Antoinette

Oh! Hello there, love! Beth has left me in awe again. This is divine. I ordered this unsniffed (based on the notes listed and the inspiration) because it just sounded like something I would adore. And, I do! Yay! This is the 2010 version: In the bottle: Oh goodness, I want to devour this. Orange-glazed cake, indeed! I can smell the orange flavor, the cake and the sugary glaze - all distinctly but nicely blended. It just smells really authentic. Wet on skin: Yum! The orange glazed cake is at the forefront but the anise pops out in a lovely way. The florals are also apparent but very subtle. Dry: Not much change. This is delicious. I can imagine that I am actually about to eat this cake and can smell the flowers sitting near by. A few hours later: This has morphed into an orange candy smell. It's still really yummy but I've lost the anise and the flowers. Overall, this is just stunning. Not only because the scent is so authentic to its inspiration, but also because it's another example of how Beth can take an experience and put it in a bottle. I love being able to close my eyes, inhale and imagine that I really am experiencing the inspiration of the scent - this wonderful cake and funeral flowers. It captures everything so perfectly. Totally in love with Beth's talent right now!

This is my first experience with Boo and I'm not totally sure what to make of it. Hmmm, I waffle from loving it to wondering if I love it. It's sorta weird on me. In the bottle: this smells like buttery, creamy vanilla frosting. It's so yummy. Wet on skin: same but then there's the cotton note. Funny, I never really thought about what cotton smells like but when I smell this on my arm it's clear as day - that's cotton! Do I like how cotton smells? Drydown: Sugary. I like the sugary aspect but that cotton is waving itself around pretty vigorously. A few hours later: White sugar is about all that's left and it is pretty wonderful. I guess Boo isn't exactly what I was expecting, which is crazy of me because it really does smell like it's description. I suppose I was expecting more sweet and instead my skin is giving me a whole lot of cotton. A sweet cotton but I'd probably prefer just straight up sugar. I'm definitely keeping my bottle because I do enjoy this scent and I am curious to see what happens to it over time, so it's a winner, just not a ZOMG! type of winner. *shrug* Edit: Just to clarify that while I may not be totally in love with the way the cotton plays out on my skin, I would not have this scent any other way. This is evocative of a sweet smelling cotton sheet that someone would throw over themselves as a ghost costume on Halloween. And that's what I love most about what Beth does - she captures a mood, an experience, a time or place and puts it into a bottle. It's magic, I tells ya, magic! So, because of all that - I love Boo. I do love Boo. Second Edit: So, after letting my bottle of this sit and rest for a weeks it's become so beautiful. It's so much sweeter and creamier while the cotton note has calmed down considerably. I can't stop wearing it now!

I get mostly the carnation and iris out of this. It's a very spicy floral. The orange is just a background character here and the sugared cream sort of ties it all together. Very interesting blend. Not my favorite but a definite keeper for those days when I want something spicy. Like A LOT but not love.

Oh my, Liberty is pretty! I took a chance on this one, unfamiliar with some of the notes but sold on the concept. My chance paid off! Not only is this a really pretty scent on me but it also evokes the painting it is inspired by quite magically. I don't know how Beth does it! If this scent were a color it would be all the muted blues and yellows of the sky and the creamy color of Liberty's bare skin. Amazing. The gunpowder and smoke notes, although faint and in the background, lend a feeling of authenticity to this blend. I feel like I can close my eyes, sniff my wrist and experience what it would have smelled like to be in that scene, standing next to that woman. Magical! A prime example of why I love BPAL so much. In the bottle: Smells complex and I can't pick out anything specific. Wet on my skin: Frankicense! There's a smooth sweetness to this scent which is offset by the smoke and gunpowder. I love this! It's emotive and complex, more than just a pretty scent, it's a concept of a moment slathered on my arm. Love. The beeswax and olive blossom are also noticeable and I guess the magnolia and apple blossom are what's lending the sweetness. Not sure if I'm picking out the chamomile or sampaguita. Drydown: Beauitful, creamy beeswax comes to the fore. Everything else is still there but the creaminess amps up. Gorgeous and soft. I am so glad I bought this and will probably feel the need to pick up a back-up bottle while it's still available. I can't say enough how wonderful this one is!

In the imp: Smells tart, fruity. Wet on skin: Oh! Apple, I love you! Drydown: Alas, the lovely apple is being stomped on by the rose. The tartness of the lemon is still around but the rose overpowers all. The rose almost turns a little soapy on me as well. And, it's a no for Delirium.

I've been wanting to try this scent out for a while and finally ordered an imp which arrived today. It smells great! First impression in the imp and on my skin is that it smells just like the insides of certain candy/saloon like shops in Old Town, Columbia, which is an authentic old gold mining town and state park in California that dates back to the 1850s. These shops sell sassafras by the bottle and smell great inside, always love visiting there. Sassafras, vanilla and the smell of the wood that the store is made from - this is what Tombstone evokes and I adore it. It's quite atmospheric for me. Awesome! Bottle(s) needed, like now! I will also add that The Anti-Saloon League is one of my very faves, if not my fave, but I think Tombstone is going to be a close second. Which makes me so happy since ASL is hard to come by.

I recently got a bottle of this on a lark. I like all of the notes listed but was a bit unsure about the honeycomb. I have to say, the honeycomb turned out to be one of my favorite things about this blend. In the bottle it smells very floral to me and I can pick out the thyme just barely in the background. Wet on my skin it turns into a honey, currant and vanilla scent with just a hint of the florals. I really like it. Dry it morphs gently into a vanilla honey. Soft and sweet, one of the only honey scents I've tried that I don't find overpowering on me. I adore this! Really happy that I took a chance on Mad Kate. She's lovely.

Thanks for the reply, portalkat. Ok, I feel a little better. I just didn't want to screw anything up on their end. I heart the Lab!

I am a complete doofus and sent my latest order via CCNow paying by PayPal. Ack! Will my order still go through? My PayPal account shows that the money was sent, I emailed the Lab with apologies because I now know about the double charge they will get hit with. Feel terrible for making my mistake.

Our version of a Black Cow, a 1920s virgin thirst-quencher: sarsaparilla and cream. I went to C2E2 because I wanted THIS scent. Alas, it was sold out before I even got there. Since then, I have hyped this thing so much in my mind that I was afraid it could never live up to my ideal. Happily, it DOES! And then some. In the bottle : Sarsaparilla, smells a bit spicy. Wet on skin : Same. Dry down : It gets creamier and creamier. Vanilla cream root beer. I'm infatuated. I was telling my husband, who kept giving me weird looks because I couldn't stop smelling my arm, that it's like I spilled a really creamy, yummy and rich root beer on myself except that it wasn't sticky so I didn't have to wash it off! Hooray! Honestly, if this were available to order I would hoard it like nobody's business. http://www.bpal.org/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/wub2.gif Eternal thanks to the lovely person who sold this to me.

#211 When I first got this I was a bit horrified. I remember being a kid and going to the dentist and they'd put this rubber mask over my face to give me nitrous oxide. They would always let me choose a scented spray to spray the inside of the mask and I'd always pick cherry. The cherry smell was ok, but the rubber mask was always horrible. The spray did not mask the scent of the mask, so to say. Well, this is what my CT reminded me of. That super strong rubber smell with the cherry spray and some vanilla that was being drowned out by yucky rubber! I skin tested it and got horrid flashbacks of that rubber mask and having cavities drilled. Not good. I set the bottle aside for a few weeks and I'm glad I decided to retest it the other day because it's gotten a lot better! The rubber smell has calmed down to almost nothing. Now, it's like cherry vanilla. At least, I think it's cherry. Syrupy sweet with vanilla. I can't declare love for it, yet. But it's wearable and I think I am sort of digging it.

Luna, so soft, so feminine and pretty. I can pick out the Asian pear, carnation, lime sugar and green musk right off the bat. Lovely combo. In the bottle : Mostly lime sugar sweetness. Wet : The pear, carnation and musk show up. The carnation is wonderful, adding a spicy kick that the musk seems to soften at every turn. Musk is generally a death note on me, but thankfully it's working ok in this blend. Something is keeping it in check. Dry down : Mostly pear, carnation and musk. I wish the lime sugar stuck around a bit longer, but this is pretty. The softness of it reminds me of the softness I also get from Antique Lace - even though they don't smell the same. Just the same feel to me. Verdict : Glad I got a bottle. Wish it was a bit sweeter on the dry down, but it's great for when I want to feel soft and girly. EDIT : Darn it. Not so glad anymore. As this starts to fade away all it is leaving behind is musk, musk, musk. I hate that I amp musk. It's making me feel queasy now. Darn it! I want to love you, Luna, but the musk is ruining everything. *le sigh*

Oh, goodness gracious - what is going on here? Monarch totally confused me for about three hours, and then I had to just give up and quite sadly wash it off. For a while it was interesting. I couldn't quite figure out what I was smelling. It wasn't pumpkin, it wasn't mandarin - well, maybe it was mandarin, for a fleeting minute?...and then it was like, spicy and tangy brown something? If that was the ginger then that's disappointing since I usually ADORE ginger. Maybe because it's red ginger? Anyway, as it dried it got a little better but basically just obtrusive to me. Sadly, this one does not like my skin chemistry, or something. This is the first of the Butterflies and Moths that hasn't worked for me. A little sad, but still have a few more to happily try!

I agree with Venneh, this does remind me of sugary cereal...in all the right ways! This is very delicate and sweet. I have little experience with most of the notes in this so I didn't know if I was going to like this, but I do. A lot. It's quite soothing, delicate. A keeper, for sure. edit: After having worn this all day yesterday I just fell in love with the dry down stage. It turns to all creamy white sugar on me. Heavenly.

Oh, Paper Kite...I love thee. In the bottle: Coconut and pepper. Wasn't sure how these would work together, but I think it's such an interesting scent combo! Strong in the bottle. Wet: Sweet Coconut and pepper. Dry down: The white sugar comes out to play. This turns into all sugary coconut with a kick of pepper. I don't really know what angelica smells like, so I don't know how it's playing with the other notes but everything smells well blended to me and I love it! Ordered a back-up bottle today. Feeling a hoarding tendency towards this one.

This is so delightful! I'm not sure if I can pick out all the individual notes, I just know that it smells sweet and girly. But, I do definitely smell the rose sugar note. It actually reminds me of my bottle of Pink Phoenix, if Pink Phoenix were a little girl. It has great throw for me too. Makes me smile and feel happy everytime I catch a whiff. This is a real keeper and totally lives up to my expectations. Love!

I tried Faith yesterday and Hope today. Faith's glory is untouchable in my mind, but Hope holds her own with a delicious sweetness that I really enjoyed. Very simply sugar and roses. She's a perfect sister scent to Faith and I am sooo glad to have bought them. I think, no - I know, these are going to be my first instance of needing to order back up bottles. These are so utterly perfect for me!

First impression: I think I died and went to sugary violet heaven. Second impression (after wearing it for a few hours): I am bowled over by this scent. In the last three months of experimenting with BPAL, I have learned that I really love sugar and violet notes. Put them together and Faith is an amazing discovery for me! I think I have just found one of my most favorite scents ever. The longer it's on I notice the violet fades but doesn't get powdery on me. The sugar comes to the forefront and is beautiful. The throw is better than I expected and it's lasting a long time. Yay! So happy I ordered the Hope and Faith set based on reviews alone. Haven't skin tested Hope yet but she smells great in the bottle. Partial to Faith, though. Oh, SO partial!!!

In the imp - Red jelly beans! That was my first impression and I instantly fell in love. Wet on skin - Juciy, sweet red berries and something a bit green. I don't know what huckleberry smells like, maybe that's the 'green' I'm detecting? Dry : The neroli emerges nicely with a teeny bite but it's mostly the red currant which seems to be a bit more tart now. I adore this one, as I've been loving every BPAL I try with a currant in it. This goes straight to my need a bottle list. I figure I'm going to slather right through this imp pretty quickly....

I got this as a frimp from the lab and was excited to get it! In the vial : I smell the black currant and something else foody. Wet on skin : Reminds me a lot of Eat Me but the black currant is stronger. Dry down : Buttery! Oh my gosh, this is yummy. Still reminds me of Eat Me but more rich/dense. Still getting mostly black currant and butter, no rose at all. Dry : Three hours after applying on my wrists and it still smells yummy. Never got any rose from this, but I'm not complaining. This is a lovely foody scent on me but I think I prefer Eat Me. Will definitely use up this imp but not sure I'll need a bottle.

I have the same problem with musk so I've been trying/buying the musk free scents with great success! (Too much success, if you ask my pocketbook - LOL!) These are a few non-musk oils I've had great luck with: Phantasm - Green tea, lemon verbena, jasmine and neroli Euphrosyne - Gardenia, tea rose, vanilla and jasmine (Vanilla, but no musk!) Doesn't seem super vanilla-ish to me though, it's very light and fresh. The Unicorn - Wispy linden blossoms, white flowers, and a touch of sweet herbs. Baobhan Sith - Grapefruit, white tea, apple blossom and ginger. Super fresh/tart/fruity. Lovely! High Strung Daisies - Daisy, pink carnation, pink pepper, and sugar Marie - Violet and tea rose. (I second this recommendation!) Good luck!

Just got a bottle of this, and so glad I did! I totally understand the comparisons to Snow White (which I also love). Pink Snowballs is really just like a rosy pink Snow White to me. In the bottle: Rosy Snow White. Pink! Wet on skin: Very pink rose. I definitely think I smell vanilla, but it all smells very cool. Dry: Still pink and rosy, soft and cool with the vanilla and Snow White similarities lingering in the background. Definitely a keeper for me.

I also picked up a sample of this at C2E2 and didn't try it until just today. Why did I wait?!?!?! This is gorgeous! First impression: A sweet floral. The rosehip and plum blossom jump out at me first. This is really soft and pretty. Dry: Still floral, but I'm getting the incense now. It's not overpowering, very subtle and light to me. Maybe a teeny tiny bit powdery, but I like it. Overall impression: An enveloping soft floral that is sweet, but not demanding. Makes me feel warm and very feminine. I want a bottle. p.s. this was my first ever review. Hope it made sense, my nose is still in BPAL training.