sarada

I received my bottle of Anthelion on the day I had to bring my bf in for oral surgery and we were both very apprehensive and frightened about how painful (and expensive) it would be. I didn't have time to do anything complicated with the oil but I put it on my forehead and meditated by myself for a little while. I put a little behind my ears as well because the scent was very comforting to me and I wanted to have it with me while I was waiting. I didn't put any on him because he's allergic to so many things that I was afraid it would cause complications (sneezing would have been a very bad thing, for example). Whenever I smell this incredibly complex, musky sweet lavender with a hint of clove (that's how I'd describe the fragrance) I feel centered and calm and confident that everything will be OK. As it turned out everything did go fine on that day. We've been bombarded on all sides with financial, health, personal, family and work-related ills lately and I feel like having this gives me a little something on my side. I'll use it on candles and in meditation since I don't do formal rituals. The scent alone is comforting, if a bit overpowering (but I love lavender anyway and the strange musky sweetness makes it much less astringent). Finding hope and joy in life when everything seems to be conspiring against you is difficult but I'm glad to have something to help me when I am trying to find calm and peace.

There are a lot of things that I like in this blend, a lot of favorite notes, so it's interesting to see what happens when you put them all together. Despite the prevalence of fairly heavy, dark and earthy ingredient I think of it as more of a light blend though. A lasting blend, but light. The thing that I get the most of is a light, powdery wood (smells like sandal to me but I imagine this is cedar) and a brightness from the grapefruit. The blend doesn't smell citrusy but the grapefruit is a familiar (and much-missed) note that always makes things seem kind of sunny and airy. The light wood gradually deepens to a gentle, sweet vetiver -- the kind of smooth, gentle earthy wood that lingers hours after you've applied it. There is a hint of green herbs as well, the sage I imagine. I never smell myrrh, cardamom, pepper or violet though the violet could be adding to the powdery scent that I get from the wood. Still, those are all things that I sometimes like so they'd all be welcome. I'm glad that I mainly get the soft, bright wood and the lingering pale vetiver. Really nice blend though I can't imagine using it more that a few times a year, maybe in the early spring.

This is my second time trying this and while it's still pretty good for a lotus scent on me I still get a lot of the "banana candy" sensation that lotus always brings. If you've ever had Runts candies, lotus smells to me like the banana ones. No kidding! But this is a bit darker, sweeter, smokier and more syrupy. It's also decidedly spicy as it dries down. I recognize the myrrh now that I know it's in there. It is a spicy incense scent to me, lending a smoky tone, or maybe even a tiny bit reminiscent of Old Spice...I think the sandalwood gives this a bit of a smoky sense as well. Meanwhile, amber puts it in a bed of a thick, sweet resin. The lotus is always present but it becomes more tolerable as it dries down. This still isn't something that I can see wearing except to test every once in awhile. Like all of the Rappaccini's Garden scents it takes a floral and makes it wearable to someone like me who doesn't like florals. I'm really turned off by lotus though, no matter what it's drenched in. I like getting frimps of this for a sniff and a couple hours of wear but otherwise I think I have too many other scents to play with that suit me better!

I've been turning this one over in my head for about a week now. I got it because of the unique concept and the intriguing notes (musks like me, I like amber, orange and amber are especially nice together) -- and the fact that I didn't want to miss out on it in case it turned out to be a favorite. The lab's musks are marvelous on me for the most part, they really help carry the other notes, amplify them and help them last longer. Musk and amber is almost always a winning combination too. The fact that there are so many musks in this is a bit intimidating though. I initially can't really get a grip on this scent, it's kind of elusive and light, for all those dark musks. What it most reminds me of is some kind of classic perfume. I'm put in the mind of black and white, 1940s films with women wearing hats, striking a pose, wearing pearls. Not floral, but still reminiscent of a very classic woman's perfume. I don't know enough about those to say which...it's just a general impression. I don't have anything else like this, and for that reason I keep wondering if I should have it in my arsenal for those occasions. I don't really smell the orange peel but I think that is what makes this a bit more light and effervescent than a musky amber would normally be. One of the musks has a vaguely.....unwashed feeling to it. A bit like the 'cheesy' scent that I get from Smut but a bit more far away and subdued. I don't like this musk, whatever it is. I don't think it's the civet bouquet, since I'm familiar with that. It just...makes me think of unwashed sweaty skin and I don't like that. I don't smell any red musk, which is the musk of choice for me. Basically, this would be a good classic scent for someone who doesn't want a floral but still wants to have that old fashioned, powerful classic aura of perfume around them. I don't think it's for me but I might have to wait a bit to see how it ages. If you have a tendency to make musks smell kind of, er, unwashed, then it might not work for you.

Yay, I am finally trying this! And am glad I have some more on the way since I think this will be a good spring scent. It might be too much like Pink Moon for anyone standing around me to notice the difference, but where the moon was kind of like strawberry ice cream this is more like strawberry incense. It specifically reminds me of a strawberry cone incense I used to buy and burn every spring. In the vial it's much more sweet and I can pick out the listed notes, but on my skin it is definitely strawberry incense. I don't like sweet or sugary scents but there's something about strawberry that I really love in the right combination. It doesn't become candylike or sweet on me, it just does that nifty incense cone trick even though there are no incense ingredients in this. But my skin has soaked up so much of that over the years, that I act like a human incense coal apparently. I think the honeycomb must be the magic ingredient since I get a similar effect from Luperci with its beeswax note. It's a very natural warm scent that warms to my skin and tends to deepen whatever it touches. Not something I'd wear a whole lot but I will get a lot of mileage out of it during early spring!

I always figured that I should avoid lilies, since they seem to just blend into that generic blah floral scent that most florals become on me. But I keep trying things that prove me wrong and Cobra Lily is another one that breaks all the rules. Cobra Lily really grabs me on first sniff. It reminds me of Tiger Lily, a scent that I love despite not normally liking sweet florals. It's very similar to Tiger Lily actually but instead of leaning toward that golden honey scent, it has a slightly sour twang to it. A sort of tart, bitter herbal undertone, but perfectly blended in with a sweet, honeyed, succulent, fresh lily. The color screams Dragon's Blood. Not a lot, just a little. I don't specifically smell it but I can't think of what else could be imparting this delightful orangey color. Maybe it's rounding out the scent and giving it that ... bite. It calms down when it dries but I can still catch a glimpse of the slightly tart Tiger Lily scent that I liked at first sniff. This is one that you should try if you think you don't like florals. I'm not sure if it's stargazer lily or not but whatever it is, this is the lily that I like.

Immediate response: This is sooooooooo good. Even if you think you don't like florals or don't like ylang ylang or don't like poppy or don't like sandalwood, or can't stand lavender, I still think this has got a little something in it for everyone. At first it strikes me as cold and fresh -- cold like a splash of water, or cold like cold grass in the spring. It smells like someone is in the next room having the most wonderful bath ever. A fresh soapy smell (good soap! something by Lush or someplace like that!), plus foaming lavender bubbles or a bath bomb, and sandalwood soap, with a fresh green garden herbal scent wafting in...maybe that's the shampoo. This is so comforting. I hope there's a bath bomb that smells like this somewhere. But it's OK if there isn't because I can slather this on after an evening bath and wear it to bed. I can't imagine wearing it during the day though -- it would be like going out in your pyjamas...it might feel wonderful, warm and comfy but you know that it's just meant for nighttime wear. I don't care for ylang ylang and I'm a little afraid of poppy...but I don't smell them specifically and everything works together perfectly in this blend. Lavender and chamomile are like calm, comforting herbal tea and give this a very refreshing, clean feeling without screaming "soap!" The bamboo gives it that almost impossibly green grassy high note. I'm not sure where the ylang ylang and poppy figure in but they must be helping this to amp up and waft around in the air. And then there's the wonderful pale soft sandalwood, anchoring it all down and keeping it alive throughout the night. I love my Sleepy Moon as much as I love the t-shirt that goes with it! There are only a very few Lunacy scents that have wound up staying in my permanent collection but this is definitely one of them.

The Pit & The Pendulum is exactly halfway between Midnight Mass and Al Azif in the bottle, as far as I can tell. On my skin, it's mostly like Midnight Mass. If you missed out on those, or can't get enough of them, this would be the one for you. If Al Azif was too sweet, this would also be a good one for you as it isn't quite as strong in the sweet department. It might be a little too much like them, though, if you feel you have enough in your resiny incense collection. For me, I can't get enough. If you haven't tried either of the aforementioned LEs by the way, this one could be described as: thick, dark, slightly sweet, slightly smoky resins. It's a glittering, thick resin but it's so very thick that I think you could trap prehistoric insects in it. Although I'm moving it into my LE Top Ten, it's going alongside Midnight Mass as a tie, because it is too similar to really separate them, at least so far in my sniffing experience. See also: Cathedral, Penitence. You cannot go wrong with it if you like this kind of thing.

Curses -- I lost my review of this and will have to rewrite it from memory. I love this scent. Before receiving it I had written my ultimate wish list for what I wanted in a scent: wet greenery, moss and earth...or "sweet, earthy greenery." This is that scent. The closest comparison I could make would be to Grundy soap by Villainess -- a glittering, sparkling earthen jewel encased in moss and lush dark green vegetation. The orchid gives it just a hint of the greenhouse...a faint whiff of a heady bloom, but it does not make the blend floral by any means, to my nose...it just gives it a pleasant fragrant jolt. I am a freak for earthy scents -- they are among my absolute favorites. Yet it's very hard to find the right balance for my taste. Burial was too sharp and green, too rosey. Zombi seemed right at first but the roses again did me in. Nocnitsa smelled like lime candy to me. Graveyard Dirt was far too faint to wear regularly. This is more like a greener Penny Dreadful, really -- but where Penny Dreadful seems like a brown-red clay-purple scent to me, this is definitely brown and dark green. Moist, dark, loamy soil, you can practically feel it squish between your toes when you sniff it. It is a humid night and there is a garden just out of sight where wan orchids lust after moonlight. It is not a scent of death though, it is a scent of dark life, stirring at night or just out of sight. This is definitely an all-time favorite, and I cannot possibly limit my Top Ten favorite LEs to a mere ten any more...there are just too many that are too good!!

Carnation. Clove. Honey. Then, an intoxicatingly dark, dry woody incense. This scent unfolds in layers. Dark red curtains part to reveal a mechanical puppet show of masks and cardboard scenery. Artful artifice, its mood shifts with every moment, but always in shades of red, carnation, white, brown and purple. This is a complex tapestry of a scent, alternately joyful and fearful. At one moment you se the threads form a picture of jesters and masked dancers. In another moment, skeletal forms burn on pyres and fill dark graves. It is spicy in the way that carnation and clove are spicy: a distant red spice, one that appeals more to the mind than to the palette -- austere, brilliant yet smouldering. The honey falls like dim golden light on the audience before the dark red curtains. As it dries, it becomes more of a faintly sweet, radiant polished wood -- the lingering trace of smoke in the air as the curtains close on Oscar Wilde's "Salome" the night of its debut. Evocative beyond compare, incredibly complex and long-lasting. For a full 24 hours the honeyed clove and carnation radiate from my skin on a bed of rich dark wood. A classic for the ages....and I may break my "no more than one bottle of anything" rule yet again.

I expected something a little darker from the Lady of Death...perhaps from vetiver, but this is very floral and I would swear there's something chocolately in it. Then again, vetiver often strikes me as almost chocolate in its richness and earthiness so...it could just be playing tricks. One thing is for sure though, and that is that cactus flowers are a giant stabbing icepick of pain in my temples. Every blend that mentions cactus flowers in some form seems to give me a quick, sharp stab of pain. In this blend, it mellows as it dries and the faint chocolatey incense takes over. I don't specifically smell the other flowers but I would say over all it's a floral blend, with an undertone of earthy sweetness and that quick prickly cactus flower temple pain. Alas I can't see wearing it as a perfume though it is interesting enough. I could see wearing this to a Mexican restaurant some time...I think that the elements in this would blend nicely with the smell of spices in the air but it's definitely not the earthy scent I was hoping for. Looking at the other reviews....looks like I'm not alone in smelling cocoa. How odd! If I had been expecting it I wouldn't have such a puzzled reaction but still, the flowers are just too much for me.

This is my second time round with an imp of Rakshasa but this time I will review it! Sandalwood and patchouli are perennial favorites with me. Before BPAL, I at least knew that I liked those in incense and anything else I could find them in. Rose, I like in smoky, woody or incensy blends. So yes, this sounds quite promising. Strangely, it's a little too heady and sweet in the imp though which is why I didn't keep it before. Just unbelievably sweet dark rose. I don't quite smell the patchouli or sandalwood at first. But on my skin, which loves woods and incense, it all works out. It's still kind of on the sweet side but it's like a thick dark pink spiral of rosy smoke. The sandalwood comes out last, slightly powdery, but deep, that lovely "little wooden box" smell that I love so much. Carved wood stained with smoke. I love that scent so much. I don't need a bottle of this because I have so many other smoky roses to play with now but it's definitely worth having and might be a good catalog scent for someone who likes Love in the Asylum. It's a good classic hippie shop smell.

I admit I was more than a little frightened of Czernobog, and I'm even a fan of most musks and myrrh and a huge fan of vetiver. This smells at first like a big dark green shambling undead goat beast in a swamp but I mean that in the nicest possible way. I agree that the top note really does smell like lime, oddly enough. A pleasant lime, but over a base of .... mothballs, almost. A dark, musky, musty closet scent. Dad's suits from 30 years ago, trapped in time. It reminds me a lot of Thanatopsis actually though it doesn't have the piney scent that winds through that one. As it dries down it most definitely makes me think about woolen hand-crocheted afghans stored in a cedar chest in the closet with mothballs for decades. Oddly, instead of inspiring me to think of a rampaging death creature it makes me think of a cat sitting on a pile of old linens at a great-grandmother's house. Moth. Balls. I'd guess this probably has civet in it because it feels like I can't quite shake this fragrance, and even a tiny amount sort of follows you around and gets into everything. If you don't mind the fragrance that is not a bad thing but this kind of musty civety smell does tend to cling on for dear life. I can't really see wearing this but it's not bad, and might have its application. I'm really wondering if these are the sorts of dark musks we can expect in the orangutan musk, too. I'd guess by the color that my beloved sultry incensy red musk might be in this though it is almost buried by the others if that is the case.

This is my favorite of the Resurrected scents and it had been on my initial list of scents I wanted to try, back when it was a catalogue scent. It's a bit more floral than I had expected (I thought the sandalwood and herbs would be more prominent) but the chamomile quickly takes over and this reminds me of a lovely herbal tea...being drunk in a garden. I mean, the tea is being drunk, i.e. sipped, not me. You know what I mean. The rosey parts of this scent are a little bit on the side of too perfumey for me. It makes me think of my grandmother's dresser at first, covered in doilies and perfumes, at moments like that...but the presence of chamomile, lavender and sandalwood make that just a fleeting image. In the next stage it reminds me of an Impressionist painting of a garden done all in misty pastel shades. No one note really dominates and some are lost alltogether (I don't smell ylang ylang at all, thank goodness). As it dries down some of the soft, powdery woods come out. Nice springtime scent or nighttime scent...or, not to be too morbid but it would be appropriate to wear to a funeral in warmer weather I think. Stately, distant and strangely sympathetic. And it would be great as a bath bomb.

I get this one confused with Catherine a lot, not too surprisingly. The name, not the scent...since they are nothing alike! This is a very clear, peach-colored scent in my mind. It also makes me think of opening up a box of some sort of peach flavored tea. Just a hint of that dusty musty smell you get from tea dust, with a slightly floral peachy scent. On my skin it's a lovely peachy glow (apricot, I know, but it smells like peach to me). I love how white musk plays with these orangey peachy scents. It is a bit like something like Fae or Titania in that respect but the apricot is just a bit juicier and not as .....fuzzy. Really lovely glistening peach tea-like scent. I like how the white musks helps it last a little longer. I wouldn't wear it very often because it still isn't strong enough for me (I prefer incense and resin scents) but I got a really strong craving for it last night for no apparent reason so I'd like to keep some of this on hand.

For Red Phoenix, maybe try layering Blood Countess with something that has cinnamon or cassia in it. I haven't experimented but I think that would work... I'd be hard pressed to find something similar to the others unfortunately, as they seem very unique! I would swear there was nag champa in the Cracked Bell though....

This is going to be one of my most useless reviews. Every note in this makes me violently ill. I can't even be near an unopened imp of it. If you get sick from almond or rum scents, or don't like foody scents with things like buttercream in them, be like me and just put this aside if you get it, seal it up in an envelope and send it to someone who will appreciate it. One whiff of it and I was sick for the rest of the day. I'm sorry Hellcat, I love your name but you -- along with Jack and Grog -- are my nemesis.

I can't believe I didn't review this ages ago, it was one of the first that I ever tried. I'm going to have to review it from memory because I can't see myself opening a vial of it again. Darkness is one of my only true BPAL enemies, and it's a shame since I don't even hate the ingredients on their own. There's narcissus in Hellion and Snow Moon, and I like those. There's opium in Red Lantern and that might be the note in RL that I like. And there's myrrh in half of my favorites. So why is Darkness so objectionable to me? Well it smells like hairspray. Or some sort of chemical adhesive. It's just....a very chemical smell. Pharmaceutical, even. Dissonant and jagged, like static, but also stinging and astringent. Several other scents that pulled this trick on me were Languor and Hades and they do share a couple of notes with this. I'm not sure what the offending fragrance is but I am just going to assume that black opium and narcissus together are a bad combo for me and avoid it in the future.

I keep getting frimps of this and I keep forgetting what is in it until I look it up. There is a simplicity to some of these scents that have been in the catalogue since the beginning (or very near the beginning at any rate), with three notes, all familiar to most who dabble with aromas, forming a little trio. It still has a complexity to it though: the pungent heady jasmine floral, the medicinal lavender and the sweet honeysuckle, all do battle and one never quite dominates. As a color it comes across as a lavender of course, shining with bits of a pale gold, which is very pleasant. Jasmine gives me an awful headache but I like lavender and honeysuckle enough that they keep it in check. Still, these sweet heady florals are hard for me to wear. I might enjoy it in the spring or early summer when I'm walking outside but let's face it, I really just want to smell like trees and incense.

This was an early one that I tried and I remember kind of shying away from it at the time because it was so strong in the eucalyptus department. It's not a scent that I mind myself but my bf is allergic to it so I can't wear it much. I came across some again and retried it hoping for a good clean winter scent. It did deliver in being minty cold -- vividly neon green and purple -- the violets add a touch of powder and the mint is, well, like toothpaste, but that eucalyptus is just too much for me. It's an interesting scent experiment but I can't see wearing it as a perfume. I have so many other wintry scents now that I don't think I'd need to play around with it...Nuclear Winter was much more appropriate for me and I didn't even wind up keeping that because: most mint = toothpaste on me. This is a great example of scent as a way to evoke imagery or to embody a particular concept but it's hard to wear except as an experiment, for me.

I never noticed this in the catalogue for some reason...maybe because the notes weren't listed, it didn't register. But after re-reading the description, this is much lighter than I expected. My first impression is of burning candles. Or candles recently blown out. Light, green scents, something like a bamboo or green tea scent maybe, or a grassy green spring candle. But definitely that great burning wick and wax smell. On my skin it does resemble a grassy cologne somewhat. It veers a little in the men's aftershave/cologne direction if it had a name with the word "grasse" or "verte" in it somewhere. Bright grass green, waxy smoke and dry straw or hay are the impressions that I get. I like it quite a bit though I fear people smelling it on me may think it's just some sort of cologne because of its high, fragrant notes. Or they might say "is something burning in here?" Despite that hint of candlesmoke it's still overall a very light scent, and not heavy or overly smoky. The dry straw and grass is a bit more prominent. I think this would be great to wear in August or September but I might wind up using it before I get that far along in the year.

This is such a very faint scent...and as such I know I won't hang onto any, but in the bottle it is very nice. It makes me think of opening a box of fruity tea bags. Not sure what kind of tea...maybe something with peach in it even though it's plum, not peach blossom that is in this scent. Or, it's just the aroma of a cup of fruity tea brewing. There's a slightly astringent quality when I sniff it, that warms on the skin but it is so faint that I still can't smell it. It clings a little to the end of my sleeves. A pleasant, pale orange scent. It should be pale purple but...it makes me think of something peach-ish. The ginger must be doing that. If this was presented to me in candle form I would certainly burn it at the beginning of spring. It is a welcoming, warming scent that suggests the transition of green buds into peach-colored blossoms (plum, okay, whatever). As a body scent though my weak nose does not allow me to enjoy it except in the most fleeting manner.

A heady, luscious floral. Thick, wet humid blooms touched with sweetness and light. Alas, I was hoping for something with a bit more sandalwood, amber or champaca in it as those together could be quite amazing on me. I'm not sure exactly what tuberose, davana blossom or damask rose smell like on their own but they must be dominating in this because it's mostly floral, with little else. It's a good thing I didn't go for a whole bottle after all, as I don't like to wear strong florals. After the first rush of warm, panting breathless flowers it becomes a little more powdery-sweet. A bit like the sugary dust of crushed candies, sprinkled over a sun-warmed garden. As with most florals, since I can't tell them apart they sort of meld into a generic flowery smell that I don't particularly care for, but it's probably worth keeping my imp of this around for those odd times in the warmer months where I want to smell like the gardens that I'm walking through. I can't distinguish the sandalwood, it's eclipsed by the growth of flowers, but it must be contributing the powdery base in this, and adds a bit to the staying power.

I don't like jasmine as a perfume. It always smells like soap to me. Jasmine soap, yes, but still soap. But if I had to pick one jasmine perfume, this would be a good contender. I's mostly jasmine but the apples really sweeten it and there's a sharp spike of that tart quince smell that takes this out of soapy territory. It reminds me more of a really good cup of jasmine tea or a pack of jasmine incense. On a spring or summer evening, outside, this might be a good thing to wear when I want to recreate that wonderful smell that used to waft through the air in my bf's garden in California on a warm night. I never smell anything but jasmine and apples but I guess the other ingredients must silently be contributing in little ways, making this less a jasmine soap headache and more a gentle summer night garden. I don't think I'd wear it more than once or twice a year but it's worth keeping for those nights.

Oh, look at the color of this in the imp (I got a decant)...it's that unbelievably dark blood color of red musk. I love red musk. When I apply it, it is red musk and a deeper, darker musk -- and cheese. What? Yes, cheese. It smells a bit like cheese, or b.o., in addition to the lovely musk. I don't specifically smell anything boozy but there is a sourness that makes me think of sweat, which could be a booze note or it could be the skin musk that I actually liked in a couple of other scents. No sugars really stand out to me, though the musk is slightly sweet......barely detectable because of the bitter cheesy smell and tangy sweat. Um, so although I love red musk and most of the lab's musks in general, this kind of smells like the day after a wild night between the sheets...the "Oh god, we should have taken a bath instead of just falling asleep" smell. It's just like that at first though -- the sour scents are absorbed by the warm musk and it dries down a lot more like Lust, all things told. On the drydown I do get a hint of what I think has been described as "peanut butter" but it's rather dry and not terribly sweet. I think I'm OK with Lust and Scherezade for my red musk fix. I feel like while this might dry down nicely on me it would still make me smell a little...unwashed. And that's the kind of thing I try to avoid.