jesvet

This is for the Comic-Con version- In the bottle, it's all tart, crisp apples. It's very fresh and not heavy, cidery apple at all. I couldn't detect any mint; if anything it's a very slight coolness to the scent, but no menthol. Within a few minutes, the apple has given way to a light musky scent- which often goes powdery on me, but not this time. I was surprised how much I like this scent! An apple I can wear!

Wow, I think I am the happiest girl in the world right now. Wet, this smells JUST LIKE Underpants on me. I don't know how the nuttiness translates to saffron on me, but it did. And dry, the nuttiness gives way to the mildly powdery amber that, like others have said, is reminiscent of MLST (which is another favorite.) I'm definitely going for a big bottle and I hope to GOD it is not a significantly different batch than the one I have now from my decant circle, because this is amazing.

This is so much more wonderful than I was expecting. I love when that happens! In the bottle: cake, with some fruity tropical fruit dancing around. Wet: the cake -whoosh!-gone, and it's all bright guava, and citrus, with some creamy vanilla in the background. Dry: Gorgeous combination of tropical florals and vanilla. Kind of reminiscent of Antique Lace only lighter and fruitier. Hawaiian lace, perhaps. Love it!!

No advice, just commiseration. It is one of my all time favorites. TKO doesn't work for me at all, but Sleepy Moon- **love**

I'm loving this one. Although I have tons of pumpkin scents already, it's different enough and yummy enough that I'm more than happy to have this one too. In the bottle and wet, it's creamy pumpkin without being quite as buttery as Pumpkin Queen. As it's applied the cheesecake part comes out, just a bit. Not cloying at all. Dry, the graham cracker makes an appearance. It is long lasting but wears much lighter on me than a lot of the foody scents. Verdict: Definitely my favorite of the treats. So thrilled the goblins bequeathed a bottle to me!

First whiff: straight up men's cologne. *recoils* As it dries, the various notes pop through. The evergreen and leaves when wet, drying down to smoke and sap. Interesting, very very masculine, but not something I would wear. This is what a lumberjack would smell like if you buried your face in his flannel, I think.

WOW this one is gorgeous. I thought the red ginger might chase me away- a lot of the spicier blends tend not to agree with me- but it is so perfectly balanced with the other notes that it really just shines. This scent is crisp and clean pumpkin spice to my nose. The vanilla tames the ginger, and the orange is just a little zesty. It's a spicy pumpkin cake that doesn't sit heavy in your stomach like a cheesecake would. I can't stop sniffing my arm!

Love it. The chocolate note is quite prominent on first sniff, but recedes rather quickly. As others have described, it's almost Jack lite in terms of a much less prominent buttery note. I can barely pick out caramel, it's much more creamy and well blended than rich and overpowering. Think of a light, creamy pumpkin drink as opposed to a rich pie or dessert. Yum!

This seemed such an unusual combination of notes that I had no idea which way it would go. Fortunately it fell squarely on the nose-stuck-to-wrist side of things. It's one of those scents where the individual notes are so well blended none jump right out at the beginning. The overall scent is more of an impression than a specific note. It's sweet and mellow, dusky purple, that morphs from floral to woodsy to soft and back again. After reading the description, it's possible to pick out the notes as the wear progresses, but it never hits a one note stage on me. And as others have noted, despite a history of having lavender and cedar clobber other notes into submission when I wear them, they are very well behaved in this oil and remain where they belong in their supporting roles. Love this one!

I always, always guess wrong with BPAL. If I think I'm going to love it and get a bottle- meh. And if I just get an imp- love. So my imp of this is just amazing. The leather scared me off after having such a hard time with it in other blends, but this blend is pitch perfect. Lilac is one of my favorite scents ever- the combination sounds bizarre but it's really superb. The leather recedes and adds a masculinity to the lilac without being overpowering, and the musk is an additional sexy note. Gorgeous, and utterly unique.

So I debated whether or not to order 2 bottles out of the gate, or just one. If I had ordered 2, it would have been a safe bet it would be disastrous on me, so I just got one. And of course it's great! In the bottle, it is sweet sugar cookies- it actually reminds me a lot of Sugar Cookie, actually- I don't get the buttery Underpants comparison others are getting. Once it's on, the jasmine definitely blunders its way to the fore- which for me is fine, it is a note I like a lot. The wet stage is very floral. Drydown is half and half, a very creamy floral, not a foody scent. Lovely. I adore it,

Very pretty. As others have said, mostly rose. A dusty, resiny, and creamy rose- not the lush fullness of Rose Red, but rose with lots of complexity underneath. The creaminess puts me in mind of Abhisarika, which I like a lot as well. I like this one a lot. Not entirely what I expected, but a keeper nonetheless.

In the bottle: pungent. Sour milk with overripe fruit. Wet: More of the same. My 10 month old was crawling around on me and I couldn't figure out if I was smelling me, or him. Dry: The sour and pungency recede and it turns into a nice, warm fig and creamy honey. Sadly, I don't think I can stand the first part long enough to get to the second part.

This one is JUST beautiful. It is the grassy scent I have been looking for. It is definitely more "straight grass" than a complex, garden/floral/grass like Garden Path with Chickens, but that is what I wanted for a scent that is very evocative of spring. I am not getting much of the bitter weed/spicy bit others have, but it's not quite sweet grass either. Definitely fresh. Going for a bottle of this for certain!

*sigh* I eagerly ordered this, lured to the foody delights promised within- chocolate covered cherries? French vanilla? CARAMEL? I saw cassia mentioned as a bit player but figured, I'll take my chances, hopefully it will behave nicely in the background. Then I started reading the reviews. And the forumites are usually pretty correct. And they were. All I can think is, the enraged groundhog somehow got stuck IN the bottle somehow. And while he was there, he ate all the chocolate covered cherries, and slurped down all the vanilla caramel goodness, and let out one big honkin cassia burp before fleeing the bottle. Because that's all I get- a waft of cassia, with the hint of maybe something foody there once in the distant past. It reminds me of my arch-nemesis Monsterbait Underbed, which has the dubious distinction of being one of if not the least favorite scent of mine. The cassia is not quite as heavy, as ready to smack you over the head, but it certainly makes itself known. Attention whore, that cassia. And in true arrogant form, the cassia made sure to leave a big nasty "CASSIA WAS HERE" welt on my arm.

This one changes quite a bit from bottle to wrist. In the bottle, it's all about the lime with just a dusting of sweet sugar. Wet, it's tart lime. As it dries, the lime recedes, and it turns briefly to that sugar skull STRONG thick syrupy smell, but not *quite* as cloying. Then as it dries, the lime and sugar stop duking it out and decide to live in a perfectly balanced sweet citrusy vanilla harmony. Lovely.

I wasn't quite sure how much of this was hype and how much was real, so I was very excited to try out my first soap today. And can I say....WOW. As soon as I opened the wrapper, I was greeted by the wonderful rich smell of Snake Oil. And after using it, I can say it is definitely not just hype. This soap is wonderful. It is scented enough to really envelop you while you are showering, but does not sit heavily on the skin afterwards. The lather is thick, but not greasy. I just adore this. And because I am a fan of the scientific method, I lathered up simultaneously with all the soap bits I had in the shower- the Snake Oil soap, some Arcana soap, a glycerin soap from an ebay e-tailer, and some Dove. Even if I had never smelled BPAL in my life and had no prior connection to Snake Oil, I would be an instant convert. Bravo Macha!!

Patchouli is so hit or miss for me. I wish I could give True Love the love it deserved, but alas... This is straight up red patchouli on me. The carnation is very sharp. No peach or honeysuckle or mandarin to be found to take the edge off, just kind of sour and bitter. Such a tragedy. Ironically, I love Heartache, so maybe I should jsut switch the labels and call it a day.

Glorious. In the bottle, sweet creamy vanilla and clove. When first applied, it's STRONG clove (as others have said, clove cigarettes) but I like those, so I'm happy. The sharpness quickly fades and it dries to a sweet clove smell. Then it starts to morph- amber and resin and all sorts of lovely notes come out to play as the clove slowly recedes. I just adore this and will treasure what I have.

Of all the aquatics I've tried, this is my favorite. I wish I hadn't waited so long to try it out! It is as other have said, deep blue. Swirling blue aquatic river water running by a bank full of springtime flowers. Fresh but slightly dark, yet not the murky green damp smell of Bayou. Love it.

Soooo pretty. In the bottle: creamy roses, not the wet damp fresh rose note I'm more accustomed to. Wet: mostly rose, with the orchid and musk peeking through. About 10 minutes into wearing it I started sneezing like crazy, and I have no idea which note was the trigger, but thankfully it stopped pretty quickly. Dry: mostly creamy musk with just a touch of florals softening it. Has very good throw and wearlength, especially since my skin really eats up oils. Not getting the aquatic note others have mentioned, but I'm OK with that. It really is quite beautiful and very well blended.

In the bottle: CASSIA. cassia, cassia, cassiacassiacassia. Being the intrepid BPAL explorer that I am, I put it on anyway even though past blends have made me all rashy. The sharpness of the cassia gave way almost immediately to that cinnamon-soaked Snake Oil others have mentioned. Just a teeny tiny bit of ginger in this one. Did I mention I was allergic to cinnamon too? I am such a glutton for punishment. The dry down was true to the wet, warm cinnamon with just a touch of snake oil vanilla, but not worth the spreading welt on my Arm of Sacrifice.

In the bottle: sweet, bright tropical florals. The fruit tones down the floral aspect. On: sweet and creamy, with a whisper of floral. I am not getting very much fruit at all but that must be the source of the sweetness. Dry: The vanilla and musk come out. It is soft and close but lasts longer than most lighter scents on me. I was also wearing some vanilla scented lotion today, so I can't tell which to attribute the vanilla to- I'll have to do this again tomorrow. But if I turns out different, I will wear this layered combo and be beyond thrilled. This is really gorgeous- would have been perfect for a Hawaiian honeymoon.

Warm amber musk, Satsuma tangerine, black tea leaf, cardamom, cherry blossom and cinnamon. I got my decant circle imp today. I held my hand on ordering a bottle since I have such a crummy track record with citruses and especially cinnamon. So I put on a wee bit, expecting to blow up into a red rashy mess. And waited. And waited, and sniffed. Bakeneko is a very nice orange kitty, purring and rubbing on you all ambery and cinnamony. But no biting. I want to curl up with him and rub noses. The drydown is not different from the wet for me, just a slight mellowing of the sharpenss of the citrus. Orange and bright and warm but not sharp. Gorgeous. I'm in love and mourning the decision not to get a bottle!

Non-foody chocolate. BPAL chocolate notes are hit and miss on me, and this one is a hit! As others have said, the cocoa is very gourmand and deep; but the initial blast wears off quite quickly and settles into a grounding note. It blends beautifully with the Snake Oil components, giving it warmth and depth. It's definitely a dark cocoa in the vein of Candy Butcher, except less foody. Just gorgeous, and I wasn't expecting to like it nearly as well as I do!