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BPAL Madness!

portalkat

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Everything posted by portalkat

  1. portalkat

    The Red Queen

    Cherries are not my favorite note in perfume, so I am a bit skeptical about this, however I love wood so I am anxious to give it a try. One sniff and I have fallen hard. The cherries and the currant add a wonderful sweetness to the deep dark woods. It is almost like that sweet cherry pipe tobacco and so very smooth. It does not really morph and is not that complex, but it is beautiful in its simplicity. I am so in love with the Red Queen
  2. portalkat

    Dr. John Seward

    I am so glad that I bought a bottle of this. The strongest part of this blend is the champaca flower and the sandalwood all sweetened by the tonka. There is a spiciness, too and over everything is the opium. This is an absolutely wonderful take on the basic nag champa blend and hoardable in my book. I have been wearing this now for about 5 hours and I just need to say that this scent sends me swooning
  3. portalkat

    Count Dracula

    Last night I went to sleep with Count Dracula. He smells of leather and the musty smell of wood from the coffin. I can smell the spices and they give sweetness to the leather. The black musk wafts through to make things dark, but the neroli is at the forefront to sweeten things up. I was hoping for something a bit darker, but I think that with a little time, the patchouli will age into something incredible. This is a fairly subtle blend, however it has quite a throw from the neroli.
  4. portalkat

    Carfax Abbey

    I absolutely agree with Couscous in that I would have thought that this was the Castle if I didn't know better. This is the scent of an abandoned, vast, ancient structure. It is cold and unwelcoming and the wafting incense is dry and spare, the resins having been sucked out by the emptiness of the place. The woods in this blend remind me of Dragon's bone, either the white sandalwood or the blondewood, I'm not sure. I can smell the floral in the background, but it is very faint and wafts in and out of the incense. This is so different from the other incense blends like Cathedral, Midnight Mass or Aureus. Carfax Abbey is a chill wind blowing through and I am loving it.
  5. portalkat

    Xanthe, The Weeping Clown

    Xanthe is much more complex than I had expected. It's very fruity, but the sugar and apple blossom combine in such a way that it reminds me of incense, especially with the white pepper which gives it a sort of smoky note. The sugar in this reminds me of the sugared incense in Midnight on the Midway and also the sugary lemon blossom of Carnaval Diabolique. It is absolutely gorgeous. This is another CD blend that I absolutely love and my wallet will weep with Xanthe.
  6. portalkat

    Mme. Moriarty, Misfortune Teller (2006)

    I am not a huge fan of red musk, so I was a bit worried about this, but the minute it hits my skin, the vanilla comes out to add sweetness and creaminess. The juiciness of the fruits combine so beautifully with everything and I can't stop smelling my wrist. I would have bought it anyway, but the fact that I love it is a huge plus. It would have been so sad to not be able to wear Beth's blend.
  7. portalkat

    Harvest Moon 2006

    I have no idea what took me so long to try this, but I think that it was the apple, although some of my favorite blends contain it After first applying, I can smell the deep chrysanthemum with a very fresh apple in the forefront. I cannot really separate the other fruits, but they are in there giving sweetness and fullness to the mix along with the cane sugar. After a couple of hours, I no longer smell the apple by itself and the blend takes on a dusky note from the woods and grains. This is so lovely and complex and definitely reminds me of late summer into autumn. This is absolutely one of my favorite lunacies.
  8. portalkat

    Black Moon

    Deep, dark and seductive. I want to say that it's a fruity floral, but it isn't exactly that. Everything is so well blended that it smells like a new and unique flower created by Beth. The musk is light and I catch hints of it every so often. Black Moon is so beautiful and lush and it has a bit of a tropical feel. I am so happy that I bought 2 bottles
  9. portalkat

    Schwarzer Mond

    Dark, a bit spicy and resiny. There is a sort of herbal note which reminds me a bit of horehound, although I think that it's the zdrevetz combining with the resins and the bay rum. I can smell the amber after a bit and it adds some creaminess to the spice and bite of the myrrh. The antique patchouli is beautiful and it is the strongest note that I smell after 6 hours. I knew that this would be beautiful and I'm so glad that I bought 2 bottles. This will age beautifully. Good job, Brian ETA - 11.19.06 I wanted to add on to this review since the oil has had a couple of months to age. This has become so smooth and mellow. The sharpness that was present in the beginning is gone and it has gotten a lot sweeter. This just gets better and better
  10. portalkat

    Les Bijoux

    Wet on skin - Rose complete with stem and leaves and very green. I sniff again and I realize that the "green" that I am smelling is the peach with just a hint of the apple. After it dries, the green note retreats and it is mostly rose with some apple to sweeten and a bit of musk wafting through. Then the resins come out and the musk settles over all. This is very beautiful and so well balanced that the fruits never really stand apart from the florals and the musk and resins just augment the already gorgeous fragrance. This is truly beautiful - and my wallet weeps.
  11. I just tried Dee and it is a nice mix of sweet wood and resins. Rather than a dry wood scent, it is more resinous and the sweetness is helped along with the tonka
  12. portalkat

    Dee

    I did a search for rosewood in blends and found Dee. Wet on skin - When first applied, it is subtle, slightly woodsy with a hint of resin. I keep checking on it, but it continues to be very faint. Dry - It is starting to get stronger and the rosewood and the resins start to bloom. After about an hour, the notes begin to combine into a resiny/woodsy goodness with the parchment floating through. It is at this point in the development of Dee that I leave to go to sleep...................6 hours later, I move my hand across my face and am met with the most gorgeous sweet wood and resin scent. It is so beautiful and I think that it's the tonka combining with everything that gives it the sweet aroma. This is absolutely lovely and I have found another surprise love.
  13. portalkat

    Regan

    Regan is simply a beautiful floral with vanilla. The vanilla is not foody, but more the actual orchid. and the stephanotis is creamy and soft. It's so lovely that I can't stop smelling my wrist. Definitely bottle worthy and I think that it would layer well because the notes are so clear.
  14. portalkat

    Tombstone

    Tombstone starts out with a strong blast of sassafras. I knew that it was in there, but I didn't expect it to be so loud. I can smell the vanilla along with it and I'm wondering when the other notes come out to play. Aaah, now that it's dry, the sassafras recedes and the vanilla mingles with the wood notes. This is really pretty because I love vanilla and wood, but it wasn't what I had expected from a blend called Tombstone. Oh well, I love it.............and I need a bottle of it
  15. portalkat

    Aureus

    Aureus reminds me of Cathedral with the woods and incense. It doesn't have the floral notes and it's much brighter and less somber. Aureus is more like the inside of a church in the late afternoon light with the amber sun streaming in through the windows. Lovely and another hoardable blend.
  16. portalkat

    Chrysanthemum Moon

    I bought two bottles of this unsniffed. From the bottle I smell a spicy floral that seems rather appealing to me. I put a bit on from the lip of the bottle and let it sit for a moment before I sniff. What I get is jarring, sharp and it reminds me of some of the dragon blends which really are not my favorites. I give it some time, but it won't let me ignore it - the throw is strong and it is screaming at me. I gave it almost two hours because I was determined to like it since everyone else seems to, but I had to break down and wash it off. That was yesterday and I am still determined to like this. I rummage around in one of my boxes and find some sort of vanilla which I slather on beneath a dab of Mum Moon - sniff..................ummm, much better and more creamy and I'm actually going to leave this on because I can't stop sniffing my hand. I'm keeping the bottles and coming back to them in a few months. I have a feeling that this will age like fine wine.
  17. I wasn't sure if this was directed to TroubleDoll or me, but I'll comment I ordered Carfax Abbey unsniffed because the description sounded so perfect for me. I haven't tried Umbra, but just reading the reviews made me long for an imp. Almost everyone commented on the incense notes so I think that anyone who is looking for incense or resins should try it. I can't wait to get the Carfax Abbey.
  18. OMG - Aureus! I've had that sitting in one of my boxes and had never tried it until this thread...................this is wonderful and slightly sweet (not floral) from the resins and nice and woodsy. Oh, crap - my wallet is going to hate me, especially when I seem to be coming up with a new love daily
  19. Whenever I reach my destination, I somehow find a new quest in order to keep myself amused Hi Portalkat - I must have forgotten to make a note in your original post - but sometimes after a thread's gotten a bit older and I stumble upon it, I will edit the title to make it a little more searchable in case someone comes along and is looking for something similar. I do try to retain the OP's original witty personality - often, it's just a matter of putting the more general terms in the title and then the original title in the subtitle ('cuz the search engine won't pick up terms in subtitles, unfortunately). Oh, now I understand! I thought that maybe my title was offensive to some and that the desired scent that I was trying to achieve was something else associated with a headshop -
  20. I am always on a quest for the perfect incense/resin/woodsy blend and some of my favorites are Penitence, Pulcinella & Teresina, Midnight Mass, Cathedral, Anne Bonny, Urd, Tushnamatay, Manila (very woodsy on me), Midnight on the Midway and Fenris Wolf. For more recommendations, I started a thread here. The original title was, "I want to smell like a headshop," but I just noticed that the mods revised it a bit -lol
  21. portalkat

    Carnaval Diabolique

    Lemon, not the tartness of the juice, but more like the zest of the lemon, full of the oils and then muddled with sugar and vanilla. I can smell the florals in the background with that drizzle of sweet lemon sugar. After about an hour, the lemon moves to the background and it smells faintly woodsy and incensy. Since there is no wood note in the description, I'm thinking that it is the black musk and the opium that I smell. I am a fan of coconut, however I don't really smell a strong note here, but it could just be combining with the sugar and the lemon flower to tame the citrus notes and add creaminess. For me this is absolutely another to be hoarded. So far, I am 3 for 3 with the CD scents - beautiful! ETA - I guess that it would help, if when I'm testing, to apply a bit more than just a whisper. I re-applied and.......coconut! It's different than I've smelled in other blends, though. It is like fresh young coconut meat.
  22. portalkat

    Psyche

    I love so may notes in this, especially the frankincense combined with the florals, but the lavender is so much stronger than the orchid and the rose that I basically smell lavender, musk and frankincense. Too bad, because the description sounded so promising. In fact, the lavender with the frankincense is making me rather queasy. Maybe it's just my system right now, but I need to wash this off. I'll try it some other time.
  23. portalkat

    The Haunted Palace

    In the bottle - rose and blood orange with a bit of amber On the skin - Very sweet floral with underlying hint of orange After a few hours - The amber, musk and vanilla combine to make a beautiful incense with floral undertones. I love the way that this develops and I am so glad that I have a bottle.
  24. portalkat

    Lenore

    On my skin this is strong and odd smelling. I figure that it's the vetiver, thyme and patchouli. It is such an odd smell, but rather compelling and I can't stop sniffing my arm. It takes a few hours to morph, but then it becomes a fruity blend with the musk and the saffron adding a rather exotic aroma. Different, but beautiful and dark and I'm glad that I was able to locate a bottle.
  25. portalkat

    CCNow or PayPal

    Your order is fine. The reason to go directly to paypal rather than to paypal via CCNow is that the lab gets hit with fees. My post about this same thing is back a few pages on this thread.
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