astridclaire

Hope is a pretty sugared rose but it's just not special enough for me to wear. There are so many other BPAL rose blends that I adore that I can't justify keeping this one around.

The most delicious, fresh, ripe balckberry smeared with lavender and honey. This is sweet without being cloying and has an almost vanilla-ish base. This will be perfect for summer and I'm glad the florals in this aren't overwhelming. This blend reminds me of warm sun, gingham and calico cloth made into aprons, and making jam or pies. Definitely a keeper!

This was the one Lupercalia I was most looking forward to. The description sounded right up my alley-- honey and sandalwood and such-- but when I put it on my skin it just vanished! Oh well, I've had good luck with the other Lupercalias though!

I don't get any lemon from this at all. Just lovely, delicious, dark and sexy ginger. It's sweet without being overwhelmingly so and not too foody either. It's sexy, sexy ginger and I love it!

Oh! How yummy! Not too much orange or too much cinnamon or too much anything! This is very well blended and smooth- and upon drydown the cardamom is fantastic. I wish I had bought at least 2 more bottles of this stuff! Warm, spicy, sensual, golden, sweet goodness!

Very herbal and brown-green at first, but then it turns into more of an after-the-rain kind of scent. It makes me imagine sitting under a tree after a good spring rain while drinking a cup of chamomile tea. This scent isn't something I'd usually go for, but it's very refreshing and earthy with just enough benzoin to give it a bit of resinous sweetness. It's growing on me!

Wet, this is very juicy and sweet... almost berry-ish. Dry: I love the champaca in this and it reminds me of Khajuraho quite a bit. Khaj however has a thick layer of honey sweetness while Vasakasajja is lighter and has more of a floral thing going on. The vanilla isn't as strong as I'd like it to be and I think I prefer Khajuraho for my champaca fix.

On Wet: Whoa. This is screaming high-pitched florals. There must be jasmine in this because only jasmine can do such horrible things on my skin. I'll give it a few minutes to dry out and find the cream and musk... 5 minutes later: Soapy, soapy, soapy jasmine gone bat-shit. 10 minutes later: I can almost barely maybe detect the cream I was so looking forward to but it's overpowered by the soapy florals. I have to go wash this off... it's giving me a headache.

Yep, this starts out really, really soapy- but light. I have to huff it to get the soapy smell. But once it dries down this beautiful honeyed wood incense wafts up from my skin. It's familiar in a way I can't place. It has a comforting ancient quality like antique linens stored in a beautiful old wooden chest. Add a layer of honey, sunshine, and the smoothest, lightest incense and you've got something like Svadhinaopatika. There's also a citrus quality to this blend. Am I confusing you yet? That's because this blend is confusing me as well, but in a good way. Also, this blend is very light with little to no throw on me but it's growing on me. I want my entire house to smell like this! Happy, serene, ancient, sweet, grounded, and mystical!

Golden vanilla and gilded musk, stargazer lily, white sandalwood, grey amber, elemi, orris root, ambergris and sea moss. In the Imp: I get the lily and the musk and the orris but that's about it. On Wet: The vanilla comes out to play with the sandalwood and the amber but I have to put my wrist directly under my nose in order to smell it. This stage lasts all of 60 seconds before... It vanishes. Completely. I've never had a BPAL oil do a vanishing act on me so quickly and suddenly.

Ok, so I have a dream rose blend that contains rose, amber, and sandalwood. Rakshasa is the closest Lab blend that I could find to this dream... In the Imp: Pretty much all patchouli. Wet: The rose is starting to fight with the patchouli but doesn't look like it's going to win Dry (20 minutes later): Wow, what a morph! Now the patchouli is almost non-existent and the sandalwood is at the forefront with the perfect amount of rose layered over it. This is a beautiful blend featuring a dominant sandalwood note. I love it!

I'll have to second Destroying Angel. Pure dirt.

First of all, I just have to say that the clove in this is amazing!!! This scent is absolutely perfect on the boy-- spicy, smokey, mysetious, warm, dark, and intoxicating with some enchanting sweetness lingering in the background. Yep, this does smells cologne-ish, but in a GOOD way... mixed with the very best clove smoke. It's distinguished and a little naughty at the same time. Must.........Go........Smell.........Boyfriend.......

Holy Mother of Juniper and Pine! This one is waaaaaaaayyyyyy too strong on me. Really overpowering, and I can't help but think of Pine-Sol. Off to swaps.

This is much, much lighter than I expected and dissapears on my skin pretty quickly. Before it vanishes though I get a mixture of sandalwood, ginger, vanilla, peanut butter, and hazelnut It smells divine in the imp though!