laslibres

Smells like pure brownies in the bottle…mmm. On me it immediately gets a lot sweeter and more powdery, and the sugar and honey come out more. The sugars are starting to do that thing they did on me in Smut where they smell root-beery, but it’s more pleasant than Smut. It still has that sort of fruity, herby 13 base too, which I like...even though it doesn't list citrus or any herbs, I still feel like I smell those, mostly orange. It’s different than any of the other chocolate, honey, or vanilla scents I've tried, it has a different balance somehow. It’s like a fizzy cream soda, it does have that sort of sparkly feel to it. 15 or so minutes after applying...ooh, it's morphed into something even better! It's sweet and vanilla-y, but it's the kind you would like even if you don't like "foody" scents necessarily. It has a very warm feel to it, almost an amber-like quality. Also, I feel like this will age AWESOMELY.

Most of BPAL's rose notes, on me, smell overly chemical-ish and almost like bug spray (???), so I sympathize. I would love to love some of these scents!...but then the rose notes ruin it for me. Oddly, one I really liked was The Rose...it smelled the truest, and it had a sense of leaves and even earth in the garden, which I really liked. Whip was also really nice on me. Titania was good on me too in spite of containing "musk rose" (although I don't know if that's really a real rose). Maiden is okay on me too (white rose), although not spectacular. Most of the rest I've tried do the dreaded bug-spray switcheroo on me. Unfortunately, this has led to me not even trying certain scents (like Snooty Rose) because I'm so sure they won't work...but who knows, maybe they would!

Try The Zieba Tree! It's a really light, almost misty floral, with a touch of green...I don't know if I've ever tried the Unicorn, but based on the notes it sounds very similar. Prague or Amsterdam are other nice ones for light, fresh florals, with a touch of almost aquatic (but not obnoxious, sleazy-cologne-aquatic). Those two smelled like being in a garden and were really lovely, to me.

So I'm getting married in almost exactly two months ( ). I had test-driven a couple of new scents to be "wedding scents," having heard that you should wear a perfume you haven't worn much (or at all!) before, so that you'll have a completely new scent memory for that day, but...who can do that?! What if it doesn't turn out well? Then you're stuck with a scent you don't like all day! I'll probably wear The Lights of Men's Lives, since that's what I wore on our first date, and I just really love it...it's very pretty but can also be sexy. Was thinking of wearing Haloa, since that's what I was wearing when he first asked me out, but oddly my 2006 bottle of Haloa has gone kinda sour with age. Other scents I considered: Sachs (a little TOO sexy...), Blossoms in Springtime (ditto, and a bit too heavy and sticky), some light floral like Ghosts of the Arroyo Seco Bridge, or something springy like Garden Path With Chickens (might still do this, it's a favorite) or Flower Moon. (I'm also still considering Arcana's Molly Malone or Juno...although upon consideration, maybe a scent named "Juno" is not the best marriage omen. O_o)

Testing out Shattered today...smells EXACTLY like Ice Blue soap from Lush. And that's one of my favorites of their soaps, so... Or you could say it smells like the Freeze shower gel, since Freeze and Ice Blue seem to be very similar to me.

Yup...it's exactly what it says it is. Starts out as very sugary lemon, like Lemonheads, or maybe lemon sorbet. Really sweet and almost "crunchy"-feeling, if that makes sense. It mellows out after being on for a minute, and starts to smell more like lemonade or maybe lemon sorbet, it has that kind of icy, cool feel. It's a very sweet lemon, not tart at all. It's different from BPAL's other citrus notes...there's nothing else quite like it. And it's an awesome perfume for summer, too...very cool and refreshing, just like drinking a big icy glass of lemonade on a hot day. I really like this one.

From the bottle, it smells like...Dr. Pepper? Or cola? For serious, I don't know why my nose insists everything is soda today. But on me, I definitely get the cinnamon and cassia...it goes through a weird phase where it smells slightly sour and "off," like Saw-Scaled Viper did, but it settles down quickly. The sweet cane and cinnamon kind of combine to make a snickerdoodles-like smell, although the frankincense comes in and rounds it out nicely. The cinnamon is almost a Red Hots-like scent, a little sharp, but sweet too. Then, after an hour or so, it mellows out and starts to take on that "creamy" quality I'd heard about in other reviews (the quality that made me want the scent so badly!). Creamy, spicy, and a little floral (from the bdellium? Is that a flower? I am so clueless about the meanings of some notes...). Which is a really nice combination...I'm glad I got this scent, finally!

I don't know why my nose wants to interpret everything as root beer today...but that's what this first reminded me of, from the imp. Root beer and bubblegum. O_o So weird. On me, whatever is making me think of bubblegum amps, and it just smells like violet candy. The incense and clove come out briefly, but sadly it doesn't balance out well and just ends up as too-sweet floral. For some reason, also, it strikes me as an "evil teacher perfume." I think I have this scent association because it reminds me of a smell I used to smell in the halls of my Catholic secondary school...some teacher I didn't like must have worn a violet scent. Bleh. And these notes totally should have been win on me, because I love Faustus and I like incense, clove, and tonka. Damn skin chemistry! It randomly makes sweet notes go all weird, and it's hard to predict which ones!

A celebration of one of the first commercially produced perfumes of America's Old West. A rugged, warm blend of vanilla, balsam and sassafras layered over Virginia cedar. Wow, this morphed a couple times in the first few minutes of sniffing...in the imp, it's just light vanilla, and then on my skin it immediately amped the woods like crazy. But just when I started to despair, the vanilla and sassafras started creeping back in. It balances out really well...the vanilla is not a dry vanilla, it's really rich and delicious, but it's balanced out from being too sweet by the balsam and cedar backing it up. It reminds me a lot of The Lights Of Men's Lives, but a more masculine version (Lights was mostly very sweet, vanilla-esque beeswax on me). It's really good, kinda sexy and almost unisex. My only complaint is that it's a little light on me...I have to really stick my wrist right up to my nose in order to smell it very clearly. Not a lot of throw. However, this just means I have to test it on my man and see if it's stronger on him...hee hee.

Coconuuuut! I love coconut. It’s kinda sunscreeny and oily from the imp, which is great...then, on me, it gets a bit more powdery with the musk and hazelnut. Such a great sunny, beachy blend! It really does smell like a day at the beach...sort of warm and sandy and oceany in addition to the coconut. The hazelnut adds a delicious foody component, too. This is so freakin’ good! Compared to other coconut scents...Midway is way sweeter and more cakey than this, and Obatala is more oceanic and cooler. So...since it's different than the other coconut scents I have bottles of, that means I also need a bottle of this, right?

Ooh! Try Santa Eularia des Riu. The description is "Piquant citrus tempered by jasmine, soft Mediterranean herbs, lavender and orange blossom," so it sounds just about right. On me it's more herbs than floral, but the lavender is very present too. Did anyone suggest Dorian too? On me, it's creamy lemony tea with sexy musk. And it's awesome.

Yesterday, Pumpkin Queen. I feel I deserved that title with the way my pumpkin pie came out... Today, maybe something Christmasy like A Game Of Yes And No, since we're putting up the lights and tree today. And buying absolutely nothing.

Polleny, springy flowers! And cherry blossom! The beautiful love child of Hanami and Evening Cicadas, with that same sort of pink, dewy floral feel that those do. In addition to pink, this scent is also yellow and polleny, but fresh as well, very springy. And dewy. It’s like those first few little blossoms poking their heads out at the start of spring. I don’t get any myrrh out of this, but that’s fine, it’s just a nice fresh floral, a _good_ floral scent, not phony or dry. Quite nice.

The ghostly White Women of the Scottish highlands. They seduce unwary travelers by night with their unearthly beauty and mesmerizing dancing. They engage their victims in a wild, hypnotic dance, and once they reach exhaustion, the demonesses exsanguinate their partners with their vampiric kiss. Talk about a quick courtship. Grapefruit, white tea, apple blossom and ginger. Mmm, sweet flowery grapefruit! This is a great grapefruit note too, very tart, very nice. A really fresh and clean scent. I get whiffs of the other notes every time I sniff, the apple blossom and the white tea mainly...just tiny whiffs, but all the scents go really well together and make this light, airy, flowery backdrop for the grapefruit. Beautiful. There is no note in this scent that I dislike, it’s all just very well-blended and pretty.

Holy bubblegum, Batman. That’s what I smell in the imp, pink Bazooka bubblegum. It improves once it’s on my skin, then I smell flowers and sugar, and definitely carnation too. As well as something leafy or grassy, maybe? But only briefly, and then the pink sugary stuff comes back and kinda dominates the blend. Not so much bubblegummy now, but more like...candied flower petals, or those powdery flower-flavored candies, rose or violet or whatever. So it gains some complexity once it's on my skin, and it manages to be sugar AND flowers, not just bubblegum. It’s not entirely my cup of tea, though.

Uh. This...sure is...purple. It does smell lily-like, sort of a pungent podweriness...it reminds me of the florals from Garden Path With Chickens. Except, like, MORE. It's really, really floral and perfumey. Except it's the kind of flowers that my skin does not like. My skin likes many flowers, just not these ones. It turns it into bathroom cleaner. _Purple_ bathroom cleaner. Just kinda fake and chemical-y and bleh.

Powdery, ladylike florals. On me, some more sandalwood comes out...this is quite powdery though, and I’d imagine if I was standing near someone allergic to perfume they’d start sneezing. It's just that kind of scent. It smells kinda like a fancy soap, almost. I smell lily for sure, a little apple blossom that fades in and out, and ditto with hibiscus (which, incidentally, is a note I love, which I haven’t encountered anywhere else. Reminds me of tea, 'cause I love to drink jamaica tea). These are very light, though. The lily and sandalwood kinda trample them. Very perfumey, and like I said, ladylike...not _old_ ladylike, but just...feminine and tasteful. But springy, too. It’s not too bad! I get into floral moods sometimes, and although I usually go for Evening Cicadas or Lulu when that happens, I could see myself reaching for this scent. Er. As long as I know I won't be near anyone who will sneeze on me.

From the imp...not sure what I’m smelling here. Sort of…sweet, spicy leather? Or musk? Interesting. Then on me, yeah, sorta like spicy coffee, which is weird because there’s no coffee in this. I would guess that’s tonka. I do smell some tobacco, but it’s not too bad yet. Or maybe the sweet aspect is coming from the rum, that’s also possible. And yes, there’s definitely leather in this. It seems like black leather, but well-worn black leather. This is pretty nice...it does have some kind of sweet, spicy _something_ in it, and I’m not sure where that’s coming from, but the leather balances it out and makes it sorta earthy and sexy rather than foody. It's not very strong, but then, maybe it's meant for smelling from...close-range, if you know what I mean.

The Lab gave me two frimps of this in my latest order...what are they trying to tell me? Am I Snow White? Anyway...this is indeed a beautiful red apple scent from the imp, but I detect a bit of other stuff lurking too, something powdery and floral. On me, some florals come out and provide a mysterious, smoky sort of background to the apple, although the apple is still center stage. And it’s such a delicious red apple scent, too! It’s making me really want an apple right now. It has a sort of grainy feel to it, like good apple and pear scents do, and a sharper, redder peel scent...perfect. Oh how I love BPAL’s apple note. I’m glad I got two frimps of this!

Smells okay in the imp...starts off as sandalwood and lemongrass, reminds me of going to a masseuse (they always seem to have massage oils with lemongrass for some reason). The woods and the patchouli in this scent kinda ground the lemongrass a little, make it smell less like Thai food, which is good. Unfortunately, I do smell a little rose, though, and rose is not good on me. It's not super-prominent, but I dislike rose so much that my mind will make me think it's taking over the scent, even though it’s not, and that's all I'll be able to smell. It's weird. On most people, it's likely that rose WOULDN'T be dominant, but I just have a complex about it. Not the perfume's fault, just me, psychologically. Namaste is a scent that's true to its concept, though, I will say that. It makes me think of relaxation, meditation, yoga...it WOULD be a good massage oil, or a good scent to wear while meditating. Has sort of a spiritual feel to it, or something, I dunno.

Juniper and bayberry, and something fruity. It’s kind of a cool scent, because of the juniper and pine, but also kind of a warm scent, sort of woodsy, like firewood. Some cinnamon appears later, maybe vanilla? Kinda like mulling spices. Unfortunately, I think I've identified a note out of this that's wrecking it and making it soapy: pine. Some kind of awful Pine-Sol thing takes over and makes the whole scent all antiseptic and bathroom-cleanery, reminding me of all the bad parts of Knecht Ruprecht. I like the cinnamon-spicy-pumpkin-pie bits of this, while they last, but the pine (and possibly the bayberry too) takes over and makes it bad on me.

Ooh...very dark scent, I can smell a lot of the notes straight from the bottle, except I also think I smell some kind of red fruit (currants or plums) and something like anise or ouzo...interesting. But yeah, the creamy vanilla, leather, and red musk show up right away. This is in the Madame Moriarty/Snake Charmer vein of sexy, dark scents. But then, after a minute on my skin...er, cola? Cola. Or root beer, possibly. That's what Smut did on me too...what is it about sweet scents and musk that make my skin chemistry decide, “hey, this should smell like BARQ’S!” Where is the delicious vanilla and pie that I smelled in the imp? Curses. However, this is a lovely scent if I ever want to smell like I just spilled soda all over myself. And honestly, after a couple hours it doesn't really scream SODA! anymore and is just more of a musky, sweet scent...but it does spend much of its wearlength as root beer on me. Sad!

Exactly what it says on the tin...yes, yes indeed, this is gingerbread. But it’s actually, to my nose, deep and spicy and not overly sweet, kinda like Saw-Scaled Viper without the Snake Oil. Wow. I feel like I just dumped the contents of my baking spice rack all over myself. It actually doesn’t smell particularly cakey at all, just potently spicy, with a little bit of sweetness. It's like you've mixed up the spices and brown sugar for the gingerbread, but haven't baked it yet, or something? I dunno. I love this, though! I don't know why I had never tried this before.

I hadn't tried a Lick It before, because I don't usually go seeking out mint, but I kinda like this. It is extremely minty, like clear-out-your-sinuses minty. But it has elements of sweet candyishness too...just a little, not overly sweet. Mostly mint. Reminds me of smelling the steam rising up off a cup of hot mint tea with just a little sugar. Like I said, I'm not a huge fan of mint on its own (and this is almost mint to the exclusion of anything else), but if you are, then you should definitely Lick It. (Wow. "Mint" doesn't even look like a word anymore.)

Whoa, very winey...SWEET wine, too! More of a honey-sweet than a fruity-sweet. Marzipan is also present in this scent, and it stays true and doesn’t turn to rose ew or play dough ew. Cinnamon, too! This is a scent that is what it says it is...the Yules have been pretty good at that so far! Reminds me a bit of Athens, but sweeter and almondier. (That’s a word. ) It’s an interesting combination, mulled wine and marzipan...very sweet and festive. Smells like a Christmas party. This one is a winner for me.