bibliophile

I got an imp of Shango when it first came out. I tested it fresh from the lab... and it was straight-up fake banana candy on my skin, which was not what I was looking for. I decided to let it age a bit before giving up on it and tossed it in my imp box... where it remained, forgotten, until now. Year-old Shango is a much better match for my chemistry -- it's much richer and spicier. I can still pick out the banana, but it's receded and is blending nicely with the other fruits. The chili pepper adds a really interesting depth and a musky feel (though, like many of the previous reviewers, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that there was a dash of red musk in here as well). I am glad I kept this one around!

Hmmm. While I can smell the yummy blackcurrant in the imp, on my skin, the "slightest touch of mandrake dust" amps way up and takes over. I get no sweetness at all once I've applied it, just dusty myrrh. Off to the swap box with my imp!

The prospect of a freesia and seafoam (and sea-monsters!) oil led me to buy a bottle of this unsniffed, and I am so glad I did. Much to my delight, the seafoam and freesia notes are indeed dominant on me. The pear adds a bit of sweetness, with either the ambergris or amber -- I can't tell which -- grounding the blend. The throw is decent, but the delicate feel of the blend keeps it from being overwhelming. This is such a soft, sweet, beautiful blend!

This is such a delightful and surprising blend! Like themerrybaker, I get phantom coconut to start, along with astringent tea and ginger. As it dries, it becomes creamier -- more like coconut milk -- and the sweet pea-ish scent that others have attributed to the black locust flower comes out. I am so glad I bought this. Though I adore HGM and its gingery deliciousness, I can't wear it at all in the summer because the heat amps it on my skin to the point of being suffocating. This will be a wonderful summer ginger blend!

I like violets, and I like Numb. I also really like Kelly Pool, which is similar, but not identical, on me. I am not really getting much wood at all, but I do get wool! It adds a warm fuzziness to the violet. I'm glad I tried it in time to get my hands on a bottle.

Beth is making it very hard for me to decide which snakes I will need to stock up on, because so many of them are wonderful on me! From this, I get mainly Snake Oil sweetness overlaid with clean linden blossom; over time, lilies show up and fade away again. These blends in which the Snake Oil is clearly present, but sweetened and muted (Cottonmouth, Banded Sea Snake, Temple Viper), are fast becoming favorites of mine; I think "Snake Oil Lite" is better on my skin than the original! Edited years later to add that Cottonmouth is far and away the winner of the Pit for me. The bottles I've had (for there have been several!), which were lovely initially, have just gotten more beautiful and well-blended over time. Both the clean floral notes and the Snake Oil lose what sharp edges they have over time and meld into a soft, spicy blanket of resins and soft florals. It's incredibly alluring but still appropriate for a variety of environments. I reach for it all the time. It's easily in my top 5 BPALs.

Count me among those who are getting a sweet, Snake Charmer-y vibe from this. The sugar cane and champaca (which didn't work on me at all in Khajuraho) are delicious in this. I was expecting this to be almost too resiny and incensy on me, given the listed notes, so am really happy to find that it is lighter and sweeter than I expected. Though I adore Snake Charmer, there are times when my chemistry + SC create a much stronger "come hither" vibe than would be appropriate for my workplace. This is much more mellow and close to the skin on me... sort of a "work-safe," but still delectable and decadent, snake.

I didn't think I could wear aquatics before the Carnaval came to town. First, I fell in love with Thalassa... and now, Banded Sea Snake. Wow, this is delicious. The Snake Oil vanilla comes to the foreground as soon as I apply, though the spices themselves stay subdued. The moss and olive leaf notes work more beautifully with the sweetness of the vanilla than I would have expected. I can see this one getting a lot of summertime wear, so I had better order a bottle soon!

Mmm! On me, this is sweet citrus and daffodil with a bit of the strawberry/violet leaves adding a subtle green note. I've been wearing this for the past few days and am really loving it... it's what I had been hoping for from Sol Invictus, which was all resin and no citrus on my skin. I have a new sunny springtime blend!

Ditto, ditto, ditto. This reminds me of a cucumber oil that I wore many years ago. It is sweet, light, juicy, and green... everything that I expected! This will be the perfect oil to wear when it's 90+ and humid outside (ahhh, Mid-Atlantic summers...) and even the lightest oils seem too heavy.

Oh, how I was hoping that the Dodo would become my new GC dream blend. Corazon is, hands down, my favorite BPAL ever... the red musk and mango in that blend absolutely sing on my skin. Alas, the Dodo is a different story altogether on me. No red musk. No mango. No sugar cane. No change in the drydown. Just overwhelming cassia with the barest hint of lemon from start to finish. Stupid cassia-amping skin chemistry.

Wow, I smell delicious. This and Boomslang are the only two snakes I've tried on my skin so far where the Snake Oil spices are obvious from the start. This is sweet without being cloying on me... the almond+spice combination turns out more tonka/vanilla sweet (so much so that I had to check the notes again) than marzipan/amaretto/Dana O'Shee sweet on my skin. After two hours, I still have not detected an obvious mandarin note, and the scent is much fainter than before, though I can still catch wafts now and then. I think that this one will age unbelievably... I may have to hoard some!

Another CD stunner! This is the truest BPAL aquatic -- maybe the truest ocean scent -- that I have ever tried. It's all kelp and seaspray, and deliciously clean -- it reminds me of the smell of the beach on a cool morning. The benzoin gives it the barest hint of sweetness, and the salt is similarly subtle. I can't smell the jasmine at all and don't get anything resembling "floral" from this blend. It will be perfect come summer, but has enough body and throw to wear in the winter as well.

Oh, I love this! The tartness of the blackberry combines in the most beautiful way with the lavender, and the delicious, natural honey note in the background anchors the blend nicely and provides a nice contrast to the dryness of the fruit and herbal notes (although in the interest of full disclosure, I should note that I used Lush's B Never... shower gel immediately before putting this on, so I might be getting some honey from that too). The scent doesn't change too much from bottle to skin for me, although the lavender seems to be more low-key on me than in the bottle. The carnation doesn't stand out to me, either in the bottle or on. Color-wise, I would describe this as a leaf green and so-purple-it's-black scent. None of the more in-your-face-sexy Lupercalia blends have worked on me -- but this one not only smells good, but makes me feel good. Another surprising and wonderful blend from Beth!

I got a bottle of Death Adder right off the bat because of the black coconut and vanilla in the description, which tend to combine very well with spice notes for me (e.g., in Snake Charmer). However, vetiver is an iffy (and sometimes headache-inducing) note on me in general, and about 30 seconds after I applied Death Adder, it amped way up until it was all that I could smell. I am glad that I resisted the urge to scrub it off, because now, about an hour later, it has settled down into something much sweeter and spicier on my skin. The vetiver is still there, but is now using its inside voice instead of screaming. I am not sure if this particular snake is right for me just yet, but I think I will try aging it before I do anything with the bottle.

This is not at all what I would have expected, but it is intriguing just the same! It started off strongly fruity on my skin (like dawndie, I got apple juice at first from it) but now the amber and vanilla are much stronger, with the fruit toned down a bit and the cardamom peeking out. No Snake Oil "feel" from it yet, but I have only had it on for 30 minutes or so, and can see from the reviews preceding mine that I shouldn't lose hope yet. Even without any snakey goodness, it's a lovely blend. It will indeed be interesting to see what aging does to this blend!

Alas, Bitter Moon went utterly wrong on me. The blackberry was nice at the start, but then the rose and vetiver stomped all over everything else, so that the overall effect turned into a fruity, rosy, earthy mishmash. Of course, Bitter Moon had super-duper throw on me... so much so that my sister, who was in the next room, asked if I had just sprayed air freshener. I guess I will have to keep getting my bitter kicks from Cheshire Cat and F5, and pass this on to a more loving home!

Got a sniffie with enough to try from the fabulous eviltemptressdq. Uh, yeah. This basically turned into Cannabis SN on my skin, to the extent that I don't think I could wear it in public! Tobacco leaf and pine pitch seem to be more miss than hit with me. Also, the pink pepper that played so nicely on my skin in Mi-Go seems really loud in this blend. I am so glad I that I had the chance to try this -- too bad it does such curious things on my skin!

Continuing with the Dragon's Blood suggestions, I find that Dragon's Heart gives a similar warm and yummy effect... and second the Lampades rec. On me, many of the red musk blends give off the same vibe.

Oh my goodness, I love love love reformulated 13. Original 13 was not nice on me (drying down to sort of a cocoa Pledge-type scent) and got swapped away immediately. On my skin, this is predominantly rooibos (which I love, in terms of both smell and taste) and sandalwood, with a hint of lavender, and with dry cocoa and vanilla lurking in the background. So glad I checked for the update that day -- I wasn't expecting anything like this! I'm going to have to try to track more of this down.

This is really tart on me at first, and almost all cranberry. During the drydown, the musk and spices peek out. Dry, this is a deep, musky cranberry on my skin, still pretty tart but with just a touch of sweetness. I don't pick up on the lily at all. I love this, and recently upgraded to a bottle.

CXLVI (146) Adopted from, and previously reviewed by, blackrayne: CXLVI) Wow, this is interesting. It initially smells almost like a sarsaparilla single note, with a kind of slightly minty, sweet but dry spiciness. After a few moments, just the slightest bit of something powdery develops in the background. It has very little throw on me, but sticks around forever -- it's one of the few oils that my skin doesn't eat overnight. It is nothing that I ever would have chosen for myself, but I am really enjoying it!

I love BPAL plum, and so I am really liking Kitsune-Tsuki. Plum is definitely the predominant note on me, with soft florals in the background. This is really, really strong on me. It has the same feel as the early 2006 Lunacies, so I don't really need a big bottle right now, but I will certainly make use of my frimps!

After multiple tries, I am giving up on White Rabbit... at least on skin. I love it at first... on me, it is very understated and not too sweet... just cream and tea and linen and pepper. Then, within five minutes, there's nothing left except a bit of peppery residue on my skin. This may be a scent locket blend for me... I will have to test that out.

Dragon's Milk is a clean, sweet daytime scent for me -- Dragon's Heart, on me, is sweet but definitely not clean. I get mostly dragon's blood, currant, and red musk out of this one, and it is fabulous. It is also really, really strong on me, so I have to rein in my slathering tendencies a bit with this one. The big bottle is on its way.