seem to like it, but I was pretty skeptical about it because usually pomegranate is one of the notes that tends to ruin a blend for me. My skin doesn't like it at all and either turns it into a bathroom air freshener type of scent or some hideous powdery-sweet Pez-like scent, except like a Pez that's been lost under the rug for a few months.

 

This one does the latter. It's dusty-smelling and super-sweet, and not like a lovely juicy pomegranate scent at all. Ah well. Can't win 'em all. There are really only a handful of notes that don't work with my skin chemistry, so it's not so bad.

I recognize a little bit of orchid in there, but mostly it's gardenia. It's a tropical lush floral scent, very much on the smooth and soft side. I like this better than most gardenia scents, but I burned myself out on gardenia about 10 years ago (that's what wearing one scent every day for a year will to do ya), and I'm still not ready to wear a gardenia scent again.

 

This one is quite pretty, though.

At first all I can smell is a fresh light lemon over coconut. Neither note is bowling me over, they're both playing nicely together. It's creamier-smelling than I thought it would be. Not sharp at all. Usually lemon is a little too tangy for me, but this lemon blossom is pretty nice.

 

After it's completely dry, mostly it smells like a woody scent with a little bit of coconut. Very slightly tropical, I guess, but not too much. Oddly, I'm not getting a whole lot of musk out of this. It must be blending so well with the bark note that I can't pick it out.

 

I like this scent, but it's not going to unseat Brown Jenkins as my favorite coconut scent.

I have to be very picky these days about which bottles I buy due to money issues, so unless I honestly love something I can't really justify buying a bottle of it. I tested a bunch of decants to figure out if I wanted any bottles from Lupercalia this year, and Sapphics was one of the two bottles I bought.

 

On me, it's lovely. It smells dark but not too dark, and smoky but not too smoky. Kind of slinky. I think it's mainly a combination of grey amber, oakmoss, and myrrh that I smell on my skin, and it's a beautiful combination. To me, this seems like a dressed-up nighttime sort of scent. It seems more sophisticated than amber and myrrh scents usually are.

 

I can see myself wanting to wear this as often as Trick #1 and Black Orchid, which are sort of my default grown-up perfumey scents. This one doesn't smell as much like traditional perfume as either of those do, though, it's more of a "wow, what is that" kind of scent.

When I first put on Mad Kate, it was entirely freesia and currant. I couldn't smell anything else. I happen to like the nice bright fruity florals a lot better than heady florals, so I thought I had found another keeper. However, after about 30 minutes, it turned into the sort of heady floral I usually avoid. (I honestly don't know whether it's rose geranium or gardenia because I'm not 100% sure what rose geranium smells like.) The bright beginning morphed quite a lot. It showed a lot of promise there at the beginning, but I'm just not a fan of the dry phase.

Bottle sniff: Smells like pine.

On: Smells like an evergreen forest. I remember the old Hexennacht being a lot smokier than this. I thought it would warm up after a while and become darker and smokier, but it didn't. It mostly smells like a fresh forest scent. It doesn't smell cold like pine usually does to me, it's more green.

I didn't think I'd like this one, but I do. It has a dark, almost chypre-like scent. I can smell the leather in it but it's not OMG LEATHER, it's subtle. I like the dark musk and myrrh with it. I can't really smell any of the lighter notes (lemon balm, grapefruit rind, etc.), but the scent isn't completely dark so I know they must be adding to it. Maybe I can smell a very slight whiff of lemon, but I wouldn't have been able to pick it out.

 

This is probably one of the more unisex scents, but I wouldn't call it masculine.

I didn't look at the notes before I put this on, and when I sniffed it, I thought, "Hmmm, smells like tangerine and cream with a mild dark spice." OK, so I was off with the tangerine. I guess grapefruit and pear smells like that to me. But the cream and pink pepper are quite noticeable.

 

This is probably more cream than anything with a nice sweet fruity overtone and that cute pink pepper. Mostly, I think "cute" is the best way to describe this one.

I was just thinking about this yesterday because, well, Bonfire Night is NOT a good scent to wear when working out. A little unplanned trial and error there, on my part.

 

Citrus and tea scents get me moving. Embalming Fluid is a good one.

Is there something other than dirt in this? LOL, I can't tell at all. I put a tiny drop of oil on my arm 20 minutes ago and now this whole area at the end of the couch smells like black dirt. It does smell a little drier than usual, and I guess that's maybe the moss?

 

My skin is so crazy about those dirt notes. I keep waiting patiently for the day when I can try something with dirt/soil in it that doesn't amp that note so completely that it drowns out everything else. That day is not today, though.

I had no idea what that combination of notes was going to smell like, so I had zero expectations for this blend.

 

It smells like a sweetened white rose scent! I mean, not like it's shouting ROSE, but when I sniff it I think, "Hee, yep, it's rose. Hee. It's smells so cute. Heehee. What a cute rose." For some reason, this scent makes me automatically happy. I'm serious, I sniff it and smile. How odd.

 

My only problem with it is that after I had it on for 20-30 minutes it started to get a little powdery like rose does on me sometimes. Not tremendously, just a little bit. I still like it though.

 

Oh, and btw, I usually avoid lemon like the plague, but I can't tell there's lemon balm in this.

First things first: I usually like vetiver. Most varieties smell good on me -- earthy, kind of woody, slightly grassy, and smoky.

 

This is vetiver at its very best. It is not dank and murky at all, it smells so fresh you can really imagine those tall grasses. It's smoky, light, and beautiful.

 

The neroli is so soft it almost whispers. But, OMG, that vetiver and sandalwood smells so good.

 

This is the sort of scent that I never wear when I'm out -- I wear it when I'm at home by myself and hog it all to myself. It's one of my "skin scent" kind of scents.

I'm not sure how to describe this scent. It smells hazy but sharp at the same time. Not sharp in the way that herbal scents are sometimes described as sharp, but sharp like pointed. It's bold and not soft at all. No round edges.

 

The rose otto just gives it a little sweetness; it doesn't smell mostly like a floral blend to me. It's mostly patchouli and benzoin... you know, I think it's the petitgrain that is making it smell unique to me. I've had mixed success with petitgrain, but in this one I like it. Maybe because I don't smell it very often -- don't have any perfumes with petitgrain in them.

 

I'm not sure it's "my" kind of scent, but the more I sniff it the more I like it. It's strangely alluring.

I really like this. Love the amber and musk combination, and the saffron with it is exactly perfect. My husband likes to wear cedar scents, so the cedar in this reminds me of him. That makes the scent very endearing to me.

 

Don't know if this was supposed to be for men, but I'm totally going to wear it. It's so warm and rich, and I swear, the amount of spice is ideal. Absolutely exactly the kind of spice I like in a perfume.

 

Another one for the bottle list.

This smells wonderful. Totally blended -- can't really pick out any one note in this. Would never have guessed that either jasmine or cinnamon was in this. It honestly does smell warm and glowing, and on me it has this tropical aspect to it. Like banana or pineapple or something. Slightly fruity, and definitely in a tropical way. But that just makes it smell creamier with the vanilla.

 

I would definitely like a bottle of this one.

This smells lovely! I was a bit worried about the jasmine, but it's fine. Lends a kind of perfumey aspect to the scent, but it doesn't shout JASMINE. I love the freesia and moss combination -- smells like a nice fresh garden flower, and I think the pear, plum and white musk are lightening up the scent. It smells bright, which is a nice combination with the earthy moss and ambergris.

 

Think fruity light floral with moss and bamboo. Reminds me very slightly of some of the Asian lunacy blends, a little bit of Budding Moon.

 

I like this one!

Just a little bit nutty, but mostly a warm, slightly woody scent. It really does smell warm to me. Rather comforting. I like the hazelnut in this -- it makes it different from the usual vanilla/amber or honey scent. Gives it a very slightly foody aspect.

 

This is not overly nutty on me, and it's quite pretty.

A lovely, light tea rose. Bright and not green. It's the same sort of pure, clean rose scent that I get from Peacock Queen or even Moon Rose. Not artificial-smelling or soapy at all. Very pretty. I don't usually go for the rose scents, but this is the sort that I like.

 

For the visual, see LittleMissAspie's review. I totally agree.