zankoku_zen

Caramel bananas, a hint of nuts and Dorian. As it dries, the bananas remain, and a slightly more resinous vanilla comes out. It's pretty much a resin vanilla-banana blend on me. Slightly masculine, I do have to say. It's warm, contemplative with just the right of silliness thrown in. Its actually a very comfortable blend.

Dark, sexy pom. I get a fair amount of blackcurrant which adds a dark berry note to it all. Fruity, rich, pom. It doesn't seem to last all that long, but perhaps its not as strong as a scent as some of the other atmos. (I did only half a squeeze, so that may be it!)

Fruit currant, green tea, and a dash of light roses. It's nice, light and only slightly rose. Very pretty, indulgent without feeling overwhelming, and the green tea/currant adds a bit of playful freshness to the blend.

Sweet creamy vanilla jasmine. This jasmine straddles the line between cat pee and smelling like fresh jasmine blossoms. The sweet creaminess of this is subtly sexy and drop dead gorgeous. Very sensual, feels super pampering. Unfortunately, no one in this house really enjoys jasmine. If it had been any other flower, I would have kept it.

Sweet, classic, 50ish style perfume. Phlox is a light, pinky floral that smells classic and fresh. Honestly, this is something that you'd use to enable either your mother or grandmother in that it has a nostalgic, classic floral perfume scent to it. Very springlike!

Snowy vanilla with just a touch of mint. This one was cuddlier than I expected. It's definitely more of an eucalyptus mint, and I get more of a 'snow' note to it with a good liberal dose of vanilla. Fun, festive, and definitely great for a winter time bath.

Blue Ringed Octopus Spittle smells mostly of coconut and melon. I don't really get mango, and maaaybe a whiff of mint. It doesn't seem to be all that strongly scented. I do think however that it was made to combo perfectly with Lemurian Seaweed for something that smells more like a dip in tropical ocean water. If you're looking for a beach experience, I'd definitely use both Lemurian Seaweed and BROS in the bath.

Lemurian Seaweed smells like what it purports to smell like - aquatic greenness. I don't really get the lime, but I do get a whiff of the seabuckthorn berry and overall it smells like green aquaticness. There's something very cool and refreshing about it, but I wouldn't bathe in this solely for the blend. Lemurian Seaweed seems to have been formulated for either comboing with another blend or for those individuals that really want their water to smell more like ocean water, but don't necessarily want to bathe in the actual ocean.

Howlet's Wing sort of smells like Sprite to me. I get a crispy lemon and ginger scent. There's enough sweetness from the honey to sweeten both the lemon and ginger, which are the predominant players. Admittedly, its fairly faint, but I'm only testing a small bit of it. I imagine you'd have to use a fair amount of product to get a stronger bath smell.

The (Not So) Penitent (Mini) Madgalene is a blend that would be very much at home in the Phoenix Steamworks line. It has a resinous base, creamy wax, smoke and a touch of vanilla. If you're looking for a more sophisticated, and more wearable version of Phoenix Steamworks, I'd give this a try. There's a 'gleaming' component to the blend that is beautifully executed, and it gives a different aspect to resinous perfume.

I get a fair amount of almond actually in this blend, followed by lilies, with touches of anise and herbs. It ends up as a mix of almond and what I'd consider a sophisticated white cologne. It was comforting, female, and just enough of the ephemeral to let you know that something special is bound to happen. Lily Witch smells like an adult female, one that is used to having one foot in one realm and one foot in another.

For me, carnation always ends up smelling peppery, and I think that I may also amp up that note. I wrote down that it smelled like a peppery resin. And I feel like it was carnation and sage, with hints of both fig and honey over a cedar base. It was both somber and pretty, a sort of remembrance of happy days that are long gone except in memory.

Avunculus was very interesting for me because I definitely amped up the aquatic element in this blend. I got the ocean, amber, and hints of pear and coconut on wet. It dried down to something very masculine and manly on me. It was a manly aquatic. Honestly, if you believed in mermen, this is what they smell like. Sunlight, ocean, the sand and surf in the beach. Golden, manly, aquatic.

Straight up super sweet pink cake. This smells sweet, and pink, and like cake. Pretty much the description nails the scent straight on. I've had problems with BPAL's cake note on me before, and as it dries it gets more plasticky. I suspect it may also have strawberry in it, which also has a tendency to go fake and plastic on my skin chemistry. If however you can handle both the cake and strawberry part, as well as adore smelling like pink cakes, this one is for you.

Pumpkin Lace on me was heavy on the tobacco, spices and the caramelized sugar ended up smelling like maple syrup. It dried down to a maple syrup heavy, spices, and as it dried I got more of the sandalwood mixing in on the background. It actually ended up with a strong throw, gender neutral edging toward the masculine on me. I tested this alongside jewelbug and on her skin, it definitely was spicy and the pumpkin was more present. For me though, it was a heavily Victorian inspired blend indeed, but more like Victorian manly as opposed to Victorian female. Loved the tobacco, and the heavy autumnal feel of it though.

Marshmallows and chocolate. This is actually a really sweet, cacao heavy blend on me. I get massive amounts of marshmallow, cocoa powder, honey, patchouli and maybe a hint of sandalwood. In some ways, it does remind me to Silkybat HG with with more sweetness, more cacao and and definitely marshmallow. It sort of makes me think that this is this year's version of Badgers, but more foodie. I can also see the similarities to Black Temple Burlesque Troupe. So, if you loved Silkybat HG, Badgers, or BTBT or have ever wanted to smell like a chocolate marshmallow, hunt down some Little Maggie.

My skin literally eats this up. I get whiffs of apple, mint, vanilla, jasmine and orange flower. On me, this is a sweet, delicate apple blossom + other florals sort of blend. White, delicate, sweet.

Oh man, this one is mainly a red musk-patchouli, tobacco, a ton of khus, and maybe a whiff of apple and vanilla. Take the Gas Lamp Flare and make it darker, smokier, and in general less than an illuminating light, and more of a muted glow in the shadows and that's what you have with Lips of Flame. This one is dominated by the patch and khus on me. Dark, shadowy, musky, patch.

I can see why this one is SO popular. On wet, I got a giant hit of glistening red apple, and now that its had time to dry the other elements come out to play and I get a ton of smoky copal, hints of saffron and orange. At the very bottom, I think I get some of myrrh's more resinous presence. Red apples, smoke, and resin. And yes, it makes me think of gas lamps! I'm pretty torn on this. Part of me really enjoys it, and the other part of me doesn't think I'd actually wear it. But if you're into Victorian/Steampunk inspired blends, GET THIS NOW.

Very sweet pear and apple on wet. As it dries, I think I get the ambrette seed with a touch of star anise. It smells less sweet and fruity, and more musky with hints of green. At the beginning it was way too sweet, and now its something that is more gender neutral, not too sweet and with a fair amount of green in it actually. Still not the type of blend for me, which makes me sad since the name was SO awesome.

Whiskey and tobacco, with a nice snuggly brown musk anchoring it all. For me it's mainly whiskey and tobacco, and it very gender neutral. The musk reminds me to Hunter Moon 2004 as well. I feel like this one would work for a guy. Boozy, tobacco rich musk.

So, I would say that this is Spanked lite. For those of you that amped up the leather, fear not. Miss Fanny is mainly tobacco, clove, spiced rum with a whiff of smoky leather. For me, I wasn't fond of the original Spanked and found the leather overwhelming. I find Miss Fanny much more wearable, and therefore enticing. But if you dark, sultry, leather-like blends, give this one a whirl. She won't disappoint you.

Gardenia, airy jasmine, hints of rose and honey. This is a very light, airy floral. If you like gardenia, and just a brush of jasmine in your blends, this one is expertly executed. Very refined, pretty with a subtle sexiness to it.

ZAP! ZING! Libertas is exactly as promised. It gives you a sense of bouyancy, freedom and freedom loving. It has the same effervescent energy that being a young, single twentysomething year old has when they say "After me, the deluge" and just live it up for a night (which may or may not have a hefty tag on their credit card tomorrow morning, but you'll deal with that... later...). I finally got my hands on some Libertas and finally used it this morning after going through a pretty intense phase in my life. I sort of wanted a mental break from it, and this has given it to me in spades. If you are familiar with Icona Pop's "I Love It" (or Buckcherry's more rock cover of it, which is "Say F*ck It"), this is kinda like that song in perfume version. It's like the aftereffects of a rollercoaster, skydiving, or anything that puts you in an almost giddy, slightly euphoric, I can take on the world, the chains have come off, sort of way. Libertas is different from Release. I have a decant of Release and used it during the aforementioned intense phase, and the vibes are very very different. Release is about acknowledging and grappling with stuff, in ways that may push you into uncomfortable spaces in a way that makes it OK. Libertas is about getting your head out, getting a time out and maybe making you think you know what - some of that stuff is in your head and maybe it isn't what you think it is, and you know what, SCREW IT, because you only have one life and you can't spend all of your time being consumed by issues. Libertas isn't about being able to let go of things as so much as telling them to piss off for the night, because you're superfabulous and you aren't gonna waste more energy/headspace on that today. (Maybe tomorrow. Maybe). Also, as a big introvert, this actually seems to make me think, you know what, I could talk to people today. I could go to a party today, I could do anything I want today, really. Libertas is a yellow oil, that smells mainly of bergamot, lemongrass, bitter orange, and then dries to a more herbal/slightly resinous blend with hints of geranium and bergamot. If ever released, I would definitely get more.

I mainly get sage, cedar, patchouli and a touch of molasses. This reminds me to damp earth and leaves to me, mainly because of the cedar and the patch. I was sort of hoping for molasses cookies. But no dice.