Lucchesa

I was frimped a little Honey Moon, and it's really lovely. I'm getting mostly honey with a hint of herbs and flowers. Jasmine can be a deal breaker on me, but it is nicely understated here and in combination with the honey feels more like honeysuckle. It's not a strong scent but like many BPAL honey blends lasts a long time on my skin.

So I usually have to check to understand what I’m smelling, but I tried this without looking at the notes. I got caramel and vanilla and I thought some amber. I did not get red wine. Once I checked the notes it was obvious that there was coconut in there and I could make out the peach but I still got no red wine. Since that was the only note I was worried about here, I’m loving The Initiation for its caramel vanilla coconut goodness. Not sure where the wine went, but I don’t miss it.

My initial testing notes for this read "high-pitched florals. And snow. What was I thinking?" And in fact the opening of The Garden in Winter is not me. Not me at all. Loud screechy flowers. And snow. But I didn't scrub it off, and an hour or so later I sniffed my left wrist and thought, "Wait, what was this one again?" Because all of a sudden it was seriously beautiful. The flowers had calmed down and melded, so that I couldn't pick any individual ones out, just bright sweet (poppy?) calming flowers and the lovely snow note from The Snow at Dawn, one of the few snow blends that work on me. Magic.

I know tea notes tend to disappear on me, but I was hoping to at least get a lot of musk in this blend, and maybe some of that agarwood attar. Instead, Satan just talked to Sin and Death about violets and lilies, which was not the conversation I was hoping to overhear.

I wanted to try this because I love the painting so much. The notes are mostly reliable on me, except that Moroccan seems to be one of the roses that goes sour when it hits my skin, overpowering all the other loveliness. ETA image: Jan Toorop, The Three Brides, 1893. Kroller Muller Museum

Lotus root is bubblegummy on me, and ylang ylang can be iffy, but everything else here is pure win. Fig milk!!! Please, sir, may I have some more? The fir and khus are extremely understated and nothing to fear. This scent is soft fruity bubble gum, soft creamy fig, soft bourbon vanilla, soft myrrh, soft sandalwood. A skin scent, exceptionally comforting. I love it and love the idea of adding to the world's sum of compassion. Maybe on those crappy ass days when I'm in a foul mood and want to slather on some Troll, I should wear Poor Monkey instead.

I didn't have high hopes for Knave of Hearts because the pastry note tends to be a disaster on me. And wet, it was all I got, weird sweet buttery pastry that amps out of all proportion to anything else. Just like spikyfairy, I got no currant, no rose. When it dried, it became significantly more pleasant, and just as spiky could almost smell the rose, I could almost smell the currant. On me too, this was definitely better than Eat Me, and I'm glad I got to try it, but I'll be passing this imp on.

SN Guatemalan Coffee Bean is so great! It could be the TAL Concentration scent -- just a pure, unadulterated jolt of olfactory caffeine! Wet it's all roasted coffee bean with a tad of bitter greenness that made me feel there were some unroasted beans in the mix as well. As it dried it was more just bittersweet coffee. I didn't get the candy-like scent some other reviewers did. My only complaint is that it does not last long on my skin. I think this would be a fantastic layering scent.

Light, fun, fizzy, citrusy, smells great in the imp. Sadly I've learned the gin note just doesn't behave on my skin. I'm happy I was frimped a tester, but that's all I'll need.

I had an imp of Oblivion last year and felt it didn't quite work on me, so I sent it to a friend in a batch of near-misses and she loved it and ordered a bottle. When I was frimped it recently, I decided to try again as my tastes are evolving. Oblivion is a beautiful murky emerald color in the imp. Wet, it has a somewhat cologne feel on me, which may have been what put me off earlier. But I now find I really enjoy a lot of unisex scents, and this is no exception. It's musky and woody, not too sweet, a little musty dryness from the saffron. The patchouli is content to be a supporting player, which is good because I've been amping patch lately and was worried it was a trend. Oblivion reminds me of my dad, and that is good. There's something solid and comforting about it. It's mainly a skin scent on me and stays pretty true all the way through. I'm definitely keeping this imp!

Grog is a big ole boozy foodie! More rum cake than rum, with a chaser of hot buttered rum. Yummy and fun, nothing aquatic about it, very festive - I can see wearing this around the holidays. Not much throw (I hardly ever get any with my skin) but pretty good wear length.

Patchouli Earl Grey! That's what I get from this wet, and a nifty idea for a scent it is, too. Sadly, my skin always eats up tea notes rapidly. This one lasts a little longer by essentially merging with the patch, but the bergamot fades quite a bit. Ultimately the bourbon vanilla comes out to round out the patch, but by that time the Earl Grey is long gone. I wish I could all of the notes to express on my skin at once; that would be fantastic.

Sweet apple and juicy orange, faint gardenia, subdued Snake Oil. I wouldn't call this a fruity floral so much as a florally fruit. This is a workplace-friendly summer Snake, with no throw and a friendly demeanor, but you know the snake is lurking underneath. It doesn't last anywhere near as long on me as regular SO.

Too much fruit! Fruit Moon was generously frimped to me, and it's helping me learn that I like my BPAL fruit one or maybe two at a time. Fruit Moon is a bubblegummy fruit smorgasbord, a fruit extravaganza, sweet and juicy and summery. I may have to set it aside as starter BPAL for my niece; it feels very youthful to me.

I don't know about red leaves; my first impression of October is "green," sharp and green with a faint smokiness. It is not a particularly sweet scent on me. I get more of the dead leaves note, which on me has a beautiful old-fashioned perfume vibe, in drydown. A crisp, outdoor scent, evocative of early fall, not as dark and sweetly smoky as Samhain. Perfect for when you have to be indoors but long to be out in the elements. ETA 2015 version

The Gilman House Hotel, which I received in a PIF, is far more pleasant than the notes would suggest. It's light and outdoorsy - imagine treading on an unfamiliar plant and getting that sharp green sap smell and some of the dirt underneath as well. It's also a little salty and aquatic, but I get nothing chemical or rotting. Unisex with decent wear length, just not in a scent family I wear much.

Hi, Candlewight -- You are in luck -- there are scents for EVERYONE. I recently tried Sloth -- myrrh and vetiver -- and loved it. The myrrh does have a little sweetness on me. But you like myrrh, and everyone's skin chemistry is different -- I tried something recently (and I wish I could remember what it was but I'll do a little looking and get back to you) and it had NO sweetness whatsoever on me. I want to say one of the Fortunas. But some of the reviews mentioned sweetness. At any rate, you might find some excellent suggestions in this thread: http://www.bpal.org/topic/92250-im-going-to-be-difficult-anti-sweet-anti-floral-help/ Good luck!

Whoa, that’s sheep milk all righty! Thankfully I quite enjoy that note (Candles Moon is one of my favorite blends). The coconut emerges as it dries, and the cinnamon remains in the background. It is there, but gently. This is omyum delicious and cozy. No throw on me but it lasts really well. So good!

Decant of indeterminate age. This is my first açaí blend, and I will avoid this note in the future. It turns into an artificial berry on my skin and completely dominated the scent. No cardamom, no sandalwood, no smoky vanilla — no Snake Oil even. And unlike every other SO variant I have tried, it is gone after two hours. Not for me.

Himalia is chock full of notes of win for me. It's like getting off the hay ride at the harvest festival and wandering over to the food booths where they're caramelizing nuts and honey in a huge iron pan over an open fire in the chunky autumn sunlight. If you're fearful of vetiver, this is a friendly one, adding depth, throw and wear length without dumping everything into a barbecue pit. I'm so glad I was able to swap for this one.

Lonely and Disregarded wet on me smells just like Al-Azif -- it may be the myrrh that they share. As it dries down I can prise out the notes more, and the resemblance to Al-Azif recedes. The cinnamon is gentle, just a hint, no red hots here, but mostly sandalwood and gentle myrrh with some of the warm, sweet earthiness of fig. It makes me wish I had gotten the hang of BPAL updates just a few months earlier!!!

Ooh, a new GC fave as I learn to love vetiver! Wet, this is all spicy, dark, complex vetiver overlaying a rich, dark myrrh. And it's gorgeous. And it's long lasting. Maybe too heavy for work, but sexy and languid -- I can see wearing this for an intimate dinner out or to curl up on a winter day with a Victorian novel. It reminds me a little of Haunted, another of my favorites, another dark languid scent, and again I am astounded by the fact that Beth can work so much magic with just two notes.

I was lucky enough to get an imp of this, and (sadly, as I'll never find it again) I love it! It's the longest lasting BPAL lavender blend I've encountered -- usually I get a big salvo of lavender and then it fades rapidly, but here it is sticking around. I think that's because it's backed by the frankincense -- I'll need to explore lavender-frankincense combinations. Or maybe it's the thistle, in which case I'm probably SOL. Anyway, it opens with lovely, realistic lavender, herbal, a little sharp, and then gradually the gardenia (one of the few florals that's reliably good on me) begins to emerge, soft with a little sweetness from the pear, although the resins help keep the sweetness in check. The wear length isn't great on me, but that's my skin for you.

I wanted to try Seance to find out what hazel smells like. I didn't really get an answer to that, as I couldn't make it out around the roses -- what smelled to me like dried pink rose petals, and rosewood. If you like gentle rose, Seance is stunning -- it went nowhere near the sour rose territory my skin is prone to -- but it also evaporated in little more than an hour. I'm delighted I got to try it and will pass it along.

Rakshasa is mostly bright rose and sandalwood on me; the patch stays in the background. Like Teamama and gloame, I get a citrusy feel when it's wet, and this is one of those roses that keeps threatening to turn sour on me but doesn't quite. It's funny, gloame would wear this to the botanical gardens; I just came home from the botanical gardens. And Trader Joe's. So I guess I'd wear this to the botanical gardens and Trader Joe's. It's a very pleasant daytime scent but doesn't knock my socks off.