Swan Tower

I can tell I'm running out of steam for this project because I've gotten so irregular about posting. But that's fine; the end is in sight.

. . . by which I mean that I'll stop after a year and a day. I've counted, and not including the original set of seven that got me started on this journey, I have enough perfumes remaining to get me to 366. It won't quite be a year and a day calendrically because I took a few days off to wear scents I'd already found that I liked, but that just means I'll finish up in good time to wear the ones I think of as being holiday-scented for the Christmas season!

(Yoon, starting in Week 39 there are perfumes I got from a different friend; many of them have the kinds of fruity notes I know often pique your interest. Let me know if you want any!)

WEEK 32

* Pure Applesauce
Described as "mashed apples with sugar and honey, slivered with tobacco tar and black tea." As usual for BPAL's apple scents, this starts off VERY apple. But it dries down to an unpleasant tobacco undertone (that being note I don't like), so I passed this off to a friend.

* Zombie (Possets)
Described as "toasted marshmallow and oude, a bit of burnt stick, and the unmistakable fragrance of the crisp autumn air." Apparently marshmallow + wood = sandalwood? It goes more marshmallow-y on application, but then shifts to a generic musk.

* My Lover’s Lips (Possets)
Described as "three apricots drizzled over five vanillas to make a seminal and delightful sugar crust on sweet tart fruit [...] Hints of hawthorne, a bit of moss, and the ripe juice of apricot." Fruity and woody for sure, but not in a way I really liked. I'm not sure if it's the hawthorne or the moss that was bringing in the woody, earthy note or what, as neither of those are notes I know well.

* Hellfire
Described as "pipe tobacco, hot leather, ambergris, dark musk and lingering incense smoke." Obviously 'incense' is a not terribly edifying word; initially it smelled like patchouli. The pipe tobacco was pleasant enough, but not my kind of thing, so again, it went to that friend.

* Old Demons of the First Class
Described as "Siberian musk, black clove, opoponax, tonka, black pepper, and neroli." Not sure if I got opoponax or tonka first (again, not sure of those two); I think opoponax? Sweet and smoky, with pepper, and eventually musk. Same friend got this one.

* Cri de Coeur (Possets)
Described as "vanilla, nougat, coconut, sweet musk, tobacco flower, swirling cotton, a drop of nag champa, chypre, black musk and sugar cane. There is the essence of a very good dragon's blood in it, a small amount of lime, and lime blossom." Whole lotta tobacco in this run of scents! Buuuuut, I mostly got the coconut, before it turning generically warm with a faint edge of tobacco. Meh.

* Intrigue
Described as "black palm, with cocoa, fig and shadowy wooded notes." In the early drydown it went way too fruity, but before and after it was sort of woody cocoa. I didn't pay enough attention to how long the fruity phase lasted, so I kept this to try again.

* The Sweater We Buried You With Is Hanging in My Closet (Ajevie)
Described as "three different vanillas, resinous amber, Arabian sandalwood, a soft cashmere sweater." To my surprise, the resin and wood dominated in the bottle, with only a hint of the vanilla. On me, it was much less sweet of a vanilla sandalwood than I expected, though in the end it was just vanilla amber. Nice, but I don't need to keep it.

WEEK 33

* The Antikythera Mechanism
Described as "teakwood, oak, black vanilla, and tobacco." This one was surprisingly pleasant, given that I don't like tobacco; the oak mitigated it early on, and then it was sort of spicy wood, making me think flavored tobacco. But since the aforementioned friend REALLY likes tobacco notes, I didn't need to keep it.

* You or Someone Like You (Etat Libre d’Orange)
All they said for this one was "fresh" -- how very helpful. Citrusy and aquatic, vaguely making me think of laundry; maybe linden in here? Very late, I think I picked up ambergris. Not my type.

* Juke Joint
Described as "Kentucky bourbon, sugar, and a sprig of mint." What it says on the tin: yeah, I basically smelled like a cocktail. Not unpleasant, but not me.

* Strawberry Fields Forever (Hexennacht)
Described as "strawberries, fresh cut grass, and dirt." Ditto about what it says on the tin. Early on it's mostly the grass and dirt; later on it's earthy strawberry. Less cloying than many strawberry scents have been on me, but I don't especially want to smell like that fruit to begin with.

* Remarkable People (Etat Libre d’Orange)
Described as "grapefruit, champagne accord, cardamom, jasmine, curry JE, black pepper, labdanum, sandalwood, lorenox." I was leery of this one given my past awful experiences with champagne, but here it stayed out of things. Sort of a citrus-y cologne at first, then something leathery and ambery that I think may have been the labdanum + lorenox. In the end, I suspect it was largely the lorenox. Pleasant enough, but when you're more than two hundred perfumes in . . .

* Yes I Do (Etat Libre d’Orange)
Described as "lily-of-the-valley, jasmine, orange blossom, aldehydes, amber, patchouli, cocoa, musk, marshmallow." Heavily but not unpleasantly floral; something grounds it as it dries, though I can't tell what's doing that. Not bad; not me.

* Bluebonnet
A single-note perfume I was contractually obligated to purchase because I am a Texan. It's very greenly floral, a bit less green as it dries. I probably wouldn't go for it in the normal way of things, but dammit, Texan. It stays.

* Cthulhu
Described as "a creeping, wet, slithering scent, dripping with seaweed, oceanic plants and dark, unfathomable waters." On me? 'Ocean mist' soap. BLECH.

WEEK 34

* Silver Roses (Possets)
Described as "floral, vanilla, charming, scent locket, feminine, home scent, long lasting." (Possets' descriptions get very unhelpful.) Oddly fruity in the bottle, with a touch of rose, changing balance on the skin. And then . . . it smells like an actual! fresh! rose! Slightly bubblegum-y in the end, but I'll keep it for now to try against the other rose scents I've held onto.

* Nosferatu
Described as "desiccated herbs and gritty earth brought to life with a swell of robust and sanguineous red wines." Basically this is sangria with a whiff of dirt -- the people who told me that BPAL's dirt note means business were right. Meh.

* High Tea (Possets)
Described as "lemon, sugar, milk, and that indescribable scent of the best starched linens." Lemon cookie, more or less; the hint of linen doesn't last past the bottle. Generically sugary in the end.

* Vernal Sun (Possets)
Described as "lemon and lightest vanilla like the rays of the welcome spring sunshine. A tiny amount of white musk to make it last for a while, a very very light whiff of the fruits to come in the summer, just to give it a solar tang. A pinch of borage, and drop of carrot but mostly blessed lemon and smooth sweetness." This goes from vanilla lemon to vanilla musk to musk. Boring. (I get so tired of perfumes that race straight to boring musk.)

* Block Buster
No description for this one. In the bottle, cinnamon and maybe floral? It's faintly sweet without being cloying, and spicy. Goes more herbal on application. I'll keep it for now.

* Le Lèthè
Described as "red musk and sweat-damp golden skin musk with labdanum, golden amber, nutmeg, tobacco absolute, black orchid, and hemlock accord." For something with no patchouli in it, this manages to smell a hell of a lot like patchouli in the bottle. Heavy and thick on the skin, with a hint of something floral lifting it; I guess the orchid? Plus some nutmeg.

* Vial of Holy Water
No description. Overall, it's a sort of faintly green soapy laundry smell -- not offensive for clothing, but not at all what I want to wear.

* Mouse’s Long and Sad Tale
Described as "vanilla, two ambers, sweet pea and white sandalwood." Profoundly sweet and amber-y at first; maybe sweet pea shows up briefly at the start of the drydown? But just vanilla sandalwood after that.

WEEK 35

* Blood Kiss
Described as "lush, creamy vanilla and the honey of the sweetest kiss smeared with the vital throb of husky clove, swollen red cherries, but darkened with the vampiric sensuality of vetiver, soporific poppy and blood red wine, and a skin-light pulse of feral musk." (Oh, BPAL.) This starts out kind of confusing, simultaneously fruity, spicy, and earthy. Wet, it's cherry and wine, with a tannic edge from I think the clove; later it's definitely clove wine. For a bit later on it took on an unpleasant chemical tinge before fading to spice musk. Meh.

* The Ghost
Described as "white iris, osmanthus, Calla lily, tomb-crawling ivy and a coffin spray of gladiolus, lisianthus and delphinium." In the bottle, thick, heavy floral, with a faintly fruity tone, altogether registering almost as cucumber. Becomes a very green and fresh floral, smoothing out as it dries. I'm not sure I would keep it if I weren't playing a character named Ghost, but since I am . . .

* Une Amourette (Etat Libre d’Orange)
Described as "neroli, iris, vanilla absolute, and akigalawood." Mostly this is an evergreen woody scent, with a short-lived bit of floral at the beginning. I'd call it a pleasant forest, and I'll try it again.

* Spice Must Flow (Etat Libre d’Orange)
Described as "Turkish rose, ginger, pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, and saffron." There isn't a drop of labdanum in here, and yet that's basically all I took away from it?

* Death Cap
No description. In the bottle, fresh dirt, a little dusty, with an aftertone of resin or patchouli. Wet, the same, a little more evenly balanced. Fortunately the dirt faded as it dried, but . . . meh.

* She Was an Anomaly (Etat Libre d’Orange)
Described as "iris, sandalwood, cedarwood, vanilla, fresh white flowers accord, green tangerine, orpur (which is what exactly?), musk, and ambergris." This didn't change much; throughout it was mostly a vanilla sandalwood cedar, with an earthy bit I think is the iris. (I'm not much a fan of iris, if so.)

* Lipstick Fever (Juliette Has a Gun)
Described as "violet absolute, raspberry, iris absolute, patchouli essence, and vanilla absolute." Violet and raspberry, with again what I think is the iris. Meh.

White Lady (Juliette Has a Gun)
Described as "tuberose, jasmine, sandalwood, and ambroxan." HI TUBEROSE. Slightly tamed by the wood as it dries. The ambroxan comes through eventually, but more pleasantly than I usually expect from it. I'll try this again.

WEEK 36

* Anteros
Described as "throbbing red musk and shimmering chypre with saffron, sweet patchouli, Italian bergamot, red currant, and vanilla bean." Patchouli with a bit of saffron? And then just musk. Far less interesting than it could have been.

* Malediction
Described as "red patchouli and vetiver." Well, I think I finally know what vetiver smells like! 'Dental green' is how I flagged it in my notes; the patchouli only came through at the end. I've got a friend who adores vetiver; I'm going to send this one to her.

* Iago
Described as "black musk, wet leather and vetiver." Green leather, and then what my sister termed "the stock room of a shoe store." The friend who likes tobacco notes also likes leather one, so this is going to them.

* Archives 69
Described as "pink berries, tangerine, pepper leaf, orchid & prune JE, benzoin, camphor, incense, patchouli, and musk." A lot of camphor, I think; it was something sweet without being sugary. The pepper and tangerine notes showed up very briefly, and that was it.

* Bram Stoker
Described as "bourbon vetiver with opoponax, Italian bergamot, and hay absolute." Starting to get a sense of what opoponax is like -- kinda sweet/spicy. The vetiver made this cleaner and greener, though, and I'll try it again.

* Linden Blossom Tea (Possets)
No good description for this one. It's a nice laundry smell, sweetly green and fresh, and quite stable; the only real change is that it fades pretty fast. I'll try it again, mostly for the variety it brings.

* Exit the King (Etat Libre d’Orange)
Described as "soap foam, pink pepper, timur, jasmine, rose, lily of the valley, patchouli, moss, and sandalwood." I was leery of this one because of the soap aspect, but what I got was rose at first, then a more jasmine/lily of the valley/pink pepper mix. Keeping to try again.

* Jasmin et Cigarette (Etat Libre d’Orange)
Described as "jasmine absolute, tobacco notes, apricot, tonka bean, curcuma, cedarwood, amber, and musk." The tobacco-liking friend happened to be over at my house when I tried this one, so I passed it off almost immediately: it was apricot/jasmine with an undertone of cigarette, which, ick.

WEEK 37

* Another Oud (Juliette Has a Gun)
Described as "bergamot, raspberry, oud wood, norlimbanol, musks, and ambroxan." Citrusy wood becaue citrusy OUD, then faintly fruity, before going away entirely. Meh.

* Aureus
No description for this one. It was interesting! Fresh-cut wood, maybe cedar, every so faintly sweet, with a smoky trace that rose over time. Will definitely try again.

* Bayou
Described as "Spanish moss, evergreen and cypress with watery blue-green notes and an eddy of hothouse flowers and swamp blooms." The bottle smelled like very pleasant soap, a floral aquatic; wet on me, I wonder if the "hothouse flowers and swamp blooms" were gardenia, because it had that heavy, thick quality. The floral got milder and then went very faint, so nah.

* Hermann a Mes Cotes Me Paraissait une Ombre (Etat Libre d'Orange)
Described as "blackcurrant buds, black pepper, galbanum, calypsone, geosmin, frankincense, pepperwood, petalia, rose absolute, patchouli, and ambroxan." Overpoweringly woody at the outset, and then overpoweringly ambroxan with a short-lived hint of fruit. This is the first time in a while I've rated something 1 on my 5-point scale -- and that's not the good end of the scale, y'all.

* Grog
No good description. Basically smells like butterscotch at first, with a bit of a rum edge and later clove (I think -- it was certainly some kind of spice). And then, as usual, boring musk.

* Spellbind (Siren Song Elixirs)
Described as "blackberry, chocolate cake, buttercream icing, white chocolate, and cream." Wow was this one foody. VERY BERRY for a bit, and then just cake. Not at all my cuppa, but in getting the description for this one I saw they have many others that sound interesting; I may be tempted into buying a few.

The Black Rider
Described as "black leather, oppoponax, tobacco, and black amber." With that list of notes I expected ot loathe it, but I think the opoponax reined in the tobacco and leather. For this type of scent it was remarkably not off-putting -- but since my friend was almost certainly guaranteed to like it more, I gave it away.

* Twilight
Described as "lavender and jasmine, with a touch of glowing honeysuckle." Oddly lemony! And then the lavender and the jasmine; I didn't get any honeysuckle that I noticed. Nice, but not me.

WEEK 38

Kill-Devil
Described as "sugar cane, molasses, oak wood, and honey." Complexly sweet -- much more so than most really sugary scents. And then a green note comes in; not sure if that's the cane or the oak. It's different enough to try again.

* Van Van
No description. It's kind of a confusing and not very successful lime-patchouli blend until it turns into musk. Bah.

* The Obsidian Widow
Described as "pinot noir, dark myrrh, red sandalwood, black patchouli, night-blooming jasmine, and attar of rose" (and also a fabulous name). Strong wine and a hint of patchouli, with something resinous -- I suspect the myrrh -- coming in on application. As it dries, well hello there jasmine/rose, please don’t punch me. Those don't last, though, because the sandalwood and patchouli take over. Not awful, but meh.

* The Caterpillar
Described as "heavy incense notes waft lazily through a mix of carnation, jasmine, bergamot, and neroli over a lush bed of dark mosses, iris blossom, deep patchouli and indolent vetiver." But it comes across as patchoooooooooooouli with some bergamot/neroli, and then a veil of jasmine. Too much patchoooooooooooouli for me.

* Cherry Blossom Vulva (oh BPAL)
Described as "cherry blossoms, cream, honeysuckle, plum blossoms, and gardenia." This is another floral interesting enough to try again: a green, slightly fruity flower, with the gardenia keeping it from taking on that grating note I get from more white florals.

* Depravity (Haus of Gloi)
Described as "clove, nutmeg lurk amongst the sweetest offerings of coconut, on a bed of rich golden amber, laden with dustings of sandalwood and spilled wine." Wine and a bit of wood; my sister evoked craft store wreaths. Got clovier and became rather like mulled wine, though the spices outlasted the wine. Could work for Christmas! I'll try it again in December.

* Vice
Described as "a deep chocolate scent, with black cherry and orange blossom." Cloying chocolate with a hint of cherry, and then some orange. It's not badly balanced, but it's not what I want to smell like.

* Eat Me
Described as "three white cakes, vanilla, and red and black currants." I'm always dubious of notes like 'cake,' and with good cause; this has that nauseatingly buttery touch at the outset, and then just becomes generically sweet. Nope.

WEEK 39

* Tom of Finland (Etat Libre d’Orange)
Described as "aldehydes, lemon, birch leaves, pine, safraleine, pepper, cypress, geranium, vanilla, tonka bean, iris, vetiver, suede, musk, and ambergris." 'Aldehydes' is such a useless thing to say! I think iris dominates at the start, as it's kind of earthy woody, but with a chemical tinge. More woody later on, but bleh, not great.

* Cashmere (Cristiano Fissore)
Described as "bergamot, jasmine, rose, lily-of-the-valley, myrrh, musk, amber, vanilla, and Virginia cedar." Surprisingly clean and bright! And then almost nonexistent, turning into mild laundry. My skin more or less eats this one.

* Platino (Omnia Profume)
For this one I had to rely on a site where people list what they think they smell in it, which is whipped cream, coconut, caramel, almond milk, mimosa, jasmine, vanilla, and white musk. It basically smells like amaretto, and I love amaretto, so I’ll try it again.

* Yuzu (J-Scent)
Described as "lemon, orange, bergamot, yuzu, thyme, grapefruit, lime, rose, mandarin orange." It's very sharp and distinct, but it's one of the citruses that angles too bitter for my preference -- you get the zest rather than the juice.

* Hanamizake (J-Scent)
Described as "sake, cherry blossom, incense, and musk." Very fruity boozy at first, then less boozy, a touch floral. But this is another one that goes mild extremly fast; it fades too fast to be worth it.

* Pink (Morgan le Fay)
Described as "bergamot, orange fig leaf; tuberose, gardenia, tiare flower, jasmine, carnation, ylang-ylang, lily-of-the-valley, osmanthus, geranium; iris, musk and vanilla." The citrus unfortunately doesn't last; you just get the heavy, thick tuberose/gardenia, then some more jasmine, going earthier later. An inoffensive floral.

* Escentric 01 (Escentric Molecules)
Described as "pink pepper, lime peel, and orris incense." I literally had to slather this on FOUR TIMES to get anything out of it, and then it was mostly the orris (which as I understand it is iris root, and I suspect perfumes that say "iris" mean the same thing).

* Sumo Wrestler (J-Scent)
Described as "orange, eucalyptus, anise, cinnamon, heliotrope, violet, orange flower, labdanum, sandalwood, patchouli, and jasmine." Kind of generically perfume-y in the bottle, and then it more or less goes straight to sandalwood and heliotrope. Meh.

WEEK 40

* Le Voyager Indiscret (L’Antichambre)
Described as "lavender, cinnamon, nutmeg, cedar, and sandalwood." I cannot for the life of me place what medicine this reminds me of in the bottle; it isn't an unpleasant one. Maybe Tiger Balm? Something more green/not quite minty. Wet, it's more cinnamon and nutmeg with an undertone of cedar, and then an odd lavender sandalwood. Not successful.

* Roasted Green Tea (J-Scent)
Described as "coconut, peanut, laver, jasmine, mint, winter green, iris, cedarwood, vanilla, and clover." I think the wintergreen must be the "cold" bit in the bottle, and an earthy bit I think is the iris. Then a sort of mild, tea-like vanilla, with a faint mint tone. Meh.

* Hydrangea (J-Scent)
Described as "violet, leaf green, hyacinth, jasmine, rose, iris, muguet, cedarwood, and musk." In the bottle, something green and violently fresh, before the rose comes up. After that, inoffensively floral and then mild musk. Sigh.

* Yawahada (J-Scent)
Described as "pear, green note, milk, rice powder, rose, jasmine, musk, sandalwood, and amber." I have to assume the rice powder is responsible for the kind of dry and roasted and bitter thing that dominates throughout; my sister termed it "piss wood." Which about sums it up, yeah.

* Hanamachi (J-Scent)
Described as "lemon, bergamot, ylang ylang, rose, violet, iris, jasmine, heliotrope, agarwood, vanilla, musk, cherry blossom leaf, and peach." The violet and the lemon are fighting in this one, with floral trying to referee. Sororal verdict was "fancy soap puked on your wrist."

* Jour de Fête (L’Artisan)
The internet guesses almond, wheat, vanilla, and iris for this one. Chemically earthy at first (the iris, I presume), and then a faint, burnt vanilla. Blech.

* Poudre de Riz (Huitième Art)
Described as "damask rose, tiare absolute, coconut, vanilla, rice powder accord (caramelic, burnt toast and maple notes), sandalwood, iris, cedar, tonka bean, tolu balsam and benzoin resin." For that list, it was oddly fresh and astringent in the bottle. But on application, much sweeter -- coconut, vanilla, and then I don't know tonka bean, tolu balsam, or benzoin well enough to tell what I was picking up. Generically warm and sweet in the end.

Honey and Lemon (J-Scent)
Described as "lemon, orange, peach, rose, jasmine, musk, sandalwood, and honey note." In the bottle, lemon smoothed by probably the peach and the honey. Lemon-orange on me, followed by rose, but it faded very fast.

(originally posted at Swan Tower: https://is.gd/yoRYX6)

I haven't actually stopped testing perfumes; I just got waaaaaay behind on posting about them. So behind the cut lieth an ENORMOUS dump of thoughts on what I've been going through! Some of these are from Codex friends -- including a bunch from different perfumers -- while others are a couple of freebies from BPAL that came with me ordering Black Rose (because of course I had to try that one); then I'm off into some of Haus of Gloi's summer collection. Yoon, I think you might be interested in some of these!

(Reminder to everybody else: you are more than welcome to request anything I don't say I'm keeping. Do you realize how many samples are sitting around my house these days???)


( Read more... )

(originally posted at Swan Tower: https://is.gd/30igPm)

* The Apothecary
Described as "tea leaf with three mosses, green grass, a medley of herbal notes, and a drop of ginger and fig." I keep wanting to like scents in the "green" category more than I do, simply because it's my favorite color (and yes, I'm aware that the color and the smell are not actually related). This one was only temporarily green, though; it goes from "lemony ginger tea" through the green phase to being just too floral for me -- not sure which element that was coming from.

* Gingerbread Wolfman
Described as "gingerbread, honey, molasses, pulverized chestnut, powdered sugar, nutmeg, and hazelnut." Ugh, no -- this mostly came through as molasses, and the more time passed, the more burnt the molasses smelled. It would have been okay but not amazing without the burnt note; with it, I wanted to get away from my own arm.

* Last Tavern at Town Gate
Described as "vivid red musk streaked with sleet, hearthsmoke, a glimmer of lemon rind and yellow amber, and oak-aged whiskey." This was very complex! I had a hard time teasing the notes apart, except for the usual pattern of the musk dominating after a while. It's interesting, but it wasn't for me.

* Kitsune-tsuki
Described as "Asian plum, orchid, daffodil, jasmine and white musk." Starts off plum and daffodil, maybe with some jasmine later on. It's floral, but surprisingly not off-putting?

* Event Horizon
Described as "black opium, labdanum, opoponax, black orchid, and benzoin." It reminded me a little of Darkness, in that my sister again said that I was clearly going to the opera; I think that's the opium note. It's heavy, a little sweet, a little floral; later on she called it "very very fancy bubblegum," which I think might be the opoponax? It's interesting enough to try again later!

* Maiden
Described as "white tea, carnation and damask rose." Somehow this manages to smell almost lemony in the bottle, turning into tea + rose as it dries. The scent is fairly steady, and I kind of like it?

* Paladin (RPG Series)
Described as "white musk, sweet frankincense, bourbon vanilla, white leather, and shining armor." Like Gingerbread Wolfman, this got more ugh over time. It's generic cologne at first, and then I think basically leather frankincense later; I did not like it. (I'm starting to think leather notes will just be not for me overall.)

* Blood Rose
Described as "voluptuous red rose bursting with lascivious red wine and sultry dragon’s blood resin." I'm not positive if I've encountered dragon's blood before; people on the BPAL forum theorized that it was in Wolf's Heart (the one that smelled like laundry detergent on me) and Sanguinem Menstruum, but the official descriptions don't say for sure. So I can't tell whether the sweet aspect here is coming from that, or from the red wine. But it sheds the oddly sugary effect it has early on to become quite pleasant; this and Maiden are two rose scents I actually kind of like, at least enough to hold onto them and compare again later.

. . . and in looking up Blood Rose, I discovered BPAL has a perfume called Black Rose, which of course I have to try. I've ordered a sample!

(originally posted at Swan Tower: https://is.gd/iV2MKs)

Some adventures this time with a new-to-me perfumer!

* Liquid Illusion (Juliette Has a Gun)
Described as "heliotropin, tuberose absolute, iris absolute, tonka bean, and cetalox" (which the internet tells me is synthetic ambergris). I can smell the almond at the outset, but it's kind of earthy/salty in a way that I think might be the cetalox (and possibly the iris, depending on whether that's supposed to be the flower or the root), but it rapidly goes to a slightly soapy tonka/cetalox blend. Do not like.

* Rose Cross
Described as "purest rose with sacred frankincense." At first it's exactly as billed. Then it PUNCHES YOU IN THE FACE WITH ROSE. Eventually that dials back to a more faded rose, and it isn't terrible, but I do not like that note enough to want this.

* Mari Lwyd
Described as "Welsh cakes and ale with a smattering of dried lavender." In the bottle it had that cloying, sort of buttery note I've encountered before, which fortunately didn't last. Unfortunately, it pretty much just went to cake after that, which I think might partly have been built from musk. I never picked up anything ale or lavender. Meh.

* Invisible Gingerbread Man/Gingerbread Invisible Man
(BPAL appears indecisive about which is the correct name.) Described as "champagne-soaked gingerbread, candied ginger, lemon, and white sugar." I got the ginger and lemon initially, but I also got soap, and it just got soapier the longer things went on. Blech.

* Oatmeal and Apple Spice Cookies
What it says, plus "brown sugar, nutmeg, and walnuts." This also had a hint of that cloying note in the bottle, but that went away on application in favor of being very, very apple. The spice comes through later, but I never really got the oatmeal or walnut, and overall it's just meh.

* Oil Fiction (Juliette Has a Gun)
Described as "tuberose, saffron, and amber." It amuses me that my reaction to some things is "this smells like perfume" -- there's just sort of a generic, kind of floral effect to some blends. This one wasn't bad as floral things go, and the amber comes through a bit later, but it's still not for me.

* Wheatstacks, Snow Effect, Morning
(This is one of the BPAL scents named after a painting, in this case one by Monet, hence the odd name.) Described as "hay, white peach, opalescent musk, orris root, pink carnation, osmanthus, and rooibos." This once again featured that effect I can only describe as cold -- no idea what does that -- along with peach. The carnation showed up for a while in the early drydown, and then eventually became peach fading into musk. Not bad, but not interesting, either.

* Bon Vivant
Oh HELL no. This is described as "an effervescent blend of crystalline champagne notes and sweet strawberry," but there was nothing effervescent about it, and very little strawberry; I smelled like flat champagne. And this one had significant throw, too, so I kept getting gusts of flat champagne coming off my wrist, to an extent that was borderline nauseating.

(originally posted at Swan Tower: https://is.gd/4g18jt)

* Port-au-Prince
Described as "buttered rum flavored with almond, bay, clove and sassafras." In the bottle, it's sweet almond with clove and herbal touches. The sassafras comes through on application; it's basically alcoholic root beer. The once it starts to dry, it suddenly becomes CLOVE, with the sassafrass undertones coming back through later on. It's different and interesting enough to keep for now.

* Elf
This is one of BPAL's RPG series. Described as "pale golden musk, honeycomb, amber, parma violet, hawthorne bark, aspen leaf, forest lily, life everlasting, white moss, and a hint of wild berry." I quite liked how this one smelled in the bottle -- bright, clean, sort of green, but sweetly so. I think the floral that comes through on application is the violet (haven't smelled enough violet perfumes to be sure), but in the end it just goes to sort of musky amber. I found the beginning more interesting than the end.

* Darkness
Described as "blackest opium and narcissus deepened by myrrh." My sister and I decided that this perfume declares you are Going to the Opera: Verdi at first, but she granted that I might be seeing Puccini after it dried down a bit. It's heavy and sweet without being sugary, lifted a bit by the floral note; there's a moment while it's drying that gets harshly resinous, but that goes away and it returns to how it started. Not really my thing.

(The next batch of perfumes are a mix of ones I ordered and some freebies. Haus of Gloi had a spring collection that looked interesting, and I realized I was close enough to having tried Imaginary Authors' entire catalogue that I might as well finish it out.)

* Saint Julep (Imaginary Authors)
Described as "sweet mint, tangerine, southern magnolia, bourbon, grisalva, and sugarcube." Very magnolia at the outset, with maybe a hint of mint; the tangerine appears briefly as it dries; but then it just goes sort of . . . green, which I think is the grisalva. Green may be my favorite color, but that doesn't mean I really want to smell of it.

* Imp (Haus of Gloi)
Described as "peculiar passion fruit mingling with sun cured apricots, perfectly pink grapefruit juice and innocent whispers of wet mimosa blooms." This one is SUPA FROOTY! Gets a little tarter on application, and then picks up a floral lift, but it stays generally fruity overall. Yoon, I suspect you might want this one, if you don't have it already . . .

* Telegrama (Imaginary Authors)
Described as "talc, lavender absolute, black pepper, teak, amyris, vanilla powder, and fresh linens." Based on the example of this and A Whiff of Waffle Cone, amyris seems to just steamroll any perfume it's in that I try on, at least the way Imaginary Authors uses it. It's kind of rich and warming, but not in a way that I really like.

* Every Storm a Serenade (Imaginary Authors)
Described as "Danish spruce, eucalyptus, vetiver, calone, ambergris, and Baltic sea mist." The internet tells me calone is a compound developed to give stuff the scent of watermelon; well, it works! The whole way through, this one is basically watermelon with an undertone of evergreen. Again, not my thing.

* Capy (Haus of Gloi)
Described as "tart lemon, crushed lavender, white tea, and green moss." The bottle scent is very refreshing! My sister tried this one as well; on me on me it was more lemon and lavender, going to tea, while with her it went more to tea and lavender, and then to soap.

(originally posted at Swan Tower: https://is.gd/zf0frn)

* New Orleans
Described as "sweet honeysuckle and jasmine with a hint of lemon and spice." The hint is very slight; I never get the spice at all, and the lemon is only fleetingly there while this is wet -- not even really discernible as lemon so much as a touch of lightness (that doesn't show up when my sister tries this one). It's one of the better florals I've tried, though, nice and mild, with a faint honeyed note that comes through toward the end. Holding onto it for now.

* Manhattan
Described as "sheer amber, black leather, white mint, lemon peel, white tea, grapefruit, kush, teakwood and orchid." I definitely smell a sweet leather in the bottle, along with the citrus, but (as is so often the case) the floral elements end up dominating. Not gratingly so, but enough that this is just a meh for me. (And yes, "meh" has become an actual rating in my system, indicating that it's a three on my five-point scale.)

* Arcana
Described as "frankincense, rosemary, lavender, neroli, and verbena." Starts out as rosemary and citrus, becomes resinous and herbal, and winds up as a mellowed frankincense that could almost pass for sandalwood. Not bad, but not me, so: meh.

* Bergamotto di Calabria (Perris Monte Carlo)
Described as "bergamot, petitgrain, timur pepper, pink pepper, orange flower, neroli, orange blossom, jasmine, iris, sandalwood, vetiver, and musk." In the bottle, a generic "perfume" smell with an orange-y tinge. On me, it's basically a citrus floral air freshener: inoffensive but also completely forgettable.

(Here endeth the Kurayami-Hime Citrus Collection. Now begin the samples that cgbookcat1 very kindly mailed to me!)

* Nephilim
Described as "holy frankincense and hyssop in union with earthy fig, defiled by black patchouli and vetiver, with a chaotic infusion of lavender, cardamom, tamarind, rosemary, oakmoss and cypress." Oh BPAL, I've missed your more outrageous descriptions. :-) I suspect what I smell when I first apply this is the hyssop, maybe tag-teaming with the rosemary; it's something very green and sharp. Over time the fig comes through, and I wind up with that and the cardamom. In the long run I'll probably decide it's not for me, but I'll try it again.

* Penitence
Described as "a blend of pure, pious frankincense and graceful myrrh." This is the first time I've had a perfume go full circle! In the bottle it's kind of a heavy, sweet spice, but as soon as I apply it the tone goes much lighter and sharper, almost medicinal. Then it takes on a green and resinous edge, before mellowing to . . . a kind of heavy, sweet spice, pretty much identical to its bottle scent. Another that's probably not for me, but I'm holding onto it because it will be useful for comparisons against more complex blends with frankincense and myrrh.

* Fighter
Described as "leather, musk, blood, and steel." Well, it delivers, I'll say that for it? Been a while since my reaction to a scent was "ugh, NO," but I don't really want to smell like metallic leather.

* Miskatonic University
Described as "Irish coffee, dusty tomes and polished oakwood halls." Since I never got the woody element other people report for this, it was pretty much just identical to Irish Coffee Buttercream, which I tried before. But I'm going to hold onto it so I can compare the two; I'm curious what differences I'll find between them, before I dump one or both.

(originally posted at Swan Tower: https://is.gd/jmznjn)

Now begins the Kurayami Hime Citrus Collection! My sister's favorite perfume has been discontinued, and while she has enough to keep her going for a while, she'll eventually want a replacement. We've been testing a whole lot of things. Therefore, the theme for this post and the next is going to be "citrus" -- a category I haven't really tried so far!

Lavender Lemonade (Haus of Gloi)
Described as what it says on the tin, "lavender and fresh tart lemonade." Pretty straightforward, the only variation being that it smells more strongly of lavender early on, then more evenly of both notes later. It's nice, but on me it also fades unfortunately fast.

Pink Pepper, Orange Blossom, and Lemon Peel
No description, but these trios obviously don't need it. Peppery in the bottle, and lemon with a pepper edge when it goes on, but as it dries this just turns into pepper and floral. Bah.

Tweedledee
Described as "kumquat, white pepper, white tea and orange blossom." Wow does this smell like orange Starburst at the outset -- it's exactly that juicy, sugar scent. It acquires a floral tinge over time and keeps the orange (more mellowed, less candy), but the pepper and tea never really come through. It's not bad, but it isn't for me.

Falling Into the Sea (Imaginary Authors)
Described as "lemon, bergamot, grapefruit, lychee, tropical flowers, warm sand." This is definitely citrus, but on the bitter rather than the sweet end. Too bitter for me, honestly, especially since its other aspect is floral, and as usual I'm very meh about that.

Lemondrops (Haus of Gloi)
Described as "freshly squeezed lemon juice with a touch of lemongrass and little hint of honey." In the bottle it's very sugary, but it gets a little more tart when it's applied. After it's applied, it's a nice, mellow, smooth lemon that I can only describe as sitting "on a cushion of honey," so I guess I know why perfumers wind up writing ridiculous metaphorical descriptions for their products. :-P Not bad!

Soleil d’Italie (Mancera)
My sister ordered a "citrus sampler" from LuckyScent.com, so you'll see a few random companies appearing in here. This one is described as "pink pepper, cardamom, bergamot, bitter orange, mandarin, lime, aquatic notes, patchouli, rose, vetiver, cedar, ambergris, white musk, and gaiac," which between you and me I think is waaaaay more notes than a single scent needs. Not that I can really pick them out: it really just smells to me like . . . perfume. Very, very generic perfume. I guess as it dried there was a brief patch where I could maybe pick out something aquatic, and then later something warmer that might have been the musk and/or cardamom, but . . . yeah, it just wound up as slightly warmer perfume. Very boring, and not to my taste.

Shanghai
Described as "green tea touched with lemon verbena and honeysuckle." Goes pretty straightforwardly from "citrus tea" to "tea and honeysuckle." I love honeysuckles in real life, but I have yet to find a perfume with that note which I like, so, meh.

Sundrunk (Imaginary Authors)
Described as "neroli, rhubarb, honeysuckle, rose water, orange zest, and first kiss" (because the final listed ingredient in their perfumes is always something randomly metaphorical). Like Falling Into the Sea, we're firmly on the bitter end here, the zest of the orange rather than its juice. It also is too floral for my taste.

(originally posted at Swan Tower: https://is.gd/oJQPD3)

* Yesterday Haze (Imaginary Authors)
Described as "fig, iris, cream, tonka, tree bark, walnut bitters, and orchard dust." Like a number of their scents, this one hits me as VERY strongly woody -- alcoholically so early on, for long enough that I don't think it's just the evaporation of the spray; my guess is that's the "walnut bitters" part. Underwhelming result.

* Moonlight in Chiangmai (Dusita)
Described as "yuzu, jasmine, nutmeg, benzoin, myrrh, patchouli, vetiver, teak." In the bottle it's slightly floral, brightened a bit by the yuzu. Wet, it's kind of green; I think that might be the vetiver? (That's a note I'm still trying to learn to identify.) As it dries down it gets sort of resinous with a touch of nutmeg and, uh, benzoin is another note I'm still trying to learn to pick out. Interesting enough for me to keep to try again.

* Hollywood Babylon
Described as “glittering Egyptian amber and heliotrope, infused with the sweetness of strawberry and vanilla – dragged into debauch by lusty red musk and a dribble of black cherry." WOW CHERRY to start, but as it dries . . . I think the only real description I can give this one is "confused." It's kind of generically perfume-y with whiffs of fruit.

* Pecan Pie Oud
I couldn't find a description for this one, but based on my previous experience of oud -- by which I presume they mean the perfume component, not the musical instrument, but then again who knows -- I was not optimistic. However! It's got a bit of that cloying note right after I apply it, over a kind of woody/nutty scent, but as it dries it develops more into nutmeg and other spices. At no point did I pick up the sharp, medicinal, chemical note I think was oud in Liquid Gold Is in the Air (which I definitely did not like). I'll keep this one for now!

* A City on Fire (Imaginary Authors)
Described as "cade oil, spikenard, cardamom, clearwood, dark berries, labdanum, a burnt match." After applying it I learned that cade is a kind of cypress, which explained why my wrist smelled so much like my hinoki incense. :-) Definitely smoky, too. It mellows as it goes, but this is in the same camp for me as BPAL's Pomegranate and Date Palms -- I think I prefer it as a room scent rather than a bodily one? (Though since IA's perfume samples are all in spray bottles, I could spritz it around as an air freshener, I suppose.)

* Apple Milk (Haus of Gloi)
Described as "apple pulp, hot milk, and cardamom." Hits that nasal-passage-coating cloying note in the bottle, which I'm going to guess is from whatever they used to create the "milk" note. On, however, it's mostly apple, eventually bowing to the cardamom. This kept its apple note much longer than many others I've tried, but I prefer BPAL's Honeyed Apple.

* Slow Explosions (Imaginary Authors)
Described as "saffron, rose absolute, leather, apple, benzoin, cashmeran, and Arpora Night Market." Like Hollywood Babylon, this one just felt confused to me, never quite cohering into something where I could say, "ah, this is the target we were aiming for." At first it was sort of leathery with some rose and apple maybe; the sort of green and woody note it took on later might have been the cashmeran; I still don't really get what I'm sniffing for where benzoin is concerned. Not a winner.

* Bull’s Bloood (Imaginary Authors)
Described as "patchouli, rose, costus root, tobacco, black musk, and bull’s blood." I don't know whether it's the fact that IA samples are spray bottles or something to do with how they formulate their perfumes, but wow are they frequently overpowering on me. This one was mostly overpoweringly tobacco -- not necessarily in an outright unpleasant way, but it's not what I want to smell like.

(originally posted at Swan Tower: https://is.gd/0TpZ5M)

* Drops of Amontillado
I don't have a description for this one, but that's fine, because it is clearly GRAPE. Like, high-end grape gummy grape to start with. While it's drying it gets less cloying -- there's a woody element that comes through, and some whiskey -- but I swear it gets grapier again after that. I do not like grape well enough to want to reek of it, even if it's generally a pleasant reek.

* Dirty
BPAL goes for irony with the name of this one, since its description is "a fresh, crisp white linen scent: perfectly clean, perfectly breezy." In the bottle it's green and slightly floral; wet, it takes on a quality I've encountered in one or two other scents, where it smells cold to me (and yes, I'm aware "cold" isn't a smell). I have no idea what gives rise to that! Overall it's slightly green and very pleasantly fresh. On me it fades fast, though, and even when it's there, I'm not sure it's my kind of thing.

* Squirting Cucumber
What an unfortunate name. Described as “wet, grassy greenness;” in the bottle and wet it is very clearly cucumber, and manages to be sweet without being sugary. As it dries, the grassiness comes through. It's another fresh-smelling scent, and I think I like this one better than Dirty.

* Sanguinem Menstruum
Also an unfortunate name, heh. Described as "the copper tang of blood musk, swept by a cloud of dying bees and red poppies of madness." It's almost a buttery musk in the bottle, with maybe a honey note; once applied, that gets sharper and cleaner -- maybe that's the poppies cutting it. Dries down to musk and honey, which for me is a meh result.

* Velvet
Described as "gentle sandalwood warmed by cocoa vanilla and a veil of deep myrrh." Like Bliss, this one launches itself at you as CHOCOLATE. Later on the sandalwood and myrrh are kind of there in the CHOCOLATE . . . but when all is said and done, I do not wish to smell like chocolate.

* The Red Queen
I purchased this one because the description sounded good: "Deep mahogany and rich, velvety woods lacquered with sweet, black-red cherries and currant." As with Drops of Amontillado, this starts out extremely juicy and fruity -- mostly cherry, maybe a little currant. But then the wood starts to come up, and it balances out really nicely with the two fruits, for a result I really really like!

* Irish Buttercream
Described as "Irish whiskey, granulated sugar, brown sugar, whipped cream, buttercream and coffee." This is exactly what it bills itself as: starts out smelling like Bailey's, then develops a coffee note as it dries. I'm on the fence about this one, because I like those scents; I'm just not sure if I like to smell like them.

* A Whiff of Waffle Cone
Described as "vanilla, heavy cream, salted caramel, amyris, orgeat, Saigon cinnamon, ice cream shoppe." It's a sugary caramel at first, like you might expect from the name, but then . . . I'm going to assume it's the amyris I wound up smelling, because when I looked that up online it got described as "balsamic, rich and warming." And while I'm still not clear on what "balsamic" means in a fragrance, this definitely got rich and warming, with maybe just a hint of vanilla. Much, much later, it started to smell like cream. So, not much like the name, and not really my thing, either.

(originally posted at Swan Tower: https://is.gd/AiTy2e)

I am almost through the gift of perfume samples from Yoon! . . . with more on the way, and also another friend sent some, and my sister and I ordered a few from BPAL which showed up with random additional samples tossed into the package, and uh basically I will probably be continuing to try perfumes through the end of February at least.

* Dandelion Dreams (Haus of Gloi)
Described as "sunny yellow dandelion flowers, dewy green grass and rich soil." This one starts out extremely green -- that's really the only way I can describe it. In drying down it takes on an ever so faintly soapy tinge, and it also fades kind of fast overall, but I'm keeping it for now.

* Beating the Tatami Shunga
If you go looking for this one, be warned that the image on the bottle is EXTREMELY not safe for work. (My bottle leaves off the word "shunga," but it's named that way on their site, and if you know what shunga are -- yeah. NSFW to the max.) Described as "strawberry pulp, ti leaf, and candied fruits," and this is most definitely not one of those perfumes that advertises itself as fruity and then doesn't deliver. It is HELLO STRAWBERRY, with an element coming through in late drydown that I am going to assume is the ti leaf, because whatever it is cuts the sweetness quite nicely. I like this one!

* Sed Non Satiata
Described as "myrrh, red patchouli, cognac, honey, and tuberose and geranium in a breathy, panting veil over the darkest body musk." Surprisingly, I don't think the floral elements ever really became noticeable in this one. It starts out resinous and kind of like caramel in the bottle, with the latter aspect becoming stronger on application; I presume that's the honey note at work. Later the myrrh rises up, and it balances out into that, honey, and musk, quite pleasantly.

* Kathmandu
Described as "saffron, blessed sandalwood, Himalayan cedar and the miraculous lotus of the Buddha with chiuri bark and Nepalese spices." This one is quite nice! It's interestingly spicy and warm, but sort of . . . cleaner than usual, if that makes sense. I think at one point I said it was "more transparent, less opaque" than that combo usually feels to me. As it dries, the lotus starts to come through. Definitely keeping this for now!

* Alleviate the Frenzy
Described as "heady peach musk aglow with sugared amber." In this bottle this is a super sugared peach, with the amber and musk starting to appear as it dries. The peach manages to last, though, which hasn't been my experience of a lot of the fruit/musk combos (they usually turn into just flat musk), so I'm holding onto this for the moment.

* Paradise Is Full of Coconuts (Haus of Gloi)
Described as "Tahitian vanilla, all the coconuts you can carry, and a handful of tropical blossoms." I have no idea what in here is coming across as pineapple (one of the flowers, I presume), but I started out smelling vaguely like a pina colada, heh. Over time that fades and instead the floral comes through, balancing pretty nicely with the coconut; if I could have a vacation in Hawaii right now, I could totally see myself wearing this.

* Flor de Muerto
Not sure what's in this one apart from marigold. It's got early wisps that smell a bit spicy and/or green, before eventually drying down to a sweet floral. Not bad, but not my cuppa.

* Narcosa (Haus of Gloi)
Described as "a thick haze of tonka and black vanilla, three jasmines, tuberose and ylang ylang." In the bottle, heavy and sweet, with some floral notes floating over it. Wet, it takes on an oddly medicinal edge for a little while, before going straight to hippie smell -- not sure whether that's the tonka or the ylang ylang, as neither of those is something I've encountered enough to pick them out specifically.

(originally posted at Swan Tower: https://is.gd/qM0xwg)