thekittenkat

ANDREIPHONTÊS Destroyer of Men Tonka, benzoin, black sandalwood, and nutmeg. Truth to tell, I was somewhat concerned about the black sandalwood, as it's not a scent note that I have ever tried before, at least I think not. But no worries, as the sandalwood is present, but as a bottom note. Andreiphontes is yet another oil that's well-blended, and doesn't really morph, from the first sniff of the bottle, all the way to the dry-down. It's also another high and bright scent, which I attribute to the benzoin. The tonka adds a lovely sweetness, and the nutmeg a needed touch, just a hint mind you, of a rich spice. Another perfume oil that I would regard as unisex.

When it states that Halloweenies are going down on the 14th, does this mean like 12:01 AM PST on the 14th, or 11:59 PM PST on the 13th, or what? Does this mean both BPAL and BPTP? And will the new 13 blend disappear at one of those same times? Questions are somewhat urgent, as I must borrow a friend's computer to make orders. I did email CS abt this on Thursday, noon EST, marked urgent, and have yet to see a reply.

THOOS Swift Tangerine, cypress, and white musk. When I first opened the bottle, and took a sniff, the tangerine was the only note present. It's a wonderful note, and I'm always glad to see it in a BPAL oil. It smells just like a freshly unzipped tangerine, only condensed into a little amber bottle. Once applied to the skin, the musk and cypress come out to play from where-ever they were hiding. They keep the citrus in check, so that one doesn't smell just like they just finished eating a tangerine. As this dries down, the fruit note is not so dominant any more; in fact, all three notes blend well together, with the result being greater than the sum of its parts. (I noticed the same fading away and blending of the tangerine note in Lilith vs. the Giant Crab, even though that was a tangerine cream.) Right now, I'm getting a little more cypress out of the blend than anything else. If you liked Lilith vs. the Giant Crab, but wanted something lighter and not so sweet, do give Thoos a try.

PAHOEHOE Grenadine, banana, and coconut rum. All banana, all the time. In the bottle, on my arm wet, and then the dry-down. I don't want to smell like a banana. Where the other two notes went to, I have no idea.

Wine grapes, pomegranate, myrrh, frankincense and olive leaf, and the warm scent of offertory cakes. In the bottle: There's a hint of all the notes, as though they had been mixed into a white wine (non-alcoholic) from those grapes (green, I suspect). Wet: Now the pomegranate comes bursting through, with the gentle olive leaf in its train. The cake note is rounding this out, so it's not too fruity. The dry-down: The myrrh and frankincense are present, but only in a mild fashion, and the grapes are combining with the pome for a lovely light fruit note. If you don't want to smell like winter holiday sweet heavy food and drink or snowy woods or the Christmas tree, but still want a lovely light scent for the winter holiday season, this may be a scent to try. ETA: It's a rather elegant scent.

POLYNESIAN POP Ginger ale, white rum, and a squeeze of orange. As advertised: fizzy ginger ale spiked with orange juice and rum. I think I would rather have this as a real drink, but it's nice as a scent. Stays true to itself from beginning to end.

WB, Vikitty! Look for the newer Strawberry Moons. The Lab goes to Dragoncon in GA in recent yrs, so many peach scents to be had.

Samhain is lovely, and it's a little different from year to year. Honey Apple (?) is a great Halloweenie. And Horse Chestnut Honey was in the GC, but was disconed, sadly. The original Falling Leaf Moon is great to layer.

HARLEQUIN AND COLUMBINE French vanilla, red currant, sage, balsam, rosewood, mandarin, lemon peel, pomegranate, and cedar. In the bottle: This is such a well-crafted blend that it's difficult to pick out individual notes. But the sweetness of the French vanilla and balsam are most obvious, with hints of the pome, the cedar, and the sage underneath. Wet: The sage, the rosewood, and the cedar all combine for a heady, woodsy aroma. But slowly the vanilla and balsam re-assert themselves and twine gently throughout. The dry-down: This has become a sweet, but not too sweet, wood and herbal blend, tempered by the fruit notes. Luckily, the currant does not try and stomp all over the scent, but hangs back with the other fruit notes. Later: The lemon peel and mandarin are coming forward now to give this a brightness which it did not have earlier. Citrus notes don't work on me as well as they used to. Still a nice scent, but I may wear this in the scent locket so as to escape the citrus note issue. Would have liked this better without the citrus.

MIAIPHONOS Blood-Stained Clove, anise, mandarin, and cumin. What this reminds me of is a cloved orange. It's a Yule tradition in some places. You basically core little holes into the fresh ripe orange in a spiral path, and then place whole cloves in those cuts. Then you wrap a pretty ribbon around the orange, along the path in-between the cloves, leaving a long loop at the top, and hang it on a hook. Lovely smell throughout the holidays. Seriously, I didn't pick up a lot of cumin or anise when this was wet. In the much later stage of the dry-down, they are more present, as though the cloved orange had been hanging in your kitchen for a while, and was starting to dry out, and had picked up some spices. It's a mild perfume oil, and could make a lovely Yuletide scent, especially in an oil burner. The mandarin orange is the dominant note, but it's not overwhelming as citrus can be sometimes. The clove and orange work together to make a lovely scent.

THOUROS Furious Rose otto, lychee, and cistus absolute. First. let me say that this is lovely, from first sniff to dry-down. Cistus, according to the wiki, is also known as rockrose, although it shares that common name with several other flowers. Its leaves produce labdanum, btw. The rose otto is very prominent in the bottle and on my wrist, even hours later. For some reason, I think that this may be the damask rose, which I have smelt before. The lychee fruit adds a touch of sweetness, and is probably, in my case, keeping the rose in check. (I sometimes amp rose.) The rose is soft, maybe like a dusty pink rose. It's not light like a white rose or a tea rose, but it's not the dark rose of The Peacock Queen, but somewhere in-between. (Also added value: no green stems in cold water that I get with Red Rose.) Thouros reminds me a little of The Rose, from the Marchen, but it's lusher and deeper than that rose. This doesn't seem to be a rose newly blooming in a garden, but at its fullness, just before it is cut. And then someone dipped it in sugar syrup so they could feed it to their pony. (Note: there's no aquatic notes here.)

Snow White, Fern Frost, Moon of Ice, are a few.

BROTOLOIGOS Murderous Tobacco, wenge, rose geranium, and myrrh. This one lives up to its subtitle of murderous, well, at least on my somewhat acidic skin. The geranium was quite sharp, as expected, and the wenge (a wood) was rather obvious. I had entertained hopes that the lovely tobacco and myrrh would appear and soothe the other two into some sort of calmness, but it was not to be. I really don't want to think about what happened to the tobacco and the myrrh. If you're into sharp, woody scents, Brotoloigos might be worth trying, though. It's not a fresh green wood note, but very dark.

Does he use any aftershave or scented body wash or stuff like the Axe sprays? If so, that might give you some tips. If Bpal is still offering GC decants, or sets of them, having a selection to try might be good. HTH! ETA: what about Dorian?

Just a little bump! I will rec Samhain.

This is an excellent beeswax scent!

I like Candles Moon from a few yrs ago.

Here's a good thread for that: I did a search to locate this. Don't forget that the Halloweenies will be out soonish and Harvest Moon is live right now!

What scent is this? Looks interesting!

[in the bottle]: The grass and the dandelion sap are both giving the wild strawberries a green fresh-from-the-garden scent. [wet]: The benzoin seems to be deepening the strawberries to a darker, less fresh feeling. [the dry-down]: Last night, when I tested this, it was all strawberry candy of some sort. Today's dry-down is more pleasant. All the notes have now mixed together in a lovely blending. The sugar is sweetening the strawberries, the green notes are keeping it somewhat fresh, and the benzoin is grounding the overall scent. The strawberry note floats along on the top, making this a great summer moon scent!

The white sage is the most prominent note, but it's not foodie, more like that of a smudging stick. I suspect this is because of the dead leaves' autumnal note holding the sage in check. The apple note is crisp, not tart yet not really sweet, and only just noticeable. I sprayed it around the living room for testing; for me, it's a pleasant scent to carry over from late summer harvest into early autumn.

My favs include Lay Una, Tiki Princess, the Strawberry Moons, Planting Moon, Hay Moon, and Mead Moon. I also like the ice and snow scents on very hot days.

Necro-bumping! Any suggestions?