wl552

Waaaaay back in the day, when I first got into bpal, my first purchase from another bpaler (I forget now who it was) frimped me a sniffie of AL. Not knowing any better, I sniffed it, didn't care for it too much, then passed it on with my first sale. That was quite a long while back. My scent memory, though, remembers... or thinks it remembers... how it smelled. Celeste smells almost just like it only without the weird tang I got from AL that put me off it. It's very pretty, though unlike the early reviews of cotton candy, it's smells to me like a heavily vanilla saturated piece of cotton. I usually can't do "linen"s and such, but there is something fresh beneath the not overly sweet vanilla. When I first tested it yesterday, I was underwhelmed, but as time passed and again for today's full wear, I'm enjoying the comfort and ease of this oil.

At first, all I could really smell was those little red hot candies with a hint of Something Else. I thought, okay, this isn't bad... much better than if the leather amped, which it tends to do on me... but not fantastic. I knew buying it that there was a distinct possibility I wouldn't like it due to the leather. At that point, my low expectations were met. I'd have it for the curiosity and see what happened in a few months. However! After about a half an hour, I sniffed it and thought, Ah! Now I'm starting to understand what the hype is about. The red hot aspect died down and the Something Else was coming forward. And thank goodness the leather still didn't go wonky! I don't know what exactly I was smelling; all I know is I'm a convert. I believe this is the only oil with a leather note I've been able to pull of so far in my scent journey. Spanked:Rev turned into this deeply sexy, glorious scent. This is horde worthy for sure.

This is for 2011's version. I don't find a whole lot of difference between this year and last year. '10 was knock you in the face grape bubble gum booze, whereas '11 starts off more of a warm boozy-ness that lacks the heavy grape note. By the time it dries, though, I don't really find much dissernable difference between the two; which I tested side by side this afternoon. I still love it to pieces, though, so no way I regret nabbing a bottle of '11.

Beautiful, beautiful scent. A light rice wine soaked sandalwood. Vanilla and musk take the backseat. I don't have anything bad to say about it except it disappears very quickly. It'd be perfect if it lasted longer, 'cause it's truly lovely.

I'm wondering if my bottle was mislabeled, 'cause all I get is a very, very heavy rose. Rose isn't a listed note, so this confuses me. I'm bitterly disappointed. I would've taken anything but this. Wood, yes. Red musk, yes. Spicy patch, why not? Woody florals, sure thing. But rose??? I amp rose like crazy and avoid it like the plague, I would've never ordered it if I knew there'd be rose. Not sure what to do with it. ugh

Bwahahaha! Honey, you are defeated!! You shall not amp on my skin in the face of the mighty Red Musk! I am absolutely thrilled! I love red musk and this could be a single note, but since I do amp honey to high heaven, (in a horrible way), it makes the red musk noticeably sweet. A dreamy, creamy sweet red musk. The red musk keeping the honey from going gross on me at the same time. I adore The Infernal Lover. If things work out, I'm definitely going to need a second bottle of this, no doubts. I have a feeling it will be highly sought after when it comes down.

Oh, wow, hmmm! In the bottle: a sweet, powdery, almost fruity cocoa. Interesting! Wet on skin: I honestly can't pin this down. The cocoa is laying low and I get a very sweet, but biting smell. Dry: Well. As the Mr. says, "shit, hell, damn, piss, f*ck"!! Honey, you better not amp, damn it!! Don't do it!! Gah, I can smell the honey and it's trying it's best to do that rancid thing it loves to do on my skin. If it stays down, it'll be okay, but it's not looking good. The honey is trouncing all the other notes... might as well have a note list like this: Golden Honey. If I sniff deep enough I might be picking up a little berry and what might be either the paprika or pink pepper or both. Later: Well into the evening, it's faded quite a bit, but I still get that honey note above all else. Overall: I'm not generally huge on the chocolate note usually, but in this case, I really would wish the cocoa were a bit stronger. The honey (when will I learn??) just refuses to cooperate with me. In this 13, it (the honey) actually is less bad than in some other oils, so overall it isn't omgtheworstthingevergetitoff, but I do believe I'll let it rest and see what happens.

PUMPKIN LATTE Espresso, pumpkin syrup, smoky vanilla bean, milk, raw sugar, and a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg. Fresh from the mailbox. In the bottle: Mmm! Pumpkin with a hint of spices and a whisper of vanilla coffee. It's not super sweet. Wet on skin: Pumpkin again, of course! ^^ But I'm getting more of the cinnamon and nutmeg coming up. Dry: Pumpkin has settled down with the spices and vanilla nicely. The espresso is giving this a deep, rich almost nutty note. The cream and sugar add a milky sweetness. Later: PL stays pretty much the same for the rest of the day. Maybe with just a little bit more of the spices coming up again, but they aren't too hot or biting. Overall: This is an OMG!scent. Makes up for any regrets I had not getting PPV last year. I resniffed my decant and honestly, Pumpkin Latte puts that one in dust by PL's awesomeness. I am seriously considering another bottle of this, which I rarely do. If you're afraid of the pumpkin or coffee notes, I'd say don't be. This is a well rounded creamy spice scent with just enough sweetness to keep the spices from misbehaving. I've had it on my skin for a short time and already am completely smitten.

Hmmm. Interesting! I think this is one where aging will benefit it a lot. On skin, I get mostly soft, warm, fluffy feather lined twig-built nest. That would be the wood/bark and possibly the bourbon vanilla and/or carnation. I'm not really picking up any clove, patchouli or bay. It's not bad, I don't not like it, but it's not completely stand out at the moment either. Again, I truly believe aging will really develop this into something I can love. I definitely don't regret my bottle at all.

This has been on my wishlist for quite some time, so I was thrilled to get a lab imp of it in my Twitter contest goodie bag. I was sooooo hoping the coconut would play nice just this one time. All the other notes looked so good, but curse ye coconut. I feel badly about reviewing this as I amp coconut every single time. The one positive I can say about Lamia on my skin (it smells lovely in the vial) is that the coconut doesn't go rancid on me this time... it mostly smells like cheap coconut sun-bathing oil. I wanted this to work on me, but it just isn't to be.

Lab imp from my Twitter contest goodie bag. I was really surprised by this one, as initially, I had no interest whatsoever. But it turns out to be a nice sweetish man-cologne. I'm going to put this on the Mr when he gets home this weekend. I bet it'll smell really good on him. It doesn't smell bad on myself, actually, but I'm not sure if I want to smell like I've been rubbing up on a (really good smelling) man unless I have been.

There was a lab imp of Witchblade in my Twitter contest goodie bag. I was absolutely delighted to get this as it's been on my wishlist since the line came out. I was a little leery of the metal notes in this, but my worries were completely unfounded. The red musk take center stage in this scent and I'm delighted. It's perfectly my kind of scent. It's a little sweet, a lot sexy with a waft of mysteriousness. I definitely need a bottle of this.

I won a goodie bag via a Twitter contest that included a bottle of Dungeon Crawl. (Thank you!!) Dungeon Crawl, in the bottle, smells like a crumbling concrete building to me. It's very harsh. Wet on the skin, it still smells like a dilapidated industrial building... which makes sense given the name of the oil. >< Dried, I'm picking the barest whisper of candle wax, but it's buried very far under the concrete/stone smell. Later, it's faded a lot. I have to sniff quite deeply. The harshness of the concrete is falling into the background. I get a sweaty musk note in there (kobold musk, yes!), a bit more of the wax and a teeny, tiny bit of almost-sweet incense (very nefarious incense!) it does have a hint of evilness to it. I was sort of hoping for more of the wax, incense and musk, but got more of the wet stone and rusted caltrops. I think I'll wear this on Halloween or maybe when I'm playing Diablo II LoD all night; it is absolutely perfect for that. Daily wear would scare the knickers off the old biddies at the grocery store in this small mid-western town. lol

Panther Moon. Rawr!! I knew, I knew, I knew I would love this! I want to roll around in it. When I first smelled it in the bottle and on my skin, there is a VERY strong resemblance to Snake Charmer: Res. So much so, in fact, that I pulled out my SC:R to compare. They are, to my nose, definitely kin. I can't really add much to the reviews above other than I adore PM. It's what I think about smelling like when I want to feel sensual, sexy and bold. 100% pure love. I wish I could hoard it.

I did a skin test when I first got my bottle and did get a little bit of burn and redness from the cinnamon. Today, I'm testing it from my dilution mix in an atomizer and not getting any reaction, thank goodness! Egg Moon is a beautiful soft, warm, a little sweet, comforting scent. Just lovely. I've never gotten more than one bottle of a lunacy, but this is one where I wish I would've taken the chance on two bottles. It is absolutely gorgeous and will get frequent wear.