lookingglass

Fruity sweetness, rose, and a fresh loam compete on my skin at first...Drying down the earthiness blends with my skin (thank you, Miss Amber), but a bite remains~I am thinking that this is the myrrh, as it is usually a sharp note on me. The rose is a bit cloying at first...rose is often this way on me. I like it though. It is like a femmed out, lightened Zombi.

...she may be all that...but she is also a very, very, very, DIRTY girl. I have turned into a SKANKY pirate who smells as if she has not bathed in a very long time, having been sailing on her scurfy boat, in her only outfit. DH loves the "dirty" smell, but I like mine cleaned up or creamed out.

This is a less brazen version of Kabuki, in my opinion. The cherry and anise 'play nice', not competing for alpha female in this blend. The sandalwood dries her out a bit for me...I like my scents to be, generally, CREAMY .

Wet, this is very raw wood...not juicy, though...dry...it tickles the back of my throat. At first I think that I am not going to like it, but on DH, it gets sweet, like a well used woodwind instrument...handled, loved, worn smooth, with traces of the distinguished users cologne. He's keeping it to wear to work; he is a professor, and makes him feel distinguished and not as sexual as many of the other blends in our collection...

This is another scent that I would classify as feminine, not gender neutral. It is a light, wispy, fruity floral. There is a sweet apricot scent whirling with a pale blue breeze. There is a faint, happy memory through the mournful chill. Complex and lovely, the name is certainly befitting.

Compelling, complex, and utterly enigmatic: a luxuriant, exotic blend of cherry, red musk, and star anise. I think it was Olympia that called this the Snake Oil of the East. I have to agree. It is unbelievably sexy, mysterious, deep, dark and delicious. I never liked "fruity" scents until I discovered BPAL...but I don't think I had ever met EVIL fruit... This is my new favorite cherry. It will be replacing the Red Queen in my Top 10. The anise gives this a bit of a boozy bite, and makes the cherry more "purple than red". The musk blends beautifully with my chemistry. Dry, it is as if I am emanating sweetness, not wearing perfume at all. I get the same "feeling" from Snake Oil when all that is left is the darkened vanilla. It is not "foody" to me at all...it is just sweet skin.

Wet this is large, golden droplets of honey. Ooooh! As it dries, it is more like smelling the inside of a delicate flower. Dry, though, the herbals and florals are competing with the honey. Sadly, I'm just the kind of gal that amps up the florals...I will save it for when I am feeling flowery, because it is quite nice, and I don't have many florals. Definitely one of my favorite LE's, and I will be using it all up.

This is like Alice's older sister. Very floral, but sweet...and more than a little mischievous. This is a timeless scent for me...maybe it is 'old fashioned' (violet, rose, jasmine...) combination of florals with more 'modern' (vanilla, stargazer) scents. It is really lovely. I am a sucker for amber these days...here it emanates its golden light through the pastel florals. It is a tapestry. I must find more! I just hope the name is not a curse!

I waited and waited and then finally received Geek. Oh, I was ready to "snarl"! Sadly, it was not what I had expected, either on me or DH. It just smelled kind of dusty, faintly woody...like a sawmill: slightly dirty with dry and fresh wood.

My littlest one is really comforted by O these days...it is my comfort scent, too.

This smells a lot like Blood Kiss to me, but slightly more soapy and candy like. A bit of a strange combination...I'm sticking with Blood Kiss.

I do love this, and will be using up the imp. I just won't be buying a big bottle right now...If I could only choose 1 BPAL scent for all eternity, though, Haunted would probably be it...She is a combination of some of my favorites. Haunted seems to be the conception from an unholy union of Scherezade and O, with a dark, Snake Oil-y feel. I love them all at different times... If you liked the musk in Scherezade, but not the incense, or wanted to love O or Snake Oil but didn't because the vanilla turned to "play dough", then you will want to try Haunted. It is truly lovely...

This is so well blended...complex, fresh, distinguished. An entirely confident scent.

I'm hearing that the Lion really evokes summer...(off to put it on my wishlist). But is is the warmth of summer, not the grass. Quick search on BPAL site (anything to get on there and search for something else!This board is SO enabling!). Hmmm...Haven't tried these...just a search on "grass" and I got Coyote, Rosalind, the Apothecary, and Amsterdam (among others) but I would try these based on their descriptions and what you are looking for... Xiuhtecuhtli is what I like to wear in the summer. It is really green, just a tink floral, with a stable base of copal and patchouli, giving it the body that I so crave in a perfume (makes it melt into my skin, I think). Good Luck!

On me this smells like I got something dead on me, and I tried to scrub it off with an industrial cleanser. Body decomposition and an astringent chemical smell (scrub, scrub...). There is something nice underneath...the musk, I think...but all together, this one is NOT for me!

Chimera, March Hare, or any of the Bloods (Blood, Blood Kiss, Dragon's Whatever you like)...

Gender neutral my eye! This is very womanly and perfumey. It smells like a perfume that my firend's mother wore when I was a child...Paris? Or maybe it was just from Paris... It is pretty. Iiiiii, don't really do pretty. This Belle is a sweet and crispy floral. Clear, clean...like white chiffon. It really is a beautiful blend, it is just so unlike anything that I wear.

OK...I am trying the aquatics. I have begun, and think I will end for a while, with Undertow... Kkklggh This is sweet but sharp. It makes me flinch...It smells like something I would clean with. Drying down there is some mint, and it gets a little softer, but it is still..aquatic. Again, if my shampoo smelled like this, I would probably like it, but not on me as a perfume.

The fresh tea and bergamot from the Earl Grey is full of tangy tannins. Drying down I get the raw, black, hot, snapping leather. I'm giving this one to the man...

Wet this scent is lush, blood red cherry. As it dries, splintered, heavily varnished wood emerges. They sit separately for a moment, and then morph together into the patinaed carved wooden chess piece that is the red queen. It is quite strong and odd. Dry, though, this is definitely a favorite. It comes to life on my skin, once absorbed, like the queen herself, through the lookingglass. The cherry fades, only sweetening the wood, and their is a creaminess that holds it to my skin. I am transformed. I will wear this when I want to feel a bit haughty, in charge, and embracing my madness!

A blue crystaline floral/aquatic. Lily of the valley? lilac? I really am not a floral girl...and there is a saltiness, a sharpness...this would be great as a shampoo or linen spray...not 'rich' enough for me as a perfume. Dry, the florals get a bit creamier, but not much. I'm kind of sneezy...

In the bottle: Pencils and cocoa... Wet...why is this penciley? Drying down...oooh, I can smell...METAL! This is odd...OLD METAL! Cocoa and a slight, dusty wiff of incense. Pencil smell fading. Dry: ...the metal is really hanging on...like I have a wrist full of change. Teenie, tiny floral...gives the scent a nice lift. Such an ODD scent. I get an image of the hippies sticking flowers into the ends of soldiers guns during war protests... I may be passing this one on, but I was very glad to have tried it!

Absolutely delicious. I get all the notes dancing beautifully together. Blooming on my skin, I feel decadent, warm, wanton. Everything I love in a fragrance. Bet this would be great on DH, too. He loves Hellcat, though...Elegba is lighter, flirtier. MINE! Edited to note that I bet this is JUST what Captain Jack Sparrow smells like!

I don't know what year this little vial of Spooky is from. The pepermint is going stong, and there is a slightly warm creaminess on the drydown. Very soft...quite like buttermints.

DH is a big juniper fan from the pre-BPAL days. This is the first juniper BPAL we've tried...I am not a juniper fan myself, but I got it for him since it had amber and vanilla, and O is one of my true loves. In the bottle and wet it is VERY evergreen. DH is already loving it. It is not a serious bite, not X~massy...OK...I'm game. On the drydown, there begins this golden sparkle. This smells like a magical forest! Ooooh, the amber emerges. I LOVE amber...(sniff,sniff). This is fresh, outdoorsy, but with a warm skin scent underneath. It is the best of both of what he loves and what I love in a scent. Dry, this is luscious, but husky, vanilla amber...O in the deep, dark woods. Big bottle list for sure.