innocent

Putting this on it smelled like cherry snow cone syrup ... but on my skin the vetiver took over. It's not as acrid as some vetiver blends are on me (I can smell the honey in there, valiantly trying to make this wearable) but my skin just amps vetiver too much, in a bad way. Blargh. The other notes sound so good too.

Honeyed wine. I was actually planning on ordering this one when the lovely Lab included it as a frimp. It does wonderful things on my skin - I never would have guessed honey would be one of my favorite notes. One summer I worked on a dig at a rural Spanish mission in CA - Horreur Sympathique smells just how the winery there did. I would love it just for that. This one is quite sweet, verging on candy at times, but on me the sweetness is just kept in check.

Fae makes my arm smell like candy! First on it just smells sweet, like rock candy, and a bit later it turns into Lemonheads. The white musk doesn't show up until hours after application, once the rest of the scent has faded. Not what I would have expected based on the notes... Fae is lovely, but it doesn't have very much personality on my skin. Of course, I love all the notes so much that I'll keep it anyway - it might get a little fuller at a different time of month (or when my allergies aren't so bad!).

Me: *smears on Sybaris, sniffs, smiles - It's soft and spicey! waves arm under DH's nose* What do you think? DH: Ewh. Baby powder. Me: It is not! *waves arm under friend's nose* What do you think? Friend: Baby powder. Me: *frown, sniff* Oh. Baby powder. Something about this goes very powdery after a few seconds on my skin, and it's a STRONG powder. After a little while the throw goes away, but I still don't get any of the notes other than the softest hint of spice. *waves bye-bye to imp*

Snake oil was mostly dry spices on me - not a hint of vanilla. A lot of reviews have advised wearing this several times before making a decision - but I gave it away as a gift after only wearing it twice. I'll probably get another imp of it in the future - I liked it on its own and layered with O it was very yummy.

I was hoping for a bit more woods with this one, but its predominently a light floral. I like it, but from time to time I'm catching a hint of soap. It's also making my nose itch a bit, so I don't think I'll be wearing it that often. Nice, but something I wouldn't mind trading or giving away.

I was afraid of the vetiver, but on my skin Fallen is all yummy yummy musk with faint hints of violet. It was a bit strong when wet, but now that it's dried down my eyes roll back into my head a little bit everytime I sniff my wrist. I love musk. I love musk a lot. I also adore amber and I'm getting the faintest hint of that beneath the musk. I'm so happy I can't detect the vetiver in this one (or maybe it's just not doing the normal nastiness with my skin). I can see myself using up this imp and getting a 5ml - but I'm testing so many scents atm that probably won't be for awhile. I wonder if the DH will let me try this on him...

A soft, lovely violet scent... I get more hints of lilac than I do of tuberose, but this is mostly straight violets. I am getting the powdery undertone that other reviews have mentioned, but its not at all unpleasant. This is a very simple scent, something to wear with a white dress or a long nightgown. It reminds me of something the heroine from a Gothic novel would wear. Very nice, but I have so many violet scents that I doubt I'll need more than an imp of it.

A midnight scent, evoking images of flickering golden firelight reflecting off the sheen of glistening skin and the jerking shadows of bodies suffused with spiritual ecstasy. A deep, powerful, resonant blend of myrrh, patchouli, vetiver, lime, vanilla, pine, almond and clove. Voodoo reminded me a lot of Snake Oil - both of them turned into dry, spicey smells on my skin (though in Voodoo's case accompanied by an unpleasant spike of vetiver). Just like I get no hint of vanilla in Snake Oil - I get not a trace of sweetness, lime, or pine with Voodoo. Nothing! That being said... Voodoo was still an okay scent on my skin. The vetiver was pretty subtle (I could still catch it as an unpleasant undertone but my friend's couldn't) and I would say this is the first blend containing it that I wouldn't mind wearing. I tested it out of a friend's imp and I didn't like it enough to buy any for myself. For some reason I get the feeling that I may like this scent better in the winter... ETA: Lab description

On my skin Veil was a somewhat sharp, whitish floral, more redolent of gardenia than violet (the scent I got it for). I tend to amp sharpness and turn white florals soapy, so this was alright, but not great on my skin. Nocturne (which I'm testing on my other arm) is closer to the soft violet scent I was looking for. Still, if your skin doesn't turn white florals nasty, I'd definitely give Veil a try. I can tell there's all sorts of niceness there - my skin just won't let me smell it.

White gardenia, ambergris bouquet, lavender fougere, orange blossom, melissa, tobacco flower, coriander, ebony wood, ylang ylang, absinthe and aged whiskey. Oh me Tavern of Hell is a sharpish white floral, but without the soapy undertone that white florals sometimes give me. It's a bit too strong and perfumy for me to wear regularly, but I think I'll be keeping the imp - I can tell this is the sort of scent I'll want to wear on occasion. ETA: I ended up washing this off... more because I'm so in love with Depraved atm than because I didn't like Tavern. >.>

Interesting... I got this as a frimp from the lovely lab! I never would have expected Nocnitsa's fresh, almost sharp, smell from the listed notes. Like many reviewers, I'm getting a light, sweet pine with a touch of berries, no moss or soil notes. This blend verges on the soapy and is not really my style. I think I'll give my imp to one of my friends who enjoys clean scents.

One of those sad cases where your skin chemistry makes you think you must have gotten a mislabeled imp... wet Venice was nothing but LEMON, dry it was SOAP (and not even lemon-scented soap). Bother. Off to a new home!

I got this from the lab as a frimp in my recent order of imps (various violet blends as I search for that perfect violet scent). What a change from the violets I've been sniffing for the last two days! First on the apricot and patchouli are equally strong. As others have mentioned, the apricots are extremely juicy - a slightly-too-ripe sort of smell. They fought with the patchouli rather than blending with it. For some reason this struck me as a good perfume to wear after a day on the beach when you and your friends are going to a fancy restaurant that has to let you in even though you're all wind-blown and underdressed - provocative I suppose. Unfortunately the apricot doesn't really last on my skin. It fades quickly, leaving behind a softened patchouli. Not an unpleasant drydown, but not as nice as when wet. I think I'll keep my imp around for times when I feel like something different, but I'm not a big enough patchouli fan to wear this often. ETA: I spoke too soon! After about half an hour the apricot came back and melded very nicely into the patchouli. I can see myself using up this imp (my prereq for ordering GC 5mls) and having to buy more. It's a good scent for summer nights.

Wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this one, so I only applied a tiny bit... Fresh on it was entirely cedar on me, not a note I like - my skin turns cedar into hamster cage. I shrugged my shoulders, thought "meh" and went back to work. Half an hour later I started getting hints of this lovely sort of cocoa... and I realized it was the Intrigue. It was very faint, so I decided to apply again, this time a lot more. HAMSTER! The dry down of this is lovely(cocoa and fig), and it's got an unexpected (but very nice) throw. Unfortunately the cedar really ruins the wet stage for me, and the dry stage isn't so superior to other BPALs that I'd be willing to sit through half an hour of hamster cage for it.

I've recently learned that I really like Beth's honey note so I was really excited when one of my friends ordered a 5ml of O - I'd been wanting to try it but was worried it was going to be too sweet. When it arrived I asked the friend (who had ordered it unsniffed) what it was like... "Sex," she said, "Bottled sex." Hmm. I don't really want to smell like sex... but I tried it anyway. "O" doesn't actually smell like sex to me. In fact, it smells exactly like the listed notes: honey, amber, vanilla. It's on the verge of being too sweet, but isn't quite. It's yummy, yummy, yummy. I agree with other reviewers: this is a good scent for layering. I tried it with my Shub and it was delicious (though too foody for my tastes). I might get a 5ml of "O" once I run out of Mead Moon, but for the moment I like Mead Moon's complexity a bit better when I need a honey fix (though who knows - I might find that perfect scent to layer with "O").

Yay! This is a perfect cucumber scent on me, it reminds me of much-loved cucumber lotions that I've used in the past. This is the simple, fresh scent I kept looking for in BPAL aquatics and not finding. A wonderful scent for summer - though it's much stronger than I was expecting, I'll use less next time I wear it.

In the bottle this seemed interesting, and the ozone didn't seem too overwhelming... but BAM! I put it on my skin and it turned into instant old lady perfume (and not in the good way that certain other blends manage). I can't even pick out any individual notes... bah, my skin chemistry is fail. I'll probably try it again in a few weeks to see if it's improved, if not I'll give it away / swap it.

The longer Knucklebones is on, the more I'm enjoying it. It's a bit more masculine than most scents I like, but there's something very compelling about it - I just can't stop sniffing. The boozey notes were quite strong at first, but died down into a lovely mixture of musk and tobacco with the booze and lime just giving it an edge... I was going to deem this "nice enough to keep the imp but no need for a bottle" - but I think I'll need to test it a few more times before I decide. If my DH was willing to wear perfume I'd -love- to smell this one at the nape of his neck. This seems like a "lucky" sort of scent - the kind of thing you'd wear to play poker. Though that may just be the artwork talking!

No nag champa on me No incense at all. Wet on me Midnight has a very perfumey smell, and dry it becomes a very faint vanilla-floral. It's pleasant, but not as lovely as I was hoping. I'll be keeping my decant (thank you meaganola!) but I won't be getting any more.

White musk, wild plum, vetiver, black coconut, verbena, fig, and lavender. Freshly on this smells overpoweringly of vetiver - which sadly does not work well on my skin. However it wasn't as sharp as the vetiver in some other blends (Hurricane and Highwayman spring to mind) so I didn't have to wash it off immediately. Fortunately the vetiver faded fairly quickly - but so did everything else! I was left with the faintest hint of fig and white musk. I -love- white musk, and I found the coconut and fig notes interesting - but the vetiver is just too much at the beginning and I have scents I like better with the lovely white musk drydown. ...hmm, I didn't get any lavender or verbena (which a lot of reviewers say they amped), which is too bad since I enjoy both of those notes!

Blood, what I would have given to have had you in high school! Unfortunately my tastes now are less gothic than they were then... My Blood was a frimp from the lab that came with my lunacy order. Yay lab! Frimps make me so happy. First on Blood had a strong cherry-dbr scent that I really liked. Unfortunately it faded very quickly on me, until nothing remained but faint cloves in a "clean" base. A few days ago I would have said this turned soapy on my skin, but my recent Hay Moon disappointment taught me what "soapy" really smells like. Blood just smells faintly spicy and pleasantly clean. It's not bad, but there are many other scents that are better on me. Unless one of my friends wants my imp I might keep it around just to sniff the yummy right out of the bottle...

I received a frimp of Van Van in my lab order (<3 the lab!). The first few times I wore it I loved it, couldn't get enough of its creamy vanilla-lemon smell and decided I was going to buy a 5ml for my birthfay. But then... disaster! I went out of town for a weekend and when I got back Van Van was horrible on me. It turned into a harsh herbal/soap smell that actually hurts my nose and eyes. A few reviews have guessed that this might have vetiver in it, if so that might be my problem (some vetivers hate me and some don't). I'm holding onto my imp for now and giving it occasional tries - I'd love for this to smell the way it did the first few times I wore it.

When I first put this on I thought the honey would be too cloying, but it calmed down quickly into a delicious honey-vanilla with the slightest hint of spice. Yay! I was afraid this would be too boozy - I should have known better. ETA: The lemon came out a bit more as it dried, lightening the honey sweetness. I'm glad I tried both the moons this month. If I'd just chosen one based on the listed notes I would have gone with Hay Moon, but Mead Moon is far far nicer on my skin.

This smelled lovely in the bottle but on my skin it went very sharp and soapy I'll hold onto it for a while to see if it gets better - otherwise I'll have to swap it or use it in my oil burner. ETA: I made three friends try this on - it was sharp and soapy on one of them, but a very pleasant sweet grass scent on the other two. Since my skin doomed me to soap I gave it away - even though I really liked the scarecrow on the bottle.