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feldmanI've learned that I'm open to smelling like a lot of strange things. I enjoy a scent that's evocative, whether it's of place, character, narrative, activity, even something edible or poisonous. I have favorite notes, and ones that work well with my skin, but I'm oddly more willing to sit through a mediocre failure of a scent than a boring movie.
BPAL Bien Loin d'Ici The Scarlet Woman, aglow with sensual indolence: red musk, benzoin, caramel accord, golden honey, and spiced Moroccan unguents
In the vial it's spiced rum and coke (Oh, Captain, My Captain!). On skin, there's a spicy sweetness which the spouse identifies as, "smells vegetal", and reminds me a bit of allspice. A pleasant musk wafts in and out, but the main effect is a spiced rum and bar coke with the syrup mix a bit off (sans ethanol). Enjoyable, actually.
BPAL Kill-Devil sugar cane, molasses, oak wood, and honey
In the vial it's molasses and watermelon. Watermelon? Yes, oddly, my brain keeps labeling part of this as watermelon. On the skin it becomes warm sweet potato pie deliciousness.
BPAL Jabberwocky pine, eucalyptus and orange
This scent is clearly mentholated and piney, but is not cold. On the skin it's eucalyptical pine with a vapor of mineral orange, and I like it.
L'Artisan Parfumeur: Amour Nocturne cedar, milk accord, caramel, gun powder, orchid
Caramel anchored by gunpowder, with cedar at the edge. The scent sticks very close to skin, like I've become a warm old cedar chest filled with wax-wrapped candies and black powder. Dolce de fireworks.
Kerosene: Black Vines ivy, fig, star anise, cinnamon, Canadian fir, balsam of Peru, tonka, incense, vanilla
In the vial it smells like the baby Tylenol drops my little brother was dosed with in the early 80's. On skin the licorice is intense and edgy, but mellows away from black jellybeans and into something dark and delightful. The fir comes in like a savory spearmint, there's a gloss of sweetness, and the whole effect is like a fine metal fleck paint in a black that frosts deep purple in the sun.
BPAL Amsterdam tulips, peony, fresh flowing water and crisp green grasses
In the vial it's a post-shower scent of humidity and Olay soap. On skin it slides into a soapy floral, but remains fresh, as if the condensation is dissipating off the bathroom mirror and the scent is clean skin and the breeze off the peony bushes just outside. Not sure if I want to smell like my mom coming out of the shower, but it certainly paints a picture in my brain.
BPAL The Schoolhouse (discontinued) dandelion, white clover, balsam fir logs and birchwood switches
Clover and fir with some whiff of dandelion but no discernible birch in the vial. On skin the scent is well-blended and hard to part out into notes, but delightful all the way through the drydown. Clover and/or dandelion smell awesome on me.
BPAL Umbra East African black patchouli, cedarwood, vetiver and a dribble of cinnamon
In the vial it's fluffy black rain-soaked soil. On skin it unfolds a bit. I think I recognize the partnership of patchouli and vertiver from Jicky, and the cedar and cinnamon harmonize warmly in the drydown. The cinnamon is very faint, but it's like the white dot highlight on a painted eye, it nails the scent. This is warm air caught under enveloping tree branches during a pelty rain, like a bubble of summer under a capsized boat.
BPAL Delphi The smoke of sacred incense of Apollo twined through laurel branches, bay, and honey wine
In the vial I'm tentatively identifying laurel, with honey and a thrum of bay. The incense is nimble instead of ponderous, like when the resinous grains don't combust but simply vaporize as soon as they hit the charcoal--yet the tree herbs keep the scent kind of raw. The tangy honey and resin create a hologram of rose, an olfactory illusion where close up the honey and incense are both themselves, but a few feet from the skin they create an interference pattern that reads 'rose'. It's weird and enjoyable, but also lingers for at least ten hours and is therefore a commitment.
BPAL Psyche (discontinued) Bulgar rose, Chinese white musk, lavender, orchid and frankincense
Rants ROSEGODDAMNIT!! for about five minutes, then keels over into lavender and something floral, shrouded by a soft musk that is sneeze-inducing. I think this scent just went "Psych!" to me. Or it had a delusional break and is now languishing unto death in a locked attic. I washed it off within fifteen minutes. Very rare for me to get the sneezes. Even rarer to me to bail on a scent no matter how weird or funky.
BPAL Bien Loin d'Ici The Scarlet Woman, aglow with sensual indolence: red musk, benzoin, caramel accord, golden honey, and spiced Moroccan unguents
In the vial it's spiced rum and coke (Oh, Captain, My Captain!). On skin, there's a spicy sweetness which the spouse identifies as, "smells vegetal", and reminds me a bit of allspice. A pleasant musk wafts in and out, but the main effect is a spiced rum and bar coke with the syrup mix a bit off (sans ethanol). Enjoyable, actually.
BPAL Kill-Devil sugar cane, molasses, oak wood, and honey
In the vial it's molasses and watermelon. Watermelon? Yes, oddly, my brain keeps labeling part of this as watermelon. On the skin it becomes warm sweet potato pie deliciousness.
BPAL Jabberwocky pine, eucalyptus and orange
This scent is clearly mentholated and piney, but is not cold. On the skin it's eucalyptical pine with a vapor of mineral orange, and I like it.
L'Artisan Parfumeur: Amour Nocturne cedar, milk accord, caramel, gun powder, orchid
Caramel anchored by gunpowder, with cedar at the edge. The scent sticks very close to skin, like I've become a warm old cedar chest filled with wax-wrapped candies and black powder. Dolce de fireworks.
Kerosene: Black Vines ivy, fig, star anise, cinnamon, Canadian fir, balsam of Peru, tonka, incense, vanilla
In the vial it smells like the baby Tylenol drops my little brother was dosed with in the early 80's. On skin the licorice is intense and edgy, but mellows away from black jellybeans and into something dark and delightful. The fir comes in like a savory spearmint, there's a gloss of sweetness, and the whole effect is like a fine metal fleck paint in a black that frosts deep purple in the sun.
BPAL Amsterdam tulips, peony, fresh flowing water and crisp green grasses
In the vial it's a post-shower scent of humidity and Olay soap. On skin it slides into a soapy floral, but remains fresh, as if the condensation is dissipating off the bathroom mirror and the scent is clean skin and the breeze off the peony bushes just outside. Not sure if I want to smell like my mom coming out of the shower, but it certainly paints a picture in my brain.
BPAL The Schoolhouse (discontinued) dandelion, white clover, balsam fir logs and birchwood switches
Clover and fir with some whiff of dandelion but no discernible birch in the vial. On skin the scent is well-blended and hard to part out into notes, but delightful all the way through the drydown. Clover and/or dandelion smell awesome on me.
BPAL Umbra East African black patchouli, cedarwood, vetiver and a dribble of cinnamon
In the vial it's fluffy black rain-soaked soil. On skin it unfolds a bit. I think I recognize the partnership of patchouli and vertiver from Jicky, and the cedar and cinnamon harmonize warmly in the drydown. The cinnamon is very faint, but it's like the white dot highlight on a painted eye, it nails the scent. This is warm air caught under enveloping tree branches during a pelty rain, like a bubble of summer under a capsized boat.
BPAL Delphi The smoke of sacred incense of Apollo twined through laurel branches, bay, and honey wine
In the vial I'm tentatively identifying laurel, with honey and a thrum of bay. The incense is nimble instead of ponderous, like when the resinous grains don't combust but simply vaporize as soon as they hit the charcoal--yet the tree herbs keep the scent kind of raw. The tangy honey and resin create a hologram of rose, an olfactory illusion where close up the honey and incense are both themselves, but a few feet from the skin they create an interference pattern that reads 'rose'. It's weird and enjoyable, but also lingers for at least ten hours and is therefore a commitment.
BPAL Psyche (discontinued) Bulgar rose, Chinese white musk, lavender, orchid and frankincense
Rants ROSEGODDAMNIT!! for about five minutes, then keels over into lavender and something floral, shrouded by a soft musk that is sneeze-inducing. I think this scent just went "Psych!" to me. Or it had a delusional break and is now languishing unto death in a locked attic. I washed it off within fifteen minutes. Very rare for me to get the sneezes. Even rarer to me to bail on a scent no matter how weird or funky.
no subject
Date: 2014-07-22 11:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-07-22 04:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-07-23 05:00 am (UTC)Oh, so much this! I am weirdly willing to sit through a lot of "oh god, that smells HIDEOUS! *big sniff* What the fuck is that HIDEOUS smell? *big sniff* Wow, that's absolutely horrid! *big sniff*" if it's at all amusing, entertaining, or just plain weird. (There are a few things I'll wash off immediately, and a few things that hit the "oh god NO" section of my olfactory memory, but yeah.)
So very fascinating, isn't it?
(I have not tried any of those BPAL scents! And some of them sound fascinating, even if I'm pretty sure they won't work on me -- patchouli and I do not get along, for instance, and BPAL's honey note tends to go very sour/spoiled on my skin. But again: I'll try just about anything!)
no subject
Date: 2014-07-25 11:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-07-25 11:42 pm (UTC)BPAL's honey note tends to go really sharp and pollen on me, which made me skittish at first but is kind of growing on me.
no subject
Date: 2014-07-28 09:11 pm (UTC)(note: not very many things go soapy on me. I'm more likely to get baby powder from some of the weaker florals, especially the white ones.)
no subject
Date: 2014-07-29 05:47 pm (UTC)