olympia301

Mint, mint and juniper, mint and juniper and aquatic, mint and juniper and aquatic and volatile herbs. Very cold, actually chilling and in a scary way. This is a great summertime scent if you like to sleep out on the sleeping porch and love to get unnerved by the sounds outside at night. This is an intense one, and not a perfume for the unadventursome. I would give it a hearty recommend for its unique properties and bracing-ness. I am very glad I tried it but am not a hearty enough soul to love it.

Out of the bottle: candy sweet and that yum-yum plastic-vanilla smell backing it up. I am thinking that the "yum-yum plastic-vanilla smell" is a staple in the voodoo blends, and it has become a bell-weather of good things to me. I detect a little bit of tobacco lurking in the background and no basil. I love this smell, it's a lot like Van Van with candy. Does it bring happiness? Well, it does if you let it. That's the point, isn't it? It ain't so much the magic, it's the mindset. But we knew that before Freud, didn't we?

When I was eight, my parents gave me a bottle of little girl perfume that smelled exactly like Desdemona. The brand name was "Little Lady". I thought I was Quite Grand with my own perfume. Now that I am a "grown up lady" (or owl) I am associating Desdemona with that child's scent and get a nostalgia wave from it. It is pretty and soapy and quite old fashioned. You could lace yourself into a white summer Victorian gown and dab on Desdemona before you go prancing downstairs to flirt in The Conservatory with some mustachioed gentleman. This scent is prim, proper, and sweet sweet sweet. (But I'd "whack it up" with a good blast of deSade before stripping down to your black leather corset and warming up the old boy's buns with your cleverly concealed riding crop )

Very jasmine, if you love that flower then Nuit is for you. To my nose it started out as The Very Jasmine Blend and stayed that way during the entire wearing. I can almost smell an apricot sort of scent coming through very faintly at times and the musk that everyone says is there is pretty much keeping itself in the distance. The icon is the sky goddess Nuit, who stretches across the firmament with her long body and guards the Earth at night.

You can certainly smell the lilac and dragons' blood in this blend, and it is a happy combination, almost delirious. I would wear this blend especially in May and if I were going to be graduating from high school, that's how happy it is. Very youthful and it does last a long time, as all the Ars Draconis do (at least on me). I think the combination is a real charm and it would be one of the first ones I would suggest to anyone who is curious about Dragons' Blood in a blend and liked florals.

Named after the Fury who was the avenger of murder, this is a very sweet floral and that makes for an ironic statement. It is a blend which is right for most occasions and won't raise eyebrows, unless you try to explain whom it's named after of course. I would recommend it to anyone who isn't trying to make a hugely unique statement in scent or to go to the bleeding edge. Tisiphone is lovely, well blended, jasminelike in its overall demeanor and the kind of perfume which you might want to consider if you are wanting strictly pretty. The icon represents a butterfly named the Brown Swordgrass Butterfly, Tisiphone abeona (Family Nymphalidae)

A good blend that would be perfect for someone who was new to BPAL. It doesn't need any getting used to and is pretty much the same after applied as it is in the bottle. I don't recall any wildly unusual parts to this blend other than a hint of dirt and spice.

Venom is a good scent and it is gardenia and honeysuckle to me. I can well imagine that Scarlet O'Hare would favor a mighty floral like this one. Deep and steamy nights would call for a blend that is like the aftermath of a snake attack, leaving you satisfied and gasping in the wet hot night. Here is what the Lab says is in it: sinuous opponax, galbanum, dark wild berries, a drop of lush jasmine and a sliver of lime. Somehow, I just get gardenia and honeysuckle. Could be my skin or my undereducated nose, but this one is for the Femme Fatale. What it lacks in originality, it makes up for with raw sex appeal. And it lasts and lasts and lasts.

Fun, frothy, frilly Bon Vivant! It's exciting and fruity with its strawberries and a slight bit of wood or myrtle in the background to provide the cork and the aging casks for the champagne. I really like this one, it's giddiness done well and the sort of strawberry which was chosen to go into this one is more like a strawberry candy from a very good confection house than cheap strawberry jam. It's classy and upbeat. I am happy I have an imp of it and could see buying a 5ml bottle in advance of Spring. I'd say "Well done!" and raise my champagne flute to this one. Icon is a painting by Edouard Manet, I supplied the champagne glass with the strawberry in it.

This is a scent I have a difficult time processing. It isn't floral, it has an "attractive plastic" scent in the background (oddly enough there is such a thing) and I cannot identify the rest of this one. It just baffles me. It doesn't turn bad on my skin, I don't dislike any of its essences, I just feel lost when I try to describe it...I can't even decide whether I like it a lot or a little or what! It's a nice scent, it's just an amazingly confusing scent that you can't pin down mentally. Perhaps that works for you if you like to be tantalized. The icon is the Shroud of Turin.

Very flower-like with fruit undertones, Venice lasts and is exceptionally feminine. It is more of a "Grand Perfume" floral to me, and stays the same on my skin without changing into something else. It has very good "throw" and is unflaggingly pleasant. Somehow, I keep on comparing it to Florence (both Italian), and Florence is much more fruit and orris than Venice which is no surprise, right? I would have to say that Florence is unique and Venice is one of the best of a category (category being "floral feminine scents with well-brought-up jasmine). Though Venice isn't me, it is certainly popular and if you are planning on giving an imp of something to a friend to introduce them to BPAL, Venice would be a good choice. It's a lovely traditional perfume.

I can smell the apricot and it is making the clove turn into something different than clove. It reminds me of some thick apricot jam that one of my relatives used to make, it was more like an "apricot curd" than mere jam. I can smell almost a woodlike base to this, the same sort of thing I have smelled in Hamadryad and Aglaea, could be myrtle. I think this is a good addition to my Alice in Wonderland collection and I will enjoy my imp. It would be a great scent for a child, as long as their skin could take the clove the Lab says is in it. It would be great for a fun date, nice in the Fall for something spicy but without the butter edge.

This is a voodoo blend that actually smells great! You are supposed to use it to amplify positive personal power, and it's a "venerable voodoo blend". I found that Has No Hanna worked very well for me (regarding good luck), I hope that Van Van has a good effect too. I cannot pick out the components of this blend, it's done so well and blended so prettily that you just can't say. I suspect there is basil in here, perhaps tonka bean, because I smell vanilla which has been toasted and the ring of what I interpret as basil. But who knows, not me. This is an indescribable and great perfume and it has depth. I wish I could say it more clearly and give you a fuller picture of what Van Van is like, but words fail me on this one. You will just have to try it for yourself. I am in favor of getting a 5ml bottle of Van Van, just based on the way it smells. Yummy, but not in a foody way. I suppose I will be amping my positive personal power while smelling good, too!

Almond/cherry lept out right at the beginning. I really like the "almond fanfare" not because I think it's golorious in and of itself, but because it's the herald of a great many gorgeous things to follow in a lot of BPAL scents (e.g. Eclipse). So I associate it with "something good is going to happen". Then there is a crossover, the almond disappears and jasmine starts to assert itself. Jasmine and my skin have a dicey history, and there are a lot of different jasmines which the Lab uses, so I didn't know what was going to happen next. The jasmine in Salome I privately refer to as "Sambac jasmine" because that is the sort of flower it smells like. That's a sort of standard jasmine smell. Then things start to get heavily floral in Salome and drydown to a pleasant "good oriental" perfume smell. It does last on your skin. Overall, I have to say it's not distinguished, you really couldn't pick it out and name it just by smelling it. But it is an admirable winter scent being heavy and warm, it's not offensive or does it use ingredients which are an aquired taste. I would really recommend it to "scent timid" people, anyone who has a job in a big company and doesn't want to broadcast their perfume, or anyone who wants a nice and cozy cold weather scent.

A kindly BPALer sent me an imp of Shub Niggourath, as it is discontinued I count it as precious and wanted to give it as serious a review as possible. There is an Indian restaurant in my neighborhood called "Cumin" and I really have an ongoing love affair with their food. I like it better than the "five star" French restaurant in town. When you die and go to heaven, the food is catered from "Cumin". No kidding. The do magic in the kitchen, and somehow no matter how downtrodden or out of sorts you are when you leave that restaurant you are restored. Shub N. does the same thing. I do smell the ginger, I smell cardamom as well as vanilla. Goodness knows what's in this blend but it is as inspired as the spicing done by the chef at Cumin. Lemon and butter and some bread-like component to backstop it all. This is really a gorgeous blend. It is particularly great for summer, but I can see it for Fall as well. Perhaps Beth thought of that in the timing of its release. This is a pretty "foody" scent without the cloying phase. It stays light and attractive the entire time. It doesn't have much "throw", so I would say it is a private perfume which you will enjoy as a secret happiness when you wear it. I would recommend you try wearing it on the backs of your hands so that when you work during the day, the scent rises up to your nose and gives you little bursts of delight.

This is such a strange scent, and I really do think it is one which captures exactly the idea of Black Annis. The first thing I noticed was the burned aspect of this smell. Something like cigarette smoke and leather. Then the civet started to assert itself. Civet is "puey" but it's making apoint here, so bear with it. When this dried down, it kept on putting out a fantastically beautiful fragrance (almost an apricot) which rode on the civet smell. It never did lose the wild animal facet but the amazingly lyrical bits of Black Annis never waned either. The "beautiful smell" could only be picked up when your nose was not too close to the source of the scent, if you got too close you would only smell the civet and vetiver. This isn't a perfume for everyone. You would have to like: the dark sexual smells, smells of corruption and indulgence, and to find the fabulous and precious in the base and cruel. It is a highly complex smell, not for people who are too timid to try something new and different. It's a kick and a bit of a roller coaster, and it will make you feel as if you have done something naughty or downright bad. But, sometimes you need that, and Black Annis is that kind of perfume. I don't know if I could live through an entire bottle of this, but the imp is intriguing and I am going to keep it for "strange moments".

Just does smell exactly like earth and roses. When you are working in the garden, you smell this scent around June when you have roses and (guess what) dirt. Quite a daring and successful blend. Dirt is "big" as a perfume nowadays, and Zombi lasts like crazy on me. somehow I don't get the moss, but maybe I haven't trained my nose to "get" it yet.

A very sophisticted fragrance which lasts a long time. The smell of leather really seems familiar to me but not as leather, a case of not putting the name with the fragrance. Maybe I am scent hallucinating, but I think I smell dirt (as in Earth). Goes well with leather. I think that Loviatar would go well with other BPAL's too. I want to try to put it with London, and get a roses and Loviatar-style leather thing going. Attractive and resinous but not incense-like, it's a serious woman scent in my opinion.

Almost pure lavender with just a waft of vanilla. It is beautiful, calming and refined. Makes you want to be quiet and happy. Magical, subtle, and simple.

This blend is just fine. I detect jasmine in it. If you like jasmine, you will probably like this one.

The law of retaliation and perfect reciprocity: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, an arm for an arm, a life for a life. The essence of blunt justice: dark myrrh, vetiver, cardamom, violet, black pepper, sage, cedarwood and black patchouli with a clarion note of sharp white grapefruit. The first blend that tempted me to buy BPAL. I fell for the name. My husband is a law professor and has talked about Lex Talionis for years. The Law of Retribution was actually an advance over what we humans had been using for so long in our history. The scent itself was something else altogether! My first encounter with BPAL. It was massive hard-nosed vetiver laden with violet (which was fighting for its life) and grapefruit rasping away in the background. If there is sandalwood in the blend it's made into little spikes to stick you with. It felt more like it should be worn with full body armor rather than an evening dress, it was real martial. This was perfume for amazons and I had to force myself to put it on every time I used it. Finally I swapped it away and had to come to grips with the fact that I am more of a sweet yet unique type of BPALer. Oddly enough I was sorry to see it go. I will always think the name was great and am sorry that it didn't move me.

A scent as pretty and simple as the woman it's named after, Marie is a concoction of rose and violets with a touch of green. This is a straightforward beautiful light headed woman's scent which makes no bones about sophistication it just naturally is. Marie is where the lab abandon's it's mania to mix violet with vetiver or some other volatile extraction and lets it rest on a bed of soft roses. That is exactly what violet needs or else it can be a nose irritant. Though I love violet I have sniffed by way through Lex Taleonis (one of the strongest and most relentless violet blends), up to Marie which is the prettiest and frilliest so far. I would heartily recommend Marie to the hardened veteran of the scent wars or to a total virgin entering the fray. It is just fabulous and doesn't pretend to be something it isn't.

One of the first free imps I got from the lab. I tried it and I thought it was OK. Citrus was the theme but it faded fast leaving a smear of mashed fruit behind, almost like "the cat" being discovered up on the counter leaps off and sends the fruit bowl flying. I couldn't find much about Cheshire Cat which was memorable. It was a nice scent but I wouldn't crawl across the burning sands of the Gobi Desert with a 300 lb refrigerator strapped to my back to obtain another imp of it. I did swap it away pretty quickly, so it contributed to my adult delinquency. I am quite relieved I didn't fall in love since it has disappeared like the cat in Alice due to the grapefruit shortage or some such pflummery.

Lots of violets and a musk-like component (clean skin smell) make Has No Hanna a pretty fragrance in and of itself. But pretty isn't is main purpose, good luck and depression lifting is. I put on Has No Hanna and so far my computer disconnected itself from the internet, Carnaval Noir hasn't appeared yet on the Lab website and I was hoping it would be up by now, and I woke up and hour early out of anticipation. I also just got hit with a wave of depression 3 miles deep, but I did get over it, almost....I just sold a painting this afternoon! 5ml for this artist!

I got this one in a swap and had stayed away from trying it out because of the dreaded "black musk" in the formula. I was convinced that all musk smelled like laundry detergent/Jovan "Must" Oil/some musty "cheap perfume" smell. I got the imp and saw that it was a pretty brown and thought,"Oh, gad, this is going to be trouble. It will hate me, hate me I tell you!" I took the plunge, opened it up and sniffed. I didn't smell much of anything. Then I put it on my hands and sniffed. I thought I smelled a very tiny scent which was really beautiful. But it was so faint. I went back to work and that little wispy scent kept on traveling by my nose. I loved it. So reticent. I thought,"This is another of Beth's performance arts, this scent is almost undetectable and it haunts you like a ghost." But the more I did housework, the more little trails of scent captivated me. It kept on going. I was amazed that this wee little smell could keep after me and still be out of reach. Then I had to wash my hands. I reapplied Haunted right after I had done that, my hands were still wet. Wow! Big difference, the scent exploded! It was big, robust, full blown, it was powerful to say the least! What does it smell like? I guess I am getting a few of the notes sorted out in my head. I recognize Black Musk from Snake Oil and Phantom. The the amber shown through making it less overwhelmingly BLACK MUSK. It is a very perfumy smell, certainly gender neutral (nothing stuffy femme in Haunted), there is a real cheery perfume to it all around. Goodness, this blend lasts and lasts. I can go anywhere, although I don't think I would choose it for anywhere you don't want to be noticed. I love it. So perfumy, tricky and gorgeous. It is a BPAL classic which, as one fellow reviewer said, should be tried out by everyone. There is not waiting period to get used to it, it's just fabulous out of the imp. I love Haunted so much that I made the icon out of my favorite self-portrait as the ghost which is haunting.