Sangria2

I can't decide if I like this one or not. In the imp it's all warm leather and wood. Upon application YIKES it's like I walked into a Cavender's Boot City that just waxed their floors. Once it dries a bit, the most prominent note for me is the slight tang I associate with Bpal's blood, very similar to the blood note in The Chilling Cellar from eons ago. It's backed by a smoked dusty sweetness from the tea and overall very earthy on me. My sister says I smell like dirt, but not in a bad way. If I focus and sniff really hard I get the impression of wood waaaay in the background. It wears really close to the skin. The dry phase is better than the wet. I need to ponder this one a bit more, I think.

Spicy, strong, sweet coffee. It's definitely on the strong side, with a bit of a bitter note that works well. The wear length isn't super long though, after a couple hours it was gone. Still very pretty! Also if anyone is worried about an anise smell in the aguardiente, I didn't get that at all.

Upon first spray I immediately get the champagne note. It's light and beautiful and very fizzy. After it settles down a bit I can detect the orange blossom with a lemony hint and behind that the vanilla. After a few minutes it was mostly effervescent vanilla with just the slightest bit of orange. I could smell it really well all last night - I applied it to damp hair - but by this morning it's pretty much gone. Husband's take on it was "orange 7up" for what that's worth. I love it!

I love this one so much, I just wish it was stronger. First on it is very much peach forward, drying down to a beautiful, delicate floral/peach musk. For what it's worth I am not getting even a drop of champaca and I'm fine with that. The biggest issue is that this stuff has ZERO sillage. If I could walk around with nose glued to my wrist then Memorials of Friendship would be 5/5. As it is, I've got to drop it down to a 3 because it's still really pretty. It reminds me of Jennie Rogers, even though the two have hardly any notes in common.

Oh my word, you guys. Blind bottle WIN. In the bottle it smells like a pale vanillic foral. I have to really sniff to get a sense of it. Then when I put it on it just blossoms into this wonderful creamy vanilla amber, edged with the narcissus. The floral is almost on the edge of green, like it's the petals as well as the leaves. When I put my nose to my wrist and inhale deeply the front notes remind me a bit of Kitten with Shamisen Daydreams from last year, which was the hit of the 2017 Lupers for me. Dry, the narcissus comes a bit to the forefront but only in whiffs. The underlying scent is an intoxicating cloud of amber vanilla citrus goodness, without any of the notes overpowering the others. It lasts over six hours which is awesome. I am not doing this description justice, it's just too beautiful for words. If you think you will like this one, do yourself a favor and definitely get it.

What on earth...how can this not have cedar or sandalwood in it? In the imp it smells like woods of some sort. Wet it sort of blossoms out with that woody note and I get a hint of dill, which I normally associate with cedar. After it dries down the currant comes out, a juicy fruitiness to counterbalance this arid woodiness. My skin never activates leather, so I don't smell it all. It's pretty much balsam/oudh and currant. I would agree that it's more masculine overall.

In the imp it's all sweet vanilla mint, loud and clear, with the slightest undertone of rose if I seriously look for it. It's the kind of mint that you can feel in the back of your throat. Once it's on me, the vanilla mint is the prominent note, but after about ten minutes I started getting the sour tang that frankincense likes to do when mixed with rose. I've had it on for about an hour now, and I'm hopeful that it will tone down somewhat because without the sour note it's really quite lovely.

In the imp and first on, all I get is sweet fruit, more berry like than anything else. After having worn it for a while, now it's predominantly patchouli/labdanum. Before I checked the note list I would have SWORN this one had coconut in it, and like the previous reviewer mentioned it feels a bit tropical. I'm guessing the sea moss gives it a slight salty twist. It is pleasant enough, but I am so very sad there is no pear to be found anywhere.

In the bottle this one smells absolutely heavenly. The dead leaves take a bit of a backseat, and the most prominent note to my nose is the honeyed patchouli, followed by the tea. I sprayed it onto wet hair, four or five sprays, and the scent was pretty much the same, with the tea note becoming more noticeable. Unfortunately this one disappeared very quickly. I have to stick my nose into my hair and breathe deeply, and all I get is a slightly sweet, clean smell. I'm so disappointed, I don't know what happened to it.

This is definitely my favorite of the current dead leaves hair glosses. Upon application it is very strongly dead leaves, with a hint of cedar. After it's been on for a while it is mostly single note dead leaf, with a slight hint of warm, spicy incense every once in a while. It's strong enough to smell it even if I have my hair up, and it lasted for three days. I love, love, love it.

Oh my, this one is So Gorgeous. In the decant: It's like everyone is saying, an explosion of scent that brings to mind riotous color. It is floral, and also a touch fruity. Wet: It is almost difficult to register the number of notes and smells that go flying by at first. But I also get jasmine, some very light rose, and...pomegranate? I can't decide where the fruity element is coming from, but the flowers here are best described as juicy. I'm also getting a sort of vanillic creaminess behind them all, but I would not say it is outright "vanilla." Sometimes I get that from blends with orchid. Dry: The fruit has faded, and it is now sugar and flowers. The sugar is not brown or caramelized at all, it smells to me the way rock candy tastes. This stuff is amazing. It reminds me of the best parts of Sugar Moon, only lighter. The throw is more than decent, I've had it on for two and a half hours now and I am still catching constant whiffs of it as I move around. I wish I would have blind bought a bottle, but thank goodness I still have time to rectify that.

I'm having a difficult time trying to come up with words that adequately express the awesomeness of these bath salts. When the package arrived yesterday, everything was wrapped carefully and taped, but the Love salts had managed to leak anyway. I was therefore greeted by the most heavenly scent imaginable, and when I found the culprit leaking beautiful oil through the taped lid I immediately smeared all of it on my hands and arms. Love smells a bit like Persephone with the rose/pom combo, but it is way sweeter, a candy fruit flower scent that is utterly edible and yet not. After I opened the jar, more of the ginger became apparent, adding a sparkling freshness to the candy. I have a huge garden tub, which I filled with the hottest water I could stand, and added three tablespoons of the salt. I didn't even have to mix them first, as the oil was evenly distributed among the salt and wasn't pooled at the bottom as I've had some do. The salt dissolved very quickly, and the scent filled my entire bathroom. The soak itself was great. The oil clings to your skin without feeling greasy, the salt softens the water - and it helped my sore foot, so yay for that - and most importantly the scent clung to me afterward. Plus the bathroom smelled wonderful. I kept finding reasons to have to walk back in there because every time I opened the doors this lovely waft of Love was still hanging in the air. These bath salts moisturized way better than I've had the bath oil do in the bath. I was soft even this morning, and even my heels and knees. I only wish these would have been available during the winter months, and now I'm pretty desperate to get my hands on some more of them. I think these salts are an excellent candidate for a GC item. Also, Love would be an excellent perfume, bath oil, soap, hair gloss, you name it. This product is a 5 out of 5, for sure!

In the vial: I smell mostly rose, with something green and slightly spicy behind it. Wet: The vetiver really pops at first, lending an earthy green note to the floral sweetness of the rose. It isn't the tangy, smokey sort of vetiver, it's definitely mellow. The rose reminds me a bit of the rose from Two Five and Seven, actually. Dry: After about half an hour, the vetiver is (disappointingly) mostly gone. The labdanum is coming out, and my nose usually reads labdanum as Coca-Cola. So it's sort of coke and sweet roses, with a lovely incense backbone. I've had it on for two hours and it's staying true. As for throw it's keeping pretty close to the skin, but every once in a while I will get a bit of it wafting up from my wrists. It's one of those that sort of compels you to keep searching it out though. I think it's a beautiful take on the usual rose.

In the vial: Fresh sweet apples, followed closely by the green tea. I would really love to drink this. Wet: First applied, all I'm getting is apple. There is no "blossom" to be found, and the apple is really strong. Dry: After just a few minutes, the apple settles down and is joined by a tangy greenness, and soap. This is the shampoo that everyone else has mentioned, but it doesn't stay that way. The soapiness disappears and now I swear this is a dead ringer for the drydown of Like Brooms of Steel. That creamy, slightly disconcerting apple smell, after the mint has burned off. This one had moderate throw to begin with that has faded into a skin scent within three hours. My wrists have the ghost of the apple green tea smell from the vial, but I have to really huff them to find it. Sandalwood never showed up even in part. It's pretty, but not quite what I was hoping for.

I wasn't terribly excited for this one, but I got a half decant of all four so I tried it. I'm really glad I did! In the vial: As others have mentioned, smoke and vetiver. The vetiver comes across as wet grass. Wet: The smoke/vetiver combo exploded off my wrists. I put it on in the car, and it was so strong I almost rolled the windows down. Dry: After about thirty minutes, the smoke and vetiver calm down quite a bit. I started to get hints of sweet dragon's blood sort of hiding behind the other two notes. It reminds me of the way I smell after coming home from an outdoor bbq that I wore some other sweet perfume to. Two hours later, everything has melded and blended to a very exquisite combination of slightly smoky, slightly sweet, and slightly green. It isn't overpowering or overwhelming, and in fact I wish now that it was still a little stronger as this blend stays close to the skin. I do happen to like vetiver, and I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to someone that hates it, but the vetiver is tempered quite a bit by the other notes. I didn't get anything that I recognize as steel or metal, and thankfully the sweetness of the dragon's blood doesn't turn into cherry syrup either. I'm going to give it a couple more wears, but it's definitely on my "maybe eventually a bottle" list.

In the vial: Dark, salty oceanness with an almost floral, sweet soapy undertone. It brings to mind standing on a beach before it rains, after having showered away all the sand and sunblock. Wet: Initially the salt amps a bit, becoming more of a brine and blending with something green and almost lush. This part of it is AWESOME. 30 seconds later the salt pretty much disappears and I'm left with a ton of sweet, soapy cologne. It's reading masculine to me, and reminding me a tad of a lighter Casanova. Dry: Properly dried, The Spell of the Eastern Sea is straight up Axe shower gel. I don't know which flavor of Axe, but I know it smells exactly like my husband after a shower. Perhaps a tad sweeter. I guess I'll have to keep looking for an aquatic that actually works for me.

In the vial: Very strong, sharp menthol and eucalyptus with the barest hint of something sweet underneath it. Wet: The menthol/eucalyptus immediately begins breaking up, and the apple comes racing out of nowhere. Now it's slightly medicinal, minty sweet apple. I also got an extremely brief salty tang of metal, which disappeared as quickly as it showed up. Dry: This reminds me of an apple pudding that my Grandma makes for Christmas, with the addition of mint. Apple usually fades on me, but this one sticks around. If I sniff my wrist, I can also smell the burlap and it does smell true. With each inhalation I'm getting a cold sensation in the back of my nose, and the minty apple in the front. I like this one, but unfortunately it doesn't last. It had moderate throw and within an hour it's almost gone, dried completely down to powdery dust that I have to really search for. What a shame.

In the vial: An extremely vivid replication of actual cranberry juice. Wet: The bright cranberry note sort of smoothes out into a generic "red fruit" smell. it's a bit like mixed berry koolaid. While wet and at least 30 minutes in the throw was very noticeable. Dry: As the spices come out - nothing I can pick out individually - this borders on Christmas craft store candle, and reminds me of Frumious Bandersnatch. I say borders, because it never fully goes there, but sort of hovers between sweet red fruit and spicy candle. This has sweetened a lot in the drydown, and two hours later become a skin scent with little to no throw.

Zombi is one of my all time favorite Bpals. It's a lovely rich rose/moss/earth blend that lasts for hours. I was sort of worried/intrigued about what gingerbread would do to it, so I had to try a decant. In the decant: All gingerbread, all the time. Moist and delicious, I wish it was edible. Wet: The gingerbread stays true for about 30 seconds, and then the blend begins to morph. There's a hint of faint rose, followed by intense spicy CINNAMON. The cinnamon really amps up, and I agree with a previous reviewer that it did make me a little sick to my stomach with the intensity. The throw is insane at this point, cinnamon in the forefront with what's left of the gingerbread floating around the edges. My sister said it smells like Christmas. Dry: An hour and a half into the wear, the cinnamon is still noticeable but a lot calmer. The rose has come out and mixed with the cinnamon, ginger and dirt notes to make something that is actually rather stunning. I'm still getting reminders that it used to be gingerbread, but they're fewer and farther between. Ultimately Gingerbread Zombi reminds me of walking among the stalls at renaissance festivals. On me it is a powerful blend and a little goes a long way. It is still going strong into hour 3 at this point.

In the decant: Upon opening the vial, there is a floral blast of lilies and rose, seemingly in equal parts. It's really quite beautiful. I'm not detecting any "snow." Wet: Goodness, the throw on this one is definitely intense. All I'm getting now is straight up single note lily. Dry: After about 30 minutes the lily calms down somewhat, although it's still the dominant note. If I sniff my wrist I get the barest hint of coolness behind the lily and it's pleasant. As other reviewers have mentioned, this is not the typical minty, clear out your sinuses type of snow. 2 hours later it has faded significantly and become much more office appropriate, throw-wise. I like it, but I'd love it if the rose stuck around.

I was most excited for this one out of all of the Yules, so upon ripping open my decants last night it was the first one I grabbed. In the decant: Oh wow, this smells delicious. Crispy, buttery shortbread with a hint of jammy fruitiness. It reminds me a bit of the Raspberry Thumbprint Cookie bath oil from BPTP last year, only this is richer. I am not smelling any mint. Wet: The wonderful cookie smell lasts about 15 seconds. As the cream amps up, it mixes with the butter and starts to go weird. It's hard to describe because it was almost musky, almost playdough, and almost plastic but at the same time not quite any of them. I decided to tough it out to see if it could be salvaged. Dry: That strange, thick, off smell smoothed out a bit when dry, and I swear I could smell coconut under all of it. I only applied it to both wrists, but the throw was powerful enough to be present even while I was washing dishes. After an hour, I had to wash Braving the Ice off as well. I think the butter ruined this one for me, but I'm planning on giving it another go in a scent locket because DAMN in the imp it is amazing.

I threw a bottle of Asterias in with my huge Christmas order at the last minute. It's the one of the group I was most iffy about, as honey and I do not usually get along. Opening the cap I was immediately surrounded by a cloud of apricot and honey. Seriously, this one was strong and absolutely delicious. I use my bath oils as after shower moisturizers, so today I decided to give it a try. The first thing I noticed was that this oil seemed heavier than the older ones I have. It took more of a squeeze to get it out of the bottle versus the usual pour. It also seemed to cling to the skin better, and to be more moisturizing altogether. I am hopeful that this consistancy is a trend with all of the bath oils I just bought. On the skin, the apricot and peach disappear and I get a lot of true to life honey and a tiny bit of floral plastic. It reminds me of this Strawberry Shortcake doll I had back in the 80s, so it isn't unpleasant. Dried down and three hours later, it smells light and floral, almost peach blossoms instead of actual fruit. The honey is now more of a background note, along with the woody tang I associate with sandalwood. My skin is soft and doesn't feel tight or dry at all. Overall I am very pleased with this impulse purchase.

I thought I was going to love this one, as all of the notes were a win, but I could hardly smell it either. All I got was a very faint lily that was completely gone within thirty minutes. I even doubled my usual application and still couldn't really smell it. How disappointing.

In the imp: Candied grapefruit! Yay! Wet: The grapefruit disappears immediately, and then I get playdough. I resisted the urge to wash it off, and within ten minutes it was single note honey. Still not good. Dry: There were several fleeting stages here in the drydown where I got hints of cypress and what my nose was reading as a floral of some sort, but all of these attempts were drowned in honey that turned to baby powder at an hour and a half. Honey babypowder at that. No throw to speak of at any point in the wear. I think I need to just realize that if honey is listed I can't wear it. I'm really disappointed in this one, as the imp smelled divine.

In the imp: Sweet, in your face coffee. Wet: The coffee is quickly replaced by the carnation, and to my nose it smells exactly like the real flower if I had one sitting in front of me. Dry: As it dries the coffee and carnation blend together to create a sweet, spicy coffee scent. I never got any leather, sadly, and the only time I get any tobacco is 3 hours in if I sniff my wrists really hard. It had moderate throw in the first hour, which has been diminishing with each hour since until here at hour four it's almost gone. I like the Ta-ta, in that it's a warm, sweet, interesting scent, but I don't love it and I can't exactly say why. I was hoping for more of a leather/carnation blend rather than so much coffee. I think I'll be happy with the decant.