SlySionnach

Bottle: Tuberose and BPAL’s snow-y note. And something almost sour? It makes my nose scrunch. Wet: Almost identical to the bottle, though the sour note disappears very quickly. It’s all covered by the snow-ish note for now. Drying: There’s the cherry blossom! It’s surprisingly strong, compared to the other notes. I can smell the sweetness from the peach coming out too. Dry: I’ll be honest- I don’t know what passion flower smells like but I have to assume that this is it. I don’t want to say it makes it tropical, but there’s something akin to that feeling there. Like a very powerful flower that takes over, but not the tuberose (to my surprise!). The cherry blossom is still there, lightly above the rest, and the sweet peach lingers around. The snow note has receded now, as if just seen outside a window. Verdict: I really like this. It’s definitely something I can see me wearing for a date night with the boyfriend.

Bottle: PEONY with something underneath Wet: PEONY goodness. It could be Peony Moon or SN Peony as soon as it hits my skin. Drying: And the peony draws back in about thirty seconds, making room for a creamy sort of floral. Dry: I'm not sure what a vanilla orchid is, but in my mind, it's an ivory orchid which is growing around peony bush. It strangles it a bit, overpowering the original spurt of peony, which is a bit disappointing. But every now and again, I can get a waft of the fluffy pink flowers. It's floral without being old-fashioned or over-the-top. All together, just a really pretty combination. I'm glad I bought this when I did!

This is a fresh picked carnation from start to finish. It's like I took a bouquet and rubbed it against my wrist. From the moment I open the bottle until the scent disappears, it keeps the same beautiful scent (though it does become creamier). I may need a backup of this...and I've yet to finish a single bottle!

In the Bottle: Woah, pine. Wet: It's all the winter smells. Snowy, piney, and sort of...shaving cream? I always did enjoy the smell of it but never to wear it. Dry: As soon as it starts to dry, it becomes full on floral. I get the whole bouquet, no one note standing out among hte others with any given sniff. It's sitting among the snow notes, which still frosts over everything. I can smell the cedar/evergreen mix but it's as if I've just walked out of a forest into a field of flowers - it's underneath it all. I'd originally bought this thinking the Boy would like it, but he's just going to have to get another bottle. This one is mine! (And I may need to buy one more...)

My boyfriend bought this for himself, along with a couple of bottles for me... so of course I tried it. And wow! I get mostly teak and oak, but the vanilla really rounds it out into a sweet woodsy scent. I can smell the tobacco, but for some reason (oddly enough with my chemistry), it plays second fiddle to the other notes and just gives it a really nice base for the others to play on. I'll be sad to hand this over to him but I think it may be better if he wears it

Bottle: Why can't I smell this? I had a similar feeling with The Girl, which is leading me to believe one of the notes they share make my nose smell-dead. Wet: Holy Sandalwood. Nausea-inducing, oh-my-lord sandalwood. Taking a big sniff of this (expecting not to smell anything) was not a good idea at all. Gah. Dry: After about an hour of sandalwood-keeping-my-wrist-far-from-me-and-wondering-why-I-wore-this-to-work death, the sandalwood fades into the background. Apparently, it's tired itself out torturing me. But now, wow, what a gorgeous creamy vanilla! Maybe the sandalwood was the tuning and the vanilla is the melody, but now it is what I've heard it called - amazing. Very similar to The Girl on me. Wish it had a bit more spiciness, but still, a keeper. Maybe second think keeping that second bottle though...

Imp: Clove. All I can smell is clove, clove, clove. Wet: Soap? Spicy soap. I can sense the tinge of root beer lingering in the background. Dry: All soap. A nice, Christmas-spiced soap, but soap nonetheless.

This is the one I was most excited for, and I was so afraid that I was going to be disappointed for a bit, but all is well! Bottle - Licorice. Black licorice. I can't really smell anything else but anise, but that's okay. I love that smell. Wet - The same as in the bottle, but something sweeter tries to peek through. I assume it was the vanilla going, "Hey! I'm under all this licorice! I swear!" Dry - For the first half an hour to an hour, it was still that state of trapped vanilla. But at about the hour mark, the anise backs off and the vanilla pokes up, and just a tint of cherry blossom waves its arms up at me. Really, it's a gorgeous combination. And it lasted forever. I put it on when I left for work, and when I left about ten hours later, I could still smell the remains of it. Definitely a keeper. Surprisingly not my favorite of the update, but one that I am very glad I bought!

I had bought this one on St. Pat's, and somehow thought I'd bought Pink Mood (brain, where were you on that?! ). Luckily, I checked before I made my second Lupers order and now will have Pink Mood coming along shortly. So, I will admit, I was a bit disappointed that I was getting this first... But, oh, not anymore! Bottle: Flowery tea. Now, quick fact, tea gives me migraines. At least, ingesting it. But I've always enjoyed the smell of tea (and yearn to drink it so badly...soo badly...) Wet: My god, hello lilac and ginger. I love the smell of lilac - scent memory from picking the flowers off of the neighbor's forest of them and bringing it home. I also love the smell of ginger, and all the Asian-feeling blends. Dry: I'm in love. Honest to god, head over heels. The tea is still there, as is the ginger, but the flowers are doing The Dance of the Flowers from the Nutcracker all around me, teasing the tea and ginger into playing with them. My nose is officially connected to my wrist and my sister is wondering why I'm such a weirdo... Overall: Gah! Thank god I ordered this bottle. Brain, you were smart that time

My boyfriend sent me three scents, because he's awesome. I coveted this one (and actually ordered it for myself so now I'll have 2 bottles! First time ever!) so I tried it first! Bottle: It smells like toasty mint. I'm guessing it's the Mums giving me that warm feeling. On Skin Wet: Oh. My. God. I'm in love. Truly, this just shot up to my favorite list. It's minty, and I can smell the Mums and all together it just smells like winter lingers in the background. I have no clue what that scent is, but it's there. Dry: Mums in snow. This is aquatic, minty Mums and I could not love it more. Even my MOTHER loves this (and she hates almost every BPAL that I like). She loves it so much that I have to order 2 (she said 5! FIVE!) bottles for her. She even spilled about a quarter imp's worth of it on her arm before. Delicious. So freaking delicious. Gah. I could rave forever.

Eerie billows of spun sugar, fluttering white cotton, and sheets of cream. I've been coveting this scent for a bit, and even though my love right now is for my left wrist (where Lilth vs the Giant Crab is loving my skin), the right wrist is getting equal amounts of unbiased affection! I promise! Bottle: Candy. I smell candy. It's the sugar. That's all I can smell, with a little bit of something underneath. I'm hoping it's the cotton. I want to smell some cotton! Wet: Aaaand it's gone. Just gone. Poof. Like a ghost that's been caught. Where the heck did this thing go?! Dry: It takes a few minutes, and I was too busy sniffing my other wrist to smell how it came to this state, but I happened to sniff my right wrist again after five minutes and BAM! Vanilla cotton. Sugary vanilla cotton. I like vanilla, but this one is just mouth-watering. I'm not getting so much sugar as I did in the bottle, which is a good thing for me, but it's still there making everything almost whimsical. Love it. Keeping this bottle and using it as much as I can!

...my wrist is glued to my nose. Bottle: Guh! I can smell the tangerine already. It's just a bright, happy scent that makes me think of all the sugary sweet tangerine yumminess in the world. Wet: The ambergris comes out a bit, and overall the scent takes on an aquatic edge. It's like I'm eating tangerines dipped in cream while sitting on a bright orange, plastic float in the middle of the ocean. The tangerines, of course, would be in a nice little bucket so the crab couldn't come and steal them. Dry: The tangerine is still sharp, which makes me beyond happy. It's an endless supply. The cream-y edge has melded with the aquatics (I guess my container of Cool Whip fell into the ocean...) but all together, this blends into something absolutely breathtaking. I never get two bottles. Ever. I figure I'll have enough for the rest of my life with one of all... but this may make me break that rule.

Bottle: This is flowers. Lots of flowers. And something there just reminds me of night (maybe the orchid ) Wet: Gardenia and lily and orchid and flowers and something dark and fluttery. I can see the butterfly-aspect of the perfume. Dry: Still all flowers. I am surprised. Usually, I'm all about amping any fruit in sight, but in this case, the currant is well hidden in the florals. Now I feel like a butterfly that's gone and landed in a flower patch, resting on a lily because flying is such strenuous work... I like it! Not my favorite, but it gives that kind of sophisticated, floral vibe I think I can wear in "polite company."

Bottle: I can smell the ginger and the chrysanthemums. I was afraid of the musk (can go horribly wrong on me at times) but it didn't seem to be too prevalent. In fact, all I can really smell is the ginger/mums floating on a cloud of incense. Wet: Spicy flowers! My favorite. To be honest, I really despised spicy perfume before I found some absolutely loves at BPAL, mostly in the form of carnation and ginger spice. Dry: Smokey, spicy, dark flowers. Thankfully, the spice doesn't fade (and doesn't seem to be fading!) and sticks around with the florals. Also surprising, the red musk stays at bay, but I sense it lingering. Will have to try this again to make sure it stays tame. Very awesome blend!

Decant: Pine. Lots of pine. I like pine, but this is like shoving a Christmas tree under my nose and saying, “Huff this!” Wet: Now it’s fruity pine! I love the plum note, and this is no exception to making the blend beautiful. Dry: Gods, I love plum. I truly do. I was iffy with the mix of plum and pine but this is…absolutely wonderful. I have only three Yule scents (Amazing, I know) and I think that this may be my favorite of the three. Definitely a nice, warm, December blend. Finding a bottle of this may be hard, but I want nothing more than a full 5mL of this gorgeousness. It doesn’t help that I also spilt part of my decant onto my bed and shirt *weep*

Decant: Fruit and floral. Oh, how many scents turn to just fruit with a hint floral on me! Don’t do this, Black Moon! Please don’t! Wet: Yup. Fruit. Pear, right there. One single note come to beat up the rest. Dry: No way. Do I smell something other than fruit? Is that…could it be flowers? Orchid, and some orchid, I believe? The orchid note is always such a beautifully done note by the lab. I adore it. And in this blend, it meets up with the pear and signs a peace treaty and makes it all so believably delicious. Why, why, why do I only have an imp of this? Oh well, it’ll take me forever to finish the imp, so maybe a bottle is unnecessary. But yum!

Imp: I smell hazelnut. I am iffy about hazelnut. Wet: Why, hello coconut! It flourishes, circling around the hazelnut. It’s a very nice mix. Dry: Musk makes it a bit drier, but thankfully, the coconut is still there. It’s not a strong, pina colada mix coconut, but a more shaved coconut smell. The hazelnut is also there, but faint. I never really smelt the flowers too strongly, which is kind of disappointing, but it's a very beautiful scent anyway. I wish I had gotten this mid-summer. It would be a nice beach scent.

Imp: Hello lemon verbena! I can also detect the herbs inside. Wet: All verbena. The orange blossom also pokes its head out, adding even more citrus to my overly citrus-amping skin. Dry: The herbs comes out again. And the jasmine, but not too strongly at all. Then again, jasmine isn’t a death note for me. They help kill off a bit of the overly-juicy fruit, making this blend completely delicious. Very summer-y. It almost feels like a scent you’d catch on the shore of a rocky beach in the middle of a sunny day. Yum.

Imp: Ah! Something is off. I’m not sure what. But something is off in this imp. Web: It’s the mimosa. It doesn’t like my skin. Please go away, mimosa. Let the currant out. Please! Dry: Hey. It listened! But sadly, the currant dies after a few minutes just to let out the dry mandrake and myrrh. Lots of myrrh. I can still smell it, but the parched scent sucks out all the juiciness. Wait! Wait! This…this hours later, now smells delicious. It’s completely turned into a warm, kinda spicy, dark scent of greatness. No need for a bottle, because this so isn’t me, but I would not mind keeping this imp around.

Imp: Spicy. Something is also kind of smokey? I’m not quite sure. Wet: Ah, the spiciness fades and the saffron note comes out. I never thought it’d be a scent I’d like, but it’s a nice, warm, yellow scent. Dry: The sandalwood remains flowing underneath the saffron, but doesn’t overpower as it often does in other scents. It’s really kind of comfortable for a spicy scent. I’ll definitely keep the imp. No need for a bottle…yet.

Imp: Something sharp, almost making me want to sneeze. And something fruity. My nose sure loves fruit. Wet: I smell some sort of ‘girly’ drink. I would say it’s a cosmo but I don’t get the cranberry scent. It’s something more citrus. Probably the lemon and the grapefruit. Dry: Is that mint? Perhaps more of a mojito then. I’m really not sure why I get this boozy, bubbly scent from this but…alas. I wish I could smell more of the leather or flowers. So many fruit blends just turn to fruit. It’s a shame. Silly chemistry.

Imp: The fruit-y, bubblicious scent of dragon’s blood! That’s all I can smell here with the exception of something hidden deep, way, way down. Wet: That ‘something’ starts to come out in a whole bouquet. Flowers, especially the lilac, spring up and tone down the fruitiness of the resin. Dry: It starts to blend well, both sides alternately vying for the top. One time it’s floral! and the next it’s dragon’s blood! After about an hour, it decides to play nice and blend together. It’s a lovely scent, but I think I’ll be fine with just the imp. It doesn’t grab me the way some of the others do.

A wonderful antidote to an all-nighter oozing with drunken, addled perversion and debauchery. A fresh, crisp white linen scent: perfectly clean, perfectly breezy. Imp: It’s a linen note. A very fresh scent, just like the description. Wet: This is very linen. It’s also got something almost citrus-y to my nose? I’m getting an edge of lemon-fresh scent. Dry: The citrus-whatever-it-is begins to mingle with the linen and form a delicious, bright scent. I love this type of fresh scent! I may need to eventually get a bottle of this for nice, warm summer days.

Imp: Dirt. This smells just like dirt after it's rained. It's kind of freaky. Wet: Still dirt, but now dirt that had a bouquet of roses sitting on top of it right before the rainstorm. Very much like a grave where the flowers were put out just moments before the downpour. Dry: Not much different from it being wet. All in all, it smells like a garden/grave after a rainstorm. I don't get the dry, sour note other people have talked about but damper scent. Not so sure I want to smell like that all the time, but I'll be keeping the imp.

This is a new imp, so it may be different with age, but so far: Imp: It's honey. Lots of honey. Oh! And there's some amber. Wet: Gah! Something is sour here. Something is really not good with my skin chemistry. I'm going to assume it's the honey just because that note shies on the side of "almost never works". No amber, no vanilla, just sour. Dry: The honey dies down (Thank the gods) but still remains pretty strong and what comes out is a mix of powdery amber and sickeningly sweet 'n sour honeysauce. Bluh. I'm gonna let this age and keep retrying it. I don't want to give up on it yet!