sunshinedaisybliss

This is so pretty - on me, it's mostly apple blossom sweetness with a little musk, lily and orchid, and the amber & sandalwood are adding to the overall muskiness, which I'm happy about because I think that without those, Flora would be far too sweet and floral-y. After it's been on my skin for about 20 minutes, it's turned into a very soft and wispy apple - I have to lean in before I can smell it, but that's kinda nice - sometimes I like to wear things that only I can smell, especially when they're as pretty as this one. I may have to buy a bottle of this one, I'm really enjoying it

Very lush and heady - this is a very lovely blend of the rich aroma of a magnolia flower on a hot summer's night with the sweet syrup of peaches. The honey is mixing nicely with the two, keeping the sweetness grounded but maintaining the richness. I have a magnolia tree in my front garden, so I know the smell well, and this is dead-on - it's exactly the same smell that I get when I open my front door on a breezy warm night and the smell of the magnolia flowers comes in to the house. This is actually too much for me.. for the first hour or so it was wafting sweet rich syrupy smells all around me, almost to the point where I was tempted to go and wash it off, but once that stage passed then it became a lovely sweet and powdery wispy fragrance - still with the magnolia, but far more mellow. This should be worn with a flowery dress and a big floppy straw hat whilst you sit under a shady tree at the park on a sunny day.

This one isn't really working for me.. I took a risk with it - hoping I would get the wormwood, rum, star anise, vanilla and cognac, but alas - on my skin it's all peppermint and tea with a smokey and slightly metallic undertone. The anise is *just* there, but hardly noticeable. What a bummer - vanilla and cognac would have been luscious.. BOO to my skin not letting them come out. It's not unpleasant, but it's not particularly pleasant either - it's just.. disappointing. And actually - it is "clamorous" and "noisome" - it's like this isn't sitting right on my skin, the notes are clashing and just aren't working out.

I'm very happy with this one.. and I'm in agreement with Little Bird - I like this blend more than Marshmallow Poof and Plastic Pink Flamingo - MP is very sweet on me, and PPF was very sharp and sour. But.. Chewing Little Bits of String is a lovely soft fluffy white marshmallow! The tea comes out a little after about 20 minutes, but the lemon never really makes an appearance - which is just what I was hoping, since my skin usually amps lemon badly. The honey is also very faint, it's just taking the edge off of the girly-factor with the marshmallow thing, and adding a smoothness to the sweet. I really can't detect anything lettuce-like in here, although there is a 'fresh' and 'clean' feel to it.. maybe that's the lettuce. Overall, a very pretty blend that's not too pink/sweet/sugary/foody - it's just right! Very very nice

First up, thank you to bluberyaplsaus for sending me a decant of this one! Yum.. this is a stunning vanilla - deep and rich, sweet and syrupy with a definite boozy swagger, like a shot of rum's in there somewhere, but mostly it's all about the vanilla. I agree this is very much like Antique Lace (but to me, heavier on the vanilla), and also I'm voting for this being a Boo-alike as well, but again much heavier on the vanilla. Absolutely delectable, it lasts for ages on my skin and I can smell it all through the house. What's not to love?!?

Ooooh! Thank you, bluberyapulsaus and cfrancesca - the bottles look great, I love the labels that are done in a set like this. And your goodies too.. !! I'm really excited about these Inquisition oils, can you tell?

Who's got Naughty or Nice bottles to show meeeeeeeeee???!!!???

I had to try this one, because I've recently discovered Snow White which has become a major love for me. I don't usually handle rose very well - my skin amps it badly. However.. I've had some luck with very soft pink rose, so this was worth a try. When the oil was still wet on my skin, I thought OH YES this is gorgeous - beautiful vanilla, the lovely touch of snow that's very Snow White-ish, and a gentle sweet soft pink rose. Then.. WHAM the rose overtook the vanilla, and it all went horribly wrong from there - in the end, I was left with something that smelt like those cheap air freshener sprays people use in the bathroom. Given that my favourite Snow White is from 2005, I might hang on to this bottle and see whether it changes a few months from now, but I don't think I'll be keeping it. It is, however, very very pretty and I'm envious of people who are lucky enough to have rose-tolerant skin.

When I first put this on, I immediately knew I'd encountered a BPAL like it before. So I went nuts for a few minutes trying to remember what it was.. I'm not sure that I completely solved the mystery, but I'm 99% sure it's Wezwanie/Hold - nutty, woody, honey. Then it turned into The Antikythera Mechanism - honey-ish wood and tobacco. Oh, and then it almost completely disappeared - not even 15 minutes on my skin and when I inhale the spot where the oil was applied, I get very light berries with a slight honey. Err.. what? It was *so* rich when wet, but I swear I can barely smell it at all now. I think Odin just kept right on riding and didn't stop to fill my boots

On my skin, the sugar cane is the most dominant note - it's very waxy. Next in line would be the blood orange and guava, followed by the black plum (which has gone very dusty) and just the faintest touch of frangipani, pear and coconut. I can't really find any trace of the berry, violet or caramel. I think there's just too much going on in here - it's a lovely sweet and tropical fruity concoction but it's just not quite working somehow and the strength of the sugar cane is just too much. Bummer, I was really hoping for a nice rich blood orange but this isn't it.

I heartily second tragedy's recommendation of Pickled Imp - the cinnamon and clove together are divine with the slight sweetness of the vanilla. Also, if you can hunt some down.. Velvet Bandito reminded me very much of clove cigarettes - Dust, tumbleweeds, cedar, and tobacco - even though clove isn't a listed note! It may be harder to find since it was a limited edition blend that came out in April this year, but a good search through the sales section of the forum might do the trick, I'd say it's worth buying a decant to try

This is everything I was hoping for.. and more - it's completely true to the listed notes, and ridiculously smoky and sexy. The cacao is very languid and dark, not at all sweet or foody, and combined with the black musk it's amazing. I think the tobacco absolute is fairly subtle, but it gives the blend a little lift and a slight incense-y sort of vibe. It fades fairly fast on my skin though - after about 30 minutes it's much more smoky, musky and dry than it was when first applied and it's sweetened up a bit too. I too am a huge fan of Boomslang, and I can see how the comparisons have come about, but to me the two are quite different - the Snake Oil part of Boomslang makes it sweet and vanilla-y where Black Temple never goes there - the black musk keeps the sweetness in check. Very, very nice.. this is a lovely blend for anyone who loves their BPALs dark and sultry.

Not much to add here.. this is a lovely gentle peach blossom, sweet without being sickly, and light without being too faint. I agree with previous reviewers about this being 'blossom' rather than 'fruit' - it's definitely not a syrupy style peach. It reminds me very much of Tamora but far less rich and heady than the peach was in that one, and it's more clean and light than the peach in Aglaea. The jasmine is very light and softly sweet, but comes out more on my skin after about 30 minutes.. unfortunately at that stage it began to overpower the soft peach but jasmine always does that on me - it's a big stinky bully. The white tea and musk are very subdued, and I honestly can't say I'm picking up any chrysanthemum in here but the ho wood is vaguely present far beneath the jasmine and peach. Overall, very clean and pretty and light, stays close to the skin but lasts well.

So.. I officially have no idea what pfefferthingamibob is, nor am I familiar with the little cookies people have mentioned.. or are they one and the same? I dunno.. but this does smell like peppery nuts. I don't like peppery nuts. Nor spicy nuts. Actually I don't much care for nuts at all. Except cashews, I like cashews. The nutmeg here is nice, and the cinnamon & clove are fairly subdued - this (to me) is more sweet than spicy, but it's a spicy kinda sweet. Unfortunately, after a short while on my skin there's some nasty slightly cat pee-like thing going on, and I need to wash this off. This is another one I'm glad I have a decant of to try, but I won't be needing a bottle.

She's my cherry pie Cool drink of water Such a sweet surprise Tastes so good Make a grown man cry Sweet cherry pie *ahem* sorry - bad 80s flashback When this first went on, it was OMG CHERRY in a very artificial cherry kind of way. Then the almond came out, then the apricot joined in and the whole thing changed from cherry pie to apricot pie with cherries on top. After a while, it's dried down to mostly apricot with a slightly sour tinge of cherry. So for me, this is very true to the listed notes - I'm glad I got a decant because one has to try these things, ya know? But a bottle won't be necessary, I'm finally starting to realise that pastry-related things do not make good perfume for me.

Ahh.. smoky vanilla.. how I love thee. You, patchouli - not so much, but thank you for being quiet in this one. The ginger makes my nostrils tingle as it always does, I *think* I can detect the saffron and sage, but honestly can't say I am getting any berry out of here and the myrrh is also doing a pretty good job of hiding. After drying down and being on my skin for about 30 minutes, the patchouli has come to the front a little more and the vanilla has deepened its smokiness, and the spices seem to have warmed up. In the sunshinedaisybliss make-believe filing cabinet of BPAL categories, this would be sharing a file with Hellhound, Raven Moon, Sunbird - maaaaybe Le Pere Fouettard (if Le Pere didn't have licorice) - they're some of my dark, mysterious and smoky loves and although this one is really not exactly like any of those (closest match for me would be Sunbird) - it definitely has that same sexy kickass thing going on. Personally, I'm with the men on this one - I love the darkness rather than light

First up.. big goes out to Cinderfallen for grabbing a bottle of this for me! This is the weirdest thing! At first it really does have a glue smell to it.. all the hot chocolate and marshmallow goodness is there, but with a layer of glue over the top. That gloopy white glue you use for.. err yeah, gluing eyes on to puppets! This must be the puppet-making stage.. when everything smells a bit new and glue-y type smells linger in the air. But then.. BUT THEN... this becomes all soft and delicious hot chocolate and marshmallows.. definitely pink, not white marshmallows. The glue thing never quite goes away completely, but it keeps things interesting on my skin.. oh there's the glue! No wait, it's gone. Mmmm chocolate. Oh glue's back! No, it's gone! etc. As angelicruin and Lycanthrope both said.. weird, but I kinda like it It's not overly sweet, it's more powdery - but not in a soapy way - just soft and yummy. The cocoa is not quite like any other BPAL cocoa I've encountered.. if I had to compare, I'd say it's most like Gelt, if you can imagine Gelt without the amber - just that same powdery, dusty cocoa. This is a big winner for me, even with the glue

This is feminine and pretty, soft and ethereal, light and silky.. very apt for its name. I'm thinking.. skin or perhaps white musk (very light), something in the pale pink floral range (also very light), and a slight hint of perhaps champagne or white grape (very very light). Whilst this is definitely very lovely, it's not a "me" scent - I think Beth does these ethereal/elusive soft florals beautifully and there's a lot already to choose from. So I will enjoy this decant and be thankful that I'm safe from needing to find a bottle of it

I just happened to get a decant of Snow-Flakes today and you're right.. it *is* very similar but for me the mint is quite prominent and is actually getting stronger the longer it stays on my skin. I was querying this in another thread, because I just LOVE my Snow White '05, but figured it wouldn't be easy to find more of that same year so I wanted to know what people thought about subsequent releases. Responses were varied, but most people did say that some years ('07 in particular, I think it was? apparently has a really strong coconut thing going on), and were completely different to previous releases. So I think the jury's out on that one but it does seem that they are indeed varied from year to year.. but I'm inclined to agree with you that it's batch rather than notes, because I think that if the notes changed then that makes it a different thing.. kinda like how we've had different Milk Moons and Blue Moons through the years. But back on topic.. I'm going to try layering Bliss over Snow White and see what happens!

I don't know why I didn't make this association before now - I love Candy Butcher (as you know ).. and also Snow White - but I've only tried the 2005 version of that and I believe other years have different note combos. So on the surface, they appear to have nothing in common - "dark chocolate with a heavy cream undertone" vs "virgin snow, crisp winter wind and the faintest breath of night-blooming flowers". But you're right - they are similar.. however I think the similarity is more a sensory than olfactory thing. Having said that - I know many people report a floral tinge to Candy Butcher, which personally I don't get but I can see how others might. Anyways, you've got me thinking.. I'm going to see if I can think of any other blends with a similar vibe to these two. Uhmm.. just off the top of my head - Antique Lace, maybe? If I come up with anything, I'll report back, but I'll be very interested to see if anyone else has ideas!!

Oh yes! I forgot this one!! I heartily second this recommendation - definitely grab yourself some.. it's fantastic, however I must agree with paperrose that it's much nicer with a bit of aging. Have fun with your testing!

Ah yes.. tonka, lovely sweet smooth tonka.. From the recent Literary Vampire series, I thought Mircalla used tonka nicely. I also think that it's the tonka that gave Lilith vs The Giant Crab its lovely sweet waxiness. And from the Retail Salons - Haloes is a gorgeous tonka - stunning if you like rich wood-y golden notes (Oak, tonka, vanilla, white sandalwood, lily of the valley, white ginger, amber, and apricot). Hmm.. I just realised those may be difficult to find. So from the GC - you've already mentioned Perversion (Smoky rum and black tobacco with a whisper of steamy leather with a splash of crystalline chardonnay, layered over a sensual, sweet, and deceptively magnetic base of tonka) and I'd definitely agree with you on that one, it's a must-try! I guess it depends how you like your tonka mixed, but you could try using the advanced search option - use the keyword 'tonka', select just the 'Reviews' sub-forum and then check the button for 'Search entire post' - that should bring up any reviews that mention tonka.

My skin can handle soft, delicate, barely-there kinds of rose, but for me.. Aphrodite v7 is ROSE. Sharp, strong, rich, ROSE. So my skin goes "Oh HELLO rose! Just one moment, I'll turn all the amps up to 11. There we go!". There *is* dark greenery in there, and maybe a hint of jasmine, but really it's just ALL ROSE. What a bummer.. I won't be keeping this, it's just too much rose. And wouldn't ya know it.. even after attempting to wash it off (yes, sadly, the rose was *that* strong on me).. I can still smell it. Why is it that the notes you can't wear are the ones that refuse to wash off?!? Sorry Aphrodite, you are beautiful but not for me.

Hmm.. very green and salty, and definitely evocative of that incandescent mist that you get on the ocean - I think its more a winter's day mist, rather than that early morning mist you get on the ocean - something about this is almost winter-y and cold feeling. On my skin, it's very "fresh" and clean smelling.. definitely not the icky kind of sea breezes that carry odours of seaweed and nasty things. One hour in, and it's softened up beautifully, but the green & salty is still definitely there. I'm not sure I will wear this very much, but it really is a very lovely scent and quite unlike any BPAL I've tried before.

Very, very nice - it is a little heavy at first but then the spices come out and it leaves a lovely dusky, warm and exotic scent in the air. I would describe it as an "old-fashioned" kind of scent, something like you'd find in a 17th century sitting room full of opulent velvet chairs and intricately woven Persian rugs where a lot of pipe smoking gets done by gentlemen with fancy waistcoats.