luxuria
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Everything posted by luxuria
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In the bottle, sweet fruits--definitely candy-like. On the skin, it mellows down a bit and I can tell it's clearly grapefruit, and what a gorgeous grapefruit note it is. There's a bit of creaminess backing it as well as something else. I can't quite tell what it is, maybe the aloe? This is pleasant and fabulous for summer.
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CCIC This is effervescent, bubbly fruit in the bottle. I can't tell what kind--berries? strawberries? On my skin, it gets a coating of what smells a bit powdery. It's slightly creamy, light, but still clear. It's like a really nice alcoholic drink. Yeah, definitely a boozy blend. It's like a creamier Bon Vivant, and I THINK I smell a floral.
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On me this is aquatic instead of bubblegummy lotus with herbs that have a slightly metallic smelling edge. This is very understated, not sweet, and generally not much like I expected. It's quite clean.
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The Finnish Goddess of Agony, Torment and the joy found in inflicting pain on others. The Mistress of Torture, she has transformed in the modern era into the patron Goddess of Dominatrixes. The slap of slick, hot leather punctuates the warm, sensual embrace of black amber, red musk and dark, lascivious myrrh. In the imp, it was all wonderful aggressive leather. I loved Wanda and Perversion so I was bound to try this eventually. On my skin, though, it turned to all musk and myrrh. It actually reminded me quite a bit of Smut without the sweetness--sharp, pungent, and a little frightening. I had high hopes for this, but I don't think I'd be able to pull it off without being a 6'2", leather-clad dominatrix. Very very dark.
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Strong, aggressive and slightly perfumey fruit. I'm not smelling any sugar cane or coconut, which I was looking forward to. I started out smelling the pineapple and banana the strongest, but on the skin it all blends into just a general 'fruit smell'. As it dries, I'm definitely getting something spicy, almost potpourri like. I'm assuming it's the chili pepper. Very nice! Not something I'd want a bottle of, but this is really unique amongst the other fruity scents I've tried. It's deeper and not as sweet.
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Oh, I had such high hopes for this, but the sweet pea just makes this eye-wateringly sweet and powdery. I'm in love with the vanilla/amber/sandalwood combination I can detect underneath it, but I just can't stomach the sweet pea on top. This is a very, very young-smelling scent to me because of it--not that that's a bad thing, it's just not very me.
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In the imp, it smells like pleasant-smelling shampoo--I don't mean that in a bad way at all, I'd douse my hair in that stuff! On my skin, a distinct grapefruit note comes to the forefront offset by a light floral. Crisp and bright, this is great for summer. The only downside is how fast this fades and it also doesn't have much throw on my skin. This would be excellent for lotions and the like, I think.
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In the bottle: Buttery buttered buttercream mingling with juicy red fruits. A little scary, because I don't like that much butter. On my skin: The berry smell takes over. For a bit they almost smell like the fruits in Montresor before they went unfortunately vile on me, but luckily that impression fades almost immediately. These fruits are more candied and they mix deliciously with the booze element that comes out. This kind of reminds me of Bordello--not that they actually smell similar, but they both have the 'sugar-dusted fruits meets booze' thing going on. It's much darker than I would have guessed. Even when the cake peeks out, it adds a lush, decadent edge rather than a bakery vibe. Much like Underbed, I was expecting something like Sugar Cookie or Gingerbread Poppet--pure food, in other words--and got a wearable perfume with some lickable elements. The Monster Baits are fantastic, and I can't wait til I get Underpants.
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Holy wow. It was well worth the wait to get my hands on this. In the bottle: Cocoa and cassia. It's not sticky-smelling, though, like you might expect a blend with cake to be. It's a dry cocoa, like powder, rather than a brownie. On my skin: Lots of cassia touched by cocoa rounded out by the coconutty cake smell floating in the background. The coconut gets stronger with wearing and the cassia loses its sharper edge. This is wonderful at all stages of development. I love foody-scents-that-aren't-quite-food, and this is definitely it. It has edible elements but doesn't actually make me smell like a walking cake. The sweetness is wearable, not eye-watering, and this is just overall fantastic.
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In the bottle, this smelled like spicy barbecue sauce and...bacon. That was a bit of a turn-off, to say the least, but I'd been frothing at the mouth for months to try this, so I braved the sauced pork and put it on. On my skin, the bizarre barbecued bacon smell disappears, and in its wake is pure, dry spice. BPAL's cinnamon can go a little candy-like on me but it stays true here. The clove and pepper seem to dominate, though, which definitely isn't a complaint--clove is one of my favorite notes and I haven't found a blend yet that has a really strong component. This is very hot, but it's a dry heat. As a fan of spicy scents, I adore this. I think it'd be even better layered with something a little creamier to ground it a bit.
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The smell in the bottle is kind of scary--sharp, bitter, and very darkly musky. Luckily it warms up some on the skin, but the-in-your-face musk still dominates. I love the sweetness I can smell lurking in the background, but it won't come out any more. I like musk a lot, but the type that's in here combined with the strength makes me feel like I'm in need of a shower when I wear Smut. Not seductive, just kind of sweaty and grimy. I so wanted to love this, but it makes me feel skanky rather than sexy.
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Red Lantern is great. It smelled strongly like buttered caramels in the bottle, which worried me a little, but the sweetness is nowhere near that aggressive when worn. The coconut and the tobacco are the other two strongest notes once worn. The overall impression is that of smoky creaminess, which is pretty much my favorite category of scent put into two words. Not too much of one or the other--this is lovely, and a bit reminiscent of Perversion (my all-time favorite) as well as Elegba.
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My love affair with Rose Red opened up the possibility that why, yes, the lab might make a rose lover out of me yet, and so I ordered a bottle of Peacock Queen. Unfortunately, that was wishful thinking because this doesn't smell anything like Rose Red to me. My favorite part of RR was how evocative of the real flower it was, whereas this smells more like rose perfume. It's a lot more grown up, yes, and a lot dryer. Not unpleasant, but probably only for preexisting fans of the note.
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In the bottle and wet: Deep, dark, and juicy red and purple fruits with a subtle backing of the oaken notes. It's very decadent smelling. This is some wine I'd love to get my hands on and drink. On my skin, this smells like rotten fruit rubbed in cat litter. Yikes. Alas, I had high hopes for Montresor, but my skin is not my friend. I had to scrub it off pretty quickly.
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I didn't know what absinthe smells like--either BPAL's or the real stuff--and I didn't even know what most of the first half of the ingredients were. However, the "Bohemian perfume of vanilla musk, honey absolute and Moroccan spices" made me not buying this an impossibility. That was a bit of an expensive gamble, but it paid off. In the bottle: This smells really bizarre. Very green and herbal but not in the way that reminds me of the outdoors like the other green scents I've tried do. There's some citrus peeking out, too, and somewhere in the background, a whiff of sweetness. Definitely not something I'd want to wear as a perfume, but I put it on anyway. On my skin: This warms up immediately--thank god! I smell the 'Bohemian perfume' in full swing but it's quite light, not at all heavy and syrupy like those notes might imply. It's a touch powdery, and the citrus (and to a lesser extent greenness) are still hanging out. The notes are actually quite pleasant once they play a supporting role rather than dominating the fragrance. It's sweet but not candy-like, and a very, very good scent for spring and summer. If you're a vanilla gal but find it suits the colder months better, get your hands on this stat. As for Balthazar himself, he fits in surprisingly well on my dresser. I'm now wishing I'd ordered Hellion just because the pair of statues would be adorable together.
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I love every BPAL chocolate blend I've tried. I was sure when I opened my Trading Post parcel that I'd gotten the chocolate blend to end all chocolate blends, and the initial sniff from the bottle supported that, but my skin just ate it then regurgitated it as faintly moldy but sugared plastic. Where did the deep, rich, velvety, but not-too-sweet chocolatety brownie goodness go? I don't know what happened--chocolate is notoriously great on my skin, but this was a stinker. I've tried it again hoping it was just a hormone issue, but months later, it still comes out the same. Ah well, at least I got a spiffy Naughty shirt out of the deal.
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Dublin is the scent that's most accurately evoked the outdoors for me. Mists, crisp trees, and a faint breath of outdoor flowers.
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Wowza, this one whomps you in the face straight out of the bottle. It's sharp and dirty smelling to me, and I was starting to regret buying multiples. However, after about a half hour of settling into my skin, it's wonderful. Sweet but feral-smelling musks warmed with some booze notes. Very evocative of the name, and definitely not scary like it was initially.
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In the bottle: cool, smooth, but creamy mint. The mint is surprisingly subtler than the other BPAL mints I've tried- it smells more like a single entity with the vanillic base than a separate note. You know how some mints whack you over the head with their mintiness? Not the case. On my skin: Wow, this smells cold! It even chills my wrist a little. This definitely reminds me of something, and I couldn't place it until I read the above review: Black Opal! It's vanillic but not quite straight-up vanilla. Think Black Opal with some mint instead of the mineral note. I was expecting this to be sweeter and more sugary but it's almost sophisticated. The only real morphing it does is the mint fades. I LOVE this! So very festive and not too kiddie, despite the namesake.
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Rose Red 2005 The first Yule scent I've tried on! It was more of a "well, just to say I've tried it" purchase than really *wanting* it, but I was so entranced by it in the bottle that I tried it on before anything else- and it definitely wasn't a disappointment. I like rose perfume all right, but I like the way real roses smell much better. This is the only rose perfume I've EVER smelled that smells anything at all like actually sticking your nose in a rose bush, and it's not just any rose bush, it's a fresh and dewy one. Pretty much exactly like the description. Unbelievable, and I will delight in wearing this.
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Amber and dragon's blood, all right. Amber smells like head shops to me, and this is that plus the fruity-floral burst of dragon's blood. The notes mix really, really well, though, and while this isn't the kind of scent I like to wear, I really enjoy it. It smelled "smokier" in the imp than odd my skin, oddly enough (it's usually the other way around) and the dragon's blood is more pronounced. Very very warm and not too deep or bold, this is a versatile but pretty scent. It hugs the skin.
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This does smell summery, almost a kind of sugared apple-watermelon smell in the imp with something in the background (presumably the spices.) It's bright and sweet but held back some. The extreme sugary edge disappears on the skin. It gets more a lot more floral as well, but otherwise, doesn't morph too much like I would have expected because of the name. I'm actually rather fond of this! I like sweet scents but they throttle me a lot, and this is more subdued.
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Ooooh, deep, slightly smoky brown sugar. I smell a wee bit of fruit when its wet, but not afterwards. This is wonderful! Like maple syrup, but sexed up. It doesn't morph too much and it lasts, lasts, and lasts. Perfect!
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'05 This smells like Hexennacht mixed with very spiced apple cider in the bottle to me. I definitely smell the fir-patchouli mix. Wet on my skin, I get this REALLY strong medicinal note. Almost like an over-the-counter disinfectent ointment or something similar. Luckily it fades quick enough and I definitely get the 'embodiment of autumn' smell. Woodsy, smoky, leaves mixed with warm spices. Many hours later I just smell like fir, woods, leaves, etc. but it's very understated and still pleasant. I wish the spices and apple stuck around for the long haul, but this is divine while they're there!
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This doesn't smell very good in the bottle to me- I recoiled in horror when I opened it up to take a big sniff like stale creamed corn in a can. However, the outside of the bottle smelled divine, so I took a chance and put it on. It INSTANTLY morphed on my skin! Sugary sweetness with an almost spicy/smoky edge. It's a little like Sugar Skull but not too much, it doesn't have the maple syrup/brown sugar thing going on that SS does. This is hoard-worthy for sure- an excellent gourmand autumn scent that has a little something in it that prevents it from being 100% sugar.