absinthetics

White pear, honeyed apple, ambrette seed, star anise, and a drop of clove. I feel like the honeyed apple mutes a bit of the pear in this scent. Along with the ambrette seed doing much of the same. The clove does not pop out till dry down but I imagine that is skin chemestry specific. This scent is more cloying than juicy, the latter of which I expected when looking at the notes.

Heady jasmine drifting through the air, eclipsing the scent of a rapidly-drying bloodstain and the smoke of a snuffed beeswax candle. Jasmine Jasmine Jasmine. It's hard to smell much else. The beeswax may temper the jasmine from being too sharp or biting, but for the most part it is very faint.

Thomas Sharpe’s refuge. Gears and grease and faded oriental rugs. Shelves cluttered with well-loved tools, piled with gears and mechanical wonders. Automata whirr and click from every corner. Machinery made magic; the final manifestation of dissolving hopes and clockwork dreams: sawdust and gear lubricant, metal rods shining in golden afternoon light. In this atmosphere there is more metal than wood. I imagine that the 'wood' part of it tempers the metal so that it is not too sharp. Same with the 'lubricant' note.

A room of cobalt hues, shadowed, with walls adorned innumerable pinned butterflies and moths. Lilac water, fossilized black amber, lily of the valley, violet leaf, and oakmoss. This room is dark, dusty and somehow sharp. The amber really doesn't come through, nor does the lilac. The violet is the most prominent floral note. But over all it is rather old and dusty and it does feel like there is something heady and formal about it as well. Old world, for sure.

Darkness engulfing a child’s collection of dolls and books: beeswax, leather-bound paper, and white gardenias; porcelain and wood, lace and shadow. This is a young girls room bright with books. The floral is very light, while the leather and beesewax fight for attention. This is very inviting and a lovely room scent idea.

A solemn, pale child standing amongst snow-laden tombs as wet flakes descend from a leaden sky. Earth, moss and stone. The snow note here is neither minty nor piney. It is merely cold and almost like the absence of warmth itself.

The spirits are done with your shenanigans and wish to depart: a poof of frankincense, myrrh, Tolu balsam, and rose. A dusty, incensy rose that is not very overpowering. It smells like a spirtualist's shop. I imagine that it is the balsam that really brings these scents together. Don't be afraid of this one if you don't like roses. I'd say this is floraly but mostly incense.

A quiet and orderly concert saloon: sweet rum with two spoonfuls of cream. Absolutely foody delectable. It's a rummier Anti Saloon league. It's gorgeous and foodie without having any baked good quality that sometimes happens with the cream note. It is close to Red Lantern but with something dark in the background. It's almost a chocolatey darkness.

What would you recommend for this 'idea'? I'm looking for the dark, manipulative seductress. The kind of girl that smirks, lurks in shadows...uses knives. Either seductive evil, or Ninja Geisha evil. It's a femme-fatale sort of thing. Or the female Anti-hero. I could write a paragraph discription but... My possible examples (though they are lacking) may be Scherezade, Salome, Devil's Night, Black Lotus, Bastet... maybe leaving the more incensy and going to more fruit...some Cobra Lily, Blood Countess, Lampades, Medea, Lady Macbeth... This is why I am trying to find Snake Charmer, Gypsy Queen, Fire Eater.. I am deathly afraid that Storyville and Voodoo Queen are right up there. Do you think they are? I have exhausted my other two 'categories' and now I am looking for these types of scents. (My other two categories being: 1. The 'icey' catalogue for the Ice Queen (imagery wise, not the exact scent) kind of girl. Things like Snow White, Snow Bunny, Nuclear winter. (Trying to stay away from mint though, and trying to stay away from 'pine' and sandlewood interpretations of winter.) I haven't had a chance to get my actual hands on 'ice queen'. =/ 2. the Etheral, gossamar, untouchable, misty aquatic sides. The girl that can vanish in a fog, pale, dissipating... Lady of Shalott, Sea of Glass, Beatrice, The Evening Star, Szepasszony, City in the Sea, R'lyeh, ) Hmm, so, any suggestions? Particularly on the Femme-Fatale scents.. though I would take them for the others too ^^ I'm pretty new to BPAL, so this is all really overwhelming.

A bracing, invigorating blend of lemon, lime, pink grapefruit, Italian bergamot, and peppermint will replenish your senses, refresh your mind, alleviate stress, and banish exhaustion! This is a zinger of a scent. This is a citrus blend of lemon and mint that is somehow warmed up a little. It's cold and hot at the same time. It is Very bright and if you are half a sleep and take a good whiff of it, it will put you back in the game!

Iris, iced lemon peel, anise seed, red current, coriander, cilantro, and white musk. Iced lemon peel is the first thing to hit the nose. Next there is the wite musk and red current. The cilantro is hiding in there under the lemon peel which gives it a really neat depth. I'm not usually a fan of lemon scents but this one is really lovely. I can't wait to skin test.

The color of past glories awash in rage and terror: brick-red shimmer flecked with deep bronze. Excellent deep red that is kind of a mohagony brown with flecks of a coppery gold and bright crimson (more red than gold). One coat on this one works well but I did two!

I wanted to review the 2015 version because my mother is Latvian and she told me all about the background of this, and how to say all the words =D I will say the main citrus note for me is the blood orange. It's lovely!

For the 2015 version, it is definitely pink, even a little juicy. The grapefruit is relatively subtle. It's sweet and creamy for a floral. It's rather..yummy!

This is definitely a skin scent, as said above, and the creaminess of it is rather surprising. I guess it's the fig and lotus milk. The vanilla is foody if only because of the cream note. This is a great scent!

That contraption seems to have a mind of its own – the wiring gets affected by the dampness in the house. It connects it to the clay pits, you see – Promise me you’ll be careful when using it – and never, ever, go below this level – the mines are very unstable… Rusting metal, red clay, and dread. This scent is very much the culmination of its notes. There is metal, there is the dusty scent of clay that somehow is dusty and wet at the same time, and then there is a deep somewhat incensy aspect to it that I can't quite place.

Soft wings fluttering erratically – ceaselessly – in a trembling, slate-blue gloom. This blue is powdery but not periwinkle. I don't get violet at all, but there is a dark blue that is muted by a dark but powdery grey tone to it, It is very true to the picture you see. So far the staying power has been decent!

I LOVE this colour. It stays for quite some time. Mine came off a bit darker than the picture above. I had to get this because, well, you know... Dream.

This is a sugary lemon blend that really doesn't last very long. It's not a biting lemon, it's somewhat warm.

What zank said! The cognac is very present in this. I love it.

Unfortunately this snow note has some of that pine in it that I really just don't like. It is cold and earthy.

Yes, Velvet Bandito is a great comment for this. But add in something a little cold to that, somehow it is cold and spicey at the same time.

Wow, I really can't add anything better than what Lycanthrope wrote. This is a glimmering ambergris focused floral. But it's not overly floral. The dry down can become a little powdery but it also becomes more sweet. There is something hard to grasp about the scent, and though it doesn't really morph, it's hard to catch a distinct impression of. It is a very cool scent!

Dark, smokey vetiver that is tempered by fruits. The rose fits in here so perfectly that all it does is make this feel slightly like a floral even though it doesn't really smell like one.

This scent is surprisingly dusty, papery, dark and cold. But there is that strange earthy scent that beetles have, or lightning bugs.