filigree_shadow

This smells like a cunning masculine blend to me. The leather is soft and comfy, and although the amber is going a little bit powdery on me, it still smells good. The orange blossom comes out when it's dry, and I could do without that, but I still like this blend just fine. I think it'll smell better on my hubby than it does on me, though.

This is a strange rose blend to my nose -- it smells almost metallic. It has a kind of stinging quality to it, the sort that I normally associate with "perfumey." It does smell like a very dark rose scent, and Black Rose is a fitting name.

Yow. Dirty and herbal. Very earthy, but also sharp. This is not my kind of scent at all. I just took a big sniff of it and then involuntarily shuddered. That doesn't happen very often. I think I better wash this off.

I sorta like whatever citrus is in this -- it smells mostly like grapefruit to me. But unfortunately I don't like the florals. They're too strong, and something in this is a powder culprit. This smells like a sour floral on my skin. So, no Versailles for me.

This is a sweet, smooth herby scent. It's brighter than I was expecting it to be, and the herbs aren't the gentle soothing kind of herbs that I like. They're not harsh or anything, just not soothing. Not a bad scent, but not my favorite.

I thought I'd love this for sure -- the oil is dark, and that's always a good sign for me. Plus I know that I love heliotrope and patchouli, and copal is usually good too. The only wildcard is oakmoss, which can be okay or just plain bad. The first time I tried this scent, I thought it smelled like a men's deodorant scent because it was kind of powdery and masculine at the same time. I'm trying it again now, and unfortunately I can't get that men's deodorant comparison out of my head, so once again I'm thinking that's what it smells like. The oakmoss makes this overwhelmingly masculine in my opinion. So much so that I wouldn't feel comfortable wearing this. It's actually a good scent, and I don't think there's anything wrong with it... but it's too masculine for me, and my husband doesn't like it on him. So this one won't be hanging around at our house.

Based on the notes, I thought I'd like this, so I bought a bottle of it unsniffed a long time ago because it was on eBay for a really good price. I had the bottle for quite a while but I only wore it once, so I sold the bottle. There's nothing at all wrong with this scent -- it's a lovely, deep scent that smells exactly like you'd think it would from looking at the notes. It's a little bit incensey, a bit exotic, and a bit woody. Nothing offensive about this scent in the least. But for some reason, I didn't find myself reaching for it. I think that if I'm in the mood for an incensey scent, I'll go for Al-Azif, and if I want something exotic I'll put on Scherezade. So I think that although I like this one, I have others that are sort of like it that I like better.

I love Dragon's Musk. It was the first bottle I ordered from Ars Draconis. I would say that it's definitely in the Snake Oil family of scents -- it has that musky sweetness that Snake Oil has, but instead of vanilla it has sweet resiny dragon's blood. It's also not as strong as Snake Oil is; it's more subdued. It's an enticing, softer scent, rather than being so in-your-face. I usually find dragon's blood scents to be comforting, and this one is definitely not an exception. It's kind of a calming, centering musk scent for me. Very nice. This one and Dragon's Milk are my favorites from Ars Draconis, but I'd be hard-pressed to choose between them for absolute favorite.

A rich, bold blend of imperial rose, carnation, lush jasmine, lily of the valley, dark musk, amber, bergamot and gilded tangerine. This smells like some sort of jasmine-scented hair spray on me. Really horrible. Sorry, but that's the truth. I was really hoping for something in a nice musk, amber, bergamot, and tangerine combination, but that's not what I got. At all. Edited to add description.

When I first put this on, I thought it was an odd scent. I also thought it was STRONG. The orange blossom is overwhelming in this, and the chocolate is doing that weird funky chocolate thing on me. Chocolate and I don't usually get along even in the best of circumstances, and orange blossom isn't really the best of circumstances. I'm glad that other people like this, but on me it smells like tootsie rolls and orange blossom. You might think that sounds good in theory, but it doesn't really work as perfume.

I don't really get any leather out of this. But the roses do smell... sleek, somehow, so I think the leather is subtle but there. I'm normally not a fan of the rose scents, but as rose goes, this is one of the better ones. It smells like naughty roses. The best kind.

Well, whaddya know. I have had this imp for quite some time and never bothered to try it because I usually don't like rose, and I almost always can't stand gardenia and jasmine. But I just tried it, and strangely it smells like vetiver and leather on me -- two notes I like. There are some florals in there too, but nothing overwhelming. Oh, wait... as it's drying the florals are coming out stronger. Not the kind of floral scent that I like, either. The leather is still there, but I don't like the florals much. My husband just tried it, and it smells too floral and feminine on him. So... too masculine on me (leather and vetiver) and too feminine on him. Guess this one's for swaps.

Curses! Is there oakmoss in this? Dirt? Earth? Is that what mandrake smells like? Cuz really, the only thing I get out of this scent is something that smells like oakmoss and dusty dirt. Maybe a teeny tiny bit of currant. I wish my skin would not amp the earth notes so much. They really overpower. When it's dry it smells not just like dirt but like something rotten too. I am really not getting along with this scent at all.

I like the fullness of the florals in this one (not heady or cloying), and they're backed up by something hazy and dark. The floral aspect of it almost disappears after it's dry, and I'm left with a sweet, deep incense scent. It smells a little bit planty -- I'm guessing that's from myrtle leaf or cypress. All in all not a bad scent, just not something I'm likely to wear.

This smells too strongly of jasmine for me to like it, but I think it's nicer than most jasmine blends. There's something almost dewy about it -- not watery, but kind of fresh and sweet. Must be the midnight flowers... I usually like night-blooming florals better than the regular ones. Not bad, but still too floral for me.

This is the 04 version -- I'll add a review for the 05 version later. I think this is the perfect foody scent. It doesn't turn into the fake plasticy scent on me like Egg Nog did, and it doesn't smell like burnt sugar like Sugar Skull did. It's got a little bit of spice to it (nutmeg? it's not cinnamon) but not so much that it drowns out that yummy warm cookie scent. There might be some rum in this, but it's not prominent. Mostly this smells like warm cookies, and I think it's great. Very comforting scent.

I'm reviewing the 06 version here. It smells oddly like fruit on me at first, which I didn't expect. The leather is stronger in this than I was expecting, too. On my husband, it smells like cherry tobacco smoke. He has a few bottles of the 05 version and likes to wear it. I like the way it smells on my hubby better than on me -- it's too masculine for me. Also the 05 version is better than this fresh 06 oil, so I'm pretty sure this is one of the ones that improves with age. Here's a little personal story, too: The scent reminds both of us (my husband and me) of his father, an older German man with a white beard who is quiet and gentle and makes gifts for us in his woodshop. He also smokes a pipe -- he likes cherry tobacco. It tugs at my heartstrings a little that this is a perfect scent for Herr Drosselmeyer and is also a perfect scent for my husband's father.

At first this smelled very "perfumey," but then it settled into a much prettier and deeper scent. It seems like mostly orchid with a little bit of rose, not too spicy from the carnation, and not too sweet either. The red sandalwood is very nice in this -- gives it a deep grounding. This is feminine without smelling girlie -- I would say womanly. Unexpectedly sexy. I like this quite a lot.

For some reason this smells spicy on me. Kind of like spice cookies with an itty bitty undercurrent of bay rum. The lime is not prominent on me at all -- in fact I can't really even smell it. This is a warm and comforting scent to me, and I like it a lot!

The aloe in this really amps on me -- to the point where this doesn't smell like musk or sandalwood or anything except GREEN. It smells like soap. And after about 10 minutes I can barely smell anything. I'll give this bottle to my husband and see if it works better on him.

The first time I tried this I thought it smelled exactly like baby powder on me. Now I'm trying it again, and although I don't think it smells exactly like baby powder, it sure is powdery. Kind of like an orange-scented powder. I like the orange part but not the powderiness, so I won't be keeping this one.

... Deep cocoa laced with patchouli, leather armor, ritual incense, and a touch of Xochiquetzal’s flowers. Lots of cocoa in this, and it's fantastic with the leather and incense. It's sweet and deep and rich. This is really a great scent, and it smells even better when it's aged.

At first it's so sweet it smells like Pez. The tangerine is strong but powdery (because of the amber?). As it dries it becomes a darker scent, and the cedarwood comes out, but not overpoweringly so. It's an unusual and interesting scent. So far I haven't been able to decide how I feel about it because tangerine and vetiver seems like a strange combination to me, and I'm not sure whether or not I like it.

I mostly smell vetiver at first, loud and strong. Then it takes a backseat, and the whole blend starts smelling extremely perfumey. Almost metallic. Then it turns into kind of a strange acrid dark smell. I'm not really getting any China rain out of this. Just a strange kind of sour vetiver.

I was really looking forward to Silk Road -- it was one of the first BPAL oils I tried. I didn't understand at the time why it didn't smell very good on me but other people in the thread thought it was so wonderful. (That was before I understood about skin chemistry.) I kept trying it, thinking I must be missing something, but I kept not liking it. I like the spicy part of it just fine, but there is some grain note or something in this that makes it smell kind of like bread. Only... not good bread. It doesn't smell like moldy bread or anything, it just smells off somehow. I'm not sure what note that is, but it doesn't work on me at all.