Neely

Frimp luvn'! Feel the love Alicia Stardust! In the bottle: pepper (? that isn't listed), and a floral. I want to say a rose dipped in black ground pepper. Wet: rose with black pepper. Dry down: earthy peppered rose. Conclusion: not for me. I don't like black pepper at all! In fact, I hate it in food. I am willing to wear it in scents, but with something to temper it better. What surprises me is the pepper isn't listed, but that is what my nose *taps nose to see if broken* registers something in here as pepper. Yuck for me. Rating on my skin, this is a 1.

Frimp from the Meet N' Sniff! Thanks! In the bottle: ALMONDS!!!!! Yummy! Wet: whaaaahh!!! This is almonds (which I love) and something else which smells like... Seasoned Salt???? WTH?! Maybe like Shangri_La, I am getting olives? with powder underneath it all. Ewwww. Dry down: still almonds with funk and powder. Despite the fact that this reminded me of Seansoned Salt, this is not foody in a good way. 30 minutes: baby powder Conclusion: I am so disappointed in my chemistry! I love Hecate herself, and I so wanted the oil to work with my chemistry. I thought it would, almonds, myrrh, musk. Apparently, I have a lot to learn about the differences in musk. I thought musk and I always got along. Now I know, it is certain kinds of musk, not every kind. Such a lovely scent for someone else. Rating on my skin, this is a 1.

Frimp luv'n from the lab! In the bottle: dry sweet grass and amber. Wet: dry sweet grasses and amber Dry down: sweet grass, amber with a subtle something else? Maybe it is the doe skin? 30 minutes: sweetness tones down though it is still there. It is so well blended, that I can't pick out individual notes. This is a trickster scent, very appropriate. Conclusion: I like this. I haven't smelled Lion, which I have seen some reviews comparing them. I think I need to try it as well, since Coyote and I got along so well.I paint SW art watercolors, and I have painted Coyote numerous times. This scent smells like him. I am going to wear this to an art show I have in Taos next year. I think I will wear him when I want to get in the mood to paint. I see Coyote and I dancing under a full moon from a big bottle. Now if I could just get one of Raven (not The Raven like in Poe's poem the Native American version, the master trickster). That would be perfect.

The juice of ripe, bursting, blood red holly berries Frimp from Zenvodunista! Who kindly sent me this sans charge, just because. Feel the love Zen, you rock my world! In the bottle: cinnamon with something sweet underneath. Wet: cinnamon with berries, but not overly sweet berries. This isn't spicey cough syrup. This is very nice. Dry down: cinnamon with berries, and this is drying down to a softer version of the wet phase. Unlike most scents with cinnamon, I am not amping it up to CINNAMON, like I usually do. I do smell like an expensive holiday candle. Not the cheap ones mind, with the lead in the wick. But a very nice candle. In fact, I smell like my soy Cranberry Spice candle that I bought and put out every year! 30 minutes: still lovely, still a holiday candle. I do like this on, despite said comparisson to a waxy pillar. It does get a ever so slight powder in the background. I know it would make a wonderful room scent. Slave 1 is right, you could keep switching them out for holiday fun all Yule round. Conclusion: I do like this one very much. Wish I hadn't misunderstood and thought it was Midnight tonight the Yulies would be available. Oh well, maybe next year. Rating 1-5 on my skin, this is a 4.5.

Thanks to the meet n' sniff I got to give Three Witches a try. Feel the love Lissa! I had already ordered a bottle, which I am still waiting for from the lab. In the bottle: cinnamon and white pepper. Wet: CINNAMON!!!! Dry down: CINNAMON!!!!! Pure unadulterated, not sweet in the slightest, cinnamon. Oh cinnamon, why did you have to be a big bully? You tied up clove and pepper so they couldn't come and play. Then you beat me up! 30 minutes: cinnamon sings an aria, and won't shut up. Cinnamon has taken over the whole opera! Well, Lissa gets this one when it comes, since it loves her and not me. I so wanted this one to work. The name, the notes, all should have been perfect for me, or so I thought. *sigh* Conclusion: Sorry fellow BPALers, I promised this one to Lissa already. My chemistry amps up florals and cinnamon to the nth degree. Rating 1-5 on my skin, this is a 1.5 (I do love cinnamon).

Thanks to the lovely ladies at the Meet n' Sniff, namely Brienze for this one. I got to try Rose Red just for curiosity's sake. In the bottle: red rose. Wet: red rose. Dry down: red tea rose. I didn't get the dirt or the green, which I was hoping for. Instead my body chemistry amped up the rose, to ROSE!!!!!!! I was afraid of that. At least it didn't turn into a gang of old ladies beating me up for my wallet. It stayed to true to the tea rose scent. Conclusion: It faded fast, which for me, as Martha says, is a good thing. It was really not for me. Happy to try it, but I am not a floral or rose person. As for Beth and the labbies, it is a very good rose scent. Rating 1-5 on my skin, this is a 1.

Frimp luvn' from karikazo!!!! Feel the love back at ya girl! In the bottle: grape(???) or cherry cough syrup. Wet: grape/cherry cough syrup, real sweet, super strong. Dry down: cherry syrup, but softening to a floral. Uh oh, florals and I tend not to get along. When with their obnoxious super sweet fruity friend, I tend to get kick boxed and my wallet stolen. They leave and let Grandma powder kick me while I am down. This doesn't bode well. 30 minutes and over: Hold on, this started off IFFY. But, this has turned into a very lovely, clean, not old lady, not too soapy, soft scent. I think I like this a lot! OMFG, a floral I can wear! Surely this is a sign the world is ending. Conclusion: Just like Alice, or Sara from the movie "Labyrinth," never take anything for granted. Or in this case, never take a BPAL scent from Beth and labbies for granted. I might have to get a big bottle. I say maybe, because, I don't know how often I would reach for it being a floral. I will enjoy this frimp and any others of this that should happen to come my way, definitely. Hmmm, *sniffs wrist again,* ok this goes on my list of big bottle in the future.

Frimp luvn' In the bottle: black tea, more specifically Earl Grey, with cram and honey and a little pepper. I can really smell the pepper in the bottle. Wet: Earl Grey with cream and honey. The citrus note that I smell is the bergamot that flavors Earl Grey. That is really strong right now. The pepper is gone. Dry down: Earl Grey with cream and honey, but my body amps anything percieved as citrus. The bergamot is really dancing out front right now. Honey is still there, and ginger has made a small supporting role. 30 minutes: Earl Grey, cream, honey, this stays true. Ginger, goes away again, pepper never comes back. It just seems to morph into a more sophisticated version of itself. Over an hour: Earl Grey , cream, honey, and some element that brings the whole scent together. It is the linen I think. It makes it a sophisticated wonderful, scent. Conclusion: I am definitely buying a bigger bottle in the future. Probably for Spring. This is a cool, refreshing, lovely scent. Rating on my skin, this is a 5. ETA: Because if I wrote "this stays true" one more time in regards to the actual oil, I would l have to smack myself.

In the bottle: buttery honeyed chestnuts. Wet: PINE, with buttery honeyed chestnuts. Even though the pine is came to the front like I just walked into one, and this is the real pine, not Pinesol. This is lovely. So evocative! 30 minutes: pine has settled down and blends beautifully with the honeyed chestnuts. If there is smoke, it is blending so well I can't pick it out as a scent on its own. It must be in the blend enriching it. I am smitten! Conclusion: I like how this smells on me, and it would be great as a room fragrance. This is a fantastic Yule scent. How does the lab do it? It is magic in a bottle! Thanks BPAL! I must have a bottle or two of this! Rating 1-5 on my skin 5. ETA: edited for poor spelling! BLEH!

Imp swap luv'n from Karikazo! In the bottle: buttery sugary goodness, almost caramel. This is promising. Wet: Eggnog? Wow, I like the smell of Eggnog, this is good. If this keeps up, I am going to be in love. Dry down: the sweetness has calmed down, this has gotten creamy, and ..... WTH? Coconut??? Uh oh. I am smelling like a Pina Colada, this is not good nor Christmassy or Yulie, unless I was in the Caribbean at the time. Hey Santa, all I want for Yule is a paper unbrella for my drink!!! Stupid chemistry!!! Why couldn't it stay Eggnog? 30 minutes: OHHH isn't it a lov-a-ly bunch of coconuts? Smokey, creamy coconuts. Not bad as coconuts go. At least it isn't a Yule Pina Colada. Conclusion: Not for me. Turns to coconut, a very nice coconut, but a coconut never the less. I don't like coconut. I don' t like to eat it, drink it, or smell it. Suntan lotion included. I would have liked this better had I gotten more of a Snickedoodle out of it. More spice. Or if it had stayed in the Eggnog smelling phase. I am going to try this as a room scent. But I don't really want a big bottle. Rating 1-5 on my skin, 2.5-3.

Frimp luv'n! In the bottle: sweet, buttery candy corn! Wet: sweet, buttery candy corn. Dry down: warm candy corn with a smokey edge to it. Smell cinnamon too? 30 minutes: I do believe in cinnamon, I do, I do! Ok cinnamon, but not the fake craft store cinnamon. The cinnamon and the "buttercream," take turns at who is on top , but neither dominates. Instead they compliment each other. This is lovely! This isn't sickenly sweet with my chemistry either. I thought I would have to avoid foody scents, but most of the BPAL foodies are working on me. Conclusion: I love this! It is light, bubbly, and fun. I haven't smelled Sugar Skull, much to my dismay. But I can see this as being the younger fun sister. I am getting a bottle from a lovely fellow BPALer. Rating 1-5 on myskin, 5.

Frimp luv'n! In the bottle: medicinal, sharp and bitter. Wet: medicinal, sharp, and bitter. Hmmm, not so good. No vanilla, no almonds, no clove, no patchouli. All the things I love, and nuthin'. Dry down: medicinal and sharp almonds. 30 minutes: that was as far as I got, took a shower and washed it off. I so wanted to try this one, and I thought for sure it would work. Dumb chemistry. Rating 1-5, on my skin, this is a 1.

Alert, frimp luv'n! In the bottle: Plastic and spice? Wet: Cinnamon, no pepper, no clove. Dry down: Cinnamon. 30 minutes: Cinnamon, not cheap hobby store cinnamon or red hots. The real stuff. Over an hour: Incense. This faded into a nice incense type smell. Conclusion: I like this. It is a nice cinnamon scent. It doesn't irritate my skin. I love cinnamon. But, I have "Spanked," from the Naughty/Nice inquistion for cinnamon. It is cinnamon with a whip. And I am still waiting on my order of Three Witches to come in the mail, to compare with this one. When I run out of Spanked, I might get this one to replace my Cinnamon fetish. Rating 1-5 on me, this is a 3.5.

This was another generous frimp! In the bottle: Soapy Wet: Soapy floral, with an underlying unpleasant odor, which I cannot put my finger on. Dry down: OK the nasty underlying smell is stronger, and I know what it smells like to me... public toilet. You know, those plastic porta potties that have been sitting in the sun on a hot summer day. Or a slightly dirty diaper, not really full of poo, but needs to be changed. There is a baby powder smell to this along with a diaper that needs to be changed. Oh my!!!!! Where is the tobacco? the bay rum? Stupid chemistry!!! I get no boozeyness, no tobacco, or maybe I do, and that is what I am smelling. 30 minutes: OK didn't really make it this far. It was sooooo bad on me I had to wash it off. This was not pleasant. Of course , they can't all be. Conclusion: This was not for me. If you are reading this, please don't be daunted. BPAL scents, all of them, are pure genius. It is my chemistry that messed this one up, not the oil. I am glad I got to try it. Quite frankly, I am in love with BPAL, even if something doesn't work. I am entranced by the differences in our chemistries. This one will just go to the swaps, and my meet n' sniff. I hope to get it to a good home. -Rating 1-5, on me I would have to say a -1 with my skin.

Thanks for the frimp! Feel the love! In the bottle: Slightly candy like sweetness, no dicernable notes. Wet: WHOAH! Grape plastic. Like a Strawberry Shortcake doll... you know the ones. Dry down: Grape candy 30 minutes: Grape Koolaid instead of candy. YUCK! This is so nasty with my chemistry! Stupid skin! It goes between smelling like Koolaid to one of those plastic dolls with a grape smell, or any plastic toy scented to smell like fruit. In this case, the fruit being grape to me, not cherry. Of course since my chemistry and the scent are arguing like a husband and wife, it has great throw, so all the neighbors can hear. And of course it wants to last and last. Conclusion: No way Jose! I don't mean just no, but HELL NO!!!!. I definitely cannot wear it. I don't get any of the lovely notes this masterpiece has to offer. My chemistry and it argue like the old Punch and Judy puppets. Off to the swaps list for someone to try or someone who loves it. Rating 1-5, on my skin this is a 1.

Frimp from the lab! Thanks labbies! In the bottle: Dark and musty (I don't get woodsy at all) with lemon. Wet: Dark musty lemon Dry down: ACK! Lemon Pledge! 30 minutes: Lemon Pledge with a cumin(???) undertone. This bright and light, the opposite of a shadow. Nice play on the name versus the scent. Too bad it smells like Pledge on me. Conclusion: It got more creamy and stopped smelling like Pledge. Instead I smell like.... a lemon cookie! I hate lemon. I don't even put it in my tea. The only lemon I have ever liked is lemondrops. I am hoping that this is not something my chemistry is going to do with everything with lemon (ie Dorian, and White Rabbit). This is a sparkling scent. This is an excellent oil if you love lemon and your chemistry amps that up like mine does. Rating 1-5, I give it a 2.5 (due to my chemistry and aversion to lemon).

Another frimp from a BPALer! Feel the love! In the bottle: cherry cough syrup. Wet: cherry cough syrup Dry down: Cherry but it isn't syrup anymore. The sweetness left, and the cherry blended with the woods. It is creamy now. But it seems to be fading fast. No real throw now that the syrup is gone. 30 minutes: It is almost gone, or so I thought. It hugs my skin close. I have to sniff my wrist closely. It has morphed into a soft cherry, currant with vanilla (was that an ingredient?). Surpising that this has turned into a softer mellower fragrance. Not at all what I would have thought since it came out of the bottle like gangbusters and popped me on the nose. I don't know if I want a big bottle. I like my imp. I may want it for the novelty of getting all the Mad Tea Party. This is not true love, but a friendship which is amicable. Rating 1-5, this is a 3.5.

I got this as frimp from a fellow BPALer! Thanks! In the Bottle: powdery floral Wet: powdery floral Dry down: Yuck, baby powder. This smells the way ambergris smells on me. But that isn't one of the ingredients! Where is the musk, where is the patchouli? I don't even smell neroli. This is weird. It doesn't smell like any of the ingredients. Maybe it is an older bottle? YUCK, YUCK, YUCK! I hate smelling like a baby's new diaper, or a little girl, or an old woman. This one keeps morphing the powder between these three. I don't feel desire, I feel nausea. Wouldn't you know the one that I can't stand has great throw, and last forever. Blech. I washed it off, and wouldn't you know, it doesn't want to go. Can you tell this is not for me? This one goes to the swaps pile for a new home that will love her. rating 1-5, this is a 1 for me.

Ok I had to edit this as I got a fresh imp from the lab, and that seemed to make a big difference. So you can see my old review below as a comparison. In the bottle: Pine Wet: pine, not Pinesol pine, but a lovely real pine. Dry down: dark, almost smells like my beloved Talvikuu. 30 minutes: still lovely fresh pine. Still smells like Talvikuu, so much so that I am wondering if someone made the Tal formula and put it in the imp by accident.I am so happy! Conclusion: This is not like what it was the first time I tried it. Not like the first time at all. I think this is a big bottle purchase. Just goes to show, scents should get a second chance if you get a fresh imp. Rating 1-5, on my skin this is a 5. This was frimp, fom a generous BPALer (Modesty Blaise, I think. LOL everyone is so nice I can't keep up) In the bottle: pine, with something mossy, the cypress maybe? It is dark and black smelling. Wet: PINE, not Pinesol Pine, but real Pine. It has something almost medicinal smelling to it. I think that might be the Juniper. Almost Eucalyptus like, though that is not one of the ingredients is it? Dry down: Pine and medicinal zing 30 minutes: wtf!!!??? It went soapy, and baby powdery on me. Pine with baby powder! UGH! It must be the ambergris. I don't do well with ambergris. Stupid chemistry! Over an hour: I smell like an old woman in a musty house. The pine has gone, the ambergris makes me smell like powder. Yucky! I am washing this off. It has great throw, which would be great if it were more like Mistletoe, not old lady. Rating 1-5: with my chemistry 1 this is a swapper or a frimp for someone.

I got this as a frimp, from the lab I believe (sorry if not, I have so many wonderful frimps from so many wonderful BPALers! ) In the Bottle: green, grassy, herbal, with a light citrus and floral note floating on top. Very clean. Wet: I don't get pine at all. I get the citrus amping up on top of the grassy herbal note. The herbal is going to the background. This is very nice! not much throw, but I like sniffing my own wrists thank you, and I didn't slather it on (am trying a different scent on the other wrist for review, I will definitely give this one a slather test). I wear these scents for my own aromatherapy. Dry down: Clean fresh, citrus with an herbal base. This is wonderful. The more I wear it, the more I am in love with it. This is a great Spring/Summer scent. Oh Beth, please release it as is. I would love a big bottle of this! I love the name too, Valley of No Return. Please, please, pretty please, with sugar on top! May I have some more? Rating 1-5: this is a 5

In the bottle: Like a shop that has burned and sells incense for years. A shop with wooden bookshelves and magikal items. At the same time, it invokes the imagery of the poem. Maybe I am easily suggestable, but I think it is the genius of Beth and the lab! Wet: I smell the wine, and somthing which I think is the leather. I also smell, stone. You know stone of the tower with ivy climbing up its walls. I am really liking this scent. It isn't like cologne (you know that certain element that makes something a perfume). This is pure imagery in a bottle. I see skeletons or armored men, fallen in a great battle long lost. It reminds me of Lord of the Rings when Sam goes into the tower and saves Bilbo, the Orcs and Uruk have killed each other. 30 minutes: Sweeter wine, leather that grounds it, still get that "stoney" smell. Maybe ozone? I am liking this very much. In some ways this smells like a lighter version of Herr D on me. I think I would like to get a big bottle of this, it isn't my favorite, but it draws me to it. rating 1-5: 4

In the bottle: Incensy, sweet, like a "head shop." Hmmmm.. Wet: sweet cranberry incense, like the incense that guys used to sell college students in my college days. It is nice, but so far, not me. Dry down: still cranberry incense. 30 minutes: cranberry candle. This actually would be very good in a candle. Conclusion: not for me. I really wanted to like this one, stupid chemistry! Off to the swaps On a scale of 1-5, this is a 2 with my chemistry

... His scent is soft English leather, rosewood and tonka with a hint of incense, parchment and soft woods. In the bottle: Surpisingly light, and powdery. Can't really tell any notes, just the overal feeling of lightness, like a crisp white ruffle sleeved shirt, open at the neck as the ties have come undone exposing a male chest. Hmmmm.... conjuring up romantic male chest in old English garb. Dry down:. Still the same. I don't get any seperate notes from this. It is so well blended. Still fresh, still clean, still powdery, more "feminine," at this stage. Also get a green herbal type scent to this. It is an undercurrant. Faintly sweet, not rot your teeth, just faint. Also a faint bitterness to it. This is lovely! 30 minutes: That is strange, the "baby powder" smell gets stronger. Smells very much like Dragon's Blood. That isn't one the ingredients, nor is Dee pinkish, or reddish to indicate such an ingredient. My chemistry amazes me sometimes. I don't generally like powder, but Dee's powder is liveable. In fact I am falling in love! Over an hour: Ok, now this is getting more "masculine," but still gender neutral. I mean the leather gets more grounding. It smells absolutely divine! Conclusion: This is fantastic! I am smitten with Dee. He and I are going to have a wonderful affair. I see a big bottle in my future, when I am done with all the Yulies. Dee is sexy, and wonderful. In fact, he is what I thought Herr D would smell like. And The Rat King, is what I expected Dee to smell like (what can I say, I am a BPAL newb). Dee is Herr D's younger brother. This is not as heavy as Herr D, so women like myself who don't do florals, this is something you should try. Or slather it on your guy. This makes me want to find mine and surprise him. on a scale of 1-5, Dee is definitely a 5.

Ok, forgive the review, this is first impression and memory only. I can't try it again as my husband was sooooo allergic to something in it, Herry D popped him on the nose hard. Nomally I wouldn't mind men fighting over me, but, I dare not wear it ever again. So, off to the swaps for G'Poppet it goes (thanks to Gypsy for letting me get this and try it, and Mayhap(-oops I think). You know who you are, ). In the bottle: Thick rich dark, it smells familiar. I have smelled something like it. It almost makes me sick to my stomach. Maybe the tobacco? Tobacco has never done that before. It smells nutty, and tobacco-ie. Wet: Same. Warm, dark, nutty and tobacco. Dry down: Same. No real change on my skin, except to get stronger. I get no mints, or linen, or anything to lighten this up a bit. I like it, not love it, so it could have been a keeper, except for the SO allergic reaction. Over an hour: Same. Finally got home to wash it off for the SO. I had to take a very hot shower to do it. Herr D is a very forceful man. Great throw, fantastic staying power. Might be better put in a perfume base to lighten it up a bit. I liked Herr D, but he did not love or like my SO. Conclusion: While I didn't get to try it for too long, any longer and it might have sent my hubby to the emergency room, I did like it. Luckily he will go to a good home for the Poppet (which I came to have a lovely understanding with). I think the scent is wonderful, a little heavy. on a scale of 1-5, I give it a 3.5

Ok I ask your patience, I just found BPAL, so I am just now getting to review Samhain 2005 In the bottle: cinnamon and plastic? I think that is the smoke note. I have noticed that others have had that happen when smoke is an ingredient. Wet: apples, cinnamon, smoke Dry down: apples, cinnamon, caramel, smoke. Gets a little sweeter, and the sweet amps up the apples. 30 minutes: sweet cinnamony carmel covered apples. Very Autumnal, very seasonal, very lovely. The apples and sweetness have toned down and become more pleasant, not so in your face. One hour: Smokey caramel and cinnamon. The apples have become more a background part of the scent rather than a smack on the nose. There is also something smooth underneath it all.... pumpkin? I think I need to try Jack too. This definitely reminds me of October. In fact it reminds me of a Hallowe'en festival held in the small town here in Texas where my husband's family live. That is exactly what it reminds me of. Crisp cold air, caramel apples, smoke from fireplaces and the torches on the "Haunted House." This is my favorite, and one of the most important Wiccan holidays of the year, in a bottle! Beth and the lab imps, you rock! Over an hour: Still strong on my wrist. Smokey, buttery, almost boozey, pumpkin with a hint of apples. I smell tobacco too? Tobacco like the walk in humadore at a shop that sells cigars. Ooooh yeah baby, sexy Samhain. Wow, alot of BPAL scents seem to have a sexy element. Conclusion: I am in love! I loves me the Samhain, right down to the lovely label! I hope Wicked Goddess doesn't mind a newb like me borrowing her rating system. But for Samhain, I have to say 1 out of 5, this is a 5 for me.