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smellsgood2014-04-04 06:36 pm
musyc) wrote in smellsgood2014-04-04 06:36 pm
Entry tags:
BPAL Reviews, 15 various
Personal caveats: I smoke, and I have difficulty, as a rank neophyte, with differentiating scents, especially in the floral categories. But I'm learning! XD My process with BPAL is to test and sniff before reading the catalog descriptions so I'm not persuaded by words over smells. Under the cut, my impressions of fifteen BPAL scents, crossposted from my journal.
Thanks to a couple of trades and some fantastic generosity, I have loads of scents to try. Results of my past two weeks experimentation!
In the categories of Flowers!, Not For Me, and GET IT OFF ME, we have:
Ultraviolet: Electrifying, mechanized and chilly — the scent of crushed blooms strewn on cold metal. Lush violet and neroli spiked hard with eucalyptus and a sliver of mint.
Wet - Sharp, mint, eucalyptus? A very hard-feeling scent.
Dry - HAH, I was right! One of the first where I'd managed to guess the notes before reading. I'd be tempted to keep this just for that flush of victory, but overall this wasn't my thing. Violets came out too much in the drydown for me to like. (Nice, Not For Me.)
Scherezade: Saffron and Middle Eastern spices swirled through sensual red musk.
Wet - Musks and something powdery.
Dry - REALLY fast fade on me. Goes way too soft. (Nice, Not For Me.)
Peitho: Lusty myrtle and jasmine with red sandalwood, stargazer lily, and clove over an opulent, rich bed of warm musk and bourbon vanilla.
Wet - Lily? Vanilla?
Dry - Yep, lily and vanilla. Smells like drawer sachets. (Flowers!)
Ekhidna: All the corruptions of the earth: mandrake, dark myrrh, seaweed, swampy moss, black pepper, pimento, opoponax, tobacco absolute, and tarry clove.
Wet - Holy hell, this smells like rot and must.
Dry - Nooooo, not a good scent. Smells like ... clean decomp. (Get It Off Me)
Snake Oil: Magnetic, mysterious, and exceedingly sexual in nature. A blend of exotic Indonesian oils sugared with vanilla.
Wet - Very dank and yuck. I've heard loads of good reviews over this one and I was thoroughly surprised by how unpleasant I found the opening.
Dry - HELLO YES I AM VANILLA DID I MENTION THERE IS VANILLA HERE. Wow. The change from wet to dry was intense, giving spice and vanillavanillavanilla, but I barely got to the drydown stage. Working through the dank wetness isn't something I'm willing to do. (Get It Off Me)
Helena: Rose amber, calla lily, night-blooming jasmine, water lily, and white rose.
Wet - Very, very, very, very rose. And lily. Overpowering rose.
Dry - Some more lily managing to come through, but overall the rose is ROSE! Not at all to my liking. (Flowers!)
La Petite Mort: Seduction, sensuality, the Act, and the aftermath all in one. The scent of warm, damp skin flushed with the glow of passion, touched by the luxuriant potency of ylang ylang and myrrh.
Wet - Powder. Apparently what BPAL thinks smells like skin, I think smells like talcum powder.
Dry - Decent scent in the end. The powder fades out and becomes something quite soft, but nothing spectacular. (Nice, Not For Me.)
Twilight: An enigmatic, otherworldly scent, brimming with power and mystery. Lavender and jasmine, with a touch of glowing honeysuckle.
Wet - Sharp and spiky, something with tang. Lavender? Smells like kitchen cleaners.
Dry - Oh, sweet green fishies, chemicals and cleaners. Massive headache within fifteen minutes. Like something's trying to climb out of my temples. Washed off with extreme prejudice. Honeysuckle the cause? (Get It Off Me)
And in the Oooh More Of That category:
Ave Maria Gratia Plena: Rosewood with Sicilian lemon peel, red Mysore sandalwood, pale musks, sweet mountain sage and a dusting of lily, night-blooming jasmine and orris.
Wet - Incense and jasmine? Probably the sage and sandalwood that reads as incense to me.
Dry - Musk and sandalwood. This smells like dustmotes in sunlight looks.
Brisingamen: A glittering mantle of rich golden notes: five ambers, soft myrtle, apple blossom and carnation.
Wet - Sharp and clean and lightness.
Dry - Light apple sweetness, very warm.
Morocco: The intoxicating perfume of exotic incenses wafting on warm desert breezes. Arabian spices wind through a blend of warm musk, carnation, red sandalwood and cassia.
Wet - Holy wossnames, I don't even know what this is, but I love it. I'd like to roll around in this.
Dry - Warm and soft and musky and spicy, I want to rub this into every coat and blanket I own.
The White Rider: White leather and sandalwood.
Wet - Interesting! Smells like soft linens and the thought of lilacs. If this were a color, it would be sunset purple.
Dry - Oooooooooh. This dries out to something delightful and comforting.
Black Temple Burlesque Troupe (LE): Straight from the pits of black, lightless N'kai: the voluptuous bat-winged vixens of the Black Temple Burlesque Troupe! Cacao, black musk, and tobacco absolute.
Wet - Hmmm. Sickly sweet, like ... burnt candy?
Dry - Very faint scent of cocoa and clove. I'm not sure about this one yet. Will need to try it again.
Megaera: Orris, black amber, bergamot, plum and grapefruit.
Wet - Fruit! Fruit and fruit and pluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuums.
Dry - Oh man, this is fun. I had more entertainment with smelling like plums and grapefruits than I might have thought possible before.
Les Infortunes de la Vertu: A pain-tinged, pleasure-soaked blend of leather, oakmoss, orange blossom, amber, and rose with a breath of virginal French florals and a hint of austere monastic penitential incense.
Wet - Oceanic, sharp, floral. This smells remarkably like Ralph Lauren's Polo to me, and reminds me of one of my dearest friends from high school who wore only Polo because I liked it on him.
Dry - Soft and musky and looooooooooord, is this comfortable. As per the aforementioned dearest friend, it's a feeling of a thick, heavy sweater and broad shoulders. I could settle down very happily with this. (Which, reading the description, might say more about me than I like. >.> )
Thanks to a couple of trades and some fantastic generosity, I have loads of scents to try. Results of my past two weeks experimentation!
In the categories of Flowers!, Not For Me, and GET IT OFF ME, we have:
Ultraviolet: Electrifying, mechanized and chilly — the scent of crushed blooms strewn on cold metal. Lush violet and neroli spiked hard with eucalyptus and a sliver of mint.
Wet - Sharp, mint, eucalyptus? A very hard-feeling scent.
Dry - HAH, I was right! One of the first where I'd managed to guess the notes before reading. I'd be tempted to keep this just for that flush of victory, but overall this wasn't my thing. Violets came out too much in the drydown for me to like. (Nice, Not For Me.)
Scherezade: Saffron and Middle Eastern spices swirled through sensual red musk.
Wet - Musks and something powdery.
Dry - REALLY fast fade on me. Goes way too soft. (Nice, Not For Me.)
Peitho: Lusty myrtle and jasmine with red sandalwood, stargazer lily, and clove over an opulent, rich bed of warm musk and bourbon vanilla.
Wet - Lily? Vanilla?
Dry - Yep, lily and vanilla. Smells like drawer sachets. (Flowers!)
Ekhidna: All the corruptions of the earth: mandrake, dark myrrh, seaweed, swampy moss, black pepper, pimento, opoponax, tobacco absolute, and tarry clove.
Wet - Holy hell, this smells like rot and must.
Dry - Nooooo, not a good scent. Smells like ... clean decomp. (Get It Off Me)
Snake Oil: Magnetic, mysterious, and exceedingly sexual in nature. A blend of exotic Indonesian oils sugared with vanilla.
Wet - Very dank and yuck. I've heard loads of good reviews over this one and I was thoroughly surprised by how unpleasant I found the opening.
Dry - HELLO YES I AM VANILLA DID I MENTION THERE IS VANILLA HERE. Wow. The change from wet to dry was intense, giving spice and vanillavanillavanilla, but I barely got to the drydown stage. Working through the dank wetness isn't something I'm willing to do. (Get It Off Me)
Helena: Rose amber, calla lily, night-blooming jasmine, water lily, and white rose.
Wet - Very, very, very, very rose. And lily. Overpowering rose.
Dry - Some more lily managing to come through, but overall the rose is ROSE! Not at all to my liking. (Flowers!)
La Petite Mort: Seduction, sensuality, the Act, and the aftermath all in one. The scent of warm, damp skin flushed with the glow of passion, touched by the luxuriant potency of ylang ylang and myrrh.
Wet - Powder. Apparently what BPAL thinks smells like skin, I think smells like talcum powder.
Dry - Decent scent in the end. The powder fades out and becomes something quite soft, but nothing spectacular. (Nice, Not For Me.)
Twilight: An enigmatic, otherworldly scent, brimming with power and mystery. Lavender and jasmine, with a touch of glowing honeysuckle.
Wet - Sharp and spiky, something with tang. Lavender? Smells like kitchen cleaners.
Dry - Oh, sweet green fishies, chemicals and cleaners. Massive headache within fifteen minutes. Like something's trying to climb out of my temples. Washed off with extreme prejudice. Honeysuckle the cause? (Get It Off Me)
And in the Oooh More Of That category:
Ave Maria Gratia Plena: Rosewood with Sicilian lemon peel, red Mysore sandalwood, pale musks, sweet mountain sage and a dusting of lily, night-blooming jasmine and orris.
Wet - Incense and jasmine? Probably the sage and sandalwood that reads as incense to me.
Dry - Musk and sandalwood. This smells like dustmotes in sunlight looks.
Brisingamen: A glittering mantle of rich golden notes: five ambers, soft myrtle, apple blossom and carnation.
Wet - Sharp and clean and lightness.
Dry - Light apple sweetness, very warm.
Morocco: The intoxicating perfume of exotic incenses wafting on warm desert breezes. Arabian spices wind through a blend of warm musk, carnation, red sandalwood and cassia.
Wet - Holy wossnames, I don't even know what this is, but I love it. I'd like to roll around in this.
Dry - Warm and soft and musky and spicy, I want to rub this into every coat and blanket I own.
The White Rider: White leather and sandalwood.
Wet - Interesting! Smells like soft linens and the thought of lilacs. If this were a color, it would be sunset purple.
Dry - Oooooooooh. This dries out to something delightful and comforting.
Black Temple Burlesque Troupe (LE): Straight from the pits of black, lightless N'kai: the voluptuous bat-winged vixens of the Black Temple Burlesque Troupe! Cacao, black musk, and tobacco absolute.
Wet - Hmmm. Sickly sweet, like ... burnt candy?
Dry - Very faint scent of cocoa and clove. I'm not sure about this one yet. Will need to try it again.
Megaera: Orris, black amber, bergamot, plum and grapefruit.
Wet - Fruit! Fruit and fruit and pluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuums.
Dry - Oh man, this is fun. I had more entertainment with smelling like plums and grapefruits than I might have thought possible before.
Les Infortunes de la Vertu: A pain-tinged, pleasure-soaked blend of leather, oakmoss, orange blossom, amber, and rose with a breath of virginal French florals and a hint of austere monastic penitential incense.
Wet - Oceanic, sharp, floral. This smells remarkably like Ralph Lauren's Polo to me, and reminds me of one of my dearest friends from high school who wore only Polo because I liked it on him.
Dry - Soft and musky and looooooooooord, is this comfortable. As per the aforementioned dearest friend, it's a feeling of a thick, heavy sweater and broad shoulders. I could settle down very happily with this. (Which, reading the description, might say more about me than I like. >.> )
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Now that sounds like something I might like. Must start a list of imps to try.
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Megaera sounds awesome.
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So this would definitely be a winner for me.
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