Invidiana

The Finnish Goddess of Agony, Torment and the joy found in inflicting pain on others. The Mistress of Torture, she has transformed in the modern era into the patron Goddess of Dominatrixes. The slap of slick, hot leather punctuates the warm, sensual embrace of black amber, red musk and dark, lascivious myrrh. I was hoping not to like this, that the leather would do terrible manly things on me like De Sade, but alas...I got an imp directly from the Lab by some happy accident and it's sexy as hell. The leather is smoky but not masculine smoky and really more of a backdrop for the intensely sensual resins and musk which just keep deepening as it dries down. It's a very heated scent, literally hot sex in a bottle. Until I manage to track a bottle I'm saving it for special occasions.

This is absolutely amazing. The cocoa actually doesn't come out very dry on me, probably because most resins sweeten on my skin, hence the gold amber sweetens it up. When you put the two together, it's like--royal chocolate. I love cocoa/chocolate notes in themselves but the addition of this rich and shining amber brings it to a regal and exotic level, like a gilded Middle Eastern palace. It's foody and yet not foody, just chocolate enough and just resinous enough; very well balanced and simple-sounding but with gorgeous depth.

I knew this would be a winner for me and had no qualms about ordering a bottle unsniffed. I was more than right; the rich cocoa vanilla stays at the forefront the entire time, but as it dries down gradually gets deepened by the myrrh and warmed up by the sultry sandalwood. I can't wait to see how it ages.

I love this because it's a combination of two fabulous things: rich sticky apricot and sexy, mysterious black patchouli. Sounds like it wouldn't work, but does it ever! It's like evil candy.

Dressed seductively and sumptuously, reclining in a bed strewn with glorious, sensual blooms, she awaits the arrival of her lover. Her breath is quick with anticipation, and her cheeks are flushed with passion: skin musk, wild orchid, champaca flower, amaranth, tonka bean, and French vanilla. This is just gorgeous--a sweet creamy exotic floral doused in French vanilla, warmed up by skin musk and made more sensual by tonka. If you think you don't do florals, it's things like this that converted me.

You really need to give this a chance to dry down to experience the total beauty of it, because it's a gorgeous incense, and I love my incense. It's one of those that doesn't smell of much in the bottle and wet but when it's dried down...amazing. It turns out to be a beautiful honeyed sandalwood incense with golden resins and skin musk warming it up further. The sandalwood emerges first, followed by the resins, and the honey just gives it that crowning touch that takes it to another level. Even though it's not listed in the original recipe, I'm stubbornly insisting there must be skin musk in it because it just has that warm-skin feel. It's not smutty but still an extremely sensual skin scent. Total love.

Dirty. Sexy. Citrus. Fruit and patchouli just do the naughtiest things together. The blood orange/mandarin, patchouli and amber are the most prominent notes on me, in that order; I don't get much peach or ylang ylang or violet but I can tell there's something additional in there giving it body, and I can tell there's a bit of ylang ylang adding to the seducive feel. If you like Depraved, which is in a similar vein except with apricot instead of orange, you're going to love this.

This is lush, creamy and exotic. I think if it was straight orange blossom and ylang ylang those would amp to eleven on me and turn it cloying, but the amber/ambergis, musk and coconut are able to hold their own against the florals and turn it into a velvety tropical scent. I get plenty of coconut, and the ylang ylang shows up more than the orange blossom; it's warmed up by the skin musk and grounded by the amber and ambergis. Like MCS said, it's like fancy sunscreen, or as I'd put it, seductive sunblock, but I love scents like that so if you're into those, don't miss this! I really want to get away to somewhere much warmer than New Jersey now.

This is for the original. Sniffing Beaver Moon I feel like I've died and gone to vanilla heaven, without all the calories. Vanilla cheesecake, vanilla cupcakes and mounds of vanilla buttercream. In the beginning I seem to detect a hint of coconut, which moves to the background pretty quickly. Not like I'd care if it even stayed where it was, because I love coconut, so it's great either way. Then the vanilla, butter and cream notes just keep getting richer...and richer...and richer...wow. I'm glad I have this for smelling and not eating, because I'd end up having a coronary before I turned 25!

Fantastically foody and rich, rich, rich. First it's a burst of sticky oozing blackberry jam, and definitely some brown sugar only making it thicker and stickier. As it dries down a wonderful creamy note emerges, I'm guessing sweet clotted cream, and finally a buttery pastry that has to be the crumpet. I know crumpets on their own aren't buttery but adding butter in perfume wont add calories, so I'm all for it! So put those three elements together--sticky fruit, rich cream and buttery pastry--together and you have a total dessertgasm. I absolutely love this and because a little goes a long way, my bottle will last me a really long time!

For a squid this actually smells really good. Thankfully I don't get any pot type of smell from the cannabis blossom but I guess the blossom smells very different from the actual plant. There is lots of seaspray when this is still wet, but as it dries down it fades to a slightly salty tang and the rich resins and tonka make an appearance and the tea gives it a bit of a resfreshing citrusy edge; not bitter like F5 came out on me, but beachy and exhilarating. There is a tiny bit of smokiness from the tobacco and galangal but nothing overpowering. I'm very glad I don't get the one note I was worried about, the aloe; maybe it just contributes to the coolness of the seaspray in the background, but it isn't prominent. I think this was the biggest surprise out of the Sakura-con scents because it could have been either a major win or major fail on me, but fortunately it turned out to be the first one.

Smoky, woody, and sweetly resinous. I love scents like this. When I first put it on it's very smoky and woody and I was fearing it would end up being pure man on me, but it the resins and honey emerged and quickly sweetened it up, with the woods still present but behaving and giving it a smooth background, and the tobacco smoke acting as a wreath of smoke and not overwhelming like the smoke in Djinn is on me. The pepper is a bit sharp in the bottle but thankfully it calms down after drying down on my skin and just adds a slight kick but nothing too masculine or sneezeworthy. The honey isn't a prominent note that really announces it's honey but mixes well with the resins, acting as a sweetening agent. All in all, very sexy for a sumo wrestler!

This is a lovely exotic and velvety floral. The vanilla orchid is the dominant note on me, a not-quite-foody but still silky and sweet vanilla which is given depth by the amber. Amyris is a flowering plant in the citrus family, and while I'm not getting anything citrus, along with the tubersose it's giving the vanilla orchid more body. All this is poured over a bed of white sandalwood, which warms it up and makes it more come-hither. Even though it's not overtly screaming sex, Echo is quietly sensual, and I love it.

Am I the only one who is absolutely loving this blend? *looks around* *hears crickets* I now waive responsibility for any permanent looks of shock acquired from reading this review. That said, it's like a lovely syrupy caramelized wood on me. No anise, no sharpness, nothing like that on my skin. I don't get much narcissus--just a tad wet but it quickly fades, which I have no problem with. After that it's dark and gorgeous opoponax that's got this caramelized quality to it, maybe as a result of blending with the wood or just because of the nature of this species of opoponax. I love oude and this is a rich, warm and sensual kind that does not disappoint. I have no idea what duosmon is and I basically scoured the internet for it, but whatever it is it's only contributing to the beauty of this on me; maybe that's what gives it the caramelly smell, who knows. Finally I do get the vanilla in the background which adds a velvety rich softness to the background. Overall, this is gorgeously dark and has a delicious bite, and I love it.

On me this came out exactly like a dusty, musty basement. It hits the nail on the head with the rotting wood alright, and it's a strong, manly rotting wood on me, seeing how my skin likes to amp many of BPAL's woods to high heaven if they're not doused in vanilla or fruit or caramel or something in that vein. I wouldn't be surprised if some moldy cedar was lurking in there. I have to say this would be interesting as a candle because I am strangely intrigued by the smell of haunted house, just not on myself and especially not when it veers towards uber-masculine territory.

If you can find it, Hearth 04 is a good one--lots of comforting cherry tobacco.

The black raspberry and apricot cordial (in that order) are the two most prominent elements on me, and I'm just fine with that. It's just boozy enough, which I like, and while it's fruity there's enough tartness there to keep it from venturing into cloying territiory (B&B Sun-Ripened-Raspberry, anyone?) I do get a background of white chocolate, and since this is a "truffle" scent I'd expect it to be more about the filling than the chocolate, which is really just the shell. I'm a sucker for the sweet and foody stuff so this is right up my alley, and the zero-calorie factor doesn't hurt either.

The notes all sounded like they should combine to make magic on my skin, but unfortunately this turns out way too masculine on me, as scents intended to be masculine often do. I expected it to be more dominent on the booze and musk, like a smoky-sweet booze, but it turned out extremely smoky on my skin with some very manly musk and booze and a hint of lime in the background and no trace of the orange blossom water. I can tell this would be sexy on a guy, but I couldn't pull it off.

Wow. I never thought there was a "creamy resinous wood" category of fragrances but apparently there is, and this is a shining example. It smells mostly of the cream in the bottle and wet, but in a minute or so it just blossoms into this amazing perfectly balanced scent of sexy, very sandalwood-esque teak absolutely drenched in creamy amber. There's a foody aspect to this but it's not a foody scent per se. I don't really get lotus out of it, maybe that just rounds out the blend with a touch more of femininity but I can't particularly pick it out. It also has amazing staying power, and my skin doesn't need much perfume to amp it around to begin with, which made me relieved that I won't have to hunt down another bottle.

No, this doesn't smell remotely like its namesake; it's a deliciously come-hither scent. It's more sugary wet, but as it dries down it blooms into its full blory with the golden honey and beeswax and copal resin giving it a beautiful richness and depth and the sugar cane adding a bit more sweetness to the sticky resinous base but not in a cloying way. Then the skin musk emerges, and while it's not exactly a smutty musk it's warm like human skin and extremely sexy. The vanilla flower adds a delicate dimension to this scent--it's in no way a faint or perfumey floral, just gets a feminine touch in the background. Now I love my Smut and simialrly smutty blends, but I also love this for being extremely sensual even though it isn't a "dirty" scent per se. Just need to keep the bottle safely hidden when I wear it to work, or else I'll surely get fired in half a second.

Sometimes you just have to concede that something isn't going to smell good on you no matter how many times you keep refreshinig your nose with coffee beans and resniffing. I tried to make peace with the spot on my hand I tested this on for about an hour, and the Lemon Pledge simply would not go away. Of course it was definitely 10x stronger in the wet stage, to the point of being a heady mix of Lemon Pledge and the cheap kind of lemon candy that leaves an artifical taste in your mouth, but all the way to the drydown it steadfastly remained Lemon Pledge, more like an airy room that had just been doused in the stuff in the extreme drydown. I can see there is some coconut in here but it's very faint. Unfortunately this is not at all the creamy, foody lemon meringe pie-type of thing I was expecting, but those who got that obviously have different skin types. Hopefully it will go to someone whose chemistry turns it delicious.

This is simply a masterpiece: rich, thick, golden, creamy, sweet, even exotic. It starts out as mostly sandalwood and then blossoms into the most amazing vanillaed amber poured over golden sandalwood with just a hint of spice, which along with the tiare (one of my favorite floral notes ever) in the background contributes to the exotic element. The vanilla in this is a to-die-for buttery vanilla that's very well balanced with the amber and sandalwood. There are very few blends I hoard, but this one has easily made the cut. I will definitely be stocking up on more before it's gone.

Wet, this is so overpoweringly lemony/herbal that I was ready to just wipe it off and the hell with it, but knowing that my skin typically does away with those things on the drydown of an oil, which has led to some miracles in the past, I decided to give it a chance. A couple minutes later it was completely unrecognizable from the Lemon Pine-Sol horribleness that it had started out as--now it was a soft and slightly spicy resinous blend with no glaringly citrus or herbal edge to speak of; maybe a hint of bergamot in the background, but I like bergamot and it blended smoothly with the spicy and resinous notes. I do think I'm going to have to let this age a couple months before I can wear it, just so the initial sharpness fades, but the drydown I get gives it a lot of promise for the future.

I'm a shameless perfume whore. That said,I have now compiled for your wondering eyes the unabridged version of my massive list of non-BPAL lusts, which is even (mostly) alphabetized. Behold and be amazed: Arcana: Devilish, Frivolous Aside, Lady Lamb, Lady Posh (Posh Brats exclusive),Single Notes: Chocolate, Citrus Creme, Pumpkin, White Musk, Yellow Cake Blooddrop: Past LE/Discon GC: Au Bout du Monde, Bardot, Broceliande, Buche de Noel, Cavity Creeps, C’est la Neige qui rend tout Silencieux, Café Zazou Edition Fete 07, Cobwebs, Contempt, The Cookie Plate, Country Bumpkin, Cutie Patootie, Dandelion Wine, Doe Eyes, Drive-In Movie, Eeek!, Gathering, Honey Bee, Hubba Hubba, L’Empoisonneusse Extraordinaire, Madame Claire de Lune’s Cidre Doux aux Pommes Epicées, Madame Claire de Lune's Cidre Doux au Poire, Merci Extrait D’Hiver, Merci Extrait Maison, The Merry Widow Who Invented Champagne, Midsummer, Orange Et Noir, PB&J, The Pheasants, Taint the Afternoon Cakes, Scurvy Girl, There Castle, Training Bra, Tree in My House, The (Un) poisoned Tea Cup, Vintage, Witchery GC: At Denny’s After Rocky, Bisou, Bonne Nuit, Broomstick, Café Zazou, Citrouille, Diabolique, Delicieuse, Devonshire Cottage, Dixie Eloise Dechamps’ Perfectly Legal and Innocuous Kissing Cake, Dollhouse, Eiffel Tower, Frau Von Schtinklestein’s Parially Completed Bavarian Love Essence, Josephine, Les Madeleines, Madame Pompidou’s Elixir Secret Pour Las Maladies et Crises du Coeur, Medusa, Melancholia, Mourning Dove, Pumpkin, Ruffles Bustles and Corsets, Star Light Star Bright, Sultrylicious, White Pumpkin, The Zodiac Club Conjure Oils: Anemoi, Aswang, Anna, Bathtub Gin, Bat’s Blood, Bastet, The Befuddling Fan, Bete Noire Brew, Black Raspberry, Blood Type A, Blood Type B, Blood Moon, Cherry Red Lipstick, Chupacabra, Circe, Cleopatra, Coatlicue, The Countess, Earl Black, El Diablito, Flapper, Floozy, Gears of Oblivion, Glamour, Immortal, Inanna, Jamila, Kala, La Bruja, La Corona, La Luna, Lindy Hop, Loch Ness Monster, Love Eternal, Moon, Mothman, Nadia, Nagwa, Naima, Nejla, Passion, The Pernicious Parasol, Pirate’s Breakfast, Radio Bastet, Salome, Shakti, The Shadowy Shawl, Shapeshifter, Unicorn, Vajrayogini, Vampire Kisses, Vaudeville, Wendigo, Werewolf, Zeinat Single notes: Black Orchid, Chai Spice Tea, Champa Bouquet, Coconut Milk, Dark Chocolate, Dragon's Blood, Egyptian Musk, Ethiopian Frankincense, Golden Amber, Indian Patchouli, Madagascar Vanilla, Milk Chocolate, Mysore Sandalwood, Night Queen, Oriental Opium, Sweet Myrrh, Sweet Patchouli Haus of Gloi: Depravity, Elevenses, Lavender Sugar, Honey Tree, Moon Dog, Peach Mama, Satyr, Twice is Nice, Troika, Vice I Smell Good: Almond, Amber, Berry, Cake, Chocolate, Marshmallow, Rhubarb Love Potion Magickal Perfumerie: All Hallow's Eve, And Everything Nice, Autumnal Equinox 07, Constant Craving, Dark Seductions (original), Drakula's Bakery, Gothic Xmas, Halloween Moon, Hallowtide, Hotter Than Hell, La Vie Boheme Femme, LP White, Lorien's Sugared Twilight, Messalina's Passion Potion,Sorceress, Sugared French Vanilla, Sugared Magi, Sugared Nag Champa, (more)Sugared Pumpkins, Slave to Sin, Tea and Strumpets, Winter Snow Blossom, Yule Snuggle Nocturne Alchemy: GC: Akhnouphis, Alexandria, Amarna, Anubis, Bassima, Bast-um-Ra, Blue Nile, Chocolate Cinnamon Ceylon, Egyptian Black Raspberry, Egyptian Caramel Coffee, Egyptian Vanilla & Passionfruit, Eternal Alexandria, Eternal Ankh, Eternal Aswan, Eternal Cairo, Eternal Egypt, Eternal Luxor, Eternal Nile, Ether:Khepri, Fire:Sekhmet, Hathor, Horus, Isis, Karnak, Ma'at, Meditation: Anubis, Meditation: Atum, Meditation: Bastet, Mediation: Hathor, Meditation: Horus, Meditation: Nut & Geb, Meditation: Osiris, Meditation: Seshat, Meditation: Seth, Meditation: Thoth, Karkade, Luxor, Malban, Mnemethe, Mummy Daddy Caffeinated, Nefer-ka-Ra, Nefertiti, Nomastikha, Osiris, Phyriad, Plum Ohm Ali, Purple Nile, Pyramid of Khafre, Pyramid of Khufu, Pyramid of Menkaure, Qeb-Hwt, Ra, Red Egypt, Scarab, Seth, Sekhmet, Sekhephrium, Smenkhare, Sphinx, Sobek, Temple of Isis, Tutankhamun, Urphaeus, Valley of the Kings, Vanilla Necropolis Canopic Jars:Resin, Duamutef, Imsety Dendera Zodiac: Anubis, Amun, Bennu, Hathor, Horus, Sekhmet, Sphinx Gold of Egypt: Ankh, Bennu, Crook & Flail, Gold, Scarab, Sistum Moons: Alabaster Moon, Amber Moon, Bloodstone Moon, Deity Moon: Sekhmet, Faience Moon, Fluorite Moon, Gold Moon, Scarab Moon Blue Label NAlentine: Bastet's Chocolate-Covered Apricots, Isis' Love Elixir, The Lady of Philae, Postcard: Egypt, Purple Rose of Cairo NAliday: A Memory of Hope, Amber Noel, Christmas in Cairo, Egyptian Eggnog, Eye of Horus, Halcyon, Hathor's Pomegranate Wine, Invocation of the Gods, Konafah, Mulled Mummy, Ra's Amber Sandalwood, Ra's Mocha Eggnog, Ra's Pumpkin Eggnog, Raspberry Amber, Set's Cider NAlloween: Bastet's Chocolate-Covered Raspberries, The Cursed Tomb, Darker Egypt, KV13, Chaos of Seth, The Curse I, Hapi's Pumpkin Chai Creme Brulee, Flesh-Eating Scarabs, Heretic King, Heretic Queen, Immortal, Jackal'Lantern, Madness of Osiris, The Mummy, Mummy's Revenge (both years), Mummy Wrappings, Necropolis, Nepra, The Netherworld, Pharoh's Revenge, Ra's Book of Shadows, Revenge of Isis, Sarcophagus, Scroll of Thoth III, Shezmu, The Summoning, Ta-Seti Chocolate Honey, The Tribunal of Osiris, Vampire Pharoh, Yummified Mummified, Yummy Mummy, Zombie Bast, Zombie Nubi New Year's: Baby Anubi, Baby Bastet, Baby Horus, Baby Nefer, Baby Tut(all years) Nokturne: Amethyst, Andalusite, Carnelian, Crimson, Crystal, Ember, Kashmir Sapphire, Santalum (original), Sapphire, will always take more Kobalt! Other Forum Exclusives: Aegyptika, Amber 23, Amber 46, Anubis Blood, Alkhemyst, Amber Kyphi, Bastet’s Chocolate Covered Cherries, Bastet’s Chocolate Covered Acai Berries, Blood of Anubis, Cinnamon Kashmir, Darker Scarab, Djeser-Djeseru, Dream Stela, Duality: Crimson Sapphire, Duality: Crystal Lazuli, Duality: Kashmir Champa, Duality: Sapphire Honey, Egyptian Dreaming, Gold of Egypt: Bastet, Gold of Egypt: Bast-um-RA, Gold of Egypt: Eternal Egypt, Gold of Egypt: Eternal Luxor, Gold of Egypt: Ma’at’ini, Gold of Egypt: Nile Cruise, Gold of Egypt: Mnemythe, Gold of Egypt: Nakhti-Amun, Nefertini, Nectar of the Gods, The Passage of Akhet, Ra’s Creamy Blueberry Eggnog, Raspberry Mocha Ma’atiato, Riddle of the Sphinx: Elegant, Riddle of the Sphinx: Spicy, Riddle of the Sphinx: Sweet, Rites of Ma’at, Sacred Kyphi, Sanctum of Taweret, Scroll of Thoth I, II and III, Blue, Scroll of Thoth III Gold, Shadow of Anubis, Temple of Atmos, Thoth Moon: Bleu, Thoth Moon: Lapis, The Underworld<i>OM NA:</i> Eternity, Khet, Temple NA Scent Addict Exclusives: Incensia Solar Egypt: Ra(Sera)Three Seasons of Egypt: Peret, Shomu Venom:Asp Venom, Cobra Venom I, Other LEs: Abraxas, Alabaster Sphinx, Amber Sun: Nocturnal, Aten, Bedouin Honey Tea, Blood of Anubis, Cardamom Coffee, Dreams of Egypt, Egypt, Egyptian Honey of the Sun Moon and Stars, The Guardian, Haroeris, Hathor's Cherry Pomegranate Tea, Hathor's Creamy Vanilla Almond & Chestnut Tea, Hathor's Peach Kaproret Tea, Judgement: Pure, Raspberry Cardamom Chai, Ra's Hazelnut Cocoa, Renenutet, Journey to Eternity, Hathor's Egyptian Vanilla Tea, Mummy Daddy (original), Mummy Mommy 08 & 09, Offering to Onnophris, Sahara, Ra's Cocoa Lotus, Sekhmet's Plum & Honey Elixir, Shabti, Summer of Thoth, Wine of Cleopatra Villainess: Antihero, Asphixiate, Birth Rite, Blood, Brats, Byzantium, Canaan, Crushed, Datura, Decadence, Dulces en Fuego, Embargo, Friction, Ginger Snapped, Gloop, Jai Mahal, Killer Beez, Kill Switch, Krakatoa, Paradise Misplaced, Posh, Pyromania, Raspberry Swirl, Retrograde, Silk & Cyanide, The Truffle Trade, Torchsong, Villainess, Xia Violette Market: try me on any old-school VM blends and A Christmas Carol 08 Wylde Ivy (oils only, not alcohol sprays): Amber Chai, Apple Fest, Azure, Bella Vanille, Black Cat, Black Patch, Black Vanilla, Chocolate Fatale, Coconut Island Castaway, Crystal Amber, Daydreamer, Dirty Chocolate, Ember, Ice Princess, I Heart Patchouli, In the Shadows, Little Shop in Salem, Mystic Amber,Pale Vanilla, Raven, Starling, Sticky, White Cashmere, Wylde Cocoa, Wylde Summer, Wylde Vanilla (try me on any other old LEs/discons)

This is a beautiful golden vanillaed incense with some soft wood in the background. I imagine it must be a blend of gold resins, definitely frankincnese and myrrh and possibly golden amber, with an equally golden vanilla and sandalwood, possibly a combination of different sandalwoods (okay, I'm aware I've repeated the word gold to the point of being justifiably bashed on the head now). No Ancient Towering and Illustrious Cedar of Doom in the least. It may even be benzoin giving the vanilla-ish impression, I'm not sure, it's just too well-blended to pick that out specifically. There's also a hint of smokiness on the drydown, giving it a lovely finish.