edenssixthday

I am so glad I "demanded" this during the Inquisition! It is everything I hoped it would be -- a sweet, creamy vanilla, with a heavy edge of anise. It is absolutely an amazing scent. While it gets a "plastic" scent on my skin after drydown from the vanilla, and even though the anise scent turns a little cola-like, I have to sniff up close to detect it. The sillage doesn't contain any of the plastickiness, just a yummiful perfectly-balanced vanilla-and-anise scent.

Blue Phoenix v2 - This is undoubtedly blueblerry. While it has a bit of that "fake fruit" scent to it, it's immediately identifiable as blueberry and is very sweet and juicy, and I can't stop sniffing my wrist! As it dries down, the ultra-fruitiness of it fades a bit and at this point I smell a very, very faint hint of flowers (bluebells?) and maybe a bit of blue musk and maybe even a hint of vanilla...but not the heavy, creamy, sweet vanilla often used in bpal blends; there's nothing "bakery-foody" at all about this scent, so perhaps it's vanilla musk? All I know is that when I'm wearing this, my arm starts to hurt from holding it up to my nose for hours on end. Actually, the "hours on end" is a bit of an exaggeration, as this scent only lasts about 2 hours on my skin. This is by far the best blueberry scent from bpal (so far!) and, in my opinion, the best of the entire color-phoenix series. What's the chance that it'll ever be widely available? I'm not going to hold my breath, but I can sure hope! Edit to add that I think due to the strong blueberry content of this scent, it might go really well with MVJBA Pancake Breakfast for a lovely blueberry pancake scent!

Gossamer v3 - When I first sniffed Gossamer, it smelled like a very commercial perfume, but as soon as I put it on my skin, I realized there's nothing commercial about it at all. It's a beautiful, wispy, white floral scent, and I think I agree with yeahbutnobut more than any of the other previous reviewers. My first impression after applying this is "lilies!", but not in the usual "bad" way, since lilies often amp on my skin. I think the lily note (I would guess calla lily) is probably lighter on other people since my skin really does amp it. However, I think yeahbutnobut may be on to something with her thoughts about linden and moonflower. It hadn't occurred to me until I read her review, but I feel like she may be right about those and also the blue musk. There's definitely something very light in this blend that's not a floral, but which pulls the whole thing together. I do smell a tiny hint of what I think may be star jasmine, but I don't smell any lilac or magnolia in this blend, as previous reviewers have (and my skin usually amps both of those notes). This is a gorgeous, delicately dainty scent, and if it were to ever be released, I'd definitely be buying more. I could see myself wearing this a lot in the spring and summer because it's so light.

Jingo-Kogo - When I first smelled this, I understood immediately how people could put it in a similar category to Underpants and Glowing Vulva. I'd add Inez to that category, too. When I first apply it, something really strong and almost astringent-like permeated the air, but that quickly subsides and I'm then able to smell a hint of of fresh-squeezed orange amid a swirl of vanilla musk and light resin/wood notes. This scent is absolutely gorgeous, but it's subtle on me and fades fairly quickly, but it's well worth reapplying. If this were to ever be released in a final form, I'd buy a whole bunch of bottles -- both to keep for myself and to give as gifts. I get the distinct feeling this is the kind of scent that you could give to anyone without worrying too much about personal scent preferences, since there's something about it that seems like it would have almost universal appeal. If I had to guess at notes, I would guess vanilla musk, sandalwood, a hint of orange, and possibly even a dash of amber...and maybe a touch of a light floral like rice flower. Edited to add that even though I'd put this in the same category as Underpants, GV, and Inez, when it comes to those scents, Jingo-Kogo kicks @$$ and takes names. It's a million kajillion times better than any of them.

Eggnog Latte - I've never been a big fan of foodie scents, and coffee scents are probably my least favorite, but I do like the way BPAL's Egg Nog scents smell in the vial (though not on my skin), so this one definitely had me curious. In the vial, it smells strongly of both coffee, sweet creamy eggnog, and a hint of spices. On my skin, the sweetness comes out even more, and I love the way the coffee and eggnog blend together on my skin. But then, after a couple of minutes, it turns plasticky and after a couple minutes more, it disappears. It would make a great oil burner scent, though!

Single Note: Orange smells absolutely heavenly in the vial and I’m positive I’ve found a SN that I simply have to track down. However, the moment it touches my skin, it becomes incredibly subdued and fades almost instantly, and the orange scent is incredibly light, although it is pretty. Upon dry-down, it turns into very faint, orange plastic on my skin. After smelling how gorgeous it is in the vial, this is such a huge disappointment.

Autumn Coolness - This is my 2nd favorite Halloween scent this year. I tend to really enjoy Beth's bamboo scents, but this one is probably the best of all the bamboo scents so far (IMO). The very first note I notice is the bamboo, but right behind that are soft, sweet florals that swirl in and around the bamboo and compliment it perfectly. When I smell it, I can almost believe I'm sitting in a Japanese garden with a fresh-water pond nearby, too. As much as I love the scent, it fades from my skin almost instantly. It smells truly remarkable for the first three, four or five minutes, but when it starts to dry down, it disappears completely. But I won't give up on it - that's what scent lockets are for!

Huesos de Santo - This is my favorite of all the 'Weenies this year - by a mile. My birthday cake this year was a white cake with one layer of orange cream filling and another layer of custard filling, and it was covered with buttercream frosting. It was an amazing cake. This perfume smells exactly like that birthday cake o' mine tasted! I don't smell the aniseed or the florals in this blend, but when it sits on my skin, it gets an almost marshmallow-like scent to it, too. It's warm and sweet and creamy and fruity and so amazingly delicious. It's one of the rare foody blends that doesn't turn to burnt plastic on me but also smells truly authentic and amazing. I desperately need a second bottle since I think I'll be soaking cotton in this for my scent locket, too. Mmmmm!!!!

I agree with Phaedra that this smells like a sexy men's aftershave. It smells like some type of boozy note (Phaedra said bay rum, and she could be right, but I'm not 100% sure on that, I am actually leaning more toward whiskey, but maybe it's both! ) and a hint of musk and lots of woody notes. It's very masculine to me and makes me think of Old West saloons. I'm so glad I got a little goblin squirt of it!

MVJBA Spring Training '08 Perfume Oil - This smells really good! I was expecting something more along the lines of popcorn and caramel, but the peanut brittle scent was surprisingly yummy! The popcorn scent wasn’t overly-buttery and nauseating like you find with Shill and the peanut brittle adds a lovely warm, sweet touch to it. I don’t tend to like foody scents, so it wasn’t going to be something I would find myself wanting to wear, so I passed along my bottle, but it really was a great scent and I’m surprised that I liked it since I didn’t think I would. The throw and staying power were about average and it never did turn “plasticky” on my skin as the foody scents often do.

Tupapau – Well, I have no idea what ‘umi’umi-o-dole is, but it is obviously something I like because this is a beautiful scent. I’m surprised the sandalwood is white sandalwood, because it doesn’t have the overall sense of arid dryness that I usually get from white sandalwood. I also don’t smell the pikaki. It smells like a soft, gentle breeze filled with the fragrance of sandalwood and plumeria. It’s really gorgeous. Once it dries down on my skin, it smells like wispy, liquid sunlight. Something tells me it’s going to age beautifully.

To Helen – Wow, this is one crazily high-pitched floral. It’s so sharp and white that it gives me an instant headache. I’m surprised there’s no lily in here, as it smells to me like there’s a ton of tiger lily in it. I don’t smell any of the ozone, beeswax, or amber notes in this. To me, it’s entirely white, heady, sharp, high-pitched floral.

Te Po – This smells like a glass of sweet cherry cola – heavy on the syrup – with a lime wedge decorating the edge of the glass. It smells really good and entirely like something I would want to drink. As for a skin fragrance, though, it didn’t quite fit with my taste in perfume.

Sturgeon Moon - I had really hoped this would smell similar to Blue Moon 2004 or to TAL Temple: Celtic or maybe even something like Aeaea. I had hoped it would be soft, clear, clean, subtle, and watery. It's not. It's incredibly green and grassy and highly astringent. It's one of the more bitter, pungent BPAL blends I've encountered and I could hardly stand to smell it in the bottle, much less put it on my skin. But I did screw up the courage to try a touch of it on my skin and it was an unpleasant experience at best. I can't identify any of the individual notes. It's just all heavy and pungent greenness and I am looking forward to getting rid of my bottle.

Hay Moon - Hay scents never work on me, but this one isn't as unpleasant as most of them. It's definitely a hay and grass scent that reminds me a lot of the golden summer prairies around my home, but the hay/grass scents are tempered by the sweetness of golden honey and mallow combined with the dry, powderiness of the amber and the slight hint of spicy cardamom. It's a really pretty scent, but still too strong on the hay/wheat/grass notes for me to wear as a personal fragrance. It's also very light on me and fades incredibly fast.

Mead Moon - This is such a pretty scent. It's definitely got the boozy, honey-sweetness of mead without smelling like a honey-based fragrance. The spices are not strong, but they do give it a sense of depth and I dont smell the herbal notes, but can "feel" them, as if they're used to reduce the level of sweetness in the overall scent. This scent does take on the tiniest hint of plastic-scent on my skin, but it's still really beautiful and when I wear it, I smell it wafting around me for hours. I feel very fortunate to have a bottle of it to enjoy for a long time.

Sugar Moon - Black currant smells like pee on me and sure enough, this scent smells like sweetened cat piss. I could tell that without the black currant note, this would probably have been a gorgeous, uber-sweet, slightly husky, fruity-floral. I’m glad there are other people for whom black currant works because beneath that horrible scent, I could tell it was really beautiful and I’m glad that for some people, it really did work and smell lovely on them. The throw was light after drydown and it didn’t have the best staying power, either.

Penumbra - This reminds me a lot of Dionysia, Blood Garden, and Crypt Queen, probably due to the pomegranate and florals and woods. It's a really beautiful scent, very juicy without being overly sweet. Behind the juicy pomegranate is a really nice musk that's lighter than red musk but sweeter than black musk. The lavender isn't at all noticeable in this blend (yay!) and the black amber, oakmoss, copal, and tobacco serve to darken and deepen it. This smells lovely already, but I imagine it is going to smell really damn good in about 12-18 months. The throw and staying power are both about average on me.

Dungeon - This is an interesting room scent. It’s almost entirely a leather-and-wine scent to me. The leather scent is the same dark, smooth leather found in Whip and it blends really well with the merlot scent. I’m not a big fan of wine scents, however, so as nice of a scent as it is, it doesn’t suit my taste in room fragrances. It does work to cover up odors really well. I’ve used it as a bathroom spray, sprayed around the kitty litter box after a particularly odiferous incident in there, and used it in my bedroom on one occasion when my puppy crapped on the floor. I’m very impressed by this room spray’s ability to cover up all traces of stinkiness and keep the air smelling fragrant for hours after use.

The Queen’s Croquet Ground - Grass and roses, indeed! This scent is highly reminiscent of Red Rose ’05 with it’s beautiful, deep, red rose scent blended with the scent of fresh, crisp greenery. I have used it as a room spray on multiple occasions and both times I used it as a linen/shower curtain spray, the scent lingered for about 3-4 days before it wore away. It’s very strong and I won’t use it often, but I bought a 1 oz. decant and I will certainly be using it up all by myself.

An immaculately clean scent: well-scrubbed soapy skin and fresh cotton. Wensleydale - This is the best soap scent I’ve ever encountered. I thought it might smell a lot like Dirty, but it doesn’t. The scent description is dead-on and I can’t get any better at describing it myself. The soap is clean and pure and the skin scent is clean and pure and the cotton smells clean and fresh and it reminds me of a scent I knew many years ago when my nephew was young and I’d put him to bed after he’d just taken a bath. It’s lovely and one of the few scents of its type I will most definitely wear again.

Stormhold - This is an extremely faint scent from beginning to end. It's full of ozone and and dusty stone, but there's also the scent of stormclouds. It reminds me a lot of both Thunder Moon and ozoney, clean, men's cologne. Upon drydown, the various nuances of the scent have faded and it smells like clean rain. At the 35 minute point, it has managed to fade completely from my skin. It's lovely, but too subtle and short-lived on me.

Buggre Alle This Bible - This is a soft scent full of the odor of paper and ink hot off the presses. Within 15 minutes, however, it turns entirely to soap on me. The person I passed it off to absolutely loves it, though.

Aelopile - This is a clean, fresh floral and herbal scent. At the 15 minutes point, it's very lemony and spicy, but begins to fade at the 30 minute point and is gone shortly thereafter.

Smokestack - This smells like smoke - dirty, toxic, pollution-laden smoke. It smells like an ashtray, actually. After about 15 minutes, it starts to smell like a sweet vetiver scent and becomes much softer and nicer, but I don't think I can handle wearing this while wet.