Pika

I have not tested any effects of this scent so far, just the smell. In imp: Strong, kind of acrid and unpleasant. Wet on skin: Maintains a lot of that sharp, almost herby scent. I don't get the dragon's blood if it's there (thank goodness). Drying: Rounds out a bit, and becomes much nicer. Which is good, because I wasn't sure how long I could wear it if it smelled like the above. The jasmine is out though. Later: Faded to nearly a pure jasmine-musk scent, very soft. I don't hate jasmine, but I don't like to wear it unless I'm in the right mood, and that would likely not correlate to when I needed courage. I have other jasmine scents I like better too, like Nyx. I wonder if I could use this scent to focus my intent and manifest courage like I would another ritual oil. I mean, I'm sure I could use it with intent, and then use it in small amounts so as to avoid the scent, but I'm just not getting the same feel from it I get from those other blends. And this scent doesn't at all remind me of a wolf's brave heart. Maybe it's the strength represented by tiny white jasmine flowers though... there are few scents that strike fear into the hearts of so many on the forum!

In imp: OMG, medicinal chemical ickiness. Wet on skin: Lemony, with an edge of sweet. Almost like lemon cake! Seriously, I'm looking at the list of notes, and I can't confirm anything that's on there. I know I amp lemon badly, but how can I amp it if it's not on the list? Drying: Getting lightly herbally now, like lavender, but still lemony. And actually it's fading really fast. There's hardly a need for an entry about later drydown. It's almost gone. A trace of light musk and lemon. Kind of reminds me of what Phantasm did on my skin. Super-lemon (where is this coming from?!?) and then nothing. So strange. Well, I guess Sophia and I don't get along. Pity.

I agree with the "general perfume" reviews. I really didn't like it wet, and it's only dried down to something tolerable. I'm sad I don't get any coconut. Just a hint of orris in the dry down after the musk has dissipated slightly.

A melancholy, deep scent, poignant and brimming with nostalgia. The perfume of sugared plums over a breeze of winter flowers. (2007 version) In the imp, it makes me recoil from the *bubblegum* scent. Aww Wet on me, it stays candy-sweet, with fruit, maybe berries, maybe red jolly rancher, maybe grape kool-aid. Double Aww . It's been drying for a while now, but it's still much too sweet for me. I'm not getting any of the florals, really, and while there's something much rounder and more wholesome about the dry-down scent, it's still screaming candy-fruit mostly. I'm actually getting more berries as it drys, but it lacks the class and green balance of something like Bewitched. Too bad, off to swaps.

In the imp: Smells like vanilla cake frosting to me. Wet on skin: Something sharp... I don't know how vanilla and cream can be "biting" but this kind of is! A little while later: Ha! I was reading back through the reviews and it's *wintergreen*! That's just it! That funny biting smell in with the vanilla. I guess that's not what this is supposed to smell like... can't say it's winning me over yet. A lot later: Stayed about the same, vanilla-y but with the wintergreen backing it, and now I can detect a bit of the saffron poking out in the background. But mostly I get the cheap vanilla smell others have mentioned. Meh. I'm not a foody fan, so I wasn't expecting to love this one, but I kind of hoped I'd like it more. Oh well, more love and philosophy for others! *eyes above post * Edited for typos... doh.

I threw this on this morning shortly before I left for work. It smelled wonderful in the vial, and as I was gathering my things, it was wafting up and I was thinking "What a lovely, airy, interesting scent!" Definitely cherry, but not overpowering, floral, and an ozone note that didn't automatically smell like air freshener! On the way to work, I was smelling a LOT of rose... When I got to work, I realized I was starting to smell powder. And sure enough, powdery for the next couple hours. How sad. How come Libra has to use that particular rose note that goes to powder?

Wet and for the first hour, this is a really lovely, interesting floral! I think the black plum (which I notice I tend to like from other blends) gives it a subtle, fresh kick without screaming "fruit". I don't smell the berries as much. The floral notes are very nice... I like the way the gardenia peeps out without being overwhelming, and the rose didn't go powdery. Drying, it got a bit cloying. Too sweet, too floral, too whatever. Not sure about this one, because I really liked the first hour. Felt to me like a perfect scent for dusk on a summer night, as the heat gives way to cooler temps and people gather to mingle in the quiet twilit garden. But the later drydown wasn't as nice. Will have to think on this one.

In the imp: Fruity floral. Tempered a little, by something green. Wet on skin: Strong fruit! Peach, but obscured by something, I guess the citrus-y bergamot? Drying: All PEACH. Well, nearly. Some sweet depth, but really mostly the peach. Girly. At least it's a fairly real peach, and not the fake-peach flavor you find in candies and some tea. Later: While really strong at first, fades a bit and stays close to skin at the end. Now, about 3 hrs later, very faint peach. This is a nice scent, if I want to smell like extremely young, fruity, girly peach. I'm not really sure how often that will be... But, it could be because there's snow falling and I can't effectively imagine an early July, summery, cheerful day that I'm not in love right now. Maybe I'll hang onto Fae until I can try it then. Edited for formatting.

Wow, though I can't claim to know what "the incense of a corrupted Astarte" would smell like, this wasn't what I was expecting! It's actually VERY gingerbread-y... that was exactly my first thought as well. In fact, as it wore on, I got very little BESIDES ginger. In fact, in my head, I was trying to remember the description, and thought maybe it was 5 gingers, which would account for the overwhelming smell. Three or five, it's plenty. GINGER GINGER GINGER. But there's also something richer in there, which makes it seem more foody and comforting. Buttery and spicier. It's a nice , heady fragrance. I'm not really a foody type, so I'm disappointed not to love this as much as so many people do. Still, I think I'll keep my imp around. Or maybe try yet again to enable my gingerbread-scent-loving mom with it...

I don't do ozones very much, and this scent is a perfect example of why. That fake air-freshener smell, with almost a lemony (?) edge to it. Lightning's got that sharp bite with none of the sensual satisfaction of a true thunderstorm... too bad. (Note, I just tried Tempest too, and within the ozone category, I like it much better.)

I'm not a huge ozone fan, and the first minute or so this was on my skin I was tempted to wash it off. As it settled though, it really became much nicer. It faded quickly, to my nose, and really got that gentler scent of rain showers to it. I don't think it'll ever be a favorite, but it's got a nice, quiet fragrance to it, once the nasty first minute wears off. (Note, I've got Tempest on one wrist, Lightning on the opposite shoulder, and Tempest is sooo much better)

This was the Lupercalia I was most excited about too. In imp: Just what I was hoping for! Lovely sandalwood, patchouli, a little sour - maybe cedar?, and a hint of soft rose. Not smelling nutmeg/clove yet, but here's hoping... Wet on skin: Initially it just blossoms out with the same set of lovely scents. Beautiful rose and cedar, mostly. A minute later: Oh no, it's already changing! It's going dry, dry, dry. Powdery rose, powdery cedar, powdery sandalwood. Never got any spices. A few minutes later: It's fading, leaving only faint, powdery wood behind. I can't believe my skin did this to this scent! I smell kind of like an old ladies underwear drawer, with an ancient sachet stuffed in the back corner. I don't have many instant-powder scents, and I really wasn't expecting this to be one. Do I blame the rose? Is it sandalwood? I'm so sad. I'm going to keep this and test it again in a few days, just in case... but

Wow, I'm another believer! This is SUCH a good fresh rose scent! What it really reminds me of is being in a florist's shop, sticking my nose into the bouquets. Really, a very fresh, bred-to-be-pretty hybrid tea rose. I've grown roses of many types, and other varieties of roses have more character, more depth, more spiciness than your regular florist's rose. But I've never smelled a scent so light and perfectly LIKE that florist's rose, that it immediately takes me back to particular rose bouquets I've received. (Aww, memories...) As a perfume, it's delightfully light and airy, not cloying, and it didn't go soapy on me. Fresh, green, light, rosey, and beautiful. So sad I didn't believe all the other reviews and pick up a bottle now! C'mon Rose Red 2008...

The first thing I get when I put it on is "round", "hollow", green. I don't know how to explain it, but it seems so hollow. Not necessarily a bad thing, but not the sharper, weedy yellow-green I expected. It seem "cooler" to me as well. Not the sunny clover I imagined, but a cool, deep shade next to a stream, very much the mosses. A shady scent. Very earthy. A bit of rose in there, I think I smell the ivy too. Very interesting scent. I think it'd make a killer room scent, actually, but I'm not sure I like it as perfume. Perfect for a cool sunroom with lots of lush green houseplants.... oh drat, I don't have one of those yet. At least I can smell like I do!

This starts out as a very nice floral, but then ends up going downhill on me. It first smelled a lot like rose, then something went slightly sour, then it ended in powder and a dry, dry flower I couldn't place 'til I reread the notes...hyacinth, I believe. At least, that's as close as I come to figuring it out. It's not really my style, though it's a unique floral, and would be very nice on some women, I think.

Sounds like a good combo to me in theory... In the imp, I smelled very much rose, not much frankincense. And though I could guess from the imp it'd be the soapy-rose on me, I tried it anyway. Unfortunately, I was right, soapy rose and minimal frankincense on my skin. Too bad, it was a lovely concept.

As noted, a very, very rose-y scent! The honey does it a favor (I LOVE honey!) as do the other florals. Maybe iris is darkening it a bit? I wish the tonka was stronger. As it dried, did go a little "old-lady" wispy rose on me, but it was still a lovely scent. ETA: I've been trying to wear this scent more, but discovering it has a habit of going powdery on me now. It's getting less and less love due to that.

I will preface this by saying I am NOT a foody.... yet I enjoyed this scent! I was super scared of the chocolate. I like eating the stuff , but haven't had good experiences with it as perfume except for Centzon Totochtin, and maybe Velvet. But, when I'm wearing 13-7/07, I just get a yummy scent, totally interesting with the fruit and florals in it! I find it hard to describe, without going down the list of scents and checking them off one by one. I'm actually put in mind of Sugar Skull '07, which could simply be because it's the last foody scent I liked, but might also be because of the sweet sugar-fruit scents. Anyway, I might look into getting more of this one!

Heavy on the lily-of-the-valley and lilac. Light on the Dragon's Blood. Which would usually be a good thing, since D'sB and I don't get along terribly well on a regular basis. But unfortunately, this is too light and white-floral for me. It's got no edge, no punch on me, just absently floating, generic florals. This is actually the second time I've tried it (swapped the first imp) and I think it's got to go again. Sad.

I have been eyeing this scent since my very first hours of discovering the BPAL world. Ironically, it's taken me nearly a year to get to this one, despite it's presence on every one of my first "potential order" lists. Why did I wait?? This is just what I'd hoped for from the descriptions, a rose with a dark, green, edge. It's so lovely! It's damp earth, mossy and dark with crushed leaves and grass. But it's above all a subtle, mature rose, that doesn't play any soapy tricks! It's the deep, damp shade under a thick leafy summer canopy, where a red rose is somehow blooming amidst freshly turned dirt and mown lawns. And better yet, my boy, who is rather indifferent to the scents I usually like, snuffled up to my neck and wanted to know what I was wearing because I smelled so good!

I keep avoiding this one because it's got lavender in it. I love the (not-overpowering) smell of lavender is house/object scenting, but don't really like it as a perfume. Psyche's got some interesting stuff going on though. In the imp, it's very nicely blended with the other florals and (I think?) the frankincense. Something resiny, I guess that's gotta be it. Wet, it maintained that nice mixture for a little while... Drying, it caved in and went faint lavender with a light musk. Most of the rest I can't detect anymore. I actually really like the scent of this in the imp, so maybe I'll skip wearing it as perfume and try it in my scent ball. (O decadent use of the preciousss!) I might swap it though, because for some reason I can't get over the association of Psyche-lavender and probably will continue to avoid it.

In imp: Very manly, very cologne-y, but in a way I'd kind of like a guy to smell. Wet on skin: Heavy on the lavender and bergamot, not so much on anything else. Getting that lemon pledge thing going my skin does to most things citrus. Drying: Oooh, better than I thought! The leather and patchouliness is coming out, but not to the point of eliminating the herbal-citrus. I think I may foist this one on the boy... He might even like it! While I like some masculine scents very much (Czernobog, Dee) this one is *too* traditionally masculine for me. It's all about traditional men's cologne. But that's not at all bad, if you put it on a sexy man! I'm just hoping Boy's chemistry will treat it somewhat like mine. ETA: Tried it on boy, apparently he amps patchouli like crazy. He didn't like it, and it didn't have quite the same charm for me. Swaps it is.

Ooh, add me as a late-discovered lover of this scent! I considered buying it when it was available, but chickened out. It's *soft*. That's the best way to describe it. Soft, and "fuzzy", and somehow sweet. Warming and comforting. I guess the dusty/leafy/woody scents are in there, well blended, grounding it a little, but the dominant scent is just soft, sweet, warmth. There is something in there as it dries that could be a bit powdery, but it's not in-your-face baby powder at least. I have no better words to describe this, but it's lovely.

In imp: Pungent, herbal, with a tiny hint of something sweeter. Wet on skin: Instant soap?! How is that even possible? I've never had that happen before. And the vetiver is there too, but not really in a pleasant way, though I've liked scents with vetiver before (Voodoo, Czernobog, Antonino). Drying: Like stinky guest soap, a bit floral, mostly chemical perfume over the cheap fats in cheap soap/detergent smelling. How sad! I really wanted to smell dark and floral, I really wanted to like this one.

Imp: Spicy-citrus(?) with white florals. Seriously, smells a bit like cinnamon-orange! Wet on skin: About the same, actually. A little more florally, maybe a little fruitier with red/purple fruit notes rather than just the citrus. Citrus staying under control, thank goodness. A little while later: Pretty, more traditionally floral, and fading fast! Not too much later: Faded to dry, white floral perfume smell. On some sniffs, still get a "purpley" fruit scent, but most of the exoticism of the initial sniffs seems to have worn off. I'm not in a floral mood today, so I may have to try this one on another day, but for now it's a very "eh" scent for me.