naeelah

I don't often favor the forum top 10 types of scents, but this is one where I'd have to say, everything you've heard is true. I have no idea how old my imp is (I can't recall if it came from the lab or a swap), but it's definitely at least a 3-4 months old, so it has at least a little age behind it.

This doesn't morph a great deal on me, and it's very evenly blended, so I can't pick many things out. Wet, the musk is distinctive, with a wave of sweet, creamy spices. It's very spicy -- I can feel it in my nose -- but not hot or overwhelming. The spice blend definitely contains vanilla, which provides the sweet, creamy quality. I can't pick out the carnation, per se, but I think it provides levity and smoothness. (However, this is definitely not a floral blend.) It's really lovely right from the start.

As it dries, the musk loses a little bit of its edge and more of the wood notes emerge, to provide a firm foundation. (I tend to amp sandalwood, so this is typical, but so far it has not taken over.) I can hardly believe this has cassia in it, or red sandalwood, because they behave so well. I think they're very low in the blend. It's a creamy, golden kind of scent, with a liberal dose of sweet vanilla and warm spices. Once dry, it's a little bit less "WOAH sweet spices" and more well balanced -- so, rather than changing noticeably, it just settles in.

Throw seems to be fairly good. I don't know yet about wear life, but blends of this type tend to last well on my skin.

Try it if you like: Antique Lace, Black Lace, Haloes, Shub, etc. If you hate sweet or vanilla blends, you might not like this. If you want a vanilla blend that is more than just soft creamy notes, you should definitely try it. If you're a fan of spicy blends, you should also definitely try this.

I'm a big fan of incense blends, so I'm always collecting and comparing them. I tried both a lab fresh imp and a decant of the original Springtime in Arkham version of this, on each arm.

In short, this strikes me as an evil version of Cathedral. For me, Cathedral is true resins, a little smoky and a little sweet, with a hint of something like cypress.

Fresh from the lab, Al-Azif is very similar. It starts out very sharp, and it's obviously very young. It's not so pleasant in the beginning. After maybe 30 minutes, it morphs into something a lot smoother and a little sweet. I find it very nice at this stage. It seems sweeter than Cathedral, but only slightly darker.

The aged, SiA version is *much* darker and richer. From the moment you put it on your skin, it's dark and smoky. It seems a little bit more woodsy. As with the fresh version, a sweetness emerges as you wear it, but I felt it actually got darker and more prickly as it morphed, so it evens out. Hours later, some of the darkness and prickliness fades, and now it's more similar to the fresh version.

For both, the throw is about average. Wear life seems good.

I think it's a wonderful true incense blend. No obvious fruits, no obvious woods, but richer than pure resins (such as Penitence). Definitely try this if you want a dark incense fragrance. If you want something like a sweeter Cathedral but not much darker, then I recommend trying it fresh.

This is quite a morpher!

Wet, it's strongly floral. Almost sharply so. Right away, a candy-like sweetness emerges. I think some of it must be from the honey, but mostly, it must be the davana. At this point, it smells like a floral potpourri next to a hard candy dish. After 5-10 minutes, the champaca flower becomes the strongest note.

At this stage, it reminds me quite strongly of Dia de los Muertos, only with many flowers in place of the foody, sweet notes.

After a while, the sandalwood gets a bit stronger and helps to even things out. It has a slightly smoky, burnt quality. At this point, the sandalwood combined with the champa and honey reminds me quite strongly of John Seward. It's a sweet, lightly smoky floral with a soft wood base.

I was afraid of this blend because I tend to amp sandalwood. White sandalwood tends to be especially vile on my skin. It just takes over. It is behaving slightly better than usual, but little by little, it's amping up. This is a lovely blend if a sweet, rich floral sounds appealing to you -- but I'll stick with my other champaca blends.

Try this: if you wanted to like Dia de los Muertos but it was too foody for you; if you missed John Seward and want a similar blend that comes back every year; if you liked Diwali, Kubla Khan, Defututa.

I've tried two versions: I have a bottle from 2006, and I had an imp of unknown origin. This review is of the 2006 bottle.

The original imp seemed slightly sweeter than my bottle. The bottle had an almost peanut-like quality to my nose, once I put it on my skin, whereas the imp did not. It was a little sweeter and smoother, and it must've been from 2007.

This is a dark, dark brown oil. When I screw off the lid, there's a tiny bit of stickiness - exactly like dried sugar. I've noticed this in bpal blends that list sugar as a note, so I think the lab's sugar component must really contain sugar.

In the bottle, it smells a little aggressive. Musky, a little boozy and sweet, kind of nutty and kind of chemical-ly. Not horrible, but a bit weird. I poured a decant earlier today, and it released a lovely, surprisingly strong, and distinctly boozy cloud. I think perhaps it's the red musk that's giving it this chemical-like smell in the bottle.

On the skin, it quickly gets richer and loses the weird chemical note. Like every review of this ever has said, Smut is the perfect name. It's deep, it's down, it's dirty. It's dark musks with a husky edge, with a liberal shot of dark rum. The sugar adds just enough lightness to help smooth it all out. Underneath it all, there's still something just slightly nutty.

Someone once described this as the dark cousin to Snake Oil, and I'd definitely agree with that. Snake Oil is in an unusual class of its own, and this has some very similar characteristics. But where SO is sultry, creamy, and sweet, this is dark, gritty, vice-ridden. I find I don't wear this often on its own, but it's fantastic for layering. The throw is good, and the wear life about average. This is a blend where less is more. Use a light hand, and I think you'll appreciate it more.

Try it if you like: Perversion, Snake Oil, Temple Viper, Krampus, Debauchery

When this was new, I made the note that it was crisp, fresh, fruit salad. Lots of orange, some apple, and a hint of fresh Snake Oil. I really liked it then. It's more like Australian Copperhead, in that the SO is secondary to the fruit notes.

Now, my imp is about 9 months old. The scent is not so crisp, and I can smell no orange at all. Wet, it smells just like a fresh red, Fuji apple. Smooth and juicy. As some of the snake oil emerges, it deepens slightly to smell more like apple cider, or apple sauce. The Snake Oil doesn't call attention to itself, so the overall effect pretty much just smells like apple cider. As it dries, I can detect just a little plumeria and gardenia. It simply returns a little lightness to the blend, it doesn't make it smell predominately floral.

Alas, for I loved the orange. This won't be a keeper for me (although I do think I'll pick up some cider while I'm out!), but it's well worth getting if you're an apple lover! This is sooo smooth and nice. The throw is about average, definitely weak compared to pure Snake Oil. Wear life is also about average.

The lab used to use different colors of bottles, but it looks like they switched to all amber by 2006. So if you have a cobalt bottle, that just means your bottle came from 2005 or earlier.

I'm not the best authority on this, but afaik, both GC and LE came in cobalt bottles. I wasn't buying BPAL back then, but as far as I gather, whether you get cobalt or not doesn't mean anything, it's just the luck of the draw.

Descriptions that this had a more traditional perfume quality were actually appealing to me. I was afraid that this might turn out too similar to BiggerCritter or Lover's Parodies of Sumo Holds. The balance of notes here is very different, though, so I think it's certainly distinct.

This doesn't seem to morph really at all. For the first hour, I notice very little change from wet to dry. The main note is rose. Rose, white musk, and grapefruit. Pink grapefruit is often quite candy-like, but here it's well balanced by the white musk, which brings out more of the tart qualities. Rather than smelling like a fruity blend, the fruity aspect just provides balance to the dry aspects. I can definitely smell jasmine, but it's secondary to the rose. The amber doesn't stand out, it just seems to bind everything together.

I guess from the description "rose-swirled amber" I thought that jasmine and grapefruit would be most prominent here, and there would only be a hint of rose underneath. It's quite the opposite, but sometimes I do amp rose. This is a beautiful, classic spring scent. I've tried many similar blends to this but nothing exactly like it, and I think this is already becoming my favorite. I adore the way these notes balance each other.

ETA: Yesterday I was wearing short sleeves. Today I'm wearing long sleeves, and a lot of the perfume oil has rubbed off onto my shirt. On my skin there is a lot of rose and grapefruit, but on my sleeve, the jasmine is much stronger than the rose. So definitely looks like I'm amping the rose. Either way, it's lovely, and I'm actually glad I can choose which top note I want, depending on how I wear it.

Try it if you like: It reminds me most of Abhisarika, but without the cream note. If it's heavier on jasmine for you, then it's also similar to Lover's Parodies of Sumo Holds. Basically, try it if you like jasmine. I would not say that it's like biggerCritters, because this isn't sweet or creamy.

Throw is about average, wear life seems a bit below average, so far.

Wow, I'm surprised but not surprised that this already has 4 pages of reviews!

In the bottle, it smells like vanilla icing! Wet, I get a lot of the much fabled wintergreen. It overpowers the vanilla briefly. Luckily, the wintergreen aspect fades within 5 minutes, and gives way to a sharp, chemical kind of herbal smell. This dominates for maybe another 5-10 minutes.

It fades little by little, letting the rich, sweet vanilla take the fore. It's definitely very sweet and buttery. The saffron still has a little bit of a chemical smell, but the sharpness is subdued by the vanilla, and it actually provides a nice contrast. That chemical sharpness continue to fade, and about an hour later, the saffron mainly has a warm, very lightly spicy quality. Actually, saffron reminds me a bit of cardamom, in that it has a mint-like quality without being minty. It's spicy and cool at the same time.

But the saffron just gives the vanilla something to play off of. Sweet, creamy vanilla is definitely the main quality there. 5 hours later, all I smell is buttercream. I think this will age fantastically!

Throw is a bit better than average, wear life is quite good.

My nose is currently broken (have a cold), so I will have to update this review later, but I think I'm getting a good first impression of this. This was such an intriguing blend on paper. Rose geranium is very light and feminine, and I thought cinnamon seemed like an excellent balance to that.

Wet, it's a very light and clean scent -- lots of rose geranium and bay rum, making it a light, cool, floral scent with a slight...after-shave like quality (but in a nice way).

As it dries, a hint of cinnamon comes out. I had hoped that this would be less intense than regular cinnamon, and I've got my wish. It's a light, warm spice, without going overboard and smelling like a Red Hot candy. Perhaps imagine the scent that wafts when you open a container of cinnamon sticks -- not as peppery as the stick itself, just a gentle wave of spice. This is what I wish all cinnamon smelled like (in perfumes). The rosewood isn't a dominant quality, it's a base note in the truest sense. So far I'm not picking out any musk.

The longer it dries, the stronger the frankincense gets. After an hour, it's a much richer, smokier scent. I would call the frankincense the dominant note at this point, with hints of cinnamon, lightened by the geranium and bay rum.

I love the way this realizes the poem: wistful dreams bringing the hope of something more...substantial. It's a clean but rich blend, and I'd call it gender neutral. Lovely!

What do the Novel Ideas For Secret Amusements bottles look like? Is it the full picture as linked to on the Salon page, or a section of the images?

Mine has the entire picture on the label, and I expect that's true of them all, but I've been wondering about the vertical scrolls. Mine has a horizontal picture, so I wonder if they crop the vertical ones, or just change the label layout?

Yay, thanks! It's very festive.

Does anyone have pictures of this year's Parliment of Foules?

I adore Ostara (LE from last year). It smells like springtime in a bottle. It has tons of flowers and greenery, but also cream, cakes, frankincense... it's a little bit heady, with a classic perfume quality, but it's bright and lovely.

What about Defututa? It's a light, creamy, golden kind of scent that I think is nice for warm weather. If has champaca flower, so if you like the florals in Blood Countess, I think you'd like the florals in this. It's rich, but light and warm, so not so mid-wintery.

One of my other spring favorites is Abhisarika (as well as Vasakasajja) from last year's Lupercalia. Abhisarika is representing youthful passion, so it's very spring-y in my mind. Rose, orchid, cream accord, bright musk. Vasakasajja is rich, creamy, slightly sweet florals with skin musk.

Have you tried Forbidden Fruit? The fresh scent of lotus hidden behind lightly scented flowers, amber, and citrus. Or perhaps The Lady of Shalott, for something aquatic?

I'll also throw in a recommendation for Schrodinger's Cat, because it's a very fun scent and I find it light and nice for warm weather.

Here's a question.

 

Am I the only one who pronounces BPAL as a word (Bee-Pal), but pronounces TAL as initials (Tee-Ay-El)? Somehow, pronouncing TAL as 'tal' sounds odd...

No, I do the same thing. Bee-pee-ay-el is too cumbersome for me. I'd rather just say "Black Phoenix". Bee-pal makes sense, because there's no word that sounds like it, and unless you're randomly interjecting perfume into a conversation that was revolving around your apiarist buddy, it shouldn't cause any context confusion. But I spell out TAL because it's weird as one syllable, and easily confused with the word "tall".

The scent of this reminds me a lot of Yankee Candle's Lemon Lavender, actually. This is a good thing.

This is almost all lavender. Definitely a very true-to-life, lovely herbal scent. Softening the lavender, there seems to be a hint of something lemony, and a very soft rosy quality. I only noticed the rose because someone else on the forum mentioned getting rose from this. Without knowing what to look for, I'd completely overlooked it -- and I like to think I have a pretty good nose. So I would definitely say that this is well blended, with the extra notes only tempering the lavender and not standing out on their own.

If you find lavender relaxing, then this is definitely a blend for you. I find that Temple of Dreams helps me sleep more peacefully, personally, but I love this blend and keep it around for use during stressful days.

That was me, silly!

Oh, was it? Sorry. I thought I responded to a GRR post, but maybe I'm thinking of something else.

I probably do this all the time. Maybe from now on I should credit everything to "a brilliant forumite". Or Papow.

This is kind of an LE to LE combination, but..

GypsyRoseRed suggested layering Anactoria and Antique Lace to replicate Black Lace. I gave it a try, so here are my findings.

For me, Anactoria isn't nearly musky enough. It's mostly smooth amber. So AL mostly just adds violets and sugary vanilla.

The combination has a distinct similarity to Black Lace but it's not an exact match. Black Lace has a very distinctive dry cognac cotton musk that I'm finding hard to replicate.

I'd say "close, but no cigar", so it's worth trying on your own skin to see how it works out. If Anactoria is more dry musk in your skin (or if AL has more linens), you might have a closer match.

Like the other oils, I haven't bathed with this yet, but I've gotten plenty spilled on myself while decanting.

This is a veeery rich foody scent. The two most prominent notes are the cocoa and caramel, but I can also find a liberal dose of black currant. Dry on the skin, I think it isn't quite as heavy as it initially smells. This is very sweet, but it has two halves -- the heavy caramel side, and the light, fresh sugar cane side. It makes it much more interesting and nicer than the usual, synthetic "creme brulee" type bath products you find.

It smells most similar to Gluttony, but while that's a soft, fuzzy blend of all possible desserts, this scent is painted with much broader strokes.

You'll want to give this a good shake before using it, because there is a lot of absolute that settles on the bottom. (I'm wondering if blending this with Luxuria in the tub will end up smelling something like Tiresias. It's something to try!)

The ubiquitous general notes:

The bath oils are light and thin in texture. They absorb into the skin very quickly and easily, without leaving an oily residue, when you put them straight on your body. I've used them in my hair (rubbing through in the shower, then rinsing well), and they made an excellent de-frizzer and de-tangler. (The parts of my hair that are closest to my face seemed to get oily/dirty more quickly than usual, since my hair already had oil in it. I probably wouldn't use this every time I wash my hair, so that I don't get any nasty buildup.)

Like the others, I haven't actually bathed with this yet.

I love this fragrance! I can smell all of the components in almost equal parts. The cream lets the vanilla be rich without being too strong and sweet, and the rice flower gives a light, fragrant quality to the whole thing, taking some of the foody edge off. It's surprisingly strong, and definitely lends a noticeable perfume when you rub into your skin.

Very nice! I think this is my favorite of the bath oils, because it's just so...universal. It's appropriate for all seasons, rich without being too decadent and light without being too ethereal.

And the ubiquitous general notes:

The bath oils are light and thin in texture. They absorb into the skin very quickly and easily, without leaving an oily residue, when you put them straight on your body. I've used them in my hair (rubbing through in the shower, then rinsing well), and they made an excellent de-frizzer and de-tangler. (The parts of my hair that are closest to my face seemed to get oily/dirty more quickly than usual, since my hair already had oil in it. I probably wouldn't use this every time I wash my hair, so that I don't get any nasty buildup. FWIW, I have very thick hair that's dry from frequent dyeing.)

(I haven't used this one in the bath yet, just sniffed.)

This is a really lovely, light, refreshing scent. At first the cucumber and tea seem to dominate, but I think I'm getting an equal amount of the florals. The top notes, to my nose, are tea, cucumber, and sakura. The scent is wonderfully fresh and true, as if you just sliced up a bunch of salad fixings and tossed them into your bath along with some flower petals. I think it will be great for hot weather. It's really relaxing.

It reminds me of the perfume oil Cancer ('07), and I think fans of light, watery fragrances will like this.

And the general notes that I'm including in each review:

The bath oils are light and thin in texture. They absorb into the skin very quickly and easily, without leaving an oily residue, when you put them straight on your body. I've used them in my hair (rubbing through in the shower, then rinsing well), and they made an excellent de-frizzer and de-tangler. (The parts of my hair that are closest to my face seemed to get oily/dirty more quickly than usual, since my hair already had oil in it. I probably wouldn't use this every time I wash my hair, so that I don't get any nasty buildup.)

I haven't actually used this in the bath tub yet, so just a general impression, so far:

The bath oils are light and thin in texture. They absorb into the skin very quickly and easily, without leaving an oily residue, when you put them straight on your body. I've used them in my hair (rubbing through in the shower, then rinsing well), and they made an excellent de-frizzer and de-tangler. (The parts of my hair that are closest to my face seemed to get oily/dirty more quickly than usual, since my hair already had oil in it. I probably wouldn't use this every time I wash my hair, so that I don't get any nasty buildup.)

The scent is about half currant and fruits, half patchouli and musk, to my nose. Since I haven't taken a bath, I haven't gotten the chance to experience the full bouquet yet. Comparisons to Mme. Moriarty are definitely apt, so if you love that scent, I think you will love this bath oil. I think it smells great in the bottle, but patchouli and I have a very poor history together, so I'm actually hoping this one won't stick to my skin too much, outside of the bath.

In my hair, mostly the red musk and patchouli stuck - which had a strangely cedar-y effect. So this may not be the best scent as a hair product.

Oooh I'd love to see all the different Smut labels. Ok girls (and boys) let's get those camera's flashin.

The blueish tinted one that someone referred to I think is already in the photo that Tramp posted. Assuming there are only 3 new labels, then we're just missing the one that hkhm received. I'm pretty sure all of the old Smut labels are in the old posts, if you're looking for the completely anthology.

I have the second generation version, from DD. This scent is so well-blended and also so young that I'm having a hard time reviewing it.

In the bottle/wet, I smell pretty much everything but the red musk -- gardenia, vanilla, rose, amber, and orange. It smells a lot like biggerCritters, actually.

As it dries, I really can't pick anything out. The red rose and gardenia seem to be two of the foremost notes, but well-blended with soft, vanilla amber and orange zest. I don't usually like heliotrope as a top note, but fortunately, it's pretty soft in this blend. The longer this dries, the more the red musk emerges (but it never becomes one of the most prominent notes -- this isn't at all a musky blend, it only adds zest).

Dry, the overall effect is of a vivacious red rose with beautiful, glowing amber. Such a perfect interpretation!

So far this is very soft, and it seems to fade quickly. I have to slather it. I think it's beautiful now, but it's not grabbing me by the gut. But I think this is a blend to age, so I'll keep it and see what it's like this time next year. These are notes that should age well, and if the older version reviews are any indication, this should become something heart-stopping!

Try this if you like: Versailles, Moscow, biggerCritter, Lovers' Parodies of Sumo Holds, Unheavenly City

Thanks naeelah, I've been considering Eshe, but the jasmine is scaring me.

I tend to amp sweet, and personally, Eshe wasn't in the slightest bit sweet or jasmine-y. YMMV, of course, but I think overall it's definitely very dry.

Magpie, about John Seward -- that's one of my favorite scents, and I know I've made more than a few comparisons to Dr. Seward in reviews. I've been trying to remember what those things are...

For me, Blood Countess was VERY similar, but with the addition of red fruit. That's the closest match I've found, for my skin chemistry. YOUNG Kubla Khan is a little similar, if memory serves me correctly. You might also try Defututa. It's a little smoother and less spicy/gingery, but I think it's definitely in the same ballpark.

black*cat, for Carfax Abbey. You've got 4 things to match in that scent, so I think you might need to layer: wood, stone and dust, herbs (rosemary?), and incense.

I think Cathedral is your best starting point, better than Penitence, because it also has some woods. It's quite similar on its own, mainly just lacking the herbs, but it does seem sweeter and richer. Cathedral is a living church, Carfax Abbey has been neglected for centuries. Sniffing them side by side, Carfax is MUCH dustier. I think Eshe, from CD, might be great for layering -- that's a very dry, dusty herbal scent, with a few dry resins.