chapatti

A perfume named after the Japanese devil, how could I resist? First whiff: The zest of the orange I assume, sharp and bitter. It doesn't last very long, fortunately. Drying down: the raspberry comes up, fighting with the orange for supremacy, and winning It's tart, juicy and delicious, very slightly sweet but not in a cloying, candy fashion, it's definitely a fruit sweetness. When I was reading all the reviews to decide whether or not to pick this, I wondered if it would have the sweet/sour, tartness of the actual fruits - the answer is: yes, it does, oh joy! And it smells exactly like the real fruits, not the artificial, candy orange flavor I was afraid of. The neroli gives a soft, watery background note, but isn't very present. I found this scent didn't vary much through time, except for the neroli coming up a bit more after three or four hours. Verdict: Lovely! This feels tart, juicy, almost... sparkly and mischievous. Perfect for summer! 8.5/10

I adore the smell of figs and fig leaves, and I picked Nemesis based on the mention of "sweet figs" in the reviews. For some reason, I had totally overlooked the "cypress" part, silly me. First whiff: a sharp cypress/pine. And I do mean sharp. This is Pine Attack, bite-sized. Settling down, to an hour in: the pine is still kicking derriere and taking names. Slowly, the ginger comes up a to mix with the pine, along with some rosey soap. Now if the fig would be kind enough to make an appearance? Two hours in: The cypress has mellowed, and is now well balanced with the ginger and rosey soap. Actually, it smells exactly like a soap my grandmother keeps to scent the bedsheets. It's piney, soapy, and utterly 1890. The fig is nowhere in sight. Verdict: Pine o' d00m at first, and the fig has played invisible girl on me. The drydown is well balanced, and I can understand how others could like it, but it's just not me. That's what you get for getting a cypress perfume and not expecting it to smell of cypress 4/10

How similar are Freak Show and 13? I know they don't share many ingredients, but from the reviews, both seem to have a chocolate/citrus "vibe", right? I really, really like my lone imp of Freak Show, but if 13 is close enough, I'd rather just wait for it to be re-released and stock up on that instead

First whiff to an hour in: it's like... dry, mulled cider with a twist. At first, the most prominent note is herbs/wood with a hint of spices, but after a few minutes, a pleasant sort of sweet/sour scent comes up, surrounded by spices (clove, definitely, and some cinnamon hiding in there), with still an overhead layer of herbs/wood (juniper's there for sure) that recedes a bit in the background as it goes. Two hours in: the sweet/sour is gone, alas, and now it's a very faint spice/herb mix. Verdict: After a "ugggh, what is this thing?" phase (my first BPAL, I didn't know what to expect!), I've grown into it, and I really like it. The first phase really does feel like mulled cider - to me, it's much more like cider than wine, it has almost a sparkly dimension - and it's lovely, I keep on sniffing my wrists again and again. I wish that first scent would go on and on, but it's not very long lasting on me, unfortunately. 7/10

First whiff, slightly dried down: I mostly smell the clove, on a sweet base. There's also a tiny hint of cherry, that was more noticeable when wet, but on me, it's mostly clove, clove, clove (but now again, my skin has a tendency to go "Spices? Wheeee! LET'S MAKE SURE THE ENTIRE BLOCK CAN ENJOY IT, TOO! *amps like mad*"). Now do I want to smell of straight-out clove? Errrrm... Two hours in: This is the weirdest thing. The first time I wore this scent, I got clove, still, and... soap, at this stage. Now? Still clove, but also a sweet, spicy, slightly tart, luscious scent. Don't ask. Four hours in: the honey is definitely taking over, with a soft layer of spices in the background - the clove is still there, but mellowed out. I usually dislike sweet smells, but OMG! This is wonderful. I keep on sniffing my wrists and getting this whiff of heaven. Delish! Verdict: I quite like it, especially the end of the drydown - a very long-lasting scent, too. I'd love to find the same perfume, but sans clove. 7/10