spark

The God of Sexual Desire, Longing and Yearning; an attendant of Eros and Aphrodite. A passion-rousing blend of juniper, sandalwood, rosewood, red musk, orchid, bergamot and lilac. How could I be the first one to review this? Didn't anyone else order it? Yikes. I am not usually a "dedicated" reviewer but when I tried this I had to sing its praises. Wet: Promising! It's mostly orchid but there's something a little darker too. After a few minutes I think I smell some rose(wood) but it's almost a little fruity here. I don't pick up any sandalwood, but I will assume it isn't white sandalwood, which has a tendency to go very pungent on my skin. It's definitely sexy. Drying: There's a touch of something that could be jasmine but probably isn't, because (like the sandalwood) it's not exploding on my skin. I only applied inside one elbow, and the throw is quite good. When I sniff up close, there is a bit of an odd undertone, which I think is the bergamot. I don't smell bergamot otherwise. I'm not picking up any musk either, although I tend to be fairly oblivious to red musk. This one is definitely worthy of the "slather test" and I will update accordingly when I do. Yum!

Okay: I just tried Wanda and I am LOVING the red wine... on my clothes. On my skin it's pure leather. So what's the best purest red wine in the catalog? This is complicated by the fact that I've tried most of the oils with wine... Blood Kiss: evil vetiver. Blood Rose: too fruity. Bordello: too fruity. Centzon Totochtin: gross. Kali: I love it but it's not winey. Lilith: yuck. Madrid: meh. Wanda: leather. So pretty much my remaining choices are Lady Mac, Nosferatu, and Tintagel. Unless I am missing something...?

I generally prefer to swap for bottles, but a number of the oils here are very "iffy" for me and I'd prefer imps/decants/sniffies of those... ask me for details. I will do Depraved and Unholy things for more Florentine Iris (single note) Hamadryad -- NON WINTERGREEN Havisham Ingenue Lughnasadh Stargazer Lily (single note) General Catalog Black Lily Defututa Epitaph Event Horizon Kill-Devil Kubla Kahn Lysander Night-Gaunt Oblivion Snooty Rose Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the Vasilissa GC Unimpable Amor (TAL) Bilquis Crib Girls Door Fairy Market Fairy Wine Floating Market Monna Vanna Mr. Jacquel Mr. Nancy Nanny Ashtoreth Queen of the Nile (TAL) Spider Vespillo the Velvets Carnaval Diabolique Dionysia Tabula Smaragdina Limited/Discontinued - Bottles or Imps Also looking for any/all empty (or very low) bottles with bird/phoenix label artwork in good condition. I birds. Autumn Moon of the Mirror Stand Ecstasy of Passion, the Fairy Market Harikata Hi'iaka Lilith vs. the Giant Crab (bottle) Luna (Metamorphosis: the Moths) (bottle) Lune Noire Marae Pais de la Canela Pet Magah Bird (partial/empty OK but I want the bottle!! ) Sachs Sibyl Soothing System Storyville Velvet Tiki Zadok Allen Vinyard Limited/Discontinued - Imps/Decants Preferred Allison Gross Aries 2007 Banshee Beat Bogle Byronic Antihero Capricorn 2007 Crypt Queen Cytherea Dark Chocolate, Whiskey, and Cognac Truffle Dawn: Mother Diary of a Lovestruck Teenage Cannibal Dole of the King's Daughter Ecstasy of Infatuation, the El Dia De Reyes Enraged Groundhog Musk Epistrophia Feast for the Greatly Revered Ones Fuwu Bansaku in Ruined Temple With Black Monster on Umbrella Gelt Gemini 2007 Goblin Gothabilly Harp of Cnoc l'Chosagair Head of Holofernes Her Voice Honey Mone I Married a Vampire from Planet X Infernal Lover, the Joyful Moon Katrina van Tassel Klara L'Estate Lady on the Grey, the Leo 2007 Loli.Goth Makhanitis Mead Moon Milk Chocolate, Coconut, Cardamom, Rum and Ginger Truffle Mlle. Lilith, Fortune Teller Mother Ginger Noche Buena Okayaki Penis Admiration Pet Magah Bird partial/empty OK but I want the bottle!! Phoenix in Autumn Picture Book and Pleasure Toys Playing With a Loaded Gun Poe Raven Moon Rosy Maple (Metamorphosis: the Moths) Sagittarius 2007 Saint Foutin de Varailles Sara Pezzini Scorpio 2007 Second of the Three Spirits Smoky Moon 2009: Tristesses de la Lune Snow Angel 2008 Soldier, the Suck It Sugar Plum Fairy Thisbe Velvet Nudie Virgo 2007 Voodoo Queen Voyeurs Among the Cherry Blossoms Waltz of the Flowers Werepuppy Ysabel

Just added (but see main post for most complete/up-to-date list) BOTTLE: Lilith vs. the Giant Crab Honey Mone Mlle. Lilith, Fortune Teller Tiki Princess Werepuppy

Just added (but see main post for most complete/up-to-date list) Hamadryad (non-wintergreen version) Autumn Moon of the Mirror Stand Giant Vulva Harikata Lilith vs. the Giant Crab Lovers in a Ricefield Luna (moth) Sachs Soothing System Velvet Tiki Zadok Allen Vinyard Anactoria Aphrogenês: Foam Born Aquarius 2007 Arbor, the Areia: Warlike Bijoux Y'ha-Nthlei Burning Vulva Cancer 2007 Capricorn 2007 Chained Phantoms Cytherea Dark Chocolate, Fig, and Tamarind Dark Chocolate, Whiskey, and Cognac Truffle Diary of a Lovestruck Teenage Cannibal Feast for the Greatly Revered Ones Game Called Yes & No Gelt Goblin Klara Kypris: She Who Furnishes Pregnancy Lady on the Grey, the Loli.Goth Metal Rabbit Milk Chocolate, Coconut, Cardamom, Rum and Ginger Truffle Mother Ginger Noche Buena Nymphia: She Who Blesses Brides Okayaki Penis Admiration Phoenix in Autumn Picture Book and Pleasure Toys Pisces 2007 Sagittarius 2007 Saint Foutin de Varailles Sara Pezzini Scorpio 2007 Second of the Three Spirits Signior Dildo Sleeping Nymph And Satyrs Soldier, the Sugar Plum Fairy Two Loves Velvet Nudie Velvet Tiger Virgo 2007 Voyeurs Among the Cherry Blossoms Waltz of the Flowers Womb Furie Young Pine Saplings

Just added (but see main post for most complete/up-to-date list) Blue Moon 2009 (Beth's) Bogle Door El Dia De Los Reyes Floating Market Ginger Skulls Head of Holofernes Joyful Moon L'Estate Mountain of Bone Pet Magah Bird Pink Snowballs Raven Moon Smoky Moon 2009: Tristesses de la Lune Thisbe the Velvets

Just added (but see main post for most complete/up-to-date list) Clod and the Pebble, the Dawn: Mother Dole of the King's Daughter Epistrophia Fuwu Bansaku in Ruined Temple With Black Monster on Umbrella Gothabilly Her Voice Lilith Victoria Longing Lunar Eclipse (2008) Lune Noir (2008) Makhanitis Mead Moon (2008) Poe Sugar Moon (2008) Symmakhia

Just added Byronic Antihero Clarimonde Infernal Lover, the Katrina van Tassel Lambs-Wool Mictecacihuatl Mircalla, Countess Karnstein Suck It

Ace of Hearts Arkham Revisited Bastet Bathsheba Bengal Black Pearl Blinding Glory of Love Block Buster Blood Countess Budding Moon Chrysanthemum Moon Croquet Dana O'Shee Dark Delicacies Dia de los Muertos 2005 Doc Constantine Dog Days of Summer Dorian Eat Me Elixir V: Moxie Elixir VII: Safari Faiza, the Black Mamba Gennivre, L'Artiste du Diable Gingerbread Poppet 2004 Harvest Moon 2005 Haunted Palace, the Herr Drosselmeyer 2005 Herr Drosselmeyer 2006 Himerus Hungry Ghost Moon Ides of March, the Jolasveinar 2006 Kali Kumiho La Bella Donna Della Mia Mente London Love in the Asylum Lyonesse Medea Mi-Go Brain Canister Midwinter's Eve 2005 Morocco Nefertiti Oblation, the (2007) Othello Perversion Pumpkin Patch I (Apple Cider) 2005 Pumpkin Patch II (Cocoa) 2005 Pumpkin Patch III (Pomegranate) 2005 Pumpkin Patch IV (Sandalwood) 2005 Pumpkin Patch V (Woods & Ivy) 2005 Queen Gertrude Queen Mab Queen of Clubs Rose Red 2004 Samhain 2004 Silk Road Snow Bunny 2005 Snow White 2004 Spooky 2004 Sudha Segara Temple: Celtic Temple: Egyptian Temple: Greek Thalassa, the Galapagos Mermaid Thalia: Good Cheer Tiger Lily White Light White Rose (Lupercalia 2009) Yuletide 2004 Zombi

Aah well i already orderd a bottle of Cockaigne , but beavermoon 05 is very yummy aswell. Late 2 cents: I find Cockaigne to be quite buttery. Anyone have thoughts on the very first 13 (Thirteen for anyone searching this thread )? I wouldn't mind comparisons with more recent LE's that might be easier to find. I believe there were some white chocolate blends within the last couple of years? ETA to avoid double posting: I can't find my Antique Lace to do a side-by-side right now, but Lyonesse is giving me a VERY similar feel after the white sandalwood fades (BPAL's white sandalwood is very smoky/ashy on me).

D'oh! I had no idea that thread existed. Thanks for the assistance. Looks like I am off to the Swaps forum for the real Brian!

Question from my cousin: she picked up a bottle of Blue Moon 2009 a while back (on LJ, I think) that was advertised as "Brian's." Smelling it, though, she thinks it's probably Beth's. (I haven't smelled either one myself.) I believe the labels are different, aren't they? She says her label has a large smiley Moon on the left side, and a winged pig over the words "Blue Moon" on the right side. Can anyone help? Thanks!!

I am never sure what to make of violet. It seems like something I "should" like but I'm not sure whether I actually do. And I know I have a relationship with vetiver, so Bluebeard was an interesting experiment. Bluebeard is pretty clearly violet and a little vetiver; it's not one of those scents where you catch whiffs of something but can't figure out what it is. It's violet and vetiver! While it was wet the first time I tried it, I also picked up a dab of bitter lavendar. Trying it again -- much later; the imp is probably 2 years old at this point -- I didn't get lavendar, but the violet and vetiver were as I remember them. I never did pick up any white musk, but then I still haven't figured out what that smells like. I can't really picture this scent on a man because of the prominence of the violet. Chemistry can do interesting things, though!

Eat Me is fearfully buttery in the bottle, but it doesn't last, thank goodness! Instead it develops into what I want to say is Entenmann's coffee cake/pastry, the kind with the deliciously artificial fruit jam on it. Sweet and fruity and yum!

OMG this is really not good. I'm one of the unlucky for whom civet is a disaster. Flame of Desire smells OK in the bottle but is horrific on my skin. It is very musky and dirty and not pleasant. This is why I do the "dab test" for scent before using anything with intent... while the scent of many TALs is secondary to their purpose, if I had gotten this all over me in any sort of ritual, I would be really unhappy right now.

I am going thru my Samhain LE's from last year to prep for this year: In my years of BPAL I have found that there are two categories of rose on my skin: the kind that is rich and round and sexy and awesome, and the kind that is watery and sad. By this I do not mean "aquatic." I just mean watery -- I have no better description than that. It is the olfactory eqivalent of Kool-Aid or juice concentrate to which too much water has been added, leading to that weird weak watered-down flavor. Sadly, the rose in All Saints is one of the latter. All Saints on my skin is all resin and watery rose. The resin does not have an "incense" vibe to my nose; I think the wateriness of the rose prevents it from really developing that way. Unusally -- at least unusual for the typical behavior of my skin -- the gardenia never shows up (normally gardenia is very heavy on my skin). Just resins and watery rose.

Well, I'll still talk to you even if you DID swap Othello. Hmph. It must have been too rosy for you, 'cause the musk really is nice in it. Juniper is actually an evergreen plant. So that's more resiny. I'll repeat my rec for Blood Countess, then. It actually DOES have gardenia but doesn't go too heavy. It's a very rich sexy fruity scent. And Kali... I think it would be up your alley. It's not a floral by really any definition. Gotta run now but I will keep thinking.

Hmmm. I take it you have swapped away your floral frimps without trying them? That might have been a good starting point... imps in hand, as it were. I don't think of Alice or Antique Lace as really being floral at all. (Alice maybe, but AL is mostly vanilla.) Hmmm. Have you tried Othello? It is my One True Love and, while it has a gorgeous deep rich rose, it's really more sweet musk than anything. I also adore Kali, which also has some rose, but is mostly honey and wine and chocolate. Blood Countess is terrific; deep berry more than floral. Also: What DO you like? Musk? Resin? Vanilla? Fruit? That might help with the "targeting. ETA: filigree_shadow's post reminded me of a good point. If you are "afraid" of floral you may wish to avoid jasmine, tuberose (sorry f_s!), and gardenia. Those are all incredibly heavy on my skin, and I know others have the same problem (at least with jasmine). Orchid can also be heavy, but I adore it and don't care. Other florals tend to be somewhat lighter.

I find Kuang Shi and Katharina to be nearly indistinguishable.

Well, TECHNICALLY, and strictly from a "value" standpoint, you are probably better off having someone ship them to you, insured, once you have arrived in France. I mean, that's $1500 (at minimum!) worth of BPAL. If they DO lose your suitcase -- much less if they throw it out -- there's no way you will get that much $$ back from the airlines. Whereas if you FedEx them or something, at least you could insure them for the full value.

Absolutely chocolate, but I don't quite get milk chocolate from it: there a bit of a dry/powdery feel to my nose, more like Quik than a chocolate bar. It's a fairly unobtrusive scent, but a little too simple for me. I prefer richer, darker chocolate.

Another scent that, due to my "blind spot" for amber, seems rather simple... just straight apple in the vial and on the skin. I don't get much herby-ness either. The apple is pretty, but too plain for my taste.

I'm trying Viola from quite an old imp, and perhaps that is the problem. I am a rose junkie, and this has rose... but it's sort of a pale watery rose. Viola requires quite a heavy hand for me to smell much of anything, and when I do it only reminds me of a paler version of Zombi -- rose and moss. Not worth keeping.

Another one that I've had a hard time getting a handle on. On the first test, it was darkly fruity: berry, I suppose, and not the plum of Blood Countess. There is perhaps a hint of smoke. It's rather pretty, and lasts forever, but I love Blood Countess and I don;'t think Lady Mac is a replacement. On the second test, Lady Mac was all thick candy sweetness. I retried it looking for the wine notes, as I really want a rich red wine scent, but this isn't it. It isn't BAD, but not what I was hoping for.

Wet: Vetiver. And gardenia or jasmine, both of which have a tendency to become 500-Pound Floral on my skin. As it dries on me, the vetiver fades into the background fairly quickly: always present, but more as a hint of darkness than HI I'M VETIVER. At this stage I probably wouldn't be able to ID it as vetiver if not for the initial wet scent. Sadly, as it dries, the gardenia/jasmine does not let go. They're so heavy on my skin that the rose, cinnamon, and leather never make their appearance. Just heavy flowers.