requieminblack

First sniff from the bottle- Huh. I can't place my finger on this but it smells like the color aquamarine and a men's cologne....I want to say Aramis maybe? After 20 minutes- I can see where the 'metallic' comes into this. My Dad is a welder/blacksmith and always smells of iron. This smells a lot like him minus the cigarette and beer scent he always smells like. It's a formal men's cologne version of a metal smell, but metal none the less. I want to say there is a note in this similar to Bayou...but don't quote me on that. Summery- Not for me but I am amazed that Beth can bottle the scent of metal! Well done Beth!

First sniff from the bottle- Fruity chocolate. After 20 minutes- The sharp scent of the pomegranate comes out right away and over powers the chocolate. Then the lemon and bergamot come through and make this quite the fruit cocktail. The last notes to come through as it fades is the honey and vanilla which are very faint. The fruit notes are still there so this is a fruity honey as it fades out. Summery- The pomegranate note is dominate and over powers the other notes in the blend. I was hoping the fig, chocolate and vanilla were more dominate, but this is still a very yummy blend.

First sniff from the bottle- Lime, leather and lemon. After 20 minutes- The bourbon comes out after a few minutes and is mixed with the lemon, clove and mandarin. This is a very foody scent. It is not as heavy as I thought it would be. It is a really clean light bourbon/citrus scent. This makes me think of bourbon cocktails being sipped by southern gentlemen out on a big porch in front of a big old house in the deep south. You get the booze, the lemon and lime in the drink, the spicy musk cologne the men are wearing, the leather from their tall boots and the grass and trees from outside. Summery- If I were a boy this would be my scent. It smells wonderful!

First sniff from the bottle- Pine and cedar. After 20 minutes- After a few minutes the leather comes out and the pine fades completely. Then the moss, grass and patchouli come out to play. Summery- This is a very masculine blend, no doubt. It has the typical leather scent dry down. I never detected any of the cinnamon bark in this, so I would think it would be safe for those who are sensitive to cinnamon. This scent for the most part was leather and green mosses and pine.

First sniff from the bottle - OMGWTFBBQ!?! Popcorn!!!! After 20 minutes- Ok, out of all the Carnival Noir scents I thought this one would be the one I would hate. Well guess what? It's my FAVORITE!!!! I thought for sure this would have the same butter note in it that Jack has...and it doesn't. It's pure popcorn. It smells like that first whiff of fresh popcorn you get when you walk into a movie theater. Oh God...it is sooooo good. Summery- It fades far to quickly that I would like, but it is so good I don't care. This will be one of my top 5 all time favorite BPAL scents.

First sniff from the bottle- Wow! Now THATS different. At first it is peppered sour grapefruit peels...and Chinese spicy orange chicken! Mmmmm. After 20 minutes- After a few minutes the benzoin comes out and makes this a lot less Chinese orange chicken/grapefruit peels and more of a grapefruit and root beer ice cream float....being served in a Victorian ice cream parlor that is burning frankincense. As it fades the grapefruit/orange smell disappears and this becomes all frankincense. Summery- This is an orange and frankincense lovers dream come true. I enjoyed every phase of it. Another CN winner!

First sniff from the bottle- Very, very floral. After 20 minutes- I think this also has carnation in it. It smells similar to Gypsy Queen's wet stage but without the spicy warm amber. I honestly can't pin point what is in this, but it is a symphony of flower smells. Maybe violet, rose, jasmine, carnation and something musky? Summery- Hmmm...Definitely not for me. This is a very grown up and sophisticated scent but much too floral for my taste.

First sniff from the bottle- Warm floral? After 20 minutes- At first I thought I was not going to like this because it is really rosy at first. After a few minutes something amber/vanilla-ish comes out which I assume is the amber musk? I'd say the top notes here are the carnation, amber musk and the bergamot. There is definitely something in there making this warm and burning candle like. It is lovely! Summery- A keeper! I am soooo pleasantly surprised.

First sniff from the bottle- MMmmmm yummy!! Spiced honey! After 20 minutes- This is a Leigh Ann scent if there ever was one. I am in LOVE. Honey is the dominant note followed by cinnamon, clove and the pepper. It's very warm, sticky and spicy sweet. The spices are subtle in this - the cinnamon and clove are there but they won't knock you off your feet. I think people who are sensitive to spicy scents would be ok with this one. Summery- Ladies and Gentleman, we have a winner. Finally, a catalog scent that will be one of my top 5 BPAL scents! Yea!!

First sniff out of the bottle- Ohh la la! Chocolate! This is the same chocolate that is in Centzon Totochtin. After 15 minutes- I LOVELOVELOVE 13!!! This is still really chocolaty but now the orange is coming out a bit. I am not getting any floral out of this like others have, just sweet white chocolate and yummy orange. After about 30 minutes a faint white musk comes through which I guess is the tea and iris? This pretty much stays a chocolate and orange but with a hint of faint tea and muskiness as it fades. Summery- I am so happy I was able to get a bottle of this! 13 is a foody scent lovers dream come true. Thank you Beth!

First sniff from the bottle- Minty and milky, a bit like Chaste Moon but not as sweet. After 20 minutes- At first this smells like a vanilla mint protein shakes like they serve at gyms. It's a bit chalky and has yogurty smell. After a few minutes it goes down hill. Now I know I have a bad history with milk blends. My skin usually eats them and then I smell nothing. But this smells like...baby formula. Summery- I had such high hopes for Milk Moon after reading the reviews where some people got creamy vanilla ice cream out of it. On me it is not sweet at all, it's more sour and curdled. This one is going up on Ebay asap.

Ok, I have been pacing the floor waiting for this one to arrive and it showed up on Friday, squee! My favorite BPAL is Gingerbread Poppet and I have my fingers crossed this just as good! OMG eeeeevil gingersnaps, here I come! First sniff from the bottle- Fresh chopped ginger root and... a ton of lemons? After 15 minutes- *sniff sniff* Huh. While this is foody, it is not a sweet ginger cookie like scent to me at all. *sniff* It is more a more savory ginger, as someone else mentioned, like Vietnamese or Thai food. I don't smell any vanilla or cookies in it, just fresh lemony ginger root. Throw some green onion and some garlic in and you will have a nice stir fry! After 30 minutes- WHERE ARE THE EEEEVIL GINGERSNAPS HIDING?!? Well, poo. This has gone all lemon on me. Big fat yellow juicy lemons. I am sooooo sad I didn't get evil gingersnaps from this. Summery- I was really, really looking forward to this one. I do like it, it's just not the eeeeeevil gingersnaps scent I was hoping for. I don't see myself wearing this alone though it will be nice to layer with.

Close your eyes. Imagine this- You are sitting in an old cafe in New Orleans. Inside the cafe the furnishings and decor are exactly as they have been for 125 years. You can faintly smell the antique furniture over the scent of sweet southern praline candies and piping hot pastries being served all around you. Finally your order arrives. It is a cup of chicory coffee bigger than your head and a huge plate of sugared beignets. Now pick up the coffee and inhale the aroma. That is what Miskatonic-U smells like. edited to add- The sweet scent of hazlenutty latte stayed strong on my skin for hours. It even persisted after I took a shower in the morning! I think this one has the longest staying power than any other BPAL I have tried.

First sniff from the bottle- Citronella candles? After 20 minutes- Ok, after reading all the reviews of this I couldn't wait to get my hands on this because almost everyone said it was really cinnamony. Cinnamon is my favorite note, and the idea of smelling like spiced pears had me all excited about this one. Well...it doesn't smell like cinnamon to me AT ALL. In fact it is not spicy to my nose what so ever. To me this smells like citronella candles and Christmas trees. The Fir tree smell is dominant. There is a hint if mint in this too. So yea, really green Fir trees, citronella candles and mint. If there is anything spicy in this it is fresh ginger, which my nose smells as lemony and not spicy. Summery- I am not lovin' the Lovers. This one is getting swapped.

First sniff from the bottle- Starfruit? There is something lemon like and sharp in this. After 20 minutes- I was hoping to get a cinnamon spice out of this seeing that cinnamon and clove are my favorite notes, but it is not spicy in that way at all. In fact this one is very light and breezy. The lemon-starfruit scent is dominant but I can pick up myrrh and something green floral smelling like the notes in Santa Muerte. As it fades it becomes very gingery, though it's more of a freshly sliced ginger root scent. Very fresh and lemony, not hot and spicy like I was hoping. Summery- As it faded it went a bit soapy on me. Nice, but not for me.

First sniff from the bottle- Wooo! This is really nice! Totally different than I was expecting. After 20 minutes- This smells exactly like dried juniper berries, rosemary and frankincense incense burning on charcoals. The notes are very similar to those in Hunter Moon, less the animalistic notes and wine. Very nice! Summery- I can't stop smelling my wrists. It is that good! As it dries it becomes very clean smelling. Not soap, but more so a fresh out of the shower smell.

First sniff from the bottle- Smells like sweet tarts! After 20 minutes- Wow, this is *super* sweet and candy smelling! It smells exactly like sweet tarts and cherry bubble gum all at the same time. As dries the sweet cherry fades and it smells just like a piece of pink bubblegum. Summery- Much too candy sweet for my taste.

First sniff from the bottle- Strong bitter cypress After 20 minutes- This one is dominantly cypress and patchouli on me. As it dries the fig and rose comes out making it a bit sweeter. Like a fragrant rose bush amongst a cypress forest. Summery- I liked the fig, rose and patchouli in this one but the cypress was just too bitter for my taste. This one would be better suited on a guy.

First sniff from the bottle- Root beer? After 20 minutes- Ok, this totally smells like spiced root beer! Like cinnamon, root beer and a touch of vanilla. As it fades the spicy root beer smell is still going strong! Summery- I like this one a lot, but it is not a scent I would wear very often. If you like cola scents then you will love this.

First sniff from the bottle- Woo! Strong stuff. I smell clove and limes...and pine and almonds. After 20 minutes- Now the vetiver and pine are coming out which I was hoping wouldn't. I am not a vetiver fan. But wait....now the vetiver is gone and replaced with clove and almond. How strange! This one just keeps on morphing.....now it is a gorgeous almond, clove and lime blend. Summery- This drys down to a gorgeous masculine spicy scent much like Port au Prince. I like it!

First sniff from the bottle- Smells like awapuhi shampoo. After 20 minutes- This smells almost exactly like Machu Picchu. Like awapuhi shampoo. It has that fresh clean out of the shower smell. Like tropical flowers and soap. Summery- This is a bit 'perfumy' for my taste.

First sniff from the bottle- At first sniff I could have sworn this smelled just like poppers. It even gave me a bit of a head rush! After 15 Minutes - After it settled down it went to baby powder right away. Well, a musky baby powder mingled with the scent of Indian food. This has that same red musk in it that I didn't like in Dragons Heart or Bastet. Summery- I really, really wanted to like this one. I love spicy scents, but this one just did not agree with me.

First sniff from the bottle- Very light misty floral After 15 minutes- This blend totally smells like a hot house. It is a very 'wet' humid scent. The florals are the baby soft variety....I smell heather, lilac, lilies, ect. This DOES smell like Irish flowers in the nighttime dew! Summery- I admit I am not a fan of florals. This comes off as baby powder and dryer sheets on me once it mixes with my skin chemistry. However, I am amazed and fascinated by Beths amazing ability to capture a scent so perfectly.

First sniff from the bottle-Booze and mint! After 15 minutes- At first this was all warm golden brown booze, and then the mint came out in full force! This is one of the mintiest blends I have tried so far. It smells like bourbon and spearmint gum mixed together. Summery- This one smells exactly like it is supposed to. Minty booze all the way.

First sniff from the bottle-Vetiver and something cool and green smelling. After 15 minutes- At first this is all vetiver and cactus flower on me. After awhile the mums come out and this totally starts to smell just like the inside of a mausoleum or a funeral parlor to me. As it dries the rose creeps out, but it is a fresh green smelling rose which is really mild. Now this smells even more like a funeral parlor! Summery- I have Demeters 'Funeral Parlor' and I like it a lot. This smells even more like one, so I think this is a keeper.