DarcyPennell

I am trying to get a new co-worker / old friend into BPAL. Her favorite scent is Filigree by Thymes of London. She described it to me as "rich amber, juniper berry, warm cedarwood, and neroli combined with white willow." I searched for the notes in the BPAL catalog and came up with these possibilities: Death and Life Completed: Grey amber, carnation, lemon balm, hydrangea, Chinese peony, white sandalwood, cypress, juniper, cedar, hibiscus, and African daisy. Orpheus: Pale musk, green mandarin, neroli, benzoin, citrus peel, blue lavender, narcissus, stephanotis, crushed green stems, willow branch and cedar. Fascinum: Golden amber, golden musk, litsea cubeba, cedar, and saffron. Aelopil: Glowing amber and citrus, labdanum, verbena, cedar, and oud. Ogygia: Crisp sea air, kelp, and climbing vines, flame-singed cedarwood and juniper branches, cypress boughs, alder wood, violets, selino, parsley, glistritha, and white sage. Has anyone tried Filigree & could comment on whether any BPAL would be a good replacement? Thanks so much for helping me create a new BPALer!

LOVE. For the first hour or so it's sugary lemony wonderfulness. Then the lemon fades and it settles down to sweet white musk. I haven't worn anything else since it arrived a week ago. This is the first LE I've ever bought a second bottle of. I never buy multiples because it takes me so long to use one up. But as soon as I tried this I knew I had to get a backup bottle.

BPAL cinnamon always goes bad on me, so the best thing I can say about this scent is that it wasn't totally horrible. But that's just me; someone who likes Beth's cinnamon would probably love this. It's quite strong also: I applied it to the chakras and the dab on my forehead stung for a good 10 minutes. Good thing I never apply oil directly to the root chakra! As for the function, I'll just say it was highly effective and leave it at that.

I'm really bad at identifying notes so I'm not going to say anything about the scent, except that I liked it. I ordered Road Opener so I could use it during a 2500 mile solo road trip. You might think I was being too literal with the name of the oil, but I felt like this was a situation where I really needed to be open to possibilities. I get lost easily, so I tend to be very stressed and rigid when driving in strange places. I need everything to go exactly as expected or I get really upset & fearful of getting lost. Plus I'd never been on such a long trip by myself before. So, I wore Road Opener on every travel day. I do think it made a difference: I really felt more relaxed and less afraid of uncertainty. I had lots of interesting conversations with random people, which I'm not usually so good at, and was able to treat the arrangements more spontaneously without feeling like my trip was ruined if something didn't turn out just right. A couple of times I did get lost, and was able to find my way without freaking out about it. I don't think the oil brought out a quality in me that wasn't already there, or made things happen by magic. It just, I don't know, helped me remember how I wanted to approach the experience. I don't know if that makes sense, but I found purposeful use of this oil very successful.

I am sooo glad I read the reviews, because I would never have ordered this based on the lab description. I don't like florals and I don't like coconut. But I love this. LOVE. No floral, no coconut, no plastic; just a soft, creamy vanilla, very light, but long-lasting. It's like my own skin just smells better.

This is what I get for not ordering immediately when an LE goes up -- by the time I get mine to review, everything I would say has already been said! Indeed it does smell like cake. I don't get the tang of cheesecake that others are talking about. The boyfriend disagreed on the cupcakes and pronounced it "spicy." I agree, on the drydown it develops a mild spiciness that makes me think graham cracker crust. At least he liked it! He doesn't normally go for the foody scents. It's lasting but very light on me. So light it's safe for work, in a tiny office I share with others. I thought Midway was my favorite ultra-foody blend, but this one is less sugary and I think I like it better. DarcyPennell rating: "yowza"

This scent is amazing. In the bottle it smells exactly like a candy cane. On my skin it has a wonderful chilly feel from the mint. At first it's even a bit sharp in my nose if I sniff too closely. As it dries the mint fades & the sweetness becomes more dominant. After a few hours the mint is gone and it's a beautiful soft vanilla. Kind of like Black Opal but without the odd overtone that made me dislike Black Opal. I concur with everyone who said that this is what they hoped Numb would be. I'm so glad I have time to order another bottle. DarcyPennell rating: "yowza"

yay!! The pseudo-Dorian was very nice, except that I was expecting Dorian On its own terms it's a pretty scent.

About Dorian, I ordered a couple of imp sets as gifts that contained Dorian & received them back in October. When people started talking about Dorian not smelling right I tested the two imps I had bought along with my aged bottle. One of the imps smelled liked you'd expect: pretty much like the bottle, except not as mellow. The other one smelled totally different. Apple cider was the only way to describe it. The two imps were received two weeks apart, and hadn't been opened until I tested them. It was really weird that they smelled so different. I wrote to the lab about it, and they said that it definitely was not a mislabeling of some other blend. They said maybe in the cidery imp the components weren't properly balanced, or something like that. I don't remember the exact wording because I had a computer crash so I don't have the email anymore. sorry They said it happened with imps sometimes, but I've heard of more than one person with a bottle of Dorian that smells cidery, not just an imp. I wonder if there was a whole batch that wasn't mixed right or something. Has anyone received an imp or bottle of Dorian recently, is it back to normal? I have two more imps and a bottle on the way, all gifts, and I dearly hope they smell like Dorian is supposed to smell

I have been ordering sets of imps as Christmas gifts, and have included Dorian in each set. Today I tested the 2 imps I've received so far, as well as my 5 ml bottle (a few months old) to compare. One of the imps smelled like fresh Dorian: a bit less mellow than the bottle, but still recognizably Dorian. The other imp smelled like spiced apple cider. It wasn't the same scent at all. The two imps arrived about 2 weeks apart, in the past few weeks, and were not opened until today. I hope this is just an off batch, not a permanent change in the formula. I wrote to the lab today, hope to hear back from them soon.

This is soooo disappointing. I was so certain I would love Sugar Skull, but it doesn't love me. It's strong and cloying and burned. I only put on a little tiny dab but it's been wafting all around me. It's been an hour and it's finally starting to settle down into something nicer, but I don't know if it's worth the first stage. Maybe I can swap it for Midway

Just got my order today and tried this on a half hour ago. I love it. Love. It's light, sweet smoke. "Boozy" notes tend to go out of control on me but this doesn't, it's very subtle. I think this is the perfect autumn scent I've been looking for.

A sultry and unruly blend that emulates the ambient scent of the markets in ancient Bengal: skin musk with honey, peppers, clove, cinnamon bark and ginger. On first application, all I get is sweet and cinnamon. Not just cinnamon but CINNAMON! After about an hour the cinnamon fades down and I get a yummy honey spice scent, a touch powdery. It's really lovely, but I don't know if it's worth the first hour of cinnamon candy. I'm going to try it a few more times before I decide. Hamadryad was nothing but cinnamon on me too. I guess my skin just amps up cinnamon. Dang. Initial ranking: "like."

I know they've both been mentioned before, but Wanda and Dorian are the two I wear when I want to feel sexy. Dorian especially, it makes me want to have sex with myself.

In the bottle: Grape candy. Sickly sweet and kind of awful, to be honest. On me: The sweetness from the bottle disappears and at first it smells like wine with leather underneath, so sexy. As it dries the rose and musk come forward. Now, after a couple of hours, it's a soft, musky skin scent. A bit powdery but not enough to be a problem. I like this a lot, and my guy likes a LOT. He calls it "that hot one," as in "do you like how this smells?" "it's nice, but not as good as that hot one." I definitely need a bottle of this.

Wet: It’s strong. Really, really strong chocolate. I only dabbed it on with the wand, but it has a lot of throw. There’s something weird going on: If I hold my wrist to my nose, it smells like cedar chips. But if I leave my arms at my sides, the scent wafting around me is beautiful dark cocoa. I can also smell a touch of vanilla. It’s making me think of chocolate cake. The cedar chip smell settles down as it dries. After a couple of hours it’s a lovely cocoa warmed by myrrh and a touch of sandalwood. Oh man, I smell good. I’m going to have to have a bottle of this.

A strong, willful blend with a soft, utterly lovely soul: white musk with a trickle of bright, sharp apricot and orange blossom. In the bottle: You know that flouride treatment you used to get at the dentist as a kid? (do they still do flouride treatment or am I showing my age?) They would put this gooey stuff in a tray and shove it in your mouth and leave you alone for a few minutes, and the goo smelled horrible, and the trays were always too big, and eventually no matter how much you played with the suction thing you would start drooling awful smelling goo? That’s what this smells like in the bottle. I had put this into my swap pile without even trying it, since the bottle smell was so gack. But then I was browsing my DB and I noticed it has white musk, so I got it out and dabbed it on. Thankfully the smell of fluoride treatment disappears as soon as it hits my skin, leaving a nice, light, fresh scent. It’s a little sweet and fruity for my taste and is headed back to the swap pile, but really is lovely. ranking: "like"

Fresh this smells like the cologne one of my best friends in college wore. I liked his cologne, but because of the association it seems too manly for me. The drydown is good though. It faded down to a nice light sandalwood, with a touch of neroli. It's pleasant, but I didn't love it enough to keep it. ranking: "like"

The Guy says, "Floral shampoo." I didn’t get floral, and I would have said room spray, but I agree with his point that it did not smell good on him. Just artificial and perfumey. We didn’t have a chance to wait for the notes like leather and wood to come out: he made a face and washed it off. Oh well, it might have improved in the drydown but getting him to try BPAL at all is such a victory that I'm not going to push it. My ranking: "meh" His ranking: "ugh"

This scent convinced me to avoid anything with the word "incense" in the description. I wanted so much to love this. Wanted it to smell smokey and orangey and sexy. Instead it was overpowering, headache inducing incense. So sad. Ranking: "ugh"

I thought this would be mainly mint, but actually the herbs dominate. The mint gives it a nice chill. I didn't really get any discernable lavender. It's nice, an unusual scent, but I didn't love it. So I swapped it. Ranking: "like"

For about ten minutes it smells like dryer sheets. Then it settles into a wonderful "skin scent:" not like perfume, but like my own skin smells better than normal. It's crisp and cool, with no notes I recognize except that lineny freshness. Sadly, it fades really fast. I don't wear this as often as I should because the times when it's appropriate I tend to reach for Embalming Fluid. But it's good for times that I want something really light and fresh, which no one but me will even know is there. Ranking: "love"

My first thought on smelling this in the bottle is, "It smells like fish!" Of course it doesn't smell at all like fish. It smells strongly of lemongrass and something sharp, maybe pepper, and I have a strong association of lemongrass with Thai food, and I usually get fish when I have Thai food, so there you go. On me, thankfully, it doesn't smell at all like fish. It also doesn't smell at all like lavender. Pretty much all I get is lemongrass. Without the heavy lavender it's much lighter and sharper than Oneroi and Somnus, the other two Somnium blends I've tried. I'm liking it a lot in this time of year, when it's sometimes too hot to sleep. I have noticed more vivid dreams than usual, but dreams are very suggestible so it might be just because I'm expecting to remember my dreams better. Overall I don't love this as much as Oneroi. But I'm probably going to order a bottle for those nights when Oneroi seems too heavy. Ranking: "love"

This is the second Somnium I've tried (Oneroi was the first) and I find it not as pleasing to smell, but intensely effective as a sleep aid. I put it on last night while watching a movie, thinking it would help me unwind. Fifteen minutes later I was dozing off too much to focus on the movie. Had intense dreams and woke up this morning feeling fresh and well-rested. The scent was strong lavendar and some kind of floral that went soapy on me. I think it might have gotten less soapy as time passed, but since I had passed out I'm not sure. It's not actively unpleasant, but not something I would choose to smell like. But the scent isn't the point for this one. The Somnium blends are amazing. I have Nanshe and Temple of Dreams on order and I can't wait to try them. ETA: I made the mistake one night of putting this on and then getting distracted and not going to sleep right away. After about a half hour the soapiness got a lot worse. So bad that it was irritating my nose and I had to wash it off. Because of that I have to downgrade my ranking to "like." Ranking: "like" (would be "yowza" if I could guarantee I'd fall asleep before it went all soapy)

In the bottle it smells like lavender. On me it smells like soap. Not just soap but SOAP! It smells like I have Ivory soap caked under my fingernails, or like I was washing my face and accidently got soap in my mouth. Cloying heavy floral and soap. I love Oneroi, which also has lavendar and jasmine, so I don't understand why this was so bad on me. Ranking: "ugh"