Caltha

Al-Shairan Immediatly after application, Al-Shairan has a nice, dry, woody spiciness going on, but then it turns to sharp soap and stays that wat. Slightly spicy, woody soap but definitely soap. Damn my skin chemistry.

Thanks for the tip on Othello. I have tried DeSade and it's alright but I find pure leather a little dull... Perhaps for layering with some scent I find too faint and fresh and cologne-y though? Like an extra boost to Severin... I would try that if I didn't give my DeSade imp away... A lot of florals definitely turn soapy on my skin, it's like a chemical reaction, they go all sharp and I almost taste the soap in my throat. It might happen to some other notes as well but I'm not sure which... I hope it's not woods because I want to like woods! I'm trying to keep track of what notes work and what notes don't so hopefully I'll find out...

Thanks for your tips! I'm definitely tempted buy Dee, Old Scratch and perhaps Usher too (I do like Severin, it's just so understated). Unfortionately, resins are very evil on me, especially myrrh, frankincense, patchouli, incense and civet and I definitely didn't like Penitence. Musks and amber seem to work much better on my skin. I also sadly seem to have a problem with woods such as sandalwood, rosewood and cedar and with vetiver. I really want to love the green/woody scents but they rarely seem to work on my skin... Can woods possibly turn soapy or is it something else in the scent? Aquatics/ozone, which "masculine" scents often are, dont work either, they turn very artificial, and I don't much fancy "fresh" stuff like eucalyptus and mint (but I love citrus). I like spicy scents but they are seldom masculine to me, they are more often sweet and warm as classical oriental ladies perfume I guess it's not quite true I sweeten everything, it's rather that I sweeten fruits and flowers very much so that they overpower a scent completely, while some other notes such as resins, woods and herbs may turn very bitter and acrid and sometimes rottening instead. Actually, it's a wonder I have so many scents I like... Which is, perhaps, because I don't mind sweetness most of the time, I'd just like some more masculine scents as well for variation... And oh, I forgot to mention, I do love Hellfire, pipe tobacco seems to work very well with me, as well as leather, that's a cosy, comfy, masculine/unisex scent I recommend.

When I write my reviews, I write the name of the scent in the colour I associate it with. It may not always be spot-on since there are so few hues to choose from, but here's a list of red/brown scents based on that (regardless of whether I like the scent or not): More reddish: Red Devil Bordello Marquise de Merteuil Fenris Wolf Dragon's Heart Lurid Lampades Perversion Rosalind Bengal Tintagel Kabuki Kali More brownish: Gomorrah Depraved Ulalume Gingerbread poppet Penny dreadful 13 Mabon Hellfire Zombi Nemesis Penitence Lust Centzon Totochtin Hamadryad Devil's Night Wrath Freak Show Wildfire Velvet Kyoto Scherezade Faustus The Red Queen Djinn The Hesperides

I love Centzon Totochtin, but neither Velvet nor Cerberus worked on my skin. I like Spooky, but the chocolate note disappears almost instantly. I haven't tried Bliss, but for more pure chocolatey goodness I'd recommend AvaLuxe's Luxe Chocolate and DSHs Bois du Chocolate and Creamy chocolate. Fleurs de chocolate is pretty nice too, a chocolatey floral. Also, Dream Esscents have quite a lot of chocolate scents, although I havent't tried them yet.

I think Gothrosary's Wicked is a very nice fresh, green tobacco scent. It also has a leather note which makes it strong and sweet and creamy though, perhaps better as a skin scent than for a car named Rupert?

It seems like most people recommend sweet and fruity scents as scents to make you smile, but for "witty" I have to say Severin. It's an extremely dry and faint scent, not sweet at all, papery dry with citrus freshness, like an English gentleman with an understated, dry sense of humour. Like Rupert Giles. Witty.

I have a problem: My skin always seems to amp up the sweetness, so the unisex or even masculine scents are "feminized" on me. When they're not sweet they're very sharp and acrid and often sort of rottening instead (a problem I have with some woody/green and smoky/fiery scents). Does anybody else have the same problem and could you recommend some scents that stay masculine/unisex on your female skin? For me, Dorian and Dublin work but they're very sweet. Whitechapel is more girlie than men's cologne. Nosferatu is actually not sweet but it's more of a natural earth scent than masculine perfume. Dracul works fairly well as a sort of warm/spicy/citrusy unisex scent. Burial is pretty unisex too. Severin completely lacks sweetness, which makes it masculine, but it's also extremely faint and clean, not very sexy. De Sade is masculine I guess, pure leather, but a little boring because of that. Tombstone has a dry, dusty, masculine cowboy note but is completely drenched in strong, sweet vanilla. Fenris Wolf was not my thing, too close to the detested Dragon's blood, and might as well be feminine. Absinthe turned to faint pickles. Tintagel was christmasy sweet red candy berries with evergreens. It seems that if the masculine scent contains any flower, berry/fruit (except citrus) or foodie/sweet note that one will overpower the rest and make it all feminine on my skin. What may work on my skin, what may actually stay masculine/unisex (preferably without turning into boring generic men's cologne or extremely acrid)? Black Forest, The Black Tower, Vicomte de Valmont, Casanova, Villain, Dee, Old Scratch, Voodoo, Nero, Golden Priapus, Loup Garou, Antony, Lear, Baron Samedi, Odin...?

Follow Me Boy I'd say Dragon's blood but the oil is yellow, not red. It's a soapy/rottening jasmine/lily floral with spice, pretty much like Dragon's blood on my skin or at least as nauseating (I can't stand Dragon's blood). Follow me boy is more floral though, and for that reason soapier and sharper, especially in the drydown. Strong and sweet and artificial in a sickening way, especially with the added soapy sharpness. I doubt soap will make boys follow me, unless they're really big fans of cleanliness, but since I'm not a sex worker and not particularly fond of the idea of having a trail of men following me around I'm fine with that.

The City in the Sea It's funny, when I tried The City in the Sea on my wrist the other day I could make it out clearly even after an hour, but now when I try on a little more on my chest too it seems to have vanished... I don't really smell it, but I might sort of feel it in the back of my throat. When newly applied, I could smell it faintly and it reminded me of mint scented toothpicks, perhaps because of the combo of fresh/cool and wood. Then I only got a sort of throat-clearing quality out of it, like eucalyptus. Now it's just gone, I can't even smell it on my skin, and it's only been like 15 minutes or so. According to my notes from the first time I tried it on it first had an interesting mix of foody/sweet and soapy/fresh/cool, and when dried was more of a generic fake "ocean" scent: faint, salty, fresh, a little soapy. I just don't do aquatics.

Annabel Lee Annabel Lee smells just like scented erasors or bubble gum. If I try hard I could say it's a cool, watery scent with notes of melon and cucumber, but honestly, it's just perfumed erasor. Definitely not for me.

Vixen To me, Vixen is a "vintage" scent. I think something about BPAL's ginger makes me think vintage, but I also love ginger and wish they would use it more. It reminds me of my beloved Siren, which is also a sort of "vintage ginger"-scent. Siren and Vixen, what a good match. While Siren is a true siren Vixen is the paler human copy though. It's basically a warm and powdery scent, more bitter than Siren and not as round and full. It's also more artifical and I think I can detect amber (not that I ever knew what amber smells like pre-BPAL so I might be imagining things) It's in the oriental scent family which goes well with the vintage vibe.

Nuit ... Her perfume is starry and crystalline, a jewel-clad and glittering paean to night: dazzling white musks, white rose and night-blooming jasmine with the soft moss of moonlit meadows, a waft of Egyptian incense, and a gentle breath of moonflower. I didn't really expect this to work on my skin, too floral, but it turned out to belong to a group of "generic BPAL florals" I like a lot. It reminds me of Bayou, Dunwich and New Orleans: a moist, heavy floral. I'd say lilies: large, white, waxy flowers, but it also has an almost decaying greenhouse scent. I normally don't get a lot of throw but with this floral group I get a sweet floral cloud in the air, while Nuit is a little more soapy directly on the skin. I love it for sentimental reasons because it reminds me of one of my first BPAL loves, Bayou, but it has a certain coolness or freshness that is closer to Dunwich, it's not as cloying as Bayou.

Hell's Belle This reminds me of something but I don't know what. It's sort of sharp and melon-y and citrusy but still sort of cosy. As it dries it gets warmer and cosier, like mulled melon wine, if that's conceivable. It's a warming scent, like a hot punch. I just can't decide if it's gross or comfy, I normally don't like melon but I like the cosy warmth and spiciness of it.

Seraglio It starts out nifty: marzipan and bitter almond with a touch of citrus. As it dries it unfortionately gets plastic and soapy, a sort of generic floral with perhaps a touch of almond.

French Love Floral, vanilla sweet, warm... Sort of artificial but still cosy to begin with. As it dries it gets more plastic and sharp and soapy at the same time as it's sugary sweet. The floral note reminds me of dragon's blood, which I can't stand. "Carnal sin"? Not likely. More like "not tonight honey I just got a headache from your perfume"

The High Priestess It starts out lovely: sweet, vanilla-y, boozy, warm, full... I get wood, maybe mahogany, which reminds me of The Red Queen. As it dries a vanilla liquor note stays but other than that it turns thin and plastic, what a pity...

Red Devil A red scent alright., sweet and warm and cosy. I might get cinnamon and mahogany. There are better "red" scents though, this one is kinda soapy/perfumey... As for the effects - well I don't know but I think I'll feel kinkier and more comfortable in a perfume I actually love.

Asphodel A freebie I didn't expect to like and I was right. To me it's just a pale generic fresh floral: perfumey, with schampoo vibes. I might detect grass and lily of the valley.

Black Pearl The name triggers pleasant thoughts of Jack Sparrow and that's the best thing about it I think. At first I get a scent of burnt sugar with an added citrusy sharpness. I think "cookies with booze" and I like it. As it dries it turns sort of thin and pale and plastic I'm afraid, sweet vanilla with soap.

Queen Mab A freebie I wouldn't have picked myself, too floral I think. It's very girlie and sweet, sort of fruity, sort of floral, perhaps lily of the valley? As it dries it gets a little soapy and get that melony touch I get from certain florals. Very generic perfumey.

Haunted I really like this, it's quite exceptional, I haven't smelled anything like it and yet it's vaguely "vintage", suits the name. First, there's a blast of citrus, sharp and fresh like lime peel (I love lime) but at the same time it has body, it's not one of those simple fresh citrusy things. As it dries I get an odd but pleasant mixture of vanilla sauce, spicy wood and limey freshness. Perhaps a tad plastic but still very nice. Now I'm curious to read what's actually in it... Edit: This is so weird! Amber and musk? It has nothing I usually like in it and I'm normally no good with resins although musk and amber are my "good" resins while stuff like patchouli and myrrh are the bad ones... But where on earth did I get the freshness from? Citrus? Ah well, at least I'm not the only one...

Bordello Bordello is really the curse of the plastic berries on my skin. I liked the concept of amaretto perfume but I only get bubble gum sweetness, extremely plastic and sort of "flat", not a full bodied scent as one might expect from the boozy description. I guess it's just as well, I didn't like the name anyway...

Katharina I get canned peaches in syrup with vanilla sauce. Yup. Kinda cosy, a little tropical, a little plastic.

Depraved I'd call this BPAL generic, it's warm and oriental with a patchouli sharpness and herbal bitterness. It dries to plastic fruit with a bite, smoky almost, and cosy in a weird way. I like it, but I don't know why.