Lunasariel

In the imp: Sweetness (which could come from either ambergris or tobacco) over a strong incense base. This feels like a very masculine-leaning scent, but more importantly, a very substantial one; something that I could really sink my teeth into. Wet: *Much* smokier and more leathery - a definite man-smell. It's still a little sweet, but just enough so that it's still wearable and not pure man-funk - I put this down to the salty-sweet smell of ambergris, although the salty aspect seems to be getting lost in all the smoke and leather and general manliness. I found this one very reminiscent of Dee, which is one of my favorites. However, Hellfire is a bit lighter, much more cologne-y, and the tobacco leans a bit sharper. Like Dee, this one stays fairly close to the skin. Dry: More sweet, kinda boozy, and only a little smoky. It moves more sweet and less smoky as the day goes on. Still reminiscent of the old boys' club, but now maybe it's the younger generation that's a little more open to letting the girls in than their fathers. While I like the scent on its own merits, I kinda have to get it for the name - "Hellfire" from The Hunchback of Notre Dame is arguably the greatest Disney Villain song of all time.

In the imp: Definitely a rose-dominant scent, but not your usual single-note rose - there's definitely some incense in there complicating things, taking this out of the garden and into the church. The incense is a little cleaner and sharper than I'm used to, though - hopefully that mellows out once it's on my skin. Wet: The rose goes a bit soapy, like the really nice rose-scented soap or slightly-expired rose perfume a Catholic grandmother would wear. (Not my Catholic grandmother, though - she was very into expensive, designer scents from Chanel, etc.) It starts off with quite a decent throw, but after a few minutes it settles down and opens up into something more incense- than rose-heavy. Thankfully, the slight soapy note is gone, too. The tradeoff, however, is that the throw is much less, but I can live with it. Dry: Interestingly, the florals last longer than the incense this time. First it's faint floral incense, then just faint florals, then a slightly sour skin-scent. This one lasts, though - I applied it at 7 AM, and it lasted all the way through until 9:25 PM, when I took a shower.

In the imp: The first thing I have written in my notes is "Tonka is chocolate, right?", so there must have been some chocolate there at the start, but I'm not getting it now. There are also strong notes of something sweet-floral-woody (rosewood, most likely, although I don't have much experience with it), something dry and smokey (unsure whether this is the incense or the parchment), and possibly leather? I have literally zero experience with BPAL's leather note, so that's what that uncategorizable extra note is. Wet: A smoky-leather, very masculine scent, but pleasantly so. The leather (I think) also really amps up. There's a lovely warm underlying sweetness that could be the tobacco, could be the leather, or could even be the incense and/or parchment. (EDIT: This is probably the tonka, now that I actually look it up.) It starts very close to the skin, but, unusually, really amps up over the next few minutes to achieve an overall decently-sized throw. (Un)fortunately, this becomes part of my skin-scent within half an hour, so it's difficult for me to distinguish on myself, while others can smell it just fine. Dry: Incense, tonka, and leather - still fairly masculine/unisex (which is hilarious, because the only place I can really smell it for any length of time is in my cleavage), but in a warm, sexy kind of way. Do want!

In the imp: Something woody and sharpish, like fresh-planed boards. There's a touch of something sweet, and something maybe even a little boozy (although that may be the tobacco by association). Pleasant enough, if a bit of a departure from my usual sweet-amber-resins Wet: Strangely, the wood gets much sharper - I would guess cedar or fresh sandalwood, without looking at the notes. Warm, dark vanilla and a smokier, much more identifiable tobacco also come through, keeping this from smelling like Ikea. The woods calm down over time and blend wonderfully with the vanilla and tobacco - these woods are indeed lovely, dark, and deep. Dry: Far from the Ikea that threatened earlier, this is now the den of my grandfather's house up in the wood that his grandparents built themselves: deep and warm, dark and full of the smell of smoke and that sweet smell that wood gets over time.

In the imp: Primarily earthy. A little sweet-cloying, but a remarkably uncomplicated scent. Wet: Still primarily earthy, but now it's a little smoother, I almost want to say nuttier. Much less sweet-cloying, but with a more smoky-leafy edge. A great fall scent! However, this state doesn't last, and it quickly settles down into an incense-heavy patchouli, with that cloying sweetness starting to peek out again. Dry: Sweet patch. More resinous-sweet than floral-sweet, so I'm more willing to chalk this up to the copal than the heliotrope. Overall, I don't think heliotrope is a good note on me. I know it's supposed to be a little cloying here, to invoke the proper sinful atmosphere, but it does the same thing in Tamora.

In the imp: Resinous and sweet (VERY sweet), with, of all things, a spicy-floral edge. Wet: WHOA NELLY. A too-sweet fruity-floral with an enormous throw that actually makes my head spin a little, and not in a good way either. Heavy and overpowering. Thankfully, this stage doesn't last forever - after a few minutes, it calms the hell down into something a little less abrasive. But man, that stuff is *powerful*. Dry: Wow, is this one a morpher! I was on the verge of scrubbing this one off (first time I'd had that reaction in a while), but decided to tough it out, and I'm glad I did. While it starts out trying to convey the impression of getting beaten up by a kindergarten teacher, it later stops raging and actually turns quite sexy. There's still a chemical-fruity edge if I bury my nose in my wrist, but now it's predominantly a sexy-sweet smell with a spicy edge. Throw is still decent, but now it's at the point where I smile when I catch whiffs of myself throughout the day. I'll age this one to see if I can bring forward the sexiness and dial back the OH GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE initial burst.

In the imp: Vanilla. A spicy, interesting vanilla, but vanilla nonetheless. With perhaps a touch of lemon, though? Wet: Overall, spicier and less sweet. It see-saws back towards sweetness over time, but for the first hour-plus, I would describe this as a primarily spicy scent. However, my brother said that it smells like nicotine??? ...Which is a bit weird, since neither he nor I smoke. Dry: A sort of vanilla-y your-skin-but-better. Which isn't surprising, since I tend to amp vanilla. Maybe it's because everyone enthuses over this so much, but I wasn't as blown away by this as I thought I would be. A re-test several months down the line does indeed show an improvement - sweeter, warmer, more expansive. So while I feel like I do need at least one bottle to be considered a true BPALista, I'll re-test this periodically rather than reach for it every day. Plus, if the other comments are anything to go by, truly aged Snake Oil is out of this world, so I'll wait for that.

In the imp: Sweet incense with an herbal edge. Maybe a bit of a piney zing to it? Wet: A calming, grounding scent, which is a little odd, considering it starts off so sharp. It's doing that thing many incense blends do on me, where it's quite sharp if I deliberately smell my wrist, but if I just catch a random whiff of myself as I turn my head, it's much sweeter and broader. Also like my other incense blends, the sharpness decreases and the sweetness expands over time. Dry: After a few hours, it settles into a soft, sweet, resinous smell that lasts all day, and I do mean *all* day. It's the kind of low-key, almost "your skin but better" scent that is clearly settling in for the long haul.

In the imp: A strong spicy-earthy scent - about equal parts cinnamon and patchouli, methinks. There is a sweet ambery undercurrent, but it's not immediately apparent. Wet: An initial big ol' burst of patchouli, which quickly shifts to share space with spicy cinnamon, with the soft warmth of amber (and maybe sandalwood?) throughout. Dry: Each note fades in turn, with the spicy-sharp cinnamon going first, and my old friend amber hanging around the longest.

In the imp: Sweet! More honey-sweet than vanilla-sweet. I mean, the vanilla-sweet element is present, too; just less so than the honey-sweet. Maybe there's a hint of muskiness/spice? Mostly, though, it's a very sweet scent. Wet: I admit I don't have the greatest scent profile for patchouli, but I do believe this is heavily-honeyed patch. TBH, though, it mostly reminds me of those complicated, expensive varieties of honey you get at Whole Foods. The vanilla quickly asserts itself, although the honey remains the dominant note. If there is any cinnamon in here, it's pretty well-buried. Overall, I would call this a foody scent, and, as per most foody scents on my skin, one with a pretty decent throw. Dry: Ah, THERE'S the patchouli! But a sweet patchouli - by now I'd say more vanilla-sweet than honey-sweet, which I actually prefer. It's also much closer to the skin, but again, I see this as a plus. It REALLY hangs around, so for 10 hours or so, I've got a lovely skin-scent going.

In the imp: Interestingly, something bitter, sharp, and herbaceous. I eventually discovered a touch of sweetness at the base, but it definitely took more than one sniff to find it. Right now, I'm not getting much of a sense-memory of church, and I grew up pretty heavily Catholic. Wet: Speaking of sense memories, the first thing I get, oddly enough, is my old guinea pig's bedding, which was cedar/redwood wood chips and shavings. The sweet/sharp divide is also a lot more evident - the sweet resins amp way up, but in a good way. At least now they've got a fighting chance against the redwood! The almost-lemony resinous sweetness comes to dominate, but not for a little while. At first it's all sweet resins from afar and sharp cedar/redwood up close, but eventually even that fades, leaving pretty much smooth, slightly smoky, resins. A great cold-weather scent! Dry: See above re: resins. This is my first experience with a pure incense blend, so that might be it, but I swear I smell something almost foody-vanilla-sweet right down at the very end...

In the imp: The oil itself has a unique pink color to it. It's a sort of omnidirectional floral - if pressed to pick one, I would indeed say roses, but fresh garden roses just after rain, not traditional perfumey roses. There's even a bit of straight-up greenery as a base, to complete the rain-washed garden illusion. Wet: A much greener scent than in the imp. Interestingly, the rose itself veers slightly waxy/perfumey. It quickly veers more sweet-floral than floral-sweet, which I think we have the honeysuckle to thank for. I don't have a great scent profile for honeysuckle, but from other people's descriptions, it makes sense. Dry: Florals pretty much all the way down. I think I may have gotten a brief flash of something ambery way down at the base, but that may have been interference from my coat sleeve, which has had contact with so many different perfume oils that it's probably gained an aroma of its own. This is an unusually short-lasting scent (3-4 hours tops), and maybe it'll be a nice, fresh floral for summer, but I don't think it's going to be in heavy rotation this winter.

In the imp: I immediately imagine a sort of reddish-brownish color. Almost the color of cinnamon, which is interesting, because this isn't a very cinnamon-heavy blend (at least not right off the bat). It is very spicy and a little sweet, but not cinnamon-spicy. Wet: Is that incense??? It's warm, a little musky and smoky, whatever it is. The cinnamon-y cassia makes itself known after not too long, giving it a strong "Oriental" vibe. Amber is always a bit Russian roulette on me - sometimes it's powdery, sometimes it isn't; this time it is. I mean, it's not pure powder like Brisingamen became, but there's a definite baby powder note there all the same. Dry: Lovely ambery warmth! Yummy without being in the least juvenile or foody. Sign me up!

In the imp: A fresh vanilla scent with an earthy-spicy undertone, and a hint of (chemical) lemon. Wet: There's an interesting contrast between the vanilla and musk going on here. The vanilla and musk both become much more prevalent over time, with the musk hanging around as an undertone. And possibly there's a hint of soap? (In retrospect, fougeres do *not* play well with my skin, so I'm just glad that it was only a hint.) Dry: There's a strong shift to musk after about an hour, and then back to vanilla tea after ~ 3 hours. The whole thing doesn't last longer than five hours, tops. Maybe I need to revisit this, because I first encountered it (and thus took notes on it) in my BPAL infancy, but...I don't get it. Like, it's okay, but I'm guessing it needs some time to age, because while it's a nice enough scent, I wouldn't put it in my "Beloved Favorites." EDIT: Like Snake Oil, this one really needs time to come into its own, but when it does, WOW. It's a strongly foody scent, black tea and vanilla and sweet sugar (which I first thought was honey, given how it amps on me). Turns out it just needs a few months of aging to make it into my everyday rotation! EDIT 2: After about two years, either my skin chemistry has changed or the oil has. But either way, now I absolutely cannot wear any kind of fougere - the beautiful dark, sweet tea of yesteryear has morphed into pure undiluted soap. T.T Alas, poor Dorian!

In the imp: Very, very fruity - I originally thought orange (while testing blind), but nope, that's definitely peach. It's a very rich, opulent, almost voluptuous scent - the amber does a wonderful job of kicking the peach up a notch from the fruity body splashes of my youth. Wet: At first, an interesting spiciness is about equal with the fruit, creating an interesting sort of fruity floriental. ...But then, after a few minutes, I discover fruit, especially peach, is one of my death notes. The sillage is huge, and the peach sweeps all before it. No amber, no sandalwood, no vanilla, only the faintest touch of florals; it's pretty much, as my notes say, "like being punched in the face by a radioactive peach." Dry: After two or three hours, the peach finally calms the hell down, allowing the sandalwood-amber combo to finally shine. It eventually dries down to a pleasant, slightly sweet, woodsy amber, but it's too little, too late - that peach was *intense*, lemme tell you. I'll put this in the back of my aging drawer and let it sit for awhile - hopefully that fruity edge will grow out of its impetuous youth and into something much more subtle.

In the imp: A more cool-toned amber than I'm used to. Usually I gravitate towards the warm, slightly spicy ambers, but this is something fruity and/or floral resting on a large amber base. Interestingly, something in here reminds me of the string of babysitters I had while growing up, all of whom were some flavor of hippie. Wet: Still sweetly cool-toned, but not actively cold. There's a whiff of traditional perfumey florals with the carnation providing a lovely spicy bridge between said florals and the amber. Interestingly, when I asked my mother for her opinion, she said "baby powder, in the best way possible." And she really likes the scent of baby powder, so...thanks, I guess? It seems that my luck is not with me for this one - sometimes ambers turn powdery on me and sometimes they don't; it looks like this is one of the times they do. Dry: Sweet amber. At first I thought I was picking up on a vanilla note, but soon realized I was getting a false foody positive from the apples. I'm going to age this one for a while, because I REALLY want to like it (amber is my favorite scent family, and apple blossoms are so completely emblematic of/tied up with memories of my childhood I can't *not* love them), but it just didn't light a fire under me like I thought it would.

In the imp: A very fruit-leaning amber. I would even go so far as to call it sickly-sweet, even medicinal at times. Wet: I got synthetic fruit, with the amber veering a little too sweet for me, but I've actually gotten a fair number of compliments on this. So maybe my nose is just being a jerk? Dry: Luckily, the sickly-sweet fruit (which, upon retrospect, is most likely the lotus, which generally doesn't play well with my skin) fades after an hour or three, leaving only an interesting spicy-sweet-warm amber. It's still more gourmand-y than many of my other ambers, but in a good way. I'll tuck this one away for a year or so, because I was ALL SET to love this (Bast! Amber! Musk!), but I never really loved it like I wanted to. Maybe some aging will take the edge off of the lotus and bring the drydown forward some.

In the imp: Warm, sharp sandalwood, soft florals, and a general sense of old lady perfume. But *rich* old lady perfume, the kind who travels the world and wears designer clothes. Wet: There's an initial burst of sandalwood, but it fades to the background pretty quickly. Instead, there's something I can best describe as fruity amber - it starts out a little fresh/aquatic/green, but then what I assume is the rose quickly becomes rosehip jam. Thanks to BPAL's particular brand of alchemy/ESP, it does feel very motherly. Dry: The sandalwood comes back to the fore, followed by amber. While I'll hang onto my imp and see how it ages, I don't see this one being in heavy rotation for a while - a little too maternal for my tastes.

In the imp: My first thought: "ethereal." Sweet, cool, and smooth, with hints of lemon, herbs, and maybe something vanilla-sweet. Wet: The lemon and herbaceous notes are definitely much sharper. I could see some people finding this a great cooling scent for sticky, humid summer days; sort of the olfactory equivalent of a cool drink and a pool. But I like even my cool summer scents with a little more meat to them - this one feels much too faint even for that. Dry: Pretty much fades to nothing after an hour or two. I found this kind of a non-scent - it has too little personality to stick around. While I do tend towards the "less is more" theory with regards to perfume (too many olfactory-sensitive people in my family), this was too little even for me.

In the imp: Sultry, lush florals; primarily jasmine. I'm A-OK with this, since jasmine is my One Floral to Rule Them All. There's a hint of bergamot to keep things from getting *too* dark, but in general, it's a very mysterious, almost-heavy-but-not-quite scent. Wet: Very much the same as ITI: the jasmine continues to dominate, with the bergamot providing some brightness and zing to counteract all that languid, indolence. So while it has much more gravitas than the screechy drugstore perfumes of my youth, it's a definite "perfumey" scent, nonetheless. Unfortunately, after about half an hour, something distinctly soapy starts to develop. Ever since Venustas, which I was 100% set to declare my HG scent, veered straight Dove and stayed there for eight hours, I've been super wary of anything even vaguely soapy. Dry: Alas, the soap settled in to stay. I mean, it's a nice-ish soap - you would find it in the cleaning aisle at Target, but it would be called "Arabian Nights" or "Night Garden" or something. Dangit, I really wanted to like this one, too! Oh, well, maybe it'll age well?

In the imp: Resinous and very sweet - I guess this could be called sinuous, but sinister, not so much. There's also a definite note of cinnamon spicing things up. Wet: Unexpectedly cinnamon-heavy! There's also something foody-sweet in there, but it's definitely a very cinnamon-dominant blend. In fact, my first sense-memory is that of the vanilla- and cinnamon-scented pine cones they sell at Fred Meyer around this time of year - they keep them in huge bins right by the door, so as soon as you enter you're hit by what starts off as a pleasant cinnamon-vanilla scent, but then gets STRONGER AND STRONGER OH GOD. I got this as part of the Incense Imp Pack, but I'm not getting an awful lot of incense here. (Of course, it could also be that I'm relatively unfamiliar with BPAL's various incense notes and blends.) Dry: Thankfully, it dries down to something sexy-sweet within half an hour. The incense does eventually come out, and by the end (about 7-8 hours later - about average for me) it's actually a mostly sweet, resinous incense blend with an ever-so-slightly-spicy edge.

In the imp: My first impression is something floral-sweet. There's also a hint of spicy sandalwood, and maaaaybe vanilla? Or possibly amber. Anyway, something warm and sweet and not quite floral. Wet: First off, the vanilla comes off MUCH more noticeable. And a non-foody vanilla too, woohoo! The sandalwood is there as a base, but it's a non-intrusive sandalwood, if you know what I mean - it actually takes some sniffing for me to place the subtle spicy-woody scent. And amber, my old friend, is providing a lovely bridge between the two. Dry: Sandalwood, mostly, albeit warmed up and made simultaneously cuddlier and more slinky by amber. Vanilla is hanging on by a thread, but still present.

In the imp: Big ol' blast of honey. I think I'm detecting amber, too, but not amber like I've smelled it before, more like a spicy-ish complication for the honey. If there is vanilla in here, it's getting rather lost among all the other sweet scents. Finally, is that a whiff of traditional perfume I smell? Wet: It's interesting - whenever I get a whiff of myself in passing, I think "ah, there's my old friend amber!", but when I actually stick my nose on my wrist, I get honey with maybe a touch of vanilla. I think yesterday's White Rabbit is running a bit of interference, because once it settles down, I get an interesting sort of musky-amber honey on one wrist, and soap on the other. Weird. Dry: It becomes about 95% honey by the end, with maybe a touch of amber to keep things from veering too foody-sweet. The vanilla never really develops, alas.

In the imp: The first thing I noticed was something surprisingly zingy - at first I thought lemon, but that must be the ginger, and possibly the pepper as well. It actually took me a moment to suss out the black tea, and the honey-vanilla sweetness below. This is definitely a tea scent, but it's a complicated tea scent. Wet: The pepper and ginger continuing strong, albeit with more of the latter than the former. I'm not getting so much of the milkiness, but there's definitely a honey-vanilla undertone restraining the ginger and tea. Speaking of which, the note of crisp black tea weaving throughout is extremely pleasant, in a get-up-and-go way. In fact, I'd describe this as an overall wake-up-and-get-going scent, but without the aggressive citrus I usually associate with that type of scent. The clean linen is only discernible as a clean, fresh smell (but NOT soapy) that hangs on for a surprisingly long time. Dry: The tea and honey-vanilla sweetness both intensify over time, as expected, but the zingy ginger (and/or pepper) also proves surprisingly tenacious.

In the imp: A salty, aquatic, almost clean/soap smell. A hint of sweetishness (which I'm more inclined to attribute to the vanilla and "gilded musk" than the florals) keeps it wild and interesting, rather than clinical and soapy. Wet: Oh, THERE'S the vanilla. After an initial burst of the ocean, I get an expansive, warm, elegant sweetness that I'm coming to associate with non-foody vanilla, albeit with that extra dimension my beloved amber provides. The sea notes are still hanging around, but as an interesting complication, like the salt in salted caramel. If there is sandalwood here, it's an unusually restrained - I'm getting golden vanilla beans by the sea, and that's about it. Dry: The "sea" note becomes more and more definitively ambergris, giving me some wonderful memories of some hippie neighbors when I was growing up, who gave me my very first vial of (homemade) perfume oil, which contained a lot of ambergris. Thanks for starting me on the path that led to BPAL, Gordon and Mary! Other than that, the vanilla-amber blend is still going strong and lovely.