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BPAL Madness!

surlygurl

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About surlygurl

  • Rank
    obsessive precious hoarder
  • Birthday 02/07/1968

Location

  • Location
    California
  • Country
    United States

Contact Methods

  • Livejournal handle
    marshmadling
  • Twitter
    CourtneyD.
  • Yahoo
    surly_gurl
  • Website URL
    http://

BPAL

  • BPAL of the Day
    Animals at the bottom of the sea
  • Favorite Scents
    Fave scents: VOODOO, Khandita, Port Royal, Scales of Deprivation, Smoky Moon '09, Khalkokorustes, Ivanushka. Duets and Menages are my jam! All the musks except red work well on me. Incense & resin are my idea of heaven (Oh! That rhymed!) Oriental spices are YUM. Coconut, shea, etc. = very good. Licorice/anise is good. Champaca *swoon*!Dislikes: Roses are iffy on me, esp. when mixed with wine (moscow). Red musk = warm corn tortillas w/lemon. But I still try....Anything buttery (inc. butterscotch) takes over the whole show :-(Honey goes sour in lighter blends. (Gennivre, I really wanted to love you....)"Purple" blends smell like sour candy on me.And I'm one of those freaks who doesn't do chocolate/cacao well AT ALL. (Freaks Unite!)In fact, foody doesn't seem to be my thing. Much :)

Profile Information

  • Pronouns
    She/Her
  • Interests
    Ok. Um..... organic gardening, mosaics, masks, working with my hands, cooking, exercise, bicycling for transportation, "alternative" medicine, old movies, solar energy, ...... (to be continued)
  • Mood
    Raggedy

Astrology

  • Astrological Info
    0
  • Chinese Zodiac Sign
    Monkey
  • Western Zodiac Sign
    Aquarius

Recent Profile Visitors

6,235 profile views
  1. surlygurl

    Juniper Berry, Pine Needle, and Hemp

    The scent starts out dusty and woody. In my sample the Pine smells like Cedar in that it's a bit sour and pencil shavings-y. Juniper is a bright, clean note cutting through. Not sure what Hemp smells like. On the dry down, this becomes Tibetan incense, but sweeter. Very college town head shop nostalgia. Up close, it's incense. The throw, however, is dusty woods 😕 Edited for the correct woods.
  2. surlygurl

    Almond Blossoms, Patchouli, and Sea Salt

    I'm not sure why I got a decant of this - none of the 3 elements really work on me - but I have it a try. And I'm so glad I did! It's..... hard to describe. The almond blossom is clean and smooth, but spikey with salt. Patchouli is either a miniscule amount or a different type (white patch?), because it keeps the blossom from going to powder. At the wet stage it's an ok scent; once dry, it's delightfully clean and unisex. A white scent without vanilla, believe it or not!
  3. surlygurl

    Sandalwood, Lime, and Tahitian Ginger

    This is a masculine leaning scent in a bracing aftershave way. Lime is out in front while the sandalwood/ ginger provide background. Eventually the lime melds into this background and a tapestry is created. It's now (on the drydown) a sandalwood aftershave - same sandalwood in the olibanum/ sandalwood/tansy trio, but with ginger lime uplifting the fuzzy woods. Definitely unique.
  4. surlygurl

    Black Pepper, Amber, and Clove

    This one is pretty strange on me. Clove always takes over on my skin, so it start with the Clove Show but is immediately brought into line by *something fruity*. Are peppercorns fruits? That must be what is doing it. I don't smell pepper or amber, just high energy clove trying to do its thing while the other elements sweeten and...... something. It would make a really good incense. I will retest this on a different bodypart and return with new insights!
  5. surlygurl

    Honeycomb, Lemon, and Sugar Cane

    This is pretty! It's a pale yellow sugar scent that turns golden yellow smelling as it dries and beeswax comes out. What it reminds me of is a honey lemon drink from my local boba shop, with crystal popping boba for extra sweetness. No tea, no tartness, just sweet summertime goodness.
  6. surlygurl

    Bedroom

    Ok, this is different. Fresh on, I couldn't figure it out (I don't look at the notes right away). *Sniff sniff*. My first thought? "Angry pineapple" 😂 Oh dear. So I checked the notes. Once I fanned the oil and got some sillage/drydown, I could smell a light lavender in the background. Behind what, you ask? Behind wind blowing out of a frosty cold forest. No smell of trees or snow, just the cold dry air. It's not entirely forlorn - your warm cabin is a little ways around the bend, with fruits and cognac waiting.
  7. surlygurl

    Lady Reading Poetry

    What everyone else said. It's all lilac, but with a center of blushing pink bleeding into the outer lilac purple. Later in the drydown there is some sugared cream blending in, eventually overwhelming the lilac (if that's possible!). If you're a big lilac fan, this scent is a dream come true.
  8. surlygurl

    Allerseelen

    Ok. Here goes: In the vial it was a tad scary, but I applied it anyway. It was lighter on my skin than expected, almost like the listed scents were sitting on a bed of high pitched frankincense. No sign of vetiver or ashes. Petitgrain and moss balanced each other so the champaca could radiate. Keep in mind that I'm guessing - this scent is so well blended that I can't really identify individual components. As it dried, it became softer and the unlisted frankincense gave it a light ginger ale background. Something lightly soapy in there too, but not enough to be offensive. Now that it's dry I get the ashes in combination with the rest. Vertiver is still a mystery here. This scent is a morpher, but it's always clean. If scent had a color it would be light greenish yellow.
  9. surlygurl

    Black Julbocken Alchemy Lab

    Wow. Reading the above reviews I have to wonder if my nose is broken 😂. Once applied, I thought "this must be one of the vertiver-heavy ones" because it was so dark. Like, almost a scrubber with something promising underneath. The dry down calms it down tho it still stays dark. It's been about 30 minutes and I can smell the musky greens, but no specific plant. There's a sweetness at this stage. I can see this scent being a hit with folks.... just not with me.
  10. surlygurl

    Murderous Frogs

    This is fun! Fresh on, it reminds me of apple zots. Bright and fun. As it dries the apple fades far into the background and the scent nearly disappears. It rights itself after a few minutes and the apple is mellowed - by what, my nose can't tell. On my skin, this is all Varying Shades of Apple. It would be good for a girl in grade school who wants to smell like her idea of a teenager.
  11. surlygurl

    PPVIII

    Holy moly! Lush heady florals for days! Sniffed in the bottle I get Gardenia and possibly Carnation. Since it was pretty potent, I put a dab of oil on my wrists and rubbed. Gardenia - lots and lots of it. Some red spice. Pretty but overwhelming. The next day I decided to search this site for reviews. With some help, I came here and read all of them. Ok. So I have the rorschach scent 😅 Second test, a teeny weeny touch on my chest/ belly. Aaannnddd...... it's plumeria. "There are many varieties available, each with a unique scent. Frangipani flowers may smell like roses, Gardenia, pineapple, plum, citrus, ripe banana, coconut, grapes, ginger, candy, or spices". The basic scent I remember from a trip to Hawaii and a long ago bottle of frangipani perfume oil. A keeper, just for those tropical floral days. Maybe if I apply it behind my knees it'll smell like bananas 😅
  12. surlygurl

    Witches Taking off for the Sabbath

    This is one of those odd scent that doesn't smell anything like the listed notes. In the bottle, it's a mish mash of notes. On my skin, it's an imported Nepalese incense I used to buy at a head shop/ import store in my college days (way back when). Very specific. Kinda creepy. As it fades..... it fades. Nothing peeks out or comes forward. I wouldn't mind having more than my decant for nostalgia's sake, but not a full bottle.
  13. surlygurl

    L.A. River Pumpkin

    Oh this is fun! It's those pineapple hard candies first and always. Prickly pear might be adding to the fruitiness; if so, it's subtle. Pumpkin peeks out on the drydown, but it's overwhelmed but the fruit candy. Green musks? Dry grasses? They lend a slight greenish vibe, like a pineapple with the green leaves still attached (visual reference). It becomes a liiiiiittle darker/ more autumnal once it dries, but that takes a while. And until then? Pineapple candy for *miles*. The throw is outrageous! Definitely a fun early summer scent.
  14. surlygurl

    Animals at the Bottom of the Sea

    This is much better on my skin than in the decant, tho I expected something different from the description. Bright aquatic with all those fruits reads on my skin as 'sunken pine forest'(?!). Maybe the drydown will bring out more fruits. Either way, I'm enjoying this.
  15. surlygurl

    Spring’s Awakening (The Snow Maidens)

    This is lovely. White florals, including a non-indolic light jasmine, create a soft carpet of springtime. The Snow note is pure melted snow. An aquatic. A very clean and soft aquatic. It almost leans toward soapy, but never goes there. As it dries the aquatic note fades and gentle flowers fill the air. It's a beautiful skin scent.
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