PurpleHeather

I've started using Nattie's spreadsheet (http://www.nattiechan.com/BPAL_spreadsheet.shtml) and it is very useful. Have added a couple of coumns, for example as I'm vegan I've got a coumn with a filter so I can mark things as containing Honey, and have put in a wishlist rating column, as that's the way my brain works. Thanks Nattie!

This was the first BPAL scent I tried, and I've not yet got a fantastically well developed nose, but on me it was overly floral (understandable given the number of flowers in the blend) and went talcy from a sort of floral cleaning fluid beginning Sadly one for the swapbox.

Orris, black amber, bergamot, plum and grapefruit. In the bottle: I can definitely smell the citrus in this one, though it is more of the bergamot (very orange-y) than grapefruit. It also has a warm spiciness to it. On the wrist: Definitely citrus, smells sort of like Christmas, very warming Later: This has mellowed out to a nice, light scent, less zesty and more warm now. It's about 2 hours since I put it on, it has faded, but is still noticeable.

I got given this one as a freebie from a friend, and I'm very grateful. On me it is a spicy, smoky scent with an underlying sweetness, no pine at all. I liked it, but the wear length was only an hour or two. I'd give it about a 7/10.

In the bottle: A very smoky, slightly sharp scent. Oddly comforting, though I can't pin down why. Wet: Still smoky, with some sort of zing lurking behind it. Later: Mellow, incensey smoke. Nice, but my nose isn't good enough to get any individual notes out of it. Overall, about a 7/10.

On me this one seems to be almost exclusively patchouli, very earthy and not very mossy/green at all. Nice, but I want to try it again when I have a better nose for these things. Put it on at 8am (it's now 1:15pm), and I can just about still smell it, but only if I sniff my wrist.

Velvet - 9/10 In the bottle: Rich, raw chocolate, with something behind it. Initially slightly off putting, and, oh-the-shame slightly mouldy smelling! Wet: Rich chocolate, and the mouldering smell has gone. Something incensey behind it, which'll be the sandalwood, but the two seem to be in a nice balance. I can smell a lovely, warm fug of chocolate all round me. Later: An hour and a half later, and the chocolate has faded to a background sweetness, and now the sandalwood is strong. I can see where one of the forum reviewers was getting pencil shavings from, but I like the sandalwood. I like this one. I'm new to BPAL, so don't really have a bottle list yet, but I think this is a contender! Definitely not going in the swapbox! I think that between this and Jailbait, I've learned the importance of skin chemistry