Miss Lynx

I'd been wanting this one for a long time, but sadly, once I finally got my hands on it (and a full 5 mL at that!), it wasn't really what I expected. I don't see any citrus listed in the description, but that's what this smells most strongly of to me. There's a really strong, sweet, lemon-drop type scent that overwhelms everything else. It's a bit like the lemon verbena note that's in Shadow and The Great Sword of War, but alas, it doesn't fade out as fast as either of those. I can only just barely make out any chocolate, musk or any of the other notes. Mainly this scent just smells like lemon candy. Eventually, on my wrists at least, it does fade down to a sort of chocolate-musk that's more what I'd expected of this scent, but it takes quite a while, and the scent itself has nearly faded away by that point. In the crooks my arms it lasts longer, but stays lemony all the way down. *sigh* I really wanted to love this one, but I get nothing deep, warm or doggy fronm it. Oh well. Maybe it will work on Kettu. Grade: B-

Whoa -- this is intense! It's pretty much a single note, so it doesn't have any of the complexity I usually like in scents, but it's so perfect at being that one thing, that barely matters. You could not get any more chocolatey smelling that this short of being dipped in actual melted chocolate. It was an effort not to lick my wrist. I wouldn't say my reaction to it was quite as intense as that of Kettu, who when she first sniffed it leaned back in her chair with her eyes closed and both wrists pressed to her nose, and gasped out in near-orgasmic tones "Fuck me, Jesus!" (Then again, I wasn't raised Catholic. ) But this is pretty intoxicating stuff. I don't know how often I'd wear it, because it makes me crave chocolate tremendously, but it's definitely an olifactory work of art... Not to mention a bit of a cruel tease, since you can't actually eat it! Grade: B+ P.S. Woohoo! My 200th review!

I should be used to this by now... Even though the description mentions only a couple of florals in passing, and a lot of non-floral notes that sound nice, it's floral overkill on me. There are a couple of softer notes smoothing out the jasmine a bit, but mainly this is just a really strong floral on me. As it fades down, the jasmine does become a bit less overpowering, and the sandalwood and musk come out a bit more. At that stage, it's a little reminiscent of Peitho, the one jasmine scent that does come close to working on me. Of the two of them I think I like Peitho better. But there is some nice complexity to this one and on someone whose skin didn't amp florals so much it would probably be lovely. Grade: B-

I've found that for me, the scents that blend best with my natural scent (and hence work best when I'm planning to get sweaty) are those with an amber/musk base. So things like Haunted, Fenris Wolf, Imp, and Coyote.

This one, like a lot of others, falls prey to my skin's tendency to amp most floral notes to crazy proportions. I get almost entirely iris, with just the barest hint of the other notes... just enough to know that it would probably be on great on someone whose skin didn't amp florals! Oh well... Grade: C

Hmmm... Not bad, though it has a bit of that root beer note that I dislike in Laudanum. However, as with that one, that note fades some as it dries down, which is a good thing. The vanilla is fairly strong, and thankfully not too Play-Doh-y, and there's a sort of bitter herbal undercurrent that keeps it from being too sweet or foody. I do think it smells like something that would probably work better on a guy, though some of BPAL's "traditionally masculine" scents work very well on me too. But I could see it being good on some women, though it's not really my thing exactly. Uh-oh -- as it dries down further, I might have to take back the "not too Play-Doh-y" comment in the first paragraph. Vanilla so often does that on me... Damn. Grade: C+

Others have commented that this one is similar to Penitence and Cathedral, and while I haven't tried Penitence, I'd agree where Cathedral is concerned. In fact, I had to put one on each wrist to get a better idea of the differences between them. (I should add that unlike most of the reviewers of these, I wasn't raised Catholic and have absolutely no experience of actual masses, midnight or otherwise, though I've used Catholic church incense in pagan rituals.) At first sniff, Cathedral is heavier and darker, and Midnight Mass (ironically for the name) seems a bit lighter and smoother. It smells like it's got more of a woody element to it in addition to the resins, and more of a touch of sweetness. In the early stages, I actually found myself liking it a bit better than Cathedral, as it seems like a more complex scent. But as they dry down, Cathedral seems to blossom on my skin and develop this really lovely, warm, aromatic nature (which I've raved about elsewhere in my review of it, so I won't go into further detail here), while Midnight Mass seems to go a bit... funky. I think it's that woody element -- wood notes are not always good on me. Sometimes they work and sometimes they go all weird. Eventually it does get past that phase and become nice again, and actually seems to pick up a bit more sweetness in its later stages (though maybe that's contamination from other oils that have fragranced the wrist-rest area of my laptop over the months!), so overall I'd say it's not bad. But I think Cathedral still wins for me, especially in terms of its continuing availability as a catalog scent. Overall I think Aureus is still the incensey scent for me, but it's nice to have options. Grade: B

This one seems to be kind of in the same ballpark scent-wise as Xiutehcutli and Yerevan -- sort of a wet fruity/floral mix, with in this case a strong herbal undertone as well. I want to like it, but my skin is amping up the florals enough that it's very sweet on me. And there's a note of bitterness in the herbal component that clashes with rather than balances the sweetness. I think I liked it better when it first went on, when the fruity notes were a little more prominent and the florals hadn't overcome them yet. Oh well. Grade: C+

Very, very fruity. I suppose that shouldn't be a surprise given the notes. It's actually somewhat reminiscent of Akuma, but less sweet and a little more interesting. It's not bad, but I still think that overall, I tend to prefer my fruit scents with a little more in the way of non-fruit notes mixed in. Musk, amber, resins, herbs... Any of these tend to add more complexity and make things more interesting. And also longer-lasting -- Jester was OK while it lasted, but didn't stick around long. Still, reasonably enjoyable. It's a bit like a more gender-neutral Maenad, but I think on the whole I like Maenad more. I may or may not keep this imp, we'll see. Grade: B

From reading the description, I thought this would be another of those men's scents that would undergo a sex change on me as my skin amped the florals. But it didn't really -- the florals are not that strong at all, and it's very much a masculine scent. The vetiver dominates it, and the leather is decidedly more than a faint hint. It also seems to be the nasty, bitter sort of vetiver that's in Malediction, as opposed to the mellower sort in Voodoo and Blood Kiss. (I should mention that I don't really know if there are two different kinds of vetiver or if it just smells different in combination with different things -- I just know some vetiver-containing scents are nice on me and some are awful). So, definitely not a winner for me... It might be nice on someone male though. Grade: D

Alas, this was kind of a disappointment. Not as much so as Masabakes, but still not really what I was expecting. I didn't think anything with amber, bergamot and plum could go wrong, but I hadn't counted on how much my skin might amp the orris. It smelled really nice in the imp, warm and fruity and ambery. But on my skin, the orris kind of took over and it became really sweet and perfumey (for lack of a better word. Not what I was hoping for at all. It wasn't bad, exactly, but it wasn't great either. Oh well. It would probably be lovely on someone with different skin chemisty... Grade: B-

Ooh, lovely! This oil quickly became one of Kettu's favourites when it arrived, and I thought I'd better try it quick before she blasted through the entire imp. And it seems to be one of those rare ones that we both really like. In Toronto, there is a little Indian boutique on Bloor St W which stocks all kinds of incense as well as Indian clothes, jewelry, etc., and the incense scents the store enough that everything you buy from it smells of this sort of every-type-of-incense-combined scent. And that is very much what Tushnamatay smells like. I think sandalwood is the dominant note, and it's a really nice warm, aromatic sandalwood. But there are also faint overtones of flowers, though never enough to overpower it, and other incensey notes as well. It really would be good for meditation -- it's a very calming, peaceful blend. Only problem is it's not so good with the staying power, at least not on me. I think this is definitely going to be heading up our next 5 mL shopping spree... Grade: A

... Thick black currant with the darkest, deepest myrrh, a drop of bitter mimosa and the slightest touch of mandrake dust. What a disappointment. I really wanted to love this one -- it sounded great from the descriptions, and many of the reviews, but on me, somehow "a drop of bitter mimosa" became an overpowering onslaught of super-sweet, perfumey, floral hell. Nothing bitter in there -- hell, for quite some while I couldn't even catch a trace of blackcurrant or myrrh, just flowers, flowers and more flowers. Eventually it does dry down to something relatively pleasant, at which point you can actually pick up the myrrh and blackcurrant, but it takes its time getting there, and in the meantime, it's way too sweet and too much like a commercial perfume for my liking. *sigh* Into the swaps you go, demoness. Grade: C

Hmmm, nice. It's strongly fruity, but with a dark, earthy undertone that I quite like. And much less sweet than you'd expect of something with three kinds of fruit in it, but then, dates and figs are pretty earthy as fruit scents go. Unfortunately, it fades kind of quickly. It's not one of those don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-it scents like Mantis or Silk Road, but it pulls a pretty quick fade. I can still faintly smell it with my nose right to my wrist, but that's about it. I'd say it had mostly faded inside of half an hour. Oh well. Maybe I just need to experiment more with putting on more of it, or in different places, because it's quite nice apart from the short duration. Grade: B

I avoided this one for a long time because of the amaretto element -- I can't stand almond/amaretto. Actual almonds to eat, no problem. Almond scent/extract/liqueur -- eeew. But I kept seeing people recommend it as a fruity scent, without ever mentioning the almond, so eventually I thought it might be worth trying. And sure enough, very little trace of almond/amaretto. Mainly it's just really sweet and fruity, but not in a candy-sweet way -- more in a boozy, decadent way. Definitely does a good job of conjuring up its description. It's an uber-girly scent, but not in an innocent, teenager-ish sort of way. Too sweet for me to want to wear on any kind of regular basis, but I'm tempted to keep it around for occasions when I want to be all tarty and high femme. Grade: B

Interesting! Definitely has the scent of an aromatherapy oil or ritual oil rather than a perfume. Lavender is the strongest note, but there are other things in here as well. I'm getting something sharp and herbal -- mugwort, maybe? That would certain make sense for an oil intended for dreamwork... And maybe a bit of rosemary. Plus there's a hint of some other kind of floral, maybe jasmine? The overall effect is sharp and a bit bittersweet, and definitely a good go-to-bed oil. I didn't notice any difference in my dreams while wearing it, but I think I did fall asleep more easily. Maybe repeated applications will have more effect... Grade: B

Mmmm, nice. But then, with those notes, how could it not be? It's fairly reminiscent of Kuang Shi, with overtones of Aglaea and Imp, all of which I like. I am starting to realize that BPAL's peach and apricot are nearly always quite nice on me, even though they're notes I never would have chosen originally. Orange blossom is one of the few florals that works really well on my skin, probably because it smells more fruity than floral on me. And white musk makes a nice base for nearly anything, smoothing and mellowing the other notes. The overall effect is sweet and heady but a bit ethereal at the same time. And like most of the scents I just compared it to, it smells like it would make an excellent mood-lifter for grey days. Definitely a keeper. Though the more I sniff it, the more I think it is so much like Kuang Shi that when big bottle time comes around, I don't think there's any point to having both. I'll just have to decide which of the two I like better. Right now, it's a hard call... Grade: A-

This is really lovely. It's got more complexity to it than I'd expected -- sometimes the heavily incensey scents can come as a bit flat on me, but not this one. There's an element of sweetness to it, too, and it seems to blend really nicely with my natural skin scent. It doesn't come across as particularly heavy on me at all. It's similar to Midnight Mass, but I think I actually like this one better, which is good since unlike MM it's a catalog scent, so I can actually get more of it. I would even venture to say that it's almost as nice as Aureus, but not quite. I think Aureus will continue to be the incense scent for me, but this is a close runner-up. Grade: B+

This was one I'd wanted from my first perusals of the BPAL site way back when, but ended up putting on the back burner after finding out that dragon's blood sadly doesn't seem to work well on my skin. But a little dab I tried at the last Meet'n'Sniff seemed nice enough that I decided to try and get hold of an imp of my own, and I'm glad I did, because this would seem to be the exception to the dragon's blood rule. It does have a bit of a perfumey edge right at the beginning which I don't quite like, but it quickly settles in to being a lovely incensey scent with a slightly spicy edge. In fact, it's probably the closest oil I've ever smelt to the actual scent of dragon's blood incense -- I've commented before on how dragon's blood oil never seems to smell as nice as the actual resin. Well, this does! Not sure if it's really just dragon's blood and amber or if there's more in it -- from the scent, I wouldn't be surprised if there was some clove in it and maybe a bit of myrrh. Then again, real dragon's blood resin does have a spicy edge to it and a hint of darkness. It's got a pretty good throw and lasts for quite a while -- I put it on at about 6pm today and I'm still getting whiffs of it at 2am. All in all, very nice! I guess the dragon and I have finally made peace. Grade: A-

Hmmm. Not sure what I think of this one... It's a complex mix, and there are elements in it that I like and others that I don't. At first sniff, I most strongly pick up tea, ginger and fig, but other notes come through more as it dries down. There's definitely something citrussy in there -- maybe lemon verbena or lemon balm. And oakmoss is very noticeable, in the later stages of the drydown. The overall effect is at times a bit reminiscent of Yves Rocher's Fleurs de Thé scent. I'm still not entirely sure how much I like tea as a perfume note. It's ironic, because I'm a very habitual tea drinker and am almost never without a cup of it during the day, but I'm not so sure I like it fragrance-oil form. I guess it depends on what else it's blended with. There are stages in this scent's development where it smells really nice to me, and others where it's a bit off-putting. I could also be slightly biased against this scent right now because I got a migraine while wearing it. I don't necessarily think it's the scent's fault, but having a migraine will make anything smell unappealling. I suppose I'll have to try it again to be sure. Grade: B-

First thing I noticed is that this oil is green! No, I don't mean scent-wise. I'm talking actual colour. Bright, vibrant, emerald green oil. Kind of equal parts unnerving and appealing. On me, it smells very, very piney, or evergreeny in some form, anyway. And there's what seems like a slightly synthetic edge -- the scent is strong and harsh enough that it really smells more like some kind of commercial pine-scented potpourri or candles more than actual pine trees. There's also a slight undertone of that bitter astringency that a lot of BPAL's poisonous herbals seem to have, but predominantly it just smells like fake pine. It smells a little less synthetic and a little more pleasant after it settles in for a while, but never does get better than "Sort of nice, I guess." I guess it's more evidence that by and large, the foresty scents I originally thought I'd like best mostly don't work that well on me. It's not an awful scent or anything, just not very exciting and not very real-smelling. Oh well. Grade: B-

Damn my floral-amping skin! The description of this one sounds really good to me, but on me, it's just violet, violet, and more violet. There are faint shadows of other things in the background -- mainly other florals -- but for the most part it's just The Violet Show. Hard to believe this is supposedly a men's scent -- it smells like an old-lady floral on me. And yet... Eventually, the violet fades, and it dries down to a realy nice musk-sandalwood-amber scent with just a hint of floral. Maybe that's what it would have smelled like to start with on someone else. I guess this is one of those ones like Snake Oil and Penny Dreadful where the eventual result is nice, but it takes its time getting there and what you have to go through in the meantime isn't really worth it, at least for me. Grade: C

We've had some issues with Hamadryad too. When I tried it at a Meet'n'Sniff last summer, it was dry and woody. Later, once I'd gotten Kettu hooked and she wanted to try Hamadryad, we got an imp of it that was all appley. We compared it to an imp we had of Hesperides and they were bang-on identical in scent, colour, everything, so we figure that one was mislabelled. But in yesterday's order, we got 2 imps of Hamadryad, and they both smell not like wood, not like apples, but... wintergreen! Like straight, undiluted wintergreen oil. Now, I know birch oil smells a lot like wintergreen, so maybe birch is one of the woods in there and this particular batch is just kind of heavy on the birch. And I know natural ingredients vary in potency, so it could also be that the proportions haven't changed at all and it's just that they got a particularly strong batch of birch oil in, I don't know. But whatever the cause, we now have one imp of Hamadryad that smells like Hesperides and two that smell like Pepto-Bismol, but none that actually smell like, well, Hamadryad. BTW, on the Baghdad/Bengal front -- I've tried both and they didn't smell at all similar to me. Bengal smelled like honey-sweet spices, kind of like walking past a Cinnabon store, and Baghdad was an overpowerly sweet heavy floral that smelled a lot like a department store perfume. But that might have been just my skin amping the florals in it.

Oh, wow. Talk about your unexpected gems. This wasn't on my wish list at all, probably because the Lab description is kind of vague and doesn't list any specific notes, so it was hard for me to imagine what it would smell like. But we got it as a frimp in the order that came in today, and I think this is love, or at least serious like. Picture a gentler version of Umbra, overlaid with warm, aromatic incensey tones, and mellowed out with amber. The cedar never gets strong enough to be hamster-cage-ish, and there's an earthy base to it but not so earthy that it feels heavy or sludgy. If this is patchouli, it's the kind of patchouli that plays well with others and doesn't dominate. There's a hint of spice, some rich incense resins, and a warm ambery glow suffusing the whole scent. Lovely. Interestingly, it smells like it could do equally well as a ritual oil, a room scent, or a fragrance on either gender. There's nothing intrinsically masculine or feminine about it Aureus; it's just warm and resinous and gorgeous. I don't think a scent has ever before gone from being nowhere on my wish list at all to being on my A-list, but this just did. Grade: A

I tried this, for some reason, despite the fact that it contains ylang ylang, which is normally my arch-nemesis. Thankfully the ylang ylang is not too strong in this one, but strangely, neither is anything else. This scent is so soft as to be barely there at all. What I can smell of it is fairly nice, but I have to have my nose pressed right to my wrist to smell it all. It's like my skin ate it. Oh well. Grade: C