theseagrows

I am sooo glad I read the reviews for this and added it onto my lupercalia order at the last minute! I normally look the other direction when snow is mentioned in a scent, but this is beautiful. it's creamy and white but not the typical chilly, ozoney snow note. it starts off with mostly tonka and hay I think, then the honeyed oak comes in giving it depth and making it even more gorgeous. at first I don't smell much patchouli, it's pretty subtle, as is the oudh. after awhile the patchouli gets stronger, but not TOO strong. I have a complicated relationship with patchouli but I am loving it in this- honeyed patchouli woods, yum.

got a frimp of this in a swap. generally mastic and i are not friends and the other notes are unknown or hit or miss but i love trying new bpals so here goes. it opens up like dusty, dry yet leafy? i smell wood and something that reminds me of the smell of oil paints or turpentine, but there is still that wooden/wood chips scent going on as well. after a couple minutes it turns to sort of wet wood chips still mixed with something vegetal. such an odd scent, and to be honest, it's kind of stomach churning. i'm afraid i've gotta scrub this one off, it's just weirdly disturbing to me, and i am trying to figure out how this feeling fits in with the scent description and meaning of "vital fluid"!!

yep, this is a super metallic-ozone and very traditionally masculine. bright, sharp, fresh, gleaming and clean. if this were soap i am sure it would sell super well! i am personally not a big ozone lover, but i am glad i got to try this!

this definitely smells kind of late summer/autumnal to me- it's a warm, golden spicy tea rose with carnation and something and that makes me think of dried leaves, just a bit. very pretty and full of my favorite notes! so glad i got a little bit of this spray

this is a very strong almond at first- more cherryish than nutty. a bit later I get Iris and honey and it's a lovely powdery honey scent. it has a bit of an vintage/classic feel and I love that.

oooh beautiful scent! first off i get pomegranate and beeswax followed by the wine, rose and tobacco, though i think this is mostly a wine-beeswax-rose scent. it's gorgeous like a room filled with candles and roses. absolutely love this one.

this starts off all crisp white tea and then the violet leaf comes in, greening it up. it's quite nice and fresh for awhile. after about 15 minutes though i get this odd sort of sourness from it, that gets kind of mildew-y. wth! it was so nice at first and i like both notes, so it must be my skin chemistry again. oh well. still glad i got to try this one. i love trying new violet scents.

this was pure fresh red roses at first, but then i smelled something kind of spicy, almost carnation-y. a couple minutes later that spiciness seems to turn to a musky scent and then it's musky red roses. i'm not sure what musk this is, but to my nose it's fairly animalic. i like this one, but glad i got a decant because i probably don't need a whole bottle of this.

amaaazing. i used to love going to goth clubs in my 20s and occasionally these days (RIP dark sparkle in SF) and this brings to mind a black-walled, very dark club indeed. in the bottle all i smell is something super synthetic, like latex and fog. i was kind of afraid i wouldn't like this, but once sprayed i get in this order: clove cigarettes, latex and fog, then the wine comes through, then tobacco. can't really pick out the absinthe strongly but i'm sure it's there in the clovey-wine melange. after a few minutes it's mostly tobacco, and i wish the wine stuck around longer, but i like this a lot and am glad i got a bottle.

this is so pretty- it's got a hint of the coolness from the snow note and the juniper starting out. after a little while it settles down a bit and i mostly get lemony white tea and white musk. the other notes ground this some, and like others have said, it's very well blended so that none of the notes stand out too strongly on their own. it's very pretty and i could see it being worn in numerous seasons.

this starts off as frankincense and rose. i see the similarities to hope and fear set free. the thing with that scent is, the initial frankincense-heavy part is unpleasant for me since bpal's frankincense note gets very leadlike on me. it's a bit leadlike in here too, but the rose and balsam seem to deplete that effect a bit. after awhile it's a beautiful vanilla-amber with hints of rose. now i am curious to try this and hope and fear next to each other, because it seems as if this one works better for me, if memory serves.

ooh so pretty and fruity! I get mostly white tea and apricot with a bit of orange blossom. the tea keeps the apricot from being too sweet, and the apricot keeps the tea from being too astringent. i really like this one, even though I'm not always a fruity scent lover. I think this would be even better in spring or summer. yum.

this one starts off with pure red musk and then the honey amber comes through pretty quickly, with some violet leaf seconds later. after a few minutes i get something a little woody as well as rose. soon it gets sweeter- like a very thick red musk with roses and vanilla and probably some pomegranate. i think i am getting a hint of something dark in the background which is probably patchouli but possibly vetiver. however, overall ,it's a thick honeyed red musk with florals and a bit of fruit. after awhile it gets very sweet and fruity on me (I think i amp pomegranate sometimes?) and it's just too sweet for me, so i will be swapping this one.

this is mostly apple peel on me. i think maybe there is some rose geranium and wood with a hint of vanilla but it's mostly sweet woody apple peel. not a big apple fan here, but i was intrigued by the other notes. oh well. the apple certainly doesn't smell bad, it's just not my thing. this is one of those scents that has a candle/potpourri vibe...not my favorite, but probably wonderful on the right person.

(updated review of 2017 version) i get mostly lilacs in the beginning with some white tea and a hint of candle wax, but not much. the lilac is strongest at first but i think the candle wax warms it up through the drydown, while the tea gets stronger. after being on the skin 20-30 minutes it's mostly white tea and lilac but at this point they are more balanced. this scent is like rain on a spring day, and i think it makes a perfect rainy day/spring scent, despite it being a yule blend.

i am not a foody scent person, but i like edible floral stuff like violet/lavender/rose candy or cakes, so that's what drew me to this one. i can definitely smell baked goods and florals in the decant. on my skin it's a slightly toasty baked scent and lavender with a bit of sourness from the ale. it kind of smells like cakey-lavender bubble gum? then the ale comes out more and it's like...beer and lavender. interesting. i think i'm amping the ale and something is goind a bit plasticky...i think i will be swapping this one.

i love leathery, rosy, musky sexy scents so i knew i had to try this one! not to mention coconut all i really smell is red musk in the decant, with a hint of pepper and ginger. immediately on the skin it's red musk and leather, mmmm mmm good. then the coconut comes through along with the rose and ginger. it becomes mostly leather and coconut, with the red musk in the background. after the drydown after quite some time, it turns kind of plasticky, i think from the coconut. i like this at the very beginning, but then it gets sort of anti-climactic for me. not bad by any means, i just have similar scents that work better for me.

this starts off with the familiar bpal snow note, all white and fresh. it's been so long since i've experienced this note! it's nice to smell it again. after about 5-10 minutes i get a hint of something other than snow, something warmer yet still hard to place, because the snow is dominating, but i think it's sandalwood(?) overall this is mostly just...snow. there is a hint of something else in the background, but it's just too much an ozoney/aquatic scent for me.

this starts off with rose, rosewood and some tea, then the rose blooms fully and there's a slightly sweet candied rose happening. the lilac seems subtle and to be a supporting floral, rather than dominant like the rose is, but it definitely adds to the complexity of the scent. it does seem so victorian and evocative. after awhile it gets a little powdery and sweet, but remains primarily a rose scent. i like this a lot! i have so many rose scents, so i will most likely keep my decant and probably don't need a bottle.

i smell the leather strongest when first sprayed and it's a musky leather, but it's not super traditionally-masculine leather. then the roses comes out, it gets a bit sweet and musky afterwards with a hint of the opium smoke. it's kind of a powdery musk with hints of leather and a tiny bit of rose. very nice! glad i got a decant of this one

got a sniffie of this in a swap with a couple of sprays to spare! if i smell it right from the sprayer there is something a little stinky, though when you spray it that's not present at all. once sprayed, it smells like polished wood (lemony polish) and roses to me, with a little greenery from the ivy. it smells kind of fresh yet old fashioned at the same time, if that makes sense.

this is a very creamy honey with hints of vanilla and smoke. lovely! this note is terrible on my skin but i like it a lot as a room spray. love the ambiance of this one!

as soon as it hits my skin it's all red wine with a hint of grape, reminds me of grape bubblegum! that sweeter grape note seems to come and go but the wine stays strong. after being on the skin about 20 minutes or so it's just pure red wine on me. i cannot pick out any other notes, but there is something there softening it. bpal's wine note often turns weird on me, but i am loving it in this! definitely keeping my decant.

ooh i've been gravitating towards osmanthus prominent scents, and this may be one? at least at first. the beginning opens up with tea and osmanthus and a hint of smoke. it's very tea-like to start and a bit later the sandalwood and vanilla come through a bit and warm it up some. then the osmanthus really seems to bloom even more after awhile, very nice! i don't really seem to get any patchouli, maybe it's subtle in this. i really like this scent, not going to get a bottle, but will keep my decant when i want to reach for an osmanthus/tea scent.

this scent is so soft i have to huff my wrist to smell it! it's all toasty vanilla sandalwood and pink pepper starting off, with some saffron in the background. a little while later i smell the labdanum but don't seem to get the oudh. it's a very soft scent, i guess i thought it might be more resiny but it's mostly vanilla and pink pepper. i am not a huge fan of pink pepper, and i was hoping for more oudh, so i think this will be sent to the swap pile. not bad by any means, but i have similar scents that smell better on me. it gets a bit rubbery on me, for lack of a better word. i think it may be the pink pepper.