BPAL review: Silk Road

[telophase]

The worm going around hammered my workplace, and the network was down. Once I established that I couldn't do anything else without going online, I got sent home with the proviso that I keep my phone next to me in case they need me to come reboot the catalog server. XD And once I got home, I found that a BPAL order I got from someone at alchemylab last week was in. Whee!



This particular batch was four imps: Silk Road, Seraphim, Spellbound, and Peitho. I uncorked 'em all and Seraphim, Spelbound, and Peithos were all HELLO FLOWERS while Silk Road was herby, so I did Silk Road first.

Silk Road
BPAl description: From the Wanderlust collection. A panoply of cultural treasures, spanning the herbs, flowers, oils and balms of the Romans, the Byzantines, the Mediterranean, the Levant, Northern China, Eastern Europe, Iran, the Bulgar-Kypchak, Mesopotamia, the Crimean Peninsula, Anatolia, Antioch, and North Africa.


I'm a sucker for anything in the Wanderlust section, from that previously-mentioned sense of hiraeth (defined in this post). So unless it's got something that I know I don't like, I'll be willing to test it. And come on, it's the Silk Road!

In vial: Floral and herby. Rose? Well blended.

Wet: Herby. Vaguely familiar, but blended enough I can't pick anything out. Sort of a powdery note coming out, and there's that thing I called eau de putty in Grand Guignol, but not as obnoxious.

Dry:Fairly subtle on me. A light scent, yet sort of warm. The florals come back a bit as it dries, but the herbiness is still there.

Notes: Cat sniffed it for a while, then decided she didn't like it and walked off. It eventually settled into a nice perfume, which got a bit stronger after an hour or so. I don't hate it, but don't love it either. Hmmm. Growing on me, after another half hour. Maybe if I find someone selling a 5 mL of it for cheap, but it's on my acquire list behind Hellcat and Neo-Tokyo.

Comments

[i-smile.livejournal.com]

I am impressed all over again by your ability to pick out smells, dude. I tried one of those perfumes, and the only thing I could think of to describe it was "This smells like an antique writing desk, but in a good way." :D

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I feel like I'm making half of it up. XD And there's a point where I just have to go "light" or "warm" because there's nothing else I can say. I'm all "Er ... herby." It smells familiar and I expect I'd be able to ID it if I went through an herbalist's and sniffed evertyhing, but other than that, nope. :) And there comes a point when most of them smell like I've walked into a New Age shop, with the accumulated detritus of many and varied incenses over the years. XD

And I definitely won't be trying to find a bottle unless one throws itself in my path: 2 hours later, and there's almost no smell left.