olympia301

Narcissus.

Pineapple, I get the same teaser I smelled in Jailbait and I identify that one as artificial pineapple. I actually think it is a sort of jasmine which is pretty harsh. I can't really smell anything else but that during the drydown and beyond. It isn't dreadful, but it's not very pretty. This might be a good ritual scent for someone was identifyied with The Chariot in the Major Arcana, but I'm just not loving it.

Leather and leather only in this blend. It is as uncompromising as it's name. I found it to be pleasure to wear it, at first. Though never overwhelming, deSade became cloying after a while, slightly sickening. How much cow hide do you want to smell at one time? Happily, though, deSade goes well with a lot of other scents, put him with Severin to revv up its leather componant, they were made for each other. I would like to try it with other blends and see what it does to them. Will they beg for more or beg for mercy? We shall see! Bwah-hahahahaaaaaa! The icon is a drawing of the Marquis deSade done from life. He was a young man at this stage, but deep into profoundly naughty behavior.

Very buttery at first, quickly followed by a heavily vanilla-laced sugar/cinnamon/bread food scent. This is good enough to eat, and I think I smell the "thunky" smell of raw pumpkin in the background. Sometimes, if I sniff hard enough at it when it is wet, I get the impression of mint somewhere which I realize is apple! That could just be a smell hallucination, but it is very subtle and pleasant. Also, I think of the butter-smell like a butterscotch, which makes it even more lovable. This is an outstanding Autumn scent, very Halloween-like in the kids-get-their-Halloween -costumes-ready-for-the-Big-Day way. There isn't any hint of The Dark Side of Halloween here, and I see it as a before Halloween scent which I would be inclined to put away after Oct. 31. Of couse, you could wear it for Thanksgiving and be right with it, but still there is too much excitement and sugary anticipation about this fragrance to be associated with anything solemn. Great scent for All Hallow's Eve preparations, not so good for tax audits. I like it alot and am considering buying 5ml. It lingers for a fairly long time, but it's not a day-long blend so consider a scent locket (if you could find one in the shape of a jack-o-lantern that would be perfect.

Another Question about them, which (Fae, Tomora or Katherina) lasts longest on you?

Would someone compare Fae and Aglaea? I adore Fae but keep on seeing it pop up with Aglaea, but I would like an educated nose to give out the particulars. Also, Katherina, which seems to be in the same ballpark. FYI-when I think about Tamora and Fae I consider Fae much more peachy and Tamora more like roses without any roses in it. I do not associate Fae with roses at all, nor Tamora with peach (although others would strongly disagree with me about this).

This was a freebie from the lab. I found it was a pleasant perfume. Enjoyed the powderyness and violets. The frankincense really doesn't come off as a beautiful part of the blend, sort of a resinous background that you have to put up with, but not horribly annoying. I throughly enjoyed the reference to overwhelming megalomania, I even got a whiff of that from the blend. An enjoyable scent, I will be keeping the imp. Is a bottle out there in my future? Well, bless my soul, I don't know about that but we'll see.

I have to agree with Rainbow, there weren't any surprises in this imp from the Lab! Pretty civet and musk. I am afraid that the ritual oils are made for speed not looks. In other words, they may not smell pretty but they do the job. Unfortunately, my husband has lost his sense of smell years ago (of all things to lose around me...hell, he would have been better off losing his mind---ironic isn't it) so Fire of Love is utterly lost on him. Does it perk up my libido? Well, no, it doesn't have any effect on me, beside making me want to smell like something else. There is an element of "the way drunks smell the morning after the night before" which is a sexual turn off. Sorry, this one is heading for the swap pile.

One of my very favorites right off the bat. Sent as a sample imp from the lab, this one won my heart immediately. In the bottle it gave me an apricot/peach and licorice kick which was so beautiful it almost made me weep with joy. That became milder major apricot on my arm and then turned into a beautiful musk and apricot scent from then on. It did die down quickly, that is why I inaugurated my newest scent locket with it and it is still in the lilting first stages of its progression around my neck, held in suspended animation. Glorious. Apricot is really too mundane a word for the major scent of this blend. There has to be more in it, and one of the notes I think there is: whatever is so appealing in House of Night must be present here. I love oakmoss and that is one of the notes in it, but I am not so sure that is what causes this anise apricot beauty to rise above the rest. It is a sweet scent but with great character and charm. I really need to get a big bottle of this and highly recommend it to anyone who is new to BPAL or who has not tried it. Thanks to the lab for reading my psyche.

This is a pleasant scent and I liked it. Though not a triumph of the Lab's perfuming skills, I would heartily recommend this one to a new BPAL user, anyone who was not very adventuresome with scents or anyone who had a strong tie with the Rosicrucians. It is a pretty perfume and one that could conceivably lift one up to spiritual heights. My mild criticism extends only to saying that it does not have the unique quality I found in London and does not make rose perfume into another entity, so it neither tops London or plows new olfactory ground.

My first lunacy order and I was looking forward to it with great anticipation. When I received it I dabbed some on and waited. What I thought was, 'It's a nice incensy scent with nothing spectacular about it. Kind of 'hippy perfume', what a disappointment." I let it sit and tried it again. This is a blend that has to be opened and given time, like good red wine. The next day I was more careful. I opened and smelled it wet. Now I could get the strawberry and pinkness that was missing on first inspection. I put some on and though it was indeed incense, there was a pink component in it dancing around. Your nose really does have to acclimate to this blend, and your mind has to adjust. I put it on as a sleeping potion last night, just to see what dreams it would bring if any. I also put it in my scent locket, too. I am not going to make any wild claims for it but it is an aphrodisiac for me...a real libido lifter! So I think I am going to treat this as a "ritual" type oil (I am not doing rituals for things so it isn't 'proper'). I enjoy it, aesthetically it isn't a work of genius, but it is at the very least pleasant and if it does help out your erotic side, bully! Anther thought about Pink Moon after four months: This one is just plain old wonderful. It needs several months to maturate, like fine wine. It is just pinky beautiful now. When it's new, it's raw. Let it sit and it will reward your patience many fold. Mmmmm.

The wackiest thing happened with 2 5 and 7. I got the bottle, boy was I thrilled. After waiting and being excited about it for over a month I wanted this rose blend a lot. I had fallen strictly in love with London, which is an exquisite scent--all roses and licorice. I thought that 2 5 and 7 would add another dimension to my rose wardrobe. Upon opening the bottle I took a sniff as I habitually do. Oh My Word!!!!! It smelled like: feet, vinegar, and cheese. That was beyond the shadow of a doubt one of the ugliest smells I have ever smelled in a bottle. It was foul! At first I thought this was some kind of kinky joke. Ha ha ha. However, I know that there are times when concentrated scent when it is wet and has not mixed with air, it will smell rotten. So I tried it out on the backs of my hands. Sure enough it did go from medical waste to roses in a couple of seconds.That is one of the strangest things about scent, in a way I really think the metamorphosis is neat! So now down to what I smelled when it was in its proper environment. They were roses, alright, and I know that the Lab used a lot of different types but though it was roses they collided and were slightly chaotic. It is pleasant, don't get me wrong. The blend is a rosy one and I am not going to throw it out the window, but it utterly lacks the finesse of London. If London was harmony, 2 5 and 7 was slight cacophony. I also did not appreciate the whiff of lemon grass that came floating in and then left. There is a lemon component to rose smell often, it is natural. But lemon grass has a habit of smelling almost synthetic. I think it was added to amp the green part because it is a grass and that should work. This has been a hard review to write because it is hard to admit that something I wanted so much was not excellent on me, only very good. 2 5 and 7 may be just the ticket for you. It's chemistry.

Good Grief! Wow! Aaaaak! On me this stuff is BRUTAL! Swank started out strong like bull moose; about as subtle as a crocodile in the bathtub. Right out of the bottle it delivers a roundhouse punch to my nose, and followed up with a roaring citrus left hook wrapped in a set of grenadine brass knuckles. After it was through roughing me up, it gathered itself together into industrial strength deodorizer mode and clung sullenly to my wrists until I washed it off. Bad chemistry here between me and Mr. Swank. I understand that a lot of you really like it, and that tells me that admiration "dwells in the mind of the sniffer". Bless your heart if you love it. Contact me, after looking at my wishlist, and we can definitely make a deal for my imp.

Everything that everyone else has said is true. Exquisite rose is what I mostly read, I am not so familiar with apple blossom that I could pick it out but none of the "sweet" parts of this scent are stomach turning. It is an exceptionally elegant sophisticated perfume which belongs on bare skin. Eve would not be out of place anywhere, doing daily chores or on an expensive dinner date. She is sexy and to be taken seriously all at once. I would say that this is a versatile all around scent. I would consider this a "backbone of my scent wardrobe" purchase. I imagine that you could layer nicely with it as well as enjoy it for itself alone. Icon is an image of Eve which is usually overlooked on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. It is in the portion where God famously creates Adam and their fingers almost touch. Many people don't know that Eve is in the scene, hugged in the right arm of God. She has not been created yet and her soul is an honorary part of the celestial band.

My new favorite of the BPAL violet scents, Wings of Azrael is more floral and less harsh than any of the others I have tried. Here the Lab went for beautiful and it is indeed beautiful. The drydown has little if any of the harshness I associated with the other violet scents, just the poetry of the flowers. Azrael is the Angel of Death, the last man standing at the Last Judgment, a sad thought, the last and The End of us all. Violet is a fitting tribute to a troubled but triumphant species, the Abraxas of Animals. Just a note on violet, I have thought that the Lab's progression of violet scent goes like this: Saturnalia->Ultraviolet->Veil->Wings of Azrael. They go from heavy and harsh to powdery and beautiful in that order in my head. The icon is Caravaggio's wonderful Eros, not the perfect Azrael, but those wings are indeed perfect. I think he'll do, for if nothing else we are capable of some pretty fierce love which might save us at The Last.

This is another "nice" scent I don't think there is anything in the blend which is more than a lily trill. Another one which I would recommend for the timid. It didn't last very long on me, unfortunately, and I traded it to a new home where it will be treated as something special.

I didn't exactly say "eucalyptus" when I opened the vial or when I put it on myself. It smelled herby and warm to me. A general herbal-ritual sort of scent. But I tried a tiny bit out before bedtime and I had peaceful, wonderful dreams. I don't think this one was intended to be a perfume but I would recommend it as a sleep aid. Very nice and soothing. Icon is an 18th century netsuke of the god Baku .

This is a very pleasent cinnamon scent which also reminds me of carnations. Dries down and keeps the cinnamon, a feat in itself. I detect a bit of "bubblegum" in the background when I first put it on, and maybe a bit of new mown hay. When it's dry, there is a very good vanilla that stays and stays. Even though this blend didn't shout,"Buy a 10ml of me now, you fool!", it's a dandy scent and well worth getting to know better. Chimera could be one of the "backbone of my scent wardrobe". Long lasting.

More than the sum of its parts, House of Night turns into something new and far greater than a mixture of its elemental oils. When wet, it's hard to tell what is so special about it. Just smells like another blend. Let this one dry down a bit. I was working on the computer after testing it on my arm and a fabulous, different, new, unbearably unique smell kept on wafting up to my nose. I can't describe it because we don't have the words which are adequate, but there is a gorgeous part to House of Night, and it appears in the weirdest places... You can't know the fabulousness of House of Night by putting your wrist to your nose and breathing in, you just get the "another natural perfume blend" smell, it has to go through a certain amount of atmosphere and then to your nose, otherwise you don't detect it. Too close, and it's gone. Amazing. ...and if you are hunting it with your mind while smelling it, it will elude you there as well. You have to let it come to you, like a wild animal, if you chase it you will never catch it. So, what is this illusive smell of fabulousness? To describe it I can only point you to the jasmine which blooms around the Mediterranean Sea in June. There is no other smell like it, and I don't know if Beth has gotten anything as particular as that, or her combination of scents has become a new element of smell, but this one is a triumph and should be more famous among us as something special and a true masterpiece of the perfumer's art. In case you are wondering, the icon is from The Bluebird of Happiness and is Night in her house being visited by The Cat (lower left)

Thank goodness I had no preconceived notions about this one, except a few forumites complaining bitterly that there was coffee in it. Well I thought that sounded like a daring idea, so I bit. It turned out to be another nice scent with a badass name. After the coffee dies down, it simmers into a pleasent potion which isn't really that memorable except for one surprising turn. The utter drydown throws a lot of very nice perfumy scent. In otherwords, when Mata Hari is throughly dry it is really beautiful and you can smell it quite well (though not as much as when it's wet by a long shot) but still very pleasing indeed.

Alas, I had such high hopes for Brisingamen, it sounded perfect with its liberal lashings of amber and florals. I thought that I would be swooping down on high upon my steed Fyrfrryrf, waving my singing sword over my helmet horns and yelling things like,"Fyrfol!" With an umlaut over the second "f". No dice. It's nice, it's inoffensive. It is pretty but it's not distinguished. There is nothing better than Tamora here. There is a small dose of carnation which adds a bit of flair. It's a little bit similar to Alice but it's not Alice. It's just not something you would smell and remember. But it would make a dandy gift for someone who was timid around scent.

Amazingly likeable treatment to hardcore ginger! I thought this would be overwhelmingly resinous and assaulting to your sinuses, but it has been teased into being a preternaturally long lasting appealing scent which I would recommend for winter doldrums. I do suspect that there is a dose of almond (burnt) which gives it a "smell something burning in here." lilt. But this genie is big burly and makes a great bodyguard. I feel like I am protected when I put this on, and it's a dark and cosy smell to sleep with. Could I want a 5ml of this? Well, I don't really think it's that appealing, but I will be curling up with the imp when it's cold damp and rainy outdoors.

Lemony and reminds me of: Severin and Shanghai at first, that is what I refer to as The Holy Trinity of Lemon. Putting them up against each other was a real eye-opener. Kumiho had the ginger sting to it at first which I found a natural friend to lemon, but the drydown did make me think of furniture polish, not exactly but close enough to some household product that it is not my cup of tea at all. I really prefer the fugitive lemon and leather that Severin offers you (on his hands and knees no less), so I will capture him in my scent locket and let Kumiho go.

I was expecting wicked wicked things from the Marquise. I wanted an unforgettably witty and clever scent which would mark my days and announce that I was to enter the room. Alas, I got a basically sweet and honorable young matron who was more interested in fashion than passion. The Marquise is positively Junior League! She's conservative to a fault, more the minivan type than sedan chair; and I think the only whippings she gets into consist of egg whites in an all-copper bowl. The is apricot in this blend as well as jasmine I think, and she does stick around well. This one won't offend anyone in the boardroom or the PTA. It would be a nice gift for someone whom you want to introduce to BPAL but I am sorry to say that for me, the Marquise is neither fish, flesh nor fowl. She is just nice.

Heavy. Heavy jasmine with something burning in the background, and that could be an electrical fire starting. This perfume makes me uneasy. I smell coconuts wafting by every once in a while. It's like you are temporarily blind and stuck in a room which is being haunted by literary spirits. A dead abandoned Tahitian girl floats by in a habitually upbeat cloud, a ghost covered in the vines which covered its corpse is slinking in the corner. It just seems as if the room is getting smaller and smaller and hotter and hotter. An Austrian spirit in knee breeches, powdered wig and waistcoat marches by as if part of a parade, but you see he is sneaking marzipan balls and eating them while breathing through his mouth. The room starts to heat up with almond/hazelnut and the musk of those sweating ghosts. This is another olfactory triumph. Darkness and discomfort are portrayed here throughly in this blend. It's not me, but for the agoraphobic, this might be the ticket.