ND¢

In the bottle: Sweetness, almost like a fruit syrup. On me: Thankfully I don't get the grape soda/grape Jolly Rancher whiff. I get more of a spicy honey with a faint jasmine-y partner. It's very sweet, not in character for me, but didn't burn in my nose like Smut-- the other 'sweet' one I took a risk on-- did (I was sad.) It does manage to be sensual, but the honey-sweetness makes it seem very innocent. I could do with more musk to balance the sweetness. But then it wouldn't be Skuld, I guess. (Later I notice the ylang ylang smell is nearly gone and I have a gentle sort of honey musk. Very simple. I didn't think I'd like this, and it proved me wrong, so long as I can last through the initial application.)

In the bottle: Remember how I said the patchouli in Depraved wasn't like the patchouli I remember? The heavy, incensey patchouli that had negative connotations for me until I tried Depraved? This is that patchouli and I'm thinking, 'Uh oh.' On me: Yup. A grapey, nag-champa-ey patchouli. It's hard to believe how well the muscadine goes with the patchouli until you smell it. Jury's still out on whether this smells good on me, because it is still *that* patchouli.

In the bottle: Reminded me of a perfume my mom had when I was little, but I can't be more specific. On me: Still does smell more like a traditional perfume than most of the BPAL offerings I've tried. Classy, warm musk with the sharpness, maybe, of lavender. I don't feel that it's masculine (probably because of whatever perfume I smelled.) Definitely not 'girly,' though. It's pretty; dries to a pleasant, clean soapiness with, possibly, a subtle amber/musk undertone. Not really striking me as patchouli-ey at all.

In the bottle: Crisp and herbal. Not as Vita-bathy as Tempest seemed in the bottle, but that's what came to mind. On me: Quite a bit like herbal baby powder, but not in a bad way. Doesn't have what I thought of as floral in Tempest. Green, but not grassy. The herbal notes outshine any moss or grass I might be smelling. A bit figgy and sharp after dry-down. Doesn't last long or have much throw (and my imp arrived so full from the lab I spilled some getting it open, so I had plenty on hand, so to speak. (Edited for typo.)

In the bottle: TrailerTrashPrincess referred to an old perfume spray called 'Chill Out.' That. It reminds me of that almost exactly. Something light and wet. On me: I smell sweetness, water, ozone. Finally the sweetness mellows out and the dirt undertone starts coming out, and it is an old/wet dirt smell. I don't get any wine smell. The combination of fresh, airy wetness and dirt is very interesting. I almost get the rottenness that some people are mentioning. I wish it suited me better.

All the depth, beauty and darkness of All Hallows Eve. Truly the scent of autumn itself -- damp woods, fir needle, and black patchouli with the gentlest touches of warm pumpkin, clove, nutmeg, allspice, sweet red apple and mullein. Samhain '05: After my experience with Jack, I was afraid this would smell tawdry, like one of those holiday candles, or potpourri. In the bottle: Mulling spices. On me: Immediately gets a better mark than Jack: It's more complicated, not buttery. Mostly I'm getting the nutmeg/clove/allspice and nothing of the woods, fir, patchouli. I'll wait a bit.... Within 10-20 minutes the patchouli and fir are coming out, giving it a nice complexity, not overwhelming the spices (I wish they were a bit more prominent.) Cider, spice, a tiny bit of woodsiness. It gets a little piercing when I sniff it up close, but it does remind me of fall in New England as someone else mentioned. I'd still class it as a situational scent (for fall and winter), but that's what the description says, so there you go. I'm not crazy with love for it, but the imp will have a place in my collection. Edited to add lab description.

In the bottle: Woody and penetrating. On me: Mainly cedar. Slight sage tempering the smell away from pure cedar. This is somehow evocative of... scratch n' sniff pickle scent. I think it's the sage and cedar combination. A dry, solitary sort of smell. I really appreciate straightforward blends like this, and since I usually feel that 'woodsy' scents aren't 'woodsy' enough, will seek out more of it.

There's an organic, living-being smell I find really startling, but actually compelling once I got over the shock. This honestly doesn't overwhelm me with lavender; I smell it only lightly, adding brightness to dark smells like tobacco and a bit of smoke and incense. Not getting much sandalwood. And that weird, weird animal musk. It is clearly a 'blend', atmospheric and evocative. This is the first perfume that's ever creeped me out a little bit. When I said that to my fellow he thought it was weird, so I came up with 'It's the first perfume that doesn't... smell like a perfume, so I'm tense, wondering what I'm smelling.' Then I realized Graveyard Dirt inspires a similar, though less intense, reaction in me. Think I'll be getting some more of this... the night god made me do it.

I'm really pleased with this one. It keeps giving off an aura of light sandalwood and spice, while having what people have described as a 'soapy' smell (imagine an almost neutral, yet somehow soapy-smelling soap.) Calming, yet maybe a bit more spicy than I'd normally wear, yet in a very clean and not at all floral way.

In the bottle: Lemongrass with some other herbs I can't identify. On me: Anise starts peeking out from under the lemongrass. This smell, the lemony not-quite-lemon with sweetness underneath is associated with corporate bathroom cleaning solutions in my mind. It's an almost -perfect replication of the auto-squirt air freshener in the bathroom of the place I quit a few months ago. Oh NO. I can force myself to objectively see the appeal of this scent (it really is a pleasant smell, and largely as described by other reviewers, but I don't get a lot of anise) but I'll have to trade it, because other people love it, and this association just kills it for me. I hope I don't bring this up in anyone else's mind (sorry in advance if I did.)

In the bottle: It's like Severin, a bit. On me: Light-musky leather. Smells a lot like Severin to me, but more leathery. I know this review could be more descriptive, but it's a very straightforward (and amazingly accurate) reproduction of the smell of leather. But it's not just leather scraps in some tanner's shop remainder box, it's a really good-smelling leather. A... sexy leather. Sigh, off to order yet another bottle! Life's rough.

In the bottle: Sharp. I'm sure what I'm smelling is the pennyroyal. On me: Pretty much. The pennyroyal is huge on me, and the lavender is lost. I really wish that hadn't been the case. It didn't smell 'balanced' (not that, given the description, I'd really expect it should.) It really is a cruel sort of smell. Not unpleasant to smell (though also not well suited for me); I'm just amazed how accurately the scent represents the name.

In the bottle: That's not dandelions. It's flowery. On me: Okay, of course it's dandelions. STRONG dandelion smell at the beginning, and that's what I get. I really need something else to come up in this.... The fellow: 'Smells like a bath product.' Great. Five minutes later: I do think I'm getting the hemp smell, too, only a little. I do not smell like hops or beer, and I don't smell like it later, either. Final analysis: Smells like tons of dandelions in the sun, and something more elusive and evocative that really gives it points with me. A floral, but not a typical floral (the dandelion does not wear like other floral smells.) It does have a nice, sloppy feel to it.

Seduction, sensuality, the Act, and the aftermath all in one. The scent of warm, damp skin flushed with the glow of passion, touched by the luxuriant potency of ylang ylang and myrrh. In the bottle: Cherry-ey. Like, Red Queen level cherry-ey. Ughhhaghhhugh; cherry is one of my least favorite oil smells. It always seems so artificial compared to, you know, cherries. On me: Well, thank heavens that's gone. No cherry. This is clearly ylang ylang and myrrh, not that I know what those smell like, and is a sexy woman's scent, and reminded me of a perfume my mother had when I was little. Not, maybe, the scent itself (though to some extent, yes) but more the reaction I had to it then, the mysterious world of woman-things about which I knew nothing. Still waiting for my memo about when I get the info packet, by the way. Like Smut on me, but less overpowering. I don't get anything resembling sex or skin or 'aftermath' and so on. I do get that baby-powder hint people mention, but what I think it smells like is Nag Champa before you burn it. Exactly the same. Uncanny.

n the bottle: A strong whiff of some delicate flower. On me: Definitely the lightest, crispest thing I've smelled from BPAL. Simple, fresh, even a bit herbal. Soothing. The reason it reminds me of freshly laundered sheets is because we fragrance our sheets, but it's still very clean and nice.

In the bottle: Musk and something spicy-herbal, a hint of the 'honey' sweetness. On me: But the strength of the musk is dominant, then the balsam and juniper come out. (This patchouli is more of what I'd expect of patchouli, not very unique, but fortunately not the main smell.) I tried on Medicine Show for comparison and this is far more sharp wood, muskiness, with a hint of richness behind (honey, beeswax?). Medicine Show is more gentle, insidious and herbal, though it does sharpen to something similar.

In the bottle: Something dark and rich with a light citrus note. On me: Lemon for a minute, what I think of as 'Lemon Pledge' but is probably something less complicated, after which a darker undertone begins to assert itself while the lemon is still in the foreground. Like cocoa powder, but unsweetened. Then I get a hint of musk and what I think (?) is the fig? At that point it really starts to seem unified as a scent and is giving off a non-contradictory whiff of some light, lemony-fig plant in the forest and the darker components of the forest itself (not a dirt smell, just a darker smell.) The musk doesn't dominate but adds a nice fullness; I would say that cocoa/walnut are more present than musk. There was something I thought was honeyish coming out around half an hour... I suppose it might be rum. It doesn't seem to smell like rum, just richer. Definitely green, and the darker base managing not to overwhelm that is interesting. The light planty notes make it have a vibrancy (energy?) that most of the oils I've tried lately have been lacking. What I would love to do with a few drops of this is put them in an oil and use it, diluted, on myself when I wanted more energy and vitality.

In the bottle: Like sweet tobacco. On me: A bit of leather, a bit sweeter and less spicy than Dee, which is what it reminds me of. I have a bottle of Dee, but I'll probably seek out more of this as well. Not herbal, definitely confined to scents like leather and sweet pipe smoke. A dry, evocative scent. I want to say it's vaguely Eastern, and recommend it to a friend who didn't like Kathmandu.

In the bottle: A light citrus. On me: This really surprised me. I thought it'd be rich and honey-creamy-foodlike, and though I don't smell ginger, I do smell something light and herbal, almost leafy or flowery, delicate, that is just very comforting in combination with the slight, slight richness. Fresh. quickly fades (I hate how when they're not floral or musky or woody they're GONE) to a light greenness that's still very reassuring. I appreciated this one a lot.

In the bottle: Buttery and creamy and I wondered if I had the wrong one. On me: No, there's the wood. A wood overtone for once, and there is a tangy sweetness... The butteriness I smelled earlier fades on me to a warm background, which seems to do well with my skin (Red Lantern) and the perfume continues to be strongly herbal and woodsy. Lots of ambiance, evokes the fall sort of nicely. A strong scent, not at all unfeminine. Just fresh, evocative. A keeper.

For the sake of thoroughness, I have Old Port-Au-Prince. In the bottle: Light and sharply of sassafras, I think. Got a good bit of sassafras/clove (evocative of Big Red). I can see the bay, too. It reminded me of my reaction to Jack: so strongly asserting the smells that they almost seemed like imitations. Waiting for some dissipation to see how that progresses, it... stays prominent. I think I'd have gone for bay/clove without the sassafras, because the latter two seem to overpower each other on me. I'm not picking up rum on me. Or butter.

In the bottle: Definitely the garden of blooms and not the dry earth or mosses. On my skin: I almost didn't put it on due to my disaffinity with floral scents. The herbs have a slight presence, making it not purely floral. It smells like jasmine, I think? With something organic and dark (the mosses and herbs maybe struggling to come out from behind the jasmine?) Enough to give it a darker tone than some of my other floral scent reviews (Thalia, Languor) but richer than Dragon's Bone, which also smelled floral on me. Given the reviews on the forum, I think I'm in the minority in not reacting as expected with this one. I thought it'd be less bloom and more... the rest of it.

In the bottle: Sweet and musky, dark. On me: Sweet musk. I immediately compared it to Vechernyaya (which I remember as being quite musky) and they're completely different. Vechernyaya is light and crisp and businesslike and professional. This is muddled, burnt caramel musky. After a while I got a weird, cherry response, but maybe that's just me smelling sugary things. It would fall into the category of scents like Hellfire '05 and Red Lantern on me, definitely evoking some sort of emotional response. But if I were going to go for that effect, Red Lantern 'went' better with me.

My bottle is Old Kathmandu, just for thoroughness' sake. In the bottle: Spices and a hint of a vague herbal cleaning solution. On me: Spiciness and sassafras. There is a cedar smell, but it's not as strong as all that. Depraved turns more strongly cedar on me for a while than even this, right now. I feel like whatever made Yggdrasil smell like Icy Hot to me is in this, too, or else the cedar smell doesn't seem as fresh-cut cedar as I'm thinking. The Icy Hot smell fades pretty quickly, and I'm left with a sharply wood-scented wrist with spices. Bit of sandalwood, too, yeah. Then the wood fades and the spices become more prominent (though this is a gentle perfume.) Then it's almost entirely a light, crisp cedar. No, there's the spice. It is an 'atmospheric' perfume.

I didn't think I'd ever like a scent that had to do with food. How naive I was. In the bottle: Thick, rich caramel and spice. On me: The spiciness of tobacco and some sort of, well, smuttiness keep the rich caramel from getting out of control. The currant may be lending some sweetness, but it's very subtle if I can even smell it at all. This smell really does capture a sort of soporific delirium, an indulgence. I love it.