biocarolyn

This is such a disappointment on my skin. Sigh... In the imp it smells so nice... Verbena, with the green of cut grass and a warm background that must be the amber. I can also smell the aquatic scent under it. Unfortunately, when it dries down, there's very little left but sharp green grass, and even that disappears after two hours or so. Such a shame, it was really pretty. Oh well...

I do agree with whoever said there something about this that reminds me of Sweet Honesty. I get mostly white musk, but for once my skin doesn't turn it into disturbing deodorant. The leather follows, with an undertone of cedar that gives it backbone. The vanilla adds creaminess, and this is a really nice blend. It's very unisex, with the leather being fairly strong.

No caramel at all, thank goodness. The mandarin and apple blossom are fairly strong in the bottle and wet but as it settles down I get mostly tobacco,sweetened with honeysuckle and vanilla cream. There's that "lace" similarity to Red Lace's vanilla cream and tobacco notes. It morphs hugely from the bottle, all the effervescence and sparkly citrus burns off and it becomes softer, less jagged. This is really nice. So glad I grabbed a bottle!

Board hiccup. Or it wanted to say Beanman and Beanwoman Prepare to Attack the Vagina twice.

Beanman and Beanwoman Prepare to Attack the Vagina. Also just so you have an excuse to say it periodically LOL. Very beachy to me, coconut and ambergris, with some skin musk and orange blossom.

I would also recommend Ochosi, which includes shea, forest herbs, and sprucewood. To my nose, the shea is the strongest note, with some light amorphous forest-y smells hiding behind it. I love it for the spring and summer, really pretty and understated and outdoorsy.

I love the cranberry note, and this is very strongly cranberry in the bottle on wet on my skin. As it dries, I can definitely catch the green musk from Serpents with Glittering Eyes and Forky Tongues, along with the florals. I can't differentiate the wisteria from the hydrangea, but what I smell is an almost watery, light floral. No sandalwood apparent on me, and the lemongrass is hiding, which is strange because citrus usually likes my skin. Pretty and very evocative of its name.

Wow, I wish I remember where this imp came from... I'd like to thank whoever sent it along! The ash manna (which I had to look up, and appears to have nothing to do with this was burnt-and-on-fire ash and everything to do with sap from an ash tree) is a very green scent, with what feels like a strong component of woodiness coming through too. The honey sweetens this up, but not in a foodie sickly-sweet kind of way, more an unidentified richness that adds to it significantly. There is something really familiar about this that I can't put my finger on... like it reminds me of some bath product from my childhood. I'd say this is predominantly green and fresh, at least on my skin. I see where people are getting pine or fir but it doesn't seem like that to me, just aggressively green. And this is also one of the few BPAL scents that smells the same to me in the imp, wet, and on dry down. It's got something in common with Ochosi, and also maybe Sundew. I really like this!!

I never thought I was going to love this one. Although I've had luck with Vanilla Orchid (CC: Female and Opuhi) in the past, it can be cloyingly sweet and I hate that bakery spun-sugar vanilla scent. Hate it with a burning hate. So when I decanted this, it was painfully sweet in the bottle and I put the dregs away, and didn't test them for weeks. The sugar, super sweet vanilla burns off right away on my skin, leaving just a hint of vanilla behind. I get sensual sexy beeswax- copal (which reminds me of Giant Vulva, although I've never smelled Glowing Vulva) and a hint of honey which seems less sweet and floral than golden and intense. Probably the amber is backing up that impression too. This is a really, really nice perfume. Seasonally neutral, sexy but with an understated throw that doesn't scream at you, evenly balanced, kind of a skin scent but better. Bottle worthy for sure...

Wow, this is a surprise hit of the update for me. I know I like tart berries, but cranberry has disappointed me in the past. There used to be a Body Shop holiday scent that was cranberry years ago and I loved it, so I've always been on the lookout for cranberry scents but they never seem to work. This one is different. I think the bergamot is holding up the tartness in the cranberry. The red musk doesn't get overpowering like it does sometimes, and the amber is beautiful as the scent dries down and warms on my skin. I get the carnation but only if I really concentrate, I don't think I'd find it if you didn't tell me it was there. Coconut is inoffensive here, which is unusual for me, since it's not really my favorite note, usually too suntan lotion for me. Really nice bright fruit scent, but not too sweet. Bottle

Preconceived notions: citrus of all kinds is my friend and one of my favorite families of notes. I also love pomegranate, and neroli goes citrus rather than floral for me. Amber is good when it doesn't go powdery, and tonka and saffron are also nice. This sounds delicious... In the bottle: Straight blood orange,like WHOA! Very intense and very recognizable as blood orange rather than another type of citrus. On skin: still predominantly blood orange when first applied, but pomegranate appears soon too. Slowly amber rounds this stage out without powder of doom, and now something is sweetening it. Tonka I'd imagine, although I can't recognize it as such. Just something sweeter. As it continues to wear the bourbon geranium appears, which is amazing. Then blood orange loses some of its very obviously BLOOD ORANGE character to becomes a juicier citrus. This is warm and bright, great for this time of year to make winter dullness go away. For citrus fans certainly...

I sadly can't find the grapefruit or yuzu, but this is very reminiscent of Lemon Scented Sticky Bat, but heavier on the cold slushy mint note and lighter on the citrus.

This starts at as gorgeous warm round amber. Usually amber goes powdery on me, but this stays warm and thick. I can tell its sweetened, but not catch honey as a distinct scent. I do, however, catch the orange zest which is absolutely lifelike orange peel, with the oil and the bitter pith. This feels like what I wanted O to smell like, except O was so painfully sweet. It's a skin scent but it lasts and lasts for me- going strong at 12 hours, with very little morphing. No vanilla for me, and the linden is so faint that I only recognize it because I read the notes. Very very pretty scent, voluptuous in a way, without being heavy or cloying.

Leather and smooth smooth patchouli. Not any patchouli that smells like stinky hippie at ALL. Under that I get something which I think is the cedar mixed with an incense type smell, probably the combination of Frankensence and champaca. I don't get any of the lighter notes Like the matcha or rose, but it's only been on for about 3 hours. Maybe they will show up later? Don't know, but I love it so far... Really nice. Really really nice *i do however, love leather unreasonably. The only leather blend I didn't like was Spanked, which smelled like red hots to me, no leather in sight. It is entirely possible I amp leather as I smell it as a dominant note in many blends, but it's hard for me to tell since I might just be smelling selectively since I like it so much...

Scent-wise, this is heavy on the patchouli and pine, with myrrh and sage strongly present as well. I used this oil in a ritual on Samhain, aimed at helping me feel closer to the memory of ancestors that are gone. I anointed small items- a shell collected by my grandmother, a piece of my mother's jewelry, a small rock from the bayshore that my grandfather and our family boated on, stuff like that. I also dressed a candle with the oil and some herbs from my grandmother's kitchen. I sat in the dark with the candle burning and held each item while thinking of the people that each item corresponded to. The ritual was powerful and the oil was a great addition. It also smells positively incredible...the patchouli in this is to die for . I know I'm not supposed to pay too much attention to the smell, but this is wonderful

Oh this is so evocative! I used to think I loved aquatics but I discovered that so few work on me, it's like I love the idea of aquatics but rarely the execution. Of the rest of the catalog, this is actually most similar to Windward Passage or R'lyeh to me. I get a VERY clear impression of salt. I enjoy Sea of Glass but I don't really get the comparison- to me that scent is sparkling sunlight Through clear waters, while this is deep salty depths. On me this is more wearable than Windward Passage or R'lyeh. Both had undertones of something that too closely approached low tide. I actually really like that smell, but not as a perfume Ameles Potamos is pure deep dark ocean depths, with no menace beyond their positive immense heaviness, and the fact that you can't breathe down there. Very neat, evocative. I like it!

Strongest notes to me are fir and snow. This is light and very fresh, and very similar in feel to a traditional air freshener with the fir note. It is of course 10,000 times more long lasting than a traditional air freshener, and smells more life like and realistic. Really nice, middle of the road holiday scent.

I went from refusing to try florals to liking the lab's rose scents! This is a different feel than Whip, less red rose. Lighter and sweeter, but a sense of...texture I guess, from the different kinds of rose. I like it.

In the bottle and wet: tangerine socks. Huh? As it dries, the white musk comes out but SHOCKiNGLY doesn't take over. Who'd have thought? Interesting, but I'm not sure...there is something lurking there my skin doesn't like. I've successfully worn black currant before, but maybe not in this blend? Strange. Combination of tagates and white musk maybe? Just odd. Not juicy at all, the tangerine brightness is all hidden. This isn't bad, it's alluring in that I keep sniffing, trying to figure it out. But it definitely isnt straightforward, that's for sure!

This is going to sound really odd, but oh well. This blend is alarmingly metallic on my skin. Like so metallic that I can taste it. I think there's some dragon's blood in this, but only a hint. Honestly I have no idea what I'm smelling and trying to analyze it too closely will just ruin the effect. This is gleaming silver for sure, almost chrome to me. Really shiny, and brightly metallic with a hell of a throw. Definitely unisex. Quite a ride...I'm fascinated. I need more.

Gorgeous. Tobacco, roses, beeswax, frankincense, and something watery-sweet (cactus?). Well blended and lovely, really an interesting scent.

Wow, this is incredible. It starts strongly rhubarb and petitgrain, very tart and bright. Probably some apple blossom under there, too, something making it a little sweet. As it dries down, I get slowly developing amber. The leather starts to come out and gets feisty with the amber, which is sort of powdery, but never goes bad. This is really nice, I'm loving it!

Thank you so much! I can't seem to get it to come up on the search, but there it is... Odd.

I was frimped a tester of something called Nowhere in Particular, but I can't find the review thread anywhere. My search abilities are failing me. Anyone know where this would be? (is it even BPAL? I feel like the name sounds familiar, but...)

Ave Maria Gratia Plena reminds me of Sally. There's also Danse of Seath and Danse Macabre, Or Belladonna which Sally was rather familiar with in the movie. And Zombi. Cause Sally was sort of a zombie, if you think about it