DiesMali

In the bottle: Pretty strongly pine in the bottle, with a bit of a nutty cast. Wet on my skin: Mmmmmmm. It smells like Nutella when first applied! Dry: This is a rich, dark gourmand scent, and it's so delicious I want to lick my skin. It smells like eating Nutella on vanilla wafer cookies in a pine forest. The toasted hazelnut and cocoa are forward in a thick and creamy sort of way, and then there's a bit of sweet vanilla-like tonka adding further to the creaminess, and behind those there's this amazing whiff of tangy pine that takes it from what could be a straightforward foodie scent to one that is that uniquely awesome BPAL kind of gourmand. Yummy. So yummy.

The Marsh of Corruption: murky patchouli and dank oakmoss drowning in a mire of leathery bourbon vanilla, bitter clove, bog cypress, cumin, and vetiver. In the bottle: Murky bog water. Literally, this smells like the murky water and scrub oaks in the marshes up in the Rocky Mountains. Wet on my skin: ALL the vetiver and patchouli, with a bit of leather. Dry: This is incredibly evocative of the scent description. I don't know how, but it does actually smell like a marsh at first. This is definitely vetiver and patchouli dominant on me at first, with oakmoss and the leathery vanilla coming in under it. More leather than vanilla there, definitely. As it continues to dry and warm on me, the clove and cumin start coming out just enough to spice up the dank, damp bogginess of the rest of it. There's just enough cypress to "green" the scent, taking it from muddy brown to a muddy green-brown. The cypress isn't there really as a note in itself, and is under even the clove and cumin in terms of its presence. This is a fairly masculine scent, and I happen to really, really enjoy it. Definitely one for patch/vetiver lovers.

Tidally locked to Jupiter's sacred plants: white musk, salt-touched white sage, Oman frankincense, nutmeg, and gently honeyed saffron. In the bottle: Slightly cologne-y aquatic with a bit of spice. Wet on my skin: White musk, salt, and sage all typically do a cool, slightly aquatic cologne thing on my skin, and this is doing that while wet. Dry: Sadly, the frankincense and honeyed saffron aren't really showing up in this yet, and I think it will require some aging to bring those notes out. Right now, this is that cool, salty cologne, with the nutmeg contributing to the cool feel of it and bringing in some spice as well (nutmeg and sassafras go coolly herbal on my skin). I know this doesn't seem like it should be an aquatic, but it really kind of is on me, and I actually rather like it even though the frankincense and saffron are MIA so far. This is a close-ish cousin to Pottaskefill from the '15 Yule run, and a more distant cousin of Mary Read and Calico Jack.

In the bottle: This smells exactly like a root beer float where the vanilla ice cream has sort of melted into the root beer and it's all creamy and fizzy and YUM. Wet on my skin: Just like in the bottle, except there's a bit of creamy leather now. Dry: The creamy slightly-melty vanilla root beer float remains, but now there is a beautiful waft of smoky (dusty?) soft brown leather, and it's absolutely lovely! As it wears for a while (hours), the fizzy root beer does fade somewhat, allowing creamy vanilla and that smoky/dusty leather to take center stage together. I recognise this as a similar brown leather to last year's "Blood and Judgment So Well Commedled," which was one of the loveliest, softest scents from that run of Lilith scents. This one, I think, is even better with the addition of that delicious sarsparilla root beer! I'm so glad I have a bottle of this!

One of the Inner Moons, Metis is tidally locked to Jupiter. A scent of prudence, skill, and wise counsel, she is the perfect Moon to kick off a new year with a grounded, steady, firm foundation. Clary sage, oakmoss, white pine, and terebinth. In the bottle: Lots of sage and a little pine. Wet on my skin: Fresh sage and pine needles! Dry: This is a very green, foresty-tree scent on me. The primary note is bright, realistic, fresh-picked sage, like the sweet mountain sage I occasionally bring in after hiking. Next are the white pine and terebinth, which smell to me like the needles and leaves (no bark), and terebinth has a particularly sharp scent that, along with the sage, brightens this so it's more of a golden-green sun-dappled forest than a green-brown forbidden forest. The oakmoss is the least-present note on my skin, serving more to soften the whole blend just enough that it's pretty rather than Pine-Sol. Metis doesn't have a whole lot of throw once dry, just wisps of sage and pine that I catch from time to time, but it has a definite presence within a foot or so of my skin. I think that with some aging it will strengthen and maybe darken a little as well.

In the bottle: Smoky, herbal incense. Wet on my skin: Same as in the bottle. Dry: This is niiiiiiiiiiice. You know how high-quality temple incense smells after you've burned it, when the ashes are still warm and smouldering and they have the smoky burnt quality beneath the fragrance? This is that. There's a slightly powdery and spicy-feminine quality from the amber and carnation, but the predominant feeling to this scent is "smouldering incense." At least on my skin. The primary notes that I can identify in the incense portion are frankincense, saffron, and smoky-rich helichrysum. The chamomile and angelica aren't so prominent on my skin, but they contribute to that spiciness underlying the incense. This perfume makes me glad to be a Leo, basically.

In the bottle: Uh. Where is it? Wet on my skin: Fuzzy, chilled lavender. Dry: ...Welp. This is the first BPAL that has gone flat-out dryer sheets on me, at least at first. The lavender goes fuzzy with the oudh and with the 'ocean' note, it smells like fresh laundry and dryer sheets. It's actually not unpleasant, though I'm not sure my skin does it justice. May hold on to it and re-test it in a few months, because I suspect some aging will help it a lot.

In the bottle: Uh-oh. Over-ripe banana. Wet on my skin: For the first few moments, this smells like an over-ripe banana that's been sitting out on the counter on a hot afternoon. Heady, and slightly sickly-sweet. Dry: I feel I should note that this oil does stain - I plopped my cap nub on it and rubbed it around (I'm dual-testing scents so didn't rub it in with skin on skin) and there are streaks of what looks very much like melted chocolate that got all over my hand while eating a dessert. For the first few moments, this echoes the sickly over-ripe banana, and then...oh my goodness. Unnhhhhh. The banana tempers itself and goes a little boozy as it joins the cacao, tobacco, and vetiver. It's a little reminiscent of the dessert called bananas foster for about 15 minutes, and then the banana fades and becomes a slightly sweet, creamy background note. The cacao, tobacco, and vetiver base is pretty similar to the delicious Dark Chocolate, Black Tobacco, and Vetiver bonbon from this year's Lupercalia, and I'm sooo glad to have something similar to it since my bottle is going quickly. This is that, but with the addition of a hint of boozy banana that wafts around between sniffs of the rich, darker notes. WIN. * I should also note that I'm not a huge fan of bananas, unless they're the sweet red kind. I took a major chance on getting this, and it's better than I could have hoped!

In the imp: Citrus peel and smoke. Wet on my skin: This starts out very sharp and herbal on me, and it...smells like citrus-tinged Tiger Balm. Hrmmm. Dry: This has a 'sports ointment' feel to it for the first hour or so of wear, and I think it's the lavender and mandarin doing that. Oranges do odd things on my skin, and I knew I was taking a chance with this. But! As it wears, the astringent sharpness mellows and it turns into a gorgeous smoky, tangy, herbal red musk cologne. It's masculine and really, really nice at this stage, and if it weren't for the first hour of 'weird' I'd try to track down a bottle. I still might, at some point.

This is a decant from the 2009 release. In the imp: Sharp herbal mint! Wet on my skin: This goes on as sharp, shimmery, chilly sage and mint with a hint of moss and wood. Dry: For a while, this remains chilly sage and mint, though the moss and woods come through more as it dries. After about 2 hours of wear, something unusual happens and the icy mint and sage just ...melt. At that point, the scent becomes a powdery, creamy pink rose! It's like I put on a completely different perfume! This is really interesting, and I might have to track down a bottle if I keep enjoying how this decant morphs!

In the imp: It smells like freshly oiled trumpet valves... Wet on my skin: Yep. Oiled trumpet brass, with a bit of incense. Dry: I'm a performing classical musician, and I don't think I will ever be able to uncouple this scent from bright, shiny brass instruments freshly lubed up for a performance. This REALLY smells like that, with masculine cologne along for the ride. It's really, really evocative for me, and I think I'll hang onto this for the good scent memory/associations between concert seasons. It's one of the most masculine scents I've tried from BPAL so far, as well, and it would likely be a good go-to for a guy who likes smelling good and dirty, but isn't into musk blends.

In the imp: Sweet, honey-musky cinnamon. Wet on my skin: That same sweet, musky cinnamon. There's an edge of a Play-Doh quality threatening here... Dry: No more Play-Doh, and now this is one of the nicest BPAL cinnamons I've smelled so far, and definitely the best from the GC. It's a sweet, softly resinous and slightly creamy/silky cinnamon with fuzzy, musky honeysuckle making it just so soft and feminine. It's pretty close to the skin and doesn't have much throw, but it's very lovely and I'll definitely be using up the imp. May spring for a bottle at some point if it has a bit more throw after aging a few months.

In the imp: LEMON. Wet on my skin: LEMON CANDY. Dry: LEMON CANDY and a tiny bit of green citrus peel. It's very sharp, slightly-sweet, lemon drop candy. Pretty much just that through the whole wearing, though a bit of the white musk does start to peek out after a long while. It'd be great for someone who likes lemon/citrus scents, but it's a bit too much citrus for my taste as a perfume. I bet it'd be great in a bath, though!

In the imp: Sharp, slightly sour tobacco. Wet on my skin: Sharp, slightly sour tobacco and LAVENDER. Dry: This is a lot better dry than when wet, but not quite doing it for me. I normally get along with most of the notes in this, but there's something in it (probably the labdanum and something combining with it) that makes it sour/bitter close to my skin. The throw, however, is an absolutely gorgeous combination of lavender, sandalwood, and tobacco. I really wish it wasn't so weird closer to the skin, because the stuff floating around me in the air really is nice.

My all-time favourite mushroomy dirt scent is The Grave-Pig (Fig, oakmoss, mushroom caps, and patchouli). If you like Death Cap, you'll likely like The Grave-Pig as well! The patchouli in is very dirt-like, enhanced further by the other notes, and it's one of my go-to dirty hippie type scents. It's richer and a bit more loamy/moist than Death Cap, and less rosey than Zombi.

When (or if) it comes back in stock, or if you can find an imp or bottle for swap/sale on the forum, get thee some Hagsgate! Hagsgate - An accursed bounty: rich black soil and hay, cucumber, tomato, red lettuce, summer squash, black eggplant, arugula, grape vine, artichoke, and a tangle of herbs marred by an undercurrent of vetiver, patchouli, and black moss.

Hello! I've found a few scents that might fit what you're looking for. Two are LE and out of stock, so you'll have to hunt for them, and one is GC. All three of these are primarily evergreen with bright golden sunshafts filtering through the trees. Of the three, Dark Rosaleen and Dawn: Cernunnos seem closest to what you're looking for. LE: Metis - Clary sage, oakmoss, white pine, and terebinth. Dark Rosaleen - golden frankincense gilding pine pitch, sun-touched amber, and oakmoss resinoid. GC: Dawn: Cernunnos - Terebinth pine, basil, green sandalwood, fig leaf, armoise, lemon balm, cypress, myrrh, black cedar, and juniper. There are some other piney/earthy scents that aren't quiiite foresty, but might also be worth checking out! Here are a few I enjoy for their earthy/woodsy/pine qualities: Golden Priapus (GC) – Vanilla and amber with juniper, rosewood, and white pine. (this smells like sweet ponderosa pine bark and sap on me) Midnight Carnival (GC) - galbanum, teak, myrrh, narcissus, patchouli, cacao, labdanum, agarwood, lavender, neroli, and black moss. (this one smells like a magical bonfire in the woods, on me) Oberon (GC) - Orchid, white musk, and bergamot wafting over juniper berries, with a gentle touch of soft, earthy patchouli. (this is my second-favourite forest dirt scent, with lots of juniper and some orchid over the dirt) The Grave-Pig (GC) - Fig, oakmoss, mushroom caps, and patchouli. (this is my go-to forest dirt/loam scent, smells like a bed of damp pine needles and soil with mushrooms sprouting from it) Invitation (LE, currently up in Lupercalia '16) – White juniper, Italian cypress, and yew bush brushed by a veil of white rose, oudh, armoise, lavender, and vanilla sandalwood. (this one is currently more flowery/aquatic on me, but expect it to go much more foresty as it ages)

In the bottle: Woodsy cocoa. Wet on my skin: Thick, smoky, rich DARK chocolate. Dry: If you like dark, dark chocolate and smoky vetiver, this is a blend for you. This is like 70%+ cacao, bitter and almost a little dusty, with the vetiver and other notes coming in to making it this a rich, thick, boozy-smoky dark chocolate blend. This isn't really a foodie chocolate at all, nor is it perfumey. This is NOT a sweet bonbon at all, at least on my skin. It is...just really, really unique. I have nothing else like this in my BPAL collection. This is about as dark and masculine as chocolate ever gets, but if it's too dark for ladies who order it, don't be afraid to slather a male S.O./relative in it if it ends up not being your thing! After it's been on a while, the cocoa starts to fade into the background, leaving a smoothly smoky vanilla-vetiver-benzoin behind, with the champaca and vanilla continuing to make everything a little boozy to my nose.

In the bottle: Rich, cake-y vanilla. Wet on my skin: A very even blend of vanilla, saffron, and cream - exactly in the order given in the notes. Dry: The saffron in this fades fairly quickly, leaving a rich, foodie, and almost cake-like vanilla and cream with just a hint of the saffron in the background. It smells like I've dipped my wrist into a bowl of thick vanilla buttercream cake icing! It threatens to verge on plasticky at times, but seems to be reined in by that hint of saffron. I'm hoping aging will bring the saffron more prominently into the blend, but as it is, this is definitely a gourmand scent I can reach for when I'm in a mood for something richer and sweeter than my usual fare.

In the bottle: Honeyed vanilla. Wet on my skin: Oh. Ohhhhhh. Magnolia! It smells exactly like a freshly bloomed magnolia flower! YES! And some musky honey and vanilla, but mostly magnolia! Dry: I am generally not one for white florals, and honey is hit or miss on my skin, but something in this (the magnolia) just called to me and I had to have it. It's true to life magnolia, like the huge white blooms they get down in the deep South, backed up by musky sweetness from the honey and vanilla. It's a bit 'antique' smelling, if that makes sense, and just very beautiful. White upon white upon white, but not too perfumey, nor soapy. Lovely, feminine, and I think it has sort of a velvety feel to it. Unlike anything else I have, which is good!

In the bottle: Sharp, slightly sour and unpleasant rosey incense. Wet on my skin: SAAAAAAAAAAAFFRON. HI. I'M SAFFRON. SAFFROOOOON. After the saffron has finished loudly announcing itself, it's joined by its buddies sandalwood incense and carnation. And then vanilla! Beautiful. Dry: This is a very beautiful, Oriental-feeling blend, and I adore it already. The vanilla saffron, sandalwood, and carnation are prominent for the first hour or so of this scent, making it a spicy, warm incense blend. After a bit, the spiciness tones down and sweet rose and myrrh come in more fully. At this point, it softens into a soft, powdered rose-carnation incense, though never goes into baby powder territory. This is such a beautiful blend, and not at all similar to Love's Philosophy despite the similarity in notes. It starts out strongly gold and rose in colour, then fades more to a soft rose with light golden touches here and there. Sexy, but in a light and feminine manner rather than dark and vampy.

In the bottle: Oof, not pleasant. Burnt and foul-smelling. Wet on my skin: Something about this combination of ingredients starts out smelling almost nut-like on my skin. Not pleasant at this stage, but not as foul as in the bottle. Dry: This smooths out a bit after about ten minutes, and it's now fruity black leather with just a hint of brown sugar. I'm not getting any cognac, pepper, or vetiver yet. I do believe I'm going to let this bottle sit for a week or two and then re-test it, because I had high hopes for this and I want it to work. Right now it's a bit discordant and smells a lot like dried prunes. I like prunes, but I'm not sure I want to smell like them.

In the bottle: Musky lemon. Wet on my skin: This goes on with an initial whiff of lemon, which immediately fades and makes way for a cool, blue floral. Dry: I'll admit now, I had no idea what wisteria blossoms smell like, but now I know! And I like them!!! This is indeed a night scent - cool, dewy, softly-musky, and blue, with just a touch of lemony incense. Like being outside in the late spring, after a heavy rain has ended, with candles lighting the scene through a window from inside the house. This is unlike anything else I have, which is exactly what I was hoping for! It's soft and feminine, and will be an excellent scent to wear through the springtime.

In the bottle: Rich, smoky, dark chocolate. Wet on my skin: Dark, dark chocolate and smoke. Really, really, really nice smoke. Unf. Dry: I don't smoke, but this is what I imagine it's like to smoke a real, hand-rolled Cuban cigar while eating the richest dark chocolate from the highest-end chocolatier in France. Dark, smooth, smoky, and oh my goodness it's good. The tobacco and vetiver combine to make up the body of this scent, sweetened up just slightly by the chocolate - but the tobacco is almost sweeter than this chocolate. I'm having trouble finding words for this right now because my eyes want to roll up into the back of my head every time I catch a whiff of myself. SO GOOD.

In the bottle: Rich, spicy pumpkin and beeswax! Wet on my skin: Instantly, I'm struck by the GOLDEN feel of this scent. This is the most GOLDEN blend I've found from BPAL so far - but it's not pale gold. No, this is rich, autumnal gold with flickering candle light. PUMPKIN and beeswax with a bit of honey, tobacco smoke, and a bit of booze in the background. Dry: Instant love. This is one of the strongest scent-colour associations (synaesthesia) I have had so far, and it's just gorgeous in both my nostrils and my brain. This could be a Weenie by how autumnal and golden it is! Pumpkin and beeswax forward, with tobacco smoke and beery hops, and just a touch of golden dust from the hay. The pumpkin-beeswax goes a little creamy, and reminds me of The Witches, but this is much fuller-bodied and spicier. Amazing, gorgeous scent. Loooove. This scent is evocative of flickering, golden-orange candlelight.