BPAL description: Smooth wood, sweet pipe smoke, tonka, and Irish coffee.

Sniffed: Light yellow oil. TONKA galore with a tiny bit of foody-sweet coffee and a strongly woody undertone. I'm not getting any pipe smoke. Much sweeter and less complex than expected.

Wet: Spicier, somehow 'fresher', and less grossly buttery in that way tonka often is. ( Read more... )

BPAL description: Gold-washed frangipani, vanilla flower, vanilla bean, coconut, hibiscus, papaya, pineapple, bouganvilla, passion fruit, and three orchids.

Sniffed: Very pale yellow oil. Sweet, floral, and VERY tropical. A delicious juicy, fruity tartness from the pineapple, passion fruit, papaya and hibiscus. The thankfully light coconut gives ( Read more... )

BPAL description: Spun sugar, sparkling rainbow candies, strawberries, merangue, and cherry fluff.

Sniffed: Extremely pale yellow oil. Pink, sugary candy. I get some vanilla, and this is creamy and somewhat foody. Merangue, yes. Sugar, yes. I can't pick out fruit though, and this doesn't smell nearly as sweet or artificial as I expected.

Wet: A ( Read more... )

BPAL description: Wasabi, pu-erh and Touareg teas, green cedar, myrrh, white sage, khus, frankincense, and coriander.

Sniffed: Chartreuse-tinged yellow oil. Spicy, green, and fresh. Masculine, a little cologney. Coriander, sage, and the sour-smoky, grassy tea notes jump out. Zing of wasabi. Loads of green cedar, and there's something almost ( Read more... )

BPAL description: Pink rock candy, strawberry cream, and splashes of gin, vermouth, and grenadine.

Sniffed: Sweet, creamy, and - but not as boozy as I expected, nor as sweet. The strawberry smells natural, not fake, and seems to merge with the grenadine. There's a sugary note that's quite light. More vermouth than gin, though both are a little ( Read more... )

BPAL description: Dark musk, star anise, agarwood, styrax, vetiver, gaiacwood, King mandarin, violet leaf, and black vanilla.

Sniffed: Golden oil. Creamsicle-like: creamy vanilla, mandarin, musk and a little bit of anise make this pretty foody, but pleasantly. Dark, cool, slightly astringent woods below. On the whole, surprisingly light.

Wet: ( Read more... )

BPAL description: Skin musk and flowering sugar cane.

Sniffed: Skin musk (which to me is always slightly astringent, like witch hazel) and gentle, citrusy florals. Very delicate and clean; mildly soapy, but not in a bad way.

Wet: More citrusy - definitely lemon, and maybe some white grapefruit zest - this is more like lemonade, not like Pledge ( Read more... )