Heavenlyrabbit

What a beautiful perfume oil. This is a Floral Incense blend that has embraced its inner Fruityness. The various fruits chase one another round a few times then settle into a nice balance.

On reading the notes, I'd imagined this would be Autumnal but perhaps its the orange blossom that keeps this from seeming that restricted.

Very comforting scent and maybe just a smidge dreamy- probably wouldn't wear this to a big business meeting or job interview.

For me this is a floral-resin.

This drys down into a floral skin-scent with a touch of sweetness.

Lovely.

Edit to remove confusion between two perfumes.

First impression- Golden Cake

Second impression- Raisin/Brown Sugar sauce bordering on Mince Meat pie

Third impression- Rugelah

Gourmand scent for adults of either sex. It's a foody that transcends preconcieved notions.

Edit- apparently on me, the boozy aspect is really prominent with the wine note being more like fermented raisins. The cake-butter notes burned off pdq on my skin.

Oh, and this is an industrial strength.

Harvest Moon smells like Life. Or perhaps more to the point, Fecundity.

I can't be more specific with this Harvest Moon cause for me the notes all blend into one scent.

It's like walking around a Farmers Market in late Summer or early Fall and taking in all the smells.

First time I tested Isle of the Dead, a beautiful floral greeted me then, about 2 minutes later, unceremoniously disappeared.

Second try, floral turned rapidly into powder.

Third try, the Lily refused to let any other notes to get any face time whatsoever.

Sigh, I love the painting and the Rachmaninoff work of the same title but cannot seem to come to terms with Beth's version of Isle of the Dead.

Lucretia is the one Salon scent that disappointed me. It never combines into a whole perfume that's greater then the seperate notes. Pretty enough but unremarkable, IMO.

The Good News:

This is one of the most beautiful scents I've ever worn. And it has a terrific throw and lasts a LONG tim. While most BPAL's last only an hour... this one stayed with me.

The "Bad" News:

This is one of the most MASCULINE blends I"ve ever worn. When the occassion suits, I actually like traditionally masculine blends and rarely take issue with wearing them. Satan and Death, however, forced me to meditate for a very long time on whether I'd feel comfortable in it.

I am still totally split on whether to order a bottle or not. Shame I haven't a beau to buy this for

Chaos Theory III- XII (12)

This is a variant of Snowblind. It's Mint with an underlying Creaminess.

This would be a lot of BPAL fans Holy Grail.

Unlike Snowblind, this lasts much longer. I think it's Mint along with Hyssop which bolsters the Mint and adds a very, very suble Fruity quality.

The foody background is understated... not overly sweet or cloying.

Gorgeous.

I love what Beth does with Frankincense and this is exquisitely engrossing.

Frankincense, red sandalwood and blond tobacco all have a sweetness to them and seem made for one another here.

Seamless Blend.

Oddly, I keep wanting to layer this with something 'peachy' like Fae.

Two Monsters- not scary at all! I'm going to guess that the patchouli and vetiver play the part of the two individual "monsters" while the leather refers to their common bestiality

This is the surprise hit of the Salon scents so far.

First up comes the Patchouli, ususally my nemesis, but absolutely compelling in this blend. It's hand in hand with the Champaca.

Then comes the Vetiver, a favorite note that i like to sniff in the bottle but seldom enjoy in perfume blends.

Then, the Leather, restrained and surrounded by the rest of the lovely notes which go on to a rather laid-back-sexy, earthy skin scent. I think Two Monsters, the scent, has a bit of the whimsy I see in the artwork.

Within a few minutes this moves into a gorgeous blend.

I can rarely wear Patchouli, Vetiver or Leather and yet have fallen in love Two Monsters! Yes, it's a touch masculine but that is fine. This will be a big bottle very soon. Perfect for fall and winter.

This is a sexy, womanly scent. The pine is just enough to lend an herbal and almost spicy note. I'd imagine its the Amber that keeps the Pine from being to harsh or overbearing. The Opium Poppy wraps itself around the Lotus & Rose Otto.

Lovely.

Sultry seems the one word that sums up Litha for me.

This is a unique fragrance. It opens with the Mead followed by a blast of potent Herbals and then, after several hours, it moves on to its Honey drydown. At no point does the Mead ever really move into the background... nor does the Frankincense or Copal come through on their own.

This is a well-grounded boozy herbal perfume that wears as a warm, sexy skin scent.

In some ways, one might even think of Litha as an ancient rendition of Roadhouse.

Usually Herbals bring the words "bright, fresh and green" to mind. For me, Litha is more of a full bodied, sensual perfume that manages to get a feel reminiscent of Khajuraho. Just as Khajuraho achieved an patchouli-like earthiness using flowers, so Litha achieves an earthiness with Herbals.

And while Beth's Herbal scents generally work very well on me, Litha is outside my comfort zone... and that's a good thing. I've come to realize Beth has an entire repertoire of Herbal blends that fall well outside the usual fare and capture a wide variety of moods. For me, Litha is no light hearted romp down a floral path, it's more of a sweat-soaked orgiastic celebration of Life in the middle of an overgrown field.

Edit- When first wearing this about 8 days ago, I simply couldn't find the "lemony" notes everyone else identified. And my chemistry usually amps lemon. It's now a week or so after my monthly cycle and NOW I do indeed get that lemon scent at the very opening and about a half hour later. At this stage, Litha seems more refreshing as others describe but then it returns to a more robust scent for me as the lemon subsides.

Intoxicating fresh herbal/floral centered around a heart of chypre. The evergreen/woody notes play the supporting role here, allowing floral/herbals to shine forth.

Opens with the citrus, blooms and expands with the florals and levels off into a slightly herbal/floral with the citrus lasting a bit longer then usual on me.

A scent that draws you in. It is somewhat refreshing and relaxing. Balmy! That's the word. A scent to soothe the savage beast.

Upon reapplication, the florals and herbals are even brighter.

This is a classical perfume, in the sense its probably related to ancient formulas. This would be cousins related to other BPAL favorites of mine, Psyche, Sophia and Ides of March

Note: I came to insert the comparison of Ides of March into my review after wearing Orpheusagain today and find that LiberAmoris had already referenced that blend in her review... so perhaps that gives an idea of what this is like.

Well into drydown, there's a slight herbal soapy-ness. Not unpleasant or overbearing. More of a clean freshness... like Unicorn.

Question: why is there a lawn ornament in the artwork? What does the flamingo (or Ibis) symbolize?

Edited to add image - clover

Contains so many of my favorite notes, this was a 5ml without giving it a second thought. Franincense, Hyssop, Ylang Ylang, Herbals.

Deep yet lofty. A touch of sensuality in its spiritual form. That is what I wrote down as a description, so for me, this successfully evokes its subject matter.

As a perfume, it has the unusual property of opening with what I'd consider the bottom notes first (Frankincense and Copal) with the top notes unfolding later (Ylang Ylang & Herbals).

I get an Opening with the deep, slight sweetness of Frankincense and then comes the soaring flora and penetrating herbals.

Very good throw and long lasting. Would wear this for many occassions and any season excepting really light-hearted romps, weddings. IMO, a perfume that tends to be a bit more mature.

Wretched!

Yes, this is the one that had me

Rushing to wash it off.

Butter, toffee, pineapple?

HA! I say. You must be mad.

This is bitter almond to the end.

Drink Me takes The Cake

For fruity, foody vileness.

Lovely, lovely and lovely but so very.... frail?

You have to listen very carefully to hear Mouses Long and Sad Tale.

Spoken in a whisper and carried on a soft breath of air

it'll steal your heart away quietly and you barely even know it's there.

I get the Monsterbait Closet vibe too.

However, on me the Currants smell pretty darned bad for the first few minutes. Thank goodness I persevered... cause after about ten minutes a lovely foody-fruity scent wafted of my arm and lasted a substantial amount of time.

The Currant has a pleasant tartness that keeps this from being cloying. Eat Me is a dessert-type gourmand that would be nice for summer.

Mango with an undercurrent of something sort of dark. Was Tweedledum the sinister of the two?

If there's patchouli in this it plays well with the rest of the notes. An unusual reaction from a BPAL'er who's got a low tolerance level for most patchouli (wondering what variety is in this).

Kumquat says HELLO!

The living definition of fruity bitterness. Reminds me of Pink Grapefruit's bright and refreshing personality with a dash of orange pithy bitterness.

Absolutely perfect for summer.

This would work wonders for a hangover. One might consider layering this with something "creamy".

The orange blossom seems to peek out later and it's unusual for me to find it being less of a top note.

The Masque= Brisingamen

Underbed Monsters must be slightly more feral then Closet Monsters considering this Baiting Scent contains more snap then its sibling. Definately an effective lure for Underbed Monsters but it seems unlikely you could tame them enough for a tea party.

Dress-up would probably work though.

This scent has the Va-Voom.

Cassia blooms but doesn't overwhelm which is unusual for me. This wears as a skin scent with more throw then Closet thanks to the Cassia. Can't find the Cocoa. Thank Goodness the Coconut is subdued. Very well blended.

I think this is wonderful and will become astonishingly after aging.

This makes me think of Coffeecake, btw. No Snickerdoodles. It's less sweet upon drydown although my chemistry has a high tolerance level for sweet notes.

Perfect scent to lure your Closet Monster. It'll definately help tame him enough so you can invite him to a tea party! Might have to teach him some table manners, though

A whiff of cocoa does seem to be indicated along with the initial blast of booze and cake. The berries only appear a bit later, after the booze mostly burns off.

Happily, No hint of plastic or coconut.

Foody/boozy scents like this wear as a skin scent on me. So this doesn't have the throw but works wondering for layering.

Successful layering adventures thus far:

Fae (Peach Melba)

Bliss (Black Forest Cake)

When a BPAL scent has "herbal" notes, that's ususally a good indication it'll jive well with my chemistry. Osum does work very well.

Osun's honey gives the herbal notes a gentle lift. Youthful scent without being immature or girly. Fresh without soapiness. Sweet without foody/cloyiness.

Perfect scent to wear to ANYTIME except formal occassions and perhaps exclusively romantic occassions.

I could easily imagin getting a 10 ml to make lotion for spring/summer.

I sought out this thread after pulling Leanan Sidhe out of the imp pile and deciding it smells like Spring.

Fresh, very fresh. As does Grandmother of Ghosts.

Ides of March, too! Although primarily says "Classic" to me.

Well, patchouli and I do not mix. At this point, my list of BPAL patchouli scents that crashed and burned contains almost every one I've tried. The Masque seems to be the exception that proves my "No Patchouli" rule.

My Intuition told me try The Masque and thankfully I listened. Because this has become my Daily Wear. It's what I reach for.

Beautiful floral with a heart of incense. The honey sweetens the base just enough to lighten the experience while the cocoa meshes with the patchouli.

God I love The Masque.

Strong enough to be noticed by not so overpowering it's disruptive. Womanly, romantic. Perfect for Fall, Winter, Spring.