DiesMali

In the imp: Sweet, almost shampoo-like fruity floral. Wet on my skin: This is too sweet for me when wet, almost stomach-churningly so. SO much apple blossom, some apple fruit, and no birch at this point. Dry: Thankfully, this becomes much more tolerable as it dries. It's mainly apple blossom on me, and then what I could swear are springtime sap-laden birch leaf buds rather than the wood itself. The fruit itself is always in the background, but it seems to come out just a bit more as this dries and wears longer. It's definitely a sweet yellow and red apple, like Gala or Honeycrisp, and almost has a candied apple feel to it due to the sugary-sweet flowers hanging out everywhere. I think this might work better as a room scent than as a me scent. Edit: Several days later, I decided to try layering this on a whim. I'd been wearing Oberon for a while, and the patchouli and juniper were all that remained of that scent. Upon layering this over it, it became a beautiful and autumnal woodsy-apple scent. So while I won't wear Sjöfn on her own, I may indeed layer her over Oberon once his orchids have died.

In the imp: Watery florals, heavy on lily. Wet on my skin: I actually have no idea what several of these flowers smell like on their own, but the lily and tuberose are definitely here, along with opium. Dry: This is a complex, dark, and slightly smoky floral. While it's a little more floral than I normally wear, it's actually quite beautiful on my skin thanks to the opium smoke taking the edge away from what could have been overpowering sweetness. I bought this one on a hunch, since BPAL's floral (especially dark floral) scents have been making me re-think whether or not I can actually wear such things, and I'm definitely not disappointed with this lovely scent. Not sure I need a bottle of this, but definitely will use up the imp.

... His scent is soft English leather, rosewood and tonka with a hint of incense, parchment and soft woods. In the imp: Spices and vanilla. Wet on my skin: This starts out almost floral on my skin, but quickly turns into soft, vaguely sweet and incensed leather. Dry: This is a gorgeous blend on me, but I had a feeling it would be since it shares a few notes with some of my other favourites. This is mostly leather and sweet, fuzzy tonka on me, and then rosewood and incense drifting through it. It's a very comforting, pleasant sort of scent, and it smells amazing on my skin. It's a warm, creamy brown and ivory swirling together, in my mind. Bottle! Must have!

In the imp: Somewhat unpleasantly chemical, like furniture polish. Wet on my skin: A few moments after this hits my skin, it changes from furniture polish into the furniture itself. Bright, shiny-polished hardwoods with tobacco smoke in the air. Dry: This doesn't change a whole lot from wet to dry, once the initial shock of chemicals subsides. It's rich, resinous teak with a bit of oak, smoky tobacco, and just a hint of warm vanilla. Not sweet vanilla, though - it's fresh, woody vanilla beans/pods. This is a very pleasant scent on my skin as it warms and wears, and I'm once again glad to be one of those women who can pull off wearing the more masculine scents.

A wonderful antidote to an all-nighter oozing with drunken, addled perversion and debauchery. A fresh, crisp white linen scent: perfectly clean, perfectly breezy. Blind tested upon application. In the imp: This doesn't smell like dirt at all. It smells like...laundry detergent. Wet on my skin: Yep, laundry detergent. The organic stuff, lightly floral in scent and not overly soapy. Dry: This is definitely a breezy, lightly white-floral, tropical linen scent. It brings to mind a strong impression of white linens drying on a clothesline on a condo balcony overlooking a white sand beach, with flowers blooming in planters below and green palm trees swaying in the ocean breeze. Not really something I would wear on my skin often, but definitely something nice to scent my bed sheets with here in landlocked Colorado!

Initial application was blind tested, checked notes after applying. In the imp: Very sweet, lightly floral. I could swear this has cherries in it. Wet on my skin: A perfect mix of sweet almonds and wildflower honey, with a cherry on top. What do you mean there's no cherry in it...? Dry: Whatever was reading as cherry fades almost as soon as this dries. Thankfully, the honey in this doesn't do the screechingly sharp/sour thing it tends to do on me in many honey blends, probably because it's not the primary note in this. This is primarily sweet almond and gentle spices as it dries, with the honey warming it into something that almost smells like a Middle Eastern dessert. Actually, now that I think about it, this smells very much like a delicious honey cake I tried not too long ago, and the recipe was inspired by something the chef had tried during his travels through the Abrahamic faiths' Holy Land. It's a warm, pleasant, and golden scent with a "homey" feel to it. Fairly light

In the imp: Very sweet, almost like fruit punch. Wet on my skin: It retains that sweet punch feel, but with lilies surrounding the punch bowl. Dry: This could just be my hormones going wacky, but I never do get much of the musk, ginger, or spices. This remains a calm, sweet, slightly juicy floral on me for most of the duration of the scent, only fading enough to allow the musk to come out at the last hour before fading completely. It's not bad at all, that being said. I'd just wished to have more ginger/musk in with the lilies.

Black leather, oppoponax, tobacco, and black amber. In the imp: Strong, slightly incensed black leather. Wet on my skin: Deep, delicious, black leather with incense and a bit of sweet tobacco. Dry: The amber comes out once this is dry, joining the other notes and giving them a sweeter, almost powdery finish. It's soft, well-worn black leather now, with sweet amber and tobacco. BPAL's leather scents usually smell great on me, and this one's definitely no different. MMmmm. I'll need more of this later.

In the imp: Pleasantly fruity jasmine. Wet on my skin: Gooooorgeous already. Beautiful jasmine and juicy plum, very slightly earthy/spicy. Dry: Same as wet - Beautiful jasmine and juicy plum, softened by the blue musk and a tad bit of earthy patchouli. Mostly, though, it's this beautiful, rich, royal-blue jasmine and plum scent. This is actually one of my favourite BPAL fragrances so far. SO so so pretty.

In the imp: Very very herbal and almost medicinal. Wet on my skin: Earthy, herbal, and a little evergreen. Dry: This is a strange, almost chaotic scent on me. It's very strongly herbal, with an earthy base from the patchouli, and I don't get much fig or frankincense until it's been on for several hours. At that point, it's a deliciously herbal dried fig with wisps of incense. Very nice once it's reached this stage, though it's a little strange earlier in the wear.

In the bottle: Thick, salty caramel and tobacco. Wet on my skin: Salty, burnt caramel with tobacco and a hint of the amber. Dry: That same salty, burnt caramel with tobacco. It's not at all a sweet or cloying caramel on my skin. Now, the amber comes out more, along with the opium and something I could swear was woody incense. That must be the Asian spices, I think. It's a warm, dry, and almost bitter on me between the burnt caramel and tobacco. Very unusual, and stronger than I thought. I only put it on the back of one hand, and it didn't seem that strong to me until I went to shower and came back into my room, which now smelled entirely like this scent! I'm not sure yet whether or not I really like it, so I'm going to give it another try after it's settled down from shipping.

Blind tested this one, at least at first. In the imp: Fruit, I think? Wet on my skin: Oh crap, that's orange, isn't it? Dry: I've discovered the hard way that while lemon and lime smell amazing on my skin, orange and grapefruit make me smell like detergent and/or Costco's orange-scented cleaning wipes. I can't get much of the raspberry or neroli from this, because all I smell is orange-scented dish soap. Alas, this one is a miss on me.

In the imp: A rather unpleasant combination of sweat, male musk, and dark beer. Why am I putting this on my skin...? Wet on my skin: Smells like Guinness, smoke, and wet stone. Dry: As this dries, it becomes increasingly pleasant to the nose, very different from how it smells in the imp. Thankfully. It starts off with a kick of damp cave/stone and freshly forged iron, a little bit of fireplace ash, and that dark, stout beer. As it wears for a few hours, the iron and stone fade somewhat, giving way to a woodsy-ashy-fire scent that is very similar to the woodsy-ashy-fire notes in Midnight Carnival. Which just happens to be one of my all-time favourite BPAL scents. The metal further adds that similarity to Midnight Carnival's metallic two-penny magics. This is a very evocative and somehow homey scent, with that beery touch that ends up more like a tavern hearth fire than a magical bonfire in the woods. I really like this! P.S. I play a couple ever-elusive female Dwarves in World of Warcraft. They aren't my mains, but I love them nonetheless.

Blind testing a free imp. In the imp: Sharp, fresh greenery. Wet on my skin: This smells like what I wanted The Lilac Wood to smell like. It smells like flowering lilac bushes, green trees, fallen and rain-damp hardwood logs, and GREEN. Greeeeeen. Dry: Looked up the notes, and what do you mean this doesn't have lilac in it? It may be the lemon interacting with something in the vial, or my skin, or both, but I could swear up and down that there's lilac greens and flowers in this. It smells like a deep, old-growth forest of both deciduous trees and evergreens, and some of the bushes and wildflowers are blooming in the sunshafts coming in through the trees. It's a lovely scent, and as mentioned above, what I'd hoped for in The Lilac Wood. So pretty and green!

Blind testing a free imp, didn't look up notes til after putting it on my skin. In the imp: Rich, loamy black soil with dusty pine needles and mushrooms. Wet on my skin: Still that rick, black soil. That dusty pine needle and mushroom scent is still there, and it reminds me of the rich soil left behind after a spruce tree has decayed into it and life begins to spring from the tree's death. Dry: Same notes as above, but now there's this dry, warm sweetness coming into play as the fig makes itself known. The mushroom in this smells specifically like the white Amanita species that grow in the mountain canyons here after heavy rainfall. I had no idea what to expect with this, but it's an absolutely gorgeous blend and I think I may need more of it. In my mind, it's a dusty brown layered over deep, murky green.

In the imp: Purple bubble bath. Wet on my skin: Almost sickeningly-sweet little girls' bubble bath. Dry: This is too sweetly floral for me, unfortunately. It remains very sweet and almost soapy, strongly violet with some gardenia, and the only thing my brain can smell here is bright purple bubble bath. It is one of very few BPAL scents that has given me a headache, and thus I'll probably have to gift it to someone who likes very sweet florals like this one.

In the imp: Dry, bitter, earthy scent. Wet on my skin: Still dry, bitter, and earthy. It's very much tobacco and musk on me, with hints of dark cocoa and herbs. I don't get much of the other notes, except for a vaguely powdery note from the saffron. Dry: Exactly the same as wet, did not morph at all. This is a very brown, dusty scent. It isn't bad at all, but I may give it to one of my male friends who enjoys this kind of dry, masculine scent more than I do.

In the imp: Faint, sweet lily. Wet on my skin: Beautiful, sweet, authentic tiger lily with this vaguely earthy spiciness to it. Yum. Dry: Almost the same as wet, and I knew I'd love it due to the ginger and frankincense. Darker florals like this tend to do very nice things on my skin, and this is a rich, spicy, purplish-green scent with LOTS of lily throw tempered by that spice and earth. So very pretty, will likely be ordering more than just an imp of this.

In the imp: Lemony black tea and pepper. Wet on my skin: Same as in the imp. Dry: I get about 30 minutes of a deliciously lovely creamy lemon tea and sweetish pepper, and then...it's gone. Poof. Just disappears. My skin drank this up as if it actually were tea. I'll try aging it a bit and see if it lasts longer, otherwise I'll have to send it off to someone whose skin doesn't swallow it whole.

In the imp: Sweet incense and fresh tobacco leaves. Wet on my skin: This is very much sweet incense and musk, with sweet tobacco. Dry: Again, sweet incense, sweet tobacco like that in a fine cigar or maybe a pipe, and the undercurrent of musk and ambergris making it almost creamy and soft. It's not the rich, strong leather and incense smoke I hoped for upon reading the notes, but it's nonetheless a beautiful scent on me. My skin loves this musk and incense. As it wears a bit, the hot leather is finally coming out and gives it that dark, seductive quality I hoped for with the first application. Oh yessss. Leather, incense, smoke, and musk. Perfect. This scent is black, swirled with grey and red smoke.

In the imp: Sharp carnation and a bit of milk. Wet on me: Still sharp carnation, almost spicy. It's not a soft scent at all on me, and is instead almost wickedly sharp...but not in a bad way. Dry: This doesn't really change as it dries, except to add in a tiny hint of the rose and creamy milk. And WHAT? HONEY? I didn't know there was honey in it when I tried it, which is a good thing since honey tends to go sickeningly-sweet and sharp on me and I avoid it in most blends. This must be what's making it go sharp, but thankfully the spiciness of the bergamot offsets what would likely otherwise be sickening and cloying. This is surprisingly nice on my skin, and completely unexpected.

In the imp: Smells like high-quality jasmine petal green tea. Wet on my skin: Just as in the imp. Dry: This is GORGEOUS. Light, sweet jasmine petal tea in the throw with creamy vanilla and soft black amber closer to the skin. I ordered this after trying other BPAL jasmine and/or tea blends, and I knew it would work well on me, and it entirely lives up to expectations. It's a beautiful pale green and lavender colour, almost ethereal as it floats about. It really does smell a lot like my favourite jasmine petal tea, but that sweet amber and vanilla just warm it up and make it into a truly delicious blend. Probably my second favourite of the Lupercalias so far.

In the imp: Plum wine. Mmmm. Wet on my skin: No longer plum wine, but rather black currants and amaretto. Dry: This is a gorgeous scent! It's a dry, almost dusty amaretto and currant scent, with a bit of a tart kick from the plum. It really does give the impression of a bordello in a gritty, dusty Wild West town. It's satiny and a really lovely muted mauve/fuschia colour. Might be a bottle scent at some point. MMmm.

In the imp: Juicy Fruit gum. Wet on my skin: Delicious, juicy tropical fruit, with a musky hint of patchouli. Dry: This triggers a scent memory for me. It smells just enough like a lotion that I used all through college, and that is a good memory to me. It's tropical fruit with a musky edge thanks to the patchouli, and it's really quite pretty. The fruit and tea all blend together well enough that I have a hard time picking out the individual notes unless I really give it a good sniff. It's a green and pink scent, but not in a watermelony sort of way. Tasty.

In the imp: ...7UP. It smells just like 7UP. Wet on my skin: Still 7UP. Dry: This goes from 7UP to a dry, sparkly ginger ale right away as it begins to dry. I'm not that familiar with champagne, but whatever this is, it is bright and bubbly! I'm not getting any strawberry. Very unusual scent.