heartbeast

I wasn't sure whether to start a new thread or 'jack this one but I decided to err on the side of caution; so mods, feel free to split if you like... I'm dressing as a rose for Halloween. Red velvet dress and cloche hat, green tights and gloves, brown Victorian boots, and a spiked collar and bracelet for the thorns. With appropriate makeup in reds and whites, including a little red cupids bow mouth. Which BPAL should I wear? If I had a rose single note or Rose Red I'd wear that, but I don't. The rosey scents I have are Black Widow, Cancer, The Empress, Jezebel, Silentium Amoris and Wanda. I'm inclining towards Black Widow, but I'm interested in other people's opinions!

It took me a while to review this because I couldn't think of much to say...Tamora isn't choc-a-block with quirky personality like most of the BPAL family, and she doesn't have any qualities that remotely remind me of her Shakespearean namesake. She's just nice warm peachy ambery sandlewoody goodness.

On me, this blend of spices (mostly anise and cardamom) is pleasant enough, but dry and somewhat blah. However, it may have great layering potential...Snake Oil (which is also somewhat flat on me and improves with layering)? Katherina? Gee, I wish there was a single note mango or tamarind I could nab before they go away...

At first, Chypre is all lavender with a little splash of violet that feels more like violet leaf than violet blossom, it's so green. As it settles, the violet comes more to the fore, but it's still a crisp fresh green scent. When I was in my early 20's, I went through a phase where I was absolutely nutty about Yardley English Lavender soap, and at about that time they came out with their spray cologne. I eagerly bought it, but found it too tangy and acrid for my nose; so disappointing! Chypre smells like I expected and wanted that cologne to smell. Later in the drydown, it aquires an almost nutty, smokey note in the background. Something funny is going on here, because this reminds me of the note in Old Sybaris that I thought was the tonka bean, and the note in The Raven that I thought was the sandalwood. I know that this has the combination of violet, neroli and musk in common with The Raven, but it's still making me wonder if Beth's violet has this quality all by itself on my skin. I've worn violet scents all my life--Spiritual Sky, Crabtree & Evelyn, Jabon Gal, various small labels I don't remember--and it's never had this quality before, but neither has it turned powdery as many people find that it does. On me, violet is either almost sugary-sweet, or very green, but always wet and lush. Odd, this smokey/nutty undertone that all Beth's violet scents seem to have on me. Anyhow, Chypre is crisp and lovely, very refreshing and elegant, and I'm sorry to see it go.

I haven't tried Hamadryad so I don't know how it compares, but Old Dublin is a very soft foresty scent with a breath of white rose. I say foresty rather than woodsy because it smells like you're walking through a living forest, not like aromatic dry woods.

I would say Szepasszony.

Many have reported the "knocking off feet" reaction to Silentium Amoris. I haven't gotten that, but I have gotten the chivalrous, courtly reaction from men--opening doors, fetching me things, going out of their way to be extra polite.

In a word, Jailbait is fun. I get the bubblegum and lollypops right up front, with a floral sneaking into the background. It's almost a silly scent, initially, and then the drydown is a soft floral bubblegum blend, really lovely as others have said. Almost a skin scent. More than the scent of an actual underage girl, this is a woman over 18 dressed up as a schoolgirl for sexy hijinks with her lover. They don't take their little roleplaying scene too seriously; they're very tongue-in-cheek and playful with the game. The drydown scent is the afterglow, as they lie together cuddling and, noticing the white schoolgirl panties chucked across the room, they burst into a fit of giggles. I hope I gave some of you ideas!

Oooh! Rocky, some folks around here have found their "BPAL twin"--someone who shares their tastes and their body chemistry's reaction to various notes, so they can read each other's reviews and get an idea of what they'll like. You may be mine! It sounds like we have very similar tastes, but the real test would be whether scents react the same way on our bodies. I was also a big fan of classic couture perfumes--still am, but now I rarely wear them --until I discovered BPAL. This site http://www.parfumsraffy.com/notes.html is very helpful for finding the notes of those perfumes, then you can play with the BPAL search engine! For rich florals, I recommend Wanda (leather!), Ouija (it and Queen Mab are the only two on your list that I've tried, and sadly Queen Mab didn't work for me, though most people love it), Old Sybaris, and Viola. I'd really be interested in how your chemistry reacts with Juliet; most people report the innocent light floral one might expect, but on me the lilies and the musk interact in a way that gives the scent a very rich, deep note. It's my favorite! Another one to try would be The Red Queen; it's fruit and not floral, but the woods interact with the fruit smells the same way they interact with the florals in Ouija, so the overall effect--sweet up top, rich and woody on the bottom--is similar. On that note (heh), I think of myself as not enjoying foody smells either, but many of my favorite notes are food notes--it's just that my nose (or maybe just my brain) can smell a difference between "fragrance-grade" and "food-grade" cucumber, vanilla, fruit, honey, etc. Beth generally nails it. I haven't tried any of the BPAL chocolate scents, and the only one on my wish list is Kali, though I'll try any BPAL. The foodiest scent I wear on a regular basis is Katharina. You might also like Serpent's Kiss and Incantation. They're my two favorite "spicy-almost-masculine" blends. The vetiver in Incantation is lovely. Sadly, the rose scent I would have recommended to you--Black Widow--has been discontinued. You may be able to find some among the giddy swappers hereabouts. I also hear that Lilith is very similar. Welcome to our craziness; I'm sure you will enjoy yourself very much!

I've had this one for awhile, but never bothered to review it since I don't have much to say that's unique... Exploring the world of BPAL is allowing me to refine and define my tastes as never before, so I've discovered that I generally prefer my florals and fruits with a darker undertone than the white musk provides here. Odd, since the white musk in Juliet is sufficiently dark for me, but I think that has to do with the way that it interacts with the buttery lilies in the blend. This scent is much more light and fresh; it's Katharina at the end of the play. She has finally found an understanding ally among men, her bitterness and rage are gone, and all that is left of her shrewishness is mischief and sass. This is a sparkly apricot champagne with a tiny note of tea, to my nose, giving it backbone. As many have said, it is a lovely scent for warm weather. Charming anecdote: I ordered an imp of this in my very first purchase, and although I liked it, it seemed only right to give it to the lady who was actually playing Katharina as a street character at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in southern California this spring. In my second order, I mentioned this in the comments field since I thought it would please the lab folk. Lo and behold, among my freebies in the second order I received a second imp of Katharina, to keep for myself. Much love to the lab folk!

Oh, what a beautiful, beautiful scent! How tragic that it has so little staying power on me! When I first opened up the imp, I was astonished. I was expecting something solemn and resiny, having forgotten all about Minouska's reference to pineapple. It was very, very sweet, but I compared it to a melon scent...only somehow more herbal. Once on my skin, I could smell the pine-like element, but I couldn't tell whether that was part of the sweet note or a different note altogether. I checked the reviews--since I was going crazy wondering what that sweet note was--and saw the reference to pineapple. I agree, it's similar. What the heck is that? It's soooo lovely! Is that spikenard? If so, I can see why it was costly, and why it was what the Magdelene used to annoint Jesus. Later, the scent softens down to almost nothing. At this stage, it reminds me a great deal of the Airs brand incense fragrance "Dragon Cloud", which has been one of my favorites for 20 years. I don't know what's in that either. This gloriously soothing, sweet, serene and calming fragrance was sadly gone within about 4 hours. I will save it for special times when I need that feeling, like I'm getting a pat on the head from God saying "yes, I know you are doing your best, you try very hard to be a good person and you do good work in the world".

I'm really lucking out with this latest shipment; it's full of scents--some chosen by me, some freebies--that are "chords". And I really think--although I love straight florals, straight "orientals", green scents and aquatic scents as well--that my very favorite scents are very complex chords, with lots of notes, not-too-sweet floral or fruit notes up top, and something deep and rich anchoring them at the bottom. Could be woods, could be spice, could be musk. Juliet, Viola, Wanda and Red Queen all smell that way on me--and here comes another one. The lilac and rose are nice and whispy on top, and the wood notes are so rich and yummy at the bottom! I think the osmanthus is the "bug spray" element that doesn't agree with me in Queen Mab, but here the other notes smooth out that harshness and just leave it as a touch of piquancy. Sadly, though, this one has very little staying power as compared to the other "chord" scents I've fallen in love with. I'll thoroughly enjoy my imp, though, and maybe try it out for a little communion with folk on the other side, as I do a fair amount of that.

This is mostly cypress on me, but this is another one that blends into a cohesive whole rather than allowing me to pick out individual notes. The overall impression is sweet, flowing water with a bitter note that I hoped would ease out with the drydown, but it never did. I don't think I want to smell like this for general purposes, but it certainly would be useful for magical work when I've gone through some devastating sorrow and want to channel my pain into creativity. This scent is astonishingly evocative of exactly the feeling it's intended to capture.

Wet, this smells like a voodoo oil. I know that's not helpful, but...there's a certain vibe that the oils in different kinds of magic shops have. New agey fluffy magical oils smell one way, and earthy pagan or wiccan oils smell another way, and the oils in a very old school, bad part of town, people of color magical shop smell a different way entirely. More honest, desperate, dangerous, real. The smell I know from going into those shops is what this reminds me of when it's wet. As it dries, though, it gets more and more powdery floral. Like those rich, expensive floral dusting powders we associate with "old ladies". Only, not in a bad way. Beth consistently creates these scents that I associate with a genre of scent I don't like, only I like hers, and I'm left scratching my head trying to figure out the difference. This smells "old lady", but in a moneyed, grande dame, goes to the opera, donates oodles of cash to the arts sort of way. And y'know, I'm getting there (aside from the moneyed part, which maybe this will help), so that's okay. I'm all for things that make me feel good about aging. What's cool, too, about the way this morphs from that poor people of color magic shop smell to wealthy older woman smell, is that I get a sense that the oil is in disguise. That yes, you're using this to get things you want and need, but in the meantime you've got the olafactory equivalent of Harry Potter's invisibility cloak. Nothing to smell here folks, just perfume, move along. Very late in a hot humid day, after running around and sweating, all the flowers in that floral dusting powder have bloomed and come alive. Suddenly it's not powdery any more, just a riot of moist wet flowers. Very interesting; very fun. As for crossing and uncrossing? As I put it on, I did a general little chant about crossing those who would do me harm, and uncrossing any harm that may have already be sent my way. So I might never know if that did anything, but if I get an inkling that it has, I'll surely post about it in the "Old Paths" forum.

I thought that the rich, buttery note in Juliet was the musk interacting with the stargazer lily...but it must be the calla lily, because Viola has it too. Obviously I need to try some more calla lily scents. This stuff looooves me. The richness that calla lily has on my skin is delightfully underscored by the amber and woody notes, while the other flowers and the mandarin sparkle above it. There was a moment, during the wet phase, where the mandarin interacted with the richer notes in such a way that it reminded me a bit of those chocolate oranges. There's a bit of creamsicle too, in a very non-foody way, if that makes sense to anyone. This also reminds me a bit of a lighter, more elegant and less earthy version of Estee Lauder's Youth Dew. Viola is Stella Kowalski to Youth Dew's Blanche Dubois. The one thing that's a teensy bit disappointing is that, unlike the scents for Juliet, Desdemona and Katharina, this scent doesn't put me in mind of Viola herself at all. I'm not sure why not. It is also the only Illyria scent for a character that I have actually played, and one of my favorite roles ever. So that's a bit of a shame...but who knows, as my relationship with this scent evolves (as they always do, if I wear them often) I may change my mind about that.

The whole journey leading to the scent now on my skin is fraught with weirdness. First off, Black Widow wasn't even on my wish list until I read Effluvia's kick ass review. Even then, it was pretty low on the list, and I wouldn't have gotten around to ordering an imp for some time had it not been for the scent being discontinued. But discontinued it was, so I took the plunge and ordered a 5 ml. Now, when I get a new box of BPAL, I plan out how I'm going to wear one each day until I get through them all, depending upon my plans over the next few days, the phase of the moon, etc. I wasn't going to try Black Widow until the 31st. However, this morning I went back up to my room to get something--wasn't going to put on perfume until after I had my shower--and This Scent was filling my room. It reminded me very much of my beloved Triple Hecate oil from the Magical Child occult shop in the Haight. Uh-oh, I thought, something's leaking. Nope, nothing was leaking, but as I sniffed all the bottles of scent on the shelf, it was clear that This Scent was coming from the Black Widow. Well, thinks I, she's just going to have to wait; it's Tzadikim Nistarim's turn today. And I went back downstairs. That Scent hovered all around me. I hadn't even opened the bottle! I went and washed my hands, and That Scent continued to hover all around me! Finally, I took my shower and gave in and opened up the bottle--and smelled a very faint, caramelly root beer with a slight tart overtone. What the? That's the smell that was throwing her weight around? Maybe something else got smeared on the outside of the bottle at the lab--Gah, now I have to figure out what it is, because I love it. I put the Black Widow on anyway--and smelled *nothing*. I slathered more on. Faint, faint caramelly root beer. This is just bizarre! I went back to my computer and sat down, smelling like nothing. Within a half an hour, maybe 45 minutes, I was surrounded in a cloud of rosy patchouli mystical dark-yet-nurturing goodness. The myrrh and the wine were there too, but it's hard to pick out notes; it's another scent that blends beautifully. Almost 12 hours later, it's still there. And yes, this is the scent that was haunting me this morning. She was tired of waiting for me, and made her true nature known before I even put her on. Another favorite. Thank goodness I have 5 ml! I will savor every bit until she's gone.

Yay! My very first Mad Tea Party scent! This is luscious, and very straightforward with only a slight morph from wet to dry. Wet, it's almost like chocolate covered cherries. Dry, it's a little closer to cherry pipe tobacco. But it's nothing more or less than the description: Rich, dark wood and black cherry, with some currant thrown in for piquancy. I adore cherries, but dislike most cherry-flavored things; there's a bitter acrid back of the throat quality that most artificial cherry flavors have. But I love the cherry in Red Queen; it smells just like the ripe fruit. A rich, warm scent. It'll be nice at Christmastime!

Body chemistry is a very funny thing. On me, this oil is very different from what is described in all the previous reviews. It is also sheer alchemical magic, melding with my flesh to create an incredible olafactory experience, and establishing itself firmly as my new favorite. In the beginning, it's all floral, tenderly sweetened by the pear. Like a couple of people have said, it smells like a classic couture perfume, almost as though it has aldehydes in it. But you know what? I like aldehydes. They generally get a bad rap among perfume oil fans, who dislike such modern, alcoholic notes. But I loves my Chanel nearly as much as my BPAL, and in Juliet I have found the bridge. Initially, it reminds me of Anais Anais, but as the day wears on, the musk deepens, intensifies, and becomes more and more buttery, animal, sexual. Juliet loses her virginity. It moves from Anais Anais to Joy de Jean Patou, only much, much, much better, lacking the acrid tang that Joy can have. It's deep, complex, classy and sexual in a powerful yet subtle way, not a trampy way. A little like Wanda, but not so controlling. Able to submit as well as dominate. I was worried this scent might be too "young" for me, all breathless teenager, but it reminded me that, like Juliet herself, I was a very self-possessed, sexual young woman at 15. Besides being a young women who discovers and immediately takes control of her own sexuality (as opposed to Ophelia who is utterly undone by it), this scent reminds me that Juliet is an intelligent, educated young noblewoman. Classy, smart, sexual, in love, and very determined to make her life go the way *she* wants. As with Desdemona and Katherina, Beth has captured all of the complexity that Shakespeare built into this character, which most people miss. 12 hours later, this is mostly stargazer lily and rich, buttery musk, but the other notes are still in there supporting them and it's all still going strong. Even after dance class, where it was mostly musk. Juliet and I are a match made in heaven.

The best thing I can say about Titania is that it's perfectly blended. No one fruit or flower stands out, it's all one lush, sweet fragrance. Also, on me, there was no morph whatsoever...at least, not in terms of the scent itself, just in the quality of it. Hrmph. Let's see if I can explain that better. First off, as I was putting it on, I thought "whoof! Sweet sweet! Nice, but not me." Later on, it became more...complex? It was the same scent, only the wet scent was like a regular 2-D photograph and the dry scent was like a 3-D picture of the same image. Anyway, the complex and dry version hung around me in a big cloud, and I thought "this is neat, but still not me". Finally, though, several hours in, it was completely gone from my wrists and inner elbows, but every once in awhile a little whiff would come up from my cleavage, and then, then it was still the same scent, only subtle, pleasing and intriguing. And a little more me. I guess that Titania is too otherworldly and intense for mortal eyes to look upon, or to keep close company with, but when glimpsed out of the corner of my eye, she's just right. Anyway, I'm beginning to think that my chemistry in the week after my period tends to suck the life out of scents, rendering them flat and soon gone. So maybe I'll give it another chance...then again, I may give this imp to my friend who has played Titania in the past, and who is now playing Queen Elizabeth I with a broad streak of whimsical faerie queen to her character.

Wet, this is a rush of innocent white flowers. These settle down very quickly, and are followed by an ozone tang so sharp it almost veers into "too masculine" territory. (Weird. Why should that scent have a gender association? When you think about it, it makes no sense.) Thankfully, it settles into a pleasant version of all those "Ocean" type scents on the market. I've got clear blue gel candles with seashells in them that have a similar scent. For some time, I was thinking "Okay, it's one of those ocean fragrances, nicer than most but nothing special, oh well". Then at some point in the middle of the afternoon--and I started my day early, so this was a good 6 hours or more after I put the scent on--I found myself enveloped in a delicious tangy scent I utterly could not identify. Not citrussy, not herby, yet somehow a little like both of those. A strong, silver-white, terse, badass no-nonsense bitch smell. Crisp and almost unisex. Wow. The sort of thing I won't wear much, but when I'm in just the right mood, it'll be the only thing acceptable.

I got the initial lemon pledge scent in a very nice fresh way, then during the drydown there is a very nice lemon drop phase. Those really nice, old-fashioned lemon drops that are very tart on the inside but have a nice frosty coat of sugar on the outside. Made me think of my grandfather, since those were his favorite candies and he loved to share them with me. That was nice. This straightforward lemony scent hung around for awhile, and then I got an oh-so-brief peek at what I think Beth actually intended: All of the notes were present and in balance; it came out to a sweet-spicy-jasmine-lemon scent that was gorgeous...for about 5 minutes. Then, bang! it settled down to soap. Very fresh, pleasant soap; but soap nonetheless. And within an hour or two: gone. I'd say this is nice for days when I have that "not so fresh" feeling, but if I want that invigorating lemon burst I prefer Storm. However, I will definitely give Yukki-Onna another chance some time, at another point in my cycle and, also, when I'm not having allergy issues. I mean, I can smell--I wouldn't have reviewed if I couldn't smell at all; that wouldn't be fair!--but I'm not up to 100% sniffing capacity.

If you like classic commercial perfumes, I have had great results layering Snake Oil with both Shalimar and Youth Dew. I'm sure any other spicy oriental would have similar results. ETA: I'll bet sandlewood might be really good, too...

Two that last and last on me and have completely different personalities are Desdemona and Serpent's Kiss.

Oh. My. Goddess. This started out very grapey, and I could smell the leather just behind the very grapey wine. Then it dried down. Oh my. I don't know what myrtle smells like, but roses and violets are my two favorite flowers. Wine and leather and violet and rose is what I smell like; heady, lush and rich. Powerful, confident and good enough to eat. Wearing this scent is *good for me*. It's not so much me, as it is what I want to be more like. I don't get the dominatrix in the classic sense. What I *do* get is the woman encapsulated in the quote used in the lab's description. The leather I smell isn't shiny black leather boots with heels, it's well-worn oxblood leather riding boots without heels, that go all the way up the thigh. Oh yum. Power; relaxed, female power that doesn't have to try. I can't even begin to express how much I love this scent. I do believe I've found my first 10 ml bottle.

The love that dares not speak its name...I'd love to smell this on a gay man. On me, what a lovely, lovely rose. Like a few other folks, I didn't smell the ylang ylang at all, except I was aware that it was the thing making the rose so very sweet and...unassuming. Like violets are thought to be. This is a shy rose, a full-faced small sweet victorian rose tucked away in the corner of a garden in the mid-twentieth century, before everyone got so crazy about heirloom roses and apples and tomatoes, when the fashionable roses were the high-bred American Beauties and nobody looked twice at a little old-fashioned, full-faced pink rose like this one. It smells like Crabtree & Evelyn's Damask Rose product line. I had the most interesting experience while wearing this scent--everywhere I went, men were extraordinarily polite and solicitous towards me. And--drum roll please--I got carded!! A month after my 39th birthday! It reminded me that the rose is sacred to Aphrodite; not just the fluffy love-kitten as written about by the Helenic Greeks, but the Great Goddess born of Seafoam, the Eternal Feminine.