zankoku_zen

Good Cheer smells like baked goods - roasted chestnuts, touch of fig and honey. This smells delicious!

Bitumen Pits actually smells like a nice, manly cologne. I know - its got a bit of that tar/gunpowder bit that was very prevalent with Gun Moll, but throw in some slick metal, tinged with cologne from Mr. Qubit and that's what you get. It's dark, sophisticated, sticks close to the skin. Definitely chemically, definitely masculine. On wet, its much more aggressive, but it dries down nicely to a very very wearable male cologne. UNF.

I wasn't super crazy about Pele as a perfume. It's a big lush tropical perfume blend. The hairgloss is another beast. It's a subtle, slightly tropical, blast of ginger, florals. It's clean, lush, and totally smells like salon hair. The best word to sum this up: FANCY. ETA: Also, FANCY BEACH HAIR. This is what hair smells like in music videos/films where you're running through a white sandy beach, pristine blue water, and the sun is shining. Work it, you beach goddess you.

CCCXIV: Sweet buttery cream, touch of orange zest and honey cakes. This one is super foodie and smells like a better version of Eat Me. Are there currants in this as well?

My guess, based on the "Mariposa 2012" writing on the label that this was a prototype for a Metamorphosis scent for 2012. The name "Forest Day Mosquito" would be in line. I then did some internet research and found that "Forest Day Mosquito" is a common name for "Aedes Albopictus", which was released. Therefore, this is the "Ae. Albopictus" prototype. The released version's notes are: Saffron, pimento, cardamom, beeswax, cajeput, tomato leaf, geranium, and pink pepper honey. The prototype has WAY more green in it, especially on wet. It smells like greens, tomato leaf, and a touch of celery. As it dries, I get a touch of the pimento and saffron, and perhaps pink pepper. No honey, no geranium. The overall impression was of a cool forest or cool garden morning. You know, when you go out right as you wake up with a cup of coffee, smell the greenery, and once you come back you realize you're covered in half a dozen bug bites. Sonofabitch. I amped up the honey in the released version, and I have to say that this one is more of a greens/tomato leaf type. In some ways, it gave me the impression of Season of Inundation, minus the dirt/silt part.

Sweet pea, pink roses, touch of carnation and ferns. This is another summery rosy blend, but unlike Splendid Summer Days which is full on rose, this one is more of a soft pink rose mixed with sweet pea. Honestly, this is innocent and soft, and would be totally at home in a young girl's bedroom if you can ignore the source of inspiration being a "boarding house".

Red roses and a touch of carnation. This smells like red roses in full bloom, with enough of a bitter sharp carnation smell to prevent it from being utterly overwhelming.

I'm not superfond of Rose Red but I am pleasantly surprised with it as a hair gloss. It's the fresh dewy Rose Red, plenty of stem and a hint of apple blossom. Very pretty, very feminine, and very work appropriate actually.

Chaos Theory LI (51): This one is a really woodsy one. I got mainly cedar, perhaps a touch of oak? It's woodsy and smells masculine to me. I actually had to layer another HG on to give it a little sweetness.

Sweet amber, hints of lavender, honey, orange and apple. It toggles between a sweet herbally amber blend and a herbally lavender blend. Oddly enough, I find this even more like a TAL blend, along the lines of the Blue Moon July 2015 vibewise. Sweet, cheerful, kind.

Super green tea, sage and a touch of violet. It's a very soothing and calming blend, but I amp up all the green tea. Which is definitely interesting, since I don't recall a green tea heavy blend for other BPAL scents.

So my only experience with Scissors has been decanting it, so bear in mind that I can't speak to the effectiveness of it nor did I use it with intent it was created. I did however receive a pretty powerful impression which is why I'm posting a review. This is one powerful oil. It literally felt warm as I decanted it. Like burning your fingers kind of warmth. I got the vibe of a branding iron, in that you literally SEAL things. I can see this being both extremely potent and extremely effective. There's been a few TALs that have screamed RITUAL oil, and this one is one of them. Given its very precise function, I'd caution anyone around its use as this seems to both need intent, focus, and a fair bit of experience to use as this is not a "noob" oil nor for anyone that is just starting their practice. This is not to be taken lightly. I would definitely put this in the category of Spiritwrack, Bend Over, Jinx Crossing, and those TAL oils.

#60 Soft, sweet, and the sort of foodie vanilla that everyone loves. I swear I've smelled this before. Celeste? This reminds me a fair bit to Celeste, sans the saffron. So yeah, you get it, awesome vanilla is awesome.

#55 This one is more of a typical cologne, notes of honey and tobacco. Amber base I think. It's gender neutral, to slightly masculine on me. #49 This one has a sweet top note, and something that smells like fresh baked vanilla goods. Love it.

Oriental #244 OMG, this is like a super red juicy fruit. I get red currants, touch of benzoin, and something else that almost smells like champagne grapes. Oriental #250 This one is a much more traditional floral perfume. I get something powdery, a hint of sandalwood, and some bright lime-rimned white floral.

Effervescent orange, hints of lemon balm, sage and something else. Well crap. I think I need more of this. My TAL Energy decant has been unopened until now, but I think that its been pulling some duty around because it's only 1/2 of what it used to be despite remaining unopened. It's been riding around in my little box in my purse with some other TALs and my untried BPAL imps. Energy feels like coffee - solar coffee. It's bright, sunny, and full of energy. I have also dabbed this on while wearing Jupiter (it seemed like a good combo), but this may in fact be too much of a good thing. In some ways, I am raring to go - like let's go run a marathon, give me a 500+ page book to read, gimme a monster to slay BECAUSE I CAN DO IT. And in record time. ETA: Put on energy today, after 2 days of very trying emotional times, and I think it's the only thing that has kept me at work.

Jupiter is cedar, sage, and a hint of vetiver. I was thinking more of Jupiterian energy - jovial, expansive, as opposed to any deity. I sort of got the impression that this oil works well as a "larger than life" oil, which is sort of what I was going for. And this is robust, energetic, expansive. The energy is very different from solar energy, but very much the same in that magnitude. It's just BIG. This is my third planetary oil, and the vibes are all super different. Mercury is very zippy, Venus is potent but delicate, and Jupiter is just sort of boom, in your face, with a big laugh. I may have to pick up a few more planetary oils based on this. Because I am totally digging the vibe in some of these.

Salty lavender and clove. I find this to be a very comforting scent. I wore it over the weekend, more in the vein of "helps make your wishes and desires into a reality.” I can see it working much more potently at a meet-n-greet, whenever you're around more people. In my particular case, I was hoping to positively effect myself and ensure a social visit went smoothly. It actually did. And honestly, it lead to a pretty in-depth conversation which was really cool.

Floral #57 Sweet pea, perhaps bamboo? I think there might also be some tuberose in this? So sweet, somewhat high pitched florals over a bed of green wood.

Oriental #248 Bracing mandarin citrus, white florals, and did I mention mandarin? It's sweet, sporty and juicy. Fun and summery.

Dark Musk is not just dark and musky. There's a very sophisticated floral overlay to it. It makes me think of Dior's Poison actually. In the sense that it's dark, sophisticated, elegant. I get a deep resinous musk, a touch of floral overlay and something that could almost be categorized as a whiff of plum. It's all very heady, and one of those single notes that you can actually get away wearing. UGH. Super fantastic.

So I received a tiny smidge of this from a generous forumite ages ago during a swap and I have simply been saving it up for the right moment. Apparently that moment was today. This entire week has been super funktastic for me and all of the typical things that I have done, including using Anthelion and White Light, simply haven't cut it. It's a bit of a transition period in my life at the moment, and there's a lot of stress so I'm simply trying to manage as best as possible. Today, in a burst of inspiration, and perhaps cavalier recklessness, I busted this puppy open and dabbed it on my chakras. Despite a commute from hell, due to public transportation being absolutely asinine, I arrived to work in an OK shape. In fact, this entire day seems to be whispering "You can do it!", which is pretty much 180 degrees from where it started this morning when I dabbed it on where it seemed to be whispering "crawl under bed and stay there". But that's just it. There are things outside of your control and the only thing you can actually control are your feelings, reactions and thoughts. And just being able to be in the space where you can take on the world and feel like you're going to come out on top (not just okay, but #WINNING) is a blessing. Will review more as the day progresses. ETA: So I wore Senelion yesterday when I had a phone interview and the person just couldn't say enough good things. I was also wearing Senelion the first time when I got contacted for the phone interview from yesterday. So fingers crossed? ETA2: I just used Senelion last week mid-week, and had an epiphany over the weekend. So yes, #WINNING.

This one is a really fun blend actually. The citron, lemon verbena and white musk are pretty, floral, and well blended. It's like a summer version of Snow White without any interlapping components. It's really a vibe thing. Snow White on me is a tropical pina colada. This is like her citrus version cousin. There's a creaminess in the blend that I didn't expect. And the pink peppercorn is very well behaved, without essentially throwing any discordant whiffs but rather ensuring that it doesn't just dissolve into a creamy/citrus apathy. Summery delicious, and not loud at all.

Black Bar reminds me to Black Supermoon, with some Phantom Calliope thrown in. On wet, its all smoky patchouli, ebony musk and a whiff of cardamom. It's dark and inky. As it dries, some of the fruit starts to pop up like mandarin, plum, and a trace of grapefruit. This is dark shadows over some dark purple citrus. If you loved Black Supermoon, and enjoy dark smoky blends, give this a whirl.

That label is SUPER cute.