Alethia

Thoughts before testing; I was pretty sure that this was going to smell god-awful on my skin. Milk, fig, and myrrh? It sounded like a recipe for disaster!

 

Wet: Fig doesn't usually work on my skin, but this is surprisingly wonderful! The fig here isn't too dirty, just slightly earthy in the best way, and the milk is sweet rather than sour. No hint of myrrh, and I'm quite surprised at how much I like this.

 

Dry down: This is actually really nice! It hasn't changed except is maybe just a little deeper.

 

Dry: The myrrh finally makes an appearance and rounds the scent out into full bodied amazingness.

 

Final thoughts: I'm so surprised at how much I love this!

 

Verdict: I'll be keeping an eye on the sales page for more of this.

Thoughts before testing: I have no clue as to what this will smell like, so either way it'll be a surprise!

 

Wet: This is strongly soapy on my skin.

 

Dry down: Soapy still, but the herbs are coming out to play.

 

Dry: This would make a very nice hand soap, but it's not working on my skin.

 

Verdict: Sales!

Thoughts before testing: I've recently discovered a love of beeswax, so I'm quite excited to try this.

 

Wet: Oh wow. I can't even begin to pick notes out because this is so beautifully blended.

 

Dry down: It's going just a touch powdery, but still quite beautiful.

 

Dry: This is a beautiful blend.

 

Final thoughts: I was all prepared to proclaim victory and start scouring the web for more of this when my mother walked by and said "What is that?! You smell just like your grandmother!" in horror. And upon further sniffing, I do indeed. My grandmother was not an easy woman to get along with, and we had a particularly rocky relationship. Sadly, this association has ruined GV for me

 

Verdict: Beautiful, but off to the sales!

I am so in love with this oil it's not even funny. I workout in the very early morning (5-6 am), and I use this in the shower at the gym as a moisturizer. The smell on my skin is divine (the perfect vanilla as far as I'm concerned) and it perfumes the locker room beautifully. I'm rapidly going through my bottle and will be ordering at least 2 more. Pure love!

Thoughts before testing: I'm beginning to think that red musk is what gives me stabbing head pains, so I'm approaching Scherezade with caution.

 

Wet: Oh yeah. It's the red musk. Throbbing pain commences in 3....2.....1!

 

I couldn't even make it through the dry down stage because I had to wash this off.

Thoughts before testing: I'm really hoping this works, because so far I'm 0 for 2 after having tried Glittering Apple and Golden Apple.

 

Wet: Very strong, very sweet strawberry with only the faintest hint of apple. It's so sweet that it's making me a little nauseous.

 

Dry down: The strawberry morphs into (and I swear I'm not making this up) Pez candies. What?!

 

Dry: Pure essence of Pez.

 

Final thoughts: I must have the weirdest skin chemistry ever.

 

Verdict: Off to the swaps!

Thoughts before testing: I was super excited to try this. Like bouncing up and down excited.

 

Wet: STRONG champaca. It drowns everything else out, and it turns out I'm not crazy about champaca.

 

Dry down: The champaca disappears and leaves behind a beautiful hibiscus and amber scent. This is lovely, even if it's weird that there's no apple.

 

Dry: Pure soap. Damnations!

 

Final thoughts: I really, really wanted this one to work.

 

Verdict: Off to the swaps!

Thoughts before testing: Out of all the Weenies, I was most excited to try the apples. I had high hopes for this one, as I love nearly all the notes listed.

 

Wet: Fresh, juicy, delicious apple with only a tiny hint of vanilla. This is making my mouth water!

 

Dry down: The apple disappears rather quickly, leaving behind a really nice, full bodied vanilla.

 

Dry: The vanilla also does a major disappearing act, leaving me with no scent at all.

 

Final thoughts: This was pretty, but even if it had stuck around longer, I don't know that this would be a keeper for me.

 

Verdict: To the swaps!

Thoughts before testing: I've seen Morocco being raved about in various places here on the forum, and the notes sound pretty awesome, so I'm not sure why it took me so long to try this!

 

Wet: Oh. My. GOD. Sandalwood and carnation with just the barest breath of musk. This smells absolutely amazing.

 

Dry down: The carnation and spices are coming to the forefront and mingling with the sandalwood. I can't get over how great this smells.

 

Dry: This stays true to the dry down stage, with the addition of a hint of vanilla. I am in total and complete love.

 

Final thoughts: I spent this morning working on graduate school applications and kept having to take breaks to smell my arm. It's been a full 5 hours, and the scent hasn't faded at all.

 

Verdict: Morocco has catapulted to my top five, and I will be ordering a bottle of this in my next lab order.

Thoughts before testing: I had ordered in my obsessive quest for clove scents before I realized that I amp patchouli to high heaven. So when I finally received this imp, I was extremely wary.

 

Wet: Oh dear lord. Nothing but patchouli.

 

Dry down: The patchouli is screaming from my arm, but I can smell just the tiniest hint of clove through the din.

 

Dry: Still just patchouli.

 

Verdict: Off to the sales!

Thoughts before testing: I have no expectations for this scent at all, which can be a good thing! So we'll see what happens.

 

Wet: Strong, crisp tea and freshly ground pepper. This is interesting.

 

Dry down: Still tea and pepper, with just a hint of honey.

 

Dry: The honey comes out to play a little more and is nicely augmented by the tea and just a little bit of ginger.

 

Final thoughts: I think that this is a scent that could benefit with a little aging, so we'll try that. I'm not crazy about this fresh, but I'll revisit White Rabbit in a few months and see.

 

December testing: WR has definitely benefitted from aging. The scent is much, much more smooth, and after wearing several times, this has shot up to the top of my bottle list.

 

Verdict: Hunting for a bottle now.

Thoughts before testing: I'm in a very spicy scent mood today, and I'm really hoping that Bengal will work for me!

 

Wet: Obnoxiously strong cinnamon and ginger.

 

Dry down: This smells exactly like those huge Fireball candies. No honey, no spice, just Fireball candy.

 

Dry: Sixty minutes after application, the scent has faded to almost nothing. If I put my nose right above my skin, I can smell honey faintly, but that's it.

 

Final thoughts: I'm going to let this age a little in the hopes that it'll work better.

 

December testing: After a little aging, this is much, much better. It's a lot less like Fireball candies and a lot more awesome spicy perfume. Unfortunately, it disappears fast.

 

Verdict: After a little aging, I love this scent but not it's lack of staying power. I'll use my imp but this isn't a bottle purchase.

Thoughts before testing: I'm not sure what Kashmir musk smells like, but I really enjoy the rest of the notes here, so this should be fun!

 

Wet: Creamy orchid and only a slight tinge of rose. This is lovely.

 

Dry down: This turned a little plasticky and musty smelling, which I'm assuming is from the cream. I've never had a BPAL scent with cream turn to plastic on me, so I'm a little worried.

 

Dry: The plastic note disappears, leaving just beautiful orchid and cream.

 

Final thoughts: I'll have to retest to see exactly how long the plastic stage lasts, but it wasn't too unbearable.

 

Verdict: This one's a keeper, but I'll be content with my imp I think. No need to track down a bottle.

 

ETA that after realizing that the plastic stage was a hormonal issue and not a component issue, I burned through my decant in a matter of weeks and upgraded to a big bottle

Thoughts before testing: I've never tried a blend with sake and green tea before, but I like the rest of the notes. It should be interesting!

 

Wet: Strong red currant and only the barest breath of tea.

 

Dry down: Still strong red currant, but the cherry blossoms are starting to peek through.

 

Dry: The cherry and plum blossoms have made an appearance, but the red currant is still the dominant note.

 

Final thoughts: I enjoy the currant note in Fairy Wine, but not as much here. It's a little too much and too overpowering for the other notes here.

 

Verdict: Off to the sales box!

Thoughts before testing: I'm beginning to think that patchouli may be a note of death on my skin, so I don't think that this will work on me, but we'll see.

 

Wet: Oof. Dirty patchouli. That's all I get from this.

 

Dry down: Still dirty patchouli.

 

Dry: Dirty patchouli.

 

Thoughts: Argh! Not only is the patchouli here the dirty kind, but it lasted for HOURS on my skin. Even three scrubbing sessions couldn't entirely get the scent off my skin.

 

Verdict: To the sales box with thee!

Thoughts before testing: I love each of the notes listed with the glaring exception of white musk, which invariably turns to the smell of baby wipes on my skin. I've yet to find a blend with white musk that doesn't, but I remain optimistic!

 

Wet: Sweet heliotrope with a hint of peach. No white musk?! I'm really hoping the baby wipe note of doom stays hidden.

 

Dry down: Ah, I spoke too soon. Hello, white musk. Thank you for drowning out the heliotrope and peach. It's cool, I didn't want to smell them anyway. Sheesh.

 

Dry: Baby wipes. Damnations!

 

Final thoughts: I think that this may be my last trial with white musk, because it's just too disappointing.

 

Verdict: Off to the sales/swaps/gift box

Thoughts before testing: I love fig, but the coconut and almond have me worried.

 

Wet: Strong almond milk (but not the type of almond that is strongly cherry), very creamy and pretty with a lovely sandalwood base. This is surprisingly nice.

 

Dry down: The scent hasn't changed, but it smells exactly like a lotion my mother used to use after we had been at the beach.

 

Dry: Still creamy almond and sandalwood. I get no coconut, fig, or fig leaf.

 

Final thoughts: This is pretty, but I'm missing the other notes, and I don't see myself reaching for it often if at all.

 

Verdict: Nice, but not for me.

Thoughts before testing: I love each of these notes, and am really hoping for a win from this blend. The last 6 oils I've tried have been complete and utter FAIL on my skin, so here's hoping!

 

Wet: All I get at this stage is clean, fresh florals. It's quite pretty, but not terribly distinctive or unique.

 

Dry down: The honey and incenses are starting to deepen the scent, and it goes from a nothing special floral perfume to a distinctive, deep floral. I'm really liking this, actually.

 

Dry: Alas! Within an hour, Les Bijoux is gone from my skin. Not even a hint remains. Damn.

 

Final thoughts: I really loved the dry down stage, the meh wet stage and the fact that the scent is gone rather quickly leave me wanting more.

 

Verdict: This one will most likely go off to the swaps/sales/gift box.

Thoughts before testing: The description of this scent sounds amazing and right up my alley, if a little sweet. I love each of the notes listed here, so I'm cautiously hopeful for this blend.

Wet: Pure blast of peach. It's a beautiful ripe peach, just lovely.

Dry down: The sweet pea comes out to play, which is great because sweet pea is one of my favorite florals.

Dry: It turns into florally soap once it's all the way dry, which is super disappointing.

Final thoughts: I think I'll retest this one just to make sure.

Verdict: Pending!

ETA description.

Thoughts before testing: I love most of the notes listed here except for ambergris (which turns super powdery on my skin) and orris root (which I have no idea what it even is).

 

Wet: Extreme, pure, unadulterated powder. Oh ambergris, why do you hate me so?

 

Dry down: All powder, all the time.

 

Dry: And powder closes the act out.

 

Final thoughts: Ambergris has made it onto my "Notes of DOOOOOOOOOM" list officially.

 

Verdict: Lyonesse is not for me.

 

After two years and a hormonal change, I've got to rewrite my review of Lyonesse. Ambergris now works beautifully on my skin instead of turning to pure powder and Lyonesse is a thing of pure beauty. My bottle is fresh from the Lab and as such is slightly sharp. I think a little aging will do wonders for this, but it's getting plenty of love from me right now. It starts as a musky vanilla with that beautiful, slightly salty ambergris backbone and is lovely. It dries down to perfumey classic smelling musk with lovely hints of florals and ambergris and vanilla. Lyonesse is stunning.

Thoughts before testing: The description of this scent is so intriguing; thank you Witch!

 

Wet: All I get is pure salt. Salt? What the heck?

 

Dry down: Still salt with a little soap. How does florals, fruits, woods, and amber turn into salty soap?

 

Dry: Salty soap

 

Final thoughts: What the heck, skin? I've gotten soap from many a blend before, but never pure salt. So disappointing.

 

Verdict: This is a no go for me.

Wholeheartedly seconding the mention of Crib Girls as my personal favorite honey blend. I've gone through close to half a bottle in a little over a month

 

I also really, really love the honey in Josie. It's perfect for those days where I want a simple sweet scent.

Thoughts before testing: I am a little embarrassed to admit, but I wanted to try this because I no longer eat cake I follow a primal/low carb lifestyle, and cake is most definitely not low carb. So I was excited to at least smell like cake! I adore the currant note in Fairy WIne, so I'm hopeful

 

Wet: Powder? I'm not getting any cake or currant. Weird.

 

Dry down: Still powder. Not sure what's going on here!

 

Dry: Baby powder.

 

Thoughts after testing: This is maybe the most bizarre thing I've ever had a perfume do on my skin. Normally amber turns to pure powder on my skin as does ambergris, but neither of these are listed in Eat Me's notes. Maybe I have a bad imp?

 

Verdict: I'll test once more, but I don't foresee myself keeping this one.

Thoughts before testing: I purchased this and Suck It at the same time. I had never tried a cherry/red fruit scent before, but having previously tested Suck It, I don't have high hopes for Bloody Mary.

 

Wet: Nothing but sugared cream. No fruits, just cream. It's kind of nice, but not what I was expecting.

 

Dry down: The artificial cherry note of DOOOOOOOM appears. Oh no.

 

Dry: Nothing but artificial medicinal cherry on my skin.

 

Thoughts after testing: Well, now I know to stay away from cherry blends!

 

Verdict: Off to the sales page!

Thoughts before testing: I was super excited to try this one out. I love apples and cranberries, and love the smell of real cider.

 

Wet: Bright fresh cranberry. Wow. Every year for Thanksgiving I make cranberry pear jelly squares, and this smells exactly like the first stage of making the jellies.

 

Dry down: The other notes start to appear, and I go from smelling like delicious cranberry to a Yankee Candle I had last year. I don't know how I feel about this.

 

Dry: Not much change from the dry down to completely dry. I still smell like a candle, and I don't think that this works as perfume on me.

 

Thoughts after testing: This will make a lovely room scent, but I don't like it on my skin.