oakmoss

"Cake or death?" Alas, on me, this is perfume death. Pure butter -- I mean, Butter McButterson from Butterville. I bravely tried it on, even though from sniffing the bottle I knew it was probably way too foody for me, hoping that the orange and vanilla and anise would come to the fore. The butter did fade -- along with everything else. That was the good news for me with this blend -- it lasted about two minutes before vanishing. I envy those of you who can wear these baked-goods blends!

I was nervous about the lavender, but I can't smell it at all. My first impression: baby aspirin! Does widdle Wiwith Victowia have a widdle cold? It's that apricot-orangey powdery smell, sweet but dry. And then the scent settles down to a lovely soft fruity floral, so pretty, heart-gladdening indeed. I know this will be a blend I wear a lot.

The Perfect Pomegranate Perfume! Though this was in the Yule collection, it's beautiful for autumn, when pomegranates are ripe, and when Persephone bids farewell to the upper world and descends toward her underworld throne. I wouldn't use the word "bitter" for this scent, but it is definitely tart, true to the fruit itself. Fresh but rich, fruity, mellow. I love this blend!

Unlike the L'Estate bath oil, which stayed pretty consistent for me whether it was sniffed from the bottle, used in the bath, or dabbed directly on my skin, L'Autunno is different in each form. In the bottle, it has a more edible scent, the molasses and cinnamon sugar making it richly spicy, foody. Dispersed in water, the patchouli comes forward, and lingers post-bath on my skin, blended perfectly with the myrrh to make yet another variation on the theme. I really don't get the cedar at all, which is fine, as it tends to be pencil shavings on me. I don't have the perfume (I bought the inquisition with someone else), but after the bath, this scent layers beautifully with anything resiny or incensey. With Penitence, especially, it is sublime. And a little really does go a long way -- I've had about six baths with it so far and am not even a third of a way down the bottle.

I'm currently reading The Edwardians, by Vita Sackville-West, and one of the characters is Lady Sylvia Roehampton, the most beautiful woman in London -- fortysomething, rich, ripe, gracious (on the outside, anyway), sensual, completely feminine, with all a woman's awareness of her many charms and how to use them. This is her perfume. So feminine, so elusive, so mysteriously indefinable.... sweetly floral, but with an edge of seduction. This scent is an oyster-silk ballgown worn with creamy pearls that disappear between the valley of Sylvia's perfumed breasts, as she languidly flirts her fan and looks around the room for her next conquest.

Just FYI, there's a Buffyverse scents thread here, and a Serenity/Firefly scents thread here.

Well, dang it, I did that too. Google clearly likes you best. Thanks again. Jasmine is death on me, but I may try Bat Woman if I can find an imp somewhere. It's been on my list for some time. And I have to admit, I'm tempted to start collecting old perfume bottles.

I just bought a beautiful perfume ad for this 1926-7 perfume, and it would be lovely to know what BPAL blends might be close in scent. I've been searching, but can't find any notes listed online. Is anyone out there knowledgeable about 1920s perfumes or can point me in the right direction? Many thanks!

Thanks! I googled like mad and couldn't find anything. Do you happen to have that source?

Shoe fetishists, here is your dream blend! Honestly, I love beeswax and all the other good things, but they are completely absent for me. All I am getting from this on my skin is shoe. New shoe, at least -- it's like opening the box of a new pair of nice leather shoes and (when no one is looking) taking a big whiff. Nice for a shoe, not so nice for a perfume. There is something vaguely sickening about it, it's making me a little queasy. Definitely not for me, alas.

Warm blueberry muffin, sweet but not buttery-foody, thank goodness. The blueberries keep it tart and fresh under the sweetness. But like any warm blueberry muffin, it doesn't stick around very long! I've applied it twice in the last three hours and it's gone again.

What a curious and compelling scent this is! It's a golden wood, with a delicate spice note, as if a smooth wooden bowl had been rubbed with dry spices. It doesn't morph very much, but stays true on my skin. It is one of those where I had to keep sniffing it (the nose glued to wrist syndrome) to try to uncover its mystery -- what does this remind me of??? What does it MEAN?? I'm finding this to be a common theme among the 13 curiosities -- they are not easy to pin down and comprehend. This is one I will be getting a bottle of.

Try Licwiglunga -- on me it was like a sour/tart pomegranate candle that was just blown out.

Starts out very herbal, the lavender and anise basically shoving everyone else out of the way (as they do, herbal bullies). Then the pomegranate elbows to the front and turns the whole thing into sort of a musty sourball scent. It's not UNpleasant, just not.... pleasant. An imp is enough for me, but I'm glad to have it as a curiosity. Edited to add: I just figured out what it smells like on drydown -- it's like a sour-pomegranate candle that has been blown out. So those of you who like the candle-blown-out scents can add this one to your list and see if it does that on you too.

Try Eden, too -- it's delicious.

This scent is one of the most intriguing and mysterious I've encountered. In the bottle, the pine pitch whams you upside the head, and I was seriously scared to try it for many days. Finally got up the courage (armed with a nearby lemon in case I needed to take it off FAST) and applied it to my skin. Instantly -- and I mean INSTANTLY -- the pine was gone, and what remained was a rich vanilla spiced with resins, just a drop of honey to make it seductive, a fleeting glimpse of patchouli, a whiff of smoke, and a tingly sense of magic and power. It's like the pine melted into my skin, as ink flows in a tattoo and becomes part of me. This will be a blend I get at least two bottles of before the Carnaval leaves town. One of Beth's all-time best.

In the bottle and on first application, this seemed rather too masculine for my taste, but very quickly it softened into a scent that reminded me very much of Morgause. The same purple-darkness and sense of luxury and mystery, but this blend has a spicy-wood undercurrent too. This is like Morgause's silken scarf that she has been keeping in an aromatic wooden box.

This is wonderful. If you like resin and/or incense blends, you will definitely want to add this to your collection. The myrrh is so soft and velvety rich, and the touch of cinnamon makes it so sensual. It's not candy-cinnamon, it's cinnamon incense, a cinnamon stick, dry and spicy. The throw is good but not invasive, and it lasts a long time. I imagine this will age beautifully too.

Oooh, I haven't thought of Masabakes in a long time, thanks! I went back to look at my notes, which say, "This is like Alice's older sister -- the same curious spiciness overlaying earthy sweetness, but with more of an edge, more heat, less light. While I generally wear Alice to put me in a better mood, I think I'd be more likely to wear Masabakes when I'm in a bad mood and don't give a damn."

I just had to jump in here with a word of caution. More than one person (me included!) have had the heartbreaking experience of having bottles of Strawberry Moon age VERY badly -- i.e., turning to acetone/nail polish remover. In my case, at least, this was a bottle that was stored carefully in a cool dark place, too. I mention this so you don't leap into spending big bucks on a bottle that may have gone bad -- if you find one at all, of course. Ask for a sniffie on a Q-tip or something first. Good luck!

And if you get into the root beer scents, try Lust. I don't know how red musk, patchouli, ylang ylang and myrrh add up to root beer, but there you are. I second Marquise de Merteuil -- one of my faves -- and also Bess and Dee. A couple of people have mentioned Saturnalia as being unique, and I would have to agree: it's the only BPAL scent that made me physically recoil so fast that I actually spilled some on myself. My notes say, "Meeeehhhhh! Mehhhhh! GET IT OFF ME!!"

Fun question! Let's see.... someone mentioned Death Cap, and I agree, it's fascinating and yet very wearable. You might also try Dragon's Milk, Absinthe, Black Opal, Lightning (to get the full-blast ozone effect), Velvet (and if you don't like it right away, let it age), Nosferatu, Eat Me and Drink Me, Hairy Toad Lily, Squirting Cucumber (LOVE this for summer), Strangler Fig -- in fact, really check out the whole Rappaccini's Garden section -- and finally, Gluttony (it's hilarious, an entire candy store in a vial). And for your impossible dreams wish list, Graveyard Dirt and Lump of Coal.

I'm one of those people who can't read the notes before trying a new blend, because my mind's nose will be too influenced by what I'm SUPPOSED to be smelling. Going into this blend without checking the notes, I am intrigued to come upon a BPAL scent unlike any other. Macaroni. Yes, macaroni. Not pasta, not anything fancy, just plain old hot grainy moist vaguely sweet macaroni. This lasts for about ten minutes, long enough to think.... macaroni??? And then the macaroni comes off the stove and the morphing begins... and goes on and on and on.... peach, rose (I know, there isn't any, but still), spices... This is one of the prettiest and most interesting blends I've tried in a long time, and I'm looking forward to trying it again now that I know what the notes are.

I really can't do ozone at all, it goes very sharply perfumey on me, but this is nice and gentle. Very much like Absinthe and L'Heure Verte, with a hint of mint and dusty florals. I kept smelling it and smelling it, not sure if I actually LIKED it, but definitely fascinated. I'm glad I got to try it, but I think it's not for me.

On first application, this is almost single-note honey on me. On dry-down, it goes softly amber-powdery, though the honey is still very strong. I'm not sure how I like this by itself (she said, huffing her wrist like a maniac) but I have a feeling it will combine nicely with something that is spicier or more resiny. I will experiment and report back!