taramarie

On my skin, Selkie starts off as strictly aquatic, then green and floral come through. Not surprisingly, my skin chemistry loves the floral notes the most. Selkie's lovely and I can definitely see myself wearing it often.

I love Ancient Egypt, so I probably would've bought Eshe no matter what the notes were. In the bottle, I get straight herbal. Wet on my skin, there's a whiff of dust, but after that, Eshe is just floral. In fact, on me it smells almost exactly like Poisson d'Avril (they're even the same color), though from what I can tell, they have no notes in common. Don't get me wrong, I love Poisson d'Avril, but I don't really need two bottles of it. I'm hoping that aging this will bring out more of Eshe's notes.

Fae is gorgeous! On me, it's mostly peach with a little bit of citrus, a little bit of musk, and a hint of floral in the beginning. It's a good scent and one I think even non-BPAL fans would like.

In the imp, Antique Lace smells like vanilla and sugar. To be specific, it smells really close to Vanilla Fields, which was my signature scent before I discovered BPAL. Wet on my skin, it wavers between sugared vanilla and coconut. Drying, the coconut is going away (thank goodness!) and sugared florals start to peek through the vanilla. Specifically, violets. In other words, Antique Lace on my skin smells like Faith and vanilla. I'll definitely be glad to have this when the Carnaval Diabolique leaves town.

In the bottle and wet on my skin, I get what I assume is ozone (I've never smelled that note before) and rain. Thunder Moon is a very fresh aquatic. I know there's a commercial men's cologne out there with a similar smell, but I can't remember which one. Dry on my skin, I'm getting hints of grass and a tiny bit of flowers. I'd say Thunder Moon is gender neutral, bordering on masculine. I like it and I'm glad I have the bottle, but I can't see myself wearing this often.

Port Royal is definitely not one I would've bought myself, so I'm grateful to the Lab for this frimp. In the imp and wet on my skin, I could smell the woods. There was a single whiff of nuts, but sun-warmed cedar is what came through the strongest. Now that it's drying, the rum's spices (though not the rum itself) is coming through. I'm fairly certain there's cinnamon in this, but not enough to irritate my skin. There was also a whiff of vanilla, which I guess is the perfume. I'm not getting any sea air, but I'm not complaining -- Port Royal is gorgeous without it. I think it's a gender neutral scent. I definitely need a bottle of this!

I'm not familiar with any of the notes, but Ochosi has a very fresh, outdoors smell. Like maybe the forest after it rains. I can't really describe it better than that. Ochosi's definitely a gender neutral scent. I love it, even though it's definitely not a typical favorite. I'll definitely put this on my wishlist.

To me, Tushnamatay is wood and floral, but it's so light that it's hard to be sure. It's pretty, though, but definitely not me -- I want a scent with real presence. I think I'll pass this on to someone else.

Wet, Saturnalia's musty, earthy and green, like just the leaves of the violet and no flowers at all. I guess that's the vetiver. After it's dry a while, the vetiver takes a back seat and the violets come through. Compared to Faith, Saturnalia is definitely darker and deeper violets. I like it a lot, though I like Faith a little better.

As far as I know, they don't have any notes in common, but Tisiphone smells like a darker version of Euterpe or a more feminine Azathoth. Either my nose is still untrained or it's how they react to my skin chemistry. Either way, Tisiphone's gorgeous. Part floral, part masculine cologne, all good. I'll definitely put her on my wishlist.

A paean to true holiness, spiritual purity, and sacred enlightenment. Based on an incense blend sacred to the Virgin Mary: perfect rose absolute and Palestinian Lily of the Valley with olibanum, labdanum, frankincense and myrrh. I'll start by saying I was wary about trying Hymn since frankincense and myrrh make up the incense used at Mass and I'm not fond of that smell. Thankfully, I don't smell them at all. What I do smell is lily of the valley with a rose base. If these are church flowers, they're flowers in the church's garden, not in the chapel. The flowers smell so good together that I'm definitely putting a bottle of this on my wishlist.

I don't get a sense of darkness and secrets from Intrigue, unless the secret is someone's drinking hot cocoa in Strangler Fig's fig orchard. In the imp and wet on my skin, Intrigue is autumn leaves and woods. Since autumn leaves aren't listed, maybe that's the black palm. Dry, Intrigue smells a lot like Strangler fig, except less fig and a hint of cocoa. I think I'll age this one and see if it becomes more unique.

Dracul is definitely the kind of scent that I never would have bought on my own (the idea of black musk and tobacco together was a definite turn off and I've been burnt by clove before), so I'm glad the Lab gifted me with an imp. In the imp, I smelled mostly the tobacco. On my skin, sure enough, the clove burned, but not much and certainly not enough to make me wash it off. The sensation went away once Dracul dried. Now, I smell fir, maybe a little tobacco, and the musk. I like it but it's very masculine and not really me. I'll pass Dracul on but I'm glad he came my way first.

As soon as I opened the imp, I was convinced that I had a mislabeled imp of Persephone -- the rose and apple smelled just like Persephone's rose and pomegranate. But once dry, I could recognize the apple as apple. I've never smelled ylang ylang before and I don't smell any honey. This is a gorgeous scent. I'm definitely putting a bottle of Eve on my wishlist.

London on me starts out smelling like a pale pink tea rose then it slowly turns dark red. It's like a Victorian lady who goes to high tea in the afternoon dressed in a pale pink, ruffled dress with a high collar then attends a high society ball in the evening dressed in garnets and shoulder-baring red silk. I like it, but I think it would smell better on me layered with something else.

In the bottle: First sniff, roses and sugar. Second sniff, vanilla sugar. Wet on my skin: Strong, slightly green roses, vanilla sugar, and a hint of floral soap. Dry on my skin: Roses dusted with powdered sugar. Hope's pleasant enough, but she's overshadowed by her sister. Still, I'll keep her around.

In the imp and on my skin, The Red Queen is sweet cherries and nuts. I don't know where the nuts are coming from, since they're not listed. As it starts to dry, the woods come out. At one point, I get a whiff of cedar. Dry, the cherries have settled down and are mingling well with the woods. While I don't think it's really me, it's a very nice sent, one I'll definitely keep around.

In the bottle: First sniff, pure violets. Second sniff, vanilla sugar. On my skin: This must be what candied violets are like. I think I'm in love! Faith is definitely for floral lovers of any age. It's soft, sweet, and so, so feminine. I'll be sorry when Faith leaves town with the Carnaval, but until then, this is going to be a whirlwind love affair.

In the bottle and wet on my skin, The Candy Butcher smells like dark chocolate and very yummy. But before it even dries, my body chemistry turns it to coconut and amps it. Coconut isn't a bad scent, really, but it's not what I wanted. But I'm sure The Candy Butcher will make someone else very happy.

On me, Cobra Lily is slightly spicy, honeyed lilies with a hint of orange. I love it, even though it's fading fast. I may have to get another imp of this and find a way of making it last.

To me, Asphodel is straight plumeria. Just gorgeous! I smell like I'm back in Hawaii, sitting in my backyard and smelling the plumeria tree. It's a very light, summery scent. I may have to get a bottle of this.

In the bottle, Boomslang is spiced chocolate. The consistency is like thin Hershey's syrup (just like the newest 13). On my skin, it was still spiced chocolate and very yummy. Unfortunately, it started to burn, so I had to wash it off. I think I'll try it as a room scent.

I could smell tea rose wafting from Rose Moon before I even opened the bottle. Wet on my skin, I smell tea rose, jasmine, lilac, and lemon. Tea rose is definitely the strongest note. Rose Moon is like a cousin of Two, Five, & Seven and Persephone. Beth is a master of rose blends, and this is one of her best. ETA: I was in denial, but now I must face the facts -- once dry, Rose Moon turns to floral soap on me. Damn you, crazy body chemistry. Oh well, I'll pass this on to someone whose chemistry is more agreeable.

In the bottle, Blue Moon is flowers and herbs, with bay the strongest note. Mmm... Wet, it's straight floral and pure gorgeousness. As it dries, the woods start to peek through. Overall, this has to be one of the best BPAL scents I've tried yet! Bravo, Beth!

If you like strawberries, I totally recommend Maenad -- on me, it smells like spicy strawberry jam.