kunoichi

In the vial, this smells like a dark, musky rose scent, with a touch of sweetness to it. On my skin this is a dark, musky rose scent that has become much deeper and darker on my skin. After a few hours this is a very dark musky rose scent on my skin. The name, Black Rose, always reminds me of Kurobara no Kodachi - Kodachi, the Black Rose – from Ranma 1/2, but though this scent has her dark streak, it doesn’t have her bright insanity!!

In the vial, this is a pure, strong almond scent – yet it may have something hidden underneath the almonds. On my skin, the almond scent disappears and it becomes an ever so slightly smoky scent that has a touch of sweetness to it; it reminds me of something I can’t place, something possibly edible, dark and sticky - possibly like a fruit cake or plum pudding ... with musk. After a couple of hours this is much more like a dark, spicy musk and is quite nice.

I am not sure what to make of this from the vial; it is smooth, dark and a little sweet. On my skin, this becomes darker and loses it’s sweetness, presumably to the musk though it is not like any of the other BPAL musk scents I’ve smelled, and I can not pick out any of the notes it is so smoothly mixed together. After a few hours on my skin this is a very soft and rounded scent from the faded fragrance of the musk mixed with the other scents.

A sinfully playful lust blend. Inspires sexual spontaneity, a little bit of kinkiness, and new and inventive ways to get dirty. In the vial, this smells like a spicy orange and floral scent; it sort of reminds me of spiced, sweet oranges. On my skin, sadly the lovely orange scent has disappeared and this immediately becomes rather like soap - a floral-herbal soap, perhaps with a touch of sweet cinnamon in it, but soap none the less. After a couple of hours, this fades to a very, very soft breath of floral sweetness against my skin...

In the vial this is a gorgeous, light and golden citrus scent from the yuzu and mikan, with a hint of sweetness from the kaki fruit and cherry blossom. On my skin I can smell the citrus underscored by the scent of black tea, as the sweetness fades behind the stronger tea and citrus scents. After a few hours on my skin the tea fades and this becomes a very soft ever so slight sweetness on my skin, the remaining scent of the fruit and flower fragrances.

In the vial, this is a dark scent with a sweet, bubblegum like edge from the lotus. On my skin this starts to smell less like bubblegum as the darker scents start to make themselves smelt, with the myrrh fighting to rid the scent of sweetness; though there is an uneasy balance between the two as the amber and sandalwood try to soften them both. After a few hours on my skin, this becomes a soft, sandalwood-amber based scent as the lotus and myrrh disappear into the background.

This is a rather dark scented, yet somewhat sweet scent in the vial; the sweetness coming from the dragon's blood resin if Dragon's Milk is anything to go by. On my skin I can detect a vague rose-like scent amongst the dark sweetness - it reminds me somewhat of what a rose scented dark, sticky lolly would be like. After a few hours on my skin it starts to lighten but otherwise stays sweet with a hint of rose as it fades.

In the vial, this is an uplifting, sweetly piercing combination of juicy peach and a floral that would be myrtle. On my skin it loses it's piercing quality, perhaps due to the peach wine or the base notes, and slowly becomes more rounded as the light musk makes itself known. After a couple of hours this becomes a soft, rounded musky-amber-like scent on my skin, with the peach scent rather faded - there is just enough left to give the light musk a breath of sweetness.

Yum! In the vial, this is a deep, rich, delicious dark chocolate cocoa scent. On my skin this deepens into something else, like when you’re cooking something chocolaty – one of my friends suggested chocolate cake batter, mmmm! After a number of hours on my skin this fades to a lovely dark cocoa smell, reminiscent of a darker version of Bliss, though perhaps with a faint metallic zing in the background.

In the vial this smells of a sharp & dark scent that has just an ever so slight touch of sweetness (from the fruit) to it. On my skin this becomes an ever so faintly sweet, warm smell of sage & other plants. After a couple of hours on my skin, this has reduced the fragrance to a mossy, fuzzy and warm scent.

From the vial this is a cool and sweetly piercing fragrance; that of cherry blossoms and dragon’s blood resin (if Dragon’s Milk is anything to go by). The sweetness almost immediately disappears on my skin (goodbye cherry blossom!) and it becomes a more astringent smell as the tea leaf, sandalwood and bamboo come to the fore. After a few hours the astringent smell has disappeared and it has become a soft, somewhat wood-like blend after all the other notes have disappeared. This might have to be another blend for my car diffuser.

In the vial this is a sharply scented musky scent that has a sweetness to it, possibly from the honey. On my skin this becomes rounded with the musk and the touch of sweeter honey making it a deep, yet subtle blend as the complex notes of earth and wood join together in harmony. After a few hours on my skin the oakmoss (and possibly wood scents) have been left strong while the other notes have faded, leaving a ‘fuzzy’ scent on top of a faded darkish musk.

This is a softly piercing, warmly dark note that could be a spice with florals in the background. On my skin the spice-like note warms up, and starts with a more masculine feel about it, but there is a sticky note in the background that gradually becomes sweeter with time and turns much more feminine, sharp and crystalline with something dark underneath. After a few hours, this is still a prevalent scent that is sweet and high like flowers by a crystal lake – very pretty. I gave it to the boy (he has a thing for wolves and a tattoo of a wolf howling at the moon), and without even sniffing it, he said "Sold!" ... I got him to try it on later, and damn he smelled delicious. Mmm, I just wanted to eat him all up. ^_~

In the vial, this smells spicy and oceanic – a very male scent, reminiscent of the traditional man’s cologne. On my skin this becomes a touch sweeter than one would expect due to the florals in the blend, though it is still very aquatic due to the moss, and somewhat spicy scent – probably from the thyme – though it stays more on the masculine side. After a couple of hours, this is a much softer version of a male’s cologne, still with a slight touch of sweetness under the masculine scent.

In the vial this is cool and has a piercing note that may be caused by a spice in the background, otherwise it doesn’t smell of anything in particular. On my skin, there is a sudden burst of warm spiciness from the blend on something a base note that may be musk or civet. After a couple of hours on my skin, this becomes a soft, warm scent that isn’t spicy or sweet, instead it is closer to a skin scent than any note I can detect. It’s very neutral after the spiciness wears off. I’ll have to try this on the boy to see if it’s better on him!!

From the vial, this smells of a very yummy peppermint cream lolly-like smell, pure and sweet. On my skin, this is a lovely sugary peppermint that is warm, rather than the coldness of the usual aromatherapy peppermint essential oil - it's peppermint with the vanilla sweetness to temper the sharp mint scent, and it's a touch warm rather than cold. After a few hours, this is still a gorgeous - if softer - sweet, warm, delicious peppermint lolly scent, and so much better for me to wear than Lick It or Spooky where the coconut seems to give a 'stale' scent. Yum!

In the vial, this is a dark, rounded, subtle scent of sandlewood and black patchouli with perhaps a slight touch of cinnamon to sweeten is just a smidge. On my skin, the amber & cinnamon comes through to warm it up, though the sandalwood and black patchouli keep it grounded and make it a darker scent. After a couple of hours on my skin, this is a very rounded, soft and subtle smell of amber and faded sandlewood.

In the vial this is a soft rose scent with a breath of cinnamon in the background. On my skin, the cinnamon comes through sweetly to the fore, though I can still detect the roses faintly behind it all. After a few hours on my skin this has become a soft, subtle, gentle scent that has almost faded with only an ever so slight memory of the cinnamon sweetness that it once had.

This is a strange smell from the vial – like flowers with something very un-flower-like cutting through them, something powerful and more green and spiky – I know what the other flowers smell like, so perhaps it is the tuberose? On my skin, though, I can smell a delicious waft of jasmine (and perhaps the frangipani), tempered by the rose, with only a slight hint in the background of this spiky smell behind it all which stops it from being very sweet. After a couple of hours on my skin this becomes a very soft smell of florals which are almost warm on my skin, with a soft rose being the strongest of the flowers in the faded blend.

DCXXX (630) - This smells strongly of a sweet, candied, piercing cherry or almond in the vial. This fades rather quickly to just a sweet, sugary scent like that of a soft drink on my skin. After a few hours I can still smell the traces of sweetness on my skin, with perhaps a base like sandalwood. DCXXVIII (628) - In the vial, this is a sweet, luscious, fruity mandarin scent that is quite lovely. This continues to be a sweet, fruity mandarin perhaps with a base of sandalwood on my skin. The mandarin juiciness fades, after a couple of hours, and almost disappears into the sandalwood base. CDLXXVI (476) - This is dark and cool in the vial, reminding me of a scent I don’t particularly enjoy like myrrh or vetiver. On my skin this becomes slightly warmer and changes a little, but I still pick up on the unpleasant scent though it has faded back. This has practically faded into nothing after a couple of hours on my skin. DCXXVI (626) - In the vial, this smells like something that I can’t quite put my finger on ... like caramalised fruit... like fruit that has a depth to it, and a dark sweetness - a friend suggested the fuit was banana. This could have brown sugar in it, like Sugar Skull, along with some sort of fruit as it becomes sweeter and darker, with perhaps a touch of cinnamon, on my skin – it’s quite nice. After a few hours, this has faded quite a bit and I am left with a breath of soft, fruity sweetness on my skin. CDLXIV (464) - In the vial this is just a gorgeous strong caramel scent, though there is something behind it that is brighter, but I can’t place what it is. On my skin, rather than becoming sweeter, this starts to smell more like a burned caramel with a touch of coconut as it becomes a much more smoky scent; though there is still a touch of sweetness there. This fades slightly after a few hours on my skin to a smoky coconut-caramel smell on my skin, which isn’t as sweet as you’d suspect – it’s kind of like Red Lantern in that way. It’s a pity it doesn’t sweeten up – this might have to be another blend for my car diffuser!

In the vial this is a slightly sweet, rounded musky smell that is quite pretty. On my skin this stays rounded, though perhaps becomes a little deeper and more mellow – it’s almost creamy with it’s smoothness, as the saffron, spices and musk are well combined in this scent - it is reminiscent of Morocco. After a few hours on my skin, this has faded to a soft, light fragrance with a breath of sweetness to it.

This reminds me on some sniffs of pink musk stick lollies, though there is something somewhat boozy there, despite there being no mention of alcohol! On my skin this becomes a warm and deep scent – perhaps due to the amber – with the roses becoming ‘spiky’, all with the sweet musk behind it as a base. After a number of hours on my skin, this has become a nice, light, fuzzy and musky-sweet fragrance.

From the vial this smells of a piercingly green fir tree, almost completely hidden in a boozy-like, warm, savoury herb scent – quite an odd combination! This becomes a warm, deep incensy smell on my skin that has a dab of the sweetness of green things behind the smokiness, and perhaps a hint of camp-fire wood. Eventually this smells becomes a very light, yet smoky sweetness and somewhat powdery after it has faded on my skin for a few hours, and seems like it will soon vanish.

In the vial, this is cool, sweet and soft mint that has been made subtle by it’s sweetness with perhaps a whiff of a flower (it reminds me of lavender) in there. On my skin this becomes more like Spooky, except that the mint has faded back and coconut has appeared with a smell of soft, gentle petals mixed in. After a number of hours this is a sweet, light and gentle scent on my skin, reminiscent of Spooky with it’s sweetened peppermint.

This is sticky-sweet, warm and delicious yumminess when sniffed from the vial! It’s so strong and so yummy! My skin makes this even sweeter and stickier and warmer – it’s just gorgeous with it’s sweet honeyed vanilla over the warm dragon’s blood resin; one of my friends said he could smell coconut! Even after a few hours this is still sweetly strong, though the less-sweet honey comes out more to the fore as the vanilla fades into the background. Mmm!