voodoobaby

Pikaki to me is a tangy floral, very much in a candy-like way. I think maybe my skin is doing its periodic "turn everything to licorice" thing today, because it's doing that to this a little bit. It's very nice, but not me.

In the bottle this is spicy and woody and pleasant, with an almost syrupy feel to it. I really like it that way. However, on my skin it turns all musty and craft store-ish. Not unpleasant, but not something I want to smell like.

In contrast to what others have said, Calla Lily is actually sharper than most lilies I've smelled. This smells like something I've smelled in a commercial perfume, but I can't put my finger on which one. Later on, I recognize it as something in some aquatic blends I've tried...or maybe I'm thinking of the lilies in Ulalume. Overall, it's kind of a generic floral, but has a distinct scent.

At first this is the artificial smell other describe, like popsicles, Kool-Aid, or even a not-so-nasty cough syrup. However, once it sits on the skin for a while, it gets this wonderful deep, boozy, almost woody scent. It's impossible to describe, but it doesn't smell too much like grape. It's more like raisins than grapes, but still not even that. Very interesting.

This doesn't smell exactly like honey to my nose. Honey, to me, is unpleasant and smells sticky and turns my stomach. BPAL's Honey is gorgeous and just sweet enough to where it's pleasantly sugary. This is also a lot smokier than I expected it to be, which leads me to think that there's a little bit of vanilla blended in here since it always goes smoky on me. Also, I get a slight hint of a licorice-like scent. Overall, I really like this.

I got rubbing alcohol from the vial as well. I think I remember someone saying something about the imps in the single note swap circle leaking and having to clean them off--maybe that's where the smell came from. So with that aside, once I put it on my skin it was all marshmallows and baby powder. An extremely lovely scent. Something I didn't think I would like, but I really, really do. Now I'll be forced to pick up an imp of Hollywood Babylon.

In the bottle: Almonds. And myrrh. And maybe a hint of musk. Wearing: As it usually goes, the almond scent melts away within just a couple of minutes. This one is horribly difficult to describe. I think I mostly get a spicy musk in this stage, but the spice isn't cardamom if it's even separate from the musk note. Later: Mostly amber. Yay, amber! A very golden scent indeed. It doesn't last overly long on me, sadly, but I like it just the same.

In the bottle: Frankincense. It's a note that always jumps out at me, and I can't usually smell anything behind it. Wearing: Still frankincense, but then I smell a slight waft of sandalwood. And then I realize that this isn't necessarily the scent of a cathedral, but rather the incense burner itself in a cathedral. The incense is already burning, and I can smell the hot metal from the burner and the sweet smoke wafting up from it. Wow, nice. Later: Cedar! Cedar, and lots of it. I can still smell the smoky metallic scent. This is how I imagine Solomon's temple must have smelled. Overall: This is my new favorite frankincense blend. It smells wonderful and is deliciously evocative. Yay!

Mmm, cherry. Beth's cherry scent has never struck me as the scent of fresh cherries, but I love it all the same. This is the familiar note in The Red Queen that I like so much, only a little sharper and spicier. Again, mmm, cherry.

This smells very, very tart to me. As described, it's a little bit soft and fuzzy around the edges, but mostly maintains an almost bergamot-like sourness. The throw, however, is the apricot scent that I'm most familiar with. Unfortunately this doesn't last long on me.

This scent is extremely white. Maybe a little bit of green, but mostly white. It's fresh and soft and brings to mind young flower buds in early spring. On my skin it gets a little bit of lily-like soapiness, but stays the same otherwise.

Geek is fantastic. It's so good that I'm going to throw out my traditional reviewing format and make this really simple. Geek is a gorgeous leather scent. Underneath that note I can smell some definite woodiness, some resin, lots of smoke, and a teensy bit of green...but mostly leather. My sister described it as smelling like a fireplace, and it really does. It's kind of reminiscent of Hellfire without the musk and tobacco. Absolutely wonderful blend, I'm not disappointed in the least.

Today I wore Bastet, and my boy couldn't stop sniffing and kissing my neck. I don't know if he was trying to figure it out or if he just really, really liked it, but that might be taken into consideration.

I second Djinn. It smells more like burning grass and metal to my nose, but it has that fiery smell. I love it. Hellfire doesn't exactly smell like fire, but it is extremely smoky. If leather bothers you, though, avoid it, since I got a lot of that note out of it. If you can get your hands on Hunter Moon, try that. It was mostly wine on me, but wine notes dominate with my chemistry, and there was at least a background of bonfire smoke. Sign me up for the "I must find the perfect fire scent" list. As far as BPAL goes, Djinn is as close as I've found. If you're willing to venture outside of BPAL, also try Goth Rosary's Mayhem scent. I think it's my favorite out of all the Goth Rosary scents, and to me it comes pretty darn close to what you might be looking for. (Edited for grammatical errors. )

In the bottle: Smells like magnolia. It's a sharp, almost faintly citrusy floral. I can smell a little patchouli in the background. Wearing: Still has that magnolia smell, but it gets sharper and...wow, strong! One little swipe is enough to fill the whole room. For some reason this reminds me of Pride...and pride and I didn't get along very well. Very, very perfumey, and it's giving me a stomach ache. Later: This...stinks. It's got this really bizarre sour/bitter/otherwise unpleasant smell to it. I wouldn't normally think that bitter would be bad, except it's the florals that smell bitter. There's a bit of sandalwood, but it just seems to clash with the rest of the notes. Overall: Not my cup of tea, and doesn't work well with my chemistry at all. Will be passing it on, I think.

In the vial: I get the scent of night air and trees. It's a dark green color, almost black. There's a hint of pine, but it's not overpowering or metallic smelling like most pine scents are to my nose. Me likey! Wearing: Yes, green and chilly and...what's this? Flowers?! Gah! There was no trace of any floral scent in the imp--I think it tricked me just to spite me and laugh at me. OK, so I can definitely smell violet, but I can't figure out what the others are. Something very sweet. Yet at the same time, the florals are very natural smelling and there's an underlying greenness, like a nighttime field full of flowers and little trees that have yet to mature. It doesn't smell perfumey like most floral blends do to me, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. Later: OK, all but the violet has died down as far as the flowers go, and now there's a strange fruity scent along with the greenness. Fruity...I can't place it, either. It's not lime, something smoother. Oh well. Overall: I...have no idea. Will keep it for a couple more tries before I decide what I think of it.

In the vial: A little floral, with a lot of candy-like berries. Very sweet and almost wine-ish. Wearing: Almost immediately, the iris leaves the picture. It's replaced with amber, which couples with the berry note to make one of the most gorgeous berry scents I've smelled so far. Mmm. It gets a little baby powder-ish in the way that fresh, unaged Snake Oil did, but it's much more bearable in that it doesn't make my stomach feel funny, and the powder scent isn't as strong. Later: The spices come out a little more, but not much. I can't put my finger on what they are. I think I detect a slight touch of clove in that it smells almost dessert-like mixed with the berries. That's another thing--usually all berry scents smell the same on me, but this is totally unique. Overall: Beautiful. An instant favorite. I'm so glad that Cranberry threw this in as an extra in a swap.

I got Neo-Tokyo and tried it out for the first time tonight, and I must say, THIS is it! It's quirky and fruity, kind of like Devo's music. Thanks for the suggestions! Can you believe that I started planning my perfume choice before what outfit I'm going to wear? Now all I have to do is figure that out and wait another ten days. *sighs impatiently*

In the vial: Flowers with dirt. Wearing: Flowers. Sweet flowers. Gardenia and lily, for sure. Wow, that's strong. Where did the dirt go? And wasn't there supposed to be moss and incense and herbs. Hmph. Later: I'm having some major flashbacks to The Caterpillar. A little bit of moss, a lotta bit of flowers. Darn it, why must florals explode on me? Still no incense or herbs, and the dirt has disappeared almost completely. Don't get me wrong, it smells good...just that florals are so not my thing. Overall: I had high hopes for this one, but unfortunately I don't think it was meant to be. Into the swap pile for you!

In the bottle: Smells a bit like I remember some commercial aquatic perfume/cologne smelling--Cool Water, maybe?--only less alcoholic. Yes, masculine, and a little soapy. I get the Lever 2000 comparison, and also maybe Irish Springs? Something like that. Very green, or maybe an aquamarine color (which would be more appropriate). Wearing: Yeah. It gets soapier once it touches the skin. I smell salt water and maybe a bit of aquatic plants, but it's just a veil masking the true, soapy core. Or...something. Imagine a bar of soap with seaweed draped ominously around it, floating in the ocean. That's Cthulhu. It's not bad at all, but it's not super amazing either. Later: It starts smelling a little more normal now. Murky, yes. Salty, definitely. Green, for sure. Clean, pretty much. This is what I expected it to smell like, and for heaven's sake, at least there's no grapefruit! The best way I can describe it is a considerably more masculine version of Bayou, which is my favorite aquatic scent. Overall: I don't know what to make of this blend. I'm not entirely sure it's my cup of tea, but I still like it. I think. I'm not sure. I'll keep the bottle and try it a few more times before I decide if I want to swap it off or not.

In the bottle: A little dry and dark, with a slight sweetness. It is indeed murky smelling, as promised. The dominant notes are myrrh and orris. Wearing: This is...I can't describe it. It's a little perfumey due to the orris, but not overwhelmingly so. It's earthy and even a little sexy, and strikes me as kind of sophisticated. If it didn't smell so dark it would remind me of my boyfriend as far as concept goes. Later: The musk comes out quite a bit now. Other than that, I don't detect that big of a change. The patchouli never pops out, thankfully--it just blends in seamlessly with the other notes. Overall: I wasn't sure about this one, but I really like it. If you're looking for an earthy scent, this is a perfect place to start. My one complaint is that it doesn't last as long as I'd like it to, maybe five or six hours. Still, this blend is an unexpected winner.

In the vial: Bitter! Bitter and sharp! Very sharp! It's extremely herbal and medicinal. Wearing: Definitely patchouli, vetiver, and...sharp! What IS that? I hate to say it, but this is not a pleasant smell. It's giving me a major sinus headache and I think maybe even a stomach ache. The more I wear it the more it smells like a bonfire, which must be the vetiver...but for some reason it's still not pleasant, and I usually love bonfire smells. Later: The sharpness has died down a little and has left a very strong patchouli note. This is how I remember patchouli oil smelling before getting used to Beth's, and it is not the patchouli usually used in most BPAL oils. This is the patchouli that convinced me that I hated the note. It's more pleasant now than the initial stage, but I still don't like it. Overall: Well, as far as kundalini goes, when it was sitting on my skin in the first stage I could definitely feel a strong tingling in my root chakra. But as a perfume? Definitely not. I don't think I would use it for yogic purposes (both because I don't do it in the first place and because I can't stand the smell), so I will pass this on.

In the bottle: Dark and earthy. The more I sniff, the more I can smell the cinnamon, which lends a welcomed sweet candy-like contrast to the other notes. Wearing: Hmm. This smells like Fenris Wolf. I'm assuming it's the amber/sandalwood combination, but I swear there's red musk in this as well. The cinnamon is in the background but still detectable, and has gotten a little less candy-like. Later: Definitely sandalwood, with the patchouli lurking a bit in the background. I still get a lot of Fenris Wolf-ness, which definitely isn't a bad thing. Overall: I like it. It's not like a "Holy crap, this is wonderful!" thing, but it is nice. Keeping the imp.

My preferences are spicy, earthy, resiny, green, animalistic, fruity...basically anything but floral. Whip! That's a great idea. If I can get my hands on an imp of it before then I will definitely use it. And I have an imp of Neo-Tokyo on the way in a swap, so we'll see how that one works out. I also have half an imp of Glitter. That seems good, too. Ah, decisions! I'll probably just get a whole bunch of options and flip a coin or something.

In the bottle: Fruity and floral dragon's blood. Wearing: Dragon's blood, with a very slight touch of cinnamon candy and clove incense. Later: Dragon's blood. Overall: See above. My skin and nose majorly amp up dragon's blood, so this probably isn't a good review to go on. I was really hoping the spices would come out more. Alas, not my cup of tea; will be swapped off to a dragon's blood lover or someone with drastically different skin chemistry.