In the bottle: Very faint florals.
Wet: SOAP. Overwhelming sharp headache-inducing soap. It's exactly like Farenath said, like someone took all the stems, leaves and thorns from a field of wildflowers and crushed them all up, and then made them into powerful soap. Obviously there's some really intense green note. I wouldn't have gotten this if I'd known that. (My fault for not checking reviews first, I guess.....) Maybe it's the heather, or the thyme.
Drydown: Soap soap soap. It doesn't morph at all, no jasmine, no wisteria, no honeysuckle, no nothing except very sharp green soap. Husband said it was like a mix of Ivory and Irish Spring.
Verdict: Total miss. Kinda heartbroken as I'd waited a long time to get this one....Hope the green or the soap will die down as this ages, maybe.
Source: Jasmine Cottage
I had a small imp of this for a while which I wore sparingly, was really sad I didn't snag a bottle before it was discontinued, and finally got my muddy little paws on one recently, years after first trying it. It was a bit surprising in the bottle!
In the bottle: Chemical sweet cherry medicinal kiddie cough syrup. Yargh.
Wet: A sweet, yet musky, fruit smell -- with a little bit of spice. No idea what that's from. I don't actually smell pomegranate, which my skin amps like it's my job. Definitely dark fruits: plums, berries, maybe blackberries, cherries? dark grapes? Maybe cranberries and raspberries. A lot more spicy and musky than I was expecting.
Drydown: What the hell, I keep smelling something like PEPPER. Husband said he didn't think it was peppery but could see how I thought it was (what?) - more "spicy." Maybe this has cloves in it, because whenever I wear the BPAL clove note I turn into a kitchen cupboard. The musky amber/incense is really a nice combination with the fruit, though.
Hours later: I don't get the amber-to-powder, thank goodness. The scent gets a lot sweeter, the peppery note disappears (HUZZAH). Still a bit incensey. This really is a sort of dark, sweet, smokey autumnal smell -- if it were a colour it'd be a sort of deep glowing burgundy, like wine in a glass. It does fade fairly quickly, but it's really nice. As someone else said, this is the Iron Queen, not the flower-gathering girl. The resin/sandalwood/incense/musk/whateveritis (so not a perfume buff) gives it real maturity and depth. It's not quite sad - it reminds me of the last stanza of Keats' "To Autumn":
Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.
Source: Hymn to Proserpine
This was part of a birthday present to myself -- I almost didn't get it, but decided at the last minute, what the heck. I love Proserpine, and Swinburne too -- this is one of my favourite poems.
In the imp: I can really smell the bourbon and the vanilla. Uh-oh. A kind of medicinal but sweet scent. Rather sharp.
Wet: WHOOM sandalwood. I didn't smell quite like a stick of incense, but it was close. Then I read "pencil shavings" in the forum reviews and it was all I could smell. :-/ Husband said it smelled "flowery, maybe incense-y" and not at all like pencil shavings. I kept smelling pencil shavings. Definitely a kind of woody smell. As another reviewer said, it's kind of dark resin/wood, rather than the bright frank. It was a little sharp, but not too bad.
Drydown: This got a lot sweeter, and less sharp, but also a lot fainter. It sticks pretty close to the skin. I don't think I ever got the bourbon (yay) and the vanilla did sweeten the resiny darkness, but it didn't really pop out, which was nice -- it's not a foody vanilla at all, maybe more like vanilla extract. This really wasn't what I was expecting, but it's all right. It might make a nice winter scent. Seems sweeter from a distance, but sharper and more like sandalwood/resin close up.
A few hours later: All gone except for a kind of residual sweetness.
Verdict: Nice enough but I don't know if I needed a bottle. Then again, it's one of those special limited editions I'd wonder about forever otherwise and spend time and money chasing down at least a decant of later. I might try it in a scent locket (if I ever get one), since my skin amps resins (part of why I like them) -- if this was just a little sweeter, I'd really like it. As it is, it's a little too harsh and dark for me to love it. And it fades really fast.
Source: Hope and Fear Set Free
Oh dear, I should have learned my lesson about this kind of blend from Two, Five and Seven, but what with the gorgeous artwork and lovely poem and me being a rose fiend, I was smitten. This just didn't work on me, and it's due to my amping green notes and turning them into bitter bitterness. SIGH.
(I know we don't buy the bottles for the labels but seriously this is just one beautiful design, down to the lettering.)
In the bottle: A very sharp green sort of chemical smell. Uh-oh.
Wet: A very very GREEN note. Husband said I smelled like celery. Husband was invited to revise his opinion. Repeatedly. He never did. I didn't smell celery myself, and thought at first the smell was a bit pretty, but on me it's definitely some kind of tangy green leaf with a sweet undertone. No red, no dry leaves, not really even any rose, other than a mild sweetness.
Drydown: The celery? note died down a bit (Husband: "Some") and the blend got sweeter, but more like generic flowery perfume, not red roses. After a while it was sweet powder underneath a green note. It's pretty strong and has a lot of throw, and lasted a long while, but on me this was not a good thing.
Verdict: I'm going to let this one age a while in the hope the dry leaf will come out and the green subside, at least a little bit. I love autumn, and roses, and this sounds like such a beautiful scent (on people whose skin doesn't hate grass. Damn).
Source: Harvest Moon 2013
Miracle of miracles, this is one of the few BPAL "high" white florals I can wear without an insta-headache, so I like it a lot for that alone.
In the bottle: Very sweet, light and feminine floral. I really liked the comparisons to a wedding bouquet and Easter lilies. It's maybe not that sweet, and slightly sharp.
Wet: Sharpens a little bit more, but it's not soapy or perfumey. This is definitely the All-Singing All-Jasmine show. I get maybe a little of the orris root or the amber, which seem to be weighing down the florals a bit and adding a powdery note. This is slightly girly and "juvenile" for me -- it feels like perfume for a young girl. Pretty, but simple.
Drydown: More of the same, maybe a little more powdery. This warms up into a nice juicy strong jasmine scent. Fades rather quickly. I doubt I'll ever get my hands on the BPAL Jasmine SN, so this appears to be a nice substitute.
Verdict: If you like jasmine, this is for you. If you despair of ever finding a BPAL white floral you can wear pain-free, this may also be for you. I'm keeping this, but might try it in a scent locket to see if it lasts longer, or layering it with a resin to see if I can bring out the other notes more. This could be a nice BPAL starter scent for someone (someone who doesn't get that cat-pee effect, needless to say).
Source: Corinna
I got this as a frimp in my (TOTALLY AWESOME) six-pack of Disc/LE imps from Etsy, thank you generous Lab! I wouldn't have ordinarily gotten it myself because while I love a lot of BPAL foodie scents, I don't wear them. I do really enjoy smelling them, though, especially the caramel and cider notes.
In the imp: Very caramelly and rich and heavy, maybe with a hint of the wine.
Wet: BAM, there's the honey. And cake. And butter. Oh my. I don't get wine, or caramel, or nuts, or even milk, just BUTTER. HONEY. CAKE. Wow. This is intense. I put just a dab on one wrist to test it for fun and now I can't smell anything else! This would be a great room scent for a winter party, or maybe to dab a little on your neck or pillow as you're going to sleep at night. I don't get sexytimes out of this at all -- it's more a curl-up-in-front-of-the-fire winter or late autumn comfort smell.
Drydown: The butter backs off some, and I get more caramel, but still no wine. Lots of butter. This is a very rich heavy sweet scent -- but thank God, not too sickly-sweet (I can't stand very sweet foodie scents). Like caramelized sugar with butter and honey drizzled on top, or something. Yum. It makes me think of Bessie's offer to Jane Eyre of "a little cake" in my favourite book. :-) It would make a wonderful tea-cake.
Dry: I don't think I got any wine ever, which is odd, since my skin usually amps it, but my skin also really amps honey, so the honey note won the cagematch or something. This didn't morph a lot on me -- it did get a little fainter and more spicy, but it stayed very dark and rich. If you're really into foodie scents, you might love this, because it's luscious without being too sweet or bready. On me it had INTENSE throw and staying power -- my husband could smell the scent in a room I'd been in! I don't know how Beth manages to get these amazing apple and cider and butter and cake smells into imps. It's magic.
Verdict: I wouldn't buy a bottle for myself but a friend who loved BPAL foodie scents might love an imp or even a bottle -- I might even put it in a starter pack of foodie scents, or as a demonstration of what a wonderful olfactory experience BPAL scents can be, and wow I'm gushing but this is just. that. good. And you have to bear in mind, I don't even like a lot of foodie scents, especially sweet ones.
Source: Cockaigne
Bought a bottle of this at the late, beloved, lost BedlamBedlam (GOD I miss that store, it was like two blocks away from my house).
In the bottle: A very weird sort of chemical cherry cough syrup. Eek....
Wet: Blast of honey at first! Thankfully, that settles down. Also, a bit of licorice, which on me is probably the clove. I don't get much wine, or vanilla. I do smell a bit of the musk. This is a sweet, dark blend with bite -- maybe that's the vetiver, which ordinarily I don't like, but I think the wine and honey and vanilla and other sweet notes are stomping it down. This perfume is very mature, subtle, rich but not overpowering -- it seems very well-blended, or at least it's behaving that way on my skin. It's a kind of date-and-dinner-out, winter evening, grown woman perfume. Maybe a little more dark and musky, and less fruity, than I usually like, but it's good. It would go great with FMP and an LBD. I feel underdressed wearing it in jeans and a sweatshirt!
Drydown: Wow, this has real staying power....hours later, and after a walk during which I got rained on, it's still pretty strong, and hasn't morphed a lot. Maybe it's gotten a little sweeter. Not quite my thing, but it's a really interesting mix of sweet and musky with a little edge.
Source: Blood Kiss
One of my long-time favourites.
In the imp: Cherry, definitely, but not the fruit -- more dusky cherry blossoms. Not Jurgen's.
Wet: Almond almond almond! But not almond-cookie sweet.
Drydown: Morphs into a GORGEOUS sweet musk-amber-gold scent. Lots of throw, lots of staying power. Sultry, spicy, golden, sweet -- yes, yes, yes, yes. Definitely for those who love Morocco, Queen of Sheba, maybe O, &c &c. Seductive and slinky but not CFM-sexy. Don't be scared off by the smell in the imp or if you get ALMOND at first, this really shines after an hour or two.
Source: Bastet
Just got this as an extremely generous sniffie (enough for at least a couple of trials in here!) from a forumite, and WOW. I love BPAL's apple note, and this is gorgeous. It really does smell exactly like wonderful apple cider. If I had a full bottle I might be tempted to do like Alice and drink it! (joke, joke) I'm not sure I'd wear it a lot, since I'm not that into food/drink smells, but I think it'd be a perfect room scent for a fall/winter holiday party.
ETA because board code ≠ HTML code, sigh. Also, I think maybe this scent benefits a lot from aging. My 2011 bottle has a beautiful ripeness to it.
Source: Autumn Cider
This has always been one of my top favourite scents, and I got a bottle unsniffed after being away from the sweet, sweet crack BPAL for the past several years -- and it didn't disappoint. In the bottle, yes, this smells very sharp and wine-y, but on my skin, the wine keeps the honey from being too sweet, the honey tones down the sharpness and booziness of the wine, and the myrrh adds a great spice note. (Husband: "It smells kind of like spices....Christmas spices....and flowers?" Heh.) I don't get much floral, but that's okay. I don't so much smell individual notes as a great musky, almost dark but sweet, v complex scent. It's rich without being foodie. For me, this is a very comforting, relaxing perfume; not a go-out-and-party scent, or a go-out-to-work scent, but a stay-home-and-dream scent. I really slather it on, and it has good throw and lasts a long time -- and my skin EATS perfume. It's almost something more private that I wear mostly at home, just for me; it's intimate. Rocza's "end-of-a-cozy-candlelit-dinner-party-with-wine impression" (previous page) is just about perfect.
Source: Athens
Frimp from the lab.
In the imp: Bubblegum, candy.
Wet: A blast of raspberries soaked in orange juice. Can't smell the neroli, so I think my skin, which amps citrus, is cranking the orange to eleven and drowning it out completely.
Drydown: Turns into fake sharply-sweet candy -- Sweet Tarts is about right. I don't know why someone would want to smell like this, really. It also fades insanely quickly on me -- within about half an hour it was almost impossible to smell.
Verdict: Glad it was a frimp.
Source: Akuma
