LittleGreyKitten

MCCXXXVIII, aka 1238: Wow, is that how many CTs Beth sold? That kicks ass! I ordered one more right before they went down (since the first batch was so amazing, I had to have one last go). It's familiar. Instantly. I know the note. It's definitely got some honey, some medium weight musk or friendly patchouli and a shy hint of floral on top, probably a violet I think. It reminds me very much of Luperci, a lighter-weight cousin anyway, with just a bit more of a floral topnote. The honey, or possibly it's actually honeycomb, is delish. The musk (which you can really smell in the bottle wet) is one I can wear well, so it's probably not red... though I can wear Mme Moriarty's red musk, so I can't absolutely rule it out. Anyway, this is a really well balanced blend, definitely as polished and well blended as some of the ones Beth's slaved over. Will I wear it? That, I'm not sure.

My favorite of CD, I'm thinking.... it's scent reminds me strongly of aged Midway, with a chocolate base. YUM! Need more for sure. The boy really liked it too, and it is long lasting and has good throw. Hoard-able. 5 out of 5.

This remind me strongly of the good parts of Mi Go Brain Canister. This makes sense as it shares several notes. Xanthe is sweeter, sugarier, and lacks the Jasmine Of Doom, thank god. I do quite like Xanthe. The sugar cane makes it more wearable for me I think, and the guava is the most prominent note. 5 out of 5. EDITED TO ADD: I kinda forgot about Xanthe for a while. Today I broke her out again, applied and promptly forgot I'd done it. About 20 minutes later I was all "what's that amazing smell?" Xanthe. Surprise! The sugared guava had morphed from being nice to being OMG AMAZING. It's strongly reminiscent of Treat 1 but yet... more. It's not as simple though it has the same strengths (sparkly-pure sugar, fruit). Xanthe is so sparkly pink smelling, it's ultra-girly. I like smelling ultra-girly sometimes. The sugar cane is an awesome note, I love it. I do get bubblegum sometimes out of it, but it doesn't bother me. Mostly I smell utrasugared guava.

Damn, this is nice. For me, it's a lighter, fruitier Snake Charmer. The plum and pomegranate and vanilla are noticeable on me, with the patchouli and musk a polite background that smells amazing. I think it's going to age like whoa, and get extraordinary, but lab fresh it is definitely lighter by far than Snake Charmer. I get no Smuttiness from it, thank god, since Smut is not my friend. Yum. Need more! Some needs to be in the Sock Drawer of BPAL Aging with my bottles of Snake Charmer 5 out of 5.

CXLII aka 142: This is a major floral. I know what flower, too, I just can’t quite pin the name to the scent. Lilac? Iris? Orchid? A flower with a sweet, heady but delicate and complex scent, anyway, is what comes to mind. It’s also got a serious sweet base, my nose is saying serious vanilla. The overall effect is rather purple smelling in my opinion. It’s sort of like an extra vanilla-y Regan with something slightly different about the florals. Could be great on some people, and like Regan I want to like it but anything floral I’ve learned is very difficult for me... some moonflower blends are the exception. They tend to make me a wee bit queasy and this is no exception, even though the vanilla underneath really wants to be my buddy. Well, it was fun to try a new CT, anyway! Sorry bottle, off you go.

Laurel The Woodfairy said exactly what was on my mind: B&BW White Tea & Ginger things, which I've loved for ever. I like showering with them and then layering Kumiho over. Nice. I actually don't wear it often but if I'm in the mood for a good lotioning, Kumiho is part of the deal. Anyway, not a huge favorite but nice in it's place. Light and bright.

I really enjoy this blend. It doesn't quite top Hungry Ghost Moon as my favorite light citrus blend (I've really found I have a huge weakness for sweet + light citrus). This is yummy for sure. Mojito, indeedy. With some green tea for fun and enjoyment. I love the limey goodness of this, plus I think the aloe is there somewhere too. Mmm. I only wish it lasted longer- it goes *poof* in about an hour. Perchance it will start to last longer as time goes on- I've found other light blends take a few weeks or months before they gain any lasting power. Anyhoo, if you like citrus blends, or even if you can tolerate them, F5 is a good un. 5 out of 5.

CDLXII, aka 462, also reviewed by hadaverde here. I found this to be absolutely swoonily delish on me (thanks for parting with it, hadaverde!). Wet, I get a whiff of the creamiest, sweetest, sugariest lavender ever. I usually hate lavender, but in this blend it's orgasmic. There's the barest hint of mint which disappears immediately. As it dries the lavender sort of goes away, leaving just the sweet creamy loveliness. It actually lasts pretty well- around 4 hours, which for a lighter blend is not bad on my skin. It reminds me just a wee bit of Spooky, but mostly it's just it's own amazing thing. It's soft and sweet and creamy, but I can't nail any notes except lavender and I'm not even sure of that. EDITED TO ADD: Marshmallow! I finally have decided that's one of the components of the sweetcreamy thing. And definitely a light, light, light lavender... a truly awesomely yummy blend. I believe TKO is the closest thing to this blend in the regular catalogue. I have only tested TKO once but it did strike me as similar... I'll have to get an imp and compare for real.

Wow. This scent is just amazing. I must say the last two lunacies made me eat my words that the Asian moons weren't doing it for me- Hungry Ghost is a huge favorite, and this will definitely be to. The crisp apple scent hits you first when it's applied, yet it's not overwhelming. Then this amazing, unusual dusty sort of Autumn-in-a-bottle thing hits your nose and... wow. How'd all those ingredients equal the feel of a bright October day? Mmm. I really like the '05 Harvest Moon, but this is probably equally good. The tea and bamboo are noticeable, just a hint. I also get the sugar cane I think, not sure if I can pick out the rice milk though. The dusty wheat smell is just cool as anything, and also possible to pick out. I'm not sure about the pomegranate or chrysanthemum (ingredients number one and two) but perhaps after sniffing Chrysanthemum Moon I may have a better idea what it is I'm smelling in this blend. All in all this is a masterpiece of a blend, and I may just need some more ;-) 5 out of 5. Edited to add: As time goes on the wheat note proves a bit fugitive- it's definitely much fainter. The sugar cane has sweetened some and I'm getting some creaminess too finally, probably the rice milk. I'm liking the aged version even more actually- although I liked the wheat note initially, it began to annoy me after I'd worn it a few times all day. I'm rather glad it's oxidizing out of the blend (rather like Lugnasadh or however you spell it). The result is perfection IMO. It's even more like Hungry Ghost Moon than ever.

Champaca flower may be a new nemesis. It ate Khajuraho much to my disappointment, and indeed it's the ingredient that makes me want to wash this one off, I think (though I don't mind it in Hellion, go figure). The leather, patchouli, and vetiver are all noticeable to my nose, blending to make a deep lovely scent. But then there's that syrupy champaca note, icking me out again. This does linger, but unfortunately the champaca never mellows on me, it stays topside the whole time. Same experience I had with Khajuraho, unfortunately. If you can deal with the champaca its definitely a gorgeous deep blend, no doubt. I have had no luck with the Salons sadly. Too bad since I really love the idea. On me this is a 2.5 out of 5.

At last, the light at the end of our three-month tunnel of misfortune. To commemorate this momentous occasion, we present a big ol’ bottle of sunny, happy, bounciness -- a golden blend with a celebratory feel, promoting joy, peace, and a sense of comfort and well-being: golden amber, heliotrope, vanilla musk, carnation, daisy and sunflower bouquet, neroli, lemon peel, ylang ylang and honeycomb. Dammit. Dammit dammit! I will give this a few more tries, but my skin turns it into pure men's cheap deodorant. Dead on. Initially it's amazing, well blended and lovely. Then, as it dries my chemistry kills it dead. Hopefully on another day I'll have better luck, as the initial bright clean scent is amazing.

Oh my. I guessed good! I heart this scent more than any since last year's. Beautiful. It smells strongly grapefruity first, which I adore. But the sugary vanilla goodness beneath bolsters the citrus and eventually the citrus backs off leaving mainly a vanilla sugar scent on me with a hint of citrus beneath. It does fade fast though. It may get stronger as time goes on- I've noticed that has happened with some other vanilla scents that initially disappeared fast when fresh, but then as the months passed, started lasting longer and longer (Eat Me, Antique Lace, Drink Me for example). This is a beauty of a scent. Ethereal and sweet. 5 out of 5, glad I took a gamble on an extra.

Oh man. I scored. Boy did I score. Thanks, Beth! No, really- thank you! These are beautiful. DCXXXV aka 635: This is like one of my all-time favorites, Eat Me, but cakier. It's pure sweet delish cake batter in a wee bottle. Holy crap it's good. It smells good wet and gets better dry. Soft vanilla cake, warm and sweet with icing. Pure sugary goodness, I love it! *Pets bottle* DCXXXIV aka 634: Hee. Beth gave me a small group in a series. Cool. This one is honeyed, in a beautiful way, and again a hint of foodiness comes out on my skin. It's like... baklava. Almost exactly! There's a hint of something that seems almondy but must not be since she said no nuts were involved. Yep. Pure baklava. Oh man, it's yummy. I like the cake batter one best, but this is damned good. DCXXXVI aka 636: This one is defying analysis for me. It's got the hint-of-almond-that-isn't like IV (the baklava one) above. But this has some underlying astringency, or something. It's not foody. It almost smells alcoholic to me, weirdly enough. Like Frangelico or something. Yet maybe with some... cherry? Something a hint fruity. It's stronger than the other two, and it isn't my favorite, but it is interesting and wearable. As it dries the fruit emerges further, and it reminds me of Montresor. DCXXI aka 621: This is the one outside of the series of three in a row above. It's much different- no foody or almondy things happening. Instead it smells of cold, the ocean and midnight to me. I sniff it and I picture a cold, wet rock on the seashore at night. It's got a wee hint of sea, like some of my favorite aquatics Beth does, and some note I'm getting cold night air from. Yet no ozone, which I appreciate. I kind of appreciate it for the interesting scent, it's rather refreshing, but the least wearable. I might have the boy try it- it may smell great on him actually. So yeah, one that makes me just scream with joy, one that I really really like, and two that interest me and are wearable. Nothing icky!!! I didn't like any of the Butterfly Effects I tried much at all- this series is much better for me, I really like all of them, with one I'll cherish seriously. EDIT: I let another BPAL forumite sniff mine and she smelled similar things in my scents that I'd got out of them... I must be getting OK at figuring out notes!

I am glad, upon reading other reviews, to realize I hadn't lost my mind. I kept thinking this was the lemon version of Snow Bunny- take the pine out of the Bunny and you've got the Angel, basically. It's a little sweeter, a little more complex. I really love it. Snow Bunny is one I like a lot, but I've always wished to get some of Beth's snow/slush yumminess without the pine that always seems to accompany it (with the exception of Nuclear Winter). This is a bright, delicious blend, one I like most espeially on hot days. It's also reminded me to play with Snow Bunny more. Snow Angel has fallen into the category of scents I wear frequently. A little goes a long way too, whis is great. I don't get any peach; that's good, I don't love peach. The sugar note is there, but it's not the one thats in other BPAL blends, it's lighter and less... caramelized, I guess. It's more spun sugar, light and effervescent. 5 out of 5, for me.

OK, I have to admit I'm not loving this blend. However, I'm not going to be dumb and automatically write it off like I've done with other resinous blends fresh from the lab, if I didn't instantly love them. This is way sharp and faintly nauseating on me, with cypress and hyssop overpowering all else. I will definitely let this rest in the box for a month or two before passing judgement on it. I certainly wouldn't have swapped Luperci if I'd done that- some blends do take a while to develop, and I've ended up loving some that morphed quite a bit despite their initial off-putting aroma fresh from the lab. So yeah. I'll retry it in a month or two and see, but for now, it's a no.

Mmm. I like. This reminds me, slightly, of Chiroptera... which makes sense, as they have a similar theme, though Bat-Woman is lighter and airier. I love Beth's moonflower note very much, and it's noticeable in this blend. I've always loved the description of Yog-Sothoth, though I sadly didn't love the scent, and I always think of it when I run across a blend that smells the way I think Yog should have: air and darkness. That indeed describes Bat-Woman pretty well, though it's definitely a floral, it's spiked with something lighter, airier indeed, but not ozoney or otherwise jarring with the flower scent. I really enjoy this blend, but I have been ignoring floral blends almost entirely of late, so we'll see if Bat-Woman gets much attention. It may because it is beautiful, but it may get ignored since I've been kind of doing that with even some florals I love. Though Bat-Woman is lovely I do think it comes in behind Chiroptera, Evening Star, and Beatrice... those are my very favorite white, light florals from BPAL. I'd give Bat-Woman a 4 out of 5 at this point.

Ah, violets. My floral nemesis, I am beginning to realize. All the other notes sounded ohmigod good. Violets worried me. Lucretia goes on lovely and dusky-floral wet, then dries down to this sour/powdery unpleasant thing that violets are inclined to do on my skin. I'll try it again after storing it for a month or so- that may give it some time to mellow. And hopefully the violets will play nicer. But for now it's saying "swap" to me. Unfortunately. I was all about the amber and vanilla musk, which I can smell in the bottle and wet on my skin, but then they get eaten by the Violet of Doom. Pity. Anyway, I'll let it settle for a while in my box and retry.

Oh boy, Litha stumps me. Here goes with a mildly useless review. Firstly, I like it. Secondly, I dunno what it smells like. It doesn't seem herbal or honeyed or floral or really. It smells like a warm summer day to me; specifically one in the Pacific Northwest here, where it isn't dry and dusty, but is always green and a bit humid. It is light, refreshing and yum. I will definitely be wearing it heavily this summer. It's been hot and I get picky about what scents I wear, as they get way magnified, especially in our even-hotter upper floor apartment. Litha will be a nice addition to my summer scent wardrobe. Wait, there is a hint of honey in there. Mmm, honey. I like! This is such a well blended scent, nothing sticking out and being disruptive. 4.5 out of 5.

This one is very faint on my skin initially, light and smokey. While wet, it's almost pure opium. I don't smell lotus at all, not even a Bastet-like whiff of it, which is kind of too bad, since I do get along with lotus pretty well, and Bastet particularly well. Opium can be very hit-or-miss with me; mostly miss, actually. As it dries out it gets stronger, better throw. A wee hint of Bastet-like lotus, which I'm enjoying, but primarily still opium. No rosiness. No pineyness. That's fine with me; I was rather hoping those would be background notes and not terribly strong. It's funny, I still can't smell it very strongly with my nose plastered up against my arm, but I do catch whiffs of it as I move- so the throw is decent though it still is not a strong aroma on me. I like it, it's fairly unique; light and a little bit smokey and unusual. It smells like I wish Sleepy Moon would have (and didn't). A good one to sleep in I suspect. Right now I'm calling it a 3.5 out of 5, though it might grow on me.

Finally gots me an imp of this to try. It's beautiful! It reminds me a lot of Frost Moon on my skin, especially after it's dried, but the opening notes are significantly different. It's sweeter and more floral than Frost too. I definitely notice cucumber and mint. Gorgeous, but enough like Frost in the later stages that I don't cry for lack of it. Hopefully Beth will resurrect it for the next Blue Moon.

Sigh. I liked the scent in the imp; my skin amps lavender like whoa, though. The King is no exception, sadly. All lavender, on my skin. I let it dry and linger around too, to see if it would burn off like the almond in Bastet; no such luck though, it merely cranks up more and more. If I liked lavender I would like this blend, but I don't, at all. Glad I got an imp. If the lavender remained a spark, and not the whole show, I'd enjoy it. Might be worth trying in a scent locket, should I get one eventually. For me, 3 out of 5.

I like this a lot. Much better than Dee. The juicy fruity goodness is basically the major note I get, a hint of tea, but mostly a lovely summery fruit scent. I don't detect patchouli, and I'm having a hard time pinning down the exact fruit scents. Yum, though. I'll be ordering a full size. 5 out of 5.

Oh. Oh my. Boy did Beth create some absolutely smashing blends during the update that brought us HtP. This is amazing. I love it. I sound like a broken record, I've said that about so many of the blends from this update. But Hymn to Proserpine makes me say it again. The sandalwood- there has to be some in here, there's no question- and amber are mellow and deep, with some hint of goodfruityness. I should have bottled, like I did with the others I felt good about (Eat Me, Drink Me). Because this is gorgeous. It reminds me of Monster Bait: Underpants, somehow. The delicious sandalwood seems similar. Yet with fruit rather than vanilla as the backup. Big bottle, NOW. Oh well, at least I know to order the 10 mL rather than a 5! 5 out of 5, oh my yes. This is the sexiest of this batch (Eat Me, Drink Me, the grapefruities, etc.)

Hello, Holiday Moon. I liked you but didn't expect to see you again. Yep, on me, this is dead-on tea and bamboo, as was Holiday. Not a bad thing, but so very similar I really have a hard time telling which is which. The Dragon's Blood is faint, undetectable on me... which is, I believe, something for me to be thankful for. All in all, it's a nice Asian themed moon, though my skin amps bamboo and makes this just like Holiday. 3.5 out of 5.

Oh my GOD. This is amazing... I am in total love! The harmony of cool, crisp aromas in this blend rock my world. The mint... the grapefruit... the lotus! All so perfect together in balance. I will never again lament the lack of Queen of Diamonds in my world, as this is similar-but-better. Mint and grapefruit (BPAL style) are the most beautiful summer crisp cold scent ever. I will be drowning myself in the beauty that is Shattered on hot days, for sure. 5 out of 5, pleased with the impulse buy of a 5mL.