GemmaCat

aww, this one disappointed me. I thought it would be deep, earthy, with a little aquatic note, but it just smells like expensive citrus-based cologne. Oh well.

spicy, vast, and citrusy. This is a really unusual scent with impressive throw. I'm not sure if it's the black amber, but there's something in this that gives the feeling of space: wide, empty spaces with cool, refreshing air blowing through. I think I need to sample this again to come up with something more articulate. ^^;

sweet and heavily floral, like very old perfume of the kind my Nan would have worn in her youth. Not for me at all due to my bad relationship with florals (they abuse me so!).

I had to test this three times before I could make up my mind about it.

Primarily it smells like really soft baby powder, but this isn't a bad thing. It's ever-so-gently floral, bringing to mind images of delicate buds just starting to open, and there's a lovely sweetness in the background.

This is the only floral scent I can wear without getting a headache, and it's so soft and pretty that it's a keeper for sure.

Sweet, creamy, and with the coconut-y note of Milk Moon.

This is very light, and a nice combination of initial freshness with that creamy drydown. This probably would have been my favourite scent, but since having a health condition treated my body chemistry has changed so that anything with the creamy note of Milk Moon turns sour on me. This was swapped away last week for Holiday Moon.

Well, poop. I bought this because SN Honey is the most amazing scent on the planet, but as usual jasmine thwarts me again!

At first the honey puts up a fight, raising its fits and screaming "Jasmine be damned! I am the Queen around here!", but jasmine is insidious and sneaky, and uses its powers of Uber-Floralness to beat the honey into submission, until all I can smell is jasminejasminejasmine.

*pouts* Not fair! Oh well, this will find a good home, since I offered it up to the BPAL care package peeps.

when I sniffed this in the imp, I physically recoiled. There's this weird warm-spice note in Bengal that makes me feel ill, and it's in Spanked in high degrees. My brother also hated this, and we both felt sick after the first sniff. It dries down to a new leather smell, but the initial scent is very off-putting. One I will be glad to be rid of.

Sorry to be a downer, y'all!

In the imp, this is pure, unadulterated chocolate brownie: gooey, soft, and so-so bad for you. *salivates*

On my skin, I get a slightly bitter note beneath the chocolate, like when a small amount of cake batter burns on the outside of the cookie-sheet.

As it starts to drydown, it turns slightly perfumey, almost as if there's a trace of florals in the mixture, but then it settles down to gooey chocolate once more. Very nice, but oddly enough this doesn't smell as nice as Bliss on my skin. Still a keeper, though.

Wow! This has very impressive throw and great staying power. It's almost as powerful as Misk U.

If you like Absinthe, this is the scent for you. It's more complex, more lemon-y, and with a really lovely sweet note that brings a great deal of warmth to an otherwise crisp and bright scent. I bet this smells great on other people, but it's not for me.

Oh wow! This is so pretty and soft and orange. Like stroking a cat's fur and listening to it purr contentedly under your hands.

I'd hazard this contains some kind of golden amber, and reminds me a lot of the sweet, pink note in Pink Phoenix. I think I need to have a big BPAL sale so I can buy a bottle of this because it's far too beautiful to miss out on. I'll be using it to anoint my Bast statue, too.

This is a strong minty-menthol at first, drying down to a sharp herbal note that I can't place. Maybe sage? It really clears the sinuses and opens your eyes, though I do find the herbal note too strong for my tastes.

I wore this whilst working today and I was noticeably less tired (even with period pain!) so I think it works. I'll probably keep hold of my imp for up-coming exams. The herbal note might be strong but it certainly wakes me up!

Sweet, soft, and very bright. I've noticed that I have a hard time pin-pointing individual notes in the TAL scents as they're so well blended. I did wear this today whilst I was working on my dissertation and found that I didn't feel as tired as I usually would after over 3 hours of work, so I'd say it works. Even if it didn't, I'd keep it because it really is such a lovely, fresh scent.

I have a great fondness for the Egyptian pantheon so I was looking forward to trying this scent. It's not what I expected at all, though. I thought it would be soft and bright, but it's sharp and herbal. I think it's the same herb used in Concentration but much more of it. This is actually rather unpleasant on my skin, so it's off to the swap pile.

I'm sorry I can't be more indepth but that sharp herb note is proving hard to place for little 'ole me. :/

I managed to snag an imp of this from a lovely lady on LJ.

This is foody and spicy, and very rich. My first thought was "Ooo, sweet and complex".

Once on this reminds me a great deal of Beth's pumpkin notes, but whereas true pumpkin scents make me feel violently ill, this is all the lovely rich sweetness with none of the nausea. Hurrah!

There's also a hint of ripe-to-bursting fruit, and that spicy foodiness remains right through to the drydown.

The throw and staying power of Hellion is very impressive, and only a small amount is needed for a lovely cloud of scent to envelop you.

As much as I loved this scent, it's a little too rich for me, so it went to a new home where it could be properly appreciated as it so richly deserves.

Smut was my first real introduction to BPAL musks and was a real surprise. I expected to be blown away by deep, dark, and sensual scents that insinuated their way into my nostrils and made me all weak kneed.

Instead, I could barely smell them!

Once on my skin, and warming up, I could just about detect a boozy note with a hint of florals, but I had to apply a LOT to smell that.

On the drydown something really icky and animalistic (but in a bad way; I'd say "think skunk" but I'm weird and like how skunks smell) comes out, and then this all disappears within minutes.

Very unusual skin reaction with this one!

This was all patchouli on me; woody and sharp. I couldn't detect any other notes so this ended up being swapped away very quickly.

I didn't know what to expect with this one. Musks can either work great on me (ala Snake Oil) or horribly (ala Smut).

This is. . . floral. Really. My skin is amping up whatever floral notes Beth included in this and the musk is just lurking in the back ground, dragging its feet sheepishly, and acting like a school boy caught with his first cigarette.

The drydown is more of a dirty-musk, but that floral note will not relent. It likes being centre stage.

The throw is impressive, and it has good staying power, but florals just aren't my thing so this will be making its way to my swap pile eventually.

I agree with others who say it doesn't really smell like honey; it has none of that almost medicinal sharpness.

Instead, the honey SN smells to me like cocoa beans drizzled with honey and warmed up, so the two melt into each other and pervade the atmosphere with a deep, sticky-sweet scent.

This is a truly delicious scent, and it's making me hungry!

Surprisingly impressive throw, too.

A BIG favourite.

Definitely a green floral, with good throw, and very true to nature.

I recently had to swap away a bottle of The Masque because the carnation note was giving me a headache. Now, I'm a little mystified; what was strong, heady carnation in a mixture is soft and gentle as a single note.

This is a very delicate scent, with all the sweet floral of carnation and none of the headache.

I bought this on ebay without reading the reviews here, and boy was I surprised! I expected something fiery, a little dark, with real bite from the pepper, and instead I get this gorgeous, fresh orange sweetness.

I suspect it's the benzoin which is making this so sweet, since orange on me tends to be more sharp and eye-opening.

As this dries down it gets softer and richer.

I'm a BIG fan of this one. And I'm glad I bought a bottle.

Sniffing this from the bottle, I'm struck by how Beth keeps managing to produce such well-blended scents. It's sweet, floral, spicy, and deep, and no note has dominance.

Once on, the carnation starts to peek out, but there's still a very insistent sweetness that is most likely the honey. Sadly for me, the carnation blooms as it warms to my skin, and the floral note gives me a nasty headache. Even with such a powerful flower forcing its way onto centre stage, I can detect the clove and sandalwood beneath.

The drydown on this is lovely. It's all rich, dark cocoa, like the expensice 90% pure bars you buy in health shops. Chocolate notes tend to go sour on me, and drydown super sweet, but this is rich and complex with enough bitterness to make my mouthwater.

I wanted to keep this for the drydown alone, but dealing with a few hours of headaches (this blend has great throw and is long lasting) for 30 minutes of cocoa isn't worth it.

I'm positive that my loss will be someone else's gain, however.

In the bottle this is light, soft lavender. Sometimes lavender scents can be bitter and harsh, but this definitely isn't. It reminds me very much of a childhood friend of mine's garden that was filled with lavender and heather that her mother used in tons of recipes (blueberry and lavender jam. . .mmm. . ).

Once on, the fresh, bright notes of the bamboo, chamomile, and sandalwood come to the forefront, and are SO very pretty. All too quickly, however, the opium and ylang ylang make their presence known, merging with the lavender to create something off-puttingly floral (I'm not a floral fan as they tend to give me headaches).

On the drydown, this is creamy florals. All the fresh bamboo is lost, and you're left with a permeating sweetness and a trace of spice.

This is definitely a nice blend, and exceptionally well mixed. I can see it helping people sleep, but mainly I see it as a relaxation blend; something you put on when you need to unwind, but not necessarily sleep yet. This is a scent that reminds me of sleepy, blissed out evenings in the summer where the air is warm and you can smell fresh flowers on the breeze. If it wasn't quite so floral, this would be a big favourite.

It has impressive throw, and lasts for a number of hours.

Overall, despite not working for me personally, I rate this very highly.

In the imp: sweet and very foody; like butter-cakes.

On my skin, initial: foody and boozy. It makes me think of rum-soaked pudding with vanilla custard.

Drydown: still very sweet, but the booze softens and becomes slightly smoky.

Overall, I'm surprised that I like it so much. Most foody/booze scents make me feel nauseous, but this is pure comfort in a vial.

In the imp: sweet, with a little citrus? No wait. . . *sniffsniff* Not citrus but something green, like freshly cut flower-stems.

On my skin, initial: more of that freshly cut stem smell; very green and fresh.

Drydown: Ahh, now I'm getting the rose; they're dusky and sweet, and the hazel gives this a woody undertone.

Overall this is very feminine and very pretty, but the rose/wood combination just isn't for me.