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filigree_shadow

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  1. filigree_shadow
    OK, I admit it. I've been over on the LJ BPAL Wank Thread for the past 2 hours reading other people's garbage. I'm repulsed by it and drawn to it at the same time.
     
    Actually, I think some of it was basically right on the money. The problem is that the actual substance was buried in dumb insults and just over-the-top ranting. And I honestly do see the need for letting off steam about stuff that is irritating, especially to people who might agree with you... but there was a lot of naming names by anonymous people, and I don't think that's very cool. If you're going to name someone else in a complaint, name yourself too. Just my opinion.
  2. filigree_shadow
    YAY! School started today! I went to my statistics class tonight, and I think it'll be interesting. We have to do a statistics project for the class, and I'm thinking about doing something related to BPAL (of course). The only question is.... what?
     
    I thought maybe I could figure out from the descriptions which notes were most popular and least popular in the Lab's blends (which ones occur most and least frequently), and then do a small survey and find out which notes are most and least popular among people who buy BPAL.
     
    Obviously I can't list ALL the notes, that would be immense. So that would give me a chance to use the "random sampling" method to pick maybe 10 or 20 notes. And then ask people something like "do not like/neutral/like" to see if that tells me anything about whether the notes that are most popular in BPAL blends are also most popular among BPAL consumers. And vice versa.
     
    I'm kind of afraid to do it, though, in case the whole thing backfires. What if it turns out that there are notes that are consistently disliked in like 85% of the blends or something? I can't see that being something the Lab would want advertised, even if it's just among the 30 people in my class.
     
    Does anyone have a better idea for a project I could do? Or any thoughts about whether this would be an interesting project? Now that I've thought of it, I do kinda want to know how it would turn out...
  3. filigree_shadow
    I organize thoughts with bullet points. I'm sorry. I spent 12 years writing technical manuals, and this is a habit I cannot break. Again, my apologies. On with the blog!
     
    - This is bordering on TMI, but: One of my dogs (or maybe both, I'm not sure) has been tooting all night. We had to evacuate the room twice. It's driving me crazy. As far as I know they've eaten nothing except kibble and their usual treats today, so I'm worried about what they've gotten into that I don't know about yet.
     
    - When we got our tax forms back I looked at my income from last year and started to wonder how much I'd be getting back. My husband said, "You mean WE'll be getting back." He reminded me that we split my income 50/50. I sputtered, "But, but... that was MY money, that I made, and I'm broke..." (I haven't worked since April.) He was right though, we did agree two years ago that my income was used as our discretionary money and it was split 50/50. I haven't worked in so long that I forgot. I was mad and stomped around and behaved like a jerk. I finally said I was REALLY looking forward to that extra $20 I'd be getting in the tax refund, in the most sarcastic voice I could muster. He said he expected my half of the refund would be much larger than that, considering that we split HIS income tax refund 50/50 as well. Whoops! I forgot about that agreement too. Here I was being all pissy that he was taking half of my paltry refund when he was also giving me half of his much larger one. I slinked off silently feeling like a toad.
     
    - I've been watching Father Ted on DVD for the past couple of days, and today I found this: www.doogle.org. This will make no sense to you unless you've seen Father Ted, but I think it's hilarious.
  4. filigree_shadow
    I've had a horrible migraine today. I wandered out of bed for a bit here and there, but mostly I've been trying to stay as quiet as possible. However it seemed to be waning around 8:00 or so, so I decided to take a nice warm bath. I figured that since it was a special occasion I'd bust out the expensive bath products and use the last of my LUSH Christmas Kisses bubble bars -- one and a half of them (I have a big tub).
     
    So I crawled in, deployed the bubble bars, and before I knew it the bubbles were arching over my tub in a humongous mound. Light was glinting off the bubbles in every direction, making me feel like I was snowblind. Bubbles, thousands of them, were popping and fizzing in my ears. (Did I mention I have a migraine?) The scent, which I normally love, was WAY too strong for me today. But by then I felt trapped in the tub under all those bubbles, and I didn't want to waste the last of my bubble bars by getting out of the tub, so I forced myself to stay in there until I couldn't take it any more.
     
    When I was ready to get out I had to call my husband to help me because there were still so many bubbles that if I got out I'd have bubbles all over and they'd get on the floor and on my towel. I wanted him to rinse me off with water while I was still standing in the tub so I wouldn't be bubble-covered. He came in, and I looked down because I was embarrassed of the situation and wanted to hide my face, which is when I noticed that the water was cherry red because I had used so much bubble bar. So there I was, already irritated and upset because I'd made my headache worse, when I realized that I probably looked like a giant piece of fruit trapped in a tub-shaped cherry jello mold with whipped-cream-like bubbles everywhere. And I'd just invited my husband in to witness this spectacle.
     
    I told him about the bubbles fizzing and light glinting and how I used too much and now I felt like fruit in a jello mold and I was nearly crying... I'm not sure that he understood what I was talking about but he tried to be very sympathetic and helpful. He was also trying not to laugh while he was rinsing the bubbles and drying me off, but a few giggles escaped. The whole thing must have been quite a sight. This is my first bath ever that was torture the whole time and ended in humiliation. He told me that I shouldn't feel bad since I had a life-long run of successful baths and only one failure so far. Somehow that didn't make it better.
  5. filigree_shadow
    Hubby and I have too much stuff. It's taking over our house. I am something of a packrat (if by "something of a" you might mean "HUGE")... I have:
     
    - bright fuschia-colored socks that were in style for about a minute in 1986. They don't have holes and are still kinda cushiony (probably because I've worn them twice), so I never got rid of them. With the exception of a few pairs, most of my socks can be dated to the early- or mid-90s.
    - underwear that I bought 10 years ago. If it still fits and doesn't have any holes, I still have it. Those account for, and I'm not kidding, at least 40% of my underwear drawer.
    - any piece of paper that hasn't been written on. If there's 2 pages left in the pad of paper, I keep it. This includes spiral notebooks from college (which was 15 years ago).
    - casette tapes I've had since college. I had a vast tape collection before CDs. I meant to replace them with CDs, and I did, for most of the ones I listened to most frequently. And now we're in the age where even CDs are being phased out... and yet I still have casette tapes.
    - VHS tapes. Same thing. I haven't looked at a VHS tape since we moved into this house 4.5 years ago. But I still have every VHS tape I ever bought.
    - clothing. I keep everything I've ever bought unless it is too worn to wear. I have sizes from 5 to 18, small to 2X. Some of them still have tags. And let's not talk about concert/band t-shirts.
    - and just plain crap. Half a cross-stitch thing I never finished. Half a bottle of shampoo I stopped using in 1998. A metric ton of various candle holders I never use. Junk I bought on various vacations. Books I read half of and will never pick up again. CDs I bought 12 years ago and are still in plastic.
     
    This crap has got to go. We have a four-bedroom house with a basement, and it's FULL. We are two people. This is no way to live.
     
    My sister (a single mom, she and her son live in a house they share with my mother) is currently unemployed and is wondering how she's going to make her car payment. I take one look around my house and see the answer. This is a great incentive for de-crapifying my house. It would benefit my sister.
     
    So I called her up the other night and said, "Hey, if I give you a bunch of stuff, would you be willing to sell it on eBay and keep the money for yourself?" She said sure. I told her I'd come over next weekend or the one after with the stuff. I bet she has no idea that my Subaru Outback will be FULL of boxes of clothes, DVDs, CDs, and books. She's in for a surprise.
  6. filigree_shadow
    I honestly have no idea how to use the chakra oils, so I'm just commenting on the scent.
     
    Ajna: The Third Eye. In the imp, it smells chemical. Kind of like that cleaning solution that you use to clean off whiteboards. On, it smells kind of like menthol, anise, and coffee. It's the kind of scent that will clear your sinuses and open your eyes up. It doesn't seem to last very long though, which was unexpected.
     
    Anahata: The Heart. In the imp, it smells a bit herby, a little golden. On, at first it smells almost exactly the same as it did in the imp. But as it dries I think I can detect something floral in it. It smells yellow to me. There's something about it that reminds me of that yellow Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo.
     
    Manipura: The Solar Plexus. In the imp, it smells spicy and unusual. On, at first it smells interesting and spicy. It has kind of a gingerbread scent to it a little bit. Not quite though, it's not that foody. Definitely spicy. I like this scent.
     
    Muladhara: The Root. Smells rooty. Like a dark woodsy scent, kind of pungent. Sort of reminds me of a basement. Yeah, something like a root cellar. Dark and deep.
     
    Sahasrara: The Crown. In the imp, it smells bright, maybe citrusy. On, it definitely smells bright. Light, sweet, and kind of glowing. There's a slight cleaning products feel to it, but not overly so.
     
    Swadhisthana: Sacral. In the imp, it smells sweet and a little spicy. This oil has my favorite scent of all the chakra oils -- this one and Manipura are the only ones that I'd wear as perfume. The oil itself is orange, and it smells red to me. I can't tell what's in it, but it's really a lovely scent.
     
    Vishuddha: The Throat. In the imp, it smells a little like cleaning products. On, the oil smells lemony and kind of sugary. Not totally like candy, more like lemonade. It definitely seems clean and fresh. This scent actually reminds me of a drink I'd want to drink if my throat hurt. Kind of like a lemony herbal tea with a little bit of honey.
     
    The Vortex. Kind of bright and lemony. I didn't find the scent objectionable, but it also wasn't my fave. Sort of clean and crisp.
  7. filigree_shadow
    Cross-posted to the reviews forum.
     
    Ahathoor - Triumphing. Kind of a weird woody/citrus scent. Maybe something like eucalyptus in there. It's kind of a cross between a medicinal scent and a cleaning products scent. From that description you'd probably guess that I don't like it very much, and you'd be right. I can't wear scents like this.
     
    Al-Shairan - His scent is fiery, bright and thick with sweet sinfulness: clove, peach and orange with cinnamon, patchouli and dark incense notes. The Lab has frimped me Al-Shairan imps three times (and they're all different colors), so I've tried it a few times. From the notes, it does seem like something I should like -- and I do like it, but the cinnamon will keep this from being a favorite. If it weren't for the cinnamon I would like it a lot. There's a sweet, thick scent underneath (the kind of scent I like), but the cinnamon makes it too hot and spicy for me. After about an hour it's a great clove and peach scent, with very light oranges. Exactly the type of scent I like. The only problem is getting through that initial cinnamon stage.
     
    Alice - Curiouser and curiouser. Milk and honey with rose, carnation and bergamot. Reviewed on 3/13. Alice and I were not meant to be pals. I suspected the rose would be too much, and I dreaded the honey-induced play-doh scent, and I thought the carnations would be too bitter on me just like they always are. And Alice did exactly what I thought she was going to do.
     
    Bastet - Luxuriant amber, warm Egyptian musk, fierce saffron and soft myrrh, almond, cardamom and golden lotus. Mostly almond at first, and then amber and saffron. This is a beautiful golden scent, and I think it's very fitting for Bastet. I can see why this oil is so popular, it's lovely. It gets pretty light after about an hour, but it lasts quite a while.
     
    Bengal - A sultry and unruly blend that emulates the ambient scent of the markets in ancient Bengal: skin musk with honey, peppers, clove, cinnamon bark and ginger. At first it smells like honey and spices. Can't really smell any cinnamon in this at first, but I do smell a little bit of clove and ginger. After a while I definitely get cinnamon bark, loudly, with a honey undercurrent. Usually with cinnamon I have some trouble with it smelling very strong (the throw is a little too much for me), and it's like that in Bengal too. However after the cinnamon fades it’s a sweet honey scent, very lightly spiced. Quite nice.
  8. filigree_shadow
    Cross-posted to the reviews forum.
     
    13bodies package #2: Bon Vivant, Cobra Lily, Dee, Djinn, The Great Sword of War, Kurukulla.
     
    Bon Vivant - An effervescent blend of crystalline champagne notes and sweet strawberry. It does smell like champagne, which is quite nice, but the strawberry scent smells artificial on my skin. It reminds me of a strawberry lip gloss. My hubby likes it a lot on me, but it's not really doing anything for me.
     
    Cobra Lily - Sharp, heady and viciously carnivorous. I love this one! It smells bright and slightly fruity. It's a little bit green, but the fruitiness stays around too. It's pretty and light and feminine. Also it's a red oil, and I almost always love the red ones.
     
    Dee - His scent is soft English leather, rosewood and tonka with a hint of incense, parchment and soft woods. This oil smells like a gentleman's cologne -- it reminds me of my dad. My dad was one of those guys who wore a tie to work every day of his life and always carried a briefcase. He was very meticulous about his appearance and picky about his shampoo, shaving cream, and aftershave. When I was a little girl I used to love giving him a kiss before he left for work because I loved the way he smelled. I thought he smelled clean and like Daddies were supposed to smell. Looking back, I know it was woodsy and sweet and must have had a little bit of leather in in somewhere. Just like Dee.
     
    I think Dee is the only BPAL oil that reminds me so strongly of my dad that I would prefer that my husband does not wear it.
     
    Djinn - The scent of black smoke, of crackling flames, and smoldering ashes. Phew, that's strong! It's also sweeter than I thought it would be -- this is sweet smoke rather than dark smoke. It's actually not as bad as I expected it would be, but it's giving me a headache so it has to go.
     
    The Great Sword of War - Mandarin, tonka, saffron, black tea, cocoa, tobacco leaf, sanguine red musk and five classical herbs of conflict. This is an oil that I expected to like because I love the listed notes, but I had a very meh reaction to it. I thought it would be kind a musky deep scent, and I mainly got tea and herbs out of it. I guess the "five classical herbs of conflict" are too dominant for me. It ends up being closer to what I like when it's completely dry, but I don't think I like it well enough to ever want a bottle of it.
     
    Karukulla - Her scent is a harmonious, sweet, enchanting blend of three lotus blooms and three roses. Surprisingly fruity at first, although I'm beginning to realize that lotus smells fruity on me. The roses underneath are not very noticeable at first but dominate the scent when dry. This blend smells sweet and feminine -- I would definitely use the word "harmonious." The notes all combine nicely and the overall effect is soft and pretty.
  9. filigree_shadow
    Cross-posted to the reviews forum.
     
    This package contains: Oberon, Penny Dreadful, Port-au-Prince, Skuld, Tzadikim Nistarim, Urd. (I didn't have to test any of the imps from the package -- I already had all these.)
     
    Oberon - Orchid, white musk, and bergamot wafting over juniper berries, with a gentle touch of soft, earthy patchouli. Based on the notes, I should like this. However, the first time I tried it I didn't like it at all. I tried it again as part of the GC circular swap. Now I remember why I didn't like it -- it is too sharply floral at first. It's a little too lemony for me (juniper berries and white musk both tend to smell a bit like lemons on my skin). If I got orchids and patchouli out of this I would be very happy. Instead it kind of smells like dirty lemons and old lady perfumey powder.
     
    Penny Dreadful - Soft perfume evocative of noir heroines over rich red grave loam. (Reviewed 4/22/06) There's a sort of honey sweetness to this one, but unfortunately there is also a strong dirt smell, which doesn't agree with me. I like the way it smells in the imp though, so I think I'll try it in a scent locket.
     
    Port-au-Prince - Dark, decadent and incomparably exotic: the rich scent of buttered rum flavored with almond, bay, clove and sassafras. Strange, I thought I reviewed this already. I can't find a review, though. I really like this oil -- at first the almond is strong, the clove is barely there, and the whole thing is buttery and soft. Then it morphs into a smooth clove scent. It's rich and full, and it definitely smells decadent. It has very good throw and lasts quite a while, too.
     
    Skuld - Being. Ylang ylang, honey, Egyptian and Arabian musks and labdanum. When I first got into BPAL I really wanted to try Skuld because it seemed like it was terribly popular. Then I got an imp of it, eagerly took a sniff, and then wondered what everyone thought was so great about it. Poor ickle Skuld, shunned to the back of the imp box. I got the imp out to try it again as part of the GC circular swap, and now I see what all the fuss was about. This really does smell wonderful. Charming and bright, warm and soothing. Pretty but not overly feminine. This doesn't smell like perfume, it doesn't smell like flowers, it doesn't smell like fruit -- if someone else was wearing this, I would definitely ask her what it was. You wouldn't expect a person to smell like this. It's unusual and very intriguing.
     
    Tzadikim Nistarim - The scent is one of unadulterated spiritual purity, with a taste of the world's eternal pathos, and the joy of suffering with grace: frankincense, olive, spikenard, hyssop and galangal. This smells exactly like a weed smelled in the field behind my house growing up. I don't know why, I have no idea what note is causing that. It's a sweet weedy scent. It's a little unsettling to me. I think it may be the spikenard -- I smelled spikenard oil once and thought it was revolting. But anyway, I really don't like this blend at all.
     
    Urd - Fate. Muscadine, black and red patchouli, cereus and nag champa. Mmmm, nag champa and patchouli. There is definitely a grapey scent to it, but it's not overpowering at all. This smells good on me, but it truly smells lovely on my sister. On her skin it goes from rich and smoky to mysteriously sultry. She's not normally a patchouli and nag champa kind of gal, but even she had to admit that Urd smells fantastic on her.
  10. filigree_shadow
    Cross-posted to the reviews forum.
     
    cordia #1 package: Aizen-Myoo, Asphodel, Blood Countess, Follow Me Boy, Hunger, Seraphim, and Yggdrasil. I have all these imps, so I didn't have to use any of the oil from the swap package.
     
    Aizen-Myoo - Yuzu, kaki, and mikan with cherry blossom and black tea. Aizen-Myoo smells like stank on me. It is one of my least favorite BPAL oils. And it's weird, because the Lab has frimped me with Aizen-Myoo at least four times. I feel like Aizen-Myoo keeps saying "Try me again. This time you'll like me. Go on, try." And I try it, and it's horrible. It smells like the very worst bitter citric acid smell you've ever smelled combined with weeds that sort of smell like tomato leaf but four times sharper. And the scent lingers around for hours making me regret ever putting the damn oil on my skin. I know there are people who really love Aizen-Myoo, and I'm honestly glad that someone likes it. But I don't. Yick.
     
    Asphodel - The grey and ghostly flower that fills the fields of Hades. Light and floaty, but extraordinarily floral. Like I just stuck my nose in a flower. It's one of those heady floral scents that would be cloying if it were stronger. (Luckily it's not very strong.) I'm not a floral gal, so I can't say which flower this smells like because I'm not very familiar with floral notes. I can say that it smells kind of pale pink, rather than yellow or purple. I like this better than some of the other floral blends but not well enough to want to wear it.
     
    Blood Countess - Corrupted black plum, smoky opium and crumbling dead roses covered by a deceptive veil of Hungarian lilac, white gardenia and wild berry. Blood Countess is one of the blends I knew for sure that I would like -- the plum, opium, lilac, and berry sounded wonderful! The only listed note I don't get along with is gardenia. (I wore a gardenia-scented oil in the 90s and got burned out on the scent.) And guess what Blood Countess smelled like on me? Yep, you guessed it. Gardenia. A fruity gardenia, but still gardenia. I tried it at least three times because I kept hoping that this time it'll be just plum and opium. You'd think I would have given up after three tries, but I refused to give up my imp hoping that one day my skin would play nice. And I am happy to announce that TODAY is that day! Today this is definitely a plum and lilac scent on my skin, and it's lovely! I'm thrilled that this finally worked on me. And now I know for sure that this particular oil is affected by my hormones. Now that I know when to wear it and when not to, it's officially a keeper!
     
    Follow Me Boy - No notes listed. Hmmm. An odd scent. I'm not sure how to describe it. It starts out smelling kind of floral and herbal. Green, but not sharp. It's not unpleasant, but it doesn't seem particularly enticing to me. After a while it starts to smell a little milky and floral -- kind of like sour milk. Still an odd scent. I wouldn't wear this as perfume.
     
    Hunger - Evokes sheer, unadulterated carnal lust. An undeniably warm and sensual scent. Black narcissus, orange blossoms, and vanilla. When it's wet, this oil smells dark and powerfully sexy. It's almost all black narcissus with something deep and smoky underneath that reminds me a little bit of vetiver. As it dries I can begin to smell the orange blossom. The vanilla makes it slightly creamy. The first time I tried this oil a few months ago I thought it smelled like a creamsicle. This time when I tried it, it was much darker. I like it this way better. Very nice blend. I think this imp might get upgraded to a bottle.
     
    Seraphim - A perfume sacred to the highest of the angelic hosts: calla lily, wisteria, white sandalwood, Damascus rose and frankincense. Woah. This scent goes straight through my head. It's white and sweet and so piercing it makes my teeth ache when I sniff my wrist. I'm not sure why this combination is so disagreeable to me -- the notes don't offend me individually. Frankincense often goes too sweet on me, but I can't really smell any frankincense in here. And oh great, I get the extra special bonus pounding headache from this one. Perhaps this blend is too angelic for me. 'Fraid this one's getting washed off.
     
    Yggdrasil - The World Ash. Nine woods, nine leaves, and three herbs each for Ratatosk and Vidofnir, with three final herbs to placate Nidhogg. A very woodsy scent. Is there mint in this? Or menthol? It's odd, the first time I tried Yggdrasil a few months ago I thought it was a very dry, light, wood scent, and I kept the imp around because I thought I might want to try it again later. I had in mind that it was the sort of light comforting scent I'd want to wear at bedtime. I definitely don't remember anything like menthol in it -- that is not comforting to me at all. After the wet stage dies down, that minty scent fades away. What's left is wood and herbs. This is much more herby than I remember. Also it gets a little powdery when it's dry. It's not the comfort scent I thought it was. Hunh. Off to swaps, I guess.
  11. filigree_shadow
    cordia #3 package
    Bloodlust, Dirty, Grand Guignol, Nuit, Rage, Szepasszony, and Zombi
     
    Bloodlust - Dragon's blood essence, heavy red musk, Indonesian patchouli and swarthy vetiver with a drop of cinnamon. What I got straight away was cinnamon and vetiver. Then the cinnamon burned off (fortunately!), and the scent brightened up a little. I could smell the dragon's blood and vetiver most strongly. Then the red musk. It definitely smells red to me, dark red. It settles into a lovely dark musky blend... heavy and sweet. I really like it when it's dry.
    The thing that really irritates me about this blend is that I really don't like it at first -- which surprised me. Red musk is my favorite musk, and I love dragon's blood, patchouli, and vetiver. But for the first ten minutes, it's nose-crinkly to me. I bought a 5ml of it several months ago and I don't think I've ever even opened it. The thought of going through the first 10 minutes is unpleasant enough that I don't wear the oil at all, even though the dry stage is fabulous.
    I think I'm going to have to try harder to remind myself of how much I like it when it's dry, to distract myself from remembering the wet stage.
     
    Dirty - A fresh, crisp white linen scent: perfectly clean, perfectly breezy. Smells like a crisp white floral. Lily? Extremely feminine. Quite breezy too -- it seems like it's floating. A very clean, pretty scent. Not overpowering, either. Nice!
     
    Grand Guignol - Our Grand Guignol perfume is a shot of sweet apricot brandy; just enough to settle your nerves after a ghoulish, gory brush with the macabre. Yay, Grand Guignol! I like it a lot! It smells to me a bit like an apricot tart. It reminds me a bit of peach cobbler, one of my very favorite desserts of all time. The brandy really warms up when the perfume oil is on my skin, too. I like this one mostly because the fruit note doesn't smell artificial on me (as fruit notes sometimes do), and it's also not overpowering. It's almost a delicate scent... which is how I like fruity blends. I don't want to walk around smelling like a giant piece of fruit, I just want to have a vaguely sweet and pleasant aura.
     
    Nuit - Her perfume is starry and crystalline, a jewel-clad and glittering paean to night: dazzling white musks, white rose and night-blooming jasmine with the soft moss of moonlit meadows, a waft of Egyptian incense, and a gentle breath of moonflower. I expected Nuit to be beautiful and captivating. What I got out of it was a snootful first of jasmine and then rose. The problem is that jasmine and rose are two of my least favorite floral notes because they tend to be quite strong on my skin. Nuit does start to seem musky after the rose phase, but not enough to make this something I'd want to wear. This just isn't the sort of floral that I like.
     
    Rage - Black amber erupting with a dark volcanic surge of fiery dragon's blood and a burst of melati, rose geranium, mandarin and black currant. Initially it kind of smelled like a burnt orange. It's not nearly as dark as I thought it would be, but it smells a little bitter. It's an interesting scent... just not the hot fiery scent I was envisioning. Also it doesn't seem to be very strong. It's ending up smelling kind of farty. I don't think this one is going to work for me...
     
    Szepasszony - A chilly, tempestuous whirlwind of clear, airy notes, slashing rain, and a thin undercurrent of white flowers. Other reviewers described this as a cold aquatic floral -- I think it's chilly but I wouldn't call it cold. It smelled a little bit minty at first, but that didn't last long. It's kind of breezy and aquatic, with some pretty white flowers. It smells fresh and clean to me, totally inoffensive. A little bit like soap, but often the aquatic scents smell a little like soap to me. This is perfect for a day like today, when it's 91 degrees but the RealFeel is 102. Ugh.
     
    Zombi - Dried roses, rose leaf, Spanish moss, oakmoss and deep brown earth. I tried this a long time ago and hated it. I tried it again as part of the Entire GC circular swap, and now I realize it's not as bad as I thought.
     
    I am not a person who can wear the dirt scents. This smells like pretty dirt, because of the roses, but still dirt. Fresh, earthy, black, fertile dirt. I find the scent interesting and intriguing, and I wouldn't mind burning a candle that smelled like this. But as a personal perfume it's not for me at all. It's all right after about an hour (more rose than dirt), but it's still not something I'd choose over other BPAL blends.
     
    I will say in Zombi's favor that I find this scent infinitely more appealing than Graveyard Dirt. And the dirt scent in this blend is not as overpowering here as it usually is on me. I think Zombi is my favorite of all the BPAL blends that have that earth note.
  12. filigree_shadow
    cordia #4: Lady of Shalott, Lilith, Love Me, Magus, Othello, Undertow, and Whitechapel. I hadn't written reviews for ANY of these yet, but the only one I didn't have was Undertow.
     
    Lady of Shalott - The scent of calm waters just before a raging storm, limned with achingly-beautiful blooms, an icy scent, but somehow warm, and mirror-bright: bold gardenia, crystalline musk, muguet, water blossoms, clear, slightly tart aquatic notes and a crush of white ginger. The gardenia is prominent, but I don't mind it as much as I usually do. The ginger and musk is a nice combination -- they keep the floral notes from being too heady. It's slightly aquatic as well... kind of reminds me of flowers floating on a pond. Very pretty.
     
    Lilith - Mother of Demons, Vengeful Fury, Darkest Seductress, Queen of the Djinn, Goddess of the Gate. Red wine, myrrh, black musk, and attar of rose. This smells very fruity and sweet at first. It doesn't smell like fury to me. Can definitely pick out the red wine in it, and the rose is there too. This reminds me a lot of Wanda, except that Wanda smells entirely of red wine on my skin, and in Lilith there's a little bit of rose too. I like this one better than Wanda, but when it's dry the wine scent is still a little too strong for me.
     
    Love Me - A commanding, dominant oil that increases sexual magnetism, creates an intense and irresistible air of attraction, and amplifies potency. I can't comment on how well this works for its purpose, but I like the scent of it. It smells spicy, like cinnamon, but not overly so. There's also something powdery underneath the spice. Maybe some kind of wood, too. It definitely smells like it would attract people, I've been sniffing my wrist compulsively since I put it on. I like this a lot, even just as a perfume.
     
    Magus - An ancient blend, swollen with arcane power: galangal, high john essence, frankincense, cedar, and sandalwood. I read frankincense and cedar in the notes and thought I wasn't going to like Magus. I'm surprised to find that I do like it. It's in the same vein as Aureus and Cathedral, but it doesn't smell as much like a pencil box as either of those do. The frankincense doesn't get overly sweet on me like it usually does, and the cedar doesn't smell quite as peppery as usual. This is kind of comforting and soft. I like it a lot better than Cathedral.
     
    Othello - Arabian musk with two roses and a bevy of Middle Eastern and Indian spices. I don't think this is masculine. I see what other reviewers mean about the fabric softener, though -- there's something crisp about this scent. It actually reminds me of a soap scent. It's not my favorite rose blend, but I like this better than some others.
     
    Undertow - The Dark Side of Air: a high pitched, tangy, clear scent -- light China rain deepened by murky vetivert. I smell some kind of mint in this, or possibly eucalyptus. I can't really smell any vetivert in it. It's definitely high-pitched and tangy, like the description says. It does seem airy, too. It's not the kind of scent I wear, but it smells pretty good. After it dries it smells less minty and much sweeter. It reminds me of Pez.
     
    Whitechapel - A gentlemen's blend, possessed of dignity, charm and refinement, but in truth masking a corrupted, hideous, soulless core. White musk, lime, lilac and citron. This smells strongly of lime at first... but most blends that contain lime usually smell mostly of lime on me at first. There's a little bit of lilac underneath the lime that starts to come through as the lime fades out, and the lilac keeps getting stronger while it dries. But as the lime goes away a lemony scent takes its place, and I don't care for lemon. It makes the lilac smell sour, and I like lilac so much that I don't want it to be altered like that.
    The parts of this that I like are things I can find in other oils I like better: I can get my lilac fix from Cordelia, and for a clean crisp masculine citrus scent I prefer Villain over Whitechapel.
  13. filigree_shadow
    Cross-posting to Reviews forum and my LJ journal.
     
    I got the first package from kakiphony, which incldues Ave Maria Gratia Plena, Hymn to Propserine, Jazz Funeral, Jolly Roger, and Juke Joint. Here are my reviews.
     
    Ave Maria Gratia Plena - Rosewood with Sicilian lemon peel, red Mysore sandalwood, pale musks, sweet mountain sage and a dusting of lily, night-blooming jasmine and orris. At first this smells mainly like lemon, but that fades into a strong floral. I can't really smell any sandalwood, which is too bad. I think there's some musk under there, but the florals are so strong I can't really tell much. I do think this is pretty, but it's not my style. Too floral for me. Lots of throw, and pretty strong.
     
    Hymn to Prosperine - The darkening amber of faith’s sunset, deepened by the dark fruits of Proserpine. The first time I tried this, it went wonky after 20 minutes. This time, it's staying mostly perfumey amber that doesn't go powdery, and the dark fruits aren't starting to smell like rotten fruit. I'm blaming hormones for that first failure trial. This time it's dark, ambery, and only very slightly fruity. Fades pretty fast though; it's almost completely gone in an hour, leaving just a trace of amber.
     
    Jazz Funeral - Bittersweet bay rum, bourbon, and a host of funeral flowers with a touch of graveyard dirt, magnolia and Spanish Moss. At first I can mainly smell the dirt, but it has a very sweet floral overtone. It turns into a sweet floral with a really lush, rich background. It smells humid to me and reminds me of a hothouse. This might be the only GC blend with a dirt note that I would wear. (I specified GC because I sometimes wear Queen of Clubs.) Good throw for only the first couple of hours, but it's still faintly there for several hours after that.
     
    Jolly Roger - Sea spray with an undercurrent of leather, Bay Rum, and salty, dry woods. At first it smells salty and grassy to me. It's pretty green. Then as it's drying it smells more like an aquatic/grass combination. I like the scent, but as a perfume it fits my hubby better than me. Good throw.
     
    Juke Joint - A bawdy, gleefully wicked and unruly scent: Kentucky Bourbon, sugar and a sprig of mint. The first scent I can pick out in this is mint. Then it turns into a sweet boozey scent with the barest bit of mint... blends like this are what makes BPAL the paragon of perfume excellence that it is. I have never smelled anything like this. It's like springtime, but it's a fun spring day -- like one of the days when you have a few drinks with good friends and you all end up skinny-dipping in the lake. The scent that I can tell is bourbon reminds me of my grandmother, which is kind of weird. Makes me wonder if Grandma was in the habit of taking a nip from a hip flask when I wasn't looking. Wears close to the skin; not a lot of throw.
  14. filigree_shadow
    Cross-posting to Reviews forum and my LJ journal.
     
    I got the second package from kakiphony, which incldues Leanan Sidhe, Neo-Tokyo, Obatala, Tweedledee, and Vixen. Here are my reviews.
     
    Leanan Sidhe - Her perfume is a crush of Irish herbs and flowers, Gaelic mists, and nighttime dew. While the scent is strong, it's quite herby and green. Reminds me of Irish Spring soap and dryer sheets. It smells bright, clean, and fresh. It ends up (after an hour or two) smelling like a faint green floral. So when it's strong it's herby, and when it's faint it's floral. Interesting.
     
    Neo-Tokyo - Urban metallics and an ozone-tinged breath of electric light mingled with reedy bamboo, crisp mountain air, cherry blossoms, delicate orchid and a splash of playful, wet fruits. Smells mostly aquatic to me, but sweet too. The florals are modest and not overly strong. This oil smells cute. I like it, and might get an imp of my own. Probably not a bottle though.
     
    Obatala - Obatala’s ofrenda is soft, white and pure: milk, coconut meat, shea butter and cool, refreshing water. It's funny, I remember reviewing this when I first got the imp -- I thought the coconut had a suntan lotion smell and I didn't like it. This time I thought it would be different because it started out as a creamy, dark coconut. But after about 30 minutes, that suntan lotion scent I remembered was back. So... this one's still a "no" for me.
     
    Tweedledee - Ridiculous! Kumquat, white pepper, white tea and orange blossom. At first, pepper. But that was for about three seconds. Then a very bright and juicy fruit scent came up quick and shared the spotlight with pepper and tea. I thought it was an odd scent, and a little jarring. I sniffed it again 15 minutes later and that weird discordant pepper note was gone -- it's mostly just bright fruit. This is an interesting scent, but I don't imagine I'd ever reach for this imp instead of other ones that I truly love.
     
    Vixen - Lascivious, flirtatious, and vampy as hell. A true heartbreaker’s perfume. The innocence of orange blossom tainted by the beguiling scents of ginger and patchouli. Vixen reminds me quite a lot of Dior's Poison, which was my signature scent throughout college -- but it's better. It smells exactly like the description says it does. It's been on my list of favorites since the beginning and I expect it always will be. Vixen was one of the first BPAL oils I tried, and now whenever I smell it I am transported back in time to that evening, when I was in total awe that anything could ever smell that good. There's nothing quite like BPAL newbieness, and Vixen brings it back to me.
  15. filigree_shadow
    Cross-posting to Reviews forum and my LJ journal.
     
    I got the package from moonarcana, which incldues Bathsheba, Eden, Glasgow, Jezebel, Persephone, Phantom, Rome, Titania, and Wanda. Here are my reviews [just a placeholder right now, until I fill them in -- the notes here are just what I wrote in my spreadsheet].
     
    Bathsheba - Her scent is breathtakingly lovely, exotic and powerfully sensual in its innocence: carnation, sensual plum, and Arabian musk. It is breathtakingly lovely -- sensual, too. This oil is one of my favorites from the GC, and I already have a bottle of it. The plum is great, the carnation is not too bitter, and I don't get too much musk. Very nice.
     
    Eden - This oil contains the innocence of the Garden, coupled with the Truth and Erudition found in the fruit of the Tree of Evil: fig leaf, fig fruit, honeyed almond milk, toasted coconut and sandalwood. Smells like Fruit Loops. I like it. Coconut and honey is a nice combination. On second try: Yep, still like Fruit Loops, but that's mostly just at first. Overy time it turns into a sweet nutty honey blend... I wish the fig was a little stronger because I love fig. But I'm really happy that the honey is behaving itself in this blend -- there aren't many BPAL oils with honey that I can wear.
     
    Glasgow - The rich scent of wild blackberry breezing over gentle rosy heather. I like the berries, and it smells wispy with the heather. I like this one. On second try: Not as much berries this time. It actually smells a little bit musky, reminding me very slightly of Enraged Bunny Musk. I still like it.
     
    Jezebel - A gloriously decadent blend of honey, roses, orange blossom and sandalwood. That orange blossom is very nice. Loved it at first, then it went baby powder. Still a nice scent though. It's quite sweet. It reminds me more than a little of baby aspirin. That sort of chalky fruity scent.
     
    Persephone - Pomegranate and rose. The pomegranate is loud at first. Then the roses come up. Uh-oh. Too sharp, I think. I usually can only wear watery roses, and this isn't watery at all. No, this isn't going to work on me.
     
    Phantom - Myrrh, dark musk, attar of rose and ylang ylang. A rose I like! I can barely smell the rose, the yling ylang is strong and gives it an edge, and the musk is nice. This is a sensual blend, quite mysterious. I really like myrrh and dark musks, and this is very well done.
     
    Rome - Refined, austere and graceful. A recipe gleaned from Classical Rome: cypress, juniper, chamomile and rose. Juniper and rose are the prominent notes on my skin, but mostly rose. It smells like a woody rose (as opposed to a watery rose or a bright rose, etc.), which appeals to me more than other rose blends. But rose and juniper are two of my least favorite notes, so this isn't gonna work for me. I like the chamomile, though.
     
    Titania - A nocturnal bounty of fae dew-kissed petals and pale fruits: white grape, white peach, iced pear, musk rose, sweet pea, moonflower and snapdragon. Bright, fruity, and flowery. More fruits than flowers, at first, but then flowers come out. A bit more floral that Kitsune-Tsuki, but it's in the same vein. This is a great springtime scent, and I wish I'd had a bottle of this for spring this year. I might get a bottle anyway... I like this a lot.
     
    Wanda - Her scent is a deep red merlot with a faint hint of leather, sexual musk and body heat over crushed roses, violets and myrtle. The first time I tried it, it smelled exactly like red wine on me, and pretty much nothing else. The next time, it was more floral at first -- the dry red wine is still obvious, but I like it better with the florals. They make it sweeter and rounder. But it ended up being entirely red wine again after about 15 minutes. The scent is quite lovely, I just can't picture when I'd want to smell like a bottle of wine. It's strong, too.
  16. filigree_shadow
    These reviews are for pink.owl #2 package, which contains Aeval, Carnal, Hecate, Morocco, O, Red Queen, and R'lyeh.
     
    Aeval - A judicious yet powerfully sensual blend, a mingling of justice and sexuality: sage, sweet pea, bold pale musk and warm tonka. This oil smells almost entirely of sweet pea. It's way too sweet and way too floral for me, plus it's approaching powdery. This is just not at all something I would wear.
     
    Carnal - Bold, bright mandarin paired with the sweet, sensual earthiness of fig. At first it's almost entirely an orange scent that's quite strong. Then that fades out as the oil dries, and it ends up being a wonderful and nearly equal balance of rich fig and sweet bright mandarin. These are both among my favorite notes (especially fig), so I had assumed I would like this, and I definitely do. It's lush, round, and sweet -- divine!
    Also it reminds me a bit of Freak Show, so anyone who likes Carnal should check out that one.
     
    Hecate - Their scent is the crisp, inviting bittersweet tang of cranberry with smoky dark lilies, heady, sensual musk, a tingle of ginger and a brush of Mediterranean spices. The first time I tried this I thought it smelled smoky, hazy, and dark. Then I got a frimp from the Lab, so I tried this new one. It smells like cherries to me at first, not cranberries, definitely cherries. As it dries I think I can detect a little bit of ginger, but not much. There is something in this that strongly reminds me of the Glade air freshener (you remember those can-like things with the scented jelly-type stuff inside) that my grandma used to keep on the back of her toilet. So, as you can guess, I don't really want to smell like that. As it's drying it doesn't smell quite as much like the air freshener, but now that I've got that image in my head I can't get it out. The scent is getting better as time goes by, but now it's turning powdery.
    I kinda wish this one smelled like that first imp I had... wonder what I did with that one. I'll see if I can track it down.
     
    Morocco - Arabian spices wind through a blend of warm musk, carnation, red sandalwood and cassia. I was rather meh about Morocco the first couple of times I tried it. It seemed to be terribly popular, and I couldn't see what all the fuss was about. I thought the carnation was too strong and I thought the whole thing smelled dry like a desert and unpleasant.
    Then I got a frimp of Morocco from the Lab, so I decided to try it again. This time it's wonderful. The sandalwood and cassia is a great combination (and the cassia fortunately doesn't overpower everything else)... mmm, musky, dry, and spicy. And there's something creamy under there too. It's exotic and mysterious, and I love it!
    I think that the first time I tried this it was wintertime, and that was the wrong time to try this. It is perfect for a very hot summer day like today, just perfect. Wow. I can't believe how much my opinion about this oil has changed in just a few short months.
    Also I have a hunch that I should get a big bottle of this and put it in the back of my closet for about a year to let it age.
     
    O - Amber and honey with a touch of vanilla. [Reviewed on Feb. 22, 2006; updated review on Aug. 1, 2006.] Not much I can say that hasn't been said. On me, it's honey and vanilla -- after a while it warms up into a honey musk.
    After reading the reviews I was expecting O to bowl me over with sexiness, but it doesn't. (I guess Scherezade is still the reigning champ of sexy, for me.) It's not really what I expected.
    ETA: After trying many BPAL blends, I now know why O didn't work for me -- my skin turns the BPAL honey note to play-doh. However I have found that Mouse's Long and Sad Tale works great on me and is sort of what I was expecting O to smell like.
     
    Red Queen - Deep mahogany and rich, velvety woods lacquered with sweet, black-red cherries and currant. [Reviewed on Mar. 13, 2006.] Very cherry at first. Not at all like cough syrup or fake cherry flavoring. Like I just stuck my nose in a jar of maraschino cherries. (Which is not to say The Red Queen smells like almonds, becasue I don't think it does.)
    It's really faint, which surprised me. For The Red Queen, I expected a much bolder and stronger scent. It's sweet and candy-ish, but not at all strong. After about 20 minutes the wood notes come out and give it a nice balance.
    I don't think this is for me, but it would be good for someone who likes the sweet resiny-wood blends.
     
    R'lyeh - A hellishly dark aquatic scent, evocative of fathomless oceanic deeps, the mysteries of madness buried under crushing black waters, and the brooding eternal evil that lies beneath the waves. Of the aquatic scents, I think this one is my favorite. It doesn't smell stinging in that way that ozone often does on me, instead it smells like clear, clean water. Like water in a fountain. Except better. I don't actually get anything evil out of this, nothing that evokes dark oceanic depths. Mostly it smells clean and fresh. My only complaint about this is that it softens up a bit too quickly and becomes faint... which is also unusual for an aquatic scent on my skin. Usually they're a little too loud for me. It figures that the one that I like a lot would be the only one that doesn't amp itself into the atmosphere.
    I wrote that paragraph before I looked at the other reviews, and now I want to add this:
    1) Grapefruit? I wouldn't have guessed that. I have my doubts that Beth would put grapefruit, which smells sparkly, into something that's supposed to be like fathomless darkness... but maybe. I don't know -- I'm going to be a hard sell on the grapefruit possibility. I'm just not getting that. I guess there might be some citrus in there giving it that "fresh" feel, but it's not strong enough for me to be able to pick it out.
    2) I agree with edenssixthday that most aquatic scents smell masculine on me. I blame that damn Cool Water cologne that everyone and his brother wore 10 years ago.
  17. filigree_shadow
    pink.owl #7 package
    Dana O'Shee, Santa Muerte, Satyr, Thalia, Venice, Wilde.
     
    Dana O'Shee - Offerings of milk, honey and sweet grains were made to placate these creatures, and it is that the basis of the scent created in their name. Smells like cherries and honey at first. Then it gets milkier and sweeter and the cherry scent fades out almost entirely. I have a feeling that this would be a lovely scent if it weren't for my skin chemistry making the honey smell like play-doh. It's done the exact same thing all three times I've tried Dana O'Shee over a span of several months, so I'm pretty much giving up hope at this point. I'm glad this smells great on other people, but it's never going to work for me.
     
    Santa Muerte - A deep, resonant scent, both comforting and soft: lovers’ roses, solemn chrysanthemum, dark vetiver and dazzling cactus flowers. Disclaimer: I love vetiver. Santa Muerte is lovely. Gentle and cozy. Like cuddling up with a good book under your favorite blanket on your favorite comfy chair. It does kinda smell a little bit like cocoa at first, and then it smells a bit like cleaning products, but that's just the wet phase. It's pretty without being aggressively floral, soft and lilting.
    Santa Muerte was one of the first 5mL bottles I bought from the Lab. It was great to wear in the springtime.
     
    Satyr - Unleash the bawdy, unrestrained passion of the satyr! A ferociously masculine scent: sexual, vigorous, and truly wild. Yummy yum. To me this smells mostly like Scherezade with clove when it's wet -- kind of like an aggressive Scherezade. And it's a really dark brownish-red color, so of course I'm going to like it. There's nothing soft or gentle about this scent. But even though it's dark, it's not a brooding darkness. It's kind of playful. If there is civet in this, that's okay with me because the Lab's civet note smells pretty good on me. Nothing like poo at all.
    I ashamed to admit that I have about 4 imps of Satyr and I haven't given a single one to my husband yet. I just let him try it a few minutes ago for the first time, and it smells fabulous on him! Even better than on me. Rats. I guess he gets the imps.
     
    Thalia - Good cheer. Plumeria, pear and white champagne. Hmm. Plumeria, is it? I thought that scent was gardenia until I looked at the notes. This is a very yellow oil, and it smells like a very yellow flower. The pear gives it a nice crispness, and the champagne gives it a bit of a sparkle. Over all I like it, it's just a little more flowery than what I usually wear. This is one of the BPAL blends that doesn't suit me personally but that I find quite pretty. I also think it would be nice layered with one of the grapefruit scents.
     
    Venice - A complex, voluptuous scent that captures the robust beauty and of the Italian Renaissance: lemon, red currant, wisteria, red rose petals, heady jasmine, Florentine orris root, waterlily, red sandalwood, violet plum, and violet leaf. It smells lush; I don't know how she did that. It's also slightly sweet, but it's kind of a fruity sweet, not what I'd consider a floral sweet. It doesn't have as much jasmine as I was afraid of, and the tiny amount of lemon I can smell doesn't bother me as much as lemon usually does. It's a pretty floral that smells rather grown-up. It gets slightly heady when it's dry, but not offensively so. However... even though it's nice at first, after about an hour I don't like it. It smells like pretty floral soap. So this is one for swaps after all.
     
    Wilde - A sophisticated traditional gentleman's cologne, with just the slightest taint of patchouli's passion, tonka bean's decadence, the philanthropy of bergamot, moss' cynicism, the sharp wit of lavender, and the hopeless romantic longing of jasmine and thyme. This is one of my hubby's favorite GC oils -- he tried an imp of it a few months ago and then immediately bought a 10mL. It really is a great cologne, it smells wonderful. I can definitely smell a clean, crisp lavender in it, and it's just very slightly herby. The bergamot is a nice touch. Very gentlemanly, but not necessarily in a prim way.
     
    To my nose there is no mistaking this for a woman's perfume because it smells very much like a traditional cologne. But that could be because my hubby wears it all the time.
  18. filigree_shadow
    This is the Sephiroth package: Binah, Chokmah, Chesed, Geburah, Kether, Hod, Malkuth, Netzach, Tipareth, Yesod.
    The first package disappeared after it was sent to Mistress Tera. So we had to put together a new one... these are all my imps I'm donating, so I'm reviewing them before sending them off.
     
    Binah. This is the only imp of the set that I don't have. I tried it several months ago and didn't like it. I swapped it away. My only comments in my spreadsheet were that it was "kind of sharp." Other reviews describe it as resiny and floral, and I don't usually like either of those. That's probably why I swapped it.
     
    Chesed. Hmmm. A slight pencil-box sort of scent to this one at first. Kind of like sweet resin, maybe some incense. I can't actually tell what all is in this, but it is definitely woody. After a while it develops kind of a fruity scent, like maybe peach or apricot. Interesting.
     
    Chokmah. [Reviewed on 5/3/2006.] Dark brown oils are usually good ones for me -- so as soon as I saw Chokmah in the imp I wanted to try it right away. At first I smelled something like a pine/juniper scent, which I didn't like. But after about 30 minutes it smells and awful lot like Snake Oil. It has that same powdery vanilla quality with some yummy spice. On my skin, Chokmah is Snake Oil without the heavy powdery note. It has more bite, too. I didn't expect to get sexy out of a blend called Chokmah, but that's definitely what I got. (And you won't hear me complaining about that at all.) Need a bottle of this one...
     
    Geburah. Smells like a very clean man. Leather for sure, and maybe a little bit of salt. I agree with some previous reviewers that it smells like soap. Leather and soap. Kind of a odd combination. But that soap scent goes away and it ends up being all leather. Black, sleek, clean leather. I like this one.
     
    Hod. [Reviewed on 6/4/2006.] Powdery and sweet, which makes me think there's amber in this. There's also a slightly bitter floral note in it, which could be carnation. I think it smells golden, creamy and spicy.
     
    Kether. [Reviewed on 6/13/2006.] Almond powder. That's what it smells like on me at first. And then it smells like hair-styling products. I smell this and all I can think of is an old lady with her hair in those pink rollers and a hairnet, standing there in a housecoat and fuzzy slippers. So, um, no. This will go to the swap pile.
     
    Malkuth. [Reviewed on 6/4/2006.] Spicy, earthy, masculine. Quite fitting for Malkuth, I think. Not light and fleeting at all, it's solid and strong. Sweet, too. I don't usually like cinnamon very much, but I like this.
     
    Netzach. [Reviewed on 6/13/2006.] Mostly rose. Kind of an herby, woody, rose. To be honest I think this smells really nice. It's pretty and light. I don't usually wear rose blends as a personal fragrance... but maybe I should. Beth's rose notes smell so good and very true on me, even if the rose scent itself isn't my own fave. My skin seems to like it a lot.
     
    Tiphareth. Woody and sweet. A little smoky. Also it's really faint. I like the scent a lot, but I guess my skin sucks up this oil... it nearly disappeared entirely after about 5 minutes.
     
    Yesod. Stinging. Strong. It has that strong biting floral scent that I really don't like about florals. It's gotta be jasmine, but there's something else in it that makes the blend particularly nostril-curling for me. (Jasmine really doesn't work on me in the best of circumstances, so I'm not surprised that this one didn't work for me.)
  19. filigree_shadow
    Cross-posting to the reviews forum.
     
    Blood Kiss - Lush, creamy vanilla and the honey of the sweetest kiss smeared with the vital throb of husky clove, swollen red cherries, but darkened with the vampiric sensuality of vetiver, soporific poppy and blood red wine, and a skin-light pulse of feral musk. At first I mainly get vetiver from this (I love vetiver) with clove and a little bit of cherry. It's smoky and warm. After a while the honey comes out a little more and makes it creamy... it ends up as kind of a husky smooth clove scent, with only a little bit of vetiver underneath. Complex and wonderful. I like it a lot.
     
    Hollywood Babylon - The essence of innocence shattered: glittering Egyptian amber and heliotrope, infused with the sweetness of strawberry and vanilla - dragged into debauch by lusty red musk and a dribble of black cherry. Hmmm... black cherry and red musk, very lovely. Lusty and dark. I don't really get much strawberry, which is okay with me. I love heliotrope, and I always love amber and vanilla. Seriously, the only note in this whole blend that might not have worked on me was the strawberry, and I can't really detect it. This is exactly the sort of oil I'd like to wear 5 days out of 7. I tried this again as part of the GC circular swap after not trying it for a couple of months, and now I realize I need a bottle of it.
     
    Katharina - A strong, willful blend with a soft, utterly lovely soul: white musk with a trickle of bright, sharp apricot and orange blossom. Katharina is a very bright, very springtime scent. There is something in it that reminds me of popsicle sticks. You know that woody flavor combined with the last drops of fruit-flavored popsicle left on the stick. It's very soft though, it doesn't have strong throw.
     
    Queen Mab - A very complex scent, both shadowy and fierce: black orchid, sandalwood, night-blooming jasmine, osmanthus, Somalian rose, and Chinese musk. I loooooove this oil. It's beautiful and womanly, sexy and powerful. There's nothing young and innocent about this scent, it's the scent of a woman who knows what she wants. The black orchid is wonderful, and I love the sandalwood and musk with it. To be honest I'm not sure what night-blooming jasmine and osmanthus smell like, but if they're in this blend I'm pretty sure I like them. Mmmmm, this smells good. Can't believe I don't have a bottle of this yet... it's going on the list right now.
     
    Rosalind - Dew-covered berries and fresh green grasses with a faint breath of spring flowers. This oil smells mainly grassy, but very fresh. The florals are very faint and not all that noticeable. It does smell a bit dewy as well. It's a young, clean, fresh scent. It's pretty, but too feminine for me personally.
     
    Tempest - A crisp ozone-tinged breeze. The scent of the first gentle rain before the storm. This doesn't smell much like ozone to me, but it does smell breezy. There's kind of a citrus scent to it as well. It smells much brighter than most ozone scents.
     
    Thanatopsis - A deep, solomn earthen scent containing pine, juniper and musk. Thanatopsis was pretty far down on my "to try" list because of the pine and juniper, which are traditionally urgh for me. I put it on, sniffed, thought "eugh, pine," then went back to typing something. About 10 minutes later I started to wonder where that lovely scent was coming from. I traced it to the little swipe of Thanatopsis. So I swiped on a whole bunch more, and waited for the pine to go away again. Is anyone else getting red musk out of this? I swear the musk smells like red musk... and at one point I thought I faintly detected some leather. Very animalistic, and to be honest I don't mind the pine. It actually makes the whole thing seem slightly fresh, giving a pleasant respite from the feral undertone. I can see this being masculine, but I'm reluctant to hand over the imp to the hubby. I kinda want to keep it for myself.
  20. filigree_shadow
    Cross-posted to the reviews forum.
     
    Antique Lace - A soft, wistful blend of dry flowers, aged linens, and the faint breath of long-faded perfumes. This oil doesn't seem to smell as good on me as what many other people describe in their reviews. It's kind of a stale perfumey scent. Milky and vaguely floral. It does smell white, but it doesn't smell fresh to me.
     
    Belle Epoque - Sweet opium, Lily of the Valley, vanilla, mandarin and red sandalwood. Very sweet, very pretty, but also very light. I like the scent a lot, but it just doesn't last one me. I once spilled a whole imp on myself and could barely smell it 30 minutes later. Phooey.
     
    Chimera - The fiery, volatile scent of cinnamon, thickened by myrrh, honeysuckle, and copal. At first it's a lot of cinnamon, but there's a syrupy feel to it, kind of like that sticky frosting on cinnabons. As it dries down it's still quite a lot of cinnamon, more than I generally like. And by the time the cinnamon fades out, any other scent that was under there is gone too.
     
    Lightning - The electric tang of ozone, marine notes, and a drop of sharp rain. Wooo, very ozoney. Slightly salty, kind of a weird twang to it. This isn't the kind of scent I would wear as a personal fragrance, but it is the sort of scent I would use for a linen spray. It smells clean and fresh.
     
    March Hare - A twisted teatime tart: apricot and sweet clove. At first the apricot smells a bit like an artificial peach scent used in air fresheners. I used to have a "peach potporri" powdered carpet freshener that smelled very similar. The clove isn't very strong, but it gives the scent an earthy foundation and balances out the sweet fruitiness. And after 20 minutes or so the apricot doesn't smell nearly as aritifical, and the apricot/clove combination is more balanced. It's a pretty scent, but it still reminds me too much of that carpet freshener for me to wear it.
     
    Swank - Simply cool, the essence of Lounge: the scent of a crisp pomegranate martini. Reminds me of a cross between generic bath beads and bubblegum. Plus it's strong. It reminds me of a cheap fragrance for some reason, like a bathroom spray. The second imp I tried smelled better, less like bubblegum, but it's still too much of a sweet artificial scent for me. I'll stick with the peach and apricot ones.
     
    White Rabbit - Strong black tea and milk with white pepper, ginger, honey and vanilla, spilled over the crisp scent of clean linen. A clean-smelling white tea scent, and the ginger is pleasant. It smells polite. It's kind of like Dorian plus fabric softener. It has more of a crispness to it and less creaminess than Dorian. And the honey in this doesn't smell like play-doh like it does in other blends.
  21. filigree_shadow
    I love Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe books. I think I've read almost all of them. They're funny and clever, and I like the characters.
     
    My husband recently bought some Nero Wolfe TV shows on DVD -- apparently this was a series that A&E produced at some point in the last few years. When he told me that he was getting them I raised an eyebrow and expressed skepticism. I told him that I seriously doubted they could find any actor who could pull off Nero Wolfe, and since Archie Goodwin is my favorite Stout character I didn't want to see him butchered by some Hollywood ignoramuses who probably never even bothered to read the books.
     
    What a surprise. I love this series. The guy who plays Wolfe (Maury Chaykin) does a fantastic job. He's a little more shouty than I pictured Wolfe, and he's also not quite as heavy as I pictured Wolfe. But other than that he's very good.
     
    Archie Goodwin is spot on. Timothy Hutton plays him, and he's also one of the producers. I think he does some directing, too. This guy, obviously, has read these books. He's perfect as Archie Goodwin, too. He looks like Archie and talks like Archie and is basically exactly right. I'm very impressed.
     
    On top of all that, they stick to the stories as perfectly as they can in this format, and they even use Stout's dialog. They don't take many liberties. And the whole thing is very pretty. The sets are beautiful and the lighting is lovely.
     
    All in all, this is a highly successful adaptation. Apparently A&E cancelled it after only a couple of seasons, which is a great disappointment. I would have loved to see a lot more of these.
  22. filigree_shadow
    [see previous blog entry for an explanation of what I'm doing here.]
    BPAL's chocolate note is usually not so great on me, but my luck is much better with cocoa. So I'll give chocolate/cocoa a whirl.
     
    GCs THAT CONTAIN CHOCOLATE/COCOA
     
    Bliss: The serotonin-slathered scent of pure milk chocolate. This one wasn't my fave. The chocolate didn't work so great on me.
    Centzon Totochtin: Bittersweet Mexican cocoa with rum, red wine, and a scent redolent of sacrificial blood. I like this one, but it's not my favorite because of the red wine.
    Gluttony: Thick, sugared and bloated with sweetness. Dark chocolate, vanilla, buttercream, and hops with pralines, hazelnut, toffee and caramel. Not primarily chocolate on me at all, mostly nutty/creamy.
    The Great Sword Of War: Mandarin, tonka, saffron, black tea, cocoa, tobacco leaf, sanguine red musk and five classical herbs of conflict. Mainly herby on my skin. Didn't like it.
    Intrigue: Black palm, with cocoa, fig and shadowy wooded notes. I like this one a lot; it smells mainly like a cocoa/fig scent on me.
    Kali: This perfume is a blend of the sacred blooms of cassia, hibiscus, musk rose, Himalayan wild tulip, lotus and osmanthus swirled with offertory dark chocolate, red wine, tobacco, balsam and honey. I like this one okay, but it's not primarily chocolate on me. Mostly honey and wine.
    Tezcatlipoca: Deep cocoa laced with patchouli, leather armor, ritual incense, and a touch of Xochiquetzal's flowers. I like this one a lot. I used to have a bottle and I gave it to someone who was looking for it. I miss that bottle and often wish I still had it.
    Vice: A deep chocolate scent, with black cherry and orange blossom. The chocolate just didn't work that well on me. Smelled like tootsie rolls.
    Velvet: gentle sandalwood warmed by cocoa vanilla and a veil of deep myrrh. I like this one a lot. A lot of sandalwood and myrrh with just a little bit of cocoa.
     
    Favorite GCs are Intrigue, Tezcatlipoca, and Velvet. (Not a surprise that they all contain cocoa and not chocolate.) The cocoa is prominent in all of them, but it's hard to choose a favorite because they all smell so different. I think my favorite is Velvet, though.
     
    LEs THAT CONTAIN CHOCOLATE/COCOA
     
    Boomslang: Snake Oil with cocoa, teakwood, and rice milk. Ahhhh, I love this one. Have 2 bottles.
    The Candy Butcher: Dark chocolate with a heavy cream undertone. Didn't work on me at all.
    Enraged Groundhog Musk: Cranky groundhog musk sweetened up by chocolate-covered black cherries, cardamom, French vanilla, and caramel. The cardamom amped too much in this for me, to my disappointment.
    Freak Show: fig, pomegranate and cocoa bean with lemon, bergamot, vanilla, mellow honey musk, calamus and tonka. I really like this, but the cocoa bean isn't prominent. This one is similar to Intrigue and Carnal from the GC. I have a bottle of this.
    Monster Bait: Underbed: Cassia-caked cocoa coconut over angel food cake. The cassia is really really strong in this. I have a bottle of this... not sure why though. I never wear it.
    The Pumpkin Patch #2: Pumpkin with cocoa, hazelnut and walnut. Largely pumpkin with just a little cocoa.
    Spooky (Yule 2003 & 2005) A maddeningly festive blend of warm, buttery rum, cocoa, coconut, vanilla and a jolt of peppermint. Mostly minty on me, not too cocoa-ish.
    The Tell-tale Heart: blood musk, cocoa, black pepper, allspice, dragon's blood resin and vetiver. This is a fantastic scent but seems like mainly spicy dragon's blood on me. I have a couple of bottles of this.
    Thirteen (4/13/07): A base of cocoa absolute and white chocolate with thirteen baneful and beneficial bits: cardamom, fig meat, grains of paradise, rice flower, chamomile, sandalwood, catnip, clove, and a bundle of five blessed blossoms and herbs. This is the purple label one. Too herby for me.
    Thirteen (10/13/06): Cocoa and vanilla beans, Mysore sandalwood, star fruit, orange rind, red amber, fig leaf, mimosa, rooibos tea, bourbon geranium, rose otto, nutmeg, and lavender. My favorite of the 13s so far. I have one bottle of this.
    Thirteen (5/13/05 & 1/13/06): thirteen lucky and unlucky components, including white chocolate, tangerine, currant, mandarin, white tea and iris. I like this one (the white label one) but I liked Oct 06 (the orange label) better.
    Treat #2: A fine confection for discriminating trick or treaters: a fig meat, coconut, anduttercreamonbon rolled in orange rind, mint leaf, cardamom, clove and ginger, dipped in milk chocolate. Not primarily chocolate on me at all, more like Fruit Loops.
    Wulric, The Wolfman: cocoa absolute, French vanilla, birch tar, lavender, bourbon vetiver, wild musk, clary sage, and cistus. This smelled a little weird and not harmonic on me.
     
    Of those, the Oct 06 (orange label) is my favorite of the 13s, but Boomslang is clearly my favorite. I'm so glad that has cocoa in it and not chocolate. I would say that Boomslang is mostly Snake Oil rather than mostly cocoa, but Velvet is my favorite GC and that one's more myrrh & sandalwood than cocoa. Between Velvet and Boomslang I prefer Boomslang, but I'd love to have a bottle of Velvet too. They're really different. (Of all of these, I'd like to have bottles of Boomslang, Velvet, Tezcatlipoca, and 13 orange label.)
     
    Verdict on Favorite Cocoa/Chocolate Scent: Boomslang
  23. filigree_shadow
    [see previous entries for what I'm doing here.]
     
    Coconut's a tricky note for me. I like it a lot when it's a minor note in the scent, but when it's a major note sometimes it smells either too much like suntan lotion or like Fruit Loops (generally the fig + coconut combination does that on me). I'm going to try to figure out which primarily coconut scent is my favorite, but my all-time favorite blend that has coconut in it is Snake Charmer (which just has the barest hint).
     
    GCs THAT CONTAIN COCONUT
     
    Black Pearl: Coconut, Florentine iris, hazelnut and opalescent white musk. This one has a lot of coconut in it -- the kind that reminds me of suntan lotion.
    Blood Pearl: soft orris, blood musk, and coconut. Dry papery orris and a wonderful sexy musk. The coconut rounds out the scent nicely in this one.
    Brown Jenkins: dusty white sandalwood and orris root, dry coconut husk, creeping musk, and the residue of ceremonial incense. Dry and incensey, with a hint of coconut. I really like that white sandalwood and the cocounut husk. It's light and sweet, dry and hazy. The coconut in this one is light and incredibly gorgeous.
    Eden: fig leaf, fig fruit, honeyed almond milk, toasted coconut and sandalwood. A sweet, warm, nice scent -- but definitely of the Fruit Loops variety.
    Elegba: coconut, tobacco and sweet, sugared rum. Very reminiscent of Pina Coladas at first, but when it's dry the tobacco comes out a little. Tropical and sweet. Nice blend.
    Obatala: milk, coconut meat, shea butter and cool, refreshing water. On me this smells like a cross between suntan lotion and overly creamy coconuts. I know other people love this one, but it wasn't so hot on me.
    The Sailor's Den: Orris, bay rum, palm, coconut meat, oak wood, tobacco, linen, blue lilac, and leather. Quiet, subdued, and pleasant. The coconut and rum smell very good here. Classy. This is a great, unusual, all-purpose sort of scent. You could wear this anywhere and it would be perfectly appropriate.
    Shango: red apples, banana, chili pepper, coconut, pineapple, pomegranate and sugar cane. The coconut in this one gives it an extremely pleasant creamy background. I love this scent and have a bottle of it, but I wouldn't call it primarily coconut. It's in the background here.
    Shoggoth: white amber, green coconut meat, iris, palmarosa, Chinese peony, lime, water lily, snowdrop, muguet, lemongrass, osmanthus, wisteria, glassy musk, and hinoki. The lemongrass in this one killed it for me. My skin amps lemongrass so much I practically couldn't smell anything else.
     
    Also, although not mentioned in the notes list, Perversion definitely smells like coconut to me. I bought a 10ml bottle over a year ago and I've been letting it age (because I read that aging will make the coconut scent die down a lot), but it's still strongly coconut-scented. I've noticed in both Blood Pearl and in Perversion that the coconut scent died out a lot faster in an imp than in a 10ml bottle. I bought 10mls of both Blood Pearl and Perversion after trying imps, and the coconut was so strong in the 10mls that I couldn't wear them. I sold the Blood Pearl bottle a while back because I like Perversion better, but the Perversion bottle still isn't to the stage at which I can wear it yet.
     
    In addition, the Tarot blend The Star and the Qliphoth blend Gamaliel both smelled a little Fruit-Loopy to me, so I think they have some coconut in as well.
     
    Of the GCs, I really like Perversion, Blood Pearl, Brown Jenkins, and The Sailor's Den. I'm having a hard time choosing a favorite between Brown Jenkins and The Sailor's Den, but I think I'm going to go with Brown Jenkins.
     
    LEs THAT CONTAIN COCONUT
     
    Antonino, The Carny Talker: White musk, wild plum, vetiver, black coconut, verbena, fig, and lavender. I forgot to write a review of this before I sold it. Shoot. But I know the reason I sold it was that the verbena was too strong in it for me, so this isn't a "primarily coconut" contender.
    Carnaval Diabolique: Opium smoke, lemon flower, heliotrope, tuberose, black musk, vanilla, coconut, apricot flower. Whoops, I didn't write a review for this one, either. But also not a primarily coconut one. More of a smoky floral.
    Creepy: butterscotch-kissed, caramel-smothered red apples spiked with a blast of coconut rum. Nice but mostly apples, not coconut.
    Dark Delicacies: devil’s trumpet accord, black orchid, tonka, coconut meat, fruit gums, osmanthus, smoky resin, myrtle, and Indonesian patchouli. This is a gorgeous scent, but I don't think the coconut is prominent at all.
    Death Adder: Snake Oil with vetiver, black coconut, vanilla, and opoponax. Ahhh, this one smells great. Similar to Snake Charmer but with vetiver.
    King Of Spades: oakmoss, vetiver and opoponax with black plum, wild blackberry, soft woods, sharp and glinting white musk under a soft, velvety robe of vanilla and coconut. I can't remember what this smells like off the top of my head, but I know the coconut isn't pronounced. My husband wears KoS, and he's not very fond of coconut scents, so it can't be very strong at all.
    Monster Bait: Underbed: Cassia-caked cocoa coconut over angel food cake. I smelled no coconut in this. It was all cassia, all the time.
    Red Lantern: Golden amber, blonde tobacco, Sudanese black coconut, rich caramel, black currant, white opium and delphinium laced with a sensual blend of Asian spice. This one smells mostly like spicy caramel on me, not so much coconut.
    Snake Charmer: Arabian musk and exotic spices slinking through Egyptian amber, enticing vanilla, and a serpentine blend of black plum, labdanum, ambrette, benzoin and black coconut. This one's probably my #1 favorite BPAL oil, but I can't say the coconut in it is enough to qualify it for a "primarily coconut" scent.
    Spooky: warm, buttery rum, cocoa, coconut, vanilla and a jolt of peppermint. This one's a smooth peppermint on me, and not much coconut.
    Treat #2: fig meat, coconut, and "buttercream bonbon," rolled in orange rind, mint leaf, cardamom, clove and ginger, dipped in milk chocolate. Very much a Fruit-Loopy scent on me.
     
    Also, although not mentioned in the notes, Milk Moon 05 also had a slight coconut twinge to it.
     
    Out of the LEs, I kind of have to pick Treat #2 by default because it's the only one in which the coconut seems prominent. However, I don't like Treat #2 any more than I like Eden from the GC.
     
    Verdict on Favorite Coconut Scent: Brown Jenkins
  24. filigree_shadow
    [see previous entries for what I'm doing.]
     
    I've lumped these all together because they smell sort of similar on me. I generally dislike dirt and earth notes because they amp so much on me, and often I don't like moss or oakmoss either. Sometimes, though, I find a moss/oakmoss blend that really works on me.
     
    GCs THAT CONTAIN DIRT/EARTH/MOSS/OAKMOSS
     
    Arkham: maple, birch, dogwood, cypress and pine softened by a garland of New England wildflowers: bergamot, columbine, rue anemone, blue violet, creeping phlox, bloodroot, toadflax, and pixie moss.
    Bayou: Spanish moss, evergreen and cypress with watery blue-green notes and an eddy of hothouse flowers and swamp blooms.
    Burial: The Dark Side of Earth: deep, brooding forest scents, including juniper and patchouli. The scent of upturned cemetary loam mingling with floral offerings to the dead.
    Cathode: Ambergris, Spanish Moss, oakmoss and three electric mints.
    Crossroads: A chill twilit garden of blooms over dry earth and mosses, heavily laden with incense and offertory herbs.
    Danse Macabre: Black cypress with oakmoss, frankincense, oude, and a sliver of toasted hazelnut.
    Death of the Gravedigger: Snow, soil, opoponax and myrrh.
    Destroying Angel: Papery white notes evoke the grace of this fungi, grounded by thin, crisp soil.
    Fae: white musk, bergamot, heliotrope, peach and oakmoss.
    Greed: patchouli, heliotrope, copal and oakmoss.
    Horreur Sympathique: blood musk, golden honey, thick black wine, champagne grapes, tobacco flower, plum blossom, tonka bean, oakmoss, carnation, benzoin, opoponax, and sugar cane.
    I Died For Beauty: The Venusian splendor of ylang ylang and violet stirred by hyssop, frankincense, and grave loam. [grave loam, in this case, is oakmoss and Spanish Moss]
    Jazz Funeral: Bittersweet bay rum and a host of funeral flowers with a touch of graveyard dirt, magnolia and Spanish Moss.
    Jezirat al Tennyn: smoke and fire, earth and wind.
    Kiyohime Changes From A Serpent: Salty ocean spray, red kelp, black plum, lychee, sea moss, green musk, hachiya, plum blossom, and matcha.
    Les Anges Déchus: Khus, blonde tobacco, life everlasting, orris root, black currant, cabreuva, Spanish moss, leather, and ambrette.
    Les Infortunes de la Vertu: A pain-tinged, pleasure-soaked blend of leather, oakmoss, orange blossom, amber, and rose with A breath of virginal French florals and a hint of austere monastic penitential incense.
    Lyonesse: Golden vanilla and gilded musk, stargazer lily, white sandalwood, grey amber, elemi, orris root, ambergris and sea moss.
    Mad Meg: Fire-scorched earth, black mandarin, cinnamon bark, bitter almond, sage, vetiver, and balsam of peru.
    Nephilim: Holy frankincense and hyssop in union with earthy fig, defiled by black patchouli and vetiver, with a chaotic infusion of lavender, cardamom, tamarind, rosemary, oakmoss and cypress.
    Nocnitsa: Her scent is that of a lightless fir wood, nighttime air, wet forest mosses and upturned earth.
    Nosferatu: desiccated herbs and gritty earth brought to life with a swell of robust and sanguineous red wines.
    Nuit: Her perfume is starry and crystalline, a jewel-clad and glittering paean to night: dazzling white musks, white rose and night-blooming jasmine with the soft moss of moonlit meadows, a waft of Egyptian incense, and a gentle breath of moonflower.
    Omen: oakmoss, juniper berry, myrrh and patchouli.
    Penny Dreadful: Soft perfume evocative of noir heroines over rich red grave loam.
    Phantom Queen: Black orchid, apple blossom, meadowsweet, and rue over Irish moss, hawthorn and red clover.
    Robin Goodfellow: Dark musk, moss-covered wood, ragwort, heather, and sage.
    Salomé: almond with star jasmine, oakmoss, red sandalwood and Egyptian musk.
    Sunflower: Sunflower bouquet, black amber, creeping black moss, wilted greenery, and scorched, dry stems.
    Thanatos: Dry white sandalwood and soft Siamese benzoin over a lugubrious blend of myrrh, Moroccan rose, mastic, tomb moss and a thin whiff of Greek incense.
    Two Monsters: Oakmoss, vetiver, black musk, champaca flower, leather, patchouli, ginger, Japanese pittosporum, ambergris and white pepper.
    Urania: Moonflower, Moroccan jasmine, benzoin, white musk, iris, moss and a flash of ozone.
    Vicomte de Valmont: ambergris, white musk, white sandalwood, Spanish Moss, orange blossom, three mints, jasmine, rose geranium and a spike of rosemary.
    Viola: Gentle tea rose, lilac, Calla Lily, and Somalian Rose layered over golden Peruvian amber, Spanish moss, red sandalwood, rosewood, and myrrh, with the lightest touch of Mandarin.
    Wilde: A sophisticated traditional gentleman's cologne, with just the slightest taint of patchouli's passion, tonka bean's decadence, the philanthropy of bergamot, moss' cynicism, the sharp wit of lavender, and the hopeless romantic longing of jasmine and thyme.
    Zombi: Dried roses, rose leaf, Spanish moss, oakmoss and deep brown earth.
     
    Of those ones, the ones that seem to be primarily dirt/earth/moss scents are Bayou, Burial, Cathode, Crossroads, Jazz Funeral, Jezirat al Tennyn, Nocnitsa, Nosferatu, Penny Dreadful, Robin Goodfellow, and Zombi. Of those, I like Bayou, Jazz Funeral, Nocnitsa, and Robin Goodfellow. My favorite is Robin Goodfellow.
     
    By the way, although it isn't mentioned in the notes, Ulalume smells like it has a little bit of dirt/earth in it too, and I like that one as well. Death Cap and Masabakes smell like they have some dirt/earth in them as well, and I don't like either of those at all.
     
    LEs THAT CONTAIN DIRT/EARTH/MOSS/OAKMOSS
     
    Annabel Lee: wild peony, sweet pea, cucumber and white sage with sea lilies and moss.
    Bad Luck Woman Blues: Spanish moss, black pepper, mullein, sweet sage, vandal root, cypress, cigar tobacco, and a puff of goofer dust cloaked by a swarthy cologne of vetiver, lime, dark musk, caramel accord, and lilac.
    Banded Sea Snake: Snake Oil with oakmoss, sea moss, and olive leaf.
    The Castle: A distant whisper of pine, wet moss and dry leaves passing through vast halls and winding dungeons whose scent bears the memory of blood, faded splendor, imperial elegance and stunning violence.
    Fée: Auoyant, dulcetlend of vanilla, sunflower, carnation, honeydew, peachlossom, lychee, oakmoss and white tea.
    Faiza The Black Mamba: black amber, caraway, oakmoss, green sandalwood, bergamot, jasmine sambac, gardenia, orange pulp, vanilla, blackberry, black musk, white honey, ti leaf, and ginger.
    Gnome: No notes listed, but when I tried it, it clearly had dirt/earth in it.
    Graveyard Dirt: This is the scent of pure graveyard dust, spattered with grave loam and dusted lightly with tombstone moss.
    Hunger Moon: Ozone, white sandalwood, crystallized white amber, verbena, oakmoss, clary sage, and a hint of white citrus rind.
    Jólasveinar: Their scent is a mishmash of snow, dirt, Icelandic moss, marsh felwort, and the smushed petals of buttercups and moorland spotted orchids, with the barest hint of the scent of pilfered Christmas pastries.
    King of Clubs: deeper, darker [than Queen of Clubs] earth notes with dark musk, tobacco leaf, oakmoss, amber, leather, sage and vetiver with fig and bitter almond.
    Luperci: Raw, down and dirty 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.
    Oborot: Balkan fir sap, dark mosses, Greek Mountain tea flower, black pine, salty ocean spray, deep black earth, and a moon-touched magickal incense of sandarac, frankincense, and ravensara.
    The Premature Burial: Oppressive darkness, expressed through black orchid and patchouli, smothered by wet soil, a coffin’s teakwood, and the funereal gloom of cypress.
    Privilege: Armoise, tuberose, white citrus, rose absolute, oakmoss, tiare, tuberose, vanilla, linden, and lemon tree blossom.
    Queen of Clubs: Soft, deep earth notes with myrrh, amber, pomegranate, dark incense, red currant, rose and vanilla.
    R M Renfield: moss, cumin, patchouli, Balsam of Peru, and neroli.
    Roux-ga-roux: Spanish moss, swamp jessamine, bog water, cypress, hickory wood, lobelia, sweet flag, wisteria, and marsh milkweed.
    Samhainophobia: Menacing Haitian vetiver, patchouli, and clove with a shock of bourbon geranium, grim oakmoss, and dread-inspiring balsams pierce the innocuous scent of autumn leaves.
    The Sleeper: Night-blooming jasmine, opium poppy, wild rosemary, Calla lily, oakmoss and crypt musk.
    Swadhisthana: Vanilla, nutmeg, orris root, gardenia, damiana, jasmine, patchouli, ylang, tangerine, bergamot, sandalwood, oakmoss.
    Vipralabda: benzoin, Greek sage, hay, melaleuca ericifolia, oakmoss, and blue chamomile.
    Whipporwill: Spanish moss, cedar, black pepper, oakmoss, juniper, bamboo reeds and cardamom.
    The Wild Men of Jezirat Al Tennyn: red amber, Spanish moss, Indonesian patchouli, ambergris, red pepper, two cloves, and vanilla flower.
     
    Of those ones, the ones that seem to be primarily dirt/earth/moss scents are Bad Luck Woman Blues, Graveyard Dirt, King of Clubs, Oborot, The Premature Burial, Queen of Clubs, R M Renfield, Roux-ga-Roux, and Whippoorwill. Of those, I like the last three in that list a lot. I'd have a hard time choosing a favorite among those three actually, but if I had to, I'd pick R M Renfield.
     
    Verdict on Favorite Dirt/Earth/Moss/Oakmoss Scent: R M Renfield.
  25. filigree_shadow
    [see previous entries for what I'm doing here.]
     
    Picking a favorite grapefruit scent is a toughie for me because I tend to like it. I didn't think I would like it, when I first started trying BPAL scents. In fact, that was during the time when several of the GC grapefruit scents were discontinued because of a component problem, and that was just fine with me because I didn't think I'd like them anyway. Imagine my surprise when I discovered I liked Cheshire Cat. Weird. Then I tried other grapefruit scents and liked those too. So now I have to admit that I do indeed like grapefruit scents. I do NOT, however, like yuzu. In fact, I really hate it. I like that pretty sparkly quality that grapefruit has, and not the harsh acidic yuzu. I'm not even going to bother doing a "favorite yuzu" because I can't stand any of them.
     
    Grapefruit always comes out strong on me when I first put on a scent, so all of these are fair game for "primarily grapefruit scents" for me.
     
    GCs THAT CONTAIN GRAPEFRUIT
    Baobhan Sith: Grapefruit, white tea, apple blossom and ginger. I tried this one again because when I reviewed it I said I liked it but it didn't suit me... but that was back before I realized I like grapefruit. I do like the scent -- it's nice with the tea. The ginger makes it smell a bit off, though.
    Cheshire Cat: Grapefruit, red currant, dark musk, Roman chamomile, delphinium, and lavender. Smooth, crisp, bright, and shiny. I have a bottle of this and wear it pretty often.
    Croquet: Pink lime, pink grapefruit, white nectarine, wild rose, sage, woody patchouli, bergamot, and ornery hedgehog musk. I like this one a lot too, just like Cheshire Cat -- I'd need to do a side-by-side comparison to see which one I like better.
    Megaera: Orris, black amber, bergamot, plum and grapefruit. My notes on this said it was "too citrusy for me," but I probably need to re-try it.
    Manhattan: sheer amber, black leather, white mint, lemon peel, white tea, grapefruit, kush, teakwood and orchid. I like this one a lot, and I have a 10ml of it. It took a couple of tries before it grew on me, but it grew on me in a big way. My only problem with this scent is that it fades out on me more quickly than most BPAL oils do.
    Mania: Screeching white musk collides with a howl of red musk, with sharp white grapefruit and pale strawberry leaf. This is another one I like a lot. It's a lot different from the others due to the red musk.
    Night-gaunt: something akin to yuzu, white grapefruit, and kumquat mixed with the snow-dusted flowers of Mount Ngranek. Very, very bitter on me, and I didn't like it at all.
    Phobos: Chilling white musk, lemon verbena, white grapefruit and lemongrass. The lemongrass killed this one for me.
    Shattered: A blend of white champagne notes, grapefruit, lotus, slivered mint and crystalline aquatic blooms. Didn't work because the mint was way too much for me and seemed menthol-y.
     
    Also, Versailles has "citrus" in it that smelled like grapefruit to me, but I didn't like that one. I thought Detox maybe had grapefruit in it too, and I liked that one all right, but not as perfume of course.
     
    Out of that list, I really like Cheshire Cat, Croquet, Manhattan, and Mania. I tried them all on at once to compare them (plus Baobhan Sith), and I was surprised to discover that I like Croquet better than Cheshire Cat. And although I really like Mania, the red musk in it overpowers the grapefruit, so I can't say it's primarily a grapefruit scent on me. It's primarily red musk. However... Manhattan is the winner. I like its sleekness better than the pretty florals in Croquet.
     
    LEs THAT CONTAIN GRAPEFRUIT
     
    Hungry Ghost Moon: Offerings of ginger candy, sugar cane, smoky vanilla and rice wine mingle with a ghost's perfume of white sandalwood, ho wood, ti, white grapefruit, crystalline musk and aloe. This scent is tapered by the presence of seven herbs, woods and resins used in the purification of the spirit and the purging of earthly concerns from the soul. This one smells like sugary grapefruit on me, and I liked it. However... I haven't worn this in a year. (Wow, I didn't realize it had been that long.) I need to get out my bottle and test it again.
    The Ectasy Of Infatuation: Black cherry, pink grapefruit, white musk, lemon verbena, champagne grape, pikaki, plumeria, and Hawaiian ginger. This one is a little too floral for me when it's dry.
    Monster Bait: Biggercritters: Five vanillas with Moroccan jasmine, white gardenia, and pink grapefruit. The jasmine in this smelled pungent on me. I need to try one of the white-label bottles, though, because when I smelled one at a meet n' sniff it smelled a lot different in the bottle than the critter-label one I tried at Convergence.
    Queen Of Diamonds: A glittering icicle of a woman, regal, proud and cold: shimmering white grapefruit, pale flowers and lemon bark with orchid, rose and a dash of mandarin. The grapefruit in this one seems to have disappeared. I like it, but I don't think it'll ever be my favorite grapefruit scent because I can't really smell much grapefruit in it.
     
    Out of those, I think Hungry Ghost Moon is my favorite. But I like the GC grapefruit scents better than any of these.
     
    Verdict on Favorite Grapefruit Scent: Manhattan
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