wrestlingentropy

Wearing Samhainphobia 2011 today!

It's actively ugly at first sniff in the bottle. But, I love the strong vetiver upon initial application! Then the teakwood goes into this really oppressive powdery phase after a couple hours. (Which is the same thing that the teakwood in the Antikythera Mechanism does on me, unfortunately.) I wanted to love this strange little beast, so I'm sad that it goes off into dryer sheet territory on me.

This works well on me, and I like it a lot, but it is very, very figgy. I wish I got more of the carnation or vetiver (at this point I get none at all). The opoponax goes a leeeeetle bit hairspray on me from time to time, but not too strongly (and not every time I wear it). As it morphs after a few hours (4+), the myrrh blooms a lot more (as it always tends to on my skin), and becomes so prominent as to almost smell like skin musk. Very sexy and sophisticated without being too heavy. My biggest success from this years Lupers!

I never had the chance to try the original version of Spanked, so my impressions are based on the Revisited edition. What a brilliant showcase this is for Beth's sense of humor and her ability to tell a story through scent! I have, uh, on occasion received a few smacks on my bottom, and this oil conforms pretty much exactly to my impressions of the experience: the red-hot cardamom comes on sharp and tingly at the outset, before mellowing into a slightly diminished yet still spicy warmth buoyed by the scent of leather, which then leads into a deep, dark, funky sigh of patchouli. Those who complain about the short wear length of Spanked are kind of missing the point--the physical sensations of a spanking are supposed to fade relatively quickly. Brilliant! Bravo, Beth! Thanks for resurrecting this oil so some of us newcomers could try it, too! ETA: This. Is. Love. Wearing it multiple days in a row, which is nearly unheard of with me and my BPAL habits. ::swooning::

The combination of musk, lemongrass, and cranberry takes this blend to a similar place to Serpents with Glittering Eyes and Forky Tongues (serpentine green herbs, glistening red currant, sparkling yellow lemon rind, green musk, lime, and snakeskin) on me, but the coconut and sandalwood turn it a bit creamier and warmer. Very pretty and definitely springlike, but not essential for me, since I already have a bottle of Serpents.

I absolutely blasted through my bottle of Womb Furie 2010 (see my original review here) and was elated to see the blend back again this year. It's every bit as glorious as I remember it being. It's somehow greater than the sum of its parts on my skin chemistry. It's subtly sexy, sweet and gentle, with ridiculous staying power. (I applied after my shower yesterday morning and could still smell it on my skin when I got up today; there's also remnants swirling around my desk at work, probably on my mouse pad.) It's one of the few BPALs I would have no problem wearing day after day after day. I'm going to have to stock up before the Lupers come down. Pure win!

Oh, this is so nice! I'm generally not big on florals, but the opening notes here are perfectly light and airy, drying down into an impossibly rich and warm myrrh. I was hoping for a bit more grass, just based on my own current longing for something green under all Chicago's snow--but that's not a fault of the scent or its description at all. A lovely, evocative springtime scent.

This is my first participation in a Chaos Theory. I ordered one bottle, and received #60. It's a little plasticky when I get my nose right up against my skin, but from a decent wafting distance, it's a gentle, creamy, woody vanilla (sort of like Penis Admiration without the lilac).

I'm really surprised at how well Perversion works on me. It actually wears a lot like Black Lace, but I think I like it even better. The tonka is a lot smoother than BL's vanilla cream cotton, which can sometimes feel like it's sticking in the back of my throat. I also love that I don't get clobbered by the tobacco and leather here; they're deep and well-worn and mellow, definitely just supporting cast. Booze notes tend to work really well on me, and the combination of rum and chardonnay is no exception here. All this being said, Perversion is straight up prettier than I was expecting it to be, in a good way. I usually wear Black Lace as "work drag" on days when I want to come across as feminine and professional and put-together, and Perversion surprisingly achieves the same effect for me--and, a lot sooner in the day, at that. (I usually have to wait several hours for BL to mellow into its yummiest phase.) Quite lovely! I'm going to savor my imp and consider a 5 ml.

This is very subtle and well blended without being too mild or disappearing too quickly. The shared olive blossom and general creaminess definitely makes it a sister scent to Defututa, but, doing a wrist-to-wrist comparison, Okayaki is gentle and sly while Defututa is louder and lusty. Okayaki is nice and neutral while still being unique and immediately identifiable as a BPAL blend. I like it a lot, and can see myself wearing it on days when I don't know what else to wear. The scent and the throw stayed remarkably consistent on my skin throughout a very loooong day, which is impressive in and of itself. A very lovely oil.

Inez brought me serious love today. Part of what I enjoy so much about BPAL oils is learning them the way I have to be patient and learn a new album by any of my favorite musicians, waiting as its own internal logic unfolds and is revealed to me. With all the comparisons to Morocco, I was expecting much more sweetness and warmth right away, but Inez comes across as rather soft and dry at first. She is a little soapy in the early phases, but not in a bad way. But she takes on a fascinating life of her own as she begins to morph throughout the day. She actually increases in throw and strength after a few hours as the amber and musk come out to play, before the myrrh finally triumphantly blooms. She's like a slightly shy girl who only reveals the depth of her sensuality after you get to know her better. I'm a practicing Buddhist, and Inez is perfect for me to wear to Sunday morning service at the temple--she's quiet and pleasant enough not to be distracting to myself or others during silent meditation, but then she gets louder later in the day when I'm headed out and about. A really remarkable oil, a winner for me for sure. I was initially hoping for more carnation (mourning not having gotten any backup bottles of Hod), but that's really a minor quibble at this point given my affection for her.

This was a recent frimp from the lab. I tend not to like rose OR dragon's blood, so I never would have picked it out on my own. Yet...I actually really like this! I think the red wine might be helping it along for me (red wine also pops up in two of my other favorites, Blood Kiss and Nosferatu). I wore it while doing some editing work at home on a snowy Saturday, and it helped me feel peaceful and calm and ever-so-slightly sexy (even in my jeans and flannel shirt). Seriously, this is worth a try if you don't otherwise tend to gravitate toward scents prominently featuring rose.

Got this as a frimp with a recent order, and ooh! squee! wow! It's soft and sweet and candied and yummy! So girly and dreamy. Very nice. It's like sophisticated cotton candy in the best way possible. As it warms to my skin, it deepens a bit and really brings out the musk + amber combo (which I love--a personal favorite set of notes), while still remaining essentially light and sweet. Really awesome.

I often have trouble wearing both Snake Oil (too harsh) and O (too much honey), but Womb Furie seems to hit the perfect middle ground between the two for me. On days when my chemistry is working right, the scent curls up around me like rich, spicy, sweet pipe smoke. Big fan.

The summer after I graduated from college, I spent a few weeks housesitting for a professor and her husband. Their place was at the outskirts of town, in a heavily wooded area. Nosferatu smells almost exactly like what it felt like to be driving toward their house, with the windows down, in the humid, fading heat of a mid-July evening. It's heavy and wet and woodsy, in the best way possible. Wow. I'm loving this so much more than I ever would have thought, thanks to the unexpected nostalgia it brings me for being 21 and clueless and free.