MuskWitch

Tonka bean, orange blossom, ambrette seed, and brown sandalwood. Just to let you know, I don't have the incredible nose that some of you have, so I just say whatever I can about a scent. Goatweed Leafwing, in the bottle, YUM! I like this! It does smell "brown", but in a really good way! Nothing jumps out at me. On my skin, vanilla, very faint orange (VERY faint, VERY nice) and what must be the brown sandalwood, I don't get the champaca flower at all. Might need a backup! Or course, things could change drastically the next time I try it. I have the "yips" since what HAL did to me (Loved the first try, the second and third went straight to sour old-lady wearing WAY too much jasmine perfume). Ooooooo, I just keep sniffing my wrist! After about 15 minutes of dry down, I can pick out what reminds me of faint brown musk. Still LOVE IT! Edit: Testing again, it seems to be a bit milder in the bottle than it was before. On my skin, after about 15 minutes, I get the wonderful scent of Vanilla and Nag Champa (without the "annoying cat pee" scent that seems to come with it), with a slight woodsy background. Mmmmmmm, LOVELY! Edit again on October 17: This is absolutely GORGEOUS! It has melded and mellowed into a well blended champaca flower dominant scent with woodsy orange blossom and a hint of sweetness. Still has a trace of that "brown" scent, only in a REALLY good way. Perhaps I will be ordering another bottle?

My second "haven't written a review in years". Whoa there is a LOT going on in that bottle! Can't seem to settle on just ONE scent, can't seem to delineate a even a few. On skin, something soap-like but very pleasant. Promises of things to come. As it dries it becomes a bit more like a perfume, less harsh. I'm getting some black tea, oud, musk, sweetness, not getting much lavender, I detect some of the floral orchid/carnation note but not much, just way in the background. I think this one needs some aging, and then I think it is going to be wonderful. Next review, on week!

I haven't written a review in years. Just received my bottle of this lovely scent. In the bottle, lavender, sweet vanilla, not much cardamom. On my skin wet, mostly sweet vanilla, hoping the lavender will make itself known to tone down the sweetness. Still a beautiful warm vanilla scent. Will see how this dries down. I like it, I am also hopeful it will be more.

Blackened vanilla absolute with tobacco leaf, Ceylon cinnamon, orange-bark myrrh, and orange blossom. Question Mark, in the bottle, what IS that? Not a BAD what IS that, just it is something I should recognize, like a Lab note I have a lot of. Well, duh! Tobacco! On my skin, yep yep, tobacco, but a very soft tobacco, very faint sweet vanilla, a teensy bit of spice, maybe the faintest bit of orange blossom (which I LOVE, it reminds me of going to Phoenix to visit my grandparents), I'm thinking the myrrh just ties everything together. Might need another bottle of this! Testing again 5 days later. OMG!! OMG!!! OMG!!!!!! In the bottle, tobacco and myrrh are the dominant scents. On my skin, mostly a sweet, mild, lovely tobacco. About 20-30 minutes later, the vanilla comes out to play and this is AMAZING!!! Spicy Vanilla, tobacco, with myrrh deepening it without adding any sharpness.

White patchouli, oudh, vanilla absolute, copaiba balsam, pepperwood, and champaca flower. Disclaimer: I usually don't get along with patchouli. Only if it is blended REALLY well and hidden by other notes. OH GAWD! Yucca Giant Skipper. WHAT was I THINKING? I was thinking that white patchouli might be softer and milder than other patchouli. Oops. In the bottle PAAAAATCHOULIIIIIII! and something else. I read the notes, can't pick any of them out from behind the patchouli. Not much different on my skin. Might be swapping/selling this one away. After about 15 minutes, the patchouli settles down a bit, but I still don't smell much else. I'll give it a week to rest and think about what it has done and then try it again.

Nagarmotha and sweet musk. Little Metalmark, in the bottle, Hmmmm. It reminds me of something ...... and I get the musk. On my skin, a little bit woodsy (NOT pencil shavings or BBQ, which some wood scents do on my skin), sweet, and maybe musk. I like it. But I don't LOVE it. After about 15 minutes dry time, still a nice scent, but I think my bottle will be plenty. I'll let it sit for a week or so and try it again, sometimes a rest will make a difference! Wellllll, a little rest didn't make much of a difference. This is still pretty much a "brown" scent, musky, woodsy, a little bit of something sweet in there. I'm not sure if I'm glad I got a bottle or not. Time will tell. It isn't immediately a "swap" bottle, but it isn't a keep either. Try it again in a while and see what happens.

O. M. G. This is a must have if you love myrrh and musk. They play together so well in this blend, balancing one another perfectly. The poppy isn't all that prominent on my skin, and the sandalwood just adds a base of warm wood for the rest to settle into. Y. U. M. I sometimes have problems with the "black" notes whether it is black poppy, black musk, or black whatever. That is not the case with this blend. I tried an imp and LOVED it! So I ordered two bottles. They have arrived. I may need two more. WOW. I think this one is going to age beautifully.

Wow. Damn my body chemistry. This smells beautiful in the bottle, I don't get that marshy boggy thing, I get the leather, vanilla, patchouli and a hint of clove. WET on my skin, same thing, mostly the leather, vanilla, a hint of patchouli, and clove, not bitter clove though, just a nice spiciness, and a bit of the vetiver is showing through. As it dries down something else comes to the surface. Starts out like "Hmmm, I thought this smelled beautiful, what is happening?" When it is dry, I start looking for the unwashed (for several days) person who apparently snuck in and is under my desk. BO? Really bad BO? What the? Apparently my body AMPS cumin in the worst possible way. All I smell is BO. All the loveliness disappears. I so wish this could be as beautiful ON me as it is in the bottle. Off to the swap/sale pile. *sigh*

Wow. I must be weird, or at least my skin chemistry is. I do get the almond from the oil in the bottle, but when it is on my skin, the almond disappears. That is weird because most scents with almond in them go straight to "almond hell" on my skin. I get the musk and spices, almost no patchouli, and a lovely sweet wood in the background. I loved the imp I swapped for so much that I ordered two bottles. I can see this one going into my "favorites" box.

Wow, either my nose is really OFF, or I got a slightly different blend. I think it is heavy on the BLACK vanilla, with tobacco next, then oud, then the cardamom, I think. I had to go huff my bottle of cardamom to see what it smells like, not much scent, but it is an OLD bottle, probably older than some Forumites! I have long hair and usually use about 4 or 5 spritzes (wash my hair every day, at night, go to bed with it wet. And I am 57 years old and have yet to catch my death of cold). I was afraid to use just the BVandC, so I did 3 spritzes of Dorian and one of BVandC. It was strong at first, but not much left this morning. So, I did one more spritz on my dry hair this morning, and it is hanging around much longer, and smells quite lovely! It is a keeper!

I am re-testing a bottle I've had for a couple of years. I know I love it, but haven't paid much attention to it for a while. Too busy trying other newer stuff. The color is delicious, I've never seen such a beautiful color. I think it matches my eyes! Deep, dark, musk (but not quite "black", and not brown, just very rich and grounded), sweet woods (not the pencil shavings type, not the pine-type, but the rich dark sensuous aged meaty woods), spice, a hint of saffron, and patchouli so well blended it doesn't even register as PATCHOULI, but as some shadowy, intense, mysterious anchor for the other notes. Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous. You gotta try this.

In the bottle: What is that? Something I've smelled before, a smell associated with an experience, not a bad one. Some effervescence, maybe a touch of "forest" or pine needle - in a good way, That may be the "frosted" note. The vanilla and sandalwood are blended with the "frosted" really well, they don't scream out at me from the bottle, in fact they are hiding very well behind the effervescence. On my skin - effervescence effervescence effervescence and nothing else. Dry down - still effervescence. It doesn't really remind me of snow, it smells like effervescence. It isn't a bad smell, it just isn't something I want to smell like. I'm going to let it sit for a week or so and try it again. I received three of the Trading Post scents today and they all smell "fresh". In other words, they haven't been mixed together long enough for the notes to get to know one another. I think they need to sit for a while. Including this one!

I'm not sure where I've written about this before, but I know I have expressed that red musk is just-not-good for me. I know it doesn't smell bad, but it has a bad effect on my sensibilities. It nauseates me, like the smell of roofing. It smells nothing like roofing tar, it just has that effect. That being said, when I got my bottle of Sweet Potato Musk and smelled it, I was in LOVE! Sweet, spicy, buttery, yummy goodness all the way around. I applied it to my skin and it still smelled lovely. For a while. Then my sensibilities tried to tell me "uhm, this has red musk in it". And I DENIED the whole thing! I SO wanted it to smell on my as lovely as it smells in the bottle. Until I tested it again today. Yep, red musk. Oh how I wish Beth would let us know when something has red musk in it. I know she can't give away all her secrets, but red musk is just my death note. I just have to learn that many sweet foodie scents contain red musk. My skin sucks in every sweet lovely spicy buttery yummy goodness that is in SP Musk and vomits forth great masses of RED MUSK. DANG IT!

Yep, this is the Lab's leaf note for sure! It is the one that, in the bottle, I think "ew, I don't want to wear that!". And it is that way when wet. BUT, it dries down into a beautiful, warm, dry-leafy scent. Even though it is dry leaves, it has the refreshing quality of one of the scents found outside in Autumn, especially in the mornings when all is quiet (we live out in the country), the scents are soft and still a bit wet and chilly from the morning. This is what makes Death of Autumn and Falling Leaf Moon so beautiful on the dry-down.

I. Love. This. I was a bit skeptical because of the patchouli. Not any more! If you are hesitating because of the patchouli, stop that right now. This is beautiful. On me it is a deep, dark, spicy, woodsy cinnamon. I'm not getting any clove, or maybe just a smidge as part of the cinnamon. The patchouli and tobacco just add deepness, darkness, and stability. Moss? Not so much. Not getting any "pie" feel at all. This is earthy. This is deep. This is gorgeous. Getting another bottle. At least.

I placed an order in early Oct and just got a receipt yesterday. This is unusual for sure, so is waiting this long for an order. There is/was a bug going around the Lab and they got way behind on orders. It is what happens in a small business. I get really impatient for my orders too, but over the past 3 years that I've been ordering BPAL I have learned that Beth and Co are real people,a small business, and stuff happens. One absence can cause a domino effect in the whole works. I understand your frustration, I really do.

I love, no, I LOVE this scent! I LOVE the tobacco, and tobacco LOVES my skin! I knew this one would be a winner! This is a resiny-tobacco dominant-woodsy-sweet-pepper/spicy scent that only gets better the longer I wear it. I think it will age beautifully. I ordered two more bottles. Maybe it should have been three . . . . .

Well, I should have known better. I KNOW cedar doesn't work on me. I KNOW cedar is the first ingredient listed. But, but, but, it has AMBER!! And BLACK PEPPER! And OUDH!!!!!!!! Maybe the cedar will just go away and all those scents will rush forward. *sigh* Nope, not happening on my skin. It is a lovely amber/oudh/black pepper scent ~~ with bad B.O. I am hoping the cedar will mellow into a more my-skin-friendly woodsy scent. Now that I have some BPAL experience under my belt I'm willing to keep it for a while and give it a chance to mellow. Please, pretty please! The other notes are LOVELY!!

Sweet resinous woods and ahhhhmazing tobacco! I. Love. This. Love it! The tobacco sinks right into my skin (thank you Sakari!) and then throws itself out in a gorgeous cloud surrounded by sweet woods and dark resins. To hell with labeling this a "masculine" scent. I'm wearing it and wearing it very well thank you! Just ordered two bottles. Maybe I should have ordered three . . . . or four?

I sent an inquiry about my orders today also. I have one from 8/17, 8/24, and 8/28. Just getting antsy.

In the bottle, ooooooo, I like this. oh DAMN, I like this! On my skin, I LIKE this, I really really LIKE this! I think I need another bottle! I can't quite place what it is that I like about it. It's just a really pretty scent. It reminds me of something. I don't know what it reminds me of, but I like it! Wish I had a better "nose" so I could describe this more precisely. I think I will need another bottle. How's that?

In the bottle, oh crap flowers, lots of them, was sure hoping the tobacco, bourbon vanilla and tonka would dominate. Nope. Crap. On my skin, flowers. What was I THINKING? DANG IT! If you love florals, you will LOVE LOVE LOVE this! Wanna swap?

HOLY &%$#@!!! I was just FRIMPED an almost FULL imp of ANTIQUE LACE!!! From an ebay purchase! WOW! I never in a gazillion years thought I'd get this out of nowhere! WOW! Yes, I did pay a fairly good sum for the bottle I won, but I NEVER expected I'd see a FRIMP of Antique Lace with it. WOW! And, yes, it is absolutely, heart-wrenchingly lovely. If it were still available I'd buy a gallon. wow

Just got my bottle, I was a bit hesitant to buy it because of the "ocean/aquatic" note. This scent is not nearly as strong as I thought it was going to be. The amber brings a tiny bit of warmth, moonflower adds the softest hint of floral, khus adds depth, and oppoponax gives a resinous/woody scent. And, this is the first scent I've tried where I can truly say "I know what salt smells like". There is a salty note underneath all that goodness. This is DARK and DEEP, but it isn't strong, at least not to my nose. After about 15 minutes I thought "I like this, but one bottle is enough". Now, 30 minutes into it, I'm not so sure. I don't like aquatics, but this is LOVELY!

Well, phooey! I was too impatient to wait for the decant circle, so I purchased this, knowing that I *really do not* like red musk. I was kinda hoping it wouldn't be a dominant note. BUT, to my nose, it is! The reviewers who haven't detected the red musk might not amp it like I do. I even amp it on my HAIR. I think I even amp it IN MY NOSE! I don't know what it is about red musk, but it has what I call "the roofing tar effect". It doesn't smell anything like roofing tar, in fact I think it actually smells pretty nice - in the bottle - at first. Then, it begins to have that slight nauseating effect similar to what roofing tar does to me, but it still actually smells nice! Weird chemistry. Other than the red musk, it has a luscious brown-sugar-baked scent, vanilla, spice, anise(?), and maybe the barest eensy bit of patchouli. It really is a lovely scent, but not to me. Can't explain it any better than that.