subtlesiren

In the imp: Heady floral with a grounding, earthy moss on a very humid night. These flowers are in full bloom, almost at the rotting point. Wet on my wrist: The moss is fleeting, and the blooms are becoming creamier with a splash of citrus. Dry on my wrist: The flowers are becoming stronger again, and the creamy lemon is there, but indistinguishable. I can't tell if I actually like this scent or if I just want to like it so badly that it's a mind over matter situation. New Orleans is a siren call to me, someday I will see it, but at the moment this scent is the closest I will get. For me, this scent would be perfect for a hot, sticky summer night, to embrace the heat rather than counteract. And to think I would ever even consider a scent with jasmine after my experience with Siren.

In the imp: Slightly sweet with the beeswax note from Chanukkiyah and the stone/vanilla combo from Black Opal (RIP) evident. Very comforting. Wet on my wrist: The stone note is the strongest note, with a trace of smoke emerging. The candles are being extinguished. Dry on my wrist: The smoke is gone, leaving behind only the cave walls and a lingering sweetness of cooled vanilla wax. Bedtime worthy.

In the imp: Rootbeer, no wait, sassafras. Slightly woody, very spicy, and the pepper tickles my nose, reminding me of bubbles in soda. Wet on my wrist: The cinnamon and pepper are dying down, and the dragon's blood (ie sassafras to my nose today) is becoming creamier and soft. Dry on my wrist: All traces of spice are gone and all I am left with is sassafras. Not so wrathful.

In the imp: Nature. Lots of nature, like stepping onto a forest floor darkened by tree boughs where only moss, ferns, and shade-loving flowers grow. Oh, and someone is washing with soap in a creak nearby. Wet on my wrist: The forest notes are fading, while the soapiness becomes stronger. Dry on my wrist: Soap.

In the imp: Very sharp and crisp, almost clean, with heavy citrus undertones. This is smelling like a high end dish detergent. Wet on my wrist: Some of the sharpness is fading and a creamy cotton note has emerged. Maybe it's more of an expensive fabric softener than dish detergent. Dry on my wrist: The sharp soapy note is mostly gone, leaving the smell of soft, lime-scented sheets. Not a scent I would want to snuggle into at night and definitely one I want to wear. If I like clean, fresh scents, this would be amazing, but alas.

I was very nervous buying Josie unsniffed, as both peach and magnolia are notes I'm not very familiar with in the BPAL world. In the vial and even more so on my skin, it smells like Herbal Essences conditioner. I had such high hopes for you Josie, but smelling like cheap hair products is not what I was aiming for. Unfortunately, I don't think aging will help these notes. I'll keep her for awhile, but I think she will be moving on.

Mmm, chocolatey Snake Oil. I was fearing this would go too far into the gourmand and too far away from SO, but it is more of a sexy, warm, dusty chocolate. It is a dark, deep chocolate, mellowed out with the rice milk and sweetened with the sugared vanilla from SO. The teak starts to emerge on the dry down, adding an unexpected complexity to the scent. This is by far the darkest, sludgiest BPAL oil so far. It looks like chocolate syrup!

This made me laugh out loud. And reminded me how much I miss LOST.

This has to be one of the stranger BPAL scents I have. Moss and molasses?! So glad I took a risk on it, because it is beautiful. The molasses creates a unique sweet, more earthy than any of the other sugary notes I've worn. Because of this, it blends beautifully with the patchouli and moss, and the red currants fit nicely in with their tangy sweetness. And you can't go wrong with vanilla cream.

I was really excited to try Aeronwen, but almost as soon as I bought her, I realized she wouldn't work as she really doesn't have any of my win notes, save amber which has the tendency to be swallowed by obnoxious notes. I am still convinced that fig will work on me if only I find the right scent. Myrrh is iffy, and the others I'm just not familiar with. Except you, black musk. How could I forget you and your powdery death?! Aeronwen starts out in the bottle smelling like cheap herbal-scented shampoo. It's very green and soapy . Once on my skin and dry, the black musk turns an already disappointing scent into a powdery mess. Alas, Aeronwen, we were not meant to be. Just as well the Grindhouse has variety of ladies.

Wow. Just wow. Banshee Beat is AMAZING! I wanted to go around to everyone just telling them how good I smelled, and thanks to BPAL, I smell good everyday, but this stuff is . The patchouli revs up the oil, making it a raw kind of sexy, while the vanilla smooths it out into a creamy sexy. I'd never worn hemp before, but this experience makes it a win note! Good throw and longevity sends Banshee Beat up into my top 5.

If you know what category they all belong to, then you can just go straight to the reviews and go from there. I never know what section each scent is from, so I go to the advanced search. It's the little gear symbol under "Price Caps". From there you can type in the scent name and limit the search to titles only. Under "Find in forum" select "Reviews" and hit search. Voila! Hopefully the specific scent review thread you're looking for should show up. Sounds confusing, but it's pretty simple. Good luck!

I thought I would love this scent, but after wearing it, I'm still not sure how I feel. Dionysia both in the bottle and on my skin is a very sharp, fruity scent. For a while on my wrist, I was smelling salon hair dye. If I sniffed my wrist, the scent was way to strong. The plum, benzion, frankincense and patchouli were all fighting for center stage and the result kinda burned my nose. However, the scent that wafted up to me when my wrist was in my lap was lovely. The plum was creamier and the other notes retreated to the background considerably. Dionysia has lots of throw, so much so that I may not put her between my breasts where all my other scents go, but relegate her to my wrists. She also lasts HOURS! I'll keep trying this one out before deciding to get a backup bottle.

I knew I would love this scent before I ever opened the bottle. From the notes, it promised to be Morocco's sexy older sister, and it is. The amber makes Inez even warmer than Morocco, and the myrrh and cedar deepen the scent. This scent seemed very mysterious, like Inez is the GH lady with all the secrets and a haunting past. I'm transported to a underground, dusty desert lair, with candles everywhere... or maybe I'm just being influenced by the GORGEOUS label art. I adore Inez. Back-up bottle: check.

This scent came in a group of GH Ladies I bought off of eBay, and was the only one I wasn't the least bit excited about. The first five ingredients sounded amazing, but I am unfamiliar with hyssop, and lilac? I'm not big on florals, especially ones that seem like they would scent the soap a grandma would have in her bathroom. But I was brave and tested her out. In the bottle, I got a sweet, musky floral and screwed up my nose at it, then applied it to my wrist. For about ten minutes, the smell on my skin was akin to the smell in the bottle. I had given up on this scent working long before putting it on my skin. But then something happened. The lilac faded a bit and was grounded by the tobacco and maybe the tea? I kept smelling my wrist and began to enjoy what I was smelling. Beth, you continue to amaze me. I'm not a floral girl whatsoever. Finding out I like oleander and magnolia was shock enough, but lilac?! This scent stays very to the skin, but even twelve hours later, I can get the faintest wisp of lilac on my wrist. Not a scent I would buy more of, but perfect for a warm summer day!

This scent has been bouncing around in my head for a while... to get or not to get? It's in good company, me and my indecisiveness. However, when I saw half a bottle of it on eBay with some of the other Grindhouse Ladies I liked the look of, I snatched them up. So glad I did. This is one seductive lass, but in a subtle way. Every note listed seems like it would be soft, except for maybe the caramel which can dominate (thankfully not the case here). The amber and honey are most prominent in the bottle and fresh on my skin, but as the scent warms, the cream accord smooths out any sharp edges. I get occasional hints of teak and caramel, but they remain background notes. I was expecting to get knocked over with fake apple, but the apple blossom never surfaces, unless it smells nothing like the fruit. This is a skin scent, so it stays close, but for such a soft scent, it lingers longer than I expected. I put it on around 7am and could still smell it at lunch time. No regrets buying this sensual, comforting scent. I already have a back up bottle on the way!

I have been falling in :love!: with patchouli, a note I was sure I hated. Unfortunately, Lust is the first BPAL scent where the patchouli is just too much. Being paired with powdery musk doesn't help. When I first put it on, the scent was nice and I was excited about yet another lovely patchouli scent. But after awhile, it started to make me a bit nauseous. Maybe it's because I was both riding in a car and hungry, but the combo just left me very unsettled. I will keep the imp for awhile and see if aging helps, but musk has become my enemy and that may be enough to keep me away even if the patchouli mellows.

Sad, sad day. I was so excited when I won this on eBay. But I think this scent was the final nail in musk's coffin. In the bottle, I get mostly cacao, no tobacco, and powdery musk. Before I even put it on, I knew it was going to go the route Haunted did: sickly sweet baby powder. And it did. I am so disappointed. BPAL is definitely educating me on what works and doesn't work, and for some reason I thought that musk worked on me. Alas, I will be sending these ladies off to a new home.

I was hesitant buying a bottle of the Illustrated Woman without sniffing or testing it first, given that it contains three notes I'm either not familiar with and/or flat out scared of: patchouli, tobacco, and above all, PINE PITCH! My fears were unjustified thankfully, because this scent is gorgeous! The notes I just listed brings this scent down from what would be a La Petite or O type scent (wonderful as they are), making a deep, earthy, sexy scent. Yes, pine pitch can be sexy.

After reading all the glowing reviews for this scent, I was positive that I too would love it. And I was not disappointed. To me, Mme. Moriarty, Misfortune Teller is like a fruity Snake Oil, just as sexy but more flirty than seducing. It's not quite as spicy, more juicy (go figure). I just know that this will be one of my go-to scents come spring and summer!

Hmm, not sure what went wrong with this one, but as Hell's Belle dries down, it just turns kinda funky. When wet in the vial and on my skin, it is a nice blend of foody spice with barely a touch of floral. Not much throw at all, but still a nice scent. But after a few hours, the scent turns somewhat bitter. I will keep my imp and see if aging helps. ETA: I can't believe I never came back here to edit my review! Hell's Belle went from bitter to the most gorgeous floral scent I own.

When I smelled Morocco in the imp, I decided that it was the most lovely BPAL scent I have ever smelled. I was in love. But after that initial love at first sniff, I discovered that after awhile, Morocco becomes very soft and all but disappears on my skin. However! When I put the oil in my hair, it lasts HOURS! I put it in my hair around 2:30am, went to bed, woke up, etc. and well over 12 hours later, I keep getting occasional whiffs of it! This gives me hope for other scents that fade on my skin!

Haunted starts off nice, with a dark musk smell with the amber lightening it up slightly. Unfortunately on my skin, the amber overpowers the musk and the scent becomes very powdery. Still a nice scent, but I don't think I'll be getting a bottle.

After all these years, BPAL is smuttier than ever. Three swarthy, smutty musks sweetened with sugar and woozy with dark booze notes. 2006 version On me, Smut is a warmer, deeper version of O. In other words, orgasmic! In the bottle and wet on my skin, the boozy note is in the forefront, but thankfully it recedes as the the scent dries. What I'm left with is an incredibly sultry, yet comforting scent. It's a hug that turns into a night of sexual debouchery.

2006 version In the bottle, Red Lantern is a sweet and spicy coconut, like a coconut chai. The tobacco keeps it from becoming too foody, and seems to be most prominent in the drydown. After being on my skin awhile, the tobacco faded down to a pleasant wisp of smoke, and the coconut warms up to more of a toasted coconut smell. I think I just might pick up a bottle of the 2011 version to age.