PurringPulsar

Upa Upa In the imp: spicy rum, a scent more reminiscent of winter festivities than summer. Wet on skin: cinnamon rum swirled into a pina colada! Dry on skin: mmm, this is delicious! This reminds me of Egg Nog, but with a more summery feel. The pina colada scent is definitely there, but the rum is the strongest note. It’s a heavy, warm, spicy rum, but not a butter rum. There is a caramelised scent to it though, and the vanilla sweetens it even more. I smell coconut (drier than the Tiki King and Queen coconut) and a tiny hint of pineapple. After a while: this is really good. The rum here is so good-cinnamon spiced and warm and almost reminiscent of Christmas. Actually, this smells like a tropical Christmas to me, warm rum, festive spices with a splash of pineapple and coconut. The coconut is very nutty and husky, like coconut shreds, like the coconut in Goblin. Eventually this becomes all sweet coconut…no more pineapple and rum. Lots of sweet, sweet foody vanilla all over grated coconut. It smells like those toasted coconut sweets, and suntan lotion. Not bad, but I preferred the spicy rum and pineapple scent I got at the start. Verdict: this is such a fun scent! It’s pina colada, but it’s also much more than that. The rum is spiced, which makes it more interesting. I smell cinnamon in here, and mixed with rum it gives an almost festive feel to the whole scent, sort of like a ‘Christmas in the southern hemisphere’ scent. then there’s the pineapple, which is perfect, doesn’t go sour/fake like the one in Rangoon Riptide. The coconut smells of coconut milk (which then turns to coconut shavings), and the vanilla sweetens it all. I do prefer the first hour of wear when it’s all spicy, the drydown is a nice vanilla coconut but lacks the cinnamon warmth before. But I love it enough to have got myself a partial bottle-this will smell equally lovely in both summer and winter. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? I have a half-bottle. If you like this, try: Egg Nog, The Star, Goblin, Elegba, Te Po, Red Lantern, Grog

Marae In the imp: floral notes and dry gardenia…please don’t tell me that’s the gardenia my skin warps into evilness? Wet on skin: ack! It is the gardenia my skin hates! Though it’s not doing it’s worst here, yet… Dry on skin: whoa, burnt petals and cloying fruitiness! This is gardenia, but not the lovely gardenia from Honey Moon, Angeronalia or even Swan Maiden that I like. This is the Sacred Whore gardenia that turns sharp and burnt on my skin…and this time, it has a sickly undertone of overripe fruit, like banana. I can smell some monoi here, but the gardenia is overpowering. The only thing that comes close to smelling of incense here for now is that burnt petal smell. After a while: ah, now that smells a lot nicer. The cloying gardenia backs off and the lovely tiare takes over. Now that’s the kind of gardenia I like. However, this isn’t as glorious as Tiki Queen. It’s a bit fainter that TQ, softer, with hints of the fruitiness of the other gardenia note but none of the richness and fullness that TQ has. And where’s the incense? I was really looking forward to smelling incense in here but apart from an incredibly faint and vague smokiness, I don’t get much incense at all. Despite it’s faintness compared to Tiki Queen, this is a really nice monoi scent. Warm and sensual, the rounded floral scent occasionally wafts and surprises me with it’s loveliness, like the scent of gardenia gently lingering in the summer night air. It’s still not a love compared with TQ, but it’s growing on me. Verdict: after the glorious Tiki Queen, I thought this would be just as fabulous, tropical flowers and incense? surely that should work? Not so, since the gardenia in here happens to be the gardenia note I dislike and my skin turns sour, acrid and burnt with a hint of rotting fruit. Thankfully it’s not too strong on the ‘evil gardenia’ as it was in Has No Hanna. But the gardenia does take over and overpower every other note, I get hardly any tiare and vanilla, and save for a burnt petal note, hardly any incense. the drydown is much nicer, when the scent turns to a nicer tropical floral, and more of the monoi note I love shows up. However, the scent is faint by now, not as powerful and gutsy as TQ, this seems a little weak despite the heady flowers. Overall this wasn’t a keeper for me, I sold my two bottles, though I did keep my half-decant, because there aren’t enough monoi scents in BPAL and I really like what this eventually turns into. But I wish it had more incense… Emoticon rating: :| Is it a keeper? No, I don’t like the ‘bad gardenia’ beginning. If you like this, try: Tiki Queen, Sacred Whore of Babylon, Has No Hanna, Lady of Shalott, Tupapau

In the imp: sour bamboo? This smells like a really odd bamboo… Wet on skin: now it smells nicer. Strong bamboo, like the Asian moons, with deep green palm. Dry on skin: not bad. I can smell all the notes-the wet, pulpy, fresh green scent of bamboo, the drier but deeper green of the palm fronds (this isn’t a sweet dry palm husk scent like Havana) and the crisp tea-like hibiscus. The palm and hibiscus remind me very slightly of Meshkenet, but without the reeds and resins. But the bamboo, the strongest note, reminds me of the Asian scents, especially Holiday Moon. This smells more like Summer Holiday Moon! After a while: now the palm note becomes much drier, and the bamboo note turns a little bit soapy? I’m not so crazy about the bamboo now. It reminds me of the sharp-soapy note I got in Holiday Moon. I think I only really like bamboo in scents like Habu and Peacocks, where there are lots of other notes mixing with it. Verdict: not too sure about this. Bamboo can either smell gorgeous (like Habu) or soapy, sadly it turns soapy in here. It smells like Holiday Moon on holiday at first, bamboo and greenery, not tea but palm, a bit of hibiscus. It’s pleasant and the palm note is really good. But then the bamboo turns soapy, takes over, and then turns sharp and sour, before the whole scent disappears very fast. Not really my thing, I’m afraid. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Not really. If you like this, try: Holiday Moon, Sleepy Moon, Habu, Meshkenet, Caliban

Golden Wave In the decant: tangerine and passion fruit. Reminds me of a soap/shower gel, maybe from the Body Shop? Wet on skin: tangerine, passion fruit and a bit of sweet guava. Dry on skin: mmm, not bad! The citrus-guava combination reminds me very slightly of Cheshire Moon and Xanthe, only in here, the guava isn’t as sweet. The tangerine is strongest, a lovely zingy pulpy citrus, with a touch of sharp passion fruit. I only smell the slightest hint of G&T. After a while: the tangerine sticks around for a surprisingly long time. Now it smells just like tangerine peel and guava, with hints of passion fruit. It’s faint, but really lovely, bright and fruity. It now reminds me of Xanthe, not as sweet, but the guava and citrus scent is very similar. It seems to be fading very fast, but it smells so nice! Like a delicious tropical fruit juice. Usually I say ‘I want to eat my wrist’, but this time, I want to drink it up. Verdict: this is one of the Tiki scents I prefer. It’s not the longest lasting, or the strongest, but it smells so juicy and fresh and fruity, not too boozy, it smells like some kind of delicious tropical juice. Guava is fast becoming one of my favourite fruit notes, I love it in Cheshire Moon and Xanthe, and it’s lovely in here, with the passion fruit and the sharp tangerine. The gin is so faint but gives the faint impression of a shot of booze. This smells perfectly summery. My only complaint is that it doesn’t last very long on me at all…not as lovely as Cheshire Moon, but I really like it. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? I managed to get a partial bottle, which is fine for me... If you like this, try: Xanthe, Cheshire Moon, Tweedledee, Tweedledum, Rangoon Riptide

Tiki King In the imp: creamy coconut and tangy lemon juice. Like Carnaval Diabolique, but more lemony. Wet on skin: the lemon gives way to coconut and musk. Dry on skin: mmm, this is gorgeous! A truly wonderful coconut note, not dry or scrubby or ‘suntan lotion’ like most coconuts can be, this is actually like the coconut in Eden, a mix of milky and toasted coconut with a smooth undertone. The lemon adds a zingy and sunny touch. Underneath, I smell the sweet, slick, dark scent of the black musk, very much like the musk in Titus Andronicus or Desire. I don’t smell the bark. This is sexy coconut! It also reminds me of the Pearls. After a while: ohhh, this gets really good. The lemon fades, but so does the coconut…it seems to merge into the musk. And what a musk it is-such a sultry, dark, slightly sweet, sleek and sensual. This would smell magnificent on a guy (I picture a dark, tanned and handsome man with coconut oil on his skin, walking along a tropical beach, when I smell this) but it’s also beautifully unisex. I now smell something almost like sandalwood to this, or dry palm husks. This is such a sexy scent, sweet coconut with a fantastic dark musk. The only problem is that it seems to be getting faint quite fast, compared with the Queen who is loud and attention seeking with her bold gardenia note, the King is reserved, keeping his warm, musky coconut to himself, the scent of sun warmed coconut oil lingering gently on my skin like the memory of a beautiful summer romance… Verdict: I wasn’t expecting to love this so, but the King is almost as wonderful as the Queen. To me, this is a darker and sexier version of Eden with a hint of Carnaval Diabolique. A really, really sexy coconut scent. It smells of sun warmed tanned skin scented with real coconut oil (not the fake suntan lotion scent) made even more wonderful by the sweet, sensual black musk. There’s a touch of wood too, and the lemon note is lovely, a hint of bright citrus which is fleeting but so pleasant. The overall scent is subtle yet oh so delicious. This is one of my new favourite coconut-heavy scents, it is everything I want from a coconut scent and then some. Beautifully unisex too. I’m so glad I got a bottle at the last minute! Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Oh yes. I’m glad I grabbed a bottle. If you like this, try: Carnaval Diabolique, Shoggoth, Goblin, Eden, Black Pearl, Blood Pearl, Red Lantern, Elegba

Tiki Queen In the bottle: floral sweetness. I smell monoi, but there’s also a smell like lotus in here. Wet on skin: ohh, glorious tropical blooms! Dry on skin: wow, this is beautiful! With every sniff, it’s like I’m transported to Tahiti. It’s mainly the sweet heady scent of monoi, as well as a scent like that of frangipani flowers. The whole scent has a candied sweetness to it very reminiscent of lotus, that sweetness boosted by vanilla. I also smell what could be the neroli, a slight orange tang. There’s a hint of creamy coconut, like a coconut meat or milk scent. I do smell something slightly bittersweet underneath, maybe the ylang-ylang, but overall this is the ultimate tropical floral scent. After a while: mmm, this gets even nicer. I thought the ylang would turn all sharp and chemical but it didn’t, and the scent has become mellower and softer, it’s a wonderful voluptuous petal scent. It now smells of pure monoi, the perfect gardenia scent. Decadent yet summery. This scent is sultry and sexy, feminine and so beautiful…this is what I wanted to get from other gardenia and island flower scents. I think I smell hints of tuberose and coconut around the edges but it’s mainly the scent of garlands of gardenia and frangipani and tanned skin rubbed with monoi. The scent then turns to a pure but glorious gardenia. From start to finish, it gives off throw like nobody’s business. It’s a powerful but gorgeous floral! In fact, now this smells very much like my Geodesis Tiare candle (and it’s a very, very good quality candle, I love the way it smells). Verdict: finally, the tropical scent of my dreams has come, in the form of the luscious and beautiful Tiki Queen! A scent bursting with monoi, a note I’ve always wanted to smell in BPAL. The gardenia in here broadcasts herself to the world, with a scent that speaks of summer and exotic island getaways. The other florals support the monoi whilst the coconut and vanilla add a creamy smooth base to the whole scent, but really and truly, the monoi is the queen (ha ha!) of this blend. This is the epitome of the Pacific island floral scent. It’s what I wanted the likes of Pele and Hi’iaka to be. When I wear it, it can be raining and cold outside but my skin exudes the scent of sunshine, white beaches, blue seas, grass skirts, leis, waving palm trees, sipping coconut water straight from the coconut, and total tropical bliss. The winner of the Luau collection! Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Yes-two bottles. This is everything I’ve wanted in a monoi scent. If you like this, try: Euphrosyne, Forbidden Fruit, Ecstasy of St Theresa, Hony Mone, Marae

Opuhi In the imp: barely there vanilla and a trace of ginger. Wet on skin: gentle, almost soapy vanilla with some powdered ginger. Dry on skin: ginger powder. This smells just like the ground ginger you get in a spice cupboard, or like a dried root of ginger. It’s ginger with warmth and spark, but without the juice. It’s also a pale ginger, not a red one or a sweet one, this is like the ginger in Vampire Tears. Around it, the softest of vanillas can just about be detected, sweet but shy. A hint of something almost like white musk or a watery note also lurks in here. There is, to me, a soapy aspect to the scent that I’m not sure I’m keen on, slightly powdery and a bit too soapy-clean? Maybe it’s the orchid or blossom aspect of the scent doing this. It’s also a very faint scent. After a while: ok, now it’s got a little bit stronger, and I really smell the vanilla. This is the gourmand, spicy, warm vanilla, not the musky one, this is very much a foody, squishy vanilla tinged with something almost like cinnamon. It reminds me strongly of the vanilla in Perilous Parlour, Pumpkin Cheesecake, and the old Beaver Moon. There’s very little ginger now, and there’s still a soapy aspect to the scent…and sadly, now I smell a bit of plastic. And that plastic mixed with that particular vanilla brings to mind a smell I really hoped I’d never smell in BPAL…car freshener. Yup, like those little gel sticker/cardboard hanging things that make cars smell of cloying vanilla, mixed with the smell of seat fabric and seatbelts and plastic fittings. That car smell brings back unpleasant memories of being carsick and that smell just exaggerating the nausea. It seems this vanilla only works in purely foody contexts, not with floral notes that may turn plastic. After a few hours, this actually gets a lot better. The car freshener smell dies down a little, the plastic fades completely, and the vanilla turns into that same stone-like and cool vanilla from Black Opal. I love Black Opal and it’s cool, mysterious, mineral vanilla scent, so this pleases me greatly…this is a little bit more gourmand-floral though, whilst Black Opal was musky and aloof. I think overall I prefer the Opal to Opuhi…having said that I really love the drydown. It takes about 5 hours to turn truly lovely. I really don’t know now. I love this vanilla scent I’m getting, like a sweeter Black Opal, gently powdery in the best way, but is it really worth tolerating the ‘car sickness’ stage to get to this? Verdict: this saddened me a bit. I love BPAL vanillas, they converted me completely to someone who thought it smelt too sickly to someone who adores them. And this sounded like a lovely spicy-floral vanilla. But it failed a bit on my skin. The ginger is too dry and ‘powdered ginger’ like, not the ginger tea or gingerbread note I like. The orchid was too soapy, and the vanilla…well I hoped I would warm to it, but it went into the rather unfortunate stage of smelling like car air freshener (those vanilla ‘magic trees’ I think) which has bad associations for me. It’s a more plastic vanilla than usual. I must say, I do prefer this to Love’s Philosophy. And I really like the drydown, which reminds me of Black Opal. But I much prefer that scent because it doesn’t go bad on me at the beginning like this does, and if I want vanilla orchid, I’ll stick with Regan. I really wanted to love this because it is so popular, but I’m sure I can sell my bottle easily! Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? No. I’m saddened by this. Despite the lovely drydown, I wanted it to smell of vanilla orchids, not memories of being sick on long car journeys… If you like this, try: Love’s Philosophy, Regan, Perilous Parlour, Beaver Moon (any), Sudha Segara

Screeching Parrot In the imp: lots and lots of grapefruit, even more grapefruity than other grapefruit BPALs. Wet on skin: pungent grapefruit, ginger and a bit of booze. Dry on skin: not bad, but whoa, that’s some scary grapefruit! It’s a bitter, sour citrus, not the sweet grapefruit from Cheshire Moon and Schrodinger’s Cat, but a much more intense yuzu-like one. I don’t smell much of the lime because the grapefruit is too powerful. I do smell some candied ginger, a dash of various booze notes too. No pomegranate or apricot yet. After a while: the grapefruit finally dies down a bit, and now it’s pretty much all ginger and booze. I can smell rum and brandy, just a bit. But still not the sweet apricot I was expecting…I don’t actually smell apricot here at all. And unfortunately, the ginger is starting to smell a bit savoury. It’s a fresh ginger, juicily spicy and piquant, like sniffing a cut root of ginger, but it smells too much like something I’d smell in my dinner, not in a cocktail. It’s turning too savoury on me. I do smell the barest hint of pomegranate now, but it’s not as obvious as I hoped it would be. The scent stays as pure savoury ginger now, with very little in the way of other notes. Not even the booze notes come out now, it’s all ginger. Not bad, but I prefer the sweeter gingers. Verdict: it’s a shame this didn’t work…all I got was screeching grapefruit! Really loud and overwhelming, not a gentle grapefruit with sweetness which I love. It lasted a good long time and then the ginger comes in, again, not my kind of ginger. It smells almost like something from a curry here, too savoury. I don’t get any apricot. Hardly any pomegranate and even the booze doesn’t show up much, grapefruit and ginger are too much in charge. Shame, because this scent has a beautiful label! Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? No. If you like this, try: Night Gaunt, Aizen Myoo, Hungry Ghost Moon, Croquet, The Hamptons

I love how nerdy he looks! I love the Gaiman labels

La Primavera soap The soap: this comes in a beautiful wrapper, and has also been plastic wrapped to keep in the smell. The soap is light green with a soft texture (cuts like butter, as someone else remarked). The smell of the soap when dry is a zingy citrus-floral with a slight green tea like scent, and moss. It actually reminds me of Cauldron Gunk. Washing with the soap: it has a soft lather and feels very nice to wash with. Doesn’t leave hands too dry either, I don't feel that I urgently need lotion after washing with it. And the scent is perfect-I don’t like my soaps too overpoweringly scented and this is scented subtly and doesn’t clash with other scents. The skin scent is a little bit different to the bar scent, it’s heavier on the tuberose and I also smell more of the orange blossom, with a hint of green powdery moss. Very bright, refreshing and youthful scent, it reminds me of Fire Pig as well, a similar spring blossoms and citrus scent. The scent sticks around but still stays subtle, the way I like it. Overall I am very happy with this soap, both it’s texture and the way it is gentle on the skin, and the fragrance. This lively, happy scent is perfect for warm spring days, and I would love to see this scent, or something similar, make it into one of the Inquisition products!

Since April is Black Phoenix's Month of Absurdity, we present a melding of Victorian Grotesquery and springtime fecundity: mold-crusted dirt, decomposing organic matter, coffin wood, drooping funeral flowers, congealed blood, gloomy lunar oils, cuckoo flower, and a gruesome burst of overripe red fruits. Worm Moon In the bottle: dirt! Very similar to Graveyard Dirt, also reminiscent of Penny Dreadful and Madeline. Wet on skin: soil, but also hints of wilted funerary blooms and dust. Dry on skin: is that a bit of rose I smell here? I don’t know, but something here reminds me of Zombi, The House or Madeline, but not as powerfully rosy. But I’m sure I smell some rose in here. It still smells like soil, but now it’s less of a rained-on wet soil, more of a slightly damp compost, but not a bad smelling one-I’d say this is a humus made from decaying leaves, bark, and mosses. There’s also a lovely dusty, stony aspect reminiscent of tombstones or catacombs. But something else, the flowers I think, make this smell like perfumed dirt. A sharp note like dry rose petals and possibly white lilies, a funeral bouquet thrown upon a grave. That’s what makes it wearable-it doesn’t smell like straight up soil, but like soil with a sophisticated undertone. I don’t smell the fruit yet but I do smell something like blood, a slight hint of metal, but not as sweet/fruity as the usual blood accord. After a while: eventually the dirt fades away fast and all I’m left with is rose perfume! How odd. I think I’m the only one who’s getting lots of rose here? Not that I mind though, I do love rose, but this is a particularly tart, wilted rose. I also smell narcissus, or daffodil perhaps…it’s a soft spring floral note. I also smell more in the way of dust than soil, and also a sharp fruity note which may be pomegranate or currant, but there’s nothing sweet in the fruity notes here, just sharpness. There’s also a hint of dragon’s blood, which may explain the bitter floral and metallic scent this has. It’s not bad, but a bit sour for my likings…but I really miss the dirty note! Now that the soil’s disappeared, it seems the worms have nowhere to play…another thing is that the scent as a whole gets much fainter now, my skin is eating it up. Verdict: at first, this smells gloriously dirty, a floral-rosy take on Graveyard Dirt, a lighter Zombi. This to me smells of rose cologne mixed with dirt, hints of old wood, sharp blood and decaying moss. Fragrant dirt with a touch of the perfumey to it, but with scent evoking graveyards and rotting houses full of dark secrets. This has something to it reminiscent of the Poe scents, both in scent and theme-it has that similar dirt note that I get in the Poes, and also an old, almost faded and dusty floral scent (I myself get a lot of rose from it) which reminds me of the dark mood of the Maelstrom and DD scents. the sad thing is, whilst I love the earthiness, this stage doesn’t last as long as I hoped it would. I really wished the dirt would stick around more, once that’s gone, the perfumey scent turns sour, and then fades away very fast altogether. I don’t even get that much fruit. I’m a tad disappointed but not too much, I’m certainly keeping one bottle of this because it’s my birth moon and such a unique Lunacy scent. I just wished it stuck around for longer and was earthier. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Yes-this is a really unusual scent and it’s my birth moon too, but I’d rather keep the one bottle. If you like this, try: Zombi, Thanatos, The House, Premature Burial, Madeline, Destroying Angel, Penny Dreadful, Burial

April Fool In the imp: a sweet yet sharp berry with a herbal, basil-like bite. Wet on skin: now I smell all the fruity notes, the tangy tangerine and berry with lemon blossom. Dry on skin: mmm, I quite like this! It actually smells quite strongly of orange blossom now, must be a mix of tangerine and lemon blossom doing this. I also smell the parsley, which smells green and herbal, and definitely like parsley, but I really like it-it’s unusual and different. I do smell some berry, but no rose yet, no tobacco flower either. It reminds me of Jester, but I prefer this. After a while: oh, what a little trickster this crazy fool is. Now the scent has moved from that lovely, bouncy, neroli-type scent into something I’m not so keen on. Now the huckleberry really comes out, and it’s a lot nicer than the berry in Jester (that smelt like synthetic sweets) but now it smells overripe, like the berries are fermenting, and it’s going a bit cloying. It reminds me of what some blossom notes do on my skin, turn to a really sickly overripe fruit scent. I still smell the herbal parsley, some lemon and maybe a hint of nicotiana, but no rose. Thankfully it doesn’t turn to full blown rotting berry like I feared it would. It does, sadly, turn to a fake fruit scent, reminiscent of those sour sweets. Not glorious sweet juicy berries like I hoped for (for that, I should stick to redcurrant) and certainly not much rose or tobacco. Ok, maybe a hint of nicotina, a teasing hint. But it still smells of strangely odd berries. Not sure if I am digging this scent. After a while I get something like pine, which is very pretty. The berry is still the strongest note though, and it goes into a fermenting phase at times. Verdict: oh April Fool, I was born in your month, so why must you play a trick on my skin, laughing in my face as your scent turns bad? You started out so well, with your happy citrus scent, like neroli and jaunty tangerine with a hint of green, basil-like herbs. And then, you smell like huckleberry. Now I realise what made me dislike Jester so much, it was the huckleberry. On me this smells very fake berry and sour sweets with hints of herbs. No rose at all, very little tobacco flower. Not exactly ‘epic fail’ but considering that I really was hoping this would be my perfect April scent after the disappointment of Poisson D’Avril (which turned to soap) it was a shame to have it go bad on me, but not totally unexpected considering the notes. And I love the label so much! Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? No, I managed to pass it on to someone else who loves it. If you like this, try: Jester, La Vita Nuova, Delirium, Rosalind

Hexennacht 08 In the bottle: clean, wet, cold fir and herbs. Almost reminiscent of Buck Moon! Wet on skin: fir! Smells almost like Christmas trees…but then I smell sappy resins and smoke. Dry on skin: ohh, this is really good! It smells a bit like Buck Moon meets Wolf Moon! I smell lots of fir, which has a slightly different feel to it than pine (can’t say why but it does), and it smells like thick green fir needles. I also smell the smoke and incense, which smell wonderful, reminiscent of campfire smoke made more fragrant by adding magical woods and resins to it. I also smell a gorgeous musk, almost like the musk in Buck Moon, but less furry, more clean. It seems to me like the spring version of Samhain. After a while: the fir notes get drier and I smell more of the incense. It smells like wonderful loose woody-resinous incense, it reminds me of the scent they burn inside the pagan stores that I’ve visited. Wonderful witchy incense, it’s a really magical scent, and there’s that musk and amber adding a warm, sensual glow to the scent. After a couple of hours or so, the scent mellows into something very reminiscent of Devil’s Night, a spicy smoky musk, but with added evergreen. Think Devil’s Night in the forest, on a warm spring/summer night instead of a cold autumn night. It’s sultry and really does have a scent of glowing skin tinged with smoke and fir sap. The amber adds a golden scent that flickers like a flame through the darkness. Verdict: I actually prefer this greatly to the original Hex. This has a gentler fir note, a much more pleasant musk (the other one went a bit sour on me?), the incense is wonderful and there’s the addition of amber which makes this even better. This really is evocative of a dark forest with fires burning and witches dancing to wild, frenetic rhythms and the air filled with sacred smoke. The forest notes are cool but not wintry, the incense is complex and nuanced with hints of bonfire, the skin and amber notes make this smooth and sensual, especially at drydown. A fantastic and atmospheric scent, celebratory and magical, I am very glad I bought a bottle of this. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Yes! Still trying to decide whether it’s a two bottle scent or not, but one bottle, yes. If you like this, try: Wolf Moon 07, Snow Storm, Mistletoe, Old Moon, Stranger in Camp, Capricorn 07, Devil’s Night

Mugwort, French rose, Lily of the Valley, broom, frankincense, myrrh, benzoin, foxglove, woodruff, rowan wood, ivy, sandalwood, spring mint, thyme, iris, copal, and night blooming jasmine. Beltane 08 In the bottle: warm mint. That sounds contradictory, but that’s what it smells like, cool mint with warmth and greenery. Wet on skin: very, very minty! It’s a green garden mint though. Underneath, I smell lily of the valley. Dry on skin: oh, this is very pretty. It’s mainly mint, surrounded by lots of green herbal lushness. reminds me of Envy, but I prefer this. I can smell the thyme as well, and the lily which for now is being pleasantly floral and not soapy…this reminds me of the nice lily of the valley from Bilquis and Lilium Inter Spinas. I think I also smell some tree bark/wood and jasmine. I think the resins are adding a warm, deep base. But for now, mint rules supreme. It smells like a fresh wet, bright springtime scent. After a while: the mint is gone now, and the scent is a fresh green floral-herbal scent. I now smell much more of the lily of the valley, and it’s turning a tiny bit soapy, but not too much to make this smell bad. I also smell something that might be copal or benzoin, but not much of the frankincense or myrrh that I was hoping for (I love the deep resinous undertone in Ostara). I also smell a lot of rose here now. There’s a bitter soapy scent from either the jasmine or the lily that preventing me from loving this, but I really like it. As it dries down, it goes through these phases of ‘mmm, this is lovely’ and then ‘hmm, this smells weird’. It went into a bitter-soapy floral stage where the lily and one of the green notes/flowers went all bitter and not very nice on me and I wanted resins. Now, I smell what could be the myrrh under the green florals, and I really like it. But sadly, it’s just not resinous enough for me. And the notes don’t seem to mix well on my skin either. Verdict: I thought this version of Beltane would be an instant love. I loved the 06 version, with it’s vibrant greenery and velvety musk undertone. This one is totally different and despite being a lovely spring scent it is on me, sadly, a bit disappointing. I quite like the minty start, fresh and cool and full of wet green notes and a hint of floral, but then the lily and possibly the jasmine, as well as something almost like wisteria, make this smell rather bitter and like floral notes turned bad on me. it’s not too bad, but it’s not really sitting right on my skin. the green notes also have turned soapy. The biggest disappointment is the lack of resins on my skin. with frankincense, myrrh, copal and benzoin listed, I was hoping at least one of them would really show up, but none of them do, really. I loved the resinous-floral scent Ostara had, I was hoping for something similar here. But instead it’s just a floral-green scent that I’m not crazy about. I’m keeping a bit to see if age will bring out the resins. I still prefer Beltane 06. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Just a decant or so. Not a bottle. If you like this, try: Envy, Green Phoenix, The Passionate Shepherd, Lilium Inter Spinas, Beltane 06, Lick It (any)

Phoenix Steamworks In the bottle: a strange, oddly sweaty metal scent. like Mechanical Phoenix, but dirtier. Wet on skin: mmm, this is much nicer. Now I smell a soft sweet powder mingling with the metals and sage, possibly some resins too. Dry on skin: wow, this is really lovely! It really does smell like metal but not like that generic cologne scent I get from most metal scents. I think this is the first metallic scent (other than the blood accord scents) that I really love. It smells slightly ozone-y and a little bit like perfume, but with a definite metal bite to it. But I think it’s the incense that makes me love this. A gentle powdery scent like the ashes of burnt incense, mixed with warm spicy resins, and a hint of fuzzy, balmy sage. I also smell something a bit fruity, like wine? And there’s something oily to it as well, and something musky and grimy. This reminds me a lot of the Bloody Sword but I prefer this a lot more. After a while: this then seems to go into that dirty-sweaty scent I wasn’t crazy about, but it’s not too long before this improves once more. It now smells like a sweeter metal with incense and dirt. Slightly white and floral now, I think there’s an ozone note here, but it’s a nice ozone. The scent is a strange but pleasant contrast of very clean with oily and dirty. It’s a very intriguing scent, I can’t say if I love it, but it sure does smell unusual. I also smell something smoky here at this point. Then it gets really metallic. Very harshly metallic-but so realistic. It’s the olfactory version of biting metal, tasting it at the back of your throat. It really does smell like bronze or steel, and there’s now something electric about it, sparks dashing up and down the shiny surface. The scent gets sharper and loses that soft incense scent and the metal dominates. Then, another morph. Wow, this is a real morpher of a scent. now it smells like metal and deep dark smoke, that’s probably the incense returning, now smelling like it is burning. The sweet floral-powdery scent also makes a comeback. The smoke is really lovely but then the sour metal comes back again. Verdict: this is a really interesting scent! I prefer it to Mechanical Phoenix and the metal note in here is spot on. Previously I’ve been a bit disappointed that metal notes turned to men’s perfume on me but this one, even though there’s a hint of perfumey freshness, is uncannily metallic, I can almost feel it. there is something in here that I’m not sure about, a dirty, sweaty kind of scent, and there are times when the metal note is just too metallic to bear, but the moments when the incense really shines through, which I love. It’s a real morpher of a scent, moving from incense to oily bronze/brass to shiny steel to powdery ashes. Fascinating and incredibly unique, not my kind of scent but I love the artistry of it and I can’t wait to smell what the other Steamworks scents are like after trying this. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? I’ll keep an imp’s worth because I love the conceptual, unusual nature of this scent. If you like this, try: Mechanical Phoenix, Bloody Sword, Philosopher in Meditation, Dee, Macbeth and the Witches, Black Tower

Hanami In the bottle: a light, crisp and perfumey floral. Wet on skin: this smells lovely and fresh and cool, and also different to the other Japanese scents. Dry on skin: oh my. I really like this! I was expecting doom-blossom and wisteria to ruin this, but for now this is a wonderful crisp springtime floral. It does have a perfumey feel to it but I really like that in this scent, it reminds me of the nicer perfumes I would have chosen in the days before BPAL. It smells totally different to the other Japanese cherry/plum blossom scents, and yet there’s something that reminds me of Tamamo No Mae. I do smell the cherry blossom too…not as sweet as Cheshire Moon, this is like the blossoms wafting in the breeze (maybe a hint of ozone suggesting the breeze? It explains the tangy perfume-ish scent). The dominant scent though is wisteria. And that’s a good thing because this wisteria note that Beth has been using in recent scents smells really wonderful on me, not like bitter wilted flowers but like the scent of wisteria covered in dew on a spring day. After a while: it may be that the ‘ume’ note is different to the usual plum blossom, or this blend is being miraculous on me, because the plum blossom isn’t turning bad on my skin at all! I can smell it, but it’s not the cloying funk it usually is on me. It smells like what plum blossom should be. In fact, now this smell reminds me of peaches or nectarines, like peach blossom perhaps? Something about it now reminds me of Ebisu, but much more pleasant than that scent was on me. The drydown is just as lovely as the other stages-a a very classy springtime floral scent. it does remind me very slightly of either the Body Shop or L’Occitane’s cherry blossom scents now. Verdict: I wasn’t expecting to love this at all, but this is my new springtime favourite. It falls into the ‘more perfumey’ scent category, as it has a fresh and modern feel to it reminiscent of the more mainstream scents, but it doesn’t smell banal or bland, and doesn’t have that high-pitched alcoholic tone to it. It’s a fresh, youthful springtime floral with a breezy lightness. It does remind me of some of the Japanese scents-mainly Tamamo and Ebisu-but it also smells very different to other Asian scents with cherry and plum blossom. It smells crisp, clean and a little bit tart, not a sweet pink cherry blossom but more like a sophisticated floral perfume with hints of fruit and aquatic/airy notes to it. And it’s the only plum blossom scent so far that doesn’t turn cloying, soapy and overripe on me. And the wisteria in here is also very good. This is just perfect for warm spring days and for everyday-it’s approachable and uplifting. I’ve been wearing this a lot recently and every time I wear it, I love it even more. A surprise hit! Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Yes! I’m surprised at how lovely this is. It’s perfect for spring. If you like this, try: Tamamo No Mae, Cheshire Moon, Aquarius 08, The Spell of Amorous Love, Ebisu Making Love, Spirit of the Komachi Cherry Tree

Frenum In bottle: a fresh salad of lettuce and cucumber, and crisp white tea. On skin: the lettuce turns very leafy, mushy and green, slightly bitter, and the tea is very sharp, high pitched and tangy in here. This seems like the opposite to Gula, whilst that smells very calorific and like the most sinful dessert, this smells like a healthy salad served with a cup of green tea. It is a fresh, tart scent, wet and green but despite the cucumber and lettuce, this ends up smelling less like a salad and more like a garden-I think the cherry blossom is coming out now. It reminds me a bit of the lunar scents, with a hint of the tea-blossom scent found in the Asian fragrances. It is a cool, clean (but not soapy) and dewy scent now. The lettuce note is watery and reminds me of the same note from Cancer, and the cherry blossom is not as sweet and fluffy-pink as usual, it smells more like fallen spring blossoms upon grass and new growing plants. The garden-like scent is stronger now, and slightly wet like rained-on plants, with blossoms, I swear I even smell branches and tree bark. It does go a tiny bit soapy and a bit bitter at times which stops this from being a favourite, but I really like this simple yet effective scent, clean and cool and evocative of springtime.

Gula In bottle: caramelised chocolate-like Gluttony with more chocolate, also reminds me of Boomslang and Reindeer Poop. On skin: the honey, vanilla and currant join the chocolate fun. This is gorgeously indulgent! This is a lot nicer than Gluttony and not as heavy on the caramel as I feared it would be. The chocolate is a rich dark cocoa, like Boomslang, the vanilla is soft and gourmand and there’s a bit of toffee as well. I think it’s the honey, currant and sugar cane that stop this from smelling too cloying and sticky. The currant is tart and fruity and the honey has a beeswax-like aspect to it, slightly sharp, and golden. The sugar cane is a lighter juicier sugar that lifts the scent. in fact, the scent shifts from a toffee chocolate scent to a honeyed currant with sugar cane and vanilla, very similar to the Heroine scent with honey and currant. It smells fruity and honeyed and sweet but not ‘OMGfoody!!’ and I really love that. This scent is growing on me-I was expecting it to be too rich and too caramelised, but this is foody in the most sophisticated way. I’m testing this on the skin but I can’t wait to bathe in this. This smells delicious and very foody, but in the most luxurious way possible. And of course it layers wonderfully with any gourmand BPAL.

Frederic In the bottle: patchouli and bay rum, a masculine and fresh scent with a darker undertone. Wet on skin: very, very masculine chypre now, with patchouli and woods, and a bit of musk. Dry on skin: whoa, this smells manly. Very handsome and dashing but also rugged, just the way that pirates should be. The scent is a tiny bit aquatic from the bay rum (which smells like ‘aquatic’ aftershave on my skin) and there’s also something spicy in here. The scent is very heavy on the patch and woods as well, even though the bay rum dominates. The chypre is also very manly as a scent, I think this is the chypre that has violet, neroli and white musk to it, as well as oak moss? It smells powdery and clean and traditional but not old fashioned. I can also smell hints of rose and currant. Underneath is an endearing sweet amber musk. The scent is a bit salty and seaweed-y, but doesn’t smell like soap or washing powder. After a while: this loses the initial ‘aftershave’ scent and becomes much more woodsy, darker, a bit spicy too. It still reminds me of a more masculine scent, now I smell much more of the aquatic chypre, the combination of musk, patchouli, moss, labdanum and something like seaweed. There’s something reminiscent of pepper as well. the deep woods are also stronger now. I don’t smell any rose, currant or amber now. The scent becomes softer but also drier as the woods really become the dominant scent in here. The chypre is still going strong, it’s not as aquatic/bay rummy as before but the scent is still very much a ‘man’ scent and I don’t get much of the amber musk. I think this would be so sexy on a guy. Shame I don’t have any guy to slather it on… Verdict: Frederic is a charming, charismatic manly scent on me. Very dashing and almost clean cut but with a touch of roughness round the edges, but a little too masculine for me to pull off. What I like about this is that it smells aquatic and evokes the scents of the sea and the kelp and salty spray against ship’s woods, but doesn’t go bad on my skin the way most other pirate scents do. No soap and no detergent here. There is a lot of bay rum and a lot of chypre here with deep patchouli and woods, which makes this a real ‘man’s scent’ on my skin, but the rose, currant and amber musk don’t really come out as much as I hoped they would, to balance the scent out. So whilst I like this scent and find it appealing, it’s not really a ‘me’ scent. Now, if I were to smell this on a man though…mmmm. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Not sure. Pirate Moon is still my favourite pirate scent. If you like this, try: Calico Jack, Sailor’s Den, Jolly Roger, Mary Read, Baron Samedi, Port Royal

Luxuria In bottle: a mix of red musk, incense (nag champa), orange and something oddly grainy. On skin: I’m giving this oil a quick skin test…and it smells nicer on the skin. It now reminds me a bit of Mme Moriarty, only there’s a note here that smells really toasty, not burnt but reminiscent of bread or corn. Other than the musk and the ‘toast’, I also smell pomegranate and patchouli (again, very similar to Mme) and the tangy orange and currant, it also smells spicy, thanks to the nutmeg. There’s a hint of vanilla as well. I really like this, but the ‘toast’ smell then starts to smell a bit like popcorn. Not a bad thing but I’m not sure what to make of it. I do love the musky rich sweet-spicy exotic scent this has though, it reminds me of Scherezade and Mme Moriarty with a hint of incense (I smell saffron or sandalwood here too, even though it’s not listed). Over time this becomes less red-musky and more of a spicy patchouli scent with a crisp pomegranate-currant note to it. The ‘popcorn’ note still lingers a bit but not as strongly as before. I do think this is nicer as a skin scent than a bath oil (maybe as an after-bath oil?) but I’m surprised that this isn’t wowing me as much as expected-since I normally love all the notes here and I’m a huge fan of the red musk scents. But I think I prefer Mme Moriarty and Scherezade.

Mort de Cesar In the bottle: mmm, rich clove incense and musk! Wet on skin: whoa, I smell the spikenard straight away. A rich dark earthy musky incense, with clove. Dry on skin: this is strong stuff! There’s a really strange, rather sour smell to it like sour camomile with sage and saffron, I’m not sure what that is (maybe the tagetes?). It reminds me of something I disliked in Delphi, but I find it more tolerable here. I also get a ‘savoury spice’ scent from this, rather like cumin or turmeric. I see why others say it reminds them of meat…I don’t get meat but it smells savoury and strange, I hope it tones down. I also smell the blood, which is a much rawer blood note than usual. It smells unusual, a bit sweaty (almost unwashed at times), feral and musky, unsettling…but also exotic. I also smell the earthy spikenard incense and the clove note, which adds a sweeter spiciness to the scent. I smell a soft amber-musk too which adds a smoothness to this dark scent, but no jasmine, opoponax or grapes. After a while: the sour-savoury smell eventually goes, and what I am left with is so beautiful! it reminds me of a cross between the original Three Witches (that same creamy clove) and Diwali (floral sweet spicy incense) with a dark, metallic-fruity note of blood-tinged wine, and a beautiful amber glow. I love the amber musk in here. This now doesn’t smell uncomfortable or dirty, but cosy and spicy and enchanting. Eventually this smells like a darker, less fruity Diwali, the clove note is so lovely here, so strong and not bitter at all, but sweet and smooth, and the amber musk is velvety and golden, and I just love the smoky-dirty-incensey note of the spikenard underneath it all. I don’t get much of the jasmine attar. This then mellows into a comforting clove and amber musk scent with incense. Now it reminds me a bit of Longing and Morocco, maybe also Bastet, but more intense…almost masculine at times, but not too much. It smells strong and powerful and entrancing. And full of clovey goodness. Verdict: at first, I really am not keen on this. There’s a spice note here, not sure what, that smells so pungent, so strong and a little bit off putting. Kind of like a dirty sour sweat smell mixed with a savoury spice-herbs. But underneath I smell the sweetness and warmth of the clove, the musk, the rich spikenard incense. thankfully that pungent scent does disappear quickly and the scent that remains is incredible. Sweet, velvety, rich and decadent, a scent of cloves and warm amber musk with incense and a hint of wine. I adore the clove note here and the amber musk is so gorgeous. It smells a tiny bit like a very good manly perfume, but a bit more unisex. It gets smoother and more delectable as the scent develops, that wonderful creamy clove and musk scent with a hint of incense smoke that has amazing throw and makes me want to sniff my wrist compulsively. I really love the drydown, despite that wet stage that I really don’t like, because of this I am unsure as to whether to keep my backup bottle, but I know that I’m keeping at least one bottle of this. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Yes! Not sure if I’ll keep two bottles, but certainly one. If you like this, try: Diwali, Count Dracula, Lycaon, Dracul, Smiling Spider, I Married a Vampire from Planet X

Luperci 08 In the imp: PATCHOULI. And a bit of moss and honey. But this is heavy on the patch. Wet on skin: deep, dark patchouli with a woodsy note, a hint of juniper, some beeswax and moss. Dry: whilst the 06 version has aged into a wonderful earthy honeyed incense with a bit of mossy wood, and 07 was very heavy on the moss, this is all about the patchouli. There is a hint of incense to it, and the beeswax in here is wonderful, and there’s that gorgeous earthy smell like tree roots to it, along with moss. There’s also something about it which reminds me of Shanghai Tunnel, the moss maybe? I adore Luperci 06 and this is closer to it than last year’s version. After a while: ooh, now this actually reminds me of Lush Tramp, with incense! It’s the patchouli-oak moss combination (and there’s a lot of patch here, it’s actually stronger now) but with added incense-like notes, musk and beeswax. But for some reason, I smell frankincense here too? I don’t know why I get resins here, maybe it’s the gurjum balsam? This is a very good version of Luperci on me! This then turns into a gorgeous earthy patchouli incense with a lovely feel of ‘underground’ about it, thanks to the root-like or soil-like scent I sometimes get here. Verdict: I’m now not sure which is my favourite Luperci, the 06 version which has aged magnificently, or this one which smells so good when fresh that I bet it’ll be incredible in a year or two. This is incredibly heavy on the patchouli, but not so much that it blots out the other notes…in fact, this smells like patchouli with incense burning in the depths of an ancient forest. Beeswax and golden resinous/spicy notes with green notes of moss and dark earthy notes. If Lush Tramp were made into incense, it would smell a bit like this, I think. After last year’s being a little too thickly damp and mossy for me, I love this version. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Yes, I got a bottle as a backup for Lup 06. If you like this, try: Omen, Dance of Death, Goblin, Burial, Forbidding Foyer, Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife, Wild Men of Jezirat Al Tennyn

Red Lantern 08 In the imp: caramelised tobacco, very similar to past versions. Wet on skin: now the opium is coming out, along with the coconut. Dry: mmm, this is not as caramelised as 06, this version is a bit like 07 but without the soapy note I got from that version. It smells mainly like light incense with an exotic opium scent, with sandalwood, tobacco, coconut, a little bit of sugar (but not total caramel overload) and something vaguely floral-fruity. it’s a gorgeous coconut-opium incense scent. After a while: now it’s going a bit odd on me. the floral note is smelling really powdery now, and I’m not sure if it’s a good powdery reaction. It still smells of caramelised coconut and tobacco and opium, not much of the amber (which I get lots of from 06), but there is that flowery note which is doing something similar to some violet notes on my skin, turning to an old fashioned powdery smell. it smells a little bit like a traditional dusting powder, and now I also smell that the tobacco is starting to smell a bit burnt, like it did in Black Lace. However this burnt note fades and then the scent turns a little bit cloying on me, with that strong powdery note. it’s not bad, but it’s nothing compared to the first Red Lantern on me (though that scent may be better due to age). However, at times, the throw smells amazing, even more than the close to the skin scent. I wondered ‘what is that fantastic incense?’ and I realised it was coming from Red Lantern! And then I realise that the scent on my skin has improved greatly, now it smells more like RL06. it’s a coconut-opium incense with amber and spices and tobacco, but I swear there’s sandalwood here too. Verdict: this isn’t as lovely as 06, but it’s a lot nicer than 07 was on me. I think age has also helped, maybe because of this version’s freshness, it’s not so good on me? it smells like opium, caramel and coconut with incense, but at times it smells a bit traditionally powdery and a bit cloying, like a kind of dusty smell like scented dusting powder mixed with ashes. I’m not so keen on that-it’s not as soapy as the reaction I got with 07 though, but it lacks the rich amber-caramel-spice of 06. I do like the moments when it smells like sweet coconut and tobacco incense though. But I have enough of the 06 version to keep me satisfied. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? I’m fine with RL 06. If you like this, try: Elegba, Perversion, Goblin, Khajuraho, Opium Poppy

Sugar Moon In the bottle: it’s the lovechild of La Befana and the Emathides-currant, flowers and caramel. Wet on skin: black currant and blackberry (please don’t cat pee on me…) and burnt sugar. Dry on skin: berries! This is actually really nice-it smells like berries covered in brown sugar, with hints of woods, herbs (I swear I smell sage) and musk. The strawberry note doesn’t turn acidic or cloying, the blackberry doesn’t turn to cat pee. I wonder if that ‘miracle musk’, blue musk, which made the normally unwearable lilac so beautiful in Night Thoughts, is also working it’s magic here by making the caramel, blackberry and strawberry smell lovely on me? After a while: now this reminds me of Bitter Moon…but not bitter! It’s got a similar blackberry-rose thing to it, only the blackberry actually smells like berries here, not feline urine. I also smell the woods and musk and even a hint of incense, and brown sugar. This isn’t cloying caramel at all, this is a sugary dark scent like La Befana, but even less caramelised than that. I’d say it was more like Bad Luck Woman Blues? It also reminds me of a less foody version of Knave of Hearts. There’s a lovely tart juiciness like you get in fresh berries, cutting through the sweetness. This then smells just like a berry fruit salad, freshly picked, with hints of wood and musk. It’s such a pretty scent! the brown sugar then turns into the juicier scent of sugar cane, and then it smells like teak and fresh summer berries with something sage-like, and blue musk. Verdict: I wasn’t expecting to love this as much as I do but this is berry perfection on me. So many scents containing strawberry and blackberry smell wrong on me. Not this one. Here, the berry notes smell pure and true, and combined with a darker sugar note than expected, this smells just like a salad of berries sprinkled with brown sugar. The other notes just enhance the lovely fresh sugary berry scent, the woods add a nice solid base, there’s a hint of gentle floral, and the blue musk adds an ethereal lunar glow over everything. This is really beautiful-slightly caramelised but not cloying, and fruity with a tart freshness. I’m going to wear this one a lot…only problem is that now I can’t get the KD Lang song out of my head! Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Yup, this is my favourite blackberry scent. If you like this, try: La Befana, The Emathides, Lady Una, Knave of Hearts, Bitter Moon, Rose Moon, Midnight on the Midway

Anactoria In the imp: a slightly perfumey scent, I think it’s Arabian musk and kush? Wet on skin: mmm, red currants wrapped in musk and a smoky note. Dry: oh, I like this. This is a mature scent, classic in feel, with a golden-red tone to it. I smell the crisp currant note, underneath that is the musk, and I find Arabian musk to be the most ‘perfume-y’ musk in BPAL (and that’s no bad thing) and it’s very strong here. I smell the kush, which also has perfume-y tones but also adds a feel of smoky incense (no hash here) and the amber rounds everything off. I smell very little honey-just a touch of it, but white honey always seems more like flower nectar than honey on me…it’s sweetening up the scent very nicely. After a while: this has now sweetened a lot! It’s almost sugary now. The currant note is reminiscent of the sweet red currant in Fairy Wine, and the amber has now strengthened a bit. The honey is still of the sweet nectar-y variety, the kush has become a little smokier (it actually smells like a tobacco perfume in here) and the musk gives the scent a very classy aura. I must say, after an hour or so, the musk has merged with the amber and currant, to give an effect very much like the musk-plum-amber in Snake Charmer. Of course this doesn’t smell like SC, but there’s a slight resemblance which I love! After some time I smell some of the dragon’s blood-and it’s not the resin that turns to red crayons/wilted lilacs on me, but the DB I like that was also in Red Moon 07 and Vampire from Planet X. The musk, kush, currant and amber are still going strong but now I smell the DB and also more honey. Verdict: this is another sexy stunner of a scent! This smells very sophisticated and classy but with an undertone of something sensual and raunchy to it. My decant and my bottle smell a little different-in the decant it smelt at first like a perfumey currant scent, with the very grown up and perfume-like exotic scent of Arabian musk mixed with honey and tart currant boosted by the wonderful amber and with a smoky incense undertone. This then turned even more wonderful as the musk, amber and fruit notes went all Snake Charmer on me (not identical, but there’s a similarity-it’s SC without vanilla) at times. The bottle on the other hand has more of the SC-like scent to it, and as a result I am besotted with this scent. This is another one of those stunning blends of amber and musk and fruit with a bit of honey and smoke-it’s like Snake Charmer, but all dressed up for a night on the town. A new Lupercalia love. I bet it will be amazing when aged too. Emoticon rating: Is it a keeper? Yes! I have two bottles. If you like this, try: Nahemoth, Skuld, Bathsheba, O, Fairy Wine, Othello, Eat Me, Svadhopatika