juushika

THE MASQUE (LE, Dark Delicacies: Maelström)
Honey and carnation, rich incense and rose accord, myrtle, red sandalwood, amber, jonquil and clove propel you through the revel, finally seating itself in the final, patchouli, tobacco and labdanum drenched darkness of the blood-tinged western chamber.
( Review. )
Verdict: It contains so many notes that I love, and yet ... The Masque doesn't do much for me. It reminds me distinctly of Masquerade (without the citrus, which disappears on my skin), only I prefer Masquerade and it lasts longer. There's something about The Masque that I can't pin down, but whatever it is I don't like it. Not a bad scent, but it's not for me. I'll pass this along.


HEAVENLY LOVE & EARTHLY LOVE (LE, The Salon: Traveling Exhibition)
Ambergris accord, benzoin, teakwood, frankincense, myrrh, Mysore sandalwood, and incense.
( Review. )
Verdict: Wonderful. This is a beautiful scent, a triumph of resin and light incense (with remarkably little smoke). It's a bit outside of my usual taste, so I won't wear it often—but I'll certainly keep what I have.


THE PIT & THE PENDULUM (LE, Dark Delicacies: Maelström)
The depths of despair, a dark Ecclesiatical triumph: the incense of the Inquisition.
( Review. )
Verdict: I tend to prefer incense as an accompanying note, not as the star of a blend, so this scent isn't for me. I also wish that it were more complex—a sniff of it and I'm done; this isn't a scent that I keep coming back to experience again and better understand. All in all, I won't keep my decant.


TO AUTUMN (LE, Halloween 2008)
Mist and mellow fruitfulness: mist-swirled, moss-covered bark and dry red leaves, apple pulp and knotty galangal, with poppy juice and nutmeat.
( Review. )
Verdict: I didn't know how much I was looking forward to this scent until I began to suspect it wasn't working on me. I was wishing for evocative, misty autumn outdoors; parts of that are present, but the entire image isn't realized. What's left isn't horrible but isn't particularly likable either. I'll retest my decant and hope that today is just a fluke of chemistry, but I'm pretty disappointed.

SAMHAIN (LE, Halloween 2008)
Truly, the scent of autumn itself -- damp woods, fir needle and black patchouli with the gentlest touches of warm pumpkin, clove, nutmeg, allspice, sweet red apple and mullein.
( Review. )
Verdict: In the vial, I dislike it; on wet, I'm doubtful; after half an hour, I'm won over. Samhain a bit sweeter than I expected (which may just be my skin chemistry) which seems a touch out of place against the woods; otherwise, it's wonderfully balanced and just lovely. The dark smoky forest is evocative, and the apples and spice make the blend more palatable and easy to wear. The boy says it smells like Christmas; to me, it's the long holiday season stretching from Halloween to Twelfth Night. It's lovely, and I'll definitely keep my imp.


KATRINA VAN TASSEL (LE, Halloween 2008: Sleepy Hollow)
White rose and honeyed cream.
( Review. )
Verdict: My white rose of choice is usually Magdalene, which more dark and dreamy; this is the same white rose, but Katrina is lighter, younger, and sweeter. It's a pleasant scent, but the honeyed cream is just too soft, making for a rose so pure that it almost lacks personality. I like it, but I don't think I love it (and I only wear florals infrequently)—so I'll hold onto my decant and retest, but I don't need any more than that.


ICHABOD CRANE (LE, Halloween 2008: Sleepy Hollow)
Dusty black wool, tea with cream, black pepper, muguet, and beeswax candle drippings.
( Review. )
Verdict: Ichabod Crane is White Rabbit transforming into Sportive Sun/Leo 2007—and I already have those others, and don't wear them frequently. The floral note of the final stage is also a little too strong for my tastes. All told, this is a pleasant scent, unassuming but unusual (not entirely unlike Ichabod himself!), but it fit my personality or have much personality of its own. I'll retest this one more time, but I think I'll pass this decant along to someone else.


THIRTEEN (LE, Pink Label/7.13.07)
A base of cocoa absolute and white chocolate with thirteen baneful and beneficial bits including vanilla bean, white ginger, orchid, golden peach, massoia bark, clove, honey, and starfruit.
( Review. )
Verdict: Thirteen July 2007 is constantly morphing, a bit unusual, yet quite palatable. I love the pure musty chocolate of Thirteen April 2007, but it's not a scent to delight the masses; this, however, is a Thirteen that passing strangers will like on first sniff. It's also a delight to wear, and it's fun to track how all of the components fade in and out. However, the golden fruits don't quite suit my personality, even if they don't offend my nose. I don't think this is a blend which I'll wear often—but I loved the opportunity to experience it, and I'll probably keep the imp around for those infrequent times when I long for golden fruit.

BOOMSLANG (LE, Carnaval Diabolique, Act III: Snake Pit)
Snake Oil with cocoa, teakwood, and rice milk.
( Review. )
Verdict: The first time that Boomslang disappeared on my skin, I was heartbroken—a rich, pure, dark chocolate would be my perfect scent if it lasted. Using it to scent my laundry changed everything: what disappears so swiftly on my skin stays around forever on my bedding, and sleeping cocooned in rich chocolate is indulgent and divine. It only takes a few drops to scent an entire load of laundry, but I'm still glad to have a bottle—I'll want chocolate-scented sheets for years to come.


ANTIQUE LACE (GC, Bewitching Brews)
A soft, wistful blend of dry flowers, aged linens, and the faint breath of long-faded perfumes.
( Review. )
Verdict: When I catch whiffs of this, I like it. It's sweet, pale, creamy, and comforting. But when I smell it intentionally and try to pick out notes, I'm put off by the dry florals. They seem bitter and out of place in the otherwise sweet blend, and they prevent it from being truly wonderful to my chemistry/tastes/nose. I'll probably wear this intermittently, but it's not a personal favorite. It makes me wish for a pure, creamy, sweet vanilla scent without the bitter dry florals.


JACK (GC, Bewitching Brews)
The scent of warm, glowing jack o’lanterns on a warm autumn night: true Halloween pumpkin, spiced with nutmeg, glowing peach and murky clove.
( Review. )
Verdict: On me, this is a commercial candle scent, not rich pumpkins and spices as I envision them. It's very sweet and rather waxy, and the autumn notes feel diluted by the lightness of spring peach. I would much rather have my pumpkin darker, spicier, muskier; Jack just isn't for me. It might be worth layering with it a spicy or musky scent, though, to see if that cuts down the sweetness.

ETA: Layering Jack with herbal, spicy, and musky blends is an improvement, but still not quite good enough. I've layered it with Casanova before, and recently tried laying it with Satyr; these darker, deeper scents help ground Jack and cut down on the overpowering sweetness, but they don't do away with the waxy, candle-like feel of the scent. As such, this is definitely an imp for the swap pile.


DANA O'SHEE
Offerings of milk, honey and sweet grains were made to placate these creatures, and it is that the basis of the scent created in their name
( Review. )
Verdict: I'm very happy with Dana O'Shee. I wish it got to the final stage faster, but I'm grateful that the sourness stays faint and close to the skin and then fades away. The throw is lovely, and this is a wonderful scent, sweet and pure and comforting, never cloying. It's a bit too simple for frequent wear, but I'm glad that I have the imp.


DRAGON'S TEARS
Bittersweet yet powerful: salty aquatic notes and bursting with dragon's blood.
( Review. )
Verdict: I usually adore dragon's blood resin, but it's usually fruity and resinous on my skin. The pure florals here aren't my style. While I've been looking for a salty aquatic—and this is the truest I've found so far—in combination with florals it evokes a humid tropical atmosphere, and that's most definitely not my style. Plus, the wear length is just over an hour. I think I'll have to pass this one on.

I've been having problems with BPAL lately, or I was until last night. Most of what I wear I can't smell, and what I can smell isn't quite right. I've been after something foody but smooth, which meant that cocoa was out (not smooth, or at least not creamy) and amber alone wasn't enough (not foody). I've been going back and forth through my collection for a few days and nothing's worked, but despite these disappointments I keep wanting to wear something that smells great. In short, it's been frustrating.

I'm currently housesitting for my parents while they're in Ashland, watching plays. I gave my sister a few BPAL perfumes a few weeks ago, and discovered them in her room—she didn't take them with her when she went back to school. (Grrrr.) I gifted her with personal rejects, but decided to try one of them anyway, as I'd wavered over rejecting it for some time. And, surprise of surprises!: it's perfect.

WEZWANIE / HOLD (Retail Salon)
Hazelnut, vanilla bean, red sandalwood, amber, myrrh, and honey.
The notes were so promising when I first picked this up, but after a few tests it just seemed a little sickly—hazelnut sometimes tastes that way too me, a thick creaminess that almost upsets my stomach, like drinking way too much milk. It amazes me, though, how much these scents can change and how complex they are. I don't know what was different when I wore it this time: maybe my nose, maybe my chemistry, maybe my moods the last few days—since I've wanted something a little foody and quite smooth. This time, the richness which made me feel ill before is joyously decadent. With the hazelnut, vanilla, and honey it's a perfect match to the creamy foodiness I was after; the sandalwood and amber take it out of the realm of "what are you baking?" which I appreciate as I'm not at heart a foody. As a plus (when it works well, at least!), it has an incredible staying power: after six hours, it was still strong, after sixteen hours the whiffs of the resins are still there.

So as it turns out, I may have to steal back Wezanie / Hold from my sister. If she won't notice it gone, then I guess there's no harm—after all, she left them here untouched, still in their bubble wrap. (That of course bothers me for it's own reasons, but is neither here nor there.) It's not a scent I'll wear often, because normally I'm not in love with it, but it may be good to have because it perfectly suits this niche mood of mine. I'm pleased to have rediscovered it.

*runs to reapply*

Another stack of BPAL reviews—I still have many more to go (nine new ones at least), but it makes me feel productive to post them and so I shall with what I have. (Furthermore, any distraction from this excruciating headache is a good distraction, and that certainly includes prematurely editing and publishing BPAL reviews, oh yes.)

Invaluable resource for my reviews: Wikipedia's color list, oddly enough. Yes, that means I'm indulging a tentative self-diagnosis for minor synesthesia, but no matter. Whether or not that's accurate is secondary to whether or not indulging it is useful, and it is that. Writing up my thoughts on Bengal, I was fighting back and forth for the right color name for the red that I got from it.

It's a shade of carmine. Who knew? The word is slightly more evocative and specific than "that dark but not deep brickish red color" and so highly preferable. It's not the first time I've used that Wiki list to track down descriptors for the colors in these smells, so if it works then I suppose it works.

Anyhow, I promised reviews.


MAGDALENE (GC, Sin and Salvation)
A bouquet of white roses, labdanum, and wild orchid.
( Review. )
Verdict: I'm surprised to find that I rather like this. White roses are a huge departure from the red roses that I'm used to, and unlike red they don't go sharp and bitter with my skin chemistry: instead, they are gentle and a bit sweet, much like real rose blossoms. The orchid is duskier, but it doesn't turn this into a heady mixed floral, but rather shadows in the scent. The resin is a lovely grounding note, and even though the blend suits me better after the floral topnotes have died down, it's pleasant and wearable from start to finish. The scent is mature, a bit subdued, a bit darkened, but overall almost desaturated, ghostly. I don't feel tempted to bathe in it to make it stronger—it's just naturally gentle. This isn't as distinct or as unusual as some BPAL perfume, and doesn't stand out of the crowd for me, but it is a floral I like and can wear, and it's turned me towards white roses. I'll be keeping it around.


NYX (GC, Excolo)
Night-blooming jasmine, warmed by myrrh, lifted by the promise of rose.
( Review. )
Verdict: I amp rose so much that I can barely give a review of this blend—my experience is clouded by my own body chemistry. If the rose were softer, the jasmine might be able to come forward and meld with the myrrh, and this blend might be pleasant. Instead, the rose is predominant, very bitter against the background sweetness of myrrh and florals, and far too sharp. The result is a chunky, overbalanced blend with an unpleasant primary note, so I'll be swapping this out to someone who, hopefully, has better chemistry for and better luck with this blend.


MAD HATTER (GC, Mad Tea Party)
A gentlemen's lavender-citron cologne unhinged by the feral pungence of black musk and a paroxysm of pennyroyal.
( Review. )
Verdict: After the horror of the initial application, I was actually surprised by how lovely this blend turned out to be. When the citron dies away, it transforms: masculine in the darkness of the musk, but not overtly so; complex, herbal, a touch sweet, mature, a little bit unusual. This isn't so strictly a men's blend that I would feel uncomfortable (as a feminine woman) wearing it myself, at least in the final drydown stage. I'm also surprised at how different my impression is from the other reviews I've read: I get no mint, except perhaps in the hint of sweetness, and the citron is instead predominant. No matter—even with the lovely drydown, there's no way that I'm ever going through the biting, overwhelming, cologne-heavy cloud of smell that comes with the initial application, not again. Without the citron, I'd consider this blend for myself. As it is, I'll be passing it on.


MASQUERADE (GC, Bewitching Brews)
Patchouli, ambergris, carnation and orange blossom.
( Review. )
Verdict: The notes were so promising, but the scent is a bit disappointing. I wish that the orange blossom stuck around—I imagine it could give this scent the throw and character that it needs, because as it is I only get a skin scent, like a combination of base notes that should be background to something, not trying to be a perfume on their own. It's pleasant, but faint and almost indistinct. I'll have to try this again and see if I amp it differently under other conditions or like it enough as just a skin scent, but despite how promising the notes are, I may have to pass this along. That's too bad—I had high hopes!

ETA: Over six months later, and my opinion has changed somewhat. The orange blossom still disappears on my skin, but with a touch of aging the ambergris and patchouli have come into themselves. They are slightly salty, earthy, a touch smoky; their scent together is subtle, like a thicker, darker, more alluring second skin, but the throw has increased. I still wish that the florals were stronger, and this scent is not quite what I expected from the notes. However, I have grown to love the combination of ambergris and patchouli enough that I don't mind—I wear it anyway, content with that soft cloud of very bodily, unexpectedly enticing scent.


BENGAL (GC, Wanderlust)
Skin musk with honey, peppers, clove, cinnamon bark and ginger.
( Review. )
Verdict: This is far from the dominant spices that I was hoping for. I never get the cinnamon or clove, the pepper is warm and almost sweet, the ginger is smooth and golden. The base is the heart of this blend, a skin musk that ties the scent to skin level and the smoothest skin-warmed honey, not sticky or cloying in the least. The perfume is faint, low throw and low wear length. But for all of that, the blend is still nice—it's not exceptional, and it's not what I wanted or expected, but I like it and so does the boy. It may make a good scent for cuddling in before bed, when wear length doesn't matter and the skin-level scent would be most appreciated. I'm still on the hunt for a good spicy blend, but I'll probably keep this one around.

MORGAUSE (GC)
A bouquet of five night-blooming flowers deepened by dusky violet, purple fruits and the barest breath of medieval incenses.
( Review. )
Verdict: I wanted to like this scent (Shakespeare geek, looking for a "purple" blend, and I like the incense drydown), but I'll pass on this imp. Not an easy decision, and I did have to test it three times--if my body chemistry were more predictable, I'd feel better about either keeping or passing on this imp. As it is, the overall blend is too strong for me, and the purple stages and drydown aren't to my style, even though I rather like it when it goes black incense on me. I don't want to take a risk with the fake purple fruit each time I wear it.


TITANIA (GC)
White grape, white peach, iced pear, musk rose, sweet pea, moonflower and snapdragon.
( Review. )
Verdict: I can't talk about longterm wear of this one because I ended up washing it off after about an hour and a half. It's not unpleasant by any means, but it's absolutely not my style--in fact, it contains just about every note I would never wear. I wouldn't mind smelling it on someone else. It's very bright and pure and cheery, sparkling fruits with a floral base. There is something a little commercial about the scent, and it does make me think of Glade candles. As such, this might be a good blend for someone transitioning in from commercial fruit and flower perfumes. (I plan to pass my imp off to my commercial-perfume-wearing, fruit-loving sister.)


CHUPAROSA (GC, Conjure Bag)
The Hummingbird of Love, the Rose Sucker. A potent, benevolent, merciful love blend.
( Review. )
Verdict: This is not for me, and I'm a bit hesitant about giving it to someone else, just in case it is as loud to them as it is to me. Most of the people I mail my rejects to are newbies or non-BPALers that I'm trying to enable, and I wouldn't want to scare them off. The scent isn't unpleasant, it doesn't morph, it's not remarkably complex, but it is very bright! green! pink! rose! and lacks any sense of subtlety. I'd never wear it. I also can't speak for it's voodoo/magic use, except that potent it certainly is.

A little bit later than expected (I've been busy), but I finally come bearing my first BPAL reviews: Brisingamen and Mantis. I purchased the half-full vial (about 2.5 mL) of Brisingamen from mandora here because BPAL straight from the lab takes some time to arrive and I wanted to try it sooner than that. Her package arrived in about five days, so it was definitely worth it. Along with the purchased Brisingamen, she included a free imp of Mantis, which was really nice of her, as well as a decant bottle with roller applicator and a bag of green tea. I therefore have two reviews for today, which was unexpected and really sweet.

Brisingamen
Category: Love Potions
Lab description: The amber necklace of Freyja, Norse Goddess of Love, Sex, Attraction and Fruitfulness. Her magnificent necklace was bough from four Dwarves [Alfrik, Berling, Dvalin and Grer] at the price of four nights of her passion. When Brisingamen graces your throat, no man can resist your charms. A glittering mantle of rich golden notes: five ambers, soft myrtle and apple blossom, myrtle, and carnation.
( Review )
Final impression: I've worn this a number of times now, and Devon has had the chance to smell it on me. I like it, he likes it, this definitely fulfills my amber desire, and I love it both for going out and for snuggling up to read and nap. Definitely a keeper, and I'll probably buy more if I run out. A wonderful first BPAL experience.

Mantis
Category: Rappaccini's Garden
Lab description: Crushed herbs and sweet amber resin with a streak of patchouli, neroli and golden musk.
( Review )
Final impression: I tried Mantis twice with identical results. I wouldn't mind this on others, but it doesn't suit me. It's a little too perfumy, and far too bright. I've sent the imp to my sister, who likes brighter scents and citruses, to see if she likes it. If it comes back to me, I'll offer it to my friends list. I hope that some else gets more out of it than I do.

Now I just have to wait very impatiently for my six imps from the lab to arrive. Bleh. ^^ I'm really enjoying BPAL so far, and have been entirely thrilled with Brisingamin. It's exactly what I was looking for, and if I were smart I'd stop here and nip the obsession in the bud. Pity I'm not that clever.

Just as a reminder for the curious, the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab website is here.