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. 

Wishes....

BPAL and Villainess and Conjure, oh MY!  In addition to my ongoing BPAL addiction, it looks like I've added Villainess and Conjure to the list.  Luckily for me, both of those places have smaller catalogues than BPAL.  I feel like I could go for years and not get through all the scents I want to try from Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs.

I think my next imp pack from BPAL will be:
 Bastet: "Luxuriant amber, warm Egyptian musk, fierce saffon and soft myrrh, almond, cardamom and golden lotus."
Brisingamen:  "A glittering mantle of rich golden notes: five ambers, soft myrtle and apple blossom, myrtle and carnation." (No, I don't know why myrtle is in there twice - it is that way on the site.)
Eat Me: (from the Mad Tea Party collection). "Three white cakes, vanilla, and red and black currants."
Eden: "This oil contains the innocence of the Garden, coupled with the Truth and Erudition found in the fruit of the Tree of Life: fig leaf, fig fruit, honeyed almond milk, toasted coconut, and sandalwood."
Obatala:  "Obatala's offrenda is soft, white, and pure: milk, coconut meat, shea butter and cool refreshing water."
Snake Oil: One of BPAL's cult favorites. "A blend of exotic Indonesian oils sugared with vanilla."
(All above scent descriptions courtesy of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab.)

As I've mentioned, I absolutely fell in love with the Leticia and Criminy oils I got from Villainess.  I was also highly impressed with their turnaround time.  They offer a sampler of six scents for $20.00, and it wasn't too hard to pick out six that I'd like to try.  So now I have a wishlist there for a sampler containing:
Blood:  "Our take on this very vital fluid is a full-bodied spiced Merlot grounded in dry fig and inspired by a ripe bouquet of berries"  I'm hoping the fig and berries overpower the Merlot, or that at the least, the Merlot isn't boozy smelling. Me and my oversensitive nose...
Decadence: "An indulgent vanilla - alcoholic, buttery and bittersweet with delightful undertones of tonka and coconut. Our favourite vice."  Are you seeing a trend in my scent picks lately? Yeah, me too. I seem to be really going for the vanilla and coconut.
Jai Mahal:  " A lesser palace infused with the sweet scent of victory. 4 rich vanillas and tonka, Mysore sandalwood, bourbon and coconut. Expensive woods, incense and imported spices - cedar, amber, myrrh, cardamom and nutmeg."   More coconut and vanilla...plus spices. Yum.
Killer Beez:" Sheer lethal cream and honey and a barely-there touch of nuts. Because you catch more bees with honey..."   Sounds good enough to eat. I'll settle for smelling, though.
Paradise Misplaced:  "Sweetly creamed coconut with touches of mango offset by crisp green tea."  And there's the coconut yet AGAIN.
Silk and Cyanide:  "Almond. Crisp, barely sweet, pervasive and altogether sinister."  Sometimes you feel like a nut...*grin*.
(Again, all the above scent descriptions obtained from Villainess.net.)

And then there's Conjure Oils. I haven't even received the Toby Daye sampler I ordered yet, and already I'm coming up with five new scents I want pips of.  (Pips are what Conjure calls the same 1/32 oz. glass vials that BPAL calls imps.)  I have it on good authority (Vajra, the owner's, via the company's Facebook page), that the Toby Daye oils should ship next week, though.
In addition to those, I've found:
The Light Queen:  "Her perfume is a love song to the Queendom and an ode to the simple things in life that make the ordinary extraordinary:  a long soak in a rose milk bath while sipping chilled champagne"  I'm hoping for light on the champagne and heavy on the milk...
Cyanide Crumpets and Nightshade Jam:  Now, who could possibly resist a name like that? Not me, especially when factoring in the scent description: "Toasted crumpets slathered in almond butter and seeded blackberry and nightshade berry jam."  
The Pernicious Parasol: "A cyanidic-inspired cocktail - cherry, plum and apricot are cloaked in black vanilla and slathered with bitter almond, tart green apple, d'anjou pear and the tiniest tinge of cassava."  I had to laugh reading this, it reminded me very strongly of Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series.
 Bastet: "Egyptian red musk, catnip and warm amber create the perfect perfume for this playful diva"  According to Conjure, Bastet is not only the Cat Goddess, which persona I was familiar with, but also the Goddess of Perfumery. I can't wait to see what the cats do with an oil containing catnip....
Nuit: "She births the sun each morning and reabsorbs it again each night. She holds the souls of the departed as the night sky stars that she holds in her bosom. A blackberry sky sparkling with vanilla stars, a cup full of celestial milk from the Cow, and warm Egyptian musk."  While I'm not attracted to celestial cows,  I am attracted to every note listed for this.  
(And yet again, all above scent descriptions obtained from conjureoils.com.)

If nothing else, I'll be the best smelling customer service representative in town....