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A Corral for my Reviews . . .

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Imperious Tiger Lily

sigh. I adored the 'other' Tiger Lily, so I'm sorry but this review is largely a comparison to the other one. I know they're supposed to stand alone and one is not the substitute for the other, but I just can't separate them in my mind.   so, plain ol' Tiger Lily was saturated, indolent, thick, warm, peachy honeyed lilies with a lot of throw while Imperious Tiger Lily is cooler, fruitier more delicate and whimsical. It just strikes me as a more candied, more youthful treatment of lily. Not really more imperious.   So, even if the concept goes a bit awry on my skin, I like them both. I wish Tiger Lily was still around, but this is a very nice lily scent. :love!:
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Crib Girls

On my initial application, I got nothing. Zip, zada, nada. Like I'd just bought a 5ml of water.   My nose must've been on hiatus, because I tried it a couple of days later and now I'm suffused with lemon candy happiness. I'm fond of sweet, citrus, fruit scents and I do like the lab's honey - so I bought this unsniffed and I'm happy I did so. It's not a very complicated scent, just light, sweet and clean. I don't really get the sex scent of the more notorious honey blends. It reminds me quite a bit of Aelopile, which is darker and heavier, but still lemony. This is a more feminine, playful version of Aelopile.   I'm going to get good use out of this in the spring and summer and I'm curious to see how it ages. I might need a backup bottle!
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Bathsheba

Bathsheba has been on my radar since my first BPAL order, I just always passed it by. It seemed too girly, too floral, too simple.   In fact, Bathsheba is simply elegant. This could almost pass for regular, commercial perfume, like a classic scent that's been around since the 1920's. It evokes the palest pink blush.   It's lovely and it's the first time I've been able to detect carnation in a blend and I like it very much. Florals don't do well on me, so this is a pleasant surprise. I suppose I had some preconceptions about carnation - something to do with high school dance corsages and green dyed St Paddy's day dreck. Despite their down market connotation, they are nice flowers   Sadly, it has practically no throw or duration on my skin so I reluctantly must put it aside.   Jewelbug's reference to Necco wafers is spot on. That's what I smell on my wrists an hour after application: Ghosts of Necco Wafers   Provided your skin does not consume it, this would be a good choice for those times when over the top BPALs aren't appropriate: job interviews, court dates, public executions . . .
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Couple Consulting an Enpon

Yep, cat pee. The older this bottle gets, the worse it is. I can wear it, and the cat pee dissipates, but it's not worth it. Blech.
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TKO

I TKO and it's become a staple for me. I'm about to order my 4th bottle. I use it almost every night and I do think it helps me sleep. As much from the lavender as the comforting ritual of applying it. Pre-bpal I would have scoffed at the idea of wearing a perfume to bed, but now I've wised up and I'm sleeping better too! Most days when I wake up, I slightly regret having to shower, because the scent lingers a bit on my neck and wrists.   It's not too complex of a scent, it smells like fluffy purple marshmallows. It gets better, so much better, with age. The lavender loses the sharp edge and the vanilla becomes sweeter and softer. It's just glorious.
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Eat Me

Initially this is delicious vanilla and sweet cake. The currant slowly emerges until at day's end there is a decided spiciness that is reminiscent of patchouli, woods and resins. Just glorious.
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O O

O   O is the second most popular girl in school, but she's certainly the most interesting. This bottle of precious, like most women, is much better aged and mellowed.   O is one of those Love it or Loathe it scents. Happily, I it. It's sweet, but not cloying. Ambery, but not overly powdery. Vanilla makes it yummy, but not too foody. The combination produces a skin-musk scent that is very evocative of clean, sea-salted, sun-warmed skin.   O is okay fresh from the lab, but give it 8 or so months and you'll have a real treasure on your hands. My older bottles have started to develop a breath of chocolatey/nutty/beurre noisette that I really like. It takes the scent from being pure golden clear generic honey to being an artisanal honey from happy, sexed up bees.
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Eos

This was a surprise hit for me. I normally can't do florals. Jasmine initially does it's overwhelming thing. But then there's a while of sweet, gorgeous honeysuckle. The best part for me is the drydown, which is a wonderful skin musk just barely tinged with floral.
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Cockaigne

A rare instance of a milk note that does not sour on my skin. A deliciously foody scent that for some reason resembles Shub-Niggurath to my nose. I think the wine provides some shub-like warmth.   I love it.
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Green Tree Viper

This scent is a gorgeous contrast between the warm sugar of Snake Oil and cool mint. Culinarily speaking, I'm not a big mint fan, but this scent is everything I wish mint could be.   Like others have remarked, it almost has a chocolate vibe. With aging, the mint smoothes out, but is still perfectly obvious. The mint lasts longer in my scent locket than it does on my skin - so I wear it in the locket and on the skin simultaneously.   I mourn the eventual demise of the Snake Pit, there's really nothing else quite like my favorite snakes.
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Asphodel

Smells exactly like easter lilies to me. Oh yes, and some kind of cleanser. A very familiar smell, but not terrifically compelling as a perfume for me.   Discontinued from Rappacini's Garden
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Anactoria

When it was fresh, I did not like this. It had an unpleasant, sharply chemical smell. Now aged, it has mellowed into perfect soft musky amber.   It has average duration and throw. There's a brief, odd period where it smells like a terrific carmelized cotton candy, but mostly it is musk and amber with a bit o honey.   Mmmm. Nice. Surprisingly delicate.
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Antonio the Carny Talker

Antonio the Carny Talker - purchased a decant from a forumite and I think it is well aged.   Gorgeously fruity and yet dark. I normally have a bit of trouble with coconut smelling like suntan lotion - but here it is perfect. Also, the green components of vetiver and verbena are subtle - allowing the fruits to play center stage.   This is worthy of a bottle or three.
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Velvet Nudie

I didn't expect to like VN. I sniffed and lightly tested when I got my decant and thought it was kind of bland and unimpressive. This morning I grabbed the decant as I ran out the door. I'm not sure what she's been up to on her two week vacation, but VN has really 'developed'.     As others have noted, there is a decided citrus vibe and clean musk. I don't get any florals from it, which is a relief. It's summery and light, not at all the dark, heavy, oppressive velvet I'd expect from a velvet blend. Actually, unlike its namesake, VN is sophisticated, polite, demure and dare I say, tasteful.     I'm contemplating a bottle because I could see wearing this often. In a way, it reminds me of Manhattan, Tushnamatay, Van Van and maybe a bit of Zephyr.
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Eisheth Zenunim

This scent took awhile for me to grasp. It comes across as a fruity, juicy floral. It has excellent duration and throw. I've been wearing it without knowing what's in it and I can't say that I can identify any one note. I think the ambergris really makes things blend together.   Right after application DH says "What is that smell????" and not in a good way. Then he says it smells like really strong soap.   Several hours later, a co-worker tells me I smell like "old-school patchouli". I'm not sure that's a compliment.   And yet, I really like it. It's summery and fresh and it makes me happy. I think it will only improve with age, so this is a keeper and I'm glad I bought it.
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The Unicorn

Thanks to the lab for a frimp of The Unicorn   It's a clean, white floral that starts off with an effervescent bit of gin and tonic. It's not soapy at all.   During the drydown it reminds me a bit of Manhattan, without the wood and leather - it might be the more feminine version of that scent. It quickly fades to a light skin scent and then disappears entirely. It's as elusive as the mythical beast it portrays.   Lovely, but too fleeting.
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Chimera

Speaking as an unabashed foody whore, I have to say that Chimera is a fabulous example of the perfumer's art. In the imp it smells of wonderful fresh baked sweet pastries. On the skin it blooms into an even sweeter, faintly floral and very warm cinnamon extravaganza. To my nose, it is much more reminiscent of 'true' cinnamon than the stronger, darker, cassia cinnamon that is commonly referred to and sold as cinnamon (at least in the US).   Someone above compared it to the lovely, gingery Shub-Niggurath and I think that's a very apt comparison - they both have a similar sweet and soft tone. Actually, they may be the Yin & Yang of spicy foody scents. Shub has a decidedly cinnamon component to me, but ultimately I'd describe it as GINGER-dark chocolate-cinnamon, dark, sensual and slow Yin. Chimera is more like CINNAMON-vanilla-floral, bright, perky Yang.   I ask you, who the hell gives this much thought to perfume? Oh yeah, you do. Dear reader, I'm drunk on cinnamon, forgive me. Chimera, I love you man, I really, really love you. You know I love you, right??   Too often, cinnamon comes across as Cracker Barrel gift store candle ---> Tintagel , but this is really, really wearable as a perfume. It's by far the most cinnamony of the 20+ blends I've tried that contain cinnamon.   I applied it to my neck and was rewarded with stinging red welts. You might want to test on thicker skin, in your hair or in a locket, but you must try it.
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Sticky Pillowcase

Mmmmm. Not nearly as sweet as I was expecting, but quite nice. I get a bit of booziness (?!?!) and oddly enough I get the blue spun sugar too. Very pale, powdery blue. I'd bet my bottom dollar there's just a drop of lavender in this. I get no fruit, no strawberry, which makes me sad.   Actually, in a blind-sniff test I would have guessed this was from the Atomic Luau Lounge.   I like it. I'm not sure if I'll get a full bottle though because I'm currently swimming in a lot of sugary, sweet, foody scents. If it had strawberry for me, I probably would.   The label is cute and I adore the concept of this scent.
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Manhattan

Manhattan was a frimp from the lovely labbies.   This is a wonderfully light and clean scent. It is lemony and minty with a touch of tea wafting about.   It smells like a very expensive spa in a good way. For all this clean smelling goodness, it does not smell of soap or cleanser.   Unfortunately, Manhattan is all top notes on me and fades quickly. I get no leather, teak or kush. I'm left with a faint amber-lemon on the skin and no throw at all.   It's so lovely that I'm going to order a bottle for those times when I really want to wear a scent, but shouldn't (on an airplane etc).
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Coral Snake

I'm in love with this blend. If I concentrate, I can tell it is apples, but honestly it registers as midway between some lucious berry and a peach for me. Plus, it doesn't have the cloying quality of Snake Oil. I can slather this and still be in the same room with myself. Other people think of it as autumnal, but to me it seems like the ripest, juiciest laziest late summer afternoon ever. Sigh.   And, it's aging quite well. I think it's better now at 2 months old than it was fresh.   It makes me sad that the Snake Pit is going to slither off to oblivion. I really wish the Pit could become GC.
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Poisoned Apple

A wonderfully perfect, evil, dangerous apple. It's red, but tart. Not a terribly complex scent, but lovely all the same.
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Troll

Happily, the lab frimped Troll in my latest order, because I probably would have never gotten around to ordering it on my own.   It is not as dark and fearsome as the description would have you believe. Actually, it is a pleasant, soft green scent that is very grounded. It reminds me of a damp conifer forest floor. It does seem a bit foody, but that's not my first impression.   This scent would be marvelous on a man, nice as a room scent (especially if you happen to have a lodge or cabin), and daring and unique on a woman.
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Fearful Pleasure

Damn. Within moments this leapt to the top of my apple favorites. Actually, it may end up near the top of all my favorites. It's a really beautiful apple cider. I get predominantly apple and cinnamon, but it's not candylike. A really lovely fall scent.
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Mania

Mania is one of my favorite scents and I can't believe I haven't reviewed it - but then I'm a lazy reviewer.   To my nose Mania is a very juicy, summery scent. It evokes a pale strawberry red tinged with green. I do well with red musk and fruits and that's precisely what I get with Mania although it leans far more towards the fruit end. For me, there's no grapefruit and it seems practically like single note strawberry grounded by red musk. I can't recall that I've ever smelled a strawberry leaf, so I can't speak to the subtle distinction that may exist between leaf and fruit . . .   Mania has quite a bit of throw and duration. Two drops in my hair serum is all I need for 12+ hours of fruity loveliness.
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13: June 2008

This is my first 13 and it reminds me of Willy Wonka's experimental gum that tasted of all the courses of a complete meal in sequence.   Instead of experiencing the top notes that then give way to base notes, I keep getting discrete bits of them all in random rotation. A breath of honeysuckle, a puff of apple, a medicinal little waft of nutmeg and slathers of gorgeous dark melted chocolate. There is also a smoky woodiness that is very lovely and very autumnal. I was surprised to not see more wood in this blend.   Thirteen fades on me at mid-day, but I wouldn't mind reapplying this gorgeous scent. And I have a feeling I'm going to need more of this come autumn.
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