boomtownrat

Wet on my skin, the sweet pea is the only thing I can smell. After it dries the sweet pea and sage fight for dominance, and during this stage it occasionally smells like plastic dolls that I had as a child. When it moves out of this stage I get lovely sweet pea with some sage (that I can identify as themselves) along with a faint warmth that is probably the musk. After it's been on me for about two hours, sage is a little stronger than sweet pea. Tonka isn't coming through for me as far as I can tell, but maybe I just don't know that note well enough yet.

 

Hormonal wonkiness might be causing me to interpret the sage and sweet pea combination as '70s-era plastic dolls at times. It's pretty when it doesn't smell like those dolls, but it isn't really my style. I probably will give this lab frimp to a friend.

Having never tested or smelled the old incarnation of BTBT, I ordered a bottle because it sounded like it could be a hybrid of Gelt and Haunted. That's almost exactly what I get on my skin. It's off the mail truck yesterday and I must note that my hormones might be skewing it somewhat.

 

I expected the oil to be dark, but it's fairly light against my skin. The burst of cacao grabs my nose first and soon the black musk is right alongside it, making me think of dancing girls on a stage bumping each other out of the way in pursuit of the spotlight. Cured tobacco leaves come out after it's dry, about ten minutes after application. As an ex-smoker, this doesn't bother me because it's not the smell of tobacco on fire. The black musk does turn a bit powdery in the way it usually does on me, but no baby powder ever smelled that good. I would swear there is a tiny bit of amber in this. After about twenty minutes to half an hour, it's smoothed out into a gloriously well-blended scent.

 

My visual associations with this are deep cocoa-coloured velvet; a glass of brandy (not that it smells like brandy, but that's what I'm seeing); and a lock of wavy black hair falling down across a pair of blood-red lips smiling against snow-white skin. Ooo, and as it moves further into the dry-down I can see black-clad figures on a dim dance floor. It's as if my favourite goth night from the '90s has been captured in a bottle. (Thank you, Beth! I've been looking for a scent that would do that!) Right now I'm listening to a playlist that includes Marc Almond and Lycia, both of which are perfect musical accompaniments to this scent.

 

In other words, BTBT is sensual and alluring, but not overpowering. I think I could get away with wearing it to work in my offbeat office full of creative misfits because there's a softness to it.

 

One bottle probably won't be enough for me, and I'm not one for buying a lot of backups.

Maybe it's the fact that the bottle is fresh off the mail truck or it could be hormones, but after about twenty minutes it occurred to me that Lick It Softly smells kind of like a softer Jareth on my skin. Or, you know, maybe my nose is just being dumb today.

 

This vanilla goes kind of musky, and the mint is well blended with it. There's some light sugar in there somewhere. Overall it feels cool and comforting. I don't find it to have much throw, so it would probably be good for days when I need something soft and sweet.

 

ETA: Nearly a year later, the mint and the vanilla both are more true-to-life candy cane. After it's dry I do get the slightest hint of whatever it was that made me think of Jareth before. Maybe that's the vanilla. It's aged into a new favourite and I think I will want each year's Lick It.

I don't know what it is about this, but it almost immediately turns into CORN CHIPS (yes, that loud) with a little side of coffee and some vague sweetness. When the dust starts to show up after it's dry, the situation becomes even more dire because I amp the Lab's dust note and boy, is it Not Good to my nose. After more than an hour I also smell old books, but as it turns out, as much as I like the smell of libraries, I don't want my own self to smell that way. This was an untested bottle purchase.

So, in summary: Fritos and sweetened coffee in a dusty old library, yowza.

ETA on 6/14/2013: With some age on the bottle, the corn chip smell turns out to have been the dust note in disguise. The Irish coffee finally takes its rightful place at the front. I get a little bit of polished oak, but not much. Now it really does smell like Irish coffee in an old library and for certain moods on damp days in fall, that will be just what I need. Miskatonic University is now safe from any swapping or selling urges, I think.

 

ETA on 5/28/2015: Well, I spoke too soon, because the corn chip smell comes and goes depending on my skin chemistry. I've given this to my husband. It smells like it's supposed to when he wears it, and he's an H.P. Lovecraft fan.

I put on this year's Pumpkin II for Thanksgiving this/yesterday morning, but realized too late that it was too harsh for my headachy brain. I thought Snake Oil might soften it and luckily I was right.

This was an unexpected surprise when I bought witchling's bottle of Third Charm. I'd been wanting to try it, so thank you, witchling!

 

If the cherry/almond scent that greets me in the imp would only show up on my skin, then I could happily wear Black Phoenix any time. Unfortunately, almost the instant it touches my skin it's loud rose and a powdery note that I recognize from another scent; I want to say Brisingamen, so it must be amber. Sometimes I can wear amber, but there's a BPAL amber that doesn't agree with me and I believe it's in Black Phoenix. I don't get any of the cinnamon or musk that others have mentioned, unfortunately. Maybe it just needs more time to settle down from shipping, or perhaps a little bit of aging would help.

 

After a while I had to wash it off because I was getting woozy, which for me is often a sign that a migraine is on the way. My migraine brain doesn't like many floral perfumes, but roses can sometimes work for me. It could be that it's just the wrong point in my cycle, so I may dab a little of this on at some other point. Black Phoenix reminds me of Black Rose, which as I recall has also given me that woozy feeling, but not always. Those pesky hormones and a finicky brain can make wearing perfume an adventure.

It surprises me that I haven't reviewed this one, considering how much I was wearing it during the warm months. One day this past spring, I decided to buy a bottle of this unsniffed, thanks to the musks and my love of strawberries. I'm so glad I did, because it's a perfect spring/summer scent for me.

 

Mania is tart strawberry with underlying light musk - simple and beautiful. Its throw is pretty potent on me sometimes, but then on some days it stays closer to the skin. I usually reapply within three to four hours because I just love the early stages, so I don't really know how long it lasts.

 

One thing that seems worth pointing out: fresh from the mailbox, for the first couple of days after I got it, the musks were stronger than they were after it settled. It only took a few days for it to settle and mellow into a more fruit-heavy blend in which the musks were really the supporting players. If you're wary of the musks for any reason, that might be something to keep in mind.

I ordered this on the day the 'Weenies came out this year and have inexplicably neglected to review it. So the bottle is now a couple of months old, and it hasn't changed much from that first wearing. Maybe it's a little deeper.

 

In the bottle and wet there's a sort of rum-soaked raisin scent, but when it's dry on my skin there's a brown sugar smell at the forefront. Other than that, I can't really say that it morphs. It has pretty good throw, in that I can smell it wafting up from my wrists. Nobody has commented on it unprompted, and my husband doesn't have a great sense of smell but he said this is "nice," which is what he's said about at least 75% of my BPALs.

 

This has a lot of texture -- I can almost feel the granules of brown sugar. My colour impressions of the scent are caramel and violet (I must stress that I mean the colour violet, not that I smell the flowers, because if I did I couldn't wear this). I love sugar skulls and this scent lives up to that name.

 

Sugar Skull is one of the 2012 'Weenies I have worn the most and I might need a backup bottle before they come down.

This is a high-pitched light grey floral kind of scent that seems to be making me sneeze. Sadly, I don't detect much if any of the woody aspects that made me try the scent. It's a good thing I only bought a decant, and I don't think it agrees with me enough to keep even that.

The lab generously included Belle Époque as a frimp with my most recent order.

 

When I smell this, I picture a lady with golden hair elaborately pinned, curled, and braided into a fanciful 18th Century hairstyle. She's twirling slowly on the dance floor in her hugely bustled dress made of rose-gold silk.

 

But I'm the kind of woman who wears mostly black clothing and Dr. Martens, so unless I need a scent for a special occasion, I don't see myself getting much wear out of Belle Époque, as beautiful as it is.

 

This scent throws out mostly mandarin and lily when it's wet. The other notes are harder to find, but I detect a bit of opium and vanilla shyly hiding in the background. Red sandalwood, where are you? Even though I fumbled and accidentally ended up putting on more than I meant to, it has light throw once it's dry. After half an hour I have to put my wrist up to my nose in order to smell it.

This is the 2012 version. It's purely a smoke scent while wet on my skin, but as it dries, out come the red musk and a hint of incense. I've worn it on two different days and haven't noticed anything that makes me think of books. As much as I like it, I think the decant will be enough for me.

I wore Snake Oil on my wedding anniversary because it's my husband's favourite BPAL oil.

This is fluffy, creamy, sweet goodness with an unexpected lemony twist. The vanilla is light, secondary to the cream. It lasts about three hours and has decent throw. I'm thinking I need a bottle.

In the decant and wet on my skin, the woodsmoke is the only thing I smell. Soon the flames recede into embers, making way for the other notes. Maybe it's PMS screwing with me, but for a while this smells like a pineapple upside down cake baking in a wood-burning oven. That's actually a pretty good smell, but the smoke does keep reappearing as the dominant note. Finally it settles into exactly the kind of smoky treacle scent I imagined from reading the notes, with just a trace of beer. This could be perfect for certain moods in colder weather, but I won't need more than the decant.

I like adding a shot of vanilla to a pumpkin latte and I love all these notes, so I've been really keen to try Pumpkin V. Since it's fresh from the mailbox, it may well change a bit as it settles, but I just couldn't wait.

 

The scent is kind of like a pumpkin buttercream in the bottle, but on my skin the pumpkin surprisingly is stronger than all that vanilla. This is the same creamy pumpkin note as what's in the three other BPAL pumpkin blends I've smelled. On me it has a light to medium throw.

 

I like this; it's not like anything else I own. Even though I'd like it if the vanilla were just a bit stronger, I think that could become the case as it settles from shipment and as it ages.

Oh, my poor bank account.

This is fresh from the mailbox, but I'm too excited not to try it tonight.

In the bottle it reminds me of Pumpkin Latte 2011, but with a woody undertone. Wet on my skin and when it's just barely dry, the woods come up to the same level as the pumpkin and coffee. The more it dries, the more cedar I get - and the patchouli arrives, but dressed in its most sophisticated Halloween costume. This might be the most subtle patchouli I've smelled.

Pumpkin II is warm and soft with a medium throw on me. It's something I can easily imagine wearing to work, to hang out with friends, to sit around at home and enjoy all by my greedy self...

I expected to love Pumpkin V more out of the two that I bought, but I underestimated how gorgeously these notes would sing together. I may need a backup bottle.

On my skin, The Bloody Banister is a dark scent that mostly smells like dark woods and heavy velvet drapes in an old house. This needs a light touch when applying, at least for me. I put on less of this than I do with most oils when I was getting ready this morning, but I was still too generous. Maybe it's just that I should have kept it away from my throat. Even five hours later, after two attempts to wash some of it off as best I can at work, it's a heavier scent than my migraine brain can handle. I hope it will mellow with a bit of aging, because I normally love wood scents.

 

ETA: After it's been on my skin more than nine hours, this is soft and gorgeous. It's been about 12 hours and I can still smell it. As long as I only wear this sparingly and below the neck, I think I'll love it. The decant will be enough for me.

This is the 2012 version.

 

Fresh from the mailbox and tested on the back of my hand, this is a purple floral when wet. As it dries I start to smell soft grapes and maybe a touch of incense. By the time it's dry, it reminds me of how I remember Poison smelled back in high school - the perfume, not the band or the Bell Biv Devoe song. It's festive and I might consider buying a bottle, which I didn't expect. First I'll have to give it another test after it's settled from shipping when I'm not also testing other decants.

Thank you, sunshinedaisybliss! I have an imp of Morocco and I've got a decant of this year's Boo on the way.

Ooo, I've been meaning to get some Detestable Putrescence for a while now. Thanks!

Hey everybody, I did search for this topic and didn't find what I was looking for. I hope I didn't just miss it somehow.

 

Bath & Body Works sold a lotion I loved for Halloween last year called Sinful Vanilla that I can't find this year. What I really want is a BPAL oil that smells like it, or close. Sinful Vanilla's listed notes are vanilla bean, whipped marshmallow, and vanilla cream, but I think I also smell a spicy musk in there. It reminds me of Calvin Klein's Obsession, which was my favourite mainstream perfume back when I could still wear it. Snake Oil is kind of close, but not quite. I'd like it if I could find a BPAL oil with a similar smell, and if it has the same good throw and long wear too, that would be excellent.

I got Wings of Azrael as a generous frimp from the Lab. On me, it's a slightly spicy floral with medium throw.

 

Unfortunately, this scent proved that violet is a note of doom for me. Violet has given me some form of headache, from ice pick to full-blown migraine, in three different scents, but it took two for me to suspect the culprit and this one for me to confirm it. This time I was prepared for the possibility and I think I've washed it off well enough in time.

 

If not for my violet sensitivity, I'd probably keep the imp and wear it occasionally. Florals aren't really my thing most of the time, but sometimes I'm in a floral mood and this would have fit the bill.

The Lab generously included an imp of Catherine in my last order and I'm testing it today. Hello, Rosemary!

 

I didn't read the notes right before testing, so all I knew was that it smelled green and spiky for the first couple of minutes on my skin. Rose took several minutes to show up, and even then it played second fiddle for at least half an hour. The rosemary and rose combined in an almost foodie way for a while until settling down into a soapy blend. The orange blossom is as faint as if it's coming from another room. This smells okay and doesn't offend my sensitive nose or give me any head pains the way some florals do.

 

Catherine is strange in that rose and orange blossom are usually loud and dominant on my skin. It seems they're no match for rosemary, which I had never worn in a fragrance before this. I don't see myself wanting to wear this unless I'm in a certain mood when I'm going to the renaissance festival, but I'll probably keep the imp and see how it ages.

Rakshasa smelled almost identical to my imp of Baghdad when I first applied it, which is a scent I can only dab on in a tiny amount on a good day. I thought I'd need to wash it off. Fortunately the throw died down a fair amount as it dried and the sandalwood started to tone down the overpowering spicy rose scent. After about 15 minutes, Rakshasa smelled like an antique wooden chest that had once held a rose sachet.

 

This would be a lovely scent for days that are not too hot, probably when I'm at home or not in close quarters with people. I can see it being a headache inducer, although it didn't give me one. It's probably enough for me to keep the imp.

2012 version: The musk and myrrh are the major notes in the bottle and wet on my skin, but as it dries I start to get more of the chili, nutmeg, and smoky vanilla. Benzoin and patchouli are the beautiful undertones. This stays pretty close to the skin and it lasted about four hours before I felt a need to dot on a little more.