Serena Reverberi

This is MY FAVORITE BPAL EVER and I'm not even sorry for the all caps! It's sweet, but not foodie, and slightly pungent and spicy from the dragon's blood, which is however so well "contained" and mellowed by the honey and sugary vanilla that it becomes this perfect spicy-sweet mix... I can't recommend this enough, this is like Snake Oil but less sharp and more sultry. Superb.

I received this 13 in a blind swap and I'm testing it now for the first time so... first impressions! First note is white chocolate: it's sugary and buttery, but very mild so as not to be overwhelmingly foodie. I can't pick up the coconut (sadly) but then again, I never seem to do... my skin must eat it up all the time... I do get a bit of woodiness that keeps the sweetness in check: I would say sandalwood but it must be the buckwheat, looking at the notes. I don't get any tang from the pomegranate... actually, I don't get the pomegranate at all. But this sugary glazed sweetness is dusty and wearable, and it's the only 13, together with the June 2008, that doesn't have the "angry herb" vibe If you like this, try: Yule Cookies *edit* I'm going to add on the drydown it gets a little bit waxy, like a creamy candle... but I still like it!

I'm testing this for the first time and damn, I didn't expect to like it so much. Surprisingly, I can smell the black currant (I can't smell blueberries/currants in any other BPAL) and a dizzying mix of incense and florals...this is evocative, surprisingly light and very, very mysterious. Love!! *I also received a sniffe of Lamia v3, and it's much more sour and sharp... I definitely prefer the released version*

Very balsamic herbs, too sharp and fresh. Pine. It’s very strong pine car freshener oh god no. NO.

Bah, not deep at all. Very citrus at first, it mellows fast into a soapy-salty citrus. Performs a disappearing act 2 minutes later.

Smoke. Sweet smoke. Sweet smoky sharp musk? Is this what patchouli smells like? I think I hate patchouli.

Grass with green tea and citrus. Just, grass. With lemon zest in it. Very clean, unexpectedly good but not bottle-worthy.

Sweet flowers, bit of citrus, honey. Citrus yeah, definitely orange. Flowery candied orange. Good but very weak.

Wet: dry leaves and smoke. Drying: still leaves and smoke, something spicy too. I am impressed at how much I can pick up the dry leaves. Wait, there's nuts here? Burnt pecans or something similar. Dry: no more spices, sadly. What is it with spices and them disappearing on my skin? *grumpy face* This retains the smoky quality throughout, and it's not sweet at all. Very autumnal and true to the name, though: I would describe it as a very dry, brownish red perfume. Staying power is not exceptional.

Description: "A master storyteller who possessed unfailing courage and compassion, a sharp, quick wit, and a true understanding of human nature. Saffron and Middle Eastern spices swirled through sensual red musk." Wet: what is this. I can't place it, but mostly flowery soap I guess. Drying: yup, flowers. they're not even listed in the notes, where are these coming from? Still soapy, too. Wow, overkill much? I don't smell any spices nor saffron, and I really wanted the saffron. Dry: good news, the flowers seem to be gone. Bad news, everything else is gone as well. Staying time literally one and a half minutes. Swap pile asap.

Scent Description: "Three white cakes, vanilla, and red and black currants" Wet: in the bottle and wet on the skin, this smells precisely like cheesecake crust on me. It's cake alright, but it's burnt brown sugar cake which I'm definitely not complaining about. Drying: the cake is still prominent, the vanilla comes out too. There are no berries whatsoever which, bummer. There is hint of lemon somewhere though. It's nice, although much much lighter than I expected. I hope it won't be gone soon, but that's the direction it's taking. Dry: woah lemon! where did you come from? This is mostly lemon, backed up by vanilla baked goods on me... oh but I love it! I do miss the currants, as I had imagined this scent as very "blue" and I get none of that... same experience as with Bones Trombone, I guess my skin just eats berries

in the bottle… all the cocoa! This smells like a bittersweet hot chocolate, but with a darker, more complex undertone. There is a slightly herbal sharpness that I assume is the tobacco. When applied, first thing to notice is that the color of the oil is very dark, like spilled coffee; it's a bit sticky too. The smell on the skin is much fainter than I imagined at first, but I can still clearly detect all the three notes and they are beautifully intermingled. The cocoa disappears quickly though, and what's left is SHARP, very sharp musk and tobacco. wow, this was unexpected. I think I'll have to retest this in a scent locket, because the wet stage was good.

I don’t get the orange, or the verbena, or the honeysuckle. Honestly, sniffed wet it smells strongly like bubblegum and something frizzy, like soda or champagne. As it dries down on my skin it gets AWFUL. It’s sad because I love Lolita as a book and as a character but this doesn’t do it justice. It smells like an old aunt’s perfume, cloying, floral and alcoholic. Ew.

oh wow, this is sweet. I can smell the cranberry, but it’s a candied cranberry. It smells a bit artificial, like the little girls’ berry perfumes usually do. It’s not unpleasant, though. Honestly, my nose is very undecided on this one.

wet on the skin, it smells sugary and sensual, and vaguely spicy (which might be the amber). It settles quickly to a faintly honeyed powdery odor, addicting to smell but subtle enough to be an everyday perfume. Unfortunately, after an hour or so the honey disappears and it smells overtly powdery on me, which I’m not a fan of. Now, if only it could stay exactly as it is the first half hour, it would be my favorite BPAL scent so far.

oh, Akuma is a good one. It’s a very “straightforward” scent, and exactly what it says on the tin: sniffed wet you smell nothing but orange, but within a minute the neroli comes forward and covers it up.Give it another five minutes and all you can smell is the raspberry. At the end, the raspberry recedes and it settles into a very floral smell backed slightly by the tanginess of the orange. What I love about this perfume is that, after the initial phase, it stays consistent. It doesn’t morph into the usual base notes (amber, musk) which my skin and my nose don’t like. It is very very floral, however, and it’s not often that I’m in the mood for floral perfumes. Still, a very good one.

I just got frimped this oil and.... rice porridge? how do you guys get rice porridge? Maybe it's because it aged but I smell a burst of citrus in the beginning, a teeny bit of booze and then it settles into the smell of burnt chestnut shells. So odd.

Cheesecake and cupcakes, yo! This is Beaver Moon 2005 resurrected! (Beaver'versary) Oh sweet baby Jesus. Cheesecake is my favourite cake (and I can’t eat it anymore *loud sigh*) so when I saw the scent description I knew I had to have this. Went straight for the bottle too, although it’s sadly just a half bottle. When I just put it on, I got a whiff of fresh strawberry from this, but then the fruitiness kind of recedes into the background and mixes with the creaminess of cream cheese and vanilla. I get a base of spice and burnt sugar too, which I can imagine is the crust of the cheesecake. There is a bit of a plasticy feeling coming from the base notes, but it’s tolerable. Everything is really well blended here: the notes don’t come up one by one, but after the initial settlement they really come out as a single note. I would describe this as “strawberry cheesecake extract”… and I’m definitely not complaining. This is creamy but surprisingly not powerful and I think it qualifies well as an everyday scent: I will definitely try to layer it with spicier/muskier oils too and see what comes out. (I can see this bottle finishing in a month at most)