moon_lemming

Hmmm, I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I think the sandalwood is a little too strong on my skin, but I like the incense-y lavender background. Overall I don't think I'm keeping this one -- oh sandalwood -- but I like the scent combination.

OH MY GOD JASMINE NOOOOOO. Um, I can smell the rose too. And the lily of the valley, I think. But the jasmine conquers all. Boo. Jasmine and I are gonna steel-cage-match it one of these days.

The Sword is such an interesting scent. In the imp, everything blends together so well that it's hard to pick any one note out, although I think I can find the cocoa. Wet, it's all chocolate and tea and mandarin, and I can see where the comparisons to 13 come in. The chocolate fades back as it dries, and I'm left with a spicy reddish-black scent. It's fantastic. Totally the opposite of what I'd normally enjoy, but everything works absurdly well together. Yum. Time to add another bottle to the wish list. Definitely one to try on the husband, too.

In the imp, almondy sweetness with a touch of almost-bitter orange. Seraglio plus my skin, though, is all roses and . . . I think that's neroli. After a minute of goodness, it turns to baby powder. I'm inclined to blame that on the sandalwood; it tends to hate me. Sniff. Unfortunately, I'm not a baby powder kind of girl (please ignore the Love's Baby Soft days), so it's off to the swaps with this one.

Oh, there's no rose in this! I could have sworn I smelled rose -- this smells weirdly similar to Bess on me. Oh well, I do have a pretty amateur nose. Well, now that I've seen the notes, I can definitely pick out the mandarin. Yes, the mango is there, too. Amazingly, the sandalwood is nowhere to be found; usually my skin amps sandalwood like nobody's business, but I guess white sandalwood is a different sort of creature. The musk is hiding, too. This really does smell like a paler, less floral version of Bess. Probly just my nose being weird, but there you have it. It's very pretty, but I think I like Bess a little better, just because she has more staying power and is more lemon-y than orange.

Whoo, okay. My first sniff of Perversion makes me think "a sweeter version of Snake Oil" which makes me happy. It smells damn good! Then the tobacco comes on a little too strong, helped out by my chemistry, and it becomes too spicy for my taste, almost as if there are cloves involved. As it dries, there's tonka mixed in with a tiny bit of tobacco and a big splash of coconut -- on my skin, anyway -- and I end up smelling like an air freshener, but a REALLY GOOD air freshener. It's yummy, but yeah, my skin makes it a little too Glade for my tastes.

Oh how I love that Underpants icon, hee. The little handrawn-looking monster is so keen. Your icons are fantastic, I love the colors and fonts you use. *bookmarks eviltemptress's blog*

The sandalwood in Sleepy Moon worried me enough that I settled for hunting down a decant instead of getting a full bottle (and got a full bottle of Mars instead), but I really shouldn't have worried. The lavender and chamomile that arrive in the imp become a soapy herbal lavender on my skin. The bamboo pulp brightens it up so that it's not a bad soapiness, and there's enough spice -- the poppy, maybe -- that it's not boring, either. Lovely and calming without being blah. I can definitely see how wearing this one to bed would help you drift off faster.

Somehow I got "woods and chocolate" out of the imp. At first, while it's wet, Jupiter is all pencil shavings on me (not too original of a descriptor, but hey, it is what it is), but it surprises me by turning into a kind of fruity wood. Maybe some greenery in there. I hated it at first, but this end result is nifty, fruity and woodsy (and I usually hate the woodsy scents). Definitely keeping the decant I've got. (If there were a Beaver Moon scent that went the nature way instead of the cheeky way, this would be it.)

Sweet and deep in the imp, Haunted stays sweet on me with a kick that, like Brianne said, reminds me of frankincense. As it drys, it morphs into a lemony dark and musky amber with a little . . . menthol? weird . . . in the background. It's not unpleasant, but it's not for me. I like my lemon scents brighter.

What a weird scent memory. Darkness smells exactly like a perfume someone used to wear . . . an older woman, only this is the scent when there's a little residue left on the nozzle, no warmth from skin to muck it up. Maybe Wind Song. I'm not sure. Myrrh usually amps ridiculously on my skin, and the myrrh in Darkness is no exception. It almost knocks me over upon application, but it seems to settle down as it dries, leaving a spicy floral that's still pretty strong. There's something dry and off-putting underneath it that makes me not love it, though. I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but it's not pleasant. Not really dirt, more like the dust that sticks in the back of your throat after you clap erasers clean. Wow, if I wait even longer that note goes away and Darkness turns into a soapy spicy carnation scent. (I'm not great with florals, so I'm not sure what I'm reading as "carnation" -- maybe the narcissus?) It's good, but I don't think I can take those in-between stages.

In the imp, this reminds me of a LUSH scent. Which usually means neroli, but I think it's the carnation/orange blossom combo this time around. The orange blossom stays incredibly bright while it's wet, but as it dries the carnation gets stronger, and something spicy comes out. I don't know what ambergris or patchouli smell like, so I'm not sure which of them is the culprit, but for a few minutes after Masquerade dries, I smell like incense in a bad way. (I probly shouldn't admit that patchouli tidbit, but I'm not sure what patchouli smells like on its own, THERE, I'M A BAD SNIFFER. ) BUT. But after three or four minutes, the spicy carnation comes back with a bit of the orange blossom peeking from behind it. It's pretty and sexy and LOVE. Then, unfortunately, it turns to cedar. Cedar with a hint of orange blossom. Well, then.

Sweet sweet sweet! The scent -- while it's in the imp and wet -- makes me think of LUSH (the neroli, maybe). I am so excited about Akuma: normally fruity scents and I do not get along, but I'm loving this one so far! First on, it's a wicked dark citrus. The raspberry races to the front, though, and soon it's a tart bright raspberry with a Creamsicle-ish background. It definitely has a Pez feel to it. I like it a lot, and will at least keep the imp; I may nab a 5ml for spring/summer fun.

I can't make out any of the individual notes in Antony while it's wet; it just smells like men's cologne to me. Damn tasty men's cologne, but that's all I can tell you. Once on, the frankincense kicks up, as it is wont to do -- there's a veil of herbs on top, but it's very light -- and while it's okay, it's not my thing. I do want to try this one out on my husband, though.

Weirdly, Séance smells exactly like starfruit tastes, at least in the imp. I think it's the rose mixing with something. So strange. This was a weird experience for me. First on, Séance has a sharp medicinal tang that just doesn't agree with my nose, but as it dries, some woodsiness and an undertone of nuttiness (hehe) appear. There's still a menthol-y herbal tang that just won't go away, but it's not as bad as it is wet. I don't think it works on me as a perfume, but I can't stop sniffing my hand, anyway. Overall, Séance isn't GOOD on me, but it's not bad, either, and it's one of the most interesting smells I've met in a while. edit: I'm retrying this one in June of 2007, and it seems much simpler to my nose. It may be that the first imp I tested was aged, whereas this one is Lab-fresh. It starts out, as before, smelling like starfruit juice, but I can separate the two elements that make up that smell -- it's a sweet pink rose and a little bit of a cedary note -- the rosewood, I guess. Once on skin, the rosewood picks up a lot, and it's like a pink rose vs cedary note wrestling match. The thing is, though, that the rose wins out in the end, and it leaves pretty much nothing of the rosewood behind after about twenty minutes. The Séance that's left is a beautiful fresh, sweet pink rose. It's very close to the skin, but it's GORGEOUS. Can that much of a difference really be due to aging? I think maybe the medicinal smell I got the first time I tried it may have been the hazel becoming more aggressive with age. This is my first experience with aging, so it's very interesting to me. I think I'll keep this imp around to test in a few months, just to see what happens to it. And I just might use a smidge of it in the meantime, because this really is a beautiful rose note.

While the sweet soapiness that I've come to associate with violets is the main thing that stands out when I sniff the imp, Marie turns into a beautiful almost-too-sweet pink rose when I first put it on. I love how all the BPAL rose scents seem different. I was afraid Marie was going to end up being way too strong to wear, but even while I was thinking that, it was calming down and becoming a little powdery (in a good way). After the first few POW! minutes, I have to get pretty close to my arm to smell it; the final scent it gives off is half soapiness/violets and half soft pink rose petals. Yum. I can see why this is too "much" (too rosey, too grandma-y, too powdery) for the majority of sniffers, but my chemistry eats up enough of it that it's pretty subtle. I lurve it.

Wow, Zephyr was reminding me of another Lab scent, but I couldn't put my finger on which one until I saw the reviews that mentioned its similarity to Dorian. That's it! Just muskier (light musk, but musk nonetheless), like the musk is taking the place of the tea, and with that neroli bite. A little powdery, too. It's pretty! I'll have to see how often I reach for the imp, but I imagine it will be an excellent spring scent.

What an intimidating color: purple-red in the imp. It smells sexual in a hot, dirty way. Not too bad. Once on, GOD. NO. How do I explain this? Hmm . . . Well, if "wild" means "the way my hands smell after I scoop out dog food," then Satyr is spot on. Ugh. Is this the infamous civet? It has to be. It gets better after ten minutes or so, but the civet sticks around a little too much for my taste. Wow, even though I can't stand this on me, melia's review REALLY wants to make me try this on my husband. Maybe once the memory of this little test wears off . . .

Note: I am just reviewing the scent at this time; I will review the efficacy of this oil at a later date. I expected High John the Conqueror to be an extremely masculine scent, but in the imp it reminds me of Now & Laters (the candy). Dry, it smells of grapes and herbs and a little sweet incense, maybe. The grapes fade pretty fast, leaving a soapy herby scent behind. Not the best smell ever, but it's okay. Oddly, I do feel more centered and "get it done" right now than I did ten minutes ago. That might be a mental thing, or it might be the oil. I'll test it out more tomorrow at work and this weekend, when I have to attend a party with a bunch of folks who tend to think I'm stuck up because I'm quiet, which just makes me more quiet, heh. eta: I never did leave a note here about efficacy, eh? Well, this was the first Voodoo blend I tried and it totally roped me into trying ALL the Voodoo blends, this one was so effective. It makes me feel more stable, more secure in myself and what I'm doing, and I seem to get along with people a little better when I wear it. I love the scent now; it's a green herbal blend with a purple feel to it, and it was one of the first BPALs my husband randomly complimented.

Before I even try this one, I'm going to predict that it won't work. Plumeria and my skin are not friendly. In the imp, Thalia is exactly what the description claims. It's a pretty, light, sweet scent that just smells happy. On me, it smells the same, just with the florals amped. Detergent city, but I can smell the prettiness lurking underneath it. Just as I thought. Curse you, plumeria! I have a friend whom I'm gonna try to enable with this one, though. Ooh, after about ten minutes the plumeria fades and the sparkly pear comes to the front. I didn't expect that! The pretty, it is back. Hmm, maybe this one will stick around after all.

In the imp, Aureus has an edge that reminds me of the wood shavings I used to use in my gerbils' cages. Ah, cedar, my old enemy. Yep, once it hits my skin it's nothing but cedar. There's a shadow of something else -- sweet and incense-y -- that also doesn't get along with my skin. Definitely not a scent for me.

Sweet sweet sweet in the imp. On my skin, The Black Tower turns into a blend of things I'm not very good at picking out. I think I smell the wine and ozone and leather and herbs. Luckily the sandalwood that's indicated in the description doesn't do the monster morph it usually does on me. If it stayed like this, I would love it, but after about ten minutes it turns a touch too medicinal for me.

I expected to lurve White Rabbit like mad. Tea? Check. Honey and vanilla? Check. Milk? Check. Linen? Check. And I do love it in the imp (tea, yum), but my chemistry changes it into peppery oatmeal. It's interesting and reminds me of a good breakfasty food, but I don't want to smell like this.

In the imp, Cathode smelled like a tooth-achingly sweet and cold spearmint with a little green in the background. Once on, the mint quiets down and Cathode turns into a sweet mossy, woodsy green touched with spearmint. After about fifteen minutes the woods turn into pencil shavings, like most woods do on me, but it's not obnoxious; it's kind of nice added together with the other notes. It's strange combined with my chemistry, but I like it!

This is very pretty, definitely an identifiable "BPAL" scent. I knew it smelled familiar, but I didn't recognize it a smelling similar to Snake Oil until I read other reviews. Hunger actually works better than Snake Oil for me, because while Snake Oil turns to incense once dry, Hunger is just what the description claims: a warm floral vanilla that's a little spicy. The orange blossom that is obvious in the imp disappears on my skin. The yummy floral vanilla fades after about fifteen minutes, but a subtly spicy vanilla remains and a hint of the orange blossom pops back up. It's good enough to get a whole bottle, but I think I'll see how often I use the imp first. eta: (May 3, 2006) I forgot that I had tried this one already and retested it. There was a five-minute period there where it was nothing but rubber. I'm not sure if this is a badly stored imp or if my skin is acting differently right now, but I thought that was weird. After that passes, it's okay, but not as good as what I've written here. Hmm.