moon_lemming

Wild Swans gives off that "almost-vegetable" vibe that most of BPAL's "leaf"-heavy blends seem to have. There's an aquatic kick and I can pick out the orris root. Not my kind of thing.

I can't pick anything out of Nothing Gold Can Stay -- it's just a golden-green sweet herbal blend. Pretty enough, but not something I'd wear.

I haven't tested any other October, so I don't know how this compares, but I get just-turned leaves and ozone at first. It turns a little greener and the ozone fades as it dries, and when it's completely dry it smells like the inside of a flower stem. It's almost a vegetable but not quite. Too green for me.

I'm not going to bother skin-testing The Hag: I smell black musk and vetiver in the imp, and that's a no go for me. It reminds me of thick dark forests, the rotting underneath the leaves.

Calaveras is a pretty orange oil. I honestly thought there was PUMPKIN in it, I guess because of the way the vanilla interacts with some other note, when I sniffed it in the imp, but once it's on my skin that impression goes away. Because it turns to rubber. That goes away after a minute or so, though. After it dries, it's a peppery . . . something, but I can't quite describe it. It just doesn't work on me at all, not even the tiniest bit.

2010 version Hmmm. I've always avoided this one -- I mean, really, GARDENIA, and lily of the valley, and frankincense. Sounds like something I'd never wear. Yep, smells like floral perfume in the imp. White flowers. The rose pops up when it hits my skin, so there's that, too, but I don't smell anything else. White florals and fresh almost-damp rose. Amazingly enough All Saints' doesn't turn to straight-up soap. The rose strengthens as it dries and overpowers the white florals, actually. I didn't expect a mainly-rose blend out of All Saints', especially with all those Fail Notes in there, but that's what I ended up with. It reminds me of the few weeks I spent taking care of a vacationing couple's roses. I would say it's not really a red rose on me; more of a pink feel, but not like a delicate pink, deeper than that. It's very pretty!

Flor de Muerto does smell orange and gold, both in the imp and on my skin. It's pretty but I don't do florals, and this is pure floral on me, although not headache-y or soapy. For some reason it seems a little watery (maybe citrus?) after it dries, and the scent as a whole gets lighter. Once that happens, I . . . could actually wear this. I probably wouldn't, but I COULD; it's not as slap-happy floral anymore, and I like it! It actually reminds me of the Clinique Happy family of scents -- not in the "scent twins!" way, of course, but the overall feel after it dries down.

Oh dear God. This is awesome. Pink strawberry frosting in the imp, EXACTLY THE SMELL OF STRAWBERRY-FROSTED DONUTS on my skin. It's a cake doughnut with pink strawberry frosting. The frosting fades as it dries, and it lightens up and ends up smelling more like boxed strawberry cake. But that was my favorite cake as a kid, so now it has nostalgia going for it, too. I'll probably end up getting a bottle of this one. It's a little light after it dries, but I don't mind slathering.

2010 version Ooohkay. I'm not sure if my decant's mislabeled, although I doubt it, unless the bottle it came from was mislabeled. I do not get anything but a floral perfume in the imp. Like, department store perfume. Maybe it's a very floral incense? I smell white flowers on my skin, sweet ones. I don't get cakes, currants, or compassion. Weird. eta: Ha! I see I'm not alone, thank you for reassuring me that my nose still works, Gryphon.

In the imp, Pumpkin Latte is heavier on the pumpkin syrup and vanilla than it is on the coffee. But once on my wrist the espresso amps up like whoa, and I can't smell anything else for a while. Ew, ew, ew, a buttery pumpkin comes out as it dries and oh my God, that gross milk note, topped with cinnamon. Ugh. I like Pumpkin V, but Pumpkin Latte is a hot mess on my skin. Too many notes that go wrong on me.

BPAL's pumpkin notes and I have a long history of horror. I decided to skin-test Blue Pumpkin Floss just because it didn't smell as buttery in the imp as I'm used to pumpkin blends smelling. It smells more pumpkin-fleshy, sweetened and dusted with a little spice. It gets off to a good start on my skin and keeps smelling like pumpkin without turning to buttered candle death. A couple of minutes in, it makes a move toward getting buttery, but as soon as that happens, the pumpkin fades almost completely! WTF. All I smell after it dries is spices: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg?, maybe a couple of others. I get a hint of blackberry syrup every now and then, but not enough to grab hold of, and the in-your-face pumpkin never returns, although I guess it is the reason the spices seem to have a creamy base. What a strange scent experience. It's definitely autumnal in the end -- these are fall baking spices, after all -- but nothing like what I expected.

Ghoulish is spot-on in the imp! Well, I don't know what saffron smells like, but I do smell cherry juice, sweetened coconut (like a coconut candy bar) and amaretto. On my skin the cherry fades almost immediately, and the amaretto fades as it dries. What's left behind is a foody coconut -- like pastry heaped with shredded coconut with a little kick of brightness which I assume is due to the saffron. It's not bad, but I liked it a lot better in the imp. I really enjoyed the cherry, which doesn't show up on my skin at all, and for a mostly-coconut scent I already have Tiki Princess.

What's in the imp is faint but has that vomit/chewable vitamin edge to it. I couldn't figure out what it was, so I dabbed it on to sniff on my skin. Sadly, that didn't enlighten me, so it'll remain a mystery. I get a bland sweet floral and a waft of dirty smoke, and maybe a little dry cocoa. It's not offensive but it's not good. On the plus side (for me), it's very light, just as it was in the imp.

When I first tried TKO, years ago, I was a bit wary. I'm not a fan of most lavender blends, they almost always end up way too medicinal. But I tried it anyway. And got hooked. And have been using TKO at night for . . . wow, almost three years. (I had to look up the first time I ordered it, which was apparently October 2007.) It's the only blend thus far that I've had to replace, since I used up the first 5ml. In the bottle and first on, I notice the lavender the most, and it is a little sharp. I think it softens with age, though, because I just started a new bottle and it is a LOT more obvious. Once it dries down, though, the gorgeous sugary vanilla strengthens and as it does, it balances out the lavender. Eventually the two main notes are just one sweet sleepy smell, this awesome vanillavender (ha!) that has become a huge comfort to me over the years. I don't know if it really helps me sleep, but it is definitely an important part of my nighttime routine, and I'd miss it if it weren't there. I think I'd compare this to Faith and Hope, maybe. Faith is sugared violets, TKO is sugared lavender -- TKO has more vanilla involved, though, at least to my nose.

I've noticed while traipsing through reviews that there are a lot of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE scents that I've never officially reviewed. I just start wearing them without reviewing them, and eventually forget that I haven't done it yet, I guess. The Feast for the Greatly Revered Ones is a victim of this trend. I've been wearing it ever since I first received it last year; I especially lust after it when it's cold out. This oil has bits of sediment and MUST be rolled before application. It smells like a really complex, possibly spiked spiced hot chocolate in the bottle. On me the spices and cocoa amp at first, but the blend eventually settles down to something that reminds me of spiced cocoa and apple cider, but it's a lot deeper/darker -- in a foody way, I mean -- than I'm making it sound. I love it so very hard.

Resurrected Version I've been putting off ~~officially reviewing~~ Black Lace because it's one of those blends that just SMELLS LIKE ITSELF to me; I can't really pick anything out. I take that back, I can pick out the apple. When it was first mentioned that there seemed to be a batch of Black Lace that smelled appley, I was like . . . "Oh, that's NOT supposed to be there?" because I had never smelled the original and didn't know it was an aberration. But yes, my bottle of Black Lace has a distinct crisp apple note that burns off as the oil dries. Aside from the apple, I don't know, I guess I get an evil vanilla mixed with cotton. You know how Poisoned Apple smells like evil apples? Black Lace does the same thing with vanilla (plus cotton). I love it.

I tried Sachs in my search for a replacement for Antique Lace. It's got a nice vanilla in it, sweet but not cloying, and the chamomile smells lovely, too, but the blend doesn't wow me or anything. It's not bad but it's not memorable. The fact that it vanishes more quickly than any other vanilla blend I've ever worn doesn't exactly redeem it. Seriously, I couldn't even remember where I dabbed it on my arm. I do test lightly but not INVISIBLY.

It took me forever to locate a decant of Paduan Killer Swarm once I decided to try it. I'm glad I decided to try it before buying a bottle, though. I was hoping for yummy black licorice and vanilla and coconut but on my skin it's all fuzzy brown dry-feeling blah. Someone above mentioned a similarity to Brown Jenkin, and I agree, it reminds me very much of that blend, especially the sense of "furriness." Brown Jenkin smelled like cedar to me, while PKS doesn't, but it's still the first thing I thought of -- because of the coconut husk, perhaps. I'm not sure why my skin devoured all the good bits; maybe it's trying to save me from myself and cut down on my BPAL spending.

White musk, French vanilla, ambrette seed, frankgipani, angelica root, white rose, orris, and honeysuckle. I was afraid that Joyful Moon would go bad in a few different ways, but my daughter's first birthday is on August 24, which is the day the full moon falls on this month, and it's named JOYFUL MOON, how could I resist? When reviews started coming in, I cowered in fear: "French vanilla" makes me think of the vanilla in Detestable Putrescence, which went to horrible, horrible plastic on my skin. Also, I'm not a big fan of florals, and white musk usually turns to new carpet or powder on my skin. So I tentatively dabbed a little on when it arrived and braced for impact. But lo, Joyful Moon is AWESOME, even on me. The vanilla is lovely, not plastic at all. It's soft but holds its own against the florals, which are subtle and sweet while still being obviously floral. The musk behaves itself and omg I love this blend, even the floral part of it, which surprises me SO MUCH, given the potential for horror. And it sticks around for a good long time, too. Definitely a winner. Oh, I meant to say that this reminds me of Signoir Dildo -- not the same scent, and SD is more "purple," but JM is similar in feel, at least for me. I like Joyful Moon better, though.

I had to go through everyone else's reviews to figure out what I'm smelling. I don't know if it's because Aremata-Popoa is so well-blended or if it's just the combo of notes, but I couldn't pick anything out. Now that I have more info, I can find the black tea, blackberry, and anise when the blend's on my skin. These are three notes I usually love -- but something in the mix is making it smell fuzzy in an off-putting, almost chemical way. Too bad.

GC Version If nothing else, the Luau Lounge series has taught me that I like gin! Well, the smell of it, anyway. Blue Fire is heavily gin; I like it. It's also very fruity. It smells blue! It goes sour as it dries, although the gin valiantly tries to save it. Poor gin, it fails.

I get sweet orange juice and ginger ale out of Polynesian Pop until it's completely and totally dry, and then the orange goes to pith. I can't find the rum but I'd guess it's why the orange turns bitter.

GC Version I smell rum and pineapple and something else fruity in the imp, but once it hits my skin, Screeching Parrot practically evaporates. All it leaves behind is a ghost of a froofy frosted drink and a note that smells almost like clove.

AHA! This is one of those rare times when I smell almonds and think DUH, CHERRIES. I THOUGHT Mahana was all in-your-face maraschino cherry syrup at first but really it's the almond syrup out in front there. Once it's on my skin, the peach shows up and becomes very strong, very fast. A poached-smelling peach and syrupy almonds battle for dominance as it dries and eventually give up and balance each other out. I can sort of make out the pineapple but the overarching peachy almondy scent is not something I like at all and I want to wash it off. Not for me. (So of course this is the Lounge scent that sticks around past drydown, heh.)

GC Version Golden Wave has a couple of notes I don't like smelling on my skin, namely guava and tangerine. I'm so unused to smelling them that I thought this was an astringent pineapple scent when I first sniffed it. After reading the notes, I realized that what I thought was pineapple is guava and tangerine, and it's pretty much all I can smell wet or dry (the sharpness/booze in the imp doesn't make it to my skin). It smells okay for a breakfast beverage or a fruit salad, but it's not something I'd like to wear. Luckily it burns off just as fast as the rest of the Luau Lounge scents I've tried.