hlinspjalda

In the vial: Pine first, then earthy and mossy, but also sweet, not bitter or dark. Not my style, but appealing. Wet: The pine spikes but then is overtake immediately by sweeter notes. I get patchouli first, then floral. There's something darker beneath, but still with the appealing richness of green about it. Twenty minutes: Sharper now, mossy, but with delicious patchouli-floral notes not too far from the surface. I like it. One hour: Fairly green and herby, it smells more like a man's scent now. But there's enough floral in it to sweeten it. I still like it, but I don't think it's for me. Two hours: Herby-mossy, still deep green and manly. Still like it. Three hours: Mostly sour oakmoss now. But it took a long pleasant journey to get there, so I don't begrudge it.

In the bottle: Lemon, herb, evergreen. It smells like cologne and cleaning compounds (in a good way), and very much related to the Toad scent. Which is fitting, I guess. Wet: Evergreeny, woody, still lemony but not peel. Maybe verbena? There's also something else kind of airy, almost a bit like Nowhere in Particular. But I get the sense this isn't going to work on me as well as Toad does. Half an hour: Cleaning fluids. There's a citrus note, an evergreen note, an herb note, and somewhere underneath there's something very sweet and pleasant, either a sweet resin or a warm floral, I'm not sure which. One hour: Still cleaning fluids, but less so. The citrus has dissipated somewhat, and now the predominant notes are something herby, something evergreen, and a wood. Still that impression of airiness, too. Still can't make out what that warm sweet note is, but it makes me want to keep sniffing, huge deep huffs with my nose against the skin. Two hours: Much more evergreen-woody than before, with the airy note. That deep, warm, spicy note is still there at the very bottom, driving me mad trying to figure out what it is. Three hours: The evergreen and air notes are fading a bit, leaving behind that spicy note that's making me crazy. Four hours: What is that note clinging so tightly to my skin that I have to have nose to it in order to smell it? Warm, sweet, and my favorite part of this scent. But all the other notes are crowding it out, so I think it has to count as a fail on me. Sure would love to know what that note is!

In the bottle: Oh, lovely! I hope this works. Peach first, but I can smell most of the notes listed. Overall it's a fruity sweet floral. Wet: Amber floral. The gardenia is not overwhelming the neroli, which I was afraid it would do. But the white peach isn't as intense as I'd hoped, being one of my very favorite BPAL notes. Still, this has a lot of potential. Half an hour: Pretty much as advertised. I get gardenia, peach, neroli, honey, and amber in that order. It's wearable, a little sharper than I'd like, but maybe it just needs more time to balance. One hour: Honey and neroli first, then gardenia-peach. It's very sweet, but something (cream?) keeps it from being piercingly so. And the honey hasn't gone to powder. But I was hoping for a more peachy gardenia effect. Two hours: Still more honey-neroli than gardenia-peach. Very sweet and pleasant, with a rich creamy undertone. Three hours: Honey-neroli, but it's gone a bit flat and bitter. I think the gardenia has wilted. Alas. Four hours: Honey and amber, mostly, but darkened by overripe flowers. Ah well, can't have everything. I'll trade this to someone who'll love it.

In the bottle: Pungent faintly citrus woody scent, with just a hint of food going bad. Wet: Immediately more supple, more sweet, still pungent but in a less foody way. I could like this. Half an hour: Orange, but with a tannic bitter edge. It's a little sharp but no vetiver nastiness. Where's the pine? Hour and a half: Still bitter orange tannic, but I rather like that about it. Besides, in the bottle I picked this one as the one least likely to work on me in the whole WitW line, so I'm not disappointed. It's somewhat different from the others, which is appropriate for dreamer Rat. Three hours: Much calmer now, mostly a subdued mossy wood with a smidgen of orange peel. Four hours: Mossy woody orange peel. How odd the vetiver never poked its head up; usually it ruins a scent for me.

Wet: Oooh, patchouli but not the typical herby kind. This is almost floral in its sweet rich darkness. I think I may be falling in love. Half an hour: Wow, I'm loving this. The sandalwood gives a whole different feel to the patchouli. If the moss doesn't sour I'll probably get a bottle. Hour and a half: This is really delicious, a very sandalwoody take on patchouli that succeeds in not smelling at all Indian. It seems as if it's going to go sour on me, so I'll just wait and see. Three hours: The sandalwood is slowly souring on this one, either that or the mosses are going more tannicky. I regret losing this one, since it started so great on me. But chemistry will out, and sandalwood often betrays a blend on me. Four hours: Now it smells like cologne and old man. In a good way, though. Several days later, I'm still mad about Mole. I may have to keep it around for those occasions when I want to smell delicious for short periods of time.

In the bottle: Warm, earthy, a little sweet Wet: Very warm. Resinous, earthy, maybe a little woody. Still sweet. Half an hour: Complex sweet amber blend with a touch of something dark and sharp in it. I don't usually react well to heliotrope, but if this is the worst it's going to get then I should be okay with this one. Hour and a half: An earthy amber blend now, warm and sweet. The heliotrope didn't break the deal! Even better, I can make out just enough of the linden to make it a "must have" scent. Three hours: Still warm sweet and earthy amber blend with discernible linden. This one is a win. I am so relieved; I desperately wanted this one to work for me! Four hours: Still win. Even my daughter says so. On re-testing several days later, I also got a strong note of unfamiliar ("brown") musk. I guess Pan would be kind of musky, wouldn't He?

In the bottle: Salty, almost a bay rum kind of bite to it, and some spices. Of all the nautical scents I've smelled so far, this one is the closest to capturing my idea of what a pirate ship should smell like. Of the whole WitW line, this is the one that made the strongest initial impression on me. Wet: Very strong tannic and evergreen impression, like hemlock berries. But there's also an herbal note, a trace of the ambergris, and the sweetness of burning incense. Half an hour: A little crittery, a bit like weaseljuice only sharper and less sweet. Lots of ropy evergreen notes, sitll reminds me of hemlock or maybe juniper. Underneath everything there's still that faint sweet smoke note. A very complex scent, it reminds me most of what Scorpio 2007 did on me except for the missing basil/anise-type note. One hour: Still crittery evergreen smoky spicy. Definitely the most intriguing of the line. Two hours: Not much change. This one is strong and long-lasting on me. And it still smells rather like bay rum, or maybe it's spiced rum, in addition to all the other notes. Very nautical, very piratical. I'm liking it a lot. Three hours: I love the Sea Rat. Not only does he talk purty, he smells purty too. This scent is not me, but if it smelled on my husband the way it smells on me, he'd never leave home! Ten hours: Herbs, smoke, musk, something spicy. I really like this one. It has a lot of staying power, too I'm going to try to get my husband to try it.

In the bottle: I don't know what this smells like, exactly, but it's nice. There's some shadowy floral, some herb, a bit of apple, and it feels all dark blue. Wet: Sweeter than in the bottle, but the floral intensifies. It's sharp, like the flower of an herb. The apple impression is gone. Still very dark blue. Half an hour: This smells almost aquatic to me. I can't make out any notes in it any more, and it's more sharp than sweet. I never did well with aquatics, maybe that's the explanation. One hour: Sweeter than last time, more evergreeny almost (or is it herbal?) with the floral impression. But overall it reads aquatic, or maybe airy somehow. I'm not liking it very much. Two hours: Still sort of airy-aquatic, I don't know exactly. It's not me, even though it's interesting. Three hours: Still get that evergreen-herbal note, but it's gone more woodsy now, maybe oakmoss or something like that? Definitely tannic, but gently so, almost like sandalwood. Ten hours: Still airy-aquatic and herbal-evergreen-woody. At this point it smells more like a classic French perfume than anything else, so I'm guessing a fougere. I shared the entire WitW line with a non-BPAL friend, and this was her favorite of the whole bunch. I may have to enable her with the rest of this bottle!

In the bottle: Rosey, but with another fleshy floral cutting the sweetness. A bit tart, or tangy. Wet: Instantly sharper and more pungent, but still very floral. I wish I could figure out what that second floral is! Half an hour: Kind of ethereal. It smells like outdoors under trees, with floral. I don't so much get the roses as I do an impression of other flowers, though, I'm just not sure what kind. It's just the faintest bit headachy on me. One hour: Still ethereal, a bit headachy. I don't think this one is going to work out. Two hours: Funny thing. When I went into another room, this smelled amazing. It's gentle, but very pleasant, almost wistful. I guess I won't get rid of it after all. Three hours: Yes, still very gentle and wistful. Ten hours: Gently and deliciously floral, I wish I could identify that flower. It's sweet like a lily, sort of.

In the bottle: Sweeter than the description would imply, and not nearly as offbeat. It's mostly a citrusy-sweet cologne. Wet: After an initial very sweet surge, the cologne note deepens into something like maybe a fougere, with a darker, maybe mossy lavender base. Still an impression of citrus and something else, maybe another floral? Also the sweetness of moist, tinned tobacco, perhaps even flavored tobacco. Where's the motor oil, though? I was really looking forward to that! Half an hour: Definitely a sweet men's cologne plus sweet tinned tobacco. Unexpectedly, though, I like it. One hour: Mostly men's cologne at this point. Oh, I like the cologne, but it's not nearly as mysterious or complex or sexy as many of the other BPAL cologne scents I've tried. I suppose Mr. Toad isn't meant to be very sexy, though, is he? This is more brash, more aggressive, the kind of cologne that's applied so thickly it accosts you at 10 feet in the mall. Two hours: Much less brash now. It's a very pleasant smell, really, mannish and gentlemanly without being in the least elegant or refined. Three hours: Calmed down a lot, but still mannish with something warmly sweet, I'm not sure what, down at the bottom of it. It might be the tobacco, or maybe not. Ten hours: Citrus-herb cologne still, another take on a fougere perhaps? It's herbal now, and slightly dark like vetiver or oakmoss. I loved Toad and will keep what I have of it.

In the bottle: Dirt, fabulous sweet rich dark loam. Wow. Better even than Gnome. Wet: Still deep dark dirt. Resinous, rooty, wonderful. Is this me? No idea. But what a great realization of badgerness. Half an hour: Lots of galangal and cedar, just a touch of bitter myrrh, and still that delicious dirt note. Still not me. But wonderful nonetheless. Hour and a half: If this weren't Badger, it might be "Old Man Willow" from Tolkien. Dig deep! I love it, even though it's not me. Three hours: A lot calmer now. In fact, I can barely notice it. Where did it go? Four hours: Even more gone. Wonderful, but a short fade. This one haunts me. I really think it's exceptional, a towering achievement, even though it didn't work on me.

In the vial: Bitter and sharp, with smoky and myrrh undertones. Makes my nose twitch like the wind changing. Wet: Smells like perfumed black leather, metal, and spices. Deeply masculine, edgy, threatening, but powerful, like a doctor's bag. Woody. Spicy. Wow, there's a lot to notice about this one. Half an hour: Leather, spices, smoke, wood, man, power, danger. What a great, evocative blend! It's already calming down some, though. I have a feeling it's going to go off to lurk in a corner, plotting overthrows while it looks daggers out of the corners of its eyes at me and anyone who comes near me. One hour: Yeah. Still scary dark, but all dressed up for being in public. This one is just so much fun! Six hours: I had a busy day and lost track of this. It stayed fun for hours, though. Now it smells myrrh, wood, peppery against a background of smoke. My husband said this one was "strong," and he was puzzled by its makeup. This one's really terrific; not me, but really terrific.

A bounty of chocolate coins! Dry cocoa and golden amber! In the bottle: Dark chocolate cake with no frosting. Wet: The chocolate impression mutates immediately as it is overtaken by something else. I can't tell yet what the something else is going to be, though. There's a spiciness developing, but slowly. Half an hour: The aura is all hot sweet cocoa, but down by my skin there's almost no cocoa. There it's resin instead: very sweet, a little spicy. One hour: Very sweet cocoa (sugary, not milky) with spicy resin overtone. This cocoa note doesn't seem to work for me as well as "cocoa absolute" does. Two hours: Not much change. Very persistently and heavily cocoa with some spicy resin. Three hours: The amber is finally beginning to catch up with the cocoa, accounting for maybe a third of the scent now. I'm afraid this isn't going to be what I wanted it to be. Four hours: Now it mostly smells of sugar, a little cocoa, and some resin. Oh, well; I'll stick to the edible version of gelt and trade this to someone who'll love it.

In the vial: Oh, that smells good! Evergreen, but blended near-perfectly with rose and sandalwood. Wet: Still good. It's predominantly balsam on me, but some warm notes allay the cold evergreen sharpness. I might be falling in love with this one. Half an hour: This is delicious. The balsam is wonderful and just screams winter solstice at me. There's something sweet and fruity at the bottom, making my mouth water, and the rest of it is so well blended that I cannot even figure out what I'm smelling. Exquisite! One hour: Yum. Just -- yum. This runs the risk of going over to candles or Christmas shop on me, but it hasn't yet. I'm hoping it holds out the way it is, because I love it. It smells like finding a tangerine in the toe of my Christmas stocking did when I was five: magical! Six hours: I had a busy day and lost track of this. But it held up well, although now it's trended toward gentle musk. My husband, who rarely expresses opinions about scent, liked this one. This one appears to break my rule about cedar, too. I might have to acquire some more of this.

In the vial: Citrus, light cherry-coconut Wet: Sugar, maybe a little ginger. Still a bit of citrus. It smells like preserved fruits, but I'm not sure what kind, and a little bit like gingerbread. Very sugary-sweet, though, like a gingerbread house. Four hours: Still sugary. Kind of has an anise, fennel, or similar aroma, but it's very faint. It really just doesn't do a thing for me. I got ahold of a second imp of this and it smelled somewhat different from the first: cakey, buttery, vanilla-ish.

In the bottle: Smoky forest, deep and sharp and tannic. Wet: Smoke first, but then jasmine layered over a base of other flowers. Although the green notes haven't subsided, they've been surpassed. Half an hour: I'm amping this one. Strong incense notes, maybe the strongest I've gotten in a BPAL scent. The jasmine's blended back into the other florals; blended together like that they're very sweet but not at all headachy. The dark green notes have stayed at the bottom of the scent, grounding it. I'm not noticing the patchouli per se, nor the vetiver. I wouldn't want to smell like this on a regular basis, but it sure does smell good! Definitely smells like a room filled with incense and waterpipe smoke. One hour: It reminds me of an Indian incense I once owned, a strongly floral one yet exotic, non-Western. I can't make out any of the individual floral notes, nor anything else any more. Two hours: Floral Indian incense. It smells very blue to me. Three hours: Still floral Indian incense, and I think it's officially a fail on me.

In the vial: Penetrating aromatic floral over a resin base. I don't get much rose at all, but the wisteria is strong. Wet: The rose starts struggling to be heard over the other florals. There's a sharpness about it, very volatile. Twenty minutes: The balance of the florals has shifted over to a less familiar territory. Meanwhile, the non-floral elements are struggling to integrate more completely. It's starting to come together, but I'm not sure I like where it's going. One hour: Much better balanced now, but I don't like the top floral note as much as I had hoped I would. It smells a bit like the old Arpege bath salts my mother used when I was a teen. Two hours: Still dominated by the top floral note. I don't like this enough to keep it. Three hours: The rose and sandalwood are more noticeable now. They've given it a more eastern sort of scent, like good Indian soap. Four hours: Mostly sandalwood with some rose now. Interesting evolution, but it still goes in the trade pile.

In the vial: Magnolia and jasmine, but sweet instead of headachy. Wet: The jasmine amps, of course. But it's still not headachy, so that's good. Sweet, a little languid. Twenty minutes: Mostly jasmine. Pungent but not headachy, and there's a pleasant sweetness underneath. I'm guessing this is going to be a near miss. One hour: Awww, this one has curdled. Fail. I don't know what caused that; normally I'm good with all those notes. Oh, well.

In the vial: It smells like a florist's shop, with the slightly pungent chrysanthemum dominating. Just like a florist's shop, there's a hint of sharp greenness about it. Wet: I don't get any carnation. There's definitely strong lily, and some rose, and the chrysanthemum bitterness. Not sure I'm going to like this. Twenty minutes: Lilies kept artificially past their peak, just before they begin to turn brown. The hint of rose and carnation isn't enough to save them. Two hours: Wow, this died back a lot. It's almost gone now; there's just a hint of rose, a bite of mums, and something that might be wilted carnations. I'm usually good with florals, even the fleshy ones, but this was just wrong for me.

In the vial: First resin, then vetiver, then more resin and peach, then floral. Wet: Rose, galbanum, other florals, and a sharpness. The peach is overmastered by the florals. Half an hour: Very floral, dominated by roses, with the resins second. The peach provides a touch of brightness, but not its customary full note. Although the base reads very tannic, like moss or a wood, I think it's probably the vetiver. It smells very clean, though. One hour: This is too sharp to really work on me, but it's calmed down considerably from where it was. I think the galbanum saves this from being total fail on me, as it sweetens everything up nicely. Two and a half hours: Still too sharp. Four hours: Rose and resin, actually better blended now, but still with that sharp bite I don't like.

In the vial: Oh, that's nice: the bitter citrus of grapefruit with fragrant sweetness as if of florally scented tea. Wet: It warms up and sweetens right away, a floral sweet rather than a citrus one. But there's still a pleasant bitterness about it. Half an hour: Much less pungent now, still bitter but blended better with the floral. There's a spicy quality to it too, but it's very mild. I rather like this. It doesn't have a lot of throw, but it smells reassuring, like a really pleasant herbal tea. One hour: Very, very mild now. The delicious bitter grapefruit is still at the heart of it, but overall the scent has, I think, just failed the persistence test. Two and a half hours: Barely there. Pity, I liked this one so much at first!

In the vial: Dark, sour-bitter, and fruity without any sweet. Wet: Dark non-sweet fruit (almost like currant jelly) with a floral overtone. Heavy, with a spicy impression. Half an hour: Oooh, sour and bitter now, yet warm like resin rather than cold and herbal like vetiver. If this were food, I'd likely give it a try, but it seems fairly off-putting on my skin as a fragrance. One hour: Still sour-bitter. I suppose I should have expected this one to fail, since I never seem to have luck with the Lab's currant notes. Two hours: Yup, fail. The floral is headachy, the fruit is sour on me.

In the vial: Dragon's blood first, followed by cinnamon and vetiver. Wet: That first impression of dragon's blood settles back, and the vetiver comes up. But it's tempered by something and doesn't have quite the usual nasty sharpness. This has potential. One hour: Patchouli mostly, but with a sweetness I can't quite trace, perhaps the cinnamon? I like it. Three hours: Omm nomm nomm, this is delicious. The vetiver is behaving quite nicely and adds a lovely darkness to the basic patchouli/musk construct. Not getting much cinnamon at all, just a trace of something warm and sweet that could just as easily be mistaken for really good patchouli. Four hours: The dragon's blood is winning now, which makes this less interesting to me than it was when the patchouli was winning. But it's still enjoyable; it turned out better than I expected.

In the vial: Strong patchouli and vetiver almost as strong. Wet: Eeuw, vetiver! Sharp and dirty. Twenty minutes: The vetiver has turned to nasty black leather now, and the patchouli smells dirty. This is the blackest smelling scent I think I have tried so far. Where is the fruit or floral? One hour: It's a lot better balanced now that the vetiver has died back. It still smells dirty, but not so black any more. I can make out a trace of something sweeter than patchouli now, also. Two hours: Wow, now it smells really enticing. I could sniff this for hours, trying to figure out what it is that makes it smell that way. There's something almost medicinal about it, but it doesn't smell sharp, or bitter, or sour. I can't put my finger on it, it's almost like thyme. Three hours: Patchouli and I swear it smells like thyme. I really like this; it's just a question of whether I want to try to live through that first hour of vetiver or not. Four hours: Light patchouli/herb. There's never been any citrus or floral in this. Weird. But at least I can add it to the small group of things with vetiver that I can conquer enough to wear. Five hours: Now it kind of smells amusing, like mentholated patchouli.

In the vial: This smells foody, almost like roasted sesame seeds or almonds. Delectable, but not what I expected. Wet: Still that odd roasted nut/seed scent as a base, but with a sweet middle and herbal top note. It's like the bay rum note in Hellhound on My Trail, only stronger. Twenty minutes: Smells rich and sweet now, with not as much of that foody aroma. It also kind of reminds me of the clove chewing gum I used to love when I was a kid. One hour: I think this is delicious: sweet, tart, spicy, warm, herbal. It definitely reminds me of my favorite parts of Hellhound. It's kind of mannish, but I think that's my association rather than any inherent quality in it. Two hours: Delicious, and also comforting. It reminds me of my childhood in the South; must be the old barbershop association, like with Hellhound. Three hours: Fading some now, but still very pleasant. What I'd really like is to cuddle up to somebody who was wearing this. This is the scent that alerted me to my love of the bay rum note. Fabulous!