forspecial_plate

I really like Ostara. It has a complexity that reminds me of a couple of the resinous Salon blends....but really, it's like nothing I've smelled before. The flowers and resins are perfectly balanced, very harmonious on my skin. I am not a violet or strawberry fan, so I was interested in what those 'leaf' notes would be like. I think maybe they add some sharpness, maybe a touch of 'green' to the scent. So far, the three times that I've worn this, I haven't smelled the honey cakes or sweet cream at all, except in the bottle before I put it on. This is a great spring scent. To me it's definitely not a garden in bloom, it's more like the feeling of plants and flowers just before they really grow and bloom....a feeling of potential growth and power, if that makes any sense at all. It's amazing that a scent could capture such an abstract concept, but that's really what it smells like to me. edit: I just re-read my review and realized, I didn't really describe what Ostara actually smells like. It's not strongly resinous or floral, but a very even mix of both of those qualities....with a bit of tartness or sharpness, from the frankincense, or possibly the leaf notes. It's great that everyone seems to get something different out of it. It's a bit hard to describe!

Cthulhu works well for me. It's very aquatic obviously, a salty sea scent with a strong touch of ozone at the beginning. Later the deeper, darker green notes start to emerge. Lasts longer than other aquatics tend to on my skin. I like!

Fresh and clean, seems like strong ozone to me, unless I'm just amping that note. I didn't smell citrus right away, but now that I read other notes, I can pick it out. If you're curious as to what ozone smells like I would say give this a try. Smells nice but if I wear ozone blends, I prefer them a little darker, more complex, and/or deeper like Kingsport or Cthulhu.

Even though it has rum and you said no booze...I would still recommend Creepy, even if you just try a decant or a sniffy. It's a great caramel apple scent.

Mag Mell strikes me as a very strange scent. It starts out fresh and sweet smelling, kind of herbal, a little grassy, with a hint of ginger and a lot of verbena, which I happen to like. After that it slowly builds in intensity, and also shifts....a weird foody aspect comes out for me, very much like buttery cookies or baked goods. It still smells sweet, but turns into cake or cookies or something. Pretty odd, and I don't know what's causing it.....there's not one note that stands out, it's more like the whole thing together is resembling cookies to me. Maybe it's the amber and ginger. Weird, and although it's not unpleasant, I'm not sure I want to wear it again. I think Antonino or Polyhymnia are more to my liking for this kind of herbal/lemon-y scent.

Okay, so....I understand that there are some different myrrh notes in bpal scents. I think this must be the same one that's in Penitence. For me it smells very sweet and powdery, and dominates Dance of Death. For the first 30-60 minutes it's nearly all I can smell in this blend. After a while the myrrh calms down a lot, and I think I can smell the other notes emerging, mainly orris. It's still a very dry and powdery scent, on the sweeter side, and just not my thing. I may try it one more time just to be sure. Edit: On second try....I forgot I already reviewed this. Mostly myrrh at first, a little less powdery this time. The myrrh has an herbal and dry aspect from the patchouli and orris. Then the musk starts coming out after about a half hour. This has echoes of Lycaon and Typhon. I'm not crazy about this although I feel like I should be. Not my favorite of myrrh scents.

You might want to try The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed With the Sun. It's in the Salon section. Here are the notes: "Daemonorops [which is dragon's blood, I think], vanilla, Indian sandalwood, Mexican copal, hyssop, muguet, sweet pea, amber, hazelwood, galbanum, hiba wood, and orchid." It's a very warm, golden amber scent. I can definitely pick out the dragon's blood. It's also slightly nutty. On my skin the florals didn't stand out much, but some people do amp sweet pea so that could be a problem. You would have to buy a whole bottle, buy the Exhibit II set of Salon imps (they only come as a set), or find a decant (which is what I did). Hope that helps! : ) Edit: okay, I re-read the reviews...this could be more floral than what you're looking for. BUT...I wouldn't rule it out just because of the florals. It could surprise you.

What a great scent! I really love this! The notes are blended so seamlessly, at first I didn't even realize it had any kind of citrus. It just smelled bright, bold, slightly floral, sweet, and somewhat resinous, in a sunny kind of way. Reminds me of the daytime counterpart to Midnight On the Midway (then again, my nose has been known to make some strange associations, so this could be way off). It lasts for hours....a good 6 hours later and it's still here, mostly resins now. I guess the copal is what I'm smelling. I can see where someone would think this smells masculine. It reminds me of after-shave. I'm finding out that I'm partial to a lot of 'masculine' scents (fancy that!). This seems to be a golden-orange colored scent.

Blood Lotus is a fairly potent, sweet and fruity floral. I do get the hint of bubble gum at first, but as expected the dragon's blood pretty much takes over after just a few minutes, because that's what it usually does on my skin. After a while it backs off some, but as with most blends containing dragon's blood, this does very little to excite me. I already gave away my imp of Black Lotus, otherwise I would do a comparison. As I remember, that one worked out better for me, although I gave it to someone I thought would enjoy it more than me. I just am not a big fan of dragon's blood, and I can smell it in this blend. This isn't a bad smell at all...nothing repellant about it, nothing turning sour or bad on my skin. Just doesn't do much to 'grab' me like so many other scents do.

Wow...this thing is powerful! Very decadent, thick, almost intoxicating scent. Opium is the strongest note here...really stands out and becomes nearly powdery for me, but nice and kind of dizzying. I recognize the red musk from a few other bpal blends, and it blends nicely here. Not my favorite musk but I can handle it. The civet doesn't bother me. Honestly, I'm not sure I can tell it apart completely from the musk. Overall....I don't hate this scent, and I don't love it. It smells more feminine to me and at the beginning, smells nearly like a commercial, traditional perfume, mostly because of the opium I think. After a while, the scent showed NO signs of fading or backing off, until it did eventually become too much for me. I gave it a good while, about 2 hours I think, and finally washed it off....very tenacious scent! Just not my thing, personally.

This is quite a strange and unsettling scent. I smell the vetiver, dark and herbal, and also the sweetness of fruits, so sweet it's almost like candy. The sweet element of this scent nearly overpowers me in much the same way that Al Azif did. This is more bearable...when I tried that scent (Al Azif), I had to wash it off...but I gave this time to play out on my skin. Eventually some of the sweetness backed off, and the fruitiness became deeper and much nicer. This never struck me as spicy. I think the vetiver and black musk did some weird combining thing that made me think of leather. This somehow fits right in with the other Arkham scents that I've tried....eerie, and not something that I feel drawn to wear, but interesting to try.

Mr. Jacquel is a soft, spicy amber scent. For me, the spices seem heavy with either cassia, cinnamon, ginger, or all three. Reminds me a lot of Saw Scaled Viper. I can just catch hints of patchouli. I think I have yet to figure out what hyssop smells like. Strange...this isn't what I expected at all from this scent! Light to medium throw. I like it, however I am on the fence whether I need more or not. Edit: I have to edit this because, the more I wear it, the more I like it. It's a golden scent with a quiet strength that is really growing on me. I think I'm finding out that amber works for me more often than not. In that case, I should probably embrace it, yes? Anyway, it works well in Mr. Jacquel. Edit again, just to add: This is one of those great scents that took me by surprise in such a sneaky way. I went from 'not sure', to really liking it, to reaching for it more and more often, and on to needing a 5ml bottle. I think it needs to go into my top 10 now.

Three Gorgons is captivating, with a light throw. I was expecting the amber to be stronger than it is. The pepper is much stronger than I was expecting, unless that's the vetiver chipping in to make it seem very spicy and herbal. The citrus is emphatic at first, then backs off quickly as citrus usually does for me. Reminds me of a hazy, hot, dry day...bronze skin glistening with oil. Overall, I do like the smell of this. The pepper is reminiscent of White Rabbit, although I did not like that scent. Other than that, this is very unique.

Orpheus is a lovely crisp green scent. It might fall into the sharp herbal category, but it has some sweeter notes too, a little floral... The citrus notes are not very strong for me.

I had very high expectations of Doc Constantine...maybe I was setting myself up to be disappointed. *[see edit!] Basically...it smells good, but doesn't captivate me like I was expecting it to. I do like woods and smoke, and the other notes sounded wonderful to me. Up close, I can smell cedar strongly, with the other notes lurking behind. The throw is better....musky, woody, a little leather.....smells good. Somehow, though, I was expecting more. I'm still on the fence, so I will let this age and try it again. I think I wanted something more like Geek. It's okay, though....there are already so many CD scents that I love....I'm glad I can let this one go and prioritize the others that I do want so much. *Edit: This is another blend that has grown on me a whole lot since I first reviewed it. As usual, once I got past my expectations, I was able to appreciate this scent for what it is. Also I think setting it aside for a few days helped...the strong cedar has backed off a lot, and I'm picking up more of the other notes. Smokey, woodsy, sexy.....this reminds me a little bit of Dee. It's good stuff.

I'm completely revising my review..... I actually really like this. It smells a little mossy to me for some reason. I love the smokiness. Before, I was confused about the tobacco I think. I thought I was smelling champaca flower. But I think it's just the tobacco. This scent reminds me a little of Midnight on the Midway, a little darker and huskier maybe. I think I'll be wearing this more often and I'm glad I didn't swap it right away!

This is a bracing sea scent that really captures the character it represents (or maybe...the painting and description really capture the scent?). It has a chilly quality...I can really imagine a mermaid's icy, contemptuous stare. The oceanic aspect is strong, and the other notes add depth and some sweetness to the scent. I can't pick out individual notes except maybe ozone. Comparison time: my first thought when I wore this was "Kingsport Light!!". Right now I'm doing a side-by-side comparison, and the two scents do have some similarities. With Kingsport you are standing on a beach in the fog, but with Thalassa you're standing on the prow with the spray in your face, and the sun is shining. A few minutes later (say, within an hour), some of the ozone falls back and the sweeter notes come forward a bit. I think I can smell the resins. It's reminding me of one of the Salon scents at this point (Cloister Graveyard or Death of the Grave Digger). Anyway, enough comparisons....it's a great scent! Aquatic and deep, bright and refreshing.

Faiza is deliciously dark and sultry. Actually there seems to be one note in here that's disagreeing with me just a little bit, but not enough to put me off the scent as a whole. Maybe the caraway or ti leaf? I'm not sure. She is a dark, green and black, slithery scent....rich and humid. It could be the moss that makes it humid, but I don't worry about individual notes when I wear this so much as just enjoying the whole scent. It's more fruity than floral to me, and a little herbal and spicy. Faiza could be Antonino's sultry, dangerous cousin. I bet this will get better and better with some aging. And I love the idea of wearing something with green sandalwood in it, even if I can't really pick out the sandalwood. How I would love to sniff that on its own!

Bow and Crown seems multi-layered. Very close to my skin, the cedar is strong, crowding out most of the other components. But the throw is different....still woody but also sweet, herbal vanilla with sage, somewhat musky. Overall the impression is one of the more 'traditional' and masculine bpal scents, IMO. It does smell good, but I usually get more excited about the more odd and unusual scents. I really can't complain about this. It fits right in with the other Come and See scents that I tried....complex, but the different notes work together as a whole. I've never worn Tombstone but I kept thinking 'This is what Tombstone must smell like'.

... His scent is soft English leather, rosewood and tonka with a hint of incense, parchment and soft woods. Dee is very close to love at first sniff for me. I smell woods, a bit of leather, and the parchment, which reminds me a bit of sawdust. But it all comes together. This scent reminds me a lot of a myrrh fragrance oil I used to get from Scentiments in Cincinnati. Never found another myrrh that smelled like that. For some reason it's here in Dee. After a few hours, the wood has become much stronger and almost smells like cedar. There's just a little sweetness/incense still swirling around, maybe the rosewood. I don't know for sure what rosewood smells like. Anyway, I like this a lot. edit: When I wore this again, it lasted for hours and hours, to the point that I got kind of sick of it. It was almost overwhelmingly heavy and masculine to me. Next time I wear it I'll apply very lightly.

Hmmm.....I tried Oborot twice, and got some odd impressions. Mostly it's much sweeter and more floral than I was expecting, and also very light and subtle. I think there's some ozone, giving it a little bit of a laundry breezy smell, maybe that's part of the sea spray. There's very little pine and almost no earth that I can smell. The tea flower is strong on my skin. And something fruity, that I took for juniper or pine, but maybe it's one of the notes I'm not familiar with that maribouquet mentioned. So, yeah....sweet, floral, fruity, ozone....a little underlying darkness from the other notes....I am totally on the fence about this scent. It's so faint on my skin, and after a while disappears almost completely....although this may not always be a bad quality. There could be times that I want a quieter scent. I like it just enough to try again a few times, see where it takes me....

The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed With the Sun is a great scent....I gave up on dragon's blood resin a few months ago, but the other notes listed made me want to give this one a go. And I'm really glad I did! This smells warm, sweet, woody, just a little spicy, a little floral, and resinous....all at once....it's so well balanced. For a while, the dragon's blood does threaten to take over. But it eventually backs off and the other notes seem to just glow. There is something faintly nutty that may be hazelwood. I'm somewhere around the third hour of wearing it now, and it has faded somewhat, but is still pretty strong. I think I really like it.

This is more floral than I was expecting, with something gritty and nearly dusty behind it. Seems like a grey scent to me. I think I recognize all the notes, and I think the poppy and lilies are most prominent. The currant is coming out more as time passes. The patchouli isn't strong for me, but I can tell that it's there, lending an herbal aspect to the scent. This one probably isn't for me although it may do well with some aging...not out of the question. edit: Eek...I thought I gave this enough time to morph but apparently not...now the musks and patchouli are becoming stronger, and possibly the nicotania too. Now it's less floral, still kind of gritty, musky, appealing....I'm on the fence, honestly.

This is an unusual scent that doessn't quite work on my skin, but I knew it was a long shot. In the vial it smells like scratch 'n sniff stickers from when I was little, sugary caramel. When it touches my skin, right away there seems to be a hazelnutty aspect to it. It's still caramel with an herbal backdrop. After that it slowly becomes more herbal, and the caramel becomes just a little 'off' on my skin. Basically it's big on caramel and the other notes aren't enhancing the blend for me...the whole thing turns to a plastic-like smell. About an hour later, I can smell the cinnamon leaf and patchouli fighting to come out, but they are not helping the cause much.

The ghostly White Women of the Scottish highlands. They seduce unwary travelers by night with their unearthly beauty and mesmerizing dancing. They engage their victims in a wild, hypnotic dance, and once they reach exhaustion, the demonesses exsanguinate their partners with their vampiric kiss. Talk about a quick courtship. Grapefruit, white tea, apple blossom and ginger. This strikes me as a refreshing breeze of a scent, mostly grapefruit but my imp is brand new. There was just a little sweetness of other notes backing it up, but mostly it was grapefruit spray from the peel. Kind of bracing. It didn't change on me over time. I like this but I already have F5 and I don't wear that much. Baobhan Sith is roughly in the same category in my opinion, so I wouldn't really need more of this and may not keep the imp. However, I think over time some of the other notes might come out and the citrus might back off a little bit.