requieminblack

First sniff from the bottle- Moss and vetiver. After 10 minutes- This has two notes in it I don't like- moss and vetiver. They were the strong notes that leap out in front when I first sniffed this. After a while they both fade leaving the scent of pepper and thyme. Now this is making me hungry! After 30 minutes- Hmmm....this one faded on me really quickly. After about 15 minutes the pepper and thyme faded and now I don't smell a thing. Summery- This one was a weird mish mash of smells. It went from mossy wood to peppered thyme and then to nothing in 15 minutes flat.

First sniff from the bottle- Strawberry car air freshener. After 10 minutes- This smells like strawberry scented air freshener or a strawberry scented candle. It is overly sweet and fake smelling which churns my stomach. After 30 minutes- Luckily the over powering strawberry scent faded. Now it smells just like pink champagne on my skin but also kind of like strawberry lip gloss and Strawberry Shortcake dolls. Summery- This scent is just to sweet and girlie for my taste.

First sniff from the bottle- Wow that's DARK smelling. After 10 minutes- Where do I begin describing how this smells? This smells like Obsession that has been thrown in a fire and then doused with black pepper. The black current is not as fruity in this as it is in other blends. It almost smells like opium but not as sweet. The myrrh in this blend is heavy...like a black myrrh. Charred and burned myrrh. I am not sure where the peppery bit I am smelling is coming from...maybe the mandrake? After 30 minutes- Now this is peppery Obsession but being worn while in a musty cave. And that's not a bad thing because I really think this is a dark sexy scent. It's very sophisticated. At this stage it reminds me of Hecate sans the almond. Summery- Dark, dank, sexy and sophisticated.

First sniff from the bottle-Ambergris with a hint of orange After 10 minutes- The ambergris is the dominate note in this one. It is a really sharp nose piercing smell! Like animal muskyness and olive juice mixed together. After 30 minutes- As it dries down the ambergris fades a bit and the patchouli comes out more. I actually like how the patchouli and the orange blossom blend together. It is an earthy and sweet scent yet warm and spicy at the same time. Very masculine in a good way. Summery- Too masculine for me. It reminds me of men's Aramis cologne.

First sniff from the bottle-Wow! This smells nothing like what I imagined 'Bluebeard' to smell like! A blast of powdery violet and lavender, like a freshly powdered babies bottom After 10 minutes-Now the white musk and vetiver are slowly coming out. I am not fond of vetiver, it smells like a Chinese import shop and moth balls to me. Now this smells like babies bottom + Chinese shop/mothballs. After 30 minutes-This is just not working for me. It's a wash off.

First sniff from the bottle- Freshly peeled grapefruit After 10 minutes- Now the apple is coming through....and the ginger tea is in the background. This is a grapefruit and apple salad being served with a cup of ginger tea. After 30 minutes- All I can think of is how fresh and clean this smells. It is not an overtly sweet fruity scent but more of a refreshing clean citrus kind of fruity. The ginger slowly works it's way out as it fades but never becomes too strong. Those of you who dislike ginger do not need to be afraid of this one. It is very subtle. Summery- This one is a fresh out of the shower invigorating citrus blend with a twist of ginger.

First sniff from the bottle- This smells familiar. For some reason it made me think of my first job as a cashier at a health food store. It smells just like one of the perfumes that was sold there that I used to spritz myself with. I know there is no ylang-ylang in this but it smells just like it. After 10 minutes- It must be a combo of the orchid and stephanotis that is making this smell like ylang-ylang. It smells like a ylang-ylang and vanilla blend to me. Very tropical and sweet! After 30 minutes-As far as florals go, which I normally hate, I think I like this one the most. It *is* sweet and flowery, but not over powering. Summery- Not for me but very pretty. Note to self- get this one for Mom, she will love it.

First sniff from the bottle- Mmmm, spicy opium! After 10 minutes- Oh wait, it's not spicy really, just a really dark opium. This is a true opium smell *blushes* , not at all like the commercial perfume. This is what I imagine a dark smoky Victorian opium den to smell like. After 30 minutes- Hmmm, this one doesn't really morph much. It stays true to it's wet scent the whole time. It is still a dark and smoky opium. Summery- I think I would like this better if it were spicier. I bet it will be fantastic layered with Three Witches!

First sniff from the bottle- OMGWTFBBQ!?! MMmmmmm spicy clove and almond! After 10 minutes- Yum. I can't believe I didn't get a hold of this one a long time ago. This one is uber spicy! Clove is the dominate note and God is it strong! After a few minutes the sassafras oozes out and blends with the clove to create a smell similar to spiced Dr. Pepper. After 30 minutes- Now the bay is coming through making this smell a lot more masculine. I am not getting any of the butter or rum in this which is a bummer. I love buttered rum! Still- this is so yummy! This is like a masculine version of Three Witches. Summery- I am in love Old Port au Prince is the Three Witches sexy pirate boyfriend.

First sniff from the bottle- Hmmm, no description from the lab but this smells like vanilla, lavender, civit and baby powder to me. After 10 minutes- As this dries down I think I can smell civit or ambergris in this. The vanilla is the same type as in Snake oil and has that plasticy smell to it. After 30 minutes- As this fades it goes all baby powder on me. Summery- No go.

First sniff from the bottle- I've been itching to try this one for ages! Here goes nothing...::sniff sniff:: OMGWTF?!? This is the vanilla that is in Antique Lace but mixed with a sugared lemon tea! After 10 minutes- Wait a minute...it disappeared!! Now I smell nothing! Noooooo, come back!! I seriously smell NOTHING now! After 30 minutes- Well poop. Another one I really liked in the wet stage has been eaten by my skin. What a bummer! I can faintly smell something sweet like marshmallows and lemon tea but that is about it. From what I do smell this is really yummy, and a lot like Antique Lace which is one of my favorites! I sure wish I could turn the volume up on it so I can smell it better. *Pouts* Summery-Maybe it is just me. I will give this a try another day and see if I can smell it better

First sniff from the bottle- Mmmm bubblegum! That would be the lotus I smell. After 10 minutes- Now the pear is coming through and it a big green juicy pear! After a few minutes longer the sweet pear smell fades down and the heliotrope comes out making this a much warmer, more womanly scent. After 30 minutes- The fruit and lotus is completely gone and has been replaced by white wine and heliotrope. I do love the smell of sunflowers so this is delightful. It smells of a freshly cut sunflower on the table of a nice restaurant outside on a breezy summer day while sipping white wine. Summery- This one faded really quickly but I like it a lot. The imp is a keeper.

First sniff from the bottle- Pine and juniper. The combo almost makes it smell a bit lemony. After 10 minutes- The vanilla and amber are slowly working their way out. At first I thought the combo of these sweet smells with the forest smells would be nasty, but it is really nice. After 30 minutes- The green smells are fading and now all I can smell is the vanilla/amber. It is the same vanilla smell in Snake Oil. It takes on that generic BPAL sweet vanilla smell as it fades which lasts forever.

First sniff from the bottle- A very faint but sharp kick of ginger After 10 minutes- Huh. I am not sure what to describe this as. There is milk in this which makes it almost undetectable to my nose, but I can make out something akin to Indian tea. Black tea, milk, lots of ginger and something else...I can't put my finger on. Oh wait...I think it is that 'dryer sheets' type smell BPAL uses so much. ::sniff sniff::. Yep. That would be the 'clean linen' I am smelling. This is what I was expecting Sudha Segara to smell like. After 30 minutes- Indian tea and dryer sheets with pepper on top! Summery- This one is actually quite a fascinating smell. I can't stop sniffing it because it is just so...different. I can't decide if I like it or not. I will hang on to the imp and give it another try later.

First sniff from the bottle-Sharp, herbal and masculine. After 10 minutes- I mostly smell the rosemary and pine in this one. In fact it smells just like a fresh sprig of crushed rosemary. After 30 minutes- The rosemary has faded and now this is all pine. It makes me immediately think of Pine O' Pine floor cleaner. Summery- too masculine for me.

First sniff from the bottle- This is very similar to Zephyr which I hated. It smells like the Macy perfume department. After 10 minutes- I straight up hate this. Overtly floral and sharp. It is such a strong floral it burned my nose and made my eyes water. This smells like some old rich lady walking by who has drown herself in WAY too much stinky perfume. After 30 minutes- I had to scrub it off. Must swap asap!

First sniff from the bottle- Fruity dirt. After 10 minutes- When I first sniffed this it was after I had sniffed about 30 other BPAL oils that dreadeddragon brought over for me to try out. I think my nose had had it for the day but I do remember thinking I really liked this one. No surprise there, I love apricot blends! I don't think I detected the patchouli in this from that first whiff though. I don't usually care for patchouli but this one is pretty good. This one goes on all apricots and then settles into the patchouli after 5 minutes or so. After 30 minutes- The thing that I hate about patchouli blends is that as they fade they smell like bug spray on me. This one is no exception. After 30 minutes all I smell is Off Mosquito spray. Summery- I might like this better if I blended it with something else with more fruit in it like Succubus.

First sniff from the bottle- Woh Mama, that's some strong honeysuckle. After 10 minutes- This is a sickeningly sweet floral blend. The honeysuckle is the dominate note with a hint of pear. After 30 minutes- This smells a lot like New Orleans minus the jasmine. This is waaaaaay too floral for me. Summery- Swapola

First sniff from the bottle- Sweet vanilla with a hint of spice. After 10 minutes-This is the same vanilla that is in 'O', Golden Priapus and Old Morocco and a ton of other BPAL blends. It is the vanilla that notoriously turns to play doh on everyone. I like the spice blend in this but I don't like the honey vanilla base scent. It just smells too plastic to me. After 30 minutes- Spiced play doh. Summery- On paper this should have been a favorite of mine. If the vanilla used in it was different like the vanilla in Antique Lace or actual Vanilla Absolute I would like it much better.

First sniff from the bottle- Nutmeg! After 10 minutes- Nutmeg and Sassafras are the dominate notes. It goes on all Nutmeg and slowly sweetens up with the Sassafras and Myrrh coming through. This is a very masculine spicy scent. It makes me think of the burning wood, spiced pies and dead leaves of autumn sans all the sweet vanilla that is usually in the autumn blends. This is what I was expecting Samhain to smell like. After 30 minutes- This is absolutely wonderful. It fades really quickly but you can still detect a faint whiff of spicy autumn. I think this would be a good oil to layer with Gingerbread Poppet or maybe Eggnog to make it more girly. Summery- This one is a keeper.

First sniff from the bottle- Sweet floral After 10 minutes- I must be smelling the cactus flowers in this because it is all floral on me. I get no smoke, no chocolate or candy...just floral. After 30 minutes- I had a quick sniff of this when I first got it. I was expecting this to be very different. It smells like a cross between honeysuckle, gardenia and stephanotis to me....or something like that. It is a pretty scent, but it is just waaaaaay too floral for my taste. Summery- Flowers and I do not get along. Swap city.

First sniff out of the bottle- This smells like black licorice to me. After 10 minutes- Why does this smell like licorice? Except for the musk, I love all the ingredients listed but I don't detect any of them. I want dark chocolate and rum damn it! After 30 minutes- It must be the musk ruining this for me. I despise musks. After the licorice phase this went all musky on me. Yuck yuck yuck. Someone else described this as smelling like wet dog. I wouldn't go that far, it doesn't quite smell like that but it is a strong 'animalistic' scent. This is a wash off. Summery- Swapping asap!

First sniff from the bottle- I smell olive juice and lime so there must be oakmoss in this. After 10 minutes- This has some of the same notes as Jolly Rodger and Bayou. It must be cypress and oakmoss...and the same dead dry leaf note as in Hunter Moon and Samhain. After 30 minutes- Dead leaves and old tree moss. This is very masculine. Summery- No go. Too dry and masculine for me.

First sniff from the bottle- Black current which smells kind of like the spicy wine in Madrid. After 10 minutes- This is a really complex blend! I am getting black current blended with equal amounts of the cereus and black orchid and just a hint of spice from the laudanum. The spice is subtle...in the background. After 30 minutes- As it fades the myrrh and cypress come out more. It does smell similar to Madrid to me, but I like Madrid better. The black current is still the dominate note. Summery- I like this a lot. It's like a cross between Madrid and Hunter Moon.

First sniff from the bottle- MMmmmm....pure LEATHER. After 10 minutes- Leather! This smell's like the Wilson's leather store! I was afraid to try this at first because it has red musk in it, which I despise. Either I don't smell it or it is blended so well it is not offending my nose like it usually does. The amber and myrrh are in the background. Not too strong. The amber plays with the leather and makes this just a bit more sweet than the other leather blends. Like a feminine leather as opposed to the masculine leather in Jolly Rodger. After 30 minutes- I liked this enough that I slathered myself in it before the husband and I went out last night. I held my wrist up for him to smell me, thinking I was all sexy smellin'.......and he HATED it. I got vetoed! He wrinkled his nose up and said "Ewwww! What is that? You really like that smell??! You smell like rank baby powder!" I had to wash it off. He hated it that much. Summery- Loviatar, I loved you but my man hates you. Sorry to say we cannot be friends. I am keeping the imp though. Maybe I can blend it with something else to make it less offensive to my sweetie's nose.