lizabelle

This is definitely the same jasmine/honeysuckle blend as in New Orleans, with some ylang and possibly gardenia as well. And maybe moonflower? I have a couple of blends (Long Night Moon and one of the Cancers, I think) with moonflower and this is reminiscent of them. For once ylang and gardenia don't take over and choke out the others but remain firmly in the background. The overall effect is like the lovechild of New Orleans and Defututa--to my nose this is sweeter than New Orleans but darker than Defututa. The incense is present throughout but for whatever reason my skin amps the florals and hides the fruit. And the violet, for that matter. I keep waiting for it to appear but by now I'm pretty sure I amp honeysuckle and it's pretty much taken over. As a white floral this isn't bad, but it's not grabbing me the way others have.

My nose is failing me today--I could have sworn there was vetiver in here, but I guess it's a super smoky patchouli. It's kind of bitter, and I could definitely see this being what incense offered to evil things might smell like. After the inial blast of blackened wood the resins take over, but they stay kind of dusty. It's a dark, earthy, but cold smell overall, but there's a brightness that reminds me of the final stages of Djinn at the bottom, like fires in the distance... It's incredibly evocative.

This is potent. It's almost too much for me right now, but then I sprayed it right by my head for easy sniffing access. Bad move, apparently. I could have sworn this was the same honey/clove mixture as in Blood Kiss, with some pine and apple thrown in, but it looks like there's no honey in it at all. For me the most dominant note is the honey! Weirdness of that aside, this is a good blend. I'll have to try it out a few more times on my linens to see if I actually like it as a room spray or if I'd prefer it as perfume--normally I don't like extremely strong room scents, and forever reason this seems twice as concentrated as the others I've tried so far.

This is quite a bit perfumier than I expected, and while I don't hate it I also don't love it in the way I had hoped I would. I definitely get absinthe and ozone at the beginning, and then it softens into a powdery resin scent. It's actually pretty unisex! After the initial burst it's faint on me and it's just not grabbing me in the way my favorite BPALs do. If some of the absinthe would stick around on my skin this would probably be a winner.

This is beautiful! With all that pine I wasn't sure (I don't hate pine, I swear, I've just had some bad experiences), but this is the lightest, softest, sparkliest pine I've ever sniffed. It's mostly fruit and flowers--I think I'm mainly getting a bergamot/berry mix here, then the early spring flowers (definitely a cold floral), with the pine very light underneath it all. The pine notes definitely read as "white" to me, and overall it definitely lives up to its name. I'm very pleased with this and a bottle is definitely in my future.

Not sure this one likes me much, as I can't smell most of the notes I should be. It starts out mostly lavender, assertive and fragrant without being too harsh, then fades down to a soft, floral, and slightly powdery rose scent. I get no fruit and no wood, and I'm even surprised to see red musk in the ingredients list! It's nice but probably not a bottle for me.

Wow, I never would have pegged this as "bitter" almond--it starts with the usual cherry > marzipan progression and then blends with the vanilla to remain candy-sweet. This is nothing like the buttery almond note in Hecate, for example (which I love), but it's not bad. The frankincense/cinnamon blend is spicy, warm, and a bit dusty, and it kind of makes me want to sneeze. The heliotrope is subtle and I'm guessing it's blending with the vanilla and adding to the creaminess of the scent. This smells like a creamy, spicy almond custard, and while that should be exactly my kind of scent something about it is putting me off. I wish it were slightly less sweet!

This is truly a beauty. I don't get a lot of smoke out of this, mostly just wood with a lot of rum. It's not the boozy kind of rum, though--like Poenari said, people wouldn't think I've been drinking if I wear it out. It does have a slightly floral feeling to it, and it's very warm. I find it mixes well with almost all my wood-heavy perfumes, which makes it a keeper since I have so many.

This is incredible. I don't know exactly what the difference is, but while I like the lab's lavender notes the trading post's lavenders are somehow much stronger, longer-lasting, and rich. For about 2/3 of this one's life it's all lavender (and what a lavender!), and then it fades into a soft, dry oud. This is not a stinky oud but a very subtle woody one. It almost feels cuddly as it lingers on my skin in this stage. I had an emotionally taxing week and finally treated myself to a bath with this and it bordered on meditation--I feel completely relaxed now. If you like lavender at all this is a must; I may be getting a backup, or several.

Today's episode of "Liz has no clue how to gauge whether a BPAL will be good on her or not;" half of these notes just never showed up. I get a lot of honey and a lot of tuberose, plus probably some musk. It's candy-sweet powdery tuberose and even as a lover of both honey and tuberose it's a bit much for me. Where's that red patch I love so much? Where's the cognac? Where are my geraniums?? With those notes I expected it to reach my top five, but it's nowhere close. And I'm loving the super-masculine pine scent. Go figure.

At the beginning this is too piney for me, but once the ambergris rears its head it's a completely different story. Never before did I think I would want to smell like (simulated) whale puke, but such is life. That misty, salty scent is amazing and truly lifts this beyond the average all-pine blend. This is a cold, creepy, foggy forest with lots of dry needles crunching underfoot, and something nasty waiting deep in the trees to eat me up. And I love it. I might actually get a bottle, which I never expected from that masculine opening!

I expected something like The Queen's Croquet Ground atmo out of this, but actually they're pretty different (at least, as different as two rose-only scents can be). While QCG is green and a bit sharp, with soft velvety rose underneath, this is a huge, smack-you-in-the-face-with-rose rose. I guess that should be obvious from the description, but this is all petals. No stem, no leaves, no grass. It's actually really fruity on me, which is another surprise--it reminds me pretty heavily of Jo Malone's Red Roses, which I believe has a fruit topnote to exaggerate that aspect of the rose. Because I already have Red Roses I don't feel I need a bottle of this, but it's a beautiful rose single note.

Dang it, amber. Not again. This was beautiful for about 20 minutes (the average time oils take to truly warm to my skin, I run super cold), and then the amber came in. Initially rosewood, juniper, and vanilla, somehow not too masculine and very pleasant and woody. All the conifer notes are actually quite subtle on me, and I'm thawing to them considerably. Vanilla makes everything better, of course.

After 20 minutes the amber ruins everything, as always, and it becomes some kind of weird vanilla lollipop. Seriously, the pine notes are just gone; there's maybe a whisper of wood left but mostly it's just sweet amber and vanilla. A sad pass from me.

I have recently added a man thing into my life that has a major nut allergy. He loves scents and I really want to explore smells between us, but I don't want to kill him. Does anyone have any notes I should for sure avoid besides the obvious ones?

I don't have a huge amount of personal experience with this (we had one nut allergy scare with me when I was little, but it was a false alarm), but I did a little research and some people with nut allergies have trouble with coconut, shea, and pink pepper (related to cashew) too. For the most part, though, it's just common sense. See this site for a good list.

You might want to talk to him about what he does with his diet and see if there's anything else that he specifically avoids.

I'm smelling a ton of lime right after applying, which is weird because there's no lime in here. If I get really close I do smell mint over moss and something heavy...is that ambergris? It's shockingly acrid. Over time the ambergris calms down and is recognizable as the same one in Lyonesse--thank goodness. However, the overall effect still reminds me of the standard "fresh" lime/herbs/musk cologne that seems to form the base of every mainstream men's scent. I hate that base with a passion, so this is a pass for me.

I will never call lotus bubblegum again; this is bubblegum. It's an exact dupe for Dubble Bubble when you unwrap it and are getting ready to pop it in your mouth. It even has that slightly powdery overtone! I actually don't hate it but despite being a gourmand lover I'm not sure I want to literally smell like candy.

In the imp this is dark, moody, and mum-heavy, and I expected to love it. I do love it, in the imp. On my skin something (cactus flower?) turns to a near-candy sweeetness and it's overpowering everything else. I don't even smell the vetiver! It smells like some of the cheap, fruity body sprays I used as a preteen. I love desert scents (heck, I just love deserts), but this one refuses to work for me.

I forgot there was cedar in this! I happen to love the lab's cedar note, but it is pretty central here. It's noticeably different from the usual cedar in that it's softer and not as spicy, which I guess is the "green" aspect. There's also a noticeable peppermint bark kind of note and some nuttiness. Over time the notes blend better, particularly the cedar and pistachios, and I'm left with a nutty-woody scent with a soft chocolate base and a light touch of mint. Comforting, soft, and unlike anything I've ever smelled. I love it!

I could have sworn there were pine needles in here. There's a lot of cedar, potentially with some needles too, and sandalwood and spices. Lotus always goes weird on me but I get none of it this time--instead this is a pleasant, grounding woody unisex scent. I almost smell orange, for some reason, but that might be one of the spices tricking my nose. Sadly it has very little throw or wear time on me, but it would be amazing as an atmosphere spray or bath oil. Very calming.

Ooh, champagne! And...not a lot else. The champagne note is very true to life and fizzy, but it's also strong and drowns out anything else. I get a wisp of soft, floral pink rose but that's about it. Surprisingly this is pretty long-lasting.

Miskatonic University on one wrist, Jolabokaflod on the other, smush them together a bit...omg. Fudgy coffee in an old library surrounded by open books and guttering candles. It's smoky and dusty but I'm liking it lots.

This is lovely and fresh, but it has absolutely no throw on me. None. It's actually worse than Poisoned Apple, which is quite the accomplishment. I may get the bath oil version instead, because this would be so mood-lifting to soak in for a while. It's mostly lemon, alternating between tart and borderline-bitter and sweet like in lemonade. The aloe is lovely in this and mixes perfectly with the tea. If this was a drink I'd be guzzling it, whether it was tea, lemonade, or something alcoholic. Definitely summery.

What on earth, I'm getting that honey/mead note out of everything tonight. To me this is herbs/spices with metal and honey, although I did get a half-second whiff of amber so maybe that's what's weirding it on me? It started out lovely, like spicy plums over metal, but now it's just that same honey/mead note from Honeyed Apple. Plus metal. And I was so sure this would be my steamworks scent.

Oh goodness, I'd bet money this is the same honey note as in Honeyed Apple from this year's Weenies! It has that same light, clear, but somewhat boozy feeling. The herbs aren't very noticeable on me unless I get my nose very close to my arm and even then I really struggle to find them. That's a bit disappointing, because I love sage. Since I already have Honeyed Apple I don't feel like I need this one.

Spicy dirt! I know I've described other scents that way but this time it's actually the intent of the fragrance. I basically get dirt, cedar, and tobacco out of this, but somehow it doesn't seem overly masculine. It's just earthy, and calm. I like it a lot, actually, but it's not really a "me" scent. If you like the lab's dirt notes and pine/wood/tobacco, this one's for you.