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BPAL Madness!

aphrodite

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Everything posted by aphrodite

  1. I second this for the house! Hesiod's Phoenix. Oh yeah!!! Hesiod's Phoenix is definitely the one. La Lugubre Gondola is my 2nd choice, but Hesiod's is even closer. Now if only I could find a bath oil that completes the layers of gorgeousness! Today I'm wearing Hesiod and IBT with Unhappily Ever After, and while they play nicely together, UEA is quite strong and definitely has its own voice that changes the song from the basic silky vanilla resins.
  2. aphrodite

    BPTP & BPAL Layering Combos!

    Dorian hair gloss with Capax Infiniti! <3 I think Dorian HG will actually go with a LOT of my collection. It's all sweetness and white musk. I imagine it will pair gloriously with Sonnet D'Automne.
  3. aphrodite

    All about plum!

    I'm late here and I shouldn't be saying this, because it's my most hopeless DISO, but Countess Willie.
  4. aphrodite

    Whipped Cream and/or Marshmallows?

    Arana, also from Tremulous Song, is more vanilla than marshmallow, but to me it has the same fluffy, creamy feeling as Love. I also get a similar fluffiness in the current Yule Go To Sleep, Darlings, but where Arana and Love are both beloved bottles for me, I don't think I need more than my decant of Go To Sleep, Darlings.
  5. aphrodite

    Looking for a BPAL that Resembles a Favorite Perfume

    I haven't smelled it, but maybe Tamora, Morgause, Midnight on the Midway (good luck), or Butterflies, Flowers and Jewels Attending?
  6. I second this for the house! Hesiod's Phoenix.
  7. aphrodite

    BPAL for fancy, elegant and formal occasions

    My favorite fancy BPALs are... The Girl Butterflies, Flowers and Jewels Attending Champagne and Opium Basically any lace Nevar Phoenix Steamworks The Robotic Scarab Stardust (the Yule) isn't for me, personally, but it definitely smells very fancy and makes an impression. I haven't smelled the 2013 version, but I imagine it's more or less the same.
  8. aphrodite

    Recs for the prettiest scents

    Even though the list of notes may sound scary, I swear Butterflies, Flowers and Jewels Attending is the prettiest thing you'll ever smell. It's too well blended to smell like particularly one thing, so everything pretty much plays nice. It's like walking through a butterfly garden in the fae realm while fresh honey is pulled from the flora by magic bees.
  9. aphrodite

    Pink Snowballs

    I'm not sure whether I've reviewed this before, but even if I did it was an earlier version, so here goes. I definitely disliked the older Pink Snowballs I tried, but I also didn't like any rose scents until Nymphes de Pave. At this point I've grown to appreciate quite a few rose blends, so decided to give Pink Snowballs another go. I really like it! It's bright, creamy, rosy and fun. It very much lives up to its name. I have a bottle of Love and they’re pretty similar, except Love has strawberry, so I’m not sure whether I’d bother getting a full bottle of this (especially since it comes back so often, it’s never hard to find). They’re both the sort of young, girly scent that I don’t usually wear but once in a while find myself craving. However, Pink Snowballs is sort of like Love’s cousin that’s a few years older and Love looks up to and tries to emulate, and I think if I had a bottle of PS I might reach for it a bit more often than Love.
  10. aphrodite

    Go to Sleep, Darlings

    This is the exact description of my wet phase. It keeps this weird, kind of likable playdough smell for at least an hour. After that it becomes something creamy, soft and minty, and reminds me of the creamy element of Pink Snowballs. I think if it were named something else I might not even keep the decant, because it takes a while to become amazing and I think will be better as a layering scent than a standalone. But I love the name so I'll probably try to find a partial 5 ml.
  11. aphrodite

    The Spell of the Eastern Sea

    This was really pretty and I adore the name (one of the best BPAL names ever, I think) and the label is exquisite. A somewhat sweet aquatic that reminded me of a few candles I've owned and loved over the years. If it were a candle I'd have bought five. But it amped so strongly when I tested it on just one wrist, I knew in my heart if I ever actually wore it for a day I would feel sick and have a headache by the end. It's just not the kind of smell I could handle amping around me all day -- a little too sweet. I was tempted to keep it anyway and try to let it grow on me because it really is lovely and again, the name and the label are perfection. But I let it find its way to someone who will hopefully not have to fight so hard to make it work.
  12. aphrodite

    Purple Snowballs

    Out of over 20 Yules I tried this year between decants and bottles, this was one of only five I bought blind. I was certain it would work. Alas, I think the plum in this and Ezekiel's Phoenix must be the same, and it simply doesn't register on my skin at all. This was just the snow note and cardamom. It wasn't bad, but I have plenty of BPAL snow perfumes, and this one just wasn't special on me at all. :'( I sold it to someone who will hopefully love it as much as I wanted to.
  13. aphrodite

    Hesiod's Phoenix

    Golden amber, bourbon vanilla, and sweet oudh. This is gorgeous and perfect. It smells like House of Unquenchable Fire atmo spray with a bit more vanilla. The vanilla is dark and rich, not at all the kind that goes plasticky or cakey. Absolutely lovely and if you love HOUF you should get this.
  14. aphrodite

    Ezekiel's Phoenix

    Very sad about this one. The reviews all sound divine, but it just doesn't smell like anything to me. In the bottle I couldn't get an impression of it, and I basically saturated a cotton swab to slather it on, at which point if I realllly sniffed deeply I got a faint whiff of something. I was sure I would love this and that it would fill a specific void in my collection, but it's off to the sales.
  15. aphrodite

    Snowblind Atmosphere Spray

    It is definitely very cakey! I was hoping for mint with a soft vanilla base to make it feel creamy. I like for my bathroom to smell like creamy mint. Instead it's predominantly a very foody vanilla, with the mint growing more apparent in the drydown. The cake smell stays too, though, the mint doesn't take over. Just, when I first spray it I don't even notice the mint, and after a few minutes it's cake with some mint. After a few hours it becomes more what I was looking for. It's VERY delicious, but i'm not a particularly foody person, and something about my bathroom smelling delicious creeps me out a little. I think I'll decant out half or even 2/3 of my bottle to resell, but I do like it enough to keep a portion.
  16. aphrodite

    Schwarzwald Atmosphere Spray

    In the bottle I smelled a lot of snow. It smelled a lot like the snow and pine BPAL oils, which I love, but i had yet to try it because I just wasn't craving that sort of smell. Well, I just reached for my bottle of Wassail and sprayed this all over my living room by accident. It's really pretty! It's more pine heavy than snow heavy once it's in the air and on the furniture. It smells very fresh and natural, and VERY seasonally appropriate. I could see spraying this on a fake Christmas tree to make it feel more authentic. It also makes for surprisingly gorgeous layering with Wassail -- the scents are so different, but it's like wandering through an enchanted forest and coming upon a cottage where a hedge witch has been baking magic treats. It reminds me of Fae Forest, but I would say a lighter version. My best friend strongly dislikes Fae Forest, so much so that she gave me her full size bottle for free (score!), but she got Schwarzwald and she loves it.
  17. aphrodite

    Pumpkin Clove Candle

    Warm pumpkin and Madagascar clove bud. First? Okay, then. First. I'm very sad to say that I don't love this candle. Last year's Black Clove and Pumpkin Tart candles were two of my favorites ever. As much as I love pumpkin food, I don't usually buy pumpkin type candles, because I don't want that sweet, foody, often inauthentic smell in my home. The anise seed crust was the perfect element to last year's candle, and I thought the clove would lend a similar darkness and complexity. Unlit it smelled like soft, semi-sweet pumpkin with a distinct undertone of bubble gum flavored children's toothpaste. Strange. Still, I let it burn for two hours, completely melting the top across and all. The throw is pleasantly strong; I had it in the bay window in my kitchen, with both side panel windows open, and I could smell it in wafts from my living room couch. (The two rooms are connected.) It doesn't smell cloyingly sweet, or like those intense pumpkin candles from things like Yankee, and that bubblegum note doesn't take over. All in all, it's fairly nice. I wish there were a much more prominent clove note; I wouldn't say it's entirely absent, but I don't notice it particularly at any point. I'm curious as to what this would smell like to someone walking blindly into my home. I almost don't know whether I would have picked out either pumpkin OR clove had I not known the name of it. I'm a huge BPTP candle fan, so really, this is probably a lot nicer for some people than I found it. I just have such high expectations, and this sounded like a combo of two all time favorites. I don't think I'll go through the effort of trying to sell this on my sales page and ship it, but if there were a perfume oil I liked this amount, I would probably sell it. If any of my friends at home want to buy it in person, I'm sure I would part with it, if only to get money to try another BPTP candle, but I could also see myself eventually using the whole thing up if I end up with it long-term.
  18. aphrodite

    Capax Infiniti

    This is just unbelievably beautiful. If there weren’t already an Endymion perfume, I would say that’s what this should be called, because it is most certainly a thing of beauty and a joy. It’s so soothing and happy and really reminds me of being a carefree young girl on the island of St Maarten where my family has timeshare apartments every January. I can actually smell warm sunshine in this, and there’s something in the ice cream that reminds me just a bit of sunscreen. Overall the smell is vanilla ice cream, a bit of lavender which is definitely not overpowering, and just unbelievable warmth and happiness. While it’s incredibly evocative of childhood feelings of freedom and happiness, I don’t think it’s a childish scent at all. I actually cried a bit because the first time I put this on I was so overwhelmed with feelings of joy and security. I will definitely need at least one bottle, probably two, and it will be the first scent to sometimes take Lady Amalthea’s place when I need something to help soothe nighttime anxieties.
  19. aphrodite

    Searching for the Perfect Vanilla?

    It's been years since I sniffed the Diors, so I can't recall distinctly which Poison smells like what, but you might try Antikythera Mechanism for a rich, dark vanilla, and Belle Epoque for a classy, intoxicating vanilla blend. AM is also a good one to try because I've found that several limited edition amazing vanilla smells use that same vanilla, so it's nice to be able to read a review and see the reference and know what it means.
  20. aphrodite

    Looking for a BPAL that Resembles a Favorite Perfume

    She might love Butterflies, Flowers and Jewels Attending, but you'd have to hurry since it was supposed to come down from the site almost two weeks ago and could theoretically vanish any day.
  21. aphrodite

    Butterflies, Flowers and Jewels Attending

    This is stupid beautiful. If you've read the "GO GET THIS NOW" reviews and thought, "but will it really work on me?" probably yes. It's amazing. It definitely does have a commercial vibe, but not in an overwhelming or bad way at all. I can't wear commercial scents anymore, and I've been wearing this constantly. It's sweet floral, the way a butterfly garden is sweet floral, and very well blended. It's also extremely consistent; I've worn this at the height of my monthly cycle and it smelled exactly the same as it does the rest of the time. It lasts all day, although by the end of the day it's faded to something softer and a bit more vanillaic. It's just lovely. Ethereal and lovely. I bought a bottle less than 24 hours after trying the decant, then demanded that my best friend take the rest of my decant (I'd only purchased a half decant of each Lilith, so at that point it was only 1-2 uses left) and try it. She's much less likely to buy a full sized BPAL bottle than I am, but she bought one after very little time too. We also don't have particularly similar BPAL tastes/love notes. I can definitely see some people rejecting this for not matching their personalities - it's quite feminine and light (as in sparkling sunlight, not faint smelling) and not at all dirty or spicy, so if you strictly like your scents to be deep, dark or masculine, you might not have a place for this in your treasure chest. But if it sounds like it even might appeal to you, track some down. There's a REALLY good chance you won't be disappointed. ETA: I agree with ObliqueRed that it's reminiscent of a much more wearable Coco Mademoiselle.
  22. aphrodite

    Newbie Guide to BPAL and BPAL.org (add your tips)

    You're right - it does seem that there is a proportionate amount of frimps with orders - around 2 x frimps per bottle... generally (of course, this varies). However frottles seem a bit more random. I've received a frottle with large orders, but also with not-so-big orders. I really don't think there's any such thing as "guaranteed to include" - free *anything* is to be appreciated, not expected. I don't mean that as a personal thing aimed at you, aphrodite, but I just felt it's important to remember this No, I know that of course, and I doubt I'll ever make an order big enough for a frottle. I was just getting curious / awestruck by the number of BU GC bottles on the sales pages of people that run circles.
  23. aphrodite

    Newbie Guide to BPAL and BPAL.org (add your tips)

    It's a free imp (get it?). The Lab will sometimes include them in orders, as will forumites sometimes when they swap or sell you something. If you place a huge order with the Lab, Frottles have been known to occur. I'm not a newbie, but I was searching for "frottles" and this is the thread with the most relevant convo it seems... It seems like generally every six imps come with about two frimps. I know it can vary, but that's been the average for me. Is there an average for frottles? Or a certain number (20, 30, 50?) of bottles that seems to be guaranteed to include at least one frottle?
  24. aphrodite

    Arana

    I love araña. Like everyone else says, it does start out very similar to the Antikythera Mechanism. And I do love AM; it's the only scent I've ever applied in my cube and had coworkers flock to sniff me. But AM can sometimes go wrong on me during different parts of the drydown depending on my chemistry that day, the weather, etc. I don't mind wearing masculine scents when they're incredible, but AM sometimes turns masculine in a bad way. So if AM is a sort of confident, androgynous type, araña is its younger sister that has inherited all of the same family allure, but with a more distinctly feminine and somewhat youthful vibe. I lose the wood notes in araña after a while; they might still be there to other people's noses, but with AM I smell the oak throughout the drydown, whereas araña just becomes a fluffy vanilla. It's the same vanilla as Love from this same collection, and at times I get the same fluffiness from the vanilla in Feed Me And Fill Me With Pleasure. I absolutely love this perfume.
  25. Any number of the BPAL for Dark Delicacies horror movie blends could work: http://www.darkdel.com/index.htm?bpal.htm&1 For the flapper you might do Jazz Funeral, Belle Epoque (wrong era but still right vibe, depending on how it smells on you), The Robotic Scarab, Juke Joint, Manhattan, any of the Champagne blends or anything with gin. I would personally probably wear Champagne and Opium. Definitely any of the Yule snow blends, or Snow Moon.
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