malanna

Sunny floral! Seriously, a golden yellow floral. I would say daffodils, because that's what everyone else is saying, and because it's an appropriately yellow. however, I don't know what a daffodil smells like. This is such a happy scent! It makes me think of Clinique Happy, because this is what Happy (of the non-exuberant, quietly, yet brightly, glowing sort) should smell like.

The Haunted Palace smells so familiar. It smells like a BPAL scent I've tried before, one I've enjoyed, but not enough to hold onto. It's not light, but it has an otherworldly quality to it. The amber is apparent, as is a dark citrus that's light in strength. The sweetness comes from the gardenia, and the red musk makes it vaguely exotic. This is so hard to describe; the notes meld so perfectly. And amazingly enough, I can tolerate, and even enjoy, the red rose! I enjoy it for the exquisite smell, but I don't feel as though I'd wear it very often.

Yummy, yummy! This smells like tolerable spiciness (I would say it's like cinnamon, but cinnamon scents go wonky on me, and this is soooo nice), Gluttony (rum--but the rum note in Underbed and Cassia don't smell like rum to me, but browned something), and a bit of cake. Quite lovely. I don't think it's something I would wear regularly, but it's certainly an exquisite scent.

Aquatic! It really does smell like a pool of tears--well, metaphorically. It's a sweet, slightly floral aquatic, and if you think about it, little girls' tears are probably sweet (amidst the slight saltiness of tears) and vaguely floral, an innocent floral.

From the get go, Casanova is strongly lavender. Then it calms down and the lemon emerges. I'm not sure about the notes, besides the lavender and the dash of lemon. All I can say is that it smells like a refined man's cologne--something you might come across at a department store counter, but much more intriguing.

I've never sniffed anything like this before. It basically smells like an aquatic cacophany, sort of like the careless, yet somehow deliberate, mess after you've left a mischievous child alone in a room stocked with crayons. It almost has a soapy/powdery feel to it, although that's not quite it. There's definitely mint, lime, a bit of apple, and vodka here. The mint stands out and makes this a bit cool. It fades, becoming less aquatic, yet not fruitier. It just somehow changes to becoming less watery. The Mock Turtle's Lessons were so new to me at first that I had thought it would be a new love. Once I've gotten used to it, I still like it, but can see it's not going to be a Great Love.

Eos is really nice. It's mostly honeysuckle, with the jasmine coming out a short while later. Jasmine, to put it nicely, does not tickle my nose. However, in Eos, there's only a slight whiff of jasmine, and it only enhances the sweet, glow-y feel of Eos. It dries down to a very sweet, yellow floral. It's quite nice, but still not my style.

From what I'd heard about Bengal being spicy, I was expecting it tobe a spice-a-palooza. It is sort of spicy in the beginning, with hints of skin musk/honey, but then it becomes super honey. It's really viscously sweet; it basically smells like honey poured on skin. The spices are definitely there, but they're not so apparent. Bengal is so sickeningly sweet, they don't seem like spices. They're muted by the honey. It's really sweet. I sort of like it, but I think it's too sweet to wear as a perfume (for me).

I thought I'd hate this, but I actually sort of liked it. I kept thinking it smelled like ginger, not because it smelled like ginger the note, but just because it had a warm, spicy glow I associate with ginger. Hetairae's mostly honey and ylang ylang, with a bit of clove for a subtle (very subtle) spice. It smells like the body heat of someone who's been out in the sun at an Arabian market--that is, if body odor was a pleasant smell.

Rose and jasmine, with the jasmine making the rose a dark rose. Wicked is a very heady, heavy scent. I can't stand it. Jasmine and I have a hate/hate relationship. Same for rose. Still, I appreciate the frimp very much!

This does sort of smell like Anne Bonny in that it smells like the wood planks of some sort of warm building (Anne Bonny smelled like the wood in a sauna). This is basically just sandalwood and a lot of cedar to me. My nose isn't so sophisticated (and patient) as to pick up the various incense notes. A fairly tolerably scent, as far as wood scents go, which I'm not a fan of.

Beaver Moon proves to me yet again that while I love food, I'm not so big on scents that smell like food. Beaver Moon smells like cheesecake, but not so exciting. A rather flat cheesecake (not literally, but in note). On me, it doesn't smell like a rich cheesecake. It smells generically foody (not rich buttercream) with a hint of cheesecake. It's like a one note wonder. I had hoped that at the least, I would be overwhelmed by the richness of the Beaver, because at least I could wear it to stem off cravings for sweets, but alas, the Beaver must go off. I'm really surprised by how popular the Beaver has been, since BPAL has a lot more scents that are more complex and exciting. However, perhaps on other skin chemistries, the Beaver is a lot more nuanced. ETA: It isn't strong nor does it last very long.

This smells just like Desdemona, after the initial strongly bitter stage! Just like it! It's watery, green, and white. It's a clean floral with a bit of bite. It makes me think of that painting with the woman in white, floating in her pyre (or whatnot). I think there's a BPAL scent based on that painting. Well, this smells like the style of painting (plus the water), sort of prettily vague; the figures aren't clearly outlined, yet they are clear (not sure if this is making sense). Sweet Pea is softly determined. Desdemona, I say! I really should try to get a hold of Desdemona so I can see if it's just like Sweet Pea.

I don't think I've been in an apple orchard, at least knowingly, so this might be a bit difficult to review. Upon application, this smells cold, clear air, but with an edge to it breathing, almost like a frosty mint (not menthol, though). It's very interesting, although I'm not particularly fond of this stage. After a while, it gets slightly sweet and it smells green, not green herbal, but green in a clean way. Most of the time, when I describe a scent as being clean, I'm thinking of laundry or starched linens, but this is clean in an outdoors-y way. It's the same type of clean as Amsterdam sans tulips. It's like being seated by a brook, with the soft, bright green grass poking between your toes and a cool breeze lightly kissing your hair and blowing specks of pollen onto your eyelashes. It's the sort of clean that you breathe in at a glade far away from the city, feeling as though every breathe of the unpolluted air will cleanse and revitalize you. When Apple Blossom settles into the skin, it doesn't smell like air, but smells vaguely of apples, but a bit like what I remember BBW Freesia to be (although this might be because I just wrote a review for the Freesia SN). It smells like a white floral soap. A very refined white floral soap. It's the sort of floral that isn't crisp (like rose) or heady (like jasmine), but instead, wafts. I'm not sure if I like the second stage (the clean stage) or the last (floral) stage more, but I think the floral stage would be amazing to smell in nature. I really have to visit an apple orchard so I can see if this smells like apple blossoms. It's a nice scent, but I've decided to send my single notes to better homes. Knowing how valuable my single note impies are means I've never really used them, so I've decided to let them go to better homes. It's a bit weird, but it bothers me more to keep them around and never use them, with them weighing on my conscience, than to not have them. However, if this were still sold, I'd use this for non-perfume purposes, which is something I've never really considered with any perfume. I'd buy lots in order to dump into my detergent and to scent the home (which is really saying a lot, considering how I've really only bought two big bottles of catalog scents and, even then, ended up deciding that was still too much for me to use).

Reviewing this before I send off my imp to a better home. Like everyone else, my idea of Freesia came from BBW. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how, initially, it didn't smell like BBW's Freesia. There's a bit of a tropical gummy bears impression, like everyone else said, but really, it smelled like tropical apples, juicy, happy apples (if there are such a thing) that are joyously set on a background of the tropics. However, as it dries, it smells a bit like the BBW Freesia, because of a slightly plastic or artificial aura to it, but it's airier. After a few hours, the plastic note is gone, it smells vaguely like BBW, but not, because the BBW Freesia is marked by the presence of artificiality. It's very light and airy and slightly sweet. In summary, it smells awesome, like tropical apples, then settles down to an airy, light sweet version of BBW (it should be the other way around, but the BBW is the only point of reference I have).