theseagrows

this starts off with orange blossom and something that seems almost woody, i dunno what that is. then the rose comes through, and i guess the carrot seed and clove? i feel like i'm getting something slightly sweet but can't place it. there definitely seems to be some lily in this too, giving it that funereal feel. i am not always a fan of lily, but it behaves slightly better here than usual. it's honestly mostly rose on me though. after it's been on the skin for awhile it's mostly rose, carrot seed and a hint of something almost maple-y.

yep, at first this is 100% champagne in a huge life-size glass. very fresh and zingy! i think after maybe 5 minutes or less i sense the ambergris, it's getting a little salty. a hint of vanilla, and maybe some leather but it is overwhelmingly champagne on me. later on the amber comes through, maybe a tiny hint of the damascus rose too. it seems to be mostly champagne, amber and a hint of rose on my skin. later on i do get more vanilla and patchouli which rounds out the scent nicely. in the end it's a lovely amber-patchouli-vanilla with champagne. such an interesting scent, i never smelled one quite like it.

this starts off with almond, vanilla orchid and ylang ylang. the ylang is the strongest note on me, but it tends to do that i think in general, or maybe i just amp white florals a lot. this is a nice creamy ylang with that vanilla orchid, so pretty. a little bit later the orchid and cedarwood come through but the cedar does not overwhelm thankfully. jeez i love a creamy ylang ylang so i am really enjoying this. it seems like a perfect heady summer scent, but creamy enough to not overwhelm. the orchid keeps blooming, balancing out with the YY and it gets even better, becoming fairly equally balanced between the two, with the honey that has finally bloomed in the most lovely way on my skin. oh my i want to bathe in this, seriously. i wish i had a hair gloss/bath oil/shower gel/anything! it would be wonderful in those forms, especially on warm summer evenings. i am so glad i got a bottle of this.

oooh, like this a lot. right off the bat i get the tobacco, vetiver and a little carnation. in a few seconds i smell hints of lavender and the vanilla amps up a lot more with the musk. thankfully this is not that super strong vetiver either, it's quite nice. after awhile, when the scent settles into my skin, it's a creamy vanilla-carnation with a bit of smokiness and musk. there is some verrry subtle vetiver and lavender in the background, but those are just supporting notes, at least with my skin chemistry. i kind of figured this would be an instant hit for me, so glad i got a bottle!

i tried this at the SF will call, so forgive me if my memory isn't completely accurate. i do remember thinking it was like a creamy scent with something that reminded me of sarsaparilla, but not that exactly, but it definitely had this verrrry slightly creamy fizziness to it, maybe the red pepper? i think i was getting mostly pepper, myrrh, a bit of vanilla, and something else floral, though it didn't "read" as champaca, that was probably what it was, but smelled different due to the blending of the other notes.

this is just as the name implies, spruce and snow. very pretty, it immediately brings me to christmastime, which is obvious since it is a yule scent, but it really is evocative. i would love to spray this around to get in the yule spirit when the time comes. i always want to get pine boughs to scent my apartment at yule because i don't have room for a big tree, but i love the scent. now i can spray this instead, yay.

i don't tend to use/wear a lot of foody scents so i'm not entirely sure which type of chocolate i'm sensing here, but am leaning towards white chocolate. it's fruity white chocolate with a hint of shortbread. i don't really smell the candy cane but i sense it wayyyy in the background. this is very festive and i'm sure this would be great to use over the winter holidays.

oh wowww I absolutely love this! it's a sugary honey-floral and it is so beautiful. I am not 100% sure about the florals but it has a stephanotis/phlox sort of vibe to it and maaaaybe some lilac or honeysuckle? at any rate, I love this and I need more! it's definitely one of the top bath oils for me.

all i smell is a strong lavender at first. lavender single note and not much else, if anything. after a couple minutes i get something kind of herbal but i have no idea what it is...maybe chamomile? jeez, why is this so hard to place?! i have been wearing this for 10 minutes and honestly, i feel like i get lavender and something softly herbal but i cannot pick it out at all. i tentatively say it reminds me of chamomile, but it "works" better with my skin chemistry, so i hesitate to say that's what it is. (what is it?!)

i looked at the color of the oil in the decant and knew i wouldn't like this one, because...dragon's blood and yep, i smell dragon's blood strongly at first, then i get something kind of bathroom-cleanery something in this seems woody but i can't place it. there may also be some spice to this. woody/spicy dragon's blood with something floral that smells like bathroom cleaner on me. not much of a winner, but i love the tarot blends in theory, even if the scents don't work!

i don't think i've ever smelled bpal's oleander note. it's a white floral but it's bordering on aaaalmost fruity to me, unless that is the honey sweetening it up more than usual. this kind of reminds me of something else, but i can't quite place it. i think maybe it's the magnolia note, but i am not sure. someone up above mentioned magnolia (which i haven't smelled that often) but seems to be the closest possibility. this is a really nice scent. i think it'd be a nice heady floral to wear on a warm (but not hot) day.

this is one of those nighttime floral scents, definitely. it's very soft and unobtrusive. it starts off with musk, iris and jasmine, and after about 5 minutes, i get more of the honeysuckle and orris root. night blooming jasmine seems to work much better on me than regular jasmine. it's softer and a bit sweeter and i don't seem to amp it quite as much. it's very soft, pretty and meditative.

all i smell is frankincense and chamomile, which on my skin, translate to pencil shavings and dusty flowers. a little later i get a hint of other florals, which helps, but not enough. this is just too much frankincense for me.

this starts off with something slightly musty and animalic (what?) mixed with ambery tea. then i get the liquidambar and labdanum coming in, and thankfully that first odd mustiness dies off quickly! the leather in this is pretty subtle. i don't really sense it too much honestly, so it may just be a subtle supporting note way in the background. it's mostly a warm, golden tea scent with a hint of something a bit oily, for lack of a better word. it's a nice scent! it just doesn't have a lot of throw on me.

i've been wanting to try this one for a long time. more for the thematic elements/inspiration than the actual scent though, as i tend to steer clear of the dusty/piney scents. anyway, it starts off with lots of must and dust, definitely. i think i am getting khus, black pepper, patchouli and a hint of pine. it smells like an old wooden box at first. shortly after i get some musk and myrrh which fill out the scent more. this is definitely a dark scent! i think i am amping the musk a bit, which is fine by me, honestly, because it tones down the pineyness a bit. it becomes a woody, peppery, dark musk on me and it is very dark and evocative. i am so glad i got to try this scent finally

this starts off with a hint of that snow or ice note and maybe some wisteria? it's some floral scent, but doesn't seem like lilac or tuberose to me. a bit later i think i am smelling a hint of the tuberose, along with some mint. the lilac is subtle and in the background and after awhile it becomes primarily a minty-snow scent mixed with florals. i don't seem to get any of the white chocolate and not much musk either. this is pretty and very wintry, yet the snow is balanced out enough with the florals to make it helps keep it from being too yule-like.

Chocolate peppermint, mint-soaked vanilla, pistachio, oakmoss, and green cedar. i knew this would be too foody for me, but i absolutely love pistachio (to eat) and just had to try it in a scent. this starts off with nuttiness and mustiness, which is probably pistachio and cedar. cedar often does weird things with my skin chemistry, unfortunately. a minute or two later i get some chocolate and it's mostly chocolate and cedar with the nuttiness quickly disappearing. i think the peppermint comes out more later on. this is basically chocolate mint and sawdust on me. interesting.

i like this scent a lot! it starts off with a strong lemon, bordering on pledge-y, but not quite. overall, this is a bright, sugary lemon scent-just icy lemon and sugar, like lemonade and lemon frosting. it's such a happy and uplifting scent, and would be perfect for summer. i am so glad i finally got to try this!

i think i am getting primarily black tea, oudh and benzoin from this. i do see the slight anise-thing going on, but it's not that strong. the tobacco smells like dried tobacco, like an unlit cigarette, different than i recall some other tobacco in bpal blends. there is a touch of neroil that adds a slight sweetness and i feel it uplifts the scent a bit. after awhile the tea sweetens up quite a bit, and it's at this point that i can sort of see the comparison to shining dimple of love, which is one of my absolute favorite (if not favorite) bath oil, however, that one is definitely a little more gourmand due to the vanilla orchid. it's the same black tea though, and it is the closest scent i've smelled to that BO. i think this may be bottle worthy...

ooh this is lovely. it starts off smelling of neroli, orange flower and beeswax. just gorgeous. after a couple minutes i think i am getting some ambergris-there is definitely a feeling of saltiness here. i'm not sure if it's the cedar, but i am getting something a bit odd in the background (cedar doesn't always work for me) but i can't quite place it. after awhile that disappears and i am left with a beautiful neroli-beeswax combination. i am really loving beeswax lately, in the past it hasn't always worked, but it works great in this scent. i may need a bottle of this one...

whoa honeysuckle and amber! definitely the strongest notes at the beginning. i get a bit of gardenia and a hint of patchouli after a few minutes. this reminds me of a bold 80s perfume in a way. there is definitely a glittering feel to this, thanks to the crushed diamond accord. i'm not sure what it is though, note-wise. after awhile this is a blend of gardenia, amber and honeysuckle. it is nice scent for spring or summer. i really love this scent the most after it's in the drydown, after being on the skin for about an hour. at this point it's mostly amber and gardenia, but the florals are less loud. so pretty.

this starts off as a slightly sweet white floral, yet it definitely has that "night blooming" feel to me. i think i mostly get lily and moonflower, and probably some of these other florals which aren't all that familiar to me. i think waaaay in the background i smell a hint of tobacco, but it's mostly florals on me. i don't seem to get any vanilla or tonka here, it seems very subtle. interesting, and i love the imagery, but i was hoping for a lot more of the "muted" notes than those florals. that being said, i love trying the OLLA scents!

this starts out with the labdanum and some frankincense in the background. luckily this frankincense actually works pretty well and doesn't turn too leadlike on me, yay. then the sandalwood and liquidambar make later appearances and it melds on the drydown into a beautiful ambery resin scent. it's so pretty and cozy. i would love to wear this on a cold winter evening.

ahh, this is beautiful!! . the most lovely rich gardenia and honey. this is love at first sniff. i get the sweetness from the rice paper a bit later on, but still this remains a pretty gardenia scent. i absolutely love the beginning, and the drydown is nice too, but i wish that beginning lasted forever.

i've been wanting to try this for years! unfortunately, at first it smells like lemon peel, wine, and something a bit musty. hmm . i think petitgrain can be a bit weird on me and wine is hit or miss. this is like a winey/citrussy/haylike scent. very odd. it doesn't seem to change much, after about 5-10 minutes, except that the wine isn't so strong. it's like musty lemon with wine in the background now. eventually, after about an hour on the skin, it's much subtler and it's just a nice soft, incense skin musk scent. i can hardly smell it though and i'm not sure it's worth the wait either...