calivianya

This was a frimp from a generous forumite. I expected this to be a heavy resin blend. Immediately on application, I do smell resins, but also something surprisingly high pitched - perhaps the costus or rockrose? These stop being high-pitched and become sweeter very quickly. Jacob's Ladder becomes a sweet powdery resin blend on my skin, and stays there. This is a very pretty scent. It's resiny, but not at all dark - like I'd expect a ladder into heaven to be.

Immediately upon application I get a strong rush of ALMOND! It takes a couple of minutes, but a slight floral scent begins to emerge, maybe rose. Whatever it is, in the next couple of minutes it turns the blend into spicy yet soapy almond. Oh wait, here comes the powder stage. This was truly bizarre. It morphed a lot, and it morphed fast. Oh well, maybe someone else would like my imp.

I had recently discovered that violets could sometimes be okay on me (Violet Ray) when I found a partial of this for sale on the forum. I thought that since the Lab's sugar notes work so well on me and violet sometimes works, that this just had to be full of win. Sadly, it smelled like grape cough syrup on me like it has on so many other people here. The bottle has already found its way to a new home.

Oh wow. I was just flipping through the CD forum and realized I hadn't reviewed this yet. I bought a 5ml unsniffed as an impulse purchase, and the first time I opened it I regretted it - the pine honestly made me recoil a bit. I hadn't experienced pine in my fragrances before this, and it just smelled wrong. Pine shouldn't be in perfume, or so I thought. I tested it a couple of times, and... magic slowly happened. The scent did not change over the first couple of weeks, but after I became accustomed to the idea that pine could be in perfume, I was spellbound. This is a GORGEOUS pine/honey/patchouli/tobacco scent on my skin. I don't really smell the vanilla or skin musk. I haven't tried every BPAL there has ever been, but out of everything I've tried this is one of the most unique. I have never smelled anything quite like this. It has some serious throw and staying power on my skin, too, making it even better. It has become one of my favorites and I don't want to be without it.

Wet on my skin, Midnight on the Midway is an absolute dead ringer for the Harney and Sons dragon pearl jasmine tea with sugar. It is uncannily similar - my mouth is watering in anticipation of the tea while I'm smelling it. It's unfortunate that I am totally out of this tea. Unfortunately, the wet stage doesn't last very long and Midnight on the Midway goes a bit soapy on my skin after five minutes. It's drinking a cup of that tea in the bathroom after washing your hands. Oh well. I'm glad I got to try it.

This is very "perfumey" to my nose. I was hoping for a large dollop of vanilla musk, but I get mostly cherry blossoms. This is elegant and sophisticated, but it is not me.

Severin does smell beautifully of Earl Grey tea on my skin. Earl Grey itself has a "dusty" smell to it sometimes - this is missing that note, but otherwise perfect. I never get any leather. Severin disappears extremely quickly on my skin, but I am still happy to have it as I love it. I will have to try it in my clocket to extend its life.

I'm not very good at picking out florals. All I really get is rose. I agree that this is a very Victorian blend - it smells haughty and sophisticated. I'm not a huge rose fan, but I may keep this squirt around for when I want to feel pretentious.

Everyone else was saying this is a bedroom scent, so I tried spraying it on my pillow. Initially, I smelled a burst of what I thought was cinnamon along with resins, but now am a little unsure of - this smells fiery, in a we-just-invoked-a-giant-demon-to-kick-someone's-ass kind of way. I'm definitely imagining the presence of hellfire. Either the fiery, smoky smell tames down after that or I get acclimated to it, because Unspeakably Evil Temple turns into a gorgeous resin blend about 15 minutes after spraying. It becomes very sweet to my nose, mostly from the myrrh. It still manages to be one of the darker resin scents I have smelled from Black Phoenix. I'll compare it to Cathedral - this is Cathedral gone dark, what's left after the cathedral has been trashed and turned into a pagan temple. It's quite delicious and sensual, and I think I'll get a full size bottle whenever I can spare the cash.

I can't decide what to wear for the Wheel of Fortune final auditions on Thursday. I don't have any TALs at all, or I'd have thought to wear some confidence and luck blends. I may just wear something uber soothing, like Lilith Victoria or The Lights of Men's Lives, as doing stuff in front of people can make me nervous.

Bewitched is an interesting blend on my skin. I smell berries, green tea, and musk. The musk comes out more strongly on the drydown, but I can still smell the other notes. It's pretty, but I'm not sure it's for me.

Wow, this is really sweet! It has an almost syrupy feel to me when wet. As it dries, it still retains its syrupy feel. It has to be coming from the styrax or embalming herbs; balsam and myrrh don't smell like this. I pick up more balsam as it continues into the drydown, but the syrup is still there. Unfortunately, this is not a keeper for me.

I get mainly waxy honey and chamomile from this blend. I'm glad someone else mentioned Door, because I notice the comparison too. This is Door with the oomph. This is lighter and not as grounded. Overall, it is pretty and relaxing, but it is too similar to Door to keep both and Door is the much better scent, so I will let my imp go.

I received a tester of this from a wonderful forumite. This is much sweeter than I imagined from the notes. I am getting a very sweet, dusty smelling wood, with something a little off in the background. I'd label the off smell as the black musk, because sometimes that can have a faint pee tinge on my skin. I'm not exactly sure where the faint sweetness is coming from - I don't know what fragonia smells like, so maybe that's the culprit. Either way, I think this might be a favorite if the black musk wasn't turning sour on my skin.

I have not had much luck with the Rappaccini's Garden scents thus far, so I did not have high hopes for this one. It initially smelled sort of like cologne on me, then it disappeared. I have a feeling it is hiding in my olfactory blind spot as the spot where I applied it isn't even dry and I'm having trouble. After a few minutes, I can start smelling it again. It does smell of dark fruits, but not candy-sweet fruits. These fruits are slightly sour and mean business. I'm not exactly sure what the sinister murk consists of, but it certainly does a good job of keeping this scent grounded. I can barely smell the bark, and cannot pick out the leaves at all. I just smell something slightly dark and mysterious.

Amsterdam goes generic floral on my skin. For the first few minutes, it smells like fresh cut flowers, but when the water note starts appearing it smells like stale, lotion-y flowers. It was nice for those first few minutes, though.

I get a very strong blast of chocolate initially upon application, but it calms down into a nice chocolate/mint combination after the first five minutes. I can't really detect any of the other notes outright, but there is almost a nutty feeling in the back of my throat after I breath in. I don't think I would notice it at all if I didn't know there was pistachio in this scent.

This is a very sharp, high pitched pennyroyal and lavender scent. The pennyroyal is very minty indeed, and very powerful. The lavender is a milder background note in comparison. Something about it starts to smell a little metallic on the drydown, probably the lavender as sometimes the Lab's lavender does a metallic thing on my skin. I'm not sure whether I'll be keeping my imp at this point.

Oh wow. This is a stunner. I held off on trying this for a long time because I'm generally a fan of scents with more sweetness in them, but I caved when I saw a good deal on a partial on the forum. I am so glad I did. I do smell the hint of lime, but I mostly get a dry, dusty, woodsy smell from the sandalwood, patchouli, tobacco, and clove combination. Initially, I could have sworn there was cedar in this blend because it reminded me strongly of An Altar to Cold, Rigid, Dreadful Death, though they share no notes in common. The cedar-ish smell disappears on the drydown and I smell the sandalwood and clove most clearly, with a sweet citrus smell barely present, but still noticeable. This is a definite keeper and I'm glad I sprang for a partial.

I'm not too familiar with Thin Mints, but this is a dead ringer for the white chocolate peppermint Hershey kisses that come out around Christmastime, which are my favorite Kisses ever. It's perfect. It starts out extra minty, but the MINT! fades a bit within a few minutes to let the wonderful chocolate/vanilla smell out, and it stays a perfect peppermint Kiss for hours. I love this blend, but it's making me hungry right now.

AN ALTAR TO COLD, RIGID, DREADFUL DEATH He recoiled in terror, for the scene had changed, and now he almost touched a bed: a bare, uncurtained bed: on which, beneath a ragged sheet, there lay a something covered up, which, though it was dumb, announced itself in awful language. The room was very dark, too dark to be observed with any accuracy, though Scrooge glanced round it in obedience to a secret impulse, anxious to know what kind of room it was. A pale light, rising in the outer air, fell straight upon the bed; and on it, plundered and bereft, unwatched, unwept, uncared for, was the body of this man. Scrooge glanced towards the Phantom. Its steady hand was pointed to the head. The cover was so carelessly adjusted that the slightest raising of it, the motion of a finger upon Scrooge’s part, would have disclosed the face. He thought of it, felt how easy it would be to do, and longed to do it; but had no more power to withdraw the veil than to dismiss the spectre at his side. Oh cold, cold, rigid, dreadful Death, set up thine altar here, and dress it with such terrors as thou hast at thy command: for this is thy dominion! But of the loved, revered, and honoured head, thou canst not turn one hair to thy dread purposes, or make one feature odious. It is not that the hand is heavy and will fall down when released; it is not that the heart and pulse are still; but that the hand was open, generous, and true; the heart brave, warm, and tender; and the pulse a man’s. Strike, Shadow, strike! And see his good deeds springing from the wound, to sow the world with life immortal! No voice pronounced these words in Scrooge’s ears, and yet he heard them when he looked upon the bed. He thought, if this man could be raised up now, what would be his foremost thoughts? Avarice, hard-dealing, griping cares? They have brought him to a rich end, truly! He lay, in the dark empty house, with not a man, a woman, or a child, to say that he was kind to me in this or that, and for the memory of one kind word I will be kind to him. A cat was tearing at the door, and there was a sound of gnawing rats beneath the hearth-stone. What they wanted in the room of death, and why they were so restless and disturbed, Scrooge did not dare to think. Black cedar, frankincense, and dust. I've tried two blends that reminded me of Cathedral today, but after smelling An Altar to Cold, Rigid, Dreadful Death, I had to do a side by side test. These two are incredibly alike. The main notes I get from Cathedral are the cedar and frankincense, which are the same two notes I get from this. However, this is better. There is a little bit of spiciness to this blend that you don't find in Cathedral. I'm not sure if it's the dust note, or something different about the cedar note, but this blend is exactly Cathedral with an extra kick of awesome and I absolutely LOVE IT. I have a full bottle of Cathedral on the way to share with my boyfriend, but I really do wish I'd gotten a full bottle of this instead now that I've smelled it. I don't know if I can justify having both because of my sucky financial situation right now, but I just might have to order this anyway. It is so good, I really can't say enough how much I love it.

On my skin, this is aquatic plus bitter herbs. As it dries, it morphs into a very similar smell to a laundry detergent I've used before - not sure which one. It doesn't really leave detergent land after that.

I smell the bitter neroli right off the bat. It takes a couple of minutes for the blood orange and raspberry to make themselves known on my skin. As it dries down, the notes balance pretty evenly, making this a generic fruity smell on my skin. It's not really for me, though fruit lovers should definitely give it a try.

Sharp, heady and viciously carnivorous. I received this as a frimp from the Lab. Immediately, cloying, headache-inducingly strong lily comes to the forefront. I'm not really sure what else is in this when it's wet as the lily just continues to amp. As it dries down, I smell something spicy and definitely something citrusy, but the lily is still at the forefront of the blend.

I was expecting a dry, incensy blend, and Morocco delivers that while still in the wet stage. After about 10 minutes, I began to smell a sweet candy smell wafting around me. I finally figured out it was Morocco on the drydown. Morocco is candy sweet and very foody on me in its last stages. It smells a bit like nougat. It is not quite what I was expecting.