cinnamonster

Sharp and herbal, I am beginning to think anything herbal is just not going to work on me. Or should I say anything that claims to have herbs in. This does not but smells like it should. I just love the idea of this, and am pretty sad how it doesn't smell the way others seem to think it does

2011 version.

Wet, very astringent lavender, very strong. Fades quickly. I'm afraid to say I have tried this in two spots to try and review it...the back of my hand is just *gone* and the inside of my upper arm, well I smell it, but I don't know what exactly I smell, I can't make out any notes individually, it's a very sweet floral, but indistinct on my skin. Sorry for the hopeless review. It's not quite what I was expecting, something stronger and a bit more sparkly perhaps. I will come back to this another day and try again in case this is a chemistry combined with tired me/tired nose issue.

Couldn't for the life of me remember the notes for this when it arrived and I sniffed the bottle, wet it's pink super sugar, it's intensely pink with a buttery undertone. Wet it is not really doing it for me.

15 minutes in, it's still mainly sugar with a hint of tropical-floral peeking through, it's growing on me. It's kind of like a sun creamed five year old covered in candyfloss, a hint of incense in the air from some teenagers beginning a beach party 300m away, and finally some pear pops out.

20 mins in the floral aspect is really growing up, now it's more teenager at the beach party.

I was all ready to swap this but it may have won me over.

Wet: wow, this is soooo familiar, but I can't put my finger on it. It's green, leaves, with a tartness behind them. The leaves are almost privet. I would agree with eden's sixth day about the fern. Ferns with lemon.

5 mins in...the lemony note is amping, and my brain is now reading it as the Flash powder my mum used to clean the kitchen floor with, I used to kind of like that smell so it's not a huge criticism like it might sound. I am not sure though that I can carry this one off. Smells interesting though when I run my nose fast past the spot with The Last Unicorn on it into this spot. Maybe they could layer?

Lemon continues to amp pushing fern into the background, and I think I can smell some rose now. It may end up as a box of mixed turkish delight. I'll update tomorrow what was left in the morning...

ETA nothing was really left in the morning, just a smidge of the same smell. This doesn't morph much when dry.

Well this was my wild-card, crazy, shouldn't-work-on-me-but-I-can't-stop-myself-ordering scent. Caramel is my note of doom but I could not contain myself at 'sultana'.

So what did I get...yummy sultana from the bottle, wet still yummy sultana, then a jump into a spring-like cologne scent (reminiscent of the green Natrel deodorant I used to wear weirdly enough) and I worry a little that this is going to amp to the point where I just smell like green deo, when suddenly sultana re-asserts itself as the rightful dominator of the scent and all is resolved.

It's almost ginger-like somewhere, herbal in a way I like, but not how clary sage essential oil smells, and sultana-y (wow it'd be easier if sultany was a word!), it is definitely masculine, but not too masculine for a woman. I am not getting tobacco though. It's clean man from the shower, wearing a towel and munching on a bag of sultanas. If I had a boyfriend to wear this I would be sniffing him all day...that relationship might not last long given that behaviour but anyhoo...smells good.

Distant relations: Sunbird

First sniff in the bottle I am not so keen, smelling plastic-y white chocolate, green grass and something vegetable, then on skin, the same, only then it begins this hint of horse, and I'm thinking while I don't really want to smell like a horse, this is really amazing, you really can believe a unicorn would smell like this. Unicorns wash in violet-lilac soap and smell pretty.

The horse scent faded after 5-10 minutes and left me with something I quite like, but I am not sure I will wear that often. I LOVE the concept, and the scent does indeed work well, even if I can not distinguish all of the notes listed, but it may be off into my sales page...but I am not sure yet...something keeps dragging my nose back. I'm going through some weird hormonal disturbance so it may smell different next week

I'm in love with The Neverending Story at the moment... what would Falcor smell like?

This is a rose among very few. By which I mean for a blend with rose, I cannot really tell it is there. Very very rare. I guess I amp frankincense more!! Frankincense, with a hint of floral (lilies and a kind of night scented stocks type floral, something white and blue, not rose) and a smidge of orange, also rare for me since I burn up citrus like nobodies business, for examples The Haunted Palace became single note rose on me

In fact, this smells kind of how The Haunted Palace maybe should have ended up.

Incidentally this is smelling somewhat different on the other hand...literally the the other hand One hand is verging on metallic with a salt and vinegar undertone...yikes. Left hand only for this scent methinks!

I have Rituals Hammam foamy shower gel - it says it's eucalyptus and rosemary. I LOVE the scent, but it doesn't stick around long, and just mixing essential oils gets you something very different. Is there something of the lab that smells like it?

Nobody? *sadface*

You might try Grr perhaps - some people get a sage, eucalyptus feel from it. Also, if the essential oils aren't anything like the shower gel, than it could be a blend of lots of different things *including* eucalyptus & rosemary - I'm not familiar with it, so I can't say. Does it smell to you like there other notes in it, and if so, what might they be? That might help people come up with suggestions.

 

>Is there a way to find this info on the site? The search function wasn't working for me.

I never liked using the search, whereas I *love* using spreadsheets, so I downloaded a spreadsheet that someone had made. I find it super-easy to search within a spreadsheet, and I can add notes to myself on which ones I want try, what I've already tried, add in new scents when they're released, etc. I use the spreadsheet Hackess maintains, though there are others. The link is here: http://www.hackess.com/bpal.xls and you can find it in the future by going to her member profile - it's in her "About Me" signature. http://www.bpal.org/user/6364-hackess/

Can I suggest Hemlock?

Antique Lace was the first thing I thought of, although I can see the Vixen suggestion fitting. I know my suggestion probably doesn't sound right, but that's just how she looks like she smells!!

Without reading the notes of this I would have said, it's like HOD res, and reminds me of frankincense and cinnamon with a metallic edge.

Now reading the notes,and a fair few minutes in, I think what I smell is the hemp accord, with an undercurrent of not my kind of fruit, bordering on fermenting fruit. I don't think it's me.

Wow, CK One, why is that?? My nose can't make the notes listed appear in this. Someone mentioned salty aquatic, I get that, and a headache, but no ginger, no milk. This wasn't really one I thought I'd love so it's not so bad.

First sniff...mmm familiar, pine-y, what is that...tick tick tick, brain going...aha! Karvol.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the smell of Karvol, but I think you could never wear it as a perfume.

For anyone who's interested Karvol is made of pine,terpineol (one of the flavourings from lapsang souchong) Thymol, from thyme oil, levomenthol, cinnamon.

I'm a little confused why then with the list of ingredients, it should smell the same, to my nose there is a menthol kick here, the end of my tongue is cold from it. Smelling it, not licking it!

Wow this is sharp! Like sharp fruit. I expected coconut incense with a hint of fruity pomegranate. It's really really sharp, in time sweetening a little, the musk coming forth somewhat. It smells how one of those super sour chalky sweets tastes, a cherry flavour one.

I really thought I would love this, but I don't I wanted sweet and got sour.

I received this as a frimp from the lab...I tested it without knowing what was in it. Had I known it was lily of the v, I might have passed it by, thankfully, I did not.

This smells slightly different with each sniff, like it flickers. I smell lily of the valley in a non overpowering kind of way, normally it drills into my brain, I smell myrrh, violets, but no cypress or cajeput, which I read has a smell like eucalyptus. None of that here...hurray. I hate eucalyptus the plant.

If this was a colour, it'd be the pinky-purple-green irridescence of a beetle back. I like it a lot.

Watermelon?? And a kind of vase water smell, not rancid vase water, but still, greenish water. Not liking this at all, not tea no patchouli, no amber, just watermelon and vase water. Very odd

I feel I must first mention that this is burning my skin. The first oil to ever do so (if my terrible memory serves me correctly here).

I smell a Jolly Rancher type boiled sweet smell, under which is a kind of ginger you only really smell at the end of your inhalation, almost in your mouth, like when you sniff powdered ginger. I get zero amaretto,I can almost imagine I smell chocolate, but it's more a thought. Rounding it out is a kind of muskiness that gives the whole thing a familiar smell but I am lost as to what it might be.

This is NOTHING like I expected, but totally nicer on skin than it smells in the bottle. I expected AMARETTO, followed by those chocolate covered prunes from Poland spiked with maybe a little ginger later. Since I don't want to smell like amaretto, it's a good thing.

5 mins in Jolly Rancher is leaving the building, slowly, but he's going That Polish plum might be sneaking in the back door...

Could maybe get into this, bar the burning...I have faint purpley red marks appearing all over my arms, like a faint scent-meningitis. Eeeek.

It may just be me but this is reminding me somehow of Kyrysee! Khrysee the mint version. To the point I had to sniff them one on each hand, they're NOT the same but there is something similar there!

Okay for anyone who hasn't smelt that, it's very very sweet to my nose, sweeter than snake oil, sweeter than snake charmer, and if you haven't smelt those it's an intensely sugary woody minty patchouli-ness. But mostly SUGAR.YUM!

Try it if you like mint, if you liked Khrysee, if you like Green Tree Viper but instead of being kind of delicate framed, this has a big butt. It's quite sexy, but solid with it.

Maybe not for the delicate floral loving crowd.

Wow, never reviewed this...

Initially on me this is strongly fennel and lavender, with a background of spiced patchouli and vanilla, it's my bedtime scent as it makes me calm and sleepy, and when I wake in the morning, it's still there, sweet tea and vanilla, a hint of patchouli, but just a whisp. I can see it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea but I like keeping this one to myself anyway

I absolutely love this scent, it's like a spring evening, cool-ish but not cold, calm, a beautiful sky.

Fennel is a totally underused ingredient in my opinion and the combination with lavender is exquisite.

Does anybody knows a good and stronger BPAL version of:

 

 

 

Nina Ricci's Amour d'Amandier?

 

bottle looks like this:

 

 

 

 

a sweet and floral scent The freshness is brought in by mandarin and lemon at the top notes, along with the sweet peach and exotic kiwi. Gourmand notes of marzipan and heliotrope create the delicious heart. The passion of the “Amour d’Amandier” is softened at the base of sandalwood, vanilla and white musk.

Been a long time since I saw this belle de ricci around, (though I have smelt it before) but on the notes, you may like Mahana, it's not exact but may be similar.

Well, wet and in the imp this is SUPER PLASTIC MARZIPAN, then bam! More like raspberry vanilla ice cream, and then it morphs again, weirdly one hand is slightly different to the other...one is heavy malibu with a kind of peach flower, and the other is peachier with a hint of rosewater with the malibu. I really like this, but will point out I burn almond off any scent in seconds, so if you don't it may be super plastic.

I think it's quite sexy in a light summery, neck nuzzling hot skinned holiday kinda way. I don't think this is getting the love it deserves!

Hmmmm well I can second CaudaPavonis here and say yes, lilacs. Here's me avoiding cedar in perfumes as it will naturally smell like pencil shavings, but no, this is quite nice. I am suddenly feeling quite sick though, which I am hoping has something to do with the million Tunnock's I just ate and not the scent. I shall return to finish when not nauseous!

Whilst it's not totally straight up identical, if you love the smell of Nag Champa incense sticks in the box, you'll probably like this. It's very sweet, doesn't change much, and reminds me a little of Hymn to Proserpine with no fruitiness.

It's a bedtimey kind of scent but a warm one, forgive me if this makes no sense, first of all some scents to me are total bed-timers and others not, but of the bed-timers, there are cool ones and warm ones. Hopefully someone'll get this!

This is to Obsession for men what Khrysee is to Obsession for women. In my nose anyway.

The initial hit is all lavender, which burns away to leave a hint of ambergris, woods and a masculine feel, eventually landing up as a slightly more masculine than unisex scent heavily weighted with amber, even if it isn't listed. No caramel here.

It's warm on the outside but with a coldness inside I can't really describe. The middle section reminds me of something in Lilith Victoria, which made me think this would be nice worn to bed.

In my mind Brad Pitt might smell like this.

What I expected...a kind of Black Lace, strong on the cognac note, with blackberry instead of vanilla, and a more masculine slant.

What I got: An Ignorance and Want chamomile-y-ness, mixed with lavendar and strong celery salt. Later all this fades to a vague blackberry, very faint and dusty. I didn't like this very much really. Sad as I thought this would be kick-ass.