filigree_shadow

Lotus root, mogra, mango, tamarind, cardamom, clove, almond milk, cashew, rice flower, coconut, supari, raisins, and incense crafted from aloeswood, red sandalwood, cedar, and spikenard. When the Yules came out I was reading through the notes for this one and mostly thinking Hm, well, possibly, but probably not, but maybe I -- OMG SPIKENARD. Dudes, spikenard is my nemesis. I do not just steer clear of it, I steer straight off the damn highway and take the route that goes through a different state in order to avoid it. It smells unbelievably foul on me in every blend I've ever tried that contained it. But a decant of Diwali showed up at my house, and by the time I got it I had completely forgotten what the notes were, so I put some on. I liked it. It smelled a little sweet, a little creamy, and a little spicy. Not too much of any one thing, just a very pretty, light blend. At first I can smell the mango pretty well, but when it's dry I think I'd probably try to briefly describe it as mostly almond milk with cardamom and some very pleasant earthy/woodines from the wood notes. It's an extremely likable scent to me. Soft and lovely. So imagine my shock when I was reading through the notes later and found out that THIS is the one that has SPIKENARD! And I actually like it. I would even like *gasp* a BOTTLE of it. And see, this is why I always have to try everything BPAL makes. Because really. You never know.

Well, I don't know what to tell you about this one. I've worn it probably 5 times since I got it, which is more than usual. However, every time I put it on I think Hmmm, yeah, I'm not sure about this one. There's something about it that I like a lot, but there's also something about it I don't like. I think the problem is that the amber goes powdery on me. If it weren't for that, it would be wonderful. It has this awesome creamy scent with the very alluring teak under it... but the powder. It smells so great even with the powdery part that I keep wearing it, but I keep being sort of mad at it for going powdery. I can't see myself giving up on it entirely, so I'm sure I'll keep the bottle around for a while and see how it ages. Maybe the amber will deepen a bit after a year or so. Edited many months later to add: Keeping it was a good idea!! I love it now after it's had a chance to age a bit. It smells wonderful now, and I'm so glad I didn't give up on it.

I got a decant of this one to try because so many people seem to like it, but I was pretty skeptical about it because usually pomegranate is one of the notes that tends to ruin a blend for me. My skin doesn't like it at all and either turns it into a bathroom air freshener type of scent or some hideous powdery-sweet Pez-like scent, except like a Pez that's been lost under the rug for a few months. This one does the latter. It's dusty-smelling and super-sweet, and not like a lovely juicy pomegranate scent at all. Ah well. Can't win 'em all. There are really only a handful of notes that don't work with my skin chemistry, so it's not so bad.

I recognize a little bit of orchid in there, but mostly it's gardenia. It's a tropical lush floral scent, very much on the smooth and soft side. I like this better than most gardenia scents, but I burned myself out on gardenia about 10 years ago (that's what wearing one scent every day for a year will to do ya), and I'm still not ready to wear a gardenia scent again. This one is quite pretty, though.

At first all I can smell is a fresh light lemon over coconut. Neither note is bowling me over, they're both playing nicely together. It's creamier-smelling than I thought it would be. Not sharp at all. Usually lemon is a little too tangy for me, but this lemon blossom is pretty nice. After it's completely dry, mostly it smells like a woody scent with a little bit of coconut. Very slightly tropical, I guess, but not too much. Oddly, I'm not getting a whole lot of musk out of this. It must be blending so well with the bark note that I can't pick it out. I like this scent, but it's not going to unseat Brown Jenkins as my favorite coconut scent.

I have to be very picky these days about which bottles I buy due to money issues, so unless I honestly love something I can't really justify buying a bottle of it. I tested a bunch of decants to figure out if I wanted any bottles from Lupercalia this year, and Sapphics was one of the two bottles I bought. On me, it's lovely. It smells dark but not too dark, and smoky but not too smoky. Kind of slinky. I think it's mainly a combination of grey amber, oakmoss, and myrrh that I smell on my skin, and it's a beautiful combination. To me, this seems like a dressed-up nighttime sort of scent. It seems more sophisticated than amber and myrrh scents usually are. I can see myself wanting to wear this as often as Trick #1 and Black Orchid, which are sort of my default grown-up perfumey scents. This one doesn't smell as much like traditional perfume as either of those do, though, it's more of a "wow, what is that" kind of scent.

When I first put on Mad Kate, it was entirely freesia and currant. I couldn't smell anything else. I happen to like the nice bright fruity florals a lot better than heady florals, so I thought I had found another keeper. However, after about 30 minutes, it turned into the sort of heady floral I usually avoid. (I honestly don't know whether it's rose geranium or gardenia because I'm not 100% sure what rose geranium smells like.) The bright beginning morphed quite a lot. It showed a lot of promise there at the beginning, but I'm just not a fan of the dry phase.

... This perfume is the scent of the witches' revel: German fir and forest herbs, incense and bonfire smoke, infernal flora, glowing amber, and the wet, glimmering scent of skin warmed by dance. Bottle sniff: Smells like pine. On: Smells like an evergreen forest. I remember the old Hexennacht being a lot smokier than this. I thought it would warm up after a while and become darker and smokier, but it didn't. It mostly smells like a fresh forest scent. It doesn't smell cold like pine usually does to me, it's more green.

I didn't think I'd like this one, but I do. It has a dark, almost chypre-like scent. I can smell the leather in it but it's not OMG LEATHER, it's subtle. I like the dark musk and myrrh with it. I can't really smell any of the lighter notes (lemon balm, grapefruit rind, etc.), but the scent isn't completely dark so I know they must be adding to it. Maybe I can smell a very slight whiff of lemon, but I wouldn't have been able to pick it out. This is probably one of the more unisex scents, but I wouldn't call it masculine.

I didn't look at the notes before I put this on, and when I sniffed it, I thought, "Hmmm, smells like tangerine and cream with a mild dark spice." OK, so I was off with the tangerine. I guess grapefruit and pear smells like that to me. But the cream and pink pepper are quite noticeable. This is probably more cream than anything with a nice sweet fruity overtone and that cute pink pepper. Mostly, I think "cute" is the best way to describe this one.

I was just thinking about this yesterday because, well, Bonfire Night is NOT a good scent to wear when working out. A little unplanned trial and error there, on my part. Citrus and tea scents get me moving. Embalming Fluid is a good one.

Is there something other than dirt in this? LOL, I can't tell at all. I put a tiny drop of oil on my arm 20 minutes ago and now this whole area at the end of the couch smells like black dirt. It does smell a little drier than usual, and I guess that's maybe the moss? My skin is so crazy about those dirt notes. I keep waiting patiently for the day when I can try something with dirt/soil in it that doesn't amp that note so completely that it drowns out everything else. That day is not today, though.

I had no idea what that combination of notes was going to smell like, so I had zero expectations for this blend. It smells like a sweetened white rose scent! I mean, not like it's shouting ROSE, but when I sniff it I think, "Hee, yep, it's rose. Hee. It's smells so cute. Heehee. What a cute rose." For some reason, this scent makes me automatically happy. I'm serious, I sniff it and smile. How odd. My only problem with it is that after I had it on for 20-30 minutes it started to get a little powdery like rose does on me sometimes. Not tremendously, just a little bit. I still like it though. Oh, and btw, I usually avoid lemon like the plague, but I can't tell there's lemon balm in this.

First things first: I usually like vetiver. Most varieties smell good on me -- earthy, kind of woody, slightly grassy, and smoky. This is vetiver at its very best. It is not dank and murky at all, it smells so fresh you can really imagine those tall grasses. It's smoky, light, and beautiful. The neroli is so soft it almost whispers. But, OMG, that vetiver and sandalwood smells so good. This is the sort of scent that I never wear when I'm out -- I wear it when I'm at home by myself and hog it all to myself. It's one of my "skin scent" kind of scents.

I'm not sure how to describe this scent. It smells hazy but sharp at the same time. Not sharp in the way that herbal scents are sometimes described as sharp, but sharp like pointed. It's bold and not soft at all. No round edges. The rose otto just gives it a little sweetness; it doesn't smell mostly like a floral blend to me. It's mostly patchouli and benzoin... you know, I think it's the petitgrain that is making it smell unique to me. I've had mixed success with petitgrain, but in this one I like it. Maybe because I don't smell it very often -- don't have any perfumes with petitgrain in them. I'm not sure it's "my" kind of scent, but the more I sniff it the more I like it. It's strangely alluring.

I really like this. Love the amber and musk combination, and the saffron with it is exactly perfect. My husband likes to wear cedar scents, so the cedar in this reminds me of him. That makes the scent very endearing to me. Don't know if this was supposed to be for men, but I'm totally going to wear it. It's so warm and rich, and I swear, the amount of spice is ideal. Absolutely exactly the kind of spice I like in a perfume. Another one for the bottle list.

This smells wonderful. Totally blended -- can't really pick out any one note in this. Would never have guessed that either jasmine or cinnamon was in this. It honestly does smell warm and glowing, and on me it has this tropical aspect to it. Like banana or pineapple or something. Slightly fruity, and definitely in a tropical way. But that just makes it smell creamier with the vanilla. I would definitely like a bottle of this one.

This smells lovely! I was a bit worried about the jasmine, but it's fine. Lends a kind of perfumey aspect to the scent, but it doesn't shout JASMINE. I love the freesia and moss combination -- smells like a nice fresh garden flower, and I think the pear, plum and white musk are lightening up the scent. It smells bright, which is a nice combination with the earthy moss and ambergris. Think fruity light floral with moss and bamboo. Reminds me very slightly of some of the Asian lunacy blends, a little bit of Budding Moon. I like this one!

Just a little bit nutty, but mostly a warm, slightly woody scent. It really does smell warm to me. Rather comforting. I like the hazelnut in this -- it makes it different from the usual vanilla/amber or honey scent. Gives it a very slightly foody aspect. This is not overly nutty on me, and it's quite pretty.

A lovely, light tea rose. Bright and not green. It's the same sort of pure, clean rose scent that I get from Peacock Queen or even Moon Rose. Not artificial-smelling or soapy at all. Very pretty. I don't usually go for the rose scents, but this is the sort that I like. For the visual, see LittleMissAspie's review. I totally agree.

I have on some of the oil from my old trusty Fallen imp right now, and it's lovely. It's a dark, hazy scent, with just the barest hint of florals. My only problem with this scent is that the amber seems too perfumey and then it goes to powder. That's not Fallen's fault, it's mine. My skin has trouble with some ambers. I do like the scent, particularly when it's dry and it smells so golden and dark at the same time. Unfortunately there's that powder thing.

On me, this is a mature, sophisticated, heady floral. Just a little bit sweet. When I first put it on the jasmine was too strong, but when it's dry it's not so obnoxious. The scent is lighter than most jasmine blends I've tried. People who like yellow florals should not miss this one. It's pretty.

I read other people's reviews because I couldn't figure out what this smelled like except slightly spicy. Hmm. Cinnamon apple cider, you guys say. I can understand that. It does smell kind of like that on me. Way heavy on the "cider" part, though. I wouldn't have thought there was apple in here. On me it smells mostly like mulling spices and some sort of wood. Not really fruit. I love the smell of mulling spices, and I like this scent. I'm not sure about using it for its intended purpose, but the scent of it is certainly nice enough that I'd be willing to try.

[see previous entries for what I'm doing here.] Honey in large doses is not great for me. It tends to give me a play-doh scent. That's why picking a favorite scent that's primarily honey is a bit problematic for me. When it's a minor note usually it seems to lend a very pretty smoothness to the scent, so I like to try BPAL blends that contain honey. But sometimes the honey is too much. It's not just BPAL, either; I have this problem with pretty much every perfume oil brand I've tried. I guess my skin just doesn't like it. So, in a departure from the norm (in picking a scent that is primarily one particular note), I'm going to choose just my favorite one that has honey in it that's detectable. I already know going into it that the primarily honey ones will not be favorites. GCs THAT CONTAIN HONEY: Alice: Milk and honey with rose, carnation and bergamot. Aaaaand this list starts off with a play-doh one. I can't wear this one. And There Was A Great Cry In Egypt: Dark myrrh, white sandalwood, amber, hyssop, frankincense, honey, cypress, red musk, cardamom and saffron. This one is spicy, sweet, and complex... but I can't really detect honey in it. Athens: voluptuous myrrh, golden honey, red wine, and sweet flowers. I tried this one twice and didn't like it either time. I don't have any idea what is going wrong for me with this scent because based on the notes it should have been okay. The honey was behaving itself nicely... but after an hour or so it smelled off. In a big way. Bengal: skin musk with honey, peppers, clove, cinnamon bark and ginger. Apparently honey WITH strong spices is a winner for me. This one is lovely. Usually cinnamon is too strong on me, but the hot cinnamon and smooth honey really balance out each other. Very nice. Bien Loin D'ici: red musk, benzoin, caramel accord, golden honey, and spiced Moroccan unguents. Ah, red musk. How do I love thee. Oh, wait, right, I'm talking about honey. Yes, the honey in this is detectable, and it's GORGEOUS. I really like this scent a lot. Sultry, sexy, and smooth. Bilquis: Honey, myrrh, lily of the valley, rose otto, fig leaf, almond, ambrette, red apple, and warm musk. Lovely. This blend is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about in which honey can be beautiful on me when its just an undercurrent that makes the scent warm and rich. In this particular one, the almonds are much too strong for my taste at first, but luckily they fade. That initial almond blast will keep it from being a favorite, though. Blood Kiss: Vanilla, honey, clove, red cherries, vetiver, poppy, red wine, and feral musk. I like this one, but I can't detect the honey in it. It does seem smooth underneath, but that could be from either vanilla or honey, I'm not sure which. Cleopatra Testing Poisons On Those Condemned To Death: Accords of peach kernel, hemlock, aconite, and belladonna, with bitter almond, saffron, honey, myrrh, hyssop, frankincense, and palm. Oops, I haven't tested this one yet. Cockaigne: milk and honey, sweet cakes and wine. This one and one other BPAL GC scent with milk and honey do NOT smell bad on me. This smells like ... well, exactly like the notes. I don't wear it, though, because although I like lotions and creams that are foody scented, usually not perfumes so much. Cupid Complaining To Venus: Apple blossom, fig, white peach, honey absolute, red sandalwood, and wild thyme. I like the scent of this one, but it's extremely faint. It doesn't last long at me at all. That keeps it from being a favorite. Dana O'shee: Milk, honey and sweet grains. This is one of the ones in which the honey is too strong for me. This smells off on me. The Death of Sardanapal: Red wine, gurjum balsam, dark myrrh, honey, cassia, lemongrass, palmarosa, elemi, cognac and olibanum. Oops, I didn't write a review of this yet. Hmm. Hope I still have that bottle. Delphi: The smoke of Sacred Incense of Apollo twined through laurel branches, bay, and honey wine. This one smelled mostly like grape juice on me. Didn't like it too much. Eve: Apple blossom, rose, ylang ylang and golden honey. I think this one is a nice scent, but I can't smell any honey in it. Hellcat hazelnut, buttercream, honey mead, rum and sweet almond. This one's more of a nutty creamy rum scent to me, not honey. Hetairae: golden honey, fiery patchouli, sweet fig and clove, and a blushing touch of ylang ylang. Mostly a honeyed fig scent, on me, with some kick from the clove. It's a great scent, and I do like it, but it'll be more of a contender in the favorite fig one. Horreur Sympathique: blood musk, golden honey, thick black wine, champagne grapes, tobacco flower, plum blossom, tonka bean, oakmoss, carnation, benzoin, opoponax, and sugar cane. This is sweet and lovely, and I like it a lot. The honey isn't strong, but it has a warm wonderful smoothness to it that I attribute to the honey. Itasô Kansei Nenkan Jorô No Fûzoku Osmanthus, white honey, ti leaf, hibiscus, and sugar cane. Kind of a dewy light floral. I didn't detect honey in it. Jezebel: A gloriously decadent blend of honey, roses, orange blossom and sandalwood. This one tends to go chalky on me (like baby aspirin) or powdery. But I can't detect any honey. Kali: This perfume is a blend of the sacred blooms of cassia, hibiscus, musk rose, Himalayan wild tulip, lotus and osmanthus swirled with offertory dark chocolate, red wine, tobacco, balsam and honey. The honey goes wonky in this one too. Les Bijoux: Skin musk and honey, blood-red rose, orange blossom, white peach, frankincense and myrrh. Honey and apples at first, but then I can't really smell the honey. Ends up being a light pretty floral. O: Amber and honey with a touch of vanilla. This one is a play-doh one. Ogun: heavy and dark cigar tobacco, gin and juniper, melon, chili pepper and a touch of honey. I really like this one, but I can't detect honey in it. Mostly melon with tobacco and a chili pepper kick. Osun: thick with honey and herbs of love, passion and desire. I thought I liked this one a lot at first and bought a 10ml of it, but I never wear it. I can detect the honey in it, but I guess I don't really like it as well as I thought I did. The Penitent Magdalen: Immortelle, lily of the valley, gaiac, amber, honey, white sandalwood, almond flower, blonde musk and hyssop. Haven't reviewed this one yet. Sed Non Satiata: myrrh, red patchouli, cognac, honey, tuberose and geranium, and body musk. Can't really tell there's any honey in this. Skuld: Ylang ylang, honey, Egyptian and Arabian musks and labdanum. Charming and bright, warm and soothing. Can't detect honey, though. Spirit Of The Komachi Cherry Tree: Cherry blossom, blue lilac, lavender monofloral honey, white sandalwood, and Asian pear. Haven't reviewed it yet. Sudha Segara: Sweet milk and warm, healing ginger with a touch of golden honey and our blend of Ambrosia. Amazingly, this one works on me. This is the other BPAL GC with milk and honey that does work. It smells like someone nearby has a big mug of chai and I'm catching wafts of it. I like this one a lot. Thaleia: honey, ylang ylang, apricot, ciste, blood orange and gardenia with earthy, warm tonka. Mostly apricot and gardenia, on me. Honey isn't detectable. White Rabbit: Strong black tea and milk with white pepper, ginger, honey and vanilla, spilled over the crisp scent of clean linen. Some days I like this one, and some days I don't. Occasionally the honey is too much for me. Of those, the ones that are disqualified for being play-dohy are Alice, Dana O'Shee, Kali, and O. Osun and White Rabbit walk the "too much" line a little too close for my comfort. The ones I like a lot (in which honey is detectable) are Bengal, Bien Loin D'ici, Horreur Sympathique, and Sudha Segara. Although Bien Loin D'ici is my favorite out of those, I feel like I need to pick Sudha Segara because the honey is stronger in it. It just seems like more of a "honey" scent. LEs THAT CONTAIN HONEY: The Brides Of Dracula: gleaming skin musk, honey and white amber, plum blossom, osmanthus, sandalwood, calla lily, and a light, sensual blend of Eastern spices. Apparently I didn't write a review of this. I like it and wear it from time to time, but it doesn't seem like I can smell the honey in it. Hearth 2005: candied chestnuts, buttered, covered in brown sugar and honey, alongside the scent of cedar smoke and soft pine. This is really a nutty buttery scent with pine. Pleasant, but not much honey. Honey Moon: five different honeys, ranging from pale and sweet to deep and heady, with hints of jasmine, white gardenia, Hawaiian white ginger and thyme. Not surprisingly, this one didn't smell great on me. Faiza, The Black Mamba: black amber, caraway, oakmoss, green sandalwood, bergamot, jasmine sambac, gardenia, orange pulp, vanilla, blackberry, black musk, white honey, ti leaf, and ginger. This one was mainly floral on me -- couldn't tell there was any honey in it. Freak Show: A strange, disconcerting embrace… to some, alarming, and to some, intimately familiar: fig, pomegranate and cocoa bean with lemon, bergamot, vanilla, mellow honey musk, calamus and tonka. Not a whole lot of honey in this one -- this is more of a fig scent. Gennivre, L'artiste Du Diable: Hyson tea leaf, pale mint, sugar cane, orange blossom, lemongrass, and honey. This is a lovely scent, but it's really more of a tea contender, not a honey one. La Fée Verte: Sugared wormwood, hyssop and melissa with calamus, angelica and Dittany of Crete, blended with aohemian perfume of vanilla musk, honey absolute and Moroccan spices. I love this scent, and thankfully the honey in it doesn't smell bad on me at all. I love wearing this one. It's really unusual and almost always gets a compliment from someone. Khajuraho (2006 & 2007): honey, date palm, tuberose, davana blossom, amber, white sandalwood, vanilla bean, Damask rose, and champaca flower. Both versions (from both years) smell the same on me. It's perfumey and pretty, but I can't really tell there's honey in it. Litha: Honey mead with honeysuckle, oak wood, ivy leaf, wild thyme, carnation, daisy, vervain, gum arabic, frankincense, yauhtli, and liquid copal. Mead yes, but honey no. Couldn't smell honey in this. Luperci (2006 & 2007): raw, down and dirty patchouli, Gurjam balsam, and essence of Sampson Root sweetened with the heightened sexuality of beeswax, virile juniper, oakmoss, ambrette seed over honey and East African musk. The 2006 version smelled mostly like juniper, which I didn't like, and the 2007 version smells mostly like patchouli, which I do like. Neither have a detectable honey, though. The Masque: Honey and carnation, rich incense and rose accord, myrtle, red sandalwood, amber, jonquil and clove, patchouli, tobacco and labdanum. I could barely detect any honey in this, mostly spicy flowers. Milk Moon 2005: Cream and warm honey soften our traditional blend of lunar oils. I really, really like this one. Not wonky at all. This is lovely, creamy, and sweet. Wouldn't say it's strong on the honey, but it's so smooth and wonderful I must be picking up honey from it somehow. Milk Moon 2007: Sweet milk, golden honey, fig fruit, pomegranate, dates, and white grape. This one I had trouble with, though. Smelled like sour milk. The Oblation: A stirring blend of dianthus, French lavender, blackberry, and white honey. Couldn't smell honey in this. Smelled like blackberry wine to me. Ostara: Orris root, bergamot, frankincense, daffodil, orange pulp, attar of rose, jonquil, strawberry leaf, benzoin, violet leaf, copal, honey cakes, sweet cream, and the blossoms of springtime. Couldn't smell honey in this one either. Pink Moon 2005: This Lunar blend is soft with phlox, tulip, daffodil, dogwood and muscari, dusted with pink sugar and honey, and a touch of the first strawberries of the season. I couldn't tell there was any honey in this. Poisson D'avril: Lenten rose, crested iris, Virginia bluebell, primrose, moss phlox, blue crocus, daffodil, and dewy tulip with a touch of sugar blossom and honey. I can't detect honey in this. Rose Moon: Bulgarian rose, tea rose, violet leaf, opium poppy, Bois de Jasmin, patchouli leaf, honey, blue lilac, balsam, woodruff, and lemon peel. I couldn't detect any honey in this, just floral notes. Selkie: The chill waters of the Orkney coast, tea-leaved willow, honey-touched Grass-of-Parnassus, sea aster, and Scottish Primrose. I couldn't detect any honey in this. Svadhinaopatika: Golden amber, oude, red sandalwood, massoia bark, honey, and currant. This is one of those fabulous ones in which the honey undercurrent gives it a luxurious smoothness. I like this one. Of those, I really liked Svadhinaopatika, Milk Moon 05, and La Fée Verte. But La Fée Verte is by far my favorite. Verdict on Favorite Honey Scent: La Fée Verte

I'm glad you found them useful! I'm dragging my heels trying to decide what to do next. The ones I've already done were the ones that came to mind first. Some notes (like red musk, or peach, or pumpkin) would be very hard for me to do because I like them in pretty much all blends they appear in. And others (like rose or sandalwood) would be too hard because they're so frequent. I'm trying to think of other notes that I like occasionally -- ones that I'd like to narrow down. Like, I don't need 5 different dragon's blood scents. One would be fine. But which one?!