thekittenkat

Is this cinnabar the common ore of mercury, is it or dragon's blood resin? Let's find out, shall we? In the bottle: Sandalwood and lavender. Wet: The dry scent of cinnabar, which is a common ore of mercury, with the sandalwood and lavender now deep in the mix. The dry-down: I'm getting little hints of the mastic and elemi. This is a morpher all the way through, but it should be no surprise, since it's suppose to be mercurial. I an glad that there's something like the metallic ore in here, and not dragon's blood. Dragon's blood is fine, but it's not my choice of scent on a regular day. I'm not liking this as much as I had hoped I would. Think this may become a scent locket oil.

In the bottle: Mint and ozone, with a hint of sweetness from the tonka. Wet: Now the hyssop and lemongrass make their presence known! And more of the mint. The ozone is keeping it somewhat light and airy, but not enough. There's a metallic hint of the tin that's light and fleeting. The dry-down: The hyssop and lemongrass are too too overwhelming. What happened to my beloved ozone, that's what I want to know. I liked this in the bottle, so going to try my scent locket for this.

In the bottle: The orange, the patch, and the pepper are front and center, but the honey is deep down underneath. Wet: Still all the above notes, but the patch and cardamom are coming on strong. I would almost say that there's some vetiver in here, but it's not listed in the notes. I'm thinking that the patch and cardamon's combination might be giving me this aspect. Oh, yay, the apricot is coming out to play with the sweet orange. There's just not enough orange scents yet for me in the BPAL collection, but this one is beautiful so far. The dry-down: Looks like the honey is doing what it should do and blend all the notes together. As it dries, I'm getting hints of the rose, the amber and the sandalwood. I think that this is going to age beautifully, and will be a good winter scent when you want to warm up (especially for those on whom Sol Invictus doesn't work so well), and yet it has a summery air to it. I'll be wearing this next summer as well. It's such a lovely sweet orange scent, with all those other wonderful notes, that I want to nom nom my arm. Luckily, I bought some tangerines at the store tonight. When I first read through the Anniversary Phoenixes, this one jumped out at me right away. It is as lovely as I had hoped it would be.

This is for Spooky Res (09). This smelt like chocolate mint in the bottle. I'm not really a fan of that combination, but since this was a Res blend, I thought that I would try it. Big mistake! On me, it was boozy chocolate mint that was so loud and strong that I smelt of some kind of chocolate mint rum drink. (Apparently, I amp alcohol notes.) I had to wash this off immediately. If you like chocolate and mint and run or some kind of alcohol, you will adore Spooky. If you do not like those notes in combination, I don't think that you will like Spooky. I suspect that there are two camps on this scent, the ones who love it and the ones who hate it. It's too strong a smell, IMHO, for anyone to just not care one way or the other.

This is for Hod Res (09). I did a little skin test of the prototype at DSWC and liked it a lot. Let's see how my bottle is. In the bottle: The amber and carnations are very present, but there's other scents lurking underneath, some kind of musk for sure. Wet: First whiff is the sharp bitter stems of the carnation. But a lovely and not too sweet vanilla or honey or skin musk is rising up. And there's a milk note, but not goat, just regular cow milk. The amber is at this stage grounding everything together. The dry-down: Looks like all those notes have blended together into a warm and spicy scent, with a touch of sweetness. The amber is turning to powder, but not too fast. That sweet note that is so faint must be from the milk, or the musk, if it's honey or vanilla. I'm a great fan of Alice, and had always hoped to try Hod. I think that I like Alice's carnation note better, but if you want a perfume oil to wear that people will think is not a perfume, that you just smell this good naturally, then I think Hod is for you. This is a keeper and I want to try layering with Alice. And the carnation is coming back now , with some more sweetness. This is going to be multiple-bottle worthy, for sure. And it's a scent that I think that you could wear any season of the year.

In the bottle: Buttery crust, some sugar, a hint of pumpkin cheesecake. Wet: I was a bit bothered by all those comparisons to Jack (which turned to rancid butter on me and I couldn't wait to wash it off!), but thank goodness this is nothing like on me. I'm getting all the notes that I sniffed in the bottle, but the spices are really coming to the forefront, the ones that I didn't sniff before. The cinnamon is the main culprit here. The dry-down: The cinnamon is still a top note, but it's being slowly tamed by the sugar. At the moment, this reminds me of a very, very sweet and spicy pumpkin cheesecake (we are still working on ours from Thanksgiving dinner and then the dessert party of yesterday). The buttery crust is also making a nice appearance now. If you find that some pumpkin blends can be too pumpkiny, this is probably the scent for you. I like it and will wear it next autumn, but the half-bottle is plenty and I don't feel the need to look for more. This is more elegant and less foodie than expected. I love cinnamon, but it's becoming obvious that I do amp it somewhat.

This is for the 2007 version. In the bottle: Very much gingerbread and those yummy spices. Wet: The cinnamon has taken off in a huge way! I hope it calms down. The dry-down: I'm rather disappointed in this version. It's more like the dry ingredients for making gingerbread are sitting out on a table, and I've just measured out too much cinnamon. If testing on the bf doesn't work, this is probably off to the swaps pile. I'll try a re-test another day. Or just put it in the scent locket, as it smells wonderful in the bottle.

I love the cute art on the blue bottle. In the bottle: Peppermint, some sugar, and a bit of booze deep in the mix. Wet: More of the peppermint than anything else. The dry-down: Sugary mint with a hint of booze. Maybe some vanilla mixed in with the sugar. All in all, still very yummy with some aging on it.

This review is for the 2006 version. In the bottle: Rich butterscotch and creamy caramel smothering some apples. Wet: Now the coconut rum has come out to play! Wee! But the apples are there, as a base note, and the candy notes have retreated to the middle ground. The dry-down: As I said about the 2009 version, this is good enough for me to lick my wrists, but I know better! The apple is crisp, like a Golden Delicious or a Granny Smith or McIntosh, and it has to be, in order to withstand the candy and the rum. Everything is blending together in a dreamy fashion. I can see now that my 09 bottle should age very well.

All the notes listed are present. It's dark and rich, not foodie-sweet at all. And yet, it reminds me of Black Lace. If you like Black Lace, I suspect that you will like the Troupe. And like BL, the ladies hang around for a long time.

I've tried this twice now, and it's not bad. I guess I don't have a problem with the civet note, after all, or at least, not this one. The patch and the vetiver are present, and so is the musk, which I think might be a gray or ebony musk, not a black musk. Maybe the "veggie" notes are taming the civet? Much like catnip tames two-thirds of all domesticated cats? (NOTE: I am not saying that there is catnip in this.) I like it, but can't see wearing it that much. Will have to see what it does as it ages. The two dancing kitties on the label are super-cute!

No idea what to expect, based on the description. I got a nice but not too sweet and somewhat faint apple out of this as a top note. The lichen note is way down deep, tempering the apple. It didn't last too long, just a couple of hours, but kept the lovely apple note throughout. Just didn't pick up any other notes. Nice but not complex. Have no idea where the black incense went, but that's okay.

This is for the 2009 version. As a child I would attend Roman Catholic Mass with my grandmother, even though I was brought up as an Episcopalian. During my adolescence, the new priest of our local Episcopal church decided to upscale, so to speak, the church from Low Church (very plain, like a Methodist church) to High Church (more like the RC in various practices). Of course, one of the items introduced was the use of the incense censer during Holy Communion. So I'm very familiar with the smell of church incense, and Beth has perfectly captured that scent in a bottle. An interesting scent memory of smoke, incense, and resins, and reminiscent of the woods that our very modern church (the building itself) was constructed of, once the liturgical incense had permeated the beams over the years.

I was expecting to either like this, or find it a confusing melange of notes. Instead, it's neither. It's somewhat fruity and herbal. Needs more testing, and then I will amend this review. I like it and it's not like anything else in the catalog that I have tried. An interesting and unique scent.

This was another scent that I was looking forward to. I mean, snow and dirt? What could go wrong? Well, I was sadly mistaken. I put this on, and never got any dirt. It's only mint, and wintermint at that. I love dirt scents. Graveyard Dirt and Old Roswell Cemetery are two of my all-time favorites for dirt. Where is my longed-for dirt? It's like Wintermint chewing gum. No, really.

As advertised: mums, a hint of snow, and a touch of amber (that's what I'm guessing the sunlight note is, because it got a little powdery in the dry-down). Like I was thinking in the Yule speculation thread, this is like Mum Moon, only with snow and not so spicy. If you like mums and snow and amber, this is the scent for you.

I love blood orange and there are just not enough scents with that note. That being said, the blood orange is not the dominant note here. It's tempered by all the other notes (distinct in and of themselves) and will settle into a lovely blend when it has some age on it. This will be a good pick-me-up oil when the cold and gloomy winter months arrive.

All I got out of this was smokey vanilla and bitter clove, to be sure. I am wondering where the sage and ginger and myrrh have run off to. Will re-test and then amend this review.

In the bottle: Caramel and honey all the way! Yummy! Wet: The caramel is slowly giving way to the red musk and honey. The dry-down: Mostly red musk and honey, with the caramel still present but faint. Never got a hint of the other notes, not even the patch. I kind of like this, though.

This will probably be my shortest review ever. From when I sniffed it in the bottle, all the way to the dry-down, it was sparkling grapefruit with a hint of sugar! This would be lovely as a springtime scent.

Odin's eight-legged horse! The Northern Matter, as Tolkien referred to it, has always fascinated me, moreso than even the Greek myths. So I wanted to love this, but was afraid of the hazelnut note, and well, I was correct to feel so! The nut is overwhelming in the bottle, and on the skin, but finally gets tamed in the dry-down by the berries and the honey. This doesn't remind me at all of Gunpowder, and I was hoping somewhat that they would be in the same scent family. But once Sleipner has had his hot walk and a good drying after a cool bath and then his bran mash (with berries and honey mixed in), he's a tamer horse. Perhaps only Odin may ride him, but he's safe enough for a stable visit, after he's tired out from a long day of flying over battlefields. And no, there weren't any carrots to feed Sleipner as a treat.

Never got any pepper out of this. A little sweet, somewhat snowy woods. It did not morph on me, and that's nice for a change. The snow note comes from the ice and frost; the woods must be the tree branches, but perhaps also the maple leaves; the sweetness is probably from both the camellias and the light skin musk.

In the bottle: Spicy prunes. And something sparkly, probably the lemony mead. Wet: The lemony mead is front and center! But now it's being tempered by the prune soup and rice pudding. The Dry-down: The prune soup, rice pudding, and mead are blending together nicely. Foodie, but more of a skin scent. Didn't get any smoky hearth, which is fine by me. I like that for a foodie scent, the lemon mead makes it sparkle.

This is for the 2009 blend. In the bottle: A very brisk day, full of cool mints. Wet: This oil feels rather cool on my skin. The cool mints are present, with a wintermint and a spearmint coming out in the mix. No peppermint to discern. As with the previous version, there may be a very light, delicate white or skin musk serving as the base. The dry-down: As with the earlier blend, this tends to become a little less minty and a tad bit sweeter as it dries, but not foodie sweet. I still think that the comparison to Dublin, Ice Queen, and Skadi hold true. It's not sweet like Snow White. If there are any florals in this, they are herbal and complement the mints beautifully. This scent is more icy than snowy.

This is a medium rose, not light like a tea rose, not dark like Blood Rose or Black Rose. To me, it's a bit sweeter than the PQ that went all to powder on me (not sure if it was 05 or 07). I don't get aquatics in this, nor do I get the green stems and florist shop coldness that I sometimes have gotten in Rose Red. An elegant scent for a sophisticated woman.