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On me, Black Lace smells almost exactly like Morocco, perhaps with an extra caramel-iness. I thought I'd spilled Morocco on my shirt or something, until I sniffed the skin-test patch and realized what it was.

Grassy, floral, and somehow warm and soft. Like a warmer version of Host of the Air. V. nice, but I prefer Host for my meadow-smelling needs.

This past month has been full of challenges and misfortunes, including a sudden death and a hospitalization in the family, a deadline over which I was having panic attacks, and an unexpected move. Luckily for me, a generous BPALer from LJ sent me a partial bottle of White Light just before things took a turn for the ugly. I've been anointing my palms with it and inhaling deeply, which never fails to bolster my optimism, bring a smile to my face, and, generally, make everything seem more bearable. More recently, I've been anointing candles with it to burn during meditation. I not only made it though the month intact (touch wood) and met my deadline, but feel more spiritually rejuvenated and engaged than I have in years. White Light is really, really effective, and LJ fairies are awesome.

Unutterable grief expressed through the scent of balsam, frankincense, blackberry leaf, oud, white rose, driftwood, zdravetz, and bitter clove, beneath the cold waters of the River Corrib. This one really shines on my skin, which is great because fresh aquatics often turn soapy on me. A woody, herby, complex aquatic, like a forested riverbank. The clove becomes more prominent as it dries, but it's well-behaved, melancholy and maybe even a little menacing.

In the decant, I'm smelling that lovely, sweet-savoury spiced cocoa that everyone is raving about. Once I apply, though, something in it amps like crazy and goes bubblegum! 20 minutes in, the bubblegum-whatever (agave wine?) starts to quiet down, although it doesn't disappear altogether. The spices come out, with cinnamon leading the way. I don't get a lot of cocoa. It's nice enough, but the bubblegum-sweetness is kind of offputting. Not for me!

Soft sandalwood, nicotiana, and velvety orris drifting over lustrous pale musks, stephanotis, elemi, and cyclamen. In the decant, this was quite soapy and strong. Once dry, on my skin, though? It's a beautiful, soft, and, yes, hazy floral. Very light throw. It has all the complexity and uniqueness that I expect of BPAL, but is very work appropriate! Yay! I might need to track down a full bottle of this: we'll see. Edited to add scent description.

This one was the first bottle I got, off of someone on LJ. I sprung for it because my band in high school was called Dogs Playing Poker and I thought it would be kinda neat to have a DPP scent. Luckily, it's fabulous on me. In the bottle, it's very boozy Irish coffee with a touch of woodiness. On my skin, it's mostly worn woods and tonka. The pipe smoke and coffee are quite faint, lending gentle support and complexity. More than anything, VDPP makes me think of the opening scene in The Golden Compass: a venerable faculty club, all comfortable, academic opulence, with a little bit of intrigue and danger.

Wet on skin: Jasmine, jasmine, jasmine, with a touch of something savory that my nose reads as pepper-like. Drydown: Jasmine, jasmine, jasmine, but the peppery note has mellowed and smoothed. It just hangs around in the background, giving some depth and spiciness. Dry: The jasmine is still dominant, but less agressive. It's a complex jasmine, not really a one-note, and I love jasmine, but it still might be a little much for me.

Wet: My nose isn't good enough to pick out all the notes in this. It's a pleasant, herby smell, and the mint isn't as present as I'd feared. Dry: This smells like the lemon thyme we used to have in our garden, which is probably how my nose is reading the verbena and thyme together, and lavender. There's some sweetness -- almost as an `after-smell', if you will -- which might be the almond and orange, and the mint is just quiet enough to make it fresh without going all mouthwash. I think I like this one, but I'm going to have to give it another couple of tries to be sure.

I really liked the smell of this one in the imp, and wanted to like it on me, but it was not to be. Something in here turns to ammonia on my skin, and it's `loud' enough that it totally wrecks the scent. ETA: Apparently, the icky ammonia was just a phase. 20-30 minutes later, it's become a deep, dark woodsy scent. I like it, but I'm not sure whether I like it enough to deal with the drying process...

This one is, to my nose, very sagey in the vial. There's too much complexity for just sage, but my nose can't make out other individual notes. When it first hits my skin, it's all sweet, creamy white musk and vanilla. As it dries, the cedar, leather and sage come out, in that order. I can't make out the lavender or carnation individually, but I'm sure they're somewhere in the background, helping create this richness and complexity. This is a smoothly maniplulative, androgynous scent on me. "I'm a reasonable person," it says, "aren't I?" And you say, "Yes," because it feels like the only option. Mad love, and definitely bottleworthy. I'm wearing this to my driving exam, and hopefully it'll help me conquer!

On me, this is patchouli with just a hint of chewable-vitamin orange. Pass.