CrazyPretzel

In the imp: a clear, icy, light berry scent, slightly reminiscent of grape, with some floral note that reminds me a little of Iambe. Wet on me: still a nice clear grape with some lurking flower that's a little disagreeable, kind of sickening (Iambe did something similar). That fades as it dries though. Sweet, light, and refreshing berry floral. Pretty and juicy.

In the imp: chunky dark cherry, spice, myrrh a bit chemical-smelling, dragon's blood not strong. Wet, it’s stronger cherry like in MB:Bloody Mary, but with a slightly poisonous tang. Think the love child of MB:BM and Arachnina. Or Kabuki: the cherry is strong but this is not a sweet scent. Seems like a BPAL signature scent, if you can imagine such a thing. As the scent dries the cherry fades and it becomes deep, spicy, and mysterious clove: yummy.

At first it's a heady, almost cloyingly sweet floral that reminds me of Eve (maybe it was apple or apple blossom that I was smelling). Once on my skin a bit of spice turns up and cuts the sweetness somewhat. In the end I'm left with a nice floral that feels very sexy and womanly and wafts up from my skin now and then so that I keep catching whiffs of it. It's friendlier than I expected Eris to be!

Brooding, yet electric: the scent of buried secrets, roiling nightmares, the essence of the Crawling Chaos, the Father of Knives and Locusts, the Hunter in the Dark. This is the blackest of ritual incenses charged with flashes of ozone. Fresh, it's lemons + ozone. Sniffing the imp I suddenly thought of a blackened sky with flashes of lightning and lemons coming down as hailstones and started laughing and almost spilled the imp. On my skin, a slight woodsy note pops out but it's still predominantly lemon. After a few minutes some more slightly sweet herbal notes come up to add some variety, and then a hint of spice and it starts to smell a little more like incense - or maybe it's Ricola cough drops. Ultimately it's an interesting scent and not bad, but I don't see it as something that I would want wafting around me all the time, so I'll probably swap the imp.

This is pure geranium at first, rose-like but more bitter and astringent. The cedar is pretty mellow and the lily softens the bouquet a little bit. I wouldn't mind wearing this as I like the scent of geranium, but unfortunately when it's completely dry it takes on a musty funk that indicates chemistry mismatch. Sorry, Goneril! (You were a bitch anyway.)

I don't get any tiny forest flowers or pilfered Christmas pastries from this. On me it's pure snowy, mossy, earthy, damp, dark pine forest. Which I love.

Leather with soft musk and very slightly spicy herbal notes. At first the pepper was strong and I perceived it as an angry scent, but after about half an hour it's really not so spicy-hot and is in fact oddly comforting. Maybe it's the chamomile. Whatever; I'm surprised by how pleasant it is and will wear it when I need to feel warm and safe.

I can't pick out bay or laurel in Delphi, and on me there's just a touch of incense. Right out of the imp it's an attention-grabber, though: a sweet and tart wine scent that doesn't go sour. I've just got a dab on the back of hand to skin-test it and my nose has been glued to the spot, so clearly I like it. Something about it smells very familiar to me but I can't quite place it... something soporific. Magical and intoxicating. I would definitely wear this for ritual.

In the decant: Intense red musk and patchouli. This might not go well; I've had similar scents from Love Potions (maybe Ravenous) that flopped on me. Wet: A thick, poisonous, drugged scent: opium and nicotiana (well, I'm just guessing about the nicotiana, actually). Intriguing but pretty damn intense and I don't know if I can pull this one off. Drydown: Musky, of course, but also a little woodsy and bordering on masculine. I think that this is fairly unisex, actually. Very dark and hypnotic and slightly bitter. Conclusion: This would be a stunning fragrance for a 5'9" heavy-lidded gothic beauty with a clove cigarette in one gloved hand. On me, it kind of seems like an ill-fitting hand-me-down.

In the imp: roses. What the hell? Very pretty, clean and a little sharp and quite green and grassy. Wet on me: OK, now it's apparent that what I was reading as 'roses' is actually more like 'beer and hops'. Yeah, I know, it's really weird. Something about the sharp-sweet beer and hops scent mixed with grassy dandelion is just really rose-like. After a few minutes, a dry straw-like scent. That must be the hemp. Dry, grassy, and sweet. Wow, it's continuing to morph as I'm typing and now the hemp smells like sun-warmed hay - it's *very* nice. Makes me imagine relaxing on a big bale of hay at the end of summer with a can of good beer just cracked open. (Does any good beer actually come in a can?) I'm fairly amazed at this scent. It was NOT on my wishlist at any stage but my mom got a frimp of it and after smelling it on her I needed to try some for myself. Chances are it smells a lot better than you think it does.

I bought a bottle of this one on the forums but I don't know if it's the 06 or 07 version. In the bottle it's hard to get my nose round; it smells a little bit sour to me. Once on my wrist though it changes fast. Without looking at the components I was thinking big, creamy white floral. Now that I've checked the listed notes I'm a little surprised, to be honest - I'm not getting anything like incense from Khajuraho. The honey, amber, and rose, usually pretty easy to pick out, are not obvious to me at all. There's a slight fruitiness that could be date or champaca. On the whole it's very well-balanced with no particular note dominating, and the result is flowery, creamy, sweet, very feminine, and a little mysterious. Very classy! I waited a long time to try this bottle out and it's definitely a keeper

This one actually makes me think of scent descriptions I've read of the original Beaver Moon, as initially it smells quite cake-batter-y on me. Think vanilla cake with heaps of gooey strawberry topping and whipped cream. My only complaint is that in less than an hour it fades to an odd, slightly grassy smell on me - but I've got a whole bottle to reapply from.

My imp has an old label so it must be fairly aged, at least a year. In the imp: crystalline and icy, and slightly sour. On me, this changes rapidly and becomes a much warmer scent. The sour note vanishes. I think that wisteria is the strongest note - this is a honey-sweet floral, almost candy-like. Warm and beautiful but a touch reserved and mature. Really quite perfect for a temptingly beautiful but untouchable mother figure - I'm sure Freud would be intrigued.

This is the most incredibly *blue* scent. Blue is my favourite colour. Yvaine and I get along very well together. This is the deepest, sexiest, most enticing, most downright expensive-smelling lavender I have ever been acquainted with. Absolutely exquisite. Lavender is so simple, and yet I can't imagine any situation where this wouldn't be formal enough. This is something I'd seriously consider wearing on my wedding day.

A soft flower, maybe honeysuckle, but with really intense cinnamon that sometimes brings up a rash on my skin. In spite of the spicy cinnamon (not usually a hit with me) I do really like the fragrance and prefer this one to anoint candles with.

This is, hands-down, my favourite of this year's pumpkins, and also the most reminiscent of Pumpkin Queen. It smells like an awesome warm pumpkin-gingerbread spice cake, fresh from the oven.

Wow. This makes me think of pears and plums poached in maple syrup and caramelised sugar with ginger and maybe a tiny bit of cinnamon. It's a deep, dark, brown sugar scent, but not a burnt sugar like Gluttony or Hellcat. Lovely!

Scent: Seriously juicy cherries with a little bit of waxiness. I've had some on in a scent locket all day and at the end of the day I keep getting whiffs of something peppery drifting up from my cleavage, and I'm pretty sure it's the MoV. Effectiveness: I anointed a pink candle with this oil this morning and put it in front of my Venus shrine, asking Her for luck with love and with finding a job. I also wore some on cotton in a scent locket. Well, I did get a job today, and my relationship continues to be as sickeningly happy as ever I did perform a longer ritual last night using the Foundation of Fortune TAL oil (also with an eye to getting a job), so I can't say which of the two should receive more 'credit'. I did really like wearing the MoV though; the scent made me feel happy and confident.

aidenraine's comparison of this to Lush's Cosmic Dreamcatcher massage bar is absolutely spot-on for me. The two scents are very similar indeed! Effectiveness: I ordered this oil along with Mantle of Venus after spending three weeks jobhunting with no luck at all. On the evening of the day that I received my order I used FoF to anoint a charm bag that I made. I also put a few drops in a tealight and anointed my wallet and coin purse with the oil. The next day, I finally got a job! It's only a few hours a week but it's something, and I have another application that may be fruitful as well.

There's a rumour going around that civet smells like cat pee. This particular scent, the first I've tried with civet as a listed note, smells *nothing* like that. The red musk is powerful but smooth and sensual, and even rather sweet. The opium is clean, piercing, almost soapy but not quite. The civet musk is a surprisingly smooth scent that I really enjoy. Nothing to be afraid of here!

First of all, I really, really love the Lab's apple note, and that comes out crisp and lovely as usual in this blend. Second, the caramel-sugar scent in here actually behaves much more nicely than it often does on my skin. I don't get a strong burnt-sugar smell the way I do in Gluttony, Hellcat, etc. (I don't really mind that scent, but it tends to drown out all the other notes when it turns up.) This is a perfect caramel scent that's not at all burnt. Really delicious and I'm pleased that the Inquisition sent this one to me!

For the first couple of hours this was a light green, grassy, slightly bitter scent on me. Well into the far drydown the bitterness has disappeared and it's an intriguing scent that makes me think 'honeyed grass' (if that's helpful to anyone!)

When first applied I get a strong pomegranate note which fades pretty quickly - after about 10 minutes or so. Then it's a strong buttery scent mingled with the most delectable chocolate note I've yet sniffed from the Lab. It makes me think of hot buttered popcorn with gourmet dark and white chocolate drizzled over the top. The chocolate scent eventually overpowers the butter for about an hour, but after that the butter gradually moves back to center stage, and by the end of the day it's a butter and burnt-sugar smell that reminds me of Gluttony and Hellcat. I really don't care for the strong buttery note in this so I won't be buying a bottle, but the chocolate is divine. I hope to find white chocolate in some other BPAL blends in the future!

In the imp: Wow. Lovely deep florals and a touch of tartness. Smells like sunlight on water. Wet on me: Guh! This is so gorgeous! I don't like a lot of aquatics but this one is so deep and lovely! It's not very woodsy on me at all. After a few minutes: A tart but creamy lemon note comes to the forefront. At the same time there's a deep, dreamy blue aquatic like the note in Danube. There is a slight swampy smell like damp logs - don't be scared, it's warm and appealing. Dry: Tart, creamy, warm, wet, with just a bit of mossy wood drifting by. Simply amazing.

Imp: strong, warm vanilla; sandalwood? Creamy. Wet: Foody vanilla. Almost cake-like. 5min: Still strong, cakey vanilla. It’s pretty simple but I dig it. Drydown: Dreamy and creamy vanilla and, I think, sandalwood. Very pretty.