Gin

I'm really striking out with the last few Lupers I've tried. An Appraisal is all industrial bathroom air freshener on me. I wouldn't have guessed plum, lemongrass, or honeysuckle were here--normally I love them and they tend to love me. I think the frankincense is to blame. I get a sort of generic, cheap winter-holiday candle smell. Curse you, frankincense!

Smells like iced tea. I wish I got more lemongrass, 'cause I think the lemon + tea would be lovely. Alone, it's only so-so, but I might try it layered with Lemon Scented Sticky Bat.

I feel like I'm in some sort of alternate universe, because I don't smell anything listed in the notes, 'cept maybe the honey? My experience is much like zankoku_zen's. Unfortunately. Something smells foul, but if I were guessing, I'd say it was some sort of bad jasmine scent. Anyway, in spite of looking like it would be fantastic, Biwa is a cloying, weird floral on me. So sad.

When first applied, I wondered why I hadn't tried this sooner. It was peachy-florals, fresh and breezy like standing in an orchard of blossoming trees on a spring day. Then I looked through the reviews and saw doralice's mention of shampoo and that's now all I can think about. (Fruit blossoms almost always go to shampoo-scent on me.) Gods of Intercourse is still pretty and evocative of a spring day, but, yeah. Shampoo.

I was slightly disappointed with this Beaver. I *love* the original and I didn't think this year did it justice. Then I got over myself and realized I do like this Beaver anyway. No, it's not full of the same cheesecakey goodness. It still smells like candy! Sure, the candy is chock-full of HFCS and artificial colors and flavors, but so what? That's what makes it so fun. I get peach and strawberry and that's about it. It's sweet and cute.

That Fox-Woman is a funny one. I worried about it being too light and skewing toward shampoo territory like so many other cherry blossom scents do, but instead I get a lot of heavy, elegant florals. It smells like my mother or a perfume my mother would wear, which is pretty fitting I suppose, but means it's off to swaps. (Or maybe off to my mother's house!)

Nymphia is amazing. I didn't think much of it in the vial so I didn't try it for awhile. I don't know what the heck my problem was because seriously, Nymphia is so good. It's got a ... melony-something (mango?) note that smells like a tropical Starburst. I smell the lavender and it seems like lavender should not work here but it's so good! The notes swirl together--florals and fruits and sugar and they make me feel giddy. Some may find it too sugary-sweet/foody, but I love it. I like that it's not a complete sugar rush like many of my other BPAL faves, but still has a lot of the foody qualities that I enjoy. Brilliant and definitely bottle-worthy.

I rarely remember the notes listed, so when Nikephoros arrived, I was like, WTF? Why would I have ordered this? In the vial, it's patchouli, orange, OAKMOSS, and mint. On my skin, it's patchouli, orange, galbanam, and OAKMOSS. After looking at the notes, I realize the one reason I wanted this--black currant--is nowhere to be found. Instead, I get a dry, resinous scent that isn't unpleasant (it reminds me of Tarot: Death, and I liked that one quite a bit), but it's not at all what I had imagined. The decant will almost certainly be used, but no need for a bottle.

Rice wine, white sandalwood, vanilla bean, and white musk. I've tried this thrice now--I didn't pay attention to it the first time, I felt like I couldn't smell it much at all the second, and now today. I'm loving it today. It's sweet and light. The rice wine isn't too boozy, the sandalwood is restrained. The vanilla bean isn't as angel-food-cakey as the Vanilla Bean SN, but maybe it's just masked by the white musk that is shining like a beacon. It reminds me a bit of The First of The Three Spirits with the musk and vanilla. Loosening of the Obi is really pretty and I'm thinking I might need to grab a bottle before it's gone.

I love BPAL gin. I love BPAL fizzy scents. I enjoy BPAL white chocolate, for the most part. I thought White Chocolate Martini sounded like a good combination of those notes I already like. And I do like this--but only after the discordant, too-bright juniper over dirty chocolate phase passes and I'm left with a funny fizzy chocolate. I don't like this as well as Velvet Pink Kitty nor White Chocolate Strawberry, but I think I like it better than the straight-up gin of Twenty-One (and maybe a wee bit better than The Hamptons).

Brilliant. I love this. I love lemon (and bats and Gaiman) so I knew I had to have this. It's BPAL does London Lemon Curd, but the sweet, custardy lemon is layered over a brighter lemon--more like a Lemonhead. This is so good, it makes my mouth water, and I seriously want to lick my arm. I hope this bat hangs from the BPAL rafters for a long, long time. I want to buy it by the gallon, I want to scent everything with it.

Oh, hm. This is not what I expected. This is a very "Lush" scent. Florals, violets--I expected 'violet musk' to be like a purpley musk, not musk of a violet--carrot seed, a tiny bit of strawberry... I wouldn't say I don't like this, it's just a little too much for me. It smells like the bathtub when I'm running a Lush bath, maybe a cross between Softy, Bathos, and Harvey (minus the spearmint). I guess I'm saying I like it as an atmospheric scent, not as a perfume.

Peach! Yay! And honey. Boo. I knew there was honey, I just tend to forget how honey tends to go to powdery blah on me. So CCtV turns to peachy-powdery-blah. I get a tiny bit of apple blossom in the background, and maybe a touch of the fig, but mostly, I get the powdery-blah honey amping all over the damn place. This would be flippin' gorgeous if not for my stupid, honey-hating skin chemistry.

Prunella, I love you. I love BPAL plum, so Prunella's been on my wishlist since her debut, but the wildflowers kept scaring me off. In the bottle and when first applied, all I got was wildflowers. So sad! Beyond that, though, lies a wonderland of creamy, plummy goodness with only a backdrop of florals. I feel like the Lab plums I like tend to be deep/dark/intense, and I love that Prunella is a lighter take on plum. I think Prunella will be in regular rotation through the spring and summer months.

I first met Miss Josie at Dark Delicacies. Of all the oils there that day, she was one of maybe five that I actually wrote down so I wouldn't forget. As soon as I got home, I placed an order. When she arrived, she was all flowery peaches, just like I remembered. I let her sit on the shelf for a bit, favoring spicier "winter" blends until today. Today, I needed something bright and springy, so I knew it was Josie day. I applied some oil and went about my business of getting ready. Over the few hours, I kept smelling haircolor conditioner--Feria? Preference? I couldn't figure out what that smell was until I got home and realized it was Josie. Oh, Josie. I don't want to discourage anyone. Josie is really beautiful. I just have this thing--it's always been with cherry & apple blossoms--where I associate them with haircare scents. They're still lovely, but I always think conditioner. I don't know why I'm having the same issue with Josie, but there it is. I like her enough to keep her around, but she won't be a repurchase.

Red Ginger This goes on so strong and overwhelming, my first reaction is to run and wash it off. I don't, and I'm glad. As it dries, it loses some of it's strength and becomes what I can only describe as a warm, spicy, true ginger scent.

White Chocolate, Strawberry, and White Pepper Truffle - Last year's White Chocolate and Strawberries is one of my favorite BPALs of All Time. I was heistant to order this one because I wasn't sure I'd like the addition of pepper. On my skin, though, the pepper reads just as a warm spice, adding a bit of oomph to the blend. I don't think I like this one as much as last year's WC&S, because I loved its cavity-inducing sweetness, but I still like this one very much. I'll keep the bottle but won't need multiples.

White Chocolate, Black Raspberry, and Apricot Cordial Truffle - LOVE this. It's sweet and tangy apricot and black raspberry. I applied lightly and I don't get much chocolate, but it doesn't matter, 'cause this is soooo good. It reminds me a little bit of B&BW black raspberry/vanilla scent, but BPAL's is FAR superior. I'll probably need many, many bottles of this.

Iceblink and I must have twin noses. The Last Squished Jellybean is anise and cinnamon and maybe a touch of mint and/or wintergreen? It smells just like the 'spice' jellybeans. Super cute! However, my skin eats it up--it lasts only minutes.

Yup, Barmbrack is bread and dried fruits. It reminds me quite a bit of Yule Kage/Julekage--a bread with cardamom, raisins, and candied fruit. Yummy!

Knock-A-Dolly doesn't smell like cinnamon and sugar to me, which is disappointing. Then, to add insult to injury, it doesn't even smell like Samhain. It's leaves. Wet autumn leaves. It doesn't smell bad, mind you, it just doesn't smell like I expected it to. I wanted cinnamon sugar, and would be pleased with the appley-autumn scent of Samhain, but got neither.

That's exactly how I feel about Lilith vs the Giant Crab. It smells vaguely like something from Lush, but I don't know what. The tangerine cream is the most apparent note, but even it is subdued (wish it were stronger I want to smell like a Creamsicle!). I wasn't able to pick out any of the other notes. It's just smells good.

Cake Smash is red velvet cake in the bottle, but on my skin, it's a near-identical but lighter version of Beaver Moon 2005. I get no Dorian, no Snake Oil, but a few hours in, I get what can only be Doc. I love the concept, the label art... but I've got a massive stockpile of Beaver '05 and am not sure I need this, too.

Mlle. Lilith, Fortune Teller is so adorable... on the label. On my skin it's coconut and RED MUSK!! Musky, musky red musk. Sometimes red musk behaves, but not little Lilith's. This musk is rampant and will not be tamed. Too bad, I really did think I'd like this.

Is there an echo in here? Manhattan! ('hattan! 'hattan! 'attan...)