ranyart

In the bottle, it honestly doesn't smell like much, just some dry grassiness that's vaguely sweet. On my skin: wet, I get a burst of dry cardamom and honey, with a touch of amber and several dry, grassy notes. This is amazing! I've been looking for a blend where cardamom is in the forefront, and maybe this is it. I love that the honey note is present but is indeed a "dry" honey; this blend isn't very sweet at all. Dry, it's still mostly honeyed cardamom with the hay keeping things from being too sweet. The amber makes this scent feel very warm and golden. It certainly feels like a summer evening sort of blend. A few hours after applying it the scent's still on my skin, just staying very close. I wish there was a bit more throw but I love Hay Moon so much that I won't complain. This is one of the most exciting blends I've smelled in a while, and I predict that it will be a favorite of mine this summer.

I got this as a frimp at a recent Meet&Sniff. Wet, this smells like dirt and little twigs. There's a powdery headiness that feels "perfumey" more than it actually smells that way, as if I can see white fumes coming off of my hands. That white perfuminess seems to be growing as the oil dries. I'm not sure about this... I love things that smell like dirt, but the "papery white" part of this fragrance makes this feel a bit too light for me to wear. I really wish this fit me better, because it's a lovely scent. Hopefully I can pass this imp on to someone who's better suited to it, but I'm sure I'll sniff the imp a few times before then.

This was a frimp in my last Lab order. In the imp: dark leather and vetiver. Scary. I've had leather work for me as part of a long list of notes, but I'm wary about it being a star player. This leather is particularly strong-smelling, so I'm a bit nervous to try this. On skin: vetiver and leather are a good combo, I think. I don't know if I can wear this, but on the right person it would be great. This is not a soft, worn-in, friendly leather; I'm thinking a black leather jacket or a whip. I really don't want to smell like a big piece of leather, so unless this strong note fades soon, I'm going to wash this off. Drydown: Hmm. The black musk is coming out more, I think, and there's almost an element of sweetness. The leather's really grossing me out, though. I'm going to go ahead and throw this in the swap box. I ended up just washing Iago off, sadly. Leather seems to be a deal-breaker in a lot of blends. I can see how this would be a great dark-and-sexy blend on the right person.

In the imp: grass and a light green herbal smell. I know there are multiple notes swimming around here, but I'm not sure what exactly I'm smelling. The impression is that of walking into a cool greenhouse or smelling your hands after gardening all morning. On skin: tea and green grass/mossy scent. Nothing really changed from the initial application to the drydown; this stayed "grassy" without much in terms of individual notes to pick out. I really wish I could smell the fig or ginger; I thought those notes would really make this blend work for me. This didn't last long at all, sadly, and never developed more than "green" on me. I liked it but it doesn't seem to be the best fit for me. I'm definitely going to keep trying until my imp is gone, because the scent is lovely in the bottle and I'm determined to find a green and grassy scent that works well on my skin.

I can smell the honey wine before I even open the imp! Wow. In the imp: STRONG honey wine with a hint of bay leaf. Wet: More very strong honey wine scent. This is like the super-sweet Polish mead I had at the beer fest this past fall. I'm starting to smell the bay and laurel a bit more, but I worry that this may be too cloyingly sweet for me. I'll see what happens. Dry: While the other notes came into play a bit more as Delphi dried down, this remains mostly a very sweet, boozy honey scent on me. I'm impressed at the difference between this and the Lab's straight honey note; you can tell that it's based on alcohol. I worried that Delphi might be a bit too sweet for me, and I'm not quite sure if that's the case or not. I enjoyed wearing it, but I never quite got a feel for how this particular blend works for me. I'm sure I'll use up the imp I have, because it's a fun scent to wear during the day, but I may not need more than that. I will say that this lasted a good while on me - about eight hours, I think.

I've been intrigued by this blend since I started bpaling in October, but didn't get a chance to try it until yesterday. In the imp: vanilla/cedar, and I suppose I'm smelling sassafras? I'm not familiar with that note. Very nice. Wet: Cedar! with a hint of creamy vanilla. At least in the first few seconds, I adore this. As the oil dried, I started to remember what sassafras smelled like from nature hikes as a kid and was able to pick it out more. The cedar was prominent, but the delicious vanilla kept me from just smelling like a cedar chest. It was warm and rugged and sexy as hell, and had amazing staying power. Sadly, many oils mostly vanish on me within four or five hours, but ten hours later I still had a good bit of scent close to my skin. I haven't had a lot of luck with pine-based oils, which I had high hopes for when I started buying bpal, but cedar seems to work really well on me. I may need a bottle of this. My partner highly approved as well, so that's an extra bonus.

I got this as a lab frimp in my most recent order. When I initially sniffed all the imps that came in, my note was: I can really smell the anise in the imp! This should be interesting. In the imp: murky vetiver and a little spicy kick from the annis. I've never worn anything with civet and that makes me a bit nervous, but I'm willing to try. After all, vetiver seems to scare some folks (including me) the way civet does, and it's turned out to be a great note on me. Wet: this does smell kind of cave-y, but the anise throws off that feeling a bit. It's almost like very sinister baked goods. My skin seems to be eating this up but I'll wait and see how it dries. The vetiver is apparent at first but seems to be fading into the background. I wish I knew what civet smelled like, but I'm pretty sure the note I'm not quite able to pin down is the civet. Interesting. Dry: the anise is still there, happily, but it's part of a really odd and dark scent. The vetiver has blended into everything else and I can't pick it out, and there's an almost-musky, animalistic smell I assume is the civet. This is dark and sinister and still somehow very sexy. I highly approve. Despite my worries about this fading quickly, Black Annis had a lot of staying power. About nine or ten hours later, it's very faint, but I know it was still going strong at the 7/8 hour mark, which is pretty good for me. I know this scent isn't for everyone, but I'm really impressed. As always, the Lab knows what will work on me better than I do!

In the bottle, it smells like a vetiver punch to the face! I know a lot of people have said this, but wow. They aren't kidding. Wet: lots of vetiver at first, with a hint of coconut. I do hope that this develops to be more than just vetiver, but the other snake pit blend I've tried (Green Tree Viper) did the same thing where it started as just MINT and then developed into awesomeness as it dried, so I'm not worried. Dry: Even though I still haven't smelled Snake Oil other than once on a friend, I can smell the common element between this and Green Tree Viper and I love it - I really do need to get some Snake Oil. I don't know that I've selled opoponax before, so I don't know enough to pick it out, but the sweet, spicy vanilla comes out as the oil dries, and I can smell just a hint of coconut as well. The vetiver is the clear star here and I just love it. This is just further proof that vetiver works really well on my skin. On me, Death Adder is simultaneously sweet, dark, and sensual. I bought this hoping it would work well but not entirely sure, and I'm glad I took the chance. This is a clear winner for me.

In the bottle: cocoa, vanilla, and a hint of vetiver. I can just barely pick out the lavender. Wet: the cocoa is separating a bit; there are dark spots of it in the oil. I can still smell the cocoa, but it's not as strong - I think I'm smelling sage, and possibly the birch tar but I have no idea what that smells like. my skin seems to be eating this up! A minute or so after applying: it smells like chocolate and fresh (not polished) wood. I'm getting a hint of lavender now, and I suppose the vanilla is keeping this kind of creamy. Dry: this has settled on cocoa and the softest vetiver I've ever smelled, with a bit of an herbal support behind it. It isn't very strong on my skin; I think I'll have to slather this if I want it to be strong at all. Unusual, but I think this is pretty nice. In general, I was afraid of vetiver when I first started using bpal because it's so dark and sharp-smelling, but I've found that it works really well with my body chemistry. It's interesting to see a softer side of it in this blend. Sadly, Wulric all but disappeared within the first 45 or so minutes. I may just see what happens if I age him a bit; the smell is intriguing enough that I don't want to give up on it already, but I'm sad that it faded so quickly. I just put on some unscented lotion and I may try this again now that my hands aren't so dry they'll just drink up all the oil.

In the imp: pine, a hint of cedar, and a hint of cranberry. Wet: I think I can smell the tomato leaf a bit as well. It's a weird mix of pine and plant-y, but the pine seems to dominate so far. I get a whiff of cranberry now and then, but it comes and goes. Drydown: So far, this seems to be the nicest pine blend I've found, possibly because the "warm" notes make it blend with my body chemistry better than the "cold" ones (such as the Snow Storm, which sadly didn't work well on my skin) do. Now the cedar's coming out as well. This isn't what I expected, and maybe it'll morph more as it fully dries, but I'm intrigued. Dry: It's settled into a vaguely fruity pine/cedar scent. Nice! Maybe there's a hint of musk in here? I'm not positive, but it seems like I can pick some out. I really with I could smell the tomato leaf more, because I absolutely adore that scent. Hopefully next time I try this out, I'll be able to smell it more. I expected Jersey Devil to be a bit of an oddball scent on me, but it actually smelled less weird than I was expecting. The end result is really nice, though, so I'm not complaining.

I ordered an imp of this thinking it would probably be too light for me, but I'd love to find a blend with star anise that I can wear, plus sandalwood generally smells really nice on me, so I figured it made sense to give Kyoto a try. In the imp, this has a nice star anise scent; the cherry blossom is very light and balanced somewhere between fruity cherry and that almost almondy scent that cherries have at times. Wet: the cherry blossom is almost bubblegummy, that's how sweet it is at first. The anise is becoming more prominent, and I assume that the sandalwood will emerge as this continues to dry. Sandalwood tends to vanish when I put oils on and then pop out and surprise me as it dries down. Dry/later: I feel like I'll need to put a bit more on and wear this again; I liked it, but I don't feel like I got a good sense of it tonight. The anise isn't as sharp as I'd expected, which I think was due to the cherry blossom, and the sandalwood stayed in the background. Sniffing myself a good 5-6 hours later, I smell like slightly sweet sandalwood. I was afraid Kyoto would be too light and sweet for me, and while that isn't quite the case, I'm not sure this is the right anise blend for me either. I think my imp will get good use, though, even if I don't end up with a bottle.

This was a frimp from the Lab in my last order. Thanks, Lab! In the imp: Sweet carnation and lavender, with maybe a bit of cedar. The listed notes aren't ones I'd think to put together, but this smells promising. Wet on skin: The leather adds itself to the mix. It's a bit stronger than I'd like, but not overpowering. Drying: I can smell the creamy sweetness of the vanilla (that's probably why the carnation smelled so sweet in the imp), which happily doesn't over-sweeten the blend, and the white musk starts to peek out. I'd had bad luck with leather before, but here it behaves itself admirably. Dry: It's harder to identify individual notes as the oil dries, but the musk, vanilla, and leather wind up being dominant on me by the end. I was excited to smell carnation when the oil was wet, but it faded into the background and provided support with the herbs. The only note I never really picked out was the sage, which is a bit sad, but the overall affect was so great that I don't mind. I applied it last night around 8 and over twelve hours later, I still have a faint vanilla/lavender/leather scent clinging to my hands. This may be a new favorite.

Is there anything in the GC that even comes close to Winter of Our Discontent? I just bought an imp of this and really love the smokiness of it. When I have it on, I feel like I'm walking outside in the winter, smelling pine needles underfoot and the smoke from neighbors' fireplaces, mixed with just a hint of holiday spice and orange rind. Any thoughts on something I could replicate this with?

In the bottle: wintergreen and a hint of mossy/heathery florals. Wet: an onslaught of wintergreen with just a bit of soft florals and pine. Sadly, to me wintergreen smells like rotting mint so this wet period is pretty rough. I was hoping the mint would fade away as the oil dried. Drydown: I can't really pick out individuals from the forest of listed notes, but they blend very well into what I'd expect from a clear spring day in the mountains somewhere; perhaps where a field of wildflowers and brambles meets with the beginnings of a tall stretch of snowy peaks. "mountain breeze" fabric softener wishes it smelled half as good. This may be a bit too light for me but I still really like it. I will probably use it as a going-to-bed scent; I often put on lighter blends at night to help me relax. As long as I keep my hands away from my face while the wintergreen dries, it should serve that purpose well.

In the imp, all I can smell is sandalwood. Wet: light coconut, sandalwood, and a general "woody" scent. Drydown: this is still very warm, with a bit of coconut, spice from the incense, and now the musk is joining the sandalwood. Very nice! I was afraid this would be a bit too beachy with the coconut, but it isn't at all. I thought that was it, but about ten minutes later I sniffed myself again, and the musk is much stronger now. I've come to realize that most musks smell amazing on me, so this is definitely a plus! The coconut is more of a background note now, adding a bit more interest to the incense and sandalwood. I was pretty sure I'd like this scent, but it didn't jump out at me as one I needed to try immediately out of all the imps I received recently. Now I'm thinking I may need to buy a bottle of this.

In the imp: strong, very sweet mint. Wet: the mint dominates, but the caramel is present as well, making this very sweet. At this point, my partner smelled me and said "you smell like waffles covered in lots of syrup." Dry: the caramel seems to be stronger than anything else in this one, sadly. I love smelling sweet but I wish the lovely musks came out more. This dries down to a faintly musky caramel; the mint is almost entirely gone once the oil has dried. I told a co-worker the waffle story a few hours after I put the oil on, and she smelled me and said she thought I smelled pretty waffley as well. I'll probably try this one again, but while I like how I smell, it wasn't quite what I was expecting. I wanted something sweet yet dark and dangerous/sexy, and this wasn't it. ADDED Feb. 13: On two separate occasions, I've worn this and people ask me why I smell like waffles. I honestly don't think Incubus smells that waffley or mapley on me, but that's the reaction I get. It's very sweet, though; as soon as I put it on I'm hit with a sweet, caramel-drenched mint. To me, the black musk helps to cut the sweetness as the oil dries, but it seems like people around me perceive me to be much sweeter-smelling than I think I am. I'm not sure if this odd sweet/musky combination works for me, but I really love it so I'll keep trying my imp. I'd certainly recommend this to someone who wants to try a sweet scent that's a bit unusual.

This was a lap frimp in an order I received a few months ago. I thought this would be too light and sweet on me, but I was pleasantly surprised! In the imp, the mandarin and white musk are strongest, and I can catch a whiff of mango as well. Once this hits my skin, the mango amps just a bit but overall the blend stays very true to the notes listed. I have some B&BW mango and mandarin lotion I used to wear a lot, and this reminds me of a more sophisticated version of that. The white musk and sandalwood combine to make this much more exciting and sophisticated than just a "fruit smoothie" blend. I've worn this out during the day, but I think I enjoy it best at the end of the day; sometimes the oil I apply in the morning has faded by the time I get home, and when I'm just sitting around on the computer or reading, Kuang Shi is a nice scent to have on. I definitely expected this to be far too light and feminine for me to really enjoy it, but I'm very glad I was proven wrong. I swabbed some on my partner a few weeks ago, and it smelled wonderful on N as well. I don't know that I'll buy a bottle, but I may need to at least get another imp since this one will be gone before too long.

A sultry, exotic scent that inspires devious plotting and clandestine affairs. It is a scent painted in artifice, veiled in deceit, and slithering with whispered secrets. Black palm, with cocoa, fig and shadowy wooded notes. In the imp, I get what smells like a dried fig that's just barely been dusted with sweet cocoa. Wet, it smells like a dark, not-sweet fig, and as it dries there's just enough cocoa to give an extra dimension. I don't specifically know what the palm smells like, but there's a general woody scent wafting about that grounds the blend. It's just a tiny bit sweet, but not foody at all - more rich than anything. The palm and wood keep the scent dark and very sexy. I spent the first part of the day constantly sniffing myself because I smelled amazing. My only complaint is that this didn't last longer. After about four hours I could barely smell this on myself! It would be nice to apply if I wanted something just for the evening, but I like to have my scent last most of the day when I'm at work so I can enjoy getting little whiffs of myself throughout the day. It smells great on me but I can only imagine how sultry and sexy this would smell on a woman. Intrigue strikes me as a good choice for a date where you want to be sexy in an unconventional way.

This was the scent that really convinced me to try bpal. I love coffee, Lovecraft, and the idea of Misk U, so this was really a necessity for me. I bought a bottle of this unsniffed because there was no way I wouldn't love it. Of course, I wasn't disappointed. In the bottle: sweet, buttery/boozy coffee. It's incredibly tempting to just take a swig, even though I know that would be a disgusting waste of the wonderful oil. Wet: the booze is definitely prominent at first. It smells like straight-up Irish coffee. Drydown: I'm getting a dusty/woody scent mixing in with the coffee, which has lost some of its liquored-up punch. In college, I worked in a computer lab in a library basement where you'd be surrouned by the smell of old, musty law books. There's a bit of that scent lurking in the background, which is really amazing. How on earth does Beth capture these scents? Dry: My only complaint is that the wood note is a bit stronger than I'd like once this is dry. It's still mostly coffee, don't get me wrong, but I think I'd like one notch more "yum, coffee" and one less notch "ooh, old books!" on my scent-o-meter. This will always be my First Love of bpal.

In the imp, this smells like strong, slightly sweet ginger. I love ginger and ginger-y smells so I was excited to try it. On my skin, it smells gentle and warm: a creamy ginger with just a bit of honey. I can see this being a wonderful addition to a soothing bath at the end of a long day. My only issue is that the scent wasn't very strong and faded pretty quickly. Since I'm still fairly new to bpal and don't want to be That Stinky Guy, I don't apply very much, so I'll try applying more this time, but I think this may just be a very light scent on me. I'll see what happens next time I wear this, but I may need to use it in my oil burner or dabbed onto my lavender eye pillow. I know ginger is supposed to be invigorating, but it's always been a calm, comforting scent to me.

In imp: lemon verbena and neroli. The lemon is definitely very strong! Wet: very strong herbal lemon scent, like when I had a lemon balm plant. Happily, the jasmine isn't taking over, or even very noticable at all. Drying: I'm starting to get a whiff of green tea (yay!) but this is still mostly herbal lemon. Come on, tea! Otherwise, this is going to be a kind of boring scent. Dry: yes, here comes the green tea. It's holding its own with the lemon verbena, and while I think I'm starting to pick out the jasmine, it's staying in the background with the neroli (which I wouldn't mind a bit more of) so I don't mind it, much to my surprise. Jasmine is just one of those scents that I try to stay away from. I'm not really sure what I think about this one - it certainly smells nice once it's dried down and had a chance to develop, but I don't know if it's something I'd wear often. I'd love this as a candle, so maybe I'll use the rest of the imp as a room scent in my oil burner. I think that ultimately this is a bit too light and on the feminine side for me to really feel at home wearing it, but I'm going to enjoy sniffing myself for the rest of the evening.

Something (perhaps the almond mixed with another note?) smelled incredibly off about Bastet when I first applied it. In the imp it has a sultry, amber/saffron smell, but wet on my skin I got a sharp, acrid scent that was so bad I almost washed it off. I was determined to see it through, though, since Winterwind loved it so much and I wanted to give this scent a chance. As it dried, the sharp note faded and this was very golden-warm and delicious on my skin. I really wish I could smell the cardamom and the almond more (it mostly vanished once it dried), but the sweet amber/musk/saffron combination is a definite winner. Next time I wear this, I'll see if I can smell the more elusive notes. This is definitely a scent that I'll finish the imp of, but I'm not yet sure if I need a bottle of it.

I was excited to get this as a frimp from the lab; when I started listing scents I wanted to try, I was very excited about piney ones, but haven't had the best track record with them so far so I haven't been following up on all the ones I'd initially wanted. Hemlock, though, works much better on me than scents like The Snow Storm, which was far too sharp for me. In the imp, this smells mostly like reaching out and crushing needles in a holiday wreath. A very strong, pure fir scent. Wet, the fir smell is dominant but there's some lemon as well; I know some people get lemon joy/pine sol at this point, but it manages to be a great citrus and pine combination without smelling like cleaner at all. As it dries, I can smell just a bit of mint and some other "green," herbal scents I can't identify, but the lemon and fir/pine are the dominant notes even when the others come out. I've worn this twice now, and I'm really loving it. The only problem I have is that it doesn't last too long on me - after about 4-5 hours I could barely smell it at all, which is a bit disappointing. If I need a scent just for the evening or on a day when I'm at home and can re-apply, this is an obvious choice, but I love being able to smell nice all day at work and Hemlock just doesn't last quite long enough. I may still buy a bottle, though, because this is an amazing blend on me. Plus, the murky green oil is awesome!

I second Iceblink's suggestion of Shango. I was almost afraid to try my frimp of it because of the banana note, but that didn't come out on my skin - the result was a slightly spicy, mostly appley scent that could definitely fall under fruit punch.

This was a frimp from the lab, and I was a bit nervous by how sweet it smelled in the imp that I didn't get around to testing it until tonight. Wet, it's a strong, creamy orange scent with no trace of patchouli at all. As it dries, though, the extreme sweetness backs off just a tiny bit and there's a depth and darkness that ground the scent a little. My guess is that this is the patchouli valiantly trying to break through, but I'm never able to really smell it. About two hours later, this is still just a very strong floral-y orange. I'm wondering if maybe orange blossom just isn't a note that will work well on me, and since I don't get any patchouli to speak of from this blend, it's just a very strong orange blossom that smells much too sweet and cloying on me. I had a similar problem with Hunger, so I'm pretty sure it's the orange blossom that's causing a problem. I think this would smell great on the right person, but sadly that's not me.