Aldercy

This is the first time I can report being able to smell nothing in the bottle. I've heard people say that about certain blends and thought it impossible, but I really smelled nothing even though I knew something was there. It was like a sound just barely out of your range of hearing-- enough to know that something is kind of bothering you, but not what. Anyway, on the skin, Fairy Market is still very light. But I think I can catch a bit of every note. Lilting, weepy lavender, a bite of really bright, ecstatic incense (it's very strange-- it suggests smoke, but isn't smoky), hard, glassy, sugary candy (I was expecting a "red" impression from the candy, but now I don't actually know how to describe it at all), bluebell (yay! I love bluebell) and a tiny itty bit of greenery. This is so explosive and vibrant and yet so faint! Impossible to get a hold of. It's innocently exciting. Makes me think of a conglomeration of every fantasy book I ever read as a kid. My only problem with this is that I think I might amp lavender a bit. I don't dislike lavender-- and this is a very creamy, gentle variety, not too sharp-- so that's alright, but I would like to be able to get a little more of the other notes. Maybe if I eventually spring for a scent locket, this will be even better in there. And, yes, it is a little "commercial"y, somehow. It reminded me a bit of the generic "oh, there must be perfume samples in this magazine" smell at first, but there is something-- and I don't know what-- that jolts it out of that territory. Fairy Market is what commercial-perfume-samples-tucked-in-magazines would smell like in a perfect world.

So far the cranberry smells like fake grape candy. Aaand... that's all. My dreams of smoky, musky, spiced cranberries are not to be. Looking at my database, I realize that I have had appallingly bad luck with Bewitching Brews. By far the worst category for me overall.

I can't really pick out a single individual note in here. It's completely seamless. I think the imp is rather old-- maybe it's really blended and mellowed with time. At any rate, Medea is a really sultry, sweet, smoky-bedroom-eyes kind of scent. And black. Super, super dark. Wine and opium and secret sex. That's what I think of with this. So pretty yummy!

So, I would just like to point out that some of the new scents immediately made me think of Harry Potter because I am a huge dork and addicted to this thread from the beginning. Sarah: Unholy mist congealing into soft, white flesh, with black marble, remnants of liturgical incense, wolf's fur, and black flecks of froth. Unholy mist congealing into white flesh? Stone? Black froth? Clearly the Inferi-filled cave lake at the end of HBP. Feeding the Dead: A barrel of beer, a pyramid of cakes, and three sticks of incense. Deathday Party! Except everything needs to be more, um... rotton. Carlin: Black sage, ivy-twined rowan, thistle, snapdragon, heather, gorse, fumitory, and anise. Another one that makes me think of McGonagall. The Hell-Gate of Ireland: Smoldering brimstone, bitter labdanum, clove, black musk, and copper-colored feathers. Seems like a good climactic, battle scent. Could work for various scenes. Kind of makes me think of Harry chasing Snape out onto the grounds with Hagrid's hut burning behind them. Pomona: Azaroles, nuts, and apple blossoms with red apple pulp, mulberry, blackberry, and pomegranate juice. Professor Sprout's name is Pomona. Um, has anyone pointed out Sunbird for Fawkes? Or is that just too obvious to care about? lol. Lady of Shallot is a great suggestion for the Mirror of Erised. I'm completely on board with that. House of Mirrors (Antique amber frames a series of distorted, eternally warping clear crystal and glass notes) would be my suggestion, but it is, again, obvious. Will be back with suggestions for Tonks. That might take me awhile. lol.

Hard work, patience, and harmony: Chinese musk, dark musk, and moist soil with black cherry, opoponax, night-blooming jasmine, plum, woodland tobacco, snakeweed, and cypress. Fertile, woodsy mud... squishy, juicy, tart black cherry... and that divine Chinese musk. A very dark, unusual scent altogether. Easy to get lost in. Mostly the mud though. Luckily, I enjoy that authentic dirt smell. Planting Moon is a beautiful earth blend, but it's a bit warmer, sandier... more "toasty brown." This, however, is black earth. And it's also kind of a cold earth smell. The sort full of damp and dead leaves that haven't been disturbed for a very long time. Good for growing ethereal white toadstools and such. If that sounds gross to you, I would not recommend this blend. lol. The cherry is fat, ripe and decadent, but not sweet. It's understated compared to the cool, musky, feral earth. And the Chinese musk I love in Wood Phoenix is exactly the same in here. It's a very undulating, flowing musk, and kind of in the middle of the spectrum between light and dark. I hope it's used again outside this collection of Anniversary scents. This is a scent I wouldn't think to wear to please others in a social situation, but it's great just for me.

Gasp! I love the rose and pink pepper combination! And it's not exactly rose and pepper... the two scents are really fused together into one weirdly invigorating, fiery floral. As this is about the third rose blend I've fallen for, I think I'm going to finally have to give up my belief that I dislike rose. BPAL, you have done what a lifetime of smelling actual roses could not. I'm almost annoyed (in a financial sense) that I now cannot automatically dismiss everything with a rose note. I was afraid of the presence of cognac, as booze pretty much never works for me, but it has very politely not reared its ugly, alcoholic head in Pothon Meter. The luxuriant, honeyed, malty warmth of the caramel and resins provides a wonderful base for the peppered rose. Not saccharine or flighty... it's a highly romantic, velvety, mature scent. I would enjoy a bottle of this.

I had no idea whether violet would work on me or not, but I'm pleased to report it does! I'm surprised, as my preconceived notions seemed to suggest violet might be generic, bland, sweet, etc. Not the case in here. Sybaris is dense, ripe, bruised violets-- very purple, very earthy-- and smoked clove. It reminds me of spice cake with an odd, almost dirty, floral undertone. I get the same "dirty flowers" feel from jasmine, but it's not a bad thing; I guess I mean "dirty" in a kind of humid, sexy way. Sweetly peppery smoke, dark floral notes, and spicy bakery goodness.

Dry, dry, dry! Which is what I expected, but this scent is so desolate and tingly arid I wouldn't be surprised if it began drawing moisture right out of my skin. Aaand now it's going to amber powder. Which is just so bizarre, as that never happens to me. Quite similar to The Little Sparrow, which was my only other real "powder" failure. I get no incense or real richness, which is disappointing.

As Nonae Caprotina is about to go down, I thought this would be a good time to say that I've found it's very, very like Obatala (milk, coconut meat, shea butter and cool waters). The unsweetened milk note is almost precisely the same and, while the coconut is prominent in the beginning, it fades. The two are definitely siblings, though I'd say Obatala is slightly more feminine. People have recommended Obatala as a substitute for Milk Moon and many people have compared Milk Moon to Nonae. A=B, B=C, therefore A=C.

This smells like the greatest suntan lotion ever. It's what suntan lotion should smell like, but doesn't really. If it did smell like this, I'd be the least cancer-prone woman on the planet, because I'd be slathered in it every day. God, milk loves me. Now I'm going to have to go on a quest to try every milk/cream blend out there. Obatala is supremely smooth. It's like ice cream with fresh coconut shavings gently melting in the sun. It's a very subtle perfume that sticks close and just occasionally sends out puffs of scent. And if you hate aquatics, fear not from Obatala-- the "cool waters" make almost no appearance whatsoever. I think all that note really does is take down the overall warmth of the scent, making it very temperate and a little lighter than it otherwise would have been.

Wet lettuce, sugar and cold cigarette ashes. Kind of like a dive restaurant-- complete with a whiff of the waitress' cheap perfume. And, yes, a touch of ketchup. That would almost make me suspect this is actually a decant of Pruno, but someone up-thread mentioned ketchup, too. The Gaimans have not been as kind to me as I would have hoped. You know, in a way-- while this does not speak to me of the Norns' farmhouse-- it does seem somewhat appropriate for American Gods... I seem to remember a lot of eating at greasy spoons and waking up in stale motel rooms in the novel. Too bad. It hurts me to write a harsh review of this, but I think it's probably just a horrible skin chemistry clash on my part.

Envy: green herbs, mint, lime and lavender The Apothecary: tea leaf, three mosses, green grass, herbs, ginger and fig Amsterdam: tulips, peony, fresh water and crisp grass Shanghai: green tea, lemon verbena and honeysuckle Ochosi: shea, forest herbs and sprucewood The Witch's Garden: morning glory vines, rampion, carrot, parsley, monkshood, hemlock, elfwort, sage, wormwood and mandrake Green Phoenix (Limited Edition, but findable here on the Forums): sage, white mint, grey amber, papaya pulp, crushed grass, cucumber, green musk, green tea and lime rind The Witch's Garden is green in a very odd way-- the parsley is perfectly lifelike and the rest smells kind of "cool vegetable"-ish. Amsterdam and Shanghai may sound rather floral, but they were very clear, straightforward "green" to me.

Was hoping for an oozingly dark blend of red musk, black tea and mandarin, but it is not to be. Cocoa is really screwing with me lately-- how can it be so beautiful in Gelt and so stupid everywhere else? Plastic-chocolate-cologne, damp tobacco and a general, odd foodiness. Actually, wait, I do get a little of the red musk (and something a little like cherry sugar?), which is nice, but not nice enough. However, it is indeed an aggressive, kind of warlike scent.

Lemon verbena, peppery dust, and the round cloudiness of lavender. Pretty straightforward-- it's all there on the surface and stays that way. Maybe if I didn't amp the verbena, I could get more of the frankincense, which is a note I'm particularly into lately. Still, this is not quite citrus death and overall, it's fairly pleasant. This is a dozing in the sun kind of smell-- easy, warm, cheerful.

Achingly beautiful frankincense! This is an ideal spiced, antiqued Roman frankincense/myrrh blend. Warm wood sap and a slight floral undertone-- I can't really discern any flowers specifically, but they're kind of spiky and bitter, not sweet. Maybe chamomile, maybe dried rose, maybe a little of that olive blossom. But it's hard to say. Slightly metallic in a brassy way. Valentine of Rome is a furious, tingly, smoky, darkly Classical/Catholic scent. It brings to mind fire-lit ruins and catacombs. Not feminine or traditionally attractive-- definitely not an evening-at-the-bar scent-- but perfect for, say, late-night reading. ETA: VoR is the closest thing I've found to a "fireworks" smell, which is definitely a good thing.

Boomslang does smell like Tootsie Rolls! A kind of soft, waxy chocolate. It's very polished, gleaming chocolate with a swirl of hot, sugary Snake Oil. Dusted with gnarly, woody dry cocoa. What a sexy confection. I was really hoping for something interesting from the rice milk, but I'm not surprised that it's rather overwhelmed by the SO and cocoa. Doesn't actually have a wide throw on me-- it's like a second skin. So, very much as described. I really like it, but I think I'm still more drawn to some of the other Snake Pit blends.

This imp (swap frimp) is definitely aged, as it has the old label design. I'm not sure how much of a difference that makes to this blend. Cathode confirms my attraction to ambergris (*swoon*), but also confirms my increasing hostility toward mint. Pennyroyal, is that you? Or do all mints just smell like baking soda toothpaste on me now? The moss notes are quite nice and very similar to those in The Apothecary. This will be wearable only if the electric mints fade off, I'm afraid.

I would vote for Tintagel over Miskatonic U as well, but that's partially because I just personally like the former so much better (Oh, MU, how you broke my heart by smelling like old popcorn). I also think Tintagel seems more traditionally medieval. However, Hogwarts has a lot of personalities. There are multiple answers here. Tintagel strikes me as a "Gryffindor common room" and "Great Hall at Christmastime" sort of scent while Miskatonic University seems more like an amalgam of the kitchens and the library... maybe illicitly eating/drinking something in the library.... Madam Pince would not approve.

Oh, Snake Oil, you are such a sweet nectar.... Admittedly, it is one of BPAL's less complex blends, but it's such a beautiful, classic staple. Creamy and voluptuous. In fact, I actively disliked vanilla scents before Snake Oil and O converted me-- there's something specially seductive about the Lab's vanilla. I've never reviewed before because the one imp I had was broken long ago, and acquiring more was just something I put on the back burner for way too long.

I thought I was taking leave of my senses when I smelled bubblegum in here. Is that a lotus phenomenon? I guess I haven't tried enough lotus blends to know. It actually smells exactly like that new 5 gum-- the pink "sour to sweet" kind. So, yes, it's sharp, slightly bitter bubblegum with ground spices. It's really fun and perky, and I like it, but I think I could stand to see it go.

Jack is extremely nutty, almost precisely like roasted pecans and cashews battered in a molten butter/sugar/spice crust (street vendors sell them in oily, scalding-to-the-touch paper cones). It's a hot scent, and my color impression of it can only be described as something like vermilion. I only get a touch of earthy pumpkin, and not immediately. While I'm pretty foody, "buttery" scents often wax rancid on me, so I avoided Jack for awhile. But I'm very pleased that this remains glowingly sweet and autumnal. This is a celebratory, "feasting" kind of smell to me.

This is the cherry note found in classic Jergen's lotion. Which is a little too sweet for me, but I love the anise in here. It's so shiny black and otherworldly, and definitely dominates on the dry-down. The scent of anise always seems to me to have the textural consistency of mercury-- a sort of eerie liquidity. Always shifting. Overall, Kyoto is kind of like sugar-speckled liquorice gummy candy with cherry blossoms on the side. I wish it were a little less syrupy, but I'll still use this for the significant anise note. It's Kabuki's girlier kid sister. So if you find the latter too strong, this is an almost exact "soft" version of it.

For me, Makhanitis. Plummy incense wafting to the gods that we call Incubus. yesh. *drools* Ooh, that would have been good. Or if I had the actual Incubus scent from Diabolus I would have worn it. But I didn't have enough warning to arrange that. As it was, I wore Zombie Apocalypse mostly because that's what I've found myself wearing all the time lately. Though it lasts forever on me on a normal day, it did not at all stand up to everyone's body odor, beer, and illicit smoke. But I guess that was a lot to expect from it.

Beth. Seriously. You're freaking me out. This is not perfume, it's strawberry jelly. Not strawberry... strawberry jelly. All gelatinous and speckled with seeds in its tiny plastic, restaurant-portion tub. Well, that description actually made it sound kind of gross. But it's not. It's just incredibly realistic. I don't even like strawberry scent notes... or eating strawberry jelly, for that matter... but I love this. Zombie Apocalypse is more dark, sexy caramel/cakey powdered sugar when wet, but it quickly settles into a rhythm that involves just a bit of that initial caramel scent with much more jelly and even maybe a dash of warm apple. And, you know what? Despite being fruity and cute, it's still a little creepy. It's sinister sweet. KEEPER.

I am not at all surprised there is a thread for this. Seeing Incubus tomorrow night (didn't intend to, but the tickets are really good and really free), and my first thought (WELL before "what clothes do I wear?") was "what BPAL do I wear?" I. Just. Don't. Know.