Lit Chick

For some reason, BPAL’s civet is a holy grail note on me, but they seem pretty rare. Please let me know if a scent smells like cat pee on you, because it might smell hot AF on me… Debauchery - awesome Black Annis - haven’t tried because vetiver is a death note Red Devil - Discontinued and no notes were listed but in the bottle it smelled like pee to me before my skin transformed it.

My skin eats all the top notes. Just POOF. For a little while I’m left with that “generic BPL smell”, you know the one you get when you open your imp box? Must be the opium smoke… but that didn’t last on me either. I may try it in a locket.

I avoided this because BPAL vanilla tends to go plastic, lily tends to amp too much, and orris is a death note. However, this blend works. Mostly. It turns into a very delicate a gentle powdery scent, neither baby nor old-lady. Soft and lovely. It does not have enough personality to make it a favorite, but it is very wearable. Could be good for layering.

Weird. I have an aged second hand imp, and the wet smell of this is funk. But not the usual indolic floral, much more animal and sexual. I didn’t like it but I’ve had great success with other people REALLY loving that sort of thing on me, so I was hopeful. Annnd then my skin ate it. I thought I just went nose blind, but nope, it turns into the ghost of headshop on me, only noticeable if you’re looking. Oh well.

Oh this was STUNNING for a while. A gorgeous non gourmand sweet floral musk that I could not stop huffing. I was sure this was bottle worthy. Alas, in the very dry stage it goes rather play-dough. The earlier stages might make it worth it… not sure yet. I’ll definitely use up my imp.

Oh I really want to like this, since the soft musk and cream are lovely, but this is HONEY HONEY HONEY on my skin. It’s still pretty but tooth-achingly sweet. This is probably an excellent one to layer with, but a one it’s a bit to sugary for me.

Celery???? Why does this smell like demonic celery on me? It must be the coriander… This went wild with my chemistry and not in a fun way.

YESSSSSSS BPAL Vanilla is a death note on me, but I can wear the FUCK out of BPAL civet! The only sad thing is that my skin eats this, like devours. I have to huff like hell and then I just get a hint of something sensual. But that’s perfect for when I want to feel good but don’t want to announce it to everyone in the office. I was hoping this would give me the animal sexiness of my beloved discontinued Red Devil, and nope, but it might be in the vicinity. I’ll see what slathering does.

So sad! I had massive hope for this, and in the imp and fresh on it was stunning. But it turned soapy and powdery with such overwhelming throw. There’s still a really pretty scent in there but my chemistry sours it.

This is a weird one. I get clean crisp floral, kind of a purple-green smell. I really like it, but there’s a hint of an off note. Like a touch of stank. Maybe it’s the musk, maybe it’t the rotten note that jasmine can have. In any case on my skin it smells like I’m using a lovey fresh perfume to cover up some workout BO. Alas, not for me.

In the bottle this smelled so amazing, but on it’s ALL ANISE ALL THE TIME. It’s not a quite a death note because I find it somewhat interesting, but it’s not all that compatible with my chemistry and preferences. As it dries down even more the cherry mellows the anise, but it stays far too gourmand for me.

I finally ran out of my last bit of Red Devil. Any suggestions for a BPAL or other that has a similar sweet spicy musk?

An immensely potent purification oil. Anoint your chakra points and palms with this oil, and anoint white figure candle, a personal fetish, or any other object representing you. Purges your soul of dark and morose thoughts, and vigorously cleanses away day-to-day irritation and misery. Helps relieve stress and anxiety, and clears your mind of ugliness and clutter. White Light: This is my first time starting off a scent - so bear with me. I have an untrained nose and I'm only just beginning to use scents in a magical way. That said: Seeing as this blend is very, very precious, I spent the first few days just inhaling deeply from the bottle. My first impressions were a clean, pure, slightly spiced herbal floral - but one that was not leaning towards one classification in particular. After being unable to figure out any notes, I had my husband (a chef) smell. He immediately picked up citrus zest, eucalyptus, and perhaps sage. It's very well blended - to my nose the eucalyptus is barely detectable, but there is a familiar fresh tingly clearing of the sinuses when you breathe it is deeply. Very gentle. Wearing it, there is a bright flare of the citrus that quickly becomes sweet and creamy. There's a waft of something spicy that reminds me of Love Me. I am also reminded of cardamom vanilla ice cream (which is one of the best things I ever tasted). My husband admiringly said it smelled like a cinnamon orange creamsicle. As it dries, the buttery spiciness asserts itself more, and the blend turns very warm and comforting. In terms of how I felt using it: it is very positive and balancing. I am prone to feeling extremes in emotion - I am easily excited. This made me feel harmonized, content, peaceful. It's truly an amazing oil.

I opened this and tears came into my eyes. My elementary school was surrounded by crabapple trees, and there were many such trees scattered about the neighborhood.. In the spring, they were so heavy with pink and white flowers. It was my favorite time of year. Sometime when I was in high school, the trees were cut down. I assume disease... they were old. They were not replaced. It made me so sad. Then I moved away, and have not been near an apple tree in the spring since. I cracked open the bottle and those trees came back. The sound of happy bees, the joy of those trees in full bloom... I never even really thought of the trees as particularly fragrant either.... but scent memory. They were, but it's not an overpowering smell. Just the sunny smell of childhood. sniffle. This is not particularly wearable for me - apple fruit works, but apple blossom goes a bit soapy. I smell good and clean, but very much changed from the bottle. Still, I will treasure this - what a bright and happy and fresh scent! I think I might make this a pillow scent.

I am Christopher Walken and carnation is my cowbell. This SN is perfection, smells exactly like the real thing. Fresh, creamy, spicy.

In the bottle - traditional masculine cologne smell. Nice, nothing special. Also nothing scary. A BPAL newbie could smell this and not be afraid to try it. 1st wet - Lilac for a second, then LEATHER. Clean leather. Not brand-new, but not broken-down either. Well worn but meticulously kept. Dry - Tonka (which smells like vanillaness, but does not go plastic on me like real vanilla does), spiced wood, sex. Very dry - a sweet, sexy, close-to-skin musk. Honestly, this is SUPER SEXY, and gorgeous, and it makes me feel wrong because it smells like I'm cheating on my husband. He usually wears more romantic blends (Oisin). This will smell SO good on him. It smells fantastic on me - but because of the musk it smells like it rubbed off, rather than was applied. This will be in heavy rotation.

Wow. Major scent memory with this one. It smells exactly like Sanctuary Crystals circa 1995. And that store for me was all about freedom and newly awakened sexuality. It smells fantastic on me... it's a little nostalgic... I feel the need to listen to some Pearl Jam. Ocean.

Wet, this is flat-out nasty. Aggressively green and sharp and sneezey. I hate you, green tea. You are very weird on me. But.. in a few moments, something starts to happen. Seriously, chills... is that... CARNATION? I just did this people: Not even kidding, I got up from the PC and flailed around and huffed and flailed. Since 2004, I have been looking for a majorly carnation-y scent, and I have not really found it. But this could be it. After much huffing and drying, the carnation is gone and instead I smell... still pretty awesome. I can huff out the orange but would not have placed it without the description. The tea keeps trying to be a dick, but failing. This is absolutely bottle worthy. How many bottles depends on the very-dry stage. I need to let my nose rest and see if the carnation sticks around as the main note when I'm not paying hard-core attention. This might, maybe, be my holy grail. Two hours should tell....

I was feeling a bit perverse when I decided to try this. Based on the dearth of reviews, I'm guessing that this blend was one long list of death notes for many. It was for me, but I was tempted by honeysuckle because sometimes that is magical on me. And like I said, I was feeling perverse. Maybe lots of death notes would cancel each other out, and create something unexpectedly wonderful! Nope. There was a flare of floral doom when I first applied, and those bad notes did what they do. And then, the scent died. I have the vaguest soap note remaining. Lesson learned. Lots of known baddies cannot morph into something pretty.

2011 version. It smells exactly like the description. And that's pleasant, and odd. snow, check! dirt, check! smushed greenery and florals, check! barest hint of pastries? Not quite. I get a huge whopping crumb note. This is not one I'd wear, but I will dot in on my boys and see what they do to it. It's a fun, kind of messy scent. It would be good as a room scent - it has a comforting jumbly holiday feel.

Oh, this is lovely. If I had not already tested Frost at Midnight, this would possibly be my favorite of the Yules. This is a bright, sunny scent. Very floral, but also very green. It's a budding, airy scent. Very much the promise of springtime. It's like those melty late-winter days when the sun is bright, the day feels crazy warm (in comparison to the day before), and you skip around in a sweater instead of a giant bundled coat. It reminds me a little of Sea of Glass, but bouncier. I'd place them in the same fresh/clean/bright category,

Wow, this was not what I was expecting at all. There is a new note of doom for me - papyrus. When very freshly wet, I get a blast of lovely bright floral and a fresh grass scent. And then the grass amps and eats everything, then it mellows, and then I get very strange smell, like the grass is farting out the flowers. How weird is that? I bet that's the fir, because I'm one of those people that sometimes gets hints of body odor with fir/pine. As it dries, the champaca and ambergris start to make an appearance (and those ROCK), as does whatever gives that chilly scent. It's SO close to being really nice, so very very close. But my skin disagrees with the green notes too violently.

Fist impressions - Queen Mab. Must be the jasmine and rose, and the fact that I have not smelled QM since 2004ish. At first, I did not care for it... but it kind of grew on me. Not enough for a bottle, but this is a pleasant perfume. It does fall into the old-lady / fancy soap category. My chemistry teeters on the edge of pushing this into the harsh soap scent. Rose and I are so-so. But the jasmine is really lovely, and it's what makes me enjoy this.

2011 - Wet, it is boozey deliciousness. Freshly on, it turns super-sweet, like store-bought white frosting. Dry - cake batter. Super-dry, vaguely sweet. Well, it avoided going plastic on me like 2007's version, but overall it was way too sweet and not my thing. I think I'll layer my decant with Mad Sweeney, because this nog could use more booze!

I am a sucker for any blend that has carnation, ever hopeful that carnation will be the main note. I should have known that leaves (a death note for me) would never ever allow a favorite note to even show itself. Alas, this smells like decomposing vegetation on me, with a hint of rosey perfume underneath. Mental image - the fresh grave of a young bride. Or, I guess, the perfume of a freshly reanimated bride...