Soniadevi

The Little Wooden Doll: the name of the scent did not appeal to me at all, I thought perhaps it was another one of those experimental types, which was confirmed when I sniffed it wet and absentmindedly put a bit on my wrist, whilst greedily trying other scents. My first impression was like many others have noted, a woody smell, very woody, too woody. This little doll was discarded at the bottom of my toy chest because I didn't know her secrets. Then I decided to give her another shot. I pulled her delicate little wooden limbs out of the toy chest, and realised that there was a deep, soft, motherly love underneath all that wood, and it made me feel very sentimental indeed! That love was the ambery rose, or the rosey amber, whichever way you would see it, and brought to life the little wooden doll like a well told story. Now that I realise how precious she is, I want to treasure her, and hold her close to my heart. Plain features on the outside, masking a most charming beauty. Will I get a big bottle? YES. Some scents really deserve another chance, and this is one of them.

Of all the Rose scents I've tried, Snooty Rose is the one that warranted a full bottle. I wanted a Rose scent that didn't just smell of Rose, but smelled mostly of Rose- a balanced Rose. This scent is it! The other ingredients seem to be there to enhance the Rose, make her shine in her best possible light. The theme is Rose, it's all about her. The Sandalwood softens any sharpness, the Oud adds depth and mystery, the Bergamot lifts her up and twirls her around like a beautiful princess in a floaty dress, and the plum adds the "just right" amount of juicy fruit so that the whole effect maintains some sensuality. It is a perfect, GENIUS blend, one that I was able to purchase a bottle of without any hesitation and which I enourmously enjoy draping over my skin like a cashmere glove, or draping around my neck like an exquisite, soft pink silk scarf... I'm in love...

... An incense blend that invokes the higher qualities of mercy and compassion, mingled with the soft, sugared currant scent of offertory soul cakes. All Souls 2010: To me this smells exactly like it is described, and exactly how I imagined, which is quite incredible. I get a very clear picture of the offertory incense and sweet cakes. It's FUN! I like it very, very much! A good one to wear when you want something sweet and foody, but not TOO sweet and foody, if you know what I mean- the incensy notes stop it from being full on foody- and the foody notes stop it from being just another incensy blend. It's wonderful and makes me smile. Very happy to have a bottle of this so I can just use it and enjoy it!

I'm glad I took a chance and purchased a bottle of this! There is nothing bland and generic about this blend in my humble opinion. Smells nothing like Parlement of Foules to me AT ALL. I am amazed some find this "flat", "just another Frankincense blend". Wet, it starts out with a certain sharpness, but quickly mellows out into a lemony powdered incensy blend with something else I cannot quite put my finger on but the notes are quite well blended and soon they all marry and soften together giving a very unusual but lovely smelling end result- I find it morphs from powdery to herby to incensy to sharp to powdery and back again. It's an interesting blend that deserves to be approached like an exotic and unknown animal in the jungle: with humility and patience. I find that some smells cannot be simply sniffed and consumed. Some need to come to in their own time, and I think this is one of them.

I have come to understand that different days, different moods, call for different scents. This is what BPAL does so brilliantly, catering to every possible, imaginable, whimsy or mood. Blood Rose certainly fits my mood today. I only have an imp, and I am so enamoured that I realise that I MUST BUY A BOTTLE, because every single time I try Blood Rose, it seems to fit my mood (I always want to try different ones, but I always come back to Blood Rose). The funny thing is, on the surface it seems to sweet for me, too pink and candy like. And yet I cannot help but love it. Love, love, love it!!! My friends, if you haven't yet tried Blood Rose, do so NOW! I would put it on the list of 100 things to smell before you die.

Oh I ABSOLUTELY ADORE THIS SCENT!!! I'm glad I didn't read the reviews before buying this, or I may have been put off. This scent is so lovely, it epitomizes to me that scent of your BPAL box of imps all combined together, in just the right kind of way that I would a.) want to wear it as an everyday scent and b.) is actually very ME, which is very rare for me. I can't really describe it like a perfumer, separating the different components, but to me it's just PERFECT: flowery, woody, soft, tangy, deep and yet light all at once. It's an ambiguous scent on me, but then I don't like things that are too straightforward usually. It's amazing to see that there are only two pages of reviews on this. For such a hidden gem of a scent, it almost seems a shame! Buy hey, I'm not going to complain, after all, it's kind of cool to like things that other people don't like... Anyway, I suppose that the rose does come through quite a bit, so if you can't stand rose, don't bother. If you love rose like me, then give this one a try: it's a totally unique twist on the rose theme, without it being rose dominated. BIG BOTTLE? OH YES!!!

Mag Mell is one of those I wanted to dislike, because the Verbena popped right out and kind of put me off. So then I thought I'd try not to dislike it only for this reason, and realised that if I take the Verbena in the context of this smell, it acheives what it set out to, and that is to give a bright freshness to the smell, with a surprise depth of ginger and amber underneath once the Verbena wears off a little, and merges with the other ingredients. Once it dries down properly, it acquires a fresh, sunny yet smooth and comforting feeling all at the time, and I guess that the concept of Mag Mell is such a beautiful one that I want to be part of that world. The more I smell it, the more I love it. It truly is quite beautiful. I do feel it is transporting and uplifting, yet at the same time grounding and calming, so all in all, an ambiguously serene scent which makes you feel good, and still manages to have character. I would happily wash my whole body, and hair in this scent, to give me that extra clean, bright, summery feel that you get when you step out into the sunshine, in a garden full of greenest grass and fresh lush flowering bushes, close your eyes, and feel utterly reinvigorated. I feel that I am no longer a verbena hater. Goes to show that some things just need to right context to show their true beauty. If it weren't for the fact that my big bottle wishlist is longer than my arm, I would definitely want a big bottle of this one too!

Hi there Maker Not Muse! I just wanted to say a friendly hello, because I absolutely loved your post, and the way you described this scent! You've really nailed the concept of the Lotus Moon here, and the whole point of these poetic scents. I have to say that not only do I agree with your description, but it actually inspires me to smell this more in the way that you perceived it. On a side note, I would like to add that when I received Lotus Moon, I wanted to weep for not having ordered at least three bottles!!

Oh wow, I'm in bliss! I have to admit, when I first tried it, I was a little put out, because I think I was expecting something different, so I kind of left it for a while. A few days. So I tried it on today (hmm, which one of my what-seems-like-a-thousand-imps should I try?) because I thought I hadn't given it much of a chance. And, WOW!!!! This is one of the strongest rose scents I have tried so far, PLENTY of throw, and very very soft, smooth, ROMANTIC, like something out of a fairytale. A scent from heaven! I feel like someone just handed me an enourmous armful of big, fat rose flower heads- no stems, no leaves, no thorns, just the flower heads, fragrant, sweet, angelic! It smells like bottled kisses. Sweet, loving, erotic kisses. Like that feeling you get when you kiss someone, and they taste better than anything you have ever tasted! It makes me feel even more in love with life, and my only regret is that I only have one bottle. I will cherish this bottle, and pray that Beth brings out some more... But then just like roses themselves, I guess the most beautiful things in this world don't last. Such is the nature of life.

This one smells differently everytime I smell it, so it's hard to write a review, but I have to say that my first impression of the scent is very jasmine, but then I can smell a very well blended coffee-jasmine-fig, with the creaminess of the vanilla laced throughout, and the roses tend to stay in the background, enhancing the floralness of the jasmine rather than showing up as rose on their own. I would say that if you love jasmine, you'll love this! I don't know what mahogany smells like, and it would be far fetched for me to say that I can perceive some wood in here, (I don't know what tonka smells like either to be honest- vanillery?) In any case, it is a very beautiful scent, velvety and deep, perfectly suited to the femme fatale that was Mata Hari, and I find it to be a very feminine, sensual scent that would be wonderful to wear in the evening with cocktail attire, or even, chilling out at home, in your cashmere robe (not that I have one, but one can always dream right?) In fact, I have to say, the more I sniff my hand, the more I like this! I'm not a big jasmine fan, but I don't dislike it either, so this one is a nice way for me to enjoy it. My rating out of 5, 5 being the best? 3.5 out of 5. Who knows, I may change my mind. It can go either way really, you never know how your nose will evolve!

It's funny to see such mixed reviews about this scent, and I can say it certainly leaves an impression, good or bad! In my opinion however, of all of the scents I've sniffed so far (I'm touching 60 scents now, yaaay!!) I LOVE LOVE LOVE CATHERINE!!! I'm amazed that so many people cannot smell the orange blossom, but having noticed a lot of confusion coming from people about a citrussy minty type smell, I realise that not many people know what orange blossoms smell like: to me, this is ORANGE BLOSSOM SUBLIMATED, and I absolutely adore it, the rose gives a sweet gentle softness, and the rosemary adds character, a spike of something sharp. Both notes pull the different aspects of orange blossom in two separate directions, yet combine them together in the end- it's a perfect combination and I cannot thank Beth enough to have resurrected this ancient recipe so masterfully. I cannot go on about how amazing this smell is, but then I guess it goes with my "chemistry" so perhaps I'm lucky. I must admit, over the years I've noticed that people tend to either love or hate orange blossom, and I know someone who hates this smell on me, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to buy a full bottle! This goes well with the astringence of Catherine de Medici, you can certainly imagine the poisoner vibe- I like to really immerse myself into the context and the purpose with which a scent is made, and I really can see a plotting scheming powerful lady, all dressed in brocade and velvet... But then again, removed from that context, I find this scent delightfully sunny, fresh, and VERY UPLIFTING, as in I just feel happy and beautiful when I wear it, and even my boyfriend, who hates most strange smells, finds this lovely! One things for sure though, when it comes to ones opinion of a scent, I have found that you have to try it yourself, because the reviews can be helpful, but they can also be quite misleading. If I had not received this imp free, I would never have wanted to try it based on the reviews- goes to show that you never know! FINAL VERDICT: FULL 5 ML BOTTLE. AND ANOTHER WHEN IT RUNS OUT. AND ANOTHER, AND ANOTHER, AND ANOTHER!!!

Wow! This is my first review of a scent ever. Exciting! Hellcat wet in bottle: A sharp, alcoholic, bitter almondy yet sickly buttery sweet. I held off actually trying this one on my skin for ages because of how disagreeable it seemed. I definitley see what is meant about a "wicked bite"! Wet on skin: the sharpness is already smoothing over, leaving way to a softer, furry sweetness. I'm already wondering why I didn't try this sooner. I should have trusted Beth! Drying down on skin: It smells WONDERFUL!!! A buttery rum with a nutty, sweet edge. Or like honeyed cream/milk with rum, then flambe! IF you were a Hellcat, I guess this is the kind of milk you would expect to find in your saucer. Words that come to mind: Scrumptious, Decadent, Intoxicating, Addictive, Luxuriant. Imagery that comes to mind: A femme fatale, catlike in demeanour and attitude. Red lips, wild honey blonde hair, mischievous eyes, wicked grin. She is naked under the most luxurious creamy being fur coat you have ever seen, and wears diamonds on her ears, diamond bracelets and diamond rings. The colours in this scene are all beiges, blondes, golds, but the darker variety, there's no paleness here! I could just imagine Ava Gardner to smell like this, as she fits this image perfectly (I've just read her biography and wow! What a woman!) Rating: Five stars (out of five) BIG Bottle is a MUST! Potency: Good throw, but still has a subtlety. Long lasting. But I still want more because it's just too good!!!