lizardskin

I looove this one. I'm still not sure what chypre smells like, but I think I like it. This is a dark, mysterious scent, and it calls to mind a forest without actually smelling like trees. The clove is there, but not overwhelming. Patchouli is hit-or-miss with me, but here it is well blended, grounding the rest of the notes without taking over.

I tested this a few times, hoping it just needed to settle, because I really wanted to like this one. Sadly, I think some skin chemistry nonsense is ruining it for me. In the beginning it goes through a sticky sweet phase that dries into something . . . gummy? That hangs around for longer than I'd like. After a while the smoke emerges along with fresh/unburnt wood. I like this later part, but the early stickiness ruins it for me.

I'm not sure if this is quite what you're looking for, but for 'rain-drenched earthy florals' you might want to try Yorick. It's mostly earth/dirt but with a light floral on top. It reminds me of rainy spring days.

This is a very solid pine forest scent. It's a dark, fairy tale forest, and even without ice or snow notes it gives me the feeling of stillness you sometimes get in the woods in winter. It has some similarities to Silence of the Woods, but where that one calls to mind dead pine needles covering a forest floor, this one smells like fresh, green needles with the scent of dirt faintly in the background. If you like pine forest scents I highly recommend trying this!

At first, very sweet and spicy, from the cardamom. The resin/sugar combination smells a lot like maple syrup to me, but after a while it settles down into sweet resins. I've had issues with tobacco being too overpowering for me in the past, but here it takes on a subtle, background role. I can pick it out if I pay attention, but otherwise it's very well blended in with the rest of the notes. I didn't get much pine, just a brief moment during drydown. I'm actually surprised by how much I like this one--normally I don't go in for scents that are too sweet, but I've worn it several days in a row already! I think I'm going to need a full bottle.

A predominantly leather scent. I get a little of the spices and smoke early on, but then it fades to just leather. I was afraid the leather/metal combo would be too strong (Fighter was too much for me), but this is very nice. I would have liked the spice notes to hang around a bit longer, but I've been experimenting with layering it with Morocco and I think that will work for days when I want a little more spice to balance out the leather. If you like leather scents I highly recommend this!

(2017 version) Initially I get sweet snow and a little pine with a background of florals. I like this early stage a lot, but unfortunately as it dries the pine and snow disappear, leaving only a musky floral scent that reminds me a little too much of potpourri. I can't pick out the violet at all, which is too bad because I'd been hoping for something like a wintry Elf. I wanted to try Perchta because of reviews comparing it to Frau Holle, which is one of my favorite Yules, and I can see some similarities in the early stages. But the pine in Perchta disappears too quickly on me and the florals get too old-ladyish for my taste

Bright and bubbly! There's something in it that reminds me of the top notes of Torture Queen--maybe white tea? It's light and refreshing. I haven't tried many ozone blends, so I can't speak to that, but I like this one a lot! It would make a good summer scent.

I took a risk blind-bottling this one, based on how much I liked Dead leaves, Raw Leather, Bourbon Vanilla, and Clove last year, and I LOVE it. It starts of with a sweet, light floral backed up with incredibly smooth and delicious amber. The leaves and leather play a supporting role for a while, but eventually the mimosa fades a bit and everything balances out. I'm not a huge floral person and I had no idea what mimosa blossom smelled like, but I really like this combination. I would recommend giving it a try if you liked last year's dead leaves, raw leather, etc. It's not quite the same leather, but it is one of the softer ones, and the leather + leaves combo is similar.

The first time I tested Harper I was deeply hungover and trapped on a long car ride, so maybe not the best of life choices. It smelled overwhelmingly of incense, to the point that I had to wash it off. I tried it again a few days ago and got a much nicer mix of notes--it starts off with a brief, woody oudh followed by a nice mix of vanilla musk and rose. I didn't notice much bergamot or labdanum, but I'm not really sure what labdanum smells like so I may just have missed it. The incense builds slowly, but after a few hours it was mostly incense and nothing else. It wasn't as overwhelming as before, but it wasn't doing much for me. I gave it to my brother to sniff and he told me it smelled like old church ladies, so there's that too. I think I'm going to have to pass this one on. If you like rose + incense combos, though, Harper is worth a try!

I think I've found a new favorite scent! Starts off with a fresh, bright gardenia, with a bit of white tea underneath. Just a hint of salty ambergris. After a while the vanilla musk becomes more prominent as the gardenia fades, though it never fades completely on me. I can be a little iffy on florals, but this is just gorgeous.

A warm, slightly spicy pine scent. I'm not sure what kind of musk this is, but it doesn't seem to be black, fortunately, since I'm not super fond of black musk. I don't get much in the way of earthiness/dirt, just juniper and pine grounded by a light musk. The pine/juniper combo reminds me of Ranger, which I love, but Ranger is a lot more complex. If you are looking for a dark pine forest scent, but Ranger or Black Forest are a bit too much, Thanatopsis is a good alternative!

I really want to like this one, but I think my skin chemistry might be ruining it for me. In the bottle it reminds me a little of A King Pursued by a Unicorn, but without the amber. On the skin, it starts off bright and sweet--almost too sweet for me--but over time it fades into a light, sweet musk. It doesn't have the sharp scent of fresh pine, but a more general foresty scent which does feel very warm and summery. Unfortunately, as it dries down it gets a little powdery and slightly nauseating . I'm hoping that if I let it rest for a while it might sort itself out, because the early stages, after the initial sweetness, are really nice. There's also something in there that reminds me of Samhain, but I have no idea what that could be since there aren't any notes in common.

I ordered this on a whim, but I ended up liking it a lot. It is mostly cologne on me, but it's a light cologne, bright and fresh and a little lemony. I get a bit of the paper in the dry down, but the leather and coffee stay pretty faint and in the background on my skin. The throw is is medium on me, not overpowering but it does linger all day. It's a light enough scent to wear in the summer, but I think I'll get the most use out of it during the fall.

I ordered a sample because it sounded similar to RPG Elf, one of my favorite Bpal scents, and I was not disappointed. Fae Forest is a light, piney floral scent, reminiscent of a sunny springtime forest. It's my favorite of the atmo sprays I ordered, and I'll definitely get a full size bottle when I've used up the goblin squirt!

In the imp this smells like mirin to me, which I guess makes sense in a weird way. On my skin it's boozy, with a bit of tobacco and the most fleeting glimpse of rose. I can't really pick out the gin or leather specifically, and as it dries down the tobacco really comes to the forefront, grounded by bourbon vanilla. The tobacco has an almost wet, chewy feeling to it. I'm glad I tried this because it is pretty different from my usual scents, vanilla aside, but it confirms that I really don't like tobacco as a dominant note. I was hoping for more alcohol + rose, but I should really know by now that my skin eats rose

Wet: Leafy, and these leaves aren't very dead. Freshly fallen, green leaves. The fir needle is there, briefly, but fades as it usually does on me. The honey musk is pleasantly sweet and remains the dominant scent as it dries down, with the leaves fading. I'm not totally sure what kind of musk this is, but it reminds me somewhat of black musk, but not as heavy. It's a nice scent, but it's not my favorite kind of musk and I get tired of the green leaves after a while.

This is my favorite type of oudh--similar to the one in Half-Elf, but the honey and vanilla give it a much deeper, richer feel without the sharper top notes. On me it takes a little while to warm up and build up more throw, but it lasts all day as a warm, resinous scent. Honey sometimes goes powdery on me, but in this one all of the notes meld together beautifully. It took me a while to make up my mind, but this is worth a full bottle.

Fighter is one of the few RPG scents that I've tried that I can't really imagine wearing on it's own as a perfume. As far as the concept goes though, it nails it. In the bottle: Metal. More metal. Extremely Metal. Wet on skin: Still mostly metal, but the leather starts to creep in. It took me a while to figure out why this leather smells so familiar, but it smells almost exactly like a soap I used to have from Villainess that has a leather note in it. It's a clean, new leather, with a bit of a chemical bite. I didn't pick up on the blood or musk, but the leather and metal might just be overpowering them on my skin. I'm going to try layering this with some of the other RPG's and see if I can't find a combo that will calm the metal down a bit. It has a pretty strong throw--I tested a small amount and it's still very noticeable.

Paladin was one of the first RPG scents I tried, I'm surprised I haven't reviewed it yet! I was always a little on the fence about it--it's a soft leather + musk on my skin, and while pleasant, I found it sort of boring. I held onto it because I liked layering with other scents sometimes, but I didn't really pay too much attention to it. I tried it the other day again and, after years, for the first time noticed the frankincense and a metal note. They don't last very long, but they do add an extra layer to the scent that I had been missing. I think I'm going to start reaching for it more often. Anyways, it's a very pleasant scent, good for occasions when you don't want to wear something too strong but don't want to forgo perfume entirely. It also layers very well with neutral.

I've been referring to this one as "the Joan of Arc perfume," and I think it does fit the inspiration/artwork very well. There is something medieval about it. Initially the oudh is strong, and a little weird, but it calms down quickly. So far every Bpal oudh I've tried has been completely different, so maybe it's worth mentioning that this one isn't like either the one in Jareth or the one in Half-Elf. Both the frankincense and iris are pretty noticeable early on, but the iris fades on me to leave mostly sweet, spicy frankincense grounded by rich oudh. I didn't pick up on the steel note when I looked for it, but during the day I occasionally got a whiff of metal. I'd like to see how this will age, but I already like it a lot.

Does anyone know of any scents with leather similar to the one in Dead Leaves, Raw Leather, Bourbon Vanilla, and Clove? I haven't come across anything else with a raw leather note in it, but in most of the other leather scents I've tried the leather isn't very noticeable on my skin.

I had wanted to try Mage since I first discovered the RPG line, since I tend to play magic-users in video games, but I was scared off by the number of unfamiliar notes. I finally received it as a frimp, and I'm pleasantly surprised by how much I like it! Initially, I get some of the balsam, but it doesn't last very long and is replaced by a sweet scent--something like caramel coffee. I thought this was the dragon's blood, but in other scents dragon's blood has a distinctly floral smell on my skin, so I'm not sure. Whatever it is, it's very comforting, rich and sweet without being cloying. To be honest, this isn't really how I expected mage to smell--I expected the frankincense to be much more predominant. However, this could be a mage at work in her study-- not the blast of magic but the hours of slow, dedicated study that lead up to it. I may need a bottle once my imp runs out.

Desert Places starts off with a blast of white tea and orris, and those remain the dominant two notes for at least an hour. I did get a bit of the minty note others mentioned, but it doesn't last very long. At some point the tea/orris fades completely, leaving sandalwood incense with a touch of vanilla. This is much more of an early spring scent than a winter one to me, especially in the early stages--it's light and bright. The dry down suits the name much more, as it feels less fresh and wet. The sandalwood reminds me of the residual scent of incense, like the ash leftover after you've burned it. As it is, I like it a lot, although I'm interested to see how it will age. It's very different from most of the other scents I have, and I think I'll enjoy wearing it throughout the spring.

I haven't tried Firethorn Berry Tea, but Tyrannophobia smells EXACTLY like raspberry tea. If you like to drink raspberry tea, I would definitely recommend it.