Penance

Origin: 5mL from OlfactoryMaven bought on LJ Preconceived notions: The idea of this scent intrigued me when it was announced, but I didn't want to deal with the hullabaloo of finding an angel to get me a bottle and wrote it off as something I didn't need under the circumstances. I kept thinking about it, though. I read the reviews later and saw how many people either disliked it or didn't find it wearable and should have been put off, but decided to take a gamble anyway, because that's how I roll with BPAL a lot of the time. First sniff: I definitely see where the reviews are coming from. This is acrid and a little industrial, but definitely inky and a little resinous. I can see why people find this off-putting, but I keep coming back for another sniff. Strange. Wet on skin: Not acrid, but still somewhat harsh. Very true ink scent with hints of what smells like cumin and frankincense. It sounds like a bizarre scent and it kind of is, but it's honestly not as strange in person as it is "on paper" (which conjures up images of a pen and ink illustrator eating curry in a church). Dry down: Ink for sure. Not ballpoint pen ink, either, and not copier toner. It's been so long since I've smelled real india ink that I can't quite remember exactly what it smells like, but this definitely isn't your "standard" everyday ink. The cumin has eased up noticeably, but it's still there and the resinous vibe has gotten slightly heavier with parchment (or some sort of heavy stock drawing paper, maybe, not printer/copier paper) in the background. The bottom line: Completely unique and strangely awesome in that "only the Lab could pull this off" sort of way. My mom hated this (although she did agree that it was very unique and that it smelled like some sort of art ink), but I actually really like it. It's definitely not a crowd-pleaser of a scent, but neither is Rivet.Goth and it's a winner for me, too. I wear perfume for me, not for anyone else, so I'll happily wear India Ink even though I may not be popular for doing it.

Origin: 5mL from the Lab (eBay) and a decant (the basis for my review) from...somewhere. Keep in mind that both were well-aged by the time I got them, so my review isn't of the fresh-from-the-Lab scent. Preconceived notions: I've had a decant of this one for quite a while and it took me a long time to get around to testing it. not entirely sure why. Maybe because leather (in perfume) and I have a complicated history (it's always had the tendency to be awesome or make me nauseous and that's even more the case since I went vegan a few years ago) or maybe because of the herbs and gravel mentioned in the description. I'm not a big fan of herb scents and gravel/rocks really don't work for me in Lab scents. There's something harsh about them to my nose and they tend to ruin otherwise awesome scents. I'm hoping to love this because the Lab's leather is a hit more often than it's a miss and I love pipe tobacco and resins. Hopefully the pros will outweigh the cons. First sniff: Somewhat sharp leather, like polished but beaten up shoes, complete with a little bit of shoe polish (which is undoubtedly the chemical note that so many of us get from some of the Lab's leather scents), with hints of herbs and tobacco. So far, so good, although I hope the sharpness dies down. Wet on skin: Softer leather mixed with pipe tobacco and resins. I'm not sure what resins are here. It smells a bit like copal. There's a sweetness to the scent, but it's not just coming from the resins, it's in the tobacco, too. I'm not getting any dust or gravel, which is fine because I'm not a fan of either. Dry down: The Traveller dries down into the most beautiful leather/resin/tobacco scent. Seriously, so good! It's masculine, but most definitely not unwearable for the ladies (in case that's not obvious since I'm wearing it and loving it). It makes me think more of Victorian smoking rooms than weary travelers with dusty shoes. It's soft, musky, leathery, resinous, sweet and a little smoky. Definitely a winner. I only wish that I'd not been on my BPAL hiatus when this came out so that I could have bought a couple of backup bottles (assuming I'd been brave enough to try it in spite of the gravel, dust and herbs and the possibility that it would have been too sharp for me when it was freshly made). I'm just glad I managed to find a bottle because my decant won't last long.

Origin: 2 x 5mL from the Lab. Thought I only ordered one (trying to be good in spite of my long-running history of immediately ordering at least 2 of any LE that sounds good), but apparently old habits are hard to break and I actually ordered two. Preconceived notions: I'm so glad the single notes have made a comeback! I've been waiting, hoping that something my alley would make an appearance. I've got bottles of Sweet Clove, Redwood, Red Mysore Sandalwood and Blue Lilac from the first go-round and love them. I only wish I'd gotten a few other scents before they disappeared, so I'm glad I've got another chance to try some more out. There was a time when I would have hated this. I can say that without even smelling it, sad as that is. I used to hate musk. And I do mean hate. Not as much as I hate almond or lotus or bubblegum or (most) flowers, but hate is still the right word. But I've learned to love musk and this sounds awesome even though I'm not sure what to expect. I'm a huge fan of red musk, so I'm hoping Siberian musk is similar, but it should be a hit regardless. There are very few types of musk that I don't care for, so this should be a safe choice. First sniff: Yum! Definitely on the more animalic side (which would have sent me running back when I was first getting into BPAL many moons ago), but still very wearable. It doesn't have that cat pee smell that puts me off civet, but it's still got a wildness to it. I'd say this is in the same family as red musk, although the two are different. This is like a less sweet, more "animal" version of red musk. I can tell a little is going to go a long way. Wet on skin: Pretty true to the bottle scent. No sudden "Hey, I'm cat pee!" vibe coming out of left field, which is a relief. My skin sometimes likes to do things like that. I only put on a tiny dab to test and I can easily smell it wafting up from my inner elbow! Dry down: Sexy, sweaty, dirty musky goodness. This is a down and dirty scent. It stays pretty stable from bottle to drydown, although it looses a bit of its pungency as it dries. That's not a bad thing, though. It's still a dirty musk, but it's not quite so aggressive as it is when its wet. There's something about this that puts me in mind of Snake Oil (minus the vanilla and spices I get from SO, particularly once its aged), so I'm with the people who suspect that this is one of the secret ingredients. The bottom line: I'm glad I accidentally got two bottles of this because I love it! I'm happy to wear a single note as perfume on its own, so Siberian Musk will be getting plenty of wear that way, but I can also see it layering beautifully. Snake Oil would be a natural partner for Siberian Musk, but I think there are going to be quite a few other scents in my (admittedly massive) collection that it would play nicely with.

Origin: 5mL from the Lab. Preconceived notions: I immediately put Uncle Matt on my "to try" list as soon as I read the ingredients. There was a time where I never would have tried this since I hated both chocolate and (most) fruit scents, but since my taste in scents has expanded, Uncle Matt was sounding pretty good. I've never smelled quince but I like fig and pear. Dark chocolate is my favorite type of chocolate as perfume and vanilla is usually a winner. I'm hopeful that this one's going to work, especially since I jumped right into a bottle instead of tracking down a decant. First sniff: Chocolatey in that rich, cocoa-ish dark chocolate way. I also get the vanilla, which adds a gentle sweetness and hints of the fig (rich, dark, bordering on cloying, but not in a bad way) and pear (sweet, light and subtle). I think maybe I smell the quince, but it could just be the pear. There's something almost like a cross between pear and apple lurking somewhere in there. Quince, is that you? Wet on skin: Uncle Matt smells the same on me as in the bottle for about 5 seconds and then starts to change rapidly. I'm guessing what I start smelling has to be the quince, because it's not any of the other notes. It has a sort of cough syrup smell to it (weirdly enough, it smells like prescription cough syrup, not the over the counter variety...I can't described the difference, but to me they're not the same creature), which I wasn't anticipating. I have a feeling it's my skin chemistry doing strange things to either the quince or some combination of the other notes. Dry down: Thankfully, the cough syrup phase doesn't last very long. Once it disappears, I'm left with a surprisingly soft chocolate and vanilla scent (comforting and sweet without being truly foody to my nose) with sweet, soft fruits in the background. Most of the fig disappears and it turns into a sort of golden apple/pear scent with only a tiny bit of the fig haging around in the far background. The bottom line: I like this one. It's not quite what I was anticipating (I was thinking it would be more like the box of chocolates scents; foody in an unexpected way), but it's nice all the same. I'm actually more apt to wear this than if it was a genuinely foody scent since I'm not a big gourmand fan (with some exceptions), so I can't complain about it going a different direction.

A glittering icicle of a woman, regal, proud and cold: shimmering white grapefruit, pale flowers and lemon bark with orchid, rose and a dash of mandarin. I got an imp of this from allamanda! First sniff: Something about this blend reminds me of Queen Mab...it must be the orchid. In the foreground, I smell grapefruit and mandarin orange the strongest although I wouldn't call this blend citrusy for some reason. I associate citrus with being cool and sharp and this is warm and soft, at least to my nose. I was worried about Queen of Diamonds being too citrusy, but it's not at all. I actually don't get the impression of cold from this; to me it's actually very warm and inviting smelling, like an orchard in summer. Wet on skin: I can't shake the feeling that this reminds me of another BPAL scent, but I can't put my finger on it apart from saying the orchid reminds me of Queen Mab, but there's something else there that's nagging at me. Every time I get close to figuring it out it slips away again. The grapefruit and the mandarin are still the most prominent with the orchid following on their heels. To me, this smells like a sophisticated garden party guest, carefully coiffed but dressed for springtime. Dry down: The grapefruit, mandarin and orchid have melded into one warm, slightly citrusy floral note now that the Queen is dry. The garden party guest has kicked off her high-heeled shoes and is letting her hair down, getting into the spirit of springtime. I don't get anything even remotely cold from this blend; to me the Queen is a warm spring sunrise, not a glittering icicle. The bottom line: Surprisingly warm and inviting smelling. The Queen isn't a haughty ice queen, she's a warm sunrise coloring a garden in the first throes of spring's bloom. I really love this one; I'm going to make my imp last as long as possible.

Origin: Tester from Scrappy. Preconceived notions: I love the idea of a ghost ship scent. And I love the teaser reviews that people have posted suggesting that Mary Celeste v4 is an "old wood" sort of scent. That's the kind of thing that perks my ears up. I'm really looking forward to this one. First sniff: Dry, old wood. It's not aquatic (not even a hint of sea spray to my nose, although it could be there) and it doesn't smell weatherbeaten. It just smells old, like sun-baked wood that's been sitting abandoned in the heat of the sun. Wet on skin: Same as in the imp. I have a feeling this is going to be a pretty linear scent. Dry down: I love this. It's still very similar to the scent in the tester (a very dry wood), but as it dries, it develops a very, very slight peppery note on my skin. That could be actual pepper or it could just be the wood. It's very faint and not really noticeable unless I put my nose right up close. I can't identify what kind of wood is in this, although it smells vaguely like redwood to me. I really don't think that's it, though. I did some searching to see if I could find out what kind of wood the Marie Celeste was made of and came up with oak, birch, beech, spruce and pine. All I can say for sure is that I'm definitely not smelling spruce or pine (it's not an evergreen/balsam type scent at all). I've read that white oak has a peppery smell, so that's a possibility. The bottom line: Mary Celeste v4 isn't an eerie scent, in spite of the name, but that's probably to be expected when it comes to a scent based on something that's not inherently scary (a ship) but gets its eeriness from the circumstances of the story that goes along with it (the ship being completely inexplicably abandoned and crewless in the middle of the ocean). This is a real winner for a wood lover like me. I'm particularly fond of dry wood scents and Mary Celeste definitely falls into that category. I'm actually glad that there's no aquatics or salt/sea spray here because it would have ruined the scent for me (I'm not a fan of salty aquatics or aquatics in general), although it might have made it a more appealing to people who want something more than dry wood in their perfume.

Origin: 5mL bought on Etsy. Preconceived notions: None whatsoever. I bought this one blind and haven't got a clue what to expect. The suspense! First sniff: Lavender. Strong lavender. Not as intensely herbal as some lavender notes can be, but lavender all the same. I can tell there are other things here, but I can't really get past the lavender to figure out what they are. Wet on skin: Lavender and fruit. Maybe some sort of citrus (grapefruit, maybe?) and berries (blackberry, possibly...it reminds me of Glasgow a little bit). It's pretty, but not really "me" at this point. Drydown: Non-descript. Sort of lavenderish, very softly fruity, maybe some very well-blended florals? It smells like expensive dusting powder on me at this point. I think my skin chemistry is playing havoc with this one. The bottom line: I so wanted this to work, but it evidently doesn't agree with my skin chemistry. This one has potential, but it just doesn't work all that well on me.

Origin: 5mL bought on LJ. Preconceived notions: I'm beyond excited about La Mano del Destino. I adore patchouli, love tobacco and like virtually every other note here. The only things I'm unsure about are the unknowns that I've never smelled before: copaiba and pao d'arco. I did a little bit of reading online and it looks like both of those should work for me, though, so I've got very high hopes for this one. First sniff: Dark, earthy patchouli and something that smells almost like redwood mixed with cedar, which must be the copaiba. There's a faint hint of chocolate here, too, but it's not foody. It just adds a little mode depth to the scent. So far, so good! Wet on skin: Pretty much the same as in the bottle, only now I get a tiny touch of cinnamon in addition to the patchouli, wood and cacao. It's a dark, gender neutral scent. Dry down: Love! Earthy patchouli, rich wood, tobacco (it smells like a cigar box with the combination of wood and tobacco) and hints of cinnamon, chocolate and vanilla. It's not foody in the slightest, but the chocolate, cinnamon and vanilla add some depth and complexity to the patchouli, wood and tobacco. The bottom line: I absolutely love this, although I can see patchouli-haters...well...hating this. It's definitely heavy on the patchouli (and on the copaiba). Luckily, that's very much my sort of thing, so I'm thrilled with this one and I'll definitely be getting backups before La Mano del Destino disappears. This is what I think of as an "old school BPAL" scent because it makes me think of the scents I tried when I was first getting into BPAL in 2004. It's got that "BPAL Smell™" to it, which I love.

Origin: Partial 5mL bought on LiveJournal. I originally had a bottle I received in the Inquisition but sold it years ago, so this is a retest of an aged bottle. Preconceived notions: I can't believe I haven't reviewed this, but evidently I haven't. In all honesty, I don't remember what Trick #2 smells like, just that I liked it back in 2006, but not enough to keep my bottle, even though it was the scent I wanted the most of the four possibilities. There are good notes and bad notes here, but for the most part, Trick #2 is right up my alley. I love patchouli and tobacco and I like vanilla, pink pepper (in moderation), oak and pine pitch. The berries and pomegranate could go either way. Pomegranate tends to smell like gummy bears on me, but I can wear Mme. Moriarty without a problem, so since Trick #2 has some similar notes, I'm hoping that it'll go the same way. First sniff: Dark, woody and slightly sweet. I'm getting the oak first and foremost, then tobacco and vanilla and a hint of dark red fruit. It's a dark, foreboding sort of scent. And that's just the sort of thing I like. Wet on skin: Trick #2 goes through a very short stage where it goes slightly funky on me, just like Mme. Moriarty does (although Mme. Moriarty stops doing that with a few years aging and Trick is more than a few years old at this point), but then it steers itself back on track and I get a very autumnal scent that makes me think of burning leaves, oak trees and the faint scent of the last of the year's fruits wafting on a breeze. Dry down: Honestly, this is what I want Samhain to smell like, as weird as that is, considering that they don't share many notes. Trick #2 is one of the Halloween-iest Halloween scents I've come across, which I wouldn't have expected from the notes. It's slightly sinister smelling, an weirdly atmospheric. It's like bobbing for pomegranates in a spooky forest mixed with dark, rich, non-foody vanilla. The bottom line: I really like Trick #2 and I'm glad I gave it another try. Now I'm wishing I hadn't gotten rid of my first bottle because I'm a slatherer and I hate having to ration scents I love.

Origin: 5mL from the Lab. Preconceived notions: This is one of those scents that got me more and more excited as I read my way through the notes. I was almost dreading a death note towards the end, but at the same time I was mentally screaming "Yes! Yes! YES!" All but one note in here is something that I either like or flat out love. The only thing I'm concerned about here is the hylichrysum. I don't generally do florals, but I've never tried sunflower and somehow I've got this idea in my head that it's going to be golden and lovely and somehow work for me. It's not going to ruin Hygeia for me. I know it. First sniff: Love in a bottle. This is like a softer, gentler version of aged Scherezade to my nose. It's got the sort of incensey red musk vibe that I get from Scherezade, but more rounded smelling somehow. I'm definitely getting the red musk, amber, sandalwood and incense and it seems like everything else is sort of swirling around in the background. Wet on skin: Lovely. Soft, musky and incensey. This is one of those "made for me" scents that the Lab does oh so well. I don't get any florals here, so they're apparently meshing seamlessly with the other notes instead of standing out on their own. Dry down: This is going in the favorites box. Yes, it's similar to Scherezade, but that's never stopped me before and it won't stop me now. Hygeia is a gorgeous, golden-amber-red scent that smells exotic and sensual, but down to earth. I love it. The bottom line: I'll be buying multiples of this one. No question. It's definitely in the same family as Scherezade, but less assertive and much smoother smeling. And the fact that the proceeds are going to a good cause is the icing on the cake.

I'm having a similar issue, findaghost, but with another scent. I've recently gotten two frimps of Tamora from the Lab (in two separate orders a couple of weeks apart). I was planning on ordering a bottle after receiving my first one, but now I'm waffling because they're noticeably different. One (the first one I received and the one I really like) is a medium-deep amber color and smells like sweet vanilla amber with a touch of fruity florals. The other is a pale gold color and smells much stronger on the peach blossom. I remember that I wasn't thrilled with Tamora the first time I tried it (years ago), but I don't remember why. I had assumed it was because amber wasn't one of my favorite notes back then (it turned sour), but maybe it was because I got one of the golden/fruity imps instead of the darker/amber-vanilla imps. Could it be an aging issue? Maybe, if the Lab happened to throw in a well-aged imp the first time around and a fresh one the second time. I tend to think it's more likely to be a batch variation, but I obviously don't know that for a fact. I'm nervous about ordering a bottle now.

Origin: 5mL bought on LJ. Preconceived notions: I've only seen the Will Call reviews for Chaotic, which mention musk, resins and fruit, so I'm not sure whether to expect something similar or something totally different from v3. First sniff: Mint and some sort of musk. It reminds me in a way of Helping Hand (the TAL blend) without the chocolate. Wet on skin: More of the same, but now with a bit of something that smells almost like lime or some other tart fruit. It's very faint, but it adds a tiny tang to the scent. Dry down: The mysterious lime/fruit note is gone (it could have been a skin chemistry thing, since my skin's been known to create odd scents during the wet stage of some scents) and I'm getting anise or licorice, musk, mint and soft spices of some sort. The bottom line: This is a nice scent, but it's not for me. I don't do anise or licorice or fennel or anything similar. Glad I got to try this, though.

I agree that they're not very similar at all. Red Lace was a light, generically sweet, powdery red fruit scent with cotton and Mme. Moriarty is darker (it starts out relatively light, but still darker than Red Lace, and then gets much richer and deeper as it ages) and deeper. I didn't get any patchouli at all from Red Lace and I don't really get an identifiable patchouli note, but it does add a darkness to the scent and I can tell its there.

Origin: 5mL bought second-hand. I don't remember who I got it from, but I do know that I got it very cheap, which is why I took a chance on it. Preconceived notions: I bought this before finding out that Battenberg cake has almond in it. Unfortunately, I loathe the smell of almond. Almond oil in perfume makes me horribly nauseous, so I'm nervous about trying this one out, although I've been told that the almond in this is virtually non-existent. I'm hoping that's the case. Everything else sounds...well, interesting. I'm not really going to say it sounds good, because I can't really imagine a perfume that smells like cucumber sandwiches and Earl Grey tea. It doesn't sound bad, either. Definitely interesting. First sniff: Foody, but not in an overpowering or cloying way. Teatime in Roswell is very mild. I get soft, faint cucumber, light cake and just a touch of tea. It's almost clean smelling in the way that cucumber-melon scents smell clean, not in a soapy way. Wet on skin: Uh-oh, is that almond I smell? I do believe it is. It's faint and it's on the marzipan end of the spectrum (which means it's more tolerable than flat-out, in-your-face almond, but still not something I'm going to enjoy smelling), but it's there. I don't get cucumber or tea at this point. Instead, it's all light, white cake with marzipan filling. It's still a mild, gentle scent. I can see this being a great scent for a child or for an adult who can't or doesn't want to wear a strong scent but wants to smell nice. Dry down: Thank God, the almond has faded quite a bit. It's still there, but it's a lot like the pseudo-marzipan note in Snow White. It adds a touch of marzipan-like sweetness without crossing the line into true almond territory. Mainly, what I'm getting is a mishmosh of buttered bread (which is like a lighter version of Bread-And-Butterfly), cucumber (adding a light, watery greenness) and a touch of white cake. It's a very pastel scent. Pale green, yellow and white. The tea is nowhere to be seen. This tea party is all about the food, not the drinks. The bottom line: This isn't the sort of scent I typically wear and it's not something I would wear everyday, but I have to say that I actually like it once it dries completely. I could do without the wet stage, but it doesn't last long and (thankfully) it doesn't trigger my nausea the way strong almond scents to. It's just not a scent I enjoy at that stage. This isn't bad in the end, though. It somehow belongs in the same mental category as TKO for me. They both have a sort of "little girl's fantasy land" sort of thing going on, although I'm not sure how many little girls fantasize about eating cucumber sandwiches at their tea parties.

This is my (not so) "short" list of favorite BPAL scents. Things get moved in and out now and then, so this list is constantly in a state of flux, although most of the older scents are perma-faves. Bolded scents are ones I would wear any day, regardless of the sort of mood I'm in, without hesitation. I love the other scents, but not everything is something that I always feel like wearing. Anne Bonny Aureus Badger The Black Rider Black Temple Burlesque Troupe Bloodlust Brom Bones The Buggre Alle This Bible Captain Cully Cathedral CD023 The Coiled Serpent Coyote Dancing Koi Dark Chocolate, Whiskey and Cognac Truffle Eat Me Fenris Wolf Fighter 51 The Forbidding Foyer Gothabilly Hellion The Infernal Lover (red musk) The Infernal Lover (no red musk) Invasion of the Flesh-Eating Reindeer from Uranus Ivanushka Tarot: Judgement Lump of Coal Lust v7 Madame Moriarty, Misfortune Teller Mad Sweeney March Hare Mole Monster Bait: Closet Mouse's Long and Sad Tale (very aged) Mr. Jacquel Nonae Caprotina #OCCUPYWALLSTREET Paladin Panther Moon Penitence Pinched with Four Aces Quincy Morris Rivet.Goth Rogue Scherezade Sin Snake Charmer Snake Oil Storyville Troll Tushnamatay Typhon Umbra Velvet Bandito Voodoo Queen Western Diamondback White Chocolate, Black Raspberry and Apricot Cordial Truffle White Peacock The second string favorites: (A lot of these would be in my main favorites box if I had more room. Some are in here because they're too similar to other favorites already in The Box of Awesome and others are here because I really like them, but have to be in the right mood to wear them. Still others are just ones that I wear often enough to want them to be a little more accessible than the scents in my BPAL cabinet are.) Blue Moon 2004 Boomslang Calaveras CD: Misfortune Teller v3 Chaos Theory VI: Recursive Self-Similarity V7 #36 Damnation Dorian Elf Elf v4 Event Horizon The Forbidding Foyer Half-Elf Herr Drosselmeyer King of Spades La Mano del Destino The Lion Magic, Do as You Will Marianne MB: Underbed v1 Miskatonic University v3 Pancake Breakfast Phyllocrania Paradoxica v1 Phyllocrania Paradoxica v3 Queen Mab Queen of Spades Raven Moon The Red Rider SAQQARA v2 Stranger in Camp Tamora

Bold = I own at least one bottle (or at least a partial bottle in a couple cases) of this scent Italics = I own an empty/tester/very low level bottle Waiting to be tried: Aeval Alice's Evidence Alien Invasion All in the Golden Afternoon Andreiphontes The Apple of Sodom Arcana Baghdad Baku Baneberry Bathsheba Bensiabel The Black Apple of Saturn Black Heart Black Hellebore Black Lily The Black Swan Bleeding Heart Blood Moon 2008 Blue Phoenix v2 Boadicea BRAII (tester) Cabaret.Goth (sniffie) Caligula CD: The Geek Show (unreleased prototype; tester) Champagne and Party Hats (tester) Chaotic (unreleased prototype version; tester) The Chilling Cellar Chintamani-Dhupa Cobra Lily Cockaigne Cordelia Couple Consulting an Enpon (sniffie) Croquet The Curator Danube Dead Man's Hand v8 (tester) The Death-Horse Deadly Nightshade Honey Deep in Earth The Deep Ones Defututa Delousing Powder Detox Dia Diwali (tester) Dragon's Reverie Elegy IX: The Autumnal Envy Epitaph Erato Eros Ether Evening Cicadas and Red Peppers Evil (unreleased prototype version; tester) Expressive Head Faeu Boulanger Faunalia The Festival of Anuket The Forest Reverie Frumious Bandersnatch The Ghastly Garden Golden Wave The Gorobble Hairy Toad Lily Halloween: New Orleans Haloes Hi'iaka Horreur Sympathique Hymn to Proserpine (or Prosperpine...that's what my imp says!) Iambe Ichabod Crane The Ides of March 2010 Illuminati Cotillion The Isles of Demons Jerusalem Cherry Infused Honey Jólasveinar 2010 Khandita Kitsune-Tsuki Kubla Khan Kumari Kandam Lamia Languor La Primavera Leather Phoenix Les Bijoux Les Fleurs du Mal Liberty Libra 2007 Love-Lies-Bleeding Lulu (unreleased prototype version) Lyonesse Mag Mell The Mandrake Charm Manhattan Mania Manipura Marquis de Carabas Masquerade Mead Moon (sniffie) Miaiphonos Mictecacihuatl Molly Grue Monarch Moscow Motley The Music of Erich Zahn MVJHL Bake Sale v3 (tester) Niflheim The Night Hag Visiting the Lapland Witches Noisome Clockwork Tin Locomotive Odd Portents Ode on Melancholy Ogygia Old Demons of the First Class The Old Goblin Olokun Oneiroi Parthenope The Phantom Wooer Philologus Phobos The Phoenix in Winter Phoenix Steamworks The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (tester) Pollution Pontarlier Pothon Meter Prurience Queen Alice The Reaper and the Flowers Roses, Pearls and Diamonds Rozpustnica Sanctus The Sea Foams Milk Sed Non Satiata Sekhmet v5 Shanghai Shattered Shill v1 (tester) Shoggoth Silenti (sniffie) Slobbering Pine The Sluggard Smokestack Smoky Moon 2009: Tristesses de la Lune Snap-Dragon-Fly Soothing System v1 Sticky Pillowcase Stimulating Sassafras Strengthener Strawberry Moon 2009 Suspiro Symmakhia Tabula Smaragdina Terpsichore Toad Toad Hall To a Woman The Torture Queen The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil Trinket The Triumph of Death Twinkle, Twinkle Little Bat Uncle Travelling Matt Unveiled Velvet Clown Velvet Unicorn Verdandi The Vine Violet Ray White Chocolate Mango Buttercream Whoso List to Hunt The Wild Swans at Coole The Witch's Garden Yürei On the way: Dark chocolate with merlot-infused black cherries and star anise French Tobacco Mayan chocolate with annatto seed, Anaheim pepper, cinnamon and vanilla bean Sic Erit Voyeuristic Monkey

The first part of this list can be found here! I had to split it up because it was getting cut off otherwise. Purple = love this scent (these are my absolute favorites, the best of the best) Green = like this scent (there's a lot of variation here, I may like it--even like it a lot--but just don't absolutely love it or I might think it's nice enough but not the kind of scent I enjoy wearing) Orange = this scent is just okay (I try not to lump scents into this category if I think they're nice but not for me; these are mainly the scents that I don't hate, but can't see a lot of appeal in, on me or on someone else) Red = don't like this scent (I rarely actively hate a BPAL scent...these are the scents that provoke an immediate "Get it away from me!" reaction for some reason, often because they have almond or rose in them, but those two notes aren't automatic qualifiers for inclusion) Bold = I own at least one bottle (or at least a partial bottle in a couple cases) of this scent Italics = I own an empty/tester/very low level bottle BOOM! Studios: Bette Noir Diabolus: Akuma Baobhan Sith Black Annis Black Phoenix Black Widow Blood Countess Bloodlust Bluebeard Catherine Deimos Dracul Ekhidna Fenris Wolf Goblin Hellcat Hell's Belle Incubus Kuang Shi Kumiho Loup Garou Maenad Malice Marquise de Merteuil Masabakes Medea Nephilim Nocnitsa Noir Nosferatu Phantom Queen Phobos Rage Serpent's Kiss Szepasszony Troll Typhon Unseelie Venom Villain The District: Countess Willie Crib Girls Josie Doc Constantine’s Pharmacopoeia: Bruised Violet Compound Excolo: Aglaea Aizen-Myoo Alecto Al-Shairan Anubis Bastet Baron Samedi Centzon Totochtin Clio Coyote Czernobog Elegba Eos Euphrosyne Eve Gaueko Grandmother of Ghosts Hades Hecate Kali Kurukulla Lilith Loviatar Nemesis Nyx Obatala Ochosi Odin Ogun Old Scratch Oya Peithos Pele Persephone Polyhymnia Queen Mab Sacred Whore of Babylon Santa Muerte Shango Skuld Tezcatlipoca Thalia Thanatos Urania Urd Xiuhtecuhtli Yemaya Gris Grimly: Detestable Putrescence Hideous Heart Hellboy: Kroenen Liz Illyria: Antony The Apothecary Caliban Desdemona Goneril Iago Jester Juliet Katharina Lady Macbeth Lear Oberon Ophelia Othello Queen Gertrude Robin Goodfellow Rosalind Tamora Three Witches Titania Titus Andronicus The Last Unicorn: Arachne of Lydia Captain Cully Elli's Song Hagsgate The King's Daughter Magic, Do as You Will The Midnight Carnival ParaNorman: Hippie Ghost The Mad Tea Party: Alice Bread-and-Butterfly The Caterpillar Cheshire Cat The Dodo The Dormouse Drink Me Eat Me How Doth the Little Crocodile Jabberwocky The King of Hearts The Knave of Hearts The Lion Mad Hatter March Hare The Mock Turtle's Lessons Mouse's Long and Sad Tale (I only love this when it's very aged, otherwise it's a like, not a love) The Pool of Tears The Queen of Hearts The Red Queen Rocking-Horse-Fly Snooty Rose Tiger-Lily 'Tis the Voice of the Lobster Tweedledee Tweedledum White Rabbit Marchen: Baba Yaga (GC version) Beer From the Marsh Woman's Brewery Belle Vinu The Black Rider The Chicken-Legged Hut Egle The Grave-Pig Grief The Light of Men's Lives The Little Sparrow The Little Wooden Doll (not so great on my skin, but pretty in the bottle or a scent locket) Moonshine and Mist The Night-Raven Prunella The Red Rider The Rose Rumpelstilzchen The Sea Foams Blood Serpents with Glittering Eyes and Forky Tongues (kind of in between; I like it but it's bordering on being just okay) Vasilissa The White Rider The Witch's Repast Neil Gaiman: Aziraphale The Buggre Alle This Bible Crowley Hunter The Ifrit (tester) Ligur Famine Hastur Mad Sweeney I. The Magician Mr. Ibis Mr. Jacquel The Potters' Field Shadwell Sunbird (LE) The Velvets War Panaceas: Lustration Moxie Quietude Safari Seduction Succor TKO Phoenix Steamworks: The Antikythera Mechanism (I'm ambivalent about this one) No. 93 Engine The Robotic Scarab (in between liking it and feeling meh about it) A Picnic in Arkham: Al-Azif Arkham Azathoth Brown Jenkins Cthulu Miskatonic University Nyarlathotep R'Lyeh Shub-Niggurath Rappaccini's Garden: Belladonna Black Hellebore Honey Black Rose Blood Lotus Blood Rose Bohun Upas Death Cap Destroying Angel Devil's Claw Dian's Bud Hemlock Hemlock Honey Love-in-Idleness Mandrake Mantis Moon Rose Shadow Witch Orchid Strangler Fig Tobacco Honey Wolfsbane Yellow Jessamine Honey Yew-Trees RPG: Chaotic Cleric Dwarf Evil Elf Fighter Gnome Good Half Elf Halfling Lawful Mage Neutral Orc Paladin Ranger Rogue The Salon: And There Was a Great Cry in Egypt Carceri d'Invenzione Cloister Graveyard in the Snow Death of the Grave Digger Garden Path with Chickens The Isle of the Dead The Smiling Spider Two Monsters Sin & Salvation: Anathema Black Dahlia The Bow and Crown of Conquest Cathedral Damnation Death on a Pale Horse Dorian Fallen Faustus Gluttony The Great Sword of War Greed Hellfire (original) Hellfire (new) Hymn Jailbait Laudanum Lex Talionis Lust Magdalene Malediction Nero Oblivion Paramatman Penitence Roadhouse Rose Cross The Scales of Deprivation Sea of Glass Seraphim Sin Sloth Tzadikim Nistarim Vice Wrath Somnium: Nanshe Somnus Temple of Dreams Vampires Don't Sleep Alone: Tombeur VILF (the wet stage and early drydown are made of fail, but the later drydown is nice enough) Wanderlust: 51 Amsterdam Athens Bayou Bengal Cairo Crossroads Delphi Dublin Eden Florence Glasgow Gomorrah The Hamptons The Hanging Gardens Hollywood Babylon Ile de la Tortue (tester) Kathmandu Kostnice Kyoto London Machu Picchu Manila Morocco New Orleans Paris Port-au-Prince Port Royal Rome Santo Domingo Silk Road Sri Lanka Sybaris Tenochtitlan Tintagel Tombstone Uruk Venice Vinland Whitechapel Yerevan

Origin: 5mL from the Lab. Preconceived notions: I was so excited to see that the Lab had a cicada scent. I love cicacadas! The notes sound intriguing. I love the smell of tree sap, amber and moss) and I like hemp and rice milk, but hay is touch and go and I don't know how I'm going to feel about the acorn (that note in particular has me very curious), corn stalks (I love the smell of actual corn stalks, but I'm not sure how well it's going to translate into perfume for me) and almond blossoms (I despise almond; the scent of almond oil makes me nauseous, but I'm not sure about almond blossom). But, the Will Call reviews have me worried. I don't want a foody scent and I don't want lots of almond. I want something plant-like and sappy. I have a feeling that I might regret buying this one, but I had to try it for myself since the notes sound so interesting and I love the idea of a cicada scent. First sniff: Uh-oh. Do not want. I sniffed this when I first got it in, recoiled and set it aside, thinking maybe it needed to settle. Opened it up to sniff it again today after giving it 10 days to rest and it's still the same. I'm not even entirely sure how to describe this. Nutty hay mixed with something weirdly cookie-like would be the best I can describe it, I think. Wet on skin: No better than in the bottle. In fact, I think I might like it even less at this point. There's something coming out that smells like hay only greener. I suppose it could be the corn stalks, but it doesn't smell like actual corn stalks to me. This is such a weird scent. Now, I don't have a problem with weird scents, but this one's weird in a way that makes my stomach turn a little. Dry down: I really should have listened to the Will Call reviews, but I've been known to turn scents that other people don't like into something pretty awesome, so I had to take the gamble. Plus, the whole cicadas thing. Can't forget that. Brood XIX is actually pretty nice smelling once it dries down (it loses most of the weirdness along the way), but it's just not my kind of scent. In the end, it reminds me a bit of The Chicken-Legged Hut mixed with some of the porridge from Halfling (but without the berry note I get from Halfling). It smells kind of like cookies, kind of like nutty grains and kind of like hay. It's definitely on the foody side on me, but it's not entirely foody. The bottom line: I so wanted to love this and I'm tempted to keep it for the concept, but I'm trying to break myself of the habit of buying/keeping oils that don't work for me just because I like the name, concept or label art. I just don't like this sort of foody scent, so I guess it's going to find a new home.

Origin: Near-empty tester bottle from Absinthetics. Preconceived notions: The notes in Velvet Cthulhu sound fascinating, but I'm having a really hard time imagining what it's going to actually smell like. I've smelled all of these notes either individually or in other things, it's just the whole putting them together thing that has me scratching my head. I love trying scents with weird note combinations, though, so I'm excited to give this one a try. First sniff: It's hard to pick out individual notes here. It's very much a green scent. The main thing I'm smelling here is the Touareg tea (which is a kind of mint tea served in parts of Africa; I had it when I was in Morocco and it's delicious and smells wonderful), but there's also a sort of bright citrus thing going on. It makes me think of the Lab's green tea note, which isn't listed here, but would fit in with the other notes. Wet on skin: Mint tea mixed with wasabi. That sounds disgusting when I look at it in writing, but it doesn't smell bad at all. It's a strange combination of minty sweetness and slightly spicy greenness. I think I'm starting to get the khus and coriander now, too. There's an almost herbal thing going on in the background. Dry down: In the end, Velvet Cthulhu dries down into a nice woody tea scent (I'm still getting mainly Touareg tea, but also a bit of the pu-erh) with faint hints of herbs and resins. It's still a green scent, but a muted green mixed with shades of brown. The bottom line: This is unique, but not as weird as I was expecting it to be. It actually smells pretty awesome in the end, although it's not necessarily the sort of scent that would appeal to everyone. I may end up getting a bottle of this one. Edit: Spelling. I can't seem so spell Cthulhu right to save myself.

Origin: Lagniappe from a generous seller. Preconceived notions: I absolutely love the name and artwork, but the notes here are iffy to say the least. I don't do florals with very few exceptions (I sometimes like lilac and can tolerate osmanthus, honeysuckle and orchid in small amounts) and this sounds like a floral bomb. I do like grass scents, so it's not all bad. I'm going into this with an open mind since the Lab has a knack for creating scents that shouldn't work for me but do. Maybe I'll get lucky and this one will be a rule breaker. First sniff: First off, let me say that I'm terrible at identifying floral notes. The only ones I can reliably identify are lilac and rose. Others I sometimes recognize and sometimes don't. I can tell you if a floral scents is heady, tropical, creamy, etc. but I can't tell you what actual flower I'm smelling most of the time. So, keeping that in mind... What I smell here is soft grass (not the intense, super sharp green grass note that sometimes crops up in BPAL scents, but a softer, springier grass note) and a mix of soft, gentle florals. It smells like a garden in spring and it's actually really lovely. For some reason, I want to say that it makes me nostalgic, but while we had a small flower garden when I was growing up, it didn't smell like this (probably because the only flowers in it were tiger lilies and roses). This is a very feminine scent. The kind of scent that makes me want to put on a sundress and sandals and sit outside with the sun on my face. Wet on skin: The grass is a little more prominent now, but it's still mainly a riot of different florals. While it's a very floral scent, it's not obnoxiously floral and it doesn't make me feel like I'm going to develop a raging migraine at any moment. It smells natural rather than perfumey, if that makes sense. There's a hint of something weird hanging around the edges, though. It's somewhat bitter and unpleasant. I've only had two other scents (One to Tie, Two to Win and Trachelophorus Giraffe v3) go weirdly bitter on me and while they were more intensely bitter than Garden Path, the effect is similar. The offending note in One to Tie was almost definitely the dandelion, but I'm not sure what it was in Trachelophorus. I'm guessing there's some sort of green plant stem note in here that's doing something similar. Dry down: The weirdness gets worse as the oil dries. It's a subtle bitterness, but it's enough to be off-putting. There's also a very faint pepperiness. I'm guessing it has to be coming from the nasturtium (big leap there, since it says right in the description that it's "peppery nasturtium"). I, unfortunately, hate peppery scents, so while it's subtle, it still stands out to me. The end scent is a sweet, innocent spring-time floral blend with soft grass (and the faint bitterness/pepperiness I mentioned before). If those two party crashers stayed away, Garden Path would be very pretty. The bottom line: I have to say, I like Garden Path with Chickens in the imp. It's spring/summer in a bottle and it really brings out my inner flower child (as opposed to my inner stinky hippie, which gets indulged almost every day). But it doesn't seem to like my skin very much, unfortunately, so this is one of those scents that I have to wear in a locket so that my skin chemistry can't wreak havoc on it. Still, I like it enough that I bought a bottle after testing my frimp.

The first scent that comes to mind for me is Silas Ruthyn. It's not a scary scent, but whenever I smell it, I always think of a Victorian mansion that's fallen into decay, with heavy, deep purple velvet curtains and thick carpeting and a resident who wears old-fashioned smoking jackets and dabbles in the occult. It's got a sort of atmospheric evilness to it, which I love.

51 is the perfect summer scent for me. I don't normally wear scents seasonally (if I love something, I wear it whenever I want), but 51 just screams "warm weather" to me. The honeydew is fresh and juicy and the florals and light musk are delicate and airy. It's a huge departure from my usual heavy incense/musk/leather blends, but I love it.

Origin: 5mL bought on Etsy. Preconceived notions: I really like the released version of Boomslang, so I'm looking forward to giving this version a try. First sniff: Yep, that's Boomslang, alright. The scent is recognizable, but the chocolate is lighter in this version than the released. This version has the light chocolate of a fresh bottle of the released version, but mixed with aged Snake Oil. I can see where people are getting a nutty vibe from this. It does have a faint sort of hazelnut-like scent. But I think that just might be one of those phantom scents that come up when certain notes are combined. Wet on skin: Light chocolate, aged Snake Oil and a stronger hazelnut-like note. Normally I hate the smell of nuts, but this is nice. Dry down: The (pseudo?) hazelnut scent is gone and I get aged Snake Oil and soft, but rich chocolate. It's less chocolatey than the released version, which is fine by me because I sometimes find Boomslang to be just a little too heavy on the cocoa. This is a warm, comfortable scent but strangely sexy in its own way. The bottom line: This isn't too far off from the released version. It seems to be more of a difference in note ratios than anything. I like both versions and, while they're similar, I'm glad I have both in my collection.

Origin: 5mL from the Lab. Preconceived notions: I love wood and sap scents (and the smell of sawdust) and I think the rocking-horse-fly is adorable, but I've put off trying this one because of the privet (sounds like it could be a very sharp green) and the shellac (can't say that I enjoy the smell of that). Curiosity got the better of me, though, and I ordered a bottle unsniffed. Hopefully it works! First sniff: Whoa, privet! That's exactly what I was hoping I wouldn't get so much of from this scent. It's not that it's a bad smell, it's just too intense and sharp and stabby for me. It makes me think of my childhood, but not in a good way, weirdly enough. I can't really tell what else is in here at this point. It's just overwhelming privet in the bottle. Wet on skin: Still mainly privet, but the wood and sawdust are starting to come out. I don't smell shellac specifically, but it doesn't smell (entirely, since there's some sawdust here) like raw, unfinished wood. If you took my childhood neighbor's woodshop and added one of the big bushes growing outside my best friend's house, you'd have something very much like Rocking-Horse-Fly. It's still too much privet for my liking, but it's better than in the bottle. Dry down: Weirdly enough, once this dries, a sort of green aquatic note comes out of nowhere. It smells like Water of Notre Dame of all things and I've got no clue what the culprit is. I actually like the scent of Rocking-Horse-Fly now, although it's nothing like what I was envisioning. It's a calm, peaceful scent and vaguely sweet. There could be a touch of sawdust here, but it may just be the power of suggestion at work, since I doubt I'd pick up on that if I didn't know it was in here. The bottom line: Crazy skin chemistry strikes again? I never used to do bizarre things to scents and I've never had my skin go crazy over a scent I've worn and loved for years, just new scents that I've tried in the last year or so. Either I'm doing something to Rocking-Horse-Fly or my nose is broken, because in the end it smells nothing like shellacked wood, sawdust, privet or any combination of them. It smells sweet, clean and aquatic in a blue-green sort of way.

Origin: 5mL from the Lab. Preconceived notions: It's no secret that I love vultures. I always have. My mom still talks about how whenever we went to the zoo when I was little, I had to see the vultures first. So Meskhenet's got that going for it right off the bat. I've been putting off trying it because I wasn't sure about the notes, but with the Carnaval temporarily disappearing and the possibility that I might never see it again (if it were discontinued due to a component issue before the Carnaval scents came back), I took a chance on it. I love frankincense and olibanum, apparently, since it's another type of frankincense and I like oris and hyssop. The rest of the notes are unknowns. I don't like florals and non-woody green notes are hit or miss, but something about this sounds really pretty, even if I can't quite imagine what it's going to smell like. First sniff: Soft, feminine and slightly sweet in an aquatic floral sort of way. I couldn't tell you what was in here without the notes in front of me. I'd probably peg it as a sweet, blue-green aquatic (I normally hate aquatics, but a very select few of this variety work) with a touch of something floral in a tropical sort of way. Reading a description like that and comparing it to the sort of scents I normally like, you would probably think I would hate this, but I don't. It's actually pretty and something I would wear, albeit not every day. Wet on skin: Now the more "me" notes are putting in an appearance. It's still mainly a clean, sweet, slightly aquatic floral scent, but there are soft resins here. It's feminine and peaceful smelling somehow. Dry down: I was really loving Meskhenet until it suddenly developed the dreaded pepperiness that I've gotten from several blends in the last 6 months or so. I'm going to guess that it's the frankincense or olibanum. I've never noticed pepperiness from frankincense blends before, but I have a bag of frankincense resin that does have a slightly peppery note to it, so I'm going to assume that has to be the culprit. It's very faint, but it's just enough to keep me from completely liking Meskhenet on me. The bottom line: This is a pretty scent but I know that that tiny little bit of pepperiness is going to drive me crazy, like an itch I can't scratch, so this one might be better suited to use in a scent locket, even though the bottle scent doesn't have the lovely resins that it has on my skin (before it dries completely).