Miss Lynx

I was a little apprehensive of trying this after hearing Kettu say it smelled like dirt. I have a history of really hating anything with that "graveyard dirt" note, like Zombi and Penny Dreadful. But as it turns out, this one isn't so bad. The earth here smells more natural, less rotten and decaying. There are similarities to Penny Dreadful -- the earth note combined with something softer and lighter -- but it's much nicer. An improved PD, if you will. The scent over the earth is light and creamy, sort of a milk-and-honey type of scent, and they blend together more harmoniously than the different notes in Zombi or PD. Looking at some of the other reviews, a number of people have mentioned vanilla, so maybe that's it, but if so, it's a decidedly non-Play-Dohy vanilla, which is rare on me. It doesn't have much throw -- I can't smell it if my nose if more than a few inches from my wrist -- and it seems to be fading down fairly quickly, but what there is of it is not bad, and gets decidedly nicer as it settles in over time. It's got a bit of that same deep woodsy/incensey scent that's so lovely in Strangler Fig, though it's much lighter. Not yet sure if I'll keep it or swap it, but at least it's nowhere near as scary as I'd feared it would be. Grade: B+/A- ETA (about an hour later): Wow, I posted the above too soon. This just gets better and better the longer it stays on my skin, and the dirt note has almost entirely faded now, with the woody/incensey/sweet note becoming deeper and richer and really lovely. Definite resemblance to Strangler Fig (though that one's nice from moment one), and a definite keeper -- I'm bumping it up from the B I initially gave it to B+/A-.

Very sweet, very light... Kind of a citrus-floral. On initial application it was actually disturbingly reminiscent of Sunlight dish soap. But it does develop a bit more complexity as it dries down. However, it's still soft, light, sweet and almost bland -- much more girly than I am. And it retains a certain soapiness all the way through. It's got almost no throw, and not a lot of staying power... All in all, not so much an enchantress as a wallflower, I'd say. Into the swaps she goes. Grade: C

Oh, this is really lovely! I think it may be my new favourite of the entire Rappaccini's Garden section. Fig is generally pretty good on me, though sometimes a little waxy, and this is by far the best fig scent I've yet found. Woody notes are kind of hit and miss on me -- sometimes they're nice and sometimes awful. But thankfully the wood here seems very nice -- I'm guessing it's sandalwood, at least in part. The overall scent is deep, aromatic, and kind of incensey. There's an earthiness to it, but it's not too heavy. It's not so much green on me as woody and resinous . I'm actually picking up on a faint resemblance to Fenris Wolf, oddly enough -- maybe there's rosewood in there? And I'd almost swear that there was some kind of amber or musk -- it has that same warmth that all my amber/musk favourites have. All in all, a definite winner. Not necessarily top ten, but very nice and likely a 5 mL candidate. Grade: A

Received this as a frimp from the Lab, and I wasn't sure whether I'd like it or not, as it has a mix of notes I usually like (red musk, bergamot, sandalwood) and notes I usually don't (orchid, lilac - I like actual lilacs, but not most perfume oils based on them). But overall it's not bad at all... Not about to become a favourite, but it's a pretty nice scent. I don't really perceive it as all that passion-rousing, but it's a nice mix of spicy, musky and sweet notes, and one I could see working equally well on a man or a woman. Don't know that I'll keep it, though -- as my collection grows, a scent needs to be more than just pretty good for me to hang onto it. Grade: B-

Fruity and a little spicy, with a touch of floral sweetness and a dark undercurrent. It's a bit of a confusing, paradoxical scent (suitably enough given who it's named for), but in a good way. It does get a little soapy on the drydown, but not in an unappealling way -- it smells more like some kind of nice aromatherapy bubble bath. It definitely has different layers that seem to shift and change, so that it's sometimes almost candy-sweet and other times darker, sometimes more floral and sometimes more herbal. Very hard to pin down, but always nice. Not necessarily about to become a favourite, but definitely a keeper, because it's so unique. Grade: B/B+

This is the one I was most looking forward to in my recent order(s), apart from Frumious Bandersnatch, and I was certainly not disappointed. In fact, I'd have to say it blows the Bandersnatch right out of the water. And possibly every other scent ever made. Yes, it's that good. Amber is one of my all-around favourite notes, and this is possibly the most gorgeous amber scent BPAL (or anyone else) has yet come out with. It's deep and resinous and glorious, but with layers of dark fruitiness to give it extra depth... Just beautiful. I dabbed it on quickly before rushing out to help a friend move, and it held up quite nicely over several hours of hard work. I kept catching whiffs of this glorious scent and thinking "Whoa! Something in here smells amazing! Oh wait... it's me!" I was almost tempted to buy a 5 mL instead of an imp as soon as I saw it listed, because it sounded so perfect. Looks like I should have gone with my intuition, because this is absolutely about to head up by big-bottle wishlist. It might even displace Bewitched as my signature scent, and I wouldn't have thought that was possible. Grade: A+ ETA (two months later): Sometimes I'm initially very enthusiastic about a scent, but then the glow wears off quickly. This has not been one of those times. It took an effort of will not to completely blow through my imp before my 5 mL arrived, and now that I've got the 5mL, I am still in love with this scent. The interesting thing is, the initial scent when it's first applied is almost overwhelmingly sweet... But it's as it settles in over time that the true beauty of it comes out. It lasts for hours, and the longer it wears, the more the notes mingle beautifully and all kinds of hidden layers of depth come out. This one has definitely earned a permanent top 10 spot for me.

I almost didn't try this because it sounded too floral, but at the last minute while cataloguing our swaps I decided to. It's actually not too heavily floral at all, at least at first, but it's also not terribly interesting, at least on me. It's sort of dry and herbal, a little incensey, with a touch of cold floral (probably violet), but the different scents don't really come together for me. They're just kind of... there. And actually, now that it's been on for a while, my skin is starting to amp the violet in an unpleasant way, so it is starting to smell more floral, but with a weird, dry, almost rancid undertone. That helps tone down the sweetness a bit, but overall, not for me. It's got a fair bit of complexity, but the different notes never really mesh, and violet is nearly always a deal-breaker for me. Grade: C-

This is a nice, warm, clean herbal scent, and I quite like it, except that it smells like it would be more at home on a guy than on me. It's not bad on me -- it's not that overwhelming "Hey, she's wearing men's cologne!" feeling I got from Sri Lanka, Oblivion and a few others -- but it does smell decidely more male than female. It's a good one -- distinctive enough to be interesting, but not enough so to smell "weird" in, say, an office setting. It's just sort of pleasant and quietly elegant, and would make a great everyday scent for a guy. But not so much on me. Grade: B-

Oh, this is really nice! It's a very unusual scent, with a lot of darkness in it, and at first I wasn't sure if I liked it or not, but it's growing on me now -- to the point where I'm kicking myself for not including a bottle in my last order. There's a strong fruity, boozy element, with that almost literally intoxicating effect that some of the bext BPAL scents have, but it's got an eerie, slightly disturbing darkness to it too -- very appropriate for the story! Also like many of the best BPALs, it's got all kinds of layers of complexity to it, and morphs and changes a lot over time. It's not 100% pleasant, at least not in anything resembling a normal perfumey sort of way, but somehow the slighly unpleasantness of it works really, really well and just makes the whole thing better. It's simultaneously beautiful, and creepy as all hell. *sigh* What the fuck was I thinking, not ordering a bottle of this? Well, maybe there's something in my LE collection I can swap for one... Grade: A

On first contact, this is rich, fruity, boozy, and really, really nice. There's a lot of complexity in it -- an intoxicating sweetness, but with a bitter, dark undercurrent to it, appropriately enough for the character on which it's based. There's a faint touch of coldness, something almost minty, but not quite -- and the coldness is also appropriate to the story. All in all, very evocative. Interestingly, it caused a slightly burning sensation in the crooks of my arms, the way Chimera and other very spicy scents sometimes do, but without the accompanying redness that usually has. Strange, because it doesn't smell spicy. Oh well. The first time I tried this, the drydown wasn't altogether pleasant -- the bitter note seemed to become stronger, and the woody elements went a little funky on me as they sometimes can. This time that doesn't seem to be happening, though -- a couple of hours later and it's still nice, just fainter. Now I'm almost wishing I'd ordered a bottle after all... Grade: B+

I know several people have mentioned it already, but I'll agree that Tushnamatay is the best sandalwood BPAL ever. Fenris Wolf is also quite sandalwoody on me, after it settles in for a while. I like Sin, Aureus, Cathedral and some of the others mentioned, but they don't smell terribly sandalwoody on me. But everyone's skin chemistry is different.

An interesting scent - dry, woody, musky and eerily reminiscent of something that I can't place. I keep thinking I should know what it smells like, but i don't. I don't even known if it's another BPAL scent I'm thinking of or something totally different. This is a rich and complex scent, and very interesting. Definitely a good choice for the deity it represents, who's a very complex and multifaceted entity himself. The scent is masculine without seeming inappropriate on a woman, if that makes any sense -- it doesn't have anything like the "men's scent" smell that Oblivion or Sri Lanka (for example) do, but it definitely smells like a God, not a Goddess. I don't think it's something I would wear as a perfume, unless I were going through a period of trying to attune to Odin, but I like it, and it's definitely very successful at evoking the God it's intended for. Grade: B

Interesting -- this is lighter and sweeter than I thought it would be from the description. I think my skin must be amping the rose and poppy, though the heavier notes are balancing them nicely. The civet's not really prominent at all; it's just sort of an earthy floral, a bit like Burial, but muskier. Even after settling in for a while, it's not too civetty. The florals do fade a little over time, but it's more the patchouli that becomes prominent than the civet. It's not unpleasant, but also not something I really need to keep when I already have Burial. Grade: B-

This very, very much conjures up exactly what it's supposed to, even in the imp. It smells like grapey musk debauchery, with an earthy, musky, animalistic base and a sweet, heady overlay on top of it. The civet isn't too strong, although you can tell it's there. I should that civet isn't necessarily insta-death for a scent on me the way it is on a lot of other people, but it is kind of dicey. Here it seems to behave itself relatively well, at least at first. However, as it settles in, the sweetness ofthe grape and orange blossom do fade a bit, and the civet and darker musks become more prominent. Still very much in keeping with its theme, but not really something I could see myself wearing. I think this is one of the ones that, while expressing admiration at Beth's artistry, I'm still going to have to swap. Grade: A for accuracy, C+ for wearability

Er... Colour me confused. I thought the request for floral recommendations for people that don't usually do well with florals, but everyone's recommending non-florals? Or is that because of the two threads getting merged? Not sure... Anyway, I'll try to stick with what I thought was originally meant. Florals aren't usually good on me, but there are a few exceptions, so I'll try and list some of them: Burial is nice -- floral and earthy at the same time, without the rot smell of Zombi Desire has some florals, but enough woody and incensey notes balancing it to keep it from being too sweet. Peitho is the only jasmine scent that doesn't turn into Death By Jasmine on me, because the musk and sandalwood keep it light. Lampades has lilies, but the scent is so well-balanced that they don't dominate. Yerevan is a nice, light, well-balanced fruity/floral/incense blend Just about anything with orange blossom works on me, because that note tends to go more fruity than floral on my skin. Likewise the peach blossom on Tamora. (But apple and cherry blossom, sadly, are usually bad news.)

Hmmm... Fire and earth are the easiest, because I tend to try a lot of spicy and earthy scents. I'd probably recommend Chimera for fire and Omen for earth. Water and earth are harder, because I'm not so good with the aquatics, and really light scents tend to just disappear on me. But maybe Danube or R'lyeh for water... Air is the hardest, but for some reason Baobhan Sith is coming to mind. Don't ask me why...

I would totally second Vixen -- I love that scent. And I'm surprised no one's mentioned Sin -- that's my sexiest BPAL scent by far. The first time I sniffed it on myself, I was about ready to do me! And I always get really interesting reactions when I wear that one out. Others I find very sexual include Desire and Sed Non Satiata. But different people are very different in what appeals to them most -- the scent that triggered the strongest reaction in my wife when I wore it was Blood, and for our boyfriend (we're poly) it was Chimera. So the spicy ones definitely work for some people... Which come to think of it would reinforce the appropriateness of Vixen (ginger) and Sin (cinnamon).

A gentlemen's blend, possessed of dignity, charm and refinement, but in truth masking a corrupted, hideous, soulless core. White musk, lime, lilac and citron. This doesn't really come across as a men's scent to me, though I could see it working on a guy. I'd call it more gender-neutral than anything. It's a very light scent, and when first applied, very citrussy. It smells more like a scent you'd find in a soap or shower gel or something than wear as a perfume -- not soapy in itself, but something you'd want to scent soap with. But as it dries down, the citrus fades a bit and the lilac comes out more, along with the musk. Right now, after about an hour of wear, that's mostly what I'm getting. It's not bad at this stage, but not really that interesting either. I like actual lilacs, but lilac perfumes rarely work for me. Ironically, Baobhan Sith, which doesn't to my knowledge have any lilac in it at all, smells more like an actual lilac bush to me than this does. Grade: C+/B-

This is an interesting scent -- part dry and woody, part high sweet floral, and the two components balance each other rather nicely. It's definitely predominantly floral, at least on me, but the woods keep it from being too over-the-top sweet, and give it some depth. It does very much come across as ethereal and otherworldly -- at the risk of sounding overly geeky, it's very much something I could see my Wraith character wearing (if she could interact with physical objects, anyway). It's not my usual sort of scent, but I'm not sure I'm altogether ready to consign it to the swaps... It has potential, at least for some occasions. Grade: B

A reasonably pleasant scent, earthy and herbal, but not terribly interesting. I like it as far as it goes, but it doesn't really sit up and grab my attention. It's just sort of... there. Nice enough, but unobtrusive to the point of being almost bland. I would have sworn there was vetiver in here, too - it actually smells almost like a single-note vetiver might, but it's not on the list of notes. Of course, I'm never sure if the listed notes in the description are all that's in the scents or not... Anyway: when I had fewer scents I might have kept this, as it's not bad at all, but with the collection I have now I don't tend to hang onto the ones that don't thrill me, so it'll probably be swapped away. Grade: B-

When I first tried this one, it was much fainter than I expected. Gently foresty, but not very obtrusive at all. I didn't get much in the way of a honey/beeswax scent at all -- it was just a very soft, almost bland foresty scent. But after reading a lot of rave reviews of how good it apparently is on me, I decided I had to try it on my male partner (for those who are confused by this given that I'm married to a woman, we're poly). It did indeed smell very nice on him, and on whim I tried it again on me too, more heavily this time since I knew by now that it was a fairly light scent. This time around, I think I like it more. I can definitely smell the honey much more, and the musk. It still has foresty elements, but it's not predominantly a forest scent any more. It's sort of like a drier, less incensey Titus Andronicus, but with a slightly powder-sweet overlay. Not particularly masculine at all, on me (but then, neither's Titus). After settling in for a couple of hours, what's left is a dry, woody scent with a slight dusting of powdery honey-sweetness. Not bad, though not necessarily likely to become a favourite. Grade: B

The Masque, from the Maelstrom collection, has a fairly similar feel to Gypsy Queen to me, though not so similar that I didn't want to spring for a bottle of it despite already having GQ. But I've lately been going through an imp purge -- I picked out all of the imps from my collection that I wasn't sure about or hadn't worn in a while, and have been going through them deciding whether to keep or swap. And I've made some interesting discoveries. Desire and Sed Non Satiata, to me, both have a very similar feel to the Masque and GQ. Of the four, I'd say Desire and GQ are closer together in scent, as are the Masque and SNS to each other. The former both have that really rich, incensey drydown, and the latter both have the same almost-edible honey sweetness. So if you haven't tried either Desire or SNS, I'd say check them out, Desire especially. It's the closest GQ equivalent I've yet found. I think a lot depends on skin chemistry, though -- I know I've seen some pairings listed here where I thought "What?! Those don't smell anything like each other!" Well, not on me, but that doesn't mean they don't on someone else...

This is an interesting and complex scent, which is hard to pin down into any one genre. It's got a strong incensey feel, coupled with fruity, floral and foody elements, and overall does a pretty good job of conjuring up the ambiance it intends to, at least as far as my imagination goes (never having been in a Shanghai opium den). There's definitely a lush, decadent feel to it, along with a slightly "off" note that seems to suggest an underlying corruption, which I suppose is appropriate, though it does make the scent less pleasant. I think I mostly like this scent, though that "off" note is a bit grating and keeps me from liking it as much as I otherwise might. Tobacco and coconut are both very iffy notes on me, so it might be one of those, or the combination of the two. So it's definitely a case of like but not love for me. Kettu, however, loves it dearly, so a 5mL had to be acquired. But that one can stay in her collection. Grade: B

An earthy yet buoyant scent: pine, eucalyptus and orange. Whoa -- this is very much a wake-the-hell-up! kind of scent! This was an unexpected frimp from a friend -- I wouldn't have ordered it, because it's such an odd combination of notes and I couldn't imagine them working well. But it's actually much more pleasant than I would have expected -- bright and sharp and spicy, and just very slightly sweet. It smells a lot like something you would find sold as an "energizing" or "revitalizing" aromatherapy blend -- not like something you'd expect to find sold as a perfume at all. It's nice, but in a very unconventional way. It does get a little bitter on drydown, though. I couldn't see myself wearing it as a daily scent, but it would probably be excellent for deadline-driven all-nighters, and keep me awake better than coffee. Grade: B

I didn't really know what to expect from this one, since it has so many different notes. At least four of them are florals, and that usually spells doom for me, but it had so many other interesting things in it that I had to give it a try. And I'm glad I did -- this ended up being one of the two Maelstrom scents I felt compelled to order a 5mL of. It's really hard to describe, because it's so complex. It's a deep, rich, multilayered scent that goes through all kinds of shifts and changes over time. It's definitely a lot sweeter and more conventionally "perfumey" than a lot of the scents I like, and the florals are prominent, but not to a level that makes it overwhelming for me. It's a really nice balance of floral and incensey with a warm honey overlay blending it all together. If I had to compare this to any other BPAL scent, the closest would be Gypsy Queen from Carnival Noir -- they're certainly not identical, but there's a slightly similar rich and heady feel to them, of something sultry, feminine and mysterious... And they're both examples of that rare entity, floral scents that actually work on me! It's pretty strong stuff, though -- excellent throw and staying power, but the second time I wore I got carried away and put on too much, and ye Gods, there is definitely such a thing as Too Much Of A Good Thing with this one. Must remember: Very Potent -- Wear in Moderation! Grade: A