maewitch

This is pretty much dragon's blood on me. I don't really get the spiciness that other's have commented on. The drydown, however, is softer and warmer than what I associate with dragon's blood. Nice enough. I'll keep this for the ritual aspect.

Sharp and heady rose sets the stage. This is rose in stiletto heels, in slinky, slippy, deep dark red. Seductive, vibrant, maybe just a little mean. It's a little much for me. And then the red musk. HELLO, the sex. The stage now sports a dance pole, and the stiletto heels are the only semblance of clothing left. This is not an easy rose for me to wear (not that I have great luck with rose scents in general), but for her, I'm willing to make the effort when the time is right. Definately not a bottle, but the imp stays.

Wet, it's all floral-sweet resin, which I'm not too crazy about. Drying, it's sweet, almost almondish vanilla and honey (but not so almondy as Dana O'Shee). Dry, it's very very VERY soft, a barely perceptible honey-vanilla. I really like the final phase of this, but I'm so going to have to slather this to smell anything. It's so light, with virtually no throw, at least not that I can perceive.

I get the frankincense, and possibly some myrrh, and some sort of wood that makes me think of sitting in those benches. Not really a wearable perfume for me, but I would totally use this as a consecration oil. I think I will let this blend age a bit before trying it again. I get the feeling that with all the woods and insence in there it will just become fuller, deeper and more complex with time.

*whimper* I LOVE THIS BLEND OMG THE LOVE. I knew I loved it when I first wore it, but the second time confirmed that I LOVE IT. It was so much lighter than I was expecting. Birch is a sweeter wood than I realized. It doesn't remind me of Skadi much, except for that similar cool-yet-warm quality. But this is definately not as pine-y, and it doesn't have any spice. It's just a soft, sweet wood under melty snow. On me, the sweetness really stands out, developping this wonderful, almost floral sort of scent, even as the distinctness of the birch seems to fade and the fir lingers. I was told that this smelled "mature and beautiful" and "feminine" by two different people. I would have to agree. This is a perfume for a cool and confident woman, one who doesn't need to advertize her sexuality or play at being sweet and biddable. This is restrained, evocative, mysterious and complex. LOVE IT.

This is a very light and soft amber, but there is something in this that reads as "dirt" - not in a bad way either. The amber is just so airy and soft, yet grounded by that deeper, grittier note, making it a very well-balanced blend. It's not as earthy as a patchouli note would be, as it is drier and not loamy - perhaps the ambrette or the costus? I'm not too familiar with these notes. The tonka is just barely there, combining with the benzoin to produce that vanillic undertone. There are a few moments when I catch something at the edges of the waft that makes me think of the perfume present in very expensive cosmetics. It's not unpleasant in and of itself, but I don't like the association. Thankfully, it's not very present. In general, this is a beautiful scent, ethereal and earthy all at once.

Wow, another rose blend tested today - and another winner. This is absolutely GORGEOUS. The softest, faintest rose, without the powder, the green or the standoffishness that rose tends to pull on me. I love rose and this one loves me right back. I think the moonflower softens it even more, so I will have to look for more blends with this note. It adds that perfect tough of silvery luminousness and lightness. This goes on my bottle list.

I panicked in the first minute. The wood in this smelled like CEDAR to my nose. There are very very few blends that can make cedar work on me (ie: Tombstone). But after a few minutes, the dryness settled into the softer tones of sandalwood. I think it is similar to the sandalwood in Blood Moon - drier, less warm. But there is heat in here as well, provided by the beautiful spices, none of which start screaming on me. Just this amazing musky body warmth. And the creaminess. I really was blindsighted by the cream when it started coming out after a few minutes. It adds an incredible richness and softness to the mix. This blend is one of the sexiest yet most refined and subtly appealing BPALs I've tried yet. It seems very biblical in some way - desert wind, exotic spices, promised land of milk (though not honey) and that Old Testament sensuality. Or to be more accurate, it makes me think if the passages in the Bible that refer to cultures and religions surrounding the Hebrews - and all the things they weren't supposed to engage in. This is the scent of sacred harlotry, of worshipping beneath fertile sacred trees amidst the desert austerity. This is most definately a courtesan's oil. I think I have found my official Inara scent.

I love the smell of roses. Love love love. But I can't wear many blends that have them as the dominant note because the rose either stands out too sharply from my skin, or just smells off somehow. Perhaps it's the addition of leather, but this is probably one of the most wearable rose blends I've tried so far. It really seems to sink into my skin, leaving behind a very subtle rosy glow. I'm glad the Lab tossed this one into my order.

I don't get woods or amber from this. I get dry grass and a very soft musk. It reminds me a bit of Buck Moon, minus the wood and that 'clear summer night' quality. This is a subtle and lovely scent, neither adjective I would have thought to associate with this oil prior to trying it.

I didn't quite like this at first. Something in it reminded me of the unpleasant aspects of both lotus and ylang-yland - perhaps the plum? I never thought I had an issue with plum, but recalling my impression of a plum-based moisturizer as smelling 'chemically', it's entirely possible that this is that high-pitched, sweet note I'm detecting. However, this note fades after a little while, and I get the warmth and spiciness of the carnation, feminine and a touch powdery. The musk is there, and compared to Egyptian musk which tends to be too sharp and almost sharp on me, it is softer and darker. I like it. EDIT: On a second try, I don't get that high note at all, just spicy-warm muskiness, with a heavy and almost juicy sweetness. Lovely.

This actually wasn't quite as bad as I was expecting. It's a very sharp, earthy green smell, like bitter herbs in a forest, with a faint suggestion of rot. I would not ever wear this as perfume, but on the other hand, it's not as immediately revolting as Satyr. On closer sniff, it reminds me a bit of the smell that some folks with gum disease exude - I guess that's what is making me thing of specifically rotting vegetation. And with that mental association, I go scrub this off.

This is mostly jasmine and ylang-ylang on me. It reminds quite strongly of the smell of a Lush store. There is something just barely perceptible as fruit in this - some sweetness that is pitched a little lower than the ylang-ylang (which tends to hit me 'high' in the nose, an irritating quality). It's not wowing me over. For some reason I was expecting something like Tintagel, only more feminine. It's a pleasant but not particularly evocative floral.

This is great, and so unusual to my nose. It starts out with a deep smoked nutiness which evolves a wonderful pine - not sharp and sweet like fresh pine, but drier, almost like logs for the fireplace. I get no butter, and no real sense of brown sugar, though it is a softer and sweeter blend than I was expecting.

I am so soooo sad. This is my sad face. This smells absolutely delightful in the bottle - rich creamy cheesecake. On me, it reads as plasticky dust. (It's actually the same note that is in both Midway and Misk U, only the dustiness sort of works in those blends. Though now that I have smelled it in this, I now have an unpleasant association. More )

I didn't like this as much as I was expecting to. The musk went quite sharp on me, and almost sour. The vanilla went to baby powder. I am sad now.

I don't really get the corn smell that other folks have mentioned, but it does sort of remind me of that smell you get when you put fresh sweet butter on corn on the cob. it doesn't smell like that, exactly, but it does remind me a bit. Mostly though, this smells like caramel buttercream. Like, if you could somehow make cream out of caramel, through some weird alchemical process. It's yummy and sweet, light enough not to be obnoxious and has terrific staying power.

This is pretty much maple syrup on me, with that burnt-sugar quality, and an almost boozy undertone. There's nothing objectively wrong with it, I just don't like it. I wish I could be more specific. It's not gross or unpleasant, it doesn't make me ill, it doesn't react strangely with my skin. It just not a scent I enjoy wearing. Weird. Anyway, it was swapped away, and hopefully it will get the love it deserves.

This one was an object lesson - when testing, it's always best to test more than once, and on different days of your cycle. When I first tried this I was on my period and it had the most bitter herbal note to it that I could barely stand to keep it on. All I could smell was that biting green note, and the dry woody undertone. Very unpleasant. A week later, it smells like beautifully spicy sandalwood, with just a touch of that herby scent beneath it, if I inhale deeply enough (it's that forest greens note that's in Hex as well). It's exotic and deep and utterly gorgeous, sexy and just a little feral. I get the cinnamon stick, and the deep red musk, and that intoxicating dry yet sweet wood. I don't smell dragon's blood as such, but I suppose it could be in here, lending a certain almost-floral sweetness to the mix. From wanting to vigorously wash my arm, I am now almost regretting only getting one bottle of this.

This one verges on obnoxious when first applied. It's an aquatic and aggressively soapy floral. It does lighten up as it dries, losing some of the sharpness and sweetening up. I think it might very well be a pretty scent, objectively, but there is some very distinct association going on in my brain - I do not like this one at all. It smells much more perfume-y than any other BPAL I've tried, and weirdly old-fashioned, all sharp florals and powdery soap. Total pass on this one.

Hmmm. This is not unpleasant, but the almond in the opening and the rose during the drydown are not really working for me. It's actually very dominantly rosy on me, when I was hoping for more sandalwood and spices. Perhaps I'll have better luck with Morocco? I was hoping this could be my Inara scent, but the powderiness of the rose is not what I associate with the opulance and richness of the ultimate courtesan. I know rose is supposed to be a very sexual floral, but to me it reads as proper and chilly, unless it is subsumed within the scent by the other notes, as in Gypsy Queen. It can perhaps even be a little staid if done in a pedestrian way, or else sweet and ethereal if it is a white rose. Anyway, all that to say that this is in no way an un-appealing scent - but it's not for me.

There's something a little off in this. It smells floral and incensy all right, and I really like both rosewood and frankincense. But there's something in this that smell pungently green somehow, almost like vetivert. I don't really like this smell - it's like green things rotting and dusty,closed-in rooms. It could be the lily, since I've tried another perfume that had a similar smell, and it did have lily as well. Meh.

Super-fresh. This is pure tea with a hint of tangy citrus (ginger reads a little citrusy to my nose). Very crisp and clean scent, with a little kick. This would be ideal on a hot and muggy day in the summer. I have to say that Beth does tea scents like no one else. I'm willing to try anything she puts out with tea at this point.

I was expecting something far more malevolent. This is like very high-quality berry and herbs soap. The berries are deep and juicy, the herbs there in the background, adding just a bit of green sharpness. But the overall feeling is one of fresh-scrubbed cleanliness. In the drydown it loses that overt soapiness and just becomes incredibly fresh and translucently red. Interesting, but I don't know if I would get a bottle. I think I like my berries married to something richer overall.

Ylang-ylang is one of those floral notes that tends to settle high in my nose and in the back of my throat, making me feel irritated and nauseous. If I smell it from far away it can be ok, but it's definately not a nose-up-against-wrist snuffling kinda note. But in this blend it's so muted that I can barely pick it up. What I'm mostly getting is a candied honey and slightly spicy musk. It's actually quite lovely, sexy and sweet.