perclexed

I got this the first time it was released, and at that point I had to sell it for funds, so I was very, very happy that it came around. Once again this smells like it belongs on a very hot man that I would ride like a thoroughbred if given the opportunity. It’s totally hot dark sex in a bottle. I love anything amber, and the black amber and patchouli work with all the rest to create a scent that, well. In the immortal words of Jayne Cobb from Firefly? ”I’ll be in my bunk.” There's no way I could ever wear this out in public. Well, ok, maybe in special situations.

66 (LXVI) This bottle nearly beats you about the head and shoulders with it's grape and cherry-ness. It's like a bottle of children's cough medicine on steroids, with vodka and Midori chasers. Good. Heavens. My skin eats anything grape, so I think I'll actually wait to sample this until I'm about to shower. It's that strong. Wow. Definitely one for someone who really likes the candy. 104 (CIV) This one is much more subtle. Kind of a melony floral with a topnote of...honeysuckle? I smell grape lurking underneath though. Kind of a "giant bouquet with half a canteloupe and a glass of wine on a deck drenched with the setting sun" sort of bottle. Interesting and very summery! Not really my type of scents, but that's what the CT's are for. Very interesting!

I can smell a lot of the notes in the bottle, but on? I get spicy grape Otter Pop. WOE!

Very sweet, and very very green. It makes me feel like I'm in a seaweed bath at a spa. Cucumber is definitely the predominant note on me after 15 min, but I think it'll calm down and blend a bit better as more time passes. I'm really glad I got this one!

I love this. Very masculine, as other reviewers have noted, and the first 20 min or so I wasn't sure it was going to be something I would want to wear. Thankfully, on the full dry down, it's a wonderfully complex mix of the patchouli with some spicy, smoky woods...just heavenly. I'm so glad a friend pointed this out to me! Otherwise, I would've missed out on a new favorite.

Deeply resinous in the bottle, on the skin I adore this. It's just a lovely, beautiful incense with a hint of floral. On me it's a bit like Peacock Queen but with more woods. I am so glad I have this. Perfect for me for this time of year!

I wish I could rave about this one along with most of the other posters in this thread, but sadly I cannot. I had incredible hopes for this one after reading the description, and I just got my order yesterday. Unfortunately, the heavy foody scent in the bottle morphed into something that smells exactly like old school, in the glass tub CARMEX on me. Thankfully, it only lasted about 30 min before it went poof entirely. This is probably a good thing, as I was having flashbacks to junior high school gym class, which doesn't exactly jive with the inspiration for this scent. So sad! To the swap pile it goes.

Ugh. So not for me. Very strong, very overwhelming. Reminds me of the guy I had a crush on in college - he was from the MidEast and he and his friends favored a cologne that smelled almost exactly like this. I used a very tiny drop, and the throw is about to knock me off my feet. May keep an imp for posterity, but will likely trade this away.

On me, this is a very light scent. I can definitely pick out the white musk, but most everything else seems to blend in/fade/get eaten by my skin. Perhaps the slightest touch of rose and lavender, but really, it's mostly white musk on me. It wouldn't surpise me if it faded w/in the hour, but it's fabulous while it lasts. Very comforting, very homey, just really nice.

I do like this one - it dried down to a fruity light floral on me. I can smell the pear and the cucumber, and I think this would be a great early summer scent. Which is amusing, since it's supposed to be the "absence of light", but it smells like nothing BUT light to me. Bizarre. Very light throw, but a lovely, comforting, confident scent to me.

In the bottle, this smelled quite a bit like "Gnome" to me. I wasn't sure I'd really like it, but oh boy am I glad I tried it. Very earthy, but with a sweetness that tempers that rich, soilish feeling. I get a hint of black licorice, but that's quickly tempered by the amber and patchouli. This really blends amazing well on drydown, and is an utterly gorgeous scent. I'm so glad I got this!

CXCIII In the bottle: lemon cheesecake or pound cake. Makes me think of Monsterbaits. Wet: lemon something? 90 seconds: morphed into pepperminty licorice. Drying: I think there's violet in this, but not as "in your face" as usual. Dry: A sweet violet and anise. Fairly Victorian in my mind, and interesting how quickly it morphed into something completely different!

Right out of the bottle and on my skin it smells exactly like original Big League Chew bubblegum. That pink shredded stuff? After about 45 min though, the scent morphs and ends up a spicy, thrilling amber-based scent with something mysterious and seductive wafting from it. I love Lotus Moon!

Spectacularly blended! On me this is a very rich, sweet, spicy and ripe blend that has me wanting to camp out on the couch, the better to have someone feed me figs and wine and wave a palm frond over me. Very heady, and surprising for me because carnation usually gives me a monster headache. It's so well blended in here that I just get a really lush and lovely scent that has me marking my sheet for a 5ml on my next order. Mmm!

Whoa. Very, very strong in the bottle. Sort of like wandering down into a root cellar that's been closed up for a while. The scent reminds me of that first day of turning over the soil in my p-patch one year. Just that incredible earthy, connected-to-all-things sort of feeling. Very grounding and earthy. I smell cedar and patchouli, and something else that's sharp and nearly overwhelming in a primitive way, but if you relax into the scent it feels better. It actually triggered a bit of a "flight or fight" response in me, and I had to consciously relax to appreciate the scent. I've used it a number of times to help ground me when I feel my energy is too scattered, too high in vibration. There are times when I just need to buckle down and think, and this has really helped. I'm hugely pleased by the two chakra blends I've had the good fortune to experience so far. An excellent addition to my energy work 'toolkit'.

I can't pick out any individual notes in this blend, because it makes my head swim in a really, really good way from the moment I opened the bottle. There's definitely a creamy something on the drydown that makes me hum with happiness, and some florals that blend really well with that note. I've worn this every day so far this week because it's so fabulous. For effectiveness? Well. I think it's hugely effective. I definitely feel like it's activating that chakra, and my personal aura has likely shifted as a result. I think my attitudes and body language are more relaxed and "open" and playful/flirtatious, and people are picking up on that. It's definitely been a different experience this week, and for the better. I can see how folks could get sort of 'stuck' in this chakra, but mine's been stagnant and closed for a really long time now. I thank Beth for creating this blend, as it's proven to be a really wonderful aid in re-opening, working and healing that chakra. I look forward to continuing to use it, and the other blends.

My head is swimming in the ylang ylang, and I love it. I also get notes of apple, oddly, and maybe the faintest hint of orange? I need a bottle of this soon, and may add it to my next order. Upon application my entire body relaxed, and I just want to curl up in a nice warm bed and dream sweet dreams of promise and romantic love. *sigh*

In the imp: Apple cider with a kick. Yeah, don't ask me. I got nothing. Wet: Lemon pledge with an aquatic undernote. Drying: Green tea with lemon. How very strange. (This part was written before I found the description on the forum.) Dry: Spicy green tea. Like it got jumped by some cider and mugged by wasabi. After 45 min: See, now, this is what green tea should smell like. This is the best tea based scent I've come across in BPAL to date. It's lovely, and warm, and with a bit of sweet, woodsy yumminess to it that makes me want to purr. Or hug a panda. Maybe hug a purring panda? Final thoughts: Smashing! Light and just amazing. I would use this while meditating, or when I would need to bring a sense of peace to my life. It brings to mind meditating in one of those japanese stone structures in front of an exquisitely architected garden, that contains a lovely and well manicured koi pond. With a bridge. And possibly an enormous bell someplace. And lots of delicate, well formed plants. Without insects (except a lazily circling dragonfly), and the only sound is of your own breathing, a light breeze and possibly a blorp or blurp or two from the koi. In the pond. With the bridge over it. I'm so stinkin' glad I have a bottle of this. Woot!

In the imp: Damp lemon drop in a pine box. Wet: Smells like a lemon drop. This must be the linden blossom, which I read is so powerful it makes bees fly drunkenly after they harvest the pollen from the flowers. Anything that makes bees drunk sounds like a good thing to me! Drying: I think I smell the tea leaves coming through, with the citrus mellowing. Nothing of the papryus and coffin wood, but I think I can smell a hint of the orris. Dry: The tea is a little bit stronger, but I mostly get citrus. After 45 min: More earthy, and everything blended to a really nice finish. Final thoughts: I would like to get another imp of this. I find myself feeling somewhat invigorated after sniffing my wrist a few times. A bright, clean scent, I'd love to apply it on a late spring Saturday morning. One where I know I need to get out of bed and get some things done, but maybe there's enough time to hang out in bed with the paper, or a good book, and coffee and breakfast. Breakfast with a grapefruit and a croissiant. Oddly enough, this scent seems to be more of a celebration of life than a reminder of the dead. And I really want an Odwalla Limeade now.

In the imp: Definitely herby lavender, and the jasmine sorta floats on top of it. Wet: Jasmine, lavender and a sweet orange. Drying: Same. Dry: The jasmine in this is very powerful, and it's edging out the other notes. I still get lavender, and a hint of herb like you'd get from an expensive, milled bar of French exfoliation soap. *shrugs* Best way I can describe it. After 45 min: More like a soap, but a really good one that you'd use when you want to pamper yourself. Final thoughts - I think this would be a great summertime fragrance. It brings to mind warmth, sunshine, and lazy days where you're sweating a bit just hanging out on the back porch in the late afternoon or early evening with a large glass of sangria. Anything else seems like too much of an effort, but it's so nice to just *be* that you can't bring yourself to care. I'm glad I have the imp, but wouldn't wear it often enough to justify purchasing a bottle.

In the imp: I think the sandalwood and the resin blend really well together on first sniff. Subsequent inhalations brought through the woody notes. Wet: Mostly dusty woods, with a hint of the resin. Drying: Still a dusty note, though more like a scent from a library rather than sawdust. The dragon's blood is stronger, though not overwhelming. Dry: More of the sandalwood and the resin, and the dustiness has blended better. After 45 min: Oddly enough, more floral than expected. It brings to mind orchids! Still woody and laden with the resin though if you take a big sniff. Final thoughts: I think I would use this to study with. Mostly when I need to sit down and work through something that relates to a topic like tarot or herbal lore, something that requires some concentration, topics that some would consider arcane. It's definitely a moody scent to me, but also lush and ripe with the promise of reward for hard work. I'm glad I have the imp, but at this time might not splurge for a bottle.

In the imp: Wow. This is really a fantastic blend in the imp. Everything is blended so well it took a few sniffs to try to pick out individual notes. At first sniff, there's the rum and bourbon. Second sniff I could sift through to the flowers, and subsequent inhalations brought just a hint of earthiness. Wet: There's the magnolia, and the moss. The alcohol and flowers are blending well still. Drying: Still incredibly well blended. I find myself thinking of Nature's cycles, and even as something dies, something else will rise up in it's place, glorious and bursting with life. Dry: Smells like hope, like laughter, like a celebration. Like something washed clean. It tips toward the masculine end of the scale for me, but I would wear it. After 45 min: This is what I always imagined New Orleans would've been like in the off-season. Slightly calmer and significantly less boozy than at other times of the year, when the history of the city, what most people think of as it's 'roots' come through the veneer of the Party Town, USA reputation. Considering the recent events of the 2005 hurricane season, I find myself overwhelming sad that such a jewel of a city may not rise again. It's a scent that makes me wonder what I could've experienced, had I been able to visit New Orleans as it was, rather than as it is or as it hopefully be again someday. Final thoughts: I would definitely like to get a bottle of this.

In the imp: Everything I could want a scent to be when I'm in the mood for a sweet, gentle, relaxing and girly scent. Vanilla and soft florals. Wet: The same scent in the bottle lasts for about 30 seconds. And then it all goes to badness. Drying: Powdery, and I'm getting a real strong image of a Victorian parlor with moldering paper fans and many, many dried flowers. Also in not such good condition. Dry: Is there lilac in this? Because my head, it hates the lilac, and immediately takes its revenge in headache form. It smells very...powdery purple vanilla. Like something from an aged Willy Wonka gone wrong. *shrugs* It's also incredibly stubborn, and four washes of the wrist later, is still evident. I wanted to love Antique Lace, but perhaps I'm a bit too modern for this scent. Am glad I have the imp for reference purposes, but am also I have *only* the imp. I would've cried if I'd given up the chance to get more Stardust before it goes away by buying a bottle of Antique Lace.

I believe mine is also the May '05 version, but I wanted to take this scent for a test run before deciding whether to order it in the live update. In the bottle: Definitely a light, creamy chocolatey scent. Wet: Definitely chocolate, with a bit of floral. Drying: I'm getting some evergreenish notes that smell like Skadi in the bottle. It's sort of like walking through the men's cologne dept at a mall store. There's a soft powdery note that is common to many BPAL scents that really doesn't work on me. Trepedation is setting in. Dry: The mandarin and the tea are really out in force now, but to my nose they don't go well with the chocolate and powder. I really wanted to adore 13, but alas, I think this one is just not for me.

Oh, this is lovely in the vial. Bright and fresh and young. Didn't really smell the honey until it was on and wet, but as it dried the floral really blended well with it. This is a lovely, innocent scent that reminds me of Spring and laughter.