joseybird

I'm not much of a gardinia or violat fan, but I do like vanilla, so here it goes... HOLY HERA is the gardinia strong...very strong... I really really really don't like gardinia...I get a little vanilla in the background, and a little violet, but...the gardinia...! Not for me.

Very heavy Dragon's blood muddied and darkened with ashy vetiver and spices...Not...for...me...

I got an imp from a bottle originally belonging to lorajc =) This is incredible stuff...INCREDIBLE....sweet cloves and tobacco with a soft cherry-like sweetness to it. Even though I had sniffed F54 previously, I seriously suspected that this imp was F54 until I was told that it was an experimental blend that had been aging with the cap loose for months. But really, this smells BETTER than F54...absolutely astonishingly good...and all that's left in the world of it is this lone lil imp!

Very cloying, sharp, sweet gardenia and dragon's blood. Like some sort of thick floral medicine...no likey florals...no...

Heavy, monotone jasmine and winey roses. At first, the tonka and vanilla make beautiful music with the rest of the composition, but then the rose and jasmine go incredibly shrill and the notes become a chemical cacophany on my skin. I think I'll pass.

Oddly astringent and sorta woody-nutty Not really a SN to be worn by itself, methinks, although it might go well layered with Velvet.

I swear by all that's orange that the musk dominating Black Opal is the same that dominates Buck Moon--Egyptian perhaps? Velvety without being as plush and deep as Buck Moon. Honestly, when I first smelled this my mind screamed "Antique Lace, back from the dead!!", but I'm not very sure whether this is the same musk that's in Antique Lace, and Black Opal doesn't have the powdery carnation or the creamy vanilla that characterizes that dearly departed scent. Black Opal is vanillic, but the vanilla is more of a whisper, and is only really noticable because Black Opal is a relatively vanilla-musk composition (if there are florals in here--and I smell none--than they must be of the powdery variety that blends very smoothly with pale musks). I would reccommend this to all who love Antique Lace and Buck Moon, as Black Opal smells to me like a less creamy lovechild of the too. I can see why so many people love this pretty skin scent

Thanks Olympia301 for the decant! This, very oddly, reminds me of Langour since they have no notes in common that I know of, that strikes me as incredibly...odd. Jasmine gilded with amber is all I smell for a while. It has an aloof elegance to it, like Peitho. I smell a faint waft of rose (which doesn't turn sour on me--yay!). I smell citrus too, but it's so tied to the florals that it doesn't scream "citrus!" at ALL. This is a gorgeous, elegant scent, and the only other jasmine I like besides Peitho This is the scent of Hera, while Peitho is of Aphrodite. Lovely!

When I first read the description, I was praying that this was the same lavender that makes Villain so gorgeously delicious but the rosewood terrified me, so I opted for an imp of Old Scratch while I bought a whole 5 ml of Al-Shairan unsniffed. Well, Al-Shairan ended up all cinnamon and patchouli, and my imp was MIA, buuuuutttt....I was gifted with a half-imp of Old Scratch! HOT DAMN this is amazing stuff! The lavender is indeed the same as Villain's, and the rosewood is very very soft and powder-woody....it's the gorgeous amber, pale golden and creamy, that dapples this scent like sunshine on water (the lavender "fern" smells very silky and aquatic to me). I get no tonka or patchouli but...sweet, silken lavender and amber! (I think it's egyptian, but I can't be sure) This is definately gender-neutral, maybe a tiny bit more masculine than feminine, but less colognish than Villain. I adore this

For pink, Maiden fits the bill perfectly

I'm very torn about what I'll do about an autumn scent...on the one hand, I have many lovely BPAL that would do lovely-like, and which I couldn't wear during the summer. On the other hand, there's Dole + Gabanna By, which I wore all last autumn and winter and which brings me back to that happy, friend-filled time whenever I smell it. It's the scent I now associate the most strongly with the cold months, particularly the best aspects of those cold months, and I don't want to override or marginalize that scent memory See, my friends all graduated, so I'm now pretty lonely here at school and if I start wearing scents I can't connect to anything, then...well...it doesn't help that disconnected feeling. Wearing By would. And yet, I want to flaunt my lovely fall BPALs!! Any suggestions?

The Lion, a very bright, spiced amber

For anyone lusting after more chocolate BPAL, you might want to try *combining* a bit of Bliss with some other scents as in, half-imp of Bliss+half-imp of another scent. I know for a fact that Bliss+Scherazade= !!! I'm sure it would go wonderfully with other incense and wood blends

Buck Moon smells a lot like Coyote o_0 wow

A cacophany of luscious fruits! First come the apple, cantalope, blackberry and current, with mango and papaya in the background. The strawberry peeps out soon after, with the barest hint of citrus and plum. The drydown is sweet but mellow and creamy, a cozy little marriage of notes. This blend surprised me; I was not expecting a scent so multifaceted it's not so much a fruit bowl as a lil fireworks display or parade of fruits. To anyone who loves Yemaya or Mi-Go Brain Cannister (the fruity base, not the florals), you'll prolly love this one

Yog-Sothath is indeed the scent most similar to Numb. But numb is even greyer. It smells like straight-up chemicals to me

The Cinnamon, patchouli, and orange are the boldest notes in this concoction; this is definately HELL-scent, pun aggregiously intended The clove and incense are definately undertones here, so clove-lovers who bought this blend primarily for that note (like me) may be a wee bit dissapointed if you have a nose similar to mine. This could be the scent of a dark God of War...it isn't masculine per-say, but it's extremely "hot" and agressive, a bit like Wrath or Brimstone in "feel." I does get any festive christmasy-ness to it, despite the pomander-like notes but this is not a warm-weather scent by any means I think I'll be waiting 'till winter to slather this baby!

A decant from temptete! Right now I have BPAL's red musk on one hand and an unknown brand's red musk on another. The difference is striking. While the unknown brand's musk has a sharp, metalic, chemically "bite," BPAL's is softer, slightly sweeter, and earthier--the sensory equivalent of red earth. This is definately the main component of Scheherazade, and is sexy, earthy, and full-bodied. Gorgeous!! I will be treasuring my imp

Perversion=purple and Dublin=green for me

Lughnasadh is great for late summer/early autumn I hope to be using the Clubs quite a bit this autumn although I find myself longing for the heavy oriental D+B By I wore it last autumn and the scent softly permeated my black turtleneck sweater, so that when I rolled up the neck I'd catch a whiff...it's sorta embedded itself in my scent memory, and I don't know if I can give that up, even for BPAL...it just has nice autumn memories associated with it.

Snake Charmer and Gypsy Queen

Fresh, clean cloths, warm from the dryer (although NOT "dryer-sheet"-like)Totally unexpected, yet very cozy!

A minty-freen-fresh scent tinged with woods. A nice and very unusual woodsy scent, but the mintiness throws me off a bit

I'd go for Villain. Villain is mainly lavender with some citrus. But the lavender isn't the lavender in the somnium blends--instead, it's a silky soft "purple-grey" lavender, like washed silk absolutely beautiful...

I just read a great article in Allure about perfumes to wear on the job a couple of their recs were Clinique Simply and SJP's new Lovely (which I agree with--both are very soft and unobtrusive). But now for my BPAL picks! Zephyr--The white musk and white sandalwood combo make for a very crisp, clean scent--like an ironed white dress shirt, while the vanilla softens the blend a bit. Very clean and professional but unobtrusive Juliet--Traditional florals with white musk--again, very soft Antique Lace--Dc'd, but I'd bust this out for a job interview. Creamy vanilla with (once again!) white musk and dried carnations. Soft and gentle, with the added bonus that everyone loves vanilla. I would not wear anything very heavy, musky (unless it's white musk, which is pretty clean and non-sexual), or fruity (which can scream teenager). Frankly, I'd go with something as "traditional" as possible, seeing as BPAL scents are really something of an aquired taste for many people. Don't wear anything that doesn't scream "bold and hardcore!" unless those personality traits are *very obviously* part of the job requirements (and even then I'd be careful--you're not trying to out-boss your potential new boss!). As has been said before, when in doubt, don't wear any scent. However, I'd pick a soft, clean scent over none at all, as it very subtly adds to the aura you're trying to project *Josey ends her pretentious lil shpiel *