Eris

Oh wow. And here I thought I couldn't wear stuff with fruity notes. This is quite lovely, and I can definitely see the connection to Tresor, for those who made earlier comparisons. My initial impression of this a soft, floral peach that has none of the cloying, overly artificial aspects that so many fruit-scented products out there have. The background is thick vanilla and friends (sandalwood and amber, I presume) melding into my skin, grounding it all into perfection. This is a light, cheery scent that will be great when the weather warms up, thought it does require frequent reapplying on my part.

I got this as a freebie. I definitely get white florals off of this, with an almost herbal backing. For other BPAL comparisons, it reminds me of Water of Notre Dame without the violet and Hymn without the incense. Like other florals on me, it pushes the envelope of turning soapy but note quite. This isn't really an offensive fragrance, but I'm too fussy with my floral notes, so this one will go off to swapping.

Hmm, the jury's still out on this one. I got this as a freebie and was pleasantly surprised at the difference from the imp to my skin. In the imp, it was kind of sweet and herbaly, but once on, it morphed into a creamy dragon's blood smell akin to Dragon's Milk. As the drydown set in, the creaminess faded and instead of rounding out into thick vanilla like Dragon's Milk, Serpent's Kiss gave way to a spicy, gingery, and cinnamony smell. Almost like Red Hots, but note quite. I'm still undecided about whether I'll keep this one or not, but it definitely has my attention for the time being.

Sometimes I think instead of placing detailed orders, I should just send some money to the lab and a note saying, "Why don't you guys just go ahead and pick out some things for me; you seem to be better at it than I am." Morocco was no exception. This came as an extra, and boy, am I glad it did. Love at first sight, er, sniff. Creamy and spicy, this blended perfectly into my own skin for a soft, oriental effect. I could pick out the carnation but was not adept enough to identify the others, though obviously, I knew something else good was there. I did not get the stale Opium smell that similar blends produce on me, so I'm guessing this did not have red musk--or, if it did, that it was downplayed compared to the other ingredients. I love, love, LOVE Morocco. I want to be surrounded in this gorgeous, golden fragrance. Methinks a bigger bottle will be needed.

Hmm...I was very excited after reading about this in one of the 'sexy scents' threads, but it seems sexy scents are in the nose of the beholder, er, wearer. At first, I received an almost rounded berry smell that was rather surprising, as I had been ready for spicier notes like in Queen of Sheba. As it dried, the berriness faded to a mild spicy fragrance that I kind of liked. In time, though, that fragrance turned into what I've now come to recognize as my chemistry's blah reaction to red musk: sort of like a flat version of Opium by Yves Saint Laurent. Alas, I will have to stick to gardenia blends for my sexy scents.

Interesting. This wasn't what I expected after reading the 'alkaline' comment in the previous review or the 'bitter' description in one of the blends (Succubus?). On me this was thick and deep pink. It almost put me in mind of a sweetart, though with more sweetness and less tart. This is definitely not a typical floral smell, nor one I think that can work with me on its own. I did sample some Perversion farther down my arm, however, and the two scents mingle nicely, making me think Mimosa be something best suited to blends.

First application of this unleashes a very sweet, fruity smell which I assume is the blackberry. Weirdly, though, it smells almost the same as the tropical fruit notes in Machu Picchu for me. The heather starts to ground the blackberry a little, making the sweetness somewhat more bearable, but it still isn't quite my style. As the drydown progresses, the heather becomes stronger and thicker, reminding me a little of the background in Tintagel, though fortunately not turning fabric softnerish like that one did. I'd be very interested in seeing what a single note of heather is like. So all in all, Glasgow is a nice scent if you are a berry type, but I don't think it'll become a mainstay for me.

Smoky and woody are the first and strongest notes that hit me as this settles on the skin. I noticed when trying Cathedral after Penitence that the former was more woody and less incensey than the latter, and now Damnation goes a step further into total woodiness. The frankincense may be in there, but it's much less noticeable than in the rest of the blends in this family. The cedar definitely rules in this, in almost too harsh a way for me to wear easily as a regular perfume. After a few hours and some routine handwashings, the strongest and darkest wood notes faded finally, allowing the frankincense to surface a little into a soft, inoffensive fragrance. I'm not sure though if Damnation will join my perfume canon or not.

Ooh, very strong fruity, tropical scent upon first application--a very yellow and peach colored perfume. It's very nice, but as it settles, it starts to take on an almost candy sweetness that isn't really my normal type of fragrance. It stays pretty consistent in this smell as time goes on but also fades rather quickly on me. This seems to be another that's just "one off" from my chemistry, but based on that lovely, intial scent, I bet it works beautifully on others.

When I first smelled this in the imp, I thought 'no, no way.' Determined to give every BPAL fragrance a try, however, I tested it. Alas, the answer was still 'no, no way.' Both in the bottle and on my skin, I get a very strong, nearly overpowering medicinal smell. I can very faintly detect a smoky spice in the background--nutmeg or sassafras--but it just doesn't work with me, which is unfortunate, since I do so love the idea of opium dens.

I'm surprised to read about others getting salty effects--there was nothing like that for me in this. I got this as an extra and was pleasantly surprised to find how well it worked on me. Orchid is the predominant scent, which usually I can take or leave. In Magdalene, the orchid is thick and almost incensey with the rose and other notes. It blends beautifully into my skin and lasts a very long time. The overall effect is dark, dreamy, and sexy. Very nice.

Mmmm. In the bottle, I get a strong coconut scent that picks up a hint of mint when wet on this skin. As the drydown begins, the mint fades, and the lime starts kicking in. They overlap briefly before the mint goes away altogether. Then the lime and coconut and something else mingle into a wonderful, creamy baked-goodness type of scent. I feel like key lime pie or a lemon frosted cookie. This is very much what I associate with vanilla in a fragrance, but I've tried enough of the Lab's vanilla blends to realize that there is little (if any at all) of that in this. The Star does not really put me in mind of the Tarot card, but it is a lovely, yummy scent.

All I get is jasmine, jasmine, jasmine when I put this on! I couldn't sense much rose in this, nor am I familiar enough with the other notes to have been able to pick them out. I love jasmine on the plant, but alas, the Lab's jasmine doesn't work so well with my skin. Like I seem to be saying a lot with jasmine-related reviews lately, it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great either. Fortunately, a friend of mine once again loved this and was able to give it a happier, good-chemistry home.

Whoa, I think I have some major chemistry reactions here after reading other posts. In the bottle I got a strong berry-ish scent, but since it wasn't overly sweet, I thought I could handle it and tried it. It turned even more lovely on the skin as some spices came out behind that sweetness. I was astonished and ready to sing the praises yet again of an unexpectedly successful extra imp. Then...five minutes later, no joke: fabric softener. It's so odd. I don't mean soapy either--like what happens with some florals. This is like those fabric softener sheets you put in the dryer. I am so baffled and annoyed. I'm hoping there's a hormonal imbalance afoot and that I'll get a different experiernce in the future.

Judging from the number of reviews, I suspect I'm one of the few who came to this one by first trying Penitence. So, I think a lot of my impressions of Cathedral are affected by that. My first smell of Cathedral on my skin is almost the same as Penitence: that not-quite-sweet-but-almost incensey smell of frankincense and myrrh. Whereas Penitence rounds itself out with more of a resinous feel, the scent of Cathedral lingers on into fine filaments of wood. Over time, the initial sweet-ish scent fades considerably, and only the wood remains. It's very pleasant and long-lasting, definitely putting one in mind of a church, but I can't decide if it would work well as a regular perfume. I still might keep it anyway and use it as a home smell or a candle scent.

Oh. My. Gardenias--beautiful, golden, and almost nutty, wrapped up in more goldeness and a soft spice. People call this floral, and I guess it's true with so much gardenia, but I tend to think of 'floral' as more like roses et al. This is definitely not in that zone. This is creamy, seductive, and lovely. Definitely a new favorite. I had an imp of this on order, and then I got an extra in a different order. I'm glad to be stocking it up, but I suspect I'm going to need a lot more than two imps...

Oh...a beautiful, true floral combination. The apple blossom and rose come out strong and thick, and they don't turn soapy or too cloying. The combination stays fresh; you can almost imagine putting your face up to a bouquet. I had multiple people who thought it smelled like lilac, though that's not one of the ingredients. I don't wear too many standard florals, however, so it was fortunate that a friend of mine ended up loving the imp and buying it off of me. It will get the usage and exposure it so deserves.

Yes, I definitely recognize this note from (Old) Kyoto. It has that same dark cherry scent but less of the truly artificial follow-up that's brought up by the anise in that blend. There's still something about this that pushes the envelope on whether it's natural seeming or not, but it's still rather sweet and pleasant, even if it fades fast and ends almost soapy.

A clean, simple fruity-flower blend. It is light and sweet, turning slightly herbaly as it dries down. I suspect this would be a nice, refreshing scent for true floral fans, but it's not quite me, alas.

Green, green, green. I can hardly smell any floral in this blend, no rose at all on me. There is definitely an evergreen scent to this greenery too. It reminds me of the boysenberry/pine candles my parents used to get for Christmas. This oil goes will my skin, blending with me rather than just sitting there, but my mind still isn't made up. I might actually like it better if the rose came out a little more; for now, I have to decide if I can wear it and get over the holiday associations it keeps bringing up.

Hmm, none of the lab's vanilla blends ever smell sweet on me. I'm not sure if that's a Lab thing or a me-chemistry kind of thing. Anyway, I was first hit with a strange, medicinal smell in the bottle and upon first application. That faded fortunately, and I was soon able to pick out the honey and vanilla, as I've run into them before in other BPAL blends. Unfortunately, neither really work well with me. The honey in Snake Oil didn't react as weirdly with me as it does in O, but there was still something odd and artificial as it sat on my skin. After a few hours, I finally got a nice creamy smell blending into my skin that I liked quite a bit. Unfortunately, I don't think I'd have the patience to wait that long for it in the future and be forced to endure the medicinal/artificial smell. Alas, I guess I'm not a Snake Oil lover. Away it goes to swap.

Nice. Very nice. A smooth blend that merges beautifully with my skin. The top note is a light floral, smoothed over a creamy, nutty base which must be the coconut and hazelnut. The mixture stays consistent for a few hours, and then the floral eventually dims, leaving just a residual vanilla-ish scent behind. The overall effect is very sexy and silky; this is one of the best BPAL oils I've found so far.

Interesting...as a fan of incense smells, I was ready for something like Penitence or Hymn when I took off the lid. Instead, my first scent was a sort of buttery, tobacco scent. It wasn't exactly bad, but it was hardly what I expected. In re-reading the ingredients, I'm wondering if this is the 'chill autumn wind' part. On the skin, that odd scent lingers for about a minute and then steadily fades, giving way to the floraly, incensey fragrance I'd been expecting. It is a thick, lush mixture of incenses--coming off less purple/grape than Cairo and less rose-y than Hymn. This holds out for a few hours and then fades to a dry, thin incense smell--sort of like when you've left incense sticks in a drawer for too long. Overall, this scent doesn't surprise me much (except for that initial autumn smell), but it is in the range of Church-esque fragrances that I love, so I think this will be a keeper.

I guess I should put in a plug for my beloved Penitence here. It's frankincense and myrrh but comes across as very woody, resiny, and incensy on me. A little churchish, but in a good way. I love it. Hymn is similar, but it has rose and might be too floraly for you. I'm currently waiting on some other similar resiny/incense/churchy blends (All Saints, Damnation, and Cathedral), so they might be able to join the ranks soon too.

This more than any other BPAL scent changes continually on me; it never smells exactly the same way, though it always hovers in the purple and spicy family. I think it's the orchid that my chemistry has issues with, as I get the same phenomenon with other orchid blends. Phantom Queen is the only orchid I can handle. When first applied today, Queen Mab had a lovely, herbal spiciness that quickly faded down to a dark, perfumey floral that I didn't care for. Other times, it's gone on initially smelling soapy and perfumey, only to fade later to a darker spice that I liked. I can't quite envision this scent for the Maeve (aka Queen Mab) of Celtic legend, though certainly it's tricky enough in its dealings with me!