tartchef

In the imp & wet, Autumn Coolness is decidedly funky, an odd mashup of perfumed bamboo & the clove-y cassia buds... there's something faintly tangy & salty in there, too, like a bit of sea water. Things blend a bit better as it dries, the bamboo deepens & the cassia recedes, letting the florals float up. I don't wear florals as a rule, but this is very serene & botanical - very much capturing a sheltered garden surrounded by a wall of bamboo swaying in the breeze... the clouds are low, and there's a damp coolness to the air keeping the scent of the blossoms from getting too cloying. Lovely. Worth a partial bottle, I think... Akin to the original Dragon Moon, Caliban and Tanuki, but with an added trace of spice, for anyone interested. ETA: Left to age for a few weeks, Autumn Coolness is much smoother... the funkiness is gone, as is the initial sharpness - it goes straight to lovely damp bamboo & faintly spiced orchids, lush & succulent. Delightful!

I'd put off reviewing this for several months - the hot summer made a scent this heavy & smoky sound unbearable... now the weather's shifted, this is perfect... In the bottle, Contract of Theophilus is very similar to the Cracked Bell & Scherezade - red musk & incense, thick & heady. On my skin, the parchment note really takes off, and the daemonorops come out to play. As a rule, dragon's blood is a disaster with my chemistry, but through some miracle, I can wear daemonorops very happily - it adds a dry reedy note, faintly perfumed but perfectly wearable. The brimstone is barely there, a trace of grit, that's all. CoT ends up an even-tempered, dry red musk - very bookish & esoteric. I wish the benzoin came out just a bit more - I'd like a bit more sweetness. That said, I'll happily hold onto my dribble-in-a-bottle

Urp. PineSol & pee. Very, very bad on me... shame, too, because I wear patchouli well & dig the smell of juniper...

Oh man... take out the pumpkin & we'd have something here. The Lab's pumpkin tends to go super buttery & cloying on me, and is drowning out a gorgeous mango & myrrh combination. It's hiding there, fruity & rich & spicy, but then someone comes along & plunks down a tall stack of pancakes The faux maple burns off eventually, but by then, the freshness of the mango's faded, leaving a non-descript candle-shop-spice scent. Phooey.

This year's Pumpkin IV is the perfect counterpart to last year's V - both are very edible, but in a rich, glittering, opulent way. The cherry tobacco & aromatic woods really sell this for me - they combine into a fruity resin that cuts through the cloying butteriness of the pumpkin. The smoked vanilla is friggin' spectacular, the honey barely a whisper. No sign of the sage, unless it's hiding in with the pine & cedar. Festive in an elegant way, without any campy Weenieness This might unseat 2007's Pumpkin V as my favorite of Beth's pumpkin blends - whereas V was all scarlet & gold brocade, this year's IV is a voluptuous smoking jacket in deep burgundy satin, embroidered in burnished copper & gold that picks up the light of the jack o' lanterns

Woo! A wet slap of maple-brown sugar oatmeal, with a handful of walnuts thrown in... there's a trace of clean, sweet carrot & a bit of hay, maddening because it's getting drowned out by the super-foody notes. As it dries, there's a bit of apple peel & musk peeking out. I don't normally like the extremely edible scents, but this is nice... don't know that I'd ever wear it, though. EAT: Oh plurrrrb. It's the same musk as in Ivanushka - lovely at first, but ultimately exploding into Powder of DOOM on my skin.

The mention of blood made me hesitate to try this, but I needn't have worried. I always assume it means dragon's blood, but if there's any in John Barleycorn, it's not the usual note. Instead of lilac-scented toilet cleaner, I'm getting a hint of pure cherry - just a drop of clear candy red. Over it is layered a really warm, hearth-&-home scent - to my nose, it's digestive biscuits, a wad of Cherry Cavendish and crackling logs in a stone fireplace Not exactly the sinister, bloody scrum I was expecting... it's Dear Old Dad, in from the fields & having a puff & a biscuit before supper. There might be a finger of whiskey at his elbow, but he's largely forgotten about it. Not overly masculine or boozy, but very paternal & comforting. ETA: Ah. Starting to get the barley now, and a lovely toasted spent grain note Might have to get a bottle of this for our home-brewing neighbor...

What?! How have I never reviewed this?! I've tried both years, and 2006 is fantastic - cinnamon bark, dry & woody, and an amazing sugared boozey musk The musk is the real star, a high cool musk with just a trace of heat in the very back, like spiced white rum over ice. As it dries down, the musk warms up a bit, and there's just a trace of smoke in with the spices. A fun, rowdy scent, but all in good fun I get more compliments on Devil's Night than just about anything else in my collection - from men, especially. The word "edible" gets used a lot (For the sake of contrast, 2005 is, to my nose, a pale imitation - no booze or smoke, just mild-mannered sugar & a touch of warm, non-descript musk. Very... nice. Not what I want, at all )

It can't be more than a year old - the Retail-Only Salons came out in October of last year, I believe. I did some decanting when they first came out, and I remember El Amor being pretty funky in the bottle - and it was one that I had to roll very well to get the layers to blend. In short, don't let the separation phase you - it just means that some components are thicker/heavier than others. Have you skin-tested it? I've had the rancid oil scent happen only a few times - and only once was the oil actually bad once it was on my skin. That said, if the decant was somehow contaminated before you recieved it, you may well have a stinker on your hands

Samhain 2006, I believe... I was expecting patchouli & like WHOA, but Samhain's actually a very subdued scent. Festive, but in a quietly merry sort of way, a few friends huddled round the bonfire roasting apples. There's a note that initially wrinkles my nose - something vaguely salty & sweaty. It's not objectionable, per se, just unexpected. The fir, woods & clove are predominant, but as it dries down, the apple steps forward - tart & juicy, a Pippin, not a Delicious. The extended dry down is a lovely blend of fermented apples, deep herby evergreen, and an amazing spiced honey... I think it's the pumpkin my nose is interpreting as honey... ETA: 2 things... One, is there myrrh in here? Because after about 6 hours, that's what I started getting - apples & myrrh It was lovely! Two, holy long wear, Bat Man! I can still smell it this morning, nearly 20 hours later! It's just a faint wash of evergreen & apple, but still The Yum. I was just going to be content with my decant, but a few more tests & this may become a bottle want...

Check it out! Spice Me, Baby! Lots of good stuff in there, but it hasn't been bumped in a while to reflect the new batches of LEs.... Off the top of my head, Bengal, Plunder, Morocco, Shub-Niggurath & Silk Road are all good GC choices - spicy, but not foody, per se. Clemence is lovely & clove-y, Mama-Ji & Bezoar are two totally different takes on cardamon, and for my money, Devil's Night '06 is worth tracking down - gloriously spicy with a bit of smoke & musk & booze

Oof. Too green even for me. The initial wet stage is bracing eucalyptus & perhaps geranium, with a trace of sweetness & of something faintly cedary. Left to dry down, though, Belladonna veers wildly into pine-cleaner territory. Sort of a Simple Green-PineSol blend. If I were being terribly decadent & making BPAL-scented cleaning spray, it wouldn't be half bad - an industrious, strip-out-the-cobwebs scent. But to wear? No thank you - Pain & Winter Holiday Stress Relief are better behaved on my skin... ETA: Blarg. There's a trace of vetiver in here. The one I can't wear because it amps to screaming high heaven & gives me a headache. Big fat thumbs down, I'm afraid.

Mmm, rounder & sweeter than I was expecting... GSoW is a lovely deep mandarin orange & chocolate scent - a more masculine version of Xiuhtecuhtli, perhaps. The mandarin is a bit candied, almost chewy - the tonka, perhaps... The red musk/cocoa/tea/tobacco combination is really yummy, utterly edible without veering too much into the realm of foody. The earlier reviews had me a bit wary, but the sword plays very nicely with my skin.

(Generous frimp from clover ) I put off trying Hastur for ages, for some reason thinking it was a heavy vetiver scent Now I'm trying it, I'm a bit peeved at myself for waiting so long. Much less oppressive than I'd expected, Ligur's a faintly perfumed haze of sassafrass-y labadnum, with just enough smoke & bitterness to keep it interesting. A bit masculine, but not man-fume by any stretch. Traces of cedar waft in & out, and the overall feel is shadowy & close... like hiding in the dark corner of an attic, in amongst the cedar chests. There's a thick layer of incense dust over everything, and scorch marks on the wooden floor. Someone's been calling demons - not hideously evil demons, but dry-witted demons who will quietly talk you in circles until you unwittingly damn yourself...

Oh, those are awesome!

yes! that's the one. now to figure out the name of it...and i believe you're right, it's joan of arc. thanks!!!! She's the Anima Sola, actually....

Ahhhhhh. That's better. The weather's suddenly shifted to cool & rainy, and I can start rifling through my BPAL box & unearthing all my fall favorites: Chrysanthemum Moon - you are absolutely right, ivyandpeony, it's even better having sat for a few months! Spicy burgundy mums, dead leaves & dark brown velvet.... Death of Autumn - that which proved I can wear vetiver! Bitter & leafy... Devil's Night '06 - not '05, strangely. Fresh musk, dry cinnamon bark & a bit of bourbon! Pumpkin #5 from 2007 - not one I wear a lot, but when I'm ready for something heavy & foody, it fits the bill without being too cloying. Wezwanie/Hold - smoky honey & hazelnut nyomnyomnyom.... sorry. Drifted off there. Sri Lanka - for those chilly but blazingly-bright fall days, clear fresh resins & incense on a high mountain breeze. Scherezade - for rainy cold days spent curled up with a good book, all cozy musk & sandalwood incense. Queen Alice - hot cider & a huge woolly sweater, incredibly cozy & comforting Newer acquisitions I'm eager to break out: Lunar Eclipse, Valentine of Rome, Clemence, Hand of Glory, No. 93 Engine, A Bold Bluff... Looking forward to the new round of Weenies, especially Blade of Grass, Pumpkin IV (cherry tobacco!), Fearful Pleasure & Ichabod Crane Yep. Autumn's my favorite season - can you tell?

For me, it's Inez - as soon as I tested my decant, I started looking at the clock... is DH home yet? How about now?! Where can we stash the kid for an hour?!

Another thumbs-up for Queen Alice - the cider/carnation combination is lovely, like a big cozy sweater... I'm also reaching for No. 93 Engine a lot - it's spicy & warm, but not overpowering, the lemon & sage keeping it bright. If the lemon turns you off, try Sri Lanka - a similar resiny incense blend but without the citrus, it reminds me of a bright, bracing morning high in the mountains. Other GC contenders: Defututa (the jasmine might be tricky, but the champaca/honey/olive blossom combo is stunning), The Lion (glorious tea & spice & amber), Shub-Niggurath (hot ginger & deep resins) & Antikythera Mechanism (the teak/vanilla combo is sooooo warm & cozy, but very unusual).

I've been on a blackberry kick lately, but I don't know that Bewitched will be added to my arsenal... Wet, there's a faint ammonia whiff - the blackberry & sage together. It faded immediately, thank heavens, and I'm left with a very mild scent that's oscillating between an oily herbiness & cool fruity tea. With some sniffs, the greet tea really comes out, chilly & clean. Then the sage kicks in, oily & almost unctuous. The blackberry lilts along, buoyed by what is actually a very light musk - not white musk, but in that same vein. A strange scent, not unpleasaant, but very hard to pin down... After an hour or so, an odd artificial note pops out - Berry Breeze Glade, or some such, a very aerosol-like note that really wrecks things. ETA: OK, the icky air freshener note has burned off, and we're back to a really lovely blackberry & green tea blend, sweet & fresh, with a trace of the herby green sage to ground the lot. Still not a keeper for me, but no longer a potential wash-off.

Does anyone agree? Disagree? Have any other recs? ...And are the retail-only salons still available? I thought they'd gone away? Sorry to be ignorant Yes, they are, Lumina! They are, as far as I know, a permanent addition to the BPALiverse I've heard that Lucifer & Tarot: Death are very similar, so it sounds like a good plan to track some down...

Yep! The layout's a bit different, but the font & scarecrow are the same....

I was lucky enough to get to try the original prototype of SGA ages ago - it was nice enough, a cool, almost mentholy apple, with an odd dryer-sheet note on the drydown. When reviews started coming in for the released version, I thought it'd be worth comparing the two... The released version of SGA is even sharper & cleaner that the prototype, with a bracing, nearly alcoholic top note (I totally get the Aquavit vibe mentioned in an earlier review). The apple is true & just gorgeous - juicy & tart, you can almost feel the crispness of the flesh on your tongue, & there'a a fantastic bitter "peel" note in there, too. After a bit, an icy white musk emerges. It's just a hair on the masculine side, not Manfume exactly but edging that way - phoo. There's a hint of hot steel, of all things, lurking just at my wrists - like a sword with an electric current run through it O_o It's really interesting, but not my thing at all. I knew SGA wouldn't be a must-have for me, but I'm glad I got to try the real deal.

I promised myself I wasn't going to get all aflutter about the seasonals, and was doing just. fine. until the reviews for L'Autunno Atmosphere spray started rolling in... Lucky for me, another forumite was looking for a good home for hers, and so I pounced... Oh baby. This does not disappoint. I see the similarities to October, but to my nose, it's more akin to Death of Autumn - that deep, bitter leaf-mold scent with just a hint of far-off smoke. The tea note is amazing, bracing & tannic... the fig is very faint, adding a bit of sweet fullness that nudges L'Autunno away from being just black & bitter. I love that this is not "festive" - it's not all pumpkins & apples & gingham... it's Morrissey & wooly black turtlenecks & a thermos of tea shared by the bonfire... ETA: Holy staying power, Batman! I gave my (admittedly tiny) office 2 little squirts yesterday afternoon - when I opened the door this morning, I was greeted by the fantastic scent of dried leaves & tea

A white-hot, blazingly bright summer day - a fitting day to review the Midday Sun My nose must be on strike - Ahathoor is a much milder, fainter scent than I'd expected... I smell the oil, but not the scent, if that makes sense... Once it's dried down a bit, there's a faint waft of lemony resin, almost a watermark-version of Bezoar, translucent & vague. Definitely a bit of frankincense, and something almost vanilla/coconutty... benzoin, maybe? And still that oily feel - strangely, it's not at all unpleasant... it's rather like I was rubbed down with scented grapeseed oil, instead of just having applied a few drops of perfume... Ahathoor isn't a strong scent, by any means, but it's really growing on me - it's very wearable on a hot, stinky day, grounding & meditative without amping to high heaven with the heat. ETA: Ooo. The late dry-down? Extra-dry ginger ale!