porcelina

Moonlight shining on the Quickening Tree, the heat and wax of sacred candles, the milk of ewes, Brigid's blackberry, the sting of keening wind, and the last flutter of the Cailleach's winter snow. ohhh this should be so good. but that bpal milk note is all i smell, with maybe a touch of blackberry. where is my yummy candlewax? all i smell is sour milk and mint. i don't think i can wear this one at all.

i may be really stating the obvious here but this smells PINK. this is like a perfect valentine's scent- flowers, chocolates and strawberries. unfortunately, white chocolate doesn't really agree with me and this does remind me a bit of another bpal i own, white chocolate & strawberry. there is also some flower in here that is doing something funky and not very good to my nose. the strawberry note is really nice, though, but i just can't get over that funkiness. bleh. i think on the right person, this would smell amazing, but foodie chocolate + flowers are just not my thing.

strawberry = one of the few fresh fruit notes i like to wear. honey? even better. vanilla is good. grass is good. dandelion is better! what a beautiful fresh scent! it just begs to be worn in spring and early summer. this makes me want to lie in the sun in a grassy meadow filled with fluffy dandelions and eat a bowl of fresh-picked strawberries. note that in real life, this would be an allergy-ridden nightmare for me in more ways than one, but i am happy to have strawberry moon to indulge the fantasy. this is a soft, cool, green, yummy sweet scent. it stays pretty close to my skin and smells absolutely wonderful.

Looking at the notes, I am not sure why on earth I chose to purchase Venusian Phoenix because it is not at all like any of my usual BPAL choices. I do generally like tomato leaf, though, as far as "green" notes go, so that may have been what sealed the deal. Anyway, I do get a lot of that nice fresh tomato leaf note, but there is a little too much citrus and rose for this to be a winner. I like the soft benzoin and tonka in the background but it's just too flowery and ultimately soapy for me to wear.

I like the dried peach note- it has a subtle fruity sweetness that is nice for someone like me, who doesn't care for in your face fresh-juicy-fruit scents. The peach + black musk blend really nicely together and I can barely tell where one ends and the other begins. If you don't care for black musk, I would still give this one a try because the musk is pretty gentle (gentler than I would like, actually, but I am a huge musk fan!). I am not getting a lot of spice, which is disappointing, but this is a really nice scent. It wears close to the skin and just smells really good.

I'm getting majority dragon's blood here with a wonderful haze of red musk and maybe a touch of incense. Sadly, the resins and leather are not very prominent on my skin. I actually get a lot more subtlety and more of the other notes when I smell it in the bottle, but on my skin it gets very soft and muted and fades pretty quickly.

having not used it for its intended purposes, i can only comment on the scent of 13 crossroads. there is definitely a unique combination of smoky vetiver with something softer, sweeter and floral. it isn't really something i would wear as a perfume but if you did wear it, it wouldn't smell horrible, either.

i like the jasmine here in mori girl more than i thought i would. combined with the honey dust, it reminds me a little of lush's flying fox, but softer and gentler. overall, though, this is just too floral for me.

mostly light woods and dry amber with light florals here. the notes smell pretty indistinct to me. i thought i would like this a lot because peony + carnation are two of the rare floral scents that i enjoy, but it is just really generically pretty and perfumey and not something i will ever wear.

i'm scared of the rum here, but i'll give it a shot. the clove dominates a delicious black leather note. it reminds me of spanked (cardamom/leather) but more subtle and definitely lighter on the leather. the rum is actually being ok for me- i think the clove and spices keep it from turning to plastic. the tobacco is mostly there in the background and i don't get much of the birch tar- unless that is what's providing the delicious smoky note that ties everything together!

i love bpal's strawberry note. it is great here in loligoth- tart, sweet, juicy and delicious. this a super-girly, super-pink, sugary blend of yumminess. the pink musk is soft and sweet and the pale woods and iris take it from candy territory to candy perfume! it's beautiful and fun and wears close to the skin.

i want to like this but i am scared because bpal rum scents do not work for me (even though i love rum!). this kiiinda works. the rum is warm and, yes, buttery, with gentle spices. but the rum is just SO plasticky to my nose. i also get a weird hint of banana which is making me think of banana bread... not a bad thing, but maybe not what i want in a perfume!?

a gentle, pure, clean white scent. earlier i reviewed The Palace of Electricity and said it smelled like an attractive, freshly-showered man; this is like the female version of that. it is a lovely, clean perfume that smells like you just got out of a beautifully-scented bath.

So I loooooove PotO and had to get Erik because it totally sounded like something I would like (sorry, I did not get Christine because florals are reeeeally not my thing). This is a dark and masculine scent that smells like dusty wood and resins. it is richer than and not as dry as i expected. i really like it!

Vanilla #565. Very soft and sweet. There is a fruitiness that reminds of Tweedledee! I swear I pick up some honey, and definitely something light and fruity. I cannot for the life of me name exactly what it is but it is really nice.

the sarsaparilla/leather/vanilla combination in badgers reminds me of tombstone, but this is softer, sweeter and more feminine. the honey adds a wonderful sweetness and the particular patchouli used here is REALLY nice. the leather is really soft and blends well with the patchouli to ground the whole blend. really really nice.

2013 edition! this is a soft, sweet honey that wears close to the skin and almost takes on a skin musk feel. the ginger, herb and floral notes are barely-there and just add a little depth and complexity to the beautiful honey. i am always looking for scents that will combine well with others since no day is complete without both bpal and a whole slew of bptp products- this is one that would blend and layer perfectly with other scents but also wear well on its own.

ok i kinda get the shampoo comparison but i also don't really mind! i am NOT a citrus-wearer but this is SO fresh and clean and sparkling and summery that i could wear this for sure, on a hot hot summer day or to the beach. it's so bright and zesty. maybe it's the musk balancing out the STRONG citrus that makes me ok with it? it makes me think of bright pink and neon green and is a HAPPY happy scent. it's not an everyday scent for me but it has a place in my collection for sure.

this smells like floral black tea with lemon. there is something that reminds me of licorice and there is musk that kind of reminds me of black musk but i don't know if it actually is. this is a really pretty and unexpected scent!

sailings stones is a dry, warm, mineral scent to me. that doesn't go far enough- it, like, actually smells like rocks. how do you make a perfume smell like rocks?! i have no idea. i don't know if i will ever want to smell like a warm desert rock, but, hey, at least i have the option.

sparkling clean, a little metallic glint, lots of fresh ozone. it smells like an attractive, freshly-showered man. it is not something i would ever wear, but i can appreciate it. i am going to go put some on my husband and see what it smells like on him! ok, just tested it on my husband and i was right: he wears it much better than i do! more of the citrus comes out on him and it does not take on the powdery scent that i get when it dries. definitely a must-try for guys!

i can't believe i never reviewed this; it became a favorite since i first picked it up at WC. it's a gorrrgeous red musk. the star anise makes me think of root beer somehow, which combined with the red musk evokes the elephantine colossus (my all-time favorite), but less foodie... more musk/maybe incense. it's so well-blended and complex! the musks here are just wonderful and i love the amber and touch of cedar. really really really nice!

i am so bad at reviewing scents that don't have any notes. argh. but i get a BIG blast of herbal citrus goodness from leo stellium. it is a bright, warm, sunny scent. i feel like there is definitely amber in here, providing that warm, resinous background that is really nice combined with the more herbal notes. very much not my usual type of scent, but i could see myself wearing this!

saffron is hit or miss with me. i want to like it but sometimes it makes various blends smell weird and somehow plasticky? that is not the case here... the saffron/vanilla combo is very nice. the vanilla and amber are so rich, creamy and sweet but not TOO sweet. and the florals are there but not dominating. it's sexy but not overwhelming. this is a really fantastic perfume and to be honest i'm surprised you don't hear more about it.

this REALLY reminds me of sangria. my local tapas place does a sparkling sangria but they do not use any red wine... this is much better than that stuff, haha! it's really nice, very summery. the dry fizzy champagne note keeps the fruit and red wine under control and it is wearable and does not make me smell like i've just spilled a big glass of wine all over myself. i want to wear this to my favorite tapas restaurant, haha.