Nepthys

I second the silk black nightie association. This is a very feminine, mysterious perfume, something a sea goddess would wear. On me it is black-violet and irridescent, with the iris dominating and the cocoanut faint in the background. It's not an aquatic scent to me as much as the way you might smell on a beach at night, a mixture of the leftover suntan lotion on your skin, the tropical drink in your hand, and the night breezes from the sea. Utterly gorgeous.

I admit that I got this for the name and barely looked at the ingredients. All the same, when I did look at them they sounded very enticing and I was thrilled to discover that Dracul is actually a very seductive perfume. This is dark and sweet and faintly sinister, with the tobacco and orange blossom blending perfectly. Wet it was almost pure tobacco, and then it dried down a little sweeter and blacker and stayed that way. What was also nice about Dracul was its consistent staying power - just a dab took me through the night, never overpowering, never fading. This is one of my immediate loves, an automatic big bottle.

After hearing about the magic of Samhain ever since I got here, I was afraid the real thing couldn't possibly live up to the hype. And when I first opened the bottle I was so sad - it smelled quite close to Jack, which absolutely didn't work on me. Then I put it on. That plastic-pumpkin smell came right through, muted by a smokiness. Then - thank god - that vanished within ten minutes and what came through was a smoky smell of apples; it smelled like a warm fall evening, like those September nights when the earth is still warm enough to really itensify the smell of pine needles and fallen apples... It was a very cozy scent, and then it turned suddenly spooky and almost sinister with a crisp dry scent of dead leaves. Then that went into a burning-leaf smell (which I love) and now after about 3 hours, it's all one cozy autumn-night blend. All in all, I adore this - but it is quite subtle, and if I hadn't monitored it with constant sniffing, I think I would have missed the above changes. This may be one I have to apply a lot of. ETA: I've realized that I don't love this quite as much as I originally thought. I have to sniff it closely to get all of complexities, and if I don't, the overall aura of it is a simpler dark buttery pumpkin that just isn't as nice.

I've never been to a true DDLM festival, but this arrived when a Mexican lady was in my office and she about swooned at how dead-on it was. In the bottle it smelled quite similar to Samhain. Wet, it was a completely different oil. On me this is a dry smoky-floral - like placing flowers in a cemetery on a chilly day while nearby someone is burning dead leaves. (note - I am not a florals girl but this is an understated, reserved floral.) There's very little chocolate/candy/food in this for me, just a faint and very dry sweetness. To me this is the bittersweet scent of remembering the dead - beautiful as a fragrance, stunningly accurate as an evocation. ETA: I am absolutely in love with this. It's just... incredible. It turns out that like Kali, this manifests differently on me from day to day - some days do have that candy-sweetness overlaid with the dry leaf and cold earth smell, and other days it's the smoky-floral I described above. I get TONS of compliments on this, and I am kicking myself for only ordering 1 bottle. I am already plowing through it way too fast. One thing I have noticed is that this is stronger than I gave it credit for - I apparently left a scent trail in a hall at work, which I try not to do, and it really lingered.

I've been holding off reviewing this because I can't tell the notes. To me this is a sharp, commanding floral with a bit of woodiness, and something with a bite - I've seen pepper and anise mentioned on here, but I can't tell what it is. What is certain is that this packs a punch! Very aptly named - this is a regal, imperious scent designed for someone who's more used to giving orders than following them. I've used my imp twice in rites and what I noticed it did, beyond just making me confident, was that it completely cut away all the dithering BS in my mind and pushed me in the right direction, no questions asked. And to my surprise, it smelled pretty decent on me as well - better than I'd have predicted in the bottle.

Like everyone else, I was really hoping to wear Samhain last night and Dia de los Muertos today - but - well, since that wasn't possible, I wore Hecate last night (and it was perfect for my Samhain ritual) and today I'm wearing Perversion.

Another surprise. I never would have thought I could wear this but it's delicious - a very ripe cherry-red scent that gives me the same blooming cherry trees in spring image others have gotten. Luckily no one note dominates on me and it stays as that initial fresh sweetness until it fades after a few hours. This is an odd mix of sultry womanhood and innocent girliness but it really works.

In the bottle this is mostly lavender to my nose; applied it is all sweet syrupy cinnamon, with my skin sucking the lavender into extinction. I'll definitely use up my imp, starting with wearing this to the casino next week so we'll see how it affects my gambling luck and agility.

I've been dying to try Calliope, so I was thrilled to find this in my last shipment as an extra from the Lab. In what is becoming a pattern, I ended up liking it more than what I did order (Mercury.) Calliope is pure lemon on me, graced faintly with thyme and bergamot; I get none of the lavender. Truth be told, it does smell a bit like Lemon Pledge furniture polish, but with the yucky chemical note extracted and a deep green mystery injected into it. No complaints on this end, I love it. I don't feel especially eloquent wearing it but I do feel very alert and quick-minded.

I loved this from first sniff. It was heady, sweet and leathery in the bottle. Applied, all I got at first was sweet red wine and dragon's blood; then it mellowed and expanded into deep wood/leather notes. It last like that about two hours before quieting to a faint whisper of wine/green. All told, this is a beautiful scent and very fittingly named. Edited to say that this is a very complex, protean scent. Much like Kali, different notes come through on me on different days and I can never really predict how this will develop: sometimes it's a sweet wine scent, other times it's very woody and dry, sometimes it's a mix of flowery green herbs and leather. But every time it is a very subtle, graceful blend. This is becoming one of my all-time favorites.

Add me to the Burned Plastic group. (I assume I have Jack II since I just received it.) This smells gorgeous in the bottle - I swooned when I first sniffed it and immediately thought, "No matter what, this is going to work on me." Sadly, no. Something synthetic and unpleasant came from my skin where I applied it and I was just beginning to get a headache when I stepped in the shower and washed it off. I don't think I'm even going to try to layer this with anything because it does smell so good on its own that I don't want to risk wasting it. I'll just use it as a house scent.

Oh, this is pretty. This ranks right at the top of my BPAL favorites. At first whiff, it is very light and feminine - to me, a cherry-almond-vanilla smell. But applied it behaves unlike any other BPAL oil I've tried. At first it disappeared entirely. Then after a few minutes, the dragon's blood emerged and that was mostly all I could smell. After about 20 minutes, the vanilla emerged and it seemed to settle into that same sweet milky scent I'd first sniffed. Much to my surprise, this lasted a really long time on me - all night long and at the perfect palpable-but-not-overwhelming level. This is pretty much what I hoped Dana O'Shee would be (which I like but doesn't show up on me.)

At first this smelled identical to Chimera on me - a heavy syrupy-sweet cinnamon that made me drowsy. Luckily it dried down to allow the clove to surface and then it smelled a little darker and sharper. But on the whole this reminds me of a cinnamon donut dipped in hot cider; a delicious autumn smell.

Red Devil has that effect on me - when I put it on, I transform into this uber-efficient fireball who wants only to clean my entire house and then work out for two hours. No idea why.

Scent-wise, I'm not wild about this one but I don't dislike it either. It smells better in the bottle, minty and floral, than it does on me - something sharp and offputting comes out on my skin. However, I didn't get it for the scent, I got it for the name (I adore my two black kitties and I burn black cat candles to banish obstacles) and what it's purported to do. I tried it this past week and without going into detail, it worked well. And fast. I am really impressed with the efficacy of BPAL's Voodoo oils and this is easily one of my top 3, the other two being Blockbuster and Horn of Plenty. I never thought I would buy a 5 ml bottle just for candle dressing and not personal wear, but I think I will have to with this.

This as a scent totally did not work for me. I can't really tell what's in this or what is mixing so badly with my chemistry but... yikes! In terms of intent, I used this (both on me and as a candle dressing) during a generic Friday night love ritual and the energy raised was powerful. But it was more of a bitch-goddess energy than a romantic one. I'm sure that could have its uses but I will be very careful how I use this one.

I love the scent of this - warm, masculine and smoky-golden. It's kind of like the big daddy tycoon of oils, connoting security and wealth. Elementally it's very much an earth-fire blend to me, which is appropriate given the intent. I used this in a general abundance ritual. Much to my surprise, I woke up in the middle of the night with two very specific ideas to make money and another idea to save money. That is so not like me, so I will definitely be experimenting with this in the future. This may wind up being a big bottle for me.

I never thought anything with cranberry in it would smell good on me, so I was hoping the other notes would trump it. I was wrong; this is a pure floral-cranberry on me and it is gorgeous. I don't get any of the musk, ginger or spices but they must be doing their work behind the scenes because this is just so fresh and pretty. It's sophisticated and light at the same time. Definitely something to wear on a fall night.

I read through this whole thread, but I couldn't find a Lush/BPAL equation for Silky Underwear Powder. Does anyone know of one?

Yummalicious. I can't attest to the efficacy of this oil yet - I just used it last night for the first time during a money rite - but it smells divine. No clue what the notes are. On me it's a very rich sweet golden scent and really does connote luxury and success. I had planned to just use this ritually but it smells so awesome that I will definitely order a 5 ml just to wear around and keep my prosperity vibes up.

I've gotten excellent reactions to O, but the one that seems to affect men who normally don't, um, react to me that way would be Sin. I love Sin, but I'd never think of it as a man-magnet. Yet it's happened a few times now. Women seem to really like Haunted and Kali.

This is the girliest BPAL I've tried yet. It is minty-pink, reminds me of Barbie's convertible, sheer pink nightgowns, Jayne Mansfield. It's like the "innocent" perfume you bought for your middle-school niece and then realize you want to wear yourself. I normally could never pull off something so rose-girly and in fact I know I have tried out similar scents in witch/new age shops without success, but this actually works on me. I don't think it will ever be one of my favorites just to wear, but because the scent is so highly evocative of Venus herself to me, I will probably save it for ritual use.

I can't pick out either the dragon's blood or the amber - they're blended together too smoothly. Instead it smells just like one warm, autumnal golden note, sweetened by something floral (?) that so far has lasted on me for hours. I love both amber and dragon's blood individually so it's not a surprise that this totally works for me. This is very pretty and very new to me - I haven't found anything similar yet in BPAL.

Mmmmn. I'm afraid my nose just isn't educated enough to pick out the notes in this - I can pick up the pine that other people have mentioned but it's a very sweet pine, not a sharp or acrid one. It smells not exactly like a Christmas tree on me but rather a delicious Christmas potpourri or candle. Something is sweetening it but I can't tell what. Regardless, this is a very cheerful, pretty scent and a total mood-lifter. It reminds me of days at home baking and wrapping presents and burning candles, the kind of days I love to have around Christmas but never seem to have enough time for. On me it retains the same scent as in the bottle and lasts a decent amount of time, getting just a bit pinier after an hour with a bit of citrus(?) poking through. I think I will probably have to get a big bottle of this, once it comes out, because it is just so perfectly evocative of how I want to feel in November and December.

I loved this from first sniff. At first I detected cinnamon but then it quickly turned more to a spicy orange almond. After about an hour the rose came through. I have a terrible time with rose scents but somehow with BPAL I can tolerate them and here I actually outright liked it. This is just the perfect blend, the spice-almond counteracting the sweetness of the rose, and it all comes together for a very exotic, sultry scent.