zankoku_zen

Baked bread, butter and a touch of Mandarin. It's like a slightly citrus coffee cake. Foodie, bready, toothsome.

Sweet blueberry filling, sweet cream and flaky buttery crust. It dries down to a sweet cream/blueberry mix. The pie crust is the strongest note when it first hits the water though. Rich, foodie, blueberry pie.

Key Lime Pie has a bit of zippy zesty lime, a lot of sweetened condensed milk and a fair bit of crust. It's pie crust, and pie filling, but I feel like I need more citrus in this for me. Foodie, sweet, key lime pie.

Spanked atmo is almost all cardamom, patchouli, a touch of bourbon. The leather, oddly to our noses, is MIA. It smells like spices, and slightly foodie incense. Underwhelmed. It's like expecting a spanking, and someone just pats you on the bottom.

Chestnuts, heady incense and a touch of brown sugar. It's oddly foodie and oddly ominous. Like you walk in and you smells chestnuts, and brown sugar, and good things, but then you smell the incense and the reptilian part of your brain goes DO NOT EAT THOSE CHESTNUTS FOR THE LOVE OF WHATEVER YOU HOLD DEAR. YES, THEY SMELL TASTY BUT I'M PRETTY SURE THAT'S NOT ACTUALLY A CHESTNUT. I mean, sure, if you ever wanted to ingest a chestnut and have Cthulu whispering in your ear singing whatever passes for a Christmas Carol equivalent in your ear, go for it.

OMG SKADI IS THAT YOU? Sleet in my mind smells very much like Skadi's little sister. It's got that wintery snow, hint of pine, berries. I think Skadi was more wintery snow + pine, so Sleet is a little softer with the berry addition. It's super Christmasy and wintery, but if you've missing Skadi, I'd give this a whirl. And by Skadi, I mean, the Skadi from like 2004. I think there was a re-release post 2010 (meaning more recent), but it wasn't the same.

So I got this as a frimp from another long-time BPALer, who is very sure that this is the BPAL single note. Given both the age and smell of this, and how I've tried other 2004 single notes I'm inclined to agree. Mandarin Orange suffers from the same ageing problem that the Lime SN suffered from. Upon immediate application and on the wand, it smelled like mandarin oranges, it went through a mandarin orange zest stage, a powdery slightly orange stage, and has settled into a weird slightly fruity Pez smell. It's really this weird PEZ smell, which happened with the other citrus single notes that makes me inclined to believe that this is in fact the BPAL mandarin orange SN.

This one is slightly minty, champagne bubbles. It smells festive, and happy, and kinda like a New Year's Eve party. It's got an effervescent vibe that is very uplifting.

This reminds me alot to TKO actually. Sans, the lavender. Just marshmallows. Good throw, good wearlength. Sugary, cuddly, marshmallows.

I love me some skyr, so I was super curious about this. It's essentially creamy red berries on me. Think red currant or red raspberries, but not sugary. I get a hint of oats, and just a creaminess that isn't sweet. Low throw, low wearlength. Creamy, whipped berries.

This to me is a more masculine version of Badgers. Patchouli and soft brown suede. The leather note in this reminded me to Quincy Morris but more sophisticated. Good throw, good wearlength.

Blue musk, carrot seed and salt. This reminds me to a cross between When Stars Are Weeping and Silence. It's got some of the same, eerie, silent qualities of Silence but not as floral as When Stars Are Weeping. It's a somber, blue sky sort of blend. Low throw, low wearlength. Ugh, but in some ways, this is the beauty of perfume. Hauntingly beautiful, silent and yet present. So good.

Bready, pecan studded cinnamon roll. Take those deliciously evil rolls from Cinnabon and top them with gloriously cinnamony pecans. This smells like food. Good throw, good wear length. And if you EVER wanted to smell like a nutty Cinnabon. Here you go.

Gorgeous. This is a light gorgeous white rose with hints of snowflakes. Now, the true question, so I love this or the Bear Prince more? Decisions, decisions. ETA: So I think the white rose component shares ALOT of similarities with Rose Red, in that I get a ton of that green apple snap in this blend, which was honestly my favorite part of the Rose Red blends but was quickly overcome by the lush red roses. By comparison, the white rose is much more delicate, so you get that green stem bit alot more.

Rich, loamy red roses. This is Graveyard Dirt and Red Rose had a baby. A beautiful, dirty, rose baby. Light throw, light wearlength. Dirt, roses, and crumbling.

Eeeek! This one is lovely. Springy hyacinth, honeysuckle and maybe a touch of asphodel. The asphodel gives it a grey coloring to it. There's a slightly chilly, fizzy quality to it. But yes, this one is gloriously lovely.

Musty musky oudh, tobacco and a touch of vanilla. This one is very potent on me, and not the kind of thing I enjoy at all. It's dark, rooty, musky. Great throw and great wearlength.

I got salty aquatics and a touch of gardenia. It was actually too salty for my taste.

Snow at Midnight smells like a slushy, more resinous version of Black Snowballs. Black currant, oudh, and myrrh. If you loved Black Snowballs, but it was too much black currant, this one is softer, and much more muted. Good throw, good wearlength.

Camphor, mint, and snow. All of which also evaporate on my skin. Low throw, low wear length.

Orange blossom, neroli, splash of snow. I would love it - if it actually lasts. Low throw, and miniscule wear length. *sigh*

Cool plum, opium, lily of the valley and snow. In some ways, this makes me think of a purple winter version of Belle Epoque. It's got the same sort of Belle Epoque base with plum and snow throw in. Delicate, purple, regal. Good throw, good wearlength.

Black ice, smokey incense and dripped blood. This one is a very disturbing blend for me actually. It smells dark, and narcotic, and like the type of pagan ritual that ends up with a sacrificed goat in the middle of the night. Not the type that is to honor a god, but to appease his or her savage need for human pain and flesh. So of course it has great throw and wear length.

The Bear Prince smells like a lighter version of Rose Red mixed with Snow White. NO JOKE. I amp up red roses like no one's business, and Snow White is like a coconut pina colada on me. So I get this musky light red rose with traces of cool coconut snow. So I shouldn't love. I really shouldn't love this. But I do. UNF.

Soft, slightly ozoney floral. I get violet, but no jasmine. It's like a brush of violets and snow. Low throw, low wear length. Delicate, cold, violet.