Schmoozy

Gwyneth is soft, muted and very lovely. Coconut, tonka, skin mush with a hint of sage. As it dries, rose otto, calla lily and orchids mingle softly together and combined with tonka and coconut, make for a beautiful combination. As it dries further, the rose otto really begins to stand out from the other florals and together with the musk become a bit too sweet and cloying. I really love a good rose, but I dislike rose and musk, because it just becomes a bit too much for my sniffer to handle. Unfortunately this really is predominantly rose, and I am sad that tonka, coconut, sage and the other florals literally disappear.

Hello red fruit explosion. A juicy burst of red fruits, mohagony, benzoin and frankincense. However, once it hits my skin the patchouli note pulls through and it's fierce. Slightly overpowering, I am ready to wash this off, but decide to wait for the drydown, and give it a chance. The juicy fruits start to lose some of their sweetness, and is replaced with resins, and woods. Instead of juicy, it becomes dry and whiffs of incense mingle with the fruits giving them a wine feel. Patchouli settles down a bit, but it is still very present, and unfortunately it just isn't meshing with me the way I want it to.

Woah, this is a strong combination of herbs, woodsy and golden. This is definitely a very bright blend that starts off extremely herbal (must be the seeds and sedge) mixed with the woody vibe from sandalwood. The brown amber at first is lost, but once The Little Sparrow has time to settle and morph on my skin, it appears giving light, and a little sweetness. Once dry, it has become soft and muted and is all sandalwood and amber, just like one of my favorite handmade soaps. This is stunning, incrediably comforting and I will need a bottle of this.

Oh this is absolutely beautiful. On first sniff it is a woodsy, vanilla sandalwood, with hints of ginger and apricot. Lily of Valley is present, but once on my skin it stays firmly planted in the background. Amber is also in the blend, but only to give it softness and light. I love how amber can be so deliously golden and sunny, and offer a sexy, but innocent glow. Mainly this is a slightly sugared vanilla and combined with the oak and sandalwood, becomes very woody and helps the tonka and vanilla stay grounded and not become cloying sweet and plastic on my skin. Ginger gives Haloes a spicy kick and apricot, delivers it's own sweetness, together with the other notes, makes this a comforting, soothing yet sexy scent.

This is the shit. I love how the softness of vanilla cream cotton mingles with Indian musk. The darkness of tobacco, cognac and incense smoke make a great foil for the vanilla cotton, and while both play on the light and dark, together they balance each other out. It starts off fairly strong, but within minutes, it becomes this whisper light blend that smells so unbelievably sexy but muted.

Oh yah! This is a big ole bowl of fruit salad and Snake Oil. Predominantly apple and SO, but fruit bowl all the same. It is juicy, lush and very delicious. Snake oil sort of takes a back seat at the beginning while the citrus, apple and gardenia are loud and very present. Plumeria, gives a slightly spicy feel and after dry down, the florals and fruit calm down and SO reappears.

This is a deep, dark cocoa note slightly sweetened with rice milk and drizzled over snake oil. It is is thick and gooey, and extemely yummy. I was worried when I tried this ages ago that it would be too sweet, but the teakwood, really balances out the rice milk and cocoa, and together with Snake oil make this very delectable. I am pretty pale, and didn't have any problems with skin staining.

2008 Snow White A fresh ole bottle of Snow White to play with. The only thing I want to add from having previously reviewed Snow White is that the green crispness of a fresh bottle is more prevalent than an aged bottle. Gah, this stuff is heaven.

Earthy, rooty, woodsy with a touch of spicy herbs and celery. Yup celery, and mingled with freshly turned dirt it smells exactly like you have just gone and raided your garden. I don't find the earth warm at all, in fact it is surprisingly chilly just like a cold cellar or pantry, where you store all your offerings from the summer. I enjoy scents that are able to induce strong memories, and just for that I will keep this decant.

hahhaa. This starts off almost exactly like Lilith Victoria. Yup, I can see, and agree to the comparisions of Dorian, and I love them both. Banded Sea Snake is another lush, bright, snake pit blend. It is green, and woodsy and together with snake oil make for a beautiful oil. Moss and olive leaf, come across a bit masculine, but with my skin chemistry that means it smells clean and fresh. Snake oil is very prominent in Banded Sea Snake and this is going to be a great oil for the summer.

Oh. This is definitely a bright snake pit blend. On application, this is all acai berry and neroli with Snake oil. It is fruity, bright and really lush. It has this energetic vibe running through it and this is going to be a great wake up and go oil. After dry down, the acai berry and neroli take a back seat to amber, cardamom and smoked vanilla. In fact the cardomom seems to enhance the acai berry, making it slightly spicy and smoother. The smoked vanilla note really appears at the end, as it blends with snake oil and complimenting the spicy, fruity angle of Australian Copperhead.

Asp Viper didn't start off very well. At first it was all almond and red mandarin with splashes of myrrh here and there. It was almost too almondy if that makes sense, and I couldn't detect any snake oil at all. However, after it dried, the almond settled down as well as the mandarin and I was left with a beautiful snake oil layered with a hint of citrus and almond, and some myrrh for good measure. The morphing of the oil after dry down was really surprising, because for the most part all the snake pit scents have smelt as beautiful from the bottle/or decant as they do on the skin. Asp Viper was the exception of the pit.

Wet this is all vetiver and snake oil. Once it dries down the unmistakeable scent of black coconut mingled with vanilla and opoponax really come through. It leaves behind a slightly smoky, dark vanilla snake oil with coconut. This is really, really good. It is resinous, foody and snake oil all rolled into one, I love how the vetiver keeps this from being too sweet, and black coconut enhances the vanilla and spice of snake oil.

It looks to me like a large number of the people who tried and hated Gelt were more interested in it as a foody, chocolate scent--which it only is at its beginning. I like the amber part of it a LOT better than the chocolate (while I love brownie batter, I'd rather not smell like it for long), which made Gelt work really well for me! It's not a lightweight amber, though--it's amber coming on strong (and sweet, and golden, and delicious). I hope it works for you, too! Thanks for weighing in. I also think you nailed it on the head (re: people wanting Gelt to be Foody.) While chocolate/cocoa works with my skin chemistry, I much prefer how it adds another dimension to scents (ie: Boomslang) rather than smelling like chocolate factory, which tends to make me sick after a few hours. I love that you described it as strong amber. Now that is what I am looking forward to. What oils have you tried Dark Alice?

Yes! For me It takes a lil while longer to get there, but when it does, it's sweet amber heaven. Oh thank heavens! I haven't tried Gelt yet, but I keep hearing many friends discuss how much they hate it. I am worried a bit about the cocoa note, but both of you have reminded me to stay positive and wait to test it myself.

I have to say that this is one of the most gorgeous rose blends I have tried in a long time. This has all the notes I have been coveting lately. Amber, straw and of course my beloved salty aquatic. All together they combine beautifully to create a simple, golden, slightly sweet mix of amber, rose, straw and tears!

I have to admit I was worried about the honey note, but thankfully the honey only serves to make this blend creamy and thick. This starts off screaming gardenia, but it only lasts a few seconds before vanilla amber, neroli and peach appear. The honey sits in the background along with the cream note to make Gaolers' Daughter warm, golden and comforting. This definitely has sweet wriiten all over it, but not in a cloying way. The reference to Tamora only more floral is bang on. Funny how a scent like Gardenia can be quite a strong floral. This is beautiful and I thank the heavens, that honey did not ruin it for me.

This is probably going to be one of my favorites of the yules. Cedar and fir are blended with musk, sandalwood and amber and lightly dusted with black berries and rose. I thought this may come across as a heavy scent with all the powerhouses inside, but it is light and airy and very pretty. As it dries down the amber and sandalwood create a golden dusty feel and accentuate the two woods - cedar and fir. Frozen black berries give Lines a cold/snowy feel and combined with rose really give it dimension.

Oh this is stunning. I knew it was going to be lovely and I am not disappointed. This is beautiful wispy winter florals combined with snow, musk and just a hint of pine. It reminds me of hiking up in Pyramid or Edith Cavell when spring has sprung and there is still still snow in the valley, but tufts of grass and alpine flora are poking their heads out of the snow trying to grab some sun. Perchta is soft, light and gentle. Not one flower is dominant, except for crocus and violet and little whiff of edelweiss. Cue Sound of Music soundtrack.

This is a beautiful snowy, slushy pine with mint. There are hints of greenery and berries, and for some odd reason I can detect a touch of cirtrus, specifically orange. Nuclear Winter is soothing, peaceful and very relaxing. I adore BPAL's snowy, slushy pines and the addition of mint in Nuclear Winter make this another coveted yule for me.

Sugar Cookie 2008 Wow. This is some fresh sugar cookie. It still has all the spice and butteryness of 2005, but is sort of missing the cookie aspect. There is something inside that hints at booze, but it is very fleeting and I suspect that over time this is going to morph very nicely.

I am not too sure I like this. It starts off extremely powerful, very spicy and sniffing from the bottle almost overwhelms me and not in a good way. This is definitely butter cookies soaked in rum. I think it could be too boozy for my liking. The sugar note comes across as almost burnt brown sugar, and I can barely detect orange rind. Well time is always a best bet for some BPAL scents. After this had dried on my skin, the rum and spice seemed to calm down and the other notes started to appear. I think this is going to be one of those scents for me, that goes on very strong, and you just have to persevere to the end. I will admit that I do prefer Sugar Cookie over BRC.

This is stunning. Mole is warm, soft and very gentle. The patchouli note scared me, but in Mole it is barely detectable. The lightest hint of patchouli mingles with soft moss and together they form a winning combination of earth and greenery. Light and dark. Once you add the antiqued sandalwood, this blend becomes even more dear. Sandalwood to my nose always gives off a woodsy feel, and this is no exception. I agree with other reviewers in that Mole comes across as a masculine scent, but it just gives it that feeling of a warmth and comfort. That feeling of being in your lovers arms and nothing else in the world matters except the two you.

Juicy, sweet but tart plums with soft wildflowers. I detect a herbal scent which I attribute to the mix of wildflowers which could be from the leaves and stems. After drydown the cream softens the sweetness of the plums and helps control the wildflowers from taking over the entire scent. Overall this is playful purple oil in which the flroals play nicely and the cream adds dimension to the tart plums.

Wow. This is really beautiful. At first application it is wispy & sweet with an emphasis on rosewood and osmanthus. You can detect the red sandalwood, but it is not prevalent until drydown. Osmanthus & Rosewood lend a sweet woodsy feel. After this has time to settle on my skin, the sandalwood, vanilla and white peach start to appear and I am left with a gentle vanilla peach and sandalwood, with sweet woods. The throw is very mild though and to I really have my nose pressed against my skin to detect it.