Siberia

This is nice, but reading these ecstatic reviews made me feel like my nose was broken! I can't pick out the individual notes, I guess what I get is a sweet musk with fantastic staying power. The artwork is fantastic, and it's a nice, unusual scent, but it didn't blow me away like Falling Leaf Moon did. I'm keeping a bottle, but I don't feel like I have to hoard it. Except when I read everyone else's reviews, haha.

Yep, I think this is going to be really popular. It's hard to describe the individual notes, but altogether, it really does smell like hot beeswax with something slightly sweet. There is also a hint of smoke that is so light it's more like an insinuation of smoke. The only note that I think I definitely recognize is sandalwood - maybe a bit of a smokey sandalwood? This is very pretty scent, quiet and reflective. This lasted on my wrists at least 8 hours, but did not have a lot of throw.

This is wonderful: it smells like rich honeyed chai, spices, and skin musk. I wouldn't be able to describe skin musk before using Bengal, but now I can identify it. Unfortunately, either the cinnamon or the chilies gave me large red welts when I applied it to my wrists, neck, and inner arms. The welts weren't painful, but it was obvious my skin wasn't happy. I am using this in my scent locket, and it really responds to body heat so that I catch whiffs of it all day. It's got decent throw, too, even with a small amount in a scent locket.

I love this. It is extremely foody - my husband said it smelled like cinnamon rolls after I slathered on more than I intended. One of my coworkers thought it smelled like cinnamon rolls and the other thought it smelled like maple. They both liked it, though. I bought this based on reviews saying that it smelled like a Pumpkin Spice Latte - I didn't get that, but it is definitely a very food, very sweet, and very delicious scent.

This really does smell like horses, hay, and tack. The leather is there, and really smells like leather, but it's much lighter than in red rider. This is a reassuring, earthy scent, maybe like resting your head against the flank of a lovely, calm horse and breathing her in. This scent is light, and totally suits its namesake. This is my favorite so far of the Vasilissa series.

This is awesome. At first, I get a strong whiff of Muscadine, which smells like the exquisite perfume of a perfect organic apple or muscat grapes. To me, this is a beautiful, natural scent that doesn't smell like grape candy or jolly ranchers - just the natural perfume of some fruits. The muscadine dries off quickly, and what I'm left with is all nag champa with a bit of patchouli. The patchouli is definitely there, but it's very subtle. The bonus is that my perfume-hating husband actually likes this one - he's a fan of nag champa. Instant Top 10!

Black Butterfly Moon smells very high end to me.

I smell mint and earth in the bottle. My skin must gobble up mint, because when I put this on, I get a very wet smelling earth and a fresh apple scent. This earth is saturated and dripping with something unwholesome, despite the freshness of the apple. This probably isn't something I'll reach for too often, but I would probably buy all of this series even for the tarot cards alone, which are gorgeous. ETA: Testing this nearly 6 months later, I find I like it much more. The earth is toned down, but it is now mostly mint, with a distinct but softer note of apple blossom, tempered just a bit by the earth note. I find it much improved with aging.

Cream Cheese Frosting + Dorian + Extra Sugar = LOVE

This goes on very strong and sharp, with a little bit of herbal bitterness. As it dries down, it gets much sweeter. I got this as a frimp with an order, and I was trying to figure out what it smelled like without looking at the notes. My guess was completely wrong, of course. On drydown, I would have guessed lemongrass or vetiver, sandalwood, and amber. Haha, not even close.

In the bottle, this is all rain on fallen wet leaves - my first thought was, "Ooh, it really doessmell like autumn!" The rain/ozone fades fairly quickly on me and I'm left with something that smells softly of cinnamon and apples and something else that just smells like...fall. I can also smell the sweet aloeswood, but it's all mixed up with other scents. I don't know why I think I smell cinnamon and apples since these are not notes, so I'll leave it to more experienced noses. Okay, so after a few hours, the apple-ish scent fades, and there is a lingering sweet scent tinged with smoke. This is probably my favorite lunacy so far! It seems like the lunacies are just more complex than most of the other blends I've tried, and I've really enjoyed them - this one is no exception - I think this will get a lot of use this fall.

In the bottle and wet, this smelled like sweet cake full of toasted nuts. The toasty-nutty scent was really prominent for me. The nuttiness seems to wear off as it dries, and I was left with a sweet, incense-y type scent. Really nice. It did remind me a bit of Samhain 2009 in the dry stage.

I just received this as a frimp with my Halloweenie order. If you love the lab's sandalwood note, this is a great choice. On me, it is almost all that mellow, almost buttery sandalwood with frankincense around the edges - the frankincense sweetens it up just a tiny bit. I'm not getting any patchouli. I was really excited to get this and even more excited to like it, as I'm planning on going to Portland's Pirate Festival next weekend!

***2009 version*** I was a little apprehensive after reading the reviews saying one of the recent incarnations of this had been overly floral, but I need not have worried. The 2009 version is a beautiful scent, unlike any BPAL I've tried so far. It's sweet, but not foody, and very well-blended. It's hard for me to pick out individual notes, but my overall impression is of fruits, cake, and a touch of incense. The fruity note smells a bit like the subtlest apple to me, but an exceptionally natural and aromatic apple. My guess is there's no apple in there at all, but that's just what my nose is telling me. I like this a lot. I'd say it sticks kind of close to the skin and has moderate staying power.

In the bottle and wet, this is a blast of deep yellow scent, very evocative of the sunflowers portrayed on the label. I smelled mostly citrus and amber in the wet stage. The citrus had a bit of an edge, like the pith of a grapefruit, but it was still sweet and pleasant. The scent mellows quickly, but it didn't change a lot for me - it seemed to become softer, and the amber came forward over the citrus. I did not sense the "leaves of autumn" or the "breath of winter wind," but the wet to dry transition was evocative of a change of seasons as the bright yellow citrus of summer faded in the mellow gold amber of autumn. This is a really nice scent, and I'm glad I chose it - this makes me excited to try some (or all) of the other Summer's End scents.

This is a really nice floral - it's not a headache-inducing floral, but a sweet, fruity floral. It smells to me like an expensive "oriental" perfume - it actually reminds me of Borghese's Il Bacio, but I haven't smelled that for a long time. There is a cool freshness that seems to float on top of the sultry floral base. This is definitely a night scent - it's deep and dark and sweet, like a sultry night in the deep south. It's sort of the garden at night scent that I was expecting with Bat-Woman. It has good throw and staying power on me. Glad I got a bottle!

Faith smells like violet candy and sweet, fresh, rain. I really like it.

Wet: I get a dominant citrusy note over a light sandalwood. Not really smelling the amber. Unfortunately, this citrus goes citronella-like on me, and has just a hint of eau de bugspray. Dry: The amber comes out more and it's a bit powdery and I can't really pick out much else. I guess this one is not for me, though I really like the fairytale theme.

In the imp and wet, this has a deep, dark scent like wine-soaked raisins. As it dries, there is something that reminds me of olive oil, or maybe Lush's olive leaf soap. I suppose it could be psychosomatic since the name Athens puts me in mind of olive oil, though. This is a scent that gives me a color impression- dry, it is a golden-green haze. I love this.

On me, this was mostly sandalwood with a beautiful light floral. I really like this scent, but it was frustratingly light despite fairly heavy application. I pretty much slathered it on and it had almost no throw.

Thanks for the suggestions! I have been wanting to try Antikythera Mechanism, and I have an order pending for Temple Viper. The other ones sound good, too.

I would love to find something that smells like Japanese temple/meditation incense. I would especially love any scents featuring agarwood. I have tried Tushnamatay and it does not have that particular vibe for me. Any recommendations?

This smelled just like scented acetone nail polish remover to me. It had a very strong and distinctly chemical scent. Not for me, though I do like the image.

Hermia was not good on me at all. She starts off like pepper-soaked old lady and finishes with a strong soapiness. When I say soapy, it's the kind of soap that you can actually feel in your sinuses and throat - very weird. I get the same soapiness with the otherwise magnificent Fairy Market. I am guessing there is a common note, and my guess is that it's passionflower. But still just guessing. I was sorry this didn't work for me because the notes were very appealing.

Wet, this was a powerful, straightforward rose sent on me. It smelled a lot like Crabtree and Evelyn Rosewater. As it dried down, it seemed to become a little creamier, and reminded me a lot of Alice. It faded quickly, but I did apply it lightly.