couscous

I purchased this one based on Tom and Galen's video review! I was expecting a frigid cold, refrigerated blood orange, and it sounded so clean and refreshing. Had to get it even though it sounded simple. On the skin, it is not quite what I expected, but still pleasant. The frost on this one manifests as candy, almost like a sugar coated mandarin. It is sweeter than I expected and less bitter/astringent. It is *slightly* cleaning product on me, but not intolerably so. As it dries down, I am getting the barest hint of that powdery snow white note no one can place. It does kind of feel like one of the snow white hybrids offered a few years ago. This one is crying out to be layered. It is pretty and juicy on her own, but I feel like it needs something else to blossom on my skin. Maybe a sharp tea note or a yuzu? I am curious to read how other fans wear this and what they pair it with, if anything. Personally, I could really get into this with a more bitter citrus underneath. A little more herbal and green. This is a very girly orange, slightly nostalgic with a powdery candy undertone. It feels very young. Glad I got to try it!

Ah, this was a disappointment. No red musk. No whiskey. No amber. Instead, it is pine. Pine to the eleventh power, with a bit of the lemon coming through on the skin after it settles a bit. I love lemon, but in this case she is quite unwelcome. Combined with the overwhelming pine smell, the blend becomes straight up floor cleaner on me. Red musk is usually a slam dunk on my skin, and Mad Sweeney is one of my favorite winter go-tos, so the whiskey note sealed the deal when I read the description. I really thought Last Tavern would be a no-brainer loved blend, but that pine-sol throwback...Naaaah. Can't do it. Won't wear it. I guess the "sleet" is the culprit? Super bummed! I hope someone out there gets the glorious bpal red musk smell from this. I am off to wash thoroughly and slather on some Sweeney instead. :/

Actually, I really loved The Rat King...

Smoky vetiver, straight up. Cigarettes and motor oil! Yum for me, since I love vetiver so much, but I must confess...once you've found a few vetiver blends in beth's line, you really don't need all of them, since vetiver pretty much transforms every blend it's in to a variation on a single note. I liked Devil's Claw, but it's for fans of the single note only.

This one was another great surprise from the RG line. Black hellebore is herbal and sharp, but there's a definite sweetness to it that makes it more than just an "experience" scent. It's almost like poppies or some other sweet, syrupy flower. It would be almost too much except for the fact that it wears very light. Another purple scent, though. Purple and green, sharp and juicy. I liked it.

I didn't think hairy Toad Lily was that sweet...I really, really love it! It's fruity and juicy in that very purple, grape way, without the bitterness that comes from wine. It's got a great herbal and green note to keep it from becoming too silly, and it never moves into that heady floral stage for me. It's one of the least "floral" botanic scents Beth has done. Thank you, beth! Very wearable, and a perfect scent for autumn...or for when i finally run out of my beloved purple phoenix. Worth a shot for fans of purple scents!

Thanks, GC! Your taste is sleep scents is slightly unorthodox, but I like them!! I've got some Hades and MoEZ at home, actually. When we're up and running, I'll put a few drops in and see if they enjoy it. In the end, it's just a gesture among many small gestures we hope will combine to make life more bearable, but I figure as loing as I spend so much time debating scents for myself, there's no harm in taking a few minutes to consider one for the pups, too.

I volunteer for Animal control here in NY, and we were thinking of maybe putting a diffuser with essential oils in one of the rooms where we keep the "holding" dogs- cruelty cases and seizures in progress. These poor guys, mostly pits, stay with us for weeks or months. Naturally, everyone is defaulting to lavender straight up, but I of course can't resist picturing one of Beth's blends in there. Anubis is waaaay too strong (I love it, but it's the strongest bpal I've ever worn , ever), and so is fenris Wolf. The dream blends are the choice of champions, but are there any others you've found particularly snuggly and soothy?

Strong, tart lime. very refreshing, with a nice white musk drydown. Can go play-doh and soapy during certain times of the month, but most days the musk behaves and it's a sour, mouth puckering lime. I also agree about the citron, very subtle but definitely smells like a bit of bitter citrus in there somewhere.

wow wow WOW I love this one! I really needed an almond scent, too! I love Dana O'Shee, but I've always wanted something with a bit more throw, and Beth's stronger almond blends like hecate and Black phoenix worked horribly on me for one reason or another. port Au Prince has a strong Anise note up top that stays for most of the drydown. It combines with the almond and clove to make a very alcohol tinged smell, almost like almond extract, bitter and astringent and nearly medicinal. I know you're thinking "and that's a good thing?" , but it really is! Port Au Prince's bitterness is what saves it from being too aggressively foody, and it makes the drydown- as sweet an almond as you're likely to find- all the more striking and rewarding. Too much sweetness is what ruins so many awesome scents. Port Au Prince is a masculine, bracing gourmand, very satisfying. Honestly, I just feel like no one can go wrong with the wanderlust series. Take a look at the notes, and unless you absolutely loathe one or more, you're going to be in for a treat.

London is strongly tea rose, very potpourri-like and very powdery. These are pink roses, not fresh, green ones. It's a very old-fashioned scent, and it's obviously for fans of rose. Very proper, very nicely done. Not for me, but nicely done.

Bengal might be the only cinnamon BPAL i can wear. Everything with cinnamon or cassia turns to red hots or big red bubblegum on my skin, and so i automatically avoid any blend with those notes listed because I just hate that smell so much. Bengal and Red devil are the notable exceptions to this rule- and, in bengal's case, I think that maybe the clove took over and married with the cinnamon so that i could finally, finally get the bark-y, rooty cinnamon I've always wanted instead of the cheap candy. It's pepper-y, strongly spiced, and indeed very chai-like. It's almost too literal to wear, like you really have been baking all day, but I really liked it.

Hollywood Babylon is a must for red musk lovers. It's undeniably red musk, very sugary but thankfully not syrupy. I get the definite idea of cherries and strawberries, but without the cough medicine of the former and the stickiness of the latter. It ends up being more of a general berry candy smell, with an incense quality to it on the drydown. Thankfully, the incense is not overtly head-shop and is very light and sheer. It's a very young fragrance, totally tarty and fun, but it's very wearable and pretty. One of my my all-time favorites.

I am ashamed for not reviewing this one until now. I've burned through close to 25Ml of this stuff since 2004, and I love it now as much as I ever did. Beth's description may be leaving some things out, but what she gave us is pretty much all you need to know. Very amber, intensely creamy berries, and lovely, solemn iris. The berries are not tart AT ALL, they are not "crafty" or candle-like...they are jammy and rich and sweet and burnished gold. Mildly sweet from the amber. Honestly, this is just a gorgeous scent. So opulent , but so wearable and feminine. It's an absolute essential BPAL experience. 5 million stars.

This one is a no brainer. I love dragon's blood, I love lotus, I LOVE Blood Lotus. if you hate either one of these, you probably won't like this. And if you hate both of these... honestly, why even bother? Sheer sweetness with the unmistakable Dragon's Blood resin base. The lilac and bubblegum overtones of each compliment wonderfully. YUM. Blood Lotus is simple, but it's addicting, and it feels like such a logical pairing, too. I don't know what I'd do if this one ever got DC'ed.