reina

just from the description, I felt that this would be too sweet for me, and it was.

from the moment I put this on it got sweeter and heavier by the minute, and 20 minutes later I washed it off. I could still smell it on my skin, but most of it was gone, luckily.

Off to swaps.

What miss apple said.

dark, very grown up floral. and something with Patchouli that doesn't reek on me! that's something!

it's strong, like top-quality incense, my mom gets a reaction to this in her overly sensitive eyes, which sucks.

I think it would suit me to a T 15 years from now. I think I can go with fresher, younger scent.

But I do like this. it's kind of new on my skin so I'll add more to this post in a few hours, see how how it develops. I have a feeling that this will survive even the smokiest nights out. I might wear this to salsa tomorrow.

I can see how some people decribed this as a fushcia colored blend.

it is very bright. Not bad!

I don't think I can smell the leather in this, but the grapes are prominent. Very pleasant when it fades slightly, it seems to mature from the initial bubbly-ness into something that reminds me more of wine than red grapes - a little twinge of tartness is added to the sweet juice.

it's very nice, and would work well with someone who's skin would bring out the leather. I wish mine did. it's 3 hours into wearing this, and it's starting to fade rather than soften. I have a feeling that my skin tends to swallow up certain blends, as it did, alas, with dear Pele.

I'll be trying Wanda again. Hope it goes better next time.

I felt the mint on my skin.

I like the cooling feeling, but that's the only thing I like about this one. it has the smell that reminds me of an old piece of mint chewing gum stuck to the underside of a school table. That's when the mint is there. Then it fades into a soft fruity-ish note that really doesn't go with my chemistry - something like white peach or white cantaloupe.

In the vial, it reminds me of a fruit and veg shop during Pomelo season.

I like the yuzu note. The yuzu and kaki create a scent that is reminiscent of grapefruit with a touch of passionfruit.

once it's on me, it wafts. for some reason, the citrus in this makes it smell like some kind of generic shower gel. too strong, and smells cheap.

Then it transforms: about 30 minutes into wearing, the yuzu softens up, more and more until eventually it fades away, and gives way to a soft, sweet fruit. I think that's the kaki (persimmon).

I'm not into fruity scents, and this really confirms what I knew. But I'm keeping it as it's a great daytime scent in this hot weather, and maybe - who knows - it'll grow on me. I'll give it another shot.

ADDED Oct. 26:

I got it! I got it! when I had the imp I was trying for the life of me to figure out what the initial note smelled like....

well, it's guava season here, and now it all makes sense. guava and a hint of pomelo (I guess that's the combination of yuzu and kaki).

straight on, during the first few minutes, this has a note that reminds me of Escada's "Margaretha Ley". A bold floral.

However, that softens into a magical, sensual exotic and very delicate ginger lily that sticks close to my skin.

Unfortunately my skin soaks Pele up, and within 2 hours, there's nothing left to smell. So I just applied Tisiphone where Pele used to be, and that's for another review.

so I'm not the only one who has this morph into a clean, somewhat soapy scent on her after a while.

I wish the mint stayed the whole time as the very first minute after application was drop-dead gorgeous, and I love mint!

however, even after the mint died off (maybe 15 or 20 minutes into wearing it) it turned into something that reminds me of clean linens drying in the breeze, very clean and comfortable. I'll try this again in a couple of days, maybe the mint will last a little longer.

I like this scent very much, and can see myself wearing this regularly in our warm climate.

This is my first BPAL review.

it's been on for about an hour now.

well, I can see that I have no reason to fear that civet will smell like animal excrements on me, so that's a good thing.

the not so good thing is that even an hour after I applied Deimos, it still smells like a weird kind of fruit gum with a strange note beneath it. my nose is inexperienced in perfume and I don't know what each note smells like - so I can't tell you what makes this be so bizarre. I guess that the citrus notes create the fruit gum note and the amber and civet compose the weird musky note below.

The strange gum smell was strong at first sniff, and an hour later, that note beneath it is expressing more and more of itself. I'm afraid that so far, Deimos is most definitely not for me.

ETA:

I'm washing this off. I definitely don't want to smell like that, nor do I want any man I'm with to. too strange, and skunky.

this is interesting,

my three major signs (sun, moon, rising) are all considered "male" signs. I'm a leo with an Aries moon and Gemini rising. So wearing male scents is nothing peculiar.

the interesting thing is that I've always been attracted more to those florals like sweet pea, jasmine and orange blossom, and light-ish orientals (floral and spice with some wood, I'm mad about rosewood), but on the other hand fresh scents like verbena, mint, lemongrass and gingerroot are huge faves of mine.

fruity scents don't attract me, and especially I can't stand heavy earthy stuff like vetiver and patchouli.

what are the typical scents for an Aries?

or is the Gemini rising responsible for this olfactory split personality?

anything with Eucalyptus should work, I think?

thingd that work for me are also mints, pennyroyal, pine, citrus oils (orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit, bergamot etc.), fresh gingerroot, lemon verbena, lemongrass, and tea tree.

key words: cool. composed. clean. proper. relatively gender-neutral.

Rosewood could work, if it's in the realm of dry, not sweet.

As for blends:

I'm thinking of....

Storm

The Hierophant (if you're in a position of authority)

Whitechapel

Eidolon

Tempest

Phantasm

Deimos

Phobos

Old Shanghai

Pain

Kumiho

there's a reason why they're listed as seperate notes - Neroli is the flower of the Bitter Orange tree, while Orange Blossom is the flower of the orange we eat, the sweet orange. two different blossoms from two different plants.

I also noticed that at least to my nose, Gap's Dream (I own a bottle, too, but it's been ages since I've worn it. too sweet for me) smells very similar to Aqua de Gio (Armani). anyone else noticed that or is it just me?

ok, I know it's a commercial one, but it's for a gift, and I want to convert a (guy) friend who's a Rochas Man fanatic to a BPAL fragrance. thing is, I have no idea which BPAL scent is similar to Rochas. Do you?

as well as... whic BPAL scent is most similar to the dear departed Gavarnie?

Gucci Eau de Parfum?

that big square bottle with a round cap.

I don't like it but it likes me. it turns into a nice, clean yet deep powdery scent on my skin. a little sweet, but just a little.

any BPAL scents that would work along those lines?

other scents that agree with my chemistry are Gucci Rush, Emporio She by Armani (the long golden bottle), Emporio He Armani (the matte black bottle), Emporio Night (woman) by Armani, Escada Magnetism, "Dolce Vita" and "Hypnotic Poison" by Dior.

however, I must note that the scent of Lush's "Gavarnie" soap works perhaps the best.

oh, btw... jasmine & neroli agree with my skin, roses don't.