wolfensong

I'll add a second/third/whatever vote for Western Diamond Back, especially if he digs on snake oil. If you can get your hands on it, The Traveller from the Irish Bards collection is, to my nose, one of the most delightful leather and smoke blends, though the smoke is subtle - it comes across as pipe smoke more than fireplace smoke. All of the Riders from the Marchen line are good leathers, but my favorites on men are The Red Rider and The Black Rider. White just doesn't come across as very masculine to me. If you want something softer, I can definitely see Hunter smelling like sex on a man, especially if his skin works well with ambers in any way. Hope you find something delicious for your man soon! I love a guy willing to smell good.

OMG THIS IS SEXXXX!!!! **calms down** A-hem... So I have a wolf fixation. My favorite blends include Roux-ga-Roux, Hellhound on my Trail, Loup Garou, all Wolf Moons (04, 07, 11), Hunter Moon, Coyote, and A Howl in the Darkness. Needless to say when this came up I snagged a bottle as soon as paychecks allowed. I've actually had it for almost two weeks. Can't believe I haven't reviewed it yet. Wet: this is musky, wild and fresh. Warm, yes, but in that "I sweat a lot outdoors, aren't I sexy?" kind of way. I want to lick this all over. Strangely, though, it's definitely unisex. The patchouli makes it green, but the musks and vanilla make it deep and delicious. I don't know what frangipani smells like, but there is definitely something lurking in there that makes this seem a bit more outdoorsy, in an "I wanna sex you under the stars" kind of way. Drying: Now I'm getting the chocolate mint, the vanilla, all the sweetness in the note-list. This just makes it yummier though. The sandalwood is all spicy and blends with the vanilla and resins in a really gorgeous way. Besides just being drop-dead-amazing, this is a very well-crafted blend that I can see myself winding my way through for hours. Bottom line: I need at least two backups of this. Seriously.

Expectations: ... Added this on to a decant circle order with the muttered explanation of "... I like rain?" In the bottle: Wow, totally not what I was expecting. This is way green, green the way Loup Garou and Roux-ga-Roux are green, wet foresty green, but not with rain, more like with... I don't know, fog or dew. Wet on the skin: Totally changes. This is the rain in Mag Mell and Visiting the Temple, cold and grey/blue and calming. It doesn't exactly smell tragic, but definitely... solitary. A reflective kind of scent. Drying: The green is coming back, making the rain a little less cold, a little more fall-like rather than straight up frigid. There's moss in there, and maybe some earthy, mushroom-y scent. Dry: Only now do I get the salt air kind of feel, as the smell warms up a little bit more. It's like before this was in the middle of a rain storm, and as the smell evolves and progresses, the clouds clear up a bit, the mist rolls out, and the fog lifts a bit as the sun comes out. It gets almost musky, and a little bit sweet, like the memory of caramel and sea salt, or sweet vanilla flower. I really like the progression of this blend, it evolves really well and tells a truly beautiful story. The throw stays pretty close, but it's not the kind of scent you necessarily want to spread around the room: this, like the memories that inspired it, are things better kept close. Not a lot of staying power either, my skin ate it in almost 45 minutes, but still, very elegant and well-layered.

So normally "rain" notes are smells I love but that don't love me back. I hang on to Thunder Moon purely out of spite (and a little endless hope) more than anything. Strangely, though, I LOVE the rain note in this blend. There is hardly any fading or changing when I smell it wet to when I smell it dry, it just moves seamlessly from being fresh, cold, grey rain (outside the temple) to being that same fresh cold rain, only with incense and dust (inside the temple). It's definitely not a "perfume" kind of scent: I wouldn't wear this to an office or a party or anything like that. It's very calming, though, very centering, and just last night I took a tiny dab under my nose to help me calm down and deal with some bitchy, self-centered people while working the night shift. Almost immediately I felt more clear-headed, grounded and able to handle whatever I had to handle. This would do well as a ritual oil. It's also weird that I get precisely the notes listed. Normally things tend to morph strangely on me, and I smell some seriously weird stuff (let's be clear, sandalwood does NOT smell like daisies!) and I was expecting that here, given that all the reviews thus far have said that it smells sweet or boozy or whatever, but definitely NOT rain and incense and dust. Still, that's all I get: cold, grey rain - gentle, wafting temple incense - soft, ancient dust. Worth a bottle, if only just to have this calming, centering effect on hand when I need it.

Anticipations: At first didn't like the idea of a cardamom note, but got a bottle with an imp left in it just to try it out. Slightly reserved. In the bottle: very feint. A little spicy, in a snake oil kind of way, but not much else. A bit sweeter than SO though. Wet on the skin: wow! This changes a lot when it gets on my wrist, it's all sweet and boozy and bright. The bourbon vanilla doesn't so much smell like bourbon vanilla as it does bourbon AND vanilla to me. The spice is almost gone, though for some strange reason I'm getting something slightly... cinnamon-y? What? No, I don't get it either. Drying: the musk is all up in the vanilla, now, and the boozy bourbon is almost gone. That spicy note that I can't identify is still there, but it's too sweet to be cardamom. This does feel very exotic and playful, though, not nearly as dry and clean as I thought it would be. I like it! Dry: leaves a bit of a honey-amber kind of musk behind, and takes the spice with it when it leaves. A close to the skin kind of scent, not much throw to speak of and doesn't last long. Throw: close, and my skin ate it in about an hour and a half. Notes I detected: Sugar, bourbon, vanilla, cinnamon, amber or honey musk. Overall impression: I actually really like this, and will probably wear it dancing. It just feels so close and playful.

So I tend to get way to excited about BPAL's poetry, but when this scent hit (one of my favorite poems by Goldsmith) which also happened to share a moniker with me (I've been going as "The Traveler" on many a forum for quite a while) I couldn't help myself. I ordered a bottle unsniffed, and though there was some confusion (got shipped The Harp on the first go, but the lab came through and sent The Traveller my way) I did get my hands on this amazing, amazing scent. Anticipations: Yet to find a good leather, and a big fan of earthy and tobacco scents, I was stoked for the notes alone. Add on the name and the poetry, and I about peed my pants with excitement. In the bottle: dusty, very, VERY dusty. Normally I like my leather soft and supple, but this is not joking around when it says "dust" and "rock". That's what it comes through as, maybe with a few green herbs and crushed grass, but yeah, mostly dust. Wet on the skin: There's my leather, there's my BEAUTIFUL leather. This is the kind of leather I like, just a shade darker than the "doeskin" I find in my beloved Coyote: saddle leather, boot leather, well-used and well-loved leather. The dry-grassy note is stronger too, and the tobacco is buttery and heady. It reminds me a bit of a Peruvian tabac, smooth and sweet (sorry, cigar geek). Also... huh, that's weird, smells a bit like gunpowder, but I don't quite get why. It's too bitter to be just regular smoke. Dry: the leather is still totally present, but now I'm getting the resins that the scent description promised. These aren't quite copal resins, more like pine resin, tree resin. They make the tobacco even more sweet and lovely, but the grassy note is starting to fade. It's like the traveler has moved from walking the fells to inside a tavern. And I don't know if it's me and just the story I'm letting this scent tell me, but I am getting something faintly boozy. Not sweet enough to be bourbon, maybe whiskey? I don't know, but it's definitely a smoke-booze undernote that's vaguely reminiscent of Hellhound on my Trail, at least insofar as that scent's boozy-ness is earthy the way this boozy note is earthy. Throw: close, but not too close. This won't ring in a lot of compliments at the office, that's for sure, but it will definitely stay in your nose for quite some time. Last: my skin eats most things, and this lasts about two-three hours. I am happy to reapply it, though, since it seems to have such seamlessly blended layers. Notes I detected: dust and rock, dry or crushed grasses, leather (soft and supple), smooth and sweet tobacco, tree resins, and maybe gunpowder/smoke/booze. Really loving this, it's gone beyond even my highest hopes. This might join Coyote in becoming something I wear every day in my hair, while I layer other blends elsewhere on my skin.

Holy hell this is strong. Whew! Anticipations: love tobacco, love honey, smoke cigars on a regular basis, what's not to love? In the bottle: **sneezes** Jeebus! That's nicotiana straight up. There's almost no sweetness to it, no mellowing qualities. Be careful when first opening this, you don't want to jerk and sneeze and drop or spill the bottle. On my skin: ah, that's a little better. The honey on my skin is that warm, thick golden amber honey fresh from the comb. The tobacco flower is still totally present, but it's gotten a little more polite and less sneeze inducing. Drying: it's weird, someone above mentioned gasoline, and I kinda get that, but not as a gasoline 'note'. More like a combination of the smokey sweetness. The honey is mellowing, the tobacco flower is not. Ach, I don't like that. There might be another kind of pale floral in here (I'm getting something slightly spicy? Carnation?) but it's almost over-powered by the nicotiana. Dry: the honey has gotten really mellow and soft, and I almost get the wax of the comb in there. The nicotiana is here to stay, and this will definitely be a single-dab kind of blend, not a slatherer. That spicy note is still there, but now it seems a little less floral. Clove, maybe? And a bit of toasted smoke. Throw: Back away slowly, this thing is seriously strong and lasts a good long while too. Notes I detected: NICOTIANA LIKE WOAH, fresh golden honey, beeswax, carnation, clove, sandalwood smoke. I was hoping, I think, for more honey, less tobacco flower, but that doesn't make this bad, just different. I'm going to see how it ages, and something tells me it will probably be FANTASTIC in about a year, when it's had time to calm down.

Anticipations: TEQUILA. I want I want I want. My signature drink, I was stoked when I heard about this note. Also looking forward to the vanilla-spicy goodness a lot of the above reviews are talking about. Can't wait. In the bottle: where is it? Feint, light, what? Not what I was expecting at all. Very, VERY light spices, not much else. On my skin: CHOCOLATE. Wow this is chocolate. Spicy mexican chocolate, thick hot gobs of the stuff. The kind that you melt into mugs at Navidad and eat with honey and powdered chile. Mmmm... I love that spicy smell. Drying: There's the vanilla, and the incense. Both are still very light, though, and just a bit smokey. This blend is all about chocolate and spice on me, but seriously WHERE IS MY TEQUILA!!!??? Dry: there's my crisp, sunshine-y booze. Tequila, unlike most boozy notes, is not dark or sticky, it's bright and sparkly and wonderful, almost peppery but in a playful sort of way. There's no heaviness in it, that's all in the chocolate, which has stayed strong the whole way through. Notes I detected: CHOCOLATE, vague vanilla incense (no sugar), honey, smoke, more chocolate, very gentle tequila, a tiny bit of citrus. This is not the signature scent I was hoping it would be, but that doesn't make it less than delightful. I feel like this will be a "home" kind of scent, probably worn to festivals and fairs here in Albuquerque. Mm, I am going to make Balloon Fiesta smell amazing!

I got this as a tester from a generous fairy package, thinking that it was probably too simple for me to really like it much, but I loved the character of Hunter too much to not want to try it. I am sad to report that I am in love. Sigh, must find a bottle now. Though this will never replace my beloved Coyote, a few people have mentioned that the two are similar. They are, though there is more of a glowing amber quality to Hunter where Coyote tends to be a dusky kind of shimmer. I only recently found out how awesome sage can smell on me, and it backs the leather (another favorite note) fantastically. The clove is... strangely almost not there at all, at least not as much as it is for me in Sunbird or Priala. Later, it comes out just a little bit, but only to give a strange kind of dark depth to this otherwise glowing blend. It's like Hunter's standing in front of you and casting a shadow, not that she herself is in any kind of darkness. Some people were mentioning that this has a kind of sweet, almost honey-like characteristic to it, and I might agree, but I don't know if it's necessarily honey. If it is then it's not clover or wildflower honey, but a darker, deeper sort of sweetness. Maybe tobacco? I would be surprised if that were the case. So, quick recap: Close to the skin, musky/amber, VERY feint clove, beautiful sage, tobacco, honey and possibly pepper. Actually has decent staying power (which is weird on me, because my skin tends to eat almost everything) but very close throw.

I know this is late in coming, but I couldn't NOT add my review of this. Roux-ga-Roux is a scent I've been after since I got into BPAL. There was much angst in my first few attempts (I always seemed to -just- miss it), but a fantastic person sold her bottle to me in some pretty extraordinary circumstances and here I am, addicted. First Notes: Aquatics dancing with florals with an undercurrent of green, green woods, a very green/blue scent with an almost starlit quality about it. I don't know why I'm getting a little hit of the same kind of shine I get in black pearl, because there's certainly no coconut in this... it could be the darker, muskier notes playing off some lighter florals, which creates the cross-sense feeling of a "shine". This is like moonlight shining down on a dark, wet forest. Under Notes: There is something amazingly WILD about this scent, but I can't say what. Drying, the aquatics and the florals are -still- very well balanced, but there's a musky sort of warmth coming through. There's the moss, prowling in the background, holding this scent up like a well-run trail. Dry Notes: My skin tends to eat this like many other blends, but it holds out longer than most. Four hours later I still get some deliciously soft moss, and that wild, untamed scent is still lingering. It's like fur or skin rubbed with greenery, that fresh, clear scent that makes the soles of my feet itch to be gone running through the woods. This is an incredible scent, with a lot of pure, wild spirit to it that still manages to maintain a bit of slyness, a sidelong look that seems to whisper "Won't you run with me?" I will definitely require more.

I was frimped a generous partial imp of this, and was partially joyful and partially devastated: I'd been wanting to try it for a while, but I knew how hard it was to find. What if I couldn't live without it? My worst fears and greatest dreams were fulfilled: I truly won't be able to survive without this Hellhound on my trail. First notes: Wet, this is all sweet and smoky booze. Mm, this is everything that good about the early morning hours after a college party has just been broken up in early summer, during the last week of exams. Warm, dirty in all the right ways, hazy with rum and sweet like a room full of writhing bodies. Sinful and delightful. Under notes: A little later, this is starting to dry and it moves seamlessly from inside the party to outside - the first few puffs of smoke from an unfiltered cigarette, always sweet and so very, very tempting. Is there a little clove in here? I think there might be, or that could be the herby-ness of the galangal and John the Conqueror coming through. And the tobacco is not dirty, black, sooty tobacco: this is fresh, wet leaf, recently rolled and puffing in big juicy clouds. Dry notes: this dries to the barest hint of vanilla and smoke. It clings strangely to my skin, which is weird, because my chemistry tends to eat just about everything in about two-three hours and I have to reapply constantly. Weirdly, I'm still getting vanilla and smoke about seven hours later. It almost reminds me of Sachs, at least on the drydown. Overall a very well-balanced scent, completely worth shelling out the extra bucks for. Minor addition: when my friend sniffed me after I came back from a night out wearing this, she told me I smelled "badass". That she could still smell it about eight hours after application was pretty awesome, but I just had to post that description. WARNING: there tends to be some sediment/separation in this blend, that I've seen. Other folks tell me it's normal, so if you manage to find some and the oil looks cloudy/there's -stuff- in it, nothing's screwy, that's just the way it is.

I'd been trying to decide if I wanted to get a bottle of this (because with me it seems to be bottles or nothing, no idea why), because I so desperately love desert scents. However, I was a little worried: I didn't want anything to come between me and my beloved Coyote. I was... hesitant. Now, having taken the plunge, I'm happy to report that Coyote and I are still together but Sunbird is the best thing to happen to resin scents since the invention of Dragon's Blood. First Notes: Shimmering, hot but not too hot. Am I detecting some cloves? Smoky without sounding any fire alarms, more that smoldering hot-asphalt kind of scent, where you can see the heat haze above the road. Not tar-like, no, but a pure desert kind of heat. Under Notes: Cinnamon is here somewhere, I know it, but not the candy-red-hots kind of scent my skin usually turns cinnamon into. The resins are developing as they warm on my skin, and I feel like I'm gleefully lost in a scent maze. A little bit of sandalwood, maybe? Definitely some golden Egyptian ambers and maybe, just maybe a little bit of white myrrh, nothing too dark. Dry Notes: Softer now, almost dandelion like but not sweet. These are hot desert flowers, and as such are not actually florals, or at least don't smell that way to my nose. I will be questing for a second bottle, this I know. The Sunbird is delightful! EDIT: I have had a good long while to get to know this scent, and have to report that I'm even more in love than I was before. This isn't just a multiple bottles oil, it's a 5+ bottles oil. I take some with me everywhere I go (and I travel a LOT) and it's literally like having a little piece of my home in New Mexico with me all the time. It's pure spicy desert sunlight in a bottle, and only gets more complex and glorious with age.

I accidentally purchased this shining engine on ebay, mixing up the scent description with the Antikythera Mechanism, which I new I already loved but whose name I couldn't remember. I am SO GLAD I made that mistake! This is an absolutely glorious scent, warm and shining with some very deep glimmering reflective notes. It almost -glows-. I'm still trying to pick out individual notes, but like the steampunk aesthetic this is a scent that involves you, that feels like it has a soul, like it's something you can interact with, touch and shove and shine and push buttons on. There's almost a texture to it: it's like rough-grained wood and oily polishing wax and mirror-smooth brass. It has a heartbeat: albeit not necessarily one of flesh and blood, but still. It's like an old rolls royce or astin martin, a standard shift you can talk to and luxury with a character all its own. A delightful scent, and well-worth a bottle.

The sadness! I was so excited for this scent, and it turns into a rose-jelly fruit roll-up on me. It's so weird, because my skin adores musks and ambers and chypres like nothing else, and this just *poof!* fails. It mellows after a bit from all rose to some oaky-mossy-woody things, and is definitely a very soft, womanly scent, but when it goes bad it goes ALL KINDS of bad.