Iceblink

I tried one of the earlier versions of 13 last year and although I initially liked it, the tea note ended up turning me off. Thankfully this blend has no tea! It's gone through several stages on me so far (the clove peaked at about 20 minutes in, very nice) and has now settled down into a spiced fruit/chocolate blend that is gorgeous, and surprisingly not too heavy for this hot weather. Comparisons to March Hare and Milk Moon are right on, too--there's that clove and fruit thing of March Hare and the tart honey of Milk Moon occasionally peeks through. It's beautiful overall and thinking about how it will age makes me all tingly.

I love Titania. It's the epitome of "fruity floral" on me; the pear is dominant, but it doesn't smell like straight fruit with all those other notes blending in so nicely. Absolutely gorgeous and never too sweet.

This sounded so light and pretty, but carnation just hates me (see also: Alice, Maiden, etc.). Instant powder! I was hoping the sweet pea would even things out a bit, but nooooo...

Wow. This is completely unlike any other rose blend I've tried! It's pure rose at first, but when it starts to settle in on your skin, other notes start popping up. I got the lilac and a hint of honey. And the opium is *very* prominent. 2 hours later, it's almost all rose and opium, and it's really sexy and sultry. Great for summer, and will probably smell even better in a few weeks.

How risque this one is. Red red wine spilled over leather with a few crushed flower petals scattered around. It's an interesting concept but it's a little too wine-y to wear, I think. Might make a great room scent, though.

Ohhh yum...it's like diving into a bowl of fresh honeydew melon! So sweet and crisp. I get the mossy note, just barely, like the melons are lying on a bed of moss, maybe...very unique, this one; I don't recall any other BPALs that are so overtly melon-y. Delicious.

Love the name. Very fresh, very aquatic-y, and like all aquatics, very headache-inducing. I wish I liked them better! The florals are very faint on me. This reminds me a bit of Dirty and Sea of Glass.

This has nearly disappeared already and I just put it on. Hmm. There's hints of mango and fig there, and the barest hint of patchouli. Maybe with some aging Tweedledum will gain some strength, because what I *can* smell is really nice.

Ooh, I love this one. It's one of the more delicate, light oils I've tried that actually has some staying power, too. Soft lemony tea, and the peony note is beautiful. I wear this one when I want to smell good but don't want to risk overpowering anyone in close proximity.

This smells so much more sophisticated than something with "critter" in the name should. When first applied it's the jasmine attack of doom on me, but it settles down into something so soft and sweet! The grapefruit is just barely barely there but the vanilla and jasmine are really nice together--and very warm; this is going to be a great way to wear vanilla when it's hot out. Not a blend I'd have picked if it hadn't been for the good reviews, since jasmine and gardenia can smell way too strong on me, but it works nicely, and I hope with some aging the vanilla will be even more prominent.

Sensual, robust, and silken: voluptuous red rose bursting with lascivious red wine and sultry dragon's blood resin. I always mentally call this one "Days of Wine and Roses" because that's just what it smells like. Juicy, fruity, sweet, and the rose note in this is perfect. It's feminine and voluptuous. If I had one quibble it would be that it sometimes doesn't have the greatest staying power, but it's a very minor quibble indeed. This was one of my first bottle purchases and I know it's going to get a lot more wear now that warm weather is here!

Another complete frankincense failure on me. I make everything with that note smell like burnt wood (and not in a good, smoky firey way, just in a boring icky burnt way). This sounded so good but the frankincense did its thing from the start and I couldn't even detect any other notes. Arrr!

Pure pomegranate goodness. I tend to go for the simpler scents so I like this one. It's one, however, that really varies on me depending on weather, hormones, whatever--sometimes it's this wonderfully tart fruityliciousness and sometimes it goes over the line into overly sweet territory. But when it's good, it's very, very good.

This is a very adult rose blend. The rose is deep and dark and the amber really warms it up. I sometimes get a whiff of something almost peppery from this one, too. A really beautiful blend, and this has better staying power on me than a lot of rose blends do, too.

I think this is the first blend with civet I've tried. It smells sweetish and a little mothbally. The opium seems to be a little more dominant on me. Not something I'd wear, but interesting to try.

Hot and dry. This serpent is coiled on a rock in the middle of a desert. Patchouli and sandalwood, with the sandalwood dominating at first and then the sweeter patchouli coming into play. Reminds me a bit of Rakshasa, so there must be something floral in here too. My hippie friends would probably love this!

Vinegar poured over a rotting compost heap. Yeeeeow!

I get that woodsy note at first--is this orris? Hmm...but then here comes the myrrh, and I LOVE this myrrh. The patchouli is sweetening things up a bit. Verrrrrry sexy and dark, this one. I'm not sure if I'd wear it. I like Petit Mort, Sloth, and Chimera for my myrrh needs. But this is a gorgeous blend.

Total vetiver at first--yikes! Vetiver is my nemesis. That overpowering note fades a bit and the dragon's blood starts to come out. An hour later I've got a musky, earthy dragon's blood mixture. It's interesting but not remotely something I'd want to wear.

OH my god this is good! I might need another bottle. The cherries are really strong and almost sour at first (more like wild cherries) but in just a few minutes they soften up and the powdered sugar really stands out. The end result is powdered sugar and sweet cherries. Almost like a cherry-filled donut! Which I'd really like right now. There's a little boozy hint to it too, in a cherry liqueur way. This is really delicious!

I never smelled the first Milk Moon so am not sure how this compares, but I like this. On drydown it's like fruity sour candy--the honey and pomegranate are easy to pick out. I only got the milk note for the first hour or so, and it smells almost like rice on me (rice milk?). It's subtle and fruity and light. I can see how a lot of noses might pick up sour milk from this, though, so it's one to go light on. Edited to add that I've figured out what this reminds me of. It's a sour version of Pink Phoenix. Imagine the honey in that plus sour fruits. And the staying power is really good too!

WOW this is good. It's fig...then it's mandarin...then it's fig again...but always with the other scent still in play too. And it's so sparkly! If there were such a thing as mandarin/fig soda, it would smell like this. The staying power, though, is not so great. But this isn't overpowering when freshly applied, so touching it up during the day would be easy.

Oh dear lord, I want to eat my hand. The caramel in this is almost...sharp at first, but after 15 minutes or so it's vanilla caramel yumminess gone wild. And it's just getting stronger! This smells like some booze-drenched cake that we southerners seem to have at every family reunion. Possibly my first Salon bottle purchase, this!

Somewhere, someone was comparing Monster Bait: Closet with Bordello, and I've got to second that--I wore Bordello a few days ago and all day long I kept thinking "Mmm, Closet...oh, wait--Bordello!". It's like Closet with plums poured on top.

The comparisons to Smut are right on. I'd call this "honeyed Smut" or at least a sweeter Smut. If Smut '07 was a bit rubbery on you, give this one a try (and OMG how this will age!).