melrose

Sensual ecstasy, the blinding red fire of the apex of sexual pleasure: Moroccan rose, Sumatran rose, mandarin, Egyptian myrrh, night-blooming jasmine, bergamot and neroli thrust into Arabian musk. Hello, my name is Jasmine and I'm a great, big bully. I will put the smackdown on every other scent in this blend. I'm not the least bit afraid of even you two roses because my name is Jasmine! You'd think I would have learned by now. Sigh . . .

If this is perversion, I gladly admit to being a pervert! Or something that doesn't sound quite so creepy. First on, it was booze, all booze, with the chardonnay being the prevailing note. Near drydown, the rum came out with a vengeance, with the other notes tempering it a bit. Far drydown - freakin' awesome! I absolutely can not stop sniffing my arm - these notes morphed into something sweet, soft, powdery, and boozy, and the whole is so much more than the sum of its parts. I swear it's a top 10, and that's 2 in a row.

First on, wet: straight-up maraschino cherries. I love them - I never keep them in the house, as I could eat the entire jar at once. As it dries, the cherry fades a bit, and I become sad, but then - the red musk and anise blend into the cherries to take this to another level entirely - it smells, fresh, clean, sexy, and faintly sweet. I'm blown away, as I was anticipating a bad ending because I can't stand anise. Definitely top 10.

I love roses and spices, so was really looking forward to this. Lucy's Kiss does not thrill me - in fact, what the hell is going on? It smells like funeral home flowers. The good part is that it only lasted about an hour.

It's official: ylang-ylang hates me. I suspected as much, but now I know. This smelled nice in the bottle, but, on me, it was a nausea-inducing aquatic in a vase of rotting flowers. It reminded me quite a bit of Ysatis, only not quite as bad because it doesn't have the strong department-store-cologne component. Editing my profile now to add ylang-ylang to my List of Doom.

I very recently discovered Sea of Glass. On me, it's lily of the valley, and a clean spring or lake. It's one of the very few aquatics I can wear without becoming queasy.

I have mad love for Black Opal. It doesn't scream coconut or anything else, but you'll know for sure the coconut is there. It's hard to describe, but total yum.

Lily of the valley over the scent of a clear lake. The 2 scents don't ever really blend, but this is beautiful. It's rare for me to be able to wear an aquatic, but this works.

The tale of Cupid and Psyche is both a perfect love story and an allegory for the soul's search to reunite with Deity. This is the scent of true love, your heart's deepest, purest desires. Bulgar rose, Chinese white musk, lavender, orchid and frankincense. Wow, this is surprisingly beautiful - the overwhelming note is frankincense. I figured one or more of the florals would scream FLOWERS, but they're a beautiful undercurrent. Later, there's a bit of a powder smell, but it still smells lovely. If only it lasted.

Yum, drool, I love this! I don't get any of the individual notes listed - the magic on my skin is incense, woods, spices, a hint of ashes - man, oh man, this is in my top 10!

So beautiful in the imp - really sweet, but fresh and natural. When it hits my skin, it turns to rancid, rotting, funeral flowers - or should I say flower - LILY! That's it, that's all. I guess I have to add lily to the list of scents that pick a fight with my skin chemistry.

Hello, carnation (with just a hint of clove)! That's it throughout - I get no tea nor rose. It never morphs, but the carnation is lovely. I'll enjoy the imp, but it's not complex enough to be bottle-worthy. At 57, I'm hardly a maiden, which most likely is part of the reason it doesn't resonate with me.

Very rarely do I have to wash off a BPAL, other than a cinnamon allergic reaction here and there, but that's what happened with Muse. First on, magnolia, no, wait, gardenia - okay. Within a few minutes, it's a horrible fake, uber-sweet, plasticky mess of funeral flowers with a nauseating aquatic undertone. Big fat no.

Salted peanuts and booze - I must be at BPAL Happy Hour! This is really interesting - I do believe I've finally found a way to enjoy vetiver - char it. Charred, vetiver blends in and plays well with the other notes instead of slapping me upside the head. This dries down to a faint, sweet boozy note with a sharp edge. Not bottle-worthy, but enlightening.

First on: Dark cocoa powder - there's nothing sweet about this Drydown: Mostly cherries, a hint of chocolate. Very foody, which is not my thing. Far drydown: orange play-doh. Imp-worthy for me, but not bottle-worthy.

First on: All vetiver, all the time. I amp it to high heaven. Near drydown: Oooh, much nicer. The vetiver is playing nicely with the other notes. Far drydown: Wonderful sandalwood mostly. The neroli is faint but there. The vetiver grounds the scent. Probably not bottle-worthy because of the first stage.

LOVE this. I never get that nasty smell from civet that so many mention - it just gives the other notes depth and strength. This is musky, spicy, slightly sweet yum. I would put it in my top 10, but it sinks into my skin and becomes very faint very fast.

The herbs are sharp and unpleasant throughout all stages - they drown out everything else. I don't like this at all.

My skin amps aquatics and gardenia; they are also 2 of my least favorite notes. It happened as I feared with the Lady. It was horrible first on and near drydown. The far drydown was faint florals - not worth suffering through the first 2 stages.

Your description of this scent on you instantly reminded me of Tintagel.

I can't recall being so overwhelmed by scent upon applying BPAL until now. My senses couldn't process anything at first, but I knew it was intriguing. It settled down into a dark, deep scent with geraniums floating on top - the geraniums don't blend at all with the rest, and I'm not particularly fond of them. 2 hours later, I got into bed, not having smelled anything for a good while, when, suddenly a beautiful cloud of deep incense floated all around me. This last stage made me fall in love with SNS.

First on: separate notes of vanilla, chocolate, and cinnamon grounded by something dark. Very nice. Middle drydown: Oh, crap, motor oil. Far drydown: pleasant, slightly spicy, faint florals, but not worth the motor oil stage.

I'm in love with Bayou. I lived in the Deep South for most of my life, and, while this does NOT smell like any bayou I've been around (they mostly smell like rot), it perfectly captures the Deep South in the afternoon after a heavy rain. I'm standing under a magnolia tree in ful bloom, rain drops slowly dripping off the leaves, the air heavy and humid. Beth nailed a specific memory for me.

Wonderful! When first on, it smells like Old Spice, but quickly settles down to OS with a spicier, sweeter note. I've received compliments all day. Bottle-worthy for sure!

In imp, and on, wet: bug spray of the I-just-grabbed-hold-of-your-throat-and-won't-let-go variety. Near drydown: Godawful medicine. Far drydown: Same. This is my worst BPAL experience ever. Evil in a bottle.