bicyclette

Her little hands were almost numbed with cold. Oh! a match might afford her a world of comfort, if she only dared take a single one out of the bundle, draw it against the wall, and warm her fingers by it. She drew one out. “Rischt!” how it blazed, how it burnt! It was a warm, bright flame, like a candle, as she held her hands over it: it was a wonderful light. It seemed really to the little maiden as though she were sitting before a large iron stove, with burnished brass feet and a brass ornament at top. The fire burned with such blessed influence; it warmed so delightfully. Three radiant ambers with honey, linden blossom, bourbon vanilla, and orange zest. In the bottle: creamy, sweet orange, possibly some floral (the linden blossoms?) Wet on skin: So this is definitely orange ZEST- I'm getting creamy orange for sure but there's also really bitter note like citrus pith- it's the difference between taking a bite of plain juicy orange and accidentally biting off some of the peel too. It actually reminds me of Halls vitamin C drops- they're sweet and citrusy but then there's almost a medicinal quality, like mint or eucalyptus. It's kind of off-putting. Dry: Much nicer- everything seems to have settled down and now this is a warm, sweet well-blended scent. I can't really pick out the individual notes, but the bitter note has disappeared. I'm going to hang on to it for awhile and see what (if anything) happens with the overly zesty zest and if I like the drydown enough to reach for it.

Rooibos tea with red ginger, green cardamom, fennel, peppercorns, almond, and licorice, sweetened with coconut sugar and jaggery. This was the Yule scent I was most excited about- it seemed kind of random and different, and I was not disappointed. In the bottle: Warm, rich spice. I do smell some pumpkin, and the red fruitiness that I associate with rooibos tea. Wet on skin: Sparkly red ginger and cardamom (?), with a kick from the peppercorns and a subtle sweetness. I can still smell the rooibos in the background. Drydown: Still getting a lot of the spice from the wet stage. As it dries down further there's more sugar, similar to Sugar Skull but with a tinge of creamy coconut (and jaggery is a kind of unrefined cane sugar, so I'm guessing it's just further sweetening the mix). This is really nice- I like spice but I'm not really a fan of cinnamon or cassia in perfume, so this is perfect. It's vaguely foody without being bakeshop foody, in my opinion. I didn't get any of the fennel, licorice or almond, and the coconut was a supporting player at most, giving a little bit of a creamy background to the whole thing. Lots of throw (but I like to slather) and okay wear length- still getting whiffs 3-4 hours in. All in all, a really interesting take on the spicy holiday gingerbready scent. I'll definitely keep my bottle around and may even snag a backup as I anticipate wearing this a lot.

Liz is all leather and smoke on me initially, with a sweetness in the background keeping it from being too deep and dark. The vanilla comes out on the drydown, but I really never get the florals, other than in the bottle. But that's okay. Liz is definitely sexy, but not overwhelmingly so. I definitely see this getting heavy rotation, and my husband requested I "just keep wearing that one, please," which is always a good sign. So happy this one is GC so I can slather away!

I had to get this after reading the description, since I have a little boy who loves strawberries and I can't get enough of that baby skin scent. In the bottle it's very pink STRAWBERRY, like candy. As it hits the skin, though, the lavender comes out and tempers the sweetness. I get the impression of high-end shampoo or bath products; it's very clean but without being soapy or cloying. As it dries the honey comes out a bit more and (to my nose) makes things a bit warmer, as if the super-cleanness is kind of settling, warming with body heat and mingling with a natural skin scent. D'awww, I'm getting all verklempt thinking about the story behind this blend. I think I'll be reaching for this one often, especially as a comforting scent for day.

I somehow overlooked this when I made my first perusal of the Lupers, but reading the initial reviews I was like, WHOA, back the train up! and added it to my order. I'm so glad I did. As everyone else is saying, this is gorgeous. I get really foody vanilla in the bottle, but on it's much more sophisticated, a clean, warm creamy skin musk scent. It definitely has that vanilla floral-but-not vibe without any majorly heady florals going on. This will be a beautiful daytime scent for spring and, well, pretty much any time. Nice throw and staying power, too. Love love love!

I'm sorry for your loss, AnArtfulDodger- I hope all goes well with this pregnancy!

I'm totally in love with Thousands of Lights. So gorgeous. Warm beeswaxy incense goodness. Also loving Ondurdis and Pumpkin Masala Rooibos.

O HAI MINT. MINT. mintmintmintmintmint. Did I mention mint? This one will clear your sinuses for sure- it's a blast of peppermint that reminds me of Polos or those crazy XXX Mints-oh the British candy of my childhood-and gradually calms down into a lovely minty vanilla. I really like the drydown, and I bet the minty blast will be really nice in the summer. Bracing!

Argh! In the decant and wet on skin this smells AMAZING- rose and sweet creamy vanilla snowballs. And then, just like Snow White does on me, it vanishes. Poof, no rose, no snow, no nothing. Just a super faint whiff of...dust. Sadface.

I also found this very evocative of a cold winter's night- wet, I get a lot of the champaca, kind of a heady white floral, along with a blast of the chill air. There's also something a bit green- the fir needle? But as it dries I mainly get the white musk and grey amber, and it's a very pretty combination. The amber kind of warms and sweetens the further into the drydown it gets.

Oh, man. Carnation is one of my favorite notes so I was super excited to snag a bottle of Hod Resurrected on the forum. And let me say, it does not disappoint. In the bottle and wet, it's OMFGCARNATION. Spicy and creamy, yum. I'd have been happy with what was effectively single note carnation, but as it dries this amazing creamy vanilla-amber blends with the spicy floral and elevates Hod from really pretty to holy grail status. Lots of BPAL oils are faint on me, but this has tons and tons of throw. This is a huge, huge win and possibly a new favorite.

In the imp I get the buttery note I often get with cake-y blends. On skin, unfortunately, the milk goes sour and overpowers everything else, so I get sweet sour milk with a boozy undertone from the wine. Sorry, Cockaigne, no love from me.

Guh. It took me a bit of rolling to get the oil to blend- in the bottle initially there was a separate later of deep, dark, chocolatey sludge. On, I get heady Snake Oil with a cocoa undertone, but as it sits on my skin it becomes really well-rounded and creamy, with the rice milk and teak grounding everything. The wood keeps it from being over the top sweet. This is gorgeous.

In the bottle it's definitely buttery- I agree with the comparison to Boo posted upthread. Wet on skin, I get a big hit of lavender that quickly gives way to a gorgeous creaminess. Dry, I keep getting whiffs of this amazing vanilla that I can't actually smell when I put my nose up to my wrist- it's really, really nice. Definitely a comforting, feminine, wear-to-bed scent for me. I don't get any of the tartness I usually associate with cheesecake; this reminds me more of a lavender creme brulee.

Wow, this is really nice. I'm mainly getting spicy carnation with a warm, soft, sweet background from the tobacco and leather. I don't get coffee at all, really, but that's okay. So glad I took a chance on a bottle of this!

So, normally I have a hard time getting a clear "scent picture" of BPAL in my head. I can tell if something smells good or bad to me (duh) and am still learning to pick out notes lo these many years. But Golletes? Golletes I sniff and know *immediately* what I'm smelling. This a yellow, crumbly cake that reminds me of semolina cake or even the cake in tres leches- it's got a dense, buttery crumb. And it has strawberry frosting. Possibly also strawberry jam or strawberry syrup. I was never a big sugary cereal person as a kid, so I don't get the Crunchberry comparisons. For some reason my parents were fixated on Captain Crunch as being a bastion of pure sugary evil. Anyway. I always want to like the really foody scents, but they often go just generically sweet on me and all end up smelling the same. Not so Golletes! It stays pretty true to the initial scent the whole time, although the buttery, cakey note softens a bit. It has the best throw I've had from a BPAL oil in a long time and great wear length- I was still smelling it without trying to 4+ hours on from my light application. I'm really pleasantly surprised by this one. Bottle(s) for sure.

From reading reviews of last year's Weenies, I was really hoping Boo would make a comeback. This was the first bottle in my shopping cart, and it doesn't disappoint. The lab's cream note sometimes goes butter popcorn on me, which was my biggest fear with Boo. In the bottle: Hmm, definitely sweet cream, a little buttery/caramel-y to my nose. Wet on skin: the caramel note gives way to a sugary sweetness, then a drier linen note that grounds everything. Breathing deeper, there's also this amazing sweet cream note- it's seriously cold heavy cream with sugar in it, like the dregs of strawberries and cream. It smells so good. Dry: more of the linen and sweet cream. This is a winner for sure- I'll definitely be snagging a backup of Boo!

Lawn Gnome is really interesting. In the bottle it's all vanilla and molasses. Wet on skin, the dirt/moss and redcurrant come right out and the vanilla cream all but vanishes, just sticking around to provide a slight creamy depth to the rest of the scent. I definitely get a sweet, fruity woodiness with this-the moss is there, but it's more a dry moss than a lush wet green moss. It's so weird, but it really really works. Moderate throw, and the random whiffs I get are mostly the redcurrant. I really like this blend.

So, I am a big jasmine fan and a HUGE fan of BPAL's honey notes. I jumped on this one. In the bottle and wet on my wrist it's straight up jasmine with something green in the background, like the yellow jessamine blooms and leaves are getting in on the action. As it dries, the honey comes into play more and more until it's pure honey after a few hours. It's really just two notes to my nose, but they're two lovely notes and two of my faves, so I'm very happy with my bottle. I agree with the comparisons to Lush's Flying Fox but IMO this is a sweeter jasmine. This also has decent throw.

I've had this 5ml kicking around forever- how have I never reviewed it? In the bottle: definitely getting the root beer vibe some other posters have mentioned. Wet: More root beer, but now there's a fruity note and something faintly herbal- the juniper? Dry: Sweet, spicy, and yummy. Almost reminiscent of spiced baked goods, but not overly foody.

Hmm. Creamy chocolate mousse on first sniff. This one disappeared the second it touched my skin, only to re-emerge later as that dry papery note I get from Misk U. Now that I'm in library school and spend my days talking about, working with, and smelling musty old paper, it is definitely not a smell I want anywhere near my person. To swaps!

This was bright, sparkly lemon candy at first, and for the first 10 minutes or so. Now it's dried down to a lovely smokey lemon-coconut cream scent, and it's just gorgeous. BPAL coconut has never worked on me before now! It reminds me a bit of The Star, but that blend turned into key lime pie candy on me, which was ok but not a smell I want on me all day. CD, on the other hand, is subtle and lovely and doesn't clobber me with any one note after that initial burst of lemon. I ran right to swaps and scored a bottle. Yay instant gratification!

I passed on the Samhain scents last year because I was just getting into BPAL, so I'm very glad this one came around again. This is soft, creamy gingerbread spice with just a touch of boozy musk to deepen it. I really do get "bracing autumn night" from this- I went to college in Massachusetts and now that I'm back in Texas fall is what I miss most. This is walking home from the library late at night in mid-October. The leaves are changing and it's just cold enough that someone's lit a fire in their fireplace. I love this.

Ooh, this is nice. On first sniff in the bottle, this was a lot sweeter than I expected. I was anticipating a bit more spice from the ginger and pepper, but in the bottle it was almost foody. I get a bit of a buttery note. That persisted wet on my skin and I feared the BPAL Butter Popcorn Note of Doom, but thankfully it disappeared almost immediately. The blend deepened almost immediately to a sweet warm floral, grounded by the sandalwood. This reminds me a lot of Khajuraho, my first OMG! BPAL oil, and that's unsurprising as they share sandalwood (although Khaj has white sandalwood) and champaca flower as notes. That's definitely what's amping on my skin, and I'm not getting any spiciness from the ginger. There's a bit of smokiness rounding things out, too. Oh, wait! now I'm getting some of the pepper, I think. As it's drying the heady florals have toned down and I'm getting smoky and spicy along with my sweet. Yum. I tested sparingly from the rim, but I'm willing to bet this will have great throw when I slather. This is not at all what I expected, but I love it. Most likely a second bottle purchase before these guys go away. Love the creepy label, too! ETA: the pepper really comes out to play on drydown. It's almost all pepper now.

I got this with my CT order and in the kerfuffle I never bothered testing it. Sniffining it in the bottle I was kind of "Meh" and set it aside for swaps. I pulled it out today for a test at last, and I love this. No swaps for ELF! It's all mine. In the bottle: Lush, densely floral, almost fruity. It's very complex; I can't pick out the individual notes. Wet on skin: Golden, powdery amber and carnation spice. I love carnation; it adds that extra oomph to blends. It's sweet and a bit citrusy- must be the lemon peel- and actually reminds me a bit of Moxie in that respect. Someone else upthread mentioned pollen- that's dead on. It's pollen-powder, not baby powder. Drydown: The sweet florals fade into the background and the honeycomb emerges. This dries down to a soft vanilla-honey on me. Gorgeous and summery. I'll pull this out when it's wintery outside and I need a pick-me-up, not that that happens too often in Texas...