rinster

When I started reading the reviews for this, it sounded very similar how Kuang Shi smelled to me, which I love (gorgeous orange blossom and sandlewood). For the folks who didn't care for Kuang Shi, this may be a great alternative.

Very happily I received this as a frimp from a forumite as I probably wouldn't have ordered it on my own. The wasabi kind of worried me, but this is a very clean, crisp scent with just enough bite to keep it interesting.

This is very light and fizzy to me. The first couple of sniffs tickled my nose and I sneezed. I'm not familiar with sassafras, but it reminds me of a cream soda-- just a little smoother than a root beer. Nice!

I purchased this unsniffed at the last minute before it went away and I'm kicking myself for not buying more. This is WONDERFUL! It had an odd green edge when I first opened the bottle, but on my skin it's golden and gorgeous. I hope the folks who were less enamored put theirs up for sale or this makes it way into a trunk show eventually so I can get more.

"Laura, if I may call her Laura, must use a wonderful hand cream at night, Signore. Slick, Cold at first then warm", he said. "The scent of orange blossoms. Laura, l'orange. Ummmmm." When I tested Kuang Shi, that passage from the book Hannibal popped into my head. Granted, this particular scene was gruesome as those were Hannibal's parting words before he disembowled Laura's husband, Pazzi. However, the description of Laura’s exclusive, exquisite scent made me dream of going to Italy to find it for myself. Kuang Shi has that same delicate, gorgeous orange blossom scent I had imagined on her. Ironically, had the lab not given me a frimp I would have not considered trying this scent, especially since the reviews have been running a bit lukewarm. This was a lovely surprise and is on my big bottle list.

Selune, the Moon Goddess, fell in love with a beautiful shepherd named Endymion. She appealed to Zeus, asking him to cast Endymion into everlasting slumber so that she could be with him for all eternity. Her wish was granted, and every night the Goddess visited her love as he slept. A sweet, wistful blend of d’Anjou pear, Lily of the Valley, bois du rose and white musk. This is a very tender, lyrical, fragrance and is one of my go-to scents for work. It’s unique, but understated enough that I don’t have to worry about it amping in small windowless conference rooms.

On me, O is straight up honey and very sweet. I like it solo, but it also lends itself to layering and brightening up darker, musky scents. Glad I got a bottle!

This was my very first BPAL bottle, which I purchased unsniffed. (I'm a Gaiman fan and his blog turned me on to this site.) I didn't care for Bilquis at first, but it really grew on me and now is one of my favorite scents. To me, it is a very sensual, curvy scent that veers neither too far into florals nor fruit, but each side complement each other gracefully. For some reason, once in a while my nose stops sensing the sweet top notes and I can only smell the musky myrrh (possibly the washed dog scent some folks are complaining about?). On those days I layer it with O, which brightens up the myrrh and tones down the sweetness of O.