batsy

A friend procured a 5ml of this for me from NYCC as an extremely early Xmas gift. Just a bit of a preface: I adore Cerberus and Ivanushka, and was hoping that TBITC would be similar. In the bottle: strong but sweet sour whiskey, with a hint of wet fur. On the skin: It smells a lot like Cerberus when initially applied. It has a fair amount of throw at first. After several hours of wear, it dries down into a soft, sweet blend of whiskey - almost like the alcohol has burnt away and left just the sweet sugars - with a whiff of tobacco. This is great because it's got decent staying power, although not a lot of throw; it plays very close after that initial application. Which is unlike Ivanushka, which totally goes powdery and dies quickly, no matter how much I put on. Really, I adore this blend, and the story behind it, and feel fortunate I have a great friend who went after it for me.

In the bottle: strong maple syrup. Much like Cockagnie but without the pancake element. On the skin: The maple syrup factor, which I know isn't actually maple syrup but but more likely to be the ginger milk and cardamom mixed with the pumpkin cream, is super strong on me. Like, I barely put any on and I have this giant cloud of MAPLE SYRUP floating around me. This isn't a bad thing; at least with this it doesn't result in a migraine the way Cockagnie does for me. When I sniff my wrist, I get the black tea and pumpkin. I've been wearing it about five hours now and it's still MAPLE SYRUP but it's very pleasant. It's less spicy than Eat Me, but similar in the "warm comfort" scent way. I'm glad I bought a bottle, although I don't think I'll need a backup one. It will be interesting to see how this settles over time.

In the vial: So many notes that hate me. Mainly eucalyptus and cypress. On the skin: I guess it's the galangal because this deepens as it dries and gets quite impressive, until juniper marches in to bash me over the head. Totally dry, it's a cypress and juniper party. I think this would be great for a man but it won't work on me.

In the vial: Apparently I cannot escape patchouli tonight. On the skin: The patchouli disappears (yay!) and leaves the cassis and benzoin to play. I think the petitgrain gives it a woodsy flavored note. Not cereal grain, but grain-y. It's not until nearly full dry down that the rose otto comes out. This is very woods-y, grain-y, and not at all what I expected. I honestly can't see myself wearing it.

In the vial: Ylang ylang, we meet again. And you brought your friend, myrrh. On the skin: Okay, well they both took off and left over-whelming patchouli to stay behind. Yeah, this one is off to the swaps.

In the vial: Super patchouli, copal, and oakmoss. To the 10th power. On the skin: I couldn't put it on. My sinuses immediately reacted and it's so very strong, even in the imp's ear, I didn't want to chance a headache.

In the vial: Jasmine, darkened by something. I'm thinking the rose. On the skin: The myrrh adds some spice to this, which is mainly jasmine on me, with a deep dark rose note. Pretty but makes my sinuses ache.

In the vial: Unpleasant. In better descriptive terms, super bitter almond, heliotrope and frankincense. On the skin: It smells like almond muffins on my skin. That bitter taste. Yeah, all I get is almonds here. Swap pile.

In the vial: Orange. Which is a poor way to describe it but that's what I get: orange. On the skin: It's quite a sweet, over ripe candy orange on my skin. I don't get any fig, which is a blessing in disguise, even after full dry down. I'm not sure I'd wear this often, and the throw is very little on me, but I might layer it with something.

On the skin: crisp apple and rose, with a hint of teak. In the vial: I think that's the neroli, it's gone sour apple and dark. I can't say this ended up being what I imagined from the notes. Bummer.

In the vial: Buttered toast and toffee, with a hint of crust. Tart or toast crust, I'm not sure. On the skin: Okay, there's a whiff of pineapple, and I'm getting a bit of 'roast turkey', which is confusing my brain. On the dry down, it's all buttered toffee and pie crust. Certainly a foodie blend. Weird, to say the least, but quite inventive.

In the vial: Fruity! Bright, bubbling fruity not 'fruit punch'. Very much nectarine and lime. On the skin: Still fruit-filled but on the dry down the rose came out to play. Fully dry I got the musk and a bit of bergamot; I don't really smell any patchouli in this. It's a funny, bright scent that makes you feel cheerful.

In the vial: verbena and grass, with a dollop of amber. On the skin: Full on verbena. On the dry down, it turned to grass (my poor sinuses) before going flat out sage and grass. Off to the swap pile.

In the vial: lemon grass with a tiny dot of rose. On the skin: Wet, it's overwhelming lemon, much like a strong dish detergent. Then, as it dried, it became froot loops. While I like froot loops, I don't want to smell like them. Oh well, off to the swap pile.

In the vial: honey roasted almonds. SUPER STRONG. On the skin: Yeah, spicy, strong almonds. A little tiny bit of this throws a heck of a lot. On the dry down, it's just ALMOND all over my wrist. No thanks.

In the vial: resin and candle wax. On the skin: warm beeswax. There's a tiny bit of perfume in there, a sweet resin of some sort, that reminds me a bit of a man's cologne. Total dry down, it's still mainly the fresh, warm beeswax. Beautiful, simple. Really like this one!

In the vial: super woodsy. And probably a healthy dollop of tonka. A bit musty. On the skin: Yup. Tonka and incense. (I don't know why my brain just said 'peanut butter??' but I think that's just me.) This certainly invokes mental imagery of a dusty, small private library full of papers and old books. As I sort of put quite a bit much on my knuckle, it took forever to dry down, but as it started to, the leather popped out, warm and soft. Almost fully dried down, it took on more of the incense smoke. Really, it's a morpher and quite beautiful. I'm sure it would smell wonderful on a guy.

In the vial: Mint and rosemary. I can see why they'd have worn this; very fresh. On the skin: The mint is strong on my skin, with a whiff of the lemon and roses. Maybe the sour note is the grape? Not sure. Might just be the rosemary. The more I sniff my wrist, the more it feels like I'm sucking on a breath mint. While I'm certain this was very popular in Elizabethan times to keep everyone smelling fresh, it's not going to work for me. Certainly a "clean" scent.

In the vial: Red wine and amber. Promising! On the skin: Okay, the cider and the wine totally overpower the carnation (yay!) and this is quite "boozy", even on the dry down. Totally dried the spicy carnation pops but amazingly I can tolerate it. The amber and wine balance out and I'm sure the spice is also from the cider. Yum! Wouldn't slather it on, but certainly going to keep the imp.

In the vial: tasty coconut roses. On the skin: Okay, as soon as it hit my skin, it was orris. But, as it began to dry down, it became velvety rose, quite deep, with just a tiny tinge of coconut. I honestly would never have tried this had I not been frimped with an imp from the Lab. Finally, another rose blend that works on me! It's quite a "tropical" rose.

In the vial: Dirt, oakmoss, with a tiny hint of rose. On the skin: decidedly a "brown" scent, the dirt isn't totally overpowering. I think I mostly get both mosses and dirt; I wish the rose had come forth more after dry down. Does evoke graveyards and New Orleans in my mind. This is a morpher for sure. Think I'll keep the imp.

In the vial: strong jasmine with lotus. It practically screamed at me. On the skin: Okay the lime is present, the sharp citrus spike that's trying to play with the lotus, but the jasmine is killing me. I just can't wear jasmine. I would describe this as a clean scent, perfect for the summer. Just really strong.

In the vial: soapy, salty dish cleaner. On the skin: There's a strong ozone note, mixed with the aforementioned soap and salt. It didn't change as it dried down. Off to the swap pile.

It's taken me all these years to try BPAL's signature scent. I will now quickly rectify that! In the vial: leather and sugary almonds. On the skin: There's the cherry everyone's mentioned. Still getting a LOT of leather, soft warm leather. I don't know; as it's dried down, it does become 'baby power'-y, which sucks, and also takes on a 'generic hand lotion' quality on me. Lame. I think I'll still keep this and try it again another day.

In the vial: Dirt and roses. Dark. On the skin: Leather. Okay? As it dried down, the rose pushed through, a dark leathery rose. Maybe that's the combo of the amber and musk tricking me? It really is prettier then I'm able to describe it. Rose blends are hit or miss with me, but I think the amber/musk combo is helping this one work for me. Might need a bottle.