pekeana

This reminds me of a designer perfume that my step-grandma used to wear. I like it enough to test it again, but probably won't keep it because the association with the grandparental unit doesn't make me happy.

Deep, tilled earth, loamy and full of green roots. This is totally Crossroads. And then it dries down into mosses and dry, almost burnt, grasses. I can appreciate the artistry behind it, but moss is my dire enemy, and I just... I don't like the scent on me.

Sacred Whore of Babylon has some magnolia beneath the gardenia, I'm pretty sure.

In the vial, Tenochtitlan is all sweet, fruity, and gently resinous. On me, well... it's sweet and resinous, and I think this is the first amber scent that hasn't gone powdery on me. It's warm and inviting, like snuggling up with someone you love under a Navajo blanket in the desert, looking up at the stars. EXQUISITE.

Oh, ugh -- I smelled Jolly Roger in the imp and had some misgivings, but couldn't tell what it was that was making me go "ew". But I put it on my skin anyway. Sewage. Raw sewage. Pure sewer backup. That's the odor wafting off my skin and it WON'T GO AWAY.

On me, Glitter is all sharp, boozy wine and bubblegummy lotus and boy, the combination makes me go "GAAAAAH". At first, it was all warm, sweet pear and wine, but then it all went to pot. I am sad.

In the vial, Phantasm reminds me of lemon lollipops and green tea. Once on, it's a very soft, sweet, almost feather-light lemon tea scent. It's so light that I literally have to press my nose against my hand to smell it. Alas, for it is lovely!

In the vial, Jabberwocky is so medicinal that it makes me gag and not want to put it on my skin at all. Eucalyptus out the freaking wazoo, man! Once on my skin, it burns, it burns! The eucalyptus just sinks into my skin and my hand feels like it's on fire where I applied it! But I gritted my teeth and waited for about ten minutes, till that passed. I smell eucalyptus, pine, and the vaguest breath of orange peel. Unfortunately, while I like the end result, the burning skin turned me off.

I swapped with diabolique for this bottle... This is Snake Oil, but it's not your little sister's wussy Snake Oil as a first BPAL experience. This is kick in your teeth with the base notes, and forget the vanilla, sister, because it's almost non-existant in this Snake Oil. Add to that a twist of freshly ground lemon peel that comes up once in a while to shock your nose and make it scream "wowie!" The base notes seem to be aged, and they aren't bringing up a very doughy scent like they do in regular Snake Oil on me. So, between that and the tang of lemon, it's really a deeper, darker Snake Oil. And we all must explore our dark side. I'll be keeping this and hoarding it.

Mmmm, Lady Macbeth, how bloody though art! Wine and berries, thick, potent, sweet. The wine is almost floral in its tone as it dries, and the berries are thick, juicy, succulent vine-ripened berries. I don't smell the thyme, however, at all. This reacts so well with my skin that it's a big bottle for sure. ETA: Lady Macbeth is similar, but not identical to, Midwinter's Eve.

Iago is the most masculine BPAL I've ever tried. The leather is hot and wet, almost slimy with the vetiver and musk combination below it. It makes my nose tingle in a bad way, though, so... to a new home it will go.

Amsterdam in the vial is green, green, sharp, bright spring green. I smell the tulips and I smell the grass, but the aquatics are hiding. On me, it's bright and sharp for about ten minutes, then fades into this soft, whispy, dreamy tulip and sweet grass scent. Which, alas, makes me sneeze like a lunatic. I love it, but the sneeziness? Not so much.

Powerful, commanding, blazing with strength. Mmmmm, Dragon's Blood. This is the scent of warmth, vitality, sensuality that I love (and everyone else around me hates). It's warm, resinous, kind of like spicy lilacs with just the tiniest hint of sugar behind it. On the other hand, my mother says it smells like strong, strong, strong cherry candies. I love it, but my family hates it, and into the swaps it goes.

In the vial, Hecate is screamingly almond. On my skin, it's almond and nothing but smoky almond for about an hour, then becomes smoky powder. It's nice enough in the smoky almond stage, but the powder turns me off.

Based on a Romany incense blend reputed to induce sexual dreams: Somalian rose, Moroccan rose and Bulgar rose with a sultry dribble of cinnamon. In the vial, Harlot is extremely sweet, strong rose. On me, it's all sweet, spicy rose. It doesn't change much from bottle to skin, and after about an hour, it fades away completely. Lovely, but the amount of reapplication I'd have to do would make me hesitant to buy more or even keep the imp.

Wow. Storm Moon, in the vial, is deep, tangy, screamingly aquatic ozone. When I first put it on, it starts out with a rush of flowers and ozone -- the aquatics are non-existant on my skin -- with a touch of something grounding. Juniper, I think? It's a similar grounding note as in Blue Moon, which I'm pretty sure is juniper. After a while, it gets very, very clean, hot, air with a touch of floral and a slight aquatic note. It's similar to Sea of Glass, but with a stronger hit of ozone instead of a strong hit of aquatic. It seems to fade incredibly fast on me, though beautiful it is. Edited to add: One of the florals I smelled is tulip and another is daffodil. I matched the tulip to a sniffing of Amsterdam, and the daffodil smells like the jonquils that are just starting to bloom in the neighbor's yard.

In the bottle, Spooky reminds me of a beautiful, fresh, incredibly tempting Grasshopper. On me, the mint vanishes to the background, jut kind of haunting around the edges, while the coconut and cocoa duke it out and finally settle into a dusky, warm, sensually inviting scent that smacks of macaroons. There really isn't any booze on me, so it mainly smells like dusty coconut cookies. And I loooooooove it, OMG! Very glad I bought two bottles, I am.

Ugh. Moss hates me. Bayou smelled to me nothing more than rotting vegetation and hot, stagnant water. And it's so strong that within 5 minutes of putting it on, I was overcome with the urge to go scrub my skin till all the rotting composty smell went bye-bye. [so I did.] Thus ends the Song Of The Bayou.

In the vial, Rome is all chammomile and rose. On me, it welts and smells like old, used soap. There was a cheap soap that my grandparents used to use when my grandpa was alive, and that's what this smells like. And it's making me sick to my stomach.

Wow, holy crap -- all I can smell in the vial are the extra-tangy Sweet Tarts. Once on me, it stays candy sweet for a while, then becomes a soft incensey fruit & clove scent. It's a little too cloyingly sweet for me, though, alas! There's something that just smells... acridly sweet on my skin here.

I got a new bottle of Snake Oil yesterday that smells nothing like the old bottle I got in August and eventually decided that I hated. In the bottle, I smell mostly the base notes, with a touch of sweetness that lightens it up and makes me think "ooooooh". Once on, when you get close to my arms, you smell the base notes very strongly, but the wafting smell is vanilla buttercreme ice cream -- similar to the scent of Coldstone Creamery's sweet cream ice cream. After about 8 hours, the base notes slowly meld into a soft, gentle harmony with the vanilla and then from there, they fade away to almost nothing, while the vanilla remains strong and fast. Now that I've gotten a happy love of Snake Oil, there will be no way I'll be without a bottle or two on hand.

Sophia is light and soft, slightly bitter but very sweet, and incredibly complex for a floral. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I like the way the jasmine tries to beat everything else into submission behind it. Other than that, I love it -- which is scary, since I'm not fond of florals that much.

Cheshire Cat started off acrid and almost digusting in the vial. Once on my skin, it mellowed out immediately to chammomile and lavender with a subtle twist of currants. It's nice, but the initial "omgbarf" from opening the vial isn't so great.

Hellcat is what happens when Gluttony sails to Port-Au-Prince and dry-humps Grog at a racuous party. It's just absolutely gorgeous. pkwench's "this is sex" scent is Bordello -- mine is now totally Hellcat. It starts off very bitter nutty from the hazelnut, then mellows out into this warm, hot, sensual thick almost-sweet but not quite scent. It's sticky and smooth, sultry. I get orange spice from rum, so it's very hot orange spice with amaretto and a warm undercurrent of vanilla sugar. My next order will be including a bottle of Hellcat.

Oh, yeah -- Siren's nice, too, but it's very heavy on all of the notes but the apricot.