kmasden

I think I love amber, yet have found many amber scents that didn't work. Brisingamen and blood amber specifically. Brisingamen was too perfumy, Blood Amber too feral (civet like). However, the Lion is one of my faves (definately a top ten). Re; haunted, it smells on me just as coulrophobe said. I have learned to love it for a "lemon" scent LOL. On me it is ambery lemon babypowder. Weird eh?

This one is so much different than I thought it would be. It's almost a bit perfumy for me, but it's so hard to believe. I love black pepper and don't get a distinct black pepper from this and, the spices blend well enough that it doesn't feel "spicy." I definately get the moss note which I love. To my nose this is almost soapy. I will definately say that I find it to be a pleasant scent, fresh and grounded and seems to have a good bit of staying power. I would definately call it green, but not in a big herbal way. When wet I get a lot of the "marshy, mossy" smell, mixed with a tad of wood and I find it a bit soapy. It's not harsh, rather smooth and quite strong. As it dries, I do find the spices to come into play just a bit. That mossy, slightly perfumy bit is toning down into a damp forest floor, wet logs, that type of thing. About an hour in, I find that it has developed into a nicely green, grounded scent. I would suspect people who love scents like Old Dublin will take to this quite nicely. I am so pleased that the Springtime in Arkham scents I have tried so far have been so pleasant.

To me, Shub and Sudha Segara aren't close at all. The ginger note is familiar, but shub is much warmer, stronger and complex than Sudha. To my nose, Sudha is like a lighter version of Dana if you take out the grain and substitute ginger. Shub is a bright splash of ginger with an underneath that is almost carmelized cookieish...not really foody, but the same warmth i got from say Jack, I get from Shub. I think people that like Gingerbread Poppet, aged Sugar Skull, maybe Jack...will probably like Shub - it's that kinda spicy sweet.

I read this thread earlier and just came back to it today. I don't know any of beth's secrets but i would absolutely think that yes, there is a bit of carrier oil in her blends. Almost would have to be in order for it to be saleable as an oil you can wear. Also, I would have no expectation that her oils are all essential. I would bet they are a combination of high quality essential oils, resins, and the like and often bet that they even include fragrance oils. Nothing wrong with this. Many oils must be created from other oils or synthetics to mimic a particular fragrance from nature as some of you have stated. In fact, most musks etc. are not actual musks, they are synthetic. That's how it works. Anything a perfumer uses must be skin safe and from smelling Beth's oils she is obtaining a very high quality of whatever she uses. The girl has the best nose ever!

Have I not reviewed this? There's no little indicator that I have, but how could i have missed it. You know, it's funny, but I almost want to tell all newbies to either smell the standards like O, Chimera, Snake Oil, Dana etc..and then keep them and smell a couple months later, or resist smelling them to the very end. They are commonly recommended scents and yet i think for the new to perfume oil person, they are hard to appreciate. When I went through the reviews and catalog for my first bpal order, snake oil was on the list. How could i refuse such a well-liked scent. When i got it, i thought it was okay, but the tone to it was weird to me. How can this spice be mixed with this powder and there is such a bizarre skin thing to it on me. I disregarded Snake Oil and then tried it again recently, and OMG. Love! I have experienced tons of bpal now. My nose is more educated, my brain more used to sensory overload and picking things apart. More understanding of my chemistry. And how is it that I get this sexy, milky, spiced, vanilla...I almost want to say it's like hot milk with sugar and spice, being consumed by a perfumed goddess. You walk into a room and you have this mingling of hot woman and hot spiced vanilla milk tea....that is snake oil. Flipping sex queen!

I am loving this! At first sniff and without wearing it, I thought "oh, smells of citrus" but within a second of applying it i was intrigued and couldn't stop sniffing. The ginger here is fresh and slightly citrusy sweet and the spices mix with with it in a way that that is totally fascinating. I wouldn't consider it super foody, yet the more i sniff it, the more i think that it smells of a citrus frosted gingerbread cake, warm out of the oven. This scent is very unique. Even if you don't buy a bottle, try an imp and wear it, dont' just sniff it. The warmth and interesting mingling of the ginger and spices in this are really neat.

I'd be scared to carry this in a flask as I might forget and drink it. It is that coffee smelling. Basically, this smells almost exactly the same as my coffee to which I add hazelnut creamer and some sugar. I would say it is a bit dusty, so I can see the "tomes" reference, but I don't really identify the wood, perhaps it is so well blended with the coffee I can't pick it up. But yes, definately sweet, hazelnutty, creamy coffee. Not super boozy at all (I have a hard time detecting the booze in this, unlike say centzon totochtin or lady mcbeth etc). I love the name and i'm still looking for a scent that has just a hint of coffee...i love the way this smells but don't know if i really want to smell of such a true "sweet coffee and cream." Perhaps this would be lovely in a bath bomb! eta: Now that I've worn this a few times, I definately get a woody drydown, so indeed I am on board with the old library feel to this. Like arriving with my steaming coffee in hand (still with a flavored, perhaps nutty creamer) and then sitting while it cools at a big wood library table.

I find sin, the lion and snake oil to be nice and warm. also chaste moon, if a bit candley to my nose. there's always miskatonic university which does smell exactly like irish coffee to me!

At first seance is fresh, vibrant rose to my nose. After drying down, it softens and I understand the wood association people are getting. I like it, but unfortunately rose as a dominant scent doesn't work well for me. I don't get as much wood as I would have liked from this. For rose lovers though, it is beautiful, mature yet soft. Try it.

I am surprised by this. At first, I wasn't in to it. Not a big citrus person and I could smell citrus right off, but then there is a creamyness (heliotrope?) and the florals. It's young and happy and pretty. I like it. Funny though, I agree w/ a previous poster, it does smell a bit like rose on me after it dries...strange!

This started out slightly rose and dusky while wet. For a few minutes, the rose almost disappeared and I could smell some other whispery florals in there. Then "boom" here's the rose, which happens on my skin unfortunately. It is a very deep, almost soapy rose as well. Not for me.

I purchased Beltane at BB on the 24th of this month. It is an interesting scent in my opinion. I agree that there is definately something herbal, I also get a bright bit of citrus that feels familiar to me. I'd like to guess that it is lime as it reminds me a bit of envy w/o the mint or whitechapel w/o the powdery bit. The citrus is not strong at all, just light and happy, sunshiney if that makes sense. Mingled amongst it are white, light florals and herbs. Not to heavy at all. This scent feels very clean to me, a tad soapy even, but in a pretty way. I agree that there seems to be something grounding it and would think that it's a white musk. I get a similiar feeling as I do when wearing Dorian, although beltane is more interesting and floral. I think this will be a popular scent in the way that Alice and Dorian are popular. It's totally different, but it's happy, clean, uplifting.

Top was very bubble gum, but just for a moment. I am amazed at how this smells compared to the description of notes listed. As it dries, I smell that bit that people are referring to as melon. I would say it smells mangoish to me, or like papaya, some type of orange tropical fruit. I suppose it could be a honeydo smell...but hmmm...It smells like fruit with soft white flowers. It is very interesting and i can't think of a better way to describe it. It is very heady and rich and floral with that fruit back (sounds like I'm taking a shot!)

I really kind of like this. Not necessarily for a slather and run around all day scent, but maybe more for a day when I feel a little "white trash." LOL. When I smelled it before reading reviews, I noted that it started off sweet, then went green. I almost wondered if there was a rose in there somewhere. Now that I've read reviews I am stuck on thinking it smells like that tart bit o' dandelion juice from the green stems and beer. And I like it ;-)

I think that the BB exclusive Sol is like three witches, although I have a kooky nose! Chaste moon is like a tamed down jack with white flowers mixed in. Weirdly enough, but there is something about hellfire that reminds me of Samhain. It just needs the addition of a fruity component and maybe a touch of cinnamon. Like hellfire with the hesperides with a touch o sin. Then for hearth, hellfire with something with a strong cherry note...Not that anyone is looking to dupe hearth :-( Hmmmm, I think old dublin is reminiscent of skadi, but i'd almost want to add a drop of black forest and a drop of mabon (well, okay, so not mabon, something with current or blackberry) to the bottle of dublin I know they aren't much alike but dirty reminds me of antique lace in some ways.

I would think you're out of your tropical drinks phase now LOL, but I was thinking about this very thing. I usually have a cocktail or two every night and love to combine the scent/taste of my cocktail with what I'm drinking. Sometimes I have to sacrifice and compliment it instead of match it Tropical drinks - agree with other posters on manila, I like the bit of coconut in Black Pearl as well. When I can't get the fragrance to match, I like the tropical flower feel of machu picchu, pele, venom, forbidden fruit, kurukulla (I never spell that right, but suffice it to say, fruity heavy lotus w/rose. Choccy cocktails (like mudslides, screaming orgasms, anything chocolate/amaretto, baileys etc. and creamy) - centzon tetochtin, bliss of course, chimera works very well for me and again, black pearl (hmm, what a versatile little scent that is LOL), Wanda and perversion seem to go well in this area too. And i like the spicy/cinnamon cents like Sin and the Lion. Wine, sangria, port - Bordello, Lady MacBeth (sangria city to me), hellfire, hetairie, lampades, Tenochtitlan (did I spell that right?) Classy cocktails (martini's, regular mixed drinks like rum and coke, etc. and all those others that are alchohol alone or mixed w/soda, light, effervescent). Swank, Juke Joint and many of the aquatics and citrus scents work well for me here. Whitechapel, the LE Ice Queen, that type of thing. I have often thought of just pouring drinks into my bath to get a matching scent for that LOL

I have found that I love resinous scents. I get nothing from this but golden, glowing ambery vanilla. I like this, but since I started with things like Lion and Sin, it just seems to be the base of lion without the interesting spice note, so i'm kinda "meh" on it...bummer! It is lovely though. Had I tried it first, I would have died for it!

Ohhh I got coffee from Mata Hari, just the perfect hint of it, but the roses amped up on me so bad i couldn't handle it. I'm earnestly awaiting another floral w/a nice coffe bottom. I ordered Miskatonic, but am concerned it will be just coffee...hmmmmm.

Awww, joseybird...don't be mean to my hearth.... I love Hearth, but I will admit out of the hundreds of oils i've tried, this is hands down the strongest, longest, crazy lasting, stays around for days oil there is. Other than that I find the more "perfumy" one's to last, like Kali and Lust. Chimera stays well on me and my all time fave....SIN!

I'd have to say that being a lushie and a bpal person, the only scent that ever struck me as "creamy candy/cotton candy" was bewitched. It has a perfumy edge, so not the innocent sweetness part..but the fruity smell was just like rockstar soap for me....and I dislike them both LOL...

I tried this on in the broom and didn't know quite what to expect. It is very incensey. I love that in a lot of scents, and don't mind it here. I also get a lot of wood from this. Like palm maybe. Sooo hmmm, a perfumy wood - because there is definately something that I associate with a "perfumy" or heady scent. It might be some type of floral or perhaps a musk. Jasmine...can't be...but there's a hint of something, not civet, but something that normally gives me a plasticy drydown. I've only found that in certain kind of jasmines and oakmoss. As it dries, I get more and more wood and less anything else. Definately no cinnamon on me.

This is amazing to me. For some reason I keep forgetting there is mint in there! To me this is coconut...I understand the cookie reference, but this just says coconut to me. The mint is very strong the first couple minutes. Definately peppermint as opposed to spearmint and the light sweetness underneath. Now that i've read other reviews, I'm gonna have to re-evaluate my coconut theory. I don't know what is behind the mint. It's sweet, it could be slightly fruity, don't think it's pineapple, yet...maybe, or something similiar. A juicy fruit, not peach, not pineapple, but... And there is also that spooky note. I agree with another poster that this is what I thought spooky would smell like and spooky so does not work for me. There is something similiar in it, just slightly. Wow, that wasn't much help. Very interesting blend. Do try it on, don't just sniff, and give it a chance to get past the mint. Hmmm, maybe it's mango.......

I can see how some really like the scent of Yemeya. I was able to try this on at the broom and I'm surprised. It wasn't necessarily for me, but quite an interesting blend. At first, it was intensely fruity, which immediately darkened. Not spicy, but deeper. It had a light bite to it at first that I normally associate with honeysuckle or dragon's blood (go figure!) but when that faded down rather quickly, it was just a deep, pulsing fruit. To me, banana instead of melon. Very, very interesting this.

Wow, I did so not get mostly florals from this. I'll admit that it has a perfumy edge, which very possibly could be florals. Reminds me of what I get with living flame etc. However, it mostly reminded me of Sin. Seemed a bit spicy, like cinnamon or Dragon's Blood. I really liked it actually. I need to find out where I can find out more about what these oils are supposed to do though.

That's so funny, to me love me smells like dragon's milk, which does not smell like flying fox. How weird that everyone can be so different (okay, not weird, but interesting!) I will have to sniff it again though with flying fox in mind and see what I think!