Bagfish
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Everything posted by Bagfish
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Very, very incensy on my skin, with a slight high, white floral edge that I thought might be jasmine (my note of DOOOOM) but is likely to be Ylang yland (my second note of dooooooom). The patchouli incense is sweet and lasting, but the note of doom means this one goes in the swaps box.
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Honey and cassia when first applied on my skin, with a waft of wine lees. As it dries, the palmarosa becomes visible (smellable?), but then the dark myrrh kicks in and the cassia amps itself up until this is a hot, heady, spicy blend. It's all a bit too much, and is somewhat intimidating to wear.
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This is apple with a heady background to it. Opium and hemlock, enough to make the eater's head spin and then she falls into a swoon. It's a really nice interpretation because although it starts off simply as apple, it does morph poisonously into something quite different. The APPLE top note doesn't last all that long (20 minutes or so) and then the opium comes out to play in the foreground. It certainly isn't a comfortable scent to wear and I'm not sure I'll wear this much, but I do appreciate the artistry of the scent.
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Aquatic floral with a slight ozone tinge. I can smell deep, dark greenery and a blue European sky. However, I just cannot get along with aquatics so although this is a very apt scent description of a wide river travelling through a forest, I cannot wear it due to the intense headaches it triggers
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The osmanthus is by far the strongest note in this on me. It is a spring flower-like floral and quite sharp and slightly green without any tempering of honey and musk. As it dries, it becomes more rounded and sweeter, but there is still a semi-fruity sharpness to it that doesn't really suit me. Only after a number of hours does it become a warm and musky gentle perfume.
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Smut 08 is just as bad on my skin as Smut 06 unfortunately (I've been having a "musk moment" recently and thought I would give it a go). I still smell peanuts (that will be the red musk then), and then a headache inducing almost plastic smell drying down to a thin white musk. This all just smells so wrong on me
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I got a decant of Hunter Moon when it came out in the Autumn, tried it and thought it was nice but left it at that. So I dug it out of my imp box a few weeks ago and now I just can't get enough of it. It is a most beautiful, golden-brown, furry, musky scent with a little hint of a rich fruitiness which reminds me ever so slightly of the richness of Khajuraho. There is no way that this has red or black musk in as both of these go really foul on my skin whereas the musk is so gorgeous and the vanillic notes that slink out from underneath just make this something special. I want to wear this all the time! I managed to acquire a half full bottle of this, but I'm definitely going to have to try and score more as Hunter Moon is definitely a top ten scent.
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Wet, this is sharp and dark - lots of patchouli, very masculine. On my skin it softens and the clove and rose come to the fore. Unfortunately I can't actually smell the benzoin which is a very favourite note of mine. It is still very dark and still quite sharp when dry though and reminds me quite a lot of Parliament of Foules. Don't think this one is for me.
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Beautiful incense, with sharp, strong resins and then the most amazing dry but sweet amber drydown. I think this is the first BPAL church incense scent that has come anywhere near working on me. To put it in context, my husband actually said, "what are you wearing, it's lovely". He doesn't normally pass comment on my perfume without being asked for an opinion, but this one wins for both of us.
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The vanilla and tonka turn Haloes into an almost caramel-toffee scent on me, so much so, that unfortunately it turns to plastic which is very sad. I do smell the oak behind the caramel, but not the rest of the notes. So sadly, Haloes is not for me.
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J&H is all about creamy skin musk and honey on me. It is very nice indeed, with a little bit of carnation poking through to give a slightly spicy edge. It is very, very sweet too and with very little throw, it stays very close to my skin. I don't get any of the sandalwood or magnolia at all. For those of you who have tried it, J&H is quite similar in feel to Arcana's Queen Crossbones, just slightly more complicated due to the presence of the carnation note.
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A sweet, beautiful light brown furry musk. There are slight shades of Death Cap about Ivanuska, a definite forest loam sort of sense. It doesn't throw very far, but when I draw my wrist past my nose, I smell a beautiful scent that it about softness and warmth. I love this and wish I had more than an impful :-/ ETA I managed to find a bottle after nearly finishing my imp, and I have to say this one just gets better and better with age. And it really lasts on my skin, especially where it has touched my clothes or is under my watchstrap. 24 hours after application, I am still able to appreciate Ivanushka's brown musky furry beauty. I must highlight the similarity with Hunter Moon, although I think Ivanushka is slightly less sharp, and is more close to the skin. I really, really love this one and must send thanks to Colere who parted with an unloved bottle.
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I'm really enjoying my decant of Pollution (how odd does that sound?). On me it really does smell like a mainstream commercial unisex perfume and I can't put my finger on which one it reminds me of - something like A*Men perhaps? There is a sharp but rounded green-ness/fougere about it for definite, but I also get a slight woody scent when sniffed up close, and I also, oddly get a bit of red-muskiness from it too. This is better smelled from a distance rather than nose-smooshed against wrist. I like it, will definitely be keeping the decant and trying it out on Mr Bagfish
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mint, mint, mint, mint, mint, mint, mint, mint, mint curry powder Ok, so what is a curry powder smell doing in Lick it again? Anyway, it will be good for when I have a headache, it has that sinus clearing oooomph necessary!
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Noche Buena on wet really reminds me of the wet stage of Coral Snake, I think it is the plumeria and gardenia making the similarity, and it is a beautiful sweet, juicy floral. But where Coral Snake has a warm heart of Snake Oil, the heart of Noche Buena stays empty, there are no base notes filling it and rounding it out. My husband summed it up by saying that my wrist smelled like "the perfume hall in a department store", a rather generic perfumey scent with no outstanding features. Shame.
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The Peacock Queen is definitely a hard, grown up rose scent. There is no "give" in her at all, she takes no prisoners. One tiny dab scents my wrist, and I'm not sure I can bear her forcefulness. She is not a garden rose, she is a huge display of prime, perfectly arranged roses in a managing director's office. This is not a perfume for shrinking violets like me, I don't think I can carry her off; at 36 I don't feel grown up enough to wear the Peacock Queen
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Diwali has the throw of dooooom on me, it completely overpowered everything else (even El Dia de Reyes). It is quite sharp on my skin, and very strong and acid green in colour. Almost lush like a mangrove or jungle, this must be the mango and tamarind. However, the ingredients don't play nicely on my skin and I had to wash it off, I think I slathered too heavily for such a strong scent. The scent remaining after a scrubbing is a very pleasant amber! I shall have to try this again in much smaller quantities!
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Well, this is a sweet creamy spicy brandy-rum on first application. It reminds me a lot of brandy butter (we in the UK don't have Egg Nog at Christmas, so i can't compare it with the real deal) Then after wearing for an hour or so it dries down to pure (melted) vanilla ice cream. It is unbelievably accurate ice cream on me! It also reminds me a lot of Midway, so I reckon that Egg Nog is a good Midway substitute. Not sure if it is bottle-worthy, but it is a lot of fun
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El dia de Reyes has the most amazing throw, far more than normal with BPAL. It is an incredibly strong chocolate-spice, it is totally edible, I really want to drink the smell, it's a thick spicy creamy hot chocolate with a tiny hint of coffee, absolutely beautiful. But there is a problem. My husband is allergic to chocolate, and this oil is SO chocolate-like that he's asked me to wash it off because it is making him feel like he'll have a migraine So what do I do? (apart from divorce?!)
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Masabakes smells like the resins of Schwarzer Moon with a helping of civet for the first six hours of wear. It is very dark brown and a little acrid. It wasn't offensive, but wasn't particularly winning either. After six hours a beautiful sweet currant comes to the fore which mixes wonderfully with the dark resinous myrrh, but obviously, it is also very faint because it's been worn all day. I'm not sure it's worth going through the ass-y ness of the first couple of hours and then the dark resins for another four for the couple of hours of faint sweet currant so this one goes to swaps.
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I'm retrying all my imps. Gaueko was a frimp from ages ago, and I really enjoyed it then and on retry too. It's extremely lavender to start with, but it is a hot, burning lavender rather than the cool, refreshing calming lavender that I am used to. It is about as far away from "old lady" lavender as you can get! Anyway, as it dries down, the lavender becomes less strong and the burning incense smell comes to the fore. if anything, the scent becomes hotter, it's almost a burning scent, and there is a slight "electric" tinge to it - definitely not ozone, but almost a heated metal sort of smell. Gaueko is definitely one of the most unusual BPALs that I have tried, it defies classification, but it is really very good.
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I was on a carnation kick when I ordered Alice. I love the spiciness of carnations, they are a splendidly scented robust flower. However, I am not a fan of milk (both the liquid and the note) and unfortunately the milk in Alice walks all over the spicy carnation and subdues it until it is all namby-pamby and insipid with very little spicy carnation kick. And it also does the same to the rose too. So all in all, Alice is not for me, it sits too sweetly and milkily on my skin, in fact it almost simpers, and I do not like a simpering scent!
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I can't believe I haven't reviewed Elegba as I've had it for ages. So here goes. In the imp, definitely coconut, but not suntan coconut, but definitely a "cooked" coconut. On the skin this segues into a very sweet, hot smelling slightly scary coconut. I really find it very similar to Red Lantern, the burning tobacco creates a somewhat similar ambiance to the opium smoke in Red Lantern, but it's nowhere near as sharp and dry. I have to say that judging by the fact I don't wear this often and i actually found it quite a disturbing scent, I think I'll be passing it on.
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When wet, this is all pumpkin all the time. On dry down, it becomes very floral. I normally love champaca scents, but this time it was much too lush for me and almost fruity and mixed with the pumpkin, it was all too much unfortunately!