meredevachon

The loukhoum in this worried me because my skin generally takes the tiniest hint of rose and blasts it to the ends of creation while ignoring everything else, but I had to buy this on principle, and the rest of the notes sounded gorgeous and me-like. I'm so glad to find I don't get any rose from it. As others have said, and better than I could, on me, this is chewy, almost sticky scent. Patchouli is the primary note to me, but for those days I don't want to smell like Stinky Hippie, if that makes sense. I don't really get any vanilla, more a resiny, woody patch, and the tobacco others mentioned fits too. I like it now – and of course, had to wear it today – but can't wait to see how it does in a few months.

In the bottle: nutty, with a hint of pine Wet: I get acorns more than hazelnuts, but whiffs of the latter at times too. I think, if I'm getting any pine, it's just wishful thinking. Drying: Same as above, with a little sweetness every now and then, not specifically honey or berries, but mildly sweet. Almost starchy or yeasty. Popcorn, but not. On the cusp of being too foodie for me. There's almost a chill to it, even though it's a very cozy scent. After about 15 minutes, honey becomes more prominent, and I start to see where people were reminded of huffing cat belly. *nuzzles semi-sleeping cat* Yeah, there's a similarity. Dry: Slightly foodie. Warm and cozy, but still wintery. Cuddling with a kitty. Overall: I like it. I'm not sure how often I'll wear it, or whether it was worth getting a bottle unsniffed, but I'm not disappointed in my first lunacy.

A character I play in a panfandom RPG has the most adorable crush on Legolas, so tonight I decided to try Neutral Good Elf Ranger (I might have gone with Rogue, except I'm allergic to it, and it's found a better home) I'm going to have some seriously good dreams tonight; I can tell. And my cat seems to think I'm the best thing since her tuna and shrimp gooshy food. It starts out strong with all the evergreens, but then the musks bloom. I don't get much leather, more like the faint scent of leather left on the skin after you've taken off the leather clothing. Hints of berry brighten things up, and there's a so soft, creamy honey note hanging out in the background. I cannot stop sniffing myself. Even better...my grandmother got one of the reed fragrance diffusers for Christmas, some kind of lemon-lavender, way too plasticky and overpoweringly strong, blend*. She loves it. It gives me a terrible headache. And I had to spend several hours in the room with it tonight. Even though I'm not in that room now, it wasn't until I put on NG Elf Ranger that the headache went away. *I'm seriously considering pouring out some of the oil and replacing it with a neutral-scent base oil, if I can remember what I've done with my sweet almond or jojoba. A friend suggested it after I asked if it was wrong of me to pour out a goodly amount so what was left would get gone faster. But diluting it seems like an even better idea.

Frimp from the Lab In the imp: Slightly bitter citrus. Wet: I know this is supposed to be chamomile, but when I put this on, I'm reminded of a steaming cup of Lady Grey tea with honey (when given the choice, I drink it more often than Earl Grey). Definitely tea and bergamot though. Dry down: The rosewood starts to come out after 15-20 minutes, along with a soapiness. Love the rosewood, the tea, and the bergamot. Hate the soap. Dry: What happened? By the time I can't see a glisten of oil any more (I'd only used a light swipe), I can't smell anything either. I'm starting to wonder if my skin is eating pretty much everything these days, because a lot of what I've tested lately hasn't lasted very long on me. Overall: Liked it in the beginning. And I was really hoping the soapiness wouldn't last long; a lot of blends go through a soapy phase for a bit. Unfortunately, on me, it wasn't just the soapy that disappeared it was Libertine entirely.

Frimp from the Lab. In the imp: Candy. There's a specific candy this is making me think of, I just can't place it. Wet: Still the same candy. Eventually I realize it's like the center of a chocolate covered cherry (minus the chocolate). Or a cherry coke that's been left out to get warm and flat, almost syrupy. Dry down: After a few minutes it calms down a little, leaving me with...marzipan. I'm not a fan of marzipan. Tickle in the back of my throat and nose. After around 30 minutes, I'm starting to get some spice, mostly cloves with the marzipan. Unfortunately, I'm also allergic to it. Overall: I've been down this road before, and I've learned there are too many wonderful BPAL blends I'm not allergic to for me to suffer through allergies for scents I'm not otherwise madly in love with. Washed this off and will send it on to a loving home.

Frimp from the Lab In the imp: Faint apple. Wet: Apple, not too tart, not too sweet. Getting some of the herbs, fresh and green against the apple. Dry down: The amber comes out, makes the scent warmer, rounder, golden. It stays close to the skin, and I could like this. Dry: My grandma used to dry apple slices, then use them later to make apple turnovers. This smells a lot like the dried apples, but with the amber keeping it from smelling straight foodie. Overall: Verdandi is nice. It didn't wow me, but I liked it well enough. The biggest problem is less than two hours later, it was completely gone. Even with my nose up against the test spot, I couldn't smell it at all. I have plenty of other bpal I like more, so I'm passing this one on to a friend who wants to try it.

Frimp from the Lab In the imp: Warm spices, sweet honey. Wet: SWEET. Nutty richness of almonds, but mostly what I get is SWEET. Dry down: Surrounded by honey, with the almonds underneath. Where are all the lovely spices I got in the imp? Dry: Still no spices. I really like some honey scents, but this has been and remains too over the top. Plus the almonds. Overall: Foodie scents aren't really my thing, and this one is definitely foodie. It also gave me the munchies. Strong throw, but only lasted a couple of hours. I'm passing this one on to a friend.

So Neutral on its own is a soft, white floral on me, instead of the skin musk I was so eagerly looking for (and which usually does so well on me). So tonight I decided to try layering. Neutral + Ranger: Ranger's so amazing by itself, I had to try these together, and as soon as I added a line of Ranger to the Neutral I was already wearing, the florals morphed into the musk I'd been craving and the Ranger got even more intoxicating in its warm foresty love. Neutral + Half-Elf + Ranger: I almost expected Half-Elf to soften this some, given how it was on its own. But it sharpens it instead. The notes are clearer. It feels more alert. And really, I could sit here and sniff my arm all night long. I considered adding Good to the mix, but decided I like this and want to enjoy it for awhile. I can make the Neutral Good Half-Elven Ranger some other time.

In the imp: Evergreen. Soft and warm, a deep green scent. Wet: Juniper more than pine, but I get that too. I can't pick out anything else specific, but there's more hanging out in the background making things interesting, keeping it grounded. I like this. Dry down: If I try, after a while, I can pick out the hay. I love the Lab's hay note. And a soft warmth from the buckskin. The evergreens get toned down a little as it dries, and while it's easier to pick out other notes, it becomes more about the blend of them together. Yeah, I definitely like this. Dry: Once things really blend together, it doesn't change much. After, oh, 30 minutes or so. I can pick out individual notes if I try, but I'm just as happy wrapped in a close cocoon of them melded together. Overall: If Coyote and Golden Priapus had a baby, this is what the cradle would smell like. And as GP is in my top 5 and Coyote is another really like, this is a very good thing. I'll try layering to see how it does, but I'm very happy with this one just as it is. *rolls around in*

The one time I played a paladin (long story and not worth getting into here, but the character class wasn't entirely my choice), I hated it. So I probably wouldn't have ordered this except that all the notes looked so much like me. Just based on the description, I should love this. In the imp: Softer than I expected, chemical tang from the leather, a little bit of sweetness. Wet: I get the frankincense, and not much else at first. Dry down: Now I start to get some musk and leather with the incense. No metallic, no vanilla. Dry: This one seemed to take a really long time to dry, but the scent itself didn't morph all that much. Overall: White. Polished. Not much throw, which I like. I would have liked getting some of the vanilla, because it's one of my favorites, and some of the armor, since that's what would really make it say paladin to me. I like it well enough, but it's probably not one I'll reach for often, given the scents I've got which do those notes better (either individually or together). Still, the simplicity leaves it ripe for layering.

In the imp: Chemically, which I expect when there's leather. Wet: Supple brown leather, broken in and well-used. Dry down: Still mostly leather, and what a yummy musky leather it is, with just an edge of metallic. The metallic isn't coppery, so not blood, just the steel. Dry: This becomes fairly faint pretty quickly, more like after the leather armor is taken off but leaving a trace of the scent behind. Overall: I would have expected something stronger from Fighter, but what there is of this, I really like. Sticks very close to the skin, but would need more frequent reapplication than I'm used to. Not bad, and I definitely want to see how it does layered.

From the description, this was either going to be brilliant on me or terrible. So I took a chance. In the imp: Incensey and resinous. Just a little acrid. This could work. Wet: Rose, with just the tiniest bit of incense. Dry down: in less than 10 minutes even the hint of incense is gone, and I'm left with rose. Make that ROSE. Dry: ROSEROSEROSE, oh, and maybe there's some ROSE in it. Hours later it eventually went to rose powder, but I never got anything else. Overall: I was very quickly reminded of The Miller's Daughter, which did the exact same thing on me. I'd been hoping this time would be different, that the myrrh and frankincense and balsam would let the amber, which my skin tends to amp in almost every other form, bloom. But no, apparently my skin loves rose more than anything else, even if I don't. My guess is that this would be slightly more complex than Miller's Daughter, but possibly something to consider trying now that Miller's Daugher is DC. Then again, it's hard for me to judge, since they don't work with my chemistry.

I finally broke down and ordered some of the CD scents unsniffed. I'd been curious about them pretty much since I found BPAL years ago, but had held off on getting any. In the bottle: Chemically, which I almost always get when the Lab's blend has a leather note. A little astringent even. Wet: Ah, there's the beeswax. And the "random chemical" scent morphs into leather when it hits my skin. Dry down: I'm gonna just sit here and sniff my arm for awhile. That's okay, right? Leather over wood, polished and made more supple with beeswax. Hints of pepper and spice to make you pay attention. Dry: Rich and indulgent. This is a scent of temptation. A "Come to the Dark Side" enticement in leather, wood, and wax. Overall: Why did I wait so long to try this? It's gorgeous.

In the imp: Pine? No, not pine, but another evergreen. Wet: *checks Lab description because trying to figure out what evergreen this is is driving me nuts* Ah, that would be the aspen. Dry down: Sweet, but not too sweet. Golden and warm and round. The aspen is still at the fore, but this is a swirl of soft fragrance. Dry: I can't pick out individual notes anymore, except the aspen occasionally, because it all melds together so well. Overall: I think this works very well for Elf. While it appears somewhat ethereal, there's a depth to it. It's simple in its complexity. Centuries of life apart from the ages of Man, at one with themselves and nature while still sophisticated and graceful. Between the berry and the florals in the description, I wasn't sure about this one. But it's brilliant on me, and not what I expected.

This one was mostly purchased as a curiosity. In the imp: (without having reminded myself of notes) Vegetably. Wet: Memory flash to cutting up vegetables. Green, a little watery. *starts to check Lab description, remembers while waiting for page to load* Oh, zucchini! Yeah, that's what it smells like. Dry down: More throw on this one that the other RPGs I've tested so far. Sometimes smells more like cucumbers, sometimes more like zucchini. Hints of something peppery, which I think is probably my brain trying to make sense of the vetiver when the predominant scent is zucchini. Dry: If I search for it, with my nose right up at the test site, I think I get thin whiffs of leather. But generally I'm swaddled in the fragrance of fresh summer veggie. Overall: I'll see how this does when layered, but I'm thinking I don't really want to smell like a farmers' market. Probably won't be reaching for Orc all that often.

The vast majority of my D&D characters over the years have been half-elves. So there was no way I wasn't going to try this one, even if I hadn't liked the notes. But since the description looked like something I would like, it made it that much more necessary for me to have it. In the imp: Light, round, kind of a faded green. Wet: This is softer than I expected, but not in a bad way. I agree with Dark Alice about the leafy-ness. Soft woods. Drydown: The sandalwood kind of holds all of this together, with a lighter ghosting of beeswax and musk. Some brightness from the green tea. Dry: After about 20 minutes this feels like it's settled into its final state, with the notes blending seamlessly into a soft, warm whole. Overall: I could live in this. This is one of those scents where I feel like people are more likely to say "You smell amazing" than "Your perfume smells amazing". I keep sniffing the test site, and really, I'm just in love. I'm going to have to get a bottle of this, I can tell.

In the imp: Sharp, metallic. Wet: Iron. Then stone. *checks Lab description* Yeah, that sounds about right. It seems to fluctuate between iron and stone, with smoky-smudgy-gritty overlaying it. Drying & dry: Stays the same. Overall: I don't get any actual leather from this, but other than that, it fits the description very well. I don't know that it's one I'll wear often, but I can tell there will be days when it's the right scent for me. And I can't wait to try layering it.

Almost every character I've ever played has been some kind of neutral alignment, so I had to get Neutral. Plus, I love what the lab has done with skin musks before. Really looking forward to this one. In the imp: Very sweet, almost like a candied floral. WTH? Wet: Not as strong, but still smells like a soft, simple floral (I rarely wear florals unless they're mixed with non-florals, so I couldn't say which one) Dry: This one hasn't morphed at all. Overall: Not at all what I was expecting. To the point, I'm thinking my smeller might be off. Neutral is...nice? And I could see how it would be good to layer with something else, but on its own, not really me. I'm really hoping a second try at another time will give me better results.

One of the hardest things about getting a new package from BPAL is deciding what to try first. I decided to start with the RPGs, then narrowed it further to the alignments, and finally picked Good to go first. It was a good choice. In the imp: Soapy. A little sweet, but mostly what I get is soap. Wet: Still soapy, a little sweet, a little vanilla. 20 minutes in: Musk is starting to come out, deepen and ground it a little more. And thankfully, the soap has faded away. Dry: Hasn't changed much more. This is a very clean scent. Whiffs of vanilla and musk. Overall: Sticks close to the skin. Not very complex, which is helpful for layering. I don't know that it'll be my first choice, at least not on its own, but I like it.

I've been thinking about getting Roadhouse off and on ever since the beginning of season 2 of Supernatural and the introduction of Ellen Harvelle and Harvelle's Roadhouse. And after playing Ellen in an online RPG for well over a year, I finally broke down and ordered an imp. In the imp: Almost peppery green, I could see it as crushed dandelion stems. Something else I can't quite put my finger on. Wet: The fresh almost spicy green is still there, but now it's surrounded in the sweetness of dried tobacco, with hints of hemp. Oh, this is good. Seriously good. Arm attached to nose kind of good. What do you mean I have to stop sniffing my wrist long enough to type up this part of my review notes kind of good. Dry down: This dries fairly quickly, and without the scent changing much from the way it was when first applied. Dry: Faint whiffs of indeterminate booziness flicker after a while, little bits sloshed or spilled over the course of a night of drinking on a lawn somewhere. But the overall scent stays true to what it's been the whole time. Overall: I like this way more than I thought I would, and can't believe I waited so long to try it. Stays close to the skin, doesn't last as long as I would like, but is still faintly there after 3-4 hours. Impressions: Color ~ bright green, sunlit. Texture ~ very smooth. Shape ~ long, thin cylinder.

I decided to get Skuld, as I got Urd in my last order (because of a friend's RP character) and she needs her sisters. Verdandi will most likely be in my next order. In the imp: Hello, sweetness! Almost syrupy floral and honey. Wet: Stil very sweet, with the honey seeming to tone down the sweet floral of the ylang ylang. And something funky underneath that's probably musk, but not as appealing as musk usually is to me. Dry down: Heady. The ylang ylang goes kind of plasticky, and as it's the dominant note, it throws the whole scent off. Dry: The musks and labdanum eventually wrestle the sweetness under control some, which helps. Waft is still sweetened ylang ylang, but close to the skin it's lovely. Of course, if I had my druthers, it'd be the other way around. Overall: If it weren't for the ylang ylang, I'd be bathing in this. With the ylang ylang, it might be too much floral-sweet for me. But I kind of want to try layering Urd with Skuld, see how they act together.

I ordered this, unsniffed, even though it didn't seem like something I would wear, because the combination of notes reminded me of someone. Maybe not the best way to pick BPAL, but I couldn't resist. In the bottle: Usually when I sniff something in the bottle, I get just a general impression, can maybe pick out one or two notes, and that's it. But with Calaveras...first sniff: bitter chocolate, second sniff: tequila, breathe deeply: pretty much everything just as it was described, and all easy to pick out. And yet, somehow it doesn't come across as terribly foodie. Wet: All those easiy discernible notes in the bottle have blended together into something warm and inviting but much harder to describe. At this point, it's foodier than I tend to wear. Dry down: This oil takes longer than some to fully dry, and the time is spent with different notes rising to the surface only to be supplanted temporarily by the next. Hints of the spice of the peppers from time to time, but mostly chocolate and tequila taking turns, with the vanilla softening both, and the incense keeping things from smelling too foodie. Dry: I keep sniffing my wrist, and have been ever since I put this on. The notes are playing together nicely by this point, hints of each, but with the blend of them being even more than them individually. But if I try, I can still pick out everything from the description. Overall: I like this a lot more than I thought I would, and it's not as foodie as I feared. But it's still borderline on whether it's too foodie for me to wear. But if nothing else, it'll make a great room scent for me, and I think I'll wear it occasionally at least. Throw is enough I can smell it without sticking my wrist (or other body part) right up to my nose, but not so much it can be smelled without getting close — that is, perfect for me. And it lasts for hours. Oh, and if you were wondering...yeah, having smelled it, it definitely reminds me of the person I thought it would.

Frimp from the Lab In the imp: Polished wood and a bit of incense. Dark. Wet: Oh, I like this. Still mostly wood, the first thing the wood aspect reminded me of was Antikythera Mechanism, but it's not teak. Spiced smoke. Dry down: I could get drunk on this, figuratively speaking. The florals are behaving themselves, the wood and incense and smokiness are deep and rich. Dry: This is what you'd expect of a dark, dangerous (mad) woman. Not in the middle of frenzy, but before and after. This is an "I am woman, hear me roar" scent. Overall: Much love for this one. I'll eventually stop sniffing my arm, I'm sure. For a time. Medea was a pleasant surprise, and worked much better on me than I thought it would.

Frimp from the Lab: In the imp: Strong florals. I can pick out lily and I think glads. Wet: More of the same, but I think maybe I'm getting some ivy too, if it's not just my imagination. Whatever it is, it's taming the florals a little. Dry: Because of various family medical near-crises, I only got about 2 hours of sleep the night before testing this. So when my eyes started watering, I wasn't sure if it was just because they were as tired as the rest of me, or if it was The Ghost. It's a good, basic floral for someone who likes that kind of thing. But not for me.

Frimp from the Lab In the imp: Heavily floral, strong on the lilies, with rose not far behind. Wet: There's a flash of something green. Grass green. There and then gone. If I hadn't sniffed immediately after putting it on my arm, I wouldn't have caught it. Dry: Very quickly turns to soap on me. Someone mentioned walking into a Crabtree & Evelyn and getting hit with the multitude of scents? Yeah, I could see that. Overall: I didn't have much in the way of expectations from this one, so at least I wasn't disappointed. But I do think it's one that if the florals work for you, you can rock it. I'm just not that person. Into the swap box with The Reaper and the Flowers.