Astarte

The Tibetan goddess of love and wealth. Her scent is a harmonious, sweet, enchanting blend of three lotus blooms and three roses. Oh my god, I love this blend. There are so many roses in the BPAL collection, from Persephone (juicy rose) to Old London (tea rose) to Rose Red (fresh cut rose). Kurukulla initially in the bottle smells drinkable, its very fresh and wet. Once applied to my wrist, I can smell the roses intertwining with the lotuses. It gives it a very wet feel, the roses or lotus neither dominates the other and the result is a very girly slightly sweet rose. Kurukulla reminds me faintly of Juliet. If categorising this with the other roses, I would have put this as the water rose. Its absolutely delightful to wear and I adore this scent, definitely a 5ml order for me.

Agony and ecstasy: black leather and damp red rose. Mmmmmmn, who didnt like the description of this one. In the vial, it smells very faintly of anything, you can smell a tiny floral background to it. On the skin initially the rose comes out first, smelling very clean and fresh. Its not until you can smell the leather lying underneath the rose though that the blend deepens. As the rose settles down, the leather note comes out more prominently and balances gently with the rose. The leather brings a slight sweetness to the mix, and the smell of myrtal comes to mind (from Wanda!!!) making a fantastic combination of something not quite as heady as Wanda but more rosey. This is ecstasy indeed, I love rose scents, and I think between Kurukulla and this I have two new favourite rose blends!

When I first apply Diwali I can smell the ceder most prominently. Diwali does go through several stages, I initially had a gentle skin musk stage where the almond and coconut flourished, then the ceder reappropriated itself taking center stage and then it settled towards more a incensey tone. Its a very intrigueing and a comforting scent.

As a peach lover, I adore trying new peach scents. This feels very similar to Tamamo-no-Mae but a more stripped down version. Don't get me wrong I love Tamamo, but sometimes the musk component can feel overwhelming if I slather a bit too much accidently. La Vague is a refreshing scent, and I find the florals aspect are keeping the scent green, but are tempered by the peach accord. Deliciousness!

A very creamy vanilla, it reminds me most of antique lace (as noted in other reviews), and the drydown feels very clean and peaceful. The sandalwood/vanilla combination is very dreamy, and for some odd reason I'm reminded of Arachne, even though the notes aren't similar at all. Haloes lasts on my skin for a long time, I put it on overnight and I could still smell it in the morning.

Unfortunately I also get the sweet pine note in this scent too and its fairly overpowering. It does feel as if there is more to the scent beneath but I also feel that strange duality, in that it feel simulteanously cold and warm. Interesting scent but not for me.

I generally find "leaves" type of scents too unfulfilling for me and its rare that I find an earthy scent I love. So I've not tried October or any other leafy type of scent. However the above point is moot since the clear piercing pine note kills any affection for the scent as a whole. :/

On testing, there was a very prominent green note keeping the initial burst very green, as the flowers begin to bloom for me it becomes slightly overwhelming. As a blend it flows very nicely but I can't ever see myself wearing a scent like this.

This scent is incredibly decadent, I've never had a good track record with the other foody scents in the BPAL catagloue, but this scent does start off as the most gorgeous maple/honey and cream scent. Over time this deepens to add an incense scent which keeps the scent from being totally one dimensional. Thankfully I cant smell the fig, which is wonderful as fig is one of my most hatest notes. The throw is quite powerful as well, I could smell a waft from my unopened decant, and it seems to last well.

Archangel Winter is one of the best concept scents I've tried lately. It feels like the most ozone, airy and delicate scent I've tried for a long time. Heartbreakingly simple and very effective concept. A total keeper for me.

I normally love citrus scents, and on the whole I find them to be very bright and refreshing. I tried a dabble of Angeronia (I think testing a small amount as possible is key for getting along with patchouli blends for me) and my initial impression was a dark citrus scent. This dark scent, I have to admit, I wasn't thinking that favourably about the scent. Then I read the reviews and someone mentioned that this feels like a more natural Coco Mademoiselle and I have to agree very much. It certainly has grown a lot on me and the patchouli is kept at bay (well enough at bay for a patchouli hater anyway). ^^

This review is for the 2007 version Midwinters Eve has been my favourite BPAL scent over the years, and I have one bottle dating back to 2003, but I tend to wear the 2004 version more lately. (with two 2005 bottles as backup) This version doesn't have the green freshness to it like the other versions. I cant place my finger on this, perhaps my bottle just needs more time in storage.

Libra did not like my chemistry one iota, which saddens me as I love all of the notes in Libra (apart from fig). On my skin the rose is amped up with the cherry beyond belief. The resulting scent turns somewhat medicinal on my skin. Oh well some things are not meant to be. :/

On me Aeaea never evolves, I dont get any magical berries or electric air or even cypress. I get a aquatic with a lot of aloe. Shame, Thalassa now remains my true ocean scent.

This is a delicious scent, if I had to describe it as a colour I'd choose a soft bronze shimmering softly. Its deliciously sweet and more'ish. On me it smells like a more gentle Snake Oil initially, so I'd guess perhaps Siberian Musk is here in this one. I usually find Snake Oil a bit too much to wear but this is spot on. Absolutely breathtaking.

This is my current number one bpal scent I've fallen in love for this scent and I can't believe I missed when this went live. A delicious melange of peach, ginger and musk on initial application. Tamamo settles softly and loses the initial sharpness into a gentle skin scent with the hint of peaches. This scent could not be any more perfect.

I have to admit when I read the description, I wasn't entirely sold until upon reading the will call reviews that I began to realise this scent was needed. When first applied, you can smell the earthliness and almost a dirt scent. Then the scent begins to settle down and I found Singing Moon had a fair bit of sillage, I wondered what the gorgeous almost creamy sweet herbal scent wafting in the air was and then the penny dropped. A wonderfully unique scent and I am so very glad I have this.

I found the Emathides a very complex scent with deep nuances. I found that on my skin, it was a very deep dark purple candy scent but also very rich. Whilst I can appreciate the care and complexity into creating such a scent, it unfortunately can become slightly overwhelming at times which is a pity. A winner but not for me.

Initially violets and candy, whilst Hope feels overpowered by the candy; Faith is the perfect balance between sweetness and violet on my skin. I've always hated the taste of palma violets but for some odd reason I can't get enough of this scent. I'm thinking about getting a second set before the Carnival leaves town. I thought I'd love Hope more but Faith has stolen my heart and is quite unrepentent about it.

In the bottle initially I could smell the scent of roses and candy. When wet on my skin: faint rose, vanilla sugar, and something else a bit intangible. When dry on my skin, the candy scent overpowers the rose, and there feels a bit of a imbalance. I normally love roses, but this rose feels in the shadow and whilst I love sweet scents, this is a bit too much. I bought this set fully expecting to love Hope more out of the two but I'm finding I'm drawn to Faith much more.

This is such a strange scent: Firstly in the bottle I can definitely smell a strong mint and citrus scent. When first applied the honey is more apparent on me and drowns out a little the rest of the scent. If I breath warmly on my skin and inhale, I can smell the mint faintly then. The honey for me here is the most prevalent note, with mint and citrus being more faint even after drydown. I'll have to do more testing!

Osmanthus, white honey, ti leaf, hibiscus, and sugar cane. This is a very interesting scent, I normally love osmanthus notes within perfumes, but I found it hard picking the note out. The honey effect here is similar to how its used in Faiza though not quite so heavy, it feels distinct. Honeyed florals are a perfect description, I also found that Itaso isn't a sweet scent for me.

This is absolutely delish, at first its a sweet green grass scent wafting over my skin. Its much much sweeter than I expected, but I'm happy with that. T'is very gentle and ethereal, and a mood changer for me.

The first note which hits me when I try Zorya is definitely the floral jasmine. It smells a little bit "powdery" on me, which worries me a little. There's that hint of purple which I associate with violet/iris/orris scents at the edges but no sign of musk or spices for me. On myself this is a little remiscent of Veil, probably because of the iris scent, I'm guessing my skin is amplifying either the iris or the nightstock as I really wish I could smell the spice to make this scent a little warmer.

I chose this oil at random for being the clearest out of my imp pack, as I couldnt remember which oil was which. Straight in the bottle it does smell like lamb mint, a scent which I abhor normally, so it was with some trepidation I tried it. On, there was a strange duality with the sweet(ish) mint and violet. To me it was a minty version of Onerei for a while. After everything has settled down, the mint is very much in the background and I'm left with a gentle white flower scent, which is very pleasant. A new addition to the BPAL line.