rhubarb3point14

I get the oddest, most incongruous strawberry-wine or blood-orange juice scent when I first apply this. It's AMAZING. It smells like a memory of summertime. With the matcha and yokan, I would have expected a more alkaline sweetness, but instead I'm getting this wild summery juiciness. Then it dries down to a faint skin-scent of fruity incense. Like many others here, I wish it stayed a little stronger over time, but I adore this enough that I'm willing to slather.

I bought this because I love BPAL's licorice note, and I am not disappointed. This is fairly similar to Tanuki no Senkimochi, one of my all-time favorites. The main difference is that there is gentle well-aged patchouli instead of myrrh, and it lacks the fuzziness of TnS's brown musk. Very somber and ancient-feeling, yet soft and hopeful.

Love this one. It's strawberry, but cool and green and herbal instead of sweet. Very refreshing for summer.

There is a wonderful punch of greenness at the beginning of this that I think is the Parma violet. Then during the remainder of the wet phase, it’s mainly orange blossom and beeswax. Finally, it morphs into a blend that is mostly myrrh and spicy furry musk and leather, with a smidgen of the orange blossom left in it. It's fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. My only complaint is that my skin absolutely gobbles it up, and it doesn't have much staying power on me.

I had high hopes for this, because at first I could smell a smoky, bonfire smell. I love smoky smells, but often my skin eats them. Unfortunately, my skin did eat the smoky smell, and I was left awash in red musk and head shop. I've kind of overdosed on red musk lately and am starting to really dislike it, so I think this scent isn't for me.

I love Troll. It's a scent for autumn -- it smells like piney woods and campfires, and it's got the dark musk that works best on me. I often can't wear pine scents (Jabberwocky was an unmitigated disaster on me; it smelled like foody floor cleaner, which is disturbing to say the least), but this one really works, probably 'cause it's so dark and smoky-spicy.

Unfortunately, this is foul on me. I really do think orris hates me. It smells like a combination of old-fashioned face powder and one of those swamp flowers that has an undertone of carrion. So, um, not my thing. On the bright side, it has very little throw, so even though my wrists smell offensive, I can't smell it very much.

I feel terrible for those of you who are getting pickles and whatnot, because this is amazing on me! It's sweet and tobacco-y, but it doesn't amp crazily on me the way BPAL's usual tobacco note does. It stays well in control. That old furry touk, I suspect, is made of the furry brown musk that I love so much in Tanuki no Senkimochi, because to me, this scent smells like Senkimochi minus anise, plus pipe smoke and coffee. Comforting, warm, happymaking, and all-around GLORIOUS.

It's interesting that someone upthread compared this to Harvest Moon. I tried HM 2012 earlier this week and loved it... and then tried Queen Alice and loved it! But even though they are the same "feeling," the specifics are all different, at least with this year's HM. HM 2012 is very bright and autumnal and spicy on me, whereas this is cidery and winey, and the only spice comes from the carnation. I usually have all kinds of trouble with apple and wine notes, but Queen Alice is wonderful anyway. Go figure.

This is bright and spicy and autumnal on me. I smelled a little bit of fruit right at the beginning, but it’s mostly woodsy spices once it dries down. Its one minor flaw is that it is just a teensy bit sneezy for me because of the chrysanthemum. Overall, I think it's great! I've been congratulating myself all day on smelling awesome.

"Eerie" is exactly the right word for this. It is melancholy and quiet and starry. Cold and humid at the same time. It smells (my friends and I decided) like Savannah, Ga. I'm not a floral person, but I absolutely had to have a bottle of this because there is nothing else remotely like it, and it's hauntingly gorgeous.

This fragrance is my preciousssssss. Everything about it is right. The combination of the anise and the brown musk and the myrrh... SWOON. I wish it was general catalogue. I should have gotten a backup for my backup.

Blargh. I was hoping for mostly smoke and hearth-iness, but what I got was potpourri and stewed fruit: oranges, grapes, apples. I really don't wear those notes very well, so the end result was a headache. :-/

I had a few moments of real unhappiness with this one while it was wet, because it smelled like PEANUT BUTTER. But when it calmed down, it became rich, spicy, vaguely aquatic (!?) and maybe a tad smoky. Really pleasant on me. I like it a lot -- my only complaint is that it blends in with my skin a little too much. At times, I can barely smell it.

This may be the wittiest scent BPAL makes. It smells exactly like opium-laced birthday cake on me. So wrong, and yet so right.