LyndaM

I'm in love. I don't know why I hadn't tried this already, it's been in my imp box for weeks. Creamy gorgeous roses and lilies on top, but so much more complex than that. So many layers to this blend. The amber, moss and woods never really assert themselves individually, they just add depth and richness. Definitely an instant favorite, and an absolute gem of a perfume. One of the best florals I have ever had the pleasure of testing, and certainly one of the best suited to both my chemistry and taste. Can you tell yet that it's right up my alley? Viola makes me feel like dressing up in my best dress and high heels, and finding something interesting to do that is worthy of my fabulous scent!

I love Maiden, but after reading through the other reviews, I'm confused. Y'all get rose out of Maiden? On me, it's single note carnation. Maybe I'm just amping that note. Must obtain another imp for comparison! I'll edit when I puzzle it out...

I surprised myself by really liking this. It's obviously more traditionally masculine, and I'm usually a gourmand/roses/lily kind of girl. It's not my usual thing at all, but despite all that it smells really good to (and on) me. I can't even pin down what I love about it; I'm getting the amber, moss and lavender, but none of those notes usually get me this interested on their own. It goes on STRONG, but within a half hour mellows down into just perfect. The carnation is a mere suggestion here, but I do love that note and maybe it's holding this blend together for me. This would be wonderful for stormy nights, with a fire in the fireplace and one of my old favorite books. Or as a fresh and unexpected choice for when I'm dressed up in my 'proper lady' clothes. I will probably end up buying a bottle, this is so comforting and so unlike my floral or foody leanings.

Once again I'm foiled by my nemesis, Dragon's Blood. On me it's a fakity-fake cherry-scented-plastic note, and I just can't do it. I catch whiffs of the vetiver, which is interesting as I haven't tried many scents containing it yet. It's giving an almost medicinal touch, here. This one just didn't work for me.

I'm so torn up over this one. I absolutely LOVE the honeyed vanilla, but the DB just isn't working for me. I know DB is a natural substance, but for some reason on me it's very artificial and plasticky, like a waxy faux-cherry. I wanted to love it, but I guess I can't love them all.

I ordered this with my very first imp pack from lab; in my newbie cluelessness, I hadn't realized it was unreleased. They sent it anyway! Thanks, lab. This is luscious, it goes on sweet cherry/almond, and dries down to a very light cinnamon and a clear sweet orange. If there is actually cinnamon present, it's very light, and doesn't overwhelm the blend at all. I love it, if it were made available, I'd buy a bottle. It was my favorite of all my imps. EDIT: If this does contain Dragon's Blood, this is the first DB blend that has worked for me.

This came as a frimp from lab with my first order. Very appropriate for the things going on in my life right now; I wondered if was coincidental, or if a labbie had had a flash of intuition, or if someone had been reading my posts! Whatever the reason for this imp finding me, I was happy to get it. In the imp and wet on my skin, it's a delicious clean aquatic, clear and cool. It shifted between light green and light blue in feel. As it dried, it went more green and herbal. I don't get any lemon or violet as others have mentioned, but my nose is still developing. It did seem calming, and I really enjoyed sniffing it; I snorfled my wrist far more often than I normally do. It went a little powdery at the tail end of drydown, but I don't mind powdery. I don't usually go for aquatic or herbal scents, but I liked it more than I thought I would. EDIT: On second try I got the violets, this is really a lovely blend. I'll be ordering a bottle, I like the scent and I need the benefits. I plan to slather it on my next really stressful day, and give the blend a real test for its' intended purpose.

I hadn't read the reviews, and this wasn't at all what I was expecting. To me, this smells like a very sweet, plum liquor. The sweetness seems to be brown sugar instead of white, but yeah. Fortified plum brandy is the best decription I can come up with. Very heady and boozy. I don't get any tobacco. I really like it since I readjusted my expectations, and it was made even better by the fact that I didn't have to slather to get throw (!), and it had great lasting power. I'll wear and enjoy it as is, but I'm also going to try to speed-age an imp of it to see if the fruit tones down. Edit: Okay...maybe I'm nuts, or this loses the fruit and booze in extreme drydown. My husband just nuzzled my neck, six hours after application, and said, "You smell just like pancakes and syrup".

Woodsy, musky and sexy; this is the first BPAL my husband has really loved. The fir, tobacco and clove are all very present from the beginning, and are wonderfully strong and masculine. The mint and orange blossom are only just detectable, and the musk grounds it all beautifully. My husband hates anything that could remotely be considered girly, and dislikes 'incensey' scents, and is generally picky and hard to please. Dracul had him at first sniff; I have finally found the BPAL that brought him around. It's also very long lasting on him (detectable after a quick shower, even), and a little goes a long way! Someone will have a big bottle in his Christmas stocking this year...

In the imp, Elegba smelled just like hyper, boozy butterscotch. When I first applied it, I clearly smelled the rum, and then the coconut. Reminds me of a thick sweet tropical drink, as many others have said before me. As it dries down, it stays rummy coconut, and I'm recognizing a whiff of the tobacco, but if I sniff directly on my skin I get a weird plasticky note. That isn't enough to ruin it for me, as the waft stays true. I do wish it lasted longer, it's gone leaving only a faint sweetness on my skin in about an hour and a half. That might just be me though; my skin soaks up oils and most blends are gone pretty quickly. I luckily snagged a 5ml off swaps, and I'll definitely use it up. It's like a little bit of summer on a dreary fall day.

I can't smell this. I got a very faint suggestion of something, maybe something sweet, when I first applied (slathered) but then nothing. I put so much on that my arm was glistening like a basted turkey; but nada. It sounds really nice from what others have said, though! EDIT: Fully dry I do get the faintest whiff of fragrance, as if I had bathed with a good quality bar of sweet ginger soap. I like it, but it's just too light.

I got a frimp of this from a generous soul in a swap. Sniffing the imp, I initially smelled a dirt note, like in Zombi, but this seemed like moist earth instead of dry ick. I didn't care for Zombi, but I could smell other goodies lurking in the backround here, so I gave it a fair chance. I'm so glad I tried this; as it dried, the most amazingly sweet and fruity scent began wafting up from my wrist. Amber doesn't normally work on me, but here it's very well balanced with the other notes and I don't mind it. Incense notes usually hate me as well, but they're kinda working here. I still got the dirt note when I snorfled my wrist, but the waft was really lovely. I don't get any rose, unfortunately.* Overall I like it, the very first BPAL with incense that has agreed with me. I hate it when I like LEs! If it ever makes a reappearance, I'd buy a bottle. * Maybe I'll layer it with some London...

De Sade smells like soft brown leather to me, not hard black leather. I have a black leather sample from another perfumer, and it's SO harsh (it literally smells like new hard leather boots), that it's just unwearable for me. De Sade is a true leather, just a bit milder, and easy for me to wear. This is the same leather note that's in Whip, to my nose. De Sade layers beautifully with London to produce a scent very reminiscent of Whip, but with richer roses which I love. I've done a lot of experimenting with it, it's also great layered under Wanda for days I feel like really kicking ass. Very nice; I don't think I'll ever wear it alone, but I plan to buy a bottle to amp up the leather in some favorites, and to create the Whip-on-steroids blend I love.

I was initially afraid to even sniff this imp, due to jasmines' habit of causing me terrible headaches. This time it didn't, and I wholeheartedly love Queen Mab. Sniffing the imp, I identified the orchid first, thanks to my love of Regan. The orchid here is a bit duskier and deeper, but just as beautiful. Once I applied it, it blossomed into a dusky muted floral. As others have said, it is definitely a velvety purple scent. I never identified the jasmine, which is a Very Good Thing. It morphed as it dried, and more of the florals came out to play, but the orchid stayed in front. It had pretty good throw, my husband could smell it an arms' length away after 3 hours. As it dried, the sandalwood and musk made the lingering stages of extreme drydown absolutely gorgeous on my skin. I had better luck than others with the staying power, it held on longer than most florals, and never went soapy (though I'm one of the few who actually like 'soapy' in some blends). I loved every stage if this, and it was a comforting scent to me. I'm including a bottle in my Yule order.

Great suggestion, I know I've read a couple of studies about chocolate increasing seratonin levels in the brain. I wonder if the fragrance would have an uplifting effect, just like ingesting it? I know Bliss makes me feel good!

I would look through the descriptions of the voodoo oil blends on the BPAL site, if I were you. I've seen something for just about every need, there. I hope things get better for you soon! I think everyone has had times like that. When I'm down, I make an effort to stay connected with people, and not withdraw. I'm glad you posted about it, I'm sure the more experienced forumites will have more specific suggestions. Edited to add:

Guh...this is one of the most blatantly sexual perfumes I have ever worn. I'm usually quite wimpy and avoid the labs' 'sexier' blends as just not for me. I'm rethinking that idea. In the imp it wasn't too promising, all I smelled was a grapey wine note. Other wine notes have gone yucky on me, so I hadn't much hope. But once on my skin, Wanda absolutely exploded into rich wine and roses, with just a hint of the leather to come. As it dried, this incredibly sexual scent mingled with a little leather began wafting from my skin. I suppose it's the musk, it smells like...pure sex, in a very good way. The florals settle in, and overall it remains red wine, roses and that awesome musk with little hints of leather here and there. Somehow proper and absolutely raunchy at the same time. Serendipitously (is that a word?), I saw a 5ml on swaps right after I tried my imp. I had no choice but to snag it. I'm glad I didn't have to wait to get a bottle. I feel like a goddess wearing this.

I can't get enough mysore sandalwood, and I love musk, so I was hoping this would work. But the lemon peel goes all 'lemon pledgy' with my chemistry as usual, and I can't ignore it. Then the jasmine comes out and does it's headache thing, so this one isn't a keeper.

I adore the cypress in this, it reminds me of a very strong sandalwood. Woods + me = awesome. But the patchouli shows up and causes it to go kind of dirty. I wish I could find a patchouli that worked on me, but unfortunately this one isn't it.

The citrus and amber aren't working for me here. I turn lemon into a cleaning product every time, however sweet it is, and amber turns right to powder and stays that way. It went cloying and headachey. I liked the lotus, but with the other issues I have with it, it isn't a scent I could wear.

Eve is a beautiful light floral, every single note is lovely on me. It did go a little soapy on drydown, and I have so many other favorites that I probably wouldn't wear it often. It's just a little lighter than I like my pefumes to be, just not enough oomph. I bet it's on some peoples' top 10 lists, and I can see why. It would be appropriate for almost any daytime occasion or or work situation, imo.

This one is really hard for me to pin down. It morphed on me quite a bit, but I got floral and spice, and maybe citrus at one point. It went incensy on the drydown, which didn't work for me, but it is definitely a complex and interesting fragrance. Myrhh ususally does very well for me, so I don't think that is the mystery incense. I wish I could figure it out! I'm glad I got to try it, but it isn't working for me, it's just a bit too cloying, and incensey at the same time on the drydown. Off to a more appreciative home it goes.

I received a lovely gift of an imp of Chaos Theory XCVI in a swap. It smells lovely and green in the imp, very herbally, and with a bit of citrus. I think I am detecting rosemary, something in it suggests Catherine to me. It's a very complex and beautiful scent, I'm so grateful I got the chance to try it.

I enjoyed the rose and aquatic feel of this overall, but it was a bit too green and light and soapy for me to wear. Herbal scents just don't tend to work well on me unless they are combined with strong roses. Nice, but not my style.

At first sniff, i could smell the citrus, and a floral lurking underneath. On my skin? *Groan* The jasmine headache monster gets me again. This would be perfect for those who enjoy jasmine, my skin amps it crazily and it's the only note I detect once it's on. I'll try to find it a loving home...