tinyvulture

i smell sweet tart apple, soft rose, and a drop of lemon. conflicted perhaps, but these notes actually seem to mesh very well! a cheery, youthful scent. i’m not head over heels for it, but it’s a perfectly good, fun, everyday type of scent.

a bold, spicy, extremely woodsy scent. it’s powerful; it has a real presence. there’s a strong cedar or sandalwood note (whichever one smells like pencil shavings and is kind of peanutty) combined with some herbs and spices i can’t identify. i think it’s too “dark” for summer, but it’ll be just right when the days get shorter and the weather turns crisp and cool. some might say this blend is masculine, but i’m a woman and this is my favorite of the Celestials, so i dunno.

a soft, romantic, feminine rose scent. it’s really light, dreamy and slightly powdery. i’m not picking up the citrusy or green elements that others have, but my skin really amps up rose. i’d wear this year-round whenever i want something simple but lovely.

I’m not really feeling the combination of spicy dragon’s blood and citrusy mandarin in this blend. With my body chemistry, the mandarin is so sweet and cheerful that this blend doesn’t really live up to it’s name! Oh well, I have other dragon’s blood scents that I love. Off to swaps for this one.

on me, this comes across as an odd blend of soapy aquatic and candle smoke. there’s a faintly sweet floral in the background. i’m picky about my aquatic blends and this one’s not right for me, but i do think it is interesting. a cooling, calming scent for a hot summer day.

mmm, spicy, smoky dragon’s blood perfectly blended with sweet, creamy vanilla. i used to really dislike dragon’s blood, but it’s grown on me tremendously and this may be its finest showcase. this is such a warm, soothing, pleasant scent to wear all day, any day. i think there’s a hint of cherry in it as well. i think this calls for a 5ml.

I swear, what I smell is soft creamy florals mixed with powdered sugar! It’s so sweet -- the vanilla really dominates. The jasmine is soft and I think that’s where the powderiness comes from. I don’t really smell the rose. A lovely, girly blend. I love vanilla, and this is one of the rare florals that seems made for me.

When I apply this, I immediately smell something extremely lemony… must be the verbena. It’s very strong, as it tends to be on my skin. The combination of verbena and ginger is sharp and clean. The green grass and rain notes also make this, overall, a very clean, fresh, springtime scent. The overpowering lemon, however, is too much for me. Off to swaps!

Clove and cinnamon! Spicy, sweet and foody. Nice, but straight spice blends aren’t really my thing. They tend to burn my nostrils. Still, it might be nice blended with a creamy, milky note to take away some of the fire.

lotus is usually way too sweet for me, but it’s toned down in this blend to where i can actually appreciate it. this is a sweet, fruity floral, backed with powdery incense. the lab has a certain incense note that smells like bananas on my skin, and that’s what i smell here. i haven’t noticed any dragon’s blood. i’m really surprised at how faint this scent is, considering how bold the lotus normally is. i don’t get much throw from it at all. a shame, since it’s the one lotus blend i’d wear regularly.

in the imp, Boomslang is a dark chocolatey brown color. when i apply it to my wrist, it smells exactly like a Tootsie Roll candy. as it dries, it smells sticky and syrupy. like rich chocolate syrup with a hint of molasses. it’s not at all powdery like most other BPAL cocoa scents i’ve tried. i don’t notice any teak or rice milk. after it dries, the Snake Oil asserts itself. the cocoa and the woodsy, spicy incense notes of Snake Oil seem to be vying for dominance. sometimes the cocoa is stronger, but then i sniff again and the Snake Oil hits me. either way, it always smells good.

full-bodied red wine, extremely fruity and sour. there are also herbs, but i couldn’t say exactly which ones. as it dries, a very strong wine smell remains, but it’s tempered with faint incense and something tangy that reminds me of olives. olive leaf, maybe? i’m not hankering for a bottle, but i'll use this imp from time to time. probably on cold days, as it’s a very warm scent.

at first i smell a buttery graham cracker pie crust... filled with pencil shavings! is this a foody or a woody blend? well, it's both. the soft, dry cedar and sweet, mouth-watering caramel and butterscotch don't seem like a match made in heaven, but they combine really well. it's long-lasting, too. later on, the dark patchouli comes out more, but i never do smell any apricot. a truly unique scent. i have a feeling this imp will disappear in no time!

oh my goodness. i’ve died and gone to incense heaven. this incense isn’t churchy, and it's not hippie. it’s heavy and resinous and dark, but also warm and slightly sweet. i haven’t tried schwartzer mond for comparison (but i think i need to!) definitely one of my favorite incense blends, right up there with my beloved athens and the pit and the pendulum.

i mainly smell the aquatic notes and green ferns (like fresh-cut grass, but a little sharper), with just an undertone of wine. i’m usually not big on aquatics, but i admire the complexity of this one. it’s tropical and cooling – you can almost feel the cool island breeze on your skin. this is definitely a “salty” water scent – and it stays salty, rather than turning cloyingly sweet on my skin like most aquatics do.

Strong black tea with a squeeze of lemon, over soft faded leather. After about 5 minutes, the lemon goes all soft and powdery and slightly floral, and the leather lingers faintly. The tea is still going strong, though – it’s really the main attraction here. Nice… but a little less masculine than I was expecting. My husband doesn’t do florals. That’s OK, I think I’ll wear this one myself

this smells exactly like pineapple upside-down cake! pineapple, cherries, and buttery cake. yum! i’m not sure what else to say. it’s a fun, sweet foody scent; i like it a lot. (it doesn’t smell like turkey. not at all. )

this makes me think of a perfume that a grandmother would wear – a classy, stylish grandmother. “classic perfume” indeed -- powdery and lightly floral. the rose water is soft and lovely, and combines beautifully with the sweet tobacco smoke. (i’ve really been blown away by the “smoke” notes in all of the dog blends.) the leather is barely there. an nostalgic, polished, feminine scent. at first i didn't think it was "me", but it grew on me in no time, and now i just love it.

the other day at work, i forgot i had applied this, and i kept saying, “what smells so good?” it was me! it’s extremely long-lasting, with great throw. warm spiced bay rum with hints of vanilla and almond. smells sexy on my husband but i’m definitely wearing it too. we need a bottle to share, asap!

i can’t get past how much this smells like department store cologne. astringent and grassy. i smell the sweet citrus of the orange, and some assorted florals, but i can’t smell the incense or the copal -- which i was really looking forward to, since i have some copal resin sticks that i adore. i definitely can’t wear it, and i don’t really like it on my husband either. although, he loves it! to each his own!

the frosty, slushy pine from talvikuu and snow bunny is dominant here. it contrasts with the lush florals. is this a winter or summer scent? i’m not sure. i can’t smell anything like clay or stone. mint and soft incense round out the scent. the slushy note has always irritated my nose when i try to wear it, but i do like this as a refreshing room scent.

a combination of some of my favorite notes – incense, smoke, and wood. of course i love it. the pipe smoke, the strongest note, really smells smoky – and sweet. the mahogany is true and rich and dark. i’m trying to think where i’ve smelled this incense note before in other blends, but i can’t place it. it’s not “churchy” like midnight mass or all souls. this is something else entirely. it smells old and dignified, spicy and intriguing, sweet and dark, all at the same time. i must acquire a bottle.

i have a theory that there’s a theme with all the seven deadly sins blends -- “too much of a good thing.” they’re all so strong, right on the edge of overdoing it and being unbearable. lust is so heady and intense, and gluttony has every kind of sweet you can think of crammed into it. yet, they still work, and that is their genius. this rose is bold and in-your-face. it makes me think of over-the-top vanity and obsession with beauty, to the point where something beautiful (like a rose, or a natural beauty) becomes overkill (like 1000 roses, or a heavily made-up, plastic surgerized kind of beauty). there’s nothing powdery or delicate about it. this blend is for when you want to stand out and be noticed. p.s. i don’t know what narcissus smells like, so i can’t say how it plays into this scent. to my untrained nose, all i smell is rose, rose, rose.

cherries and cream! sweet and tart and juicy. i’m thinking hot cherry pie with a dusting of powdered sugar, served with a scoop of rich vanilla ice cream that’s melting into the warm fruit. i don’t need a whole bottle of this, but the imp will get lots of love.

pure mint and vanilla, with hints of coconut, chocolate and root beer. mintier and less buttery than snowblind. haven’t tried lick it yet, so i can’t draw a comparison there. very sweet, like mint chewing gum. breathing it in seems to clear my sinuses. i’m saving this one for the hottest summer days. lovely.