vegasblueblood

Have a bottle of this and I'm a little undecided. It has every single note that I love--vanilla, cherries, Egyptian musk and yet somehow it falls a little flat. It's nice but maybe it's the fact that it has no throw and gets VERY faint VERY fast that is undoing it for me. The musk does indeed overpower a bit as some others have mentioned so if you love Egyptian musk, you'd almost certainly adore this but I was hoping for a little more cherry and vanilla. It is not foody but it's very sweet and almost sugary, and I love the foodie and sugary blends so that's nice but something about this, which I can't fully put my finger on, is just not quite 100% working for me.

Resurrected Version: I have both the original Black Lace and this new version and I'm how many others are noticing a pretty major difference between the two. It could be that my original bottle is aged but this new Black Lace is REALLY different than my original, imo. The original is deeper, darker and sweeter with more vanilla and slight masculinity whereas this new version seems to have a more prominent cotton note with some kind of fruit. I sniffed both of them 'side by side' and my original version doesn't have that odd little fruit note. Black Lace is a classic nevertheless!

Yum. This is a gentle soft creamy sugary vanilla. It's quite different, imo, in the bottle than what it is on my skin. I was worried that it would quickly fade away (like a ghost! LOL) but it's now a gentle sweet vanilla with hint of creamy sugar and the cotton note keeps it from becoming cloying or overwhelming. Boo is a keeper!

2009 Version: Whoa. I opened the bottle and got walloped with sweetness. I didn't really get the sweet buttery scent of candy corn I was expecting. In the bottle, I actually got a scent that I don't even know how to describe. I decided to give it a try, of course, and on the dry down I started to get the buttery creaminess that I associate with candy corn but this is more like a jolt of caramel sugar. It also has a note in it that I think is similar to Butter Rum Cookie 2008. I'm going to give this some time to age a bit and another chance. I'm a major foody lover but even this one might be too sweet for my blood!

When I first opened this, I thought I had gotten the wrong bottle in the order. It was pure cherry. Now, I love BPAL cherry note. It's deep, dark and red. But when I ordered Bite Me, I expected the scent that it's in the item description. I thought I'd gotten Suck It! I gave this a try though and still got none of the listed notes. I started to faintly detect the almond but it's such an unusual almond and after maybe 30 minutes after the drydown, I finally detected the pastry scent. It's definitely an interesting blend but it's not what I was expecting at all. It's really strong but it's not for me. It is like a floral as opposed to a foody until well after the dry down when it becomes sweet. It's a morpher!

Something about this one reminds me a grape-y Snake Oil. This is a purple plummy spicy exotic blend that has so much going on that it's hard to know where to begin to describe it! My bottle is nicely aged and I've found that the patchouli has come more to the forefront as time has gone by. I don't get a whole lot of vanilla other than a soft underlying sweetness. This is heady and smoky yet very feminine. The red musk is probably what gives it that heady feeling. I like it but I think I liked it more when it wasn't aged. I'm not the biggest patchouli fan.

When I first got this imp, it was all sweet cherry. Now as it's aged, it's incredibly spicy with the clove storming in and taking over as soon as I apply it. I'm hoping the clove relaxes and allows some of that cherry I initially loved so much in this blend to come through. There is a masculinity to this that I am assuming is the vetiver--a note that normally makes me run screaming but it seems to work in this blend, giving it a subtle darkness. Not too much vanilla coming through but I'm sure after a few hours, there it will be. There is sexy and dark, intriguing and not mellow in the least--a vampire kiss indeed.

This ages beautifully. It goes from being very almondy to being spicy, sugary, deep, delicious buttery rum mingled with something cake-y and yummy with the almond in the background. I am foodie lover and this was not that high on my list of my favorite foodie blends until it aged. Now I think it's so gorgeous.

Oh, how I love this. I really should have bought more than one bottle when it came out. This is gorgeous sweet cherry, fluffy powdered sugar and some kind of delicious buttery note that makes it smell like kind of dessert straight out of heaven. I am a huge fan of BPAL's cherry note and when it surrounded by other favored notes of mine like cream and sugar, how could I ever not love this? Absolutely fabulous.

Rich syrupy apricot brandy. Almost TOO much, too sweet, too thick and cloying but just before it becomes all those things, it stops itself and it delicious, deep and yummy. It is supposed to represent grand guignol after all! I would not expect this to be a shy and demure blend! This is more sweet and fruity rather than alcoholic. It definitely has a boozy note but it's not as boozy as, say, Bordello and it is a rather dark blend, definitely not a full of golden lightness as some fruity sugary blends are.

Deep, woody and spicy. Lots of patchouli, almost cedar-like. I don't get a lot of the red sandalwood, mostly just the patchouli and the dry resiny-ness of the frankincense. This is not feminine in the slightest yet not overly masculine either. It has a tough quality with a subtle underlying softness at the core--something perhaps appropriate for a female pirate.

Starts off as a fruity floral and ends up all powdery amber, almost baby powderish and slightly bubble gummy as I find amber to be. Normally, I am not a fan of amber but the other notes in this do not allow the amber to entirely take over. It's definitely bright and it is indulgent and luxurious as I would imagine Florence several hundred years ago to be. I do not find it to be dark at all, rather it comes across as very golden, warm with the teeniest hint of spice in the background.

Violet. Lots and lots of violet. My imp is very aged but I've always gotten a lot of violet from this blend. There is a deep spiciness to it that I am assuming is from the clove and incense but I actually don't smell those two notes directly at all. It is also very sweet and really strong. It comes in with a bang, that's for sure. It's a really interesting blend.

Very crystalline and light. It's a floral with watery pear. Very delicate, feminine, gentle and soft, the way I would imagine Sleeping Beauty to be. The rose comes out in the beginning but quickly blends away into the scent and remains more in the background while the pear and plumeria take over. Definitely not a noticeable scent. It has little throw and I have to sniff my wrist in order to catch a whiff of it--but this could be a good thing. Not all scents needs to scream and announce themselves boldly.

Very warm and sweet vanilla. It is reminiscent of a Tahitian vanilla yet it is vaguely dusty and reminds me of something soft and warm that just came out of the dryer. A little of this seems to just last and last. I applied only a few tiny dabs on each wrist hours ago and it's going strong as if it is still wet and fresh. There is a hint of the cotton-y vanilla that is present in Black Lace, almost like an innocent little sister of that blend. Very creamy and sweet to the point of being almost overwhelming but it is not at all cloying.

My imp is quite aged and over time this has become more and more wine-y and grape-y. It is now a very boozy scent--the wine is indeed thick and black. The honey makes this very sweet, almost cloying but there are a lot of sweet notes in this like benzoin and the sugar cane. I like this a lot. It's quite dark, so when I say it is sweet I don't mean in a lovely, foodie, light way. I'm surprised at how boozy it got as it aged. Not only that, it lasted about 10 hours on my wrist, finally ending with a sweet fruity honey scent.

This smells like a fruity tropical drink, like a pina colada minus the coconut. It's odd. I love this one, though not everyday. I do not find that it smells at all like sour milk. Rather it's a creamy milky blend with the tartness of the pomegranate, grapes, and fig and the rich sweetness of the honey. It lasts for hours. It will be perfect in warm weather since it's so fruity and tropical-esque.

An aquatic spicy vanilla. The spicy sweetness of this blend is mingled with the wateriness of the sea moss. I find that ambergris always smells like vanilla and is rather sweet. This is nice, reminds me of, say, the Cornwall coast. It's not really a vanilla blend and not really a floral and is blended well so it's not that easy to pick out individual notes. This one lasts a while and becomes sweeter as it dries. Interesting.

Starts off as a gorgeous almond with the spicy Egyptian musk floating behind. Then the sweetness of the amber and lotus begin to take over. I am not a huge fan of either amber or lotus but the almond, musk and spices keep them from becoming overly sweet or cloying. This is very warm and soft, very feminine and almost motherly. The amber is definitely making it powdery but not enough for me to think it a problem. This doesn't last long. I've only had it on less than an hour and it's already faded signifcantly.

Gorgeous. A deep milky chocolate surrounded by the woodiness of the myrrh and the warmth of the sandalwood. This, somehow, is truly velvety. It is so unusual. Vaguely foodie yet not enough to be considered a foodie scent. It's rich and sophisticated and after a good hour or two of wear, it has not even slightly faded.

This reminds me so much of that green glittering apple in Disney's Snow White. A deep ripe juicy apple surrounded by a dark glittering sweetness that comes from the hemlock and oleander.

Hands down my favorite BPAL blend ever. When it was resurrected, I bought enough to last me a lifetime. Truly a foodie lover's paradise. Super sweet, buttery (like a funnel cake), makes you want to go to a state fair and eat to your heart's content. It eventually becomes a soft vanilla mixed with icing sugar but that's hours after it being on. I love this. It most definitely does not go remotely plastic on me. It is absolutely divine, both the original and the Resurrected. I find the original slightly more buttery but not sure if that's because it's aged. I also find the original to be stronger but the stuff is like liquid gold to me so I reach for the Resurrected more often in order to conserve it. The perfect interpretation of carnival food indulgence fest.

I absolutely love this blend. This is one of my favorites. It is so soft, sweet and feminine but it has some kind of an edge that makes it unique, different and interesting. It vaguely foody from the vanilla and honeycomb, somewhat tart from the currant, and softly floral. I get a lot of freesia and gardenia, not much from the rose geranium. This stuff also has great staying power. I put it on around lunch time and it's now hours later and I can still smell it. This is also gorgeously creamy. Amazing.

Simply delicious and lasts for hours. This is very foodie but is more of a sophisticated foodie. The saffron gives this a cool edge, almost minty, but the vanilla and cream are the prominent notes on me. This is not your typical vanilla scent. It almost reminds me of cream cheese icing (the kind you get on red velvet cake)--yum! I just can't believe how long this stuff lasts. It kept going strong on me for over 12 hours!

Absolutely gorgeous. This is one of my favorite blends and I also find Salome as a female in history to be pretty fascinating. The almond and jasmine grab you first but neither overwhelms. Star jasmine is absolutely lovely and does not become an overwhelming floral at all. The almond gives it this delicious exotic sweetness and the smoke and spice kicks in from the red sandalwood and musk. This is a strong scent but I do not find it sharp at all. I find it swirls around you and has a significant amount of throw but there is a softness and femininity to this. Not only that, as it ages, it gets even better.