mishi-bear

Water of Notre Dame is definitely an aquatic scent. There's something green and herbal to it, and some florals that I think are white. It also smells to me almost like there's some citrus hiding in this somewhere. It could be lime like people are suggesting. Overall, it's pleasant. It definitely smells clean and nice.

Snake Oil is popular for good reason. Anyway, I love it. I actually got a frimp of it a while ago, and just never got around to trying it for nearly a year. That was actually a great coincidence, since Snake Oil only gets better with age. It's a very sultry vanilla, and not overly sweet. It's also got great throw and lasts basically forever. Most bpal disappears on me within a handful of hours, this lasted on me overnight and only went away after I showered. I definitely recommend trying it, and I'll definitely be grabbing as big bottle of it ASAP.

My imp of Skuld is a very old one, so it might be a bit different from a newer one. To me, Skuld was almost entirely a one-note honey. The floral vaguely attempts to peak through, but barely does. Overall just not that interesting, I have other honey scents I prefer more.

Sjofn is probably my favorite bpal apple scent. It's a sweet golden apple fresh off the branch. The apple blossom and birch are barely there, but they -are- there, just quietly in the background, adding a general sweet-freshness to the scent. Unfortunately, bpal apple scents never last long on me, and Sjofn is no exception. It lasts probably the longest on me of all bpal apple scents I've tried, but still barely 2hours. Still, I love it enough to slather as much as I can stand on multiple times throughout the day, and I'll likely be needing a big bottle of it soon.

Shango is so sweet and fun. The strongest note in this is the banana, followed by the pineapple and coconut. The sugar makes it extra sweet, and sort of blends in with all the other fruits, making them smell like candies. I get absolutely no chili in this whatsoever. It's nearly a year old, but maybe with further aging it'll get a bit more spice to it. As it is, I enjoy it, it's a very fun candy fruity scent. I do think if the chili shows up though, that'll just make it even better.

My imp of Ouija is about a decade old, so that might change how it smells versus a new batch. That said, the first time I tried Ouija, I remember being kind of 'meh' on it. It was just a floral. Not much to say. I put it in my imp box and forgot about it. I recently got around to trying it again, and I think I gave it too little credit the first go around. I can't imagine it has changed much since it was already old the first time I tried it. Maybe my tastes have just changed, or my sense of smell and perception of other notes has gotten better. Ouija is a very dry scent to me. The strongest note in this is the lilac, followed by the slight sour-sweetness of rose. The woods are barely there, but they have an impact, and really dry this scent out. The osmanthus also makes this almost fruity, just barely, in the background. I'd definitely be interested in trying a newer imp of this one day, and then maybe go for a big bottle from there.

My imp of this is over a decade old, so it might smell different than a fresh batch does. To me, Othello is obviously mostly rose. I do however smell the spices and musk in this, and they keep it from being too much of a one-note rose. Not much to say beyond that. If you like rose scents, it's worth trying this one. If you like rose scents but want your rose scents to have a little something beyond florals, this might be worth a try as well.

It's easy to see why O is a popular scent. I received this as a frimp and I'm very glad I did. It also took me a good few months to finally get around to it, which I think only made it even better. Honey, amber, and vanilla scents all tend to get better with age in my opinion, and it certainly seems to have made O especially lovely. It's a very pleasant honey vanilla, while the amber warms it up and gives it more depth. I'll likely spring for a big bottle of this eventually.

Maenad is very candy like. It reminds me a lot of Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo to be honest, but with extra strawberry. Strawberry is definitely the strongest note to Maenad, but below that there's definitely just a vague candy like almost powdery sweetness. Nothing especially feels floral about it. Overall, I prefer Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo to this if I'm going to basically get the same scent out of it.

My imp of this is at least a decade old, so keep that in mind. Lyonesse is mostly vanilla and sandalwood on me. The florals at most add a touch of sweetness to the far background but are barely there. I do actually get a bit of the sea moss though, adding just a touch of damp greenness to the background, making this feel vaguely seaside-y, but just a touch. Overall I actually really enjoyed this one mostly for the vanilla and sandalwood. I'm curious to try a fresh imp of it before springing for a big bottle though.

I received this from a friend, and it's definitely this 2006 version. For an 11 year old oil, it's still going strong, and smells lovely. It's very sweet. Honestly most of what I got from it was the honeysuckle. There's something to it though that smells almost fruity. I'm not sure if that's just how the florals have aged, or the mead, but it really smells like there's berries in it or something. Overall, a nice smell. It's definitely springtime feeling.

On me, dragon's blood resin tends to be a sweet cherry floral. In Ladon, it stays that way, but the apple adds a layer to it that keeps it from being too powdery and sweet and rounds the whole scent out. The hyacinth and apple blossom give the floral aspect of the blood resin an extra layer of depth. The musk is barely there. I enjoy Ladon. I always love the apple scent in every bpal that has it, but it disappears so quickly on me that it's just upsetting. My skin devours all apple. In the case of Ladon, it pretty much devours the whole scent, making it fade after barely an hour or so. It's a shame, because I love it so much while it lasts! I slather it on as much as I can just to enjoy it before it fades. And even though it fades so fast, a part of me still wants to get a bottle size of it, just so I can have even more to slather.

La Bella Donna Della Mia Mente is one of my absolute favorites. It's very aquatic, the aquatic and rose being the strongest notes in this to me. The pomegranate is also fairly strong and adds a touch of sweetness to this. The leaves add a bit of earthiness far in the background. The other scents however may as well not exist. The throw on this is good, and the scent basically lasts all day. I will say that while this is advertised as autumnal, it doesn't really feel exclusively so to me. I wear this often in the spring and summer, just because aquatics always feel suitable to those seasons to me. Definitely big bottle worthy for me. I think it's worth trying if you like aquatics + rose, or aquatics + fruits.

My current imp of Glasgow is very old, probably a decade-ish. There's definitely aquatic in Glasgow, and it's fairly strong. With that, it definitely smells like there is rose in this, softened by a herbal-floral heather. The blackberries add a touch of sweetness and add a bit of tartness to the aquatic. Overall, I really love this one, and I'll likely spring for a new 5ml of it, because I loved it so much. Here's to hoping it doesn't need a decade to age into the scent I loved though.

The imp I have of this is likely around a decade old, so keep that in mind. Florence on me mostly just becomes a sweet powdery purple scent. I can tell there are berries in it, but those berries are buried beneath a layer of purple floral powder. It's funny because it's not exactly unpleasant, but it's also just not that interesting, and smells more like a very fancy body powder than a perfume. I'll likely keep this imp and use it, but it's definitely powdery.

I received a very old imp of this from a friend. On me this is a very clean floral. Mostly jasmine and honeysuckle, but I feel like the buttercup adds a touch of something to the background of this. It does fade kind of quickly, and doesn't have the strongest throw. I enjoy it, but I'm not exactly heartbroken that when this imp runs out I'd likely not find another. I have much more interesting floral blends that I personally prefer, but someone who likes their florals uncomplicated might enjoy this one if they manage to find it.

Elegba is warm and syrupy sweet. Mostly rum, with the coconut and sugar adding extra sweetness to it. Then the tobacco kicks in, making this scent warmer and a little more down to earth. I like it a lot. I always worry about tobacco as a note, but in this it just adds a bit of earthiness and warmth.

On me, Drink Me is mostly toffee, with a touch of pineapple. The custard makes it slightly creamy. The other notes though basically don't exist. I do like it though, it's definitely sweet and foody. Not sure I'd grab a bottle of it, but for an imp it can be a fun sweet scent to wear occasionally.

Dragon's Milk is a super sweet scent on me. Dragon's blood in general smells mostly like a cherry floral on me, and that combined with vanilla and honey make the sweetness of this very strong. This does go slightly powdery on me eventually, but it takes a while to get there, and even when it does I don't even mind it because I like the scent so much. This also has good throw and lasts a long time. Overall, a very sweet scent, but the dragon's blood makes it almost cozy, in my opinion. I like to wear this one when I'm having a bad day, the sweetness of it brings me comfort and warmth. I'll definitely get a big bottle of it eventually.

Dorian is unfortunately the weakest bpal scent I've ever tried. After putting it on, I couldn't smell it at all for a while. Then, it finally, quietly reared its head. I like it, kind of. It's definitely a sweet vanilla tea scent. And maybe just my nose was being blind to it, because I did get compliments about how I smelled from people that day. But to me it was just barely there unless I was actively huffing my wrist, and that made me sad. I'll likely keep this imp, and use it sometimes, but I have much better vanilla scents and tea scents that are stronger that I prefer.

My skin devours apple like that's it's day job, so this mostly becomes a rose-and-lemon on me. Fortunately, I quite like rose and lemon, so I do like this. Less fortunately, it fades very quickly. This is definitely something I'll be using up the imp of, but I don't think I'd ever bother with a big bottle.

Dana O'Shee is definitely a sweet, creamy scent. At first the 'grains' part of it smells more like almond than anything, but on drydown it becomes sweet oats. Lots of milk, lots of honey. My main issue with it is that it smells an awful lot like a generic body wash or lotion I've used before. I can't really separate the smell from that, and it makes me not want to wear it. It also fades quickly, and has barely any throw. Overall, a miss for me.

Oh Coyote. I'm hoping you get better with age, because unfortunately a fresh imp of you went play doh on me on the dry down. Play doh aside, it is a lovely scent. It's soft musk and amber, dry grasses. Sweet and warm. This scent smells wonderfully furry and soft. It does hang close to the skin and doesn't last long, but it's a scent I'd want to keep personal anyway. I'm just hoping with age, the play doh goes away.

Bayou is wet florals all the way down. Definitely sweet white florals. Maybe a bit of a dirt note in it. I will say that Bayou was very, very strong on me and lasted a good long while. I'd just apply this sparingly at first to avoid a headache. I enjoy it, but maybe not big bottle worthy. It's a little too strong smelling for me when I have other florals and aquatic-florals that are less headache inducing.

Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo is a favorite of mine. To me, in smells a lot like mixed fruit candies, like sweet tarts that are more sweet than tart. There's definitely fruits to this, and maybe florals. It reminds me a lot of Maenad, but Maenad has a stronger strawberry scent to it. I wouldn't be surprised if this also has strawberry in it, but it's definitely milder. My only complaint: This really doesn't last long, and stays kind of close to the skin. I generally prefer stronger stuff that lasts longer. But this blend does make me feel happy and less stressed, so it has a place in my collection and I'll get a big bottle eventually.