blu°

I don't know whether it's been mentioned already, but Ouija reminds me very much of Lush's Softy Bath Ballistic.

First this is a hardly perceptable, slightly powdery, pink cosmetics scent, a little bit vintage, maybe. Then bright slightly bitter roses, plus other florals. The florals combine for a nice and fresh glowing scent in the background of what elsewise is a dry woody ethereal blend. Rosewood especially tends to go super-dry and powdery on my skin. Tiffy, the neighbour's cat, seemed to like the scent because she was really flirting with me today when normally she never gets close. For my own taste, I think this is a little to light and bright and sharp maybe. I also have major problems in becoming aware of the scent at all, as its so typically along the lines of cosmetic products which I blame the rosewood for. It's not entirely boring or commercial smelling, though. There's this vintage vibe with it, and actually there's some sweetness from the flowers coming out later on me, rounding the whole scent out, taking away some of the dustiness. I think it's strong, too, without me noticing, but when wearing this while being with people some hours ago, I ever once in a while got quite heavy whiffs of Ouija, and ended up wondering whether it could be bothering for the others. Noone's said anything, though. Ouija actually reminds me of Lush's Softy Ballistic a little bit. It's a little bit dryer maybe and the ylang ylang is missing and replaced by blue-ish clear fresh florals. After a while Ouija softens quite a bit, getting more round, the freshness of the florals sadly doesn't seem to last for very long. Underneath I can detect a note that I think I recognize vaguely as oak. It gives a bit of a backbone to this ethereal, dusty blend, and feels dark golden brown like maybe a massive heavy table where the people participating in the Ouija thingy are gathered at. There's also something slightly citrussy in this. It's on the edge of turning too soapy and dry, but then something natural and real smelling manages to peak through the dust. I'm not sure, I'd wear this often, but I'll keep an imp around for a while.

I've never reviewed Aureus, but it's been among my very favourite bpal scents ever since I first tried it. When in the beginning of my bpal addiction I tried out all those resinous scents looking for Lush's Middle Earth equivalents, I was a bit disappointed by the heavier, more molassy resin scents like Penitence, Sloth, etc. Aureus however, was instant love. It's somehow silky and smooth, not molassy and dark, rather light and woodsy. Golden is a good adjective, too. It's never plain but maintaining a deep complexity, and it lasts really long, too, unlike Umbra, which was lovely, but super-short-lived. I agree to what has been said, that this is a universally good scent that can be used in any way thinkable. I haven't worn it in a while with all the new scents to try all the time, but Miss Lynx's review just made me remember my precious 5ml of Aureus and I'm sure gonna wear it these days again.

This is the 2005 version which I bought off a lovely forumite after having realized that I love Midnight Mass and Rose Cross and that this might be a mixture of both. However, I don't like it that much as it's a bit heavy on the cassia, gardenia and myrrh. In the bottle: Clearly roses, but a bit gloomy somehow. Wet on skin: Gloomy roses. The gloominess seems to come from the gardenia. I don't like gardenia too much and had hoped it would be less perceptible. This is very floral, I can hardly detect any resin. Ok, there seems to be the frankincense, and myrrh, yes. Something slightly alcoholy, like vodka, like someone said, as in Midnight Mass. However, the resins are a bit weak. The rose is clear but a bit watery, soaked, sponge-d, it almost smells like narcissus. I'm strongly reminded of Darkness now, maybe because of the myrrh. It's just like Darkness with rose added. I think this might not be for me. Definitely not love at first sniff. Now there's developing some fruity note. Berry fruity. That may be due to cassia mixing with roses. After 10 minutes: I just had this nice whiff of it that I really enjoyed. Somehow fruity-red, berry-sweet, really nice. Oooohhh! It's just starting to bloom now. Cassia and roses and frankincense. A slightly burnt smell with that, but nice. A bit later I do get a slightly dry-powdery-dusty effect à la Alone, that makes me a bit queasy. Will have to see how this develops within the next hour. Somehow this is just not me, I'm afraid. It doesn't smell like old lady per se, but makes me think of one nevertheless. Don't know why. Maybe it's just not good on my skin, or I just don't like gardenia at all. It's got quite some throw. Not entirely disagreeable. It does combine quite well with Lush's Gratuitious Violets soap, but it really is something I'd never wear, I even only have the soap for curiosity and don't really like violets neither. To sum it up, I don't fancy this very much. It's a bit victorian, a bit old lady-ish, and the spice from cassia. I have the feeling I don't like cassia, neither. It feels weird on me. I seem to amp it up badly and it's apparently doing something to my sinuses, as they feel strange now. I get quite a similar feel from it as from rosewood scents. Rosewood being one more component that I react badly, too. I don't like to smell it, not in vials, not on me, not sure about other people's skin, might be better. This is going to be swapped.

Whoa! Dragon's Blood! And incense! Probably patchouli, but I'm having major problems identifying patchouli lately, so that's just a guess, really. Goes on quite sharp-ly incensey, then turns into something a bit softer and some smoky musk appears, maybe mixed with some amber. It's sort of smokey-powdery-incensey now, but never warm or sweet or cloyingly strong. It stays metallic and cool, but sexy. It's a bit similar to Sin, but cooler and less loud, more gloomy and somehow plain but with a structure (smoke). It's a very nice scent, that sure will wear well over a longer time. I like it. It's incensey and mysterious but not overly strong and biting as Sin. There's not too much musk in the Cracked Bell, neither. It's head-shoppy in a nice way, a bright high-pitched sharpish incense mixture, that is rather airy as opposed to earthy. It feels like a second-skin scent and seems to be quite light wearing, but I bet the throw of this is not little and I just don't notice it. The musk/amber is getting stronger now, but always kept airy by some ozone note that others have mentioned, too. So, basically the Cracked Bell is one of the incensey-headshoppy scents to me, similar to Sin, Blood Amber, etc.. It's lighter, though, more airy and metallic, and I quite like it. Close to the skin it doesn't go to strong for snuggling. For a scent so incensey it transmits a surprisingly natural feel. I guess, this is a very attractive scent, as it's confusing and interesting and people might be drawn closer out of curiosity and fascination. I'm HAPPY to own a 5ml of this.

Oh, well, it's probably component issues we're looking at here. As far as my re-testing my Wanda bottle, I have to admit, that all the positive things I found in it again were probably wishful thinking. If I sniff my wrist, that vinegar note is still there and I smelled it several times wafting up to me as well. Remember, I only applied very little, so it's not too nauseating right now. There must've been a change in the ingredients late in autumn last year. I don't have the imp from before around anymore, so I cannot compare the two directly, but I remember I loved the imp scent right away without hesitating a moment to order a bottle of it. I'd really like to swap this bottle away but am afraid people would feel betrayed if they know the scent from imps or former bottles. I guess I'll just make decants from it to include as frimps in other swaps. In your case, if the time the order arrived is not so long ago, I'd probably try to get an exchange for it. Myself, I had that bottle for almost two months now and wouldn't feel good about trying to get a replacement now.

oops, I edited my post before reading sookster's reply. I still think the second DN is closer to Samhain than to the other DN bottle, but it's good to know that variation within one LE scent is possible. Thank you for the explanation, sookster!

Just noticed my two bottles of Devil's Night do differ quite a lot, too. I bought both of them from forumites and think it's really weird how they aren't quite the same. One is pretty exactly like what my decant smelled like, spicy, smokey booze notes (cognac, whiskey or the like) and musks. The other one seems to most prominently feature a cider/wine note. It resembles Día de los Muertos or even Wanda. The notes in this are more detached from each other, they don't seem to be blended so well. It's sugary, but more in a Día de los Muertos way. There is a bourbon or something underneath but that's a bit far away from the rest of the scent. I get something tart, that especially reminds me of Día. I always thought those were cereus notes. This version doesn't seem to have a lot of musk in it, neither. ??? It's hard to believe that with LE's there are such extreme differences in different batches from the lab. Are there different batches for LE's at all, apart from the ones that are revived each year? Not sure, but it might be that the different scents from my imp and the other bottle to this weird bottle are due to the imp and first bottle having aged a little. The bottle with the "good" scent hadn't been as full as the one with the weird scent, so it had been tested, opened. The decanted imp, too, had by process of decanting been exposed to air and light and all. I'd have to check that second bottle again later to see if aging changes the scent. I do remember that there have been reviews of DN that mentioned cider as a note and that I was baffled as I didn't get that at all from my decant, so it might well be a "normal" variation. It's weird though. Editing to say that the "weird" bottle doesn't smell all that bad in the end. It is a pleasant smell by itself, just really different to the other one. A lot less masculine to me with less musk and smoke, and more tart, fruit notes. Editing again: Just thought, that second bottle does smell like Samhain. I know, I'm changing my mind for the n-th time now, but scent perception is such a tricky kitty, you all know that. I only have a decant of the 04 version of Samhain around, so maybe this bottle is a mislabeled 05 version of Samhain. The weird DN is a lot more similar to the Samhain 04 than to the other DN bottle. I think this is the best explanation. Anybody else got bottles of DN that were really close to Samhain?

I have a 5ml of Wanda, that I received with a lab order on december 19th and that smells weird to me. From the imp I really liked the scent, but I had only ever tried it once or twice. It was a rich, slightly bitter, slightly sharpish, smokey wine note that I enjoyed a lot. From since I got the bottle, I never wore it much, but when I tried the other day, I got this really vinegar-y, herbal, pungent smell from it, that was just awful. I had to wash it off. I then thought that this might be a hormone/time of the month issue, especially as there is myrtle involved and I remembered to have read something around that topic about myrtle. But anytime I open the bottle, I get the same vinegar-y smell from it. I haven't tried it again yet, as just sniffing the bottle I feel repulsed by the strong vinegar-ness of it. What's changed about your Wanda? If you get the vinegar scent as well, maybe there is something wrong with recent batches. (?) The wine note going sour or something.(???) ETA: I'm just testing this again. I applied very sparingly from the rim on my left wrist. First it's all old vinegar again, like a salad bowl you leave dirty for some days because you're too lazy to do the washing up straight away. Old balsamico. Somehow I can see how this perception is due to the wine and leather intemingling. Once it settles, the scent widens, like the components gaining space to seperate from each other and develop into their true selves. I still get a hint of vinegar, if I think of it. Some clever person on the forums some time said something along the lines of this before. Like, if once you think that scent x smells like y, you'll stick to this association subconsciously and won't perceive anything else but y. So, now that the spot of Wanda on my wrist has dried, if I try not to think "vinegar", I can smell the wine note which is rich and deep and the leather which is airy and high, and the flowers raising above that. The throw is delicious, floral and fruity without being cloying. I really get the florals in the throw of it. If sniffing my wrist like two centimetres above skin, I get the wine and leather and a little bit of floral, something sweet. If I stick my nose right to my wrist it's vinegar again. In the end I think that the difference might be between imp and bottle. Not sure why that should be though. Maybe because there's more perfume, it'll smell more intense to the point of inrecognizability (is this English?). mmcfa2, did you have a bottle of Wanda before? My imp had been fresh from the lab I received it on 1st of October 2005.

Huh? Straight on this seems like pure sandalwood to my nose. Then a eucalyptusy-mentholy edge turns up and the two intermingle. I'm strongly reminded of my stay in Italy some years ago when I was using essential oils reading cards all the time, I think it's eucalyptus that I was using a lot then. I can see how people got rice pudding from this, as it is indeed very creamy and a little peppery, warmthening a whole lot the longer it's on my skin. I can't smell neither roses nor vetiver though. Wolfsbane to me is primarily woods, probably cedar, maybe sandalwood, maybe pine and eucalyptus (is this a wood, too?). Warmthening, that creaminess in the background becomes a little similar to the feeling of marzibain, but only a little, and only in texture. Wolfsbane is quite a sweet scent on me. Like sweet eucalyptus and wood. Though there doesn't seem to happen a lot more than that, I quite like it. Maybe I'm biased because of how it reminds me of Italy, but it smells generally mediterranean to me. Rather dry grasses and woods growing on dusty sunbaked earth than something you'd find in a more northern, deep green, wet and mossy forest. As people have already compared it to Cosmic Dreamcatcher, I want to add that CD gives me that feeling of mediterranean woods, herbs and earth, too. I wouldn't call this a masculine scent at all, neither a feminine. It's perfectly gender neutral and unusual as a perfume. It doesn't really smell like perfume. Rather like something therapeutic, or a room scent. On me, it's developing this weird sweetness and I'm still undecided whether I'm ok with that or not.

I've been in love with Geek for some months now, but somehow never posted a review. I do keep track and write reviews in an excel sheet though, so I can copy & paste: "Masculine, along the lines of Kweku Anansi (which is a favourite of mine), green and grassy and somehow dark. Am gonna try, but this might be too masculine. Sniffing the rim, Geek is warm and sweet... As soon as it hits my skin, I'm reminded something from Lush. Opoponax? Sex Bomb? A shop? Sniffing close where I dabbed it on: Huu! Sharp! Leather, opoponax, pine needles, yes... interesting. It is masculine, but not unwearable for me. Somehow christmassy, But also spicy and mysterious. A little bit ethereal. Nice. Reminds me strongly of something from Lush. Middle Earth? World Piece? So, Geek is green, but deliciously spicy and warm, too. Not the adstringent-biting green. I'm very enthusiastic about this during the first couple of minutes wearing. Nice fragrance. At some time I get something almost citrussy; might be the cedar? Next day: Geek is gorgeous. It's definitely becoming a favourite. At some point I get that Brimstone note (eucalyptus-vanilla) with it, too. The Opoponax in Geek is slightly feminine to me, altogether I'd call the scent neutral, though. Not too masculine at all. Christmas time, a cozy warm home, the traditional all saints fair of my hometown. I found this initial impression confirmed wearing it more often over time. It's a highly delicious blend, a bit similar to Greed, too, in that it's so earthy and green but also really warm. You can really smell the patchouli in this. Great scent." Please bear in mind that this is a review I wrote for myself primarily, so it's probably not very elaborate. Thought, I post it nevertheless. One more word: Geek is one of those scents that'll stick forever in your clothes. I have this sweater that i only wear at home and it had been smelling of Geek for ages after I once used it while wearing that sweater. This is a really good thing, as Geek for me is a scent that goes perfectly with comfortable homey clothing. Blissful.

I tried this some days ago, and this is what I put down after having worn it the whole day long: Wow! This is good! That's like a total surprise once again, as it has honey AND skin musk! I really thought I just couldn't do those at all. But Bengal is lovely. Very musky and honeyish, but nevertheless pleasant. I just cannot get over the surprise factor it carries for me. It's warm, spicy and soft. Really nice. I don't seem to be able to describe it, though. It's definitely delicious. It's sexy, too. Not overly spiced like some other spicy blends, but mellowed out and softened with the honey and musk. I just reapplied and the cinnamon peeks through after reapplication. It's somehow foody but not too sweet and I can't but repeat that I like it a lot. I will have to wear it more often to see if this reaction is a constant one. I'm still baffled as I don't usually dig spicy scents, nor honey, nor skin musk.

Sniffing the wand of my imp, I get something that resembles Lush jasmine products. Rather Fairy Jasmine than Flying Fox. Maybe Sex Bomb. It's mixed with herbs and something dusty-woody, though. After application: Hmmmm... incensey jasmine. Very warm, complex, sparkling. There's structure in this, like smoke and dewdrops or something like that. The flowers are getting a sharp edge now. It winds up into a gardenia heavyness and sweetness, that I do not like too much. I rarely am alright with gardenia in strong doses. I'm still positive, though, that this will disappear on drydown. Hopefully. Right now, it doesn't look like it would. Will have to wait. Just now, heavy honeyish-sweet flowers have taken over. 15 minutes: The waft of Crossroads is quite nice. Smoky, incensey, mossy. I think I officially am in love with moss. Sniffing my wrist, I still get that heavy, spicy gardenia winding up my sinuses. Nevertheless, something about the waft is indeed extremely delicious. Probably the combination of moss and incense and those florals. I don't really get the loamy dirt or anything Graveyard Dirt alike from it. I'm wondering how Crossroads might work diluted with jojoba. Maybe that would mellow the sharp gardenia a bit. Drying this gets a lot more pleasant just as I had thought it would. After initial skin contact it warmthens and gets stronger, but then shortly afterwards it turns softer again, the earthy and smokey notes take over and it turns into something definitely wearable. A very soft, slightly sweet, smokey-dreamy floral. And it is similar to Sex Bomb somehow. Definitely nice. Strangely, my left wrist seems to smell less floral than my right one. The scent if sniffed from 1-2 centimetres distance from the spot where I put it, now is just gorgeous. Very bewitching, seductive and dreamy. I really like this and will definitely keep it. Will have to try more to decide upon a possible bottle purchase. However, I can very well imagine myself feeling roundabout well wearing this more often. Comparing my impressions with some of the other reviews, this scent seems to be so very different depending on individual scent perception and skin compatibility issues. I'm amazed by that. As an example: On me this isn't a cool scent at all. I rather get the sunbaked earth feeling some other reviewers described. Very warm and sunny. The earth is not wet nor is anything about the scent aquatic on me. It's dusty and dry and sunny with the flowers completely dissolved and intermingled with the incense and herbs. ETA: about nine hours later: This reminds me of two other BPAL blends, Greed and Oneiroi. It most resembles Greed when dry, because then the moss, which renders that sunbaked earth feeling, is the most prominent. Now, I just reapplied over the rest of the former application which was still noticeable, and immediately thought of Oneiroi. That pleasant strangely fiery scent in it, like burnt sweet wood or sweet herby incense smoldering.

I really like the boozey spiciness of this. It's similar to what I get from blends that have rum or bay rum listed in the ingredients, and suits my skin much better than any "real" spices. When fresh it almost has an almond-y feel to it which then mellows down, mingling with the smoke and wood and sweet musk. The musk to me seems to be a mixture of various musks including white musk and probably red one. But I don't know the single notes very well and wouldn't be sure about that. It's rather sweet and soft smelling. It's not the kind that gives me a headache, which I had feared it would be. I can't for the sake of my life wear Scherezade in any greater amount than a small dab on my belly. Same is true for Thanatopsis, Czernobog and the like. Must be the black musk that triggers the headache. With the musk in DN, I don't get the "old man" association, that others have mentioned, at all and generally this doesn't seem to be overtly masculine to me. It even has some slightly fruity-ish high-pitched something in the background that feels rather feminine. In this aspect I'd compare DN to Nocnitsa, not that they smelled anything alike but both manage to feel like extremely unusual feminine blends that might as well suit a guy. That said, this is a very comforting and cozy blend. It has quite some throw, but it's a warm and smokey, subdued one. I can see a similarity to Miskatonic U in the booze notes and maybe some of the wood that seems to be hiding in DN. But whereas Miskatonic U was insanely buttery and sweet to me, this is just nice. No butter, no cream, not too much sugar. There is a slightly foody aspect, but it's well blended with the airy smokey notes. The wood notes in here remind me of Gaueko as well, so I guess there might be sandalwood, maybe the same blackened kind. Would make sense if blackened stands for burnt. Because what I get is a burnt wood, similar to how someone else described it above, I think it was cuervosueno. Burnt sweet wood or the smoke of that lingering on cloth. It's warmer though than smoke lingering on cloth. I immediately after trying this yesterday searched swaps for unwanted bottles of this and now have two arrangements for two bottles made. I want to add that there's a lot of snow this year here, it's almost a fairy-tale winter, glittering white snow everywhere that stays and doesn't turn into grey mud straight away, frosty and chilly with a couple of sunny days when the snow would glisten even more. Devil's Night is THE perfect scent for this year's winter. I would be wishing for spring usually at this time of the year, but now I might as well be happy with winter lasting a bit longer so I could enjoy this gorgeous combination a bit longer. ETA: I now have the two bottles I had bought from forumites and while one of them smells just like my imp, the second one is completely different and rather resembles Samhain 04 than the first DN bottle. I think both are original BPAL blends, especially as so many of the above reviews seem to describe that second bottle, while others are a perfect description of the first. To sum it up: DN #1: booze (whiskey, cognac, rum, etc.), smoke and musk. It's a "brown-grey" scent. Very airy but boozey-spicey and sugared. There's a minimal fruit note to it, but veeeerry light. DN #2: booze (apple cider, wine), cinnamon, light musks, hint of smoke. I find the first version to be completely unlike my Samhain 04 decant, whilst the other one is almost spot on. If anything, it smells "greener" and more sparkling than Samhain 04. I haven't smelled Samhain 05 so I can't tell whether the DN #2 is a mislabeled bottle, but as noone above mentioned a possible identity while indeed recognizing a resemblance, I think it really just is a version. I'm perplexed by the extreme difference between the two bottles of DN, though.

This is a bearded lady. Completely true to the concept. It's by no way close to a drag queen. It's a woman with such strong testosterone, anything about her smells womanly strong, and looks like that, I see hairy cheeks with extra-bold pink blusher applied to them and a musty scarf/veil that she uses for effect. Amazing. Unfortunately this morning I was a bit easy handed with the imp and quite slathered without thinking. Before going to work. Quite uncomfortable. I might try this again very carefully on a weekend. Not this weekend though.

This starts out slightly green and leathery, a little bit cologney. As it dries a dusty note takes over and turns the whole scent into this very dense and dusty something, ever so slightly reminiscent of the mineral-ness of Alone. More than that, this when dry (especially in its throw which seems to be gigantic) resembles the scent of an Yves Rocher powdery foundation my mother used to have when I was a child. It's a scent I immediately associate with cosmetics/make up products, if a little bit on the masculine side because of the leathery note. I can't quite isolate any of the ingredients, really. There is sth slightly yellow-green-fruity-ish, a very leathery something which I can't really place. There's the diffused-ness of lavender without me being able to smell lavender as such. Finally there's the dry dusty phase which I think is mainly cared for by the sandalwood and maybe vetiver. Very dry and dusty on me. I think I'll swap this imp, but might give it another try first.

White exotic (well, to me they are) lush florals with a 70es thing to them. Mostly gardenia. Somehow this makes me think "Florida". Never been there, mind you, except a very short stay at Miami airport, which this gladly doesn't smell like. Don't worry. It's not that bad. However, it's very 70es, or maybe 80es, something an auntie or a neighbour's lady would have worn when I was young. It reminds me of the clothes ladies around 50 would have worn in places like Miami beach in the 80es. Pastel colours and printed flowers. Gigantic sunglasses. On my skin the florals turn extremely sweet and cloying, I had a headache before but this made it worse, I think. While I love many florals, this one doesn't quite do it for me. I'm not a gardenia lover, that's probably why. The funeral association made for some creepy effects for me on hovering over into sleep last night. When I rubbed my feet against each other, I had this weird idea of how they would feel when I'd died (well, er...), like if they were decomposing... It was really freaking me out quite a bit, hallucinating I was being a corpse in a coffin. : makes a note not to test new blends before going to bed : However, this is not a bad scent per se, it doesn't smell like corpses. It does smell of heavy florals used in funerals. They are probably that heavy to cover whatever might smell of corpse at a funeral. If you like gardenia and heavy white florals in general, this might be lovely for you. It might even smell a lot better on you. Some florals tend to go insanely sweet on my skin. I want to add that I seem to detect white musk in this, as in most "white, light floral"-blends. Maybe this is what some perceived as a slight incense note. That would make sense, as musks seem to be so highly chemistry-dependent and some didn't smell anything incensey at all.

Wore this today and whilst it's a lovely scent that doesn't have any component I dislike, and isn't annoying or offputting in the least, it's not something I enjoy wearing as a perfume very much. It's just way to light and fresh and lemony for my tastes. I, too, have the feeling that it doesn't last especially long on me.

Received this in a swap today. I'm so very positively surprised by this one, as usually I can't stand neither myrrh nor violet in great quantities. However, in WoA, both seem to be relatively light and well tempered by maybe each other or the woody notes. To me this is greyish-brownish-violety-ashy. Very much wings, yes. Of a death angel, dark violet greyish colour and similar to bats' wings really. It's quite dusty and woody and with some sweetness underneath from the violets and lily of the valley. On me (having my period, so I'm not sure, it'll be the same next week) this doesn't turn soapy at all, but rather gains warmth as it's drying. I think it's the myrrh (which is usually kicked by my skin) and maybe the cajeput (don't really know what that smells like). This slightly reminds of the Rat King, because of it's dustiness, but no musk here, and WoA is quite richer and sweeter in scent. It feels very comforting.

This to me starts with a strong jasmine-scented Chinese green tea-note. Slightly bitter and tangy. Must be the orange blossom/neroli. There's lavender in the background and some prickliness that must be the citrus, but I can't really identify anything fruity. Just prickly, fizzy lemonade, but not lemony lemonade, if that makes sense. Or fizzy candy. This is not very sweet, though. Santa Eulària is a fresh, bubbling, clean, happy sort of fragrance to me. The jasmine is definitely more tea-like than in any other BPAL I've tried so far, but as I said, that might be the combination with Neroli in the end. I've tested this first some days ago and worn it throughout the day today and I keep recognizing notes. The first time I didn't get no lavender at all, but today I can smell it strongly in the background. The scent is really nice btw. It's considerably brighter and cleaner than my usual preferences, but I like it. It's interesting, too, as I think I might keep detecting more components on further occasions when I wear this. A very summery, bright and light, natural fragrance IMO. Not cloying or heady at all. It doesn't last especially long on my skin, but reapplying is fun with this as it gives new sparkly bursts of scent.

You're welcome.

I'm still into the jasmine research. Mainly because I was wondering if officinalis was the same as grandiflorum and whether I was mixing them up. I did confuse some things as I can see now. There's this great online shop for rare plants and seeds. You really get ALL kinda things there. They are not far from where I live and I'm planning to go there with a friend in April when they open again after winter's break. However, I looked up "jasmine" on their page and got 18 entries for jasmines and jasmine alikes. As I have way to many urgent things to care for and can't quite possibly cope with any of them tonight, I might as well translate* some flower's descriptions for the BPAL people. (* I'll not literally translate the explanations from the website, but just extract some facts rather telegraph style. I'll leave out what I don't understand, not being an educated gardener.) They have three "real" jasmines (jasminum): French Jasmine (j. officinalis), Arabian Jasmine (j. sambac),and Chinese Tea-Jasmine (j. grandiflorum) French Jasmine (Französischer Jasmin, j. officinalis) - winter suited jasmine with typical white scented blossoms - cultivated iin southern France in the area around Grasse (perfume production) - essential oil is gathered by "enfleurage" (Enfleurage involves spreading fresh blossoms over cleansed fat (e.g. olive oil). The blossoms, which are exchanged for fresh ones on a daily plan, will pass their scent continually to the fat. 4 Similarly, "huile antique au jasmin" is won by squeezing a linen cloth, that had been soaked in olive oil and blossoms spread across it. In 19th century jasmine syrup was praised as an excellent medicine against colds and other respiration problems. To get jasmine syrup alternate layers of blossoms and sugar, cover with humid cloth and keep in a cool place. You should try jasmine butter, too. Arabian and Chinese jasmine can be used in the same way.) Arabian Jasmin (Arabischer Jasmin, j. sambac) - different from the known jasmine this one has thick, heart-shaped, leathery leaves. - looks and is more robust than known jasmine - blossoms: used as jasmine tea flavour and as a spice; bigger and stronger scented than known jasmine. Spanish Jasmine, Chinese Tea-Jasmine (Chinesischer Teejasmin, j. grandiflorum) - Many blossoms, petals, similar to French jasmine, are delicately seperated from each other ("delicately parted"?) - used to flavour green tea together with other jasmines. Night-blooming jasmine and star jasmine are featured, too. Night-Blooming Jasmine (Nachtjasmin, cestrum nocturnum) - bush from the familie of Solanaceae which blooms primarily at night and in the evening - many small bright-yellow scented blossoms Star jasmine (Sternjasmin, trachelospermum jasminoides) - climbing bush-like plant, common in South France, with very small but bountiful star-shaped blossoms, which emanate a one-of-its kind mixture of jasmine, nutmeg and clove/carnations (same word in German, really not sure which one they are talking about here). - very dark, intensive scent compared to real jasmine Yellow Jessamine, Carolina Jessamine (Gelber Jasmin, Falscher Jasmin, gelsemium sempervirens) - stems from America - yellow blossoms that emanate a clear, fresh scent. - poisonous, psychoactive, medical (in small doses, not today) - paralyzing while consciousness remains until death - the aztecs are said to have used this plant in so-called divine judgements. ("God" decides by making the accused survive a drink from this root or die from it.) Night-flowering jasmine, tree-of-sorrow, tree-of-sadness, arbor tristis, lovers' tree, sad tree (Indischer Nachtjasmin, nyctanthes arbor-tristis) - tropical bush with tiny white blossoms that are strongly scented and are used to make perfume. - usage in Indian medicine: rheuma, temperature, malaria, hepatitis, menstruational problems, ekzema, ... They mention other flowers that smell similar to jasmine. For example: Japanese Honeysuckle (Japanisches Geißblatt, lonicera japonica) - stems from China and Japan, often seen in South France. - white-pale yellow blossoms with intensive tea-jasmine scent - easy to grow, leaves and blossoms used as medicine (pain-killer, infections) So far. I really wonder how much this site is to be trusted, though I think they look trustworthy, but just googling for English names I found quite some contradictions. First, on one page it is claimed that the French perfume jasmine cultivation in Grasse uses grandiflorum and not officinalis. Second: I just arrived at Wikipedia and they say: Jasmine sambac is the National Flower of Philippines and there it's called Sampaguita. (???) Well, they also say, that star jasmine is a jasminum, which I trust the other site to have the correct latin name for. OMG, I'm finding more sites and more different opinions on classifying jasmines: An Indian site says oficinalis and grandiflorum are equal. A quite extensive Spanish site says that Sambac is not a jasminum but a nycthantes. I'm done, I'll give up now. Don't trust any information about Jasmine. Forget all that you've just read. Ask [insert personal deity preference] for help on this.

HEEEY! That's so cool, you're still here! I edited my post and put what an idiot I was to reply to a post from september. I had only read that it was that old after sending off my own post. Wow. Glad, I could be of help. I did some more research in my BPAL archives: Moroccan Jasmine is in Urania and in The Perfumed Garden. Star jasmine is in Salomé and Sophia (both of which I love). It's also in Black Dahlia and The Bearded Lady (both of which I don't know). This makes it a little harder to pass on the Lupercalia update. And indicates hunting for The Bearded Lady, which I really wasn't interested in at all before this.

ETA: I'm such an idiot, I just replied to a post from september. Errhem. Well, it might be of help for someone. Here it goes: You could always try other blends that have night-blooming jasmine (people say it's not really jasmine, but actually "jessamine", another floral). I liked Nyx, too, but don't always get along with night-blooming jasmine, as it tends to be soapy (to me). I though Nyx was still nice and warm because of the myrrh and rose. But I was going to post something on jasmine. Yes. Jasmine. So, first hit googling for jasmine sambac (once had an EO of this), says: "Jasmine Sambac (Arabian jasmine, jasminum sambac) is more musky and spicy than the Jasmine Absolute. Jasmine grandiflorum is softer, more gentle and floral than Jasmine Sambac, which is more mysterious and exotic. Jasmine grandiflorum is more widely known and is frequently found in gardens all over the world. It blooms in the early dawn, whereas Jasmine Sambac blooms at night." Ok, now, I hadn't read that part with "...blooms at night." before. Further googling: The night-blooming jasmine (cestrum nocturnum) is a different one, and doesn't seem to be of the same plant family. There seems to be a bunch of different fragrant plants that are somehow called jasmine but aren't real jasmine. Considering the jasmine types Beth uses, I remember to have read four different names: jasmine: I guess this will be jasmine grandiflorum, it smells like the jasmine tea is scented with. Like in Santa Eulària des Riu. Crisp, dusty, a little bit like tea, similar to mimosa maybe. night-blooming jasmine: This to me is a tad soapy and lily-ish, but maybe I'm confused because the scents had lilies as well. star jasmine: Not sure I remember whether I identified this in Salomé ever. I like Salomé alright, so... There was nothing soapy. This seems to be somewhat softer than the night-blooming jas and probably isn't a jasmine by the book neither. Moroccan jasmine: This is listed as an ingredient for The Muses: Urania. I've ordered an imp and am highly curious whether Beth's Moroccan jasmine is a sambac. Gone to read reviews for Urania.

This goes on floral, sweet, slightly herby, almost fruity, too. Fruity? Oh, that's a nice tart floral, high pitched and high in the nostrils but light and sweet. I think I can smell the bourbon and bay rum. I definitely do smell graveyard dirt. This reminds me of something. Probably something from Lush. It's funny how this is fizzy. I wonder why. Probably the rum with the moss and flowers. It's almost citrus-like. This is a very gentle scent. It's not cloying or heavy or anything to to at all! I think this reminds me of Tramp. A little bit. And of that green ballistic, what's its name... Avobath! These don't have much in common regarding ingredients, but something strikes me as being similar, something about the fizziness of both. I do like this a lot. It's very gender-neutral, rather herbal and green. The magnolia is there and adds a funeral feeling, the dirt note is most delicious in this. It's a very clean dirt. I give this a 6 out of 7 now, but might change my mind as I've only been wearing this for about 15 minutes now. After some time, this gets very light (sadly). I don't seem to get a lot of Bourbon, but I think the Bay Rum is still with me. I also still get the citrus fizziness and a lot of green warmth. Underneath all there's still a hint of dusty dirt and spice. The scent of the florals has fused with everything else and is not distinguishable any more. I still think this smells like Avobath. Hold on now, something just smelled sour, like a very green but rotting rucola salad or something. Sniff again. No. Everything's fine. This is dusty and spicy and herbal and green and good. I guess this needs further testing - long run and at various times of month to decide whether it's bottle-worthy for me. Editing for the n-th time: Ok. The spot on the crook of my arm where I put it (especially on the left side) has a very very slight sourness, that's almost vinegar-y, but doesn't really persist throughout the time. I only get it every once in a while and when I sniff and sniff again, it's gone. However the spots just underneath my wrists are fine. To me it looks as if the warmth of the crooks of my arms kicks up the aquatic notes, the greenness and tangy citrus-vibe in this whereas below my wrists the scent is spicier and dustier. I won't edit again before three days have passed now or this post might really get out of control.