zenvodunista

i swapped a fellow forumite for this imp. it's for the BF. but before i test it on him, i had to test it myself. in the vial: vanilla, with lemon verbena. intruguing, because i love verbena. on me, wet: vanilla! on me, dry: vanilla! no musk, no tea, no lemon, no "fougere", nothing but pure vanilla on me. the BF has this incredible skin chemistry for BPAL, so i'll be interested in smelling it on him as he loved Antique Lace. for me, it's all vanilla. i *will* say though, that i have had a real aversion to vanilla based scents, but after reading "The Emperor of Scent" i have been realizing that what i probably have an aversion to is artificial vanilla. this is real vanilla -- like the vanilla paste i got at Trader Joe's. not for me, but definitely i can see why this is so very popular. and it's breaking me of my dislike, which i know will open new doors for me BPAL wise. i'll add more after i smell it on the the Boy. {edited to add the BF Review} wet: vanilla! dry: vanilla! and tea... drydown: vanilla stays in the throw, most strongly, but the lavender begins to play too. i get whiffs of vanilla coating the lavender -- against his skin i smell a spicy tea scent, with a lovely skin musk. now, over 10 hours after application, it's all gone on his neck and arms, but there is still some on his chest, gentle, sexy, vanilla skin musk. i ordered 5 ml for xmas for him tonight n.

Tezcatlipoca. it's the patchouli scent that made this patchouli hater love it. LOVE THE TEZ! it commands you! n.

FWIW, i find Mad Hatter not very green and more dusky. more like....OK. maybe it's green, but it's like a dark dusty green -- like grey green like the plant Artemesia or Lambs Ears or something. it's not an emerald green. n.

Vineland! very fresh and breezy, and the deciduous woods in it (to my nose) bring some of that boy scent. plus, it's got a touch of berry -- so it's not citrus tinged like Happy is, but it is a bright tart fruit tinge which one could argue that Happy is. (i wear boy deoderant too ) n.

if you can find it in the swaps or on Ebay, try Whipporwill. it's very green! like smushed up sappy plants that have been jumped on until they are pulped and then that green pulp is put in a little bottle by beth. green! n.

I distinctly remember trying this on and thinking it didn't work. Apparently I didn't bother to write a review though. Did it go powdery or something? Was it old ladyish? I have no idea. But whatever it was that bothered me about this scent is gone now -- perhaps it was the aging that did it, and the repeated testings. I get no chocolate from this scent -- but i DO get a tamed lotus. usually, my skin amps the lotus to unbearable levels, but here, the lotus blends beautifully with the rose and other florals. the smoke hovers in the background, bringing everything back down to earth. This is a gorgeous scent -- womanly, cosmopolitan, elegant. i definitely want a bottle to help me kick major ass at the office! i feel powerful. sexy, smart and confident wearing this. {edited to add} so, that review as at 9:15, a half hour into wearing. it's now 10:35 and you know what? it's all baby powder. i am Sad. n.

hi! i used to wear Happy. loved it. it's very Citrus -- and more than just Citrus, it's got a very tangerine/orange feel to it, followed up by what i would say are more delicate florals, it used to remind me very much of orange blossoms and neroli. personally, i have found that (having worn Happy) that the Apothocary is within the same "feel", though not nearly as bright. Kumiho is lovely, but not very strong. i'd need 10 ml, because it took half an imp to get anything happening at all. this is also true for Kuang Shi -- but Kuang Shi i think is closer to Happy in feel also. of course, if it weren't discontinued, i'd recommend Kunstkammer unsniffed for "pepper and orange" all the way! (can't wait for my bottle!) there's a bunch that i haven't sniffed, but i think maybe you should check the reviews out for, based on notes: Jezebel (honey, roses, orange blossom and sandalwood) Succubus (Mimosa, orange blossom, neroli and bergamot with a drop of sweet clove.) Vixen (The innocence of orange blossom tainted by the beguiling scents of ginger and patchouli.) one last note: i always thought i hated patchouli pre-BPAL. but Beth's blends have made me reconsider, and now one patchouli blend is on my favorites list (Tezcatlipoca), so don't be afraid! ) n.

try Vinland! it's very breezy. kind of cold, but there's a sweetness, and a sort of parched grass feel, and definite maple and birch. fab! n.

I won't lie, I hated Alice the first time I smelled it. It was an imp fresh from the lab, and I was overwhemelmed with the smell of milk -- too much milk -- and I recoiled. However, as my tenure as a BPAL fan has legnthened, I found myself wanting to try it again. it's one of my favorite books of all time, Alice was my hero for many years -- i *was* Alice at my own 11th birthday Tea Party -- how could i not give her another chance? I swapped for an imp -- and this one was decanted and most likely from an older oil. It is still to sweet for *me* as an adult, but i get why everyone loves this so. Cream and honey combined give off tones of inncoence, and the carnation gives Alice that spark she always had, and the bergamont the brightness. it's a truly lovely creation and i would recommend it to most people. [45 minutes pass] this might do to me what Santa Muerte did. "Not Me" i say, and then suddenly i'm scrambling around for 5 ml because i Just Can't Live Without It. THis would be a great scent for work.... If I get hit by the adore bug, i'll modify this. [Edited to Add] i keep finding myself reaching for this. have decided that i need a big bottle. i am mostly surprised that this smells so good on me! my skin turns all those deep resiny crazy BPALs into baby powder. this perfume is soft like a baby powder but without any baby powder. really lovely. n.

I really should have bought one of each of this series. Whipporwill (received in an imp swap) is that green scent that I've been looking for. It smells like crushed plants in the beginning, bright green grass, the bamboo (a cousin of our humble grass) is forward and present -- tones of murky lake water, broken underbrush, and crushed reeds. Bright green and filled with sap this scent is. As time passes it begins to morph into a lighter floral like approximation. I feel like Whipporwill is what Irish Spring wishes it was. n.

i was so sad that i found BPAL post the last friday the 13th. i was dying to try this, as i have a Thing for chocolate scents. i got this in a swap (thanks Bloodonmyhands!). Can you say "CHOCOLATE"?! This thing smells like rocky road ice cream! Nutty and marshmallowy and chocolately -- man, this will either sate you or kill your diet. As it dries, the florals and fruit come out to play, lightening that nutty load. Gooooooood stuff. FOODY, but good. Next friday the 13th i am *totally* getting a bottle. n.

BTW -- i just read in a parallel thread about "autumn" scents, someone posted this: maybe that will do you? n.

i would say try Yggadrasil -- it doesn't work with my chemistry, but it's woods and nooooo pine. also, i'd attempt Vineland as well. yes, it has a bit of berry, but it's also got maple and birch -- and i don't mean maple syrup or birch beer good luck. n.

The first time I tried this, I hated it. The second time, I like it more. I think the problem for me is the black palm. The wood is a little too deep for me -- almost dusty. It isn't right on me at all, but on my BF? FABULOUS. The dust turns to a sort of manly wood, with ripe fig that seduces you in. this is a manly cooca scent - not foody in the slightest. good stuff, just not for my chemistry!

Mi Go Brain cheers me up right quick, along with the Apothocary. there is something so light and lovely about it. clears my head, it does. n.

i haven't had a chance to test this out, but i'm thinking that Grandmother of Ghosts may give the same feel as Mi-Go Brain Cannister. pink pepper, peony, and sweet and tart fruits... anyone with experience of this? n.

i got an imp of Vinland in a swap, and it is, to me, very similar to Arkham Revisited. i think it's the maple maybe? and the wildflowers. good stuff. n.

i was happy to obtain an imp of this in a swap with Graycat. roses are one of those things that i love, but often turn soapy or powdery on me. Santa Muerte is an exception to this rule. i don't know if it's because it has the vertiver grounding it, but it actually stayed as roses with *extra* on my skin. roses after a storm so there's dirt on the petals, but then the sun comes out and dries the petals but the dirt is still there, so you are smelling the earth and the intense sun and the warmed scent of roses. and something else. something else that's bright and kind of bubbly and flirts with the roses and the dirt. and something that lays languidly under the brightness too. i really like this scent a lot. right now though, i don't think i can afford it and the other million bottles i want. i am seriously thinking of investing in one for lotions and the like. or, especially for winter, when i miss the scent of june, terribly. [edit] it's been a month since i got my imp of this, and i keep finding myself going back. i've fallen in love, and Santa Muerte has shot up to the top of the 10ml list. next order, i'm getting it. i love it. it's earthy, and rosy, and sparkly all at the same time. love it!

i just recieved this in a swap. i've been curious ever since i saw the description...... anyway, i LOVE how this smells in the bottle and on me too! however, it only lasts about 5 minutes. my skin chemistry is such that i can reduce this heady PINK perfume down to nothing in less than 7 minutes. so sad! that said, i looooooove how this smells. love, love, love. i am going to either make a bath bomb out of my imp, or just keep it around for cheering me up on Bad Days. it really is refreshing and stimulating! could i have a few more exclamation points please?!! apprently not!!!! a very cheerful making scent. if i had to be abducted by aliens and be a living brain in a jar, i'd want to smell this to keep me happy. EDIT: i wore it again on an evening when it wasn't so blisteringly hot that i sweated it off in 5 minutes. OMG -- i am completely lovestruck. i'm bowled over, i am overwhelmed. the throw of this scent just keeps drifting up and making me happier and happier. i am in the process now of obtaining a full 5ml. i am SO sad that this is an LE. i will be wearing it for the rest of the summer though, with great happieness and joy. i can only hope that it occassionally comes back to collect more brains with it's yummy happy goodness. EDIT: it's now three months since i first reviewed Mi-Go. it's one of my all time favorites, and i just obstained my third bottle. interestingly enough, this was the first bottle i got in a brown bottle as opposed to a blue bottle. natually, a batch comparison had to take place. brown: i could smell the civit or fecal traces in this one for the first time! whoa! no wonder some folks were waaaaay put off. had this been my first sniff, i would have been seriously wigged out. that goes away after about 30 seconds though and i am left with a pretty jasamine and pepper scent, supported by the peony and fruits. blue: holy mother of Melon batman! this one is aaaaaalllllllll fruit -- more like Fruit Moon than Mi-Go. way lighter. in fact, i'd say it's almost the inverse of the brown bottle: fruit supported by florals! i'll be keeping 'em both though (and i still have another half bottle left too!). it's my signature for summer time, and we're heading into winter now. still love my mi-go though. n.

certain scents, my skin devours. Shanghai was one of those scents. to me, it smelled *just* like lemon verbena on my skin, a half hour later i could faintly smell tea, and then it was gone. however, i was not about to let such a lovely scent out of my greedy paws so quick. i used a half of the imp on a cotton ball, stuck it in a silk sachet bag, and hung it from my car mirror. all day today, i was out cataloguing trees (i'm a landscape architect) at a site, and it rained terribly hard on and off, so i was in my car more than usual. and all day, my car was filled with the scent of tea and lemon. it smelled like the tea/lemon/honey mix my mother used to make me as a little girl when i was sick. comforting and refreshing at the same time. if it stuck around on me longer, i would get a bottle. sadly, it doesn't. i'll most definitely use up my imp though, and should any more come my way, i'll find happy uses for them. i could imagine myself using this in lotions, and body scrubs, easily. lovely! n.

i like this in the bottle -- makes me want to go out for a drink at a dive bar with really good friends. however on me? wet: booze and ... BO. uh oh. drydown: booze and soap and.... BO. hrm. dry: cheap and tawdry perfume from the Five and Dime (kinda like a Dollar Store for you youngin's out there). no thank you! i'll swap this one in a heartbeat! n.

(goes off to read about Yerevan) hrm. it doesn't sound like AR to me. but recently i was reading about Vinland, and i wonder if that might do the trick. well, i'll get imps of both! n.

does anyone have a recomendation for something similar to Arkham Revisited? i adore it, but i will run out quickly as it doesn't stay for long on my skin (woe is me!).... n.

Tezcatlipoca. i mean, i got an imp of that and an imp of Centzon Totochtin, and they are somewhat similar, but man, the Tezcatlipoca. to *die* for. it just changes and morphs on the skin over and over.... really luscious and sexy and ... i wanted to eat my own arm off. very long lasting as well. n.

i'm in love. in love with Tezcatlipoca. i was worried. but i ordered an imp. i love chocolate, but in particular spiced chocolate. chocolate with cayenne is my thing. i hoped that this would do the trick. and boy does it! i was especially worried about the leather in the blend. i mean, i'd gotten an imp of De Sade and it made me smell like a slaughterhouse. its the only BPAL i've had to wash off, so i was worried. and patchouli? reminds me of the worst of my days as a deadhead/phishhead. so i was very worried. but i could not resist the lure. a little bit on the skin and its all chocolate and soft leather -- and then as it dries there's incense and florals. now it's been an hour and i smell mysterious florals and a changing background of cacao, smoke and incense. i feel sexy and mysterious. i want to eat my wrists. i liked the Centzon Totochtin too. but this? hoo boy! n.