Imbrium

He so was! I'd never pictured Ogre as the whining type. Everyone's been whining except for me - I love me some wintery weather! Frankly, it's not cold enough for me, though I suppose I'll have to buy a winter coat soon, as it is chillier than it's been for the past few winters.

While it's not as cold here as it is further north, I live at high altitude, and it's been well below freezing here. My Yule order arrived today, and the bottles were icy to the touch, but still cheerfully solid. I think you should be okay. After all, those BPAL bottles are nice and thick. Oh, and everything still smells awesome, despite the freeze.

Mistletoe 2005 Mistletoe is a very straightforward scent - evergreen, and kind of spicy, in a very plantlike way. The grocery store right by my apartment has a small lot of Christmas trees in front of it - spruce and pine - and every time I walk past it, I have to stop and inhale deeply. Mistletoe smells like walking past all those trees. Probably great as a room scent, as reviewers of last year's version mention, but I'll be wearing it.

You know, I read every review of Lick It before my bottle got here, and each time someone raved about how it really did smell just like a candy cane, I just nodded to myself, and though - right. Candy cane. That's about what I expected. Well, Lick It smells just like a damn candy cane, but it's not at all what I expected, because it's not pure peppermint - it really does have a soft, vanilla undertond to it - but I have never in my life smelled anything that smelled so dead-on like a candy cane. Completely dry, this is almost more vanilla than peppermint, but still delicious. Off to go eat my arm now.

Okay - I love winter. I love snow. And though I grew up in the snowy Northeast, I now live in New Mexico, and with the rare exceptional snow storm, have to drive up a mountain if I want to come within ten feet of anything resembling snow. Did I mention that I love snow? I love the way it crunches, the way it gleams in the moonlight, sparkles in the sunlight, and I love the way it smells right before a good snow storm, when the air is crisp and insanely cold, and it smells wet, and clear all at the same time. Given my adoration of wintery weather, I've tried every Bpal that lists snowy notes in it, and though they all smell lovely, none of them have really smelled snowy to me. But Talvikuu is different. Talvikuu smells like snow. It's aquatic and cool, in much the same way that Ice Queen was, but it has only a hint of those pale musks that turned Ice Queen warm and snuggly. I smell traces of greenery, but they're really not the most prominent notes. They're almost like silent partners, adding a depth to the blend that makes it smell true to life - like walking through a silent, snowy forest. (Or in my case, like driving 30 minutes to the top of Sandia Peak, where green things grow, and precipitation freezes.)

This is such a curious scent. Wet, Bess is predominately orange flower and rosemary; I'm reminded of Catherine, which is fine with me. Dry, I smell of light, warm grape, with even lighter rose, when I put my nose to my arm. This grape is incredibly light, and not at all artificial. It almost smells as though I swiped my arm with white grape juice. Interestingly, as I type, I catch wafts of a sweet, herbaceous scent - from a distance, I smell the rosemary and orange flower, but were I to get up close and personal with my arm, I'd still smell only grape and the barest hint of rose. Pretty, very pretty, though I do wish the rose were a bit stronger.

I should preface this review by saying that I am not in any way, shape, or form a fan of patchouli - in fact, it often gives me a headache. So, I wasn't sure I'd be a fan of Sed Non Satiata. That said, when immediately applied to the skin, Sed Non Satiata is one of the sexiest things I've ever smelled. Immediately on, it's musk, honey, and something spicy. This grows increasingly spicy as it dries - it's myrrh, patchouli, or some combination of the two; the musk is still evident, as sort of a grounding base, but the sweet, honeyed scent is gone. Ultimately, it's still sexy, but it's not quite me. Of course, those Bpalers out there who love patchouli or myrrh are going to adore this.

First impression: I ... actually, I can't smell a darn thing in the imp. Wet, on skin, this smells very light and clean, but not soapy. It smells predominately of wisteria, with a hint of something sweet, which I'd assume is the white musk. And, while I don't smell lavender per se, I can tell that it's there, hovering in the background. Ode on Melancholy contains some of my favorite notes - I'm a sucker for rose, but lighter/white roses in particular, and white musk usually smell delicious on my skin. Unfortunately for me, this scent disappears when it's dry. What a shame, since this has the same heart-wrenching fragility that I get from Havisham - when it's wet, and I can smell it. Overall - this really is pretty. I suppose I'll try slathering it on, and hopefully it will last longer.

I can almost taste coconut when I smell this. It starts out with a sort of Hawaiian Tropics scent that a few other reviewers have mentioned, and takes a little while to move beyond that on my skin. Once it does though, it's delicious. It smells like thick coconut cream - tropical, but sweet and oh so foody. Plus, it lasts for an entire day on my skin, provided I can restrain myself from gnawing at my wrist - it smells that damn good.

Like Beth's D'Anjou Pear single note, this smells like so much more than straight fruit on me. In fact, I can barely recognize anything that I sould classify as fruity in this blend - it's very strongly spicy and smells almost like incense or a darker musk, in a way. I recognize this immediately as one of the predominate notes in Snake Charmer. Unfortunately, Snake Charmer does not like me, and I fear neither does Plum SN. It's lovely, in a dark, smokey sort of way - but for me, it's also somewhat headache inducing.

Oh. Man. This is fabulous. Amsterdam is one of my absolute favorite scents, so I had to smell this - particularly since I could never pick peony itself out of the blend. It smells exactly like the flower. This is such an amazingly true floral scent - it's like instantly being transported back ten years, standing in greenhouses with my father while he bought plants for the garden, and I ran around smelling everything I could. This just avoids becoming too heady, but it's still quite strong, with a fair amount of staying power, and just a hint of something green behind the flower. I would bathe in this if I could.

This is interesting, because while I smell pear in this single note, it smells like more than just pear to me. It has almost a floral edge to it - on me this smells like an entire pear tree, rather than just the fruit. It's sweet, soft, and green. It's very pretty, and I'll certainly wear it, but I have to admit I had hoped for the true pear scent that the other reviewers seem to get. Stupid skin.

I can't remember the last time I smelled a daffodil, so I can't tell you if this is dead-on or not. Still, I love me some early springtime flowers, so I had to try this. It's definately a very yellow scent, as others have said - and I never thought I'd ever smell yellow, but it's just the first thing I think of when I smell this. Instantly on, it's very sweet, much more so than I expected. As it dries, I smell a hint of bulby flowers, but much sweeter than, say, the tulip in Amsterdam. It becomes a bit powdery as it dries, and remains sweet on my skin, though lighter, and a bit greener. It's pretty, it's feminine and floral without being overpowering. In short, I love it.

Clearly I've got to stop underestimating lunacies. It seems as though the ones I think will not work on me are the ones that smell the best. Blood Moon, despite what I would have though, given the name, the description, and the speculations of the presence of dragon's blood, is absolutely perfect for me. In the bottle, and initially on, it smell strongly of dry cinnamon, with a background that, for lack of a better term, seems herbally. It's not the red-hots sort of cinnamon that I get out of fresh Three Witches, but rather a "stick your nose in the spice cabinet" sort of cinnamon - toned down with some other sort of autumnal spice, perhaps, but true to the actual spice. As Blood Moon dries, the musk starts to come out, along with something rather strange, which I can't identify. I smell something vanillic, which might be a facet of whatever musk this is, they tend to go sweet on me. Occasionally I catch a whiff of something that might be dragon's blood. Dragon's Blood and my skin tend not to get along, but if this is indeed in the mix, it's playing nicely. However, in the mid-to-dry stage, there's some scent that I just can't place. It's dark, and smoke-like without being smoky. By the final dry stage, this is predominately musk (delicious, sweet but dark - it smells darker than the "thuggish musk" in Devil's Night), with a hint of spice lurking underneath. It stays very close to the skin, making it warm and oddly comforting, despite being a very sexy scent. I am so very, very glad I have more of this on the way. Oh, and the bottle art is fantastic. Macha rocks! Edited to add: This is, however, the first Bpal oil to ever turn my skin red. If you're a senstive sort like I am, this is a thick skinned areas only scent - the back of my hands can take it, but the inside of my arms sure can't, and I shudder to think what would have happened elsewhere..

I've found that Catherine is great for getting rid of my headaches. I rarely get them, but when I do, they suck quite a bit. And, since rosemary is generally good for healing, I pour a teensy bit of Catherine into the bath, and that does the trick. Of course, it actually gives my boyfriend a headache, so your mileage may vary.

The first time I tried Antique Lace, it smelled like absolutely nothing on my skin. It was weird - I could put my nose right up to where it was applied, and I couldn't smell a thing. So, I was not among the heartbroken when it was discontinued. However, everyone seemed to love it so much, that I though perhaps I hadn't given Antique Lace the chance she deserved, so I tried it again. It is so lovely! Initially, she smells very vanillic, like a lighter version of SN Vanilla Bean - slightly spicy, a vanilla with bite. As Antique Lace dries, the musk comes into play, and the vanilla gets creamier and sweeter. Though not buttery, I wouldn't say this is a powdery vanilla; it's very rich and sugary, which I attribute at least somewhat to the musk - white musk, I think - which almost always smells sugary and creamy on me. After a few hours, I smell a very, very faint linen note in the background, but the florals that some reviewers mention never really come into play. This is a perfect vanilla scent: light and creamy, feminine and innocent, like Dorian's little sister.

This. Is. Fabulous. I know that Beth has lots and lots of rose notes in her arsenal, but this one is by far my favorite. It's rose, obviously, but cool and crisp and very light. It is sweet, and yet somehow has a tartness to it that I've never smelled in another floral note before, and I agree with quantum spice - though not as fresh or green as Rose Red, this does smell like a freshly cut, true rose. It's not at all artificial. White rose is a component in many of my favorite blends - I'm now almost positive that it's the rose in Havisham - and it's absolutely beautiful as a single note, as well. The lab really does rock!

Initially, this is a very strong tea scent, and it's a citrussy tea - I might have guessed that this was grapefruit, and not tea, were it not for the description. There is a light, kind of green, floral background to this, but within a few hours, this rather complicated scent has settles in very close to my skin, and is predominately a sweet musk. I don't know why it smells like sweet musk - it's not listed in the description - but it does smell divine, so I'm not going to complain. This scent is going to be such a hit - if you haven't tried it already, you'd better get to it, because it's lovely.

I'm very fond of fresh, green scents on the rare occasions that they work on me, so I jumped at a chance to try Lettuce. This starts out very crisp and green, with a hint of something almost spicy, which develops into the perfumy note that others have mentioned. However, it doesn't turn back into the green salady scent that others have mentioned; rather, on my skin I get the oddest hints of hemp. I have no idea where it came from, but oy - I smell hempy. I'm going to have to try this as a room fragrance, because it does start off very nicely - my chemistry just makes it angry.

Immediately on, this is citrus and then something powdery and floral. Then, the rose sort of blooms behind it all. Hours later, this is very different. It kind of ... rounds out into a warm vanilla. The citrus is gone, the powdery amber is disappearing, slooowly. The rose is still there; in fact, I think it's the most prominent note at this point, even though it's a very light rose. Sadly, the red musk never appears; now that I'm finally figuring out how gooood Beth's musks smell on me, I was really hoping to smell it in this blend. As it is, this is nice, though it's still a little powdery for my taste.

First on, this is smoky sweet, like vanilla, rum, and bonfires. If that weren't nice enough, it turns into musky autumn air, like - sex in the woods, by a roaring fire. It's just slightly sweet, and really, really sexy, and given the opportunity, I just might want to bathe in this. It's everything I wanted Hexenacht to be, and then some.

Oh, wow! I mean - wow! This is so perfect! It smells, initially like straight sweet pea - but a very light sweet pea. As it dries, it smells - green, and herbal, though it doesn't scream sage. I catch whiffs of something like a sweeter Amsterdam - I think that's peony - and something keeps it from just turning too sweet and floral. Hours later, this has the same, faintly cucumbery quality of Blue Moon - really lovely. This is beautiful: a really clean, girly scent that's not too floral.

This last Punkin blend is so different from the others, I wouldn't have guessed it was part of the Patch without the crazy grinning pumpkin on the label. I smell only the barest hint of pumpkin. There's a touch of ivy in the background, but mostly, this is just strong woods. It's light, not as strong as I would have thought. It really is lovely, but it's not me.

Ooh! This is the member of the Patch that I expected not to work on my skin. Instead, it's been a wonderful surprise. I expected, strong, incensy pumpkin, instead, I got light pumpkin, with a chilly smokiness. It smells, in every stage, like standing outside in the middle of a field of pumpkins, with chilly autumn air all around, and the smell of fires in the distance. This is absolutely perfect.

Oh, this one is so very interesting. It begins, like the others, with a buttery sweet pumpkin note. The pomegranate in this never becomes as strong as it does in Beth's other pomegranate blends; I don't get bright, juicy fruits. It's tart, and it smells lovely when I put my nose to it, but as I pull my nost away from my wrist, it smells slightly odd. I'm not sure how to describe it; it's just a less pleasant tartness. That does diminish when it dries, and it becomes lovely - juicy and cool, a lovely, lighter autumn scent. I wasn't at all sure what to expect about the combination of pumpkin with pomegranate, and in some ways, I'm still not sure what I think - I like it, but the middle phase remains ... odd.