sprocket21

Ahhh...I open the imp and the beloved BPAL plum note that I love so much from Bordello, Midwinter's Eve, and other scents comes wafting out. It's very juicy and sweet for sure. On my skin, it's still mostly plum, but now there's an added powdery edge to it - I assume from the champaca? The longer I wear this, the less plum I get and the more powdery, perfume-y it becomes. I wish it had remained the juicy plum I smelled in the vial! I think this is a good candidate for my oil burner.

Oh, the famous Snake Charmer. I am most decidedly not a fan of Snake Oil (mmm, medicinal cat pee), so I hope that SC turns out quite different on me. In the imp: Well, this certainly doesn't smell like Snake Oil. It's hard to describe - musky and sweet - but if it stays on my skin like it is in the vial, it'll be a keeper. On me: Uh oh. I'm getting some medicinal vibes from it. It's largely musk and spices on me at this point, but I think the spices are similar to the SO spices, and that's where I'm getting the medicine smell. There's also something making it a bit milky-sweet. It's got a ridiculously strong throw too. Honestly, it's pretty similar to Snake Oil, and I'm not too in love with it. However, next time I go out for a night on the town, I'll try it out and see if others perceive it the same way.

This was frimped to me at some point, and I have to admit that it's not my ideal combination of notes going in. Lavender rarely works on me, and when it does, it's usually subdued. Smoky and headshoppy notes also go into the "probably won't work on me" camp. With that disclaimer out of the way, all I get from Gaueko...is lavender. It may be a touch smoky, but it's 98% lavender on me. It was really sharp at first, but softened a bit as it dried. I don't like lavender as anything but a supporting note, so I think I'll pass on this one.

Mine is CLXXV, a decant from bookandbroom. I think bookandbroom is psychic, because she picked a great decant for me. This is Dorian mixed with a fruity martini. It's boozy and light and sweet and just a tad musky. It's perfect for a night out on the town. Besides the musk, the Dorian itself is pretty subdued - I don't get any vanilla, for example. I'm okay with not really being able to smell the Dorian though because this is a really nice scent.

Wow, hi there ozone! I can see how some smell cleaning product, but I'm not getting that vibe. I think because there's a bit of a floralness in the background supporting the sharp ozone. It's very clean and leans towards sharp/medicinal but doesn't quite get there. Great for summer.

As I glanced over this thread, I became very nervous, as there are several mentions of Gluttony and Misk U, and both of those scents are utter fail on me. VDPP isn't nearly as bad as those, thank goodness, but it doesn't really work for me either. I can smell the wood and tobacco, and then there's a huge layer of baby powder on top of that. I'm not sure I would have liked the scent had it not gone powdery on me - I mostly tried it because there was a lot of anticipation that it would be similar to Pinched, and who wouldn't want to try such a famous and sought-after scent? But yeah, powdery woody tobacco = not for me.

Add me to the "this is allllll booze on me" camp. Once it dries, there isn't a sign of strawberry or candy or anything like that. It's just booze, which by itself on me sort of smells like a metallic generic floral. The only booze that seems to work on me is sake. Ah well.

This is by far my favorite of the Velvets. There's a big blast of coconut when I first apply, and then the supporting fruit/flower notes show up. The coconut just makes it so tropical and delicious. Sadly, as others have mentioned, this fades fast. But while it lasts, it transports me to an island paradise!

This is very faint on me - now I know what "skin scent" means. It's lemony and effervescent. In fact, it reminds me a bit of lemon-lime soda, but in a good way. I'll echo the other sentiments here that this is a clean scent. It's just a bit too faint for me. I'll probably use the imp during the summer on days where it's too hot to even comtemplate putting clothes on, let alone medium or heavy perfumes.

Zomg, this is SWEET! On me, Velvet Unicorn smells like a base of Midway with a HUGE dollop of sweet cherry candy. I love the Midway base but I'm not a fan of the cherry portion - it smells kind of odd to me, like Runts candies. I suppose I'll stick with Midway.

This starts as a very crisp red scent - not berry, exactly, but pretty close. It's not sweet at all, it's almost sharp. Then once on me it turns to the soap/laundry detergent that several others have mentioned. With this on one arm and Mutant Hot Rodders from Hell High on the other, I smell really weird.

WOW, this is manly. I don't know why it surprises me - even the name makes me think of the boys in the leather jackets in Grease! On me, this is smoky, peppery LEATHER with just a hint of lime in the background. The smoke is the strongest note by far. I think I'll sneak this into the boyfriend's stash, because this is just way too manly for me.

Wet, this is cake, cake, and more cake; it's very sweet and almost cloying. Once applied, the orange emerges, and it becomes a delicious orange cake. The orange comes out more and more as it dries, and the cake takes more of a backseat, until it's pretty much sweet oranges. It eventually dries and fades quite a bit, but remains essentially sweet oranges on me.

This was a frimp from my last decant circle, and, well...it's pretty much the opposite of me. It's incredibly smoky vetiver. It's so evocative that my eyes sting a bit from the nonexistent smoke. It's very dark and heavy and not for me. Vetiver/smoke lovers, on the other hand, need to try this.

I don't have much to add to previous reviews - on me, Paris is a mix of lavender and bubblegum (lotus), with a bit of a powdery feel to it. The lavender isn't sharp or too strong for once - usually blends with lavender bowl me over and give me headaches. The lotus goes very well with the lavender here. It doesn't seem reminiscent of Paris the city, but it's still a nice blend. I could see this as a bedtime blend, what with the subdued lavender.

Wow! This is MINT MINT MINT with just a hint of pine or something like it in the background. It's not a sweet mint like Tokyo Stomp, it's just pure straight mint, not toothpaste-like at all. It's making my skin tingle where I applied it. While I don't see much use for a pure mint blend, it may be useful for those unbearably hot summer days. I could even see mixing it into a lotion to get that chilly tingle all over!

Wet, this is very pine-y with a hint of florals. It's not very sweet and reminds me a bit too much of cleaning products . It remains the same from wet to dry, maybe gets a bit more pine. If the pine is the 'snow' note I've heard so much about, then I know now that it's not a good note for me.

In the vial, it's very crisp apple - fresh-picked from the orchard crisp without any sign of roasting or being made into cider. On me, it's still almost exclusively bright red fresh apple, though after a bit I think I can pick up some woods in the background. The woods make the scent feel a bit more autumn-like, as if I am walking through an orchard on a chilly autumn day and stumble upon a freshly fallen apple. It's a beautiful apple scent, but I didn't get any hint of orange or cider. I think I'll stick to my beloved Punkie Night for my cider apple needs.

This is such an interesting combination of notes - I really wasn't sure what to expect, and I don't think anybody else did either. Wet on me, this is creamy beeswax with a big dose of the wool. The wool note is hard to describe, but it's not unpleasant. It's almost like sniffing a sweater with beeswax perfume on it. As it dries, the tea and cream come out a bit more, and the beeswax is definitely still there. No sign of the pepper or dust. I'm surprised at how sweet and creamy this is, it's not something I would associate with Ichabod Crane. It's getting a bit faint as it dries, sadly, but overall this is a surprisingly nice scent.

Sugar Skull has a special meaning for me because the person that got me into BPAL LOVES it. It and Samhain are also some of the first scents that I think of around Halloween time. I have decants of both 2007 and 2008, so I'll review them simultaneously. What do they call this in wine tasting? Oh, right: Vertical testing! 2007: I've tested 2007 several times but have yet to write a review because I find it hard to describe. To call it a burnt sugar smell wouldn't do it justice. There's brown sugar for sure, and a bit of fruity sweetness, and a slight caramelly burnt edge to it all. 2008: This version is definitely similar to 2007, but I find it a bit sweeter and maybe a bit fruitier with much less of that burnt edge. It seems to be a bit simpler of a blend, even though I know the listed notes are the same for both. They're both delicious scents, though I think I prefer 2007. I wouldn't wear either one, but they so evoke the atmosphere of Halloween that I may make them into wax tarts.

Whenever I see a scent with wine as a note, I tend to pick up a decant. I just can't help myself. I find that BPAL wine notes can really vary too - some are unmistakably red wines, while others are...grapey. Head of Holofernes is grapey and powdery at first; then some of the darker notes such as the leather begin to emerge. It's really complex at this point - grape and powder and leather and tonka. I must say that I'm not a fan, sadly.

I was worried about the leather, but all of the other notes sounded delicious so I opted for a decant. In the vial, it's very crisp fruit, no leather in sight. This is promising! On me, it stays pretty much the same - crisp, light, fruity. I think the cream is sweetening it up a bit, the fruit note almost smells like Sweetarts. It's reminding me very much of another BPAL blend but for the life of me I can't place it. While it doesn't smell like it, this blend makes me think of a light fruity champagne. It's a perfect light and delicious summer scent, and I can't believe my luck that there's no sign of leather. From reading reviews, that doesn't seem to be the case for everybody, but if you're waffling, at least try a decant.

I received this as a decant circle frimp. While I love wine, I'm generally not a fan of any of the other notes. When I opened the imp to apply this, the blast of HOOOOONEEEEY WIIINE just about bowled me over. On my skin, it doesn't change at all - no smoke, incense, branches, bay, or anything else. It's very sweet and smells, well, like honey wine. I don't know how else to describe it. It's almost got a wine cooler vibe to it, like it's a bit fizzy or something. I think I'm feeling tipsy O_o.

I really don't know what to expect from this blend - I LOVE rooibos and mango, and generally don't handle musks well. I think the only musky scent that I liked enough to get a bottle of was Smut. That said, this oil is VERY dark, so I know there's going to be at least some musk in there. In the vial, the oil smells sweet and there's very little musk. Once applied, it is surprisingly faint on my skin, which makes it very hard to describe. There's definitely a lot of musk now, and while that sweet smell from the vial is still there, it's way in the background. I'll let it hang out on my skin for a while and see if I can't get a better read on it.

Yarr! While I think a Ninja Moon would be slightly superior, I do love me some pirates (and some rum), so how could I not snag a decant? Wet on me, it's woody and musky and I detected a hint of lime which then fled. There's also some leather in there too. It's very crisp and seems to me like sort of a manly scent (though I shouldn't find that surprising, since the pirate life is not exactly...feminine). I don't know why, but it's coming across as a musky "green" scent. I was expecting it to smell, well, not green and more like a pirate ship would smell like. Very interesting scent, but not for me.