tziporra

Tried at Will-Call. It has the word Rose right in the name! This will never never work on me in a million years. Lab roses go immediately sharp and awful on me, and I amp them to Jupiter. But it is so amazing in the bottle that I have to try. Because secretly I want to smell like roses. Wet it is like an enormous bouquet of deep red roses, a week old, filling a room with their insistent scent. No sharpness. Things are hiding underneath the rose bouquet. Definitely magnolia, and then a very warm delicious musk. I huff my hand where I've tried it and instantly order a bottle, hoping that I can survive the drydown (please rose, behave!). Amazingly this just gets better and better on me. There is a point where the rose threatens sharp rosy awfulness, but the other notes seem to beat it into submission. This is the rose oil I have always dreamed of wearing. It's so luscious and rich and sexy and wildly feminine. It's perfumey in a traditional sense (I really like scents that have a commercial feel to them), but in a powerfully unique fashion. I am afraid that when this bottle arrives I will never want to wear anything else. I'm going to need a backup (probably two). I love this.

Tried at Will-Call. This is very much the scent of a clove cigarette on me. Verrrrrrry smoky. Although I'm usually a sucker for smoky scents, this one is just too dry and masculine. It would be deadly on the right man.

Tried at Will-Call. Oh dear. I thought from the notes list that this one would be amazing on me! Honey! Honey loves me! But this is just sweet yuck on me. Almost exactly the scent of Turkish Delight (which I dislike), actually. Not for me.

I am trying my very well aged Blot upon the Earth, because it appears I have not yet reviewed it. I tried this originally at a will call and walked off without ordering it because it did not impress me much at all wet. I remain unimpressed. Wet it smells like generic body wash with a little greenery (oakmoss?) in the background. Now we wait for the drydown (this may take awhile. You can listen to some music or smoke a hooka if you like). Hum dee dum. Oh! There it is! Smoky well blended oriental magic! This is so amazing, and so hard to describe because other than the "smoke" I can't really pick out any notes. I mean, I can kinda sense the plum sneaking it's delicious plummy self out from behind the smoke all seductive and come-hither, but other than that it is just darkly gorgeous. I used to have a very expensive incense that I loved that smelled exactly like Blot. I am definitely not an incense perfume lover, but I will make an exception here. I can't remember its name, but if I find a packet in my things somewhere I'll update this review. Anyway, I think this will definitely appeal to anyone who loves commercial oriental perfumes. My husband says it smells very mainstream, and while I think it's a little too incensey for most mainstream wearers, I agree. I love bpal oils in the heady perfume camp (though not necessarily florals) and this one fits the bill. It's a cloud of gorgeous scented smoke, and I can't get enough.

Yeah, I can't wear this, it has vanilla in it, and that goes all weird on me. But I'll try it anyway, because it smells like root beer in the bottle, and who doesn't want to smell like root beer? I smell exactly like root beer! The good kind, in a bottle, naturally fermented and not very sweet. I want to drink myself all up. Probably the only vanilla scent I can wear. I love leather, but I don't get much here. It's all wonderful sassafras, which is lovely. So much fun!

Wah. I love Hoggle. I loved this oil in the bottle with all it's pumpkin-ness and leather. I loved it when it was wet and smelled just like in the bottle. When it dried on my skin it was all woodsmoke, which I do not love, or even like No Hoggle for me.

I bought this bottle of 2012 on a whim at BedlamBedlam in Seattle. I can't get enough of leather notes, and this dried down to all leather and wood on me. I think I'll have to layer it with something a little sweeter to soften it up (honey? Chocolate maybe?) and also so that I don't have to tell people what it is I'm wearing if they ask

Black Temple Burlesque made me cry. The notes! They look great! In the bottle it's all yumminess and cocoa goodness! I put it on and at first I get Gelt, which is good because that is very nice on my skin, but not complicated enough to suit me. And then things go horribly wrong. I have never had the plastic experience until tonight. I didn't know what "plastic" meant. But now I do! What note is that? There are only three listed and the chocolate is usually fine! Very very bad.

Stopped in BedlamBedlam in Seattle to try any bpals they had hanging around and I came upon this. Honey and skin musk are both superstars on me, so I slapped it on. Right off the bat it was all Honey! which was great. Since then it has been getting woodier and woodier, but the honey musk notes are keeping it from being too dry on my skin like woods usually are. Now it is just warm dark woods. Very much like the inside of my old wood chest that has been storing my perfumed sweaters for the last ten years. I don't get much mischievousness, but that is probably because the pepper is in hiding somewhere. The something sinister I definitely feel. A real winner on me, I am so happy I picked up a bottle!

I can't wear most of the foods notes mentioned here, so I wear Kali for the chocolate/wine/roses effect.

You know how everyone has their BPAL type? Someone is crazy for the fruity-woody scents, another loves the foodies, and still another can't get enough of those dirty dirty blends. Floral resins are my passion, all the way. And this one is all win. I can repeat a lot of what's already been said: it's remarkably well blended. It also reminded ME of Opium, a comparison I thought was a little crazy when I made it. Relief that I'm not the only one. It's elegant and beautiful and grown-up and I want my sheets to smell like it whenever I crawl into bed. The white rose note does not go all CRAZY SOUR ROSE on me like so many other roses, which is a pleasant surprise. It's a real pleasure to be able to wear rose. Of the other notes, I can pick out the amber and the mint, but only if I'm looking for them. Mostly this is just all warm and comforting and beautiful with a bit of repressed passion thrown in for good measure. Although I love this, I'm too late for a back-up bottle (I just got my bottle last night after ordering months ago and failing to pick up my order. Bad Tzi!) -- and that's okay. I think I've come to terms with the ephemerality of these scents, and the knowledge that there will be another brilliant one right around the corner to replace this one. And there are some equally lovely floral resins in the GC (Sheol comes to mind....) in case of a dry spell. Thank you SO much for sharing your genius with me, oh Lab! Tzi

Tried this at a Meet n'Sniff (thank you Twilight!) and I loved it. So I ran back home and ordered it. When it came I couldn't remember what I loved. Wet, it was exactly Thierry Mugler's Angel on my skin - all vanilla and headache. Now, I bought Angel just like everyone else on the planet, which is why I avoid vanilla blends like the plague - I smelled myself coming and going, as it were. Dry, though, it's a different story. The notes are much more balanced, and I just adore the clove and leather and amber. But I'm still conflicted. I still get oodles of vanilla, and maybe it's still too much (how's that for a lot of "stills"?). Let me think about it some more. Best, Tzi

So I open my package yesterday and sniff sniff sniff all the bottles. Eh, this is definitely not what I'm trying first. From the bottle I can't remember why I bought it. I don't get around to it until this morning. When I first put it on there is a burst of glorious golden-ness. I can't detect the notes, and I don't want to check them, but it is very bright and yum. Dry-down is more of a battle. One minute it's all drugstore musk, the next is that same golden yum. Now I check the notes --- ahhhh.... coconut and amber are usually really good on me, so that's why I was compelled to buy this. Amber is the golden yum I'm getting, but I can't detect the coconut. White musk is usually safe, so I don't know why this is going all cheap-y yuk on me. I love the smell of tobacco flower when I'm actually sniffing a tobacco flower (at dusk, preferably), but I'm not getting a lot of that here. Just edged in floral, really. And Oakmoss is usually a home run on me too, but this just isn't quite doing it for me. It's because the musk is taking it all over. Still. It's THISCLOSE to being what I wanted it to be (and in the first 2 minutes it's wonderful). Maybe I'll go shake up the bottle and try again in a week. Best, Tzi

Ohhhhhhhhhhh maaaaaaaaaaaaannnn....... I know better than to buy any BPAL scent where the theme of the reviews is "light beautiful floral". Not that I don't like florals, but I'm more of a "bold overscented floral with wood/incense" and the light scents get lost on me. But I saw the HONEY in the notes here, and it's so good on me that I couldn't resist. Good thing too. This is amazing. It smells just like an Asian spa. Honey for massage, rice paper treatment rooms, and gardenias floating in the fountain. It captures the picture perfectly, and is destined for top wearing. So sweet, yet so naughty. Best, Tzi

In the bottle: Oh! Crumpet Rebellion! I can't wait to try this! On my skin: All Wrong. There is really no other way to put this. I love this in the bottle, all brown sugar and spice and everything nice. But I loathe it on me. I can't even really tell if it morphs or I just don't want to smell like food. Wah. I'm not sure if I love the scent in the bottle enough to try a couple of other things with it -- a warmer, maybe? Or maybe I'll just swap. Best, Tzi

Got this imp as a freebie from the lab. In the vial: Sweet and herbal. I have to try this one before anything else, but I'm not optimistic because herbal scents are generally too green on me. I haven't read any of the reviews, BTW. On: All sage for the first couple of minutes. Then.... smoke. Sweet sweet smoke. Is the engine a fire engine? A. MAY. ZING. Sweet and warm and smoky. Like wearing a sage smudging stick, but entwined with honey and incense. I MUST HAVE A 5ML OF THIS RIGHT NOW. Love. Tzi

Three Gorgons is why I love the forums (hey! I'm a poet!). I got a bottle of this in a swap. Didn't have anything particular that I wanted, and thoughts the notes looked like win for me (except the citrus, but more on that in a moment), so I took a chance. And OOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! To my nose this is one of those so-well-blended-bpals that I couldn't pick out any of the notes. I can tell straight off that it's an amber blend because of the overall "golden" feel.... but what's that round spicy sweetness (citrus and pepper, I'm thinking)? Or the smoky undertones (probably tobacco and vetiver)? Overall this is amazingly sweet without being the least bit foody (on me, I can't pick out the citrus at all unless I concentrate and really huff), with a wonderful spiciness to ground it. I love the BPALs that smell very "commercial" and this definitely qualifies. It's like an expensive sweet Paris blend, but without the expense. Love. Top Ten. Tzi

Ah, man.... I really thought this was going to work on me. Lotus! Yum! Cassia! Yum! Wisteria! Well, it sounds nice anyway. From the description I was thinking Ulalume, which I absolutely HEART. In the bottle: Green and spicy. Not bad. On my skin: Lemon pledge. No -- check that -- it's Murphy's Lemon Oil Soap for wood. Exactly. Dry: Same. What turns to lemon on my skin? Is it the bamboo? It smells like lemony rotting leaves. This is really really awful on me. I wanted to like it so much that I let it age for weeks and weeks and lo, it is still all lemony rotting leaves. Off to the swaps. Woe. Tzi

And... We have a winner! This is the first BPAL blend that eaked a compliment out of my husband, unrequested. It's also a huge morpher on me, so I'm not sure WHICH Ode on Melancholy he liked. Wet: Lots of lavender and wisteria 15 Minutes In: This smells like some commercial perfume I can't quite remember.... It's definitely a lovely light floral. I think this is the stage that my husband caught it in. 1 Hour In: Grrrrr...... Now it's all sandalwood and musk with just a hint of wisteria hanging out in the background. This is the stage I can't stop sniffing my wrist. And I'm lucky that this is the longest lasting stage as well. 8 Hours: Still a wafting hint of wisteria every once in awhile. Nice. I read a book by a beauty editor where extreme frustration was expressed over commercial perfumes and their extreme efforts to cater to the "light and fresh wet, sexy and warmer dry" focus group crowd and the uniformity of scents available on the market as a result (I should send her some bpal). I love this scent for exactly these focus group kind of reasons. I'd be more embarrassed about it, but I just tell myself that BPAL is so far beyond commercial perfume, that even if I do like something for plebian reasons, I am still superior to all those market research participants. By the way..... I amp rose to the moon, and it behaved VERY nicely here. I didn't even guess it was here until I read the notes. Best, Tzi ETA: It's a few years (5!) down the road now and I don't really buy GC scents anymore unless I am passionately in love, but I was just returning to the few I have bottles of and happened to try this one again. It's surprising to see the list of "bad" notes on me - rose and lavender are usually misery - and realize how very nicely this wears. Just goes to show that it is difficult to know what a scent will do on the skin until you slap it on there. It still isn't quite my style, I did order it purely based on my husband's compliment, but if I were _going_ to wear a light soapy floral daily, this would be the one. And sometimes smelling nice and pretty is just the thing.

Frimped from someone at the Seattle Meet n'Sniff. What wonderful forumites we have. I loooooooooooooooove Black Pearl. No coconut to my nose, which is odd since in other blends coconut has really amped on me. I'm not complaining, since the blend of iris and musk is HEAVENLY. And there is something deep and warm holding those sweet notes up -- must be the hazelnut and coconut support staff -- and keeping the fragrance from disappearing into my skin as is the usual wont of such lovely light floral musks. Yuuuuuuum. Bottle list for sure. Best, Tzi

Want to fourth or fifth Osun: it's sun-drenched springtime honey with the pollen-covered bees still crawling all over it. I want to shower in it and then spend the rest of the day licking my sticky body. I also love Kali. It's more complicated, and the honey is harder to pick out, but it's an incredible swirl of chocolate and cinnamon and wine and roses and honey. Best, Tzi

This was a frimp from the lab, and it took me forever to get around to trying it. I'm not sure why.... Wet: Single Note Honey? Dripping wet honey straight from the hive. Clean honey. Honey and I are great friends, so this is swoonworthy Dry: There is something fresh peeking out from behind all that glorious honey. Flowers or maybe those herbs of passion we've been hearing about. This reminds me a little of the Kama Sutra honey powder, but wetter and fresher. I am using a honey bar of soap from somewhere that will smell FANTASTIC layered with this. Great throw. Seems to be solidly sticking around. I MUST have a bottle of this, which will contribute to the somewhat nonsensical size that my "to buy" list is getting to. But it's completely different from anything else I already have, and I can just picture myself lounging around all summer, cuddling with the new baby, smelling delightfully of honey and herbs. Or maybe it will go into a massage oil I have laying around. Or maybe I need TWO bottles. Best, Tzi

Here's my tale of Debauchery..... I received this as a frimp the Lab -- Thank You Labbies!!!! As is my custom, I sat down at my BPAL spreadsheet and copied the notes from all my free imps into the "description" column. Civet? I'm afraid of civet!!!!!! But then the idea grows on me, especially after I try another frimp from the same order -- Bien Loin d'Ici -- and find a few seconds of red musk heaven before something else takes over and runs away with the scent. Maybe this red musk thing is worth a shot after all? AND I read a post which strongly compared Debauchery to Opium, a commercial scent I love. And I should at least try civet before making a decision, so I know if it's bad on me. Frankly, it can't be as bad as rose or vanilla on my skin, and those notes pop up in everything. Disaster strikes. I misplaced the Debauchery imp! Perhaps I will never find out if I like civet or not! Perhaps I will be forced to spend $3.50 on ANOTHER imp of Debauchery to try the scent? Luckily, after of two weeks of intense hunting (and moaning and loudly complaining, "Where's my imp? I lost my imp? Did you take it?") the imp is located and I am free to try the scent, finally! Guh. YUM. Oh YES PLEASE. Debauch me some more. This doesn't morph much on me -- it's pretty much straight spicy musk from start to finish, but such a lovely warm elegant musk, I just can't get enough! I smell like an old, extremely well-kept, very expensive mink coat. I love this. I must have more. I must order a big bottle yesterday. I see myself as the ultimate chic sophisticate while wearing this. The kind of woman who wears a little couture suit, and who makes you constantly wonder what exactly she's got on underneath. And how to put this delicately.... there is a suggestion occasionally given to a woman that she might consider wearing her own scent dabbed behind their ears for an evening where she particularly wants to seduce. Debauchery makes me feel like I've taken this suggestion to heart, then layered a lovely musk over the top so as not to be too obvious. Now for the tragic ending. My husband hates it. "Sickening sweet" he says. WAH!!!!!! Can I just wear it when he's not around? Doesn't that kind of destroy the point? Will it grow on him? Is there something with similar notes that will appeal to him? My heart is breaking...... Best, Tzi ETA (yes, it IS five years later): I tried this same imp again this week and it was full-on opium from start to finish. Did it not age well? Did I not recognize the note back in my wee perfume youth? Anyway, I do like opium, but not straight up, so I will be looking elsewhere for my civet!

Thanks to the lab for the frimp!!!! All rose on me, like most BPAL rose blends. BUT it's a very very nice rose. Warm and incensey and musky. If I wanted a rose blend, this would be at the top of my list. Best, Tzi

This is such a fresh soft feminine scent, which is not at all what I expected from the name. I'm getting mostly blossoms, which I assume is the apple blossom and orchids. In a lot of ways this reminds me of Ladon, but without Dragon's Blood. It's so pretty, but not a "me" scent. Very like something from Waverly's. Best, Tzi