luxuria

This is so unbelievably fucking lovely. I did not anticipate loving this so much.

 

In the bottle, as noted it definitely smells like butterscotch...almost too sweet. However, on the skin, the butterscotch vibe fades and it just becomes lovely light, milky, creamy, slightly-sweet-but-nowhere-near-sickly scent with an undertone of delicate florals (that don't go soapy!)

 

This reminded me of another BPAL and reading through the reviews, it clicked in my head- Dragon's Milk. However, I didn't much care for Dragon's Milk so this is like a way better, softer Dragon's Milk.

 

Argh! Wish I had more than one bottle, but I will cherish this one.

This smells like Burt's Bees Avacado Hair Butter to an uncanny degree (which doesn't smell like avacado, more of a screaming organic citrus type smell) when it is wet. I get kind of a "lime bakery" vibe as it dries. There's something baked goods-esque in an odd way underneath the citrus. It's really a unique scent, but not what I was expecting. I only get the Spooky-esque minty coconut if I put my nose to my wrist, but it's nowhere to be found in the "throw."

 

I'll update as this ages, as the general consensus seems to be that aging = stronger coconut.

 

[edit]

It didn't take that much aging to change this a LOT. It's more mint-coconut-something foody and citrus in the bottle, and stays that way on my skin. I can actually smell the mint and coconut clearly now! I really love this now. It's so unique and pretty if you bought a bottle and don't like it, let it sit for a couple months and try it again!

In the imp..herbal strong pine and some candied citrus. Kinda reminds me of a manly version of my beloved Belladonna without the enduring traits.

On my skin...a breath of pine air freshener in a very, very, very VERY dusty attic. Ugh, this is gross, my skin totally mangled this one.

I'm definitely giving this one to my friend! I didn't like it too much in the imp but man, it was horrid on my skin.

Ooooh, what a delightfully spring-y scent! It reminds me of Empyreal Mist. I definitely smell a lot of peony, something citrus, and green tea..it is very light, clean, and floral. I have a bottle of Empyreal Mist which I think I like a little better so I wont be needing a bottle of this one. Whereas Empyreal Mist gives the impression of fog, this is allllllll clear skies. Gentle yet crisp. This is a very nice scent indeed..

No one has mentioned Ultraviolet yet!

This soo smells like Vice without the chocolate in the imp.

 

On the skin, this smells like bright, fruity candy, but still wicked. It's way sweet but with some bite. My skin brings out lots of rasberry and neroli, and sometimes orange peeks out.

 

On drydown it starts reminding me of Trix cereal, then fades to nothing.

 

Overall this is a candy-like but not innocent scent. Nice, but not really my thing.

Centzon Totochtin vs. Blood Kiss

 

These two have a similar, major component that I've never smelled in another blend. They're different, yeah, you can tell them apart, but still VERY alike on me!

 

Blood Lotus vs. Kabuki

 

Kabuki dry and Blood Lotus wet smell way similar on me.

 

Akuma vs. Vice

 

Akuma smells like Vice without the chocolate on me.

All the BPALs I've tried from my last order seem similar to another scent at first sniff..this one smells like Sudha Segara in the bottle. Slightly sweet but clean.

 

On my skin this just smells like soapy lemons. The tea component is really nice, but this is overall too reminiscent of bath products for me. It doesn't morph on dry-down, just gets less strong until it fades to nothingness.

This reminds me a lot of a warm version of Somnus in the imp. I smell lavendar for sure, and some other herbs (I think?) but with some amber and other resins underneath.

On my skin, it's just frankincense and the ambery type fragrance with just a touch of the herbs. It's a warm scent but not bright. Nice, but not really my cup of tea. I might use this in an oil burner..and if I could make my own incense out of BPALs, I think this would make a fantastic one.

There's a note in here that's very common in commercial perfume, minus the nose-tingling alcohol, of course. It's creamy and light, yet dry, and I don't get any Arabian spices. I wasn't expecting it to smell like this, nor was I expecting to like it, but I REALLY love it. I can see why this is so popular. This is definitely "sunny" though- a summer perfume for people that don't typically like summer fragrances. This would be a good date fragrance- it seems romantic, but not of the "sexy date" variety.

 

This doesn't smell like Snake Oil to me AT ALL. Snake Oil is more syrupy, spicy, deeper, and sexier.

 

Overall, lovely, creamy, and bright, but in a most unusual way.

In the imp: This both looks and smells identical to Kabuki, but Kabuki's drydown instead of the cherry lollipop smell it has wet. However, something in dry Kabuki turns my stomach, and this doesn't have the same effect, even though it smells damn near identical. Odd..

 

On my skin: Musk, dragon's blood, lotus. The lotus is still sweet but it isn't as sickeningly syrupy bubblegum as it has been in other blends. It still smells like a flower rather than a candy.

 

Doesn't change too much on drydown. Sweetens a bit more, mellows out, and I primarily smell some resiny type warmth. I wasn't expecting to like this because lotus has treated me badly and I, for some unexplained reason, have an aversion to dragon's blood. I wouldn't get a bottle but I'm keeping my imp.

In the imp:

Reminds me of Blood Kiss without the vetiver and clove. Different notes, but I swear they both have some similar component..I wonder if it's the "blood."

I mainly smell the cocoa, wine and rum, and (even though it isn't in the description) cherry.

 

On drydown, the cocoa mellows out and it becomes much softer. It's primarily "blood" component after that, and just a touch of the booze. It's nice, and I'm pretty sure I want a bottle. It's surprisingly deep, the color it brings to mind is (appropriately) blood red.

I love that scent, too and unfortunately I haven't tried anything that really strikes me as remotely similar with BPAL the closest is Dana O'Shee but that just has the almond, no cherry. Maybe layer Dana with some single note Cherry if you can get your hands on it? Black Phoenix definitely isn't going to be what you're looking for because it's waaaay smoky on the drydown. It has resin/incense notes somewhere in there.

Okay..so there IS coconut in Snow White. I thought my nose was going insane.

 

6 scents isn't much. Especially with 3 of them being LE's. MORE COCONUT! I never used to really care for coconut because of the suntan oil association but BPAL's is just so different and lovely. Oh how I crave it..

Just to clarify: I'm not specifically looking for strongly coconut, just a complete list of EVERY BPAL with coconut in it.

 

It's a gorgeous note but also one that just totally makes love to my skin.

 

I wish I got coconut from Hell's Belle but, alas, none. Is there actually any in there or just a coconut sort of "vibe"?

 

[edit] Bizarre that Snow White doesn't have any actual coconut in it..something in there smells IDENTICAL to coconut and dries down on my skin the same way as the regular coconut does.

I'm trying to compile a master list of BPALs with a coconut component because it's at least my #2 favorite note, if not #1 (it's battling with Tonka, you see.)

 

The Star

Spooky

Black Pearl

Snow White

Perversion

King of Spades

 

Please comment with any more!

In the imp this smelled very woody and almost herbal- rather green. Something reminded me of Fenris Wolf...

 

On the skin, "male version of Snake Oil" is spot on. I couldn't think of a more apt way to describe it! It's very very very nice and oh-so-sexual, but alas too masculine for me (oh how I wish I had a man who could wear this and then I could be his Snake Oil-wearing partner..) Not painfully masculine though, I could definitely see women wearing this, that woman is just not me.

 

It doesn't dry down like Snake Oil, though. It starts smelling more like Queen of Sheba than anything. Lots of amber and a wee bit of spicy wood gives it the same sort of vibe. I don't like this phase as well as the initial manly Snake Oil phase, so i'm not as enamored.

 

Overall this is a quite nice warm, golden, and sensual but masculine scent.

I smell primarily coconut, chocolate, mint, and a hint of rum. It's surprisingly light and actually not that "foody"- I was expecting something reminiscent of actual baked goods and this is not it. It's all foody elements yet actually doesn't smell like food. I am SO SO SO SO glad I have another bottle of this on the way. Spooky is everything I wanted it to be and so much more.

 

It gets more mellow and cocoa-y on the drydown, but maintains the same light, mint-coconut quality. *sigh* this is heavenly. It has notes I all completely adore but I never dreamed that they'd smell so delicious.

 

I need to hunt down another bottle..I just don't think I'll be able to live with just 2. PM me if you have one you'd like to get off your hands

 

 

[edit] Just because I thought this was interesting- on day 2 Spooky's drydown was damn near identical to Snow White's. Must be the coconut..? I'm not complaining though, I'm in love with that smell.

 

[edit again] The next day I wore it, the drydown was similar to Gingerbread Poppet instead. Much more of a faded cookie type smell. Funny how this morphs so much..

 

Also, I just had some Malibu rum for the first time, and the comparisons are SPOT ON! Wow, Spooky TOTALLY smells like a less rummy Malibu rum!

Chimera has a "skin" quality to me. The cinnamon isn't very cinnamon-y. It's not spicy, just warm. Also, I haven't personally tried La Petite Mort but it sounds like the ultimate skin scent.

Ultraviolet! It definitely has no "warm" qualities whatsoever. The mint cools it down especially, and the violet gives it a "night" vibe.

Fenris Wolf comes across as pretty feminine to me. It's the only Wolf scent I've been able to wear, and actually loved.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Damn, that one was actually really manly on me.

Just to clarify: gender neutral is ok (Belladonna is pretty gender neutral), just not overtly masculine, as so many of the "forest" type blends seem to be.

 

Either one is ok (reminiscent of woods or just woodsy, period.) I've been pining after Skadi for a while but the sorts of prices it's going for is absurd

My love for Belladonna has really taken me by surprise. Now, this is a scent category i'm VERY unfamiliar with because everything I've come across has been too masculine. What are some forest-y blends that are at least as feminine as Belladonna? By forest-y, I don't mean necessarily mean just woods (but I do really like woods), but greenery, etc. too..I DON'T like strong earth/dirt smells, however (my experience with Zombi was notoriously awful.)

 

I'm thinking Bewitched would be good, because I like fruits, but I'm really not sure on it. Is it at all like Belladonna meets Bordello? Because that's how my uneducated nose is picturing it

Just curious, what exactly does pennyroyal do to a pregnant woman?

This smells like purple-tinged metallic silver to me. Reminds me of what I wanted out of Neo-Tokyo but knew I probably wouldn't get- something that smells futuristic while still retaining qualities I love in my "normal" scents (mainly foodiness or sweetness, and peppermint is close enough to foody and sweet for me that it fits the bill perfectly.)

 

The peppermint gives it a slight candy association to my nose- after years of being totally addicted to altoids, it's no wonder..however, the eucalyptus gives it a biting, metallic edge and the violets just round it out really nicely, staying in the background the entire time.

 

I got this as a gimp and I would have never ordered it on my own. I really like this- and I mean REALLY like this. I'm definitely ordering a bottle come my next order. This makes me want to dress all cyber-like I could EASILY see this becoming one of my signature scents..yes, I think it shall!