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BPAL Madness!

brilliantcat

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Everything posted by brilliantcat

  1. brilliantcat

    Perversion

    I got this as a frimp as it was on my wishlist and whoa boy am I glad I did! I loved it in the imp and now that it's on I am absolute lust with this scent! It was far boozier in the imp than on me. I get lots of vanilla-tonka with leather, a hint of tobacco, and of course the booze. As it warms, I get more of the smoky tobacco and leather playing with the tonka and it's just simply amazing. This is quickly skyrocketing to one of my favorites! It's slightly sweet, smoky, and just a bit dirty. Ummmm, this is love!
  2. brilliantcat

    Ghoul Hooligan

    My oh my, how do I love these ghouls! In the decant it was chocolate boozy spicy and once it got on my skin it was CINNAMON and chocolate. Yummy! Instant love! Like a Mexican hot chocolate almost. As it dried and morphed, the cinnamon and chocolate ratio changed. It went from mostly cinnamon, to half-and-half, to mostly chocolate. A definite winner for me. I have to get a bottle! After aging, I find it to be too heavy on the cinnamon for me, sadly. To swaps!
  3. brilliantcat

    Mountain of Bone

    I am absolutely in love with this! At first I get sharp, biting fruit with a bit of wine then as it warms it turns to a softer, tropical-smelling fruit with a hint of coconut and creaminess. Sweet and fruity and perfect for summer. Just the barest booziness. Absolute perfection, LOVE. I need a bottle and quite possibly a backup.
  4. brilliantcat

    Quirkiest, most bizarre oils

    At some point between wet and drydown, Gypsy Moth smelled distinctly like pickles. I have no idea how this is possible, but it did. I love it anyway and am buying a bottle
  5. brilliantcat

    Scent Recs based on your PERSONALITY!

    Perversion I think. Tobacco, a bit of rum, the sweetness of chardonnay, a creamy hint of tonka, and under it all the leather jacket. It has the feel of something slightly exotic and slightly feminine without being too girly. Above all, it has intensity which I think you have in spades. As for me, I'm a tomboy. I'm the sarcastic one who's always hung out with the guys because I fit in better with them. Don't take that to mean I'm not feminine because I can be. I love leather jackets and leather corsets equally. I wore my now-husband's leather motorcycle jacket over my prom dress back in high school. I like the unexpected. I also keep my feelings carefully guarded. You'll rarely know if you hurt me, but that little slight will always be remembered. I'm ballsy and don't back down. I'm a registered nurse and I worked in the ER until I injured myself too badly to work. I miss it. I can be a wonderfully sympathetic caretaker or a hardass, depending on the situation. I dealt with dying oncology patients and violent suspects brought in by the police with equal aplomb. It was truly my calling. I'm an unrepentant geek. A gamer and a bookworm, I'm never far from my computer. My books are all over the place, including the computer. My BPAL is all over the computer desk too. I adore cats. I have seven of them, and would have more if I could afford to buy the food and pay for the veterinary care. If I hadn't been a nurse, my dream would have been to work with big cats and help rehabilitate them. I love dogs as well but cats just capture my heart. I'm tattooed and pierced and want more of each! I often feel made up of contradictions. I think it comes of being a Gemini and born near the Cancer cusp. I tell my husband I truly have multiple personalities, at least in an astrological sense!
  6. brilliantcat

    Mysterious Warning

    This was MUCH nicer than I expected with all that floral. I do like lavender so I imagine that helped. At first it was strongly lavender but the lavender slowly faded and I got more of the amber and leather notes. On the drydown, I got a nice soft leather. It was fairly complex as it morphed with the other florals and the amber backing the lavender and leather notes. I ended up really liking it.
  7. brilliantcat

    Lotus Moon 2010

    I got my bottle today and these are just first impressions, I may add more when I do a full review. I got the slight sweet "bubblegum" from the lotus at first though that quickly mellows into a rich floral with some help from the rose. I usually amp rose but it's behaving itself nicely. Early on it's a very opulent, feminine scent, it feels very "expensive perfume" until it starts to pick up more of the frankincense and amber notes. I like how it's morphing. The sweetness has tempered into a mature, spicy floral with a lot of depth. Medium throw and I keep huffing my wrist to see how it's changed. I'm missing the opium, which is a shame as it's a note I love, but I can deal without it. I wouldn't mind staying on the Island of the Lotus-Eaters for awhile.
  8. brilliantcat

    Paper Kite

    I adore coconut and had very high hopes for this one so I guess I was begging for disappointment. I got a bit of the plastic-y smell at first but thankfully that mellowed. I got pretty much straight-up sunblock coconut from this though on the late drydown I finally got the nice creamy coconut I'd been hoping for. I got very little, if any, of the other notes. I think I'm going to get a bottle and let it age to see if some of the rough edges smooth out a bit because I still love my coconut no matter what
  9. brilliantcat

    Where is this scent?

    Confound it, I even searched there! I think the search is doing it's dirty tricks with short names again >< I'm glad you recognized it for me, thank you!
  10. brilliantcat

    Where is this scent?

    I have a puzzle. I was frimped a prototype that is simply labeled "Lulu". I searched both here and the BPAL site itself and came up empty-handed. It's definitely a floral blend and so probably will be swapped as I'm not a big fan of the florals but I'm curious about it and its notes. Any help is appreciated
  11. brilliantcat

    Banned in Boston

    On a whim, I decided to crack open my decant of this last night. In-bottle and wet, it was incredibly sweet and boozy, almost overwhelmingly so, and I like sweet blends (Sugar Skull being one of my absolute favorite blends). I also got the leather feel. Definitely old, worn leather, not creakingly brand-new leather. The amazingly sweet phase lasted less than 5 minutes and BAM! I started getting the full force of the other notes just before the cloying sweetness annoyed me. The sweetness mellowed significantly and I was left with something that was smutty and dirty and sexy and incredible. I adore the lab's GC Laudanum blend so I was hoping to get some of that feel and I wasn't disappointed. The cognac/booze note settled down a tad and there was a great waft of tobacco and musk underneath. I'm shocked by the people who had fast fades with this. I tested mine in the evening and I can still smell it today, the next afternoon, albeit very lightly. I doubt I'd wear it enough to warrant a full bottle but my decant will be getting some loving
  12. brilliantcat

    Teatime in Roswell

    Aliens at high tea: Earl Grey, biscuits, Battenberg cake, and strangely-glowing cucumber sandwiches. Another birthday gift I asked for unsniffed. And I am THRILLED that I did! This one is absolute love on me. In the bottle I get sweet tea and cakes with a bit of cucumber. Wet on my skin, it's definitely tea with a bergamot slant, slight orangey hints, and delicious buttery cake. Upon different applications, I've also gotten some almond, which is a note I adore. As it starts to warm up, the tea stays but the cake mellows and I get more of the cucumber which is a slightly sweet, juicy note. The drydown adds a bit of musk and sugar to the picnic and it's absolutely yummy. I've now worn it multiple times and I can say with a fair amount of certainty that it changes very little from application to application and my only disappointment is that it doesn't last long, as others have said. I may have to look for an unloved bottle to purchase as a backup.
  13. brilliantcat

    Menacing Ionospheric Research Instrument

    The other reviewers are NOT kidding when they say this one is a morpher! I got a bottle as a birthday gift and I was smiling just sniffing the bottle. It smells minty and metallic and slightly floral and aquatic all at once. I ADORE the smell in the bottle. Wet, it smells minty, vaguely aquatic, and very slightly floral. I love this stage! I wish it lasted longer because tricksy Menacing Ionospheric Research Instrument decided to start morphing almost immediately. He went metallic, and still slightly minty. Then there was a bit of floral playing with my nose and the mint faded completely. Then he went strongly aquatic with a men's cologne vibe and stayed that way for quite a bit. Luckily I like that smell, though generally on men... but it reminded a bit of Cthulhu which is juuuuust this side of too masculine for me to wear. I may end up sharing this with my husband, we have a bunch of BPAL we share. After the cologne-ish stage, he calmed down into a sage-y, slightly herbal scent that lasted for quite awhile but was very very faint. The longest stage was the "cologne" stage. Overall, very glad I asked for this blend! The crazy morphing suits me Especially on those crazy days when I need the minty pick-me-up and the cooling effects of the metallic ozone and aquatic stages.
  14. brilliantcat

    Luna

    In the bottle: A lot of pear and lime, lots of sugar. I'm getting flashbacks to Geek.Goth. Let's hope this one likes my skin better than that did, as my chemistry usually turns lime, and lemon to a lesser extent, to dish soap. No soapy please! Immediately after application: OMFG YUM. Sugary pear-lime. Geek.Goth + pear and musk! I LOVE IT! PLEASE DON'T GO SOAPY! I AM BEGGING YOU! Warming up: No soap! Sugary pear and a hint of musk. Less Geek.Goth vibe but still yummy. Fading: Still no soap! Yay! Some of the tea is coming out now. It still smells AWESOME. I am most pleased. Faded: Tea, a little spice, and pear. Yummy awesomeness. I am very pleased! Overall: Reminiscent of my beloved Geek.Goth that turned to dish soap on me, this stayed beautiful start to finish. I loved it. This was the first of the metamorphosis blends I tested. I'm also glad I opted for half-decants, banking on my likely desire to buy bottles of these scents because if the rest are anything like this, I will NEED bottles. It is thisclose to perfect for me. Definitely getting a bottle!
  15. brilliantcat

    Monarch

    In the bottle: Lots of pumpkin and ginger with a hint of sugar. Immediately after application: Sugary pumpkin and ginger and I get a nice spurt of mandarin too. Delicious! Warming up: Pumpkin, ginger, with some mandarin. Quite yummy! Fading: The mandarin has faded but the amber is starting to come out more. It's got a sweetish yet somewhat spicy smell that does put me in mind of a vivid Monarch butterfly. Faded: Hints of the sugar, amber, and ginger remain. Overall: I'm a fan of pumpkin scents so this one was a no-brainer for me, especially with the other notes. It's not the spicy pumpkin-pie note I tend to prefer as a foodie, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I haven't decided yet if it's bottle-worthy but most likely will be. After retesting, I'm not as enamored of it as I was. The spices seem to go a bit cloyingly sweet and remind me of some tobacco-heavy blends that have done similar. Glad I skipped the bottle purchase.
  16. brilliantcat

    Common Jezebel

    In the bottle: Definitely vetiver and some freshness from the apricot and lemon sugar. Immediately after application: Strong on vetiver, luckily it's a note I like. I can also pick up hints of the red currant and maybe apricot. Mostly the vetiver though. Warming up: Normal me, amping the earthy notes. It's ALL vetiver. Damn. I wanted the other notes to play too as I love apricot, lemon, coconut, AND currant. I love all the notes in this one but the vetiver just wants to overpower everything :[ Boo. Fading: The vetiver has calmed down somewhat but it's still mostly what I'm smelling. Maybe a bit of red currant. Faded: Faint fruits and vetiver. Overall: I wanted to love this blend so much. It has some of my favorite notes but sadly Mr. Vetiver had to make this his game. Not one I'll be upgrading to a bottle, sadly.
  17. brilliantcat

    Rosy Maple

    In the bottle: CANDYFLOSS YUM. Sugar explosion with some lemon. Immediately after application: Sugary with a hint of lemon and a bit of the florals and some creaminess from the vanilla. Gorgeous. Warming up: Sugary vanilla with a hint of florals. The lemon made a run for it. I was a little afraid I'd amp the rose to crazy rose territory as I so often do with rose but so far it's stayed a lovely background note adding depth to the vanilla-candyfloss. I LOVE THIS BLEND. Fading: Sugary vanilla! Faded: Still sugary vanilla wonderfulness Overall: This blend is LOVE for me. I will absolutely be buying a bottle!
  18. brilliantcat

    Great Grey Witch

    Imp: I too got the lemony waft, along with a sugar rush. Not bad! I like lemon sugar! Wet: Lemon meringue, just slightly hinting at a Lemon-Pledge-ness. I'm giving it a chance to warm up and see what happens. Warming up: Morphed into baby powder, ugh! I hate baby powder and had to wash it off Sadly this was a complete loser on me. I got half-decants of all the Metamorphosis scents so I'll be swapping this one away or selling/offering as a frimp. Not me at all.
  19. brilliantcat

    Paduan Killer Swarm

    I LOVED this. Wet I definitely detected clove and black licorice which smelled delightful, and something that smelled fruity to my nose, I think that was the ginger cream. As it warmed up the ginger cream and tonka became more pronounced and it was gorgeous. I got sexy creamy vanilla honey. It morphed like crazy and I kept catching hints of different scents. I'm thinking I need a bottle.
  20. brilliantcat

    Jerusalem Cherry Infused Honey

    I'm glad my nose isn't playing tricks on me! Hubby picked this one as my tester today expecting it to smell like cherries and all I got was sharp, herbal green at first, like newly mown grass. It softened into a creamy, rich honey with undertones of the herbally vine scent and maybe a touch of musk. He (and I) loved it after it warmed up and the honey started to come through. I doubt I'll buy a bottle but I will love and use my decant.
  21. brilliantcat

    Doll's Eye Infused Honey

    I'm the odd one out, I didn't get much minty or herbal, I got citrus. And usually the lab's citrus notes go soapy on me but the doll's eye stayed a nice citrusy lemon. It reminded me a bit of Mead Moon, which unfortunately didn't work on me. In spite of the nice lemony note, this didn't wholly love me either. Some of the other scents in this line were a much better match.
  22. brilliantcat

    Leather

    For pure, absolute black leather motorcycle jacket goodness... Rivet.Goth is it. I had a brief bit of machine oil/rust ugliness as it warmed up and then it was all black leather with hints of tobacco for hours and hours and it had perfect throw. Enough for me to get whiffs as I moved but not so much that I was exuding LEATHER STENCH everywhere. I wasn't sure about it at first but ended up absolutely loving it. It transported me back in time to my high school days when I was first dating my now-husband and I used to steal his jacket and we snuck around in the woods for smokes (and other things!) A word of caution: it's a pretty masculine scent, but I'd think most women into it could pull it off. I wore that jacket over my prom dress and damned if I won't wear Rivet.Goth over my Sugar Skull. Hubby approved
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