Aaaagh! How did I get nearly two weeks worth of review notes piled up without making new posts? My mum is here for her yearly visit at the moment and she's gone to the casino for the afternoon so I'm grabbing the time while I can. I have just been flat chat with work lately and when I get home I'm too tired to do anything. I may not be back on track until after the end of the financial year when hopefully work will quiet down a bit.
BPAL Defututa -
Olive blossom, honey, smoky vanilla, cinnamon, jasmine, sandalwood and champaca flower.
There is nothing unique about this, but it's a really pretty honeyed white floral with a slightly spicy vanilla dry down. Sillage and longevity are quite high - it's one of those ones that will make you sneeze if you're prone to perfume sensitivity. 3/5
BPAL The Lights of Men's Lives -
The wax and smoke of millions upon millions of candles illuminating the walls of Death's shadowy cave, some tall, straight, and strong blazing with the fire of life, others dim and guttering.
One of my first BPALs and stil one of my favourites - I don't know why I don't have a full bottle of this. It's a smokey honey scent that lasts for hours. I'm not generally a fan of honey perfumes but I do tend to like BPAL's. 4/5
Paintbox Soapworks Tw*twaffle -
Buttery waffles, black cherries, warm maple syrup and shame.
I wanted so much to like this, but it just smells too synthetic. It's really strong too - it gave me a bit of a headache. The cherry note (which smells a bit almondy) is overwhelming and gave me a bit of a headache. Bummer. 1/5
Possets Custance (The Man of Law's Tale) -
Sandalwood combined with a drop of Oude infusion, a kiss of tobacco flower, and a light dusting of dry incense.
What I mostly got was incense, but it's not too heady and the tobacco flower seems to add a bit of floral to it. It's not one I'd seek out, but I quite liked wearing it on the day. 3/5
Possets 301-
Musk and cashmeran.
This is a really lovely, simple musk perfume. It doesn't change on me from start to finish, but it's comforting and warm and I enjoyed it a lot. It's quite strong and lasted most of the day. 4/5
Sarawen Girl on Fire -
Wild strawberries gathered from the forest blend with the comforting
scent of leather hunting boots, and in her hair a very faint hint of
sweet forest herbals.
In the bottle the strawberry smells a bit fake and cloying, but once applied it's actually lovely. It blends beautifully with the leather and the green foresty note, preventing it from being too fruity. Sillage was medium and it lasted about 6 hours or so. Really like this one - could be a full bottle. 4/5
Sarawen Scandal in London -
Feminine lilac and ylang ylang flowers blends with feisty dragonsblood
with a light hint of eastern sandalwood. A touch of Holmes' favourite
tobacco tops off this sultry floriental perfume.
Another Sarawen winner. I love me a floriental - they're probably overall my favourite kind of perfume. It reminds me a little of Givenchy Ysatis. The dragonsblood and tobacco add a smoothing element to stop it from being a full on heady floral. Nonetheless the sillage is pretty high making this more suitable for evening when you're on the prowl than knocking everyone out in the office. Love it. 4/5
Firebird Woodsmoke & Vanilla -
Spicy, smoky, resinous, warm and
sweet- with notes of frankincense and myrrh, fir needles, balsam and
cedar, on a soft base of vanilla and honey.
I have a few of these 'sitting by the fire' kind of perfumes and this one is probably my favourite. It smells like a bonfire out in the forest - I can definitely smell the fir. The vanilla stops it from being too strong or too masculine. It's warm and cosy and one of those ones to wear when you're snuggled up in a giant aran jumper. 4/5
BPAL Diary of a Lovestruck Teenage Cannibal -
A deranged darling, sweet and sociopathic! Clotted vanilla cream, pink
pepper, grapefruit, blood lily, red ginger, English pear, and
lemon-squeezed candyfloss!
I hate this perfume, I have had it for several years and have always hated it. I keep it because I love the name, though. I pulled it out for the first time in at least a year to try it because I though ageing might have improved it a little. Nope. It smells like vomited up canned fruit and turned cream. Gross. Still love the name, though.
1/5
Arcana Vulgar -
Dirty cherry with dark chocolate, vanilla-infused marshmallow, honey, pepper, patchouli and a hint of smoky bacon.
So for years I've been banging on about wanting a bacon-scented perfume. Now I have one, and guess what - smelling like you've been rolling around in your breakfast is not that great. The cherry dominates in the bottle, but once applied the bacon really comes out, and it's slightly sharp and acrid. There's a very bitter chocolate note that might be what's adding to the sharpness. The dry down is sweeter as the vanilla and honey come out and the bacon subsides to a faint smokiness. I could get to like that part of it but it doesn't last all that long. It had pretty much disappeared entirely within 3 hours.
2/5
BPAL Mad Kate -
Honeycomb, red currant, freesia, vanilla, rose geranium, thyme, and gardenia.
Honeyed floral - another pretty BPAL honey scent. The gardenia is the most dominant for a while, but the dry down actually smells like chocolate. Weird since it's not listed in the notes. The sillage is high before it dries down - that gardenia packs a punch. I like this, but I don't love it.
3/5
BPAL Saint Foutin de Varailles -
Beeswax, frankincense, dried rose petals, and a dribble of wine.
Again with that honey note! Somehow I seem to have collected a good number of BPAL honey perfumes and tested them all at the same time. Weird. This one is quite similar to The Light of Men's Lives, and come to think of it might be the reason I don't have a full bottle of that. The wine adds a bit of a boozy element to it though, so it's not exactly the same. Sillage is high and longevity is good - I wore this all day and could still smell traces of it on my wrist the next morning.
4/5
Darling Clandestine What Mandy Makes - What Mandy Makes is deep, vague, very
smoky, very potent, with undertones of Oriental musk. It has a cucumber
topnote, though there's no "cucumber" fragrance ingredient. The drydown
is smoky sweet. A perfectly unisex fragrance.
Cucumber always smells like melon to me - in the bottle and when first applied I smell melon. It's pretty and summery but it deepens quite quickly to a smokey musk. It's lovely would be perfect on either a man or a woman but it fades and disappears annoyingly fast. This is one to reapply frequently. 3/5
Days 161 to 173!
