sunshinedaisybliss

Uhmm.. I'm not really sure what to say about this. It smells like leather and paper, and that's about it. Not really pleasant, not really interesting, just... leather and paper. The leather smells new and dusty but fresh to me, rather than old and worn, and I guess the paper smells old (as opposed to, say, the smell when you tear the wrapping off of a new ream of paper for the copier at work) but.. yeah, it's just leather and paper.

I really like this one! Norman has a really solid base that's warm and hempy but then there's a layer of cotton-y creaminess over the top that makes the overall feel of this blend quite rich and yummy. At frst I found it to be quite zingy - almost a lime kind of smell (ectoplasm, is that you?) but that was fleeting. I don't usually like anything with 'pine' (or juniper or other similar things that smell like disinfectant on me) but here it really is just a hint of the pine and it's nice.. warm and snuggly rather than sharp and medicinal. I do agree that it's kinda odd though - it's a strange mix of milky clean and hempy dirty. To me, Norman perfectly captures the scent of a boy who has a naughty nerdy streak but is still a good clean milk-drinking boy. A boy who smells perhaps just a little bit more like bong water than he really should, but a good boy nonetheless

Hmm.. I guess I was expecting something a little different here - patchouli, suede and smoke sounded like a dream combination, but what my brain failed to acknowledge in my excitement for those three notes was the whole 'ghost' aspect of this blend. The patchouli here is soft and light, and honestly I can't find any suede or smoke in here at all. On my skin, the overall smell that I get from Hippie Ghost is cotton/linen that has a very clean scent - almost soapy, but not quite. At first I could swear that I smelled something like violet, but that went away once the oil dried down. It's pretty, but... bland, although I do agree with others that it would be perfect for those who don't usually love patchouli. So instead of the ghost I was hoping for - a gnarly Jimi Hendrix-esque ghost who rampages around the house belching trails of dirty patchouli and suede and smoke behind it - this is more the kind of hippie ghost who drinks your shampoo then floats quietly around your house doing pretty little peasant blouse scented farts that you don't really notice - you just kind of think "oh it smells nice and clean in here".

As far as I know, the only BPAL retailers are the ones listed here. I hope you enjoy your trip to the US!

It's an LE, but Makhanitis (from the 2010 Lupers) is a really dark luscious red/burgundy wine - reviews here: MakhanitisDeviser, contriver. Black plum, burgundy wine, sandalwood, and champaca. In the GC, it has to be Bordello for a lusty fruity wine - reviews here: A decadent, deep perfume, lusty and luxuriant. The scent evokes images of velvet-lined Old West cathouses, tightly laced corsets, rustling petticoats and coquettish snarls of pleasure. Bawdy plum with amaretto, burgundy wine and black currant. I hope you find something you love!

Proving once again that Brian can do no wrong in my eyes when it comes to creating smellies... this Thirteen is scrumptious! Scrum-diddly-dumptious, even. The chocolate note isn't bitter at all on me - actually it's really quite dry and dusky, kind of similar to the chocolate/amber feel of Gelt. It does have a touch of warmth/spice to it - but I wouldn't say it's spicy. It's yummy and sumptuous without being all CHOCOLATE. It's not obviously chocolate, it's just chocolate-ish. And it's not really foody as such - it's definitely more in the incensey/woodsy camp - but it's also kinda snuggly. I wouldn't complain if this had a bit more darkness/richness to it - if I could somehow just turn the dial up a couple more notches - it's not 'weak' or 'soft' as a fragrance, but I still would like it to be just a bit.. err... more. The honey manages to be almost invisible for well over an hour, but starts to amp more once the chocolate starts wearing off at about the 90-minute mark (damn you, honey). The surprise win in here for me is the mix of the resins with the cacao - I had a feeling that cacao + DB was going to be awesome, but I wasn't sure about the opp/frank/myrrh on top- I figured this one was either going to be a spectacularly epic stinkfest on me.. or a spectacularly scrumptious smell-o-rama. Thankfully, it's the latter. Honey that doesn't smell like baby poo? Check! Smooth wood and patchouli? Check! Dusky soft amber? Check! Comfy blankety balm? Check! Om nom nom vanilla? Check! And for the bonus points.. does it have good staying power on my skin? *drum roll* Check! DING!! DING!! DING!! This one's a winner. Oh - and I'm really not getting 'pink' like others have mentioned.. on me this feels more like a deep burgundy. Like Ron Burgundy. Yes, this is the Ron Burgundy of 13s.

haha.. when I first read this, I thought "oh you crazy Pisces person" but then I opened up my bottle and yep - it smells like fish! But as Alicia and others have noted, the fish-y thing goes away. There is definitely a herbal/medicinal undertone to this blend at first, and I almost decided that I didn't like it at all.. but then I left it alone for half an hour or so, and came back to it.. to discover a beautiful waxy-soft coconut with gorgeous dusky sandalwood over the top. I think there's some kind of resin in here, something golden maybe - copal? I don't know what it might be, but there's something a little more complex in here than just sandalwood. Although ultimately this prototype reminds me of the smell I get when I open up my little wooden box of sandalwood incense cones - it's that same dusty dry cloud of sandalwood-y goodness. This is a warm, subtle blend that would be easy to wear any time really.. because it kind of doesn't smell like perfume. It just smells.. nice

I've been holding off on reviewing this, because it's taken me a few times of wearing it before I've been able to decide how I feel about it It's... uh... inky. When I first opened the bottle, I had to look twice because it smelled *so* inky that I really expected the oil to be black. It's actually kind of a dissonance thing for me - it smells so much like ink that my poor brain thinks the oil should be tht dark black and it has trouble aligning the smell against the visual. But, my weird brain aside, yeah... inky. There's also something quite sinuous about the smell, like the oil should be thick. I completely agree with violetblue - this is all copy toner + print room smells, on me. We have a very large in-house print facility here at work, and India Ink smells exactly like that room does when I walk through the door. After it's been on my skin for about half an hour, I can pick up the resins more clearly and I also get a bit of the 'pepper' vibe that others have mentioned. And also the industrial/motor oil smell.. yep, it's doing that on my skin as well. So ultimately, this turns into ink+mechanic workshop on my skin.. which isn't quite as hideous as it sounds, but not exactly nice either. Credit where it's due - this is genius, the scent is bang-on for what it represents. It's an interesting scent, for sure, but I honestly can't see myself ever wearing this as perfume - I kind of don't really like the smell of it.

Hmm.. yeah, this is definitely very much like Midway - but I always thought Midway was like a soft bunny-hair-brown colour, and this one feels more pink - there's a more HELLO THERE sweetness in the top layer of Mouse Circus. The popcorn was right there at first - all I could smell for the first five minutes or so was popcorn - but that faded really fast and left only the cotton candy and sugar behind. I'm not getting any 'golden wood' either. But here's the weird thing - the popcorn keeps coming and going.. even just as I'm writing this and leaning in for another whiff of it, I find the popcorn has reappeared and it definitely wasn't there a moment ago. And more weirdness.. every now and then I smell banana - like that fake bright yellow banana syrup stuff. Curious and curiouser I dunno.. I've hoarded away a nice little stash of Midway, and I think I prefer that one - it's just less obvious in its sweetness, but this is still a lovely blend in its own right and if you love sweet pink cotton candy vanilla sugar things, you will need to buy bucket loads of this one

For me, B&BB starts of with a BLAST of butterscotch - not sweet and soft, it's really strong burnt brown sugar. My skin really does not work well with brown sugar/caramel kinds of notes (they amp horribly and smell kinda rank on me), so I had already figured this was going to be a problem... But hey - five minutes in, and the butterscotch backs right off from the whole 'burnt sugar' business, and develops a lovely syrupy richness.. still not overly sweet though (this is a good thing). And now that the butterscotch has mellowed out, the patchouli and myrrh have a chance to make an appearance.. lovely together, softly smokey and with a slight tang. Then just a short while later, up pops the anise seed - I agree with Voleuse that it ends up being a bit like a dirty licorice.. an earthy licorice I guess (rather than the typical candy-type licorice). I see the comparison to Banshee Beat that killerklown and mellifluous mentioned - it's the same fuzzy feral patchouli, for sure.. but B&BB is far less sweet and rich than BB is on me, and of course it doesn't have the vanilla either. I'd actually put this one in the same family as Monsterbait: Closet and Halloween Las Vegas - it has that same dark boozy voluptuous vibe to it. It's just so bang-on for its namesake.. it's like this one has a sweet and cute side (the soft sweetness of the butterscotch) but also a dark and sinister side (the dirty patchouli + licorice) - it's a fantastic representation of that part of the Coraline story. So this was a nice surprise for me, considering I almost never have success with butterscotch/brown sugar/caramel things. I think I'll wear this one quite a bit - I really like it . Came back to add this... sadly, about an hour after I wrote this review, all that I had left on my arm was burned brown sugar

aww braybrigade - what a bummer, but YAY for amazing-smelling luggage Most of the serious leakage issues I've had have been with wand-capped bottles - I'm pretty sure they just don't seal as well as the regular caps, or at least that's been my experience. I try to avoid buying wand-capped bottles when I can - when buying on the forum, if the bottle says 'wand-capped' I ask if the seller has the original lid they could use instead. Not that any of this helps you now - but perhaps if you're travelling with your lovelies again, you could swap out the wand cap lids before you pack them up Oh - and goopy labels.. thanks to the aforementioned leakage experiences, I've discovered that baby powder does a pretty good job of drying out badly soaked labels. Put a thick layer of powder on to a piece of paper or tissue, then gently put the bottle (or in your case, the label that's come off) on to the powder so that the entire label is completely coated in powder. After a few minutes, the powder on the label will start to soak up the oil.. when the powder gets clumpy, gently wipe it off and put a new layer of powder on. Keep repeating this until the powder comes away clean - the label may not be completely fixed, but it will definitely reduce the damage. Unfortunately I have no tips for how to re-attach the label to the bottle when it's been super glooped up - I think the oil melts the glue off, or at least weakens it, which makes it very difficult to make it stick to the glass again.

Gwydion - have you tried Grand Guignol? It has the same syrupy apricot flavour, and although I don't think it has clove as such there is a tone to it that's kinda dark/spicy/clovey-ish - there's a touch of booziness that I don't get from March Hare, but if it's the dark apricot you like in MH then GG would be worth a try

Well well.. what a surprise this one is! It's the pink peppercorn that I was most interested in, being a big fan of pink pepper in other BPALs, and I'm loving it in this. LOVING IT, yes I am. I do love a good patchouli, and I was curious as to how it would translate in a 'cologne' with this - as others have mentioned, it's very subdued and soft in this blend - not at all the brown/earthy kind of patchouli we see so much of.. here it's dusty and very much a background player. The bergamont is softly spicy - I often get a citrus vibe from bergamot but not here (although on my skin it is very much a top note in this blend) - and orris can often end up smelling like violet candies on my skin but.. not here. This is why I find Boystyle Aristocrat to be such a surprise.. all those notes I know so well are really different here, it's a very interesting blend of dusty spiciness with a slight creamy feel that somehow ends up smelling very clean and slightly sophisticated. When I go back to smell it on my arm half an hour after applying it though.. things have changed. The pepper is more prominent, but the 'pink' tone has gone.. the patchouli is more obvious (but still subtle).. it's gone from clean to slightly soapy and the bergamot has held its place on top of everything else but it's developed a slight sharpness that's taken away the sophistication and become a true 'cologne' fragrance. It's quite nice and overall a pleasant fragrance, if you like this sort of thing. To me, this is the smell of a boy who got into his Dad's expensive colognes and tried a few on at once - thinking he would smell all sophisticated and sexymanalicious but he's just trying too hard. It's like if Justin Bieber tried dressing like Lenny Kravitz.. dude, you're just a boy.

Ugh.. this is disastrous on me. No big surprise really, since it has my arch nemesis jasmine in it, but.. ugh Straight away I'm hit with a blast of sharp, raucous jasmine which immediately turns to stinky-poo smell on my skin. It takes about 5 minutes for the poo assault to calm down, and then I find the wisteria - beautiful, sweet and syrupy - gorgeous, but oh so fleeting - it only peeks its head out for a moment before jasmine bullies it away. This is how it goes for me: *dab dab* J: OH HI I'M JASMINE! *puffs chest* LOOK AT ME!! *waves arms* LOOOOOOOOOK AT MEEEEEEEEEE!!! *struts around* W: Uh.. hello? *peeks around tentatively* I'm wisteria - may I come out? I'm pretty, I'm sweet, I'd like to be here too if you don't mi.. J: GTFO WISTERIA! THERE'S NO ROOM HERE FOR YOUR PRETTINESS! *grabs tuberose* C'MON BUDDY, LET'S STINK THIS PLACE OUT!! MWAAAAHAHAHA!!!!! W: Oh... ok.. *hangs head* I'll go away then. I get the forest feel from the woods and mosses, but the tuberose is another of the white florals family that is not my friend.. so unfortunately all the nice woodsy tones are just overwhelmed by the jasmine+tuberose combo of poo doom. The honey doesn't come out for a while, but when it does it's quite nice - soft and dusky, but no match for the aforementioned stinkfest of the florals. Mori Girl, sorry.. but I must bid you farewell for my skin has made you smell like the public toilets at the bog of eternal stench.

Here you go!

I much prefer it to Tobacco Vanille, I agree. I was just trying out Dolly Kei for the first time this morning, and I found it to be almost the same as Tobacco Vanille on my skin - just a little softer. I didn't see this thread before writing my review of DK though, and now I'm going to have to find my imp of Bow and Crown to check it out.. I don't remember recognising any similarity to TV when I tested it, but now I'm curious! briecheese - unfortunately Dolly Kei is going to be hard to find right now due to it only being available at the recent Anime Expo, but if you can manage to find a little tester then I'd definitely recommend trying it out to see if you think it's a TV-alike I also agree with GRR's suggestion of Sri Lanka for Amber Absolute

First up.. a HUGE thank you to my pick-up fairy for getting this one for me!! Much to you OK.. so Dolly Kei. Of course, this is the one I was most excited about when I read the notes.. and so it's the first I've tested from the Anime blends. I slowly open the bottle, leaning in for what I hope is going to be a big hit of rich bourbon vanilla and resiny goodness.. and what do I get? Tobacco! I thought for one moment that I was having some sort of Matrix-esque experience where instead of opening the lid of a little glass bottle I had actually torn off the seal on a pack of cigarettes.. but I looked around and couldn't see Keanu Reeves nor anyone lurking around in a black suit so I guess not. Slightly disappointing, I must say (both the uber-tobacco hit and the absence of Keanu Reeves). So I dab some oil on, then go quietly about my business for ten minutes or so.. then dive in for another smell. Hey! Hello vanilla, hello resins!! The tobacco is still there, but now instead of being all TOBACCO it's mellowed out into a nice golden hue that's flirting around under all the resiny goodness. The tonka is lovely with the vanilla, and there's a gorgeous smoky tone in there too. This is turning out to be really interesting - I was expecting more sweetness but it really isn't sweet at all on my skin. It has a real tactile vibe about it though - like that particular kind of toffee you can smoosh around in your hand without it sticking to you. I do agree with mxtine's comparisons to Haloes (but this is less golden and sweet), and Antikythera (but this is more smoky).. but what this really reminds me of is one of my favourite commercial perfumes - Tom Ford's wickedly sexydelicious Tobacco Vanille (with notes of tobacco blossom, tobacco leaf, tonka bean, vanilla, cacao and woody something) - Dolly Kei is almost *exactly* the same as Tobacco Vanille on my skin, but so much better in this oil format than the spray that I have TV in. So it's true - Beth > Tom Ford Although as a side note - TV lingers on my skin for hours.. Dolly Kei starts fading after about 20 minutes and is pretty much gone completely within the hour. I'm curious to see how this one will age - I'd like to see it deepen a lot more. Anyway - does this live up to the hype? Hmm.. I dunno, it's nice - but ultimately for me the tobacco is just a bit too dominant and I would prefer the vanilla + resins to be more obvious - also its (lack of) staying power is a problem. I kinda need Dolly Kei to go to 11, and it really only makes it to about 7 for me. I'm also a bit sad that I can't really find the sandalwood in here at all (and to be honest, still kinda bummed about Keanu). It's a magnificent blend, very interesting and quite unique amongst the BPALs I've encountered to date. I know nothing of anime, but I really like windbourne's mention of vintage shops and warm autumn-like colours - that's it for me too, this smells kinda like being in a slightly dishevelled but elegantly groovy old vintage clothing shop and rummaging around in piles of old coats and scarves and hats and things. Good times, good smells.

There's definitely an icy edge to this - it's a little sharp at first, bordering on smelling a bit chemical-y, but I think that's just the 'high' point of the absinthe because after only a few minutes on my skin the sharpness settles down. Then this lovely smokey absinthe comes out - I can almost visualise it rising from my wrist. From what I know about absinthe, louching is said to unlock the power of the green fairy - as the cool water meets the absinthe it's supposed to release the essential oils from the herbs that the absinthe contains, and it's those herbs that are said to be responsible for the intoxicating effects of the absinthe. And that's kind of how Absinthe and Lace works for me - over the drying-down period, a definite herbal tone emerges and the scent becomes quite intoxicating.It's the same absinthe note from La Fee Verte - rich, dark, smokey, gorgeous. The green cognac adds an interesting element of booziness that kind of balances the licorice-y flavour of the absinthe - and the tobacco smoke is just kinda hanging around in amongst all that.. not in an obvious way, but the tobacco is definitely there - and I would say that this is a 'smokey' scent. The only thing I really can't find is the lace! I'm not picking up anything 'lace' like in this at all at first - unlike others in the Lace series, it's not until about an hour later than I get a hint of the 'lace' element. And that's also about the point where I realise this is very much like Black Lace, with the addition of Absinthe. This is probably the least wearable of all the Laces - not because it's horrible or anything, but because it's kinda potent. It's a bit.. naughty. And nice

Err.. can I eat this? The blast of chocolate-orange when I open my decant is swoonworthy.. and when I first dab it on, it's all dark rich chocolate and orange - the same kind of dark chocolate that I get from The Candy Butcher and also the Dark Chocolate imp (yes, that one). The orange is dark and rich too - not sweet, ,more like a blood orange. But wait - there's more! This isn't just a choc-orange scent.. oh no, not at all. Ten minutes in, and the beautiful hues of the coffee come through - completely changing the vibe of the chocolate and making it somehow less-chocolatey but still just as rich and dark. The tobacco is just lingering around the edges, giving a nice golden glow, but at this point it's still very much about the choc-coffee-orange. I remember 'ebony musk' in Raven Moon, and I think Pirate Moon had 'ebony' in it, but I can't say I'm really sure what it smells like.. dark wood, maybe? At about the 20-minute mark, things change a lot. The chocolate has faded almost completely away, the coffee has gone very dry and dusky, and the tobacco has a much stronger presence. Orange? Where did it go?!? It's still there, but so light now. The whole fragrance has changed into something very subtle and dusky.. almost powdery, but not quite. Overall.. I'm just not sure about this one. At first dab, I loved it. At full dry-down, I'm not so sure - there's something about the tobacco + coffee combination that isn't quite working for me, and that lovely chocolate+orange that I got at the start has all but faded away. I think this would make a beautiful body creme or shower gel, but for me personally not so much as a perfume. I dunno.. it started off so good. SO GOOD. I kinda want to love it.

When I read the notes for this, I really wonder why I got a decant - lemongrass is never my friend, and white plum doesn't appeal at all.. and cedar often goes funky on my skin. Ah.. I know - it was the opium, ambergris, coffee and coconut meat that tempted me. So of course - what happens? All I get here is lemon and cedar. There's a slight incensey-smokiness from the opium tar and vetiver, but no sign of the coffee or coconut or ambergris. Fully dry, this one ends up smelling like lemon with a hint of wood. That's not what I wanted

Yeah.. that's where I am with this one too I'll admit.. I got excited about the prospect of dark chocolate, figgy vanilla and pear - the kind of excitement that tricks my brain into telling me "don't worry about the quince, it won't be noticeable - you'll like it". When will I learn? Quince, you stinky bastard. Why did you have to mess this up? Me and dark chocolate, we got a thing goin' on - don't you know? And WTF are you doing, messing with my figgy vanilla and pear? You don't belong in here! You've ruined everything!! Where's the chocolate? I dunno. Where's the vanilla? I dunno. Where's the fruit? OH IT'S RIGHT HERE IN MY FACE. I think it's not just the quince that's spoiling this for me - I suspect it's actually the fig + quince combination that just isn't sitting right on my skin. Fig is usually a winner for me, with its rich fleshy darkness, but with the quince it's giving off a slightly boozy smell that I just can't decide whether I like. And the pear on top is giving it a slightly bitter edge. Fruit combo fail I won't give up on you, Uncle Matt - I think there's hope, and perhaps in time that quince will mellow out a bit, so for now I'll keep my decant and see what happens.

I have a soft spot for Wembley - and not just because of the Hawaiian shirts. So I had to try this.. even though on my skin white musk=sweat, honey=baby poo, and mint=toothpaste. Inspired by Wembley himself, I chose to cast aside the potential evil of the white musk, honey and mint.. and believe in the good of the banana, orange blossom and pineapple. I'm so glad I did! This really isn't a perfume I'm ever going to wear, but I will use up my decant just for fun because it smells like mushed up bananas, oranges and pineapple. Sweet but not overly so, fruity without being FRUITY, and simple without being dumb. The honey almost ruins it.. almost, but not quite. The mint is sharp at first, but soon fades away, although there's something green underneath all this fruit - perhaps that's mint remnants. Much like its namesake, this one is a bit all over the place - fruit cocktail one minute, musky honeyness the next - kinda quirky, but cute. If I were five years old, I would probably wear this every day.

I was a bit taken aback at first by the blast of soap that I got from Boober when I first put it on - something about the soap and the linden blossom was creating a smell not unlike dying flowers, and I didn't really like that at all. But thankfully within 15 minutes the linden comes to the front, leaving the soap behind - phew! As others have said, this is definitely a 'clean' scent.. but it's more than that - there's a definite floral tone from the linden blossom, and also something almost violet-like if I really take a big whiff of my arm - and I swear I can smell something green in there too. I'm really not getting much of the vanilla at all - I know it's there, because otherwise this would just be linden and soap, but it's definitely not a prominent note on my skin. It's interesting that the word 'fretfully' is included in the scent description - that's how this one is on me.. it just never really settles; it keeps fidgeting around and can't seem to decide which way to go.. floral, or soap? Soap, or floral? Geez. Overall, the floraliness (that IS SO a word!) of Boober just kinda spoils it for me - it's just a wee bit too much. I'd like to swap out a bit of the linden for a bigger sprinkle of vanilla I really don't think anything is ever going to beat Cottonmouth for me, when it comes to linden blossom in the BPAL world.

At first, this was all berry all the time - the cranberry had a definite slightly-tart tang to it, and the red currant had a lovely sweetness. Over about 15 minutes, the two berries mellowed out a bit and the pink musk made an appearance - that totally changed it from being berrylicious to something more grown-up and complex. I really love pink pepper - it's been a star in some other blends (Hermia, and High-Strung Daisies come to mind, and also BPTP's L'Essence de la Folie recently) - and here it provides a nice little hint of spice to balance all that pink/red business. I really enjoyed the first half-hour of Red on my skin, but ultimately it dries down to a pretty 'generic' berry/fruity smell that kinda reminds me of how those 'fruit flavoured' lip glosses smell. I wish the musk and pink pepper were stronger players here, but alas.. nope. Fun to try, but not a keeper for me.

On me, this is more fizz than cream - that would be the grapefruit bullying the vanilla cream into nothing Overall, Gobo smells like a fruity drink - the lemon is quite bright, and the grapefruit is the most obvious note on my skin. Grapefruit is a note I usually stay away from, because it tends to go stinky/sharp on me - it's not that bad here, probably due to the 'sugared pink' aspect, but it's still definitely bitter rather than sweet on me. And lemon is another note I generally stay away from because it always amps on me. The tangerine is the note I notice least... and of course, that's the one I was hoping would be most prominent. This actually smells like an orange/lemon version of Geek.Goth on me - it has the same fizziness (for reference, GG was awful on my skin too). And it didn't have a lot of staying power - completely gone from my skin within an hour. It's cute, but not for me.