moon_lemming

The first Lunacy blend I've ever purchased straight from the Lab! I put a little dab of Holiday Moon on at first, but it seemed to fade pretty quickly, so I slathered it on instead. I am not normally a slatherer, but this smelled so good and bright (excellent for the tired mood I was in) that I wanted to be able to smell it all day. At first, it's nothing but lemon (not sure which note that is, but I'm getting nothing but lemon), but soon a fresh green scent starts to weigh the lemon down a little. It's very bold and full of light, but just a little too sharp. After an hour or so, though, it's a subtle lemony musk, absolutely beautiful. It's still got a hint of the greenery, and I can definitely smell where the green tea comes in, but it's so well blended that it's hard to pick out the individual notes. Gorgeous. I'll wear this one in early spring, when my energy is still stuck in winter mode but I want to get revved up to go outside and get my hands dirty.

Three golden ambers, bright musk, peach wine and myrtle. Aglaea is the first fruity Lab scent I've tried that hasn't turned around and bitten me in the ass (to be fair, I haven't tried very many). It's pretty sparkling peaches in the bottle, and once dry it becomes a golden peach, sunny, with a little bubbliness behind it. It's very warm and bright, definitely a spring scent. I don't wear fruity scents very often, so I don't think I'll get a bottle, but I am keeping the imp.

Tarot: The Star definitely has a piña colada vibe going on.

I could take the easy way out and just repeat the description, because that's exactly what Rose Red is -- the scent of a fresh-cut rose. Rosey but with the refreshing smell of greenery underneath it. I would never in a thousand years have thought that I would like a pure rose perfume. I put this on, just for kicks, and couldn't stop sniffing my hand all night. This is like my gateway rose scent; I can tell that I'm going to be trying out a lot of oils involving roses in the future.

I have nothing new to add to the reviews -- Zombi is freshly turned earth (EARTH, not just "dirt"), dried roses, and moss. As it dries, the roses pop a little. Definitely something you have to be in the mood to wear; I'm keeping the imp. I'll have to see how much I use it before I decide whether to get more, but it's too interesting not to have around at all.

I didn't realize until after I'd placed my order for Luna that it had jasmine in it. Oops. I was kind of dreading trying it out because the Lab's jasmine and I have a history filled with bitterness and running to take a shower. First on, Luna is sweet cherries and white florals. I detect a hint of the medicine-y sharpness that the Lab's jasmine usually brings out. BUT. But after it dries, Luna is just a pretty, calm floral. A little detergent-like, but not offputtingly so. Definitely still jasmine, but it's a jasmine that my skin likes. Yay! Finally. I'm going to keep this one because I love the imagery that goes along with it, and the mister loves jasmine, and this is jasmine I can tolerate. It's not a top ten, but it's pretty enough to keep.

I am always wary of florals, but I read a great review of this one recently and I had just added it to my wishlist when I got a frimp from the Lab. I really can't pick out the florals in this one, it just turns into one big floral scent, reminding me of a huge bouquet of white flowers on a warm dark night. Only on my skin, the bouquet of flowers is a giant sentient bouquet of flowers waiting to ambush anyone strolling past its corner. Don't get me wrong -- it's not bad, and it doesn't turn to detergent on me, unlike a lot of florals. It's just too loud on me. Apparently there is something in that mix that my skin really loves to amp.

Sweet lord, this is teh hotness! Vanilla with a little nibble of tea; the musks are way in the background but still noticeable. I noticed a hint of lemon after reading reviews that mentioned it, but it can't be much because my skin usually amps lemon, and you can hardly tell it's there in this blend. It's sexy but comforting at the same time. HOT. Well. I think I've found one to add to my top ten. And I've heard that it's even better aged, so once my 10ml comes (read: once I have monies again) I'm aging the imp. I almost cannot imagine Dorian smelling better, though.

I bought this LE unsniffed because I KNEW I would love it. I love ginger, I love foody scents, how could it go wrong? Whoa. It is way, way, WAY too rich on me. It is -- and this sounds ridiculous given my fondness for foody scents -- TOO foody for me. Stupid chemistry. I already got rid of the bottle, but I'm keeping the imp I got (after I had ordered a bottle, heh) to try out as a room scent next winter.

Old Nick, the Devil himself, as seen through the eyes of Victorian New England. A jaunty, dapper scent, deceptively genteel: a lavender fougere with tonka, amber, rosewood and a whiff of diabolical patchouli. Old Scratch was a frimp that I never would have tried on my own. Once again, the Lab proves its psychic powers. Yum. Before I read the description, I was thinking Old Scratch smelled like leather, with a warm hit of vanilla. I guess the "vanilla" was the tonka, and the leathery scent was a combo of patchouli, rosewood, and amber. It's pretty damn sexy. Masculine, but not so much that it smells wrong on me. I'm going to try this one on my husband; if it smells this good on him, it's headed for the big bottle list. If not, I'll just keep the imp for myself, for special occasions.

Hmmm. I'm having a hard time deciding how I feel about this one -- before I read the reviews, I could have sworn this was a fruity scent. I get peaches and white flowers surrounded by pretty, clear water. There's a little bit of spice in there too. For a few minutes, it does the detergent thing, but soon that calms down and it's just a clean peachy floral. Again I say hmmmm. I think I'll keep this imp and try it again before I decide. edit: An hour later, I think it's safe to say that this one isn't going anywhere. Clean floral yumminess. There's still a little bit of fruitiness, but it's more like being in a garden beside a clean pool of water on a warm spring day. Gorgeous.

On me, Jolly Roger is sea spray with an undercurrent of soap and peanut noodles. Not even tempted to try this one again. Yes, you could say my skin chemistry is seriously weird, but I prefer "mysterious."

And with the help of Phantasm, I can safely conclude that jasmine and I do not get along. It overpowers everything else in the blend, which would be okay if it didn't smell so soapy on me. I think I'll be avoiding jasmine in the future.

Roses and lemons. Mmm. It sounds bizarre, but it really works. At first all I smell is lemon drops, but then the rose shows up, and if I concentrate, I can find a grape note. I love this one; I'm thinking about ordering a bottle for spring. It's bright and happy and makes me want to play outside.

This is one of the few BPAL scents that I know I'll love as soon as it touches my skin. Most of the time I have to wait and see if my chemistry will screw up the blend, but Dana O'Shee just WORKS. It's a gorgeous warm milky honey scent with a huge hit of almonds. Even my husband, who normally hates honey scents and says they don't smell like something a person should wear, loves this one. Yum.

Okay, I can't pick out the orange blossom. When this is wet, it's just incense on me, which, boo -- but as it dries it becomes more of a . . . red vanilla. It's quite vampy, and I like it even though I have to ignore it for the first bit. I don't think I'll get a bottle, but I'm keeping the imp. edit 7/7/09: (I retried this after receiving a frimp, just for kicks.) Nowadays I wouldn't bother with the imp, god I hate imps. Another change: I LOVE Vixen now -- it reminds me of a sexy Penny Dreadful, with the warmth of the ginger and patchouli sweetened by the orange blossom. Love. I will have to try this one out around Mike before investing in a bottle though, since he thinks Penny Dreadful smells like the ladies at his old church, and Vixen reminds me of that one so much. I usually just ignore him and wear Penny Dreadful when I'm at work or whatever, but I don't need TWO scents that get that reaction hanging around the BPAL box. We'll see.

The Hesperides reminds me of a sour green apple lollipop . . . that's what it smells like on my skin. There's nothing mellowing the sugary tartness. It's awesome, but not really something I'd wear. I might try it out again a little closer to fall and see if the scent mellows out any.

One reviewer mentioned that Sudha Segara is everything she loves about Thai food, and that captures this scent perfectly. In the bottle, this is clear, and it's very light, to the point that it's hard to pin down a scent. On my skin it's coconut milk and ginger. There's a little bit of a tea note too, for some reason. It's very comforting and delicious. I'm not sure if I'll get a bottle, but I'm definitely keeping an imp.

I'm starting to believe that anything with the slightest hint of jasmine in it will be rejected by my skin. For example, Wolf's Heart, which I think is nice and even a little minty (don't ask me why) in the imp, turns into an overpowering medicinal floral scent on my wrist. It is a very agressive scent, quite fitting for its purpose, but it doesn't work on me.

Bewitching, tantalizing and dangerously seductive. A thrilling, exotic blend -- deceptively sweet, but spiked with malice. White ginger, jasmine, and a touch of vanilla and apricot. Something in Siren detests my skin. It's woodsy at first, which doesn't work on me, and then it turns to a smoky floral. It's very much an incense scent on my skin, and those are the ones I tend to stay away from because . . . well, mostly because, with very few exceptions, I don't like wearing incense-y scents. After ten minutes or so, I can sniff out a little vanilla, but it's not enough to save it from the swap pile.

I'm not sure how I feel about this one -- on me it's incense and grape kool-aid. Such a strange combination, but not bad. The incense isn't too loud, and I like the weird combo, to tell you the truth. After a while it turns into an incense-y musk. I need to try this one out a few times before I decide whether to swap it or not. It's an extremely interesting scent either way.

Is that really cinnamon? Somehow the combination of notes in Chimera end up smelling exactly like gingerbread on me when wet. Yum. If I concentrate, I can pick out the cinnamon. Once it dries, it changes into a thick, sweet, spicy vanilla-dipped floral. I love it. I can't think of many situations in which I'd wear it, but it's lovely and I'll probably gather a few imps. The only drawback is that when I sniff it for a while, I have a little bit of a reaction, I guess because of the cinammon, but no welts on the testing spot, so that's no biggie.

This is one of the oils that I can admire even though it's not something I'd wear. It goes through so many gorgeous morphs, it's just too . . . dark green for me. Starts out as a sharp smokey tree scent that turns into a sweet floral, has a phase where it smells almost sugary, or like it has a layer of vanilla, and ends up as a really soft, dark floral. So beautiful, and it didn't even morph badly on my skin, it's just too dark for me to wear. edit: Half an hour later, WOW, it's just a sweet, almost fruity, quiet floral, not exactly bright, but not dark anymore, either. More like twilight. This is another one I'm going to have to try out a few more times.

For once, this is not something that smelled good in the imp then battled with my skin. I dislike this one straight off. It's tolerable in the imp, not good, but not deadly -- but god, my skin amps all the wrong notes in this one. There's a sharp almost piney scent that just makes my teeth ache and the inside of my nose feel like I'm breathing frigid air. Ow. After looking at all of the reviews, I'm not sure what went wrong -- I'm a fan of violets, but maybe it's the violet/clove combo that's putting me off? I don't know, but it makes me a little sad, because whatever the other reviewers are smelling sounds exactly like what I hoped Sybaris would be. This wasn't straight from the Lab, so maybe it was stored incorrectly or something. I might try another imp some time just to make sure.

Smells good, exactly like the description, warm golden honey mellowed out with a little vanilla. It would be perfect for the first days of fall. I can see why everyone loves this scent. I love it, too, but I love Dragon's Milk a tiny bit better for this scent type. Which might have something to do with the fact that my husband likes Dragon's Milk better than O, I will admit.