Drae

I actually love orange blossom, so it would be worth trying all the same! And yeah I have a feeling I'd have to layer a few bpals to get TMT, oh well.

Ooh lots of suggestions, thanks Balame and neptuneanblues! portalkat, I believe Pacifica does make both a solid perfume and spray perfume of all or most of their scents, I just wanted to see if there was BPAL oil equivalent as well

Funny you say that because I actually have the candle of Tibetan Mountain Temple, that is what made me fall in love with it! The scent is definitely woody as well, perhaps some sandalwood.

In the imp: Pine and acetone :/ On skin: The acetone is gone and the pine amps and then gives way to the ambergris. Black Forest smells very similar to another e-tailer perfume oil that I own and love, which has notes of fir, musk and vanilla. The pine and juniper are in a nice harmony with the ambergris. I'm sometimes wary of amber because it tends to get too warm, round and sickly sweet, but I love it in Black Forest, probably due to the pine and musk. Lasting impression: Very dark and feminine and sexy, more a special occassian night-time scent than an every-day thing.

I don't know if you already purchased your bottle yet, but I smelled both yesterday and liked Snow White better, it was more complex and unique, and the vanilla was more apparent but also tempered by the other notes in there. Pink Snowballs was rose and a strange vanilla-like scent, I didn't much care for it. I would go for Snow White over Pink Snowballs.

Frimped, unsure of age In the imp: This is definitely a "yellow" scent. Very effervescent, the pineapple jumps out first. On my wrist: The amber and tobacco come out and turn the yellowness of the scent to a rich gold. Still very fruity and the pineapple is dominating, no flowers what so ever. Later: This just smells...overripe, way too sweet. Fruit sat out in the sun too long, so I guess the description is spot on, but it doesn't seem to be for me. Swaps.

In the bottle, Needlework was a slightly sweet, fresh bouquet of blue florals. However on my skin, what I'm guessing is the lilac overpowers everything else, and the fresh sharpness of the oolong and ginger vanish. The scent oddly reminds me of an asian spice, turmeric maybe? very dry and not what I was hoping for. I have layered Needlework with O to get some of the sweetness back, and while it is more pleasant, Needlework just isn't for me.

In the imp: This smells like a lemon/orange citrus blend gone "off", and a bit bathroom cleaner. On my skin: Still a stinging, sour lemon, but it does smell less 'wrong' than in the imp. I hadn't really understood when people would describe a scent as "effervescent" until now, this is reminding me of a citrus alka-seltzer freshly dropped into bathroom cleaner or furniture polish :/ The cedar is in the background, keeping things pretty masculine. 15 mins later: There you are, Amber. The astringency of the citrus has been mellowed and sweetened by the amber, but Aelopile has now gone into powdered laundry detergent territory as well. Not a big fan. Verdict: Going by notes alone (and minus cedar) this should have worked for me, but I can't help but associate it with cleaning products/detergent/cough drops. Also, I can't really smell it 20 mins after application, but I can sense that it's still strong, really odd. Glad to try it but passing the imp along.

Frimped (in two different swaps, received on the same day!) to me, I was weary of the pumpkin but I'm a peach and clove lover so this was a must-try. In the imp: I don't detect the actual pumpkin note, but it's very orange and warm and filling and spicy. I get a slightly fruity buttercream icing and I kind of want to eat it Wet on skin: The butter becomes way more pronounced and its bordering on WHOA too much. The peach and pumpkin sort of meld into one. The nutmeg is just hanging out in the background and the clove is invisible Dry: the butter pulls back a bit and the peachkin goes pretty sweet. Verdict: This isn't as offensively pumkin-scented candle as I thought it was gonna be, but I certainly don't want to smell like a peachkin I might keep the imp to test out in a diffuser.

I've just applied this 10 minutes ago and I am literally huffing my wrist like a scent addict, haha. Dee is a scent I would LOVE...to smell on a guy. I smell a salty rose (my nose likes to turn leather into salt apparently) and the ashes leftover from burning my cedar incense sticks. It's very warm and dry and cozy, familiar and worn-in and a little bit sexy, softly masculine, not in a harsh way but it just makes me think of a refined, older gentleman and not something i would want to smell like myself.

Very rosy. I picture London to be a delicate pale yellow rose, not a pink one because there is something sharp in it that keeps it from going soft or powdery, so for anyone wanting a non-powdery rose, London is for you. I also think this is a pleasant single-note rose and might try layering it with other scents for some depth.

I had to laugh when I read the notes for Hellcat (which was frimped to me by the Lab) because pretty much every note is on my deathlist. Neverthless, no imp will pass by me un-tested. In the imp: A spicy rum hits me straight on. This didn't kill me as much as the buttery rum in Grog and is more candy-like. It reminds me of a rootbeer or Dr. Pepper hard candy. Very dark sugary syrup. Freshly applied on skin: The rum fades a lot and the honey mead comes forward. The sweetness is also fading a bit which is odd for my chemistry, and I'm actually beginning to detect a sweet wood chip note which must be from the two nuts. This is also reminding me of a cheap cinnamon bun-scented candle, (the kind that don't actually smell like cinnamon buns, and just a nondescript fake foodie sweet scent) which I attribute to the honey and rum. There is also a weird raisin note I am picking up on which isn't very sexy. Hellcat is doing strange things on my skin which I don't really like, but don't hate either. Verdict: This scent is supposed to be everything I hate on myself, but it wasn't the scary rum extract that Grog turned out to be, and actually went less foody and sweet on my skin. I'll keep the imp for a second test for curiosity's sake, but ultimately Hellcat makes me think of someone boiling raisins in melted rootbeer hard candies or butter rum lifesavers. Also, echoing MilkAndSugar's TMI share, I am also testing this during my TOM so maybe that's why Hellcat is behaving atypically on my skin, will have to try again at a later time and see.

I believe the carnival went down due to redoing the artwork and will be live again asap. I believe there is a thread on the carnival here: http://www.bpal.org/topic/34409-carnaval-diabolique-discussion/ On page 173 there is a note from Beth stating that it is a priority getting it up and going again. With a surprise project. Thanks, i'm excited to see what's coming now!

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I'm wondering a few things about non GC or LE sets.. - the Carnaval Diabolique scents, do they randomly show up, or do they come around a certain month or time of year? - Also, what's the deal with the Periodic Table? Is it new or just being re-imagined?

Can you message me the name as well please? I had this glitter lotion that came with one of my barbies, I wonder if it's the same scent. I can't remember what it smelled like just that it was SO GOOD lol

First thoughts were campfire smoke, incense, some warm and gentle spice, and amber, this isn't sweet like I expected. The vanilla creeps in slowly. Actually, Snake Oil smells exactly like L'Occitane's Amber solid home perfume cubes, which I had hanging from a pomander in my car for maybe 2-3 years (too bad they discontinued the solid perfumes, they all smelled so good and last forever!) But because the scent remind me of my car and I kind of got sick of it after a while, I'm not sure I can wear this. I'll age my imp and check it out again in a few months to see if it changes a bit.

In the imp: A warm scent indeed, yet light and not too sweet. The carnation and cassia hit me first. This reminds me of either one of my mom's or grandma's perfume. On my skin: Craziness happens, I am having a small reaction (to the cassia I think), because my skin where I applied it kind of burns a little. Also this has gone very sharply soapy on me? Not the floral-soapy, but I think the warm musk is doing weird things here. Drydown: The burning has stopped and I still smell the spice, but the weird soapy element is still hanging around and messing it up. Dry: Soapiness has been replaced by powder, which I can dig. Verdict: I was very excited about a spicy warm scent which DOESN'T have vanilla or amber, but Morocco just did weird things with my skin chemistry, and I basically have to touch my nose to my wrist to smell it. I will test it again for sure but with the weird burning sensation, I will probably have to pass on my imp.

Frimp from my wishlist, thanks lab! In the imp: This smells very light and dusty floral. There is also a slight 'white glue' I am picking up, weird. Drying on my skin: The "commercial perfume" i'm getting is definitely Clinique Happy, and also a bit of Tommy Girl, two of my first perfumes as a teen. But this is a much softer version. I used to wear those two and then grew to really despise them, but oddly I'm enjoying 51 because like someone else mentioned, there's no alcoholic undertone. Dry: As usual my skin is amping the amber which I was concerned about, but I like it in this case. The honeydew is also behaving, and this is quite a pretty blend. This will be a lovely spring time scent, and I think eventually a bottle purchase! ETA: I just layered this with Dirty and what a lovely combination! Dirty added the crispness I was missing from 51

In the imp: This smells exactly like sugar snap peas. Very green and slightly sweet, but in a clean way Wet on skin: The earthy, woody notes have come out, yet it still feels clean. Dry: All the previous notes are still present but this has become sweeter and slightly powdery. Verdict: This smells like a really odd mix to my nose, I don't know what to make of the clean + woody + dirt + green peas mix. I might let my imp age for a while but this isn't the fig blend I'm looking for.

In the imp: Yep, young fresh coconut and shea butter. Wet on skin: Err, where'd the coconut go? The shea is taking over Dry: All Shea, all the time. This smells exactly like 'Lay it on Thick' shea butter from Bath and Body Works, and my guess is layering this with the butter would just enhance that shea goodness. I guess I expected this to be more COCONUTTY coconut, a very identifiable coconut like the extract. I do like shea, but it's a little bit too simple to wear as a scent. Will keep the imp for layering experiments.

I'm not one for sweet foody scents, but the milk and grains enticed me to try Dana out. In the imp: Sugar and almonds, unmistakably marzipan. Wet on skin: The almond amps a bit and then starts to fade Dry: Almonds have been eaten by the milk and sweet grains and unfortunately, a little bit of plastic. This is starting to become a bit scented-candle like. I was surprised how the almond fades. Hopefully the plastic burns off because I like the soft, dreaminess of the milk and grains. Will need to retest. As stated by others, this scent sticks close to the skin, and would probably be fabulous on top of my shea butter cream.

Wow, this is not what I thought it would smell like at ALL, and boy does it morph! In the imp: sticky, sweet, soapy, medicinal; red cough syrup Wet on skin: The same. I am really getting that cherry-flavoured livesaver/cough syrup as others have mentioned, almost kind of licorice-like too. I'm guessing this is the lotus, as I've never smelt it before. Absolutely no mint at all present, can detect the juniper very faintly. Dry: The cough syrup is gone yet it still remains sticky and sweet, and it's toned down a lot, almost becoming a bit powdery. It's also fading pretty fast, that or my nose has gone into shut-down. I'm disappointed in the lack of mint, I am starting to notice a trend where a certain note that is prominent for others in a BPAL blend is absent for me, so odd. This scent is just really odd as well, swaps. **EDIT: Review 8 months later** NOW I finally detect some mint, must have come out as my imp aged. While it's not as offensive to my nose anymore, I'm still not a huge fan of Undertow, and the lotus has proved to be the culprit (my mom made us some chamomile and lotus root tea, and I nearly puked from the smell of it brewing) It just smells like imposter black licorice to me, and will remain on my death notes list.

This is one of the scents I was most excited to try when reading through the BPAL GC descriptions. In the Imp: Sweet desert blooms. Very slight medicinal quality, but I really like it. It smells "sunny" Wet on skin: Soapy like whoa! Flowers still at the forefront. Drydown: The soap dissipates, and the spicy herbs begin to warm up the fresh florals. I adore the taste and smell of prickly pear (which, might I add is VERY different from regular pears for anyone unfamiliar) and I can only detect a small amount of them. Dry: no more soap (yay!) and the amber is adding a nice woodsy resin to the mix (amber usually amps like crazy on me) Verdict: A nicely balanced floral/herb/resin. Possibly a bottle in the future! Aged imp update, 10 months later: I like this so much more now! Any soapiness is completely gone. The scent is a juicy floral with a touch of powdery amber to keep it from being too fruit juice-like.

My first lab-fresh Imp review! In the imp: This is definitely a "pale" scent, with some debauchery lurking underneath. It it very aptly named. A sweet musk, it does have that "cologne" quality but I quite enjoy it Wet on skin: As usual, my skin amps sweet and vanilla, and this turns pretty sugary on me. The sharpness fades and the vanilla brings a sweet warmth that rounds off any sharpness I smelled in the imp. I smell absolutely no citrus, and the black tea has barely a whisper of a presence. Verdict: Dorian on my skin chemistry has turned into a refined, distinguished musky Vanilla. I don't mind vanilla sometimes, and if I do wear it I like it to be somewhat complex like Dorian is, but I was hoping for more lemon and tea. I'll hold on to the imp to see how it ages, and layers with other scents. I'd rate it a 3/5.

I was curious about what dragon's blood smells like, and was happy to see this frimped in my ebay order. In the imp: Jasmine. And/or maybe Ylang Ylang? I had an air freshener sponge in a tin that smelt exactly like this, and I think it was Ylang Ylang. I really loved smelling the tin at first but I guess I overdid it and grew to dislike it. The salty aquatic notes are weird to my nose. On skin: The jasmine amps and turns a bit sweeter. It also turns soapy, and I can't decide if its ok or not. As it dries a bit of spiciness comes out which I'm guess is the dragon's blood. Verdict: I really cannot decide if I like this It's sort of nostalgic for me when I went through a jasmine phase as a teen, but I also sort of fell out of love with Jasmine. Need to test again before I get rid of the imp.