angelamaria

In tester: yes, just as it is's described. Night blooming cool flowers, and sugared incense. Beautiful! Wet on skin: whoa, for a second it went crazily soapy! It's still a little soapy, it must be something in the flower mix. The incense note is actually rather pleasing--I might have to find more of this "sugared incense" because this feels like an incense I could wear! Under the soap (argh, I wonder what flower is doing this, I will avoid it), I get the incense--deep, musky, rich incense that is, well, sugared! It's rich, but sweet and light. Let's see if the soap dies down and what comes out of it. Dry: sadly, the soap does kind of...not die down. Doesn't morph on my skin; I hoped that maybe in an hour or more the incense would come out more, and the soap note would burn off, but alas, no. The soap is here to stay, tramping all over the other flowers and that beautiful sugared incense. Verdict: well, I saved myself a bit of heartache! This is definitely very pretty, and if my skin had not done that soapy thing, I would have added this to my bottle list.

In decant: crystalline and crisp, somewhat cold, almost haughty. The lavender is the most distinctive note, and this lavender is a very herbal lavender, although not exactly sharp. This does sound spot-on. Wet on skin: oh!! So pretty! On my skin, it loses some of the sharpness, goes a little creamy, but still cool, and faintly crystalline. A bit more approachable; this is Yvaine on earth, for sure, becoming warmer. The herbal-ness of the lavender also smoothes out somewhat, and allows the magnolia to peek out. Very pretty, evocative, ethereal, and feminine. Oh maaaaaan... Dry: dry, this is a perfect clean, almost-crisp, soft scent. The lavender is herbal, but soft and inviting and soothing, and the magnolia sweetens it up and makes it more floral and feminine. The journey of this perfume oil is much like Yvaine's journey throughout Stardust, which is amazing, to have captured that here! Much later, it's a soft, comforting scent, cool and ethereal. Verdict: awww man. Why must this also be discontinued? And I'm sad that I never bid on the bottles I've seen of this recently, as I haven't been able to test this yet. This is perfect, beautiful, ethereal, soft. An absolute love. I have to find some of this...somehow.

In imp: heady, almost boozy sweetness. Honey and herbs, definitely. Am I getting lavender? It's slightly minty, slightly fruity. Wet on skin: sweet, slightly powdery, faint spices and herbs. Also bright, minty, but not too astringent--just enough to give it a coolness. Clean, feminine, and fruity in an almost citrusy way. My skin seems to warm it up somewhat, I'm liking this better than in the imp. Dry: very gentle, elegant, and pretty. Sweet, and newly dry, it's not overwhelming, and not foody: mostly herbs and a touch of rich fruits. It was quite promising, but over time the sweetness develops more, making this a bit too sweet for my tastes, along with that powderiness that I was getting from the wet stage. Verdict: not for me--far too sweet and my skin seems to disagree with an herb or such.

In imp: spicy amber, faintly sweet. Almost foody, in a sweet-spicy kind of way. Wet on skin: spicy, sweet, fruity. The sweetness of this blend is an almost candy sweetness, but the vague spices keep it from going there, and vice versa. Quite pleasing and complex! Dry: hmm, I'm getting a somewhat fair bit of musk, mixing in and enhancing that sweet/spicy feel. There is a "round" note here, the same round note that, after a while, goes oily on me. This blend is neither here nor there; I'm not sure if I do "complex" blends, because my nose is confused with the sweetness/spiciness of this one. Verdict: dry, it is definitely faintly pleasing, but this isn't a blend I would wear. Pass!

In tester: oh gosh. Creamy, golden/orange smell, warm teak, slight floral. The initial thought I had was, no way this is close to Half Elf v5 (which I obtained much earlier)! Wet on skin: ohhh maaaaan. Absolutely beautiful. Creamy, non-plasticky, almost-foody-but-not-quite. Non-powdery amber so far, too! This is gorgeous. Soft and creamy golden orange glowing scent. Very creamy, very smooth, very sexy. Honeyed, but not exactly sweet. Dry: DAAAAAAAMN. Cream that does not go plastic, and amber that does not turn powdery. Gorgeous, smooth teak, a touch of lotus blossom. Fabulous glowing golden blend. All throughout this test I've been swearing to myself, because I will have to hunt for a bottle of this, which will not make my wallet happy. I tested some other blends after, but I keep going back to this one--and as it stays on my skin (fabulous throw, just right), it's smoother, woodier, deeper, but still very beautiful. Definitely creamier and more full-bodied than Half Elf v5. Verdict: alas, my wallet is weeping. I need to hunt down more of this. P.S. I have to agree with Vega on this one, now that I've just seen her review--this, to my memory, is a feminine Antikythera Mechanism. I fell in love with Antikythera Mechanism, and wanted to get a bottle, even though it's definitely too masculine for my wearing. So I guess it's no surprise why I've fallen in love with this. P.P.S. The throw is nothing short of amazing. One single dot from a wand cap, and it's almost too much. This is definitely one blend where I don't think I'll ever need a backup for, since one drop is enough to last for the whole day and then some.

In bottle: sweet, creamy and lightly musky. Almost foody but not quite? I can't decide if it's floral or fruity--not having notes to compare against can be quite tricky! Wet on skin: a light, creamy, fruity floral scent. This is slightly vanilla-like, but not quite, either. Creamy, with a slightly honeyed sweetness, and pale florals and sweet fruits, but neutral enough that it never really goes into either side. Slightly woody, and seems to have fairly light throw. Quite beautiful! Drying, the creaminess comes out more, along with the more full-bodied wood note. Definitely sexy. Dry: dry, this is a vaguely incense-y vanilla-like blend, with hints of musk and wood and honey and floral. it's a simple blend, a kind of low-key sexy skin scent. Later, it continues to develop, with the wood coming out more with the beautiful almost-honey sweetness, with a somewhat peppery musk thrown in. Comparing this with Glowing Vulva at Ryogoku Bridge, this is spicier, lighter (versus "heavy", not versus "dark"), and more "peppery" GV, although by no means would I call it peppery. Verdict: a definite keeper!

Oh! I ordered WILF all those months back (when I was new!) but didn't include my forum name... are they psychic? Or was there a chance they might have noticed this newb posting all over the place?

Eeep forum hiccup, sorry!

I love foody blends too! Sadly I cannot wear a lot of them because a lot of foody scents turn to plastic on me. I do have a few that I love and work for me: Bliss A shot of pure, self-indulgent euphoria! A scent that is very, very wicked in its own way: the serotonin-slathered scent of pure milk chocolate. - no-cream chocolate! yum. also GC Dorian This blend is an artful deception: a sweet gilded blossom lying over a twisted and corrupted core. A Victorian fougere with three pale musks and dark, sugared vanilla tea. - also GC! plenty people love dorian too Wulric the Wolfman Friendly, charming, and cuddly, but possessing one hell of a mean streak: cocoa absolute, French vanilla, birch tar, lavender, bourbon vetiver, wild musk, clary sage, and cistus. - the Carnaval Diabolique is temporarily down, though! But definitely try one, a decant might be around somewhere There are two other LEs that are fairly difficult to find (although not all LEs are are sought-after as they are) which I do love: The Anti-Saloon League (Our version of a Black Cow, a 1920’s virgin thirst-quencher: sarsaparilla and cream.) and MB Underpants (Who doesn't want a monster in their pants? Sexy sugar-smeared saffron sandalwood over lickable vanilla cream with a splash of butter rum. This bit of cheekiness inspired by the mods on bpal.org!) -- both of which have cream but, amazingly, work on me and does not turn into plastic. Other blends that did not work with my skin chem, but you might want to take a look into: Dragon's Milk (GC), Bread and Butter Fly (GC), Velvet (GC), Stimulating Sassafras Strengthener (GC), Tokyo Stomp (LE), Love's Philosophy (LE). The cake blends are good too, if you like highly sweet foody blends (I don't, hehe), like Cake Smash (LE), Anne Beany (LE), Lemon-Scented Sticky Bat (GC but unimpable), Knockout Drops (LE), Bones Trombone (LE), Playing with Dangerous Toys (not entirely sure of released version, but the v2 prototype is certainly bubblegummy-cakey), etc...there's really a lot :x

Incense and resins. Very rich, deep brown in feel. On my skin the aforementioned tobacco does come out, and while tobacco usually lends a smoky quality to blends for me, there is something decidedly powdery in this blend for me too, but difficult to tell what it might be. Slightly gritty in feel, dark and somewhat sexy, with a faint, fleeting bit of sweetness.

In the tester, very sharp and lush and rich floral. Deep and luxurious, almost resinous in quality. It kind of screams FLORALS OMG. On my skin, pretty much the same, deep and heady and colorful vibrant florals, and slightly dusty on my skin as it dries, along with a slight mellowing and softening--more of a merging of all the notes than a lessening.

I am confused with the blend. My first whiff, I immediately thought, milk?? but obviously no one else had the same thoughts Not so much aquatic, but definitely white, slightly floral, and a hint of bitterness. On me, it quickly turned into a dusty, herbal and slightly bitter white floral, which smooths out over time on my skin but never really goes away. It feels a little menacing, to be honest. Sort of brittle but menacing.

In the tester, this is floral, white, dusty, with a bright citrus note that's rather faint. Doesn't change much on me, including the lack of throw I see the Loosening of the Obi comparisons, but this is not as creamy and green--this prototype is more herbal than green, and has a relatively prominent citrus note to my nose. Doesn't morph from wet to dry.

Smelling from the tester, this was very chemically and "chaotic" that I initially thought "varnish??" but it smoothed out on my skin pretty quickly once applied. After that, I definitely get the Celeste comparisons--and Celeste initially had this same reaction to me too. It's very resinous, strong and sometimes almost sharp, with that beautiful vanilla musk. To me this is a more woody/resinous Celeste, and I'm not getting any of the aforementioned florals. It should smooth out reasonably well as it ages.

In bottle: first off, the label art is fantastic. Also, I've been sooo looking forward to this. Sniffing from the bottle, though...noooo! Rose A pretty rose, but...rose all the same. Sigh. I was worried when I saw the reviews that mentioned all roses... :s well, anwyay. Creamy floral, with rose at the forefront. Very "present" and almost insistent. Not quite heady, but getting there. Wet on skin: rose and florals--angelica and frangipani, I guess. There's a rather spicy feel to the florals here, but I'm not sure where that's coming from. And...yes, there you are: this is slowly turning into sneeze-inducing powder. Sandalwood is also coming to the fore. Dry: huh. Amazingly, the sneezy feeling is gone o_O or it's not grown stronger, at least. I can still smell the rose, but maybe now it's more of a heady floral mix than just rose--but it's certainly a rosy scent. This doesn't change from the wet stage as much, it's still very, very, very floral--almost overpowering. I'd probably end up with a headache if I wore this and much later it's kind of evolved (devolved?) into slightly-sour florals and a dash of powder. Verdict: I'll probably keep a bottle to see how this ages, and hopefully the notes smooth out and...well, I don't know. Get better on my skin?

In bottle: oooh, pink bubblegum! Like those old Bazooka bubblegum we used to love (well, I'd still go for it if I found it these days!). Yum yum yum. Wet on skin: pink bubblegum and cake, a kind of thickly-frosted chiffon cake? I hope this doesn't turn plasticky on my skin--the pink bubblegum flavor is so fun It's obviously quite sweet, sugary pink sweet, but this is a sweetness I don't think I'd mind wearing Dry: something is not quite right here. I get a bit of sourness...not exactly a sour lemon, as I usually like citruses and this is NOT citrusy, it's sour. Maybe there is a milk component in this, which can go sour on me? It's just at odds with the beautiful pink bubblegum. The plastic note, which was nowhere to be found in the wet stage, did not make its presence known until maybe about 30 minutes dry on my skin; so yeah, there's definitely cream in this. Verdict: slightly sour and plasticky--totally not a good thing. Pass

In bottle: argh. Thickly sweet, almost syrupy-sweet fruits: pomegranate and berries, a touch of bergamot and heliotrope, and patchouli to temper the sweetness a bit. Wet on skin: pomegranate, berries, highly floral heliotrope, and patchouli. It's very...opulent, I guess? Which sounds about right for a Bat of Wealth. The wet stage is not as "syrupy" as in the bottle, and it's lighter now. The patchouli is not too bad: it's also light and not in your face, and works well to ground the scent. Dry: well...this is the scend of fruits in dirt. The patchouli is not too bad, this is actually rather interesting and "different" on my skin, and the dirt feeling in the patchouli is tempering the highly berry jam-my sweetness that would certainly bring this over the edge for me. As it lasts longer on my skin, the patchouli continues to gain ground, until it's very, very much dirt and fruits to my nose. Verdict: I was half hoping this would work in the end, as I'm realizing I have very few fruity blends that I care to have oh well! The patchouli started out nice but just overwhelming in the end.

In bottle: airy florals (dandelions definitely) and some grass. I get a bit of that metal as well. Wet on skin: dandelions, fresh green grass and stalks, a gritty note that is supposed to be asphalt, I guess? Definitely very bright, airy, sweet, and perfect for a playful summer afternoon. Rather evocative! Dry: there is a tinge of something "off" here, but it keeps eluding me; it's an "oily" feeling, and yet not. I know that's not very helpful! It doesn't morph and remains true to the wet stage; the "off-ness" is something I keep whiffing throughout the time of it on my skin but I can't quite put a finger on it. Maybe the ozone and chrome together is just making my nose wrinkle and react funnily? Verdict: I started off really liking this and thinking it's definitely bottle-worthy, but after all the sniffs I've had I'm not sure if I can stand that aforementioned "off-ness" that I can't put a finger on. There is none of that in the bottle however, so it's likely my skin is the culprit. Oh well!

Necro-quote, but I had assumed those were replacement imp caps since they were on the imp page on the website. The wand caps that BPAL sells there are for their bottles? I've got a bottle coming on the way and potentially more depending on how I like the bunches of imps I've ordered as well, and I was starting to go crazy looking around for something to apply them with. If these fit actual bottles, I could just use them when I want to apply, then clean them and store them to totally avoid skin oil contamination. Does anyone know anything more about them? Are they glass or plastic wands? Thanks for any info! The wand caps look like these: http://www.etsy.com/transaction/54599141 HTH

In bottle: mmm. Apricots and a faint orange blossom note. Bright, light, and shimmery. beautiful! Wet on skin: definitely apricots. Beautiful and almost ethereal, the white musk is very pretty here. Soft. The neroli peeks out every so often. Color impression is a definite soft orange, and sweeter than the bottle smell by a hair. Dry: I think this is in danger of becoming grandmothery to me. It must be this type of white musk The apricot is beautiful, but...yeah. The neroli has almost all done, too. I would definitely like a bit more of that orange blossom! And much later, it's definitely turned grandmothery. And this thing STICKS. I washed and it's still there, and the throw is still pretty strong (like, can smell it while typing on my keyboard sort of throw). Verdict: it started out so well, but ultimately a no. I wonder how to tell which white musks work and which doesn't?

In bottle: faintly fruity, fleeting, ethereal. Shimmery, bright apricots. I'm not getting much orange blossom yet, but then I usually amp that, so we'll see. I got a little more orange blossom from the released blossom than this. Wet on skin: hmm, somewhat soapy. This doesn't change so much newly wet--white musk and apricots, shimmery. The white musk is going soapy on me, I think. I'm still not identifying the neroli, although it's not out of the question. Dry: yeah, it's quite soapy. Dusty apricot and shimmery white musk, it's a pretty orange-pink color with shimmery white woven through it. (Count the number of times I write "shimmery"?) The difference here for me against the released version would be the white musk--the released version went grandmothery on me (dustily oily) while this one doesn't. And oh, the amount of the orange blossom, likely. Verdict: oh well, Katharina in whatever form doesn't seem to work for me.

In decant: heady fruity floral. Bergamont, rose, blood orange, fig. Uh, actually...all might be there somerwhere. It's a colorful, almost chaotic and confusing melange of notes, most of them fleeting, always returning, only to flit away again. Wet on skin: spicy--very spicy and deep floral. I don't think none of those flowers are actually "dark", but the feeling that it evokes in me is a sense of dark flowers, almost foreboding. Somewhat incensey, and oh powdery--I cleared my throat and coughed a little, it was rather disconcerting to feel like you've inhaled powder when you haven't, actually. Dry: spicy, powdery, deep, dark florals. Most of the fruits have fled, or are just plain overpowered by the flowers--although I think I can get a bit of the blood orange here and there. It does smooth out a bit more, that the chaotic-ness of the decant is not as apparent when dry, but honestly it's gone mostly powder on me and it's hard to tell. Verdict: the outcome was not too surprising, given the presence of rose in this blend; but even without it, this was a very overwhelming floral mix to my nose that I'd have a headache wearing it for long.

In decant: deep sensuous red. Sweet, incensey, and almost fruity--not sure where I'm getting that note from. Wet on skin: huh, well, the red musk goes straight to powder for me. Incensey, smoky, and red--it's certainly beautiful incense, but incense all the same, and I'm not too much into incensey smells. I do think it's a pretty kind of incense--I think, what makes this pretty to my nose is the helichrysum--never encountered it before, but there is a not-really-floral but beautiful, slightly sweet and bright note that's swirling in that incense. It's also probably the note that I was getting as "fruity" from the decant smell. Dry: powder and incense. Oh well, red musk and I just aren't friends as well, I guess. Verdict: this will have to be a pass.

In decant: ohhh. This is amazing. Woody green bark and tonka. I think I get a bit of the cocoa, and when I retested with my usual amount for wearing, I do get the cocoa a bit more, with mandarin. Masculine, sexy and refined. Mmmm. Wet on skin: mandarin! And light woods and some cocoa. Oh, this is so nice--as it dries, the tonka comes out even more, and it's an OH HELLO TONKA YOU ARE SEXY sort of tonka. Love, love, love. Clean, elegant, refined, but sexy--this is totally a smoldering man in a coat and tie. But I want to wear it too! Oh oh oh. Dry: tonka, mandarin, and warm, light resins in the background. I AM IN LOVE. This is quite unexpected; I expected that this would be dark and heavy and just plain too much for me. I don't care that it feels mostly masculine, it is divine, and I want to wear it. However, the throw after a while--say, a bit under an hour? It's just positively gone. Or my skin has eaten it all up. I can't get much of anything. Verdict: I fell in love with this blend, obviously. I love it. However, my skin does not. I can get a little if I sniff hard enough, but it's fleeting--I'm still waffling on whether or not I should get some. Well, maybe I will! And hope that it deepens a bit more with age. Yes *nods* I think I will do that. One thing to note is that I was suddenly hit by the sense that I've smelled this before, or something like it--and after a while of puzzling it out, I've hit it: Black Opal! So if you like the vanilla-ey tonka-ness (lol) of Black Opal, you just might love this too. Man, I certainly do.

In decant: golden. I get the beautiful mandarin, plus slightly woody/resinous notes (I think the cedar is most "out"). This is sweet in a non-foody, non-syrupy way. Beautiful. Wet on skin: definitely resins and mandarin; the mix is certainly beautiful. A bit of spiciness coming out; I'm getting myrrh, plus saffron, and the frankincense as well. A slightly powdery note is developing--I'm looking at you, amber! A very pretty blend, if the powder doesn't swamp it. Dry: yeah, powdery :/ Past the powder, the mandarin and reins meld together really beautifully, it's hard to separate the notes from each other. Very golden, very beautiful, resinous and sweet. Verdict: siiiigh. If it wasn't for the powder, this would have been a bottle scent. Oh well!