#just weirdly collecting dried citrus fruit

[fazcinatingblog]

My actual conversation: so my Nana picked Collingwood when she was a kid, I'm not sure why, I mean Sophia picked Collingwood because she was born in Collingwood and I think grew up that way and then she stayed with Collingwood her whole life even though her brother always switched teams---- wait oh no why am I talking about Sophia's life, this is meant to be about my Nana and

[residualnotes]

Mini Reviews - BPAL’s American Gods Waves I and II

So far, there have been two waves of American Gods-inspired scents from BPAL. I've been reading the book and got very excited for the show and perfumes coming out. I jumped on both waves of the release, going in with a friend on the scents. Ajevie, of course, decanted these, and most (except Believe, which was backordered) arrived at my door about three and a half weeks later.

They've had about two weeks to settle, and so here are my early impressions of these. My friend took a few of them off my hands before I could really swatch them, but I've swatched most of them:

America's New Gods - Scorched wires, silicone, tar, chlorine, wax, rubber, and exhaust. I was freaked out by these notes. It’s very … chloriney on first sniff. Mostly, this smells like cleaner.

Becoming Thunder - Skin musk and 20-year aged frankincense, a sprig of asphodel, a spalsh of soma, a lightning streak of sharp ozone, and a stream of ambrosia. This is another scent my friend took from me; it was musky and a little (but not overly) sweet.

Believe  - The heart of the land: roots plunging ever deeper into thrumming black soil through the graves of faith, disillusion, and skepticism. This hasn't come yet, as it was backordered. It should be arriving to me sometime this week.

The Best Lies - Sugar-swept honey and rose. Ah yes.. .BPAL honey and rose. Since I amp honey, the honey is overwhelming the rose here :(

Bilquis - Honey, myrrh, lily of the valley, rose otto, fig leaf, almond, ambrette, red apple, and warm musk. This was one my friend wanted. I did not skin swatch this, but it was a warm, honey/rose blend that smelled fairly spicy and sweet to me.

Black Hats - Gunpowder residue, patent leather, pomade, and aftershave. I smell some leather and gunpowder/gray musk. It's not unpleasant. On skin, it's a bit smoky with a sweet undertone very reminiscent of aftershave. After about fifteen minutes, it's strongly gunpowder/leather, which is too strong for me.

The Buffalo Man - Warm dark brown musk, woodsmoke, and deep pools of labdanum. Very dark 'brown' smell, very woody and harsh. On skin this becomes a little lighter, warmed by the labdanum.

Cigarettes and Offerings - Cigarette smoke overlapping with the resonance of long-forgotten incense. There's that smoke note again. It's not really cigarette so much as the unpleasant bacon-ish smoke note I dislike. But it's quieter on skin, with a sweet edge from the incense. After twenty minutes when this warms, it is amping the cigarette smoke now. It's overtaken any hint of incense.

Coin Trick - Glittering gold and silver, rolling over knuckles--concealed in palms--and pulled from the moon and the stars. This is a very bright scent. Without knowing the notes, I might have said it's amber with a citrus element. Honestly, it smells like a man's cologne almost, in the best way (to me). On skin it's bright but musky, if that makes any sense. This definitely has a warm but gold impression to the scent.

Eostre of the Dawn - Jasmine and honeysuckle, sweet milk and female skin. Lightly floral honeysuckle with a milky, sweet musk. This reminds me of nice/high end shampoo or lotion. I will say it leans a little baby powderish at points as it dries down.The jasmine comes out stronger on skin. The throw is pretty strong here as it warms. Now it's more an even jasmine/honeysuckle. Very floral and nice.

For the Joy of It - Whiskey, mead, honey, gold, sweat, and blood. Rather pungent, sweetish. I'm smelling the honey very strongly, and (most oddly), this reminds me of bubblegum and/or bananas. Very odd, and I feel like my nose might be broken except my friend said the same thing as we sniffed this. On skin, I don't smell any of the notes actually in it, but it has a weirdly sweet yet slightly woody scent underneath it. After twenty or thirty minutes, this is oddly spicy--I think the honey tempers the whiskey. I don't really get any 'blood' or 'sweat.

Glass Eye - The depths of Mimisbrunnr: mugwort and frankincense, grey amber, and ash. Bleh. Something really strong up front that smells like cleaner/medicine. On skin it becomes even more unpleasant to me, smelling like a cough drop. I wonder if it's the mugwort. The weird cleaner/medicinal quality to this stays.

The Ifrit - Desert sand, red musk, blackened ginger, dragon's blood resin, black pepper, cinnamon, and tobacco. Very red/sweet in the vial. Reminds me of red gummy candy. I don't really get dragon's blood here though. Finally after an hour or so, the gummy quality/sweetness dies down and I get a red musk.

The Jeweled Spider - Cigarillo smoke, spatters of ice cream sundae, a supersized mug of coffee, a pile of fruit, and a little bit of curried goat. This is weirdly sweet ice cream/coffee. I think… there is probably some curried goat in there which gives this a grounded scent instead of being just pure sugar. It's very odd because this smells like nothing I've smelled before but it's undeniably foody somehow. My nose/stomach is very confused.

Laura - Violets, upturned earth, mothballs, formaldehyde (mixed with glycerin and lanolin, and the memory of the taste of strawberry daiquiris suspended in twilight. A sniff of this is all strawberries with…something… underneath of it. Sniffing closer on skin, there's definitely something underneath of the strawberry, although the strawberry itself is very pure (not sugary at all). After a few minutes on skin, this is sort of medicinal/mothball-y, I think. In about half an hour, this is an oddly biting but light floral.

Low Key Lyesmith - Black clove and cassia flung onto glowing cinders and mingled with slow dripping poisons. I get mostly cinders that burn my throat a little bit. This is bitter and dark. I think this is supposed to be clove, but on my skin it's just extremely bitter/burning ash. After about five minutes, this burn dies off and I can smell the clove a little bit. Then it's just clove clove clove. It's kind of bitter on me.

Mad Sweeney - Barrel-aged whiskey and oak. Weirdly sweet…something. I think that's supposed to be whiskey without the alcoholy tinge. On skin this definitely is more whiskey/oak.

Mama-Ji - Spices, cardamom, nutmeg, and flowers. I didn't skin test this, but I remember it just being very warm and spicy. This is one my friend ordered.

Media - A news anchor's cologne, a soap star's perfume: perfect, pixelated, and glamorous; aglow with cathodes and anodes, coated with phosphor. This actually smells very mainstream, florally and clean, like good shampoo/conditioner. I very much like it, but I feel like I've had many mainstream scents like this before. I see why they describe it as having a phosphorous/glowing quality, because it's very warm and bright.

Mister Wednesday - Sleek cologne, the memory of a Nine Herbs Charm, gallows wood, and a splash of Whiskey. I don't really know with this one. It smells like something bright and crisp to me. On skin it's cologne with a little bit of wood. Overall, this is so soft with very little throw, like the memory of a man's cologne.

Mr. Czernobog - Unfiltered cigarettes, the leather and metal of sledge hammers, aortal blood slowly drying, and black incense. Another one my friend ended up grabbing; I remember this as a pleasant, masculine cologne with a bit of a smoky/incensey edge.

Mr. Ibis - Papyrus, vanilla flower, Egyptian musk, African musk, aloe ferox, white sandalwood.  Very light and clean in the vial. On skin, I get a sweet, slight floral with a little musk and aloe. It is beautiful.

Mr. Jacquel - Golden amber, hyssop, North African patchouli, and embalming spices. This is one my friend took. Sorry, but I don't remember it other than it was rather 'brown' and sour smelling to me. 

The Norn's Farmhouse - Dusty, ancient wood, horehound and sage with viper's bugloos, mugwort, chamomile, nettle, apple blossom, chervil, and ashes. Apple with a really spicy herb. It reminds me of something I've used in cooking… almost like a pickling herb. I don’t enjoy this, as it's almost … tart and lingers in my nostrils after sniffing. The unpleasantness dies away after thirty or so minutes, leaving something reminiscent of a food cellar.

Search Engine - Dark metal and sour grapefruit creeping over a field of bones. I don't actually have this one in my inventory; I'll have to see if it's somewhere in my bag or if my friend ended up taking it. I remember not liking it though as it was strange citrus over a gray musk (metal).

Shadow - Grey oudh and bay rum luminous with amber. Amazing amber. If Mr. Wednesday is the memory of an older man's cologne, then Shadow is the memory of a new boyfriend's cologne on a cozy flannel. I want to wrap myself in this forever. I actually am ordering a bottle for my SO to wear. It's that good.

Take the Moon - Silvered musk and lemon peel, white fir needle, frosted apple blossom, and mugwort. Lemony, almost in a medicinal way. On skin it's more tart lemon with a very slight apple. Over time, this amps to a pleasant citrusy lemon, very bright. I don't get other notes here.

Technical Boy - Vape smoke and burning electrical parts.  It's just what it says it is. Electronics with a smokey edge. This reminds me of Alkemia's Deus ex Machina. Very reminiscent of plastic. The plasticky/electrical parts scent loses its potency within an hour though, and is a little bit of smokey musk.

Zorya Polunochnaya - Pale amber and ambergris, gossamer vanilla, moonflower, and white tobacco petals. Light vanilla. It's beautiful. Hours later, this is pale amber and tobacco against light vanilla.

Zorya Utrennyaya - Sweet black coffee and a touch of ambrette seed. It is sweet coffee without any cream. I don't get any ambrette seed. It's not bad for a coffee scent, but it's nothing unique in my collection. This may have to do with where I skin tested, but this doesn't last very long at all (less than an hour).

Zorya Vechernyaya - Red musk and wild plum, orange blossom and jasmine, juniper berries, sweet incense, and vetiver-laced sandalwood. Sorry, but orange blossom is a BPAL death note of mine and I could smell it from outside the vial. My friend took this blend and I made her open it well away from me.