cindyrella

This is a cheerful scent, very fruity. I have no idea what plumeria is, so I can’t comment on that, but the sweet, juicy pear comes out very well. I guess plumeria smells fruity too, because this really is a fruity scent. The champagne gives the fruit a sparkly base and tones down the fruityness. It’s not a cloying scent. Overall, I think this is still too fruity and sweet for me, but I think I’ll keep the imp.

Wet: loads of coconut and something fruity. This is a happy and light tropical scent. Dry: A bit fruity now, but not too much. The coconut disappeared, but I don’t mind. I thought that because of the coconut and the honeyed almond milk this would be a very cloyingly sweet scent, but it’s not. The figs, leaves and sandalwood tones the scent down, and gives it some body. I don't smell any almond too, thank god! The thing I like about fig is that it's not so tartly fruity. Figs have a bit of a perfumy scent too, which I like in this blend. This is a very interesting scent. I can’t detect any of the notes individually, it’s very well blended. It smells like summer: light and fruity and a bit woody too. This’ll be a bottle for me. On the scale from 1-5 (5 being "I want a big bottle of this!"), this is a 4 but it might become more...

This is heavy stuff. I love a lot of notes in this: amber, rose, musk and sandalwood, but all of them together is way too heavy for me. I can’t pick out any noted individually, because it’s very well blended, but it makes this scent overwhelming. I think it smells like a perfume you can buy at a regular high street store too, but I imagine someone who loves heavy perfumes would love this stuff. I don’t like it. It’s not that I can’t bare to smell it, it’s just too much for me. Definitely a ‘no’.

From the imp: Sweet florals, but these are florals that I like. They are fruity, not soapy. On me, wet stage: Yes, definitely florals, but the sweet fruity ones. I have to see the description to know what’s in it. I’m not very good at detecting notes. It’s very funny to compare the description with my experience. On me, this isn’t that heavy, it smells like long faded perfumes. I wouldn’t guess there was opium in this, I mostly find opium rather heavy and dominant, but I guess that makes it perfumy. And the florals are Lily of the Valley, which turn very soapy on me, most of the times, but this time they don’t. That’ll probably be because of the mandarin (there’s that fruitiness...) and vanilla (... and sweetness). I found out that I really love Beth’s vanilla, and this will probably be another winner. On me, dry stage: This is the echo of the wet stage. It’s kind of the same, but it has faded into a whiff of perfume. As I said before, this does smell like long faded perfumes, it’s very light and it really does live up to it’s name. It evokes the image of beautiful women wearing lovely dresses reading romantic novels. It’s very nice.

Wet, from imp: I smell mostly dragon’s blood. On me, wet stage: It is slightly sweet, from the dragon’s blood, and hey...there are the musks. On me, musks are very nice, so I was very eager to try this one and I have to say, that it doesn’t disappoint me. I like the dragon’s blood note, it reminds me of Dragon’s Milk (obviously) but underneath that, there’s that musky skin scent. The musks aren’t heavy or animal-like. On me, this is a light scent. On me, dry stage: The light scent toned down even more, so now I really feel like I’m not wearing any BPAL, but it’s there, almost unnoticeable. It won’t last all day, you have to apply more often, but it’s a really nice inoffensive scent. Overall, I think this is a skin type scent, not too heavy, almost like you don’t wear any perfume but you do smell nice. It’s lovely!

In the bottle: this smells exactly like I'm opning a new package of black tea. Very strong scent. On me, wet stage: The tea scent changes into a herbally, minty scent. It's very heavy and sure is making me awake. On me, after 10 minutes: The mint stays, and htere's a citrussy scent coming up. It smells like lemon Strepsils (don't know if you know what they are, they are minty/ lemony sweets for sore throats with vitamine C added). As for it's purpose, lemon and mint always keeps me focussed. The mint starts tingling on my wrist too. On me: after 30 minutes: The scent has toned down a bit, the lemon has blended with the mint and it's a really fresh scent. This one really works on hot days, when I have to work at night.

In the bottle: I smell jasmine, which I find a bit pee-like On me: Soapy jamine, with something heavy, sweet underneath. It made me nauseus (sp?) like Nocturne did, so I'm wondering if there are similar notes and I had to wash it off after 10 minutes. No, this isn't for me

Wow, this one went on my big bottle list when I first sniffed it. This is the first spicy scent I can wear in the spring and summer! It smells like an oriental bazaar. It smells very eastern and mysterious. The name says it all, I visualise the all of the places from the Silk Road when smellling this. I don't think I can wear this to work (a bit too much) but it's lovely for hot summer evenings

On me, Ra is a very sharp orange citrus scent. Very long lasting too, I put it on this morning and it's still noticeable. Orange is also the colour of this one. It's to sweet for me to call it a a fresh scent. I'm not sure about this one. When I smell this, I feel that it's missing a spicy note, like cinnamon or clove.

The perfect scent to wear to your next bondage ball, dungeon adventure or sojourn to your favorite pleasure dome. Smoky rum and black tobacco with a whisper of steamy leather with a splash of crystalline chardonnay, layered over a sensual, sweet, and deceptively magnetic base of tonka. I was expecting a bit of a dirty scent with the leather, rum, tobacco and leather. But this smells much more perfumy. I can’t seem to pick out any of the notes in it, it’s blended nicely. But I have to say it’s not a regular perfume, it’s a bit dark and sexy, very feminine. I can't say it's very vanilla-like sweet, but it is a more sexy sweetness. I like it a lot.

Dead on Snowcake from Lush. This is truly beautiful! I never thought that this would smell so similar. I read the reviews and thought that it would smell alike, but not the same. But on me, it is truly the same cosy, rosy almond smell from Snowcake! I can’t stand almonds, so I was a bit worried about this one, but I love Snowcake, because the almond is not so dominant, and it has a tiny floral note. The same with Dana O’Shee! This will definitely be on the big bottle list!

On me, this one’s very quick fading. I put this on a few hours ago, and now it’s almost gone. At first it smelled like a buttery pumpkin, very foody. I didn’t think I would like this one, because I can’t stand that buttery ‘Gluttony’ smell, but that was gone soon. Then it became more sweet and Samhain-like, but with a hint of peach. I can smell the spicy clove, nutmeg and pumpkin and that’s nice, but I still like Samhain more, so this won’t be a bottle.

Wow, that Living Flame bottle does look beautiful. Can't wait for mine to arrive!!! Sadly, I live in the Netherlands, so it might take a while, because my order from the end of January still hasn't arrived...

This is a strange one. It really had to grow on me, but now I appreciate this one. When I tried it the first time, it turned sour on me. Or maybe I say it wrong, it smelled sour to me. I couldn’t smell the sweet notes like the chocolate, I only smelled wine. And this wine wasn’t pleasant. Only after an hour or so, the wine note mellowed down and the flowers and berries became noticable. That stage I liked, but I couldn’t get over the initial sour scent. That’s why I tried Kali a few days later. When I put in on, I detected something sweet, and then the sourness rose up and made me sick. So I decided to swap this one. I got a bottle of this without smelling it first: stupid! I couldn’t get anyone to swap it, and then I tried it again. The strangest thing happened: Now immediately smelled the sweet berries everyone was talking about, and I smelled the flowers too. I still smelled the wine note, but it wasn’t sour. I can’t say this will become my favourite, although you never know, but it’s really nice for a change. I’m glad I didn’t swap this one.

Hey, this one smells completely different from what I was expecting. I was expecting a warm, sweet scent. Perfect for cold winters, BUT....This one turned out to be a summer scent: green and fresh. It smells a bit citrussy, although there aren’t any citrus fruits in it. It’s not a real citrus smell, like lemon or orange, but it resembles it. The tea gives it a fresh scent. It’s unlike any other fresh scent I’ve smelled, but I’m at the beginning of my BPAL experience, so I’m comparing to regular perfumes. I think everyone should try this one out. at least once Nothing aquatic or lemon like, nor a herbal smell but it tends to smell a bit like that. Very different, but nice...

Mmmm, this truly smells like milk chocolate, but there's something spicy too. I love that this one is not too foody (at least not on me), it has a certain "BPAL scent" too! I'll defenitely will buy a 5ml! I love it!

Although this one sounded very sweet and chocolaty to me, it’s not so sweet as i expected. Sandalwood is the dominant note here, so this would be very nice on a man too, but I think I’ll keep this for myself. The chocolate note makes the sandalwood in this one a very round and soft one. On me, the chocolate comes more out when I’m wearing it a few hours. Then the scent becomes more sweet. Someone mentioned pencil shavings with chocolate, but that’s not what I’m experiencing. I can understand the comparison, but to me this one smells less sharp -pun on the pencil shavings : ) - and it’s very well blended. Overall, Velvet is very different from what I normally like from BPAL. I prefer the sweet and warm scents. This one’s more masculine due to the sandalwood I think, but it has a womanly drydown because of the chocolate. Very very nice!

Got this one in a swap, and I'm loving it. I never thought I would, but it's lovely! It reminds me more of Lush's Ice Hotel than Angels on Bare Skin, and that's a great thing! I really can smell the lavender and something minty, and it works great together. It smells calming, yet fresh. This would be great on hot summer nights.

In the vial: This smells very warm. The rose is barely noticeable now, I smell mostly musk with a touch of amber. As I love all the notes in it, I think I’m going to like this one. It’s very promising... Wet: Someone mentioned hippie shop on here, and that’s what I smell too. The rose comes out more, but it’s darkened by the musk with a hint of amber. It smells juicy, wet, very exotic and oriental. I like this a lot. Although it’s a heavy rose, it’s not too heavy, as some scents can be. It’s more like an adult rose scent, very sexy and feminine but definitely not old ladylike! Dry: The rose plays hide and seek with the musk/amber blend. The warm scent remains throughout the day. I didn’t need to reapply because it has good staying power. Overall: This is definitely a scent for me! I love the scent of roses and this one adds something extra!

To me, the drydown of Mata Hari, when the coffee scent fades away, is similar to Alkmaar/ Silky Underwear. Maybe it's my body chemistry?