lysithea

Pink Phoenix is the perfect compromise for me. I like Pink Moon, but the florals amp on me and it loses it's sweetness. I liked Strawberry Moon, in theory, but it was more artifical strawberry and less cream on my skin. Pink Phoenix is creamy, thick, sweet and absolutely girly. As drydown approaches, I am getting a wonderful sweet strawberry- honeyed vanilla caramel-like scent. Quite edible and yummy! The sweet pea does not present itself as floral at all in this blend on my skin. Although I like foody scents, I normally don't fall for the overly sweet ones. Pink Phoenix has just moved into the top ten for me. I don't think I could wear it every day, but it's perfect for when dressing up and when one wishes to feel feminine and flirty. It has a very youthful feel.

Jazz Funeral is a symphony of discordant harmonies that work surprisingly well together. I can't even comprehend how the notes in this blend work together. Graveyard dirt, moss, lush blossoms, and the saltiness of tears layered with the spiky sweetness of bourbon with a uplift of rum is pure genius. Initially, this is wet, fertile soil. There is a sadness to it, however. It is probably the best soil scent ever. It has a bit less depth than the dirt note in Queen of Clubs because after the wetness fades, the other notes rise and begin to take this to another realm. The "spirit" of the scent ascends. Florals, aquatic and wet blossoms, and the languid magnolia bubble up. While the moss grounds these and keeps them from screaming "FLOWERS" on the skin. You can't mistake that there are florals here, but they don't jump out and do sinus acrobatics to the nose. Dry, this scent brings the rum and bourbon to the party. The scent spirit has ascended and now, we continue the celebration of life more quietly and reflective in our respective bottles. I think that some people will look at this blend with a critical eye. "Eewww, dirt", one might say and pass it quickly onto swaps. I encourage you to remain open to it. There's more to this blend than initially meets the nose.

2005 This is a boozy, dark maple syrup. On my skin, it is less sweet and gives a maple syrup mixed with perfume kind of vibe. I was hoping for more understated sweetness. It amps up ALOT on my skin. I actually tried to wash some of it off this morning. Currently, I am unsure whether this is a keeper or not. I want to love it...as I want to love all my BPAL, but this one might just defeat my resolve. I might just stick with AL-Azif for my maple cravings.

Lick It is creamy with a minty bite. The mint fades pretty fast on my skin, but I am left with the most incredibly creamy buttermint-iness. It is hard to describe how beautiful the soft vanilla is as it wafts from my skin. It does remain sweet, as I would hope any good candy cane would. This oil feels dry and crisp to me when I put it on my skin. Rather interesting. Truly...this might be the first blend that I intentionally purchase multiple bottles of. I want this one around all the time. Perfect for winter. Perfect for when the summer sun becomes hot and sticky. This absolutely must come back in the future. Yum!

Initially, this smells just like red velvet cake. Soft, moist cake - with a teeny bit of spiciness - topped with cream cheese frosting. This stage is lovely, but so fleeting. It beguiles my senses. Upon drydown, I smell as if I have poured the a bowl of vanilla cake batter all over myself. -or- prehaps, I have wallowed around in a container of still warm Krispy Kreme donuts. I'm getting some of the soft creamy-milk undertones that are found in Midway with a twinge of spice like the drydown on Bengal. Unique - and one of the most foody blends I have ever tried. Stay away if you don't like smelling edible. But, if you wish to be nibbled upon - give it a go. But, don't say I didn't warn you.

This blend is creamy and warm. The tonka, ambrette, and amber make for a beautiful combination. Initially, it goes on a bit "cologne" like, but I knew that there was magic just waiting beneath the surface. I was not disappointed. Take the lovely vanilla musk of Dorian, the spicy depth of Snake Charmer, and add more than a liberal dash of Black Opal and I think that *might* approximate the feel of this scent. There is still an edge that is just slighty reminescent of Blood Moon. I can't really discern the more exotic notes listed because they are so well blended offering great support to the roundness of the heart notes. Cashmere wrapped around a body still flush with heated skin might be a worthy description for this scent. It does feel rich, elegant, warm, and totally indulgent. I'm loving every second it spends on my skin. Another clear winner and excellent example of our Beth's alchemical genius. Bravo!

Vanilla musk scents are a new favorite of mine thanks to BPAL. Dorian, Black Opal, and Morocco are all winners in my book. Snake Oil is also in this group although much depends on skin chemistry as to how this will play on your skin. For sweet vanilla, you might have a harder time finding something that exactly fits the bill. Midway an LE from Carnaval Noire is sweet and foody. Dana O Shee has a creamy almost vanilla quality to my nose. Peitho is a wearable jasmine blend that ends up as a toasted vanilla on me.

Wet: Initial stage is like a feast for the nose. Toasted nuts, sweet brown sugar, layered with a tinge of smokiness - with fir and evergreens peeking through the top layer. Wearing: This stays true. The pine/fir is only noticeable while wet. When dry this becomes a warm nutty scent with a layer of smokiness. Maybe a description of roasted nuts in a honey/maple syrup mixture would sum it up. In some ways it has that toffee, caramel-like creamy twist that I noticed in Miskatonic University. While this would not replace Misk. U - it falls into the same category. Quite lovely and comforting to be sure. This is a foody scent. If you can't do foody, maybe this would work as a room scent for you. Another winner from this year's Yule collection.

When wet, this is graham cracker crust to my nose. A bit gingerish with a sweet boozy note. Quite nice! On the drydown, the sweetness fades, except for a tiny tickle of it. Think Juke Joint (esoterically speaking, not exact). Then, the musk comes out to the forefront. This is where the scent stays for me. Musk with a hint of sweetness. I *almost* think that the musk in this is very similar to Harvest Moon '05. It could be the musk or it could be the surrounding sweetness that's throwing this vibe to me. Regardless, Devil's Night is a scent of a wild autumn night. Boozy, and sweet, that leaves the lingering scent of skin cooling after the flush of running, playing, and kicking ass with wild abandon. Be Mischevious!

The moment before the ruin, frozen. The scent of captured glory, of glowing pearls and rubies, of golden sunlit joy and regal grandeur: red rose, Tunisian amber, blood orange, toasted vanilla, heliotrope, gardenia and red musk. The juicy top notes of ripe bursting blood orange are beautiful, but all too fleeting. The rose parades herself out immediately after and makes her presence known. Something in this blend is going to major powder on me. I suspect it is the heliotrope as amber usally doesn't go this route on my skin. There is something here that reminds me of Beatrice. It's probably the rose. I wish I were getting more of the vanilla and the musk. The musk doesn't seem to want to play and the vanilla continually plays hide and seek with me throughout the day. All in all, my feelings are favorable for this blend. I could do with less powder, but that's just the luck of the draw. My skin is fickel in what it decides to amp and what it decides to eat up.

Wet, this is a juicy cherry. Not quite cherry cough syrup, but without the added woods it probably would have been. The addition of the deep woods gives this blend a complexity that is hard to compare. It is dry and stays somewhat sweetish throughout the day. I hesitate to say that it smells like a wood box that has been used to house cherry pipe tobacco, but to me...that's similar to what it smells like. It does have a faint smokiness to it as well. A probable winner for fans of woody scents: rosewood, sandelwood, the components of Cathedral that have been kicked up with a juicy fruity burst. Cherry Kool-Aid spilled on an unfinished mahogany tabletop, perhaps?

This smells so familar to me. I'm picking up vibes that are reminiscent of both Sin and the late drydown of Snake Charmer with some woody goodness thrown in. First, I'm hot with a wonderful cinnamon-spice (I also agree a wee bit Bengal-esque). This lends itself into a more creamy spiciness as the blend begins to settle on my skin. A unique vanilla tinged musk, think Black Opal and Buck Moon, comes to the forefront after a couple of hours. If I sniff close, I can faintly pick up the grains beneath the musk. They are solidly in the background lending even more creaminess to the blend. A little goes a long way, but I can't help thinking that I should have worn more today. It's a lovely, power scent and I would have liked to surround myself with the aura.

I also adore O. Haunted, I tried to love, but never quite got there. I didn't find them very similar at all. But, if you like black musk and amber it might be worth a try. The amber never really bloomed on my skin, however.

I second the Buck Moon / Dorian comparison. Maybe with a teensy dash of Black Opal to soften it.

This really is an elegant perfume. A dark vanilla musk - but oh so light and delicate. But, truly it's also deep. Such a paradox. What contradiction. I also get the "mineral" whiff, so faint it barely whispers. This holds close to your skin like a secret.

The Star is another one of those blends that show major differences from bottle to bottle. I've had one that was all sweet minty coconut and another that was a bit high on the lime. I can almost see the similarity of Milk Moon and The Star under those circumstances, but I still feel like Milk Moon is really in a class of its own.

Initially, this reminded me so much of Kali without the chocolate note. I'm not entirely sure why, but that was my reaction. Freshly applied, the lily and jasmine come out to play. The jasmine is a well-mannered girl today. I can even catch the hints of vanilla and musk in the depths at this time. These notes come out more as it dries. Upon drydown, I am left with a lovely light boozy vanilla musk scent. Quite a lovely scent. And....I got my very first "you smell good" compliment today because of it. So, I hope I'm not being too biased.

Bright musks with lots of beautiful rich Oriental spices added to the mix. Overall, I can pick up more iris than jasmine. Iris loves my skin for some reason. I'm also pretty sure that the cereus is what lends this blend it's personality. It can be a very deep and overwhelming scent, slighty perfumy. It lasts all day for me an stays pretty true since it's parts are very well-blended.

First Sniff : Something about this reminds me of Tarot: The Star. Fresh, slightly cool with coconut underneath. Wet : Imagine that first moment of life in The Garden. All the living things waking up for the first time. The sun shining on dew-kissed leaves. The scent of life permeating through the fiber of everything. Eden is alive - green, and lush. Bright green leaves - take one off the fig tree caress it with your fingers and crush it up to your nose to smell it's essence. Maybe if you sniff closely you can find just a hint of the regret to come when The Garden is ripped from mankind forever. Dry : Sweetness follows man and woman as they awaken in this lush paradise. They have everything they need. Eden truly is the land of milk and honey. They want for nothing. This is the scent of comfort. Find yourself lost in the rich ambrosia of milk and almonds warmed with swirls of fresh honey. Stay here for a while and soak it all in. Final Thoughts : I don't believe that I had ever considered that a perfume could tell such an evocative story. But then again, that was before I discovered BPAL. Eden is beautiful and it has found its way into my heart and one my top 10 list already. The drydown is a beautiful sweet relvery that most anyone could relate to and enjoy. Upon waking this morning, my wrists still carried the faint scent of caramel and coconut. Truly spectacular.

Deep and comforting - like the earth. QofC = rich, fertile soil laden with the juices of ripe red fruits. This is not a very wet blend to me. It has a dry quality that I can't quite describe. At first, it's the earthy dirt smell with just a bit of berriness from the pomegrante. I couldn't wear pomegrante in Persephone or Swank, but I'm happily able to pull it off in this one. It must be the balanced and grounding that the rich earth helps me pull it off. The frutiness reminds me of Bewitched minus the sage and tea. The damp earth scent lasts through the wet phase and morphs into a light berry with just a hint of vanilla. It doesn't warm up too much and sits very close to my skin. My skin also eats it up, which I didn't expect. So, frequent touch-ups are a must.

A pleasing pale summer floral. The Bulgarian rose is quite a lovely note in this blend and it really starts things off with a bang. On my skin, it's mostly a top note and it does recede into the background by the end of the day. Staying power is moderate without a lot of throw. The lotus only makes enough of a statement to lend it's cool watery feel to the blend rather than making itself a showstopper. That's a job is for the freesia. That's the note that I noticed was most prominent. The lotus is not the typical note we're familiar with in that the bubblegum sweetness is not present. I was intrigued by the rain orchid and rose gardenia. They added quite a nice roundness to the blend. All in all, this is a wonderful light floral blend for those that like rose blends and other light muted floral scents. A pretty sweet girly scent.

A foreboding, tenebrific death rattle; the scent of a dying breath as it wafts into the marshland: Spanish moss, cedar, black pepper, oakmoss, juniper, bamboo reeds and cardamom. Green, woodsy, cool and a bit masculine. This would smell fab on a guy. The bamboo and juniper lead the charge to make way for the spicy cardamon and black pepper. There is just something about this combination that is incredibly sexy. It's cool and damp with forest mosses. It blankets the spice and lets it peek out as you wear it. It's a mix of woods and aquatics that I find so intriguing. As I try more of the SiA scents, I am mystified at how well Beth can capture such esoteric ideas and transform them into something we can all understand. Another outstanding winner!

A bouquet of florals with a hint of sweetness and a pinch of something fruity. I could pick out the daffodil and the tulip, but it was the wildflowers that wowed me. Wildflowers covered in dew just as the sun begins to warm their petals. Really feminine and pretty without screaming "I'm a flower, damn it!". I predict that people that aren't normally floral fans will find this one agreeable. Most probably because of the sweetness and the freshness of those wildflowers. This is definitely a keeper for me. A wonderful blend to add to my growing collection.

Bright peach. The musk and amber ground it and give it some staying power. The fruit sticks around for awhile, which I didn't expect. A little bit goes a long way. I can still smell this in my clothes and on skin after a full day's work. I concur with the "boozy" feel that people have mentioned. Something about this one definitely gives that impression. A good interpretation for Splendor - bright, sparkling, and glowing for all the world to see.

Amber, heliotrope, golden sandalwood, peach blossom and vanilla bean. Smells like peaches covered in cream with a hint of spice. Creamy vanilla peach. Not overly fruity. Not overly heavy. The undertones of the amber and sandalwood ground it and keep the peach from being too fruity and the heliotrope from jumping out too much. Understated, but still lush. Probably a good fit for fans that like the milky creaminess of Dana O'Shee and Alice, the vanilla musk of Dorian, and the peachiness of Fae.