urraca

It goes on smelling a bit like wet leaves --- could this be the camomile or the "autumn leaves?" Then there is a kind of sharp lily scent. Muguet usually works well on me, so i susect this is the calla lily not being my friend. The drydown is nicer, a soft rosey violet scent, but it is a little, well, ephemeral, and I prefer Marie.

I see why so many people talk about bathing in this scent. The green tea, lemon verbena, and the sweet honeysuckle are all present and are beautifully well balanced. It is a very light but tenavious fragrance on me. It is the perfect scent to wearwhen you want to smell ovely but don't want to offend anyone with your perfume --- a job interview, at the gym, etc. I also think it woul be a great one to wear if you were feeling ill.

This is a very pretty scent. It reminds me very much of Dirty, and like Dirty it has amazing throw and lasting power for something that is essentially such a light fragrance. The teas also make me think of Severin. The peony adds sweetness. A lovely hot summer day scent.

This was very pretty on the wand but when it hits my skin, oh dear, I get kind of a dank vegetation smell. Since apple blossom, honey, and rose have never caused me grief before, I have to think this is the unfamiliar ylang ylang. After what feels like far too long, it does mellow into a rosey sweetness but with so many scents that work better on me, I won't keep this.

A catalytic, potent love oil used to spark (or rekindle) the flame of desire between lovers. In the vial I get something almost minty sweet and alcoholic smelling. And once I got a scent that reminded me of the aftershave my uncle wore in the 1960s. On, it is a dark, disturbing, wild scent. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it is civet and a dark musk. Too masculine for me to enjoy them but I do appreciate them, if that makes sense. I can see why if you permitted yourself, civet could recall a daiper pail but it's not that hard for me to fight the association and see it as a much more pleasant though slightly feral scent. As to its effects, worn on the right man, I can imagine it might have an effect on me. I tried it with Queen on the other arm, and they come across as a pair.

This is so lovely and it evokes the mood it is trying to create beautifully. The woods come forth first and I have the impression of an old Victorian library, full of esoteric old books. As the scent develops, the rose blooms. I think if I had to pick one single note, Beth's white rose would be my favourite of all. The scent is quite subtle, and doesn't last that long on me so I'll play with it a little bit more before I decide whether I want a big bottle.

A heavy-lidded perfume, the quintessence of beauty and power shrouded in mystery, swathed in a deep, velvet-clad cloak of dark omens: Romany incense and candle smoke mingling with an alluring, body-warmed whiff of bergamot, neroli, Bulgar rose, carnation, and amber musk. First off I get the bergamot and the neroli and the scent almost smells sharp. As is settles down, the rose begns to come through. It is the same baseball card gum smell (an unfortunate but true image of a nice smell) I found in Bearded Lady and I see that the Bulgar rose in the one and the Turkish rose in the other are actually both Rosa damascena so it makes sense they'd smell similar. After an hour or so the scent vanishes only to reappear when I am least expecting it in a softly floral incensey blend that is reminiscent of blown-out candles. I like this stage the best, and it does have the best throw.

A generous lab frimp. Nothing I would have ordered so I'm grateful to be able to try it. Very boozey in the vial and on first application. The booze all burns off quickly though and I'm left with something that smells sort of "boaty" --- old ropes and tar and salt-sprayed canvas. It isn't the way I want to smell, but it is interesting. ETA the next morning I still have a strong botterscotchy scent on my skin which is really lovely

The scent is striking on two different levels. First, it smells absolutely beautiful. It remains true to the way it smells in the vial right through the drydown. I can see why some say pineapple and others get a hint of bubblegum but what I think has happened is that Beth has invented a new Mediterranean fruit that doesn't exist but should. At the same time is is creamy and sweet, juicy and sour. It grows in oases where it nourishes parched travellers who had despaired of finding water. And that brings me to the second striking thing about this scent. It is magic. Beth has chosen powerful and historical ingredients and using them has managed to bottle the scent of hope. How soon can I get a big bottle of this?

Gypsy Queen is very much a blown out candles smell. I get it strongly on the drydown. I find it a little easier to wear than darkness, which can be overpowering.

I do like roses but the reason I swapped for this blend was to see whether I could wear red musk. I avoid almost all musks like the plague but I thought maybe red musk would work on me since I found Scherezade was okay on me. When I put this dark brownish-red oil on, I was hit with a strong blast of what must be the red musk. Like all musks on me, it is kind of sharp and soapy. I wish I got something animalistic out of it but I don't. Still, this isn't as sharp as other musks and it softens itself after an hour or so to something much nicer, a hint of musk sweetened with amber. At this point it is pretty faint though and it never has much throw. I get no rose at all and it is an odd perfume, it seems like it is all basenotes and it is like listening to the rhythm of a piece of music without being able to hear the melody. Still, it makes me feel that if there is a scent that has a little red musk in it, I shouldn't be afraid to order it.

I so wanted to like this and I was sure I would since there is nothing in it that usually disagrees with and favourites like rose and amber are present. But it is soapy on me. Just underneath the soap I smell a beautiful magnolia orchid sweetness that I would love to free from the soap but I can't. Is it the star jasmine that is causing me grief?

A lab frimp. Straight off the bat I get lemon --- it could be lemongrass; it is not lemon balm --- and amber (I think Penance is right). Then the scent goes through a stage that I found kind of odd and made me faintly uncomfortable. I can't describe it better than that, but I have had this sensation from the other voodoo blends. This may be the distinctive "voodoo oil" base. At this point I couldn't wait to swap it, but *then* I started kicking butt all over the place, almost without meaning it. Wow, this personal power thing works! At this point I start to get a very strong vetiver scent. It isn't so strong when I sniff my wrist but it wafts up to me very powerfully. This is usually the way vetiver works on me.

Hades is a sweeter, not headache-inducing (on me) version of Darkness. Squeee!

The psychic lab frimped me with this a couple of days after I put it on my wishlist. I'm delighted, because it is wonderful. It reminds me a lot of Darkness, so much so I'm surprised that no one else has mentioned that comparison. The black narcissus in both is quite distinctive and Hades' onycha is probably a variation of the myrrh in Darkness, from what I have been able to google. But Hades has an added sweeteness from the stephanotis and labdanum. I seem to love anything with labdanum in it. The whole blend is incensey and it reminds me also of a Catholic church (though if they used incense like this, I'd be better about going to Mass!). Maybe a big bottle in my future.

A kind lab frimp. Yup, it is dragon's blood, leather and smoke. The smoke is more cigarettey than I would like --- I think that is the effect of the leather. The first time I tried dragn's blood I got a sweet fruityness. More recently though, I get the soapy, floral scent some have mentioned. Not for me --- more Ars Draconis for the rest of you!

This was a generous frimp from the lab. I think dragon's blood is not my friend. At first the scent is a little floral, a little soapy and even a little sour. Even after slathering though I am hard pressed to smell it. Ages later, almost after I've forgotten I put it on, I get a warm, floral, lovely amber scent. But I can't wait that long!

Hello nutmeg, nice to see you. And whoooaaaa, there's sassafras! And here's a little myrrh, just to keep things under control. I don't get anything I can identify as black poppy. Lovers of sassafras will adore this because it is a beautiful natural smelling sassafras. The whole scent gets across the idea of a 19th century nostrum just beautifully (not sure why this isn't in Bewitching Brews). This was a kind frimp from the lab for me.

A kind lab frimp. On me it's musk and sweet spices. These are actually my two least favourite notes. And it reminds me a little too much of my Roumanian ex-husband. I will say this though after spending several days with some of the lab's masculine scents, sent to me as frimps: It is actually possible to find decent perfume for women that isn't BPAL. Hard to believe, but I'm convinced it might be true. But I have absolutely no idea why any man would wear anything but BPAL. We all know Beth's a genius but her masculine fragrances, as someone who doesn't much like masculine scents. blow me away with their talent.

In the vial and wet on my skin I get a burst of lavendar but it is soft and not too astringent. Nevertheless, I am happier a few minutes later as it fades and the other scents start to come through. The nag champa dominates supported by a beautiful sandalwood that reminds me of an old wooden chest that has held interesting things in it for decades. The labdanum adds sweetness and warmth making this a very soothing and comforting scent. If it were stronger and longer lasting on meI'd definitely buy a big bottle; as it is I'll have to see. I don't usually like masculine scents on me but this one really works. Manly, yes, but I like it too!

I got a real spring meadow feeling from Leanan Sidhe

This was a lab frimp I never would have chosen for myself since I do not like smelling like fruit. But the lab knows best, of course, and this really surprised me. When I first put it on I thought, "Ho hum, scratch n' sniff strawberry, how nice, how predictable," but as it developped on my skin, I discovered a lot more going on here. First, I was impressed by the naturalness of the strawberry scent. Then I detected other notes coming through. Amber? Honey? It is almost strawberry scented O on me. And coould that be a little rose peaking through on the drydown? So I'm keeping my imp, even though I didn't get any champagne from it. Maybe I'm supposed to drink champagne while wearing it.

I find this scent is quite distinct from Sea of Glass. Right off I do get a citrus from HoM but it is much tarter than Sea of Glass --- more like lemon and orange or possibly white grapefruit rather than SoG's pink grapefruit. As it dried down, House of Mirrors retains its distinctiveness with a much sharper scent. It's more crystal and glass than salty water. It's also more (to my nose) masculine. I prefer Sea of Glass; others will feel differently.

I tend to avoid the BPAL masculine scents --- I think they are absolutely brilliant but I'm a floral girly girl --- but this was a frimp. I like it much more than I thought it would. The lemon rind pops up first and it is a lovely subtle natural lemon, nothing screaming about it. Then the vetiver peaks through but again, instead of screaming, it makes its presence known in a dignified, understated way. I think it is the woods that keep everything under control.

This was a kind frimp from the lab. I tried Ravenous a few months ago so it is interesting to try Vixen now. This is a much more complex and interesting scent, almost sly. In Ravenous, loud orange and patchouli duked it out for dominance. Here the notes play together nicely, perhaps with their edges softened by the ginger. I believe this is a different patchouli from the one in Ravenous, more subtle, though it does tend to dominate this blend.