VelvetSky

As everyone else has already noted, Yerevan is very, very apricot....sweet, fresh, sticky apricot juice. That is really all I get on first applying, but as with all of Beth's oils, I had to be patient for this one to unfold a bit to really appreciate it as more than a single note. Mid-way thru the dry down, the pomegranate and iris briefly come out on my skin. And when I say briefly, I mean minutes...just that whiff of something sharp and then woody. If you're not constantly smelling your skin when testing Yerevan, you will miss it. The bottom of this fragrance is softly floral, a teeny bit of Chinese musk, and of course apricot. I think this would be a wonderful mid-summer fragrance.

R'Lyeah....yes indeed, I concur with my BPAL sisters by saying this is grapefruit in all it's glory. On my skin, it's somewhat herbal-y and cold, but definitely grapefruit nevertheless. MUCH different from what I was expecting from the description. Not at all bad, just different. I really don't get the aquatic notes until much later, at the very bottom of the dry-down. At that point, the scent has faded considerably into a very pleasant (not at all brooding or evil) blend. I adore grapefruit in any form, so I'm really glad I ordered this imp!

Old Dublin is an imp that I have been eagerly awaiting, because Beth's description just made me want it, and made me just know I'd love it. As usually, our BPAL Queen didn't let me down. Straight out of the vial, this is Yule to me. Soft, misty evergreen, wood and winter berries...like brushing through fresh greenery on a walk through the woods. It's sweet, but a natural and gentle kind of tree-sap sweet, with the sharp twinkling red berries always in the background. I think of a magickal place when I smell this. The drydown is rosey and calm, but the blend never turns overtly floral on my skin. The wonderful, amazing wood and berries are always there. Oh and one more plus...Old Dublin lasts forever on me. I'll be hording this precious stuff until my bottle comes. Beth, you have truly wrought magic with this beautiful perfume.

How about Maiden? It's sweet, gentle and a bit floral/fruity. And surely her dad will approve of that name

I was hoping for Samhain, but I guess today I'll be wearing Haunted.

I say Sow-when. And B-Pal

Sin and Haunted are both quite long lasting on me.

I LOVE Phantom Queen.....so much so that I wanted a big bottle of it the minute I swiped the imp on my wrist. Love at first whiff. This is all red clover at first, sweet and wild and just a little green. It's very herbally sweet, almost honey-like. After a while, the apple blossom pushes forward with that tiny little tang of something citrusy. This note is so fleeting, I almost doubt I'm smelling it, but yes, for about a minute there I'm getting something lemony. I honestly don't pick up any orchid at all in this blend until the very end of the drydown, just before it fades away. Phantom Queen is an exquisitely beautiful floral, wild and almost magical. I must have it in my bottle collection.

Lilac is the prominent note in Dragon's Eye, which for me is wonderful because I love and adore lilac. The Dragon's Blood is very warm and luxurious here, giving the lilac sophistication and depth. About half way thru the drydown, I start to get the lilies quite strongly, but there isn't the usual piercing quality to these lilies; they are soft and gentle, sort of 'melting' into the lilac. This is by far my favorite of all of the Dragons.

Being a Gemini, this was a must-try oil for me. I'm so happy that I like it as much as I do. This is fresh and very minty when I first put it on, with a teeny bit of lemon floating around in the background. After warming up on my skin, the sweet pea makes an appearance, mixing in with the mint and the lemon. Gemini is a very lively, outgoing perfume...an absolutely perfect reflection of the Gemini personality.

On first applying, Erato is all sweet myrrh on my skin. Surprisingly, I don't even smell the flowers in this for several minutes....it's all about the myrrh. I'm not getting anything even remotely soapy from this. After a while, I start to pick out the various flowers. First the ylang ylang, then the rose. The stephanotis and sweet pea are last.....I really love the stephanotis here, very rich and true. Myrrh is the predominant note throughout Erato, and it blends with these very sweet flowers very well. This is a very sweet perfume.

As many others have already noted about Belladonna, this goes on very sharp and medicinal. I really like this quality about most all of Beth's herbals, that first note of wicked green poison. This morphs rather quickly into a soft, semi-powdery green floral, cool and lovely. Belladonna does a quicker and softer change on the drydown than any other green scent I've yet tried. Really nice....

Les Fleurs du Mal goes on, and stays, slightly soapy to me (and I mean that in a positive way). The rose, wisteria and lilac in this blend complement each other perfectly, nothing nudges the others out of the way for attention on my skin. Gentle and sad, those are the impressions I get from this scent. Mysterious and lovely, like a woman who's beauty is fading.

Kostnice is a very complex scent, I just love it. It start out on my skin all rosewood and lilies. This is definitely an ecclesiastical blend....I'm 6 years old again, sitting in church, uncomfortable on the hard wooden pew, wearing my blue dress with the matching hat and tiny purse with my white gloves inside. Lilies and wood and the slight scent of roses. After a while, the frankincense starts to dominate the blend, wafting over the wood and flowers, until everything ends up an exquiste cacophany of fragrances that make me feel as though Jesus on his cross is watching me. I honestly don't know whether I can wear Kostnice on my body as a personal scent. I have too many memories, thoughts and feelings wrapped up in it. I feel conflicted when I experience it.

I always look forward to Beth's herbal blends, because they all have a sinister, poisonous bite to them that I just love. Old Rome opens with all cypress and juniper...the hard, bitter berries of these trees that smell both fresh and dangerous. This is a very strong blend initially, almost bracing. The scent gradually mellows down into a gentle breath of rose and chamomile (one of my favorite notes), although the sharp green of the wood is still back there. Old Rome is now one of my favorite of the Wanderlust blends, because it's simple, but has a wicked little tang that haunts me. I'm going to be wearing this a lot this winter.

Wanton. On first whiff, I get the patchouli very strongly (this is good because my skin loves patchouli). The rose is there too. and this is a very sweet rose. Rose and patchouli is a very daring combination, because both notes are so damn extroverted. I feel as though there is a little battle going on on my skin...both the patchouli and the rose are saying, "Me! Me! Notice Me!". After a few minutes, these two brats start to get along and play nice, and I start to notice the sandalwood and the palmarosa. These two notes are very soothing and stabilizing in this blend. Wanton is a very feminine scent, and one that appeals to me as a Gemini. I always appreciate scents that switch back and forth, first this, then that.

Kabuki was a gift from the Lab Fae, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to try it, because I adore it. Freshly applied, this is maraschino cherries...rich, crimson, slightly boozy. Mmmm I can't stop smelling my wrist, it's that intoxicating. I rarely envision colors when smelling Beth's blends, but my mind is full of blazing red lacquer with Kabuki. I did not get the fast morph into the musk and anise as others have. The cherries hang in there for a good long time on my skin. The final drydown is lovely musk and a hint of the anise and cherries. I am not a 'fruity scent' kind of person, but I really love Kabuki because it's just so damn interesting. Many thanks to the Lab for throwing this in for me.

I don't feel that anything more can really be said about Zombi that isn't said in the description. Freshly turned, moist earth (black, fertile earth) touched with dry roses, gentle greenness and an extremely wicked note of oakmoss. This scent is slightly disturbing to me, in a good way. I remember as a kid these commercials for the old 'Creature Feature' and 'Chiller' movies, in which a pale bony hand with 6 fingers pushed it's way up through black dirt and a wolf howled mournfully in the background. Zombi gives me chills like that!

I love Seance. To me, it's Ouija's older sister....more mellow, more sophisticated, and she doesn't smoke like Ouija does. The rose and the rosewood in this blend are absolute perfection. Like opening up an old ornately carved keepsake box and finding a beautifully dried red rose inside that still retains it's haunting fragrance. On the drydown, I definitely get that touch of hazel that Beth mentions in the description. It's oh so subtle, but gives Seance a buttery warmness. This is definitely going on my big bottle list.

Storm starts out salty and bracing...this is an ocean storm, ozonic and fresh. I smell lemon peel pretty strongly after a minute, and something else that's rather sharp and piercing, and perhaps herbal. This is a light, cool scent that I'll enjoy wearing. A free imp from the Lab, and I'm so glad I've had a chance to try it.

When it first hit my skin, I got leather and a quick bite of lemon. Herbal and fresh, just slightly woody. This made me think of green and dark places when I closed my eyes. The lemon pushed forward as time went by. These notes stay fairly true and strong throughout the drydown , although things become a bit sweeter at the bottom. I believe that's sandalwood. There is a poisonous, astringent sting in all of Beth's herbal blends that I just love.

Sacred Whore....this perfume so fits the name. This is an almost shamefully sexy fragrance. This is not for the shy or for someone who doesn't want to be noticed. Goes on strong, sharp and brazen, like slightly overripe fruit. After a few minutes, I get heavy red wine mixed with thick incense. A tiny touch of bittersweet chocolate. I'm getting a whiff of gardenia, but an overblown, spent gardenia blossom. This is the dark side of womanly. There is absolutely no subtlety in this blend - it's loud and powerful. This is a perfect blend to use in spell work.

Mmmmmm Voodoo.....the Lab gifted me with an imp of this scent, and I'm so grateful, because I absolutely adore it. On first applying, I definitely get the lime and patchouli, but this is sweet and smokey, not sharp as with most scents that contain citrus. Voodoo is dark and sexy and faintly woody. After a while, it turns a bit sweeter, like a fine cigar. I'm getting some kind of dried flower petals. There is a pleasant dustiness to the drydown of this blend, I'm guessing it's the myrrh and almond. I want this all over my body. An incredible blend.

Harvest Moon bursts out of the bottle smelling of sweet candy and ripe grains, absolutely overflowing your senses with smells that are almost hard to describe, let alone pick out. When it hit my skin, I was a bit afraid of the strength of this blend, I almost couldn't put my nose up to my arm, it was that strong. After a few minutes, things start to mellow out considerably, and Harvest Moon starts to fade back into something more tame and floral. The pumpkin melds with the flowers until that too starts to fade back, becoming more of a backdrop scent. The final drydown is basically all floral on my skin...this is a beautiful warm Indian Summer afternoon in a country garden. Harvest Moon is a very interesting blend, because it starts out incredibly strong, potent and foody, and ends up quite gentle, soft and flowery. There is an ingredient here that bothers my sinuses a bit (drat) on the drydown, but that takes absolutely nothing away from my admiration for this lovely Autumn scent.

I have reducer caps on all of my bottles now, but I have used plastic swizzle sticks.