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BPAL Madness!

harmonyfb

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Everything posted by harmonyfb

  1. harmonyfb

    October

    Ay, thou art welcome, heaven's delicious breath! When woods begin to wear the crimson leaf, And suns grow meek, and the meek suns grow brief And the year smiles as it draws near its death. Wind of the sunny south! oh, still delay In the gay woods and in the golden air, Like to a good old age released from care, Journeying, in long serenity, away. In such a bright, late quiet, would that I Might wear out life like thee, 'mid bowers and brooks And dearer yet, the sunshine of kind looks, And music of kind voices ever nigh; And when my last sand twinkled in the glass, Pass silently from men, as thou dost pass. Dry, cold autumn wind. A rustle of red leaves, a touch of smoke and sap in the air. This is the scent I've looked forward to - some of my favorite autumn smells, all rolled into a single perfume. In the bottle, this was sharp and masculine. Ooo, very sharp. Wet, it transformed immediately to the scent of mouldering leaves, with an overtone of men's cologne. Dry, the throw is all wet, decaying leaves (which I find quite pleasant), but unfortunately, when I bring my wrist to my nose, all I smell is cheap men's cologne and a whiff of musk. On the whole, I think my skin chemistry has played me false once more.
  2. In the bottle: Tuberose! Wet, on my skin: Jasmine!!!! Dry, on my skin: JasmineJAsmineJASmineJASMineJASMIneJASMINeJASMINEJASMINEJASMINEJASMINE :explodes into choking cloud of jasmine stink: In conclusion: If your skin amps jasmine, stay away.
  3. harmonyfb

    Please Scream Inside Your Pumpkin Patch

    In the bottle: buttery pumpkin, yum! Initial Application: Buttery pumpkin, OMG I SMELL DELICIOUS Drydown: Pumpkin w/the faintest ghost of spices, like a pie that you can smell cooking in a neighbor's house, mixed w/clean hay from the pumpkin patch you're standing in. It smells FANTASTIC. 3 Hours Later: Funnel Cake! OMG I SMELL DELICIOUS In conclusion: Medium throw, well-balanced, lasts about 4-5 hours, effing DELICIOUS.
  4. harmonyfb

    Shadwell

    Shadwell had turned out to be about five feet high and wore clothes which, no matter what they actually were, always turned up in your short-term memory as an old mackintosh. The old man may have all his own teeth, but only because no-one else could possibly have wanted them; just one of them, placed under the pillow, would have made the Tooth Fairy hand in its wand. He appeared to live entirely on sweet tea, condensed milk, hand-rolled cigarettes, and a sort of sullen internal energy. Shadwell had a Cause, while he followed with the full resources of his soul and his Pensioner's Concessionary Travel Pass. He believed in it. It powered him like a turbine. Roll-ups, mildewed raincoat, sweet tea, and condensed milk. In the bottle, this smelled of tea and saltwater - very aquatic, with just a hint of black tea. No sign of the dreaded mildewed raincoat. On my skin, this blossomed into a complex, beautiful aquatic, the tobacco mellowing out the sweet milky tea, and making it sophisticated instead of saccharine. There's a hint of the sea behind the main notes, but it's not overwhelming, and doesn't ping my allergies. I believe this would be great for men as well as women; it's very gender-neutral. Definitely a keeper. ETA: I tried it on again today, and suddenly, it's a dead ringer for Thunder Moon. Seriously masculine and sporty - still clean and salty, with a hint of milky tea, but whoa - today it's way too masculine for me.
  5. harmonyfb

    Vernal Equinox Full Moon

    In the bottle, like a florist's cooler. (That's a good smell!) Wet: Cold white blossoms that are like sticking my nose in a bouquet, without being overpowering. Dry: Daffodils! There are other flowers underneath the daffodils, but they're minor notes in a field of buttercups. I LOVE this fragrance. I don't get any amber notes, but every once in a while I get a bit of the tulips. Just gorgeous! Dry, an hour later: NOW I get the amber. At this stage, I can't pick out any single floral notes - it's just a harmonious whole with a soft amber base note. I love every stage of this scent.
  6. harmonyfb

    Pumpkin Crème Brulee

    When I opened the imp, it smelled like...WTF FLOWERS?? But no pumpkin. Wet, on my skin: Sharp and spicy almost-floral (WHAT), but no pumpkin. Dry: STILL NO PUMPKIN. Also, sharp and unpleasant. No sugar, no custard, no pumpkin. It only brings headaches to the party. I am SO disappointed, as in the past, BPAL's pumpkin note was always beautiful on my skin, no matter what. This? Oh, no. No, no, no. Off to swap! 2nd Try: There was a bit of spillage on the label, and I noticed a day or two later that it smelled more of sugar, so I thought perhaps I'd give it another try. In the imp: Sugar? No floral smell, so hurrah! Wet, on my skin: Cinnamon brooms. BUT NO PUMPKIN. Dry: CINNAMON BROOMS TO INFINITY And. NO. PUMPKIN. WHATSOEVER. Hours later: A whisper of sugary sweetness when I stick my wrist against my nose. Conclusion: BAH.
  7. harmonyfb

    Pumpkin Dust

    SOAP. Sharp, hideous soap. And cinnamon brooms? It's just awful. I'm so disappointed, because their pumpkin scents are almost always gorgeous on me....but not this one. No, not this one.
  8. harmonyfb

    Scarecrow Turned Philosopher

    In the imp, this mild and dry, with just a hint of amber. Wet, it was...like stepping into a summer day, with warm breezes bringing you just a hint of grasses and tiny summer flowers. Dry, the amber has warmed up, and for once, it does not powder out on my skin. I LOVE this. It's so warm and beautiful. It's like a breath of summer in the midst of fall. Edit: I have been wearing this daily for weeks, and it continues to be a favorite. A warm, well-blended amber scent.
  9. harmonyfb

    The Norns' Farmhouse

    In the imp: fresh and green. Wet: A complicated rush of green smells, very herbal, but with a soothing note that softens it. Drydown: Suddenly becomes extremely masculine, an herbal blend where I can't detect any of the individual notes, but which smells very manly to my nose. Verdict: Might try it on my husband, but it's not really for me.
  10. harmonyfb

    Aelopile

    In the imp: Ooo, this smells gorgeous! Not sharp or unpleasant as I feared! Wet, on my wrist: WHOA, what the hell? This smells like...furniture polish. Cheap furniture polish, the kind that comes in a spray can. UGH. Drydown: It's gotten more complex, and the (must be lemon) polish note is finally fading, but now it just smells like some sort of potpourri. No citrus whatsoever. Completely dry: It's not unpleasant, but it smells vaguely peppery, with a faint generic 'potpourri' scent. Clearly not the scent for me. Verdict: I'm so disappointed! The imp smelled so lovely, and my skin made a right hash of it. Maybe I'll try it in a scent locket?
  11. harmonyfb

    Spellbound

    The description sounded lovely, and it smelled ok in the imp, so I slathered. This was an error in judgment. A terrible error in judgment. From the initial blast of musk came this sour smell that got stronger and stronger and STRONGER. It eventually identified itself as the roses. Sour, musky, horrible roses that choked me until I had to run and scrub it from my skin. It's still there. So...huge throw, long-lasting, and utterly horrible on my skin.
  12. harmonyfb

    Bitches Love Unicorns

    In the bottle, it wasn't very fruity - just like a wash of some sugary syrup. Wet: I'll be damned. It does smell like Fruit Stripe gum. Dry: Smells like sugary fruit-flavored candies, heavy on the raspberry. It's just a really cheerful scent. I don't know that it'll get heavy rotation on my end, but I think my youngest daughter is going to absolutely LOVE this. EDIT: My youngest daughter tried it on, very excited to smell like Skittles. The minute it hit her skin, it smelled of nothing but vanilla. Slightly musky vanilla. WHAT. It never changed, either. Wet, dry, hours later: vanilla. The heck?
  13. harmonyfb

    White Pumpkin Floss

    1st Try: I expected this to be a mouth-wateringly creamy, foody scent. In the bottle, all pumpkin. Wet: Dry, dry, dry pumpkin note, with a heavy undercurrent of bpal's "old book" note. Dry papers & a little pumpkin. Not foody at all, which I thought was weird. As it began to dry down, I got a hint of burnt sugar. Dry, the happy burnt sugar note disappeared, the pumpkin disappeared, the books disappeared, and I was left with...cinnamon. But not baking cinnamon; the dry scent of those 'cinnamon brooms' you buy at the grocery store. White chocolate? MIA. There's no creamy chocolate note in this at all. Dangit. :/ Several hours later, I find that the cinnamon note has faded out and now it's all creamy white chocolate, but the pumpkin is long gone. 2nd Try: I decided to re-try on a less-stressed day, and the results were startlingly different (and yet, the same.) Wet, there was a rush of pumpkin, definitely more cooked & sweetened than raw. No 'dry' note whatsoever. However, the pumpkin fled in short order, even before the dry-down was complete. Dry, the throw was nonexistent, but it smelled not like terrible cinnamon brooms, but like cake with a warm spicy undertone. Dry, a couple of hours later, it's all delicious creamy white chocolate, but to smell it I have to put my nose right on my skin. Judgment: I like it, but I'm disappointed that the pumpkin note doesn't stick around, because I love pumpkin-based scents, and bought it because of that. Not to mention clearly my skin chemistry is the deciding factor in any fragrance. I'll try wearing it in my scent locket and see how it performs when it's not touching my skin.
  14. harmonyfb

    Democrat

    In the imp, and on first application, this was sweet vanilla with a richer undertone. Wet, it was vanilla and a sweet scent that seemed familiar, but which I couldn't quite identify. Dry, a warm vanilla amber. Dry, 10 minutes later, the amber is going a bit powdery. Oddly enough, I kept getting wafts of this spicy resin that reminded me a bit of Morocco. ::sniffs the arm:: Nope, still vanilla amber. ::moves arm away:: Spicy! Up close is soft and warm and sweet, while the throw is all hot and sultry spices.
  15. harmonyfb

    E Pluribus Unum

    I was really expecting this to be cloying, but it's a faint floral in which no one note dominates. When I first opened the bottle, it smelled like...well...a beauty shop. Don't know why it sparked that particular association, but there you go. Dry, my skin is drinking this up, so that it's a close-to-skin kind of fragrance. Very unexpected.
  16. harmonyfb

    MVJBA: Spring Training 2008

    In the bottle and on my skin, this reminds me a lot of Miskatonic University, except with a salty, peanutty undertone. After allowing it to warm up a bit, the peanutty aspect is strongest - I imagine once this ages, it's going to be fantastic. I like it very much indeed. 2018: After ten years of aging (and having forgotten where it was for several years), I tried this again. In the bottle, it was all peanut scent, to the point where I couldn't smell anything else. But once I put it on my skin, the peanuts disappeared, and now it smells like caramel. I'm not picking up the coffee note at all, but my family says I smell like a caramel latte, so I'm counting this a win.
  17. harmonyfb

    The Snow Storm

    The first note out of the bottle is a complex evergreen; there's the sweet pine from 'Skadi', but there's also some deeper, more resinous notes. Underneath that is a slushy note - not so much snow as melting ice. It's a very clean fragrance, and I think it would appeal to a wide variety of people. I like it, though I'm not head over heels about it (I much prefer my Skadi). To me, this smells like the tail end of February - cold and sleet and evergreens heralding the coming of warmer weather.
  18. harmonyfb

    Pumpkin Cheesecake

    Alas, on my skin this is the sour note from Beaver Moon without the extra sugar for leavening. The pumpkin might as well be nonexistant. ::sigh:: Damn my skin chemistry.
  19. harmonyfb

    Pumpkin Smash

    I was absolutely certain I would love this. Pumpkin and beeswax? All right! What could possibly go wrong? In the bottle, it was delicious, buttery pumpkin. Yum! Wet, the pumpkin burned off quickly, making way for beeswax and...beer? Dry: Yup, sweetened hops, beeswax, and maybe a whiff of asphalt. No pumpkin at all. Wah! But I love pumpkin! No fair! ::pouts:: Ok, ok, Looked at objectively, this is a wonderful, fragrant, sweet-but-not-foody, grownup perfume. It smells of fall, with a hint of leaf-scent, and the dead-on smell of the inside of a jack-o-lantern, and the longer I wear it, the better it smells. It's just not the foody pumpkin I wanted.
  20. harmonyfb

    Golden Priapus

    Sticky pine sap and vanilla car air freshener. A world of no.
  21. harmonyfb

    Sugar-Slathered Candied Apple

    In the bottle: mmm, brown sugary. Wet: Crisp, clear apple. Dry: Y Halo Thar Brown Sugar. Reminds me a powerful lot of Sugar Skull '05. Dry, much later: Caramel Apple! Mmm, now I'm hungry.
  22. harmonyfb

    Pumpkin V (2007)

    In the bottle, this was nearly the twin of my beloved Pumpkin Queen. Alas, that's where the resemblance ends. Wet, this was all sweet pumpkin, but as it dried, it gained a slightly plasticky vanilla scent with a gingery undertone, but the pumpkin is completely gone. I'll keep it to try at other times of the month, but so far, it doesn't seem like it will work for me.
  23. harmonyfb

    Midnight Kiss

    This was an unexpected frimp in my last order! In the imp, and wet on my skin, this was a light, sweet chocolate scent. Drying, it got redder and redder, as the darker tones of the scent warmed up from my skin. Dry, it's a sweet and fruity scent with a dark base note - reminds me a lot of Unheavenly City, actually.
  24. harmonyfb

    Fairy Market

    So beautiful. I opened the bottle to a scent memory: me at four or five years old, sitting up underneath my Granny's arm, happy and content. It's a very 'blue' scent, feminine and floral, but not 'girly' or commercial-smelling. I quite like it, and I am not a floral person.
  25. harmonyfb

    Carfax Abbey

    I'm not sure what I was expecting; but this smells like dust. Dry, it smells specifically like a bottle of men's cologne covered in a thick, choking layer of dust. Very, very evocative. Soooo not for me.
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