Miyabi

Oof. Very heavy on the sandalwood. I usually don't mind it, but there's a dirty resiny quality to this one that's making me recoil, and I haven't even sprayed it on yet. 

This is much more demure and mindful than the name suggests. I don't get the similarities to O in my sample (which is what I was hoping for)--it's definitely lighter, and maybe soapier, although it doesn't exactly smell like soap. I'm glad I got to try it, though. 

This is very clean! But perfectly so--it's not outright soapy, nor is it too musky/cloying. It's just a pretty light scent that charmed me more than I thought. Not sure if I'll get a full bottle, but I'll use the imp again. 

To my nose, this is soap. Fancy soap, lots of white musk that's a bit creamy and maybe a hint of florals, but very much soap nonetheless. 

Concur that this is a deeper sort of floral--to my nose it's a pretty rich neroli. Still on the fence on how I feel about it, but it is very floral and fades a bit after some wear. 

Oof. 

I was expecting something like an O hair gloss, which was sexy without being raunchy or heavy. All my nose gets is heavy foodie sweetness that's really cloying. 

Alas, like Flowering Peonies, I get neither lychee nor peony. I am, however, getting a lot of rosehip tea and curiously, mint. This is more interesting than Flowering Peonies (which was, sadly, tuberose and dryer sheets), but it's not for me, I don't think. 

I managed to pick up Cluster of Cherry Blossoms from last year's Shungas. Curious to see if there are any available perfumes (maybe Gynotize!) that have that similar floral skin-musk that's clean without being soapy? 

I nabbed a decant hoping it would be gin and the minty slush note that I'm so fond of. Sadly, I got zero slush. It was, however, very green and herbal? Very much like soap but in a masculine cologne-ish sort of way. 

A fresh honeyed floral that never turns soapy, screechy, or overly resinous. I've noticed that I keep reaching for the decant throughout spring, so I think a bottle is in my future. 

Starts out with a very bright candy cherry brought down by an indolic jasmine sambac. Cherry fades, but the indole calms down to leave some sort of resiny floral that's very much like Dior's Dolce Vita. I might share the decant with my mom to see what she thinks, since she'd been using the Dolce Vita lotion for a long, long while. 

I get fancy soap at first, and then warm florals that are cut by the peach blossoms and grapefruit. The peach blossoms aren't screechy this time, thank goodness, but when it all dries down, I get the milky honey from White Rabbit with a touch of dryer sheet. It's nice, even comforting, but I think I'll just keep the imp. 

Very fruity floral white peach tea is what I get upon first sniff, and that impression doesn't go away when it's been on my hair. It teeters between fresh and sometimes sickly-sweet. I've already got Peach Tea, Lychee, and White Musk, so I think I'll keep my decant, but I won't look for a bottle. 

Sniffing it from the bottle, I get labdanum and honey in that order: sweet perfume, almost reminiscent of some hair product I used back in the early 2000s. Sprayed on, the plum comes out to balance things with fruity tartness, making this unique and refreshing. If there's any lemon amber, I assume it's just amplifying the tartness. 

Overall, my impression is basically a honeyed plum candy perfume, which is not what I was expecting, but delightful nonetheless. I'll need to compare this to Pink Peach Blossoms and White Plum Flowers, but I may want a bottle. 

I'm trying the 2021 version, and this is so much better than 2018. No funky old lady potpourri, but fresh, sweet, and more shy and reserved than haughty. I love it. 

2021 version. 

Alas, I think I am part of the contingent that gets Play-Doh, from out of the imp to drydown. It has a bit of a vanilla-almond tinge to it, but I already have Dana O'Shee for delicious almond, and Dana also doesn't give me Play-Doh vibes, to boot. 

Clean floral soap. It wears close to the skin, but it doesn't fade. It's clean and inoffensive, not quite for me, but it's a very pretty and quiet perfume given the name! I'll definitely keep the decant. 

On my skin this is basically ALLCAPS PINEAPPLE. I don't know if that's the florals that soften it just a bit as it dries down, but I'm getting no rose or peony, which is what I was hoping for! 

Pineapple lovers, this is for you. 

I seem to be one of the odd ones out, as I did get dried rose, but only for a few fleeting moments. I smelled something lemony at first (the redcurrants?) but it eventually dried down to patchouli on my skin, and patchouli is a death note. I think something similar is in Bleeding Walls, because I get that on the drydown after the initial cherry goodness. 

Really was hoping this one might have had me come around on patchouli, too. This confirms that I need to avoid it at all costs.

Oh, this one surprised me in such a good way! It's all sweet cherry candy on the skin wet, but later on, that steel note comes in and grounds it instead of clashing. I don't know if a bottle's in my future, but I do like it. It's kind of what I was hoping Bleeding Walls would be for me.

Somehow, I'm amping the ambergris (which I don't mind, but I was hoping more for the lavender and ocean spray, which appear briefly before vanishing). It's pretty, and it's a good "clean but not soapy" scent, but now my skin's eaten a lot of it except for a bit of the ambergris, so I don't quite think it's for me. 

I had high hopes for this, but from application to drydown all I got was GARDENIA. No aquatics, no ginger, just GARDENIA blasting me in the face. 

Guess Sea of Glass remains my number 1 BPAL aquatic...

Tried out an aged imp this morning. Wet on skin I get a salty edge, but mainly indolic florals. It does thankfully dry down into what I think is a very strong tuberose. Lovely! But not for me, and I'm missing the aquatic notes in here. 

So I love aquatics (Sea of Glass is one of my BPAL favorites), but I gotta agree with the folks who say they're getting men's cologne from Thalassa. It has been Benzoin City ever since I put her on and I'm getting Dangerous, Suave, and Charming Pirate Captain instead of Dangerous and Beautiful Mermaid.

Benzoin is lovely, but this was ultimately not what I was looking for. 

This was everything I hoped for and more. It's like a lilac version of Chaste Moon 2010, with Chaste Moon's crystalline iridescence of blues and pinks, and while the lilac's definitely there, it doesn't punch you in the face like Salt Phoenix does (which is also lovely, but also stronger), and it's also not WOW FLORALS like Hotaru no Yu. This version of The Lilac Wood is a quiet shimmery iridescent purple. 

It does dry down to powder on my skin, but I don't mind that. If you like lilac, I think it's worth trying!