Aredhel

Rating (on skin): 5/5 Summarised in a word or two: Perverse! In the imp: Tonka, leather and something almost berryish. On skin, wet: ...Interesting. The leather isn't as strong as I'd expected it to be, and the tonka is sweeter and smoother than in the imp. It's actually fairly confusing: soft, but sharp; smooth, but distinctly rough; sweet, but very, well, almost sweaty. On skin, dry: Tobacco! I've been liking tobacco more and more lately, and the tobacco becomes a strong player as this dries. I'm liking this much more than I ever expected it. It's smoky, thick and smooth, but not sharp. The leather doesn't smell like cow-ass for once, and the tobacco doesn't smell like stale cigarettes. After an hour or so, it's a bit sweeter, which makes it that much better. Conclusion: Actually, I was sure I'd reviewed/tested and hated it, but apparently not. I get no rum or chardonnay, which I'm glad of, as I'm not a fan of booze notes. What I do get is a smoky tonka/leather/tobacco/musk kind of scent that, while lovely, is really very intense. It is the perfect kind of thing to wear to a club or (bondage) ball, and while I can't see myself wearing it daily, I may need a 5ml to keep for special aforementioned occasions. To hell with that -- 5ml in my next order, definitely.

Rating (on skin): 1/5 Summarised in a word or two: Waxy/plastic. In the imp: Buttery, vaguely smoky sugared chestnuts dipped in honey. On skin, wet: Um. Soap. I imagine this is the pine, but it really reminds me of soap. I still smell chestnuts, sugar, honey and butter, but beneath that, the pine-that-smells-so-damn-much-like-soap. Not cool. On skin, dry: Smoky, sweet and buttery pine. This is... very weird, and not something I'm finding myself very fond of at all. It's taken on a distinctly plastic quality, not really unlike the drydown of Beaver Moon and Pink Phoeniy. Candley; a roasted-chestnuts candle. Conclusion: Hearth '05 is... not for me, but as I didn't get on with Hearth '04, I didn't really expect to love this, revisited or not. Live and learn.

Rating (on skin): 1/5 Summarised in a word or two: Citrus/herbal soap. In the imp: (Evil!) Lavender, orange and strong mint. On skin, wet: Thyme, bergamot, mint and that evil, evil lavender lording itself all over everything. This is already becoming a strong citrus soap. I have a sage & lemon soap bar that smells almost exactly like this, actually. On skin, dry: Thyme and a bit of bergamot. Citrusy, herbal, and distinctly soapy. There may be just a bit of mint somewhere far below, but it's a fleeting thing if that's really what I'm catching occasionally at all. Conclusion: I had such high hopes, but alas, Calliope is not for me.

Rating (on skin): 4/5 Summarised in a word or two: Blood and incense! In the imp: Oooh. Sweet incense and sharp, tangy blood. On skin, wet: Oh, wow. This reminds me of Blood Moon, but with incense and not as spicy. There's definitely something metallic about this, which I must say is a surprisingly good thing. On skin, dry: Mmm, blood. This kind of smells the way blood tastes (which, er, I do quite like) if it were mixed with incense. Warm and metallic and just a bit sweet and smoky. The problem starts a few minutes further along, when the blood starts to fade away and it becomes strong, thick, heady incense. Conclusion: Sigh. For most of its drydown, it's love-love-love. After that... not so much.

Rating (on skin): 5/5 Summarised in a word or two: Smoky! In the imp: A wee bit of vanilla and cedar and a lot of sassafras. On skin, wet: A bubble, fizzy sassafras soda. Not really digging this much at all. It reminds me more of teenagers at a soda-shop than it does of the Old West. On skin, dry: Hmm. As this dries, it becomes deep, earthy and woodsy. Very rugged and dusty. I think if the sassafras died down a bit, I might really like this. So far, however, it's too sweet and fizzy. A few more minutes, it's not so fizzy, and the vanilla is stronger. I really like it at this point. Conclusion: After about twenty minutes, I really like Tombstone. I don't know if it's something I'd wear regularly, but I'm definitely contemplating a 5ml.

Rating (on skin): 0/5 Summarised in a word or two: Rotting liquorice. In the imp: Stinky, rotty anise. This can't end well. On skin, wet: You know... this isn't nearly as bad as I thought it'd be. I definitely catch the anise, but it's not overly strong -- it's kind of... sweet. It's a bit green, and has a distinctly sharp, unpleasant kind of muskiness to it, but it's not horrible. On skin, dry: ...I spoke way too soon. As it dries it becomes sharper, darker and much muskier. It takes on a very... damp, green, rotting kind of quality. It makes my nose tingle, and the anise starts to get stronger. Eventually, I had to wash it off. Yuck. Conclusion: Others have loved this, so it definitely appeals to some, but definitely not me -- I don't like anise, don't like civet, and mostly don't like vetiver. But, I'm glad to have tried it.

Rating (on skin): 0/5 Summarised in a word or two: Pine-fresh dirt. In the imp: Pine and juniper! On skin, wet: Oddly enough, not terribly earthy. I get nothing but pine and juniper. Kind of reminds me of Black Forest, but I think I prefer BF. On skin, dry: And there's the dirt/loam. Yick. BPAL's dirt/earth/loam notes have yet to work on me at all. The pine's become kind of fake and plastic on me now, and the whole thing kind of smells like one of those pine tree-shaped air fresheners stopped into the ground. Conclusion: Definitely not my kind of thing. I think I might have liked it enough, though probably not enough to get a bottle, if the loam would have stayed at bay.

Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a word or two: Sweet! In the imp: Grape! Strong grape. On skin, wet: Clove and wine. Very fruity and spicy. Very candyish, though, like, well, liquid candy. On skin, dry: Sickly sweet wine, a bit of mimosa and clove. Fruity, spicy and floral. And did I mention sweet? This kind of smells like the fake-flowers section of Michaels (the crafts store). Conclusion: Nice, but too sweet and floral to be my kind of thing.

Rating (on skin): 1/5 Summarised in a word or two: Black musky rose. In the imp: Thick black musk, berry-ish wine and rose. Not good. On skin, wet: Wine and spiced rose. Nice, but the rose is very strong, and I don't dig rose... On skin, dry: Oy, and there's the black musk, ruining everything as it does. Syrupy, thick and dark musk, spice and rose. Definitely not liking this. Conclusion: There was a moment or two while wet that, if the rose weren't so strong, this could've had promise. I just don't like rose, and black musk and my skin don't ever agree.

Rating (on skin): 4/5 Summarised in a word or two: Grassy! In the imp: Grassy! On skin, wet: Ooh, very green and grassy, without being soapy in the least. It's also a bit watery, but not really aquatic -- kind of like dewy grass. On skin, dry: Fresh and bright and clean. I'm surprised that this didn't go soapy on me. However, it has no throw or staying power. I have to struggle to get anything after the first hour. Conclusion: Absolutely lovely, but doesn't last. I'll give this another go after the Trading Post releases (and I buy and receive) a scent locket.

Rating (on skin): 5/5 Summarised in a word or two: *mumbles incoherently* In the bottle: Simply? The perfect blend of vanilla and honey. On skin, wet: Suh-weet. Smoky honey, impossibly smooth and sweet vanilla and warm amber. On skin, dry: Sweet, sweaty, musky skin. The honey easily dominates the blend, but the vanilla and amber don't let themselves be forgotten for a second. I'm not a honey-nut, but the honey in O is divine. The whole blend is divine. Conclusion: I admit, I'd forgotten how much I love O. Hell, for some reason, for the longest time I thought O had suddenly hated me. I have no idea why I sold my first bottle of it, or really, what made me want to give it "another shot." Whatever it was, I thank it. O has regained its rightful place in my Top 10. The only "problem" with this blend is, as others have said, O doesn't fuck around: you'd damn well better know what you could possibly get yourself into (in a good way!) when smelling this fan-fucking-tastic. Note: O was the very first BPAL scent I ever sniffed, "way back" in March 2005. I was one of the very lucky few that fell completely for their very first BPAL scent. I think, on some level, O will always be a representative of BPAL in scent-form for me, which I must say, is a glorious thing. I can't believe it took me so long to get a bottle of or write a review for it. Silly Aredhel.

Rating (on skin): 5/5 Summarised in a word or two: Smut smut smut. In the bottle: ...Um, wow. Sweeter, musky, smutty Snake Oil. I loves me some Snake Oil, so that couldn't be a better thing. On skin, wet: Sugary and musky and spicy and smutty. Definitely a cousin of Snake Oil and Snake Charmer, but decidedly different in quite a few vital ways. Musky without smelling like an animal's ass, earthy without being dirty, boozy without reeking of liquor, spicy without smelling like a baked good. On skin, dry: There's no better name for this than Smut and there's no better adjective for this than smutty. It gets sweeter and warmer and just a bit spicier. Smut couldn't get any better -- if it did, I seriously think I'd be physically addicted to this. Conclusion: I have only two things to say about Smut: 1) Unf. and 2) I fucking love teh Smut. I love teh Smut so much that the fact that it makes me sneeze during the first few seconds of its wet stage doesn't even faze me. This one is battling Dorian and Snake Oil for the title of Aredhel's Favourite BPAL Scent Ever, and you know, it's got a damn good shot.

Rating (on skin): 5/5 Summarised in a word or two: Gorgeous! In the bottle: Mmm, caramel. I thought I'd hate caramel, but this is... really, really good caramel. On skin, wet: Coconut, caramel, currant, spices, amber and tobacco... all in an amazingly good way. The strongest notes are the caramel, coconut, spices and tobacco, all of which save spice I thought I'd hate in this. It's smoky in much the same way that Devil's Night was, but with one glaring difference: the smoky element in Red Lantern is gorgeous, and not at all the stale-bar-smoke smoke I got from Devil's Night. On skin, dry: Tobacco, amber, coconut and caramel. I'm not getting butterscotch or buttery caramel at all, which I'm thankful for. The tobacco is much stronger than I'd ever anticipated, but I find this a good thing -- after Red Phoenix and The Great Sword of War, I've discovered that there are instances in which I adore tobacco, and Red Lantern is one of them. Conclusion: Earthy, smoky, rich and just a bit sweet. Not at all what I was expecting -- RL is so much better than I was expecting.

Rating (on skin): 0/5 Summarised in a word or two: VIOLET. In the imp: Gardenia! Lovely, lovely gardenia and vanilla. On skin, wet: HELLO VIOLETS. Yikes, that's some strong violet right there. No vanilla and no gardenia, just violet. On skin, dry: Thick, strong, headache-inducing violet. I have nothing against violet, really, but strong florals usually cause headaches, and violet is no exception. Conclusion: Definitely not for me. If you like violet -- really, really like violet -- you'll probably love LSQD.

Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a word or two: Honey. In the imp: Hmm. Grape-like, but not really grape. What it is, it makes me queasy. On skin, wet: Fresh honey, cinnamon (and maybe clove?) and something fruity that still doesn't seem like grape. On skin, dry: Spiced honey! Very nice, actually. Sweet and herbal. The honey, however, just keeps getting stronger until it's nothing but pure honey. Conclusion: I loved it while wet and through most of the drydown, until it became very much like a honey single note. I'm just not a big enough fan of honey to want more of Tum, unless I could keep it the way it is while wet.

Rating (on skin): 0/5 Summarised in a word or two: FLORAL!!1 In the imp: Lotus (evil!) and jasmine (lately, good!). On skin, wet: Absolutely lovely jasmine weighed down by the horrors of lotus. No sign of lime, which is a good thing. On skin, dry: As usual, my skin took a "light" floral and turned it into a "brain-numbingly strong" floral. My skin hates me when it comes to florals. I love the jasmine in this, but the lotus and tuberose (which sometimes likes me, sometimes hates me) are just too strong for me. Conclusion: Alas, the hunt for a jasmine scent not ruined by other notes continues.

Rating (on skin): 5/5 Summarised in a word or two: Herbs! In the imp: Very green and herbal, and distinctly... soapy. On skin, wet: Still very herbal, but also woodsy. Almost pine, but not quite. Something else I can't really identify. It has the cool/cooling quality that mint/menthol does, but I'm not getting menthol/mint/etc. On skin, dry: Not much change from wet, oddly. It's a a borderline "masculine" scent, but I'm definitely liking it. It's almost musky in some ways. Conclusion: I remember having tried this way back in my newbie days, and how I loathed it. Nearly a year's gone by, and my likes and dislikes have changed, as evidenced by how much I really, really like Wolfsbane. I'm definitely contemplating a 5ml of this.

#102/300 (I think) Rating (on skin): 5/5 Summarised in a word or two: Red Phoenix + Incense! In the imp: Sandalwood, plum, musk and patchouli. Strangely, they smell good. On skin, wet: I have to agree about the similarities to Red Phoenix, which is a good thing, as much as I love RP. While I don't usually dig heavy incense, so far Hellion's like Red Phoenix plus... some heavy incense-y scent that I can't think of right now. There's also the sweet plum, which I never got in Red Phoenix. On skin, dry: If you haven't gathered already, I love Hellion. Spicy and musky and incense-y without being sharp or bitter. No sign of champaca, the dark musk plays nice, the patchouli is earthy, but not dirty, and the sandalwood doesn't try to choke me. Conclusion: As with La Fée Verte, I wanted to hate Hellion. But, I don't.

#119/300 Rating (on skin): 5/5 Summarised in a word or two: Antique Lace + Absinthe + Spice. In the imp: Wormwood! Definitely similar in smell to real Absinthe in taste. On skin, wet: Oh. Green and herbally, then musky and a bit spicy, with my beloved vanilla. Still very distinctly Absinthe-esque, but not as sharp as in the imp. On skin, dry: As it has to others, the drydown really reminds me of Antique Lace. AL meets Absinthe (the scent) with just a bit of spice, maybe. Whatever it may be, it's divine. Conclusion: I really hoped not to fall for LFV, I really did. But, I fell. Hard.

Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a word or two: Tea soap. In the imp: Green and white teas and what I *think* is the bamboo pulp. On skin, wet: Soapy already?! Damn it. Tea notes can go either way on me, and going soapy is the route Holiday Moon's teas have decided to take. Aside from the soapy quality, it also seems kind of... perfumey. I *know* I've smelled something like what my skin makes of this somewhere... On skin, dry: As this dries, it becomes less soapy, and more tea-like, which I love. A fresh, bright green tea with just a bit of bamboo. It's really pretty, but it doesn't last. Soon, it becomes soapy again, and stays that way for the remainder of the application's life. Conclusion: I really, really like what HM becomes in the middle of its drydown phase, but it'd be silly to buy a bottle, or any more, really, for that fleeting loveliness.

Silliness in the extreme. Vanilla bean, honeycomb, sugared pear, sweet pea and a dribble of strawberry. Rating (on skin): 1/5 Summarised in a word or two: Artificial strawberry. In the imp: Ooh. Strawberry, pear and vanilla. On skin, wet: Bubblegum. I know that note from Aeval: sweet pea. Sweet pea and I... we have some serious issues. What would normally be a lovely sugary strawberry-vanilla syrup scent becomes artificially-flavoured strawberry gum because of that damned sweet pea. On skin, dry: Hmm. Waxy. Gummy, but at the same time, waxy. Candle-waxy. A strawberry-gum scented candle, maybe. Regardless, not good. Conclusion: I'll say it again: sweet pea and I hate each other, so I'm not terribly surprised it ruined what could've been a gorgeous blend (though it likely would've been too sweet for me to want to wear as a perfume).

Rating (on skin): 1/5 Rating (efficacy): N/A Summarised in a word or two: Dryer sheets. In the imp: Soft, unasuming jasmine and lavender, and maybe just a bit of light rose. On skin, wet: Lavender and jasmine, and something soft and smooth like vanilla, but without that distinct vanilla/tonka smell. Nice enough, but lavender and I have never really gotten along. On skin, dry: When it first begins to try, it's tricky. One moment, I'll sniff smooth, creamy jasmine and find it beautiful, and the next I'll get rose and lavender, and decide it's not my bag. As it continues to dry, it finally decides to become soft and overly floral and distinctly dryer sheet-y. Conclusion: I love-love-love the smooth jasmine bit I get fleetingly during the early drydown, but I don't dig smelling like a dryer sheet. As I'm not currently suffering from a broken heart (or anything remotely similar), I haven't given its Voodoo properties a whirl. I'll probably keep the imp, however, in case I ever do want to try that aspect of the blend out.

Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a word or two: Violet. In the imp: Dark and earthy violet. No sign of cinnamon. On skin, wet: Ah, there's the cinnamon! Cinnamony violets. Interesting, but I'm not sure I really care for it. On skin, dry: Very sweet cinnamon. Kind of like sugared-violet candy sprinkled with cinnamon powder, but earthier.. Conclusion: If the violet was a bit softer, I may fall for it. As it is, it's too flowery for me, even though I really do like the cinnamon in it.

Rating (on skin): 5/5 Summarised in a word or two: Herbal melon! In the imp: Hmm. Fruity, but not sweet, and just a bit herbal. On skin, wet: Just a tad sweet and fruity, like melon, and very fresh and herbal. Very, very nice. On skin, dry: I really, really like this. I really don't know what olive is supposed to smell like in this, and I have very limited experience with spikenard and galangal. I might not know what exactly I'm sniffing, but I know I love it. Conclusion: I never, ever would have ordered this myself. Once again, the Lab surprises me in a most wonderful way. I definitely see a 5ml in my future.

Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a word or two: Lily of the Valley! In the imp: Sweet mandarin and vanilla. So far, so good! On skin, wet: Oh, this is lovely! Mandarin, vanilla, a bit of sandalwood, and just a bit of Lily of the Valley. On skin, dry: Still beautiful. But there's a problem: as this dries, the Lily of the Valley takes over, and becomes a very strong, very floral scent. Strong florals usually give me a headache, and Belle Epoque is no exception. Conclusion: It's very pretty, but obviously, a girl that gets migraine headaches doesn't want to wear a perfume that triggers a headache.