edenssixthday

Taphophobia v2 - Dirt scents almost all smell pretty much the same to me. This one smells like dirt with something medicinal about it, maybe even some black musk or black amber or labdanum, but mostly just thick, dark, wet dirt.

Hatshepsut v3 - This is a really beautiful fragrance. It's warm and sunny, slightly woody, slightly resinous, slightly floral, slightly tropical, slightly dry, slightly this and that, and yet fully stunning and really lovely. I get a huge amount of throw from the tiniest little dab. I put on a little dab before I left my house for work and every time someone comes in my office today, they want to now what that pretty smell is. I don't understand why this hasn't been released yet. It's absolutely perfect in every way possible.

Giant Squid - Apple! A lovely, spicy apple. Wait... what? There's no apple of spice in this blend? Color me confused. Hmm. Maybe it's the combination of green tea and aloe that somehow comes across as apple? but where's the spice coming from? Where are the other notes in the listing? What I smell doesn't remotely add up to the ingredient list. Odd. Either way, it's a lovely, spiced apple and it would be wonderful for fall if I didn't already wear Samhain constantly during the autumn season, so I'll be passing it along for someone else to enjoy.

Nepthys v2 - Frankincense/incense, resins, and woods. Really lovely, husky, and warm. ETA: Oh wait, yes, there's a bit o' musk in there, too. Warm, sweet, fuzzy musk...but just a tiny bit!

PSX54 - Still searching for a milk chocolate blend I can wear. This one smells like milk chocolate and vomit on me. Why does milk chocolate have to hate me so much?

Absinthe v7 - I love the released version of Absinthe and I love this version, too. It's delicious lemon verbena and tons of anise poured over a yummy, sweet sugar cube. There's none of the mint that's in the released version, but otherwise it's got a very similar feel about it. It's delicious. Mmmm!

PP32005 - This smells mostly like a big whiff of Jack and a tiny bit of crisp, autumnal, green apple...but mostly like Jack, sweet and buttery pumpkin. And there's the tiniest hint of spice -- maybe allspice? It's delicious. But it fades from my skin quite fast.

Harlot v2 - This is the same rose that's in the released version, but there's a lot more of it, and no cinnamon. Instead of cinnamon, there is a small dose of another spice... clove perhaps? If there's anything else in this, I don't smell it because the rose overwhelms it. It's a lovely rose, and smells phenomenal on my skin. I like this much better than the released version!

Tiki Princess - MELE KALIKIMAKA!!! This smells like Christmas in Hawaii. The ala ala wai nui is a reaaaaallllllyyyyy strong, green scent that's almost piney, and on my skin, it's by far the dominant note. Behind it is a bit of a nice, suntan-lotion type coconut. And then 10 minutes into the wear time, as it starts to dry down, this scent does what so many sweet scents do and it starts to go flat and dusty. Only it smells like flat and dusty coconut-covered Christmas trees. <--- that is what I think of my stupid skin chemistry.

Iron Parasol v1 - This is a sweet fruity-floral scent that's dominant on the fruit side of things and far beneath the floral is an edgy bit of metal. The fruit is definitely nectarine, but I feel like there may be something pink or red and sweet, too. As for the floral, someone else mentioned tuberose, which is one of my favorite florals, but sadly, I don't smell it in this blend. The floral is more generic. The scent disappears from skin quickly, within a few minutes. When I first got into BPAL, I was a fruity-floral girl, and I'd have probably gone nuts over this. My tastes have changed, and while this is pretty, it's definitely not the type of scent I tend to be drawn to anymore. I'm very glad I had the chance to try it.

VILF - 80% of everything about this screamed WIN! but I wasn't sure about a small handful of the notes. Turns out it really is a WIN! It's predominantly leather on me with a delicious vanilla-clove thing going on behind it. The other notes all blend gorgeously well in the background, each contributing to the scent, yet barely identifiable as a unique component. This is an extremely well-blended scent, and one that is definitely gender-neutral. I would love to smell this on my vampire, on my human minion (a/k/a my husband), and on me.

Philologus - This opens up with a blast of men's cologne, but quickly settles down into something warm and slightly sweet. I can't distinctly identify any of the individual notes, but the overall impression is that it's masculine and full of golden warmth, a hint of smoky woods, and a trace of sweetness. It's really, really gorgeous and makes me wish I could convince my DH to wear BPAL! I'd love to snuggle with him while he's wearing this scent. It's not particularly sexy, but more warm and comforting and snugglicious.

Interfector - This opens up with an overwhelming sweetness that reminds me of caramel or brown sugar. It's not a type of sweetness I like at all. After a few minutes, I find it so utterly nauseating, that I have to go wash it off...however, after washing, the sweetness is gone, but the rest of the scent is still present, and it's gorgeous! It's definitely woody and tobaccoey with the faintest hint of frankincese's huskiness. It comes across as predominantly masculine, but I can see how many woman would enjoy it, as well. If I could get this post-washing scent from this blend from the beginning, without the cloying sweetness (bunn, is that you?), I would wear it regularly in a heartbeat. It's warm and lovely.

Misericordia - Oh look, three of my nemesis notes! Surprisingly enough, it doesn't smell as awful as I figured it would, considering the presence of cat pee I mean, uh, black currant, lavender, and magnolia. The lavender is definitely the dominant note when the blend is wet on my skin, but as it dries, I smell more of the labdanum, opoponax and amber, thankfully. I don't smell the magnolia or cat pee black currant at all during any stage of this scent's life on my skin. It's a very subtle scent on me and mostly a woody-resin type scent with the tiniest hint of rose otto and a nice, sweet musk that I've never smelled before and I'm assuming that's the castoreum accord (beaver musk? Really?) Overall, this is a nice scent, surprisingly so given my skin's particular chemistry, but I prefer darker, heavier, stronger scents, so it's ultimately not for me.

Vespillo - I love this! It smells like a new age shop. The iris, sage, and patchouli are the dominant notes, giving this scent a dry, incensey-type scent. There's a hint of clove in the background spicing things up just a touch, and for once, I actually like what neroli adds to a blend -- it's much more herbal than floral in this scent. I don't smell the jasmine at all. I really love how the iris and patchouli work together, in particular, to make this scent sort of a smokey, incensey floral scent that's not remotely floral (I know that doesn't make sense, but it's true! It's an unfloral-floral!) I really love it. I can totally see myself wearing this when I want something that I find soothing, calming, and even meditative to a degree.

Sanctus - This is a really interesting scent, but very fitting for the description of the Sanctus in the VDSA book. I thought for sure this would be a high-pitched white floral scent, but it's not at all. It's floral, but it's tempered by the musk and the resins. The musk has a strong ethereal quality about it and the osmanthus gives this blend an almost honey-sweet edge to it. The frankincense is very faint, and I don't get any of the husky grittiness from it that I usually do, it's just present enough to lend a sense of dryness to the scent. The lily of the valley is, for the first time ever, more than merely tolerable on my skin. I didn't think I'd like this scent at all, but it surprised me completely. It works really well, the notes are lovely together, and while it's still not the type of scent I would normally gravitate toward, it's very, very pretty and I can see it working well on people who prefer the hazy, ethereal type scents.

Transeo - The wood, blood and bergamot are the strongest notes when I first apply this. The wood is by far the strongest of all of those notes. As it starts to dry down on my skin, I can smell the cumin, which oddly smells good on my skin as opposed to the b.o. odor I usually get from it, and the mandarin, which I adore. I wish the mandarin were stronger. There's the faintest trace of a blood note and also the juniper berry. I never do smell the orange blossom, benzoin, cinnamon, or wine. It's got a masculine cologne vibe about it without smelling like cheap drugstore cologne. While it's not a "come hither" scent for me, I still wouldn't mind smelling it on my man.

Bocal de Sang - On my skin, this is atrocious. It smells like wet dog, feet, a drip of wine, and blood. Blah. Granted, I tried it during the middle of my special week of the month, so I think I'll re-test and come back and edit my review if it smells differently on me with the next go-around. ETA: Here's the text from page 167 of Vampires Don't Sleep Alone re: the Bocal de Sang. I hope this isn't a copyright violation to type this up. If it is, I'll gladly remove it! "To prepare the Bocal de Sang, equal parts blackstrap molasses and honey are poured into a Mason jar until it is about half full. Menstrual blood mixed with red wine, cloves, cinnamon sticks, apple blossom, black cohosh root, a pair of Adam and Eve roots, red rose petals, deer's tongue, anise, sassafras, and crushed red pepper are added to this mix. The spell caster must locate the vampire she is attempting to seduce, and while he is in her sight, she must let her own blood into the jar until it is full whil concentrating on drawing out the vampire's desire. The final act involves taking dust from his footprint and burning it in a mix of patchouli root and Spanish moss until it becomes like pitch, and topping the jar off with the ashes and dirt before sealing the jar with black tallow wax." That may help give an idea of what's in this blend. I'm wearing it again right now, and I still smell wet dog, feet, blood, and wine.

Cicuta - Oh, I love this! Love it!!! It's predominantly the scent of dry roses and husky frankincense. It's very dark and romantic. It's sweetened up a touch by the saffron. The smoke is subtle, but adds a nice level of complexity and blends beautifully with the dry rose and frankincense. This is the type of scent that I would definitely associate with the old, stereotypical, romantic notions of vampires. Beautiful, sexy, dark, and very romantic.

Silenti - This is a lovely, subtle floral. It has a hint of dryness from the olibanum, and bit of dry greenery from the Spanish moss. The lilac and wisteria are very subtle and note overwhelming at all, as they usually are on me. The myrrh adds a touch of depth to it. Overall, this is a lovely scent, very subtle and pretty.

Orange - candy-sweet orange, almost like orange soda without the carbonation. Wait...this isn't just any orange, this is mandarin orange! And there are definite hints of amber in this and possibly vanilla. Something about it reminds me distinctly of 51. In fact, I wore Orange yesterday, and wore 51 today and I definitely get a similar feeling, however, Orange is the most awesome BPAL I've tried and while 51 is reminiscent of it, it doesn't come close to it in awesomeness. Orange has incredibly long-lasting staying power and throw. I'm really amazed because citrus blends usually wisp away on me in a matter of minutes, but the amber (?) in this grounds the fresh mandarin scent and it behaves as if I glued it on and I can smell it swirling around me all day - and that's just with the tiniest dab of it applied (because a tiny dab is all I've got. Boohoo!) Orange is amazing. There's absolutely nothing in my collection I wouldn't give up for more Orange. (note: this is not a swap offer, just a statement to show the extremity of my love for this fragrance!) ETA: I think there's green musk in this. There's something in it that reminds me so much of 51 and Lincoln Tunnel Vortex that I think it must be green musk. Or something.

So many other people noted a musk scent, but I don't smell that at all. I smell incense and dry woods -- white sandalwood, frankincense, resinous woods. Really lovely, subdued, sincere, and serious.

Soap. Soapy soap. Sudsy, soapy, detergenty, laundry soap. It's so uber-soapy I have to wash it off.

Green Party - This opens up with a blast of fresh greenery - mostly grass cuttings and cucumber and maybe a bit of green tea? As it starts to dry down on my skin, the most incredibly gorgeous vanilla note comes out. I can't believe none of the other reviewers have mentioned vanilla, because that's exactly what it is on my skin -- sweet, sugary vanilla. It has the most lovely level of throw, and I catch wafts of it around me. The grass and cucumber fades quickly, but the vanilla is bolstered by something green that I'm guessing is the green tea...maybe with a bit of sugar? I usually can't stand "green" scents, but I'm NUTS about this one. I'm desperately in love with it.

Lair of Nefarious Misdeeds Atmosphere Spray - Ooooh, sexy! Sexy sexy sexy!!! Oh so sexy!!! And let me tell you how sexy this is! It is soooo sexy! Fabulously sexy!!!! Oh, and it smells like oakmoss and leather, has the tiniest hint of smooth ambergris warmth, and in case I haven't mentioned it, it is full of sexy!!!