Snake Charmer: Resurrected

Arabian musk and exotic spices slinking through Egyptian amber, enticing vanilla, and a serpentine blend of black plum, labdanum, ambrette, benzoin and black coconut.

Well, I'm not a huge Snake Oil fan, but I'd heard so much about this that I had to try a decant. Fortunately, I find this much easier to take than SO. It starts out with a fairly strong blast of black patchouli but eventually dries down to a musky fruity vanilla. There's a bit of plum and I thlnk the coconut lightens it a bit. I'm still not sure about a bottle, as ageing SO makes no difference for me.

3/5

Wood Phoenix

Chinese musk and five woods with newly budding bamboo shoots, hyssop, chamomile, pink clove, magnolia, walnut, and fig.

Wet, it's rather sweet and a bit like nice soap. As it dries down, though, the woods come out a bit more. It's still a rather sweet, light blend. It's very pleasant and would be good for the office. I can't imagine it offending anybody. It also has an extra touch that makes me like it- probably the pink clove, if that's really carnation.

4.5/4

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

terebinth pine, patchouli, brown musk, linden blossom, honey, mallow, blood orange, heliotrope, and golden amber.

It smells very fuzzy to me, like cloth. Perhaps it's the blend of the linden blossom and the brown musk. The orange stands out, and for the most part it's a lighter scent. I don't think my nose quite knows what to do with the combination of cloth, orange and pine. It's okay, but a bit odd to me.

3/5

The Gaoler's Daughter

Gardenia, neroli, and white peach with vanilla amber, cream, and honey.

I picked this up for a friend, so it's not really my kind of thing. Very sweet peach and gardenia- if you like those two notes, you'll love this.

2/5

Snow Bunny 2008

Soft white powder snow with a touch of youthful girlie perfume.

There's a chilly note with a bit of soft pine and something that sweetens it up a bit. Fortunately, the girlie perfume seems to be more of a berry and grapefruit variety, as opposed to white florals. I wore it to work, and about halfway through the day I started wondering why it smelled like Christmas and if someone used a room freshener or lit a candle. Then I realized, of course, that it was me. This would be an amazing room scent. I'd like to have a bottle.

5/5

On Darkness

black poppy, lavender, thick black incense, black amber, rose geranium, Brazilian rosewood, and benzoin.

This one was a surprise. I just threw it into my decant order because I don't dislike any of the notes. None of them are my favorites, either, but somehow this is my favorite yule scent. At first the lavender is a bit strong, but as it dries out, the blend is dark purple and fruity. It's hard to describe, but it's very lovely and easy to like. I've got a bottle already.

5/5

Midnight Mass 2008

This perfume is a traditional Roman Catholic sacramental incense, most often used during a Solemn Mass.

It starts out very pine and becomes mainly pine and frankincense. I just love the warmth as it wafts around me. Of course, I love almost every incense blend, but this one is very nice.

5/5

The Magi

frankincense, gold, and myrrh, with coriander, cumin, ambergris, white wine grape, and vanilla bean.

It is a lighter fizzy scent. It's hard for me to know what to make of it. It's pleasant and I do like that hint of coriander. The grape is apparent and the vanilla is very smooth, not foody. I'll have to play with this one and see if it grows on me.

3/5

Lines Written Among the Euganean Hills

Skin musk, white sandalwood, balsam fir, frozen black berries, cedar, winter rose, and white amber.


It's an interesting scent and definitely gives the impression of being chilled. It settles into the skin as woods sweetened by the berries and amber. I don't get much in the way of rose. It's different enough to keep the decant, but it's only so-so for me.


3.5/5

Jacob's Ladder 2008

golden amber, galbanum, benzoin, ambrette, rockrose, costus and tonka.

It's thick, golden, a bit sweet and slightly powdery. It's a scent that seems very comfortable to wear in spite of it heaviness. Like a soft blanket. I've already upgraded to a bottle. I think it will age very well.

5/5

Earth Phoenix

Chinese musk, dark musk, and moist soil with black cherry, opopponax, night-blooming jasmine, plum, woodland tobacco, snakeweed, and cypress.


I'm starting to think that I can't smell the soil note, since I couldn't detect it in Death Cap, either. It smells like musk and cherry with a bit of jasmine and grounding notes. The cherry is fruity, but not cloying. The jasmine is also well behaved. It's deep, feminine, and a bit different. I really like it.

4.5/5

Fire Phoenix

Chinese musk and red musk with hyacinth, cactus flower, cubeb berry, galangal, tobacco, pink pepper, and sarsaparilla.


Starts out pretty spicy- as it dries down, it's a slightly spiced woody musk. I'm not really sure where I'm getting the woods from. It's a lighter scent and perhaps a touch masculine. I really like it, though not enough to get a bottle.

4/5

Schwarzer Mond

opoponax, Tunisian black amber, night musk, antique patchouli, zdravetz, terebinth, myrrh, and Pimenta racemosa.

First time I've ever bought a scent unsniffed, but I just love resins, esp. myrrh. So, this does seem sweet and almost coca cola/rootbeerish at first. A little odd, but still pleasant. As it settles into my skin, it just gets smoother and deeper. After it's been on all day, it almost seems vanilla-like, but less foody. I can imagine this aging really well. It's sort of deep, sweet and fuzzy and lasts all day with slightly less than average throw.

4/5

The Spell of Amorous Love

Red currant, plum flowers, sake, green tea, and cherry blossom.

Wet, it smells sharp enough that I'm convinced I won't like it. I think maybe that's the combination of the sake and the plum flowers. Once it dries down a bit though, the sake dies back and the currant and the cherry blossom come out. It had almost no throw, but it clings to my skin all day. I feel like my skin has the scent equivalent of a fresh pink glow. After a year into BPAL, this is the first bottle I've purchased. I love it and it goes so well with the upcoming seasons. It's going to be perfect for spring and summer, so I think I'll make it my signature scent for a few months.

5/5

Harikata

Osmanthus, honey, golden musk, vanilla flower, and ginger.



Wet, it seems fruity, almost melon -like. If that's the osmanthus, I love it. As it dries down, it gets sweeter and sweeter and the honey gets a bit powdery. I still like it, but it was too sweet in the end for me to get a bottle. I'm going to have to look for more osmanthus scents, though.


3/5

The Clod and the Pebble

Rose otto, clove, patchouli, Indian sandalwood, nutmeg, and cedar.

This is harsher than I expected. I like cedar in several other scents, but it really takes over here. The sandalwood makes it even woodier and the nutmeg makes it slightly medicinal. The rose seems to sit along side it. Just too much for me.

1.5/5

Valentine of Rome

cypress, olive blossom, frankincense, myrrh, and blood accord.

This one just about gives me a headache. I like frankincense, but if it's combined with the wrong notes, it gets to be too overwhelming for me. In this case, I think the olive blossom and the frank get a little out of control. Once it all calms down, I like it, but it takes a couple of hours to get there. I'll probably pass this along.

2.5/5

Parlement of Foules 2008

White rose and soft resins.

I like this one quite a bit. It's just what it says- roses and sweet resins. I'm not a huge floral person, but the roses don't seem too sour or powdery. It is a soft scent, though, and it fades off my skin after a couple of hours. I already have Hymn and that lasts on my skin, but I'll use my decant of this one.

4/5

Luperci 2008

raw, down and dirty patchouli, Gurjam balsam, and essence of Sampson Root sweetened with the heightened sexuality of beeswax, virile juniper, oakmoss, ambrette seed over honey and East African musk

I like this scent okay- I expected it to be a greater love. I love patchouli, juniper and musk. And I quite like honey. It's the oakmoss that turns it into a meh scent for me. I don't know if I amp it or if my nose is just sensitive to it for some reason, but it's becoming almost a big a no as vetiver is.


For the scent, I mostly smell honeyed moss with a bit of patchouli.


2.5/5

Vampire Tears

wisteria, white grapefruit, neroli, green tea, jasmine, white ginger, honeysuckle, iris, and tonka.

So with all of the florals and the general 'whiteness' of the scent, I figured there was no way I needed to try this one. Then, of course, the lab scent me a frimp. I still don't like it enough to get a bottle, but it works a lot better than I thought. I do like grapefruit and that seems to be at the center of the scent to me. The green tea and the jasmine also stand out. It's a warmer scent than I expected and the florals don't bother me, but I often like jasmine. Somehow it centers around grapefruit without seeming citrus.

3.5/5