meatcake

In the Imp: Delicious caramel-honey popcorn with apples. The teak is also present but not as strong. On the skin: Amazingly yummy, melty caramel apple and teak wood. I am totally loving this. Dry down: The wood shines a little more but melds quite well with the caramel apple notes. Long staying powder and nice throw! yum! BEAUTIFUL! 5/5!

Snow White is one of my favorite BPAL scents, if not my absolute favorite! (Okay, I waver between Gelt and Snow White; completely different fragrances, I know!) In the bottle: Powdery snow and lush greenery. When I first smelled this, I thought to myself that this is unlike any man-made scent I've ever smelled. Wet on skin: Mmmm, more snow, along with coconut and almond. The green note takes the backseat. It's chilly coconut, like the most delicious coconut sorbet sprinkled with almonds, served on a platter of holiday greenery. When I usually think of coconut, it reminds me a tropical places. Not this coconut! Dry-down: The coconut and almond warms up over time. It is so lovely and the throw is quite noticeable hours after application. Amazing scent! 5/5!

This is gorgeous in all its stages: bottle, wet, and dry. The oil is very strong green apple with underlying veins of beautiful, deadly incense and poison. It smells lovely on my skin hours after applying. I need a 5ml!

The almond note in this one turned all plastic-y on me. Nothing like what an eclipse would smell like, I'm sure. Perhaps almond scents are just not my thing!

I like this scent much better on my boyfriend than I do on me. It's a dark, woody, spicy scent that he says, "smells like Christmas". It doesn't really smell like Christmas to me, more like someone rolled around in a campsite and is very, very masculine. Luckily the boyfriend likes it on himself, too!

I've been wanting a bottle of Gingerbread Poppet but like a dummy I didn't purchase one last year. When I saw it on ebay, well...resistance was futile! In the bottle: Straight up ginger and cinnamon... like fresh gingerbread out of the oven. On skin wet: the cinnamon really amps on my skin and it's very warming. Good for crisp winter days, like a swig o'scotch The ginger is still there, thankfully, adding it's beautiful additional spice. Dry-down: It's still beautiful, cinnamony gingerbread hours later. I love ginger-scented anything and this is no exception! 4/5

Being a librarian, I felt compelled to bid on this scent on ebay. I read the reviews first and even though many were negative, decided to purchase anyway. In bottle: Strong men's colonge, deep musk, extremely strong. Not what I wanted! On skin wet: still very strong, but more incense-like, still very masculine Dry down: thankfully this scent morphs into something much softer, "paper-y" with sweet incense notes. The throw is still very strong and it seems to last for hours. It's not my absolute favorite, but it does morph into something interesting and mysterious, much like an old library.

I received this as a free imp with one of my orders. I always assumed dragon's blood scents were very heavy and bloody, but never had actually tried them myself. In the imp: Warm and fruity. I can smell berries, which I assume is the dragon's blood. The sandalwood is only a light note in the imp. On skin wet: Ooooh, the white sandalwood really blooms as does the iris. It is a very dry scent, like dried sandalwood chips and flowers. The berry note I smelled earlier isn't as strong as anticipated. Dry: The bone element of this oil is very prominent. The dry, bone-like white sandalwood continues to be gorgeous and the dragon's blood note offers just a tinge of warmth. I can still smell this on myself well into the evening when I applied in the morning. It's so different than the other BPAL scents I love, but might end of ordering this one in a 5ml...

This is the first BPAL scent that I violently disagreed with. In the imp it smells fairly pleasant and herbal but once the oil hit my skin, it smelled like lemon furniture polish. Definitely not for me.

I haven't tried BPAL's other chocolate scents (need to get my hands on some Candy Butcher and Lump of Coal) so I have to say, this is CURRENT FAVORITE of all time. Okay, maybe not of ALL TIME (see above) but I am really loving Gelt. In the bottle: Deep, unsweetened Dutch cocoa, with a slightly spicy undertone. The chocolate is aggressively dark, no milk chocolate here, and it's SURPRISING, like when you accidentally bite into a bar of unsweetened baker's chocolate. I was not prepared for its intensity! On skin: The dark chocolate mellows just a tad and a creamy note emerges, along with the beautiful amber scent. This is a slatherer! Dry down: The throw is subtle but the mysterious dark chocolate and oriental amber notes stay strong. This oil is both food-ish and incense-y/spicy - the perfect combination (for me anyway!). Whoever mentioned that this chocolate had been carried through a desert and along the Silk Route with other exotic spices and herbs was *right* on the money (no pun intended!). 5/5!!!!

To be completely honest, this bottle was not on my Wishlist. I received it from my boyfriend as a Christmas present, along with a bunch of other goodies. He picked it up on a whim while shopping at Nail Polish, Etc, in Palmyra, Pa (Hi shelldoo! The goth/industrial DJ who spins in Lancaster, that's the bf). After opening my package, I early smelled all of the bottles, even the ones that were familiar to me. When I finally came to the Illustrated Woman, I cringed a bit after sniffing... the smell was overwhelmingly PINE and seemed way too strong for me. It almost seemed like it would be a better scent for my boyfriend, as I am more of a foody-BPAL girl. Well, today I had a very stuffy nose, so thought I might as well try this scent since it is so overpowering and militantly resinous-- might help open the sinuses! After initial application: still very piney and resinous, extremely strong patchouli throw. I felt like this is how I'd smell if I had camped in the Pine Barrens of NJ for a couple days (dirty, smoky, piney). Definitely seemed like a masculine scent. Dry-down: the pine scent eventually mellowed out and some of the amber began peeking out from behind the trees. Couple hours later: The vanilla and the musk develop after a while and this oil turns into a really sexy, strong, feminine scent. I received approving nuzzles and comments from my boyfriend when I returned home from work. Definitely an oil I'd wear for an evening out or to bed... or when my sinuses need clearing 4/5!

In the bottle: very berry-ish and SWEET. Can definitely smell the currants in the bottle. On skin: This smells like pomegranate HI-CHEWS (Japanese candy). Some people have mentioned it smells like pomegranate soda and think I agree with that as well. There is definitely a sugary-fizziness to Candy Phoenix. Once the oil is on my skin, the currant note seems to fade away. Dry-down: Candy Phoenix mellows a tad after wearing it for a bit, but the throw is still very strong throughout the day (for me anyway). The pomegranate and sugar notes are so prominent, I can smell it on my coat days later. Even my boyfriend likes this candy scent (he has a sweet tooth!). This is my only bottle of a Phoenix scent, aside from BPAL's signature Black Phoenix, and I adore it. A must have for sweet-foodie lovers!

Wet: Smells like sugary toffee and butter. More buttery than sugary, actually. On skin: Can definitely smell the pineapple, as well as a buttered banana nut bread, a little nutmeg... perhaps buttery banana-nut french toast? Dry: The pineapple is gone but the banana nut bread note is still there-- also a hint of butterscotch. I love both Eat Me and Drink Me, but DM seems to be more buttery and nutty. The throw isn't overwhelming but it's definitely noticeable. I can smell Drink Me on my clothes when I take them off at the end of the day. I love this! I already have a full bottle of Eat Me and think I'll be ordering another full one for Drink Me (unless it's under my Xmas tree already!).