Poenari

Sniffed in the bottle, and upon initial application on skin, I get strong pomegranate. It is quickly followed by the red musk. The woods, pepper, frank and myrrh are well blended and meld into the pom and musk, grounding them and making this a gorgeous dark red blend. Although they don't share many notes other than the pom and black pepper, this reminds me of a non-patchouli version of my beloved Crypt Queen. It's not the same, but has a similar feel that makes me happy. I rarely buy or wear lunacy blends, so I'm thrilled to have found one that I can really love and enjoy.

Ah-hah, thank you! It has to be the July 2007 after reading those notes. /makes note on cap label 13 July 2007 has a pink label with green 13. 13 June 2008 has a green label with a pink 13. http://www.bpal.org/topic/37412-what-do-bottles-and-labels-look-like/page-111?do=findComment&comment=2430239 Also, twilighteyes has an amazing Flickr with tons of beautiful pictures of bottles and labels. She has them set up into many sets, but here is the link to 13 June 2008. https://www.flickr.com/photos/miss_twilight/2780192722/in/album-72157606843865390/

I love the Lab's pumpkin scents and have amassed quite a collection of them. The only pumpkin scent I ever had trouble with was The Shattered Pumpkin, which was just too vegetal and sour for me. The Witches should be exactly what I love from the Lab. But on my skin, it amps into a cumin-like scent, which does not smell good on me. I'm disappointed that I get none of the pumpkin cream, honey, or vanilla on its own. But I have found that if I layer The Witches with something else containing bourbon vanilla or spicy pumpkin, then I can wear it, so I'm keeping my bottle.

I love this! I'm a huge fan of the Lab's dead leaves note, and last year's Autumn Leaves and Haitian Patchouli is one of my favorite hair glosses. I wore it so much last autumn and this one, even though I have so many other glosses. Dead Leaves, Red Musk,& Neroli is another gorgeous autumnal scent. The red musk sweetens the leaves and it smells so good on my hair that I keep huffing the ends that can barely reach my nose. I can't identify the neroli, and I usually don't care for citrus, so it must be well-blended into this. I love having a sweeter alternative to my Autumn Leaves/Haitian Patchouli. Another wonderful hair gloss scent from the Weenie collection! We all already know how wonderful the glosses are for our hair.

I'm going to a pagan wedding being held in a cemetery on Halloween night, so although I won't be wearing a costume, the occasion itself is calling out for me to wear Samhain. Maybe layered with a hint of Graveyard Dirt.

I bought a bottle of this scent because I adore Lilith Victoria, and need another bedtime blend with Snake Oil and Dorian. Need, I tell you! I wore this last night. In the bottle, this is reminiscent of LV without the lavender. At first application, I can smell the Snake Oil, but as it dries down I get hints of the Dorian too. When dry, the sweetness comes forward from the cotton candy, followed by the slight spice of carnation. This is a gorgeous scent, but has much less throw than LV and also wears off more quickly. I didn't detect remnants of it on my wrist this morning. However, that is not a problem for me, as I plan to keep this one for bedtime use. Although I can't help but compare this to LV, I love the fact that LV was Beth's ode to infant Lilith. This scent definitely reflects Lilith's personality as she grows up before our eyes. I love it, and the label is one of my favorite pictures of Lilith.

Another stunning perfume with Beth's leaf note. This time, the leaves are very well-blended into the vanilla and myrrh, and don't stand out as sharp at all, making this less of a strictly autumnal scent on my skin. The vanilla and myrrh are prominent and comforting, and this is very much a cozy sweater-wearing scent. I'm thrilled that I got a bottle of this, as I can see wearing this one throughout the winter instead of just in autumn.

La Femme de Satan - so far, no cacao, caramel, or leather, just red musk and clove. My skin does amp red musk whenever it's found, so that's not surprising. But this is exactly like Mircalla Lite. I rolled my bottle first to make sure it was well-blended. This is not bad, but I adore Mircalla (enough to have 4 backup bottles of her.) If this doesn't age into something too different, it will be a less "in your face" version and therefore wearable in more situations than I can wear Mircalla. I'll be setting this bottle aside for a while to age, and will be interested to see what happens.

This is exactly what I had hoped for! I've been layering Luxuria bath oil with Pile of Fallen Leaves perfume to get a preliminary idea of how this might smell, but I am not an alchemist, nor do I play one on TV. This is so much better than my experiment! I love Beth's leaf notes, and this is the one that I love the most. Red musk is one of my favorite notes, and blended with the leaf note it sweetens the blend to perfection. Herb Girl described it perfectly, with the mention of Bloodbath minus the patchouli (I never got any floral from Bloodbath myself.) The musk keeps this scent from getting that cologne smell that I picked up from October, and keeps this scent barely on the feminine side. However, red musk also smells great on my man, so I can't wait to have him test this. I can't wait until my hair gloss arrives and I can drench myself in this from top to bottom. I might even need a backup bottle of this one.

I know it's been suggested by others, but I really think you should give Sugar Skull a try! Since it has reappeared most (but not all) Halloweens, it should be fairly easy to locate a decant from someone. Then you would have time to buy a bottle of this year's version. It really doesn't change much from year to year, per my bottle collection of various vintages. It has great throw, is long lasting, and ages beautifully. Edited for autocorrect fail

Hello strawberries! I don't think I've ever tried one of the Lab's strawberry blends before, and I am amazed at just how much this smells like a bowl of fresh strawberries. In fact, that's all I smell. Maybe because I'm not used to it, I don't know, but it is beautiful. I can't smell peach at all, nor the other notes as distinct from each other. It's just a lovely bowl of sweet strawberries, but after a while it has the barest hint of peach. Ah, there is finally some sandalwood emerging. This is not "my" kind of scent, but I am really glad to have the decent and will definitely wear it. I think it will be a nice scent to apply first thing in the morning and sniff while I sit and drink my coffee before my shower.

I tried this without first re-reading the notes. I knew from the color of the oil that it was the one with red musk, so that was a good start. Upon application and while wet, I smell peach first, not red musk. Huh! This is surprising, since I amp red musk whenever it's in a blend. But immediately following the peach is something else... I can't quite decide... something green, almost foresty, I look up the notes and aha! It's the cypress! This is interesting and not what I expected. After drydown the red musk finally shows up and starts to amp, as expected. Later on, this is all fruity red musk on me. No signs of myrrh, patchouli, or vetiver in this blend, each of which I can easily identify. Don't be afraid of the patchouli or vetiver, for those who don't care for those notes. They aren't identifiable, but probably help to keep this a grounded scent and balance out the sweetness of the peach and red musk. This is a lovely scent and I'm glad that I got to try it. Fortunately for me, I have many other gorgeous red musk blends so I don't feel the need to chase after a bottle of this one.

This is a great dirt scent and very reminiscent of one of my favorites, The Premature Burial. They share the dirt and cypress, but Midian is a gentler scent, with a touch of the blood and incense faintly present. I am happy to have this as another dirt scent in my collection. Lovely and wearable, very autumnal.

Since it's autumn, I'll start with a few of my favorite autumn pairings (so far ): Autumn Leaves & Haitian Patchouli HG with: Samhain Death of Autumn Hallowe'en 1914 Black Silk Crypt Queen Tricksy HG with; Tricksy (duh) Womb Furie The Infernal Lover Black Clove, Grave Soil, & Tobacco Flower HG with: Hellgate of Ireland Gacela of the Dark Death Night Hag Visiting the Lapland Witches Crypt Queen Samhain Mircalla Red Apple HG with:: Fearful Pleasure Lambs-Wool Creepy Trick or Treat Pumpkin Spice Everything HG with: Pumpkin Spice Everything Pumpkin Lace Pumpkin IV '09 Pumpkin Princess Pumpkin Queen ALL THE PUMPKIN SCENTS That's just a start

I'm a "flower hater" and believe me, June 23, 1868 is the ONE TRUE FLORAL for floral haters. I adore it and even bought a backup bottle. On my skin, there is no sharpness, no headache-inducing white floral, no soap. It smells like a big bouquet of lilacs with the tonka, tobacco, and vanilla keeping the flowers in check and melding into a sensual bouquet.

Graveyard Dirt is THE perfect dirt scent! Last year's Halloween scents included Single Note: Pile of Fallen Leaves. You might have some luck finding them for sale on the forums.

Leather and petitgrain were the only two notes that I was uncertain about in this one, while all the others are full of win, so I ordered a bottle. I usually amp frankincense, but for once it is staying in its place. What I get is a beautifully blended spicy incense, but I can pick out the clove and champaca. The throw is softer than one might expect with all of these notes, and it stays very close to the skin. This is an incense blend that is wearable even in the 90° heat we're currently experiencing, where I usually have to hold off for cooler weather to wear clove/tobacco/incense blends. Love it!

Another member of the stinky hippie family here! This one was an instabuy because of course I need another patchouli scent in my collection. So, about the cannabis... I haven't smelled the real thing in decades, but upon opening the bottle, woah did that bring back memories! Upon application, the cannabis was the first hit I got but it was immediately followed by the patchouli, vanilla, and hemp blend. I was a bit nervous at first that I would never be able to wear this out of the house, but the cannabis dries down very quickly and within a half hour is only there if you know to look for it. I really don't think that it would be noticeable unless I stuck my wrist up to someone's nose and pointed it out. I love my Banshee Beat, and this contains a drier, much less sweet vanilla and patchouli combination. It's not as sweet as Sumatran Red SN nor Goblin, and more along the lines of #occupy wall street without the cocoa. It also doesn't really waft after the drydown and stays surprisingly close to the skin. This has much less throw and is not as long lasting as BB and after the first hour, is a soft herbal vanilla blend, with even the patchouli not as in yer face as usual. I'm glad I bought this, but one bottle will suffice.

Based on the notes alone I would never have bought this one, as I don't like citrus scents and especially dislike anything orange flavored. But it's called Jiggery Pokery and so I just had to have it for the name and for what it references. I wanted the bottle label, so I ordered a bottle as soon as it went live instead of just getting a decant. Hey, it's for a good cause, too. Pink pepper is usually not good on me either, so it's interesting that I really don't even smell it in the bottle or on my skin. What I do get is orange creamsicle, as others have said. On the drydown, I think the pink pepper keeps the cotton candy from turning into a sickly sweet blend, and keeps it from being too little-girlish. It's a nice scent, definitely not "me" but wearable. Once he's old enough for me to wear perfume around him, I would wear this on days that I babysit my grandson, or if I was traveling and wanted to wear a subtle inoffensive scent. Plus it's just damn funny.

I can't describe this scent very well at all by picking out the notes. However, the primary scent that I get from this is the same patchouli that I get from Funnel of Love, so that's a great start! This is like a younger sibling to it, not the same, but in the same family. I can tell there is tobacco and vanilla but I don't at all get sandalwood's typical pencil shavings note. The strangest thing is that for me, this is a scent that can either be autumnal or worn in the spring on a warm day. I don't usually cross my seasonal scents, but this one is a great transitional weather scent. I really like it!

I've been wanting to try this, so I was very happy to receive a frimp in my latest Trading Post package. Upon application and for a good 30 minutes afterward, this has some serious waft and throw! On my skin, the bourbon vetiver is all I smell. That variety of vetiver is the sweet, grassy kind, not the smoky sometimes burning kind of vetiver. I love vetiver in general, but this one is really the good stuff! Remember way back when B&BW had a scent called Vetyver. Blasphemy to mention it here, but that was before I discovered BPAL (besides, it was only available in 2003) and I loved that scent. This is very reminiscent of it! There is almost a floral quality to the cologne in this, between the sweetness of the opoponax, hay and vetiver. I don't detect any of the citrus I usually amp from bergamot, but that's not a bad thing. Overall, I could wear this scent easily as it isn't too masculine. But I really want to try to convince my husband to give it a go. I think it would be amazing with his skin chemistry.

The picture in the previous post is good, so I don't need to post another. However, I must say that I love this color! This is my first Claw Polish, and it was precisely because I adore all shades of green, but particularly olive shades, that made me buy it. I applied 2 coats over a strengthening base coat, and they applied smoothly and evenly. The golden shimmer is almost but not quite enough to make this a duochrome effect. I am in love with the color and will wear the hell out of it this fall.

This is a beautiful summery tropical floral. I get mostly Hawaiian White Ginger on my skin, and that's what sold me on Pele. Reminds me of my long-ago vacation in Hawaii. I will only want to wear this in the summer, but it is perfect for those hot summer days, or if I ever get to go on another cruise or beach vacation.

Here are two threads that might help you. BBW recs here: http://www.bpal.org/topic/12597-i-want-a-bpal-that-smells-like-bath-body-works/ And lots of coconut recs here: http://www.bpal.org/topic/21414-whats-the-best-coconut-blend/ Personally, my favorite coconut scent is Goblin. But you will see that there are a lot of great scents, depending on the "flavor" of coconut you are seeking.

A scent of dark corners and forgotten mysteries, secrets unearthed in dark attics, and cobwebbed, timeworn artifacts: vanilla bean, blackened and smoked, with husky clove, cinnamon bark, and a touch of beeswax. I obtained this bottle in a swap from a lovely forumite. In the bottle and on skin, this is definitely a softer, gentler scent than I would have expected. But if you consider the name, being loved to death would most likely occur in the same manner - this was not a crushing, cloying love, but a sweet gentle love that eased you as you passed on. The dark vanilla is there at the forefront and it is softly spiced from the cinnamon and cloves. Those two spices are blended in the perfume the way that they blend in a recipe; although you may only use 1/4 of cloves to 1/2 of cinnamon, they swirl into each other smoothly with the clove just a hint more prominent, and the cinnamon lacking any heat. Fortunately for me, I don't detect beeswax which often goes sour on me, but it lends the hint of sweetness and holds the blend together. I will wear this scent with love on those anniversaries of the loss of loved ones. And now here is the really strange part. This reminded me so much of another scent in my collection. I thought very hard and it came to me late last night, so I checked and yes! Although the only stated notes they share are the spices, this reminds me a lot of my bottle of Count Dracula. They are not the same, but in the feeling and in the surprising gentleness to each scent. I skin-tested them with one on each wrist, and side by side there is that difference in them due to the note differences, but I feel like they are sibling scents. Alluring and seductive in the most unsuspectingly gentle way.