edenssixthday

Al-Shairan smells golden and spicey. It’s a warm scent, perfect for wearing during fall/winter months. I didn’t identify the warm notes as peach and orange – I thought it was amber. The clove and cinnamon are a lovely way to top off the scent, and gives it some personality. This is a scent I’ll set aside for the spring/summer, but I’ll definitely pull it out again in the fall. It has a nice level of throw, and it lasts for hours and hours.

Loviatar - Initially, the first scent I note is myrrh. Then the dark, deep scent of black amber mixes with the myrrh to create an even darker, deeper, and almost frightening scent -- like a black shadow slinking around in the woods at night. As it starts to dry, another scent overshadows the opening notes, and it's the scent identified by the Lab as leather. However, to me, it doesn't smell like leather, but like the oils used to keep leather soft and supple. The scent stays fairly close to the skin and is too masculine for me. It's nice and deep, but it reminds me a bit too much of the tack room in my mom's barn, where she keeps her saddles, bits, straps, chaps, and leather oils. If it didn't have that connotation for me, I'd probably pass it on to my husband, but I don't want my husband's scent to remind me of my mom's barn tack room, either.

Anubis - I’m very surprised when I read the scent description of Anubis. The reason I’m surprised is because it doesn't mention honey, yet when I wear it, I smell honey. It’s not just a light honey scent, it’s predominantly honey, and a strong honey at that. In fact, when I first thought it was indeed honey I was smelling, I thought perhaps it was one of the few honey blends I could actually tolerate wearing. Then I read the description and I saw there is absolutely no honey in this blend at all. After about 30 minutes on my skin, the honey note (or whatever is masquerading as honey) begins to fade, and all I smell is something very subtle and herbal, and within the hour, the scent has faded on me completely.

Iambe was a frimp with my very first Lab order. I opened the vial and found the scent unpleasant, so I set it aside to try at another date. When I finally got around to trying it a month or so later, I was instantly displeased by the way I smelled. The patchouli in the scent overpowered everything else, with the exception the white tea. The dry tea scent combined with the patchouli made for a dank and unpleasant scent on my skin. I don’t remember what I did with this vial of Iambe, but it’s no longer in my life and I’m pleased about it.

Nyx - When sniffing the vial, I’m positive that Nyx isn’t going to be nice to me. It’s smells strongly of jasmine, which is the primary BPAL note I simply do not get along with. However, I put a dab on my arm, and for the first couple of minutes, the jasmine definitely dominated, but as the scent dried down, the jasmine receded significantly, and the blend became more of a husky rosy-jasmine. The entire blend becomes incredibly subtle at this point, and I have to put my nose close to my arm to smell it – again, something very odd for a jasmine blend, since my skin usually amps up that note. After about 90 minutes, I detect a slightly bitter note peeking through, and I am at a complete loss to identify it. Something about it reminds me of plucking dandelion weeds out of the garden. The scent is softly floral and earthy. I can’t decide if I like it or not. I think this scent is a tad bit too bitter for me, and although the jasmine is faint, it’s still too much for me, so I think I’ll pass on trying it again.

Urd - The first time I wore it, all I noticed was a strong, dark grape scent. The tiniest bit on the back of my hand left me surrounded by sweet, crisp grape juice scent for hours on end. Then I spoke to a friend, and she mentioned the patchouli in it and said Urd is her favorite "dirty hippie" scent. So the next time I tested it, I made sure to be aware of any patchouli scent. Sure enough, when I apply the oil, underneath the grape there is the scent of dark, woody patchouli. It gives a depth to grape that I hadn't noticed before. However, by the time the oil has dried down, it's once again all grape on me and I can't detect the patchouli (or anything else) at all. In fact, at this point, it reminds me a lot of Kabuki in it's level of sweetness and fruitiness. At about the 2 hour point, I notice that the grape has faded significantly, and the patchouli is back, and is in perfect balance with the grapes; It's simultaneously dry and sweet, woody and fruity. It's much lighter at this point, sticking much closer to the skin, but I still catch the occasional waft of the scent. It's not what I would consider a "dirty hippie" scent on me -- it's too fruity and juicy. This isn't a scent I'll wear often, but I can see myself being in the mood for it on occasion.

Ogun is overly-sweet and cloying both in the vial and when it is first applied. The very first note I detect is a very strong melon. It’s overwhelming and headache inducing because it is so strong. As the melon begins to fade a touch, it appears the combination of melon and cigar tobacco, gin, chili pepper and honey are the culprits in making this blend almost nauseating. Every note that is listed in the scent description is discernable, but there are just way too many strong aromas competing against each other rather than working together. However, once the oil begins to dry, it becomes much more pleasant, as all of the really strong scents seem to back off a bit, and it leaves my skin with a somewhat warm, tropical fragrance that is still very much based on the honey note, but otherwise, the notes work together much better. It’s incredibly strong and pungent when I first apply it, but as it dries, it begins to stick very close to my skin. The staying power seems to be about 4-5 hours, depending on the day I wear it. While it’s not for me, it turned out to be a lot better in the end than I initially thought it would be.

Coyote - I didn’t expect to like this scent. It sounded like it had all the wrong notes in for me, with the exception of amber, which I like. However, sniffed wet in the vial, it was incredibly enticing, and of my latest load of BPAL, I chose to try Coyote first. It’s far from what I expected. I thought it would be musky and dusty and dry, but it’s a warm scent, full of golden amber, and the musk is also warm and cozy. The grass scent is the first I’ve ever smelled that hasn’t caused my allergies to go haywire. It’s got the tiniest hint of something spicy, too, but I can’t quite peg it. This is a gorgeous scent and one that I won’t be parting with any time soon. As someone who lives in Colorado and who regularly hears the howls of coyote, sees herds of deer grazing on the prairie grasses, and smells the freshness of the rolling moors of the Wild West, I have to say this scent is appropriately named, and one that will probably always remind me of home.

Centzon Totochtin - is (on me, at least) all about dark, bitter chocolate and booze -- I don't smell the wine, but the rum comes through loud and strong. The chocolate is not the typical sweet, artifical "foody" chocolate. It's the scent of real, bitter cocoa. The scent whisks me away and reminds me of my Central American travels 11 years ago -- and that was even before I knew Centzon Totochtin was an Aztec reference! It's a truly fascinating scent, and very complex. I really really wish I could like it. It's a "grown up" foody scent -- nothing pink pom pom high-school princess about this particular foody scent at all! However, I can't wear it. It's just way too warm, dark, and heavy on me. Fortunately, I was able to swap my imp away and my "loss" was another BPAL-lover's gain!

Nyarlathotep - Sniffing this in the vial, I smell a scent that is somewhat dark and outdoorsy – not quite woody, but almost. When I put it on my skin, I’m thoroughly surprised to discover the scent of lemon leaping out at me. It’s not a lemon Pledge type scent – it’s more like the lemony scent that represents the “ozone” note in Thunderbird. Beneath the lemon, and becoming stronger as the oil dries on my skin, is the scent of incense. It’s not a rough hippie-type incense, but rather has the sacrosanct feeling of a incense used at High Mass. This scent is initially very bright and sharp, but the sharpness begins to fade upon dry-down, and within one hour, the scent is completely gone. In between, there is not much throw – it sticks very close to my skin, which is surprising for a lemon scent, as they usually waft around me nicely.

Thaleia - Of the Muses I've tried so far, Thaleia is the loveliest. She is full of light and vivaciousness. She is the scent of an a lazy afternoon spent lounging in the grass under the fruit trees by a New England pond. The apricot is the predominant note on me, and smells sweet and juicy like fresh-squeezed apricot nectar. The honey subtly blends with the brightness of the ylang ylang and blood orange to create a swirl of sprightliness that livens up the apricot even more, while a soft undercurrant of tonka grounds the scent. It's like being on the ground and in the trees all at once. I am too old to believe in faeries -- but if they do exist, I think they may wear this scent. The throw is good, but not in-your-face. Unfortunately, it doesn't last on my skin for very long at all. I may purchase again in the spring. It's more of a light spring/summer scent and in the winter, I prefer darker, heavier, deeper scents.

Mother of Demons, Vengeful Fury, Darkest Seductress, Queen of the Djinn, Goddess of the Gate. Red wine, myrrh, black musk, and attar of rose. Lilith - I put off testing Lilith for a couple of months because the scent in the vial was entirely a wine scent, and I was positive it was going to be overbearing and cloying like Madrid. I finally decided to give it a test run and put a tiny bit on the back of my hand. Within the next half hour, I also added more to my wrists and my chest because I loved the scent so much! It’s definitely got that wine-thing going on, but it’s not overly-sweet. It’s given a richness and depth by the husky myrrh and the rose in the scent. It’s truly gorgeous. And while honey is not listed as a note in the scent description, I am positive there’s at least a drop of honey in this blend as a honey-like sweetness really begins to shine through about 10-15 minutes after I apply the oil. Although it’s incredibly gorgeous and fragrant (with a great level of throw) for the first 30 minutes or so, as it dries down, it gets softer and more subtle until the 90 minute point when I can barely detect the scent at all. Still, it’s a really pretty scent.

Clio - As with all but one of the Muses I dislike Clio. When I first apply it, it's bitter and acrid, and smells like wet grass and weeds that have just been pulled out of the earth. I don't detect any of the lovely notes in this blend that I usually like such as orange or amber. The scent fades and softens as it dries down, but it still retains that fresh-pulled weed scent that doesn't appeal to me in the least. The scent lasts about 2 hours on my skin, but thankfully sticks very close to my skin. I'll pass this one to someone who has better luck with the Muse blends.

Nuit - the moment this touched my skin, I smelled jasmine and had my usual “Oh no!” reaction – because when I wear jasmine, I usually reek of jasmine (and only jasmine) for hours. However, the jasmine in this blend is definitely present but it doesn’t overwhelm the rest of the notes! This scent is heady and powerful and there’s nothing soft or subtle about it. It has incredible throw and lasting power. The rose note is incredibly subtle and I only catch a whiff of it occasionally, unexpectedly, and as soon as I smell it, it’s gone again. The moonflower and incense blend together impeccably and it’s difficult to distinguish one from another – they are such a perfect combination of notes. This is a gorgeous scent. It’s bold and beautiful yet feminine and romantic. Love it!

Persephone bums me out because I heart both pomegranate and rose totally and completely. They're both fabulous scents for me, and when I heard about this particular combo, I couldn't think of a better fruity-floral blend. And then I tried the oil on, and I almost cried because blended together, these two scents simply don't work at all. The pomegranate smells rotten and sour, and it makes the rose smell acrid and as if it's dying. It makes me wrinkle my nose in disgust and want to run to wash it off. This one needs to leave my life quickly and permanently.

Eos - I’ve heard from a few others on whom BPAL jasmine doesn’t work that Eos was an exception. I tried not to get my hopes up…but I was still hoping against hope that when I tried it on, it would work. And it did. It smelled exactly like jasmine should smell – soft and sweet and white and dreamy. It was pure bliss to finally find a BPAL scent with jasmine that I can wear and enjoy. I don’t know if it’s a different type of jasmine or if it’s just the combination of it with the other notes used in this blend, but my skin immediately smelled gloriously delightful and I couldn’t keep my nose away from my wrist. It’s not overpowering, and it has a decent amount of throw, and it seems to last for several hours. I love it and I’m holding on tight to my imp!

Aizen-Myoo - Unfortunately, the yuzu in this blend ruins it for me. I have yet to meet a yuzu scent I like. The only other notes I can smell is the cherry blossom, which I oddly smell from far away, but can't smell up close to my skin at all. The cherry blossom is soft and pretty, and reminds me of springtime in Washington D.C. with all of the gorgeous pink and white cherry trees in bloom -- one of my favorite annual events of all time. Unfortunately, the yuzu in this is extremely sour and overpowers the rest of the notes and dampers my enjoyment of the cherry blossom. I won't be keeping this one, although I will add that the throw is reasonable and the staying power is acceptable.

Kurukulla is my second-favorite BPAL rose scent. There are simply no words to describe how beautiful it is. Three lotus blooms and three roses combine to create a gorgeous and fragrant sweet, rosy scent. The lotus softens and rounds out the rose and the rose gives the lotus a little pizzazz. Today, I wore my Kurukulla. I pulled my car up at the outside mailboxes at the post office to drop off a couple packages (BPAL, of course!) and there was a man there collecting the mail. I rolled down my window and handed my packages to him and he said, "Wow! It smells really good in there. You smell great!" I really love this scent. I have several imps and fully anticipate that I’ll have a full bottle by summer.

Hades is aptly named: It’s dark, morbid, bitter, and macabre. The scent is – at least to me – thoroughly unappealing and mostly unpleasant. The combination of dark and pungent scents does not work at all on my skin, despite the fact that I like several of the notes on their own. Once the scent dries, it’s much more palatable, and the bitterness completely fades leaving behind a dry, woody scent that is still very dark but much more subtle. While it’s still not something that fits into my general taste in perfume, I could easily see this being really gorgeous on a man after the point of dry-down. On my skin, the staying power is very poor, as I can barely smell it an hour after I first apply it.

Euterpe - I thought there was a strong possibility that I was not going to like Euterpe because of the Iris note in it and the fact that I can't usually wear iris. Fortunately, the iris is blended far into the background. I distinctly smell carnation and poppy, and as it sits on my skin and warms up, I begin to smell a pretty strong touch of something spicy. Is it perhaps Cassia? That's my best guess. As it dries down, the spiciness remains, but a more mellow and not so biting version of it, and the overall scent is rounded out by the musk and a tiny bit of lemon (almost the lemon of fresh Dorian) shines through. It's a nice fragrance. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing really to write home about, either. I won't be buying more, but see no reason not to use what I've already got.

Osun is a strange scent that I can’t quite figure it. It’s powdery, green, and herbal with a touch of honey and a touch of rose – but not red rose, it’s more a soft yellow or pale pink rose. The scent is also slightly sour, and I don’t know if it’s the herbs giving it the sour scent or if the honey note is conflicting with my skin chemistry. I would say that the touch of sourness actually works well with the overall blend, and gives it a bit of bittersweet appeal. This is another one that I can’t decide if I would wear it regularly or not – it’s sweet and clean and reminds me of summertime in the outdoors, yet I tend to not prefer honey notes, and I do love rose, so I’m a little conflicted. I’m going to have to try this one again before I make a decision. The level of throw is light and sticks very close to my skin, although the staying power is about average.

Olokun is (scent-wise only) the younger and more timid brother of Cthulhu. This aquatic scent is almost exactly like Cthulhu without the strong and overbearing aspects of Cthulhu or the highly-perfumed quality that Cthulhu has. For an ocean aquatic, it’s really gorgeous. It’s still not the kind of scent I choose to wear for fragrance myself, but based on scent alone (as opposed to personal preference and wearability for me) this is a truly fantastic scent. Beth really did capture the scent of warm, tropical ocean in this blend. Although it’s not mentioned in the scent description, I can’t help but wonder if Beth didn’t throw a drop of melon in this blend because I definitely detect something very melon-like in this blend, and it gets stronger the longer it is on, reminding me more and more of Ogun, despite the fact that according to the scent descriptions, they are very, very different scents. It really is a gorgeous scent and I wish I liked wearing aquatics more because I’d probably find myself wearing it often. The level of throw is moderate to strong and the lasting power is a good 4 hours or more.

Grandmother of Ghosts was, on me, extremely underwhelming. It was obviously a light floral, but even while wearing it, if I looked up the Lab description, I could not identify one single note in the blend. It was soft, subtle, and well, ghostly. It stayed very close to my skin and had lasting power of about one hour, at most. An unimpressive scent, this one went to a better home quite some time ago.

Oya reminds me distinctly of Frumious Bandersnatch. While I haven't tested them side-by-side yet, if I were doing a blind sniff-test, it would be difficult to tell them apart when initially applied. When first sniffed on my skin after the oil is first applied, all I smell is fruity plum. It's not overly sweet, it's just pretty, uncomplicated fruity. However, as Oya begins to dry, she also becomes somewhat musky, and reminds me also somewhat of a sweeter, more innocent Smut. Once Oya has completely dried down, however, a thick, spicy scent becomes the dominant note, overpowering both the sweet fruitiness and the dark muskiness. I would say I'm 80% certain that the spiciness is not spice per se, but rather the floral spiciness of carnation, which is another reason this blend reminds me strongly of Frumious Bandersnatch. The spicy scent does not recede and continues to be the dominant note throughout the rest of the life of the scent on my skin. The scent lasts a good 4+ hours on my skin, and has really good throw when enough is applied. Since it's so similar to Frumious Bandersnatch, and since I already have a bottle of Frumious B, I don't think I'll wear Oya very often, but it certainly is a pretty scent. I just wish the spiciness would tone down over time.

Obatala - Of the new Excolo blends that I've tried so far, Obatala is one of my two favorites (Shango is the other). It is a gorgeous blend that is full of sunshine, serenity, calmness, and peace. It is creamy and distinctly coconutty on my skin, and reminds me of standing on a deserted beach in the South Pacific with my one true love, and the feeling of being surrounded by beauty and being one with nature. Most of Beth's blends containing coconut are either too subtle or fade to fast for my taste, so I'm thrilled to have one that's strongly coconut, and whose scent is still discernible after 5 hours. I'm glad to have a strong tropical-scented blend to layer with my tropical lotions that I love to wear year-round. Two thumbs up for Obatala! (I bought a 10 ml of this. I just had to have a ton of it!)