Lamia

My boycat really likes this. Over the weekend I had the opportunity to drink a glass of yuzu wine, and it was AWFUL. Smelled like nail polish remover, tasted like paste, and burned the back of your throat as you drank it. BUT IT STILL SMELLED LIKE CITRUS AT THE SAME TIME! Aizen-Myoo starts off with the sharp harsh citrus of yuzu, which makes one twitch after that glass of wine, but it's not as disagreeable as that. It calms down, and becomes sugary. Not grainy sugar, but smoooooth and silky, like the liquid sugar you get at Dunkin Donuts. Bright and sweet and silky with a twang of foreign citrus. During this stage, it is truly exquisite as a scent. Alas, it fades, and becomes a very mild citrus. Ah well, for a little while it was magnificent!

Apricot brandy. The end Yum!

Deliciously sexy. Spicy and rogue-ish, with a snap of salt air and a smooth smile of silken honey. Very masculine, and not me. Trade bag, although this would be devastatingly alluring on the right man.

Mmmmmm sexy. It's that delicious scruffy furry leather, with a hint of sage and sharp lavender. I just want to rub myself up against someone wearing this. Nom nom nom

This scent is killing me. When I first opened it (upon arrival), it smelled like heaven and win and yum and YAY! I decanted an imp for a friend and wiped away the excess from the bottle lips on my arms as a sneaky pre-test, but it smelled rather "meh". "Okay, this needs to settle", I said to myself. And then got my period two days later and said "AHA! Chemistry adjustment, I can test it again!" I opened the bottle for a sniff and went "What happened to that exquisite scent of love?" It smelled sort of ... "meh". Wet, this was lemony, with a low grumble of something musky and deep in the far background. The lemon eventually went away, and the deep background musk was exactly that - low and faint. Then a swell of soap raged to the fore (jasmine?), while also somehow smelling at the same time of bloody skin. Thank goodness those have gone away! Now the vetiver clamors for attention, but the tobacco makes it harsh and sere. Clearly, this will be evolving for a while, but it's not being a pleasant ride while it does so. I am so sad about this, really expected it to be fantastic. I will let it sit for a while and try again.

This is the chirpiest cleanest sleazy truck stop I have ever smelled, and I have been to one or two truck stops. Clover-sweet, if you ever took a blooming clover head, tugged out the petals and sucked the tips for their honey. A touch of wood (hops/tobacco/hemp?) during drydown, but otherwise, a light happy floral.

I tried this previously without posting a review, and my notes say "Nice, snappy". Now it's just a quick fade, although the plum & bergamot were nicely full in the background when freshly applied.

Musky vanilla creme. Starts swooningly good, but turns thinner and more like candy than a lotion.

This started out FANTASTICALLY AMAZING. It was musky and furry and sexy and I wanted to throw myself down on a bed and nibble me. There was a layer underneath of floral soap, but it only enhanced the yummy musk. Alas, it was not to last, and soon... too soon, the musky furry sexy scent wandered away, leaving me smelling of forlorn rosewater. Sigh...

Moldy watercress and old lady perfume. Me and mushrooms? We have never gotten along this just proves it!

My word... In the bottle, I was pretty sure that this wouldn't be successful, there was a sweetness that smelled like something had turned. Wet on skin, this started out like .... an expensive cigar box? An old one that had some fruity/spicy cigars in it? Clove and cedar have come to the fore, and a reviewer above suggested chai. Yes, chai tobacco with cloves. It's fading quickly though, so it looks like all of the Velvet line has been unsuccessful on me But this one? NOM NOM NOMMM!!! while it lasts.

I was soooo hoping that the amber would be overshadowed by the other ingredients. Technically, yes. Eventually. In bottle and fresh on skin, this smells like saliva. DAMN YOU, AMBER, DAMN YOU SO MUCH!! Then it smells like morning mouth chewing a stick of cinnamon gum. Add some vetiver to that. Ok, finally the saliva is gone, but now it's chewy paste vetiver cinnamon gum. After an hour, my wrists smell like I have peeled a thick-skinned orange, and the mist from breaking the peel has landed on my wrist, over a mild woody vetiver. Ah well.

This evolves a lot. It starts like musky minty tea, gets a lemony tang, and then the frankincense, coriander and sage politely say "excuse me". Husband says "it smells like aftershave, with something else that is familiar but he can't remember what..." This is quite charming, but I am doomed to not have Cthulhu's scents work on me. Also, I don't normally agree with the idea of summer/winter scents, but this one seems quite summery to me.

I had high hopes for this one. I say this started out smelling of coffee and a fresh, unburned fag. Husband says I smell like old ladies again, like baby powder. "But ... but .... CIGARETTES! TOBACCO!" I squawked at him. "OK, then old ladies drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes!" LOL It really smells like coffee-scented baby powder, he's absolutely right. That tonka, boy, it sure softens everything up. Ah well.

In the bottle, medicine. Fresh on skin, medicinal. Not like a bottle of something, but when you were a kid and you were dragged into the doctor's office, and you had no idea what any of the implements were for, what those smells were, and if they were going to operate on you without telling you. I think that sharp tang is juniper. I found it quite droll that the Bat of Health smells like medicine This turns less astringent and sharp, and the fig thickens, pushing out to the front for a little while. It also smells a little tiny bit like catspit on the left wrist only, for about half an hour. I will wait for final drydown, but this has already faded a lot in 90 minutes.

The throw on this is exquisite, but sniffing my skin is (shrug) In the bottle, it's pleasant enough, but I also got a tang of that polish remover that MelanieSuzanne caught. On skin, this smelled remarkably like ass. OH NO, I thought, Just the word "Virtue" and my skin rebels? I don't want to smell like ass Thank goodness, in under a minute this started smelling more and more like berries. I don't detect specificailly strawberries, but they're red and juicy, whatever they are. Drydown turns the juice to dust. So it's dusty red berries. At least it's not ass YAY!

My least favorite so far. This starts beautifully, white roses and sandalwood, but as soon as the oil starts to evaporate on my skin, it turns weak-sandalwood-with-a-hint-of-coconut. Quick fade. I have traded this for an equal amount of Velvet decants to someone who adores this Bat.

It's scruffy-sweet, no - it's bubblegum, no - it's coconut ... er ... coconut bubblegum? I keep getting coconut with sweetness. Cuddling with husband, he says "You smell like berries" I have worn this for 5 minutes and love love love it.

Starts with powerful lavender, phew! Becomes lavender and lemon (that's the verbena), and softens enough to detect the peach and amber. Nice enough but will be trading most of the bottle to a friend who adores this.

This is a nice floral. Husband says that it "smells like old ladies", but he says that about a lot of scents. I find it most amusing that after the lengthy poetical inspiration, and the ingredient list, I say what I do so ... so very simply LMFAO

This is a pleasant floral. It reminds me of a soap my grandmother would use - bright and happy and floral. She probably bought it in a department store. After reading other reviews, I can detect the grape, but it's hiding behind the florals. Very nice, prettily feminine, but not me.

This started nicely, spicy and intriguing - very busy, thick with scents. Turned sort of "Big Red" chewing gum on me, but it wasn't JUST cinnamon, there were all sorts of fascinating things going on in there. Hm, that cinnamon is pretty powerful and warm. (scratches wrist) Oh, crap - it's another Malkuth! This left huge red welts on my wrists, and I had to wash it off with water, wipe my wrists down with isopropyl alcohol, and then apply A&D ointment. An hour later, there is still a vestige of redness, although it is mostly gone. BEWARE! Pity, cuz it smelled nice until then.

This is a very light scent. If there is dragon's blood in this blend, A) I can't smell it and dragon's blood is usually gross on me. I smell a light aquatic scent, with something gently rough in the background after drydown. All I can think of is a mall beauty product, but one of their exclusive poncy high-end ones. Something keeps peeking through that is floral and smiling, but it refuses to be pinned down - I can't smell it if I sniff my skin. It has to waft by.

Er, this is WEIRD. It smelled much better on my when I was all sweaty and grubby. On clean skin, it smells like chewable vitamin C (those zany rosehips!) and redly sweet (strawberry/cranberry/jasmine). After drydown, it gets very dusty and grainy, with the sweetness laying just below. This is seriously tradeable and impable, egads...

I only bought this because a friend of mine was inquiring "if BPAL made any pumpkin scents?" I am soooo glad that she asked! My word.... This combination ends up smelling like pumpkin pie with brown sugar. The cherry, honey and vanilla combine for the dark brown sweetness, and the cedar, tobacco and sage make for a warm base. Mrs. Smith's aint got NUTHIN' on this! *whew!*