surf-tormented

It''s nutty vanilla beeswax on me. I usually don't like nut or beeswax notes, but this one is ok. After a while, it slowly goes lemon butter on me. It's festive, but it's not for me. I also did get an evergreen whiff in there...I wonder what note makes that happen?

Wow, I thought it was only me. I was hoping for something really icy, but this is a wisp of a scent on me. I was hoping for a scent to use to calm headaches and this seemed to fit the bill because of all the icy notes -- icy musk, niaouli, camphor, mint --- but not even close. It smells like a very slight herbal with an equality faint woody note, that might be the resin. I get no carrot from this either. How disappointing. Glad I only got a decant of this.

I aged this for a year and it comes up more mushroomy than it was and it's separated into layers...with what I think it the vetiver at the bottom. Weird. The berry dirt of this used to be stronger, now it is more of a myrrh blend. Still good and earthy, I just didn't think aging it would make it so different. It's more fresh mushroom than dirt now!

2011 version. I feared trying this all these years because of the sap note being too sweet. My skin amps the leaf and smoke and add a sort of chilly air note to the mix. I like Solstice Scent's Foxcroft a tiny bit more than this one, only because Foxcroft is stronger in the application. Both perfumes have the same feel except October is more aquatic ozone than Foxcroft. October is great though if you love leaf scents. There is nothing sweet on me or candle-like to spoil the autumn blast of it all. Approved by me!

When I first put this on my skin, it smells like lavender oil and nothing else. After 10 minutes or so, it reminds me of Penis Admiration. Yup. Even though this blend and PA have no common notes except purple floral and smoke. I had to wait awhile before I got smoke. So now it's oudh/agarwood and lavender on me. The violet comes out later. I was hoping since a lot of the notes in this one were more basey, it would be a heavier perfume. It's really light though. It's hard to smell unless you are right close to the skin. I don't get any of these notes: currant, ambergris, amber or dark musk. Fig makes a very faint appearance now and then. I get smokey violet/lavender incense. Which is ok, but not what I was expecting, which was something more complex, even layered. Now it's smelling like Penis Admiration again. Weird. I do like PA and this smells like it's more floral and smokey cousin, PA having lilac and this one having lavender but the same skin type sweaty feel of a floral smokey blend. Maybe the skin/sweat is musk. I guess I'll take a while to see if this will morph more, I hope it does. It's a bit too light on me to enjoy it as much as I wanted to. It might win me over in the end, since the oudh and agarwood are coming to the top of this perfume at the end of its run...sniff...it's just so light...it's such a whisper of a perfume.

This oil was created from an event that happened on my birthday, so I had to get some. It's fate! In the bottle: Really sunny. It reminds me of the old Celestial perfume, Sol, except even brighter. And it has quite a throw, since it is on my desk and I can smell it from here. On skin, wet: Lots of bright notes. I get a strong mix of rose geranium, marigold, chamomile, lemongrass and a little bit of resin, which reminds me of frankincense, which would be fitting. I take it the marigold, chamomile and frankincense are for the Sun, lemongrass for door opening and Mercury and rose geranium for Venus. There is an earthy mint quality to it too, I would assume was also for Venus. Drying: It becomes a bright herbal on my skin with enough resin to hold it fast. It's bright and cheery, all gold and green. After some time, I get a bubblegum mint note. Have no idea where that is coming from! Maybe this reminds me of some gum I have tried? Any odd effects: Well, I did get an ending to a book I am working on and I wanted to start with the end. I do consider my writing my Great Work, so this could help it along. At very least, it would keep me awake while writing and give me a good attitude. Overall: It's nice. Glad I got a half bottle of it from a circle. It reminds me a lot of myself, which works, because it is what I consider my birthday oil and birthday gift to myself, since strange celestial happenings seem to hover around my birthday date.

Got this as a freebie when I bought a bottle of Leo S. from a member of S&S on LJ. In vial: Smells like autumn. Promising! On skin, wet: Spicy yumminess. I get an anise type note (dry instead of being sweet root beer), followed by almost a citrus, like an orange. Then nutmeg and a solid tobacco/tea like base note. Do I also smell cloves, warm vanilla and a tiny bit of dirty, sour woods? Wow, it is like a lot of notes I really like ended up in the same perfume. Drying: Tasty spicy tea. Like someone else said, more of a spicy Russian Tea, without the smoke. There is a very odd plastic type coconut note way in the distance. But lucky for me, it isn't taking over like in other BPAL blends. The note always reminds me of sunscreen and it not welcome! Apparently, it heard me! Overall: I like it. It seems someone I bought from heard my plea for autumn type scents and gave me an awesome freebie, which I will use up, because it does have a holiday vibe to it. Great for fall into winter.

This really smells like dead on patchouli on me, though patchouli isn't a note listed here. It reminds me a lot of Thanatos. Or Mircalla. Well, any patchouli based BPAL I have ever tried . They come off lifeless on my skin...which I should probably guess from names like Thanatos and Mircalla, not such lively types, ever all! As it dries, it is even more SN Patchouli with a tiny whisper of smoke and clove, a little bit like Goth Rosary's Nocturnal, but I like that scent much better. Given a little bit of time, I do get a "resiny Dr. Pepper" scent that others have gotten, with the hopes the neroli and pepper will come out to play. But alas no. Overall, this is very flat to me. It feels like all middle notes. It doesn't have much throw and doesn't last long. It reminds me of perfumes I already have and having about 3 bottles of about the same scent doesn't make me want to order a bottle. If someone told me this was a patchouli single note and put it on my wrist, I wouldn't have thought anything of it. It's got a hippie head store feel and doesn't really speak to me at all. It doesn't morph either. It's disappointing because I love the concept of the perfume and the name.

Smoldering brimstone, bitter labdanum, clove, black musk, and copper-colored feathers. In the vial: Real smoky. Reminds me of Brimstone and Djinn. Nice! On skin: A dirty mix of vetiver, deep musk and something oily and metal. But it isn't that strong on me. Drying: A weird plum note emerges. I have no idea where that is coming from. It's become a nice smoky plum, with a tiny bit of Brimstone and clove in the back. I mean Brimstone like the BPAL perfume, not just the note. It reminds me of a tea I had once, without the tea note in there. At the end of its brief run, it has a leathery quality to it, smoky leather. Wait, now it is more like clove incense. It does morph and is enjoyable, keeps you on your toes. Overall: I like the scent in the vial. It is all smokey and metal, but when it hits my skin, something amps up fruit. It is smokey fruit, wonderfully deep, but not bottleworthy for me, which is good because I only have a few drops in a vial. Recommended if you like: Steampunk type scents or Brimstone/Djinn but find those too strong. Fans of VM's Smoking Plum might find an odd similarity in these two perfumes.

Wow, this is dirty and boozy, like if you poured whiskey into the earth. There's a sweetness to this blend, but it isn't overly sweet, just a sweet note you'd find in a dirt note that has a weedy undertone to it. I'm really surprised by this...it is DARK. Like deep black soil, a bit of dark musk and a tiny bit of smoke, which makes the boozy note more tobacco to my nose. I love this. I would get a bottle of this if it was a GC for sure. Too bad it's a LE. It's super yummy if you like that vetiver, dirty sort of perfume.

I didn't think I would like this one. Maybe the name just threw me off. I find it trying it out, that this blend and Gladdener of All Hearts have something in common: skin smell. Where Gladdener smells like a baby's newly washed head, PA smells like a different kind of washed head. It's a newly washed penis scent, if you've ever poked your nose around a man's showered penis like I have, it's got that smell. There is also another note I like around there, but this note I have only experiences in a Eris Tilt-A-Whirl blend (#83). It's a sort of metal skin note. Pink and grey colors come to mind in describing it. It's metal with a bit of salt and skin. Ok, a manly skin smell, but it does mimic how a penis smells...like the skin of it. Very odd and interesting. After this skin scent, I can make out lilac and smokey wood on the dry down. It is a very pleasant scent. It's the mature version of Gladdener of All Hearts, the talc replaced with woods, the lavender with lilac, but the feeling of warm clean skin still exists. I like it a lot!

This scent was a mystery to me, because it smelled like something very familiar to me. Then I realized it smells exactly like the shampoo I used to use. How weird. It also reminds me of Philommeidês from a couple years ago. I don't think I could wear this as a perfume, because it reminds me of shampoo. I mean, it is nice for a shampoo, something to use and have the scent very light in your hair afterwards, but I don't think I want it in my face as a perfume.

Smells like pear and ginger in the bottle. I was expecting it to be sweet, but it isn't. I also expected a lot of ginger, but this goes from a nice pear ginger blend with some spice in it to a soapy powder on my skin. It doesn't last very long. I may try it in a locket because I like the smell of it in the vial.

I got this in a decant, which was separated into a white oil and some brown gobs at the bottom. It took a while to mix it all together, but once it was, I tried it. i like it and I normally don't like BPAL chocolate in blends, especially the milk chocolate note. It always goes nutty on me, which smells bad to me. The bacon and cassia cut through the chocolate somewhat, much like the BPAL chocolate blend, How Doth the Little Crocodile's wood notes cut the chocolate down from its sugary cocoa fury into something I can manage having on my wrist. The bacon is only woody smoke on me though, no meat note to be had. The cassia does smell like cassia though! I do like this, I just wouldn't want to mix it all the time. The separation in this blend is a little gross to me and I would worry getting a brown spot on my clothes if I wore a lot of it. It is a skin burner, if you have sensitive skin, you may want to try it in a locket first.

I got a strong non-sweet lavender perfume. It reminded me of something classic and Victorian in nature. I can get whiffs of tobacco and vanilla in there too. The honey isn't anywhere to be found, neither is the musk, but that's fine with me. This scent is all powdery amber, lavender and dry orris root on me, highlighted, by a slight rose floral and the scent of smoky hay and tobacco. I would recommend this if you like lavender or orris root. To me, those dominate the blend. Not for the faint of heart.

in the bottle: Smells very old timey to me, like a perfume my grandmother would wear, not in a bad way, just more "classic". On skin, wet: This smells like a mix of plum and pomegranate, powdery floral and spices. On skin, drying: The powdery floral comes out more, jasmine, rose and a tiny bit of lily in the back. It does have a Host of the Air vibe to it, but this is a bit more complex than that. Hostess of the Air? I get a lot of clove and patchouli in this towards the end of its run. It get the "shampoo" scent another reviewer said. It smells like a classy shampoo and old fashioned as well. Overall: It fades fast on me, to quick to keep. Plus the fruit notes get weird on my skin at times, not sure what it is.

In the bottle: Most amusing. A mix of things. Very pretty fruit mint that isn't too sweet coupled with mossy resins. Promising, since I tried three Ode to Aphrodites from 2009 and two of them went craft store candle fruit on me, sweet and overbearing. This is not that. On skin, wet: The orange comes out on top, followed by a strange smell, almost chemical, but in a good way. After the chemical bit goes away rather quick, I am left with a lovely galbanum, which smells lush and green. Along with this is the benzoin and mint. The fruit is there, but it fresh and not-sweet and stays to the back. Drying: It gets really earthy. Like plants growing in earth, with a bit of citrus at the end of each sniff. It's the patchouli kicking in, but with the other heavier notes in this, it only adds to the party and doesn't overwhelm it. I have to agree with lahdeedah's comment of it being an orange sun setting over grass, but to me the grass is more thick forest glen. It feels very orange and dark green at the same time. Overall: I would say it is in the family of perfumes which include Mircalla and Mme. Moriarty, Misfortune Teller because they go from fruity to this earthy state on me in the same way. It does also invoke a scent of victory when I wear it, like a small smelly coat of strength. True to its namesake.

Spicy, earthy, worn leather. Amazing! Then again I love vetiver.

It's very light on me. The only perfume I can compare it too is VA's Ghost of the Moors, which is very strong and earthy, almost too much so. But this is similar to that in a lot of ways, except this is more (ha) grassy. It has a great scent in the bottle but lasts mere minutes on my skin.

I got a similar fogginess in this blend. I did also get a tiny bit of smoke. It smells like embers and woods when it hits my skin, but not for long. Then it goes into a foggy wood. Probably because the last tiny piece of wood has burned out.

This one starts out metal wood on me, which I really like. Then it morphs into something gross. Is that the beeswax note? I don't have any beeswax notes in any of the perfumes in my collection, but if that is the note, it becomes a very horrible sour milk, honeyed garbage type smell. Not for me.

This is my favorite of the Yules this year. It's very watery and earthy and reminds me a lot of Ulalume. The two are very close, I did a sampling by putting one on my right wrist and one on my left. If I didn't already have Ulalume, I would snag a bottle of this. I think my decant is more than enough since it has a scent sister.

It reminds me a lot of Bathtub Gin. Maybe too much. It's bubbly and ginny. I don't get much fruit out of it. It seems very clear to me, like a gin and tonic. I get no cosmo scent out of this whatsoever, but it is a good bubbly gin scent.

Magus, toymaker, and Godfather to Klara. An enigmatic man, seemingly somewhat sinister, but bearing a gentle air and a sincere love for children. This scent is dignified, refined, but dark, and hints towards esoteric mysteries and the secrets that tie mechanics to magick. Pipe smoke, sweet leather, woods and linen. 2010 Version. In vial: Smokey tobacco, something else that smells like stale leather. I am interested!! Wet on skin: Fresh tobacco, smoke, a tiny bit of leather. It's pretty strong and manly. I like it! Drying: Oh no, is that lemon? Or lemon trying to be linen? I am not sure of this anymore! I have read reviews where it is lemon first and then smokey goodness, but I fear my skin grabbed the great smoke/tobacco/leather notes first and as they leave, is only giving me that familiar smell of lemon drop Pledge I get from a lot of BPAL perfume oils with lemon notes in them. I don't get a linen vibe, only somewhat smokey lemon. Which smells like rotten lemon. Overall: Pleasure and pain. The first part of this blend is fantastic. I wish I could keep the lemon from showing up and ruining my manly note party. About a half hour later, the smoke is gone and the only thing that remains is overly sweet lemon drop. Ick. I agree with another reviewer that lemon should had been listed as a note here. It is almost all lemon.

In the vial: A crazy mix of Christmas foods, evergreen boughs and crisp mint air. It smells a bit foody to me, almost too foody for my tastes. Wet on skin: It becomes a hot mess on my skin. Each note area (foods, evergreen, crisp air) trying to overpower the next. Who will win? Drying: Hey, I think the evergreen boughs won, it is a nice pine with spicy berry and the slightest hint of food underneath it all. Overall: It reminds me a lot of Arcana's Nick, except Nick has more berry and no spice or food notes in it. It smells very festive. If you like Faunalia or Wolf Moon and also like a bit of tart berry in the mix, you should go for this. Sadly, if you are a foody, the food notes don't seem to jump out of the perfume. I don't get much honey or pumpkin pie in this one. Which is fine with me, since I don't like food notes.