Akuma

Initial impression: wow – neroli! Behind the dryness of the neroli, there’s the sweetness and juiciness of the raspberry. I find neroli to be almost acrid – it has a sharp-ish scent that almost makes the breath catch at the back of my throat. There’s a slight sweetness to this scent and as it wears, the raspberry and blood orange become more prominent.

Wow, this is a strong scent. As it wears on, it becomes more fruity and the blood orange becomes stronger. It has an almost candy orange type smell. After a couple hours its all blood orange. Definitely a fruity scent for grown-ups.

Grandmother of Ghosts

Notes: laurel, stargazer lily, splintered woods, peony, mandarin, white musk, pale pepper

In the imp: mmm. Very nice. It smells sort of musky and woody, just my sort of scent.

On the skin: slightly floral and a bit musky.

On the skin, dry: wow, this reminds me a bit of a commercial perfume, not the synthetic aspect, but it’s the more traditional take with florals with an underpinning of woods, and musk. Very pretty. I think that my mom would really like this.

The Ghost

Notes: iris, osmanthus, calla lily, ivy, gladiolus, lisianthus, delphinium

In the imp: unsweetly floral, bulbous

On the skin: this is a soft, pretty, floral, almost but not quite aquatic. It’s well blended but I can pick out the iris. I’m not familiar with most of the notes in this so I can’t really identify them more. It’s a lush scent and brings to mind the color pale green. There is a touch of green in this scent. As it wears on, it turns a bit sharp and bit soapy. It’s been an interesting scent to try but not one that I need.

Eternal

Notes: stephanotis, cyclamen, heliotrope, white rose and gardenia

Eternal is all flowers on me. Gardenia is prominent along with rose and other flowers that I can’t identify. This isn’t my usual style of scent so it’s a departure for me to try this. It reminds me slightly of one of the Lupercalia oils – maybe the Perfumed Garden? It’s interesting because there’s really no common notes listed, but to me, there’s definitely a similarity. It’s a heady scent, all tropical blooms. It was good to try but not for me.

Roadhouse

Notes: dandelion, hops, tobacco, hemp and booze

For some reason, Roadhouse smells like apples on me. At first, there was a whiff of booze, the same booze that’s in Devil’s Night, but that vanished pretty quick leaving only apples. I like apples and actually have Verdandi, a wonderful apple-amber scent. Do I need another?

Taking a whiff from farther back, the booze makes itself known again. As it wears on, the crispness of the apples backs off a bit and is replaced by greenery – hello dandelion! Overall, this is a wonderfully green, fresh scent. It would be perfect for summer days and probably not so good for work. Very nice!

Haunted - Funereal Oils - reviewed 10-1-05)

Notes: amber, black musk

Well I definitely know that some ambers are not my friend. Haunted proves it. I wasn't quite sure before. Haunted was not what I was expecting. I think I expected something like the Lion with a blast of musk. Not what I got at all.

In the Imp, I was surprised by its smell, not too musky but a dry, not-sweet amber. It reminds me of some kinda food that I can't place right now.

On the Skin, that dry smell continues. As I wear it, I get the Play-Dough scent. Uggg. Not good. And that this weird almost foody scent continues. For the life of me I can't think of it - some sort of dessert it must be.

Final Thought, Haunted is not for me. There's plenty of other BPAL to love.

Baku - Somnium (reviewed 10-5-05)

Notes: none listed

Initially it is very strong eucalyptus. I also get lavender and fennel or maybe anise. Maybe a drop of jasmine. As time passes, the fennel/anise scent grows stronger and it gets sweeter. It smells almost edible, like licorice herby candy. As a scent, I like it better than Somnus. But I still think that Oneroi smells the best of the Somnium oils (and is amazing effective).