emanomaly

Whew lawdie. I got a decant in a bottle from Mystery213, who is awesome. Opening the bottle this is BOOZEY. Red wine, HELLO. Wet on my skin it smells like wine soaked cherry cordials and I double check the notes for chocolate and some sort of cassis/cherry, but nope they aren't listed. I'm guessing my nose is twisting the wine into a sweet dried cherry smell. The smell of booze makes me a bit nauseous so for the first 15 minutes or so it's almost unbearably strong. However that disappears into this lovely dark rich sweet smell. I can't pick out the caramel and peach, or coconut, but the vanilla, tobacco, and a hint of the red wine are there after it dries down. To my nose this smells leathery and rich, with a vaugely chocolatey/rich-sweetness howevering in the background (I'm guessing that is the caramel, peach, and coconut playing together though I can't pick them out individually). It reminds me of a more sophisticated version of Perversion, which is one of my favourite GC scents. I'm not sure if I'll need a bottle or not but I sure can't stop smelling myself. If it weren't for the suuuuuuper strong booze note at the start, I'd be totally in love.

The tea, lemon balm, and mint blast through on application, and for a while it smells like pine sol, or some kind of cleaning agent: astringent in a not-so-awesome way. After the initial drydown it gets very sweet and syrupy. Like a mix of pine sol and cough syrup (I assume this is due to the rock rose/labdanum, which always has a heavy syrupy smell to me). In the long haul it settles down to the honey and the rockrose. Kind of a powdery, plasticy, white-musky scent on me, that reminds me of the way brand new doll's heads smell. I don't get any orange blossom at all which is sad coz I lovvvvvve orange blossom. I was super looking forward to this scent becoz every single note except the rockrose is a big hell yeah for me, and it sounded absolutely perfect. Unfortunately on my skin this turns into something very... fake smelling. I had hoped for something more along the lines of Avunculus, Alma Venus or Embalming fluid, all of which I love, but it just doesn't work on me. Of course it is winter and some of my favourite smells are acting really funny on me, so I reckon I'll save her til spring and give her another whirl.

Oh man! I bought this blind becoz it was recommended for orange blossom lovers (which, I is). And, since I loved all the other notes except the cedar, I figured I'd give it a go. And am I ever glad I did! In the bottle it's a sweet candy-like orange with a hint of woodsiness to it. Mostly though its a juicey orange. I got a bit nervous when I applied it becoz a sharp, kind of grassy note hit me pretty hard... This reminds me almost exactly of the dry-down phase of my hoard scent, Avunculus. But upon drydown Alma Venus takes a wide turn away from Avunculus. The sharp woodsy-greeniness fades away and the the Amber and Ambergris come out nicely. I'm not picking up the tuberose distinctly but the beeswax and honey are there in the background, which is where the orange blossom has moved off to. On me it settles as a fresh, warm, golden scent, supported by a background of sweet and sophisticated citrus. I'm glad I took a gamble on this one, it is very warm and understated and elegant. This little lady is giving Avunculus a run for her money.

This is a really complex scent on me, moreso than I thought it would be. In the bottle it smells like glue to me, but I am a terrible bottle sniffer. Anything I smell in a bottle is either hippy or glue. When I put it on it smells like a bright beautiful aquatic with some kind of medicinal/herby green note to it. I want to say something like pine. It smells vaguely piney, but in a really really lovely way. It also irritates my skin very slightly if it's in the corner of my elbow or if there's a crease in my neck. It's a very clean, lovely, FRESH scent, without being too soapy or dryer-sheet-y or pine-sol-y. If I were a bettin woman I'd say there's some kind of white floral in there, and some very vague wisp of a soft musk or incense. As it dries on me it turns somewhat powdery. The throw is very floral and clean still, but close to the skin that piney-resinous musky whatever it is still holds strong. I'd bet that just becoz of the way this is opening up my sinuses there is some kind of Jasmine or lily or something along those lines. Probably Lily. This scent, on me, opens up into something I imagine an understatedly sophisticated older woman would wear. Powdery, clean, floral, dark. If I had to pick a colour for this scent it would be a bluish-purple, regal and soft. and strangely it does remind me of walking past the water basin at the entrance of a church.

I hunted this down ruthlessly as it has every note I love, and bought it blind when I finally found it. Am not disappointed. Its strong jasmine now. but the "yellow" buttercup everyone has mentioned comes through so wonderfully. This is all delicate warm sunshine and happiness. It is so sweet and pretty. It does take a while for the jasmine to die down, it's quite strong. And even after it settles, the throw is mostly JASMINE. But, close to the skin the warm soft musk holds strong. From a distance I'm all floraly and sunny smiles and up close to my skin I have this lovely subdued musky sweet-spiceyness, reminiscent to my nose of a soft, peppery, *slightly* powdery sandalwood. It makes me so happy. I am sad this is discontinued, if it were not I would order as many bottles as I could. Will just have to continue the hunt so I never run out.

I've had this for a while, and don't know why I haven't reviewed it. I've only been on the BPAL train for a few months, so I fall in love fast and hard and then move on to the next. This, however, was one of my first purchases and when I remember to come back to it I find I am still just as impressed as I was initially. Perhaps becoz it's one of the few where I can isolate most of the notes. In the bottle, there is a sharpness to it... almost astringent or cypress/piney... I am going to assume it is the olive blossom. It smells clean and strong. Wet on my skin, I can definitely smell the jasmine, and the champaca flower. I absolutely love jasmine, although it frequently turns soapy and/or gives me a headache. Not in Defututa. Here and on the dry-down it's balanced by the other notes and works sooooooo well on my skin. The jasmine and champaca play very nicely for a floral but-not-too-floral and an incensey but-not-too-incensey smell. I've been snapping up anything I can find with a honey note, but unfortunately it tends to disappear on me. With this lil fella though, the honey starts to come out and mingle with the champaca to add a nice, lovely, calming depth to the scent. I can still smell the clean jasmine and the olive blossom, but they are well-tempered by the honey and champaca. It just seems like they all balance each other out so harmoniously and once the sent settles in on me the honey really shines, and pulls a little vanilla along with it. To be honest I don't get much of the sandalwood or cinnamon, which I feel like I could identify if they were there. But they must be around somewhere becoz it is such a warm and clean smell. If I concentrate really super hard I think I can isolate the cinnamon but I might be talking myself into it. Another review said that this is a "headshop" smell for people who don't like "headshop" smell and they are absolutely spot-on, as I am that person :-) The champaca is identifiable but in no way overpowering. I'm so incredibly pleased with this blend. It is well-balanced and just lovely. I've fallen in and out of love with a few other scents but this one is really standing the test of time, and has pulled me out of my traditional scent comfort zone.

Bought this coz the notes sounded amazing. Benzoin and carmelized honey?!?! Yes plz!!! Turns out this is, to my nose, a quite masculine scent. I was hoping for something a little muskier, sweeter, and tea-like. That being said, I am not disappointed. After the initial sharp-grassy dry down phase, this settles into a smokey sandalwood with the faintest hint of sweet. It's far more mature and mellow than I had anticipated it being. I think it would smell amaaaaaazing on a fella, and despite (or maybe becoz of) its masculine tones, I find it quite pleasing and comforting to wear around. Interestingly, in my oil burner, I am getting the smell that I had anticipated it being my skin. Much sweeter as a room smell and much deeper and demure as a perfume. Either way: I win.

This is not really a review, I just want to put in my two cents and say that I WANT TO SMELL LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME. All the time. Floraly but with a very faint hint of cocoa, orange spice, and some kind of incensy awesomeness that ground it. I... I want to smell like this all the time. Edit: such sadness. something in this gives me a headache and a teeny bit of a rash. I'm going to try it again after a bit becoz I loved it in the imp and am hoping that maybe some aging helps (wishful thinking???) but if not, I have a friend who is equally in love but not equally allergic. I will smell it on her, I suppose...

I bought a bottle of this becoz... insomnia. This smells just like the censors at church to me! I'm not particularly religious but good lord do I love that smell. There's some kind of floralness there as well but mostly: church incense. It's intense. I can't stop smelling it. Like the other resin-incense heavy scents I've wound up purchasing, I don't know how much I'll actually wear it. I don't really want to walk around smelling like church, but at the same time I am addicted to this smell. Perhaps I'll use it in a diffuser or oil burner thingy. It's quite heavy and quite lovely

Everything's coming up roses.... Was super excited to try this out with the coffee smell hitting me straight out of the bottle but alas, like everything with roses, that's all I get in the end, and I can't stand the way rose smells on me. To the swap pile it goes!

A catalytic, potent love oil used to spark (or rekindle) the flame of desire between lovers. This is very woodsy on me. I'm getting a piney cedar and yes, some kind of muskiness underneath it. But I'm getting some kind of heavy floral note coming through in the background. I can't tell exactly what it is but it must be some lily or magnolia or jasmine type note as I tend to amp those up ridiculously. All in all it reminds me of my ex right after he stepped out of the shower and right before I'd jump on him. A clean, masculine, sexy scent with a ghostly floral haunting it. I haven't tried many scents like this, got it as a frimp from the lab. I like it but I suspect they have something else similar that will drop my jaw more than this one does. I'll try it for its intended purpose before I decide I'm still looking ;-)

This reminds me of beekeeping and Eucharist. Evocative of some of the most profound moments of another life. warm, vanilla-y, rich in wax, faintly smokey. I cannot smell this smell enough. This is the scent that caused me to fall in love with BPAL.

Ordered this imp due to my love of all things jasmine and honeysuckle. Not disappointed, not by a long shot. Heavy, humid, glorious, perfectly balanced jasmine and honeysuckle on me. I don't pick up any of the lemon or spices others have mentioned. There is something in there that reminds me of the cheap jasmine soap you can buy at the Asian market, but the honeysuckle cleans it up before it gets too.. "soapy." Settles in as all of the languorous, deep, heavy, moonlit florals that I love. Almost cloying, but *not quite.* Heady to near nausea, but *not quite." That beautiful, nearly oppressive smell of floral fecundity. I can't tell if I'm dizzy from the scent itself, or becoz I'm sniffing it incessantly. I shall have a bottle of this.