ajansuz

This was a frimp. In the imp, it's sweet and woodsy, cedar and sandalwood with maybe even a touch of dragons blood. Wet on me, something deliciously smoky curls up, maybe just a touch of vetiver. Now it smells more like Frankincense, cedar, and sandalwood. I'm not getting any amber off of this at all. There's something a little musty under everything else, a waft of dirty hippy patch that's almost like BO. That doesn't last long, thankfully. Dry down, the smoky note stays with me, along with the cedar and incensey Frankincense. Sadly this pretty much dies down to vague cedar and incense within just an hour or so. If it had more staying power, I'd find it much more interesting. It reminded me of shades of Rumplestilzchen and Cathedral but weaker than both.

This was a frimp. In the imp and on, this smells almost identical to Embalming Fluid. A crisp tea note with citrusy lemon. The floral is so sweet and faint I wouldn't have known one was there without reading the notes here. Very refreshing and a nice summer scent. Not something I'd bother with a bottle of, because like Embalming Fluid, it fades away within an hour or so.

This was a lab frimp. In the imp, sickly sweet fruit, like the black plum in Bordello and a bitter almond note. Wet: This went hideous on me. Sickly sweet fruit and some horrible plastic note. Dry down didn't improve it at all, and the sucker has lasting power. No chocolate, no cherry, no orange, just platic-y plum and grossness.

This was a generous lab frimp. In the imp, this is all warm spices, cinnamon, clove, a little sweet vanilla. The color of the oil is very pretty. Wet: The cinnamon burns my skin. Fortunately, that doesn't last too long, but this is one I'd have to be careful wearing on a regular basis, as cinnamon can give me some pretty nasty contact dermatitis in hot weather, and I live in a very hot climate. The spices go pretty much straight up generic stove top simmer potpourri, which is a little disappointing. Dry down: Amber starts trying to assert itself, not surprising as I usually amp amber to the high heavens in a good way. I keep catching alternating whiffs of golden amber followed by generic potpourri and something that smells a little like wet earth. Odd. After two hours, it's more spiced amber than potpourri, but that scent is one that I dislike enough that I'm not entirely sure I'd want to go through it to get to the good phase. I'm going to try this one again when it gets hotter to see what it does to my skin and if a little aging tames down the spice blend. Once it reaches the spiced amber, it truly is lovely.

Venerable and solemn: the scent of incense smoke wafting through an ancient church. A true ecclesiatical blend of pure resins. This was a frimp, wonderfully so! In the imp, strong resins, frankincense and myrrh, a smoky touch of vetiver, cedar, and something kind of waxy, like furniture wax but not lemony or citrus. Wet, very smoky vetiver, myrrh, polished wood and wax. Dry, the frankincense goes sweet and high but stays grounded by cedar. It's incense and old wood, positively lovely. My only complaints are that this has almost no throw on me and that my skin eats it after about four hours.

This was a frimp. In the imp: White floral, almost like gardenia or Magnolia with something fairly fresh and green under it, a very cool scent. Wet: Ouch. I amp that white floral to sickening heights, like rotting flowers sitting out in the sun. I was scared this would do what magnolia usually does on me and give me a headache. Dry down: On one hand, the white floral dies back. On the other, it dies back straight to soap. I don't know why so many BPAL florals go straight to soap on me, but they do. This one was no exception. It's a nice smelling soap, like something French milled, but still soap.

This was a lab frimp. Based on the notes, I probably never would have tried it. Wow, would that have been my loss! In the imp: Pine, a touch of lemon, and what really smells a lot like clove to me. Wet: Whatever smells like clove in this smells even more like delicious, dry, spicy clove on, with lemon curling under it and making it sweet. The pine fades back to just the faintest hint. Dry: Hello bay! Are you what has been smelling clovey with something else? Now it's a lot more bay, very herbal but not too masculine. This strikes me as far more unisex. While I don't see myself going for a whole bottle of this, I do really love the herbal, slightly sweet notes. This is another I could see me happy to wear in the summer because it's fresh without being at all cloying or overpowering.

This was a frimp, and it was everything I had hoped Cthulhu would be when I read the description. This is the first BPAL that both works for me and my husband and smells the same on each of us. Everything else we share smells very different on us. In the imp, it has a wonderfully clean, salty scent. It's hard to describe this accurately. It's like that electrolyte, thirst quenching part of Gatorade without the flavoring or generic froot smell. There's a little bit of a lemony tang that's probably the bladderwort. Wet, the clean aquatic and brine amp on both of us without going deodorant soap or Tide like Cthulhu did on me. Dry down, the scent stays remarkably the same. It has a medium throw and lasts for 10+ hours. This is a wonderful summer scent, something I will likely often wear to the beach or outdoor parties. I adore it!

This was a lab frimp. In the imp, fairly generic tea rose with green herbal underneath, not quite grassy but close. Wet: Floral hand soap. Seriously soapy smelling, like generic rose soap. Drydown: Pure rose soap. It's a shame. I love the name but it doesn't evoke anything on me except an old lady's very proper washroom. It also goes sharp and nose-stingy.

This is a completely different scent on me and my husband, but it's something both of us can wear, and we're both loving it. On my husband, it's a very masculine scent. The lavender and vetiver come out on him making it somewhat dry and like a very natural smelling men's cologne, not at all commercial. I couldn't stop sniffing him the night he wore it, and it had a nice medium throw. There was something a little chocolatey. I don't know what caused it, but it was delicious without being foody. Patch was there as a faint, earthy undertone. In the bottle, I could smell the Snake Oil very strongly with a hint of something sweet, maybe amber, and the sort of herbal/floral scent I associate with lavender. I was a little nervous, because usually lavender does very bad, very nasty things on my skin. There was the faintest smoky curl of vetiver, which I adore. Wet this morphs like a chameleon. At first it was predominantly Snake Oil and vanilla. Lavender took over the show for all of about one hot minute before getting slapped back by the amber and patchouli. I don't think I've ever smelled blood musk before. It's more cloying than red musk and incredibly assertive. Fortunately, the cloying died back pretty quickly and just left a very sexy, animalistic vibe. As it dried down, it got extremely sweet and resiny. Almost a head shop scent, but not quite. Huge throw, near headache inducing. I held on and waited it out. In that phase, it reminded me tremendously of Horreur Sympathique. After a few hours, there's nothing to pick out anymore individually, just a deep, slightly disturbing sweet resin that I can't stop sniffing over and over.

Oh. Em. Gee. In the bottle, I was a little unsure. It had a fairly medicinal scent from the sage, and even though sage is a scent I enjoy overall, I don't like smelling too herbal. The tonka was warm vanilla-ish, which cut that a little bit, and I could pick out Snake Oil from the additions to it. I also worried it might just go straight up Snake Oil on me once applied. I love Snake Oil, but I already have a bottle of it. Wet: Yum. Just YUM. The leather started amping, and it wasn't fake, plastic-y leather scent. It was like the real deal, a buckskin jacket that has been nicely broken in. The sage was still there, kind of more comforting than medicinal, like walking out in sun warmed chaparral. The tonka seemed a little dry, not in a bad way at all. I never got any sandalwood at this stage or later, but I did get something a little spicy, almost like cassia. Dry: This is just GORGEOUS. Warm, leathery, vanilla spiced goodness. WAY richer than Snake Oil alone. A long time ago I had a western themed perfume that I adored. I used it up only to have them discontinue the line. This is like a non-commercial version of that, without the harsher chemical notes in perfumes I just can't take anymore. I have a strong feeling this will smell every bit as good on my man as it does me. It's a wonderful unisex scent that is drop dead sexy gorgeous. Total LOVE. Decent throw, lasts for hours. 5/5

This one disappointed me on my skin chemistry. In the bottle, it smells delicious, sweet, creamy, gingery goodness, very much like a delicious chai. Wet for about the first three minutes on my skin it smelled *exactly* like a bowl of fruity pebbles or froot loops, including the milk. Dry down, the ginger went so sharp it literally burned the back of my throat. No honey, no more cream, never even a hint of clove. Then it went kind of sour for about an hour, and then it was nothing but kind of meh ginger, not nearly as wonderful as the ginger of Shub. It's that time of the month for me, so I'll give it several more tries before I say it's total fail. At the moment, I'm just not nearly as impressed or in love as I should've been with all the wonderful notes.

Vanilla-infused amber, leather, beeswax, cyclamen, oakmoss, peru balsam, orange blossom, red ginger, tonka, opoponax, myrrh, and black pepper. In the bottle, this is a huge hit of black pepper and ginger to the nose. I was a little skuurd (scared). But I tried it on anyway. Wet, I amped the black pepper almost to a sneeze-y degree. That didn't last very long, thankfully. The leather asserted itself along with the myrrh. I never got orange blossom at all, because it always smells cloying on me. In fact, I never got anything distinctly floral. Dry this gets prettier and prettier. Everything blends so well it's very difficult to pick out any one note. It remains spicy without being obnoxious, but it's sort of a spicy incense and well worn leather. I find this strangely comfortable, like a great pair of boots you've had for years but still feel sexy wearing. I loved this way more than I expected to and can't wait to see how it ages.

2011 is my first Smut, and OMG, LOVE. In the bottle it's a lot sweeter than once it's on. Wet on it's effervescent grape-y soda pop with a wicked lick of red musk. Dry down, a lot of the sweet recedes to more of a wine note, and the red musk shares the stage with a softer musk, maybe skin musk? Hard to say for sure. This had medium throw and lasted for hours. I kept catching whiffs of myself all last night and fell in love all over again. Never went powdery like some musk does on me. It was rich and deep. A very sexy smell, but also youthful.

Oh, my goodness, this is so delicious. Where to start? My husband has become just a little bit addicted to BPAL, too, which tickles me to death, because he used to be SO anti-cologne and so indifferent to perfume. We just had to find the right things, apparently, because he came from the mailbox with the BPAL box in hand then followed me to the bed to watch me open it and sniff the precious-es? Preci? So we started with the bottles. I opened Womb Fury and offered him a sniff. "That. Ohhhh...that is amazing. Wear that tonight!" First thing I opened, and that was his reaction. He didn't change his mind despite some delightful choices. In the bottle, I completely understood his reaction. It was sweeter snake oil, a little spicier, too. Less musky, less sharp. I put it on me, and my skin ate it whole! It took a couple of slathering applications before it stuck around. It was worth the wait. Delicious, rich honey, honey comb still brimming and dripping, the wax, propolis, and honey all. The snake oil went all spicy, almost carnation spicy, very rich. The throw stayed medium even after dry down. My biggest complaint is that this doesn't last too long on me before fading down. God, it's beautiful, though. I'm going to have to discipline myself to let it age. The honey I got from this was as much O as it was Yewberry Infused Honey, that light, sweet sex smell along with the headier beeswax scent. We're both in love. Thank you, BPAL.

This soap is wonderful. The bar looks almost like an interpretation of a really strong cappuccino, dark, coffee brown on the bottom and creamy on the top. My whole bathroom smells *wonderful*, like spicy, sugary vanilla. The suds are rich but not super foamy. The bar itself is fairly silky with the texture of most soaps that add clay, a bit of body to it. The scent is very true to SO in the bottle, and it lingers just a bit on the skin afterward. It hasn't *quite* replaced my adoration of the Shub soap, but it's a close, close second!

This is ahhhh-mazing. It's really more like aged Snake Oil than fresh. I'm using it fairly sparingly as an after shower moisturizer, and it's wonderful that way. It absorbs without being greasy, doesn't have such a huge throw that I'm running around in some scent cloud, but is strong enough that I get compliments. Love, love, love this. I'm so glad it was added to the permanent collection.

This was a frimp. In the imp: Grapefruit like woah! If Pledge made a grapefruit furniture polish, this would be it. Wet: Grapefruit like woah! And the refreshing undercurrent of tea, very like Embalming Fluid's tea note. Dry down: I wouldn't even say apple blossom. More like some thin slices of fresh, green apple emerge, but it's not enough to kick the grapefruit to the curb. Grapefruit pulls its usual bitter morph on me, and everything goes very, very soapy. Sadly, this blend and my skin chemistry don't hit it off at all.

This was a frimp from my last order. In the imp: Very sweet and bright citrus with a kind of creamy base. Almost like a creamsicle. Wet: Sadly, I usually amp and sour grapefruit notes, and this is no exception. All that sweet promise in the bottle goes kind of tart and sharp. Dry down: A very bitter note emerges and drowns out anything pleasant in the blend. It makes me sad, because the imp was fresh and spring-like. This just doesn't work with my body chemistry at all. It got bad enough I actually had to wash it off.

A commanding, dominant oil that increases sexual magnetism, creates an intense and irresistible air of attraction, and amplifies potency. This was a lovely, lovely frimp. In the imp, really, really STRONG jasmine with a spicy note underneath, also a little bitter. Cassia, I think. It's more medicinal than what I associate with cinnamon. Wet, strong jasmine at first. The medicinal note goes almost camphor at first. I was a little worried I'd have to wash it off. Dry down, all sorts of really interesting things started happening. The cassia strengthened, and sandalwood and something sweet like dragons blood emerged. The jasmine finally faded back a little to let the spicy and woodsy notes have a say. After a couple of hours, a really warm vanilla and red musk note amped. It was almost like snake oil with a spicy note of cassia. This lasted several hours, with vanilla the last note to fade. This morphed on me more than almost any other BPAL I've tried. My husband loved it, but he didn't get to me until the snake oil stage. I have a feeling if he had smelled that strong jasmine, he'd have been running for the hills. This is very intriguing. I don't know if I need a bottle, but I'm pretty sure I'll use up the imp.

This was a frimp from the lab. In the imp: I gave it a good huff, and it immediately started triggering scent memories for me of my Grandmother and her friends. Something very old fashioned, old lady. Another few huffs, and I felt it had to be lily. My Grandmother adored lily perfumes, powders, you name it. It was in her house and bathroom, and it always smelled that way. There was resin under it, but for me that floral floated to the top and dominated. Wet: I also happen to amp lily. The heliotrope kept it from being pure old lady, though. Even wet it's not a strong scent. I have to get close to notice it. Dry down: It started to get a little more complex. I can finally pick out a little iris, and there's something faintly spicy. Mostly, though, it's still just way too much old lady floral for me to want to wear. I do appreciate the walk down memory lane with my Grandmother and her friends. I'm not quite ready to join them on a permanent basis, though. If you like pretty, old fashioned florals, this should be right up your alley. EDIT: OK, I really didn't give this enough time. After about three hours, it became something just positively GORGEOUS. The copal and tonka suddenly decided to wake up, and the heliotrope beat down the lily. The throw was nice, and I really could not stop sniffing my wrists. My husband smelled my neck and said, "Yum." I guess if I want to wear this out, I should just apply it early to get past little old lady. Worth the wait.

Veil was a frimp. Veil in the bottle to me is mostly violet with a little ylang-ylang and powdery orris. Wet, I amp the violet so hard nothing else really comes through. Just a kind of sugary, almost candied violet. I LOVE violet, so this doesn't bother me at all. Dry down, ylang-ylang comes back out, very gentle under the violet. Usually lavender is a funky, musty note of doom on me. It's not rearing its head in this, though. After about 45 minutes, I start getting whiffs of sandalwood. This stays pretty and close to the skin. It lasts several hours. I didn't think I'd find a violet scent I liked better than Nocturne, but this is it. It works very nicely with my body chemistry.

This was a sweetly gifted frimp! In the imp: Very strong, sort of Irish Spring-ish, a little lemony and briny. Wet on my husband: The salt water really amps. This is a damned sexy, briny scent on him. Even better than Calico Jack, although he doesn't agree. Wet on me: Clothing detergent. Sadly, brine doesn't seem to be a note that works for me at all. Dry on my husband: Still very sexy and briny. Kind of like I would expect a pirate to smell if they bathed. Dry on me: Generic sport deodorant soap. It's a very clean scent, but it's not something I want to smell like at all.

Another frimp! Yay! In the imp, this smells to me like boozy fruit punch, no specific fruit to be picked out except another impression of coconut, which isn't a listed note, but I still smell it. Wet, woah! Great googledy moogledy. GIN. Why must I always amp booze notes to obnoxious proportions? Now it's like gin and fruit punch PEZ. Dry down, it doesn't get much better for me. It comes out sour, and aggressively boozey. My husband says it smells like I spilled a tropical cocktail on myself, and I have to agree. While I might actually enjoy drinking something that smells like this, I don't enjoy smelling like a drink.

This was another lovely frimp. In the imp, very lush, wet floral. Makes me think of plumeria with something soft under it, almost a coconut note but not quite. Wet, I still get plumeria and a little of the creamy coconut impression. I don't really get fruit much. There's also something fresh and green, leafy. Dry down, it stays a soft, sweet tropical floral with almost no throw. Unfortunately, it lasted less than two hours on me, but I enjoyed it while it did.