Emma2403

In the bottle: disconcerting. Not like anything else. There's soap, there are spices and… flowers (can't be more precise) On my skin: I'm sure I know this flower… maybe gardenia, but I wouldn't swear. The first reaction is "I don't like it" but then I find myself sniffing my wrist all the time… weird but not unknown of when it comes to me and Bpal! After a couple of hours: it gets very perfumey, very traditional… but not bad… Verdict: I don't know, this scent is very confusing. I think the best thing to do is keeping my decant but not chasing for a bottle… but then again, my nose's still glued to my wrist, so…. Confusing!

In the bottle: very light. A little citrussy, a little hairspray. On my skin: it's a very faint scent so far… the only thing I'm sure I recognize is lemon. It's also kinda aquatic, very bright and goes quite well with the idea of glass (if glass had a specific scent). After a couple of hours: it gets soapy… and there's still this hint of hairspray, I don't really know what it is but I kinda like it because it's a scent associated to my mother doing her hair when I was a child. Verdict: not exactly my thing, but quite lovable.

In the bottle: sharp, sharp, sharpest cherry. And the trace of musk. On my skin: still lots of cherries but it gets nearly watery. I couldn't say why. White musk is slowly and shyly showing… it makes it much better. After a couple of hours: and now here comes lavender. It's all white musk and lavender now, cherries have totally disappeared. Verdict: I'm not big on cherries, so I wouldn't become a fan of King of Hearts because of the initial phase. But cherry lovers should give it a try for sure.

In the bottle: agh, damn patchouli… it just kills everything else! On my skin: applied very carefully as patchouli is really not my friend. And it's nearly the only thing I can smell. I'm really looking for the apricot but it's not there. Verdict: I had to wash it off before even waiting for the drydown because it was a patchouli nightmare!

This is a frimp. I seem to attract only floral frimps those days. I'm not thrilled by this, but let's give it a try anyway. In the bottle: ooh that's lovely. It reminds me the florist shop I wanted to open when I was younger (I love flowers scents, they just often don't work on my skin)… there's freesia and some green boughs. On my skin: freesia and yellow daffodils. This is very joyful, very pretty and unlike many florals, it's not too heady. After a couple of hours: it gets a little powdery but I don't mind… Verdict: a very good surprise… I probably would not have tried this one if I hadn't been lucky enough to get it as a frimp. Nice, very nice.

In the bottle: violet and clove. Or tonka. Or both. On my skin: violet and lots of clove. Very, very sweet, close to becoming sickening. After a couple of hours: it stays very, very heady and goes more perfumey by the minute (there's no musk though). Verdict: I usually love violets, especially Bpal violet, but this one is certainly not for me… It's just too strong and too sweet, and makes me feel sick. And I think it's official now: tonka is not my friend.

I nearly didn't order a decant of this one, because the description, without any notes listed, reminded me of Nuclear Winter, and Nuclear Winter had been a huge disappointment for me. Now I'm so glad I finally caved! In the bottle: WOW! The same snow note as in Snow White. There were so many snow scents that absolutely didn't agree with me (such as snow bunny, snow moon, talvikuu…) and here, finally, there's something similar to snow white. Please, please, make it work on my skin! On my skin: the snow white snow plus tons of mint. And some kind of dirt far behind. Okay, this scent has been made especially for me, right? After a couple of hours: the most perfect comfort-scent. I can't really pick up individual notes anymore, but I'm in love. Verdict: true love!

In the bottle: very sharp verbena, with some rose underneath. On my skin: still tons of verbena, plus some wintergreen. I like it a lot. It's really evocative of Yule, time of rebirth and new beginnings. After a couple of hours: it gets softer. Unfortunately, it disappears a bit too quickly for my liking, my skin seems to drink it off. Verdict: very pretty. But considering the number of bottles I have of my "I absolutely need this"-list, I suppose, I'll have to pass on Yule and only keep my imp.

I was really in love with stardust 05, so I had to try the 06 version as well. Let's see. In the bottle: champagne and musk and tons of bubbles and stars. I swear I can smell them. It's as beautiful as last year's. On my skin: it doesn't morph very much. Musk and champagne mostly, with very white flowers hidden behind. It's so festive and also full of nostalgia, like evoking a time of insouciance I've never happened to experience myself. After a couple of hours: it stays very loyal. Lovely white musk, with a bit of a smokey atmosphere. Still some champagne and flowers. Verdict: I wish I could bathe in Stardust! I didn't notice any significant difference with last year's version.

In the bottle: lots and lots of cocoa and then quite a reasonable amount of coconut. Makes me think of a cup of hot cocoa topped with coconut powder (not something I would drink, though!). On my skin: nearly only chocolate (milk chocolate). There's a hint of coconut from time to time. I used to hate coconut but some Bpal scents (such as The Star) taught me to love its smell. But not here… here it's the sickening coconut I'm a real fiend of. After a couple of hours: milk chocolate and maybe something spicy. Still too sweet for my liking. Verdict: off to swap.

In the bottle: pure watermelon with tons and tons and tons of sugar. On my skin: pretty much the same. Watermelon candy (if there is such a thing). I don't smell any of the other fruit. Very kiddish, I'd say. Very happy scent as well. Very girlie. After a couple of hours: in the drydown phase, all I seem to get is sugar… it fades away quite quickly as well. Verdict: well, I don't know, as I said, it's a very joyful scent. Maybe I'm not happy enough those days to enjoy it fully… I won't start hunting for it, that's for sure.

In the bottle: rosewood and sandalwood. Rich and warm. On my skin: Spicey amber and sandalwood. Plus a hint of booze (wine?). After a couple of hours: woody and spicey sexiness... it has a very good staying power as well. Verdict: it's a frimp and I was even reluctant to try it because well... I didn't like the name and I wasn't thrilled when I read the notes. But it's a definite keeper. It's so damn sensual!

This is a frimp from my lovely friend Chrysantza. She loves floral, I don't, so we'll see... In the bottle: oooh rose! A little creamy, a little green but still rose. Quite right for Venus. On my skin: wait, there's something more. Rose, of course, but... violet? Lilac? Some other heavy floral. Unfortunately, I don't get mint at all. After a couple of hours: very rich bright pink rose (while Red Rose was dark red rose and the empress was pastel pink rose). Verdict: it's very beautiful but I don't love roses enough to need another rose-scent, myself.

In the bottle: cedar, dust and musk. Very masculine and dark. On my skin: 100% wood. After a couple of hours: the heavy woods fade away and give place to some pleasant herbs… Verdict: no, not really. It's too masculine for me and I'm not a fan of woody smells anyway. It has something sensual though, but I'll stick with Lucy and Mina.

In the bottle: I totally get the vicks vapo rub mentioned by previous reviewers. Although I might be coming down with a cold, I don't want to smell like vicks vapo rub. On my skin: evergreen trees and moss. Well, it's not unpleasant, but I'm not wowing either. After a couple of hours: it gets very medicinal (like initially in the bottle). I don't mind this kind of smell but I don't particularly *want* to smell this way either. Verdict: off to swap

In the bottle: LOADS of honey, some plum and something floral! It's lovely. On my skin: mmm… honey and some lily. But, as usual, my skin amps honey, nearly too much for my liking. After a couple of hours: on me, the honey always stays very strong, this is no exception. Verdict: it's very lovely, the honey is not totally sickening like it could be in Litha or Honey Moon… I'm going to keep my decant but I don't really need a bottle.

In the bottle: butter and erm… what's that… something acid… yep butter and red berries. On my skin: totally different… more like rosy incense. But there's still something foody there too (like maybe some sort of brioche). After a couple of hours: spicy rose. Quite nice. Verdict: interesting combination of rose, foody and incense. Not "me", but nice.

This is a review for the 06 version. In the bottle: rose mostly and something like wet wood. On my skin: smokey rose. I can distinctively smell lily of the valley as well, and something like freshly ironed laundry. After a couple of hours: almost faded entirely away after an hour. Verdict: probably very pretty for rose lovers but not what I am looking for at the moment.

In the bottle: fruity, fruity, very fruity. I mostly smell pear. On my skin: pear and orange hard candies. I like it, it makes me smile. I smell absolutely no benzoin or pepper, only sugar and fruits. It would be quite perfect for a little girl, I think. After a couple of hours: more and more orange. Orange candies, lots of sunshine. A very happy scent! Verdict: it's very joyful, I like it quite a lot.

In the bottle: LOADS of cherries and a hint of anise. On my skin: cherry (mostly) and anise (quite present too). Those are two scents I dislike and the mix is not made to please me either. It's quite heavy and nearly medicinal. After a couple of hours: turns to soap. Verdict: no.

In the bottle: floral, but I can't really say what flowers are there. Rose for sure, but other things as well. On my skin: it's complex, I have troubles identifying the notes or even describing what I smell. Rose, then something smoky… Not as heavy as I thought it would be. Lilac maybe, somewhere in the background. After a couple of hours: it gets a little soapy… not horrible, but a faint smell of rose soap is definitely there. Verdict: It's a very pretty floral, but not right for me.

In the bottle: red musk first, then chemical strawberry, then orange (I suppose it's the grapefruit… citrus anyway). They follow each other in a very quick and odd way. On my skin: it gets much better. Spicy strawberry. The chemical tone of the strawberry is gone… somehow; it's what I wanted Strawberry Moon to be. Some citrus in the background (I still think it's orange more than grapefruit though). After a couple of hours: something in there makes me think of Snake Charmer. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't smell like Snake Charmer, but they must have something in common (maybe the same kind of musk, I don't know). This being said, it doesn't morph all that much, and remains very pretty spicy strawberries. Verdict: it's a new love. There's something bubblegum-like in the bottle, I agree with Teggy, but as soon as I put it on, this was totally gone. I'm really happy to see something with strawberry (and to me, it really smells like strawberry fruit not leaf) finally working on me.

In the bottle: grapefruit and tea. Very citrussy. Very, very nice. It's strong and kickin. On my skin: basically only grapefruit… I love it even more than Cheshire cat, I think! After a couple of hours: grapefruit or more precisely grapefruit peel. Verdict: A perfect summer scent. Cheshire cat lasts longer though, so I can't really chose between those.

So, I absolutely love orange blossom and white tea, but I ferociously hate vetiver… I still haven't made up my mind about opoponax and I have no idea of what karakarounde is… I guess it gonna be a weird experience, like most salons were. In the bottle: ahum. Ginger and benzoin. Masculine and quite violent. On my skin: (applied parsimoniously because I'm not in a masochistic mood)… it's just… bad. It's benzoin and something like gas… Makes me sick to my stomach. After a couple of hours: seriously, I cannot wait that long, I had to wash it off. Verdict: it can challenge Death Of Sardanapal to win in the category "scent that made me feel the most nauseous ever".

I was so sure I would fall in love with this one. Mint is my absolute favourite note. I'm also a big fan of tea and sugar cane, and I've been known to adore orange blossom. For all those reasons, I nearly ordered a bottle unsniffed… but I was poor so I couldn't. And now I'm glad because on me, it's nothing but black tea… it could as well be black tea single note . My mother and my best friend swear they smell mint when I wear it but I suspect they only say so to please me. And anyway, I don't get any mint, any sugar, nothing but black tea.