urraca

So many things I love in this but on it is just soapy lilies (jasmine?) and some moonflower. I guess Utrennyaya is the only one of these three that is going to work on me. Just call me angel of the morning, baby.

When I put this on it is at first almost harsh, kind of like an old fashioned expensive perfume, the kind of scent I associate with Annick Goutal. This is very odd, given the notes. Eventually the harshness dies down and the fruity notes come to the fore. It is never too sweet, but I do not like smelling like fruit, especially not like orange. It may be because of bad associations with orange medicine when I was a child.

This smells much more aquatic on me than I would expect from the description. The ylang ylang behaves itself and doesn't go all rotten leaves on me. The neroli isn't too overpowering. It is pleasant, lightly floral and juicy, but not quite for me, I think. It smells like something a young girl could wear. I'll keep the imp because this may be good for summer.

In the vial this has the smell of something very dead that I have noticed in a few other BPALs. On, that fades immediately, which is a very good thing. It is a dark scent, darker than I like, but underneath the darkness it smells, of all things, a little like Tzadikim Nistarim, one of my favourites.

The orange blossom lasts an unusually long time on me, and much though I love its scent, I don't like it on me. The dry down is not overly patchouli; it is not overly anything. I don't get the carnation and this does not remind me of Masque at all.

The monster in *my* panties is a real woody --- sandalwood, that is. It begins like Red Lantern, but this scent is really all about the saffron and then the sandalwood, tempered in its dry woodiness by the vanilla cream and butter. It is a buttery sandalwood, rather than a sandalwoody butter, if you see what I mean. The vanilla drydown reminds me very much of the vanilla in Antique Lace. I'm not sure what I think of it yet. I think it needs to meld a little bit more.

... Honey and carnation, rich incense and rose accord, myrtle, red sandalwood, amber, jonquil and clove propel you through the revel, finally seating itself in the final, patchouli, tobacco and labdanum drenched darkness of the blood-tinged western chamber. This reminds me very much of Gypsy Queen, which I love. I think the carnation in both come to the fore on me. Gypsy is more floral at the outset, while in Masque the patchouli and honey are prominent at the beginning though fortunately (for me) the patchouli doesn't last long, and retreats to provide a base for the scent. Gypsy, though "lighter," has more throw while Masque is much more of a warm skin scent. I love them both.

This is very pretty. I was afraid, with the lilies, that this would turn soapy, but it is a beautiful, floral-scented honey.

The lab wants me to try every Ars draconis scent. This is the fourth frimp I've received. The aquatic elements are a lovely melony-cucumbery scent that is at the fore the moment I put it on. But that fades quickly and I'm left with almost pure, lightly floral dragon's blood. Still, I like this one the best of the four I've tried. Dragon's eye next?

Dragon's blood is lightly floral, somewhat reminiscent of lily of the valley, and a little bit soapy on me, with a hint of a flowering tree that blooms in the spring around here, and whose name I don't know, that smells a tiny bit like girly parts. Sorry.

Thanks, guys. I ended up wearing Ozymandias. I love it, and it has that Chanel no. 5 "I'm fabulous but don't get too close" vibe. And...the drink went pretty well!

La Belle Dame would be perfect, if for the name alone, but alas I don't have it. There should be some kind of emergency BPAL service that would connect us with the right scent in a crisis situation...

Tomorrow I'll be seeing an ex of mine for the first time in almost three years. Things ended very badly between us, and we're going to have a drink tomorrow night just to kind of break the ice and try to be civil. I need some advice about what BPAL to wear. I don't want to seduce him (lord knows) and I'm not expecting we'll end up best buddies. I'd like to wear a scent that makes me feel strong, attractive, powerful, and confident. Apart from just wearing something I have that I really like, do you guys have any suggestions? I was thinking maybe Queen, which is more about power than sex for me. I don't have any TAL scents.

I haven't been so excited about a scent since the first time I smelled O. I had to try it the minute I heard it was like Chanel no. 5. And it, it is! What is in this? Has Beth started using the aldehydes someone mentioned? It smells cologney in the imp, but it is Chanel no. 5 the minute it hits my skin, and then it slowly shifts into something slightly different, something all its very own. It smells like the '30s in a European city and elegance and my grandmother, definitely perfumey but light, not overpowering and fades to a soft floral. It is the kind of perfume that used to be a mainstay of the great perfume houses, but is never made anymore, or at least not the same way it used to be. This won't be for everyone. But it is for me.

It is orange, orange, orange at first blush. Orange lovers will appreciate this, but it isn't what I want to smell like. Then a creaminess emerges under the orange, and it really does give the effect of a creamsicle, a very sophisticated creamsicle. The drydown is somehow very reminscent of Aglaea, kind of a sweet, fruity muskiness, which must be the honey and the tonka, though it does not register as honey to my nose. I don't get any ylang ylang, and it is good to know I can wear some scents with ylang ylang and not hate them. I will enjoy my imp at the very least.

I can smell all five sugars in here at different times --- caramels, white sugar, burnt sugar, a touch of molasses --- and a touch of candied fruit and apple at the beginning, that I wish had lasted longer. But the drydown is Mrs. Butterworth's (not real maple syrup --- I suspect anyone who gets maple syrup from this hasn't tasted the real stuff in a long time) and it lasts waaaaay too long, I'm talking two days too long, notwithstanding baths, hand washing etc. There's no scent I want to commit to for that long.

It begins with yucky almond, but fortunately that fades quickly to a scent like yummy Thai food with coconut and lime, but in a good way (and reading the reviews, I see I'm not the only one). I think I am getting the lime from the fig leaf and fruit. Over time it sweetens up a little until it is fig lightly backed with sandalwood. I've never tried fig before and I really like it. Good to know. Now if I could only persade Beth to toss all her almond...

My reaction to this is just the same as Heavenly rabbit's --- I open the bottle and I smell patchouli. I put it on and I smell patchouli. And patchouli is not my friend. But this patchouli dupe seems to work. I suspect it is the mix of honey and date palm, and perhaps some of the less familiar notes that gives me that effect. I also get yummy tuberose and a sandalwood that reminds me of Belle Epoque. On me this is more incensey and resiny than floral. I like it!

I swapped for this after discovering I like lotus. It did not disappoint. Typical bubblegummy lotus to start, though I like that scent, but the real thrill is on the drydown. The amber, sandalwood, and a rather light, non-headache inducing myrrh blend to create a dusky, musky scent that reminds me of Beth's Chinese musk. Yum.

It starts off with tart fruit and berries, very much an autumnal scent. The tartness fades and a sweetenss comes through. I can'tidentify any of the florals --- the rose, the opium, or the gardenia. I like this, but I feel it would work best as a soap, or in my bath.

I'm glad to try this discontinued scent, but I still don't like ylang ylang. Dank vegetation, again, after starting out a little like bathroom soap. Oh well, since most florals like me, I should be nice about the ones that don't.

Hey, how cool is this, guys? It is Budding Moon and here I am wearing Budding Moon! Thanks, speedy lab! Sooo pretty! First off, it is very reminiscent of Dirty, as so many have mentioned. It has the same clean, aquatic, juiciness. It is a little softer, sweeter and more floral though. And as it dries down that beautiful Chinese musk comes through and makes it mysterious and sexy.

Mmm, orchid. I had no idea how lovely orchid was until I discovered BPAL. My favourites are Queen Mab and Regan, and Shadow Witch Orchid is right up there with those two. It has a slightly lighter feel than the others, and I almost wonder if there is some lily in here too.

White rose is my favourite rose (I love it in Penthus), I never met a resin I didn't like, *and* I am a medievalist so this was a must buy for me. I was not disappointed. On me it is mostly beautiful, sweet resins (frankincense?) with a little cool white rose at the outset. I haven't tried All Saints'. Cathedral, or Midnight Mass, but I wonder how similar it is to any of those. It won spontaneous praise from friends I saw last night, but it doesn't last all that long. I can see this bottle will be finished quickly.

There are lots of things I love in this kind lab frimp, but I think the juniper is messing me up. I believe it is the juniper that is making it smell a little like cat pee when it first goes on. That scent does fade, but than is stays kind of sticky sweet. It makes me feel a little queasy.