surlygurl

OH YUM RED CURRANT!!!! Yup - my first sniff. On my arm, same thing only softer. And sweeter, like red currant candy. I'm guessing that the french vanilla is the thing 'gentling' the currant. There's no wood to speak of, but as it dries, the currant / vanilla combo becomes clearer and brighter. Very pretty, a little tart, not too complex. This would be perfect for my friends teenage daughter.

Mmmmm! Soft & pretty! This scent is soft white summer flowers. Smelling this on my arm, I picture an old "Summer's Eve" commercial - dark haired woman in a white cotton sun dress swinging on a tire swing under a tree out in a meadow somewhere. This scent is a little tropical and a little innocent. On the drydown, if I sniff up close I get coconut cake! The throw, anywhere in the wet/dry phase, is early summer flowers. Very pretty and very girly.

Firstly, the red musk isn't doing what it usually does, which is a good thing. This scent is understated. It's a little juicy, a little fruity, and a touch...... not foody, but sort of bakery like. The leather and pepper are way in the background. As it dries, the red musk tries to muscle it's way to the front, which is bad news for me. But soon the cream reigns in the red musk bully and everything finds itself in harmony. It's quite well blended. The pie comes out once the fighting stops and everything smooths out. It's still not a "me" scent, but the decant is staying.

WOAH!!! Is this mislabeled!?? I was all ready for dusty, woody musk and I get a face full of flowers. Strong sweet flowers. If I sniff it up close there's a little soap, but it's still really floral. It's not *bad*, it's just not what I expected. As it dries I can make out some musk, but any wood or dust is missing. It doesn't change as it dries, either. Maybe it'll age into something less flower-bomb-y...... eta: You know what it smells like now (after about a month of aging)? Estee Lauder perfume. My mother's signature scent. She has the perfume & the lotion, and the lotion ends up on all the doorknobs, so I know the scent well. This is spot on *shudder*

This scent is the biggest "wtf!!??" in my BPAL history. When it arrived from the lab, it was dark, gritty, intense. A little overwhelming. Still, I could sense a sweetness underneath it all, so I kept it in hopes it would soften with time. Now that it's aged 6 months or so, it smells like bubble gum . Seriously. Okay... maybe a tiny drop of resins and a tiny drop of vetiver smushed up in a freshly chewed wad of Big League Chew bubble gum. Odd.

Huh. Ok. This is espresso alright. Behind that is a sweetened pumpkin syrup with cinnamon. As it dries, the pumpkin-cinnamon syrup gets stirred into the espresso and the whole thing cools and blends. It's a pleasant smell, and would make a great candle scent or room spray. But on me? A little too foody.

Why did I get this? I do not like cherry. Still..... it's a Halloween scent. Fresh on the skin, it's a cherry cordial. Not as bad as I expected. Even better, the cherry fades into oblivion and almond comes out - a sweet foody almond. I am liking this. Then comes a pastry-type smell. Maybe not pastry exactly, but definitely foody. There's an added sweetness, too. It sort of reminds me of Golletes, but fruitier and not as sour. Much more my speed.

I wow! This is nice! I wasn't sure what to expect, but I'm getting high-end pastries. It's foody in a classy way. There's a bit of sugar that comes out as it warms up. It's a strange sweet, almost sour, like sour candies. (I expected this sugar in blue pumpkin floss.) Too bad the pastry note is fading. After about 20-30 minutes the pastry note returns - yay!! The sour candy smell wavers, but it remains and tries to blend in to the pastry. Hmm. "Sour sugar" might be strawberries, but like none I've ever tried. Not bad, just not me.

Huh. From the notes I expected this to be dark & slightly brooding. Instead, I got light, spicy, and slightly powdery. Very little pom (in comparison with #'s 1-4). The spice was carnations & light pepper - a pleasant gentle spice. Someone upthread mentioned High Strung Daisies, and I agree. This had a bit more powder and is more mature smelling. It's a very nice blend, but not at all what I expected. Especially since it fades away after about 20 minutes.

This one is odd. It starts of all lavender and pom - not a bad blend, but unexpected. Any sandalwood just grounds it. But as it dries down I get something slightly familiar (aha! the tamarind!). This scent doesn't morph so much as reveal itself. There's a little clove when sniffed up close. Cedar is nowhere to be found. This is the strangest scent. Lavender/pom/tamarind is the main thrust. The base notes just kind of shift around. I wasn't too enthralled with this scent, but I keep getting wafts of it and it is so very pretty! It's been on for 3 hours now, and it's sandalwood & tamarind with a touch of herbal pom. Every stage is almost a whole new scent, and they're all pretty. eta: The nuts come out on the extreme drydown. I bet it'll age like woah. Bottle buy! Wow! Was I wrong about this! Now that it's settled & blended, it's nowhere near as spectacular. Still nice, but not a bottle buy.

This is fun! It's gentle & clean, almost spa-like. Pom, citrus, soft musk. It's so simple. It's young & girlie and conjures up lazy summer days or easter egg hunts or something decidedly non-halloweenish. There may be a bottle of this in my future.

Fresh on my skin I get the jasmine from Lilith & the Jarocho *wrinkles nose*. But the pom blends right in and makes it all ok. Then I get something... creeping... slowly coming up from behind. It's the benzoin, and it's gently grounding the sweet pom/floral. I could really like this. But the the benzoin takes center stage and does a duet with the pom. Jasmine sits off the side of the stage and pouts. After a bit I think "I could get used to this" when it changes yet again. The benzoin backs off and the pom is the star of the show. Benzoin is still grounding this scent, making it grown up & sexy, but pom is the star. Wow. This needs further testing. Lots of it.

Woohoo!! This is very Snake Charmer-esque, but more fruits and less sex. I get no cocoa or tobacco. As it dried I get a funky sharp herbal that blends well with the musky fruits. This is nice. Unfortunately for me, it dries down to just-plain-red-musk, which still hates me. But I tried!

Wow. This is the most un-chocolate 13 I've ever smelled. It smell like fruit. Specifically, like hard candy, like those fruit flavored hard candy stick coated in milk chocolate. Except I don't smell the chocolate. Well, maybe as a grounding agent. This is weird. I'll retest this soon and edit this if need be.

I had such high hopes for this. As soon as it hit my skin, I knew BPF and I weren't to be. Cinnamon. Sugared cinnamon, and butter. All I'd need is toast, and it'd be a great snack. There's no pumpkin to speak of. I want this to work. Maybe the pumpkin will come out with age. As it is, it's not a fave.

I was expecting smoke & woods & burning things. What do I get? Dragon's blood. Cloyingly sweet dragon's blood. And soap. Light soap at first, drying down to fancy hotel bathroom soap. Off to the swap box!

This scent starts with a warm herbal note on top of sweetish liquid - the blackberry wine, I'm guessing. I get the apple cider/grape thing. It smells like an extremely diluted Samhain. I don't really get nuts or woods. Just a watered down Samhain & herbs, which is alright with me. I like it

Wow! In the vial, it's sharp deep tobacco. Familiar tobacco. But there's something else.... On my skin, the heavy tobacco jumps out right away. Just as suddenly it calms down a bit & something sweet blends with it. Drying down, it gets sweeter, almost a foody sort of sweet. Must be the bunn (a type of taro). The waft from my arms is sweet, but in a slightly evil & dirty way. In my mind, this scent is the color of milky tea, but a touch more golden. I imagine it as being a 'soft' scent, but it still clings to me after a shower. I like it and will definitely wear it!

In the vial there was almost no smell. Strangest thing. So I dabbed some on my wrist. HELLO Lavender!!!! It's very dark, somewhat fruity. but Lavender. At this stage it's not so bad. Drying down, I get something a bit powdery and a bit, um, vomity. Could be the castoreum. Wish I could get magnolia and labdanum, but, alas, all I get is fruity lavender vomit . I'll keep the decant and hope for an aging miracle.

This scent is my very favorite black musk scent so far. It starts off with aged sweetish/powdery black musk with a bit of sharp rosemary and a "shine" from neroli. (I've recently found that neroli is good to me). I do get the rootbeer vibe others mention, but it merely helps ground the scent. This conjures up a picture of a gorgeous, slightly wicked looking woman with a playful smile around her lips & eyes while her mind focuses on revenge. IMO this oil was better - "shinier" and sharper - when it was fresh, but it's much sweeter and less harsh with age. Guess I'd better wear it more often!

So I got this bottle from the lab when it was new. It was *strong* and a bit scary, so I put it away to age. This is one of those scents that aged really well. Fresh in the bottle, it's still dark & scary, like resins & turpentine. Almost unpleasant. On my skin, it morphs almost immediately into something less harsh & a bit sweet. It's still resiny, and the sharp medicinal bit smells like pine sap. As it dries, there's something powdery-sweet going on, floating in and out. There's something in the background that I like but can't place. After a time, the turpentine/ pine sap calms down even more and the "what is it?" scent reveals itself - Cola! I love cola scents! Dry, the cola and the sweet powdery something band together while the scary resins & sap fade into the background. Mostly, on me, this scent is sweet & dirty cola. I love it!

This is pretty! It's soft, slightly sweet, slightly floral. I get no sandalwood - or any wood - but something is grounding it in an innocently sexy way. To my nose it smells buttercup yellow with blue-gray around the edges. Definitely holding on to the imp.

Red Lantern '07. Source - an empty from my decant mistress. The only 3 notes I can make out are coconut, caramel, and tobacco (maaaaybe some currant). They don't blend very well at first; they really climb all over each other vying for dominance. As the scent dries they finally blend. This may be the first caramel scent that doesn't make me ill. But, ya know, it's still too sweet for me. It's heady, lush, sweet, and, well, complex. I *like* it, but not on me. I mean, it smells good on me, but it's not something I want to smell like.

Sugar Skull 2008. Source - an empty bottle from my then decant mistress. This is odd. I was hoping for a sugar blast, but what I get is Samhain but sweeter. Not bad, but not what I was expecting. I'd love to try it from another source, because this tiny little drop of oil must be contaminated. Must be.

Not knowing what was in this, I put some on. I guessed banana because, hey, Mahana Banana, right? Then I came here & read the notes. "So THAT'S what it is!" The first identifiable thing is booze. A clear booze that isn't gin. Maybe white rum - that makes sense with peach. I get a bit of orgeat syrup. No creme de cacao, and if there is pineapple it's overwhelmed by the peach. Nice & fruity for summer, but not bottle worthy.