sophia_helix

In the bottle: My nose is getting better. I can pick out the milky tea, the pepper, the honey, the ginger, and even the linen, after Dirty. Glad I waited a while to get this one. Wet: The ginger is making it a bit sour to my nose -- or maybe that's the milk. In Alice, the milk went horribly sour on me, so I'm crossing my fingers that's not it. Drydown: The pepper fades quickly, which is too bad; I liked that note in Mi-Go. The vanilla-honey comes up next, which is not suprising given my sweet skin chemistry. The ginger hangs around, then disappears, which is all right by me; Sudha Segara and I did not get along. There's definitely still an almost lemon-like sourness to this for a while, but eventually that fades too. An hour later it's mostly vanilla, honey, and a bit of milky tea, but it's quite rich and pretty, a lot like O or Brisingamen. I could do with more pepper to perk it up, but otherwise this is a keeper imp. Will have to try it a few more times to decide on a bottle, given its shaky start.

Erg, having a really hard time describing this. In the bottle all I could smell was something sour. Wet, there was a definite grass/dirt hint, and then...something else. I can't quite pick it out, but my husband called it "cleaning fluid," which isn't right. It does have that astringent bite of a clean or ozone scent, though. Drying down, it got much, much sweeter, which is par for my skin. It's something like the vanilla "skin musk" of La Petit Mort, and now that I think about it, that was a little sour on me too. It's all right, but not what I was hoping for. Basically I'm getting the musk instead of the dirt/grass, which is too bad. Time for my decant to find another home.

Hard to describe this oil, was it as very well-blended. The lavender was very obvious, but there was something else behind it that made me think of anise (maybe the mugwort?) Definitely herbal and not too sweet, which was nice. For its properties....it was extremely comforting to smell this as I was going to sleep, probably in large part because I used to sleep with a lavendar eye pillow. It also had an interesting dizzying effect, like when you're doing deep breathing in yoga and you start feeling your third eye. I don't know how especially vivid my dreams were, mostly because I only remember the ones I have right before I wake up, but I know at least that they were interesting, not unpleasant. I don't plan to wear this as a perfume oil, so I'll have to give it a few more sleep-trials before I decide if I want a bottle.

In the bottle: Extremely sweet and a bit fruity, like cherries. Wet: Definitely a cherry scent. Waiting for other scents to come out and play... Drydown: Quite torn on this. I ordered it because of the comparisons to Hellfire (which I stupidly traded away in my early days of BPAL), but there isn't enough tobacco to really make it the same (although more is coming out progressively). My skin makes things sweet, so the vanilla/tonka cherry thing is very much prominent, with no leather or chardonnay at all. This is less naughty and feral and more rich and sophisticated than I expected. It's a very complex and elegant perfume, though, so I'll definitely hang onto it for some time it might be perfect. Who knows if I'll get an invitation to a dungeon ball.... Edited later to say: The tobacco did come out more, as time went on, and the scent dimmed a bit. Still not sure about this, though I'll definitely be keeping the imp. Edited more than three months later...This is wonderful! Maybe it's aged a bit, but it's just so rich and delicious. I actually get the leather now, and I really love this.

I can't do a review in stages for this because it was the same from start to finish: very nice violet soap. It's cooling, it's sweet, but it's probably not something I'm going to pull out all that often...except for the hottest of days. My instinct is to swap it to someone who likes it better, but since it hasn't been hot lately I think I'll wait until I can give it a try for its cooling properties.

Another one I stupidly didn't buy at the Black Broom back in June, when I didn't know anything about what I liked and what worked on me. In the bottle: Strong mint (not wintergreen or peppermint, just mint) with a little sweet something. Wet: The eucalyptus jumps up at me now. Drydown: For the first few minutes, it was mainly the mint/eucalyptus combo, which is fine by me. One of my very favorite oils pre-BPAL was a mint/eucalyptus that came wtih my oil burner, and this reminded me of it a lot. Eventually the violets started sneaking in, which at first disappointed me (I wanted more freshness than sweetness). There was a period of time where I felt like I was chewing Trident mint gum and eating a violet pastille at the same time. But...over time, the two groups of scents harmonized, and I really started liking this. There was less of a "chilly, mechanized" feeling to this, and more of a soft, powdery seagreen/violet feeling, very clean and refreshing without actually being clean, if that makes sense (no ozone or real bite). It was definitely a bit soapy, but in a nice way (my husband said I smelled nice and clean and fresh), and I think I'll be looking for more of this. I also have a feeling that the bottle of Numb on its way will be similar, so I'll wait and see.

In the bottle: Oranges with a little resinous spice. Wet: Nuthin' but orange -- and it smelled, actually, like those vitamin C tablets you can get. My mouth was actually puckering up like I was sucking on something sour. Drydown: The extreme sourness passed eventually, thank goodness, but it still smelled more like artificial orange than actual fruit. The sweet raspberry came in and the scent softened down (maybe the neroli's influence too). A pretty scent, but it was still a little too sour for me. Throw and lasting power weren't great either. I think citrus and me are not much of a match.

I'm still undecided on this scent. On me it was clean and sweet -- nothing like the astringent, ozone-heavy clean scents I tend to prefer. There was definitely a laundry aspect to this (I'd buy any fabric softener that smelled like Dirty!), but again, sweet than the average bottle of Downy. It was less a floral sweetness, and more an almost juicy sweetness, like really sweet, watery melon. The only things that hold me back from loving it whole-heartedly are a reservation about that sweetness-versus-ozone, and the fact that it doesn't last long or have much throw on me. I just swapped my imp away, though, so I'll see how much I miss it to decide on getting a bottle.

This started off well on me, lots of icense and other spicy-eastern-type scents, but over time the florals amped up, until they reached the level of undefinable sweetness I so loathe. I think this was a very me-centric reaction (my skin chemistry turns things to sugar!), but it was still sad, since I really liked the stage where it smelled exactly like imported incense.

In the bottle: Mmm, peach wine. It's like one of those fruit-syrup wines you can get, like blackberry merlot. Isn't there a peach zinfandel or something? That's exactly what this smells like. Wet: The wine smell goes away on my skin, but it's still a bright, yummy peach. Drydown: The vanilla comes in over time, making this super-sweet. It's got a nice throw to it, though, not too strong, and it's such a pretty, peachy-smelling scent, that I'll probably hang onto the imp, even though it's a bit too sweet for my taste. Very fun, and would probably be great blended into bubblebath or something else along those lines.

In the bottle: Unfortunately, a friend described this as "citrus over hand lotion," and the description stuck with me, so I did notice an unpleasantly creamy note behind the clean scent. Wet: The creamy scent is going away, and so now I get clean n' citrus. Makes me think of crystal blue and bright orange. Drydown: Very invigorating. Reminded me a lot of Storm Moon, although this is definitely less aquatic, more astringent clean. Luckily, I like astringent clean (Windex is one of my favorite scents!), but I would have liked a little more punch to this scent. I'm going to hang onto it for now, since I don't have many bottles, but I may end up swapping away eventually.

In the bottle: Rich chocolate with an extra sort of fruity sugar. Wet: Dark chocolate, with the fruity smell coalescing into definite cherries (these are sweet cherries, like maraschino) with a whiff of orange blossom in the background. Drydown: Lost the orange on drydown. For a while this was straight chocolate-covered cherries, with an interesting resinous note at the end, pulling it out from the straight candy arena. Almost too yummy -- I wanted to eat it -- but as time when on it just got sweeter and sweeter. I think this is definitely a skin chemistry issue, since I'm learning my skin sweetens up almost everything. Eventually this was just very cloying chocolate-cherry, but not a fake candle scent. I think whatever that resinous scent was did it. At any rate, the final stages means this probably won't be a keeper for me. The throw was very strong, though, and it lasted a good long while.

In the bottle: Straight almond, maybe a little clove or nutmeg behind it. Wet: The first time I tried this, I took a big sniff and got a shot of pure PAIN up my nose, making my eyes smart and water. Then the smell disappeared (I think i killed my nose temporarily. ) The second time, I sniffed with, er, less eagerness, and stayed back. Still a little too sharp (guessing that's definitely clove or nutmeg), with strong, sort of sickly almond. Drydown: ...unimpressive, I guess. Still almond, with a little cherry for a while that went away again. Still sort of sickly. Definitely too sweet, and not sexy in the slightest. Would make a nice candy, though.

In the bottle: A very strong whiff of mint, with an herb punch beneath. Wet: The mint still rules, but there's an herbal uprising... Drydown: Ugh, within a few minutes this morphed into something very strongly herbal on me, and unpleasant. After a moment I realized it was the smell of my friend's house, where he's always burning a particular incense I don't like very much, and also does sage smudges (I don't much like that type of sage scent either). The mint was just awful on top, like brushing your teeth too soon after you eat, and between that and the herbs I knew I didn't want to smell like this all day. I washed it off quickly with lemon soap, but -- of course! -- it was a scent I didn't like and so it was a scent that stuck around. Now with added fake lemon. Great. Into the swap bin with this one.

In the bottle: Um, yikes, butter. This was unpleasantly reminiscent of Jack. Wet: Extremely salty butter. Drydown: It pretty quickly faded from butter to something more along the lines of a bakery in which donuts are being made. Definitely a "fried foods" smell, but sweets, not salts, which is much nicer. I wonder if this is what Midway will smell like on me? The sweet n' buttery smell remained for the next hour or so, and I definitely felt gluttonous. I almost felt guilty about eating something bad for me just wearing it! After a while some cinnamon crept in, and that was really nice, like smelling cinnamon donuts or something. The throw was very good, although the staying power wasn't great -- there was still some faint smell of it this morning, but zero throw after a couple of hours. Not sure if I'll buy more of this -- I'll wait and see how Midway fares on me -- but it was a yummy scent and my husband approved.

Seconding (thirding?) Hellcat, which smelled like the cinnamon nuts you get at Dickens Faire to me. Hamadryad was incredibly nutty on me, really too much so because I'm not a nut fan, if you wanted to try that.

In the bottle: Totally green. More of an herbal scent than some other BPAL greens. Wet: Straight-up cut grass. It's kind of too vegetable, and I don't like it much. Drydown: After a minute the grass calms down and the scent starts swinging back the other way. This is like a cousin to Rosalind and The Dormouse, except no berries or tea on me (although I know this has got tea), and much less sweet. It's still more herbal than the others, and I like it -- it's quite different to my usual scents. Sadly, it's very light and faint, and eventually something (the fig, probably) starts to amp up the sweetness. For me, with BPAL, once a scent starts turning sweet it not only goes very sweet, but it's a generic sweetness that's the same in every blend, regardless of notes in common. I'm starting to realize that fig is one note that will do that reliably, though, so this is not for me. Pity!

I've really got to stop trying oils without checking the description first. It makes the experience so much better... In the bottle: Almost straight Snake Oil, down to the "uh-oh" alcoholic scent, except there's a resinous incense whiff at the end. Wet: Oh, wait. Wow. Yum. None of the funky spices of Snake Oil. Instead I get that strong, spicy incense with a sweet, real-smelling vanilla. This is how I wanted Snake Oil to be, instead of with that weird alcohol thing that never quite worked for me. But it's early on, and I've learned... Drydown: Several hours later it's still there, though definitely faded. And it's been quite lovely. The throw is excellent, not overpowering but I kept getting whiffs. Never got any plum, though I did detect amber. I also went through a brief phase in which coconut was the topnote, which weirded me out at the time because I didn't know coconut was in the blend. It's a beautifully balanced, sensual oil. I would want to wear it out for a date; whoever said it was the love child of Snake Oil and O was right. Spicier and more sophisticated than O, without the heavy qualities of Snake Oil -- now I just have to decide whether I can spring for two bottles tomorrow, and how I'll make the dab of oil I have left in the imp last! Oh, and worry a little bit about the color, too. My ghost-white inner wrists have pale yellow smudges on them, which is too bad. My only qualm...

In the bottle: Ooh, a very fresh, green/herbal scent, with berries beneath. Don't know what heather smells like (out here in CA), but if this is it...yum. Wet: Still that bright grassy scent, now blossoming, with the rich berries coming up. Drydown: Well, as I learned with Bewitched (which I love), berries really like me, and this scent is no exception. However...the berries smell much, much less fake in Glasgow. Instead of a creamy-sweet bubblebath type scent, the heather makes the scent much brighter and richer, almost like there's a white musk. It's very fresh and relaxing. I wish this lasted longer (I should try a scent locket), but I like this much better than Bewitched, and will be swapping the latter, I think. I feel like I'm betraying my old favorite Bewitched (I was just wearing it yesterday, after all), but there's no sense in having two similar scents, I guess. Or maybe I should just try layering them...

In the bottle: Vanilla, hint of tea. Wet: Lots of vanilla, slightly more tea. Drydown: Nnnrggh. There was a period of about an hour during which this was My New Favorite Scent. I could actually smell the tea! The sweetness was lovely! Hooray! But over time, the vanilla took over, and I eventually got sort of sick from it. Much, much too candle-like. The tea disappeared, although there was just enough of a musky cologne-like base to give it a try on my husband. On him: Damn and blast, it's even sweeter on him. I kept grabbing his wrist to smell it, and it kept being even more vanilla. He eventually washed it off because it was getting kind of embarrassing, hee. He smelled like he'd used my bubblebath or something. Still, yet another BPAL casualty. I've got to stop getting my hopes up so high in those first few minutes. Sigh.

My review for this isn't as detailed as I'd like, since I didn't have access to the description while trying it, but: I was very hopeful about this one at first. Wet, it was a lovely combination of florals, some sweeter (esp. the jasmine and honeysuckle) than others. It was a very pretty scent that made me think of soft pinks and whites. It got more "perfumey" as it wore on, and I'm having to learn to like that in BPAL occasionally, because even though I WANT to smell like storms and dry grasses and exotic spices all the time, sometimes a girl just needs to have a nice, mature perfume, I guess. As far as the "perfumey" BPALs I've tried, this was a winner, and if it had only stayed like that I would have kept it... ...except then rose showed up and, sigh, I think rose is going to be one of my no-nos. Just like in Alice, it turned sickeningly old-lady on me. That too-sweet powder scent just ruins oils for me, so...alas! Swapped away.

In the bottle: Strong, rich floral, with a hint of amber. Wet: The scents reverse -- now I've got pure amber with that rich floral beneath, which smells like rose or gardenia, but not actually those scents. Probably the myrtle, which I can't recognize by its scent. Drydown: Whee, this one was fun. I love it when drydowns keep changing. The amber was strong for a while, and then the rich sweetness took over. About twenty minutes later I got something spicy (I'm guessing carnation), and then a switch to fruity (apple blossom?), followed by a funny hint of honey sneaking in. It was all quite lovely. This scent does remind me a lot of O, probably because my skin just looooves on amber (so do I!), so I think I should give them a side-by-side try. This definitely had more floral/fruitiness to it than O did, but since the scents are fairly similar I'd rather pick a favorite before getting a big bottle. Very nice, though, if you want more fruits and flowers in your O!

Was happy to swap for this before fall hits. In the bottle: Butter, yikes. Sooo much salty butter. A foody-pumpkin smell beneath, very sweet. Wet: The butter fades a bit, and it's more like sugary pumpkin bread. Drydown: This scent spent a good five minutes being "peach cobbler" on my skin, which was nice but not what I was looking for. Then it morphed into more pure pumpkin -- but alas, it was the dreaded "pumpkin candle" scent. I kept looking for nutmeg, cloves, or anything spicy, but it just smelled fake. I could even smell the wax! My friend R. came home and I whined, "I smell like a cannnndle." She said she'd thought I was burning something somewhere! In conclusion: I remain true to Samhain '04, my fall BPAL love.

In the bottle: The dried rose scent is amazing, and strong, bolstered by the dry, woodsy patchouli and cypress. Wet: The earthy scents are still what's strongest, especially the patchouli. Drydown: This had a very weird drydown on me. It dimmed very quickly, and the fig and rose notes came out, sweet and fruity, and maybe the tonka bean (except I STILL don't know what that smells like). Then the woodsy notes crept back in again, mingling the two groups of scents, but still rather faintly. I feel like I need to give this another try and really slather it everywhere, because when I sniffed hard, I liked the scent, but it was faint enough not to make much of an impression on me. I didn't at all get the concept of "Nemesis" from this, so I want to give it a better try.

Yeah...that's a tough one, like Sheila says. However, I would venture to say that "Purple!!" was my reaction to the rich, lusty scent of Sacred Whore of Babylon.