yakiguri

Fresh and definitely aquatic, with a minty-greenness that teeters this blend just a tad too close to Irish Spring on my skin. Bergamot and I usually don't get along, but surprisingly it's not only behaving but it's staying in the background. I'll keep my imp for when I just want to smell clean, but I don't think I need a bottle.

I love it when the lab takes notes that should be (and usually are) utter FAIL on me and makes them work. Seriously, citrus, chocolate, and mint are three of my major death notes (citrus being skin enemy #1). I try every frimp I get though, so I applied this kitty thinking that unlike my reaction to real kitties, I'll immediately want to get as far from it as possible. Wet, Schrodinger's Cat was what I expected; sour citrus. I hung on though, and a few minutes later as it dried this blossomed into pure WIN. It's a bright, bubbly, effervescent sweet citrus that reminds me of Midnight on the Midway, just remove the incense and put in citrus. The sugared lime is quite prominent, but I get whiffs of sweet tangerine and tangy grapefruit now and then. I don't get any chocolate peppermint, and zdravetz is apparently rock geranium with a woody-sweet odor, so I think that coupled with the oakmoss and lavender keeps this kitty from going out of control on my skin. I'll be upset if it doesn't last long, but would happily reapply throughout the day. This kitty is looking to be a favorite summer scent.

Yup, this confirms that violet is a death note for me. On my skin Wings of Azrael is primarily a powdery floral mess, and while I like powderiness the violet is screechy and making my nose itch and my head ache. Off my skin, and into the swap/sales pile.

ModderRhu, I have Variety of Pleasing Amusements--forgot to mention that one. The tobacco is sharper in this than in Fumerie Turque, and VPA lacks the spiciness that FT has. The base bones of both are similar, but in comparing the two I think the extra bits in FT give it an extra oomph over VPA. Then again we'll have to see what VPA smells like with a few more months of marinating... Orata--I haven't tried any of those except Pussy, but I'll need to now. I have a decant of Pussy (my not-so-inner 12-year-old still titters at the name ) but the tobacco in that screams over all the other notes for some reason. :/

*necro bump* So I've been going through my scent decants (both BPAL and non-BPAL) and utterly fell in love with Serge Lutens' Fumerie Turque. Unfortunately it seems to be unavailable in the US now, curses. Aside from that it's utterly out of my budget. Notes: tobacco, honey, juniper berries, tonka bean, chamomile, patchouli, vanilla, turkish rose, red currant, styrax and suede What comes off strongest on my skin are the honey, tobacco, tonka and vanilla, with the suede/leather peeking out now and then. Is there a similar sweet tobacco BPAL out there, or a combo I can layer to make this beautiful concoction? From my own stash I have VILF (leather is most prominent), Kubla Khan (no tobacco), and The Illustrated Woman (all pine).

Hmm, all I'm getting is lavender, no fruit and florals whatsoever. There's an occasional whiff of something biting and cold--I take it that's the mint--but nothing else. There's a bit of soapiness too, making this a clean lavender, like I just stepped from the shower after using lavender soap. Pass.

For the first couple of minutes of Jareth I swear, the heavens parted, and David Bowie himself came singing from on high. There was the thick heady lemony-tea of Dorian, but with leather, sprinkled with bits of lilac. I was in heaven! Then the oud came in and ruined it, shunting all the other notes aside and turning smexy Jareth into band-aids. GAH! I'm glad this is part of the permanent line, as I'll tuck away my decant and hope the oud calms down and quits ruining this otherwise awesome blend for me. EDIT: On a whim I tried this on Mr. WhiteElf and OF COURSE on him it smells like leathery, lilacy WIN. ARGH, that cinches that oudh is a death note on me. :/ But I can still get a bottle to slather on him, right? EDIT2: Tried again during Shark Week since I've heard it can change one's body chemistry (and thus scents) and OMG, this is everything I wanted! The oudh's behaving, and Jareth is lilac tea leather heaven. So what if I can only wear it one week out of the month, I'm grabbing a bottle!

Yum, honeydew! Hikifune smells exactly like Japanese melon candies (hi-chews especially), or the melon milk teas I've gotten at the local boba/tapioca pearl drink shops. This is quite sweet, and at first piercingly so, but eventually the honey and musk smooths the blend out. Most of BPAL's fruit blends tend to go plastic/artificial on my skin, and I'm glad that Hikifune isn't going that route. It's still a scent I'd rather drink (not literally) than smell like, so I'm happy with just my decant. Mmm. Time to go visit my local Lollicup/Quickly's for some honeydew milk tea.

Dragon's Reverie is certainly lighter and more powdery than the other AD scent I've tried (Dragon's Musk), and I agree that it's a languid scent. This soft-yet-sweet floral is reminiscent of vintage powder puffs dusted across one's body, a clean yet deep scent. I'd definitely love this as a body powder. Even so, I don't imagine wearing this enough to warrant a bottle.

Queen Alice was a pleasant surprise. Reading the notes, I figured this would be either a sticky-sweet mess or a boozy nightmare, since alcohol notes tend to turn to ash on my skin. Instead I get a spicy sweetness, Morocco-lite with an extra dash of foodiness. None of the notes overpower the others, remaining soft and well-behaved throughout the dry down. If Queen Alice lasted a bit longer I'd grab a bottle, so I'll just stick with an imp.

At first this starts off as a soapy, generic floral one would expect in a drugstore shampoo, not in one of BPAL's amazing blends. Eventually the florals, cream, and musk in Schlafende Baigneuse calm and meld together into a clean--albeit still a tad soapy--floral. I totally agree with reviewers that said this is a clean floral, as if one had just finished showering with expensive French soap. Unfortunately one of these notes is making my allergies act up, and I'm pretty sure that it's the monkey flower. Apparently the wide-throated yellow variety is native to California, and despite the various countries and states I've lived in, I never developed allergies until I moved to Cali. *grumbles* Off to the swap/sales pile.

The myrrh in here is warm and strong, so strong that I almost thought I got a single note by mistake. I get whiffs of jasmine here and there. I'm one of the few out there that actually likes jasmine, so I'm sad that it doesn't come out to play as often. What DOES come out is rose, and it's competing against the myrrh in a screaming contest on my skin. >_< It's starting to make my nose itch too. Maybe I shouldn't be testing this in 85+ degree weather, as I like Wicked--at a distance. I'll let it stew in my imp box until winter for a final verdict.

On my skin In the Forest turns into The Illustrated Woman having a tumble in the woods with VILF. Pine and spicy leather are first and foremost, and I barely get the other notes. I'm a leather-lovin' fembro, but even *I* find In the Forest a bit too masculine for me to wear. I'll leave my decant be for a bit in hopes age brings the other notes out more and makes this blend more complex, especially since I already have both The Illustrated Woman and VILF.

Rose tends to be hit-or-miss on me, and unfortunately in Theotokos it's most definitely a miss. Every once in a while I get a tiny whiff of mums, amber, and lily, but on the whole I get a sharp, nose-pinching rose. I guess I can't do rose unless I have a more powerful note(s) to keep it in check.

Narrow Opening starts off with a lush, heady white floral that I'm thinking is the champaca, but then within half an hour devolves into rum and fruit with a dash of nail polish. I guess ambrette is a note of doom for me as I'm sure it's the culprit. No leather, no frankincense, no vanilla. Boo.

Street Festival is undeniably fruity, but it's an indiscernible mash of fruit. Sometimes, less is more. Something high-pitched in there (I think it's the white grapefruit) makes my nose wrinkle. I wish more of the benzoin, lavender, and tobacco came out to ground the fruits into submission more, because right now this is smelling less like a Street Festival and more like a craft store/ B&BW.

On first application I immediately understood the praises lauded on this scent. It's a soft yet deep honeyed vanilla, O with a dash of AWESOME. Then within five minutes--FIVE!-- my skin has completely and utterly eaten all the amazing bits and left me with a powdery-sweet play dogh. Curse you, skin chemistry!

I agree with other testers that this starts off with a sharp tobacco tang similar to Interfector, just with a dash of leather. As I had desperately tried to love Interfector but failed, I was going to write this off as a loss as well. Then suddenly the honey and myrrh started to seep in, sweetening and grounding what could've been a much too sharp blend. I like it, and am glad to have a decant, but the tobacco is just a tad too sharp to tip me into buying a bottle. I may hunt a bottle down though if the tobacco smooths out more with aging. EDIT: OK, it's only been half an hour later, and the honey has kicked more into high gear. Variety of Pleasing Amusements has turned into the sweet-spicy-smoky blend I'd hoped it'd be, and I'm grabbing a bottle ASAP!

Rather than sensual, Sachs on my skin comes off as a clean, and dare I say it--antiseptic--vanilla. It indeed sticks close to the skin, but the chamomile occasionally slips into a sharpness that bites my nose, and not in a good way. I'll keep my decant but forgo getting a bottle.

As my skin amps red musk like whoa, that's what I'm mostly getting. I get faint whiffs of some fruit and spices vying for attention, but red musk shoves them all backstage. *sigh*

I think my skin completely ate the amber in this as all I get is a faint, powdery, slightly-spicy soap.

I think I amp whatever comprises the "spicy mulled wine" bits, as all I get is a muted Christmas candle scent. No leather, no dragon's blood. *sigh*

All clove, all the time! I'm thinking I amp clove. Boo.

Oh man, as a half-Filipina who can't cook and has been seriously craving the cooking of her mom and plethora of aunties, this brings back memories. Ara Ng Mga Patay smells exactly like my mom's kitchen, with its smells of sticky sugar, warm jasmine rice, nummy ube, warm turon, and thick leche flan. Minus of course the smells of lumpia and pancit. Mmm. Curse you lab, now I'm craving mom's cooking. Good thing I have a Filipino market nearby, and this decant for nostalgia.

I definitely understand the references to this scent being a grown-up cake scent, though I've never tried the oft-mentioned Cake Smash myself. H:LV starts off as a sweet cake and frosting scent shot through with spicy, dark wine and thick incense. It pretty much stays that way all throughout its dry down, though more of the spices come through. Every once in a while I get the tiniest whiff of Snake Oil and Dorian. I'm glad I have a tester as it's definitely interesting, a "wish I had been there"/"whoa, where have you been and what's the story behind it?" kind of scent. I just wish it lasted longer, or else I'd be hunting down a bottle.