butcherbaby

i picked up a bottle of this when it was available, but it's taken me forever to review because, well, i don't quite know what to think of it. sometimes i think it's awesome, and others i'm ready to swap it away...but always change my mind. it's an odd scent and strangely malleable- it smells different on me all the time. i really wish i knew what it was that gives it that vanilla-y note. it's almost sarsparilla, and i think that when i amp it, it can be cloying, and probably what i don't like, at times. i love the ylang-ylang/jasmine combination, i can pick those notes out quite well- enough so that when i tried "i died for beauty", which has ylang-ylang, my first thought was "this has something similar to 'the girl' in it". it's a delicious warm creamy floral, but doesn't seem overwhelmingly so at all.....if only that damn sarspar-vanilla note would back down! ;-) also, i don't know what note it is, but there is something in here which is not always, but sometimes- -very faintly, almost imperceptibly "off' on my skin. rather than being a bad thing, to me it seems to actually highlight how lovely the scent is, the way a small mole or scar can sometimes enhance, rather than detract, from a person's beauty. this is a deceptively heavy scent, so go sparingly at first. i like it in small dabs rather than the slathering i am wont to do. it blends very well with my current favorite scents too, so if it's an "amp the vanilla" day, i can slather something else over it and not have to worry. i'm sure i'll end up keeping this, but i may decant some as i don't know if i'll ever go through it all.

i bought a bottle after testing this at will call, and i'm not sure if i confused it with another scent or it just blended with whatever i tested closest to it, because sadly, emma just doesn't seem to like me at all. based on the notes though, it *should* have been a shoe-in (LOVE jasmine, LOVE patchouli, LOVE rose, pink pepper & vanilla bourbon are usually winners too), but i get nothing but the rose, and it's not what my brain interprets as "tea rose". this rose is sharp with sort of a fruitish candy-ness -someone above said jolly ranchers, and i agree. it's not at all like the tea roses i've grown in my gardens, or the classic tea rose perfume spray that is the only scent i wore with any kind of regularity before BPAL. i've tried her several times over the course of the last three months and the notes haven't settled at all, so i think it's time for emma to find a new home.

for some reason that line really cracks me up as for my, very simplified review- this is the perfect incense scent. unfortunately it doesn't linger long on me, but while it does, it's beautiful. maybe if i use it as a hair scent....

Here is the one that I got with the shirt from the trading post: http://www.flickr.com/photos/miss_twilight/2780188662/ I believe it is the same label as the one from the Lab but not 100%. looks just like mine from the lab and my goodness, how well this scent has aged!

god i hate to give beth's hard work a negative review...but then i have to remember that it's my skin chemistry, not her skills that are at fault. that said, on me, this smells like fruity BO. i can only guess that it's the amber mint, because it's the "unknown", and none of the other notes are red flaggers for me. ah well, can't win em all. NEXT!

i bought this unsniffed because it sounded like such a winner- nearly all the notes are for me, and the bottle art is my favorite pic of the series. tobacco can go either way, but i've only found it horrid in one scent- red lantern. the only real "iffy" in there is the red currant. fruits are one of the notes i don't do well with, but some work really well (snake charmer, madame moriarty). in the bottle it smells soft and spicy delicious- a little like an herbal liqueur i used to drink that was similar to jagermeister, but thinner and less intense. so as soon as i put it on- WHAM - nothing but RED CURRANT OMG HORRID FRUIT EXPLOSION. i wanted to cry. where is my lovely musk? patchouli? teak and frankincense? it's seriously the BPAL Murphy's Law that states if every note except one is your favorite then that one is going to be all you get. nest day, try it again. hmmm, getting a little of the other notes, but not enough just yet. still much too curranty, but there's hope. i'm going to hold on for this a bit and see if time and aging help before i give up completely. 03/13 ETA: i think this may work out after all....subsequent tests have had varying results from fruit to smoky spices. into the dark drawer she goes, for a month or two, and we'll see how she's settled. 04/11 ETA ah, this lady is a tricky one! no more red currant, today she smells of spiced tobacco and dark patchouli. very interesting.....another month of aging and we'll see if she's a keeper or not.

i had high hopes for this but what i get is....cooked celery. almost the same as in dia de los muertos, though i don't see any notes they share. ugh. it's almost nauseating. if i leave it on long enough some of the yumminess that other people describe starts to come through but the celery part is too gross for me to even contemplate waiting for the rest of it to bloom. and in the bottle, it smells awesome. poo. sadly, swap or sell this.

two words: CAKE BATTER!!! this is not the scent of cake. this is the scent of cake BATTER - specifically, cherry/strawberry chip cake batter. i love it. LOVE IT! i am not a big fan of cake, unless it is in liquid form. i always liked the batter more than the finished product. this is my beloved batter in wearable form. every time i smell it, i want to run down to the grocery store, pick up a box of aforementioned flavor cake mix, whip some up and eat it like pudding. i am most definitely NOT a foodie scent person. i've got my sugar skulls and eggnogs, and i picked up Huesos more for the concept than the scent. beaver moon smells like old sour cheesecake on me, gluttony is disgusting, eat me- BLEAH. i like the 07 carnation-y pink moon far better than the fruity one. but this.....this is heavenly. i will just sniff it randomly, or put it on over whatever i've already got on just for a hit of that battery goodness. this was the surprise hit for me out of all the DD b-movies and x-mas scents, and i'm really glad i was able to swap for a bottle.

My god, those are so beautiful. Made me contemplate buying the whole set, irregardless of the perfume within! i agree...the labels are gorgeous!

i got frimped with a few drops of this in a recent swap. i was still quite a newbie when this was available, hadn't been to a will call yet, had no idea how to assess notes, and was wary of trying things un-sniffed since the couple bottles i *had* tried were awful on me. still, even now, i would probably pass it by because the notes just don't seem that interesting, and it smells like sour milk in the imp. OH how wrong i was! now i know what all the fuss is about! this scent is GORGEOUS and it smells NOTHING like i imagined it would. it's heavy and heady, a very exotic oriental type but in a class of it's own. it's perfumy without being "department store" or cloying, but it *is* strong. I, who must usually slather the oil on my greedy scent eating skin, can wear just a reasonable swipe of this without it disappearing. nice long wear too- i put a little on tonight before i went dancing at a hot sweaty club and i can still smell it quite clearly ten hours later! if this ever gets resurrected (or i win the lottery ), i'm definitely buying a bottle or two. til then, i'll just keep ferreting outs decants to tide me over.

second try on this- first try wqas "this smells good, but i've tested too many today to be sure" it is confirmed- it's very lovely! and big bottle worthy. the notes in this blend very well together and i get one strong impression: creamy, honeyed roses. honey? don't know where that comes from, but that's what i get. i slather, so it's not a light floral at all for me. can't comment on staying power just yet, but it's so pretty i'll be happy to liberally re-apply.

wow- from the ingredients listed, i think this is either going to be a "love it" or "hate it" because every note is a good one for me, even the black currant- one of the few fruits that doesn't go sour on my skin. but we all know how some scents that seem "perfect" on paper don't work at all. not this time! this scent is GORGEOUS!!!!! utterly, completely, fantastically beautiful. one of the best florals on the list, i think. in the imp it smells really good, but in a way seems like it's holding back from it's true potential. and once on skin, i see i'm right. first i get a powerful explosion of the ylang ylang- so good! i love ylang ylang and seldom is it done right. here, it's perfect. as the initial burst starts to fade the night blooming jasmine and the lily make their way forward. these round out much softer and with a smooth almost powdery scent....hmm, not baby powdery, but as if the scent of these flowers has been made itself into a powder. is that a bit of the fruit i detect? oh yum. it's warm and juicy, like it's fresh pluck from a branch in a sun filled orchard. as it wears on the sandalwood and frankincense merge with the smooth powdery floral to create a more incense like blend which is highly fragrant yet not smoky or overpowering. my only critique on this is that it fades too fast, but it's winter, and dry, so i'll try it again with lotion and as the weather warms up. i usually like to try a fragrance at least twice before i add it to the big bottle list but this is a winner either way.

vial - lavender EXPLOSION!!! wet- URGH! lavender & BO! wtf? later- sharp strident lavender & a little jasmine with BO around the edges. wash off...... not for me

AAHHH! <----- exclamation of happiness this scent is heaven, it really is. i like this much better than the original, which i (regretfully) sold my half bottle of *just* before this was resurrected (i wasn't wearing it much- because it was rare & near irreplaceable, and i felt a little guilty hoarding when so many others really wanted it.) not this time...i have four bottles and am planning on four more- at LEAST. a baker's dozen would be ideal- i want to be rubbing this into my wrinkles when i'm 80 years old. and to compare the only scents i have more than one backup of are pisces 07, lilith victoria, & Mme Moriarty (total four of each), and the sleeper & evening star (3 bottles each.) i'm not a huge hoarder but this scent is the exception. if only it came in bath oil or shower gel! i can just see it: Lush Presents Bpal. hahaha oh yeah, the actual scent. *ahem* still getting a likeness to snake oil, but it is superficial at best. they're like two people in the same family who resemble each other, but really aren't alike at all when you get down to it. doing a wrist test for both at the same time the difference is immediately noticeable- SO is dark & moistly earthy, full of warm patchouli, while SC is brilliant- bright, sharp and golden. is it the musk? the amber? the benzoin? i don't notice the coconut unless i slather, but isn't the burnt kind that i got from death adder and to a lesser amount, original SC. the vanilla is not obvious either, though i can just detect it sweetening up the blend as a whole. the plum hides until i've had it on a while, and even then it's just a whiff. the throw is awesome- i just dabbed and my hubby could smell it several feet away. (he said the combo of both reminded him of the Swedish Chef's Croonchy Stars cereal i don't find either of them foody- and SC is sex on a stick. or snakes on a plane. a sexy plane) and i know from wearing that it LASTS. you know it's good when you get complimented even after being in a hot sweaty club. beth, i can't thank you enough for bringing this back!

WTF!? this one should have a been a NO BRAINER. i was expecting dark opiate incense, but instead i am getting some sort of weird bubble gummy *fruit*. it smells more true close to the skin, but i don't want to smell like a pack of hubba bubba all day. i seem to be striking out hard on *all* the yules i thought would be faboo. i think i'm going to wait a week and try them all again, just to be sure, but so far only one out of six is even remotely what i expected.