Dark Angel

I got this in a bunch of imps bought from the fabulous Silverlilac. It is very different, nothing like any traditional perfume, but I like it quite a lot. I don't get much wood or any cedar at all, really. It seems very sweet, but also spicy--call me crazy, but I get a lot of cloves from it, and just a smidge of cinnamon. My husband said the same thing. Oddly, the other BPAL scent that it reminds me of is Laudanum, which is also clove-y and spicy on me. Maybe my skin amps clove. I don't mind because I like the smell of clove. Love Me is also quite sweet on me. I do get a hint of a 'cola' scent, but that fades fairly quickly and isn't cloying or offensive at all, it melds with the spices and the sweetness. Oh, and as far as the voodoo properties....it seems to work

Upon reflection, this may not have been the best scent for a hectic, disorganized Monday morning, since "chaos" is something I don't need more of.... But, as for the scent itself, this is a surprise! I like it a lot more than I expected. It starts off with a sharp lemon scent--a very 'dry' lemon is the only way I can think to describe it, not juicy or bright at all. It does, frankly, remind me a bit of Lemon Pledge, but not in a negative way, if that makes sense. Not chemically or sneeze-inducing. But it quickly morphs a lot. The lemon fades very fast, within a few minutes, and a sweet incense scent begins to develop. I really like this! It's not at all smoky or heavy, light and sweet and not, to my nose, masculine (although it might smell lovely on the right man, come to think of it....) It is faint; I slathered (well, for me--it takes me forever to use one imp) and it is definitely staying very close to my skin, not much throw at all, but I don't mind that. I was afraid of the ozone note, and the fact that some people detect an aquatic note, since those are not on my list of faves at all. But I don't get any of that, just a sweet, smooth, close-to-the-skin incense, almost like a sweet musk, but very light and not in the least funky or animal. Not dark or scary, either, in fact I find it a comforting, cozy scent. Hmm.... I wonder what this says about me that I want to snuggle up to the Lurker in the dark.

My husband definitely looooves O on me, also Fire of Love

Ones that have worked well on husband so far: Golden Priapus. Oh, yes, this one is yummy!!! Sexy and cosy at the same time. Titus Andronicus. Sexxxy in a confident, noble kind of way. Coyote. Fades fast on him, but very nice.

Source: Imp from Lab. This is really different, but I like it a lot! Wet, it smells to me like some festive alcoholic holiday drink. I can smell the nutmeg and I know that's what's making me think 'holiday' because of the connection with eggnog. I always grate fresh nutmeg on my eggnog and that smell of grated nutmeg is very strong at first. It doesn't smell like eggnog itself, just the nutmeg part. It smells like a nutmeg liqueur, if there were such a thing (there isn't, is there?). As it dries down, the myrrh starts to come out. Myrrh is iffy on me; sometimes it works and sometimes it smells like a hair salon (go figure). And my skin seems to amp it up, so after a half hour or so, it's the predominate note in Laudanum. But this is the myrrh that works on me, and the other spices round it out and make it complex, spicy, and wonderful. It has moderate lasting power, maybe 3-4 hours on me. It's weirdly addictive, and I could see the connotations of decadence and languor, but it doesn't seem anguished or insane to me, in fact it still feels rather festive, like going to a holiday party where everyone is dressed up, eats and drinks too much, gets rather silly, and ends up laying around in a happy, rather disheveled stupor.

This was a frimp from that lab. Thanks! I had forgotten it was dream blend when I pulled it out of my new imps to try this morning, so I thought, 'why not?' and dabbed it on. So I can't speak to its dream-inducing properties. Will edit if I get around to trying it for that purpose, although I seldom have trouble sleeping, and my dreams are usually interesting enough on their own. Nanshe was something I would not have chosen for myself. I have not been interested in the Somnium blends because they all apparently contain lavender, and I really dislike the smell of lavender, even the actual plant. But I don't detect any lavender in Nanshe. Wet, it has a bright, citrusy smell, as others have mentioned. It doesn't smell lemon pledge-y to me, though. In fact, without having read all the other reviews, I would have said it smelled like ginger, fresh, grated ginger, not the dried kind. I like the smell of fresh ginger. It is uplifting, though I'm not sure I'd want to smell like it for a long period of time. After a few minutes, however, the gingery, smell dies down, and a spicy, comforting scent that reminds me of cloves develops. Someone else said 'peppery' and I can see that. It's warm. It's kind of like spice cookies, though it's not foody, per se. I'm glad a couple of other people mentioned a 'baking' smell or I would have thought I was nuts. I like this very much, but sadly, it fades quickly. Two hours later, I can only barely detect it on my wrists. However, I didn't put much on. Perhaps a bit more generous application would improve its staying power.

I really like this, on both myself and my husband! On me, it is mostly a sweet, spicy musk. I like musk, so this is a very good thing. It may be a tiny bit masculine, but it is also very sweet, so I feel I can pull it off. Even if I can't, I like it so much I'm going to wear it anyway! On my husband, there is a similar sweet musk, but on him, the bergamot must come out much more, because it smells more, well, masculine. I want to say it smells 'clean,' but not in a soapy way, more a sexy clean skin sort of way. Just a confident, very masculine, very sexxxxy scent on him. Definately a winner, for both of us!!

I'm a little reluctant to review this because my experience is so different from everyone else's that I wonder if I have the same oil. My imp came via swap and had a hand-written label, which makes me think at some point it was a decant, and it may be quite old, so it could be that it really isn't representative of what Voodoo is like. I may try to obtain another imp at some point. On to the review: Alas, this is not successful on me. In the bottle it smells intrigueing, clove-y and spicy. On me, however, it instantly turns into the smell of a hair salon, and not in a good way. It really reminds of that odd, chemically smell of perms. It stays that way for a long time, too. Luckily, it seems to fade within a few hours. Now that most of it is gone, four hours later, I can catch a faint whiff of something spicy and nice on my wrists if I press my nose right up against them. But that 'permanent' smell still wafts up from my cleavage now and then. Really not enjoyable. Too bad. All the reviews made it sound like this would be right up my alley, but apparently, something in it hates me, in a unique way that it doesn't hate anyone else.

This goes on initially penetratingly sweet and floral, very heavy. I suspect that must be the narcissus, athough it reminds of Easter lilies more than anything else I can think of. I'm a little afraid to go out in public for the first half-hour or so after putting it on . Once it dries down a bit though, it is lovely. Still very sweet but not cloying, with an elusive smokiness underneath. I like it very much at this stage. It lasts 4-5 hours on me. I have discovered however, that I can't wear it during 'that' time of month; it stays sickly sweet during that particular week. The rest of the time, though, it is fantastic once I wait out the initial blast.

I got this in a swap with Decemberine. Thanks! Wow, this is...odd. Unlike any BPAL (or any other) scent I've tried. Wet, and for the first half-hour to 45 minutes, it smells, on me, almost exactly like sawn lumber. Someone mentioned a comparison to Tombstone, and I can see that, but it's not as cedery as Tombstone. Just--wood, newly cut. A very dry scent. Underneath there's a burnt kind of smell, like charred wood, or ashes. I know this isn't making it sound very attractive, but somehow I actually kind of like this stage. I don't get any lemon, ginger, or pepper, or any cat pee, diaper pail, or sweat, either. I can't detect anything rank or 'off' about it, it's just very, very dry and woody. As it dries down, something sweet and incensy begins to come up. I like this a lot, although unfortunately it seems to fade quite quickly. I can see why it might strike people as a masculine smell; I think it might smell quite wonderful on my husband (haven't tried it yet). But yet, to me it doesn't seem either masculine or feminine. It's so unlike any traditional perfume or cologne that it doesn't give off any particular gender vibe to me. As for the 'intended effect:' I am starting to believe in the Voodoo! My husband says this smells fantastic on me, and according to him, 'it works, too.' He's woken in the night ready for action several times now when I've worn this. It's true that it doesn't smell, to me, like 'pure undiluted sex,' but that's how it seems to work! Actually, to me it smells kind of comforting somehow; it reminds me of something strong and secure. But even though I had a sinus headache and was feeling rather 'off' last night, I didn't have any trouble enjoying myself once we go into bed! I tend to be a bit sceptical about this sort of thing, and it could just be the power of suggestion, but still...

I got this as a freebie from the lab. I had not really had much interest in trying it, despite the rave reviews, because I read somewhere that "Victorian fougere' meant lavender, and I am not fond of lavender AT ALL. I don't even like the way the actual flowers smell. Luckily for me, though, I get hardly any lavender out of this. I can just detect it faintly underneath the smooth, rich musk, but oddly, it isn't objectionable. Dorian starts out rather masculine on me, but mellows into a lovely unisex scent. It's a beautiful musk, smoothed and refined by the tea and sweetened and supported by that gorgeous BPAL vanilla. I don't get any lemon or florals out of it, which is just fine by me. Now I understand what all the fuss is about. I might have to purchase a bottle of this someday. And I haven't even tried it on my husband yet.

Unfortunately, Bastet does not work for me. I am one of the folks on whom it goes nasty old maiden aunt powdery, like the smell of nursing homes. I have no idea what it is that does that: amber is sometimes powdery on me, but not in that way. I have not had any problems with myrrh or musk; most musks seem to like me. Saffron was fine in Scherezade. Perhaps it is the lotus; I do not really know what lotus smells like. I do not detect any almond scent at all. But Hecate also has almond and I do not get the nasty funk from Hecate like I do from Bastet. It's too bad that this is such a failure on my skin, but this is the first oil that really has gone sickly on me. So, lots of others to enjoy!

I get mainly honey and amber from this. The vanilla is elusive, but my husband can pick it out. This scent is hard to describe; it is sweet and the honey is prominent, but it isn't a smooth, innocent, clover sort of honey. Perhaps wild honey--less sweet and more complex. It's somehow wildly erotic. There's something in there--I can't pinpoint it. To me it doesn't smell like the actual scent of sex, or sweat either. Those scents seem salty to me, and O certainly isn't that. Maybe it is the smell of sweaty sex without the salt? Anyway, a distinctly intimate, explicitly sexual smell. And boy, does it ever work magic on my husband when I wear it! I haven't tried any of the voodoo blends that are supposed to ignite desire, but I don't really need them. I don't think I've worn O to bed yet without getting, um, results , even when he says he's completely bushed and we really have to just sleep... So yeah, even if I didn't like the scent much myself (although I do) I'd keep it around just for that purpose.

This was a frimp from the lab. (thanks, labbies! ) I've worn this a couple of times now and I find it an interesting and lovely scent, but I can't decide if it is 'me' or not. At first, it is extremely cedary on me, a very dry cedar. It is rather reminiscent of pencil shavings--but nice pencil shavings, if you know what I mean. After a few minutes, the cedar calms down a little and the vanilla begins to come through. I do not detect any sassafras but my nose is not very keen. I also do not smell the balsam but my husband detected something (on me) that smelled like pine, which I assume must be the balsam. After a few hours the cedar mostly fades away, leaving a lovely spiced vanilla scent that reminds me of Snake Oil, but more subtle. The combination of cedar and vanilla seems odd to me. I could see it being masculine, yet it is quite sweet and I don't think it is inappropriate for a woman. I just don't know if it is really me. But yet, I like it; it smells divine. I can't make up my mind. I wish there were a confused/befuddled smiley.

I tried Hecate for the first time today, and it caused a burning sensation and redness in the crooks of my arms right after I first applied it. Oddly, though, it was fine on my wrists, neck, and even my cleavage. The burning went away quite quickly, but it was no fun while it lasted. Kind of odd, since I don't see anyone else mentioning Hecate as a scent they reacted too. I wonder what component caused that. I've never had a problem with any other BPAL oil, though I haven't tried that many.

I bought an imp to test on my husband. He has a strong connection with the mythical figure of Coyote, so I am really hoping it will work for him. Unfortunately, I keep forgetting to put it on him, or if I do, to wait for the drydown. I will edit if I ever get around to the experiment. On me, this starts out as quite a sharp, cologne-like, 'masculine' scent. I want to say green, but it doesn't smell exactly like greenery to me, I can't think what it does remind me of, except commerical men's cologne. I'm not so found of this stage, particularly on myself. I'm not girly, but I don't want to smell like a guy, either. After drydown, it becomes much sweeter, with the musk and amber predominating, a warm, golden scent. It's a tiny bit powdery, but not in a terrible way. However, it also fades very quickly, and after a few hours I can hardly smell it. If I put it on in places (read, cleavage) where it stays warm and moist, it lasts, but that unwelcome sharp note also persists. I still intend to try this on my guy and see what it does with his skin chemistry. For myself, I don't think it's something I am particularly crazy about. The final drydown is nice, but too faint.

I love musk and dragon's blood. This is a very warm, deep, spicy, sexy fragrance on me. It does remind me of Snake Oil. Unfortunately, on me, Dragon's Heart fades quite quickly and is gone in a couple of hours. I love it but I'm not prone to re-apply scent throughout the day and like something with a bit more staying power. Great for a special evening, though.

Out of the bottle, this has a strong incense smell, like a hippie shop. This quickly mellows into a warm, spicy, exotic fragrance. It is gorgeous. Unfortunately, it fades quickly on me, almost completely gone after a couple of hours..