jarvenpa

Ah, Wicked. She surfaced today from my imp basket (as I clumsily undid and poured out a bit of blood red Tintagel by accident). Without checking notes, without even sniffing the imp, I boldly put some on. And, wow. Immediately made a note to self to get a bottle...someday. My naive nose had no idea what it was smelling, only "omigod, this is wonderful!" Dark, spice laden, very...wicked. Long lasting, sexy, spicey, dark, oh, exactly what I needed. When I did check the notes I was astonished. I would not have figured either rose or jasmine, just some undefinable dark flower that probably eats people. And I should watch for myrrh, because my skin does seem to just go into swoon mode when a myrrh scent is on. Delicious.

Ah, I wish I had tiny little ones to corrupt introduce to beautiful fragrances. My kids are indeed pretty grown up (28, 21, 17). The middle one, my daughter, does indeed share my obsession nicely (and we have the equivalent of our sun sign opposition going on--my Libra vs. her Aries--at the scent level. If something doesn't work on me it is almost certain to work on her). My youngest, the 17 year old, has Down Syndrome, and while he is certainly a young man, not a little kid, he does have some of the openess associated with younger children. He enjoys trying out various of the BPAL scents. He loves Golden Priapus (probably because of the name, which I explained to him), White Rabbit, The Black Tower, Eden, and Dee. Oh, and Zombi, which smells great on him.

catwoman (bless her) sent me an imp of Lump of Coal and with absolutely no preparation or research (typical of my life) I put some on my wrists. So I have spent the entire afternoon and evening wishing I had some brownies. Cause, yep, it smells like brownies. Thick, warm, gooey, fresh from the oven, delicious brownies. The ones that are moist inside, and as you eat them you drop crumbs everywhere, because they are so very tasty. Long lasting, tormenting, delicious scent.

I ordered an imp of Black Opal based on recommendations (I like vanilla, and I think that was why folks were saying "you must try this") Pure fantastic surprise, because as I slashed a bit on my wrists it was all: Shalimar!!--a perfume both my mother (long since dead) and I wore for a time. Nostalgia. It doesn't (because of course Beth's blends are far more complex than the commercial perfumes) stay at pure Shalimar, but wafts off into its own world, in which there is sunlight, and there are...oddly, warmed rocks by a pool of water. It is ambery and sort of vanilla, yes, but with a bit of steel resolve beneath that sweetness. Yeah, I do like it. Lots.

A frimp from the labbies. I don't think I would ever have thought to order it on my own. Goneril confuses me. I think I expected something...evil. But how can lovely scent be evil? I get totally puzzled. The first impression, as I slash it on my wrists, is of something I want to inhale deeply, something sweet and herbal, something I vaguely think I must know. It reminds me of gardens and sunlight...(and, when I cheat and read the scent notes in puzzlement, I think...must be the geranium). It is very lovely. Soon thereafter there is a waft of soft flowers, a sort of inward and gentle bloom, and a very faint touch of spice or resin or something (perhaps the cedar? I have a very strange nose indeed). It gentles into a fragrance that stays about a half inch from my wrists, very soft, sweet without being cloying, quite womanly. I like it a great deal, but it fades within the hour--or so I think, until hours later I get a whiff of what seems to be amber, renewed, coming up again (and there's no amber in this blend...at least not stated). It will take trying a few times more. This sounds odd even as I think it, but Goneril is an intellectual scent. A puzzle.

I am beginning to notice that the Lab seems to understand my taste better than I do. Sin was a frimp in a recent order (thank you, thank you) My first impression (without reading the actual scent notes) was of something a bit darkly fruit/wine in flavor, then rushing into a complicated tangle of, um, love in the afternoon sort of. And then, for a very long time, it stayed at amber. The crystallized sort one used to find in little out of the way shops that reeked of incense: it was I think genuinely tree sap or something. Powdery, and sweet, and exotic. It came in tiny carved wooden boxes, little bits of crumbling sweet/spice/powder. I really love this fragrance.

Based on oohs and ahs and recommendations in the forum, I ordered an imp of Eat Me. I do like vanilla, and I think I like sweetness, so it would seem I should just devour (so to speak) the yumminess of Eat Me. So. Open the imp: VANILLA!!!!! I'm not sure, even though I love vanilla, or I thought I did, that so much vanilla is going to be a good thing after all. Bravely slash a bit on wrists. Okay. Teeth achingly sweet, and I have a vision of a yellow cake with perfect crumbs...and lots of frosting (vanilla, yes) but a touch of...as it dries...spice. Very faint spice. Mostly still vanilla/sweetness. After a time, a touch of...is it berries? It is fleeting, whatever it is. The initial throw seems to be tremendous (I think people down the street should be running over to my shop hoping for birthday cake) but the scent doesn't last much more than an hour. It's nice, it's vanilla, but I don't think it is one of my omigod, must have this always fragrances.

Chaos Theory III MCCC (whatever high number that may translate to) I am so gleeful, because I had assumed this order to have been lost (oh, ye of little faith) and it was the Chaos Theory I was sad to have missed... In the bottle: very fresh and aquatic, and perhaps a bit of lily of the valley. On, a burst of spice and perhaps a touch of neroli, but mostly spice. Or carnations. As I know there is no cinnamon in this series, and as the spicy goodness is extreme, maybe bunches and bunches of carnations. It settles to water plus spicy drifts of flowers. It is lovely (and the label is so amazing). Jumping up and down gleefully here. (edited because when one is jumping up and down one gets incoherent)

a gift from a most generous forumite (thank you!) I sniffed the imp a number of times and put it down and wore something else. This morning I thought, okay, let's really try it out. Wet, it smells mostly of earth with a cold floral overlay: reminds me of the inside of a small florist shop I know, where there are potted plants and lovely orchids and chilled roses and strange artifacts in the corners. At this stage I am "well, okay, interesting". And then there is a surprising moment of what my nose registers as lemon/herb (I have an easily confused nose). This is really complex. There are roses for certain (some of the nicest roses I've encountered in Beth's fragrances). It settles into a very interesting mix of what my nose thinks are woods and roses. I think it may be the juniper that my nose read as lemon: something sharp, bitter. It is still beneath the flowers. I am not sure what I think of this scent: it is complicated and rather intellectual--I find I am pondering it, wondering about it. Definitely can get the earth/wood/sprays of lovely roses picture here. But do I like it? It is very odd for me not to know: usually I am "yes!" or "good heavens, this isn't for me". This scent is a question.

I second the recommendation to put a bit in your hair; really increases the lasting ability (even if you have short hair, as I do). Antique Lace lasts well for me, so does Zephyr.

An imp of Desire came to me in a package from a kind forumite, but I have just tried it for the second time (first time, distracted, grabbed imp, slashed a bit of Desire across wrists and ran imp wand through hair, and forgot it till I went out to the tiny coffee place across the way. The sweet young thing who poured my Sumatra said "oh, god, you smell so great, what is it??" When I mentioned Black Phoenix she was all "oh yes, my friend had some of their perfume, it's so great" (I am plotting a stop with a carefully chosen set of imps for her soon). But I hadn't been paying enough attention to scent notes and such to review it, except to note "yeah, it does smell great---and it lasts and lasts and lasts". Which it did. So I put it on today again, and...well, drat, another scent I really need to have a bottle of. It is warm and enveloping, which must have something to do with musk (later I saw black musk is a note in it; I seem to amp and adore all the musks)--and there is spice and sweetness and definitely a lot of vanilla. It is sexy in a classic way, a very confident perfume, combining musk and resin and vanilla and indefinable nicenesses. (I am surprised, when I actually check out the lab's description, to find roses; the patchouli is quite well behaved, or overwhelmed by the other notes.). It does go to a powdery sweetness (and I love the fragrances that do this), lasting into the night. And beyond, if you've put a bit in your hair. Lovely, lovely, lovely.

Oh yes. White Rabbit is really nice--has pepper in it, and honey I think. I don't think of it as a dark intense scent, but it is a beautiful one.

I enjoy spicy dark scents too (and somewhere there is a thread with recommendations in response to my plaintive request for help in finding more). Some that you might like: Faustus: warm, deep, cinnamon, plus a touch of incense. It supposedly has violets too, but I don't get that. It is wonderful, a nice autumn/cool weather scent. Gomorrah: fruit and spices of the east Cairo: also fruit at the start (figs, maybe?) and many delicious spicinesses. Very lovely. I loved The Sleeper but it was a LE and is discontinued--more in the opium dark perfume range. You might find some in the swaps. Lust is spice and goodness (or wickedness) You might just do a search for cinnamon and see what comes up. Baghdad might be to your taste too. (I will now be haunting this thread seeing what the more experienced recommend to you!)

An ancient formula that inspires unrepentant decadence, lechery and debauch. Well, who knew. The Sacred Whore is quite a refined lady. The imp was a gift from a forumite (thank you). Finally got around to trying it out. There is something really kind of delightful about going around thinking "yes, I'm smelling like The Sacred Whore of Babylon" I think at first--jasmine? soft white flowers? something like that. And definitely honey with a touch of spice, and perhaps musk. It reminds me a little of O but without the naughty bits. Which is odd in a sacred whore, but oh well. It's very pretty, very sweet, rather light, and really very genteel. Perhaps our civilization has been so very debauched that the fragrance of The Sacred Whore is like a lady's lunch club now? editing to add the lab description, since this is a new page. And that, upon thought, this really, really reminds me of my mother...Hmmm.

The imp came as a kind gift (thank you). Someday I will understand what note it is that my nose reads as dill pickles. I thought, from another blend, that it might be juniper--but no juniper here. The pickles are fleeting (visions of bounding little pickles, joyfully rushing into a meadow). In the meadow they meet up with a whole bunch of tough lilies, and the lilies overpower them. Take that, dill pickle!! And the lilies just wander about, being wan and lily-like, and sweet (their ninja moment over) and then: why, it is a forest of attacking pencil shavings. Must be wood of some sort (later I see that rosewood is in the blend; I would have guessed cedar) and finally, everything drifts away like: Ivory soap. This is the first fragrance in which the mythic turns-to-soap experience happened for me. So, for that, very noteworthy. That and the rambunctious pickles.

This one was suggested as the answer to my search for a scent my daffodil loving daughter might like. She didn't like it (too sweet, though she likes sweet). On me it was very, teeth-hurting sweet fruit in the middle of a storm of flowers--very far from a scent I'd wear (but gee, I thought the girl would go for it). I put some in an atomizer with water and have been misting the bookstore air now and then--and then it is lovely: a hint of perfumed floweriness, as if you were strolling down a lane of cherry trees in blossom, a touch of sultry plum. For this it works very well indeed.

a gift from a forumite, who has my gratitude and blessings I figured a poet--though not necessarily of sacred poetry (unless you believe all poetry partakes of the sacred, which I do believe)--would do well to wear Polyhymnia now and again. First slash of oil on skin is: Lemon verbena. The purest lemon verbena I've yet smelled (but I'm new at this still). Some of the lab's lemon scents are lemon geranium, and some are balm, and I suppose there are pure lemon peel scents out there waiting for me to discover them, but this one is lemon verbena, a plant I much like. And it is soft verbena on my skin for a long time. That's okay. Nice to have a lovely verbena scent. And then--oh, an hour or two in, what's this? something both sweet and woody--and I'm not sure. It is a soft scent, but wafts up now and again and surprises me. Just like inspiration. Remarkable. Clever, clever Beth. (edited because I just went and sought out the lab description. Lemon balm?? no way. Still smells like lemon verbena, which has a sweet edge (maybe it is the orris influence). And it is still remarkable.)

thank you to the dear forumite who sent me this! Little package arrived this morning containing some imps of previously untried scents (so exciting). And I tried Namaste first, on whim. I am 5 years old, and can barely see above the crowded counter top in the dim little shop somewhere outside of Tokyo. My mother, elegant in her black clothing, is sipping green tea with the beautiful shop owner as I try to direct my little brother's attention away from the shining trinkets. The fragrance is of tea and lemongrass to my nose, and a touch of sandalwood, with other scents stirring in the background. I am in love with the glossy black hair of the lovely shop owner, who smiles at me and touches my own pale, pale hair. Outside the black and white Japanese bobtail cat rubs against my legs and purrs. Obviously a very personal reaction to this fragrance, and wholly unexpected. Deep flashbacks to my youth in Japan, and all the fragrances of that time. Pulling back to logical reality: first strong lemongrass, then quickly a mingling of other fragrances, read as "exotic", mostly sandalwood. Definitely a green tea note to my nose too.

Wings of Azrael was a gift, and I am so clueless I didn't even know which category of oils it belonged in ("hmmm, Azrael...an angel, but which one??") (it is rather like the query of my vet "do you think this rescued doggie is a shepherd?" to which the answer was "my dear, you now have a pitbull") So, with no preconceptions and a blithe heart I smeared some on my wrists. First sniff: dill pickles. Well, that's interesting. Must be herbs in the blend, I thought. And then a nice low toned (as in music, a rumbling low tone) medium brown scent, shot with glitters of gold. This is also nice, and slightly familiar, though I am, as usual, lost as I search my memory for where I smelled this before. And then a deepening of spiced flowers, bringing to mind pale hyacinths and rainy, deserted gardens. And a lingering, fading sweetness. And intriguing fragrance. When I searched to discover where these wings belong, and what the scent notes really were, it was (as with my dear pitbull) all "aha! that explains a lot!" And although I am very fond of violets (one of my favorite flowers) once again I fail to recognize them in a perfume. The myrrh is surely my brown/gold glittering scent; the lilies of the valley perhaps the poignant sweetness. And maybe my nose smells juniper as dill??? Yes, it could be a gently comforting scent indeed.

A gift from a generous forumite (thank you!) On first application: dirt, deep composty dirt, like the inside of a potting shed or a greenhouse (some of my favorite places on earth--I am a passionate gardener). Then very quickly, roses. Then, also quickly, with the roses remaining, a beautiful fragrance I don't know, but which I identify as something I have liked in other BPAL blends. I think and sniff and think and sniff. It changes into a sweet darkness overladen with roses: deep roses, dark roses, and something between spice and the perfume of an elegant courtesan. And always, an underlying earth scent. This is beautiful. When I check the notes I suspect it is the oakmoss that I am liking so well; I seem to recall it in some of my other favorites, where it meets my skin and starts singing the blues in a raspy, haunting voice, somewhere in the darkness. Must have more Zombi.

This was also one of the generous zenvodunista's impish gifts. Venus was rose. Pure rose. Nothing but masses and masses and masses of rose. Which was okay with me, though I have been spoiled by the more complicated fragrances. I like rose. So, evidentally, does Lady Venus.

Being very fond of incense-like fragrances, and dark fragrances, I had high hopes (so to speak) for Urd. First hit: spice and fruit. Reminds me a little bit of Cairo, a scent I am very fond of. Morphs to deeperness (okay, not a word. But: darkens, grows a bit more--woody). I am actually not smelling patchouli, at least not patchouli as I know it, and I am not getting big associations with headshops or the haunts of my youth. Sandalwood? Maybe sandalwood. I like sandalwood, this is okay. But for all the depth of scent, this one isn't very long lasting for me. And not so spectacular I want to carry it around and constantly apply more of. Still, I am very grateful for the chance to experience it.

There is a place along the edge of the woods where I have, in summer, followed the old logging roads with my dogs. I used to walk there especially with a rescued Wolf hybrid. The hillside is full of sweet everlasting flowers, that dry to a papery whiteness in the summer heat, and there are cool bits of dappled shade where one might stop to rest. Below this point there is a meandering trickle of water. In the winter it is a small stream, but in summer it is simply a thread of wetness, coming from one of the deep springs. Near this place wild lilies grow, scenting the air with their haunting, clear fragrance. There, everything, for a moment, is safe and clear. Wolf's Heart is the fragrance of those times--there is a sweetness, there is a touch of dryness, like the everlastings, but most of all there is a sense of being at home in the wild world, companioned by wildness, and afraid of nothing. One's heart is at rest. This is home, and the center of everything. My imp of Wolf's Heart was a generous gift; I will be getting a larger bottle. Comfort and courage in a lovely fragrance? Amazing.

my thanks too. starting new order immediately. Yay!

alas, I have been searching for my MO receipt and not finding it...(and I can't blame Mercury retrograde now, either). It's okay--I'll chalk it up to learning experiences if I don't find it, and keep better records!