juushika

In another piece of good news all of my Christmas BPAL is finally here, and it was a wonderful set of gifts (from me to myself, and from Devon to me). I have had to move them into a new box, as the old one was overflowing entirely out of hand—but as I see it, that's no bad sign. All told, all packages here, I've received about 35 new scents. Needless to say, I'm not entirely done testing them. But I have made some wonderful discoveries so far.

The best of the best starts with the welcome surprise of my new trio of loves:

THE TELL-TALE HEART (Dark Delicacies)
Blood musk, cocoa, black pepper, allspice, dragon's blood resin and vetiver.

ENRAGED GROUNDHOG MUSK (Forum Exclusive)
Cranky groundhog musk sweetened up by chocolate-covered black cherries, cardamom, French vanilla, and caramel.

MIDNIGHT KISS (Shojo Beat)
Red musk, cocoa absolute, Nepalese amber, red sandalwood, aged patchouli, nicotiana, and blood wine.

All of these are in the same scent family: they have rich red centers (cherry/blood/wine/dragon's blood resin, depending) surrounded by cocoa and spices. Tell-Tale Heart is dark and a bit spicy, and my current favorite (the boy couldn't stop sniffing it last night—I wore it to Sweeney Todd, which was a perfect fit), Groundhog is furry and a bit more gentle and sweet, and Midnight Kiss is colorful and wet. I picked them up out of curiosity and chance, and am so so glad I did. I never expected to like red almost-fruity scents, and yet I do, especially these. I certainly never expected to have such good luck with these that I can barely test or wear anything else. They are perfect, and wonderfully warm for these cold winter months. I'm after a 5ml of all of them, as well, although I want Tell-Tale Heart the most. Pretty please?

The other wonderful surprises:

INTRIGUE (GC)
Black palm, with cocoa, fig and shadowy wooded notes.
I had no idea that I liked fig until trying this scent. It is rich, dark, a little bit sweet, indulgent, and mysterious, and I find it hard to wear anything else.

COTTONMOUTH (Carnival Diabolique, Snake Pit)
Snake Oil with linden blossom, calla lily, passion flower, and narcissus.
This was a frimp, and I couldn't have tried it any other way, but I am glad I had the chance. I tend not to like floral, but this is incredible. It is Snake Oil's prettier, gentler, softer cousin, and incredibly beautiful and wearable.

BLACK CAT (Heaven and Earth Essentials)
Buttercream FO, Antique Patchouli EO, Sandalwood EO and Orange Blossom EO
It's not BPAL! This was another frimp, and while I don't plan to stray from BPAL, it was a lovely gift. Sweet but not cloying, rich, indulgent, and very comforting.

PENNY DREADFUL (GC)
Soft perfume evocative of noir heroines over rich red grave loam.
The most gentle perfume, and rich red soil. The two aspects temper each other, making this a floral I can wear without ever making it girly. Unusual, very wearable, and lovely.

DEATH CAP (GC)
A warm, soft, ruddy scent, earthy and mild.
Sweet dirt. Unusual, maybe, but incredibly lovely. The dirt is dry and pale, the sweetness is far from foody, and the combination is truly unique and strangely wearable. It makes me want to try more dirt scents.

13 APRIL 2007 (LE)
A base of cocoa absolute and white chocolate with thirteen baneful and beneficial bits: cardamom, fig meat, grains of paradise, rice flower, chamomile, sandalwood, catnip, clove, and a bundle of five blessed blossoms and herbs.
Cocoa, but at the same time herbal and complex. It's light, morphs a lot, and is definitely not a simple scent, but I was very pleased with it, and it's an herbal I can wear. I really like it, although I'd have a hard time describing it or saying what I love so much.

There have been disappointments along the way: Some scents (Perilous Parlor, for example) smell lovely but don't suit me—I mean, pear, after all. Some scents (Delight, for example) have confirmed my suspicion that floral is fine but not really my thing (and sometimes not fine, when it goes straight soap, but that's another matter). And then some, like Morocco, damn near broke my heart by proving than in about half the blends that contain it, carnation amps up to frighteningly sharp and herbal levels. As one of my favorite flowers and scents, this is really disappointing. At least The Masque and Brisingamen, both of which have carnation, manage to be lovely on me.

This does mean that I have a small but certain reserve of reject imps, so I'll probably continue to gift those on an infrequent basis.

I will say, though, that venturing out of my trusty GC imps has been a great experience. The success rate isn't quite so high, but the good ones are just great, and some of them, like the cocoa-and-red trio, are all-consumingly wonderful.

Oh, and lupanotte, if you like Bastet, you have to try:

HECATE (GC)
Deep, buttery almond layered over myrrh and dark musk.
The rich creamy almond of Bastet made just slightly bitter, slightly sweet, slightly smokey, slightly musky, and slightly dark. It is refined but not "perfumey," pure but never simple, and so wearable. I think you'd love it.