Soupy Twist

Very hard to describe in the bottle — pastry? Goes on as fig, with notes of the candles. This becomes more incense-like (as the candles burn, I guess) and some light spice comes in. Finishes as warm beeswax.

I would have called this "Logic": a pretty flower that smells bad. The narcissus is a sour, orchidy smell which drowns out the other two notes. I can tell they're desperately trying to come to the fore, but the well-named narcissus refuses to let them share.

Definitely a "sweet grain" thing going on, but it's hard to describe. Honey on oatmeal? Cane sugar? Cream of wheat with sugar syrup? Almond/marzipan? It becomes powdery on the dry-down, but not in a bad way. Creamy and sweet. I like it more as it wears.

Gin and tonic and mint. My eyes rolled back up in my head in ecstasy. I want to drink my wrist. I need a bottle of this yesterday.

Lily of the valley in the bottle. Goes on as lily and sandalwood. Some hibiscus comes in, which morphs into apple blossom, and then the lily of the valley returns. Finishes a little too sweet.

A perfect rendition of hyacinth, from beginning to the rather brief end. Great for the beginning of spring when the hyacinths are blooming and I just want to smell like one all day.

I would have named this one "A Walk Along the Beach." So imagine you've come out of a pine forest which is edged with honeysuckle and you're standing on a beach which leads to the ocean. You walk along, smelling the jasmine and the fir trees, and then the ocean air is stronger than the pines. As you continue, the trees fade back and there's a grove of hyacinth before you, pairing prettily with the ocean which sparkles in the sun. The beach eventually curves away, and you follow the path back onto land, ending in a meadow of hyacinth and honeysuckle.

Cool dry musk in the bottle. Goes on as dry leaves. There's an herbal note, maybe the amaranth? It continues as a dry, crisp, smooth, pleasant, masculine herbal scent, but that morphs into powder (maybe because I'm a lady).

Oregano. All I get is oregano. The World Tree smells like a good pizza.

I was afraid I was going to hate this because I don't like oakmoss, but it's lovely. Pitch and currants in the bottle, but it goes on as a crisp cypress. There's a tiny bit of mint briefly, then more cypress. After a few minutes I can smell the little wild strawberries. In the drydown a smoother, quieter pine returns.

Sassafras and vanilla in the bottle and on the wrist. Quickly dries to root beer, and then some creaminess comes in. Finishes as the perfect rendition of a root beer float. Beautifully executed; not something I'd wear.

Perfectly captures the essence of rose from bottle to wrist. If you like rose perfume, this is the one for you. (If you think rose perfume smells dated and sickly sweet, skip it.)

Fresh apples in the bottle. Goes on like biting into a fresh apple — the real juice of the fruit, not "apple juice." I love this so far! This softens into apple blossoms. Not getting any smoke or ash. Finishes as Salon Selectives.

In the bottle I get fruit, tobacco, and what I can only describe as "juicy wet chocolate." It goes on as flowers and that wet chocolate, but shortly after all the dark notes vanish and it's just tropical flowers, like hibiscus and osmanthus. There's a honey note which turns it too sweet for me, and then more tropical flowers. It's overall pretty, but frankly I expected something a lot fiercer from the goddess of destruction.

Herbs and patchouli in the bottle, although it's hard to pin down. Goes on as the moss, maybe, and I can definitely smell the cold iron. There's some dusty dry flowers in the background, and the patchouli resurfaces. There's a woody notes — the broom twigs? — and then it turns, quite to my surprise, into a generic perfume counter floral with a little patchouli. Not for me.

Moss, myrrh, and dust in the bottle. Goes on as moss and violet — there's something definitely sweet there, but it has a hard edge. This becomes oakmoss, but then quickly fades back to the slightly sweet incense. Probably fine if you like incense scents, but definitely not for me.

This positively shocked me because I thought I was going to hate it. Incense in the bottle, but it goes on as citrus peel. There's a brief sandalwood note, which is surprisingly nice, and then it turns into candied lemon peel! This becomes a lemony tea, which eventually dries to a lemon drop similar to Arcana's Ambrosia. Complex and interesting, although not a lot of throw or longevity. No sake or beans. It was gone in two hours.

Chicory and coffee from beginning to end, and too heavy on the chicory. A good idea which stumbles in the execution. I love a good coffee blend like Arcana's Caffeinated Death, but all I get from this is chicory. Café Mille et Une Nuits was "too much spice, not enough coffee" for me too, so I wonder if BPAL's coffee note just doesn't work for me.

(2011 version) Pretty much all the notes in the description. Leaves in the bottle, and it goes on as leaves and white cocoa (and it's definitely a white cocoa). There's a moment of musk and another of vanilla. The cocoa comes back, and it and amber and vanilla all move in and out of the leaves background. Finishes with a faint vanilla note.

Sourish pine in the bottle. Goes on as a cold pine, which gets a little dusty as it dries — very much "pines in winter." The edge sweetens a little after an hour, but I'm not getting any of the fruit trees.

Spices and cinnamon in the bottle. Goes on as what I can only describe as a cinnamon varnish: that sharp, ozonish edge to varnish, but not the chemical smell. I get some cloves and other spices, and a brief whiff of eucalyptus (which shouldn't work but somehow does), and then it's back to cinnamon. Doesn't last very long (maybe I have an old imp), but it's nice while it lasts.

Well, it's supposed to be a tea, anyway. Tea and something vaguely floral in the bottle. Goes on as tea and flower petals, but this soon becomes a nice lemon. The lemon fades after about 15 minutes and the entire thing turns soapy, and it's gone in an hour.

This is an odd one, maybe because of the formulation, maybe because the imp I got is several years old, but I like it. In the bottle there's a very fresh citrus/eucalyptus smell. It goes on as eucalyptus and I think yuzu is that grapefruit note. There's something that reminds me of a cleaning product, although not in a bad way. A little white bergamot comes in, and then it settles as that light yuzu/eucalyptus. (Yucalyptus?) Reminds me of what I hoped Arcana's Filthy Viking would be.

Marzipan in the bottle, but not in a good way. Goes on as physically sticky and a bit cloying. Turns into Jordan almonds, which isn't too bad, and some generic spices come in. There's a raw almond note — I really feel like this is the olfactory equivalent of eating Jordan almonds — but then a weird sourness enters. Then I get cumin? And at that point I just had to wash it off. Disappointing.

oh thank the gods I'm not the only one who keeps extensive, searchable records of sampling scents. I keep mine in a very basic FileMaker Pro database. I like spreadsheets for organizing, but I can't always fit everything I want to say into a single cell. I am impressed by the ones I've seen here!