dawndie

In bottle: vague cocoa

On skin: punchy musk and patchouli, woof!

Half-hour later: this is lots of dark musk and patchouli, and cocoa is trying in vain to sweeten this up a bit. Blood musk is in Tombeur, a big favorite of mine, and turns out different than red musk on me. Definitely darker and more feral.

In bottle: light dusty incense

On skin: sweet incense, pretty!

Half-hour later: still lots of sweet incense

In conclusion: this goes for hours and hours -- how nice that this doesn't disappear on me. The sweetness isn't too sugary or floral, and is a nice top note to the barely-wooden frankincense.

In bottle: green, like A Blade of Grass

On skin: lots of fresh juicy green with a little bit of rose. Pretty!

Half-hour later: rose is stronger, but it's a light perky rose, not deep & dark like Rose Red

In conclusion: I was hoping this would be more dusty leaves instead of juicy greenness, but the rose is so nice and not powdery (and strong too!) that I don't mind. More of a spring/summer blend than a fall one.

In bottle: salted almonds

On skin: lots of leather, half-way between dusty Dead Man's Hand and shiny-sleek DeSade or Spanked

Half-hour later: still some leather, and patchouli with a vengeance

In conclusion: all I got with this one was leather and patchouli, and nothing else appeared on me. However, it's a nice combo -- I like it more than the discordant patchouli and vanilla combo of Banshee Beat. Both the leather and patch are mellow versions of itself, and it's comforting in a "hug from a good guy friend" way.

In bottle: pungent incense

On skin: dry sandy incense

Half-hour later: clean incense, almost soapy

In conclusion: this is another Southern California blend, like June Gloom '09 -- both remind me of home. The dry incense and soap combine to make a blend full of fresh air.

In bottle: sweet musk

On skin: blast of smutty musk, pow!

Half-hour later: dirty honey has appeared, with a bit of wood and dusty champaca

In conclusion: this reminds me of several favorite blends -- Womb Furie mostly, but also Snake Oil (obviously) and even Hellion with the patchouli and champaca flower. Another classic blend.

In bottle: delicious rum extract

On skin: boozy rum, not too sweet

Half-hour later: warm vanilla wood

In conclusion: this one seems complex for a "single" note. The ending is what I liked about Hony Mone, dark creamy vanilla that's good enough to eat. No strong clove or almond on me.

In bottle: high-pitched perfume

On skin: creamy Lace base right away, that perfumey vanilla

Half-hour later: the Lace base is dustied up with dry leaves and tobacco

In conclusion: I like that this one starts out as Black Lace ends, the vanilla and linen that's strong and "perfumey" but not too obnoxious. The dustier ending reminds me of Hunter Moon 2007, those October leaves crackling above the vanilla. This blend is stronger overall than the past few Laces I've bought, which seem to fade quickly.

In bottle: sweet light roses

On skin: roses with bitter resins

Half-hour later: sweetened roses with a bitter incensey tinge

In conclusion: I love the BPAL Rose blends for the most part -- such a snooty flower, but so pretty. I like the resiny incense base on this one, like what I wanted Parlement of Foules to be.

In bottle: flan!

On skin: plastic? boooo

Half-hour later: luscious butterscotch pudding, but oops! I dropped it in the dirt! 5-second rule? I'll eat it anyway

In conclusion: I'm glad that plastic phase disappeared, but that's typical of some of the dessert-y blends on me. Very Midway-esque, starts out a bit "fake" but mellows out. This ends up reminding me of Banshee Beat, that odd yet endearing combo of sweet and dirt.

In bottle: very light flowers

On skin: sugar-sweetened floral

Half-hour later: fading fast, how sad

In conclusion: this one reminds me of Numb, without the strongly astringent mint. Light and pretty, but wish it would hang around instead of flitting away.

In bottle: dark juice

On skin: acidic fruit juice, too sour to drink

Half-hour later: settled down a bit with a base of light musk

In conclusion: this is definitely the blueberry from Crawdad Dream, super-juicy and not too sweet. I like that there's a musky base -- not a bakery base, but something to keep the fruit from disappearing or turning to plastic. A great long-lasting fruity blend.

In bottle: astringent

On skin: light & airy licorice, not dark at all

Half-hour later: darker and sweeter, with lots of sugar. Nice Lace base too

In conclusion: I took the plunge on this one, even though absinthe isn't one of my favorites (too much like black licorice). But this is great -- sweet without being over-the-top, not too boozy and no overpowering black licorice. I've been wearing this one all week.

In bottle: watery sweet tea

On skin: lots of dusky almost-white musk

Half-hour later: settled down into that creamy Lace-ish base, sweet and dusty

In conclusion: my only fear was the tea, and luckily that doesn't come out too strong on me. This one lasted a decent amount of time on me too. Another nice Lace blend.

In bottle: tropical drink

On skin: boozy and sweet

Half-hour later: the coconut has arrived, dark and dusky

In conclusion: as others mentioned, this has the more "natural" coconut from Tiki Princess. I was a bit disappointed that the ambergris wasn't stronger (I know!) because I thought that would make it more saltwater beachy, but I can't complain. This is a darker summer blend, if that makes any sense -- something to wear out at night in the summer when it's still 90 at 10:00.

In bottle: alcoholy floral

On skin: slightly boozy sweetness, but nothing overwhelming

Half-hour later: lots of frankincense and champaca, dusty and sweet

In conclusion: I was a bit nervous when other reviewers complained of too much sweet & boozy rum, as that's how Red Lantern ended up on me and I had to swap it away. I love that this blend has lots of champaca and frankincense with a little bit of booze, it's strong and distinctive without being too heady.

In bottle: sweetened nuts

On skin: delicious honey & nuts

Half-hour later: musk and just a touch of pine has "fuzzied" the nuts

In conclusion: there's just the right amount of berries, nuts and musk to make it sweet and luscious without being too foody. Even black cherry and pine, normally too strong in other blends, are mellow and smooth. Blackbear and Oak Moon are two edible Lunacies, unusual and interesting!

I was unsure whether this would be a product for me -- my dyed, shoulder-length hair tends to get oily, and while I can get away with washing it every other day, by day 2 I'm using a dry shampoo on the crown to soak up the excess oil. So why would I need extra gloss for my hair?

I'm glad I splurged on this though -- I'll squirt once, then run through only the damp ends right after shampoo. I end up with pretty soft waves, and there's no extra oil on day 2. Hooray!

The honey fragrance, as others have mentioned, is more floral than "O"-type. I'd love for the fragrance to be stronger, but it's just as well -- I'd overapply and stinkbomb my husband and workmates. A great product, glad I purchased.

In bottle: cherry syrup

On skin: blast of cherry, pow!

Half-hour later: hey, where'd it go? The cherries disappeared, leaving vague spicy plastic. Drat!

In conclusion: I love cherry, and the amaretto from Bordello and Countess Willie is another favorite. But the vanilla turns on me, and I don't get any creamy sweetness. This will be one for the scent locket, like a few other super-charged fruit blends that don't turn out right on me.

This is a golden delicious incense blend, with something dark scrabbling in the dirt beneath it. Like a less-sweet, dirtied-up Haunted.

I hope this pops into the general catalog!

In bottle: dirty dry leather and cedar

On skin: kinda sweet! like citrus

Half-hour later: the light citrus and dusty leather go back and forth

In conclusion: like others have noticed, this is a real morpher. One minute it's the dirty leather and cedar, which reminds me of the stinkbomb that Enkhespalos became on my skin (like a stable, ugh); then it's light and sweet, citrus with just a tinge of green tea; then every so often fuzzy champaca pops in, one of my more favorite florals. This one's worth keeping, to see what happens next!

In bottle: fragrant wood

On skin: nuts? Oh right, must be the acorns

Half-hour later: lots of creamy vanillaness with some sweet greenery -- it reminds me a tiny bit of the acai berry from Australian Copperhead

In conclusion: I don't know what combination is giving me that luscious vanilla, but it's dreamy and addicting -- I keep reapplying so I get more of a delicious cloud around me. I hesitated ordering at first, afraid of the OAK OAK OAK being too woody, but this is edible wood. I want to snap a piece off and chomp away.

Wet: dark musks

Initially on skin: soapy red musk

Half-hour later: dirtied up nicely with some patch and clove

In conclusion: I love most red musk blends, but was leery of the patchouli and clove being overbearing and obnoxious. Luckily they stay in the background, a great dirty base to the musk. Unfortunately there's no hope for the vanilla orchid or mandarin -- they're smothered by all the musks and sludge. I should order a bottle of this one, it's pompous and disagreeable

Wet: dusky musk

Initially on skin: lots of animalian brown musk

Half-hour later: the vanilla honey has arrived, yum!

In conclusion: the "feral brown musk" is so strong and discouraging at first. But it totally morphs, and the honey is like the decadent delicious vanilla from Banshee Beat that I just want to eat with a spoon. Too bad I didn't like the beginning more, but I wish I could buy a bottle of that ending!

Wet: stinky dirt

Initially on skin: lots of light wood and dark dirt

Half-hour later: hazelnut has sweetened this up just a tad, but still very "outdoorsy"

In conclusion: I'm glad others mentioned Samhain and original Hexennacht, as I'm getting echoes of those in this blend. This one belongs more outside with the patch and wood, but I like the ending with what ends up being slightly sweet tobacco on me.