ChupaChup

I got to try my friend's Honey Moon. As much as I love honey, I didn't order this blend because 1) I've given up on lunar oils and 2) jasmine and gardenia are not good on me. But wow, Honey Moon is not bad at all! I do not get even one single second of the jasmine or gardenia. It's mostly honey and a kind of new car or leather smell, something a little bitter, I wonder if that's the thyme? I never detect any lunar notes either. Eventually, this dries down and smells just like Beth's honey single note on me. A lot more beeswaxy and less honey that I like and not much throw. Glad I got to try it though.

I got to try my friend's Strawberry Moon. It's a lovely strawberry fields smell for a good 20 minutes, fresh strawberries on the bush, a little tart. I never get any cream though, eventually the lunar oils come out and ruin it for me. Pretty typical for my skin. I liked the first 20 minutes though .

Another one that is like La Petite Mort is Eve, but it's a way amped up version. Too much ylang ylang for me but if you like that note, Eve may be something to try.

I was so looking forward to Eden and even more after reading joseybird's review, I was almost drooling for this scent . And it unfolded on me very much the way it did on her, with the fresh, green fig leaves first. They stuck around for quite a while, a good 20 minutes and I find I really love that scent. But then the actual fruit of the fig joined in and things started to go bad. My skin doesn't do too well with a lot of fruity notes and fig is an iffy one. I think Hetairae is the only figgy oil that has worked on me so far and that has the patchouli to reign in the sweetness of the fig. But in Eden, the fig is way too strong and it lasts and lasts. It took hours before I got any coconut at all. It's very pretty, a warm, toasted coconut, but by the time I can smell it the whole scent is almost gone. I really can't detect any honeyed almond milk although I may be getting some of the honey mixed up with the sweetness of the figs. I'm glad I tried this though because it is a beautiful interpretation of The Garden of Eden. I'll bet it smells just fabulous on people who do well with fruit notes and it's an incredibly complex scent, what a work of art . And oh, I found out I like fig leaves, I would love to try them in a predominantly green perfume, with no fruit notes.

I was really looking forward to Elegba but alas, we were not meant to be . Wow, this is so sweet and sugary at first, much more of a sugar rush than Grog, to which it is quite similar when wet. Eventually, I get the lovely aroma of tobacco leaf but now the buttery aspect of the rum is trying to cover it up. I never get much coconut out of this and what I do get smells kind of like dirty coconut, not the fresh, white, creamy kind from Snow White and Spooky. I'm sure this smells amazing on other people.

Well, Baghdad is the big hit of my latest order . It's exactly the way I was picturing it from its description, an exotic Middle Eastern spice market kind of scent. It has the sandalwood and spices from Morocco and the candied orange peel and rose petal scents from Seraglio or Black Phoenix. It all blends together perfectly, it's not too dry or too sweet, just heavenly.

If you missed out getting to try Beth's single note white musk, you have to try Vechernyaya! On me, it's almost all pure, sparkling, cool and bright white musk, so gorgeous! I really can't pick out the poppy or patchouli, there must be just the tiniest breath of them in here. This is a perfect representation of the evening star .

I love all the notes listed for Peitho except for jasmine but I was hoping that maybe the clove, which usually amps way up on me, might be able to beat down the jasmine. Oof, this is all jasmine when I first put it on. And it takes more than clove, all the other notes join forces and manage to tame the jasmine after about half an hour and let me tell you, it is quite a wrestling match! This ends up smelling quite pretty and is so well blended at that point that I really can't pick out any of the individual notes. I'm not sure I would ever get a big bottle of this since the half hour of jasmine is a little much to live through but I may keep the imp.

French Love is a very pretty dragon's blood scent and it doesn't seem to have that somewhat bitter herbal note that many of the Voodoo blends have. It has a tiny bit of spice, I almost want to say nutmeg but I think that might be wishful thinking on my part since I was hoping French Love was going to be a replacement for French Creole . The dragon's blood resin is not very strong, about half the level that is in Dragon's Milk and I think there is some light musk in this as well. This is kind of like Dragon's Musk Lite. Of the two, I prefer Dragon's Musk as I like a little more body to my scents. But I have to say, my boyfriend really likes this one, he thinks most of the perfumes I like are too strong.

In the bottle and fresh on my skin, 13 is very reminiscent of Bliss, in that milk chocolate way, and Vice, in that chocolate/orange way. But it also smells quite nutty. If you've ever had Cadbury's Fruit and Nut bar, 13 smells the way that tastes. I don't get white chocolate at all though, it's definitely milk chocolate on me. The chocolate and nuts component fades very quickly, the nuts disappear completely and the chocolate fades to the background. This happens within the first ten minutes. Then a sugary tea scent emerges, very much like that in Dorian. But where Dorian is a little astringent on me, the tea in 13 seems to be sweetened by candied friuts, the kind you find in fruitcake. And every once in a while, I get a tiny whiff of iris, usually not good on me but somehow it works very well in this scent. 13 is not at all what I was expecting but it is really pretty nice. I wish the chocolate aspect were stronger and longer lasting, in fact the whole scent is a little light for my tastes. Then again, I've yet to find any chocolate scent where the chocolate note lasts more than half an hour on me. I'm guessing even people who don't like foody scents will end up liking this if they can wait out the first ten minutes.

Buff puff + cinnamon = yeowch Also, your pores are open after a shower and you've probably stripped the protective mantle off your skin with your soap/cleanser. Be careful olympia301!

Oh yes, Vinland is another good one to try. Not so much note-wise but it may give you a similar "feeling." Be sure to come back and let us know what you think .

On me, Hexennacht is more like summer campfires. I get a bit of fir needles at first but they go up in smoke . You're in luck, Black Forest is a catalog scent .

Well, Arkham Revisited went very fruity on me and smelled a lot like Yerevan. I don't know if they will work the same way on you but at least you could try an imp of Yerevan (if you haven't already tried it).

Medici, I have to second the Black Forest (especially if you like Haunted) and Hexennacht, or even trying them layered. They are both gorgeous.

Even though Storm Moon doesn't really work on me, at least this time it's not because of the lunar oils. It's just too harsh for me, the ozone is like shaving off pieces of Irish Spring soap and shoving them up my nose. My girlfriend loves it and I don't even like it on her, I really can't breathe when she's wearing it. But I don't tell her that, I hate it when people ruin BPAL for me like that.

Cthulhu is another SIA scent that perfectly matches its description. A dark, murky aquatic. Not my thing but dang, Beth is good!

I had to list the notes for Arkham Revisited again, I wish I had a nose sophisticated enough to pick out some of these notes. Gah, I don't get any of them! What I get is fruit, sweet fruit and it keeps getting stronger the longer it's on until I have to wash it off. This doesn't work on me at all and it sounds so magical .

Kingsport smells exactly like its description, like a day at the beach walking through the sand dunes with salt spray in the air. A little too aquatic for me but an amazing accomplishment.

Al Azif smells very burnt on me. It has a sweetness to it but it is thin, not rich, and definitely unpleasant. I can't even begin to guess what kind of incense this contains. I was expecting something a lot stronger and richer with staying power.

The lab kindly gifted me with an imp of Szepasszony in my last order. Not being a fan of aquatics, I never would have tried this if they hadn't and I actually really like it. It's one of those clean laundry hanging on the line in the sunshine kind of scents and I love to wear it layered with a vanilla single note, it smells very much like the discontinued Antique Lace. By itself, I notice a nice citrus touch, maybe white grapefruit.

Even though Eve has honey and rose, two notes that work well on me, I avoided it for a long time because of the apple blossom. I was afraid it would be too apple-y, like The Hesperides was on me. But after my success with Desire, which has apple blossom, I decided to give Eve a whirl. Man, I should have worried about the ylang ylang. It overpowers absolutely everything in this blend on me. I get a tiny whiff of honey in the beginning, never any rose or apple blossom. This is La Petite Mort on steroids.

A friend gave me an imp of Oisin to try. This is a beautiful scent, the white musk really shines through the soft, green, fresh herbs. It doesn't have a lot of throw but lasts surprisingly long. I ended up giving it to my boy since it smells heavenly on him. I may go hunt down a full bottle of this.

I finally got my Milk Moon today and I also have Au Lait (thanks tempete ). Milk Moon has the minty lunar oils at first but when it dries down, at least on me, it's very similar to Au Lait. Especially if you get a strong tonka note from Au Lait like I do, Milk Moon is all tonka in the dry down. I can't recommend Chaste Moon because at least on me, the lunar oils overwhelmed the milky notes and I didn't notice any tonka at all in it. Another oil that may work for you is Perversion, it has that tonka note in it. It's very dependent on skin chemistry though, it actually doesn't work on me, the leather and musk overpower everything but on a friend of mine, it's creamy tonka heaven.

Wow, FINALLY!! After all the lunacy oils I have tried, one finally likes me . Milk Moon is just divine in the bottle, I get all the milky, creamy, condensed milk notes others have mentioned. On my skin, it's milky backed up by a very soft mintiness and I can see how that combination of notes might smell a little like yogurt to some. I love it. After about 10 minutes, the old lunar oils that usually hate me show up, they do smell a little metallic but they never overwhelm and they don't go "off" the way they usually do on me. I think Beth really meant it when she said they were "softened" in this blend. After about half an hour, even the lunar oils are gone and I am left with pure tonka bean. There is virtually no throw to this scent and I have to glue my nose to my wrist to smell it at this point but it is incredibly soothing and comforting. I definitely get the mother and child vibe. If I end up keeping this scent I will most likely use it for sleeping. I wish we had a lullaby icon.