patina

I could swear this had jasmine, but it's only doing the floral thing that honey sometimes does. I could almost swear there was leather as well. The only problem is that there's a bit of a sour note to this, like very sour orange. This has a bit of a sunny/ glowing feel that would be wonderful on dark winter days, but I already have A Wonderful Light for that.

So disappointing. I just can't wear juniper at all. The first note I get is the leather from Fighter, followed by a cleaning fluid like juniper and some light honey. Nope.

Nice. Imagine Old Demons of the First Class, but with the Neroli removed and replaced with red musk. This is something along the lines of Sin but a bit smoother. Sin in a leather jacket. On first application, I get something nasty, almost fecal for a moment, but it only lasts a moment and I know from experience that it'll disappear entirely when the scent ages.

Pine pitch. PIIIINNNE PIIIIITCH. But don't worry, this isn't a Pine Sol pine tree scent. Neither is it derived from a tame Christmas tree such as you might find at a farm. Nor is it a pretty little thing that gets coated with sparkling icicles and snow like sugar. No, this is what you get when you journey to the heart of the deepest darkest old growth forest to do battle with a moss bearded behemoth, a monster who devours lumberjacks whole, and you rip out its sweet black resinous heart wherein dwells a thousand winters. If, after nestling the tree's pitchy heart in a box full of moss, you built a cozy little chapel in the middle of the forest to house the dark tree heart and then randomly scattered EVEN MORE MOSS around you'd have a pretty good approximation of what this smells like. I don't know, something about this scent just says "dark, cozy little chapel in the woods" to me. Translation for those not fluent in nonsense: Resins, moss, a bit smoky smelling and edging towards cologne. The pine pitch becomes far less SERIOUS DEEP PITCH on drydown and the violet leaf shows up making it smoother and a little green. Good for moss lovers, myrrh lovers, and any druids on your holiday list.

Bourbon vanilla comes out first, it's a very rich vanilla, creamy and generally amazing. Green coffee bean almost smells like coffee, but it is more nutty, almost fruity, like a banana before it's fully ripened. I can't pick out particular spices at first and the patchouli stays in the background initially. I'm amazed at how bashful this patchouli is. Either that or I have a scent blind spot. Here's how the scent smells at first: Picture some whipped cream flavored with very expensive vanilla. It's all very lush, but has no sugar added. Blend in a banana just before it gets ripe and a spoonful of bitter cocoa powder with a sprinkle of cardamom or maybe nutmeg. I'm a little hungry now. Later: The scent gets darker, more woody, much less foody though the vanilla is still definitely there. The green coffee beans get stronger and no longer smell so much like a banana. Verdict: This is very nice, but I think I prefer Banshee Beat which is a lot darker and a bit sweeter.

at first this is a little faint. I get a pale olibanum with a slightly toasted smell. Then the blackcurrant comes out. It's fruity and sweet and never gets too sharp. I think I can smell non-powdery amber even though there isn't any. Must be the opoponax. The toasted/spicy smell is still there underneath preventing the sweetness from being oppressive, though it still might be too much for some people. Verdict: Perfect

I was afraid to try this because of the bay leaf note. I thought it might turn out to smell like Old Spice. While it has a bit of a male cologne vibe, I'm happy to report that this is far more tolerable to me. First of all, there's vetiver. I like some vetiver scents that smell burnt, like Maladiction, but they're usually too simple and harsh and I get tired of them after a while. It helps that the opoponax sweetens and smooths this a bit. This scent is strong and I'd expected it to be, but it's not as heavy as I'd feared. Probably because leather doesn't stick around long on my skin. Initially the bay leaves are a bit like pickles, but the effect isn't offensive and doesn't last that long anyway. After some wear the clove becomes more prominent. I love The Hellgate of Ireland, The Smiling Spider, and Count Dracula and this falls right into the pantheon of awesome dark clove stuff. Sadly I will probably never find a bottle for sale. 2024 Aged decants So the original was more gleaming black notes including leather. Now, with aging most of what I get is clove and oakmoss. I may not need a bottle after all. Edit: Tested a second aged decant. While dimmed, this one has retained some smoky vetiver and leather. Maybe a pouring issue with the decanters? it does seem like aging has softened both decants.

Freshly applied: Cherry musk or dragon's blood, celery-like leather, and faint stone. The leather rapidly becomes less celery-like. There's probably not supposed to be leather in this, but I smell it anyway. A lot of the RPG line smell similar to me and this would fit right in, except it's a complete perfume and it's better blended than anything I layered on myself. In particular the red stuff reminds me of that note from Chaotic and the leather note reminds me of Rogue and Fighter. I do get a sense of a dungeon from this, but it's a theme park dungeon, lit by lurid red light bulbs. HOURS LATER: A while ago the dragonsblood/whatever stopped being bright cherry red all over everything. It's calmed down to a nice dark resin and there's something else. Pine tar? I think I can detect the faintest whiff of the lab's brimstone note. Beeswax has also come out to play. Verdict: Nice resins. This is in the same family as Blood and the RPG line.

I really want to try Callidora from BPTP, Totentanz, and Csardas Macabre.

This is unpleasant in the vial, sort of cleaningfluid-esque. It softens up on my skin, turning into the softer, maybe slightly floral relative of Night's Bridge. Am I crazy? No one else has mentioned that scent, but to me it's almost entirely alike. Edit: okay, so other people already mentioned Night's Bridge. I fail reading comprehension. Also I get champa from this rather than lavender.

Yep, that's dirt and moss alright. There's also a strong stone note on my skin. It's sort of airy and damp, if that makes any sense. I can see the resemblance to Zombi,except Zombi always smells desiccated to me and this is damp. Nice but a bit basic. I prefer Worm Moon for dirt.

This smells like Haunted plus light juicy pomegranate to me. I wish it was a tiny bit more spicy or woody, more fall-like. The pomegranate sometimes threatens to become overly sour/ sharp, but doesn't quite go there. It'll be interesting to see what aging does with this, whether it becomes sharper or more mellow and whether the pomegranate fades with time.

Flat, dark and a little sweet. I find myself wishing this had a tiny bit of spice. (Though the tobacco is almost spicy.) Maybe clove or something to give it a little extra dimension? Still not bad.

I wish I could see your costumes! Rather than handing out candy with friends and going to a memorial service it seems I might be staying home tonight due to rain. At least I can still hand out candy while dressed appropriately for a ren faire. Oh, and wearing Mary Shelley too.

This is mostly Absinthe on me, but there's some ozone too. I guess it could be called "soapy" but it's not unpleasant. This is really reminding me of Storm Clouds on the Midway. If Stormclouds mated with Absinthe, it would smell like this. This is lovely, but like Stormclouds it gets faint very quickly.

Unlike other reviewers, I can pick out the cypress easily. It's the most noticeable thing in the bottle. On my skin the roses bloom, along with a violet powder (the orris) and the myrrh. While the myrrh sweetens everything, it doesn't cover up the rest of the scent. Roses, orris, wood, and resins are all there and accounted for, but the sweet, powdery roses are the most prominent part of the scent on my skin. It may be a bit too far into face powder territory for me. There is some throw but not much.

This is a true wine smell a bit like zadok allen vineyard, except sweeter, with less of a vinegary quality. Does Balm of Gilead smell like honey? There's something like that here as well as a poppy flower note. Nice. Edit: I know I said it smells like wine, but actually, it smells more like someone took a glass of wine and mixed it with an equal measure of pomegranite juice. Still good.

I had to try this one. Applied, it's super moss. A whole roomful of dry dark moss to sink into. I can't smell the patchouli or balsam separately. (But then I'm not very practiced picking out balsam.) The spicy, bitter orange smell of cumin and neroli balance out all that moss very well. With certain chemistry, I can see this turning too sharp, even turning into body odor, but somehow it behaves itself. That almost never happens when I wear sharp scents. After a while the patchouli becomes a bit more noticeable. This is actually nice for a chilly day. I wouldn't go so far as calling the scent unhinged, but it suggests wild misery without actually making me feel unhappy. (It helps that I find oakmoss comforting.) As the other reviewers have said, it tends towards men's cologne. It isn't absolutely amazing, but it is good, very interesting and uniquely evocative.

I think Creature Feature would work if you could find it. I don't know if the GC Black Dhalia is still available, but if not, maybe Darkness would work.

The only GC scent I can think of is The Old Goblin which is ice and fir cones. One review says it smells like hard, dirty ice. If you want to try out Yules Snowball Fracas comes to mind immediately. It's snow and dirt. Jolasveinir the Yule LE is pastries and dirt and frost. There's Yellow Snowballs, and Pink Snowballs. There's also Lick it, Suck it, etc for peppermint candy. Snow Bunny and Waltz of the Snowflakes might be a bit too pretty, but I like both of those a lot. Frost at Midnight doesn't smell like frost at all, but it's a fairly pretty wilderness and florals scent. I haven't tried The Shivering Boy, Snowflakes, The Snow Storm, Archangel Winter, Hypothermia, Cold and Colder or Nuclear Winter but those might work too.

I'm surprised I haven't reviewed this. It's very perfumy, but such a lovely perfume. Aside from the roses and gentle musk I get a clear sense of blueness and a hint of leaves on a crisp October day. It's extremely beautiful, but somehow it just isn't me. And that's weird because usually I'll wear anything I like without stopping to think whether it's me or not. It's almost as if this perfume had a personality profile of its own. It's been a struggle to find words for it. I fumbled around with descriptions like "girly but not girlish," "ladylike," "sophisticated," "mainstream but better," but none of those really fit. Weirdly the closest I could come to describing the personality of this scent was "Martha Stewart." Seriously. So if you like really amazing vanilla musk and roses, clear October days, powder blue and blush pink maybe this is for you. If you don't like anything that could be considered cloying or powdery or conventionally perfumy, maybe it isn't for you.

A delicate, dry, grassy, foresty thing. This was underwhelming as a perfume, but put into water in a spray bottle it made really amazing room spray. Best "waste" of an imp ever.

Excellent! You reminded me of Jazz Funeral, which should be perfect...for someone else. It smells bad on me. Oh, and I see now I should have posted this in the costume thread. Darn.

So, what would be appropriate for Beetlejuice? I'm thinking something mossy, but what?

I can't believe I haven't reviewed this one before because this is one of the most evocative BPAL scents I've tried. You know the early, bright days of fall when the sky is extremely blue, the air is crisp and the leaves are still green? Yep. This smells like September. More specifically, this starts out smelling like green leaves. I can see where some reviewers would get green bananas. It also smells like ginko leaves. The amber in the scent gives me a strong impression of golden sunlight. After I've worn this a while I get the faintest impression of a tiny wisp of smoke which must be the rooibos. (Is the smoke a forecast of the leaves' future?) Your milage may vary. Not everyone will get such strong sensory perceptions. My mother called it "a lovely women's perfume."