wolfie13

One of the Biblical Cities on the Plain, destroyed by God with fire and brimstone because of its people’s pride, prosperous ease, deceit, hedonism and indolence, and their callous, uncharitable hearts. A gritty, sordid and languid scent: ripe fig, date and currant with black herbs. This is my first FIRST review and I'm probably not so great at it, but I figure any info is better than none if you're waiting for new stuff to be reviewed. In the bottle: I get mostly fig (it's neither a super-sweet "fig newton" fig nor a super-dry leafy Diptyque fig - somewhere in the middle) and the sharp dirt scent of vetiver. Upon initial application: It's pretty much the same as it is in the bottle for the first 10 minutes or so. Then the more astringent aspect of the vetiver recedes leaving a warmer earth background - with a touch of pepper perhaps - and the date and currant pop up, sweetening and rounding things out - but it's not overly foody or sweet at all (and on me there is absolutely nothing floral about this - or incensey for that matter). Conclusion: I LOVE this. It definitely has a languid feel as described. And damn - maybe it's just me, but it's sexy. (ETA: Again- this could just be me- all the other scents, and I mean pretty much ALL of them - that other folks find sexy are horrible on me - Lust, La Petit Mort, O, Dorian - the list goes on) I can't stop sniffing my wrist or imagining myself coated in this stuff and lounging around on fine sheets with a fine lover for a lazy indulgent afternoon. I could see this on a girl or a guy. Post Script : This is everything I had hoped Hetairae would be, but wasn't. It is now my favorite bpal fig scent. (ETA: Still lovin' this and have a 5 ml on the way!)

I love this on initial sniff and application. I smell a bit of each of the notes and they blend together nicely. I was worried that the vanilla would be too heavy and sweet, as it often is for me, and that is not the case here. This goes straight to white musk and sandalwood on me, though. It's just not me at all. I should know better - white musk is almost always an amper/no-no on me.

From start to finish this is pretty much just peach and gardenia on me, going a bit soapy in later drydown. I like both of those notes a lot, but rarely wear either of them. I got a decant of this totally on a whim and I find it more wearable than I would have imagined (as I'm not really a fan of the fruity-floral genre) but still picture it more as a soap or other bath item.

In the bottle and initial application - almost all lemon verbena. However, I LOVE lemon verbena, so I would be quite happy with just that. After about 10 or 15 minutes, the verbena dissipates quite a bit (so people not so excited about the lemon, you may want to hang in there for awhile), and I'm left with the scent of lovely tea. I get some honey, but not really any star anise (it's probably just adding depth to the scent, without an outright "licorice" or whathaveyou vibe). It's very balanced and all the notes come together so smoothly on me. I love tea scents, and this may well be my favorite one thus far from the lab. All of the others seem to have one note that destroys it for me. Agreed that this will be terrific for spring/summer.

Agreed that in the bottle it's very cherry/almond, which I do like. Upon application, though, this goes too sweet cherry vanilla on me initially, then a bit plasticky and then it's too powdery. Drydown is a soft cherry/honey/powder that is not really for me - a bit too cloying.

Wow - this one changes dramatically on me. Initial sniff - it's almost all pepper and ginger, which I love. Initial wear - unfortunately the lovely pepper/ginger scent turns to a "burnt" smell on my skin almost immediately. Then it's the burnt smell mixed with a kind of dry woodiness. A few minutes later - all of the above disappears entirely, and I get almost all beeswax and leather. (Oh and now a bit of the spice has crept back in. No more burnt though, thankfully.) I'm really not sure what to make of it. I AM fascinated, however, and will be keeping this decant around.

This one is pretty much as expected - cold, snowy pine with a tiny hint of musk (the wolf skulking through the trees). After the grave disappointment of Wolf Moon 04 (it was way too floral and aquatic on me - not at all what I was expecting!), I was afraid to try 07. But, dammit, this is my month! So I tried again. And I'm so happy to have a keeper. It does fade away rather quickly on me, but I like that for some reason. The scent stays true the whole time - not a morpher on me - and then just slips off into the distance.

As August 1 approaches, I thought I'd finally post on this. My Bpal join date somehow just missed this (as well as few others that have since gone down in history) and I never got to try it until a very kindly and generous forumite included a half-imp of this in my decant package a few months ago. To me it's cherry, spice, a bit of earth, a bit of apple, perhaps some grain, a bit of magic. It is a relative to the Harvest Moons, perhaps a touch of Samhain, perhaps Queen of Spades, but it's definitely it's own thing and my favorite of any of it's ilk. This is of course an extremely aged version. I wish I knew what it was like fresh. This is high on my list of Top 5 BPAL That Should Reappear.

Hah! That's too funny - I was just sitting here thinking I smelled Tootsie-roll ish and then happned to read the above post! At first I had more of chocolate-covered cherry smell, then..... see above. I actually love Tootsie Rolls but don't really want to smell like them. However, as this dries down I'm getting a bit more of the cherry smell, and maybe a wood-type smell? (I didn't look at the ingredients again before posting this, which I usually do.) Kind of like a combination of chocolate and Red Queen? (I realize how that sounds on paper - like, not good. But it's intriguing) Full disclosure - I almost never like chocolate and/or foody scents. I have no idea why I even purchased it, considering that as well as the fact that I've never liked any of the Thirteens I've tried, much to my great dismay. But there's something about this that keeps forcing me to keep sniff. Like it keeps luring me further in with the passing minutes. I bet this will age really well. Try it!

Imp sniff: I get mostly peach and floral, but the floral I'm smelling most at the outset is the neroli, not the gardenia. Wearing: I really like the initial wear. I get mostly peach, with a touch of honey and the cream note, and a light floral overcast (the "floral" is more of a blend of the gardenia and neroli now). I am not generally a floral person and I still like this - the floral aspect never becomes overbearing on me. Late drydown: Now I get a lot more amber. It's mostly amber, light peach and light gardenia at this point. (I usually amp the hell out of gardenia and while I love the scent of the flower itself I can rarely wear it, but this scent has been totally fine on me for some reason.) It's very nice, though I think I like the initial wear phase best. I do wish I got more of the honey and cream notes in the mix overall - that might have pushed this into the potential bottle realm rather than the I-think-I'll-keep-the-imp realm. I love testing peach scents for some reason. Belle Vinu is next on my list!

Yikes. This smelled sort of interesting in the bottle and for initial wear but I couldn't really quite describe it to you - sort of a jumble of things. But after a short amount of wear, this became just so heavy, cloying and just, well, THICK, on me that sniffing myself closely was actually causing my throat to close up. I'm not quite sure I've ever had that reaction. I agree with the above poster that there is something vaguely plummy about it but aside from that it's a weird, heavy sweetness, that I can't really describe, but just does not work on me AT ALL.

Wow this seems to be one of those that smells differently on everyone! In the bottle it smells like Snake Oil and lavender. Wearing, it smells mostly the same on me, though as the lavender pulls back I get a hint of Dorian. It's not powdery or anything like that on me. In late dry-down (hours later), I'm left with the impression of mostly a lightly floral Snake Oil. (And not in a bad way - I'm not a floral lover and this does not offend.) I really like it! I love Snake Oil and lavender, and I appreciate Dorian, but it goes WAY too sweet on me on it's own. It's very restrained on me in this blend, and it all works well together. It's kind of exactly as I imagined it would be (which is not often the case!)

This is just a lovely true sweet pine on me. I'm sure the other ingredients are adding a layer of smoothness and complexity to this, but I don't really get any of them as individuals. Smells like when you bring a Frasier Fir into the warm house. would be a great room scent, but it's also eminently wearable (doesn't go sickly sweet or floral or smoky on me!)

I'm shocked that this scent is not getting more love, what with all the posts looking for "chai tea" scents and all. It's even forced me to crawl out of my 50-reviews-behind hole and post one. I love the spicy scents and have tried very nearly all of them, LE and general catalog. However, much like Goldilocks, never found one to be "juuuuust right". My skin chemistry is picky and many are too sweet, too burnt, too dry - I could go on. And most of these scents have. Moved on, that is. But this one is perfection on me. I now have my signature "spice" blend. The most obvious notes are probably the cinnamon and tea, with pepper and tobacco highlights and a touch of sandalwood just smoothing things out, without the scent actually becoming a "sandalwood" scent. This one is also rather unchanging on me from bottle to wear to drydown (though I catch the nutmeg more after a time, which is lovely), and sometimes I just like that consistency. Try it!

Bottle sniff and wearing of this are very similar on me - it's mostly a nice warm amber with a side of cedar. Both of which I love, so no complaints here. After a few minutes of wear, the other ingredients, while never distinctive notes on their own, add just a touch of sweetness and complexity to the blend. This is actually one of the truest "just ambers" on me of all the Bpals amber blends I've tried thus far. It's definitely the dominant note for me, and it's definitely of the lighter, golden amber ilk, perfect for warmer weather, which makes me very happy as some of the other amber blends I favor tend to be too heavy at this time. A nice embodiment of lazy summer afternoon sun. I wore this every day for at least a week after I got it, which I hardly ever do. (I'm fickle that way and have WAY too much Bpal at my disposal) And I'd probably be looking for a back-up bottle, except that I'm hoping that Death of Autumn will be the fall equivalent of this for me!

Initial sniff: Strong, candy-like berry. Concerned. Wearing: It is now, strangely, a shampoo-like berry. It smells like Garnier Fructis products. I hate fruity shampoos. Drydown: HOURS later I get a touch of Snake Oil. No smoke, no amber, no smoky vanilla. This one did not work on me at all.

In the vial: Vetiver and Patchouli. Wearing: The same, with the addition of Black Musk. It reminds me a great deal of Typhon, crossed with a touch of Lycaon, perhaps? (A little of the ginger and green from that one, maybe, though I never actually smell these notes.) Conclusion: Sadly, I never really get the carnation, pomegranate or ginger notes as individuals, and these are the things that I was looking for to differentiate this from other similar blends.

In the bottle: Strong, woody and earthy. Wearing: This smells like Patchouli and Vetiver, with some musk and sandalwood. Yup, exactly as advertised. It goes from sharp-ish to a little more blended and mellow, as the musk has more of an impact later. As opposed to some of the other associations people have made, this reminds me most of two other blends in which Patchouli and Vetiver dominate - Umbra and The Great He-Goat. Conclusion: I love these types of scents, but I tend to grab so many of them to try, and being neither a hoarder or slather, can't possibly wear or keep so many similar ones. (And Umbra remains my fave in this category.) So I put this on my swap list. Though I may change my mind.

In the bottle: Tea, orange and spice. Wearing: Tea, orange and spice. It's funny it really does smell as if you are wearing some of the teas that have been mentioned - Constant Comment, etc! Drydown: This one doesn't really change on me. I was actually hoping to get more of the amber or musk to deepen it up, but no, it's just light, spicy orange tea. I really don't even get the cherry blossom at all, which is a bummer, because I like that note. Wears light and fades fairly quickly. Conclusion: Nice. But lacking a bit of complexity that would inspire me to keep it. (Though I admit I did have second thoughts after I swapped it - I wondered what 6 months of aging might produce.)

This has a generic sort of "Indian incense" scent on me. Sandalwood, a bit of honey, a bit floral (i know, I know, I don't know where it's coming from either.) It's fairly light overall, a lot lighter than I would have thought (in both scent and throw) but it goes a bit musty on me, as a lot of the Bpal honey blends do on me (or maybe it's honey in combination with something else, like the amber?) It's very meh on me - and also reminds me a great deal of another Bpal (that I had a similar reaction to) that I can't quite place right now. Will update if I think of it.

In the botte: Almond! And a bit of spice and a bit of Snake Oil. Wearing: For the first 30 minutes or so, still a lot of foody-spicy almond. At this point it reminds me a lot of Port au Prince. (I even tried them on together for comparison. But after this point the scents diverge dramatically) Just after 30 minutes: The almond calms down. It never goes away completely, but stops being so overtly sweet and foody, and the myrrh really begins to make itself known, amping up the incense aspect of the blend and Snake Oil is coming more to the fore. I never get the mandarin as an individual note, though I'm sure it adds to the blend nicely. Conclusion: This one is a real surprise! I actually like it the best of the Snakes I've tried thus far (though that's only 4 - I have 4 more coming) which I would not have expected. It's another snake that I feel the notes really combine to create something new.

In the bottle: GINGER and dry spice. A LOT more ginger than I expected. It's mostly ginger (but not sweet like gingerbread - it's very sharp and almost citrus-y quality of fresh ginger) Wearing: Hot, dry ginger and hot, dry cassia. Very sharp - and did I mention dry? (And i did get a red patch where oil is applied - I have sensitive skin and this occurs with most cinnamon/cassia blends, though) After 2 hours: Yes, it takes THIS long for this blend to soften up on me - some of the Snake Oil shows up, but when it does, it has a bit of the plasticky/playdough edge which some people get with SO, that I usually never do! Conclusion: Disappointed. I actually had the highest hopes for this one. I wanted it to be Snake Oil with a bit of heat, and instead it was a lot of heat with just a little Snake Oil. And this is another snake, that for me, rather than combining into something new, the added notes are just scrambling around on top of the SO base.

In the bottle: Snake Oil and Champaca Wearing: Champaca. Oh dear, my skin amps Champaca - and it's sweet and gardenia-like on me, meaning heady and strong. After about an hour: Champaca becomes more manageable, smell a little frankincense and snake oil. Conclusion: It's okay on me, but not what I was hoping for. I was really hoping for a more incense-y blend. This is a little incense-y, but also sweet and floral. These notes actually blend really well with Snake Oil (better than some of the other snakes, for me) and I think that many people will love this.

In the bottle: Vetiver Wearing: Vetiver. I actually really like vetiver, strong vetiver even, but I think there is not enough balancing it out here. Strong throw. One hour later: Hmmm, I can actually smell a bit of the black coconut and vanilla coming through. Unfortunately, black coconut can go a bit odd on me (burnt and smoky) and it does here too. Two hours later: Getting some of the Snake Oil backdrop. Conclusion: It just never really melds together on me. A bunch of notes jostling around on top of my beloved Snake Oil.

In the vial: I smell chestnuts balanced by mandarin. Interesting. Wearing: The chestnut starts to amp on me - this particular nut note has a smoky, almost burnt quality on me that is not particulary pleasing. The orange has all but disappeared leaving just the chestnut. It smells exactly like the chestnut note in Hearth 2005 (without the accompanying sweetness that one had). Drydown: After awhile, like at least an hour or more, the chestnut finally calms down, the burnt quality smoothing out, and some of the other notes become apparent. Unfortunately the note that becomes most apparent is the Lily of the Valley, which I dislike. Sadly, the mandarin never reappears, as it was a nice balancing note. Interesting, but not for me.