Miss Despair

This is bright red juicy strawberry jelly with powdered sugar and I'm OBSESSED. There's a tartness to it that keeps the sugar from being too cloying. I don't get as much of the pastry note, but that's alright, it's still delicious. Good throw and really great lasting power as well. I feel like Lotso Huggin Bear while wearing this, haha.

This was really a scent experience. Wet, the smell is so evocative of gauze pads and metal and... hospital. Something fruity is also there, but not a fresh fruit, more like a berry punch someone spilled and has since dried up. There's clove there, too. On drydown, it turns into a warm, red, spicy scent, with the sticky dried berry juice still present. The clove is now much more prominent, and the "hospital" dies down. Unfortunately, after a while I lose the trace of fruit and my skin amps that antiseptic, metallic, gauze-pad scent. It was really interesting, but not quite right for my skin chemistry. Like the other OLLAS I've tried, this one lasts and lasts, even though that characteristic's not as welcome in this case.

In the imp and wet, it's very harsh, bitter, herbal, astringent. The vetiver is a bit noisy and abrasive in this one, and the violet starts off as a very green version of itself. I'm also getting some of that stale cigarette smoke smell, and if I sniff really hard the lavender's there. Something about the overall effect reminds me of very sharp aftershave. Completely changes on drydown! Mostly a sweet, soft violet with a hint of light musk. The vetiver has quieted down a lot to a vague earthiness. I don't get much throw, but it's pretty!

SO bright, fresh, and pretty! Sweet yet clean, with a hint of creaminess from the amber. Unfortunately, my skin takes this refreshing deliciousness and eats it right up.

I got this for the citrus, which unfortunately only manifests in the form of a lingering sweetness. Everything else is wood. Reminds me alternately of a bonfire, a sauna, and sandalwood (although I don't think sandalwood is listed as a note?). Very matronly and not very me. I'm starting to learn that I can't do woodsy BPALs that aren't also masculine and/or aquatic.

So far the first BPAL aquatic that stays aquatic on me for longer than an hour! Salty sea spray and cedar, maybe some other evergreens thrown in. While Jolly Roger was cut, dried wood, this is more like living trees. Fresh and outdoorsy. There's just a hint of leather against clean, aftershave-splashed skin. Despite the sea spray I keep thinking lumberjack, not pirate. I think because the wood in this smells so fresh and alive on me.

It's a very pretty, slightly sweet, very floral lavender at first, with plum blossom in the background. I don't really get ginger, which is fine. In the wet stage, it's beautiful, but after drydown my skin amps the plum blossom instead. It turns powdery and reminds me of my grandmother. I've read about scents smelling different on different parts of the body, but this is the first scent I've experienced firsthand that does that. It's more lavender on my chest and neck, but almost entirely plum blossom on my arms. Feminine and pretty, but a bit too powdery and has too many granny-associations for me to want a full bottle.

Oh, pretty! Mostly soft, pink rose and cherry blossom on me. Lily is more in the background, but asserts itself a little once dry. I'm not getting a whole lot of honey per se, but there's a sweetness to it that is probably coming from the honey note. Very innocent and girly. It somehow reminds me of soap without actually being soapy. I do wish it'd assert itself more and be more long-lived.

This is Glade air freshener spray and burnt rubber on me. After about an hour of drydown time, the burnt rubber does calm down a bit and I get some vetiver, but overall it's headache-inducing.

Mostly jasmine and amber on me, some rose, and a hint of orange peel that gives it some sweetness. It does veer just a little powdery/potpourri-y after drydown. A ladylike, late spring/early summer spent indoors next to a window by the garden kind of scent. I like it, but it's very traditional and not the sort of thing I usually associate with BPAL.

I think Deliciousness' description of sweet Snake Oil is pretty fitting. Snake Oil with fruity bubblegum when wet (I thought of Fruit Stripe, but I haven't had any in years so I may be totally off). My skin's not too good at holding onto fruit scents other than citrus, so after an hour it dries to pretty much just red musk, amber, a bit of vanilla, and a lingering sweetness.

A complete morpher on me. After an initial blast of red berries, cherry cough syrup, and strangely enough, a hint of cocoa, it settles nicely into a floral (poppy?) wine with honey and vanilla. It's quite sweet, but the vetiver and musk keep it from being cloying and give it a slightly masculine edge. It's delicious and sexy in this stage, I really love it. A couple hours later, the wine fades, the vetiver is nearly gone, and clove, hiding until now, comes out and blends nicely with honey and vanilla. There's that peek of cocoa again? This is a great musky-sweet blend that I enjoyed in all its forms, although the way it smells right after drydown is my favorite. Fruity, sweet, floral, vetiver... hnnnngh so good.

This is shockingly floral on me. Mostly a sweet lilac, which seems to be a common thing, but quite a bit of gardenia during drydown as well. The leather's barely-there presence helps ground it, warms it up, and gives it a bit of a skin scent sort of feel. No resin, not really getting any smoke, basically this is almost nothing like what I was expecting it to be. Surprisingly pretty and very comforting.

I don't get green apple from this. The apple itself is definitely red, in fact I keep thinking Red Delicious in particular, but there's greenness there from the other notes. After drying, it's less fresh apples and more apple blossoms and oleander, mixed with herbal, medicinal greens. A little similar to Beer From the Marsh Woman's Brewery, only not so bitter or hoppy, and with some dirt notes. Feminine and mature, yet down-to-earth. Throw is a little on the light side, and fades within a couple hours on me. Keeping the imp for sure, but not a bottle scent for me.

SO delicious. Definitely a baked good sort of foody smell, with ginger and cinnamon most prominent. The other gingerbread spices and something Southeast Asian-smelling come out during drydown. Transitions into a slightly gingery Snake Oil after an hour or two. I also don't really care for fresh Snake Oil, but this is already delicious, vanilla and spice over subtle resin. Foody and sexy, awesome throw, lasts surprisingly long! I'm in love with this one and had to get a full bottle. YUM.

This is delicious, creamy vanilla-y candy cane goodness dusted in powdered sugar. Sweet and chilly, but alas, the mint is gone within an hour, and the remaining hint of vanilla and sugar is very faint. I would've loved a full bottle if only it stuck around.

My Gingerbread Zombi experience went a little something like: CINNAMON!!! Ginger! Dirt. ...Rose? After drydown, more of the other gingerbread spices come out-- mostly clove on me, but also allspice and nutmeg. It's also more earthy after drying. The rose is very very faint and a dry, potpurri-y sort of rose. Maybe it's just my skin chemistry, but while Gingerbread Snake was more of a baked goods smell, this one reminds me of raw ingredients. Cinnamon can be a migraine trigger for me, and while the lab's cinnamon has played well with me thus far, this one is venturing a little into nausea territory. Throw is on the lighter side, and it sticks around for a few hours.

It's kind of strange, I get candy canes and marzipan at first, and the throw is decent. But after around 40min to an hour, I swear it turns to marzipan and... gardenia??? It's a strange combination, but nice. Not quite what I was expecting.

Smells mostly like honey in the imp, honey from bees only allowed access to white flowers. On my skin, the florals take over, something like a fruity honeysuckle over the initial honey note. Very pretty, sweet and floral and feminine. Still a honey-sweet floral after drying, but strangely I also get a little bit of incense.

I was nervous ordering this unsniffed but it seems my gut feeling that I'd like this was right. It's very girly sort of woody on me-- but more like polished oak than pine, with the fig surprisingly prominent, but if I sniff hard I can smell cocoa powder (not so much chocolate candy, which I'm fine with) and coffee. Dark and warm and very yummy. Edit: Not sure what my nose was doing, that's definitely pine. Smells like drinking hot cocoa next to a Christmas tree.

Beautiful, clean scent. Reminiscent of Bulgari Au The Vert, but sweeter (without being sticky or cloying), with more lemon. On me it's very clean without being outright soapy, and doesn't change much from the crisp, Arnold Palmer made with green tea type scent in the bottle, only with a touch more white musk. Decent throw but doesn't last terribly long. I love clean smells, tea scents, and lemon, so this is one that I never get tired of. Perfect for hot summer days.

This is mostly incense on me. Wet, it's more spicy and has some of the same "sauna smell" I got from the drydown of Jolly Roger. Dry, it's more smoky, but the overall theme is still incense. Decent throw and lasts quite a while. It's nice, but reminds me a lot of nag champa and going to temple as a kid, which isn't really my favorite thing to smell like.

Got this as an imp for my boyfriend to try. On him: mostly a spicy sort of musk. It's not something that I'd consider smelling "nice," but it's somehow familiar. Warm and very aggressive. He complained about some of the other scents I tried on him being not manly enough-- he didn't have the same complaint about this one, but still didn't care much for it. On me: an earthy, slightly resinous wood, and again, musk. Spice is still there, but muted. It's really masculine, but makes me feel strong and powerful in a channeling-a-lumberjack kind of way, lol. Not really "me," but I'd definitely enjoy it when I feel like I need a confidence boost.

Before I got a frimp of Misk U with my first BPAL order, I wasn't into foody scents. The way it smelled in the imp-- rich and buttery, sticky-sweet toffee cookies, an old cup of coffee-- was the kind of thing that was a recipe for migraines with the stuff I'd used before. Luckily, it wasn't so with this one. There's something dusty and like polished wood furniture there, too. The wood and dust come out more on drydown, and they really do smell remarkably like the way old books do. My favorite cold weather scent. There's just something warm and snuggly about smelling like you're reading in an old library with a cup of coffee while nibbling on baked goods.

Got an imp for the boy to try, and we both liked it. I'm not good with notes in general, and with this one it was even tougher- I couldn't recognize anything but the sandalwood. Mostly, it smells like a nice cologne. After drydown, it gets a hint of something a little soapy, but not enough to be overpowering or off-putting. I actually only added this to my order because it kept coming up in the masculine/gender-neutral thread, not really expecting him to go for it, but surprisingly, he liked it a lot. Which is lucky, 'cause I like it too!