odalisque

I just bought a bottle of this at the sale, so if anyone else is interested: if you look at the ingredients on the back you will find that it has a lot of jasmine essential oil. I think jasmine is the dominant scent in this blend, moreso than either ylang or myrrh. Unsurprisingly, it smells astonishingly like BPAL's Eos.

In the imp: Sour ... honey? Not really sour, though. Tart? Un-sweet? I know this isn't the Gaiman version of Anubis but I thought of Shadow's honey wine. Behind it, something resiny or perfumy. I wonder if this is the storax. I know the genuine stuff was an old time fixative for perfumes. Somehow this smells familiar, maybe something in common with Cairo or Bastet but I can't out my finger on it. And the slightest hint of camphor. On skin: the sweetness blooms. Also, some kind of unfamiliar spices or something. It makes me think of saffron, not that it smells like saffron but in the same way that saffron is a spice that doesn't smell foody or appetizing to me. And there's that camphoraceous hit again. I think it must be a precious wood in common with Kathmandu, because I remember it from that oil. Not sure I like it at all. Dry: Sweet, sweet myrrh, almost honeyed. Absolutely glorious throw. But up close to the skin, there's a medicinal smell that I don't like. It gets fainter as time goes by but I'm afraid it moves Anubis into "not for me" territory; I think on the right guy, though, it could be sexily masculine, and I'm going to try it out on Mr O. I could nuzzle up to it on him, medicinal hints and all. That myrrh is really fantastic. So rich.

In the imp: Rich. Kind of sweet. Patchouli? And moss. Oh no, is that the same moss I remember from Crossroads, the one that made my sinuses scream with agony? Hm. Mayyyybe not. Whiffing the vial again, some herbal scents curl up, but sweet ones, not sharp or medicinal. On skin: The moss recedes, and pale woods emerge, maybe bark, sweeter, and almost floral. There *is* a note in common with Crossroads here, but it's smoother, sweeter, I almost think the throw has a fruitiness or floweriness to it. After 5 minutes the pale woods recede again and what's left is interesting: like a very expensive classic perfume. I'm not sure it's for me, but it might be hot on Mr O. Annnnnnd OH NO MR BILL here's the moss again and my sinuses are twitching and yes, yes, it's the same stuff as Crossroads, wash it off wash it off wash it off. Damn.

I do like frankincense and I love Les Bijoux too. It's a lovely warm peach that's not candylike, a little more sophisticated. If you're mainly after peach you may want to stick to fresh bottles/imps, because aging brings out the honey, resin and musk (I like it aged). Making it into an eau de toilette with alcohol brings out the fruity too.

Don't overlook Bathsheba. The plum is well-mannered but it adds a lot to the blend. And it stands out more when it's warmed, in, say, a tart warmer, or a hot bath.

This reminded me of the time my son poured an entire, large (like maybe an ounce) bottle of Virginia cedar essential oil in the bathtub. I was worried about the possibility for skin sensitization or rashes, so I called Poison Control. For something like 5 minutes I tried to explain to them what he had poured into the bath, with me going "It's essential oil of Juniperus virginiana" and them going "Yes, but what's in it?"

Just to point out, a scent can be entirely non-synthetic and still give someone reactions. Natural does not = innocuous. I agree that the "is it REALLY NATURAL???" question is overly weighted, myself. Essential oils, C02, absolutes ... none of that stuff is "natural" in any meaningful sense, really. It's all hundreds or thousands of times more concentrated and isolated than anything we would ever encounter in "nature" and it's every bit as processed and artificial, IMO, as extracting the fossilized remains of animals and plants from millions of years ago, refining it, and using it to make synthetics that smell good. Each plant-derived bouquet in your BPAL has a chemical-molecule name every bit as unpronounceable, daunting and chemical-sounding as any synthetic bouquet. Molecules are molecules, and they are all chemicals whether they come from a petrochemical lab or a steam distillation plant.

Very, very reminiscent of Nag Champa, but ... not. This is its own blend, not a Nag Champa knockoff, less in-your-face than NC and softer. It stayed close to the skin, but not so close as to be impossible to find without rooting around like a piggie after truffles. I enjoyed it, but it's not the scent family I wear these days -- my tastes have moved on from incense to resins.

Also called Gallows Literature. A dime novel rife with melodrama, horror, madness and cruelty; a ten cent analogy of vice and virtue in conflict. Soft perfume evocative of noir heroines over rich red grave loam. I'm so frustrated reading the reviews of earthy, spicy sexiness. I might have gotten to that stage if something in the loam accord hadn't been exactly the same as Crossroads' earth and moss, which I recently realized I'm allergic or sensitive to. I got as far as dabbing it on the crook of my elbow before my sinuses started to ache and I began sneezing, and I had to scrub it off with dish soap and wrap the imp in a plastic bag to minimize my exposure to it. Woe, woe is me and my allergies.

Prague is very pretty, a sunny floral that reminds me very much in "feel" of Eos -- a joyful scent, maybe a little softer and less bright than Eos and closer to the skin. Lovely, but not for me, as I like my florals in a supporting role only.

Well, rats, I was all ready to love this one. I got it on, though, and it smells exactly like some well-known conditioner that I have used before and can't put my finger on. (One of these days it'll come to me at 3am in bed.) I'm guessing it's the olive blossom, since I think Defututa is the only blend I've tried with that accord. It's a really hard scent to describe, kind of a sweet herbal green with a fruity-floral tang. I got zero woods, though.

Priala is just lovely! I bought a bottle unsniffed and it was the right thing to do. I love Athens in its completely dry stage, with that golden myrrh. But I really don't enjoy having to go through up to half an hour of eau de cheap wine to get to that stage. Priala is the solution to that problem! I think myrrh on me, in general, goes through a not-as-attractive stage before it dries. Priala too is a little rough around the edges, a little harsh, initially on the skin -- if I sniffed with my nose to my wrist, I didn't like her, and I was afraid that meant she would be a no go (Maybe the smoke note contributed to that harshness. I didn't get any smoke otherwise, to be honest. But I could see the rough edges on the myrrh being a scorched or charred, ashy note.) ETA: Yup! That's smoke, all right. As long as my wrists were away from my face, though, the most gorgeous, ethereal sweet, resiny scent wafted up from them and threw around like there was no tomorrow. It had me wrapped around its pinky finger and kept me from giving up on Priala prematurely. As it dried down more some very gentle, warm cinnamon emerged, not as in your face as Clemence. And still that sweetness in the background, sweet enough to make me wonder if there was honey in the blend that I'd forgotten about. It must have been a very sweet myrrh, I guess? Eventually the cinnamon faded and smooth, rich myrrh was left. And like Athens it stayed, and stayed, and stayed. I put Priala on late last night and I'm still getting a faint myrrh throw; it was on my pillow when I woke up this morning. And my wrists still have plenty of scent up close. So, if you love Athens, or if you don't like Athens because of the wine notes -- and if you love Clemence, or don't like Clemence so much because she's a little over-the-top spicy, Priala is one to try. This is Clemence taking a vacation to Athens and mellowing way out. ETA: I found out I can't apply Priala on the isnides of my elbows. I got big red blotches that itched, but fortunately went away very quickly once I washed the oil off. Sensitive skins beware! She's still fine on my wrists, my scalp, behind my ears and my collarbones. ETA2: Eventually I did become enough sensitized to the cinnamon leaf that I couldn't wear Priala anywhere without a rash. I remember her fondly and miss her so much. I might even get another bottle to heat as room scent, which is something I never do.

You know, don't shoot me, but I think Eisheth Zenunim is pretty weird. Peach and cocoa? But it works. I love it.

In the vial: oh, I smell the cocoa! It's all mixed together with the honey and the peach. It gives them a kind of velvety, "furry" edge. Slightly foody. On skin: OK, cocoa moving into the background now ... honey more evident. Peach is very very lowkey. Is there patchouli in this? There's something vegetative but not quite green and it's kind of pulling the other notes together. Aha, patchouli and neroli. The neroli really is well-behaved. The throw still has a little cocoa to it, and a brighter peach. It's almost a sugared scent, but I think that's just my brain wrapping itself around the cocoa. I really like this. It's SO unusual. Dry: there's more of the patchouli, and the ambergris. It really has a very sweet throw. But up close it's almost more like a peach wine than fresh peach. I think this is due to the ambergris toning it down, maybe it's almost salty. A while later, the dominant notes are peach, honey and ambergris. The neroli and cocoa are there, but just freshening and grounding respectively without appearing in their own rights. And then the honey comes out even more. If Les Bijoux (oh my love ) were a garden, this would be a lovely patch of wildwood. They're almost two sides of the same coin but very different from each other. I was envisioning Eisheth being heavier and warmer due to the cocoa, but now I really think it's more of a clean, light summer scent than Les Bijoux is. Les Bijoux seems like a gracious, refined scent, so Eisheth is like her unruly tomboy younger sister, always out in the fresh air by the sea. Bottle. Maybe two bottles. Yum yum yum.

In the vial this is a sweet, musky old-lady perfume. On my skin: soap! I never came across the soapiness phenomenon before, so I wonder what note does it; perhaps it's the poppy or perhaps the combination of musks, since white musk is never good on me. Patchouli? Where? Never made an appearance.

In the vial: smoky wine and vegetation. On skin: crushed leaves and twigs with an aromatic edge; if you say this is bay laurel I believe you, because I don't have any experience with bay beyond dropping a leaf in my soup pot once in a while. A subtle whiff of smoke. A slightly sour smell, which might be the honey wine. Dry: sweetens up a bit, but still no incense to speak of; is that a boozy note? The honey wine is elusive but I'm sure it's there, a "sour" note in the same way mead is "sour" on the tongue. Kind of strange and not for me.

In the vial: clean, lemony musk. On skin: very "perfumy" floral. Dry: lemon air freshener from a grocery store bathroom!

In the vial: tangy spice. My synaesthesia says "Orange". On skin: Fruity, spicy wood. Definitely an "oriental". This reminds me of something I've smelled before in a non-perfume context and it's driving me bugshit not being able to figure out what. I think, though, it has to do with cleaners. Dry: You know, the combination of honey + peppers + spices just isn't doing it for me. The weird thing is I expected a spicy scent, but I'm getting .. strange and slightly stale, like a cinnamon-scented carpet spray.

In the vial: soft and sweet, lowkey and subtle. Is that patchouli? It would be a really "clean" patchouli. Oh, I see now it's myrrh, it's a very "clean" myrrh, not spicy at all, smooth. On skin: surprisingly fresh and even a tiny bit sharp. This is really hard to pick separate notes out of, it's really well-balanced. Rounds out & blooms quickly. I thought I smelled honey, like in Hetairae, but now I see it's the ylang, which has a hint of green to it and is really blossoming. Dry: the ylang picks up a whiff of apple. It's such a light floral, not flowery or complicated, and grounded by the myrrh. Not spectacular or OMGMUSTHAVE but very, very pretty and probably a good choice for layering.

In the vial: light and fruity with maybe the slightest spice. A little powder. On skin: a bright? note overlaying soft cool woody tones. Dry: Is that berry? Pear? Is there bois du rose somewhere in this, something Endymion-like about it? It gets a bit warmer and spicier, but (not to sound like a snotty wine critic) never develops any character. It could be the scent of lotion from an overpriced bath set at the mall.

In the vial: milky vanilla? On skin: ... clean milk? The "clean" part reminds me of Dirty, a little. There is the faintest hint of something tangy or sharp. It's pleasant, but really the oddest damn smell. Dry: the vanilla emerges and overall I get the impression of clean lemony vanilla tea. Maybe the musk was in there grounding things in the background, but I didn't pick any musk up specifically. I'm not a fan of wearing "clean" scents, but this is unusual and interesting.

I've tried Snake Oil a couple of times and we just don't get along. The vanilla blends into the resins and woody notes enough to make it wearable, which is rare for me. But I've come to the conclusion that whenever Beth says "exotic spices" or something similar in there, there's a note that doesn't work on me. It's in Bien Loin d'Ici and Silk Road too, and it smells like spices all right, some kind of stale exotic cooking spices.

In the vial: golden, soft toasty, not quite sweet, slightly foodlike. Amber and something pale-woody. On the skin: The toasty scent blooms, along with a pale muskiness (not white musk, but similar to skin musk). There's something here I can't quite put my finger on and I'm going to kick myself when I go back and check the description. The foody smell melts away and it becomes more golden and melds with the skin, kicking back, getting low-key. Dry: Something like a skin musk with pale woods and the very slightest floral wisp. No vanilla, but a smoothness I associate with vanilla. It's dryer. A skin scent, which means it's really sexy, and much more well-melded, smooth and beautiful than I expected. This should be great for layering and it's really different. Three hours later: straight amber. Argh! ETA: OK, I take it back, I tried Inez on one wrist and Brisingamen on the other by way of ambery comparison. Brisingamen is much stronger on the amber on me, but still probably not straight amber, so it's easy to see that Inez dries down to vanilla, skin musk, THEN amber and maybe the tiniest hint of myrrh. Still, Inez is a lot like like Brisingamen's sweet blonde cousin.

I tested this on purpose without refreshing my memory as to the note descriptions. I'm not familiar with any of the notes named for this one, though (except for sandalwood and that can vary so wildly anyway) so I don't think it made much of a difference this time. In the vial: sweet and very similar to Sri Lanka. On the skin: the woods of Sri Lanka with something green, sweet and mildly camphoraceous. It's not my thing, but it definitely evokes cool fresh mountain air and the sweetness suggests the incense in the description. This is sort of like Sri Lanka's minty green cousin.

I tested this on purpose without refreshing my memory as to the note descriptions. In the vial: peppery, spicy, warm. Clove and cinnamon? Something else spicy, is there allspice in this? Wet: The briefest moment of HELLO THAR BLACK PEPPER. Then, clove going softer and warmer. Continues to soften. A little sweet -- something floral? Doesn't seem to change much, just kind of puts roots down. I think there's supposed to be some other note in here that was important to me, what was it? Dry: oh yeah, there's carnation in this, that's what was missing! Woot! Lovely spicy warm rich carnation. Just the tiniest edge from the black pepper. Sultry. It continues to mellow as time goes by. OK, now I've read the notes again: The spiciness in the beginning must have been cardamom. And now that I know there's patchouli, I think I can pick it out in there, emerging as the drydown mellows, being a supporting character and making the carnation sort of a "dirty carnation" as opposed to a sweet or creamy carnation. I'm not the biggest fan of patchouli qua patchouli, but it actually does a pretty damn good job of anchoring the whole thing. Before the patchouli emerged, it was kind of ... unfinished? Like, "nice smell, but not quite perfume". The patchouli connects it to my skin somehow. I like this. It's really nice. I haven't fallen in love with it, but I might given a little time. I really like carnation, but I'm not sure it's me. ETA: apparently I have a problem with reviewing scents too soon because I'm all excited. As Clemence continues to dry down the patchouli does get stronger, becoming maybe as prominent as the carnation. The tea starts to peek its head out as well. However, it's still really balanced and pretty, and maybe even more wearable than when it was all carnation coming on strong.