VelvetSky

This was an extremely rude comment, one of many of yours that I have read since coming to this board.

Hmmm, I never really considered Desdemona to be a melancholy scent, quite the contrary (on me). But...I'd suggest Burial. When I want to wallow in my misery, I wear that.

Well, that isn't exactly true, unfortunately!! True, most of us just want what we ordered, but in the past, some people have felt free to request add-ons, changes, re-routes to different addresses, etc. Unfortunately, this caused Beth a lot of headaches (and often nasty complaints from these very people who insist on changing their orders)....which is why she had to make the "no add on" rule. It's good that you personally never thought to add on, but many did. So, as I said, it's a good thing that a rule is now in place. Velvet

I think it's important for all of us (myself included) to remember that we are dealing with a business, first and foremost, and that the best way we can all show our care, appreciation, and respect for Beth is to make things as simple for her and BPAL as we possibly can. I like the new "no add ons" rule. I think it will benefit everyone.

I use a coffee stirrer. I don't like Q-tips...the cotton soaks up some of the oil.

Amber's cool....whatever. As long as the juice is in there, Beth can bottle it up however she needs to.

Cathedral.

Spring florals, wet grass and water. I really enjoy florals that don't have a powdery drydown and Old Amsterdam is that. It smells bright, sunny and happy. Here's my problem though: most of the time I don't want to smell bright, sunny and happy. This scent may just be too cheerful for me.

Apples. Chocolate. Wood. In that order. I think this will be a lovely Autumn scent.

Dry dry dry. I too am getting the faint smell of cigarette smoke swirling around a vase of lilacs that are starting to droop and dry out in a dark room. A dusty rosewood table where hands are stretched out, touching. Heavy damask curtains drawn, making everything seem close and stuffy in the candlelight. I'm picking up just a very faint hint of rose petal, the favorite scent of some spirit probably. I truly adore Ouija because it smells so....spookily Victorian, exactly as I think Beth intended. Another for my bigger bottle list.

This is a very cool, calming and peaceful kind of scent. I would highly recommend wearing Namaste on days when you feel the need to be calm and centered. Freshly applied, this is all lemon and cedarwood to me. Very crisp. As it dries, I pick up more of the patchouli and the lemongrass which warms up the blend and takes that 'Lemon Pledge' association away. I really don't get the sandalwood until the very end. The patchouli and the sandalwood are very grounding to this scent, saving it from being overly-bright and citrusy. The final drydown is actually quite woody on my skin. The smell of lemon has been done to death in our society I believe, but Beth uses it in many of her blends as more of an accent to the woody/resins than a main note. Namaste is fresh without being cliche. Really nice.

Darkness is aptly named, this is a very somber, serious, almost ritualistic scent. Definitely myrrh, with that slightly acrid smell of candle smoke. I'm also getting something sort of musky and animal-like, but I think that's the black opium. The naricissus is just sort of sweeting it up a tiny bit, I can't really detect actual narcissus flower here. This is the type of scent I'd imagine at a Black Mass, or to wear during the dark moon phase. This is an attractively negative scent, if that makes any sense at all. I think I love this, but I'm not sure yet. I'll have to wear it some more to really get a good handle on it. I'm strangely drawn to it.

Wow!!! Luscious, fruity, rosey, sweet, full-bodied, decadently delicious stuff! I don't know how this tiny little Imp is holding all of this huge complexity, but it's just friggin amazing. It explodes onto the epidermis with glorious rich red rose. The jasmine, fruits and berries slowly creep in, mixing in with the rose, creating a symphony of red and purple and white. This is strong stuff with staying power. If you don't want to be noticed, and if you don't like ultra-sweet florals, do not wear Old Venice!! If you do love those smells, this may be your holy grail.

As everyone else has said, this is Earl Gray tea and lemon. A very crisp, light, pleasant unisex scent. I'm getting a bit of the leather on the drydown, but it's faint and polished, not wicked. My problem with Severin is that it's a very weak scent on my skin. I think I'd like to wear this, but I'd have to reapply constantly. I need blends with a bit more "oomph".

Mystery is giving me a very strong sense memory of childhood and plastic dolls, as allamanda noted. This is a very odd smell. Anise and soap, nothing incensey as the description indicates. I can't stop smelling my wrist, not because I want to smell like this, but because of the memories it's creating. This is without a doubt the strangest BPAL blend I've tested yet. It's just...odd and plastic-y. I'm going to keep the imp, not to wear as a perfume, but because of it's strong association with my childhood.

I was really hoping for more lilac in Bruja (I love lilac), but alas...I got it in the topnote, but it had all but disappeared a very short time later when it dried. For anyone curious about this scent, I would honestly say that it's more amber than anything else, with a nice myrrh accent. Very little floral, at least on my skin. This is quite long-lasting, sweet and mellow.

This is a very 'cold' floral aquatic to me. I think I'm getting white lilac and perhaps rosebud here, maybe sweetpea also. Something green underneath all of that, like new leaves. On my skin, this is another of Beth's more linear blends...it really doesn't change much on me from first application to the drydown. It's nice and strong, which is unusual for such a delicate floral. Can a scent be both delicate and strong at the same time? This one is. The aquatic nature of Szepasszony is really interesting to me. This is rain, as the description says, not ocean or lake. Fresh and cleansing, not salty. This is a perfect summer scent.

I agree that this is a very sad and melancholic scent. Sweet, pale blooms in the moonlight, the kind that throw off a heavy, moist scent. This is an absolutely gorgeous floral blend, as others have said with no one note standing out. Also, this is one of the few of Beth's oils that didn't morph on my skin, the notes stayed fairly steady and linear from the beginning, although it did get stronger as it warmed up. I'm adding Midnight to my big bottle list. It's perfection.

Very sweet and spicy at first, I'm definitely getting the musk and the cassia right away. There's something else here, maybe cardamom or nutmeg...definitely an extremely foody scent for the first 10 or 15 minutes. Something is making my sinuses hurt when I sniff my arm up close, although I'm liking the scent. The dry sandalwood comes forward as it dries, and wow...the whole thing is getting really really strong as it warms up on my skin. I'm not detecting much of the carnation at all. The drydown on Old Morocco is lovely, and very evocative of Snake Oil, only kicked up a notch, as Emeril would say.

Out of the imp, this is dark fat sweet blackberries and some sort of sweet floral under-note. I don't think I've ever smelled heather, but it's a strong powdery kind of dry sweetness under the berries. This goes on fairly strong. After a short while, the sweetness calms down and I definitely get that aquatic tang, just a hint of salt air. I absolutely adore the drydown of this blend. The first blast of sweet berry when wet was just a bit too much for me, but it does calm down very quickly and morphs into something wonderful. I'm going to enjoy wearing this in the dead of winter when I need to escape to a wonderful summery place in my mind.

Yes yes yes, this is a changeling. When I first applied The Caterpillar, my first impression was, 'ehh, ok, carnation and jasmine with a little citrusy thing." But as it starts to dry, it just morphs into that lovely green springy moss underneath the flowers. After a while, I start to get the incense and patchouli, which sort of 'grounds' the entire scent and pulls it together. I can't stop sniffing my arm; everytime I do, I pick up something a little different. I'm not sure how I feel about wearing something that is so quixotic. I think with this one, I just have to go with it and let it be what it wants to be.

Black, moist dirt in an ancient forest, fresh out of the imp. Strong, dirty and sappy. When it starts to dry, the patchouli starts to sweeten things up a bit. Burial is a very heavy, dark, mournful scent. I love woods and I love patchouli, and this is a perfect blend of the two. Don't wear this when you're depressed or sad, this is not a blend that will lighten your mood.

As soon as I read the description of Roadhouse, I knew I wanted to try it, purely out of curiosity. Only Beth could throw these honky-tonk notes together and make a perfume out of it. Dandelions straight out of the vial. Tall, overgrown dandelions with jagged leaves, with the pungent juice when you squeeze the stem. After a few minutes, the hops starts to come through. I'm surprised how strong the hops note is when the oil starts to warm up on my skin, pushing the dandelions back a bit. The tobacco is there, but very faint on me. Not tobacco smoke, but the smell of a fresh, unlit unfiltered cigarette. I'm getting the hemp last, very dry and dusty. Roadhouse is one of the most interesting BPAL oils I've tried so far. I don't know yet whether this will make it into my regular rotation of oils I wear often, but I admire it because it showcases Beth's artistry with unusual notes.

Cut a ripe, juicy pink grapefruit in half and sprinkle it with sugar. That's what Cheshire Cat smells like on me when freshly applied. Sharp, tangy and strong, and yeah, I'm also getting some minty freshness underneath the citrus. After a few minutes, the tartness starts to fade and mellows down, and I start to get the berries and flowers. The chamomile and lavender are both lurking back there, and I think this is where the powdery quality is coming from on the drydown. I'm still getting the mint, although not as much as when first applied. This one ends up very floral and sweet on my skin with barely a trace of the very strong grapefruit top note. As others have said, this is a great warm-weather scent, very refreshing and happy. Just like the Cheshire Cat's grin, it starts out strong and mad and slowly fades into the twilight. I'm not generally a fruity-scent person, but this is really really nice.

I lose track of time a lot. Can you believe it's the end of June already? Yikes!