Ilina

I very nearly swapped this away when I first got it, and I'm *so* glad I didn't. In the vial: Old Yerevan is so incredibly sweet. It smells like apricot, apricot, apricot, apricot, and apricot. I really can't detect anything underneath it: it's almost, but not quite, cough-syrup-y. On my skin, wet: Almost exactly the same as it smelled in the imp. Why was I so excited about this: On my skin, half an hour later: ...my God. It's like a completely different scent. The apricot is still there, and strongly, but it's mixed with the musk, blended into something sweet but not too sweet, and soft and warm and marvelous. What's more, it lasts for *OVER 24 HOURS* on me, which is just ridiculous. A keeper, and one of my top two.

In the bottle, Lightning is alarmingly sharp and soapy. It's beautiful, but it prickles my nose. But once I put it on, it mellows, and it's simply BEAUTIFUL. It's almost identical to the way it was in the bottle except without the intense sharpness of the soapy smell, so I smell soft and clean. A perfect scent for right when you get out of the shower, and definitely a keeper.

In the vial: Ooh, this is interesting. Earthy, with a touch of fruit and a touch of cocoa. Wet, on my skin: Same. After 20 minutes: ...wait, where'd the earth go? I smell like raspberry hot chocolate, which is nice, but not something I particularly want to smell with on a regular basis. After an hour: ...where'd the chocolate go? Now I smell like FIGFIGFIGFIGFIGFIGFIG, almost like Midwinter's Eve, only without the sugar. Apparently my skin doesn't like cocoa. Pity, that.

This was my very first BPAL blend, and I loved it so much that I almost bought a 5ml before Ailgwyn convinced me she wanted to do it for me herself. Lavender with a kick. Lavender with herbs to mellow it out, lime to add a little flavor, mint to wake you up and keep it from getting TOO mellow. It's one of my two favorite BPALs ever.

In the imp: Aquatics, citrus, and florals, but something about the way they're blended is just *perfect* for the name of this scent. It's almost soapy, like many of Beth's aquatics are, but not enough to be off-putting. On my skin: As soon as I put this on, I had this vision of the sea glass I picked up a few pieces of: aquamarine, worn down, soft but still sharp and lovely. On my skin, 20 minutes later: Exactly the same. It took me a few days to decide, but I already had Lightning, Moon Rose, and Tempest, and loved them all. Sea of Glass didn't have Lightning's softness or Tempest's cleanness: it was nice, but a little superfluous, so off to the swap pile she goes.

My first BPAL review. In the bottle: Oh my, this is strange. Ailgwyn described the scent of dragon's blood as "cherry and rose," and while I've never thought that was quite accurate, it does have the sort of sweet-and-fragrant thing going on at the same time. Adding musk to it disconcerted me, but then we've got the layer of vanilla biting through it. I never thought vanilla could be biting before. I wonder what on earth this is going to turn out like on me. On my skin, wet: the same sweet-musky-cutting-disconcerting as it was in the bottle. On my skin, ten minutes later: the dragon's blood has mostly faded off my skin. All that's left is the musk and the vanilla, but the musk, unlike most of the musk I've tried, doesn't like me much. It's gone powdery, and it's kind of giving me a headache. On my skin, two hours later: Okay, everything's gone but the vanilla, and that is lasting like whoa. Mmmmmm, though, this is a really snuggly vanilla, sort of like the feeling you get taking flannel sheets out of the dryer. Er, without the static, but the same warmth and dryness. Interesting. I dunno whether I'll keep this. Its original stages make my head hurt, but its drydown turns into what I suspect SN Vanilla Bean would smell like on my skin, and that's a pleasant, long-lasting smell.