sunlitgarden

At first this smells like some kind of frozen ice dessert, like a lime sorbet, with the sweet white musk and tart citrus. Then the lilac comes out. It still smells like it could be a gourmet dessert of some kind (hey, they put lavender into things, why not lilac?) Unfortunately, it kind of smells like bathroom deodorizing spray to me as it dries.

I'm looking for a scent somewhat like Forever Sunshine from B&BW. (Apricot, peony and praline are the main notes for the shower gel, which is what I used, but the spray lists these notes: "juicy tangerine, golden apricot, sparkling mandarin, exotic berries, gardenia petals, freesia, pink peonies, vanilla bean gelato, creamy sandalwood, nuzzly musks, a touch of sweet praline." Maybe Haloes? (figures it would be a hard to find scent...)

I rather enjoy debauchery. Plus, it's the name of my old WoW guild when I still played, AND the name of a queer burlesque show I attend monthly. So, I enjoy the concept! But, will I like the scent... that's the question. In the imp: woo, strong. blast of an almost astringent smell - I think I recognize the civet accord from Satyr. Opium is generally not a good note on me, but I'll skin test a bit. On me, it's kind of... powdery-spicy. I like Egyptian musk but it's getting kind of smothered here by the other notes. It's not really my style

2010 version: This is basically a very very sweet Snake Oil on me. I'm not getting much of the spicy/patchouli-ness, so much as sweetness and a bit of red musk. I think I prefer normal Snake Oil, this is actually a bit *too* sweet for my preference. It's kind of like an extremely watered down Snake Oil.

I got a frimp of this in a recent sale package. Fig can be a bad note on me, but I'm still willing to give it a try. In the imp, it's resinous, and bittersweet - in that there's both a kind of astringenty bitter note and sweetness from the fig. On my skin, it's kind of headache-inducing, and bit on the cloyingly over-sweet side with a bit of nuttiness (which is suitable, given the name.) I've tried similar blends before, and they don't seem to agree with my chemistry - I think it's that fig note. There's something about this that reminds me of airplane bathrooms. o_o

I received a decant of this as a frimp in a swap package. In the imp, it's a mix of florals and the "earthy" notes of peat and sphagnum moss. The overall impression is clean, kind of soapy. On my skin, it's much the same. The gardenia is behaving, mostly, but the overall impression I'm getting is still mainly soap. It's pretty, but not really my style.

I've been lusting after this one for quite a while and finally got to try it! On me, it's a warm, spicy-ish blend. It reminds me a lot of Blood Moon 2010, which is a favorite of mine. I do like this quite a bit, but I'm glad to know that my Blood Moon is quite similar on me, as I already have a bottle.

In bottle: Oh, yummy. Definitely a candyish scent, with spice and some cherry/almond and a creamy note. On my skin: Licorice-candy, gumdroppy, deliciousness! This reminds me of a local store called The Confectionary and all its candied delights. Not getting a ton of ginger from this, but it definitely reminds me of a candy shop. Another memory just sprang into my mind. I do not know if this store is still around, but we traveled to it here in Washington state when I was a kid and I loved it - a candy store in old train cars. I freaking loved this store as a kid (I was a big fan of trains), though I can't find it on google - I'll need to ask my parents if they remember it..... As it dries, this is a bit dusty-dry, but still candy-like. I got a bit on my upper lip and it burns, but that's not unusual for me. This is really yummy, more ginger-like as it dries, and really brought me back to my childhood.

Carfax Abbey is "heavy woods and thin dusty herbs touched by the wafting incense of a nearby chapel" but on me, it's mostly wood and a bit of sweet incense. Cathedral is also very woody, but it's more like a Home Depot, at least while new. It's been about 2 years since I got my imp, I need to retest it...

The Anti-Saloon League is supposed to be like a root beer float. I've never managed to try it myself, though; it's pretty hard to find.

It's a bit confusing because they were originally an April Fools LE series in 2009 (Tiki Queen, Tiki King, Blue Fire, Rangoon Riptide, Screeching Parrot, Golden Wave, Te Po, Upa Upa, Boo Bam, Marae, Moai, Moana, Opuhi and Tupapau). Then, in summer 2010, some of them were resurrected as GCs (Screeching Parrot, Golden Wave, Blue Fire and Rangoon Riptide) along with some new ones (Aremata-Popoa, Mahana, Pahoehoe, Red Tide and Polynesian Pop). Then, the entire category was discontinued in 2011. So the ones that were not resurrected are in the general LE section, whereas the four that were, along with the new ones, are in the Discontinued - Atomic Luau Lounge section. Hope that helps. I am kind of obsessed with this line, obviously. O_O *tropical scent maniac*

This scent is "pink" for sure, almost candy-like. Floral, but very fresh, like a peony just snipped from the bush and still glistening with moisture from the rain. As it dries, there's a slight anise or licorice note about it on my skin. I like it quite a bit, but am unsure about this licorice note.

In the bottle: This scent is so cute and fun! It's a bright, sparkly fizzy champagne, much like I was hoping Bon Vivant would be like (that one didn't really work on me.) It's pretty linear/consistent on my skin. Very cute and happy Edit: Wet, this reminds me of gummi worms! in a good way, I love those

In the bottle, it's mainly a rich dark chocolate with some herby-spicy depth. Reminds me of a gourmet chocolate bar. On my skin, it smells the same as in the bottle at first, but as it starts to dry it smells....grassy? And I'm smelling something lemony (the cubeb?) as well. There's a little bitterness, either from the patchouli or the myriad of herbs, I'm not sure which. Once dry, I can't smell the chocolate anymore, sadly - it was a really delicious chocolate. I'm mainly getting the lemony cubeb and some bitter herbs. Edit: Later, I'm smelling...oregano? It's making me crave spaghetti! O_o

This smells almost... jasmine-like... in the bottle. On my skin it's a bit better, but there's still a very sweet floral dominating while wet. I guess it's the narcissus. I can smell a bit of the dark patchouli there, but only a bit... As it dries more, the petitgrain starts amping up and I get lemony citrus primarily. Black leather is the best of BPAL's leather notes on me, but I actually can't smell it at all here. But I have hope that this may be improved with aging, and will try to hang onto my bottle for a couple years and see what it does.

In the imp, this is a sweet, creamsicle type scent. It reminds me more of orange fruit than orange blossom (they do smell different.) On my skin, this is a bit effervescent-smelling. Reminds me of a cream soda with a bit of orange. It gets a bit spicy as it dries. The imp is probably a keeper but I don't see myself getting a bottle.

I received a decant of the resurrected Yuki-Onna as a freebie in a swap. I amp lemon verbena, and jasmine frequently goes cat-pee or worse on me, but you never really know with BPAL, so I decided to give it a try anyway. In the imp it's very tea-like, with the bergamot, lemon verbena and jasmine. It smells refreshing. The jasmine is mercifully light in the imp. On my skin, predictably, lemon verbena is dominating. I do get a teeny bit of jasmine, but it's more soapy than bathroom-like... which is an improvement, I guess. But it's still not great, and I'm still mostly getting lemon verbena. Was hoping this one would surprise me, but... not really.

I was expecting metallic from this, but it's surprisingly not. In the imp, it's refreshing in an aquatic-citrus (grapefruit?) type way. Almost reminds me of an aftershave. On my skin, it's minty (spearmint?) and/or eucalyptus, "cool", but still men's soap/aftershave-y. I like it, though. Gonna hang onto this imp for the summer. Edit: I smell tobacco as it dries. Overall, it's quite masculine, but I like it anyway.

I received Pumpkin Hard Candy as a frimp from a Lab ebay auction I won. This may sound weird, but in the imp, I don't smell pumpkin here. I smell butter, as in movie theater buttered popcorn, and orange. An artifical orange, like orange soda. On my skin, it's still orange soda and buttered popcorn. This makes me want to go to the movies (I haven't seen a movie in a theater for at least three years), which is a feat. Or like stuffing a bunch of Jelly Belly mixed flavor jellybeans in my mouth at once and getting their Buttered Popcorn flavor as well as tangerine. Of all the blends I've tried, this reminds me most of Great Sword of War. I also got buttered popcorn jellybeans and mandarin from that. At least it's one less rare to lust after, in case I get the urge to smell like this again.

I received this as a frimp in a recent Ebay auction of the lab's that I won. In the imp this is... a bit woody-incensey, but sweet, and kind of... appley? Foody - reminds me of an apple pie. With incense in the background. On my skin.... wow, I love this. Of course, it's a rare. "Sweet appley incense" is the best way I can describe it, but it smells really, really good. The fruity note fades as it dries, leaving a sweet, woody incense. I want a bottle, I want TEN bottles! Why must it be a WC exclusive O_O

Violet usually doesn't work on me but most of the other notes in here sound good, so I'm going to at least sniff it... Imp: Oh, this smells nice. It's a more powdery and sweet violet instead of the chemical-y bad violet I usually smell. And the myrrh is not too bitter. It's resinous, but still soft in a way. On my skin, "bittersweet" is a good way to describe this. There's a woodiness here (cypress, I guess) but it's also softened by the florals. There's a bit of astringency that I attribute to the cajeput even though I'm not familiar with that note. It's not really my style (I prefer orris blends to violet, for the most part, for that sweet and powdery note) but it is a nicely blended scent. It kinda makes my nose itch though...

Imp: Melon with a bit of spice, primarily. This is the second scent in recent days to remind me of Seattle's Pike Place Market and its mix of smells (the first being Ae. Aegypti.) On skin: Melon, both honey-sweet and with a teeny bit of spice. I am not detecting the tobacco or gin/juniper, except that the scent is somewhat "cool" and refreshing feeling. As it dries, it has that fizzy/effervescent note - I think this is supposed to be the gin/juniper though it reminds me more of some kind of soda. Actually, I think Ramune has a melon-flavor soda - if not, this could be it. Sweet, effervescent melon. I think this is a nice summer scent. Doubt I'll be tracking down a bottle but I'll probably keep my imp.

Highwayman: From reading the notes, this doesn't sound good.... vetiver and jasmine? And gardenia is iffy. In the imp.... yeah, definitely vetiver. And leather too. The notes may say a "faint hint" of leather but in the imp, that's all I'm getting - leather and vetiver. On my skin, the florals are coming out, yes. The jamine is somewhat behaving, but "night-blooming" tends to work better on me than "true" jasmine (they are different plants, even though they smell similar.) Wait, I just smelled poop. Crap, here comes the jasmine-poopiness. Now this is smelling like ashes of a campfire with an outhouse next door. O_O *runs to scrub*

Let me preface this by saying that I knew Dungeon Crawl would probably not smell *good*. I got it to wear and/or use as a room scent during D&D sessions. In the bottle, it's definitely dark. A leathery-vetivery kind of manly scent, really - not too unpleasant, but definitely strong. On my skin, it's a very dark and somewhat bitter scent. Mainly I'm getting a dark leather. Again, very manly. This is more wearable than I was expecting, though! And if I close my eyes, I really feel like I'm in a dungeon. Edit: As this dries more, I swear it smells damp and cold. How does Beth do it!

Received as a lab frimp. In the imp: Wood (sandalwood I think), and a little of boozy rum. On my skin, I'm getting more of the spices in the rum (Michi says it smells like cinnamon candy; I don't smell cinnamon in particular, though, as opposed to just a general collection of spices.) I am getting a little saltiness with the wood, but like I remember from Calico Jack (which I tested a couple years ago at Knows Perfume, but have not yet reviewed) it's not in a gross, overly salty or dryer-sheety way. This smells really good, but I think I need to test Calico Jack again and compare them before I go for a bottle of either one - I really only need one manly pirate scent.