Bassmastadroog

Round two from my eBay imps of all the Monster Baits! Bottle: Very citrusy. I don't like citrus scents, at least, I use to not...strongly...but the notes in the descriptions and reviews stated otherwise, so I had to try. On skin: Soapy (for a mere second) kind of the same spicy gingery scent as in Underpants (a certain vanilla?)...NOW its getting sort of flowery. Still a tad citrusy. Drydown: I didn't know exactly what jasmine was...most reviewers tend to hate it...but I think if this is what it is...is a VERY fresh, white, sweet floral! I like it!!! I guess I'm pleasantly surprised because I expected not to. The citrusy scent has faded into specificity...warm pink grapefruit...lovely! AND SILVERY PINK GARDENIA! I love the smell of gardenia...there was a blend from Bathed and Infused a long time ago (when they were still a company) called The Pinup...it was silvery musk and gardenia...this has that! If I can find a big bottle.............................................................................................................MINE. Such a perfectly springy and pretty blend. 5/5

I found a cool pack of Monster Bait imps on eBay from a fellow BPAL'r, so time to test them out! I was initially most excited about Underpants... Bottle: Creamy, warm vanilla with ginger On Skin: Once it blends with my skin its less general as ginger...and I can smell the buttery, creamy spice. Also with vanilla. This is (for me) where it starts to go wonky. I still like the sweetness and gourmand-y scent, but I do get what other people describe as 'burnt plastic.' Is this what wet sandalwood before its drydown smells like? Dry: Just vanilla and sandalwood. This is my favorite stage. Really, the weird wet stage doesn't last very long...its worth the wait. Here, I think I smell the saffron peeking out. I have never smelled saffron single note...but the drydown has the pink warmth of Morocco, and I know there is saffron in that. Its similar to Morocco once dry, but just with added sandalwood to temper the sweetness. This is my favorite stage! 3/5, only because its sillage is low on me...and also the beginning is...meh. I'll use all the imp though, and fat chance of me finding a bottle now anyway

Bottle: Holy honey! I've never smelled a BPAL honey note until this. Honey and myrrh. So interesting! Skin: Same! Freshness and honey! Herbs but no spice, wonderful...and the honey softens the edges. I have never smelled anything like this before. Very woody. I like! An imp keeper, and perhaps a bottle. 3/5 so far. Editing to update: I just tried Anubis again and I think it is now *my* ultimate BPAL. I have a bunch of holy grail type scents, but I think this IS IT. Beautiful honey, slightly herby, Gonesh incense. INCREDIBLE. This is me.

In imp: Bergamot maybe...something super yellowy orange fruiting it up in there...with some old wood smell. ^Bowling alley (old) for sure Skin: Ugh. I DO NOT...I can't...that yellowy fruit. It smells like an old cabinet with that fruit rotting inside. Strong cedary scent. Definitely sap, I don't smell any incensy like myrrh...it smells a bit like my old house I lived in with my four other roommates...I want to like this and it is definitely evoking certain images of old woodsy intrigue but as a perfume oil it has a scent to it that is gross on my skin though interesting as a house or room smell. Dry: I can't smell like this. I like that it has gotten good reviews from others though. Its a cool scent...I would definitely take it deep into my lungs if I walked into a room and it smelled like that...I just don't want to wear it.

I don't have much to add on the front because most of the reviews capture it perfectly...I especially like (been steeped in incense since the 60s )...it IS headshop. Purely, but like, old school headshop. Not "I just walked in and they are unpackaging incense from the truck that brought it in" but "I just got to San Fran and am visiting a headshop that has been planted here since the 60s and the wall still smells like it." At first application, the fruityness was musty and smelled sort of rotten with the incense...but that really was only at the beginning. Urd is like getting high on a psychadelic...its like "WHOA there it is" at first...then "oh crap...I'm uncomfortable, something is weird" then finally..."aaah coasting along, this is good, this is the best part." 4/5. Could order a bottle. It is a very specific smell to go for.

In imp: Totally fresh, wet, clean, beautiful with a sweet hint of flowers! Skin: Wet smelling, green, airy. Smells a lot like (as someone else said) walking down a perfume aisle...fresh perfumes. I can't pick out anything individual yet, but there is something keeping me from comparing it to regular run of the mill perfumes. Its got a real naturalness to it. Watery. Dry: Crap. Candied powder violets. I think I am going to have to stop making reviews on violet note oils until I find one that doesn't do this to me.

Wet: At first this is a perfect mix of violet and gardenia. Gardenias are so pretty! Ethereal-y pretty. I don't get any vanilla at first application. I'm glad that the gardenia is balanced with the violets...because violets are SO strong on me in the candy fashion, I wish they weren't but most blends just become candy powder (note: I feel like the best blend for people that have the candy powder violet problem is Bruised Violet Compound). Crap. I smell the candied violet coming through. YES. Gardenia is slipping back in. I know a lot of people don't like gardenia really, but it tempers out candy violet scents SOOOO well. It makes them a little darker and fresher. I'm starting to love this scent now that the violets are equalizing with the gardenia. I don't smell vanilla yet, which is sad, but its pretty nonetheless! Overall...I'll keep my imp but I don't know yet if I like the violet enough to order more.

I like the name and the associations, as usual. In the bottle wet, it smelled earthy...I don't yet know how to pick out BPAL's earth scents...because the only two I have tested are Death Cap and now this...and both have mushroom. All I can say is...if you don't like this initially, it dries into a VERY beautiful scent that is much warmer and sweeter, though not foodie sweet. I am going to try this a couple times before I decide on a bottle...but its awesome!

I wanted to like it for its name... It is not a terrible blend...its just off for me...but I hope somebody else enjoys it! In bottle: Soapy violets. On skin: Violets! Probably iris too...its a purply dark flower smell with green striking through. Very fresh and pretty at this point. Powdery slightly...but not too much. I can smell the sandalwood. Dry: Very much like candied violets...I wish the original wet violet/iris scent stayed...now its just sandalwood and candy violets...which makes a sweet purply candy baby powder. Its not terrible...and I may keep trying. I liked the wet stage best!

Unleash the bawdy, unrestrained passion of the satyr! A ferociously masculine scent: sexual, vigorous, and truly wild. Satyr! I love the mythology behind the Satyr, and I read somewhere also that Satyr is like a masculine Snake Oil. Scents are incredibly different on everyone's skin, it amazes me every time I read these reviews. I AM IN LOVE WITH SATYR, and being a female and having this work on me according to the reviews are few and far between. I originally bought it for someone else as an imp to try and I loved it so much I went with a 5 mL! In the bottle: VERY sharp and green, but a hot green, I'm not sure on the individual notes because I am still learning them...somebody mentioned civet? I don't get any cinnamon or spice/red from this scent...its just again...a 'hot' green. Sharp and green though, and very heady initially. It has a quality to it, what I would dub 'green vanilla' because its smooth under the masculinity. If I could pick a movie this scent reminds me of...it would be something dark and fantastical, but older. Like Legend or Nightbreed. On skin: Almost completely similar to the bottle smell, only much less heady as it dries. It still has a sharp quality to it, but it being smoothed over by that 'green vanilla' again. It is what I would imagine a Satyr's leather vest to smell like...alongside the green it almost has a sexy leather quality to it. Drydown: Nearly the same all the way through, though the initial green (again, civet?) calms down significantly. Its still there but less sharp on the nose. This is such a sensual scent. I will always have a 5 mL of this on hand...LOVE IT! This was once of those scent experiences where I opened the bottle, put it on and instantly fell in love.

I love the word 'Bordello...' it will forever and always remind me of Tales from the Crypt...Bordello of Blood! I got this one in a free imp from the lab, Bordello...I'm already conjuring up mental imagery of what I feel like it should smell like...come on...not a strip club, but a Bordello...more alluring class! In the imp: I was pretty sure I wouldn't like this at all. It is a purply red scent...fruity (dat plum) with a dribble of red. Sounds nice, really, it just isn't something I normally wear. On skin: Got a little more 'perfume'y!' I don't know what note that is...I'm not the best at picking them out yet...but its a very nice woman-ly scent! Smells like a cathouse where there would be heavy drink and smoke...but without the smoke! Its an awesome scent! Totally evocative of the old west, hot wind out the doors and the close scent of heaving busts layered with cheap jewels and primped hair! Nothing cheap about the scent though. The plum is noticeable, man I didn't know how beautiful plum could be...the amaretto is so slight...rounding it off...and I can almost taste the wine through the scent rather than heavily smell it. Drydown: I can only smell it when I bring my wrist to my nose...but then again I only have an imp of it...and the wand doesn't slather like I would with a bottle. Dries down to a smokey wine/plum/perfume. Its really pretty. I think I like the drydown the best! I am saving this imp for sure. I don't know yet if I would order it...it doesn't WOW me by any means, but it surprises me now and then with how pretty it is...and I wonder if I could get to liking it. Definitely a picture painting scent.

Got this one as an imp from the lab off of their etsy site when I ordered a 5 ml of Anne Bonny. To be vague and orderly, this is a holiday smell. It reminds me of a Christmas dinner, not a Thanksgiving dinner, but one with something gingery/spicy. Conjures up images of red christmas balls on a tree. Its blended VERY well, so that each note you read on the description is a 'yeah, I can see that!' but nothing takes precedent in an unbalanced fashion. Bottle: Super plastic toffee. Not unpleasant. On skin: That Christmas-y spicy smell. I can smell a little bit of tart pineapple, maybe some crumbs of toast, and the slightest milk of the custard! Drydown: It lasts a while, and its not a bad scent, just not for me. It dries into buttery bread! For what it is, it's great, and EXACTLY as described. I think if there was another version of this before the perfected for sale bottle that contained a heavier note of turkey I think I'd actually like it better!