Inanna9

well, crap. I fell in love with my decant of Black Death and was going to order a bottle, but I'll be holding out until I hear what is going on with the new batch. Thanks for the heads up, guys.

Ooooooo....the vampire labels are everything I was hoping they would be. Nice work, Lab! And thanks for the pics, ladies. I usually avoid spoilers but I couldn't resist a peek this time.

Darkness is a good one if you like opium.

awesome dirt crack.

Seriously, if the hit lasted more than 50 seconds this would be my absolute signature blend. I would wear it everywhere. But sadly, all soil note perfection quickly turns to perfumy perfume on me. It's worth keeping just for the first huff though. Crack, I tell you.

I've found it. My sugary-sweet Holy Grail. At last.

Every other sweet candy blend has had something just a little bit off: Beaver Moon went a little too plastic cheesecake; Sticky Pillowcase had a brown sugar note that I didn't care for; Velvet Unicorn was too...toooo. Even my previous favorite, Treat #1 went a little too sharp for my taste.

This one is perfect. The cream note is pure and marshmellowy instead of buttery or caramelized, the strawberry sugar is clear and pink and plastic-free, and the dandelion is just the right touch of fresh. This is my own personal Pink Princess scent. I feel like I'm wearing my Strawberry Shortcake flannel nightgown, clutching My Pretty Pony every time I put this on. Bottles and bottles, yes :love:

Prettiest soap scent ever. I mean it. And as a compliment, too

This is so delicate and feminine and clean that i can't stop sniffing my wrist. It's soapy in the best way ever; a perfect scent if you need something pretty but neutral, or something to put on when you're wearing your crisp linen shirt or lounging around in your white fluffy robe and slippers. But that's just me.

i love it. and even though I'm desperately trying to talk myself down from a massive bottle order before the Lupercalias go away, I'm finding it hard *not* to put this one on my MUST GET BOTTLE! list.

There's something in Fruit Moon that lifts my spirits; even when I think I'm not in the mood to wear it, I put it on and end up happy.

Hungry Ghost Moon is the same way.

Also:

Sagittarius

Moxie

Tiki Queen

Blue Fire

Tarot: The Sun

Jasmine Cottage

Garden Path with Chickens

El Dia de Reyes

This reminds of a honeyed-up version of Kindly Moon. It's very pretty and feminine. Peaches and magnolias and a warm cozy amber honey-vanilla. The perfect scent to wear when Smut would be inappropriate. I like it a lot. I may try to track down more (and it's got me missing that bottle of Kindly Moon I sold off ).

stream of consciousness review:

Wow, this smells much prettier than I expected it to. But at the same time, it almost has a masculine vibe. Mostly it's just rich, sweet and deep. I get primarily cedar and vanilla (and I'm guessing the benzoin gives it that little extra sweet kick) and a hint of generic holiday spice I can't attribute to anything in particular - but maybe that's the patchouli combined with the cedar. It all blends really well. Lovely, and not much patch or leather or twigs at all - and I think it was those notes that made me expect something more sinister. That's okay, I have All Hallow's Eve for that.

This is the lovely and sophisticated green in Orpheus combined with the lush dandelion meadow of Garden Path With Chickens. With maybe a dash of the bright juiciness in Green Phoenix. I'm feeling lazy today so comparisons are all I've got. My apologies to the new folks

Needless to say, if you like Green you'll love this.

This is Sagittarius' demure little sister and Luperci's cousin. Starts out herbal and cozy, and then adds a soft floral note as it dries. OMG so pretty.

I haven't done a review in ages, but this one has knocked me over. I expected the musks to be much heavier and in-your-face, but I swear there's some of my beloved skin musk in here. I don't know, maybe it's just an illusion from the high-pitch of the leather accord (a leather that dries down to absolute perfection, btw). Regardless, this blend is much more suave and subliminal than I expected - pheromone-like, really. Totally evocative of a man's man, but the kind who talks softly and carries a big...stick. yeah. Thumbs up.

Oh thank you, stellans! Beautiful labels...

Anyone know if the new Schwarzer Mond and Lune Noire bottles have the same labels as last time?

From the Civet Evangelism sniffing circle (although I'm not sure there's civet in here):

Hate sound like a certain celebutante skank, but...this is hawt.

Satyr was one of the first BPALs I tried, and I remember at the time thinking it was just a wee bit too strong. My nose must be thoroughly broken in, because I'm positively swooning right now. This is Smut with cloves. It's sweet enough to be feminine, but if a man were sitting next to me wearing this right now...well, let's just say I wouldn't be typing.

I want a bottle.

From the Civet Evangelism sniffing circle, courtesy of Fatalbellydance:

wet - ooh! pretty! I recognize the sage from Sagittarius, one of my all time loves. I guess this makes it official that I'm a fan of sage.

The iris emerges and it is a lovely compliment to the herbal sage. Not too heady a floral. I thought I caught a whiff of something high and sharp like civet, but it's gone as the florals amp. I think it kind of comes and goes as I sniff. This is very pretty, but it gets stronger and more insistent - not overpowering, but maybe an eensie bit menacing. Which seems appropriate.

From the Civet Evangelism sniffing circle, courtesy of Sealgair"

Ah yes...civet. The Force is strong with this one.

For a moment, it almost goes sweet from what I imagined was red or dark musk, and I'm catching something low and deep like myrrh, but mostly it's a sharp, musky civet that mellows into something sulphur-ish (not a horrible egg-like odor, but that's what pops in my head when I sniff) and brown. It's not awful, but not something I'd wear as perfume, that's for sure.

From the Civet Evangelism sniffing circle:

Wet, I get rose and ylang-ylang and musk. I'm not picking up on the civet, but just when I think I'm catching a whiff -- BAM! -- hello, rose! And ylang-ylang! Wow, this one really amps more than I remember. Maybe it's the aging. I have a bottle of the resurrected version, and I'm not sure if this decant is the original or later edition...but wow. Lotsa lotsa rose, thickened and enriched by heady ylang-ylang. It doesn't smell as kick-ass as I recall, more old ladyish. Now a little red musk is peeking out. So maybe a kick-ass old lady.

From JennyGardener and the Civet Evangelism sniffing circle.

Sweet wine and sex. That's how I picture this one.

I think people shouldn't be as scared of civet as they are. Anyone who likes a strong musk should do fine with civet. This makes me think of a purple Smut sometimes. Although the longer it goes on, the less sweet and the more musky it gets. It's not a wear to the office scent

Once it's over and dry it's more like sweet, fermented wine and sex...ambiance of the after-after party. And well done, I must say.

From JennyGardener and the Civet Evangelism sniffing circle:

Black Annis has got to be in the BPAL Top 5 of Most Evocative Scents.

Wet, it's dank and feral. Every time I put this one on I can just see this clawed, disheveled crone stooped over in some dark cave, smelling like she hasn't seen a bath in a few centuries Not that I want to scare anyone away from this one. Because it doesn't smell bad...just musky dank and scary.

The anise saves the day, surprisingly enough. It gives this a cool, almost sweet edge and seems to counteract the civet so that the musk isn't overpowering. Same goes for the vetiver: it's dark but not too oily -- it almost seems sweet as well -- and gives this a nice depth, grounding all these crazy notes into one spooky whole.

via the Civet Evangelism sniffing circle (courtesy of Moonarcana)

I thought this would be major vetiver based on a sniff of the imp, but there's no vetiver to be found now that it's on.

I'm catching thyme and something lemon-like but dark. The bottom note is thick, so I guess that's the vetiver, but overall this is high and a bit sharp on me. Oh, of course...it's the white musk. It doesn't care for me much, and it tries to turn everything into aftershave. At this point I can't detect the difference between a drop of civet and white musk throwing a wobbly.

Striking out with Lenore.

via the Civet Evangelism sniffing circle.

In the imp I got a strong hit of cedar and I was positive that this would be a disaster on me. BPAL's cedar and I don't get along. But this is really pretty and the woody note does what it was intended to do and evokes parchment to me, and a dim dusty study.

I'm having trouble differentiating between the cedar and the juniper as this goes on, but that's probably my skin trying to turn the cedar into pencil shavings. The cedar holds strong and true, but drowns out everything else in the process - I'm not getting any orange either, only a musky, dusty cedar. It's really quite delicate and lovely though. I'm surprised how much I like this.

via the Civet Evangelism Sniffing Circle (*waves at SueDonym*):

In the imp this is a juicy musky grape, and that's what amps the moment I dab it on. Whoo, buddy...this baby's got throw. The civet gives the grape an edge - more of a dirty, fermented vibe. The sweet-but-herbal note of the sage starts to emerge, and that's when I fall in love. Seriously, I was literally trolling the swap forum while this wafted around me as I muttered must have puck...must have puck...

The oakmoss kicks in and the juicy grape starts to tone down, and for some reason my nose starts to interpret this stage as uber-floral. Maybe it's just a skin chemistry thing. But this is the part that lasts (and lasts), and after a while it becomes a bit too much. Sex-up, fermented herbs and flowers. Started out like catnip and now it's just a bit too overpowering.

I'm very grateful to the lovely forumite who frimped me a decant of this, otherwise I would have missed out. I saw straight-up pomegranate and thought, "meh".

That was a mistake. This is smooth and tart at the same time - rich and fruity, yet never sharp. And for those of you who mourn the loss of juiciness upon Crypt Queen's drydown, this is perfect for layering. It really revives the dark fruit component when Her Majesty gets a bit too dusty.

I've been doing this BPAL thing long enough that I should know better than to judge an oil based solely on its desrciption. So I will eventually have to hunt down some more of this lovely one

That's kind of a tough one. I think Sleepy Moon is pretty unique.

I was thinking about this last night, when I was dabbing it on before bed. I can't think of a single blend that comes close, but maybe you could layer a dab of Opium Poppy with a bit of Dirty and one of the lavender sleep blends like Somnus...or maybe Sophia.

But Sleepy Moon is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece in my book. I hope Beth re-releases it one day.