Blooddrop: Broomstick review

Again, part of the BPAL forum  haul I made a few weeks ago.  This one had been on my wishlist ever since I saw the description on the site: Sweet summer apricots, crisp early fall red apples, moist spice cake, clove and brown sugar. Just some of the things any good witch will have in her pantry!

I love anything fruity, and apricots are a special love - but they seem to be difficult to translate into perfume.  Broomstick succeeds with this admirably.   This is a very Autumnal scent, with the spices and apple, but the drydown on me is almost pure apricot love.  This one's going to get a lot of wear!   Definitely a keeper for me. 

Arcana review: Song of Songs - Honey and Milk

This was part of the BPAL forum haul I made a few weeks back.  I'm just now getting around to trying/skin testing/reviewing some of these because I ended up with a mild sinus infection.  One thing that can spoil perfume testing faster than anything I've found is any sort of upper respiratory problem - not only is my sense of smell not accurate, I usually don't even want to attempt wearing anything I don't already know I love.

Anyway - Honey and Milk is from the Song of Songs collection from Arcana.  The site description says: Honey and milk are under thy tongue.
The scent of honeycomb, sweet cinnamon, cream, emmer, nutmeg, peppercorns, and barley. 
Obviously, the quote is taken from the Song of Solomon in the Bible, whch if  you actually concentrate while you're reading, can be some pretty racy stuff! 

First sniff - I actually do get a whiff of mild peppercorn.  Interesting! 
Wet - mainly honey, milk, and a grainy smell that must be the barley.
As it dries, this morphs - One sniff I'll get the baked goods smell, the next, honey, and after that an almost-floral (I'm beginning to think my skin chemistry does really weird things to milk notes).   Once it's completely settled on my skin, it's mainly a honey/grainy/baked goods smell.  Not bad, and definitely a keeper.

Arcana: Comfort and Philtre #5: Embrace reviews

These are two more scents I bought in the great  BPAL forum haul.   Arcana's Comfort was actually an alternate selection because the seller had already unloaded my first choice.  But I found the notes for Comfort online, and decided to give it a try.

Comfort: The cozy, sugarcoated balm of holiday solace. Delicate yellow peaches and nectarines nourish the heart while French vanilla and creamy nutmeg bolster the spirit. 

I love most fruit smells, and I don't have many peach or nectarine scents, so this one got my attention in a hurry.

In the bottle, I get the peaches and nectarines and not much else....not that that's a complaint, mind you!
On me, wet - peach/nectarine and something almost minty.  Mint and I do not get along, but I'm hoping this stage passes quickly!
Drying - Oddly enough, this is like a combination of peaches/nectarines and ....evergreen?  It's not bad, but it is different!  I don't get the evergreen note except when I sniff my arm up close.  The throw is  pure peaches/nectarines.  And it is an oddly comforting scent...
Dry it's all peaches/nectarines.  Nice!

Arcana has several "scent sets" One of them is the Philtre collection, made up of  Amity, Adoration, Fetish, Consumed, and Embrace.  Embrace's notes are: Then you breathed my breath and slept against my fluttering heart. This sensuous formula is believed to induce delicious caresses and kisses without end. Three ambers, French vanilla, Bourbon custard, golden musk, sweet coconut milk, and a soft whiff of skin musk.

Well, anything that induces "delicious caresses and kisses without end" is a winner in my book, no matter WHAT it smells like!  (Not that I'll ever have to worry about lack of either of those with Chris around...).

In the bottle: Buttery vanilla! Yum.
On me, wet:  More buttery vanilla, but starting to catch the custard and coconut.  This one's luscious!
Drying - this doesn't morph much.  Vanilla, coconut, musk, amber....definitely a keeper!  I'm actually thinking that this and Comfort might be good layered, since the vanilla never came out to play with Comfort.  This one is a foodie lover's dream.

I shouldn't even have to add this, since I've already clearly disclosed where I acquired these scents, but:  As always, I was not compensated in any way, shape, or form for this review. 

Scent ramblings

So, I've been thinking...(I know, dangerous, right?)  I'm already getting comments like, "But how much perfume can one person wear?"  and "Do you really wear all that much perfume?" and I was starting to feel bad, especially when I realized...
The perfume thing really never ends, does it? I was thinking that once I got the rest of the BPAL GC's (General Catalog scents, those that are available all the time, barring component issue discontinuations), I want (and there really aren't that many) I'd be "done" except for seasonal updates. Riiiight. Add in seasonal updates from about six other companies and it becomes never-ending. I give, I give, you've got me for life!

Well and there's still GC's from some of the companies too, like Blooddrop, who has a few GC's I want, and the people over in the "Other Perfumes you Love" thread keep trying to talk me into trying Nocturne Alchemy (they have some foodie scents that sound divine), and if something happens with Conjure Oils so the TAT will be reasonable,  there will be a bunch of those I want. And of course there's my never ending attraction to Villainess. And Haus of Gloi, and Haunt, and Moxie Nouveau, and Arcana, and Midnight Gypsy.   Except for Villainess and Conjure Oils, each company only has a few I want, but multiply that between numerous companies and it starts to add up!

I am seriously going to have to save up for that perfume chest, I guess... I wonder just how long perfume oils last if kept dark and cool? I know Snake Oil is good for at LEAST seven years.

You know, though - I'd feel bad if I didn't WEAR them, but I wear everything I have except the bottle of Purple Swallowtail that's up for swap. If I don't love it, I don't keep it. I rotate - usually wear something different every day. And it's now to the point that I don't feel "dressed" without perfume on. Actually no, it's worse than that. Even on days I don't get out of pajamas, I will put on perfume.

I guess when student loans start coming due I'll have to budget differently, but I'm pretty sure I can manage at least one bottle per paycheck.

After discussing the whole issue with Chris, and he is saying that he isn't seeing the problem, I guess I can stop worrying about it. 

Violette Market reviews: White Ghost Pumpkin and Golden Autumn

Though of course as an active member of the "Other Perfumes You Love" thread at the BPAL forums I've heard a lot about Violette Market, this is the first opportunity I've had to actually try anything of theirs.  So I was excited to snag White Ghost Pumpkin from the Diablo Canyon Autumn collection, and Golden Autumn from the Hallows 2009 limited edition releases with my etailer forum haul this week.

Since there were only two VM bottles and two scents are all I can efficiently test without confusing my nose, I'm going to do these reviews first.

White Ghost Pumpkin was one of this year's Diablo Canyon releases that I was most intrigued by. However, I never got around to ordering it, so I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to get it on the second hand market.

(Oh, and I'm back to testing/applying with swizzle sticks...I am already out of wandcaps). Which doesn't have anything to do  with anything else except that I find it amusing.  Or slightly scary, considering how many wandcaps I JUST bought.)

White Ghost Pumpkin's description was:  Glows and haunts, neighbors and unsuspecting visitors! Gives off a nostalgically sweet smell of warm rice milk, creme, and newly-plucked gray mini pumpkins.

Sniffing the bottle I get rice milk and creme.
On but wet, a sort of floral note shows up.  I'm assuming it's supposed to be gray mini pumpkin?  As it dries, though, the rice milk and creme show back up (thankfully!), and the almost floral goes to the background.  I'm getting no traditional pumpkin smell at all.  Don't get me wrong, it's nice - but it's definitely not what one would expect from a pumpkin scent.  It reminds me a bit of squash blossom, actually - which would be appropriate, I suppose.
This one morphs sort of like Haus of Gloi's Troika.  One sniff I get creme and rice milk, the next I get that floral-y scent.

Golden Autumn's description (found online) says: The yellow hues of the season, especially the leaves. Aged golden amber, vanilla, yellow and brown leaves dried in the cool afternoon, and autumn spices.

Out of the bottle I get autumn leaves and the spices.  There really is sort of a "cool afternoon" vibe going on.  How does she do that?
On but still wet, still getting a ton of spices (and not just cinnamon either, which is nice). Hopefully the amber and vanilla will come out to play...
Dry: Ah, there's the amber and vanilla. I really like this.  A very yummy blend of golden and spice notes, plus vanilla.  I can see this one getting a lot of wear.

Next up - Arcana reviews.

Forum etailer haul!

Sorry about radio silence but things got a bit busy.  We had people over last weekend, but other than that, things have been fairly boring, even if busy.

As I have mentioned numerous times before, the BPAL forums have a lot to answer for. One of those things is the very active sales and swaps threads.  This week, a forumite was doing a massive destash of etailer (code for "not BPAL"), perfumes, and was running a 3/$20 deal. For bottles that run anywhere from $12 to $16 apiece normally, that's pretty good, so I pounced. And then she lowered it even more, and I ended up getting NINE bottles of perfume from her.  Almost all of them were on my other etailer wishlists, so I was a very happy camper.  The haul got here today - bottles from Blooddrop (which is fast becoming one of my favorite non-BPAL perfumeries), Arcana, and Violette Market, (and these bottles are the first I've tried from VM).

So there will be a ton of reviews in this blog's future. Not all of the scents are new releases from the etailers, of course, so there are probably other reviews of them out there, but I've noticed that sometimes reviews for older scents are hard to find as well, so hopefully my reviews of them will help someone out who might be trying to decide on a purchase.

Haus of Gloi reviews: Troika and Twice Is Nice

I had been wanting these two for awhile - apparently my foodie fetish is lasting. For someone who said they didn't like foodie scents when I first got into perfume oils last year,  I sure have and enjoy a LOT of them! 

Twice Is Nice: Sweetest offerings of opulence! Buttery sugar cookie, with shavings of creamy coconut and topped with toasted almond slivers!

Indeed, in the bottle this is sheer butter cookie.  Yum.  As it dries, I get butter cookie with a just a touch of coconut and some almond.  I was slightly concerned about this one, after the almond note in Dana O'Shee turned to fake cherry on me.  This one doesn't seem to be doing that, thankfully.  It's just coconut/almond/cookie.  

Troika:  A trinity of soft milks, almond, oat and coconut, lashed with sweet agave nectar and the ethereal scent of clean white.

Well, it's definitely not what I was expecting....In the bottle, I get a creamy "white" note, but there's definitely a floral in there. This is NOT a foodie scent at all.  As it's drying, I get more floral and less milk.  No coconut, oat, or almond to be found, just a white floral.  When it's dry, the milk notes come out more, it sweetens up a lot, and the floral moves more to the background.  I have lots of scents with a vanilla cream note, and fortunately it appears milk and cream notes don't go "sour" on my skin, as I have seen people say happens to them in some reviews.  I think I was expecting more milk and less clean white with this one, but it's growing on me....When completely dry it finally is nearly all sweet milks with just a touch of that clean white floral.   This is nice and light and clean - not foodie, but still very nice!

Haus of Gloi is still batting a thousand with me.  Even though so far Troika is my least favorite of the bunch, it's still definitely a keeper. 

As always, Matt and Britton of Haus of Gloi don't have a clue who I am, other than a random customer, and I was not compensated in any way, shape, or form for this review.  

More misc. ramblings...

Since this blog is in danger of going "all perfume, all the time" (not that there's anything WRONG with that, mind you!), I thought I'd treat everyone (all two of you), to some miscellaneous ramblings about other things going on.

My beloved Chris got a wild notion that he wants to rearrange the kitchen (again).  We just did this last year, when we added the two wire racks that are the best thing since sliced bread. If you have wall space in your kitchen (I know, most modern kitchens don't),  let me tell you, these serve a multitude of storage purposes and even look pretty darn cool.  We have two, and they're currently used for hanging my copper bottom pots and pans, storing electrics, (food processor, bread machine, crock pot), Chris's coffee paraphernalia, and spices/flour/sugar; among other things.  However, due to the (relatively) new fridge, which now lives in the dining room, the dining room is horribly crowded. And with the nearing holiday season when we might actually have people over (gasp), something's got to be done about that.  Chris's idea is to put the fridge in the spot where it was originally designed to go, which is next to the stove.  Historically, my objection to this was that the stove gets hot and the fridge is supposed to stay cold, and putting the two next to each other made no sense.  However, after testing with the stove going full blast (hot oven), we found that our stove is new enough to be well insulated enough that the sides stay cool.  Sooo... looks like this weekend's project is well started!  I've already moved the pantry cabinet and the rack that was where the fridge is going.  But I think after looking at it again, we're going to have to switch racks, and put the taller one next to the stove, so I can have the shorter but sturdier one to put the microwave on, since the microwave stand won't fit in the new arrangement, so we'll end up moving it to the dining room to serve as Chris's coffee station.  It makes sense when you look at it, really!  This will entail switching racks for a lot of stuff, like my pans. 

And now, for something completely different:  I'm now watching more TV than I've watched in probably over a decade.  Glee, Merlin, Nashville, Downton Abbey, Sherlock, Bunheads, Smash....even I am having a hard time believing it.  Even more oddly, I'm enjoying it (well, obviously, or I wouldn't be doing it). I think part of the reason is that I actually have the time now - no kids at home, no school, only working part time. 

New release Tuesday is next week.  November holds myriad goodies, not least among them a new Shirley Rousseau Murphy Joe Grey book, a new Sister Jane entry from Rita Mae Brown, a new Dresden Files title, and the latest from Kevin Hearne's Atticus and Oberon.  All those are at the end of the month, so a little bit of a wait, but the first of the month is no slouch either, with new entries in established series by Cricket McRae, Livia J. Washburn, Kate Collins, Elaine Viets, Ali Brandon, Elizabeth Lynn Casey, Rhys  Bowen, Betty Hechtman, Lee Hollis,and Laura Childs, among others.

And lest y'all think I've gone cold turkey on the perfume - nope.  Received a bottle of Haunt's Star and Thicket today that I hunted down on LJ because I didn't want to wait until it comes back next spring.  I'll write a review on it later, but just let me say it's delightful.  I also got Troika and Twice is Nice from Haus of Gloi (with exceptional turnaround time), that I've yet to skin test, but sniffing the bottles tells me they should be winners (like everything else I've gotten from Haus of Gloi).  Reviews will be forthcoming for those too - probably this weekend.

Haunt! Palmist and Fates reviews

 Haunt is a new company for me.  But when she had her Halloween sale, I found that she had added two GC's...Fates and Palmist.  And I had to try them, even though both list the dreaded patchouli as an ingredient.  This company does things a little differently from most of the others I buy from regularly.  Her seasonal sale stuff goes FAST - as in, sometimes only minutes.  But her GC's as far as I can tell, are available most of the time.

 Palmist:  blackberry and leaf, dark plum, wild violet, sweet patchouli leaf, sandalwood, vanilla orchid, and black spices.

Wet - sweet berries and plum, almost candy-like. Thankfully no patchouli in sniff.
Drying - Ohhh, violets.  I'm finding that the combination of violets and blackberry seems to be one of my favorites.  Still no patchouli, which is great, considering that the bottle even lists patchouli oil as an ingredient...Oh, this is good....
As this dries, it gets progressively less sweet and more dark. I still am not (thankfully) getting the BO/dirt smell I associate with patchouli, but I can tell that there is something in the background darkening up the scent.  Maybe a blend with patchouli I can actually wear??
 Dry:  Plum and violet...this is yummy!  Definitely a keeper and I am so glad I got a bottle! 

Fates: plum, pomegranate, davana flower, clove, cardamom, frankincense, patchouli, sandal heartwood, red musk, and bourbon vanilla.

In bottle:  Not as sweet as Palmist - pomegranate?  But it's not tangy, either.
Wet, on:  Yes, that's pomegranate...mmmm.  And vanilla...and red musk.
Drying: Here come the spices!  Definitely clove and cardamom. And ah, there's the plum.  Again, with this one, no dreaded BO/dirt smell that denotes patchouli to me.  This one is a bit of a morpher: one sniff I get plum/pom and the next I get spices.
It's drying down to mainly spices now, but every now and then I'll get a whiff of plum/pom and vanilla.
I don't like this one as much as I do Palmist, but it's still good, and still a keeper.

All in all, for a first experience with a company, this was excellent.  I also must mention her packaging: The little cloth (muslin?) bags she uses are adorable, and the included sample of Fright Night was in the smallest amber glass bottle with a cap that I have ever seen.  I didn't even know you could make glass bottles that small!

As always, the folks at Haunt don't know me from Eve, other than a random customer. I purchased the oils on my own, and I was not compensated in any way, shape, or form for this review.