Leopard403

All of the notes in Salma combine so that it smells like soapy bubblegum on me. I don't get apple, or ink, and while the other scents are distinctly clean they somehow turn candy-ish. Man, I am totally striking out on this collection.

I think Mellifluous is onto something... I also get an underlying note similar to Whitechapel. That must be the "ectoplasm," and for my skin that is what hangs around the longest. Norman is nice, but not really distinctive.

When wet, this smells like loud citrus cologne and I almost didn't put it on. I'm glad I did because it's lovely! Not a fresh-cut grass scent, more of a fragrant sunlit meadow (and I didn't realize there was a difference until now!) it is fresh and clean without being soapy. Bright but also mellow.

In the imp and wet on my skin there is a really "high" note that is quite unpleasant. Luckily, that quickly burns off and I get mostly leather. It's a literary leather that is a bit cologne-y and it would be gorgeous on a nerdy boy, but I'm not sure it's for me. In a burner in my house, yes; but not really a skin scent.

For those who loved Tin Phoenix a few years back, I find that it is remarkably similar to Whitechapel. And I know that it is borderline-sacrilege to compare people's beloved Pink Moon '07 to *anything* but on my skin it is identical to Alice.

Orris root, lilac, galbanum, white tea, Italian bergamot, and blueberry. I have only three words: gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous!!! The notes blend seamlessly and yet you still get the tartness of the blueberries, the flower and cream and soft powder of the florals, the slight bite of the tea with bergamot zest. And it lasts forEVER on my skin. One of my new faves!

In the bottle this smells just like Suave Green Apple shampoo, which is not altogether unpleasant. It mellows on the skin, though, with a much more realistic apple fruit scent mixed with the soft floral and wood of the blossom emerging. Even better than I expected it to be! Edit after a full wear: Man my skin is weird. My wrists eat this scent. I mean, really: It's like there is nothing there. But there is the loveliest waft coming from the crooks of my elbows! SO WEIRD! I also noticed that this oil seems thinner than a lot of the others I have. It almost feels water-based instead of oily, and it sloshes around the bottle that way as well. I don't know that I've ever noticed a consistency of an oil so much.

Mmmm so good. This is so warm and spicy it is almost musky, definitely a cold weather scent for my skin. There is a hint of green at first, but that is gone fast and this is sharp and hot as it lingers. Just what I wanted this scent to be.

Yep. Creamsicles. But I love that the citrus evolves from just orange to orange-and-yellow-and-pink-and-fuzzy. Definitely a prominently warm scent; must be the vanilla. This is a lot of fun.

Love all these notes on their own, but together in Wembley they are a big ol' mess. Super pineapple-y when wet this starts out reminiscent of a Tiki Bar blend, but there is something about it very high and sour. I ended up washing this off.

Mokey is the kind of scent that makes me think I suck at reviewing scents, because I love it but I have no idea what to say about it. I don't really get soap and I don't really get a purple vibe, but I am in awe of how this can make you think that it is a really nice floral even though it isn't identifiable as a floral in any way. This is just the kind of scent that sticks close to the skin and it is just the way someone would smell rather than the way someone's *perfume* would smell. It's like coming out of the shower and having a mix of soap and shampoo and soft water and lightly-scented creams all over you, yet still being able to smell the scrubbed skin underneath. It is gorgeous and intimate. And is it me, or does Mokey sorta look like Dorothy Zbornak around the face there?

Boober is the Fraggle scent I almost wasn't brave enough to buy. But I did, and lucky for me. And it's funny how weird noses and skin chemistries are! There are several BPAL scents that turn to too-fresh dryer sheets or pure soap on me (some are clearly finely milled French soaps, but still: soap). Then comes Boober which is *supposed* to smell of soap and laundry, but doesn't! To me and on me, Boober smells like a baby's head: soft and a little sweet and a bit powdery but not to the point that you say "hey that's powdery!" It is that gentle scent that is clearly clean and fresh but not to the point that you say "hey that's clean and fresh!" because you are way too busy huffing that infant's head and thinking about how good it smells, and why can't they capture that in a bottle. Well here you go folks.

First impression: How can this combination of scents fade so quickly?!? Red is a lovely scent, bright and fizzy and not too overtly fruity. Almost reminiscent of the juniper/gin note in Velvet Pink Kitty and Blue Fire. Probably leaning more Pink than Red, if you want to get picky like that. But my skin just eats it. The red currant was the only note to stick around for more than 5 minutes...and even that only lasted about 10. I plan to try it in a scent locket and report back.

I've never smelled Winter Maiden so I can't make that comparison, but to my nose this could be a bath oil version of Faith. Mmmmmmm.

Yep, just pine tree for me.

I am utterly fascinated by this, because I can't smell it. Wet, dry, in the imp, on my skin: There is no scent.

Starts out Laffy Taffy pear: More of a gum- or candy-flavored pear than actual pear. But then it settles beautifully and smells like real pear with something creamy in the background. Unfortunately, my skin eats it: This only lasts about 10 minutes on my skin and there is no throw even when I slather. Sad.

When Blossoms in Springtime is wet, it is super-foody. But as soon as it dries, it smells just like the prior Vulva scents. Unfortunately, on my first full wear, it has given me a tremendous headache.

Blooming Rose is a lovely, well-blended floral that will be a perfect Springtime scent. Rose is prominent so you know it is there, but it is clear that this is a mixed bouquet. There is a slight undertone of fancy floral soap, which is probably related to the lilac, but somehow that works FOR it rather than against. I'm not sure what "white honey" is, but normally I amp all kinds of honey and I don't recognize the usual stuff in this at all because this is all girly flowers. Very dainty, but suprisingly long-lasting on me!

I gravitate toward rose scents, so I was really looking forward to Elizabeth of Bohemia. It turns out, I think, that I love rose, but don't love oude. The resinous scent under this rose is very cloying, and in fact this smells exactly like the time I had a brilliant but short-lived idea to make my own rose-scented gel candles. Elizabeth smells exactly like that, very much an in-your-face I AM A FAKE THING BUT I SMELL LIKE ROSE! scent. So though the rose is deep and lush and lovely there is a sort of chemical undertone that just ruins it.

At first, The Last Unicorn has a murky, muddy, vegetative scent about it; almost a dirty aquatic but not quite. Luckily this is a short first impression and the scent blossoms into something amazing. It is complex and seamless, so well-blended that no one note stands out above the others. It smells a little dainty, a lot sad: This is one of those incredibly evocative scents, and knowing the inspiration for it, it just all makes sense somehow. I could be a young girl again, wearing this scent and crying over the book and the film for the first time. But it works for me now as a woman, a little older and wiser with a little bit of Molly Grue inside of me, because this scent is wistful and peaceful and gentle and lovely. SO beautiful. I quite think it would work as a unisex scent, too, which means it is damned brilliant on top of everything else.

As I sniffed and sniffed at this--both wet and dry, both in the imp and on my skin--I thought "Why do I know that scent? What is it, what is it?" I read and reread the notes and pondered quite hard, and it just wouldn't come to me. I just sniffed again and it finally came in a sudden clear blast: It's a fresh pine tree.

This is pretty. The base is clearly minty, though the other notes smell more like citrus fruits than "yellow petals" to me. It feels sort of fuzzy and fizzy, more of a yuzu or blood orange citrus than a brighter orange or lemon scent. This is actually what I expected Yellow Snowballs to smell like. I find it a bit too masculine on me, but it would be lovely on a boy in springtime.

All sandalwood and tuberose on me. It is a high, white floral, as so many of the prettier Frankenstein Yules seem to be on me. Bummer.

I could have written this review myself. I am totally striking out on Yules this year.