lilirose

In the imp- Bright musk. On skin, wet: Ooh, I like this. It’s mostly a sweet, light musk which does an excellent job of lifting the patchouli in a very attractive way. It’s far more “sweet perfume” than one would expect from a scent with patchouli as a main note. On skin, dry: This is really lovely. I usually am not a giant fan of patchouli but it’s working for me here. I’m not smelling too much poppy, which is fine because poppy often goes bitter on me. It has the sort of throw I like, as well, meaning that I’m noticing it quite a bit even though I’ve only applied a small amount to the back of each wrist. I think I’m a fan of white musk (it being a note in some other favourites like Ice Queen). Verdict: It’s going on my “possible 5ml” wishlist.

This was an immediate 5ml purchase for me, because nearly every note in it is a favourite. Unfortunately, it was not at all what I was expecting. In the bottle: Coca-Cola. It’s even fizzy-smelling. On skin, wet: See “in the bottle”. On skin, dry: I’m trying hard to find any of my beloved notes- myrrh, frankincense, ambergris….shouldn’t this be resiny? Why do I still only smell Coke? Where is all the bright sweetness coming from? 2+ hours in: I can just about make out the ambergris and can almost imagine that I smell myrrh and vanilla and coriander. I’m not getting cumin or grape (though it’s possible the grape is where the sweetness comes from). Still, it mostly smells like Coke. I suppose that the absence of the notes I was expecting means it’s well-blended, but I’m just not feeling the love, and I’m really sad about that. I may wait a while to see if it ages into something nice, but I’m probably going to swap it off to a new home.

In the imp- rose and deep incense On skin, wet- Lovely! The florals in this reminds me of #20 Love Oil- very bright to the point of being nearly citrusy. Could it be that both have rose and wisteria? (I don’t know the notes in #20 Love Oil at all- just a hunch.) On skin, dry: Awesome staying power and throw. Still reminds me a bit of #20 Love Oil. I don’t really smell the lily notes (they fade on me in other blends, too). I like the incensey background very much; it adds a gorgeous depth to the floral. Verdict: Like this a lot, may have to spring for a 5ml.

Van Van (the general hoodoo version, not necessarily the BPAL version) is very commonly worn by men in New Orleans. High John the Conqueror would be another good choice, as would Wolf's Heart. If you're interested in looking at Twilight Alchemy Lab scents, which have specific magical purposes, Lionheart, Master, and Wolf's Heart (TAL version) would all be good choices- especially Lionheart, in my opinion.

Tested in my oil warmer rather than on skin, as I find the warmer to be more effective for the Somnus blends. I would swear this is a clone of TAL Peace. It’s soft lavender, nearly pure, with some other gentle scent that reminds me of hay or something similar. I'm not getting the anise note others have mentioned, which is good, as I don't like anise at all. And throw: OMG! I used less than a quarter of a ml and I can smell it throughout my house. For effect: I cant yet say whether it prevents nightmares, but after putting it on the warmer my daughter was asleep in ten minutes- it often takes an hour or more to get her to go down at night. Verdict: I love it- it’s my favourite of the Somnium blends so far, and think it will be one I’ll need to have on hand at all times.

2008 version. This was the first one I had to try from my latest order. Very high hopes! In the bottle: Ooooh. Sweet, lovely incense. On skin. wet: Wait, what? It’s gone to almost pure sandalwood. On skin, dry: The sandalwood stays predominant for a while, but then slllloooowly fades. After a couple of hours it turns into the scent I’d prayed for. The myrrh rises up, balanced by frankincense. I get a slight hint of wax, as well, but not the standard BPAL beeswax note. Verdict: Love. Awesome resiny incense scent. I’m so glad I bought a 5ml unsniffed.

In the imp, I mostly smell slightly sharp herbs and incense. Wet on skin- Quite resinous. This is warm and very slightly acrid. Drydown- Smooths and mellows completely, but is still strong and lovely and warm. Quite sweet. I would have sworn it has amber and vanilla, though they aren't listed notes. It definitely is strongly honey, which blends so gorgeously with myrrh. It reminds me of Anactoria, for some reason. Verdict: Gorgeous. Adding to the 5ml wishlist.

I was expecting I’d love this, since I’m a massive fan of lavender, so I bought a 5ml unsniffed. Sadly, no. To my nose it was so strongly jasmine that I couldn’t smell anything else- not even a touch of lavender- and I have a weird nose that makes jasmine smell dank and musty rather than sweet and floral. I tried putting some in an oil warmer, and it worked very well to help my daughter sleep- but I ended up sending my 5ml to a new home, because TKO, Nanshe, and Baku all work better for my chronic insomnia.

I think Beth is pretty strong in recommending that oils should never be used on a baby's skin or on anything that may be in contact with a baby's skin. With that said, I have an oil warmer (that gently warms oils and would not burn if touched) which I use to scent my daughter's room at bedtime. She's responded well to many lavender-containing oils- TKO and Lilith Victoria seem to work the best, but I also have had good luck with Somnus, Baku, and TAL Peace.

This is another one I tried before checking what was in it. Oops. In the imp: sweet floral. Could be pretty. On skin, wet: For a few minutes, it’s unspeakably beautiful, transcendent floral. On skin, dry: OMG no, this is ylang-ylang. It had so much promise and then it just suddenly turned into nothing but ylang-ylang, which is one of the few notes I can’t bear. Verdict: I Died For Beauty broke my heart. If only it held up to its original promise.

In the imp: strangely sweet- almost fruity, yet dry at the same time. Wet on skin: this is the sweetest “woodsy” BPAL I’ve tried, even more so than my beloved Yew-Trees with its berries. Quite feminine, but somehow only seems faintly woodsy to me. Not getting earth or moss or ozone at all. Dry: this doesn’t morph much on me. It seems somewhat high-pitched on my skin. Verdict: about a 3.5. I don’t love it madly, nor do I hate it.

In the imp: light incense. On skin, wet: Sandalwood and something resinous, though I can’t yet say what. On skin, dry: Sandalwood with a sweet background- frankincense? After about 30 minutes the sandalwood (which of course is not a listed note) goes away and the myrrh becomes the strongest note. Still rather delicate and quiet. 2 hours on: MMMMMMmyrrh. I love myrrh. I smell very little else at this point. It’s like Hecate without the almond. I love this, and it will probably go on my 5ml wishlist, but I’d like to compare it to Midnight Mass before I decide.

Three white musks, ozone, frankincense, mint. I was gifted with an imp of this by triptychenchanted, after longing to try it for at least a year, as I’d heard it’s very like my precious but unobtainable Ice Queen. And it is so very much like Ice Queen. Maybe slightly more ozone- which doesn’t bother me as I love ozone-based scents. As a matter of fact (O blasphemy!) I think I might like it better than Ice Queen. It is so much evocative of the painting. I can imagine I’m walking towards the ruined chapel, the snow crunching beneath my feet, the faint smell of incense emanating from the cold stone. I’ve spent an awful lot of time in old graveyards (as my husband once had the job of copying inscriptions in ancient Irish graveyards for addition to a database) so this is a smell I know. This one is definitely going on my wishlist for a 5ml.

Well, this one was one heck of a shocker for me. In the imp and wet on skin, I could smell nothing at all. Nothing. I was beginning to think I’d gotten one of those “decanted just after cleaning the machine” scents that turn up so rarely. But no. For about an hour, this stayed in hiding, then it started to amp and amp and amp some more! The musk blends perfectly with the amber to create a scent that’s golden, yet dark at the same time. And once it amps, it has terrific throw. It’s probably one of the most “perfumey” BPALs I’ve ever tried, but it’s still just gorgeous and sexy and amazing. I’m adding it to my 5ml wishlist.

I have to be honest, I was not expecting to like this at all. I love lavender, but I don’t care for most vanilla scents. I bought it mainly because I was sure it would be rare and highly sought-after in the future. Much to my shock, I love Lilith Victoria. To me it’s lavender sweetened with vanilla- very similar to TKO in its pillowy softness, but without the strongly sugared, marshmallow note that’s in TKO. Still, it has no sharpness at all- a perfectly smooth, beautiful perfume. It also has great staying power and (to me) the perfect amount of throw. It’s just gorgeous now, but I can only imagine how stunning it’ll be with some aging. I’m definitely keeping my bottle and wish I’d bought more while I had the chance.

Fascinating how the reviews for this vary. As for me, I hate to leave a not-glowing review for a scent dedicated to our wonderful Beth's beautiful baby, but this one just doesn't work at all on me. In fact, it's one of the few BPALs I've had to wash off. I gave it a couple of hours to see if it would morph, but no dice. None of the listed notes were noticeable other than milk and baby powder. On my skin, it smelled like sour milk and wet disposable diapers. Definitely evocative of a baby, but not the natural, beautiful scent I was hoping for. I'm sure I'll find a loving home for my 5ml- I'm so sorry I can't give it the love it deserves.

Wet on skin: sandalwood- very dry and dusty. Drydown: Sandalwood with something sweeter and bit more juicy. Amber? Honey? A touch of both? Verdict: I like, and it definitely has a very bright, sunny scent. I tend to think of sandalwood as being masculine, though, so I don’t think I’d wear it. Maybe a bottle for the hubby.

I bought a 5ml of this unsniffed based on the description, without reading the reviews, as I was looking for a dream-enhancing blend. I haven’t had a CnS for that order yet, but this morning I grabbed a random imp to blind-test, and didn’t realise what it was until I looked at this page. Wet on skin: lemon pepper Dry on skin: slightly musky lemon 2 hours in: Still just lemon. I was surprised to open the review page and discover that there's supposed to be lavender here. I don’t know if I’ll be able to use this as a sleep blend, being that citrus is energising to me and I can’t smell the lavender, so based on the imp I’m sort of regretting my 5ml purchase. However, once this Merc Retro is over I’ll try this again before sleeping and amend this review if need be. ETA: I wore this to sleep last night and slept well, and had wonderful dreams- the kind that make you wake up with a smile on your face, wishing you could go back to sleep again. I'm now not regretting buying a 5ml at all- in fact, if it works this well it's going to be a favourite.

I'm reviewing this mainly because I spilled an imp of it. I smell jasmine, which surprises me because jasmine isn't a listed note. I also get the bitterness of the opium. I am bewildered that narcissus and paperwhite are listed as notes because I've grown them in my garden and never found them to have much of a smell at all. It's a shame the imp is gone because I have a friend who would love this, but oh well.

OMG yum. This is, hands down, the best BPAL cake scent since Monsterbait:Closet. I actually don't get anise off it at all, which is fine because I don't care for anise. It's all orangey custardy cake. I have a decant. I'm buying two bottles, possibly three. And I'm not really a hoarder.

Wet on skin it’s sharp cider and citrus with just a touch of green oakmoss. Drydown: Stays quite sharp and very strong. I liked it a lot when first applied but after an hour the sharpness is starting to be a bit unpleasant. 2 hours in: Starting to mellow out, finally- still almost pure apple cider with a touch of citrus. 4/5. Very well blended but possibly a tad sharp for my tastes. Possibly it’ll improve with age.

I have never before tried a Pumpkin Patch scent because I didn’t think pumpkin would make nice perfume. Oh, I was so wrong In the vial: buttery smooth with coconut. On skin:: This is gorgeous, especially if you like foody scents.. It’s still mainly a rich, buttery scent with a hint of coconut. I’m not getting the other fruits, but still: YUM. Later drydown: The myrrh starts to come out, making this slightly less foody, but still delicious and gorgeous. Staying power is excellent with just the right amount of throw. Rating 5/5. ETA: This does indeed turn into a maple syrup scent very late in drydown, but that's not at all offputting...in fact, I think I like it even more now.

Orobouros works. It's possibly now my number one TAL success story. A month ago I was feeling very desperate about a situation that was taking forever to get sorted out. So, on the new moon, I dressed a green candle with Orobouros (which, BTW, smells heavy on the vetiver to me, but I'm not reviewing for scent). I dressed the candle in a spiral going up, then another going down, because that's what felt right to me at the time, and concentrated on my hopeful goal- that the situation would be completely resolved by the next new moon. (Just as a side note, I know many magical traditions call for working by the full moon, but I've always been backwards. The new moon has always been my most powerful time. So please don't base your ritual step-by-step on mine, because it might not work for you that way.) In all honesty, I thought there was no hope. I thought that what I was asking was completely and totally impossible. But in any case, the situation began to unsnarl within a couple of days after the ritual, and a month later- just after the new moon- it's resolved, in exactly the way I'd hoped. I am certain that this oil had a huge influence on getting everything sorted out quickly and smoothly and in good time.

In the bottle: sweet floral On skin, wet: OMG intense gardenia. Overwhelming. Drydown: A much more well-behaved gardenia-based floral. Sweet and fresh and summery and pure white floral. The sandalwood doesn’t pop up until very late in the game, which is fine by me. And also, orchid usually goes bitter on my skin, but this time all it does is damp down the sweetness just a tad. I bought this from a forumite because I got the idea that it might smell like TAL White Light without the ritual intent. (Not sure why I thought that- I don’t see it mentioned on the recommendations thread.) For the record, it smells nothing at all like White Light to me. Still, it has more throw than anything I’ve tried in months, and I love BPALs with tons of throw. And it’s a BPAL that smells far more like a flower garden than it does a perfume, which adds more bonus points in my opinion, so I think this one’s a keeper.

This is the first TAL I've been tempted to swap away- not because it doesn't work, but because it works too well. I used it because I'm missing a couple of things that I need urgently, and I was hoping the oil would stimulate my memory so that I could recall where I put those items. Instead, I went to sleep and entered nightmare-PTSD-zone for eight hours straight. I have too many things in my past that I don't want to remember, and I know it well, so I should not have used this oil so lightly. I feel like I've just returned from a descent into hell. Recommendation: use with extreme care and forethought. Not reviewing for scent. It's minty and herbal and it'd probably be a bad idea to use it as perfume.