svelterose

I went out this Saturday night and used both French Creole and Mantle of Venus. I wasn't so much focused on the important people (French Creole) or the love (Mantle of Venus) parts of these oils. I just wanted to have a fun night and I figured these two would play well for me. Honestly, I used both because I'm dumb and figured, two-times the power can't hurt right? You never know what'll happen. Now, I'm going to go right off the bat and say it could have everything to do with what I wore that night. I wasn't anymore skimpy or overdressed than I usually would be for clubbing but then again, I'm biased because I'm wearing the clothes and therefore, not an objective third party observer. Saturday night...goddamn. I've never been approached by so many guys, one guy wouldn't let me go for the longest time. I'm a "have-fun" type of gal so when he asked for a kiss, I gave him a peck on the lips. Short, simple, friendly. He wanted more and honestly, I was just looking to dance and have fun with my girl that night. Now jump to another part of the night...my girl and I had been following around this tall military fellow. Cute, very good-looking. However, his friends were the ones who noticed us and came over to start chatting it up. I am not looking for some manly lovin'. I just want to make sure my friend has fun because the week hadn't been so friendly to her. In any case, I figured I'd play wing-woman and just keep the dude busy while she chats up the other guy. I'm just being my usual self, hamming it up. I don't know how much of a ham I was because by now, I'm a couple of drinks in. I'm pretty sure I stuck up two thumbs when he tried to joke about being 'umemployed' and 'homeless'. He was apparently in the military (which I knew because honestly...y'all travel in packs and have the same haircut). Cue into another scenario, we're at the bar ordering drinks and another group of guys start talking to us. They're friendly and my friend is definitely having fun. She's claiming she can kick his ass, he's claiming he's super-secret-agent-James-Bond and can take her down; honestly, I think I started laughing like a hyena because the conversation was so outrageous and this is while trying to carry a conversation with his friends. Unfortunately, a girlie and her friend came by and cut right between us and his friends. They were part of his group. She did not want us there. I've never gotten such a frostier look in my life. Yikes. We come across him later on and this time, while they (my friend and him) are talking, the girlie is tapping his shoulder hard and he's just ignores her while chatting it up with my girl. At this point, I'm having fun because my goal of the night was to make sure my girl had fun and the banter they had going on seemed to be the highlight of her night. The other girl's frustration made it so much better. I don't mean to sound so nasty about it but there was a little part of me that gave a fist pump in the air. There were a couple of other guys, a bunch more stupid stuff but yeah. That's my first experience with TAL voodoo. This might have just been a lucky coincidence. I'll be using it again and let y'all know what the results are. x-posted at my beauty blog. Edited to comment on the scent...it smells strongly of anise.

I don't know why but this perfume just meshes SO well with my skin chemistry. I don't get floral, airy-fairy, little girliness. I get a luscious, voluptuous woman wherein a man will see her, lay down belly up with the only words coming out of his mouth as: "take me. Just take me right now." She has crazy sex appeal. In any case, of ALL the BPAL I've worn, this is the one that gets most people complimenting. I was out drinking with one of my closest friend's that night (he's like a brother to me) and as liquid truth keeps getting tossed down our throats, this is what he screams out across the bar: "Yo, are you wearing perfume!??" "YEAHHH. I did it up tonight. Bow-chicka-wow-wow-heyyyyyyy!" "Cuz you smell freaking AMAZING!!" "WHY THANK YOU." /end obnoxious drunk screaming I absolutely love it. I am saving up my money to attack the other plum scents Beth has created (most of which are found in the Salon) and I'm furiously hoping that she'll create more for future updates. We don't have enough I say!

Honey, quince, vanilla, white cognac, Spanish mandarin, and golden tobacco. It smells like a tart candy to me in the bottle. On my skin, it smells a bit like those dried plums my dad *loves* to chew on. The ones you get in those Asian markets? Yeah, it's a bit sweet with a definite tang. If I move my nose close, I get whiffs of the tobacco. I'm not getting the cognac but I'm no connoisseur so I might be smelling it and not even know I am. It's a STRONG femme fatale smell. I'm not sure I'm sexy enough for it.

Omg. What is this? I think it's the narcissus. Looks like my skin's predilection for amping up florals is back. This makes me dizzy, it's so strong. Smells strong.

On wet, smells like a fizzy drink. Dry, it smells like a man's soap. I can't quite figure it out but it's strong, not too feminine, a bit sweet but only if you stick your nose in it. It isn't a favorite but I do appreciate the many notes. Dry down - smells like perfumed spit.

Strong floral but not pungent and nauseating. Another favorite. Don't usually do well with rose or vanilla but they balance each other out perfectly despite my tendency to amp florals.

I give this 5 stars. It's definitely worth all the hype people have given it on the forum. It smells fresh, crisp, beautiful and very, very pretty. It's creamy and for some reason, I want to say it's got the vaguest hint of almonds but not. Totally try this if you can.

Wet: Smelled like watermelon jolly rancher. Dry: Smells like watermelon bubblegum. Ergh, I thought I would love this but it's simply too sweet.

Freebie in my Weenies order. The description has me. I don't read the notes or if I did, I forgot. I sniff the bottle: it's earthy. A sharp earthy. I put it on my wrists: it's STILL earthy. A bit sweet but god, why does my nose sting and why are my eyes tearing up? I try enabling a roommate with the Pumpkin Set, starting with Tattie Bogle. We both love Tattie Bogle. I email her the website. I get whiffs of my perfume here and there and I get curious. Very curious. So I finally read the notes. There's patchouli. Patchouli. I don't panic because maybe, just *maybe*, it'll work on me this time. While emailing, I sniff my wrist once more. D: D: D: D: D: WTF. WHY. WHY DO I SMELL LIKE MANLY ARMPITS OF DEATH!? Sad. D: I so wanted to be a vixen. Sexy, voluptuous, femme-fatale, I will take you up against the wall in front of a crowd of voyeurs VIXEN. ...Not a sweaty, unkempt, man who eats onions like apples.

I am definitely getting the sweet, not sure what spotty and hairy is suppose to smell like, and the purple part must be the tanginess in there. Wet smells like a yummy sour candy and on my wrist, it's morphing between good scrubbing soap and something fruity/floral/ozone-y at the same time. It's the day after and I'm getting something between one of those scratch and sniff grape flavors and pixie stick. It's not a complicated scent at all. Very young girlish, like single digits young girl. Not for me though.

Agreed! (Also, I don't want to appear to be backseat modding, I just wanted to put my two cents in that I'm not getting the troll-vibe right now.) Hmmm, not gonna lie. When I was a newbie to this forum, it was difficult to find information like that, even with the search function. Lol, I just gave up, made an introduction and hoped that somehow, it would take me to an answer.

FYI- I think Beth started her training when she was a teenager. She's 35 now so I don't think she started when she was 5 So it's probably more like 20 years experience which is still a pretty long time. Also don't forget that Brian creates some of the scents too LOL duly noted! I knew I got the time wrong. D: And I know Brian creates some scents too but my post was totally gratutiously fan-girling Beth.

$25 on perfume samples is a luxury for me, so it does matter. I was just about to edit my post saying that, LOL. I *hate* Chanel with a passion so I never got the appeal and certainly not the price that came with it. I've used Guerlain's facial products and that stuff is pretty heavily perfumed. It does it's job the same way any soap and water will do its job with 15x the price tag. Careful though, it doesn't necessarily mean there's a lot of that artistry involved. Certainly, they take care with their products but research has shown that it's really just an R&D department. :/

Ahhh. I actually used to blow a lot of money on 'brand-name' perfumes. Unfortunately, they bore me. They smell good but I'm bored. I got into BPAL due to a friend at el-jay posting some very lovely reviews that made me want to go and try it out. I perused the forum for six months, picking through the catalogue and since it was at a point in my life that I did not want to spend too much money, I got six imps. I joined the forum and someone so very lovely sent me a bag of samples. I tested, I tried and while I have my favorites in what you call 'traditional perfumery', BPAL is a never-ending source of wonder for me. I didn't mind the inquiry and I thought some of the responses here were a bit more defensive than required but then I read your "traditional perfumery" part and needed to give my two cents. Beth has been studying perfumery for ohhhh...I think 20 years now? Please correct me if I'm wrong, I read this from somewhere and it was so fascinating that I had to repeat it. She's the sommelier of perfume in my opinion because damn, you don't study something so specific as perfumery unless you absolutely love it. That's a lot of the appeal for me. That is what 'traditional' to me implies. Self-made, uniquely-mentored, and everything she does comes out of her love for her work. You don't put all that work into developing a series of scents for 3 years (and counting), days writing up descriptions, putting yourself out there in the community if you don't 'love' it. Gucci's Envy Me, Armani's Black Code and Mania, Dior, etc. are among some of my favorite commercial perfumes out there. Old school perfumery is gone with these companies though and I know for a fact that these guys have a lab of white coats creating their scents for them. That's all well and good because they have the capital to do so. Beth is one person and the fact that all these scents come from one person - well, it make it that much more special. No one can beat BPAL and I just can't seem to stop myself from becoming fascinated with every update that comes. I look in despair at my credit card bill each time there's an update but hell, I still happily pay it. But that's just my bias. ;]

This smelled like those chewy, yummy, pieces of caramel at first but a second whiff, it packed such a bite my eyes started to water and itch. I can smell florals, bark, and something so very woodsy about it all. On the flip side, it's super creamy so I'm not sure what to make of it. I think I might like it? More or less, it definitely needs to age before I go trying it again. =X