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BPAL Madness!

CLFilm

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Everything posted by CLFilm

  1. CLFilm

    Smoky Moon 2012

    Eeee, nerve wracking to be so early in the thread! So I was skeeeered when I first put this on that it was doing a red musk type thing (red musk & I are enemies) but as it dried down that fear went away and this became everything I didn't know I wanted it to be. I often wish for a scent that is basically pure champaca/nag champa - this is not that, but it's still a light, incense-y type smoke on me. I actually wish I had it as an incense. It's somehow light and deep at the same time? Like, it reminds me of Fledgling Raptor Moon (which I also love) but deeper? darker? with more wood/resin instead of the carnation? Definitely has that 'feathery' thing in common though. The amber also doesn't go powdery on me which is a problem I have a lot. And the patchouli doesn't go dirty. This is a fantastically blended scent. I can get a little of the grapefruit if I really huff it. So far not that long lasting or with huge throw, but I did only put on a tiny bit for testing. I would say overall this is on the spectrum about halfway between Fledgling Raptor Moon and Chrysanthemum (spelled it right on the second try!) Moon. LOVE.
  2. CLFilm

    Cat Allingham

    I don't usually like myrrh or frankincense, but I love this blend! But it definitely takes a few minutes to mellow out and settle down when you first put it on. I'm not sure how to describe it really. It's a warm, dry scent. The "sand" is more a feeling than a straight up smell. An incredibly well-blended scent that reminds me of a less in-your-face Luperci. This is like only the sweeter base notes of Luperci, but then again is so it's own thing. It's strong, but not overpowering, and I think works as an everyday scent for those who like something non-traditional, and as a special occasion scent for when one needs to feel especially badass. It's an asskicking, yet feminine perfume. How's that for a real information free review?
  3. CLFilm

    Dungeon Crawl

    I get mostly leather and stone as well. Wet stone, but dry leather. Almost like the leather in Dead Man's Hand. There's a bit of the incense at the start and I can pick up the waxy note if I take a big huff of my wrist, but that's way in the background. There's something else a little musty about it, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Definitely evocative of a dungeon!
  4. CLFilm

    Looking for a BPAL that Resembles a Favorite Perfume

    Is that Kate Spade Beauty? I loved that one too, and the closest I've ever found is June Gloom '09 - though there's always a chance I'm remembering it wrong!
  5. CLFilm

    Fledgling Raptor Moon

    Warm, soft tufts of down and gleaming tawny feathers: clove, toasted sandalwood, aged patchouli, bourbon vanilla, carnation, massoia bark, hinoki wood, and West Indian Bay. I LOVE THIS. Caveat: it just came in the mailbox about an hour ago. In the bottle: A lighter Luperci. Wet on skin: Kinda floral? Hmmm. Drydown: Warm, smooth, and a bit spicy. Very close to the skin. The woods are peeking out, and the carnation. Reminds me a little bit of Faiza the Black Mamba for a bit, but that goes away relatively quickly. I don't really get any patchouli or clove, not directly. I still get that "lighter Luperci" vibe though, which makes me think they are hanging out underneath. This is both powdery (in a good way, a first!) and spicy to me, unlike anything else I have from the lab. It just might end up being my carnation/sandalwood dream scent. I think some aging will make it even more beautiful, as it does for Luperci, and this will end up being a fantastic fall scent. Though it is definitely light enough to wear now, in the summer, without knocking people over. Man, I waffled hard about ordering this and I'm so, so glad I did.
  6. #612 arrived roughly 20 minutes ago, and I couldn't resist putting it on right away. ETA: VERY full bottle and very clear, no layers or sediment. In bottle & wet on skin: BOOZY. Like in Devil's Night. Booze, booze, booze is all I smell. During drydown: Something green/menthol comes out just a bit. Juniper maybe? Or fir? (I'm terrible at this.) But just the tiniest bit. Still boozy. After 20 minutes or so: Boozy is over. Green is waaaaay in the background. Skin musk now? A bit of O, a bit of Dorian? A little bit of dirt or wood? Maybe like Doc Constantine with the proportions of pine and vanilla reversed? Attack of Edit: After an hour or so it goes kind of Gingerbread Poppet-y? But softened by the vanilla? Different from where I thought it was going, but still nice. The more I sit with it and sniff it the more the vanilla comes out. A real soft, creamy vanilla. Not plasticy, not foody. I was really afraid this was not going to work, but it's very, very interesting and getting nicer all the time. The throw is almost pure creamy vanilla. It is probably too hot right now to actually wear this one, but I think it will end up being an amazing fall/winter scent. ETA again to say: Probably more for going out than work day because of that little naughty bit of skin musk. I hope, I hope I end up loving this!! I've never had a Chaos work before! Final Edit: This ended up WAY more foody than I generally like. As I said above though, more in the vein of Gingerbread Poppet than say, Cake Smash. Think I might try to swap it for something more my speed.
  7. CLFilm

    Autumn

    My thoughts almost exactly! I tried this on in-store today, and it was so much like Samhain (which I adore and have a few versions of) that I walked away without purchasing. Bad move - I should have shopped longer! This dries down to an amazing spicy, smoky version of fall, with the tiniest hint of "perfume." I don't smell any ROSE at all. (Thank god, rose and I do not speak often.) It's a very naturalistic scent - granted I only tried a couple drops - but (if this makes any sense) it doesn't fight with my skin at all, it feels like part of me. I wear the scent, the scent does not wear me! (For my Buffy people out there.) Just going by the notes I would never have thought this would work on me, but I really love it. I can see a purchase in my future. Can't wait to line this bottle up with A Blade of Grass, Samhain, Devil's Night, October, and Death of Autumn and smell as the leaves get crispier and crispier. It's like my holy grail scent family!
  8. CLFilm

    A Blade of Grass

    I get a lot of the sweet, green grass out of this that other people are talking about, but also that deeper, spicy note of dried, crunchy leaves. And it's getting "drier" the longer I have it on. It's not a chilly scent like October, though. It's very, very rich and warm. Also, it's strong on my skin, I only put on a few drops - I think more would be overwhelming. This is the "being outside on a crisp, sunny, perfect early fall day" smell that I've been searching for since I found BPAL (over 3 years ago, omg!). I live in northern New England and I think we have a very particular version of this smell - it's probably my favorite smell in the world and now I have it as perfume! Very, very evocative. Thank you, Beth! I adore this. It's the first bottle I've splurged on in a long, long time (broke student) and I'm SO glad I did.
  9. CLFilm

    Pronouncing "BPAL" and scent names!

    Done! HA! Awesome. I wish I had my bath bombs right. this. minute. (Aren't I grabby and whiny? Heh. ) Oh, and same about the Heroine scents. I will NEVER be able to spell or say those from memory. I cringe for the decanters trying to keep them all straight!
  10. CLFilm

    Scent for Halloween?

    I went with Snow Bunny for Christmas Eve, Antique Lace for Christmas Day. I have the most layering possibilities (vanilla body wash, AL lotion I mixed up) with Antique Lace, and I didn't want to worry about fading by the middle of the day. (Plus I love, love, love it and it makes me happy!) Stardust is the perfect New Year's Eve perfume. I wore last year on my first fun NYE in a very long time. Hoping to repeat the experience this year.
  11. CLFilm

    Lyonesse

    I second the golden, glowing sunset comment from above. If Et Lux Fuit is mid-day, mid-summer sun (which it is on me), Lyonesse is what happens when that summer starts to fade to fall and the sun begins to set early over the mountains and lakes. It starts out all vanilla on me - almost a vanilla extract smell, and then the amber comes out to play, with just a waft of florals all around. It's like Antique Lace crossed with Jacob's Ladder with just a bit of Al Araaf (the lily bit). This is so well blended and gorgeous - even though it kind of reminds me of several things, it is very much its own blend and a spectactular one at that. I agree with everyone's "ethereal" comments too. The only way I can describe it is that it's tough to pin down yet it smells like home. A classic. Great throw so far - not too light, not too strong. (My mom called it a "girly bedroom" scent - for what that's worth. )
  12. CLFilm

    Chrysanthemum Moon

    When I first saw this on the site I thought "if I am a good girl and the universe loves me, this will smell exactly like my most favorite bar in all the world." That bar is the Good Luck in Los Feliz, Los Angeles, CA and ladies and gentlemen, I must be a good girl because this is it EXACTLY. It's a warm, sweet, smoky (of course), spicy incense. (I'd agree with "autumn floral".) I can't pick out any one note. (I'm bad at that anyway.) This is the smell of a place where you are completely relaxed. Your friends are around you and you have your favorite intoxicating potion nearby. Time slips away in a haze and you never want to leave. I want to smell this forever and ever and ever.
  13. CLFilm

    Midnight on the Midway (2006)

    In the bottle: Smoky...flowers? Hard to describe. On, wet: Sweeeeeeeet. To me this is nothing like CN Midway - that to me smelled like burnt marshmallows in the vial and rancid marshmallows on my skin. This just starts out with a ton of sugar, a little smoke, and a vat of crushed white flowers oozing scent all over. On, dry: The sugar never goes rancid, which for me is a big win, the flowers calm down and it grounds a little with the smoke. Doesn't change much beyond that though. This is a little like what I had hoped Night's Pavilion would be and wasn't (I guess I mean Midnight on the Midway has the sense of melancholy but with sweet remembrance, rather than melancholy with bitterness that N'sP was for me - sorry, tangent!). The flowers are not too cloying. In fact, there's a flower in here that reminds me a bit of Snow White without the rancid plastic (emo tear) thing that made me have to wash off Miss White. Honestly, now that I think about it, I'm wearing Carnaval Diabolique on one wrist and Midnight on the Midway on the other, and I can really see how they are day and night versions of each other. Midnight just brings the flowers to the fore and leaves the smoke in the background (other way round for CD). I think I will end up liking Midnight quite a bit if I wear it in the right mood.
  14. CLFilm

    Carnaval Diabolique

    In the bottle: Very strongly lemon with just a hint of coconut. On, wet: Yeah, I'd agree with OMGLEMON. On, dry: While I do like lemon, it can be a bit overwhelming, so I was very glad when the lemon subsided (actually, went away almost entirely) after about a half hour. It dried down to this rich, smoky wonderfulness. (My mom said spicy, but I don't get a lot of "spice", which I normally think of as cinnamony or red musky.) I think this is mostly the opium smoke and vanilla (but not vanilla in a cakey way, or in an Antique Lace way), with a touch of the black musk on me. There's just a tiiiiiny bit of sweetness that I'm guessing is the coconut, but it doesn't do that suntan lotion thing on me, thank god. (I have coconut issues.) I also get just a hint of the flowers way in the background, like I'm standing in the middle of the dusty Carnaval, but there are flowers nearby with the scent being carried on the breeze. Overall: WINNAR. I am in love with this.
  15. CLFilm

    Chaos Theory III: Strange Attractors

    In the spirit of Chaos (and my v. v. small bank account) I decided on only one bottle of Chaos Theory to let the chips fall where they may. What landed today was blend DCCXIII (713 I believe?). I only wish it had arrived two weeks ago when it was 95 degrees out. It reminds me a bit of Dublin, a bit of Envy. Verrrrrrry green, very light, very fresh - with a hint of astringency that I think is pine. I'm pretty sure there is also mint. (I'm terrible at this, can you tell?) Maybe some lemon as well? In any case, I think it's lovely, and fantastico for hot weather. Brava.
  16. CLFilm

    Charisma

    Ok, so I tried this for the first time tonight in a fairly low stress situation, just to test it out. I had a birthday party (drinking and dancing) to attend for a co-worker/friend. At this particular house and with this particular group I am usually comfortable, but this afternoon I was feeling exhausted and down on myself, so I hit the chakra points with Charisma before I left the house. After I got out of the shower I did a very quick ritual which included focusing intently on the bottle before applying, applying one drop to each chakra point as instructed while asking for confidence of "______", whatever that chakra represented: sexuality, heart, truth, etc., and then focusing on the bottle a bit more with some deep breathing. I had been quite tired before the ritual, even post shower, and after applying it was quite the opposite. I was tingly, practically vibrating, bright eyed and bouncy. On the way to the Metro quite a few heads turned. I had a super fun time at the party - no deep and meaningful connections, but an overall bright time with lots of smiles and folks looking out for me. Smell wise it's very powdery/ambery on me. Since Forest had told me I could wear a secondary scent with it I went with Jacob's Ladder as it seemed to complement well. Awesome experience.
  17. CLFilm

    La Fée Verte

    It's nearly impossible for me to describe the notes in this because it's so well blended - on me it just becomes this perfect, enveloping scent that is a little bit of everything - comforting, cheering, debauched, glamorous. This is, I believe, my number one favorite. It definitely smells of the color green, and I do get the honey & vanilla musk, but there is something else here - a bit of magic that ties it all together that I cannot name. Maybe it speaks to me because I come from Bohemian/Gypsy stock. The Rome scent in the Wanderlust category is nice, but I wrote this on my spreadsheet about La Fee Verte: This is the scent of my Rome. A drizzly February day walking through city center. The Trevi Fountain lit up at night. Shots of absinthe in the Campo de Fiori. Fresh crepes with Nutella at 2 am. Partying all night with amazing men, amazing friends, and feeling so alive you can barely stand it. With a whiff of the sadness of having to leave the next day.
  18. CLFilm

    Enraged Orangutan Musk

    Oh, man, when I first put this on I was in heaven - it was animalistic without being feral and dank, it was green without being herbal and making me sneeze. It was lush. The GREENEST thing I'd ever smelled. Deep, deep rainforest green. I could actually smell the humidity. And the tropical blossoms. And the untouched forest where only animals had lived for so long. Half an hour later? Bam. Dryer sheets. Hot damn was I sad.
  19. CLFilm

    The Sleeper

    Night-blooming jasmine, opium poppy, wild rosemary, Calla lily, oakmoss and crypt musk. (I didn't read anyone else's reviews before posting this, I'm trying to get better at doing my own, but I can't wait to go back and read the rest. Also, I added in the description since I'm top of the page - hope that's ok, mods.) This scent is heavy to me, but not cloying, like a humid day in a backyard garden, in late summer when things are almost gone. At dusk, no dew will fall but the air itself is wet, there is no breeze, and the night will be just as warm as the day. There's a touch of decay behind the sweetness. It reminds me of Southern wetlands with the moss dripping from the trees, and sitting on the porch listening to crickets as daytime turns to evening. Looking at the note listing now, I'm trying to guess what is what. The most prominent thing I'm smelling is the jasmine maybe? If so, more jasmine please! I think the oakmoss and rosemary are mellowing out the flowers, making me think of a lushly landscaped backyard with trees and other greenery rather than just flowers. And the crypt musk (decay!) is making it earthy and grounded. This is definitely a scent of earth, not spirit. My favorite so far of the DiMVs.
  20. CLFilm

    Mitzvah

    Mitzvah is gorgeous - smells just like the description: caramelized, warm sugar and sweet cream. A very buttery, warm, comforting scent - kind of like Alice without the flowers to me. Unfortunately, it was only gorgeous on me for approximately 5 minutes. Then it was gone, gone, gone - leaving behind only a hint of sour milk. So bummed! It has gone to a new loving home.
  21. CLFilm

    What scents are masculine? Gender-neutral?

    I've always been a fan of "men's" cologne. I've not found a BPAL yet that is labelled "traditionally masculine" that I've fallen in love with, but I wore things like Colors de Bennetton Men for years (yes, I'm a girl ). But then, I've never been a particularly "girly" kind of girl. Nor a particularly "traditional" person. I say wear what you like and the rest of it be damned!
  22. CLFilm

    Talvikuu

    Flurries of snow over ice-covered rattling branches with just a whiff of evergreen. Unreal. It actually feels cold when I sniff it, though I can't pick out a mint or eucalyptus note. It reminds me less of Dublin than Snow Bunny does, but it is definitely in the same green/white family to me. It is also less sweet, more stark, than Snow Bunny. (Sorry to be comparing so much, I have one on each hand, so they're both on my mind.) Oh, how I wish I had a boy to put this on. But I love it for myself as well, and may actually need more.
  23. CLFilm

    Midway

    This starts salty and sharp on me (like, icky sharp). I get very little sweetness. It dries down to mostly toasted marshmallow, with a bit of buttered popcorn, complete with oily sheen. I wanted more funnel cake, like it smelled in the imp. It doesn't go to "ew" on me, like Beaver Moon did, but it's not something I need to hunt down a bottle of. (Which is good for me I guess.) I'll probably keep the imp because it's such a neat scent and SO evocative of the fair - which I loved as a kid.
  24. CLFilm

    Rose Red

    Yup. Like the above reviewers said - like sticking your nose in a fresh, red rose in the florist's fridge - it's just been spritzed with icy water and it's not fully open yet. Gorgeous. Such a pretty girl scent - absolutely makes me think of princesses and galas. I would wear this anytime I had a formal occasion to go to and will wear it anytime I want to feel like a pretty princess. The scent does seem to just vanish after a while, but I had tried about three things on at once, so I will give that another shot. It's such a strong, true smell, I'm guessing my brain was just getting confused. As usual. (PS Came in an amber bottle!?!) Edited to note: This is the '05 version.
  25. CLFilm

    Gingerbread Poppet

    GP '05 is heavenly. It smells precisely of baking/fresh out of the oven gingerbread cake and/or molasses cookies - spicy and homey without being too sweet. My only sadness is that it doesn't last longer. (I'm at the end of an eight hour work day and it's essentially gone.) A warm and cozy smell. I adore it. The first foody to work on me (in my admittedly limited experience). (Mine came in an amber bottle too!)
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