LizziesLuck

Unfailing golden arrows dipped in lust: shimmering amber and copal with red musk, red patchouli, beeswax, hay sugar, and a drop of Turkish rose. I used this in the shower today! As usual, Villainess delivers an amazing sugar scrub, but this was my first time using one scented by the Post. I have an imp of Lust, and while I do like it, it dries down to pretty much patchouli single note on me. I did find Lust scrub to be heavy on the patchouli as well, but the red musk comes through nicely also, making this really sexy. The amber sweetens it up, but for the most part I could not detect the other notes, this is all about the patch and red musk. I really like it and am kind of wishing I had ordered two.... really hoping the Post will continue to collaborate with Villainess, it`s kind of a dream come true for me to have my favourite scrubs scented with BPAL (my favourite scents!). For those who have never used a Smooch before, I think they are one of the most amazing sugar scrubs I have ever tried. Perfectly scrubby without scratching my skin, full of moisture without being greasy or clogging pores. They have literally saved my skin, and I am never without 3 or 4 different ones in my shower. ETA: It turns out the listed notes are different from that of BPAL's Lust perfume. I didn't notice because I only ever got the patchouli and hints of red musk out of Lust, and since the scrub is all red musk and patchouli on me, I just assumed they were the exact same scent, but they are not. They do share the red musk and patchouli in common, but the rest of the notes are different.

Looks like I'm the first to review 2016! I had the opportunity to test the original at a meet n' sniff and was so intrigued by it. I normally avoid metal and ozone notes, but this was really something else, so I had to get at least a decant of 2016. Wet: For a moment this smells like a generic department store cologne. Then it smells like hairspray. THEN it starts to warm and bloom on my skin, and the magic happens. The sweet florals come out, and an aquatic ozone note that I actually enjoy. You can literally almost smell the electricity crackling in the air, it's uncanny. Beth is a bloody genius. Dry: It smells like wet tropical blooms during an intense electrical storm. If you close your eyes and sniff, you can almost feel the wind whipping around you, the rain pounding down, the nervous excitement of waiting for the next lightning strike and following crack of thunder. Astoundingly evocative. The only aquatic OR metallic scent I have ever really liked. Extremely work appropriate, but still unique. I may have to hunt down more.

The Wild Men of Jezirat Al Tennyn 2016 (haven't tried the original and 2016 has the addition of ambrette seed) is the loveliest clove scent I have tried thus far. I don't love clove, but I like it. I do tend to amp it. The Wild Men is lovely sweet amber and clove, with complexity provided by the other notes even though I can't really pick them out. I am planning to get my hands on a bottle. It may actually be one of my favourite amber scents as well!

I have never tried the original. The addition of the cardamom husk though was what tipped in the balance for me to get a decant of this It really could go either way on me, but I am very excited to try it. The cocoa has completely separated in my imp. The imp was laying down on a table overnight, and the house is a little cool, as it's finally spring and I am sick of having the furnace running. I am going to try to warm/mix this up before giving it a shot, since it's clear the cocoa would be left out of a test if I don't! FYI - sticking an imp in your armpit for several minutes turns out to be an effective way of warming the oil. I was able to get most of the cocoa mixed back in without resorting to extreme shaking of the imp. Wet: A blast of lavender, followed by cocoa. An interesting combo! It's sweet, but not foodie. Very well blended, I am having a hard time picking out individual notes. Lavender is still dominant by a hair, but the cocoa is holding its own. Quite gender neutral so far, maybe leaning slightly towards masculine, but I think anyone could potentially pull it off. It's really intriguing, I can't stop huffing my wrist. Dry: Very much a skin scent, and I do kind of get a "cuddly" vibe. I almost want to wear it to bed. It's sweet, and the vanilla and cocoa are very present on me. The lavender has dried down to a faint herbal hint, just keeping this out of gourmand territory. I really can't pick out any of the other notes. I like this, but I don't love it. I do think it would be great for bedtime, and I am tempted to see if I can track down a partial bottle for that purpose, but I can't see wearing it during the day. It has for sure veered back from slightly masculine to fairly feminine on me. I am torn about it. I will have to test a second time before I make any decisions. If it was stronger and had more throw I think it would be easier to decide.

In the imp, this smells very strongly of vetiver (the smoke) and cinnamon. Knowing my skin, it is likely to swallow the vetiver whole (I do the opposite of amping it) and then amp the cinnamon. Hoping the Myrrh can balance the cinnamon. I love cinnamon and spice scents, but I don't want to smell of red hots. Wet: The vetiver does bloom on my skin for a moment, and mixed with the cinnamon, and some sweetness from the Myrrh, it's really something. Then the cinnamon amps right up and takes everything over, and for a moment it's way too much. Cinnamon single note. But it actually settles a bit, growing sweeter and more rounded, and some of the smoky vetiver comes back out, Currently it smells sort of like what I would imagine cinnamon bark tossed onto an open fire would smell like - pretty magical. The Myrrh is only a vague presence, but it's enough to keep it grounded and provide sweetness. Dry: Wow. This is such a morpher on me! It dries down to the most amazing Myrrh with hints of smoke and spice. It might be the Myrrh blend I have been searching for! I love Myrrh, but I always seem to either amp it to single note (which is nice, but I want more complexity) or it gets totally swallowed on my skin. The cinnamon though, is so beautiful with the Myrrh, and that faint hint of smoke keeps this far out of foodie territory. This is such a warm, glowing, comforting scent. I will likely do a second test, but if it dries down this well again, I will be getting a bottle. I know the Myrrh in this will age really nicely, my only fear is that the cinnamon will grow stronger and stronger with age, as it has done in a few of my other blends. I think it's worth the risk though. Gorgeous.

In the imp, this is amazing. Gorgeous buttery vanilla fluffy marshmallows indeed. On my skin - plastic. Then it gets worse - burnt plastic. *sigh*.

How about Do The Dancing Maidens Sleep from the Trading Post? hyacinth and snow-dusted honeysuckle, sweet with asphodel and honeyed vetiver. It took me a while to figure it out, as I wasn't familiar with hyacinth or asphodel, but my process of elimination, I am now certain this is hyacinth dominant on me. If you read the review thread, it seems to be hyacinth dominant on some and honeysuckle dominant on other. I think it's gorgeous.

2016 So I don't like the scent of violets. It's not that I don't like BPAL violet, or that it doesn't work with my chemistry, I just simply don't care for it. HOWEVER I was getting a decant of Hope, and I just felt like I should try her sister. I must say, I dislike this violet scent the least of any I have ever smelled. It might not sound like a great compliment, but truly it is. It's not giving me a headache, or making me nauseous. It's sweet, but not overwhelming. I still don't want to smell like it, but in Faith, I can appreciate violet and see why others love it so much. I am glad I tried both sisters, it would have felt strange not to. (Hope is pretty amazing, btw). Forever in awe of Beth's artistry.

2016 When wet, I can distinctly pick out a rose note (red, I believe, similar to the red rose note in Whip) and the powdered sugar note I have never smelled BPAL's powdered sugar note before (or at least never been able to pick it out so clearly) and it's quite lovely! Once dry, the two notes blend seamlessly together. The combination of sugary goodness and rose is quite similar to Love (Pickmans) on me. Which is not terrible at all. I really like it. I have a ton of rose in my collection, but I can see making room for this. <3

Orange Blossom and Iris are bad-news-bears on me, but I love carnation and sugary cream, and am intrigued by white berries, so here I go. Wet: OMFG CREAMSICLE. Why does it smell like a creamsicle? Why do I care? It's glorious. Oranges and cream. None of the bitterness that usually goes along with orange blossom on me (so far) none of the usual iris-turns-to-violet-and-ruins-the-party business. Oh wait, I spoke to soon. Wet cardboard. *sigh* damn skin. It was amazing for a whole 30 seconds, till I ruined it. Maybe it will recover? Carnation hasn't even shown up yet. Dry: It flip flops back and forth between wet cardboard, and burning sugar. Comparison of Celebrated Beauties did this on me the first time I tested it, so I think the cream is actually the culprit here! But I tested that again and it was awesome, so I am going to hold out hope, and test this again another day. FYI though, in the imp it smells like a creamsicle with light floral notes, so this is totally an issue with my skin chemistry.

2016 Wet: Light, lush florals. Some sweetness. I can't even detect the Snake Oil, and the colour of the oil is much lighter than I expected, leading me to believe there is maybe just a touch of Snake Oil in this. It's soft and pretty. Something gives it an almost fruity vibe - I am guessing the Passionflower, I am not familiar with it. It's lush and pretty with the white floral notes. Dry: So much lighter than I expected! It's quite pretty. The linden blossom comes across as very "clean" to me. The lily is a little peppery, as it sometimes is on me, and a little creamy. The fruitiness of the passionflower has faded, which is a shame. I do like this, but it doesn't seem to have any throw, or great wear length one me. It is fairly unique though (and that's saying a lot, I have a ton of florals) so I will likely give it a full day test before I make any decisions about it. ETA: Finally retesting, and with a new perspective, as I am now looking for a variety of very light, clean scents I can wear to my now scent-sensitive workplace. Wet: Very pretty and clean, as I remembered it. The linden blossom is prominent, and the other florals add sweetness. It smells almost-but-not-quite like laundry. It reminds me a bit of Boober in that sense (which I have come to love). I think this would be a good addition to my "work scents" collection. Dry: Disappointingly, I keep catching wafts of...well, feces...from my arm! Jasmine and Oudh both do that on me sometimes, I wonder if either of those is present but not listed? Or maybe one of the other flowers here does that whole smelly indolic thing that I can't handle. Either way, this is not something I want to wear. Too bad, I like the notes underneath the stank.

Wet: Eucalyptus. Lavender. Super herbal and medicinal. Smells a bit like Buckley's. Dry: Very piney. Not in a great way. I don't think this one is for me.

Wet: Caramel, and...something. This is SOO familiar! It reminds me of a wax tart I had years ago and LOVED. This smells amazing, just not sure I want to smell like it. Surprised I haven't amped the nicotiana to high heaven yet. This is so interesting. Dry: This fades a lot and gets very faint, but still smells so familiar to me. It's really comforting because of the memories I am associating with it. If it were longer lasting I would be really tempted to get a bottle. I still might. I think it's the combo of the caramel and tobacco flower that I am enjoying so much.

Wet: Lovely. Lily is iffy on me, at least in other blends I had thought it was, often smelling sort of like wet cardboard. This is really pretty at first, a bit peppery, a bit green, a bit sweet. Very nice. And then the cardboard comes out.... Dry: after the cardboard phase, this turns into a very faint, sweet, slightly dusty floral. A bit creamy. It's nice, but there are many other florals that are way better with my skin chemistry.

Wet: This has a bubblegummy sort of feel at first, in the throw at least, sort of like lotus, which I don't really care for. Nose to skin though, it's smoky and peppery, more like what I expected. It's weird though, how incongruent the throw is to the scent next to my skin. Dry: Smoky, slightly peppery floral. In the same vein as tobacco flower on me. I think I like poppy better in blends where there is some sweetness.

Verbena is so iffy on me, but I love amber and grass and ginger, so I'm giving this a go. In the imp, it's very grassy and sweet, which I love. Wet: Ugh, verbena. With freshly cut grass. Which turns out so weird on me. Very bitter. Blah. Dry: It loses the bitterness, but just becomes sort of generically citrusy on me. Sadly this one is not meant for my chemistry, or tastes.

Wet: Very benzoin dominant on me, with some Frank, something woody, and hints of spice. Warm and glowing and lovely. Quite sweet, and a little "sticky". Mmm. I like it. Dry: Really interesting! Hard to pick out individual notes. It's creamy, sweet, and there's some nice, exotic spice there too. A very warm scent. It's lovely. I think I might want a bottle, actually. Something about it is comforting, while being pretty and feminine at the same time.

I am IN LOVE with The Painted Rose Atmo spray (Rose, Sugarplum, and Patchouli). To me, the rose and patch are dominant, and the sugarplum (which I never would have been able to identify if it wasn't listed) just adds some sweetness and general juicy, fruitiness to the scent. Since I received this spray, I have been looking for a good rose/patch perfume with some sweet fruitiness, but haven't found one. Any recs welcome! I am not afraid to hunt down LE's either. Thanks in advance!

Wet: Wow. Dark, syrupy black currant is dominant on me, with the opoponax making it all the more dark and syrupy. This is so interesting, sinister and sexy and just...mmmpf. Very vampy indeed. But then it starts to disappear. So I applied more. On the second application, I got the same amazing syrupy black currant vibe, but the lavender also comes through, and the two together are actually not all that pleasant, which makes me sad. Dry: This was so promising at first, I had already started thinking about getting a bottle. However, after applying a bit more and letting it fully dry on my arm, something about this is...off....on me. The lavender is discordant with the other notes. Simply not for me, unfortunately! Really glad to have tried it though.

Wet: Yep, that's lavender alright. Mmm. This is actually what I wish TKO smelled like on me (TKO is WEIRD on me). This is sugary, creamy vanilla/lavender. I love it. Damn, cuz I am never going to find more.... Dry: The lavender mostly disappears, leaving me with the most amazing vanilla sugar scent. It's so good. I hope one day to find more of this!

Oh shoot, I somehow missed that it was in both! I have no idea, to be honest, as they both went straight to plastic on me and I couldn't smell almond in either. Have you tried anything else with an almond/amaretto note in it that seemed ok?

A kind forumite gave me a generous decant of this to try. On my skin, while I love Frank, it often amps, takes over entirely, and ends up smelling masculine. This though....with all that honey there's no way this could get overly masculine. It's gorgeous. The notes blend together so well. It's smooth and bright and lovely. Reallyglad to have some, and will llikely try to find some more.

I tracked this down immediately after I tracked down a bottle of the perfume. Glorious. On me, Snake Charmer is very much Snake Oil meets Mme. Moriarty. I get a touch more coconut in the gloss than the perfume, which is great, but its still primarily a dark fruits and patch blend, which is totally fine by me. I love it and am so glad to have both gloss and perfume.

Wet: Mmmm. Vanilla. Perfumey vanilla more than foodie vanilla. Like vanilla amber, maybe? Lovely! Rich, golden, sweet. A little bit creamy. Elegant. LOVE. Dry: I really love this. It took me a really long time to start finding BPAL vanillas that worked on me. Most of those that work on me are a vanilla cream note This is not a gourmand vanilla at all, but it works on my beautifully, not a hint of plastic or weirdness, and it makes me so happy! To my nose, it smells like there's some amber in this, but it's not taking over the way it usually does. I can't really pick out any other notes. I don't really care what's in it, I just know it smells amazing and I am so glad to have a bottle! I would also love to try v2, just for comparison.

The released version of this is terrible on me. I wanted to love it so badly because I adore the Lab's apricot so much, but it was sickly sweet and just off on me. I wanted to try this because folks were mentioning red musk, which I love, and I was hoping this might work out better on me. Wet: Not getting any red musk. Apricot for sure. There's something else in here that's turning really nutty on me. Hmmm. Dry: This isn't BAD on my the way the released version is. But it's not god either. It's very light, a bit fruity, and just nothing special on my skin. Too bad! It's really lovely in the bottle.