Electric Maenad

You know, I liked this. I really did. I wore it several times to game nights (I'm playing in an Exalted game with a Midddle Eastern flavour), and it smelled appropriate - a deep, heavy, incensey, musky blend. I generally preferred combining it with Love's Philosophy (still highly recommended), but it was good by itself too. And then I tried Inez. I still like Scherezade, but I Inez. So I swapped Scherezade to Eyeska for her bottle of Green Tree Viper (which is also awesome) and now everyone's happy.

I bought an imp of this from Brianne, and I'm so glad I finally tried this particular member of the BPAL top 20. It's lovely - vanilla with very light, sweet flowers and a faint hint of hope chest linens. The real kicker for me, though, is that it smells very similar to Stila's Creme Bouquet, which is the only non-BPAL perfume that I still wear with any regularity. Antique Lace doesn't have quite the same throw (no alcohol), but it lasts and lasts, and my husband loves it on me. Definitely putting a big bottle on my to-get list.

Oh, yeah... I wasn't thinking of putting the oil on him, but there's a little bear that's too hard for a cuddly toy that sits near the crib that I thought would be a good thing to dab a little oil onto (specifically the care/washing tag in case the oil turned the fur a funny colour or something. Thanks!

Hi folks, I'm resurrecting this thread because I'm looking for advice on which BPAL sleep formula would work best on a baby. Our son is a year old and has learned how to stand up in his crib, so unless I nurse him until he's pretty much out before putting him down, he immediately stands up and starts howling (he hasn't figured out how to sit back down yet). Any suggestions for what might make him more inclined to stay lying down without needing a feed would be greatly appreciated.

Ooh, I like the way this changes. At first it's all sweet blueberries, like blueberry pie or jam. After about fifteen minutes, the tea comes up, along with a floral element which I assume is the squash blossom. This lasts a long time - it smells like drinking blueberry flavoured tea on a patio with a flowering vine climbing up a nearby wall. The musk and spices round it out at the end, making it a very complex, fruity, and sexy scent. ETA: Nutz. I think I might have to swap this - it's a great summery scent, but every time I wear it it makes me sneeze. Although I don't recall that being the case when I first tested it, and this summer is supposed to be particularly bad for hay fever... (wafflewafflewaffle)

Wow wow wow... this is rich stuff. It starts off with an almost overpowering wave of boozy, dark chocolate. The apple comes up almost immediately after - a tart, Granny Smith-style apple that really cuts the sweetness of the chocolate nicely. The other spices and tea seem mainly to support the dominant notes and extend them. It doesn't really change much on me, although it gradually fades over about five or six hours. This is really beautiful, and I'm glad I managed to snag a bottle from another kind forumite.

I'm a little hesitant to recommend this, because it's a TAL oil and should therefore only be used with intent, but Caliph's Beloved is a smoking hot cinnamon musk. So, you know, if you want to get your man (and yourself) all excited, CB is a tasty way to do it.

Haven't had the chance to try Morocco yet, but according to the review thread on Inez, she smells like a deeper, more complex version of Morocco.

Sweet and resiny and woody, which is all good, although it doesn't hold a candle to Inez for sheer hawtness. For some completely inexplicable reason, ze man said he thought it smelled like roses. Considering that almost every rose scent I've worn to date (except Abhisarika) turns to fancy bathroom soap, I am at a loss to understand where he's getting roses from. However, this is yet more proof that BPAL patchouli is a different animal from the typical cheap-ass goth/hippy incense I'd formerly associated with the name. It also lasts a good long time - about 12 hours.

W00t! This smells almost exactly like TAL White Light! A little less complex maybe, but the resemblance is uncanny, and I White Light, so this is a Very Good Thing.

Thankee to the Lab for the frimp! Pretty and girly, with a bit of a sharp edge from the grass. I like it well enough, but I'm a die-hard resin / foody fan, so this just isn't me. As far as the berry note, I get my kicks from Dionysia, which is much more of a sexy broad scent than an ethereal, youthful sort of fragrance like Rosalind. Off to ze swap basket. ETA: Oh yeah - it also fades very fast on me. I got maybe two hours out of the (fairly heavy) initial application before it went poof.

Yargh. I got this as a frimp from the Lab (as always, thank you Labbies for your generosity) and have been a little reluctant to try it due to the presence of rose. Unfortunately, I was not surprised by how my skin reacted to Bess - amped the hell out of the rose and turned it soapy, with a weird medicinal edge from (I assume) the combination of rosemary and mint. Hardly got any citrus, regrettably. Le sigh. ETA: This is also one of the few Lab scents I've tried that I wished would go away faster. It's got hella staying power, especially the rose and rosemary bits. Double yargh.

I couldn't for the life of me guess what's in this. It's sweet and flowery and warm all at once, and it makes me feel like I've just woken up from a good night's sleep. I find myself breathing more deeply and relaxing when I smell it, and it seems to cling closely around me like an enveloping cloud. This should be standard issue for mothers.

Mmm... this is lovely. It starts off like the Platonic ideal of wine gums - boozy and fruity. After a few hours, the frankincense, benzoin (I think) and what I'm assuming is the mahogany are more noticeable and make this a beautifully rich and decadent scent. ETA: It's got great staying power too - I just had a whiff of my arm and I'm still getting the faint hint of wine gums and polished wood ten hours later, which is really good for my skin.

I received an imp of this from Maidenhell, and I was a little hesitant to try it because of the vetiver. Oddly enough, the vetiver turned out to not be nearly as much of a problem as the cherry was. It went on cloyingly sweet and vaguely medicinal, which registered as "cough syrup" to my nose. Once it dried, the cherry settled down a bit and the clove and vanilla came up, but I'm also beginning to think that the Lab's honey note doesn't like me much. It just seems to make the scents it's in a little too heavy and "thick" for my liking.

Dang. You know, this sounded really sexy and delicious, and I was really looking forward to trying it. And for the first ten minutes or so, it smelled like a fresh box of the best Turkish Delight ever - all sugared rosewater and almond and orangey goodness. And then the rose went STOMP STOMP STOMP all over everything else and it just smelled like soap. Nutz.

A few theme packs for your consideration: Band of Bastards Highwayman Casanova Hellfire Libertine Villain Iago Whitechapel Dorian ... to be accompanied by a bottle of scotch, a deck of poker cards, and / or a nice Cuban cigar The Devil You Say Brimstone Fallen Old Scratch Al Shairan Incubus Succubus Hell's Belle ... to be accompanied by a copy of Paradise Lost Let Them Eat Cake Marie Versailles Vicomte de Valmont Marquise de Merteuil ... to be accompanied by a DVD of Dangerous Liaisons or Valmont Wine, Poetry, or Virtue (Baudelaire) Dance of Death The Ghost Bien Loin D'Ici Les Fleurs du Mal Le Serpent Qui Danse Les Bijoux Sed Non Satiata Horreur Sympathique ... to be accompanied by a volume of (bien sur) Les Fleurs du Mal

Yay frimpage! This is exactly what you get when you cross a coconut with some manner of burrowing rodent. It's an earthy, musky coconut fragrance, but it's not nearly as grotesque as it's namesake - much more cuddly than menacing. It's a nice scent to wear to bed.

Lab frimpage! W00t! Definitely smells like the description, or at least the initial part of it (innocent, but not particularly debauched). It's a sweet, but slightly artificial fruit scent - like a tube of strawberry-vanilla lipgloss. I can smell a tiny bit of amber and musk a couple of hours later, but the dominant notes are the vanilla and fruits and they fade pretty fast. A little too "Lolita" for my liking, but I'll keep the imp because I actually kind of like the smell of strawberry-vanilla lipgloss.

Oh, Shub, Shub, Shub... if I'd known you were going to be this good, I'd have ordered a bottle ages ago. Got this as a frimp from Maidenhell - thank you very much. Goes on like gingerbread, then gradually gets darker and hotter and nastier in all the best kinds of ways. Sexy gingerbread indeed. I'm going to have to get a bottle of this for sure. Umf.

Ooh, this is cute! It's bright pink! I'm assuming that's the dragon's blood, but when I put it on, this is the cuddliest dragon ever. It's like a cat-sized, fuzzy pink dragon that curls up in your lap and purrs while it's breathing little puffs of smoke. I don't get a particularly sexy vibe from this, but it's such a warm, soft, friendly smell that it's probably enough to put people at ease. Goes a little baby-powderish later on, but it's still very pretty. I'm glad I got to try this, but I don't know if I'd necessarily get a bottle. I have to be in a very specific mood for this much cuteness.

Mmm... pina colada. This is in the same family of scents as Elegba and Red Lantern, but much sweeter. Elegba smells like Ernest Hemingway in a Havana bar, smoking a pipe and drinking dark rum on the rocks. Red Lantern is a Chinese courtesan eating coconut bonbons on a satin chaise lounge while her client slowly smokes himself into a narcotic stupor. Upa Upa is Gidget, drinking the biggest, girliest pina colada ever, while her big, lovable lunk of a surfer boyfriend rubs suntan oil on her back. A keeper, but I suspect I'll only be wearing this during the summer. Or at beach-themed parties. It's definitely a party scent.

Wow - I can't believe I forgot to review this. On first application, there is a bit of something besides the vanilla - somewhat sharp, almost a bit sour, which I'm assuming is the saffron. Having never smelled saffron by itself and not being hugely familiar with the scent of wintergreen, I'm assuming that this is what everyone else is talking about. After it dries, though, it's just straight-up vanilla. It's not quite so rich as the buttercream comparison that some people have made, but it reminds me a lot of vanilla custard (homemade, not the mix kind). I love vanilla in any form, so this is very, very good. It also layers really well with Scherezade.

Got to try a bit of this from Eyeska's stash. For about the first 20 minutes or so, it smells just like After Eight mints, which I absolutely love. A few hours later, it smells like Earl Grey tea. And After Eights. I might need to order a bottle of this.

Oh gods... this is fantastic. Got an imp of this from Eyeska, who said it didn't work on her. On me, it's absolutely gorgeous - even ze man says it's the best thing I've tried to date. It's smooth and dark and fantastically blended - it smells like a very old, polished cedar spice cabinet with gilded accents. I promptly went out and snagged two bottles off the forum, and I might just have to get another before the Carnival leaves town. It's that damn good.