feline.by.design

Oneiroi is absolutely fabulous. I've only worn it when I need to go to sleep, even though I really don't need help in that category. The jasmine and lavender are a match made in sleepy-time heaven. I haven't worn this outside of the apartment, as I worry I might fall asleep at work or in class (I'm a big sleepy head anyway). Thus I can't really comment on the lasting power, since I've been asleep for most of it. However, I've noted that it has lasted through the night, faintly, once or twice. I second the suggestion that this would be an ideal linen spray, but I'd rather slather this on my skin then roll around in the bed to get the smell on the sheets! -doreen

As I put this on, the words "liquid lollipop" sprang into my head. This is a very sweet fragrance, but it's not especially fruity to me. It's kind of a white, refined sugar with a bit of spice and goopy sticky syrup. That is a good thing. It reminds me of Hollywood Babylon, not in so much fragrance but more in spirit, because of the sweetness. It continues to be sweet and absolutely yummy. Another scent I highly recommend. I'm looking forward to getting a big bottle once the holidays blow over. -doreen

Endymion! Endymion! I'm actually part of the anti-rose faction of the Forum, but Endymion is wonderful! Not too powdery, but very brisk. As for the holiday scents, girl, just get 'em all!! -doreen

Add me to the chorus recommending Bon Vivant. If you could get away with Hell's Belle, I would go with that one, as it smells like liquid lollipops rolled in sugar. Definitely a good thing. Also, I agree that The Hesperides would be a good choice as well. I'd also go with Megaera, as it reminds me of Mister Bubble. Zephyr is another one I would recommend, and so is Hollywood Babylon and Lampades. I heard that the Tarot oil of The High Priestess has a good amount of cherry in it, something I'm not into personally but she may enjoy it. Vice has that cherry/chocolate mix that she may like. -doreen

Endymion took me a couple of wears for me to *really* grasp how amazing this fragrance is. On me, the pear note was predominant while the oil was still fresh on the skin, but it later would have the rose scent blended in, quietly dominating the fragrance while it lasted, which was a a decent amount of time. As someone mentioned earlier, it's crisp yet not bitingly so. I wore it while poking around in antique shops, and now I will forever associate the fragrance with digging around in old shops. That's a good thing! This is also a lovely fragrance to wear at work, during the daytime or meeting with the boy's (or girl's) parents to put on a very sweet and feminine persona. My mother really liked the scent as well, so I think I may pass along the 5 ml I have on order possibly to her, or I may give it to another friend whom I think would enjoy it. I'm going to try and resist the temptation to keep the bottle to myself (mine, mine mine!!) and wait until I finish the imp I have now before I order another bottle. The thing with Endymion is the rose. I'm generally not a fan of rose scents, however I do find some every now and then that I like, and Endymion is one of them. The rose featured here to me seems more like an old, English Garden tea rose, and I know I tend to like those rather than the newer hybrids in terms of fragrance. This rose won't knock you down, and I don't really consider this a "granny rose" scent. It brings to mind a fragrance of an earlier era, an earlier elegance, if you will. In short, you simply must give it a go. -doreen -doreen

I'm kinda-sorta doing this... most of my "random" picks are imps that I didn't care for on the initial sniff, though! I also had a few duplicates that I thought I would pass along as well. I'm getting a few 5 mls for people, and giving two or three imps' ears to provide a small sampling. All the ideas that I've seen so far are really good picks. Here's my six-pack list for a female: -Lampades -Hurricane -Embalming Fluid -Zephyr -Delight -Endymion For a male, I would recommend: -Old Port-Au-Prince -Vicomte de Valmont -Hurricane (again) -The Hermit -Val San Retour (not an official scent yet, but it ROCKS) -Severin For a random imp pack, I think I'm echoing most everyone else when recommending a collection comprised of fragrances that differ from each other. I didn't include Snake Oil, as I haven't tried it yet (four orders deep and I STILL haven't gotten it, I know...), but since it's supposed to have a vanilla element you could substitute it for Zephyr, and so on. Lampades could be substituted with something like Hollywood Babylon or Hamadryad, Delight with Seraglio, Hurricane with Lorelai... etc. -doreen

I get many chances to celebrate Halloween this month, which is good because I didn't do much last year and I was in Thailand the year prior. So I'm overdue! Tonight I will be going to a Halloween party doing my best to portray an Elegant Gothic Lolita, but due to the limited funds of mine and the limited time I had to get things, my outfit may not be quite "Elegant" or "Lolita." At least I'll smell good! I don't know what I'll wear, but I'm looking at picking one of these: Red Moon, Blood Amber, Hollywood Babylon, Hamadryad or Embalming Fluid. Next Friday at work I will be reprising the EGL look or I will be "French." Should I choose the latter I will be wearing something feminine. I do have an imp of Old Paris, so that may fit. On Halloween Day, I would like to sport the new LE sniffs I ordered, either Samhain or Dia De Los Muertos. If not, it depends on what I'm doing and who I will be with. -doreen

I tried this on once or twice, and I didn't detect the pine until after I've read the previous reviews. I knew it was a "green" note, but I didn't realise it was pine until now, and now it seems obvious. This fragrance seems to fade rather fast. It's quite unassuming, but I like it. Along with the smell of broken pine needles, I also detect a lemon/grapefruit scent. If you're going to use it, I would recommend applying it with a heavy hand, as it's very light. Good for those of you who have boyfriends who complain about the amount of BPAL you wear (like me...). Aside from the fact that it's barely detectable for me, I really do enjoy this. It's a fragrance that can be worn by both men and women, and I thought at first that this would be one of those fragrances that was traditionally masculine, but I'd wear anway. It's very brisk and refreshing. Wonder if it's an upcoming holiday scent. -doreen

This is a very peculiar fragrance. I had ordered this because I cannot resist anything that has Earl Grey in its description, even if it has leather, which at first I was very leery of. The citrus is, I take it, supposed to be the bergamot in Earl Grey, however in the fragrance when I first applied Severin it kind of reminded me of... err... wood polish. But it wasn't *bad* and this sort of went away to leave me swimming in black tea and leather, with the citrus poking in here and there in the soft grey-black ocean. The tea almost reminded me of tobacco, in fact my boyfriend asked me if it was supposed to smell like tobacco. Yes, it's subtle and turns very faint quite quick, but it just wouldn't be a fair representation of Severin if his namesake scent was strong and powerful, at least for the majority of the book. I'm interested in getting an imp of Wanda to compare the two fragrances now, to see if Wanda "dominates" Severin yet again. This is the first fragrance from the lab that I've gotten that smells like this, tea and leather. It's very unique and I like it a lot. The fragrance is one of those where it could almost be like you're *not* wearing any oils, it's very much an oil that smells like really good skin. I get the impression that a very well-learned, dignified man would be wearing this, yet he would be soft-spoken and a bit shy. Alas, I know no one who matches that description, so I will just have to buy a bottle of this for me, when finances permit. I'd love to try and use this as a home scent, as the furniture/wood polish hint might make the joint a bit classier, if that's at all possible. In the meantime, my imp shall be well-used... and abused. -doreen

Blood Amber seems like a building block for one of my favourite scents, Hollywood Babylon, which I believe also has amber in it. In the vial, it looks like there was one single drop of blood that turned the liquid a light red. Cooooool... The fragrance held up well on me, though I think I detected a note of cinnamon or something spicy, but I think I'm just mad. I really like the fragrance. Blood Amber.... I don't think I will buy a bottle of it, but I will likely order imps of it in the future to wear alone or layer with scents like Hollywood Babylon or Lampades. Or maybe Red Moon. I think this is also a good one to share with some of my friends, so I may be buying some imp ears for them, too. -doreen

In the bottle and when wet, Sudha Segara emitted a really green note to me. "This is milk?" Once it dried, though, oh my goodness, it was gorgeous. This scent is absolutely exquisite, like warm milk with honey. I thought I smelled something that was like honeysuckle, but I could be way off. This is the fragrance that threatened my arm when my boyfriend smelled it on me. He would NOT give me back my arm, as he kept sniffing and sniffing, not something he normally does. He has allergies as well, and Sudha didn't bother him at all. This would probably make a fantastic sleep scent. I took a nap the first time wearing it and I think I fell asleep with my nose squished into my arm. I'm thinking about getting a big bottle for his mother for the holidays, but I may sneak myself a bottle as well! -doreen

Aizen-Myoo reminds me a little like Cheshire Cat, however it's much sweeter and more floral, due to the cherry blossom fragrance. I liked Aizen-Myoo, and it has managed to stay on my skin for over two hours now, however I think I would like this fragrance on someone else. This seems like the perfect "little girl's" scent to me, and even though I'm not exactly old, I feel like my time for this scent has gone by. This is probably something I will pass onto a friend, as I don't really see myself wearing this often, and it's too sweet for a home fragrance. Still, it smells really nice, just not really for me. -doreen

La Petit Mort was a generous freebie with my order, and one I had wanted to try. In the bottle and on me when the oil was wet, I was enveloped in a lovely, sweet floral smell, which I attribute to the ylang ylang. It smelled almost like jasmine, which is lucky for me as I love jasmine. It's a smell that isn't overbearing, which is good because I'm rather finicky with floral scents. Now, about two hours or so later, the fragrance has died down and I'm starting to get a hint of the powdery note that others have mentioned, but it's more like baby oil than baby powder, and to me it still smells good. At this point in time I would normally reapply, since the scent isn't really detectable unless I smush my nose into the crook of my elbow. I found La Petit Mort to be a wonderful scent, and I'm quite happy the Lab included it along with the gobs of other imps. Although I may not get a big bottle of it for myself any time soon, I think I will buy a bottle as a holiday gift for someone. I'm definitely keeping the imp, and I can see La Petit Mort becoming a favourite. As xoe mentioned, it's a good work scent. I didn't really get the sexual connotations that others were getting, actually. It seems like a rather fun yet elegant fragrance that is versatile enough to be worn at any time of the day. -doreen

Old Paris was the first imp I tried from my order I received this past Friday. It was very strong (!) on me, so I filled Brent's truck with the scent of Old Paris (believe me, it was a vast improvement). Old Paris, wet, I could really tell that there was lavender in the fragrance. I'm actually a geek for lavender, possessing a lavender bed linen spray I spritz liberally on the bed before I roll around like a kitten in cat nip. In Old Paris, though, the lavender seemed to be reined in by the aqua note of lotus. I didn't get any sort of spice from this fragrance at all, but rather I picked up on the image of a refined lady strolling along the Champs-Elysee. The fragrance was nice for at least an hour, but an odd smell started to develop which wasn't a necessarily "bad" smell, but one I wouldn't really want to smell like. In the crook of my right elbow, hours after I first applied, I developed this odd smeared-lipstick scent I'm attributing to Old Paris. Looks like our refined lady got a little trampy when I wasn't paying attention! I think I will try and give the imp another go before I make the final verdict, but as of now, I'll definitely keep the imp, because even if it doesn't smell absolutely stunning on me, I think it would be nice as a bedtime sniff. -doreen

I agree with Reinaluna, this smells a lot like Hollywood Babylon to me. And seeing as how I've recently put in an order for a 5 ml bottle of Miss Holly Babs, this is a good thing. An even better thing is that I was sent two imps ears of Lampades. Goody for me, as I love this fragrance. I'm getting a sweet cranberry lick mumbled with a bit of spice to keep it sassy. This seems like Hollywood Babylon's more mature cousin. Great staying power, too. Once I use up one of the imps I'll likely get a bigger bottle, since it doesn't smell too similar to Hollywood Babylon, and I could always use some more sniffs that make me feel like a sexpot. I'm deliberating if I should give away Lampades or if I should keep it to myself. Oh, and a final note: the boy likes the fragrance. So much so the bugger bit me! -doreen Edited to add that my skin seems to naturally exude a cinnamon oil, as Lampades' spice is starting to smell like a mild cinnamon stick on me. Weird, but delicious!

Wow. The King of Spades smelled yummy, positively YUMMY as I was putting it on me. It was like some fantastic fruit cocktail that wasn't too fruity. After about five or ten minutes, there was a smell that slowly took over the Eau de Beach Drink fragrance: cinnamon?! Reading the description again, it might have been the "soft woods" I smelled, but it was definitely spicey, but not overbearing. I love cinnamon smells anyway, so I was happy, even though the change was really surprising. King of Spades lasted *ages* on me, and it's one of those Limited Editions that I am making a big frowny-face knowing I won't be able to buy it again. As Andrabell mentioned, this is a fragrance that works well with the ladies. I haven't tried it on any of the boys yet, so I can't comment on how well it would work with men. Then again, you think I'm gonna share this goodness? :::clutches the bottle and makes hissing noises::: -doreen

For a while I was getting Othello and Oberon confused, and I thought that it was Othello that elicited such a strong "Ew, get it off!" response. But no, Othello was a nice, gentle rose. I'm not keen on rose, so I think I've done something to the imp I had of this, I don't know what. But it wasn't a keeper for me. I felt the scent wasn't really "traditionally masculine" but hey, that's me. For those of you who like the rose fragrances I seem to so detest, Othello is a wonderful pick. -doreen

This was one of the rare BPAL scents I flat-out hated. Harshe, I know, but I only really detest maybe two or three scents. And this is one. I put it on at work to try it out and either the orchid or the juniper berry or SOMETHING created this ungodly "Floral from Hell" smell. It was so strong, I wiped myself down with an alcohol wipe and STILL smelled it, and continued to throughout the whole day. Just uncorking the imp now made me nauseated, and I have the smell on my fingertips! Eeek!! This is getting passed on to my roommate. Though the smell I was getting was way too powdery to be suited for a hetero guy. Must go wash my hands now. With a Brillo pad. -doreen

Brent (lover, tormentor, ass-grab, boyfriend) seemed to like Hollywood Babylon on me. He's complimented me twice for wearing it on two seperate occasions. I know he's said that some other ones have smelled nice on me, but my memory is pretty awful, so I can't remember well. Hamadryad must have been one, though, since it's one I sport on the skin often. Now if you want to talk what I've worn that's elicited a "response" (:::dirty chuckle::, that would be Red Devil, and a couple others my memory has chosen to neglect. Now you girls have got me into concocting up an idea for an experiment! I'm envisioning a flow chart.... -doreen

Tygher sent this to me in a swap, and it's funny, because the elements that make up this scent compound seem to tell me that, yes, I'll really like it. As soon as the imp wand touches my skin, however, it smells a bit like baby oil. While wearing, my boyfriend remarked TWICE that I smelled like baby powder. So maybe a mish-mash of baby powder and baby oil. I haven't needed to reapply, and nearly seven hours later the scent is still a-kickin'. It's not a particularly bad fragrance, and I can see myself using up the whole bottle in one form or another, but I don't believe that Titus Andronicus will make its appearance in my collection as a bigger bottle. I do agree that it is quite unisex in the bottle, although on me I seem to somehow bring out a powdery scent that utterly feminises the fragrance. -doreen

I believe I read somewhere that alcohol does the trick (no not to drink, silly!). If you get a cotton ball and rub the applied area, this should take the sniff out. Depending on the oil, from my experience, it is possible to just use soap and water to wash the scent off, but this doesn't work with some fragrances, especially the resin-esque ones. -doreen

Haven't tried any of what you have there, but based on its description, I would go with Phantasm. The Sun also sounds lovely. Then again, there is a possibility that the lady or man doing the hiring may say: Interviewer: Hmm... That's a lovely scent, by the way. What's it called? You: Er... uhm... :::sweats::: -doreen PS: Best of luck with the interview!

Okay, when I saw this included as a freebie in my last order, I thought, "Oh no." Why? Cherry. From my trials with scents containing cherry in the previous order, I had determined that cherry fragrance is my mortal enemy. Upon opening the bottle and taking a whiff, my anti-cherry stance was strengthened. Ugh! Sucrets anyone? The scent inside was sweet and reminded me of cherry Halls or maybe LifeSavers. I didn't want to try this one at all, I wanted to immediately plunk it into the swap pile untested. But, in the name of BPAL science, I shall be the guinea pig and test this odious scent!! I put a bit on my left wrist and my left wrist only, so that way I wouldn't have to wash off much. Then, something magical happened. The magic of body chemistry! My skin took this scent and pretty much seemingly subtracted the cherry out of the equation, either that or it's hidden mighty well. Wet on my skin, I got a vanilla scent helped out greatly by the amber or the musk, so it was like vanilla beans squashed by stiletto heels. The strawberry smell was intermingled well, and later became dominant about thirty minutes after the initial application. Now, an hour later, I get the Hollywood Babylon residue of sorts with the musk and amber, maybe a splash of vanilla, but not nearly as strong. No prominent cherry smell, already starting to fade a bit (body chemistry giveth, body chemistry taketh away...), but a good smell all around. Hollywood Babylon gets the BPAL Surprise Scent award from me in being something I absolutely didn't expect: something I actually like. It wasn't until this oil sat on my skin did I get something deliciously decadent, absolutely gorgeous. I will definitely keep the imp, but I'm somewhat leery about getting a different bottle right away. For all I know, my body's chemical make-up could only be harmonious with the oil once a month or something. I'll do some more tests, purely in the name of science, to determine whether or not this oil will perform the way it does. But as of right now, a big bottle wouldn't be out of the question. A bit of odd trivia: this scent inspired me to play "Lips Like Sugar" from Echo and the Bunnymen, inexplicably. It seemed appropriate. -doreen Edited to note: a) MissAnthropy seemed to have a similar run-in with HB as I did. Very interesting. Nearly a full four hours later and there seems to be a strawberry scent still clinging to my elbow nook.

And now... my review. I'm normally a bit gun-shy about rose scents. As long as there are many fragrances intermingled with the rose, I don't mind it. However, with Moon Rose, there are only two other scents blended with the rose, so the rose scent is predominant. I barely noticed the dewey fragrance, though I did note it once or twice, and to be honest I have no clue what moonflower smells like, so all I got from this one was rose, rose, rose. To be honest, I thought I had gotten a sampler of a single note fragrance rather than a blend, until I looked it up on the Lab's site. VorpalBunny is right, in my idea, when she says that this doesn't appear to be a gender neutral scent. My boyfriend would probably run around the apartment screaming his head off if I put this on him. It's a soft, gentle scent, yes, and very potent. You don't need to put a lot of this on for it to go a long way, and I think I actually crossed the threshold of acceptable amounts, since I did get actually a little sick to my stomach, and this was after dabbing Moon Rose to my wrists and neck. That's it. For those of you keen on rose scents, this would do the trick. For me, though, I must say this didn't work, but I'm glad the Lab sent this to me. I'm the kind of individual who is very finicky with florals, but all the same, the Lab really did well in creating this scent. -doreen

I've worn this fragrance once and loved it, but forgot what I was going to say about it, so I've gone ahead and splashed some more on me. Whee! The Hermit is a very clean scent. Oakmoss? Is that what I smell in the initial wet application? Not quite good with picking out single notes, but whatever it is, I like it. For those of you who like descriptions of colour, the scent makes me think of the white of an old man's beard, the white of table linens in a cozy abode, the white of robes. Not really a perfect white, but a very natural white. I wore this to work one day, and I eceived a compliment (unfished) from my supervisor, Ronnie. This was after I had been wearing the fragrance for at least an hour, and she said it smelled like "White Shoulders." Whatever that is. On my skin, the scent warms up, to reveal something I'm interpreting as very plant-derived, like a broken petal of a white lily or something, but it could be a broken leaf or anything (sorry, I'm bad at this!). For those of you who dislike "powdery" fragrances, you are in luck: I got no sort of powderish notes hitting my nose. The "light florals, watery scents and faded incense" that Woodlandnymph mentioned are spot-on what I got, though not necessarily in that order. With me, the watery-ness of The Hermit came first, and as my skin wore the fragrance on, the light florals or plant fragrance (as it doesn't strike me as a flowery scent at all) came next. Then, after a while, the final note described as incense, though I'd like to think of it as the remnants of herbal pipe smoke to keep up with The Hermit's image, lingered on in my skin. Like ceithern, I ordered The Hermit because I relate to the hermit persona. I'll definitely order a big bottle of this in the future, as I am extremely pleased with the fragrance. It's utterly gorgeous, and if anyone doesn't like their imp or bottle of The Hermit, PM me and I will trade! -doreen