sarandipitee

This is a Top Ten oil for me. Beautiful currant and patch but unspoiled by cream or brown sugar which normally is terrible on me. It's gorgeous, long-lasting and perfect for any season. I'm so happy to have finally gotten a bottle.

I'm in love with this. Wet it's mint and elemi until the clove warms on my skin.

Drydown is a lovely citrus and resin with a hint of clove.

It's very subtle on me - usually I amp clove to SN status but it's held in check here.

It's very unique and conflicting and feels very gemini to to this May baby.

This is my second testing, and first one was a bit brighter on me.

This is glorious. It's a beautiful lavender chocolate with a sweet vanilla, musk and tiny hint of vetiver. So well blended and very cuddly, I'll need a bottle for bedtime and rainy days.

This is so nice. I love eucalyptus, and it takes the edge off of the juniper which can sometimes be too over powering for me. It softens on dry down but still remains strongly medicinal and woodsy (in a good way). I'll keep the imp, it'll be great as a tiger balm alternative or to cozy up with when I feel crappy.

I tried a glorious aged 10ml at a meet n sniff and I knew I had to have a bottle for myself (though I really should have bought 2 so I could cellar 1).

Anubis is a beautiful honeyed herbal myrrh that I really enjoy now but in a few years I will drool over.

So happy to have a bottle.

Disclaimer: I'm not a rose fan but I love red musk and this is one of those iconic BPAL oils that so many people love so thought I'd test the frimp from the Lab.

The oil itself is a gorgeous rich red and wet it's very much ROSE and RED MUSK. Dry down is sadly soap with a hint of musk, since as usual - I amp rose to high heaven.

This would be magic on the right person and I bet it ages magnificently but I'll pass this on to a rose lover.

Thanks to a great BPAL friend I've got a tester of this baby.

First impressions have me placing this very much in the Haute Macabre family - if you didn't tell me that this was one of their retail exclusives, I'd know when I first sniffed it.

I agree with the above reviewers - it's so much a Banshee Beat and Antikythera Mechanism love child. Lots of oak and woody patch with some dry vanilla sweetening everything up.

It's very lovely, but not for me. Which, considering the rarity I may have dodged a bullet

I wasn't sure which thread to ask this in, but I think it can be put into this one. Out of curiosity, does anyone know if deliveries to a business address don't have to pay customs fees? I'm in the UK and more often than not my BPAL packages are expensive enough to qualify for customs charges. However there is only one time I've ever paid a customs charge and that was when I accidentally used my home address rather than my work address.

So does anyone know if business addresses have a different set of rules? I've tried to find out but I can't seem to find anything.

From my own experience, the one time I shipped something not BPAL from the US (via UPS or FedEx though, I can't remember which one exactly) to my work address there was a customs fee which was sent to my head office instead (and could have gotten me in trouble had they not been so understanding).

I've also recently had to pay fees for signage at my work which is never supposed to happen (in 9 yrs Ive never had to hand over cash for this). Turns out other locations had this happen as well.

USPS is different from UPS/FedEx (who always slap on customs fees) and now that the Lab has using DHL I don't know their policies but long story short I wanted you to know you can get hit with fees at a business.

Citrus and honey. Something just a little sour in the background. Very much like a cough drop. Not unpleasant, but nothing I want to smell like. Off to the frill pile.

Cherry vanilla red musk, which is nice! Sweet with a kick. Very little throw.

After a few minutes of dry down its all but gone.

I'll keep the imp for my scent locket. It's too bad my skin eats it,as this is really nice.

This is really nice. I'm just learning how much I like neroli (which, for a non-floral lover - this is huge). It's very pretty and perfect for Summer wear. I'll definitely keep my decant, but I may just stick to Kumiho for a bottle purchase.

This is beautiful in the imp - fresh rose with a juicy hit of pom, but on my skin it's just a soapy rose with a hint of fruit (more apple than pom like others have mentioned).

It's a very fresh and bright scent, perfect for rose lovers, or those who don't amp rose like I do. Off to the frimp pile.

It's a softer aquatic than I expected, but ocean soap is not for me. This would smell so fresh and salt spray on the right person. Off to frimp.

Sharp leather and pepper on my skin. I've got maybe 2 BPAL oils containing leather that I can wear (I amp leather to high heaven and it can bug me) so I don't have much hope for this one. I get a tiny hit of beeswax but this one is pretty much an old leather coat with spices.

(Original version)

While opoponax is a loved note and I adore SO, this snake doesn't love me. Death Adder is heavy on the vetiver mixed with plastic coconut. There's a faint trickle of snake oil in the background but it's nit enough. This snake needs a new home.

Sweet resins. A stunning, golden amber with a hint of woods. I quite like it in the beginning, but even with the gorgeous amber overpowering most of the notes, my dreaded nemesis cedar peeks through.

Dry down is a powdery wood. I'll pass it on.

Super strong patch with a caramel pop (bourbon vanilla + honey). It's very close to skin, I have to bury my nose in my hand and huff deeply before I can detect anything but the patch. It's nice, but I have more amazing patch blends that love my skin better. I'll pass this one on.

Oh, I really liked this! Usually, alcoholic fizzy notes like gin or champagne can bug my head but this doesn't. It's a very sweet, candy like mixed drink. Very fun and flirty. Perfect for summer. I'm debating if I should try to find more of this. Unsure how often I'd wear it, but it's a cheerful, pick me up kinda scent.

I love the Lab's plum note and I was super happy when I received a decant of Hellion in a swap, years ago. It is a special blend, and I only wear it a few times a year because I'm such a slatherer and I don't want to waste it.

It's a sexy and very adult plum - blended beautifully with the other notes to create this smoky and spicy vibe.

It's stunning and I feel glamorous when I wear it. I'm so happy to have some to treasure.

This reminds me a little of Cake Smash, but where's CS had the snake oil and Dorian to help ground it, this one is too plastic on my skin for wear.

I might not be able to wear it but I'm keeping my imp for my locker or oil burner. It's too yummy to pass up. If you're a foodie lover, definitely try to track some if this one down.

I received this as a gift and it's an amazing gloss. Very melon and peach with lovely soft florals. I don't get any tea but I do pick up on the musk. It's perfect for day wear and work appropriate and I will wear this often through Spring and Summer.

ok, so here's that snow note from Yellow Snowballs and Mat night (2 blends I desperately wanted to love, but aquatics). The clay and stone is tempering the crazy ice/aquatics on my skin (which is great because my head doesn't like them) but in the end it's not enough. Off to the frimp pile.

oh, I like this! Really nice combo, simple but effective. Be perfect for hot summer nights for sleeping or headaches/stress relief. I think I may need a bottle.

This one smells VERY similar to Tombeur on my skin, but replace the patch with oakmoss. Ok, so maybe the love child of Tombeur and Ekhidna.

It's nice, but there's this tiny aquatic feel that is making my head cringe a little (my head cannot do ozone or aquatics). It does lessen as the lavender comes out, but I think I'll stick with Tombeur (or finally buy myself that bottle of Crowley).

I tested Bette way back when the Irredeemable line first debuted (and if you haven't read it, you should - so good) but was a silly pants and didn't bother with a review. I decided to try it again since my tastes and body chem have drastically changed. Sadly, this isn't for me.

Drydown is pretty much a faded fruit and floral shampoo. I get zero throw which is good, since it's sorta headachy. Imp is off to be rehomed.