Epiphany

Yes! I especially have problems with sets--For those labels with art that I particularly love, I want the bottles just so I have the full set of the art. And the latest 'ween labels are SO freakin' amazing...I'm in trouble. Not to mention my excitement for the art on the Lilith Victoria scents! Of course...the perfumes are good too

In the decant, this is a very light spicy scent--not too much on the tea front, but wonderful nonetheless. Wet on: clove, lots and lots of clove, with just a little bit of pepper/spicy carnation and cardamom. Luckily, I clove. Dry: Clove, clove, clove, clove, tea, patchouli, clove, clove, cardamom, clove, pepper, carnation, clove! If I sniff closely, I can tell what's in it (mostly because I know what I'm sniffing for), but a casual sniff yields almost all clovey-goodness: as though I shoved a few in my arm to preserve it, the way they do with oranges. The tea is probably the next most prominent note--but only insomuch as it is a supporting factor for the clove. Like lovely clove tea. It's much lighter on my roommate--with more tea and carnation in the mix, but really, I'm okay with the clove. Also...fantastic throw. I only used a small drop on my arm and it has been wafting about me ever since.

Someone, somewhere compared this to Coyote. I definitely agree with that assessment, though Hay Moon has spice instead of musk. And so, with my love of Coyote in mind, can I just say that I ADORE Hay Moon. It's not as flashy as its drunken counterpart Mead Moon (which is also love), but it is such a comfortable, lovely, earthy scent--and completely true to its name. The cardamom adds a gorgeous dimension to the dry-grass smell, while that honey is a just-barely-there natural sweetness. Sniffing my wrists evokes images of sun-slanting late summer afternoons walking barefoot in fresh-mowed fields, careful not to step on the neatly shorn rows of stubble, scaring up waves of grasshoppers. Excellent wear length (it somehow lasted through an entire shift at work, while I was sweating and washing glasses) with about average throw.

As many people have mentioned, this smells exactly like a warm buttery blueberry muffin to start out. While it is delicious, the buttery-ness is a bit offsetting perfume-wise, but happily that stage faded almost immediately once Crawdad was on my skin. This went through a variety of morphological wonders...it was a shape and color changing crawdad to be sure. But in the end, it turned into something just right (for me): a green tea-currant-blueberry muffin, sans butter. It is fresh (tea!) and fruity, but just a bit foodily grounded (by the coriander and vanilla I think). Nothing doin' with the ginger and there's not a whiff of musk in sight. I think this may be a new favorite whimsical daytime scent. Also...it lasts for hours on me, with moderate throw. I wish I had some idea about squash blossom....

Sigh. In the bottle (partial bottle, sadly) I didn't know what all of the fuss was about--a bit of a spicy honey, but the honey seemed rather flat and dried out. Okay. Wet. Still not impressed...a nice bit of spice, a very nice honey...what is all the fuss... Oh. That's it. Gorgeousness. Pure honey beauty. Not at all flat or dry--deep and luscious and gooey with lovely, lovely spices (but not...a spice-centric scent like I was fearing) and just a touch of a boozy note. It's the scent embodiment of the honey sticks that I buy at the Renaissance Festival and the overall tone very much reminds me of Faire. Happy place. Perfect scent. Foo. WHY DID I NOT BUY MORE!?! I should know better by now than to ever doubt things that Beth makes with honey. It is a rare day that one does not work on me (though it has happened).

Well, with my love of honey in general and my worshipful adoration of Glowing Vulva I figured I should give this a shot. In the imp it smells very much like Villainess Grampa Joe. Creamy caramel toffee, with a bit of a boozyness. Wet: Uh...ooohkay...what am I smelling now? The caramel toffee niceness was rapidly replaced by...ass. Yes. Ass. Don't ask me how I know, it was just bad, okay? As though somehow an evil fruity/floral wandered over to my Glowing Vulva and curdled it*. Drying: Now, to be fair, the ass of this was very subtle, as opposed to the evil of Milk Moon 07...though it fits into that same general category of 'things that smelled nice in the bottle gone horribly wrong'. Also, in its defense, after concluding that fifteen minutes of sniffing and re-sniffing and making my boyfriend sniff my arm and both of us going "ugh! that's AWFUL" was quite enough of that, Agrat washed off with surprising ease. Points for not sticking around where it wasn't wanted. So...yeah...no to that one. *Thinking of this made me realize that if something DID happen to the Glowing Vulva I might have a spontaneous aneurysm. Dear lord. I need to get a climate controlled safe.

Damn. In every other scent that I have tried so far that has 'tobacco' as a note, said evil plant-substance makes me smell like a stale old ashtray. So I wasn't even going to bother seeking out a decant of Illustrated Woman for myself, but eventually grabbed an empty bottle (I'm a whore for the CD art, what can I say?). In the name of science I decided to test out the few drops left in the bottom. First sniff from the bottle: Very strong piney-tobacco resin. Not promising. Wet: A whiff of pine, but no tobacco in sight..er...smell. Huh. A bit of that smoky vanilla scent that I love in the Grindhouse, some patchouli...and then HONEY! Ahahaha! I win! Oh wow. The drydown on this is exquisite. The pine pitch is there, but it is so...delicate (since when is pine pitch delicate?) and so subtly overlaid with gorgeous, gorgeous honey + vanilla. The resinous aspect of this (pine included) is certainly present, but it in no way dominates the blend. God this is good. And I almost let it slip past me... Also, as a point of comparison, I have Mead Moon on my other wrist and (to me at least) the honey notes are very, very similar. Different overall tone to the blend (Mead Moon=spiced-honey-booze, Illustrated Woman=dark resin honey)...but still...they're like...cousins. I kinda think I'm going to have to try layering them. Just because.

I was hesitant about the Grindhouse, mostly due to the red musk (which more often than not ends very, very badly on my skin), but my love of iris won over. In the imp, there is a very clean floral/musk sweetness. Wet. Iris! Yes! How I love you iris! Vanilla-musk-iris. Rose is MIA, which is fine with me, 'cause while I do love rose, I have quite a few rose-centric blends in my rotation already. Drying--Magnolia and rose peek their heads out...still mainly that lovely, lovely vanilla musk iris. How do I describe this? It's like...Pirate Moon meets Nefertiti (the iris reminds me very strongly of her) meets something else (which I can't quite think of at the moment, but if it comes to me I'll come back and edit). Drydown--Thankfully for me, my skin tends to amp iris more than it does red musk, so rather than being a red-musk dominated scent, this ends up very well balanced. The Grindhouse doesn't fit into any one category--it is not light, sultry, or pretty. It is not dark, mysterious, or anything other easily identifiable tag. At some moments, I'm not even sure that I like it...but then I go back to sniffing my wrist obsessively. It is an extremely complex blend, with a depth that I just was not expecting (honestly, I was steeling myself for the rose and red musk to have their way with me). On first whiff it is light with the lovely sharpness of iris, but that is grounded by this soft-deep musk-vanilla base, which is helped along by the clove (which doesn't stand out for me on it's own, but I can tell that it's there with the vanilla--giving it an added...something--almost a coconut-y note). I was totally unprepared for how much I was going to love this, but I am SO happy to have tried it. I will certainly be needing a bottle (and I can only imagine how the complexity will improve with age).

Ah, lovely. In the imp: A lovely sagey rose Wet: The rose amps up and goes a bit to the dry side of things. Some musk is involved here, and perhaps a bit of the lily. Drying: Aggressive rose with a bit of lily. I'm not impressed at this point, but... After it's been on for...about ten minutes, something shifts. The rose becomes much less aggressive, the coconut, tonka and sage are fleshed out, giving this something of a deliciously sweet herbal quality. The lily softens up the mix. No idea about the orchid, though. In any case...I had dismissed this when I put it on as another one of those old-lady rose scents...and then I found myself sniffing my wrist in wonder. I wore it to work the next day to be sure it wasn't a fluke...and sure enough...Lovely. I especially enjoy the bit of coconut with the rose (and that's not generally a note that I gravitate towards).

Honeysuckle, orris, moss, musk, benzoin, oakmoss, and star jasmine. Ah yes, Jasmine. Mortal enemy of my skin chemistry. (Tobacco takes a back seat, as it turns up in far fewer blends that would otherwise be awesome on me). In the imp: This is a very lovely aquatic--greenly mursky (musky + murky) water, with jasmine petals floating on the surface. And some honeysuckle vines growing along the bank. Wet on: Jasmine. Ah, yes, now I remember why we avoid one another. Dry: Powdery soap. That sort of white soap that I could never use 'cause it would give me a rash. Foo. If only it would smell like the art.

In the imp: Rose (I wrote in my journal "oooh! Pretty rose!). It is somewhere between the rose in Peacock Queen and Rose Red 07 (as I think someone mentioned before), though it's not as pure a rose as either of them. There is gardenia for sure here which I LOVE. Wet: Very interesting. The rose geranium adds an interesting depth to the rose (I can never quite figure out how to describe geranium, very sharp though) and there is a sliver of dry sandalwood. Drydown: Rose, but...a very intriguing rose (yay ylang-ylang! It is frequently the savior of rose for me). This and Gwyeneth are probably two of the most complex rose scents Ive tried from BPAL so far. There is something akin to Erato here, but it is not quite so aggressively rose potpourri like, despite having an amazing throw and wear length (I only tested a drop and hours later, after a nap even, and I'm still catching whiffs). There is something a bit powdery to it, but it's such a nice, well blended powder, that you don't even notice--like really expensive french rose toiletries. Or something.

In the bottle: musk, pine (distinctive juniper berry and cedar), winter air, and resin. This is a cold scent and I love juniper, but the cedar makes me nervous (it likes to stage hostile takeovers of scents). Wet--this has a feral intensity to it. Very much pine (juniper+cedar), but there are other, darker things. Sandalwood and musk come through, with the dryness of amber. Dry: This is a pine scent, for certain, but probably my favorite so far. It is the scent of the winter woods by moonlight--skeletal trees against the snow. A darkest-evening-of-the-year scent. The pine is balanced with the chill winter air and the musk. Perhaps a breath of tonka and amber. I find this to be just lovely--very, very chill and lonely, but beautiful. Also, very gender-neutral.

I was worried about this one, what with my skin's tendency to make all rose smell like potpourri in an old lady's house. In the bottle, this is a lovely rose with a hint of something else--something different. I think it's the combination of honey+lemon peel+violet leaf that is giving it just this hint of sharp sweetness with the rose. Wet: The rose is a bit on the potpourri side, but it's quite unlike any of the other rose scents that I have tried (with the exception of Rose Red 07 and Persephone which are different animals all together). In any case, the rose here has friends. Jasmine is behaving well, though certainly present. Sharp violet leaf. And lovely, lovely lilac. As it dries, Rose Moon actually becomes less potpourri rose and more rose-rose. The honey and lemon peel are very much present and I feel that they are at least partially responsible for bringing out a fresher, cleaner rose scent. The other florals, with the exception of some sharp violet leaf mostly disintegrate under the heavy rose, but the balsam and patchouli poke their heads up and add a lovely earthy element. This is a fabulous rose scent. A very grown up, elegant, lady-like perfume.

I was prepared not to like this. Cream based scents are generally not my thing and I just couldn't imagine how amber and teak (not to mention lotus) would smell with it. It was one of the last Salon Scents that I tested and I held out on getting an imp for awhile, but it was called 'Glowing Vulva' so how could I resist? In the imp, I was immediately overwhelmed with a very strong cream sweetness, with an equally strong woody scent--just what I expected and not something I liked. I ticked it off in my brain as a 'no', but tested it anyway. Wet, much the same cream, but with a more expanded out teak (the bottle smelled sort of like they'd tried to cram an entire wardrobe of teak into one bottle)...nicer, but still not for me. Dry...Holy lord. Gorgeous. One of the most sophisticated and sexy BPALs I've tested yet. I couldn't stop smelling myself. Part of my brain kept going 'but you don't like cream scents'--but a much bigger part of my brain was going 'dear GOD this is AMAZING'. The teak and amber balance so harmoniously with the cream, stopping the sweetness from being at all cloying or overwhelming and making it just perfectly...cream. And the cream keeps the teak and amber from being dry. The lotus is a breath of floral, hovering on the edges and giving this a lighter femininity. It is soft and subtle and yet...not subtle at all. This is an exquisite perfume. It is not a foody scent, but the older sister of a foody scent. Glowing Vulva is a sexy, sexy blend--that's all there is to it. And it loves my skin chemistry. It has an excellent throw and a very long wear. Definitely a favorite.

Perfect. I was really excited for this, and the Shepherd did not disappoint. In the bottle: Newly mown grass! Clover! It is gloriously fresh and deep and lovely. Wet: This smells like a meadow--pretty much all heather and clover at this point and utterly evocative of a spring day, the greenest hills, and blue sky with big white clouds. As it dries, the heather/clover remain the most prominent notes, but the distinctive bite of ivy (I LOVE the smell of English ivy, by the by. It is so...interesting) and the very subtle florals add an incredible depth and complexity--The rose behaves very well (no sign of evil potpourri rose)...and the carnation is just barely distinguishable. This doesn't smell just like every other grass/clover scent out there. It is something unique and beautiful. Love!

The lighter side of ginger. In the imp--very clean and fresh. Wet: White tea and a very nice bright ginger. This is a very happy, light scent. The tea has just the right amount of crispness to balance out the ginger. Lovely. Dry: Very true to the wet, still light tea and ginger, but the ginger is a bit more gingery. This is a very playful fragrance and it's something that I might wear on a sunny day, even though ginger scents aren't really my thing.

This is a lovely interpretation of a bonfire--I don't usually like smoky scents, but I did enjoy smelling this, though it is not something I would wear. In the imp, very much tar and smoke. Wet and dry, tar, smoke, and treacle (a nice sweetness with the smoke, yummy, even.) Those three notes are very straightforward. I'm not sure about the beer, though there is a slight sourness during the dry down that could be it. Very, very fall-like and very evocative of being at a bonfire...So, basically it is perfect for what it is supposed to be.

I should have known better.... In the imp: bitter-sweet cocoa with tobacco and musk...this is not a good sign. However, I couldn't just go without testing it--that's the fun, right? This is one of a hand full BPALs that I've had a viscerally bad reaction to: the "oh god get it off! get it off! why won't it come off!" reaction. It was a sickly boozy resinous sweetness with tobacco...and red musk. NOT good for me. And, naturally, one that clung for a good long time. Heh...that description probably sounds amazing for some people...which just goes to show how different we all are.

This was not what I was expecting... In the imp: Lemon musk? With incense? Wet: Vetiver, for certain...and in this case it is playing nicely with the myrrh. As it dries, something more pine-like is coming out. Hm...not for me, but definitely neat. Sort of a musky lemon pine-sol. Now with resin!...I suppose the God of Death does need to keep clean.

In the imp, I mostly get the saltyness--it really does smell like crying. Wet--salty rose. As it dries, the roses go to potpourri (as they are wont to do) and the salt tears fade to more of the background. There is a certain sharpness that is neither salt nor rose, and I can't quite place it...Not much on the incense here, which is odd as that is a note that I tend to pick up on when it is present. An interesting blend. Not something I'd wear.

In the imp--mostly a dark floral. Wet--this is very bitter and very strong (orange blossom + my skin). As it dries, the vanilla begins to come out more, balancing out the orange blossom. Eventually, this softens down into a scent that I would classify as interesting, if not necessarily pretty: The vanilla is quite lovely, but the misbehavin' orange blossom cannot be wholly reformed. If my skin weren't so terrible with the OB it would probably be a very nice perfume.

Musky resinous incense in the imp--Wet on, it is much the same, with the sandalwood coming out a bit more. The rose lends a very subtle sweetness to it as it dries--and the potpourri effect (which is how rose usually dries on my skin) actually works here; that dry rose compliments the incense, resins, and wood quite nicely. Mostly, for me, Thanatos is just a really nice, dry, incense based scent. This was quite a lovely surprise--it is a lot more pleasant than I was expecting and, while I am not totally in love with it, my roommate is (she took my imp). The throw is also quite good on me.

This is a very dark and disturbed scent--The musk + leather + incense illicit the feeling of something deeply dark and unnatural, though all of them blend beautifully together. The cypress is present, though not at the forefront as pine-type woods frequently tend to be--And the inclusion of the chamomile...something that is usually so soothing for me, makes this blend even more unnerving. If I didn't find the combination of components somewhat upsetting (and were the musk not quite so prominent) I would probably really enjoy this.

In the imp, this is very much a strong rosemary essential oil...Wet, it starts out like bitter potpourri (rose and my skin warring again). It is a very intense, very bitter scent on me. Very...patrician and completely unyielding. I at once hate it and am intrigued by it. It is not at all one of the scents that makes me want to run screaming to the bathroom and pour bleach over my skin (Midnight Kiss, Milk Moon), but I don't think I could ever wear it as a perfume--far, far too bitter (orange blossom does that)--And yet, the green of the rosemary and the soft dustyness of the rose are quite lovely...

In the imp--musk and lime, with earthy notes. Wet, I get the unfortunate tobacco effect (ie. I smell like an ashtray)--not a clue what's doing that here, though the presence of vetiver is sometimes responsible for bad things happening to good scents (not always, mind). As it dries, the ashtray effect lessens, and I get a very lovely musk--I can see how it is a white musk. The mint certainly starts to come out more and the patchouli evolves from generic-earthy, to a more distinct presence. This one is a morpher on me...becoming a somehow creamy musk for a bit (calla lily and bourbon?) and then going a bit powdery and then yuzu and lime coming out with the mint. It is certainly interesting, but I'm not sure that it is something I would wear...though I might have to give it another test or two to be sure about that.