Koumori

I was looking forward to this one, but unfortunately I can't say I cared for it.. I think I was looking for something that felt a bit "warmer." I always try scents on, though, even if I didn't like them in the bottle, so I gave it a test run. The scent evaporated on me after a couple of hours. I don't think this one was meant for me.

This wasn't a success for me. I love pumpkin and all orange food so much, and was so excited that BPAL was putting out a pumpkin scent, that I immediately bought a 5mL bottle without getting a sample first. This was a mistake, and I won't be buying any other fragrances "smell unsmelled" again. I wanted to like it, I really did, but I felt that it smelled too synthetic for my taste - like a pumpkin-scented Yankee Candle.

I could not be more thrilled with Samhain. It threatens to topple Thanatopsis as my favorite BPAL scent. Something about the way all of the notes blend together into one mysterious whole absolutely embodies autumn - wet leaves, cool crisp days, clear skies. A winner all around.

By itself, I'm not crazy about #20 Love Oil. The herbal scent is a little sharper than I prefer. However, I absolutely love it when combined with Snake Oil - I can't say I've experienced increased attention from others, but the combination certainly makes me feel sexy and powerful!

Velvet didn't work for me. I find that if there's myrrh in a BPAL blend, unless it's a very small part of the equation, it quickly overpowers all of the other notes when I wear it - something about my personal chemistry, I guess - and unfortunately, while myrrh is nice enough, I don't like smelling it for hours on end. On me, the cocoa and myrrh battled it out for an hour or so, and then the myrrh won.

I received this as a sample in my last order, and will be buying a full bottle with my next. I generally do not care for a lot of florals in my scents, but the blend in this one is a true exception. On me, it mellows into a beautiful, ethereal, slightly malicious (I don't know how else to describe it) scent that becomes slightly less floral and more herbal as it's worn. It's like a gossamer shawl I want to wrap around myself for hours and hours.

I really wanted to love Endymion, as I've been enthralled by the myth since I was a kid. And I love pears. Love them. Unfortunately, this fragrance isn't a great success on me; the pear overtone seems to evaporate within half an hour or so, leaving me with mainly lily of the valley.. which is nice, but not really me.