zankoku_zen

Plum, honey and green tea. This is a light floral/green tea honey blend. It simple, sweet and clean in an Asian oriental sort of way. Low throw and average wear length on me. This one sticks really close to the skin. White flowers, tea and honey.

Oh, Startled Toad. I so want to love you because of your label art. There, I admitted it. You are by far my favorite Shunga artwork. Possibly ever. Alas, you contain coconut. And while your coconuttyness cannot possibly compete with the hot mess coconut debacle of Ivory Vulva in my skin, you still seem intent on starting some sort of riot. I get coconut, amber, resinous frankincense and a spicy drop of patchouli (which is what I think is happening with the carnation and patchouli in the background teeming up for some sort of alliance or nefarious purpose, still to be determined which one it is). You don't smell unpleasant, at least not compared to Ivory Vulva, but perhaps I am damning you with faint praise? You're really a resinous, ambery coconut with enough elements to keep your coconut present but in check. Average throw, average wear length. Amber, resin, coconut.

Almost every note is slightly, if not overtly problematic, to me. So it starts as a buttery creamy coconut with hints of nuts and amber. And it dries to a weird suntan lotion coconut, still creamy, a more present milky nut smell, and plastic. Why CREAM, how nice of you to join this party and simply throw everything into disarray. BPAL's cream note is like l'enfant terrible in my skin. It just does bad things. All the time, without remorse or conscience. Good throw, good wearlength. So yeah, coconutty plastic.

Red musk, clove and apricots. Unfortunately in this particular blend, the red musk is ultra aggressive and the rest notes let her bully them into the background. I get a fair bit of clove and vetiver on wet, which combined with the apricot, didn't make it smell all that pleasant. Thankfully vetiver sort of left the stage on the drydown, leaving a trail of smoke, and clove sort of calmed down and settled down to do its part. At which point the red musk took the opportunity to take center stage, despite this being a sort of ensemble play. Most other ingredients decided to decamp. Good throw, good wear length. Actually, this made me think of Birdman. I'm not sure if the red musk is Edward Norton or Michael Keaton. I'm leaning toward Edward Norton. So, sexy in the overt red musky way.

This one is this year's version of Lovers in the Teahouse. If you loved LitT, you should give this one a whirl since it is very similar. I get a ton of sake, but instead of wood I get more a musky scent, with just a touch of ambrette to prevent it from being too musky or too much sake. It smells polished, Asian, and very sexy in a refined way. Good throw, good wearlength. Simple, but sophisticated in a very understated way. Very torn. I enjoyed Lovers in the Teahouse immensely, and even had a partial, but found that over time I didn't really reach for it that often.

I was hoping for alot of apple, but it smells only slightly of apple blossoms on a bed of honey and cardamom. There's a bit of dark berry sweetness to this, which is the black currant peeping through. In vibe, it sort of makes me think of the color violet. It's a sweet feminine blend, without being pink. It's a little darker than that. Sweet, floral, honey.

Gardenia, amber, patchouli and a blush of honeysuckle. This one is a deep amber/patch blend with sweet white florals. It sort of glitters, and is intensely sophisticated. I can see this appealing to people that loved classic floral perfumes, and it sort of reminds me to Chanel No 5 in vibe, and perhaps a little in smell in that yes, it is floral but there's that deeper resin preventing it from being all floral, all the time. Average throw and wearlength. Deep, womanly, classic.

Woods woods woods. I get cedar, cypress, pine and chypre. This is a delicate, slightly manly cologne. Very soft. Very woody. As it dries more of the oakmoss comes out and giving it a decidedly aquatic dimension. Low throw and low wear length on me. Again something to try out on mr. zee_zee.

Clean chypre, hints of gin and sage, tiny bit of leather. Very clean, very sophisticated male cologne. And then it's gone after 30 minutes. I may have to try to mr. zee_zee and see what he says.

In your face gardenia, with a ton of vanilla orchid and a drop of frankincense. Honestly, gardenia just dominates this blend. So, if you're looking for a creamy, vanilla gardenia, here is your lady. Good throw, good wear length.

Pear, with fizzy white musk. This is cool, crisp pear with some light musk. Unfortunately my skin eats this up. I am off to sit under the Tree of Despair.

To me the black tea and benzoin combined end up smelling like anise/licorice, and not just the black tea by itself. So, anise with a whiff of black tea, tobacco and neroli. I sort of seriously wish I had joyfulgirl's skin chemistry because a shining dimple of love perfume oil would have been amazing. Sadly this is a sweet anise blend. PASS.

Slightly lemony jasmine blossoms, silk, and wood. You get this lacquered, silky jasmine blossom on top of wood. It's delicate, oriental, and floral. Very sophisticated. Low throw, low wearlength on me. So, yeah, hmmm. It's definitely unusual and yes, it somehow makes me think of luxurious silk sheets. It's that mix of luxury, decadence, and sensuality. Because SILK.

Pink pepper, cedar and roses. This is too much. It smells very asian, very sensual, and very in your face. It's a very aggressive pink blend. In some ways it makes me think of being attacked by kabuki makeup. It doesn't matter if you want to have kabuki make up on, you're getting kabuki make up. Excellent throw (obviously!), and decent wear length. If you like roses, you like pepper, and you like cedar, give this a whirl.

Green grass and the same green musk that was prevalent in Laughter of Loki. Very green, very fresh, very grassy. If you wanted LoL, I'd definitely take this out for a spin. If I could love a BPAL for the color of the oil, I would adore Venus Murcia to bits. It's teal. TEAL, people. It's the sort of perfume that you want to display in a crystal atomizer so you can admire how pretty the color is. (Nevermind that doing so would probably KILL the scent, LOOK AT HOW PRETTY THE BLUE IS, EEEE!) This to me, is very Spring-like. Which is great considering how miserably snowy and cold the East Coast has been this year. And because we don't have enough grass scents. Verdict: like laying on summer grass. But better. It's like you're laying of MAGICAL TEAL GRASS.

Black pepper, cedar and cypress (meaning it toggles between smelling like wood and smelling like a pencil shaving), and dribbles of pine. This smells dark, and yet oddly wearable. It also makes me think of a BPAL version of Drakkar Noir. Meaning, I think this would be a scent that appeals to teenage boys. It's got all that testosterone around it on the edges. Definitely masculine on me. If you've ever wanted to enable your male teen to BPAL, tell him to give this a whirl. It's probably 1000x better than the mass produced crap they seem to be willing to dump themselves in by the gallon. Average throw, average wear length. Dark, musky, angsty.

Well, huh. This smells like red musk, brown leather, and a splash of honey. And you know what, it smells really good. Both red musk and leather notes are problematic for me, so I'm utterly charmed by this dragon. It smells leathery and cuddly. Like what? In some ways, I'm reminded to Loviatar in that this is a feminine leather - kinda sexual, but its kinder and gentler. I agree that it makes you think of Blood Amber and Blood Kiss, but its the leather that brings in some of that Loviatar aspect for me. (Mind you, it's been ages since I've tried Loviatar). In some ways, the leather note is the same that you find in Badgers. So perhaps its better to say that this is a red musk version of Badgers? Which means, I'm totally on the fence on whether I need more.

Black vanilla, amber and some delicious jasmine tea. Wait, what? A jasmine that doesn't go to cat pee? What is this miracle blend you speak of? BEHOLD, THE BPAL. IT LIKES TO CHANGE YOUR MIND ON NOTES, ALL THE TIME. So oddly enough, the amber is the spoiler in this blend. Yup, not the jasmine. It's almost too ambery. If it were just the vanilla and jasmine tea, this would be a rather delicate and polished blend. The amber adds way too much resin and sort of overpowers everything. Decent throw, average wear length. I may have to retest this again, because I'm very torn. Will this be my first BPAL jasmine blend that I must own? Stay tuned.

Coconut has decided to douse itself in honey. And then sprinkle some saffron on it to prevent it from smelling too sweet or like suntan lotion. I'm surprised at how well behaved the coconut is in this blend. That being said, it's still coconut. Good throw, and good wearlength because that's how my skin chemistry likes to roll. Toothsome, sweet, coconut.

White musk was a bit of a screeching terror on wet. It has calmed down considerably and now is playing nicely with the chamomile and musky ambergris. I get a slightly aquatic, musky chamomile. It's gender neutral veering toward the masculine. Decent throw, average wearlength. I can't stand the first hour of this blend, since white musk seems to go all over the place being sharp, powdery and stabby to my nose. The drydown however is close to the skin, and on the right person, very sexy.

White tea and sandalwood. This smells cologney, but really it just smells like a slightly masculine white tea. Very clean, good throw, good wearlength.

Amber, honey, ambergris and tuberose. I get a tiny bit of orange on wet, but in general this is an amber-honey with swirls of tuberose. Good throw, good wearlength. I was hoping for an orange tinged sophisticated perfume. I get dusky honey/amber. LE SAD FACE.

Juicy apricot, vanilla and a hint of cardamom. It's like a peachy creamsicle. I really sort of love this. I'm worried that overall it may be too cloying, but I think I love it enough to get more. This one is beautiful in its simplicity. Candy and fruit lovers, take note. Good throw, good wearlength. Peachy, creamy, sweet.

So, I may have to agree with this being the best wearable bonbon. I get red musk, dragon's blood, hint of chocolate and cinnamon. And it just smells like a luxurious version of Bloodlust. Low throw, decent wear length.

Strong sassafras, poppy and a hint of poppy and nutmeg. If there is chocolate there, its mainly MA. This really just smells like GC's Laudanum. Decent throw, average wear length.