MonkeysInk

This is a pretty, white floral. I would say think this could be sold on the shelves next to any traditional perfumes and not be out of place. The grassiness keeps the florals from being too bright and gives this a nice earthiness. This is one I picked randomly out of a jar of unworn imps, and I'll keep it in the pile of ones that I'd enjoy wearing again. It's very lovely and fresh.

I usually avoid the Lab's honey (I know, I know...) as my skin amps it to the point of annoying everyone around me. Being from the South, this sounded like sweet tea in the afternoon in my Granny's garden. I was not disappointed - this smelled exactly like sitting in the shade with a big, cold glass. The mint kept the honey in check, and I wore this all day enjoying the light smell. I definitely get honey, honey, honey, but not in a bad way this time. ETA: I found another imp of this in my stash in 2020 and tried it again. Now it’s all honey with a smokey bit of rockrose poking thorough. It dries down into a powdery honey scent that I don’t love. This is an ephemeral scent that my nose best loved fresh. ETA (again): found another imp. Honey, honey, honey, with some dark, smokey tea. It’s a shadow of what it was like fresh, much like the morning after a carnival leaves town.

I'm wearing The Unquiet Grave today. Lovely, chilly florals + sandalwood. Perfect for a hot summer day!

1. How about Shattered? A blend of white champagne notes, grapefruit, lotus, slivered mint and crystalline aquatic blooms 2. Maybe some Dormouse - A dizzying eddy of four teas brushed with light herbs and a breath of peony or Soirs d'Automne from Pretty Indulgent lily, tulip and rose shimmering in the moonlight, brushed by a quiet autumn breeze. 3. That's a tough one. Akuma? blood orange, neroli, and raspberry. 4. Even harder! Ginny, The Reaper of Vengeance Sharp tobacco flower and white cognac, a thin layer of smoke, and dusty black pepper pierced by the amber of her eyes. (I am not even sure why I think this'll be in the same vein....) 5. I don't think there's anything remotely similar to Morocco. But maybe you'd also like Lyonesse Golden vanilla and gilded musk, stargazer lily, white sandalwood, grey amber, elemi, orris root, ambergris and sea moss. These all sound absolutely fantastic, especially Akuma - blood orange and neroli? Yes, please! Just looked at the reviews for Ginny. It's been around since 2014 and only 9 reviews? I'm thinking this sounds like a hidden gem. I'm going to order some imps of these and report back. Thank you so much for the thoughtful suggestions! The current LE Leo has the spiced carnation in common with Morocco, with more saffron, and is more of an herbal take on the theme (chamomile, angelica), which may or may not also appeal. I love them both. This past week after a bad day I showered and put on some Morocco lotion (just Morocco I mixed with unscented lotion) and layered Leo on wrists and neck. Then I was floating in spicy floral heaven. Coral Snake also makes me think of Akuma. Akuma is much simpler, and sans the apple-spice thing, but worth a try? I've been thinking about Leo, but haven't pulled the trigger. Layering it with Morocco sounds amazing and may be just the thing that sways me. Neat about Akuma. I'm definitely giving that one a try.

Reached my hand into my imp jar today and pulled this one out! As I put it on, I thought "oh, pretty florals!" I got a whiff of frankincense, and was glad it passed - I use the essential oil in my face cream at night, so my association with it is vaguely medicinal and less like a scent I want to wear in perfume. Dry, I get prominent sandalwood with light florals in the background. It's 100+ degrees here today, so I love that it's very mild throw with a very cool feeing scent profile. This is strangely perfect for a summer day, even though it's a Halloween fragrance.

Oh, I'd love some suggestions - I adore: Baobhan Sith Amsterdam Coral Snake A Holy Man Advises a Woman to Invoke Mary Morocco

Wet, I smell tea and flowers. I adore neroli and it is definitely featured here. What a pretty scent! It just seems pretty and feminine and fresh. Dry down: ahhhhh, there's some leather. Soft, tan leather, like the inside of new ballet shoes. Simply gorgeous. I've waited all this time to wear it and missed the window to buy some from the Lab - I'll have to hope I can find some in the swaps. This seems like a very fine, very expensive perfume (in a very good way) - like something a lady would buy at an old fashioned department store, one that she would save the empty bottles of to tuck into her lingerie drawer. 2020 edit: found the imp in my stash and slathered some on. Age has been kind to this scent. The leather is a little more rich smelling and the orange blossom a little creamier, and I stand by my original assessment that this one smells like expensive, old-fashioned department store perfume. It reminds me of Miss Addie - I went and sniffed them alongside one another to confirm. This scent is Miss Addie’s slightly more demure cousin.

Tinyvulture, I wore this for the first time today and have been planning all day to write how much this reminds me of Lemon Scented Sticky Bat...then I see you had the same thought! The opium smoke scared me, but I ordered it because 1) it's the title figure in this LE and 2) coconut and lemon are my favorites. The opium smoke seemed to take away the sharp freshness of the citrus and the florals, and transformed it into something deeply, softly sexy. It doesn't smell smoky or gritty in the least. I'm going to wear this a few more times before I decide I need a bottle, but I suspect I will. This is a lovely, light summer scent.

I reached into my jar of imps this morning and pulled this one out. I have to admit, I wondered what eight year old Halloween candy would smell like.... Imp: Caramel. Straight up caramel. UGH. I despise caramel. Wet: Caramel. Candy corn. Yellow candy. All yellow, yellow, yellow. Unfortunately, I'm stuck in my car in traffic smelling like all things caramel. Please, let me get there soon so I can wash my arm! Drydown: The yellow passed during my commute and now it's strawberry spun sugar, raspberry bubbly soda, all pink, pink, pink with a tiny whisper of fabric softener. Yum! I never really got any throw from this one. I only put a little on my wrist, so I may try a slather of it when I leave my office just for fun to see how it performs when I put more on. (I'm always hesitant about how much I wear because my boss is very sensitive to smells and won't come into my office if there's noticeable fragrance.) This is not one I would buy, as I'm not particularly into sugary fragrances, but I'm super glad I pulled it out this morning and got stuck in the car wearing it. I think if I'd been at home, I would have quickly washed my arm and then I would have missed all of the fun pink, bright scents.

This was in one of my very first orders from the Lab and it was too...everything. Dark, musty, strong, unexpected - you name it, I didn't like it. I had a very visceral, negative reaction to this one. I've even tried to sell it a few times to no avail. Fast forward six years...my nose has matured a bit and I think this one has settled down into a more mature, cohesive scent. I got carnation in a dark wooden vase, handed to me by a man wearing the tiniest bit of bay cologne. As it fades away, I finally smell the hint of clove. It's warm and perfect for this cool spring that we're having today and I think it will be even more lovely in the last few hot days of summer. Now I'm glad I kept it and sad I didn't keep some of those first bottles that I was sure were just all wrong for me, as I suspect there are some others that also aged beautifully.

Morocco! It smells like delicious sandalwood that's been warmed in the sun. I adore this one, and I wear it in the dead of winter when I'm ready for it to be summer again.

Love this one! It smells like crisp apples with cinnamon and spices in the vial, and the apple really comes out while it's wet. I put a bit on the ends of my hair and all day long, I got the delicious apple scent. On my skin, it dried down into a lovely warm blend of spices. This is one of my favorite all time BPALs. I got an imp of this in a decant circle and I will absolutely be getting a bottle. I can only imagine how delicious and spicy this is going to smell when aged. 2020 Edit: I apparently did not follow my plan and buy a bottle, and finding the old imp makes me sad that I did not. It is super spicy, super apple-y, just absolutely delicious. I feel like this is the perfect aged fall spice blend.

In the imp, I got jasmine and other flowers. On my skin, I got all powdery jasmine. It's okay, just not for me - especially the powdery part - but it's a really pretty scent that seems like it would be just as at home in Neiman Marcus as at BPAL.

2011: Nothing but sandalwood when I first put this one. As it dried, I got more and more carnation and tea rose. When I hugged my four year old, he said "mom, you smell pretty" and I agree - this is a pretty floral-oriental scent. After aging for four years, it has some serious staying power and projection. It has gotten so bold on my skin that I had go to wash it off my wrists. I'd rubbed some through my hair and that smells just perfect. This is one that my great-grandmother would have worn, both in a powder and in a perfume that she decanted into a pink atomizer. She was a tiny wisp of a woman, and this is one I think she would have loved. I'm glad I got a decant of this and not a bottle. I'm not particularly in love with it, but it definitely captures the ethereal idea of Ghosts in Love and I'm glad I got a chance to wear it.

I only ordered a decant of this because it had violet in the description. Otherwise, everything else about this is a total no-go for me: I don't like "death" scents, I don't like purple fruits, I don't like tobacco scents. I should have stuck with my gut on this one - it's really unpleasant to me. Something about it (maybe the way the fruits smell so boldly) makes me think of sniffing a balloon. It's a big, round, dark, scent. I did get some violet on the dry down, which was nice, but not enough to make it palatable. This one is off to the swaps!

I'm just now getting to the 2011 version, nearly two years later. (Was pregnant in 2011 and 2012 and everything I smelled made me queasy, so I just put everything away for a while.) This is lovely and I'm a bit sad it's taken me two years to get to it. In the bottle, I just get leaves and grass, grass and leaves. On the skin, I get the dry, rustling leaves and the incense. Oh, the spicy incense - delicious! As it starts to dry down, I get that hint of cocoa and vanilla, but it's underneath the incense and leaves. This doesn't go super-sweet for me, I don't smell anything chemically or man-made....it's all autumn leaves with incense from the neighbor's house wafting by. Love this, so glad I got a decant.

I like this one! It's all chrysanthemum in the imp and goes on very floral and yellow-orange-green smelling. The flowers aren't precious, they're every day flowers growing in the bright light of the sun in the midst of an herb garden. This dries down more green than yellow and fades quickly on me. I really like this one, and think it might last longer in a locket or on my shirt than on my skin. It's one I would enjoy wearing every day, especially in the fall as the days of summer fade.

In the imp, I smell nothing but pumpkin. Like bright, raw orange pumpkin cut open straight from the garden. On the skin, I smell the caramel note strongly (blech, I don't like caramel), but thankfully it fades quickly into vanilla tiare floral rounded out by a bit earthy pumpkin. Quickly, it fades away into nothingness...just a wisp of powdery amber on the skin.

A truly lovely autumn scent! It smells just like juice-box apple juice in the imp and when first applied to the skin, then dries down into a lovely blend of spices. I smell nutmeg and cinnamon and orange and allspice jumping to the top, almost what the kitchen smells like when you're cooking mulling spices slowly on the stove. I am embarrassed to admit that I bought this in the fall of 2011 and have never opened it until today. I will search the B/S/T forums for a 5mL, that's how much I like it!

This is a scent I was sure wouldn't work for me, but I had to have an imp of it, just for fun. Foodie scents and tobacco never work for me and make my stomach feel squicky. But Pirate Wedding scent? I had to give it a try. I definitely got some red cake and booziness straight from the imp and initially on my skin. As this dried down, I smelled Snake Oil with some lemon woven through it, which I really liked. This morning, I could still smell it on my hand, with a sickly-sweet sugary frosting and smoke scent all that was left - it was like when you open the cake box the morning after a party to get a taste of the dried-up frosting. I won't buy a full size of this, but wearing this last night gave me a little taste of what fun Beth and Puddin's wedding must have been and I'm so glad that I gave it a try.

This reminds me of one of Aveda's scents in a very pleasing way - earthy and reddish-brown and makes me want to keep sniffing myself. This was a gift imp from a sweet forumite and I'm so glad she sent it along as I would never have ordered it. I usually amp patchouli like crazy, to the point of wishing I could avoid myself, but in this blend it plays nicely and grounds the sandalwood and rose. I have very few big bottles, as I prefer to get lots of imps so I can try as many things as possible, so when I say that I'd like a big bottle of this one, I mean that I really really really like it.

Candles? Yes! I also love tarts that I can melt in my Scentsy burner. Do you like knitted goodies? If so, what would you like and what colors? Yes! I'm totally open - as a knitter, I love to see what kinds of beautiful things others make. Not picky about color, either. Would you be interested in homemade edibles that are NOT sweets? Any specifics? Yes! Whatever you'd like to make is great! I love spicy things, like salsa and jalapeno jelly. What GC do you live in mortal terror of the lab discontinuing, but never get around to buying? Morocco and Amsterdam. I have imps of both and I'm not sure why I haven't bought a bottle. Yo Yarnies, do you Ravelry, and if so who are you over there? Yes, I am on Rav with the same user name. Do you have wishlists for non-BPAL e-tailers? And if so, could you provide a link or a list? Amazon (with my email), Etsy (same user name). Witch, do you use a PC or a Mac? Mac. What is your favorite animal? Monkeys. Or old kitty cats. What are you going to be for Halloween? The mom with the best candy. We just moved to an area with lots of kids (where we lived before had very few), so I'm looking forward to sitting on the driveway with treats! If you could have a piece of oil painting jewelry (pendant, pair of earrings, or ring) with absolutely anything painted on it, what would it be? Water/ocean. How do you feel about nick-knacks? Meh. Our house is pretty minimalist. I do, however, love framed photos - we have tons of empty wall space right now. What traditions (family, holiday, or otherwise) are important to you? We eat dinner every night (okay, like 28/30) together at the dining room table. Love this. Do you like going to the movies? Yes, very much. What are your favorite restaurants? A local sushi place, Boston's Pizza, Starbucks (does that count?) Do you play any video games? I play Sims3 sometimes on my computer and we like Little Big Planet (disappointed by LBP2, though....) Do you like any anime? No. Do you have an E-reader/iPad/something similar that you need a cover/case for? I have an iPhone and a Kindle. Either would love a case. How would you like to receive some of your Witch's favorite recipes, tailored to your likes/dietary restrictions? And specific wants? This would be great! Do you need any boxes to store your smellies in? What would you store in said hypothetical box--imps, bottles, supplies, all of the above? I only have imps and bottles and right now they're all contained in a cigar box, so my collection is fairly self-limiting (if the box won't close, it's time for some sales). A new one would be great, though, as the hinges and latches are broken. Muppets: yea or nay? They're okay. Do you have an affinity for Calvin and Hobbes, Peanuts, The Far Side, and other comic strips? If so, which is your favorite? Love Far Side. Do you like hair things barrettes, headbands, flowers... Yes. Do you like to burn incense? If so, what are your favorite kinds...sticks? cones? resins? What are your favorite scents? No - it makes me sneeze. Harry Potter - a fan? If so, what house are you? Fan doesn't begin to describe it. I took a sorting quiz and got Ravenclaw. I would have said that or Gryffindor. If you were to receive a gift card, what places would you like to get one from? Amazon, Starbucks, knitpicks.com

From the 'Weenie Update....What are you most wanting to try? So many things this year! I just ordered about 20 decants. I think the apples interest me the most, as Punkie Night and Snow, Glass, Apples are my favorite scents ever. Who's into nail polish? What colors/brands? I love it, but rarely have time to use it. I got a Gelish manicure several months ago and love, love, love - it's gel hardened by UV light and it lasted like three weeks. I like OPI and Zoya...I'd like to try some of the crackle polishes.

This is a beautiful, sharp golden floral when I first put it on, but within an hour, my skin has eaten it. If I press my hand to my nose, I get a tiny whiff of powdery amber.

I got an imp of this from another fabulous BPALer - I love crows and was curious about what their moon would smell like. I get a cedar base, with floral and mint over it, wafting in and out. First floral, then mint, then back to floral, then it faded away. Hours after I put this on, I could still smell soft cedar when I put my arm to my nose.