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'Tis The Voice Of The Lobster In the Vial: Fruity! Melon (ah yes, watermelon). Wet: Instant squirt of mandarin, and just, a sweet, artificial candy fruitiness that is overwhelming. Like Jolly Ranchers had sex on my hand. Drydown: Still very fruity, but already toning down. Oddly enough, my nose wants to say 'banana' though that's not one of the listed notes. Might be because bananas are so damned sweet that my nose/ brain are just tricked. Think the gardenia might be peeking through, now. Verdict: Much more fruity and sweet than I had expected, somehow. Too much like candy. And am slightly sad that I don't get more gardenia. A nice and fun blend, but one that I highly doubt I'll ever reach for.

Blood Phoenix In the Vial: Dragon's blood and something... purpley. Ah yup, the burgundy wine grape. And the red musk. Wet: Red musk, something sharpish (is that the red poppy?), hint of the almond for sure, and something that comes across to me as 'dusty.' Drydown: Ooh, some neroli! The neroli I've tried in other BPAL blends haven't been like this, this to my nose and on my skin, is much more similar to the neroli I love and know from LUSH. Verdict: Ultimately, it turns into red musk + neroli, which while really nice, isn't something that I'd reach for and use up. Time for this decant to find a new home.

Thirded on Detestable Putrescence! That was the first thing to pop into my mind when I read the title, and then the OP. LE and possibly a little tricky to find, I'd recommend Love's Philosophy: Vanilla, saffron, and cream. But in terms of readily accessible GC blends, DP from up above and... Lyonesse (Wanderlust): Golden vanilla and gilded musk, stargazer lily, white sandalwood, grey amber, elemi, orris root, ambergris and sea moss. (The end result is just a subtle, gorgeous vanilla-y feel, at least w/ the two imps I've tried.) Mouse's Long & Sad Tale (Mad Tea Party): Vanilla, two ambers, sweet pea and white sandalwood. Dorian as mentioned upthread is one of my top 5 favorite BPALs, but I don't necessarily feel it's vanilla. I mean, duh, yes, of course it's vanilla, but I think it's not the vanilla most people think of when you say vanilla. I "blame" the gorgeous musks in it.

I've noticed a difference between Snow Whites of varying years. I first got an imp of SW '07, and really loved it. It smells like very soft, snowy, fruity flowers. This prompted me to order a bottle, but I purchased SW '08. I found '08 to be heavy on the coconut to the point where it ruined it for me... I'm no aficionado, but have been lucky enough to get testers of Snow White '04, '05, and '08, and at one point had a bottle of '07. I quickly sold the '07 as it was a very sweet, powdery almondy coconut and NOT what I expected nor wanted from a blend called Snow White. I couldn't detect much difference between '04 and '05, but I'm fairly sure I preferred those over the '08 tester. But all of them have that sweet element, but to my nose, some years are definitely more coconutty than others. As for the rest of this thread, I'm definitely keeping an eye on it. This is my first BPAL Yule and I, too, have lived my whole life in a region that doesn't usually see snow (and when we do, it's pretty much melted in 20 minutes). Having gotten decants of the previous Snow-Flakes (love!) and Archangel Winter (interesting), with pending bottles to decant of some of this years snowy blends, I'm very excited to sniff 'em. But I wasn't able to get a lot of the blends I most wanted so I'll definitely be stalking the reviews threads and swaps forum.

Thanks so much for your input! I'm really excited that I have Lights of Men's Lives on the way to me from the lab. I love Hanerot, but I'm also a huge vanilla-whore so I bet LoML will be awesome!

Any of you folks who've tried Lights of Men's Lives and Hanerot Halalu; how do the two compare? (Ooh, and we can make it a 3-way with Hand of Glory being compared, too!)

Honey Moon 2005 In the Vial: A very bright honey. Not like honey we normally get from the farmer's market. Less syrupy. It smells the way I wished that honey would taste to me. Very pleasant! Wet: Still that light and bright honey but now very much so floral. Sort of like a gardenia-- thickly heady and sweet at the same time. Drydown: Honey is still there, for sure, but this has dried down to a distinctly floral perfume. And I mean, perfume. Sometimes, I don't like "perfumey" but this one is lovely and is designated 'perfumey' in the best possible way IMHO. Verdict: Probably one of the blends with honey as a major element, that I like the most. I'm incredibly grateful I got the chance to sniff and test this, and I definitely like it. I'm a hoarder and a wishy-washy person and so predisposed to want one of something 'just in case' I feel like 'something different today.' This would be what I would choose for a sweet and perfumey floral. Not too sharp. Not powdery. Enough throw to be noticeable without knocking people out. Gorgeous! Too bad this is probably impossible to get. Ah well. I'll keep an eye out in case I get lucky!

Copper v1 Super citrus. But, a raunchy citrus. I mean, I guess I could detect something metallic, but that might just be the name or other reviews getting to me. Honestly, I don't have much interest in even skin-testing this blend, but am very grateful that I got to sniff this. (Thanks to tragedy for the imp swap!)

Love and Pain In the Bottle: Something v sharp. Sharply cologne-like. Eeks. Wet: Starts off with whatever notes are creating that sharpness again. Shifting into lavender. Drydown: The slightest hint of darker notes like the tobacco and musk, but really, this is all about the lavender and whatever that insanely sharp/ bright note is. Verdict: I really dislike the scent in the bottle and wet. All in all, I wish I got more tobacco, musk, and vanilla than the other notes. This is nothing like I thought it'd be. Glad this'll be off to the swaps!

Taphophobia In the Vial: Dirt. Almost a pruney dirt. Wet: Still pruney dirt, maybe mothballs, too. Drydown: No more mothballs, but it's still an unpleasant dirt. Dirty dirt. Verdict: Rancid dirt. Ick. I'm glad I got to at least test this (big thanks to tragedy's imp swap and testers). But I'm even more glad that I hadn't swapped for a decant or bottle unsniffed.

White Moon In the Bottle: Floral soap. Wet: Surprise, surprise. Floral soap. Drydown: Mind-blowing, but, it's still floral soap. Verdict: Honestly, I thought my mom might like this, take pity on me, and take this bottle for her very own first bottle of BPAL. Unfortunately, when I asked her to sniff it on me, she had the same reaction I felt, but didn't express-- she wrinkled her nose in disgust and jerked her head away from my hand. Yeah, no, this blend ain't a winner for me. I wanted it to mainly be sandalwood and musk and violet, but unfortunately those other notes are what I get.

Geek I definitely smell the leather, cedar and pine. There's also a very dusty element to this. At first, I really liked this and could see why it's so popular. But as it dries down, it's just so overwhelmingly dusty and piney. Ick. Pass.

^^ IM, that's the most recent standard GC label. That's been in use at least since Feb. '09 (earlier this year) as that's what I got with my first lab order. What's the kind of label you'd previously seen?

Curses! Sure, sure, just make me add yet another LE to my crazy-long WL, why doncha! That actually sounds to die for-- many of those notes are awesome on me (though clove worries me as I amp it). Tobacco... *swoon*

Actually, sandalwood already has it's very own thread here in the Recs subforum: Best Sandalwood Scent. It's funny, I used to really really hate wood scents, but something must have flipped a switch in my brain/ nose communications because I really enjoy some woody blends of late. Some of my fave woody blends have been mentioned, but I'll just go ahead and reiterate, for er, emphasis, yeah. And clearly, I seem to have a preference for teak (though not all the teak blends I've tried, I like, for example, I can't stand Habu since the bamboo turns it all to soap on me). Anyhow, the woody blends I love (names are linked to their review threads): Antikythera Mechanism: (GC, Phoenix Steamworks & Research Facility) Glowing Vulva: (LE, Shungas) Nanny Ashtoreth: (GC, Good Omens) Osiris v4: (Unreleased prototype) - to me, very similar in drydown to GV, but starts off w/ a kick of black patchouli or some other kind of patch' and in general, has greater and longer-lasting throw than GV, like Super-GV Sacrifice: (LE, Event Exclusive) - get tons of cedar, which admittedly, my skin amps and I normally dislike, but works well w/ the rest of the blend Velvet Dogs Playing Poker: (LE) to my nose, similar to the wood in Nanny A.

Opium Poppy I'm honestly a bit scared to even skin-test this. It just smells so strongly of... well, something. Something my nose and body reacts very negatively to. I don't know if it's opium, or poppy, but it's so strong. I closed the imp, and I can still smell it wafting about. No, I'm definitely too chicken to apply this to my skin. Eeks!

... Dry black teas, Earl Grey, and leather. Severin In the Bottle: Smells rich, almost thick and viscous. Wet: Whoa citrusy. Guessing that's the bright bergamot others mentioned. Drydown: Mellowing down into the black tea. Still slight citrus tones. Verdict: It's nice, but I don't see myself wearing it ever. Where was the leather?! I never got any leather. I purchased a bottle during the Convergence event in July '09 since it was just discontinued. I got the 2nd to last bottle, but I'm thinking I might have to let this go. It just doesn't impress me enough and there's no leather! (Yup, swapped away to a more loving home, I hope!)

Democrat In the Vial: Slightly sweet. Is my sniffer broken? Wet: Still sweet. Drydown: Er, did I really apply oil?! Verdict: I guess this is nice. If I, er, could smell anything. I dunno why, but I just can't smell anything! ETA: Now that I've read some of these reviews, I'm a little sad that I didn't really get the beeswax others did. I've loved a few beeswax containing blends (Hanerot Halalu, Hand of Glory) and might have kept this special imp around if I got that note from it. Ah well, it's gone to a new home and hopefully I'll have a new love soon in its place.

Pickled Imp The notes sounds sooo promising. I know I tried one partial decant before, and got all pine sap. Ick. But this decant? My skin is beyond amping the cinnamon and clove, but mainly the cinnamon. I wish I got the gorgeous vanilla blend that others talk about. *pouts* I'll definitely hang onto my "imp" but doubt I'll spring for a 5ml any time soon.

Mitzvah In the Vial: BUTTER! Buttery sugar, to be more precise. Wet: Hm, still buttery, but now plasticy. Hm, sort of like powdered sugar on something v buttery. Drydown: Pretty true to the wet smell. Still slightly buttery, powdered sugar and plastic. Verdict: It's a really fun smell in the vial, and so-so on my skin. I'm definitely glad I got to try one of those rare BPAL blends, but I don't think I love this enough to keep. I'd rather swap it for something else I'd possibly love more.

The Witch Queen In the Vial: Weird, it smells green somehow. I think I smell the plum, but it's a super green, super fresh, kind of plum. Not sweet at all. Very tart. Wet: Sharp floral. I'm going to blame the tuberose for this one. But it could be calla lily-- I'm not very familiar with either flower. Still has a green vibe to it all. Drydown: Still that greenness, but it's finally sweetening a bit. Where's the red musk? The beeswax? Verdict: It's really not bad at all. But it's NOTHING like what I expected (red musk? beeswax?) and feels a little generic, and since the Gaimans aren't cheap, I'd rather make use of this decant by swappin' it away for a blend that I "must have."

Pinched with Four Aces In the Vial: Woody, cocoa? Wet: Creamy, hint of wood, like a latte. Very light. Drydown: Still so faint! Definitely creamy, sweet, and slightly woody. But the combined blend with the sheerness of it (light throw) means that it almost fools the nose into thinking it's a light floral! Verdict: It's lovely, but for a much-loved rarity? It's not for me. My stupid skin chemistry eats fragrances up and the gorgeous subtlety of this blend is swallowed up and is almost impossible to detect on me. I can see how this would just be to-die-for on other folks whose skin don't make this disappear. Sigh.

Hua Mulan v4 In the Bottle: Very subtle floral, almost imperceptible. Wet: Bright! Very bright-- an almost citrusy floral. Drydown: Shifting into a dusty citrine floral. Verdict: It's very nice, but a classic example of nose-fatigue and panic/ impulse buying. I bought this on total impulse at Cobwebs III and I do still feel it's a gorgeous blend. I just know that I won't reach for it at all and so this beauty shall be swapped away! (Plus, I looove leather notes and so really prefer the released version that includes leather.)

Hmm, weird. With my skin chemistry and to my nose, AL is much more similar to Mouse's Long & Sad Tale than to the Girl. I'll have to retest The Girl, then.

Centzon Totochtin Dusty cocoa, wine, and something moldy. I'm sure that on the right person, this would smell great, but I'm not that person.