IridiumFlash

Yes, use the "special comments" block to note your forum name. (Once or twice I've forgotten to include my forum name and sent an e-mail to the lab afterwards to provide that information - I forwarded the e-mail receipt & provided my forum name so they could match up the infomation [order number, items ordered, etc.] The labbies are very kind about forgiving lapses like that, though I try not to do that to them too often. )

I tried Wildfire 2010. The smell did not remind me of wildfire, or even a controlled burn. I did not detect wood or smoke or anything fire-related. What it did bring to mind was rubber, and a sort of "off" rubber smell at that. I suspect it was the dragon's blood and/or rose that produced this effect, but I'm not good enough at singling out notes to say for sure. Anyway, I didn't care for it at all. I will have to give Wildfire 2010 points for longevity, though. Eight hours later I could still smell it on my arms.

This may well be my favorite of the Butterflies. It's very well blended; I can't really pick out any individual notes. If I had to categorize it, I'd probably label it ever-so-slight-foody. Some other reviews have compared it to a Yankee Candle scent, but I don't get that from Monarch (but from Spicebush Swallowtail, definitely!). It does seem to be fading rather quickly, though.

Spicebush Swallowtail smells like a holiday candle on me - the type of candle you find between Halloween and Christmas. The only note that I can identify for sure is clove. I think the other notes are there in a supporting role only. This one will be good for when I want to smell like gently spicy clove. i just don't know when that might be.

Tiki Princess goes on very light (I could just barely smell it at first) and gets stronger as it dries. Unfortunately, it ends up smelling kind of plastic-y on me. I suspect that it's the coconut, but I can't tell for sure. It isn't unpleasant, but I don't really care for it.

At first there is a very little sage hiding behind lots & lots of cedar. I could imagine a desolate heath. Before long it went to straight cedar. And all I could imagine was a box of brand-new pencils. Hmmmm, I wonder if this cedar would make a good moth repellant for the closet?

I got bottle #112. Apparently Eris likes cloves. She really, really likes cloves. Unfortunately, I associate oil of cloves with dentistry, as in toothaches and dental cement - that's why I can identify cloves so readily. This blend doesn't smell bad, and as time goes by the cloves have some other things coming to join them, but the associations just aren't that good for me.

This started off as a light floral over what smelled like an aquatic base. After a while, it became spicier - I think that is the frankincense coming to the fore, perhaps boosted a little by the rose otto. It's still a light scent, though. Quite pleasant.

This is an interesting one. In the bottle and when wet, I got almost straight incense. In fact, it rather reminded me of being in a pagan/wiccan bookstore. On me, this blend faded very quickly. Within thirty minutes, there was almost nothing left of it. If I got my nose up really close to where I'd applied it, I noticed that it had developed a distinct smoky tinge over the incense. It now smelled like smoldering, aromatic wood rather than straight incense. ETA: The drydown phase of smoky, smoldering aromatic wood actually lasted quite well, but remained faint.

I second EdenIrisMae's idea that you must bathe in it, whatever you select. Remember Giorgio? It was as good as a Taser for incapacitating people at a distance!

This was my one must-try among the Rappacini's Apiary scents. At first, and into the middle stages, I could mostly smell the durian. No, not the stinky fruit of legend, but a smell like how durian tastes - quite nice. In the middle stages there was also an almost plastic-y smell - the honey, perhaps? Later on, I'm left with a sweet smell. It's probably the honey, shedding the plastic component; I can't really identify the durian any more. I never did really pick out the brandy, unless it's part of the underlying "sweet" scent. Not bad, but not as outstanding as I'd hoped.

Minty goodness. I can't really tease out any of the other notes, but something is there supporting the mint. But the other notes are letting the mint go front & center. I actually like this the best of the half-dozen Helicopters I've tried, even if my nose can't "unblend" it. ETA: After a few hours, the flowers shove their way to the front. Still lovely.

This is one interesting scent. I agree with the reviewers who commented on how it smells exactly like corn husks. But that is Act II of this perfume. Act I is flattened, unripe wheat - a nice, grassy smell. This isn't necessarily something that you might think you'd want to smell like, but it could be good in the right circumstances or if you're in the right mood. Certainly a unique perfurme!

This was one that I had to try, if only for the concept. Unfortunately, I like it the least of the half-dozen Helicopters I've tried thus far. It starts out with some floral, but very quickly settles into a dry dust. Not a dusty vanilla, but a dry moondust that hasn't been near water for approximately 4.2 billion years. It actually feels like it's drying out my sinuses. Oh well, at least the bottle art is nice & clever!

There's plenty of cake at first, but it gets eaten fast & I'm left with plates of cucumber sandwiches. The cucumber isn't as strong this time as it was the first time I tried the scent. Also, this time I'm getting some tea. Not a noticeably bergamot-y tea, but a nice, black tea. I like it enough to order a backup bottle.

It's possible that the Lab's e-mail service has a new spam filter that needs fine-tuning. If your e-mail is, say yahoo.com or gmail.com or similar, or if it goes through some kind of "bounce", the filter may define those as suspicious. My work e-mail has segregated virtually every e-mail I've received from one of my professional societies since last August because of the way they route their outgoing e-mails.

(2007 version) At first, this smelled more like The Perfumed Greenhouse - a strong, slightly dank floral smell. As it dried, it turned into a more standard floral; the musty effect vanished. As another reviewer noted, my first thought for what flower I was smelling was tuberose, or perhaps gardenia. However, neither of those is on the list of notes, so it must have been the jasmine that was dominating. Overall, it was a reasonably pleasant floral perfume, but it faded quickly. After about three hours, it's almost impossible to detect.

I didn't end up in the village jewelry store. I ended up in the village shoe store. With old-fashioned, chrome-plated display fixtures. On those display fixtures: classic Keds! More specifically, I smell the slightly dusty rubber soles of said gym shoes, mixed with the smell of chrome-and-glass display fixture. Not quite what I'm looking for in a perfume, even as non-traditional as BPAL can get.

This one is certainly a morpher on me! It started off as a very bright, almost sharp, lemon with almost no other noticeable notes. For the first hour or so, I thought that this was a perfume to wear while sipping a lemon-cardamom Italian soda and wearing a Lilly Pulitzer dress (preferably in Palm Beach). But after two hours it turned into a slight dusty (musk?) floral. The lemon is gone - completely different effect. Wearable, but not (yet) true love. ETA: not a really strong throw - it stayed fairly close to my skin, but noticeable. And it lasted fairly well.

On me, this scent is a nice, dense floral, very much like walking into a flower shop. I can't really detect any other notes and can't define exactly what the flowers are, although the grasses, etc. may be providing a "grounding" for the flowers. The throw is moderate and the scent is quite long-lasting. I can still detect it, faintly, after twelve hours. Enchanted Wood Florist is a nice-enough scent, but I'm not wild over it.

I wasn't sure what to make of this one at first. When I first applied Candles Moon, it seemed pretty faint and I couldn't tell what it smelled like, just that I didn't quite like it. After about an hour, it had become musky. Several hours later, it settled into a milky beeswax scent. There might be blackberry there supporting the milky beeswax, and the faintest hint of a snow note, but I can't really pick those out. If anything, the scent got a bit stronger after an hour or two. It still doesn't have a strong throw, but it's hanging in there nicely. I like this better than I thought I would when I first applied it.

The second try-out went better than the first time I wore this. The first time, I just got a moderately spicy scent, probably the saffron and cedar ganging up on the black currant. I didn't pick up the black currant at all the first time. Today, the black currant pushed its way to the front at first, although all three notes were detectable. After a couple of hours the currant had faded back and the scent was primarily cedar with some modification by the saffron. Aatos Polemoio has some staying power on my skin. It's still easily detected after six hours. Not a "loooooove", but an interesting and likeable scent.

This one started off Helllllooooooo, Ocean Spray! The cranberry made it very fruity without any sweetness, just tart cranberry (perhaps with red currant in a supporting role). It smelled very nice, but had no staying power on my skin. Within a couple hours I could pick up only the faintest hint, and then only by burying my nose on my arm. Somewhat disappointing because of the quick fade.

This scent matched the description perfectly. The first impression was of icy cold - but not with any obvious menthol or mint notes. Just cold. That was followed quickly by mossy dirt, or maybe it was dirty moss. The icy/dirty/mossy smell stayed stable; no morphing. And it lasted - I was still catching whiffs of Snowball Fracas six or seven hours after applying it. I like the scent and I love the name. "Snowball Fracas" is so much more evocative a name than "Snowball Fight". I think the name played a significant role in my decision to buy a bottle, and I'm glad I did. edited for spelling.

On me, the strawberry note of the white chocolate, strawberry, and white pepper truffle dominated. I could detect the white chocolate in the background, but never managed to pick out the white pepper. As others have mentioned, the strawberry isn't so much a fresh-fruit strawberry as it is strawberry jam or strawberry candy (like a hard candy). The scent lasted for hours, but the strawberry seemed to get more and more plastic-y smelling as time went one. My overall assessment of this scent is "meh". I'm disappointed.