schneagl

In the bottle: A bracing aquatic; sharp sea air. Wet on my skin and Drydown: Briny salt, the metallic part of blood - not the lab's "Blood" scent but, y'know, actual blood. And I love me all the dragon's blood scents, I'm just not picking any up here. So this is about as spot-on as a scent can get to the title! This is one of the least morphing BPALs I've tried - it stays a salty aquatic. The throw is above average and it lasted most of the day, so it's a great one if you like these notes.

In the bottle: Reminds me very much of Eclipse or Dana O'Shee, with more of a tang. Lots of almond and spices. Wet on my skin: This is one of the first scents I've tried where it seems to rotate through other BPALs I have. It starts out like Eclipse with more of a cologne feel, then adds a Snow White-like snow note, and the cologne note sharpens again. Drydown: The cologne stays around but lightens a bit. All the milky and snow notes fade fast. I like Uruk's notes a lot, though it doesn't last all that long - about 2 hours on me - and it has a lighter throw than I prefer. Haven't tried slathering it, but for me, layering Eclipse and Snow White would probably work just as well and last longer! I'll also ask the boy if he wants to try it.

In the bottle: Newly lit fire with smoke and something acrid, like lighter fluid. Wet on my skin: Embers and smoke, charcoal, and a plant note that I can't identify. Drydown: Sour ash, smoke, and coals, and charring wood. Later on: A sweet note, like smoky bubble gum. Really. This is a fun one! It has a light throw, and lasted for a few hours with a long turndown. I wasn't quite expecting the acrid part, but otherwise it's the life cycle of a fire. Haven't tried layering it yet with anything, but there's some interesting potential here.

In the bottle: Greenery with spices that make me think of aftershave. Wet on my skin: Waxy, still with a sharp green note, and it's also a little cleaner than before, but still a little plasticky…it's a hard set of notes for me to identify. Drydown: Still a sharp green note, with a plastic/aftershave base. It burns down to a straight incense. Overall, this is just a weird one on me. I didn't get any sense of lavender, and I'm not really sure what it was trying to be. The throw was light to average and the duration was a few hours.

2014 Version In the bottle: Sugary vanilla with spices in the background. Wet on my skin: Vanilla cakes, a bit of hops or nutty grain, and a tiny whiff of resins. This is incredibly spot on to the notes! Drydown: Sweet vanilla with spices. It burns down to almost a sweet vanilla floral. Wow, this one was interesting. It was a decant for the boy, to which I raised my eyebrows when he picked it out of the lot, mostly due to my distrust of the beer note…but it works strangely well in combination. The throw was pretty light and it lasted a few hours on me.

In the bottle: Honey, pumpkin, caramel. Very sweet, and heading to the cloying side for me. Wet on my skin: Sweet but NOT cloying now. Spicy notes start to come into play, and actually strike me as nutmeg more than frankincense. It's still a little on the *shudder* Yankee Candle side of the fence. Drydown: Nutmeg-y molasses. The burndown has the spicy resins much more present. Once again, I knew this one was risky for me but wanted to try it anyway! It's a little too overdone-candle mix for me, sadly. Both of the Pumpkins I tried this year are turning into molasses on me in the end. It appears to be working for the foodies, so hey, YMMV! The throw and duration were both average.

2014 Version In the bottle: Grasses, sap, maple-ish notes. Tobacco, almost? And a bit of citrus. Huh. Wet on my skin: Tobacco and hay? I think that's how I'm interpreting the gunpowder. Drydown: Pretty much the same, a little more light spices coming out. To be fair, this was a decant for the boy, who likes these notes a lot more than I do. The throw was light-to-average and lasted for a few hours, which was a lot lighter than I was expecting. It's a good mix for those who like these kinds of notes (though I oddly didn't pick up much patchouli).

2014 Version In the bottle: Sweet and spicy, then a rose floral. Wet on my skin: Airy, light rose, some resins in the back. Drydown: Rose. Which I amp, so not surprising, but I really would like more incense! I can barely pick it up, though the boy says he can make them out more. On him, I can pick up much more spice, so clearly a skin chemistry variance coming into play. The throw was average and stayed clearly discernible for hours. It lasted for most of the day, which is pretty good stats for me. Personally I want the spices and rose balance reversed, but I'm sure it will work out well for others.

In the bottle: Cologne, powder, a soft ash? Wet on my skin: Tobacco and diaper. Seriously. There's an astringent tone there that dries off fast, about 5 minutes, and then it's more like an aftershave. Drydown: Funky aftershave. Waxy, almost (candy wrappers?) Yes to smelling cat and ash. It burns down to an aftershave with spicy ash. I gotta say that the note descriptions hold up. I'm a huge Hellboy fan, and this is very evocatively accurate…though not a scent that I particularly want to smell like! The throw is light to average and the duration was pretty long, so it's got good staying power. I'll punt this one to the boy and see if it's more up his alley.

Dry, cold autumn wind. A rustle of red leaves, a touch of smoke and sap in the air. 2014 Version In the bottle: Vegetation at the end - husks, vines about to die - with airy notes mixed in. Wet on my skin: Deeper - night air, leaves, hay, almost a vegetable musk. Drydown: More musk and a very nice balance between all the notes. Almost a blackened tone, but not outright smoky/burned, or too heavy a feel. Reminds me of a muskier Scarecrow. I liked the balance on October a lot. The throw was pretty light on me and the duration was average. I wish it had a heavier presence; I like all the stages of this scent, but I have to sniff my wrists closely to pick up that I'm wearing it.

In the bottle: High notes, almost citrus-y. A bit like sap of very bright green grasses, and a bare touch of maple scent. It's hard for me to pick out individual notes. Wet on my skin: Still high and citrusy but with a smoky undertone. Still hard to tease apart the notes. Drydown: Similar, not much morphing going on: citrus is more prominent on my skin, whereas the little I put in my hair smells more smoky. It skims the border of smelling like a cleaning product, though it doesn't tip over. Later on: The burndown goes back more to earth and smoke, and what seems to be a bit of the snow-note in the background. The threw was average, the drydown came pretty fast, and it last a few hours total on me. The verbena generally won out with myrrh in the background, without a full-blown "floral" effect at any point…the total effect seems to be very dependent on which pieces of this blend you tend to amp.

In the bottle: Sugary pumpkin with nutty and spicy tones. Honestly, the phrase that came to mind was "snorting a pastry." Wet on my skin: Brown sugar, ginger, nutmeg, almost an anise base. Not what I usually get with the black tea note, but I suppose that's what's going on here? More the spices we associate with pumpkin scents than actual pumpkin smell. Drydown: Not much pumpkin, is my sad refrain. Black spices - more like a dark gingerbread made with molasses, or a dark caramel. I knew this one was a risk, since I'm not one for overly foodie scents, but I love all these notes, so was hoping for an outlier. It went too dreaded Yankee Candle for me overall, unfortunately. The throw was light to average, and the molasses burndown stuck around for most of the day. Really is unusually gingerbread-y for what the notes made me expect...

2014 Version: In the bottle: Leafy, a bit earthy, a bit airy. A sharp note of some kind cutting through the others. Wet on my skin: That sharp note is totally gone; the first thing I smell is ozone. The leafiness comes back, with a bit of sweet or floral background - that's the closest I'm getting to cocoa. It settles down to a sap smell. Drydown: Ozone (which is apparently how I'm interpreting the white musk here) plus dry leaf, and a hint of lingering fire or embers - I think that's where the amber incense is coming out most. This one's not quite what I was expecting, but still very nice. I like the individual notes, though they don't ever all blend together; they keep swapping places until the final burndown. The throw was fairly low for me, and lasted about average, a few hours. Didn't turn out to be my favorite of the Weenies like I was expecting, but glad I got a chance to try it.

This one was for the boy, and even though this isn't my kind of note list, I of course tested all the Weenie imps we got I didn't look back at the note list but just tried to write down what autumn-y smells I got: In the bottle: Maple-golden and a touch sweet, with incense spices. Wet on my skin: No sweetness now, an astringent maple with green vines. It's risking going to "cleaner" on me, but the notes in the back are keeping it together. Sort of a smell of plants ready to harvest, too. Drydown: Dark maple sap. Interesting thing to try for me. This is way out of the norm for tobacco or other notes; no idea how any of this became "maple", but I'm sticking to it. The throw was low on me, and stuck around for the average time, a good few hours. This is the first BPAL I can remember that smelled like a plant, even a green plant, but not wet or bright green - it really had the notes of picking squash or other late-season vegetables. Wish that complexity stuck around a little longer.

In the bottle: More notes than I could even try to collect, but here's an attempt. Gold and red leaves, sap. A little apple, a little bit of a leaf's decay. Grasses, cinnamon. Wet on my skin: More grasses/hay and earth than anything, then shifts more to apples and cinnamon, and a hint of smoke. Drydown: Smoky cinnamon and apples. Like a slightly sweet incense rather than a full fruit smell. Very nice effect on me. This was my favorite Weenie this year. It's so hard to nail down a profile for this scent, it's obviously a morpher - I started to wonder if my brain was just making up more notes each time I sniffed it. The throw was a little below average, but it lasts well, pretty much all day. It really is trying to be autumn in a bottle! Might or might not hit all of your favorite notes, but there's something in it for most anyone.

In the bottle: Water that is lightly sweet, just a touch floral, underpinned with a salty aquatic note. Wet on my skin: Salty and sweet, with a touch of what I'd usually call a cologne tang, but not at all strongly. It all balances out to a little like wet ozone. Drydown: The same notes, salty and sweet alternating. Seriously alternating: every time I sniffed my wrists it swapped. This is a really interesting water scent - even though it's got salty elements, it doesn't strike me the same way that the ocean-based aquatic notes do. The throw is above average and the duration is great, lasting most of the day on me. It's a very fresh scent that's a few degrees different from the other BPAL water scents I've tried. I'd suggest giving it a try either if you're already an aquatic fan, or if you haven't quite found one that works for you yet.

In the bottle: Clean, cotton-y scent with light greeny leaves, and the zest of Irish Spring soap. Wet on my skin: There's more of a plant smell with the leafy greens - certainly more of a clover and light grass scent. It also smells "wetter", in general, though in a clean freshwater way rather than the usual lab aquatic notes. Drydown: Opens up to be more robust and floral - this is the first point where I really can pick out the flowers. Definitely clover-green with the occasional undertone of something sharp, which is probably the rust note. I was very happy with how well this scent came together - the throw is average to above average, which actually puts it as way stronger than most others I've tried in this scent family. Which is great- they're usually lighter than I wish they were! Duration is average for me, several good strong hours then a fade to a floral burndown that it still pretty easy to pick up. This turned into a bottle purchase for me!

In the bottle: Bright, zesty, a bit of lime? Not picking up any of the other notes yet. Wet on my skin: Similar but sharper, not quite a cologne - I'm still learning fougeres, so I don't have the best vocabulary for it, but I'd say it smells a bit like grapefruit + bright green leaves + a deeper base - that's the first hint of the resins that I get. It's not spicy or incensey, though; before I reread the description I wondered if it was cedar or sandalwood for that base. I was surprised to be reminded that it has both frankincense and myrrh, notes I usually love and can pick out. Drydown: The citrus and sharper notes die way down and the woody/resin notes come out more. This is all very pretty and great, until… 10 minutes into it, it's gone. From both my skin and my hair. This is a Mr. Ibis-level disappearing act! It comes back a bit in the later burndown, but it has such a disappointingly low throw on me I can't say much about duration. So strange to have it morph from a strong initial scent cloud to just a few wisps, and all of notes that I like I'll retest and see if I get better results, or try a scent locket if that doesn't work. Lovely scent if you can get it to stick around!

In the bottle: Light aquatic, salty, with almost a nutty underpinning. Also some floral that reminds me strongly of Almond Blossom. Wet on my skin: The first blast is…buttered popcorn. Like, the smell you get from the concession stand at a movie theater...so weird. That burns off quickly, though! Moves into sea salt and more of the same floral. All the notes sseem to rotate around and hit me very separately. Drydown: Finally, the notes fused into a single complex scent - the components are all still there but are collaborating more. Less overt salt smell, and the overall effect is a lovely floral aquatic. Later on: Burndown is, again, very similar to Almond Blossom's for me. Smoldering pretty florals. Mermaid ends up working together really well. The throw is light, but the duration is fairly long on me. There's more going on than the average aquatic (and I likes me those blends), and it could be worn anywhere.

2013 Version In the bottle: Sharp herbals, resins, a little woody, but also a bit sweet. It reminds me a little of the coke syrup we had when I was a kid that was used when we had upset stomachs. Wet on my skin: Herbal with resin in the background with strong spice/incense notes. Drydown: Warm spices, woody herbs and resins…the pattern's pretty clear, eh? Later on: The throw is light to moderate on me and lasts a few hours. It's lighter on all fronts than most other herbal or resin scents I've tried. If you're into herbals, this is an awesome blend!

In the imp: First thing that hits me is the "metal" tang. It's similar to the one I get with Plunder, though the core scent is very different - Progressus strikes me first as metallic cedar. Wet on my skin: The earthy tones come strongly into play. The combo of notes makes me think of patchouli. When I make myself try to sort them out, I come up with "green" (probably the laurel) and "roots" (cedar plus the other oils?) Drydown: Smoky patchouli. I could also call it leafy, woody, earthy...you probably get the idea! This has a pretty big throw for me and lasts a long time, easily a full day. It's not to my taste, but for those of you who like these tones, worth checking it out in swaps!

In the bottle: Light musk, not unlike "airy musk" from some of the Lunacies, plus herbal notes and a bit of heather-green. Wet on my skin: The peat, moss, and herbal scent is much stronger than the musks so far. There's a tang of sharpness that I'd say smells like the base of a men's cologne - but just that piece of it, the scent is in no way cologne-y. Drydown: Heather and greeny-herbal elements are the major notes now. The musk is there as a base, but I have to go looking for it to notice. There are some lighter notes in play too, maybe the honey - comes across as just a bit sweet/floral. I was very wary of this one since some musks can be overpowering to me, and the description made it sound it would slant much more towards that, but instead it's a beautiful heather mix. It doesn't have a lot of throw for me and didn't stay very strong, which surprised me - it had mostly burned off within an hour or 2 after medium-level slathering. It'll be interesting to see how this ages.

In the bottle: Floral and aquatics overlaid with ozone. Very much a "wind" feeling. Wet on my skin: The ozone separates out a bit and registers as more of a pine scent with a minty undertone. The florals are being overwhelmed at this stage. Drydown: The pine balances back out with the florals and is back to smelling almost exactly like it does in the bottle. Later on: This scent is probably the stays-truest-over-time that I've tested so far - except for that initial pine burnoff when it's wet, the notes stay almost exactly the same until hours later. It eventually starts to fade with the light musks staying the longest, but it took most of the day to get to that point! I love the balance between the different notes, and even if I can't define why I still think "windy aquatic floral" as a summary of all these plants, I'm very happy with the results. It has an above-average throw and longevity on me, which is kinda rare. I'm so glad I tried this one!

In the bottle: A very light scent, sweet with a tinge of spice. Wet on my skin: Still quite light, with the florals separating out to show some of the other notes. I can make out the herbals and a hint of the mint - that plus the thyme may be what read as "spice" in the bottle. The redcurrant is anchoring the lighter notes without overpowering them. I put some in my hair as well, and that's where I can smell the tea. It really does feel like the wind is blowing the scents to you, faintly and with different smells as it changes direction. Drydown: Wow, do the florals all want to come out and play! None are amping, they just all hit your nose when you sniff, and the mix of flowers is so varied that they light up many olfactory sensors at once. The redcurrant, thyme, and mint are lightly there every third sniff or so. Later on: As the florals faded out, the thyme and herbal feel was most present, then the blackcurrant. It feels like every other sniff trades between those two. This scent has one of the lightest throws I've tried, not unlike Mr. Ibis in that I have to put it in my hair to get anything to reach my nose! The smell was fairly strong in the room I put it on, but not that obvious just walking around. It had less than average length on me, only 2 hours or so before it became sniff-the-back-of-the-wrists-for-residual-smell.

Reviewing a decant that I purchased in December 2013, so presumably aged a few years. In the bottle: Smells like it does when I walk past a large Christmas tree lot. Deeply pine-y, menthol, and weirdly almost a touch of lemon behind it. Wet on my skin: Pine, with a menthol undertone. I agree with puellacaerulea that it smells like a pine wreath. Drydown: After rereading others' reviews, I could see calling it minty with an undercurrent of floral, but I don't think I would have come up with that if it wasn't suggested. I'm not reading it as tuberose, rather I'm still reading it as pine. The undertone separates out more into a winter note than menthol, and there certainly still is a bite, and some sweetness behind it all. This scent was a surprise, since I was expecting florals more than pine. It's not overwhelming to me, but I agree that it feels like a deep winter scent and I don't think I'd wear it at other times. Potential allergy alert: it appears to be setting off my mom's allergies, though oddly enough, not mine even though I'm usually far more sensitive than her, so your mileage may vary. The throw and longevity are average on me.