het4377

Brom Bones exudes the most strength IMHO - It's assertive, masculine and powerful in a neolithic sort of way. Ronin is a quieter sort of power, though words fail me at the moment for a more astute description. Snake Oil, WBSP1 (the Sarah Pezzini proto), and Samhain also come to mind

Does wearing Dungeon Crawl while tearing apart/refinishing a bathroom count?

In The Bottle/Imp: citrus honey over white florals. quite pretty. Wet: LOVELY sweet amber and honey (so it's just slightly powdery). Warm vanilla, beeswax and just a touch of floral. I say again, lovely! Drydown: yum, this is almost foody - the amber is taking the forefront over a gooey base of honey. I'm also getting a distinct beeswax note, as well as a touch of citrus to the blend, and definite white florals (but in a very fresh flower kind of way). I almost feel like there's some kind of warm musk at the base to. Changes as Time Elapses: This doesn't morph at all, stays true to the citrusy honey and beeswax stage, and stays pretty strong for a number of hours. Rating: 4/5 Similar to: Hanerot Halalu, Light of Men's Lives, Candles Moon, O, Unveiled, Summer's Last Will and Testament

In The Bottle/Imp: Fresh cut greenery. Wet: This turns immediately green, similar to Blade of Grass or Nothing Gold can Stay in that it is a very authentic broken stems/cut grass sort of green. A Companion of the Same Nature comes off as slightly more perfumey than either of those though, likely due to the floral nots present in this blend. Drydown: Still remarkable green, a touch of musk and amber, and a mix of the floral notes (nothing is really standing out between the rose, mum or the carnation) which are going slightly soapy-ish. Changes as Time Elapses: eh, a mix of floral notes, a touch of skin musk and powdery amber. It does get better, as the floral notes fade the longer you wear this and it becomes mostly musk and amber. Rating: 2.5/5 Similar to: Blade of Grass, Nothing Gold Can Stay, Flowering Chrysanthemums

Yellow Snowballs is a gorgeous sweet lemon scent

I feel like I can't give a comprehensive review on this blend because the jasmine turned so quickly in it for me to get a feel for the rest of the blend. I suppose the only helpful bit of info I can add is beware those for whom jasmine is a known death note.

I'm getting skin Musk, Green Coconut, watery sweet floral, and a touch of kiwi out of this blend. Doesn't change much as it dries down, though it does get more of a suntan feel. I really do like this one. Definitely getting a very tropical feel from this one though it's wonderful to wear in winter too Rating: 3/5

In The Bottle/Imp: getting a very foody and fairly sweet vibe off this one. A touch of citrus too. Wet: I'm not sure the ginger is working out for me, nor the sugar. Not much coconut in there either (which I admit, I was looking forward). The rest of the blend of spices ends up being mostly a mush to my nose - I can't pull anything out of it. Drydown: still very foody, and it keeps making me think I smell baklava - weird, right? Changes as Time Elapses: tea, mellow ginger/pumpkin, faint and perfume-y. This just isn't working out for me. Rating: 2/5 Similar to: Unveiled, Velvet Tiger, Bogle

In The Bottle/Imp: Snow and gently daffodils - this is definitely a cherry yellow end of winter sort of blend. Reminds me very strongly of Snow Maiden. Wet: Snow, yellow florals but the scent as a whole is coming off as kinda a "dryer sheet" sort of blend. Drydown: About the same. The Boy says it smells fizzy to his nose, but I think he is full of crazy - but then again there are other reviewers above who mention the same thing, so maybe he's just getting something that I'm not? Changes as Time Elapses: pretty mellow flowers - faint and unobtrusive. Definitely loosing that chemically floral clean note that made me think of dryer sheets. Rating: 3.5/5 Similar to: Snow Maiden, Moon of ice

In The Bottle/Imp: Very floral, with snow. no hemlock. Wet: one and/or all of the florals in this doesn't like me. beyond that I'm getting a touch of snow too, but that is definitely a secondary to all the stale florals. Drydown: Mostly florals. Not really doing it for me. Changes as Time Elapses: Ug, icky dried florals. I think it's the iris that's making this go all wonky on me; it wouldn't be the first blend that note has ruined on my skin Rating: 1/5 Similar to: Snow Maiden, Cloth of Gold, Klara, Vampire Tarot: The Preistess

In The Bottle/Imp: Very similar in feel to Wolf Moon and Snow Moon. Wet: Definitely getting that lovely BPAL snow note! Maybe a touch of juniper and juniper berries in there too? Hard to tell under all the snow note . Drydown: Ok, this has a very masculine musk note coming out (and by masculine musk I mean it's got a BO thing going on) with the underlying base of snow. This is a blend I would like to try on the hubby and see what it does on him. The pine/juniper note and the berries have all but disappeared. Changes as Time Elapses: This ends up being a nice cologne-y and cool blend. While it wasn't "WOW" on me, it's definitely something worth trying on the hubby. Rating: 3/5 Similar to: Snow Moon '05, Wolf Moon, Snow Bunny '08, Jólasveinar 2010 (NOT Skadi - that one had way more woods in it for me)

Dana O'Shee is a lovely sweetened honey that I don't find too strong; Door is a lovely bright blend that doesn't scream honey; Agrat-Bat-Mahlaht is a goody caramel-honey, that while I didn't have a positive reaction to the caramel (it's a death note on me), was quite lovely in the bottle; Elegy IX: The Autumnal is a fairly recent LE that is a GREAT subtle honey scent, with a hint of patchouli that makes it feel very autumny; Giant Vulva is a bit harder to find, but it's a lovely caramel, skin musk and honey blend; Luperci (in any of it's yearly incarnations) has both beeswax and honey listed in its note list, but the honey doesn't come strongly to the front of the blend. I think that should give you plenty to think about Also, while not a subtle honey by any means, I feel like I would be remiss in not mentioning Crib Girls; it's one of my favorite honey blends!

Which scents have you tried, specifically? It might be a common note that's killing the blends for you . . .

nothing, NOTHING works better than Brom Bones. On me, on the hubby, on the sheets (hur hur) it inspires naughtiness all around.

Unreleased prototype, no scent description given. A forumite was kind enough to do a Will-Call pickup for me, and WBSP1 was one of the bottles I selected, having read that it was a leather blend. Now that I've got my grabby little hands on the bottle and have had a chance to test it, I've deciphered just what the WBSP1 stands for! It's Witchblade: Sara Pezzini 1. The similarity between the finished blend and the prototype are unmistakable, while still evoking an entirely different feel. I'll be doing a direct comparison between the two for the review (for reference, the note list for Sara Pezzini is: A hint of leather and an understated vintage musk layered over the scent of lightly perspiring, honey-dusted skin). Wet on skin: WBSP1 is a delicate and gorgeous leather with a strong honeyed-powder-sweetness while Sara Pezzini is a sharp/fresh leather jacket with cologne with just a hint of honey. Dry on skin: WBSP1 is very delicate leather wit the skin musk and light powdery honey notes just faint whispers to sweeten the blend. Sara Pezzini is more cologne-y than anything else at the moment. What leather there is is much sharper as well, more of a fresh leather jacket sort of feel. Further Wear Time: While not a morpher, this also isn't a scent that really lasts. By about 4 hours in this has faded down to the point where it's only noticeable with your nose right at the wrist. Sara Pezzini is stronger at this stage has certainly sweetened, though it's still mostly cologne-y leather. Final Verdict: Now, I'm a bit of a leather note collector, and this is a unique specimen of the genre. It's the most girly, delicate leather I've ever had the pleasure of sniffing. For certain, It's a much softer and more mellow than the leather note in the finished version of the blend, with less cologne, a lighter musk and more honeyed dusting powder. In short, WBSP1 is both smoother and sweeter than the finished version of the scent, and in my opinion, infinitely preferable. Rating: 4/5 If you like this, try: Sara Pezzini (obviously), Hunter, Stinky (similar honey-dusting-powder note) Using a slightly altered yeahbutnobut review formatting, because it is the epitome of awesome.

While chocolate isn't a note that performs particularly well on my skin, on my fiancee chocolate is DELECTABLE so I've amassed a bit of a collection of chocolate blends! My favorites are: Dark Chocolate and Pepper Smoked Caramel - It's a darker, more bittersweet chocolate note, and paired with the pepper and just the barest hint of smoke, it works very well on both chicks and dudes. IMO it's possibly the sexiest chocolate blend in the collection. Feast of the Greatly Revered Ones - my second favorite chocolate blend on me. I love the agave note - it adds a crisp sweetness to the mix, and again, the chocolate is the deliciously dark variety. Gelt '08 - NOT to be confused with the more recent Gelt '10, which turned to utter foulness on my skin, Gelt '08 is my all-time favorite chocolate blend. It's the most perfect dry bittersweet chocolate. Some others worth mentioning are: Candy Butcher (heavy cream and chocolate - OMNOM), White Chocolate, Marshmallow and Chocolate (light, airy chocolate blend with coconut!), Milk Chocolate and Buttercream (another creamy chocolate blend, but much lighter than Candy Butcher), and Milk Chocolate and Matcha Green Tea Truffle (airy, citrusy and light enough for springtime).

So I didn't have too much time to devote to a review today, but I can sum up my experience in three words: best. clove. EVER. I will build on this later if I can, but DAYM, so much love for this!

Harigata II has totally skyrocketed to the top of my list for favorite coconut blend! it's STUNNING.

Couple Engaged In Lovemaking (Honey, lemongrass, black tea, white ginger, and grains) from the 2011 Shuga Collection is a very true black tea scent on me, to the point of overpowering the other notes almost entirely. Unfortunately though, I think I've found that I'm not much of a tea blend lover. I've tried Gennivre as well, and that scent didn't sit well with me either. Dorian, Embalming Fluid and White Rabbit are in my pile of "GC's to try", so we'll see how those end up behaving before I write off the whole category.

Ok, I would SO like to know if there is a scent out there like that too!

MMMM, smokey, burning leaf sort of scents are among my favorite category of BPAL blends! Autumn, Falling Leaf Moon, October (both the orig. and '10 version), and To Autumn all my absolute favorites in this category!

this is an oldie, but a goodie! To Autumn is a lovely smokey sweet blend, and frankly, one of my all-time favorites. Sara Pezzini is another one that comes to mind as well. Paduan Killer Swarm Is a lovely woody-sweet blend that I can't recommend enough. Enkhespalos is another LE blend that is a gorgeous blend of smokey-sweet leather. Ebenezer Scrooge is another one that fits this category, and it's a more recent LE blend, that you'll have a better chance of finding on the forum . I'll also go ahead and second the recommendation of Door, even though i dont find it to be particularly smokey, just because it's TOTALLY awesome.

I'll second the similarity to both of those options! Door is less floral, and more "bright" for a lack of a better word. Deadly Nightshade Honey came off as almost a single note hone on me, no floral, no mint, just honey. A couple of other recommendations off the cuff would be Osun in particular, but also Defututa, Dragon's Milk, Hemlock Honey, and Hetairae.

Oh, the Lupercalia chocolate box; how I love your diabetic-coma inducing sweetness and quirky flavors! The White Chocolate Martini Truffle is one that I took a chance on, and BOY am I glad that I did, because I had no idea that this would be so awesome. Now in the spirit of full disclosure, you should be forewarned that I LOVE fizzy blend and gin blends, and with that, on to the review! Wet on skin: mostly gentile fizzy gin (much less piney/strong than, say, Bathtub Gin) with a definite white chocolate sweetness note at the base. This is utterly unique in my olfactory adventures with BPAL! After a while: This IS a white chocolate martini, dead on! I love it! The gin and white chocolate notes are surprisingly complementary and awesome. Final Verdict: LOVE. No, seriously, this is just awesome. It doesn't come across as alcoholic in the least, it's just this sweet creamy white chocolate with a fizzy barely-there juniper base. Soooo perfect! Rating: 4.5/5 If you like this, try: Bathtub Gin, White Chocolate Marshmallow and Coconut, Swank, Twenty-One, Spinning Multicolored Metallic Pinwheel, Geek.Goth, Sparkling Apple Cider Using a slightly altered yeahbutnobut review formatting, because it is the epitome of awesome and helpful.

Oh, the Lupercalia chocolate box; how I love your diabetic-coma inducing sweetness and quirky flavors! Milk Chocolate, Cassia, and Bacon is the first one I've tested of the 2011 chocolate blends. Looking at my imp, I'm quite surprised that this isn't a dark chocolate blend - it's doing the stratification/settling out thing that I find indicative of a darker, fuller chocolate note. Wet on skin: Thick, rich milk chocolate (verging on dark chocolate really), with a sweet bacon/salty note and a little bit of cassia-cinnamon spiciness present as well. It's a mellow, very earthy sort of cinnamon note, unlike anything I sniffed from the lab before! There is a little bit of skin irritation going on with this one (enough to make me REALLY want to itch my wrist), but it's totally worth it for the smell! After a while: This is really nice, and I'm saying this as a person on whom chocolate doesn't always work. Still getting a whole lot of the rich chocolate, a touch of salty/greasy bacon (sounds gross, but it's SO NOT), and that wonderful earthy cinnamon/cassia. Medium throw, I catch whiffs of it as I type. Unfortunately, this is continuing to irritate my skin, there's now a little red round circle around the application area. not a deal-breaker, but not terribly pleasant. Important Note: The dark chocolate in the blend does stain the skin a little, and the cassia/cinnamon is a definite irritant, and those sensitive to it might do well to avoid this blend or use it in a scent locket. Final Verdict: After about an hour and a half or so, all skin irritation fades! Hooray! Scent is staying about the same, an earthy cinnamon and chocolate blend with a little bit of a bacon/savory/saltyness present at the edge. Rating: 3.75/5 If you like this, try: Dark Chocolate and Pepper Smoked Caramel, Feast of the Greatly Revered Ones, Friday the 13th blends, Dark Chocolate Whiskey and Cognac Truffle, Candy Butcher Using a slightly altered yeahbutnobut review formatting, because it is the epitome of awesome and helpful.