The_Merf

Lilac musk, tonka, wood violet, and urbane lime rind, with a Venus-kissed tangle of myrtle, blackberry leaf, and benzoin. In the imp: This smells spectacular--roasted vanilla tonka with a hint of floral. So help me lime, if you ruin this... Wet: Still all good, with the tonka note dominant Drydown and wear: Dadgum, I really like this one--the tonka is all smoky and vanilla, and the lilac is in the background. This is a great "cold day" scent and probably my favorite tonka blend after Sybaris. I would like the blackberry leaf and benzoin to be a bit more detectable, but I still really like the way this scent turns out.

You know, I had never had the "babywipes/diaper" jasmine experience...until now. It's also really strong, since my skin amps jasmine. The initial babywipe blast does tone itself down. In fact, this scent completely disappears off my skin after 15 minutes. Very bizarre, very short lifespan!

In the imp: cool violet with a slight hint of something greenish on the edge Wet: Violet Drydown and wear: Violet--certainly one of my favorite "straight violet" scents (I prefer this to Morgause and others), but it just doesn't do enough on my skin.

In the imp: Ginger with a hint of lily. Wet: Lily is much stronger on my skin wet, and in fact, during the wet stage this is almost entirely lily on me. Drydown and wear: I'm just crushed--I was so excited about a lily with a real kick, but this is just like a lily SN on me--really light and very single-minded. Sigh.

In the imp: This is tobacco and equal parts incense and opium smoke (OK, perhaps it leans a bit more to the incense) Wet: This is incense going soapy and opium smoke--very sharp (though I think that some of the sharpness might also be from the tobacco). The scent does come off as more green than dusty in the wet stage. Drydown and wear: This mellows out and loses the sharpness, but it is still a high incense/tobacco/opium mix. The tobacco scent gets stronger as the perfume dries, and the smoke in "opium smoke" becomes more prominent as well. This comes so close to being really spectacular on me (though I think if this changed in the way I wanted, it would be a lot like Mum Moon), but there's a floral/soap edge that will just not go away from my skin.

In the bottle: Oh God, it smells like Red Lantern...for most people this is good, but RL went very, very wrong on me. The Egyptian amber and walnut are combining for this sticky, caramel foodiness. Wet: This is foody for about a second and then wildly morphs into orange fizz soda. I have no idea what combination of notes could bring this about. As it changes some more, I get a bit of saffron rice, as though I were at an Indian restaurant. This one's certainly got lots of character! Drydown and wear: I really smell like saffron rice with an orange undercurrent. There is almost a sense of warm grass, like a lion laying out; this is a very sunny scent and in keeping with Leo's astrological ruler. Even though I don't necessarily love it on my skin, I cannot help but appreciate the obvious craft and care behind this blend. I can see why it has a reputation as a special BPAL already. This is a very interesting BPAL, but it also seems to follow Merf's Iron Law of Sadness--If everyone else likes it, it will just not quite work for me. My loss, however, stands to be someone's considerable gain.

In the decant: Lovely cedar-y resin and the brightness of hyssop. Wet: The fruity hyssop is actually stronger than the frankincense--for just a moment. Then the reeds and herby-ness take over, and I get a lovely golden warmth that I really wanted from scents like Anubis, Sol Invictus and Ra. Drydown and wear: This is very evocative--most of the scent is a dry (this can only be the orris at work, I deem), golden desert, but there is just a bit of juice, of life, representing a river. I'm definitely going to mull this one over long and hard and consider a bottle. I'm sad that it took me this long to get around to trying this particular blend.

In the decant: Given the number of notes in this blend, it's really hard for me to pick out any one thing, but it does seem like this is a predominantly amber base with both an herbal layer (primarily oakmoss) and a floral layer (I can really pick up on the jasmine!). Wet: This is amber and citrus wet--but my skin just loves orange and lemon, especially when I first put a scent on, so this doesn't surprise me. Drydown and wear: The scent muddles a bit on me as it dries down, which is something I was afraid would happen. It's mostly floral on my skin for the dd, with jasmine and gardenia and a hint of vanilla most noticeable.

In the imp: SHARP lavender with black musk and a whiff of the tobacco Wet: Really sharp lavender with a strength to match the Somnium blends like Baku. Drydown and wear: I'm quite fortunate in that this doesn't go to straight lavender on me. However, it takes an interesting detour through the realm of "citronella candle" in the early stages. I'm not entirely sure what combination of notes results in that smell, but it does smell like I've got some OFF Bug Spray on when this dries down. This is not something that black musk or vanilla has ever done on my skin before. As I read on copaifera, I see that it can be used in bug bites, so I guess that's what is creating the effect. My skin really amps that note up!

In the imp: Sweet, soft florals Wet: Sweet moonflower, but there is also orchid here, and the combination is far stronger than moonflower usually is. Drydown and wear: This smells almost exactly like Queen Mab did on me--a lovely orchid bringing some strength to a sugary and sweet floral. I don't get any of the amber or other notes in the blend. It is very pretty though--I always do like orchids, and it's an unexpected take on what we might expect from a bat.

An old original imp with the old BPAL label... In the imp: Wow, what a wonderful and warm blend, the clove and cinnamon blend is beautiful, and I hope/fear this may be the cinnamon blend that I've been searching for. Wet: I love this--it's really warm and wonderful. The clove is fantastic, but the cinnamon is dominant and I don't smell the pepper at all. Drydown and wear: I think I will have to wear this scent sparingly, as the cinnamon does veer dangerously close to 'red hots' territory during the drydown stage. However, when worn in small quantities, I don't think it will have that effect. This is kinda what I hoped Tintagel would be (and I guess it was, except Three Witches doesn't give me welts). It looks like I might have to search out some more of this, as I only have a partial imp.

In the decant: Wow, this is really herbal and astringent. With its red color, I was expecting some warmth to the blend, but I don't detect any here. Wet: Immediately some sort of vetiver/wood note jumps out at me and overwhelms all the other notes. However, that initial blast lasts for a minute at most. Drydown and wear: This returns to the herbal stage I smelled in the imp, though it is not as astringent as it was before. The herbs muddle together, and I can't pick out anything in particular.

In the bottle: Lots and lots of chocolate! Wet: I was able to get all the parts of the oil, but so far, what I have really just smells like cocoa. I agree with others who have pointed out a similarity to Velvet's cocoa note (though you don't get Velvet's sandalwood here). Drydown and wear: Snake Oil starts to break in rather early in the drydown phase, and it does blend very well with the cocoa. As the scent continues to dry, the SO spices actually take the lead and push the cocoa note into the background (not to say that it still is not prominent). I'm not getting the creaminess of the rice milk or any sort of woody scent. While this is certainly lovely and I can see why it's become a forum favorite, I still prefer Death Adder for bringing out the SO spices, and Velvet remains my Holy Grail of cocoa scents. I know I will be able to find this a good home.

Few scents in the BPAL catalog call their name to mind as perfectly as this one. From the moment I opened the bottle and smelled Beth's encapsulation of weakened perfume shrouded by the remnants of too much fun (just the slightest bit of smoke), I was instantly reminded of a group of people waiting up to make sure that one of their companions was going to be OK. As the perfume goes on wet and dries, the very light rose and classic woman's perfume (there's gotta be some ylang-ylang in here, as the BPAL this immediately reminded me of was La Petite Mort) remains and the smoke fades away for good. This perfume manages to suggest aged, breaking down, worn perfume and smoke without smelling unpleasant or stale. My only gripe is that this one is not very strong (which is usually a deal breaker for me), but this is so evocative and such a lovely rose (one of my favorites so far), that this little bottle isn't going anywhere!

In the bottle: Spiced lavender, as others have said, which I think is a combination of the lavender and the orchid. Wet: Lavender and resin on my skin. Drydown and wear: The resin is actually only really prominent in the wet stage, and upon drydown, this blend returns to the lavender/orchid combination that I smelled in the bottle. The orchid gets stronger as the perfume dries down, and I do like the later stages of this blend much more than I like the lavender-dominant early stages. Giving the bottle a couple of weeks to settle seems to have really brought out the ability of the orchid; when I first tried this the day I got it, it was almost straight lavender. The only problem with this bottle is one of strength; by the time it reaches the stage I like, it has gotten really soft. However, those looking for a slightly different spin on lavender would do well to give this one a try.

You know, sometimes I wonder what I am thinking when I swap or buy something. Black musk is one of the sketchiest notes for me (my initial fear was of white musk, but by this point I think black musk might have wrecked as many blends for me). Indeed, when I first open the decant and apply the oil, all I get is vetiver and stale black musk. The black musk is the strongest note on my skin by far during the wet stage, and I can't smell the lovely sandalwood or red patchouli at all. All the notes start to muddle together on the drydown, and it becomes a patchouli/wood/vetiver blend (at least the black musk goes away). I am definitely going to have to put this one up for swaps, but it's not the scent's fault; I should have figured, given how I react to black musk, that this would happen.

In the imp: Very sharp and sinus-cleaning juniper, with the oakmoss and patchouli also very prominent Wet: All juniper Drydown and wear: Patchouli and myrrh, which is a really hit or miss combination with me (Dance of Death=amazing, others=eew). In fact, this one actually reminds me of a slightly lighter and less sweet DoD (it's really missing the orris). Because I love DoD so much, I think I will swap this one, though I should note, for anyone who might be scared off by the juniper, that this really ends very nice and subtle on my skin. You can get a hint of juniper, but not too much (so this is like metallic dirt, in the end).

In the imp: Dirt, lots and lots of dusty dirt, with just a hint of something that is either the blackcurrant or mimosa, but it's very faint and hard to tell. Wet: Really dusty dirt, no fruitiness, just a hint of resin. Drydown and wear: This does get fruiter and more resinous on drydown, and the dirt note is actually really hard to pick out after about 25 minutes. However, this is a very stale fruit smell on my skin, and the entire oil just smells off with my chemistry. I'm going to have to swap this one.

In the imp: More floral than resinous, I pick up on the violet and a hint of something that I would guess might be the lily note Wet: This is immediately more resinous when I put it on my skin, and this is a lovely, smoky myrrh. It combines really well with the violet, and in the combination of resin/violet, reminds me of a more regal/feminine version of Faustus, one of my favorite BPALs. Drydown and wear: The myrrh becomes stronger in this one as it dries, but it's really sweet and lovely and dark (befitting the collection, I deem). The violet is not necessarily the strongest secondary note anymore, as the cypress gives this a cool edge. I think I will hold this imp for further testing; this is a nice resin blend.

In the imp: Sweet-spicy--baked oranges, warm browns and plums Wet: Basically the same as the imp--a pretty red-orange citrus fruit with a little extra kick. Drydown and wear: This does not morph much on my skin, but as it dries, it reminds me of pumpkin for some reason. For people who really like Fall and foody scents, this would be a great choice. However, I'm not really into scents that "color" in the warm oranges and browns category, so I'm going to have to swap this imp

In the imp: Fresh, uncut wood and leaves...a slight tang of herbs Wet: I quite like this--it smells like fresh woods--almost like I brushed my skin against growing wood and then rubbed crushed leaves over it...this is really very nice, and not at all an intimidating wood like Kathmandu or Odin. Drydown and wear: The wooded note gets stronger on the drydown, but there is still a lovely freshness behind it. This is one of my favorite BPAL wood blends that I have tried. It's a warm wood instead of a cold wood like a Black Forest, and there's enough "life" in it with the greenery to not feel too bleak (which was my problem with Odin).

In the imp: Soapy incense Wet: Very soapy incense! Drydown and wear: More incense and less soap as this dries down, but this one is not for me. Off to swaps.

In the imp: This is a combination of lemon and apple unlike any of other other apple and lemon BPALs I've tried. There's a real softness (to give it a tactile equivalent, it's like soft, gathered yarn) to the lemon, and the apple is very faint, as is the rose. Wet: Same as in the imp. I'm pretty sure the rose is what is providing the interesting edge to this scent. Drydown and wear: Damn the lemon note--it really starts to become the prominent note on drydown (my skin tends to amp lemon a lot). The rose has dried down almost completely and I still can barely get a hint of the apple. I love the way this starts out, but since it goes to all lemon on me, I'm going to have to swap the imp.

In the imp: I can definitely see why this is called a spicy floral, as it is certainly one of the more exotic floral notes (doesn't smell like a lily at all to me!), but in terms of color, it strikes me as green-gold, as I pick up that edge, not the warmer and muddier red-purple. Wet: This goes on spicy, but clean (the green-gold) at first--I'm worried about this one's staying power on my skin. Drydown and wear: This scent does become a bit redder as it dries, but it gets less spicy as well. The people who have described this as tart like a citrus seem to be spot on with their description. As I feared though, this one does not have a lot of staying power on me.

In the imp: Patchouli and oakmoss. Wet: Patchouli is by far the strongest note, but the oakmoss is not as noticeable here, and I can pick up on the copal Drydown and wear: This does dry into a nice--if not a bit piney--wood/patchouli scent. The patchouli is a very clean one that reminds me of the type found in Geek. This is a very evocative scent, as it immediately calls my Crowley Ace of Disks card to mind (not that the meaning is 'Greed,' but this reminds me of the tree in the center of that card). The resin becomes much stronger as the scent dries down, and this one is actually a surprising morpher. I did not think I was going to hold the imp for further testing when I first tried it on, but now I think I will.