mockturtle

In the bottle: Sweet mint, with a hint of bitter herbs. Wet: Lemony mint -- more like lemongrass than lemon to my nose. On the drydown: This is becoming more sweet and lemony on me -- reminds me of the lemon sticks I used to get at carnivals (half a slice lemon w/ old fashioned peppermint stick in the middle for a straw, for those of you who've never had the summer deliciousness), but still has a pleasant herby green scent that calls for my attention. About 30 min later, dry: Now it's become what I imagined Absinthe would be like. The lemony sweet mint has just about faded away, leaving a green, herby (anise is strong now), and bitter scent. Interesting, maybe there is a bit of mint left there! My nose is intrigued by this blend's transitions.

In the bottle, and first on, this is all sweet, juicy cherry to me. As it dries, the wood becomes much more noticable. It's a pleasant sort of wood scent - like a favorite keepsake box. And the cherry sweetens and gives the blend a glowing brightness to the warmth of the wood. Nice & soothing.

Well, to me, it smells all of sweet, sweet dry stick bubblegum while wet (ironic?), and it dries to sweet, teensy bit musky scent on me. I thought the muskiness came from the tonka bean, but apparently that's not in Pink Phoenix at all. I guess it's just my skin chemistry. It's nice, but I think it's too brightly sweet for me overall! I really thought I would like it more, with my recent addiction to sweet and foody scents. However, I like Pink Moon better as far as my pinkly sweet fix. Still, glad I tried it, and I'm happy to pass it along to a new home.

Wow, in the bottle, Lump of coal smells just like a fresh pan of decadent brownies. Deliciousness liquified. I was a bit nervous about trying this on myself, since the chocolatey Bliss didn't smell too great on me. But had to give it a try! First on, I can still smell the rich cocoa and gooey-ness of the brownies. So good -- can I taste it? Drying, the lovely scent of fresh baked chocolatey brownies wafts up to my nose. It seems pleasantly strong on me! :-) If I sniff up close, the scent smells almost like toasty marshmallow/caramelized sugar. Just like my favorite piece from a pan of brownies -- the slightly crunchier corner cut. So far, this is a winner for me! I have to resist putting on more before I see how it lasts. Wha? Me . . . naughty? Heh heh.

Dark and floral at first sniff, getting the violet and more -- almost like there's a little bit of marigold? I don't think those are night-blooming, so who knows what it really is. Something of a musky exotic floral, too. Makes me think of the night-blooming cereus at my friend's house in North Carolina this summer! Sigh, so pretty. Dry, it has a heavy exotic floral scent on me. I can't smell the violet anymore. This would be great for someone who wants to smell like rainforest blossoms, but it's not for me. Even if it does remind me of the cereus, it's just too heavy for my taste right now.

First whiff -- this smells floral and warm. It's not a warmth of cinnamon, not sure what it could be. The floral reminded me of Potion very briefly (Lush's rose/carnation scented lotion), but it's definitely different and much sweeter. As it dries on my skin, it has a sweet, almost green floral scent to it. Also a bitter plant smell deep in the background mixing with the spiciness. 5-10 min later, it smells like a hot tea with a whole lot of sugar dumped in. 30 min later follow up -- this seems to have turned to bubbglegum on me! A bit disappointing as I wanted to like this blend. I liked the way it smells fresh and wet, but I do not like its later stages.

WHOA!!! When I open the bottle and when I first apply this, I smell zingy, tart, mouth-watering cherry! Sooooo yummy, I wish there was a perfume that would smell just like this scent. Oh, wait a sec, I know what this scent is like -- Amaretto. Without the icky part of the maraschino scent. Just all tart cherry almond almond. Drying, this changes so much, and so quickly. To a calm, roasty almond with a touch of smokey sweetness. Nice, mellow, and a great scent. About half an hour later, the scent decreased to a whisper of fragrance. Granted, I do test with a tiny bit, so the next time I try it (and there will be several "next times"), I will use more and see if that makes a difference in staying power.

A very warm and creamy scent first applied. Vanilla-y almond stands out to me. I also I detect a warmer version of the scent that made its presence known to me in Forbidden Fruit, so I'm pretty sure that's due in part to the lotus. As it dries, the scent smells a bit more spicy to me. Like jars of precious embalming oils and herbs resting in sunlit sands. Nice. After another 15 min or so, it's mellowed to sunny almondy goodness, lightly spiced! Not bad, but since I can still detect a bit of the lotus (of which I'm not a fan), I'll pass this one on to a new home.

Whew, my first thought, smelling the *unopened* bottle is "GAG! -- they mislabled this, right?" Ack, something about this scent smells gross and musky or musty to me wet in the bottle. It takes some nerve for me to put it on my skin, but I am really curious since the Lab's description is so different from my first impression. Wet on my skin, it's essentially the same as sniffing the bottle. Thankfully, after a few minutes being on my skin, the gag inducing smell is fading. Now I detect more of a ripe banana smell amidst blurry florals. I think the gag smell is softening to a dark and cloudy floral scent, but I don't know what it is (maybe that's what Lotus smells like?) Damp and incense-like. Was that a whiff of amber I just caught? The amber is really faint on me if there's any left at all. And the scent is turning more powdery. Unless something dramatic changes as more time passes that completely wins me over, this is not a scent for me. Heck, even if it does change, I don't think I can handle those first 5 minutes of ick time. Edited to add that it's now hit the dry stick of bubblegum stage! Fun, but not something I'd choose to wear.

Immediately after putting it on my skin, Spooky is bright and minty and sweet. It takes a little time for it to dry down and allow me to begin to smell the coconut. Even when I sniff my wrists, I don't feel overwhelmed by the coconut. Just a delectable and whimsical scent. Sweet and uplifting. I would like to drench myself in it (but won't, since it's far too precioussss to me). My favorite BPAL so far.

This is a bright and sweet floral scent to me. Fresh cut flowers with green stems. Very pretty! The only floral note that I can pick out is iris, and I am not at all familiar with the other florals in this blend. After drydown, it's soft and floral, but the green stem scent is sharper than before, almost spicy. I'm guessing that could be the ivy, and I rather like that part. This is a nice scent, but I wonder when I would wear it? Maybe in the springtime when green things are just starting to pop out of the snow.

Wet: Sweet floral scent -- reminds we of the smell of sweet-tarts candies. Dry: No longer so candy-sweet. Still pretty and floral. Very girly, innocent is right. A keeper for now!

Wet on, this smells like warm milk with peppery spice -- a little like a hot chai (oh, I guess that's the tea too!). I can detect the clean linen scent poking through the chai smell -- that aspect is not pleasant to my nose at this point. Dry, about 30 min later, no more pepper or milk. Now it's a faint sweetness - the vanilla mixed with a bit of the linen scent. Nice, but I miss the milk and pepper. Perhaps I'll try applying more next time! And since I'm looking back at this review a month or so later (I'm adding reviews that I've been storing in Excel ), I can say that this is a scent I like to carry around for re-application so I can enjoy the milk and pepper early stage!

In the bottle: foody, clove scent. Seems strong. On skin: After drying, clove dissapears and leaves me with a sweet cherry smell. Like a newly opened can of cherry pie filling. This must be the apricot? I'm not too sure I like this one, but I think I'll try it again sometime.

First on, REALLY sharp, pointy, painful plum. Sweet, but sharp. I only used a tiny bit, and I do not like it. Dry (almost 1 hr later) -- toughed it out and it mellowed to a nice sweet plum, I think I can detect a tiny bit of musk under a slightly stronger daffodil, but the plum remains strongest. I like this a lot more than I thought I could from how painfully unpleasant I found it wet! I'll keep this one for now.

Venom- Darkly seductive and lethally compelling: sinuous opponax, galbanum, dark wild berries, a drop of lush jasmine and a sliver of lime. Strangely, this scent reminds me of Desdemona when I first put it on, though I'm certain the components are wholly different.Sweet, but darkly so. This has the scent of dark flowers in a windowless room, mixed with the sweetness of ripe berries. I can pick up the tang of the lime just a bit. I like it, but I'll use it sparingly since it's a discontinued scent!

A scent that I tried on a whim, I was a little wary of it because sometimes Lily of the Valley makes me want to sneeze. Thankfully this blend doesn't give me any trouble. The Lily of the valley is prominent on me at first, but quickly calms down to reveal the violet and juniper. One of my favorites. Wearing this makes me feel lovely and mysterious.

Softy fragrant, and dry for a scent from the sea. I smell a lot of the iris (which reminds me of the oris root in Dragon's Bone), but the creamy sweet coconut is fighting for attention. Whew, think I put on a bit too much. Opalescent is a good descriptor for this scent overall -- creamy and white with subtle hints of color. Not for me, so I'll pass this one along.

Wet: Very cherry -- sweet and dessert-y, the honey is strong and warm here. Dry: More vanilla than cherry, now. And it's definitely a smooth, creamy vanilla. Can pick up a tiny bit of clove if I look for it. Overall impression: A darkly sweet and foodie scent that I like -- surprising! I'll have to pick up another imp at least of this one, since I'm definitely using mine up!

Lives up to its name a very pink-ly sweet scent. Not overly sugar sweet -- more like the sweetness of a tasty strawberry than pure sugar. Wet, it smells a little like bubble gum to me, but becomes more subtle and mellow after drying. Still sweet, no question about it. I can't believe how much I've come to like pink-and-sweet scents, they take me by surprise for sure. This one's a keeper for me. And it goes ever so nicely with my LUSH Snow Fairy shower gel. Tee hee.

Samhain '04 Warm and spicy, certainly a scent for Autumn. First impression is that it's a scent that would be perfect for a scented candle. The pumpkin is really noticible when wet, but as it dries, I smell more of the damp woods. Ironic, yes? Using this scent throughout the day (as I have for several days in the last month or so), I really notice a sweet apple-y note that I missed in my first test. This is one scent that's really grown on me, and is perfect for blustery Autumn days when I want to think of falling leaves, spiced cider, and pumpkin pie.