rhubarbbear

i got this for my husband- for some reason i thought it would suit him. however, when i uncorked the imp to sniff, some spilled on my hand. hmmm. this smells pretty good! not a perfume i'd normally pick out, but i can't stop sniffing myself! its got depth, and sweetness, but not too much sweetness, and something else i can't place (hadn't read the description yet). mmmm. must try this on hubby! on my husband, however, dragon's heart was too sweet- sickly sweet, and totally lacking the wonderful depth it has on me. very sad. i can't quite decide what to do with this oil. i love the way it smells on me, but mostly bc thats how i want my husband to smell, now how *i* want to smell, if that makes sense. very confusing. we shall see.

i've recently rediscovered carnation, and so was most anxious to get a hold of bathsheba! in the vial and wet it's plum, plum, plum! very fruity and juicy. as it dries the carnation peeks out, but just a bit- spicy plums. the musk comes out last, and lends fullness and depth. i really, really, like bathsheba, and am considering a bottle. i'd hoped it would be carnation wtih plum (rather than plum with carnation), but i'm still very pleased! decent staying power, too.

i got an imp of this in swap and i'm very glad i did! in the imp it smells, as others have said, *just* like egg nog. i don't get a ton of boozyness, but that's ok by me. it goes on very, very creamy vanilla. my skin tends to amp up cinnamon, but there doesn't seem to be any here- yay! a hint of spice, but mostly sweet vanilla. after about 10 min i start getting tiny whiffs of play-doh- not good! after another 10 min, tho, egg nog and its evil play doh twin are mostly gone. if i put my nose near my wrist i get some sweet vanilla, but thats it. overall: i like egg nog quite a bit- i think i'll mostly use it for layering, however, in the hopes that its effects will be more noticable.

sacred whore is overwhelmingly jasmine/gardenia on me. its a strong blend and the little drop i tried grew big and strong and lasted for ages! at first i was quite worried, as jasmine etc often gives me a headache, so i kept my nose away from my wrist for a couple hours. by that time it had muted a tiny bit and gotten a sweet coating. i found myself eyeing my husband...this stuff works! not a top 10, but one i'll keep!

i had toyed with ordering this for a while- i sleep fine, but wondered if it would help my son at any rate, i got an imp in a swap, and since baby is sleeping better these days, i tried it out on me. however, as i said, i don't have any problems sleeping, so when i say i dropped right off, i'm not sure if that means much! i smell lavender in the bottle, but on my skin it turns to weird, old lady rose its not so offensive that i wouldn't use for its soporific properties, but as things stand i think its off to swaps.

brownies! yum, yum, yum it's weird, i actually don't care for eating chocolate all that well, but i looove wearing beth's chocolate blends! i got this one for a friend, but now i think i'll need to order her another

in the bottle: cedar! oh yes, and lots of it. maybe a bit of incense or spice. on this rounds out a bit, but smells very woodsy on me- like i'm in a pine forest, or out hiking, or probably both. normally i wouldn't find this appealing in a scent, but i like kathmandu! it's comforting and grounded. since dh is an outdoorsy nut, i put some on him, too (working to find a bpal scent or two that he loves!). he didn't like it in the bottle, but deemed it "ok" after a few minutes on his skin. i see potential here

both in the bottle and wet kyoto is super-anise! or fennel. fennel grows wild where i grew up, and this kind of reminds me of trying to weed it out of my garden. as it dries the cherry blossoms come out and the anise fades, just leaving a sort of medicinal background note. its kind of cough-syrupy on me, actually. i imagine the sandalwood would round things out nicely, if my silly skin hadn't sucked it all up!

i have apricot single note, and was excited to try march hare, since i foolishly did NOT get clove single note. in the bottle i couldn't smell the clove at all, but i wasn't concerned- i know how bpal can change! however, this was not one of those times, alas. i never got the clove, just plain apricot and the apricot is good, but as i've already got the single note, it wasn't really what i was after.

almonds. yep. sweet, marzipan-y almonds. i guess there's some milk in there, but its probably almond milk. i like almonds, so this is fine although dana o'shee is a light scent i found it had good staying power- i could still smell it hours later. sweet, and almondy.

i almost ordered chimera months ago, but didn't for some reason. in the interim i found out that my skin plays up even non-existant cinnamon, so i figured it was for the best. but i couldn't resist swapping for some chimera after i read the reviews! oddly, my skin does NOT take the cinnamon and run here. instead, there's something VERY sweet and floral (honeysuckle?) that my skin apparently likes even better. unfortunatly, it kind of gives me a headache. i think i just can't do super sweet

jezebel was in my first ever bpal order, and i couldn't wait to try it- the notes are among my very favorites, ever! but i put it on and was horrified. promptly swapped it away. fast fwded 5 months or so, and i'm wondering why on earth i didn't like jezebel. i love those notes! so i swapped for it, figuring maybe my nose was just too new to bpal before. well, yes and no. yes, in that i'm no longer horrified by jezebel. no, in that its not the nicest with my chemistry. not horrible, just not super nice. the sandalwood never comes out, which is too bad, bc on me jezebel is SWEET and could use a little grounding. i think i get a lot of honey and a touch of rose, with some baby powder. it good, but not great. the staying power is pretty impressive- i swiped my wrists around noon and could still get faint whifs around 9pm!

when i first sniffed alice in the vial, i thought 'hmm, a light floral. pretty, but not overwhelming'. i waited a few days to try it. when i put it on the honey came out and it smelled awesome! milky honey. i was very excited, and instantly began considering a big bottle. sadly, the honey faded after about 15 min, and then i got mostly bergamont and a touch of rose. which was nice, but not quite the milk and honey induced drool fest i'd settled in for. eventually alice turned to a clean, slightly soapy floral. overall i'd say its a perfectly fine scent, but not not a love-fest.

beautiful, springtime, light, clean, floral. amsterdam is perfect to help enable people who think they don't like perfume, and also just lovely to sniff. it really does bring windmills, wooden clogs, and tulips to mind! clear blue skies and white fluffy clouds. this isn't one of my very favorite blends, but there's nothing i don't like about it, either!

lavender is at the forefront of this one! lavender, softend by star jasmine. to me, this is a very grown-up perfume, but not in any negative way...its grown up in the way of a woman who knows herself, is confident, yet relaxed and easy going. kind of outdoorsy! i love lavender

to me, this smells of nothing so much as gummi bears! its very sweet, almost tropical, as jj_j said. its the candy-like component i picked up in the unicorn. i like it, but i got it as a gift for my mother who adores freesias, and she wished it smelled more like the fresh flower, so off to swap it goes!

this is dried apricots, or apricot jam. since i love both, i'm quite enamored of my apricot single note! it's extra strong, essential apricot. i'm thinking its going to be a lovely summer scent! it evokes the seaons so well for me...

i love honey. i like to keep several kinds around to suit my different moods (eating honeys, that is!). to me, honey single note is, not surprisingly, a perfumey honey. its not so much straight up honey as it is honey mingled with the blossoms that helped produce it. its a light, lovely, golden perfume honey.

this is indeed a sharp orange blossom! i grew up in orange growing country, and while i was hoping for a slightly sweeter version, this one is very true. it does pick up a bit more sweetness on the skin, but it's still an orange blossom with lots of pith. very refreshing!

this was a generous freebie from the lab, and i'm so excited about it! its really just a lovely blend. it starts out all sweet, juciy, tangy pear. after about 10 mins it turns into a softer pear scent and the lillies come out to play. finally, after about 30 min it settles into its final form on me, which is lily of the valley and light musk. i do wish the pear lasted longer, but its still a wonderful blend, and a strong big bottle contender!

cordelia is lovely! it reminds me a bit of (old) shanghai, probably the lemon and green tea? anyway, cordelia is fresh, light and very feminine! its not cloying, however, or overly floral. a very well balanced blend, i think this might be a good way to start enabling some friends towards bpal...

let's see here. kephra: deep, dark, resiny. i don't get the cinnamon, which is unusual, as my skin LOVES cinnamon, but there you go. this scent is also herbal, maybe some lavender? its a rich, black plum purple- a very still night, with the world hanging breathlessly. i think this would be a good bedtime blend.

this scent is very ozone-y, fresh and tangy. its one of only a handful of bpals that have gotten stronger on my skin, and it lasted a good long while- i could clearly smell it 8 hours after i put one wand application on one wrist! its stormy, but a bright storm- hence the lightening, i suppose. wet, but bright and sharp. i don't know that its one i'll wear often, but i do like it!

veil kind of reminds me of cathedral- maybe the wood? i get a lot of wood in veil, and the orris and lavender. i actually find it rather earthy and grounded, not nearly as ephemeral as i was expecting. for some reason my skin takes the sandalwood and turns it into perfumy 2x4's, so sadly, this is one that just didn't work for me...

in the imp i smelled a kind of dark fruit scent- the currants and the musk, i think. when i put it on it morphed into a kind of very fruity marmalade, shifting around to make room for flashes of lavender and delphinium. it really is a very changing scent, appropriatly named! i liked this one a lot, but every time i sniffed my wrist i thought of a friend of mine, so i'll probably send the imp on to her. probably. i haven't quite convinced myself yet