valentina

Silk Road is lovely in the imp and not what I expected -- it's a gentle scent, to my nose it's mainly herbal with warm spicy notes. On application, it retains that quality, but after 10 or 15 minutes, the herbal qualities do amp up a great deal. It reminds me a lot of Hamadryad with warm spices. After a couple of hours, my body burns off the herbs and all that is left is the spice. Unfortunately, the spice burns away after another hour or so, and it just doesn't last. And I tried slathering in on a little more to see if it would hang with me, but no, it still fades. A lovely scent, and while it's not going to work as a day-to-day perfume, I'm going to use in in bath salts, so I can enjoy it that way. valentina

In the imp, Paris smelled heavily of lotus, with a lavender background. 'Tis cool, I thought, I like lavender, I like lotus. Once it hit my skin, it was still strongly lotus, with the lavender note still in the background. And somewhere in there, something almost clove-like. After about 5 minutes, it was amping up in a most alarming way... it really didn't smell nice at all on me. My body chem can make some floral scents start to smell like old, stale water in a vase of cut flowers. Ugh. This amazed me, because I like lavender, lotus and spices, but the combo in Paris didn't work for me. I think I may have to re-think lotus as a note that works on me -- it does in certain blends, such as Blood Lotus, but without a lot of deep, rich scents in the blend, it takes over in a rather unpleasant manner. I was so sure that Paris would work, that it just proves to me that I need to sample my way through the entire BPAL oeuvre, since everything that I want to try, because I think it will be perfect, doesn't work, and things I tried for the hell of it or received as frimps, are always the ones I love. Go figure. I'm sure Paris is very gorgeous and exotic on a lot of people, I'm just not one of 'em. valentina

In the imp, this is a very pungent blend. I know everyone says pungent, but that's because it's the perfect word. But it's a good pungent; it's intense, sharp lavender along with the pennyroyal herbal mintiness. I like this smell, because when I go out to my herb garden (when it's not winter - sigh), the real scents are pungently green and alive. OK, now that I'm done with my little garden reverie, I'll continue... when I apply Pain, I get that same sharp, alive scent. After a half-hour or so, it begins to soften, and after an hour, it's a very soft scent, mainly lavender with a bit of minty undertone. It's really very similar to what would happen if I opened up the stems of herb plants and ran them across my arm -- it would be very strong at first, and then would mellow down into something very pleasant. For that reason alone, I love this scent. It's like a little bit of early summer in a bottle. There's no pain for me in Pain! And I'm editing this to add something else that I remembered after I wrote this -- a few years ago, someone who knows quite a bit about flower essences told me that pennyroyal was considered useful for maintaining and protecting one's psychic boundaries. I think the sharpness in Pain might include a energetic bitchslap to all those psychic vampires that hover around your personal space! valentina

In the imp, Lilith is a very fruity red wine, a lot like the initial red wine note that hits me when I sniff Wanda. Once it was on me, that '80's "Red, Red Wine" song by UB-40 got stuck in my head. (I actually was replaying the video my brain -- it was in black and white and it had a funny little dog in it, who followed the lead singer around. I barely remember anything important that happened to me in the '80's, but I have a great memory for MTV videos.) Back to my review: Lilith was very sweet, fruity red wine on my skin, that after a time, developed a subtle smoky background. It lasts nicely and doesn't morph at all on my skin after the first few minutes. Lilith reminds me a lot of Wanda without the leather whip. valentina

The enemy of God, also named Iblis, He Who Despaired of the Mercy of God. Al-Shairan is the leader of the Jinn, a tempter who whispers false suggestions to men enticing them into evil and perfidious acts, and is the sworn enemy of all of Adam’s children. His scent is fiery, bright and thick with sweet sinfulness: clove, peach and orange with cinnamon, patchouli and dark incense notes. In the imp, this is very dark and spicy, lots of clove. Lots and lots of clove. Once on, it's clove-cinnamon-orange. I smell like one of those orange pomadors that people make at Christmas, with cloves stuck on the orange peel and cinnamon sticks laying around beside them. My body chemistry has an unfortunate habit of turning lovely, exotic scents into Christmas potporri. The scent doesn't morph that much, but interestingly, fades away within an hour. Amazing, considering how intense the spices begin... they just went poof! This might make a great room scent, and I'm hanging onto it for that use. valentina

A play of geological darkness and jagged brilliance. Soft and luminescent with flashes of black fire. In the imp, Black Opal smells dark, mysterious and a little elusive. When I put it on, I had a very rapid reaction -- it smells, on me, just the way the commercial perfume Ombre Rose smells on people who wear it well. I know that Ombre Rose is considered a "floriental" perfume, and while there's probably some rose in Black Opal, I'm also getting a powdery, but alluring, dry-down. It's a little vanilla, but with some sort of resin or amber? The scent is proper, rather refined, yet not at all shy and a little bit dark. Hmmmm... For some reason, I want to equate the scent a vintage movie actress, perhaps Myrna Loy? It evokes a woman who has a doily on her nightstand, but displays her vibrator on it. Who wears a Laura Ashley dress with black crotchless panties under it. My, I'm getting carried away... suffice it to say, I like Black Opal. It's not my usual thing, but it's very nice and it's obviously evocative! valentina

Swank, in the imp, to my nose smells fruity -- I really didn't detect a lot of booze, or even crispness. Once applied, the initial drydown is also almost overwhemingly fruity, but after 5 minutes, an edge starts to appear on this martini. And the "booze" is more how fruit smells when it's mixed with gin or vodka -- the sweetness of the fruit takes on a razor edge, rather than the smell of the booze coming to the forefront. The scent doesn't morph a great deal upon further drydown, but has incredible "throw." The first time I tested Swank, I really didn't like it because of the fruity aura. The second time I tested it was after I'd received and used Beaver Moon and had become more accustomed to fruity scents. I liked Swank a lot better the second time, and I'm increasingly convinced that some of my scent preferences are based upon what I'm accustomed to. Fruity scents may fall into the category of a learned preference, and as long as they have a bit of an edge, they're fine with me. Swank may be something I really grow to love. I must add as an aside, that Swank is the last name of a drag queen in my hometown (not his stage name, his actual name), and whenever I think of Swank, I do picture a 6'4" Ric Ocasek-like man who is utterly gorgeous in drag, swanking about in stilettos and an evening gown, a martini in hand, knowing that he/she is more beautiful than anyone else in the room. Swank the scent should be worn with that attitude, I do believe. valentina

I got Lump of Coal in a swap with crescentwrench, and what else do I have to add that hasn't already been said before me? Very little. It's pure brownie batter. I nearly made a batch of my favorite brownies, so I could compare the two... but my brownie-chef nose would say Lump of Coal smells like my cocoa brownie recipe. And brownie batter doesn't smell just like chocolate, of course -- there's the sugar, eggs, milk, vanilla and chocolate all blending together. Lump of Coal is just like that. Nummy. It doesn't morph that much on my body from the bottle scent, it stays the same as the hours pass by and lasts a long time. Brownies hardly last that long at my house! valentina

My body chem is seemingly sympatico with head shop fragrances, although no one thinks they smell hippie-ish or head shoppy on me. Spicy, exotic, erotic, my-god-you-smell-good, that's what I hear when I wear Urd. And if layer Blood Lotus with the Urd, the effect can sometimes multiply, to the extent that I don't do it that often. It depends upon how much energy I have that day. valentina

Spanked, how I wanted to love thee... I was so delighted that this was what the Trading Post sent to me! It was appropriate. I deserved it. I wanted a good spanking. Besides, I love patchouli, I love cardamom, I love boozy scents. But damn that leather! My body amps it so thoroughly that it wiped out all the other wonderful components. Like Loviatar and Wanda, I love the smell of fragrances with leather, but I can't wear them on my body. I am sure this scent is utterly awesome on the right person, and I'm very, very jealous of them right now. Lucky me, I was able to swap with crescentwrench for Lump of Coal. Sweet! (Literally and figuratively.) valentina

In the imp, Devil's Night is sweet, boozy, and spicy. When I first apply it, and on initial drydown, I can detect that spicy and crackly, yet green and woodsy, smell that I associate with the end of October. After a few more minutes, I smell predominately cinnamony sweetness. Within a half hour, the musky undertone makes a very subtle appearance. I didn't order a bottle of this scent because I shy away from anything with "thuggish musk," but this blend is so complex that the musk doesn't take over. (I'm testing from a decant.) There's also a vague boozy smell, but it's much lighter than the booze smells I get from a scent like Hellcat or even Gluttony. Ultimately, Devil's Night truly does smell like the combination of sweet candy, the autumn woods, a few nips from the flask and hot little bodies, running around playing tricks all night long! I have no idea how Beth came up with this concept and still made it smell so good, but it's great fun. Now I'm off to see if someone will swap or sell a bottle to me... valentina

Thick, sugared and bloated with sweetness. Dark chocolate, vanilla, buttercream, and hops with pralines, hazelnut, toffee and caramel. In the imp, I find Gluttony to smell sugary-sweet. The initial application is rather nice -- sweet, but with a vaguely boozy undertone. After about 15 minutes, the sweetness explodes and I smell exactly like the kitchen of someone making home-made caramels or boiling sugar water to make candy. It's very buttery-butterscotch-sugar sweet. Not a bad smell, but not one that I prefer -- cooking sugar just isn't one of my favorite smells. The overwhelming sweetness fades out after about an hour, and dissapates entirely after about 3 or 4 hours. It seems my body chemistry blows up the scent and burns it off rapidly. But this might be a low-calorie way to relieve those PMS sugar cravings! I plan to use Gluttony in my brown sugar/salt scrubs. That will be very, very yummy. It's just not a sex-on-a-stick scent for me. valentina

In the imp, this scent was sweet, exotic and a little elusive... I can't put my finger on exactly what I'm smelling. The inital application did the most fascinating morph. It went on buttery-sweet, but within 15 second, something much more pungent and snappy emerged. But within in a minute or two after that, I'd gotten the dreaded peanut butter effect. It was like peanut butter with patchouli. Within in hour, the peanut butter scent had departed, leaving a strong smoky/floral scent. It was almost too strong for me. I would guess that this was the myrrh and the floral components taking over the rest of the blend. About 3 hours later, it had mellowed out into a nice patchouli base with a drift of musk. Very pretty. So I got up this morning and took a shower, and I can still smell the remains of Sed Non Satiata on the top of my hand, where I applied over 12 hours ago! It's a musky patchouli smell. Talk about lasting power... I really wanted to like this scent, I love the inspiration behind it, and I think it's a gorgeous blend. If I didn't have to go through 4 hours of not-so-pleasant morphs to get to the last drydown, I'd love it. But I increasingly find that complex blends just don't work well with my body chemistry. I may try cutting this scent down with a carrier oil to see what happens. valentina

This is a scent I got from the Lab as a frimp, and thank you Lab, for always endeavoring to expand my horizons! I loved this scent in the imp... very fresh, just delightful. I find it rather girly, although I believe it's listed as a gender neutral kind of scent. On my body, I get and keep a strong ozone/floral scent. My body chemistry really pulls ozone, but this also has orchid coming through, with maybe a bit of cherry blossom. I get no hint of fruit. After it dries down, it sadly turns too powdery on me and just doesn't agree with my body. This is what my body always does to those delicate, lovely blends. (sigh.) I have a male friend who adores ozone fragrances, and Neo-Tokyo may be the BPAL that really works for him! I'm passing it along for his enjoyment! valentina

I ordered this for my husband, because I knew Herr would not work on me, having leather in it. In the bottle, I smell leather, tobacco and what smells to me like Sugar Cookie -- a bit of sweetness and spice. I think the Herr was eating cookies in his workroom. And maybe a nip o' hot buttered rum or honey mead? I smell something a tad boozy in all of it. When my husband wears it, it's very tobacco/leather on him, with a sweeter spice overtone. He loves Hellfire, and this is similar, but I think Herr has a pronounced sweet element to the spice. It's really nice on him, rather festive and sweet underneath the more masculine notes. valentina

In the imp, this is a sweet leather. On my body, it's total leather, because that's what I amp if even a drop of leather is in the formulation. I simply can't wear leatther -- with my body chemistry, I simply smell like a leather goods store. I put it on my husband and it's great -- I can truly pick up on the musk at first, but after a few minutes, and lasting beautifully, is a wonderful tobacco-leather-spice scent. What it reminds me of is walking into a humidor of a fine cigar store -- there's tobacco first and foremost, but also a lot of spice, and the damp warmness that come from the musk. It's very masculine and sophisticated. I do believe my husband has ordered a bottle! valentina

I received Baba Yaga as a frimp from the Lab. Thank you! I was rather excited to try it, because my forum name - Valentina - originates from a graphic novel character by Guido Crepax. Crepax also draws a charcter named Baba Yaga, who encounters Valentina and plays out elements of the original folk story, except this Baba Yaga tries to take Valentina as a lover and at some point hops in a car and tries to run over Valentina. So I am getting to my point... the Baba Yaga scent sort of ran over my body chemistry -- it blew up wildly once applied to my body. Wow, did it get strong right away. And what I get when I smell it is lots and lots of ylang-ylang, with maybe a bit of spicy smokiness in the background. It doesn't smell bad on me, but it's not one of my best. I do think it's rather intense and exotically weird, and I wished it worked just a bit better, because it smells unlike anything I've previously tried. I do think I'll try to put a few drops in unscented body lotion and see what happens, because I'm simply not ready to say this one can't work on me in some form or another... valentina

Yep, I totally agree with the previous post. I think that Sugar Cookie smells like the chef got into the hot buttered rum and got sooooo confuuuuused that she couldn't remember if she was making sugar cookies or rum balls! I did a little test with Sugar Cookie on one arm and Hellcat on the other arm, because I know Hellcat has that boozy tendency. Sugar Cookie has a bit of the same, but it's much softer and mellower. I really like Sugar Cookie -- it's a foody yet boozy scent, and I tend to enjoy that combination. Maybe the Hellcat was the one making sugar cookies, and that's why Sugar Cookie is part of "The Devil's Bake Sale?" valentina

I ordered a bottle of Beaver Moon when I ordered the t-shirt, not so much because I thought the scent would work on me, but because I had to have a bottle that said "Beaver Moon" sitting on my bathroom fragrance shelf. (And cudos on the label art!) And I'll be dipped in a vat of BPAL, Beaver Moon actually works on me! The initial application ran through the cheesecake scent, with cherry and lots of graham cracker. It then dried down into a very cinnamony-spicy smell. After a couple of hours, it amped a bit and went back to a more cheescakey (vanilla and milky/cream cheese)-cinnamon smell. I normally prefer all those dark, incensy-patchouli blends, so it's delightful to have a completely different alternative. And it's just fun. It is a silly-but-sexy smell. How on earth Beth developed the scent, I don't know -- but it's just amazing! valentina

I wanted to like this very much, and had high expectations, because I love incense so much. In the imp, it smells great -- spicy incense with a bit of ozone. Initial application is also pleasant, but after 5 minutes, my body amps the ozone. I waited patiently, hoping it was a temporary matter, but the ozone simply took over all the nice incense components. Damn the body chemistry! Oh well, back to wearing Urd all the time... valentina

In the imp, I found Ravenous to be extremely orange-y, and I was concerned it was going to turn to orange soda pop once it hit my skin. Upon application and the very initial dry-down, I could swear it had a little musk in it, as musk usually turns a little poo-like on me. But that is a very short-lived phenomenon, and the patchouli and orange blossom amp up equally. About 15 minutes later and thereafter... oh my! This is a rousing scent, indeed! I love it -- the earthiness of the red patchouli and the sweetness of orange blossom create a fascinating blend. I love it... I feel kind of feral while wearing it... Yowzah. valentina

In the imp, it's very gingery. Once on the skin, it turns into very snappy ginger, but mellows out into a very creamy, gingery scent that doesn't scream "ginger!" It's not heavy, but smooth and gorgeous. I love, love, love it! Big bottle city... valentina

In the imp, I thought this smelled very sweet and vanilla-almondy. I wasn't sure, but I thought I'd give it a try. Upon initial application, it went very sweet on me, and I was afraid it was going to morph the way Snake Oil smells on me -- very sweet, almost Play-Dough. But there's an edge underneath that keeps that from happening. After 15 minutes, it gets spicy-sweet on me. Almost like cotton candy mixed with Red Hots. After an hour, it's a very Christmas/Holiday scent on me. The myrrh, cloves, vanilla and almonds prevail, with a bit of pine beneath. Someone told me I smelled good, but like the shopping mall stores at Christmas. This might be nice to have an imp around to wear during the holidays. On me, a little dab'll do ya, for it has great staying power. valentina

In the imp, I adored this scent. It's clean linen with honey and tea. Once I applied it, the linen scent amped to take over everything else. So very bummed out about that! I gave it to a friend who loves linen scents (I have Dirty on order for her) and she amped the black tea to such an extent that she smelled like a walking Lipton's tea bag. Our body chemistries are strange, strange things, aren't they? But I love the smell of this so much when it's not altered by my wonky body chemistry that I'll probably use it as a room fragrance. valentina

In the imp, Dana O'Shee smelled lovely but sweet. Once applied, it has a very clean, milky, sweet scent that also has something green in it -- not a forest-like green, it seemed more like sweet meadows. It really didn't morph from initial application to how it smell 3 or 4 hours later, nor did it fade or blow up. It's very pleasant; not a drop-dead sexy thing, much more innocent and fresh. Since I normally wear darker, heavier or boozy scents, I'm very pleasantly surprised at how compatible Dana O'Shee is with my body chemistry. valentina