amrita

In the imp, I smell a "men's product" smell. After application, the scent disappears and I can't smell much of anything, even when I stick my nose right up to my wrist. After a few minutes, I smell leather, and maybe cedar or other woods. This dries down to leather and a faint cedar smell...it's pretty straightforward on me. I don't ever smell amber, orange blossom, or any florals-- it's pretty one-dimensional on me.

This blend is really tripping me out. It is so light on me that it's almost invisible. I get plain rose-- pretty, light, maybe a white rose. It doesn't turn to powder like other BPAL roses. After a few minutes, I can smell a very faint hint of something herbal, green, maybe a bit spicy. After five minutes it has disappeared completely. I was so surprised by this that I applied it multiple times on different areas of my body and got the same thing. Where are all the notes that everyone else is getting? Weird!

When this is wet, I smell faint sweet cherry (it reminds me of little girls) and faint roses. A few minutes later this starts turning pretty soapy... sweet, flat, warm, soapy rose. A half hour later, I smell faint soapy rose when it wafts, but if I stick my nose up close, this is unbearably soapy! I don't get any grass at all. An hour later, I'm still getting soap, and the faint cherry smell again... strange.

Hello LEATHER! This is the strongest leather blend I have ever smelled. I generally really like BPAL leather, but this was so overwhelming that I tried to wash it off. There was no room for any incense or smoke or salt subtlety on me...it was all intense, raw, strong, real leather smell. I think I'm going to keep this and give it another chance in a bit, to see if my body chemistry changes...

My first impression is that I really like the combination of slightly spicy floral (dragon's blood, on me) and amber. It might be a little too sweet, but I'm not sure yet. As it dries, it sweetens a lot, and becomes just too sickly sweet and floral. I think the combination of sweet amber and sweet dragon's blood causes a saccharine explosion with my body chemistry. Eventually this goes really perfumey and soapy on me.

Hm, I just found my notes from when I tried this in March... This is another case of unfortunate body chemistry. I was really looking for a beautiful natural forest smell... and it seems that many people were getting that from this blend. But on me, it smelled very similar to fresh "salon" style shampoo. I got hints of wood bark, dry cinnamon, and aquatic notes, then my skin sucked it up. After the drydown, I could barely smell anything-- but what I did smell reminded me a lot of Wolf Moon-- faintly sweet, woody, and aquatic. Curious!

I love all the notes mentioned in the description, but Incantation did not smell much like those notes to me! Wet, it reminded me a lot of the Hermit (the same gentle flowers), but it was slightly incensey. After a bit of drying, it started to smell slightly sour or chemical, and then... it erupted into a strong musk scent, like men's bathing products. Way too manly for me... I'm not sure what makes it turn this way, since I have a lot of success with vetiver and sandalwood in other blends. Hm!

Wet, this is a sweet buttery cocoa, a stage I do not like-- maybe because it smells too foody in the wrong way. However, I recognize that cocoa usually smells this way when wet, on me. I can smell the hazelnut at this point, and it's really nice. After a half hour of drying, the cocoa has almost completely faded, and the oil smells rich and nutty and well-blended. It kind of reminds me of the base notes of Samhain (although not as much as the pumpkin with five woods and ivy does). I *really* like the hazelnut note! I think I'm going to pass this one on because the initial cocoa weirdness is too strange for me. But I hope we see more non-foody hazelnut blends...

I can't believe I haven't posted a review of this yet. Chaos Theory CVIII: In the bottle, this smells like birch/wintergreen essential oil, with sugar and faint sweet flowers. On application there is a strong rush of wintergreen; it reminds me a lot of wintermint gum. After the drydown, the wintergreen fades a bit and balances with the flowers, and the blend feels more soothing than medicinal-- like a gentle cool washcloth on a feverish head. I can't say exactly what flowers are in this blend, but they are mild and slightly sweet, like those in The Hermit. They are not pungent, biting, or perfumey in any way. The flowers smell familiar, but from where, I can't say. :/ Maybe there's some lotus in there? This seems to me to be a pretty straightforward blend-- it's primarily sweet wintergreen, and it stays true on my skin. (Last reviewed by OriginalWacky.)

On me, this comes across as a very strong cinnamon apple potpourri/room freshener type scent. It gets more and more potpourri-esque as time goes on. I was pretty surprised by this, since I find the apples and spices in many other BPAL blends to be pleasant and mellow (like Samhain, for example). I wonder what makes this one different? In conclusion-- this is waaaaaay too strong for me.

When wet, I get lots of juniper, herbiness, and sweetness from the orchid. This stage is my favorite (I love the juniper). About a half hour after application, this fades to an almost pure candy-sweet orchid on me, slightly sharp, with a hint of sandalwood. An hour later this has gone very, very sharp, smelling medicinal and perfumey. I'm not sure what the offending note is in this, since I have had success with all the notes listed in the description. Body chemistry, oy.

Wet, Bengal smells a lot like baklava to me-- honey drenched phyllo with spices. The honey note in this is so good! It smells very sticky, sweet-- like real honey-- syrupy, dripping, and thick. I'm also getting a lot of clove (and I really like it). After a few hours, the spices have disappeared and this dries down to mild honey, with something faintly floral and sweet-- as subtle as the floral note you can taste in wildflower honey. It's very much a second skin scent on me at this point. I normally have bad luck with the light musks, but Bengal is just perfect! I love this.

Oh, I was so sad about this one. It turns into soap almost immediately on my skin-- nothing but soap and a vague, sweet, nondescript floral smell. Linden essential oil is one of my favorites, and I was really hoping for that same smell in this blend. Ay!

On application, this is a candy sweet floral aquatic, with spicy green notes floating over the top. My skin sucks it up; I can't smell it unless I put my nose a couple inches away. I would call this a "hot aquatic". As it dries, it warms up and becomes sweet, green, mysterious, steamy. In the end, this is too perfumey for my tastes-- but I but it will not be too perfumey for many people. The floral notes in this blend smell slightly like jasmine if I really think about it, but without the sharpenss I associate with blends in which jasmine dominates. I have smelled species orchids in a greenhouse before, and I remember their fragrance being soft, mellow, and very sweet-- so maybe this is an accurate rendition!

[2005] Awww, I love this! This was my first Samhain. This oil doesn't change much for me-- on application, I get warm spices, apples, and a gentle foody sweetness. A few minutes later the cinnamon starts to come out more, and the oil wafts well. (A rarity on me.) About 20 minutes later I can smell the black patchouli, which adds smoky darkness. An hour later it is sweet gentle spices, warm patchouli, and baked apples. Beautiful! At no point do I get woods and fir, but that's okay with me. I love this oil!

Wet, this is a sweet, candyish floral, with a hint of spice. It almost reminds me of carnation. Two minutes later, this is starting to soap out on me. Is that rose? It tickles my nose and makes me sneeze. Fifteen minutes later, this is wafting soapy, perfumey rose very strongly. Sadly, I have to wash it off. It's totally over the top on me... like almost anything with rose.

This was a real shocker. I think this blend might smell the worst of any BPAL ever, on me! There is some really funky chemistry thing going on: all I smell is a very artificial fragrance like you smell in the diaper/female products aisle at a drugstore (?!), and then my skin sucks it up and it's gone. Wow. No coldness, musk, powder, florals, soap, ozone, violets... Bizarre. Edited to say: damn I wish I knew what's in this!

I also get the faint dirt smell-- and an almost sharp green smell. But the greenness isn't bitter or herbally-- it's like someone ripped a rainsoaked leaf in half a few feet away from me. These notes disappear in under a minute, and the rest of the drydown passes through various stages of a slightly squatic, sweet blue green vanilla. It is warm and fresh... kind of like sitting out on a grassy hill in the sun, with a warm ocean breeze flying by-- only without the smell of grass or salt. This is definitely a 'second skin' type of scent. Initially it is has relatively decent throw on me, but after the drydown it just clings, sweetly and gently. I typically have to go light on the BPAL, but I could get away with slathering this. When I stick my nose to my wrist and inhale deeply, I imagine I smell a familiar floral, or even a spice, but it's nothing I recognize from other BPAL blends. I haven't been buying many bottles lately, but this might warrant one!

Wow-- bizarre. My experience with this one is so different! Upon application, I get a generic perfumy, heady, wet smell. As it dries down, it starts to waft an unpleasantly perfumy musk. I can't pick out anything but that. A half hour later, I smell a hint of vanilla underneath. I had to wash it off eventually. I have a feeling it would be quite instructive for me to know the notes in this.

Wet, I get light florals with a pretty hint of sweet cherry. I like it! As soon as Queen of Hearts starts drying, I smell soap. A few minutes after application this is full-on sharp soap. I've got to wash this off-- even if it does morph (doubtful, if I know my skin chemistry), I don't want to have to go through the Supersoap phase!

Wet, Tezcatlipoca smells predominantly of the sweet, thin chocolate in Bliss. I might smell a floral note (I don't recognize it). I might smell cinnamon. As this dries down, it turns sweet, dark, and incensey. I wouldn't even have guessed there were florals in this, but that may be what's adding to the sweetness. This is reaaaally sexy. It is a little like Sin and Scherezade, with a super sexy leather note blended seamlessly into the background. I don't really smell the cocoa at all anymore. Depending on where on my arm I put the oil, I detect a spicy note, but it's so well blended I honestly can't tell if it's cinnamon or sandalwood. Maybe it's both... or neither. This is sweet, dark, spicy, resiny, woody, smoky, and incensey all at once-- but it's not overpowering and doesn't make my nose itch. I wish I could say something more coherent about this blend, since it's now in my top 10. Basically, I want to take the imp home, dump it in a bottle of carrier oil, and spend a few hours engaged in oiled indecent acts with as many people as can fit in my bedroom.

I had a funny feeling that Mi-Go wasn't going to work for me. I just haven't had that much success with fruits. I actually couldn't pull out any individual notes in this-- I just got a vague soapy wash of sweet fruits and florals which my skin sucked up quickly. My best friend was over last night, though-- she'd just gotten back from a month long stay in Hawaii-- so I gifted little Mi-Go to her since she loved it and said it reminded her of all the wild tropical smells there. It smelled so much better on her! I loved the label art, by the way.

Wet, I'm getting a fresh, sweet, creamy citrus dessert-- something like sugared oranges. This is evoking some very pleasant memories of outdoor parties; I'm not sure why. A few minutes later, the aroma of tropical fruits emerges. A half hour later I'm getting the copal and plumeria, and an hour later I think I smell rock rose (cistus) wafting, which is one of my favorite scents. These are all great smells, but overall the blend is too sweet for me. It's a really beautiful blend-- just not me.

I love this! Baku is all lavendar and creamy sweet anise. I put this on before I left work one day and ended up completely passing out on the bus and riding 15 minutes past the stop I wanted to get off at. I slept through the part of the ride on the freeway where the driver has to cross 4 lanes of crazy traffic in about 1/4 mi (which usually scares the crap out of me). Since then I've restricted my Baku use to bedtime.

I spilled a bunch of this on my fingers when opening the imp, and when I sniffed my hands after wiping them off, there was wintergreen screaming at me. Wow! Hello, wintergreen. (I'm guessing it must be the sassifrass, but I'm not sure. To me it smelled exactly like my birch essential oil, which is used as a wintergreen substitute.) This blend was slightly sweet and prettily spicy on me, but dried down into incredibly dry woods and resins. I usually like dry--but Laudanum just smells very strange on me. Interesting but not wearable!