helarctos

All right, I admit I can see the comparisons to laundry detergent and dryer sheets. But... I love those smells! And I love Storm Moon. It's strong, it's fresh, it's clean. Soapy in that Irish-Springy way, but with an added floral. It's as though a torrent drenched a rocky field in bloom. Maybe this is what laundry detergent manufacturers are aiming for when they try to make things smell like a "mountain breeze." I would think it would make for a good choice of workplace fragrance as well -- no distracting sensuality, nothing soporific, just a blast of freshness.

It's... maple syrup on me. Again. I ordered a whole bunch of the ylang-ylang blends at one fell swoop, expecting them to be good on me as Bath and Body Works' ylang-ylang is, and it just didn't work out. Every one of 'em made me into the International House of Pancakes. BUT it could be either the ylang-ylang or the myrrh that does this to me, as I got this effect with one blend that had myrrh but no ylang-ylang. Either way, La Petite Morte struck out for me, as it contains both. An inexplicable and unfortunate morph.

This is another blend that just turns to maple syrup on me, and I'll be damned if I can figure out why. First I thought it was the Lab's ylang-ylang that did it. Then I thought myrrh -- but Veil doesn't have myrrh in it. So maybe after all it is the ylang-ylang. It's frustrating, because underneath the mapley smell I get lovely wisps of a skin note that I can imagine would be just gorgeous if my skin chemistry wasn't turning the whole thing to Vermont at sap-harvesting time.

I was hoping, from some reviews, that this would smell like Tears, with which I fell in love after it was discontinued. It didn't work out as I'd hoped. The calla lily of Penthus is just too strong for it to substitute for Tears, though it is a beauty in its own right -- high and piercing as a mourning wail. Maybe too strong for me in the long run, though.

Very strong -- I can see how a de' Medici could have used this to conceal poison! The orange blossom dominates the blend for me, a loud sweet heavy note overlaying the secretive waft of rosemary.

On me, this is a lighter sweeter amber than I expected from its name and color. I was expecting a heavy, viscid sweetness from "blood." It also has a delightful spicy kick.

Definitely Thin Mints + Samoas. Real ones, the kind of scent that would waft off a cookie tray, not a strong artificial minty or coconutty smell. No whiffs of plastic or wax to signal artificiality. I'm debating whether to keep this one -- I'm not sure I want to smell that edible, yet I'm amazed at how this scent can be captured. Maybe I'll keep it just to marvel at.

Oh my. Wanda smelled so lovely on other people, so when I got it as a freebie I was excited to sniff it. On me, it turned to a disaster. The wine note drenched all the others, but instead of a sweet wine, the overwhelming smell was that of the fermentation of wine. Something beautifully floral was lurking underneath, subtle with almost a hint of nuttiness, but I couldn't catch it long enough between whiffs of sharp fruit-rot. I'm guessing the reason I didn't like this one is because I'm not a wine-drinker. Wine often smells awful to me when it is praised by others as at least decent -- I'm always the person at the reception with a token glass of seltzer.

Smells like a fruitcake! The almond and rum combine to create an overpowering aroma of candied cherries liberally basted in liquor. I was expecting something sultry. Although liquor can be sultry... Hmm, now I'm thinking a mixed drink, in a lowlit bar, with a single maraschino cherry inviting the lips. ETA: A strong sweet honey mead?

Unfrickingbelievable. On me, Black Lotus smells like an amalgam of real maple syrup and paraffin wax. I thought it might fade but it hasn't. It only turned to smelling more like burnt maple syrup. This confuses me, because I thought it was the Lab's ylang ylang that turns to maple syrup on me in many blends, but there's no ylang ylang listed in Black Lotus. Off to play match-up with my spreadsheet. ETA: The culprit is myrrh. And I think the quality that other reviews refer to as "bubblegum" is the same one that I perceived as "paraffin wax." (Because all the sweetness was subsumed into the maple syrup smell.)

Amazing. Hollywood Babylon morphs from a heady high heliotrope to the thick sweetness of strawberry jam. The scent isn't loud on me -- you'd have to sniff me to tell it was on -- but it does have staying power. I'd like to wear this and watch Mulholland Drive.

Powerfully earthy. Putting this one on is like smearing yourself with the dust of hallowed ground. I wouldn't want to smell like this everyday -- but then, it's not a scent for feeling pretty, for adorning yourself. It smells like an invocation.

Whoa, GRAPEFRUIT! Grapefruit and white musk. They go well together, though I never would have dreamed it. It's a very strong scent.

Maraschino cherries and creme de menthe liqueur, both in the bottle and on my skin.

Delectable, well-balanced, complex. I'm not sure I can separate one note from another in my mind, the blend is so perfect. A spicy floral, but the spices aren't overly warm. It smells somewhat like The Hermit to me, but with an added feminine je ne sais quoi. Appropriate for the feminine personification of Wisdom. I need a big bottle of this one.

LEMON. Something about my skin chemistry just amps up the Lab's lemon. I can smell nothing else in Severin. I was hoping to get a waft of the refinement that others are able to detect in it. All I get is strong, strong lemon.

Something about my skin chemistry brought out the worst in Wolf Moon. It smelled of strong pine air freshener and spoiled fruit. A janitorial chemical mixture. It will be going to someone whose skin may bring out its magic instead. ETA: And yet Cold Moon smelled lovely on me, as did Skadi, another fir-smelling blend. Not sure what went wrong with this one.

Wilde... Fresh bergamot, smelling almost lemony, taking the edge off the jasmine to keep it out of the coloratura range. The lavender is herbal, not floral, here. I could see this as working for either gender, not so strongly masculine as I'd expected.

Carnations and cream -- but I have to practically smash my nose against my wrist to detect it. This imp came fresh from the Lab -- maybe it needed to age? I don't get the usual BPAL-honey scent from it at all. Very, very light scent. It's as though I were keeping a carnation in a bud vase near my desk.

I received an imp of Unseelie as an extra from the Lab in an order after Unseelie had been discontinued. I'm glad I got a chance to sniff it, but I'm not upset to lose the chance to order it, either. It is the only BPAL scent I've tried that smelled much like a commercial perfume to me. An earlier poster mentioned she thought it smelled like Youth Dew, and I agree -- I once had a bottle of VERY well-aged Youth Dew, and Unseelie straight out of the imp smells much like that did, although Unseelie mellows better. Doesn't have much staying power, either. After three hours it is mostly gone.

BPAL's ylang-ylang usually smells syrupy on me. In Skuld, the ylang-ylang takes a backseat to a marvelous true honey smell. I felt like the queen bee. I didn't catch a note that I could identify as labdanum. No matter. Skuld had me sniffing my wrists all day.

I don't know whether I got an imp that was a little off or whether it's just my bizarre skin chemistry, but -- on me, Urd smells like nothing so much as fresh PENCIL SHAVINGS. You know, the stuff you clean out of the pencil sharpener.

Apple cider and toasted nuts. Reminds me of an apple orchard where my family would go every fall throughout my childhood. Such a foodie scent doesn't mesh with my image of the Norns -- I was expecting a more pronounced amber note -- but it's definitely delicious. ETA: A cinnamon scent emerges after a long while. Still foodie -- or resembles autumn potpourri, with the orchard scent still pronounced.

This was a freebie from the Lab. I wouldn't have ordered it myself, but I was glad to be able to experience it. That is, until I got some on my hands. It took me a few minutes to realize what that smell reminded me of. It's strong dirt, and stronger roses... but somehow, together, they morph on me to smell exactly like NAIR.

On me, no honey or vanilla in Dragon's Milk. Just very strong cherries with a hint of cinnamon.