moon_lemming

Azaroles, nuts, and apple blossoms with red apple pulp, mulberry, blackberry, and pomegranate juice. Wow, this smells like scented nail polish remover in the imp. Maybe the apples and nuts combining weirdly? It sort of becomes the smell of spoiled apples after a minute or so, once I get past that ACETONE whiff. Once it's dry, Pomona is those grainy red apples with a little bit of nuttiness. It is horrible on me. I've discovered I just do not like the Lab's nutty blends, but I do love apple notes, so I was hoping this would make the nuttiness work for me, but no. It's a lot better once it's completely dry -- I don't need to run and wash it off or anything -- but still, no. (I am so glad other reviewers mentioned the acetone thing, too, I thought that was so weird and figured I was imagining it at first.)

I never tried this when it was fresh, because I was pregnant and nervous about oils, so I only know what it smells like aged. Lovers with Rutting Cats smells almost effervescent in the bottle, and sweet. On me it is too sweet and I don't like it, and then cigarette smoke shows up and I REALLY REALLY don't like it. It's like Vixen (good) but less complex (meh) with tobacco smoke (no).

Hmmm. It's not as life-changing as I imagined, but it IS delicious. At first, the leather in Liz is all I can smell, and it's more "gray" smelling than black. I think it's the smoke giving that impression. The vanilla kicks in as it dries, ho boy. It smells awesome, pretty evenly balanced between leather and a creamy non-cloying vanilla. There is a floral; it's sweet and almost herbal and reminds me of chamomile. But then I'm horrible with florals so grain of salt etc. After about three hours the leather takes over again, and it's mostly a smoky leather scent with a teeny bit of vanilla underneath. I did like it better when the vanilla was stronger, but it's good in all its variations. eta: A month or so later, I have to say, Liz has really grown on me. It's become one of my favorite currently-available scents, and I reach for it often. It's probably my fave BPAL vanilla right now, while I am Antique Lace-less.

Though March marks the end of the desolation and chill of winter, it is not yet Spring, the time of rebirth, fertility and the Earth's fecundity. March's Full Moon is a Virgin's Moon, pure, youthful, unsullied and innocent. This is the Moon of the Child, and the scent is as soft and gentle as a baby's breath: milky blossoms and soft cream touch the last buds of winter, coupled with crystalline, hazy traditional Lunar oils. Let's get it out of the way: Chaste Moon 2010 is not the same monster as Chaste Moon 2005. I'm a little sad because I love the 05 version more than is acceptable in polite society, and had to sell my partial for bills. I was hoping this would replace it. Well, it doesn't. But it is a splendid scent unto itself. At first I had resigned my bottle to the Fail Pile, because it was lily and soapy horror on me wet. But as it warms up it becomes what it's supposed to be: a beautiful light bright sweet floral. "Crystalline," yeah. Almost wet but not aquatic. I love it. Definitely not going into the Fail Pile. Maybe the Glory Glory Hallelujah Pile.

I was surprised when this became a Big Hit; I tried a decant of it and almost lolled at how much it smelled like baby food. Maybe peaches. Over time it morphs into tinned mandarin slices in syrup. Oh Autumn Moon, you are just not meant for me.

I tried Detestable Putrescence in yet another grab to find something to soothe the Antique Lace maybe-loss. This is delicious in the bottle and straight-on, like rich vanilla, or maybe yellow cake. Unfortunately -- and I do mean it is srscat unfortunate and makes me sad -- this is a vanilla that turns to ~~french vanilla~~, like the fakey candle scent. It smells plastic. There is a coconut edge to it that's not really helping. I wish this vanilla worked on me, but it's safe to say this particular blend is not sticking around.

I ordered a bottle of Signior Dildo unsniffed. I've been going through Antique Lace withdrawals and read reviews that taunted me with "creeeeamy vanillaaaaa" and gave in. My brain said "SUCKER, there is narcissus in there, enjoy your FLORAL DOOM." My heart said "OMGOMGOMG VANILLA VANILLA VANILLA STFU." I got the bottle, let it settle, dabbed a little on from the rim. "WOE" cried I, for all I could smell was horrible floral doom. No vanilla, not a bit. Then it started drying and for about five minutes I COULD smell a lovely creamy vanilla. I actually applied a couple more dabs to make sure I wasn't imagining it, because this blend is very light on my skin. Once all the oil was dry, sadly, the flowers took over again. It doesn't smell as sharp as it could but it's still too floral for me and there is nowhere near the amount of vanilla I'd need to compensate for the narcissus. HO HO HO WAIT. I spoke too soon -- an hour later, the vanilla amped up and balanced AWESOMELY with the florals. I'm happy with it; the vanilla is the good creamy stuff, indeed. It becomes almost invisible on my skin after a couple of hours, at least to me, but my husband can still smell it (and thinks it smells good, which is rare with florals), so I think that's just my nose. This bottle will stick around after all.

I don't really get anything but SOUR from Werepuppy. I loved the name and was hoping this would be one of the rare "milk" blends that worked on me, but no luck -- it goes from gross-buttery to sour with no "yum, creaminess" in between. There is a little spice to it but the sourness cloaks almost everything else in the blend.

The Harlot's House smells weirdly young to me at first, like something someone in their late teens might wear. (Yes, that is young to me, I'm an old lady now, shhhh.) I can't pick ANYTHING out, it's just a bright, refreshing mish-mash of notes. While it dries, it becomes less complicated, and it's sort of a white tea scent with sandalwood that gets stronger the longer the blend's on my skin. There's something almost suede-smelling, maybe a little salty, in there, too. The florals are friendly on my notoriously flower-hating skin. I don't really have a need for this sort of scent, but it is pretty and refreshing.

Fresh on and drying, I don't get any vanilla from The Lights of Men's Lives, but I do get wax. It's like warmed almost-melted candlewax. There's a little bit of smoke for a few minutes while the oil is still wet, not as strong as a just-blown-out candle but similar. As it dries, something that smells like coconut comes and goes. It's very light though. Eventually I can find some vanilla, but it's the plastic kind that is Bad News. Overall the sum total of this blend plus my skin is Play-Doh.

Hmmm, I get really weird things from Meliai. Normally I like to look through others' reviews to see what I'm getting wrong, but I can't do that here, so I'll just write my scent impressions which are probably 98% incorrect, lol. I get a lot of changes from this blend. The oil in the imp reminds me of a very quiet wintergreen mixed with a little . . . orange, maybe? Something bright and sweet and almost citrus-y. A piney scent comes out to play as it dries. It squashes whatever that bright scent is. About ten minutes in the pine starts fading and a thin honey shows up, mixing with that soft nip of wintergreen again, like a diluted mint tea flooded with honey (definitely not the heavy honey from, say, Mead Moon). I assume all this wintergreen business is how my nose is interpreting the pine when it's not PINE PINE PINE PINE. After a couple of hours the overall effect is sort of a smoky herbal cologne. I'm not sure how it got here from there because I haven't been sniffing my wrist the whole time, but it's interesting. It's not very ~~me~~ but I like it. I really enjoyed every part of this perfume, and that's coming from someone who normally hates anything resembling pine. Nice.

To my nose, Three Brides is a ~~floral perfume~~ in the imp, and I'm no good at picking out florals, so I will just say it smells like a classy floral perfume. On my skin there is a HORRIBLE FLORAL DEATH NOTE, probably the lily, although some spicy carnation kicks through. So it ends up being a soapy carnation blend. Not for me.

Hmmph, clove oil. This blend would be killer, notes-wise, if it weren't for that jerk. I smell an sweet earthy blend in the imp with a fruit cutting through it, maybe. It's really well blended and it's hard for me to pick out the notes. On my skin, it's honey-woody scent with a CLOVE ARMY marching all over it. I know there are no woods in the description, but that's what I'm getting, maybe cedar? I see in other reviews that this cedar scent is probably the patchouli; this is not my normal experience with BPAL patch (usually it's more earthy than woody) but maybe it's a different sort of patchouli or maybe it's a cedar/patchouli blend. I am not a patchouli expert by any means, lol. The cloves aren't completely overpowering everything as they normally do, but they're still strong enough that Hetairae smells almost medicinal on me. No thanks.

There's pear (not like, Bath & Body Works pear, but a sweet freshness) in the imp, along with some dry herbs and something that smells kind of sharp. Okay, no, Tenochtitlan is not going to work on me. Aside from the fact that it's way too light, there is some sort of floral something -- I assume it's the poppy -- that is giving it a weird undertone. It is nice for a floral, as it smells like a flower and not detergent, but I think it's mixing with the amber (which is horrible on me) in a WRONG way. It's almost like the scent I associate with the Lab's lily note but not quite as detergenty. Just ~~off~~ enough that I don't want to wear it.

My imp of Masabakes is relatively old (well, I guess they all are now, since it's been discontinued), and I'm thinking that might be why I can't find the fruits in this blend. It's all dirt at first and then the myrrh comes roaring out. When it dries, it has an edge that almost reminds me of toast. The myrrh gives the "dust" an overall perfumey effect. It's actually too perfumey for me; I like my dirt earthier.

A fruity/hippie blend -- cherry (dragon's blood) and spicy patchouli at first, dries down to vaguely dragon's-blood-scented power. Meh.

I think I might lol so hard that I cry, no wonder I am so grossed out over Suspiro, it is ALL MY FLORAL ENEMIES in one perfume. Baby powder in the imp (lily) and jasmine death on my skin. It's not as sharp as most jasmines are; it's like the other flowers are holding it back. But it's still not pleasant. It's sort of like . . . I think this might smell good to other people if I make them sniff me, but to me it is horrible. One day there will be a jasmine blend that I will love, and it will be a forbidden love, and we will play a Taylor Swift song as we frolic through damp fields together at midnight, when no one else can see us, but it will not be this blend.

Jezebel reminds me of a Lush scent. It is probably the honey plus orange blossom combination, since Lush uses neroli in half their products these days, lol. This honey is very thick and creamy, and the orange blossom balances perfectly with it, not too strong but still very present. The sandalwood does show up when it's dry, but not enough to smack me in the face or anything, just enough to ground it a little. I like it a lot; I'll have to wear it a few more times to see if it's bottle-worthy, but it's just as good as I thought it might be based on the notes. If you like Lush, you'll probably dig this blend. (Unless you are SO OVER neroli. ) eta: Oops, I spoke too soon. An hour and a half after application, the orange blossom has totally vanished, making this close to a 100% all-honey scent. I have many, many other options for that, so I guess it's not a bottle purchase, after all.

I don't smell the green tea at all in the imp, but when Shanghai's dabbed on my skin, wow, that green tea pops. The lemon verbena is pretty THERE, too. And it's definitely not plain-old lemon: it's got that edge to it that differentiates lemon verbena from lemon to my nose. There is a sort of watery floral that comes out as it dries, making it smell more perfumey. On me, Shanghai is a watery, bright, refreshing perfume. I like it.

Hmm, I had to go through previous reviews to find the words I'm looking for to describe Thagirion. I agree that it is YELLOW, definitely. Crisp, yes. Lemony but floral. It becomes less citrus-oriented as it dries. Dry, I definitely agree with the clean laundry vibe. But it's like the clothes were washed in dish soap, not laundry detergent. There's an almost-herb hidden under everything else, but I can't make it out. Oh, yes, that floral note becomes stronger as it dries. Maybe a white or very pale yellow floral. These clothes were washed in dish soap and then rinsed with a floral fabric softener. It's a lot better than I'd expect, given that I dislike most "clean laundry" or "clean linen" scents. It's still not something I'd wear, but it's nice.

There are some BPALs I just DO NOT LIKE. Hamadryad, it turns out, is one of them. I don't want to pick the notes apart, I just want to note that I've tried it and move on. I will forge stubbornly ahead, though. I totally get the wintergreen thing in the imp. On my skin, though, this blend turns to evil Band-Aids. When it's dry, it smells more like a perfume, but I still don't like it. I smell a kind of berry note and something sharp and maybe a soapy floral? It's making my skin itch, so there might be some spice in there, too. Honestly, this is a mess, and it probably has a lot to do with my chemistry. I do like BPAL's "woodsy" scents a lot of the time -- I freakin LOVE The Steeple -- but Hamadryad just isn't working.

Truck stop sleaze. Weedy dandelion and hops with a whiff of tobacco and hemp and a swirl of booziness. Truck stop sleaze whaaaaaaa? No. I disagree with you, Official Lab Description. Roadhouse is dissected dandelions -- sharp and green like the inside of the stems, and a little bit floral -- when it's wet. Dry, it's pretty! PRETTY! I have been to truck stops. The ones we stop at are mostly clean, but I would not call even the most sanitized one PRETTY. It's hard for me to pick out notes, but it's like a sweet, fresh white-yellow floral with green underneath, maybe with a little bit of something like tobacco, but tobacco amps on me and this isn't. It's not really something I'd wear, but it is PRETTY.

Ambers and musks generally suck on me, so I should probably be glad that all I get from Black Rose is a faint, powdery rose, right? All I smell is rose in the imp -- just plain old red rose, but without the fresh goodness of scents like Rose Red. It all but vanishes from my skin within five minutes. What's left behind (riiiight next to my skin) after that is so powdery it makes my nose itch. This is not one I'll be revisiting.

Heh, in the imp Temple of Dreams reminds me of Elmer's Glue and a bundle of savory herbs. On my skin, aaargh, I know this scent. It's eucalyptus-y with a savory herb that I CANNOT REMEMBER but I totally can at the same time. It smells kind of like an herbal VapoRub. As it dries it starts to smell more like lavender than eucalyptus. It dries down to mostly lavender with a bit of savory herbs sharing the space. If it was a bouquet, it would be 80% lavender and 20% whatever that herb is. I still gets whiffs of something medicinal every now and then. I haven't tried this at night yet; if I do I'll edit this post.

Lucy's Kiss, in the imp, sort of reminded me of Bess, but without the brightness that I love so much. I thought I smelled citrus, but now that it's on my skin there's nothing like that in the mix. It's rose and... something else? It's hard to tell WHAT else, exactly, because the (dark red) rose becomes so strong so quickly, but there's a really dusty smell behind it. I don't mean that in the usual tasty patchouli way, I mean it in an acrid way. As it dries, the scent left behind reminds me of the smell of chemicals that surrounded me when I got my hair permed as a teenager. Most unpleasant. There is something in this blend that just does not work on me at all, and I'm less interested in figuring out what it is than I am in washing it off.