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Yay! My second Lunacy: a decant snagged from the lovely rhovanion, over on the LJ comm alchemylab. In the Imp: Do I even need to say? Cheesecake! The cheesiest cheese that ever caked. Definitely lots of vanilla, the slight tang of the cream cheese, a golden grain note that smells precisely like graham cracker crusts, and something just a touch fruity.... strawberries? Ye Gods, this is fantastic. It makes my mouth water just to sniff it. How does Beth do it? I want to drink this, or, failing that, dump it all over myself. But no, I will exercise restraint-- I only have a 1/3 dram bottle, after all, that's barely more than an Imp. But oh, it's difficult. I was having a craving for sweets already and this..... I wonder if we have the ingredients for cheesecake? Anyway, I'm wool-gathering. On with the review. Wet: Cinnamon and vanilla-- playdough! Luckily I tested this once before writing this review, and I seem to remember the funky part burned off after a while. Let's hope it does so again. It's still really quite pleasant, just not the mouth-watering eye-popping goodness it was before it hit my wrists. (Hmmm, odd, that. I'm getting all playdough on one wrist and all vanilla cinnamon on the other. Weird.) The grains and strawberries seemed to have vanished, but I'd be perfectly happy with just yummy cinnamon vanilla sugar, if only that damn playdough would go away. *twiddles thumbs* Dry: Ah, there we go. It's calming down now. The throw on this is spectacular... delicious vanilla cupcakes, and definitely detectable from quite a ways away. It's still got a touch of something artificial about it, but at least it's no longer identifiable as playdough. This is all creamy, lightly spiced vanilla now, more icing than cheesecake, but you won't find me complaining. Beaver Moon is the new front man in my arsenal for when I'm feeling playful and affectionate. This isn't sexy or evocative or mysterious or sophisticated, it's pure spun sugar and I love it. EDIT: The second time I wore this, it was playdough and nothing but. Swaps.

Frimp from ze Lab. In the Imp: A soft smell, very yielding, but also sharp, if that makes any sense at all. Definitely lavender, some kind of floral (wisteria?), something dry and grainy (I see now it that it's the sandalwood), and the velvety backing of white musk. I didn't expect to be drawn to this at all, but it's surprisingly nice. Clean and soft and sweetly herbal. Wet: Lavender, musk, round and sugary wisteria, and the clean rose. Watery and cathartic and languid. Really surprisingly sweet, too... I can only assume it's the wisteria, floating around on top. I believe Miss Bellatrix described it as "charming", which seems accurate. It's delicate, too, and lady-like, and ever-so polite, so much so that it almost seems a little deceptive. The scent of a simpering rival in a Jane Austen novel, perhaps. Crocodile tears and feigned weakness. Eyes made wide and moist by tincture of belladonna, not genuine sorrow. Dry: The same. Candylike wistera, watery rose, gentle white musk and spicy lavender on a bed of understated sandalwood. This blend is everything I'm not: sweet, fragile, finely bred, coy, girly and a touch sneaky. While this is very evocative, it just isn't for me.... too fainting and quiet. I'll stick to my Santa Eularia des Riu for a womanly, but strong and joyous, floral. There's an emoticon somewhere that sums up Ode on Melancholy perfectly...... ah, yes, there it is. [edit] Wow, I have to say, this is one helluva sleep-inducing blend! I was fine half an hour ago, perfectly coherent, and now I'm nodding off at my desk, and literally can't stay awake. Ode on Melancholy is the only thing that's changed-- I might have to keep this around, just for insomnia!

My lovely mummy let me test this one. I'm familiar with a grand total of one of the notes-- the rose-- so this will probably be a very confused review, but I'm willing to give it a shot. In the Imp: Hmmm... this is quite odd. It's pleasant, and crisp, and fizzy, and sweet, but there's an end note that's almost dry and papery... I can smell rose, and something fruity that can only be the loganberry, and an almost rootbeerish note that reminds me of the birch soda I used to drink all the time (so it must be birch, of course!) It's very clear and cool and really does smell almost carbonated. I like it so far, but it's not quite what I was expecting. Wet: Florals! A quiet, understated rose and something else, presumably the crocus and iris, underscored by the bubbly birch. This is clean, but complex. There's something faintly sweet and tart in the background, but so far the loganberry is far from a main player on my skin. I have no idea what mayflower, avens or maple leaf smell like, but I'm sure they're in there somewhere. It's starting to warm up a little, but still maintains an overall impression of cold, like sunlight on winter flowers. The rose is going a little soapy on me, but it's not horrible, and the loganberry has acquired a distinctly alcoholic note (it seems most of the BPAL plums and berries do this on me), but it doesn't seem out of place. Dry: Roses, tart berry wine, unidentifiable spring florals, and birch. This is very pleasant, but somewhat unremarkable on me, and doesn't transport me instantly to a place and time like most of the other Wanderlust scents. I suspect it's the rose's fault, turning all cleanly when it ought to be lush. It's mostly a floral, but, I should add, a distinguished one: it doesn't smell generic in the least. It's almost like if you took a nice rose and crossbred it with something sunny and woodsy.... the bastard child of Mata Hari and Embalming Fluid (with a drop of Wanda, Florence, for the berries), if you can believe it. Pretty and springy but ultimately not really my thing.

A frimp from the Lab. I've been dying to try it. *crosses fingers* In the Imp: Strong amber. Whoa, this is the first time I've been able to smell amber without putting an oil on my skin.... I'm also getting some yellow spice (saffron?), some lovely musky-velvety rose, and mandarin. Bergamot, too, a high citrus floating on top. Mmm, this is nice. A little fruity, a little powdery without being annoying baby powder. The nutmeg makes it smell almost like the desert equivalent of mulled wine. Wet: Sandalwood and saffron! Very warm and sweet and dry. This isn't juicy, ripe mandarin and lush, womanly rose, it's dehydrated orange peel ground up with spices and the desiccated petals of wild roses. There's something in here, possibly the amber, that gives it an almost honeyish edge, like a really good tea. Ohmigod! Yes! That's what this reminds me! Celestial Seasonings' Mandarin Orange Spice tea! The similarity is remarkable... it's that scent, almost exactly, heady and heated and delicious, but made wearable by the fuzzy backing of the musk and the sweet golden scent of the amber. This makes me feel extremely sexy in a very womanly sort of way... it's a bit sweet, a bit spicy, a bit smoky, a bit fruity, a bit floral. It smells, not like incense itself, but like a room in which the best incense in the world has been burned for years. A muted but still very present scent, this conjures up images of a tumultous marketplace, tent flaps billowing amid endless sand dunes, and a dark-eyed beauty wearing a long loose kaftan and a veil. Mmmmmm...... Dry: What? No! What happened? Something fruity and powdery has risen up and is staging a rebellion-- the mandarin? What happened to my desert spice-market? This is much more honeyish now, too... It's still very pretty, but it's not the scent ot was forty-five minutes ago. There doesn't seem to be any throw, either. Awww, man. I was all set to fall head over heels in love with this one, too. It was going to be my newest summer blend, until it went all sweet orange powder. Woe! Verdict: I'm not ready to give up on this one yet. I don't mind the lack of throw-- I'll slather if I need to-- but my skin treats the drydown in a disappointing fashion. Hopefully it's just a phase, and my Middle Eastern goodness will return in another hour or two. *sigh* If I can get that gorgeous first stage to linger, it'll be a 5mL for sure. If I can't.... well.... I guess I'll hang on to my Imp. I waited about twenty minuets before I submitted this review and.... gues what? Spicy goodness is back! I suppose I'll just have to get used to the alternating sweet and dry. Oh well. I can live with that.

Frimp in a swap. I'm in the minority, I know, but I love jasmine, so I have high hopes for this one. In the Imp: Rose, jasmine, and magnolia. Very similar to Mata Hari, only without the bitter coffee note, or the dry background woods. This smells very lush and juicy and just a touch smoky to me (must be the amber), like a luxurious soap. (In doing a side-by-side, in-the-Imp comparison, I noticed that Mata Hari is less jasmine and more rose, whereas Black Dahlia is all jasmine, all the time.) Wet: A burst of jasmine, which is quickly toned down by the almost-soapy rose. There's a "wet" floral in here somewhere, too, maybe the orchid, and the delicate white full-bodied scent of the magnolia. I can smell the amber lurking somewhere in the background, that sort of purry golden fuzz that's more of a feeling than a smell. Unabashedly floral, but not in a screamingly high-pitched way, rather a velvety one. Extremely femme and "classic" without being nauseating or cloying. On me, I admit, it's close to a jasmine SN, everything else plays a fairly faint supporting role, but I'm okay with that. Jasmine and I have an arrangement... it likes me, I like it. We're good friends. Dry: More of the same. Clean, rich flowers on a bed of increasingly sweet amber. I don't get a shadowed or threatened feel from this at all; if anything, it's delicate and soft. For some reason, I have the mad urge to scent my hair with this... not my body, so much, just my hair. This is very pretty, but kind of indistinguishable from a lot of other jasmine blends, on my skin at least. The Boy, however, expressed a fondness for it, so I will probably keep it and wear it around him. It's by no means a bad scent, it just serves as a reminder that florals are not and probably never really will be my thing.

Frimp from the fantabulous Lab. Madrid's grape note was a total trainwreck on me; let's see how Urd's muscadine fares. In the Imp: Smoky, heavy patchouli (the same kind I get in Sin... I wonder if that has red and black as well?), with a grape baby aspirin chaser. I'm unfamiliar with cereus (isn't it a kind of cactus flower?), and, while I've smelled nag champa before, it's never stuck in my memory... but I'm going to assume the champa is what's adding that smoky incense note. On a second sniff, I think I honestly can detect some kind of floral floating on top of the patchouli, and..... cedar? Something very sharp and woody. So far it's extremely odd, and kind of musty-smelling... I don't hate it, but I don't particularly like it either. Let's see what it does on my skin. (.... Sinead O'Connor's "I Am Stretched On Your Grave" just came on the playlist. Seems appropriate.) Wet: Dusty hippie basement! It lightens, though, with touches of a round fruit that doesn't really smell like grape, but at least doesn't smell like baby aspirin (thank God). While I can't identify the cereus by name, there's flashes of something transparent on top that can only be a floral. It has a very heavy, occult-bookstore sort of feel to it. The only description I can give is that this scent is cloaking me in a cloud of solemn ritual. It does seem rather inexorable, now that I think about it. Dry: Fruity, smoky incense, quite serious and a bit generic. This is nice, but I don't think it's for me. My skin scrambles it into a mishmash that's a bit like sticking your face into the jars of incense at a hippie store.... and while I really like that smell, I'm not sure I want to smell like it. It's just a scent for me, it doesn't really communicate much (unlike most other BPAL blends.) I'll stick to Sin for my sexy smoky incense, and send this one off to a home where it can be better appreciated.

Normally I have a specified formula for reviews. A little background, then how the blend smells-- in the Imp, on me, when dry-- and, finally a verdict. I can't do that with Jazz Funeral. I have very specific memories of being young and playing outside. There was a certain freedom, a happiness not connected to anything in particular, except, perhaps, watching the seasons change around me, that I used to be able to conjure up simply by stepping outside. Over the years, I've lost that ability to get in touch with the magic of the world. It will still happen, very occasionally, but I've often lamented my inability to simply sit under a tree and feel overwhelming joy-- that I'm part of it all, that I'm a player in the greatest game there is. The thing I remember about being so happy in my youth, the thing that made it so strong and precious, was that I was melancholy, too. I would lie on my back and look at the strong green branches of the pines against the blue of the sky, and watch the clouds go sailing, and at times I could almost feel the wheel of the year turning around me. Birds would often perch in the trees above me and sing. "Things change," they said. "They come full circle." It was an incredibly poignant reminder of the happiness and sorrows that we will all experience, and the overwhelming joy and sheer love of this, the human experience, life, that keeps us going. Jazz Funeral is that feeling, all over again. It's a perfect reminder that, no matter what's going on around me, I'm alive. The smell itself is a sweet white floral, festive bourbon and spicy rum, backed by cool soil, green moss, and shot through with threads of some kind of hazy, still aquatic. It reminds me of early autumn, when the flowers are still blooming and the days are still warm, but the corner has been turned and you can feel the first tendrils of the coming cold on the breeze. The days when it's enough, and more than enough, to be where you are and who you are. It recalls an Irish band I love, many of whose songs are incredibly sad in sentiment... but underneath it all is the exuberant beat, the sensation of enjoyment, the thought that, for good or ill, this is It, and even when you're down-- God, isn't it wonderful to be able to taste that feeling? Yes, this scent is happy, and it's also a touch melancholy... but underneath there's a beautiful, bubbling joy. It's a farewell, and a poignant one, but not a goodbye laden with hard feelings and broken promises. It's a farewell to a good thing which we knew must come to an end, something that will be missed but not regretted. Something worth remembering. Something worth celebrating. Something that reminds you it's all worth it, just to be alive. Welcome to my new signature blend. [edit] The late, late, just-barely-there drydown of this is a sweet, slightly masculine cologne (the bay rum, I presume) and makes me think there's musk in here as well. FWIW.

Thanks crescentwench, I feel much better. It was the double 5mLs thing that freaked me out, I know the site remember and I had been careful to only click once. Oh well. Chalk it up to a freak Firefox accident.

Okay, I have a question, and I hope it's okay to ask it here. (Mods, please slap me if it's not.) I put one 5mL of Luperci, one 5mL of Old Dublin, and one 5mL of Smut in my cart, and chose my shipping options. I was waffling on a bottle of Red Lantern, too, so I let it sit for a while... and when I came back? It said "Thank you for your order". Me: So I went back and the shopping cart was showing TWO 5mLs of Smut and Luperci apiece (but only one Dublin!) Now, I didn't provide my credit card info or my shipping address, so I assume there's no way I can be billed (right? Right?) But I hope the Labbies aren't pestered with a blank order or some such... has anyone else had this happen? Is there anything I need to do? Is there a way to "cancel" a blank order like this?

Purchased off the alchemylab LJ in a fit of impulse buying. to whoever I bought from (I confess I don't remember!) I'm very pleased, though, to be able to try the infamous Snake Charmer. Here's hoping it works its fabulous mojo on me. In the Imp: Hmm, smells like Snake Oil! That same sweet powder. My nose is a little more sophisticated now (as opposed to my first run in with Snake Oil, when I was but a newb), and I think I can detect patchouli, amber, and a slinky, delicious musk, as well as the sweet note floating around the edges that I just know will blossom in to vanilla. This is quite similar to SO, but.... different, somehow, too. A little lighter, a little less sharp, a little more woody. Wet: It's thinner in consistency and lighter in colour than SO, too.... the first thing I get as I dab some on my wrists is a burst of dry coconut. Very natural and yummy smelling, not at all sunblock-esque. The vanilla is lurking behind that, and I can smell all the base components of Snake Oil on the bottom.... musk and spice and patchouli and tobacco and incense. There's almost a floral element here somewhere, too, I'm not sure where that's coming from. It could be the amberette-- amberette seed is supposed to have a "floral-musky" aroma. I'm going to assume it's the labdanum and benzoin that are adding that scrumptious "base" sweetness, and, of course, the amber is there too, grounding everything out. Maybe I'm crazy, but I'm getting a very slight touch of alcohol in here, too. It might be the plum; plum has the tendency to turn into plum wine on me. This is really wonderful, warm and yummy and slyly sexy without being overtly, balls-out "Take me now!" like O. I can definitely see serpentine association... this does smell like something a belly dancer with a snake in her hands would wear. It's not as unabashedly incensey as Snake Oil, either, much more sugary and a bit less bold-- Snake Oil's daughter, perhaps. Dry: A swirling haze of rich browns, golds and purples. The scent stays true from wet, but everything settles down and blends into one indistinguishable mass of The coconut takes a backseat to the vanilla, and the throw is very faintly spicy-musky-sweet. This is ever-so lovely, and I'm beyond pleased I got to try it. I'm not indescribably in love with it, as I was with Dorian and O (thank God, since they're GC and the Charmer is impossible to find!), but it's rich and heady and sultry and I will simply adore being able to whip out my Imp for special occasions. [edit] To add the official description.

This was the only one of the Yules I bought in full bottle form-- roses are often rather iffy on me, and I read so many "OMG usually roses suck but RR changed my mind!11" reviews, I had to have it, just on the offchance. In the bottle: An overwhelmingly sharp note leaps out and smacks me right in the old olfactory senses. Ummmm... okay? I can smell a touch of something that might be rose behind it, and a little of the "greenness" everyone's talking about, and just possibly a bit of dirt, but mostly it smells like..... pomegranite juice? Seriously, though. It's almost identical... bitter and round. Maybe that's the nailpolish remover a few other reviews have mentioned? Whatever it is, it's definitely not something I want to smell like. Here's hoping it morphs once it's on, right? [Reading Andrabell's review, I note she mentions that Persephone is very similar. Doesn't Persephone have pomegranite in it? Maybe my nose isn't completely insane.... ] Wet: I only dabbed a teensy touch on my wrists, since I want to be able to get this off, and I just got out of the shower, so my skin's probably thirsty. FYI. Anyway, Rose Red is now softer, more fuzzy pomegranite juice and possibly vodka. Eurgh. It's not so bad from a distance of a few inches (rose petals? In acetone?), but up close it's still almost nauseating in its intensity. Dry: This is getting more and more bearable as it dries, but it's still not really registering as anything but faint rose, acerbic greenery and a very strong, unpleasantly alcoholic note. It doesn't seem to have much throw, either, which, considering how my skin is treating this, is probably a good thing. In the end, this fades down to a very, very faint, very juicy, slightly green rose scent, but it's simply not worth the bitter heartache it takes to get there. This is a perfect example of my crazy chemistry: it turns the solid classic of the Yule Blends into a complete SNAFU. *weeps* Here is the story of Rose Red on my skin, told in pictures:

A frimp from the ever-generous Lab. They seem keen on giving me florals lately, which I appreciate, since I'm starting to jones for spring something hardcore. Plus, I love the name of this one. It's so beautiful. I've never been there (isn't it somewhere on a Spanish island or something?), but if the place is half as gorgeous as the name, I'm going to have to investigate. In the Imp: .... wait a minute. Holy $&!#. This Imp doesn't have the little tab thingee on the side! Whoa! Labbies! You can't just change it up like that, you're blowing my mind. Sniffing from the Imp wand, this reminds me of a voodoo blend: a smooth floral (the jasmine, I presume), bright citrusy orange blossom, and a blend of kitchen herbs... rosemary, and something else (maybe basil?), backed by the rich bite of lavender. I think there's a musk in there as well, as I'm catching whiffs the velvety undertone I associate with light skin or golden musk. It's complex and herbal, and smells a bit like a very, very good men's cologne, or the drydown of the rosemary-lavender lotion I keep in the kitchen for dry hands. "Mediterreanean" is a good description for this. Wet: Orange blossom and a gentle musk with a clean, slightly soapy jasmine, rosemary, lavender and.... yes, I'm becoming more and more convinced there's basil in here, too. There's just a touch of something like ozone or salt, too, that gives the impression of flat lands, hot sun, wide-open sky and blue waves. This is very bright and soothing and quite unusual (in contrast to Asphodel, which I tested several hours ago, which was gorgeous but a riff on a classic.) So far, this isn't striking me as a particularly sophisticated blend, but it's absolutely beautiful in a homely way-- the herbs and lavender really help to ground this and keep it from becoming another floaty, generic floral. Think an intelligent, pretty, dark-haired woman tending her kitchen garden under the Spanish sun, or a brown-eyed beauty in a sarong strolling barefoot down a beach. (Eeep. It's making my arm burn a little. Hope I'm not allergic.) Dry: The same. This is quite unique, and I can see it working well on a man or a woman. I love this... it's soft but present, beautiful but not cloying, different but not offputting. We'll see what the staying power is like, but if it sticks around it might go on the big bottle list eventually-- I would love to scent my sheets, my room, my hair, my clothes, my moisturizers and my soaps with this. Sunny and refreshing, comfortable and pretty.

A frimp from the Lab, and my first foray into the Rappacini's Garden category. I've always been madly besotted with plant smells, whether herbs or trees (or, more recently, flowers), so I have high hopes for these scents as a group. In the Imp: A clean, white floral. This smells a lot like Has No Hanna, to me, without the touch of cooking spice that seems to accompany all the voodoo blends. I also don't think it's muguet (Lily of the Valley), but something else very similar... another type of lily, maybe. Daffodils? Hyacinth? Maybe just a touch of jasmine in there somewhere... It's a little too "thin" for wisteria. Anyway, I like it. Don't love it-- it seems a little generic so far-- but a solid like. Let's see how this hellflower blossoms. Wet: Whoa. I think my skin just ate it. It's certainly very faint on my wrists... but very pleasant, too. It's a little softer than Has No Hanna, not as bold, and a little more sugary, too. I can definitely see where the idea of transparency comes in to play; this is very light, but the longer it stays on, the more I get a sense of its presence, like a shower of white petals all around me. This isn't terribly daring, but it's high-quality: think freesia shampoos and floral shower gels done right for once. Asphodel is just a touch soapy on me, but in a sweetly feminine way rather than an obnoxious one. Dry: Only the other day, I was lamenting the fact that I want to wear Has No Hanna for its scent far more often than I need its voodoo properties, but I didn't want to waste the psychological effects. Enter Asphodel, the solution to my dilemma! This is an absolutely lovely white floral, beautiful and classic in a femme way, strong enough to be present but light enough to be a "Oh God, where's that smell coming from? *look around for honeysuckle bush*" rather than a, "I can really smell your perfume!" Of the two, I think I prefer Has No Hanna slightly (although that could be just because I know it a bit better), but the two are quite similar and fit neatly into the same scent niche. (Upon doing a side-by-side in-the-Imp comparison, I noted that Has No Hanna is a touch more golden and honey-ish, where Asphodel is a little cleaner and almost ozone-y in its breeziness.) That's entirely personal preference, however. Asphodel shouldn't be taken for granted; it's a gorgeous blend of white florals, like having early flowers twined in my hair, or holding a maidenly spring bouquet, and it strikes the perfect balance between delicacy and stage presence. I'm not sure I'd buy a 5mL, but the fact I'm keeping the Imp is a testament to Beth's genius... before the Lab, I would have said that florals were my least favourite perfume category in the world. Shows what I know.

Hi Miss Catelara.... Personally I think florals "scream" the loudest, but that's on my skin. Spicy musks and foody scents are also very strong for me, while resins and ambers and lighter musks are very gentle. This thread over on the Recommendations subforum might help you.

A frimp from the generous Lab. (I love the new smilies!) I'm OTR, roses have been going to soap on me, and I've never tried apple blossom (nor the Lab's ylang-ylang)... but I like the BPAL honey. So we'll see how this goes. In the Imp: Oooooh. Wow. That's apple blossom, all right-- it smells exactly like lying in the grass underneath my three apple trees during the height of summer. Such a lovely scent. Close on the heels of that I can detect a clean, wild rose and the almost metallic ylang-ylang, entwined with a drop of sweet honey. (I got this all over the outside of the Imp as I applied it, and rushed off to rub some shirts over the soaked label. I hope I like it. I'm such a klutz! ) Wet: Apple blossom is very interesting as a scent. It does smell like apples, but also like a floral. It's hard to define, but I really like it, and here it works beautifully in tandem with the clean (but not soapy! Yet, anyway) rose, sweet honey, and just a touch of the high-pitched ylang ylang. This is very warm and girly and springy. It feels almost sacreligious to be wearing this inside with a sweater on! Dry: The same, only gentler. Makes me want to run outside and lie down in the green grass under the trees, and listen to the bees. Round, fruity apple blossom, topped by rambling rose, and gently accented with touches of honey and ylang-ylang. This isn't daring or unusual, but it's pretty and pleasant and not at all overwhelming, and I'll hang on to my Imp for use in the spring or summer.

Caveat lector: I'm dealing with the remains of a rather spectacular headcold. And I'm OTR at the moment. Gods only know how this is going to affect my sense of smell/skin chemistry, but the congestion is almost gone and I can sniff things again and I don't want to wait any longer! First off, I have to say how much I love the bottle art. A mushroom cloud? And a map behind that, I think, and some really cool Gothic-style script for the label. In the bottle: Whoa. I unscrewed the top and was instantly punched in the nose by a searingly dry, spicy orange. This isn't gentle and fruity like Baghdad, nor creamy and glorious like The Haunted Palace. Nor is it the richly smoky mandarin of Torture King. This is.... the only word I can come up with is "scorched". This smells like bleak, acrid wasteland to me. It almost stings my nasal passages (they're extra-tender from blowing my nose so much.) It's not a bad smell, just a powerful one. Kind of medicinal. I can detect mandarin, heavy tobacco, unidentified herbs, maybe a tiny touch of tea (but the dehydrated leaf rather than the brew itself) and something that could be saffron. No red musk, tonka, cocoa or any of the softer, more mellow notes. I like it, but I can't imagine wearing it. Here's hoping it calms down on my skin. Wet, on skin: The orange comes to the forefront and the tobacco settles down a good deal, thankfully, although this still puts me in mind of spilled blood on hot sand. I can smell the red musk now, and I think a touch of cocoa as well. It's still heavy and very spicy, and reminds me a lot of The Haunted Palace on steriods. With an AK-47 and a hand-rolled cigarette and leather chaps. As it settles, the tea and cocoa poke their heads out, ready to duck back around the corner at the first sign of enemy fire. Hmmmm, it could just be me, but I really don't get any sense of smoothness from this at all (at the moment, anyway.) This strikes me as extremely.... pointy, if that makes sense. It's mellowing still further as it dries, until it's a heated swirl of tobacco and orange, saffron and cocoa, tea and musk, but still extremely potent. This really fits the "war" concept. If you bottled Gaiman and Pratchett's War from Good Omens, she would be exactly like this. Dry: Heavy. Dusty. Dry. Scorched. Mandarin, tobacco, saffron, musk, herbs, cocoa, tonka, in that order, but without being sweet or holiday-orangey. I have to say, I'm about how this could give off a candy store or a happy, pretty, cheerful vibe. On my skin, even when it's fading, it's brash, harsh, and, yes, war-like. It makes my head spin a little and my temples feel as though there's a loop of tight metal around them. I'm reminded of a quote from Lawrence of Arabia, when Sharif Ali tells Lawrence that his wholesale slaughter of a Turkish column is nothing in comparison to what the sand has drunk before. "I tell you; this is nothing. Is it the blood? The desert has dried up more blood than you could think of." Verdict: This one, although fantastic in form and execution, just doesn't quite gel with me. It's too authoritarian-- I loves me some power blends, but I prefer them to be commanding in a different way than this. GSoW is just a little too drill sergeant on me, although I think it might work beautifully on someone else. (And it's giving me a headache.) I'll give it another go when I'm completely healthy again and the communists aren't invading the summer house, but as it is, I prefer The Haunted Palace for my orangey-goodness fix, and I'll probably pass this bottle on to a better home.

I didn't think I was an incense kind of girl, and then Sin, that tramp, changed my mind. And then I thought, "Well, clearly, I'm a dirty sexy hippy incense kind of girl...." and then I saw Midnight Mass, and he called to us, precious, yessss he did. I think part of it might be that the Boy was raised Catholic, and I've never even attended a Catholic service, so my interest in this could be my overwhelming curiousity about everything to with him, bleeding over into BPAL. And, of course, the fact that it's supposed to smell damn good. The lovely syrenemyst was my supplier for this one. In the Imp: Cedar, incense of all kinds (I'm bad at picking out individual notes), some kind of very faint floral-- rose? muguet? lily?-- and a watery alcoholic tinge. (Wait, didn't someone else say they smelled vodka?) Odd, that. Well, we'll see. I like it so far, even if it's not quite what I was expecting. It's a bit sweet and much lighter than what I was expecting. More like unburned resin than heavy smoke... Wet, on skin: Wood, incense, that floral, something that smells almost like tears... sharp and salty.... (maybe the myrrh? Laudanum was a touch salty on me, too), and the twinge of vodka. This goes on surprisingly soft... but it feels "cold" to me, like a stone church rather than a warm wooden one. It's clinging to my arm, too-- not much throw at all. The alcohol is stronger at my wrist than it is on my arm... everywhere else it's just very gentle touches of woody, resiny incense and dust. And it's starting to warm up. Dry: Incense, a touch of sweet, a touch of salt... call me crazy, but this really does seem to be kinfolk to Laudanum. Although I'd say that MM is a touch softer, gentler, more golden and comforting, but less exotic; a smoky church rather than a hazy opium den. LiberAmoris definitely hit the nail on the head when she said that this was more like a room in which incense had been burned for many years, and the smell of it had seeped into the walls and furnishings. This also reminds me of the incense notes in Penthus, but without the soapy rose... Midnight Mass seems like a blanket blend, to me, pretty and calming and ever-so faint, while still retaining a "presence". I can definitely see returning to this one when I need something soothing and grounding. Verdict: It's not an OMG INCENSE LOOOOVE!!!!!111oneone like I thought it might be, but it's still very beautiful, just in a slightly different way than what I had been expecting. I was all prepared for the glory and majesty of the Church, and instead I came away with something much more tender: like a compassionate hand on my head, and a quiet, devout-but-kindly man listening to, and forgiving, my sins... not because God frowns upon my actions, but because His priest's grace helps me forgive myself, and start again. I've been extremely stressed out about college applications and my financial situation lately, and wearing this has made me the most relaxed and... faithful... I've been in ages. This is a surprisingly powerful oil, and I will carefully store my Imp for times when I need it. [edit] I should add that, now I'm no longer so stressed out, Midnight Mass has lost the somewhat meh beginning, but is otherwise the same. It goes on warm, forgiving incense, and it stays that way until it fades, 12+ hours later. It's golden and glorious and gentle, with touches of wood and florals, and I positively adore it. I might have to hunt down another Imp. Or two.

Snagged from a lovely cohabitant of the alchemylab LiveJournal. I've been dying to try this one as it seems to be the unexpected hit of the Yule blends, but I can't afford a bottle just now, so syrenemyst hooked me up with a super-full Imp. In the Imp: Creamy and sweet. Vanilla and a bit of mint and something sugar-slick, just-- big surprise-- like a candy cane. Wet, on skin: Whoa peppermint! There's something in here that smells faintly medicinal to my nose, but I can't think of what it is. It's round and slightly plasticky and very familiar.... oh! I know. This, to me, smells like toothpaste. Not the kind you use at home that comes in a tube, but the stuff that dentists employ, the minty variety that's packaged in a little single-use tub. Peppermint and something else. Oh. OH. Uh-oh. I know why I think "dentist's office" when I smell this, now. Sweartagawd I'm picking up hints of latex in this. Like the gloves dentists use, or.... um...... LifeStyles' Kiss of Mint condoms. Yep. Unmistakable. In fact, it's a little uncanny how much this smells like a Kiss... It's not a bad scent, by any means; in fact, I think I'm rather fond of it. If I get a little farther away, the throw is peppermint and creamy vanilla playdough. Er.... ooooohkay. I must admit that, despite all this, I still like it. It's making my arm tingle in a cool, pleasant way, and the hints of latex I get are bizarrely pleasant. (I feel like I should send LifeStyles a congratulatory letter for making safe sex gear that smells as good as one of Beth's blends!) Drydown: The playdough recedes, leaving me with a close, gentle waft of vanilla, what could be sugary musk, lingering hints of mint... and, you guessed it, Eau de Condom. Well, this one was certainly an odd experience; my chemistry has been playing merry hell with stuff that usually works on me, lately, and I'm quite sure the plasticky note is just my skin reacting badly to something that's in the blend... and I'm not too happy about the way it messed with this one. Verdict: You know, I'm just not ready to let this go yet. I'm going to age my Imp and hope that the funky background burns off the same way the playdough in Snow White is reputed to. And I'm going to give it another go post college applications, as well; my stress level could definitely be making things wonky. So.... I guess this is a wait and see, but unless things change, I won't be buying a bottle. Woe.

You know, it's funny, but scents that turn to playdough on me go playdough on my hair half the time, too! Not always, but Miskatonic University? Didn't work on my skin, and it was still just as horribly playdough on my hair. I didn't even want to try it in the oil burner, for fear it'd do the same thing. *sigh* Either there's enough of my skin oil on my hair to affect the scent, or it's not my skin chemistry turning it into playdough, it's my nose perceiving it as playdough. If that makes any sense.

A frimp in my latest order. In the Imp: Salt and.... dill? WTF? Where's the rose? Is this supposed to smell like pickles and potato chips? (Mmmmm, potato chips.) This is going to be pickles and rose soap on me, isn't it? The throw on this one is very, very strong, (I've got the Imp wand resting gently in the vial, but not snapped down, and I can still smell it from three feet away) and is a weak watery rose. Wet: Pickles! Soap! More soap than pickles, I have to admit, for which I'm very grateful. It's definitely a white rose, very soft and aquatic and... soapy. We'll see if anything changes. Dry: Hey, the pickle's back! I think I liked the soap better. Smells like rubbing Irish spring all over your salt-and-vinegar chips. Swaps. Jesu Cristos, swaps! This one and my chemistry.... we don't do well together. I had to wash it off; it started giving me a screaming headache. Man, why are roses going wonky on me lately? Wanda doesn't do the soap thing, and neither does Dublin, nor Mata Hari, nor Dove's Heart, and The Haunted Palace only a teensy bit. Is my chemistry the same, and I'm only now starting to register rose as a soapy smell? Can I not wear roses if they're the dominant note in a blend? Woe. Rose Red had better not be like this on me!

Jolly Roger's a great blend for daytime wear, on me. I loff it so much, and be damned with the "traditionally masculine"!

A frimp from the generous Lab. Wet: That dry orris I remember from Dragon's Bone, mingling with wet juicy plum, grapefruit and high bright bergamot. I can't detect the amber, but then, I usually can't, until I get the oil on my skin and the initial chorus starts to quiet down a little bit. I really like it so far, though! Wet: Oh, no! I just knocked over the Imp while applying it! My first BPAL spill. It was only a drop, but still... I rubbed my favourite jacket all over it, though, and my papers smell delicious now. Anyway, right, wet, on my skin, the plum comes to the forefront. It's very sweet in almost-candy, almost-wine sort of way, but it's kept from being too sugary by the orris, which lends it a dusty sort of dignity. Grapefruit and bergamot are hovering on top, making this quite a clear sort of blend. The amber is softening the edges of everything, and doing a fine job of it. This is similar to Florence, only with plum wine instead of berries. Dry: An alcoholic note emerges, possibly from the coupling of the orris and the plum. It smells a good deal like my uncle's blueberry mead... but in a wearable form. It's not overpowering, and is still fruity enough to be very pleasant. It's bubbly and yummy, but still grown up. There's some throw, but just enough to be tantalizing: you want to lean in closer for another sniff. After a while, the amber starts to dominate. That glowing, your-skin-but-oh-so-much-better smell, topped by the wine. This one's a deep rich purple colour, all the way. Bon Vivant, Magaera, and Florence all strike me as being in the same family: Bon Vivant is the playful, just-old-enough-to-be-tempting youngest, Florence the sophisticated, wiser elder sister, and Magaera the stunning, dark-haired, witchy middle child; experienced enough to be seductive, sharp enough to be witty, withheld enough to be mysterious. I have a short plum-coloured velvet dress and a pair of strappy stiletto sandals that will go great with this!

Got this one for my sister... but it's Snow White, I mean come on, I had to try it, didn't I? In the Imp: Pineapple! And pine and coconut and musk and maybe vanilla and maaaaybe almond. Some unidentified floral, too. It's very soft, but still strong. Mmmmmmm.... I want to drink it. Wet: Almond! Pineapple! Playdough! Godsdammit! Oh yeah. Playdough. Playdoughy mess, even. I'll wait 'till the drydown to see if that fixes it, but if not.... I'm going to be a sad Widget. I know this wasn't for me, but I really wanted to smell the fabulousness. Dry: Oh, hallelujah! It's a Christmas miracle. This is much, much less playdoughy on me now-- it's still there a bit, but if I aged the bottle a little, I suspected it'd tone down even further, if not vanish. Now I'm getting something both cold and sweetly fruity.... like eating angel cakes (doughnuts with slices of pineapple between them, wrapped up in foil and warmed in the coals of a fire) in a snowy forest. The lilies make this very maidenly. Perfect for a dark-haired, delicately built beauty... The verdict: Delicious, and, I think, perfect for my sister. If it goes wonky on her, I'll tell her to shove it in a cupboard for a month or two, and then try again.

A frimp with the boy's latest order, which ended up at my house. I already know I'm giving this to him, but I had to test it anyway. Shhh! In the Imp: Whoa, hello pine. Pine, pine, piney pine pine. And that green nose I associate with rosewood-- not like roses, but like rosey wood. Which is appropriate. Maybe some juniper if I search for it... no amber or vanilla yet. It's got a slightly baby-powderish tinge to it, as well, the kind I associate with Snake Oil. Wet: Vanilla, pine, amber, rosewood, in order of ascention. This is sweet and spicy-warm, and still very much like Snake Oil.... in fact, I'm a little hard-put to tell the difference. I know the notes are different, and if I think, "pine", I smell the pine that isn't here in S.O., and so on-- but if I had blind tested these, I'm not sure I would have been able to differentiate. Golden Priapus is a touch more masculine, and shows its vanilla a little more. I'm getting a very slight Playdough note, as well (instead of the baby-powder of S.O.), but not enough to ruin things. Dry: Hmmm, and now we're heading into vanilla-tinged Playdough territory. It's still very enjoyable, but it's not OMGLOOOOOOVE. Pretty much the same from wet, too. Things are going strange on me left and right lately. I bet it's the college applications. I swear those things are the source of all my problems-- bad skin, horrid posture, messy room, chronic headaches and now wonky BPAL! Oh well. This one's for the Boy, anyway, and it'll be deliciously jump-able on him.

A decant from the lovely astrozombiegirl, over on the alchemylab LJ. I debated between a bottle of this and Samhain when the Hallowe'en scents were on their way out, and I ended up with the latter, casting wistful glances at Devil's Night all the while. I'm glad I get to try it, even if I am a little late. In the Imp: Sugary musk! Mmmmmmmm..... I accidentally poked myself in the nose with the Imp wand on this one, I was so eager to get closer to it. I'm catching some orange, I think, too, and a touch of booze. Smells like a really good man-cookie, if there were such a thing. No smoke yet. There's something here really familiar, but I'm having trouble placing it.... hazelnut? Almond? This is kind of like a super-musky Hellcat. Wet: Oh, there's the smokiness. And spice.... ginger? Smoke, ginger, orange, musk, sugar, maybe a little booze. That's what I'm getting. This is ringing bells all over the place; I think I had something kind of similar to this once and swapped it, or something... Gods know why, because I'm really digging this. On my skin, there's a slightly plasticky note in there, but, bizarrely enough, it works really well! Dry: Musk. Sugar. Booze. Mandarin or orange, smoke, spice, in that order, and a feeling of the outdoors-- but the outdoors as in, a street at night, not a stroll through the woods. Devil's Night strikes me as the illicit lovechild of Jailbait and Torture King. It has the same artificial drydown as Jailbait and the musk, booze and smoke from Torture King. And, like any offspring of a seemingly innocent, underage girl and a circus freak would be, it's subtley twisted and quite alluring. This kid grew up in the city, somewhere between the ghetto and the more dangerous, but still trendy, clubs. Garbage's "Cherry Lips" came on the playlist as I was reviewing this, and it does seem rather appropriate. This is mischievious, slinky, exhibitionist, and deceptively sweet for such a masculine base. If Samhain is the traditional roots of Hallowe'en, this is the modern debauchery: boys in tight dresses and too much eyeliner, trash fires in barrels outside the bar... Devil's Night perfectly encapsulates the idea of a big-city Hallowe'en: an excuse for midnight mayhem, sugar, booze, drugs and slick, glittery lust. [edit] Oh, how fickle I am! I like this one initially, but after wearing it for a while... I just get tired of the smell. Kind of like Torture King and Jailbait, unsurprisingly. It's a good smell, just not one I want on me. The Boy, or swaps.