tsarina

At first there is the scent of a coffee bean. It mellows, and I get some of the tonka. But it disappears so fast on my skin! I can hardly smell the florals, much less the fig or vanilla. Bummer.

The first sniff seemed to be pure leather. Leather and vertiver I suppose. It overwhelmed me. I waited a good thirty minutes, hoping it would mellow on my skin. From time to time, I caught whiffs of the flowers but they did not stay long. I wonder if this would smell better on my husband.

Cathode is unexpected. I thought it might have a crackling, icy electric mint that would make my hair stand on end. It's bright and clear without being too sharp, sugary or herbal. It's just soothing, calm mint. As it dries down, I can pick up the mossy background. It is very unique and I'm having a hard time describing it. But I enjoy it!

I love this scent. It's celebratory, champagne fizzing and sweet strawberry juice. I can almost taste it, the scent is so vivid. I think I will wear this for parties.

Straight from the bottle the scent is pure pine. It is so intense it nearly gave me a headache. After a few moments it starts to mellow out, and the other notes pull through. Still very piney, I can smell other trees and wood scents. I think it is the cypress smell that I enjoy so much here. It's got a hint of sweetness, like tree sap or sunlight through the branches. This scent makes me think of pushing through a dense line of pine trees into the woods, and then finding a worn pathway through the trees.

I smell the rose first off. Strong flowerly whirl in my brain that is hard for me to seperate. It's akin to being thwapped in the head with a bouquet. On my skin, the blend softens. The violet appears, and fades into the lilac. It's a gracious, gentle scent. I think I should like to wear it to bed. It would soothe my sleep. ADDED April 27: The first whiff is sweet, like rose. Then it is lilac and violet mingling beautifully. I enjoy this simple floral combination. It is comforting, soothing and dreamy.

This scent is brilliant. It's citrus but the sharp edge is softened by the lilac. Fortunately the lilac is extremely subtle, and the lime and lemon remain bright and clean. It's such a fresh and enjoyable scent. I could wear this every day, or bathe in it.

It's remarkable how much this smells like the actual name. I think it's the honeysuckle, with that very gentle sweet note that brings some lightness to the lavender. Straight out of the bottle and onto my skin it was thick lavender. The jasmine began to appear as it dried, adding another dimension and then the honeysuckle came on last. It's the honeysuckle scent that stays the longest, after the others fade down. I think it's beautifully balanced, and a pleasure to wear.

Frost Moon is now my all-time favorite scent. It is the perfect mint for me. Right away there is a clear, sharp mint. It's not a sweet mint, but a more green and fresh mint note. As it dries, more green creeps in, the scent of lotus and ecualyptus making it fuller and more rounded. There's a chill to it, as if these notes are surrounded by ice. I can't say enough good things about this scent. It is so beautiful, cold and bright.

A melancholy, deep scent, poignant and brimming with nostalgia. The perfume of sugared plums over a breeze of winter flowers. The first waft out of the bottle was sweetness, like holiday candy. At first it was all plum, delicious sugared and jellied plum. As it dried, I could smell something floral to it, and the fruit smell grew more complex. It makes me think of candied fruit pieces and bouquets of pale flowers. I am madly in love with this scent.

In the bottle, it's almost all rose. But once I put it on, the scent blooms out into a field of jasmine as well. There's a sweetness that has nothing to do with flowers that must be the myrrh. I don't usually wear floral scents, but this one has a beautiful balance to it. Initially it seems a bit overpowering, but it mellows nicely on my skin.

This scent is so bright and enjoyable. Everyone I've shared it with adores it. For me, it's a bit spicy, with the sweet wine note and the piney tang of juniper. It blends well on my skin, the notes weaving around each other. One moment it's greenery, the next it is warm and full of the mulled wine scent. This has to be one of my favorite BPAL scents.

I love the complex weave of scents in the bottle. It's delicious, fruity and spicy sweet. It makes me think of drinking fresh hot tea from little clay pots. On my skin, something in it turns instantly into a lemony scent that dominates every other note. I think it's the bergamot. It just won't play nice with me, alas.

This scent is all dry, withered flowers and greenery. The moss is quite strong on my skin. I don't think I would wear it, but it perfumed my room beautifully. It smells far nicer than any zombie I've ever imagined.

I was surprised to find the first whiff so mysterious. It took quite some time to figure out what I was sniffing. On my arm Snow White settled into a buttery, coconut sort of scent but cool. Like a coconut frosting. Almondy sweet note popped out. Sadly within a few minutes it went to a sort of Playdough, salty scent. Damn that cursed body chemistry.

Shanghai is very fresh, light and crisp. The green tea note comes out strongest with me, and fades into the verbena and honeysuckle smell of a private garden. It is amazing how much this smells like a cool cup of green tea. ADDED April 18: I think my nose is funny, because I can barely smell green tea even when I'm drinking it. It's the invisible odor! I'm not getting any lemon and only a bare trace of honeysuckle as it wears on. I thnk my skin just eats this oil. Alas. Perhaps it will make a good freshening spray for the sheets?

In the bottle, it was all overripe red fruit and very sweet. Reminds me of juice. In my skin it was initially still sweet, like a garden party with big bowls of berries. But as it dried the wood note became stronger and stronger, overwhelming everything else. I seem to have a problem with these hard wood notes and my skin chemistry. However the scent was perfect for my oil warmer and the house. It was quite subtle when diffused, just a whiff of berries and wood that made the house feel so much more lush than it really is.

In the bottle, it smells like vanilla and cedar. The cedar scent is exactly like the cedar growing around my part of the world, and so it instantly reminds me of many an afternoon spent running around outside. On my skin, there's a sharp burst of cedar and then it mellows. It fades in and out of the blend, always reminding me of its presence. The vanilla and sassafras come out more. It develops a very warm, enjoyable scent that stays with me for some time. At times, it almost smells like rootbeer and cedar wood. This scent earns me many compliments, though curiously no one seems to pick up on the sharpness of the cedar.

When I cracked open Envy, the first scent was overpowering. It's verdant and rich like a garden crammed full of herbs and ferns. The herbal mix is quite sharp, like basil and lavender. It's about all I can smell. I can't seem to catch the elusive mints inside. It's almost overwhelming, but does not last so long on my skin. While it doesn't seem to suit me personally, I would like to sprinkle it around my kitchen and bathroom. This seems like an excellent house scent, particularily if you live somewhere without access to growing things or grounds of your own.

I love the almost lime-like scent of linden, and it reminds me of living in Prague. The Unicorn is probably not something I would wear often, but it would be a perfect scent for a long bath. It's very sweet, springlike and bright without becoming a heavy floral.

I expected Gingerbread Poppet to be sweeter. It reminds me of the Mexican gingerbread that one finds in bakeries in Texas. Mexican gingerbread is much less sugary, and has strong molasass and spice flavors. To me, this is the smell of Gingerbread Poppet and I love it. It's perfect for grey days to lighten my spirits.

I was prepared to love Hearth. The description is a fantasy for me, of a comfortable life. Alas, Hearth did not agree with me quite as much. It was much sweeter initially than I imagined it would be, smelling over much of cherries. On my skin, that faded down and became much more subtle. Unfortunately the wood note diasgreed with me, and in combination with something else it became a frustration. I had a similar problem with The Red Queen, and I think those ard wood notes don't agree with my skin.

I love the sharpness of the scent, the spikey aroma of rosemary and citrus blending into the lavender. It reminds me of the Renaissance Faire near where I live, perhaps because of the name. There's something bright like a crush of mint leaves to it. I could sniff this bottle all day long. Sadly the scent seems muted on my skin and not as vibrant. It becomes more floral and less bright. Still, I very much enjoy the scent.

Vice was one of the first BPAL scents I wore, because its simplicity is its charm. Straight out of the vial it smells of dark, bittersweet chocolate like the kinds I buy for baking. On my skin, the subtle wafts of cherry and orange came out over time. It was difficult not to want to gnaw on my arm, as it smelled delicious.

When I read the lab's description of Greed, I took it for poetic imagery. But to my surprise it's an apt and fair likeness. This scent does have bright, glittering notes to it. It's very warm, and smells strongly of oak to me. For my own bit of poetry, it's smell of stumbling across a pile of heavy gold coins at the base of a tree somewhere far from all places.