Eldritch

Silk Road is full of food spicey goodness and isn't sweet on me at all, even when most scents go sweet with my chemistry.

In bottle: ooo. smells promising. Like sparkling...I don't know what. I get a hint of floral, which is very worrisome for me, but there's a lot of notes in here. Very complex and sophisticated smelling. Wet: I get a stringent whip of florals again but then it's gone. This is....ellusive. Like dark glass. It threatens to be expensive old lady scent, but it isn't because everything is blended so well and the florals are so buried under everything else. Dry down: This is really light, now. I thought I rather doused my wrist in it, but now it's very faint. This is a black sequin scent. Glammy sophisticated but really muted. Not screaming Fancy Party! like Nosferatu, but very soft. Almost powdery now that I think of it. Dry: Yay! Elegant femme perfume without being floral! it's very subtle, and it almost borders on powdery now and then, but it's settled into this really light, vaguely sweet scent. Maybe some amber? I am horrible at pickign out notes, but this is Hi I Am A LADY, DAMMIT, scent. Not a masculine trace or rough corner to be seen. A Lady, mind you, not a vixen or a harlot or a girl or a chick, a lady. This is the polished lady with the impeccable skirt suit/evening gown with silk blouses and modestly plunging necklines and french lace undergarments.And pearls. Lots of classy pearl. This might become my interview scent. Very subtle and refined and classy.

In bottle: Egads. Honey and sugar! When I was a kid, my mother would make me toast with cinnamon and sugar and honey for weekend breakfasts. It had to be enough sugar for four days in one slice. This is what the bottle smells like. Wet: I am sweet. Good gravy. I also get this cinnamony-milky background, but mostly honeyhoneysugarhoney. This worries me because Honey Moon was not my friend. Mrph. Dry down: Still honey, but not OMGIWillSmotherYou honey now. I think I'm getting some tea undernotes. Black tea? Possibly? And something a bit lemony. lemon tea and honey? Oh! That's what it remind sme of. honeyed tea. Like the tea you drink with a sore throat. The lemon must be the ginger. Dry: Eh. This is stale honey with a wee smidge of tea grinds. I think my chemistry has rejected it. Honey tends to not like me much, I think. Such sadness. I could see the possibilities in it.I was so excited for chai, but all I got was honey weirdness. Not for me.

In the bottle: Shades of Bliss, is my first impression. Chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate. Much more chocolatey than Spooky, with less the powdery smell. There's something else hovering in the chocolate that I can't place, though. Cautiously optimistic. Wet: More chocolatey-Bliss! And...oranges? Oooooo. It's those slammy chocolatey oranges you get at Christmas! How yummy. Very mandrin orange and chocolate. Dry down: Hmm. Still orangey. Less chocolatey now. Where'd my chocolate go? I'm reminded of chocolate-orange liquor or something to that effect. I'm not getting any of the florals or non-orange fruits other people detected. But the choco-orange is kind of beguilingly nice in it's own way. It reminds me of Christmas, when Santa would always leave a hershey bar and a apple/orange in my stocking. Hee. I'm just glad it's not going powdery-cheap on me like Spooky. Hour later: Still sweet, nummy oranges. Candied oranges. The chocolate has faded immensely to this subtle background note. This is the most -comfy- BPAL scent I can remember. It's not pretentious or flashy or sexy or glammy--not a high attention scent in the slightest. This is comfy denims, messy ponytails and a half-drank coke. Very laid back, youthful, casual. It's not an immediate omgmustwearthiseveryDAY! scent, but I am warming up to the bottle. Nice.

Help! My mother loves Revlon's Charlie perfume--since trying BPAL, all I can smell is the nasty alcohol when she wears it, so not only do I not like it, I can't pick out the notes. What BPAL fragrance is similar to Charlie that I can try to convert her to?

Wet: Nice but...is that powdered kool-aid? Nah. Say it isn't so. Dry down: The sparkle goes out of this blend on my skin almost instantly. It's very faint, now. It is yet another light scent that fades instantly on my skin. It definately reminds me of kool-aid, now. Watered down kool-aid. I think that's the pear in the desc, but it's so faint that it smells less white pear, more cheap generic fruit on my skin. Dry: There's a pleasent, extremely airy fruit note I can catch every now and then, but it's not saving this scent. It had potential in the bottle, but now it just smells like I had an accident with a kool-aid truck and can't wash off the smell. V. light, vaguely fruity, washed out. It's stone-washed kool-aid! Only not. Eeew. Now Thalia's doing a musty fruity dishsoap thing on me. No thanks.

In the bottle: I like this in the bottle. It's light, but spicey. Not spicey in the foody way, but spicey in the "well this is something expensive and exotic, most likely antique" kind of way.I don't get any particular family or blend from it, but a mix of intriguing stuff. I'm sure this'd be great as a room scent but my skin is known to mess fark up exotic/spicey notes. It's very well blended. Let's hope it stays that way. Wet: Mmm. Spicey herby goodness. This doesn't have that heavy musky-sexy base that so many spicey/exotic BPAL blends have (and my skin hates with a passion). Good sign. I can detect a touch of clove, cumin, maybe, but nothing stands out too strong or overpowering yet. I was worried this would smell like "Hi I'm an aging hippy/pothead!" when I ordered it--incense/spice scents make me leery--but so far it's pretty elegant and clean. Color-wise, this is a brocade of dark green and a touch of burnished bronze/gold. Dry down: I do get shades of Three Witches. It's similar in the way that it just smells complex. But where Three Witches was foody complex, this is more ambience complex. This is an intellectual lady world traveller, back in academia after time abroad, wearing Malaysian trinkets with her blouse and heels. It's the asian room in a well-kept museum, an exotic package from a far away friend that comes wrapped in embroidered silk and wood trinkets. Dry: Ooo. It's turning ethereal and shadowy now. The lady professor is up late in her office with a cup of earl grey, reading an old book by lamplight. There's this general, refined smell that's sweet but not sweet, spicey but not spicey, clean but something more. The base has turned just slightly herby, but not enough to bother me. It's still well blended and refined. Overall: Wow. I like this so much. Maybe it's because that academic/traveller thing is something I already relate to, but wow. It's not an everyday scent because it smells just so *expensive* but it's not an over-the-top fancy-evening-only scent like Nosferatu. I could see wearing this on big days on campus, awards banquets, important presentations, evenings in and out. This is going in a roller bottle immediately.

Catherine strikes me as a lady CEO kind of scent. If you like lemons, you might want to try Severin as well. If you can get it, Frost Moon has a crisp, minty effervescent down to business feel to it.

I'll second Black Pearl for coconutty goodness, along with Snow White. Perversion is one of my absolute favorites, but I don't get much coconut from it. Likewise with The Star--all I got was lime. Alas. It'll depend on your chemistry.

Evocative of the sea's unplumbed mysteries. Gentle and lovely, but menacing and profound. Coconut, Florentine iris, hazelnut and opalescent white musk. Black Pearl has become my every day work scent. It's yummy and light and clean and CREAMY, which, after being seduced by the beauty that is Snow White, is my new buzz word my BPAL flavors, CREAMY. The coconut note in this blend is just so lovely and perfect. I love coconut scents, but dislike all the "tropical" bouquets that so often go with them. Having pure coconut with the rounded edges of iris and musk is just lovely. I have noticed, in the bottle, it becomes almost a little sour as it ages (just means I have to use it up that much faster). Not quite as fresh coconutty, but it still dries the same. V. lovely and light enough for teaching, where I get lots of physical contact and always worry about being one of "those" teachers who knocks students over with her perfume. ;D

I can HIGHLY recommend Whip and Wanda. Tintagel was really too sweet for me, very berry-mead-leather. Whip and Wanda I tend to liken to day scents and evening scents. Whip, roses and leather, is the scrub-faced, earnest younger sister to Wanda, who's merlot and leather and all simmering feminine power.

I got a rollerball of Mabon that is just straight. I didn't decant it--got through swaps--but it works just fine. Mabony goodness on the go. Mmm.

I was so eager for Hunter Moon. Most of the notes in the description LOVE my chemistry--wine, autumn leaves, ivy, all of them are consistent successes in other imps past. I was so confident I'd like it, I put off sampling it until I tried all my imps. Today was the day. To my dismay, Hunter Moon smelled like....nothing on me. Absolutely nothing! Smelled intriguing in the bottle, but it had absolutely NO scent when on my skin, even when wet. After wearingit an hour, if I put my nose to my wrist, I could barely smell a sickly, faint sweet scent similar to how Mabon smells on me after a whole day of wear. So Hunter Moon is a no go for me. Off to swaps. Much sadness.

Non-sweets on me: Severin--earl grey and lemons The Apothecary Wolfsbane The Hermit Laudnum--though this may be because it was WAY too strong/musky for me so I didn't keep it on long enough to smell much of anything. ;D I tend to disagree with Diabolique--Zombi and the Raven are very sweet/floral on me. It depends a lot on your chemistry.

I find Severin to be my studious serious scent. It shares the tea notes with Apothecary. It's more lemony and stringent, but it has that serious scholar air. Good for grad school crunch times.

In the bottle: Intriguing. I expected something unfortunately heavy and incensey--myrrh, resin, manlymanlydark. Instead, it's a glistening sliver of granite. Dark and hard, but not abrasive or hot, cool and menacing. On skin: When I first put it on, I caught this waft of sweet that made me think--berry currant? I'm not so sure now, but it's still glistening black. Not black in the rawrdarkspice way, but more in the void of light. It's got a surprisingly sweet note to me and a touch of lime. Juicey. Juicey black? How very peculiar. I keep on getting this image of a nugget of glistening black ebony. Surprisingly non-incensey, which is a blessing for me. Dry down:Huh. Is that a smash of red berry in my black? There was a wierd sniff back there that threatened to go musky for a moment, but now it's gone and I'm left with...ebony and crushed red petals. Very subtle yet striking. Over all: This is a nifty interesting scent. I could see this being my black suit and corporate boardroom scent. It stays very closed and close to the skin. It's a very held together, in command, subtle and elegant scent. Not at all what I expected from a Lovecraftian scent, but it's quite lovely. I'd originally ordered this imp as a gift, but I may end up just keeping it myself.

In the bottle: I'm relieved with how watery and wane this smells in the bottle. I had a big concern ordering the imp that it'd be Hi I'm Floral! In actuality, however, it's a wane scent--I don't really smell florals in here at all, really. It's puzzling my nose. Wet: A crush of greenery on wet rocks and sunshine. I applied it to my wrist and got this momentary burst of sweet that morphs right away into something else. I get the picture of dusty antique lace--sun-faded creole dresses and forgotten pearls. That sense of time-worn memory, wane sunshine and feminine wistfulness. I can't identify a single scent, however. My nose so so confused right now. Dry: Wow, no floral in sight. There's a washed-out sweet scent that I just can't place--not almonds, but it has that smooth, weighty "feel" that almonds do for me. It reminds me of the gold tones on Tzakidim Nistarim. I keep on just getting the impression of wet, riverbed stones on a sunny day. The mix of wet, lupid water and warm, summer-afternoon "gold" is v. interesting. Unfortunately, it seems to be fading fast on a one-swipe application.

I suffer from migraines as well--not to disagree with lavinia, but I avoid strong minty stuff when I have a migraine. I've found minty stuff helps sinus headaches, but only makes me nausous with migraines. I haven't found any BPAL scents that actually help--what does help evil migraines?--but I've worn very light scents like Severin and Morella without them bothering. Actually, I've burned Severin as a room scent before and it tends to clear up and tighten up my head in good ways that I find theraputic. I think it's the earl grey tea that does it. Migraines suck.

I'm never regretted splurging on the Blue Moon lunacy oil over the summer. It is unlike any other scent I've tried. I have no nose for identifying scents, but I love the watery, utterly clear notes, the way it's sweet without being floral. It's clean without being too light and wimpy. Would anyone recommend any other BPAL scents that are similar to Blue Moon?

Wow, Wanda surprised me as well. I normally stay away from the "overly sexed" smells because it doesn't fit my personality. I got Wanda in a swap, however, and was very pleasently surprised. In bottle: Leather and roses! Spoiled roses, maybe rotting a little in the core--is that the wine? It's a very damp, corrupted scent. On applying: Wow. I've never ran across a "wine" scent that actually smelled like the physical thing. What I first thought was roses revealed itself to be unapologetic merlot on my skin. You even get that faint acidic, bottled scent as with real wine. This stage is very brief however (thankfully, because I wouldn't want to walk around smelling like a booze cabinet) and a variety of interesting things happen. On dry down: Wanda is so interesting. At normal distance, I just get this pleasent wafty smell of muted leather and something subtly sweet--berries? Only when I lower my nose to my wrist do I get the sweet smell of currant. Mmm. After a couple hours: The leather has a real staying power on me. Most of the wine is gone, but it's left with this nice, clean, feminine leather. Empowered yet not overpowering. Confident, with just a touch of red-berry in there somewhere. Over all: I'm very pleased with this scent. I have trouble finding dark or sultry scents that don't scream "sex musk!" on me. I adore the way Wanda seperates into an subdued outer scent (leather, cool night, touch of red) and an inner, skin-contact scent (mulled wine, currant and candlelight, just a touch of defiant leather). It's a scent I wouldn't mind wearing every day, yet with that undercurrent that denotes there's more than meets the eye. It makes me wish I had an SO around who WOULD be smelling my pulsepoints. Definately getting a big bottle.

See, I adore Zombi but didn't like Burial at all. It just smelled like wet paint to my nose. Peculiar.

After reading and falling in love with the description, I took a risk and ordered a big bottle of Kali without sampling first. The BPAL gods smiled down on me. Kali is WONDERFUL, if not what I'd expect. In the bottle: rich, warm, sweet. I definately smell the dark chocolate, bug there's an underlying aged, heated smell to it. On skin: Once applied, the stuff turned to pure chocolate on me. I didn't get any of the floral scents at all, just chocolate, leather and the slightest red simmery scent behind it. Very sweet, comfortable and warm for a scent dedicated to the blood-mouthed goddess. Dry down: It mellows to a delicious baked smell. The chocolate doesn't come off as really foody, more warm and wispy. The juicey, simmering red is still there but pretty faint: this is all bittersweet chocolate and leather. Surprising, but I'm in love!

Wow. Having loved Zombi (though it fades far too quickly on me), I thought I would dig Burial as well. It smelled intriguingly earthy, if astringent, in the bottle. Loamy yet clean, very much like the new paint smell that others have mentioned. Unfortunately, when I put it on it evolved into something that I can only describe as pure chemical cleaner fumes. It was bad enough to make my eyes water and make my throat itch whenever I caught a whiff of it and I had to wash it off after ten minutes. I'm not sure if juniper is the culprit or what, but whatever it is, my body chemistry did NOT jive with it.