13bodies

I've quit sniffing my BPAL's in the bottle/imp. They change so much on my skin, there's really no point anymore. Case in point: Freak Show, which in the bottle smelled like my library after the cats decided their new hobby was marking the new armchairs over and over again. But once it hit my skin it turned into a rich, fruity scent with a deep cocoa note in the background. Gorgeous. The fig is almost too sticky sweet, but the pomegranite lightens it and the cocoa grounds it and it's a lovely, deep, purple-brown scent that's perfect for rainy days. I only wish the cats' hobby smelled this good.

I won this in the raffle. I didn't order this when it was available because I was afraid it would be berry-licious. No worries, it isn't. In the bottle it's a light berry scent wafting over something spicy and something dark. On, this is very spicy carnation with a hint of berry. Very nice. There is something dark underneath that keeps it from becoming too sweet. After an hour or so it suddenly starts to smell bad. I can't really describe it; it's sort of dirty and stale. I suppose if you were rooting around behind the scenes of a carnival, it would smell like this. There's not much throw at this point. After a couple of hours, it once again morphs and now smells sweet, and sweet it stays till it disappears by late afternoon. So there's a simple little story here. You go to the carnival and from a distance it's bright and cheerful and fun, but once you get in, it isn't nearly as fun as you thought it would be. And someone steals your watch. And you throw up. And your hair and clothes are infused with cigarette smoke and carny funk. And you suspect that highly unpleasant things are going on in the shadows. Finally you go home and take a nice, long, hot shower with lots and lots of soap. Sounds like every carnival I've ever attended. Even though I don't like the bad part in the middle, I've worn it three times and will wear it again. I like the scents that morph a lot; they almost have a narrative structure.

Initally this is a citrus/floral. The rose is dominant, and it's very red and very fresh. The blood orange floats over the top, and it's wonderful. It makes me think of a big, dark house on a dark hill; it's all lit up from inside and the red-orange curtains glow against the darkness. Yes, there could be evil in there, but there could also be a birthday party. It's wide open at this point. After about an hour my chemistry turns the amber perfume-y. Sigh. It's not overwhelming but it changes to something a bit more prosaic. This stage is also very formal. I feel as though I should be dressed in a sparkly gown that costs more than my mortgage. Other people seem to really like this stage and while I don't hate it, I like the beginning more. Drydown: slightly musky perfume. I'm going to try it in a scent locket and see what it does when my chemistry is taken out of play.

Spirits of the Dead reminds me of a haunted house movie. In the bottle and first on, it's a light, citrusy floral, very bright and happy; like when the family first moves into their new home. The sun is shining through the stained-glass windows and highlighting the interesting crown moldings; we can see that the parents are so very much in love and their child is the standard adorable Hollywood moppet and they're all so happy and have their whole lives ahead of them and isn't is just wonderful? Then the citrus fades a bit. The scent is a bit drier now, not as bright and sweet. The adorable child now has an imaginary friend. Objects disappear and re-appear in unexpected places. Perhaps the neighbors hint that the house has an unsavory history. The sun isn't as bright and the stained-glass windows seem hostile rather than charming. If a pet dog is involved, it begins to act stressed out at this point. The drydown is just that--dry. I don't get any one note, but it's dry and perhaps a bit musty--not bad at all, but maybe on the edge of becoming unpleasant, as though something's quietly awaiting its chance to do something rather nasty. The bright, sunny moppet is now acting withdrawn and spends more and more time with the imaginary friend who by this point is acting most inhospitably towards the grown-up residents of the house. The adults are jumpy but they don't know why. They catch sight of odd movements out of the corners of their eyes, but when they turn to look nothing is there. Usually something important mysteriously disappears or is flamboyantly destroyed at this point in the movie. The music is ominous, and the lighting has changed to create menacing shadows in the corners. The overall mood is uneasy and ominous. Then, halfway through the movie, Spirits of the Dead disappears. It's gone by noon which is disappointing because I was enjoying the movie, even if it was formulaic This is fun to wear, though. I think it will be a nice hot weather scent because it's nice and light.

I'm a migraineur and regular perfumes and colognes tend to trigger my migraines. I can use body spray, but that's it. BPAL, however, has been wonderful. The only blends that have given me trouble have been those that smell perfume-y to me; so far I've only gotten migraines from Penny Dreadful, Stardust, and Jailbait. Considering how many BPAL's I've tried so far, that's a personal best.

I love Santa Muerte. Every time I wear it, I like it more. It starts out as a sweet floral--I want to say juicy, but there's nothing fruity about it. It's like freshly cut flowers, their petals still perfect and lush. On the drydown the sweetness fades and a dark almost bitter scent comes out which is a nice counterpoint to the flowers. I like the way it morphs over the day. It keeps me entertained. Top ten scent for me.

I ordered an imp of this because I liked the name, but I figured the lotus would go all bubblegummy on me as lotus is wont to do. Was I wrong. Bastet has become one of my new favorites. It's a very warm, golden brown, slightly spicy scent--my-skin-but-better with a touch of spice. And not a trace of bubblegum. I keep sticking my head down my shirt to smell myself when I wear this. It lasts all day and morphs very little. I love, love, love, LOVE this.

At first this was a very strong, almost harsh incense scent, but the florals soon came out and sweetened the blend. It turned into a sweet, but not too sweet, floral grounded by spicy incense. Beautiful!!! This is what I'd hoped Rose Cross would be. I love this! I almost didn't buy it, but I'm so glad I did. I think this is my favorite of the Halloween LE's.

Ahh, Whip. The perfect example of how my body chemistry hates me and wants me to suffer. I ordered an imp of Whip and tried it immediately. It was wonderful--a soft red rose with just a hint of leather. I ordered a 5ml. After my bottle came in, I wore it to work and...no rose. I mean None At All. Just a soft black leather scent. It smelled like my new purse. Nice enough, but not what I signed on for. I was in the grip of Aunt Flo, the red hag, so I chalked it up to hormones and tried again a week later. This time it was acrid shiny cheap leather and still no rose. I have no idea why this happened but my bottle and imps of Whip are off to swaps. Grrr.

I was a bit leery of this one, but I was pleasantly surprised. Wet, this is mostly Jack-like buttery pumpkin. It stays that way for an hour or so. Then it morphs into a shiny dark green smell. I assume that's the ivy. The ivy, with an occasional appearance by the pumpkin, hung around for most of the afternoon. Now it's ivy and woody with a hint of pumpkin and a gingery? note. Very unusual, but I like it.

OMG--this is it! This is the chocolate scent I've been looking for! Wet, this is a rich dark chocolate smell with a hint of walnuts. It smells like very high quality fudge, but there's another dimension to it that I can't articulate. It's wonderful, though. By noon the pumpkin started peeping out. I read Beth's pumpkin note as being a bit buttery and that went very well with the chocolate and the nuts. Dry, there's still a bit of pumpkin and chocolate with hazelnut floating over all. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!

Sugar Skull '05 has my favorite label of all of my Halloween LE's. Anyway, At first sniff this is very sugary with a tart fruit undertone. But when I put it on it turned into booze; very strong, very sweet, very high proof booze. I wore it to work anyway and had comments on it all morning. I probably put on too much (I tend to slather) and it was strong. After it dried the alcohol smell diminished and it was softer and sweeter. I didn't get any comments on it during the afternoon. By evening I could still smell it, so this lasts and lasts and lasts. If my BPAL is still around after 4 hours I consider it a miracle. I didn't pick up any fruit notes, but others did--one person said I smelled like sugary apples and another said I smelled like peach cobbler. Bottom line, I like Sugar Skull. I can't wear it to work, though, and I wish it was a bit less alcoholic. I think I'll put some in an imp and see if aging mellows it a bit.

When I first put this on it smells like real fresh apple cider--I can almost taste the cider the scent is so true. As it dries the spices come out; it's mostly cinnamon, but there are some others I can't identify as well. Dry, the cider smell is gone and it's all spices. It doesn't last long at all, though. I had to re-apply 3 times during an 8 hour period, so my 5 ml won't last long. It's worth it though. This is a perfect fall scent for me.

Out of the imp and immediately on my skin this was a thick syrupy air freshener-type pine. Then the orange kicked in and it was pleasant for 1 minute. Then the eucalyptus snuck up behind the orange, beat it to death, and the pine and eucalyptus' unholy coupling produced a horror never before seen in my bathroom. I scrubbed my skin and anointed it with Zombi but not even the undead could slay the Jabberwock. I'm afraid pine must be added to the list of notes my skin chemistry hates. Stupid picky chemistry; I wanted to love this so badly.

This was a frimp from the lab. In the imp and wet this is a sweet, somewhat unusual (to me, anyway ) floral. As it dries, the sandalwood comes out and the flowers recede. I smell the slightest spiciness during this stage. On the drydown my good friend myrrh takes over with its translucent green slightly bitter fragrance. It went through all of these stages in a couple of hours, so I re-applied so I could enjoy them again. I really like this and I think it would be good to wear on my skin and in a locket so I could go through all of the stages and keep some of the lovely floral notes in the foreground as well. Definite possibility for the big bottle list.

Orgiastic mayhem in the extreme: sweet strawberry and orange blossom distorted by carnation, black poppy and hibiscus. At first this is a very dark strawberry scent. I"m not much of a berry person but this is nice. As it dries, the darkness unfortunately goes away and it turns into strawberries. They're very nice strawberries and smell fresh and real as opposed to nasty fake ones, but it's a bit too berry-licious for me. Update: On the drydown the strawberries turn tart which I like very much. So I like the beginning and end and the middle isn't so bad; I'll definitely use the imp.

This was a frimp from the lab, and was not one I would likely have tried on my own. This goes on very strong and almost gives me a headache. That passes in a few minutes. As it dries the scent sticks very close to my skin. It doesn't smell dark to me, more like a gloomy murky green-grey. I don't smell any florals at all and it's not the least bit sweet. It has good staying power as well. Though this isn't the type of scent I usually like, I really like Darkness. It goes on the big bottle possibles list.

In the bottle this has a piercing sweet smell with a bit of spiciness underneath. On, the spiciness moves to the foreground and it's like the wet brown spices that cling to the side of the mixing bowl when I'm making gingerbread. So far, so good. Then the perfume comes to the fore and my skin amps the hell out of it and my chemistry turns it into cheap drugstore cologne. This stage induced a migraine both times I tried it. Drydown is spicy perfume and it burns my skin a bit. I wanted to like this so much. I had to stop wearing cologne years ago because of migraines, but until this none of the BPAL scents ever bothered me. This works well on a friend of mine so at least it won't go to waste.

Wet, this smells like walking into my grandparents' barn--warm, slightly dusty hay. As it dries, the sharp, acrid smell of the hay comes out and it smells just like playing hide-and-seek among the haybales. Uncanny. How in the world did Beth pull this off? A scent that smells like hay--real live horses-and-cows-eat-this hay, not sanitized-for-your-protection-as-sold-in-craft-stores hay (that's usually labelled 'straw'). Absolutely amazing. I don't know if I want to smell like hay, but I'll keep the imp for impromptu nostalgia induction.

This was a nice floral in the imp with a rosey overtone, but when it hit my skin it began to smell a bit...off. It didn't smell bad, but it almost did, if that makes any sense. I'm beginning to suspect my skin hates orange blossom. Sigh.

Wet, this smells like floral bubblegum (the lotus, I presume) with a bit of fruity wine in the background. That's probably the roses. Drydown, the lotus is all alone and any hint of the rose or even the wine is gone. Huh. While I don't hate the lotus, I don't like it enough to enter into a monogamous relationship with it. Dry, faint bubblegummy lotus. I ordered a 5ml of this unsniffed so I was a bit more inclined to work with it. Today I layered it with 2, 5, and 7 which is a very fruity winey blend with just a hint of rose on me and it really helped amp up the wine/rose aspect. It's a little sweet but I think it will be lovely come summer. So, yay, my 5 ml will be used.

There is something in this that doesn't like me. Right out of the imp it's harsh with a hint of that unassuming spiciness that I get with certain notes (patchouli, I"m looking at you). On, this burns my skin and smells more harsh and acrid. I washed it off an hour ago and my wrist still burns. Sorry, Hellcat. My chemistry hates you.

In the imp this is rum with a hint of fresh (not sunblocky) coconut. Wet and then for a couple of hours this is a sweet, almost buttery rum. Occasionally there's a whiff of coconut. The tobacco seems to be AWOL for the moment. Then this morphs to a soft rummy scent, grounded by a dark brown slight spiciness that I suppose is the tobacco and every so often it releases some of that lovely fresh coconut smell. It lasted for several hours, too, and I kept sticking my head down my shirt for yet another sniff. Wonderful, wonderful! Big bottle scent for sure.

I don't know what black herbs are, but my chemistry turns black herbs, patchouli, and certain musks into a mediocre spicy scent that overwhelms all the other notes. Gomorrah smelled exactly the same as Lilith and Vixen. I always did hate chemistry in school. I think this is its revenge.

Lightly fruity with occasionally whiffs of flowers floating over the top. It's a pretty scent and has lasted all day on me (which is amazing with my chemistry!) but it's not outstanding enough for a big bottle. I'll probably use my imp, though.