tajana

Woah that is strong. I dabbed on just a drop and was surrounded by a cloud of aggressive tropical perfume. At first it's bright, sharply lemony (fresh ginger?) and has has high, sweet floral notes with a tropical feel. After it dries down the sour brightness calms down, and Hi'iaka smells like hibiscus and orchid with banana candy on a bed of greenery. There are other florals here too but they all blend together and are indistinguishable as separate entities to my nose. After it's had more time to chill on my arm there's a powdery undertone, but at the same time the ginger seems to have come back in a really, really pleasant way! However, the banana candy phase is still weirding me out and there are just too many flowers here for me.

I got to try this as a frimp. I never sought this out on my own because even though it has lots of note I like (dark musk, soil, black cherry, opoponax, tobacco) the night-blooming jasmine made me uneasy. My instincts were right! On me, Earth Phoenix is musky fruit (cherry with a relatively subdued plum) with just a bit of black dirt and rain-fresh wood. As it dries down I get just a whiff of tobacco, and the jasmine arrives... and, well, suffice it to say that jasmine and I rarely get along. This is no exception. It eventually fades down to a general sweetness, which, when I bring my wrist right up to my nose, turns out to be a syrupy fruity-floral, sweet plum and cherry backed by jasmine and a trace of musk.

This review is for the 08 version. Wet on my skin it's all moist, dark green moss, decaying leaves and wood, mushroms pushing through dampened, upturned soil. I really like dirty and earthy notes, but the mushroomy note is a bit much for me. As the oil dries on my skin, the scent seems to get drier, too! It smells almost dusty, and reminds me of stone... quite appropriate for the name! The end result is primarily dark black dirt accented with stone (it makes me think of cool night-time air, but underground) with a bit of moss. I'm blown away by how realistic this is! The decant is totally a keeper, but I probably won't need more of it because if I wear this out and about, it'll probably be layered with something else. EDIT: Sigh! Sigh sigh sigh. This fades far too quickly on my skin (it's just a whisper within an hour), and this isn't the kind of scent I'd wear in a locket; I've found that dirty scents actually smell nicer on my skin than they do in the locket. So it looks like I won't be keeping Graveyard Dirt after all.

CROWLEY! I pined away after this scent for ages, and it did not disappoint! I just wish I had found out about how amazing this perfume was sooner. Crowley, the perfume, is a devilishly sexy lovechild of Dee (which I like) and Loviatar (which I really like), with a few extra notes to elevate him to perfection. A lick of lemon zest to start things off, and then a haze of expensive cologne that turns smokier and spirals into an olfactory orgasm. Incensey red musk. Deep, earthy red patchouli. The perfect, and I do mean the perfect, stinging dose of black leather. Smooth, dark wood with a hint of shine. A bit of vanilla to reel you in even closer. SO GOOD. I need more! NEED. Yeah, it is quite masculine, but pshhh, whatever, I'd dab it on some days just to revel in its perfection, and slather my boyfriend in this every chance I get. Do not think twice. Just go get yourself some Crowley! Or, better yet, get some and then send it my way. Sorry for the smiley/emoticon overdose. This scent just arouses... uh... strong emotions.

Wet, it's plummy vanilla-flavored rice milk. Cute! Other plum-heavy perfumes I've tried have been really candyish, but the plum blossom seems more well-behaved, particularly because the creamy vanilla/rice keeps it in check. (I was just drinking rice milk a few hours ago. ) Dry, it's almost gone! I never did get any nutmeg out of this. After half an hour I just get a bare hint of plum on even footing with light vanilla sandalwood if I really take a deep whiff. Quite nice, but I'd really have to slather Lovers in a Ricefield to get much out of it. Edit: Well, I tested it again today and its character reversed itself! Significantly stronger and longer-lasting, but not my thing at all! It starts off demurely, just like it was the day before, but after ten minutes I was thrown off by an unexpectedly intense scent wafting up from my wrist. Sweet sweet plum, sweetened further with vanilla. There's still a noticeable splash of rice, but the sandalwood is smothered by vanilla and plum.

Wet, it's a ton of cherry blossom! Cherry blossoms have always struck me as very "clean" and since they are so very prominent here, this scent verges on soapy (not in a bad way). Anyway, after it dries down, it's still a ton of cherry blossoms, but with a faint touch of green moss. The vanilla musk adds just a delicate sweet base that underscores the pinkness of this blend. On my skin this actually turns out to be a less fruity, generally simpler version of my old Bath and Body Works pink Cherry Blossom lotion.

Wet, it's pure CAKE! It smells like a vanilla cupcake. Not what I was expecting at all! The date blends into the vanilla cake but isn't an assertive note on its own, and I'm sorry to say that I catch nary a trace of ginger. After this is dry the vanilla base persists, but it feels less cakey because of the other notes that pop up: I get soft moss and a soft wood that smells a bit mushroomy... reminding me a little bit of Death Cap, actually. This is nothing like that I expected, and yet I like it anyway. It stays really close to the skin (and I was testing a couple other scents, so it's having a hard time competing) but it's really really nice. I'll have to try my little half decant a few more times to figure out how I really feel, because, disconcertingly enough, I think I might want a whole bottle of this...!

Wow, this is true to the name. I have never tried such a patently foody scent, so this is a shocker for me! In the vial, I smell dark bitter chocolate and tart red cherry. On my skin, it's that red, candied, syrup-drenched cherry! Tart and juicy. The throw (which is pretty intense, especially in the earlier stages, by the way) is the interior of a cherry cordial, and closer to my wrist I smell seriously dark, black chocolate. Crazy! I smell like I'm hiding a box of crushed open dark chocolate-covered cherries under my clothes... really vivid, but I've decided that I don't want to smell completely edible.

I decided to retest this this morning because I was going to get to try Hod Resurrected, and I've seen these two compared! Alice, though, on my first try, was a bit too demure. Wet: A delicate, pretty scent, light and balanced between crisp and soft. Bergamot, softened with a hint of rose and milk, over a tickle of slightly spicy carnation. Pretty! Makes me think of tea parties. Dry: It's mostly rose frosting with the faint suggestion of tea from residual bergamot. There's just a trace of honey, which I think is lending a sweet powderiness, but it doesn't go crazy like honey sometimes does on me. Alice smells light, pink, and clean. Overall: This is such a "cute" smell, I can't imagine it offending anyone. It's delicate and girly, but I'd probably be more enamored if this had more throw and potency. As it stands, I have to slather or huff my wrist to get Alicey goodness.

I usually don't celebrate Valentine's Day but I almost-sort-of am this year. My boyfriend's favorite scent on me is actually Thanatopsis () but I think I'll wear Bakeneko in the morning and Loviatar in the evening, since he's also complimented me on both of those and they feel slightly more appropriate than a "meditation upon death". Edit: Aw, yay, he actually requested Penny Dreadful! (Not by name, by description. It amuses me to know that he actually remembers and likes my different smellies!)

Does anyone know of any BPAL that resembles Dior Cherie? I'm trying to enable someone. It's listed notes are: Green Tangerine, Violette, Pink Jasmine, Patchouli, Crystalline Musk, Strawberry Leaves, Caramelized Popcorn, Strawberry Sorbet.

Definitely reminds me of a lion! Wet on the skin I can't help but think of the Savannah. (And I forgot about the "savannah" part of the official description until I got back to this thread.) I swear it smells like dry grass, golden and warmed by the sun and by cinnamon. There's a hefty dose of amber, of course, but it comes out more strongly over the grasses after its dried. The spices get really subdued after a while, so it's basically just light amber and dry grass. I prefer my ambers darker than this. Fairly close to the skin, pretty good lasting power. Smells "mature", like this would just seem more 'right' on an older woman than on me.

On my wrist, it was faint and short-lived, just milk and honey with a feeble trace of ginger. In the locket, it was much more distinctive. Golden honey and vanilla-sweetened milk livened up by a spicy bite of ginger and a shake of pepper. I'm disappointed that all I get from the "strong black tea" is a little splash of astringency that I only catch little wafts of here and there. After four hours of time in the locket, it's mainly warm, creamy honey and a really crisp and clean "linen" note. It doesn't smell like any other perfume I've tried before, but I do like it! Even though honey is such a sweet scent by itself, the other notes really reel it in and I never once thought this was too cloyingly sweet. It's the kind of scent that I could picture fitting right into any time of the year. I probably would have liked it more if the tea was more prominent, but I can just add a dab of Severin to solve that problem!

Wet, this is purpley-red wine, very very fruity and quite sweet. Smells dark enough that it doesn't feel quite like grape juice, but I wouldn't say it's boozy, either. After a few minutes I definitely sense violets. So we have violets and fruity wine. After this is good and dry the wine dies down a little, the violets are blended with roses and another floral note (myrtle?). Eventually it dries down to a sweet musk, faintly grapey and faintly rosey. I keep searching for the leather but find none! A shame, because I love leather. It's not a bad scent, but it's more fruity and flowery than I'd typically wear.

I got Opuhi as a sniffie frimp. Soft vanilla with just the right amount of creaminess and sweetness. There's only a trace of floral feel to the "vanilla orchid" and to the "ginger blossom". The light vanilla is spiced up with equally soft and light bite of ginger. It's simple but bright, a little bit sweet and creamy. It's really very nice, a sunny-day-by-the-beach kind of smell. That is, it's nice until about an hour passes, at which point this starts smelling a touch fake and a bit like plastic. Another strike against Opuhi is the fact that it's very close to the skin; I slathered on the remains of the imp to try this, so there should have been more punch and throw.

When I first tried this, I dabbed it on my wrist, and I thought it was ok. I couldn't help but feel like it was missing something. I'd add some nice dark musk to this if I could, and I may try layering it with things to bring out the best in this. I tried Dee on my boyfriend, too, since this is a pretty cologne-ish, masculine scent, but it wasn't anything special on him. On my second try I liked it more. Soft woodsy notes (I'm really digging the rosewood), pleasant light incense, a prominent dry "parchment" note, and a subtle bit of leather. I didn't get much tonka. I'll keep the imp around because when I take a deep whiff it smells like an old candlelit library with a leather armchair, wooden shelves and old books... something to wear whenever I need to study and the actual library feels too glaring and dismal.

I looked up the notes before I tested this frimp so I was surprised to get a big jolt of fresh squeeze citrus (lemon?) when I first applied this. As it dries down the lemon dissipates and the florals come out: a quite pleasant tea rose with a bit of something that must be gardenia (I'm unfamiliar with the scent of gardenias). There's jasmine too, and, well... Jasmine is a life-ruiner for me. It adds a really unpleasant tint to Euphrosyne. Still, since I only put on a drop I could make it through to the dry-down and beyond. There's a tiny bit of vanilla in there when this is dry, but evil, evil depraved jasmine takes over.

I put this on without looking up the notes because I mixed this up with Depraved in my head, which apricot and patchouli. I was taken aback when I put it on. I immediately knew there was none of my beloved patchouli in here. Debauchery smells like a stinky animal enclosure and I recognize the note from Wolfsbane. The animalistic odor blends about evenly with opium, a scent I've learned that I'm not particularly fond of. Still, the opium keeps the civet in check and I'm able to wait and see what happens when it dries down. Some sweet musk pokes out and gets stronger as time goes on, but it's not enough to save the stale, musty feel of this... like a crazy cat lady's dismal lair. I am guessing this is definitely a skin chemistry thing- Debauchery is definitely one to try if you're curious to see whether or not civet works on you.

Wet, the initial burst is of a soft floral perfume, very much like something I'd expect from a department store. The blend of rose, osmanthus, and orchid smells nice as far as flowers go, but I don't get much else besides the flowers at first. Jasmine, my nemesis, is here, but swirled up with all these other florals it seems to calm down a little. It still adds that inevitable headachey touch, but it least it doesn't smell like cat pee doing it. After this dries down I can smell he sandalwood, which is nice and adds a grounding element, and there is definitely a light, sweet musk here, too. Ultimately it's a nice, unassuming floral without much waft. Very light. Disappears very quickly, which is odd, since sandalwood can be a very enduring note on my skin. Since I know the name it reminds me of fairies, but if I didn't, it might remind me of little girls or of grandmothers. Not my style at all, so it's off to swaps.

I was probably lured into trying this one because of the name and concept. Lemon and other citrus fruits are definitely the most prominent notes. Bright and cheery. Mint, a light trace of lavender, and just a tiny bit of moss are definitely noticeable after the first few minutes. No idea what zdravetz is or if I can smell it here, unfortunately. I don't get any chocolate per se but there's something smooth/creamy rounding out the citrus after it dries down. Pretty and certainly quirky (though the first time I tested it I got kooky soap), but fades quickly and I'm just not crazy for it, mainly because I'm very picky about fruit or citrus heavy scents.

Cinnamon, clove, allspice, other spicy things and a wallop of sweet tobacco. The tea is smothered by the other smells. This definitely feels piratey! Plunder spends a while on my skin being a lend of dry sandalwood with swirls of spice and tobacco overlaying it, with just enough sweetness. I get a bit of dark tea flickering in and out but it's largely absent. Ends up being almost pure sandalwood on me afterwards, and hangs on for hour after hour as lightly spiced sandalwood. Mmmm. Sandalwood. Yum! The most sandalwood heavy scent I've tried so far with BPAL, and this particular note just sings on my skin. I wish I knew exactly what kind of sandalwood this was, because I'm pretty sure a few others were terribly off on my skin. In the early stages of this scent I wasn't sure I'd keep the imp because it was just your usual spicy blend without much else going for it, but if I'm ever in the mood for sandalwood, this'll be a great choice.

Really light and weak on me... I applied it generously and it still disappeared within half an hour! I tried twice and had no luck. A bright, fresh ginger sweetened by a dab of honey and softened further by a creamy, milky scent. Warm and gentle. Nothing revolutionary. It is pretty, but my skin ate it.

I was beginning to think that I just didn't like pine in perfume, since the ones I've tried so far have gone either to pine-sol or to Christmas, but this... this is something else. I love it! Strong, sensual dark musk, juniper, and dark green pine that calls to mind dense forest, the earth beneath your feet covered with a shroud of fallen pine needles. I also distinctly get the impression of some beautiful deep golden resin, which makes me think of pine sap and only intensifies the beauty of this scent. It's so evocative, I love just closing my eyes and taking deep whiffs of it, wishing I wasn't in the middle of a city right now.

Mmm, I'm really enjoying dirt in perfume! Wet, it's that great BPAL dirt all right... this version is kind of dry, but with a quality that does remind me of mushrooms! Simultaneously, there's a sweet, creamy quality... kind of coconutty, actually. As it dries down it smells like I was literally digging around in the dirt, it smells richer than it did before, and also greener, like I'm digging up plants, roots and all. Interesting. It smells like a cousin to Goblin (earthy patchouli, and much stronger, toastier coconut) and Penny Dreadful (spicier and prettier). Despite the vanilla-coconut sweetness, it smells really foresty and natural, which is pretty cool. EDIT: I'm totally keeping this imp around. Lightly sweetened dirt? What a perfect scent to use for layering! It's also one of those scents with great lasting power and just the right amount of throw, which really adds a lot of bonus points. Hours after I wrote this review I realized how just great this smelled on its own.

Wow! A scent with jasmine in it that almost works on me! Holy crap! Up until now, jasmine has been the kiss of death in any scent it's reared its head in. Jasmine gives me headaches and obliterates every single other note in any scent, amping up to 710% to approximate the odor of a decaying old person soaked in cat pee. The fact that this scent was so close to goodness is practically a miracle! When I opened Crossroads and caught a whiff of unmistakable jasmine, I almost put it away. But the dry earth, mosses, and incense called out to me so I dabbed just a tiny bit on. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it didn't smell like a horror! Wet, it was all moss and herbs swirling in smoky incense and eerie flowers. Wow, wow, wow, even though I sensed jasmine, it smelled like actual jasmine and not the monstrosity that my skin usually turns it into. What a shock! This scent is fabulous and complex, really evocative of a dark and magical place, with beautifully dark dirt, rich green moss, intriguing herbs, and night flowers. I'm not a big fan of most flowery smells but if I was, this is the sort of thing I would go for! But the key words here are "almost works on me". After a while I find the herbs a touch too medicinal, and the jasmine and florals, though they do smell pretty, are overpowering the dirt/moss/incense trifecta and giving me a bit of a headache.