CrazyPretzel

Wet, this smells exactly like a hot drink: lots of chunky chopped fresh ginger stewed with scoops of brown sugar. It's very strong and gives me a slight burning sensation at the back of my throat when I sniff it, as if I were drinking that ginger brew. When it dries, Shub-Niggurath softens slightly: more spices come out and it smells more cake-like, while not being very sweet at all. To me this smells like a pretty close cousin to Pumpkin Queen, which is great as it's a GC blend! I predict lovers of the Pumpkin Queen will really enjoy this one and it's going on my bottle list.

*This is my 100th review * Lolita is definitely lemony and candy-sweet, but the orange blossom and heliotrope give it considerably more depth and an edge of wickedness. I don't like scents with an overly-strong lemon note because that overpowers the other notes in the blend, but this one is lemony and well-balanced at the same time. I really like it a lot.

Mmmm, yep, honey and vanilla....The notes aren't too difficult to describe but there's something about the feel of it I'll try to put into words: To me, this is definitely a 'submissive' sexual scent -- I don't wear it if I'm feeling dominant. (hey forum, was that TMI?) It's sexy like a woman who stands naked in front of you with her eyes locked on yours. Very blatantly sexy but waiting for you to make the next move. I've had the imp for a while and I don't use it too often, but when I do I slather it on and when it runs out I'll be getting a bottle. There are definitely times when nothing but O will do.

Freakin' awesome! A good strong floral that isn't too perfume-y: there's a tartness to this that stops just short of being citrusy and makes it very unusual. The BPAL lily blends don't smell at all like white Easter lilies to me; they're much sharper and more....full of character, somehow. I was wearing Voodoo Lily this morning and VL seems to have a spicy note that Cobra Lily is lacking; I poured the VL imp onto a voodoo altar at lunchtime though and so no longer have it to compare the two side-by-side Whatever though, I really want bottles of both of them. Just wonderful.

Ahhhhh. Chilled-out, really *juicy* aquatic. I can detect a slight powder note to this, but my boyfriend doesn't It's soft and silky and I like it a lot -- I'm not generally a fan of aquatics either (Amsterdam is the only other one I've liked so far!) so that's saying something.

Initially the lavender comes out most strongly on me, and it's quite sharp, probably amped by the geranium and, I'm guessing, the cypress? When it dries the lavender steps down a bit and I can smell orange blossom. That's nicer than the initial stage; unfortunately by that point it's not quite strong enough to be interesting anymore. It reminds me a little of Arcana, but I like Arcana better as the frankincense in that blend sweetens the lavender more.

Hm. I see a lot of reviews talking about 'neroli' and 'sharpness'. That isn't at all what Terpsichore does for me, though... Well, actually, in the imp the neroli does come across quite strongly and a little candy-like. On my skin it becomes quite soft, and the predominant note is carnation -- a very gentle carnation, probably being softened by the vanilla. The rest of the notes are too well-blended for me to pick out. Carnation lovers should give this a try. It's a bit too light for me, but it's pleasant, so I'll probably hang on to it -- anyway, my imp is to oil-stained for me to swap it in good conscience

So, straight out of the bottle and on me, yes, it is very chocolate-y, but that doesn't overwhelm the other notes. It's not a dry cocoa powder chocolate like the Candy Butcher or a sweet cake-like note like Bliss, but dark and decadent and reminds me a bit of chocolate fudge sauce. There's a little bit of a creamy note that I reckon is the rice milk, but that fades pretty quickly, in about 5 minutes on me. The scent of Snake Oil, vanilla and spices, is very strong in this one, probably the most Snake-Oily of all the Snake Pit that I've tried so far. The blend of cocoa and vanilla in this reminds me *very* strongly of Velvet, and as it dries a woodsy smell (hello teak!) starts to come out and it smells even more like Velvet. To me, this is not necessarily a good thing, as Velvet smelled rather musty on me and I ended up swapping it. That same mustiness is creeping in here -- chocolate and wood is just not a combination I care for. This is a dark, slithery, sexy blend that would be great on the right person, but I'm not sure it's for me -- which is a shame as I had high hopes for it! I'll give it some more thought before I decide whether to pass it along or not.

In the imp: acetone, nail-polish remover, but with something sweet that compels me to keep sniffing. On my wrist: The acetone smell burns off very quickly and I get a fleeting impression of something deeper and sweet, a little like vanilla. That doesn't last long. Drydown: Very cool! Extremely fruity candy and playful flowers. It's a very in-your-face scent that won't appeal to everyone, but I love it. I might get a big bottle of this. Maenad met with approval from the boy too, who's usually too cool to comment on my BPAL beyond disparaging remarks like 'That smells like a scented candle' -- when I put my Maenad-enhanced wrist under his nose, he took a big sniff and said 'That is awesome!'

Oh no! In the imp this was almost pure cherry blossom, and breathtakingly beautiful. I had such high hopes for it. Sadly, it just doesn't last on me at all. It continues to smell lovely for about 2-3 minutes and then poof -- gone. Just a tiny trace of floral left. Happily there are some other cherry blossom blends to try -- I really hope at least one of them works, because the sakura in this one is just amazing!

Hmm. Overpowering lemon, a little bit of lavender -- not so different from some of the sleep blends I've tried, actually!

Super-heavy on the patchouli; going weird and musty on me. No ginger or orange blossom. Swaps! On the plus side, the oil in the imp has separated into two layers, the bottom blood-red and the top clear and pale orange, and looks really cool.

Ha! Another cinnamon one that I thought I wouldn't like and it's ended up proving me wrong. I was afraid I'd get cinnamon red-hots, but instead I get super-lush, crushed red roses and a potpourri-ish sort of cinnamon. Not bad, really.

A frimp from the Lab. At first I thought this was going to be a definite loser, as cinnamon red-hots have been mentioned in reviews and that's precisely the sort of cinnamon I *hate*. Imp: Nicer than expected -- quite sweet, actually. On skin: Not red-hots so much as cinnamon chewing gum. Drydown: I think the black pepper and clove are actually helping this one. Dragon's blood is a scent I love, and the sweetness of that cuts the toxicity of the cinnamon. All in all it smells mainly like dragon's blood with some spicy cookies. Better than expected! Guess I'll hang on to this one.

Lemon is the strongest note in this for me. There's noticeable lavender but it's not too strong. Also there's a touch of spice -- my boyfriend was guessing ginger, I thought clove. Smells like lemony spice cookies after it tries down. Pretty tasty. I've only tried this and Temple of Dreams in the Somnium collection, and on both nights I've slept terribly. Maybe BPAL to bed is just too exciting for me.

Oh, balls. I bit the bullet and dropped a ton of monies on two bottles of Panacea oils with my last order, and don't like either of them. Seduction: Wet, this is just bizarre. I'm not a girl who gets turned off by powerful florals; I like my jasmine and I even dig Voodoo blends like Follow Me Boy. But this is just rather sickening. Ylang-ylang with a frankly toxic, sickly-sweet plasticky smell. I feel like I'm being humped by a My Little Pony. All the references in the above reviews to nail polish remover, solvents, industrial cleaners...yup, yup, and yup. Getting all of it. With the drydown, I think I'm getting used to it, but I don't think it's getting any better. Crap! I'll have to sell this one on. ETA: Okay, after waiting fully 30-40 minutes, it finally seems to have settled a little and now smells slightly candy-ish. Not a favourite, but not something I want to flee from, either. We'll see how it works when the boy wakes up ETA II: The Revenge of the Son of ETA: Okay, *now* it actually smells good. Ylang-ylang candy with a faint dusting of powder underneath. While it's made this transition to smelling lovely though the throw has faded and now it's a close skin scent. I might keep this after all. The drydown is absolute hell though.

Wet in the imp, I really can't get much from this at all -- very light mango. Wet on skin: Stronger mango, a little fig and a tiny breath of patchouli, and the slightly synthetic note that I got in The Dormouse as well. I guess that's the green tea -- someone tell me why green tea is yummy in Shanghai, but smells weird on me in Dormouse and Tweedledum? Maybe the honeysuckle in Shanghai helps. As the minutes pass, the mango is still nice but that tea note still rings false. Too bad! Off to swaps. ETA: Chapstick! That's what that note is! Plain ol' unscented brand-name chapstick, which despite being unscented does have its own peculiar little pong. Bit like candle wax.

According to legend, the birthplace of King Arthur. The scent of a castle's great hall in the midst of joyous feasting. Spicy mulled wine flowing through the musky heat, warm leather and bright clash of armor, the damp branches of Cornish hawthorn, blackthorn, juniper, English elm and bayberry, and the magical tingle of dragon's blood resin. In the imp: berries, a little cinnamon. Wet on skin: oohhh.... there's a deeper spice coming out now which is...frankly arousing. Quite warm, a little bit of damp wood and flowers, tiny sliver of soapiness which I hope goes away. Ye Gods, what is making this smell so good? Is it the leather? I'm leaning back in my chair for minutes at a time, sniffing my wrist with what can only be a ravished expression on my face. Drydown: a little bit of a metallic note coming out now, but still very natural-smelling. This is utterly delightful. It was a frimp with my last Lab order - I never would've picked this out for myself. But I adore it. Thanks, labbies! ETA: I should mention that this reminds me a bit of The Hanging Gardens...

Whoa! This stuff is STRONG! Strong and rather dangerous-smelling. There's a definite spiciness to it and it feels -- not like it's burning, but like it's thinking about beginning to. While it's drying, there's an odd chemical/soap note, but there's also a juiciness to it that means I can't stop sniffing my wrist. Electric tropical flowers that zap you when you sniff them. That sort of thing. This is just too compelling to give away; I'm going to hang onto my imp.

Wet, this is as complex as it sounds, voluptous, elegant and somehow moist -- just a hint of aquatics. Strangely, although I don't get too much lemon from the imp, I get quite a lot of lemon from this when I try to wear it! It's basically very lovely, but my skin chemistry just grabs on to the lemon and it overpowers everything else. Too bad. ETA: And this is why it sometimes pays to test things twice! I've had it on my swaps list forever and everyone's been ignoring it, so today I decided to give it another go. The lemon vanished quickly this time and now it's almost pure waterlily - so beautiful! - with awesome fruity red currant and plum. Love it! Now to go and yank it from the swaps list

I didn't expect to like this one too much as the cedar in it is so strong. Sure enough, although I can detect sage and a little spiciness to it when it's wet, the drydown is pure cedar, not bad-smelling but just not something I'd wear as perfume. I do like cedar sometimes but only when it's dry and incense-y -- this cedar is a bit too wet. If that makes any sense...

guh. This is sweet, creamy, milky, custardy coconut. Like a coconut flan. Soooo damn good. I've ended up with two imps of this from various swaps, purchases, and frimpage, and I'm actually going to hang onto both of them, which is rare for me. Very, very good.

Shoot! A skin chemistry disaster. In the imp, it smells like something that's right up my alley (a little fruity, slinky and sexy in a naughty way), and I figured it would be perfect for going out to the EBM night in my black skirt and red bra top. So I slathered it all over. Unfortunately it went totally berserk on me and smelled of laundry detergent (???) for about half an hour, after which it suddenly went deeply gross and foosty. Weirdly enough it was the same foostiness that spoiled Belle Epoque for me, but they don't share any notes. Hopefully someone will be happy to get this in a swap.

Got this in a swap from the lovely Eoife Macbeth thanks! OK, in the bottle this doesn't smell very nice to me at all, but that doesn't matter much -- just wouldn't use it as a room scent! My initial impression of this on my skin is carnation and a burnt sugar smell, like Gluttony but not nearly as heavy. After 15-20 minutes the burnt sugar fades into a sugary cream smell, still with a strong carnation note; I don't get too much orange blossom from this and I'm not familiar enough with iris to comment on that. There's a slight chemical smell underlying it which fortunately isn't strong enough to be bothersome unless I've got my nose right on top of it. This really does have a 'sweet yet sociopathic' kick to it; it strikes me that if it were slightly more Asian it would be appropriate for the 'psychotic Japanese schoolgirl' scent idea that Mia was kicking around On the whole, I like it. Regrettably it does fade within an hour or so, but that's not so fast as to be a deal-breaker. I like it better than the bottle I swapped it for, which is the important bit!

Fresh on, it's juicy, fresh pear. Delicious. Soft rose peeks out from behind the pear. After about ten minutes or so the pear fades a little and now the predominant notes are lily of the valley and rose, both perfectly blended, white and sweet. Pear fades in and out at this stage. After 2-3 hours these notes fade and it becomes a soft, delectable musk that stays close to the skin. Mmmm.