obsidienne

I wore Rose Red earlier today and was thinking that it smells like snowy, lemony roses. Which made me pull out Delerium and swipe a bit of that on to compare. Delerium is actually almost nicer. Softer, less perfumey and sharp, and the apple? Well... I love apple, there's nothing more I can say about that. Delerium starts off quite lemony and kind of green apple-ish, but give it a chance to settle and a delicate apple-rose develops, with the citrus just hovering about, adding sparkle. It's so pretty and bright, very cheerful. It doesn't last too long, but the throw was fairly decent while it did live on my skin. Delerium is also a decent substitute for Rose Red; they're not the same, but they have the same overall feeling. In my opinion, anyway.

This is sort of a darker rose-patchouli-woodsy sort of blend. A touch herbal and warm, darker, more masculine than feminine. The wood is just a touch too strong for me, unfortunately. I'd really like to smell this on a man.

Mmmmmmm... this is just a soft wafting spring floral. Very delicate, yet also strong. A hint of green, but so light that it's a refreshing touch but not bitter or sharp. Wish I could say more, but it's just not coming to me. To be noted, however, is how unsoapy the lilies are. Yay! Overall: Soft, sweet, spring-like. This reminds me of both E Pluribus Unum (without the harsh green notes) and also, the tiniest bit like Cheshire Moon (somehow).

Khajuraho is nothing like what I expected. It's sort of sweet, but also extremely woodsy, and I keep thinking I smell cedar; perhaps this is a sandalwood I am unfamiliar with. The amber note is really sour and powdery on me. There is also an almost lemon-floral overtone to it? The vanilla and honey are subtle. It's just a weird scent for me. It smells like a masculine blend, exotic and full of sun and sand and desert. But not right for me. Bleh.

I don't know if it's just due to aging or whatever, but this smells a great deal like a combination of Katrina van Tassel and a very aged imp of Rakshasa that I used to have... except with more depth and complexity due to the other notes. It can almost go soapy, so I try not to slather it on, which is my instinct with rose blends. Throw is good, and it lasts for quite a while, as well. Overall, Rose Moon is intense and deep honeyed roses, enhanced by the other florals, and spiced with patchouli and tiny flashes of lemon. Truly gorgeous! Admittedly, I'm really curious as to what this was like when fresh. (edited to reflect new perspective )

WoND has a sort of grapey/cucumberish floral hairspray smell (is that perhaps gardenia? no, geranium? maybe violet? all of them? some of them? I'm awful at this), both wet in the imp and on my skin. It's almost salty and aquatic, too. Water of Notre Dame. Problem is, it also makes my sinuses pick up the mucus and start flinging. I get totally stuffed up within minutes, & then there's the sneezing. What the hell? Drydown and several nose blowings later, it smells like all of the above the above, but now under a veil of rose. Interesting and... interesting? *shrug* This is meant to calm me down, but with the sneezing and the stuffiness that ensue each time I try this blend, it's not exactly working. My sinuses do settle down eventually, but WoND does not quite smell right to me. This is very strong both in intensity and throw until late drydown (and I suspect that's saying a great deal, as I don't seem to find most BPAL scents very strong... my nose is probably not very efficient).

First impression: pungent, herbal/slightly soapy rose + mild patchouli. Reminds me a great deal of Rakshasa, but without such an intense soap factor, and it has other notes to make it more interesting... I'm also getting almond, a hint of spice (maybe that spicy note is strong carnation instead of cinnamon, which was my first thought), and maybe some lily (?) and something green. It started off a bit funky, but it's getting prettier. Really complex; I like blends like this, where it's hard to really tell what's going on. It has amazing throw. Wow. I have not been able to say this about many blends, but this is strong. It smells best if I just sniff at the throw and not too close to my wrist. It is medicinal and soapy overall for me, however, so it's going to be used only for its intended purpose, never as "just perfume".

Sweet cucumber with some grassy overtones. More cucumberish than real cucumber (it's concentrated). I am not sure why anyone would want to wear this as a perfume, but it's quite refreshing, light and summery! It makes me want to eat a salad or some tatziki, really.

This reminds me of your average marine-themed bath products -- all green-blue seaweeds & a hint of ocean salt. It's not my kind of perfume, but I can see myself putting a bit of it in the bathtub (or an oil burner while in the tub).

Another tea blend that doesn't work for me. Maiden smells all sharp white tea with a bare hint of rose beneath. Almost citrusy white tea. I'm wearing it in a locket since my skins eats everything, and 6 hours later I am still getting whiffs of Maiden, but the resultant thought-process is that I am smelling deodorant/anti-perspirant! So yeah, this smells like that a bit. Can't recall which brand. This is like a rosy Dormouse, to me. No carnation appears. Not for me.

Juicy blackberries and soft pink & purple florals with a hint of aquatic freshness -- not the dryer sheet kind of aquatic, either. It makes me think of bright green hills covered in purple flowers with an ocean breeze wafting the scent of luscious ripening blackberries to my nose. Another poster used the word "lively" to describe Glasgow, and that's a perfect description! On the skin, the blackberries amp most, and are sweet but not too sweet (in other words, they are perfect IMO!); the heather is soft, springy and fresh, with a bit of a herbal and even vaguely soapy undertone, but I mean that in a really good way. It's too bad it doesn't last longer on the skin, because skin-wear is the most beautiful way to get the full effect. It fades very fast. A slatherer. In a scent locket it's more balanced between the berry, floral and light herbal/aquatic aspects. The blackberry doesn't amp as much and the scent is a bit sharper overall, but it's still gorgeous. Truly gorgeous. This will likely last all day in the locket. Mmmmmmm, Glasgow.

It finally happened: I found a jasmine I like! And it has somehow opened the door for other jasmine blends. Yay! This starts off very myrrh-jasmine. As it dries down, a soft, sweet rose pops up beneath the two, and the jasmine recedes a bit. I tested this at the same time as Nyx to get a feel for the differences, and the result of that test is that I call Wicked "the myrrh blend" and Nyx "the jasmine blend", because overall the myrrh takes centre stage in Wicked once it's all dried down. The jasmine grows more and more subtle to provide a dark floral roundness to the scent, and the rose becomes the brightest note, albeit very softly. That myrrh-rose stage seems prominent in early drydown... but at far drydown, it developed a wee plasticky note, which is a new experience for me with any of these notes. It may well have been hormones, though. That said, I'd get a big bottle of Wicked despite the possible plastic. This blend is gorgeous. (edited to reflect updated perceptions of this blend)

Amsterdam starts out a bit sharp in the imp and on the skin; it must be due to the grass and aquatic nature of the blend. But it developed into a delicate, sweet peony with only hints of aquatic and grass. My kind of perfume! I tend to dislike the aquatic blends, but not so here. This is a beautiful, light springtime scent. I'm in love with too many damn scents.

I didn't like it immediately in the imp, but on my skin it bloomed into the deepest darkest wine red earthy rose. There is a delicate touch of deep green moss and rose leaf. This is so beautiful. I'm at a loss for words to describe this exquisite blend. I make it a point to try a lot of rose blends (it's my favourite flower), and this is one of the most amazing I've tried so far. This was a frimp from the Lab. Thank you times a million. I would not have ordered this on my own due to the "earth" description, and that would have been a crime! Zombi:

Awwwww yeah. This scent is chocolatey caramel vanilla toffee sugar yum yums. I am sure it is why I craved chocolate all day yesterday, bought a bunch from Purdy's, then ate myself sick on it. It's warm, dark and extremely rich foody gorgeousness. It's not simple, however, thanks to all of the different notes, but the overall effect inspires gluttony! On chocolate and almond crunch.

Funny that I still have no idea what real violet smells like. I do know what gardenia smells like, however. This starts off soapy-peppery gardenia with very subtle vanilla and a sweet floral, which must be violet since it couldn't be anything else. It takes a while, but eventually the soapy-gardenia wears off and I am left with a light, warm, sweet vanilla-floral. Very lovely, but simple as well.

Nuclear Winter was a last minute order, and I'm happy I added it. In the bottle and wet it's a wallop of minty lusciousness, and my favourite of all is the spearmint note. Which burns off pretty fast, but it's fantastic while it lasts. As the mints calm down, pine and white (?) musk amp out, with a hint of sweetness. Also, there must be a floral in there, because this is very similar to Snow Bunny... like a minty Snow Bunny without the perfumey sneeze factor. I also think there may be some eucalyptus. The overall effect is very cool, slushy, and, well, energetic. It's something I'd wear to keep me awake. It makes me think of pale winter sun. Further along drydown, the pine/white musk/floral gets sweeter. The mint has moved to the background. I think this is a fairly unisex blend. Throw is about medium-good. Morphs a lot, and quickly, and is very different from wet to far drydown. I love it. If I run out, I'll be ordering another; this is what I think I wanted Snow Bunny to be.... really, they are very similar. Yet, uh, different. edit: I'm reviewing Nuclear Winter 2008.

MMMMmmmmm. In the imp, bright pale lavender and hints of citrus. Fresh on the skin, a sharp lavender with pale sweet florals and citrus peeking out from behind it. There's a green note here, it must be the absinthe. As it dries down, the lavender citrus burns off and sweet light florals waft up; then hints of woods and coriander (omg omg omg, it's so good, I love coriander); and now, the whiskey. It ends sort of subtle, sweet and floral-whisky. Oh my lords. Started off strong, got a little calmer in terms of throw and strength as it dried down. Far drydown saw it get really light, just a shadow. This blend morphs like crazy, and each stage is exciting and fun and gorgeous. It's like a party. Not what I'd expect from a blend called Tavern of Hell!

In the imp I get a blend of dragon's blood and vetivert, but it's not strong, which is the way I usually perceive those scents. In fact, it's very pale and thin smelling. Which is not what I am reading from others' experiences! On the skin, same, but the vetivert amps a bit and I get a sense of thin, dried wood, faint dragon's blood, and a hint of salt. It's a tiny bit sweet, too; am I smelling a very light floral as well? Drydown was the weirdest. Pale, thin and sweet: It reminds me of the thinnest dragon's blood watered down with lilacs and a teensy hint of salt. Vetivert melted into it to provide the faintest hint of those thin, dried woods. Just a hint. Not entirely my bag, yet I was drawn to keep sniffing my wrist. I'm going to try this again in a few weeks; I feel like I'm not "getting" it.

Harlot smells much like you'd expect: luscious roses with cinnamon. No surprises. The three roses together smell very sweet and almost hot (hi, cinnamon) or... like candied roses. It's a hot summer's day in a rose garden. A lot of the rose blends get a little soapy to me, but this one stays perfect and full. That said, the cinnamon amps very strongly as it dries down and takes over the perfume, so that initial sweet rose effect gets pushed back. Overall, it's a bit simple... which is why I am not coming up with a lot to say about it here. Scent locket test pending.

This smells like shadows and spice; it's beautiful, deep, dark, and mysterious. Patchouli and vetiver meld with a gentle cinnamon to produce this dark yet warm effect; the cedarwood is subtle and doesn't turn to pencil shavings here, perhaps it lightens it a little. It makes me feel beautiful, deep, dark, and mysterious. Wow. What a lovely surprise. Thank you Lab.

Les Fleurs du Mal starts off a strong rose with lilac & wisteria adding depth... then it amps into a soapy rose blend with highlights of soapy lilac and soapy wisteria. The lilac and wisteria war over top the rose for dominance as the blend dries and develops, and this war isn't over quickly. At times, it's gorgeous. At other times, it's soap. The rose is always there, it's those other two that can't get along. In the end, it calmed down and was pretty, but still reminded me of floral soap. Pretty, but still soap. This is the third Ars Moriendi blend that did the soap thing to me. I'll try it again, maybe it's hormones.

The first moment I smelled this in the imp, I knew it'd be 5ml worthy. It starts off sweet & yet sharp at the same time, almost like anise or licorice (is it oakmoss? bergamot + oakmoss? I have no idea! I just love it!), then dries down into a light, faintly sweet peach touched with all of these other notes keeping it interesting. The oakmoss/bergamot thing keeps it summery, fresh and sparkling. It's utterly beautiful, like twilight on a summer's night in an enchanted forest. Most certainly fae.

Oh my god. At first I was all like, "Why does this smell so familiar (and good!)?" Then, when I went to post a review, I read another review here that mentioned "Sugar Cookie". And that's it! This smells like an evil Sugar Cookie that had sex with a spicy ginger snap. This is their baby. There is a hint of Rum Butter Cookie as well, but without the curry-note that somehow happened to me. Just barely. I really had no idea this would smell so foodie from the description. It started off a little different, of course. At first there was a kind of weird incensey-dirty undertone that was not so much my thing. As it dried down, the spices started to amp, especially clove and cinnamon (wee bit of burning where I applied it, too). Eventually, the delicious cookie-spawn scent emerged. The resinous notes persist beneath the apparent foodiness, but very subtly. And sometimes, I think I get a whiff of those ritual herbs, but it's really hard to be sure. Great throw. Great smell! It's sexy and kind of relaxing.

This starts out really peppery and tropical. The golden amber adds a warm, down to earth depth to the vibrant tropical floral, while the pepper has a bite to it that says "I mean business." That business? Being sexy, fun and awesome. As it dries down, it gets ... um... thicker. Sweeter. The amber and pepper blend a bit more and pull it all together, making this a different type of floral. Nose-glued-to-wrist addictiveness. Hermia starts off strong and fades back into medium throw. This scent is a warm, glowing sungold-pink. I don't know what else to say. Uh... Get some!