FathomBelow

Similar to other reviewers, on me it's a smoky jasmine with a warm woody undertone. It is absolutely lovely in cold winter weather! The jasmine and oudh are beautifully blended and neither one dominates. I imagine that a tragic heroine from a film noir or classic hard-boiled detective novel might wear this well. It smells expensive, elegant, and serious.

If there is such a thing as a generic BPAL, this is it. I get vague sweet spices and flowers and the scent, while pleasant, has no personality, at least not on me. I didn't get leather or dragon's blood at all, just a general sweet-spicy Christmas scent. Sadly, this isn't for me.

To me, this smells like bleach with an undercurrent of sweet spices and flowers. The bleach gradually fades as the scent dries, but still...I'm not sure what's going on here, as I usually like all of the notes listed! Oh well, the fact remains - this one is not for me. Which may be a good thing, seeing as it's discontinued.

When this is wet and as it dries, this is a dead ringer for cheap scented underarm deodorant - you know the kind you buy at Rite Aid or Walgreen? As it dries, it gets sweeter and more powdery (if possible). At this stage it's a cross between the lemon powdered sugar you get on doughnuts and baby powder. It's not intolerable by any means, but as I have no desire to smell like any of these things, this one's not for me.

This was just a really, really strong man's cologne on me, as most aquatic scents are. Definitely not for me.

I am in love with Voodoo Lily. To me, it smells not of lily, but of orchid - but here is an orchid note that does not turn powdery or cloying on me! Miracle! It's a slightly sweet, whispy floral that manages to remind me of both fresh air and verdant greenery - the jungles of heaven must smell like this. Will add to my bottle list.

This counts among the thickest, heaviest, darkest BPAL I've tried - right up there along with the Whore of Babylon. It has an incense-y vibe, and is slightly nutty and sweet. I can't pick out the patchouli (the only note in the description that my nose can reliably identify) and I would say nag champa is probably the strongest component, but overall it's extremely well-blended. Overall, this scent is brooding, swirling, moody, and pretty much all the over-the-top, darkly dramatic adjectives you can think of. Imagine inhuman priests presiding over strange jungle temples, demons of black smoke swirling over stormy seas, strange and unimaginably ancient rituals performed by hooded initiates of a forgotten order...you get the idea.

I've had this imp for a while but have put off reviewing it because white musk is listed as one of the notes, and that never turns out well on me. However, once I worked up the courage, I found peony and perhaps mandarin to dominate wet. On the drydown, the floral/fruity bits got mellower and a bit dustier, and an acrid note comes in, probably the pepper. I don't smell the laurel, woods, lily, or white musk at all, which is strange because lily and white musk at least tend to dominate any scent on my skin. Unfortunately it's not really my style, but I'm glad I gave it a chance to show me that white musk doesn't wreck everything on my skin!

In contrast to the last reviewer, I found Lear to be the mellowest of the cedar scents I've encountered so far. It starts off strong, but not as stridently as some (e.g. Tzadikim Nistarim) and quickly mellows into soft, sweet cedar - a very round and satisfying scent - due, I think, to the sage which tempers the potential aggressiveness of the cedar. It manages to evoke dustiness without smelling dry at all...yeah, mellow is the best word I can think of to describe it at the moment. I don't really know what bay leaf smells like, however, so that might be playing a part as well. Overall, Lear is probably my favorite cedar scent so far at BPAL. Definitely a keeper!

The Red Rider contains the same ravening monster of a leather note as Whip - a pernicious, nauseating, synthetic leather that is just plain nasty on me. No moss, no balsam, just that horrid leather. Sadly, this frimp must move on.

As other reviewers have noted, on me Jailbait is bubblegum from start to finish, top to toe, front to back. Bubblegum is Not My Thing so this frimp will be moving on.

I absolutely love Ninon. On me it is a soft, sweetly honeyed lavender, not too strong, not too sweet, but just right. I think of it as a variation on the sweet lavender theme, the most famous of which, of course, is Dorian. Although Ninon and Dorian smell nothing alike, the strength of the lavender is about the same in both - detectable, certainly an important component of the scent, but not overwhelming, for those who are afraid of monster lavender.

The alcohol note in Red Tide is virtually identical to that in Grand Guignol. In addition, I get mostly cranberry and raspberry with just a hint of mango - not enough to be recognizable but enough to make the scent a bit warmer and juicier - and no mint. The combination of these fruits and this booze note makes this smell like fizzy fresh-pressed fruit juice. Yum! This isn't really my style but I quite like it and I'll be keeping the imp.

Like spiced dried fruit. When wet, the fruit is mostly grape, but as it dries the grape is replaced by fig, with the apple and pomegranate running throughout. The pomegranate and tamarind give the scent a twist of tartness, so this doesn't smell too much like something bought at Bath & Body Works. The spice is foody but not too aggressively so, quite mild, and almost dusty - not like Christmas pudding but more like oatmeal spiced cookies that are a few days old. Overall, this scent is pretty but lacking in charisma. I'll probably only need the imp.

Continuing my effort to catch up with reviews: In the bottle: Gack! Really, really sweet! Think smushing a chocolate covered caramel all over your nose! This is comparable to the heavier Lupercalia chocolate box scents in sweet chocolatiness. Wet on skin: Same tooth-achingly sweet chocolate and caramel scent, but with nuts. Think of some sort of ridiculously decadent ice cream flavor. As it dries: The nuts fade as the leather comes into play. The leather isn't as soft as in Dee (my all time favorite leather scent) but it's not overbearing either (as in Whip, for instance). In strength, it rivals the chocolate and caramel and is extremely distinct and easy to pick out to my nose against the foody background. After it dries: All three components, chocolate, caramel, and leather, in about equal proportions. Final opinion: The leather does a good job of holding back the foodiness and taking the scent in interesting directions, but the leather and foody aspects are so clearly distinct that I can't call the scent well blended. But overall, it's an intriguing and wearable scent.