Sycorax

A sweet, light, aquatic rose. I am really liking this! It is surprisingly refreshing for a floral. Pity that it has very little throw.

The leather is certainly prominent! I'm not sure how I feel about this oil. I could see wearing this to psyche myself up for a night at the pubs, but I'm not sure anyone else would want to smell it on me. The strong, dusty smell of florals and leather is more empowering than appealing. Okay, but not a keeper.

The second I put White Rabbit on my skin, it smelled like sour milk. After a half hour, it was sour milk and pepper. And yeast. Yeast. At that point I washed it off before I started smelling like an abandoned bakery. Honestly, I really wanted to love White Rabbit. I love tea scents, and the idea of smelling like clean sheets is so unique and charming! Unfortunately was not meant to be. Either there was something seriously wrong with this batch, or there is something seriously wrong with the way that the lab's milk note interacts with my skin.

Herbal with a hint of citrus. This isn't a sugary fruity blend, though. Mantis is actually very restrained. I smell grapefruit, wildflowers, and clipped grass. There's a semi-bitter note in the background which gives the oil a little kick. ... honestly, I wish I had more to say! Usually I try to be more descriptive in my reviews. Mantis was slightly perplexing. It didn't smell unpleasant, but it wasn't the kind of quirky that appeals to me.

I suggest any Wanderlust oils that look appealing to you. Most of them really are evocative of the settings that they relate to. I find that they're some of the best oils for inspiring moods. Neo-Tokyo, for example, is all ultra-modern ozone and metal with a hin of sweet cherry blossom. Dublin is lush, dew-covered Celtic forests. Tintagel is metal and mulled wine and idealized mediaeval fantasy. Pick a place you'd like to write about, or at least a mood you want to project, and away you go.

Neo-Tokyo is a well-kept, beloved cherry blossom grove, bordered by great glittering office towers. Styish people with stylish jobs congregate there on their lunch breaks, and their life is better than yours. ... yeah, okay, so this review sounds like something one of the reviewers on Iron Chef would come up with. I get a free pass. It's Neo-Tokyo! Neo-Tokyo smells like what we'd all like the great modern metropolis to be. There's no pollution. There's no dirt or grime. Just sparkling chrome and crisp fresh air with a hint of well-preserved nature. It's brash and energetic and I, for one, think that it's gorgeous.

Ripe. Sultry. Decadent. Earthy. That's how I'd describe Gomorrah. It easily evokes an image of it's namesake. And that's good, isn't it? I mean, that's part of the point. There's something almost smokey beneath all that sun-ripened fruit and eastern spice. Ordinarily, an oil like Gomorrah would be far too rich for my blood. That said, it gets major points for smelling ripe and full-bodied without being cloying. Of all of the "earthy" perfumes I've tried from BPAL, I think that this is easily the best. Sadly "earthy" isn't really my style. I think I'll keep the imp, though. Gomorrah is lovely.

Harlot? Oh, I don't think so! This is far too genteel a blend for a harlot. I believe that it would be better suited to a nice Edwardian courtesan; an outwardly refined lady, who brings out her wild side behind closed doors and heavy curtains. That said, I really like this. Rose and cinnamon are both notes that tend to come out with guns blazing, so I was happy that neither note got the upper hand in Harlot. I suspect it has something to do with the types of roses Beth used. Harlot is light and refreshing, without being sweet. I'll have to ponder getting a bottle. It's nice to feel feminine attractive (not sexy, but attractive) without having to use a heavy musk or honey based blend.

I can see why people say that Bengal smells like gingerbread or chai. The honey slinks into the background, but it's definitely there, and cinnamon and clove are present and accounted for without being overpowering. Oddly, though, I mostly get ginger from this oil. It's a spicey, sweet ginger - almost like ginger candy. Skin chemistry is a funny thing, hunh? It takes quite a while for the ginger to recede, so that I can really appreciate the blend. I quite like Bengal, but I'm not so enthused about the wait time. I'll be keeping my imp but I doubt that Bengal will make my big bottle list, unless it does some serious growing on me.

Oh, wow! Virgin banana daquiri. This is fruity but fresh - a nice contrast to the extremely sweet fruit notes in oils like Yerevan and March Hare. After a few minutes, a vaguely aquatic note comes through to back up the fruit. This is not, I think, a perfume for everyday wear. At least not here in the north! It would get a little distracting, smelling like vacation all the time. That said, I thik this would make a very good room scent for the summer. Manila is one of those iconic smells that is very good at evoking a mood.

I swear, that when I first smelled this in the vial it was almost exactly like fig and dragon's blood mixed with... nail polish remover? Nail polish remover! I was stunned. BPAL goes bad on my skin sometimes, but I've never disliked any of Beth's scents right from the get-go. After I put Dragon's Heart on it became sweeter and more full-bodied. Yet that strange note never truly left. I think perhaps it might be that the musk is too agressive for me? I don't have a lot of experience with musks. Edit: ... after a few hours, the nailpolish remover smell turns to... furniture polish. Um. I think I'll wash this off now.

Imagine yourself in a meadow. The clouds above are grey and gravid with rain. The wind has picked up, and the fresh, crisp air anticipates moisture. In any other day, your surroundings would be verdant and peaceful. This is a day for the Phantom Queen. The Morrigan anticipates nature's fury. Phantom Queen is a light, crisp floral, but somehow it manages to be more than that. There's a sweetness to it, yet that sweetness is tempered by something sharp and ethereal. Somehow Beth has managed to condense freshness into liquid form. It's incredible. Just when I think I've tried all the BPAL imps I need to, I run into another mind-bogglingly evocative scent. I can't get my hands on a big bottle of this soon enough!

Apricot and plum! A few dusty florals keep this oil from becoming cloying, but they are mere bystanders comared to the fruit notes. If I had to use one word to describe Yerevan, it would be juicy. The apricot and plum are wet and vibrant, with an impressive degree of throw. Unfprtunately, all good things have to end. After a half hour I begin to get the "plastic" note that other people have written about in this thread. I think it might be one of the florals going wrong. Ah, well. Off to the swap pile.

Lucy's Kiss is lovely. Rose is the dominant note, but it's a sweet, light, airy rose. A lot of people tend to describe rose-dominated oils as "old ladyish", but Lucy's Kiss smells young and fresh. There's something about it that's almost virginal. The spice isn't agressive at all. I liked Lucy's Kiss so much that I was contemplating buying a big bottle... Until it turned to soap on me, after a half hour of wear. Damn. This is the first time that a BPAL rose hasn't worked out for me.

A lovely frimp from lovelyza! Crossroads isn't the kind of oil that I'd normally give a go. I've been leery of dirt and mosses since I had a bad experience with Jazz Funeral. Surprisingly, however, the scent comes off as quite light in the vial. I had expected something overbearing. It seems like a very well-balanced blend, with no one note holding dominion over the rest. Upon application, Crossroads turns into once of the nicest earthy scents that I've had the pleasure of trying. Ordinarily jasmine doesn't do much for me, but I think it works well with the dirt and moss. It takes five to ten minutes for the floral to come out. Once it does it lightens Crossroads up and keeps it from being too incensey. Crossroads didn't blow me away, but I'll be keeping my imp around. I can see this one possibly growing on me.

The smell of Hymn is certainly appropriate. In the bottle the rose dominates, but upon application there's a better balance between rose and resin. I've seen Hymn compared to Rose Cross, and I can see why. To my mind, however, Hymn is a much drier and more sombre oil. Rose Cross smells fresh, while the rose note in Hymn give off the impression of dried petals. There's a sharpness which I'm guessing is myrrh. Hymn is Rose Cross' more powerful, mature cousin. I'd have to say that I prefer Rose Cross over all. Still, if you like one, you're probably set to like the other! I can see Hymn being used as an oil for ritual, meditation, or rememberance, but I don't know if it would be much good for casual wear.

Wow, is March Hare ever sweet. Before even opening the bottle, I get a smell that's almost like apricot syrup or cordial. When I put this on the sweetness is still overpowering. What a disappointment! I was really looking forward to trying a spicey fruit scent, but I'm getting almost no clove from this. I smell like those cheap apricot gummies that they sell in convenience stores. This is way too foody for me. Off to the swap pile!

This was an frimp from the very generous maewitch. I'd have never tried this otherwise, and that would have been a very sad thing, so. Thank you, maewitch! Embalming Fluid is sweet and refreshing. It's true that it doesn't have a great deal of throw, but I'd say that the staying power itself isn't too atypical. I have to reapply once every 3-5 hours with pretty much any BPAL oil. The tea and the lemon blend very well. More importantly, the lemon is nice and light. The other BPAL lemons I've tried have been bolder - which works when you're wearing an oil like Bess (one of my favorites), but would totally overpower the other notes in something like Embalming Fluid. When I smelled the imp I had visions of lemon pledge, but after I put some Embalming Fluid on those suspicions proved to be unfounded. I'm really looking forward to trying some of BPAL's other tea scents, now! Embalming Fluid is like a tall, cool iced tea on a summer day.

Hello lavender! Hello rose! Hello, heavy musky background note! This is one of the only BPAL oils I've tried that was basically the same both before and after I put it on. There's lavender. There's rose. I would call it "lavenderrose", if that weren't making up a word. And also kind of stupid. I'm really not getting frankinsence from this at all. I have an imp of Rose Cross, and Psyche and Rose Cross are very different in spite of their common notes. I don't dislike Psyche - it's hard for me to dislike anything lavender-based - but there's something heavy about it that would keep me from wearing it very often. Maybe it's because rose and lavender both tend to be very dominant, traditionally "perfumey" notes? I smell like a Crabtree & Evelyn store.

In the vile, this had a vaguely astringent smell, and it was hard for me to pick up any notes save for the mint. Once I put it on, things started to become clearer. For a long while, I had nothing but a high, sharp, sugary mint. To be honest the smell reminded me of a candy called Edinburgh Rock. I'm not sure that I want to smell like Edinburgh Rock when I'm out and about, but I have very fond memories of Edinburgh, so I wasn't entirely displeased. It took a while for the mint to tone down. Lime eventually made an appearance, with a tiny hint of cocoanut. The mellower smell is actually very nice, although the sharpness of mint never really makes an exit. I think I'll keep this around for sentimental reasons. The Star is a good pick-me-up, even if it's not a great perfume for daily use. Heh. I suppose that's appropriate, given the meaning of the card!

This smelled very much like cinnamon before I put it on. Not sweet-cinnamon, or honey-cinnamon, but plain old cinnamon. It gave me pause. Then I put Wrath on, and a funny thing happened. The dragon's blood came out in force! So did the pepper. Cinnamon was still there, but it felt more like a background to the other notes, than anything else. I already knew that my skin loved dragon's blood, but I had no idea that my skin chemistry would be enough to tame the oft-reported "big red gum" tendancies of Wrath! I'm not entirely sure if I want a large bottle of this. I think I need to smell more cinnamon scents in order to find the one I love best. I also think I'd like one that lasted longer. That said, my imp's-worth will be worn and cherished. This is a more fiesty, aggressive version of Tintagel. This is Tintagel going to war. And you know what? I love Tintagel already. Another success from the lab! Three cheers. The only real downside to Wrath is that I'm very pale (like, "see my veins through my skin" pale), and the dark orange oil still shows on my skin for ten to fifteen minutes after I put it on. I've never had that happen with BPAL before.

Someone absolutely loved the bottle of Flower Moon I gave them as a gift. Now they're asking me to point them towards something similar, but I'm stumped. Thoughts?

Hm. I suppose there's a difference between "cool, steely, zen professional" and "I Am Professional... Puny Mortal" scents. Neo-Tokyo and Sea of Glass would seem to belong to the former, while Great Sword of War and Pride might belong to the latter. Being a helpless addict, I suppose that I shall have to try both. Ha! I had thought that the narcissus in Pride might be too sweet, but there's nothing that says sweet can't still be agressive. Thanks for the good-luck wishes! : )

Bess is a lemon scent, but probably too herbal for what you're looking for (although personally I think it's divine). You might want to give Venice a shot? It has a lot of floral notes, but on me the combination of lemon and red currant gives it a really sweet, sharp smell without it going all lemon-cleanser-ish.

I love lavender, I love wood scents, and I love history. I also think it would be incredibly cool to smell like old books or scrolls! I love the smell of archives. It brings back a lot of memories for me. Needless to say, I had very high hopes for Clio. Perhaps that's why I'm so disappointed. In the imp, this was all citrus, all the time. For a second I thought that I must have gotten an imp full of Kuang Shi by accident. Right after I put it on, there's an unpleasant smell that reminds me of orange dishwashing liquid. The lavender asserts itself a little, but Clio is still far too astringent for my tastes. Eventually there is a smell of parchment, but my skin is amping up the orange blossom far too much for me to enjoy it. I'll probably keep the imp since I'm far too fond of the idea of a parchment-scented perfume to do otherwise. However, I doubt I'll wear this all that often.