rainbow

Plumeria, pear and white champagne. In the bottle and wet on skin- a strong, sweet golden pear, with a slight white wine undertone. Wearing- Very much a fresh fruit scent. I smell like a summer fruit basket! Mostly of pear, but also a hint of peach. Overall, I found this to be a true pear and white wine scent. It was more white wine than champagne to me, as I didn't really get any bubbliness, as I do with, say Bon Vivant. Rather, the wine was more mellow than champagne normally is. This is an excellent summer scent- very golden, and very mellow. It is definitely a happy scent, so fitting for the grace of good cheer.

A thin moon faints in the sky o'erhead, And dumb in the churchyard lie the dead. Walk we not, Sweet, by garden ways, Where the late rose hangs and the phlox delays, But forth of the gate and down the road, Past the church and the yews, to their dim abode. For it's turn of the year and All Souls' night, When the dead can hear and the dead have sight. Twisted creepers of dying ivy, winter roses, shadow musk, and black moss. In the bottle this smelled like a generic slightly floral, slightly musky, sort of fresh scent- one with few discernible notes. Once it dries down, though, it becomes amazing on me. It also smells sort of like springtime. Reasonable, considering the ivy, rose, and moss notes. A bit odd, given that it's a Halloween scent. Whatever, I'm not complaining. I love what this dries down into. It's smooth, lightly fresh, a bit ethereal. I can see how it's sort of ghostly, but it's also still very springy and fresh air to me. It kind of reminds me of Poisson d'Avril. This is one of those scents where it's hard to pick out individual notes. I'm pretty sure I can smell some rose, but it's definitely wrapped and buried (heh!) in a variety of other smells. Pretty, fresh, and pleasant.

Fear of Happiness Gibbering chitters of laughter, gleaming grinning mouths peeling open like a knife-slash: high-pitched lemon peel and pink pepper, white orris, and garish tangerine. OMG. This smells like candied lemon peel and lemonheads. It is lemon, lemon, lemon, and it is divine. This is no weak and retiring lemon. The pink pepper and tangerine seem to give the lemon some background strength and staying power. Seriously. Lemonheads.

Wynter wakeneth al my care, Nou this leves waxeth bare; Ofte I sike ant mourne sare When hit cometh in my thoht Of this worldes joie, hou hit goth al to noht. Nou hit is, and nou hit nys, Al so hit ner nere, ywys; That moni mon seith, soth hit ys: Al goth bote Godes wille: Alle we shule deye, thah us like ylle. Al that gren me graueth grene, Nou hit faleweth albydene: Jesu, help that hit be sene Ant shild us from helle! For y not whider y shal, ne hou longe her duelle. Winter roses, white frankincense, and sweet violet. This smells like cedar on me; it reminds me of sharpening pencils in elementary school. I have no idea how I'm getting cedar from the notes listed, but there you have it. I can tell that there are some background notes at work, though it's hard to tell exactly what they are. Reading the description again, I can see how one of them could be violet, but it is definitely not prominent, and it doesn't smell like an independent note, if that makes sense. This scent is pleasant enough on me, but rose and violet are two of my favorite notes, so I'd been hoping to smell more of them.

Utagawa Hiroshige Cascading frozen cherry blossoms, iced lily, and wisteria. This is lovely. It's a bit understated, but it has lasting power. To me, this smells mostly like woods in the winter- a slightly damp deciduous forest (no pine), with maybe some moss and lichens growing on the trees. It's complemented by the cherry blossom, which sweetens up the wood, and works beautifully with it. I wasn't so sure about this one when I opened the bottle, but on me it is lovely. This is a classy scent. I could wear it pretty much anywhere.

This smells exactly like Lush's The Comforter bubble bar on me. I love that, as I love the Comforter. On me, this is an earthy, relaxing, non-sweet blackcurrant. I almost feel like I smell some lime in the background. While blackcurrant is the most prominent note, the scent has a distinctive, earthy background. Normally sandalwood is a no-go area for me, but in this scent it seems to work, and it smells like actual wood on me (not b.o., which is what it usually smells like). This is a delightfully complex and relaxing scent. I will be getting lots of wear out of it.

This is a beautiful violet scent. If you love violet, you need this scent. This is a softer, more demure violet than some other BPAL violets I know and love (classics like The Raven and Le Serpent qui Danse.) This is a violet that whispers. It's a pale lavender violet, rather than a rich, deep purple violet. It is indeed a bit ghostly. I was quite concerned about the black cypress tar, but I don't smell any tar (though there may be a faint cypress note). This is just soft, beautiful, ghostly violet. It's a perfume that invokes longing. Absolutely beautiful.

This smells like all cinnamon and sandalwood to me. I like cinnamon, I don't care for sandalwood. Unfortunately, cinnamon doesn't like my skin and I tend to get red burning welts whenever I use a cinnamon blend. This one is no exception. I find that the cinnamon notes dissipate before the sandalwood. Overall, this oil is many layers of "no" for me. I didn't find this to be particularly sexy- to me it invoked sleep. That may be a matter of taste, however.

This is a big, red ripe pomegranate. There are distinct juicy pomegranate notes. When wearing, this is also has a lovely deeper undertone- I'm not sure what it is, maybe amber? or some kind of musk? In any case, the undertone gives the scent depth and makes it more than just a fruity scent. I really like this one!

I am absolutely, positively, 100% adoring this blend. It smells very fresh, slightly floral, slightly woodsy, all mixed together in a beautiful soft blend that's decidely wintery. I can't really tell what any of the individual components are, but it's beautifully blended, soft and cold. I just looooooove it.

Love this. Love, love, love. I'm so pleased I got a frimp of this- I'd never have ordered it on my own. The five ambers would have scared me right off. But this is so, so nice on me. It melds right into my skin. I can't wear most "skin" scents, as things like musk are usually horrible on me, but this smells so good- the ambers are soft and tempered by the carnation. So, what I end up with is a warm, skin-like carnation scent. It's just beautiful, and oh so sexy. This is definitely big-bottle territory.

I agree with everyone else that I'm definitely getting the scent of some kind of jungle hothouse here, but mine seems to be a bit different than anyone else's. I don't get any kind of vegetation notes- no green, no tropical flowers. Instead, I'm getting a sort of hot, steamy environment- rocks, and I can smell the volcanic gasses too. It's not unpleasant, but definitely an unusual scent, and one that definitely evokes an environment. I probably won't be getting a big bottle of this, but the imp is fun to play with.

This is the only 5ml bottle I've ever used up, so there's definitely something about this oil! The scent is a sweet but at the same time fresh floral-herbal. That's not an easy description to pin down, and indeed, this scent is not easy to pin down. It's well-blended, and hard to tell what the individual notes are. It's light, in no way overpowering, kind of like a breath of fresh air. I wore this to bed every night until I used up my bottle- very nice indeed.

This is a lovely scent, quickly becoming a favorite. It's a pink carnation scent to me, and as the description says, it's a sweet carnation. I'm not getting explicit sugar notes, as lots of other people seem to, but the carnation is definitely sweet. I thought Pink Moon I was sugarier, this is more subdued, less sugar cubes, more floral sweetness. I love both Pink Moons- I find the 2007 edition to be quite different from the earlier one, but just as beautiful.

Oh, this is just perfect- I'm so happy with Rose Moon! This is one of my big winners this year. On me this is just the perfect rose scent- all I can smell is roses, the fresh blooms. Pink roses, definitely. It's not too faint, not too strong, a perfect floral while still being delicate. I love Rose Moon, and I adore wearing it.

This is such a soft and lovely scent. It's beautifully blended. I can't really pick out any of the notes (I thought I might smell some chamomile, but I can't really tell). It's definitely some sort of blend of herbals and florals, and the result is soft, sleepy, and beautiful, in an understated way. I've been using it as a sleep oil and it's lovely to wear to bed.

I was very excited about this one as I just love the scent of blackcurrant. Unfortunately, my skin has this tendency to amp musk, and that's precisely what it did with Lurid. I ended up getting almost no blackcurrant and all musk. I smelled very masculine, and not in a good way. *cry* If you don't have a musk-amp problem I bet this is great, as it smelled fantastic in the imp- a nicely balanced, not-to-sweet blackcurrant. Oh well.

This is a great scent- definitely a favorite of mine. Mint and violets work so well together, and they're really nicely blended in this scent. The effect is cool, without being too cold, smooth and watery. This is almost an acquatic scent without being acquatic. I can smell the violet notes, and I can smell the mint notes. As those are two of my favorite notes ever I had high hopes for this, and I haven't been disappointed.

This is not something I'd wear as a perfume, just for scent, but it's definitely something I like to have around to use as a sleep oil. The scent is heavy thick, thick, thick lavender- think lavender thickened by other herbals. Whenever I use this all I can think is herbal thick lavender. The scent isn't unpleasant, but it's not what I'd choose for daily wear. I really enjoy using it as a sleep oil.

Warm, sunny lilies. This is a bright yellow, warm, sunshiney scent, all channeled through lilies, which are the dominant note. I'm not getting the honey note so much (which is fine as I am no fan of honey)- what I get lots of is lilies and sunshine. This is a nice, happy, warm scent. Very wearable.

This definitely smells like berries and pine on me. Springtime in Arkham also smelled like red berries and pine on me, but there are some distinct differences. This is a sweeter, less foresty pine (if that makes sense). The berries are extremely sweet- their sweetness really dominates the scent. This is more of a sweet scent than a fresh one, even though it has very distinct pine notes.

A very pretty, powdery floral on me. The entire time I was wearing this I was thinking jasmine. I was actually shocked to look at the notes and see that there was no jasmine. I'm guess what I must be smelling is lily? In any case, a lovely floral blend- lots of flowers without being too heavy, and lovely for spring/summer.

I really like this scent. I am a fan of violets in general, so I was very excited about Faith. She is the reason I ordered the Hope and Faith scent. And I'm very pleased with the result. On me this is just like the description- sweet, sugary violets. I wouldn't say it's my favorite violet BPAL (that honor goes to The Raven, I think), but this is a very wearable violet, and it's always nice to have another take on a favorite note.

I cannot believe I have not gotten around to writing a review of Frost Moon yet, as this is one of my very favorite lunacies of all time. It's probably still on my BPAL top 10 list. I've loved this since the day I received it. The scent: is mint, mint, mint, tempered by some light acquatic notes and some florals (I might even smell a bit of lotus). The overall effect is a mint that is soft and flowing, very cold, and very wintery. The lasting power of the scent is also amazing. This is one that lasts all day, which seems to be unusual for mint- other mint scents are more fleeting.

This is very much an early spring scent- images of crocuses poking out of the ground, fresh, wet patches of dirt, etc. Since that's what's happening right now around here, I'm loving wearing this scent these days. As for the fragrance, I'm getting a woody-floral, with notes that smell almost like cedar. I'm not having any luck determining individual floral notes. During the drydown I also get a faint, creamy background note. Again, I'm not sure what it is, but it tempers the cedar scent a bit. In sum, this is a scent that's growing on me, and one that's very seasonal for me. I'll be enjoying this in the early spring.