ChupaChup

Oberon and Namaste both had lemon that wouldn't quit on me. I didn't care for them myself but a lot of other people like them.

I found Storm Moon very fresh, cool and clean smelling, like Irish Spring soap. Hurricane is more of a warm, humid, kind of murky scent. It reminds me of camping in the summer, sitting in a rain-soaked tent and smelling just a tinge of that musty/moldy smell. It has that "humidity" note that I also got from Bayou without, of course, the florals.

Depending on what is going on with this person at your work, maybe you can find a blend to help you deal with him/her. Snow White (sorry it's a limited edition though) always helps me when I'm dealing with someone kind of pig-headed and stubborn, somehow it seems to engender a sense of teamwork and cooperation. Voodoo (the blend, not the category) makes me feel powerful when I just need to mow someone over (in the nicest possible way ). Another idea is to find something that is just gawdawful on you and douse yourself with it when that person is around . Here's a for you just in case you need it.

I don't think anyone's tried it yet, but one of the Carnaval Noir scents, Gypsy Queen, mentions candle smoke: GYPSY QUEEN A heavy-lidded perfume, the quintessence of beauty and power shrouded in mystery, swathed in a deep, velvet-clad cloak of dark omens: Romany incense and candle smoke mingling with an alluring, body-warmed whiff of bergamot, neroli, Bulgar rose, carnation, and amber musk.

I recognized The Empress as soon as I put it on, it smells exactly like Endymion, especially the d'anjou pear, lily of the valley and rosewood. I ran and got my imp of Endymion and put it on my other arm, the scents were identical for the first 15 minutes. But when Endymion starts to soften, the Empress stays strong and a resinous note, what I'm pretty sure is myrrh, emerges. Wow this is gorgeous, it's an amped up Endymion (and I love Endymion), more mature and longer lasting. Endymion is a spring and summer daytime scent whereas The Empress is a year-round evening scent.

I've had my imp of Tezcatlipoca for a while now, I tried it once when I first got it and then again a couple of days ago. I didn't quite get it the first time I tried it but now I think I do. It's pretty much a chocolate version of Snake Oil. Snake Oil took a while for me to get used to and I suspect this would as well. I get the dry cocoa at first, as others have mentioned, this makes it rather woody and I can see the comparisons to Velvet or Sin. At this stage, it's not sweet enough for me, whereas Snake Oil has the chewy vanilla note right away. But as this dries down, it keeps getting sweeter and the cocoa goes away until it ends up smelling exactly like Snake Oil, spices and all. I never got any leather from this. I'm not sure I need this oil though, since Snake Oil is lovely right away and this has to dry down quite a bit before I like it.

When I started reading the reviews for Midway, I was really surprised that so many people liked it, especially people that I know don't normally like foody scents. I was just gifted an imp of Midway by a dear friend and now I know why so many people weren't put off by it. I can hardly smell it ! I was so sure I would flip over this one based on the reviews, I love foody scents, and I've already ordered a bottle of it. When I first put it on, I can smell hot cooking oil, the funnel cakes are frying, cool. Then after about a minute I can smell the funnel cakes, yum. Then two minutes later, nothing. No caramel apples, no salt water taffy, no cotton candy, no sugar tarts. Where the heck did it all go? I do get a little waft of funnel cake for a while but when I put my nose to my wrist, nothing. I've used up half the imp slathering this stuff to see if I can get it to work but, nope, this one just vanishes on me. I wish it were stronger because I can tell I would adore it.

Wow, House of Night is quite a morpher. It starts out a lot like Beltane, a greenish floral, but it has some note that goes a little off on me, it smells kind of earthy and humid. It reminds me a little of the humid part of Bayou. But if I keep my nose away from my wrist, the waft is really lovely. And then half an hour into the drydown, the waft becomes Hexennacht (which I love), it's all pine needles and smoke. Still, I get that funny off note when I sniff my wrist, a habit that's hard to break for a hardcore BPALer, so I don't see myself reaching for this one much.

I have to second the Hurricane recommendation, definitely rain and no florals in there. I haven't tried Lightening or Tempest, they might be good. Neo-Tokyo is very unique, maybe a little more metallic than you are looking for but worth a try.

Jolly Roger is another oil I've always been curious about but never would have ordered, mainly because bay rum and leather don't usually work on me. But the labbies slipped an imp of it into my last order and I'm so glad I got to try it, thank you. The thing I love about this scent is the way it so accurately matches its description, it's amazing! I can smell the salty sea air, the wood of the ship and a little later, the leather. It lasts a long time too. It's a little too masculine for me, I wish I could get my boyfriend to wear it but he wasn't interested . I'm swapping it and I hope it goes somewhere it will be appreciated.

I got to try my friend's Belle Epoque. I mostly get mandarin and sandalwood from it, not vanilla and it's gone in about half an hour. She loves it though and it smells much better on her and lasts a good, long time. Still, we can't smell any vanilla on her either.

A subtly menacing blend of lemon verbena, white sandalwood and cedar, dimmed by droplets of the darkest patchouli. I got Shadow as a gift from the lab in my last order. I wouldn't have ordered it myself as the combination of white sandalwood and cedar sounded too dry for me, but this is actually very pretty. I love the lemon verbena and the idea of the sunnyness of it being required to cause a shadow . I only wish the patchouli had come to the party, I think it would have made the blend more interesting. Unfortunately, patchouli stayed home .

Leanan Sidhe was a gift to me from the lab in my last order, thanks labbies . This is very reminiscent of Dublin, another etherial, misty scent. I like it a lot for the first hour, it's softly floral with a tiny bit of green herbs and something vaguely sweet underneath, almost milky or grainy. But gradually, that sweetness begins so smell slightly fruity to me and I don't care for it at that stage. Still, a lovely interpretation of the theme, well done!

Black Forest has been on my wishlist for almost a year now and I finally got around to trying it. At first, it's very strong pine, just like the pine in Golden Priapus. No problem with that, I love Golden Priapus . After about five minutes, the ambergris and musk appear, blending with the pine, and it's positively swoon-inducing. Oh, how I wish my skin didn't eat amber because after another ten minutes I can almost feel the scent disappearing, even though I 'ed it not to go. This is Haunted meets Golden Priapus, without the citrus and vanilla so if you like either of those, give this a try. Wonderful.

I never ordered Water of Notre Dame since it seemed like it would be an aquatic blend but I had always been curious about it and the lab kindly gifted me with an imp of it in my last order. Well, I don't get anything aquatic from this at all! It's a lovely rose blend and the herbal note common to many of the voodoo blends doesn't appear until quite late in the drydown. This oil is strong and quite long lasting, a plus in my book. If I hadn't just discovered Chuparosa, which is even better on me because of its nutmeg, I would have kept this imp but it's gone on to new pastures.

Mi-Go Brain Canister is a very fun blend . I tried it on while playing with my squishy brain, it makes me feel like a little kid. And I think this perfume would appeal to a little kid, it's very youthful. I don't usually do well with fruity perfumes but the fruits in this are so juicy, they smell like a fruit salad I would love to eat. And somehow the pepper and florals keep the fruit from being to sweet on me. This blend could have been a winner if it weren't for the jasmine. I was hoping it would be a minor note, but my skin amps it up and it takes over everything else . Still, I really enjoyed trying this, it puts me in a good mood!

Yog-Sothoth to me is the smell of faded perfumes, very much like in Antique Lace (no vanilla though, sorry!). I can see other reviewers' comparisons to Dirty, there is that clean but faded linen smell. It is also nostalgic to me, it reminds me of the collection of perfume bottles on my grandmother's dresser with which I used to play as a little girl. All the perfumes were old and smelled almost the same to me, I think she kept them mainly because the bottles were so pretty. And for sentimental value.

I ordered Tulzscha for the mints and pepper, hoping they would overpower the cucumber as watery, aquatic scents don't usually work on me. This almost works. The mints were not as strong as I had expected and hoped (from the description and previous reviews). I smell more cucumber than mint from the bottle and at first on my skin. But gradually the cucumber settles down and the mints amp up a bit, I really like this stage. Then they kind of balance out and Tulzscha smells like many "Eau de" perfumes I have tried in the past. Really not bad at all but still, not quite what I was hoping for.

I'm pretty shocked by Shub-Niggurath. I was expecting to love it as I love foody scents and I love Gingerbread Poppet. But what surprised me about Shub-Niggurath is how really pretty it is. Yes, it's very strong ginger at first, more reminiscent of Aries than of Gingerbread Poppet for me, fresh ginger juice as opposed to powdered ginger used for baking. But there are some lovely herbal notes, one I think may be lemon verbena, that make this a beautiful summer scent, much lighter and less foodie than Gingerbread Poppet. It seems to have some of the same spices, like cardamom and clove, but none of the doughy, buttery aspects. Once it is fully dried down, it's a gorgeous incense and spice blend. I think I'm getting the sweet smokiness of frankincense. Oh, I just love the complexity of this one, can't say enough good about it !

I was looking forward to Miskatonic University the most, out of all the SIA scents. Mainly because I love foodie scents and I was dying to see what Beth would do with a coffee scent without florals. Well, I was not disappointed, not in the least! This stuff is pure heaven. It goes on sweet and really creamy, thank you requieminblack for mentioning pralines, that's exactly what it smells like. Praline coffee ice cream. And yay, I get the booze note really strongly and it lasts and lasts. It's been on now for a couple of hours and I'm just starting to get a hint of the lovely aged books smell. It's really rather welcome as it serves to tone down the sweetness which could be a little much if it hung around for the full duration. Love it, love it, love it !

I'm not fond of ozone scents generally but Thunderbird is very nice and quite different from the other stormy BPAL scents I have tried. After the initial smell of thunderclouds, I swear I could smell beer. I wonder if there are hops in this? It's actually exactly what I expected Roadhouse to smell like (but Roadhouse smelled like ice skating rink to me ).

My girlfriend just got a bottle of this. She didn't remember what she had ordered and since this bottle doesn't have a name printed on it, we weren't sure what it was. As soon as I put it on, I thought it might be a mislabled Mi-go Brain Canister, because all I could smell was fruit and spice, it seemed quite peppery. We finally figured out it was Corazon, so that explains the fruit, must have been the mango I was smelling. Considering I don't usually like fruity scents, this was pretty nice, the pepper saved it for me. Nothing I would want a bottle of but I'm glad I got to try it .

This may sound strange but Graveyard Dirt is the cleanest dirt I have ever smelled . It smells like very fresh, very healthy, loamy soil that has just been plowed. It was so pretty in the bottle, I actually put some on my skin. I didn't mind it at all, didn't feel the need to wash it off like I do with other "dirt" scents. So, although it's nothing I would ever want to wear as a perfume I can see why "dirt" lovers love this one .

Chuparosa (sounds like it was made for me, no?) smelled gawd-awful when I first put it on. There was some kind of mean, spiky rose in there, a HUGE one, and a bunch of underarm BO. I swear, when I put my nose to my wrist, my eyes watered from the stench. But I was sitting in the car with my friend and she kept asking me what that lovely smell was. I thought she was . But lo and behold, after about half an hour, I started to notice a gorgeous smell wafting up. I put my nose to my wrist and the horrible BO smell was gone. Instead I found gorgeous, juicy rose and nutmeg. Nutmeg? Where did that come from? I have no idea but I love this perfume, it's like French Creole with roses instead of that herbal note. Quite a wild ride though!

I finally got a chance to try my friend's Brisingamen, it's really nice amber. I think it would be good if you wanted a scent that was pretty much just amber, with no other strong notes.