Invidiana

Thankfully the woods in this one don't amp to ridiculous heights but are well tempered by the other ingredients. This is another deliciously sinsiter scent; I mostly get black wine and pomegrante with an eerie backdrop of charred woods, very thick and dark and ominous. The earth note doesn't scream dirt, which I'm really glad about, and the mimosa isn't very prominent because I am really amping the wine and pomegrnate. This is just juicy and evil, in a similar vein with scents like Snake Charmer and Mircalla. I am loving this series so far.

Love warm comforting fall scents, and this is no exception. It's not a foody one but still has a certain sweetness, probably from the fig leaf, balanced wtih the bitterness of the black tea and mystery of patchouli and finished off with one of my favorite things to smell in the air once autumn rolls around, bonfire smoke. I'm the type who will linger outside in the cold just to keep inhaling that trademark autumnal smoky smell, and the fact that I can have it inside now is going to be awesome once the cooler months come.

I expected this to be a faint green tea-dominated scent, but no, it really surprised me. It's sweet booze-soaked cherry blossoms, maybe with a hint of green tea in the background but definitely not as the dominant note. It's a surprisingly "juicy" and "red" scent to my nose.

Medicine Show *cough* *gag* is without a doubt the ultimate apothecary scent, but definitely not up my alley. I can't stand herbals.

This is not foody, but sweet enough from the molasses, and just so comforting...though BPAL cedar usually amps to eleven on me in perfume oils at least this bath oil gives me a chance to enjoy it as a supporting note. It makes me think of a dry autumnal landscape and sweet, spiced fall desserts, with that mysterious undercurrent of patchouli. The scent really lingers on my skin long after the bath, too.

I passed this up when it was available because I know the warm, comforting scent Samhain turns into on my skin is not the same as the dominant woods in the bottle, but finally caved to an LJ sale and it turned out it was a worthwhile investment. Even though fabric obviously won't amp the sweet stuff like my skin does, the spiced candy dust completely makes up for it, giving this the perfect blend of a dark, sinister October night and the lighthearted fun and mischief on Halloween. One of my favorite labels too.

This is like bathing in Meliai to me. It's a sheer but still sensual honey scent with floral nuances in the background. What I love about all BPTP bath oils though is the fact that even with my papery skin half the moisturizing battle is done when I step out of the bath and I don't have to slather on moisturizer as maniacally as I used to because my skin will suck it up in 2.5 seconds. My skin feels very soft and one application of moisturizer afterward is plenty enough.

The lather of this stuff is awesome. It really is the "sheer silken lather" described on the label, very creamy and moisturizing. Like the bath oil, it reminds me highly of Meliai; a soft, sensual honey scent with a whisper of florals.

To my nose this seems to be a combination of buttermints and something fruity underneath; sounds bizarre but it's actually pretty pleasant. I'm wondering whether it will ever be released in a full-size bottle, because I'd definitely get one.

This is very minty, cool and metallic, very much like spare change that has been sitting in someone's purse with peppermint gum. There is a slight tang of metal along with the ozone and aquatics. It actually eminds me a lot of the smell of my aunt's purse from when I was a kid. Not for me, but for anyone who's a fan of metallics it's definitely worth a shot.

I'd marry this stuff if I could. Seriously. I'm a huge insomniac, and IT HELPS ME SLEEP! It's the perfect balance of fluffy candy and fabric softener, and to my nose that is a very good thing. I've always been fond of fabric softener scents especially when I want to relax. It's so calming and uplifting at the same time, it gives me the feeling of soaring on a bright clear day under a soft blue sky, soaring into dreamland, buoyed on magical clouds of fresh sweetness. I know I sound like I'm babbling nonsense but I tend to be really anxious and stressed much of the time and have trouble unwinding, and both this and Sakura act as aromatherapy for me in the literal sense of the word. Never mind that two spritzes on my bed last for days. Now excuse me while I go hypnotize Puddin into making an endless supply....

I took a chance on this with the hopes that it would take the same lucky turn Lord Ruthven did and end up being all sweet, almost berry-ish blood accord and a hint of leather, grasses and woods in the background. My cedar-amping skin begged to differ. On me it dries down into almost all cedar, really sharp and masculine cedar, exactly like those cedar chips you use around the trees and bushes on your lawn. The leather is not a soft leather either; it's a dusty, dry, De Sade-style leather that, like De Sade, is just way too overtly masculine for me. The blood accord shows up for a short time during the drydown until it's swallowed almost entirely by the cedar (this is sadly the extent to which my skin amps the stuff) and it's not the berry-like stuff in Lord Ruthven but a real true-to-life tangy metallic blood scent that isn't sweet at all and again really falls more into the more masculine category. Everything else struggles to show up when this hits my skin, but the final drydown is trumped by the cedar. I wanted to love this so badly because of the vampire theme, but unfortunately this vampire really bit a chunk out of me. I just have to deal with the fact that I don't have much luck with BPAL's cedar, period.

This is a lovely soft, soothing fragrance that makes me feel as if I'm falling asleep in a sun-warmed grove of cherry trees in bloom. Now I'm a highly stressed person--I joke that I'm not only a sufferer but a carrier of stress--and it really helps me unwind, especially at bedtime. It seems so uncharacteristic of me, with my horde of dark and/or foody scents, that I'd fall for a floral like this, but it's just so comforting that I have. It's not a screeching floral at all either, more of a cuddly floral with berrylike hints from the cherry blossom. My mother can't stand it, but the room it lives in isn't hers after all.

First of all, many thanks to Lilith Lemourne for the generous sniffie of this. Unfortunately my skin had something different to say. I'm jumping into the barrel with Devilot on this one with the plasticky drydown; it smelled so deceptively promising in the vial, thick and rich and sweet and buttery, and managed to stay that way a few moments when wet. And then the horror began: plastic and burnt butter. Not burnt sugar like the crust of a creme brulee, just straight-up burnt butter microwaved in a plastic bowl. I kid you not, that is exactly what my chemistry turned this beautiful blend into, and it only kept veering more and more into that territory the further it dried down with any remaining sweetness fading more and more until it was nothing but plastic and burnt butter. It really threw me because I usually tend to do very well with the Lab's cream notes.

First the good news: this didn't hate me as much as Milk Moon 07. Now the bad news: it still hated me. It smelled promising in the bottle, sweet and creamy, but a few seconds on my sin and it started to take on that telltale Milk Moon 07 smell of rancid fruit and spoiled milk. It really confuses me because most of the Lab's milk and cream notes do very well on my skin, but something in both Milk Moons just doesn't work.

First of all, a huge thanks to the insanely generous CTFrancesca for the sniffie of this. It's a gorgeous soft honey that is just sweet enough and really blooms on the drydown, with a warmth reminiscent of being bathed in gentle sunbeams. I love it, and could definitely justify splurging on a bottle if one ever shows up, but if that never happens for me or anyone else who's fallen in love with this it's actually very similar to Ov5, which is the more honey-heavy O proto.

This is gorgeously tropical on me. There is a slight licorice tinge wet, but as it dries down the licorice fades and I get the honey, ginger cream and coconut the most. For once I'm not amping clove to the point of it turning into a spice cabinet, and the cinnamon is just a whisper. The amber and sandalwood add further depth and sensuality. This is sexy and exotic and reminds me a lot of my formerly beloved Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess (which I wore before I discovered perfume oils even though the alcohol in most commercial perfumes makes me break out in hives), only better. I will definitely need at least one more bottle before it's gone, no question.

I love this one. They say durian is supposed to smell like the amped-up version of sweat socks, but I get no such thing here. Straight out of the bottle and all through the drydown it remains the same lovely custardy cream and honey with a delightful shot of brandy; not incredibly boozy, just well rounded out. I'll definitely need a backup of this; if it's already this good now, I can't wait to see what it will be in another year.

Wet this seems like an herbal minty honey, which really isn't my thing, but it completely morphs as it dries down; the herbal quality thankfully fades pretty quickly and leaves a creamy vanilla-mint type scent in its place, and when that blends with the honey it reminds me of the honeyed version of after-dinner mints. I don't really go for minty scents during the summer so much, but I can definitely see it being a wintertime favorite.

Wet this seems to be all fresh tomato and tomato leaf--not what I was expecting at all, and definitely not my type of scent. However, it does change as it dries down; the honey takes over and the sharp tomato/vine scent turns into a tangy berry that resembles red currant. I don't know if I'm going to be able to stand the initial tomato stage; I'll have to see how this ages.

Wow, I must have very different chemistry from the other two--on me this is tangy honey and lime! An unexpected but delicious combination, and it's truly an infused honey with the thick golden honey being the dominant note and the lime-like tang of the yew berry as an accent. However, I do amp sweeter notes most of the time, so others may get a different ratio on the drydown.

This is gorgeous. Some of BPAL's black musks turn plasticky on me, but this one is a real exception. It's shadowy, smooth and slightly sweet, and the notes that support it are just as beautiful. The resins really deepen the musk and add mystery, with the benzoin giving it a tinge of vanilla. The black ginger is just so sensual; combined with the champaca flower it lends a really exotic feel to this, like midnight in an exotic forest. I don't really get much of a licorice feel from the anise; it's somewhere there adding to the "black" feel but not prominent. Panther Moon has a very Snake Charmer feel about it, like Snake Charmer's darker and more sinister cousin.

This is the perfect combination of what comes out on me as honey and otherworldly air. I don't know any other way to describe it. I think the nicotiana is what is giving it the hazy feel with the chamomile not screaming out it's there but still contributing to the dreamlike quality. As it dries down more and more, the honey becomes more dominant, anchored by the cistus resin which gives it more depth but still retains the hazy and mysterious background. Smelling it makes me feel like I've stepped through a portal to another realm much like Door does in the book.

This is divine. Leather can sometimes be too manly on me, but this is a soft, feminine leather that provides a backdrop for the gorgeous amber, vanilla and tonka. I definitely recognize this as the vanilla (or one of the vanillas) from Snake Oil, and I love Snake Oil so that makes it even better. It's a creamy vanilla, not necesarily foody but just creamy and sensual. As it keeps drying down the vanilla amps and the amber and tonka add warmth and depth. The leather doesn't disappear, but just remains gentle in the background. I don't really get much moss or clay, but they are probably adding to the depth factor. This is just gorgeous and I'm so glad I risked two bottles of it unsniffed.

This is okay, but not the thick raw honey I was expecting even though I usually amp honey. I didn't really get the exotic gardenia or ginger either; what I got was jasmine, thyme, and very light honey, in that order. Surprisingly this wasn't a cat-pee jasmine on me, but that may be because something else in the blend tempered it. It's good for those who like their honey on the light side and can tolerate an herbal background, but I vastly prefer Hony Mone.