moon_lemming

Wild Swans gives off that "almost-vegetable" vibe that most of BPAL's "leaf"-heavy blends seem to have. There's an aquatic kick and I can pick out the orris root. Not my kind of thing.

I can't pick anything out of Nothing Gold Can Stay -- it's just a golden-green sweet herbal blend. Pretty enough, but not something I'd wear.

I haven't tested any other October, so I don't know how this compares, but I get just-turned leaves and ozone at first. It turns a little greener and the ozone fades as it dries, and when it's completely dry it smells like the inside of a flower stem. It's almost a vegetable but not quite. Too green for me.

I'm not going to bother skin-testing The Hag: I smell black musk and vetiver in the imp, and that's a no go for me. It reminds me of thick dark forests, the rotting underneath the leaves.

Calaveras is a pretty orange oil. I honestly thought there was PUMPKIN in it, I guess because of the way the vanilla interacts with some other note, when I sniffed it in the imp, but once it's on my skin that impression goes away. Because it turns to rubber. That goes away after a minute or so, though. After it dries, it's a peppery . . . something, but I can't quite describe it. It just doesn't work on me at all, not even the tiniest bit.

2010 version Hmmm. I've always avoided this one -- I mean, really, GARDENIA, and lily of the valley, and frankincense. Sounds like something I'd never wear. Yep, smells like floral perfume in the imp. White flowers. The rose pops up when it hits my skin, so there's that, too, but I don't smell anything else. White florals and fresh almost-damp rose. Amazingly enough All Saints' doesn't turn to straight-up soap. The rose strengthens as it dries and overpowers the white florals, actually. I didn't expect a mainly-rose blend out of All Saints', especially with all those Fail Notes in there, but that's what I ended up with. It reminds me of the few weeks I spent taking care of a vacationing couple's roses. I would say it's not really a red rose on me; more of a pink feel, but not like a delicate pink, deeper than that. It's very pretty!

Flor de Muerto does smell orange and gold, both in the imp and on my skin. It's pretty but I don't do florals, and this is pure floral on me, although not headache-y or soapy. For some reason it seems a little watery (maybe citrus?) after it dries, and the scent as a whole gets lighter. Once that happens, I . . . could actually wear this. I probably wouldn't, but I COULD; it's not as slap-happy floral anymore, and I like it! It actually reminds me of the Clinique Happy family of scents -- not in the "scent twins!" way, of course, but the overall feel after it dries down.

Oh dear God. This is awesome. Pink strawberry frosting in the imp, EXACTLY THE SMELL OF STRAWBERRY-FROSTED DONUTS on my skin. It's a cake doughnut with pink strawberry frosting. The frosting fades as it dries, and it lightens up and ends up smelling more like boxed strawberry cake. But that was my favorite cake as a kid, so now it has nostalgia going for it, too. I'll probably end up getting a bottle of this one. It's a little light after it dries, but I don't mind slathering.

2010 version Ooohkay. I'm not sure if my decant's mislabeled, although I doubt it, unless the bottle it came from was mislabeled. I do not get anything but a floral perfume in the imp. Like, department store perfume. Maybe it's a very floral incense? I smell white flowers on my skin, sweet ones. I don't get cakes, currants, or compassion. Weird. eta: Ha! I see I'm not alone, thank you for reassuring me that my nose still works, Gryphon.

In the imp, Pumpkin Latte is heavier on the pumpkin syrup and vanilla than it is on the coffee. But once on my wrist the espresso amps up like whoa, and I can't smell anything else for a while. Ew, ew, ew, a buttery pumpkin comes out as it dries and oh my God, that gross milk note, topped with cinnamon. Ugh. I like Pumpkin V, but Pumpkin Latte is a hot mess on my skin. Too many notes that go wrong on me.

BPAL's pumpkin notes and I have a long history of horror. I decided to skin-test Blue Pumpkin Floss just because it didn't smell as buttery in the imp as I'm used to pumpkin blends smelling. It smells more pumpkin-fleshy, sweetened and dusted with a little spice. It gets off to a good start on my skin and keeps smelling like pumpkin without turning to buttered candle death. A couple of minutes in, it makes a move toward getting buttery, but as soon as that happens, the pumpkin fades almost completely! WTF. All I smell after it dries is spices: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg?, maybe a couple of others. I get a hint of blackberry syrup every now and then, but not enough to grab hold of, and the in-your-face pumpkin never returns, although I guess it is the reason the spices seem to have a creamy base. What a strange scent experience. It's definitely autumnal in the end -- these are fall baking spices, after all -- but nothing like what I expected.

Ghoulish is spot-on in the imp! Well, I don't know what saffron smells like, but I do smell cherry juice, sweetened coconut (like a coconut candy bar) and amaretto. On my skin the cherry fades almost immediately, and the amaretto fades as it dries. What's left behind is a foody coconut -- like pastry heaped with shredded coconut with a little kick of brightness which I assume is due to the saffron. It's not bad, but I liked it a lot better in the imp. I really enjoyed the cherry, which doesn't show up on my skin at all, and for a mostly-coconut scent I already have Tiki Princess.

What's in the imp is faint but has that vomit/chewable vitamin edge to it. I couldn't figure out what it was, so I dabbed it on to sniff on my skin. Sadly, that didn't enlighten me, so it'll remain a mystery. I get a bland sweet floral and a waft of dirty smoke, and maybe a little dry cocoa. It's not offensive but it's not good. On the plus side (for me), it's very light, just as it was in the imp.

When I first tried TKO, years ago, I was a bit wary. I'm not a fan of most lavender blends, they almost always end up way too medicinal. But I tried it anyway. And got hooked. And have been using TKO at night for . . . wow, almost three years. (I had to look up the first time I ordered it, which was apparently October 2007.) It's the only blend thus far that I've had to replace, since I used up the first 5ml. In the bottle and first on, I notice the lavender the most, and it is a little sharp. I think it softens with age, though, because I just started a new bottle and it is a LOT more obvious. Once it dries down, though, the gorgeous sugary vanilla strengthens and as it does, it balances out the lavender. Eventually the two main notes are just one sweet sleepy smell, this awesome vanillavender (ha!) that has become a huge comfort to me over the years. I don't know if it really helps me sleep, but it is definitely an important part of my nighttime routine, and I'd miss it if it weren't there. I think I'd compare this to Faith and Hope, maybe. Faith is sugared violets, TKO is sugared lavender -- TKO has more vanilla involved, though, at least to my nose.

I've noticed while traipsing through reviews that there are a lot of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE scents that I've never officially reviewed. I just start wearing them without reviewing them, and eventually forget that I haven't done it yet, I guess. The Feast for the Greatly Revered Ones is a victim of this trend. I've been wearing it ever since I first received it last year; I especially lust after it when it's cold out. This oil has bits of sediment and MUST be rolled before application. It smells like a really complex, possibly spiked spiced hot chocolate in the bottle. On me the spices and cocoa amp at first, but the blend eventually settles down to something that reminds me of spiced cocoa and apple cider, but it's a lot deeper/darker -- in a foody way, I mean -- than I'm making it sound. I love it so very hard.