Caltha

Rosalind This one is a morpher and not quite to my liking. It starts out light and fresh and grassy with a hint of floral like peony or lily of the valley. Unfortionately slightly soapy/sharp. It dries to something very light and generic schampoo fresch, grassy/floral/citrusy. But what clings to the skin is a candy sweet berry scent I think of as hot pink. Very girlie and cute and a bit over-the-top. Evil berries.

The Dormouse I'm a sucker for the fresh tea scents so I naturally like this, although it's not BPAL's best tea scent. It's grassy and green and citrusy and perhaps vaguely flowery/herbal, but it turns a little schampoo-ish. Still decidedly nice though.

Roadhouse Roadhouse is surprisingly light and fresh, no booze, just grass, herbs and dandelions, unfortionately a bit perfumey. I really liked it at first, it's quite original, but unfortionately it gets this generic schampoo freshness more and more as it dries, and also with the plastic honey note I always get with honey. Too bad.

Bengal This has a certain something, it might be the BPAL cinnamon but I also associate it with Dragon's blood. Anyway, it's a sort of "red" and spicy scent that's extremely parfumey and artificial and almost nauseating on my skin. Sweet, warm and spicy with perfumey flowers which turns into warm, dry, un-sweet cinnamon with a soapy touch.

Tintagel A christmasy scent to me: sweet, plastic berries with evergreens, juniper maybe. I also get plastic honey, cinnamon and wood. As it dries the candy sweet berries (cherry candy perhaps) dominate and I only get the faintest trace of juniper. The curse of berries, they always turn plastic and sweet and overbearing on my skin.

Laudanum Sharp, leathery dry and herbally bitter. A little murky, original but unpleasant. As it dries it gets more plesant: woody, dry, warm and warming. Still, I gave it away and I won't miss it.

Gluttony This is really candy, I get burnt sugar, syrup and honey, somewhere in between nauseating and cosy. As it dries it gets drier, more woody, like wood with caramel and burnt sugar. It also gets a little more plastic, I think it's the typical plastic honey scent.

Dance Macabre It starts out as a sharp, poisonous herbal/woody/piney smell, dry and warm. As it dries it gets fainter and fresher and I get citrus and schampoo with a hint of pine.

Hamadryad I get cinnamon and cirtrus and a herbal freschness with an undertone of something bitter/dry/soapy. As it dries it turns to extremely dry cinnamon over a base of sweet, flowery, soapy generic perfume. Not natural at all and not my cup of tea.

Burial Burial starts with a blast of citrus. I also detect something woody/piney and something clean and fresch like lavender or lilac. It's a dark scent, and it dries to herbally bitter but warm and not unpleasant. The lilac or whatever flower it is stays and keeps it from becoming generic masculine. I like it, it's original and interesting.

Bastet Bastet is candy sweet, warm, dry and powdery and a little plastic. I think I can detect some citrus and/or flower. As it dries it's still warm and spicy sweet but unfortionately turns more plastic and soapy. I'm afraid it is the Play-doh phenomenon.

Kabuki Wet, it smells of mahogany, anise and cherries. It's warm, dry and oriental and the mahogany/cherry combo reminds me of the Red Queen. Unfortionately, the cherries are a little plastic. Dry, it has a warm, dry aura of red musk and on the skin it smells like cherry candy and anise. It's sweet but I think I prefer Kyoto, it's more sophisticated and enigmatic.

Devil's Night This has the warm, cosy spiciness of dry leaves, almost a gingerbread spiciness in the vein of Gingerbread poppet or GothRosary's Samhain. A very "natural" scent but yet not, dry leaves don't smell this much or this sweet. As it dries it turns cooler and fainter and slightly soapier, I guess that's the nighttime air kicking in, but still warm and cinnamony spicy. Not so Halloweeny for me, and a bit generic since I can name others in the same warm/spicy/dry/natural vein, but still nice. I wouldn't mind a little more booze, treats and firesmoke though.

Justice Got this in a swap with Loligo. Justice starts out as an original and pleasant mix between cinnamony/spicy, citrusy/fruity and soapy/fresh. As it dries, the soap unfortionately takes over and it turns into a soapy freshness with a warming undertone of something spicy/woody. It's not unpleasant but I don't like the soap-tingling in my nose.

Wrath Got this in a swap with ladymissspyder. Wrath has a strange hay/grass/herbal note on me - an extremely perfumey note. It is also sort of cinnamony, peppery and woody, a dry and warm scent. It's not sweet, but it's sort of sickly as if it was sweet. Almost floral, or just perfumey. I suspect it's the dragon's blood, I'll keep away from dragon's blood in the future.

Zephyr Got this in a swap with ephemera, and she warned me it didn't smell like her other Zephyr, so feel free to ignore this review. To me, this is a generic fresh, clean, green, herbal, citrusy scent, a bit artificial smelling. Nice enough but not very interesting. My sister did appreciate it more though.

Fire Eater Got this in a swap with ladymissspyder. Fire Eater is herbally bitter and perhaps a little spicy and floral on me. Can't make out any notes and I don't like it. It's also quite faint.

Medicine Show Got this in a swap with ephemera. Medicine show is an extremely dry scent. Varm, dry, bitter, a bit herbal and citrusy perhaps and quite unpleasant. As it dries it gets a bit soapy/powdery on me. Not very strong but sharp. Interesting and original but too unpleasant for me.

Freak Show Got this in a swap with ephemera. Freak show is similar to Cerberus on me, I guess it's the common notes of cocoa and fig. I can't do BPAL fig, I think that's the villain behind the plasticky scent of both Freak show and Cerberus. They do this: At first a whiff of cocoa which sadly vanishes immediately. Then a quite interesting citrusy, woody smell. Then a sweet, fruity, artificial candy scent with almost rotten undertones. Off to swaps.

Muse Got this in a swap with fudge pop. At first Muse is a sharp, soapy floral with perhaps a hint of lime peel. It has a sort of "vintage perfume" quality that reminds me of Siren, but not as intriguing. It dries to pure, generic, sharp, perfumey soap. I guess it's one of the floral notes that turns to soap on my skin. Too bad, I'm still looking for something with lime in it...

The Hermit Got this in a swap with paperdoll. The Hermit is a fruity, young, cheerful, sweet, fresh scent similar to Mi-Go Brain Canister. It doesn't fit the name very well. It has a sort of nectar/honey sweetness I enjoy which reminds me more of Dunwich or Bayou than Mi-Go and makes me like it more than Mi-Go. I think I'll keep it for days when I feel like it. Besides, I identify with hermits even though this scent doesn't make me think of hermits at all.

Death Got this in a swap with paperdoll. Death is a strong, dark, bitter, poisonous herbal/woody scent in the same vein as Hexennacht but not as unpleasant. Not very pleasant either so off to swaps!

Belle Époque Got this in a swap with brownbear. I'm afraid Belle Époque was pretty blah on me. At first it was a sharp, almost insect repellant sharp, citrus and then it mellowed and went quite generic perfumey, a little woody, a little spicy, a little floral. Not unpleasant but not very interesting either.

Hexennacht Got this in a swap with Bain. Hexennacht does a similar thing as some other BPALs on my skin, it turns into a sort of almost marzipan-like murky, musty bitterness. I might detect some coniferous wood as well, but what is worse I also detect the sour smell of a compost pile. As it dries it gets a little sweeter, drier and woodier and over a couple of hours the rotten compost scent morphs into a herbal/chemical bitterness I recognize from Djinn - I guess it's the common "fire" note. Well, what more can I say.... Off to swaps!

Siren I got the imp in a swap with Shollin. When I put it on I was thrilled to actually pick up the ginger. I love ginger but I didn't get it in Kumiho, I read it as citrus. Siren is strangely spicy and almost buttery at the same time, as well as strangely familiar and completely original at the same time. I get a clear "vintage" feeling, but it doesn't smell like any old perfume I recognize, I just imagine old moviestars, femme fatales and divas to smell like this. I would describe it as "spicy and fruity" but it doesn't smell like any spicy or fruity perfume I have come across so far and after the ginger note has faded in the drydown I can't recognize any specific spice or fruit notes, the fruit is more like a sweet/creamy/round/buttery base for the general spiciness. I'm very intrigued by this scent. It doesn't smell simply "good" as in "eat me", it's more of a challenge and very evocative. I do think it's the ginger note that gives it the "vintage" atmosphere, the general spiciness of an old elegant lady's house, the cookies in the kitchen as well as her old perfumes on the dresser.