sunshinedaisybliss

Gosh.. I just got an imp of this via a sale, I had no idea it dated back as far as it did.. I've never really heard it mentioned amongst all the LE swooning around here! What a crazy blend this is.. on me, it started out quite bitter with an almost lemon tang with a very strong fig top - so that must be the "fierce and feral" stage. But as it dries down, the chocolate comes out and that 'bitter' feel goes away.. it goes very dry and musky but in a warm and slightly sweet way - so that must be the "warm, soft and cozy" bit. It keeps changing! That lemon comes back, then goes away. What is THAT about? Lemon's not even mentioned as a note - could it be the juniper berry giving it that 'lemon' flavor? I actually prefer the chocolate-y/musk stage, but that also comes and goes. Anyway - this is fabulous.. very unique, and definitely worth a try if you can find some!

Ayup.. chocolate fudge brownies. Goes on that way, stays on that way... for aaaaaaaaaages. YUM

This was a frimp from the lovely KateW.. and to be honest, I possibly never would have tried it because although I love dragon's blood resin, myrrh and cherry, I'm terrified of clove being too strong because my skin tends to amp anything spicey. But I am so glad I got to try this, because it is abso-freakin-lutely divine! In the imp, it's a stunning deep copper colour that almost shines. When it first goes on.. the main notes to hit me are the dragon's blood and the clove but neither of them are whoooooaaaaaaa strong.. more a velvety rich warmness, the balance of the two in this blend must have been quite challenging, but to my nose it's absolutely perfect. Then up pops the cherry, sweetening things up a bit, and about five minutes later when I take a deep huff again.. there's the myrrh, which I suspect is where that warmness I first felt is coming from. This is really gorgeous - it's sweet without being sickly, resinous without being sticky, and smokey without smelling like smoke. It's.. sexy, yeah - that's what it is.. if I snuggled up to the side of someone's neck and discovered they smelt like this, I wouldn't be leaving for a very VERY long time. I love it when surprise frimps knock my socks off like this just has. I'm gonna have to get a bottle of this, for sure!

I totally took a chance on this, because I was scared about the lily of the valley.. but every other note sounded perfect so I grabbed a bottle from a sale here on the forum - so glad I did!! The ginger is definitely sparkly at first, but the apricot is stopping it from being too spicy - together, they're the perfect combination of warm loveliness. Then the vanilla shows up, and ohhh my this is a lovely creamy vanilla. The oak and tonka seem to ground all that sweetness perfectly - yes, this is a "sweet" blend but I wouldn't class it as foody because it definitely has an organic feel to it. It wore down quite a bit after about half an hour on my skin, leaving me with mostly a gorgeous soft woody vanilla but I can definitely still smell the other notes there, particularly the sandalwood which made a late appearance. I'm not sure that the lily of the valley ever showed up.. it's obviously in there somewhere but thankfully it's not pushing itself in front of all the others. This stayed good for about 3 hours, but I only put a tiny dab on so I think that's a good wear time out of one dab. This is only my second experience with the Travelling Salons (the other being Wezwanie/Hold) - are they all this beautiful? Haloes is really something special - it's kinda like bits of all my favourite BPALs mixed in together, very multi-layered and complex. I am definitely going hunting for more!

I love love LOVE honeys in my BPALs, especially the waxy/creamy kind. The thing about the honey note though is that what works on one person may not on another.. however having said that, quite a few have worked beautifully for me but my skin amps honey big time. I would highly recommend No. 93 Engine (Balm of Gilead, benzoin, frankincense, balsam of peru, beeswax, saffron, galbanum, calamus, hyssop, mastic, lemon balm, and white sage) - for me, it's very honey but with an almost musky tone - and a definite waxy feel (like you've dipped your fingers into the warm wax from a honey-scented candle). I've also just got a bottle of Wezwanie/Hold, and that is WHOOAAAAAAA honey - very golden and very rich - probably the strongest honey I've tried so far, but nicely warmed by amber and myrrh... it's exquisite. Agrat-Bat-Mahlaht also has a nice honey tone, on me it's not a rich/golden honey but it does have a nice creaminess to it. Giant Vulva might also be worth a try, I found it quite subtle but many of the reviews posted so far mention a nice rich honey note. I also second dzurlady's recommendation of Mead Moon for that lovely organic hot honey feel. In reference to other suggestions posted, and again based only on how my skin worked with them.. both Dana O'Shee and O are more marzipan/nutty than honey, Honey Mone is more "green" than honey, and Alice was all rose - sadly no honey or cream at all. I admit it, I'm a honey fiend

Oh.. I waited for ages to get hold of a bottle of this, since the Salon didn't travel down to this part of the world. My bonus for being so patient is that the bottle I've now got is probably at least a year old, which I think has probably worked in its favor because this is riiiiiiiiich. Coming out of the bottle, the oil is all thick and a beautiful golden colour - it actually made me pull back a little when I first put a dab on my skin... it's that strong. First whiff when wet on my skin is definitely the hazelnut, vanilla and sandalwood. After about 10 minutes on my skin, that initial nutty wood thing has settled down and it's is all amber, myrrh and honey. Actually, this is perhaps the richest amber I've encountered so far in my BPAL travels, and the honey/myrrh combo is also very rich. It's kinda like No. 93 Engine after it's been turbocharged, but without the wax, and way more everything than No. 93, but the similarity is there in its honeyness. Half an hour later, it's definitely softened down a lot from its initial HEY I'M HERE presence.. now the nutty feel has come back a bit, and the vanilla has also reappeared.. finally everything seems in perfect balance. What a clever and multi-layered blend this is, it really shows how skillful Beth is at her craft. I'm just loving it, and so is everyone within 20 feet of me.. even when dried down completely, it still wafts around a lot. Note to self: just a couple of drops will be fine, do not slather!! Lovely. LOVELY. Golden, warm, rich and sumptuous. I think this would be a love/hate blend for many people, so if you're not sure then I'd encourage you to at least grab a decant.. hopefully you'll be just as impressed as I am

Nothing much new to add here.. the cherry blossom is really nice when it first goes on (and not at all like that sometimes cough-syrup thing I get with regular cherry), and sticks around for about 10 minutes on my skin. After that, everything turns into a white musk haze that borders on smelling like hair spray. After an hour or so, I'm left with very faint remnants of a white floral scent on my skin. It's a very light and delicate fragrance, probably apt for voyeurs who don't want to be caught out hiding in the cherry blossoms. Lesson learnt - vanilla musk is NOT vanilla. I think the success of this one is going to very much depend on your skin/body chemistry. Alas, mine does not agree with it.

I'm on my second day of trying this, to make sure I gave it a good run. Yesterday I only applied a few dabs, and today I put a good semi-slather on.. lesson learnt, better to apply a few dabs every couple of hours - this goes on quite strong and lasts for a long time on my skin. I get the weirdest sensation from this.. it has a very waxy feel to it - like I've dipped my fingers in warm vanilla/honey scented candle wax. It reminds me very much of No. 93 Engine, which does the same waxy thing. But uhmm.. there's no honey or even beeswax in this, so I have no idea where that feeling comes from - maybe it's just a fluke of the vanilla mixed with all those other very organic-type notes that makes it that way, or maybe it's just a skin chemistry thing. I'm not complaining though - it's lovely! I want to attach my nose to my arm because it's so yummy to inhale, it makes me go mmmmmmmmm. I've realised I tend to waffle on about how a blend *feels* rather than smells when I write these reviews. So what does it smell like? Well, I mentioned the honey (which I think is a trick of the vanilla & ginger combination) - that's really the main smell I get. Oud is just stunning, and that's definitely making an appearance. The oakmoss (which I was a little concerned about) is behaving itself, as is the palm date. So for me - it's all about the gorgeous creaminess of the vanilla, ginger and oud. This is my favourite Shunga so far.. while I love many BPALs because they just smell so damn good, I especially love the ones that give me a warm and comforting feeling and Lovers with Rutting Cats definitely goes into that category. Oh, and the label art is fabulous too

I only just discovered this through the sales thread and decided to take a chance on it. Now I'm a cocoa kinda gal all the way - the mere mention of a chocolate or cocoa note and I'm unable to resist. So imagine my surprise when Midnight Kiss turns into a musky grape/berry bubblegum on my skin! Yep - bubblegum, but the purple kind rather than the pink, so that's the blood wine? Maybe? So bearing in mind that I'm getting grape bubblegum which is vastly different to what the previous reviewers have said.. I can still sense the musk, amber and sandalwood - they're lurking like men in trench coats in the darkened back corner of a smoky bar, intimidating the bubble gum blonde who wants to get up and dance on the table but holds herself back. Patchouli seems completely absent, and I'm really not sure what nicotiana smells like so I'm not sure if it's present. But either way, I love this - just the perfect blend of sweet and smokey - it stays on my skin for ages and wafts around beautifully.

This has been on my wishlist for ages.. and then guess what I find in my magic box of goodies just received from the lab - a frimp of Eat Me!! It's all been said before. This is very yummy... yes, cake - but not in a sugar sickly sweet kind of way, more in a dark purple grape-y velvet kind of way. At first the vanilla is not typically sweet - the blackcurrant holds it back from taking over but blending in beautifully with the vanilla giving it a luxurious creaminess. After about half an hour on my skin, it's gone very soft and powdery - definitely a feminine fragrance, but the vanilla is now the most prominent note. Hmm.. it's almost got a Snake Oil kind of thing going on. I'm definitely not getting the caramel or butter or spices that some people have mentioned. This is what I would smell like if I were a princess who lives in the top turret of a Bavarian castle where rainbows fill the sky and butterflies dance around my long flowing locks as I watch purple unicorns dance in the fields of vanilla beans down below in the castle grounds. This could be the perfect "cake" blend.. I wouldn't put it in the foody group in the same way as Beaver Moon/Beaver'versary or I Fell In Love With A Floating Brain belong in the foody group.. to me, the cake factor is less prominent and really only showed up in the wet stage. I'm so glad I finally got to try this, and I think a bottle is required.

*PUTS UP HAND* Yes! Meeeee!! I was!!!!!!! And praises be to the Lab.. IT IS!! Well, I wouldn't say "substitute", because CB is really (imo) superior in its creaminess and subtlety, but it's a good second best Oh how I love The Candy Butcher, with his creamy chocolate voluptuousness, but oh how he taunts me by having disappeared off the face of the earth. Now I can stop searching the galaxy for it, because I have Milk Chocolate Buttercream and quite frankly, that smart-ass "ner ner nee ner ner I'm discontinued" Mr Candy Butcher should be peeing his pants with jealousy right about now because this is sublime. I get the Bliss comparison, but to me Bliss is pretty much straight-up rich dark chocolate. Milk Chocolate Buttercream is definitely more in the Candy Butcher/Midway family of chocolates with its lovely smooth creaminess. I'm not finding this super-sweet in a sickly way - I'm guessing that's because it's a butter cream rather than a sugary cream, it has a golden warmth about its sweetness. And it's definitely milk chocolate, not dark chocolate. Bonus - it stays on my skin for ages! I'm very very happy with this! If you're not sure about the whole "do I really want to smell like chocolate" thing.. I'd really encourage you to give it a chance, it's much more than just a chocolate smell. Oh, and the label's pretty too, as are all the Box of Chocolates labels. Mr Candy Butcher - if you're reading this - you'll always have a special place in my heart, but for now I have a new love. Just sit quietly in your bottle and I'll come back to you one day.

When my bottle arrived, the bottom half of the oil was all thick and dark - I immediately thought of Boomslang, with its thick chocolate sludge, and I knew this was going to be a bit special. After gently rolling it to mix up the sludge, my first whiff from the open bottle made me go "unnnnngh" - lovely buttery, spicy, slightly boozy chocolate. On my skin, this reminds me of Butter Rum Cookie - if you switched the rum for kahlua, I reckon you'd get something like this. I got a very slight tingle on my skin at first - almost hot, which I guess is the pepper, but that quickly passed. Now I have this gorgeous spicy warm buttery caramel chocolate thing going on - I feel like I should be roasting chestnuts over an open fire with a very fine Scotch whiskey in a crystal tumbler by my side. I'm finding this has a big throw, and it's still very strong on my skin after an hour, so I don't think this is one to slather.. just a drop or two in your warmest crevices should do the trick. Do I want to smell like this all the time? Hmm.. not sure, probably not. Will I keep it? Mayyyyyyybeeeeee.... My final thought.. this does to chocolate what El Dia de Reyes did to coffee.

Uh huh... dark chocolate and cherry it is. No messin' about.. no other smarty pants little notes lurking around - it is what it is, and it's absolutely spot on. The cherry in this reminds me a bit of Candy Phoenix, which I know is strange since CP had no cherry in it, but to me it's a similar kind of 'red' fruitiness with the syrupy velvet thing going on but without that super sweetness of Candy Phoenix. The dark chocolate is definitely present in this.. it's not just *all* cherry.. I think it's more of a warm melted dark chocolate, with a kind of 'hot' feel about it. I did find that the chocolate note fades after a little while though, leaving mostly just the cherry behind, but even then it's still warm and luscious. If this were a lip gloss, you'd have people lining up at your kissing booth. It's abso-freakin-lutely delicious. However, I'm not sure whether this is how I want to smell.. as yummy as it is, I'm just a bit iffy on that point.

Ok.. my bottle finally arrived today so of course I went for the dab straight away.. hoping for vanilla honey beeswax goodness. So where's this floral thing coming from? On my skin, it's almost gardenia or jasmine-like in its intensity.. what IS that?!? Is it the copal? This is really disappointing.. I've had it on for 2 hours now, and it's very very faint now on my skin, but I'm still getting a very strong white floral fragrance, no musky incense or beeswax creaminess at all. I'm not sure that I'm going to love this EDIT: two days later, I give it another try. It's like a whole different perfume!! Now it's all honey and beeswax, creamy and soft.. that 'white floral' thing is still there, but in the background. So I just wanted to come back and edit my first review in case other people have the same experience as I did - if that's you.. give it another try on another day and maybe you'll see it differently. I guess this must be sensitive to skin/body vibes, or at least it must be with me. Maybe I will love this!

Like many others have said, I had no idea what many of the notes in No. 93 Engine smell like on their own.. it was the beeswax and frankincense that enticed me to want a bottle, which found its way to me via the sales page of the lovely SavageRose. Now that I have it on my skin, I still have no idea what many of the notes in No. 93 Engine smell like on their own, but I don't care. I'm getting a beautiful warm and golden honey luxurious loveliness.. like novak69 said - this is sunshine in a bottle. It stays very close to my skin - I don't think it has a strong throw but I know it's there because every now and then I catch a waft of it. A lovely soft and subtle blend that's so natural and non-perfumey.. I could wear it all day every day and people wouldn't realise I have perfume on.. they'd just think I have been gifted with extraordinarily nice smelling skin.

Reading the previous reviews has been interesting.. it seems most people were tentative about Penumbra due to its unusual mix of notes.. me too, most of all I was worried about the lavender (a known traitor to my skin).. but everything else sounded so good that I just had to give it a try. And like others, I'm sooooooooooo glad I did. Yep, it's PURPLE. It really should be actually coloured purple - it's very smooth, rich, warm and velvety and on me it drys down to a beautiful blackcurrant-ish fruity smokey musk. I love how no single note dominates - it's beautifully blended and a stunning mix of sweet and dry. It fades fairly quickly on my skin though, which is a shame because I'd like this bottle to last for ever and it won't if I have to re-apply frequently. Definitely a keeper.. actually I think it's worthy of hoarding. Note to self: find more blends with purple musk!!

Starts off with a strong and rich incensey cocoa when it first goes on, but that didn't last long.. I got a lovely dry powdery leather thing going on for about 10 minutes, and then it turned into an incensey-floral. After about half an hour, it's very much melded right into my skin and it's just a nice, warm and slightly honey-ish (even a bit nutty?!) leather - the floral is still there in the background, but it's not a "bright" floral, and the patchouli is very warm and golden rather than harsh like it sometimes can be. This is what to wear while laying naked on a big fluffy rug in front of the fire at your log cabin hideaway. ETA: I agree.. I think this would smell sensational on a man. Note to self: must test that theory.

Mmmm.. this is lovely, like a rich musky purple velvet. The carnation is behaving itself nicely, not overpowering at all - I get a hint of something almost violet but not quite. This is definitely musk rather than sweet.. "exotic" is a good description. I think Bathsheba would be a lovely scent to wear whilst flirting in a dimly lit wine bar.

Some reviewers mentioned a lime 'feeling' from That! The Terror From Over There!.. I didn't get liiiiiiiiime as such, and it's note a listed note, but it's definitely got a lime kinda vibe going on.. very fresh and cool green. Maybe hunt down a decant of that and see how you go

My first experience with wasabi was many years ago when there was a big glob of it in the corner of my take-away Japanese food. Being somewhat uneducated in the ways of Japanese food at the time, I thought it was avocado, and since I love avocado I scooped up the whole big glob and put it in my mouth. I soon found out it wasn't avocado... So, after having nearly blown my head off in that encounter, I am very wary of wasabi these days. Also, the "green" side of BPAL is an area I have never ventured into, but the "chittering greens" and "smooshy kiwi" sounded so delectable that I just had to give That! a try. And I'm so glad I did!! This is a beautiful blend, clean and fresh - definitely green, and slightly sweet (I get that 'melon' hint that others have mentioned, but definitely not lemon or lime), really bright and lovely. The weird thing is, when I wear it during the day it's not as sweet and I can really smell (or sense) the wasabi.. but at night, it's all about the greens and kiwi fruit. It stays on my skin for ages, and I've also discovered that this lingers on my clothing for ages too - it smells absolutely beautiful on fabric. I think it would also make a gorgeous room and/or linen spray. For something so scary sounding, this isn't scary at all. If you're a bit on-the-fence about That!, I'd say give it a go - hopefully you'll be as pleasantly surprised as I was.

OK.. I'll just join the fan club! I was frimped The Hanging Gardens.. I don't think I ever would have gone for it myself because of the gardenia and rose combo, although I am a fan of other blends with the pomegranate/pear partnership. This is absolutely beautiful - as others have mentioned.. it's definitely sweet and fruity, but not in a candy way, and I agree a little with the 'tropical' thing. This actually reminds me of when I was in Bali and there was one particular street with massive frangipani trees in full flower.. and on hot nights when the warm wind was blowing around, that street was the best smelling thing ever. This melds beautifully with my skin, and goes all soft and warm. Such an eclectic mix of notes, but they all work together immaculately. I think I'll use up all my imp and see whether this is something I'd want to wear often.. as lovely as it is, I'm not sure a bottle of it would get much attention from me.. but I could be wrong

Oh.. I was so excited to get my bottle of Screeching Parrot - I'm a big fan of several others from the Luau Lounge and this sounded like it was going to smell something like a big tall multi-coloured drinks that you'd buy at a beachfront bar in Jamaica (with the umbrella cocktail stick, of course). Damn and blast it, all I get is grapefruit. The other notes are there, but the grapefruit is just smothering them with its sharp tang. Grapefruit is the demon child of the fruit salad family, it just can't behave itself - it has to be all LOUD and overpowering. I reckon that's why this parrot is screeching - the poor thing accidentally ate some grapefruit. If only I could somehow separate all the ingredients, and then remove the grapefruit, I could really really love this. But as it is, my bottle will get no love from me. I'm going to put it in the naughty corner of the box, and hope that the grapefruit goes away over time.

Ok.. anything involving apples has to be good. Poisoned Apple is one of the first BPALs I ever bought, and I still love it. So yeah - obviously this is apples.. big green fresh crunchy and slightly sour apples. But wait, there's more! There's a kind of chill feel to it, so that's the snow.. and it's also got a sharp edge, so that's the glass. Snow.Glass.Apples. - the name is absolutely perfect. This stayed on my skin for about an hour at good strength but then faded fairly quickly, leaving just a very faint reminder of where it had been. Since I got only a few drops given graciously to me by a forum buddy, I can't be slathering it on (although I'd love to). I would love this as a room spray, I think it would hang beautifully in the air and smell gorgeous on towels and linen. So I'll hunt for a bottle.. in the meantime, Poisoned Apple will satisfy me when I need apple-y goodness but Snow Glass Apples just has an extra edge to it that makes it very interesting indeed.

Mine is Smut '08... and WOWSERS, this goes on strong at first. A little bit *too* strong, perhaps.. I had an "uh oh" moment there where I thought this was just too boozy for me. But then it settles in, and goes all musky powdery sugary sexy yumminess.. I think the name is entirely appropriate. I'm glad I fund a dark sugar/booze blend that powders down nicely - I find Smut to be similar to others I've tried with that same kinda feel (it reminds me of Sugar Skull mostly) but they all stayed really rum/booze/sugar on me. This mellows out really nicely for me, in a very similar way to how the cocoa in Gelt goes all soft and dreamy. Smut indeed.. very nice for nights involving lots of snuggling

Mmm... I bought this quite a while back, from here on the forum. At the time, I had a dab.. thought "oh that's nice" and then put it in the box. Fast forward to now.. and I open the bottle up to a blast of blueberry and red musk - those two must have been brewing up a storm while the bottle's been aging, I guess this is about 6 months old now if it came out in July '08. Once on my skin, it's all vanilla and blueberry.. and - weird - chocolate kinda smelling. But then I pay a little more attention, and hiding under there is the tang of the tea and ginger. Over the last couple of hours, this has changed a few times on my skin.. fruity, then musky. Vanilla then coriander. But the blueberry is definitely dominant. I love blends like this - very multi-layered and sneaky