LyndaM

I liked the mossy-piney slightly menthol beginnings, but then the dirt showed up. My skin amps the hell out of that dirt note. I didn't get any sweetness or berries that others experienced. I was left with a drydown reminiscent of a huge moist pile of earth, with a pine branch thrown on top. I wish it had remained fresh and piney! I'm just now beginning to appreciate the woodsy BPALs, and I wish this one had worked for me.

I'm very surprised that I like this one. It was a frimp from the lab, I would never have chosen it due to all the dirty words in the description...dirty words like opoponax, labdanum, and onycha. The narcissus, cypress, and ambergris pull his together for me (even though at times the narcissus has an almost jasminey feel - not good). It goes on all dark narcissus, with cypress lurking, and the drydown is smoothed out by the ambergris. The scary-type resins blended right in and complimented this blend, instead of dominating it the way they usually do. It's strong, with good waft and incredible staying power. It's not something I could wear every day like my beloved rose or lily BPAL blends, but I can forsee occasions when I would choose to wear this unique scent. It's strong enough that a drop or two is enough for me to get good waft, so I'll probably keep the imp rather than buying a bottle.

I got a frimp of this from lab with my order. Sniffing the imp, I detected fruity sweetness. Wet on my skin, it was sparkly light grape, with a fresh herbal undertone, almost a mintiness, though no one else mentioned it so I may be crazy. There is an incensy feel to this, dry, but the grape and herbal notes remain present. I think the incensey part might be myrhh, as overall I would describe this as a sweet blend. Frankincense and the like are almost always acrid, to my nose. This is nice overall, and a unique blend. I'm glad I got to try it, but it's not really for me due to the grape note.

Creamy, sweet, golden lilies. I'm partial to lily blends anyway, but this is particularly gorgeous. The honey is just enough to lend a touch of sweetness and a golden hue, while still letting the beautiful floral shine. It lasts for about 4 hours, which is excellent with my track record of disappearing BPAL. It is very faint by the end, and I have to put my nose to my skin to detect it. It also doesn't have much throw at all, it's more of a skin scent that only I can smell; but I love this so much that I don't even care.

Guh. Orange blossom honey, and reminiscent of my precious O. Just the barest touch of rose comes out on drydown, and the sandalwood grounds it all beautifully. I ordered a 5ml, and wish now that I'd ordered a 10. This is the daytime version of O for me, a bit less sexy, just as gorgeous.

I had high hopes for Harlot, as rose and cinnamon by themselves are key in several of my favorites. I have to confess that I would never have thought these notes would work well together, and I was pleasantly surprised that they balance and blend as well as they do. The cinnamon was really strong in the imp and when I first applied, but after a few moments the gorgeous roses blossomed on my skin. Unique and pretty, and terrific for fall. I was trying to hoard my imp until my bottle comes, but finally said the hell with it and slathered the rest of the imp. You only live once, right?

Very green and grassy. Occasionally a waft of berry will appear for a moment, but the lemony tangy grassy green remains the strongest presence on my skin. Shaaarp. Not my thing at all, the unrelenting herbal scent made me a little headachey. I found it to be very long lasting (the ones I'm not as crazy about always last! ), and it didn't really morph much on drydown, so if you like it, it might be a real winner for you.

Herbal and grassy blends tend not to work on me, so I was leery. The Apothecary is the epitome of green. My chemistry turned it astringent, and astringent it remained. I couldn't detect any fig or ginger, but I got a tartness that made me think of lemon. Very lemon-grassy. Dry, the moss made a half-hearted appearance, but by then I was a bit headachey. It was very bright and a bit sour throughout. It just wasn't for me, but on a person whose chemistry cooperates with lemon and fresh leafy greenery, it might be lovely.

The mint really stood out here, right from the imp. As it dried I got a soft sweetness that I recognized from LitA, must be the ambergris. Overall a very nice scent, but mint just isn't for me. In my mind, its forever tied to toothpaste!

This reminds me of my beloved O plus cinnamon. I ordered a bottle unsniffed, and was so glad I did. I knew I'd love it. Sweet, spicy, sexy amber-ish copal, it's all here. Everything I hoped for, and more.

Also called Gallows Literature. A dime novel rife with melodrama, horror, madness and cruelty; a ten cent analogy of vice and virtue in conflict. Soft perfume evocative of noir heroines over rich red grave loam. I couldn't get past the dirt note. This happened to me with Zombi, too, my skin just will not allow any other note to shine. Dirt notes are interesting and evocative, but I wish I could get something else along with it, to round it out...

My toddler loves Alice. Whether on me, on her, or on her baby dolls. I put a drop on her pony tail holder every time she asks for 'Alice underland foom', nearly every morning.

OMG this has patchouli?!? I got a frimp from mobilejessie in the mail today, and swiped it on without looking up the description. I enjoyed the dark, spicy fruity sweetness. I actually like it. A perfume with patchouli. Either hell has frozen over, or my tastes are evolving.

An awesome, corrupted rose blend. Shadowy, slightly spicy rose in the imp, darkening on my skin with the tobacco, sweetened and thickened by the vanilla. This blend loves me, and I love it right back. I managed to obtain two bottles after it was gone, and will continue to buy more if it is available on the sale threads. I agree with a previous poster, who mentioned that it will probably age well. LitA is my perfect special occasion perfume. Unique and beautiful.

I'm really liking Othello. I'm on a roll of very good luck trying new BPAL blends. For some reason, every Arabian musk note I have tried blends right in with my natural scent, and I love that effect here. Othello is very smooth, with the rose and musk blending beautifully, and I just get the barest whiff of the spices. It becomes a skin scent due to the way Arabian musk behaves on me, so it doesn't have the 'perfumey' feel that others are experiencing. I almost always love rose blends, and this is no exception; Othello just agrees with me all the way around. The musk adds depth. To me, this is a richly feminine scent, and I can't even imagine it on a boy. The rose note seems similar to the Love in the Asylum rose (lurve!) to my nose. I swapped for 5ml of this, and I'm happy to have it. I'll certainly buy more when I run out.

I find Paypal much easier, personally. My first order was CCnow. I didn't realize at that time that it took a while to be charged; and I was scratching my head, wondering why it hadn't been charged, and if it had been recieved by lab at all. With Paypal, I can pay and forget about it, with CCNow, I obsessively stalk the status, waiting to see when it will be charged, and worrying about my husband cluelessly spending the money!

Sweet pea with stargazer lily, calla lily, heliotrope, honeysuckle, white musk and a touch of fresh pear. As with most of the BPAL floral blends containing lily, I love this. I think the white musk helps to anchor the scent, and makes it last beyond the typical light floral. I don't detect the pear, which is just as well as fruit notes usually don't agree with me. On me the lily is the predominant note, creamy, clean and fresh. It doesn't have much throw, but I am impressed with the staying power. I can still smell it close to my skin after 5 hours. I hope the bottle I order is as light on the pear as my imp. I always seem to be in the minority with my love of Beth's lighter florals, but damn, she does them well. Much better than these types of blends by the mainstream makers. I often choose to wear fresh florals and less-sexy blends for daytime, and I'm glad BPAL offers them. Doesn't smell like any drugstore perfume I've ever smelled! Edit: Juliet is tenacious. I get light whiffs of it around the house, from things I have touched while wearing it, for days afterward. It doesn't seem to last on my skin, but lingers for-freakin'-ever on fabrics.

I'd been anxious to try this one; I am a hermit when I can get away with it, and the word itself suits my personality. Nine tenths of my life is lived inwardly, and I am happy alone. So of course I rarely am! On me, The Hermit is fresh, aquatic, and herbal/plant-like, with maybe a bit of gentle wood. Perhaps a hint of unidentifiable floral, as it's drying down. I don't get any fruit out of it, nor vanilla creaminess as others have mentioned. This makes me think of a hermit who has gone to be close to nature, not to shut himself up in a room somewhere. Very outdoorsy. I like it, and it's more wearable than I expected. I'm going in halves with another forumite on a bottle, and I will definitely wear it.

This is amazing. Fresh, fresh woods. My father owns a piece of heavily wooded property in rural Missouri, a picturesque place with a little rustic house and a small river running through. Yggdrasil is the scent of this place, walking through the trees where they are the thickest, and not much light gets through. Huge ancient deciduous trees towering overhead, oak and maple and birch. And it especially reminds me of sitting under the single giant catawba tree near the house, well over 100 feet tall, with all the seed pods and moss and old leaves around the base. I love this, it's completely different than my usual choices (not a rose or flower in sight!), but still 'me', and very wearable. A surprise treasure.

Instant favorite and top 10 list buster on the first try. My only experience with amber had been a very poor one from a different perfumer, and I was almost reluctant to try the ambery BPAL blends. O is nothing like the yucky bitter amber I tried before, it's sweet, sexy and perfect. It's rather light on me, to the point of being a skin scent, but it lasts forever! I kept getting little wafts of it up to 5 hours after application, and can still smell it on my skin after 10 hours. Definite bottle, O calls for slathering! Eternal gratitude to Undine for the frimp, I probably wouldn't have discovered it for a long time.

Love it! I knew I would, I adore BPAL's lily notes in every blend I've tried containing them. The blend of lilies here is gorgeous, heady and sweet. I get a brief blast of the cherry in the beginning, but after that it's all about pure floral. I ordered a bottle unsniffed, and now I wish I'd gotten a 10ml. It's very fresh, clean and pretty, just the way I like my daytime scents to be.

I'm wearing a gorgeous medieval gown, I wore it as a bridesmaid in an awesome wedding few years ago. I'm still sorting out which BPAL I will wear, but I'm thinking one of the Illyria, maybe Desdemona or Viola.

I adore the minty-vanilla-coconut parts of this scent, but I don't care much for the lemon/lime note. That note is incredibly strong and tenacious on my skin, it just won't mellow long enough to give the notes I love a chance to shine.

I'm sad to say that Samhain did not work for me. To be honest, I hadn't really expected it to; patchouli has never been my friend. But I had to try out the dearest love of so many people! While waiting for 2005 to arrive, I'd gotten to test a few drops of 2004, and it was too earthy for me. I could smell that note so strongly sniffing from the bottle, that it was instant headache-in-a-bottle and I couldn't even apply it. I'm glad to report that it's found a very happy home elsewhere. Please note that I have a very strong aversion to the scent of patchouli in any amount, so I don't mean to imply that this is loaded with it or anything. A little or a lot is the same to me: too much. So, as always, YMMV.

I'm torn about Bengal. I adore chai tea scents, and my favorite perfume in the world has very similar notes to Bengal. And I loved it in the imp. The problem is, I get a strange note out of it once it hits my skin. Almost a plasticky note, and I can't figure out what it might be. I'll definitely try it again, it may just be fluctuating chemistry issues.