sunshinedaisybliss

Ayup - coffee! My previous experiences with coffee-related BPALs hasn't been great - the two that come to mind are El Dia Reyes and Bah! - whilst I've loved the smell of the oil itself, on my skin they were both too much coffee - too strong, and with a brown sugar background that made them overly rich for me. IXHV4 brings the same beautiful deep roasted coffee note that those previous blends had, but this time it's presented in a more mellow and creamy way that isn't getting up my nose at all. For comparisons, I'd put this one more in the same camp of coffee style that Pinched With Four Aces sits in - deep and dark, but not sweet or artificial. There is some sweetness here, but it's not the foody kind of sweetness. It has an exotic aroma about it - like the kind of coffee you find brewing in Jamaica or Morrocco but I cannot figure it out - something almost musky, and it feels like a 'red' note, it might be a spice of some kind (like a paprika or dried chili) or perhaps a splash of dark cacao, but it's just floating around the edges of the coffee so it's hard to pin down. Overall, this is definitely for lovers of coffee smells - particularly if you love the dark roasted coffee smell or liqueurs like Tia Maria and Kahlúa. At one hour in, it's still going strong on my skin - the initial blast of COFFEEEEE has gone away and now it's developed a lovely creamy softness with a slightly spicy feel but the coffee is still there. This blend is more complex than just coffee alone.. I wish I could figure out what else is in here because it's quite delicious!

Damn it. DAMN. IT. !! Mahogany, I love you - why can't you love me back? Why have you made this perfume smell like stale vomit on my skin? WHYYYYYYYYYY? In the bottle, the smell is intoxicating - I can pick up the deep boozy cognac with a slightly chocolate-y edge, old rubbed wood, and brimstone spookiness. The brimstone is peeking through, but mostly it's the lovely cognac and mahogany. So I dab some on.. and.. instant disaster. I could only stomach it for about 10 minutes, and then I had to go wash it off. This is one of very few major failures I've experienced with BPAL, one of perhaps only two or three times that my skin has turned something gorgeous into something disgusting. I'm either going to have to swap this away, or save it until I can organise a skin transplant. Very sad, I am.

This was a frimp from the lovely scenteddreams! Sadly, I get the brown sugar/burnt butter version of this one - which is kinda what I was expecting because butter is a bastard on my skin sometimes. But I was hoping that perhaps - given the notes/description - this would be a creamy/milky kind of butter. Alas, no. I can smell the tea, and something slightly fruity. For me, this actually smells more like that fruit bread (you know the stuff with raisins and cinnamon etc in it) than just regular plain bread. I bet it's just wonderful on the right skin.. it's a fantastically foody blend, but not for me.

When this first goes on, it smells like fly spray mixed with cherry and honey. If it actually were a fly spray, it might be a pleasant alternative to the other stinky varieties of fly spray.. but as a perfume - not really working for me. The honey here is quite sharp and green, there's definitely a garden-like feel to this one. The cherry is surprisingly subtle, and it does meld nicely with the honey after a while but overall this isn't really blowing my skirt up. The fly spray aroma never quite goes away, and nothing else comes forward to make an impression. As with all the other Infused Honey blends that I've tried, this one is at its best about an hour in - but I just can't deal with that first hour of fly spray to get to the good part.

So this is the one we all expected to smell like a mix of vomit and dirty socks.. I'm kinda scared to try it There's something weird in here that's creating a halo effect of scent above my skin.. it's like there's layers in the smell. The top layer has a waxy and slightly chemical-ish smell to it.. not unpleasant, just a bit clamorous at first. The on-my-skin layer is all fruity goodness, but the boozy kind of fruit that you'd find down the bottle of your tall glass of trifle - under the layer of sponge cake that's been soaking in brandy. That's actually the best way I can describe this one.. it's very trifle-ish, fruit and something brandy-like and something custard-like. Once it's fully dry (about half an hour after applying), that harsh top layer has gone away and blended in with everything else. The fruitiness has mellowed down quite a bit, and there's something slightly rank smelling when I take a big whiff up close on my arm. I think I'll have to refer to Venneh's previous title for it.. ass-fruit. Yeah, sad. I just don't know about this one - I like it, but it's just on the verge of being a bit stinky and not in a good way.. I liked the early fruity custard stage much better.

So far the honey note in all these 'Infused Honey' blends has been really nice.. not powdery, not too sweet, fresh and clean. This one is no exception - the honey's definitely the star of the show here though, where in some of the others it's more subtle. There's a herbal mintiness in here that I'm not really enjoying.. overall, nothing in this blend really grabs me - it's just not my kind of thing and the notes aren't really working nicely as a combination.

I have a love/hate thing with BPAL's honey blends.. but this one is lovely, the honey is clean and fresh rather than mead-y, sweet or cloying. At first it seemed a little bitter and green/woody, but the scent really does change through the drydown stages. After about an hour on my skin, I now have a lovely soft berry with a rich woodiness and a soft wafting honey that's stayed fresh and hearty rather than going powdery. This is very pretty, and it does remind me of Christmas smells - not sure why!

Nothing much to add here that hasn't already been said! The coconut is the most dominant note in this for me, but it's a lovely waxy coconut - the realistic kind, not the suntan lotion or tropical cocktail kind. The licorice is a perfect partner to the coconut - what a dream match.. who wudda thunk it!?! Together, they create an almost honey-like scent, it's really an interesting mix. The amber and sandalwood are just playing around the perimeter of the scent - I know they're there because there's a dusky quality to the throw, but they're not strong in themselves. I would have liked the ginger cream to be a little more forward.. it's barely there, mixed in somewhere amongst the clove and cinnamon which are also very subtle. I honestly can't find the tonka in here anywhere, the coconut is just so upfront in this blend that other things are hard to find! Overall, this has a lot less 'kick' than I was expecting - given the whole 'killer swarm' thing, I thought it would be more spicy and 'hot' with a deeper/darker feel but on me it's more dusky and furry like a fuzzy bee. If you love those kinda-waxy and close-to-the-skin type BPALs, and enjoy coconut, then Paduan is for you. This will probably age nicely - maybe some of the more subtle notes will come out and the coconut might mellow with age. Meanwhile, I'll definitely enjoy wearing this.. it's one of those snuggly yummy BPALs that are just nice to slather on when you feel like something warm and comforting.

Oooh.. if you like chocolate smells, you must try Bliss! I know exactly what you mean about Gluttony.. but Bliss is nothing like that, it's a lovely soft chocolate.. very yummy. Velvet is another nice one - that's chocolate vanilla with sandalwood and myrrh for something a bit different. Oh, and Vice - chocolate with black cherry and orange blossom You could also try to hunt down some Milk Chocolate & Buttercream - this was an LE for Valentine's Day last year so it's no longer available to buy new, but it pops up in the 'For Sale' area quite often. MC&B is a gorgeous creamy chocolate - the butter part of it isn't sickly or sharp at all. I'd suggest you try and isolate the exact type of sugar that you like (and don't like). When you see anything in the brown sugar family, it's likely to have that caramel/toffee tone to it and it sounds like that's something you don't enjoy in your BPALs. So the white sugar things are probably more to your taste. I definitely second the suggestion to find some Boo! - soooo good - and you could also look out for Midway (or Midway Resurrected, which was the re-release) - kinda hard to find, but a delicious cotton candy-ish one. If you like a more 'pink' sugar, you could try looking for some Velvet Unicorn - that's a spun sugar with strawberries and cherries, very sweet but yummy. And as others have mentioned, definitely try to get hold of some Cake Smash On the BPAL website, you can use the 'Search' function.. if you type in 'sugar', it will bring up a list of anything in the general catalogue that contains a sugar note - that's a good way to find specific things and check out what imps you might want to try. Just keep trying lots of things.. you'll find "the one"

This smells like a lemon-lime champagne cocktail. It's fizzy citrus, but so not right for me.. my arch nemesis champagne (or perhaps it's gin or grapefruit) is in here, making everything all nasty sour. If you can wear these 'fizzy' things, lucky you! I'm sure this would be lovely on someone whose skin behaves differently to mine.

Ohh.. this is so good! I was a bit scared of the cherry deal.. the last couple of times there's been a cherry-related BPAL out, it hasn't ended well for me. Sometimes it turns into that nasty cough-syrup fake-plastic type cherry and totally misbehaves by bullying any other notes into oblivion. But not here.. nope.. wooooo! This is very much like Boo for me - it's that same deep vanilla note, but in Gothabilly the sweetness of the vanilla is well tempered by the musk. And the overall feel is slightly boozy, but not in an obvious way - the liqueur seems to be melded with the cherries beautifully so that the overall effect is dark and syrupy rather than sweet and fruity. I like this because it's sweet without being candy-like, and it's not one of those "pink" or "young girl" blends - this is definitely grown-up but with a playful edge. Actually, it really suits the Gothabilly name! Very very nice, something I could wear any time and just enjoy the nice smell.

This is a surprise winner.. my relationship with rose is not a happy one, but here the rose stays softly in the background - blended beautifully with the musks. I've never come across grey amber before, but I can pick up the amber note in here and it's cooler than usual so I guess that's the grey variety. The lavender never really pops for me in this one - it's there, but not very well developed. The standout notes are the carnation and vanilla bean which together put a warm, heady, and slightly spicy glow everywhere. For me, Under The Harvest Moon reminds me of those lovely creamy skin scents in recent Shunga lines - it's that same kind of not-quite-floral blend but with a much warmer and golden edge. Very pretty.

This smells exactly like when I stick my face into my cat's floofy tummy.. all warm and clean and snuggly sweet. I never really get 'aftershave' out of this, but it is slightly soapy. The sweet edge actually does remind me of candy wrappers - the waxy kind, they always retain just the subtlest smell of the candy they once held. I'm also really happy with the brimstone in this - it's staying in the background, adding just a little smokiness but more a musky kind. Yup.. floofy cat belly It's really quite nice, and I think it would work very well on a man - it's semi-powdery but not in a bad way. It's not what I think Hellboy would smell like though.

Thank you so much to damonkitty for sending me a sample of this one! Wow. Just.. WOW. This is one of those sprays that pervades your room in a dark and menacing way - a couple of spritzes is more than enough to instantly fill the space with atmosphere. When it first hits the air, I'm reminded me of a dark and slightly damp wine cellar... the shiraz smell is up front, and it's stunning. It is absolutely spot-on to the wine itself.. shiraz is something we make particularly well here in Australia - our blends are rich and sumptuous with nuances including plum, blackberry, pepper, licorice and chocolate, depending on the origin of the grapes. All those things are in Thriambus, and it's just gorgeous. When the clove and tobacco notes chime in, the combination is sublime - totally decadent and rich. The tobacco is particularly nice in here - it's golden and smooth, with no sharp/sour top end like tobacco can sometimes give. I don't notice the rubber until about 10 minutes in - but it's there, and I think the latex and vinyl are just all part of the same illusion.. it's nothing specific, just a kind of rubbery smell in the background. Quite a masterpiece, and I'm so glad I've been able to try it. As others have already said, I wish this were more widely available - it's a shame more people won't get to try it.. and I'd definitely buy a big bottle of it. Ah well.. I'll definitely enjoy what I've got

In the bottle, this is bright orange candy citrus smell - quite deep and lush. When it first hits my skin, it's the same - a really bright orange, but not natural orange like the actual fruit smells - this has a slight 'fake' smell to it.. it's just *too* orange. Things quickly change.. Now some other citrus notes are coming out. There's more to the orange - it's lost that artificial feel and become a more 'true' orange.. far more deep. More like a tangello, perhaps. I'm getting some lemon now too, and yeah - probably grapefruit although the blend of citrus in here is a little too well blended.. it's hard to pick individual fruit notes - and it's become more sweet.. everything is softening up nicely. About 10 minutes in, the fizz starts to appear. This is more than the kind of tart fizz that grapefruit usually creates.. it has an alcoholic smell to it - I'm calling champagne (or a dry white wine, perhaps) on this one. My skin does not like champagne, not at all.. on me, it becomes a nasty sour thing that with a sharp and acrid edge. And of course, out it comes to override all that lovely citrus I had before. Had the champagne not come out, I would have loved this.

I must preface this review by saying that I have been spoilt with a plethora of BPAL leather blends lately, due to my current obsession of finding "the one". So far, Spanked is my all-time fave but due to its impossible-to-find-without-winning-the-lottery status, Crowley is my #1 and (for me) is going to be very hard to knock down from that position. I like my leather blends complex, hot, throbbing, pulsing and menacing. Whilst I enjoy the softness of leathers like Sacrifice and NGG023, I prefer my BPAL leathers to have some oomph. Bearing all that in mind, Rivet.Goth comes in to the race with high expectations behind him. The leather is very nice - but it's like new leather (ever bought a brand new leather jacket?) - very fresh and clean. The tobacco absolute note is lovely - it was quite sweet at first, but when fully dried down it changed into a nice golden bitterness. The musk, sadly, is more sweet than 'gritty' for me - I was hoping for a darker musk in this one. And machine oil.. hmm.. can't say I'm really picking that up, although there is a slight air de mechanic shop around everything in this. So.. to me, this is the scent of the little guy on the bottle. The wanna-be tough goth, who's got a new leather coat that he keeps shiny and clean and is really not the tough guy people think he is*. Rivet.Goth is just not enough of a standout from other similar blends to really make me take notice. It's nice though, don't get me wrong, but just.. kinda weak. Lacking in grunt. Pretty boy leather *with no offence meant to anyone who is into this style of goth-dom!

Land of the Lost?? hehe.. yeah.. and there's also this:

Hmm.. interesting to see the different reviews on this one so far! My impressions are similar to Midnight Aeval's - a soft and sugary lime (not POW kind of lime, and not a super citrus-y lime like the one in Scurvy) - it's more on the creamy side than the citrus side. There's something else going on in here.. it's almost like pepper, perhaps pink or white pepper, something in the background is adding a bit of kick (making my nose tickle) and there's also a slight bitterness somewhere. And I agree there's probably a musk of some sort in here - not white musk, but not a dark musk either - a nice soft musk. Once it dries right down, the lime-ness does fade a little but it stays true - the overall smell reminds me of the juice drinks I buy sometimes when I ask for all the green things in together - I get a mix of lime, grapes, kiwi fruit, apples, pears and honeydew melon. That's kind of what this smells like - mushed up green fruits with a citrus edge, mainly melon and lime. Quite fresh and pretty, I'd recommend it for anyone who loves things like Scurvy, or the quirky fruity blends like Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat and Schrodinger's Cat or 'Tis The Voice Of The Lobster - it's in that same vein, an eccentric fruit

What a weird combination! I'm guessing lime and lavender, with something VERY ozone/aquatic that's creating the metallic edge. This is kinda irritating my nose - not in a sneezy way, just in an irritating way - it's not a smell I'm enjoying. Very clean and fresh, maybe even slightly fizzy, but for me.. it smells like walking through the men's perfume area at the department store. You know how that smells.. the mix of all those Calvin Klein and Hugo Boss and Armani type colognes. These kinds of BPALs just don't work on my skin, nor are they the kind of fragrance I like. So nope, not for me - I'll stick to using tin foil in the kitchen only.

Wow.. this one smells exactly like a walk in Australian bushland! I was immediately reminded of how damp ground smells - damp ground that's covered in various types of wood and leaves. There's a lovely sweet top note which is probably something to do with the floral aspects of the notes (there's something almost violet-ish in here), but my overall impression is definitely more influenced by the woods and pine. It never turns medicinal or herb-y, and once it's completely dry (which took a while!) everything blends beautifully. It's not really 'floral' in the way we usually talk about floral in relation to BPAL, but it's not really 'green' either. For those of you who have never walked through Australian bushland.. slather this on, and you'll be there (in your nose, at least ).

Well.. this is the strangest thing! All I'm getting here is soap.. like a rich and heady version of baby shampoo smell. No smoke, no wood! Where's the soap coming from? I really don't know.. but somehow these notes are combining on my skin to produce something that smells a little like sweet tree sap. Sweet tree sap that smells like baby shampoo, that is. Sadly, not a keeper for me, it's not unpleasant or anything - it's just... soap

Ceremonial incense, pipe tobacco, temple roses, and shittim wood. Every now and then a rose blend comes along where the rose doesn't amp on my skin, or smell like an old lady's wardrobe, cheap potpourri or handwash. And when that happens, I rejoice. REJOICE. Illuminati Cotillion is one of those blends! YAY very much!! At the start, this seems spicy and dark but it lightens up a little when the pipe tobacco starts to warm in. The incense isn't any specific 'incense' type, more just a general incense-y feel.. dark and resinous, mysterious and moody. Even though I keep reading it as shittin wood instead of shittim wood.. this is a note I'd love to see more of - it's a lovely soft smell with a warm, foggy fragrance that adds a touch of sweetness here - a perfect partner for the incense. And 'temple roses' - well, I don't remember seeing those in a BPAL before but this is a well-behaved rose that isn't amping or overriding everything else.. it does come out more strongly at about the 30-minute mark but it never spoils the lovely incense smells. If you like dark resinous blends, you should definitely give this a try. Whilst it has elements in common with other incense-y BPALs (in particular, it reminds me a little of Lucy, Kissed), the combination of notes in this one is quite unique.

This started off quite nicely, however it ultimately ended up being nothing but rose on my skin. Where's the orange water? Not there! BOO! Where's the benzoin? Not there! BOO! And musk? What musk? BOO! All I can smell is rose! It's a pretty rose and all, but.. rose! This is the story of rose and I. We cannot be friends.

This is one of those fluffy, silly, poofy, sugary things that Beth does so well.. but this one has the lemongrass as a point of difference, as in, this isn't a typical 'white' or 'pink' sugar/fluff thing. The lemongrass is very strong though, it's not a soft and gentle lemon, it's a POW kind of lemon. So actually, it's not really very fluffy, silly or poofy at all. There is a slight chemical overtone to it, unfortunately for me it's becoming a bit nail-polish remover-ish on my skin. Ah yes, that would be the white musk and/or white amber. 'White' anything is generally not my friend. If you were looking for a lemon-y version of Marshmallow Poof, Velvet Unicorn, Chewing Little Bits of String etc.. this isn't it. For me, it's sharp rather than sweet, and just not my thing - but I think that it would be lovely on the right skin, that being one which can handle the 'white' elements and the sharp chemical tang.

Ick.. I knew this one wouldn't work for me, and I was right. Too much going on - the muguet is particularly strong and the orris is also very present, and the white sandalwood is just confusing everything. The dusty vanilla is of a sweet variety, which is quite nice, but it's lost amongst all the other things. The end result for me is a smell not unlike walking into someone's bathroom after they've just filled the air with a huge amount of cheap hairspray and spray-on deodorant. Maybe a bit of fly spray, too. Oh yeah - Nomie got it - this is very much like Lush's American Cream (which also smells like fly spray on me).