lothien

Also, "yucca" is of Spanish origin - I grew up in Southern California, where some yucca lives, and we pronounce it "YUCK-uh" - I don't know what its actual Spanish pronunciation is.

I really like this combination, the balance of the tea and cookie vibe, and the way it shifts. I get awesome orange frosting at first, and buttery cookies. Slowly that all fades across into the ginger tea (definitely not black tea) with the fading orange and some spiced sugar cookie. I was afraid it would be all too-sweet cookie after the raucous beginning, but it has a delicious start that mellows into a very wearable, sweet, fresh (by my measure) scent, both gingery and citrussy without either one taking over. I like spices, so I don't find these to be overbearing at all, and I don't seem to get a lot of any one spice. So, my verdict: Yay, tea and cookies. =) ETA that I was deathly afraid of the "cake" - cake can go horribly horribly wrong, but I just realised that these reminds me a little more of those crisp ginger cookies with the bits of candied ginger!

I was sad to learn, early on in my BPAL experience, that once, long ago, the Lab had single notes - one of which was carnation. At the time it didn't look likely that they would carry them again. I detest most florals, but I love carnation, and wanted a BPAL SN carnation with all my iddle heart. So I about dropped my teeth when I checked in to see what might have been released with Singing Moon to find SN Spanish Red Carnation. Holeeee Crap!!1! Sign me up! I was not disappointed. This starts out an authentic, fresh-cut, slightly damp red carnation. Not white, not pink - red. I haven't stuck my face into a carnation flower recently, but when I was younger (like, decades ago... ) I used to love to put my nose right into fresh red carnations and soak in the scent and the soft tickle of the petals. For the first half hour or so, it smells just like that childhood memory. As time passes it mellows into a rich, slightly creamy scent, losing some of the green smell it started out with, but very wearable. I don't feel the need to layer it with anything, but it might be fun to try it with some of my carnationy scents to give them an extra bump. So far (this is a fresh-from-the-mailbox review), it only lasts a few hours. It will be interesting to see if it changes after the usual settling-in time. Either way, I am delighted to finally have it in my grubby little mitts. You can find me in my bathroom vanity huffing my bottle...

This was sort of a craps-shoot for me. One of those "if everything behaves, this should be awesome" sort of bottles. Right out of the mailbox it was so intensely sweet floral that I had to wash it off, so I put it aside for a few days. So, round two... In the bottle and wet, as Joyfulgirl said, musk and cloves. As it dries, it's still unquestionably musk, slightly woody, sweet. But no naughty honey, which sometimes goes musty on me, just a hint of "honeyness" and the jonquil is there, but not crazy, like the first try. There's enough clove to remind me of carnation, but it doesn't smell like the spice, per se. Actually, aside from the musk, nothing jumps to the fore. A really lovely, sweet, long-lasting scent, even applied discreetly. I'm even pleasantly surprised that I can apply this and walk out the door - there's no half-hour of letting it settle before I'm not self-conscious. Wears nicely, doesn't morph much at all. Subtle enough that I'm comfortable wearing it to work, and yummy enough that now and then I stick my nose down the neck of my shirt for a fresh huff. In the beginning, I wasn't sure I loved this scent, but the longer I have it, the better I like it, and I have wound up wearing it every day. Glad I bought a bottle. ETA: I don't seem to get any tea from this. Once in a while I will think I have a ghost of tea, but I can't be sure I'm not imagining it.

Heehee! Yay for differences in skin chemistry and the aging of oils.

I don't think there has been a "VII" series yet... 2010's was VI, and there were four kinds - here's the listing from the Lab's "Shiny and New" page (nothing is removed from "Shiny and New" - It's a sort of history of LE releases) All of the bottles have a number when they leave the Lab, but often they end up smeared/rubbed off/generally unreadable. The only way to get a review is if your CT bottle was decanted and other people have decants. Then you have to look under the reviews (under Limited Editions) for that Series for the bottle number that matches yours, but if the decanter couldn't read the number on the bottle, s/he may not have been able to list it on the decants. There are no notes - as stated above, even the Lab does not keep a list. Part of the fun is the randomness, if you're into that. Possibly you have a VI version 7, and the 7 looks like a 1? If you love it, enjoy what you have, because it may be all there is of it.

THIS. This is what I expected Black Lace to smell like. I am one of those who got an appley bottle from DD earlier this year. I let it sit for several months, thinking that maybe the apple would fade, but no, not really. Still hit with apple every time I opened it to sniff. On the skin it remained same as in the bottle. I was disappointed... Recently, I found a bottle on LJ of the non-apple version, and though I am on a perfume-buying moratorium, I had to pick it up. It is exactly as the description led me to believe it would smell - vanilla-ish cotton, lovely tobacco and incense. There is some cognac (I don't really find it boozy, but I love BPAL's cognac note, so I may be biased, there), and nice deep musk that makes its appearance as the other notes settle in. Dry, it doesn't morph much, though the cotton aspect fades a bit. Overall, sweet and comforting, and definitely one of my favorite BPAL scents. I have a bit from the bottle of the apple one I sold to someone who would appreciate it more, and I would not guess that these are the same perfume. Wacky, but I am very glad I tried again; this one is really beautiful.

Warm, soft tufts of down and gleaming tawny feathers: clove, toasted sandalwood, aged patchouli, bourbon vanilla, carnation, massoia bark, hinoki wood, and West Indian Bay. I have a horrible track record with the Lunacies, so I was seriously surprised when I LOVED this one as much as I do. I grabbed a decant, which turned into acquiring two bottles with two more on the way. I don't have a lot of scents I want multiple back-ups of, but this is one of them. In the bottle I get a lot of bay, and not much else. On the skin, at first the bay, and a spiciness that almost comes across as cassia, but must be a clove I haven't tried yet, because it definitely doesn't jump out as clove. Hinoki wood and bay give a forest-in-summer sort of feeling to start with, then the forest recedes into the background after just a few minutes, and the most beautiful, soft carnation appears, and what must be massoia bark, with the faintest breath of vanilla. Later I get more of the toasted sandalwood, but all of the notes blend so well that it really does have a soft, cuddly feeling to it without anything really standing out, and the woods keep it from being too sweet. I don't get patchouli from it, which is more than fine with me. It stays close and soft, enough so that I can wear it to work without attracting attention, and even if I don't reapply, I still smell the scent several hours later if I put my nose to my skin. Curiously enough, I have found that if I apply it to my neck or cleavage, the bay sticks around and doesn't fade nearly as much - this is a scent that I apply mostly to my forearms/wrists to get the above results. Really, really lovely, and goes on the list with Banded Sea Snake as the two I would take to the desert island.

I just got one CT this time because I am broke but I had to play. ^^ But I got a win (I may have to order all future CTs through ralenth... She may be good luck...) and I'm happy with what I got! No death notes, and actually very promising. I am going to decant myself out a vial of this and put the rest of it away, because I think this one has awesome aging potential! #200 In the bottle I can't say I like it, to be honest. It is gingery and sugary the cream note is not heavy but it gives it an icky edge. As with the other CTs I've gotten new, it is nearly full to the cap. ^^ I am a little worried, because I am not the foody sort on a general sense, but it has this ginger-sugar thing I really like, sooo... Wet on the skin, the icky part of the cream smell is gone in less than 5 seconds. The cream forgets why it was here and wanders off, and the ginger goes to sit in the back with the sugar. The sugar remains standing. =) It transforms from a potentially too-foody scent I will swap, to something intriguing that I am definitely going to keep. Wow, reminds me of... Haunted Palace, kinda? Yay! As it dries I am starting to get the blood orange/toasted vanilla thing I got from HP. I have to say I am not 100% sure if it's blood orange - it could be a touch of dragon's blood, too, or red musk, all of which I all get a similar "candyfloral" thing from. As time passes and the musk warms up, I rule out red. I really don't think it's red. Rich and awesome. Dark, maybe? Brown? I can't place it for sure, but I wish I could because it gets better as goes. I gets whiffs of it around me and go "ooh!" It's not bucketloads of vanilla - but what's it got supports everything nicely and has that toasted quality from HP and Snake Charmer I really like. The creamy sugar ginger bit is still back there, it hasn't gone. After the initial trick, it doesn't really seem to morph much. I look forward to future tests of this one. ^^

I'm kind of at a loss to describe this one - I just know I love it and whatever lameness I write down is not going to properly explain my 13 perfume experience. =) It's unique and interesting and yummy. It is sort of fascinating to experience the morph. Starts out fudge, but as soon as it's mostly dry the chocolate is joined by incense, and I love the combination. Then there's the other things that join that make it even better: musk and vanilla and prune, cypress and flowers. The fudge never quites bails out. What it all blends into is gorgeous, although I like that it's not super long lasting, because as much as I love it, I wouldn't want to smell like it all day. Sort of like real chocolate. I've never had a good experience with a 13, so this amazes me. Finally a good combination of herbs/stuff for me. The cherry one was close, but the cherry too much and the chocolate wasn't right. This one does what I wanted from that one. Plums, even dry ones, seem to be a winner almost always, so I had hopes. Well worth tracking down a bottle, partly for the awesome label. ^^

I've had good success rubbing in plain ol' vegetable or jojoba oil (also Villainess Ennui Whipped, which is unscented) to get off the evil ones that won't go away. ^^

Snake Oil with oakmoss, sea moss, and olive leaf. I have to start this out by saying that Snake Oil is usually not my friend. It's either too medicinal (fresh), or (aged) the vanilla goes all playdoh and nasty on me. Banded Sea Snake is none of those things. It's more what I was hoping SO *would* be. It's definitely Snake Oil, creamy vanilla and spices, balanced beautifully by the mosses and olive leaf. I have to say that I don't think I have tried anything that has olive leaf in it, so I couldn't pick it out, but something definitely tempers the moss, which can be overwhelmingly "fuzzy" in some scents I've tried, and can drown everything. I'm not sure of the age of the decant I have, but this is amazing and smooth, with no astringent quality to it, and the vanilla is creamy and beautiful under and around everything else. I am loving this and already have contacted a forumite about a bottle for sale. Yay for frimp WIN! Really a sweet surprise after the SO family members I've tried that just didn't go my way.

This is about the funniest result I've gotten yet(caveat - straight out of the mailbox). This smells like... ...brown cardboard? I think I really really need to let this one sit for a few days. I wasn't sure I would like it, but cardboard is an unexpected note.

Wow, this is nothing like I expected, and awesomely so! I'm not a huge fan of aquatic scents because they often turn manly on me, but the DH likes them so I keep trying. This was a decant I added to my Yule circle order as an afterthought, and I'm glad I did! The lichen seems a cousin to moss, but without the fuzzy quality that moss has. It has a nice aquatic quality that's not overwhelming, with that touch of lime citrus and incense. I don't get anything really sweet, fruit salady, or bubblegum. I am not sure what the pitch might smell like, so I don't know if it's "missing" on me, or if it just blends in nicely with everything else. It's a really pretty aquatic scent with some earthiness to balance it. This is definitely a surprise winner! ETA: I managed to grab a partial decant-circle-leftover bottle of this and I definitely seem to get more incense from it (which is totally yay, as I love incense) than I did from my decant. So glad to have discovered this one!

I'm going to go ahead and put in my 2 pennies on Hod, too, now that it's coming back. To start with, the original Hod: I LOOOVE this scent!!! What I don't get: skin musk, honey or almonds. Skin musk and honey can be relied upon to do really evil, rancid smelling things on me and I just don't get any of them here. Honey is particularly bad, even in the tiniest amounts. Almond is nasty, too. Almond and/or honey stuff goes right in the swap box. Beautiful creamy carnation, maybe vanilla musk? It's vanilla without being obvious, and reminds me of vanilla musk in other things I've tried. Cream and amber might be there - I'm trusting the others who say there is amber because they are with amber the way I am with honey, and milk and cream scents don't stand out on me so I couldn't say for sure if that's there or not, but there's something that gives it a creamy vibe. I think the spiciness is mostly the carnation - I don't get cinnamon or clove - I suppose they could be there, as I suppose there could be a touch of nutmeg, but it doesn't really strike me as foody. Under the Harvest Moon seems really sweet alongside, as a comparison. Hod Rez: Nearly identical to my decant of the original (yay!). Nice to know it's just as awesome fresh and resurrected as the aged and original one, even barely out of the mailbox.