paperdoll

Initial Sniff: This is different from any vanilla I've ever smelled. Deliciously spicy and sweet - very food-y. Wearing: Unfortunately, the sweetness of the vanilla really comes forward on my skin, which I don't really like. I smell like a sugar cookie. It also turns a bit powdery on me, which I also don't like. Drat!!! I wanted to like this one SO much! Final Impressions: This is the first BPAL I've gotten a comment from a stranger about - the woman at the McDonald's drive-thru asked if I had a baby powder air freshener or if I had spilled baby powder in my car. Ummm... no. It's Snake Oil. edited to add - I have been burning this in my living room all evening and my house smells DIVINE! I will probably buy a bigger bottle for this purpose alone!

Initial Sniff: A clean, white scent. Very fresh and crisp sweetened by the pear. Lovely. Wearing: This one had faded away to almost nothing within an hour. My skin obviously just gobbled it up! So I have nothing to say about the drydown as by the time it was dry, it was gone! Final Impressions: I just can't wear white scents, and this is no exception. I'm sure it would be beatiful on someone else though!

Initial Sniff: I was apprehensive as I don't wear rose particularly well, and this scent is ROSE. I like it very much in the bottle. Wearing: Oh my god! I finally found a rose I can wear! I wish I knew what it is about this that makes it so wearable on me! The roses are dry, not juicy, which makes an impact. Final Impressions: A beautiful scent. Unfortunately, it fades quickly.

Initial Sniff: A beautiful watery floral - color association is pale, wet, pink. Wearing: I love both carnation and sweet pea, so I was very excited about this one and it does not disappoint! It is lovely - softly spicy with a fresh green background and sweet undertones. It stays fairly true from bottle to skin - unfortunately it fades fairly quickly. Final Impressions: This is gorgeous! A beautiful light scent - I can see myself wearing this often during the summer.

Initial Sniff: This is a bright berry with interesting amber/musk undertones. It is very bright and happy in the bottle. Wearing: When first applied, this scent is chaotic to the point that it is distracting. It quickly calms down, though, and goes through that baby powder phase that I hate so much (I HAVE to figure out what it is that does that on my skin!). Dry it is sweet and slightly musky. Final Impressions: I'm still undecided about this one. I actually wore it twice before reviewing it because I didn't really know what to say. Maybe by the time the imp's ear is gone I'll know whether or not I like it! edited to add: I am a Potion lover, and this smelled completely different to me. On my skin, Carnivale is not at all spicy - in fact I wouldn't have known there was carnation in it at all if it wasn't in the description. Body chemistry's a crazy thing, eh!

Initial sniff: The plum/floral/musk combination is very pretty. If you do the color/scent association thing, this is a bright white scent. Wearing: The plum stays prominant throughout the day, with the floral and musk slowly fading away over many hours. As a result, it is a VERY sweet scent, especially after a few hours. Final Impressions: As pretty as this is, I just can't wear it. White scents just don't smell right on me.

Poor Beth! Try not to think about the tangle that awaits when you get back and ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR VACATION!!!!!

Initial Sniff: This is going to sound horrible, but all I can think of when I smell this is a high-power deoderizer we use at work called Cherry Bomb. I must have a strange nose because that is really all I smell at first! Wearing: We pass from the cherry bomb phase into the baby powder phase (double yurk!) into a final wearable scent which is complex, sweet, and spicy. Final Impressions: Oh, I so wanted to like this one! The description sounds absolutely divine, but this just doesn't work with my body chemistry. Although the drydown is nice, it is definitely not worth the two hours of olfactory misery I went through to get there.

Initial Sniff: The jasmine and honeysuckle are very strong - almost overpowering. There is something humid and sultry about this that keeps it from being an old lady floral. Wearing: This scent stays pretty true on my skin, mellowing only a little. After about 10 hours it is still there, but it has suddenly gone very sweet. Odd, that. Final Impressions: This is an lazy, sultry, sticky, Old South scent. It is veranda-sittin, mint julep-drinkin, biscuit-eatin, slow drawlin scent - but not the Margaret Mitchell version... this is Flannery O'Connor's South. So hang on to your wooden leg...

Initial Sniff: I did not like the scent of this in the bottle. It is a weird, corrupt strawberry in a crazy patchwork flower field. Very strange and twisted - and unpleasant. Wearing: A very chaotic scent when wet, it quickly dies down to a bright berry tempered by the florals. Even though it is much sweeter than scents I normally prefer, I ended up really liking it, and it lasted all day long. Final Impressions: This scent is fun and girly, with just a hint of twisted evil underneath. I may order a bigger bottle of this.

Initial Sniff: Delicious! My nose is not great, but I smell citrus, berry, spices, and sandalwood. Sweet and spicy. Wearing: I LOVE this. This scent is GOLDEN. That is the best word that I can think of to describe it. Elizabeth has done a great job of making this scent evoke the best Leo characteristics. It is confident, warm, powerful, giving, and showy. The drydown on me was not really sweet at all, the sandalwood (I think that's what it is!) really came to the forefront and made me smell like a rich (and benevolent) hippie. Final Impressions: I must have this scent available for my use at all times!!!! It is just that fantastic.

Initial Sniff: As everyone else has stated, the BPAL description is dead on. Dried roses and moss really evoke imagery of graveyards and dusty Victorian attics. Wearing: This did not change much at all on my skin, or when going from wet to dry. I feel like it really affected my demeanor - I had a very Serious, Unfunny Girl attitude all evening. Final Impressions: This is a beautiful scent that provokes powerful imagery. I don't know how much I will use it, but I will definitely keep it around just to sniff the bottle every once in a while if nothing else!

Initial Sniff: This is the most masculine rose I've ever smelled. A little spicy, but musky rose is what I smell when it is wet. Wearing: This is way too masculine on me when wet - like a posh cologne. However, after a couple of hours the drydown is very nice and significantly sweeter - like a posh girl's cologne! Final Impressions: This is nice, but I'm not sure it's me. I'll have to give it another try.

Initial Sniff: In the bottle, this is a very nice rose scent, spiced up by carnation. While I don't usually like rose scents very much, this one is intriguing. (I am all about some carnation, I tell you.) Wearing: When wet, the carnation and rose are really balanced - I don't smell the tea at all. As it drys down, the carnation fades away and I am left with rose. It is a single perfect white rose surrounded by scads of greenery. Final Impressions: I like this one - a nice change from what I ususally wear. Unfortunately, it fades quickly and I need to refresh every few hours.

Initial Sniff: This is gorgeous! Sweet and juicy with a touch of malice in the bottle. Wearing: This is the first BPAL I've tried that doesn't change significantly on my skin. The berries sweeten up the floral perfume smell, the end result being a thick, sweet, poison-like mixture. I feel LETHAL in this perfume. The only problem is that it fades too quickly. Final Impressions: A definite keeper. I'm so glad Elizabeth tossed this one in, as I don't think I would have ordered it myself!

Initial Sniff: I would agree with the description of "posh perfume" smell. A wet, juicy floral in the bottle. Wearing: Um, wow. This quickly goes into uber-baby powder mode on me, which I HATE. I go off to work intending to wash it off as soon as I get there. By the time I arrive, though, Unseelie has morphed again, into a gorgeous floral/green scent which I obsessively sniff for the next 10 hours. Final Impressions: I absolutely love the dry-down stage of this, and its staying power. I just don't know if I can stand the initial hour smelling like Secret Solid. I'll have to try this one again.

Initial Sniff: This is very strong in the bottle. The patchouli dominates and the orange blossom smells more like a bitter orange zest. Wearing: Like everyone else has said, this is totally different on the skin. Initially, all three notes were equally balanced (orange blossom, patchouli and ginger) but distinct. On my skin, they quickly meld into a sweet mix that is almost vanilla-like, but an orange/ginger vanilla. The patchouli fades into the background but is still there providing depth. Final Thoughts: This is a very sexy scent - like Lush's Karma got a pair of thigh-high stilletto-heeled boots, red lipstick, and a heroin habit. I might have to have more of this... Edited to add - Love Potion Effectiveness: Ok, I definitely need to have more of this! The boyfriend literally pounced upon me this evening, telling me how great I smelled, and, well, maybe TMI but I had a really great night!

*drools* Must have entire Mad Tea Party set..... Oh dear. I haven't even gotten my first order yet and I already have to pare down my second order to a manageable size :roll: