ymmat

Want: LE CARNAVAL DIABOLIQUE - Straight from the twisted alleys of Dis, by way of the City of Angels: opium smoke, lemon flower, heliotrope, tuberose, black musk, vanilla, coconut, apricot flower. TIRESIAS, THE ANDROGYNE - Dark, moody, and bittersweet: black currant, patchouli, tobacco, cinnamon leaf, caramel, muguet, and red sandalwood. [*]GC DEFUTATA - Olive blossom, honey, smoky vanilla, cinnamon, jasmine, sandalwood, and champaca flower FASCINUM - Golden amber, golden musk, litsea cubeba, cedar, and saffron. THE DODO - Red musk, lemon peel, sugar cane, cassia, white sandalwood, mango, and agarwood. KABUKI - Compelling, complex, and utterly enigmatic: a luxuriant, exotic blend of cherry, red musk, and star anise. KALI - Kali, the Black One, is the fearless Goddess of Destruction, Creation, Energy [in her Shakti aspect] and Dissolution. Also named Kaliratri [black Night] and Kalikamata [black Earth-Mother], she is the fiercest aspect of Devi, the supreme mother goddess. Kali is a protector Goddess, the destroyer of evil spirits and guardian of the faithful. She, along with her consort Shiva, represent the unending cycle of death and birth, sexual union, creation and destruction. Kali annihilates ignorance, maintains the natural order of the world, and blesses those who strive for spiritual awareness and knowledge of true holiness with infinite tenderness and motherly love. The constant, unending Work of Creation is called the "The Play of Kali". This perfume is a blend of the sacred blooms of cassia, hibiscus, musk rose, Himalayan wild tulip, lotus and osmanthus swirled with offertory dark chocolate, red wine, tobacco, balsam and honey. OBATALA - Obatala's ofrenda is soft, white and pure: milk, coconut meat, shea butter and cool, refreshing water. SHANGO - The Master of Lightning's ofrenda contains red apples, banana, chili pepper, coconut, pineapple, pomegranate and sugar cane. SHATTERED - A scent as sharp as glass shards, and as brittle as a broken heart. The formula came to me - quite literally - in a dream, and is named after, and created in memory of, the last poem that I ever wrote… almost ten years ago to the day. A blend of white champagne notes, grapefruit, lotus, slivered mint and crystalline aquatic blooms. SHUB-NIGGURATH - The lust incense of a corrupted Astarte. A blend of ritual herbs and dark resins, shot through with three gingers and aphrodisiacal spices. TO A WOMAN - Benzoin, cassis bud, patchouli, rose otto, and petitgrain. TWEEDLE DEE & TWEEDLE DUM [*]Empties! N/A Discontinued N/A Curious: None right now

This is one of those that I would have never purchased for myself, but after falling rather unexpectedly in love with R'lyeh, I decided to try the imp I received. This is a scent that I can't describe as a smell. It doesn't smell quite like anything and the comparisons that others have made with grapefruit puzzle me (particularly since I loathe grapefruit). I don't smell anything acidic or acrid. There is nothing pointed or sharp; it's very fluid and the scent flows right past my efforts to describe it as "a smell." The Deep Ones evokes visions of the ocean's bottom where the surroundings are just as deadly as they are beautiful. It is the scent of sea nymphs and sirens. It is the scent of Poseidon's gardens deep under the waves. I smell movement, currents, things we glimpse only out of the corners of our eye. It is the mysteries of the ocean that defy our description and our grasp. It's gorgeous, evocative, and enigmatic. I adore this scent.

I was really hesitant to try this since pine (of any variety) and I really do not get along. I always end up smelling like Pine-Sol. I figured I'd get a decant at least because I am an Earth Rat. In the vial, it smells lovely and fruity. On my skin, it smells exactly like tamarind hard candies (one of my favorite treats). As it settles down a bit, the coconut comes out and the tamarind smell fades. It settles as almost a very light coconut cream. So, no nightmare of pine, which leaves me hopeful for other pine blends, but I probably won't buy a bottle of it. It's nice, but doesn't settle into something I'll wear that often.

Mother of Demons, Vengeful Fury, Darkest Seductress, Queen of the Djinn, Goddess of the Gate. Red wine, myrrh, black musk, and attar of rose. This smells so gorgeous in the vial - the myrrh, musk, and wine mingle to form a gorgeous scent with a hint of rose in the background. Once this hit my skin, two things happened. The red wine amped and the rose amped. They do not co-amp well. It was rather unpleasant, but thankfully brief. The red wine toned way down and the rose continued to be the dominant note. Right now, the scent is rose with a hint of myrrh and musk. The wine is not really detectable. It's still a beautiful scent, but not so much me. It does however paint a really vivid picture of Lilith for me. For whatever reason, it fits.

I almost left this one untried, but I figured, what the heck. I'm not wild about it in the vial. The citrus strikes me as slightly bitter. It blends well with the patchouli, but my mortal enemy lurks in the background. I can smell him, waiting. *does best Kirk imitation* YLANG YLANG!!! I decided it was time to face my nemesis and I applied it to the back of my hand. Instantaneously, there was violet and for a brief second, I thought I would escape the inevitable, overpowering pain that is ylang ylang - near me, on my skin, anywhere in my sphere of influence. *shakes fist* But the inevitable happened, just as quickly the violet was eaten alive and Mr. Ylang Ylang moved into the neighborhood. He's now hanging out with the patchouli, toking it up and mocking me. I hate him so much.

This is so lovely and tart in the vial. The instant it hits my skin, it's gone - not lingering, not kinda there, it's completely absorbed. To make sure I wasn't just not smelling it, I applied it again and had two friends smell - nothing. Bizarre.

The best way for me to describe the smell in the vial is... complex. It smelled of citrusy tea at dusk in the sunroom with the windows flung open as the scent of jasmine wafts on the breeze. On, I initially get the scent in all its complexity but jasmine is not my friend and it knocked out the windows, ravaged the sunroom, and drank my tea.

I really liked this in the vial. It was light, slightly citrus and flower, but with a lovely sweet feel. On, I smell like the florists - the overwhelming smell of flowers and greenery when you walk in the door.

I was a little hesitant about this one. I liked it in the vial but the cream seemed a little overpowering for me. On, the cream initially went a bit over the top (just briefly though) and then it settled. Now, some of the other notes are peeking out and it's becoming slightly darker but very smooth smelling because of the cream remnants. There may be a bottle of this in my future.

This one made me sad. I really loved the seaweed and weed smell in the vial, but on my skin, all I get is seaweed. On the plus side, I kinda smell like a day at the beach, but minus all the fun stuff. Normally, I amp mint so it's a little surprising. Alas.

Oh Holiday Moon, how confusing you are. When I got my bottle, I adored the scent. It was hints of green tea with lilts of spice which was really quite pleasant. I have not, as of yet, put it on my skin, but I did wear it in my scent locket. By the end of the day, I had to take the locket off because I was being overwhelmed with the scent of pine. When I smelled the locket up close, it didn't smell at all of pine, but if you held it about 3 inches away from your nose, it bowled you over. I shall try it again, but the pine thing... not so fantastic. Considering that my skin amps pine like nobody's business, I'm almost tempted to put it on my skin to see if it's really pine or if something truly funky is going on.

In the imp, this smells of a velvety red cake complete with cream cheese frosting and a hint of booze. The second this hit my skin, it turned into an overwhelming scent of a rich vanilla-y frosting - creamy and sweet - with just the faintest after note of liquory goodness. As it dries down, it smells much more of cake, less sweet, and less creamy. The smell reminds me of a bakery.

I was a little worried about this one because of the "perfume," but the bubble gum intrigued me. In the imp, it smells to me exactly as described - bubble gum, lollipops, and hints of darker notes of an adult's perfume. Once this hit my skin, it reminded me of fruity Hubba Bubba. As it dried, the bubble gum smell toned down quite a bit, but the darker notes didn't really come out, just the lollipop flavors. I put it on about 3 hours ago and now, I can hardly smell anything. I loved the drying down smell, but it vanished so quickly. I'll try it again, but unless it lasts longer next time, no bottle for me. Poo.

I bought a bottle of this on a lark because it sounded like something I would enjoy. I was right. In the bottle, it smells delightful - green tea and spiced fruits. For some reason, I have an easier time picking out higher notes in the bottle. Lower notes don't jump out to me as much. So, when I put this on I was expecting something at least vaguely similar to what was in the bottle, but the green tea and the fruit completely vanished. On my skin, it becomes a beautiful honey vanilla. I very much like Lady Una as the scent manages to be sweet and warm without evoking the sense of edibles. It's also particularly light without compromising the staying power. I've had it on about 4-5 hours now and am still able to easily smell it on my wrists. Lady Una has leaped to the top of my favorites list.

In the bottle, Sugar Skull '07 reminded me of candied fruit - tangy and sweet. On my skin, it immediately turned to rich, fresh brown sugar. Now, it's settled down to a nice soft and sweet front note with a light hint of tart sugared candies bringing up the rear. I'm curious to see what it will do a few hours from now.

No worries. It absolutely did not come off as unsympathetic. Anyone who lives with severe allergies knows that you ultimately have to take responsibility for dealing with it - whatever that entails. Even though I always ask (sometimes repeatedly) and try to avoid places where I know I'll run into peanut, it still happens sometimes. At lunch yesterday, something I ate got cross-contaminated. Thankfully, it was a tiny enough amount (and I caught it soon enough) that mega-Benadryl, Coke, cold air, and my inhaler kept me from having to do the hospital thing. Since I don't eat the BPAL (although it is tempting), it's significantly less of an issue than dealing with my allergies elsewhere. It still might be helpful to have a running list, especially since there aren't readily available descriptions for everything. It's not something I would expect the lab to do, but if those of us who have known allergies/sensitivites just kept track of what caused us problems or things we knew to avoid, shared knowledge could save someone else a rash or two.

This is lovely. In the bottle, it smells exactly like the description. I can smell fresh strawberries and bubbly champagne - elegant, romantic, gorgeous. On my skin, it headed immediately to cheap perfume; it was intense enough and foul enough that I nearly washed it off, but within a minute or so, it settled down. Dry, it became a very light, elegant scent with barely there strawberries and just a hint of champagne. I really think the best word to describe it is 'elegant.' I really like it. It absolutely fits the very light scent I wanted to offset all the darker ones I love so much.

I was unsure about how 51 would work on me as I'm very wary of anything with even the slightest hint of floral. In the imp, it smells pale green, light, but with a hint of mystery woven into it. Wet, it smelled clean and light, but it did smell like perfume (none of the other BPAL scents have given me that impression until this one). However, it was a pleasant, barely there floral with slight fruity overtones that I actually liked. Unfortunately, within 15 minutes it was completely gone. There was no hint of anything left on my skin at all. I'll probably try it again just to see if my body was having a particularly bizarre day, but yeah, weird.

In the bottle, this smells beautifully of lemon, resins, and it seems like there's something musky hiding in there. On my skin, it blossoms into a lemon grove. The smell is unadulterated lemon - incredibly powerful and pure. After a few minutes, the lemon settles a bit and some of the darker notes come to the fore. It blends into something lovely and well-centered. It's a very light, but rich lemony sandalwood. This is a fabulous, soothing scent. I'm curious where it will be in after a few hours.

The first time I smelled this, I smelled a version that had been aged for a bit so I was a little surprised with my imp (not realizing that the other had been aged). The aged version smelled of Irish coffee, worn leather, dusty books, and oak tables/bookshelves. My imp smelled of Irish cream, not a bad smell, but not as developed and interesting. Wet, I really amped the boozy notes, I thought I might have to wash it off for fear my coworkers would think I'd been drinking. After a bit though, it calmed down and it moved to Irish coffee and a slight after-scent of wood and dustiness. I've had it on for about 7.5 hours now and I'm still catching whiffs of fairly strong Irish coffee/Irish cream. The slight scent of wood and dusty books is gone. It's a pleasant smell, but I keep having flashbacks to working in the coffee shop during college and the days when we brewed Irish cream coffee. Probably not something I'll be wearing, but nice to sniff.

I'm also allergic to peanuts (of the 'end up in hospital/can't breathe/might die if I eat them' variety) and almonds (rash and similar unpleasantness from using almond oil or other derivatives on my skin). I haven't tried very many scents yet, but of the few I've sampled, I've noticed a few that my skin didn't particularly like. Sadly, it hadn't even occurred to me that I might run into peanut oil. I've tried to avoid the almonds though. It would be useful to have a thread or a database of some sort for those of us who are trying to avoid hospital trips.

Pink pepper, golden amber, honeysuckle, and passion flower. I got this as one of my freebies in my first order. I hadn't smelled it yet before I accidentally tried it. I grabbed the wrong imp, heh. I hadn't really been in a hurry to try it because florals tend to go south on me and they wreak havoc with my asthma. Surprisingly, I really like Hermia. In the vial, it smells like a light, but rich floral with a slight tang to it. The scent is nice and round - florals usually don't have the low tones that I like so much. The amber rounds this out very nicely. On my skin, it immediately jumps to HELLO, I AM PEPPER!! The pepper fades just as quickly and the scent softens to a nice light, warm ambery scent. I *really* like this. Happy accidents.

Vice smells delectable. In the bottle, it smells exactly as described, chocolate-covered cherries tinged with lilts of orange blossom. On my skin, it immediately takes on the scent of warmed melting milk chocolate. The cherry and orange are lost. After about 5 minutes, the chocolate levels out and the scent is one of chocolate-covered raspberries. While the smell in bottle and on my skin is lovely (and my date labeled me dessert-ready), I was disappointed at how quickly the scent faded and how lightly it sat on my skin. For me to even have a reasonably light amount floating around me (enough for me to catch occasional whiffs), it took waaaay more than any of the other scents that I've tried - enough that I am going to burn my way through my imp really, really quickly. So, even though I really like it, I'm hesitant to buy a bottle because of the burn rate. Maybe that sounds a little silly, but if I'm going to buy it, I kinda would like it to last a bit.

Thank you