BPAL description: The butchest, manliest of musks covered in well-worn leather.

Sniffed: Peachy-golden oil. Cologne (sort of green-floral and a little sharp), musk, and leather. Surprisingly fresh.

Wet: Way more leather, leather overload! It is not the leather of De Sade, but neither is it my beloved Dead Man's Hand/Quincy Morris leather note, ( Read more... )

BPAL description: Smushed candy corn, rock candy dust, marshmallow gunk, strawberry goo, spun blue sugar, globs of salt water taffy, and lint.

Sniffed: Light yellow oil. Fruity, candy, sugary sweet. It does have that creaminess of the candy corn and maybe a little (less discinctly) from the marshmallow; definitely some 'strawberry starburst candy ( Read more... )

Dragon's Blood

BPAL description: Powerful, commanding, blazing with strength.

In the bottle: Dark hot pink oil. Fruity lilac and lily of the valley. Heady and soapy. The fruit strikes me as cherry, the fake kind in cough syrup - it's vaguely mentholic.

Dragon's Musk

BPAL description: Dominant, passionate, devastating. Dragon's blood and five ( Read more... )

BPAL description: Orange-glazed cake, dotted with anise seed, and filled with custard, set beside a bouquet of celebratory funereal flowers.

In the bottle: Pale golden yellow oil. Buttery, sweet, cake. Tonka, vanilla, and a little splash of orange zest.

Wet: Similar, but more orange, and less sweet. A little bit of spicy-herbal anise coming out ( Read more... )

Samhain 2008

BPAL description: Damp woods, fir needle, and black patchouli with the gentlest touches of warm pumpkin, clove, nutmeg, allspice, sweet red apple and mullein.

In the bottle: Pale peachy/beige oil. Woodsy, spicy, and a little sweet. Deep, complex woods and fir underscored by earthy patchouli. Light ripe, juicy apple and mulling ( Read more... )

BPAL description: Autumn leaves scattered among blades of grass.

In the bottle: GRASS, dandelion (no one else got this), dry leaves.

Dry: Rather bitter, very green. Incredibly true and natural; exactly as described in notes and just as evocative. Unisex to masculine.

Tested at EC Will Call.

To Autumn

BPAL description: Mist-swirled, moss-covered bark and dry red leaves, apple pulp and knotty galangal, with poppy juice and nutmeat.

In the bottle: Light goldenrod-coloured oil. Woody, nutty, a tad spicy. The poppy and dry leaves lend a bitter edge, while the nut is both creamy-foody-rich and sweet, enhanced by citrusy galangal. Autumnal ( Read more... )

BPAL description: A blend of five sugars, lightly dusted with candied fruits.

In the bottle: Perfectly colourless oil. Indeed very sugary! Brown sugar jumps out the most to my nose, with a burnt sugar/caramel/molasses tang, but there's powdered and white sugar too. Almost boozy. Wisp of fruitiness.

Wet: Much lighter and gentler, though still ( Read more... )

John Barleycorn

BPAL description: Barley, beer, blood, and whiskey.

In the bottle: Very much liquor and grains, SOUR, and quite acrid and pungent. I don't get any blood, but sniffed I think the whiskey, BEER and barley overwhelm it. I can't imagine a woman wearing this, so masculine? It's rather what a drunken bum smells like and fits the note ( Read more... )

All were sniffed at EC Will Call.

Autumn Coolness

BPAL description: The scent of wisteria, Cymbidium, lotus blossom, and cassia buds drifting on a breeze through gently swaying bamboo reeds.

In the bottle: Sweet and powdery floral, due to the STRONG lotus and wisteria which assault me immediately. I immensely disliked this one as expected based ( Read more... )