edenssixthday

Silentium Amoris - without looking it up, I guessed that this was probably a Funereal Oil. Unfortunately, when I did look it up, while I discovered I am correct, I also discovered it's discontinued, which is a real shame because Silentium Amoris is a beautiful blend. It's predominantly roses and has a touch of something bright in it -- the Lab description says ylang ylang, but it doesn't smell citrusy on me like ylang ylang usually does. I would also not be surprised if Beth slipped a drop of an unidentified lily note in this blend as well, as it has that smooth, round, softness that lily brings to most BPAL blends. I really like this and am going to treasure my little imp.

Deimos - My very first thought upon applying this blend was, “Wow, this is gorgeous!”, followed immediately by sadness over the fact that this has been long discontinued. It’s hard to describe Deimos. Without looking at the scent description, I find it absolutely impossible to define any specific notes. Rather, it’s surprisingly candy-sweet and fruity on my skin – almost berry-like. I can’t believe this scent is inspired by “the personification of dread.” This scent is far from dreadful! I can imagine if you’re the type who gets full on “cat butt” from civet that this could be dreadful, but if civet is a warm, sweet musk on you like it is on me, it’s nothing but positively delightful. Beneath the fruity candy-sweetness is a hint of something slightly dark and murky, but only enough to give depth to the sweetness and keep it from smelling like hard candy. I think it’s actually the ambergris, more than the frankincense, that is given this earthy sense of depth to the sweet fruity scent. Deimos, although soft, has a really lovely level of throw and a little on my wrists leaves a soft swath of scent swirling around me for a good two hours, at which point it starts to fade and stick much closer to the skin, although the scent continues to last another two hours or so. I only have one imp of this blend, and rather than eeking it out over time, I may decide to have “one last hurrah” with it and apply it heavily and enjoy it while I can. If Beth were to ever re-release Deimos, I would buy a 10 ml bottle. I love Deimos. It’s lovely.

Glitter - First impression: This smells exactly like Irn-Bru (my Scottish friends will know exactly what I'm talking about!). It is pink, girly, bubblegum sweet, girly, fruity, and reminds me of a cross between Fruit Moon, Pink Phoenix, and Aunt Caroline’s Joy Mojo. I don’t usually like bubblegum-sweet fragrances, but this one is mellow, pretty, and sophisticated. It’s the grown-up version of Jailbait. The longer I wear it, the mellower it becomes. It’s a really pretty, fun, springtime/summer fragrance. I wish this were still easily available. If it were, I’d buy a 10 ml of it! It has a low level of throw, but pretty good staying power.

Sepulcher - Does anyone have a vat of this that I can have? This is a gorgeous scent. When I first tried it on, I thought it was very, very faint. Then as I went about my business, I kept catching wafts of something incredibly beautiful and I realized that the scent is very soft and light, but not faint at all. On my skin, it's full of lilies with a touch of rose. Worn in a scent locket, a drop of juniper is also evident, making the scent even prettier than when it's worn on my skin. This surprises me, as juniper/evergreen/pine scents and my skin chemistry usually clash. This is a gorgeous scent and I wish I'd known how pretty it was when it was available so that I would have purchased a full bottle instead of a decant.

Unseelie - When I was a pre-teen, I loved wearing Love's Baby Soft. All these years, I've wondered where it went. Well, apparently it grew up and became Unseelie! Unseelie is totally the all-grown-up-now version of Love's Baby Soft. It's soft, lightly sweet and floral (orange blossom and a touch of violet, perhaps?), and very powdery. There's also a hint of musk underneath the powder. Initially, I really like the scent and the light veil of fragrance with which even the tiniest bit surrounds me. I can't apply too much or it definitely gets overwhelmingly strong very quickly. While the scent is lovely when letting it waft around my body, when I sniff my skin up close, I get the distinct scent and after-scent of cat butt. It's faint, but it permeates the rest of the scent. I am wondering if the musk in the blend is perhaps civet since some people have problems with civet (although I never have before). Either way, I don't know if I can keep wearing this. While the powdery-floral softness is gorgeous, I am really self-conscious about the cat-butt scent this oil carries with it, even though it's faint and sticks close to my skin. After the oil has sat on my skin for a couple of hours, both the sweet, floral, powdery scent and the cat-butt scent disappear, and in their place is the scent of mixed herbs and men's cologne. It's very masculine but light at this point. I should probably try to swap this for something I'll like better and not be self-conscious about. I still smell it faintly at the 4.5 hour point, but it has ceased to have any throw at this point and sticks very close to the skin.

Typhon - Oh wow, this is a dark, dark blend. It’s dark and woody, full of patchouli, sandalwood and vetiver. I would normally not like a blend like this, but something about it appeals to me. It definitely has allure, and while I can wear it well, I imagine any man wearing this would be unresistable! I have also discovered that if I layer the tiniest dab of Snake Oil over Typhon, it becomes pure sex and has become my latest favorite layering combo. Wow, this is gorgeous. This is most definitely a nighttime blend and not for the office or casual wear as it’s simply to powerful – both in the sense of it’s level of throw and its depth, but also the effect it has on my libido! Wow, this is sexy (especially layered with Snake Oil). Great blend. It totally sucks that it’s discontinued.

An ethereal, piercing blend of eucalyptus, citrus and mints. Banshee - The first scent I detect is my arch-nemesis, mint. I am instantly turned off. Almost as quickly, the mint disappears totally and completely and is replaced by the scent of lemon. It’s really, really strong lemon – “in yo’ face” lemon. As the oils dries down and the lemon scent backs off a tad, I detect a touch of eucalyptus beneath the lemon, and it smells a lot like a menthol-lemon cough drop. I can see how lemon lovers could love this scent, but as I’m not partial to any of the primary notes in it, it’s definitely not for me. The scent doesn’t morph or change much after dry-down. It sticks very close to my skin and has faded completely in just under two hours.

Jasmine, juniper berry and rose geranium. Ligeia - As usual with BPAL jasmine blends, the only note I can distinguish is jasmine. It overwhelms the entire rest of the scent, and the longer I wear it, the stronger the jasmine gets. So unfortunately, I can't give this one much of an objective review except to say that it lasts several hours.

Morella is a simple and pretty scent. Sage is the dominant note and it reminds of driving through New Mexico high desert after a summer thundershower, when the sage is wet and the air is full of scent of green summer sage. Just lovely. This is also the first scent with iris in it that doesn't go sour on me. The iris lends a lovely floral quality to the blend. There is the tiniest hint of muskiness, which I am assuming is the civet. The scent has fabulous throw for the first 30-45 minutes, but at the 1 hour point, it is very faint, sticking close to the skin, and by the 90 minute point, the scent is almost gone, and at the 2 hour point, all I can smell is the faintest touch of civet when I sniff really close to my arm. It's a beautiful blend, and if you don't mind reapplying regularly, it could be a really beautiful perfume.

Three Witches unfortunately disappears on my skin after about 5 minutes, leaving just the tiniest trace of pepper behind. At the 15 minute point, it's completely gone. Like the wind. Before that, it's sweet and spicy and reminds me of Red Phoenix. Oddly enough, I don't smell any cinnamon in it, just clove and pepper. It's not for me -- too peppery.

Ingenue is an incredibly woody scent, but it’s soft and pretty. The clover is a very strong note in this scent, and sadly, I don’t note any of the melon and only the slightest hint of rose. This scent has the tiniest bit of sharpness, and I’m thinking it must be the greenery of the violet leaf and the clover. It’s a really pretty scent and I’d put it in the same scent family as Xiuhtecuhtli, oddly enough. Unfortunately, on me it has very little throw and stays extremely close to the skin and it fades quickly. I like it enough, however, that I think I’ll hang on to it and wear it in a scent locket and in my hair to make it last longer.

Crucible of Courage - First off, I can’t say it gave me any additional courage that I felt I was lacking, so in that respect, I can’t rate it very high; however, in the scent aspects of it, wow, it’s beautiful! It is warm and creamy and slightly sweet. If I had to guess some of the notes that might be in this blend, I would guess amber, vanilla, and saffron. About 20-30 minutes after application, it gets the slightest hint of a plastic scent, the way a lot of foody scents do on me, but it’s very faint and overall doesn’t detract from the gorgeous scent of this blend. It’s a beautiful-smelling blend. Sadly, it sticks very close to my skin with virtually no throw – I can only smell it if I sniff my skin up close. The staying power is about 3 hours on me. I doubt I would wear this as a perfume since there’s no throw, but it’s hard to say I won’t either because the scent is so lovely.

Shadow – When I apply this, I’m almost knocked off my seat by the strength of the sandalwood in this blend. It’s a bone-dry, white sandalwood followed almost instantly by the crisp, bright scent of lemon. The lemon and sandalwood swirl around each other in perfect balance giving this scent a crisp, dry, tartness that is exquisitely blended. About 45 minutes after I apply this blend, I notice the tiniest touch of woody patchouli, but it remains very subtle and in the background of the overall fragrance. The lemon fades within the first hour, but I can still smell sandalwood very faintly about 5 hours later. I like it, but since I discovered another sandalwood/lemon fragrance I like better (Polyhymnia) later on the very same day I first tried Shadow, I think I’ll keep the Polyhymnia and pass the Shadow on to someone else.

Bat's Blood - My first impression is that there is definitely dragon's blood in this blend, but it has been deepened and darkened by something that I can't identify. It's also got a slightly herbal quality, similar to the other Voodoo blends. I don't have a clue how to use this Voodoo blend, so I can only comment on it as a fragrance. I usually like dragon's blood, and it usually works really well on me, and while this one definitely smells good, it's subtle and sticks very close to my skin. It's got incredible staying power, as most dragon's blood blends do on me. I like it, but it doesn't WOW me enough to seek out more than the one imp I have.

Venom - It seems that every week lately I'm discovering a new "must have!" BPAL scent...that's hard to find, of course. Venom is the latest. This is a truly gorgeous blend! It's sweet like Fae and Versailles (although not as strong) and is reminiscent of a honey and/or vanilla scent without being foody, but rather smells quite sweetly floral and a touch fruity. It's slightly woodsy, as well (probably why it reminds me of Fae and Versailles). It's not strong or overpowering, yet it's got a rich and heavy sweetness about it. I'm completely blown away that I don't detect the jasmine note in this blend in the least, since my skin usually amps up jasmine to an uncontrollable level. Likewise, I don't smell the lime at all, and I wonder if it's my skin chemistry causing the lime to disappear, or if it's the process of aging. Venom has a great level of throw and the scent lasts throughout the day. The first time I tried it, I applied it around 10 p.m. at night, and at 7:00 a.m. the next morning, when I woke up, the first thing I noticed was the scent of Venom on my wrists. This is a beautiful blend and I don't understand why it had to be discontinued! I'll be using up every last drop of Venom that ever comes my way -- and believe me, I've managed to unearth quite a bit of it in recent weeks because I love it so much!

Puck is the perfect name for this scent. It's green and mossy, has some tree scents to it, and a touch of berry that brightens it up just enough to keep it from being too earthy; however, it's not a bright scent. It's a slightly mystical scent. Apparently, I not only don't have a problem with civet as many people do, but it must work well on me because I have yet to find a scent with civet in it that I dislike. I really wish I could try a Civet Single Note to see what it smells like on its own. On a different note, I also accidentally discovered the second time I wore Puck that it layers very well with Salamander. Puck lasts for a good, long while and has the perfect amount of throw for me. I like it and while I don't foresee trying to track down a bottle of it, I'll enjoy using my imp until it's dry.

Carnivàle Revisited - On me, Carnivàle smells nothing like the above description. It's all spicy, and no berries or florals or ambers or musk. It's pure clove and pepper on my skin. It reminds me of BPAL's Port-au-Prince without the sweetness. This is not my kind of scent, and it's too bad it doesn't work on me because the description sounds just lovely, and berries usually work really well on me. It doesn't have much throw -- maybe 6" from my skin at most, and it fades fairly quickly. This scent is a huge disappointment. Oh well, there are 800+ other BPAL scents to keep me happy!

Naiad> - Wow, when I first applied this blend, the lavender reached up and smacked me in the nose with its wet, thick, and gamey scent. It's yet another reminder to me that 90% of the time, I really dislike the lavendaer oil that Beth uses in her blends, as it seems really "gamey" to me. Fortunately, upon dry-down, the lavender recedes significantly, taking backstage to the lovely floral-citrus scent of the neroli in the blend. As time goes by, the lavender disappears, and the neroli stands out strong and crisp, but after about two hours, it two begins to fade very quickly. In the end, it's a nice enough scent, but I don't think I'd wear it due to the "gamey" scent I get from the lavender initially.

Despair - When first applied, all I smell is the sandalwood and rosewood. It’s a very dry and arid scent. As it dries down, the chamomile and ylang ylang blend in with the woods, and it takes on a slightly herbal/floral quality. It’s not what I’d call a “pretty” scent, but it’s soft, serene and calm. It sticks very close to my skin and has virtually no throw. Unfortunately, at the 20 minute point, the scent has disappeared entirely from my skin. There are some scents that I like enough that I don’t mind reapplying throughout the day, and while this isn’t a bad scent, I don’t like it that much.

apple / white musk / rose / rose geranium / sandalwood / ylang ylang Libra - This is a beautiful blend. When I first apply it, I smell something sharp and bright, which I'm guessing is the ylang ylang. That scent disippates almost immediately, and the next scent I smell is lily that quickly morphs into rose. Lily is not listed as an ingredient in this blend, so I don't know if my nose is playing tricks on me or if the oil is playing tricks on my nose! The top note from here on out is rose. As the blend dries, the scent of sweet, crisp apple subtly blends with the rose, creating a most unique fragrance (and for the first time, I really like the addition of apple in an oil blend!) A little over an hour after I first apply the blend, I start to notice something warm and spicy in it -- almost as if the tiniest sliver of carnation has made its way into the blend. In fact, I can't smell the spiciness as much as my nose can feel the spiciness. This is a very pretty summertime floral. although it's really soft and sticks fairly close to my skin, I will occasionally and unexpectedly waft around me. The staying power is really poor on my skin, as the scent is entirely gone by around the 90 minute point. I'm glad I got to try it, but for a pretty summer rose blend, I'm going to have to stick with Venus.

Scorpio - Holy cow, I've never had a scent change and morph so quickly and so dramatically in the first couple of minutes. My very first initial impression is dishsoap, which is almost instantly replaced by the overwhelming scent of violets, which is instantly covered up by the scent of mint, and then the violets come back only this time they bring a little incense with them, and whoa! there's a bit of gardenia in here, too, and then more soap and violets and mint and now, wood, as well! Wow, it's just a cacophonous olfactory party going on in this little blend! Wet on my skin, each of the notes seem to be in competition with one another, each trying to pop out and be the foremost note, but as the blend dries down, the notes settle down and at least try to work together, although I can't say they're particularly successful. There are just so many random, bold notes in this blend, and each one was meant to be the pri mary note, and it's just not possible for them all to be the primary note at the same time. Around the 1 hour point, I notice the gardenia is the dominant note, backed up by the woods, and the even fainter scent of violet, mint, and now a touch of rose (?) and herbs, as well. The throw is really strong, so I can't apply too much at once. The staying power is phenomenal -- I think the wood notes really help this cling to my skin. Definitely one of the most unique and interesting BPAL blends I've tried to date, but not something I would choose to wear myself, as its just too heady for my taste. I think lovers of the gardenia in Sacred Whore may really like Scorpio.

Leo - When I first sniffed this, all I could detect was the sandalwood and juniper. Juniper ruins most blends for me. It just doesn’t work with my skin chemistry 95% of the time. I went ahead and tested it anyway, and was delightfully surprised when I discovered that once it was on my skin, the juniper blended very nicely with the sandalwood, and the fresh and crisp scent of fresh orange juice brightened the scent up and worked really, really well with the juniper and sandalwood. In fact, I have the feeling that if Leo were easier to get my hands on, I’d wear it regularly (despite not being a Leo and in fact, being a water sign). As the oil dries down, I also begin to detect the bright citrus scent of a sliver of lime, which also blends really nicely with the other notes. Around 2 hours after I apply it, the scent overall has faded significantly and the juniper and lime have faded completely, but this is also when I begin to detect a soft floral scent that is blending very nicely with the sandalwood and orange. There is, in fact, a faint touch of powdery note that is what I generally get from orange blossom. Actually, at this point, it reminds me a lot of Tamora (and when I look up Tamora’s scent description, I can definitely see why!). This is a wonderful scent, and I really wish Beth would bring back the astrological oils. I’d buy a bottle of this!

Mercury - Initially, all I can smell in this is cinnamon. Cinnamon, as it usually does on me, completely overwhelms any other notes in this blend. It also burns my wrist, although it leaves only the lightest trace of pinkness where I applied it. It’s definitely not one I could wear anywhere else on my skin! As the blend dries, the cinnamon remains very strong, but I also detect a touch of lavender and the tiniest hint of dark, bitter herbs in the mix. The throw is light and the staying power is minimal. This scent is definitely not for me and I hope it finds a more loving home.

Jupiter - From the first moment I apply this blend until it has disappeared on my skin, it's incredibly woody. It smells similar to sawdust mixed with a little sandalwood. The scent is slightly dank and musty, and I don’t find it appealing in the least. It sticks close to my skin and has pretty good staying power. I’ll be passing this one along to someone who likes wood scents more than I.

Pisces - This scent is a soft aquatic that is infused with jasmine, which completely ruins it for me, even though the jasmine isn’t as strong as it is in many other blends. Without the jasmine, it would be very pretty and springtimey on me. I took a look at the reviews on bpal.org to see if anyone else had trouble with the jasmine, and it doesn’t appear so, which means it’s probably just my skin chemistry (as usual with the jasmine). The scent sticks close to my skin and it’s hard to tell when it starts to fade. Somewhere between the 2-3 hour point it’s faded almost completely, and by the 3 hour point, all I can smell is the faintest trace of jasmine on my skin.