surf-tormented

I am wondering what the "white resins" are because I get the same cheap hairspray note I disliked in Sugar Moon. It was a nice light scent so I slathered it on a bit to hide the scent of my sunscreen. Then I got to smell like White Rain hairspray all day. Icky. I am going to try this on a day when I don't wear sunscreen, but I don't think it was the sunscreen messing with it. I hope not, because I did like the citrus/floral beginning.

I second the Him-er-us with the us being shorter. My experience comes from being in a Roman Reconstructionist coven and we try to pronounce all names like they would be in Ancient Rome. Not cool trying to ask a God for something and getting their name wrong!

I love this. I really can't stop sniffing my arm. It's musky yet powdery, but not too much so. It has both aquatic and florals in there too. Then there is almost a morph into wood and mint...unique... If my brain gives up what this reminds me of, I'll write more. It does remind me of the ocean, the darkness of the bottom of the sea and mermaids. Neptune and his horses...fantastic! I get hardly any sweetness from this, BTW.

LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! (then a wee bit o' grapefruit and it is gone) Might as well just opened my bottle of lemon essential oil and sniffed it, it would have been more natural lemon and not this overly sweet lemon drop lemon. Not sure what this has to do with Phobos. To me, a lemon is far from terrifying, ok, the only thing scary about this one is that the lemon scent WON'T GO AWAY. You cannot scrub it off. I guess it is horrific in retrospect!

Wow, for Pele, this is rather tame. I expected lava rock, smoke and magma, maybe with a bit of Hawaiian floral underneath. This is simple and pretty, but has no throw, no "fire". The ginger doesn't even snap. Disappointment.

This is my favorite of the Steamworks I have tried. It smells like cold bronze metal coupled with incense, dregs of wine and musty floral offerings. Though I am passing my imp of it on, I will get a bottle of this in the future. It has a good throw, lasts long and it's just so metal and cold, like a spider mechanism.

This is dark on me and I like dark. Deep woods and infernal spices. It remained dark until it had a "bathroom cleaner" moment within a half hour then went strangely chemical on my wrist. Now, an hour in, it smells tropical. The coconut takes hold. It was nice and dark, now it's tanning butter. Yipes. This is truly an evil creation! I think this is what Lovecraft was talking about!

This smells a lot like Cheshire Cat to me, though the notes aren't alike in the slightest! It's so odd. It is completely Cheshire Cat on me! Which is good, because I like Cheshire Cat, but bad because I just swapped for a bottle of Cheshire Cat and don't need another bottle of something that is that close in scent to it. I wish the bottle of Cheshire Cat was here right now. I would love to compare the two. On me, they are really close to the same thing, except maybe the Cheshire Cat has more throw!

This reminds me of a sassafras tea blend my mom used to buy when I was a kid. It was an herbal tea blend without sugar. Despite having some notes I am not to fond of in the mix, or should I say, notes that are not fond of me, I would buy a bottle of this. It perks me up. I am unsure if it is nostalgia or that it is "stimulating" as in the name, it makes my mood happy so it's definitely something I would buy in the future once the imp is done. I don't get "root beer" from this, no sugar, more of a straight sassafras odor.

Wow, this is very delicate on me. Almost not there. What I got a sniff of reminded me a lot of Ultraviolet, which is one of my favorite scents. Except without a cold note. The mint in this blend is not showing up at all on me. After a few minutes, it is beginning to smell violet candies. Not overly sugary, but a more sweeter violet. The person above me had it right: violet breath mints. I want to have what they are having, since I keep reading these great, poetic reviews, yet my own impage is failing to live up to the hype! Ultraviolet is more for me, I can barely smell this and rather trade my imp of Violet Ray than try to slather it completely on me see if it works more on my clothes or in a locket. I have seen a Violet Ray machine in a museum, but I don't think this captures the essence of it. I wanted a scent that was even colder than Ultraviolet and that would remind me of Tesla. I wanted to get a sense of wax, plastic, wood and ozone. Ozone being the coldness it leaves on the skin. Violet Ray is a very Victorian smelling floral, but I don't find it very mechanical or steampunk. If you want powerful violet and mint, I would recommend Ultraviolet over this one.

It has a solid metal odor to it once applied to the skin. It's metal with lemon, which is more sour than sweet. Then that morphs into a spicy incense based blend with a green herbal kick. I'd buy a bottle of this, but the downsizes to it are that I already have perfume oils similar to it and the throw/lasting power isn't very good. I put it on about a half hour ago and can barely smell it now. It reminds me a lot of Valentine of Rome, except less floral. It makes me really want to try what the person before me tried, because my imp is very low key and is sort of average more than being a full-on steampunk experience! I tried it just now and it's already gone on my skin...it must be a quick moving engine...hopefully in a few hours I will be wowed, I just don't think it is going to happen... I do have to say I like the concept of mixing steampunk with Thelema. I may consider buying a bottle of this once my Valentine of Rome is gone, probably years from now.

This is probably the only way I could wear coconut. It's tropical but not in an annoying way. It doesn't smell too harsh of coconut rum. Someone made me an egg nog with coconut rum and it tasted really horrible...but this doesn't remind me of the way that alcohol smells at all. It's real natural smelling. The coconut is light, playing with the rum, sugar and tobacco notes. It isn't overpowering either. It has a slight throw, which is good enough for me, I don't want a strong coconut scent, it makes me queasy. I would recommend this scent to those who like coconut or want to offer this to Elegba. The notes go very well with what Elegba stands for. I am not sure I would buy it for myself. It is good for one wear and to try out, but I don't think I'd be reaching for this on the regular basis. It tends to burn my nose when I smell it too.

Smells like BBQ when I first apply it. Both the sauce and the grill type of BBQ. Then after the BBQ zest wears off, I get deep smoke and wood notes, reminds me of Djinn without the musk note. The oil itself is pretty thick and lasts really long. It's pretty and dark, well, at least to me, because I like dark smokey oils. I'd keep this if I didn't like Djinn better, because they are close. A few hours later this smells like BBQ again on me. I like the scent the rest of the time, but the BBQ sauce note is a bit much! It might work well for people who want deep wood smoke tapered with sweet resins. It really isn't my thing though. If you like your smokey forest fire scent dowsed with BBQ sauce, then you are in luck! Eat your blazing forest with an evil smile!

This scents reminds me of Tin Phoenix and Proshitapathika. I find these two so close, I thought about selling one of the bottles off. Shoggoth is a lot like them too. Lemongrass comes to the front, with a light ozone/floral under it. Of course there are little tiny variants between the three scents, but not enough for me to have more than one bottle from this scent group around. I do like lemongrass with ozone and floral, it seems to pick up my spirits when I dab it on. It doesn't last long.

It reminds me of The Red Queen and Florence, both of which contain a dominant cherry like fruit note and then blend into a wood or musk. I like The Red Queen the best out of the three. Kabuki starts out strong cherry on me, almost too sweet. Then when that calms down, I can't smell much of the anise and musk. So I think I will trade me imp to someone who likes cherry and perfumes with a foodie edge. This is way too cherry cream on me.

t's a very light vanilla scent with something extra I can't place. A mineral type note, be it dirt, stone or ocean floor. I get that off and on rush of scent I have read other reviews have and that is a fun gimmick, because I get a smokey dirt whiff every once in a while as it beams fire, but I don't love it. The throw is hardly there and I really have to sniff it close to get any sign of it. I like the cold vanilla note a lot better in their LEs like Snowball Fracas and Hypothermia. And those have more throw, so this imp will be swapped. Hours later: It does hang on lightly for a long time, maybe this would be a good scent for work environments. I might change my mind about it and get a bottle. Even later: It's gone now...maybe I shouldn't bother. This scent is so confusing.

This scent smells like a mix of ozone and sea water. Then the floral note comes. It's heading toward linen-floral. It reminds me a lot of Sea Island Cotton from Bath and Body Works. The two are really close. And I do possess a bottle of Sea Island Cotton, so I don't need more the same scent. I mean, it isn't exactly the same, as the BPAL blend has a bit more depth, but the Sea Island Cotton has a lot more throw and lasting power on my skin and clothes than The Sea Foams Blood does. I don't really get people saying there is Dragon's Blood in this. The term "blood" could mean other notes too. I smell only salt, ozone, water, cotton and florals.

I thought I had done a review of this one before, but I guess I haven't. I've really wanted to LOVE this scent and I have tried it twice. I got a bottle when it was a LE and then got an imp in a swap the other day. The Irish Cream note is really gross on my skin, the sugar gets amped up at the expensive of the coffee. I bought this way back when because I wanted another coffee type of oil other than Mata Hari, which is a scent I love and still have the cobalt bottle of. It lasts a long time! Anyway, this perfume is full of promise...wood, coffee, old book goodness. I get: stale burnt coffee, dank wood and no old leather books...it is more dirty cafe than university And after this, I loved the idea of it so I wanted to keep the imp. Thank the gods someone bought it from me and I hope it is a lot better on them than me.

This scent has a lot of layers. When I first put it on, it smells very minty with a touch of ozone. Then it settles into a great grass and leather scent, losing most of the mint and ozone. It is almost like wearing a whole other perfume. After 30 minutes of so, it morphs again into a leather incense scent that has a lot of wood notes and a slight spicy wine finish. I also get sniffs of the mint, which has made a comeback. It is pleasant all the way through and lasts longer than average on me. I got an imp of this, I might need a bottle.

Reminds me of a lighter version of Djinn. It has a lot of the same smokey and dark notes, yet Smokestack drifts away from my skin within an hour of putting it on. I'll probably stick with Djinn instead of this one to get my smokey fix though the end of the scent is a chilling ozone. Wow, it's gone. Less than an hour. I wish it would have stayed around!

At first, this really smells good on me. It's a strong metallic mint. But then the myrrh from the Abramelin oil turns it into total myrrh, then soap on me. I have even had it on for 15 minutes and it's soapy hairspray, which is what myrrh does on me more times than not. I wish I could have kept the metallic mint scent. I would buy a bottle if the myrrh didn't make a truly loud and destructive appearance.

In bottle: Stale tobacco. I call them like I smell them. Approach with caution. On skin: A mix between DeSade and I keep wanting to say one of the boozy Wanderlusts like Santo Domingo. But that isn't quite it. I really can't stop smelling myself! It is almost fresh in a way no leather scent I have ever tried from BPAL is. It is strong at first, which is what I like, but then gets a spicy cigar kick from the other notes. I am thinking 50 year old classy British sugar daddy, smoking rich tobacco in his leather chair with a brandy in his hand and a riding crop in the other. A dominant Peter Cushing role, with icy blue eyes and elegant smoking gloves on. 15 minutes later: It is definitely sexy. It makes me feel like I could take on the world. There is a phrase out there about "showing" the sword or spear and this makes me feel like I am showing the spear in a display of "stay clear of me, I will do whatever I want!" It isn't so violent, but defensive. An hour later: It's more leather now, but I am not complaining! Seems like it will only stick around for 3-4 hours, but you never know. Will report back! Verdict: Due to its light nature, this perfume can be a more calming leather scent as opposed to the more hard hitting BPAL leathers like DeSade or Kronen. Ares is seducing me with these scents. One of the other ones I tried filled me with joy, this one makes me want to run headlong into the world, tough as nails. So glad I got these! Highly recommend them if you want a little sweet but not be run over by rampant sweetness, the wood, the blonde tobacco, leather and brandy note work very well together.

In the bottle: Can you believe, those little valentine candy hearts? It took me a long time to remember that scent, but it really smells like those. Powdery licorice candies. NECCO® Wafers. or Sweethearts®. On skin: The last reviewer has got it right...an orange pomander ball. I made those in Catholic school, just about every year, for Christmas. I used to hang them in my closet. It smells very natural too, no overly strong odor or candle-like scent, just cloves, anise and orange. Later: The cumin makes the blend even more special. I've never sniffed a perfume quite like it from the Lab and I am happy I got it. It's really a mood lifter. I dab a bit on and it makes me joyful. Maybe Ares is happy to be blood smeared since he is joyful in war? I do get a sort of warrior type orange-red out of the notes. The dry down is really unusual, cumin and anise. Warm and heady. Spicy blood stains! Verdict: I like this. I don't think it has a long life or the greatest throw, yet anise notes in BPAL oils usually amp up on me to the point of making me queasy, so it is most likely best it stays light on me. It's a satisfying scent, warm and passionate. It's a lot better than I thought, since anise didn't conquer all this time!

I got this today, very happy my Luper package got here before VD. The artwork on all three bottles is very nice and reflects what the meaning of the name is by the picture, for example, this one has bronze armor on it. In the bottle: Jasmine with wood and slighter fruity note (probably the pear). On skin: It's very nice and exotic smelling. Normally my skin amps up the jasmine at the expense of all the other notes, but the champaca (white sandalwood), red sandalwood and cedar blend well with it, making it both woody and floral, with neither being the major note. I can also smell a tiny bit of pear and pepper in this too. Those notes give the blend a lot of body. Later on: I didn't think this would have much throw or lasting power, but if you give the perfume some time, it becomes stronger. I was wearing this in public and wondered if I put too much on and I had only put a few drops on. It smells like an ancient temple that happens to have a vendor selling fruit and spice outside of it. I do get a sense of Ares and bronze from this scent too. It works with me on all levels. Verdict: I like it. It has pear in it, but isn't sweet, which I enjoy. It would be a good jasmine scent for those who have a hard time with jasmine becoming the dominant note in most perfume like I do. And if you like sandalwood and cedar, this is a must have. The pepper and jasmine give this one a lot of depth of notes. I am glad I bought a bottle of this.

This is the first time I've tried any BPTP "kitchen sink" item. I bought this for less than retail price from another forumite since I was unsure how the spray would work and didn't want to pay almost $30 ($23 and $6.50 shipping) for it unsmelled, since I can't buy much else from the site. For example, I can't use bath oil in my tub, because it makes it really filmy. And I am not into the shirts or other dry good offered on their site. I got it today and was surprised it isn't in a glass bottle. For $23 retail, I guess I expected a glass bottle. This means, I will have to use it up faster, since essential oils and ingredients only have a 2-3 year life maximum in plastic bottles as opposed to glass. I think it is also an environmentally friendly corn product bottle. Which is a good idea though it might break down before I am done with the spray. It did have a nice label, that was coated and explained the notes of the spray on it and had a poem about Autumn on it. But barring that, I liked the scent. The fig note dominates. There is a very slight hint of smokiness and earth, which is fine with me, because I hoped this would be more figgy than anything else. It only takes a few squirts to make a room smell good, though it doesn't last too long, maybe 1-2 hours. But this is probably good since my boyfriend doesn't like room scent too much, I can spray it in the morning and enjoy it in the home studio before he comes home at night. If it wasn't for the plastic bottle and the high price for not being a glass bottle (with shipping it is about $7.50 an ounce, making it closer to high end stuff that is, to me, better quality), I would probably buy these off and on. But the plastic bottle makes it look cheap and the ingredients won't have as much of a shelf life, so that is disappointing. Sure, an ounce of Pacifica is $22, but they have a silkscreen glass bottle and well designed box the spray is in and the spray lasts a really long time and it is all natural. I am not sure if this product is all natural or not, there is no list of ingredients on the bottle I have. But that bottle is solidly closed and I am sure if I sprayed it years from now, it would still smell good. Yeah, I would buy this scent if it came in a glass bottle similar to what regular BPAL oils come in, but the 4 oz. version. I wish it did come in a glass bottle. Oh well. P.S. I also used a bit of this on my skin, which is says not to do, but it smelled great on my skin. I might add this to base oil or alcohol and see what it does. I really like this on my skin. I guess rules where made to be broken and I don't see any rashes or bad health effects yet, so maybe I'll just keep doing that. It is a great figgy smoke scent on my skin and lasts for a while.