Courtney North

Favorite pastime: collecting meat hooks, sharpening meat hooks, polishing meat hooks. Sleep with one eye open? Labdanum, patchouli, dragon’s blood resin, and clove. I got this one, because I *loved* all the notes - granted, clove tends to overpower on me. But I was hoping it wouldn't, since I like the other portions of the scent more than I do clove. The liquid is very, very dark....I knew it would be strong. But, sheesh! I wasn't expecting like this! A little dab will certainly do ya' here. In the bottle, the labdanum and patchouli reign. Wet on me, the patchouli and clove. Tons and tons of clove. I'm really afraid that clove will play out like it usually does on me.... Settled in, patchouli, dragon blood, and labdanum are working in perfect levels, and the clove is noticeable only when I bring my arm up close to sniff (even then, it's taking a back seat). Exactly what I was praying for! I'm really sad that these bottles are small. I think I've found my favorite out of the 40 or so bottles that I have. Luckily, the throw is so incredibly strong, that I only need a teeny bit.

Phoenix is a bird, and there is but one of that kind in all the wide world. Therefore lewd men wonder thereof, and among the Arabs, there this bird is bred, he is called singular–alone. The philosopher speaketh of this bird and saith that phoenix is a bird without make, and liveth three hundred or five hundred years: when the which years are past, and he feeleth his own default and feebleness, he maketh a nest of right sweet-smelling sticks, that are full dry, and in summer when the western wind blows, the sticks and the nest are set on fire with burning heat of the sun, and burn strongly. Then this bird phoenix cometh willfully into the burning nest, and is there burnt to ashes among these burning sticks, and within three days a little worm is gendered of the ashes, and waxeth little and little, and taketh feathers and is shapen and turned to a bird. Ambrose saith the same in the Hexameron: Of the humours or ashes of phoenix ariseth a new bird and waxeth, and in space of time he is clothed with feathers and wings and restored into the kind of a bird, and is the most fairest bird that is, most like to the peacock in feathers, and loveth the wilderness, and gathereth his meat of clean grains and fruits. Alan speaketh of this bird and saith, that when the highest bishop Onyas builded a temple in the city of Heliopolis in Egypt, to the likeness of the temple in Jerusalem, on the first day of Easter, when he had gathered much sweet-smelling wood, and set it on fire upon the altar to offer sacrifice, to all men’s sight such a bird came suddenly, and fell into the middle of the fire, and was burnt anon to ashes in the fire of the sacrifice, and the ashes abode there, and were busily kept and saved by the commandments of the priests, and within three days, of these ashes was bred a little worm, that took the shape of a bird at the last, and flew into the wilderness. The fire of the sacrifice: scorched, honeyed cedar and carob wood aflame with amber, cinnamon, and red sandalwood. Got this today! In the bottle, very spicy. You could definitely tell that there was cinnamon in there. The woods (cedar over carob) were pretty heavy, too. The "black/burny"-ness was present, as well. Didn't get a big whiff of amber - I had to really smell deeply. I put it on. Smells like an autumn festival had a bonfire. The "flame" is strong with this one - but not in a super overpowering way. Still not getting much amber - the carob wood is stronger than the cedar wood now. I've waited awhile (an hour and a half) - still going strong. I was afraid that the throw wouldn't be good on it, but it's actually gotten kind of stronger smelling since it's been worn.... I get a strong whiff every now and then while typing, and it kind of gently lingers in between. As for scents, amber and sandalwood take the front stage, with a present cinnamon (not very strong, but you can pick it apart) background. The cedar is poking a little ahead of the carob wood, and it's still got that smoky "bonfire" smell going. Before, it smelled like an active fire - now that it's set in, it smells like a smouldering fire.

A lil' bit new to the BPAL scene, but Ranger is definitely my favorite for forests. I liked the latest Lupercalia (same-title) scent too. I don't know about some of the others here, but I've tried Odin in various stages of aging, and it's always berry-like to me. Been getting some inspiration from this thread to get some of these others some day, too....

Citrusy in the bottle (Haltija's mom got it pretty right with the "Doublemint Spearmint" thing), but I put it on before a bowling trip. All those citrusy, lemony, minty notes vanished (except for maybe a little tiny bit of lemon). VETIVER! And quite a bit of it! But, it's not overwhelming. I finally get what I was hoping for when I got a bottle of Woods... Cedar and all that good, dark stuff that I like. It's no Black Forest (which is my favorite woodsy scent so far), but it's not bad. Went on semi-strong and faded kinda quickly. After 2-1/2 hour bowling trip I didn't really smell anything any longer but a teeny hint of menthol and vetiver's lovechild - the menthol being the strongest of the two - and perhaps just a teeny tiny had-to-inhale-my-lung's-worth inkling of cedar/some type of tree (and I didn't even hardly sweat).

I got this as a sample in my latest purchase - I didn't know what the notes were in any of the imps I got (except for Cathedral and Gaueko, which I asked for specifically). I just know I liked all the samples I got this time, and had them laying on my desk. Got whisked away to do some chores with dad, and threw this on because it was the first thing that my hand grabbed from the table. Imps are great to travel with, too. Can put it on while on the move, pop it in your pocket when you're done and forget about it. First putting it on, "bergamont" screamed at me. "Oh yeah," I thought to myself, "...this is definitely citrus based". Got a little lemon and some sort of flower (pretty sure it was jasmine or something). A little lavender in the background. It faded pretty fast - in about an hour and a half, I wasn't getting any sort of scent unless I brought it up close. Later finding out that it was a "sleep blend", I had to agree with BPAL on that. Ever since I put it on, I have been very relaxed -even after it's main scent had faded, my stressful trip didn't seem as bad and I came home rather sleepy (or just so relaxed that I seemed sleepy).

Saffron and red musk stood out in the bottle - could barely smell leather. On me (fresh), the leather and saffron were the biggest notes - had to sniff deeply and up close to get any of the red musk. Later on, the musk came through a bit more, the saffron was pushed back, and the leather stayed relatively the same (if not a little stronger) - the scent throw didn't fade much, either. After going out to the store (warm, rainy, windy, and humid weather) for a few hours (I got a whiff of it every now and then when the breeze had died down a bit) and coming home to take a shower, I could smell a twinge of it left, so I'd say it has good throw and lasting power.