ChupaChup

I ordered Velvet based on all the rave reviews, even though I was worried about the sandalwood. That rarely, if ever, works on me. Wet, Velvet is heavenly, all I hoped it would be. Like milk chocolate and nuts, Nutella as someone above mentioned. But within five minutes the sandalwood takes over and all I get is pencil shavings. I may try it layered with something like O or Dana O'shee to see if I can keep that intial aroma a little longer because I really do love it.

Moon rose is a very soft, delicate scent. I prefer a little more body and complexity so I don't think I'll be keeping it but it is very pretty.

I origianlly ordered Mata Hari and now I have gotten it as a freebie two different times. Sadly, it just doesn't work on me. I love the smell of coffee, but on me this is just stale coffee for a couple of hours. Eventually some rose and the light spices others have mentioned come through but by then it is so faded that I really can't appreciate it. I've already swapped away the first imp and now I have two more

I don't usually do well with rose but this one is very nice. It's strong, sweet and sexy. I'm not sure about keeping it, though, I'm used to so much complexity from BPAL oils that this one doesn't really blow me away.

I have a rating system on my nerdy spreadsheet for BPAL oils, it goes from 0 (I'll never open that imp again) to 5 (orgasmic). Forbidden Fruit is one of only two oils that has scored a 0. I have never cared for aquatic scents but until BPAL, I don't think I ever tried a perfume with lotus in it. And lotus looks like it would be such a lovely smelling flower. Looking back over my spreadsheet, I realize now, thanks to Forbidden Fruit, that lotus was the note that bothered me in other oils, when I often blamed it on some other element. So I'm glad I got to try this one, thanks lab for throwing it in as a freebie. Oh, what does it smell like on me? Poop

I love Beth's almond scents but I took a long time to order Seraglio because I was concerned about the rose. Well, no problem with the rose, this is an absolutlely gorgeous perfume. It's all almonds and oranges at first, delectable, I just love the wet stage. When the rose note comes out, it's really warm, dark and musky, not sharp at all the way rose sometimes turns on me. And it lasts pretty well on me, good wafting power for at least 4 hours and still detectable on the skin after 8. I tend to refresh after 4 hours though because I love the wet stage so much. Looks like I'll be needing a big bottle of this one

I just got an imp of Tintagel as a freebie in an order and I also have anther half imp coming in a swap. Too bad, as it really doesn't work on me. I really like Tintagel when wet, it has a strong cherry smell and then the dragon's blood kicks in fairly quickly and it's yummy. After about 15 minutes, it changes completely as cinnamon emerges, at this point is smells a lot like Serpent's Kiss, still pretty nice but not as nice as earlier. Things go downhill from there though, a whole bunch of confusing notes come out and it ends up smelling very "dirty diaper" on me, poo. Off to swaps.

I have stored essential oils in the refrigerator for several years, at least 3, and they are still fine. I use them to make my own skin care oils and the carrier oils I use also last in the refrigerator. Since BPAL are 85-100% essential oils, I would expect them to do the same in the refrigerator. I'm not sure about the freezer, I think that extreme of temperature might alter the oils. But I have read somewhere (can't remember at the moment) that some people do freeze essential oils.

Beth doesn't always list what type of patchouli is in a blend, but so far for me, where the type has been listed, the red seems to work better on me than the black. I'd love to get the single notes of each so I could find out for sure! Anyway, if you like ginger and patchouli, you HAVE to try Vixen. It is absolutely gorgeous. Also try Voodoo, that has everything going on, it's sweet, spicy, tangy and also has patchouli.

It took me a long time to order Alice. It was on my wishlist, but I kept putting it off because 1) it was reviewed as a soft scent, and I prefer strong, long-lasting ones and 2) it had roses. But after trying Maiden and loving it, another blend of carnation and rose, I finally had to try Alice. I really like Alice but I can barely smell it, even in the vial. I detect the milk, honey and carnation, it's really lovely, but so soft I have to put my nose right on my wrist and inhale deeply to get anything. Finally, I tried layering it with Maiden, now that's perfection. It seems I'll always have to have both of them on hand.

I love Machu Picchu for the first half hour, it's so well balanced on me during that time and I smell light tropical fruits, green woods and golden, sugary amber. But I don't do well with a lot of fruit scents and the fruits in this kept getting louder and louder on me. This lasted a good long time on me, too bad, as I will be swapping it.

French Creole works really well on me. Wet, I get the really fresh clove aroma, kind of green, more like clove bud than the dried things you stick in ham. At that point, there is a tiny bit of the herbal note I've detected in several of the voodoo oils, but that goes away in about 15 minutes. Then I get nutmeg! The cloves fade into the background and I end up with a lovely bakery smell. Cloves alone were enough to make me want to try this oil but add the nutmeg and I'm in heaven. No cinnamon at all for me.

Count me among the people begging Beth to bring Snow White back this year! That cute little snoogler t3andcrumpets sweetly shared some of this with me so I could see why she loved it so much. I knew as soon as I opened the imp that it was fabulous and it gets even better on my skin. It's what everyone else says, warm and cool at the same time, almond, coconut, mint, and vanilla, all without being foody. There may be some florals in it, but it's not floral. Snow White is quite an enigma. Each of the elements is barely there, they are like a whisper, this scent is so soft. But it has amazing presence for such a soft scent. It may be a Yule-inspired perfume, but if I could get my hands on a decent supply, I would wear it year-round. To compare it to other BPAL oils, to me it has the creamy almond of Dana O'shee (without the grains), the ambrosia of Sudha Segara (without the ginger) and the slightly minty coconut drydown of Tarot: The Star (without the lime). I love all three of those oils so it's no wonder I love Snow White.

Wildfire didn't really work on me. In the bottle and wet on my skin, it was a perfect blend of spicy dragon's blood and the smoke from burning leaves, gorgeous. But after only five minutes it started to become totally floral, with the orris (isn't that violet?) dominating. I never got any rose or juniper. I really loved the wet stage, wish it had stayed that way

ahem.....uhm.....ok, now....yes....well....erm....ahem That was me doing a presentation on Lady Chatterly's Lover in high school (for my drop dead sexy English teacher). And that's how I feel about writing a review for Queen. Let me just say, don't wear this oil into the woods unless you want to get ravaged by something big and furry that definitely won't call you or send flowers the next day. This oil screams sex to me. Is that some kind of musk? It's certainly not civet, it's nice. Very strong and powerful, this is not a ladylike perfume. Rawr. The only thing is, I don't think I can carry this off. I really like it but I would be embarrassed for someone to smell it on me So off to swaps with it.

Kabuki taught me that I absolutley adore cherry and anise.....as far apart from each other as possible. Seriously, this smelled divine in the vial, it brought up images of serene Japanese gardens filled with cherry trees in bloom, beautiful geisha girls, yadayada, but as soon as I put it on, Hiroshima

I ordered Golden Priapus because of the reviews, especially the ones saying it was the male version of Snake Oil, and with the vanilla, I just had to try it. This oil is so wonderful, I smiled the moment I opened the vial and it got even better when I put it on. Just like for Shollin, the vanilla exploded on my skin, but it's not a sweet vanilla, it's very soft. The woods in this are very warm and, well, golden I wasn't sure when people were mentioning pine if they meant the needles or the actual wood, but it's definitely the wood. It reminds me of beautiful golden plank flooring made from southern yellow pine. For me, this isn't a sexy kind of scent you wear to get noticed, it's a very relaxing and comforting one. It's getting added to my growing collection of BPAL nappy time oils

Silverangel was so sweet to decant an imp of Noir for me in a swap, it was from her precious stash. I have had it on my wish list since I joined the forum and was just about to order it when it was discontinued, so I was really thrilled to get a chance to try it. I was a little worried about the rose and jasmine, but I haven't really noticed them at all in this blend, although I'm sure they are providing a little bit of sweetness. What I mostly get is clove (yay!), myrrh (double yay!) and possibly the plum, but it is so little that this blend is in no way fruity. Myrrh always works really well on me and it did not fail me with Noir, it made it smokey, sexy and dark. It really fits the genre, as someone said above, it strikes me as a pre WWII perfume. The only problem I have with it is that it doesn't last very long on me, I'm jealous of the person above who mentioned it lasted all day. It was pretty much gone in an hour.

I just got Machu Picchu and haven't had a chance to review it yet, but it seems a little closer to Xiuhtecuhtli than it does to Pele. It does have the "warm, damp tropical blooms" but they don't smell very Hawaiian to me, probably more jungle bloom-y. It also has the fruit which takes away from the floral aspect a tiny bit. It's really nice, though. Have you tried Midnight? Everytime I wear that, people tells me it smells like Hawaii. I think it's the night-blooming jasmine, but could be something else in it. It's really lovely and might layer well with Pele or Xiuhtecuhtli. I now what you mean about Pele, it just didn't have enough oomph for me, either.

Hey, that's great you are so specific in what you want, you will save yourself a lot of $$$ Wish I could do that, but what I like keeps expanding with BPAL (as my bank account shrinks). If all you want is sugar sweet with absolutely NO fruit, almond, spices or floral, that pretty much narrows it down to: O Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo Horn of Plenty I have tried Jailbait, it is bubblegummy at first and then fruity. No one (except the lab) has tried Sugar Skull yet but it says it has fruit in it. HTH

Most fruits don't work too well on me so it shouldn't have surprised me that Lampades and I wouldn't get along, but I just had to try it, it sounded so good. I definitely get the strong cranberry smell, it's very tart. I kept wishing it would mellow out but it never did and somehow, it made the spices smell kind of yucky on me Off to swaps.

I got Blood Amber as a generous extra in an order, thank you lab angels! I also have another imp coming in a swap . Dragon's blood has been a little iffy for me, I love it in Dragon's Milk but in some other blends, it can amp up notes I don't like, even though dragon's blood by itself is fine. Well, in Blood Amber, it's glorious. It jumps right out on my skin, in almost a floral way, then the amber reins it back in. Amber always goes kind of golden sugary on me, sort of like crystallized honey. Add that to the dragon's blood and it's perfection. I only wished it lasted a little longer, it's pretty much gone in an hour, but I'll put up with reapplication for something this nice

Sudha Segara is very soft and gentle on me. I actually have a hard time smelling it up close to my wrist but I can catch whiffs of it around me. It smells like mostly milk with a tiny bit of ginger, not much sweetness yet still not sharp at all. I wish it would last longer, it's gone in less than an hour. But I have a feeling it will be like Dana O'shee for me, one that I find so soothing and good for sleeping that I will always have to have some around. ETA: Yup, now I am seriously hooked on this one, I knew this was going to happen.

I'm sure it depends on body chemistry, but the ones I have tried that went really sweet on me include Titiana, Dragon's Milk, Gluttony, Jailbait, Bon Vivant, Sacred Whore of Babylon, Hollywood Babylon, The Sun, O, Regan, Horn of Plenty, Tiger Lily and Swank. Of those, my personal favorites are O, Regan, Gluttony and Horn of Plenty. I am also getting Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo in a swap, I hear that one is cotton candyish.

I'm another one that doesn't do well with most fruit scents, so keep that in mind as you read my review. I was really curious about pomegranate in a perfume as I love the taste of the fruit, so I had to give Swank a try. When I first applied it, the martini aspect of it gave it some tartness and I thought it had real possibilities. Great job, Beth, getting such a perfect martini scent! But after about 10 minutes, the alcohol buzz went away and I was left with an overly sweet, fruity smell, just not me. But I'm sure lovers of fruity perfumes will go nuts over this and it is STRONG and long lasting, another plus.