MaxwellDemon

I pictured White Rabbit entirely different from how it actually smells. Primarily warm honey with light touches of milk and loose tea, I also get notes of tart fruit and soft florals. This reminds me very much of Elegant Gothic Lolita from Fyrinnae's sadly discontinued fragrance line. It doesn't have the same initial notes, and the dry-down is different, but the honey-rich hearts could be twins if not for White Rabbit's soft tea note. I highly recommend this scent to anyone who wants something similar to EGL. As WR winds down and begins to fade away, the honey and sweetness fades, leaving only warm milk, tea, and linen... the scents of a tea party. I wish it lasted a bit longer, as I only get 6 hours of wear from it.

Chocolate, good wine, fine tobacco, and sex. Kali is like a list of my favorite vices interpreted as a fragrance. Most of the floral notes are very faint, but the osmanthus and hibiscus are noticeable and blend with the red wine note to recreate the feeling of a sweet dessert wine. The honeyed chocolate note is sweet and creamy, not cheap or waxy, and acts as the perfect bridge between Kali's sweeter notes and it's smoky base. While is is a sweeter scent, it's much more mellow and mature than that majority of gourmands I've tried. Overall, it lasts about 8 hours on my skin before softly fading to nothing.

Judging by the notes, I was so sure I would love Kathmandu. I was a bit surprised when I first smelled it from the vial, it had such a pungent medicinal smell that I was reluctant to try it. On the skin, wet, it has that same impression, like clove oil and mineral ice, but the sandalwood and saffron are a bit more noticeable. Once dry, it smells like too much at once, like being in a room of vintage perfume, church incense, and the aged pages of old books. Sunday mass, bottled. It just feels like there's too much going on with each note competing for attention. After about an hour on the skin, most of the notes either disappear or soften, and it becomes a more clear, woody incense as the saffron, cedar, and mostly sandalwood still cling. Another hour later and it's nearly gone, with only the faint scent of aged paper left. With two hours of wear, total, Kathmandu does not have the kind of staying power I expect in an oil.

When I read the notes, I'd expected the patchouli to dominate, but the notes in Urd are pretty balanced. The nag champa is very pleasant and mellow, though I wish it were a bit stronger. On my skin, Urd is herbal and earthy, patchouli and rich soil, sweetened by a young merlot and warmed by the nag champa. It's like reading a book from a small, incense-saturated bookstore while sitting in a vineyard. The staying power is great, I get about 12 hours of wear. Though it's moderately complex and contains some fairly strong notes, it isn't busy or headache inducing.

Umbra is the very first BPAL scent I've ever tried on my skin. When I first smelled it in the bottle, it was much sweeter and creamier than I anticipated. I had braced myself for a heavy woodsy scent, knowing how strong those types are wet, but instead the cinnamon and patchouli really stood out. It smells almost just the same on my skin for about 10 minutes, but once dry the other notes come out and harmonize with the initial notes. On my skin, Umbra is a smoky, leathery, herbal, resinous, wet earth smell sweetened and mellowed by woods and the cinnamon. It's like catching a waft of fine pipe tobacco smoke while digging around in in an herb garden. It's complex and dark without being heavy or migraine-inducing, and definitely unisex. I like that it smells very real, not synthetic, and has great staying power. Overall, I'd say it's the dark, mysterious version of Aquolina's Blue Sugar.