aedes

Thick, smokey and waxy, with a warm unisex leathery/creamy/spicy vibe. If you like Dead Man's Hand and Iago, I think you'll faint for this. For me, it's tough to say. It smells great, but a lot like a candle. It would be a strange, but intriguing choice as a personal fragrance, perhaps best if you REALLY like Madame Tussaud's. As it is, I think I'd prefer it as a room fragrance, or maybe on my homme de noir.

I found it to be, unsurprisingly, tangy, aquatic, and quite masculine. Eep! Sorry, guess it's got to be a bit more acidic to work with my pH. I tried to make the guy wear it, but he did a little head-hidey thing. So it's off to swapsville!

Holy damnit christmas! I want a bottle of this right away. I usually try to stay away from vanilla, because I think it takes over a scent. But it's playing really well with the other scents here. It's just rich and tawny and warm. Smelled like caramel in the imp, but on my skin it really blossomed. Doesn't smell foody or frilly, just sexy, warm, confident.

Wow, I'm incredibly impressed with this scent. Normally, scents don't change too much on me. What I smell is what I smell til it's gone. But this one has been a journey, and I've loved it every step of the way. It travels from a slushy snow storm, lost out in the pines, to a tiny cottage that's practically out of a fairy tale. And in the cottage lives a kind, confident, beautiful woman, spinning linen under bows of dried flowers, who offers you food and lodging until the storm passes. This might just be heaven.

This was a leap of faith for me, I have to say, but I was sold on the description. Who doesn't want to think of themselves as cooperative and altruistic? About the only note that I knew would work on me is fig. It generally sounded too flowery and girly to work on me, but I thought 'what the hell?' You're all going to think I'm crazy, but when I opened the bottle, it smelled like nasty cherry cough syrup. I was very frightened. But I daubed it on, and... whoa... it morphed in all the strangest ways. Scary clown cherry smell bows out fast, replaced by a gentle, slightly spicy, slightly smokey (smokey? out of musk, flowers, and wood? my nose is whack), yet still feminine, vaguely holiday-ish smell. It smells naggingly familiar, but I can't put my finger on it. If it were a candle, created by a less creative company, it would have a very broad "Home for the Holidays" type name. And then, in less than 20 minutes, it's almost all gone. Which is fine, since my nose has been easily overwhelmed lately by my regulars. It's not going to give me any clues as to how I know it. It's totally weird, but comforting. And it feels right, like a big, squishy hug from Mom. I love it! Heavy rotation, til it's all used up. May even hunt around for more bottles of it! Wow! Can't stop wrist-huffing.

An offering of frankincense, gold, and myrrh, with coriander, cumin, ambergris, white wine grape, and vanilla bean. Myrrh is usually my best buddy, I love base note heavy, resinous scents and vanilla usually clings to me like a desperate lover (for good or for ill), so I thought this would be a knock out of the park. But, whoa nelly, this smells MAS-CU-LINE on me. Way, way, way way basic, like my guy's "woodland fresh" deodorant. Strange! I can't even pick out any of the notes in the description! Goes to show you what body chemistry, and maybe coriander or ambergris, can do!

You know, I was thinking about posting a "help me with my Yule choices" thread, but someone beat me to it! Actually, I think I can narrow things down to... not all of them. Heh. But I'm debating Stardust. It sounds... very complex! I'm attracted to it because its latter mentioned ingredients jonquil, tobacco flower, white sandalwood, and poppy will probably work well on me. But I'm a little afraid of the champagne. I don't like the taste of champagne, I'm much more of a red wine kind of girl. But the last time I tried a scent with red wine in it (Wanda) oh boy, that was one of the worst smells I think I've ever experienced. I hope the imp wasn't bad. But boy! Wouldn't want that again. So has champagne been in any previous scents? Does it smell more like white wine or more just a crisp, bubbly smell? I think I might go for it because it sounds a little like Grandmother of Ghosts, which worked very well for me. In other news, I think the others are going to be Herr Drosselmeyer (though it sounds masculine, hey, mechanics and magic, it just doesn't get cooler than that! and I like the smell of pipe smoke, haven't tried it ON me, though. It sounds sort of like the new Hellfire), Gingerbread Poppet even though I can't do foody scents well, it just sounds so comforting and warm, Mistletoe in case the GP just won't work and I want something festive, and Talvikuu which just sounds like a home run for me. I can't do scents that are too incensey and amber turns to rancid powder on me, so that eliminates the rest of the competition.

At first this was too "oef! Floral!" for my nose. It smells a lot like (I hate saying "commercial") perfume, but good perfume. Annick Goutal kinda stuff. But as it dries, you know, if I had never heard of BPAL and I came across a perfume like this, I'd be sold. It's texturally soft, very feminine, like a ballet slipper pink cashmere sweater. It's exceptionally balanced and very lovely. For reference, it actually smells like Peony Moon combined with Florence, to this nose at least. I wasn't expecting to like this very much from the reviews, but this is really quite nice. I think I'll be keeping this around.

All things golden and glowing seem to be jam-packed in here, and it pops out like a candle flame in the darkness. If you like Sundew, but want the theme explored more, then, who'm I kidding, you probably already got, like, 5 bottles of this. As it dries, I think the vanilla musk comes out the most on me, making it feel surprisingly soft and woodsy. Like an angora or fur trim on a totally Alexis Carrington gold silk dressing gown. With little, high-heeled, fuzzy slippers! Glamorous, dahling! Glamorous!

Wow! This is surprisingly good. Not that Beth isn't brilliant or anything, but I wasn't expecting to like a sugar/vanilla scent so much. In the bottle, it smells very bubblegum-y. I'm surprised there isn't lotus in it from how it smells. It must be the grapefruit I'm picking up. On, it's vanilla, sugar, ho wood, which smells a bit like teak with a little bamboo "edge" to it, and grapefruit. So fun and sexy! Sweet, but not sticky or offensively so. Kind of a hollow, funky scent, like if it were a sound, it'd be bongos or bamboo wind chimes. I absolutely love it! *eats wrist*

CCXIV Oh my dog. Beth, you made me cry this is so wonderful. It's literally everything I've ever wanted in a perfume, all the notes that I'd probably want in my own custom scent, and this is the only bottle of it there'll ever be. Oh sweet sadness! But better to have loved and scraped the only bottle clean than to have never loved a scent at all. At first whiff: Oh no she dih-ent. Resins! Oh glory glory! Resins upon resins! Thank you, lab! I love you! On, it just gets better and better. I wish I could pick notes accurately, but I'm usually comically off. Anyway, what I smell is at least one kind of amber, possibly myrrh, or, dare I even hope, opoponax, my obsessi-scent, a tiny hint of an orange colored fruit like apricot, peach, or orange, but it's just enough to brighten and sweeten the scent a little, not so much that it's fruity or foody, and what I think must be teensy bits of white musk and a white floral, maybe honeysuckle or tuberose. Either an amber or a musk is making it a tiny bit powdery, which is great in this sticky heat. It reminds me of Katharina with the peach turned down, or Satan and Death with Sin Intervening maybe mixed with Enraged Bunny Musk. The effect is that it's warm, engaging, sensitive, playful, clean, and feminine. It's rich but not heavy, nothing is overpowering, it's neither girly nor matronly, it's just itself. I wish this were a GC scent, not only so I could have it forever and ever, but also so I could show it to people! Here! This is me in a bottle! But instead it'll be my precious secret. Thank you, Beth!!

I'm so excited about this one. I have an unhealthy addiction to opoponax, so this was first on my list. And I have not been disappointed one bit. It's a bit of a shape-shifter, this one. At first, it had a bit of that dark and light juxtaposition I've found in some of the lab's more masculine blends. Black, but shining and slightly cruel. But what I think is the orange blossom, surprisingly enough, makes its way slowly towards center stage, lush and pale and sweet, against a profoundly dark backdrop. Surprising! Beautiful!

I didn't really dig the smell of this in the bottle, but on, wow! It's dark, noble, a little brooding; makes me think of a polished, mahogany table with a swirling grain. I think it's the honey that gives this scent a whole new spin, that sweet top note that just breaks your heart. It's absolutely rich and complex, holy, and somber. This is everything I had hoped Penitence would be way back when, but doesn't have any "spikiness," just smooth smooth smooth and so compelling.

In the bottle, I got the bubblegum wave, but I have to say that it didn't put me off. The label is all Bollywood and beautiful, and it sort of got me in the mood for a bright, bouncy scent. On, the sweetness and slight fruitiness still hangs around a little, but with the most gorgeous dusting of golden, slightly spicy light resins. Absolutely sexy, exotic, fun and beautiful. I'm so rocking this scent. Brava!

Hah! I can't believe I found yet another scent where I can smell the patchouli, but it doesn't bother me. How unprecedented! I think the patchouli is in perfect company here, though, surrounded by scents that emphasize its strengths. Brava, Beth! The whole blend smells dark, woodsy, warm, and I thought I detected something like a white musk smoothing over any bumps. A very sexy man's cologne scent. I think I like this even more than Iago. And staying power light sweet googlie mooglie. I can still smell it on my arm the next morning. Sexy and dangerous for a late night tryst! But I think I really like it.

I thought I had the amber curse for a long time when I started wearing BPAL. Brisingamen and Coyote were the first in a long line of powdery scents, and amber looked to be the common note, so I swore off a large swath of scents with amber in them, thinking they'd all turn out that way. But I was very pleasantly surprised one day with a frimp of The Lion, and that's apparently all amber! It smelled fanTASTIC on me. I think I'm going to wear it today, actually. And it seems like from there on out amber has been smelling really good on me. I don't think I've had a baby powder episode since then. So I don't know if it's a matter with the kind of amber or if it's a personal body chemistry phase, but I'd say don't count them out. One day you may be very pleasantly surprised. And it's in so many different blends that, if you say "no amber" it'll really limit your wishlist, from my experience.

Olokun actually reminds me a bit of Nyarlathotep, only without the incense. It's very, very ocean aquatic. And like Jolly Roger only darker.

I think it's been mentioned in the reviews, but I found Oya to be very similar to the King or Queen of Spades. Sort of between the two.

Jabberwocky here, too. That eucalyptus just shouts "Hey! Wake up! Pay attention!" to me. Mercury or Block Buster work great for essays. Stimulating but comforting.

I loved this in the decant I got, but now with my bottle, making a spray, I'm not as in love with it any more. It's a very smokey blend. Like "*cough* can we open a window?" smokey. Almost reminds me of Brimstone or Grandmother of Ghosts in the husky, ashen charachteristic. But! There are lots of good things about it, too. There's a little bit of sassafrass in there, I could swear. Smells a little bit like Laudanum, it has the sweet sassafrass and the warm, sexy myrrh going on. So it's still a very cool scent, though the smokiness makes me feel a little dirty if I put it on after a shower. So a good night-time scent.

Aizen-Myoo was the only imp I've ever gotten from swap or lab that was broken. There was a really pleasant, grapefruity/vegetal scent everywhere for weeks! I put the packing material and such in the bathroom trash can and ahhh, temporary air freshener. By vegetal, I mean that it smelled kind of sharp like tomato plants or something. I think I actually thought there was kudzu in there. It was very refreshing. Another good suggestion for a grapefruit lover.

Yup! Gotta recommend R'lyeh. I think I'm the only one in the world that got something else, but everyone else describes it as very aquatic, dark grapefruit.

I think peach or apricot notes really ring the "warm, captivating, flirty and fun" bell for me. You may want to check out Katharina. I've decided that it would be my signature scent if only I were a saucy socialite instead of a goofy academic.

It reminds me of Mars in being surprisingly floral. I get soapy, perhaps slightly musky florals. Can't tell what it is. Smells more fruity than jasmine, close to rose, maybe. Maybe orange blossom is what it is. A scent that makes me go "Fooooo!" and rub my nose. Smells a bit too stuffy and perfumey to inspire a lot of kinkiness in me, I'm afraid.

Lemongrass and bitter herbs, at least on the outset. I agree that I think I smell a light musk in there somewhere, too. I have trouble with a lot of the voodoo blends, many of them just smell pungent and herbal and I can't enjoy them as perfume. I wonder if cajeput is in any of them, as that's a note notorious for smelling like green dish soap on me. And Van Van in particular is giving me the green dish soap smell. Eek!