Wwindy

So who's wearing Mort de Cesar or Ides of March today?

I wish we could specify -- there are several blends that seem to have notable variants, and I'd love to be able to say, for example, "Not the cakey one" or "Not the orange Pez one." Let us know if you get an official statement back from the lab, please?

There's definitely a strong astringent evergreen aspect to this blend -- my husband was reminded of bug spray, unfortunately, although I don't mind the herbal-ish brightness of it. The spice notes are very subtle. Basically, it does exactly what it says on the label: it's cheap gin! Not Hendrick's, not Tanqueray... generic well-drink gin. Good if you like gin (which I do), but don't even attempt this if you don't!

I'm really wondering if a few months from now, after the Lab's gone through another batch of this blend, we'll start seeing very different reviews from the ones so far... because honestly, it seems to me like the first half of this oil's description is just *missing* from the scent we're actually getting! Here's what I get: tart, astringent rhubarb (it's hard to describe that smell if you've never eaten rhubarb -- it's very bracing, sort of sharply red fruity-vegetal), with slight citrus-y overtones, followed up by a soft, faint, pale musk. I smell no amber, patchouli, or dark musk whatsoever; there's mayyyybe poooossssibly just a tiny hint of leather if I talk my brain into interpreting it that way. I *slathered* this oil, and still didn't get any of the alleged heavier notes... and after an hour or two, it was like I'd never put anything on. Even my sweater didn't carry any scent, which is unprecedented for me with BPAL! I'm working with a decant, so it's possible I'm not getting the scent as intended -- but it's pretty striking that so many of these reviews are saying the same thing! I really am almost convinced that something funky happened with the mixing, because I just can't believe there's actually patchouli and amber (two of my all-time favorite BPAL notes) here. Bizarre. 2019 UPDATE: While aging has not brought out the base notes as much as I might have hoped, you can actually sort of tell now that there's a tiny bit of amber and patchouli underneath the brighter elements. Still: heroine-wise, this is more of a Supergirl than a Jessica Jones!

I wish that's what I got from Arabian Dance! It's all leather all the time on me, even though it smells gorgeous in the vial. Woe...

The Russian Dance today, for my daughter's first-ever trip to see the Nutcracker ballet!

I thought I was wearing Diwali appropriately today, but turns out I looked at the wrong year -- it's not until Nov. 5! Oops. So who else will bring out their Diwali on the 5th, huh?

Oh wow -- this smells like gingerbread and Constant Comment tea! No tea note, I mean, but almost exactly that mix of spices with a hint of orange. Such a warm, spicy-sweet scent... Is there maybe a tiny tiny hint of patchouli way down underneath this? I'm not sure, but there's something really rich and almost chewy going on here. I don't normally go for the foodie blends, but this is absolutely delicious. OM NOM NOM!

I can definitely see how people are getting Christmas-y vibes from this -- it's not triggering those particular associations for me, though. The greenery in this reminds me a lot of Faunalia: that deep wild musky feel, with the addition of a very rough, barky type of cinnamon. The orchid isn't very prominent, but does lend a certain sophistication. Overall this feels like a rich, warm, spicy green blend. (Editing to add that since 2010, the cinnamon in my bottle has mellowed considerably -- I wouldn't describe it as "rough" now! It's very warm and rich. Also, a warning: Since I wrote this review, I've encountered at least two bottles out in the wild that have Lab labels reading "Pais de la Canela" but actually contain Paris. If you think you have Pais de la Canela and it smells like sweet/spicy lavender, it's possible that you may have a mislabelled decant or bottle. You can't miss the cinnamon in real PdlC!)

Yikes. Musk, frankincense, and amber are all love notes for me, and yet this blend somehow isn't working at all. The metal here goes straight to aquatic + dusty/dry herbals on my skin. I'm not getting much by way of ambery depth at all, and little to no frankincense except for a bit of a sharp edge. The red musk does show up after a while, but feels very thin and light in this blend -- it's not rich and heady like it is in Mme. Moriarty and similar oils. Altogether, this particular combination of cologne-y aquatic, faint dry herbal notes, and pale red musk smells like -- ack, I hate to admit it, but -- it smells like an inexpensive drugstore body spray I used to wear in the summertime back when I was a teenager! My nose insists on processing this as "cheap perfume."

Something about this reminds me a lot of Clockwork Couture: Male -- I guess the leather note must be similar? It's a strong, sexy scent, but not as rich or complex on me right now as CC:M. Maybe once the imp has aged a bit...

I should start out by noting that I'm definitely not big on most florals. This is very wearable, though! The lilac note is absolutely true to life. I find that when I apply this scent to "cold" skin, the lilac is a little too dominant for my taste -- but when applied to "warm" skin (i.e., fresh out of a hot shower) the lilac seems to burn off just that little bit more, enough to bring out some of the other aspects. Real wisteria always smells a little grape-y to me, and I'm not getting that at all here. I'm also not picking up much or any ginger, unless my nose is mixing that sharpness with the tannic tea, which I do get. Overall, this is lilac with a bit of pleasantly sharp tea and a hint of lavender, warmed up by a really lovely, light, close-to-the-skin musk. The lavender is perfect -- not too marshmallow-y sweet, not too eucalyptus-y astringent, but right in the middle and much more realistic (at least to my nose) than the Lab's lavender sometimes is. Like I said, I'm not generally keen on florals -- but this is very, very pleasant, and a great warm-weather scent.

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Egg Moon yet! Serious cinnamon going on there...

More batch variation here, I'm afraid... My bottle came straight from the Lab, but I'm not getting either Hawaiian florals or vanilla-sandalwood. Instead, this is all musky amber on my skin! It reminds me a little bit of the amber from The Sportive Sun and the musk from Ivanushka. I do like it, but I wish I knew whether this is what it's really supposed to smell like or not...

I don't have anything useful to say... but now I'm really, really hoping the bottle I ordered matches my decant, which is most definitely not orange vanilla sweetener.

Hoo boy. OK, I'll give this my best shot... In the vial, this smells super sharp, almost lip-curlingly astringent. My first skin swipe smells like... PICKLES! Wait, no, it's not exactly pickles; maybe capers? Something pickled. As it dries down, it starts getting a smoky note -- smoked pickles?!? After full drydown, the pickle aspect dies back a little and I start picking up more wood and tobacco notes, but the overall effect becomes very cologne-y. I'm getting something a little plastic, plus the smoked pickles, plus cologne... in short, NOT GOOD. Alas!

Oh my!! If this is true then I NEED to add a bottle to my next order. Mmmm! So good! I guess it probably was a batch variation. Here's hoping that I get the bright orange batch.... *crosses fingers* I've been wearing Hermia a lot lately in both (new) bottle and (old) imp form, so I have some thoughts on this front! I ordered my imp in February '08 and noted when it arrived that the honeysuckle and passionflower were REALLY STRONG -- much too strong for my taste, especially that fruity-citrusy-floral thing passionflower does. I pulled the imp back out again a few months ago and found that the flowery bubble-gum notes had died back a lot, and there was (you guessed it!) a vaguely baked-goods sort of overtone. I think the pepper mellowed out and blended with the amber, with an added touch of honey sweetness coming from the honeysuckle. My bottle arrived last week straight from the Lab. It's very nearly a match to my aged imp -- the passionflower is hardly anywhere to be found, IMO. Now, the weird thing is that I don't think either my imp *or* my 5ml are bright orange... I'll have to go home and check!

This starts out smelling EXACTLY like sawdust on me. <img src="http://www.bpal.org/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="blink.gif" /> As it dries down, it starts turning into elegant, feminine, rose-infused sawdust... but it's still distinctively sawdust! While it's not something I'm looking to wear as my perfume, it is a surprisingly intriguing scent to sniff -- like walking into a woodshop after an attractive woman had been there not long before, watching an artisan at work. ETA: OK, now that my imp has had a few months to mellow out, the overwhelming sawdust aspect has died way back. The oil still starts out *very* lumber-aisle-at-Home-Depot while it's wet, but the other aspects have acquired much more presence. The amber is one of the more powdery BPAL ambers (I think similar to the Haunted amber, maybe); between that and the dry, clean sandalwood the overall impression is a little soapy.

Between this and The Hesperides, I think I can now safely say that oak bark is my BPAL kryptonite. I love the musk and amber here, and I don't mind the rose too much -- but whatever horrible moldy cheese thing it is that oak bark likes to do on my skin, it's doing it with gusto. So unfortunate...

My sister and I have wildly different tastes *and* skin chemistry, but we also have very different coloring and skin types.

Awwww, man. "Medicinal" does not begin to describe what I get out of this blend wet; I would say "turpentine" is really the only way to describe the first few whiffs. Patchouli *loves* me, but vetiver is my mortal enemy... and the hemp note here must be closely related, because it turns into a very similar sort of blackish stink on my skin. I think the patchouli and vanilla might be nice, but honestly I can't tell for sure because something in this blend is just overwhelmingly awful on me. So disappointing!

Rich and spicy! This reminds me a little bit of Raven Moon -- only with leather instead of the chili note. The metallic overtones here are fleeting and don't last long on my skin, but the spicy musk keeps going strong with support from the patchouli. There is something a little cologne-ish about the clean musk/leather combination at first; as the clove and sandalwood come out they temper that impression. I can see how this might read as masculine to some noses, but there's just a touch of sweetness and enough complexity that I think it's absolutely wearable by anyone!

This reminds me a little of a stripped-down, simplified Raven Moon -- a similar feel, but more direct and, er, manly. (surprise! ) Unfortunately, after a little while something here turns plasticky on my skin. I'm surprised, as I don't think I've ever had trouble with any of the listed notes before -- maybe it's the "black" aspect of the sandalwood?

I believe my decant is from the resurrected version. I can see how this would really work for some people! I mostly get a deep, rich, creamy vanilla with hints of musk and just a trace of incense -- but not hippie incense, more upscale formal stuff. The cotton note provides a light, warm aspect in the background, while the cognac note doesn't seem to come out much on my skin. I don't get much sweetness out of this -- it's not overtly sugary. Overall, it's a very grown-up, sophisticated, sexy, smoky perfume. The smokiness is both metaphorical and literal; unfortunately, on me this scent hovers right on the line between "what is that intriguing tobacco note" and "I was hanging out in a bar with smokers for way too long and now I smell kinda stale." Probably not my thing, but a very interesting blend -- I'm happy to have had the chance to try it!

I don't know how much help this will be on the bees and insects issue, but I *love* Litha '09 as a warm-weather blend. (the earlier Litha blend didn't work as well for me, but YMMV)