indicolite

Thaleia (not Thalia) is also one of those scents reminding me of Sacred Whore. Thus she is not a comic laughing spirit, she must be, umm... Or else the Sacred Whore has lots of fun in Babylon. Anyhow, I was reticent about the honey, but the apricot and gardenia are duking it out - with that treacherous honey, my nemesis, oversweetening them both. Thaleia is not unpleasant; she is a lot more tolerable than other scents. However, I have a great many choices now, and I fear Thaleia would not be tops among them. She may need a warm and loving home where people enjoy her laughter more.

This is a very clear scent (probably the pale horse) but it seems to be giving me nudge-nudge wink-winks - "Just be careful now, in a few minutes I will show you...INCENSE!" Death, that is. Oh, darling, I thought there was no incense in you. Patchouli should behave nicely on my skin, and vetiver was all right in Fallen. Is it the yuzu? Since I don't know what yuzu is. Clear, and then smoky. Quite a puzzling scent. It does remind me of Eastern Orthodox church incense (ladan, as opposed to the Indian and dojo kind) without actually smelling like it. I may give the imp a chance just because it is so interesting, but I do not see many occasions for it. It may grow on me, though, this thrill of almost-but-not-quite incense. I thought Nyarlathotep provided that, though. ETA: After giving it some thought and letting it sit on my hand for a while, I've decided Death on a Pale Horse is a good meditation blend. One to wear to ponder the meaning of life and memento mori and all that. If Beth has wrought a memento mori blend, this is it. My decision may be influenced by the fact that, though I have nothing against Eastern Orthodox churches, my hours spent in them have never been full of uprooarious good cheer.

Vanilla, musk, men...was the reputation. I pondered the frimp. He pondered me. I dabbed him on. Pine tree. Actually, the vanilla blends with the pine tree to make my favourite conifer, the balsam fir. And while I am not a wanna-smell-like-a-tree person generally, I can see keeping Priapus handy (I am sure I am not the only one who mentally misreads it as Golden Platypus ) for the pine-tree days.

It may be a problem with my love life, but I have found too many of the Super Seducing blends - O, Sacred Whore, etc. - sickly sweet. It is probably honey that does stupid things on my skin, as sandalwood behaves itself very nicely, and I do not mind rose or orange. Here in Jezebel, inded, I can smell bits of orange and rose, but alas, that sneaky honey is making them all so sweet and so...so not me. ETA: She dries into a subtle, rosy-orangey scent, but still, too little, too late. Surely there are men in the world who would be attracted to me without honey. Sorry, Jezebel, I will try to find you a woman (and man) who would love you on her skin, and I am going off to wash my wrist.

A very clear scent, not immediately identifiable as mint (and I should know mint if I know any scent!) but I think the mosses are doing some tempering to the mint. What is saddening is that it smells very much like a generic cleaning-product scent to me: definitely not unpleasant, and perhaps even usable, but not a "gotta-have-this!" scent at all. After a few minutes' drying, the mints have come out to shout their name. Hmm, maybe Cathode has redeeming features.

A very interesting scent: like Anubis, it is unlike almost anything else. I do not smell black currant, so it must be the myrrh I smell; however, the blackcurrant adds a touch of sweetness. Quite lovely. I think Masabakes and I will be friends.

All I smell is the narcissus for the last ten minutes. Now I rather like narcissus, but I do not want to smell like it ALL the time. It is a clean fresh scent, good for a mood-clearer. However, I do not know if it would be one of my favourites. I had high hopes for Hades. I will give him a few more chances.

At first it was fruit, fruit, fruit - well, blackberry definitely. Now it has changed a little towards more musk, but it is still too sweet for me. It has almost the same candylike sweetness as Sacred Whore of Babylon on me, and I did not like that one either. I was hoping for the green tea. Sorry Bewitched. Maybe you will find a better home elsewhere.

I know very few of the notes listed (let's be honest and say that for now, I do not know ANY); however, Sheol is a high clear floral, with something medicinal under it, probably the labdanum, and something I would guess is tonka if I had to guess. Very interesting smell (I've said that too many times in the reviews I wrote today, but I've got a lot of stuff to review). Like Haunted but with an entirely different twist: if those were music pieces, and my synesthesia is running wild, Sheol would be an alto countermelody to Haunted's high part. Now anyone here understand what I just said? ETA: I fear, on the second try, I have to repudiate my compliments to Sheol. A heavy scent that I strongly suspect is copal (as tonka is in Red Phoenix and we get along there) bloomed and started dominating everything. I have a hard time getting it off, and I do not much like it. I will keep on giving Sheol a chance, but I fear she will not be a daily one.

Very interesting scent. At the beginning I smell something very sweet: possibly fig, although I have smelled fresh figs before; ah, I know; it is tamarind! Tamarind and rosemary together is quite interesting, although I also smell a - medicinal? - scent tying all this together. I love mutable scents; I do not order many of the four-line-description scents since I have an idea they are more difficult for Beth to make - however, I love the journey of changing from smell to smell that they provide. Nephilim may see concentrated use and lots of love. I want more of it, just for the uniqueness.

Wet on my skin: very - clear (I am synesthesia-prone, esp with smells, bear with me) but with a dark undercurrent. The ozone and citrus reviewers have described play together, making it, like so many of Beth's blends, seeming almost like a smell you have smelled before, but with that added touch making it extraordinary. I like it. Nyarlathotep, Hunter in the Dark, I think we are going to be friends, you and I. ETA: In the couple of days since, I have worn Nyarlathotep quite often, even neglecting my old favourites because of him. He seems to say "Wear me; you know you want to...Even one small spot on your wrist, that is reserved for me." He is one of those dangerous lads with a feline grace and a glint in his eye that you know are not the good ones, but which make your heart flutter and you hum and think about what you will wear for them just the same. All the time when I wear him, I fear the incense, but it is there just to give it that smoky dangerous feeling. I am obsessed and addicted. And of course the Hunter in the Dark is in a big bottle in my next order, need you even ask?

When I first dab it on my wrist, I get a smell...like oatmeal I must have eaten often. I think it is the peach and clove and cinnamon altogether, all three of which have shown up in our kitchen in the past. The spices and the fruit come together so wonderfully! Bottle. 5 mL definitely. The smell of the enemy of God has a place in my perfumes-to-use-often, and I hope no one is offended. I was right to dream of this one.

Indeed, as people said, it smells traditionally perfume-y - ironically enough, the perfume it most reminded me of is called Red Moscow (no, no accusations of plagiarism Beth's way, no, but Red Moscow is made in Moscow, where people should know what the smell should be). However, the tangerine's strength brings this out of the ordinary and into the extraordinary. I will write more in my review on later applications, but I would say this scent is a proper honour to a city. But then how could I resist getting at least an imp of this blend? It is one of the so-far-few cities of Wanderlust I could say I know - AND I liked the notes. Moscow, city of my birth, Beth makes you smell prettier than you actually do.

This is a very cooling scent, with the lemon peel, sage and lavender. However, there is something there that does not let this get into a typical mold. It makes it a fascinating blend rather than just a cooling scent. I like this one very much; I was right to dream of it in my order. Quite likely a bottle candidate.

This was on my wishlist, but fortunately I got it as a frimp. It is deliciously fruity, but not too sweet. The apricot is definitely on the foreground, but indeed, as reviewers said, there is incense beneath the surface. However, the fruit and the incense interplay in a very lovely way, and scents that I would have disliked had they been the primadonnas of the blend do very nicely together. I am definitely going to use my imp regularly (once all the other stuff I have to try gets its chance) and maybe get a bottle.

It must be the violet mixed with frankincense I smell, since I do not get any cinnamon, and cinnamon generally comes out to play on my skin. Faustus is...interesting. I can get the arrogance, but (despite what some who know me might say) it does not speak to me. I may use up my imp, but I do not think I would be getting a bottle. On second sniff, I am getting a certain...cinnamon-like quality without actual cinnamon. Perhaps it is frankincense. I do not know. The floral that is probably violet (although it is not like the overused violet in cleaning products) has a strong enough throw for me to smell it while typing (it is on my wrist). However, my opinion holds. ETA: Ok, now I see what frankincense smells like, and I won't forget it. As is usual for my skin, the florals bloomed briefly, and then the resin/spice/incense came out. I like frankincense much better than incense, but still, Faust old fellow, there's lots of other stuff I have with frankincense in it.

Anubis is like nothing else I have smelled so far, BPAL or otherwise, but closest to balsam of some kind. Although I would not have thought of myself as an embalming person, I like him very much and keep on sniffing my elbow. His scent changes, but it is quite balsamic. Of my buttload order, this is the first one I must truly say is getting a big bottle soon.

I don't know if you're doing it already, but if you bend your knees on the downstroke, straightening them on the upstroke, you both (a) add power to your technique since you add another downward vector (easiest way I can explain it) if you are actually ever considering chopping wood/enemies ( end up working the thighs and butt as well, with many repetitions. Swords cover the three a's: arms, abs and ass. Who knew? And you can work the sides of your body by alternating diagonal cuts (as if you are cleaving your enemy from right shoulder to left hip and vice versa).

At first this smelled very very commercial-perfume: must have been the musks. It still smelled that way on paper, no matter how I sniffed. However, on me in a few minutes I got...peach! Very lovely peachlike scent, but why peach? I may have been smelling something else that smelled like peach to me, but I know what patchouli smells like, and I did not think it was poppy. Anyhow, I like it and want more (this was a sniff of someone else's imp). ETA: A different imp is not giving me the peach note. Poppy raged, and as always, any opiates have me on my guard: you drug me, you will get me mad! But now it is settling down to musk and patchouli together, and is doing nicely - ooh, and there is the little hint I may have taken for peach before. Quite a lovely blend, although I am not sure it is a daily wear one. But as previously stated, it may be nice for a make-out session.

The anise is definitely strong, but not unpleasantly so. There is something in there mixed with the anise that smells quite interesting; possibly the vetiver? It reminds me of something I may have had in my tea sometimes; as I brew crazy mixes of herbal teas, that doesn't help much, does it? I assure you it is neither oak leaf nor lichen, so maybe my skin is breaking up the civet bouquet? Quite an interesting smell; not one I would wear regularly, but an okay occasional. I did not think of myself as much of a cave lichen person. This did not last long on me; however, I will give the imp a chance.

Swap/gift from Abberlaine Arrol of a quarter-imp. First sniff: mmm, NUTMEG! Drying on skin: I seem to be getting cinnamon, although that is not listed. Probably not cinnamon, but whatever is in Silk Road, as this scent is reminding me very much of Silk Road - with nutmeg, which has faded down into the blend. It is spicy. No sign of the bergamot, rose, mandarin, sandalwood, which I regret as I like those notes. However, I will wait for them: sandalwood usually is last to come out on my skin after everyone else leaves, if Fallen is any indication, so if anything cool comes I will edit this post. I would like a bottle of this. Because of the NUTMEG!

This is not just my first eBay purchase from BPAL, but my first purchase on eBay, period, but I decided to grab something from the lab's moving sale, and on impulse chose this one to concentrate on. It did not disappoint; I love love love it and have to figure out how to decant my bottle, because I want to carry this around with me. The cinnamon-like note that dominates at first is, I believe, cassia, and I am getting hints of the musk and patchouli as well, and the faintest edge of plum. Also a rather clear note that may be benzoin or tonka, as I do not yet know exactly what those smell like. But it is well-balanced now, without any annoying edge, and it is one great scent, so much so that even with 5 mL I fear it going away. Anyhow, love love love love love. Thanks lab for sending this to me on 6/6/6!

in the frimp, I get something that reminds me of melons, but not quite. Very sweet is the overall impression, and although it is not disagreeable, it does not arouse the desire to be that way. There is a smoky undertone to the sweetness, and something with a sharp edge that was probably the same sharp-edged thing in O. I can see the "sacred" part, and I get the impression that most of BPAL's whore/seductress/sexgoddess blends have sweetness in them, so I guess that's where the "whore" came from. However, I do not see myself as the kind of person who would wear this. A couple more chances perhaps, but I will probably try to swap this one away.

A frimp from the lab. When I first smelled it and when it was first on my skin, it reminded me strongly of some Asian dish; I cannot name the dish, but it must have had those spices in it for me to get such a strong image of those transparent noodles... As it dries, quite quickly, I get incense coming out stronger and stronger, although there is indeed a hint of wintergreen. After about five minutes, it is just incense. I do not care much for incense; iit is not something I want to go around smelling like. But I will give the imp another chance in a couple of days before relegating it to the "dispose of profitably" section.

You want geek, honey? I'll give you geek, and I am not a geek since a geek drinks blood at carnival sideshows and although I am far from vegan I do not drink blood... Here is some of my music to write by, and it is as cheery as yours...isn't. It is not a playlist, as I just randomly pick mp3s from my desktop. The Beatles: Back In The USSR, She Loves You, I Feel Fine, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, and the exception that proves the rule: Girl. Queen: Don't Stop Me Now, The Seven Seas of Rhye Boney M: Sunny Afric Simone: Hafanana Adriano Celentano: Stivali e Colbacco Army of Lovers: La plage de St. Tropez Ace of Base: Travel to Romantis, and another exception that proves the rule, My Deja Vu (how do you do accents in this great interface?) Shakira: Suerte and Wherever Whenever, depending on what language I am in the mood for Savage Garden: I Want You (the last time I actually cared what was the hip music was when they were the hip music, and I like it for the lines "I don't even try to explain, I just hold on tight, and if it happens again I may move so slightly...Come stand a little bit closer, breathe in and get a bit higher, you'll never know what hit you when I get to you." They summarise aikido quite well for me.) Vanessa Mae: Red Hot, Contradanza, Classical Gas, Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (the latter I have on CDs in several arrangements, but only the VM one on mp3 so far) V.Monti: Czardas (my version is by Leahy, whose other songs I despise, but I will listen to Czardas by even my high school's intermediate orchestra) Nightwish: Moondance Mozart (Capella Istropolitana): Symphony 25 Darkmateria: The Picard Song, The Worf Song; no I am NOT a Trekkie. As proof of my non-Trekkieness, I misheard "I am Locutus of Borg" on the Picard Song as "I am as cute as a ball" for a very long time... until my brother corrected me (and I transcribe audio text for my living, or at least my jewelry); and I like Worf simply for the line because this actually describes a large and repeating aspect of my life very well indeed. Lordi: Hard Rock Hallelujah from Eurovision 2006 Dschingis Khan: Dschingis Khan, Moskau, Hachi Alef Omar, Corrida And the rest of the stuff I have no hope of you ever hearing of, but I occasionally translate on my blog. Conclusion: I like to get up and dance when writing; it relaxes me. And if I like eurodisco to dance to, I stand by my choice! I also found "Without Me" by Eminem to be very danceable, but Step right up with a playlist that beats the revealed part of mine for geekiness.