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BPAL Madness!

DarthArwen

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Everything posted by DarthArwen

  1. DarthArwen

    Dragon's Milk

    bizarrely, this was pure, loud hyacint on me. Wrath did almost exactly the same, so I am forced to conclude it must be the dragon's blood. How sad, this sounded interesting.
  2. DarthArwen

    The Lion

    I've had this and loved it for a while, just never seemed to have reviewed it. It was fun reading some of the earlier reviews - interesting to see how people get different things out of an oil. On me the Lion is golden and warm, a kind of slightly dusty sun-baked scent. It's not foody or spicy, just a lovely warm comfort scent. It's wonderful on me and I think it will smell even better on the right guy...
  3. DarthArwen

    Siren

    I don't remember what I was expecting of this, but what I got was ginger. Not the kind of ginger that you get from a fresh ginger root, but the type of ginger you get with sushi. So basically all I could think of while I was wearing this was 'sushi! sushi!' and that was just weird and not something I wanted to smell of. Maybe my skin just amped it so that it drowned out the other notes..
  4. DarthArwen

    Rose Cross

    This was a frimp, I'm not much into florals and wouldn't have picked it. It was rose soap on me. Very good, luxurious rose soap that I wish I could have given to my nana before she died. Unfortunately rose amps on my and it was just yelling ROSE IS HERE AGAIN!! and I don't even like rose very much.
  5. DarthArwen

    Gluttony

    I got this a while ago and liked it at the time, but it must not really have caught my attention. Was resniffing foodie imps yesterday and... ohhhhh.... mmmmm OMGPONIES I SMELL NOMMABLE It's mostly buttercream and hazelnut for me, with a bit of toffee. I don't get chocolate so much. I put some Bliss on next to it but decided Gluttony does better on its own. This is a glorious comfort scent and I've now transferred it to a roller bottle because I think I'll want to wear this a lot over winter.
  6. DarthArwen

    Quirkiest, most bizarre oils

    I can tell I will have to revisit this topic before my next order... One recommendation I would expect to see here is Intrigue. Did most of you find it too normal perhaps? I found it murky and heady, a very interesting scent that's not perfumey at all. It always gets interesting reactions from people. I found it too strong as it came, so my Intrigue is diluted with two parts jojoba oil which allowed it to.. unfold, I would say. It's less smack-over-the-head now and works way better on me.
  7. DarthArwen

    Spice me, baby! The spiciest BPAL blends

    Interesting to read this. I just bought a bottle of Bengal that's very aged (still has an unlaminated label) and the previous owner had said it was very potent. Sadly I haven't found it so, it seems to have lost of most of the honey note and it fades rather fast! I might have to sell this on and get a fresh bottle..
  8. DarthArwen

    Intrigue

    I was afraid that the fig would screech over everything, but it actually starts as heavy, bitter rotting wood. There's a tingue of sweet in there somewhere, but covered with.. old leaves? I can't define it, but it's not pleasant. Must be the palm with the wood notes. There's something vaguely plastic about it After 15 minutes or so itl eases off and I get some more definition and sweetness, fig and cacao. After another 15 minutes this mellows out into a nice, warm skin-scent. A press-nose-against-skin-and-go-mmmm scent. Shame that final stage doesn't stay a bit stronger, it's lovely. [edit September 2008] I've since put this in a roller bottle and diluted it with 2 parts jojoba oil, and it's much better now - as if the pure oil was too strong and 'compact' and it unfolds when diluted. It now smells lovely from the moment I apply it, and the wear length is reasonable.
  9. DarthArwen

    Ladon

    The hundred-headed dragon that guards the garden of the Hesperides: dragon’s blood resin, golden apple, apple blossom, white musk and hyacinth. I like The Hesperides a lot but was hoping for a slightly less 'single' apple. Wet: it starts with a whiff of watermelon, causing me to go "nooo!" but that fades fast. Drydown: I like this, it's more sophisticated than The Hesperides, which was a loud Granny Smith apple. Here I can definitely pick out apple, apple blossom, and the hyacinth. More a blend than a single note. Dry: Not 15 mins after application the apple is gone completely and I have something like dusky hyacinth left. Pleasant, but I got this for the apple note. Perhaps this works layered with The Hesperides - or in a locket. If it had stayed like when it was drying, I would have gotten a bottle for sure. Very lovely and sophisticated without being outright perfumy. Sadly it didn't stay that way.
  10. I thought it was cream I had a problem with, but I think it was the milk in Milk Moon that went sickly. Beaver moon was okay except that the cherries went bad, so I think I could try Candy Butcher. Except that's an unimpable, right? I'm still confused about that. I'm going to put Bliss, Gluttony and Candy Butcher on my wishlist and see if I get to them sometime. I am staying away from Limited Editions, so none of the Dias for me :-) Thanks for the advice everybody
  11. Just browsing through this topic because I want a good chocolate scent... I'm looking for a deep, dark chocolate scent (not milk chocolatey, so I'm not sure Bliss would be right). Vice falls by the wayside because cherry goes sickly on me. I'm kind of worried about the cream note in the Candy Butcher. any advice? Gluttony Dark chocolate, vanilla, buttercream, and hops with pralines, hazelnut, toffee and caramel. Candy Butcher Dark chocolate with a heavy cream undertone. Bliss A shot of pure, self-indulgent euphoria! A scent that is very, very wicked in its own way: the serotonin-slathered scent of pure milk chocolate.
  12. DarthArwen

    Milk Moon 2007

    I got this with a swap, it's not something I would have ordered I think. In the bottle it smells sweet sweet sweet but with enough tartness to make it fresh and interesting. It's a young girl's scent to me, something I'd give to my niece of 13 maybe. On my skin it sticks to that fruity sweetness for a while, and I also thought about pineapple, but after a couple of minutes the party is over and it turns sickly.
  13. DarthArwen

    Blood Kiss

    Straight out of the bottle this smells like a homeopathic solotion - I'm guessing that's the alcohol. It's a bit weird to put something with that scent on my skin. Happily it changes immediately and turns into a full, soft scent, well balanced, very nice. After a while it fades off, leaving something sweetly musky. Unfortunately the imp I got (not fro the lab) leaked in transit and there was only a drop or so left, 'cause I could see myself wearing this.
  14. DarthArwen

    Blood Amber

    Maybe it's because I just had a nose full of rose from Lilith, but I didn't smell anything from the imp. On my skin it's faint - kind of mineral with a hint of spice. I find it quite pleasant, but I can't imagine anyone but me (with nose to wrist) could smell it. I had expected something more in-your-face considering the colour of the oil.
  15. DarthArwen

    Lilith

    Got this in a swap 'cause it sounded interesting. The whif from the bottle made me go 'euurgh' as it was rotten blackcurrants in cleaning solution... When it dries down on me the wine disappears and it becomes a pleasant rose-scent, with no detectable musk or myrrh. I'm afraid it reminds me too much of a brand of bathroom air freshener my nana used. I don't like rose, but I thought I could handle it as one of four notes - apparently not. Maybe my skin amps it..
  16. DarthArwen

    Bengal

    Bengal. In short... mmmmmmgood This one had an immediate and rather emotional reaction in me. A deep stomach-feeling of comfort. Like warm arms hugging me on a cold day. I expected Morocco or Scherezade to be my Eastern/spice blend but this is far better. It's warm spiced honey to me, somehow like being in a warm kitchen without actually feeling foody. It's not perfumey and it fits me very well. So far this is my number 1. Even my boyfriend - who insists I smell better without wearing anything - went mmm :-) I've just bought a bottle of aged Bengal here on the forum - and I've just noticed that it's Jenesis's bottle, which she reviews a bit further up. I hope that added potency works on me too, because the lab-fresh imp fades kind of fast, and my imp not going to last me long at this pace.
  17. DarthArwen

    Black Forest

    In the bottle/Wet: eek pine cleaner. *whimper* dry: Ohh, it's really settled in and the other notes come out to play. Very nice Later: strangely enough the pine fades quite far and it's now a soft, warm green scent. Quite nice, but not quite what I expected.
  18. DarthArwen

    The Hesperides

    The Hesperides are the Nymphs of the Evening who dwell in a verdant garden located in the Arcadian Mountains, guarded by the terrible three-headed dragon, Ladon. Within their garden lives the tree that bears Hera’s sacred Golden Apples. Their perfume is that of sturdy oak bark, dew-kissed leaves, twilight mist and crisp apple. In the bottle: green apple and wood notes. Nice. Wet: apple and.. acrid. I don't really recognise the wood as wood anymore. Dry: The acrid smell is gone. It's now apple, its sweetness tempered by.. I don't really get a clear woodsy scent from it anymore, but it's probably there in the background. It smells like being in an orchard. later: it's mellowed out a lot, but still yummy freshly-picked-apples.
  19. DarthArwen

    Bewitched

    In the bottle: Green. With a sweet note. Promising. At first: Berry. Green. Yum. Later: Still berry. Verry berry. The green note has disappeared completely and it's now candy-like, or maybe like berry lemonade (cordial) syrup. It carries an association of a kid with sticky sweet spilled all over it. Later still: it now has a hint of a certain popular perfume I sometimes smell on people around me... and I hate. I still don't know its name but it has kind of a false, sickly sweet scent. I was disappointed with how this turned out on me and it's not something I'd wear on my body. I'm also interested to see that llyfrgell above me came to pretty much the same conclusion, and wonder if we got an imp from the same batch. Was yours lab-fresh?
  20. DarthArwen

    Vixen

    I was thinking of orange when I put this on my shortlist, not of orange blossom. It smells nice for me, but not incredible. I can't find the ginger. As it dries down it gets a bit dry and powdery on me.
  21. DarthArwen

    Hell's Belle

    This smells to me exactly like it smells inside a Lush shop. I like it a lot and I'll probably wear this
  22. DarthArwen

    What scents are masculine? Gender-neutral?

    I read the description of Dee and it sounds absolutely wonderful and perfect for my guy... so it's a surprise (and disappointment) to hear it described as generic cheap cologney. I'll still see if I can find an imp somewhere though...
  23. DarthArwen

    What scents are masculine? Gender-neutral?

    I hope my first order will have arrived when I next see my (long distance) boyfriend. He's not a scent-wearer, only deodorant, so I wonder if I could talk him into trying some of the least daunting ones like De Sade (can't object to smelling faintly of leather, right?), Black Forest (might work), Calico Jack and Windward Passage (he sails, plus it sounds non-cologney). Maybe Dirty? I might have to resort to sneakily painting some onto his neck with my finger though..
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