caitilarkin

In the imp: Faint aquatic with...cotton flower? I'm getting something clean and linen-y.

 

Wet on skin: Ah, that's more like it! Saltier with hints of seaweed and florals.

 

Dry on skin: As it dries, the blend loses its ocean-y goodness and becomes more floral/soapy (*glares suspiciously at evil jasmine*). Me loves me some aquatic, and this is not what I had hoped.

 

Ah well, it's definitely pleasant and will probably be even more so during hot weather.

In the bottle: Red apple with whiffs of orange and smoke

 

Wet on skin: The apple fruit morphs to cider, faint spices appear and are laced with the orange and smoke notes.

 

Dry on skin: The apple cider and orange notes sweeten and intensity, with the smoke and spices (I get more clove than cinnamon) adding a bit of interest. This lasts about six hours on me, getting sweeter and brighter with time.

 

Other BPALers have compared Fearful Pleasure to Samhain, but on my skin there is no resemblance except for the presence of the apple. Fearful Pleasure is very light and bright versus the damp forest night evoked by Samhain. I may try layering the two in an effort to experience the dark and light aspects of autumn at the same time.

In the imp: Croissants slathered in butter

 

Wet on skin: Sweet pastries made with oodles of butter, taunting me from their plate, sitting next to a mug of steaming, fresh-brewed coffee with cream and sugar

 

Dry on skin: The pastry note remains strong for hours, and the richness of the coffee note intensifies with time.

 

Not sure what happened to the dusty tomes and polished oakwood halls, but this is all pastry shop, all the time. It's definitely not what I had expected, but it's extremely yummy nonetheless!

In the imp: Cocoa and a very fruity wine

 

Wet on skin: The cocoa turns up its nose at my skin and disappears, as always. The red musk, sandalwood and wine love me (also as always) and carouse merrily during the drydown.

 

Dry on skin: I get about two hours of a boozy, heady floral before Midnight Kiss turns to single-note grape.

 

This was interesting; the drydown process was actually quite lovely. At least the cocoa didn't throw a tantrum and ruin the whole thing.

In the imp: Smooth, liquid chocolate, not quite as powdery as Bliss.

 

Wet on skin: Lovely powdered cocoa and sandalwood for about two minutes, then cardboard.

 

Dry on skin: Yup. Cardboard. No myrrh, no sandalwood, and most decidedly no chocolate.

 

The BPAL cocoa and chocolate notes, they do not love me. And the irony is that I love and adore them (and chocolate in all of its forms). I had hoped the presence of the sandalwood would help me on this one, but no luck.

Hullo! I'm new to BPAL, and am very excited to say that I placed my first order of imps on December 10th. Shortly after I placed the order, CCNow charged to my bank account, no problem. I got an email confirming that my order was received. All seemed well - but suddenly, the CCNow charge to my bank account has vanished from my online bank statement, and the money has been returned to my account. I have received no notice of cancellation.. Has this happened to anyone else before? Any idea what's going on?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Hi and welcome to the forum!

 

I go through CCNow and that has happened with all of my orders. I think CCNow verifies that the funds are available, then releases the money back to your account until right before your order is sent to the Lab. The charge should reappear in a week or more, right before your order actually goes to the lab. (If you're interested in reading a bit more about the CCNow process, ivyandpeony talked a bit about ordering and wait times in the post right above your question; that might help if you want to know about turnaround time as well.)

 

Hope that helps! Please feel free to ask if you have any more questions or need clarification.

In the imp: Clove and citrus backed by something woody (evergreen? pine? juniper?)

 

Wet on skin: My nose is registering the citrus as lemon, but that might be due to the presence of the clove (citrus + clove = lemon because of Nanshe). I'm still not sure what the wood note is because I'm distracted by the citrus/clove combination, which tends to go kind of dirty on my skin.

 

Dry on skin: Luckily, this calms down as it gets dryer--the clove and citrus-that-might-be-lemon stop fighting and the high-pitched evergreen/wood note mellows. I quite like it after a couple of hours.

In the bottle: Very, very buttery cake with a hint of orange in the background.

 

Wet on skin: Yowza. Rich vanilla cake with homemade custard, orange glaze and a hint of anise. Rich and utterly delicious.

 

Dry on skin: This keeps its moist orange vanilla cakey feel for several hours, at which time the faint florals are added. Lasts forever on me (okay, not forever but over 12 hours) with vanilla, faint orange and light florals as the final notes.

 

This is my HG foodie scent and I must have more, more, more!

In the bottle: I agree with previous reviewers who have experienced this scent as very green--it is very fresh in a late spring/early summer sort of way. Well-blended florals (I can't pick them out separately) are much stronger than beeswax or amber at this point.

 

Wet on skin: Uh oh. Something (probably one of the florals) has morphed into burning plastic. The other notes are carrying on valiantly, leaving my skin to smell like a freshly manicured lawn with a pile of compost burning in a corner of the yard.

 

Dry on skin: No more burning plastic! Yay! Her Voice is now deeper, creamy florals thanks to the arrival of the vanilla amber/beeswax combo. The burning plastic phase occurred in two out of three tests (weird) but only lasted for about half an each time.

 

Yup, I like this. The creamy sweetness of the dry stage is worth the wait.

In the vial: Sharp, non-foody citrus (mostly grapefruit) and balsam, florals in the background, backed by musk and wood. The notes can be detected separately but are in harmony with each other, at least to my nose.

 

Wet on skin: The florals are way in the background, adding a distant sweetness to a blend that is largely citrus and balsam at the point. The whole scent is grounded and unified by the wood note(s).

 

Dry on skin: Blended and sweeter; each note makes its own contribution to a blend that is a perfect expression of the poem in the scent description.

 

After three tests, I've come to realize how evocative this scent is: the morphing process of this blend reminds me so strongly of what it feels like to be mourning the loss of a loved one. The sharp, bittersweet citrus suggests the initial agony of grief, the florals are the sweetness of memory (which ebbs and flows), the balsam is healing and the grounding wood notes are a reminder that life goes on. Mourning Moon beautifully captures the universal process of bereavement and remembrance in scent.

In the vial: Apple, tropical florals and a hint of Snake Oil spices--very strong and heady! No citrus, though.

 

Wet on skin: No more spices, and I can barely detect the apple. The florals have taken over the compound and they're having a raging party. And where's my beloved blood orange?

 

Dry on skin: The Snake Oil vanilla appears for the first time, but the spices are gone for good and the blood orange is MIA. These are some aggressive florals, but they never go soapy or shrill, just heady (as I noticed in the vial).

 

This blend is Snake Oil on vacation, lying on the beach drinking mai-tais. And it lasts FOREVER, even sticking around overnight and after my morning shower. This is a floral for cold weather; it would be too overwhelming during a hot, sticky summer.

In the vial: Snake Oil spices with light, clean florals.

 

Wet on skin: A softened, sweetened Snake Oil

 

Dry on skin: Spicier, with florals so well-blended that I can't discern the separate notes. I don't detect any of Snake Oil's vanilla until after 3-4 hours of wear. My brain registers the blend as very innocent and youthful, but judging from the compliments I got today (including a creepy one from a dude on the El ) it is apparently pretty sexy. Huh.

 

I was afraid I would fall in love with Cottonmouth, and sure enough, I have. It's probably a leetle too sexy for work but will be perfect everywhere else. This one's going on the bottle list!

In the bottle: Pale, well-blended florals; cannot pick out the carnation (which usually jumps out due to its spiciness) or the neroli; not detecting any vanilla either

 

Wet on skin: Very sweet, very strongly floral, but still with a light, spring-like quality. The vanilla is starting to bloom as the oil dries.

 

Dry on skin: Much better dry than wet, as the vanilla appears and seems like the same cotton-sugary note that I so love in Antique Lace. Lasts about eight hours on me.

 

This blend is like a coloratura soprano: ethereal, agile, strong and delicately beautiful.

I placed my first BPAL order for three bottles without ever reading the reviews, and I almost included Hellcat as one of them. Those were the days before I knew that hazelnut and almond are two of my most consistent Notes of Doooooom. But once I got it as a frimp I had to try it just to make sure.

 

In the imp: Strong almond and rum, with no trace of the buttercream

 

Wet on skin: Almond, please don't abuse me. I love you so; why do you insist on going screamingly bitter on me? Gah.

 

Dry on skin: Burnt, bitter almonds and sour rum icing. I can't detect the hazelnut, which usually amps on me, because the almond is too strong. Didn't morph at all over the three hour period I tested it. I couldn't stand to go out in public with this on and had to wash it off instead of giving it a full go.

 

Nope.

In the imp: Ginger and heady florals--yum! Not noticing the musk, which makes me think it must be red musk because I can never pick that one out. But most red musk blends are winners for me.

 

Wet on skin: The ginger is fading (!) and the florals are coming on strong. Unlike most blends, which tend to go kind of dry on me, this one is very syrupy.

 

Dry on skin: Bye bye, ginger. The florals have seized the day and they're mad as hell.

 

This had amazing throw and lasted forever, but is too thick and cloying for me, especially without the ginger.

In the imp: Bright, sharp florals; I can pick out the orchid but everything else is blending

 

Wet on skin: Still sharply floral but now softened by the musk; white and glittering, beautifully feminine and clean

 

Dry on skin: Softer now, still floral but also with a linen note. This is absolutely gorgeous. I've been looking for a clean scent like this for aeons...and here it is!

 

Lasts more than eight hours on me, becoming more cottony and less floral with time.

 

Yeah, I'm scouring the forum for more of this.

In the imp: Deeply fruity, earthy and green

 

Wet on skin: This brightens up on my skin. I can pick out the berries and the cherry, which are backed by a dry wheat-y note.

 

Morphing: Something shrill and herbal this way comes...Checking the notes, I see that this blend contains sage, my sworn enemy. Sure enough, the sage has launched into its traditional war dance on my skin.

 

Dry on skin: Sage did its level best to lay waste to Harvest Moon, but the fruit notes are valiantly persevering. Eventually, it dies down to a pleasant, grainy floral that lasts about three hours.

In the imp: Coconut, caramel and fruit laced with tobacco and spices...delicious!

 

Wet on skin: Red Lantern met my wrists, immediately became confused, and its rich, spicy foodiness turned to hairspray within about five minutes.

 

Dry on skin: Yup, it's all about hairspray for a couple of hours. Eventually, the plastic/alcoholic note fades and the original coconut/caramel/fruity goodness is allowed to breathe, but the drydown is too painful to experience on a regular basis.

 

Tested it twice, but this one just doesn't like me.

Just adding to the Snake Oil love...

 

Based on the recommendations in this thread and throughout the forum, I let my lab-fresh bottle sit for about six weeks. Then I couldn't stand it anymore and HAD to test it out. Even fresh, it turned out much better than I had imagined.

 

In the bottle: Medicinal, alcoholic vanilla

 

Wet on skin: The spices come out to play and the boozy/medicine note recedes.

 

Dry on skin: Refined, rich vanilla with spices in the background; almost demure, more coy than sexy. Lasts forever and a day; is appropriate for all places and occasions.

 

This was not nearly as sexy as I thought it would be...well, actually it isn't sexy at all on me at this point. Maybe it will get hotter as it ages. But I do still love it. I slathered it on all weekend and got tons of compliments.

I would recommend Succubus, one-and-only.

 

It starts out with a sharp, bitter orange-peel note (that's the neroli), but after a few seconds on the skin it magically transforms into a completely different scent. It's a soft, sweet, fresh, beautiful orange blossom. One of my nostalgic BPAL favorites!

 

Another vote for Succubus here! It was one of the first BPALs I tried (just a couple of months ago) and it's a great enabling scent--very light and sweet.

In the imp: Burnt sugar, very faint...is my nose broken?

Wet on skin: Sugar with a faint background of florals

Dry on skin: This went through quite a metamorphosis: from faint sugared florals, to half an hour of sugared Play-doh (?), to warm, musky, sugared currants with a hint of florals (I can normally identify both rose and orchid, but not here).

The final dry phase is quite lovely and lasts about 4 hours before fading back into its original faint, sugared florals. Not once did I detect the wood notes, which is very odd because they normally amp on me. This was very delicate, receiving what depth it did have from the musk.

Edited to add scent description

In the imp: Oak and amber softened by vanilla and florals, very smooth and creamy

 

Wet on skin: The oak is still at the forefront but is supported by the notes mentioned above. I think I'm not detecting sandalwood as well.

 

Dry on skin: This definitely reminds me of my beloved Antikythera Mechanism, only more feminine due to the presence of the florals. This did not morph on me at all, had decent throw and fantastic staying power--nearly 12 hours--probably due to the presence of amber, which sticks to me until I wash it off.

 

I never did detect any ginger or apricot, but I do still love this. Maybe I can track down a fresh bottle somehow...

This is for Samhain 08, which was allowed to sit for about two months after purchase due to a) warm weather and an unfortunate spillage incident which resulted in the loss of more than half of the bottle.

 

In the bottle: Patchouli and fir, very dark, no apples and nothing spicy

 

Wet on skin: The patchouli is warming up, the fir is backing off a bit and the apples have appeared.

 

Drydown: Samhain morphs gloriously...I really got the sense that I was walking at night through a forest of fir trees after a heavy autumn rain, then stopping to roast crisp, red apples over an open fire.

 

I adore this and think I will make a tradition of getting a new bottle every year (but hopefully not baptizing my apartment with it every year as mentioned above).

I love the lab's citrus notes, especially grapefruit, so I was thrilled to pick up a decant of this scent even though I thought the citrus might be somewhat muted due to age.

 

In the vial: Grapefruit, soft lemon, guava and muted tropical florals

 

Wet on skin: This smells like Hawaii! I grew up on Oahu, and these notes, in combination with my skin, evoke memories of my childhood. It must be the the guava and the florals.

 

Dry on skin: The grapefruit and lemon recede somewhat, allowing the guava and florals to shine.

 

Cheshire Moon lasts 3-4 hours on me and has little throw. Once the scent mixes with the mild saltiness of my skin, it really does remind me of the smell of our backyard on Oahu. This is not a typical tropical scent--it represents to me the difference between living in Hawaii and visiting it as a tourist.

 

I love this and will try to find more.

In the vial: Buttery pumpkin and spices--this smells like an unbaked pumpkin pie with a homemade, butter-based crust, just ready to be put into the oven

 

Wet on skin: Pumpkin (still very buttery) and florals

 

Dry on skin: This is a morpher; the spicy pumpkin backs off quite a bit and the florals and amber take over. I never do detect the mandarin and orange peel.

 

Pumpkin Queen is yummy in both its pumpkin phase and its floral phase, but I much prefer the earlier one. This is one for the scent locket.