BPAL, belatedly

[theleaveswant]

I've actually had these six imps sitting around for weeks and tried them all at least twice, just haven't goaded myself to writing about them. None of them make me desperate for a bottle, but neither did any of them lead to frantic scrubbing, and they're all things I can imagine wearing again at some point.

Arranged, as usual, from ~least to ~most favourite:

Hemlock (review thread; per BPAL copy "This infamous herb has a long, complex history: it has been used in spells of death and destruction, was a principal component in traditional witches' flying ointments, and was the poison used to put the philosopher Socrates to death. We have created a dark, profound herbal blend to personify and honor this wicked little plant.")
Mostly limes, especially on the opening. Picks up some floral/chalky on the dry-down, which I don't like especially but am not offended by (no stale antacids). The lime is actually quite lovely, and I rather wish it stayed like that. Would definitely not call it a "dark, profound herbal".

Mania (review thread; per BPAL copy "Screeching white musk collides with a howl of red musk, with sharp white grapefruit and pale strawberry leaf.")
Starts out aggressive sour-sweet-synthetic ("screeching", "howling" and "sharp" seem like fair adjectives) but calms down to musk framed by (not remotely natural) strawberry. Still candy-sweet, feels a bit like forced cheer, and too Lolita-ish for me to want to wear in public, but a fun accompaniment to household chores!

Nostrum Remedium (review thread; per BPAL copy "Black tea leaf, invigorating wasabi extract, sweetened by honey. Much despair and suffering can be prevented by the discreet use of Doc Constantine’s remedies.")
Soap, but a really nice soap. Soap that I would be quite happy to use. Gives me hope that not all honey-containing scents will go bile on me. Can't really pick out any individual notes, except to wonder if it doesn't secretly contain lime or lemon, but a "light" smell. Very much in the same category as Embalming Fluid and Whitechapel. The problem (or bonus, I guess, if you're not looking for something to last all day) with these scents is that my skin gobbles them up and they're gone to ghosts in a couple of hours.

High John the Conqueror (review thread; per BPAL copy "A fast-acting, powerful scent used to overcome adversity through positive means. Attracts wealth, prestige, good health, and enhances others’ opinions of you. Grants courage and steadfastness.")
Wet it's cherry cough syrup; dry it's a lot like Bess only gentler on the flowers and herbs, which I guess makes it mostly grape? Actual growing grapes, not "purple". There is something floral here, familiar enough that I ought to be able to name it but I can't. I can't say anything decisive about the blend's purported magical properties but it is certainly a very calm (and calming), confident smell--"stately", I feel, is an apt descriptor. I'd like to believe those qualities rub off on me when I wear it.

Horn of Plenty (review thread; per BPAL copy "Forces a change of fortune, helps overcome poverty and want, and helps attract prosperity, prestige and earthly bounty.")
The one I came closest to washing off, and I'm very glad I didn't. The first twenty minutes is cherry and tobacco, clashing extremes of sweet and bitter and both really strong (don't need to slather this one!). What I've been looking for with tobacco scents is "grandfather smoked a pipe when I was little" but what I've mostly been getting is "stuck next to a smoker on the bus". Fortunately the "cherry candy dropped in an ashtray" phase does pass, gradually, and gives up the floor to a creamy-sweet vanillaish thing (maybe tonka rather than vanilla? Don't know yet how to tell those apart) that might also be musk and almonds. It's performative femme in a confident, burlesque-performer-winking-at-the-audience way--too sweet/girly for me to wear every day but helpful when I need that kind of sexy-theatrical boost. Again, I don't know how effective the magic is, but the first day I wore it I had a really encouraging meeting with a custom knitting client, found the specific pair of Keen shoes I was looking for in my size and in my city at 60% off, saw a middle-school-aged kid(?) walking home(?) with a friend in a unicorn kigurumi (this was a Friday?), and . . . I think something else good happened but I can't remember what (I did say I've been sitting on these reviews for several weeks), so I'm pretty optimistic.

Burial (review thread; per BPAL copy "The Dark Side of Earth: deep, brooding forest scents, including juniper and patchouli. The scent of upturned cemetery loam mingling with floral offerings to the dead.")
Smells like a forest floor. Not "reminds me of", "smells like". Conifers, mostly, but also rot (damp musty wood, not corpses or compost buckets) and green living plants. It's like wearing hiking. Stays pretty consistent on my skin, too.