Ishtar

In the vial, Othello smelled like a powdery rose, with a somewhat darker/heavier base note. When I put it on, it immediately reminded me of Paris by Yves Saint Laurent, which used to be my signature scent. Othello is softer, more grounded than Paris though. Less floral notes and more spice. As it settles down, the musk and the rose become the main notes. The spices stay in the background and contribute to a very well-rounded scent. It is powdery indeed, yet it definitely has some strength and a lot of personality. If there is such a thing as a soft bold scent (or the other way around), this is it! I don't know if I will be buying a bottle, as I would like to try more BPAL scents instead of settling on a new and improved version of something I used to wear daily for years, but I am sure keeping my imp. It is a lovely rose scent, my second favourite after Persephone.

A couple of weeks ago, Vicious Mistress commented on how wonderful the outside of the imps smells when you get them (VM's thread here) Of course after reading her thread I had to go sniff my imps and I, too, found this smell gorgeous! I was wondering if anyone could recommend a scent that would be similar to it. I guess I can experiment with various incensey oils and try to find one that comes close to this smell, but since I am quite new to BPAL, I would welcome any recommendations. Thanks!

Thanks for your answers! These were my first imps, so I had not even thought that this wonderful scent would be different depending on the oils (can you say DUH? ) I guess I will have to order a bunch of incensey scents then, and play with them to see which one I like best... or maybe I could try layering all my oils to recreate the scent!

Isn't it wonderful how BPAL can change your perception of a scent even if you thought you didn't like it? It opens a whole new world of possibilities -and makes so called "shortlists" even longer (as if we neeeded that! ) Thank you very much everyone for your recommendations. Now I *just* need to choose from them!

It is amazing how much this oil changed as soon as I put it on. In the vial, all I could smell was nail polish remover! A good-smelling one, admittedly, but still... not the kind of scent you want to wear all day! When I put it on, the alcohol smell disappeared right away. Wet, Persephone was very sweet, very rosey, almost a candied rose. On the drydown it gets juicier and juicier, now I get the pomegranate that at first I could not smell at all. The balance between the floral and the fruitiness is wonderful. Actually, the flower and the fruit are so complementary and so busy morphing into each other that I think my nose is a bit confused. But in a delicious way. I am amazed at the depth and the complexity Beth managed to create with just two notes! Persephone is definitely rosey, but on me it is like a delicate tea rose in full bloom. ETA: I have worn it three times now and it is gorgeous. I am getting a big bottle of this ASAP, and I will also be making lotion, massage bars and linen spray with it. I am in love.

When the imp was closed, all I could smell was the frankincense, but then I opened it and of course... ALMONDS!!! When I put it on, the almond stage did not last and was replaced almost immediately by an incensey smell. I usually strongly dislike smokey/resiney/incensey scents, but here I have to admit that it is lovely. Once Eclipse settles down, I get a gorgeous spicy/foody scent and the almond seems to be coming back. I now smell like a Middle Eastern almond cookie and I love it! A very bright and happy scent. Definitely a keeper! ETA: I wore Eclipse all day today. Once again. the almond disappeared in a matter of seconds, but this time I ended up with a warm, mellow frankincense scent. I would never have thought I would like a scent with frankincense in it, but there you go! I am really glad I tried it. It is so comforting and uplifting. I love it!

In the bottle, the first note I smell is jasmine, then mandarin & neroli, then myrrh. Sensual, gorgeous, can you say love at first sniff? I got Rapture in a swap together with Old Venice, and I agree with Shollin, these two oils have a lot in common. To me Rapture smells like a darker, bolder, nighttime version of Old Venice. I love it. I will update after I wear it.

Mmh... mimosa I was born in Provence, so mimosa (together with fig and lavender) holds a very special place in my heart. And of course I like my red wine, so I could not go wrong with this one! In the vial, Old Madrid is a bold and vibrant scent for sure; it is refined nonetheless. For some reason, it reminds me of something that has to do with food, yet it is not a foody scent. After wearing it twice: The first time I tried it, I really wasn't sold on this one. Since it smelled pretty strong in the vial, I had only put the tiniest drop on. Maybe it was a mistake, because I felt that the oil never got a chance to fully develop and express itself. Anyway, after a few hours, I did not find Old Madrid very well-balanced. Extremely winey, with a strident mimosa note and no clove whatsoever. I was not sure I wanted to keep the imp. Then I tried it again tonight. This time I put a liberal amount on, so that I could make my mind once and for all. What a change! It now smells floral, bright and robust. Still no clove, but that's OK because I get plenty of mimosa (yay!). The wine adds a beautiful depth to the blend and prevents it from being just a pretty floral. It's a keeper! For the record, I also used Lush's Soft Coeur on my upper arms and both scents seem to blend quite well. Too bad I don't have any of the sweeter BPAL oils yet, because I would love to try and layer Old Madrid with Snake Oil or Dana O'Shee.

Wow. This is absolutely beautiful. I am a huge fan of jasmine and red currant, so no wonder I like this so much. This is definitely a womanly scent, incredibly refined and elegant. You can tell it is quite complex and layered, yet it is so well balanced that it feels effortless (as opposed to those "designer" scents that scream "Smell how complex I am, I have 99 different ingredients" and are nothing but cacophonic) This scent actually reminds me of Florence more than Venice. I associate Florence with art, architecture and refinement, whereas Venice to me has a slight connotation of gloom and decay... there is none of that in this bright, uplifting scent. I have not worn it yet, so I will edit this review later.

I am going to place my first order with a few of my Lush favourites in mind. I would love to find oils that I can layer with Lavender Blizzard, Figs&Leaves and Soft Coeur. Looking forward to experimenting with scents!