jarvenpa

edenssixthday very generously sent me an imp of Cockaigne (with many others, thank you dear). Foody scents are probably the ones I least explore and the ones that don't quite feel like my sort of thing, but this one is really fun Lots of buttery cake sitting around in a warm and comforting place with lots of cups of delicious spiced tea. After a while I am aware of the honey lingering, and a certain..almost orange scent (perhaps that is the wine?). But mostly butteriness, and a certain nut quality. I'll keep it on hand for times when I want to smell all edible, for some reason (or drive people nuts wondering where the cake went). If foody is your thing, this is definitely one to try.

For both of you seeking something, Othello is a wonderfully complicated fragrance that would probably work for both men and women (check out the reviews and see if it would be possible; I'm not sure the Malboro dude would go for the rose in Othello...but it is wonderful, and not too femme, if you know what I mean)

O my goodness. northatlantic just gifted me with a decant of Mama Ji (decanted by maribouquet, and I am impressed with how nicely the label was done). There have been a few Black Phoenix scents that seem to bloom on my skin; that is they start out quite nicely but then expand and deepen and sweeten and become something even more wonderful. The Sleeper does this for me; Phantom Calliope also does..and there have been a few others escaping my tired mind. This is exquisite. Beautifully balanced spice and creamy floral, a touch of caramel or vanilla perhaps? (not listed in the notes; maybe it is simply the nutmeg and cardamon). It is wonderfully long lasting and curiously comforting and has rocketed immediately to just about the top of my crazily varied list of BPAL favorites.

You mean I never reviewed Belle Epoque?? My loss of BPAL virginity fragrance? Sent to me lo many months ago...way before I joined the forum..by urbanruralferal who thought it had some similarity to my bookstore ambience. Which worried me, let me tell you, because there are days the store smells of blessed kittycats. But I think she was thinking more of nag champa, old books, and bouquets of random flowers. Because that is kind of what Belle Epoque smells like..a touch of dry orange peel, a burst of flowers (lilies?) some underlying vanilla-ish goodness, and poetry. I bought a 10ml of this, when such things were possible. I then spilled about half of it on my desk (no,not on purpose). I don't often wear it these days, but..you never forget your first. It combines freshness and seduction. Now, who can beat that? Dalliance in the library stacks. That sort of thing.

those of us getting vicarious pleasure at a distance will need full descriptions of the boa...and, um, where it falls.

Wait? I never reviewed this? Just tried some once again. Imp from some dear and...I'm sorry, not sure which one...generous forumite. I think. Dark in the imp, and a bit bitter to my nose. But on my tender skin it blooms. I obviously do not know scent notes at all, because I scribbled my guesses and they were: "starts with a faintly cinnamon flash that grows stronger and deeper and very nice" and then "is there some lemon or lemongrass in this??" Starts spicey, ends with lemon drifts. And flashes of sweetness (I think "honeysuckle?") (Ylang ylang, I suppose) I look at the true notes and my mind is once again boggled, but I realize I seem to universally like scents that have myrrh in them. But..really? there's no lemon???

Fenris 'Wolf eh? (*makes note for self*) Do you find it is lasting on your skin? I love amber, and The Lion is lovely and amber-drenched but fades really quickly on me--it would be nice to have one that was strong and continued forever. Or a while.

Okay, blessings and thanks to whatever dear forumite sent on this imp to me (I must keep better notes). I tried it twice before seeking out the lab's actual description, and it is an indication of my experience of the fragrance that I was stunned to find it listed in Funereal Oils, because....um, to my Victorian heart "House of Night" has a bunch more lively stuff going on it in than might be happening in the graveyard. On my skin it is a very classic dark floral perfume with a lot of sensual undertones or overtones or whatever (and can we tell I am not a great describer of scent?) It made me think of dark, dark purple silk, and Victorian plush chairs, and glimpses of white lace. I think I can detect rose and jasmine in it, along with a faintly sour scent that adds a strange lustiness to the mix. I'd be a wicked, wicked widow. This one is good.

You want to go to the Lab site (not the forum site) http://www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com/ (I use the Alice skin and the lab link is on the top of my screen in red in a list under the pretty BPALORG and pictures of Alice and crew). When you are at the lab site click on the opening beautiful black and white "title page" to enter. Look on the lefthand side and you will see a long list of words, starting with Welcome and ending with View/Check out. Fifth word up from View/Check Out is Search. Click on Search, and lo and behold you will be on the Search page, where there is a little Search description for with a box where you can type in what you desire. Which could be a scent note: "vanilla" or the name of a fragrance so you can figure out which group it belongs to. There is also, you will note, an advanced search mode (I have yet to try this). Enjoy! (edited to add: yay, Firel, you joined the forum on my one year forum anniversary. Obviously we have a karmic connection!)

Thursdae generously sent me an imp of Oberon with a bunch of other treasures. I didn't even check the scent notes, merely slathered. And was humbled, because--truly, I hadn't the vaguest, faintest idea what this blend was. I like it a great deal: soft, sexy, somewhat powdery, deeply lasting. It has a sort of "elegant vintage perfume" vibe to it, and feels..kind of quiet, with ribbons of gold woven through a velvety darkness. I was floored looking at the scent notes. Well, white musk usually is good on my skin, but I would never in a zillion years have guessed juniper or bergamot...let alone orchid. And the patchouli is not evident, except perhaps as a dark sweet whisper. This is elegance, not "I'm off to the Grateful Dead concert". How many favorites can I have??? This is surely one.

Desdemona is one of the most lovely scents of all the BPAL I've tried, but I can't wear it--within 5 minutes I simply want to sit and quietly weep. My daughter, who often has opposite reactions to scents (or the gift of having the scents that smell blah on me being all sparkling and exciting on her--this is great, btw, because virtually everything we try works on one of us)--had the same reaction, without being told of mine :"why is this such a heartbreaking fragrance?"

Just put on some Black Rose--it is a dark rose scent (duh) and quite nice. (*returns to sniffing wrists*)

a generous forumite included an imp of Masabakes in a bunch she sent me (oh thank you). And, as is my wont, I randomly applied it without consideration or knowledge of notes. Didn't even know what the name meant (frankly, the name reminded me of cornmeal and tortillas--yeah, let's pat out the masa harina and bake some...). I was astonished when I actually tracked down the fragrance, read the notes, and went all Nope, I do not know what works on me. I would have definitely never tried this; indeed, I would have been all "are you kidding?" But here's what happened when I did: earthiness, definitely a smell of dirt. Mingled with dark sweetness of some sort, and something spicey. As it dries down there is an ambery/sweet/powdery note. The throw is wonderful, and it lasts and lasts. It's kind of sexy, and perfumey in a darkly delicious way, undercut by the earth scent, and I think it is lovely indeed.

If I have learned anything in my experiences with BPAL fragrances it is that I haven't a clue, really, as to what will work or not work on my skin. Well, I have a few clues, but... the generous cuervosueno (er, no, wait, I think it was OdetteOdile..I got a couple packages of deliciousness at the same time, bless both of them) sent me a bottle of Phantom Calliope, and I daubed some on without recalling at all what the scent notes were .I'd read all the CD descriptions when they came out, and noted the ones I particularly wanted to try, starting with Mme Moriarty, based on descriptions and what I thought I knew worked. Phantom Calliope never made my list, nor would it have. I mean, Cherry? never. So, innocently unaware of the notes, I daubed and sniffed. What I thought was: hmmm, sweet spiciness, very nice. Initially a cinnamon (I thought) hit, and I do love cinnamon. Swirls of delicate sweetness, settling to what seemed to my naive nose a burst of sweetened lemon underlaid with amber or vanilla or something that was warm and misty and delicious and wholly indescribable. Must remember I seem to love verbena. This is an utterly delicious, long lasting, sexy fragrance, and one of my very favorites ever. Purely enchanting.

I've had an imp of Anne Bonny around for a while (either a frimp from the lab, or more likely, a kind gift from a forumite...to whom I send thanks). It was highly recommended in the time of my grand search for a "dark and sensual" fragrance (a search that has lead to a lot of my favorites, and also a lot of misses; it is fascinating). So, today I pulled it from a pile of imps and thought "why haven't I tried this?" and slashed some with great abandon over my wrists, and was hit with a visual image of a very posh, dark haired beauty from say, 1940, sashaying in furs through a big department store. It was PERFUME at its most perfumey, in the classic, dark, non sweet way of many a perfume worn by my aunts and ladies of the officer's wives club in my childhood. This is a pirate? I thought, and shrugged. We could have the beautiful lady carrying a cutlass, I suppose. The initial dark, intense, and heavy classic perfume scent (and my nose is not good enough to distinguish the various elements of it) gave way after about a half hour to sandalwood. Which is a nice scent. And in two hours, a faint and slightly poignant floral. It's not me, really (sadly, a lot of the intensely dark perfumes don't seem to be quite me--I think I need sweetness mingled with my darkness or something), but she's quite the lady, this Anne Bonny.

Kittyflop (blessings on her generous head!) recently sent me a bit of Storyville. So I wore Storyville all Thanksgiving. Oh, my. I had no idea it was a Convergence only scent, or anything about it whatsoever till just now when I looked it up. What I did know was--well, you know how some fragrances you sniff and you are "okay, this is interesting, let's see what's in this" and you go into intellectual search mode: "my, this must be...lemon.." or whatever. Or you think "well, what an intriguing concept..I'm not sure if I'll like this on, but I'll try it". And then there are those that you sniff and think "OMIGOD, this is my holy grail of scents!" Yeah, Storyville was like that. (and then I find out it was Convergence only, and so on.) I inhaled deeply of sweet carmellized smoky vanillic pleasure. I put it on, and it lasted through the day, and I felt warmly embraced, wickedly sensual, and supported by a beneficient universe, which is quite a feeling while you are trying to thaw the tofurky you were supposed to have thawed the day before by putting it in a toaster oven on low. It's in the same general family as Snake Charmer, another favorite of mine, and somewhat like the aged Snake Oil another dear forumite so generously gave me a bit of. And yes, perhaps there is hint of coffee in all the delight. Did not know the New Orleans connection till I read it here, but yeah, I'll accept it (I love New Orleans). I am delighted to have a bit of it. Truly beautiful.

Stand and deliver! Vetiver with gardenia, blood red rose, night-blooming jasmine, a dash of cinnamon and a faint hint of leather. I've been wanting to try Highwayman for a long while, and today a little package from the dear Kittyflop arrived, containing a few imps, Highwayman amongst them. (thank you!) I had, however, just slathered some Cairo, and so couldn't immediately dab myself with Highwayman. I hadn't put anything in my scent locket though, so...Highwayman into locket. Very very yummy. And much, much later, hours later, I washed my wrists, dried them, and put on some Highwayman. This is the first time I tried a fragrance in locket and on skin at the same time, and I must say that mostly my experience with fragrances in my locket is nice, but I have missed the complexity that contact with my skin gives--the changeableness. So: in the locket: a very warmly sensual combination of flowers, leather, and vetiver. Sweet, tender, and delightful. This is very nice indeed. I wish that on my skin the same warmth had bloomed. On my skin what happened was an initial flash of almost a wine like fragrance (slightly fruity and boozy) which quickly developed into vetiver. A pleasant vetiver, yes, but pretty much full on vetiver. With, now and again--and this was strange--a waft of grapefruit, a certain bitterness. None of the pretty flowers I can still smell as I sniff my locket. Even after doing a huge sinkful of dishes with hot water and lots of (apple-aloe) dishsoap, my wrists waft vetiver. I'm delighted to have had the chance to try it, and am enchanted with what it does when it doesn't touch my skin. (I guess my skin just grabs floral nuances and hides them??). Huge throw, and probably the longest lasting scent I've tried here. A pity vetiver isn't my very very favorite fragrance; I'd be so pleased. (editing to add the scent notes, since this seems to be the first review on this page)

Gosh, I've been slacking on my reviews. This was a most generous gift imp from a forumite (who had to mail it twice to get it to me; dratted international customs) and it has probably been months and months. I tried it right away, loved it dearly, wore it a bunch in the warm days and just now put a bit on to retry and remember. It still seems to my mind a summertime fragrance. Very tea and a spot of milk and a white tablecloth: at first it is clear tea and milk (the way I drink it, and something like strong black tea, Assam or Darjeeling, excellent) and a slight honey drizzle. And then my nose gets carnations (which I would guess, from the scent notes, must be the ginger and pepper or what not--my nose is very very, um, strange.). It is a fragrance that is really like nothing else I've experienced (Dorian, the other tea scent I've tried, is very different), and brings back summerdays in Kent, looking out my windows of that long ago time into the garden. Lovely.

Vanilla oriental sounds like Snake Oil to me. I'm a big vanilla fan, and I do love Antique Lace, which is warm comfort sexy vanilla goodness. Eat Me is cakey vanilla goodness. It was too overwhelmingly baked goods the first time I tried it, but I've come to enjoy it. Black Opal is vanilla plus delicious (but not foody). It reminds me a great deal of a perfume called Shalimar (though Haunted also brings Shalimar to mind, so maybe I have a strange nose). And Shalimar might be considered a floral/vanilla/oriental sort of thing. Golden Priapus is vanilla plus piney stuff and who knows what else. Supposedly a guy's scent, but it seems to me gender neutral (or gender wonderful) despite the name. Maybe you need to get an imp to try on your bf, instead of for your bf?

Thanks to the exquisite generosity of Wasabipea I have just rec'd a 5ml of a fragrance I wouldn't have thought to try--and my goodness, what I would have missed. Al-Azif, whatever the murmurings of Chaos and Ruin and what not in the description, is a gentle passage into the depths and out again, from the moment the leaves start to fall to the first green sprouts of springtime. At first it is, on my wrists and to my nose, very autumn leaves plus a touch of buttery, foody goodness (it brings to my mind Hecate and Anubis, but I'm not sure if my scent memory is accurate). Then it changes to a scent of rainwashed flowers--something faint, poignant, sweet. A stirring of hope beneath the crumbled, dying leaves. Little sprouts of snowdrops and crocus. I read the previous reviews and am interested to see terms like "incense" and "strong" used a lot--not so for me (maybe I just spend so much time with incense I don't notice it?). I'll be curious how this ages, because I suspect it may intensify with time, but meanwhile it is a pretty, delicate, comforting fragrance. Very very nice. (thanks, Wasabipea!)

Reading this thread today I found myself thinking...I wonder if there is a scent that combines roses and vanilla?? (yeah, I can go searching, but I'm feeling lazy). Sorry Antique Lace didn't work for you, whitemyrrh. Trying to think of my other vanilla faves (I like vanilla in just about anything, it would seem) but most are probably too heavy for what you seem to be seeking...Golden Priapus (vanilla and pine?), Black Opal (vanilla and who knows what else, but gee it is lovely)...

Yeah, in big generalizations, I'd say Oro is right--the thing about Gemini is that there is a love of change and the unexpected; so something that morphed, that had unexpected nuances, would be nice. But...you might want to find out more about your Gemini's chart (cause I suspect our scent preferences have lots to do with lots of things: Saturn (what we need for security); Venus (what makes us feel loved); Mars (what ignites our passions); Moon (what speaks to our inner self)...and so on.

a quick fourth for Euphronsyne. I used to wear a "Gardenia" essential oil (not up to BPAL standards), and Euphronsyne is Gardenia at its very very best to my nose. Absolutely lovely.

I love carnation (back in the day I used to wear Bellogia...probably misspelled--which is carnation plus)... for me Desdemona was not carnation; more soft very sweet flowers. But it was also oddly terribly sad, so much so I couldn't wear it (though it smells wonderful). Passed my imp to a less easily saddened friend.

rec'd a gift imp from the generous silverlilac (thank you, dear!) Santo Domingo is right in the group of fragrances I seem to most like (well, one of those groups). It reminds me a bit of Sin, a bit of Hunger, a bit of...well, oddly, Faustus. And perhaps somewhat like Lust--spice/fruit/naughtiness. Spicey flowers, not quite carnations, but sweet clove/honey. A certain sexiness as well. I was surprised to read the notes--but I have such a naive nose; I just sit sniffing and going "umm, very delicious!" and sort of purring. Silk dresses, elegance, and smoke.