sunshinedaisybliss

Yeah.. that's where I am with this one too I'll admit.. I got excited about the prospect of dark chocolate, figgy vanilla and pear - the kind of excitement that tricks my brain into telling me "don't worry about the quince, it won't be noticeable - you'll like it". When will I learn? Quince, you stinky bastard. Why did you have to mess this up? Me and dark chocolate, we got a thing goin' on - don't you know? And WTF are you doing, messing with my figgy vanilla and pear? You don't belong in here! You've ruined everything!! Where's the chocolate? I dunno. Where's the vanilla? I dunno. Where's the fruit? OH IT'S RIGHT HERE IN MY FACE. I think it's not just the quince that's spoiling this for me - I suspect it's actually the fig + quince combination that just isn't sitting right on my skin. Fig is usually a winner for me, with its rich fleshy darkness, but with the quince it's giving off a slightly boozy smell that I just can't decide whether I like. And the pear on top is giving it a slightly bitter edge. Fruit combo fail I won't give up on you, Uncle Matt - I think there's hope, and perhaps in time that quince will mellow out a bit, so for now I'll keep my decant and see what happens.

I have a soft spot for Wembley - and not just because of the Hawaiian shirts. So I had to try this.. even though on my skin white musk=sweat, honey=baby poo, and mint=toothpaste. Inspired by Wembley himself, I chose to cast aside the potential evil of the white musk, honey and mint.. and believe in the good of the banana, orange blossom and pineapple. I'm so glad I did! This really isn't a perfume I'm ever going to wear, but I will use up my decant just for fun because it smells like mushed up bananas, oranges and pineapple. Sweet but not overly so, fruity without being FRUITY, and simple without being dumb. The honey almost ruins it.. almost, but not quite. The mint is sharp at first, but soon fades away, although there's something green underneath all this fruit - perhaps that's mint remnants. Much like its namesake, this one is a bit all over the place - fruit cocktail one minute, musky honeyness the next - kinda quirky, but cute. If I were five years old, I would probably wear this every day.

I was a bit taken aback at first by the blast of soap that I got from Boober when I first put it on - something about the soap and the linden blossom was creating a smell not unlike dying flowers, and I didn't really like that at all. But thankfully within 15 minutes the linden comes to the front, leaving the soap behind - phew! As others have said, this is definitely a 'clean' scent.. but it's more than that - there's a definite floral tone from the linden blossom, and also something almost violet-like if I really take a big whiff of my arm - and I swear I can smell something green in there too. I'm really not getting much of the vanilla at all - I know it's there, because otherwise this would just be linden and soap, but it's definitely not a prominent note on my skin. It's interesting that the word 'fretfully' is included in the scent description - that's how this one is on me.. it just never really settles; it keeps fidgeting around and can't seem to decide which way to go.. floral, or soap? Soap, or floral? Geez. Overall, the floraliness (that IS SO a word!) of Boober just kinda spoils it for me - it's just a wee bit too much. I'd like to swap out a bit of the linden for a bigger sprinkle of vanilla I really don't think anything is ever going to beat Cottonmouth for me, when it comes to linden blossom in the BPAL world.

At first, this was all berry all the time - the cranberry had a definite slightly-tart tang to it, and the red currant had a lovely sweetness. Over about 15 minutes, the two berries mellowed out a bit and the pink musk made an appearance - that totally changed it from being berrylicious to something more grown-up and complex. I really love pink pepper - it's been a star in some other blends (Hermia, and High-Strung Daisies come to mind, and also BPTP's L'Essence de la Folie recently) - and here it provides a nice little hint of spice to balance all that pink/red business. I really enjoyed the first half-hour of Red on my skin, but ultimately it dries down to a pretty 'generic' berry/fruity smell that kinda reminds me of how those 'fruit flavoured' lip glosses smell. I wish the musk and pink pepper were stronger players here, but alas.. nope. Fun to try, but not a keeper for me.

On me, this is more fizz than cream - that would be the grapefruit bullying the vanilla cream into nothing Overall, Gobo smells like a fruity drink - the lemon is quite bright, and the grapefruit is the most obvious note on my skin. Grapefruit is a note I usually stay away from, because it tends to go stinky/sharp on me - it's not that bad here, probably due to the 'sugared pink' aspect, but it's still definitely bitter rather than sweet on me. And lemon is another note I generally stay away from because it always amps on me. The tangerine is the note I notice least... and of course, that's the one I was hoping would be most prominent. This actually smells like an orange/lemon version of Geek.Goth on me - it has the same fizziness (for reference, GG was awful on my skin too). And it didn't have a lot of staying power - completely gone from my skin within an hour. It's cute, but not for me.

I kinda wish now that I had invested more time in fully exploring all the Salon blends. The ones I have tried have all been really impressive - even the ones I didn't personally like were still beautiful - I always thought that the Salon oils were a bit extra special. Of the ones I can remember trying, I know Lucifer and Carceri D'Invenzione and Love and Pain were standouts. I vaguely recall being impressed by Parsifal, too, and Judith & Holofernes was also very pretty . But the only ones I own bottles of are Wezwanie/Hold, Heavenly Love & Earthy Love, and Haloes (as others have mentioned, I presume the retail-only Salons are also going?). Wezwanie/Hold has such a beautiful dusky smoothness with that amber, sandalwood, myrrh and honey, and the vanilla bean is outstanding - the hazelnut was sometimes iffy on me though, so I have to be in the right mood to wear it. HL&EL is just such a rich smoky resin-y incense-y mix.. my bottle has aged beautifully, I love this one. Haloes is a big fave - on me it's like Antikythera Mechanism's sensual and voluptuous older sister.. all gold and creamy - I love the oak+vanilla+amber+sandalwood combo, plus the apricot is heavenly. Luckily I have a couple of bottles of those three blends, so I don't need to do a last-minute order but I will certainly cherish what I have I hope everyone manages to get themselves stocked up with their favourites - this feels like a sad loss but I know nothing lasts for ever and I understand that part of the creative process requires sometimes requires letting things go in order to let new things in.

No description available I received a sample squirt of this in my BPTP Lupercalia order - thanks, Puddin' and goblins! If/when this gets released, I think it's going to shoot right to the top of many people's Best BPTP Spray Ever list. Because I have no notes to go on.. I'll just try and describe the smell. It's kind of foodie, but not obviously so - it reminds me of Cake Smash, but it's not as cake-y or sweet. At first I thought I could smell strawberry, but after the spray settled a bit it became more bubblegum-like. And a little bit later, it smelled like pink cotton-candy - so there's definitely a 'pink' vibe to it. But that's not all.. there's also something dry and slightly sweet in a musky kind of way in there - funnel cake, perhaps? Definitely something like cake, but not quite like cake (which I realise makes no sense but hopefully you get what I mean!). And maybe a hint of chocolate and vanilla, I'm not sure. Nothing spicy that I can detect. When I walk into the room 10 minutes later, there's only a faint hint of the spray in the air - so this isn't super strong like some other BPTP sprays I have - but what it leaves is a gorgeous clean, slightly sweet and yummy smell that just has a 'feel good' quality to it.

Get out. Just GTFO. This should smell like seventeen varieties of poop on me, but it doesn't. It smells like seventeen flavours of awesomesauce. The cream here reminds me of something else, not sure what.. but it's heavy and silky and decadently sweet and syrupy without being sugary. It smells like the kind of cream you'd get stuck in, should you walk through a field of it - you know, like quicksand. I'm not sure about you, but where I live there's loads of fields of cream and I regularly walk through them. Yes I do. Rose usually hates me - well, not so much hates me - but it always amps itself up all puffy-chested like, and drowns out any other notes present so that I end up smelling like I've bathed in potpourri juice. But not here, nope. The rose + cream combo here is similar to the dark chocolate + cream combo in The Candy Butcher - that rich, OMG kind of sultry luscious richness that makes you want to do indecent things to yourself. On me, this is cream with a dash of rose - which is just perfect.. had it been rose with a dash of cream (like, say.. Alice) then I'd be unhappy. This should definitely be kept out of reach of teenagers, grandmas and anyone else susceptible to wanton acts of lewdness, because this is exactly the bath oil to corrupt even the most pure amongst us. .

YAY! And congrats on finding your Panther Moon In addition to being one of my favourite Lunacy oils, I think PM is perhaps my favourite Lunacy label.. and it's definitely the Lunacy tshirt I coveted more than any other and almost didn't manage to resist

Hyacinth is such a lovely fragrance! Unfortunately florals are not my friend, but here's what a quick search found... In the GC: Egle (Marchen) Ocean water, hyacinth petals, star jasmine, and fir. Grief (Marchen) Inconsolable: lily of the valley, hyacinth, calamus, muguet, hydrangea, and elemi. . And some LEs which might be a little harder to find (try posting an ISO for decants or testers) - Stardust '05 and '06 champagne, hyacinth, tuberose, ylang ylang and flashing white musk with jonquil, tobacco flower, white sandalwood and a pale poppy. Kindly Moon Utterly ethereal, an exquisite expression of love: moonflower, lotus root, white gardenia, beeswax, peach blossom, blue musk, stargazer lily, golden osmanthus, ti, sandalwood, hyacinth, ylang ylang, and a touch of vanilla bean. Whirling Wind Moon Dreams of joy and fear: swirling dark and airy musks, mogra, plumeria, hyacinth, lily of the valley, dry white sandalwood, gardenia, pale amber, and oakmoss. Fire Phoenix Chinese musk and red musk with hyacinth, cactus flower, cubeb berry, galangal, tobacco, pink pepper, and sarsaparilla. Wilhelmina Murray Tea rose, white sandalwood and a flurry of pale, virginal blossoms, smeared with a smoky, blood-soiled blend of myrrh, hyacinth, Daemonorops resin, dark musk and blackcurrant. The Gibbous Moon Moonflower, Madonna lily, orris, white ginger, cucumber, hyacinth, and Irish moss. Her Voice (Lupercalia) Hyacinth, beeswax, wild roses, vanilla amber, lily of the valley, tiger lily, honeysuckle, carnation, and heliotrope.

Well.. on me, Cottonmouth is one of the least Snake Oil-y blends out of the Snake Pit, so maybe it will work nicely for you If anyone's curious - the others that are low-SO for me are Coral Snake with the gorgeous blood orange, and Green Tree Viper with the minty goodness.

If I remember correctly, there was some discussion about this when the discons were announced and I believe it was linden/linden blossom that was the problem component (ie the one behind the discontinuation). Such a shame, because linden blossom is gorgeous and Cottonmouth was one of my favourites from the Snake Pit. I'm just glad I have a couple of bottles hoarded away seraphiminia - I haven't found anything like Queen Mab yet, so I share your pain.. that one was a really unique blend

Hi deskew2 welcome to the forum The first thing that came to mind was Dirty: A wonderful antidote to an all-nighter oozing with drunken, addled perversion and debauchery. A fresh, crisp white linen scent: perfectly clean, perfectly breezy. Reviews are here, but most people say it smells like clean sheets that have been hanging out on the line in the sunshine. Another one is Wensleydale: An immaculately clean scent: well-scrubbed soapy skin and fresh cotton. This one has a slight sweetness to it, but it's another very 'clean sheets' kinda smell. You won't be able to buy an imp of this from the Lab, because it's in the Neil Gaiman collecton, but you should be able to find a decant of it here on the forum in the 'For Sale' section.

Hiya VM The first thing I thought of was a blend called Wulric the Wolfman - here's the description: Friendly, charming, and cuddly, but possessing one hell of a mean streak: cocoa absolute, French vanilla, birch tar, lavender, bourbon vetiver, wild musk, clary sage, and cistus. It doesn't have the patchouli you're looking for, but the combination of the cocoa + vetiver gives it a lovely smokey/earthy tone which is similar to a patchouli-esque kinda vibe. The vanilla + lavender isn't too sweet - the other notes darken it up nicely. Wulric is from the Carnaval Diabolique line, which is currently on hiatus at the Lab (it will be back, but we don't know when), but if you check through the For Sale area here on the forum you should be able to find a decant of it so you can try it out

On my skin, this smells exactly the same as Lump of Coal. Exactly.. really, exactly. Eggsackly!! The chocolate definitely has a slight bitterness, but it's not actually bitter - nor is it super sweet. It's a dry, dark chocolate with the oude sitting darkly but very quietly underneath. It smells like a brownie. ' Nooooo.... not that kind of brownie! Cakey brownies - rich, soft and gooey brownies. The oil itself is smooth and silky - I have no cacoa globules in mine (I don't have a full bottle - just a 10ml decant), and I was kinda hoping I would have, because I love it when there's cocoa globules - it's like having a little lava lamp in a bottle. The fragrace stays on my skin for a while - maybe an hour or so? And then.. it's gone. I'm a bit sad about that, but this test was done on dry skin - not in the bath/shower - so I'll have to try it another time as an actual bath oil to see if that improves the staying power. Plus, I bet it makes the house smell amazing after it's been wafting out of a warm bath for a while On the OMG I LOVE CHOCOLATE BROWNIES scale of one to ten.. this one goes to eleven.

Deep, dark, delicious vanilla. Naughty, booozy vanilla. I applied this directly on to my skin, because it would have been inappropriate to derobe and bathe in it at work, and the scent I got was rich and gourmand - like the world's most expensive vanilla extract that you would use if you were baking a $5000 cake. There's a slight undertone of rich, warm wood and yes - maybe a hint of something sassafrasish - I agree with others on the Tombstone likeness, but the vanilla here is 100x more vanillasome. I am going to consult a plastic surgeon and enquire whether it's possible to have this bath oil injected into my body somehow so that all of me smells like it. I want it to ooze out of every pore and be in my hair, my spit, my pee, my sweat.. even my poo. It all needs to smell like this. That must be possible, with all the advances in medical techology - right? .

Goblin isn't really sweet.. it's kinda gnarly, raw, dirty - but in a good way.. but that's coming from me, a lover of black coconut The benzoin in Goblin is sweet and syrupy - similar to a dark vanilla - but it's not 'foodie' like vanilla is, but mostly it's all about the patchouli with Goblin - it's pretty patchouli-heavy, but it's not as full-on as it is in #occupywallstreet, and the coconut/benzoin sweeten it up nicely. Tombstone is really lovely - the balsam is similar to the hemp in BB, and the cedar is soft and smooth because it has the sassafras to warm it up, but to me the vanilla is the star of the show - with the balsam it has a really nice smokey tone. They're both worth a try, I'd say.. but out of the two, Goblin is probably more Banshee Beat-ish because it has that same raw kind of vibe about it, and the same syrupy rich feel as BB. If you like black coconut and patchouli, then Gobin is a must-try anyways

Vanilla323 - Banshee Beat is my most favourite BPAL, and I haven't found anything else in the GC that smells anything like it. Tombstone has a similar feel, but it's different.. and Goblin (which was mentioned by Orata) has a similar darkness but the coconut makes it completely different to BB. Those two are definitely worth a try though, if you like the darker vanillas. Sorry I haven't got any suggestions for you as Banshee Beat substitutes, but I've seen bottles of BB around here for sale, so hopefully you'll be able to replace your bottle. . And I'm late to reply to earlier questions, but here goes... Reviving this to let you know that you're not alone and that I, too, am pining away for Orange. Specifically, I want to know where else in the BPAL catalogue I can find that Orange-Crush-esque bit to Orange that I got. I know there's already a thread for orange blossom (which I'm scouring!) and I had recommendations for outside-of-BPAL, commercial-brand perfume, but I am on a hunt for the perfect Orange-y orange. You guys should try and track down PL176 - it's a prototype, so it won't be easy to find, but definitely easier to find than Orange! PL176 is a gorgeous straight-up orange crush . Velvet Unicorn has a 'pink' tone to it, more candy-like, so for me it's not at all like Midway/Midway Res. I haven't found a GC or LE yet that's even close to that unique smell of Midway

I didn't go for many of the Lupercalia/Shunga blends this time around - I never have much success with them, because there's often a lot of white florals and/or otherwise 'white' notes like skin musk that hate me. This year's batch featured a lot of honey, which is a very problematic note for my skin and usually ends up smelling either like sweaty feet, or vomit. Nice The Vine could have been a winner, but the honey ruined it and the vanilla cream smelled kinda weird on me. Lady in Speckled Pink Kimono is really pretty, but not any more impressive than other similar 'pink and sweet' BPALs I've tried before. So my stand-out hit for this year is... *drum roll* Body, Remember. I wrote a rather embarrassingly love-fuelled review of it here, but anyone who loves black coconut (think Goblin, Death Adder, Snake Charmer, Red Lantern) must try it! Gorgeous gorgeous gooooorgeoussssss ETA - I predict Body, Remember and Variety of Pleasing Amusements will be this year's sleepers - maybe also Snowy Mountains and Kingfisher

I'm not sure whether it's related to the air conditioning in your car, but I definitely get the same results as you in those three spots - the back of my hand loses the fragrance most quickly, my wrists hold a scent for a couple of hours, but if I apply the oil to my neck (typically towards the back/side of my neck, below the back of my ears) then it lasts for ages. I think it probably has more to do with the varying dryness of your skin in those three places, rather than any air conditions, but I'm not really sure.. the back of my hand definitely has drier skin (also, thinner skin) than the other two places though.

Hazelnuts, oh hazelnuts Sometimes I quite hate your guts Cumin, cumin, how 'bout you On my skin you're baby poo Amber, amber, cannot lie I love you 'cos you're soft and dry Cardamom I think you know How I love your spicy glow Labdanum, so woodsy sweet Smelling you is quite the treat Tobacco tar, you stinky beast Of all these notes, I love you least Sweet and golden honey dear You're the note I always fear Blackbear Moon starts off all hazelnuts on me - like someone's just eaten a big bowl of hazelnuts then burped in my face.. warm, nutty air. But then mama bear comes out, and she's all soft and fuzzy and I smell the beautiful warm earth of the patchouli and the golden tones of the spices and honey together, and I'm right there in the forest, breathing in the trees and the earth and the musky animal smells and I'm loving it - it's warm and snuggly. The labdanum here is stunning - it has everything it should.. gorgeous resiny woodiness, soft leathery fruitiness and wonderful smoky earthiness - I think that's the note most responsible for the 'bear' feel that I get from this. Honey is not a note that my skin wears well - it's just a wee bit cloying here, especially with the strength of the hazelnut smell, but I'm handling it OK - it fades away nicely once the oil has fully dried down. Blackbear Moon is a beautiful, beautiful blend that I think will deepen and become even more lovely with some age on it.

Patchouli curry with honey sauce, mixed with cigarettes and garnished with a sprig of mint.

Weird - with the grains and hops, I thought this would smell more - err.. hoppy. Instead, I am getting a very woodsy/spicy vibe from it - not at all what I was expecting. I also thought it would be a lot more dry/dusky with the amber and sandalwood.. but again, nope - not what I was expecting. I could swear there's honey in here somewhere - or is it nutty, like hazelnuts? Perhaps it's in the hops, I dunno. This becomes quite syrupy and foody on my skin, but not in a good way. Pass.

Hello, pretty lady in your pretty pink kimono. You smell sweet and pretty - just like I thought you would. At first, I find the peony to be a bit overly sweet - but then the lovely soft waxiness of the vanilla orchid comes in.. and eventually overtakes the peony. So what I end up with is vanilla orchid with a touch of peony - sweet, floral but not flowery, and somehow there's a real 'oriental' feel to it - it has a very cool tone. Nice.. and pretty.. but nothing that makes me jump around in excitement.

OK.. so when first applied, the honey and pear combination is a little bit - quite strong, very juicy, sweet.. but a little bit on the sour side too. But most of all.. strong. Honey often goes sickly/cloying/funky on my skin - thankfully it's not quite doing that here, but it's close to it.. very close. However, as it dries down I find that the notes balance out nicely and the vanilla warms up to counteract the sweetness of the honey. It's still a bit too honey-riffic for my liking at this stage though - and sadly, it does eventually change into that horrible sickly/cloying honeyness that I don't enjoy at all. Honey, you're a stinky fiend - why don't you like meeeeeeeeeee? The vanilla cream is weird - I'm not sure whether I like it, and I'm wondering if that's what's responsible for the slightly sour top layer that I'm getting. For me, The Vine is at its best point when it's faded right down - I get the fragrance of warm pears.. like cooked pears, and the honey has turned into a dry almost musky kind of tone. But overall, the honey is just too much - it's like 70% honey and 30% pear.. I was hoping for the reverse of that. And now that I'm aware of the fresh splotch one one arm, comparing it to the other arm where it's been on for about 90 minutes now - the difference is really quite significant; the most recently splotched arm is honey overload and kind of a stinky mess, but the one that's been there for a while is soft and lovely with more pear than honey. I just can't deal with that honey overload though, not even just to tolerate it until I get to the lovely faded stage, so nope - this one is not for me. I know a lot of people were hoping this would be like Perilous Parlor - I was, too - but on me, they are nothing alike. PP is a clean, sweet, fresh and juicy pear with a soft/sweet vanilla - TV is a brown pear, cooked in a honey sauce, with a milky vanilla. One is white, the other is brown. Just my opinion of course, but PP > TV. I wish I had my Note Removal MachineTM though, because if I could reduce the honey quotient here then I think I could really love it.