pinkusmaximus

I think another reviewer called this scent "tropical vacation in a bottle," and for me that's a dead-on description. It's impossible to pick out a single note, but I can tell they're all there, doing their part to make this smell like a trip to Hawaii. I don't smell coconut, exactly, but there's a rich depth to the scent that tells me it's there. I couldn't have identified pineapple, specifically, but I can tell it's lending its sweetness to the blend. I would never call this floral, but upon sniffing it, I can tell there are flowers there to cut the sweetness of the other notes. It's a perfectly blended scent on my skin--not floral, not fruity, not foody, just warm and summery and cheerful. I love it and will enjoy wearing it this summer. ETA: This had good staying power on me, and I found the throw to be fairly close. Another reason it's a good choice for warm weather--I don't think you'll overpower anyone by wearing this scent, but you (and anyone close to you) will still smell it. Perfect!

As much as love gin in a glass with tonic and lime, I'm learning that I just don't love it in BPAL blends. In the bottle, this smells sweet and boozy, like the perfect pink girly drink with a paper umbrella. Unfortunately, on my skin, the gin note immediately turns sharp and bitter, and it stays that way for a couple of hours. The eventual drydown is sweet and fruity, a little creamy, and I do like it, but am not willing to wait out the gin phase to get to it. I will say, Pink Kitty has much better throw and staying power than Velvet Unicorn, which I love but found rather faint. If you like the way this smells on your skin, I think you'll be pleased with its duration. I just couldn't love the initial smell, so my kitty is bound for swapsville.

Most of the notes in Mme. Moriarty are fail notes for me, or at least notes I have to be careful of. I really resisted trying it, despite all of the glowing reviews, but I finally gave in and I'm so glad I did. This is another of Beth's magical blends that works beautifully on me even though it shouldn't. It's also another of her patchouli blends that I can actually wear, and that speaks volumes to how well the scent is blended. I used to avoid patchouli like the plague because I amp it so much, but I'm learning that I can trust, and will sometimes love, Beth's patchouli scents. How does she do that? I can't really discern any distinct notes in MM. I get the fruitiness of the plum and the richness of the patchouli, but everything is very smoothly blended and yields a sexy, dark, faintly sweet scent. It's extremely feminine to me but saved from girliness by a very slight "dirty" note that gives it some grit and edge. I like to wear this one when I go out--it makes me feel sexy and confident. I will be stashing Mme. Moriarty in preparation for the Carnival's departure.

When I first tried Clemence, she was way too heavy on the patchouli for my taste. However, there was something in the background of the scent that made me think I might feel differently once the bottle had aged a bit and the patchouli had mellowed out a little. I pulled the bottle out a few days ago and luckily, I was right! Aging has improved it considerably, on my skin at least. The patchouli is still strong, but wearable for me, even though I amp patchouli like crazy. It's mellowed out and taken a bit of a back seat to the spicy tea notes, making the scent more of a blend than a patchouli scent with some spice in the background, as it was when I first tried it. I won't wear this every day--it's a special occasion scent and way too sexy for daily wear--and I'll have to be careful what time of the month I wear it, I think, since I extra-amp patchouli and musk during RMW. But it's worth keeping when I want something a little darker and spicier than my normal rotation.

This is not one of my faves. In the bottle, the spices smell delicious, but on my skin, the scent is all holiday potpourri and cheap scented candle. It's not necessarily a smell I dislike, but it's certainly not one I want to wear as a perfume. This would have been a great room spray for the holidays, and I might still use it in my oil burner next fall and winter. But as perfume, no. In addition to my dislike of the scent on my skin, it burns like fire and is the first BPAL oil that gave me welts. Ouch.

This is one of my favorites from the Carnival. I liked it when it was first released and wore it often--I found that in its fresh state, the pine note stood out sharply and it was a tad masculine on my skin (in a good way). I was nervous about the patchouli because I amp it like crazy, but it was never a problem for me in this scent. As I often do, I overdid it, going through almost an entire bottle in a couple of months. I got a little tired of the scent and tucked it away in the back of my BPAL box, where I pretty much forgot about it until a few weeks ago. When I applied it, I could tell right away that the scent had aged and changed quite a bit. The pine is much mellower than it used to be--in fact, the whole blend has mellowed. I can no longer pick out individual notes--everything is perfectly blended and smoothed out to produce a sophisticated, complex, rich scent. It's no longer masculine but utterly feminine without being girly. It's a grown-up scent, worn by a woman who's assertive, confident, mature, and a little mysterious. It's not my "typical" scent at all, but I love Illustrated Woman. It gets lots of compliments and has significant staying power and throw. For others who are nervous about patchouli, I still don't find it overwhelming in this blend...I can tell it's there, adding depth in the background, but I don't really smell it as a distinct note. I think I'll stash a few bottles of this one--I suspect more aging will lead to more awesomeness.

Boomslang is, hands down, my favorite BPAL scent ever. I love the way it smells when I first apply it, I love the way it smells after drying down, I love the way it smells on my skin in the morning when I wake up after a night out. I'm hoarding it to a really insane degree in anticipation of the Carnival leaving town. When I first apply it, there's a strong cocoa note, but it's a dark, almost bitter, wearable cocoa rather than a sweet foody chocolate (which I wouldn't like nearly as much). Gradually the Snake Oil becomes more and more dominant until I'm left with a perfect blend of the two. I know others say Boomslang (and the other snakes) dry down to plain Snake Oil, but I don't find that to be true with this scent. The drydown is the sweet musky vanilla of SO plus the bitter cocoa note of Boomslang...it's lovely. I often wear this when I go out, and it never fails to get compliments. The throw and staying power are amazing and I think that's part of what makes it my go-to scent for an evening out--I know I'll smell amazing all night long.

I love the way this smells in the bottle, like sweet, fresh peaches. Unfortunately, on my skin, the bright peach note turns sour and boozy, like cheap wine. I can't smell peaches, cocoa, or anything else once it's on. It's one of the rare scents that actually smells offensive on my skin. As others have mentioned in this thread, I think I'm learning that peach is a fail note for me. But the smell in the bottle is lovely--if others get that smell on their skin, lucky them.

Lilith Victoria sounded like my dream blend, since I love both Snake Oil and Dorian, but it turned to straight baby powder on me. I was patient and loving with my bottles, giving them time to settle down and age, but upon retesting I still got the dreaded powder scent. I finally gave in and swapped the bottles away to new homes that will hopefully have better skin chemistry than I did with this blend. I still love the idea behind the scent, though.