Aredhel

Rating (on skin): 4/5 Summarised in a few words/smilie: Mint tea! Pre-Review Thoughts: I'm a huge fan of black tea, ho wood, and mint, so I've practically been itching to try this (and let's not forget the comparisons to Hungry Ghost Moon, one of my favourite blends!). That said, calla lily is my worst note, so I'm just a smidge wary. In the imp: A woody mint, with... something I know I've smelled before, but that I just can't place. On skin, wet: Mint! Beautiful, beautiful mint tea. Similar to HGM indeed! On skin, dry: An herbal, very mildly woody mint tea! A wonderful scent. I'm stunned that the calla lily hasn't ruined this for me yet. I can pick said note out, but it's far enough in the background that it lends only a slight floral quality to the blend, instead of dominating entirely and wreaking havoc. It is quite similar to HGM, though, of course, with that lovely mint note, and lacking HGM's splendid, sugary grapefruit. Conclusion: Lovely; absolutely lovely. I might pick up a bottle, though, should I ever run out of my more-beloved HGM.

Rating (on skin): 3/5 Summarised in a few words/smilie: Clean. Pre-Review Thoughts: Vetiver and black pepper together, on my skin? I see nothing good coming of this combination. In the imp: Pepper! Behind that, tangerine and a green vetiver. On skin, wet: Peppery, bitter vetiver (true to form), and a soapy tangerine. It does remind me vaguely of Arcana's Haint, but only in their shared peppery, crisp, slightly soapy qualities. On skin, dry: A very light scent, Three Gorgons stays quite close to the skin. After a while, I can't pick out anything individually, and can simply pick up a benign, oddly clean sort of scent. Conclusion: Nice enough, aside from the soapy quality I can't shake, but I tend to gravitate towards stronger scents.

Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a few words/smilie: Roses. In the imp: Verbena, grass, ivy, and roses. On skin, wet: Freshly cut, green grasses, ivy, and lightly peppered roses. On skin, dry: Young roses with bright green stems, and not much else besides. Roses tent to dominate blends once on my skin, so I'm not surprised, but it's a sad thing nonetheless. I just can't wear rose(s) well. Conclusion: Another rose scent that just doesn't work for me. Pity.

Rating (on skin): 1/5 Summarised in a few words/smilie: Dirt. Pre-Review Thoughts: This sounds way too dark and heavy for me, but who knows... In the imp: Vetiver, full stop. On skin, wet: Oh, my. Vetiver, black musk, and patchouli. Three very iffy notes for me. On skin, dry: Fruity, damp earth with a musky, green, woody undertone. Very... dirty. Conclusion: This is one of the heaviest, darkest BPAL scents I've come across. It's... well, it's dirty. While earth-lovers will probably dig this something awful, it's just not my thing.

Rating (on skin): 4/5 Summarised in a few words/smilie: Tea In the imp: Lemonade? On skin, wet: Lemonade! I can't explain, but nor can I shake it. A sweetened, herbal lemonade with a drop of honey. Strangely, this isn't lemony. On skin, dry: It vaguely reminds me of a less-lemony Embalming Fluid, which isn't a bad thing. As it dries and wears, the honey grows thicker, and a bit sweeter. By the end, it's less lemonade, more sweet tea. A touch floral, but not overwhelmingly so. Conclusion: Subtle, sweet without being cloying, and floral. A lovely scent, and, while one I wouldn't wear daily, one I just might snag a bottle of to wear once in a while.

Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a few words/smilie: Lavender and peach. Pre-Review Thoughts: Sandalwood, lavender, and myrtle... I'm fairly sure my skin will disagree with this. In the imp: Herbal (lavender) peach blossom; nothing more, nothing less. On skin, wet: Green-tinged peach blossom and a strong lavender. On skin, dry: I definitely agree with the comparisons to a very-slightly-minty peach tea. A very herbal, lavender-laced peach tea. Conclusion: Nice, but too heavy on the lavender for my liking.

Rating (on skin): 5/5 Summarised in a few words/smilie: Beautiful. In the imp: Sticky, warm vanilla caramel! A lovely thing, this. On skin, wet: Spicy, foody vanilla, and a surprisingly muted black patchouli. When it's this soft, I quite like aged patchouli. On skin, dry: Oh, I'm already very fond of this scent. Spicy, sticky, mildly earthy, warm, slightly foody, just a tad flowery, and strangely beautiful. I catch just a breath of carnation, one of the few flowers I adore, but nary a trace of iris florentina (thankfully). Conclusion: Absolutely gorgeous. I love that no one or two notes really stand out; it's most certainly a blend. I'll definitely be picking up a bottle of this.

Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a few words/smilie: Earthy, then citrusy. Pre-Review Thoughts: In the imp: Yikes: black patchouli. Black patchouli and I, we don't get along. On skin, wet: Strangely sweet, unsurprisingly lemony patchouli. Myrrh lurks in the background, flanked by incense. On skin, dry: Murky, musky, earth patchouli and sugary lemon-tangerine, undercut by a deep incense. Strange, intriguing, but altogether too earthy. As it wears, it grows softer, and sweeter, until the patchouli is a footnote to a sugary, vaguely smoky citrus scent. Conclusion: I'm not a girl that likes black patchouli: it's far too dank and dirty for my tastes, and Lot and His Daughters sets those talents on display. While it's nice enough by the end of the scent's wearing life, its beginning is too heavy for me to want to wear.

Rating (on skin): 1/5 Summarised in a few words/smilie: Dirty linens. Pre-Review Thoughts: This could go either way. Coconut mean, tobacco, and leather tend to be good notes for me, while linen, blue lilac, and bay rum... aren't. In the imp: Upon first sniff, a strong waft of linen, and a sneeze! On skin, wet: Linen, tobacco, bay rum, and dark wood. An interesting combination, but not one I find particularly pleasant. On skin, dry: Damp, dingy, rum-soaked linens, and flowery leather. An appropriate combination, but just not something I'm terribly fond of, since I'm not a big fan of linen or flowers. Conclusion: Fitting, but not for me. Something in this causes me to sneeze. Not constantly, or with every sniff, but it's definitely something here. I'm just not sure what.

Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a few words/smilie: Chalky honey. In the imp: A very thick, honeyed apple blossom. Fantastic! On skin, wet: Fig! Slightly green, honeyed figs. On skin, dry: Very chalky, dry, green figs and bitter honey, unfortunately. It seems that the sandalwood is lending the chalky, dry qualities to the scent. It reminds me of honey dust/powder. Conclusion: Alas, not for me: too bitter, too chalky, and too dusty. Lovely in the vial, my skin isn't up to handling the sandalwood and honey.

Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a few words/smilie: Pretty, but obviously floral. Pre-Review Thoughts: This is almost certainly isn't going to work for me, but damn it, I'm curious. In the imp: Wow, but this is strong. Very crisp, and, well, strong. On skin, wet: Sweet, but with a crisp sourness that I'd wager is the ylang-ylang, as ylang is wont to turn sour on my skin. Beyond that, this is dominated by blue lilac, followed in turn my sandalwood, and narcissus. On skin, dry: Indeed, a floral-lovers dream-scent. It reminds me of something I can't place — an old perfume I smelled once, perhaps. It's a pleasant experience, but I'm just not a floral-scent kind of girl. Conclusion: An especially pretty floral blend, but not something I'd wear. It's also a bit more... upbeat that I would've imagined.

Rating (on skin): 3/5 Summarised in a few words/smilie: Fitting, but... calla lily. Pre-Review Thoughts: I'm trying this purely out of curiosity, because calla lily is my archnemesis, and lily of the valley isn't particularly fantastic on me, either. In the imp: Pepper and ....grass? Flower stems? Interesting. On skin, wet: Surprisingly vibrant, and definitely green. The calla lily hasn't made its entrance yet, which is a pleasant surprise. On skin, dry: And yet, I speak (type?) too soon. Waxy and white, calla lily spells the death of a scent for me. Struggling to "see" beyond it, there is the most wonderful, peppery greenness. Conclusion: Were it not for calla lily, I might love this. That said, while not my thing per se, it seems a perfectly fitting combination for the artwork.

Daemonorops, vanilla, Indian sandalwood, Mexican copal, hyssop, muguet, sweet pea, amber, hazelwood, galbanum, hiba wood, and orchid. Rating (on skin): 4/5 Summarised in a few words/smilie: Intriguing. Pre-Review Thoughts: I love daemonorops/dragon's blood, copal, amber, and vanilla, but I'm a bit wary of orchid (which can either be fantastic or horrible), and sandalwood, and sweet pea never ends well. In the imp: Sweet, vanillic dragon's blood and a hint of something toasty and warm. On skin, wet: Very sweet, but very heavy on the orchid and sweet pea. The dragon's blood holds its own — for now. On skin, dry: Sweet, woody, and spicy. While predominately a floral scent, the spicy nuttiness is intriguing, and strangely pleasant. The orchid's a bit tart, but not altogether unpleasantly so. Conclusion: Overall, a bit too floral for me. It has a very powdery quality to it, that, while not necessarily a bad thing, is not a quality I usually look for in scents. It's certainly one of those "can't stop sniffing because it's so interesting" scents, if not one I'd wear regularly.

Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a few words/smilie: Interesting. Pre-Review Thoughts: I'm not a fan of vetiver, but I love ginger, nutmeg, mandarin, and bergamot, and Mr Nancy's made me more accepting of lime, so... In the imp: Very bright and floral; very white. On skin, wet: Slightly soapy, and very citrusy. No trace of lime, sadly. On skin, dry: This reminds me a great deal of Usher: they both have a similar floral, slightly cologne-ish, vaguely tea-like quality, with a fuzzy, dark undercurrent. In Usher, it was a cooler kind of darkness; in Spider, it's a warmer, more earthy darkness that I attribute to the grassy warm of vetiver. Conclusion: Spider's an interesting scent, but as Usher was ultimately not for me for reasons I couldn't (and can't) pin down, so too is Spider just a tad too... not-my-thing-ish.

Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a few words/smilie: MYRRH! ...And honeyed almonds. Pr-review Thoughts: The myrrh, rose otto, and fig leaf could trash this for me, but the honey, almond, apple, and musk intrigue me. In the imp: Sweet, honeyed almonds! On skin, wet: Alas, the myrrh appears almost instantaneously, and settles itself in to ruin the party. Myrrh is such a strange, acrid note on me that I'm already tempted to wash this off. On skin, dry: Beneath the behemoth that is myrrh, there is a very distinct, wonderful trace of musky, sweet honeyed almonds that comes close to saving the blend for me. It comes close, but doesn't quite make it; the myrrh has asserted its dominance, and is in no mood to make enough room for the musk, honey, or almond to let me enjoy Bilquis properly. Conclusion: Were it not for the myrrh, I would adore this.

Rating (on skin): 1/5 Summarised in a few words/smilie: Sour rose. In the imp: Spicy flowers! On skin, wet: Rose? This definitely smells of rose to me, and that's not a good thing. On skin, dry: Spicy roses dusted with nutmeg and cardamom. Very bitter, sour roses picked much too soon. Conclusion: A sad thing indeed, that rose notes almost always become bitter and sour on my skin. It smelled fantastic in the imp, and fairly pleasant while wet, but rose went the way of rose on the drydown.

Rating (on skin): 1/5 Summarised in a few words/smilie: Vetiver. In the imp: Deep, smokey vetiver, and opoponax. On skin, wet: Very, very earthy, dark Snake Oil. I really wish the vanilla and coconut were stronger. On skin, dry: Alas, it's all thick, wafting vetiver now, nothing more, nothing less. Nary a trace of the vanilla, coconut, nor sugared spice of the original Snake Oil. Conclusion: I don't dig vetiver on myself. It can smell fantastic on others, but my skin does unspeakable things to it, and Death Adder is proof of that, indeed.

Rating (on skin): 1/5 Summarised in a few words/smilie: Pine! In the imp: Fruity, cider-y almond and the pine of Black Forest. On skin, wet: Almond and pine makes for a very weird scent. It's... well, it's just odd. On skin, dry: Nary a sign of fruit, wood, or apple, but oh! is there ever pine! Pine and almond. It reminds me a bit of Ice Queen, which is equally pine-tastic. Pine, as always, leaves a cool, almost tingly taste in the back of my throat. Conclusion/Notes: I like Black Forest, and in small doses, I really like almond. However, I do not, it seems, like the two together.

Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a few words/smilie: Musky... rags. In the imp: Red musk, wood, and leather! On skin, wet: Red musk, leather, and my beloved cedar! Also... dust. Not so good, dust. On skin, dry: Very deep and warm, and surprisingly spicy. I'd classify it as sexy, were it not the damn dusty rags! It's a damp, unsettling thing, dusty rags. It's... off, like stagnant water. Conclusion/Notes: I hadn't given much thought to the 'dusty rags' bit. While red musk is definitely starting to grow on me, Krampus is not something I'll be finding more of.

Rating (on skin): 3/5 Summarised in a few words/smilie: Juniper? Pre-review thoughts: Snow White is one of my all-time favourite BPAL scents, so upon hearing that some Snow-Flakes is similar to SW to some people... well, I had to try it. In the imp: Snow White Lite! Very, very similar to my beloved SW, but not exact, of course; it's either missing something, or has something SW doesn't. Or both. I'm guessing both. On skin, wet: Mint? Or, perhaps, juniper? On first sniff, I'd say mint; on second sniff, juniper. There's something almost piney as well, so I'd hazard a guess at juniper. It has a similar ethereal, fleeting, innocent-as-fresh-snow quality to Snow White, but it's definitely a scent of its own. On skin, dry: A juniper-y cousin of Snow White, more or less. It's lovely, but I'm not a huge fan of juniper, and juniper's definitely the dominant note in Snow-Flakes on my skin. It's not sweet at all, but rather sharp after a while. Conclusion/Notes: It's close, but alas, Snow-Flakes is not a suitable replacement for my beloved Snow White. On its own, Snow-Flakes is quite nice, and I believe fits its description wonderfully. That said, I doubt it's something I'd wear.

Rating (on skin): 4/5 Summarised in a few words/smilie: Pumpkin-y gingersnaps! In the bottle: Ginger, orange peel, fig leaf, and pumpkin! On skin, wet: Slightly dusty, buttery spiced pumpkin. Very similar to Jack, yes, but with a bit more spice, and a distinctly chalky (the fig) quality that I don't entirely dislike. On skin, dry: There's something about this that reminds me terribly of gingersnaps, especially the scent of the actual cookie: the cooked, slightly crispy dough. The cardamom is surprisingly muted in PQ, as is the mandarin. The amber's very warm, and keeps the whole blend just this side of "too foody." Conclusion/Notes: PQ reminds me of a fantastically well-done, rich, high-end pumpkin cookies/pie candle. I suppose I've been to too many craft malls during the Thanskgiving/Yule season not to associate "spiced pumpkin" with "candles" on some levels. It really is a lovely scent, but it's also very similar to Jack. Even further, I'm not sure if I want to smell like a gingersnap. (Shub, of course, is different; Shub is an evil gingersnap.) Time will tell, I suppose, in whether I wear this one much or not.

Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a few words/smilie: Red musk! In the imp: Cold, sweet red musk and grapefruit. Surprisingly muted and lovely. On skin, wet: I too get a distinctly melon-like something from this, but it's very faint, and overshadowed by the grapefruit and strawberry lead. The red musk dominates Mania from the start, and I can't really be sure if I can smell the white musk. On skin, dry: A fruity, sweet, still oddly melon-like strawberry-musk scent. It strikes me as a darker, musk Strawberry Moon, which I loved until the ylang-ylang crashed the party and ruined the scent for me. In Mania, the only downside is the almost dirty quality of the red musk. As the scent wears, the red musk grows stronger and stronger, until it almost completely dominates the other notes. Nice if one is crazy about red musk; I'm not. Conclusion/Notes: I'd hoped that the red musk would cooperate in Mania, but it just didn't. That said, I doubt I'd have worn it anyway: fruity scents aren't generally my thing as far as perfumes go (I tend to prefer those as room scents).

Rating (on skin): 1/5 Summarised in a few words/smilie: Lemon soap. In the imp: Peony, sugary lime, and lemongrass. The latter could be trouble, but I'm trying to be optimistic. On skin, wet: Alas, lemongrass. Beneath that, a note I am most certainly not a fan of, I detect coconut and musk — unfortunately, I barely detect them. On skin, dry: Lemongrass is a horrible note for me: almost always without fail it can turn an otherwise perfectly-wonderful blend into Lemon Pledge or a horribly-sugary lemon drop. In this case, it scoops up the lime, water lily and other floral notes, mashes them together with itself, and presents me with a practically sudsy lemon soap. It lingers for about three hours before fading away completely, and the soapy quality just never lets up. Conclusion/Notes: What other conclusion can I possibly come to, other than that lemongrass is evil? Evil! Ruiner of blends, that note.

Rating (on skin): 1/5 Summarised in a few words/smilie: Plastic butterscotch. Pre-review thoughts: In the imp: Butterscotch, caramel, apples, and coconut! Very foody, but wonderful. On skin, wet: A butterscotch-dipped apple, sliced open. I don't detect any coconut or caramel yet. On skin, dry: Warm, sweet, rich butterscotch and caramel... plastic. Really, I'm not surprised: neither caramel nor butterscotch are known for turning out well on my skin. Still, I had hoped the coconut apples could have saved Creepy for me. Conclusion/Notes: While Spooky is a huge winner for/on me, Creepy, alas, isn't.

Rating (on skin): 4/5 Summarised in a few words/smilie: Musky berries. In the imp: Surprisingly fresh, and almost soapy. On skin, wet: Very musky, somehow spicy, and almost grassy. There is something akin to pine, but it hasn't that kick-in-the-face quality that pine typically has. On skin, dry: Fruity? I can't figure why, but something about this is fruity, or more rightly, berry-y. Musky as well, a bit like Coyote, but green and berry-like as well. It's actually very nice. Thankfully, I don't seem to the the only one that's gotten berry from this, so I needn't worry that I've gone insane. Conclusion: I love the muskiness of Wolf Moon, and its berry-ness as it dries was unexpected, but lovely.