OctoberGwen

SNAKES IN THE PUMPKIN PATCH

 

Fresh out of the mailbox, this starts off very pumpkin-y, with a bit more than I want of the buttery note that is predominant in many BPAL pumpkin blends.

 

Once drydown occurs, though, this scent turns into magic. My beloved Snake Oil finally starts to assert itself, and the pumpkin blends into it and becomes slightly creamy and spicy and it is just heavenly. The buttery note is obliterated, thank God. I definitely still get pumpkin, lots of pumpkin, and it is lovely with the SO.

 

I slathered some in my cleavage and my youngest son told me my shirt smelled good: "like coffee; no, candy; sweet like pumpkin pie...it smells like Halloween!"

 

This will age magnificently and will now be my Go To Autumn Pumpkin Scent. Thank you, Beth! I am so happy to finally have a pumpkin I can wear!

 

 

 

ETA: SWEET BABY JESUS.

 

I can still smell this on my body this morning, even after a quick shower. It is addictive, folks. I need fifty-seven bottles.

"Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the must-haves and meh's as the Halloween season approaches!"

 

 

I will definitely share my thoughts as soon as I receive my Weenie order! So excited.

There is a leather rec thread here, where I am sure you'll find a ton of ideas.

Gods, this is so lovely. Gentle, pale, spicy woods and the distinctive, delicate golden quality of frankincense.

 

Another instant classic from Our Lady of Pain.

 

 

I love this oil, and I will forever love Beth for creating it.

It smells of courage; the scent (though secondary) is very grounding and comforting. When I smell this upon application, I feel like I've added a layer of steel to my aura.

I anoint myself with it as directed (palms, soles of my feet, base of my spine), and it has gotten me through several stressful social situations - with flying colors. Normally large crowds exhaust me; with Fortitude (and Charisma) I was able to not just get through it, but shine. I was left feeling fine afterwards instead of drained, also.

I am starting a new and very demanding job next week, and I fully expect Fortitude to be my right hand man. I am hoping to get another bottle while it's still available, in fact.

ETA: I still use this oil almost every day during the work week, and on the rare occasions I forget to apply it, I really notice a difference in my stamina and mental acuity by the end of the day. I love this stuff.

Oh, and it smells of vetiver!

I am looking for scents that smell like rose hip instead of roses. I can't stand the smell of roses in perfume. They make me nauseous and give me headaches. My mother used to have roses that smelled like rose hip in full blossom so I would like to find a scent with that. It doesn't have to be BPAL but I do prefer oils instead of alcohol based perfumes. Anyone got an idea?

 

Mrs. Grose.

This smells really nice one me; I get a lot of gardenia and amber and orange, plus a bit of red musk and rose. It is so well blended that it has a very classic feel to it. I definitely get the 'rich and regal' aspect from this scent and I think it embodies the poem very well.

 

I don't find it terribly memorable on me, though, so I don't feel any need to track down a bottle.

Red Rose 2005.

 

FAUGH.

 

Too sharp, too fresh, too green, too sweet. Apparently I prefer my roses powdery, or mixed with something else. Rose Red is even worse than Two, Five, And Seven on me - and that's saying a lot.

 

Peacock Queen I can do. This I cannot.

Smelling this in the bottle: wtf? My son wrinkled his nose and wandered away muttering, "Uh...interesting?"

 

Once it hits my skin, though, it's magic.

 

Everything swirls into a beauteous waft of smoky, rich, gleaming yumminess. The geranium is really fantastic with these other notes, and for once in its godforsaken life the bourbon vanilla is not overwhelming the joint with its nauseating sweetness. Black Taffeta is a perfect, perfect symphony. Kind of musky, kind of resinous somehow, very smooth. Like stretching out naked on a swath of dark satin.

 

I'm in love.

Oh boy.

 

Golden frankincense with a perfect mix of florals; the neroli (which is a note I love) keeps it from being too sweet. I think it captures the essence of Clytie's story.

 

This is a heartbreakingly beautiful blend, and I will weep when my 1/4 imp is gone.

Mmmmmm..... I love this Lace.

 

I'm getting some beautiful (French?) tobacco (no caramel per se, thank you Jesus), a lightly floral vibe, and some of that particular vanilla/cognac goodness that says "BPAL Lace" to my nose. I am not getting any effervescence, really, and I do not find this to be fruity at all. I think the mandarin and the blossoms are very nicely balanced, forming a light layer on top of the tobacco, vanilla, and cognac. There is also no typical smoky opium "bite", maybe because it's the flower we have here.

 

This is just beautiful, a perfect summertime fragrance.

 

Summer Lace is made of total awesomesauce.

Honest to God, I don't know if I really like this or really dislike it. I definitely can't stop smelling myself, so take that for what it's worth!

 

When this first goes on, I realize what green patchouli is. It is just like I've taken a young sapling, split its slender trunk open, and am inhaling all that sap-covered green wood. The vetiver lends its distinctive smokiness, like a grass fire, and I am getting some of the coconut (which really does have a 'sheer' quality here.) I don't pick out myrrh's super-sweetness, and I think I'm only getting a hint of the bergamot and I'm still waiting for the mimosa...

 

But at this phase I'm still all, "Do I frigging like this or don't I?"

 

The far drydown, though, is just gorgeous. I'm smelling what can only be the white amber and perhaps a bit of that mimosa, finally? With just a faint whisper of the former grittiness.

 

This scent is intriguing and unique, and the longer it's on, the more I like it.

I love the initial cooling blast of mint here, but upon drydown there is something in the combination of notes that disagrees with my skin. It just smells off to me; I am beginning to wonder if perhaps champaca flower is not my friend.

 

However, if champaca flower is your friend, you may enjoy this one. The initial minty goodness (with some tart factor from the lime rind) is really refreshing.

I'm not always a fan of aquatics, but this is a very feminine take on them that I rather like. I can't smell it specifically, but perhaps it's the rose geranium that's giving it a feminine edge. Salty, soft, and clean; I get the ambergris for sure.

 

This is not something I would wear often, but it fills that oceanic niche in my BPAL box very nicely. I'll likely keep the imp.

I'll preface this by saying that I adore lemon verbena. Adore it.

When first applied, Elaphospyris is all about the verbena. I inhale next to my arm and close my eyes and I'm squatting on the brick path in my mother's herb garden, and the sun is warm on my head and I've just rubbed the leaves on the lemon verbena and sniffed my fingers. I've always had a special fondness for all the lemon-scented herbs: verbena, balm, thyme, geraniums. I'm transported right back to childhood.

After a minute, I'm definitely getting lovely white musk, sort of anchoring the lemon, and perhaps a bit of the guic and vetiver - just a touch, grounding everything so it's not too sharply white. This is certainly a yellow and white scent, though, and very much about the lemon verbena right now.

Which is just what I wanted, essentially.

This smells spot-on like dandelions to me, bitter-ish petals, sap, stem, leaves, and all. Very, very true to life and super evocative of childhood time outdoors.

Oh, Tricksy, my beloved TRICKSY!

 

 

To say that I adore this magical potion of skin-softening goodness is like saying that a blue whale is big.

 

High end patchouli (Sumatran red, maybe?), a gorgeous and subtle woodsiness, and a tiny drop of honeyed sweetness to smooth it all out...perfection in a bottle.

 

Tricksy layers beautifully with Snake Oil and all its children and with pretty much every red musk blend I own, too. It smells fanfuckingtastic with SO hair gloss AND Honey hair gloss. I can wear it alone and still smell like a dream. It is magnificent.

 

I use it as an after-shower moisturizer and my skin is soft all day. My towel, which I now only wash occasionally, smells fuckingfantastic, too.

 

This needs to be a General Catalog blend, because my four bottles do not look like nearly enough to this decidedly non-hoarding gal.

OMFG. Is this what honey smells like on other people's skin?

 

I looooove this gloss. The scent is true wildflower honey, not cloying at all, with just the right amount of sweetness. This is perfect for summer, and I will reach for it all season, I'm sure. (Don't tell my Snake Oil gloss, please.)

 

As with SO, my hair is silky and shiny and very, very happy.

I don't particularly enjoy plum on my skin, but in a room spray it is divine - especially here, with the wild lily and tobacco. This is a beautiful spray that actually reminds me very much of a BPAL scent...I just can't think of which one. It's in the Madame Moriarty/Lucy, Kissed/Our Lady of Pain family, for sure.

 

I suppose I get the comparisons to Oak Leaves and Kyphi, but I like this one much better. I like it as much as its sister spray, House of Unquenchable Fire, but where House is all about the frankincense, Fierce Nights has plum as the star of the show. The tobacco keeps it from being cloying or overly fruity, and the lily adds a lovely, delicate depth.

 

Big Win, as is everything else from OLoP.

I never thought I'd get to smell this, never mind wear it. Thank you so much to Em- for the decant.

 

The smell of oranges and their blossoms are two of my favorite scents on earth. Orange the perfume smells different from the King Mandarin single note, though mandarin is certainly the type of citrus fruit that's in here. I'm pretty sure there's some Egyptian white musk, too. The undercurrent present in Orange is very similar to another beloved of mine, Sumai No Sechie.

 

Orange is beautiful. Soft, sweet but not cloying, deliciously orange. It does fade quickly on me, but in the scent locket it stays true and is just perfect.

 

I am so happy to have some of this.

 

:love!:

On my skin, I don't like scents that are too masculine. I also don't care for leather 99% of the time.

 

Dee smells wonderful on me, though.

 

I get mostly rosewood and incense, with a touch of tonka and a hint of soft leather. It's not cologney at all on me, nor is it overly manly smelling; I'd say more unisex.

 

I don't see myself reaching for this very often, but it really is nice.

Oh dear God, this smells wonderful.

 

It's just a perfect balance of not-too-sweet (is that subtle sweetness from the cinnamon bark?), a tiny bit of an edge from the tobacco (wrappers), and a gorgeous woody quality - nice and dry, just how I want my scents, but with a lovely depth.

 

Absolutely wonderful.

 

Thank you so much for the tester, sunshinedaisybliss. Should I kiss you or kick you, as I will never ever find any more of this?

 

 

Honestly, I'm so glad I got to try it.

 

 

What a fascinating oil. It captures the concept really well, I think.

 

Wet, all I can smell is a strong chemical note - like cheap hairspray. After a bit this begins to die back, and quite some time later I get an unassuming powdery musk with a bit of violet. And that horrible chemical note lurking underneath.

 

Psychological Horror doesn't unnerve me quite as much as Whitechapel did, but it's close. I am so glad I got to try this!

Hi, Poenari! I was another of the lucky winners in the lovely SSDB's giveaway, and I just adore both her and her Sweet Barking Cheese.

 

This stuff smells wonderful. I agree that is has a sweetness to it, but it's not foody, really. It also has a nice spicy kick, maybe from the same Ceylon cinnamon that Kypria has. Ceylon has some woodiness and does not really smell like the cooking spice except in passing, at least to my nose.

 

Sweet Barking Cheese has good staying power (like all of the Post's sprays.) My husband came home hours later and asked what smelled so good...and I was so happy to tell him!

 

I'm just delighted to have this. Thank you, Sunshine!

 

 

ETA: The more I sniff this, the sweeter it gets. I would love to know what the magic ingredients are. Cheesy poofs? Vanilla? Vanilla-covered cheesy poofs?

Civet loves me, apparently. I never get anything remotely "pee like" or nasty with civet, just a deep, sexy musk. Yum, yum.

 

Satyr is sweetened considerably by the cinnamon (a note I don't often love, but it's quite nice in this blend.) There is almost certainly some patchouli here, as well.