puellacaerulea

In the imp, the coconut definitely stands out, but I also pick up the milk note, which keeps the scent from going into full suntan-lotion territory. Once it's on, my skin eats the milk up fast, and the coconut (with a touch of shea) dominates the blend. At this point, we are in full suntan-lotion territory -- classic, coconut-scented lotion (and I mean that in a good way -- no chemical-scented lotion here). If coconut's your thing, you'll probably want to try this one. Relatively low throw, but has great staying power. I could see myself reaching for this in hot weather or when I want to be reminded of the beach, so I'll definitely hang onto my frimp, but this probably won't be a regular-wear thing for me.

In the bottle and once on, I get a mix of deep amber, citrus, sunflower, and marigold -- they should be bright and sunny scents, but there's something darkened and muted about them. I never fully pick up the leaves, but there's a brief period where I get the off note that sometimes happens when a green note isn't playing well with my skin, so possibly the leaves? There's a slight astringency, but for the most part, this remains that mix of amber, marigold, and citrus on me, in that order. It's a little somber despite the brightness of many of the notes -- very evocative of the end of summer. (As a side note, this scent had its original run right when I was going through a significant life change that coincided with the end of summer. I always regretted not grabbing this at the time, and now that I've snagged a bottle years later, I'm amazed at how evocative it is of that period.)

This is sweet citrus and fruit to me, both in the imp and once on. There's also something a little creamy/vanillic about it -- the comparisons to meringue pie earlier reviewers made make sense to me. (On the other hand, this is a pretty well-aged imp, so that might be intensifying some notes.) If the scent's any indication, I can see this working as a mood booster; if nothing else, I feel less stressed and more motivated to tackle today's massive to-do list.

In the imp, this is a pretty mix of woodsy, mossy notes and pale, ethereal florals. Unfortunately, my skin eats the florals and amps the berry, so I end up with more of a mossy green/coniferous scent with berries. It's still a perfectly good forest scent, but the florals in the mix helped differentiate it from other forest scents in my stash. Will hang onto my frimp for scent locket use, though.

In the bottle, I get a balanced mix of lemongrass and tonka -- lots of bright lemongrass, but the tonka's there lending a sweet earthiness to the scent. After a brief period of the lemongrass amping up on me, it settles and balances with the tonka again. It's a really pretty combination of bright, clean citrus notes and slightly earthy sweetness. Strong throw and good staying power. This reminds me a lot of a lime and tonka-based perfume Lush used to make that I really miss, so I'm glad to have snagged a bottle of this.

This starts out as tobacco with a kind of high-pitched frankincense. There's a slight astringency to the blend at first, but it does eventually settle and get sweeter and slightly chewy with wear. The tonka's very subtle, but I think it's adding that faint sweetness. Still, this is tobacco-forward throughout. A warm, brown kind of scent; would be good for cooler weather. Not sure if I need a full bottle (I actually want to death match this with the bottle of French Tobacco I recently scored before I make that call), but will keep using my decant.

In the decant, very honey-forward mead and dried fruits -- I can't pick out the spices, but they're there. This is really well-blended -- I know there are fruits and spice under the honey, but this is definitely a primarily honey scent. I was worried it was going to be too heavy on the fruit and spice in the decant, but the honey note amps up a lot, so that I get a bright honey scent with a faint undercurrent of fruit and spice. I'm probably good with just a decant of this, but if you like honey blends, this is one to try.

Scent-wise, the ylang is pretty low-key -- the chamomile and tansy stand out more, with the elemi giving it an astringent, medicinal edge. The elemi calms down with wear, leaving me with a subtle, herbaceous floral. I do find it calming -- this one called out to me both for the scent notes and because, well, 2020.

In the decant, wisteria stands out the most, followed by the honeysuckle, with the jasmine barely detectable. They're all blended really well, though, which might be why I'm not immediately picking up the jasmine. This doesn't morph significantly -- my main impression is somber, purple florals. Not loud, and definitely not soapy. I love it for being a subtle, non-soapy floral, but my skin eats it up fast.

It's really interesting how different everyone's experiences of this scent are! In my decant, I definitely pick up the amber, coconut, and sweet florals -- I think the wildflower honey is reading like honeysuckle to me. There's no honeysuckle in this, but I swear I smell it. The coconut, smoked vanilla, and amber amp up more as it dries down on me. I don't pick up tobacco per se, but I definitely recognize the coconut/smoked vanilla combo from the Coconut, Smoked Vanilla, & Fig Menage a Trois -- here it's smooth, dry-ish, only faintly smoky, and helps keep the florals and honey from getting aggressively sweet. After drydown, I'd describe this as a light and sweet amber, orange blossom, and honey scent, grounded by the coconut and smoked vanilla and a hint of skin musk. It's ridiculously pretty.

In the imp: A fresh rose scent, with some faint green notes. It settles and the green notes get more subtle on drydown, but this rose avoids going powdery. Pretty subtle and low-throw. If you like rose but have issues with rose notes going to baby powder, this might be one to try.

Was recently frimped this by a forumite. In the imp, it's very strong, sharp incense -- yikes! (I can't tell if it's the patch or the frankincense, but based on other scents I've tried recently, I think it might be the latter). It develops wonderfully once on, though -- I'm used to softer white sandalwood blends, but this sandalwood is closer to cedar -- definitely a wood note, but avoids pencil-shavings territory. The sharpness also fades, and I get wood and spices that are reminding me almost of fresh ginger, even though that's not a note in the description. It's more subtle and close to the skin than that initial sharp blast from imp suggested. It's woods and resins and a hint of spice, but in a very low-key way. I don't think I need more than an imp, but I like it a lot more than I expected to at first sniff.

Leather and tobacco notes tend to work well for me, so I wanted to at least try a decant of this. It is *strong* in the decant and once applied -- I can pick up the leather and tobacco, but they're accompanied by some pretty strong, dark incense notes (guessing it's the blackened champaca and/or raw frankincense). Strong, dark, sharp, smoky incense with a backdrop of leather. It does mellow out a bit with wear -- I never quite pick out the petitgrain or bourbon vanilla, but I suspect they're helping to tone down the initial sharpness. It eventually fades to a leather/tobacco combo. It's not the kind of thing I'd reach for often enough to justify a full bottle, but I'll keep my decant.

In the bottle: The sandalwood and orris stand out, as well as yellow florals in the background. Once it's on, the orris and nicotiana really amp up - the orris goes through a brief powdery phase, but it does eventually settle down and blend more effectively with the sandalwood. Overall impression is soft smoky notes (think pale, hazy, luminous) over a base of subtle floral notes. Sticks pretty close to the skin and has great wear time. I always regretted not getting a bottle of this during its original run, so I'm glad I snagged one secondhand.

In the decant, I get whiffs of lavender and rosemary, and just a hint of bergamot. Promising start. Unfortunately, I seem to amp the blackberry, and something about the way those fruity notes interact with the rosemary is just not working for me -- they combine in a way that's cloyingly sweet to my nose. (I had a similar reaction to Bess -- I think I just need to avoid scents that involve a combo of non-citrus fruits and rosemary.) Still, I'll hang onto my decant to see if it works better in a scent locket, given it's way better in the decant than on my skin. Could also see potential as a room scent.

The cannabis accord always scared me away from this scent, but when an opportunity to try a decant came up, I decided to go for it. In the decant: Patchouli and, yes, weed. Fortunately, the smoky vanilla really amps up on me and the cannabis accord fades fast. It's not a sweet vanilla, more like smoked dry vanilla bean. Likewise, the patchouli isn't the heavy, dirty, chewy kind, but more dark green and mossy (I'm guessing I'm also picking up the hemp). So: mainly mossy greens and smoky vanilla on me. Sort of like Smug Yale Alchemy Lab's dirty hippie cousin.

In the decant, it's light skin musk with bourbon vanilla and sandalwood. The sandalwood and frankincense fade a lot once on, and this ends up being a light, sheer vanilla musk on me with a faint whiff of sandalwood to deepen it. Sticks really close to the skin, and has maybe fiveish hours of wear time. It's pretty, leaning a little more on the conventionally feminine side, and would be great for work or other situations where you want something subtle. Considering a full bottle.

In the imp: Lots of lavender, with a slight undertone of something else green. I can't quite tell if it's eucalyptus because it fades extremely fast. Still, if you're looking for something primarily lavender, this would be a good choice. I'll probably hang onto my imp for a sleep scent.

This one really is a fresh, true rose scent, with some slight herbal undertones. Borage tends to go odd and bitter on me, but the rose and other florals balance it out nicely. A very true, pleasant, non-soapy rose. I grabbed a decant, but might go for a full bottle, both for the scent and intended use. (For what it's worth, I recently used this in conjunction with dealing with a neighbor dispute, and it went much, much better than expected. It's possible the scent just calmed me enough to approach the situation with confidence, but whatever the effect was or wasn't, the situation had a positive resolution.)

In the imp: Honey, but also something darkly herbal. It doesn't morph much once on -- very distinctly honey, but that herbal undertone tones down the sweetness just a tad and adds complexity. Most BPALs featuring honey that I've tried have been pretty strictly gourmand scents, so this is a really interesting and fresh take on honey. Has some serious throw, so I imagine my imp will last quite a while.

I've had this in my stash since I first got it during its original run, and yet somehow never got to reviewing it. Oops. So: In the bottle and once on, it's very bright and sweet. The coconut's there, but the pear's dominating everything. It's not unlike bubblegum. As it wears, the bubblegum sweetness mellows out and the coconut amps more, along with the carnation, tiare, and a subtle incense note. Soft, golden, fruity, and summery. It's the kind of thing I have to be in the mood for, but hey, it's still in my stash after all this time.

I've had multiple frimps of this for years, and yet somehow never gotten around to reviewing it. On me, this is a balance of green, herbal, slightly minty notes and anise. Not particularly boozy, just anise-y. I'm not normally a fan of anise, but combined with the green notes, mint, and faint citrus, it works. I think it's the balance of all the notes that makes the anise note read more like fresh star anise than licorice candy to me. Light, green, and summery. Would definitely consider a full bottle once I exhaust my frimps.

Was recently frimped a decant of this. In the decant, it's loads of pale florals brightened up with green and citrus notes. Pretty, but does have a commercial perfume vibe to it. It goes weird on me once on -- I'm getting something that smells vaguely like anise among all the florals. Is it how the linden is playing with the other florals? Is this a slightly indolic jasmine? I have no idea, but something anise-like is there and it's weird. It does start to mellow out later, getting less green and more jasmine-forward. Perhaps appropriately for this scent's theme, it doesn't last long -- it's completely faded on me in about four hours. I don't dislike it, though, and will keep it around for when I want a lighter floral. Privilege also had its run shortly before I got into BPAL, so I'm glad to have the opportunity to try something I wouldn't have been able to otherwise.

Yep, definitely a foodie scent. The milk and honey are there, but with an added sweetness that reads like maple syrup to me. It's also faintly boozy, so I'm not sure if this is actually maple or a result of how the wine note is playing with the other notes, but it's there. So, yeah. Warm, sweet milk, honey, and maple, deepened and made slightly boozy with the wine. It's similar enough to other gourmand scents in my stash that I don't need a full bottle, but I'll hang onto my imp.

In the imp, I weirdly don't get a lot of pine -- instead, I get something sticky-sweet, with pine hanging out in the background. (This imp is pretty aged, so I'm not sure if that's a factor.) Once on, it stays candy-sweet, fruity, and sticky, with the pine amping up just a bit. Not a fresh pine, but thick and sticky.