Lyrical

When I first started BPALing, I applied oils to the inside of my wrists, and before long the skin there got really welt-y and irritated. So now I never apply oil there, but dab it on my neck, shoulders or cleavage instead. Certain oils bring me out in welts no matter where I put them, but varying the application point instead of always putting them in the same place seems to help, and I've never had those permanent red patches anywhere except the insides of my wrists and lower arms. I tried diluting, but that doesn't seem to help. If my skin reacts to an oil, it reacts just as much to the diluted oil, just over a larger area because the diluted oil is more spread out! So I just avoid the ones that cause obvious irritation, put up with a degree of itching for certain scents that I adore (eg Samhain). When testing new oils, I apply to the outside of my arms, where the skin appears to be less sensitive.

In vial: sharp, pale, rosy floral. Wet on skin: rose - and it makes me cough! Then some other flowery notes come to join it. Dry on skin: a rosy floral scent.

In vial: green and slippery, citrussy without being tart. Wet on skin: very green, no red currant (which is one of my all time favourite notes), not exactly sparkling, but rounded and sweet without being cloying. Dry on skin: ow - stings a little! Surprisingly bland and boring. Lemon rind and herbs. Where is the lovely lime and red currant????

In vial: sugar and spice and all things nice - but very dark! Lots of brown sugar, a little chocolate and assorted spices and herbs. Wet on skin: very dark sugar and spice, with something medicinal/herbal in the background. Syrupy. No more than the faintest hint of dark chocolate. This is the Thirteen for people who like sweet, dark, resinous scents! It's not foody at all. Something here reminds me of Hellhound on my Trail. Dry on skin: this is a very interesting scent - in a good way! I'm not sure it's for me, but I won't be parting with my bottle immediately - I think it's worth waiting around to see how it ages. It's reminiscent of dark, home-made, slightly burnt gingerbread with lots of molasses, but I still wouldn't call it foody. I think it's the darkest scent I've ever worn (not including the nasty vetivery ones, which I never wear)! It's got great throw! By the next day I was itching all over, though, which sometime happens with spicy scents.

In vial: like Midwinter's Eve with cream! The plum is sweet and juicy. Wet on skin: as it touches my skin, the sweet plum goes bitter and the cream curdles! I wonder if there are violets in the wild flowers? Dry on skin: powdery violets and cream, with a hint of plum! Absolutely nothing to write home about. I'm sad! Now this has gone quite nasty, and I'm going to wash it off. This appears to be a chemistry issue, as it was lovely in the imp!

In vial: just like clipping my hemlock hedge, only sweeter! Wet on skin: the oil is vividly green and the smell is too. Dry on skin: now it's a darker, softer green. Not something I'd ever wear, but nice if you like the green, herbal scents. I'm sure I've smelled a bubble bath like this once!

In vial: myrrh and almond - I don't like this combination in Bastet, and I'm not keen on it here, but I suspect it will age nicely. Wet on skin: sweet marzipan. If I sniff deeply this one really tickles my nose! Very buttery/nutty/foody, with no detectable musk. Dry on skin: very buttery, without being completely foody, and nicer than Bastet. Pleasant, but kind of dull, compared to other BPAL.

In vial: I get vanilla, amber, juniper and pine - definitely invigorating and surprisingly nice! Wet on skin: the pine and juniper are bright and outdoorsy, softened by vanilla and a warm touch of amber. Dry on skin: it settles into something quite masculine, but a girl could wear it. It makes me think of climbing mountains with the wind in my hair, and should probably be worn with walking boots!

In vial: sweet, well-blended and pretty. Wet on skin: a light appley scent with rose, honey and ylang ylang. Fresh and summery. Dry on skin: light, sweet and fresh. Good for a hot summer day!

In vial: fresh and floral, but also a little vanilla-foody. Wet on skin: light and floral, with Dorian's sugared tea. It starts out girly, but swiftly morphs into a soft, unisex scent, less powdery than Dorian alone. The vanilla is creamy and foody and there's a fruity note which I later identify as honeydew melon. So far I like it! Dry on skin: pale, sweet, musky, melony, floral, vanilla, unisex, yet surprisingly warm. Unique and very nice! It has a Tamamo-No-Mae/Hungry Ghost Moon vibe to it. Next morning it felt cooler and reminded me of Black Opal! WIN! And it's really cool that this is the only bottle of this scent in existence and it's mine!

In vial: sharp and herbal. I can make out orange, rosemary and rose, but they blend tightly together into something else. Wet on skin: sharp and pungent, like something you'd apply to clear your sinuses! Orange blossom and rose do not blend well, in my opinion, and rosemary makes it medicinal. Dry on skin: it settles down a bit, only for the rose to come out in an old-lady-bubble-bath kind of way! Yuck!

In vial: an odd jumble of the listed notes, which don't seem to go together! Wet on skin: strange. Dry on skin: still strange. I was not impressed by this scent.

In vial: bright, nose-tickly, almost smoky, but then I decided that was velvety spices! Wet on skin: I don't know why I'm smelling violet! Maybe it's really the iris? It is actually velvety. Dry on skin: powdery/velvety and inoffensive but unexciting. Reminds me a little of Black Pearl and Blood Pearl.

In vial: beautiful, rich and feminine. Honey, oranges (not the blossom but the juicy fruit), roses and soft sandalwood. Wet on skin: new honey drizzled over freshly cut oranges. It gets just a little powdery, and it's actually edible-smelling, but sweet and fruity. Dry on skin: it's going a bit funky on me. Quite nasty, in fact! What a shame!

In vial: a very juicy blend with apple in the foreground. Pretty! Wet on skin: apple, honey and myrrh ... peach and incense ... and yes, skin musk. Mostly apple and peach, I think, over a creamy background of myrrh and frankincense. Dry on skin: pretty, with all the listed notes evident, even though rose is mercifully faint.

In vial: faint, pale, dusky, sweet, a little lemony and a little woody. Wet on skin: WOW! *swoons* Must Buy Gallons Of This. Sweet, pale and musky and oh-so-beautiful! Dry on skin: people say this is similar to Hungry Ghost Moon, and it's definitely in the same family, but softer and sweeter. It's quite faint on my skin, and smells very natural and very sexy! I'm so glad I got my hands on a bottle!

In vial: lemony cedar. Wet on skin: lemon, a hint of grapefruit, and maybe some oud and cedar. I love citrussy perfume in general, but this actually does smell of cleaning fluid! Dry on skin: there's a BPAL lemon note that goes to potato water on my skin, and it's in Aelopile. OK, but nothing special.

In vial: each of the listed notes, nicely blended together. Wet on skin: this has a unisex freshness which I like a lot. Gently musky amber, saffron and bergamot with nutmeg and sandalwood. The rose is faint, and I'm not getting the mandarin except as a certain brightness. Dry on skin: doesn't live up to its early promise - at least not on my skin! The brightness is gone, and it's a dull, dusty saffron/amber/sandalwood scent. Shame!

In vial: sharp, resinous ... furniture polish and rosewood! Wet on skin: mostly rosewood with some sharpish resins. Dry on skin: if you like rosewood scents you should try this. I don't.

In vial: lots of sweet pea and vanilla-y tonka, reminiscent of The Mouses Long and Sad Tale. Wet on skin: the sage adds a green note to the sweet pea and vanilla. Very sweet and soft and pale and floral - pretty! Dry on skin: inoffensive and pretty ... but also a little bland and dull. Sage is coming more to the fore, and I wonder if it will blot out the sweet pea and tonka. Not very musky. Somewhat boring, compared to other BPAL scents!

This is really nice! It's warm and comforting and feels good on my skin. I mostly get wood, fig and magnolia, I think. It's not my typical scent, but I might very well need more than a decant of this one!

In the bottle I get more cognac and fig. On my skin I got a lot of red currant and cream, but no leather or paper. The next time I wore it the leather note emerged quite strongly, and I don't much like the smell of leather, so this spoiled it for me. The throw is impressive!

This was very spicy on me. Pretty much all ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg, I think, which is the way most of the Tiki scents dried on me too. Perhaps I amp these notes to the exclusion of everything else? Luckily I enjoy this scent very much!

In vial: pale, woody floral. Tickles my nose. Wet on skin: dry. Violet and lilac are quite prominent. In mood it's similar to Lune Noire and White Phoenix. Powdery. Night musk appears to be a pale, moonlit, musk. Dry on skin: dry, pale sandalwood and musk with moonlit florals. Fades and mellows fairly quickly, and I like the mellowed version better, but this isn't for me!

It's Creepy only better! Pure apple-y, sugary heaven! It stays the same all the way through. I really love this!