AlectoNox

It was an All-in-One and One-in-All of limitless being and self -- not merely a thing of one Space-Time continuum, but allied to the ultimate animating essence of existence's whole unbounded sweep -- the last, utter sweep which has no confines and which outreaches fancy and mathematics alike. It was perhaps that which certain secret cults of earth have whispered of as YOG-SOTHOTH, and which has been a deity under other names; that which the crustaceans of Yuggoth worship as the Beyond-One, and which the vaporous brains of the spiral nebulae know by an untranslatable Sign... The perfume of eternity in vast, unknowable space. A glittering oil, ephemeral, iridescent, and horrifying in its immeasurable emptiness. This is the scent of air and darkness. Air and darkness is a perfect description for this. I received my bottle from chopchica, who picked it up at Convergence for me, many thanks to her. Wet - in the bottle it smells clean and fresh, almost like dryer sheets (in a good way though!) On the skin - it's hard to describe, but I can tell you what I *don't* smell. I'm not getting any florals or fruit from this. Maybe a small hint of something resiny at the bottom, but mostly just fresh night air. Someone asked me if it was ozoney like Lightning or Tempest, but I'm really not getting either an ozone or aquatic tang to this. Just a sort of 'blueness' to it. Like Nefertiti when it's completely dry, with a drop of Tide in it. Drydown - it gets even more lovely when completely dry. It does smell dark, not not overwhelmingly so. I would say it's more like evening air than night air at this point. Very crisp, not cloying in the least, not too sweet. Just perfect. Conclusion: I really like it so far. A couple more tests needed, and maybe a comparison with some other oils to find similarities, but it's a great scent. I'm glad I got some, and I just might need an extra bottle.

When a traveller in north central Massachusetts takes the wrong fork at the junction of Aylesbury pike just beyond Dean's Corners he comes upon a lonely and curious country. The ground gets higher, and the brier-bordered stone walls press closer and closer against the ruts of the dusty, curving road. The trees of the frequent forest belts seem too large, and the wild weeds, brambles and grasses attain a luxuriance not often found in settled regions. At the same time the planted fields appear singularly few and barren; while the sparsely scattered houses wear a surprisingly uniform aspect of age, squalor, and dilapidation. Without knowing why, one hesitates to ask directions from the gnarled solitary figures spied now and then on crumbling doorsteps or on the sloping, rock-strewn meadows. Those figures are so silent and furtive that one feels somehow confronted by forbidden things, with which it would be better to have nothing to do. When a rise in the road brings the mountains in view above the deep woods, the feeling of strange uneasiness is increased. The summits are too rounded and symmetrical to give a sense of comfort and naturalness, and sometimes the sky silhouettes with especial clearness the queer circles of tall stone pillars with which most of them are crowned. Gorges and ravines of problematical depth intersect the way, and the crude wooden bridges always seem of dubious safety. When the road dips again there are stretches of marshland that one instinctively dislikes, and indeed almost fears at evening when unseen whippoorwills chatter and the fireflies come out in abnormal profusion to dance to the raucous, creepily insistent rhythms of stridently piping bull-frogs. The thin, shining line of the Miskatonic's upper reaches has an oddly serpent-like suggestion as it winds close to the feet of the domed hills among which it rises. As the hills draw nearer, one heeds their wooded sides more than their stone-crowned tops. Those sides loom up so darkly and precipitously that one wishes they would keep their distance, but there is no road by which to escape them. Across a covered bridge one sees a small village huddled between the stream and the vertical slope of Round Mountain, and wonders at the cluster of rotting gambrel roofs bespeaking an earlier architectural period than that of the neighbouring region. It is not reassuring to see, on a closer glance, that most of the houses are deserted and falling to ruin, and that the broken-steepled church now harbours the one slovenly mercantile establishment of the hamlet. One dreads to trust the tenebrous tunnel of the bridge, yet there is no way to avoid it. Once across, it is hard to prevent the impression of a faint, malign odour about the village street, as of the massed mould and decay of centuries. It is always a relief to get clear of the place, and to follow the narrow road around the base of the hills and across the level country beyond till it rejoins the Aylesbury pike. Afterwards one sometimes learns that one has been through Dunwich. Dry, skeletal woods and moist marsh, dripping with the perfume of bog lilies. My imp of Dunwich was a gift from the lovely and generous chopchica. This will be a short review for now, more to be added after I've tested it a few more times. A forumite requested a review of this one over in the Springtime in Arkham thread so I thought I'd whip one up for her. Wet: pure aquatic, that oceany tang. On the skin: I'm getting less salty now, more ozoney, like Tears or Sea of Glass. A blue-green sort of smell. There's this great, soft tang to it that I really like. It is reminding me of a cross between Tears and New Orleans. Not too heady or thick, though, sort of a light clean scent. There is a white floral coming out in the drydown, perhaps those bog lilies making an appearance. I can't smell any skeletal woods, but the marsh is there. Conclusion: Maybe an exceptionally clean marsh with white flowers floating in it. With storm clouds overhead. And a hint of fresh turned earth nearby. Nice!

Yuki-Onna 2004, a few drops sealed away in an imp and left sitting for roughly 319 years in a dark perfume box. I decided to pop this open and take a whiff before finding it a new home. Now, I'm not good with words or descriptions, but I'll give it my best shot: In an alternate reality where scents are living breathing entities with thoughts and feelings, in human form...Jasmine is a super-villain bent on complete annihilation of the universe and everything in it. Starting with your sinuses. Jasmine wears leather and woad, rides on a demon motorcycle, and doesn't recycle. Jasmine will steal your boyfriend and kick your puppy. Jasmine hates you, and doesn't care if you know it. I urge you all to avoid this scent at all costs. It may seem like a good idea, but one sniff will send you on a screaming hallucinogenic trip for hours, and while that may be a good way to pass the time in line at the DMV, it's certainly not something you'd want to do every day. This blend smells like pure evil, and death. You've been warned.

Hmm, fern notes, you say? I have since discovered that most aquatic scents don't work on my skin, but as a room scent they are pretty cool. I'll have to experiment with more water scents once I move into the new place. Fern and water sounds good. Earthy and green and water would also be good. *wanders off to look up more oceany-watery-green room scents*

Elegba and Port au Prince rock the bay rum.

I got my own mother hooked with just one imp of Black Pearl.

This feels like Snake Oil, poured over diamonds and left in the moonlight, then blanketed by a gentle fog carrying light touches of forest and rain. Then perfume, diamonds, moonlight and fog are all bottled up by the lab and delivered to our door. I need a big bottle of this, asap.

I just got an imp of this in a swap, and I decided to try it out at work. The best part? I hadn't read, or had forgotten, the notes in this, so I had no idea what to expect. If I had known it had sweet pea in it I probably wouldn't have tried it out, since sweet pea and I generally don't get along. But on me, either the sweet pea decided to lay low, or all the other notes overwhelmed it, because I get....something wonderful. It had a bit of a tang on me at first but now that it's dried down, I'm getting this beautiful soft musk, probably from the white sandalwood and ambers, with the teensiest bit of pink floral and maybe a drop of vanilla. In fact, the pink floral is reminiscent of carnations. Yes, this is what I'm smelling - fresh pink carnations laid inside a clean, dry marble crypt with sandalwood incense that has just been lit and is only beginning to infuse the room. Beautiful. I am wrapping up my imp of this right now, to frimp away to someone I'm swapping with. It's on her wishlist, and I don't need it anymore - I'm getting a bottle of this asap.

Chaos Theory LXXXIII - origin: Cats. I get dark, wet cherries from this, with a hint of spice. Reminds me of Blood, the clove and cherries combo. Very strong and unfortunately not good for my allergies. This review is so late it's almost in time for the next wave of Chaos Theories, but hey, better late than never. Previously reviewed by grrrlennyl, cuervosueno, fairywingmaker and Gin.

Unfortunately my imp broke in the mail. What I got from this scent where it had soaked onto the note my swapper sent was the astringent and bitter/metallic qualities some reviewers have mentioned above, as well as a menthol-pine-mint sort of scent. I could swear I smell vetivert in there as well..in fact this was the dominant note for me. I don't think this would have worked out on my skin because pine, mint and vetivert don't like me, but it would have been nice to swap it for another Celestial. Ah well, better luck next time.

I got leather, musk, spice and a touch of something airy. The vetivert didn't make an appearance for me at all. On the drydown the leather took on a more perfumey, rather than raw quality. I really enjoyed the musk and the 'red' feel to it. It's a manly scent that still manages to smell like a fragrance on me rather than a saddle shop, like some leather scents tend to do. I would love to sniff this one on a guy and see what it's like. Maybe compare and contrast with Severin while I'm at it, in my quest to find the perfect manly scent.

Hot dry grassy plains. A hint of herbs, maybe a touch of spice. Hot air and leaves crackling in the sun. For some reason I found this blend incredibly relaxing and soothing. It doesn't trigger my allergies at all, and much like Haunted it is one of those few blends I can always wear, no matter how ill I get. It's not something I thought I would want to wear as a perfume, but it's suprisingly a great skin scent.

I got an imp of this from the lovely Cats. I had high expectations for this, and on first sniff I got this lovely masculine musk, not too heavy, just light and a little spicy. I swiped some on and...it went florally and ultra feminine on me in less than 2 minutes. Sort of like having a hot guy in leather show up on your doorstep, crack his whip...and then snap his fingers at you and start complaining about how your shoes are soooo last season, girlfriend. Think I'll stick with Iago.

I was really really looking forward to Arkham Revisited because the notes sounded incredible. It was a little bitter in the bottle when I sniffed it, and when I wore it it turned into what I can only describe as cheap wine poured over rotting flowers and old pizza. It was really heady and thick, and made me a little nauseous to wear it. I wish I would have gotten the 'pink' and wildflowers from it that kmasden describes - that would have been lovely! I am very sad that my skin chemistry turned this scent from a forest of wildflowers into cheap wine. I have to point out though that this is 99% probably the fault of my kidneys making my pH balance wacky, and making me super sensitive to certain scents. I can't even wear this one in a scent locket because my allergies can't handle it. I hope everyone else enjoys it and posts nice reviews though, I'm looking forward to reading them. Mine will go into the swap pile soon and maybe I can score another Arkham blend to try out.

This is a very addictive scent, in that nose-to-wrist sort of way. The cool bamboo blends with the pepper very nicely, giving it this edible spiced bamboo feel. The pepper isn't sharp or overpowering at all, very subtle. It keeps the bamboo from being too sweet, and the moss and bamboo keep the cardamom and pepper from being too strong. It's a perfect balance. Very unique too, I can't think of any one bpal scent I've tried so far that compares to it. It vaguely reminded me of Neo-Tokyo if there were spices added to it. I'm debating getting another bottle...I think this one will go fast.

On me this is a soft resiny scent, almost powdery but not obnoxiously so. There is a dark sweetness to it, but it doesn't go anywhere near cloying on me. It reminds me of soft jasmine fragrances, expensive body powder, or my Nippon Kodo incense sticks. It doesn't have as much throw on me, it's much more subtle, like a clean skin sort of scent. It's definitely pleasant and 'pretty', I can see this one being worn with a silk dress and heels. Very lovely. edited to add: Ah-ha! I know what it reminds me of! Lush's Silky Underwear. I'm picking up some vetivert and jasmine from it now. I love the way Silky Underwear smells but I may have to be careful with this blend...vetivert likes to trick me into smelling it so often I become lightheaded. That happened with one of the other bpal vetivert blends...I *love* the way it smells but wow, does it ever make me woozy.

I was gifted with some Haunted by SyringiaVulgaris, or SyVu as I affectionately call her. First sniff gave me the impression of lavender...not lavender essential oil, but the softer lavender fragrance oils that I like. When I actually got it on I could tell there wasn't any lavender, but it had that same soft, fresh scent that I love. It had great lasting power, and the smokiness/musk was awesome. This clearly wants to be one of my regular scents, so I obliged and got another bottle of it in a forum auction. Conclusion: love it! even my picky mother loves it! I'll be wearing this one a lot.

In the vial it does smell wet and mossy, like a forest near the ocean. It smelled like something that I'd like so I slathered some on, waited a few minutes and then got a whiff of something minty. Disclaimer: I am really sensitive to mint scents, they can make me violently ill in under a minute if they're the wrong sort. Thank goodness this one didn't. I think my nose just confused piney/fir notes with mint for a while. But there is definitely a sharp sort of kick to it for a few minutes there. As it dries down, the astringent/minty/fir scent fades and something really pretty starts coming out. I don't know how to describe it...I think 'nighttime air' from the description suits it best. It isn't cloying or overly perfumey at all, but sort of fresh and relaxing and dark all at once. Or maybe I just find the darkness relaxing because I am odd. Once it's completely dry the mintyness I detected turns into a crispness, to mimic cool night air in a mossy forest. I don't so much get upturned earth from it at this stage, maybe later it will come out. I'll post again if it does. Conclusion - This is very unique, I don't think I've smelled anything else from bpal that quite has this scent. I love the mossyness and nighttime air and am still deciding whether or not the fir works for me. It really does capture the description nigh flawlessly, so I am very impressed with it on that count. I'll have to give it a few more tests to see how the fir and I get along before I make any final decisions, though. Now that is a great description, Nyx.

In the vial - one of those soft scents that makes you want to lean in closer for another whiff. Which I did and ended up getting it on my nose! There is some soft musk at the base of this one that makes it velvety. On my skin, the green starts to come out, but it doesn't smell quite dismal. A nighttime green, definitely, but there's something very beautiful and rich about it that I can't associate with 'dismal'. After a few minutes something sharper peeks out. It reminds me of a branch freshly cut off a tree...there is something resinous about it, but I couldn't pick out what type of tree it would be. It's just a touch of woodsy, not mossy or moist in any way, just woodsy. The florals in this are soft and understated, which is great for me because overly flowery doesn't work well on my skin. (note - I do have massive allergies so maybe some of you will get a stronger floral scent, but it's soft and just perfect when I smell it) I really like the soft green tones in this one. It's like a much darker mistletoe, just a hint but enough to balance out the scent. I could swear I smell some light musk in this. It really does smell like fresh cut branches, green leaves, night, and a hint of flowers. Possibly the violets from the description? I am vaguely reminded of Midnight with this one, so maybe a combination of Midnight, Mistletoe and something foresty. It would be nice to layer with Chioptera, too. It really blends together well, and it's hard to describe because it's so subtle and unique. Conclusion - very nice! =)

In the vial - first thoughts were 'floral? spice!'. Not a strong spice, more of a silky undertone. This is interesting. On my skin - I really *love* the spice that is in this. It smells edible without smelling too foody. It's not the sort of spice that slaps you in the nose, it's one that tricks you into leaning closer and is having a party in your sinuses before you figure out it's gone. It doesn't smell like cinnamon either, which I'm immensely grateful for because too much cinnamon gives me a headache. You know that undertone in Velvet, not the chocolate, but that interesting edible smell? Sort of like that, but not quite myrrh. I wish I knew what this was so I could try more oils that have it in the blend. As it is drying the florals have faded and the interesting spice is the strong note now. There is something soft and buttery way in the background here. It really adds to the edible yet non-foody scent. The florals remind me of a very faint, non-cloying gardenia, or lotus flower, maybe even white oleander. It's not your typical bouquet, that's for sure. I'm not good at indentifying flower scents, but I can say it doesn't really smell like rose, jasmine or lavender to me. The florals do not clash with the spice at all, they blend together very nicely. Drydown - I am getting some 'red' from the scent now. Red spices, red flowers, red something. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping it doesn't turn into cinnamon. Maybe cardamon? A touch of chai? Not sure yet. If there are herbs in this I have no idea what they may be. I imagine I smell a touch of frankincense, but it's hard to pick out. Conclusion - I love the uniqueness of this, and I'm madly in love with the spices/resins used. I'm pretty picky about florals and the flower scent in this is perfect, not too much, just a soft touch to even out the spice. There must be a drop of cinnamon or cardamon or something in it to give it the 'red' scent, but not so much that it upsets my nose. I love the layers in this...floral, spice, and then things I can't even idenitify that play around with your nose for a while and then settle down together into something very complimentary. I would say this is worth swapping to get an imp of even if you don't like florals or spices, just for the olfactory experience alone. Your nose will thank you for livening up it's day. =)

Leather and dragon's blood. An interesting combination. Usually leather is too much for me, but the dragons blood rounded it out nicely. It's quite nice, but I think Iago and Severin are still my two favorite leather scents.

On first sniff I got gingerbread, which was awesome because I loved Gingerbread Poppet. Wet, this lemony tang started coming out. Lemon scents aren't the best on me, but after a while it turned into ginger. Fresh, raw ginger straight from the store. That was very interesting. After a while the two scents combined and I got gingersnaps! Yummy. This review brought to you by chopchica's kindness in picking me up a bottle from Convergence. Thank you, chopsy!

Honey wine. I don't do so well with wine scents, so this one I have to be careful with and only wear when I'm feeling especially tolerant. I think I was expecting more 'red' autumny scents from this one, but there are other bpal perfumes that have that covered already. It is a brilliant scent, I just wish my skin chemistry could handle it better. I would *love* to smell it on someone else, though.

I don't normally like florals too much, but this was a perfect balance of everything. It smelled like...well, snow, but not like Ice Queen, she was pure snow to me. This smells like fresh snow dusted over the skin of a beautiful woman who is holding a bouquet of small white flowers. Maybe a few of those flowers were lemon blossoms, but not too many. All in all it was just perfect, and I haven't been this obsessed over a fragrance since Blue Moon came out.

Brown sugar all the way. Maybe if you got out a graham cracker, put some maple syrup on it, and then sprinkled brown sugar all over the maple syrup, this is what it would smell like. Edible, dark, and most importantly, doesn't give me a headache like most of the super-sweet white sugar scents. Yum! I like to dab a tiny drop on my hair scrunchy so it gets all in my hair and I can smell it every time I turn my head. The caramel comes out more when I dab it on clothing rather than skin. *sigh* Definitely getting more of it comes out again next year.