mayhap

Mmm, this is simply fabulous. Luscious coconut and sweet sweet rum, with the tobacco giving it a hint of earthiness. My wrist has been glued to my nose for hours now!

Euterpe reminds me very much of my beloved Katharina -- creamy, effervescent white musk under a fruity/floral combination. The honeysuckle is most prominent on my skin, with a bare hint of lemon and other florals. Very light, sweet and cheerful.

I've been on the fence about trying Jack since my first BPAL order -- many thanks to itbelikethat on LJ for including it with my bottle of Gypsy Queen! In the vial: Pure popcorn butter. I did have certain reservtions about smelling like butter. Drydown: Peaches! And cloves! Oh, the fruity spicy love. Dry: Oh, and here is the butter again, and the pumpkin, finally, puts in an appearance. Now this is making me hungry, and getting me noticed -- lots of oooooh what is that smell? After some hours: Wow, this stuff is still going strong. I'm impressed. I do believe I'll be enjoying my imp very much, and if I ever get an oil burner set up I'll simply have to have a big bottle of this, I think. It's just so very yummy.

Preconceived notions: I adore moonflowers; during the summer we sit on our deck and watch them opening at night, like quiet fireworks, and crowd around with all the bees for miles around to smell them. I was excited about Moon Rose, while at the same time afraid that the rose would overwhelm my beloved moonflowers. In the vial: A little harsh. Hmm. Wet: Something is still stinging my nose. Of course, this is less of a problem if I stop jamming my wrist up against my nose. Drydown: Actually, what I think is dominating this scent on me is the chill, crystalline dew. My chemistry does interesting things with the aquatics/ozones sometimes. I wish the flowers were coming out to play more! Dry: I'm on the fence with this one. I think I'll be hanging onto the imp until summer and seeing how I feel about it then.

Hoo boy. My chemistry is actually rocking out with this scent -- a very heady, thick, animalistic musk with no cat piss in sight, thank goodness -- but there is simply no way I'm going to live up to what it's promising. I am simply insufficiently debauched. I imagine I'll be sticking with Scherezade, which, on me at least, is very similar.

In the imp: Overwhelms my nose! I can't pick out anything. Drydown: Rosemary comes out strong, followed closely by mint. This is smelling very herbal on me at the moment. Dry: Rosy-grapey-citrusy-sweetness is waking up on my skin to balance the rosemary-mint. One hour later: Wow, this scent has a really unusual aesthetic about it and I can't quite decide what I think. The grape spirits have become stronger, along with the orange blossom, and the effect is a little like a fruity candy, but the rosemary and mint are still there to make it seem more real, if that makes any sense; more like standing in a sunny vineyard (not that I've ever actually done that). The rose is peeking out very occasionally. Overall: This really different from anything I've worn before and I think I dig it. I really appreciate the historical aspect of it and the scent is lovely and it has really grown on me. It makes me sad that it doesn't seem to be a very strong or long-lasting scent on me.

I have never had an oil disappear on me this fast! Seriously, it was Gone in 60 Seconds. One second, there was evergreen goodness, next second, there was ... nothing. Ah well. I still have Dublin for my evergreen goodness that actually sticks around after shaking hands.

Mmm, Brisingamen. I didn't know what amber smelled like before BPAL, but now I know that I adore it, and Brisingamen is one of my first loves that I still wear all the time, and I still don't know how to describe the amber-y goodness! I do know that it's rich and sexy in a very confident sort of way on me, and when I put it on, I tend to get all these bemused compliments: "What is that??? Whatever it is, it smells so good!"

Oh, I so wanted to love this, but it turned out to be almost painfully sweet on me. Sweeter than Hellcat, which previously held the title for Sweetest BPAL I've Ever Tried, and with a heaping helping of whatever made Hellcat go bad on me in the end. I don't get any cedar smoke, which sounded so very lovely, and I suspect my skin of devouring the evergreens, because Mistletoe lasted for all of sixty seconds on me. Alas, off to the swaps it goes!

Oh, this is such a comfort scent on me. It wraps me up in sweet, cozy love. Wet: Something -- possibly this cherry tobacco I'm hearing so much about? -- comes out strong at first. For some reason, it makes me think of Lipton tea. I don't much like this stage, but thankfully, it doesn't last that long. Drydown: Scary Lipton tea is gone. Wood and leather are coming out to replace it, along with a lovely sweetness like honey or maple candy. I'm not picking any linen per se, but the whole blend is lovely. Dry: Still going strong! I'm seriously smitten. Just the thing for a grey winter day (like this one!).

I would suggest Katharina, perhaps. It strikes me that way. Of course, I always associate it with the female protagonist from my NaNoWriMo now.

I swapped for this one on a whim and whoa, leather. I wasn't sure I liked it at first, but it's oddly compelling. I'm definitely going to hang onto it and try layering it and/or ensnaring boys to put it on. Yum.

In the imp: Full-out assault on my nose. Help! I think this is jasmine and possibly the aquatics, but it's hard to tell. Wet: Just as I'm about to declare an emergency and wash it off my skin, Bayou mellows out a lot on me. Drydown: Oooh, I'm really liking this now. A nice balance of cool aquatics and warm sultry flowers. Very evocative. Dry: Sadly, I think Bayou may not be for me. My skin is amping up the aquatics a lot and it's harsher and not as balanced as it was. I know this will smell awesome on someone else, though.

This is lovely stuff on me. I've honestly never smelled anything like it in the world besides the crisp, cool air of a snowy day, and I was fortunate enough to have one right after I got my package in the mail to compare. Sadly, it doesn't seem to last very long on me, but I'll be wearing it often and happily to relive the austere beauty of the snow.

Mmm, I adore this. It's like pale golden sweet syrupy fizzy sunshine in a bottle. It's not particularly long-lasting on me, but I don't mind slathering it on and reapplying.

This stuff is nothing short of magic. Red, red roses, tumbling out of the bottle as soon as I open it. I'm absolutely smitten and I can't stop sniffing my wrists.

In the bottle: Sweet vanilla. Drydown: Like licking a vanilla ice cream cone, cool and crisp. Dry: Mmm, it warms up on my skin. Now it's sweet and cozy, like a soft old quilt that's been packed away with sweet sachets. I'm so, so glad it's available again because I know I'm going to be wearing it often.

In the imp: Wow. I hardly know whether to put it on or drink it. Drydown: Pure mint julep. Reminds me of hours spent reading and rereading Gone With the Wind. Dry: Something about this scent gets richer and fuller as it dries on me. Like sipping mint juleps in a library, perhaps. Conclusion: I'll save the imp for a hot summer day and try it out again.

In the imp: Dark and earthy, with something a little fruity. Drydown: Something in this is turning powdery and unpleasant on me, and I think it might be the dragon's blood. I can tell that this would smell nice on someone who's not me, though.

In the imp: Smells exactly like Tempest to me, lots of ozone. I've never tried a dragon's blood scent before. Drydown: That sort of lily scent that others have mentioned is starting to come out. It's a nice, fresh, salty, floral sort of scent. Interesting combination. Dry: Uh oh, now it smells like the lilies in a pot that you kept for a little too long after Easter. Not quite festering yet, but not happy lilies either. Looks like this one is just not for me.

In the bottle: Oh, this is cheesecake all right. Already I'm drooling! Drydown: Spicy cinnamon graham cracker is coming out now, especially when I jam my nose against my wrists to smell, but I also smell sweet creamy frosting. The little bit I got in my hair stays true to the pure cheesecake smell in the bottle. A few hours later: Cheesecake and cupcakes. Apparently I smell so good that my mom decided to make her famous cheesecake, just 'cause! I'm going to wear this all the time.

Preconceived notions: This is the kind of scent whose very description would have barely merited a glance when I first started poking around the BPAL site. All those fruits, flowers, plants ... I couldn't even begin to imagine what that would smell like, and I didn't think I would like it at all. In the imp: At first, this is confirming all my negative suspicions. It smells a little harsh and green, like unripe fruit, with some flowers and stuff. After a wearing it for few minutes, however: Wow. The most beautiful garden in the world is, in fact, blooming on my skin. The fig (I love me some fig, another thing I would never have guessed) and plumeria are the notes that stand out the most on me, I think, but on the whole I would say I'm getting a lovely triptych of sweet flowers, delicious fruits and rich woody goodness, perfectly balanced. I'm in love.

I keep calling this my "happy spicy bubblegum perfume", which is a little unfair as I have never had any bubblegum that really matches the delightful fruitiness of Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo. On me, at least, it stays very close to what I smell in the bottle, although it really sparkles on my skin. I cannot for the life of me pick out any of the fruits in it besides strawberry and a sort of citrus. I reach for this one a lot when I'm feeling frustrated or just plain blah. It's a happy scent that cheers me up and reminds me to take care of myself. It also helps me get to sleep when my mind just doesn't want to relax and let me drop off already.

Mmm, Dublin. I jokingly described this to one of my friends online as "pleasantly festive without smacking you over the head with the fa la la la las", and although it's a fairly strong scent on me with an impressive throw, I keep thinking of it as something very gentle and soft. A lovely, misty pine forest with dappled sunlight and sweet flowers. Definite keeper for me.

Preconceived notions: I really dislike the taste of honey. I don't necessarily mind it in my tea, but otherwise, give me the refined sugar, plzkthx. In spite of that, however: I love O. A lot. My imp isn't even going to last until my 10ml gets here. On me: O smells like sex, if sex were a delicious pastry that you buy by the dozen and you mean to save them, but you gobble them all down while they're still fresh and gooey. It's sweet and it's thick and it's the perfect scent that I never knew that I wanted. I'm really glad that I gave it a shot!