anmorata

Blood Kiss: Blood Kiss had the most incredible description. It sounded perfect. Sadly, I don't know if there's something going on with my body chemistry today or not (I was sick last week, and I'm still on antibiotics), but Blood Kiss went on wonderfully fruity/cherry-clove, and ended up smelling like amber. Amber and I do not get along whatsoever, so this was quite horrific. I plan on giving Blood Kiss another try at a later date, and hope that it doesn't do this again.

Eclipse: Wet: Smells like cherry cough syrup. Drydown: nicely vanilla, resin scents coming up but are barely recognizable. Cinnamon is definitely detectable. Not quite the cinnamon-y delight I was hoping for, but it's not bad. I'd wear it again. Edit, 3/20/05: I had to give Eclipse another try. Wet: still smells like.. Luden's cough drops. Drydown: Cherry goes away.. and this develops into a cinnamon-y, vanilla rum goodness. Longterm wear: Eclipse definitely loses its staying power after an hour or so, but for the time I've got it, it's great. I think I might try this one as a lotion.

Jack: OMG. I am in love. Jack turns into a sweet pumpkin chai tea on my skin. I absolutely love it. I'm pretty good with foody smells, and Jack does not disappoint. It doesn't fade, doesn't change, and I keep sniffing my wrists as it just smells Oh. So. Good.

Nero: This is, quite possibly, the least-liked BPAL scent I have tested. It's all super-strong pine on me. No lemon whatsoever. It also manifests a slight ammonia smell with my body chemistry. Eww. I think I'll pass.

Whip is pure, heady rose on me. Like others, I can't smell anything in the imp, but I can sure smell the rose when it's on my skin. The leather notes hide, and I can only smell distant hints of leather. I'm not a huge rose fan, so Whip is not for me. Into the swap pile it goes!

I had a very similar experience to Madame Nyx with Blood Countess. Upon application, I was thrilled to smell the dark plum notes immediately coming up. However, within 10 minutes, Blood Countess turned to a slightly spicy floral with just the tiniest hint of plum. I normally dislike florals.. however, this particular scent really works for me. The longer I wear it, the more I like it. I do believe this will be a 5ml or 10ml on my next order.

Bordello: I wasn't sure I'd like this scent, given the description. It hadn't really come to mind until some items I'd purchased from another forum member showed up in my mailbox, with a small decant of Bordello as a gift. In the imp, this scent is strong.. a very strong amaretto smell, which inevitably brings to mind the thought of cherries. I smell a definite berry undertone (the currant, perhaps?), though I can't pinpoint if it's cherries or even a faint memory of a much-beloved strawberry-scented oil I'd had as child. On my skin, Bordello turns into a pure Crème caramel. Sweet yet lusciously tempting. The berries start to fade and a more almond-y note wafts up, in addition to a faint wine note. Sadly, Bordello faded on me quickly. I can't quite tell if it's my sinuses this week (I've been sick, so I haven't done any imp sampling at all) or if it's my body chemistry, so I'll definitely have to give it another try. Thus far, I do believe this is my favorite BPAL scent. It is, quite simply put, incredible. Let's just hope that when I'm back at 100%, Bordello will stay a bit longer.

Zephyr: While this is a white scent, and it definitely smells white, I'm not smelling the same white that the description carries. No matter if it's wet or dry, Zephyr smells like white castille soap on me. Yech. Definitely not for me.

Wet, in the imp and on my skin: slightly sweet, almost fruity. A slight amber note, not as overpowering as I'd expect. Drydown: a very mild resin scent, with hints of powder, but it's not bad. Nowhere near as bad as Bastet was for me. 1/2 hour later: pure baby powder. It could be that I'm confusing the amber for a powder scent, but it's just not working on me. Resin scents just do not seem to be for me.

Black Lotus: Wet: Sweet, sweet floral. I really liked the smell of this in the imp. Wet on me: a darker floral, deepening into incense. Drydown: This scent faded into something akin to Bastet (which not only turned to some sort of incense powdery scent on me, it permeated my senses and would not go away. ). Apparently, my body chemistry doesn't do too well with resins. Back to the drawing board..

Belladonna In the imp and on my skin, wet: I smelled nothing but evergreen trees. Pine, specifically. After a few hours of wear, the pine smell faded into a soft floral. Not -too- bad. I don't really care for smelling like Pine-Sol, though, so this scent is definitely not for me.

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one getting those luscious cherry-almond notes in the bottle. In the imp, it's all I could smell. Sadly, Bastet turned into pure powder on my skin. I suspect that could be the amber, but this isn't a scent I'm enjoying. Ah well, back to the drawing board.

Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo: This scent did not change much from the bottle to my skin, whether dry or wet. It was deliciously sugary, like strawberry and cotton candy. I really, really enjoyed wearing this scent. And did it bring joy? Tons. I had a blast at a Mardis Gras party last night, my first outing in ages. I can definitely see myself wearing this one again. And again. And again.

Anne Bonny: In the imp, it smells very warm and orange. Wet, applied: Definitely spicy. I smell the sandalwood moreso than the patchouli. Admittedly, I'm not familliar with the smell of frankincense, so I don't detect it at all. Drydown & longterm wear: I really like this scent. It's a touch heavy, and beyond the spicyness of the sandalwood and patchouli, I also smell something wood-like (like a deeply polished antique table), and perhaps sea salt? I can only faintly smell the patchouli, which is great - I'm not overly fond of strong patchouli, and this scent has just enough to make a wonderful blend. I do believe I'll be keeping this one.

Anathema: Definitely more floral than I expected. Wet: just plain perfume. That's all I get out of the bottle is that -wow, perfume- smell. Nothing beyond that. Drying: Starting to smell the honeysuckle. Yeah. Definitely floral. All in all, it was overpoweringly floral for me, and reminded me of the honeysuckle bush that I used to have. Admittedly, I can't pinpoint the Black Opium or the Vetivert as I'm not familliar with either of their scents. Perhaps with time. I don't think that Anathema will be one that I'd wear often, as I'm not too keen on florals. Hopefully, I'll have better luck next time.

Today's BPAL scent du jour: Absinthe. Wet: Pine. Smells like a freshly cut Christmas tree. I can't smell the other scents at all. 2 hours later: I smell like minty-pine. It's not bad. Normally, I detest the smell of pine, but this isn't half bad. I wish I could smell the lemon. I think it'd be a nice touch. All in all, I doubt I'd wear it on a regular basis, but I don't hate it.

#20 Love Oil: In the bottle: Ooh! Fruity. I smell cherries.. Wet, on my skin: Like Cherry Almond. Dry: Almondy notes still coming up, but sadly, the cherry has faded. Starting to smell more of a powdery floral.. rose, perhaps? Later.. definite powdery rose. I smell like my great grandmother. Ugh. This one had promise, but it's just not my thing.

By far, our most popular scent! Magnetic, mysterious, and exceedingly sexual in nature. A blend of exotic Indonesian oils sugared with vanilla. Snake Oil, oh Snake Oil. My first BPAL scent. This is my first review. In the bottle: Sweet. Almost -too- sweet. It almost smells like honey to me. On my skin, wet: Hmm.. is that vanilla I smell? And something.. spicy? On my skin, several hours later and after washing my hands: Powdery vanilla. Perhaps some spices, but they're not coming through anywhere near as strongly as the vanilla. The scent reminds me of some of my spiced vanilla candles. Odds are that my husband will -love- this scent. He's a huge vanilla nut (whereas I'm not), so when I get the chance to see him again, you can bet I'll be wearing Snake Oil.