black_and_bloom

Sharply citrus at first, I sorta felt like I had doused myself in grapefruit juice. But that's good - I love grapefruit. After a few minutes, Aizen-Myoo started to mellow and the light floral scent of cherry blossoms intermingled with the citrus. It didn't morph much from there, and I'm not sure I ever really smelled the tea note. Still, it's a great scent - unusual, fresh, and perfect for my raging case of Spring Fever.

The Ecstasy of Passion is quite the scent. I've worn it a few times now, and finally feel like I have a good understanding of it. Beth's description listed a few components I am not familiar with so I am not really sure if I'm picking up all the notes or not. But what I do smell, I love. It's strongly clove and musk, but it has a sexy, almost dirty component to it that I suspect is the ambergris (and I looked THAT up - zonks!). The amber is there too, mixed with the very subtle bourbon vanilla, and I'm so pleased that it doesn't get powdery - the clove, musk and ambergris perfectly balance it out. Moderate to light throw, and average wearlength. I expect this to stick around longer than it actually does, but while it's here, it's a wow.

Port-Au-Prince is heavily almond at first sniff, which makes me happy because I love almonds. After a few minute, the clove starts to surface and mixes beautifully with the almond. I really don't detect any obvious rum, bay or sassafras but I'm sure they are there and I just haven't noticed them yet. This is a very nice scent - matches my mood perfectly today!

See as how I'm impatient for March to get here, I put on a little March Hare this morning. It's very light, but long-lasting. I keep getting little wafts of it when I turn my head, and it's not morphed very much. On me, this is mostly apricot, although the clove is also detectable and keeps it from getting too light & fruity. A great springtime scent, although perhaps a little sweet for me. Although once warmer weather arrives I'm sure I'll change my mind!

Snake Charmer appears to be quite similar to Snake Oil on me, to start with. The vanilla/incense base is strong, but as it dries, Snake Charmer has a drier, more sophisticated presence. I can detect the coconut, which makes me happy. Is it worth paying the $$ to get a bottle of this if it's so similar to Snake Oil? I'm still deciding!

In the vial, Lolita is all sharpness, not sweet. As soon as I applied it, the sharpness defined itself and whoa, the lemon verbena and the orange blossom made themselves noticed. As it dried, it softened somewhat and sweetened a bit too - there is a definite floral background to the citrus, and I'm pleased that it never turned soapy on me. I'm sure I'll be reaching for this once the weather turns warm...

I agree with everyone else who said that Saw-Scaled Viper was dominated by cassia. I was really hoping for a good cinnamon shout-out, but the scent was sadly overpowered by the cassia. (This note also amped when I wore Phantom Calliope - I've discovered my first Note of Doom!) The cassia does mellow quite considerably upon dry down, and I had a really warm, very dusty/dry/spicy Snake Oil scent lingering at that point. I'm just not sure I can deal with the cassia at all, though, so I'll probably put my bottle up for swap and continue my quest for the perfect cinnamon blend (Priala - here I come!)

Um, wow. I finally got around to locating a decant of this, and I'm totally blown away. From the reviews I was expecting Mme. Moriarty to be Snake Oil-esque, but I had NO IDEA how lovely and distinctive this would be on me. Sure, I smell the fantastic vanilla/spice/patchouli base, but this has a beautiful, bright plum/pomegranate (I can't really distinguish them) note that really shines here. This is an amazing scent - truly one of the best BPAL scents that I've tried. One little decant is NOT enough!!!!!

Out of the Snakes I've tried, this one is most recognizably a part of the Snake Oil family - the creamy balance of vanilla, patchouli and spices is layered perfectly with the smooth cocoa. I'm not much of a foody scent fan, and the other cocoa-based BPAL scents that I've tried have felt "off" to me, but this one is a real winner. Unlikely as it seems, to me at least, the cocoa is a perfect counterpoint to the love that is Snake Oil.

I've had this on my "sounds amazing" list for awhile, so I was terribly pleased to get a decant this week. At first whiff, I get caramel. Lots and lots of caramel. As it dries, it sweetens up a little bit, and I can barely detect a floral presence and a hint of coconut too. Sadly, no opium. After an hour, it's calmed down quite a bit but it's still overwhelmingly caramel. Overall, it's too foody for me but I'm happy to have tried it.

Oh but this is sexy. Deliciously warm, spicy, musky sexy. Bakeneko actually reminds me a whole lot of Chrysanthemum Moon, actually, which means that I'm head-over-heels in love with the Monster Cat. The musk and spices predominate here, and I'm getting just hints of the orange and tea. It doesn't have much throw, but when you put your nose in close, it's amazing. Really, really like this one!!!

Wow cranberries! The berries start out strong the minute I open the imp, and they ripen immediately once applied to my wrist. As Lampades dries, I get a little bit of the musk and spices, but it's still dominated by the earthy, not sweet, cranberries. The ginger was AWOL for me, but I'll try it again and see if it decides to join the party next time... I like this quite a bit, although I suppose you'd have to be in an exceptionally fruity frame of mind to really enjoy it!

Simple and sweet, Regan is an enchanting scent. It's a genteel, creamy, powdery floral that seems like it has a light touch, but really is a bit more persuasive than that. The vanilla is not foody at all on me, and is perfectly complemented by the orchid. It's saved from being too sweet by (what I imagine is) the stephanotis. It doesn't morph much at all - it smelled very similar to me when it was both wet and after dry-down.

This nearly leapt out of the imp at me, it was so strong! My first impression was deep and earthy and aggressive: patchouli and vetiver dominated for a few minutes. After it dried, it mellowed out surprisingly quickly and became a sweeter, seamless blend of resin, musk, and spice. I was unable to detect the cinnamon note at all, which surprised me. I like this quite a bit, and feel that it is in the same "category" for me as Vixen and Ravenous. It does fade rather quickly - the throw backs off almost immediately and after two hours, I can only smell it by pressing my nose to my wrist.

This starts off with a whoosh of patchouli! But the orange blossom is lurking there too, and within 5 minutes Vixen moderates a bit and the ginger starts to spice things up. This scent must have the same patchouli that (I guess) is in Snake Oil, because that note seems common between the two. After it dries, the woody patchouli calms and is balanced beautifully by the orange and ginger. My final impression is of a rich, energetic blend that keeps me happy for the rest of the evening...

I love my imp of this - it's fresh with apple and peach, rounded out by the honey and musk. Absolutely stunning! So of course I order a 5ml - and it smells very different to me. Tragically, the 5ml goes all rose and orange blossom on my skin, with only the barest hint of the fruity freshness of the imp. I've tried this at least three times with the same results. It's not bad as far as rose/orange blossom goes, but I'm just really missing the apple here. I guess I'll treasure my imp and send my bottle off to Swapville!

I tried out Bastet about a month ago, and was unimpressed - I felt like I was being stalked by the "fierce saffron" and, after awhile, the spicy just got on my nerves. I was about to throw it into the swap pile but decided to put it aside - after all, page after page of glowing reviews must have some basis! Today, I put Bastet on and it's pure warmth and love. Seriously. No saffron at all. I did, however, streak this in my hair instead of on my skin, and that has most likely made all the difference. This is an absolutely radiant scent: from the initial rush of almond, its mellowed out into a musk/amber/cardamom lovefest. I'm not sure what the lotus smells like, so I cannot identify that note but, really, who can be that picky when they smell this good?

At first sniff, this is a heady rush of straight-up sweet cherries. Once applied, the cherry immediately starts to mellow and is beautifully balanced by a rich woody note. I love the Red Queen at this stage, but sadly, this stage passes all too quickly and within an hour I'm pressing my nose to my wrist searching for one last impression of that beautiful scent.

My first review - I decided to start with a blend with only two components In the imp, I get a whiff of very strong patchouli, but it's the brighter, less earthy variety and it melds beautifully with the orange. I don't get the play-doh or sweet note that other reviewers have mentioned. To me, it's pure, strong and gorgeous. I tended to fade too soon for my liking (or maybe I didn't put enough on - I err on the cautious side with patchouli) but I discovered that streaking it through my hair made it last most of the day. I'll definitely be getting a bottle when my imp runs out!

My original imp of Les Bijoux has a beautifully fresh apple smell to it. I've since ordered a bottle, and the fresh apple isn't quite as strong in the 5ml. Either way, it's a lovely scent.