Pottersville

CXII - begins with an herbal vibe, not too dry/barren and not too sweet/lush. Then the wood begins to peek out ... oak, perhaps? It's a warm, fresh wood that's very calming and seems to be rounded out with a hint of musk and patchouli. I'm liking it better and better as the days get cooler and autumn approaches. A keeper!

It is a lovely scent - all honied deliciousness with just enough of a spicy undercurrent to keep it interesting. Thing is, to me it smells a LOT like Burt's Baby Bees scent. I love that scent, but I already have it!

There's patchouli in this? No wonder I love it! Yes, there is definitely an oriental vibe to Clemence and she's not in the least bit shy or retiring. I get lots of clove and carnation - mmmmm spicy!

Fig, dark myrrh, amber, redwood, nutmeg, tarragon, black musk, and sweet orange. Poor Aeronwen ... I could barely smell her! Even after a second application in the afternoon of a hot, muggy day (when even the mildest scents are emboldened), I could barely smell her. What I could smell was lovely, though ... light and dry, as if the herbs and figs were of the dried variety, rather than fresh from the tree.

At first, Inez was all cloying sweetness on me ("Oh no .... it's O!!!"), then she dried down to something that resembled a commercial perfume I've sniffed. An hour later, she's just beautiful and BPAL-unique. There's definitely something sweet there, but it's rounded out by the warm woods - reminding me ever so slightly of Glowing Vulva. The scent has little throw, so it's fine for today's hot, humid weather. Bottle worthy? I'm not so sure yet!

Incense, soap, and very heady florals with relatively little sugar coming to the fore. MotM is far too heavy for a hot, humid day like today, but might behave nicely in relatively colder, drier weather. I'll have to hold on to my imp for awhile longer and see!

Oh, lovely!! The Antikythera Mechanism does have a very Glowing Vulva vibe -probably the teak- but it's considerably less sweet and I don't pick up nearly as much vanilla. The teak, oak, and tobacco are all very dry and spicy in a light, almost summery way. I don't pick up any smoke, so the tobacco hasn't been smoked yet!

Mmmmmmmm ... dark musk and coconut rounded out with heady lemon zest and wood. Lovely in the bottle and wet. Drydown goes all suntan lotion on me, though. Nice as an imp, but wouldn't buy a bottle.

Mmmmm, lovely, ethereal, airy. The awapuhi is pronounced, but is kept from being cloying or pungent by the sea mist surrounding it. The ocean and seaweed are very much present, but in the background. So I'd say this isn't a walk on the beach scent where you're clambering over rocks, picking seashells out of seaweed, and getting drenched in seaspray .... rather one where you're sitting a bit inland, surrounded by tropical plants and flowers, with a yummy drink in hand, listening to the roar of the ocean in the background.

Wet, it's sugar and musk. Not a caramelized sugar, but the white granulated (or perhaps powdered) kind. As it dries down, the strawberries come out to play. Later, it's gently floral (but not too sweetly floral) and then just very soft and light - summery! I can't pick out the woods in the blend, but I do think they help keep the sugar and fruits from going overly sweet on me.

I'm with everyone else who's on the fence about this one! The first time I wore it, I thought, "VANILLA. I don't really need another vanilla scent." Then I compared it to Black Lace, Love's Philosophy, and Arcana's Devilish. "Soooo," thinks I, "GVaRB isn't REALLY vanilla. It's MUSK." Well, I don't have much that's overtly musky, except something from The Body Shop and it was no match for GVaRB (in many ways!). So is it TEAK? Hmmmm ... perhaps the only things I have with teak are the CDs Habu and Pulcinella & Teresina ... and they smell nothing like GVaRB. I dunno. It's an oddly compelling scent that's THERE but NOT there. I forget I'm wearing it and then I get a whiff of something lovely and realize it's me. So I go back and forth between loading 4 bottles into my cart or taking them all out. I have two weeks left to figure it out! <sigh>

BPAL heaven in a bottle! A sexy, smoky, slightly bawdy version of my beloved White Rabbit. Instead of tea-stained white linen, it's tobacco and cognac. Yum!

ZOMG! Incense-y goodness! I almost didn't sample this because my body amps florals and blood to the nth degree. I was afraid I end up with yet another sickeningly sweet scent. Nope! Valentine of Rome is woody, smoky, spicy, and gently sweet. Must have a bottle!

ZOMG!!!!! Got this in a swap and only just got around to testing it .... LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! The lavender is powerful but is softened and grounded by the tobacco and vanilla, which are in turn sharpened by the lavender. It's a love match, I tell you!!

Received this as a frimp from the Lab and slathered it on this morning without looking at the description ... good thing, too because countless BAAAD encounters with dragon's blood (daemonorops or any other variations) have made me avoid the note like the plague. The bad boy was very apparent during the wet phase and had me wrinkling my nose in disgust. Along comes the DD to distract me from washing it off ... another good thing because while sitting at my desk later I kept getting whiffs of something pleasant - Rage! It's the mellowest, meekest rage I've ever encountered. Nicely fruity, mildly floral and the dragon's blood is tamed. I don't love it enough to buy a 5 ml, but it has opened up a whole lot of perfume options that I previously had avoided.

<sigh> This Pisces is disappointed. I don't get any aquatics, hemp, or sarsaparilla .... just floral, and a very commercial floral at that. <sigh>

A deranged darling, sweet and sociopathic! Clotted vanilla cream, pink pepper, grapefruit, blood lily, red ginger, English pear, and lemon-squeezed candyfloss! Hmmmmm. The cream seems to be missing from the bottle(s) I bought! <LOL> Instead, there's a lot of bright, fizzy, fruitiness .... I get a real Croquet vibe from this one! It's a happy little scent. Not quite as "meaty" and deep as I was expecting (bwahahahahaha), but nice.

Mmmmmm .... this is what I imagined the salver of saffron cream ordered in Ama Clutch's memory smelled like in "Wicked"! The vanilla, saffron, and sweetness are undercurrents to the creamy topnotes. The overall scent is "skin cream" (like "skin musk"!) and isn't foody in the least.

I ordered this scent unsniffed and am glad I didn't also order the backup bottle I'd been contemplating! All of the notes sounded sooooo gorgeous and soooo me .... but all I get is an overwhelming cheap men's cologne smell. Where's that "down and dirty patchouli"?!

This is an in-your-face kind of peppermint, with just a whisper of vanilla behind it. I rather reveled in the up-front peppermintness (wait ... is that a word?!) of it all, but alas, it didn't last long. This is a scent that must be slathered repeatedly. Let's call it Apply It One More Time!

NOTHING like I was expecting! I get straight up pina colada, so this scent doesn't evoke snow or winter ... just summer drinks.

Oh, soooooo promising!! Goblin started out vaguely foody (could that be the coconut), spicy, earthy. I was in love! But then I think the patchouli marched in to kick *ss and I ended up swathed in pencil shavings.

Dragon's blood and I don't seem to get along AT ALL, but there seems to be some hope for Bloodlust. Maybe it's the patchouli and vetiver?

Starts out dusty/dirty with a vaguely unpleasant note (ozone?), which sticks around for awhile. Then it goes sweet. Weird, unfortunate combo!

Yup, I get the dusty/dirty scent and light floral. OK, but not wildy unusual. Still, I'm on the fence.