Quillifer

The notes in the list for this appealed to me immediately and I plumped for a bottle unsniffed. Before it reach me, a friend received a decant of it, which I tried. It seemed OK but really not amazing and I waited... In the bottle this is a bit odd. a sort of plasticy version of strawberry; perhaps this actually comes from the clover. Wet, it's just heaven. Warm grass, strawberry juice, the sweetness of rose and the herbalness of clover perfectly counter-pointed. Dry-down - it mellows right out but it essentially more of the same. I found it short-lived at first but I've got more familiar with it now and can smell it for longer. Total heaven

I adore this, although it's not something I would wear often. I wore it this evening, determined to go out (indoor) climbing but dog-tired before I even left the house. It made me grin like a mad thing. This is the opposite of pretty, of little girl, or even dressed-up, man-pleasing womanliness. But it's also very warm, rich, deep, - com-forting in the sense of promoting strength, but not in a zooming around energetic way, more in a sitting back in a chair, smoking a cigar, head back, feet up on a table. Notes - vetiver most of all, my glorious best friend. Less green and grassy here than sometimes. Clove; laurel much later; I don't know what hiba wood smells like. A sweetness - I'm guessing opoponax. I think you need a homburg hat to wear this Must get one...

In the bottle, this is really pretty unpleasant to me. Vetiver - but I love that; not sure what is putting me off. I get a bit the same from War. Wet, it smells of unseasoned [green] wood - not a green smell but wood before it dries out. Cooking spices but I don't think I'd have gone for ginger - more like galangal. I like this stage more, but I wouldn't buy or keep it for this. As it begins to dry, magic happens. It retains the freshness and peculiar spice but also becomes much sweeter, lighter - not feinter but higher register. I want to say clove and carnation but in truth if I hadn't seen them listed, I'm not sure I'd be able to put names to them. At no point do I get the nasty jasmine note I was fearing. This is ideal: good enough that I'm delighted to have a bottle, but very strongly individual so that I think one will be enough.

Completely wasted on me One of my few bottle purchases that really doesn't work out. This is all green beans to me, when I wanted tomato-plants. I will offer it for swap when I get back from holiday.

This is my new favourite BPAL Wet, it's creamy caramel and aquatic salt. As it dries the cedar and hay come through. What I love is that it feels warm, comforting but ever so slightly peculiar all at once. Lovely AND interesting.

I was frimped with this by the Lab ages ago but for some weird reason haven't reviewed it before now. Anyway, in the imp I find it rather dusty, unpromising, but with a hint of coconut. Wet, it's sweet coconut but the dry warm type, not wet cool. I find this to be an autumn/winter scent - particularly autumn. As it dries, all the notes come out, beautifully blended. It's a scent that never draws compliments (though no complaints either!) - but that I wear for myself. It reminds me of old books and quiet corners far more effectively than any scent I've tried specifically designed to evoke those things. An introverted, quirky but not way-out scent. Not too girly but not stridently assertively iconoclastic, for moments when I want to be alone with my thoughts or getting on with my things in peace. 5/5 for me.

I got an imp of this in a swap. No idea how old it is. I am keen on the goddess Hecate so I wanted to try this oil but I didn't like Eclipse when I tried it - seemed just cough mixture to me - which sounded similar, so I was put off trying it for ages. I'm glad I did get some, I love it On me this is a warm fuzzy smell like marzipan. There's no bitter edge to it - it's all sweetness, but not cloying. I have to say, nobody else particularly likes it on me - they find it a bit weird - but hey, I'm happy to wear it for me

I've had this on and off my order for over a year. I finally got some in a swap. Very under-whelming. In the bottle it smells light, a bit flat. It's a slightly lemony smell, maybe a little grass, but like a single-note really of something very plain and unforthcoming. It's the same wet, the same dry. Quite disappointing. I wonder whether a fresh imp would smell the same but I suspect it would. I think there's probably some subtlety to this which is beyond me because I love huge big over-the-top oils. Don't let my review put you off if your nose is more discerning and you like the notes

I've just received a bottle of In His Hands All Thy Cruelties Thrive (notes: gleaming black vetiver, bay laurel, opoponax, hiba wood, Spanish moss, clove, and leather accord). Again, if you like vetiver, it's glorious - well I think so. It has just finished on the web so you'd need to track some down if you like the sound of it - there are probably decants around.

A fascinating scent - wrist to nose again and again! I don't think it's so much morphing, as - that kind of twisty-turny things where the mind itself picks up different notes and combinations. Just very slightly different combinations - the blend hangs tightly together. I think I'd class this as a pure winter scent. Winter outdoos - no Christmas thing about it. There are very slight flowers but they're the kind of flowers I associate with winter rather than spring. The scent on the breeze from tiny inconspicuous flowers that wafts towards you on a rare sunny day in late January. A winter gardener's private treat. OK, in terms of notes, I get most of all cedar, sandalwood/patchouli (I half suspected the Lab was winding me up about that but no it is true), a little white musk (I usually hate it but it works for me here), wintersweet, and very understated flowers that I don't recognise. Strongly recommended if you like a subtle scent, winter without being OTT "snow note". Maybe for people who like real flowers but hate "floral" perfumes too. (I love typing when I'm wearing an oil like this!) PS - bark, yes, it smells a little of bark. I'd agree that it's reminiscent of a forest at the end of winter, but no dry-leaves smell to it. Right at the end of the smell - I don't mean over hours but as you breathe in, there's quite a sting in the tail of it. I can't put a name to it but it's far from soft; that could put off people who prefer things to be smoothe and gentle. So - subtle and complex but not mild.

This is in my top 10. I got it on a hunch, despite it containing prominent death notes for me: currant and bitter clove, which have ruined about - oh it must be a dozen blends for me, and would normally put me off completely. But I loved the idea of caramel blended with less cloying things, so I was brave - and boy am I pleased I did. I was also hooked by the first review, that mentions an Italian bakery, so... In the bottle: a very strong mix of clove and bergamot. Wet: a little fragrant-sweeter, I guess from the mimosa, and yes - very strong, I've worked it out now: this is caramel as you get when you make it in a pan: the very dark runny fluid that sets into a rigid sheet. This mixed with the bitter clove is just total heaven, to me, but if your idea of caramel is the gooey sugary stuff (doesn't make sense since they all have sugar in but -) - this is the darkness of raw sugar with a shiny finesse from the heat of cooking. This blend reminds me of a good delicatessen. The blended waft of fine dark chocolates, hand-made pate, spices sold loose, ground coffee - none of these notes are there but the overall mix comes to me from it. This sort of scent is what I love BPAL for. It is subtly mixed but not a light scent. Throw is fair, but it lasts - for ages. Almost inconveniently long, even from a tiny application. I must hunt down an extra bottle.

I love Alice too I strongly suggest Lyonesse, which I absolutely love: creamy vanilla and golden musk. Also you should try Sudha Segara - that's rice pudding and sweet spices, good to try since you like the milk note. You could try Black Pearl, which has coconut. Also maybe you might like Black Lily, which is a sort of creamy lily (floral but fairly light).

A partner said last yesterday that he'd love to buy Ambre Nuit but both can't afford it and thinks it's over-priced. He remembered the notes as being Amber, Cedar and Patchouli, though looking on the web I see also rose, citrus, bergamot and others. There's an articulate review here: http://www.thescentcritic.com/2011/06/24/christian-dior-ambre-nuit/ (I've also read others who reckon it's nice but not that special - typical, I guess). Anyway, has anyone reading this tried it, and have you any suggestions of BPAL's he could try?

The first time I tried Intrigue, it went straight into my top 10. I wear it often and it's one of the oils I would *hate* to be discontinued. I don't find it changes a great deal from wet to dry. On me it's darkly warm, spicy in a way that I can't put my finger on - a right intrigue indeed.

I love this, but it does appeal to the "odd scent fancier" in me In the bottle it smells rather of real fish - fresh, sweet fish, halibut maybe - white fish, not oily, and definitely not off. Wet, it's at its most challenging. It reminds me of a fish&chip shop only without the really heavy greasy aspect. I don't get any incense at this stage. As it dries, I'm really rewarded. It makes me think of an old house by a salt-marsh with its windows open. Old scrubbed wooden floorboards, fresh air, something softly softly metallic, and something else that's tenderly, slightly sweet - again like really good fresh white fish. I have to be in the mood, but when I am, I'd hate to be without it.

My bottle has sludge in the bottom. If I mix it in, the scent is basically just cocoa to me, from start to finish. If I leave the sludge at the bottom, the scent is a little more mixed - a little vanilla with the cocoa, some white rose; I get virtually no lemon blossom which disappoints me but I guess it's a note at the end of a list with some hefty competition. I wouldn't have bought a bottle had I tried an imp first but I think I'll still grow to enjoy the un-shaken version. We live and learn I guess - I was just so certain that the notes would work for me

I put off trying this for ages because - oddly enough, it has so many of my favourite notes in it, I was just sure I'd love it, and it didn't have any "I wonder?" element to it. And now I've got my imp, and have worn it several times, but it turns out I don't particularly like it. I prefer my earth notes to be a bit sharper, colder, less - well, less rosey apparently! There's a sort of dank murk to this that suits the concept brilliantly and tbh I don't like zombies. My favourite fieldy/earthy outdoorsy scent is The Potter's Field.

It's funny - I get the same main notes that most people describe here, but I'm in the camp that loves it - seems to be a Marmite scent! On me this is initially strong mint, but warm rather than cold. I can't really detect a seperate note that creates the warmth (novice nose here). It's also quite sweet but not dragon's blood - I'm a keen DB fan and I'd spot that one. There's a slight hint of tobacco but not in any off-putting way (it's usually a death note for me and I felt brave ordering this). As it dries down the mint drops down a little and I get a lovely rounded spicy warmth. It's still sweet but not overly so - it's like a savoury dish that includes a small amount of brown sugar or molasses or something, not like a sugary candy. I absolutely love this - oh one interesting thing: when I applied this direct from the bottle, I liked it less than when I added a wand-cap. Odd. I think somehow the scent spread out better. PS All that said, this is a scent I'd wear to please myself. It's definitely quirky. It appeals to the elements of bravery, bracing, chutzpah, seizing the moment - but in a judicious way: courage with brain engaged. I can't call it pretty.

All I get is jasmine, stinky, soiled nappies (diapers) jasmine. Very disappointing - but actually not really, because it was a frimp. I know jasmine is a surefire deathnote for me and I'd never have ordered it. But still "like sitting in a garden at dusk" sounds gorgeous, and I love patchouli and vetiver. Oh well, have loved several others from this order.

Decidedly "meh". Reminds me of white musk more than anything. Some sandalwood which I do like but with nothing much else going on, for me. Somebody said it smelled like a stable and I desperately wanted it to be like horses - but it's more like the straw. (Out of interest this was an imp I ordered from the lab, but it was barely half full. It doesn't really matter for trying the oil but it's not ideal for swapping.)

Absolutely gorgeous. I was put off ordering this before because I hated the description and usually I find that BPAL does catch the atmosphere very well, but as I got to know scents better, and knew I loved patchouli, I just had to try this - and it is utterly gorgeous on me. I find it pretty consistent throughout, though this is a new imp and I guess it might change on aging. I get the two main notes, both true to themselves but blended nicely. It's interesting to have patchouli with fruit rather than grass and mossy things which is what I often go for. I love apricot too but not with things like melon or honey, so this is - basically ideal for me I'm just slightly concerned that I love it so much - should I go out and buy a dirty mac now and hang around school corner?

Absolutely gorgeous. I was put off ordering this before because I hated the description and usually I find that BPAL does catch the atmosphere very well, but as I got to know scents better, and knew I loved patchouli, I just had to try this - and it is utterly gorgeous on me. I find it pretty consistent throughout, though this is a new imp and I guess it might change on aging. I get the two main notes, both true to themselves but blended nicely. It's interesting to have patchouli with fruit rather than grass and mossy things which is what I often go for. I love apricot too but not with things like melon or honey, so this is - basically ideal for me I'm just slightly concerned that I love it so much - should I go out and buy a dirty mac now and hang around school corner?

Absolutely gorgeous. I was put off ordering this before because I hated the description and usually I find that BPAL does catch the atmosphere very well, but as I got to know scents better, and knew I loved patchouli, I just had to try this - and it is utterly gorgeous on me. I find it pretty consistent throughout, though this is a new imp and I guess it might change on aging. I get the two main notes, both true to themselves but blended nicely. It's interesting to have patchouli with fruit rather than grass and mossy things which is what I often go for. I love apricot too but not with things like melon or honey, so this is - basically ideal for me I'm just slightly concerned that I love it so much - should I go out and buy a dirty mac now and hang around school corner?

I've tried nearly all the Ars Draconis blends and slightly to my surprise, this is my favourite so far. It is a little like lily or rose but just the sweetness, without the twisty extra notes. I find it sweet but powerful. To me it's comforting in the original sense, ie strengthening. I guess I'm mainly surprised that I should like such a consistent scent - I normally love morphers. This doesn't change, but I find that despite that knowing exactly what it will smell like is itself a reassurance if I feel tired or wobbly. It's like hearing a simple octave, of something warm like G, if that makes any sense.

This was one of my first BPAL disappointments - a few months ago now, but I thought others might find my view helpful. I LOVE dragon's blood, and red musk too, but this scent kind of drags at the back of my nose/throat. I think it's the berries in it. A sort of acid feeling. Loads of people love berry scents so this would be good for them, but if you suspect you dislike them, keep it in mind about this.