cfrancesca

Dragon's Musk (especially very aged) is the most carnal, sexiest BPAL I've tried, I think it's the deep very sexy musk and incense that makes it divine. But I find even most days it can be too much for me so I use it only occasionally.

A close second is Lucy, Kissed, I thought this one had an almost pulsating, throbbing intensity to it that I've never found a in perfume before, it was like it was alive. I didn't like the scent so much for me personally but I think it's a very beautiful and special oil.

This smells like a summer cocktail. I get sugary lime/lemon verbena and creamy coconut with soft pretty tropical flowers in the back, perhaps tiare. It's a very 'breezy' scent to me if that makes any sense. It has some strong throw too. I think this would make a great beach or summer day scent.

Although Zephyr is not exactly 'tropical' smelling, I immediately thought of it when you mentioned a soft, cool breeze. It's one of my favorites and reminds me of a breezy beach day. I also agree that Pele is gorgeous and evocative of Hawaii.

Also, if you're still searching for more tropical type scents, I've found some really nice ones in the prototypes. Albedo v5, Arsenic v2, and Haumea v1 in particular.

My problems so far have been Antique and Tisiphone, a relatively new fragrance and a classic from the Lab's early days.The difference is the same -- there's a mellow Antique and Tisi and a sharp, almost unpleasant version of each. Is the difference due to using different sources for the components when the original sources run out? Do batches of the same oils from the same suppliers also vary? Or both? If so and they smell different, I thought that's when particular BPAL blends are discontinued temporarily or altogether. As far as yearly variations go, I always assumed that Beth was experimenting, tweaking last year's blend to improve on it. Now, I'm not so sure. Raven Moon, for instance, was made in 2009 and 2012. The 2009 version has depth and mystery and is IMO one of the most successful blends BPAL has ever produced. When I ran out of my first bottle, someone encouraged me to take a chance on the 2012 version since "the ingredients are the same." Yes, they are but without looking at the label I wouldn't have known my second purchase was Raven Moon. I can understand that an older imp of Tisi might have lost some of its freshness but how do we explain the older blend smelling better?

 

It's disappointing because BPAL oils, on my small budget and those of lots of us, are expensive. Not saying it costs more than it's worth when it's consistent. Definitely not. But when it isn't, I understand why people look to other small companies (Conjure Oils, Blooddrop, Solstice Scents) for what's sometimes lacking in BPAL.

 

Has Beth ever addressed this issue in any way? If so, I'd be very interested in her reponse.

(bold mine)

Beth has explained the why of the batch variations back in the first pages of this thread, it's from 2004 (I can't believe it's 10 years ago ) but I presume the reasons are still the same? Here is a link (scroll down to see her replies, there's a few): http://www.bpal.org/topic/3142-different-smellscolors-same-perfume/page__st__25

Also from the lab's FAQ's:

Why are there sometimes batch variations?

 

Our products are, to a one, handmade and are crafted with meticulous care in batches of roughly 60-75 bottles at a time. Since we do not employ machinery to create, blend, or bottle our oils, there may be some minor changes from batch to batch. Seasonal variations, soil quality, and weather conditions also affect the aroma profile or color of natural components, which may in turn cause slight changes in the tone and depth of the perfume.

I totally understand the frustration though! Especially when it happens to scents you love. It's happened to me more than a few times and it's been disappointing. But when I first read up on the issue it made more a lot more understanding of what goes into the process and why these batch variations are sometimes inevitable.

I'm slathered in Samhain 2007 (which is my favorite year), and Fearful Pleasure! I took my cousins trick-or-treating this afternoon and and I was surrounded in a happy scent cloud of smokey apples and leaves.

I'm not sure why it took me so long to try this, I think the description might have thrown me off, or it could be the idea of shrunken heads has always kinda freaked me a little bit out so I stayed away, lol. Regardless, I am so, so glad I finally did because I found out it's an amazing leather scent. On me it's mostly this worn and weathered, tanned, delicious smelling leather with a soft well-blended background of pleasant musky herbs, smokey woods and soft fresh greenery. I find it surprisingly soft (although it has good throw) and very wearable leather. It's quickly become one of my favorite leather scents! (Note this review is from an aged bottle.)

Sacrifice is one of my all-time favorite leather blends. I discovered it around the same time I got into bpal and it's just gotten better with age. It has that smokey and sexy worn leather that I love with a backdrop of spicy woods, soft but very pleasant to my nose herbal cologne, with a musky sweetness underneath it all. It's all very wonderfully blended and cohesive. When I wear it I feel like I've wrapped myself up in an old familiar leather jacket with the soft still-lingering scent of cologne and traces of musk. Also, and I'm not sure if it's coming from my imagination or not, but I feel there's a slight sinister edge to it which I find strangely alluring. To me, Sacrifice is a complex, comforting and quite sexy masculine-type scent. Very yummy!

Big thanks to Mellifluous for sending me some to try!

Wet, I'm getting toasted hazelnuts and...cream? It smells deliciously warm and foody. I'm not getting much pronounced patchouli or leather yet, although I can smell them behind the thick cloud of nuts and cream. I wonder why this smells so much like cream to my nose if there is no cream note, perhaps from the vanilla or the combination of notes? The creaminess here is clean and powdery at this stage and it reminds me of the scent Penis Admiration for some reason.

As it dries I start getting a little more smooth leather and a soft well-blended patchouli but they still feel distant to me. Strangely, at times I get whiffs of a nutty creamy chocolate smell. As it settles, it's still very creamy and nutty and I am now getting a little more patchouli, which combined with the hazelnuts I think this might be what's giving off the toasted chocolate-like scent to my nose. The creaminess here is now reminding me of the cream accord in Glowing Vulva, Love's Philosophy and Candy Butcher, it's a note I'm always seeking out and mentioning because it's my favorite bpal note. I love nutty scents and this has to be one of the best ones I've tried. The throw is fantastic too.

I would really love a bottle of this. If I could get a Goblin Statue I would do it in a heartbeat!

First, a big to Mellifluous for sending me some to try. You rock!

This is a very murky, moody scent. I get lots of heavy earthy patchouli with smoky tobacco and traces of sage in the background. Hmm... this actually might be one of the darkest scents I've tried and although I wouldn't particularity seek some out, I find myself strangely allured by it.

Very pretty. Soft, fresh, dusty violets and tea rose, the blend has a slightly creamy, sweet edge. As it dries the rose gets a little spicy with a hint of soapiness (tea rose likes to that on my skin sometimes) and the violets get a bit powdery (which I actually enjoy). Once settled the tea rose amps slightly more than the violets. (my review is from an aged imp)

This is all chilly floral musk and pear perfection and it's one of my favorite bpal florals ever.

I have a decant of Atrocious Attic (the 2007 version) and it's all lovely soft pink rose, lavender, violet, and vanilla-sandalwood musk. I also own a bottle but it has a stronger astringent herbal lavender, it still has the vanilla-sandalwood musk, soft rose and violets lurking in the background but it takes a while for the astringency to burn off and it's still nowhere near as softly blended, pleasant and vanilla-y as the decant is. I noticed this when I got my bottle a few years ago and was hoping it was an age issue but my bottle is still the same. Has anyone else has experienced batch differences with the original release of Atrocious Attic? I want to see if it's even worth trying to search for the batch that is more like my decant.

Yay! Someone kindly gifted me a full decant of Boober to try, thank you! This one has been on my wishlist for a while.

Amazingly realistic bubbly soapy suds and bubble bath bubbles! So much so that I almost *feel* them floating and popping all around me. In the background there is a soft vanilla and clean floral scent (the linden blossom) that grounds the scent. Very cuddly and comforting but bubbly and effervescent (I get an almost champagne-like note in there) at the same time, it's like being wrapped up in a freshly laundered fluffy white towel after a bubble bath. This is one of the best fresh laundry/soapy scent I've smelt.

I like tiare as well! Here are some bpals that have it as a note:

The Harp of Cnoc I'Chosgair (Gilded amber, tiare, golden sandalwood, vanilla, cardamom, and tagetes.)

Marae (Vanilla orchid, Monoi tiare, gardenia, and light incense.)

Sugar Plum Fairy (sugar plums, vanilla-infused sugar, tiare, amber musk, apricot peel, and a light dusting of cacao.)

Enlightenment of the Courtesan Jigokudayu (Silken coconut, angelica, soft golden incense, tiare, carnation, and Asian pear.)

The Glittering Apple of the Stars (Heirloom Malus, ylang ylang, white and blue musks, crystallized vanilla, tiare, frangipani, and bergamot.)

From these, I would recommend Marae, The Glittering Apple of the Stars and Englightment of the Courtesan Jigokudayu. For a nice tiare and coconut combo, you could maybe try layering Marae and Obatala.

You could also look into gardenia blends (since tiare is a type of gardenia), there are a lot of fantastic ones. I personally love Miss Ida, Swan Maiden, Gaoler's Daughter and Arsenic v2 (I get a very lovely tropical scent, on me it's mostly gardenia/tiare, ginger flower and soft coconut), and there's also Tissue, Sweet Life (I've been looking for this one for a while, the reviews say it's nearly gardenia SN). The tropical recommendation thread might have some other good ideas as well!

I think there might be different batches of Pussy, as some comment on it being orange blossom honey heavy and others get more of the tobacco and woods. I decided to get a bottle of this because orange blossom honey is one of my favorite notes but I'm sadly getting no sweetness, no orange blossom honey or brown sugar. On me this is all swirly, woody, dry, incensey tobacco leaf blend with hint of saffron and soft base of creamy tonka (it's all very 'brown' smelling to me). From afar the throw it gives off is woody tonka tobacco patchouli, which is strange because there is no patchouli in this blend. The scent is warm and sexy but not exactly what I was hoping for, I really wanted it to be sweeter. Something about it also strongly reminds of some aspects of Badgers.

I've had this for a while now and had forgotten to review it!

I get a very soft, damp (amost watery/aquatic) grass and dirt smell with some ozone (it must be the 'glass' note) and maybe a hint of metal as it dries. It kind of reminds me of sea of glass, that similar glass accord. It's an overall very pleasant, light, and soothing smell to me, not too strong or sharp as some ozone or aquatic scents can be. I'm not sure why but the overall scent makes me think of a freshwater pond. I'm surprised by how much I like this despite not usually being a fan of these types of scents.

In the vial this smelled a little scary, heady orchids with a strong astringent alcohol scent (I got a doctor's office association). I hesitated in applying but I do enjoy a good orchid scent so I dabbed on a small amount. Ok, this is much better. The orchid is still there and it's almighty orchid scent with some damp green in the background, if I concentrate I get some of the oakmoss but I find it well-blended in here. I still get a little of the astringent smell although I can't figure out where that's coming from. This is a very strong, powerful blend and it has settled into a dark orchid musk. It's heady, deep, voluptuous and even a little bit menacing.

This one kind of jumped all over the place for me and was a big morpher. When first applied I got a slightly sweet red musk scent with smokey incense and resins in the background, but there's also some sharpness in there, which could be coming from the "tunda frost" perhaps? I've noticed when some cold or atmospheric type notes are mixed with other stronger notes (ie red musk, leather) the entire scent can turn sharp on my skin. As it dries, the leather peeks out and starts amping big time. A few moments later this has settled into a sweet powdery leather (I'm sure I'm getting powder from the amber which almost without fail is turning on me lately) and hints of soapiness (must be from the daemondrop resin). It's actually not too bad, it smells like a clean baby that's into leather onesies.

Here's a few more creamy/milky scents:

The Phantom Cow of Yerba Buena Island, it doesn't have an official note description but it smells like creamy milk, herb, and soft grass scent. It's the first one that came to mind when you mentioned 'farmhousy'.

Nonae Caprotina (The scent is of goat’s milk, ripe fig, and a hint of sweet myrrh.)

Alice (Milk and honey with rose, carnation and bergamot.)

Boo (Eerie billows of spun sugar, fluttering white cotton, and sheets of cream)

White Rabbit (Strong black tea and milk with white pepper, ginger, honey and vanilla, spilled over the crisp scent of clean linen.)

Dana O'Shee (Offerings of milk, honey and sweet grains...)

You might also want to check the for milk/cream recommendation thread: http://www.bpal.org/topic/32603-milk-and-cream-notes/

I get a blend of astringent lavender, herbs and for some reason I'm also getting a little bit of eucalyptus (perhaps from the pine?). Strange...I'm not really getting any other notes. Although the blend is a little sharp at first (probably the patchouli, which I find really well-blended) it does soften after some time and it's not bad, actually kind of relaxing. I realize this ends up smelling just like my skin does after a spa aromatherapy treatment, it smells just like a spa to me.

Wow, this is gorgeous. Maeve feels very decadent, sexy (in the most head-twirlingly way) and a little bit dangerous.

These are the notes I get (in order of strongest):

Red Musk (there's possibly another musk in here as well)

Ginger and other Spices (Smells like sexy ginger cookies, the same kind I get in Shub. It actually smells like some of it was dropped in here)

Plum

Booze

Resins

Amber (Egyptian?)

Patchouli

Vanilla

Maeve settles into a mix of sexy ginger cookies, boozey plum, dark sensual musks, and amber. I'm loving Maeve and I'm very happy I got a chance to swap for a bottle of this. I hope it gets released one day, I think it would be very popular!

I got the same sweet/sour pickled vinegary scent Monday got in the imp. On my skin, it's still the same for a couple seconds but it soon begins to take shape, I start to get a musky and powdery scent and ah, now I get something transforming into... light coffee and chocolate? I also start to get what could be the wool, I was hoping this would be similar to the wool note in Ichabod Crane because I love it, but this one smells different to me, probably because it's 'brown' and not black wool. I'm not sure what that Old Furry Touk accord would smell like... It's actually not too bad now, like an old worn wool sweater with old coffee (I'm still getting hints of chocolate) stains and I get whiffs of stale sweet smokey cigar lingering in the air. I still get somewhat of a sour scent in the background though, hmm...it's kind of like ketchup?

After much morphing, it finally settles into a blend of dusty musky staleness (which is probably the wool), very light coffee (I still get the hints of chocolate), and faint sweet cigar smoke, along with that ketchup smell.

This took me on quite a ride, lol. It's definitely an unusual scent.

Omg, this is nearly exactly how my grandma smells (when she's not wearing perfume). I think it smells like Camay soap. Tea roses usually turn to (really pretty) soap on my skin and this is no exception. I like it though, it's a pretty and comforting tea rose blend but kind of creepy how close it smells to my grandma, I will have to have her smell it.

eta: The lilacs amped on me after a little while.

First a disclaimer- I'm not a big patchouli fan (there's exceptions especially if it's mixed in with sweet stuff) so please take my review with a grain of salt.

Kind of a sharp medicinal patchouli in the imp, but once applied the patchouli softens and in the background I get light herbal greenish hemp, very soft slightly smokey suede and some linen. It's a surprisingly soft, wispy, fresh/clean scent along with the earthy patchouli. This is probably the cleanest smelling patchouli scent I've come across, a tad soapy (I think from the linen note which tends to go soapy on my skin) and perfumey though. It smells like a clean hippie ghost with floaty fabric.

This is a lovely atmospheric scent. I get a blend of crunchy leaves, soft sweet pine, cool breeze and some cedar (which is usually not a note I particularly enjoy but it's surprisingly nice here). I like how everything is well-blended and the woods (mostly pine), breezes and leaves create a very evocative picture of Bilthe Hollow. It's not something I would wear, but I do like how it smells.