Northernminx

Strong black tea and milk with white pepper, ginger, honey and vanilla, spilled over the crisp scent of clean linen. I was expecting this to be sweeter than it was, and was pleasantly surprised. I like sweet but I was really thinking this would go Dana O'Shee like. It didn't... Onward! In the vial, a clean fresh tea scent. This has been the tea scent that has most actually smelled of tea on me so I was very happy about this. Fresh linen and cups of steaming black english breakfast in the morning. Something else sneaks in there after a while, a little hint of spice of ginger and black pepper. It's almost a minty undertone mingled with the tea, but the effect is gorgeous, elegant, clean, and uniquely complex. This sweetened just a little on dry down but never enough to be cloying. Overall not a terribly strong scent, though certainly not forgettable either. Starched tablecloths, tea, and spicey breads spread with honey. Gorgeous... gorgeous...so buying a huge bottle.

Sweet pipe tobacco, cherry wood, the warm, worn leather of an easy chair and a pleasant, subtle waft of fireplace smoke. My yule order came in while my boyfriend was visiting so we both had the pleasure of trying this one out. Gorgeous, tons of cherries at first, this slowly mellowed into round, full, smooth cherry tobacco scents. Comforting and warm and very very masculine. This worked MUCH better on him than me, even though I loved it. It very much conjured images of warm fireplaces and leather chairs and men smoking pipes. Totally and utterly stunning and gorgeous and evocative and comforting. This lasted forever (one application took us both well over 12 hours and we could still smell it.) The bottle is going home with him so I can appreciate Hearth properly on his neck

The Sleeping Beauty. A gentle, lovely scent, slightly soporific, but beautiful in its quiet repose. Plumeria and white pear, Damascus rose, tuberose, magnolia and evening dew. I have to say Beth totally outdid herself in the last batch of releases. This is the third that I've tried today and every single one of them has me giggling and smelling my skin every three seconds. A very light, fresh fruity floral in the bottle, this reminded me a younger sister to the lush juciness of Titania. Lots of pear, light and crisp and sweet, that faded a bit as some plumeria and magnolia came out. There was not a lot of rose in this, though it's in there. Sweet, beguiling, and light, this is another one I think I'm going to have to add to the "to buy list."

For use when working with the many Gods of Sleep, Dreams, and Nightmares. Eee! My first first review. I'm so excited! Right... I was particularly interested in these blends as my dreams are often...odd. I tried this one out last night, a sharp herbal scent in the bottle, this was a lot of rosemary and basil smelling things for the first ten minutes or so. Very calming, grounding and soothing in an organic way. A lemony note slowly crept in, and blessed of all blessed things, didn't over power the blend as lemon is wont to do on me. A nice little touch of a creamy citrus with the herbal blend. This was very calming and very grounding. I felt steady and calm drifting off last. A definite keeper.

Hmmm anyone have any idea if Beth would do/has done gift certificates? I have some BPAL loving "sisters" whom I would love to get them for for birthday presents this year. I'm wondering if I shouldn't just tuck money in a card and put it in a pretty box for the imps as a suggestion, but figured I'd ask.

Lupa was kind enough to get me a bottle of this from Alternate Realities in Rhodes Island and I'm so very happy she did. I'm reviewing the scent first as I've yet to try using this in anything. This is gorgeous, light, cooling, very green and a faintly sweet aquatic. It reminds me very much of blue moon, but a little stronger, a little more mysterious and powerful.. Calming, and lovely. ETA: Ritually (yah I finally had a chance to use this) I've used this in centering and ritual and meditation preparation. I usually annoit the four quarters of my space and this worked wonderfully in setting up a calming, centered, guarded area. Definitely in love with how this one smells AND works.

Hee in a moment of "oh my god i have time to post!" 1. Snake Oil 2. Dana O' Shee 3. Alice 4. Manila 5. Queen Mab 6. Dorian 7. Sin 8. Ophelia 9. Cthulu 10. Silk Road 11. Twenty-One 12. Samhain (because you just have to) A nice mix of floral, fruity, foody and spicey. I think I left off the resin category but as my coffee is still injecting itself into my bloodstream today, I can't think of much else to add.

Some musk, maybe some dragon's blood, a strong herbal spicey scent with a touch of citrus. This had a lot of backbone while still being rather cologne like. It was very nice, very strong and very masculine to my nose. Lovely but not me

Oakmoss, Patchouli, and definitly soft and earthy. This gets a little lighter on me than it was in the vile. Not something I'd use for perfume, but pleasant, soothing and very grounding (pardon the pun)

Somewhat sharp and green in the bottle, there's a definite touch of dry rose in here and some wood as well as lavender. This dries into a soft rush of chamomile and rose and lavender and is extremely potent. Something about the funeral oil florals tends to go very white and heavy on me. Lovely but far too reminiscent of my grandpa's funeral for comfort.

Sharp, red, resiny and somewhat dry. This is more of a sun-baked, intense heat than a juicy, lush, tropical sun. It's a bit too amber and herb for me and not one of my favorites.

Whoa...have some caramel and butterscotch in the bottle there. As "warned" this was buttery and rich. The caramel and sweetness really come out at first and there's a great softness in the cream as an under note, but that sugar smell goes plastic on me after a bit. Stupid stupid chemistry this was really good enough to eat for a while. Fortunately it didn't do the same for my friend Erin and she has made off with the bottle.

Soft, somewhat earthy, a nice golden soft amber and a warm touch of vanilla and tonka. It's very warm, slightly sweet, more golden than "hot" and very pretty. This was soothing and relaxing but not really anything that stuck around on my skin. It faded quickly so off it goes.

Patchouli, maybe some vetiver, and eucalyptus with an undertone of metallic dirt. This was really strong on me and not too pleasant. I felt sort of grungy wearing it. Earthy scents aren't me. off it goes!

Lavender and lemongrass citrus. Very light and airy and clean - perfect for an air scent. I'm not a huge lavender or citrus fan so this one is going off to swaps but it really is just a nice, cleansing, flowing scent.

A lot of wet, green tartness which I imagine is a touch of sour and woody bamboo. This dries down into a soft tea scent with an under touch of fruit that's almost plum and a little bit of floral. It's very unusual and likley not something I'd wear very often but it was intriguing (as always) to try.

I didn't get the vetiver in this that others did, though it was salty, that vague florally aquatic that goes powdery on me. There was an undernote of something sweet and almost coconut but this sort of just powdered out on me. I wasn't really surprised at that point as water scents and I just don't usually mix.

spicey, some cinnamon, a touch of something herbal and this goes rather ashy on the drydown. It's warm and biting and fitting for it's name sake. I didn't try it ritually. Definitly unique just not one I'd wear - though I imagine for use with elemental work it would be wonderful

Sharp, a bit citrusy and green in the vial with a touch of herbs. I was hoping for a bit more anise but this is refreshing yet somewhat slinky, drying into a soft white musk with an herbal undertone. Really glad I invested in this one!

I wasn't sure I liked this at first but then about nineteen people stopped me to ask what I was wearing and I finally gave in. That sort of piney/sour fruit slushy snow scent that is reminsicent of Ice Queen/Snow bunny but the dry down is soft sweet florals. This has really grown on me and has become a definite keeper.

Sweet with a touch of floral and warm honey and vanilla. I really really loved this one, girly, pink, sweet but still sophisticated enough to not be childish. Definitly my favorite phoenix with my skin chemistry, this is the one I'll be keeping. Which sort of suits me as I'm a bit silly and girly too

Gin martini. This is actually a really cool, refreshing and sophisticated scent. Unfortunately It's also one that tends to be so dead on I can't wear it to work. ("Are you teaching SHakespeare while intoxicated?" "Uhm...") So off it goes despite it being spiffy.

Gack! Vetiver! AND patchouli! Sometimes life's not fair. This one kicked the crap out of my nose with the vetiver and patchouli - two scents that don't much like me anyway (that's fine I return the disfavor). I'm sure the rest of these notes would be great if those two would just shut the heck up and let me smell them. Oh well.

Almonds much? That vague overlay of cherry that almonds sometimes get with something minty and herbal beneath. The juxtaposition of these two scents is baffling to me but it somehow works. I've not used it in any way but it smells great.

Complex - one of the more difficult to pick apart scents from the lab I've tried in a while. There's a definite undercurrent of black currant but this is predominantly lavendar on me with a touch of ozone. This is much cooler than I'd anticipate and while interesting and fun to try not something I'd wear a lot. Ah well.