FathomBelow

Objectively, Pele is beautiful. It starts off as an unexpectedly warm, almost sugary tropical floral - and not tropical in a fruity way, but an unabashedly voluptuous way. As it dries, it becomes slightly muskier, which compliments the sensuality of the florals to produce a beautiful, dusky, quintessentially feminine scent. Unfortunately, it also reminds me of public bathroom hand soap. Darn it, I so did want to like this one.

Add me on as another fan of Venice. Wet on my skin, it's mostly gorgeous tart-sweet red currant haloed with delicate florals. The florals gradually get stronger until they take center stage, although the red currant is still releasing a series of bright little snaps of scent that add some substance to the composition. As time passes, the red currant gets a bit stronger, never quite superseding the florals however. The complexity of Venice reminds me of Croquet. I think of Croquet as a young girl whose enthusiasm, naturalness, and inherent eccentricity combine to make her charming and a bit awkward and coltish, although that merely enhances her charm. Venice is the girl of Croquet now grown into an intensely charismatic young woman, comfortable in her skin with all its native contradictions and even graceful in it, who has managed to turn her eccentricity into a unique and compelling strength. Rather rambling, but there you go! If it wasn't obvious already, I LOVE Venice, and a bottle is in my future!

This starts out as a very strong and substantive floral - the word "buttery" which the previous reviewer used, strikes me as an extremely appropriate description. It teeters on the edge of cloyingly sweet. After it dries it gets a bit milder, and now reminds me of violet pastilles but with gardenia...gardenia pastilles, I guess...in that it acquires a candy-like sweetness, although it's still very gentle. It's nice, but a bit too thick and overbearing for me. This makes me think of a glamorous old-time movie star - a gorgeous and adored woman, but terribly spoiled - someone who always gets her own way. I'm not sure if that's the vibe I want to project, so I'll keep the imp but probably won't get a bottle. (It would make a very luxurious bath product scent however - maybe I'll dump the rest of my imp in my next bath.)

This is strong stuff. Really strong. In the imp, this reminds me of sweat - kind of in between the nice and the nasty kind. Wet on my skin, the sweat is joined by...diaper bag? Oh dear. As it dries, a smoke-clove-oldness scent comes out as well. True to the description, this really does smell like ancientness - like it's from a recipe so old that people didn't necessarily intend for perfume to smell "good" in the sense that we understand today - like it's from a time with a whole different standard of beauty. After this dries it gets a lot sweeter - now I can see where the comparisons to gardenia come in, although I think it smells more like powdery, cloyingly sweet jasmine. It blends weirdly well with the smoky-clove thing. Overall, (as you may have guessed, heh) I find this perfume extremely confusing. It's a combination of viscerally unlikeable and strongly compelling. Totally in your face, as someone else said. Definitely not for everyone, and I initially hated it but now it's starting to grow on me. I'm so glad I got to try it - not your everyday scent, and one of the most intriguing BPALs I've tried.

This...was really weird on me. In the vial and wet on my skin, it was very melony. It was quickly dominated by a plasticky, slightly rubbery scent as the melon faded into a sort of background sweetness that seems vaguely floral, maybe the gardenia? As it dries, the Lady acquires a slight sour note that seems linked to its plasticky-ness. I'm inclined to think that the "aquatic notes" aren't agreeing with me. Overall, a very unusual scent that I was very curious about and therefore which I'm glad I tried but which ultimately definitely isn't for me. At least now I know to be careful of aquatic notes, which I'd never tried before.

Love Stardust the book but The East was the only scent in the series that really, really appealed to me objectively, so it was the first one I got. In the bottle, The East is a soft, clean, slightly sweet floral - absolutely delicate. On wet, the clean scent amps up a little, but not devastatingly...dunno what that is, but it's nice. As it dries the clean scent fades and the mild, sweet floral gains some backbone as a tart fruit reveals itself - the redcurrant, of course! It's a perfect amount, just enough to strengthen the scent and make it satisfying to the nose while not overwhelming it. Can't say I smell any thyme (sadly) but I definitely get freesia, jasmine, and passion flower swirled into the florals. Just a touch of mint is also detectable, which gives The East its "scent on the wind" feel. Not sure if there's bluebonnet evident as I don't know what it smells like. Final opinion: This is an utterly GORGEOUS scent. So glad I sprang for a bottle unsniffed! I can imagine standing on a hill overlooking the Wall, watching gusts of wind ripple through the grass towards me, then finally smelling this, wondering where it came from, and thinking about adventure. Also rather reminds me of summer wind blowing through sunlit linen curtains into an airy, light-filled, and deeply loved house. Aside from that, this would smell stunning in someone's hair - I bet the boys would come running! As such, I can imagine that this would be perfect for applying directly to hair, mixing into shampoo, or as a hair mist.

Got this a a freebie from the Lab with my last order. In the imp, Nyarlathotep smells like...lemon doughnuts with liberally sprinkled powdered sugar? Nice! Not precisely brooding or electric though. As it dries on my skin, something dry and astringent and slightly sharp comes forward, standing beeside the lemon doughnuts with powdered sugar. It reminds me of Ether so it must be, hmm, the resins? It didn't work for me in Ether and I'm not sure I like it here, whatever it is. After it dries, this thing loses the lemon (although preserving some of the dusty sweetness of the powdered sugar), turning it into a very manly, cologne-y scent. Overall, a very unusual one that I'm glad I got to try as I love Lovecraft but ultimately not for me.

Got this as a freebie from the Lab. In the imp, it smells a lot like Death Cap - that scratch-and-sniff chocolate scent. On my skin, however, the fig becomes immediately apparent and grows in strength progressively as the chocolate scent becomes weaker. Finally, after it dries, it smells just like Eden and Tweedledum on me - a sweet, dusty, slightly green fig. It seems like scents that have fig all turn out the same on me - at least they turn into something quite pleasant, however, not something bad. Overall, Strangler Fig is quite nice and I'll be keeping the imp. Edited for grammar!

In the bottle I get a cool, minty snow note. On my skin this minty, mentholic snow note is still strongest, although the tuberose (which I love) grows stronger and blends seamlessly with the snow, giving it a thick, almost vanillla-y sweetness while maintaining the snow's fundamental crispness. The image that comes to mind is a beautiful, fresh-faced girl with an alabaster complexion and roses in her cheeks walking through freshly fallen snow in the woods on a bright winter's morning. So overall, I guess it is pretty spot-on the description. Overall, this is very pretty but not what I was expecting, which was mainly a tuberose scent. Although can see this working as a perfume, I think it would be even better as a room scent.

The Peacock Queen 2010 Some time ago I smelled a version of the Peacock Queen that was overbearingly green and sharp, so I wouldn't have tried the 2010 version except that I received it as a gift. Surprisingly, the 2010 version is a very mild, sweet rose - like the rose in Seance. London is my favorite of the BPAL pure rose scents, and the Peacock Queen compares favorably - less strength, less greenness, more sweetness. On me this has none of the spices that in conjunction with rose always reminds me of stately old Victorian ladies. So overall, the Queen does not exactly convey the cruelty and jealousy and pride and whatnot in the description (I think The Rose would actually fit that description better), but it's very pretty indeed. I keep thinking of "mild" as the right word to describe it. Some might think it bland or too conventional, but as a rose-lover I think this is a keeper for me.

Damn, from the reviews this sounded amazing but unfortunately it didn't turn out that way on my skin. In the bottle and wet on my skin, I get very strong, sharp lavender. As it dries down, it passes through a beautiful stage almost like honeyed lavender - a very soft, sweet lavender. But in the final stages before it fades, the lavender disappears, leaving Mysterious Warning smelling oddly like a funny type of melon - maybe because of the osmanthus? I was hoping for something either a little foodier or else something like a lavender version of Dee, but I didn't get amber or leather at all. Darn, darn, darn!

Golden Wave smells like fruity shampoo. It's the scent of an Australian surfer girl, complete with sun- and salt-bleached blond hair and golden skin. Very easy going, extroverted, and generally sunny. I enjoy smelling it, but it's definitely not me. Oops! Edited for spelling.

If you're looking for something exotic, this is not for you. If, however, you seek something pure and simple and utterly lovely, I would strongly recommend Moon Rose. It's - a rose, simple and pure and light with just the faintest touch of sweetness. When I smell it, I picture an exquisite girl with lovely, luminous skin, her frothy, white skirts spread around her on a sunlit lawn. That said, it smells a lot like Crabtree & Evelyn Rosewater. I personally prefer London for when I crave ROSE, because it has a little bit more vigor to it, but I could picture myself wearing Moon Rose when I'm feeling in a delicate, pretty, and girlish mood.

From start to finish, Hell's Belle is like Scherezade - the same strong spices, but with florals instead of red musk in the supporting role. For some reason, the combination of these particular spices and florals just doesn't seem to work for me, so I'll pass on a bottle and stick to Scherezade.

This reminds me of another BPAL I can't remember...Tweedledum? Yes, it smells exactly like BPAL figs! Weird. Must be from the peaches, I guess, although I don't think peaches and figs smell at all alike in real life! Anyway, it's nice enough, especially as Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairy tale. But all the same, I don't think it's bottle worthy.

Magdalene starts off completely unbearable - acrid, green, and cologney. Since I know and love rose and orchid, I conclude that this must be the labdanum, which I've never smelled before. After it dries, Magdalene does a complete turnaround and morphs into...baby powder! Definitely not for me. But at least now I know to avoid labdanum!

What I was expecting from Shadow Witch Orchid: a very soft, mellow, yet fresh and moist scent just slightly tinged with sweetness. The scent in the imp seemed to support this expectation, but on my skin SWO became a very sophisticated perfumey scent. Nice enough, but a bit too sharp and not what I was looking for. Perfect, however, for impressing people at fancy parties without the expense of actually buying a classical designer perfume.

I was hoping that Regan would be a glorious explosion of fresh, moist orchid strengthened by vanilla. Initially, this is indeed the case and it's perfect. But as the oil dries, the vanilla steadily becomes stronger, sweeter, and more cloying and powdery, eventually completely overwhelming the orchid. BPAL vanilla is a monster on me. I should have known and gotten an imp instead of a bottle, but I was so sure it would work...!

I tried this one at Knows Perfume. Wet, the Madame is purple fruit, much too sweet and thick - a dead ringer for cough syrup. Once dry, it quickly mellows into a beautiful scent. Patchouli is the strongest base note here. The red musk is there, but it's not distinct, instead blending seamlessly with the patchouli to provide some warmth and roundness. The juicy, refreshing pomegranate (and to a lesser extent, plum) lightens and leavens this heavy base, with just a touch of vanilla giving the scent a little needed sweetness. This is the scent of someone natural and spiritually and intellectually rich; a person who has a host of unusual interests and is not especially focused on seduction but who attracts others without meaning to, anyway. All in all, an astonishingly beautiful blend that is just different enough to make me spring for a bottle.

This starts of wet as too heavy and too sweet, but dry, it becomes a very lovely, well-blended scent where the soft, sweet florals and warm musk are bridged by the cognac and honey (which are just sweet enough). A long time after it dries, Sed Non Satatia reduces to an oddly fruity musk. I did like it, but it's too similar to other BPALs I have - Perversion? Snake Oil? - for it to be bottle-worthy.

On my skin, the Dragon's Blood resin and the honeyed vanilla are both evident, but they maintain strictly separate identities - this scent doesn't blend too well for me (or maybe it's just my nose). I can see the possibilities, but Dragon's Milk isn't for me.

Snake Oil is the queen of long-lasting throw on me. But it probably all depends on each person's chemistry.

I'm going to put in another vote for Dee. I hate "new" leather scents but I adore the sweet, soft old leather in Dee!

This is the most exquisite, dewy red-black rose sweetened by wafts of beeswax over a strong, rather mystical base of frankincense. No saffron detectable. Evokes dark figures gliding beneath a full moon and a blue-black sky as the wind roars through the trees...strains of organ music filtering through a crumbling, gloomy mansion...you get the picture. Whoever compared this to Saint Foutin de Varailles is absolutely right - they smell almost identical, except Cicuta doesn't have the headiness from the wine of Saint Foutin. (That's a plus, in my opinion.) Other very similar scents include Spellbound and Black Rose. Absolutely lovely, so glad I got a bottle!

Punkie Night 2010 A light, fresh, perfume-y scent. I get the tartness of the cranberries especially, wonderful. Unfortunately, however, the apples in Punkie Night don't actually smell like apples - they smell like apple perfume, making this a disappointment. Throw 0.5-1 foot. My quest for a true apple scent continues!