RiverPoet

In the bottle, I get strong wood with a waft of tea. Once it's on my skin, it's heavily oak. On dry down, the vanilla husk becomes more evident with a lightly sweet undertone. After about 15 minutes, it goes from a predominantly woody scent to one that's smoother and yet more complex, with the vanilla and tea coming out to play. I was initially thinking this was a more masculine scent on me, but it does end up unisex.

In the bottle: orange juice! On, wet: heavily apricot, with the tang of orange behind it. Drydown: well hello, dragon's blood. Knew you'd be here shortly. Dry: this blends into a nice combination of apricot, spice from the DB, and sweet powder from the oudh. The DB keeps it from being too soft. Moderate throw initially, then fades away over two hours. On the plus side, the honey is nowhere to be found - so often honey can go totally cat-pee on me.

2017 version Smut is my second-favorite scent BPAL scent, right behind Dorian. I think I own five Smut versions now, with 2013 being my favorite. This year's version goes straight to leather on me - very weird. (Not that I'm complaining, but.) I'm thinking that with some aging, it will get back to the sweeter, boozy Smut that I adore. It does get there after some dry-down time, but the musk is much stronger on me than the sweeter notes right now.

This ends up being a frankincense single-note on me. While I would have loved some cinnamon, this is a lovely, smooth, mellow frankincense that just wants to hang out and see what's up, rather than dominate the day.

Exactly as it says: warmth from the amber, the classic vanilla-with-a-kick, and sweetness from the oudh. This is the one that intrigued me most, and might be bottle-worthy.

This is kind of sharp in the decant, but once it’s on - pretty! It starts out wet with cypress, patchouli and sandalwood. That fades as it dries, and then I’m wondering where the rose and violet came from! (I thought at first I’d mixed up which one I was testing, so I tried it on a different place… yep, that’s the one.) If I get my nose up close, it’s still green and incense-y. But the throw is all sweet/floral… I guess it’s the tea and orchid? Regardless, this one has personality.

For me, this initially goes on as frankincense and amber. Then over a few hours it smooths out into a warm amber-vanilla. I never really get balsam or rose. Pretty, though, and great for cool weather.

When it’s wet the juniper really stands out. As it dries it’s ALL leather, with the juniper relegated to the background with a touch of honey. After an hour or so, the leather fades and it’s primarily a warm amber/honey blend on me.

In the vial, this is really sweet. Once on and drying, it’s less pom juice, and there’s a bit of a powdery stage. Then the roses come out, and I get violets from the orris root. I don’t get much of the cypress or myrrh at all, at least to name by smell. It settles in to a rose-violet with additional sweetness from the pom, and just a hint of dry spice if I get my nose right to the skin. 'Candied violets' is a good descriptor for the final, lingering scent on me. Pretty!

This is another one that is really sharp in the bottle, but once it goes on, changes completely. Wet, it’s sharp, then quite green. The lavender comes to the forefront here. As it dries it sweetens up and goes a bit powdery before the frankincense takes over. Once it settles, it has almost a root beer or sarsaparilla smell. This one morphs quite a bit from start to end, and the entire ride is a fun one.

Wow. This goes on a bit sharp and unsettling. The patchouli is front and center, with the bitter almond goading it on. But after about 15 minutes it calms a bit and the other players join in. The patch is tempered by the labdanum and frankincense, and the bitter almond dies way back. The cumin warms it all a bit, but tends not to stand out at all on me. After 30 minutes it really settles in, and has a bit of sweetness about it. Well-blended, it still has that edge of disquiet that really befits the name. I wasn't entirely sure about it in the wet stage, but as time went on I liked it more and more. And then - it faded out rather quickly. I think because of the sharpness in the bottle I was a bit stingy putting it on. I will definitely put more on next time, knowing that it'll settle down and turn lovely in short order.

In the bottle, it does have that 'dry' aspect... like a dried bouquet with baby's breath. Once on, it brightens up considerably and goes quite green on me. As it dries, it develops a sweeter note along with white florals, passion flower and aloe. Very innocent and light; not at all soapy or powdery. Quite lovely on a warm day, but needs to be refreshed after a few hours.

Ah, this is nice. Definitely an aquatic, not too salty. Clean, fresh, relaxing. Reads as a pale, shimmering light blue to me; it definitely could be moonlight on water. Wet, it smells more strongly of white flowers - jasmine, lily and gardenia?. As it dries, it becomes more of a fresh-water aquatic scent. I equate the 'forgetfulness, peace, and oblivion' to the impression of funeral flowers from the floral blend. Pretty; a little goes a long way. I'm glad I have the decant.

This screamed ‘green’ to me, so I had to try it. And it’s a lovely blend for summer. Fairly consistent from wet to dry on me - green, bright, sweet grass and clover, a touch of clean linen. Maybe a hint of sandalwood in the background for that incense. A refreshing, playful scent. No laundry, though it doesn't last very long on me - not a problem as I happily re-apply.

Going on, it’s sort of a white, clean linen smell with a hint of sweetness… must be from the berries. But definitely mossy (in a good way)… like standing at the edge of a cold freshwater stream. With something blooming nearby. Unfortunately, after about 30 minutes it settles into a skin musk on me, and stays that way. If only the moss and berries had stayed around! It had a lot of potential at first, so I'll give it another try or three and see what happens.

I really needed a pick-me-up scent today, and decided to try this one. It's working perfectly! It goes on quite bright and green - like a fresh-mowed lawn. It quickly quiets down to a light, happy-feeling scent. The heather, tea rose and clover are dominant on me and the combination is lovely. It does seem to fade fairly fast (or I just didn't put enough on)... luckily I had the foresight to tuck the decant into my yoga bag this morning. Definitely need to get a bottle before it is gone.

It starts out very aquatic and salty, with some seaweed thrown in for good measure. After a couple of hours, it's still mostly a water scent, but there's a bit of sweetness to it now... a soft floral that I can't (yet) place. It's gotten... melancholy. Also, faint. This one doesn't last very long on me, I'm afraid. But for a while there it goes through some interesting stages. Nice for days when I miss living by the ocean.

In the imp I got a musky rose. Going on, it was bright and floral - mostly rose and jasmine, with a hint of musk. Drying down, it is staying predominantly rose on me, but a mature rose... like a late summer evening stroll through a tea rose garden in bloom. There is some jasmine and tuberose and a bit of musk. So far, no neroli, tobacco or vanilla coming through on me. This feels like something I'd wear to a sophisticated evening event - mature and confident, but with a bit of mystery behind it.

As a former Phoenix resident, I'd give just about anything for that low-desert-in-a-monsoon smell: creosote and mesquite, ozone, ocotillo cactus, yucca. There's something so intoxicating about that scent.

Wow - in the imp, I got the immediate sensation of standing in the middle of an orange grove in bloom on a warm day. No citrus, but pure floral. Once on, it stayed fairly true to the orange blossom floral. I've tried many, many orange blossom scents over the years, but this is the first that reminded me of the true flower essence rather than the fruit or a commercial manufactured fake scent. The throw for the floral is fairly good; I can get some sandalwood when I get my nose closer to my skin. No champaca for me, but that's perfectly fine... this is the scent of childhood memories that I've been searching for. Onward to a full bottle (or two).