black_and_bloom

Wow, this is lovely. Completely right up my alley in many ways... I too get a spicy sandalwood base, incense, and, after a minute, a fruity/floral note. I've been trying to figure out what it is, and it might be cherry blossom....really reminds me of a dominant note in Spirit of the Komachi Cherry Tree. Who knows! I could be way off, but this is really a nice scent. I'd bottle this in a second, and I keep a pretty lean collection. ETA: The more I think about it, I think it's not cherry blossom but lavender monofloral honey! Interested to know what others think...

Arm-lickingly good, this one. This changes rapidly from bottle to skin. Once applied, I get a nice bloom of cocoa. The spice component is initially dominated by the cinnamon, but then it recedes a bit and behaves, allowing the other spicy parts to step forward. Not really sure what they are, but they are lovely. I really don't notice the wine note at all, and the maize is there in the background, giving this scent a bit of a foody base, but not overwhelming. I'm not a foody fan, but this is delightful.

I never, never would have chosen this based on the note list at all. Anything with rose as the first ingredient is usually terrible on me. But I sniffed this at Dirty South Will Call, then tried it, then fell in love... Isn't it fun to get to try things out in person?? It's very peppery in the bottle, and on first application. In fact, it comes at you pretty strong, and almost has a strange potpourri quality to it. But the rose and caramel immediately mellow the pepper and then the berries softly kick in. SO pretty. I don't really smell the cognac at all. It dries into a soft resinous scent with some leftover pepper bite. 6 hours later, it's still here with me!

Wow, this is beautifully blended. I was a little nervous that it would end up too piney, or winter sharp. But I get a hint of coolness balanced by sweet, warm berries. No powdery rose, either! This is simply gorgeous - a win for sure.

Fascinum is such a well-blended scent - as distinctive as many of the notes are, it's difficult to pick them out. Overall, it's really a warm and sexy with the amber and the musk drying down to be the most prominent notes. I don't get the cedar, saffron, or incense impression that others have noted. It's a keeper - it seems like Fascinum will be a scent that will appeal to me in many different moods.

I love me some Cinnamon too - I still haven't tried Inferno, Uranus or Wrath, so thanks for the recommendations. And since I also can't wear Chimera (too sweet), Priala (too powdery) or Bengal (too saffrony), I'm suspecting that we have similar taste! Anyway, about the Saw-Scaled Viper - it was fiery, but the cassia is a very strong stale cola, stale root beer scent to me. It killed any hope that I would like it. It's also a prominent note in Phantom Calliope, if you've tried that. I'm liking All Night Long the best so far...

Nary a garlic clove in sight, Vampire X is mostly clove of the traditional variety. It's nicely sweetened by the fruits, and I can detect a murky musk/amber in the background. It's nice, but not outstanding in any way, other than its super-cool horror movie name!

This is good stuff. Sin is mostly black patchouli/sandalwood/amber on me - I'm not detecting cinnamon at all, sadly - and it does have a bit of incense-shop ambiance to it. That said, it's still a seriously sexy scent. Smooth and biting at the same time. Um, uh, yeah, I like it.

My nose isn't skilled enough to pick out the individual notes in Hi'iaka (nor can I pronounce it!) but this is a really lovely floral. Not powdery at all - this is a lush, perfumed, almost juicy scent that still has a clean edge to it. I like this quite a bit. I'm not a huge floral fan, but this one is going into my rotation wiki wiki.

Theoretically, I should love Al-Shairan. All the listed notes are good, and I am hoping that the unidentified incense notes aren't deal breakers, lurking in the shadows. At first sniff, though, all that I detect is that dreaded coca-cola note - cassia, maybe? It's not listed, but this smells exactly like flat coca-cola to me. Or maybe even RC cola, if you're from the South. Off to swaps it goes...

While All Night Long is mostly cinnamon, it's not single note. It's more complex - a dark cinnamon. Not sweet cinnamon, like Chimera. Not powdery cinnamon, like Priala. It's darker, and almost nutty. I detect a hint of cardamom, I think, in the wet stage but that quickly passes. It's dead sexy, and I'll be giving it a test run soon! (Also, I have freckly pale skin, and this didn't react at all.)

Kumiho is a very lovely scent. I was concerned at first that it would be too sharp (Embalming Fluid, I'm looking at you). And at first application, it was sharp but it immediately mellowed out. It seems more complex that just two notes - it almost has a light floral component to it. Combined with the warmth of the ginger, it's really very pretty. Two thumbs up - it will be perfect for spring.

I was hoping for some serious cinnamon here, and the first few minutes didn't disappoint. Burn baby burn! And it did - burning itself out and then morphing into powdery myrrh. WAH! Not the powder! I love cinnamon so much I can live with the powder, but that still leaves me searching for my perfect cinnamon scent. Priala, I had such high hopes for you... (Love the label art, though!)

My budget only allowed for one new Salon bottle, and after three trips to Whole Foods (we love them!) in Roswell for sniff tests, I picked Haloes. I'm not a huge vanilla fan - most of the vanilla blends I've tried were far too sweet for me - but this one is simply gorgeous. It's a creamy golden vanilla that is tempered by the sandalwood, and perfectly accompanied by small hints of fruity apricot and ginger. This scent almost glows, it really does. It stays pretty close to the skin, and the jury is still out on wearlength. I will say that you really cannot go wrong with Haloes - it's darn near perfect. Even the spouse did a "nom nom nom" on my arm, so I think we have a winner!

Like everyone else mentioned, lavender practically bursts out of the bottle at first sniff. I happen to like lavender, but just get tired of its bullying ways. But Yvaine is different - the lavender calms within minutes and is softened by an absolutely gorgeous creamy magnolia scent. It doesn't even really smell like any other BPAL magnolia that I've tried, so seamlessly it blends with the lavender. And it lasts for hours - and count me as another who detect a delicious skin-musk note too. Truly, a stunning and beautiful scent.