Ishtar

On me, Kabuki is a very nice red, round, bright scent. The cherries almost overwhelm the other notes at first, but the red musk puts on a brave fight and manages to come through during drydown. I usually have to wait a few hours before I get my first hint of anise and it is always a wonderful surprise, because for some reason, it is just not a note that I expect to be present in this blend

When I first read the description for Black Dahlia, I thought "Ooh, magnolia! I have to have it!!!" The intial wet stage is very nice, a "classic" floral blend, slightly old-fashioned but not old ladyish. Alas, as soon as it dries down, Black Dahlia turns into a generic floral, slightly powdery and a little bland. Nice, but not really attention-grabbing.

On me Kostnice was a little forbidding, a very "serious' scent. I loved the frankincense and the rosewood, whose dryness was nicely counterbalanced by the lily. Unfortunately I am not a huge fam of geranium and this is precisely the note that came to overpower the rest of the blend after drydown. Very nice but not for me, I am afraid.

As much as I love violets, Wings of Azrael did not work on me, sadly. I should have read the description more carefully. Cypress hates me and juniper, unless it is present in homeopathic doses, makes everything go sour on my skin. Sure enough, the combination of both resulted in a sharp, piercing, almost chilling scent that turned quite dark and sinister after a while. Oh well, off to the Swap thread with this one...

Fun, fun, fun! Delirium is definitely a playful blend. Depending on when I wear it, the rose, apple and lemon take turns being the most prominent note. I never know what to expect, which makes it a perfect imp to reach for on these indecisive mornings when I don't know if I want to wear something fruity, something lemony or something floral. It has been a while since I had a strong colour/scent association, but to me Delirium is definitely a lovely bright magenta, with little specks of golden yellow

Naiad really did not work on me. I am not too good with aquatic notes to begin with, and unfortunately lotus does not like me. It smelled quite nice and lemony in the vial, so I hoped I would be able to wear it. Sadly, it quickly turned cloying and vaguely sickening on my skin. I ended up swapping this one.

I simply love Arcana! Beth performed yet another small miracle by perfectly balancing the frankincense, the lavender and the herbs. On me there is not one note that predominates, they all contribute harmoniously to form a slightly mysterious and terribly alluring scent. A keeper for sure!

Patron of the Aztec pantheon, he is the personification of light within darkness, warmth in the cold, and life in, and after, death. He is a creative and destructive God of Fire and Light, and is appeased only by sacrifice, trial, and the slaughter of his people's enemies. Copal, plumeria and sweet orange and the smoke of South American incense and crushed jungle blooms. Wow, this a beautiful and complex scent! On me Xiuhtecuhtli goes all creamy and sweet, but it is neither foody nor girly. It is deep, dense, almost textured if that makes any sense for a scent. To me it is all about ripe fruit and heavy, mysterious tropical flowers. I can almost feel the heat and the humidity of the jungle on my skin. Upon drydown, the spice and the smoke come out to play with the fruit and I am left with a delicious spicy orange scent, which makes me crave a blood orange salad with a hint of cinnamon and pepper Delicious! I think I will mostly wear it at night, since it might be too complex and deep for daytime.

I agree with alizarin that Pele is quite similar to a lighter, less orangey Xiuhtecuhtli. It is definitely a white, pretty floral with a very interesting creaminess to it. I like it, but it might be a little too understated for my taste. I would also need to reapply every hour or so if I were to wear it, as it has next to no staying power on my skin. I am glad I tried it and I will use up my imp, but it is not a must have for me.

Jack I I am a huge pumpkin fan, so I was really excited about trying Jack. In the vial, it smelled like strong, raw pumpkin, with a slightly bitter note somewhere in the background. As soon as it touched my skin, the pumpkin magically turned into... burnt plastic. Damn. I tried to wait for drydown to see if things were going to improve, but the burnt smell just kept intensifying, and this is how Jack I became one of the very few BPAL oils I had to go and wash off. I am definitely going to try Jack II though, since the "burnt plastic" curse seems to have affected several people and everyone sound like they really enjoyed the new and improved Jack

Wow. Another incredibly evocative scent! When I first read its description, I could picture very clearly the athmosphere the Lab wanted to convey, but I certainly did not expect to be able to smell all the notes mentioned. Well, once again I was wrong. Tintagel does exactly what it says. It is all there: the leather, the metal, the mulled wine, the feasting, the laughter. Incredible. To me this is the very smell of autumn, but it is also a scent that I associate closely with friendship. Maybe I am influenced by the banquet hall description, but Tintagel makes me feel like inviting my closest friends for dinner at my place and spending a warm, conforting evening in their company. Strangely enough, Tintagel is not an oil that I would spontaneously put in my Top 10, but I find myself drawn to it all the time. It is now the third day in a row that I wear it and I know that tomorrow I will have to force myself to wear something else. otherwise I will never try my other samples. A big bottle might very well become a necessity soon!

There is little I can add to the wonderfully detailed descriptions that have been posted before! On me, Red Moon turns fairly sweet and spicy. It is rather similar to Dragon's Milk, only more complex and layered. Since Dragon's Milk is hands down my absolute favourite BPAL, it goes without saying that I *love* Red Moon! I will savour this nectar until the last drop! Wearing it makes me feel all special and magical, exactly what I need to welcome the new and full moons. Yet another masterpiece. Well done, Beth!

Wow. Now this is a complex blend. In the vial, it smelled very dark and woody, so much so that I put off trying it. On, I primarily get a cedar note, but this is no white or yellow cedar. This is a dark and brooding cedar, a cedar that has something to hide... (insert dramatic music here I should not be writing reviews late at night ). OK, seriously though, as the blend evolves on my skin, Intrigue turns darker and deeper, but never sinister or unsettling. It is very complex and layered: now I can distinctly smell the cocoa and I think that the fig is coming out to play too. This is definitely, well, intriguing (!), and I would even say fascinating. It immediately took me back to one of the most gorgeous clubs in Paris, The China Club. I don't know if I enjoy Intrigue mostly for its complex sophistication or just because it reminds me of many, many nights spent at The China Club, but I simply love it Oh, and it also layers wonderfully well with rich, fruity scents. I tried it with Bordello and the result is to die for

On me Empyreal Mist started out as a really nice and fresh scent, almost lemony. Since I like lemon a lot, I was really pleased with it. Upon drydown though, it changed into a soft and etheral floral scent that was quite nice, but not as stimulating to my nose as the initial lemon. This is a really pretty blend which I think is an absolute must-try for those who like their scents understated and innocent. However, I tend to prefer mine a little bolder, so I think this will be a swap. I am almost reluctant to swap it since it is so lovely, but I know I will not be reaching for it often enough, so I would rather send it to someone who will fall in love with it

One me, Aizen-Myoo was almost all grapefruit, and little else. A very bright and zingy oil, not sharp, but "high-pitched", if that makes any sense. Upon drydown, the tea started to come through, making the scent smoother and better rounded. Unfortunately the cherry blossom never showed up, which is too bad since it is a favourite note of mine Since I love tea and fruity scents, I really enjoyed Aizen-Myoo, but I enjoy Baobhan Sith, to which it is fairly similar, even more.

Wow. A scent with carnation where I actually enjoy and welcome the carnation. Now that's unusual. Beth, you keep surprising me The clear liquid in the vial had almost no smell at all when I first sniffed it. But as soon as it touched my skin, it developped into a very nice, milky, sweet-but-not-sugary scent. After a few minutes, Alice turned into a soft, muted floral with a lovely creaminess to it. Upon complete drydown, the carnation came out to play and cut through the sweetness in a most enjoyable way. Nothing powdery or old-ladyish here. This is very nice and well-balanced, more spicy-floral than I would have expected but lovely all the same. Definitely a perfect workday scent, unobtrusive without being boring. A keeper!

Wow. This is extremely powerful, fiery and evocative. As the Lab descrpition says, it is *gritty* indeed. Definitely not something I would have thought could be captured so accurately in a scent, but there you go. Well done, Beth! Unfortunately, smoke in general and woodsmoke in particular make me queasy, so this is probably the first BPAL oil I am going to swap without even trying it. Shame because I really admire the artistry and talent that went into the formulation of this blend, but I know that the wet stage would make me

Well, this is officially the first BPAL scent that *scares* me. Literally. Eeek Wet, the vetivert is almost overwhelming, underscored by something very green and herbal. At first Kweku Anansi is an extremely strong scent, but it quickly mellows into a pepper/wood/spice combo which is much softer and less unsettling than the wet stage. Still, I washed it off after 30 minutes, as I really felt uncomfortable wearing it. Don't let my negative review put you off, though. Vetivert, pepper and dark wood are all notes that I dislike to begin with, so I didn't expect this blend to work on me. This is certainly a powerful scent, both for its strength and its *gulp* dark evocative power, so it is probably a good oil to try if you like that. As for me, I am off to the Swap board with this one!

So far I have tried Eclipse, Inferno, Three Witches and Wrath. I actually smell the frankincense much more than the cinnamon in Eclipse. It is lovely and was my first 5ml ever, but to me it is not a predominantly cinnamony scent. I highly recommend it though Inferno was nice but I found it a little one-dimensional, not as complex and layered as some other blends. Three Witches is really nice and peppery. I like it a lot, especially as a room scent. My favourite however has to be Wrath. Now that's seriously cinnamony, but perfectly wearable thanks to the fruitiness imparted by the dragon's blood. Of all the cinnamon blends, this is the one I can see myself using on a regular basis as a perfume oil, as opposed to a room scent. Two thumbs up! I just received Mercury and Faustus but have not tried them yet. If I find any of them outstanding, I will post again in this thread to let you know.

The sweetest ones on me are: - Vice and Bliss: pure chocolate, incredibly true to the smell of dark and milk chocolate, respectively - The Hesperides: this one goes very, very caramelly on me, which is not a bad thing at all - Dragon's blood tends to turn very sweet on me. Dragon's Heart was the only BPAL to date to be too overly sweet for me to wear - Dragon's Milk, Persephone and Bordello are sweet indeed, but they have enough fruitiness to prevent them from being sickly sweet, at least on my skin. Hope that helps

My favourite oils for room scents are Jester, Old Glasgow, Old Cairo and Jolly Roger, depending on the mood I want to create. I also use some of the cinnamony blends, Three Witches in particular. Sometimes I will burn scents I like but cannot wear, either because my skin chemistry does weird things with them, or because they are a bit too much to wear. That's what I did with Bliss and Vice, that are really overly sweet on me, but turned out to be scrumptious room scents I might try Hellcat in the burner one of these days.

Thanks fairywingmaker I saw the announcement, sorry, I should have made my post clearer. What I meant is that since Beth did not reply to say "OK, let's get started", it cannot be said that my process has really begun. So I guess my request will probably not be processed even though I emailed about it before today's update. But it's completely OK. Anything that helps with the Lab's workload is fine by me And like you said, there is still hope that we will be able to get our custom scents in the future!

*Sigh* Apparently the Lab doesn't accept requests for customs scents anymore. I emailed Beth a few weeks ago to let her know that I would like to have one made, but I have not heard back from her so I guess it is not going to happen. I guess I will have to find myself another special present for my 30th birthday. I totally understand the Lab's decision, though.

This is very serene and reverent indeed. Another of these oils that seem to emanate from your skin rather than just sit on it. Even though I love lily of the valley, it took me a while to realize there was any in this blend. A little later, the frankicense showed up, warming and grounding the whole blend. Really beautiful. I recommend that all rose lovers give Hymn a try. However, I think I like my rose scents a little more playful than that, more along the lines of Persephone or Wanton.

Being the almond lover that I am, I was sure I was going to love this. Yet, I have to say that the first few minutes after application were downright unpleasant: Queen of Sheba went sharp and almost sour on my skin. I was afraid it was not going to work on me, but after ten minutes or so it suddenly morphed into the most delicious, golden, dry almond scent ever I agree that this is a different almond note than that of, say, Eclipse or Black Phoenix. Less fruity, less foody, definitely drier. Queen of Sheba is actually everything I was hoping Old Morocco to be. Old Morocco was nice but not outstanding on me, whereas this one is just glorious. And yet another bottle for my next order!