Wildwoodflower

I was going through my stash for potential swaps/giveaways tonight and found an sniffed but never tested bottle of Madame Tracy. I almost sent it away without trying it, because in the bottle it smells like perfumey floral overload to me, but I had some toothpicks right there so I decided to give it a shot. On first application, ick, expensive commercial perfume, and I don't mean that it a good way. Too strong, too matronly, too reminiscent of artificial flowers sprayed down with synthetic flower fragrance chemicals. I wanted to go wash it off right away, but the sad truth is that I was too tired to get up, so I sat in front of the computer for a while. After about 30 minutes I sniffed my arm again . . . WOW, what a difference! The Madame had turned into soft sugared violets and tea roses. Absolutely beautiful. I felt like I was inhaling the scent of real blossoms in the spring sun. After another hour it took on a slightly soapy quality - not unpleasant at all, actually comforting and lovely, but not quite as lovely as the blossom stage - more like soap that was intended to smell like sugared violets and tea roses instead of the real thing. I like Madame Tracy, but I'm going to need to try her again before I decide if she's a keeper.

This is beautiful in the imp and wet on my skin. To me it's light, clean but not soapy, and slightly sweet. I love the leather in this blend, and the opopanax is nice. I see that some reviewers are calling it dark, but it's not dark at all to me. It's soft, pleasant, and generally unobtrusive. However, much to my dismay, something goes very wrong on my skin after an hour or so. I don't blame the blend at all - I know it's my skin chemistry. Does this have musk in it? I get the same harsh b.o. smell that I get with Crowley and scents that list red musk/dark musk/infernal musk/etc. It's exactly the same wonkiness, so if there isn't musk in The Black Rider, I am at a loss. After another hour or so, the bad smell is gone and I smell wonderful again. I don't know if I can suffer through the gross stage every time I wear this, which makes me sad, because I really love the way it smells when it is in harmony with my skin. It's very much a unisex scent and I think it would be awesome on a man.

Fledgling Raptor Moon is amazingly well-balanced on my skin. I am pretty sure that I can detect each of the listed notes but none of them overpowers the others. That rarely happens on me! It's a very warm and cuddly blend, fuzzy even, and it is spicy in a cozy platonic way. I love bourbon vanilla and carnation so I wish they were a little more prominent, but I'm not complaining because it smells lovely as-is.

Pink Snowballs (2011) is basically a hybrid of Snow White and Alice on me. It has the soft sweet floral of Alice with the chilly whiteness of Snow White. It's girly and very delicate, but it has decent throw and staying power on my skin. The rose in this blend is beautiful and soft, like the big pale pink roses my Mom grew in her garden when I was a kid. I can see why it goes plasticky on some people but thankfully it stops just short of plastic on my skin, just like Snow White does. I have to admit that I kind of like the almost-plastic effect because it reminds me of barbies and toys on Christmas morning. After a few hours the icy note amps up and pushes the rose to the background. I really like Pink Snowballs a lot, but I haven't decided if I like it enough to hunt multiple bottles when I already have Alice for my super-girly days.

For a very long time I thought I didn't like Snake Oil. I ordered an imp with my very first lab order. It smelled ok, but ehhh, it was a little harsh, and it didn't smell particularly good on me, so I gave it to a friend and moved on to all of the things that did smell good on me. Then I got a free bottle from the lab a looooong time ago with the only ginormous order I've ever placed. I still didn't like it. It was too strong, too heady, still too harsh. I think I intended to give it to someone, but it went to the back of my drawer and I forgot about it. I found it by accident several years later. On a whim, I decided to see what age had done to it. You can see where this is going, right? Aged Snake Oil . . . it might truly be the nectar of the gods. I immediately fell in love, no . . . I fell in lust. It really is like a totally different blend. It smells so much deeper, so much smoother, so complex. It smells like the best sex I ever had. It makes pretty boys nuzzle my neck and want to kiss me. It even looks different. Now it's all thick and dark and syrupy looking. I lack the ability to properly describe the intoxicating smell of aged Snake Oil, so basically this review is useless, other than to say that if you tried "fresh" snake oil and didn't like it, please, for your own sake, obtain some aged Snake Oil and give it another try.

I really really wanted to love Florence. I love every one of the listed notes, so it should have been a winner. But alas, something doesn't agree with my skin chemistry. In the bottle Florence is bright and warm, with a red berry smell at the front. It's a very beautiful scent. On my skin, it quickly goes dusty in an unpleasant way. On the right person Florence would be fabulous, but it just doesn't work for me.

Alice is one of my favorite BPAL blends ever. It's the one that made me realize that yes, sometimes I am the kind of girl who likes to smell soft and delicate. It was also my gateway drug into the land of rose and carnation scents, at least the ones that actually smell like roses and carnations. Alice is simply beautiful. My uncultured nose interprets it as creamy carnation with a hint of sweet almond. It's not a va-va-voom scent. It's fresh, clean, innocent, warm, and feminine. It's not the scent to wear when you're out on the prowl in stripper heels. Some scents I wear for other people - I wear Alice for me.

Crowley in the bottle? Delicious, swoonworthy, sexy, quite possibly one of the best things I have ever smelled. I want to put my face in the bottle and become one with that smell. Seriously. I could strap it on like a feedbag and smell it all day, every day. Crowley on me? I must be defective, because I can think of no other explanation for how one of the most wonderful things I have ever smelled turns to b.o. and unwashed socks on my skin. I tested it many times, in many different situations, in many different hormonal states, but it always turns out the same. Gross. I could cry. My guess is that red musk hates me. Maybe I should buy a scent locket. Or maybe I should just cry.

Blood is all cherries and spice on me, with a soft, warm base of incense and woods. I get a hint of floral from it - carnations or roses - maybe that's an effect of the dragon's blood? It's sweet but it's definitely not overly feminine. I know a boy who wears Blood and it's extremely sexy on him. Whenever I wear it I always make sure to take the bottle with me so I can apply more after a 5 - 6 hours because it turns into a yucky powder as it's wearing off. Still, it's one of my favorite blends - spicy, sexy, sweet, dark, dangerous, and androgynous. It would be perfect for the slightly androgynous and dead sexy Victorian vampire in your life.

Bordello is one of my all-time favorites. It's very sweet in the bottle and on my skin, but not candy sweet, thank goodness. I get a true fruity sweetness that is tempered by the smooth (but not milky) creaminess of the amaretto. It's a little boozy on my skin, but just barely. Sweet, spicy, creamy, purple.