Scylla

First, I feel so unbelievably honored to have been included as one of the Ladies of the Grindhouse. And I feel even more honored that Beth inquired as to my favorite notes so she could include some of them in the blend bearing my likeness. And now even MORE honored to get to try "my" blend a little bit before everyone else!

Beth! I'm so not worthy!

Dionysia is perfection! I have loved every plum BPAL blend (check my favorites) and Dionysia is no exception. It's a wonderful combination of plum, raspberry, pomegranate, patchouli and wood. The patchouli, frankincense and mahogany keep the scent grounded and keeps it from getting hyper fruity.

If I had to compare Dionysia to existing BPAL blends, I would say that it reminds me of the lovechild of Hellion and Bordello (but without the amaretto). A multi bottle purchase for sure!

(I'll come back and edit this if I think of anything else, but I wanted to get a preliminary review on here for those reviewers "on the fence" about ordering Dionysia. )

ETA: While wet, I detect an herbal/leafiness that I'm guessing is the plum blossom. On drydown, I smell vanilla in the background, with a light resiny incense. After doing a little research, I see that benzoin has a sweet, warm, vanilla-like aroma! Lovely!

If this scent were a color, it'd be a rich, deep, plummy maroon.

Mmmmm.... MVJBA! Go Whips!

 

I love foody scents, but seldom do they actually make me feel hungry. This one does!

 

It is buttery, sweet, caramel/nutty nirvana. It doesn't last very long on me, but it sure smells yummy while it lasts!

From the imp to drydown on my skin, Herbert West smells like a masculine version of Embalming Fluid. I'm not sure what the note is that makes it go masculine (as opposed to unisex). It smells clean and almost astringent. Like Herbert West's laboratory?

 

Pleasant enough, but not me and not DH either.

I got Ivanushka in a swap, hoping that it would be something like my beloved Buck Moon. Alas, my chemistry amps the wood note that is in it along with what I believe is myrrh and I smell like pencil shavings n' myrrh from application to drydown.

 

Bambi is gonna have to find a new home...

In the bottle I mainly smell sweet candy and unrecognizable (to my nose) tropical flowers. I put a little bit on before bed last night and my husband remarked that it smelled fruity. Which is kind of odd, because there are no fruits listed in the components! And it DOES smell fruity--could there be some pineapple hidden in there somewhere?

 

Tiki Queen is lovely! I love the combination of lush tropical flowers, fruit and vanilla. It's probably my favorite of the ones I have tried so far. It lasts a long time and the throw is amazing, so use sparingly or people will smell you from miles away! When I put a little dab behind each ear and on my wrists last night I could smell it all night long and it was still going strong when I awoke this morning.

 

Beth! Well done!

I usually love "snowy" scents like Skadi and Snow Moon so I thought I would love Moon of Ice. I like the way it smells in the bottle--it's an icy cold, pine and eucalyptus scent with hints of aquatics.

 

Unfortunately, once applied to my skin it turns into pretty much a full-force STRONG aquatic. I don't smell any of the "slushy" or "snowy" notes, eucalyptus or pine. My husband actually said, "You're not keeping that one, are you?"

 

[Homer] Stupid body chemistry! [/Homer]

Mitzvah is pretty much straight caramel, but it is admittedly very hard to find.

Australian Copperhead is one of my favorite CD blends. I usually have a problem with red musk, too, but Mlle. Moriarty is amazing! I'd recommend finding a decant if you're concerned it won't work on you--but even if you buy a bottle it won't be hard to swap or sell. It's that good!

I used to wear Jovan Fresh Patchouli (among other things) before I found out about BPAL. The closest thing I've found to it is Tweedledum, and it is really not very close. Burial and Zombi don't smell like it at all, in my opinion, even if they do share a few common notes.

 

I would recommend Phantasm, Shanghai and Embalming Fluid, and Gennivre, L'Artiste du Diable (an LE). They're not patchouli blends, but they do fall into the fresh green category that I would put Jovan Fresh Patchouli in.

In the vial: Black Lace spells kind of sharp and floral. Uh oh. Did I get the wrong decant?

 

Upon application: Ah, it is Black Lace after all. It is a sharp floral at first, but I can also smell the boozy note and vanilla and "cotton" notes I remember from Antique Lace.

 

A bit after application: The florals have died down and now I smell incense, booze and Antique Lace. It IS like Antique Lace's sexy, naughty older sister!

 

I had high hopes for Black Lace, but it's too boozy and sharp for me. I like Antique Lace much better.

I obtained an imp of Chanukkiyah in a swap and it turned out to be my favorite of all the Yule blends! On me, it smells mostly of honey and beeswax with sweets (presumably the brown sugar and sufganiyot pastry) in the background. I don't really get any pomegranate or fig at all. I thought it would be light, but it has LOTS of throw. I'm going to need to buy a bottle (or two) before it goes away! Luckily, this does NOT smell like Anaconda or Crumpet Rebellion on me, because neither of them worked with my chemistry.

I was going to say Titania as well as The Unicorn and Katharina. All light, sweet, regal and dainty.

Pumpkin Cheesecake is a foody scent lover's wet dream! It's creamy, sweet and luscious and (at least on me) the scent stays very wearable but morphs quite a bit from application to drydown. At first it is sweet and spicy like straight up pumpkin pie. Then the spicyness fades back and a fairly strong vanilla note and brown sugar steps forward. I think this is my favorite stage. (Why do I feel like Violet Beauregard writing this review? "Tomato soup, coming up! ) Thankfully, Pumpkin Cheesecake didn't go sour on me like Beaver Moon '05 did. This is lovely and I wish I had a whole bottle rather than just a decant! Ah, well. I will cherish my decant!

In the bottle: Smells like a fruity foo-foo drink! Sweet, yet tangy.

 

On my skin: Smells even more like, well, spiked fruit punch! Unfortunately, it went very sour on my skin in a very short time, so it's not a scent I'm going to be able to wear. Phooey!

I really like Pumpkin Smash! The funny thing is, I never read the reviews for it or the description, so I had no idea what it was SUPPOSED to smell like. I don't get asphalt or beer at all, fortunately! I do get what I thought was honey, but must be beeswax. I also get sweet, spicy, smoky incense. Very nice non-foody pumpkin scent. It's what I wanted Pumpkin King to be!

Egg'd Mailbox smells creamy in the bottle and is reminiscent of Egg Nog '05. But once it hits my skin, the foodiness goes away and I get the spicy "oriental" perfume someone else mentioned plus carnation (I think). It's a nice enough scent, but probably my least favorite of this year's Trick or Treat scents.

I'm still testing Halloweenies and will probably still be doing so until the new year. I've been grabbing decant imps at random, so I didn't know the notes when I tested Pumpkin Patch V.

 

Some of the pumpkin blends tend to go peachy or buttery on me, and I don't really like that. This one, on the other hand, was all spice with a bit of lemon peel, spice and vanilla. Ginger usually turns to asphalt on me and it didn't in this blend, luckily. All in all, Pumpkin Patch V smells gourmand but not necessarily foody. Love it! Now to work on obtaining a bottle!

 

This is my favorite of the Pumpkin Patch blends this year.

I love the way The Phoenix smells in the bottle. I can smell all of the notes--the lime, the wood, the salty aquatic notes and, of course, Snake Oil. This scent is totally evocative of the ship's description and is just amazing! Bravo, Beth!

 

Unfortunately, my wonky chemistry messes it up. Upon first applying, the ozone and aquatic notes jump to the forefront and get screechingly, headache-inducingly loud. After a while, they step back a little and I can smell more of the lime and Snake Oil, but all in all The Phoenix smells quite sharp and manly on me from start to finish.

 

I am going to have to wear this in my Phoenix scent locket (how appropriate!) so my chemistry doesn't change its loveliness.

...and I remembered how much I wanted to be her (and probably still do! I still play the computer games ).

 

You're not the only one!

When I think Nancy Drew, I think of "no nonsense" clean, fresh scents and citrus scents. I'm thinking Embalming Fluid, Shanghai, Phantasm, Kumiho....

Enraged Groundhog Musk is a nice spicy musk to me.

Mmmm....

I smelled filigree_shadow's bottle of Vasakasajja at the recent Chicago area meet 'n sniff. It smelled lovely in the bottle and I immediately put it on my "want" list. I just obtained a bottle in a swap, and I am thrilled that it smells even better on my skin and it has rocketed to my Top 10! It is everything I wanted Dark Delicacies to be. Some of the notes are similar, but Dark Delicacies went really sharp on me. (Incidentally, that's what I swapped for Vasakasajja, so I hope my swap-ee likes it!) Vasakasajja is a gorgeous, lush floral blend, and is so well blended that it's difficult to pick out specific notes. I'm not sure I'd say it's sexy, but it is just beautiful. I got several compliments on it today at work. Must obtain more!

I thought I had reviewed this a long time ago, but I can't find my review. Weird.

 

Anyway, Tweedledum has become one of my favorite summer scents. It reminds me a lot of LUSH's Jungle--it must be the combination of the patchouli, fruits and "green" notes. It's not dead on, of course, but they're two great scents that go great together!

 

So if you love Jungle as much as I do, you MUST try Tweedledum.

On me, Mr. Nancy was key lime pie with a butter cookie crust and a shot of rum as a secret ingredient. It pretty much stayed that way from application to drydown.

 

A very nice summer blend for lovers of foody scents.

I don't get aquatics at all from Mr. Ibis. On my skin, he's almost all Egyptian musk, clean linen (or, presumably, papyrus) and sandalwood. On drydown, I can detect a little bit of vanilla.

It's a lovely, clean yet musky scent. Soft and pleasant. I find myself wearing this to the office very often.

I almost didn't buy it because I thought it might been too masculine because of the name. What a fool I was!