amyw

I wish Crypt Queen worked for me, especially since people have compared it to Mme Moriarty, but instead on drydown it does what oils like Queen have done. It gets very harsh and then explodes into bright, sneezy floral. It also reminds me of Hurricane a few hours later. Maybe it's the pepper? For a few minutes it's lovely, but that doesn't last. I will try it one more time to see if it works any better, maybe at a different time in my cycle. I'll edit if so.

laliloo mentioned honey, which is interesting because about half an hour after I applied this, it smelled a lot like O on me. On the drydown, however, the florals have come out and it smells really really sweet. I think I may age this to see how it changes because somehow my skin amps up the headachy sweet in this far too much. It's turning out kind of "perfume aimed at preteen girl" sweet on me, and I was so hoping I'd like it more. I will give it a chance, however. If it ages well, I'll edit this at some later date. I did like the drydown stages it went through, but the end result doesn't work well at the moment.

You know how roses can have a bit of a sharp, acrid "aftersmell"? I think I made that word up, but I mean the scent equivalent of an aftertaste. Anyway, they can and do sometimes, so while I like rose a lot, it isn't a guarantee of a beautiful smell. But in the case of Persephone on my skin, either this rose never gets that sharpness or the pomegranate slaps it down and makes it sweet. The two blend together really nicely on me, with neither one taking over, and there really isn't a discernable change from bottle to skin or in the drydown. Gorgeous, just as juicy as others have described her, and now one of my favorites. People seem to love or hate this one.

Oh, how I wish I could do jasmine. I really like all the other notes in this one, so I hoped the jasmine wouldn't take over. But it does, every single time so far. This time it's a little more toned down than usual, so something else is grounding it a bit. Sadly, other than that, it got very soapy/diaper wipe on me. Somehow jasmine always ends up either old lady soap or diaper wipe on me. Sadness. I never get any other notes with this one either. Someday, jasmine. Someday! *shakes fist* (um, I don't know what will happen someday with jasmine - either we'll have a deathmatch or I'll be able to wear it, one or the other...)

I was really looking forward to this since I love Snake Charmer so much, but I was wary because I'm not always terribly fond of patchouli and unaged Snake Oil turns to Play-Doh on me. So when I received this, I tried it right away and felt very sad that it smelled like musky Play-Doh. But I'll give it a chance to age, I thought. Then I got a little impatient and put some on this morning. Oh, am I glad I did. Wet it's very musky on me, but then it very quickly fades and the vanilla, plum, and pomegranate come out to play. Mostly it's those sweeter notes and the musk and patchouli ground them all nicely and prevent them from becoming too sweet. They all blend well, but they each seem to cycle to the top one at a time as well. Occasionally I get a whiff of powder, which usually means the scent will be gone soon, but then it goes away and the scent is back. Weird. I can't tell if that's my nose or if it's actually changing. It's that time of the month, so I'm not sure if my results are going to be typical. Usually that means my skin eats scent and it's gone in less than an hour, but so far this is lasting. Maybe I'm past that critical scent eating phase. And I keep smelling myself. Mmmm. Right now, this is my new favorite. Edit: This is now pretty much my absolute favorite, or perhaps it's a tie with Snake Charmer. With just a tiny bit of aging it got completely beautiful. I see the comparisons to both Snake Charmer and Snake Oil, although I don't smell similarities to snake oil until it's many hours faded. I love this and I plan to hoard since, despite the fact that I'm not a slatherer, I have used more than I expected in a very short time.

Got this as a frimp from the lab and tried it tonight. Right away I could smell the citrus of the blood orange and the tartness of the raspberries. I'm not entirely sure what neroli smells like, so maybe I smelled it and maybe I didn't. Couldn't say. Then all the notes merged into one smell and I was very confused. It smelled so very familiar. What IS that smell? Then I put my hand up to my temple to move my hair away from my face and had a moment of deja vu. Washing my hair. Yes, that was it! On me it smells EXACTLY like the old Aussie Moist shampoo smelled. I may keep the imp just for that reason.

I won't comment much on this as a scent because that's not why I got it. I ordered a set of Chakra oils for meditation and energy work (mostly on myself) purposes. Earlier tonight I applied some right near the root Chakra and immediately felt it heating things up and opening me up, which is exactly what I wanted. This is definitely a red oil and most certainly one relating to grounding things and bringing them into the physical. A lot of people have root Chakra issues, so this one would be good for a lot of people.

I can smell the flowers in the imp, but it's very vanilla going on and my skin amps that up and drowns out the florals. I can smell the linen in it more than I can with White Rabbit. Definitely brings to mind an old country cottage with flowers nearby, vanilla in the background, and clean sheets. Subtle and soothing, like pleasant memories of smells that bring back certain places and times rather than some of the more in your face smells. Like it lots.

Whoa, peppery and metallic. On dry down it gets a little sweeter and more floral, but definitely has bite to it. This is kind of a complex oil and very strong. I don't think I want to smell like this but I might use it in ritual. The metallic note hasn't gone away yet but I've not had it on long. I am not smelling any vanilla at all like some have noted on their skin, and usually my skin amps up vanilla. May be a good ritual oil.

I like this a lot. I smell the pepper and the less sweet notes in the bottle more than on my skin, but it's lovely on my skin too. No linen on drydown or while dry, but after it's dry I can smell the honey, vanilla, pepper, and tea. Not the ginger so much. I layered it with Dragon's Milk since I like that a lot too but it was a bit sweet. That turned out nicely - those two share some notes and on my skin they complimented each other well. It definitely smells like a tea party with crisp white linen tablecloths and a variety of spicy and sweet smells.

Mmmm, this one is yummy. It also got a male thumbs up - says it's the best of the ones he's smelled on me. The dragon's blood resin gives it a smoky smell on me, but I can still smell the vanilla and the honey. I wouldn't have guessed cherries upon smelling it myself, but I can see why people say that. It's a twee bit sweet for me (and got more so as time went on), so I ended up layering it with White Rabbit the next day and that mellowed out the sweetness a bit. Glad I got a bottle.

Hm, in the bottle I can smell most of the notes, but on my skin it amps up all the florals and then it becomes soapy. Bummer, as I was hoping this one wouldn't morph too much on my skin. Alas!

Yum! I love vanilla though it can be a little cloying. This one isn't, however. It's vanilla with a little kick to it, even though my skin amps up the vanilla such that the rest of the notes fade a bit in comparison. The musks and tea round this out really nicely and it achieves what I was looking for in an oil with a vanilla note. If you don't like sweet notes this might not be for you, but I like it a lot.

Djinn. Wow, this oil is appropriately named for sure. Going on it's very acrid, like burning, fire, and ashes. Feels powerful and unpredictable, just as the Djinn are always described. Then it mellows out to a lemony, lightly incensey smell on me with the smoke and fire retreating into the background. I'm not sure I want to smell like it often, but it's too damn interesting not to keep. I bet this would work well in ritual, burning in an oil burner. This is not a white light, fluffy bunny smell. It's dark.

I was never sure what poppy smelled like, but I can smell a slightly sharp floral note in the imp and when it's wet. On me, the poppy fades to let the white musk and patchouli out much more prominently, with the patchouli in the background. I agree with others that it's a classic perfume scent and that it's light and subtle with a lot of staying power. I think it's probably too close to classic perfume for me to purchase a bottle, but we'll see. edited to add: a few hours later, the poppy came back out to play. Interesting!

I really liked this a lot. It didn't change much from wet to dry on me. My skin seems to amp up the florals a bit, but the mint grounds it nicely and prevents the florals from running wild. I don't think I consciously smell any sandalwood, but that might help too. It reminds me of a clean, grassy garden full of white flowers. I don't think I could pick out most of the florals in it because they're pretty unfamiliar to me, but Utrennyaya definitely smells like white flowers to me and on me. I like florals, so I'm more than okay with this, but I'm not sure if someone who doesn't like florals would like it nearly as much. I don't think it's overpoweringly floral because it's also clean and minty, but the florals are definitely there. I'm new to BPAL and am just trying out about 5 imps that turbojenn sent me, so it's likely I'll change my mind with time, but so far this is definitely my favorite BPAL scent. But again, I've tried only 5 so far.

I'm a newbie here, and this is my second review, so my nose isn't particularly well trained. That said, Eve didn't quite work on me for some reason. In the imp, I can smell rose and apple blossom, but on my skin it got a medicinal diaper wipe kind of smell. Clean diaper wipe, btw. I think it may be the same smell that others here have called bathroom cleaner and other smells. That faded after a few hours, but it took too long and what was left didn't convince me. Anyone have any idea what that note might be so I can avoid it in the future?

My first review! I can't find the alleged sticky that you're supposed to read before reviewing so I hope I'm not breaking any rules. turbojenn was nice enough to send me several imps while I'm waiting on an order, and Pumpkin Patch 1 was included. I was hopeful for this one, but it doesn't quite work for me for a few reasons. Upon opening the imp I can smell pumpkin quite strongly, but as soon as it goes on all trace of pumpkin disappears and while wet on my skin and long after drying it smells very strongly of cider and cinnamon. Mostly cinnamon, and I seem to be allergic! I've long suspected that I'm allergic to cinnamon because when I eat a lot of it my tongue swells up. This gave me a headache and eventually nausea*, so now I'm sad. It smells very nice, but I can't wear it because my skin amps up the cinnamon so much. * - unless I suddenly need glasses and don't know it. Heh.