GoddesShel

A true rose - almost not-sweet-enough until the dry down, when the sugar comes out and makes this heavenly.

Received this in a forum swap. This is total YUM - apparently red musk likes me! Sweetly floral, fruity, RED, juicy...another reviewer said she thought this was Mme. Moriarty's "calmer, younger, sister". I can see that...this pretty much is Mme. without the patchouli on me, and I LOVE IT! This wasn't a CD blend I'd originally planned on ordering when the Carnaval comes back, and I'm feeling very lucky I swapped for this, because I'd have missed out on a blend that works VERY well on me. I can see this going into heavy rotation. Now looking at everything in the catalog with red musk in it - this is divine!

I don't remember Johnny-Jump-Ups (which is what we called Violas in Texas) as having much of a scent. This is MUCH stronger, but still a really pretty, fresh, floral. I wore it today and it's lasted and lasted, even through multiple hand-washings.

Wet - Oh no! Big blast of sharp medicinal smell. I hope that's not the red musk...? On and warming up - Oooohhh here's the vanilla. Hello, vanilla! Thank you for making the medicine go away! Drying - Yummmm. Sweet incense-y fruity goodness. I like this. (Chris says cinnamon candle, but I'm not getting cinnamon) This is very, very strong (aged since 2009, purchased from a forumite), and the very tiniest dab goes a long way. Fortunately, BPAL usually doesn't have a lot of throw on me and stays close to the skin (a definite perk since I work in a library and my coworkers aren't big on perfume. I'm trying to change that...). This morphs a bit. Sometimes I can still get a faint hint of the medicinal smell, but not nearly as strong as in the bottle. Dry - mainly the same sweet incense-y fruity goodness - Very nice!

Perfectly enchanting! An irresistibly sexual, utterly rapturous blend of three roses, radiant amber, and sensual red musk. From an imp sent by a forumite in an inspired swap. This was already on my wishlist, and now I've GOT to have a big bottle of it. Wet, it's all rose (which is fine with me, I like rose). This is a dark red rose, fully flowered, not a pink, sweet rose. For some reason the word "mature" keeps coming to my mind, but I don't in the least feel like this is an "old lady" perfume. Drying, the amber is coming out and sweetening up things a bit, and lurking way in the background might be the red musk. It's still mainly rose, though. This is a very sensual blend, as it says in the description.

Wet in bottle - musty fruit. Wet on me - musty fruit. I'm going to have to retest both this and Goblin Market after my cycle is done. I'm amping something in both blends that smells like musty mildew, and surely these can't really smell like that? Ezekiel's Phoenix eventually loses the musty, though, and dries down to smooth, dark, deep, incensey plum and pomegranate, with what I think must be the frankincense in the background. The Lab's plum, on me, consistently turns out more of a dark fruit incense than the actual fruit. This is, once it dries, very sexy and dark and smoldering. Definitely a keeper.

I'm going to assume that since this thread says "Hesiod's" and the Lab website says "Hesiod's", that the label on my bottle is misspelled. It says, "Hesoid's". Cold sniff from bottle - sweet vanilla/amber. Wet, on me. Wait, what?? VERY sweet, but neither vanilla nor amber. And sort of ..fizzy?? The fizz goes away, but the sweet doesn't - but it is still neither vanilla nor amber. Not being sure what oudh smells like, possibly I'm amping that? It's not awful, but it is VERY, VERY sweet. I agree with the above poster about the strong - it lasted through a handwashing with Dawn dishwashing soap, seemingly unchanged.

Well, I wish I had Magpiedee's skin chemistry for this... Wet - flat cherry cola. It dries into "perfume". I can't identify anything in it at all. No rose, no cherry, no anything that anyone has mentioned. Chris says it reminds him of an 80's Avon blend. My skin does not like this. No urge to kiss mirrors in sight.

Like honey to the throat, but poison in the blood. My skin hates me. In the bottle, cold sniff - butter accord?? Seriously? On, wet. Musty butter. Oh, dear. Drying - musty, musty, musty. Smells like a load of wash left in too long and it's mildewed. However - just when I thought all hope was lost - about 15 minutes in, it suddenly morphed to a beautiful mixed fruit with no must or mildew to be found. I don't even know. Will retest this one when my cycle is completely done. Maybe something to do with hormones hates the honey in this?

2013 version. Cold sniff of bottle - bitter red fruit. Wet, on me...EWWWWW PICKLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But thankfully, it dries into a lovely dark, deep, pomegranate that I adore. Not bitter, but dark and smooth and burgundy red. Imagine blood red garnets scattered on black velvet as a smell. Edited to add - a year later, the bitterness and wet pickle has aged out of this. Now it's all deep, dark, smooth, juicy burgundy pomegranate, from wet to dry. Lovely!

Skadi 2013. Let me start off by saying here that most mint and I are not friends. But Skadi has turned that into *most* mint, instead of "EWWWW I hate mint!"* This is mainly mint and pine in the bottle. I spilled a tiny bit on the table runner. My dining room will smell like minty pine til I get a chance to wash it. (Don't ask why I was testing perfumes at the dining room table, ok? ) On me, still mainly mint and pine - no berries at all When completely dry, it does indeed smell like Christmas in a bottle. Piney mint (instead of minty pine) with just a HINT of berries. I would have loved more berries, but I'm not complaining. It's still a really nice Yule scent.

Yep, Bordello! Maybe Madame Moriarty, too.

This was a frimp from a lovely forumite. I had been wanting to try it FOREVER, so I was very glad to get it. Out of the imp, it's nearly cologne-y, and I was afraid it was going to stay that way, but nope... As it dries on my skin, the ambers take center stage. I get a visual of a river of warm golden syrup, shining in the sun. (It doesn't actually smell like syrup, but that's the visual I get, sniffing it.) I can barely get a hint of carnation and myrtle in the background. I'd love a bottle of this for winter wear.

Oh God/dess, I love you, SSDB!!

Ah, much better! I got a blast of sharp, medicinal something from Misfortune Teller v3, so I was hoping Mlle. Lilith would be a lighter, sweeter version, and it is. Love this. This is what I wanted Misfortune Teller to be, but it went dark and funky on me. This stays sweet, fruity, and incensey, but with a touch of Misfortune Teller in it. So glad I got a bottle. I don't get "little-girl" or even much "young" vibe out of this, though. It's a thoroughly grown-up scent on me.

Pounced on this via a forum sale, because ze Madame, she is a hard one to track down, no? In the bottle: something sharp - no fruit? Wet: A big blast of something sharply medicinal Drying: Sweetening up a LOT, with incense and red musk, but still that medicine scent in the background. Still no plum . Dry: Oh, MUCH better! Still not much that I can identify as plum, but here's the vanilla. Basically a red-musky vanilla on me with just a hint of fruity incense. I'm not sorry I bought it, but not sure how much I'll wear it. I have about decided that BPAL's plum just does not work on me . I have a bottle of Mlle. Lilith on the way, I'm thinking it may be more to my liking.

Normally, I don't like fruit and flowers together. But this...this is citrusy, fruity, floral perfection on me. Such a happy, bright scent! I get no white wine or champagne at all,(which is just fine with me). One of my favorite warm-weather, driving around with the top down scents.

I was afraid I was going to get black cherry Jolly Rancher candy. I was wrong. Wow, this is good. Wet, I do get fruity red, but not with the same tartness as I got with Lady MacBeth, who *did* turn to Jolly Rancher candy on me. The amaretto really smooths out this blend, though, making the fruits stay in line and not go candy-ish. Love it! I get a lot more plum with this than I get with most blends that say they have plum in them, also - which I find to be an excellent thing!

In the bottle: Dirt. Oh nooooooo! Wet on me: Heavy on the patch (too heavy for my liking, ), but I can smell the fruits struggling to get out from under it. Praying the patch subsides and the fruit wins... As it's drying: Better - the fruits are making a valiant effort! Please, come on, fruits - I really want this to work! Five minutes in: Much better - the patch is receding into the background, along with the mahogany and frankincense, grounding the fruits. This still reads as really "dark" on me. While not as fruity as I had hoped, still definitely a keeper. As it keeps on drying and my skin warms it up, the fruits become more prominent and the patch keeps receding (which is fine with me, but apologies to all the patch lovers!)

So far, nothing. Nothing has aggravated my asthma, either, which I find to be a BIG plus.

Just sniffing this one makes me smile. I have sweet peas outside my living room window. I love to go outside in the late spring and just inhale - this adds vanilla, amber, and grounding sandalwood to the mix and it is just lovely. If scents were colors, this would indeed be pink. I know Chris is going to say "baby powder" when he smells it, but it doesn't give me that feeling at all. Vanilla, sweet pea, amber and sandalwood make a combination that is just to die for. And once you die for it, you'll think you've landed in Nirvana.

This is a bottle I ordered unsniffed on the basis of reviews and knowing what I like . In the bottle: BUTTER!!! Wet, on me: Buttery pastry Drying: Oh, here's the roses! Hi, roses! I'm hoping for more currants and less rose when it's completely dry...mmmm and I seem to be getting my wish. This one morphs. One sniff I get roses, the next a delightful jammy pastry. If I move my arm, I get pastry, if I put my nose on my wrist, I get roses! But entering the completely dry phase, I'm getting a nice blend of all three components; fruity currant, light rose, and buttery pastry. I like!

Maybe you could see if one of the companies that do customs could do something like this for you?

2012 version: The previous review scared me with the BOOZE, since I have extreme sensitivity to boozy scents (I can't stand them). But...I don't get booze from this, I get red, slightly tangy, fruit, which is just what I wanted. Not cherry, either...though I'm not sure exactly what fruit it is... As it dries, the tanginess dies down a lot, and I'm left with something like sweet cranberry that I really like. Chris says he gets a faint hint of something that might be lavender(??) but that the fruit keeps it from hitting you over the head with the floral. (Sure, ok - his nose is broken... )

Wow. I can actually smell rice in this! Sweet, creamy, rice pudding is what I get, no cherry, no cough syrup. If I had a tub of rice pudding from CozyShack sitting in front of me, I bet it'd smell just like this. (Now I want rice pudding for breakfast).