donnatron

Bottle: Warm floral touched with something creamy. I also get a good dose of amber and citrus. Wet: There's something spicy in here as well--a touch of cinnamon or cassia? It's faint and actually kind of burns down upon application but I get a distinct cinnamon/cassia/spicy bark note from this. On the skin there's a hint of something faintly astringent and citrusy. I don't know if it's necessarily citrus peel or flower but I think there must be some element of citrus in here. I also get a warm, yellow floral over what I think is amber. It's one of the lighter ambers in the BPAL catalogue if it is amber. Dry: So pretty. Warm, creamy yellow florals with the lightest touch of an amber(?) base note and some sort of citrus element. This is such a great scent for summer--it's completely golden and definitely draws to mind that "dripping and sappy" sort of scent. Very languid and pretty. Not so humid that I couldn't feel at ease wearing it in the middle of winter. Throw: Excellent. Overall: Sundew isn'y necessarily my favourite BPAL in the world but it's a great fallback perfume. I can wear it anywhere, it's both classic and distinct, and it's just an all around great blend. It's definitely a great perk me up blend--how can one be sad when one essentially smells like liquid sunshine?

You could try 51 (Luminescent, glowing, and otherworldly: green mandarin, neroli, honeydew, white amber, guava, freesia, white and green musks hovering over desert scrub, smashed wood, and the dry, biting scent of night air over the Groom Lake salt flats.). It's probably a bit more bracing than the Coach fragrance but that extra bite could be good for approximating the haze you get from alcohol-based perfume. Other recs: Eris wet fruits and sharp mimosa with Martial spices and a deceptive flash of floral. A bright melon-y scent with violets. Very interesting and unusual without being too childlike. Belle Epoque Sweet opium, Lily of the Valley, vanilla, mandarin and red sandalwood. Y/N? On the one hand I think a lot of the notes are very similar to Coach but the opium gives me pause--might be a bit headshoppy? Phantasm Green tea, lemon verbena, jasmine and neroli. A bit more crisp and citrus--lacks the sweeter fruits. Zephyr Lemon, lemon verbena, neroli, white musk, white florals, white sandalwood, China musk, bergamot and a drop of vanilla. Light, clean and unobtrusive. Again lacking the fruit but might appeal anyway. Skin chemistry is a strange and wonderful thing so definitely toss a few wild cards into the mix. Maybe dragon's blood is magnificent on her skin or maybe she'll wind up being a fiend for lavender. Good luck!

Destroying Angel has a very strong dirt/moss element to my nose. It's more of a walk in the woods in the early spring after the snow has melted but before any of the vegetation has started to grow. A few others: Black Annis damp cave lichen and oak leaf with a hint of vetiver, civet and anise. This is a really dark and slightly threatening scent. There's a very strong rocky, dirty element to it, something slightly damp (although it's not a traditional aquatic, it honestly smells like cold, wet rocks) and then a musky and feral sense from the civet. Burial deep, brooding forest scents, including juniper and patchouli. The scent of upturned cemetary loam mingling with floral offerings to the dead. Like Black Annis I find this one really damp as well. I'm not sure how the florals will work with your chemistry but it's a very interesting scent. Robin Goodfellow Dark musk, moss-covered wood, ragwort, heather, and sage. A bit cleaner and more traditional than the rest I've mentioned. A nice walk on a well maintained forest path with a stunningly chivalrous gentleman. The Jersey Devil Pitch pine with blackberry leaf, cranberry, cedar wood and tomato leaf. A bit warm and sweet along with the beautiful, sappy, sticky scent of pitch pine. Samhain (any year) damp woods, fir needle, and black patchouli with the gentlest touches of warm pumpkin, clove, nutmeg, allspice, sweet red apple and mullein. It just smells like autumn--like the description says. It's a past LE but it's returned every year since inception and is fairly easy to pick up on the forums.

Bottle: Sweet, sweet sugary roses. Smells like Turkish delight. Wet: Hope doesn't morph much from bottle to wrist. The roses have a tea rose/pink rose quality and are very soft and girlish. The sugar note acquires a sort of "granular" quality on my skin. It doesn't necessarily smell gritty, but I feel a bit of a gritty texture in my mouth when I smell it. Dry: So beautiful. Lovely soft, sweet pink roses with a perfect swirl of spun sugar. It's really not a complex scent but it is a beautiful one. I don't actually have a lot to say about it. It's a gorgeous scent and I love it but there's not a lot more to say than "sugary roses." Throw: Intense. Overall: I really like Hope. I think she's a lovely fragrance for sunny days and creates a great balance between traditional and avant garde fragrance. If you're fond of rose scents she's a must try.

There is. And I feel kind of bad for recommending it because it's definitely become a lot more difficult to get a bottle of lately. But if you see a decant or bottle definitely snap up some of The Emathides: black amber, black orchid, black currant, olive blossom, wood violet, lavender, blue musk, rose attar, and cedar. An easier to find LE is Lunar Eclipse: Red musk, black currant, violet leaf, wild frankincense, lavender, black orchid, Darjeeling tea, vetiver, red moss, myrrh, Moroccan spices, blackened fruit gums, and tobacco. I find it a lot more of a musky/tea/fruit gum scent but it is very distinctly a dark, smoky orchid on my best friend. But then, of course, why recommend limited editions when there is an ever expanding general catalogue? Event Horizon Black opium, labdanum, opoponax, black orchid, and benzoin Dark and a little sweet and sticky from the opium/benzoin combo. Medea Night-blooming cereus, black orchid, black currant and myrtle leaf enshrouded in the incense of Hecate's cypress and myrrh, and the dark rage of magickal labdanum and intoxicating poppy. This is like a dark, herbal, raging orchid. Personally I find it a little too harsh for my taste but that may be the extra kick of darkness you're looking for. Manhattan sheer amber, black leather, white mint, lemon peel, white tea, grapefruit, kush, teakwood and orchid. A combination of dark and light notes. If you like I Married A Vampire From Planet X or any sort of paradoxical scents this might be a good bet for you.

Imp: Astringent. Sharp rosemary rises out of the imp and clears my sinuses something good. Wet: Fresh on my skin orange blossom always smells dusty. It becomes the dominant scent but the rosemary is doing its best to reassert it's dominance. The rose is there and just a little like, "Fools. Just wait." Dry: The rose has come out in full force. To my nose it's sort of a warm tea rose sort of rose but I could be mistaken. The more volatile parts of the rosemary have burned off and the scent is no longer astringent. It settles into a lovely floral-herbal scent with warm rose and orange blossom clinging to the skin with the rosemary wafting about. It's very simple but also very interesting. This is definitely a power and strength sort of scent. Throw: Good. Overall: Me likey. I think it would be brilliant for the office and it already does wonders when I have a headache. If you're a fan of unusual florals or interesting historical blends, Catherine is probably the scent for you.

Minotaur is under "Lunacy" because it was a companion. Alone was rereleased at DD after a BPAL limited edition run in 2005.

Bottle: When I first got this it was one of those scents where I knew it was a good idea to purchase multiples but also that I probably wouldn't fully appreciate it for awhile. Turns out I did appreciate it fresh because I just pulled out my first bottle today and was like, "WTF? How did I use 80% of this bottle already?" Anyway. Fresh this was all Dorian with extra lavender and a slight hint of warm vanilla. Now the Snake Oil has sort of come out to play and in the bottle I get a heady whiff of both the Dorian and the Snake Oil with a shot of lily of the valley and some herbal lavender. Wet: Sugary lavender-Snake Oil. I actually lose a lot of complexity I could smell in the bottle. Dry: The lavender comes out agai and becomes the top note over a really gorgeous, sugary Dorian-Snake Oil blend. I can smell lily of the valley because I know there's lily of the valley in here but if I didn't I wouldn't be able to tell. This reminds me a LOT of Black Lace but while I find Black Lace a little dry and regal on my skin, this is lush, sweet and very feminine on my chemistry. I can see how this would be totally divine on a man, however. Throw: Good. Overall: It's such a cute, wonderful concept and just a wonderful blend overall. The blend was a winner fresh from the lab and much like it's namesake, is aging gloriously into it's own distinct blend.

Bottle: Warm magnolia, jasmine and a dark sort of fuzzy scent that could be the amber or the rose. Wet: I think this might have white rose in it. The initial wet stage is fairly sour on my skin and it smells a lot like Magdeline and Parlement of Foules do on me. White rose is really not great on me. However, the rest of the ingredients are winners and it rapidly acquires a warm, humid jasmine-magnolia top note over the amber. I really can't smell the orchid. Dry: The jasmine and magnolia continue to dominate. This is a beautiful blend. A warm, humid, southern floral that is both true to the floral scents and skin close and sexy. I can definitely see how this is chemistry dependent, and the amber at times sort of battles the other two star ingredients to make it unpalatable. After about half an hour the florals win the battle for dominance and this is certified gorgeous. Throw: Coy. You have to be up in my grill in order to get a whiff (I, being the sort to say "Up in my grill" am clearly not coy so I guess it's good camoflauge). Overall: Well... I have a bottle, so I guess that's a sign that I totally dig this blend. So many of my favourite florals are cool and distant while this is so sultry, warm and sensual. It's a lovely blend and well worth any weirdness that migth result during the drydown.

Bottle: Warm and spicy. I smell primarily nutmeg and get a hint of that really clean, almost mentholated scent from the cardamom. Maybe a hint of champaca? Definitely something flitting between floral and incense. Wet: The spices are still the dominant note but underneath I get a white, waxy sort of scent. Maybe calla lily? It tempers the spices a lot and rounds this out into a beautiful, full scent. I get another whiff of champaca and a few more mystery flowers. Osmanthus, maybe? Dry: This is beautiful. Heady, dark and incensy but kept in check by the fresh brightness of the cardamom and a few white florals. I think there might be honeysuckle in this as well and there is a wonderful, full sweetness to this scent. I think it is exceedingly sexy and possibly one of my favourite florals in the catalogue. Throw: Good. I'm in a little cloud of Mama Ji hoping it will die down a bit before I go out amongst other humans. Overall: What a beautiful blend. As I continue sniffing I think I get a bit of gardenia from this. So extra points for wrangling the dread pirate gardenia. Love it. This will be getting rotation throughout the year--it's just one of those blends that is perfect and languid on a hot day and warm and comforting on a cold one. ETA: Been wearing this all morning and it finally struck me what it smells like! Floral gums. Those little gummy candies that taste like violets and rose and other assorted edible flowers. I totally love floral gums so this just adds an extra layer of enjoyment to the scent.

Bottle: This reminds me a lot of The Dodo. Very warm and fruity and a good sized hit of red musk. I get a faint hint of the tobacco and some of that patchouli smoothness. Like the Dodo on a bit of a weekend bender. Wet: Cassia is definitely the dominant note. I'm actually a bit fearful because the Dodo has caused a bit of contact dermatitis lately and I will be one big frowny face if one of my most coveted LEs turns out to be allergy inducing. I'm starting to get a hint of the fruitiness--the same sort of icy, crystalized mandarin scent I find in Lady Lilith and Kubla Khan is present here. Dry: Oh my. The cassia is still present over the entire thing giving a beautiful, dark spiciness to this. The red musk and patchouli are at that aged point where they blend together (possibly with the tobacco) into a wonderful, rich musky/mellow base. I get a sort of vanilla sense from the tonka and/or benzoin but it's not really noticeable. The real winner of the drydown is the plum. This is the same plum as in Blood Countess and it just winds its way through the whole scent beautifully. This is exotic, dark, sensuous, womanly and really, exceedingly sexual. Throw: Good. Overall: This is a heavenly blend. It's the perfect mix of fruit and resin and the red musk adds a lovely, elegant sensuality. I am sitting at home wearing my pajamas and drinking tea and I feel absolutely, gloriously sexy. I will admit the caveat that it seems a bit too much for the warm weather we're enjoying right now but it is a gorgeous blend and I think that if I keep it safe it will survive to enjoy another winter.

I really like BPALs vanilla orchid and find that it's very deep, lush and vanilla-y. I think people are a little worried about it going FLORAL!!! but for the most part it seems to behave. Regan is a perfect vanilla orchid with stephanotis and Opuhi (April Fool's LE from last year; pretty easy to find around the forums) is a sexy, vintage vanilla orchid/ginger blossom scent.

Bottle: Cake. Strong, strawberry cake. Very sweet and syrupy. It reminds me a lot of Beaver Moon 07. Wet: I know this is totally going to blow your mind but it becomes... CAKE! SUPER CAKE! THE CAKIEST CAKE TO EVER WALK THE CAKE WALK! There's still a faint hint of strawberry. Dry: I like this but I don't quite know why. I'll have to be in a very specific mood to wear it because it is one of the craziest, foodiest scents I've ever smelled and I'm kind of uncomfortable with it on my skin. It smells very, very young and is a little unnerving. I get sweet, vanilla cake and strawberry and a hint of that scented doll plastic scent. It's not unpleasant and I like it but in a purely platonic way. Meaning: If anyone ever smelled this on me and thought it was sexy I'd be like, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU I SMELL LIKE JUNIOR HIGH!?" Throw: Good. Overall: Interrobanged, accusatory exclamations aside I think this is a pretty nice scent. But it is possibly the least sexual BPAL I have ever tried in my life. On my skin it feels so innocent and childlike that it actually has negative sex appeal. It's a fun blend and a good one to have when I just want to hang out with friends and have a good time.

A lazy, warm deep green scent with a thick aquatic undertone: Spanish moss, evergreen and cypress with watery blue-green notes and an eddy of hothouse flowers and swamp blooms. Imp: Sharp, green and a little sour. I get a hint of what I think is magnolia. Wet: Right off the bat this is not pleasant on my skin. The cypress seems to be dominating the scent and one of the florals is really not jibing with my chemistry. Dry: After about 15-20 minutes this calms down into a pretty, warm floral (magnolia, honeysuckle and jasmine? Lily?) over a touch of aquatic and greenery. The cypress is still a little weird and sour but it's died down considerably. I definitely get that humid, swampy feeling from this. It feels sensual and languid and doesn't necessarily feel cloying but definitely evokes hot, muggy weather for me. I don't know whether this would be something I wear in summer because it's appropriate for the season or something that I wear in winter because the headiness reminds me of summer. Throw: Average. Overall: An interesting, offbeat, southern floral. Very feminine and somewhat sultry. Still work/day appropriate and I could easily see it becoming someone's signature scent. It's really beautiful and accessible without being generic and just a lovely blend overall. I don't think it strikes my fancy enough to purchase a bottle but I'm glad to have tried it and think it's truly a wonderful, unique perfume.

Lightning slashing the midnight skies over the endless reaches of the ocean. The electric tang of ozone, marine notes, and a drop of sharp rain. Imp: Aquatics and ozone. Wet: Pretty true to the scent in the imp. I get a bit of a smooth lemon rind scent over the aquatics and ozone. Reminds me of the lemon note from White Rabbit. Dry: Simple, clean and somewhere between pretty and soapy. I get a definite hit of soap/drier sheet and there isn't really enough to keep it interesting for me. It does smell incredibly clean and light. Like clean cotton straight out of the drier. It's not particularly compelling to me but it is very unobtrusive and professional. Throw: Light. Overall: Eh. I think it's a pretty scent and it seems to work well on my chemistry but it simply doesn't jibe with my taste. Definitely a must try for those who like light, clean aquatics with no florals or sweetness.

Hecate is a really lovely blend of black musk with almond and myrrh. Dragon's blood resin has a bit of a floral tinge to it but Dragon's Heart from the Ars Draconis section is amazing. There's also a touch of red musk blended into the black musk. If you want a bit more of a lighter/herbal black musk, Mad Hatter is a really interesting blend of lavender, pennyroyal and black musk. If you want to look into past black or dark musk limited editions or want some more recommendations, there's a general thread on musks here.

Red musk, ambergris, coconut palm, red sandalwood, balsam, date, warm leather, tobacco, ebony, lingum vitae wood, pandanus grass, an' a touch o' lime. Bottle: Red musk and leather. They seem kind of thick and heavy but there's a dry, sandy note and a bit of freshness keeping this from seeming excessively Krampus-y. Wet: Sand. Miles and miles of warm, dry sand. The sand backs down a bit and I get some of the aquatic. It's minorly dryer sheet but I kind of like that clean fresh smell and so I like it. Also getting a continuing hint o' l-l-l-leather. Lime, unfortunately, is nowhere to be seen. Dry: Agreed. There is something so soft, warm and skin sensual to this scent. It's really one of those "natural scent" smells. Not necessarily like the natural scent of skin but like it's just a comfortable warm mix of my perfume, my clothing, my skin, hair, books, and environs. It reminds me of lazy summer days lying in the backyard reading and being indulgent. Although it really doesn't smell like it the tonal quality of it reminds me of Snake Oil. Snake Oil is one of those year round scents where it makes as much sense to me to wear it apres ski (assuming I skied, which I don't) as in a bikini with a sarong and a tropical drink (I also don't wear bikinis but bear with me on the visual here ). Pirate Moon equally evokes comfortable nights in a wood panelled study with an old timey Sherlock Holmes pipe and running into the surf at the cleanest, most secluded beach imaginable. It's gorgeous. Drop dead gorgeous. Throw: Mild and close to the skin. Overall: So glad to have this. Initially I was a little disappointed about the red musk being such a supporting note but all the notes wind together into such a beautiful scent that I am glad to have nabbed a bottle of this so late in the game.

All right ladies and gents. I have rekindled my romance with Regan (surveying the bottle box I realized I have an embarrassing number of colbalt bottles and while I know most scents age nicely, four years plus is pushing it a bit with me. I started out just wearing Regan to use it up but now I am craving Regan. It is a beautiful, gentle vanilla floral with amazing throw and a gentle creaminess. So feminine. So springy. So very, very perfect!) and started a new one with Opuhi (Regan and gingerale! I feel like I'm on vacation when I wear it!). I have it bad for vanilla orchid. Any good recs? GC or LE, I do not fear the sales forum.

Bottle: Sand and dragon's blood. Beachy! Wet: Does anyone else remember Fun Fruits? They were a sort of gummy fruit candy snack thing back in the late eighties/early nineties. I assume they were healthy because my mom let me have them and I never got junk food. Anyway. This smells like Fun Fruits. And a touch of tobacco. So very late eighties indeed. Dry: Considering the ingredient mix I expected this to be totally over-the-top sex kitten on me. Instead it's a clean, bright, slightly spicy dragon's blood with the faintest hint of red musk in the background. Very light and unobrusive. A touch of weird borderline plasticity from the sand but even that kind of makes sense in here. Definitely a nostalgic sort of scent for me. Throw: Mild. Overall: I'm kind of psyched to have a red musk/dragon's blood combo I can wear to the office. Maybe not my holy grail of BPALs but definitely one I can get behind for sheer attractiveness. Very unique and interesting without being overbearing or simply weird. A wonderful balance of sweet (dragon's blood, musk) spicy (ginger) and savory (sand, tobacco) notes.

Bottle: Smokey. Very, very smokey. Reminds me a lot of the initial blast of vetiver from Lunar Eclipse and if the list of ingredients didn't lead me to believe otherwise I would believe this is a pretty vetivery blend. Wet: I start to get hints of the vanilla, a touch of coconut and some plum. The general smokey quality continues. Dry: I dunno. I guess I expected Snake Charmer to be a lot more... more on the skin. It's a gorgeous blend but it's more the sort of blend that compels you to smell it than actually appears to be mesmerizing on its own. Very much a blend for a literal snake charmer, then. I get it, I understand why it's beautiful, but it feels more that it has to convince me that it is. From a literal standpoint it's a smokey vanilla/plum. A GC comparison would be Bow and Crown of Conquest. Sort of like a more fruity version of that. It's gorgeous and I love it but there's something about it that makes me wish I didn't. Throw: Very good. Overall: I rarely wear it out because I'm still wrapping my head around it. A few months from now I'll probably be all over it like I was all over Lunar Eclipse six months after release. If you like a combination of smokey darkness with light fruits and musks it is definitely your cup of tea.

Imp: Snake Oil and nag champa. Wet: Snake Oil. With the exception of Cottonmouth I'm always disappointed by the snake pits while wet because they invariable go straight up Snake Oil on me. I can smell a bit of the frankincense and nag champa doing their damndest to overpower the vanilla and musk but we'll see what happens here. Dry: The purest, sultriest, smokiest incense you've ever had the fortune to smell. Snake Oil is a compelling and dark base and the nag champa, frankincense and what I believe is the labdanum combine to make this very heady and sexy but in a very New Age-y sort of way. Luckily I am the New Agey sort so this works out very well for me. It smells both like perfume on skin and the scent of just marinating in a really luxuriant incense. ETA: Been wearing/testing my decant for a few days and it really smells like a now defunct pagan shop in my city. I think it's the nag champa/frankincense combo. The frankincense is really sweet and high pitched in this and smells like frankinsence resin burning on charcoal. It's gorgeous but potentially acquired. Throw: Decent. Overall: I never used to be a nag champa fan but somehow I've come round and it's one of my favourites. Smokey, sexy, layered and complex. Definitely not the best Snake Pit to try if you're looking for something that uses Snake Oil without you realizing it's Snake Oil but if you're in the market for a sophisticated headshop type scent, definitely give Temple Viper a glance (sniff?).

Bottle: Cream and berries. Dessert-y. Wet: Weird. The cream coats everything and I get a very... visceral reaction. I can TASTE Miller vs. California. It's cream. Lot's of cream. And some berries. And a bit of leather/paper bag funk. Dry: Sharp, boozy berries over cream. At this point it is super, super SHARP AND BITING on my skin. The berries are the prominent note and the cream is present and beautiful and binding everything but just not working out right now. There is definitely something in here that is making me taste it. All the elements should be gorgeous together but they're pretty much... not. Throw: A few inches from the skin. Overall: Cream/milk notes always take a few months to age up and become my faves. I have faith that Miller vs. California will be the naughty Alice or Love's Philosophy for me--both blends I initially blew off because of aggressive secondary notes while fresh but eventually aged into really beautiful dairy inspired blends. It has potential but it just needs time.

Bottle: This is one of those scents that is just completely unlike anything else I've ever smelled. In the bottle I get a strange, musky honey with a sharp herbal/berry edge. It's unusual and definitely smells... magical. Wet: It remains pretty true to the bottle scent for about ten minutes of the drydown. Then I get a soft hint of vanilla bean warming to my skin. Dry: Yeah. This is completely unlike anything else in the BPAL ouevre. It's pretty awesome. Sweet honey and true vanilla bean. Sharp/sweet from the black berry leaf. Just a generally sexy, golden scent. Unusual. Hard to describe. Definitely one of those scents that needs to be experienced to truly understand. Throw: Minimal. It's gorgeous but even with intense slathering I have to reapply a few hours later. Overall: It hasn't shot to the top of my list but there's something very appealing about Lady Una. Will definitely use up this bottle at least.

Black Annis (Black Annis' perfume is a mixture of damp cave lichen and oak leaf with a hint of vetiver, civet and anise) Musky, dark, slightly rocky and scary. It smells like being chased. The Great Sword of War (Mandarin, tonka, saffron, black tea, cocoa, tobacco leaf, sanguine red musk and five classical herbs of conflict.) This is just a general dark, take on the world, kick ass and take names sort of scent. Queen (For use only by women. An extremely potent passion blend, used to great effect when you're converting feminine sexual energy into power.) I get vetiver, honey and pine from it. It jibes very well with its intent. Black Rose (a blend of roses, with a touch of amber and musk.) A very dark, velvety and sinister rose. It smells like the Wicked Queen. Bloodlust (Dragon's blood essence, heavy red musk, Indonesian patchouli and swarthy vetiver with a drop of cinnamon.) Maniacal is probably the best way to describe this. It has a bit of a mad Bond villain bent to it.

Bottle: Sweet Tart plums. Wet: The wine and fruit amp way up. I get a hint of white musk and the barest hint of my beloved champaca. Dry: Oh my... this is gorgeous. Bold and sassy fruits and wine swirl together grounded by a rich, buttery amber blending with the white musk. Champaca is present in the throw but just barely. It's actually less haughty and regal than I was expecting. The fruitiness gives this a fair hint of playfulness and the amber smells almost more like a skin musk on my chemistry. Very well blended and well executed. Throw: Good. Overall: It's good to have a more masculine/refined fruit/wine scent. Prospero fairs even better on my skin than I expected him to and he will be getting high rotation as the days become warmer.