Gateau

Now in the third decade of my obsession with A Midsummer Night's Dream, I had to have this. Unfortunately, it's not something that smells good on me. Starts out, in the imp and wet, totally delicious -- smells like a big bunch of wet lilacs. As it dries, though, I got a whiff of something like camphor. Then it got a little headshoppy on me, sort of Vixen lite. At the end I started getting an armpitty rooty note, which is what happened to me with Black Hellebore. Verdict: I'll probably keep the imp around to see if it inspires me when I'm working on a Midsummer-inspired project, especially since I like that wet lilac smell. But I doubt I'll wear it again.

In imp: grassy cut flowers, mmm, promising. Wet: nice fresh cut grass and flowers, plus some herbs. Nothing specifically rose or peony. Dry: through that floral grassiness I'm getting clean soapy scent -- maybe this is the peony. That clean scent is reminding me of your basic "fresh scent" deodorant. Now that earthy rooty scent is coming out, and combined with the deodorant is making me think of armpits, the kind of smell it's nice to run into organically on a lover who maybe came home from the gym and then took a shower, but not one I want to wear. One for the swap pile.

In the imp: sweet rose candy Wet: a big bunch of sweet wet roses Dry: smells like a giant bouquet or better yet, garden full of multicolored roses. Unline many rose scents, which are one-note and heavy, this brings forward the wide variety of rose smells with a lot of depth and variance. There is a wet and grassy overlay to it all that makes it all smell very fresh. These roses smell fresh cut, or as if you're walking through a rose garden after it's been watered. This is the essence of June. Fresh and sprightly. I reapplied after about 5 hours because it had faded a lot and I want to be surrounded in this scent. Definitely need bottles and bottles of this.

Imp: Smells like a woodsy candle. Wet: Getting a lot of wood and those candle notes. Dry: Increasingly warm, the black vanilla comes out strongly, backed by the tobacco, making it sweeter than I'd expected. Then it gets very teaky and a little drier, but the vanilla is a strong note. I'm getting a strong sense of the wood, but it's not wood in its natural state -- it's really worked and polished, so the concept is spot-on. The teak-vanilla combination isn't one that I really like, and it's got a lot of throw so it's sticking in my nose and throat. Tried wiping it off, but it's got a lot of sticking power. I had really high hopes for this, especially since I'm fascinated by the Antikythera Mechanism itself, but it just didn't work for me. My 9 year old son loves it, though, and keeps asking me to put a drop on his wrist, so I'll save it for him.

In the imp: butter and light rose Wet: sugar, white lilies, buttered toast. I don't really like buttery scents, they smell artificial to me. Dry: getting the gingery/peppery note. Still getting that buttery scent, not much tea, vanilla or linen. It's a warm golden scent, maybe the honey-vanilla-tea combined is giving me the impression of butter and baked goods. Later: Getting a note that is cucumbery and sort of like play doh, neither being favorite scents of mine. It's gotten much more gingery and I never got the tea or the white linen. It's nice but I don't really smell the concept. Want more tea, less butter. Has pretty good lasting power. Bottom line: may test again, but I suspect this will be perfect for a friend. Am starting to suspect I might not like honey scents as much as I thought I did.

In the imp: iced sweet tea and grass Wet on me: fresh cut grass, something lemony. The whole blend is very faint but enticing. Dry: This has stayed very light and very little throw. It's grassy more than herbal, with a little sweet lemon tea. I can't detect the peony, but it may be what is bringing a fresh and clean scent. It smells like a very nice herbal shampoo in the best way. In fact, it reminds me of the Herbal Essence shampoo of my youth, in the faceted bottle with the drawing of a girl with long hair strewn with flowers. Needs major slathering, but can't stop sniffing it. Though faint, it lasted a long time. My husband likes it best so far of the oils I've tried, and oldest son says it smells like clean laundry. Would be major keeper if stronger. Will try slathering.

Was a little scared just holding this in my hand, because I was getting nothing but big wafts of hippie patchouli. But I know things change mightily once you uncork, so on I went. In the imp: Floral with something dry underneath, like powdered ginger. Wet: A dry, white floral with and underlying strong earthiness and a little tang -- that ginger again. Dry: Total patchouli plus sweet flowers, smells like dirty candy on me. I want this to be deep purple velvet with shimmers of gilt and sparkle on top, but what I'm getting is secondhand velveteen and chipped rhinestones. It's a very costumey, rather than authentic, kind of depth and seduction. It's making me a little nostalgic for the kind of dorm rooms in college with tapestries hung all over the walls to hide the cinderblocks and standard furniture. Several hours later: This has faded into something that smells very much like Shalimar on me. Hm. I think this will be a good one for my Snake Oil/Shalimar loving friend.

No matter what, I will always love the label art on this one. In the imp: rich honey, sugary lemon. I got one whiff of a more astringent lemon, more wood polish than lemon zest. Also something I can't define that's a little heavier and musky and a little cloying, either the cardamom or one of the darker honeys. Wet on me: Very foodie white chocolate truffle with lemon-honey filling. It's lickable but a little too sweet to be entirely pleasant and has that slightly musky scent that white chocolate and honey often have. Dry: A very dusky honey with a little lemon candy. It's gotten softer, but that underlying duskiness, coupled with the honey sweetness, just doesn't sit quite right on me. I can't completely decide about it, but I'm not sure I really want to smell like this. Good lasting power -- put on around 8pm and could still make it out when I woke up. My younger son thinks I smell like candy, but the older son and my husband don't like it at all.

Starry white lilies lend an eerie brightness to the deep black wooded scents of cypress and oak, layered with a touch of crushed dried leaves and the faintest aquatic note. In the imp -- sweet flowers and the smell of leaves on the forest floor Wet on me -- powdery sweet aquatic flowers, with a strong smell of rotting leaves and wood (a smell I love) and the aquatic notes of a pond. The pond water is still but not stagnant -- it's a very organic smell like taking a walk in the woods in the spring before the old leaves have been cleaned up, wet from the melted snow. Might be a better room spray than personal perfume. Dry -- I love this now. It's turned to soft and mostly sweet flowers (not the sharp powder I sometimes get with lilies) with the woods and pond in the background. I get a daytime but cool and shady feeling -- no starry darkness for me. It fades pretty fast, but lingered more faintly for a long time. I think this needs slahering, and hopefully that more intense wet phase won't bother me when I do so. Considering a bottle.

I am new to BPAL, and received a half-imp of Fire Eater from a very kind forum member as a gift with a purchase. I've never had an experience with a perfume like the one I had with this. It wasn't a pleasant experience, but it really speaks to the power of these blends to evoke associations and emotions. So this blend wasn't for me, but it convinced me of the depth of Beth's amazing abilities. In the imp: A cologne note, pleasant. An underlying sweet resinous scent, dragon's blood? Not one of my favorites. Wet on me: I get the cologne, with a dry wood smell. Some smoke emerges. No hint of that sweet resin. I'm getting once-bright, now faded golds, browns, and reds, like old weathered posters. Definitely a seedy carnival vibe, with all the beauty and rot inherent in that. The word "lurid" in the description is just right. On the drydown: More piney wood coming out, with an ashy cinder note, I like this combination. On top of that is the cologne overlay. These two smells don't combine, they stay layered, with the cologne on top of the burned wood. I want to smell that charred wood, but I want to get away from the cologne. 30 minutes later: Picking up more of that incensey sweetness and smelling the char behind it. I continue to like the burned wood smell, but the cologne continues to blot it out and disturb me. I feel like I'm being stalked by someone seedy and menacing while I'm just trying to enjoy this burning wood scent. Eventually I had to wash it off, but it would not come off. I tried alcohol, I tried scented soap and water. Finally I was able to blot it out with lavender oil. Later I went to bed and had a very disturbing dream that included seeing a film about sideshow performers. P.S. my 9 year old son, who is developing an obsession with BPAL along with me, said he liked Fire Eater, and could smell sandalwood and smoke.

Received this as an extra when I bought a bottle from a generous forum member. I had been avoiding the Ars Draconis blends, and this confirmed that is a good choice for me. It's just not a direction my nose and chemistry like to go in. In the imp: hippie head shop sweet incense Wet on me: still strong whiff of hippie incense, but I can now detect a white flower note with that pleasantly slightly bitter soapiness they have. Feel a little twinge of headache coming on. On the drydown: this is getting more balanced, with the top sweet note (ylang ylang?) balancing with the spicy incense and mellowing out, but it's still giving me an overall impression of a hippie store I used to frequent. Headache intensifying. I washed it off when I got home. I actually liked the faint remnant that got left behind, which was more spicy and resinous than sweet. Not for me, though.

Wow, my first review. I am glad I get to start with something I really loved. In the bottle: A hit of sweet plum wine and something sweet and floral. Wet on me: Sweet plum wine and honeysuckle blossom, which combine to smell almost like candied fruit. Something a little tangier -- apricot? the ichigo strawberry? -- emerges, and something a little soapy and clean. That must be the peony and/or lily, but it's not sticking out. I don't know what hydrangea, anemone, or lunar oils would smell like to pick them out. I get the impression of pink and white blossoms on branches shadowed by the darkening indigo moonlit sky. This is pink and dusky purple, flowers by evening. Not a bright garden, but a garden after moonrise. I get the impression of taking an evening walk in the warm spring, not dead of night. On the drydown: The clean scents are coming out a bit and mingling with the fruity sweet floral blossoms, still not dominating. There is something -- the branches? the lunar oils? -- that add a certain warmth and depth to all this ethereal sweetness, like a musky melon or the pearly bloom on plums and grapes. It's a very romantic fragrance with a touch of warm darkness. Fairly fast fade on this -- I applied 3 hours ago and now need to put my wrist right to my nose to smell it. It's something I'd want to reapply throughout the day. But it's not an everyday fragrance, something to save for when I need a touch of spring and romance. (edited to correct stupid error)

Get a whiff of this -- just picked garden roses, lilies, lavender, and fennel fronds. It rained last night, so there is a wet note too.

Poking around BPAL and learning about the evocative scents Beth produces has led me to start thinking about the smells in my own life I wish I could bottle and pull out when I need a hit, or to preserve fleeting scents for posterity. Here are the two I've thought about so far: My Garden -- tomato leaf, lavender, tarragon, warm soil, water, roses, peonies, hydrangea, with a waft of dry grass and oak leaf on the breeze Jasper -- warm light skin musk, clean laundry, milk, a dusting of baby powder. The elusive smell of a baby's head.

Was working in my garden today and got a big hankering for a garden scent with tomato leaf, lavender, honeysuckle, roses, tarragon, water, and dirt, maybe a touch of peony. I'll have to try some of the ideas above.