jewelbug

A lovely frimp from GreenSpine--thank you! Imp: A sweet musk/amber with a fruity citrus tone--like a bright ginger? Wet: There's a sweet resinous feel to this, but also the feel of cookies. It still has a bright citrusy-toned spice to it, and I'm thinking ginger, and a bit of that "cola" note that I get from some other blends (like voodoo, etc). This isn't at all what I expected, but its gentle and nuzzly and feral all at the same time--cool! Drying: A lightly powdery, ever so slightly dirty (dusty?) musk (in a good way), with that gingery spiciness and hints of creamy vanillic/cookie sweetness. Dry: Leather? I feel like there is a bit of sweet leather in here, along with the fuzzy musk, all sweetened by a vanilla/almond creaminess, and topped with a fruity ginger (think hungry ghost moon's fruit-loopy ginger) and even a hint of clove. The clove takes over the ginger by the end of the drydown, and it settles into a clove-leather-animal musk that is sweet and creamy/cookie-ish at the same time. Lasts 6ish hours. Overall: This isn't what I expected at all. She's sophistocated and a little feral and overtly sexy and demure all at once. Love it! I think this is an unsung blend, and more people need to try it!

Bottle: Coconut crème and pale rose. Gorgeous and sweet and feminine and gentle! I’d say its “angelic.” Wet: Very similar to the bottle. A smooth creamy coconut underscored by gentle clean flowers. Drying: A powdery sharper scent comes out—like a rooty amber—I realize that its the orris making its presence known. This is orris covered by a creamy delicious coconut creme. The orris and coconut combo make this feel like a fine white velvet. Dry: Settles into a soft fuzzy orris and gentle vanilla/coconut scent. If I had my way, I’d rename this White Orris, and that’s fine with me, as I generally like orris more than rose. Its really lovely. Occasionally I feel like there is a deep berryish tone wisping round the edges. Special Notes: Combined with its partner, Red Rose, this is equally beautiful. The combo provides a perfect balance of sexy spicy rose musk and pure, sweet coconut orris, and I swear I get a light berry tone from it. Awesome creation!

I was so happy to get a bottle of this at the most recent ECWC! Bottle: A spicy rose. Smells like nutmeg to me, rather than clove, and reminds me of Winter of our Discontent. I'm not normally a rose person, but this has that musky spiciness that I love so well, so its worth a try! Wet: Smooth, spicy (like shub or gingerbread spicy), with amber and a light muskiness--very little in the "rose" realm. Drying: This is a glorious spicy musky blend, and has very little to do with rose as far as I can tell. I do get hints of something green along with the spice. This strikes me as "christmas-y" somehow, but maybe that is still becuase it still reminds me of winter of our discontent--and maybe the fir, too. Its lightly sweet, but not at all cloying. Dry: Settles into a subtly spicy, musky amber (slightly powdery) with hints of rose and fir. I love this. I think its like a less sweet, less citrusy, less creamy, Winter of Discontent. The throw starts out pretty light on me, a spicy sexy skin scent, but I swear it gets stronger as time passes. Lasts 7+ hrs. Special notes: Combined with its partner, White Rose, this is equally beautiful. The combo provides a perfect balance of sexy spicy rose musk and pure, sweet coconut orris, and I swear I get a light berry tone from it. Awesome creation!

Bottle: Bitter (like bitter greenery and pith), fizzy and commercially “perfumey.” Wet: A little sweeter with some fruity tones. There is still a bitter greenery note to this, almost jungle-y. But the complete picture is that of a green “perfumey” floral blend, and remains quite commercial feeling. Dry: Within an hour, this fades a lot, the sharp greenery note is significantly less and, I’m left with a sweet, watery, slightly green floral. By ~3-4 hours its just a wisp of vacant perfume. Overall: You know when you walk past an Abercrombie store in the mall and you’re hit by a wall of “oh God, that perfume is STRONG,” and you speed your step to escape its nauseating preppy-slut aura? This has that feel to it—vapid, commercial perfumery and ill-fitting clothes in poor taste. Except that this smells better because Beth made it. But boy, oh, boy, did she capture her inspiration. And it fades quickly. But not as quickly as I can high-tail it past A&F.

Bottle: A lightly beeswaxy kinda pale fruity smell over some light amber/musk? Wet: Light honey/wax/amber with some light florals almost citrus like tones. Overall, its kinda like hand of glory without all the leather, less beeswax, and more powdery resin/fuminess. The darker, powdery resinous tones are slightly oppressive. Drying: The fumey/powder/resinous scent strengthens, along with muskiness, and perhaps some dry blonde woods. There also seems to be a light hint of something almost spicy. Dry: Throw is a lovely musky beeswax, kinda smoky, with that opressive musk/resin base. Actually, the best way that I can describe this is the smokey musk of devil’s night meets beeswax of hand of glory. Very, very nice. Overall: Devil's Night and Hand of Glory lovechild. Very lovely. But I think I like the other two a wee bit better, so I'll likely pass this on. I'm kinda curious to see how it ages, first, though.

It might just be my skin chem, but I've recently discovered that the BPTP inquisituion Ghulwein smells almost exactly like Randy on me!

Bottle: A pale golden scent, very light in the bottle. Something brings the Illustrated woman to mind, though I don’t know what. Wet: Sweet and golden, a straw-colored chrysanthemum, backed with a light vanillic sweetness and strong amber support. I can’t pick up on any spicy notes. Drying: While drying, this grows in strength and throw, becoming simultaneously more “planty” and ambery…There are discernable stem-like notes, and a stronger more herbal note, presumably the marigold. These green/herbal florals blend very well with the strong amber. Actually, in this phase, I’m reminded of the floral/vanilla/amber/sandalwood of Inez, but lighter. Dry: The whole blend goes back towards it more subtle beginnings, but without the herbal florals. It settles into a soft skin scent-- a pale wispy vanilla over a golden amber base. Overall: I think that this will be a popular one, especially in light of the similarity (at least in my opinion) to the well-loved-inez. It’s a beautiful amber blend, and I imagine that the amber will become lovelier with a bit of age on it. I'm not sure this is a keeper for me, though--its a bit on the light side for my tastes.

Bottle: Melon hits you straight out of the bottle, even if its not listed. Smells like a green honeydew to me. Wet: a very cool green melon scent, with a citrus tone brushed lightly over it, and a redder fruit (berry?) that comes out almost immediately. The florals are more evident on my skin than in the bottle. Overall—lots of fruit (melon/berry/citrus), and a little bit of floral. I get an aquatic vibe from this due to the watery melon. Drying: As others have mentioned, there are hints of a “fizziness”, but I actually think that might be the pine poking through in its fresh zingy little way. The blend isn’t as overtly aquatic/melon now, and I think the “berry” was getting before is actually plum. Its still a fruit-over-florals blend—light and sweet and pretty. I was expecting it to be more, well, earthy… Dry: As this sits on my skin, it does get darker, deeper, more rounded—plummy fruits, and a darker more perfumey floral blend than the light, bright mix that this started out with. Lasts 6-7 hrs. Overall: A very pleasant and pretty blend. I liked all the phases this went through, but particularly the late drydown when it was deeper and less bright fruity/floral. That said, this isn't really my usual fare, so I think I'll pass it along.

CCXLI: A decant from the lovely and ever-generous cheshirecat. Imp: Chocolate and fruit loops cereal. Which is to say fruits...all the fruits they use in that cereal. Wet: Yup, chocolate and fruit loops. Citrusy fruit loops and chocolate. Dry: The fruit loops tone down to simply a sweet citrus scent, and I'm left with a beautiful clean chocolate blend with citrus hints. You know what it smells like? Almost EXACTLY like Lush's Ma Bar. OMG, yum! Previously reviewed by djnevermore.

Wet: Florals and a juicy pear-fruitiness. Dry: Wet pears settle into the back, and florals come out with a green stem sort of quality. This also has a bit of a play-doh-y tone on me, don’t know why… Overall: A very pretty fruity/floral blend. But not something I could see myself wearing with regularity. I shall find it a new home.

Wet: As expected, very floral. I think sweet pea spells trouble for me—usually, it means bathroom cleaner, and I’m getting a bit of that here. Dry: Yup, floral bathroom cleaner smell. Later, same, but with a citrusy floral thrown in (water lily, maybe?) Overall: Nope, not for me.

Wet: Woodsiness, and masculine. Drying: Whoa, leather! Leather and smokiness, with a deep green undercurrent (vetiver-ish?). Still very masculine to me. Further in, a sweetness (green, fresh, almost dewy) comes out under the smoky leather. It’s a lovely balance. Kinda like the water weeds in shattered pumpkin, paired with a sweet smoky leather. Overall: I like this, but think it would be better suited to a man than me.

Wet: Incredibly grape-y and sweet. Cloyingly sweet on me. Drying: Still super sweet grapes, with a bit of a green powdery/floral/resin under. Dry: Processed fruit. Like a grape fruit roll up, actually! Fades to more of a pleasant honey scent. Overall: This smells tasty, but is too sweet for me.

This goes on very boozy/spicy/honeylicious, but doesn't smell like red wine to me. Red wine usually goes towards the super grape-y/berry on me, and this one absolutely does not. In fact, I wasn't even super-interested in finding this one, because I assumed that's how it would go....I was wrong. This is Purrrrrfect. When I swiped it on, I kept thinking "this reminds me of something at Christmas," which, well, duh, given that its a holiday inquisition scent is obvious. Except it reminded me of something very specific at Christmas, and I was having a hard time pinpointing what. Then it struck me. Lush's Randy scented buttercream from several years back. One of my absolute favorite Lush scents, EVAR. That's right. I love this. Gluhwein, you totally snuck up on me and stole my heart. I hope I can find more of you.

Bottle: A very masculine cologne scent. Quite dark. Wet: Still a very masculine dark cologne scent, with a hit of “woodsiness” and a deep green bitterness (a la orangutans musk?). Its extremely difficult for me to pick out the notes here, just dark and manly musky woodsy cologne. Not very helpful, am I? Drying: Fruitier tone comes in with the bitter greenery cologne. Dry: much fruitier, a berry-wine tone, sweet and red/purple, over a musky base. Its actually a little to berry-sweet for me now. No more masculine cologne left, though, which is A-OK in my book. Overall: This started with a masculine cologne that was nice, though not me, and morphed like MAD in a direction I never would have suspected-- to a musky winey/berry scent. Its very nice and pretty and sexy, and I like the extreme morph personality it has. But the end result isn’t really my preferred category of scent, either (goes too far to the berryish spectrum), so I’ll be passing this on.

Bottle: A sweet pink, floral scent. I was expecting sugar closer to that in sugar skull, but this is a cleaner, whiter sugar. The combo of sweetened florals and pink fruits smells a LOT like Pink Moon '05. Wet: Oh wow, yeah, a lot like Pink Moon '05. The exception is the quality of the sugar--the sugar in pink moon is like pink cotton candy sugar, and this is just a pure white sugary sweetness along with pink springy florals and fruits. Dry: This is where Sugar Moon and Pink '05 diverge. This starts to get a much more pronounced "berry" quality, which takes the balance away from the florals. I think the predominant berry is the blackberry or currant, rather than the strawberry--its darker and more purple/red. The florals take the background. Overall: A sweet, fruity blend with hints of floral. Very much similar to Pink Moon '05, but I like PM a bit better. This one goes a bit too far in the direction of darker berries for my tastes.

Bottle: Red/Purple fruits, with a bit of a spice—clove, perhaps? Kinda like that clovey note you get from some of the carnation blends. Wet: lots of fruitiness—like a mulled plum wine. Also..there’s a very sweet almost floral scent…sorta like plumeria? I don’t get apple from this, but I can see how some thnk there is pear in here. My best guess is plum, though—lightly spiced plum wine and plumeria. Dry: Same as above. Its very pleasant, and smells like a nice, lightly spiced fruity holiday candle-type scent. Very festive and homey. Very late in the drydown, I’m left with a vaguely sweet scent, much like the remnants of some of the honey blends on my skin. Overall: I was so surprised to receive this at will call. The lab’s generosity towards it customers continues to astound me, and I love them for it. That said, I don’t think this particular scent is very “me.” I just don’t tend toward the fruity sweet (the creamy coffee sweetness of the Egg Nog Latte, though, that’s sweetness that I LURVE!).

Bottle: Extremely foody sweet cakey scent. I also get a waft of spice out of this in the bottle…almost like a gingerbread is mixed in with the cake and citrus. The cake/citrus, by the way, reminds me of the Teenage Cannibal scent. Wet: Same as bottle-- A very tasty, fruit soaked cake with a hint of spiciness (I guess that’s from the carntation). Very reminiscient of the citrusy foody Teenage cannibal, perhaps mixed with a cotton candy/midway vibe. I don’t really pick out the strawberry, but maybe that’s what is giving it the pink cotton candy feel. Its really delicious and nummy! Dry: Sadly, only about 5 minutes in, the badness starts. I am getting wafts of a synthetic/burny plastic. I sometimes have this trouble with the foody/creamy/sugary/cakey scents, and sometimes they’re fine. I still don’t know which note or combo of notes does this to me. But sadly, that note is here. And it is not liking my skin, and my nose is not liking this one bit. It takes 4-5 hours for the synth to fade away, and then its back to a lovely gingerbready cake and cotton candy scent. Overall: The wet and bottle scents were promising and nom-worthy, as was the late dry down. Sadly, the rest of this perfumes lifespan (on my skin) is more like melted, flaming plastic poured over delicious spicy citrus and cotton candy cake. The bad phase lasted far to long on me to make this a viable perfume option.. *is sad* I’ll find this a better home.

I was so enthralled with both of the Bah Humbug inquisition options that I didn't bother specifying which I wanted--I figured I'd be happy with either as a surprise! Bottle: A lovely vanilla licorice. The blend has me in mind of Tombstone minus the woods, actually--a very similar vanilla to my nose, and the licorice has a sassafrassy quality, I guess. The balance is more towards vanilla than licorice when sniffing out of the bottle. Wet: The licorice is stronger on my skin than in the bottle, which is exactly what I was hoping for--I love anise scents. Anise candies--like a vanilla pastille with the little anise seed in the middle, right as your crunch through that seed and get the rush of licorice flavors...that's what this is like. The anise is more herbal than licorice-y--it almost has a minty coolness to it. Dry: This settles into really lovely tombstone-like vanilla, deep and syrupy, darkened by the anise with herbal and sassafrass overtones. Its really quite nice. As it sits on my skin (and this lasts well over 12 hours--wow!), the anise gradually weakens and I'm left more with a vanilla. Really late in, the vanilla has an almost toasty-marshmallowness to it, which I found very interesting. Overall: I quite like this, and it really is lovely, and I love anise scents, which are rare in the bpal catalog. But it reminds me a lot of Tombstone for whatever reason, and that is my DH's scent. My fave-ever scent on him, in fact. And I'm afraid of smelling too much like him. So...I might just see if i can swap this for Bah instead. I'm on the fence, though, cuz this is really lovely. Its vanilla licorice, all right, but its not as simple as all that!

This is for beaver'versary: Bottle: Delicioius is the word that comes to mind! Wet: Yummy creamy vanilla, maybe a hint of chocolate, and even some spice...like a carrot cake cupcake! Drying: This has a doughy cakeyness about it--flour and all. Dry: Relly nice rich vanilla blend, like a super upscale candle. And it doesn't go plasticky on me like some of the super foody blends, so that's a big positive! Overall: Really yummy, but not as multidimentional on me as I would have hoped when it reached its dry phase. The wet phase was so awesome. I'm going to let this get some age on it and have another go. But if it remains "yum vanilla" then I don't think I'll need to hang onto this one. ADDED Aug. 9: I was sad to have missed the original Beaver Moon--there was so much raving over it. To this day, I still haven't tried the original, but I snatched up Beaver-versary so I could find out what all all the fuss was about. It IS delicious. Bottle: A very pure vanilla--not boozy or dark at all. And a wee bit of light spice? Mostly, vanilla, sweet and almost candy-ish. Like vanilla sugar. Wet: A mild vanilla buttercream. Its actually relatively faint on my skin. Dry: Sweet, pure, light vanilla buttercream. Occasionally, I can get a waft of tangier cheesecake, and I even feel like there's a little bit of strawberry at times. But mostly, its buttercream, light and sweet. It is much more faint than I expected, but it seems to strengthen with time, unlike many other blends. A few hours later, I found myself wondering what the yummy scent was, and it was me. Overall: Yummy, yes...but I am not as wowed by this as I thought I would be considering all the rave reviews. Its fairly weak on me and pretty one-dimensional. Beautiful in its simplicity, but simple nonetheless.

Bottle: A golden evergreeny scent, kinda fumey, hard to get a handle on. Wet: This has a similar piney note to that in Golden Priapus or the Illustrated woman. But without the sweeter vanilla foody components that I like so much in those blends. It has a pale smokiness about it (think herr drosselmer smoke, rather than dark autumn smoke), and also a bit of a furniture polish scent. Dry: This smells like my pop-pops house. He was a carpenter, and made a lot of his own furniture. This is like that hand made pine furniture, newly finished and polished, along with his "old man" cologne. And, well, this part is horrible, but a tinge (ever so slight and fleeting) of urine (he's a yellow-let-it-mellow kinda guy!). Its not an "ew, disgusting" powered urine, and I don't find it horribly offensive, though I know its sounds gross. Maybe its not urine but more of a bathroom cleaner scent that I associate with that? I dunno. The blend has an effervescnce like Pruno or the Hamptons, as well. Overall: Despite my rather non-eloquent description, this scent is not bad. And it brings up some good scent memories. But its not a scent that I would want to wear. For my sweet piney-ness, I'll stick to Golden Priapus or Illustrated Woman.

For Glowing Vulva, try Antikythera Mechanism--its remarkably similar on my skin (and some others say the same). For snow white, try Dana O'Shee--it has that sweet creamy almondness and is really lovely.

Thanks for the rec's, everyone! I just set up a swap for a bottle of PPII and a bunch of decants of the other pumpkins. My sister's boyfriend will have a nice little pumpkin sampler to play with.

Thanks for all the recs thus far! Leave it to you to recommend a near-impossible find, my dear! For both of the above--which years, do you know? Thanks!

So, in chatting with my sister's boyfriend, I discovered that he wants a cologne that smells of pumpkin pie. Now, I KNOW bpal can deliver this, so my enabling sense went off right away! I have Jack and Pumpkin Queen and Pumpkin V from '07(i think), but all of those strike me as super foody and a bit more feminine because of that (maybe I'm just stereotyping?). I also have some shattered pumpkin, and I'm going to let him try that one, but I'm afraid it won't be "pie-like" enough. So, I'm looking for blends that have that "pumpkin pie" feel, but also smell masculine/rugged/sexy (he's a leather and motorcycle kinda guy). I'm guessing there are some out there, especially with all the patches we've had, but I haven't smelled a lot of them, and would love some help with rec's! I figure once I have a nice list of potentials, I'll post an ISO put together a "manly pumpkin" imp pack. Then my sister can just eat him up, yum. Thanks for your help!