Kate Hagerty

I didn't know there were two versions either, THAT explains it! I've been wondering for a while if the thing I have that's labelled "Gnome" is actually a different scent entirely, because it's a dark liquid, and there's zero ginger or "fizz". It's dark and dirty and (weirdly) really foresty. In the imp I get kind of pine-scented cleaner, but in a good way? On my skin I get almost pure dirty pine (I guess that's the balsam?) like standing in an old forest, the ground is damp and thick with a layer of decomposing pine needles, it's dirty and lovely and wet. I can't wear it on its own, it's a bit *too* much dirt, but it layers beautifully, and works well to tone down or add depth to things that feel a bit sharp and bright. I don't really know what happens on the drydown because I usually layer it, but the dirty note does seem to stick around. (Again, *good* dirty ) Now I'm really sad, because it seems that I might never find this abberant version of gnome again, and I do love it so. Will have to ration what's left in my imp.

I really love this. I'm rubbish at picking out notes as I don't know what most of them smell like on their own, so apologies for mostly describing smells as colours. In the imp it's a fairly strong sweet smell, I was worried it might go foodie (which I don't like) or be something overwhelming. Thankfully on my skin this immediately changes to a soft, gently sweet (but not foodie or floral sweet) cosy smell. I assume the sweetness is the fig. There's a touch of something a bit incensy as well (the patchouli, I guess) and something a tiny bit green, but a dark green, not a bright one. I don't get "mushroom" at all, but maybe it's part of the overall "cosy brown" smell? Doesn't change much over time (possibly because it doesn't last long on me), it gets a little bit softer, a tiny bit less sweet, but mostly stays the same. Unfortunately it seems to fade really quickly on me It's lovely for an hour then *poof* it vanishes. I don't think this imp will last long if I keep reapplying! I might have to get a bottle.

In the imp sort of a nice light, cool faintly floral smell. On my skin, coconut. Nothing else, just warm-sunscreen coconut. Okay if you like coconut I guess (I don't.)

Okay, so reading everyone else's descriptions of this I'm thinking my skin is doing something very odd. I'm getting...kind of nasty coconut sitting in a stagnant pool? 0_o what the heck, skin. I don't get florals at all, OR beer, just this sort of dank "something in the back of the fridge" smell. I really wanted to like this one, it sounded lovely! I wish I knew which component was going to swampy coconut on me so I could avoid it.

I just received my anxiously-awaited bottle of Black Annis, the imp I got a year ago is down to the last few precious drops. I cracked open the bottle and was a little bit sad to discover that all the delicious, dark, herby, vetiver-y, animal-y, slightly unusual things I LOVE about the perfume were barely there, the merest breath. Instead there's a lot more aniseed and sweetness. It's not a bad scent, and I'll definitely wear and love it, but it's lacking the depth of the scent I adored from the imp I'm really REALLY hoping that age and some exposure to air might give the bottle some more depth.

(Apologies in advance for the not very experienced review, but I had to review my favourite.) EDIT: The following review was for an imp I got early 2015. The bottle I have just purchased (September 2016) is sadly not as wonderful. Far more aniseedy, far sweeter, and a lot of the lovely dark herby aspects seem to have vanished If my imp had smelled like this I wouldn't have gone for a bottle. I don't know if it just needs aging, or if the formula has been slightly tweaked, but I'm really sad about it. No longer my favourite. I love love love this. So much. I've been carefully rationing my little imp for months so it would last until I can buy a full bottle, which I will finally be doing this week. (My first full-size bottle purchase. *hearts*) I'm not very good with identifying notes, but I would agree with those who have said it's sort of dark and herby, especially at the start. In the imp it's very nearly unpleasant, some kind of strange poisonous plant that's been crushed underfoot in the woods, with a hint of something animal (I guess that's the civet, I don't know what civet smells like.) But as soon as it's on the skin it changes, the plant isn't poisonous, but medicinal, and the animal is a tame, protective beast. There's definitely some aniseed at the start, as the name suggests, but on me at least that fades and blends with the darker mossy aspects pretty quickly and becomes a lovely whole that I can't pick that scent out of. On me as it dries it turns into this soft, sweet scent, barely there, that reminds me of the aftertaste of old fashioned aniseed candy. I don't use much, just a dab on my throat and wrists, since it's mostly for my own benefit, so I'm not sure about staying power if you used a more "normal" amount, but I've found that on me at least, while the initial sharper scents fade pretty fast, the sweetness, and just the tiniest hint of the animal, lingers all day, close to the skin, and is lovely and comforting. That said, it's a scent I wear to feel strong, a little bit dark, a little unapproachable. It's not something I would wear to a party (Chaotic is my go-to for that )

Apologies if this has already been asked somewhere in this thread, just wanting to check, when the parcel is shipped will it be clearly marked as perfume OILS on the box? Ordinary perfumes are prohibited to ship to NZ, so are essential oils, but perfume oils are okay to ship here. A friend received their BPAL order with no trouble last year, but I wanted to double check because I don't want my parcel to get seized accidentally

This seems to be the most likely place to ask, I have a little pot of wax perfume I picked up on a whim years ago, it looks like this, (mine has a different design on the top, but it's made by these folks) and it has a sticker on the bottom that says it's called "Aphrodesia" which is spectacularly unhelpful I really love it, but I have zero idea what scents are in it. It's made by "Song of India" and it lists the ingredients as beeswax and "natural flowers oils herbs" but they don't list which oils are in the scent. I'm dying to try and figure out what's in it so that I can maybe find similar notes in BPAL scents, but I'm new at this whole "notes" thing, and can't identify any notes myself except for that it's sweet and kind of floral? But also kind of, um, *vague handwave* like almost incensey but not? It doesn't smell like sandalwood, roses, or jasmine (I'm pretty sure?), but I don't know what it DOES smell like. It's pretty strong, a tiny bit goes a very long way, and it's easy to overdo it, so there's *something* strong in there, but it's definitely a mix of multiple things. Anyway, I'm asking on the very small chance that someone else in the forum might have seen the same product/might have one and has a better nose than me to help identify the notes? I know it's a longshot. *throws it to the BPAL hivemind*