Teamama

Love it! I didn't think I would need Reapers, because I already heve Volcano in Springtime for sandalwood and vanilla. Wrong! Reapers is related to VinS, but the musk takes it in a different direction. Less sweet, more intimate. Not sexual/sexy, more like the intimacy of how the skin scent of your kid, or your partner makes you feel. Bottle required, may need a backup. Edited to add: The musk keeps getting better and better. I ordered a second bottle. Edited again to add: Reapers is getting STRONGER with age. A little dab'll do ya.

Wet, it reminds me a lot of Bilquis for some reason. At first, there is a tension between the sweet candy-like fruits, and the dry textile/wool note. I don't think cardamom pods are involved, but something in it reminds me of that sour/bitter/spicy combination. As Texare dries it resolved to a soft musk with fruit to brighten it. Nice.

Simple and sweet. The amber in this is warm and resin-y, I can practically smell the color. The lavender starts out bold on me, but softens a lot during dry down. At 2 hours, it's adorable. Win!

I regret not getting a bottle of Apple III when I got my decant last year. I hesitated, the opportunity slipped away, and now I'm left with a partial decant that has aged into something really nice. The tobacco & vanilla champaca are blended into a warm base for the apple. The apple is a little tarter than the apple in Samhain, but still sweet. Apple starts in front, but slowly fades to be about equal to the tobacco & vanilla champaca. The honey, lavender & patch are very subtle; I can't pick them out. Edited to add: I got a bottle! Yay forum! Edited again to add: I can't be 100% sure, but it may have gotten even better. The tobacco is so rich!

Rich, drowsy flowers. Lavender is on top, but there are sweeter, less aggressive flowers in this blend as well. I love it, and it reminds me of the feeling of being drowsy on a warm summer afternoon. I used up 2 imps, and then bought a bottle.

TKO & Somnus both smell great, but Baku is the "nightmarebane." It's got lavender, and some other sharp herbal smells going on. It's not dirty, but it smells more purposeful than pretty. I sure hope she gets relief soon! None of my peeps have night terrors, so I don't have any useful insights on bad nightmares. All my experiences with vivid, gorey dreams were due to pregnancy. Does your friend know what's making her dreams so intense and frightening? Is this a response she's had before to high stress? If it's something new, please encourage her to check in with to her health care team about it.

A very clean, subtly sweet, salty incense. It's like a summoning spell in the women's locker room. It's related to Morocco, but without the spice & musk. I kind of like it, but am a little put off by the "clean" part. Maybe a little aquatic?

In the imp, a complex floral and seawater scent, with a hint of green fir. Really nice! And on me, about 30 seconds to enjoy the blend, and then my skin turns Egle into Irish Spring deodorant soap. Aquatics, I love you, but you do not love me.

Revisited my decant after several months. I almost loved Chinoiserie then, but it was a little harsh on me. I'm now ready to name what's not working on my skin: the patchouli leaves are just too bold for me. The rose, myrrh, and wine are gorgeous (I can't identity indigo's scent,) and the patchouli leaves are of the gnarly persuasion. I think I may amp "gnarly," because many patchouli blends wirk well on me. Too bad for me, because I like how the rest of thenotes play together.

1) Hugs & prayers for you & your health care team & family for the best possible healing outcomes, compassion & insight. 2) Scent lockets or pendants can be really great. I got one made of some alloy that was disappointing, because it smelled metallic. 925 silver has been better. (You can cut up old felted wool sweaters to carry the perfume oil, they work really well.) 3) As a scent to sustain & de-stress, I love & recommend Wolf's Heart (BPAL GC.) It's comforting and subtle. Keep us posted!

2008 version, from a forum purchase. So spicy and rich! Agave & copal are subdued, and the rose plays a supporting part. The woods, tobacco & spices are the headliners, for sure. The cigar tobacco is not very sweet (less so than the tobacco in Ant. Mech. or St. Clare.) I can't identify particular woods, just a wood resin feeling. Overall, I like it, but probably won't wear it very frequently. Powerful!

St. Clare is a revelation to me. I'm totally smitten. The tobacco and rum are very strong when wet. As it dries, the woods, tonka and vanilla emerge, with a little incense, and it becomes a glowing golden sphere of pure Unicorn pleasure. 8/1/21 update: the rum note has mellowed quite a bit. The golden oudh & tobacco are the central notes, with wood, tonka, vanilla, & incense playing backup. One of my fave LE's.

Sugared fruity rainbow. The "Sugared" is a lot like the sugar in Hope & Faith. I don't get fizz, but I get the similarity to 7Up & FruitStripe gum. Light, fun, sweet.

Blind bottle, no regrets! I was hoping for a close relative to Love 2013 http://www.bpal.org/topic/80430-love/. Allegory of Chastity does not disappoint! On application, the throw is STRONG. The bergamot's bitterness is noticeable in all the creamy, floral, vanilla sweetness. Teapapa asked if there was vetiver in it (!) That phase dies down pretty rapidly. Once dry, I have an impression of rosiness, and of jasminniness (we need a word for this in English,) and tartness from hips and bergamot, but they're subordinate to the vanilla cream, like flavorings. The vanilla cream is impressionistic; a strong sweetness that reminds me of the smell of vanilla fondant. After about an hour, A of C has medium-low throw, and moderate wear length. The rose hip & bergamot are a little more noticeable at this point. I love it, and bought a backup bottle.

Warning: this review is not going to be helpful to anyone, due to the reviewer's clove-amping problem. Malice smells fantastic & complex in the imp. I like the way myrrh and patchouli wrestle with ylang-ylang. The clove is subtle, and warms the other notes. And, the moment Malice touched my skin, the ylang-ylang, patchouli and myrrh folded their tents and stole away, leaving me with nothing but clove and a hint of nail polish remover.

Taurus was a blind bottle must-have, containing the holy Trinity of rose, jasmine, and sandalwood. In the bottle: Bitter rose. Wet: Rose & jasmine are in front. The proportion of each is just right, for me, balanced so that neither one dominates. The sandalwood, pepper & patchouli add a spicy, slightly bitter layer to the blend. Dry: The sweet florals have stepped back, and the wood & spice are to the front. The sandalwood and rose are combining in that smooth, sexy way that I love. Starstruck Taurus is somewhat similar to Dawn: Priestess. My kind of fragrance, for sure! Very glad I got my bottle.

Australian Sandalwood single note is a dream come true. And I'm liking Paramatman. The orange blossom is pretty strong at first, but the sandalwood lass and lasts.

Mmmmm! Enticing is right. French Love has a lot in common with Dragon's Milk, but it's more complex and less candy-like on me. In the bottle: Pink amber color. I can smell vanilla, dragon's blood, cinnamon, and lilac. Wet: Sweet! I can smell all the above notes, plus a light musk. The cinnamon comes out a little more, and the floral backs off. It's a little powdery, in a sexy way. Dry: Sexy. Light, close to the skin, and totally fantastic. Respectfully snipping Ina Garten Davita's review because it captures a lot of what's working for me: Note about aging: My first encounter with FL was an aged imp via a forum purchase. It rocked my little cotton socks, so I bought a bottle from the Lab, and it wasn't the same AT ALL. I looked for "French Love" in the Aging BPAL thread, and found this. Hooray! I searched, and found someone on the forum with an aged bottle for sale, and sure enough, it's the same magic that was in my aged imp! So, if you test an imp of FL and are totally underwhelmed, age it--this scent becomes bewitching with a little aging .

This is the BPAL blend that changes the most on me, day to day, that I have encountered so far. Depending on what my skin chemistry is up to,the orange blossom can smell almost ammoniac for a couple of minutes, when fist applied. Paramatman was a gamble, because the orange blossom in Ravenous burned my cheap flimsy skin something fierce. The orange blossom in Paramatman, fortunately, does not burn. In the bottle--sandalwood & STRONG orange blossom, like orange blossom water used for cooking. Wet, the orange blossom dominates for a couple of minutes. The balance then shifts slightly in favor of delicious sandalwood. After drying, a wee little bit of Nag Champa emerges as the orange blossom retreats. Subtle, and full of my BFF Sandalwood. I like this a lot (some days more than others.) I'm glad I got a bottle.

Bottle purchased from a forumite. Wow, this is EXCELLENT! I was worried about the possibility of the bergamot & mandarin notes burning my cheap skin. Fortunately, the patch test resulted in no burns, just a magnetic and joyful scent. The jasmine is my favorite fresh summery BPAL jasmine, and is the easiest note to distinguish. The musk, mandarin, bergamot, rose, carnation & lily of the valley are exquisitely blended together, it's hard to pick them out individually without huffing. LOVE Moscow, very glad I bought a bottle. Edited to add: When wearing Moscow in a scent locket, only use a wee bit. All-day strong!

Sassafras, sweet vanilla, some herbs. Very nice, soft, reminds me a little bit of Love's Philosophy.

Yummy to the Nth degree. The honey note is similar to the one in O. Orange blossom is bright, but not as citrus-y as some BPAL orange blossoms. The Rose is bright, too, reminding me of the fresh Rose note in Cherokee Rose single-note (not a stately red rose type.) The sandalwood is subtle, and stays in the background. The whole is a very sweet, honeyed floral. My kind of scent .

Forum purchase. Oh, yum! SB is fantastic. The coconut & amber are a sweet dream team, (mostly) taming the patchouli's animalic properties. The copal is pretty subtle, but it's definitely there. I'm starting to think I have an olfactory "blind spot" for the Lab's cardamom pod note, because I can't find it, and SB isn't the first blend with cardamon pod that I've missed it in. During the wet stage, the patch is little bit raunchier than I like, but it smooths out a lot on dry-down. I'm looking forward to testing it on Teapapa :-).

If you amp clove, you might try Maiden. The carnation note in Maiden becomes clove on me, and takes over the blend. YMMV, because amping clove is my BPAL superpower.

Green, slightly salty aquatic. Complex and nice smelling in the imp. Once it touched my skin, it turned to a generic sort of "men's cologne" smell, which is about the best I can hope for with aquatics.