aine

There have been some great responses in this thread, but my brain is too tired to think in long sentences so I'll keep my response to three general points -

* Not everything natural is good for you.

* Not everything synthetic is bad for you.

* Let's not kid ourselves that we have any right to expect that the presence of synthetics in BPAL oils is confirmed or denied by the Lab.

If you have serious health issues that you are concerned may be exacerbated by BPAL oils - don't wear the perfume.

Oh no. Too sweet. Killer vanilla beans. Smackdown musks.

I should have listened to the reviews that mentioned Lilith Victoria, Dorian and TKO.

I had hoped that this blend would follow more closely the theme of late summer and be drier, more leafy, more herbal lavender. But it is big and round, sweet and thick. It's just too much.

I have a ridiculous compulsion where I talk myself into believing that lavender blends just might-maybe-perhaps work on me despite all evidence to the contrary. I really should have known better.

Colour me surprised that this isn't more popular though.

Excellent point!

The scents that most effectively make me want to get out and work in the dirt are Garden Path with Chickens, Worm Moon, Deep in Earth. The 'true rose' scents like Peacock Queen and Rose Red inspire me to tend my roses so I can have some beautiful fragrant blooms to bring inside.

I think one of the big showcase rose geranium scents was Longing from last years Lupercalias (rose geranium, frankincense, Ceylon cinnamon, golden musk, bay rum, and bois du rose). I get a real 'warm sunlit geranium' waft, and it does a brilliant job of lifting my mood.

 

I never tried it because geranium and musk are the only two notes in there that I like...:\

 

Is the cinnamon detectable? And how dry does the rosewood go?

Whatever makes cinnamon 'Ceylon' I think also makes it significantly less harsh, less hot, less foody, and more golden somehow. When your post brought Longing to mind, it wasn't until I tracked down the notes that I even recalled it had cinnamon in it.

And I wouldn't describe it as dry at all. It's a big scent, lots of throw and there is no mistaking the rose geranium. It's the star of the show.

I'm a geranium fan too!

I think one of the big showcase rose geranium scents was Longing from last years Lupercalias (rose geranium, frankincense, Ceylon cinnamon, golden musk, bay rum, and bois du rose). I get a real 'warm sunlit geranium' waft, and it does a brilliant job of lifting my mood.

My bottle looks like it says LXVIX but that makes no sense??

Truthfully, I don't give a rat's arse what it is called - I adore it! I almost don't want to review it because I will only do it an injustice by mangling its beauty with awkward guesses at its notes.

Since my mind runs quickly to Luperci, Midnight Mass and Parlement of Foules I am guessing it is resiny incense with beeswax and a touch of white rose. Deeply sexual beeswax and sweet smoky resins.

My husband's eyes rolled back in his head when he smelled my wrist. I've got to admit I feel the same way. Even sixteen hours after I put it on the dark and dirty beeswax was smoldering away.

The only way anyone else will get their hands on it will be by prising it out of my cold, dead fingers.

Unexpectedly a soft breath of a scent.

Primarily orris with a little oakmoss and almost just an impression of ambergris, honey and black moss. My initial impression was that 'velvety' summed it up perfectly but now that I have worn it a couple of times, and know it better, it brings to mind a fine mohair rug - soft and light but snuggly.

Gentle, but present.

Mole is a gorgeous moss scent - soft, warm, brown - much like Mole himself I imagine .

When I first sniffed Clemence in the bottle I was drawn into the dark, spicy depths. I was ready and willing to dive in headfirst. The only small cause for trepidation was a worry that the clove might pull that sharp, burnt note that it occasionally does on my skin.

On my skin, Clemence is primarily spiced tea. Strong and delicious, and the truest hot tea note I've encountered. After about an hour it does the something extra special. It takes a step back. Calms. Steadies. And blooms.

Soft and warm and gorgeous. Gentle, rich spices and carnation tea rounded out by the background patchouli. Clemence goes straight to my heart and my Top Ten LEs.

In my head, Batman most definitely smells like the Dark Delicacies exclusive C Auguste Dupin, a refined leather.

With every BPAL order, whether direct from the Lab or decants, I try to include one 'outsider' oil. One that I know probably won't work, but contains notes or a concept that sparks my interest nonetheless. For these new Carnaval acts Cytherea was the 'outsider' oil.

I'm not even sure I remember my reasoning behind including it, but I'm immensely pleased that I did. It's completely different from anything I'd usually wear and quieter and faster-fading than I'd usually tolerate. But it so beautiful that I tend to forgive its shortcomings and reach for it anyway.

Cytherea is the scent of the captivating woman that you meet at an awards dinner and you know her ritual in the hours preceding the event has involved languishing in an impossibly deep bathtub. Wafts of the softest scent of luxurious bubbles.

I understand the comparisons to Skinny Dip shower gel but I think Cytherea is far more elegant and understated. Not a hint of brashness, just soft, creamy, bubbly beauty.

I'm enjoying Jai Mahal and Glowing Vulva at Ryogoku Bridge right now. Didn't think it would work, quite, but it does on me.

Mmmm, this is my favourite combo at the moment too! Not my usual fare, but fabulous...

Luperci (patchouli, Gurjam balsam, and essence of Sampson Root sweetened with the heightened sexuality of beeswax, virile juniper, oakmoss, ambrette seed over honey and East African musk) sounds perfect!

And even though it is LE it is available now. Such a gorgeous scent - and sums up "sweet and sensual, earthy and sophisticated" for me.

For enabling men, I'd choose -

Dee - warm and scholarly

The Bow and Crown of Conquest - manly but soft at the same time

Golden Priapus - nice vanilla blend

Fenris Wolf - something a little animalistic

Dracul - just gorgeous, interesting notes

Tezcatlipoca - a little cocoa

Iago - for when he's been a bad boy....

Calico Jack - aquatic

Casanova - kind of traditional and yet not at all

Lear - different feel, bay rum

Vicomte de Valmont - amber, non-challenging

Villian - beautiful fougere

For women -

Anne Bonny - a very accessible wood blend

Lurid - something completely different

Velvet - safe introduction to foodier scents

Maiden - a softer, wearable floral

Whip - rose and leather, mmmmm

Morocco - reminiscent of vanilla icecream to me, nice introductory scent

Tenochtitlan - something alive and fun

Death Cap - warm and earthy

Jezebel - womanly

Snake Oil - vanilla spice, classic

Szepasszony - ethereal floral

Loviatar - sexy, sexy, sexy

Bleurgh, caramel is a bad, bad note on me.

But for caramel lovers, I haven't noticed The Emathides mentioned yet...

One of the truest BPAL/Lush matches on me is Sitting Up With a Sick Friend and Hollywood. Every time I wear Sitting Up I am thrilled all over again to find that gorgeous Hollywood glamour in perfume form.

The nominees for Clove in a Lead Role: Three Witches, Count Dracula and the Superstar of All Clove Blends The Smiling Spider.

The nominees for Clove in a Support Role: The Winter of Our Discontent and Dracul.

And the Winner is......

Ahathoor (although I can't even be absolutely certain it has clove in it as it doesn't have listed notes!)

Jarvenpa, have you tried Jacob's Ladder? The '05 version resembles The Lion on me, but is much richer and it lasts forever.

So true! For me, Jacob's Ladder 05 is the King of amber scents - true rich amber, big throw and so longlasting. The Lion is another of my favourite BPAL ambers and I can definitely see the similarity.

There are a number of scents in the BPAL catalogue described in terms of night - night air, night blooming flowers, gardens at night, creatures of the night, even a goddess of night.

October smells like afternoon. One in particular - the late afternoon when the approaching evening brings with it a small bite in the breeze, and you wish for the first time for a jacket or plan to bring out a blanket for your bed. That afternoon marks the changing of the seasons, and October captures that sense of true autumn perfectly.

It is air so clear it really does carry the scent of leaves to you. 'Clear' really is the word that keeps coming to mind, and I can see why some people might think it is a little masculine. October is lighter and airier than I expected, but it is so evocative and I adore it.

Wood, moss and ivy. Heaven.

The Twisted Oak Tree is an outstanding fragrance and I'm going to have to find room for it in my Top Ten LE list. It is everything I hoped for and more, an uncluttered spectrum of browns and greens. Unspoiled by fruit notes, or floral notes or sweet notes. I don't even detect a smoke note, just dry brown wood with soft moss and a lush surge of life from the ivy. So unique, but too natural to be 'unusual'.

Perfect. Must buy more.

Have you ever looked at a comet in the night sky, and realised that you can see it clearly when you are not looking directly at it, but it seems to disappear when you focus on it?

That's what The Lurid Library smells like for me. If I try to smell it I get nuthin'. But all day I found myself trying to pin down that gorgeous scent. I'd catch a sweet musk - and for one weird moment I actually thought I could smell the scented erasers of my childhood - but mostly a sweet musk, the faintest floral, and a room. Not so much books or incense, but a room where time and people have left their mark.

A quiet scent, ghostly even......

Hunter Moon is absolutely nothing like I imagined. It is the softest suede on me, with the gentle almost-coconutty musk so reminiscent of A Bachelor's Dog.

I don't smell leaves, or bonfires, or wine, or chill and I certainly don't smell anything feral. I smell suede. And I'm so thrilled to have found that enchanting musk again.

Oh my, this is almost all-caramel-all-the-time on me. That and a head-shattering musk. Ouch.

And it throws like a mutha. I could knock people out at six paces - the staff in the next office could smell it, even after I had tried to wash it off.

Didn't work for me at all, and I was desperate to get home and have a shower.

When I got in the car after work, my husband told me I smelled fantastic. WTF?

What about Golden Priapus and The Bow and Crown of Conquest? These smell fantastic on my husband and I don't even like vanilla.

This is overwhelmingly VANILLA!!1! on me. The kind with sharp claws and pointy fangs. This is so similar to Snake Oil on me, just without the soft spices. It's loud and rubbery - very latex-y.

I've washed this off, and washed it off, and washed it off. And it is still shouting at me.