bookofblues

In the bottle: mostly chocolate, slightly reminiscent of Boomslang...my all-time favorite! On the skin: Interesting. The chocolate has literally disappeared. Incense and a salty,astringent aquatic note sweetened up by what I assume is what remains of the chocolate. After it warms up: This is still mostly aquatics and incense with the chocolate warming it up now. Drydown: Incense on top, chocolate base. Love this! I'd have to say my top three chocolate scents have been altered: Boomslang is still unquestionably #1, then Cthulhu in Love, then Purple label 13 (chocolate + catnip).

just got my Piper at the Gates of Dawn 5ml. It's still cold and not well settled from travel, but I've got to try it out. In the bottle it's orange and pine and resin (perhaps the patchouli and amber?). On the skin...it smells just like the bath, beauty, and medicinal herb aisle at an Indian grocery. Very odd, and it is growing on me by the minute. Wow. Truly unique, in a wearable way.

I just got my bottle of "Gunpowder" in the mail yesterday. Here's a quick and dirty review: In the bottle: sweet apple oatmeal with a hint of something heady (most likely hay). On the skin: The apple recedes almost immediately, but it's still got a warm, oatmeal smell that is somehow not too foody. It's fresh and sweet. Reminds me of fall, and the fair, and hayrides somehow. Drydown: Slightly musty, sweet, oatmeal and molasses, with a touch of hay. Man, do I dig this scent!

How could I have forgotten to review Diwali? This is such a wonderful goodie! In the bottle: very rich but not foody, unsweet almond and a faint but not unpleasant incensy floral backround. On the skin: I love how this warms up. It may just be the power of suggestion, but this scent brings back memories of the 1/2 year I spent in southern India. Cashews and incense! A hint of tartness from the tamarind. Sandalwood keeps this scent light on me. There's almost a honeyed sweetness under it too. I'm not sure where that comes from. Very complex and evocative. As it fades: Cashew butter and nag champa (even though it's not listed as a note). Definitely a keeper!

I got this as a freebie in a swap, and am hesitant to give it a good sniff. Florals are *not* my friends. In the imp: Soapy lilac, with a sweet undertone. That might be the cedar. Very perfumey. I think I'm picking up a bit of lily. On me: Holy strong perfume! This stuff is potent. It might just be that I'm sensitive to florals, but this is way too much lilac for me to handle. Sharp and perfumey. I'm hoping the other notes will start coming out. After a bit: Not as strong,but still a soapy floral. No cedar or frankincense notes. Mainly lilac and lily. Bummer. Nicely done, but not for me.

I've had my unloved imp of the Candy Butcher sitting around for about a year now. Initially, it smelled like very artificial chocolate on my skin, similiar to a scratch and sniff sticker or the old hot cocoa scented lip balms that came out around Xmas. Not bad, just not what I was hoping would happen there. It's definitely better in the imp than on me; sort of a sweet almost nutty chocolate. I wanted to try it again now after it's been aging. The latest review I read made me reaaaally wish again that this scent would work on me. It still smells good in the imp, so here goes... Damn. I still get an artificial, almost plasticy smell from it. It's not unpleasant though. Just not for me.

In the imp: Musty and sweet and a tiny touch of something vaguely medicinal. Very "wet" or "damp" smelling, if that makes any sense. On me after 10 minutes: Wow! Brown sugar and violet! This is a dead ringer for Love Potions Raven Moon 2008 on me. I mean, they could be twins. Neat! Very nice after dry-down. I'm glad I wasn't put off from the initial sniff. Too similiar with my chemistry to the previously mentioned scent for me to hunt down a bottle, but lovely nonetheless.

Here we go. The quick and dirty on White Phoenix for me. Cool floral. Very floral. Definitely some sweetness to it. I think this one is waaaaay too perfumey, but I had to try it. Dries down pretty much all flowers and disappears in about 2 hours. Not for me, but perfect for the friend who let me try it.

This is an odd one on me. I get primarily teak and sweet cream. Maybe amber is giving it the teensy bit of delicate spice I get from it? It warms nicely too. This is a very comforting scent. The husband likes it as well. My only complaint is that it doesn't last very long at all. In an hour...gone. Quite nice though. Might have to hunt some of this down.

My husband confiscated this imp as soon as he smelled it. I agree with his assessment that this is "kinder, gentler, but similiar in feel to Arcana's 'Guy Fawkes'". I mainly pick up a heavy dose of seriously smokey vetiver, autumn leaves, and a sweet almost molasses-like patchouli. This scent is definitely one of the more masculine ones I've tried, but I'd wear it too. About 2 or 3 hours, it's still faintly on the skin. Definitely a keeper.

I think this scent is a lovely, cool evergreen sweetened by juniper berry. Juniper and pine are the primary scents I get from Wolf Moon, plus whatever is making it cool to the nose. I think there's a faint powdery sweetness of sandalwood here. I really like this scent, and I find it to be very unisex as well. My husband however, says it smells like Christmas potpourri. Bummer.

All the depth, beauty, and darkness of All Hallows Eve. Truly, the scent of autumn itself -- damp woods, fir needle and black patchouli with the gentlest touches of warm pumpkin, clove, nutmeg, allspice, sweet red apple and mullein. I get mainly apple cider with mulling spices, a bit of patchouli, an "autumn leaves" type crispness, and something that almost smells like smokey vetiver. That might be the pine and patchouli playing off of each other. Warming up on the skin, this is essentially unchanged until it fades away. I don't really get any pumpkin at all, which is the only bummer about this scent. I really should have gotten a bottle of this.

Wow. This is a thick, syrupy chocolate. It reminds me of a good cup of coffee heavily, and I do mean heavily, laced with Hershey's syrup and cinnamon. Or maybe Abuelita drinking chocolate. I get a toasty undertone too, maybe from the coffee. I don't really pick up a brown sugar note at all. This is beautiful and sweet as it warms up, and I am lamenting that I did not get a bottle. I *want* this scent. Definitely an A+. A few hours later, and I can still smell the chocolatey goodness!

This is not exactly what I was expecting. In the bottle it's an almost salty sweet hazelnut with a slight quality of burnt sugar to it. On my skin it becomes almost pure hazelnut, not terribly sweet but pleasant. Then, after a few minutes it smells almost like cigarette ashes. I made it through this stage,barely. In about 10 minutes more it's back to hazelnut again. After 2 hours, I get the faintest smell of hazelnut on my skin. I think this one will be passed on. Smelled better in the imp than on me.

I grabbed this one in an auction to give to my husband. It sounded perfect for him. In the bottle: All wine. Uh oh. Freshly on my wrist: Spices are coming out, almost piney with a bit of bitter resin too. Wine still predominates. Dry and warm: Much more cold, with a medicinal quality. There's something in here that reminds me of Medicine Show. Definitely a masculine scent. I sadly don't pick up the ivy or burnt grasses that I was so excited about. Fading: a little craft store candle-y. Still nice though. On my husband ..... well, he thinks it smells like Robitussin. I'll probably send this one to the swaps.

Fairy Market is a straight floral on me initially. I really want to smell the sugar and incense, because I don't do well with light florals. They tend to amp like crazy, become perfumey, and make me sneeze. As it warms, I pick up a tiny bit of sweetness. Then it fades again and the floral tone remains. I think this scent would be beautiful on someone lacking my chemistry. I wanted very badly to love Fairy Market. Sadly, it goes in the swap pile.

In the bottle: a very caramel-y amber. Sweet, rich, and sticky. On the skin: the saffron really comes out. This is the same quality I adore in Baghdad. Think Baghdad mixed with The Lion. Sweet, warm amber and exotic spices. Almost edible. Fades away slowly, becoming powdery at first. Gone in 2 hours. I am so glad I ordered a bottle of this. The perfect amber for me!

Oh my. In the bottle: Serious Chocolate, lightly spiced. A hint of woodiness. On the skin: A beautiful complex cocoa scent which is reminiscent of my beloved 13 (April 07), but without the mintiness. A sharp, almost alcoholic quality as it lingers in the nose. This is intriguing, and very addictive. I can't stop sniffing! Drydown and fade: Cinnamon and Tootsie Rolls! But in a good way! I love this stuff. Very sexy. I think it would be wonderfully enhanced by layering after a shower with Villianess "Black Out". Mmmmmmm. Must get a big bottle before the Carnaval leaves.

In the bottle this is an amazingly sharp ginger! Very dry, with maybe some black pepper underneath. Masculine and not the least bit sweet. The ginger simply overpowers everything else. This is an *angry* ginger. On the skin, musk comes out a little, and there's a spiciness, maybe from patchouli. Ginger still overpowers though. My husband has already claimed this one for himself and squirrelled it away somewhere. Not for me, but very sexy on him.

I just got Vinland as a frimp. It's definitely not the sort of scent that I'd usually go for, so I'm very curious and don't know quite what to expect. This is a very cold floral. Maybe one of the coldest scents I've tried yet. It's got several floral notes I can't quite identify, but they work very well together. The loganberry is intriguing as well. This is the first berry or fruity scent that hasn't smelled like a Yankee Candle on me! It blends well with the flowers but doesn't overwhelm. Vinland is a very well crafted, lovely scent. It just isn't for me, but it's so much more than I expected!

In the imp and on the skin, Selkie is a light watery floral which is slightly reminiscent of Blue Moon on me. There's something stronger in this one though, and whatever that is makes me sneeze. Repeatedly. I'm trying to get an unbiased strong sniff, but it's difficult. The stronger, sharp floral undertone is probably what's doing it. A nice scent to be sure, but I'm glad I didn't get 5mL of this one. For the swaps!

I'm immediately hit by how damp this scent is. It's floral, to be sure, but I also pick up dark soil, moss, damp wood. A very "walking through the forest" scent. There is just a subtle hint of amber here that works beautifully to spice it up without becoming spicy and some assorted complex florals that I can't pick out note for note. There's so much going on with this scent. Very green. I usually don't like florals except for lotus and violet, but this one is a definite 5mL Wishlist addition.

I adore violets, absolutely. I had very high expectations for Faith. In the imp, sugary! Extremely so, with a hint of violet. Like my favorite violet pastilles. Too sweet for me, actually. I was hoping for violet with a sprinkling of sugar, not the reverse. So, let's try it on. Hrm....still very, very sweet. I'd imagine violet cake frosting to be like this. As it fades, just a vague sweetness. I'm trying to smell the violet at this point and it's not happening. It is lovely, sweet and evocative of innocence though. This scent will be good for the girly girls. I still maintain Sybaris as the ultimate BPAL violet though.

Very green, sweet, and mossy for me with an undercurrent of opium. I don't know how much I'll be using it though since my husband just stole it from my hot little hands with a proclaimation of "Mine!". I find it to be a very unisex scent, and apparently so does he. Quite nice.

This starts out both sharply spicy lavender and sweet bubblegum lotus at the same time! Jarring, but in a good way. As it dries down, I get more lotus with the lavender just spicing it up lightly in the background. Lovely work. Another excellent variation on the lotus from BPAL! Might be one to substitute when I run out of my lovely Lotus Moon .