kawaiiferreto

I can't explain what this smells like other than . Like others have said - it's warm and cozy and inviting - but unique (which is the wool note I think.) It's also a little creamy, and sweet but not too too sweet. Awesome!

Lady Lilith, Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Climbing rose, vanilla cream, vanilla flower, white tea, mandarin, red and white musks, opium poppy, Parma violet, and opoponax. Much with other red musk blends on my chemistry - this is lovely. However, it's not stand out OMG must have more lovely. It's nice, and it's delicious, but I really couldn't tell you what makes it any different on my skin from Red Moon 2007 - they are both lovely, but underwhelming. I wouldn't have a reason to pick this out of my big box of other BPAL lovelies. (However, on someone else where red musk doesn't tend to amp and smell the same this could be fantastic - before it dries down the other scents are THERE. They just don't stay on me. Edited to add scent description.

I guess I never posted a review for this . . . My impression of Khajuraho (and any other champaca blend really) is best described by a brief dialogue: Me: Hmm. This is O.K. I guess... smokey floral. Champaca: HIIII! Me: *hack* That's a bit much on the champaca. Champaca: Did you say you don't like champaca? Clearly you must not be smelling right. DOOOOOOOOOOOMS! Me: BLEGH! Champaca: *Vomits on wrist* Laaaalaalaaa!

Wet: Sweetness. Maybe even caramel sweetness, definitely not fruity. Can't pick out any individual notes. I'm crossing my fingers that the candy corn comes out! Dry: Eventually this turns into strawberry Laffy Taffy, or a close approximation - sweet, light, fluffy artificial strawberry. Not much throw. I like it, but I'd never wear it.

I was so excited to see a BEEEEEER note. I'm a beer snob, and have been hoping for a beer scent for a long while. Unfortunately, this doesn't work out on me. Wet and in the bottle this is strong on the whiskey (I like whiskey, but it's not something I want to smell like.) As it dried the whiskey scent mostly backed off. I never did get a strong beer scent though, because after that it was more grain and powder (I think the whiskey turned to powder, or maybe it was the beer.) It wasn't unpleasant, but it's not something I'd really want to wear. However, that the barley note was a nice. I like grains and hays and grasses. I will have to go back to dreaming of a beer scent.

Vibrant with the joy and sweetness of life in death! A blend of five sugars, lightly dusted with candied fruits. I love sugar notes, so I had to try this (especially since I passed on it last year, and in 06.) This smells exactly like it said it would: sugar and candied fruit. It was pleasant, but a bit flat and uninteresting on me. My favorite sugar blends are all sugar PLUS something else (floral, wood, etc), so I suppose it's to be expected that this feels like it needs a little something else. I also don't generally like scents that smell like dessert and nothing else. Overall, a nice scent, but not for me. On a side note, this stuff lasts and lasts and lasts. The next morning I can still smell the sugars very strongly (the fruit has mostly disappeared.)

I can't really smell any specific notes in this other than GAH SWEEEEET. Coconut and pineapple commonly do that with my skin, so I'm not hugely surprised. I don't get the sugar cane note, which makes me sad since I love pure sugar notes. No chili pepper in sight either, which is a shame. I love a little spice! I may have to try this again another day, just to make sure my cold/flu/whatever this is isn't doing funny things to my nose.

In the imp and wet this is all beeswax. Overwhelming beeswax even. It has quite a bit of throw. It also has a tinge of bitterness to it; I'm not sure where that's coming from (I'd say the pepper except that pepper LOVES me and goes spicy, not bitter.) It stays much the same for the first few hours, but later... WOW. The beeswax turns more into powder and honey and a light hint of wax (I think it may have been the wax that was the bitter note.) The sandalwood lends some extra powdery warmth. I never can pick out the other notes. I wish the nutmeg would perk up. I like this after it's been on for a few hours, but I can't decide if that makes it worth keeping. I wonder if aging it would make it stay that way all of the time. Choices choice. I'll make final decisions after the end date for CD is released.

Wet and in the imp this is GARDENIA. Luckily as it dries the gardenia backs off. After 20 minutes or so I can smell what I assume is the monoi tiare, it's faintly coconut-y, but not the cloyingly sweet buttery coconut I get from the standard lab coconut. It smells faintly like how an actual coconut smells, and faintly floral. I'm not sure if I get the orchid because I don't know what that smells like. Several hours later I get a very faint whiff of the incense, but it's predominantly meaty floral and coconut-y goodness. It's quite lovely, but I don't know that I can see myself wearing this often enough to keep the bottle.

I had high hopes for this one. At first it was bright and cheerful citrus. It completely disappeared in 5 minutes or so though . . . I may have to try it one more time in hopes that it lasts longer.

Really. Wow. This is everything I wanted Hay Moon to be that it wasn't (it went oddly smoky on me.) A lovely warm woody and inviting scent. I could see me wearing this often. MUST HAVE BOTTLE.

Wet: Milkweed. Eww. Dry: Much better! I don't know where that bitter nasty milkweed smell was coming from. This is very "perfumey". It's pretty, but I definitely see the shallow feel to this. The throw is very light and the scent is pretty and non-offensive so I could probably wear it to work. There's something about it that keeps drawing my nose. I never do get to where I can pick out the notes, but I'm not super familiar with some of them anyway. Either way I think I'll be hanging on to my decant for a bit at least. (I've come to like florals so long as they aren't too strong, and this is nice and light and wearable.)

Rose, rose, rose, rose geranium. Not the sweeter rose of Victoria and Moon Rose that I am so fond of either. It almost has a lemony quality to it. I hope that the sandalwood perks up later, or the gardenia (assuming that french gardenia is similar to most gardenia anyway.) The strong rose doesn't ever back down with this one. It keeps that astringent lemony quality. Eventually I can just barely sense a sweetness, which is likely the gardenia, but it doesn't come out enough to make this wearable for me.

Ashlultum: Hmm. This is an interesting one. On me this is slightly minty creamy tea. The coconut actually behaves and doesn't go cloying buttery and gross. However, at the same time that the notes behave on me and that it's somewhat pleasant, it isn't amazing, and I've been trying to limit my collection to amazing only (which is easy enough to do with such a huge catalog.) The throw on this is very light. One good note is that now I know I shouldn't entirely give up on coconut. It's actually very very nice in this blend. In fact, the more I sniff it the more I'm tempted to keep this for when I'm in a coconut mood. It reminds me of the coconut sticky rice that they serve with fresh mango at some Thai restaurants.

Wet: Dirt and lemon? Dry: Dirty rose. Emphasis on the dirt. It must be the patchouli that's turning to dirt on me. This is more like what I expected Zombi to smell like. The sandalwood is MIA for me - eaten by the dirt I suspect.

I really need to get better at picking out some florals... Because I am familiar with jasmine that's the main thing I get from this blend (that I can describe anyway.) The jasmine is being rounded out a little bit, and I can feel the musky quality from the crystalline musk, even if I can't outright smell it. I wish this blend were sweeter and/or brighter, as I don't tend to like serious/calm florals. But this is a nice mellow floral (if you like jasmine anyway) and it does have a "night"-ish feel to it.

Let the crazy morphing begin! This is one wacky scent... I never was able to directly pinpoint any of the notes at either stage. Wet it was creamy, sweet, warm, and inviting. I could see where the vanilla comparisons come from. Dry it was citronella candle/ bug spray . . . Eww. If it stayed the way it did at first I might consider testing it for it's other uses, but I think I'll have to pass.

YUMMY!!!! I love me some spices, and some tea, so I of course HAD to try this one eventually. Wet: This is all cassia and cinnamon bark. I like those scents, so it's no problem, but I hope the other notes show up as it dries! Dry: This is still pretty strong on the cinnamon/cassia front, but the longer it warms up the more I can smell the other notes. NUTMEG! Nutmeg is my favorite smell ever, and I really wish the lab used it prominently in more blends. The other notes all blend together in the background really. The tobacco doesn't pop out, which is good because it's usually a "meh" scent for me. Overall, this is yummy spices and no sugar, which is awesome. Too often spices get tossed into sugary foody blends that I won't wear. I still don't know how often I'll wear it out of my other favorite spicy scents. If you liked this though, you owe it to yourself to try Bengal and Three Witches; they are in a similar vein.

Wet: ....Soap? Nice soap maybe, but still soap. Dry: Oh good. The soapy scent is gone. On me this is mostly jasmine. In fact, I think it is actually ALL jasmine. However, it IS jasmine that's behaving, which never ever used to happen for me. This proves that my skin and my nose both like jasmine now, but since this is so flat/single note I'll have to look for a signature jasmine scent elsewhere. Verdict, not bad, but not good either.

Oh my . . . This stuff is AMAZING. Apparently I'm a fan of gardenia, and will need to add that to my "notes I love" list. Wet: Bright gardenia and aquatic loveliness. Dry it's still very strong on the gardenia. It doesn't smell as wet and watery as it did at first. I can smell just a hint of spice and musk and other blossoms. Lovely! This is so sophisticated and bright and happy; the throw is pretty light, which is perfect for my tastes. MUST HAVE MORE!

I tried this once when I first started BPAL-ing, thought it was meh, and then swapped it away and forgot about it. I recently acquired some more, and seeing as my tastes had changes I decided to give it another go. This one is pretty bizarre on my skin. Wet it's creamy vanilla and an almost smoky smell. As it dries it's smelling more and more cloyingly sweet, buttery and salty to me . . . I don't really smell sandalwood at all, which is sad because I love me some sandalwood. Unfortunately, this one is not for me.

Vanilla musk, carnation, honeycomb, daisy. . . So many awesome sounding notes. Unfortunately, pretty notes blend to an unfortunate consequence. I was graced with a familiar scent, not unpleasant, but not particularly pleasant either. Finally it dawned on me: GREEN OLIVES! Pimento stuffed briny green olives - one of my favorite foods, but not something I want to smell like. I wonder if it's in part due to the lemon; I haven't really tried any BPAL lemon scents so I don't know how that one plays on my skin.

Oh... my.... Sugar loves me, and is what, as usual, makes this blend so fabulous on me. Lovely sugared florals, and a tiny hint of smokiness. I've honestly never smelled/tasted absinthe, but I'm guessing that's what part of this blend is reminding me of Te Po (liquidy yummy minty citrus goodness.)

Wet: I can smell the champaca and other florals. The jasmine actually isn't going evil on me which is nice. Dry: I still don't get the sandalwood, cinnamon, or honey (though the light sweetness of the blend could be attributed to the honey.) More and more as this dries I get overwhelming champaca . . . I had the same problem with Khajuraho and Temple Viper, so I'm really not surprised. However, with those I did get the other notes at least a bit, so I may need to let this age for a month or two and retry it. In the far dry down the vanilla finally shows up and the champaca calms down. It really is quite a lovely scent - lovely light blossoms. The sandalwood doesn't stand out too much but it lends it's characteristic smooth warm woody smell to the background, which is nice and adds some sophistication to the blend. this is definitely going into my stash to age a bit!

Unfortunately for me, the Blasphemare Reliquary is underwhelming. It's about the same wet and dry for the first 2-3 hours: indistinguishable resiny-dry scent. I usually have a good track record with myrrh in particular, so I surprised at how unimpressed I was with this scent. I didn't get any of rose, which is unfortunate because incensy rose sounds lovely! Hours later I happened to catch a whiff of something beautiful as I pushed back my hair. On further inspection, it was my wrist! Many many hours after dry down the rose came out to play and it mixed oh so nicely with the resins, but I'm trying to be pickier with blends and stick to things that are nice on me from the start, not from 6 hours later .. Alas, off to swaps.