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BPAL Madness!

filigree_shadow

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Everything posted by filigree_shadow

  1. filigree_shadow

    Licorice Bats

    Sweet, licorice and cacoa. Pretty straightforward. Sometimes that anise/licorice note is incredibly strong on me and lasts forfrickingever (e.g., Kabuki), way past the point where I want to smell it any more and definitely into the stage where I fairly desperately want to smell something else now. This one's not doing that. The licorice note is much softer than I expected, and this is sweeter than I expected.
  2. filigree_shadow

    Playing with Dangerous Toys

    When I first put this on it was a really dry cocoa scent and I didn't like it much. When it dried, it got smoother, and the coconut came out. It ended up smelling kind of like coconut and wood. It really changed a lot. I can't say that I don't like it, but I don't think it's my sort of scent. I don't know, something feels off about it. But I hardly ever like coconut scents, so maybe that's it.
  3. filigree_shadow

    To Autumn

    Mmmmm. I like this one. I'm generally not a fan of apple scents, but this one is startlingly beautiful. The apple smells very dry (I guess that's the dry leaves), with a hint of moss. It's a surprisingly good combination. This would be a perfect fall scent for me. I like Mum Moon a lot too, and several of the pumpkins, and this would be pretty awesome to get into that rotation. What year was this out? 2008? Oh marvelous. I waited 7 years to try it. I bet finding a bottle is not going to be easy. Dammit. I'm not that bright.
  4. filigree_shadow

    Hellhound on My Trail

    I expected this to be rooty and herbal and vaguely horrifying (I don't like that kind of scent), and when I first put it on it seemed pretty pee-yoo. But I gave it a while. The bay rum note was shouting a lot, and I wasn't super happy about that. But when it dried down, it turned into this very pleasant, only marginally masculine, sweet and kind of clean-smelling planty vanilla. On me, this scent reminds me a lot of Tombstone. It's softer, for sure. But, I actually like Tombstone better. Maybe out of familiarity. I doubt I'll have trouble finding a home for the decant.
  5. filigree_shadow

    Strawberry Moon 2012

    I sometimes have a problem with BPAL's strawberry note smelling artificial and kind of like plastic, so I'm iffy on trying strawberry scents. But I was pleased to discover it behaves just fine in this one! It's a very sweet, bright red strawberry scent. Very cute. I like it.
  6. filigree_shadow

    Brood XIX

    From the notes, I expected this one to smell very planty, or at least like hay or a field or something. I don't usually like that kind of scent, so I wasn't very interested in this but decided to try it anyway. It doesn't smell like I thought at all. Sweet rice milk, almond blossoms, and the whole thing smells dry but smooth. It's quite intriguing. I like it a lot, and I didn't expect to.
  7. filigree_shadow

    L’Essence de la Passion

    I love red musk and myrrh, but I don't like carnation (it's usually way too loud on me, and not my favorite floral note anyway) and honey very often does that weird play-doh badness on me (I can't wear scents like O at all). So I wasn't expecting much here, but I always try everything, just in case. Imagine my surprise. The carnation is very nicely balanced here and not overpowering, and even more unbelievably, the honey isn't ruining it at all. In fact, I think it's making it smell better. It's making the red musk smell smoother and sexier, if that's even possible. Deep, smooth, and fairly unrelenting. Not a playful scent. A purposeful one. Very, very nice.
  8. filigree_shadow

    Cleric

    Sweet peppery wood -- balsam and frankincense. It's not the type of thing I wear as perfume, but I like the scent of it. Smells rather sacred.
  9. filigree_shadow

    Sagittarius 2007

    Softly green, with a fairly bitter herbal overtone. Smells like a summertime scent to me. Quite fresh.
  10. filigree_shadow

    O Love and Time and Sin

    I try everything with red musk because I like it a lot. This one is veeeery red musky, with a smoky, resiny rose. For me, the rose note would be hard to pick out if I didn't know it was in there. Mostly musk and resin. Dark and sultry.
  11. filigree_shadow

    A Howl In The Darkness

    Striking. A chilly, sweet, wood scent. Yeah, try to imagine that. I couldn't, until I smelled it. Snowy citrus and sleek black tarry pine. A surprise stand-out hit for me. I don't usually go for scents with those notes at all, but this one grabbed me immediately. I like it a lot. I can see how someone might see this is masculine, but if definitely smells gender neutral to me. I'm a fairly feminine woman, and I can wear this no problem.
  12. filigree_shadow

    Street Festival

    Lavender and fruit, kind of equal parts of both. Also a little hazy/fizzy over the top, I'm guessing from the opium. Unusual scent, and in no way offensive. I think that people who like those champagne scents should maybe try this one -- it really does smell a little fizzy/bubbly to me, and fairly complex. Like I said, I can't imagine that anyone would find this scent offensive. Safe to wear anywhere. Quiet, pretty.
  13. filigree_shadow

    Lust Bonbon

    Sweet mercy. Why in the hell did I wait so long to try this? I like Lust a lot, and with added smoky cacao... marvelous. Man, I love this. Dammit. Probably won't be able to find any more of it. Well, that'll teach me for being an idiot.
  14. filigree_shadow

    Badger

    I kept this decant because I thought I liked it. I am dumb. I liked Mole. Not this one. Achingly sweet dirt and cedar. Very rooty and a little musty. If you like that sort of thing, this is awesome. Very evocative. For sure not your standard dirt scent. I actually like the cedar in this, and I'm usually not super fond of that note. There's something about it, though... I don't know, I usually hate dirt scents, and I wouldn't actually say that I hate this. It's interesting.
  15. filigree_shadow

    Eros

    I like all those notes except that "honey wine" would be iffy on me, and it does seem like the honey wine is the strongest. Like how that usually works when there's one death note in the whole bunch and sure enough, that's what it smells like. Buuuut, actually... not bad! I'm not super crazy about that wine scent, but the rest of it is pretty. No celery. Sweet, vaguely leafy lilac, that smells strangely fresh and almost green. Not quite green, though. Kind of a blue-green. Hard to describe. You know, I actually like this. I'm surprised. It's one of those pretty, sweet, fresh scents that I like wearing in the springtime. And, just as a note, this decant I have is from 2009. So it's for sure not fresh, it's aged and blended at this point. It's very nice. I just looked up through the reviews and noticed that Ishtar had the exact same experience. Aged = fantastic. Probably something to keep in mind!
  16. filigree_shadow

    Shadows of What May Be

    I don't like dirt scents, grass scents, or weed scents. At all. Not really sure why I tried this, but I did, because somehow I got a tester of it. Guess whether I like it. Smells like sweet pungent dirt with a bitter weedy smell. I understand that some people like this, but it's really not my thing.
  17. filigree_shadow

    TP'd Trees

    I expected this one to be heavy on the wood notes (and cypress an pine aren't usually my favorites), but it's not. Soft, clean cotton. Maybe just a little bit of soft woods as well, but nothing anywhere close to pine air freshener scent. Possibly a bit of a soft musk in there too. It's surprisingly pretty. Can't believe I've had this decant sitting in the back of my box for like 6 years because I figured it was piney. I am going to wear this now. And I just noticed I used the word soft three times. Hey, guess what kind of scent I think this is?!
  18. filigree_shadow

    But Men Loved Darkness Rather Than Light

    Most everyone else seems to really like this one... why is it bad on me? It shouldn't be bad on me. I don't have any death notes in there, except sometimes sage. I like patchouli and oakmoss and saffron and vanilla quite a lot. But on me this is kind of a bitter/sour patchouli scent with maybe a tiny hint of vanilla. Possibly a slight whiff of clove if I sniff really hard. I was getting excited to try this after looking at the reviews, so this is pretty disappointing.
  19. filigree_shadow

    Lovers in a Carp Streamer

    I like this scent -- mostly cranberry and woods on me, and the cranberry seems especially juicy, probably from the red currant. However, it doesn't stay. At all. I've put on three generous imp wand doses, and I can still barely smell it. No point in wearing perfume you can't smell.
  20. filigree_shadow

    Great Grey Witch

    After I got over my initial shock at sniffing this (not at all what I was expecting), I realized that I do like it. It smells like sweet lemon sugar at first, and then when it dries it softens up a little bit and loses that super-sweet edge. It's a cheery, sweet citrus scent that's not overpowering at all and is fairly light and definitely pleasant. I like it.
  21. filigree_shadow

    Pumpkin II

    I have tried quite a few Pumpkin Patch scents over the years, but not too many recent ones. This one barely smells like pumpkin at all to me. It mostly smells like a spicy (like cinnamon) coffee scent, with a little bit of wood to ground it. I guess the pumpkin adds some sweetness, but honestly I'm not sure I would have even guessed this had pumpkin in it if I didn't know it did. I like it (I almost always like the Lab's coffee scents), it's just not quite what I thought it would be. My husband, who has probably smelled me wearing about 500 different BPAL scents by now, and only comments if he really likes something, said that he really likes this and wanted to know the name of it. So, vote of confidence from him, too.
  22. filigree_shadow

    Standing Female Nude

    I'm very picky about rose scents (my grandmother used to use a rose-scented lotion, and anything that smells similar to that automatically reminds me of old ladies) but this one is pretty nice. It does smell like all three things: rosey, fruity, and musky/resinous. The rose was for sure the strongest when it was wet, but now that it's dry it's pretty evenly all three scents. Not bad! btw, I've got Snow White nearby as well, and the two of these scents together actually smell really good.
  23. filigree_shadow

    The Rose in the Deeps of his Heart

    Oh, no. No, this isn't working at all. I smell no rose or flower or amber. I smell something horrid and green and weedy and awful. Whatever it is, it is very very similar to spikenard, which is my Worst Note of All Time and an absolute killer in every instance. If you like that green weedy vegetal scent (some people seem to enjoy tomato leaf, for example), give it a whirl. For me, a definite no.
  24. filigree_shadow

    Die Sundë, Vom Tod Verfolgt

    OMG. Why the hell did I have this sitting in my BPAL "to test" box for this long. I should have bought a bottle of this. I am very, very dumb. This is a gorgeous, lush, orchid musk. Like, super sexy and feminine at the same time. And for what it's worth, smells nothing like Snake Charmer on me, like a couple of other reviewers mentioned, so maybe there were batch differences. The orchid in this is way too strong for it to smell like Snake Charmer. Crap. If I had a bottle of this I'd wear it all the time.
  25. filigree_shadow

    Sunflower

    This one was never a favorite of mine from the Salon, and I think it was because it was a little powdery on me. I liked the green mossy aspect of it, but it is a very dry floral on me. I'm iffy on florals anyway, and although I sometimes do like a dry floral (Mum Moon is very nice), I generally lean toward the bright round soft-petal ones. This one isn't for me, but I do appreciate the artistry of it.
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