Salsa Shark

Does anyone know of a BPAL similar to the new North Pole soap? I am in love with the peppermint/cedar combo

The earthiness of the sandalwood definitely makes itself known while wet. It gives the blend a much more masculine feel than I was expecting given the floral notes, but it's nice, especially once the sandalwood dries down and softens a bit. The florals definitely feel more 'floral' than green to me though - pale grey/purple kind of thing rather than full on white floral though. To me the blend has a similar kind of feel to Bow & Crown of Conquest and Doc Constantine - that cold masculine edge, just not as strong or as sweet. It's got a much more subtle, ethereal feel; a shroud of cold yet comforting earthiness.

This is like some mad victorian scientist had recreated their own glittering clockwork replica of Priala. It's the same thin, sweet smoke note, but instead of myrrh and cinnamon there's oil (which is fascinating, especially with the sweetness of the rest of the blend) and light pale wood. If you like Priala and the steampunk scents, and don't have issues with the labs smoke notes, there's a good chance you'll love this.

Very pink and very sugary, but there's something in here that doesn't agree with me. It feels more like a floral note going sour than a foody note though, and I think it's either iris or something behaving very much like it. I'm also sure I can detect some carnation in the throw, which I think is what's giving the sugar such a 'pink' feel - although the throw does have a predominantly foody feel, while the florals are sat much closer to the skin.

The first thing I smelt in the imp was red musk. Thick, heavy and sweet. On the skin it calmed down a bit, but there was that definite bubblegum fruitiness from the lotus and dragon's blood. The scent didn't change much on my skin for the first hour or so, but in the throw there was a light floral note mingled in with the sweetness. Close to the wrist I can detect a sharp, dark note which eventually evened out, but by that point the red musk had returned and gradually took over the scent, so that it just smelled like an airier version of Lust.

It's hard to find a way to describe this other than 'beeswax and smoke' but... that's what I get I like the smoke note in this, and it holds out well against the beeswax, which usually turns to pure thick honey on me. The smoke stops the beeswax from turning too sweet or cloying, and gives it a nice dark edge. It's a nice simple scent that'd be perfect for honey/beeswax lovers. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them.

This is absolutely divine. Rich, creamy and sophisticated base of honey, magnolia and skin musk with a deep, dry spiciness from the carnation and patchouli. It blends perfectly together; it isn't really floral or musky or incense-y, but you can get a sense of each of the individual components. It's definitely a strong woman scent. Unfortunately my skin chemistry amps honey up so much that after about an hour it's pretty much all I get.

This scent isn't at all what I expected, since I was expecting something a lot darker and resinous. Instead, the blend was something sweet light and fruity - mostly fig (LOTS of fig) and sweet powder from the black musk with a bright halo of orange. The fruits stick around for ages and do very little morphing, though after a couple of hours into the dry down the nutmeg does start to make an appearance. It's a nice scent, the fruits are just a bit too loud for me to really love it, especially when I know they're squishing down the notes I really want to smell.

As soon as I put this on, I notice that sharp scent a lot o people were calling 'mint'. It doesn't smell green to me though, more like the sharp medicinal edge that some vanillas do when they're not working that well with the added bite from the saffron. It does warm up after a while, and thankfully doesn't go that plasticky. It's a nice, soft creamy vanilla. Definitely a light skin scent - the throw is minimal and it's nowhere near as rich or warm as Glowing Vulva. It's a great simple everyday substitute though.

This scent was so close to being wonderful. Wet and in the throws it's sweet, dark sticky resins floating through a cloud of black musk. It reminds me a lot of the later stages of Shub. It's a beautiful sweet myrrh scent, more than anything else. On the skin though, there's a a weird flat sour note that I think might be the galbanum. It's not overpowering, but it's there enough to be noticeable if I have my wrists near my face, which is a real shame, and it's definitely comparable to the herbal/green thing that other people mentioned.

For the first few minutes of this I rather bizarrely get those marshmallow teacake things - creamy coconutty with a bit of dark fruit. It's nice, but god only knows where I'm getting coconut from. The bamboo and pear eventually emerge, and while these are two scents I usually love, they turn the bend into a confused mess, the sweet green clashing loudly with the deep plum and white musk. There's also a hint of violet in the throw, and altogether the blends just a bit too powdery, sweet and unsettled for me. And for some reason I'm still picking up coconut

This scent pretty much encapsulates being sat out on a sunny porch full of white flowers with a pot of green tea and lemon slices. It's a clean, fresh blend - crisp tea, wih a citrus edge softened by the honey suckle. A perfect fresh summer scent.

This blend, along with Penthus and London, is one of the big reasons why I really wish I could stomach wearing Rose as a note. Unfortunately I can't, and it breaks my heart. In the bottle and wet, this is very heavily rosemary. In fact it takes a good 15 minutes for the other notes to beat it into submission enough to make an appearance. When it does, it's mostly the bitter, spiky wood of neroli and an almost burning warmth of saffron, tied together by the black musk. It all melds together beautifully, and for about an hour it's a glorious dark floral incense which really does make me feel strong and grounded. But then the rose starts to amp up, all sour and soapy.

I'd only ever seen the notes for this blend and none of the reviews, so I was really surprised by this blend. Like quite a few others I'd expected something darker and smokier. Straight away there's a blast of opium/poppy smoke. Sharp and sweet, but not as strong as I've found it in other blends. Then it lightens out into something fruitier - I can definitely see where other got banana and pomegranate - with a candied edge from what I'm assuming is the ginger, since it's very similar in feel to Hungry Ghost Moon at this stage. It gets a mellow, smokier feel as it dries down, but it retains that candied fruit scent, with a heady haze of opium floating around. There's no wood or pepper present to my my nose though, which are the two I was hoping for most. With the champaca added it does seem like the youthful, somewhat stoned love-child of Hungry Ghost Moon and Dia De Los Muertos. It is a lovely scent but, like HGM, not one I'd ever really wear.

The Gibbous Moon has cucumber listed as a note, and it's definitely noticeable, even against the florals.