hipslike___cinderella

Pickled Imp is one instance where I'm sure I won't like the blend, but I give it a go anyways, and my suspicions were confirmed. Even at that, when I sniffed it I thought, "Ah! I might like this after all!". Adding pine sap to what could be a boring vanilla/cinnamon/clove blend is an excellent idea. It adds interest upon first whiff and cuts it down from being too super-creamy foody spicy. Alas, once on my skin, it's WOW-POW vanilla-cinnamon. Stereotypes be damned, I smell like winter spice potpourri. This does not morph past that, and it's strong. I was hoping for more crisp pine! I really do hate the thought of breaking my set, but I always knew Pickled Imp was the, ahem, "red-headed stepchild" of my Wunderkammer collection. No doubt I'll find it a happy new home!

Oh, Wunderkammer... such surprises you hold! I was quite looking forward to Faeu Boulnger, and while it was nothing like I expected (I totally did not let myself read any reviews) it still it's own brand of lovely. I was hoping for a murky, nearly rotting etheral mist with wet violets, but this is crisp and uplifting. The word "vegetative" keeps springing to mind. In fact, this smells like it could be a green Rappaccini's Garden blend. A touch of odd sweetness, thanks to the green mint. It goes through a phase on my skin, 10 minutes or so into wearing, that it's almost too much for me; too biting, or too fresh, or too sweet... something. I preserved on and it turns out this is better after quite some time (it's mildly strong, so it sticks). I don't particularly smell violets until the final fade-out. This reminds me of so many things, yet it's still unique... the mint and violets provide a similar bite-and-sweet like Moon of Ice, it's seasonal like Beltane, and nearly cucumber-y or melon-y like... well, I can't think of anything specifically. Finally, as some have said before me, this is really an ideal refreshing summer scent, and quite different from all the other dark Wunderkammer blends.

As a forewarning, I have a funny relationship with super-popular BPAL blends: being that I usually don't like them at all. I tried not to let this get to me, as I was determined to give Illustrated Woman a shot anyways. Well, oh. My god. Just smelling the vial, I knew everyone's praise must be true. This is OUTSTANDING. Thick, musky patchouli, vanilla, tobacco and honey, and resins with a but fat captial R; all cut across with crisp pine pitch. I've tried some BPAL pines here and there, and I don't know the actual difference between pine and pine pitch, but this is glorious. Not medicinal at all or even particularly "foresty". It took me quite some time to have the courage to test it, as it was so good in the bottle I didn't want an epic skin chemistry failure to depress me. Imagine my disappointment when upon trying this I got walloped in the head with vanilla. Eeek! The pine pitch vanished into the ether and the balls to this blend shriveled up entirely. leaving me with a timid honeyed vanilla. Sheesh. If for nothing but a clinging memoryof how great it was 10 minutes before, I hang out and see where this blend goes. So later... I now see what all the fuss is about. It's the tobacco! Hi, tobacco. The scent gains body again and while the pine pitch never returns, the patchouli swells a bit and the vanilla has chilled out. So; this is a morpher, a skin scent, sexy and should be agreeable for many types of people. A wee bit lighter than I hoped, and I wish I could be one of those who amped the pine pitch. Regardless, this is a masterpiece and sure to go down in BPAL history. Miss Shelldoo is a lucky lady!

Aah! Parthenope is so beautiful, better than I even expected, and a godsend for all jasmine lovers. It flourishes on me, which is relieving because of all jasmine, star jasmine can sometimes go sour and cause me headaches. The moss, oakmoss, and orris all meld to create a "feel", instead of separate notes. I don't find this as woodsy or aquatic, just a smooth, musky, slippery floral. Before BPAL I always swooned over honeysuckle and I've been searching for the perfect jasmine/honeysuckle blend, and this is perfect... just what I was looking for. I need a bottle. Strong throw, medium-strong wear. You must be smitten with jasmine to do this one.

I feel so sad reading reviews of Cytherea, as I was sure this would be one of the biggest winners of the Grindhouse. However, the underlying problem is that this is one of THE LIGHTEST BPAL's I have ever tested. I couldn't place barely any discernible scent in the imp, but enough to describe it as a pale sandalwood. On my skin, Cytherea hits its peak at 10 minutes, where the kush, champaca, and patchouli is most prominent. Then it vapors away. The extent of the wear is mostly white amber and vanilla... too much amber and vanilla for me and not enough woods. Ack! So disappointing. I've sniffed it 1,000 times, on different days, just in case my sinuses were blocked or anything else. No dice. I have one full decant but also a 1/4 decant coming to me; I think I'm putting the full one for swap and saving the bitty one as a clinging hope that aging might give Cytherea more depth.

I am so glad Bezoar is getting the praise it deserves! I sniffed every single Wunderkammer upon arrival, and in the bottle, this is the second-most exciting one (only second to Hand of Glory). Such a peculiar, inquisitive scent, and as alicia_stardust put it: "There is just something about this blend that is both creepy and yet comforting." Perfect. In the bottle, this does truly smell ANCIENT. Arcane balsams, unpolished wooden surfaces and dried hay. It appears "fresher" in the bottle, because on my skin, WHOAH this is DRY. As someone else noted before, this is the hay I sorely wanted in Scarecrow. The cardamom that popped in the bottle is a tad bit smoother on skin, but still giving this a slightly unsettling feel. This is not strictly a cozy wooden scent. In fact, I wore it all night without a glance at the notes, and to me this is much more of a spicy resin-and-hay blend than a "woodsy" blend. That's about as far as I can go. This is truly unique, like no other BPAL, and a masterpiece. I'm thinking one mere bottle might not be enough for me.

Mmmm. Mmmm mmmm-mm-mmm. Clemence. I knew I'd love it before my decant arrived, the very first whiff scent me spiraling into squees, and wearing it all day long has been a true pleasure. I still have not tried the Salon Spider blend (why? I don't know), but this IS THE ULTIMATE patchouli-clove blend. What I've always hoped for. On top of that, you are treated to a warm cup of spiced black tea in the process, and handed a bouquet of carnations as well. This is deep, woody, sensual, spicy, I think even unisex. It's strong and enveloping. It makes me feel powerful and beautiful. One of those few BPALs that had me talking about my own scent all day to my co-workers, shoving my arms under people's noses, and discreetly whiffing my own pulse points from time to time. Yes. I will be needing many multiple bottles of this gorgeousity. In fact, this is the first Grindhouse gal I've tried, and quite frankly it's going to be damn hard to top Clemence. As a side note, after my evening shower it struck me right away that this is pretty similar to Villainess's "Embargo", for reference.

First of all, it must be said that Screaming Mandragora earns the Cutest Imp award. Second of all, I feel honored because not only is the ENTIRE Wunderkammer set a total win, but so is this little prize! And thirdly, all previous posters did a perfect job describing this. I think I wanted to giggle the first time I sniffed this because it really made me instantly think "evil pencil shavings". It's so much like the Rappaccini's Garden mandrake bend, but with a tartness. Before testing this, it reminded me of the sinister grapefruit note in R'lyeh. Tested, I threw away the grapefruit idea and couldn't get away from thinking "apple". Someone mentioned that this was undeniably red fruit, and I agree. It's very familiar too, and with my nose stuck to my wrist I think, "does this have patchouli or cedar?" but I just don't know. It's really the lab's Mandrake with high-pitched fruit, which mellows onto your skin as a woodsy, earthy mandrake and ground fruit. It's bizarre and lovely... I might end up stalking the forum to see if I can collect some more of these screamers!

Deciding to buy a 13 blend is a gamble for me. Cocoa/chocolate as a note is great 50% of the time, and awful the other half of the time. My only other 13, the April '07 version, ended up being wonderful due to the catnip and clove notes. Having said this, I first excitedly sniffed 13 without any notes in front of me, and my initial reaction was an unfortunate, "HRRRGHL! Spicy buttered nutty chocolate!". Not good, but not discouraging either, as I felt this would be a test-it-to-believe-it blend. So, on my skin, I was taken back to being a kid and taking trips to the Red Barn Farm in Weston, MO... chocolates and candies in the sweets shop, cookery spices covering the shelves, tea and honey ready to go, and the faint scent of apples wafting outside. Sounds lovely, yes? It is, but woe is me, not what I want my perfume to smell like. I was hoping this to be flowery chocolate with resins and sandalwood, a touch of spice. This, on me, is a chocolate canvas, lots of nutmeg and allspice, tonka, and apple. Actually, apple blossom, as it's not fair to simplify it to straight "apple", because it's not. But the frankincense and sandalwood is not there for me, neither is the honeysuckle. My verdict: foody. Sad! Off to swaps.

I'm going to have to concur with everyone about the sweetness in The Grindhouse. Red musk is most definately the star, with florals playing underneath. I tested this without the note list in front of me, and I couldn't really tell you what florals I was smelling in particular. Once I saw "clove", it made sense: there's just barely a hint of some spice underneath. While this is nice, I don't think I'll keep it around. This is a sweet, sexy, but playful red musk for those who don't like the heavy "headshop" red musk. I also urge those who might stay away because of the rose to give this a try; it's not rose-dominated at all. Just sweet, musky and floral. Medium throw, medium wear.

Ever think sometimes you amp your least favorite notes? Poor Torture Queen, this is too much vanilla for me. It's very light in the imp, and very much in the same family as other BPAL "metals" (Mechanical Phoenix, Steamworks). I recognize the vanilla musk from the Salon (I forget, I think it's from Lucretia), and I get a hint of ambergris, and chrome. In fact, this smells sophisticated, like a Salon blend. Once tested, this is smooth and cozy, warm. Foremost amber and vanilla musk; any sharpness the chrome had in the imp has melded seamlessly with the musk/amber. It's pretty. This has light throw, and light wear. It stayed true and the last remnants are a sweet, amber gardenia. Unfortunately, vanilla is not really my thing and this was much more sweet floral musks than that chrome shock I wanted. Swaps!

As some reveiwers here, I am a real lover of BPAL's lilies. Voodoo Lily, Cobra Lily, Hairy Toad Lily... Mmmm! Black Lily is the last of the Rappacinni's Garden lilies for me to try, and I'm disappointed. Given the description, I'm surprised to believe this is a deeper Tiger Lily. Creamy, dark vanilla and amber with just a hiiiiiint of lily. I was hoping for something bold, perhaps smoky, perhaps sharp. This is creamy and mild, and reminds me GREATLY of a department store perfume my mother once had. Aaaw. I much perfer the soapiness of Queen of Hearts or sweet sour of Hairy Toad Lily. Can't win 'em all!

Voodoo is a case of giving a scent another chance and loving it the second time around. I tested this on a small patch of my hand sometime last fall and didn't like it because the initial pine/almond smack in the beginning turned me off. I gave it away. Well, I was frimped with it today, and decided to throw caution to the wind and slather it on my pulse points before going out for a few hours tonight. Within 20 minutes I was huffing my arm and I told my boyfriend, "I smell frightening, like a dark Occult shop... and I LIKE it". The almond had evaporated and I was left with (what I THOUGHT, because I didn't have the notes at my disposal) a black-musk type of powder resin scent, with patchouli looming (I realized later it was the myrrh). For a long time it withstood as a beautiful dark scent, and the last traces, a few hours later, was distinctly vetiver and patchouli. In fact, that vetiver/patchouli combo that is described as "B.O.". But you know, I like it. I would have never guessed there was lime and vanilla in here; I guess it was only nuanced on my skin. I might need a bottle of this. So glad I tried it again!

I've witnessed some "cologne-y" BPAL's here and there... but THIS... this takes the CROWN. That being said, it is the pitch-perfect epitome of gentlemanly scent. It's drool-worthy. And hard to explain, too- the African balsam reminds me of African woods in Oblivion (the oil is the same bizarre greenish color, even), but with a jolt of metallic note. I'm not sure how the tobacco flower lends to this blend, as I don't detect any stereotypical tobacco. Just delicous, manly musk, balsam, and "cologne". Over my 16 months of BPAL wonder, my SO has purchased two blends for himself: Tezcatlipoca and Dracul, and I gave him all my Luperci when I realized how much better it is on him. ...I am BEGGING him to buy himself some Galvanic Goggles. STAT.

The Reaper and the Flowers makes me so happy. There are some wily floral notes that end up bad on many people, but work so well on me. There's something about the combination of lily, white rose, and chrysanthemum that cries "summer!" to me. Someone compared this to a florist shop, and I'd have to agree. It's a true, strong floral blend that has just the tiniest, tiniest hint of grass that sort of reminds me of The Caterpillar, minus incense. I want a 5ml of this.