Morrea

In the imp: mainly leather, with a hint or musk and myrrh. Wet on skin: spicy, resinous leather. Drydown: very strong leather note in this - so strong that the red musk doesn't get a chance to take over. When I wear this normally, as opposed to simply spotting it on my wrist to test it, the musk is a bit more apparent, and the whole effect is of a more balanced blend. Red musk tends to get very, very loud on my skin; this is one of a very few blends in which it stays in check. The leather note is dominant and persistent, but this is nowhere as near to a single note as, say, DeSade. Leather strikes me as a very masculine note; Whip was gross on me, Wanda was too sweet, DeSade is the only BPAL I have tried yet that is too stereotypically masculine for me to feel uncomfortable wearing it in public. This is a much more feminine, wearable leather. This is my "thou shalt not f*ck with Morrea for I am indestructible" scent I adore this blend, and I must have a bottle!

In bottle: WHOA myrrh! It is raw and pungent, and it reminds me of vetiver. Wet on skin: Very, very myrrh, with cinnamon and smoke giving it a bite at the tail end Drydown: the cinnamon initially dominates the dry phase, with the myrrh playing only a supporting role. Over time it morphs, with the cinnamon withdrawing and the myrrh coming more into focus. This definitely needs time to settle down and age; it comes across as very sharp and raw. I like cinnamon, and I don't tend to amp it, but this is way too cinnamon-y at first. Once it settles down into all its myrrh glory, it is fabulous: rich, warm, round, a scent that you could almost bite down on. I am looking forward to seeing what this does with a few months to mellow.

In the bottle and wet on skin: very musky, with a little bit of something faint and creamy and warm in the background - smells just a touch like coconut to my nose. On drydown: still very musky, with hints of the burnt rubber thing that vanilla does on my skin, and something violet-powdery. A very, very musky blend. I don't get any pickles or leaves out of this, and it doesn't strike me as furry (it doesn't smell at all like my cat) but I'm fairly confident that this has vanilla and orris in it, neither of which I like very much. As others have said, Coyote and Hunter Moon fill the same musk niche, without fighting my skin chemistry the way Ivanushka does.

In the bottle: very grape and incense - reminiscent of Urd, without the patchouli Wet on skin: grape-y incense, sharpened by the ozone-sleet notes Dry-down: the ozone and sleet fade relatively quickly, leaving behind wine, grapes, and incense. This is cousin to Urd, though this is softer and less demanding. Unlike other reviewers I got no greenery from this, either as evergreen or as vines, and this was primarily a soft, fruity resin on me, which I like. Wine tends to go very sweet and cloying on my skin; there seems to be a wine note here in addition to the grape, but it stayed well-behaved. Lovely stuff, I'm glad I took a chance on a bottle.

Last Christmas I discovered their Aromatherapy Sandalwood Rose, just in time for it to be discontinued. It doesn't actually smell much like sandalwood or rose to my nose - more like patchouli, which is probably why I like it so much. The lotion lists sandalwood (white, not red, gauging by the species name), rose, patchouli, and frankincense oil...though they all come after fragrance in the list. So, to anyone familiar with this blend, what should I try/layer to get this fragrance? I amp BPAL's rose notes, and when I tried Rakshasa, rose was all I got out of it; I expect that same result from Wanton. Namaste was too lemongrass-y and Fenris Wolf was too red musk-y. Maybe I could layer Anne Bonny with something?

Try searching with "anise" rather than "aniseed." Just off the top of my head, I know Black Anise has anise and Kyoto has star anise. ETA Black Annis, not Black Anise

This smells just exactly like a pencil! I get no cognac from this, just dry, dry wood notes, a hint of rot (with a what seems like a droplet of vetiver), and the brimstone note, which my nose is parsing as graphite. I had no idea pencils had their own smell, but sure enough, this is it.

In the bottle: bitter, green, and dry, like rotting leaves, with possible oakmoss and musk in there somewhere. As others have mentioned, this is very much like the scent of leaves which have had their veins stripped out. On my skin: starts out sharp and bitter, with a vague sweetness. As it dries, the bitter note fades, and it turns into a masculine cologne fragrance, like a less sharp Saint-Germain without the lavender; there is a faint citrus note wafting around. Definitely an autumnal fragrance. The bitterness seems like the same dead leaf note that is in The Death of Autumn. Personally, I love the more masculine scents, and I might need a backup bottle of this!

In the bottle: Dry floral, with hints of musk and incense Wet on skin: Lovely muskiness, with a touch of incense and floral; fabulously dry and restrained. A very ascetic scent. Drydown: The "paper" scent seems to be some white floral, which is bad news for me, since I amp all white florals. Sure enough, in first test, this went to purely floral as it dried. Wow, that's a flowery library! The second test was even flowerier, and the third time, I could smell the musk and incense more on drydown, but it turned bitter, with a burnt rubber quality to it. I can't decide whether I like this or not. I don't like most florals, and I was hoping for a truly dusty-papery scent, with more emphasis on the musk and incense notes; this seems more akin to paperwhites. The burnt rubber - in a way I won't even try to explain or understand - seems like an improvement over the overwhelming flowers (stupid skin chemistry, grrr!). I'm hanging on to this for now in hopes of it improving with time, but I suspect this will end up on the swap pile.

In the imp: rich evergreen, like a fresh Christmas tree Wet on skin: still evergreen, with stong bayberry and hints of mint and lime Dry down: mostly bayberry I can't yet discern between evergreen notes, but I'm inclined to say this is fir or spruce, rather than pine. Between the evergreen and the bayberry, this comes across as very Christmassy. Growing up, we always had a live Xmas tree, and this brings back strong memories of freezing at the local nursery while we tried to find the perfect white pine. Frimpage from the lab, this isn't to my tastes, but I may wear it around Christmas for its nostalgia value.

In the imp and wet on my skin, this is pleasantly musty, earthy, and sweet without being cloying. As it dries, it warms up and the spices emerge. When dry, this smells very holiday-spicy, like the scented candles that are so popular around Xmas. To my nose, this is mainly cinnamon and clove, with something smoothing out the rough edges that smells nutty and vanilla-like - perhaps hazelnut and tonka or benzoin. There is also an almost-salty base note in here that I really like. Despite the description, this doesn't smell anything like dirt to me, nor can I detect any of the patchouli or vetiver that are sometimes used to evoke soil. While I like this one, I wouldn't wear it every day, because it isn't quite firey-spicy enough and there are so many other blends that I like more. It would make a lovely perfume or room/car scent once winter comes, though.

Sin has some of my favorite things: Sandalwood? Check. Amber? Check. Patchouli? Check. It should, therefore, be my Best BPAL Ever, but there is a catch... In the imp, it is spicy and warm; I can just make out patchouli through the other notes, though this is the only time I get it from this blend. Wet on my wrists, it is a tight blend of sandalwood and cinnamon; it is hard to tell where one begins and the other ends. This is gorgeously spicy and woody, exactly the sort of thing I look for in a perfume. As it dries, the amber steps up, and the sandalwood-cinnamon fades, and fades, until all that is left is a soft ambery whisper about half an hour later. I adore BPAL's amber - it smells just like the chunks of amber resin I had as a teenager, and so it has the benefit of nostalgia to go along with its inherent loveliness. I just wish it wasn't all that Sin left behind This would definitely be in my top 5, if only it lasted longer.

Muscadine, black and red patchouli, cereus and nag champa. In the imp: Grape! Very sweet grape, almost like Kool-Aid, but in the best possible way. Muscadine seems like the specific variety of grape that artificial grape flavors try to be. The other notes are subdued, giving this a subtle earthy-spicy note. Wet on skin: The artificiality of the in-imp muscadine draws back, leaving a sharp-sweet, complex muskiness. There is another note, sharp, which I assume to be cereus, that is not stereotypically floral - it is somewhat medicinal-sweet, reminding me vaguely of eucalyptus and black-label Chapstick - that clings to the back of my throat. The patchouli and Nag Champa step up, nicely balancing out the muscadine and cereus. Dry down: I can't pick out any Nag Champa, which is a little disappointing. This is almost pure patchouli on me, though the earthy-dirty character is mitigated by the persistent sweet notes. I think you have to be a fan of patchouli to like this one; fortunately for me, I am This is a really lovely blend, my favorite so far, and it will be my first bottle purchase.

This was a frimp the lab threw in with my first order (they're so generous!). Out of the imp, the first thing that came to mind was Tinkerbell cologne - the kind that was sold to little girls in the eighties, in the straight-sided bottle. It smells just like it. Not the perfume, mind you, but the cologne. At first, Desire was intensely, cloyingly citrus-floral and sickly-sweet, which I assume was due to the neroli. As it dried, the apple came out to play, and it became more soft-sweet. Eventually I got the vanilla and musk, but I couldn't smell any patchouli or rose at any time. Too bad, I like those far better than neroli. This isn't bad, once the initial floral wave subsides, but it is very soft and very feminine (read: not very me). Oh well, at least it was free, and I know to avoid neroli now.