alexandra

I am wearing Autumn at the moment and it is beautiful. I also love Magnificent Autumn, October, Pile of Fallen Leaves, Lambswool and, of course, Samhain, but then I have never met a Weenie that I don't adore

They certainly do I wasn't aware of this. I thought the Trading Post offered free shipping on orders over $300 but only for US domestic orders. AFAIK, shipping was free for orders over $300 to anywhere in the whole lovely world till the prices changed, now tis free anywhere on orders over $500.

I’m on the list; shy newbie Witch here, terrified of letting anyone down but excited as a weeing puppy. are everyone's favorite Halloween-y/Autumn-y/spooky movies? Are there any you don't own but would like to? I have my pile of Halloween DVDs out already: Sleepy Hollow, Sweeney Todd, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Bela Lugosi films, The Wicker Man, Strangers on a Train, Psycho, Arsenic and Old Lace. I would love any Hammer Horror on DVD, especially Poe based ones, oo and Coraline, Rocky Horror Picture Show or Nosferatu would be great Are roasted pumpkin seeds and home made chex mix the best fall snack foods, or what? I don’t know what chex mex is but it sounds fabulous. what kinda socks are you wearing tonight? First woolly socks of the autumn, thick black Totes toasties. Would prefer soft handmade ones! Whats your favorite pie, my dear SW's? Apple pie I think but I love, love pies from pumpkin to Key Lime, at least I think so from the perfumes, have tried to make them but failed! Do you like socks? Blankets? Wrist warmers? Arm warmers? Headband? Shawl? Or what kind of knitted thing would you love the most? I get very cold in my arms, legs and joints so can’t get enough soft woolly lovelies. I dream of thick soft socks, leg warmers, arm warmers, fingerless gloves, shawls to wear while writing and blankets to tuck over my legs. The one I would love the most? – soft leg warmers, mmmm. Or wrist warmers, mmmm. Big Dipper Wax Works: If you were my witchee, would you like any of the scents/sizes that are available on clearance? Looks lovely! Which of the seven deadly sins is most likely to be your undoing? Mmm, pride or sloth. With gluttony creeping up on me. Who is musically inclined? What instruments (voice counts) do you play? Would you enjoy sheet music? I sing and play piano, theremin and percussion. Not sure about sheet music. Would you want candles from this site, and if so, which scents interest you? http://www.darkcandles.com Haven’t tried any but would like to v much. Any of the Halloween/autumn or foody scents. How do you feel about clothing/accessories made from animals? Anti-fur, leather, shells, etc.? Does even faux wig you out? Not keen on real fur, faux is fine. Not keen on leather or shells either. Wool is fine. How do you deal with stress? What's your favorite way to unwind? I don’t deal with stress very well but I try to do some exercise (yoga/pilates/gym), then have a warm bath with relaxing essential oils and read in bed with a cup of tea, a spray of L’autunno on the sheets and something lovely, Quietude maybe, on the aromastone. You're given the opportunity to apprentice at any trade (or craft) of your choosing for the period of one year. Your mentor may be any currently living person. Which field of study would you choose, and who would be your mentor? It would have to be perfumery, with Beth as my mentor. sock dreams? I mainly dream of shoes, but if I wasn’t being facetious, which would be unusual, I don’t know what Sock dreams is. I like socks though. Wear lots of ones with ghosties/spiders/skulls etc on. Who wants hair pretties?(headbands, barrettes, pony-o's, scrunchies, bobby pins, hair clips, etc) I wear interesting clips or things to bung in the hair – vintage shinies, gothic clips, fifties style clips, veils, anything unusual really. Not so keen on standard flower clips. Do you mind artificial colors in your food I would rather that it was non-animal/insect derived artificial colour. Do you like Villainess soaps? What are your favorite scents? I love the smooches – Ginger Snapped especially. Very interested in the Smack. Anyone ready for the new carnaval update? Can’t wait. are you into 80s movies (like i am ) if so, which are your favorites and who are your favorite characters? Ah, the eighties: Big, Dead Poets Society, Weird Science, Indiana Jones, latter 2 in the Star Wars trilogy, Flash Gordon (“no, not the bore-worms” – Princess Aura was my first female crush. Oh yes. I was v small.), Labyrinth, Princess Bride, What are your favorite fruits? Ripe mango and cherries; Cox’s Pippin apples. what is one thing you constantly keep with you that you constantly lose? Plain black hairbands Lusting over anything from the Trading Post lately? Always! But all the Lucy set at the moment. Are you a Miyazaki fan? Do you have all the films you like, or is your collection missing one? Is there any merchandise you want? Definitely a fan. I don’t have Princess Mononoke or Laputa. Do you wear lip gloss/lip balm? If so, what flavors/scents? I love most lip balms, especially if they don’t have petroleum in. I like Lush lip balms, Haunt, superbad and would like to try Body Bakery, Bunny Butt, Bath Nation or any other really!… foody, fruity, flora, spice scents all fabulous but vanilla or marshmallow is my favourite. I used to practically eat the Boots Natural Collection Vanilla lipbalm but I can’t find it in my store. How do you feel about ghost stories? Do you like to tell the old tales around a campfire? Read true accounts on the web way past your bedtime? Do you like to pick up a good anthology of Poe stories on a blustery day? Or is all that too scary for you? I love writing spooky stories and have a penchant for reading Poe, MR James, Wilkie Collins, Dickens etc in my red armchair on windy nights with candles dancing, chocolate ready next to a glass of port. On All Hallows Eve I may well read Macbeth, Poe and The Graveyard Book. Nother question! Coffee or Tea? Tea first thing, then coffee, then decaff tea, then herbal tea. Overall then, tea. Interested in locally produced products? Food, skincare or both?Olive oil? Lavender oils or soaps? Absolutely. All of the above. Local honey especially, I love the thought of them fuzzy wonders foraging near me. And I adore artisan olive oil and tasting the differences in the notes. Does anyone in here wear a lot of dangly earrings or collect pendants of all kinds?? How about hair clips or pony tail band things? I like odd, gothic hairclips. What is your favourite historical period? Victorian Did you order anything from the most recent update? Just about to get Falling Leaves and Cake Smash. i know someone already asked about tea and coffee, but i want to know what other hot beverages everyone likes for fall? Mulled wine, real cocoa with cinnamon sticks and brandy, red spicy wines. Vampires or Werewolves? Or some other monster? Sex with vampires, cuddles with werewolves. Are you involved in any long-term, ambitious project? something like decorating your house or saving for a trip to the other end of the world, for example. Yes, I'm writing a novel, a collection of short stories, a poetry collection and an album. Also trying to sort the very messy house out. You're in the kitchen at the end of a pay period and groceries are pretty scarce. Do you take the five ingredients you find first and make something fabulous, or do you order take out ? Did this last night: grabbed a dusty packet of rice noodles, a jar of peanut butter, a mouldy stub of ginger, a carrot and a courgette and made a surprisingly tasty pad thai. Or rather, ordered my sous chef around. If I had more money I would definitely order take out. Any rabid sports fans out there? What teams do you root for? I’m not rabid, but I do vaguely follow most sports in the UK. I love watching athletics, those people are remarkable. What's your favorite animal? (You can have more than one.) Wolves are my favourite. But I love all animals. This is how the world ends... zombie apocalypse, robot uprising, alien invasion, return of the elder gods... which doomsday scenario do you prefer (or make your own!)? I’d prefer enough time to tell people I loved then, then the light turned off. In the year 2525... if man is still alive... what sort of future do you imagine? (apologies to anyone who gets that song stuck in their head!) We have fish for heads and heads for fish and an uncomfortable relationship with angling. Do you believe in magic (or magick, if you prefer)? What does it mean to you? I know I can affect my own behaviour and world with affirmations and positive thinking, I don’t know about being able to affect others. If you found the puzzle box from Hellraiser, what would you do with it? ( and would you be able to resist playing with it? ) I’d wrap it so no one can get in it: an acre of plumber’s tape, bubble wrap and strong sellotape, in a fresh padded and sealed envelope. I’d then send it to my aunt’s house who claims to never receive post so that it’ll be lost forever in a post office vault, like the ark of the covenant but with more whistling posties. If I didn’t know what it was, well, the carpal hands would be a problem for me too, but I’d fiddle and fuddle and faddle till the darned thing clicked. And now I’ve realised I’ve never read any Clive Barker and should stand in the corner. What's your favorite color? Black on me; also red and white; to look at in nature, the wine dark sea of the southern med. Any forum buddies Not really : ( . Had some lovely swaps and sales but I’m a bit shy. Steampunk? No, parboil then roast him, it’s the only way to get his edges crispy. But yes indeed. Cogs, wheels, archaic time pieces, Victoriana, tales of time travel, exploration and lady inventors in flying goggles. Describe your ideal picnic lunch. Where would you go? Who (if anyone, and yes there can be multiple people) would accompany you? What sort of food would you take? And, of course, if a picnic lunch sounds like a horrible idea, feel free to say so! Ooh, a picnic in Whitby Abbey; with William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant. And there’d be a lot of cake and tea. Do you like pin up art/images? Yes. What are your plans for Halloween? Have you made any yet? Do you have any traditions? Over the whole period I will remember lost loved ones and renew personal goals; apple bob with the husband; make cakes; go out dressed up with friends. What is your favorite flower or plant? Deep, dark, Rose Red roses that have skirts over petticoats over bloomers over unfathomable knickers. Also love lavender, jasmine and honeysuckle. An anonymous benefactor gives you $500 (or an equivalent amount of money in your currency of choice) with the following stipulations. You must spend all of it within a week: any money left unspent must be returned. You must spend at least half of the money on yourself. You may not use it to pay off debts or bills of any kind. what do you do with the money? My portion would be spent most neatly and exactly spent on a box o books, a box o bpal, a box o chocolates; afternoon tea somewhere; and a visit to a junk shop to buy something cheap and odd, a box maybe. Then I’d take my mum, dad and brother and a few friends out to Maggie’s fish and chip shop, my husband out for an Indian meal and the rest I would split between Sport Relief in support of Eddie Izzard running a gizzillion marathons and to someone random, as an anonymous benefactor. Duct tape purses and wallets and things are pretty darned cool. Who else thinks so? No idea. Phobias? My teeth falling out and getting trapped in escalators. I really love clowns so I will lure any balloon-twisting clowns away from the coulrophobic on the board and keep them in my attic. Favorite candy? Green and Black’s Dark chocolate and cherry; Valrhona bars; Peanut M and Ms; Reeses pieces; Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Hoarded Halloween Candy? Halloween makes me want to hoard Hokey Pokey, plain and dipped in chocolate. A tooth-stealing orchard of toffee apples would be fun. Are you a reader? What’s your favourite book/series I need to read all the time: our toilet has an extensive poetry collection on an easily reached shelf, no need to strain when reaching, as twere. Every room in the house has a toppling pile of tomes and shelves that are like huge layer cakes of my beloved books. I get really nervy if I don’t have a number of unread books waiting, and going into a library and coming out with 24 books for three weeks of free reading pleasure sends me into post-orgasmic serenity. I dream of having a labyrinthine library that only I know my way into the centre where The Special Books are. A bit like this, but bigger and with log fires. Yeah, I’m a reader. Favourite book: Perfume, honourable mentions to Bleak House, Brighton Rock, Portrait of the Artist, The Master and Margarita; favourite series: The Dark Materials trilogy, but also love Harry Potter, Narnia and Gormenghast. Any cooks? Could you use anything cooking related? Aprons? Cookbooks? Measuring Cups? Recipes? Herb/Spice containers? Fancy Spices? Dish Towels? Cocktail napkins? Amazing Beaded Pot Holders? (like from our very own Pottersville! ) Something else? I enjoy baking (though, due to my disabilities, dh has to help me with taking things out of oven, moving anything heavy etc) and would love an apron, I get all floury and dusty. A tablecloth would be great for our little dining table; and fresh spices for Indian or thai food would be most gorgeous. What was your favourite job ever? My current job: writer and composer. The money is rubbish but the times are good. How do you scent your home Tarts, reed diffusers, BPAL, candles? Candles, incense, oils in burners and on my brilliant aromastone – snake oil is perfect on it. How do you take your tea? Black or with cream and/or sugar? Builder’s tea: strong, splash of milk, no sugar; coffee: milk or single cream and one and a half tsp of brown sugar. Do you believe we control our destiny, or does our destiny control us? I believe we control the decisions we make. What one thing that is missing from your life would you like to have above all else? Confidence and assurance in my abilities as, well, everything. I get paralysed by doubt. What's your favorite dessert treat? Valrhona chocolate mousse. Oh yeah. Give me anything smothered in it. Anything. Are you interested in things like home remedies for ailments, cleaning solutions, etc.? I like any home made balms/oils/remedies for headaches, muscle pain, etc. Super power? I would dearly love to disapparate and apparate at will. I hate travel time. If I send you whole spices or coffee beans, would you be able to grind them or would you prefer them preground for your convenience? I don’t have a grinder any more (it sputtered and died, spitting out a mouthful of cumin seeds like lil brown teeth) so ground would be good. For the tea and coffee drinkers: Opinion on tea- and/or coffee-related accessories/etc? (Teaware, sugar crystals, infusers, tea chests, etc) I love tea ritual paraphernalia in general, in particular I’d love a tea pot trivet to go on my desk. Do sounds make you happy? What ambient noises make you smile? The sound of the sea always makes me happy and peaceful, water in general in fact. I love the sound of wind chimes and wind in ancient trees and cats purring and the sound of my husband’s key in the door. when you receive your SW packages...do you like receiving things that are individually wrapped inside? Or unwrapped? Or both? Ooh, I don’t know, but I love unwrapping purty packaging, especially if I can re-use it. GC you put off ordering because "it'll always be there? Dorian, everytime I knock him off the end of my list, even though I love him and need him and keep using up the tiny bit left in my 4 year old bottle when I don't want to. What BPAL scent have you never tried but always wanted to? What scent have you tried and LOVED, and haven't been able to get more of and why? My nose matured into loving Snake Oil and all his friends just as Snake Charmer Res. was taken down so I've yet to try SC and I've been a step behind others each time it comes up on swaps/sales. I had the tiniest try of Black Lace, blooming loved it but obviously can't get it! I know we're all scent sensitive here. What are your favorite non-perfume smells? Day in the life stuff? Autumn air, laundry, the smell of Crete when I get off the plane: dittany, majoram, wild herbs, honey , antiquarian book shops, my cats' fur, husband's hair, wood fires, bread and cakes baking, mulled wine stewing... In your perfect world it is chocolate and...? An amazing, mind-buggering book that I haven't read yet. With David Tennant bringing in the tea. For those of us who like chocolate, do you like anything /in/ your chocolate, like fruit, nuts, or for the more daring among us, chilies? Chocolate and chillies is great. Chocolate and most things is great, apart from marzipan. Marzipan gives me the mouth creeps. Are there any childhood shows/movies/games/books/etc. that still hold a really special place in your heart? The Box of Delights, especially the BBC early 80s television adaptation. I haven't seen it since it was on but it stays with me. Gorgeous and spooky - "the wolves are running". And it had Patrick Troughton in, I adore him. Even thinking about it makes me weepy. If you do any kind of craft, could you use supplies? What kind? knitting needles, yarn, amazing fabric, pinking shears, cool thimbles or pincushins, jewelery making supplies, beads, etc.? I like making jewellery but don't really know how to! I have dreams of making a charm bracelet for myself. I would love sealing wax and an embossed stamp. What's your favorite pain-relief remedy or ritual? For horrible aches, I try and have a hot bath with salts then use heated oat thingies or rub URGH/wiccy wiccy massage oil on acheyness but if that doesn't work I take neurofen extra and keep warm. For headaches: GRR and Lilith Victoria. Do you have a blu-ray player? Nope What's something you're really looking forward to in the semi-near future? My 9th wedding/14 years together anniversary on October 13th. Hopefully we'll go to a lovely hotel for the night and spoil each other a little. Celebrating 14 years and still being head over heels over head over fluttering stomach is something to look forward to indeed! Am also kinda looking forward to meeting a potential literary agent for tea next saturday, but also terrified.

Snake Oil is that beautiful girl/boy who doesn't acknowledge you and makes you wait at the edges of the school hall for them to come round to you. Snake Oil was dismissive at first, harsh even. She mocked me with patchouli. I watched her, sitting on the window sill, growing darker and more languid. Every month I took her out. Sometimes she flashed me a vanilla smile and my heart clenched but then it was back to bitter laughter and powdered pills that stuck in my throat. What made it worse was smelling her on others. Sweet, undulating, convivial; putting out. But never for me. Until today. She loves me! I took her out on my arm and she is a woman who has matured into a kind, commanding sexmonger. So sometimes there are flashes of condom, but that's okay, the moments passes and she's back to smelling of rich vanilla and snake smooth spices. BPAL has taught me patience. Now I only have to wait 19 months for the bottles I'm about to order to mature.

Hello! I have fibro/ME and BPAL has helped so much - TKO, as oil and massage oil, is fabulous for deepening sleep. I still dream constantly and jump out of sleep but it helps. Urgh massage oil is so soothing for deep pain, also for flu-like symptoms. Quietude calms my brain when it goes into overdrive/anxiety/paranoia. And so many cheer me up, but Rose Red, Beaver'versary and Bliss make me grin every day, no matter what I feel like. BPAL's main therapeutic effect for me is how an oil can open up sensory worlds away from pain, discomfort and sadness, one in which I am strong and creative and marvellous. Hope you have the most fantastic time trying things out.

In the vial: Lemon, ginger and a can of natural cola that's been left in the earth. Just a touch of pickled onion. I like to think it's a cute lil vial of ghoul wee. Wet: Fizzy cola and cinnamon. The earth is far back in the background. Dry:Dry, sweet ginger. Effervescent, light, happy. This is one jolly ghoul. For some reason I have the image of ghouls playing cricket. A sweet resin is grounding this on me. I was looking forward to dessicated flesh and blood but I can hardly pick out the blood note at all. As Withnail said: 'I want something's flesh'. Nonetheles, Eau de Ghoul ischarming and happy-making. I want to layer this with a honey scent or something to bring out the vanillic base. And the name is amazing. When to wear?:Summer's eve with a Dandelion and Burdock by the Cam, watching a game of cricket. Makes me feel?: Giddy and giggly. Like Charlie Bucket after stealing Fizzy Lifting Drink.

This is the same for me whether in the bottle, wet or dry: the dried inside of a mug after I've downed the most delicious spiced mocha. It's dry but lovely. Just the thing on certain days when a duvet, a DVD boxset and a beeg mug of cinnamon chocolate are the only way forward.

In the bottle:Cake, carnation and grapefruit Wet:Soft melty cakes with great wodges of sweet strawberry icing. The grapefruit is gorgeous, cutting through the uber sweetness to make it refreshing and cakey at once. it makes me think of making grapefruit cake instead of lemon. Dry:Mainly soft, clovey carnation. It is blended so exquisitely that nothing dominates - I get all aspects of the blend and it is lovely! The name is wonderful and the label is my favourite so far. It caused quite a stir when I opened it on Christmas Day thanks to surreptitious purchasing by my husband.

In the bottle:Warm, dark gingerbread taken out at just the right time. Wet: I can smell it all: gingerbread, cookies, christmas cake, rum balls so hard they could take an eye out. The musk darkens it all beautifully. Dry:Christmas cake fed hourly with ginger wine, distilled with a shot of pheromones. It is foreboding and delicious and just right. The smell of the witch's gingerbread house in Hansel and Gretel. A good while later:Still dark, sweet and complex but subdued now. The musk remains, making it a very sexy lady perfume. I like all the stages of this. I love the ginger/bread scents of Shub and Gingerbread Poppet and will wear this when I want to smell less of food, more of sexiness. And I can't wait till someone asks what I'm wearing. Especially as, since I get tired very easily when I talk, I'll probably just say, 'Uranus'.

Tis love. Wet: a butter blast that makes the husband queasy for a minute then the butter goes and the smell of rum 'n' raisin ice cream emerges. Then that melts into cooking gingerbread. Dry: a cinnamon, oatmeal and raisin cookie with a crispy sugar crust! Oh it's gorgeous. Very strong throw, I only need a tiny spot of the stuff and it lasts for ages on me. I must have smudged the sheets when I tried it on in bed as my duvet smells cosy and sexy and delicious. Sir Labyrinthine loves it once the butter goes, but then he always loves bakey scents on me. The man loves cake. And?: Yummothy Dalton. I'm a cookie monster.

This is an absolute essential of mine. It is a sweet minty marvel that sears through most of my headaches, tingling away the pain and numbing the area around it. There are some mega, gigantor migraines that even GRR can't get rid of but, really, it is wonderful - beating pure peppermint, the Origins one and Tiger Balm. Love it.

The surprise winner of the weenies! Wet: rich pumpkin, spices and, good lord, CAKE! Can this be right? Dry: the pumpkin rolls back and I'm left with a vibrant form of gingerbread. Warming, comforting, uplifting: it is a richer Bezoar, an unburned Poppet, a cheerier Shub. If I place my nose to my wrist then I catch sage incense, a light spilling of tobacco and a waft of smoke. In the locket: smokey pumpkin cake with vanilla icing. Somehow, the conglomeration of cedar and pine and tobacco and honey and pumpkin and sage and 'nilla join forces into cakey deliciousnosity. I actually love it.

In the bottle: Petitgrain! And strongly so. I use the essential oil for when I'm feeling down or for around my period and find it cheers me up. I reckon this goat will make me smile. Wet: petitgrain SN, almost. Bright and refreshing. Dry: The musk comes out now and it is lovely. It goes through a stage of smelling like Melisande so the dark musk they share must be potent on me. Smooth, powdery in the best way, comforting but enlivening. And?...:I keep on turning to the Two-Headed Goat before and during my period and it smells even better then. Indeed, the name is quite appropriate for describing me in the week before, snerk. Another keeper from the Wunderkammer.

Wet: ooh, such resinous warmth, and so sweet. No rose though. Dry: Comforting, rich myrrh, beautiful boswellia, just a touch of rose and the copal smells almost like benzoin I think, very sweet and warm. Orange-brown is the colour in mind. And?...:This is a sweet, sombre, thoughtful saint in his cell the night before his undoubtedly grisly demise. I likey. E.T.A The BR just gets more amazing with age. Rich, deep and delicious. And more powerful. Now he's a stern sex monk.

Bottle: ooh, a lighter The Chapel, sweet blood and metal Wet: Sticky blood and a tiny hint of smoke, quite nice. Dry: Oh dearie me. The Grand Inquisitor is wearing Lynx and it is overpowering everything else in the room. Now that is pure torture. And?:This turns into grossness on me. Bah.

In the bottle: Soft jasmine, far softer than expected. Wet: Smells just like Lush's Flying Fox, which I do like, for a few minutes then smooths out into a sweet, soft jasmine. Dry: The jasmine is so soft and lovely. Then there is the diaphanous underpinning of violet, the warm sweetness of vanilla bean, a breeze of mimosa, a sobriety of musk. It is grown-up, almost sad, and definitely sophisticated. And?...Once it gets past the Lush stage then I love it. It is such a surprisingly soft blend, although the throw is quite good. All the usual edges of jasmine and violet are folded in on themselves, and smoothed: a blankie for grown-ups. Understated sexiness. Another bottle perhaps.

In the bottle: dirty earthy squeedom. Yum. I love rolling in damp earth, on the few occasions it is possible, and this makes me feel all wormlike. Wet: Immediately the sweet flowers pop out of the earth, tempering the dirty dirt smell. Dry: On my wrist there is no dirt at all, but flowers and sweet blood and a snifter of that berry. It is soft, warm and lovely. On my upper arm the dirt is still there, so I can nuzzle that and get my shot of soil while enjoying the waft of the corsage round my wrist. And?...; I love Deep in earth and Zombi and it is lovely to have a soil blend that isn't so full on rose. It is so jolly and Spring-like. Worms must be happy little creatures if they get to smell this all the time. The only minor downside with the scent is that it freaks my husband out. I watched him go round the room sniffing the walls then look at me: "either you're wearing one of your earth scents or we've got mould". He he.

In the bottle: Disappointing. Like cherry tickly-cough medicine. Wet: There is violet there but she is drowning in an infernal vat of pick n mix and children's medicine. Dry: Ooh much better. Faith emerges, as it sometimes does in an emergency, as a mature, chastened violet in a veil of vanilla. yum. And?...:While I prefer Hope, Faith is very nice. I like the dry down when the throw around me gets nom nom. The combination of Hope on one wrist and Faith on the other is gorgeous though, and appeals to my Geminian state.

I'm a sucker for sweet florals so I had to try H & F. In the bottle: heavily sweetend rosewater Wet: young pink roses dipped in eggwhite and sugar then placed in a jar of vanilla sugar. Swirly girliness. Dry: Dries very quickly down into a rich, sweet rose, an older, darker rose now, nearing its peak. The throw is good, surrounding me in a waft of a masked ball in a rose garden. The sugared florals of lots of etailers tend to go dry, brittle and paperlike on me at the end of the drydown but Hope stays sweet and lovely. Hurrah! And?...I have worn Hope three days in a row as the dry down is so rich and glorious. It is perfect day wear, leaving me feeling confident and approachable. I was complimented on it by three people. I expected to like her sibling more but Hope, at the moment is winning over Faith.

In the imp: Cider-doused cologne. Wet: Herbs, yummy apple and a blast of the man-scrunched leaves of October. Gorgeous. M'husband comes into the room and asks what the lovely smell is. Dry: Definitely dusty, this is bookish and lovely on me, far more so then the library-like scents which go all wood-polish. This is like reading old paperbacks in the attic of the Norn's farmhouse while munching on a basket of apples a la Jo from Little Women. Ahem. And?... I really like. It'll be a gorgeous scent for the autumn in particular, especially if October does not return (the oil, I mean, imagine what BPALers what do if the month decided not to turn up? Chaos and uproar, I tell you). Anyway: a bottle when the decant is no more.

In the bottle: Very nice. Promising leather. Wet: lovely smokey leather, like my husband's charity shop leather jacket he's had for 13 years. Dry: I get greenery and leafery and leather and I can almost see those lil heads on sticks through a forest clearing. Then... it goes all adolescent boy's bedroom on me. I smell like a boy who doesn't know how to kiss. And?... I wish I could wear this. When I sniff up close I get the worn leather sweetness and ferns but the throw is all Lynx awfulness. I'll try it on the hub though.

Oh my beautiful Bezoar. In the bottle: Fresh, zippy cardomom being popped on a hay bale. Wet: At Christmas I make Christmas wigs, an old-fashioned British rock cake with dried fruit, cardomom seeds, ginger and cinnamon. Bezoar smells just like them before they are baked. Gorgeous. Dry:Deepens and becomes comforting, baked onto the skin in the best possible way. And?: A lovely, refreshing alternative to my darling Shub. It is dry but delicious. Traditionally the wigs it reminds me of are eaten dipped in mulled wine after wassailing or after a mummers' play and I could see it layered with a wine blend. Delish. Another bottle might be required.

In the bottle: Skinny Dip indeed, people! Maybe that's the combination of orris, sandalwood and the spicy elements of champaca? Wet: Cytherea starts off as a soft, whispering, violet-like wraith. I have to chase her round my wrist. Dry: Then she stays in one place, barely breathing before jerking into half-life as a zombie. The scent gets weirder and louder and moans and becomes all sandalwood then back to orris then over to vanilla then back to champaca. And then she's all coy for a while before disappearing. And?: An unusual girl: quiet in class, a romper in bed, leaves before dawn in her nightgown. Hard to pin down after the Skinny Dip phase but I kinda like her. She's an odd-ball and I like to look after my own.

Ooh, lovely. Wet: a whoosh of blood orange, held back by amber. Very juicy. Bits of resin rest on my wrist like blood-black pips. Dry: Lilac comes through but I can feel the orange, pulsing all orangely. The resins give such depth to it. And?: It is lovely to have a rounded, warm citrus blend without spices. This way it works as a year round scent - refreshing in summer, comforting in winter, always grounding and uplifting. Keep it? Oh yes.

The Chapel is amazing. I punted for an unsniffed bottle as I loved the idea of it and I am delighted. In the bottle: Oooh, deep and rich - like Green and Black's dark chocolate and cherry liquidised with a dark spice and a sploosh of mellow brandy. Wet on the skin:The Chapel oscillates between deep, sweet, blood-thickened wine and swirling incense on my wrist. Then in pipes, like an infernal church organ, the smell of copper and acrid burning, but only for a few minutes. I feel powerful, like a high priestess. Ahem. Dry: Still has depth but it has settled now into a deep fruit wine, like the home-made elderberry wine a friend of mine makes, with occasional blasts of incense and blood metal. And?: The Chapel is addictive and delicious. It is not scary to me, or that dark, instead it depicts the mouthwatering and sensual temptations of sin and devilry. An S & M blend, or maybe just for grocery shopping, walking tall, with a sinful secret wrapped round me. Stunning.