homunculus

This smells just like Nosferatu to me - only with rose rather than the fruity 'wine' note ... so it starts off with a slightly sharp, bitter smell that wafts into a very strong almost spicy rose (rose is always strong on my skin though). It's very lovely - not really 'me' but I do like this scent!

On my skin the first impression is: a slightly gingery spicy warmth. It reminds me of my spice drawer - a cumin, turmeric kind of feel ... My skin tends to sweeten most things and in time the scent develops in that way until it turns into 'sweet mushrooms' and the deeper notes are lost. I can't detect any 'earth' here, alas.

This one I find very hard to describe. At first a smoky tanginess that catches the back of your throat (maybe this is what people are referring to as the 'dirt' in it?) and an overlying floral note. There's an almost male muskiness to it and I can smell mushrooms in there but I'm not getting 'earth' as I'd hoped. It's very unusual but on my skin it becomes more of a 'normal' clean floral smell with time.

At first a rather sharp green citrussy smell - a bit like pine and limes or lemons ... and a rather sour note. Mellows as it dries, with the sharpness becoming more light, spicy floral - but still the overall impression is green grass and lemon? Maybe it doesn't suit my skin ... possibly the booze is turning sour on me? (And I know there's not meant to be any lemon in here - just one of those skin chemistry things!) The final impression on me is warm slightly spicy green grass with a hint of lemon - quite pleasant really but not at all what I expected!

This one was a frimp in my first ever order ... I'm sorry to say that it did not do well on my skin. The scent became intensely syrupy sweet and very synthetic - reminding me of some kind of cake from my childhood in the 70s when 'artificial' foods (as opposed to 'natural') were all the rage. It's the only BPAL so far I can't wear at all but I'm hoping one of my friends might love it and give it a home instead.

Intensely floral. At first there is a faint spiciness and then the flowers take over. There is one flower coming to the fore but I can't identify it, although it makes me think of creamy blossoms suitable for the black and white hues of a midnight garden. The slight sweetness that makes the flower sing like a real bloom quickly turns on me and becomes almost salty. That's a shame. This doesn't happen when the scent is on my clothes so I wonder if it's just my skin. Oh, well ... Edited to add: I put this on at night and in the morning it had mellowed to a sweet, honeyed faintness on my skin which I really like. Will have to put it on the day before I need it!

We've finally caved in to years of requests for vampiric scents. As soft as grave dust and as dry as a breath drawn within a long forgotten crypt, this is Nosferatu: desiccated herbs and gritty earth brought to life with a swell of robust and sanguineous red wines. At first this is bitter and herby. Very bitter. A bit like stamping through wet undergrowth. There's a sort of fizzly, crackly edge to it that makes your nose tingle. The sweet fruity wine note takes a while to warm up and then peers out over the plants and soil. This is the only BPAL perfume my husband has ever noticed (so far) ... "Are you wearing some amazing perfume type thing? It's like raspberry ripple ice cream!" This was from afar - then closer he thought it was more complicated - maybe fresh raspberries and crushed greenery. Can't make up my mind about this one - it intrigues me. It also varies a lot according to my menstrual cycle, taking on a sour note when there's actual blood. How much more vampirish could it get?? Very interesting and makes me want to try the other 'earth' scents.

On my skin this begins very dark, slightly bitter, musky - then it warms up and rounds out into an almost fruity spiciness, still with the darker smokiness underneath and a beautiful floral element in there somewhere too. It's very difficult to describe but the final effect is lovely, and pretty strong on my skin (which makes a welcome change). Sophisticated and delicious! Edit a year and a half later: I just had to come back and add that this has turned out to be my favourite BPAL after flirting with a fair few. Reading the other reviews here, it obviously doesn't suit everyone, but it seems to remain in perfect balance on my skin, with all the different elements swirling together to create something a bit dark and different. When I'm wearing it I feel like a more sophisticated and dangerous version of myself - and there's a lot to be said for that! So after all my experimenting this is going to be my first large bottle.

First tantalising sniff (hardly had time to form an opinion before it vanished!) reminding me of sweet spicy gingerbread mixed with a sharper floral - then it suddenly faded to nothing on my skin! Looks like I'm one of those people whose skin neutralises this in some weird way. It's not my nose - OH can't smell it on me either. Still hoping to review this I put lots more on and it gradually comes back. No spiciness now, just a high-pitched floral smell ... but that fades quickly too (seconds in fact). A bit later the same evening it seemed to warm up again and reappeared faintly, briefly, as a lovely floral (reminded me of freesias) with a hint of spice - but then it vanished once more in a matter of minutes. Boo hoo - just enough of a hint that it probably smells gorgeous on some people where it chooses to linger - but not me alas. My skin chemistry says "no" and even if I sat in a barrel of this all night it would still only hang around for a minute or so and then the smell would be gone. Edited to add: a few months later ... Well something has happened - either the Morocco in the imp has aged in some mysterious way or my nose has aged in an even more mysterious way but I am now getting a much stronger smell from this when I put it on my skin and it really is delicious. A kind of rich buttery spicy warmth is the best I can describe it. How intriguing. So lovely is it now that I'm wondering whether to splash out on a bottle when I have some money. Moral of the tale - test imps over time!

This starts off smelling bitter and vaguely medicinal. Then on my skin it begins to turn into the smell of the incense they used on special holy days in the Roman Catholic church of my childhood. Frankincense? I never knew for sure ... They used to burn it in a big metal thing on a chain that the priest used to swing and waft about. I can't describe the smell very easily - a bit peppery, a bit smoky but sweet. My mind fills with images of robed figures, smoking, swirling incense burners and tuneless incantations! I'm not yet sure if it's something I want to wear but very interesting to have captured that smell. Over time it becomes mellower, softer and creamier.

From first sniff "warm, sweet, smoky, musky honey" springs to mind. Then the scent deepens on my skin to a strong honey - makes me think of the jar of dark amber fragrant English Heather Honey I have in the kitchen. Yum ... Then something slightly floral and sophisticated appears, and then more muskiness. Something very comforting about this perfume - very relaxing in a blissed-out way, maybe because of the honey association (hot buttered toast with lashings of it anyone ... ?). No sign of honey in the ingredients list though. There's a spicy muskiness to it that's also comforting in an animal kind of way. Ends up mellowing even deeper into "spicy musky honey" ... mmmm ...