BPAL: Yules Pt. 1

[gwydion]

The Frimps:
BAYOU (Wanderlust): (Company says: A lazy, warm deep green scent with a thick aquatic undertone: Spanish moss, evergreen and cypress with watery blue-green notes and an eddy of hothouse flowers and swamp blooms).

In bottle: Significantly more floral than I’d hoped. The aquatics are pervasive and br4idge the floral faction with the green notes. In the green faction, the moss is slightly dominant, but really this is about the florals. No skin test as it’s rather much for me in the bottle.

THE LITTLE WOODEN DOLL (Marchen): (Company says: Gently carved wood warm with a maternal love that reaches beyond death: rose-infused amber and soft golden sandalwood.)

In bottle: The rose is strongest with amber support. The woods are understated, but warm and ground the blend. This suits its concept well, but I will not skin test due to rose.

MANIA (Excolo): (Company says: Screeching white musk collides with a howl of red musk, with sharp white grapefruit and pale strawberry leaf.)

In bottle: This has a hint of bubble gum about it. The grapefruit lends the strawberry accord some bite and they do go surprisingly well together. The musks infuse everything with a bit of sex appeal. The combination looks a bit odd on paper, nut makes perfect sense to the nose. Wet: Very strawberry bubble gum, with the other notes dancing in the background. This scent is way too young for me, but would be excellent on a young woman. Dry: Smells like rose. Is rose part of the strawberry accord maybe?

RAVENOUS (Excolo): (Company says: An utterly feral, thoroughly rousing perfume. Red patchouli sweetened by orange blossom).

In bottle: Strongly orange blossom dominant grounded by a hint of sexy patchouli, This is lovely, but there is no chance of this working on me. Iof you love orange blossom, this is your scent.

Ordered:
13 December 2013 (Thirteen, LE): (Company says: Coconut-infused white chocolate swirled with a mélange of New Year’s blessings: smashed pomegranates, a slice of vasilopita, black-eyed peas, rice wine, a bunch of leafy greens, twelve sweet grapes, buckwheat, almond cookies, and glazed doughnuts.

In bottle: The Internet tells me vasilopita is a king cake, but recipes vary pretty wildly, so I’m going to lump it with the other baked goods under “cake.” This fragrance is fascinating. The strongest notes are cake and white chocolate, with almond and coconut in support. The peas and greens are understated and ground the sweeter elements. The rice wine gives a touch of bite. The grapes and pomegranate fill out the baked goods with a juicer feel. Wet: The grapes, pomegranate, and wine are a bit more noticeable and the cake is now supporting a dominant whit chocolate note, with the almond and coconut more prominent, yet still in support. This is delicate, but interesting. Dry: Mostly white chocolate with some pomegranate and coconut tinged cake.

ANACONDA (LE, Act III: The Snake Pit) : (Company says: This was a gift with the purchase of the full Snake Pit set. No scent description is available.)

In bottle: (Aged sample). Cocoa and incense over Snake Oil, with sugar, probably nuts and extra musk, and maybe a touch of berry. The incense is strongest with cocoa second. Wet: Cocoa dominant with incense a strong second with musk and snake oil in general in third. It is less complex on my skin. As it warms the musk and insence move into first place. Dry: Incensey Snake Oil.

BLACK SNOWBALLS 2013 (LE Yule, BPTP): (Company says: For a very gothy Yule. Black licorice slurry with black currant, black fig, and mulberries..)

In bottle: Mulberry and black current dominant, richly juicy. The fig grounds it and the licorice gives it a bit of bite. This is deliciously designed, if you are looking for a dark berry blend. Wet: The current and mulberry differentiate more one the skin, but still work together beautifully. The berries are flatter and less juicy though still lovely. The fig lends it a gentle warmth. The licorice fades into the background. Dry: Fast fading. Mostly mulberry kissed with currant.

THE BURYING-GROUND 2013 (LE, Yule, Miskatonic Valley: The Festival): (Company says: Despair and desolation in a potter’s field: black soil and memories of screams on the pyre).

In bottle: Strong black soil with a hint of smoke. I suspect there is a touch of pine and/or moss in there. Wet: The smoke really expands on the skin, to the point it may be too much. Smoke dominant with soil in support. It really does smells like the remains of a fire in loamy pine forest. Dry: Fire i9n a pine forest after the rain. The soil is twined with smoke.

DEATH-FIRES DANCING OVER THE TOMBS 2013 (LE, Yule, Miskatonic Valley: The Festival): (Company says: Icicles and stone illuminated by unholy fire.)

In bottle: This is almost entirely the ozoney snow note that I prefer among the lab snow scents. There may be too much mint in this one for me, what with the cold stone being so delicate and there being so little it mitigate it. There is a sharpness I suspect represents “unholy fire,” though it’s also delicate and mostly lost in the snow to the point I’m not sure if it’s just part of the snow accord. Wet: Way more complex on the skin. There is now a strong evergreen note of some kind which is likely part of the snow accord. (Pine isn’t right. It’s one of the others in that family, I’m guessing). The mint in the icicle accord blends better here now that the evergreen balances it. The stone stays soft, but is more noticeable. There is some extra body to the scent now, an eleme3nt I can’t quite identify which might be the u8nholy part of the fire, so my in bottle guess might be wrong. Either way, this is pretty much the snow note from Death of a Gravedigger with some hints of other things. Dry: Snow Accord.

FOOTWORN STEPS LEADING INTO A DANK, SUFFOCATING CRYPT 2013 2013 (LE, Yule, Home & Linen Spray, BPTP, Miskatonic Valley: The Festival): (Company says: Maggoty with subterraneous evil: the scent of creeping deep green mosses, sweet rot, lantern oil, and sinuous incense drifting over dripping stone blocks, mushroom-moist soil, and crumbling mortar).

Review: Rather disturbing. The moss and rot pop first, but the soil quickly steps in as support of both, with stone and mortar gently tingeing it. The Lantern oil gives the rot a chemical tinge. The rot becomes dominant quickly, though the moss stays strong. Given enough time, the unsettlingly sweet rot backs off, letting the moss shine.

GO TO SLEEP DARLINGS 2013 (LE, Yule): (Company says: Kiss-soft clouds of spun-sugar snow.)

In bottle: This is lovely is a very pink sugary sort of way. It’s a tiny bit like play-do, but in a nice way. Pink spun sugar snow really is a good description. There is a touch of the snow note that works best of the lab snow scents for me, but it’s all about the sugar really. Wet: The sugar is still strongest, but the snow is a bit stronger and the mint in the snow accord does a dance with the sugar. There is something a bit plastic as a result. I loved this in the bottle, but my skin chemistry starts to curdle it to my great regret. Dry: Settles down to the spun sugar note with a kiss of mint.

HELPFUL CRONE 2013 (LE, Yule, BPTP, Nice Inquisition): (Company says: Enhance your Wise Woman cred with this combination of sage, shrewd oils. Herbs of wisdom, flowers of wit, and the comforting scent of the hearth: hyssop, oak leaf, acorn hull, elder blossom, three sages, and tobacco absolute, with kitchen herbs and raw honey).

In bottle: This is fascinating and surprisingly sexy. The sages are dominant with herbal support. The tobacco is second strongest with oak and accorn support, and is bringing and unexpected sexiness to it. The hyssop ties the sage and herbs to the tobacco in a graceful fashion. The honey is soft and smoothes the edges. The flowers are gentle and enhance the hyssop. There is a wildness and kitchen garden feel that combined suit the concept well. Wet: Very herbal on the skin. The herbs and tobacco are strongest with sage in support of the herbs, and the oak/acorn in support of tobacco. The unusual and delicate flower blend is stronger here, dancing wonderfully with the herbs, with the understated honey tying the whole blend together. This blends beautifully together and is evocative while being hard to pin down. I really like this. Dry: Really lovely. The herbal mix and the flowers twine gently around the hyssop, oak, and tobacco as it fades slowly down.

ICE PRINCESS 2013 (LE, BPTP, Yule, Bath Oil Spray): (Company says: Iced blackberries, blackcurrant honey, frozen white peach, and sweet vanilla cream).

Review: This does have a chilly feel to it somehow. It is mildly berry dominant, with a kiss of peach, smeared across a creamy vanilla canvass, gentle, but pervasive. I’d swear there is a touch of mint to lend a chill.

KNIGHT IN SHINY ARMOR 2013 (LE, Yule, BPTP, Nice Inquisition): (Company says: Gird your loins for battle with a cologne that will infuse you with an extra boost of bravery, chivalry, and gentlemanly wherewithal: dapper lavender fougere with white carnation, sweet oakmoss, clary sage, crisp leather, bourbon vanilla, and a hint of armor polish).

In Bottle: Surprisingly sharp. It is lavender dominant. The carnation gives it a characteristic floral spiciness that blends wonderfully with the lavender. The oakmoss gives it a darker masculine feel. The sage dances gently with the oakmoss and lavender. The vanilla sweetens the florals. The leather and polish are soft support for the oakmoss. This is complex and interesting. I love the use of the word dapper in the description, as this does have a dapper, yet chivalric feel. I am thinking of both Lancelot and Ser Loras, Knight of the Flowers. Wet: Oh god, where has this been all my life? This is so me! The Lavender remains dominant, but the carnation really pops as my skin warms it. The bourbon vanilla embraces the florals, enhancing them. The leather stays soft, but dances with the oakmoss, sage, and polish to create a counter balance to the brasher elements. This is beautifully balanced and surprisingly subtle. I think I’m in love. Dry: Mostly oakmoss and lavender fougere with a sharp hint of sage.

LADY FLEMMING’S GINGERBREAD 2013 (LE, BPTP, Yule, Home & Linen Spray): (Company says: Scent your home like a 17th century manor house at Yuletide! Warm gingerbread crafted with almonds, dates, aniseed, raw ginger root, and cinnamon).

Review: Strongly almond dominant with sharp ginger and smooth cinnamon in second. The cinnamon will edge ginger into third if you wait. Dates are strong support to the almonds. The bready part of gingerbread takes a little longer to assemble, but is well worth it eventually pushing ahead of the cinnamon. The anise seed is soft, but lovely. This is gorgeous as it settles.

A LOW CANDLE-KIT ROOM 2013 (LE, Yule, Miskatonic Valley: The Festival): (Company says: Candle wax and waxen “skin,” rotting leather and reeking damp wood, and the ashes of a yawning, cold fireplace.)

In bottle: This is weirdly delicious. The skin musk is strong. The wax note gives it body. The leather is soft, dancing in and out of view. There is a honey sweetness to the “rot” which is second strongest. There is a kiss of ash and stone. I really like this. It’s a honeyed, more dangerous cousin to Chanukah. Wet: The ash really comes out on the skin. The leather and the sweetness come together and become strong su8pport for the ash, with the skin musk bringing the sexy and the wax softening all the edges. It’s not like Chanukah on the skin much at all. Dry: Mostly leather with sexy skin musk and sweet wood in support. This really grew on me. I like it best after the ash burns off.

MOTHER SHUB’S PUMPKIN PECAN TREACLE ROOM 2013 (LE, Yule, Miskatonic Valley: The Festival): (Company says: Popularized by the reality TV show “Real Cultists of Arkham Hills”!)

In bottle: This smells pretty much as you’d expect. The pumpkin and treacle go together beautifully. The pecans give it some extra pop. The crust it a gentle background tying it all together. Wet: Oddly smoky on the skin. I think it’s the strengthened nut note doing odd things with the pumpkin and crust accords. This is strangely compelling. I am likely mis-parsing this, as happens to me with some accords, so YMMV if you have a more typical sensorium. I love the way the accord elements separate and recombine here. It does smell much more like pecan pie than in the bottle and it reminds me of the scent of colonial style fireplace cooking, as if Mother Shub was baking in a colonial fireplace and just pulled the pies out of the oven on one of those big paddles. Dry: The pecans have surprising staying power, I think because they are floating on some bitas of pumpkin accord and a lost fragment of pie. This blend fascinates me because it does so many weird things with my brain.

MOTHER SHUB’S SQUAMOUS SEA SALT CARAMEL 2013 (LE, Yule, Miskatonic Valley: The Festival): (Company says: Dusted with mineral-rich salts dredged from the foetid depths of the Nameless Sea!)

In bottle: Very sweet and surprisingly cherry. No really. This seems to be mostly cherry with a rich, caramel underbelly and a hint of salt. I am starting to wonder if there was some sort of decanting accident, though it could be a parsing error where my brain is masking accidental accords out of bits of the accords in the blend, which happens. Wet: I’m still mostly getting lots of cherry now with whipped cream. Now and then I can get it to resolve into salted caramel, so I’m thinking this is a scent my brain doesn’t parse well. It’s lovely when I concentrate enough to make it work, but mostly, it’s sundae toppings. Dry: Ah! There is the caramel. It’s gorgeous on the dry down and nothing like cherry at all. If it smelled like this to me the whole time, I’d be in love, but it’s a bit intense in the early stages.

OLD KETURAH ZADOK’S CRANBERRY CIDER 2013 (LE, Yule, Miskatonic Valley: The Festival): (Company says: From a 13th century recipe plundered from the vaults of the Zadok family’s cellars!)

In bottle: That is very much cranberry cider. The cranberry is strongest, a slash of bright red over apple fizz. Wet: It is extremely cranberry on my skin, with the fizz softer than in the bottle, which suits my taste. This is beautifully tart. Yum! Dry: Christmas spices and cranberries.

PURPLE SNOWBALLS 2013 (LE, Yule): (Company says: Sugar plum snowballs with a touch of currant and cardamom!)

In bottle: Minty snow dominant, supported by soft cardamom. The comfits are pervasive. The currants lend a soft juiciness. Wet: Mostly the snow note, mildly sweetened, with the mint and cardamom making a sharp green edge. I thought it might be to much at first, but it settles nicely given a few minutes. Dry: Minty snow dominant still, but the cardamom really pops on the dry down.

THE SPELL OF THE EASTERN SEA 2013 (LE, Yule, Miskatonic Valley: The Festival): (Company says: Sea salt, kelp, and twisting willows).

In bottle: A particularly salty iteration of the ocean note common in many BPAL aquatics, with dark green kelp and gentler willow lending the sea salt volume and depth. Wet: Much sweeter on the skin. The ocean accord breaks down so that bits of it do lovely things with the willow, while other bits join the salt and kelp to lend a hint of briny darkness. The willow really sings here. Dry: Mostly salty ocean, with a kiss of willow.

THIEVES’ ROSIN (RPG, Adventuring Gear): (Company says: Increases the chance of successfully picking pockets by 25%.)

In bottle: Pine resin with lots of musk. There is something woody and something like polish with a hint of the sweet. Wet: The dominant pine resin softens on the skin while the rich woody scent moves into mild dominance. The musk is one of the gentler ones, but rich enough to blend beautifully with the wood and rosin. I am now suspecting a touch of incense tying things together. This is lovely and on the slightly masculine side of androgynous. Dry: Fast fading to wood with a touch of rosin.

WHISPERS OF MONSTEROUS THINGS 2013 (LE, Yule, Miskatonic Valley: The Festival): (Company says: Yellowed fragments of vellum and parchment scrawled with unnamable horrors invoking ghastly abominations: decaying papers and moldering leather with sickly-sweet tonka, inky musk, black sandalwood, black fig, sugandh kokila, and pimento leaf.)

In bottle: I have no personal experience with sugandh kokila, so this review is a touch speculative. I can think of no other blend like this. It’s unique and distinctive the pimento leaf and ink are sharp and strong, working together beautifully with what guessing is a partnership of sugandh kokila and vellum. There is a parchment spicy woody feel to that leads me to guess that’s what’s going on. The leather and sandalwood are soft support to that partnership. This fig is soft, and ties things together. I have no words to describe this fragrance properly, but am mesmerized. Wet: Even inkier on the skin. The pimento leaf separates out and softens, though it still plays beautifully with the ink, paper, and woods. It is more steampunky now, with an industrial edge to it. The vellum strengthens, moving to second strongest behind the ink. I think I like it better in the bottle, but I love the old library feel of this, with the woods forming shelves for the scrolls, and leather bindings of old books. The fig winds sinuously through. Dry: Mostly ink and the woods, with a touch of parchment.



Winners: Knight in Shiny Armor, Lady Flemming’s Gingerbread
Runners Up: Black Snowballs, Helpful Crone, Anaconda, Thieves’ Rosin, Old Keturah Zadok's Cranberry Cider, Whispers of Monstrous Things

Comments

[tibicina]

When I come up in January, I'll try to remember to bring you imps of the charity scents.

[gwydion]

Yay!