CrazyPretzel

Neat!! I'll get something written up over the next month or so and maybe start it the last week of October so people have enough time to make stuff before mailing first week in December.

Would definitely love to do this. I'm going swap-mad this season

OOOOoo! OOO! DO IT! I can help out if you need a little extra help with being the leader! Its a little too much for me to do right now, there's a lot of tracking going on with the 12 days sort of thing!

 

13 Days of Halloweeen! AIEEEE!

 

(ANd yes, there were 12 packages that were sent, then everyone started opening presents the same day, and opened one present each day for 12 days.)

 

Oh, right on! So there's not 12-13 separate shipping charges to pay I'm on board with that then!

All this talk of Halloween has me hoping someone will run a 12 days swap for that. ;-)

Ooooooh! That would be fun! Someone should do a 12 days!

 

This!

I'll run one, if there aren't other volunteers. Arlith's 12 Days swap last year was awesomely fun. Also, this would be a good excuse to make a Halloween tree....

How about 13 Days of Halloween, starting on October 21 and Finishing on November 3, so that it could incorporate Dia de los Muertos?

Would a two week window between shipping deadline and start of the 13 days be enough to let internationals play?

 

How exactly did the 12 Days swap work? Do participants send off 12 (or in this case 13) packages?

All this talk of Halloween has me hoping someone will run a 12 days swap for that. ;-)

Ooooooh! That would be fun! Someone should do a 12 days!

Open to internationals, please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please etc.

I'm having a blast with the fandom swap - is there any interest in a Britcom swap?

What sort of things would be included?

This starts off as a gorgeous, exotic leather & spiced coffee scent on me. The leather is very smooth and sexy. This is sweet but I think it would be lovely on a guy regardless. The far drydown is like a lightly spiced vanilla that stays on the skin for hours. I can smell it in the morning after a previous night application.

I just had a little of this to skin test; now I need more!

Purple Spotted Swallowtail starts with a strong blast of lime that is a bit cleaner-y, but it quickly becomes tempered by the clove and balsam. The lime keeps the clove from becoming too bitter. The long drydown for me is plum and soft opium poppy. I don't get any discernible amber from the blend. This is a very pretty and unusual summer scent.

This is freakin' gorgeous.

Fresh from my decant and before looking at the note listing I thought I smelled tuberose or lotus - the sort of floral that's not only very sweet but juicy. On my skin I can smell a soft, creamy peach scent just like Dark Alice mentioned. I wonder if that's what happens to black currant when you sweeten it right up with sexy flowers and vanilla bean As it continues to dry a soft, pure herbal note comes out, and the fruit stays pure and strong. I'd call this one a fruity floral but grounded by the musk. Absolutely wonderful and a bottle purchase for sure.

This is pretty darn close to the description It smells like warm, delicious wood spice to me, with a generous overlay of burnt sugar. It's pretty scrumptious and may be big-bottle-worthy.

I think this one definitely isn't a winner for me.

While it's wet, I can smell dark purple fruits combined with a strange dry, papery note that might be the linen.

On my skin the fruit remains prominent and I can smell the opium poppy as a distinct note. The lavender is soft and pretty, a little powdery, but there's still that odd paper smell that's making it a bit off. As it continues to dry a spiciness comes out - it doesn't smell like cinnamon to me but it definitely makes it sharper.

Hmmmm. My heart tells me to side with the power of free speech against 'the wicked wrath of moral panic,' yet I think I love El Nuevo Puritano a whole lot more than La Mano del Destino.

When it's wet the patchouli is dirty and strong, almost offensively so to me. After it dries for a few minutes the patchouli is still going strong but it's joined by another note, the copaiba I think, which reminds me of dry grass, hay, or hemp rope. Sadly I don't detect any of the gourmand notes like cacao, vanilla, or cinnamon, which is what I was really hoping for.

I can get some tobacco if I huff really deeply. It's like sticking my nose into a packet of loose tobacco.

La Mano and I are not meant to be.

Wet, I find that the oak, leather, and lime are the strongest notes. The oak scent is fresh like recently cut wood.

As it dries the tea becomes much more distinct. It's a strong tea and combined with the citrus it slightly suggests Earl Grey to my nose. Earl Grey combined with dry, spicy wood and very soft smooth leather. I'm finding this really sexy; it would make a great scent for a Dom, or a Domme, even.

There's not a lot of sweetness to this but it's not so masculine that I'd feel odd wearing it. It makes me think of being in the library of an English manor house with slate-gray threatening skies outside.

Final drydown is predominantly smooth dry wood, light delicious spices and astringent tea. I love it!

Interesting....

Totally fresh, it's sharp and medicinal and not very pleasant - even a little plasticky. Once on my skin, the lime is the first noticeable note, and the clove which I think is what was giving me that plasticky/medicinal vibe. Then the opium poppy really comes to the fore and makes the scent much more perfumey, much more glamorous, much more BIG-BOSOMED, somehow. I can't make myself stop sniffing it at this stage.

The clove is still there, but it settles down and blends in with the balsam and the musks to create a spicy, sultry backdrop to the opium poppy, and yes, there's purple fruit there too. I mostly smell poppy, but that's probably what I'm zeroing in on as it's one of my favourite notes. It's beautifully set off against everything else in this blend, like a fine painting in the most exquisitely matched frame.

What a dramatic difference a drydown can make!

My initial reaction to this one was similar to ybnb's: an underlying gorgeous sweetness warring with very harsh smoky vetiver. I found though that the long drydown - like after about 30 minutes - was amazing, brown/cream sweetness and *totally* worth the strong vetiver at the beginning. I will need a bottle, maybe two.

Freshly applied, I get a great juicy berry note from this with a little bitty touch of white florals and spice. It smells more purple and white to me than the sharp greenness that other reviewers have described.

As it dries the honey starts to come out more strongly and make it seriously sweet, like orange blossom honey. Now I can smell a sort of leafy greenness. The fruit/berry note is still pretty strong.

I actually get a different feel from Perchta than in most of the previous reviews. When it's wet I can smell a strong fir scent, but as it dries it becomes primarily a sweet, sweet floral scent. It makes me think of sugared buttercups. There is still a green note from the pine and I can see how that might turn to 'celery' for some people, though thankfully it doesn't for me. This is really nice and I may have to track down a bottle.

This is remarkable: such a dry, pure leather and old paper scent. It is not like anything I've smelled before, and it is *so* atmospheric. For those of us that love old books, this is amazingly evocative and gives such a rush of happiness.

Definitely goes on with a citrus pop, so it's surprisingly refreshing for a scent called 'Quietude'. It's got a slightly metallic edge to it which I'm guessing is the lavender. It has some strong throw. It is soothing without being sleep-inducing. This could be a nice one to wear when I have to teach a noisy kindy class, actually.

I've actually never tried this scent on myself. What I remember of this scent on my boyfriend () is a sweet amber musk with definite forest and leather notes. It's the most lickable non-foody scent that I've ever encountered, and really, really good. I think we'll be getting a bottle once the decant is finished.

I've been wearing this for a few days straight now to use up my decant and it is, indeed, very yummy. I find that on my skin the chocolate, coconut, and cardamom notes tend to come out more, while in a scent locket I can smell more of the booziness. The chocolate scent is quite thick and there's that warm spice from the cardamom, but cut by the sweetness of the coconut, so it's not really a spicy scent, more of a rich and creamy one.

I can see why people who have difficulties with the milk note can't wear this one directly on the skin.

I wouldn't mind having more of this one someday.

If I apply BPAL oils to my neck for more than a couple of days, I tend to get painful cyst-type breakouts along my jawline and neck as well. The only problems I've had with my collarbone/wrists/inside of elbows, though, is a slight rash if it's a particular oil like cinnamon that's actually an irritant.

Personally I'm a big fan of putting perfume oil on the ends of my hair; it lasts longer, doesn't morph unpredictably, and helps with dry ends. Plus I get wafts of scent every time I move my head

In the imp: clear, refreshing, a little sharp, a little sweet.

On skin: oh, it's tricky to pick out notes when you're first reviewer! I think there's a pervading scent of Christmas tree in this one, but it's not a heavy sap-laden pine. It's quite airy and chilly, like the scent of pine through cold winter air. There's just a little bit of powdery sweetness to it as well.

It will be interesting to see what everyone else makes of this Thanks Puddin'!

On me this scent seems much more woodsy than aquatic; I wouldn't have pegged it for an aquatic scent at all, to be honest. Even after drydown it retains some of that spicy men's-shaving-cream scent with an undertone of bitter woods. The frankincense is strong but not as sweet as it usually is on me.

This is definitely a dirty, sexy scent, but the black currant comes out surprisingly strong so that the smoky-muskiness is second fiddle to the berry tartness. I'd consider it more foody than incense-y, personally - it smells rather lickable

This is a really super scent! It's not very heavy on the florals - wet, I can smell predominantly fresh crisp green apple and vanilla cream, so it's a bit more foody than floral, but very light and playful with none of the heavier sugars that often play into BPAL gourmand blends. I find it lasts under two hours on my skin, but it has wonderful throw while it lasts.