Osmanthus, honey, golden musk, vanilla flower, and ginger.
Reviewed 03/20/2008
In the imp: I have no idea what I'm smelling, but it 'feels' golden. It doesn't smell particularly musky or floral or spicy or sweet.
Wet: Now there's floral notes. Something is making my nose twitch if I sniff too closely, maybe the ginger?
Drydown: I have such hit-or-miss luck with honey notes. Sometimes it's gorgeous, sometimes it turns into cat pee. Sadly, this is the latter kind. I really enjoyed this scent until about 45-60 minutes into the weartime, and then it turned bad. I probably won't be ordering a bottle of this before it comes down, but I'll hang onto my imp for use in my scent locket.
A stirring yet gentle perfume. The scent of love and devotion mingled with an undercurrent of heart-rending sorrow. A bouquet of white roses, labdanum, and wild orchid.
Reviewed: 07/07/2008
In the imp: Sharp, strong florals.
Wet: Sharp floral, an undertone of something soft and powdery.
Drydown: The sharpness has faded, and only the soft florals remain. This is pretty and feminine; it 'feels' very gentle and spring-ish. It has decent throw but fades relatively quickly. I think it would be interesting to put it in a scent locket and my skin at the same time, so that the locket would retain the sharpness but it could take on the softer scent on my skin.
Amber, cream accord, white honey, apple blossom, skin musk, caramel, and teak.
Reviewed 07/21/2008
In the bottle: Honey and apples. Mmm.
Wet: Caramel apples and soft amber. So far so good, the teak hasn't come out to play.
Drydown: The skin musk comes out and makes this much less foody. The apple and caramel fades out almost completely, but the honey lingers as a very soft sweetness. I get a hint of the teak at the very end of the wear, and it does give me a bit of the sawdust that most wood notes do on my skin. This fades out quickly, but has a good throw while it lasts.
The Moon of Ice shines its pale white light on snow-blanketed hills and barren fields. Icicles dangle from skeletal branches, and the desperate howl of starving men and beasts echo through the darkness.
Frost-crusted winter flowers, white pine, eucalyptus, and traditional lunar oils.
Reviewed 03/12/2008
In the bottle: I can't pinpoint what I'm smelling, but it smells like something I used to use to mop my floors. Very cleaning-fluidish.
Wet: This is so sharp and cold it almost hurts! I can definitely pinpoint the eucalyptus and something else herbal.
Drydown: After a few minutes this settles into something that reminds me of Jabberwocky. It's citrus, almost creamy, with a hint of flowers lingering in the background and a tang of eucalyptus giving it all an edge. It's got a light throw, but it lasts a long time. 12 hours and multiple hand-washings after I put this on I could still get whiffs of it if I lifted my hand to my nose.
I really didn't expect to like this, but I *really* do. I wish I'd gotten more than one bottle while it was up.
The Four Hundred divine rabbits of the Aztec pantheon that preside over parties and drunkenness. Bittersweet Mexican cocoa with rum, red wine, and a scent redolent of sacrificial blood.
Reviewed: 01/21/2008
In the imp: COFFEE!
Wet: COFFEE! It's screaming. I'm picturing someone hyped up on 15 espresso shots chanting coffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffee. It's nothing but coffee. If I liked coffee it would be wonderful, but I don't drink it and I'm not a big fan.
Drydown: This is still screaming COFFEE! at me. It's very in-your-face. Every now and then a swirl of booziness will bubble up, like someone trying to sober up after a long night, but only rarely. This would be perfect for the teacher my kid had last year who adored coffee and was a wine connoisseur, and I think I may pass this on to her for her birthday. It's very well done, it has a good throw and it lasts a long time, but it's just not for me.
Edited to fix spelling. Apparently, I need some of the caffeine from the coffee in this perfume. *L*
Sugar cane, blue musk, mahogany, black orchid, black currant, violet, blackberry leaf, teak, strawberry, and dusky rose.
In the bottle: Sugar, tart strawberry and currant, something herbal.
Wet: I get a boozy note mostly, and something under it that smells like...barbecue spices. It's not pleasant.
Drydown: This stays very dark and boozy. Whatever is giving me the barbecue impression sticks around too, with a hint of maple syrup added in. This is not good for me. One bottle will stay in the box to age and retest eventually, but one is definitely going to the swaplist.
Annihilation. The ice, desolation and barrenness of nuclear devastation shot through by a beam of radioactive mints.
Reviewed 03/21/2008
In the imp: Minty, but a different mint than the other minty BPAL scents I like (Snowblind, Tokyo Stomp, etc.)
Wet: This is a spicier mint than I'm used to, and it is amazing. I love this. YUM.
Drydown: This kept the spicy mint scent, but a tiny bit of greenness has come out under it, like the first little sprouts of grass peeking up through the snow. I want buckets of this, gallons and gallons of it so I can bathe in it. It feels so cool and fresh. I wish it had a bit more throw, but that might be my oil-drinking skin.
Deep mahogany and rich, velvety woods lacquered with sweet, black-red cherries and currant.
Reviewed 01/22/2008
In the imp: Cherries! Is this finally the so-juicy-it-makes-me-thirsty scent I've been dying to find?
Wet: Yummy, juicy, ripe to bursting cherries. Oh yes!
Drydown: Wait, what is this? I smell like...sawdust? Freshly cut wood and sawdust. It's very interesting, and quite well blended, but sawdust isn't really on my top ten lists of things to smell like.
Reviewed 07/28/2008
CXXXIII (133)
In the bottle: Chocolate maple syrup.
Wet: I smell like pancakes!
Dry: Pancakes and syrup, sprinkled with cocoa; not the burnt-sugar note of Sugar Skull. Light throw.
Verdict: Ultra-foody and yummy, but it's definitely a cool-weather scent.
Since 1928, Mother Shub and her brood have been providing the snack shacks of the Miskatonic Valley with a bevy of otherworldly sweets and baked treats. This year, Mother Shub has created a promotional perfume oil that embodies the scent of her famous Peanut Brittle Caramel Popcorn. Iä! Shub-Niggurath! Thank you for an eon of community support!
Reviewed 4/22/2008
In the bottle: Hot, dripping-with-butter popcorn.
Wet: Buttery popcorn, and a hint of sweetness coming out.
Drydown: The popcorn settles down and sweet caramel comes forward. I'm not getting anything peanut-y at all. The caramel note is amazingly real, and combined with the lingering butter it reminds me of fresh, homemade caramels being pressed into a buttered pan.
Fairly low throw, but decent wear length; I couldn't wait to get home and slathered some on right there in the post office after I picked up the package. That was about three hours ago, and it hasn't faded much at all despite the fact that my skin drinks oils for breakfast. I can't wait to try this in my scent locket tomorrow!
Hony mone, a term proverbially applied to such as be newly married, which will not fall out at the first, but th'one loveth the other at the beginning excedingly, the likelyhood of their exceadinge love appearing to aswage, ye which time the vulgar people call the hony mone.
Three honeys blended with seven fruits, flowers, and herbs of passion, pleasure, and joy: honeysuckle, fig, carnation, apricot, jasmine, tonka, and almond.
Reviewed 12/19/2007
In the bottle, bright golden honey with an undertone of almond and just the faintest hint of flowers in the background. I put it on and BAM. Pretty much instantly it became cat pee. I waited a while, hoping it would change again, but the only morph I got was overripe, almost rotting floral. Oh skin chemistry, how I loathe thee! I love honey scents so I will save one bottle and see if I can age the pee out of it, but I think the extra bottle I got may be swapped out.
Papaya, blueberry, lemongrass, and gin.
Reviewed 05/02/2008
In the bottle: Sugary sweet fruit, lots of gin.
Wet: A hint of sharpness from the gin, but mostly this is syrupy, over-sweet blueberries.
Drydown: I'm all about the sweet foody scents, but this was overkill while it was wet. Thankfully it calmed down as it dried, becoming lighter and less cloying. It's like a blue raspberry slushy, with a dash of gin, some fizzy club soda, and a twist of lemon. This scent is very summery and so much fun, and I got more compliments wearing it today than any other I've tried. It's got great throw, and it lasted all day long without needing to be reapplied.
Reviewed 07/28/2008
CXXXIV (134)
In the bottle: Very light, something green and a hint of vanilla.
Wet: Green and a light floral that reminds me of moonflower.
Dry: Light and springy, the floral note is being tempered by the softness of vanilla and possibly a skin musk. Very light.
Verdict: There's so little throw that it would be perfect for an office with scent-sensitive people. It's cool and light, like a spring day. Very nice.
A nocturnal bounty of fae dew-kissed petals and pale fruits: white grape, white peach, iced pear, musk rose, sweet pea, moonflower and snapdragon.
Reviewed 07/05/2008
In the imp: Pear and sweet pea, fairly strong. More floral that fruity.
Wet: Grape juice, a hint of peach and floral. The floral notes take a back seat to the fruits.
Drydown: Refreshing, clean, girlish and innocent. This is very well-blended, no one note takes over although I can definitely smell sweet pea, which happens to be my birthflower. This is a very different pear than the Haunted House '07 scents; those turned into play-doh on my skin, while this stays sparkling and fresh. I see this becoming a favorite summer scent. Medium wear length and it clings close to the skin with little throw, so the sweetness doesn't become overpowering on hot, sticky days.
Crystalline, glassy ice whipped by a snowstorm. Piercing ozone, winter darkness.
Reviewed 07/18/2008
In the imp: Light and chilly, with a hint of citrus.
Wet: Still light and cold, and I'm getting a distinct lemony scent. This is very nice.
Drydown: This reminded me a lot of Delousing Powder in the beginning, and I liked it very much. Unfortunately, after about half an hour this turned into very strong soap and gave me a headache.
Unreleased scent, no description
Reviewed 03/08/2008
I really wanted this to work on me because I love the concept. I don't know what my skin chemistry is doing, but it turned into cinnamon-spiced celery! What the heck?
Dark, decadent and incomparably exotic: the rich scent of buttered rum flavored with almond, bay, clove and sassafras.
Reviewed 07/28/2007
In the bottle and wet I loved this: spicy, strong notes of cloves and cinnamon with something buttery and creamy under it. Intoxicating, sexy, confident...and then it dried. *sigh* Dry, it turned into old-lady soap (or maybe old Avon perfume) with a hint of Big Red gum. It smelled like the inside of my great-grandmother's purse. The throw was strong enough that when it went old-lady on me I had to go scrub it off because it was giving me a headache. I tested this on my inner elbow, so maybe this will be different on my wrists or at another time of the month.
I tried it on my mister, and wet it was all cherry syrup. As it dried the spiciness came out, but the cherries held their own. Does this have a peppery note in it? It gave me a pepper feel. The butter rum never manifested. The throw wasn't nearly as strong on him, I noticed. Even if this stays Avon-ish on me, it'll be good for the rare times I can convince the boy to wear scent.
The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year. - Mark Twain
The Fool is many things, but rarely is he foolish. He is the inscrutable zero, he is innocence perfected, and he is the nothing from which all things are created. It is the Fool that reveals truth and brings wisdom to King Lear, and it is the Fool that finally finds the Holy Grail.
Huckleberry, white rose, tangerine, nicotiana, lemon blossom, and Fool's Parsley.
Reviewed 04/27/2008
Wet: Wow, that's a sharp herbal. Yikes.
Drydown: I'm getting the rose now, a hint of citrus, and a sweetness I'm guessing is the huckleberry. It's still grounded by a green herbal I'm assuming is the parsley, but it's lost that knife-sharp edge that I was getting before. This is definitely not what I was expecting, but it's very pretty and it lasts a really long time.
Medieval romance and courtly love. White rose and soft resins.
Reviewed 03/20/2008
In the imp: Flowers, but not roses specifically, and a hint of incense.
Wet: Now it's rose, a light, tangy rose with fresh greenery. There's nothing that says resin or incense anymore.
Drydown: This is my perfect rose scent. Not a touch of powder the way many roses go on my skin, light and fresh, simply gorgeous, never overpowering. It has a long wear time and a decent throw, which surprised me since it's such a light scent. I *love* this one, and I think it will become a mainstay of my spring scent wardrobe.
Snake Oil with cocoa, teakwood, and rice milk.
Reviewed 03/26/2008
I didn't sniff the imp of this, because I was nervous after reading the notes and didn't want to pre-judge it. I didn't read the reviews either. The teak note makes me nervous, wood goes to sawdust on me normally, and I've never smelled Snake Oil so I can't compare it with that.
Wet: No sawdust yet, thank goodness. It's mostly dark cocoa, with a hint of something like caramel. It's not sweet or foody though. It's complex, I can smell some other, spicy notes floating around but I can't identify them.
Drydown: This stained my skin where I put it on for a test patch. After about half an hour a sandalwood-like note came up and became very prominent, to the exclusion of pretty much everything else. It's very strong, and I'm not really fond of it. At the same time, a pounding headache came on. I'm not sure if they're related, but I had to go wash it off anyway. I'll have to test it again to see if the headache returns, but right now I'm not fond of this one.
A sweet and silly compliment to the first breath of Spring! Sugared carnation and phlox!
Reviewed 01/07/2008
I admit, I've been prejudiced against carnations. I found that I like some blends with carnations, though, so I was willing to give Pink Moon a try.
I really enjoyed the spiciness that I've come to recognize as BPAL's carnation note, but after that initial yummy spice it turned into pure play-doh on me the way Beaver Moon '05 did. One odd note about this one: my cats went crazy over it. Completely and utterly bonkers. They were fighting each other to get to the spot I applied it and wouldn't stop sniffing and licking it. I've never seen anything like it!
Hay absolute, tall grasses, dry honey, mallow, cardamom, amber, and wheat.
Reviewed 07/04/2008
In the bottle: This screams 'perfume'. I almost didn't want to try it.
On my skin: My grandfather. I can't even sniff for notes because this smells EXACTLY like my grandfather, the unique combination of his aftershave, soap, hair stuff, cologne, and tanned skin. When I smell this I see his face, it is *dead on*. My partner thinks this smells amazingly yummy and would love me to wear it all the time. It's lovely, but I don't think it's something I can wear because it makes me all teary.
Spectral white musk and the heart-stopping chill of sheared mint, fanned by caramel-touched body heat, and the diabolical sensuality of black musk, nicotiana, and sage.
Reviewed 01/03/2008
I got this as a frimp from the lab, so I decided to try it without looking at the notes beforehand.
This, on me, smells like vomit and cigar smoke. My arm smells like a bar bathroom at closing time. I don't know what happened between this and my body chemistry but oh, my dear gods. This is definitely going in the swap pile.
The NIGHTMARE TERROR of TEENAGE love gone GRISLY!
She's HELL-BENT on romance, THRILL-CRAZED, and HUNGRY!
There's NO ESCAPE from her clutches!
A deranged darling, sweet and sociopathic! Clotted vanilla cream, pink pepper, grapefruit, blood lily, red ginger, English pear, and lemon-squeezed candyfloss!
Reviewed 02/09/2008
In the bottle: Vanilla cake, a hint of something cherry-ish. Very foody.
Wet: Again, something cherry-ish, but that fades quickly. The grapefruit and lemon are in the forefront, with creamy vanilla swirling underneath.
Drydown: Sparkling, happy citrus. There is a bit of spice to keep it from going into the cleaning product smell. The cream seems to have blended in so well that I can't pick it out as a separate note but there is still a creamy feel. There's a short time when the pear note gives it a hint of play-doh, but thankfully it doesn't stay very long.
The pear in this gave me pause, but I still ordered two bottles unsniffed. I'm glad that I did, because it's fabulous. This is definitely screaming "Hoard me!"
Smut! Smut! Smut! Three swarthy, smutty musks sweetened with sugar and woozy with dark booze notes.
Reviewed 07/05/2008
In the imp: MUSK!
Wet: Wait, where did it go?? There's nothing, literally no scent at all. Did my skin eat it in the 15 seconds it took me to swipe, cap the imp, and sniff? How *weird*.
Drydown: Powdery, faintly spicy musk, with absolutely no throw. What little I do get smells like it could be very sexy but it disappears the moment it touches my skin no matter how much I slather. I have to practically drown myself in it to get a whiff of anything at all, and used nearly 1/3 of the imp just to properly test it. This has the potential to be really wonderful, but my skin drinks it down faster than someone guzzling water in the desert.
