Ahania

Wet, I get Juicy Fruit gum. Fortunately, that goes away when it dries. I don't get the black cherry at all, but full-on assault of red fruits. After a few minutes the cream starts to come out and it smells like cheesecake with mixed fruits. I definitely have to order more of this one- there's no way one bottle will be enough.

This was pure wood on me, which I guess isn't a surprise, since my skin will find and amp any wood scent in a five-block radius. I ordered it hoping that the apricot and caramel would take over, but I didn't get any at all. I tried putting on a little March Hare and Creepy with it, and that smelled great- it was what I was hoping to get when I ordered it. Sadly, it set off my allergies and within an hour I felt like I'd snorted cayenne.

Summer, sitting on the swing on the front porch, drinking lemonade. The sun is just below the horizon, the sky is a delicate lilac shade, and the fireflies have just come out to ornament the evening with their airy beauty. A gentle breeze goes across you, still warm, but with the touch of evening's coolness that you know is coming, and it carries a gentle scent, spicy with lavender, soft and sweet with jasmine and honeysuckle.

I don't get ginger in here, or anything else, exactly. It's sweet, but not really sweet, and it smells very familiar but I can't place it. The closest I can get is that it smells like cotton candy would if it weren't so sweet. I know that sounds ridiculous since it's basically sugar and artificial color, but sugar cane is sugar but less sweet, too. Maybe it smells like sugar cane? It's been so long since I've had it, I can't remember. This is definitely the freakiest BPAL I've tried. I don't like it as much as some others, but it definitely fills a niche that nothing else has come close to for me.

I didn't get so much pine here, which was a relief. I did get juniper, though, which wasn't. There's an astringent greenness to it at first which sort of started to rot after I had it on a while. There's maybe a hint of floral but it's hard to smell it under the juniper and green.

I didn't get any fruitiness at all in here, sad to say. It starts out with super-sweet dragon's blood (maybe some of that sweetness is the fruit?) and then the musk pops out, kind of sickly-smelling- I think it's the black musk that's bothering me. It smelled a lot like Smut to me, too, though more powdery instead of boozy.

Ooof! I opened the imp, and the roses jumped out and decked me. I don't get any green, nothing but rose, rose, rose. Even when I had on an itsy tiny dab so that I could barely smell it, it was fainter but still a sensory assault.

Wow. This was so horrible on me I couldn't get it off fast enough. It's way too sweet (and this is coming from someone who loves Hellcat). I don't get any amber or vanilla, just sickly honey, like if I ate honeycomb and then puked, it would smell like this. I like other scents with honey in them but in this it just takes over in the worst possible way.

Oooh, I love almond, and I didn't get any amaretto in Bordello, either. My list is restricted by the fact that I hate cinnamon, but keeping that in mind, these are some gorgeous ones. The almond in all of them tends to fade off fairly quickly, so you may have to keep reapplying, but I think they're all still lovely after that goes. Uruk- warm, sunny, luxurious Bastet- a popular favorite Black Phoenix- dark, sexy and rich Port-au-Prince- almond and clove! Mmm mmm, good. Eclipse- I don't get the cinnamon in it, just creamy almondness Voodoo- this is another almond-clove one on me, but the drydown is very different from Port-au-Prince, more incensey Hellcat- this is super-sweet, and the most cherry-like of any almond scent I've tried

I just found a recipe for vegan chocolate chip cookies that doesn't call for margarine! It's exciting is that I have yet to find an unsalted vegan margarine that doesn't have death fat in it, and when I bake with the salted stuff it always ends up gross. Now I have some inspiration to get over this death flu and unpack until I find my cookie sheets!

This is fun, light, and playful. It smells like going for a walk on a sunshiny day wearing a white eyelet skirt and spinning so it twirls out, white shoes with little red heels, and a crochet sweater, bows in your hair, and someone you like, but don't love (that's way too serious!), putting a dandelion to your nose to see if you like butter.

Try Sol Invictus. The orange and flowers give it a lightness like her singing, and the amber and saffron ground it like the O Fortuna samples do. Les Fleurs du Mal- Venus in Furs (especially the Rosetta Stone cover); I know Severin is the obvious match but LFdM smells so much crueler to me. Kostnice- Ozymandias by Qntal (again skipping the obvious, this time because Ozymandias goes all soapy on me). A momument to futility. Sophia- Me and My Friend by Sing-Sing. Light and peaceful. Hellcat- Ladykillers by Lush, especially the last line of the song- "Oh girls, they're such ladykillers... but we know where they're coming from, and we know the score."

This smells like when I make Ibarra and add rum and cayenne. It's a strong, dark chocolate, made stronger and a little harsher than it would be on its own. Wine often goes sickly sweet on me, but here it adds just enough. My first impulse was to douse myself in the entire imp, just to get more. Straight to the top ten list, and my next order is going to have a bottle of this in it.

I almost didn't get this one, because I'm not big on roses, but this review changed my mind, and thank goodness I read it! Dolce Stil Nuovo goes on very musky for about a minute, and then it blossoms into a delicate, heavenly blend. I don't really get much rose or jasmine (and I don't know what vanilla flower smells like). The lavender and musk give it a lovely depth, the carnation just the right spiciness, and the amber adds a gorgeous cream. This is dreamy and elegant.

Knecht Ruprecht is another nice woody one. "The snow-covered foliage of the Black Forest and the fruit and woods of apple and almond trees. " It's a little heavy on the pine for me, but I do like how it balances the wood with the fruit and nut scents.

Hi witchy! I can't think what I did when it didn't post before- maybe I previewed and then forgot to add? Thanks for letting me know so I could post again and thank you properly. You really did cheer me up an awful lot. Wanna know something cool? It turns out the Colorado Shakespeare Festival is about five blocks from my apartment, so I'm thinking about volunteering with them this summer to keep myself busy. I did stage makeup all through high school and college, and I wouldn't think even though I'm out of practice that it would take too long to get back into it. And maybe I'll meet some people who aren't hippies or yuppies. (Fingers crossed.) I like doing special effects best, bruises and horrible scars and that sort of fun stuff. Happy St. Paddy's Day!

In the bottle, it's all sweet, playful coconutty caramel- it reminds me a lot of Creepy, without the apple. As it dries, the tobacco comes out to tone down the sweetness and make it richer and deeper. I'm not really getting the currant or spice at all, but there is a hint of floral and some amber creaminess.

Here's things I thought of after sending in the questionnaire. It drives me nuts when I do that, but I was just so excited to get it turned in and be on the list! For jewelry, I like lots of different things- some fairly big pieces like large pendants, and also little delicate things. I wear lots of Egyptian, Celtic, and Art Deco- influenced jewelry. I like green amber but not brown. I'm not so into fantasy sorts of things, like fairies and unicorns, or cutsie things like hearts. (Cats don't count as cutesy, just perfect.) I thought of some things on my book wishlist- anything except 'The 13th Element' by John Elmsley- I read that one and it was fantastic. Books from the Amelia Peabody series except 'The Ape that Guards the Balance' and 'The Golden One.' (I got those two free at work, so I'm interested in going back and reading the series in order- it starts with The Crocodile on the Sandbank.) I'm sure I'll think of more later and I'll add it here! I hope you're having fun with the spring switch witch- I know I am!

I forgot, I've been ogling Dark Candles. The scents I think sound great: Amber Velvet Apparition Attention Whore Ballsy Broad Cain Clove Dark Carnival Dracula Erotica Forbidden Fruit Full Moon Jack O'Latte Pumpkin and Spice

For cheeriness, Et Lux Fuit! It makes a terrible day tolerable, and a good day great. For coziness, I like Dana O'Shee and Miskatonic University. Mmm, cozy cream like a big warm hug. For happy, peaceful relaxing, Uruk- picture a cat dozing in the warm sunshine, her black stripes lit up into a rich dark chocolate brown- that's how Uruk smells.

I hope I never meet a man as sexy as this scent, because if I do I will abandon all my hopes and dreams and follow him to the ends of the earth. Now for a useful review. Wet, this is sweet, rich and creamy, a bit like hellcat but it doesn't beat you over the head with rum. The saffron makes it smell exotic. As it dries, the sweetness fades somewhat, and the sandalwood comes out, but doesn't take over too much- it just blends in perfectly. I'm not usually a wood fan, but this is just perfect.

I'm not a big rose fan, but when you mentioned tea in the heading, I had to read anyway! I don't have any BPAL ideas for you, but just in case you don't have luck with oils, I wanted to suggest making a strong batch of the tea and pouring it through your hair after your conditioner. It's not strong enough for others to smell it usually, but being right by your face you get whiffs all day.

This may make me sound like a complete froot loop, but here goes... I think that Black Phoenix, after the almond note fades out, smells like a darker, sexy Et Lux Fuit. Which is my favorite ever. So now I can make a smooth transition from cheery day (ELF) to sexy evening (BP).

This is my first leather scent, and also my first one that has tea prominently, so I have to figure out which one I don't like. It's so bizarre on me! There's a tree near my house that has this really distinctive-smelling pollen that sets off my allergies like crazy, and as soon as I smell it, I know to get my kleenex in position. The note that I get underneath the bergamot smells exactly like that pollen, but it doesn't bother my nose. Besides the wierd pollen smell, it was ok, but just struck me as kind of blah.

Wow, this is lovely! It doesn't grab your attention so much as lure you in until you've fallen hopelessly in its thrall. I find it more sensual than sexy- I've been wearing it to bed and it's well suited both to cozy, sweet dreams, and to other bed-y activities. Soft but rich, lightly powdery but not too much. I don't really notice other notes besides the amber, but at the same time it's definitely complex enough that they are making their presences known and appreciated!