PixieSkull

This reminds me of 13 a bit. The chocolate, peppermint, and woodsy backdrop is similar. Wet: Cedar and oakmoss are stronger in the vial and just on the skin than when dry. The chocolate, peppermint, and vanilla join in an obvious candy wave, underscored by the earthiness of the other notes until those come out to play as well. Dry: That vanilla, chocolate, and peppermint float up on top in candy goodness. This is a combination I'm absolutely in love with. The pistachio must be giving the slight toasty bit, oakmoss is adding a bit of damp and sweet earth while the green cedar gives the astringent-type quality for more balance. I wouldn't normally praise the cedar but it's a pleasant drying wood here. Where sandalwood would have added a dusty component and rosewood would have been a bit more on the wistfully romantic side, green cedar is more of a fresh and maybe spooky tree grove note here. All the chocolate, vanilla, and peppermint swirling to the top make a pleasant and enticing scent to dig my nose into. This is like smelling the candy being made in the house from outside the window of a house on the edge of a tree line. 5/5 Not your typical gourmand/candy scent. Very unique in that it's not put toward romantic or sexy.

I don't know how I didn't post my review of this scent, being a collecting favorite. My most-wanted collected scent. The skin musk and sandalwood are beautiful with the spices, and the florals swirl. WET: Skin musk, strong and sexy at first. The flowers and honey swell in white sweetness. DRY: Soft flowers like a fresh bouquet sitting in a vase, surrounded by the slightly sweet smell of arousal. That's the image I get. This doesn't let the lily turn to soap (totally abnormal for lily to stay down,) and the white amber doesn't amp to drown out everything else (also totally abnormal for my chemistry.) This is everything to me: dry, musky, sexy, slight spice undertones, soft white floral. The skin musk in Neutral makes me happy, but I don't think I'll be able to fully get the image with blending GCs, but that doesn't mean I won't try. 5/5

I love lilac and enjoy herbal tinges to scents. In the Imp: this is lilac with the telltale dark herbal undertone. Wet on Skin: the darkness of the leather bursts out and the herbal component's sharp astringent smells come out immediately on contact. The lilac swirls with some grittiness before sweetness comes out a bit and settles somewhat into a sharp, slightly powdery floral. Drydown: just not what I'd want from a leather blend. It really only adds a bit of a darker base to the herbal floral. This is what most similar scents become on me; powdery, sweet, white florals with an astringent tinge. It's not horrible, just way too similar to other scents on my chemistry. This reminds me a bit of a darker Zephyr and smells like there's amber in the blend, that powdery sweetness that overpowers nearly every single amber blend I try. I also wonder if it's lily, especially since plenty of reviews use terms like "soapy," "clean," or "scrubbed." The plum juice only really came out in the sweetness in the wet phase and just died. 2/5 - my chemistry doesn't love the blend, I suspect a little amber and/or lily creating the overwhelming powdery/sweet/soapy scent. Washing it off, just "eh" for me.

I prefer my herbal-based florals to get down to business. Rosemary's my go-to in general, supplemented by lilac or tea rose for lightness and residual light floral.

if you clock over to post #441 in death matching http://www.bpal.org/topic/65148-death-matchin/page__st__425 you can read monster's excellent compare contrast of lurid and buggre. she makes them both sound tempting. That didn't help me decide! Very good comparison, though. Definitely more interested in Buggre, I think my husband wouldn't mind it.

Oh my! The darkness of the smoke and leather is apparent in the background with some dry spices and some sweet resinous flowers. The whole blend is delicious and evocative of an opulent party. The floral notes became a slightly green bubble around me mixing with the dry, citrusy halo of wood and spices. The lily didn't over-soap the blend for me, which happens every time it's in a blend, but the champaca and sandalwood I normally amp were beautifully present. I will wear this again, no doubt.

To me, Kyoto was a manly bouquet of notes. White sandalwood stays a bit dry and warm on me in general, but mixed with the other notes became the dry backbone to a swirl of somewhat rugged notes. Cherry blossom became a bit herbal mixed with the star anise. The spice made the blend even more masculine. Didn't love it on me.

... with a potent lunar-charged, oneirongenic blend of blue musk, exquisite woods, moonflower, evening stock, Madagascan ylang ylang, Florentine iris, Greek cypress, green tea absolute, palmarosa, cucumber, rose milkweed, Clary sage, lavender, lemon balm, and passion fruit. I wanted to love this scent, I did, it just wasn't to be. Bottle: Astringent and wet and a lot like moonlight. Interesting. Wet: Lots of green and white florals, some resinous scent and astringent herbal wreath. Drydown: Oh no, very cutting and green. I wanted some moonflower. Dry: Umm... masculine, slightly. It's just not doing anything for me. It's slightly clean and sanitary and I can pick out some ylang ylang and lavender, all the sharp herbal scents. I do think this could be lovely on the right person, but it's too herbal for me to enjoy the way I want to. Definitely evocative of a cool, moonlit night.

I love tea. Chai is awesome. Pumpkin latte season? I'm there! I had a Pumpkin Latte sniffie and filled it with oil three times and dumped into a bath one night and was in pure heaven. WOW for creamy and foamy latte! I needed this. Pumpkin-spiced gunpowder tea with mango peel, red ginger, green cardamom, smoky clove buds, fennel, allspice, saffron, coconut sugar, and foamy milk. Bottle: Buttery, spiced pumpkin with the sweetness of mango up front. The foaming of the milk of the latte is what I relate it to. Wet: That darn mango, being all delicious! Generally, the pumpkin is slightly earthy and the latte is foamy and a tiny bit bitter so the mango is evening it all out. It's like the caramel in an apple cider, perfectly balancing the chill of fall with the warmth of summer dying out. Drydown: Yes. Oh, yes! Pumpkin latte with spices and sweetness. All that I wanted, blooming before me. The bitterness is a bit pronounced, but the coffee note needs to do that for me to make it right. Dry: Exactly as the name implies, a flavored latte. The cooling foam scent with spices sprinkled on top, burning little holes through the fluffy foam. There's a fruity and earthy scent coming from beneath. So awesome. I admit, I had to slather myself in this. There's no way I couldn't! It smelled SO GOOD in the bottle that it Had. To. Be. Done. I don't regret it, either. This accompanied me to a great beer fest where I had Cacao Bender from Surly Brewery on a warm day, the first day of fall. I smelled heavenly, the beer was amazing, the food was meaty. This is a scent I will bring with me through the beginning of winter. I'll be sad when it's gone.

Beer, woodsmoke, tar, and treacle. George Takei is in my head with the "Oh myyyyy!" on this one. This is a scent that screams for my Hubby. He loves cigars and beer and wants to smell like a cigar and beer get-together sometimes, but the tobacco scents are too wet and floral for him otherwise. Dracul and Crowley are his go-to's so far. Bottle: Wood char, blessed wood char! A bit of sweet tobacco like a cigar humidor without all the cedar. There's some sweetness there. Wet: On him, cigar smoke billows behind a smoldering campfire. Other people have burnt marshmallows. Dry: Like the smell of bonfire on your clothes. Small wafts of woodsmoke and cigar and burnt sweets. I love this on Hubby. This will be in his rotation now. When we go to a friend's place to smoke cigars and share beers, this will be Number 1.

Such high hopes for this, but it disappears on me. White tea does that, though. Bottle: Getting that icy skin and crypt smell. The mourning flowers and gritty tomb smell. Evocative. Wet: Swirling florals, a little bit of that grave dust combating with the saffron I dearly love with my chemistry. Drydown: Disappearing already! No! A very mournful floral staying on my skin with a bit of dust wafting. Dry: Dead, decaying flowers drooping in the dirt... very far away. Virtually no throw, no staying power and didn't do much on my skin. I was really looking forward to this since I love the crypt-type scents. Not a keeper

Anything fizzy and alcohol and pumpkin will catch my eye. Fizzy Soda incense is my fave of all time! Only concern is the gin. I'm allergic to juniper. Despite the slight stomach ache and slight pounding head I get from it, I love Martin Miller's and Tanqueray Rangpur. Sad In the Bottle: FIZZ! Like a gin and tonic with lime, great start! Wet: Fizz! Not as crazy as from the bottle, but omnipresent. A little creamy and buttery with still some citrus cutting through. Slight alcohol waft. Drydown: All sorts of memories, here. This is the scent of a get-together at the bar with my friends, the upscale bar with loads of interesting martinis and cocktails in fall. Dry: A bit short-lasting, but the creamy and only slightly pumpkin-y scent is still attached to my skin. It's like my memories of last month at the bar, hazy with a remembrance of vodka tonics with lime.

I'm finding Boo to smell very similar to Eat Me and even Drink Me with the caramel-like sweetness and rich, buttery cream notes. Boo smells a bit more like a custard base for vanilla ice cream than a tart with custard cream inside. All are delicious, though.

Boo 2012, tested fresh from the lab. "Eerie billows of spun sugar, fluttering white cotton, and sheets of cream." Bottle: caramel-y sugar and cream Wet: wet and sweet sugar and rich cream, some whiteness coming out Drydown: Creeeeeaamy goodness, a bit of sweet, kindof like the creaminess of the coconut note with something slightly dry and white. Slightly acidic citrus when it hit my skin, before it started to muddle with the other notes. Dry: Reminds me of something... something SO familiar! I swear there's at least one BPAL scent that's similar on me that I love. At first, I thought it was a bit drier and acrid than it actually was before the full throw hit me. Pleasant amount of throw, not an insane strength on my skin but enough to waft as I flail. Hmmm... familiar... Now, this reminded me of Alice for the cream, but then I realized something wasn't matching... the tea and carnation aren't here. Then, Mouse's Long and Sad Tale, the powdery sweetness of amber matches a bit with the sweet pea bringing the extra sweetness... but not as warm. And it hits me! Eat Me. Buttery sweetness without the fruity tinges. Eat Me is an HG mini-gourmand for me and Boo DEFINITELY makes me happy, but they're so similar on me so far. The longevity and amount of throw are nearly identical, as well as the creamy sweetness. The big difference is the slightly dry cotton scent versus the dark berry/currant undercurrent through Eat Me. I'm not sure if I would choose one over the other yet, ack!

Wet - buttery, earthy pie. As soon as it hits my skin, it flashes sour. The sourness fades in a few moments and the peach gets amped. Drydown - My skin LOVES peach! The spices and pumpkin are under it, all sweet delicousness with a butter crust hiding beneath it. And musk! Got some lovely musk in there, too. Dry - There's mostly some musk and peach, a little spice, a bit of buttery dryness. Pleasant enough. The clove and nutmeg are earthy and there's a bit or warmth there. Pleasant.

What a fruit-laden description, and it involves watermelon? I LOVE the melon note in Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat, let's see what it can do! Wet - watermelon and a little bit of dirty musk and ripeness. The preserves and a little bit of sharp citrus come out nice. Drydown - OMG! Sweet and wet fruits with a teensy bit of floral goodness. Loving this like I love Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat. Gloopy base is taking a back seat Dry - Sweet and rich red fruits. Totally smell the strawberry and tartness. Love it for that, but I don't smell any real throw. This would make a great room spray or wax tart for springtime since it has literally an hour shelflife on my skin, bah. I guess it makes sense with all the top notes in this blend.

Wet - slightly dirty-earthy. Graveyard, yes. Drydown - A bit of white florals come out with more of the sweetness over dirt. VERY evocative! I picture soapy-white and sweet blooms growing from black soil. It's not rose but a mix of flowers, simulating the funeral boughs. Dry - and the soapiness increases as the florals settle. I can smell a subtle nighttime scent. The dirt is definitely hiding under the sweetness. Deepens out a bit and becomes a bit spicy.

This was a frimp from the Lab and the notes didn't jump out to me at first for some reason. Wet - Fresh, white floral. I can smell the lily, slightly soapy but not full-on sudsy soap. Drydown - Here comes the PEACH! I so love BPAL's peach notes (Gods of Intercourse, especially). There's an astringent note behind the juicy fruit, blooming into the sweet, damp rose in attar of rose and slight dustiness of the palmarosa. The black musk must be giving the little bit of dirt specks in the scent. Reminds me so much of one of my closest friends, a little bit of juicy fruits and a little hippie patchoulli/resin dirtiness underneath. Dry - OMG, yes! Reminds me so much of the feel of Imp with the juicy fruit and resinous backdrop with a light floral middle-note. The black musk gives plenty of deepness to balance out the juicy sweetness. Minor throw, but beautiful.

I love pirate-themed scents. The idea of a wet and salty scent evocative of being on a pirate ship is enough to catch my attention. Wet - Dry wetness... got the driftwood and musk with a little manly cologne. Drydown - This reminds me SO MUCH of my husband's Axe deodorant (Clix, from the dry line, this ain't some Old Spice, cough syrup-y deodorant.) This won't make many people want this scent, I may have messed this up for you guys and gals, but I do really love this scent! I really love these notes playing together. "Need to hand this back to hubby immediately!" I instantly though on smelling this after a few minutes, and I did. Dry - This smells amazing on me, if just a tiny bit manly due to the association with my husband already. It's a sea water smell, minus all the bacteria, so it's sweeter. The spices are like... beautiful. Bleh! Words! Escaping! Must. Will. Shatner. Through! Sarsparilla, yeeeeah, that's the spice! It dries to a milky and salty fresh dew scent. LOVE. When hubby is gone, this shall be put on his pillow to remind me of him. Bottom line: I almost didn't even try this since it was one of the ones my husband was iffy on. It's amazing on me and great on him. Where I get a milky type of note, he amps the spicy leather part. I love it on him.

Wet - I can smell wet flowers with a clear lilac note. On my skin, it starts to morph into a banana-like sweetness with a little bit of a dry and dark note very faint. Drydown - A damp floral scent heavy with dewy and damp notes over a faint murky base. Dry - This reminds me of Sea of Glass, without a heavy lilac note. Would love this as a linen spray/fabric softener. It's a bit deeper on the bottom, though, and very lovely to me. The throw is good but the longevity requires reapplication every 8 hours. I will be able to use this imp up for sure.

Eat Me is a Top Five for me, so I needed to try the companion scent. Turkey? Buttered Toast? I love the smell of both, but I don't want to smell like turkey. Oh no! Too interesting that I gotta try it immediately. Wet - buttery pastries straight outta the gate. It's like baking shortbread or oil pie crust. It gets a bit caramelly on the skin, still really buttery, but a lot sweeter. Drydown - caramel/toffee! I had a memory of MB: Underpants and MB: Closet with the cake notes. This gets sweet and strong caramel toffee with a small whiff of floury good underneath. Becoming a perfect companion to the creamy berry tart of Eat Me with wear is heavenly. Dry - Delicious. Just pure deliciousness. I can definitely smell a bit of a caramel popcorn scent or toffee cookies. I need to layer this with Eat Me to get all the goodness in one. The best sweet, sugary BPAL I have tried yet.

I love Seance because of the aged wood notes, so maybe I expected more from this blend. They are definitely in the same vein and are two scents in different parts of a victorian sitting room. Wet - Sharp in the imp, sharp on the skin. A little bit of dryness. I assume the osmanthus and lilac are the sharp bits, building the stage for the roses and woods. Drydown - No woods. That's what I wanted, so I'm not sure about this scent. So far, I don't think I really got Ouija here. Rosewood comes out with rose on me. I wonder if osmanthus and the type of lilac aren't just amping like mad on me here. Dry - Becomes a little bit more dry, but I wanted lots of woods with a little florals. This is more like a vase of recently-dried flowers sitting in a potpourried sitting room with one piece of wooden furniture. I wanted more, but it's not bad. If I put my nose right ON my skin, I get the rosewood. Slight throw, a little bit of longevity. I'll stick with Seance layered with Rose Cross.

I've had some skin chemistry changes and decided to try some of the scents I got for my SO to try. I love incense notes and citrus so I wanted to see how it played out. Wet, it's ALL SPICE and is delicious! Sadly, this did NOT last. Drydown brought soap. SOAP! Cinnamon... and SOAP. GROSS on me. No love for this scent.

On it's own, it smells crisp and fresh. I love the grapefruit and sweetness. On the skin it blooms into a sweet, citrusy, crisp blend. There's a bit of warmth there, but not too much. The throw is slight and the overall scent becomes a light blend of crisp citrus. Pleasant. I would compare the feel of this blend to a light-temperatured Szpasszony.

Obatala, you amazing scent, you! Why did I take so long to try this? I mean, really! I adore coconut in all forms! Flour, oil, butter, flaked, sweetened, unsweetened, cream, freshly-scraped flesh, meringue, cheesecake, flaked in frozen yogurt, in rice... in every form. Lab description caught me with coconut, I LOVE coconut! "Obatala’s ofrenda is soft, white and pure: milk, coconut meat, shea butter and cool, refreshing water." So I expect a wet and oil-rich scent. It must have been the milk note making me wonder. The imp smells like sweet coconut flesh and a slightly earthy note hiding deeeeeep underneath, I assume it's the shea. This is fresh, milky coconut with coconut water. I could drink coconut water any time of day, any time of year, if you put it in front of me. On the skin, this blooms into a sweet and juicy scent I enjoy immensely! The coconut note is the sweet and rich scent of real coconut flesh, and adding the shea makes it smell like the whole coconut, husk and all, is present. The milk doesn't sour on me and just adds a bit of creaminess to the rich scent. A bit of a cucumbery, but not green, tang brings the juiciness up quite a bit for me. It smells like coconut cream and coconut butter and clean, bright dew. It's amazingly clean, rich and the slightest bit sweet.