marzstar

CHARISMA

This is a powerful attraction and advancement blend. It aids in polishing and magnifying your best qualities, while downplaying your flaws. Increases charm and wit, and helps you shine in a crowd. Wear a drop on each chakra point.

so many great scents... i tend to respond with the first things that come to mind.

high john the conqueror - a great all around smell.

or

white light - will protect you as you drive

i smell gardenia in this one

i used to love gardenia oil and wear it all the time until my tastes changed and i couldn't handle it's floral headiness any more (same goes for me and jasmine)

but this is a gardenia rooted down just a touch with something special

something very common to the voodoo blends, i've noticed

it's a gardenia i can wear and i like it

yes similar to the vibe of persephone, what comes to mind for me is kurukulla

three lotus blooms and three roses. the sweetness of the lotus balances out the rose.

perhaps dorian . . .

just got an imp of this splendiferous oil and haven't had the pleasure of really using it but i had to review my first impression

first sniff reminded me of that almost fizzy lifting quality in voodoo, which is an oil i love and wear a lot, but this is lighter and sweeter more feminine.

yes slightly fruity and not flowery at all

yes slightly reminiscent of horn of plenty too

the intention is fabulous and it smells good enough to wear

i'm excited about this one

i see a bottle being in my posession in the near future

and in response to what was said in the reviews before mine, i'm noticing peeps are sharing thoughts on the effectiveness of this oil and how it may be due more to the personal focus than the oil itself, and my personal take on that is

yes

this is perhaps the case

and this is a great thing!!

i feel this way about all beth's oils

and about life in general

ritual

spells

focus . . .

believe in and create your own rules and meanings from intuition and this is more powerful than any other magic imho

i'm excited to start fresh with a shower in the am tomorrow and really get to bond all day with perpetuum bonum

yes. simply allow (not want. not wish. not hope nor dream nor wonder... just let it be.) life to shower you with good fortune, perpetually. i'm down. why bother believing in anything else?

*edited to add*

ok the next day, after a shower, i tried some pb on my wrist and got a huge whiff of patchouli that i totally didn't get the night before. and didn't get cherry almond like at all. haha weird huh!? or perhaps not. guess i will have to work it some more and review yet again in time. t b c . . .

OBATALA

Obatala’s ofrenda is soft, white and pure: milk, coconut meat, shea butter and cool, refreshing water.

i totally agree that obatala is a lot like milk moon

i wish it were more coconutty - still on the hunt for something more purely coconut - if it were i would buy a big bottle... but

still, i'm suuuper glad obatala it is a CG blend because now i don't have to skimp when i wear my milk moon for i know i can get this for my fix when that runs out

this is a bit more aquatic, which others also have said, and i think i like milk moon a bit more due to that, but let's see how it ages :fun:!

i really love the description and the association of it though, of white

my favorite color is black but i have been bonding with the power and feeling of wearing all white lately

oh and unlike what others have said, this seems to have rather good staying power on my skin :yay:

and i am really glad it is like fresh coconut milk and not nutty like in black coconut of others that i don't react well with.

i've always loved db in general. just as the description says Powerful, commanding, blazing with strength. that is how i feel when i wear dragon's blood. the name says it all. so i was über bummed when, at first sniff, (and 2nd and 3rd, etc,) i totally didn't like the black phoenix alchemy lab dragon's blood, nor the blends that contain them.

which is realllllly odd because last night,

a few months, 3 moons, and much money invested, later, . . . something happened

i fell in love

with dragon's blood.

it's not rotten cherries anymore; it's not cough syrup anymore; it's not soapy or flowery anymore.

it's just wonderfully magical. perfectly divine. unique and grandiose.

the way it smells and the way i feel when i wear it reminds me of a saying i feel akin to:

kill 'em with kindness.

for it's sweet yet evokes strength. not a cute girly sweet. more of a ripe sweet; a sweet that comes only with wisdom and experience and time.

it's balanced yet dual - light and dark, light and heavy, fruity yet flowery yet resiny.

empowering.

i think dragon's blood is the ultimate in joojoo-esque™

(admittedly, i am so pleased with the rekindling of my love of dragon's blood that this is the third post i've made in a row on the topic hehe)

I've been told that Dorian and Antique Lace are really similar...I'm trying to decide which one to get. Any suggestions?

 

 

 

Along the same lines for an Amber scenet: The Lion or Bestat?

dorian and antique lace do have a similar light sweet vanilla base but dorian is almost lemon frosting to me whereas antique lace is almost floral, but not quite. i am loving antique lace a LOT right now and like dorian but not to wear for it's too lemony to me.

as for amber smells, the lion is nice. really nice. a very light yellow amber, not a think resiny amber. bastet on me is all burnt almonds. not amber and not like the lion at all. haunted, on the other hand, is a nice amber. i'd recommend that if you want something a little darker than the lion.

...

today i bonded a bit with underpants ... and i think it is a bit reminiscent of antique lace, actually.

also, for people that are milk moon freaks, you are in luck. obatala is really close. and it's a GC!

this is a great thread. i'm sure i will be writing more observations as time goes on.

=)

oh ok here's some more: FOODIES (one of my favs) :: gingerbread poppet and monsterbait underbed are similar. though gingerbread is, well, gingerbread, ha, and underbed monster is an oatmeal cookie, almost a snickerdoodle! and sugarcookie is obviously a sugarcookie. beaver moon is cheesecake. milk moon is this indian icecream called kulfi. dorian is lemon vanilla frosting. and midway is just pure sweetness to me. lightest whiff of vanilla but not spicey or sour or milky. and i love it.

i LOVE midway

had an imp i coveted

then just bought a bottle at willcall (so happy it was re-released)

& now i am so obsessed i can not resist getting another bottle before the carnival's disappear again

to me midway is the ultimate sweet simple vanilla smell that i have been searching for.

not plasticy. not milky. not burnt. not foody necessarily either. just sweet light yumminess. mixes so well with everything too. especially things with a bit of spice. makes snake oil OMFG good.

it doesn't have a very long stay on my skin but all the more reason i need another bottle for i just want to pour it all over me!

white rabbit.

brimstone and burial are both brown to me

zombi might be good for brown (with a touch of red due to dried blood and roses)

anything with dirt in it makes me think brown

therefore, straight up graveyard dirt may be your best bet now that i think of it

jazz funeral too perhaps

(is this your association of brown?)

(or do you think like more chocolate or nutty?)

&

what's your association / perception of red ?

like do you think more of blood, or fruit, or of heat & spice? or even roses! ? they're red.

things with dragon's blood or red musk (even though it smells bad on me) or with myrrh or with cinnamon might be good

chimera is good for cinnamon. blood is great too. & mars is the red planet ;]

bordello is red to me, very cherry

red devil, red phoenix, red queen... sheesh there's more than i thought

i suggest you search "red" ha

hope i helped more than confuse hehe

good luck

oh thanks you two

i just saw that you replied

weee

I've never tried Aveda MEN, but I can tell you that the sleep forumla Nanshe smells like something out of an Aveda shop.

I've always thought that the Sephiroth oils smell a lot like Aveda scents, especially Hod, Malkuth and Kether. Of the three, there was one in particular but I can't remember specifically which one...but there's something about that series...

there is a TAL called Peace that I have

it's not on the site though you can order one if you ask

there's a lot of lavender in it.

i love it for sleep.

also the TAL White Light clears my energy to help sleep too.

last night before retiring i bonded with milk moon. something about smelling milky, reminded me of a comforting mother-y smell as well as just felt calming and nurturing and warming.

you know all the association with warm glass of milk before bed.

many of the lunar oils i find good for sleeptime too.

good luck.

i've been striggling with sleep my whole life

bpal has been helping

i like to experiment

i slather on tons before going to bed

and when i do i always have amazing and vivid dreams

love this oil. was a shock, too, for i didn't expect to like it from the coke reference, & nearly didn't bother smelling it but i did. funny that i smelled it, thought cocacola... and i am not a soda fan, at all. out of curiousity though i put some on and i am SO glad i did because the cola thing disappears instantly and, like other favorites of mine, i can't even describe this one, all i know is i love it on me. i feel powerful when i wear it, which is a prerequisite for anything i wear. it's warm and sweet yet dark and powerful.

it's not a voodoo blend but i wear it as if it is. with intention. though i do this with most anything i put on.

maybe i will update this post when i figure out what this smells like to me and what it is that i love so much.

maybe i will just accept it as it is.

love.

m*

just got this one and just tried it on a little bit ago

i am still not sure what "tea" really smells like in bpal oils but i think i love it

that said

on with my review:

at first it is just as the description says.

then, when applied it almost has an anise smell to me - (oh perhaps it is the pepper - or just the spice blend in general)

and then as i wear it i think it turns more milky

and i LOVE milky smells, and i love ginger

. . .and vanilla and linen. . .and while honey can be a bit flowery to me, mixed in with all these i think it balances out the whole concoction. and because the linen is inherantly a clean smell, i think it balances out that plastic-y thing that can happen a bit with milky smells.

the more i sit with it, the more i like it. actually, i have a strong feeling that i am in love with this one.

*put on right wrist while left has casanova so i have to test it alone to be sure of what i am experiencing before i give my final verdict. they do blend very well though*

ETA: i really like this one. i don't want to pour it over my head everyday as i do with my loves, but it is a favorite of mine to smell for that distinct memory evocativeness... (is that a word?) for it totally reminds me of a specific detail from my memory as a lil' kid: there were these colored markers that a lot of us had... the different colors had different scents and the black one was anise/licorice ... and i used to HATE anise/licorice, but now i am a huge fan. well yes. white rabbit, though it doesn't list anise in the description, totally makes me think of the black scented marker of my childhood. it's close to a top ten, but depends on my mood. guess they all do top 20 i'd say.

if dorian is lemon milky tea, this one is licorice spice tea, to me.

hmm should i edit my post or just reply?

well i am going to reply.

been a mad smelling fiend

tonight i was blessed with an imp of casanova and i like it a lot

i think it's a cousin of aveda men

i will have to bond with it a bit, wear it more, see how it settles on me, and compare it more. . . though it's a definite candidate

i'm tempted to mix it with something - to make it more right on - first thought was embalming fluid, but i am going to wait a bit and see how it works a bit more before i blend it - for it may be more right on that at first sniff

note - i also tried on white rabbit at the same time, which i also love, and btw i think they go nicely together. though as they are wafting up together into my nostrils, it may be this combo that's creating the aveda men's blend thing . . .

will spend some time with both of these and get back to this post

at least i am happy to report that i have just found 2 more bpal oils for my LOVE list and they are both on the more masculine side too, (that is, i think. for wr seems to be drying a bit more milky. . . which makes it less manly but OMG i might have to get a big one of this... and the other...)

mm at first whiff from the bottle i did totally get that grape thing and i am not really a fan of grape flavored things so out of the 5 imps i got today, i tried this one last

but once on my skin, i didn't think grape anymore.

it is sweet and fruity, though i like sweet fruity things, so, i like this.

with a name like high john the conqueror, i wouldn't imagine this would smell at all like it does

though i don't know anything of the background of this name

*makes mental note to look into this person / story*

as it dries down i keep smelling my arm and definitely like it

think it's reminding me of something, as most bpal smells do, especially at first, though i have yet to place the memory

overall, i, without a doubt, want to try wearing a lot of this over the course of a day and seeing how i feel and smell and how the world responds to me

yep, guess i like it

<edit>gotta love wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_John_the_Conqueror

i like this even more now that i've read the bg of it

says it's perhaps the root of the st john's wart plant !!

now i think i should get a bottle and wear it everyday -- it almost seems that it might make a good base to layer with everything -- since i like sweet smells

just as i was thinking to myself that it may be time to let go of some imps, finally, too. . . i have this thought now i want to try everything over again haha</edit>

first thoughts: strong flowery.

purple - and green - ooh maybe fuscia. !

rose and maybe jasmine. with lemon. and a bit of warmth that might make this wearable. not an instant love, nor a hate. don't know if i will wear it though. depends on how it ages on my skin. so far it's turning more lemony. actually do like this more than other flowery smells, but at the same time it does remind me a bit of household cleaner and i could see it being headache-y. only time will tell.

funny because, as i do with most bpal oils, i love the name and it is very womanly in a strong way i don't quite have the words for. perhaps sharp is the word.

interesting, too, that i also just tried on casanova (which i fucking love! (am i allowed to say the Fword on here? well i haven't yet so tell me if it's shunned and i won't do it again )) and casanova is so MAN while this is so WOMAN. and they are both so different, perhaps opposites!, yet somehow i am digging smelling the two of them one after the other. perhaps i will experiment with wearing one of these on each wrist (instead of on different parts of the same arm) . . .

(probably more later)

really strong at first - in a good way. settles a bit but doesn't really change, per se.

mm i think i am in love

definitely my favorite masculine so far for sure (all the others i've tried, even if i think i like them at first bottle whif, just turn to generic soap or cheap cologne on me)

very pleased.

(more later . . . )

whoa

this might actually be my favorite dragon so far , *thinks ... ooh have i smelled them all now? . . . ah nope i still need to smell tears*, for i think that this might lack that thing i (depressingly enough) don't like about the bpal dragon's bloods (the odd yucky cough syrup.esque thing)... at least the most. (with milk coming up as my next fav... though i don't even consider wearing the others...)

actually, i don't really like the others enough to wear and i think i'd wear this.

only tried this on my fingertips though and after i already tried a couple new imps on the same arm so they could all be blending a bit... sensory overload = a good thing tonight

yes, i am excited to try this on its own after the clean slate that is aka a shower.

wee

(more to come)

:music_ alecempire<intelligence&sacrifice>:

:drink_ herbaltea<paud'arco&burdockroot>:

1st impression::

mm what is that? it's familiar. . . fruit rollups!

as it dries::

ok getting spicier. fruit rollups with clove. ha. interesting. . . . &not bad.

(more later)

at first i couldn't tell if i liked this or not

now i love it

and won't rest until i have a bottle. a BIG bottle.

i believe i like it a lot better than snake oil, which i wasn't so sure about at first, either

now, while i am stull not sure i even like the oil, just think it may not work on me... i might like it more than i thought in the beginning... but it's the charmer that charmed me, for sure

this is warmer and sweeter, spicier and less baby powdery on me

i crave it's scent

of course i like the LE more

go figure

all my favs so far are LE

anyone read tom robbin's book jitterbug perfume ?

this oil, the coiled serpent, to me is totally kudra

and i like it

though i have another kudra i've bonded with over the years

and this reminds me of that one (must do a side by side... i think this one's a bit lighter)

though if you read the book it tells you what it should smell like, what is in kudra...

*makes mental note to get a copy and reread this again*

*i've been making a lot of mental notes in my posts here hehe*

at first, especially from the bottle, it is patchouli - turns a nice sweet patcouli though the moment it is applied to the skin - so it's not such a bitter overpowering :cough:hippie: smell - well maybe a little

but immediately it is nicely balanced with orange blossom

and the orange blossom comes out more in time

along with some more sweeter, delicate notes

funny that i don't like orange smells, nor flowery smells, but i love what i think of as orange blossom

this one works on me nicely - though both eo's i mentioned work on me so if you don't like patchouli you probably won't like this

unless you like orange blossom

then i say give this a chance

i do like the kundalini association it has too

yet another blend that is so appropriately named

for it IS very serpent like but oh so different from SO and SC

beth is just purely amazing.

and go read jitterbug perfume and then try this

and you'll probably like it more, for i have yet to meet a person who didn't LOVE it

i won't give away what else is supposedly in it

but it is supposedly the secret to everlasting life !!!

you'll have to hunt for it but spooky is the coconutest thing ive tried to date.

i second this one.

i love coconut and this is the coconut i think of when i think of coconut

red lantern is too ... like... well burnt syrupy coconut. not coconuty really at all imho

so much in fact that i swapped it away ... though since spooky has that mint it is really light.

turns too minty on me but it's a really neat effect

the star is all citrus to me too. not coconut.

though now i want to give it another try.

my nose changes daily, i swear. it's both annoying and fun.

i do want a more straight up coconut myself

coconut plus a smidge of vanilla would be divine !! perhaps with a touch of oh milk ...

... mmmmm coconut milk. :!:

ooooh my. me thinks me needs to add that to the recommend list (done)

Ah, i tried to answer this in the newb mixer, but I think it got lost in the recent flurry of activity. Here's my take:

Well, i think some people use staying power(how long it lasts) and throw interchangably. But myself, I use "throw" as a measure of how far the scent sends itself--ie, do I have to put my nose right on my wrists to sniff? Or can i smell my wrists when they're far away from me? Or does my perfume permeate my whole room? That kinda thing.....

though that's why i posted this again, because you didn't exactly answer my question. hehe. you just confirmed throw is one of two things, {and you, apprently, use it "correctly" btw}. . . and i wanted to know which one it really is.

The first one is correct, and for the second question, I usually use "staying power."