theseagrows

this smells like red musk and some sort of soft fruit scent, but not overwhelmingly sweet, as i can't really do fruity scents. maybe some florals and citrus too, but none i can really pick out clearly. i could see this being black plum as a reviewer above mentioned, but i'm not sure. it's got an almost clear, tea-like quality to it. the red musk isn't too strong in this, though it is the prominent note. later on, the florals/fruits come to the forefront more. it is a bit "perfumy" and is a very pretty scent.\ eta: now that this has been on for 40 minutes, it really reminds me a lot of bakeneko, and other scents in that vein. like a warm, citrus-tea-red musk scent.

ok, i need some help here. i did some swaps awhile ago (and deleted my PMs), but could only start testing the scents now because i had a cold for 2 weeks. anyway, there is one labeled "B.R." i may have even labeled this when another label fell off? i have no idea, but if so, i should've made a note somewhere. anyway, it is a masculine scent, with woods (i think? may be vetiver or sandalwood) and something else really familiar that i just cannot place. there's no search function to search by what letter a scent begins with, right? i thought it might be a TAL, but the only TAL w/ corresponding letters is black rage, and i didn't swap for that, and it doesn't smell like black rage is supposed to anyway. so this is probably a long shot, but does this sound familiar, off the top of anyone's head? ETA: after going through the site, the only GC i found with BR initials is black rose, and it's definitely not that. maybe it's an LE.

got a frimp of this in a swap! BPAL's woods go really wonky on me unfortunately, and this is no exception. i get mostly rosewood, benzoin and currant leaf, methinks. it's like a sweet-woody cloying scent that is kind of stomach-turning with my skin chemistry. i dunno why i have such bad luck with woods, but oh well, still glad i got to try it!

i got this as a frimp in a swap. in the vial it smells like lavender and a very subtle underlying of something foody and nutty, like chestnut maybe? i tend to not like foody scents, so i am having trouble describing it. anyway, on my skin it's lavender and something a bit smoky, but again, i don't know what. this is a nice, soft lavender scent, but it's very close to the skin, and i am having trouble picking out notes.

hmm, this scent is interesting. it's very dry and classic smelling to me, but with an added sweet floral, which i think is the frangipani. the underlying scent seems to be mostly angelica, white rose and honeysuckle. this strongly reminds me of something else i have smelled, but i cannot place it. i am really having trouble describing this scent on my skin. i think my skin is amping it and it's giving me a bit of a headache.

i am not sure what possessed me to try this, since it is a scent full of fruit and some florals that don't work on me! however, i am pleasantly surprised by this one, at least at first. it is very fruity, and fruity and i are not friends, but it's a nice fruity. it's too sweet for me, but not as sweet/cloying as some other fruity scents i've tried. in the beginning it's a bright, shining melony-citrus scent with a hint of florals in the background. it smells very light and clear to me. once it dries however, the plum comes out much stronger. i think this may be the first time that a scent with heavy plum has not turned plasticky on me! i feel that the oakmoss and tobacco give this a nice base, which keeps it from being too fruity, and i like that. still, i think this is too fruity for my tastes overall, so i will probably swap it. however, it was nice to try a scent with all these notes, and be able to pick out quite a few of them.

this smells like a very "classic" scent to me, and it's more "perfumy" than i thought it would be, which is a good thing, because this works pretty well with my skin chemistry. the vanilla is not a foody vanilla at all, which makes me happy, and i think i'm getting mostly opium and woodmoss with a bit of cognac in the background. very pretty, and i will keep my decant.

got this as a frimp from the lab! it smells mostly like soft, masculine musk to me. very golden. i think it may be musk and tobacco? i can't really place the other scents, but it's a soft musky scent, but it's a clean musk, not black or murky musk. very nice!

i'm not really sure what prompted me to try this, since BPAL's honey note turns straw-like on me, but here it is. the honey is straw-like here, but because of the other notes, it is not as bothersome as usual, and is more of an asset. at first i definitely smell mostly chamomile and honey with the tonka underlying, giving a pretty warmth and depth. this scent is very golden, but not in a musky way, it's nice, just not sure i would wear it much.

ooh this is an interesting scent. it's sweet and fruity, but earthy. i sense the mushroom scent from death cap, and added to it is the black currant and rhubarb, with the champaca flowering in the background. it's sweet and soft and earthy. it gives a similar feeling to death cap, which is comforting to me for some reason. fruits are hit or miss, but berries seem to work better, and this is no exception. it does not turn plasticky or too cloying, yay! i think the rhubarb really helps, and is more prominent than the blackberry and it is quite nice. i've only tried a few rhubarb scents, but i like them, and i think they would be good in the fall. this is too sweet for my tastes in general, but i may keep my decant because it's kind of nice for something different.

damn, i almost really like this, but i think by now i should learn to steer clear of "blue musk", because it's too aquatic-ozoney and sets off my allergies. plus, ozone-cool scents are not really my thing. i think the musk, rose and amber are at the forefront, though in the vial i smell mostly lavender. the lavender seems to be nonexistent on my skoin, as is the vanilla. the carnation is very, very subtle. i am a carnation lover, and was hoping for this to be mostly amber,carnation and vanilla, but sadly the blue musk dominates on my skin along with something sweet and/or mildly fruity, which maybe the "wild crimson leaves"?

i kind of figured this wouldn't work on me, since i don't like foody scents or fruity usually, but it sounded so damn adorable i couldn't resist. and i have taken a liking to some strawberry scents lately, strangely enough (however BPAL's strawberry still doesn't seem to work on me.) this smells like strawberry, cake and something a bit perfumy in the background. i get a light tea note and a hint of vanilla. the strawberry turns plasticky on me as usual, so i smell like a strawberry shortcake doll stuck in a cake

now normally i can't do BPAL's honey note, and fruity notes generally don't work on me, but once i found that i adored the nectarine note in ebisu, i figured i would try more scents with nectarine in them. this one is mostly honey, nectarine and rose. it's VERY sweet. it's too sweet for my tastes, as the honey must pump up the sweetness in the nectarine. it's actually setting off my allergies a bit when i smell it. it smells very young and perfumy to me, and reminds me a bit of prescriptives calyx. like something i maybe would've worn in high school. the notes sound beautiful, but this is just far too sweet for my tastes.

this is mostly chamomile, honey and tobacco on me. the cistus seem to be the background supporting note, while the others are at the forefront. as usual, BPAL's honey turns straw-like on me and the chamomile just adds to that dryness. the tobacco adds a little tiny bit of sweetness. this smells a lot like a chamomile tea bag to me, actually. it's not really my kind of scent, so i will swap it.

got to try this at a BPAL-sniffing party this weekend. i am not normally a fan of foody scents (except sugary/creamy florals.) either they don't work on me or they just smell too cakey-caramel-cream for my tastes. diary of a lovestruck teenage cannibal falls under the latter scents. i knew this smelled good on me, and even kind of enjoyed it, but i also knew that it would be the kind of scent i would only truly wear once in a blue moon. it was pretty much vanilla cream and pink pepper on me. it reminded me of vanilla + cotton candy, but with a slightly warm/sexy musky scent underneath. maybe that was the lemon-squeezed candyfloss? i can't be sure. i really didn't detect any of the other notes at all.

i got to try this at a BPAL-sniffing party this weekend at first i got a sugary note mixed with a sharp wood note. guess that's the mahogany or teak. i didn't like it at first, but once the sharp wood note settled down, it was kind of nice. at this point, i think i was getting mostly the sugar cane and blue musk. i really couldn't detect the florals or fruits separately. it was just a coolish musk mixed with sugar. an interesting scent, that started off kind of unisex but became more typically feminine by the end.

hmm, i can't even begin to describe this scent. all the notes are blended seamlessly. it's kind of a frankincense-amber-sandalwood on me. at least, those seem to be the strongest notes on my skin. this seems kind of masculine, but not entirely. i think in a review i read, someone said that it was a very classic scent, and i think so too. now as it dries, there seems to be a bit of a sweetness coming through, which is making it read as more typically feminine to my nose. could be the benzoin, i think. this is a very pretty scent, and does remind me of a scent my grandmother used to wear. i am just not sure if it's my type of scent.. seems a bit borderline for my tastes.

this was a frimp from the lab. i tend to steer clear of fruity scents (for the most part), but i am glad i got to try this. in the imp it smells like apples with a burnt-sweet note? weird. on my skin there is no evidence of the burntness, but there is definitely a foody-ish cake scent combined with apples. my skin is eating this up and it's very faint. basically a cakey-apple scent on me.

got this as a frimp from the lab, and it smells like caramel and rubber to me. in the imp, it has an ozone-y quality too, but on my skin that is almost non-existent, but does add a sort of golden clearness in the background. interesting scent! i like it more than i thought i would. it's like an earthy-foody-slightly ozone scent!

oh wow, this is lovely. i was pretty sure this would work, since it's in the sexy red musk category along with trick #1 and ecstasy of passion, both of which i love. hygeia's red musk is clear and not heavy, as in those 2 scents. i feel like i detect something slightly woody in the background that almost has a hint of cocoa or chocolate to it, combined with the amber and musk. also, i think maybe the dominant musk here is golden musk, rather than red musk, honestly. this scent is very golden with red, like the artwork it is inspired by. beth did another perfect rendition of a piece of art. i have my degree in painting, so the salon scents hold a special little place in my heart, even if they don't work on me

oh damn, damn, damn. i was 90% sure this would work on me, but it's not completely working. in the bottle it smells like very soft roses, white musk and coconut. on my skin, there is a sour floral note, which i guess is rose. some rose smells amazing on me, and others go sour, and i don't know why, but it often ruins scents that would be otherwise good with my skin chemistry. unless it's the cyclamen? it's hard to identify. the sour note doesn't come out right away though. at first this is a gorgeous pale floral. then comes the sour note, and now that it's been on my skin for about an hour, my skin has eaten up most of the scent, but i can smell a lingering vanilla-rose-musk. i think i will re-try this again later before completely giving up on it.

at first this is a white floral-aquatic, then slowly the vanilla and clove start to peek out, thankfully. after this is dry for about 10-15 minutes, it smells very good. it's a powdery vanilla-jasmine-musk. with a hint of clove. it's so pretty and it really does conjure up a pale, soft whiteness like white flower petals. eta: after a few hours, this is basically vanilla and ylang ylang. i have never been a fan of ylang ylang, but i find it quite pretty when tempered with the vanilla and white musk!

at first, this is all white chocolate, with maybe a hint of coconut. not a foody scent fan, so i am hoping these top notes fade quickly! after drying a bit, the violet leaf and iris slowly come out. at this point, it becomes a very white scent, indeed. luminous too. it's like a floral-aquatic scent with a chocolaty-foodiness to it. it's very pretty! and i normally don't like either of those scent families. eta: now this has been on my skin an hour and it's gorgeous. a soft white musky-oaklmoss scent with just a tiny, tiny hint of the white chocolate. so beautiful.

whoo this is really citrussy at first. after just having applied it, i get the mandarin leaf, orange peel and ginger, i believe. maybe a hint of the peppercorn too. it's very citrussy-spicy like a yule scent. or, that's what it makes me think of. after it dries a bit, the caraway and peppercorn become even more strong and the citrus gets a bit more subtle. the notes i was looking MOST forward to, rose otto and vanilla orchid, are not showing up at all!

this is pretty much cocoa-butter on me, and not much else. maybe almond milk? it's very buttery, and that's all. i like it, but it's not really my kind of scent, so i will swap it. i like the scent of cocoa butter, but not as a perfume, for some reason.