A woman's perfume tells more about her than her handwriting. - Christian DiorUnrelated: I am sitting here with warm sunshine against my back, sipping Thé du Hammam by Le Palais des Thés (another Birchbox find), and I do believe I am approaching bliss.
SO! In my ongoing quest to SMELL ALL THE THINGS, I have some quick and dirty scent reviews to share. Most of them are from the BPAL
Labyrinth series, a partnership with Henson studios. The initial run is 5 scents, which I am hoping will grow because OMG my inner 15 year old is
desperate for something related to the ballroom scene. Or, you know, the Bog of Eternal Stench. Not that I'd wear it. I'd just want to
have it... because of reasons. Anyway!
Jareth:: Ethereal lilac fougere and gleaming leather with ti leaf, tonka absolute, white musk, and oudh. I made a point of not looking at the notes when I sniffed my decants-- I ordered them about a month ago, so it was easy to forget the particulars. What struck me about this is that it seemed like a hybrid of two BPAL scents I already love-- it had the sugary near-citrus dusting of Hungry Ghost Moon (which is odd, as I see no citrus notes, so it's probably the tonka playing tricks on my nose) and the soft, tea-stained musk of Dorian (which is probably the fougère, though I detected no lilac). It is entirely unisex-- one might even say seductively androgynous, which is fitting for a scent having to do with David Bowie. On my skin, it went sweeter, but always had a lovely woody base, which I assume is the oudh. There was no citrus. I forsee this being a bottle purchase. Delicious.
Hoggle:: Fermented pumpkin, brown leather, dust, tobacco leaf, and dark woods. When I cracked open my decant, I was like "HOLY WOW, this smells like Halloween." Looking back over the notes, that reaction makes perfect sense. The pumpkin is semi-sweet, but definitely spiced, and I do smell the dark woods in there, too. This is a scent that would not have been out of place in the Sleepy Hollow series, and I can see it getting a lot of play come Autumn. There's also a little bit of coffee-ness at play, though BPAL's coffee note is almost always cloying to me, and this, while certainly sweet, doesn't tip into the swap pile. I actually really like it. It would make a fantastic candle.
(It does not, however, feel like it should represent Hoggle, though, who seems like he'd smell like dirt and grass and patchouli and amber.)
Goblin Cider:: A dark, earthy ginger cider. This smells like the booziest apple cider known to man. Like, almost "someone threw some tequila in the apple cider" boozy. There's also a very sharp ginger note here. In general, BPAL's cider scents can be very hit or miss on me. I loved Lambs Wool and the cider scent from the Sleepy Hollow series, and Autumn Cider went cloyingly sweet on me. It's hard to tell one way or another what this one's fate will be. Some scents take a few months to settle and shift into their final forms, so I think I'll be re-testing this in the Fall.
Fairy Bites:: Osmanthus and raw honey with lavender, chamomile, white peppermint, raspberry, honeysuckle, thyme, bergamot, and Dracula orchid. Lavender is the predominant note here, but it's a delicate, herbal lavender tempered by chamomile. The white peppermint is somewhere in the background, giving this a very ethereal feel. A year or two I wouldn't have given this scent a second glance, but my newfound love of lavender has me reconsidering things, and I really like this. It, like its kin in the Somnium series, would make an excellent "getting ready for bed" scent on nights where you need a good, long, deep sleep. That said, I was a bit sad that the honeysuckle and raspberry didn't appear for me. Maybe as it ages!
13 Hours:: A scent of profound foreboding: dusty black stone, dried rosehips, black moss, and creeping ivy. It smells like a rich person's sitting room. Forreals, it does. The rosehips are leaning kind of lavender-y to me, but I do smell ivy and, through some devil-magic, stone. I was afraid this would go to powder and icky florals, but it doesn't! It's actually very calming and pleasant. It would be an excellent rainy-day scent or would work even better as a room spray. No foreboding detected.
My other scent discovery of late has me shaking my head and wondering just exactly what is wrong with me that I am considering dropping $55 on a 1oz perfume "petite" bottle.
Atelier Cologne's Orange Sanguine Absolue is amaaaaaazing. I'm not one who usually reaches for citrus scents, but I have worn my sample of this (obtained through Birchbox) three times this week. It's so bright and happy. It smells like sunshine. Well, the actual notes are blood orange, bitter orange, jasmine, geranium, amber, tonka, and sandalwood. On my skin, it is the most glorious semi-sweet blood orange with a woody base and I LUFF IT. It is like summer in a bottle, minus the ubiquitous coconut sunscreen. To repeat: I LUFF IT. I think I might cave eventually. Maybe if the VFMA show goes well.
