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BPAL Madness!

stardreamer

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    369
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About stardreamer

  • Rank
    evil enabler
  • Birthday 05/09/1956

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  • Location
    Houston, TX, USA
  • Country
    United States

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BPAL

  • Favorite Scents
    Top favorites: Bordello, Golden Priapus, O, Red Queen, Siren, Snake Oil, Sudha Segara, Verdandi, The Lion, Queen of Sheba I like foodie scents, especially vanilla/spice and citrus. I also tend to do well with aquatic or woody notes. Not so much for florals; rum, rose and patchouli are major no-nos.

Profile Information

  • Interests
    beading, cats, childfree, chocolate, contradancing, etymology, filk, gems & minerals, jewelry, kumihimo, music (lots of kinds), mysteries, paganism, poetry, puns, reading, science, science fiction & fantasy, singing, wordplay
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Astrology

  • Chinese Zodiac Sign
    Monkey
  • Western Zodiac Sign
    Taurus

Recent Profile Visitors

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  1. stardreamer

    Defututa

    In the imp and fresh on: Sweet, slightly floral. Drydown: Mostly vanilla and jasmine, with the sandalwood adding a dark under-note. This stays fairly constant, with the rest of the florals nicely in the background and only the barest hint of cinnamon. I think the honey is blending into the vanilla. Long-term: The florals fade back, leaving primarily vanilla; very late in the game the jasmine reappears. Staying power is average -- after 13 hours only a tiny trace remains. Bottom line: Pleasant, not offensively floral, and I like vanilla. This one's a keeper.
  2. stardreamer

    Goblin

    In the imp and fresh on: Strong and sharp! Drydown: The sharpness fades, and the coconut comes up; the patchouli makes its presence known, but stays politely in the background. Long-term: Stays nicely spicy. The sweet benzoin starts to make an appearance after an hour or so. The coconut and patchouli go together surprisingly well, and for a change they seem to fade at about the same rate -- the patchouli isn't the last thing left long after every other note disappears. Also, it's a nice deep coconut, reminiscent of the coconut note in Upa Upa (for those who remember that LE). Staying power is pretty good -- after 12 hours it's still fairly present on my wrists. Bottom line: I didn't observe any of the claimed effects -- but as far as scents go, this one's definitely a keeper.
  3. stardreamer

    Chuparosa

    In the imp and fresh on: Ew, rose. Drydown: The rose drops back into a more generalized floral/green, with just a hint of something spicy (carnation, maybe). Long-term: The rose keeps fading back, and the rest fades more slowly; by the end of the day it's fairly ordinary as floral scents go. Staying power is average; after 10 hours, it's still noticeable on my wrists but most of the throw is gone. Bottom line: Not unpleasant after the first couple of minutes, but not the sort of thing I tend to wear. Swap pile for this one.
  4. stardreamer

    Queen Alice

    In the imp and fresh on: Fruity -- must be the cider! Drydown: The florals come up a bit, so now it's a nice fruity/floral mix. Long-term: After a while the amber comes up and adds a different level of sweetness to the mix. This is a very nice scent, pleasant but unobtrusive, something that you could wear to a job interview without worrying about offending the interviewer. Staying power seems about average -- 11 hours and it's nearly gone. Bottom line: Definite keeper.
  5. stardreamer

    Robin Goodfellow

    In the imp and fresh on: Very masculine, with a distinct "men's cologne" feel. Drydown: Becomes more herbal/spicy, but still with the "men's cologne" aura. Long-term: Doesn't change much until the very end, when the non-musk notes start fading back and the musk sweetens a bit. Staying power is about average; 12 hours and it's mostly gone. Bottom line: Not a bad scent, but rather too masculine for my taste. If my guy wore scents, I'd try it on him; as it is, it's headed for the swap pile.
  6. stardreamer

    Nocnitsa

    In the imp and fresh on: Wood and evergreens. Drydown: This settles out nicely. The sharp evergreen scent fades back and the wood comes to the fore, with hints of spiciness. Long-term: The earthy undernote does present itself after a while, but never becomes really noticeable. Overall, this is a pleasant, woody scent with a little spice -- an earthier, less aquatic relative of Mary Read. Staying power seems about average; after 11 hours, it's still a bit present on my wrists, but there's no throw. Bottom line: It's not going to be a top favorite, but it's a very nice scent and will definitely get used.
  7. stardreamer

    Ehecatl

    In the imp and fresh on: I can really smell the lime in this! Too bad it won't last. Drydown: Yep, there went the lime -- my skin eats BPAL citrus for breakfast. Oddly, I'm not getting much hibiscus either. What I am getting is slightly bitter; perhaps that's the matcha. Long-term: The hibiscus comes out more strongly after a while, and blends well with the sweetness of the white musk. But there's no throw at all, and it's not a strong scent even on my skin. Staying power is about average -- 12 hours and it's nearly gone. Bottom line: Not a bad scent, but nothing noticeable or memorable about it, and the opening could be more pleasant. Swap pile.
  8. stardreamer

    Dragon's Blood

    Powerful, commanding, blazing with strength. In the imp and fresh on: That's odd, I'm getting almost a floral note from this. It reminds me of the lily-of-the-valley in The Death-Horse, but not as in-your-face as that was. Drydown: I've worn blends with Dragon's Blood in them before, and this is nothing like them, and still more floral than anything else. It's weird. Long-term: Very little change. Staying power is lower than I expect from a resin -- 11 hours and it's mostly gone. Bottom line: Not at all what I expected, and nothing like the description. This one's a swap, although not for the reason I thought it would be.
  9. stardreamer

    Perversion

    In the imp and fresh on: Oh-oh, strong burnt-sugar potential. Drydown: Okay, no burnt-sugar. What I'm getting now seems to be mostly tobacco and tonka, and that (plus rum) may have been the source of the initial impression. Long-term: This is a pleasant, masculine scent, but not so masculine that I'd be uncomfortable wearing it. The tobacco is much to the fore and only modified by the other notes, so it's rather like a sweet pipe tobacco; I agree with Kindkit that it's a discreet-Victorian-gentlemen's-club sort of scent. Staying power is surprisingly low -- 8 hours and it's very faint. Bottom line: This is absolutely going to be my go-to scent for when I'm doing steampunk! So it's a good thing that I have 2 imps of it; one can stay at home and the other go into my travel kit.
  10. stardreamer

    Debauchery

    In the imp and fresh on: Masculine and sharp. Drydown: Now the red musk is coming out, It's not as Newagey as it usually smells on me -- the civet must be taming it down somewhat. Long-term: I never get anything out of this but red musk, which is not my favorite scent. And which unfortunately has staying power like whoa. Bottom line: Swap pile.
  11. stardreamer

    The Death-Horse

    In the imp and fresh on: Very masculine, with a flowery undernote. I can catch the lily-of-the-valley, but the opopponax (alternate spellings: opoponax, opopanax) seems to be dominant. It's rather bitter-smelling, which makes sense if it's a variety of myrrh. Drydown: The lily-of-the-valley becomes a lot more apparent. I'm used to thinking of it as a light floral, but this is strong, almost cloying. It's threatening to give me a headache, which BPAL oils almost never do. Long-term: Stays pretty much the same -- strong floral with a bitter undernote. The headache never materialized, possibly because the scent started fading back. Staying power is surprisingly low for something with a resin; after 8 hours, it's nearly gone, and what lingers is not the resin but the floral. Bottom line: I just don't like this scent. Swap pile.
  12. stardreamer

    Bruised Violet Compound

    In the imp and fresh on: Is there actually a scent there? Most of what I'm getting is a faint sharpness. Drydown: Okay, it's coming up a bit more strongly now. Seems to be mostly moss. Oh, there's the patchouli root -- it's not as strong as regular patchouli, for a mercy. Currant? What currant? Long-term: Everything but the patchouli root drops out after a few hours. Never got anything even vaguely resembling violets. Staying power is pretty low for everything except the patchouli, which (like anything else incense-y on my skin) lasts for a very long time at low intensity. Bottom line: Swap pile.
  13. stardreamer

    The Apothecary

    In the imp and fresh on: Definitely tea and herbs! I like this already. Drydown: The grass comes out more strongly; now it's very green. Long-term: Stays pretty much the same until the end. I never really get the ginger or fig; it's mostly tea and grass after the first 20 minutes or so. Staying power is about average; after 12 hours it's very faint and the throw is entirely gone. Bottom line: Not a top favorite, but a nice refreshing scent, neither too light nor too strong, which will be pleasant in warm weather. Keeper.
  14. stardreamer

    All In The Golden Afternoon

    In the imp and fresh on: Light and very sweet. I'm definitely getting the fruits, especially the pineapple, but not much else. I'd have expected the tobacco to be more of a base note than it seems to be. Drydown: Now the tobacco is coming out a bit more. Still more fruity than anything, and very low throw. Long-term: The florals and amber show up after a few hours, and after that it doesn't change much. Staying power is low-to-average; after 12 hours, it's mostly gone. Bottom line: Not awful, but not especially good either. I think it's worth keeping and making a second attempt, but it's likely to end up in the swap pile.
  15. stardreamer

    Alice's Evidence

    In the imp and fresh on: Sharp, then sweet; the ginger is much stronger in the imp than on my skin. The fruits are to the fore, with the rum just a boozy tinge in the background. Drydown: Fruity/spicy, very pleasant. Rum sometimes goes weird for me, but this isn't one of the times. What it reminds me of (because I was wearing it recently) is Rl'yeh after it morphs out of the aquatic phase, only with more fruit. Long-term: Stays pretty much the same, with a bit more underlying sweetness as time passes. A nice spiced-fruit scent, warm and autumnal. Staying power is excellent; after 12 hours, it's still very present on my wrists and even has a bit of throw. Bottom line: Keeper and favorite, especially for autumn and winter.
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