The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is being tested today.

BPAL describes it as such: After these things, surveying the entrances of the north, above the mountains, I perceived seven mountains replete with pure nard, odoriferous trees, cinnamon and papyrus.

From there I passed on above the summits of those mountains to some distance eastwards, and went over the Erythraean sea. And when I was advanced far beyond it, I passed along above the angel Zateel, and arrived at the garden of righteousness.

In this garden I beheld, among other trees, some which were numerous and large, and which flourished there.

Their fragrance was agreeable and powerful, and their appearance both varied and elegant. The tree of knowledge also was there, of which if any one eats, he becomes endowed with great wisdom.

It was like a species of the tamarind tree, bearing fruit which

resembled grapes extremely fine; and its fragrance extended to a considerable distance.

I exclaimed, How beautiful is this tree, and how delightful is its appearance!

Then holy Raphael, an angel who was with me, answered and said, This is the tree of knowledge, of which your ancient father and your aged mother ate, who were before you; and who, obtaining knowledge, their eyes being opened, and knowing themselves to be naked, were expelled from the garden.

Whiffs of cinnamon bark, almond, and spikenard surround a perfect fruit, whose scent is akin to a tamarind, with the grace of a fine grape, as warm and rich as a fresh fig, glistening red like pomegranate seeds, and as crisp as an apple.

In the bottle: Has that sort of nice, pleasant, overly floral scent. Definitely smell the apple and pomegranate.

Initial use: Sort of smells like a Pier 1 store. It's that weird incense-y, figgy smell that I'm pretty sure they all have. Kind like all the candles' scents at once.

Fifteen minutes: Still kind of a jumble of scents. The cinnamon and spikenard are very strong, but there's not too much of the grape, apple, or tamarind. It's a very warm scent. Very warm. Like, that sort of cinnamon-Christmas warm scent.

Drydown: I can't smell the rest of this without getting a headache. It's pleasant enough, but it's like being in a candle store for more than half an hour.

Verdict: SWAP. It's pleasant enough, but definitely doesn't mesh with my skin chemistry.

From BPAL's website: "It is not well, therefore, to mourn long for the departed; else Grief, whose sole pleasure is in such mourning, will be quick to send fresh cause for tears.

Inconsolable: lily of the valley, hyacinth, calamus, muguet, hydrangea, and elemi."

In the bottle: Muddled, but they got the emotion down pat, which is interesting given that most scents don't usually have an emotion for me. Hard to tell scents, though there is a sharp note of lily of the valley and a bit of ozone that chills things down considerably.

Initial use: Brings to mind a heavy floral spray at a funeral - smells strongly of lily of the valley. It is slinky and elegant, but at the very heart of it is sadness and grief. How do they do that? Based only on use now, I'd keep it. I really like this scent.

Fifteen minutes: It's dried enough that the main scent is lily of the valley. It's not quite as evocative as it was on initial use, but it's quite subtle. Somehow, there's a spike of ozone that I'm not sure where it was hiding.

Thirty minutes: After time enough to warm up, there's more than just the lily of the valley. I can smell dew-scented hyacinth and rain-drenched hydrangea, and a clean lemon note. I think this might be the elemi (it's another resinous thing). As it stands now, I really like this. It is gentle and feminine, and furthermore, I really like it.

Forty-five minutes: Strangely enough, it smells more like the in the bottle scent than it ever did. It's complex, floral, and still incredibly feminine. I normally don't like overtly feminine fragrances, but I like this. The base notes of calamus are intertwined with the lingering lily of the valley (which I think is the quicker-drying top note) and the hyacinth and the hydrangea play nicely with each other. (Upon doing my research, muguet is nothing but more lily of the valley, hence explaining things with scent a little bit.)

One hour: The scent is fading, but the last notes to linger are a hint of lily of the valley and a bit of the elemi and the calamus. It is sweet, but not overly so. It's still pleasant.

Verdict: Keep. It is pleasant, but I'm not entirely sure it's me.

I'll have to redo Pele fairly soon - it was overpowered by Leanan Sidhe not wanting to get off my skin.

Onto Venice.

From BPAL's website: "A complex, voluptuous scent that captures the robust beauty and of the Italian Renaissance: lemon, red currant, wisteria, red rose petals, heady jasmine, Florentine orris root, waterlily, red sandalwood, violet plum, and violet leaf."

In the bottle: the jasmine and the wisteria blend together beautifully. Can smell hints of the other oils, with a bright spike of lemon at the end. Can't really smell the roses, which I'm a little disappointed with, but eh. (I like roses. They make me happy.)

On initial use: The orris root really darkens the otherwise overly-sweet jasmine, and I'm reminded by large commercial perfumeries coming up with similar scents. It's neither masculine nor feminine on initial use, though, I suspect that might change. The combination of scents is crazy. I still get the lemon spike at the end, and I really like it. It's not crazily overbearing.

15 minutes later: Venice becomes a lot more delicate as time wears on, and it's almost like I can smell a bit of sweet, hot sunshine with this. The spike of lemon isn't as strong as it previously was, but the jasmine/wisteria/sandalwood is still the biggest group of notes that I can detect at this point. Still quite nice and earthy, which I really like. Initial verdict is to keep to wear at events, but we'll see if it changes any.

30 minutes later: The rose is finally coming out to play, but they're not too terribly aggressive, but there's a hint of the orris root still. The jasmine has lightened almost completely. This entire time, I've been trying to figure out why it smells so familiar to me and now I remember why. It reminds me of Johnson and Johnson's baby lotion, in the pink bottle. Same sort of scent, at least as I remember. (That, and I remember that my classmates used it in gym because it was cheap and it kept them from looking ashy.)

45 minutes later: The jasmine and wisteria play nicely with the roses, and the orris is a great binding scent. It's not an aggressive scent, at least on me, it's not. The Johnson and Johnson scent is mostly gone by now, but it's starting to give me a headache. It may be me sniffing my wrist every so often, but eh. There is a lingering sweetness that I'm not sure where exactly it's coming from but it's not overpowering the otherwise earthy "thing" that's going on.

1 hour later: The scent is still there, and on complete dry-down, is still fairly pleasant, if not a little boring. The orris and sandalwood are the last notes I've got, and by this point, I'm almost kind of sick of them.

Verdict: It's not as rich or decadent as I feel the Italian Renaissance was, but I do think it's pleasant. It's still nice, but I'm not sure I want to hold on to this one. If Leanan Sidhe is a trade without regrets, this one is a hesitant trade, though I'm not sure I would go out of my way to buy it for myself. It's earthy, but a little too floral at the same time, and it might be okay for events, as it has that "feel" of history about it. I'll have to see what it smells like on my mom.