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juushikaSTRANGLER FIG (GC, Rappaccini's Garden)
Rooty, woody, with deep green tones.
After falling in love with the fig in Intrigue, I was interested in trying more of the BPAL fig note—and what could be better than a predominant and almost pure fig?
In vial: Strange—I can barely smell anything at all!
On me: The scent doesn't morph in the least. From start to finish, this is green and sweet. The green is a bright chartreuse, the self-same color of the skin of a fresh fig still on the tree—not deep green at all. The sweetness is sugary and almost crystallized—and is so strong and pure that it is almost nauseating, like oversweetened food that makes your teeth ache. The combination of the two, compounded by the scent's impressive strength and throw, is cloying and overwhelming. With wear, the strength dies down a bit and the scent becomes more palatable, but it never loses its bright greenness and sugar sweetness. I get nothing of the roots or wood, but I wish I did—they might provide a solid foundation and help tone down the heady sweetness.
Verdict: I really wanted to like this. I didn't expect it to be like the fig in Intrigue, which is a rich deep purple, and I actually like the bright green color of the scent. But the sugary sweetness is so strong that I find this blend a bit nauseating and certainly overwhelming. Perhaps it would work better if I layered it with something that had the woody/rooty/herbal notes that this lacks (with my skin chemistry, anyhow), and I may have to experiment—but as is, I'm disappointed and not sure if I'll be keeping this around.
ETA: Six months later, and the oil has aged a bit. The hyper-sweet sugar note has died down, though the scent still goes on a bit sweet and bright; the darker woody notes have come out, and make the scent a rich deep green after the first hour or two of wear. This is a drastic improvement, much more nuanced and a whole lot more wearable. I'm glad I kept the imp around, and will wear it more often now.
FENRIS WOLF (GC, Diabolus)
Rosewood, amber, red musk and a dribble of red sandalwood.
The red feralness of this scent intrigued me, and I've had good luck with musks in the past—so I ordered an imp of it with my last order.
In vial: Red, spicy, sharp, and something unpleasant, almost medicinal. I'm not entirely loving it.
On me: It goes on red musk, warm, full, and slightly animalisitic. Then the musk quickly does what musk does on me: it becomes slightly sweet in the most delicate and flattering way. As it dries down, sweetness aside, this is a warm fuzzy scent that is just a touch spicy and has a rich base, smooth and slightly powdery. The sweetness of the musk balances out its possible feral aspects, and the scent never becomes strictly masculine. The scent is definitely leaning towards red in color, but that provides a comfortable sense of warmth rather than candy-bright coloring or too much spice or heat. On me, the scent lasts for about three hours before it dies down to skin-level, and there it lingers.
Verdict: At a certain level this is just a repeat of the other musk-heavy smells that I own, since they are all similarly sweet and animalistic on my skin. Each has its own character, however, as does Fenris Wolf: the red base gives the blend a living comfort and warmth. It suits me and flatters my skin chemistry, and the boy loves it on me. I'm not "ohmygod new favorite!" blown away, but this is a lovely scent and I imagine I'll get a fair bit of use from it. I'm definitely keeping the imp.
XIUHTECUHTLI (GC, Excolo)
Copal, plumeria and sweet orange and the smoke of South American incense and crushed jungle blooms.
I purchased an imp of this on the basis that it's similar to the commercial fragrance "Angel"—I figured I'd try it, and if it didn't work, pass it on to my sister, who likes Angel.
In vial: It smells like the orange in a chocolate orange—a citrus, rounded rather than sharp, well sweetened.
On me: Jungle flowers blossom over the orange, almost concealing it. The smell is distinctly tropical and unlike anything that I've tried to describe. It's the shadows beneath a jungle canopy, where the vines and leaves overhead form a bower that traps scent below, heavy with florals which seem to thicken the air, spiked by the barest breath of citrus, heavy with tropical humidity. It's just on the safe side of cloying, but is still very rich and sweet. There is something of cocoa in here, rich brown sweetened by the tropical air, which rounds out the scent. Along with the copal, the scent is well rounded at the base notes but creeps outwards in the top notes in whiffs of heavy-blossomed florals that can't be constrained by the resin.
Verdict: I'm not a fan of strong florals (and on me, this is one) or tropical scents, but Xiuhtecuhtli took me by surprise. The blossoms are heavy, the scent in humid, but it is undeniably lovely. The florals are so well mixed that they don't compete but rather flow together in a cloud of scent, and that specific, indescribable tropical characteristic makes me breathe deep, trying to understand and describe it. This scent makes me feel like I am somewhere else—a world away, a place I'll never see in person. I like it. However—it's so out of character for me that I can't imagine ever wearing it. I'm an amber and cocoa girl, a musk and parchment girl, not one for tropical canopies. I'd love to smell this on someone else, but I don't think I can keep it for myself. It makes me feel like a different person in a different place.
POOL OF TEARS (GC, Mad Tea Party)
A sea of salty tears drowning out Alice's light floral perfume.
I'm in search of a tears scent, and unlike many of the salty aquatics on my wish list, this one is a readily available GC—so I bought an imp to check it out.
In vial: Something spicy, and along side that—yes, I do believe this is my first brush with an aquatic. I wasn't sure what that would smell like in a perfume.
On me: It's salty. That's a hard scent to identify or describe—but it's there. It makes the aquatic a little bit sharp, but it's more saline than sea. Easier to identify is a vague floral base that is generically "perfumey" in a very mainstream way. I want to find carnation in it, but mostly it's just a mixed classic floral. The perfumey note is too heavy against the aquatics, which are fairly light and pale. The throw is pretty strong. However, after the first half an hour the perfuminess and the throw both tone down. It's a nice change. At this point the scent is salty, a bit sweet, with just a breath of florals beneath it all. It's also fairly faint, and the salt still has a bitter edge—but all told, it's quite nice. I like it, and so does the boy.
Verdict: Because I'm looking for the scent of pure tears, the accessory notes in Pool of Tears aren't quite what I want. This isn't the scent of pure tears—clear, liquid, crystalline—but it is a wonderful match to the original inspiration: the scene of Alice drowning in her own salt tears. The slightly exaggerated notes, the florals and the sweetness, could easily equate to Tenniel's original drawing, which is slightly stylized and of course includes Alice as well as her salt pool. I'm no big fan of the dry down period, but it's not a huge issue to wait half an hour before going into public. All told, this isn't quite what I wanted, and I'll still be in search of a perfect pure tear scent, but I like it well enough to keep it. It's an unusual scent, but hardly unwearable, and I think it would well suit a slightly contrary, slightly odd sort of day.
GLOWING VULVA AT RYOGOKU BRIDGE (LE, Lupercalia 2008: Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements)
Cream accord, amber, teak, and lotus blossom.
Of the whole Lupercalia update, this was the blend that most interested me. I waited for reviews to go up before purchasing, and the descriptions of the blend sounded perfect—even though lotus blossom is new to me, and I'm generally wary of florals.
In bottle: I get primarily teakwood, rich, polished, a bit spicy. But I can pick out all of the notes, which is rare for me—I usually have a hard time picking out anything in the bottle. It's a very unique scent, warm and smooth at the heart and accented by spice and sweetness. I've never smelled lotus blossom, but it's distinct here: not precisely floral or foody, but a little sharp and fairly sweet. I'm actually quite fond of the in-bottle smell, which is also unusual for me, but I wish the teak and lotus were a bit softer.
On me: The unique and particular character of this blend doesn't change much from vial to skin, but it does rebalance itself a bit. As I was hoping for, the spicy and sweet tone down, and the amber (which my skin often loves) comes into itself. What I notice most now is the rich, smooth, polished heart of the scent, and the spice of the teak and sweetness of the lotus blossom are accents, although the lotus is still a little bit sweeter than I'd like. (Good news! The lotus fades a bit more with wear.) I wear a lot of amber, but this smell completely different from anything else I own—there's something indescribable about it. The core of the scent is like exotic, polished, skin-warmed wood: it's rich, smooth, reminds me a bit of a skin scent, and has an unusual edge to it. I agree with others that it's very sensual, like the scent of satiated warm skin. The amber is light enough, and the sweetness brightens it, so I expect this will work well for warmer weather. The lotus doesn't make this blend "floral" to me, which I'm glad for. This blend stands out—it's unlike any other BPAL I've smelled. This scent also has a great staying power—at least six hours on me.
Verdict: I'm really glad that this scent doesn't morph too much from bottle to skin—in fact, the changes are minor and all for the best. The unique quality of the blend is just too lovely to lose, so I'm glad that it sticks around unchanged. It is so pleasurably, so subtly unusual: it stands out while still being sexy and very wearable. The cream (alongside the teak) gives it a wonderful rich smoothness, the amber is warm, and the teak and lotus play on top of them to give this scent lovely character. In a way, this is a cousin to the warm/smooth/spicy amber-based blends that I love: it has the same basic construct, but an entirely different character. That difference will make it a great addition to my collection, and I'm quite happy with it. Plus, the boy loves it on me, and it's a great match to the painting. What a lovely scent!
THE SPORTIVE SUN (LE)
Heliotrope, amber, almond flower, frangipani, cedar, and calamus.
This was a frimp from a seller (it was on my wishlist before that, because, as a Leo, solar oils interest me), and I've worn it before—but I've yet to write a review.
In vial: Cedar, strong, sharp, and almost medicinal, with a bright and sunny floral.
On me: The first thing I get is a whiff of blossoming florals, which isn't much to my taste. The floral quiets on the drydown—it's still pretty strong on the skin, but is tempered in the throw, giving the oil a vague "perfumey" note. I actually don't get much of the amber except as a grounding note to balance the fresh florals and the sharp dry cedar—in fact, I wish the amber were more predominant, because it's one of my favorite notes, and more of it would better balance the rest in this case. The scent is hard to describe: it's sunny, not quite warm, and not firey, more like the bright golden light of a direct sunray than a sun-warmed surface or the sun itself. The color is certainly a pale yellow gold, creeping up on white. But for all of those positive qualities, there's something a bit sharp and medicinal about the blend, something too pointed, too sweet, a bit citrus-sharp. Reading up on it, I think it might be a calamus, which I've never encountered before.
Verdict: I like the golden feel of this scent—it is mostly definitely a solar oil. However, I'm not a big fan of the florals, which are too drug-store perfumey for my taste. The sicky sharpness of the blend also turns me away from it—I think the combination of the cedar and the citrus aspects of the calamus are just too much for me. I've come back to this a few times because I want to like it, is has a few promising notes, and I like the feeling of the blend, but there are a few too many unpleasant smells in there for me to really love or wear it. I think that it's about time to finally let this one go.
Rooty, woody, with deep green tones.
After falling in love with the fig in Intrigue, I was interested in trying more of the BPAL fig note—and what could be better than a predominant and almost pure fig?
In vial: Strange—I can barely smell anything at all!
On me: The scent doesn't morph in the least. From start to finish, this is green and sweet. The green is a bright chartreuse, the self-same color of the skin of a fresh fig still on the tree—not deep green at all. The sweetness is sugary and almost crystallized—and is so strong and pure that it is almost nauseating, like oversweetened food that makes your teeth ache. The combination of the two, compounded by the scent's impressive strength and throw, is cloying and overwhelming. With wear, the strength dies down a bit and the scent becomes more palatable, but it never loses its bright greenness and sugar sweetness. I get nothing of the roots or wood, but I wish I did—they might provide a solid foundation and help tone down the heady sweetness.
Verdict: I really wanted to like this. I didn't expect it to be like the fig in Intrigue, which is a rich deep purple, and I actually like the bright green color of the scent. But the sugary sweetness is so strong that I find this blend a bit nauseating and certainly overwhelming. Perhaps it would work better if I layered it with something that had the woody/rooty/herbal notes that this lacks (with my skin chemistry, anyhow), and I may have to experiment—but as is, I'm disappointed and not sure if I'll be keeping this around.
ETA: Six months later, and the oil has aged a bit. The hyper-sweet sugar note has died down, though the scent still goes on a bit sweet and bright; the darker woody notes have come out, and make the scent a rich deep green after the first hour or two of wear. This is a drastic improvement, much more nuanced and a whole lot more wearable. I'm glad I kept the imp around, and will wear it more often now.
FENRIS WOLF (GC, Diabolus)
Rosewood, amber, red musk and a dribble of red sandalwood.
The red feralness of this scent intrigued me, and I've had good luck with musks in the past—so I ordered an imp of it with my last order.
In vial: Red, spicy, sharp, and something unpleasant, almost medicinal. I'm not entirely loving it.
On me: It goes on red musk, warm, full, and slightly animalisitic. Then the musk quickly does what musk does on me: it becomes slightly sweet in the most delicate and flattering way. As it dries down, sweetness aside, this is a warm fuzzy scent that is just a touch spicy and has a rich base, smooth and slightly powdery. The sweetness of the musk balances out its possible feral aspects, and the scent never becomes strictly masculine. The scent is definitely leaning towards red in color, but that provides a comfortable sense of warmth rather than candy-bright coloring or too much spice or heat. On me, the scent lasts for about three hours before it dies down to skin-level, and there it lingers.
Verdict: At a certain level this is just a repeat of the other musk-heavy smells that I own, since they are all similarly sweet and animalistic on my skin. Each has its own character, however, as does Fenris Wolf: the red base gives the blend a living comfort and warmth. It suits me and flatters my skin chemistry, and the boy loves it on me. I'm not "ohmygod new favorite!" blown away, but this is a lovely scent and I imagine I'll get a fair bit of use from it. I'm definitely keeping the imp.
XIUHTECUHTLI (GC, Excolo)
Copal, plumeria and sweet orange and the smoke of South American incense and crushed jungle blooms.
I purchased an imp of this on the basis that it's similar to the commercial fragrance "Angel"—I figured I'd try it, and if it didn't work, pass it on to my sister, who likes Angel.
In vial: It smells like the orange in a chocolate orange—a citrus, rounded rather than sharp, well sweetened.
On me: Jungle flowers blossom over the orange, almost concealing it. The smell is distinctly tropical and unlike anything that I've tried to describe. It's the shadows beneath a jungle canopy, where the vines and leaves overhead form a bower that traps scent below, heavy with florals which seem to thicken the air, spiked by the barest breath of citrus, heavy with tropical humidity. It's just on the safe side of cloying, but is still very rich and sweet. There is something of cocoa in here, rich brown sweetened by the tropical air, which rounds out the scent. Along with the copal, the scent is well rounded at the base notes but creeps outwards in the top notes in whiffs of heavy-blossomed florals that can't be constrained by the resin.
Verdict: I'm not a fan of strong florals (and on me, this is one) or tropical scents, but Xiuhtecuhtli took me by surprise. The blossoms are heavy, the scent in humid, but it is undeniably lovely. The florals are so well mixed that they don't compete but rather flow together in a cloud of scent, and that specific, indescribable tropical characteristic makes me breathe deep, trying to understand and describe it. This scent makes me feel like I am somewhere else—a world away, a place I'll never see in person. I like it. However—it's so out of character for me that I can't imagine ever wearing it. I'm an amber and cocoa girl, a musk and parchment girl, not one for tropical canopies. I'd love to smell this on someone else, but I don't think I can keep it for myself. It makes me feel like a different person in a different place.
POOL OF TEARS (GC, Mad Tea Party)
A sea of salty tears drowning out Alice's light floral perfume.
I'm in search of a tears scent, and unlike many of the salty aquatics on my wish list, this one is a readily available GC—so I bought an imp to check it out.
In vial: Something spicy, and along side that—yes, I do believe this is my first brush with an aquatic. I wasn't sure what that would smell like in a perfume.
On me: It's salty. That's a hard scent to identify or describe—but it's there. It makes the aquatic a little bit sharp, but it's more saline than sea. Easier to identify is a vague floral base that is generically "perfumey" in a very mainstream way. I want to find carnation in it, but mostly it's just a mixed classic floral. The perfumey note is too heavy against the aquatics, which are fairly light and pale. The throw is pretty strong. However, after the first half an hour the perfuminess and the throw both tone down. It's a nice change. At this point the scent is salty, a bit sweet, with just a breath of florals beneath it all. It's also fairly faint, and the salt still has a bitter edge—but all told, it's quite nice. I like it, and so does the boy.
Verdict: Because I'm looking for the scent of pure tears, the accessory notes in Pool of Tears aren't quite what I want. This isn't the scent of pure tears—clear, liquid, crystalline—but it is a wonderful match to the original inspiration: the scene of Alice drowning in her own salt tears. The slightly exaggerated notes, the florals and the sweetness, could easily equate to Tenniel's original drawing, which is slightly stylized and of course includes Alice as well as her salt pool. I'm no big fan of the dry down period, but it's not a huge issue to wait half an hour before going into public. All told, this isn't quite what I wanted, and I'll still be in search of a perfect pure tear scent, but I like it well enough to keep it. It's an unusual scent, but hardly unwearable, and I think it would well suit a slightly contrary, slightly odd sort of day.
GLOWING VULVA AT RYOGOKU BRIDGE (LE, Lupercalia 2008: Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements)
Cream accord, amber, teak, and lotus blossom.
Of the whole Lupercalia update, this was the blend that most interested me. I waited for reviews to go up before purchasing, and the descriptions of the blend sounded perfect—even though lotus blossom is new to me, and I'm generally wary of florals.
In bottle: I get primarily teakwood, rich, polished, a bit spicy. But I can pick out all of the notes, which is rare for me—I usually have a hard time picking out anything in the bottle. It's a very unique scent, warm and smooth at the heart and accented by spice and sweetness. I've never smelled lotus blossom, but it's distinct here: not precisely floral or foody, but a little sharp and fairly sweet. I'm actually quite fond of the in-bottle smell, which is also unusual for me, but I wish the teak and lotus were a bit softer.
On me: The unique and particular character of this blend doesn't change much from vial to skin, but it does rebalance itself a bit. As I was hoping for, the spicy and sweet tone down, and the amber (which my skin often loves) comes into itself. What I notice most now is the rich, smooth, polished heart of the scent, and the spice of the teak and sweetness of the lotus blossom are accents, although the lotus is still a little bit sweeter than I'd like. (Good news! The lotus fades a bit more with wear.) I wear a lot of amber, but this smell completely different from anything else I own—there's something indescribable about it. The core of the scent is like exotic, polished, skin-warmed wood: it's rich, smooth, reminds me a bit of a skin scent, and has an unusual edge to it. I agree with others that it's very sensual, like the scent of satiated warm skin. The amber is light enough, and the sweetness brightens it, so I expect this will work well for warmer weather. The lotus doesn't make this blend "floral" to me, which I'm glad for. This blend stands out—it's unlike any other BPAL I've smelled. This scent also has a great staying power—at least six hours on me.
Verdict: I'm really glad that this scent doesn't morph too much from bottle to skin—in fact, the changes are minor and all for the best. The unique quality of the blend is just too lovely to lose, so I'm glad that it sticks around unchanged. It is so pleasurably, so subtly unusual: it stands out while still being sexy and very wearable. The cream (alongside the teak) gives it a wonderful rich smoothness, the amber is warm, and the teak and lotus play on top of them to give this scent lovely character. In a way, this is a cousin to the warm/smooth/spicy amber-based blends that I love: it has the same basic construct, but an entirely different character. That difference will make it a great addition to my collection, and I'm quite happy with it. Plus, the boy loves it on me, and it's a great match to the painting. What a lovely scent!
THE SPORTIVE SUN (LE)
Heliotrope, amber, almond flower, frangipani, cedar, and calamus.
This was a frimp from a seller (it was on my wishlist before that, because, as a Leo, solar oils interest me), and I've worn it before—but I've yet to write a review.
In vial: Cedar, strong, sharp, and almost medicinal, with a bright and sunny floral.
On me: The first thing I get is a whiff of blossoming florals, which isn't much to my taste. The floral quiets on the drydown—it's still pretty strong on the skin, but is tempered in the throw, giving the oil a vague "perfumey" note. I actually don't get much of the amber except as a grounding note to balance the fresh florals and the sharp dry cedar—in fact, I wish the amber were more predominant, because it's one of my favorite notes, and more of it would better balance the rest in this case. The scent is hard to describe: it's sunny, not quite warm, and not firey, more like the bright golden light of a direct sunray than a sun-warmed surface or the sun itself. The color is certainly a pale yellow gold, creeping up on white. But for all of those positive qualities, there's something a bit sharp and medicinal about the blend, something too pointed, too sweet, a bit citrus-sharp. Reading up on it, I think it might be a calamus, which I've never encountered before.
Verdict: I like the golden feel of this scent—it is mostly definitely a solar oil. However, I'm not a big fan of the florals, which are too drug-store perfumey for my taste. The sicky sharpness of the blend also turns me away from it—I think the combination of the cedar and the citrus aspects of the calamus are just too much for me. I've come back to this a few times because I want to like it, is has a few promising notes, and I like the feeling of the blend, but there are a few too many unpleasant smells in there for me to really love or wear it. I think that it's about time to finally let this one go.
