oneiromantics

Reviews for Six have been very uneven so far, so I might as well chime in. I have relatively picky skin chemistry, but this is very true to concept on me. The dominant note is a true red rose (the sort I'd hoped to get from Rose Red, which went sour on me). The leather and almond are supporting notes. It's nicely balanced. Grown up. Sexy, but not over the top. This might be the first bold rose that's ever really sung on me. I'm happy with it.

This is such a BPAL scent to me, and I love it for that. The feeling it gives me is similar to when you open your box of imps and go "ahhhh, BPAL." The scorched oak is what stands out the most on my skin, rounded out with a bit of sweetness. Dragon's blood blends are not usually in my wheelhouse, but it's playing nicely here. It feels a bit like the Antikythera Mechanism's smokier cousin. In my opinion, it's smack in the middle of masculine and feminine. Definitely looking forward to seeing how it ages!

When I first received The Waltz from the lab, it translated to Turkish delight on my skin. A few months later, it's smoothed out a little, and I'm getting soft rose, sweet vanilla, and a very gentle musk. It's delicate, feminine, and just a tiny bit gourmand. The rose note here is really wonderful. I typically can't do big, bold roses (they tends to go sour on me), but I love a soft rose, and this is one of the best I've tried.

Man, Puddin' and the goblins really have a way with those field-like scents, huh? First the masterpiece that is The Gourd of Deprivation, and now this! But where The Gourd is dense, spicy, and rich, this is light and mellow. I just gave it a little spritz for the first time last night, and the main impression I got was a light, delicious honey with something creamy in the background, possibly the oats. It's sweet but not too sweet, wafts around the room pleasantly, and strikes me as a happy, comforting scent that's good for all seasons. I hope this makes it to a major release at some point. I would certainly buy a bottle and spray it on everything. ETA: I gave it a bigger spritz today, and I can definitely smell that drier, grassy note in balance with the honey. This is lovely!

This smells just like a key lime pie. It is incredibly realistic--more than I imagined it would be. The balance between the sweet/tart/creamy lime filling and the buttery graham cracker crust is just perfect! I've been using it often (as moisturizer) since I got it.

I got a tester of this in a recent swap. Maybe it's just my chemistry, or maybe the sample I got was corrupted somehow, but this one went astoundingly bad on me. It was all moldy tweed and mothballs.

Just trying this for the first time today. Wet, the snow note is dominant. It smells like the same kind of slushy snow used in Frosted Silkybat hair gloss (which I love). As it dries down, the snow recedes to the background and the clay note emerges. It's earthy, smooth, and a little bit sweet. I'm catching a little bit of a metallic tang, and maybe a hint of vanilla. I'd say it stays pretty true-to-concept on me, but I wish that snow note had a bit more presence in the drydown. May have to try it in a scent locket, or paired with Frosted Silkybat.

AWESOME bedtime scent. I almost always wear TKO to bed, but I'm thinking of snagging a bottle or two of this to put some variety in my nightly routine. Wet, it's very lavender-heavy, which I like. But as it dries, the chamomile and bitter hops emerge and make it into this delicious herbal blend. To me, it smells kind of like the sort of aromatherapy oils that would be used during a massage at a really high-end spa, in the best way. Highly recommended if you want something that's in the same family as TKO but less sweet.

A friend of mine (male) is looking for a BPAL scent that resembles Hermes' Jardin sur le Toit, which is a unisex scent. The official description states: "Un Jardin sur le Toit is a lively, edgy novella. This perfume describes a secret garden, nestled in the heart of the city in Paris. A hanging garden, perched on the roof of the house of Hermès, at 24 faubourg Saint-Honoré. An apple tree, a pear tree, a magnolia in the Paris air, along with a few self-seeded imposters, all making up this perfume of light and pleasure, enticing and full of laughter." And, I'm not sure how accurate this is, but the Fragrantica website mentions, "Its fresh and sweet-smelling atmosphere is captured by apple, pear, rose, green grass, basil, magnolia and compost notes." So, I guess we're looking for something unisex, fresh, green, a little bit sweet and fruity, and a little bit floral. Ideas?

I generally adore the foodie blends, but this was too strong, too rich, just too much for me. It's as if, after a twelve-course Christmas dinner, your aunt sticks a prune cake drenched with honey and mead in front of your nose and urges you to try it, since it's her special recipe. A faint wave of nausea overtakes you. Maybe if you hadn't just eaten those twelve other courses, you'd want to try it. But you don't need cake right now. You need a nap, and maybe some looser pants. Maybe it just means my preferences are changing, but I didn't care for this one, for what it's worth.

I was so sad last year when Snow White didn't work on me, and I've never had a rose blend not turn to soap on me, so I have no idea why I was tempted to order this one--but it's amazing! It's exactly like I hoped Snow White would be (and what I imagine it smells like on the many people who love it), with a gentle touch of rose. Brilliant!

TKO: so delicious, so full of lavender-marshmallow-vanilla goodness that instead of making me want to go to sleep, it makes me want to stay awake and smell myself. Conundrum!

Pretty sure my number is CDXXXII. In the bottle: Lots of O and a bit of citrus. Wet on skin: Oh my goodness, where did all these creamsicles come from? Are these all for me? I can't eat that many... can I? 5 minutes later: HOW DID I EAT ALL OF THOSE CREAMSICLES THAT FAST? ... And then there was no more orange creamy goodness, just O and maybe a little bit of something else. (Anise? Fennel?) It's hard for me to tell because fresh O is terrible on me--it smells like funky b.o. I'll have to revisit this in about six months, when the honey and musk decide to start playing nice on my skin--although it's possible that for the sake of the creamsicles, I might have to wear this scent in a locket. In the meantime, it might come in handy: I'll be moving to Brooklyn within the next month, and if I want to fit in, I can just dab a bit on and smell like an unwashed hipster.

I'd give it another few days before you start being concerned. Sometimes the CnS system isn't working well (I got one the other day - two days AFTER I got the package from a swap!). If you don't hear anything Fridayish, maybe then send a quick inquiry? Thanks, that's reassuring. I'll try not to be so impatient, then.

I placed my order on 4/12, and the lab announcements say they were packed through 4/13 as of 4/17. I still haven't received a click-and-ship notification. Should I be concerned, or am I just being impatient?

This was AWESOME... for like 5 seconds. Citrusy and juicy and a little bit sharp, like grapefruit. Then it dried and started smelling like soap--and a very manly soap at that. Like lathering-up-in-the-shower-and-admiring-the-feel-of-your-own-biceps soap. I tried it on my boyfriend, and he said that if he wanted to smell like that, he would just take a shower.

On me, this is creamy plum candies wrapped in edible rice paper. While I would definitely eat candies like that, I don't think I want to smell like them. It's way too sweet for me to want to wear often, although I can picture it working beautifully on someone else. Ah well.

This was nice but unspectacular on me--like soft coconut and something else. Confectioner's sugar, maybe. I know that's not quite right, but it feels metaphorically accurate, at least. It's light and almost insubstantial in the same way confectioner's sugar is, and while I get the sense that it has a hidden deliciousness, I can't manage to get at it with a casual sniff. Sadly, one cannot eat the BPAL like confectioner's sugar. I ended up giving the bottle to my mom, on whom it smells creamy and almondy and a bit floral--very feminine. At least it's making someone happy.

I am plagiarizing myself with this review. Last year, I announced via Facebook that I was having a moment of olfactory bliss, and a friend inquired the cause of said bliss, requesting that I provide both actual descriptions and a supplementary visual, and/or possibly aurally or tactilely related description for her olfactorily-challenged boyfriend. Here was my response: The aforementioned olfactory bliss was caused by Tamamo-No-Mae, which smells like a gorgeous, creamy, citrusy flower on me and makes me think of evenings in early summer when the sky is lit up gold, and a soft, warm breeze brushes your skin, and you realize that you can't recall exactly what the cold of winter feels like. It's quite a nice feeling to have in February.

A shot of pure, self-indulgent euphoria! A scent that is very, very wicked in its own way: the serotonin-slathered scent of pure milk chocolate. All I really want in life is to smell like dessert--half of the reason why I like baking brownies so much is because it makes my entire house smell like chocolate. How tragic it is, then, that Bliss and I don't quite get along. Half the time when I sniff it, it smells like unsweetened cocoa powder, which could be fine--but the other half of the time, it smells like fake chocolate. Not exactly plastic, just fake. I guess I'll have to stick to baking brownies. ETA: scent description

In a word: bright. This is all wildflowers on me. I was hoping for some soft creaminess and plummy goodness, but my nose isn't picking up either. Shame. I'm not big on florals, so unless this one settles in a couple of months and loses some of its sharpness, it's not for me.

MLII (1052) In the bottle: White florals and something citrusy--tangy, but not at all sour. Wet on skin: Oh, this is really not my thing. White florals all the way. It might not turn out awful, though. It smells like flowers with freshly cut stems--a little sharp, but not without a certain appeal. 20 minutes later: Is that clay? Could be. It's a little like wet clay, or something earthy, or... oh, no. It's turning to plastic. It's like a bouquet where half the flowers are real and half are fake. About 45 minutes in: Plastic has receded entirely and has been replaced with a deep sugary scent that reminds me of Dorian. It's not a dead ringer, but the resemblance is there. This is a good thing, since I quite like Dorian. I can still smell the florals, but they're behaving themselves much better, and the sugary thing it's got going on provides some necessary depth. I'm not thrilled about that middle stage, but it's possible that with aging, the semi-fake bouquet smell won't emerge anymore. I'm remaining optimistic. MV (1005) This one is fabulous and I almost regret letting a friend have it. (We placed an order together, and of course it's impossible to tell whose Chaos Theory is whose! I let her have this one, though, because she's not nearly as likely to order perfumes as I am, and I figured I should spread the BPAL love.) To my nose, it's almost exactly like Tamamo-No-Mae, but with much better throw. Perhaps it's a little brighter, or not as subtle, but the resemblance is remarkable. I'll try to avoid being jealous by slathering on the Tamamo once in a while. Previously reviewed by Stroker Ace.

I ordered a bottle of this unsniffed, despite the fact that I'm still enough of a BPAL newbie not to be able to predict with any accuracy which scents will work on me, and despite the fact that I was a little afraid the cedar would go all "omg moth repellant!" Luckily, my worries were for naught! I can definitely smell the cedar, but it's not overpowering or sharp. It's a nice counterpoint to the warm amber and myrrh thing that Inez has going on. Inez is strong and sweet, a little bit spicy, and, inexplicably, a little like caramel on my skin. (Unfortunately, the vanilla is nowhere to be found.) It's definitely sweeter on my skin than in the bottle. Inez gives off a sophisticated vibe to me--very mature and womanly-- possibly even a little too sophisticated for me at 22 years of age. This would be great for a dressy night out, though. Throw is pretty strong. I'll have to wait longer to see about wearlength. So far, it doesn't seem to be morphing at all. 4/5

I bought a bottle of this based solely on its name-- I think sapphic stanzas are one of the most beautiful verse forms ever, and the Swinburne poem is great. I was bracing myself for disappointment because I don't have a particular love for any of the notes listed, but I am so glad I bought this one, because it's completely lovely. On me, it's a warm, sweet, spicy incense. I can't really pick out the individual notes because I'm a newbie without a highly trained nose. But there is definitely a lot of depth to this scent, and sometimes when I'm not wearing it I start having cravings for it. In conclusion, yay for sapphics!

This one doesn't change at all on me as it goes from wet to dry-- it's marzipan and Maraschino cherries all the way! It's much sweeter than I expected-- it's not a dry almond scent, and I don't get any spices coming through. It wasn't quite what I was hoping for, but I still enjoy it and have gotten several compliments on it (from people sitting a few feet away, too-- it seems to have a lot of throw on me).