edenssixthday

The Devil - The very first note I detect is a soapy floral that reminds me of magnolia, but which almost instantly fades and is replaced by the strong scent of light musk and ... something. I can't quite put my finger on it what it might be. As the scent dries down, I'm astonished that I detect the very distinct scent of vanilla bean -- the exact same vanilla bean note that's used in Snake Oil. I'm really surprised that no other reviewers mention this note because it's so distinctive in this blend. About an hour after application, the very distinctive scent of civet is discernible as the dominant note, yet it doesn't have that "bad breath" quality that civet can have -- the vanilla bean and whatever floral is in this manage to temper the civet and keep it under control. About three hours after application, the only scent I detect anymore is a very light vanilla, and it's really pretty. I'm surprised that The Devil is such a pretty scent, as I would have expected something much more fiery and spicy -- but I like it, and it works.

The Chariot - when I first put it on, I thought it was a really pretty scent. Then, over the next 10-15 minutes, I kept catching whiffs of it and was blown away by how overwhelmingly gorgeous it is. It's a fruity-floral that may have a bit of champagne sparkle in it, and it's really bright and uplifting. I don't know the first thing about how the scent may or may not correspond with its Tarot card, but based on fragrance alone, I was certain I was going to need a full-size bottle of it, but the first time I wore it, it disappeared off my skin 20 minutes into it. The second time I wore it, I wasn't as enamored by the scent, but I was blown away by the lasting power and the way I kept getting wafts of something really lovely all afternoon while I ran my errands, and was always extremely thrilled when I realized that lovely scent I kept smelling was me!

Strength - The first scent I detect is very green and bitter, and since I just recently tested Dandelion SN for the first time, I realized that's what is in this blend. It's most definitely dandelion. Right beneath the bitter green scent is the softer, sweeter scent of roses. There is also something "bright yellow" in this blend, too, but I can't figure out what it is. The scent is very strong and has amazing throw and lasts for a good 4-5 hours before fading. It's a touch too pungently green for me, so I will have to find a better home for this one.

Justice - When I first apply this oil, I smell a whole lot of "almost nothing." What little scent is there is virtually impossible to identify. It's perhaps just the tiniest bit herbal, but that's about it. It's incredibly light and subtle. As it warms up on my skin, it becomes slightly stronger (at least enough to smell it), but overall, it remains a very light, subtle, and subdued scent. As it warms up and I can smell it a little better, I'm fairly certain I detect a touch of very light amber, violets, and something outdoorsy but soft like perhaps... moss? I really don't know. It's so hard to say. This is definitely a complex blend and as much as it sticks close to my skin, five hours after application, it still smells as strong as it did at the beginning. It's very pretty, but way too light for my taste.

Judgement - When I first apply this, all I can smell is deep, red musk. It may as well be a musk single note from both the color and the scent. It's juicy and sweet. As it dries down, the red musk remains the dominant note, but there's something else in it that's slightly fruity (grape?) and incense-like. It doesn't morph much and maintains the same scent for the entire length of wear -- which is really long at about 6 hours, and I can still smell traces of it on my skin at hour 7. This is a really great scent and a must-have for red musk lovers.

Death - This is predominantly vetiver on me with a hint of patchouli and some other sort of wood -- cedar, perhaps? I think there may be a drop or two of dirt/earth in this blend, as well. I feel like this is definitely not something I can wear as a fragrance as it's way too dark, gritty, and makes me feel dirty and unwashed and ... well, sawdusty. After about an hour, I realize that both the woody and dirt scents have completely disappeared, leaving behind the dark, gritty scent of nothing but vetiver -- and I absolutely love it at this point. The throw is really strong when first applied, but once it dries down, it sticks very close to my skin, but it lasts the rest of the day.

Szepasszony - I am surprised at how bold this scent is in the vial but how subtle and soft it is on my skin. I wouldn’t expect a wicked witch to have such a light fragrance about her. The scent is aquatic, but without the salt note that many aquatics carry. It’s clear and fresh and definitely reminds me of warm summer rainstorms. I cannot identify any of the florals individually, but they blend to make a soft, sweet, delicate fragrance and combine beautifully with the water notes. I really love this, I just wish it weren’t so subtle. It’s not a scent I would wear for a night on the town, but I think it would be well-worn on romantic date or even just to the office because it’s subtle, feminine, and very pretty.

Ambergris - As many single notes as I’ve raved over, this is the one I would choose if I could live with only one single note for the rest of my life. I’m very surprised, as very few of the blends with ambergris in them work on my skin, yet the single note is astonishingly gorgeous. It is a sweet musk that is warm like amber and has just a touch of powder. It lasts on my skin all day long, and at around the 3-hour point, I begin to notice that it’s almost spicy…but not quite. Is there ambergris in Snake Charmer? I ask because this scent reminds me so much of Snake Charmer it’s incredible (and I do like Snake Charmer!) I wouldn’t mind one bit if my skin permanently smelled like ambergris single note. I'd sell a kidney if it meant I could get a bottle of this.

White Sandalwood - What a fascinating and complex single note. This is definitely the dry, arid scent of sandalwood, but it's not nearly as woody as I expected -- it's got a citrus-like quality that I'm thoroughly fascinated by since my favorite white sandalwood scents are those that contain citrus, as well. Over that light citrus aspect of this note, there is a facet of something that I can only describe as the scent of rocks. I don't pick up on the "pepper" note that other reviews note. I don't believe this makes a good scent on my skin by itself, but I still love it in citrus blends like Shadow. As with all sandalwoods, it lasts forever and a day on my skin, but the throw of the white sandalwood is fairly light.

Vanilla Bean - This is the vanilla from Snake Oil!!! It's gorgeous, warm, sweet, and almost spicy. I can't stop sniffing my arm while wearing this. This is totally a single note I would wear on its own, but only if I didn't have Snake Oil, which is so full of this note that I really see no reason to ever wear Vanilla Bean solo if I could step it up a notch and wear Snake Oil. However, it's absolutely thrilling to get a chance to experience Vanilla Bean single note and to recognize it now as the primary note in Snake Oil. Lovely, lovely scent -- and just like Snake Oil, it has amazing throw and lasts all day long.

Sweet Pea - Sniffed wet in the vial, this is a lovely, sweet, soft floral. The instant it touches my skin it turns to soap -- a strong, acrid, bitter soap. And the longer it's on my skin, the more it seems to amp up on my skin. I've been pretty sure for a while that sweet pea is one of the "soap" culprits in my BPAL experience (e.g., Desdemona), and sure enough, this single note proves that my suspicions were correct. Into the swap pile it goes!

Peppermint - Yep, this is the mint I don't like -- or at least one of the mints I don't like. It is fresh and crisp initially and reminds me a lot of the mint in Lick It, but then it quickly takes on the "cat pee" odor that I smell in Shattered and Ultraviolet. Under normal circumstances, "cat pee" isn't an odor I prefer to wear on my body, so I think this one is off to the swaps.

Lotus - This single note is bubblegum sweetness with the tiniest hint of something green and bitter in the background. I've never found Lotus blends to be unappealingly sweet, as it apparently works well with my skin chemistry, but now that I've smelled the single note, I can definitely see the aversion some people have to how bubblegum pink this fragrance is. I like the scent, but wouldn't wear the single note solo. I definitely prefer it in blends. It has fairly light throw, but it does last a bit longer than the average single note lasts on my skin.

Civet - Now I get what the majority of people are talking about when the mention their distatste for civet. In civet blends, I only smell a warm, sweet musk, but solo, I definitely catch a "bad breath/morning mouth" scent (although I don't smell "cat butt" or "cat pee" at all, as others often do with civet). It has moderate staying power, but really good throw, so with just a little on, I catch the scent all around me and worry that others do, too. I'm glad I got to try it, but it's definitely off to the swap pile -- but I'll keep wearing blends with civet in them since it works on me when blended with other notes.

Apple Blossom - This is a surprisingly heady and strong white floral that reminds me a lot of cherry blossom, but bolder. It's very pretty, but must be used in moderation or it's simply too strong. The throw is really heavy and it lasts much longer than the average single note.

Serpent's Kiss - Based on the color of this oil, I was certain there was dragon's blood in this blend. When sniffing the oil straight from the vial, however, all I can smell is vetiver. It's very strange to be getting such a dark, black scent from an oil that is such a deep, blood red. Sure enough, when I apply it to my skin, all I can smell is vetiver. Within a few minutes, I notice my skin is red and irritated, and without even smelling my wrist I am certain there is cinnamon in this blend. Sure enough, when I sniff my wrist, it's all vetiver and cinnamon. I do not smell any dragon's blood. As the oil dries, the cinnamon fades quickly (as it always does on me), the inflammation decreases, and for hours afterward, all I smell is vetiver. I never do detect the dragon's blood in this blend. Oddly enough, I don't mind the vetiver in this blend once it dries down. In fact, I kind of like it, which is a reaction I don't usually have to vetiver, but I do adore dragon's blood so my guess is that although I don't smell the dragon's blood, it must have tempered the bite of the vetiver enough to make it a dark, husky scent that I can actually enjoy. I am going to try layering this with Wicked. I think they might smell beautiful together.

The very first note I detect is the juniper, which means I'm not off to much of a great start, as I really, truly hate the scent of juniper trees (whether real trees or in BPAL form). Behind that is the dry, arid, crisp scent of white sandalwood, which is lovely, but combined with the aquatic notes, this blend takes on the very strange scent of a fresh-out-of-the-box Ace bandage. It's off to the swap pile.

The Death of Sardanapal - The very first note I detect is honey followed strongly by the scet of cognac. Behind that is a very light cassia -- just the right amount to add a bit of pizzazz, but not so much as to be overwhelmingly spicy. The scent is oddly almost tea-like in its quality, and if I wasn't looking at the ingredient list, I would have guessed there were tea leaves in this blend. The red wine note, although listed first in the ingredient list, is hardly noticeable. It's very faint, which I found quite pleasant, as red wine tends to usually overpower most blends on my skin. This scent is full of notes I don't recognize, so I am not able to tell what other notes I'm smelling but can't identify. Overall, the woody honey and tea-quality of this blend means its definitely one that's not going to get worn by me. The throw is very light as is the staying power. It lasted less than 90 minutes on me.

Satan & Death With Sin Intervening - The very first note I smell is white tea mixed with something that I am not familiar with and which, based on the ingredient list, is karakarounde, considering I've never even heard of it. This scent is followed almost immediately by the smell of deep, red woods and the dark huskiness of vetiver. About one hour after I applied this oil, it became very sweet in a way that reminds me a lot of honey and wood, which I'm guessing is the benzoin note starting to come to the forefront. I'm surprised that the orange blossom in this blend doesn't turn powdery as it usually does on me. Overall, it's a strange scent and not one I'd find myself drawn to as it contains too many notes that I don't normally care for in a personal fragrance. The throw is pretty light as is the staying power. It was completely gone by the 2 hour point.

There are so many notes in this blend that I don't know anything about that it's a really fascinating scent for me because I am enjoying trying to identify the notes I do know from those I'm not familiar with. It is a very light scent and and sticks really close to my skin, although it lasts a good 3 hours, which isn't too shabby (on me) for such a light scent. During the last hour, the frankincense dominates the other notes, which is pretty typical in a scent containing frankincense, as it loves my skin. I probably won't wear this again, but it was nice to experience.

Orpheus - This scent is very bitter, green, and pungent. I think the "crushed green stems" is the dominant note to my nose. It makes me wrinkle my nose and curl my lip. I'm not going to be giving this another try. I had to wash this one off.

Rage - When I think of rage, I think of red-hot fury, seething and surging like the walls of flames in Hell’s inferno. Rage the perfume oil is more like the little fire you built in your fireplace that petered out in the first couple of minutes. This scent was a huge disappointment to me. I expected something more along the lines of Blood – a dragon’s blood resin filled with the fury of swirling, seething spices. Rather, I get a nice dragon’s blood scent that is fruity-floral and pretty and doesn’t remotely live up to its name. It’s a pretty scent, but doesn’t have much throw, although the staying power is good. I’m not sure if I’m going to keep this imp or not. It’s nice in it’s own right, it’s just completely not what I was expecting, based on the name.

Phobos is a very crisp, white scent. The use of the word “chilling” in the scent description is very appropriate. When I first apply this blend, it is entirely white musk and grapefruit on me. It’s almost crystalline in its clearness and sharpness. White musk fades on me within a few minutes in almost every case, and Phobos is no exception. Grapefruit is also a scent that fades on me quickly, and again, it happens in this blend, too. I don’t smell the verbena or lemongrass at all in this blend. This scent disappears on my skin within 10 minutes, which means it’s not one I’d ever use as a perfume, but I would be thrilled to have a shower gel or shampoo that smelled like this – it would really wake me up in the morning, as it’s a nice, bright, crisp scent. Sadly, it’s just not for me. If I’m going to reapply and reapply any grapefruit scent, it’s going to be Cheshire Cat, not Phobos.

Phantom - What a wretched odor this becomes on my skin! I think this is the first rose scent that completely disagrees with me. The scent is full of dark musk and smoky-incense, and reminds me somewhat of the dry-down of Hecate. Rose and ylang ylang blend together to create a sour scent that I can barely stand (it actually does make me slightly nauseated). This is one to be washed off and quickly removed from my home. The throw is light to moderate, and I can’t remark on the lasting power, as it had to be washed off within the first 20-30 minutes of wear.

Phantom Queen is one of the BPAL scents that has haunted me. For several months, every time I turned around, the Lab or another BPALer was frimping me with imps of Phantom Queen. I was certain it was a sign that this was to be a special scent for me, but I could never really get into it. The pretty fruits and florals of the scent took a backseat to the moss scent, which was overwhelming and invasive. I could occasionally catch a whiff of the pretty fruity-florals hiding behind the moss, but they never took center stage. I tried Phantom Queen on several different occasions due to the excessive frimping of this scent to me, but the mossiness of the scent was always too overwhelming for me to bear.