mineralgirl

I realize I'm not the only person wearing Snake Oil in the world, but I'm the only one wearing it in MY world.... oh i can't even argue that at this point, most of my friends have the same blends that i do...lol. I do have BPAL friends but none of them are very local.., and we all seem to like different things so even when we are all together, we're wearing different things! I'd actually LOVE to run into someone wearing BPAL that I didn't already know. I'd ....

and this is exactly why i stick with bpal. beth does use oils which appeals to me and works better with my wonky skin- but beyond that, i don't like wearing what other people are wearing. i knit for the same reason. i know that i'm not wearing a completely unique blend (i could go to strange brews down the street, get my own oils, and mix them myself if i wanted that) but it's a lot less common than the stuff that i can smell on five seperate people walking through the student union at the local campus. I realize I'm not the only person wearing Snake Oil in the world, but I'm the only one wearing it in MY world....

ok.. wait.. I was kinda misquoted! I did not say "I'm certain the mall scents...lack creativity. I prefer not to smell like everyone else." my comment was this "I'm certain the mall scents are far from 'natural'.. they are almost all alcohol ... they also lack creativity. I prefer not to smell like everyone else." I didn't say I'm certain they lack creativity... in my personal opinion, most department store offered scents DO lack creativity but the few words left out changed what I as trying to say as I'm no expert on big house scents so I can't say for certain they lack creativity.. it's just my opinion. Am I making sense? I bet if I walked outside and grabbed 10 random people, not one would know what BPAL was (unless they know me) because I've never met anyone that did before I told them about it. When I worked retail at the mall, nearly everyone that walked in had on a scent that was familiar to me because I had smelled them at Macy's! I like wearing scents that no one has heard of.. I like telling people I'm wearing Snake Oil and have them give me a blank stare. Like it's been said... it's personal and you have to TRY things to see if you like them. Don't let anyone's opinions determine if you should be 'nervous' about imps you ordered. You choose some great scents to start with so I hope you find a winner.

I think BPAL isn't for you, Jayne.

I had a whole big reply to this but I feel like it isn't worth my time, energy or disappointment... I ask you - Is there some reason why you can't try the samples you ordered and form your own opinion? Does it even matter if the oils are 'natural? I'm certain the mall scents are far from 'natural'.. they are almost all alcohol ... they also lack creativity. I prefer not to smell like everyone else.

How about The Black Rider? (Marchen series)

I bought this for my husbands stocking because I thought the notes seems kinda manly.... It's actually less masculine than I was imagining it would be! In the bottle I get cacao straight up... on my skin the black musk comes into play with just a slight hint of the tobacco to round it out and it's quite nice. I think this will really smell good on him. I also smell something a little citrusy .. not sure where that is coming from. it's a lemon rind sort of edge. I have no idea why. The bad news came later.. it turned so powdery that it lost me on drydown. If I had gotten Boomslang like others did, I'd have been happy! However.. I am hopeful that the boy's chemistry can overcome the powder monster ... I'll let ya know after the holiday!

Well, I knew that this was gonna be 50/50 because I liked some of the notes, didn't like some of the notes and didn't know what some of the notes even were! but... since I had one day to decide, I went for it ...... First... the label art rocks.. I love tentacles! In the bottle it smells like sweet fudge and I wanna drink it. I sort of wish it stayed this way on my skin. I'm looking forward to using this in my locket. on my skin, it gets smokier and less sweet/foody but I still like it. It's kinda herby and resinous but there is still a nice little block of vanilla and chocolate at the base of it to keep it from moving too far past the sweetness. I think this would be really nice on a guy too.... however, the longer it's on, the more prune comes foward! (or are we now calling them dried plums?) I'm a die-hard foodie girl but I like this... it's just sweet enough to keep me interested.

This was sort of what I was expecting and sort of not! It's honey and wax. I don't get a whole lot of smoke. I don't hate it but I'm not sure it's bottleworthy.. I'll definately hold onto the imp because it's interesting.

Are you a fan of Supernatural? Well.. this smells like Dean Winchester in a bottle! It smells like a very hot and sexy man wearing a subtle mens cologne while wearing a heavy leather jacket. It's divine. I got an imp of this for my husbands stocking and I hope it smells this amazing on him .. I'm getting a bottle anyway tho... cuz I love me some Dean Winchester. He is coming home on the 16th after being out of state for 18 days... I may give this to him early.

cinnamon and black licorice!

I do get the orange-cream vibe everyone is talking about and it definately has an aquatic note as well.. it's really quite lovely. I am not a floral fan .. I'm a foodie and I LOVE this.

strong coffee with a hint of pumpkin and a spicy cinnamon vibe .. I don't really get individual notes of hazelnut or vanilla but I think it's just well blended or maybe the nut is reading like pumpkin to me..... It isn't overly sweet at all ... like a pumpkin coffee on me.. not a latte.

My bottle came today and it wasn't as sweet as I was expecting. I'd call it a high end gourmet vanilla ice cream .... buttery but less sugar.

I love the wand caps and I've been buying a few sets every order until I get all my bottles changed over. I can't be trusted to apply by tipping the bottle.. I'm a klutz and I've dumped too much on me a few times! Wand caps prevent the spillage of the precious!

I don't hate this but it's very close to being something patchouli-like, which is a bad thing for me. I think I don't like moss, I think I've finally figured that out! It's a deep, dark, dirty floral (but not a dirt note.. maybe dirty isn't a good word... just dark...)... my first instinct is that it isn't really me but I so want it to be because it's my 40th bday moon!! I think I may keep it just for that. Maybe this is my hint that I've grown up and I need to step into a more mature scent.... maybe not. I think I'm gonna sit on this one for awhile and see what it ages like. I'm a foodie girl for the most part and florals give me headaches.. this one didn't give me a headache but it still isn't something I love right now.

Weird! In the bottle it's all caramel-ly goodness.. and on me? some weirdo floral punch in my face! it's the almond! the almond has betrayed me and turned powdery floral... bitch! however... I'm embracing her anyway because I desperately want to have a scent called 'bite me' and I want to love it so lil miss almond is gonna need to learn to simmer down and behave. I can smell baked goods under almonds hitler like rule .... and I also get a faint fruity vibe from who knows where.... this may have to be used just in my scent locket as it appears my chemistry makes it go horribly, horribly wrong.

It's sweet, boozy cherries with a hint of something sinister. It eventually settles down into a more mellow, medicinal cherry scent. I preferred the wet phase. May be best in my locket. It ended up being something familiar that I couldn't identify until I saw Ravenfeathers post... cherry Nyquil. Yep... uh,huh I'm gonna keep trying becasue I NEED Suck It and Bite Me to work because I LOVE the names.

I was looking forward to this as I love fruit. Mine arrived today and I swear that it's like I got a bottle of something other than the Berry Moon everyone else got! This was complete and utter disappointment. This is straight up herb.. no berries anywhere. I can vaguely smell a fruity sweetness in the bottle but as soon as I try it on.. it's all green. I get no musk, no fig, no honey that I can smell... it just smells like herbs. I can't stomach it at all.. I'm sooooo sad.

It's very sexy. Fruity and sort of smoky (I think that is the honey). I think this is a really nice honeyed wine scent that would probably make men go wild! wet: honey drizzled over grapes with a very slight muskiness. dry down: it mellows out and ends up a sweet & smooth honeyed wine... it's just really sexy. This is very different from anything else I own. Plus, if anyone is hellbound, it's probably me. (even tho I don't believe in hell.. it's still funny)

Juicy pineapple with a boozy undercurrent. in the bottle, at first sniff, it almost smells like rotten fruit but it's the rum rearing it's bitter head! Once on, it's a fresh pineapple scent with a boozy side. Me loooove. It's like a tropical drink with a paper umbrella.

Yes.. my review is in here... Back in December, about 4:30 am, I'm lying in bed, I am wakened and I catch a whiff of something lovely. At first it was a little like Snake Oil but I hadn't used SO in a few days so I thought maybe it was on my comforter or something... then I catch another whiff and I surmise that it's coming from my hand where I had tested some scents earlier in the day. However, all the scents I tried on that hand had gone into the swap bag because I had hated all of'em.... then I remembered what I had there... 'Blood' um.. I don't like resins, I thought to myself. There must be some mistake. I must be delusional. I must be dreaming. It's too damn early! Then.. I got out of bed and dug thru the swap bag until I found Blood and I applied it again and then something happened that I had not intended... I liked it! A whollop of cherry, mellowed by a trickle of clove... the Dragon's Blood was both thick and warm with a touch of sweetness and an edgy spiciness. I am a foodie-fruity gal who loooooves Blood. It's one of my top 5, for sure. Since then I have tried almost all the dragon's blood scents and this is still my fave.

OMG.. it's exactly how I expected it to smell! (and that is no easy feat with LE's) Bottle: it's a dark cocoa scent with a hint of spice. Wet: it's Abuelita mexican hot cocoa! How do I know? I have that in the house and I grabbed it to compare. It's a cinnamony cocoa scent.... I can vaguely get the corn but only because I'm looking for it. Dry down: stays a delicious cinnamony spice but loses the cocoa. I get no wine at all. I've been looking for a cinnamon and this is fabulous. I honestly think I may want a second bottle of this and this is the first limited edition I've said that about.... off to put it on my order list... again.

well.. I got something totally different than marared! when I first read the description, every note but juniper I could totally get behind. I'm a big fruit girl and I was holding my breath that it wouldn't ruin the whole shebang. bottle: lemon-lime & juniper. Like I dumped a sprite over the bushes. wet: more of the fruit comes front and center .. it smells like you're in a forest, eating fruit salad under the juniper trees. The white grape gives it a bit of a tartness and makes it almost like a fruity alcoholic drink - like the grapes are just starting to turn to wine. It does give a little effervescence. dry-down: the fruit has stepped up a little more as the juniper starts to play nice. I think Marared nailed it when she called it 'fizzy' .. I hadn't thought of that until I read that and I do agree it has a strange fizz factor. It sweetens up the longer I have it on. It's sort of like when you sprinkle sugar on fresh fruit and let it sit for a bit before indulging. final word: keeper once it dries down and the juniper chills the hell out!

I tend to hope for the best when a description has notes I'm not fond of... I very often think that maybe those notes will not show themselves ... in this case the patchouli and the moss had me concerned .... I so wanted this to work..... color me bottle: sugared patchouli wet: same, more patchouli than sugar as it dries: the moss comes forward, as does the red currant. I really get no vanilla and I think it's the molasses that is showing as the 'sugar' to sweeten this. I was hoping the patchouli would have stayed in the background but it's not... it seems to be here to stay in the front, pushing back the other players. .. it's almost all patchouli on me. The sugar even sends the patchouli into pencil shaving category for me after dry down. final word: if you'd like sweet patchouli, this is for you! I may try it in my scent locket to see what happens there. I'm not sure I'm keeping this.