filigree_shadow

This is a beautiful scent, and every time I wear it I love it and wonder why I don't wear it more often. I am a peach fiend, and I love everything about peaches. I love peach pie, peach cobbler, the color of peaches, peach trees, peach blossom, peach-flavored alcoholic beverages... I'm a peach-lovin' fool. That doesn't mean I want to smell exactly like a peach, though. I like the bright, fruity, juicy scent of peaches, but I don't want to smell like I spilled a can of peaches all down the front of my shirt. Aglaea, with its lovely musk and amber, smells unmistakably like perfume. I definitely do not smell like a can of peaches when I'm wearing it. It's a pretty, bright, cheerful scent that manages to smell peachy without being an over-the-top fruity scent. It's playful and sweet. And now for a shameless plug for my other favorite peach scents: Silence and Tamora. If this peach is a little too bright for you, do yourself a huge favor and hunt down some Silence. If you like a warmer peach scent, try Tamora.

I thought I'd love this -- lilac is one of my favorite floral notes, and I love dragon's blood. And although I do like this scent, I'm not sure about the dragon's blood and lilac combination. I can pick them out clearly, and they both smell fine, like they should... but I like them both so much individually that I'm not sure about the combination. It's kind of like vanilla and chocolate ice cream. I like each one on its own, but I don't like those swirled ice cream cones with the two flavors together. Just one or the other, but not both. I kinda feel that way about Dragon's Eye. However, the scent is kind of growing on me. At first it seemed odd, but the more I sniff it, the more I like it. I don't remember trying any other BPAL oils that are so strongly lilac, and that alone is enough to make me keep the imp. Maybe this is just the wrong season. I think I'll try this again in the spring and see how I feel about it.

Not too much rose in this, mostly a sweet and hazy blend with a slightly floral overtone. Warm and pleasant. I really like the myrrh in this. This seems like a good scent for a lazy afternoon.

I have had this imp for a long time -- it still had the original owner's tape on it from when she sent it to me. I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to get around to trying this, but... I didn't look at the notes before I put it on, and what I smelled was kind of a wood/incense scent at first, and then a very light rose scent started to come out. I thought, "Hmm, is this a rose and incense scent?" I looked it up and was glad to find out that my sniffer was right on the money. Now that I've seen the description, I can tell that there's also something salty about the scent, but I wouldn't have thought so unless I was prompted. Rose scents are tricky for me, but I like this one. It smells rather sad. It's very soft and floaty. I like it.

Lavender plus something that is tremendously sharp and herbal. And STRONG. Like a throat lozenge or something. Whew. I can take some lavender in small doses if it's softened by something else, but whatever else is in this is making the lavender pungent and sour, and the whole scent is making me feel extremely uncomfortable. Also, it's giving me a headache, and very few BPAL oils do that. I need to wash this off. I'm glad I tried this before using it before bed because I don't think I would be able to sleep with this scent. Luckily the other Somnium blends I've tried (especially Somnus) are okay for me.

I'm not really sure what rhododendron or bellflower smell like, but one or both of them must be kind of a heady perfumey floral note because that's what I smell here. The aquatic note isn't light or sweet, it seems dark and murky. There's also something powdery in here that's making this smell like an old-fashioned perfume to me. I have trouble with aquatic scents in general, so I'm not very surprised that Danube doesn't seem to work for me.

Mostly a clear, slightly tart citrusy tea scent. A little bit of ginger adds zing. A lovely scent -- crisp and delicate, and not overly feminine. Refreshing and light.

I almost always like the pear scent in perfumes -- it has a bright quality and gives the scent a nice twang that I enjoy. I definitely like it in this blend. This would probably be an undistinguished soft floral blend on me without the pear, something that would make me think, "Oh, that's nice, but it's not really a standout." The pear note is the one that puts this over the "oh that's nice" level and into the "yes I would like to wear this" area. I thought that bois du rose was rosewood, but it seems like I can smell rose in this -- quite strongly, too. The white musk with it is absolutely perfect, just a soft gentle musk under the whole scent. It lasts for quite a while on my skin, although the pear becomes more difficult to pick out after it's fully dry. All in all, a great combination of notes and a great scent.

A slightly salty ozone scent with something moss-like. Definitely smells like an ocean rather than rain. There's a little bit of a sting to it, like a perfumey/cologney quality. It smells a lot more "clean" than I thought it would -- I think I'm picking up on the same thing some other reviewers are describing as a soap scent. To my nose Cthulhu is decidedly masculine, but that may be because my husband has one of the Springtime in Arkham bottles and wears this scent from time to time. It smells better on him than it does on me, to be honest. On him it seems deeper and a little darker, less like that soapy clean scent.

Hi! And congratulations on the baby. I guess this means you probably won't be coming to my house in a skunk costume so we can duel any more. What a crazy dream that was.

Hmmmm, where might one buy something like these Zebra-Striped Panties of Power?

It's orangey at first, then it softens into a floral scent with some gentle herbs. But the orange scent sticks around and brightens it up. There's a little bit of spice in there, but I have no idea what it is. Like most of the other Voodoo Blends, this isn't something I'd wear as perfume, but I'd like to test it for its intended use.

This is very strongly clove to me (or possibly cinnamon bark -- doesn't smell like straight up cinnamon to me) with maybe something slightly creamy with it. It's a very hot scent. Much too spicy for me to wear as perfume, but I can see it working for it's intended use.

This smells exactly like grape juice on me. Like Concord grapes. There's something a bit smoky in it too when I sniff it up close. But it's incredibly strong, and when my arms are by my sides as normal I can only smell grape juice. A lot of it.

I like this. It's a lovely dry wood scent with some spices that aren't too spicy. A little bit smoky and incensey, too. Cedar seems to be the most prominent note, but it's softer here than in other perfumes. Blends beautifully with the sandalwood. Not getting any mint or root beer that other reviewers are noting. This imp is labeled Old Kathmandu rather than Kathmandu, so it's probably a bit older than the scent other people are reviewing. It's quite lovely, in my opinion, so I think this is one of the ones that's better when its aged.

This smells like cognac and cloves on me... it kind of reminds me of cherry for some reason. It definitely smells red and sexy. Not too much rose and a lovely dark musk. It's not really feminine, it's kind of strong and take-charge. I know it's been quite a while since it was made, but it still smells wonderful to me. I only have a little bit of this, and I've only worn it twice -- luckily a little goes a long way. On my skin it lasts and lasts.

As you were describing your boss jumping in to grab attention for himself when it was going well, I was immediately reminded of a man who used to do that at my old office. He was the big boss, and he had the small brain. He talked a lot but didn't really know anything. He'd jump in to rephrase whatever the previous person had just said in order to make it look like it had been his idea all along. It was completely transparent, and it didn't fool anyone. Strangely, I had a completely different take on gender dynamics based on where I worked for the past six years. There were a couple of men there who very strong, incredibly smart, loyal to their teams, and extremely beloved by the staff. The other men in the company (who were corporate drones and not loved at all) did basically everything they possibly could to take away power from those men and turn people against them. Every meeting turned into a pissing contest. You could almost see the thoughts "What does HE have that I don't?" in these guys faces. They were insecure, jealous, and threatened. They made the whole environment there unbearable. (However those of us who were staff spectators had lively conversations about alpha males whenever the managers weren't around.) As for women? Competent smart women were treated as a mild thorn in the side. Women were, for the most part, ignored. Any time a woman pointed out a real problem and said it needed to be addressed, someone would inevitably ask whether she needed some chocolate or if her children had given her a rough time at home. I'm not kidding. It was disgusting. And if you happened to be an attractive woman who was competent, some manager male latched on to you and got you to do all his planning for him, as though you were his work wife in charge of throwing his dinner parties to make him look more important. Like a trophy wife. Um, yeah... I don't work there any more.

I get mostly tea rose at first, but it smells funny for some reason. Like that sort of sour scent you get when the wine has gone off. Kind of acidic. Usually neither violet nor tea rose is objectionable to me -- they're not my favorite notes but I don't hate them either. However, together on my skin they smell... well, I hate to say this, but it smells kind of like hair spray. Apparently this combination is not working nearly as well for me as it did for Marie.

I originally tried Regan when I was first trying all the BPAL oils I could get my hands on. I was in a phase where I ONLY wanted the ones that smelled like Vixen or Lust, and I turned up my nose at florals. The only comments about Regan that I typed into my spreadsheet were: "Too girlie." Apparently my tastes have changed since then, because now I like this. At first it's mostly vanilla with a little bit of a floral scent I can't identify. As it dries the vanilla moves closer to the background, and something strangely similar to anise starts to appear. Nothing overwhelming like Kabuki or anything, just a slight undertone. I'm very picky about floral scents, but I really like the orchid and vanilla combination. I'm glad I gave this one another try!

When it's wet I get a strong orange scent, and as its drying it becomes more floral. Well, mostly all floral, actually. My nose has a terrible time trying to discern floral notes from each other because I'm not familiar enough with the way each individual flower smells. So I can't say whether the scent smells like one particular flower or another, but I can say that what I smell is not singularly rose or jasmine (which are two I can usually pick out). Unfortunately this is not the kind of floral scent that I like, though. I tend to like soft white florals or the ones that smell sad -- I like them to be creamy or dewy. This one doesn't smell soft at all (although it does smell feminine). There's nothing in particular wrong with this scent, but to me there's doesn't seem to be anything in particular right about it either. I guess it's just not my kind of scent.

Ulalume is another surprise for me -- the only note in the description that I usually like is lily, and I normally avoid cypress and aquatics. There's a dirt/earth/mossy note in this, which I know because those notes come out like gangbusters on my skin and I can always smell even the tiniest drop. Usually I don't get to enjoy that type of note because it's far too strong, but here it's quite pleasant. Must be a super small amount. Anyway... on drydown I only get the slightest bit of that wintergreen scent that previous reviewers mentioned, and the aquatic note is strictly background. This is mainly a white lily with a little bit of soil for me. Some gentle woodiness is underneath it too, but it's not nearly as objectionable as cypress usually is. I think I've come to the conclusion that oak is one of my favorite wood notes -- it has a lovely soft woods feel to it. I don't think Ulalume gets a lot of love, but I bet it would if it smelled like this on other people. It's a lot like Zombi with lilies instead of roses and without the overpowering earth scent. This is much more wearable for me than Zombi was. My only problem with this scent is that it fades too quickly on my skin. So although I like this, I think Jazz Funeral is still my favorite earth/floral combination. I think I'm going to hang onto this imp of Ulalume, though.

I dated a guy in high school whose family left their tree up all year long and decorated it depending on the season. I liked that! That's the way it snows here too -- we hardly ever have snow in December, so when people have their lights up it's mainly just brown and muddy. Ugh. Lights look so pretty with snow! I'm thinking maybe next year after Christmas I'll exchange the colorful lights for white lights, so the neighbors realize I'm doing it on purpose. If I didn't live in the most conservative neighborhood ever I doubt it would be a problem, but we're already known as the weirdos on our street so I don't want the neighbors breathing down my neck about something else that is - ACK! - not in complete agreement with the tacit rules of suburban yards. My neighbors would really like for our street to be the epitome of classic good taste. (They're probably all hoping that Brett and I will move out soon so they have a chance at achieving that goal. We're the scourge of the neighborhood.)

The notes listed for this blend is a who's who of notes I avoid. Seriously. Every single one of them is iffy at best and I usually just avoid them entirely. So, why, I wonder, do I like this scent so much? It smells like a lush green marshy area with some reeds growing in it, and black pepper and cardamom give it a slightly hot edge. I see what other reviewers mean about smelling like Irish Spring soap -- it has that same clean greenness. But those spice notes are making it much more interesting than that. Also it seems to have a softness in it -- something that reminds me of aloe or chamomile or something like that. A gentle herby scent. It has the perfect throw on me, too -- not too heavy and not too light. It's definitely not the sort of scent I usually wear. And to be honest, if I saw a review that described exactly the sort of scent I'm describing above, I'd think, "Meh. Pass." And yet... somehow it suits me. Sometimes a scent you're sure you'll hate turns out to be one that you like a lot. And when you wear it people say, "Hunh, I wouldn't have expected you to wear something like that, but I have to admit that smells really good." For me, this is that scent. [Edited on 10/8/07] I really need to amend my review to add something: Whippoorwill has extraordinary wear length on me. I put it on my throat this afternoon, and I can still smell it almost 12 hours later. Not just the occasional waft, either. I mean I can really smell it. About 5 hours ago I was ready to smell something else, so I put some Pumpkin Cheesecake on my throat. The cheesecake scent is mostly gone now, but I still smell Whippoorwill. Now that's some staying power.

Unseelie has a strange, slightly unpleasant scent at first. I'm not sure exactly how to describe it, but it smells kind of like a resin and kind of like a bitter herb. When it's drying it starts smelling perfumey, powdery, and soft, but that strange bitter/resin combination is still running along the bottom of it. When it's dry, the perfumey part that I like seems to have faded away entirely and all I'm left with is that weird scent I don't really like plus some powder. It's extremely faint after about ten minutes, too. This isn't going to work for me. My skin seems to be having some trouble with it.

A very salty and clean scent. Soapy-smelling. I don't think I've ever smelled anything so salty before. I think there's some mint in it as well, it's kind of sinus-clearing.