Cariad

I got this as a frimp from Cali & am eternally grateful because I'd never think to order it myself! ? This scent intrigues me. On paper, it shouldn’t work with my skin – green scents often turn to unpleasant soap, while aquatics usually just don’t quite sit right. But this works. Oh it works. In the imp, it smells sharp, green and salty, with the barest hint of flowers. Wet, it goes through a soapy, floral phase which almost tricked me into thinking I would hate it. It’s not unpleasant; it just smells like old-fashioned soap. After a few moments, the parsley pushes forward, and the woods begin to deepen and anchor the scent. The flowers give an alluring heart to this scent, almost wrapping the other notes around them like the cave at the centre of the island. Dry, it settles beautifully. The saltiness becomes almost a skin-musk, with warm woods and a hint of grassy green beyond it. I love it. It’s fresh, elegant, androgynous, and not overpowering.

Snake Oil with purple fruits, only better - deeper, more inviting, more incense-y... SO sexy I thought I wouldn't be able to pull it off. Then it broke my heart by turning into cloying-sickly-sour-plum-medicine-doom on my skin. Stupid plum. ETA: after reading Andrabell's post, I might just have to get another sample of this one...

... A deep, resonant scent, both comforting and soft: lovers’ roses, solemn chrysanthemum, dark vetiver and dazzling cactus flowers. Have I really not reviewed Santa Muerte? o_O This was one of my first 5mls, and I suspect I'll come to think of it as my 'scent of 2007'. I got an imp of it last autumn and, as usual, tried it out on a piece of tissue before I put it on my skin - never really a good idea, and this was no exception, because all I could smell on the tissue was sharp, green vetiver. On my skin, however, it's a different story altogether: warm, almost dusty green - I can understand the comparisons to cocoa - melded with a lovely rose and bright, juicy cactus flowers (and... well... my untrained nose can't make out the 'mums, but I'm sure they're there). It's a beautifully blended perfume, with each layer rising up into the other, complementing one another perfectly. When I moved to Spain and spent winter in a warm, dusty-golden landscape full of cactus fruit and convents, Santa Muerte really came into her own - rich, earthy, mysterious, feminine and playful. I wore this oil almost non-stop for 8 months and I still find myself reaching for it whenever I want something grounded but elegant. I love it --> I have to add a disclaimer: my skin will turn *anything* warm and earthy if it can, so it's no surprise I'm such a fan of myrrh, vetiver and the like. It's still a beautiful and unusual perfume, though; definitely one to try for those who don't normally go for rose or florals.

I have a bad head cold, so I might have to add some more coherent comments when I can actually smell again, but... oh my god! This is a scent I would *never* have picked out on my own, but it's so... me. All I can smell through the cold is slightly chocolatey, earthy, sensual goodness. It's not as in-your-face SEXY as, say, Snake Oil; more like "I know exactly how sexy I am; it's up to you if you want to find out..." And that is more or less exactly how I want to smell.

I totally second Masabakes - it's very heavy on the myrrh, but if you can get past that, it warms up to a deliciously tart, juicy blackcurrant with a trace of mimosa to make it more elegant. I don't like sweet scents as a rule, and this is the only non-citrus fruity BPAL that has worked on me to date.

Wow. I don't know what prompted me to get an imp of Hecate, but I'm so glad I did! Almonds aren't usually my thing, but I can trust my skin to do good things with myrrh and dark musk, and the whole blend worked out *so* much better than I could imagine... On first sniff, Hecate is powerfully almondy, but also curiously un-foody. The other notes are definitely lurking in the background, and they give a dusky, night-time feel to the blend. On my skin, the almonds quickly settled down and the rich, spicy myrrh and dark musk came out, making this smell *gorgeous.* This is what I hoped Bastet would smell like - slightly homely and alluring from the almonds, but with a fierce edge. I can see this one becoming a favourite, especially in winter. Edited 12(ish) years later! I’ve just tried Hecate again for the first time in... wow... a decade. I remembered liking this scent but forgot how complex and sophisticated it is. It’s a shapeshifter - but all of its shapes are darkly beautiful, and self-assured. That said, you probably won’t like it if you don’t like almonds!

In the imp: WHOOSH! This stuff is minty! On my skin, the violet comes to the foreground, and the interplay between the bright mint and cool, dark violet is lovely, really evocative. If I pay attention, I can make out the rose and the sandalwood too, rounding out the scent. This is a really beautiful perfume - the equivalent of standing in my parents' cottage garden on a clear summer night under the stars. I think I might need a bottle of this. eta: the osmanthus has come out to play now that I've applied some more - it makes Utrennyaya smell like the less fruity younger sister of Venice. I'm still loving this blend!

Litha smells slightly different every time I try it, but it always smells like summer. I grew up in the West Wales countryside, and this blend really does smell like a warm, sunny afternoon in a Welsh meadow, at just that point in the year when all of the grass seeds and the wild flowers are out. At first, the honey and the greenery in the bottle reminded me of a less fruity Hetairae - no bad thing imo The first time I tried it on my skin, the verbena came singing to the front with a lovely, fresh lemony smell. On the whole, though, it's the mead which really stands out - slightly mellower than the usual BPAL honey note, blending so beautifully with the other notes that all I'm left with is the glorious impression of those summer meadows. Like most of the other seasonal blends I've tried, I probably wouldn't wear it as a year-round perfume, but it's just perfect for this time of year.

I decided to give this one last try before I put it in the swaps box, and my god am I glad! I usually try out my new imps on tissue first, and with Masabakes all I could smell was MYRRH! - so I pulled a face and put it away somewhere to forget about it. I got it out again today while I was writing out my swaps list, and because myrrh and I usually get along just fine, I decided to swipe a little on my wrist to see if it would change at all - and wow! After a few seconds of dusty, dry bitterness, it warms up to a delisciously dark, fruity scent with enough of a bite to keep it from being too sweet. I've had no luck with fruity blends until now, but this one is a winner.

I'm trying out a frimp of Shanghai today as well - it doesn't really smell like jasmine, but it really does smell like TEA!

I got an aged (2 year old!) imp of Snake Oil from a very generous swapper I was really curious to try it after all I've read. When I first applied it, there was something sharp, almost astringent-smelling about it - it reminds me of the initial smell I get from Hamadryad. But that's only the tip of the iceberg... This scent has *depth*. At first I thought it was far too sultry for me, but as it dries down it mellows into the loveliest, most intriguing, enticing vanilla - and I don't even like vanilla! It also has a gorgeous throw, almost like a veil of perfume. I've been trying to cull my imp collection (semi-seriously) by getting my boyfriend to grade the different perfumes out of 10. Snake Oil started off with a 7.5 but eventually got bumped up to a 9, after he kept sniffing my arms and asking, "my god, what IS that perfume?! grrr..."

Have you tried Fox-Woman Kuzuhona? I *love* jasmine flowers and I love jasmine tea, so I've been searching for a BPAL jasmine blend that works on me ever since I discovered BPAL. The Fox-Woman is it. It's rounded out slightly by wisteria and cherry blossom, so it's not a straight jasmine tea scent, but it's close enough for me. Sweet, light and beautiful

The Fox-Woman Kuzunoha is perfect for when I want to smell fresh, delicate and springlike I had a perfect spring moment yesterday, walking to class in the sunshine underneath the cherry trees, smelling of delicate blossoms and tea.

First impression: Sex! That's really what it smells like to my nose. Sex. I knew I wanted a bottle of this as soon as I saw the perfume notes, but my god, I never imagined it would smell this good on me. The amber blends beautifully with the citrus, making it a glowing, golden blend, much less sharp than I expected. The pepper gives a sexy kick, and the vetiver stays in the background, rounding out the blend with a hint of depth and darkness. But this blend is so much more than the sum of all its parts. This is a silk-and-killer-heels perfume, and to my impressionable nose, there is something of the crone about it... My first head-over-heels true BPAL love eta: having gone back to look at the painting, I have even more respect for Beth's artistry in this blend - it somehow manages to capture both the beautiful, sexual, alluring side of the gorgons before they were cursed (the side that got them into all this trouble in the first place), and the shadow of the 'monsters' they became.