Lexie

Wet: Very dry and bitter citrus! It is citrus peel, not juice. Dry: Still very citrus. Now I can smell whiffs of mango too. Just before it disappears on my skin it is getting a little softer and I can detect also a faint smell of sandalwood. The white musk stays almost undetectable to my nose. This scent has very little throw and it disappears quickly.

I'm seconding Dorian and The Bow and Crown of Conquest. They are both so good! My boyfriend doesn't want to wear Dorian because it's too sweet to his liking. But he has worn The Bow and Crown of Conquest couple of times; it wasn't so sweet and he seemed quite happy with it. Maybe you want to try it out if he tends to amp sweetness too much. It has some kind of musk though, if remember correctly, but I didn't find it overpovering. I wish my boyfriend was interested in BPAL too. It would be so much fun to try scents together. Usually I have to force ask him to wear a scent...

Thank you Taniwha for the pics! They all look so pretty. Hopefully I'll get my own Blue Moon bottle soon, it's still on the way to Finland...

Wet: Very juicy fruits! Especially pomegranate and peach. Dry: Still mainly fruits, but with a floral undertone. It has an interesting aquatic element too. I can smell also the autumn breeze on the background, but I have no clue what note(s) is in it. I get association of red, orange and yellow from this scent. It doesn’t have a lot of throw and it fades quite fast. Unfortunately this isn’t my type of scent. (I don’t usually wear scents that are mainly floral and/or fruity.) It reminds me of Titania which is also juicy and fruity with aquatic feeling.

I smell herbs and also something like honey or beeswax. When it dries I can detect the myrrh. This is actually surprisingly sweet scent! The color associations I get are gold and green. Anubis is a warm and gentle blend but I get an odd waxy feeling of it. (Or maybe embalmed.. .) It is very unique scent, I don’t even know if I like it or not!

Wet: Strawberries! Dry: Strawberries and light musk. I don’t really detect the white grapefruit but there’s a fresh feeling in this scent, maybe that’s the grapefruit. At first I thought this would be overly sweet, but it’s actually quite nice. Like eating strawberries on a hot day in my backyard. I like this scent more than I expected but I don’t think I’m going to reach for it often.

I totally forgot I hate tamarind. And unfortunately this smells mostly tamarind on me. There is also some vetiver under the tamarind. I don’t know what have been thinking when I ordered this little imp, because I usually don’t like vetiver either... Probably I just wanted it because of the name! When it dries the tamarind and the vetiver become a little less noticeable and I can smell the black musk too and maybe some mimosa on the background. This is very unique blend, really something that the music of Erich Zahn could smell like. Too much tamarind and vetiver to my liking though.

Wet: Bitter and sharp! I can smell mainly orange blossom and some mimosa too. Dry : It becomes a little sweeter and darker. Succubus reminds me an old-fashioned feminine perfume. It’s actually quite beautiful, but unfortunately too bitter and flowery to my liking. Off to the swap pile.

Thank you stonechiper! The label of Tamamo-no-mae is absolutely wonderful. It's even more beautiful than I expected. It's maybe my favourite label so far. I still haven't got my bottle of Tamamo-no-mae, but I think I have to keep it because of the label art even if I don't like the scent. (Although after reading the reviews I think I'll love the oil itself too.)

Does anyone have pics of Blue Moon '07 and Tamamo-no-mae? I'm still waiting for a CnS, so it will take some time before I can smell them, but maybe I could see the labels sooner? (I'm so curious!)

This smelled so beautiful in the vial, fresh and comforting coconut. But on my skin something went terribly wrong. It started to smell like milk that's been left outside a fridge on a hot day. I wish I could get those lovely impressions that other reviewers had. If it just have stayed like it was in the vial... Stupid skin chemistry! Unfortunately Obatala has to go to the swap pile. I'm heartbroken.

One week feels such a long time when waiting for the preciousss... I placed my order on May 4th and the CnS notifications received today seems to be from April 30th. So I think my order will be sent in the next batch of internationals. Which hopefully happens soon.

It probably is your BPAL order, since many europeans have received CnS notifications today. (Not me.. ) I don't know if this helps, but it has taken 5-15 days for BPAL orders to arrive to Finland, usually it takes approximately one week.

Smut 2007 I had high hopes for this one... but a weird plastic smell ruins it. Stupid skin chemistry! Under that burnt latex I can smell faintly those lovely notes that other reviewers have described. Unfortunately Smut smells funky on me, so probably it goes to the swap pile. Luckily there are so much other BPALs to love!

This is a very sophisticated scent. It reminds me of a luxorious pashmina shawl or a cashmere sweater. It's very complex, I can't pick out all individual notes. On my skin it's mostly chocolate and vanilla. The orange is really subtle on my skin, on the bottle it's much stronger. I can smell also the rooibos and the lavender. Later, when it's completely dry, the scent becomes a little powdery. This one is remarkably similiar to MB Underpants indeed. Really lovely, but maybe too sweet and chocolatey for my taste.

Very fruity! This is a really juicy and sweet scent. It's mostly pear, white grape and peach. I can detect some floral notes too (probably the sweet pea), but it's mostly fruits on my skin. It also has a kind of aqcuatic or iced quality, which makes it feel more "blue" to me. Delicious scent indeed. Not for me though, since I usually don't like to wear fruity-floral scents.

This is a thick and heavy floral. Mostly jasmine but there is definitely tuberose too. When it's wet I can detect also frangipani, but it gets overpowered by jasmine when it dries. Exotic floral, but unfortunately much too floral for me.

This is a perfect combo of golden, sweet and fresh notes! It reminds me of some commercial perfume, much better though. Very beautiful and sophisticated, which also means it isn't really ”me”. But it's such a gorgeous blend that I'll keep the imp anyway.

This one is foody and earthy, a combination I couldn't even imagine! It smells mostly like dirt and vanilla. I can also detect something coconutty. I was afraid of the mushroom smell but it's really faint, especially when dry. At first I didn't like this one as it was rather musty. But after wearing it for a while I think it's actually quite lovely. Very unique scent!

Samhain 2006 At first this is mostly the apples. I can smell also another fruity note, maybe the pumpkins. (I have no idea what pumpkins smell like since we don't really use pumpkins here in Finland.) On the background I can detect the fir, the patchouli and a woody note. When it dries, the fruit notes turn softer and the scent becomes more mulled and earthy. The throw is quite weak and my skin eats this one rather quick. Samhain is pretty autumnal indeed, but smells a little too fruity (the apples!) and mulled and therefore also too foody to my personal taste. Very lovely scent, though. I'll try Samhainophobia for a darker and crispier autumn scent.

There is a photo of All Saints, Devil's Night and Samhainophobia (just those three in a same picture!) in the Community Gallery. The labels are so adorable! I love especially Samhainophobia's label, I can't wait to get a bottle of my own.

In the vial: This is thick, creamy and a little boozy coffee. It's almost cloyingly sugary and sweet. Actually it reminds me more of butterscotch than Irish coffee because the sweetness overpowers the coffee note. I'm not into really sweet and/or gourmand scents, but I decided to give this one a try because the description is so lovely. Wet on skin: It is less sweet than it was in the vial. It's still very sweet, but now I can bear it. Dry on skin: The sweetness fades more. It's still there but it's not overpowering. Now I can smell the coffee note better. I'm not sure if I can really smell the dusty tomes and polished oakwood halls, but I can feel them being there and calming down the sweetness and booziness. I was afraid of this would be too sweet for my taste so I just dabbed a little drop on. I probably use it more next time to smell it better. I think the throw may be average. We just have the first snow here in Finland. Misk U is so warm and comforting that it's a perfect scent for the winter feeling I have. And it doesn't hurt that I'm now in the university's library doing my thesis. Hmm, I think I need a cup of coffee now... Misk U is very lovely scent. I like it much more than I anticipated and I can't stop sniffing myself. The longer I wear it the more I love it. I may even need a bottle!

At first I smell just grapes, it must be the muscadine. The grapey smell stays predominant but soon the patchouli comes out to play too. As it dries the fruitiness fades a bit and the scent becomes earthier and smokier. I always get strong color associations of scents and Urd is definitely murky purple. I’m a huge patchouli fan and not so into fruity scents so I hoped this to be more dirty-hippie-patchouli than grapey-fruity. But actually it doesn’t matter, Urd is heavenly anyway. Definitely one of my favorites. LOVE!