OctoberGwen

I really wanted to love this, since red musk and black patch are fabulous and I like roses, too. (I don't amp rose, in general, and I love how it smells with some of the darker ingredients.) Sadly, though, sugar is never my friend and apparently sugar blossom is the same. It makes this too sweet for me to consider using as a moisturizer, which is how I most often like to use my bath oils. I'll keep the decant, and will almost certainly use it in the actual bath, but I don't need a whole bottle. Dodged a bullet that time!

I didn't like this on my skin, but man does it ever work beautifully as a room spray. A unique, wholly Autumnal Day of the Dead olfactory experience. I was hoping my decant would be enough but I think I really want an entire bottle of this. Shit.

Oh, yes. Come to mama, you slutty vampire wench. This smells similar to Marianne and Lust, all red musk (clearly blood musk is red musk in its "Carrie At the Prom" costume) and red patchouli and sex and whatnot. I don't get cacao or tobacco per se, but they are surely adding their unique brand of sex to this sexfest. The myrhh and benzoin give everything a gorgeous, resiny base on which to screw sit. Callidora is right up my alley. I need bottles. Rawr!

This is a very pretty, very sweet floral scent that I think captures the photo Beth used quite magnificently. Not my sort of thing at all, but really lovely for those who enjoy sweet florals.

I skipped this scent because vanilla is often 'meh' (unless it's the bourbon variety, and then it's 'blech'), I dislike leather on my skin, and deathnote hazelnut smells like someone barfed into a full ashtray and dumped it on me. I was gifted a sniffie tester of the Sack as part of A Mellifluous Circle of Fabulosity, so I figured I'd slap it on since, hey, you only live once. Also, I like three year aged patchouli as much as the next gal. Sadly: The vanilla leather ashtray barf just did not do it for me. p.s. This sounds ungrateful, but I am glad I got to confirm my suspicions about this scent - believe it or not. So a big 'thank you, Mell!'

I am very pleasantly surprised by this blend. I passed it over because bourbon vanilla and sugarcane are heinous death notes on me, but somehow with everything else in this mix - they work. It's a beautiful, smoky-sweet incense scent that is neither too smoky nor too sweet. Definitely a "greater than the sum of its parts" sort of blend, as I can't really pick out any individual notes at all (and each of them is pretty distinctive in its own right.) Quite fascinating. Not sure if I need to hunt down a bottle with all the other BPAL commitments my wallet has right now, but I feel like I will regret it if I don't. Grand Guignol: Thanatos is unique and very memorable. Thanks so much to Mellifluous for the surprise sniffie tester!

Hahaha, I was hoping for the opposite of what Numanoid wanted...and also did not get what I wanted. Bourbon vanilla is not my friend: it amps all to hell on me and gets overwhelmingly, sickeningly sweet. Not even the patchouli (which I was hoping would dominate) could beat that sweetness into submission this time. The spices seemed nice, but also played second fiddle to the vanilla. Not for me, sadly.

Oh my freaking God. This is...perfection. Golden amber is the King of Resins on my skin: delightfully dry and rich and lovely. The aged labdanum is smooth as silk, lending some depth and complexity without any sharpness at all. The oude just rounds it all out beautifully. A symphony of scents. How fitting. Multiple bottle worthy.

I am a confirmed Snake Oil HG whore, but may I just say: Silkybat is made of win and awesome. I can't wear sugared scents on my skin because they turn into "I've been barfed on" scents, but in my hair? Oh, yes. Sweet baby Jesus, my hair smells pretty. And with the patchouli? Whaaaaaaaaaat! As with all the BPTP glosses, my hair looks great and is shiny and behaves. Two spritzes in palms, applied to dry hair, yadda yadda. I love patchouli (most of the time), but the 'sugared' part does something really interesting with the patch here. It's light, sweet, and just smells...really fucking good. My husband loves it. I love it. I really will need multiple bottles of this, shelf life be damned. Please don't tell my Snake Oil.

I know, right? There have only been two that give me the creeps: that, and Whitechapel. And Depraved is nasty, but in a very different way. Hope you had a good Halloween, Zii, whatever you smelled like.

O TRICKSY HOW I LOVE THEE! I fell in love with the original iteration of this, the bath oil, as soon as I pulled it out of Em-'s Bath & Body swap box last year. The patchouli was the mellow sort that I love (stick-in-your-throat 'filthy' varieties like the ones found in Depraved or #occupywallstreet kind of disgust me, to be honest), and there is a slightly sweet, woodsy quality in Tricksy that is just delicious. I am not a honey fan, in general, but this particular honey is not cloying at all, and in fact it doesn't even scream "honey" to my nose. I use my bath oil as an aftershower moisturizer almost daily, and it layers beautifully with about 75% of my BPAL. Tricksy the perfume oil smells just as luscious, and it is also slightly more concentrated. Anyone who loves patchouli will almost certainly love it. I cannot even tell you how thrilled I am to have this. Thank you so much, Puddin' and Beth, for making this happen. Let the hoarding commence!

I think Zombi would be perfect, mostly because I find it very disturbing/disquieting.

I don't like to wear leather or cinnamon, but this smells great to me (if that tells you anything.) There is no 'chemical' quality to the leather at all, thank God. Ceylon cinnamon is the only sort of cinnamon I like to smell: it is more woodsy and less foody-spice to my nose. The balsam is lending even more of a woodsy quality, but it's not burning my nose or screaming I AM BALSAM at me. I don't wear Über masculine blends, but I would wear this when the mood strikes me. I think this is a beautiful combination, and I will keep my decant - right next to In the Forest, the only other leather-containing scent I can stomach.

Note: my decanter has listed the notes as "Dragon's Blood Sedum, Red Musk, and Tea." This blend is beautiful; very dragon's blood-heavy upon application, but then the red musk (and there is most definitely red musk in here) comes forward and they swirl together with the tea. The three elements really play nicely together. Unfortunately, I just don't love dragon's blood; it is far too sweet for me and can sometimes even induce one of those nausea-producing headaches. This makes me sad, because as a red musk whore, I can say that this blend is red musk heaven. Ah, well. If you love dragon's blood and red musk, hunt this one down. You will die happy.

PHASMOPHOBIA Oh, this is...haunting. Lovely. Perfect. I am only in the mood for white florals every so often; they don't usually go soapy on me, but I'm a dark resiny/musky sort of gal and the white flowers are often too ethereal. They also tend to fade very quickly and can sometimes feel a tad generic. This is ethereal, but it has staying power. And it is...poised. Gently pretty. And so evocative. I agree with a reviewer above who said it's one of those scents you keep catching whiffs of every so often, which of course embodies the concept so beautifully. I don't care for wine notes on my skin, and I get none of it. When wet, it is reminiscent of Moon Rose, but after a while the rose fades back and blends in with the other notes very nicely. As a lifelong ghost story enthusiast, I love this one.

NOCTIPHOBIA Oh, this smells sooooooo familiar. I agree with Tzi; I have most definitely smelled something very similar to this in the commercial world, and I think it was a men's cologne. I wish I could think of the name of it. Anyway, this is a very well blended scent that I have a hard time picking out notes from. (Although let's face it: I'm no expert even when the notes are listed.) It definitely evokes a vast blackened sky and chill night air. I quite like it. It would smell like win and awesome on my husband, I think.

ACHLUOPHOBIA This is indeed an inky blend. Patchouli, tobacco, and black musk are almost always my friends, but opoponax usually tends to be just a bit too sweet for me and that is the case here. I will say, though, that this blend captures the concept of suffocating darkness quite remarkably. Something about that syrupy opoponax and the bite from the tobacco makes me feel uneasy...and a little fascinated.

This is almost green to my nose and there is a note that becomes nearly sour on my skin. I think that I need more components to make this wearable, like Elegy IX with its honey, cognac, and patchouli to offset the leaves and boughs. In the oil burner, though, this scent is fabulous. It's like walking through my native New Hampshire woods in the Fall. Definitely a keeper, despite not being something to wear. ETA: Heh. I spoke too soon. After a couple of weeks, this has settled down and is now really lovely on my skin. Beautiful red leaves, just a touch of sweetness, and a hint of sap-filled woods. So evocative of Autumn, and so unique to my collection. I'm glad I tried it again.

I am getting mostly dark chocolate covered catnip as well. This is so rich that it almost makes me nauseous, sadly. I suppose it is fitting that I have not had good luck with 13 blends! The label art on this one is a keeper, though, so I will probably offer to decant this for others who love rich, dark cacao blended with lots of crazy herbs.

I just want to make a note here that I used a few drops of Theme In Yellow in an oil burner last night, and it was unbelievable - my whole kitchen smelled of glowing Jack o'Lanterns. I think I will get a second bottle. It is really, really amazing...I think it's made for this purpose, really.

Note to self: you are a fucking idiot. The next time a bath oil with red musk appears, buy it all! The lovely kashmira was ahead of me in a bath & beauty swap box, and knowing I'd never tried Eldrich Dark, she very generously decanted a sample for me. I didn't even smell it first; I just drew a warm bath and dumped it all in. MMMMmmmmmmm....musky red musk and a dark swirl of honey and leather. This is shexy, shexy stuff. To me, this is not a layering, after-shower oil: it is very distinct unto itself and probably doesn't play well with others. I think it's a gorgeous, gorgeous bath oil, though.

Personally, I would keep Snakes and get Alice. Snakes is the shizznit as far as I am concerned (big shocker, I know): I think it is better than Sin (too much cinnamon for me), Morocco (vanished after a couple of minutes), Samhain (though that one is good), and Dorian (too foody for me.) Alice is very different in tone and feel from Snakes, and it is truly lovely. Sort of delicately spicy - more of a daytime or warmer day scent. Just my two cents, and your milage may vary according to your own tastes! That pumpkin note is the only thing that will keep me from eventually ordering Theme in Yellow, if it smells like raw pumpkin guts with a candle burning inside. I just don't care for that smell. I can't imagine ever wanting to smell like it, but if BPTP puts out a corresponding or similar atmo spray I'll probably be all over that. Agreed. My oil will be put to use in the oil burner, though...what a perfect scent for rainy October days. It's really quite magical.

Surprisingly, this is my second-runner-up favorite of the Patches this year! I can't even remember if I've tried original Alice or not, so I was shocked to slap this on and find it so wonderful. It's delicately sweet and spicy, with a creamy touch of pumpkin. This is the perfect scent for those warm, early Fall days when you aren't quite ready for the heavy hitters of Autumn BPALs yet. It is so, so pretty and I really love it, and will definitely be budgeting in a bottle amongst my multitudes of Snakes In the Pumpkin Patch and Tricksy.

SAMHAIN IN THE PUMPKIN PATCH I have such a love/hate relationship with Samhain. Sometimes I adore it, and sometimes it turns into the funkiest funk on me. My bottle is super aged (2006!), and I get no apples or pumpkins from it at all. This year's Pumpkin Patch version is really lovely. The first time I applied, it began to get a plasticky note which was very worrisome; today, though, it smelled much better. This is classic Samhain (wet October leaves and an indefinable dark spice), with way more pumpkin, which softens it up considerably. I like it very, very much. Alas: I think Snakes In the PP spoiled me for any other PP scents, much as plain old Snake Oil (and its children) have ruined all other hair glosses and bath oils, LOL. Not really, but once I smell SO (and its children), nothing else can really compare. In closing, I'd say that if you haven't tried the classic Samhain, you should - and try this one, too. And if you have given up on classic Samhain as being too heavy or just "too much", give this a whirl. You may find it much more wearable.

On my skin, this smells like cinnamon candies to me: no almond, no buttercream, and no lemon zest. After a few minutes it fades down to exactly the smell of my local Michael's (a craft store.) So it's a faint pumpkin spice, I guess. In the bottle it is much richer, and I'm getting a bit of the marzipan, but I still don't smell the lovely lemon. Foody scents aren't my thing anyway, so I'm not too heartbroken. I'm glad I got to smell it!