ancilla_morte

in bottle: at first sniff all I could smell was licorice. on further sniffing, smells like sweet lemon bars

wet on skin: still smelling lemon, but I can pick out the tea, the cream, wow! the linen (maybe it is the ginger that's making me think of lemon? it kind of reminds me of lemon verbena, but its not EXACTLY lemon. heh) and there's the honey. its probably the honey and ginger that make me smell lemon.

dry on skin: now it is smelling more like ginger, tea and honey and less like lemon. I don't know if I like it or not. it sort of reminds me of licorice (which I hate) and lemon theraflu. I'm sure my mother would love it though.

edited: to say that I wore it again today and decided I really didn't like it. Too much straight ginger kind of makes me feel nauseous for some reason. My mother loves it though.

in bottle: oh boy this is strong. it reminds me of all the perfume oils my mother would get from the 70's and 80's. it reminds me of the smell of the incense called Night Queen.

wet on skin: still very strong. still reminding me of old perfume oils from the 80's. I don't even know how to pick out the different notes. this scent in itself is a note.

dry: it is toned down a lot and I like it a lot more. it smells very exotic and I can smell the jasmine and rose. definitely not me, I prefer more subtle Juliet-type florals.

in bottle: definitely smell the lilies. very strong floral. smells like drugstore perfume.

wet on skin: no longer cheapy smelling.first notes are lilies, but blends into something sweet and fresh. fresh spring flowers. yes, I smell a bit of honeysuckle, but it is in the background of lilies.

dry: still fresh and sweet flowers. pretty and subtle. very innocent and pure. it's not exactly me, but I'm sure I'll wear it a little as lilies are my favorite flower.

edit: also.. this stuff is very hard to get off! I used rubbing alcohol and tried washing it off with soap (wrists) and still I could smell it!

in bottle: apple-grapey.....jasmine also a very slight bitter spice undertone? maybe its just my imagination.

wet on skin: a very sweet candy-like jasmine. and daffodil. I have a hard time distinguishing some flowers from others.

I'm getting a sweet fruity candy tone right at the end of the smell. it reminds me of something but I can't put my finger on it. WATERMELON! the very end note is a candy-like watermelon! well on me anyway!

dry on skin: lighter, more musky now. I can still smell the fruit and jasmine, but it seems everything is perfectly blended into one now. I'm still smelling the candy watermelon.

final: this is beautiful! intoxicating! I LOVE IT! I'm definitely going to put this on my wishlist!

in bottle: it smells just like an oil my mother used to put on a lightbulb burner around christmas time. I forget the name of it, I can't go find it because its put away with christmas stuff. I know it was a blended scent, not a single note. Maybe I will update this review when we get our christmas stuff out. Or maybe it will drive me bonkers until I go on a raid one day in the attic. heh.

wet on skin: I was kind of afraid to put it on since it was so strong in the bottle. Still getting that christmas oil smell. But now I can definitely smell the beginnings of tobacco, leather and incense.

dry on skin: definitely smelling pipe tobacco. and leather. alcohol?? is that possible? At first I thought it was rubbing alcohol, but now it smells a lot like bourbon or brandy or something.

final: It isn't an unpleasant smell. in the bottle, wet on my skin, it was never unpleasant. but it is a little overpowering, I only put the teeniest drop on my wrist. I do sort of like it though. I never knew either of my grandfathers, and this definitely smells like a very old fashioned man's library or something. something one of my grandfathers would have smelled like from time to time. leather, pipe tobacco, hard liquor, just...antiquity. I've always sort of liked the smell of pipe tobacco.

I won't buy this, but I'll keep the bottle around to swap a couple decants and just to smell.

in the imp: very light, I can barely detect a floral-y lemon

wet on skin: more floral, I can smell the heady rose. stronger on skin than in vial. I can also detect a soapy note with the rose. And the rose is a very very strong, citrus-y spicy kind of rose.

dry on skin: the headiness of the rose is subdued a bit, though it is still prominent

a few minutes later: light to medium rose-lemon-soap smell. smells like Victorian luxury rose soap.

I haven't tried its effects on men yet. If there is no effect on men, I won't buy a bottle. if there is then I will because I like the scent enough to wear it from time to time, but I don't like it enough to buy it. Unless of course, it attracts men.

I haven't been able to test many BPAL scents as I am still relatively new to this. But Maenad is so far one of my favorites. I think in fact, it was also the first scent I tested.

in imp: very green smelling, slightly sharp with just a hint of strawberry. Smells like the young very fresh greens, but still a bit sweet.

wet on skin: powerfully sweet strawberry, but with slight dark hints underneath

dry on skin: the initial green and the sweet strawberry unite pretty evenly.

the scent here reminds me pretty accurately Coty Airspun loose powder. weird.

the scent lasts for a long while. It is not overpowering but still, it is pretty strong. and the strawberry is perfect! I am definitely going to have to buy a 5ml of this.

I got Jabberwocky as an imp, and when I first whiffed it, I hated it. Maybe it was because I wasn't expecting it to be so sharp at first. But then again, was I expecting an oil inspired by a viscious monster to be angel soft with cotton candy and laundry smells? I don't hate it now. I really like how it sweetens after the eucalyptus fades, but I don't think I could take the wait each time through the eucalyptus.

I think it is interesting. And though I probably wouldn't wear it, I'd like to keep it for my collection because I think it just so accurately portrays the character the Jabberwocky, it even matches the perception of the monster I had as a child!

That's what I like most about BPAL. They don't sugarcoat things and try to make things smell generically good. (I was talking to my mother about this earlier) They actually research and reflect on what certain things, creatures, people would smell like, what emotions that were evoked related to the named subject they would be able to capture in scent.

BPAL isn't just about making things that just smell good, but also capturing images, emotions, literature etc in scent. I think that is why I am so obsessed with BPAL.

Well anyway, Jabberwocky to me smells like dread, fear, like visciousness. But after the sharpness fades a bit, it is gentler, which reminds me that even the most terrible of beasts have some sort of weakness, and are living beings.

Did anyone else think there was rosemary in the scent at first? I mean I know its obviously eucalyptus/pine/orange, but when I first smelled it the first thing that came into my mind was rosemary.