shadesong

In bottle: Very sweet, and a little bit floral. On me: Goes baby-powdery on me. Floral Grandma powder. ... o.O And then it morphs into non-floral sweet lightness. Huh.

In bottle: Slightly foody, but mostly laid over by those herbs. On me: Figs and dates, close to the skin, with that darkness over them. Sweet, but earthy.

In bottle: Hm! Splash is the right word! The myrrh is stirred with the musk, and I get little lightning-flashes of vetiver and mullein. On me: So much sweetness, with a nose-tickling musk behind it. ...wait. Is there fir in this? Fir's not listed, but I'm picking some up, I swear.

In bottle: Vetiver, musk, and the bite of ginger. On me: Something sweet and dark. Folds of soft leather. The ginger and pepper are subtle here. This is a leather garment infused with the scent of its wearer, held foldly by a lover in the wearer's absence. Beautiful. I need a bottle!

In bottle: Y'know how Storm Moon captured the clear, crystalline moment before the storm? Thunder Moon captures the moment after that, right before hell breaks loose. Smells like standing outside in a hurricane. On me: Gorgeous dark ozone. Mmmm. Must do a side-by-side comparison between this and my beloved Storm Moon...

In bottle: The sweet richness of ocean-dwelling plants, full and gorgeous. On me: Yesterday, this gave me the bitchslap of floral hell when applied. Today, it's not. Today, it preserves the gentle marine plant scent, ropes of seaweed brushing past as you swim out. Reminds me of Yemaya without the melons. Very variable, this selkie. Quite appropriate, in fact.

In bottle: Honeysuckle-sweet, with a bit of a kick. On me: Deeply sweet - with the pepper woven inextricably through it, like a lacy red petticoat under pastel skirts. Hermia, too, is little but fierce, and this scent reminds one of that. This is a sweet spice, the less in-your-face kid sister of Bengal.

In bottle: Oakmoss, with a green-plant note to it... On me: Ooooh. This is delicious. Lickable. A well-rounded musky greenness, sage lifting it, heather lending sweetness. Almost slightly fruity. A forest in spring, and Robin Goodfellow hiding among the leaves and making sport.

The Poison of God. Lies, falsehood, dishonesty, glib tongues, over-rationalization, skepticism, cynicism, denial of faith. Governed by Adramelech, The Hypocrite, Chancellor of Hell, Master of Satan's Wardrobe. In bottle: Something sharp and chemical. On me: FLORAL DOOM. Okay, not that bad, but only because it has very little throw.

In bottle: Very light. Cedar? On me: A nice light slightly-spicy wood. Like an old pantry long-since cleared of the spice rack.

The Disputers. Pride, stress and disorder, strain, contention, conflict, futility. Governed by Belphegor, The Lord of the Openings, who seduces men to evil through wealth through ingenuity. In bottle: Yellow flowers. On me: Light. Clean to the point of starchy.

In bottle: Sweet and lightly fruity! On me: Strawberry. With... apricot? Asmodeus is playing with Strawberry Shortcake dolls! And eating Pez.

In bottle: Slight bitchslap of foody - hey, it's breakfast time! - followed by tart blackberry. On me: This changes from day to day. Yesterday, it was blueberry pancakes with lots of syrup at IHOP. Today, it's tart berries smothering a crisp scone. I'm picking up some black currant in here, too. Yay sophisticated foody!

In bottle: Confusing! A sweet, almost commercial-perfume scent, with a jumble of Stuff lurking in the background. On me: Not commercial. A bit of musk, a *tiny* bit of floral. Smooth, musky, creamy, not too heavy.

In bottle: Stone and wood. Wet stone. On me: What's lost can yet be found/Under/Underground. Ummm. This is dark. Hand on the damp stone wall, age-silvered wood overhead. Lichen. Secrets. Oh, this is a new favorite.

In bottle: Sharp chemical sifts down to soft floral. Definitely gardenia. The chemical bit makes me think some rose is lurking around. On me: Gardenia gardenia gardenia! Softened, though, by other white florals, and a baby-powder background. This doesn't actually hate my skin, but it's not very me.

In bottle: Light and pretty, slightly gingery. On me: Soft. Smooth. Elegant. That ginger, and... there's something papery in here, which is bringing to mind the ginger chews candies I always have in my house, the ones where you unwrap them and then peel the ginger off that floured inner paper. It's not a blatant foodie. I'd be hard-pressed to categorize it. It is beautiful and light and crinkly.

A gloriously elegant representation of Lady Death. Dry, bone-white orris, black musk, serpentine patchouli and our murkiest myrrh. In bottle: Patchouli and orris. On me: Huh. This is too *sweet*. Which is strange, because none of the notes listed tend to be sweet - save the myrrh, and that's not what this smells like. This is *syrupy*. And - that goes away. To something really dry, soft, and unpleasant... cave full of ancient bones, and a Death that hasn't showered in a while.

In bottle: Unexpectedly... fruity? On me: Yeah. This is fruity. Peculiar. And it's totally not the fruits I like. Bleh. *reads others' reactions* I don't get chocolate at all. Maybe... part of what I'm getting is fake-chocolate, like the flavor of chocolate-flavored-coffee; that always tastes stale-grape-y to me. But yeah. I don't get chocolate or rose. Just fruity, with slivered almonds on top.

In bottle: The juniper hits first, as always - but it's almost immediately cushioned by oakmoss. On me: The juniper goes mild! It's buried in a haze of resin, patchouli with wisps of myrrh. The oakmoss vanishes. Aw. I liked the oakmoss.

In bottle: Mostly honey, with the other stuff behind it. On me: The honey goes very light, becoming a note that sweetens the musk rather than one that dominates it. The ylang ylang is also very restrained, thank goodness.

In bottle: Mmmm. Mostly pine and evergreens - almost tactile. On me: Cool, sharp - quiet in the center of these woods. Stop. Breathe. Bark under your hands, sunlight filtering through the pines. One of the things I love about BPAL forest blends is that every blend smells *different*, like every forest does. Glad I ordered a bottle of this forest-at-sunrise.

In bottle: Yep. Wool. How does she *do* that? On me: And the rose comes up. This is... great-gramma's wool sweaters, stored in the closet, liberally spritzed with her perfume.

In bottle: *eyes wide* Sweet coffee with cinnamon... On me: *falls over* Oh my hell. This is - Miskatonic University and Herr Drosselmeyer's love child, with a lick of Hearth 2004. *inhales arm* Oh, man . This is gorgeous. I think I need to find a backup bottle!

In bottle: This is dark, and it is *ew*. On me: Yeah. It's dark, thick, and sludgy. Blech. I like mahogany wood and tobacco, so it's not that.