HoneyHoneyNY

I just tried Sudha Segara this weekend and I'd highly recommend it. It smells strongly of fresh ginger, and it reminds me, as someone else commented of Origins Ginger Essence.

Someone just posted that Ephemera smells like autumn leaves.

I got a decant of this, and I'm soooo happpy! I'm really glad I have another one coming. Thank you imp givers! In the imp this is a complex, hard to define scent. It's grassy, vaguely fruity (but not foody), and ever so slightly minty. I like it. On my skin, the grassiness amps up, and there's a tiny bit of soapiness, which isn't strong, but which I'm hoping will go away. The grass note makes me think of clover hay, not green but dry and sweet. As it dries, it mellows, and thank heavens the slight whiff of soap turns very faintly powdery. After the soap is gone, here comes the soft musky scent of clean skin. It's WONDERFUL. It reminds me of snuggling my face in the curve of someone's freshly washed neck. I can't tease apart all the elements I'm smelling, but I will say that it's fresh, outdoorsy and softly musky. It's multilayered, but not fussy or loud. There's also a faint spiciness to this, but very faint, kind of on the edge of my scent perception. I can't stop sniffing my wrist and arm where I have dabbed it. I smell so warm and fresh. I also think that this would smell just as wonderful on a man.. I can't wait to see what my scent sensitive PSP thinks of this. It's so clean and close to the skin, that I think he'll enjoy it. I've been searching for a great BPAL musk blend, and I've found one!

I didn't think I'd like Milk Moon, and I loved it, which made me want to try Chaste Moon as well. At first in the imp Chaste Moon smells a lot like Milk Moon, that creamy sweetened condensed milk smell. But it's not as honeyed, round and creamy as Milk is. The minty, herby smell that I associate with lunar oils comes through more quickly on the second sniff, and there's an edge of something slightly juicy and fruity there too. On my skin, the milk smell softens to a mild creaminess overlaying the lunar scent. Peeking out from behind the creamy lunar oils is that lingering hint of sweet fruitiness, and then below that, there's a faint hint of florals. It's not flowery, or soapy or overwhelming, there's just something there that makes me say "Flower." Milky blossoms is about the right description. As it dries, I don't get any coconut, just the lovely milky blosoms. This is definitely prettier and less foody than Milk Moon. If you enjoy a creamy scent, but were overwhelmed by the richness and sweetness of milk moon, you would enjoy this. It's still sweet, but lighter, and cleaner. It's similar, but not the same and quite beautiful.

Grand Guignol is all apricot preserves on me, very sweet.

I got this as a gift in a swap. In the imp, it's light clean florals grounded by a mildly dry woody scent. The white cedarwood I guess. As soon as it touches my skin it's as if someone hit a soap switch. I smell clean and pretty. Clean, pretty, and soapy. As it dries, the soap fades a little, and the clean florals that I smelled in the imp are more apparent, but the soap background is nagging me. The verdict: I didn't expect to like this at all, since I'm not very fond of florals, but aside from whatever it was that turned to ivory soap on me, this was a very clean, and lovely blend. Maybe I won't be so quick to pass on florals.

I"m on a fruit kick, so I swapped for this. In the imp it smells like bubble gum, like grape Bubble Yum. This is another one of those scents that intially on my skin smells like Pez or Sweetarts, but something (I'm guessing the white wine) makes it sparkle. It's very sweet fruit, but with a little tang to it. This softens as it dries, and some kind of super girly light floral is coming out. This isn't a bad blend, but definitely not me. It's girly in a way that I'm not, and young. To the swap it goes.

I swapped for this in my hunt for a rose that I can adore. In the imp it smells like rose, rosy, rosy, roses. Maybe there's something dry underneath, but basically the rose scent beats that down. On my skin it's roses, but now the slight dryness I sniffed in the imp can be defined as the leather smell that I recognize from scents like Severin. It's a scent like rose oil spilled on the raw side of a cowhide bag. As it dries the rose grows ever stronger and mighty and the leather gets muscled into the background. It becomes more of a skin scent. This is is a rich deep intense rose scent. It's very floral, not juicy sweet and wet like the rose in Persephone, or candied rose like Rakshasa. It' s more like one of the rose notes in Two, Five and Seven, just a tad dry. I was hoping that this might be a sexy, musky rose, but it's too floral and dry for that. Like an uptight woman with a forceful personality and a taste for expensive bags. It's lovely, but I think I might swap it, since there are rose scents I enjoy more.

I was interested in smelling this since all the notes are so rich and foody. So I swapped for it. I don't think I've ever deliberately chosen a scent so unabashedly foody. In the imp all I smell is butter and almond with a toasted biscuit-y tinge to it. On my skin wet it smells boozey and sharp. There's a smell that my brain wants to call carnation, though I know that isn't it. I guess because it's spicy, and a bit clovey, which sometimes smells like carnation to me. As it dries the booze note softens, and it turns molasses like. It also starts smelling strongly like clove cigarettes. It gives me the same feeling as Bathed and Infused's clove cigarette scent. It alternates in my brain between molasses and clove cigarette. The way this scent has changed amazes me. As strong as the scent in the imp was, I get no butter at all. I'm also beginning to think I was tripping when I smelled almond. What I'm smelling now is a scent reminiscent of a summer I spent partying hard every weekend. Like I've been smoking cloves and drinking. A bit like maple whiskey at times too. For some reason this makes me think of a friend I have, perched on his bar stool with a drink, long black ponytail, black clothes, and black cigarettes. I'm definitely going to have to try this layered with Clove Cigarette lotion. I picked this because it was foody, and it's flipped the script on me completely.

I've been on this kick with fruity scents. I've been trying as many as I can get my hands on. I got this in a swap. In the imp it's sweet and candy-ish. Like a peach jolly rancher. On my skin wet, it's boozy apricot. The smell is not so candylike, but more of what I think of as a sharp, fuzzy apricot smell. Not like fresh apricot though, unless it's overripe apricots. It's a sweet, tangy jammy smell, like freshly made apricot preserves very lightly spiked. The brandy note makes the apricot more complex, almost floral. As it dries, it loses it's sweetness and brightens. It's juicy and fruity, but dry and smells to my nose like true apricot. I must get a big bottle of this, it's so delicious. Not too complicated, but not a boring one note scent either.

I got this imp in a swap. In the imp, all I smell is green tea and sage with some sweetness underneath. This is suprising, since I expected a strong berry scent. On my skin, it's suprisingly astringent and sweet at the same time. I can smell the berries, but the herbal sage-y tea smell is right behind it. I'm pleased that it's not as sweet a blend as I thought it might be. It's slightly medicinal, but not in a bad way. As it dries, the smell remains the same, with an added dimension of muskiness. Not heavy murky musk, but a light musk that intensifies the the overlaying scents. This isn't a warm scent, but rather a cool one. I like it, and I think of it as a scent that would be good to wear in winter, though I'm not sure why. My favorite stage is when it's a couple of hours old, and there's a fresh, berried musk scent that lingers. I'm definitely going to use up this imp, and I'll know after a couple more wearings whether I need a bottle or not. Edited for spelling.

... Milk Moon is Flower Moon's warmer, gentler cousin; it is a scent that emulates the closeness of child and mother. In it, cream and warm honey soften our traditional blend of lunar oils. Because I was interested in the various lunacy blends, I tracked down a decant of this. I didn't think I'd like it, but I was interested in trying it. In the imp this smelled like straight up Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk. Second sniff, same smell. It smelled very nice, but made me a bit afraid to put it on my skin. But I've learned my lesson about sniffing without testing. On my skin, there was an initial waft of condensed milk, and then the smell sharpened a bit. I braced myself for the sour milk smell that other people complained about, but it didn't really come. The sharpness settled into the kiss of mint that I get from all the lunacy blends I've smelled. As it dried, it turned a bit coconutty, but not like suntan oil, understated and well suited to the overall creaminess of the fragrance. It's creamy, but not sickeningly sweet or overly rich. There's a clean undertone that keeps it from being overwhelming. It's comforting. The longer I wear it, the more it makes me think of the way a baby's neck smells. Not like baby powder, but sweet, clean, and faintly milky. This is the perfect scent for when you need to be comforted and soothed. Milk Moon is love.

Since I like fruity, this was on my wishlist. I got this imp in a swap. In the imp, I get that candied fruit smell that I've gotten from other BPAL scents with berry notes. Kind of like Pez, or as someone else said, razzles. That's it though. No sign of my dreaded adversary fierce neroli. On my skin, still the candied fruit, more identifiable as berries, but just a tad bit dry and sharp. I'm assuming that it's the neroli cowering behind the currants and huckleberries. Hmmm is there some kind of very light musk in here? Because I'm getting a sense of something a very tiny bit musky here. Not bad, but it's not rocking my socks off, unless that little sniff of musk rises to the surface, that would make me happy. Well it's dried down now, and sat on my skin for a while. I'm kind of sad, because now it smells like Bon Vivant. I don't mind fruity scents, but this one is only okay on my skin. I'll stick with my "nice on ice" Bon Vivant.

Val Sans Retour, my little imp is getting worn out!

I was intrigued by the red wine and red currant notes. In the imp, it smelled like fruit punch, not like wine at all. On my skin, it immediately turns to Pez. It stays like Pez until it dries down a bit, and then it smells like boozy Pez, and then Pez with a hint of something herbal underneath. The thyme gives it a edge of bitterness. This isn't sitting easy on my skin. On me, Lady MacBeth is a bitter lady with a pocket full of candy and a heart full of bad intentions.

I opened the imp, put it near my nose, and inhaled. I caught a faint breath of mint before I my breath caught in my throat in a whoa, maybe asthma attack way. I put the imp down, and walked away. It is my allergy season after all. Five minutes later, I came back, opened the imp and took a small sniff. Instant tightening of my throat. I actually hear a wheeze in my chest. This is the first time that's ever happened to me with any BPAL scent. Even the residue that's on my fingers is making me feel kind of funny. It literally makes the hairs on my scalp prickle. I thought that maybe it's coincidental. I bring the fingertips with the residue up to my nose, and the hairs on my head prickle as if I've gotten a scare or a chill. This smells like something lightening struck. I would not normally use this term in a review, but I HATE this. Off to scrub, and then send this to the swaps. Never in my life have I had such a negative reaction to a scent that was not actively unpleasant. I don't know what's going on, but this scent is Bad News for me.

I love Persephone, such a juicy sweet rose. I just fell in love with Rakshasa, but that's a drier scent, because it has sandalwood and patchouli, but the base smells the same as the rose in Persephone. ETA: I found the Rose recommendation link.

I thought that I didn't like patchouli, but BPAL is giving me choices that change my mind. First Imp, and now Rakshasa. In the imp, this has a sharp citrusy smell that makes me think "oh no, does this have neroli in it"? I'm afraid because I just had a bad neroli experience with another scent, but I bravely dab it on. On my skin I sniff it suspiciously, but there's no neroli here. I get a strong note of citrus rose, like rose jam, or rose syrup, or honey and rosehip tea. It reminds me of the rose in persephone. What keeps this strong juicy rose from being too cloying is an underpinning of dry spiciness. The dryness I attribute to the sandalwood and patchouli, but I don't know where the spicy smell is coming from. As this dries, the rose looses some its juiciness, and moves gracefully into the background blending nicely with the sandalwood, patchouli, and undefined spice. It's soft, exotic and sensual without screaming out "Hey I'm sexy" It's also not too rich, so that this could be worn every day. I've been trying various rose scents looking for something like this. It's rosy, but not too floral or sweet. This is definitely going on my bottle list.

As soon as I put the imp up to my nose, I went mmmmmm! It smelled spicy with an undertone of florals and tea maybe? On my skin wet, it smells very spicy. I can pick out cinnamon, but not the other spices, and a nice smell like sweet tea. There's something resiny there, and then at last a breath of sweet flowers. As it dries it remains pretty true to the imp. I can smell the amber coming out and turning soft and dry like amber does on me. Is there musk in here? I'm not sure, but there's a warm skin scent coming through to my nose. This is a beautiful blend where no one note dominates. It's complex, and gorgeous. I think it might be overwhelming it hot weather, but it will be lovely in the autumn and winter. This would be a great scent for dressing up, or when I want to feel like a "grown up".

In the imp I get a breath of carnation, and then the vetiver takes over. When it touches my skin, I get more carnation, with an extra spiciness that I would guess is the cinnamon. I'm getting gardenia, but only lightly, which is good, because gardenia isn't my favorite. As it dries, I get strong vetiver, which isn't bad, though a bit too rugged for me. I keep sniffing, because I'm not sure if I like it. Later on as I'm going about my business, I smell something odd. I sniff the crook of my arm where I've dabbed the Highwayman, and it smells faintly like soemthing I've smelled before... OMG weed! It smells like somebody smoking weed and burning incense. I don't know how that's happened. It's not strong, just reminiscent. Under the weed scent, I'm catching whiffs of carnation and rose. I don't know if it's just in my head, but I can't get over it. Off it goes to swap.

This scent was on my wishlist. The blood orange and raspberry attracted me, but the neroli gave me reservations. In the imp the first smells sharply citrus, almost like grapefruit. In the second sniff, a candy sweetness overlays the sharpness. On my skin, the sweetness rises up strongly, but the underlying sharpness is still there. It's really candy-ish, but with something dark underneath. As it dries it morphs from grapefruitiness to the oily eco-cleanser smell I associate with scents heavy on neroli. It's like a candy with a bitter aftertaste. I hope it doesn't linger. The fruits in this blend are very dry. They're sweet, but not juicy at all. The neroli gives it a sharpness and darkness that's...evil. Like something sweet and poisonous. It's not horrible, but it's also not me, I'm going to pass it on.

In the imp this was dry, sweet, and minty. It reminded me of the smell of Leo's soft pepermint sticks when you first open the tin. Since Leo's soft mints are one of my favorite candies I find this very pleasant. On my skin, there was the sweet mintiness at first, and then the smell of Choward's violet candies. I'm kind of liking this stage. It's fresh, sweet, and I'm enjoying the violet. Drying down, uh oh, trouble in paradise. The sweet minty freshness is till there, but now the violet is turning soapy. I'm starting to smell like the guest soaps in my grandma's bathroom. You know the ones that no one, not even guests use? It's not a bad smell, but it's just soap. If this phase continues, I don't think I'm even going to keep the imp. Final verdict, I like the initial stages, but my skin has turned it to soap. So, off it goes to swap.

The imp I'm testing is a decant. In the imp on the first sniff, it smells like pure salted butter. On further sniffing, it smells a bit pastry-ish, like a super buttery pie crust, or shortbread cookie dough. My friend sniffed it in the imp and said it smelled like the butter flavored oil they use on popcorn at the movies. I almost didn't want to put it on, because I was afraid of smelling like a tub of margarine. As soon as it hit my skin, the strong butteriness fell off, and a pumpkin pie smell appeared. The spices came out, and they were very soft. They smelled "cooked" not prominent and prickly. Lurking under the spices was the buttery pastry smell, but much more faint, and a smell that wasn't exactly like, but more reminiscent of pumpkin. As it dried the peach came out softly, but I only really noticed because I was sniffing for it, and it wasn't fresh enough to overcome the richness of the fragrance. I'm starting to find that I like foody scents, but this was too rich for me to wear. I like my spices much sharper, and I kept sniffing for something astringent to cut the unctuous butter scent. I think this might be delicious as a room fragrance, so I 'll probably keep the imp for that purpose.

I swapped for this, since I love pomegranate. In the imp it's woooo fruity! I reminds me of Sweetarts or Pez. On the second sniff, it's like tangy fruit punch, lightly spiked. On my skin, a major tangy fruit kick, but the booziness softens immediately. It rather reminds me of Bon Vivant, but tangy. It doesn't smell like strawberries at all, but the boozy note mellows on my skin the same way the champagne note in Bon Vivant does. They may also have a semblance in my mind because they are both bright, clear, scents. After a while on my skin, most of the sweetness in this fades, and there's a pleasant dry tanginess left behind. Like the aftertaste of a pomegranate. It doesn't smell like pomegranate to me, but it "feels" like it with the intial fruit burst, and then the dry (in the way wine is dry) aftertaste. Someone mentioned that this is an "out with the girls" kind of scent, and I agree. It's fresh, bright, sophisticated, and dry in contrast with BV which is fresh, bright, girlish, and sparkly. I think there is room for both scents in my wardrobe. I'd get a bottle of this.

This was part of an order I got from the lab. In the imp it smelled sweet and resinous with a faint hint of honey and almond. I thought YUM! After I put my testing dab on my skin, I was putting the cap back on the very full imp, and a drop or two of oil ran down the side of the imp. NOOOOOOOOO! Oil got smeared all over my fingers, as if I had slathered. I tried to deal with it until after I had gotten my initial impression. With this amount of LPM on my skin it was like a Ylang Ylang explosion. That's all I could smell. I don't mind ylang ylang in small doses, but this was starting to give me a headache. I rushed to the sink and washed my hands and wrists with unscented soap. When I was done washing, I sniffed my wrist to see if another wash was in order, and Hello! What's this lovely smell? It's a soft skin scent (just the kind of musk I love most), with a soft resiny sweetness. It's not powdery on me like amber, but a teeny bit dry and soft. The ylang ylang has calmed down to an acceptable hint of a scent. I wonder how long it will take for a fresh application to dry down to this stage. I'm definitely going to have to test again, since this may be the soft and sexy skin musk scent I'm looking for.