Alice Aforethought

At first, this strikes me as a beautiful blend that is both herby and darkly floral. As it dries off though, its mood lightens to a lush water meadow, rich in depth but it seems like someone has been bathing in it and has viciously soaped themselves. And then it goes powdery on me. It's a shame it doesn't keep to its first stage.

First on, this is a lovely buttery-smooth floral scent, lightly herbed rather than spiced. The slight sharpness this produces soon fades to leave a gorgeous grounded earthy undertone, reminiscent of new-fallen oakleaves under the smooth, almost musky floral. After about half an hour or so on me, it changes again to a lighter, calm white musk type scent with a mere hint of the previous leafiness. It's a very pleasant scent, different enough from the usual light non-BPAL aquatics to be a little unusual.

Juliet's another one I didn't expect to like, but did. There's that heavy, rich almost spicy cloying smell from the rich florals at first, but as they settle down the scent becomes a lovely sweet one, most definitely feminine as well as assertive. It stays fairly well, too. A little too much on the sweet side for my general tastes, but definitely one to keep.

A masculine floral blend. And it is absolutely gorgeous! There's a smooth deepness there but no bitterness, just a beguiling rich quality that is ever so slightly sweet but never offensively so. I can't smell any lemon in this at all! And only vanilla tea if the tea is very very weak.

This is a really strange one to wear - it progesses from the dry greenness of rose leaves when first applied (almost like elements of Zombi) to the drydown of warm, passionate yet comforting scent of sweet rose. Even when dry, it has a slight incisive edge there of awareness - this one is no mere soft cushion, but has a depth to it unlike the exhilaration of honeysuckle at night, more like, erm, ninja honeysuckle! Trained and honed, like. It's very sweet on drydown, but there is still a slight whiff of the dryness of geranium, maybe (that smell of slightly musty dry leaves) , which prevents it from being too overpoweringly sweet. It's full-bodied in a similar way to Blood Rose, but with a little more of a herby note there. It stays for hours this one!

I love this in the imp - warm, vital. I adore amber! On, it stays for about two seconds before almost fading completely away. I have to slather a large amount on to prevent if becoming a mere memory of a whiff. As it fades, the smell changes slightly to let a sharper note emerge - almost like a hint of fresh, juicy fennel seeds. It prevents it from being too cloying and overpowering. A perfect scent, if only it would stay!

Bergamot lifts it very nicely - it lends a cleaner edge.

For any in the UK/Europe, solid amber/other resins can be found here. Mine came from a lovely forumite in a Lush secret santa swap.

I'm going to spoil the BPAL mood here and suggest you get yourself a small chunk of amber resin. It acts like solid perfume - just stroke it gently on your pulse points and you will smell divine. Actually, this is a good way to pick out the different elements of BPAL amber scents - as you will then be more aware of its key note, you will be able to differentiate more easily, being more familiar with it.

The warn, sweet spicy carnation hit me as soon as I opened the imp . It positively glides on with a lugubrious tone that would be well suited to a benign old charmer with a roguish gleam in his eye (OK, OK it reminded me of a recent series of Casanova!) The incenses emerge more after drydown,leaving a blend that is still rich but not quite as vibrant, more subtle but still intoxicating. Specks of dust lit up by shafts of light. It reminds me a little of Aureus with its warmth, comfort and scope, but a floor higher up, not hidden in the relative dark. I love this and I wish it were mine. I'll have to get some.

The spikiness of the lavender is through first, but is soon replaced by a light, clean citrussy scent which is deliciously musky and smooth on a bloke, but just smells fruity and sweet, and indeed somewhat artificial on me. At least that means I get to smell my lovely in it.

This is a tangy light berry scent, which levels out for me at watermelon sweeties. It's almost the light, sweet citrussy version of the now-departed Carnivale. It brings back memories of early teen years, with those dewberry type scents. Unfortunately, it's too sweet for everyday wear for me, so it's a good thing i got it for my lovely.

The vetiver first off gives this one an unpleasant sourness, which is a shame as it does soon mellow to let the floral notes through. But there is a lovely slightly spicy warmth behind it, keeping it rounded and preventing it being sickly-sweet, or the jasmine being too overpowering. It is a comfortable mossy tree-stump hollow in early summer which is moist, not sopping wet leaving skirts trailing in disgust.

I'm a convert to florals, but this one's too heavy first off, even for me. There is a bitter, watery note in there that prevents me liking this one. As it mellows it does get a lot more wearable, as the rose influence peeks out a bit more and the frankincense stays nicely in the background this time. The lily note still jars on me, unfortunately, so this is another one for my lovely.

I really didn't think I'd get on with this. I don't go for the sweetie, foody type smells. But this is a total exception. First on, it's a gentle vanilla laced with almond - not a harsh, bitter almond, more like the aroma from a newly-opened packet of ground almonds for cakeage. It's exquisite, but just not me. And then, as it calms down the cool note peeks through. It's like a small breath of icy air that immediately and instinctively makes your neck straighten and your posture improve. It's a cool and collected scent masquerading behind the sweet and comforting pretence of of sweeties and happy-ever-after. And I love it.