Bastet

[Apple]

... Luxuriant amber, warm Egyptian musk, fierce saffron and soft myrrh, almond, cardamom and golden lotus.

Wet, it is very sweet and almost fruity at first, which surprised me. It morphs quickly, however, into the most beautiful spiced amber scent. Gorgeous. Bastet acts like a "second skin" scent on me, and I positively love it. I could just eat myself while wearing it! (Although I don't find it foody in the least.)

[Jenesis]

...Sweets? Eh? Seriously, I can smell sweets/candies in Bastet. That's probably the almond. I was a little wary of the lotus/cardamom blend, but it seems to be behaving so far.

 

It's a very complex scent, which I think goes into the "not me" pile. It's nice, but for some reason it doesn't sit right.

[RoseWhite]

In the Imp: Very sweet, cakey smell.

 

Wet: Gloriously thick honeyed almonds with a soft hint of floral-the lotus?

Dry: The almond backs right off and now all I'm left with is a gorgeous amber incensey musk with a golden glow. This is the first BPAL scent I can say I adore right from the word go, it's amazing! Sensual and sophisticated without being in-your-face. I feel like Arabian sunlight wrapped itself around me.

[RogueBelle]

I love the blend of spices here, but for some reason, this one fades really, really fast on me. The amber is definitely the strongest note, and lasts the longest, but I have to reapply Bastet way earlier than I usually do with other scents.

[inurbanus]

I've been wanting to try Bastet forever, so I got super excited to see this frimp among the BPAL I got for Christmas. Thank you, Lab! Anyway, Bastet starts out as a warm, heavily spiced amber and myrrh combination. It was very "perfumey" and I didn't care for it too much. But then, it quieted down and the lotus came out to play. Now, this is a warm, sweet, luxurious amber. It's one of those "clingy" BPAL's -- it stays close to the skin, and I have to admit that I'm disappointed at how little throw this one has. But the scent is very beautiful and I completely understand why this one's so popular.

 

4/5

[Victory]

I ordered an imp of Bastet in my very first lab order, way back in August of 2005. In the imp and freshly on the skin, almond is the predominant note. Slowly, the saffron slinks in and the other spices and resins appear. The almond beats a hasty retreat (sadly, because I am someone who loves almond) and I'm left with a saffron-spice scent. I caught a faint whiff of the golden lotus once (I know some people find lotus bubblegummy, and while I don't usually wear/notice lotus or find that it smells like that, I almost smelled bubblegum, so it MUST be the lotus). Bastet does smell desert-y to me- dry, sandy, and golden.

[jaeyne]

Wet: Almond. Dry: yummy, soft Amber. Decent throw. Lasts long. I like it a lot.

[Gwydion]

I've heard good things about this, including from Silverblue, whose skin chemistry is similar to mine, so the anticipation is strong. In bottle: smells like musk and marzipan. Wet: Very complex and heady. All the expected elements show through, though amber, musk, myrrh, and almond are strongest. The spices give it an unexpected edge, the claws of the cat. This one embodies it's concept well, the musk and amber making the fur of the sybaritic cat woman with the lotus and spice making fangs and claws. Rawr! Dry: Mostly musk and amber, but in a good way. It really does smell of exotic women and desert wind.

[akiko]

I think I'm in love.

 

Imp: Amber & musk & something sweet.

 

Wet: Sweet & musky, kind of like incense.

 

Dry: It's very well blended. I'm getting amber, musk, and something sweet, possibly the almond, and it's combining into a very lovely smell.

[meredevachon]

For a variety of reasons, I was really looking forward to trying Bastet, and I finally got the chance

 

In the imp: Sweet. Like overly ripe fruit just about to tip over into rotting. But not in a bad way, just sweeter than I like for me. Then again, I'm learning that what I smell in the bottle is a) nowhere near what things will smell like on, and way out of whack from what most people report smelling. Weird sniffer, I guess.

 

Wet: Amber.

 

Dry: Still amber. Not that amber's a bad thing. I love it. But while it doesn't seem like an amber single note, I'm also not getting anything specific other than amber. If that makes sense.

 

Overall, I like it, but not as much of some of my other ambers. I don't know if it's headed for a swap, or if I'll keep it for rare occasions when I just randomly pick something to wear.

[ranyart]

Something (perhaps the almond mixed with another note?) smelled incredibly off about Bastet when I first applied it.

In the imp it has a sultry, amber/saffron smell, but wet on my skin I got a sharp, acrid scent that was so bad I almost washed it off. I was determined to see it through, though, since Winterwind loved it so much and I wanted to give this scent a chance.

 

As it dried, the sharp note faded and this was very golden-warm and delicious on my skin. I really wish I could smell the cardamom and the almond more (it mostly vanished once it dried), but the sweet amber/musk/saffron combination is a definite winner.

 

Next time I wear this, I'll see if I can smell the more elusive notes. This is definitely a scent that I'll finish the imp of, but I'm not yet sure if I need a bottle of it.

[persephanise]

Oh my lord.

 

I didn't care for this when i first sniffed it in the imp. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood to try this.

 

But when I put it on today I kept thinking, "How have I not tried this all this time?!"

 

I have a scent called Monyette Paris which is too sweet for me to wear, but this reminds me a lot of it without being so awfully sweet. Something in here reminds me of gardenia--maybe it's the lotus? Dunno. But it's creamy. It's sweet and round and golden. It makes me think, in turns, of different things--gardenia, egg nog (!) ice cream...I don't know, it's just so beautiful!

 

I'm witing for this to start making me sick--soemtimes scents do that. AFter a while the sweetness gets to me. I hope that doesn't happen, and so far it hasn't. So far I'm completely in awe of how pretty this is.

 

Wow. I really really love this. What a delicious find.

 

ETA: It never did make me sick. It continues to be sweet and golden and foody and wonderful. It's not an everyday scent for me, but when I'm in the mood for it, it really warms me up.

Edited February 24, 2008 by Persephanise

[MaeKitty]

On Me: Almonds. Terrible terrible almonds have taken over this scent. It's awful.

[LadyLuckDoubt]

In the Bottle

Honeyed spice with almond.

 

On Me

Ooooh, nice. The honey comes out on this but it's not ridiculously sweet-- there's a warmth to this, and an ambery note, the almond is still there. I'm not sure what the spice is, though I think there's a touch of myrrh and maybe some saffron. It's pretty but blunted; an excellent throw, and it lasts for AGES.

 

It makes me think of what a combination of Osun and The Lion would be. Not at all what I expected (I thought there'd be more of a francinscencey note in there because Egyptian-themed fragrances tend to have it) but absolutely divine.

 

It dries down to a warm, golden spicy fragrance, the almond (which previously dominated) has disappeared.

 

I'm getting a bottle of this. I put it on hours ago and I can still smell it and it's lovely.

Edited March 15, 2008 by LadyLuckDoubt

[lmaunu]

Source: Imp from the Lab

 

This has the same smell in the bottle as it does on my skin: it's a cake-like, almond-heavy scent that reminds me a lot of a wonderful, golden-raisin-scented naan that you might eat at an Indian restaurant. The musk and amber also add wonderful complexity after the dry down phase. I may need to get a bottle of this!

[kizery]

In the bottle, this smells like almond oil. Not that I mind. Wet: Still smells strongly of almonds but changes rapidly. On dry-down, the complexity of this blend is coming out. I smell something slightly sweet and spicy, and I’m snot very literate with my notes so I don’t know which of the first four notes it could be. I like it, though. Yummy. About a half hour after applying, this has taken on a very musky smell. It seems masculine. I might try putting some on my husband and see how it works on him. I’m not sure yet how I feel about Bastet. I’ll keep the imp and wear it a few more times, but I’m not sure if it’s the right blend for me. Later: My body loves to amp up musk, and not in a good way. Ugh. To the swaps it goes

[Lyrical]

In vial: soft and golden. Almond is the predominant note.

 

Wet on skin: sweet yet not cloying. Rich, golden and warm.

 

Dry on skin: the amber is similar to the dry furriness of The Lion, but is sweetened by the other notes. Strangely enough, it conjures up an image of a cat, although I'm not sure why! It's dry, sweet, golden and spicy. Nice!

[deweydecimal]

Bastet was one of the first bpal imps I ever got, and when I first opened it, I hated it and put it in the back of my box. That was only like a month ago, and when I got it out again today, I don't even know what to say.

 

At first it's all cherry, all the time. But that fades really quickly and it ends up as this awesome ambery scent that's rounded out and sweetened by the other notes. I'm not really picking up any of the musk or lotus, but I think I can detect a hint of myrrh, which I thought I wouldn't like but actually just helps make the scent even richer and warmer.

 

I'm so glad I decided to re-test this scent, because now I'm totally in love with it!

[goth_huntress]

I finally got a bottle of Bastet. The almonds just make me purr. My cat loves it too.

[aleciarivas]

DEFINITELY warm and dark. Amber is one of my favorite notes, so this was a nice find. There's a dark hint of something beneath, possibly musk. But it only peeks out occasionally, mostly all I get is the nice, warm Amber.

[tziporra]

I'm not really a spicy person, so Bastet didn't appeal until I discovered the lab's wonderful ALMOND note and the lovely things it does on my skin. Also, I love the smell of cardamom so I thought I'd give it a shot.

 

Wet, Bastet is lovely almond and amber; delicious, but not in a foody way. I get peeks of sweet lotus (another great note on me) here and there as well.

 

On dry down Bastet is mostly amber and musk, with the almond fading a bit and a halo of sweetness and spiciness.

 

It's a beautiful scent, but I have to really get in close to smell it. I don't think this is a bottle purchase for me. I like something with a dominant note and this drydown doesn't have a distinctive "what-is-that?" scent to my nose. But it's iffy -- my mind could be changed on the next try!

 

Best,

 

Tzi

[oravannahka]

When I first opened this, I said, "oh dear." I'm convinced that the lab's amber note hates me. It smells really off to me. On my skin and wet it still smells really sickly. I can't describe it well, but let's just say it was enough that I almost washed it off. Good thing I didn't though! Less than five minutes later, when it dries, the amber fades and the spiciness and good sweetness and musk all comes out and it balances perfectly. I absolutely adore this scent!

[Scanmike]

So far I have tried The Lion, Lyonesse and now Bastet. The Lion didn't wow me, but my daughter seems to like it on me. Lyonesse is just too sweet vanilla. Not much depth. When I first put on Bastet, I though "oh no, smells like Dan O'shee", which I like but didn't want another duplicate scent. Or I was afraid it was similar to Bengal or Alice-both which have that strong honey note that I amp. I thought I detected honey or cinnamon and it was strong. I started to think it was too perfumey. But then things quieted down and it has gotten very soft and lovely, but still going strong. This is one I think I will really like when I am not testing 4 imps at once. Out of all the ambers, I think I really like this one so far and the throw seems better than most. So far, so good. This may warrant a full bottle.

[Lamia]

Very floral and almondy in the bottle. Myrrh peeks through, and what I am guessing in the lotus. Almond fades almost immediately when on the skin, then comes back and overpowers the floral. Lots of back and forth on this one. Ends up being buttery and exotic.

[Argentwolf]

Oh, Bastet, lithe, supple, fierce goddess, I love you.

 

She is the pungeant, unashamed sweetness of myrrh, sweetened further by almond, warmed by amber, peppered with spice. She is warm and beautiful and wraps herself around you all day. Comparing her to, say, Anubis, which was beautiful in his own right for the mournful, solemn air he had, she is full of sunlight and life, evoking something that is languid but far from thick or sluggish. While he is down deep in the cool semi-darkness of stone preparing the dead, she is out in the sunlight, basking in life.

 

I really love this scent, can you tell? It's very warm, sweet, sexy and delicious. Purrrr.