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BPAL Madness!

ajansuz

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Everything posted by ajansuz

  1. ajansuz

    The King's Daughter

    This is such a pretty, summery blend. In the imp: Sweet and fruity without being cloying. It's like bright, sparkling watermelon punch, a little bit watery and light. Wet: I was a little afraid of what watermelon might do, since a lot of fruit scents amp to sickly sweetness on me. I needn't have worried. It stayed light, and oakmoss helped to bring it down to earth and give it a little more presence. Particularly in the crook of my arm I could pick out the lilac. It's more complex than I expected and still very cool and refreshing. Dry: It seems even more sophisticated. I wouldn't call it girly anymore, although I would say it's very feminine. The woods do such a good job of keeping the sweeter components from going high and taking this over. So does the oakmoss, which I've always had very good luck with. Overall, I liked this very much. It's a nice, fresh, informal summer blend. I wouldn't wear it to work or for a job interview, but it's perfect for a day out with friends. Medium to low throw. It lasted several hours. Toward the end, all that remained was a hint of lilac and fairly strong oakmoss. It always does outlast everything else if it's in anything I wear.
  2. ajansuz

    Lady Amalthea

    This was an imp with the 3rd horn imp pack. Overall, I have loved The Last Unicorn scents and think they are an amazing scent interpretation of the story. Very few misses for me in the entire collection. In the imp: Extraordinarily lovely floral scent. The lilac and wisteria really pop right away, cool and creamy. Usually, my husband hates most florals except rose with a passion, but when we were sniffing the imp together, he said, "Mmmmmm. Like walking outside!" We have wisteria banks abutting our property and get a blast from it every spring. So that was very promising. Wet: Wow. This stage is difficult to describe. It's cool and grassy, like bruised stems, with a soft wash of tuberose and just a touch of lilac. I really do get the strong impression of vegetation under snow, and it's the exact same cool quality I get from The Last Unicorn minus the lettuce and coconut. Dry down: It smells beautiful, but it made me cry. There's something very sweetly sorrowful about this blend. I can't put my finger on it, and it's very rare a scent alone will literally move me to tears without a strong memory association to go with it. The fresh greenery disappears, and all three floral notes share the limelight remarkably well together. There's a definite creaminess now that I'm assuming is the white chocolate. It's not really chocolaty, just an underlying soft, mint touched creaminess. I feel as though I may be too old for this scent. I would expect it on a girl in her late teens to mid-twenties, not that it's immature or child-like, just that there's a sense of freshness and youth to this that isn't really me at this stage in my life. It has a very low throw and fades considerably within just 3 hours or so. I think it's a wonderful interpretation of the character and the way it seems to suggest without being a clone of The Last Unicorn is genius.
  3. ajansuz

    Independent

    This came as a frimp from a lab order. In the imp I was already concerned. Very lemon Pledge-y, a heavy furniture polish lemon, almost a little rancid. I tried it anyway because I've learned what's in the imp is rarely what happens on the skin. Wet, it's like lemon Pledge and lemon Dawn had a baby. Really, really nasty. Dry, this impression only intensified to headache inducing proportions. I had to wash this off. I don't know if it's just that citrus oils don't age that well or what, but dnw. Ugh.
  4. ajansuz

    Variety of Pleasing Amusements

    This has all winning notes for me, so I was prepared to love it. In the bottle, the tobacco and honey are strong, and there's something pretty dry keeping that from being overtly sweet. Wet: It's the strangest thing, as it's not a listed note, but I get a spicy ginger tang like the ginger in Two Leaning Pines along with tobacco and leather. There's also something almost plastic-y that I don't like very much. Myrrh is nowhere to be sniffed, which is also strange because I often amp it. Dry: It's a dry, kind of spicy scent. The sweetness goes away and is replaced with dry smoke. I don't dislike it, but it's not the magic I had hoped for. For tobacco and leather scents, I still love The Tata way more.
  5. ajansuz

    A Companion Of The Same Nature

    Yet another one I thought I had already reviewed but had not. I loved the name and concept of this, which was why I bought it in addition to knowing I loved most of the notes listed. I was iffy about the mums, though. In the bottle, it's fairly sharp and perfumey with dry leaves and a green note like bruised wood sorrel. A little sour. Wet it takes on a sort of chilly quality, and it reminds me very much of Sonnet d'Automne to the point I feel like I duplicated scents. It's a big morpher on me. As it dries, it's a lot more perfumey, clean and spicy. It smells more like commercial perfume than I tend to enjoy, but for some reason it never crosses that line entirely, so I like it. There's a hint of something somber and a little dark to this scent. I can't fully put my finger on it. I wear it when I'm in a solitary mood.
  6. ajansuz

    The Most Magnificent Christmas Tree

    I could have sworn I reviewed this already, but apparently I didn't. I bought this based on the reviews left by fellow pine lovers. I'm SO glad that I did. In the bottle, for me it comes out way more spruce and birch than pine. Very strong, sharp crushed spruce needles over crisp, slightly sweet birch. Amazingly aromatic and not in that, "This should be a room fragrance instead," way. (Although it would doubtless be lovely as a room fragrance, too. I just don't want to waste it on that.) Wet I amp the evergreen note really high. It's very strong spruce with a grounding of hardwoods, birch and oak, maybe even ash. Dry down is when the magic happens. The sweetness others have mentioned comes out in the spruce. It's a sappy sweet smell, and it never overwhelms the rest of it. It just makes it creamy and a little soft. This has amazing throw and lasting power. It goes for hours without changing much past that last sweet spruce woody phase. I often layer this with the BPTP BO Silent Forest. SO GOOD.
  7. ajansuz

    Thirteen (13): January 2012

    This is so good. It's the same dry chocolate of Calaveras without the booze or burnt caramel. I also tend to amp wood notes, and what I amp in this comes out smelling like a sandalwood pendant I bought years ago before it faded. There's a definite spice cabinet quality to this, too, that another forumite mentioned. Nothing goes sweet on me with this at all. It's all very dry but also warm and somewhat comforting. I like it a lot. The chocolate stays strong throughout without being overtly foody.
  8. ajansuz

    Elli's Song

    In the imp: Kind of bitter and a little tarry. I didn't think I'd like this on much, even though usually vetiver blends play nicely on my skin. Wet: COMPLETELY different than in the imp. I don't know what olibanum smells like, but since I do know the other notes, I'm going to have to say it's what I'm amping. It's an earthy sweet resin scent with just a touch of soft smoke. Very much campfire in the woods, but it's as though you were also burning incense in your campfire. Dry: The longer this dried on me, the more beautiful it became. I got some definite earthiness I associate with the different BPAL mosses. The smoke faded away, leaving behind sweet and somewhat sophisticated incense. Something in this reminds me just a little bit of Rumplestilschin. A woodsy touch like sandalwood. I'm surprised by how much I love this.
  9. ajansuz

    Death Cap

    This was a Lab frimp. In the imp: Dirt. The same wet dirt note of Zombi. Mildew, dry bark and something faintly sweet, almost like amber. Wet: Dirt, vanilla, and baby powder. Pretty much exactly what black musk does on my skin. After a little while, it's dirt, baby powder and mushrooms. Kind of sickening, really. The baby powder part ruins it. Dry: The dirt goes away, but that's no improvement of the scent on me. In addition to the baby powder, there's a sweet, high note reminiscent of rotten fruit. The lasting power is for hours. It continually morphed to something more and more cloyingly sweet to the point of headache inducing. If I had been somewhere I could have washed it all off, I would've. This didn't work with my skin chemistry at all.
  10. ajansuz

    Ekhidna

    This was a frimp from the Lab. This is so strange. In the imp, it smelled a lot like gum. I've been wracking my brain trying to recall which brand it reminds me of and drawing a blank. I think Hubba Bubba had a flavor a long time ago, some sort of cola flavor, that smelled a lot like this. I just can't remember. Wet: Pepper pops up. It's a lot like the pepper in Burning Vulva, very spicy, tickling the nose a little bit. The myrrh is very sweet, but it's kept out of cloying territory by the gorgeous dark aquatics. This is what I had hoped some of the Picnic in Arkham aquatics would be. It would be right at home in that collection. It's dark and slithery but also beautiful. Dry down: The aquatics take over for a time. Sea water and salt over incensy clove and waterlogged wood. This scent lasts for several hours. After about two, the myrrh came back and played really nicely. The pepper faded away, but it never fully lost its spicy tinge. Something in this also reminds me of ambergris. It's just so pretty. I would never have picked this out based on the listed notes. I'm so glad I got it as a frimp.
  11. ajansuz

    Captain Cully

    In the imp: Dry wood, leather, and a hint of sweetness that's hard to pin. Wet: Wow, saddle leather. Brand new saddle leather and sun warmed wood. Still very masculine but in a way that I still feel like a woman can pull off. There's a little sharp tannin bite to it that I quite like. Dry down: This smells like the same leather in Orc without the vegetable notes to drag it down. It's sassy and energetic, just a little smoky and still with the dry woods. I'm not up on the various hardwoods. It doesn't smell like oak to me, though. Maybe the smoky note is from the porter? I'm not getting any of the tonka, which is a shame, but still I really love this.
  12. ajansuz

    The Amorous Tree

    In the imp: Oak and green leaves with a soft floral undertone. Very nice and pretty subtle. Wet: I really amped the wood note in this at first with the greenery coming in a close second. It was a very sappy sort of greenery, not like mowed grass so much as like mowing over a dandelion patch or maybe even wood sorrel. It wasn't until the dry down that the rose showed up. Sadly, it's the kind of rose that goes old lady soap on me. Within a couple of hours, I smelled like I had been washing myself with my grandmother's decorative soaps. All of the lovely wood and greenery were gone.
  13. ajansuz

    Schmendrick

    Neither in the imp nor on the skin could I pick out individual notes in this. It was somewhat generic men's cologne, and although I really liked the scent, I couldn't see myself wearing it. It was far too masculine. I'm going to try it on the husband to see if he wears it better.
  14. ajansuz

    Ecstatic Revelry

    In the bottle, this is earthy and spicy. Patchouli and cumin dominate, but there's enough sweetness to keep it from being overly harsh. Wet: Strangely enough, something in this has a ginger association for me, but not the intense ginger of Shub. It wars between being sweet and spicy, wavering back and forth while a really strong, dirty patchouli anchors it down. (I like dirty patch. I have to agree that it's a lot like the patch of Occupy Wall Street, almost oily.) Dry: The first time I wore this, all of the spices played nicely together and became something fairly exotic and earthy. The second time, the cumin amped and took on an unpleasant BO-like scent. However, my husband said it didn't smell at all like that to him. Since this is shark week, I've noticed my sniffer is off about a lot of things, so it really could've just been me. I don't think I love this as much as I wanted to, but I'm not at all sorry I bought it. I can easily see pulling it out when I'm feeling creative. It inspires that mood.
  15. ajansuz

    Body, Remember

    I know the little icon isn't much help, but honestly it sums up the experience of this blend perfectly, from bottle to dry down and extended wear. I've gotten more complements on this particular BPAL on me than any other I've ever worn, including The Infernal Lover which I've had for much longer and which loves my skin chemistry. So, in the bottle, the coconut is the predominant note. I have to agree with what others have said, though. It's not the suntan oil at the beach coconut, and it's not the cloyingly overly sweet candied coconut. There's a woodiness and a creaminess to it that makes it more sophisticated than that. There's also an incense note that I'm guessing is the champaca flower. I haven't had a good experience with that in a blend before, but here it doesn't cause problems. Wet it's exotic and subtly erotic. It reminds me a lot of the Kate Chopin novel "The Awakening" for some reason. When it dries, it's sweet and soft, and it lingers all day. The coconut never fully goes away, but it tones down considerably and shares the stage with the rest of the blend. By that point, it's hard to pick out any individual notes for me. I just LOVE the way it makes me smell. I wish I had bought a back up bottle.
  16. ajansuz

    The Vine

    In the bottle, this is juicy, delicious pear, honey, and cream, like a very elegant dessert. Somehow, though, it's not so foody that it turns me off from the idea of wearing it. There's enough of a perfume quality to it to keep it from being cloying. Wet on me this smells exactly like it does in the bottle. Really, from wet to dry down, there's very little morph to this on my skin. Vanilla warms and rises to mingle with the creamy fruit and honey. That's about the only change. Unlike what others have said, this doesn't fade on me much at all. I applied it one morning and could still smell it ten hours later. It's beautiful, something I'll be reaching for a lot this spring.
  17. ajansuz

    Dirty

    In the imp: Sweet and pretty, white florals, white musk, a hint of citrus. Wet: The citrus amps a little. Maybe tangerine? It's very sugary and sweet, a little ozone that reminds me of Ether. Dry: Sweet and just a little naughty. Sadly, I think this scent is a bit young for me, but I would have loved it in my late teens and early twenties.
  18. ajansuz

    The Lights of Men's Lives

    This was a lab frimp, and WOW. Just WOW. In the imp, sweet beeswax. Wet: Beeswax, honey, and to me it smells like amber. There's a faint touch of something incense-y, like myrrh. Dry down: Gorgeous, creamy, comforting and sweet. This is very subtle, not much throw, but wow is it beautiful. This is the first imp I've had in a long time that made me think I need a bottle of this yesterday. SO beautiful!
  19. ajansuz

    Depraved

    This was a lab frimp, and it's...kinda strange. In the imp, a little smoky, dirty apricot sweetness, more like dried than fresh apricot. Wet: VERY smoky. I know it says patch, but it smelled more like vetiver to me, and there was some sort of cedar thing going on. The fruit amped really sweet, and I liked that part of it, but the clash with the smoky cedar scent was really jarring. Dry down is when this started to shine. The smoky cedar thing going on went more spicy and resinous. The fruit stayed strong. After about five hours, it was like those jars of spiced apricots. Very nice, but not worth the steps it took to get there for me.
  20. ajansuz

    L’Eau de la Passion Bath Oil

    I use the bath oils as after shower moisturizers/skin softeners since I don't have a tub. I really LOVE this. In the bottle I smelled some of the sour green note I saw others mention here. Fortunately, on my skin it didn't make a showing. This is mostly honeyed carnation on my skin. Enough of a throw that when my husband came close, he noticed it and said I smelled like cinnamon, and that was after about eight hours of having it on. I also agree that it blends really well with the passion perfume oil. It brought the carnation out in that which got lost on my skin when I wore it alone. Really beautiful oil blend.
  21. ajansuz

    L’Essence de la Passion

    In the bottle: The red musk and the honey are what really jump out at me, but I'm also somewhat congested, so my sniffer isn't completely up to par. Wet: This is really beautiful, but I used WAY too much for testing. The throw is nearly overwhelming with something in it actually burning the back of my throat. As this has never happened with any of the notes listed in this to me before, I have no idea what's doing it. It's almost like a tobacco note. Dry: Lasting power and throw out the wazoo. That tobacco scent still lingers. This is much more perfume-y than I associate with most of BPAL and BPTP scents. I'm not saying that as a negative. It's not commercial or artificial, just wow, knock your socks off strong. Sadly, I never did get any individual carnation scent out of this, which I was hoping for. It's still beautiful. I just need to apply way, way less of it next time.
  22. OMG. This is just divine. On my skin, the ylang ylang and sandalwood are the most prominent. Nothing else jumps out individually. It's not overly sweet, just extremely sensual, a little woodsy, and more sophisticated than a lot of ylang ylang blends tend to be on me. My husband adored this. It made for a very nice Valentine's Day. Throw is medium. Staying power maybe around four hours or so before it mellows down to just a hint of vanilla close to the skin. My biggest regret is that there's not a lot of it. This is a fragrance I'd slather like there was no tomorrow if I had more of it. I will enjoy this while I can and probably use it all too quickly to see how well it ages.
  23. ajansuz

    Black Forest

    This was a generous lab frimp. I'll start by saying I love me some evergreens, so I was expecting good things when I saw the name. In the imp, pine hit me immediately, but there was something kind of off underneath it, a little too sweet. Wet: Oh, hello, black musk, my nemesis. That was the "off" smell. It immediately overpowered the evergreen. Dry-down: Baby powder and tree resin. Skin chemistry, why do you hate me so?
  24. ajansuz

    Molly Grue

    In the imp: Straight up frosted pop tarts. Wet: Fig newtons instead of pop tarts, or possibly even porridge with fruit bits in it. Dry: Spiced fig newtons. It's a pity I don't enjoy smelling like food, because this is about as close to a cookie interpretation as I've ever smelled in a perfume. If you're a lover of foody scents, give this one a try. I think I'll be using this one as a room scent instead.
  25. ajansuz

    The Harpy Celaeno

    In the imp: Very sharp, an almost oily tar scent that bites the nose. I was more than a little nervous to put this on, wondering what it would turn into on me or whether it might burn my skin. It smelled like it could. Wet: At first, this was extremely unpleasant on my skin. That oily, tarry odor became nearly overwhelming, almost like burnt rubber. Fortunately, within a couple of minutes that went away. Suddenly it was all incense, smoke, and something amazingly seductive and spicy. I could definitely pick out the clove at this stage. Dry down: It had almost a wood note to it and something earthy and grounding. Usually, I can pick patchouli out in a blend in a heartbeat, especially the way my skin amps it. This wasn't obvious patch at all, just an earthy low note to ground the brighter citrus. I also usually hate citrus. This didn't become obviously screaming orange anything. The throw was good. It lasted around six hours or so before finally fading away. My husband said it was sexy and incense-y, and when I told him what character from the novel inspired it, he looked a little dumbfounded. If harpies smelled like this, people would seek out their company and bask in it.
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