DiesMali

In the imp: Slightly bitter, powerful floral.

 

Wet on my skin: Lots of lavender, softened by a bit of wisteria. There's something strangely candy-like, too. Grape candy, maybe?

 

Dry: The throw of this scent is nicer than what's closer to the skin. The throw is a herbal lavender with soft wisteria and a bit of slightly bitter musky sandalwood. Closer in, it is a bit soapy, and further out it's a pleasant of purple-mauve-grey cloud of flowers with a little bit of musk and sandalwood toning them down. It's not quite my thing, despite being pretty and having wisteria (one of my favourite floral notes), so I'll likely either put it in a diffuser or frimp it to someone who would wear it more than I would.

In the imp: Sweet beeswax.

 

Wet on my skin: Sweet beeswax...and a little bit of candle smoke.

 

Dry: This is a true, sweet, slightly vanillic beeswax candle with wisps of candle smoke. Specifically candle smoke, not any other sort. It's warm and comforting, and I understand why it's such a popular and beloved scent now. There are other beeswax scents I like better, so I don't need a bottle, but I'm curious about how this might layer with a few other things. Definitely will keep and use the imp.

In the imp: ...dill pickles?

 

Wet on my skin: Okay, so my skin did this thing recently where red rose smells like dill pickles on me for the first few minutes of wear. Don't ask me, I dunno. So yeah, for the first 2-3 minutes it's sour pickle.

 

Dry: THANK THE MAKERS. As this dries, it's now a somewhat subtle, spicy blend of rose petals and cinnamon. This was worth the first few minutes of pickle juice. Sultry, warm, sexy. A good one for rose lovers who like their rose with a little extra "oomph" from spice instead of greens or dew. Sadly, it fades fairly quickly on my skin, but it's nicer than I expected while it lasts.

In the imp: Aquatic cologne.

 

Wet on my skin: HELLO MY NAME IS SALTY SEAWATER AND I'D LIKE TO ANNOUNCE MY PRESENCE TO AN ENTIRE TWENTY FOOD RADIUS AROUND YOU.

 

Dry: Once the initially overpowering rush of saltwater and herbs subsides a little, this is a pleasant, clean, fresh aquatic. It's not too complex on me, and smells like an upper-class sibling of Irish Spring. It's a little bitter, between the sage and salt, and very, very clean. It's not unpleasant, but not quite "me," as aquatics aren't quite my thing to wear. However, I like it enough that I think it's going to become a nice, summery room or car upholstery spray.

In the bottle: Slightly sour rose-tobacco and beeswax.

 

Wet on my skin: This is so unusual that I'm having a hard time understanding what is what! It's a smoky purple-grey syrupy incene with a bit of powdery...stuff.

 

Dry: I have nothing like this in my collection, not even my other beeswax-and-rose scent (The Library of John Dee). This is like a melty beeswax candle with a few curls of smoke, a bit of sweet pipe tobacco, and powdery rose-flavoured Turkish Delight. It's a fascinating and really enticing scent! Purple-grey and chewy, with a powdered sugar coating. Feminine and hella sexy, too - this is almost Halloweenie in its witchy seduction. I knew this was going to be glorious, and it IS.

In the bottle: All lilac and wisteria. Freshly-bloomed, damp flowers.

 

Wet on my skin: WISTERILILAC. I get a great big whiff of hot, heady, dewy June lilacs after a rainstorm, then it immediately begins to settle into something a little less LILAC and more wisteria.

 

Dry: Sweet, delicious, beautifully realistic lilac and wisteria, with wisteria definitely being the more dominant flower after the initial bloom of lilac burns off. Everything else is in the background, giving it a slightly spicy and "clean" kick so it's not too sweet or overpoweringly floral, but this is mostly a lovely cloud of blue flowers and I am in heaven. The lilac really does smell like freshly-bloomed June lilacs on the street and it's just so good when paired with the wisteria. This definitely scratches my "real lilac" itch. It almost verges on soapy from time to time, but never quite tips over that edge, probably thanks to the supporting notes. The white tea and benzoin do come out a little more after a while, but I don't get much pepper, clove, or sandalwood except as that faint bit of intriguing "oomph" in the background. At this point, it's similar to Night Scene from last year, but stronger and a little warmer in tone. If Night Scene was cool, resinous night-time wisteria, this is warm, slightly resinous/spiced day-time wistera + lilac.

 

I really like this! It's more floral than most everything else in my collection, but it works well on my skin, and it'll be a great non-threatening sort of spring/summer scent.

In the bottle: Ambery, honeyed lilac.

 

Wet on my skin: Creamy, ambery, honeyed lilac.

 

Dry: Sweet, creamy, delicious lilac. This is so beautiful. Amber and lilac are the main players on my skin, with sweet honey and cream making it soooo smooth and pretty. Cardamom warms it just a tinge, but doesn't seem to be a discernible note on its own. I was hoping for a beautiful lilac, and this does not disappoint! It's not as heady as Initiation Sentimentale, which is on the other arm, but smoother and ...I think this smells like a Vulva, but with lilac instead of the usual lotus?

In the bottle: Boozy, sweet dark chocolate.

 

Wet on my skin: Yummmm. This is delicious.

 

Dry: Smoky dark chocolate like in last year's dark chocolate blends, but this one is sweetened by whiskey and herbal caramel. It's reminiscent of both my box of chocolates favourites from last year, including the amazing Dark Chocolate, Black Tobacco, and Vetiver, but the other notes are even chewier and sweeter under the smoky, slightly-bitter dark chocolate. Chewy, thick, rich, whiskey-blended dark chocolate coating a slightly herbal caramel. I want to eat my arm.

In the bottle: Thick, strong leather and dark cocoa.

 

Wet on my skin: Beautiful. Rich, mellow, honeyed tea with wafts of leather and cocoa.

 

Dry: That rich, mellow black tea with honey is the star of the show for about 2/3 of the life of this scent, with deep red woodsy leather (like a mahogany bookshelf with lots of dusty leather books on it) and wafts of smooth cocoa backing it up. It's unlike any other tea note I have, so that's nice. Later on, the tea fades and allows the dusty mahogany and leather to really come to the foreground, and this stage is also lovely. The chocolate is a supporting note through the whole experience, like you're drinking tea and reading a book in an old library, and there's a bowl of chocolate truffles on the table nearby, but you're so engrossed in your book and the gramophone recordings of Baroque chamber music playing in the background that you've not gotten up to sample them yet.

 

...there goes my imagination. Whoops.

In the bottle: Syrupy molasses gingerbread.

 

Wet on my skin: EVIL GINGERBREAD. I know Shub is also evil gingerbread, but this one is darker and even sexier.

 

Dry: The richest, spiciest, chewiest, smokiest evil gingerbread and I'm in love. LOVE. May need backup. I am going to wear this next time I see that one person, because if I can't resist myself in it, how could they? Unholy heck, this is the standout winner of Yule 2016, at least on my vetiver-and-clove-loving skin. It's so good. SO. GOOD. If I was a gingerbread person made of this stuff, forget the little old woman and the little old man - I'd eat myself and give Stephen King some new material regarding auto-cannibalistic evil gingerbread people.

In the bottle: Astringent, minty herbal snow.

 

Wet on my skin: SNOW and bitter herbs. But mostly snow. Not sure how, but they've bottled thick, clumpy, wet January snow.

 

Dry: Ah, there are the evergreens! Outside my front door, just a few yards away, are evergreen trees covered in that thick, clumpy January snow, and these are that. Also a hint of dead, wet leaves. It's pretty faint on me, and fades quickly, however. It's a very unique scent and I keep sniffing it to try and figure out exactly what I'm smelling - I wouldn't say it's one of my favourites, but it is just fascinating to smell. This probably needs some aging to see if it'll last long enough to be a keeper.

In the bottle: Chilly, slightly spiced orange.

 

Wet on my skin: CHILLY, slightly minty and spiced orange, now with a hint of cold metal.

 

Dry: This is a very, very odd scent. I haven't smelled anything like it, and there's obviously nothing like it in my collection. It's pretty masculine on me, with predominantly chilly, metallic aquatic and brightly-gleaming orange at the forefront, then wisps of all the other notes combining to add a spicy, almost mentholated touch in the background. I'm not totally decided on whether or not I like it enough to keep it, so I think this will be one to spend some alone time in the aging partition of my BPAL drawer. It's not cleaning solution orange, which is a good sign, though it does threaten to do that between wet and dry stages.

In the imp: Maraschino cherry juice!

 

Wet on my skin: CHERRY and a bit of woods and currant. But mostly CHERRY. Like eating maraschino cherries whilst wearing cherry chapstick.

 

Dry: This is definitely cherry-dominant for most of the way. However, after an hour or so, the mahogany and what smells like cedar shows up, making the cherry a bit less medicinal-sweet and adding a layer of almost dusty-spicy woods. Then, more of the currant comes out around the 3-hour mark and overshadows the cherry. At this point, this scent is actually rather reminiscent of Bordello on my skin. Definitely a morpher, and an interesting journey, but it takes about 2-3 hours to settle down to where I really like it. I think I'll keep the imp, though, cause it'd be a great costume or theme scent!

In the imp: Metal and engine oil.

 

Wet on my skin: Oiled metal.

 

Dry: It's...pretty much oiled metal through the entirety of its wear. There's a hint of musk and maybe a tinge of balsam giving it a more masculine cologne feel than just plain metal. It's a nice, clean, masculine scent, but not quite my thing (metallics just don't do it for me, usually). I shall be passing this to my S.O., who does smell quite nice in the metal/oil Steamworks blends!

In the bottle: Pretty strongly pine in the bottle, with a bit of a nutty cast.

 

Wet on my skin: Mmmmmmm. It smells like Nutella when first applied!

 

Dry: This is a rich, dark gourmand scent, and it's so delicious I want to lick my skin. It smells like eating Nutella on vanilla wafer cookies in a pine forest. The toasted hazelnut and cocoa are forward in a thick and creamy sort of way, and then there's a bit of sweet vanilla-like tonka adding further to the creaminess, and behind those there's this amazing whiff of tangy pine that takes it from what could be a straightforward foodie scent to one that is that uniquely awesome BPAL kind of gourmand. Yummy. So yummy.

In the bottle: This smells exactly like a root beer float where the vanilla ice cream has sort of melted into the root beer and it's all creamy and fizzy and YUM.

 

Wet on my skin: Just like in the bottle, except there's a bit of creamy leather now.

 

Dry: The creamy slightly-melty vanilla root beer float remains, but now there is a beautiful waft of smoky (dusty?) soft brown leather, and it's absolutely lovely! As it wears for a while (hours), the fizzy root beer does fade somewhat, allowing creamy vanilla and that smoky/dusty leather to take center stage together. I recognise this as a similar brown leather to last year's "Blood and Judgment So Well Commedled," which was one of the loveliest, softest scents from that run of Lilith scents. This one, I think, is even better with the addition of that delicious sarsparilla root beer! I'm so glad I have a bottle of this!

In the bottle: Slightly cologne-y aquatic with a bit of spice.

Wet on my skin: White musk, salt, and sage all typically do a cool, slightly aquatic cologne thing on my skin, and this is doing that while wet.

Dry: Sadly, the frankincense and honeyed saffron aren't really showing up in this yet, and I think it will require some aging to bring those notes out. Right now, this is that cool, salty cologne, with the nutmeg contributing to the cool feel of it and bringing in some spice as well (nutmeg and sassafras go coolly herbal on my skin). I know this doesn't seem like it should be an aquatic, but it really kind of is on me, and I actually rather like it even though the frankincense and saffron are MIA so far. This is a close-ish cousin to Pottaskefill from the '15 Yule run, and a more distant cousin of Mary Read and Calico Jack.

In the bottle: Smoky, herbal incense.

 

Wet on my skin: Same as in the bottle.

 

Dry: This is niiiiiiiiiiice. You know how high-quality temple incense smells after you've burned it, when the ashes are still warm and smouldering and they have the smoky burnt quality beneath the fragrance? This is that. There's a slightly powdery and spicy-feminine quality from the amber and carnation, but the predominant feeling to this scent is "smouldering incense." At least on my skin. The primary notes that I can identify in the incense portion are frankincense, saffron, and smoky-rich helichrysum. The chamomile and angelica aren't so prominent on my skin, but they contribute to that spiciness underlying the incense.

 

This perfume makes me glad to be a Leo, basically.

In the bottle: Uh. Where is it?

 

Wet on my skin: Fuzzy, chilled lavender.

 

Dry: ...Welp. This is the first BPAL that has gone flat-out dryer sheets on me, at least at first. The lavender goes fuzzy with the oudh and with the 'ocean' note, it smells like fresh laundry and dryer sheets. It's actually not unpleasant, though I'm not sure my skin does it justice. May hold on to it and re-test it in a few months, because I suspect some aging will help it a lot.

In the bottle: Uh-oh. Over-ripe banana.

 

Wet on my skin: For the first few moments, this smells like an over-ripe banana that's been sitting out on the counter on a hot afternoon. Heady, and slightly sickly-sweet.

 

Dry: I feel I should note that this oil does stain - I plopped my cap nub on it and rubbed it around (I'm dual-testing scents so didn't rub it in with skin on skin) and there are streaks of what looks very much like melted chocolate that got all over my hand while eating a dessert. For the first few moments, this echoes the sickly over-ripe banana, and then...oh my goodness. Unnhhhhh. The banana tempers itself and goes a little boozy as it joins the cacao, tobacco, and vetiver. It's a little reminiscent of the dessert called bananas foster for about 15 minutes, and then the banana fades and becomes a slightly sweet, creamy background note. The cacao, tobacco, and vetiver base is pretty similar to the delicious Dark Chocolate, Black Tobacco, and Vetiver bonbon from this year's Lupercalia, and I'm sooo glad to have something similar to it since my bottle is going quickly. This is that, but with the addition of a hint of boozy banana that wafts around between sniffs of the rich, darker notes. WIN.

 

* I should also note that I'm not a huge fan of bananas, unless they're the sweet red kind. I took a major chance on getting this, and it's better than I could have hoped!

In the imp: Citrus peel and smoke.

 

Wet on my skin: This starts out very sharp and herbal on me, and it...smells like citrus-tinged Tiger Balm. Hrmmm.

 

Dry: This has a 'sports ointment' feel to it for the first hour or so of wear, and I think it's the lavender and mandarin doing that. Oranges do odd things on my skin, and I knew I was taking a chance with this. But! As it wears, the astringent sharpness mellows and it turns into a gorgeous smoky, tangy, herbal red musk cologne. It's masculine and really, really nice at this stage, and if it weren't for the first hour of 'weird' I'd try to track down a bottle. I still might, at some point.

This is a decant from the 2009 release.

 

In the imp: Sharp herbal mint!

 

Wet on my skin: This goes on as sharp, shimmery, chilly sage and mint with a hint of moss and wood.

 

Dry: For a while, this remains chilly sage and mint, though the moss and woods come through more as it dries. After about 2 hours of wear, something unusual happens and the icy mint and sage just ...melt. At that point, the scent becomes a powdery, creamy pink rose! It's like I put on a completely different perfume! This is really interesting, and I might have to track down a bottle if I keep enjoying how this decant morphs!

In the bottle: UH. Popcorn? Buttered popcorn?

Wet on my skin: While wet, and also while dry on the first 2 days after it arrived, this smells exactly like the contents of a gift popcorn tin on me. You know, the ones divided into 3 or 4 parts, and they've got butter, cheese, caramel, and sometimes chocolate-covered popcorn? This smells like that while wet.

Dry: I waited a few days to try this again, in hopes that it would calm down a bit. Thankfully, the popcorn tin fades after it's been on about 10 minutes. It's cocoa and then a whole lot of dry, almost salty/sharp resins. It's lighter and sharper than I would have expected - I was hoping for/expecting a deep cocoa-incense-resin, and while this has the distinct possibility of aging into something like that, it isn't there yet. Benzoin and sharp, smoky cacao are at the front of this scent, and aside from a bit of myrrh, the rest of the resins are all sort of blended together to form an indistinct mass of sharp, smoky, almost buttery incense. It really does smell salty/buttery, even after the popcorn fades.

This is one of the strangest blends I've tried thus far from BPAL, that's for sure. It isn't *bad*, but I think I'm going to put it away and age it in a box for a while to see if that deepens and un-salts the resins a little.

In the imp: It smells like freshly oiled trumpet valves...

 

Wet on my skin: Yep. Oiled trumpet brass, with a bit of incense.

 

Dry: I'm a performing classical musician, and I don't think I will ever be able to uncouple this scent from bright, shiny brass instruments freshly lubed up for a performance. This REALLY smells like that, with masculine cologne along for the ride. It's really, really evocative for me, and I think I'll hang onto this for the good scent memory/associations between concert seasons. It's one of the most masculine scents I've tried from BPAL so far, as well, and it would likely be a good go-to for a guy who likes smelling good and dirty, but isn't into musk blends.

In the imp: Sweet, honey-musky cinnamon.

 

Wet on my skin: That same sweet, musky cinnamon. There's an edge of a Play-Doh quality threatening here...

 

Dry: No more Play-Doh, and now this is one of the nicest BPAL cinnamons I've smelled so far, and definitely the best from the GC. It's a sweet, softly resinous and slightly creamy/silky cinnamon with fuzzy, musky honeysuckle making it just so soft and feminine. It's pretty close to the skin and doesn't have much throw, but it's very lovely and I'll definitely be using up the imp. May spring for a bottle at some point if it has a bit more throw after aging a few months.