poofie

Seventh is Sjofn. She is much concerned to direct people’s minds to love, both women and men. Our song to the Norse Goddess of Love is scented with apples and birch and bound with apple blossoms. I received my imp last night and put it on this morning before work. In the vial, it's thin and almost colorless. Wet, it's candy sweet on me, with some fruitiness, but mostly it's a sweet floral. I can't pick up any woodiness from the birch at all, which is a shame because I love wood notes and thought the birch sounded really interesting. Faded fairly quickly for me, I swiped the imp wand at the hollow of my throat, dabbed behind each ear, and swiped on one wrist and then rubbed them together It's a little more than an hour later and if I press my nose to my wrist I get a bit of apple-and-something-else (the birch?), but it is very faint. All in all, too sweet for my tastes so the short wear doesn't break my heart. Perhaps I will try another apple blend?

Once I said to a scarecrow, “You must be tired of standing in this lonely field.” And he said, “The joy of scaring is a deep and lasting one, and I never tire of it.” Said I, after a minute of thought, “It is true; for I too have known that joy.” Said he, “Only those who are stuffed with straw can know it.” Then I left him, not knowing whether he had complimented or belittled me. A year passed, during which the scarecrow turned philosopher. And when I passed by him again I saw two crows building a nest under his hat. – Kahlil Gibran Corn husks waving on an autumn breeze, beams of amber sunlight, hay bales, and late summer wildflowers. This is very pretty! I expected it to be fairly dry, but smells pretty creamy to me. Sweet and ambery, I don't get any hay and I can't say if I smell corn husks either. Three hours in and it's hanging on pretty well, which counts as fairly long lasting on my skin.

I couldn't resist this one because it sounded like it might smell like one of my favorite local treats, Lemon Sticks! Sweet, minty, and lemony is such a nostalgia bomb for me. In the bottle, it smells weird. Like beeswax or some other animal product. But once one, it is a little minty and mostly marshmallowy, but almost no lemon. Pretty and pleasant but I was hoping for some more lemon. This is a soft, cozy scent, nice for days when you need something pretty and unchallenging. It will be nice for summer, too, and maybe will have more staying power when me and the air aren't so dry.

Sweet and cool and evergreen! Not sharp at all. It's very pretty and uplifting.

I get whiffs of tempera paint when this is freshly applied, but I'm not mad at it. After it dries it's much more subtle than regular SO is on me, which is what I love about lots of Snake-Oil-And scents.

Sweet opium smoke, neroli, yellow bergamot, and piquant, strange star anise. Sharp and soapy at first application, not unpleasant. Drying down is opium backed by citrus. Opium scents feel very sophisticated to me, this is no exception, but it has a nice brightness from the neroli. I was hoping for more bergamot, but I suppose it and neroli are fairly similar? There is a bit of a laundry aspect to this scent, especially during drydown. However, it mellows into a gentle opium scent with a tiny, almost Jasmine-like edge to it. I am very much looking forward to seeing how this ages! It's different from anything else I have in my collection and I'm glad I took a chance on it.

I blind ordered this, along with two other dead leaves blends, before I remembered that I have NEVER had success with dead leaves. In the bottle, this scared me. Really sharp and aggressively leafy. I finally worked up the courage to try it on after a nice bath and a glass of wine... and it's pretty gentle? I get a powdery, fresh kind of scent from this, with gentle lavender and crisp leaves. It's pretty unisex, I'd say, which I tend to enjoy. I'd say don't let other reviews scare you off if you're thinking about dead leaves and lavender buds; I think it's nice and fresh and kind of soothing, despite how shouty it is in the bottle.

I've worn this a couple times so far and have really enjoyed it, but I haven't really put much effort into thinking about it. I suppose that's because this scent isn't really a challenging blend; it's a lovely aquatic that is kept from getting screechy or soapy by the musk. I'm a late convert to aquatic type scents; A Vast Similitude Interlocks All from last year's Liliths rocked my world, and really, Haunted Beach is similar to it, but not similar enough to get away with only keeping one. This is a low throw perfume without much staying power, but really lovely and light and clean smelling.

In the bottle, this was awful to me. Really sharp and almost like pee or something? But on the skin, it is quiet and soft and fresh and a little smoky. I don't find it especially mentholic or piney. I suppose mostly it feels very evocative and atmospheric, like standing in a forest with clean woodsmoke hanging in the air.

The loveliest fairy picked this up for me, and I've just put it on. It's mostly my frenemy RED MUSK first and foremost; I struggle with red musk because it's just so powerful. One little dot of this oil pressed between my wrists is plenty for me to wear! Once it starts to dry and settle, I smell what may be beeswax - it's not sweet enough to be honey, I think. I also get a bit of down and dirty smell that reminds me of patchouli, but I wear patchouli so infrequently I'm not confident in identifying it. I'm not getting anything that says 'poppies' to me, which is kind of a shame because I love me some opium smells and I was wondering if the poppies would be in that vein. Overall, it is powerful and sexy and a little smutty (literally Smut-ty, with all that red musk). A fun perfume that's good for staying in, and for such a good cause!

Simple and lovely! It's a gentle rose made fresh by the aquatic note. I really enjoy how soft and fresh it is, it feels very feminine without being sweet. Fairly low throw, probably office appropriate. It's a scent that isn't challenging, just pretty and fresh. The rose doesn't go soapy or sour on me, and the aquatic stays fresh without getting sharp or harsh. So nice!

This one is an interesting morpher on me. I agree that in the bottle it is especially creamy or even buttery, which was worrying since dairy-type notes don't do well on my skin. Once on, it's a delicate floral with a bit of vanilla. Now that it's dry, I definitely get the oak and some amber, and I suppose the lotus? It has a sort of similar feel as pink pepper on me, sort of sweet with an underlying zing. I don't get tea at all, and I can't say I know what tea blossom smells like - perhaps it's much different than the tea note I'm familiar with. It's very close to the skin, and may be one that needs reapplication? I put on a decent amount two hours ago and while I can smell it easily when I put my wrist to my nose, it's not throwing much beyond that. It might be just because it's winter and I'm super dry, though. Overall, it's soft and pretty and kept from being sweet by the oak; really lovely! I'm pleased I sprung for a blind bottle.

Super boozy, obviously. I wanna say this uncle is drunk on mulled wine or spiced and spiked hot cider, I'm getting some of that Christmas-spice feel under the alcohol.

Crisp from the aquatic note and warm from the amber. Simple and pretty and easy to wear. I really like it! I'm enjoying the contrast and that it's uncomplicated.

I loved the idea of this and it smelled lovely and fresh in the bottle but on my skin it gets a sort of bathroom cleaner smell. Not for me.

This was unsuccessful on me. Rigorous Love is one of my favorites for the coconut/lemongrass/vanilla combination, and I'll buy pretty much anything with coconut in it, but the notes in ST were too muddled together for me. I wanted something fresher, but the amber and patchouli made it a little potpourri-like to me, and as much as I want it to, carnation doesn't seem to work for me. I swapped it away; Rigorous Love will be my go to for my coconut/lemon fix.

I'm wearing this today and I love it so much. It's lemon and creamy coconut and a bit of anise and vanilla. This is perfect for a spring day! It is a little like Startled Toad from Luper 2015, but this is fresher and less complicated (ST was muddled on me).

I'm testing this through a cold, so I might not be getting everything, but to me this is a nice, light tea-and-neroli scent. It's fresh and lovely and I can't wait to retest when my nose if fully functional.

Super cologney on me, especially on drydown. I'm not surprised I don't love this, since none of the notes are winners to me, but it sounded too fresh and green and fun to pass up.

Wearing this one today. I agree that it does come across rather masculine, and is a bit sharp when first applied, but it dries down to a fresh tea-sandalwood with a bit of champaca flower that I quite like! I'm undecided if I will need more than my decant, but overall I'm pleased to have this.

Buttery coconut and nut that dries to creamy, soft coconut. Very low throw. I'm undecided on this, the butter smell when wet reminds me too much of buttered popcorn and I'm not sure I want to smell like artificial butter.

I'm finally testing my decant! It's mostly frankincense to me, and then sage and rose, with maybe some sandalwood. I find this to be very calming. It's the kind of smell I'd like a room to smell like, and while it's very pretty and, I guess easy is a good word for this blend (in the sense that it's not a complicated or challenging scent), I don't know if I'll wear this often. Maybe to bed or when I need a calming scent.

Even though most of the reviews are lukewarm, and the notes are mostly in my undecided/meh category, this one called to me. I got it in a swap, and put it on cold (VERY COLD, it's like 20F out) from the mail box, and... WOW. It's kind of this creamy musky spicy scent, not much throw from my wrists, and so different from anything else in my BPAL box. I don't know that I can pick individual notes out, I know the creamy feeling I get must be amber, and the zippy spice could be the frankincense? No specific patchouli for me, maybe a TINY bit of mint if I really huff? I can see what other reviewers mean when they say it smells nutty, but to me it's more hay or oak? As it dries it's mostly musk/amber, making it a pretty skin scent.

I have to struggle through the snow part of the oil to get to the vanilla sandalwood, but it is worth it to me. Snow scents don't really work for me, and it is a definite snow BLAST when first applied. I'm two hours in now, and it is a light, close vanilla wood with a bit of snowy freshness, and it's nice. It is pretty faint and low throw, and I would apply more generously but the SNOW! when fresh is a bit much for me.

For some reason this one really appealed to me even though the notes aren't ones I consider great on my skin (patchouli, oudh, cedar, I'm looking at you), but it was like my subconscious knew it would be great and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I picked this up from someone on FB and I'm glad I did! It's soft and clean and a little spicy and sort of aquatic. It's like nothing I've smelled before! I consider it to be gender neutral and fairly low throw. My subconscious was right, I like this very much and I'm glad to have it!