CrazyPretzel

In the imp: musky, a little cologne-y. On skin: stays musky and a little cologne-y for the first few minutes. Once this scent starts to bloom, the first half hour is really....*glittering*. I don't know how else to describe it. It's spicy and musky and with just a tiny touch of warmth -- it really does make me think of a night sky just after sunset when the first stars are visible. Or maybe a much darker sky with the Milky Way sparkling across it. After that, suddenly there's this golden presence that emerges -- maybe ozone + jasmine? The ozone gives it this soaring, expansive quality, and the goldenness makes me think that suddenly an enormous shining moon has risen in the starry sky. 10/10 for capturing the concept. This is very evocative.

Fresh on, this smells super-peachy! A sweet, sugared peach, like peach jam. I think I detect a tiny note of green somewhere under there as well. After about two hours, the amber and musk start to come out and soften this a little bit. It's adding some sophistication to what's otherwise a very childish blend (not in a bad way, in a fun and innocent way.)

Holy crap. Is dat sum lemon??? Seriously, this smells friggin' overpoweringly lemony for the first 15 minutes or so. And for the record, I *like* lemons. Not this one though. This is like furniture polish. And it seriously burns my nose in the same way that cinnamon red-hots do. Once the lemon has settled down, cedar comes out -- not the nice chilled-out cedar of Sri Lanka, but like the spikey closet-monster Cedar from Hell. I do not like this blend, nope.

In the imp this was a delicious and realistic chocolate-cherry scent, but on me it fades in about 5 minutes.

One of the first ones that my BPAL-disdaining boyfriend has had a positive reaction too Peculiarly I can't smell roses too strongly in this one -- I totally forgot they were in there and misremembered it as a violet-based scent. It is strongly-scented with a good throw, and calming -- seems like a very blue scent to me (maybe that's why I thought violets?)

OK, apparently I haven't written a review for this one either -- where is my brain? I'm afraid I get almost nothing but freshly-chopped ginger from this. It's a pleasant smell which ginger fans will adore, but it reminds me a little too much of medicine (I used to take candied ginger or ginger tea for stomach upsets and menstrual cramps.) Just not happy associations! After the ginger fades there's a teeny-tiny hint of sweetness left behind, but nothing striking. Simply not for me, I'm afraid.

Dang, this is so freakin' sexy. This is the first of the BPAL oils that I was running to dab on my boyfriend. And I didn't even get it with him in mind I'm familiar with patchouli and like it just fine, as with carnation and neroli, but there's something else intensely sexy going on with this one and I suppose it must be the ambergris. To me this is quite a cologne-y scent and surprisingly masculine, strong and sexy and smirking. Think carnival masks and masquerade balls. Did I mention it was sexy?

Looking at the notes in this (vanilla? opium? mandarin? lily of the valley?) I don't understand how it could have *not* worked on me, so I'm blaming the sandalwood. lol. It was divine in the imp -- slightly citrussy vanilla with a very sweet floral touch, but on me it turned into dusty wood. Fortunately there are lots of other blends to get my vanilla fix from.

Got this in a swap from Northernskygal Hmm -- I'm not actually getting booziness from this one! One me it's a sweet, well-rounded coconut with a tiny bit of fruitiness (???) during the initial stages. Not bad at all ETA: Wearing a proper quantity of this on another day (instead of just a tiny testing dab) it actually smells slightly musty at first, which I'm not crazy about. After an hour the mustiness fades and I get a tasty hazelnut smell along with the coconut. The hazelnut's really good but I prefer Obatala as a coconut scent.

Totally thought I had reviewed this one, but I guess not! In the imp it smelled totally lovely, warm and spicy and pumpkiny, but sadly it doesn't agree with my chemistry at all. About ten minutes after application it starts to smell rather greasy and fake. I've passed on the imp to someone else. Wish it worked -- guess I'll just have to stick with Pumpkin Queen!

I'm frankly shocked that this actually works on me! Usually watery notes are a bit meh, and the peony in The Dormouse flopped....maybe it's the grass and tulips doing the trick here? In the imp: light watery floral, a little sour. On me: The sourness disappears once this hits my skin. There's grass and some very delicate florals happening -- so light you'd hardly know they're florals, just a pleasant slightly crisp scent. A bit later: The soapy/synthetic note that usually gives me trouble in blends like this just does not show up. Hooray! I don't wear things like this that often, but I'm glad to have found one in this category that works on me!

Thanks for the picture, Diana! *admires*

This is an imp I got in a swap and it looks pretty old (nearly empty too), so I'm guessing it's quite well-aged. In the imp: musk. Not too much else going on. On skin: still musk. Drydown: Now it gets more interesting. Some spices are coming to the fore that *really* remind me of Snake Oil. After a little while, a cherry note appears that gradually gets deeper as time passes -- think big black cherries cut in half and you've got the cherry note. I couldn't pick out any strawberry in this one; amber and heliotrope aren't really obvious either, unless those combined with the vanilla are what's reminding me of Snake Oil. Basically, it's Snake Oil + cherries. If you like this one you'll like Snake Oil and Lust.

Slathered this one on before going out to a Das Ich show. *g* For the first few minutes, it's powerfully sweet lemon sherbet, similar to Phobos. That's cool; I don't mind lemon sherbet and can wait it out. Once that settles down, the opium comes to the fore and for as long as the scent lasts (which was all night, given how much I applied) it reminds me of Opium Poppy from Rappaccini's Garden, with just a bit of lemon behind it -- the notes combine wonderfully and make it strangely lickable. A winner.

I hate it! I love it! I hate it! I love it! Wait...now I'm just totally confused. lol. In the imp: coffee and burnt toast. Wet on skin: sex, coffee and burnt toast. After five minutes: roses and stale coffee. Burnt toast fading. After ten minutes: whoa, JASMINE! Rose and coffee blending nicely now and sort of a backdrop to the jasmine. After twenty minutes: vanilla over silky spicey dark notes (coffee, wood) with some full-bodied rose and jasmine happening. Dark and sultry. This is frankly too bewildering for me to handle a full bottle of, but I'll definitely keep the imp

In the imp, it's a softer, creamier ginger than Sudha Segara was; on me, it starts to do something absolutely amazing: big lush colourful tropical blooms... ...and then nothing. It vanishes in about two minutes. I'm so peeved. This was going to be a new number one favourite for sure! Sadly it disappears even if I go back and slather on a second layer. I'm going to hang on to the imp anyway; maybe on a really hot day I can get a little more life out of it.

Mint -- but rather light mint; tea, yes, and a definite sugar note. This is so yummy. In the bottle it seems as if it's not very strong, but it does get stronger after application, so try to resist the urge to slather

What a strange animal this is -- it's light, but there's something insanely wild about it; I can almost taste this in the back of my throat if I inhale deeply enough. Very deceptive; the notes all seem light enough (there's rain in there, and a touch of those flowers as well) and yet I would say this is by far the most demonic of the Diabolus blends I've tried. *stares out the window expectantly, waiting for storm clouds to come rolling in*

My usually BPAL-disinterested boyfriend actually went, 'Ooh -- that one's niiiice,' when smelling this on my wrist, before I even told him what it was. In the bottle: to me it smells like Snake Oil and dragon's blood, though there are none of those components listed. Go figure. As it dried on me, the sandalwood became more predominant and it began to smell a little bit incense-y. It is *strong* too. Perfect one for goth clubs. Or nights in.

In the imp, this had a sharp, almost vinegar-y smell. That dissipates as soon as it goes on my skin though. I put a wee dab on my thumb to test it and within about a minute it had turned into the loveliest rose fragrance you can imagine -- this coming from someone who's sick of roses! It brings up a perfect mental image of tightly curled and brightly coloured rosebuds sprinkled with dewdrops, but with a stronger and more glorious scent than any roses you'd encounter in real life. This is love

This starts off smelling like absolutely scrummy sweets, with a sexy depth from the neroli, and then...my skin gets carried away and *eats* it. Seriously. It's gone in, like, 5 minutes, even if I reapply. Come back! Maybe if I slather it on....

Cloyingly heavy in the imp, but settles down a little after application. This reminds me of caramel popcorn and heavily-buttered cinnamon toast. Maybe with a cup of hot chocolate off to one side. Definitely this will not be everyone's cup of tea, but I dig it ETA: After a couple of hours, this takes on a distinct burnt-sugar smell.

This is so much lighter than I expected -- the lavendar in this doesn't come across too sharply, and initially there's a quite bubbly citrus note That'll be the neroli and verbena, I expect... On me, this smells like a very posh, gentle-but-spicy lemon fragrance. Quite nice! ETA: Once the top notes faded, I smelled like soft frankincense all day. I love this one!

Sweet, pretty, dewy spring florals. I can smell some daffodil in there; the rest is too well-blended to pick out individual notes. It reminds me of Blue Moon without the mystery -- given that I do have Blue Moon, I think I might swap this bottle...

This is one of the most chilled-out lemon scents I've encountered from BPAL. Phobos was overwhelming lemon sherbet; this, on the other hand, is just like a thin slice of lemon floating in a cup of steaming green tea. It's quite light, so I needed to dab quite a lot on various pulse points to get any throw, but it's so refreshing and airy that I don't mind. The colour of the oil is completely clear, by the way, which seems suitable. This is not the sort of thing I usually go for, but I might actually spring for a bottle of this one!