Charmkin

My late fiancee *always* complimented me on how I smelled... his favorites were Dorian and Snow White. He really loved those two. I think his other favorites were Pink Moon, Embalming Fluid, and Vixen. (And BBW Vanilla Bean Noel, and Stila Midnight Bloom)

Tarot: The Hermit immediately came to mind...I haven't had a chance to try that one yet but most of the reviews seem to say it is reminiscent of books, studying, introspection... hth ETA: This thread (Oils for test-taking) might be helpful to you.

I second Marquise de Merteuil! By the time my order arrived, I forgot that vetiver was an ingredient, and I couldn't detect it. (My skin handles vetiver well, but I have to be in the mood to smell it. The vetiver doesn't dominate Marquise the way it does with, say, Saturnalia.)

Chiroptera is gorgeous. I'd received an imp as a freebie an a recent order and liked it from the initial sniff, but ordered a bottle untried because I wanted to help the bats. I've been a little bummed that I hadn't thought to order Eos in time to recieve it for Easter, but after trying Chiroptera tonight I know I've found a replacement. This is feminine, innocent, delicate, gorgeous Spring/Summer garden-in-a-bottle and I don't know that I can pick out each individual note (other than the honeysuckle when first applied) but it's all there and it makes me very happy. This is the most sophisticated scent I've ever worn, yet it's playful and...unstructured? It makes me want to run outside in the sun and play in the garden and the dirt and notice all the little ants and butterflies and..and... See my avatar? Picture me with my wrist smashed against my nose. That's what this scent does to me.

I. Love. This. I'm all about mint scents and cold scents and violets and darnit, if I could walk around in a permanent minty-violet-metallic cloud, I would. This is so different from any other scent I've tried. (Though I haven't really given Shattered a good testing yet, and I hear they are similar.) Necco Wafers! I can totally see that. Ultraviolet morphs a lot on me...first it was eucalyptus, then mint, then this green smell-- I want to say pennyroyal, but what do I know? Then much later I sniffed my wrists and it was just a really unique purply floral, without screaming "Floral!". Yeah, I'm gonna need a big bottle.

Just received Venus from an eBay auction (thanks, Doreen!) and I'm so glad I got this one. I was really sad when the Celestials and Zodiac scents were discontinued before I could get to them; I've been looking for Venus and Libra ever since. I tried just one dot of Venus from the cap about 10 minutes ago, and it keeps wafting around me. It's so beautiful and feminine and classy and powdery and sophisticated yet moderately 'young' I totally get the 'pink and green' imagery. Sniffing right out of the bottle it was sort of like a vase of roses filled with Frost Moon instead of water. However, once on it's in its own little world and the mintiness/green is very subtle. This has immediately replaced The Empress as my fancy-pants grown-up special occasion scent.

By the time I'd received my imp of Black Forest, I'd already ordered a bottle (I knew I'd like it, even if it somehow didn't smell nice on me). In the bottle: I do like the smell in the imp, it's sort of a muted, far-away scent that sort of reminds me of the cover illustration from my copy of Bridge to Terebithia-- a dim scent that is both comforting and a bit unsettling. The lab's description of 'half-remembered nightmares' seems appropriate. This is my kind of scent, though at this point I'm not sure how it will smell on me... Wet: I can barely detect this, even immediately after application. Dry: Nothing. Really, nothing. I'm guessing my skin ate it all up right away. In the end, I still enjoy the smell of this in the vial, so once my bottle arrives I will try it as a room scent or maybe in a scent locket. I may eventually swap the bottle, but I'm not giving up yet. I would still recommend the scent to anyone, it's just that you never know what your body chemistry will do! eta: OK, I tried this on again just now, and I don't know if my chemistry or my nose was off when I tried this before, but this time it didn't disappear, and it smells lovely! It smells like a Christmas tree without actually being a Christmas scent...it reminds me of the ceiling in our old house-- we put our tree in the same spot every year and the ceiling had a permanent little sap spot. Yep, this reminds me of playing in the woods and reading Bridge to Terebithia in 2nd grade...it's like the smell of not only of a closed-in forest but also of the air on a mountain...it is smokey and natural and I'm so glad I tried this on again! </ramble>

In the bottle: White Rabbit smells like dried apricots! Sniffing again, I can detect the black tea and white pepper. Wet on skin/drydown: Yep, the blend of ingredients is producing a dried apricot scent on me. I smell a hint of peaches at first but that disappears within five minutes, leaving black tea, milk, and honey. I don't get ginger or vanilla at all, but then I hardly ever detect vanilla in BPAL. It must be my skin that eats it up. I do get a mental picture of a fine linen tablecloth...not sure if I would have gotten that without the description, but it is there all the same. Bottom Line: I really, really like this. I only applied a tiny bit from the cap, and it's lasted for some time. Even better, I'm working on collecting the Mad Tea Party series, so I ordered this in 10 ml!

The Empress reminds me alot of BPAL's Alice...almost as if The Empress is what little Alice will become when she grows up. It is a very refined scent, one for a dignified woman but not one that is too stuffy, and not one that would be afraid of digging around in the dirt a little bit. I think viciousviolet described it very well when she said it was a bunch of different roses of all sizes and colors (I'm paraphrasing here). The Empress didn't morph on me at all...it was ROSES in the bottle, 'grown-up-Alice' going on, and stayed that way. This is what I will wear when I have a special event to attend and want to feel classy and ultra-feminine.

I purchased The Star as a Christmas gift for my best friend, so I didn't test it on myself. However, I did open the bottle about 10 times just to smell it...this means I'm buying myself a bottle with my very next order! I didn't detect the coconut or lime that others have mentioned; to me The Star smelled like baking Christmas cookies. The kind with almond extract and a maraschino cherry pressed into the top. That's the feeling I kept getting with every sniff-- almond, freshly baked cookies, and maraschino cherry. Not too sweet at all, just very light and calming and happy. -sigh-

Yes! YESSSSS!!! That's exactly what I've been trying to tell people! (Well, my mother, mostly) The Charmkin named Brown-Eyed Susan, to be precise. Sorry this isn't exactly a detailed review, but starrykitten put it so perfectly that I have nothing else left to say! Love, Charmkin

(I really love viciousviolet's description of this one!) With my 'untrained' nose, I am unable to pick out any single notes in this scent, but I don't care because it smells like a sexy, sexy, intelligent and mysterious man. (Reminds me of someone I know... ) In the bottle, it does resemble a commercial men's scent, but I've been using Vicomte in my car (I have the Body Shop aromatherapy plug-in) and I keep getting very pleasantly distracted by the scent. I do not find it typical at all, not cheap-smelling in any way. I have yet to try it on myself, but it's such a deliciously masculine scent that I think I'd like to keep it off my own body so I can imagine it on someone else's. Must purchase a bigger bottle! I want my car to smell like this forever.