sophia_helix

Ack ack jasmine! Don't know what I expected from the description, but still. The notes in this are so simple that if you know you like jasmine or honeysuckle, you'll definitely like this.

Wet and in the bottle there's the lovely, crisp, not too sweet apple note that I was hoping for, since apple scents usually smell really fake-sweet to me, along with that deeper, more disturbing blood-like note others have mentioned. Toss in some florals and it's a very heady and interesting scent. But the throw faded quickly, and then it turned into a sort of fresh cologne scent which took me a little while to place, since I haven't smelled it in three years... Numb! Yeah, one of the least-liked LEs ever. Kind of like watery violets. Eventually it faded down to the flat, metallic smell that's the end result for me with wintery BPAL scents and often the lunacies. It's one of those scents that's so nice in the bottle and for the first few minutes that I'm tempted to keep it, but I'll probably end up swapping it (or perhaps finally investing in a scent locket).

Really pretty and green -- I get the creaminess of plums and currants and the sweetness of cherry blossoms and green tea. It reminds me of Budding Moon, Frumious Bandersnatch (though without the spicy/potpourri notes) and Kitsune-Tsuki, though it has a very nice and different freshness. Unfortunately it fades fast and turns into something almost identical to Kitsune-Tsuki, and, well, I already have a bottle of that. The wet stage is really lovely, though (I think it's the currant that adds that extra tart note I love).

Very pretty, but the lilac is a little too overwhelmingly sweet for me. That combined with lily is almost all I smell, barring a hint of cedar around the edges. I think I'll give this to my mother, who adores lilac.

Oh, rats. The opening notes of this were heavenly -- verbena and anise, wonderfully sour-sweet-sharp -- but then it dried down to a musky fennel that's making me slightly sick. Not a hint of iris anywhere, alas. And I'd hoped for the first few minutes that this would be an Ultimate Keeper, because I love lemon and anise together so much.

Mmm, I really loved this one -- it was the most Christmas-like BPAL scent I've ever tried, and I've tried everything else up till this year. A wonderful fresh, cold, outdoorsy scent, with some wildflower sweetness and spicy cookie-smell on top. It wasn't cloyingly sweet or too astringently cold, just a perfect mix of the two. It did get a little cloying and stale as it dried on my skin, but I think I will actually purchase a bottle for oil-burning purposes instead because it would make such a wonderful room scent. My favorite of the Yules so far.

This started off very rich, woodsy, warm and smoky on me. Gradually, though, a too-sweet smell bubbled up, very perfumey and sickly, which I think may be the balsam. However, it also reminds me of Voodoo when the tart lime-pine had worn away, so I think the myrrh and clove are adding to the scent (and I would swear there was vetiver in this if I didn't know better). I don't get fresh greenery out of this at all, but something syrupy and a little spicy. It might also be the musk and the mandarin orange, though, since those can go bad on me. Basically, this is something I've gotten from several of the "haughtier" BPAL perfumes, and it's not a scent I enjoy, so I'm off to swap. Edit: Reading some other reviews, yes, this reminds me of Black Phoenix, and also kind of like La Petit Mort and Snake Oil, and Hexxenacht, and basically every scent labeled "skin musk" that's gone wrong on me. So if those scents were overpoweringly powdery and sweet on you, you might want to avoid this for chemistry reasons.

Hmmm, at first there was a coconut hint of Snow White in here, along with soft florals, but then it reminded me much more of the watery mint of Nuclear Winter, which I didn't really like. There's a sharp, metallic edge in here too, and I don't think my skin plays well with too much of Beth's snow/ice notes. I'll stick with Snow White, I think, for my creamy-cold scent.

Just because this is from a definite scent family, I feel like the way to review it is to compare to the others. So... the same pine and minty-edged coolness of the others. Less fruity than Ice Queen, more watery than Skadi but not as watery as Nuclear Winter, less birchy than Snow Moon, less sugar-sweet than Snow Bunny. What Snow Maiden brings to the table is a floral sweetness, which I really love, actually. The first few minutes were heaven, and then it turned into more of the pine-mint I've come to expect from any BPAL with "Snow" in the title, but the flower bouquet stuck around in the background. I'll hang onto my imp at least, and perhaps wear it with Snow Moon or Skadi on the other wrist for comparison before I decide on a bottle purchase. But it's delicate and lovely, for those who like this type of scent.

This smells kind of fruity and alcoholic on me, and almost foody, with a sort of syrupy note. I don't get the smokiness of opium or sandalwood at all, and it reminds me of "red" scents like Midwinter's Night, with maybe just a hint of spice. I'm not wild about it, because I wanted something a little darker and stronger, so I'll pass it along.

Oh, very sweet and fresh and nice, a men's cologne with just a hint of tea. I put it on my husband and instantly envisioned him in a starched white collar and cravat. He'll definitely be wearing this to Dickens Faire this year; it's perfectly period.

Spearmint gum, straight up. I think it's the juniper. Over time, it seems like some flowers or other greens might want to peek in and play, but it never happens -- spearmint all the way to the bitter end. It reminds me a lot of the TAL Temple: Druidic, actually, so if you like this you'll like that.

I tried this on my husband, and oof -- far too leathery, much like Loviatar on me. No vanilla and just the tiniest hint of pear. He said it reminded him of a barber shop, so off it goes.

Wow, is that ever sweet. I get a hint of apple, but mostly it's pure butterscotchy sugar, more suited to a candle than my skin. Eventually it dries down to a slightly stickier version of Red Lantern, minus any hint of smokiness. It's nice, but a little too simplistic for me.

At first it's the oily, spicy musk of Smut, but as it dries it softens and becomes more golden. I can pick out amber and patchouli for sure, and a hint of what I think must be myrrh, given that it's got that same "cola" note as Voodoo did. It's sweet, rich, and lovely, and I'm quite surprised that this is Brian's creation because ordinarily I'd say this has Beth all over it. (Although... I guess the same might be said of Brian. *ducks*) Anyhow, it's quite delicious, and a nice counterpoint to the cool, heady florals of Black Moon. I like this type of resinous skin scent, so my imp is a keeper for sure

Rats. Wish I'd checked the components before trying on this frimp -- gardenia is one of my worst enemies, and this is just straight-up soap.

Um. Oh my god. I just got my bottle of Black Moon yesterday. I'd been seeing all the hoopla about Schwarzer, and was kind of sad I hadn't gotten that one, especially since the floral Asian moons have been nothing but misses for me. I tried it on anyhow. I can't even describe what a beautiful, rich, cool, utterly delicious floral this is on me. I don't detect even a trace of jasmine, thank god, but something so sophisticated and gorgeous I could just die. I think it might be the orchid and the jonquil, with perhaps a hint of the blue lotus, and the pear giving it that extra hit of sweetness...I just don't know. All I know is that this is the only BPAL floral I've ever tried that's been strong and long-lasting without having rose or lily in it, and that I just want to bathe in it. Maybe I'll snap up people's unwanted bottles, since I know this hasn't been as popular as its scent-twin. Lucky me!

I'm another who got chocolate-mint cookies from this. It's a pretty watery mint, though, kind of reminding me of toothpaste. Eventually it fades into a nondescript woody, bitter chocolate. It's not nearly as bad as most chocolate scents on me (Bliss, etc.), but it's not particularly good either. I think this just isn't meant for my chemistry, too bad.

A flowery clean lemon that dried down very quickly to a rather manly citrus cologne, rather like Bed of Nails. Not being a man, it's not for me.

Scent: Wet, it smells exactly like liquid Dramamine, which is a motion sickness drug that I used to have to take as a kid. Just smelling that fake-cherry/grape scent is enough to make me sick by association, but it dries down pretty quickly into what I think must be hyssop, since I've smelled it strongly in both Absinthe and White Light. It's got a general "voodoo oils" scent, though, that's hard to explain unless you've tried a few of them. Pleasant, but nothing special. Effect: I wore this to a mock mediation today. I settled for $100,000 over what I wanted to and walked out to dead car battery. True, I received help from a friend beyond what I would have normally expected, and at least the negotiation/settlement went more smoothly than I'd feared...but it doesn't exactly feel like I was kicking ass and taking names. I may pass this one along to someone it jives with better. An edit upon rereading the description: I guess I did "overcome adversity" today -- I kept my cool during the mediation and managed to work out my car problems with a minimum of hassle -- so maybe it worked better than I thought? It's very open to interpretation, I guess.

OK, this must have iris/orris in it, because I amp that like crazy and this smells almost exactly like Florence on me. There's maybe a shade more of the "grain" note that Heavenlyrabbit mentions, putting me in mind of Dana O'Shee or Blood Moon, and I'm pretty sure there was a touch of dragon's blood at the beginning, although that mysteriously vanished. There are some other, more watery floral notes as well, kind of hard to put my finger on. I suspect this will be a big hit with other people who might get a more varied result. I like it a lot, but since it really is so similar to my fave Florence, it seems silly to keep it.

ARG. No chocolate. No nutmeg. No lavender. Not even a hint of rose or geranium or fruit or anything. Just the same sickly-musky vanilla as in Underpants and pretty much every other vanilla-resin BPAL I've ever tried. I have got to figure out if this is the same vanilla everyone else swoons over, or if it really is as gross on me as I think it is. Either way, I must stop getting my hopes up that any scent with a drop of vanilla will work on me.

At first, this was pure, pink, dusty bubblegum. It turned into something very similar to Mi-Go next, unsurprisingly, between the fruit and the pepper. There was an unfortunate, brief rancid stage next, similar to what others have described, and then it dried down to a surprisingly sophisticated, sweet, powdery scent. It's not really me, though, so I think I'll be passing it along.

This was really delicious, thick cherry when it went on, not fake-fruit smelling but like sweet, syrupy maraschinos. Then the cardamom and cassis came up, rich and spicy with a backnote of patchouli, and I swooned with the yum. Alas, that was followed by two bad things: a weird, rubbery smell like a balloon, and skin irritation. I'm pretty sure it's the caradmom, since Alone did the same thing to me (albeit in greater degree; my skin isn't flaming red this time). I might try to power on through, though, because this is just the sort of sweet, spicy, resinous, rich-red scent that I love best. The rubbery scent only comes up when I stick my nose close to the skin, and hey, what's a little skin irritation in the pursuit of smelling good?

I sniffed this and went "Here, you try it" at my husband, because it's so clearly a men's scent. It was straight-up leather on him, and then turned into pretty generic, soapy cologne. Too bad, the notes list was good, but I don't think amber or cedar works on him.