bookofblues

Kurukulla is a simple and perfect floral. It's a very watery scent to me, with lotus lightening and sweetening rose just enough for it to work for me. On drydown it's primarily lotus, with a hint of underlying rose. It's not at all powdery, and that's a big plus. There's not alot of complexity to this scent, and that's fine. It's lovely the way it is. A possible 5mL purchase.

Bastet is lovely on at first. Cardamon spiced amber that's slightly soapy but not unpleasant. I don't get much almond at all, but this scent is warm and luxuriant enough without it. As it fades, I get a more soapy amber but it's still nice. Not a 5mL scent, but still very nice.

I get musk and wine with a floral undertone from Kali straight from the imp. It's sweet but not cloying, and promises to do well. After about 5 minutes on the skin, I'm amping the tobacco in this scent like crazy. It smells like I'm wearing perfume in a room full of smokers. Must get it off! Damn! It started out so nicely. Swap away quickly.

This is an incredibly sweet scent on me. It's predominantly sweet cherry, like a cherry cordial with more of a milk chocolate than dark chocolate undertone. I was hoping for dark chocolate with a hint of cherry and orange blossom, but this is more the opposite on me. I do get a little more orange blossom on drydown, but the chocolate remains sweet, almost like a cocoa butter note. I'll find my deep, dark perfect chocolate scent yet.

I love chocolate scents and I was eagerly awaiting my decant of Wulric. In the imp, this oil has a tendency to separate with thick dark cocoa swirled throughout. I gave it a good shakin' . First sniff in the imp is almost all lavender, and a hint of vetive! Where is all that cocoa I'm staring at? No fair! On the skin, the cocoa starts to come out, and a touch of vanilla. It's spicy but cool chocolate. The lavendar fades down a bit but the sharpness of it + the vetiver doesn't leave completely at any point. This is so close, but no cigar. I want to love Wulric because it sounded like a perfect companion to my all time favorite, 13 (April 2007). Unfortunately not to be. To the swaps!

In the bottle Dia De Los Muertos is a complex floral with a kick of incense. Initially I'm worried. Where are all the spices and chocolate and pan dulces and goodies? On the skin it warms up almost immediately. Still predominantly an incense and floral scent, but with spiciness and the underlying aroma of baked treats. No chocolate at all, sadly. As it dries down and fades a few hours later, I catch a bit of tobacco and cocoa. Reminiscent of Tezcatlipoca. What a lovely, intricate scent! Not at all what I was expecting, but I'm so glad I got a 5mL.

Lemon verbena predominates in the imp. Not much else. Sharp, strong, and very sweet. On the skin, the sharpness dies down quickly and sweetness amps up like crazy. It's actually giving me a little bit of a headache. As it continues to dry....lemonaid powder. No honesuckle, no nothing. This one was a frimp, so off to the swap pile!

In the imp: Mostly plum, almost grapey. A little spice, but not distinctly carnation. On the skin: Waxy, cinnamon and very sweet plum. A hint of musk as an undertone. I'm also getting the craft store candle feel that others have mentioned. Granted, a very nice craft store candle. More like simmering potpourri. I usually don't do well with sweet, fruity scents as they amp like crazy on me. A little to strong on the plum, but otherwise quite nice. Bandersnatch stays strong for several hours too. This imp is probably a keeper, but not one for heavy rotation.

In the imp: Helllllooo vetiver! Mostly vetiver, with a floral undertone. On the skin: Jasmine comes out. A hint of the carnation too, with a strong perfumey incense note. As it dries, The Caterpillar softens to a dry floral incense. Almost like Nag Champa. Nice, but not for me.

I was eagerly awaiting Blue Moon to see if all of the fuss about previous incarnations was justified. And I'd have to say, yes. In the bottle, Blue Moon is almost all crisp juniper. Sadly the bottle is full just barely to the shoulder. On the skin, cucumber almost immediately comes out, as does orchid and a few other florals I don't recognize. As Blue Moon fades, it is a light heady floral, slightly piney with a brisk watery note (perhaps this is the cucumbery scent lingering?). This is a very clean scent, perfect for summer. Blue Moon is very different from my other favorites, but it's lovely and definitely worth 1 if not 2 bottles.

In the imp: tart and fruity, almost like cranberry. No amber present. Wet on the skin: still predominantly fruity, a little sweeter. Slightly spicy now. On drydown: Finally the amber comes out. I'm a sucker for a good amber scent. This may be too sweet though. On me, amber + pomegranate = cloyingly sweet with a slight spicy note. Unfortunately, Proserpine and I are not to be friends.

In the imp this scent is startlingly strong and almost sharp. I'm a little hesitant to give it a try, but plunge ahead. On the skin, it's nutty with a hint of apple ..... but very buttery. I'm not sure where this is coming from. A friend just told me that I smell like buttered popcorn flavored Jelly Bellies! I'm disappointed to admit that she's right. As strong as Bilquis is on me initially, it fades very quickly on drydown to a faint toasted almond with the sweetness of apple. In an hour it's gone. I'm disappointed that Bilquis completely did not work with my chemistry. This is one to swap.

Yet another lovely violet scent from the Lab. In the imp, strong floral. The scents mingle together and it's hard to get a bead on just one. On the skin, violet and jasmine predominate equally. Violet hits the nose first, and the jasmine lingers. Drydown to mainly a sweet, candied violet (the vanilla?) with a hint of jasmine underneath. As it fades away over the next few hours, only the jasmine is left. Interesting, and very,very nice on my skin. This is one of the few times I've been able to wear jasmine without it amping up like crazy and becoming something unpleasant. Definitely a keeper, and not just because I adore violet.

So, my beloved new favorite "13" has been getting heavy rotation for the last few days. I have a question though. Are there any other BPAL scents that employ catnip? It's absolutely perfect blended with chocolate and clove, and I'd love to try it in other combinations. Any ideas?

I feel sorry for my other 5mLs that will now be neglected since 13 has arrived! In the bottle, very similiar to Tezcatlipoca. The same rich cocoa undertone, but cooler and sharper. Perhaps that's the clove. On the skin it warms up quickly. The cocoa doesn't fade completely, but the catnip and clove come up to the forefront. Frankly it reminds me a little of the illicit hand rolled "cigarettes" my father used to smoke in the '70s until the clove balances the herbal scent out. This is complex and earthy, with just the right cocoa base to ground it. Staying power isn't great. It's mostly gone in a few hours, but I did apply it most sparingly. I want this to last! Mmmmmmm, 13. A new favorite. ADDED May 16: An interesting observation: I got my first bottle of 13, and loved it so much I decided to swap for a backup bottle. The first bottle separates with a visible cocoa layer at the bottom, about a 1/2 inch thick. The second bottle is clear throughout. Scentwise, they are both identical but the layered bottle seems to last lnoticably onger before fading away! Both are just lovely though.

I am a great lover of violets. I grew up on the cheapo Celestial Sky African Violet oils my dad would bring home from head shops. Discovering *good* violet scents as an adult....heaven. I adore Sybaris and Veil, and I wanted to love this too. In the bottle violet and musk, cooler and softer than Sybaris. On me, it starts out nicely as a cool almost watery violet (must be the iris), but on dry down, it's all baby powder until it fades away. I'll stick to my spicy Sybaris, I think.

This is another of my unexpected favorites. In the imp, Athens smells like sweet mead. Almost all honey , but with a slight winey note. As it dries on me, the wine dissipates almost completely and leaves a main note of honey warmed up with myrrh and light herbal undertones. Even as it dissipates, the sweetness of honey remains longer than any other note. I'd ordinarily not like a scent this sweet, but Athens is not the least bit cloying or overpowering. Really, it's a perfect summer scent for me.

This scent is one of my top three favorites so far. In the imp, I get mostly milk and tea. Reminiscent of good Indian masala chai, the real stuff. On my skin, the linen comes out, and a touch of sweetness, maybe the honey? This is probably the only scent I could wear on my clinical rotations. Light, clean, and soothing. I can't wait for my 5mL to arrive!

This is not your grandma's violet! This is the perfect violet scent, and I'm so glad to finally have discovered it! In the bottle: Mostly violet, deep and not the least bit powdery. On the skin: Violet spiced by clove. Indulgent, rich, and sexy as hell. Dry down: Fades in about 2 to 3 hours to a faint clove sweetened by violet. Almost perfect, if only it lasted longer!

I really, really wanted to like this one. I love other milky scents like Sudha Segara and White Rabbit. In the bottle: sour milk and figs. On me: yogurt, with wine notes coming out. Sour milk predominates. Drydown: Candles! Waxy, and the fig really comes out now. This one's up for swaps, unfortunately. Curse my body chemistry; it sounded so perfect!