Category: Excolo
I definitely get lots of grapefruit from this one; the plum gives it a sweet, rounded edge after the initial bite of the citrus. To be quite honest, it reminds me of Cheshire Cat, only without that creamy, ultra-sugary note to it; while Cheshire Cat hunkers down and grins at you, Meg is higher up, sulking jealously. If you thought that CC was too sweet or thick somehow, you may want to try this, instead. Also, I feel it's a perfect sort of perfume for the height of the summer months.
Category: Rappacini's Garden
Like many of the Garden scents, I find this one a very green, viney sort of scent. Up close on my skin, there's a more pungeant, earthy scent -- I can see where some people were getting the 'burnt tires' vibe! This doesn't have very much throw; it hugs my skin throughout the day. I actually sort of wanted to like this simply because so many people seem not to. It's decent, but not awesome enough for me to need to keep.
Category: Wanderlust
Initially, I smelled the myrrh and wine, with perhaps the honey thrown in...it had a very sticky, tart, juicy sap-like quality to it.
As it went on, the stickiness of it went away...just becoming myrrh and wine, with perhaps an herbal tint around the edges.
I'm thinking that myrrh is going to be one of those hit-and-miss things with me. This time, it was a miss, and I think it was the wine note that did it...the blend had a sourness to it that did not appeal to me. So, nope, not for me.
I liked Anubis better than this, and I'm guessing it's because of the mixture of herbs that was in it...the wine note couldn't come out and outright trash things like it did in Athens.
Category: Bewitching Brews
In the imp: Very, very sweet and floral, with a haze of warm, herbal scent about the edges. When people describe this scent as smelling like a garden, it is very apt.
Wet: The sweetpea comes to the forefront, resonating with a very strong sweetness. It seems like a feminine scent, but one that is more sweetly seductive than powerful and sensual.
Dry: The other notes return; I can definitely smell the musk, and I am assuming that warm tone that envelopes it is the tonka? Now I begin to see why this scent is named after such a fae. It sneaks up on you, but once you become aware of its power it is inescapable, and a little overwhelming.
Verdict: It's very interesting; certainly not a bad mix of scents by any means. I don't know if I would go for a whole bottle of this...I'll be wanting to try other floral-type scents and see how those strike me. It will definitely be a standard that I compare the others to.
I'm a bit relieved that it seems to smell good and 'appropriate', i.e. like the notes that are supposed to be in it, rather than melon-like, sickly-sweet, or just plain icky, as other reviewers had experienced. I'm a little torn on whether or not I like the musk of it...on the one hand, it's nice and warm and strong, and on the other hand it comes dangerously close to turning into 'old-lady' perfume. It may be one of those things that will be iffy on me.
What I liked: The warmth; also the sweetpea was surprisingly good. I will have to keep an eye out for that and tonka in future scents and see if those are the exact notes that I liked.
What I didn't like: The fact that the musk is iffy...almost dangerous, like it could turn on me at any moment. It's less of a dislike than something I'll try to be aware of.
Limited Editions -- Halloween 2009
I can see why this one was so popular! Delicious, warm, spicy apple cider...if I detect the milk note, it's as a creamy/buttery sort of edge to the scent. Super-nice. It's not an overpowering scent, but it will last much of the day on me and give me pleasant little wafts throughout. I think I like this one better than Fearful Pleasure. I of course bought a bottle!
Category: Excolo
In the imp: Oh my goodness, this was a beautiful scent. It actually brought tears to my eyes for a moment because it was so lovely. Very sweet, definitely redolant with peach, though I could also smell the warm tones of the musk and, I am assuming, amber around it as well.
Wet: Very sweet and peachy. The fruitiness and sweetness predominated.
Dry: The muskier tones come back, but the peach is definitely not to be undermined, and conquers all. It is *almost* a little cloying.
Verdict: I really like this scent, though I am almost thinking that it would be better as a room scent, as unfortunately I think it tends to get a little sour and cloying on me. I'll be willing to try more of it, though.
What I liked: The peach, and I think I liked the amber.
What I didn't like: The fact that yes, I think musk likes to misbehave a little on me. Though thankfully it's just a little.
Overall, I can live with this scent, I just don't feel like it's *perfect* on me. It's so gorgeous, though, that I can't give up on it. I wonder if it would work in a locket, where it is warmed by me but not in contact with my skin. I'll keep the imp around but hold off on getting a bottle for a while, I think.
Limited Edition -- Halloween 2009
A wee, meek whiff of butter, and then spicy leaves like whoa. Lots of tomato leaf and rosemary to this one, with maybe a touch of mint. Actually, now that I think of it, this is a lot like going down to the garden to get your pumpkin -- there are lots of stems and vines and leaves covered with that strange, horny sort of velvet that tomato leaves have, all dotted with this morning's rain. Definitely a fun change.
Category: Limited Editions -- Halloween 2008
This scent is definitely as advertised: leather and musk. The 'leather' aspect evokes brand-new, shiny, supple, oiled leather; it's like walking into a Wilsons showroom (or any other store that specializes in leather coats and goods). The musk is a pure, clean skin-musk that is verrrrrrry delicious; it smells just like fresh, clean man-skin. The combination makes it a pretty damned intriguing scent. I don't need a bottle, but I'm definitely keeping my imp, and I'd recommend wearing this to anyone who wants a highly-interested woman or three to follow them home.
Category: Ars Amatoria
Initially, I got lots of syrupy cherry with a hint of cinnamon; subsequent uses brought out the licorice. Now, it's blended (in that very mysterious way that a lot of scents seem to have gotten their shit together a month after I originally tested them) into a nice mix of cherry and anise, with the licorice smell diabolically present and tempting. I was on the fence about getting rid of it, but now that I've read the reviews again, I think I'll hang onto it. :love!: It stays and throws decently.
Category: Marchen
I get a lot of peach from this, though this perfume is in general a very light scent. There may be some other florals hovering around, but they never really seem to take anything over. The faint aroma lingers all day long. This reminds me of the Gaoler's Daughter, but Belle Vinu is braver and possesses more personality.
Category -- Bewitching Brews
This is pretty much the sweetness of dragon's blood. Early on, the cherry and clove make for a tart note that can be detected close to my skin, but the dragon's blood pretty much takes everything over and is the most easily-smelled. It's a durable scent with a nice amount of throw. It reminds me a lot of my first love, Wrath. I think that a side-by-side comparison of both Blood and Wrath are in order.
There's a lot of white chocolate here, and after a few moments the violet peeks out. It's really lovely at first, but wears off all too quickly. Ah well.
Category: Bewitching Brews
I could not wait to try Absinthe today. I was worried that I would either not wear enough to scent it beyond initial application, or slather it on and overwhelm everyone around me. But I think I did okay.
In the imp: Very lemony. Oddly enough, when I sniffed the applicator, it had that very strong "Lemon Pledge" scent, while in the imp itself the lemon was more subdued and woody...it reminded me of the inside of a wooden cabinet that had been maintained with, perhaps, lemon oil.
Wet: When first applied, it was still quite lemony, though not in an obnoxious way; it quickly toned down to more of a lemon-drop sort of smell -- sweet and sugary. As it dried, the anise hints came through, in a very soft, sweet way; and very quickly, these two scents blended together into a very pleasant amalgam.
Dry: The scent was delightfully subtle, and yet deceptively strong; I couldn't necessarily smell it on myself, but I would find myself scenting just the faintest hint of it if I would walk back over an area I'd just covered. It lasted all day. I would say that the scent was more 'woody' than herbal -- perhaps that's the wormwood? And around the edges, there was that faint, sweet snap of citrus from the lemon.
I really, really like this scent. I'm trying not to make it my favorite just because it was my first, but hey...shouldn't your first time be a sweet, wonderful experience that you *want* to repeat? Preferably, yes. I'll consider buying a bottle of it later on.
Notes that I liked: The lemon. This may mean that I like citrus scents.
No notes that I particularly disliked. I was afraid about the anise, but it was subtle and behaved itself quite well.
Qualities that I liked: The faint woodiness of it, definitely the citrus snap around the edges, the subtle strength and lasting power.
Category: Sin & Salvation
In the imp: A very heavy, dark scent reminiscent of incense.
Wet: It honestly smells like a really, thick, resin-based incense to me, with a floral sweetness around the edges. I'm not familiar at all with opium, but perhaps this is what's producting that? Very interesting.
Dry: It softens down pretty drastically to a leftover sort of flower scent. I'm wanting to associate that with the honeysuckle.
Verdict: This scent intrigues me even more now because I could have sworn that this was an 'incense' scent...but no, it's florals. Which is amusing because I was comparing it to other incense scents I've worn, and thinking that I'd found my happy medium there. My only criticism of this scent is that it didn't have the throw that I desired. It tends to last a while, though, and it's just lovely all-around as far as I'm concerned, even if it doesn't quite justify a bottle.
What I liked: It combined sweetness with the smoky quality that I love about incense, and yet had a nice, thick, sticky body to it, as well.
What I didn't like: I want to reek, dammit! In the good way! I'm strange.
I'm scratching my head about the vetiver. Maybe that wasn't the problem with Alecto, then? Because I didn't detect anything sour about this, at all. I'm just not sure. It's really a shame about Alecto, because I really liked the leafy quality that it had...but it made me smell like I was on my period or something. Ick.
I'm tending to ramble today, apparently.
Category: Picnic In Arkham
In the imp: Wow. It really does smell like an old person's house. Like...cleanser and very artificial air fresheners trying to cover...something gross. Eeek.
This scent morphs quite a bit. When first applied, the florals are predominant, in an almost sickly-sweet way, though having them in open air on the skin does wonders for the geriatric-home smell. Then, there's pine, trees, woodsy scents...perhaps the moss as well. Definitely a sense of earth and loam and undergrowth there.
When dry...it actually smells a lot as if you'd come to a halt on a forest path, and were scenting the trees and ferns around you. I'm not familiar with Eastern US trees, but there's definitely a pine smell like Douglas Fir, cedar, redwoods...that's what it reminds me of.
I don't believe it's for me (and it didn't last long on me at any rate), but if you like nature scents perhaps you should give this a try.
I rather like the way that it morphs around, as it's an interesting phenomena. However, the florals are just too...artificial-seeming, to me. I compare them to something like Aeval or even Amsterdam, and they just don't stack up.
Category: Bewitching Brews
In the imp, it's vanilla and mandarin; once on me, the florals start coming out, but there is always a continual theme of vanilla to it. In fact, the vanilla amps and throws the most in this one. There is a slight powdery quality to it. If you like vanilla, go ahead and give this one a try.
Probably not bottle-worthy for me, though it is enjoyable. It reminds me a bit of Antique Lace.
Category: Wanderlust
It's a strong, pungeant, incensey scent on me...sort of like frankinsence, maybe. Something very woody and cedar-y. Unfortunately, incense just does not seem to love my skin. There's also a sweet note, or pack of them, lurking underneath the smokey, dust-covered surface of it all; and though sometimes the sweetness comes out to assert itself, it never quite reveals just what the heck it is. Could be florals, could be herbs, I really can't tell.
While redolant and persistant, it's just not doing anything for me. Off to a home that will appreciate you, little imp.
Category: Excolo
This is lovely.
The juniper adds a very nice, grounding effect for the other woods, because for some reason sandalwood seems to do odd things on me that are not always pleasant. Together, the woods form a nice base, and there is a bit of spiciness from the juniper, I think, that creeps up every now and then, as well as bergamot. The florals lurk in the background; I can detect just a hint of lilac, just enough to make it especially sweet and pretty.
A very pleasant, romantic scent, in my opinion.
Vanilla with sweet palm date, with the oakmoss and ginger giving it sort of a warm undercurrent. If this would have had any throw at all, it would totally have been on my MUST BUY NAO list. However, it is really, really lovely, and those who prefer to keep their perfumey pleasures all to themselves, to be sniffed discreetly from their wrist throughout the day, are really in for a treat with this one.
Category: Ars Amatoria
I had a hard time envisioning plum as an appropriate scent, but this fits the bill entirely. It really does seem like the sort of perfume that a five-dollar whore would wear (in 1880 dollars). It's sweet and feminine but definitely not innocent; it's one of those ladies that makes a point of putting a roll in her hips to make sure you keep following her up the stairs. Lasts all day, like a working girl should. Another winner!
Limited Edition -- Anniversary Scents
To me, this is a smokey scent -- like smokey musk. There is a bit of herbalness...the sweet basil lurking just beneath -- but for the most part I seem to get black pepper, smoke, and dust, and if the dragon's blood is there it's acting like incense for once, instead of being ultra-sweet as it usually manifests for me. This is a manly scent, but one that I don't mind wearing...I think I can decently rock it. Smoke, stone, and iron -- very fitting for this phoenix!
My very first BPAL order came today! I brought in the mail just a few minutes ago. I was excited, but made myself linger over the box, because I love to do so when opening any kind of present.
I had ordered six imps: Absinthe, Aeval, Aglaea, Agnes Nutter, Aizen-Myoo, and Akuma. (Yes, I meant to do that.) Agnes is not available as an imp, as I found out soon after I had placed the order, but whoever had packed my box had kindly substituted Al-Azif for it instead. Hee! Thanks for understanding my wacky system, whoever you are!
I received 3 frimps as well: Fruitcake (I have heard much talk of this scent), Tushnamatay, and Wrath. I love how Wrath is so cutely furious inside its vial, bright cherry red compared to the others.
Mmm, and the very sweet, faint scent that caressed the packing materials, as if to reassure me that these were not going to be like any perfume I had yet smelled. Lovely...
Thank you, oh BPAL dieties. I can't wait to embark on my explorations...what a wonderful way to celebrate the Solstice...
Category: Ars Amatoria
In the imp I could smell musk and a hint of lemon. It was a very elegant mix.
As it joined with my body chemistry, the lemon grew a little bit stronger. Unfortunately, it grew faint and wore off really quickly. Just not for me.
October 2008 Lunacy
This was actually the first lunacy that I ever purchased, and it was a really great choice.
Initially, I get a light, sort of tart citrus scent -- definitely grapefruit, there. As it dries, it quickly picks up...a sort of body and depth, from the violet leaf and other, darker notes, while the citrus notes keep it sweet and feminine. This is a beautiful, rich, classy perfume, not entirely woeful to me; more like the air of a mourning widow who is determined to keep her head held high and keep carrying on. There's a sort of sad determination to it, as well as a hopeful appreciation for the beauty of life in the here and now. Truly gorgeous.
Category: Diabolus
I really wanted to like this one, both for the name and ingredients! All I get is pine trees and eucalyptus, though, and it's not even that awesome. It could have been the heat and sweat, but even with trying to slather it, the scent just disappears. So sad.
