ladymissspyder

In bottle: candied plums. The ones you get in Chinese groceries. Wet: craft store "sugarplum" potpourri. Which is probably spelled wrong, but you know what I mean. Dry: Spicy plum. Very round and juicy. Now THIS is what I wanted Red Phoenix to smell like! (While being a perfectly lovely scent, Red Phoenix had too much cassia for me). And it's a GC! Joy! Overall scent: AWESOME. That is all.

These are not all perfect matches...some of these are more complimentary scents that seem like they would go together. If you like Tum, Freak Show, or Centzon Totochin, you might like Bathed & Infused's Mexico body lotion. If you like the Star or Black Pearl, you might like the Body Shop's Coconut line. If you like the Star, try Yankee Candle's Key Lime Pie candle. Swank + BBW's Coconut Lime Verbena is Heaaaaavenly. That lotion also goes great with Baneberry and the Star. If you like Midway, you might like Parfum de Coeur's Cotton Candy lotion. If you like O, try Tutti Dolci's Sugar Wafer lip gloss, Lush's Honey I Washed The Kids soap and The Ma Bar bubble bar, and Shi Kai's French Vanilla body wash. If you like the Panacea blends, try Aura Cacia's aromatherapy line. If you like Arcana, try the Body Shop's lavender line. If you like London or any of the rose scents, try Jason's Rosewater and Glycerine lotion and Colonial Candle Company of Cape Cod's Rose candles. If you like Velvet, try DSH's Bois du Chocolat. If you like Bliss, try Dragonalchemy's Chocolate Cream. If you like Tulszcha, try Colonial Candle Company of Cape Cod's Vanilla Mint candles. If you like chocolate with orange in it, try BPAL's Great Sword of War. If you like Fae, try Colonial Candle Company of Cape Cod's Apricot Mango Sorbet candles. OK, so. I have 2 quick questions: has anyone smelled any BPAL similar to the new Citrus and Amber candles at Target? And (long shot here since I'm sure the ingredients cost a mint) how about anything that smells like Lolita Lempicka?

In bottle: lavender with a little rosemary and lemon Wet: Rosemary with a bit of lavender. Top notes: lavender. Middle/Base notes: a balanced herbal floral scent with a lemony finish. Overall scent: I find that I don't wear this very often, but it is a nice and refreshing floral.

In bottle: light soapy citrus. Wet: light herbal citrus. It's hard to even smell. Top notes: soapy, in a lemon dish soap sort of way. Oddly enough, it's starting to develop some strength. It's not what I'd call a strong scent by any means, but I can smell it a couple of inches from my skin. Middle/Base notes: a more lemony version of the dish soap. Overall scent: It's a nice scent, but not me. If you like citruses and "fresh linen" scents, this could be for you.

In bottle: woody chocolate. Wet: chalky chocolate with a wood undertone. Dry: Sandalwood and chocolate, in about equal amounts. Leaves a slight greasy mark on skin. After about 10 minutes, the vanilla comes out to play (it's a bit more "buttery" than the usual bpal vanilla). Overall scent: This is one of the scents I prefer aged, I think. I had a sniffer frimp that won me over, then I got a newer one in a swap...and that wasn't nearly as good. Now that my imp is a few months older...WOW. The components have matured and really make this a special oil.

Quick review from memory (3 days ago), so please forgive the lack of detail. (Actually, after reading this, it has about as little information as any of my reviews, heh.) When I sniffed the Tell-Tale Heart, I was immediately struck by its resemblance to Centzon Totochin, so I did a side-by-side test of both scents. I'm going to this review as a comparison since Centzon is still available from the lab, and might be easier to get at this point. In bottle, Centzon smells a bit more vanilla-y Wet, Centzon explodes with a sweet chocolate/incense/vanilla high note that doesn't show up in the Tell-Tale Heart. The Tell-Tale Heart goes into a more laid-back incense/chocolate stage that doesn't have that much throw. Dry, however, I really couldn't tell much difference between the two except that Centzon lasted a bit longer on me and had more throw. They both went into an incensey/cocoa phase that was really lovely. Since I go for the foodier/sweeter scents, I decided to just stick with Centzon.

In bottle: I can smell the cucumber, mint and white pepper in equal amounts. It's very lovely. Wet: Sweet mint with an undercurrent of cucumber. No white pepper! (Woe). Dry: Cool cucumber. Throw: moderate. Staying power: don't know yet, but it seems like it's not going to last more than a couple of hours. Aesthetics/scent itself: very nice, very well balanced. I find it really disappointing that it's fading so quickly, since this is the first cucumber scent I've actually liked.

I'm not having any problems with the anise in this per se. The anise on me has a true scent - perhaps a little more on the fennel side - but it's not doing anything that some of the other reviewers have complained about. I just don't like anise. :/

I didn't get past sniffing this in the vial, since all I could smell was camphor. :/ ETA: I put a drop on - definitely Vick's VapoRub with a slightly spicy undertone. Sorry, but there it is.

Funny, I could have sworn I had already reviewed this one. Huh. Anyway, Baneberry is a juicy-fresh blend of blackcurrant, raspberry and... oakmoss(?) on me. The green note of the oakmoss keeps it from being too sweet (something I normally like except in berry scents). It has a good throw and decent staying power.

I got this in a swap from Diana (thank you!!!), and I have to say that this is great! I have a hard time wearing florals, and this is just a lovely blend of suntan lotion and magnolia on me. And oh, how I love magnolia. It's a little light, though. I had to apply it twice to get a decent sniff of it. But that's OK. I prefer my fragrances to have a bit of throw, but that's not always appropriate.

Am I the only person who smells Easter lilies? Heh. Oh, well. After about 15 minutes of Easter lilies and Dragons's Blood, I now smell like Dragon's Blood. I guess the vanilla's there? It's just not very predominant on me. I looooove Dragon's Blood, so this is a keeper.

Damn, I wish I could drink this. Anyway, this reminds me a bit of Baneberry - not in terms of the notes, but in that they both give an overall impression of fruity freshness. The pomegranate is well-developed, sweet and fruity - something I really can't say for most pomegranate scents out there. It also has outstanding throw. I'm trying 4 scents on right now, and Swank is the only one I can smell at a distance. If you like clean fruity scents, you should definitely try this.

I passed on this when it was up because BPAL's sugar and musk notes tend to be really iffy on me. However, when I read the reviews comparing Smut to Sed Non Satiata, I caved and traded for an imp. Smut is like Sed Non Satiata in that they both have strong myrrh notes. Smut, however, has a LOT more musk. When I first applied it, it smelled like Jovan Musk for about 20 minutes. Then I experienced about 10 minutes of the niiiiicest musk scent I've ever smelled. And then it did what all BPAL musks do on me - it turned into a perfect imitation of unwashed laundry. Phooey.

This smells like Mixkatonic University and Grog to me - without the ZOMG OVERPOWERING leather that Mixk U had, and not as sweet as Grog. Some other reviewers have mentioned Elegba, and there's a real strong "family resemblance" there, too. It's the rum. Elegba, however, has a little waft of "hotness" that isn't in this blend. It IS the closest GC scent to Red Lantern that I've tried, though. Anyway, this is sort of how I hoped Misk U would smell. It's smoky and rummy and altogether yummy. The tobacco leaf gives it a nice masculine twist.

Light florals with a delicate waft of unwashed laundry. I bet there's sage in this. *goes to check other reviews*

Lately, I've been running across a lot of fragrances that are very stable and long-lasting on me. Sed non Satiata is one. It smells like baby powder sexed up with musk and spice and a little bit of florals. It's very...vintage, actually. I like it quite a bit. I especially like how the myrrh is well-balanced, and doesn't get too "tangy." At the very end of the day, the cognac note finally comes out to play, but only after it's faded and become more of a skin scent.

I'm having a very hard time picking out individual notes...a spicy (cassia?) fruit (plum?) with an undercurrent of something creamy (tonka?) and a waft of smokiness (tobacco?). I love it. It's like a sweeter, sexier version of Anne Bonny on me. Very wearable and sultry. It's definitely a keeper, and one of the best BPAL scents I've tried.

In the bottle: this smells like Smell This' "Cake Batter." Wet: Nice bloom of vanilla with a cinnamon undercurrent. Dry: Oh, no. This gets way too foody and overpowering on me. Alas.

Very strongly medicinal.

Oh, Eden, you heartbreaker. I had such high hopes for you: coconut and fig are some of my favorite notes, and the green note in Baneberry worked out really well on me, so I thought you would be like that. But with fruity fig and coconut instead of the berry. However, you made the green scent was really sharp and overpowering, and made me a bit ill. Back to swaps for you.

Hail unto Thee who art Tum in Thy setting, even unto Thee who art Tum in Thy joy, who travellest over the Heavens in Thy bark at the Down-going of the Sun. Tahuti standeth in His splendour at the prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm. Hail unto Thee from the Abodes of Day! Hrm. I'm not getting the strong grape/fruity scents everyone else is getting here. I'm getting a honey/resin blend with the teensiest waft of a generic fruit and some spice. It's nice! I'm thinking of using this instead of O when I'm in a honey mood.

When I first put this on, I get a delicious ripe cherry scent that lasts for about 15 minutes. Then - I kid you not - it gets a little weird and chemically and smells exactly like my old "Cherry Cuddler" doll for another 15. After that, it mellows into a nice wood and currant blend. I like it, but I'm still debating if the weird chemically phase is something I'm willing to live with.

Ah, dammit. All I'm getting out of this is sage + sweet pea, which smells like dusty old lady on me. Usually Tonka makes almost anything smell great on me, but not this time. Off to swaps!

I got this as an empty-for-sniffing with my last swap, and it smelled so delicious, that I managed to eke a little drop out to try on my skin. Now, my nose is STUCK to the spot. This had a wonderful peachy high note (which has sadly faded), but is now a lovely light/sweet/warm/earthy musky blend. This is definitely one of my favorite scents, and I usually go for the heavier/complex/vampier scents. Oh, man. I think I might only be able to get one more wearing out of this frimp. ETA: You know what it is? It's the oakmoss/peach thing. OMG.