steffanina

Alice- In Bottle: Very lightly floral, a trace aquatic, and just a touch of something warm and sugary-tea-like. Wet: Milky sugary bloom with a touch of citrus. Yes, definitely something lemony coming out. Dry: Oh, dear, this one is just going bad on my skin. You know that "perfume gone sour/plastic/off" thing? Happens sometimes. Feels like the bottle's sat on the shelf and gone to rot, except it's my chemistry and not the perfume's fault. Overall: Not good for me.

Queen of Spades- In Bottle: A grape smell, but I think it's the plum. Sweet, nice. Wet: Mmm, dark dark fruit smell. Dry: This is intensely sweet and dark and a little cloying on me. Not completely unpleasant! I'm sure lots of people find this just right. Overall: Not quite for me.

Bathsheba- In Bottle: Carnation, definitely, and a hint of fruit, which must be the plum. Wet: Mmm, sweet floral. I like how the carnation is tempered by the fruit. Dry: What a pretty floral! I didn't think I liked carnation all that much, but this really works for me. Overall: I like!

The Pit and the Pendulum- In Bottle: Cedar, sandalwood. I think! Wet: Mm, I like the sandalwood! Large bloom of that on my skin, but there's something more. Something more woody than just sandalwood. Dry: This got a little cedar-intense on me, and I'm not as partial to cedar. It evokes too many hamster-cage visions. Overall: Not for me.

Black Phoenix- (Signature scent, huh? Here goes.) In Bottle: Smells exactly like the Jergens' lotion standard cherry-almond scent! Wet: Yup, cherry almond. Dry: This didn't linger long. Oh, well! Overall: Quick fader, too bad.

Has No Hanna- In Bottle: A smell that I think of as "perfumey"--floral and rich and cloying. Wet: At first a sour note, then something woody. Spice...the scent of burnt plastic, too. Dry: Put simply, this plus me equals not a fan. It smells like perfume gone off. I'd like to know what goes into this so that I can figure out what that sour/plastic/off thing that works badly with my chemistry is. I'm having to wash this off and it's only been 15 minutes. Overall: Not good for me.

Paris- In Bottle: Hmm! I smell clove, and what must be the lightness of the lavender. Wet: A hint of something citrus--no, wait, I think that's just the lavender. And spices, yes. Dry: Hm, this just doesn't work for me. It's an uninteresting muddle of nondescript after just a few minutes. Overall: Uninteresting. Not for me.

O- In Bottle: HONEY. Honey honey honey rich vanilla honey. Wet: Sweetish, and then the honey blooms full again. Yum. Dry: Rich delicious sweet vanilla honey. Another one of the "honest" scents for me, like Whip and Depraved--the same in the bottle and the wet and the dry-down. Yippee! Overall: I love.

Mitzvah- In Bottle: Caramelized sugar! Exactly! Wet: Mmm, delicious. Lovely caramel scent, dark and rich. Worries me that it'll go musty, but I'll watch and see. Dry: It does not go musty, eee! It's not so darkly caramel, turns a bit soft and sugary, but it's lovely. I will try this and compare it with Sugar Skull one of these days and see how they measure up. Overall: I love.

Lurid- In Bottle: A sharp cologne-y aquatic note. Wet: A bit more sweetly fruity! Cherry-like. And the white musk is coming out and that's pretty too. Dry: Cherry-powder! Like wearing Kool-Aid on your skin without all that sneezy dust! And there's that soft soft hint of white musk mellowing it from under. Oh, this is delicious. I love it. Overall: I love. Added 5/8/07: Addendum: I'm wearing Lurid today and we are not agreeing. I don't know why, but what smelled like cherries and white musk before smells like baby powder and plastic and sour orange baby aspirins today. Ugh. I think I will have to take this off my favorites list and put it in the "conditionals." Too bad.

Enraged Bunny Musk- In Bottle: Oh, very pretty and lightly floral. Very clean-smelling. A bit powdery and citrusy. Wet: The citrus comes out a bit more. Kind of orange-cherry. Very nice! Dry: I like the orange-cherry-ness of this. There's something powdery-weedy on the edge of it that nearly comes close to provoking sneezes for me, but it doesn't. Interesting, pretty scent. Overall: I like quite a bit.

The Candy Butcher- In Bottle: Sweetly lightly chocolate. Smells delicious. Unfortunately I know chocolate has invariably gone musty on me. We'll see. Wet: Oh, that's lovely. Such a light chocolate, and with huge amounts of vanilla in it! It's like vanilla and chocolate ice creams in the same dish. I would so love it if this scent didn't go musty on me. Dry: It's not going musty. IT'S NOT GOING MUSTY. It's like vanilla and milk now, and sweet and delicious and I'm almost fainting with happiness. Overall: I'm ecstatic. Will have to get a larger bottle of this for keeps.

Scarecrow- In Bottle: A hot screaming floral. Like I just tortured a flower to its last breath. There's something really familiar about this in the bottle. Some fruit scent. Wet: This is like...the nicest nail polish remover ever made. Made to be as non-noxious and floral-fruity as they could. Dry: Wow. Ozone and hot and, like I said. Like the nicest nail polish remover ever. Yet not acetone-headachey like Arachne was. Remarkable. This is more of a novelty scent but I'm so glad I tried it. Overall: More of a novelty but neat.

The Hanging Gardens- In Bottle: Froooooty floral. Sweet and yummy! Wet: Strong sweet fruity burst. Dry: Hmm, this is a pleasant fruit/floral scent but...it doesn't really grab me or make me want to keep sniffing for more. I can't pick out any one thing in the blend to pique my interest. Overall: Nice but not extraordinary.

Titus Andronicus- In Bottle: Mm, spicy-sweet and musky. Not too cologne-y; sweeter and richer than that. Wet: Strongly musky but in a good rich way. Dry: What a great dry-down this is. This is such a comforting musk. This is the aging general, home from the war and taking his wife to bed after three years' absence. I don't know if I'll wear it a lot but this is definitely a keeper. Overall: Conditionally like but like a LOT.

Milk Moon- In Bottle: Mint and butter! Very much like Snowblind, but lighter. Wet: The butter recedes and now it's like mint and sugar. Dry: The buttery note reemerges; it's not as pepperminty as Snowblind but it is soft and richly buttermint. And no mustiness on me! A pretty candy-like scent; have to watch that it doesn't border on cloying, but I love how it doesn't go musty and I think it'll be really versatile for me. Overall: I really like.

Kingsport: In Bottle: Pleasant, salty aquatic. Wet: Aquatic, smells a lot like Pool of Tears, but a little more lemony. Dry: Sigh. I want so much to like aquatics more. I keep thinking I should! I love water, I love the sea, I love beaches...what's my problem? But they are all a little sharp and eye-watering for me, and I will have to use them in limited quantity. This is not the fault of this scent, though--it's a nice aquatic, though Sea of Glass is presently my favorite aquatic. Overall: A strong aquatic; a little strong for me.

Black Annis- Okay, I have to explain this one. I received a package with a scent I'd ordered, and as I was opening the package there was dampness on the scent bottle. It smelled appalling. I knew it didn't smell like what I'd ordered--I opened the bottle and confirmed that wasn't it. And the smell was absolutely horrible. I started to think a cat had had an accident on it, though I'm honestly not sure what cat musk smells like. But it was the closest I could come. And then I found that the person who'd sent my package had included a couple of gift imps in the package, not so carefully wrapped, and one was Black Annis, and the stopper was cracked and it had leaked. As soon as I handled it I knew that was what it was. I feel awful saying this about any of BPAL's scents, but, my god, there are people who like this? Reading the blurb on Black Annis and the reviews here, I'm guessing it's the civet that puts me off. I actually put the scent on my wrist to see, because I harbored thoughts that maybe, just maybe, the scent got better once it was on the skin. And you know what? It did, a little. The licorice of the scent came out more. But licorice-scented cat musk still ain't no bed of roses (and I say that as someone who doesn't care for florals all that much). And then I took a bath, because I didn't think I could bear to live with it any longer. If I'd had another imp of this I wouldn't even have bothered to re-cap or clean and re-label this imp, but it was the only one I had and it looks like some people do like it, so...it will go to swaps once I start swapping. At least I got an interesting learning experience out of it. (Wouldn't it be a hoot if it became an acquired taste of mine? I am...curious to see what the dry-down would have been like.) (And an interesting afternote: I took the saturated label and had someone else smell it, and they said, "Not too bad. Kind of nice." Go figure!) ETA, Oct 6 2006: I have decided I will not swap this one. I need to keep this around just for the sheer, "Dude. You gotta smell THIS," effect. Including on myself.

Serpent's Kiss- In Bottle: Sweet and wood-spicy; interesting. I wonder how this will be, mixed with the Dragon's Blood, which I always think of as sweetly powdery? Wet: Mm, lovely! A little chocolate and a little clove mixed with sweetness. And maybe a little cinnamon too. Very pretty and rich! Dry: Hmm, this dries down to something not as pretty as it was wet. On me the powdery scent of the Dragon's Blood with the clove scent just did not dry down nicely--it was a little odd, a little wrong. Not quite cloying, but not quite right. Overall: Not friendly on the dry-down.

Suspiro- In Bottle: Prominent florals--I think that's the ylang-ylang, though I'm not sure. Wet: Woo, hot ozone-y floral. I do think that's how I identify ylang-ylang. Sweet, though. Dry: A pleasant floral--not too hot and ozone-y once the dry-down comes, but sweet and aggressive. Overall: Nice, but not too interesting for me, being a floral.

Ultraviolet- In Bottle: Eucalyptus at first, but then a buttery mint is more prominent. Wet: Ooh, I smell the violets there too! And then the tea-tree oil pushes behind it, all hard-edged. Very interesting! A little sinus-clearing, but neither eye-watering nor sneeze-inducing, which is good. Dry: Ultimately the violet of this wins out. It's a strong violet scent, and I'm pleased to have something that smells strongly of violets as I find violets one of the most interesting florals. This is a conditional scent for me, but I do like it. Overall: Conditionally like.

Bewitched- (I just read the blurb on this--that's so funny, I was just looking for blackberry sage scented products this morning! Wild.) In Bottle: Mm, very sweet and rich and fruit-floral! Wet: Brightly fruity. I can't tell if it's blackberry but it's nice. Dry: Not aggressive; dries down to a very pleasant scent. I want to use this one in things like sachets for cupboards and the like! Overall: Very nice, useful scent!

Sloth- In Bottle: Woodsy, sharp, men's cologne-like. Wet: Sweetish, woody. I hope the sharpness dies down because I think I could like this one. Dry: I like the notes in this--I think vetiver usually does work for me--but you know what? I'm spoiled. I've been spoiled by Beth's more complex vetiver blends, and so this scent seems a little simple for me! So I will probably not use this one a lot but it's because I like other of her vetiver blends more. Overall: Simple and nice but not a frequent flyer for me.

Coconut- In Bottle: This is a nice coconut smell like coconut water; not cloying and lush like some tropical-scented tanning lotion Wet: A little creamier once it's on the skin. Coconutty and sweet and very nice! Dry: This is very nice; I keep getting the impression of the lovely coconut water/juice you drink straight out of the coconut. It's a little sweet but it's still yummy and pretty. Overall: I like!

Embalming Fluid- In Bottle: Ooh, I love how sweet and light and pretty this is. I can't really detect the white musk yet but I'm looking to see if it shows up on my skin. Wet: Lemon jumps out at me, but soft like lemon-and-sugar tea; nothing like lemon furniture polish. Dry: A very pretty scent, perhaps a little sweet. I like the white musk note in it. Overall: Conditionally like; a little sweet.