Ishtar

I love anything clovey (chai tea, Lush Pied de Pepper and so on), so when the single notes were discontinued, I had to get this. Let's just say that I am not disappointed in the least. This is a soft, gentle clove that wears quite light, a good thing since clove can sometimes be overpowering. Yet, it has the depth and brightness of freshly ground spice. I love it! This will also be fantastic for layering with soft, powdery, musk- or amber-based blends. So glad I could try it!

Wow, wow, wow! Lovely! Hell's Belle didn't smell particularly fascinating in the imp but it stole my heart as soon as I applied it. I love magnolia and I was really disappointed that Black Dahlia was nothing special on me. Hell's Belle, on the other hand... delicious! It starts off all magnolia and a sweet caramelly note that is not unlike that of The Hesperides. The mandarine brings a welcome hint of freshness that cuts through the caramel, imparting a lot of balance to this blend. As it dries and mellows, the scent gets deeper and a touch sweeter. Or maybe it is just a different sweetness: I agree with Diabolique on the coconut. It now reminds me of a darker Black Pearl. The magnolia fades in the background while the mandarin and spices become more prominent. The drydown is a wonderful spicy yet creamy scent that is to die for. I am afraid that my big bottle list suddenly got longer -again!

The above reviewers weren't kidding when they said Masabakes was hard to describe! In the vial, it was quite sour and almost salty. It reminded me of brine and I can see that several people likened it to pickles. It wasn't my nose going crazy, then. Good. On my skin, the sourness for the most part goes away. Masabakes turns into something much earthier than I would have expected. But this is not earthy a la Zombi or Burial, no. This is damp, thick red earth, maybe even red clay. It is the kind of earth one would find in a cave or a very old, very rough cellar. It definitely smells of roots to me, almost of ginger. That is probably the mandrake. I don't get any currant or mimosa when I smell my arm (shame because I love them both), but I can catch a faint whiff of them every now and then in the air surrounding me. At least I think so. Oh, this blend is so complex it is maddening! This is very, very unique. Whether it is in a good or a bad way, I don't know. I am utterly confused. I have a weird attraction/repulsion thing going on with Masabakes. It smells a little dangerous, almost poisonous, yet I can't stop sniffing my arm. If you like dark, complicated, fascinating scents, give it a try!

I got an imp of New Orleans months ago with my first order and I ended up swapping it without even trying it properly. So when I showed up again with my last order, I thought that the least I could do was to try it by itself, not slathered on with a dozen other scents like the first time around. Jasmine and honeysuckle are definitely the most prominent notes, so much so that they are a little overpowering. At least now I can recognize individual notes, as opposed to the bunch of undetermined blooms that overwhelmed me a few months ago. The lemon and spices do what they can to cut through the floral mass, but the jasmine and honeysuckle have a firm hold on the blend and no intention to let go of it. As a bold floral, New Orleans reminds me of Venice, but while the many notes in Venice are precisely juxtaposed to give it its trademark complexity, in New Orleans everything is blurry, resulting in (at least for my taste) less elegance and clarity. Nice but not exactly my taste. This will get swapped again, but at least I know that this time I gave it a fair chance.

What made me curious about Lilith is that reviews are all over the place about this one. It visibly is one of these scents that are highly dependant on one's skin chemistry. Let's see what mines makes of it! When I hear the name Lilith, it is always the evil temptress side of her that I think of. In the bottle, her scent was certainly evil but not exactly tempting; rather sharp and foreboding. On, this starts off very sweet and floral, also fairly strong. I think my nose has gone mad, because all I can think of during the wet stage is my favourite Middle Eastern dessert, an orange blossom flavoured custard topped with syrup. Delicious, but unexpected! After a while, the blend mellows without losing its intensity and it starts making a little more sense to my confused nose. I can now clearly smell the myrrh and rose. That powderiness, that must be the musk... and the wine must be responsible for that relentless sweetness. This is much more seductive now, much closer to my idea of Lilith. This is a very bold, womanly scent that might be a little overbearing for me to wear on a regular basis, but I quite enjoyed it after I got over the initial "evil dessert" stage.

In the vial, Lolita smelled very fruity and bright, with a definite orange twist. On my skin, however, the honeysuckle and heliotrope were the most prominent notes, with the verbena a close second, making the blend rather airy, a little high-pitched and very clean. On me Lolita is a very light scent, almost to the point of faintess. It does have good staying power, though. It is nice, but a little too juvenile and innocent for me to wear. Off to the swaps board with you!

When I first found BPAL, I was extremely happy to see Beth use mimosa in her blends. It is not a note that is too commonly found in perfumes, and when it is, it usually smells artificial. My family owns a few acres on a hill in Southern France where mimosa grows like weeds. We used to go there in February and we would bring home bunches and bunches of the fragrant tiny flowers that would scent our home for days. It has been years since I last smelled mimosa but Beth's rendition instantly brought me back to this field and its mimosa trees. This is the scent of the tree itself rather than just the flowers. The flowers smell slightly sweeter and more powdery, whereas this is somewhat on the green side. I find it almost impossible to describe to someone who has never smelled mimosa, though... it is a rather straightforward scent, yet unlike any other. Anyway, I love it! Thank you Lab! This is lovely and not only because of the memories it brings back!

When I first smelled it in the imp, I was a bit worried about Greed: it smelled so sharp and medicinal that I wondered if there was vetiver in it, a note that does not overly like me... Fortunately, as soon as I applied it, Greed turned into a completely different scent: earthy patchouli with a touch of something woody. I quite like it! The drydown is simply lovely, quite soft, a little on the powdery side. The oakmoss is coming through now, as is the higher, brighter heliotrope note. To me Greed did not really evoke greediness or anything negative for that matter... unless it is BPAL greed we are talking about, in which case it definitely does a fine job as the more I smell it, the more I want a big bottle of it! Seriously though, this may well be the ideal patchouli blend for me... and believe me, that's saying a lot for someone like me who would not even touch patchouli with a ten foot pole before finding BPAL!

The Lab generously added an imp of Glitter to my last order. I would never have ordered it myself and quite frankly, I was sure I was going to hate it. After going all out with wine-based scents for a few months, I recently found that I had tired of them, so I wasn't really excited about trying another one. Worse, I can't do lotus: it immediately turns to rancid bubble gum on me. Needless to say, I had very low expectations about Glitter. And needless to say, I was absolutely wrong. This is indeed glittery, sparkly, a little over the top but delicious all the same. The white wine note is a welcome, lighter variation on the headier red wine base of many other oils; it blends perfectly with the lovely fresh pear note. Glitter smells quite festive to me, an unusual scent if you will, that seems to put me in a bubbly, the-devil-may-care mood. Very uplifting and a definite keeper

This is incredibly close to the smell of actual absinthe! I swear that when I applied it, I even caught a whiff of something boozy on top of the anise and herb blend! After 30 minutes, Absinthe became rounder and sweeter on my skin, while the anise note kept getting stronger. The herbal/woody base seemed to fade a little, leaving me with a soft licorice scent that was quite enjoyable. This is a very light scent on me and it does not have much staying power (2 hours or so). I would nevertheless recommend it to anyone who likes fresh, clean fragrances and enjoys the smell of anise. Another very evocative blend

Like everyone said, this is the scent of the most perfect, most fantastic tasting pear ever! Yes, it is fresh and crisp, but it also has a definite texture to it, somewhat grainy like the peel of a fresh pear. It actually reminds me of a very high quality pear sherbet It is a very light scent on me and did not last long after I applied it. It is so good that I would gladly slather it on every 30 minutes, but since I only have an imp, I think I will rather use it to amp up the pear note in my beloved Endymion. Gorgeous and incredibly true to the actual scent, like all the other BPAL single notes I had the pleasure of trying

In the bottle and wet, Ice Queen smells really, really cold. It's amazing how chilly and wintery this is. Quite complex too. If I inhale deeply, I think I can taste mint at the back of my throat. Other than that, I have no idea what is in this blend. On my skin, Ice Queen started off as a fruity aquatic scent with a very fresh, cool note that I could not quite place. As it dried down, the minty note disappeared, while the aquatic/green quality kept getting more obvious. Unfortunately, I am not too fond of aquatic or green scents, even though this one is so complex and elegant that even I can appreciate it. After complete drydown, the musks came through, making Ice Queen sweeter and ever so slightly powdery. This is when I started really enjoying it. The last stage was subtle and soft, with a very nice pear note that I had not been able to smell before. Ice Queen definitely is a beautiful scent. However, and although I did enjoy the drydown, I don't think that it works well enough on me during the early stages to keep. Hopefully I will find it a good home

It took me a while to figure out what Midwinter's Eve reminded me of, but it just came back to me: it smells exactly like that factory in the French Alps that makes candied fruits. Every summer we would visit it with my parents and buy candied chestnuts, candied mimosa flowers and rose petal jam. A very festive olfactive memory, of course, so no wonder Midwinter's Eve makes me feel all happy and fluffy I seem to smell orange and blackberry in addition to the plum mentioned in the description, but that could be my imagination. On me Midwinter's Eve is rather strong without being overpowering. It is a little like the quintessential fruity BPAL oil to me, as it reminds me of several other blends in the catalogue. It is lovely, bright and joyful. It may not be my absolute favourite Yule limited edition but I will enjoy wearing it and being taken back to my childhood memories

Yay, another rose blend for me to try! I love rose scents, especially when Beth makes them! On me, London is a soft, subtle tea rose that I would call old-fashioned, but in the best possible way. Dainty, lovely and elegant. It reminds me of Moon Rose, only without that cristalline quality to it. A beautiful, simple, straightforward blend that I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys roses

When I first opened the imp of Nero, I wondered what aspect of his personality the Lab had chosen to illustrate: his megalomania or his madness? Well, the answer is both. The rosemary and bay are reminiscent of a traditional, classy men's cologne, but the balance of this blend is corrupted by the pine and lemon that make it a little disjointed, a little mad -like Nero himself. A well done, evocative blend, but not one I would enjoy wearing as it is definitely masculine and also a little unsettling.

I was anxious to try Morgause as I love all things Arthurian, as well as the colour purple. From the description, this sounded like the perfect blend for me. On me, Morgause is a very pretty fruity/floral blend with a hint of what could be plum to give it a slightly earthy character. The incense note is there but rather faint. This is very well-balanced but a little too light on me. From the name and description, I was expecting something darker, deeper, maybe more mystical. I think that it would have worked quite well had the incense note been stronger. Still, Morgause is quite enjoyable and I am not giving up on it yet. Methink some layering and experimenting is in order. This can be beautiful if I find something to give it a little more oomph.

In the vial and wet, Hecate was all strong, bitter almond, which I love. I had to wait until drydown for the deeper, darker notes to come through and give a welcome depth and complexity to this blend. This is very nice and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes almond scents. I probably will not purchase a big bottle as I already have many almond blends with better staying power than Hecate, but it is lovely all the same

Oh my gosh, this is soooo sexual it should not be sold to underage BPALers!!! The Lab generously added an imp of Golden Priapus to my last order and I am already hopelessly addicted! I did not think much of it when I saw the imp as to me it was strictly a masculine scent, but I will try any BPAL once. In the vial, the smell was a little sharp yet nice. It smelled green yet felt golden, if that makes any sense. As soon as it touched my skin, the golden gorgeousness that is this blend literally bloomed into vanilla and amber. Warm, silky and terribly erotic. It had been a while since an oil made me all hot and bothered, but Golden Priapus sure did a great job in that department! A keeper, needless to say

Eternal did not really work on me, unfortunately. For the first ten minutes, it was a rather unassuming white floral, nice but nothing special. As soon as it started drying, a strong soapy note came through and kept getting stronger up to the point where I almost smelled like liquid dish soap. Hrm. Eternal went along much better with my mother's chemistry, though: on her it turned into a soft, distant, wistful floral that was actually quite nice. And this is how she ended up with another imp for her small but fast growing collection

Many many thanks to the Lab for adding an imp of Embalming Fluid to my last order, thus ending several months of dilly-dallying on my part. The description always sounded appealing to me since I love tea scents, but the name really turned me off ordering it. Silly, I know, but I am famous for my fear of mummies and, well, I couldn't bring myself to try it just because of the name In the imp and wet, I would have had a hard time telling Embalming Fluid from Old Shangai. Same fresh, straightforward tea scent, very refreshing and crisp without being biting. After a few minutes though, it developped into something clearly different from Old Shangai: a definite aloe note, less lemon and... damn! Soap! Argh. I don't know what makes Embalming Fluid turn soapy on me, but it unfortunately doesn't work on my skin Shame because the initial stage was very nice. I would recommend it to all tea scent lovers as it surely would be lovely on someone with the right chemistry

Warning: I absolutely can't do smoky scents, so please don't let my review scare you off! The description is dead on, Djinn is indeed very, very smoky. On me, the ashes are most prominent. It does not really smell hot or like a fire to me, just ashes, cold and grey. Djinn was very strong when I applied it, then it mellowed down quite a bit. Since this type of scent is really not my thing, I ended up washing it off, but if you like other smoky scents like Brimstone you would probably enjoy Djinn.

I must admit to ordering Gingerbread Poppet purely to see how close it would be to the real thing. I had little hope that it would be wearable as a perfume. When I first opened the imp, I was once again impressed with the accuracy of Beth's rendition of an actual scent. It was spicy, buttery, familiar and terribly comforting. In fact, I don't know if I have ever had the pleasure of meeting a gingerbread cookie that smelled that good. Delicious As an added bonus, Gingerbread Poppet is of course a sweet scent, but it is never cloying. It is almost as if I can smell the icing on the cookie: it is sugary, but it is just on the surface, like a thin dusting. After savouring this mouth-watering scent in the imp, I decided to apply it. O divine surprise! Not only is it absolutely wearable, it is actually even more gorgeous on my skin! Creamy, soft, spicy... this is wonderful. I could bathe in Gingerbread Poppet! I want to smell like this all the time! No, wait, I have to make time to wear Snow White too...

Dracul was added to my order by the Lab. When I first opened the imp, I really could not see the connection between the name and what I was smelling: a mint/eucalyptus note mingling with something herbal or aromatic that one would use in the kitchen. Curiouser and curiouser. Of course, I had to try it right away. After ten minutes, I sniffed my arm again and oh my! What a change! Dracul had turned into a dark, complex, smooth scent that I would never have expected. Oh, and did I mention that it was sexy as hell? I could not detect any individual note and I did not even care because I was enjoying this delicious scent too much. Needless to say, this is a keeper and I cannot wait to slather this on my boyfriend. It should be gorgeous on a man

Wow. Snow White is quite a unique scent. And I mean that in a very good way. In the bottle it is soft, rounded, almost fluffy. The foody note is very comforting without being sweet. It is definitely wintery without being cold. Wonderful. On my skin, the foody note was the first to express itself. I knew it was coconut but like others mentioned, my nose kept thinking almond. After a little while, a green/woody note started coming through, giving much depth and balance to the blend. At this point, images of frosted evergreen needles formed in my mind and the more I think of it, the more it represents what Snow White is like to me: a beautiful forest on a very cold and crisp morning. Not only does Snow White smell absolutely magical, it also has great staying power and a lot of throw. What a wonderful blend!

I got to try Dia de los Muertos thanks to the lovely Chin who swapped her bottle with me On me, this starts off very, very sweet and heady, yet rather smooth. There was something earthy and smokey behind the sweetness, not unlike the wet stage of Samhain. During drydown, the flowers started coming through, but it was the smokiness that was most prominent. After completed drydown, the smoky note faded, as did most of the floral ones. They were replaced by a sweet scent with a definite woodiness/earthiness to it. A very complex scent, not unpleasant at all, but I probably will not keep it as it is quite reminiscent of the early stages of Samhain, which are not my favourite in this otherwise beautiful blend. I am very grateful that I got to try Dia de los Muertos though