sarada

mmmmMMMMmmmm.... I didn't order this initially because I figured I have enough roses and resins around. There aren't many roses I can wear, and I have every single resin scent the lab offers. In the past I've enjoyed layering Cathedral with various rose scents, usually to pretty decent effect but this takes those experiments and perfects them. The rose in Parlement is one that I particularly love. It is a very fresh, green rose, slightly sweet, slightly winey. It makes me think of pinkish green rather than white, but it's beautiful, whatever it is. The resins, which are almost just like those in Cathedral, a little smoky, thick and sweet, just weave in and out of the rosepetals perfectly. It's strong, but not overwhelming. It creates exactly the mood of rose incense smoke that I was hoping for. This works much better than my own layering experiments and it does not give me a headache like Rose Cross did. Thank goodness for swaps! The Valentine scents so far are 3 for 3 for me...and I have a feeling I'll wind up loving all of the other ones too.

The notes for Luperci made me almost insane with anticipation for this one. I am so glad I only had to wait three weeks for it! In the bottle, strangely enough, I can't smell anything. I might just be befuddled from sniffing the very strong and potent Red Lantern shortly before, but I can barely smell anything in the bottle. Even the next day, on a 'clean slate' with no other scents to compete with I can just barely smell this when I put it on. Slathering some on to get the full effect, it immediately strikes me as a light frankincense (even though I know that is not listed). Rather like a very light version of Cathedral with more greenery and candlewax...or a bit like Magus, but sweeter. In fact, the greenery and beeswax put me in the mind of a green chapel...a cathedral in the forest, where dark trees form arches overhead and beeswax candles burn on mossy stones, the air faintly sweet with pollen and resins. It is so very, very light on me though, why is this? Musks amp like crazy on me, and my skin naturally adores woods and resins. Several hours later if I sniff deeply I can still get that sweet resin though, and it reminds me very much ofthe 1970s. I think about being a little girl playing on mom's yoga mat with natural wax candles burning and some of her meditation frankincense. It's just a very natural, outdoor smell, but it's so quiet and close to the skin that it won't knock people over. The honey is not sticky, the patchouli is not loud or in your face...the overall effect is of something you can just catch a glimpse of before it disappears back in the darkness of the woods. Since I can barely smell it I don't know if it's going to jump into my Top Ten, but it's close. I'll have to keep wearing it and see if it is stronger on me during warmer weather or a different time of the month. It just got real cold here, real quick, and most subtle scents work best on me in fresh -- or warm -- air. I think I could wear this anytime of year but I suspect it will be a favorite in spring/summer walks in the woods.

Boy was I nervous about this one. I was excited about everything in Red Lantern except the caramel and coconut, which terrify me and make me ill in other blends. But I love tobacco and amber... In the bottle this is just as I feared, a sickening rush of that nauseating sweet buttery scent that sends me into headache/stomachache mode. It smells a bit like Pumpkin Patch 5 in the bottle, which I liked okay on my skin but ultimately found to be not to my taste. But I'm testing this anyway. Always test your BPAL, whatever it smells like in the bottle!! And....miraculously, everything that I didn't like, is gone! I am left with only a divinely sweet and complex tobacco scent, warmed by amber, lifted by a faint floral and a bit of that sharply sweet berry. I cannot stand foody scents but this is only sickly-sweet in the bottle. It's great on my skin! I can't guarantee that it won't ultimately give me a headache or make me feel queasy, but we're on Day One here and I can't stop sniffing my wrist. For a comparable experience I'd point to Al Azif, which is another "sweet incense but not in a foody kind of way" scent. I do not smell any coconut. But I know that black coconut was also in Snake Charmer and I didn't smell that there either. Perhaps it's just that dry sweet note I'm picking up. This is not like Elegba to me, because the rum note (my mortal enemy) is not present. It's more successful than Herr Drosselmeyer was for me because this does not have that cherry-tobacco scent that makes me feel dizzy. It's more a cousin of Perversion in terms of the sweet but earthy tobacco, though there's so much more going on in this blend. I was all ready to swap this as soon as I got it but as of this writing I am thinking it is a keeper. It sometimes takes a few wearings before a scent triggers my sensitivities though so that could change. And really, that bottle is just gorgeous.

In the bottle this is a gorgeous, sweet, soft, powdery floral -- and I don't like many florals, so why is this so compelling? Sweetgrass and juniper serve to make this both sweet and slightly green. A cold, bright white floral -- sun on snow on a perfectly clear day -- but a heady sweetness that makes you want to go to sleep on a bed of satin.....in a wooden box. Hallucinatory sweetness. On my skin, lilies and roses rest in a puff of powder. I don't care for florals on my skin, because before long it just smells like plain old perfume. But the first juicy crisp bite of these fresh flowers is really lovely, even though it becomes a faint powdery spray in a few minutes. Alas, when it dries down it reminds me of a perfumed sunblock my mom used to always wear. This smells the way it did after the saltwater washes the perfumey lotion off the skin. If I was into floral perfumes this would be a good one for me. As an experiment though I really like the way it smells in this empty bottle I got for sniffing purposes...it's not meant for my skin.

As a representation of Puck, this is definitely what I was expecting. And if it was just oakmoss, juniper and sage then it would be a great blend for me -- maybe with a little grape, but....not much. Civet is always a challenging note but it's completely appropriate in this blend. Does it make it something I'd want to wear, though? Well no, but not because it's unpleasant...it's well-blended and suits the mood of the scent but it's a hard thing to want to carry around with you all day. For one thing, it is sort of...pervading. A tiny little drop of the civet bouquet has a tendency to cling to everything it comes near, and once I get a drop on me, I wind up having it all over everything I own for the rest of the day. It's a musty, musky, dusty smell. If it were a song it would be "Song to Comus" or "Coal Black Smith". It reminds me a little of mothballs, too. I feel like people would constantly be sniffing the air dubiously, saying, "What's that?" They might think it was mothballs, or something wafting in from outside, but...it's not really something I want to smell like. I do love the earthy greenery and even the drop of grape, which livens up the blend like a dash of bubbly wine. Again, it's a great scent conceptually or as a 'sniffer', but I think that the drop I got to test is all I'll need!

I tried the original over a year ago as a frimp and couldn't pass it along fast enough: it burned my skin (cinnamon is a common culprit for that, but pepper even moreso) and gave me the whole craft store vibe, from the cinnamon. I did get a quick sensation of "Christmas!" because clove/cinnamon always makes me think of holiday potpourri and candle scents but I figured that this was a no-go on me. So I have a few drops of this in an empty bottle now, but I like it a lot more. I only tested a trace amount, but it didn't burn my skin, and smelled really nice on me. I still don't care for cinnamon, but I love clove, and I get a lot more from this. It reminds me a little too much of "red-hots" and I can't stand when people tell me I smell like Cinnabon, but still, I'm digging it. Actually, I couldn't stop sniffing it when I was testing it last night. It's more of a 'sniffer' than a 'wearer' for me, so when I get a little more of this to put in my bottle I will probably just open it to smell now and again, to clear my head. It also reminds me of Al-Shairan, but without the slightly woodchippy vibe I got from that as it dried down. As much as I like wood scents, that one became a little like a spicy hamster cage on me. So Three Witches Resurrected is quite a success for me, though not one that I will probably wear more than once or twice a year. I like knowing that I have a nice strong clove at my disposal if I need it though, and the layering possibilities are definitely there.

Here's me trying Séance: "Oh my god this is SO GOOD!" That was upon the very first sniff. This is one of the most ALIVE rose scents I've smelled. So fresh and sweet -- almost like Rose Red but with a base like sandalwood (I know, it's rosewood, but still). It's a very juicy, sweet, tender rose....almost green. I expected something very powdery and dusty but this is completely different. I don't think I've smelled rosewood or hazel in much else so they must be setting this apart from other rose blends for me. It's not perfumey, it's not sharp or harsh or headache-inducing the way many other roses are for me (the ones that aren't blended with musk, amber or smoky notes...I seem to need those things to keep rose in line). This is probably the best "fresh rose" scent from the general catalog for me. And the best sub for Rose Red, which was a little too green for me anyway. Yes, yes, more Séance please! It doesn't last too long, but the rosewood does extend it a little bit...the initial sniff and first slathering are beyond compare though!

I posted this in the Snake Oil thread but I'm still amazed at how wearing Snake Oil to work today, someone immediately said I smelled like Play-Doh. I went around making people smell me for the rest of the day and no one else duplicated that observation though. I can't believe that everywhere I go, people think my Earl Grey tea smells like Froot Loops and think my delightful perfumes smell like Play-Doh, argh! That's it, I'm making up pamphlets to hand out!

I have no idea what orchids smell like on their own...all florals just smell "like flowers" to me and I can only differentiate a tiny handful. So orchid is another one of those "hmm, smells like flowers" things for me. Hothouse flowers, though, that sort of dense, heady, not-too-sweet nectar scent that suggests humidity. But smelling this I can probably get a sense of what orchids should smell like. And that's not too bad! It is, however, another floral that just smells kind of "yellow" to me. I feel like I must have been smelling orchid in a lot of blends I've been trying lately. I can't really wear floral blends but I like to smell them. This does not give me a headache so that is a good thing. It's a musky, heady, humid hothouse flower but not a piercing perfumey "flowery" floral. I'm going to use this to try to train my nose to recognize orchid notes but I don't know if I could wear it. Lovely name, though, that's for sure!

The description for this one really hits it on the head -- icy, murky gloom. I've wanted to try this since it came out and only now got around to seeking some out. As promised, this scent is like moving through a damp floral fog -- I really can't guess what is in this but it makes me think a bit of herbal tea, so maybe chamomile or other fragrant herbs are present, along with some white florals. Not the crisp or fresh kind of white florals, just a muted, foggy impression of them. Aquatic, but choked with wilted white flowering herbs. If I was going for a late night fog walk in the early spring or summer I would wear this. While it's not "me", it is pleasant and invites contemplation.

You're my hero for asking this. Resins are my #1 favorite thing and I don't like florals. My favorite in the catalog for resins are: Cathedral Penitence Anne Bonny Magus Aureus You might also like: Sri Lanka Dance of Death Umbra I found that Incantation was a very light, lemony, cologney scent despite the ingredients so if you're looking for something heavy that might not be it. Urd is my alltime favorite catalog blend but that's more of an incensy than a resiny smell, nonetheless it is very strong... Out of the ones I mentioned up top, Penitence might be the one to go for if you're looking for straight frankincense and myrrh, and strong. If you like patchouli plus resins, Anne Bonny is the way to go. My skin eats perfumes too...I find if anything contains a citrus it fades instantly on me, and flowers die the minute they hit my skin. As for limited editions, seek out Midnight Mass, it is the ultimate resin scent!

I am not good at telling flower notes apart so I am glad some are listed for this blend -- it helps me figure out what I like! I don't generally wear florals but I sometimes like to sniff them anyway, and on nice spring days they sometimes even suit my mood. Ephemera is a pretty, yellow floral to me -- it reminds me a little of Asphodel, but less cloying. While I saw that as a murky, yellow-grey field of flowers this seems like a daytime grassy field full of pale yellow blooms. It's a little powdery -- that would be the violet and possibly the tea rose -- with a bit of a dusty, herbal edge -- that would be the chamomile. Like most florals it vanishes on me. All in all a very pale, lacey scent -- something with which to scent a handkerchief, a doily or a letter. Motes of dust in fading sunlight. These are the sorts of impressions that violent and chamomile usually give me, but the white flowers make it glisten a bit. I like to sniff this a lot though I don't think it likes my skin. I'd suggest this as a good blend for someone who likes floral perfumes and who is nervous about dipping their toes in the BPAL waters.

How fortuitous, that when I am trying to test and review all of the Stations of the Sun that I got Khephra as a frimp! Unlike the others I have recently tried, Ahathoor and Ra, I don't get the feeling of intense inner heat from this one -- there's not as much of the not-exactly-spicy but somewhat herbal emanating warmth that the others shed. I do get what I think is frankincense, which of course I like. Now it's sort of like...Arcana, but stronger frankincense, and no lavender. Perhaps it's because it's the midnight sun that it is not as hot -- if there is a spice in this there isn't a lot. As it dries down it becomes more of a faintly spicy powder of a scent, which is not very good on me. A bit mellower than the mid-day suns, a shadowed sun that is holding its warmth a little bit closer to itself than the others. Hard to pin these down but they all seem to have some sort of resin element and something herbal. They are different enough so far that I can easily tell them apart but they are definitely the same family of scents. I'd wear them regularly if it was just resins, but the strange herbal and clove twists -- and the powdery drydown on this one -- make them more of a curiosity for me than something I'd wear.

I'm always happy to get a frimp of one of the few remaining scents that I haven't tried and they've done it again! Happily, I was very much in the mood to try some more white flower blends. While I don't typically wear florals I do like white rose, and heliotrope, and despite not liking gardenia on its own I seem to like a lot of blends (Blood Countess for example) that include it as a back-up note. I agree with Olympia that this is a simpler, younger blend for the lab -- and like many "white florals" I really like them in the bottle even though they go flat on my skin and don't wind up smelling like much of anything. A crisp and sweet, refreshing Easter Sunday scent in the bottle....I had a similarly pleasant reaction to Phantom Queen, and Juliet. I really adore them in the vial and think I might enjoy it as a candle on a spring day with an open window. As a fragrance it mellows very quickly to just a vague perfumey floral -- but I think in my hair or in a scent locket it would be more like it is in the bottle. This is a great scent if you're looking for something that recalls funeral flowers or an Easter bouquet. And if you're a fan of the radiant glistening heliotrope note you'll want to try this too. I don't know why, but anything with heliotrope in it appeals to me at least a little.

Holiday Moon is just what I've been wanting, for early spring days: a crisp, cheery, clean green scent. Tea scents are often very light and lemony but this has the extra snap of a crisp green stem that has been broken or sliced open, and the oude -- though I don't know what it smells like on its own -- seems to anchor the otherwise fleeting smells into place and help them to last. It's different from Spirits of the Dead, in that it has much more of a fresh garden scent about it in the bottle. Not overly sweet, just very leafy and natural. It's interesting to think that this is a January moon scent since it is so very "springy." It also brings to mind this little store I used to go to that specialized in Asian products, which stocked many kinds of green tea, light incenses and fresh potted bamboo plants. Walking into the store smelled a little like this, but this much more recalls actually walking into a little bamboo hut where someone is brewing tea, just after a rainfall, than anything else. Not that I've ever done that, but, well, I can imagine it. The crispness fades on my skin and it becomes a faint green scent that is still pleasant -- if I get a scent locket this would be another great candidate to put in it, to help it last longer in that "fresh" stage. A keeper, for sure!

Oh it's so hard to describe the Stations of the Sun! I can't remember if I tried this a long time ago but I am taking notes this time! Like Ahathoor and Sol, it smells like HEAT without smelling like what we'd typically think of as a "hot" scent. Not spicy, just...intense, and focused. I would guess that there would have to be clove in this, to create that kind of focused heat but it doesn't smell overtly spicy. There could be frankincense or red sandalwood amping that up because this wouldn't last this long on me if there wasn't a wood or resin in it...and those are particularly "hot" wood/resins to me. But there's also a strong citrus and an herbal component. I'd say rosemary, because I keep running into rosemary and thinking it is a sort of menthol/eucalyptus scent, but after a few minutes it goes back to being herbal. And as I think I mentioned in a review of Catherine it makes me think of the beach -- a scorched, exposed herb scent. Whatever that citrusy note is, helps to lighted this up and make it really shine. Lemongrass? Plain ol' lemon? Verbena? Something in that family. Good staying power, a bit of throw, and overall a really nice blend but not necessarily something you'd wear because you wanted to smell like it. I'd think that I'd use this more because I wanted a little sun power on my side.

While I like the lab's regular Absinthe, the anise does me in and makes me smell like Licorice All-Sorts, which are delicious but not so good to smell like. Ahh, this gives me the strangely twisted greenery of absinthe, the splash of herb and citrus, without the licoricey scent. It's predominantly strikes me as a very very clear green scent, with a strong but sugar-sweet citrus (lemon) component and a pleasant, pale mixture of slightly musky herbs. Although I don't care for vanilla typically I really like the vanilla musk combos from the lab, there's something....fuzzy about them. Combined with this scent of a lemon dusted in sugar (and a couple of slices of lime) it's really quite marvelous, and that's not even the type of scent I go for. I don't know anything about what real absinthe would smell or taste like (I'm a teetotaler...and I just spent five minutes checking to see if that was the correct spelling, so I'm also a complete nerd) but I like this, whatever it is! I like things that smell like fresh greenery in the sun and this definitely fits the bill -- with a glass of lemonade on the side, the perfect balance of tart lemon and crystalline sugar. It dries down very faint on me, and I don't know what it smells like to anyone that doesn't have their nose pressed to my wrist, but I'm really glad I got to try this. I think one imp is all I would need, since I can't wear light scents like this except for my own amusement (they have no staying power and no throw on me at all) but it's brilliant! Oh and p.s., the drydown really reminds me of Antique Lace.

Regarding Tramp, I thought that BPAL's Dance of Death smelled almost exactly like it, and patchouli does not seem to be on top in that blend for me (though to be fair, patchouli is just about my favorite scent in the world so I probably just accept its presence unquestioningly). Actually I seem to have a problem smelling patchouli at all in a blend...I practically have to sniff the pure essential oil to get what I feel is a strong enough dose! But if someone wanted to amp up Tramp I'd suggest Dance of Death...it smells, uh, dark green to me. I hope that Tramp stays around, it's my very favorite Lush product even though I haven't tried many...I will buy a vat of it if it comes back in a large size.

I don't know if anyone else has posted this or mentioned it but I thought Spanked smelled just like layering Geek over a little bit of Alone. Which is a good thing for me because I like Spanked...and I didn't wear either Geek or Alone very much on their own. But together...wow! Geek Alone = being Spanked!

Yay, I got to sniff the only one of the Naughty/Nice scents that sounded appealing to me -- and I like it! In the vial it smells just like Geek to me, but less green. The leather note is very sharp and strong, but I like it when it's combined with woody or earthy scents like patchouli. As it dries, it's like Geek layered over a tiny bit of Alone. And that is good news for me because I have both of those and don't really wear them, but if they work well together, then I get to double my fun! So this is a leather softened by the slightly sweet, earthy patchouli (which doesn't really jump out on its own, it's very much lost in the mixture) and a slight cardamom kick that resembles the cinnamon bark of Geek. I don't know if I'm smelling the bourbon but there's nothing in this that I dislike. Fortunately, since I think I can replicate what I like about this by layering those other two, I won't have to seek out more of this but I'm glad I got to try it!

I've had strange luck with certain honeyed florals. Tiger Lily was an early hit for me and the only blatant floral that I have in bottle form. Honey Moon is currently occupying the "favorite Lunacy" spot in my heart. So despite my not liking honey in a lot of other scents, it's usually worth a try. Happily, Al Araaf seems to be another case where the honey is delicately sweet and floral without being cloying, perfumey or headache-inducing...or sickeningly sweet. It's much lighter than Tiger Lily and not quite as scintillating and complex as Honey Moon but I would definitely say that one of the honeys present in that blend might be in here as well. It's a bit too light for me though, and fades to a wisp of a golden scent...like the Kama Sutra honey dusting powder, if you've ever tried that. Count me among the ranks of those who are going to stick with Tiger Lily and Honey Moon, since they so mysteriously work for me, against all reason!

First thoughts: rosemary and eucalyptus. Whoops, then I realize -- rosemary always smells a little like eucalyptus to me. Similarly sharp, medicinal and herbal. This is one strong rosemary. I don't really get anything else from it, but.....the beach? It makes me think of the beach. I don't know if I can explain, but it's got a kind of scorched, salt-watery smell to me. I think my mom must have used some kind of perfumed sunblock that smelled like this. None of that makes sense but all I can think of when I smell it is a beachbag, scented with that perfumed sunblock. I'm waiting to see if rose and orange blossom come out, and several hours later there's just the faintest trace of a floral in the remains of the rosemary. It mellows out somewhat. Kind of a harshly perfumed herbal tonic. However I think this would be perfect in the bath...and I think I will use it for that. I'd love to soak in hot water scented with this. Once again I wish I had some unscented products lying around for experimentation.

I first tried Neo-Tokyo a very long time ago and got it confused with a lot of other scents I was trying at the time -- Shanghai, The Apothecary, and others, which all gave me the same impression: something light, white-yellow-pale green, hinting at tea or citrus. Now that I am trying it again I've become a bit more sensitive to individual notes but it still strikes me mainly as a light, electric, scent with a bit of a green tea/grass or very faint citrus. I like the "air after a storm" feeling but it does make it feel a bit more like the kind of perfume you might spritz on yourself from a bottle before going out for a night on the town. It fades so fast on me I never really get to know it. A great 'fresh' scent though and another to consider if I ever get some unscented bath products that I want to add a refreshing scent to.

I'm never sure what to say about dragon's blood scents other than, "It smells like dragon's blood." It's such a strange fragrance -- although a resin it sometimes smells cherry-like, sometimes lilac-like, and every once in awhile it comes across spicy as well. I sometimes really like it, and sometimes can't stand it. Whatever you think of this strange resin, you have to like it a lot to like Blood Amber, which is almost just straight dragon's blood to me. The amber makes it a little stronger and more longlasting, I think, but from beginning to end it's basically dragon's blood. I have a feeling that when people smell this (or any other strong DB scent) on me that they think it smells like cherries because that's just the kind of thing that people say to me to drive me crazy. It screams "red!" and it's a bit sweet but I tend to think it's more of a sweet, glowing incensy resin -- like the coal burning underneath incense powder. And this is warmed a little by the golden touch of amber. But I just know people are going to say it smells like cherry on me.

I was so excited when I saw the notes listed for this one, that even if there was no statue I think I would have paid this much for a 10 ml bottle of this! Black plum, champa, dark musk, patchouli and sandalwood are pretty much the Who's Who of scents that I can't live without...narcissus is not typically my friend, but let's see if the dark purple fruits and incense can smother it, eh? Oh yes, bliss and heaven. In the bottle this is very incensy and I smell that dark juicy purple plum that I love so much (the one in Blood Countess and Red Phoenix). I think that the narcissus is actually serving to lighten this up and to help keep all of the elements in the air, as it were, without turning things floral. On my skin, WOW. This is the ultimate incense! Actually at first it reminds me a little of my favorite GC blend, Urd, but without the muscadine. And it slowly slides into something like Red Phoenix, without the cinnamon. This is actually so multilayered and complex I can't predict what it's going to do next. It's very much that deep, soaked-in incense smell that you get in a room or in fabric when you've been burning nag champa for years and years ... combined with the fresh scent of loose, blended incense in an occult or hippie shop. And that is the scent that I crave, all the time. That's what I want to bring with me everywhere I go. Thank goodness this came in a 10 ml. The way Seamus is holding onto it it's like he's saying "Mine! Mine! You can't have it!" and yeah, that's the way I feel, too!