mermaidrage

In the bottle: Barely anything. There's a light tea, something vaguely floral, but otherwise it's almost nonexistant.

On skin: Tamamo-no-mae is immediately creamy and rich! I can definitely believe that black locust could be part of the same family as sweet pea because that's what I immediately think I smell. The tea settles to the background but is replaced by this wonderful glowing musk, back up by the sandalwood.

 

I absolutely adore this. I'm going to have to try to hunt down a backup bottle (or three)!

I was really nervous about the violet at first -- it's one of those notes that I love in theory and hate on me. It always smells like being five-years-old and Barbie bubble bath.

In the bottle: MINT! And violets and something that smells like fresh-turned earth. There's... something under there. Probably the thyme. It's a bit disconcerting but interesting.

On skin: Oh, this is interesting! I barely get any rose for which I'm grateful -- I tend to amp it and I really wanted to smell something other than rose for once, as much as I love it. This is all heady violets kept crisp by the mint and what I can now tell is definitely thyme. There are other creamy florals there which I think must be the daisy and maybe the columbine.

Dry: After an hour, I can still catch a light whiff of it. This isn't a strong scent, but it blends nicely into the skin. It's more like a barefoot walk in a dewy garden before the sun's gone too hot, followed by a lovely cup of mint tea.

I'd love to find a BPAL similar to Burberry Brit GOLD.

In the imp: Lots of violet and jasmine, something a bit powdery which makes me very nervous.

Wet: HOLY violets. These are sugary, wonderful violets. The jasmine is still there but the incense is starting to pop out and settle over everything else.

Dry: This is a fantastically complex scent on me. It's not one I would wear on a daily basis but it has a very regal, sophisticated feel. I find myself reaching for it when I want to feel womanly, not girly. All of the notes stay in perfect balance (except the purple fruits which, thankfully, never show up). It's definitely got a good amount of throw but it's not nearly as overwhelming as it seems at first.

 

I splurged on a bottle and I'm very glad I did.

In the imp: Peach! And a darker edge -- I guess that must be the oakmoss.

Wet: Warm, golden, summer-sweet peaches. These are the peaches that, when you bite into them, drip sticky sweet juice down your fingers. Maybe a bit of musk, definitely some heliotrope lifting the scent even higher.

Dry: Lots of warm, white musk. The peaches are still right out there. The heliotrope backs down a bit and there's something that smells a lot like a rich vanilla mixed in.

 

I REALLY like this. I have a partial 5ml and I'm going to have to top this up.

Saint-Germain makes me wish I had a man of my own who wore this. Until then, I'll happily wear it myself.

 

It doesn't change much at all on me from wet to drydown. The amber is extremely sensual -- it almost reads as a warm musk to my nose and it's fabulous. The lavender stays in the background, just enough to to calm or, as the description says, hypnotize. I'm not sure what the moss smells like but if it's what's darkening the carnation, it's fabulous.

I love jasmine and iris. I really do. I was so excited for Zorya that I bought a bottle unsniffed. I was all "oooh, jasmine! iris! musk! yay!"

 

For the first hour and a half of wearing it, it is spiky, painful spices with nondescript florals in the background.

 

Finally, the spices die down a bit and I get a hint of jasmine and some musk. No iris.

 

The drydown's nice but I really dislike the drying process. I'm going to see if it works better on my mom. Otherwise, it's off to the swaps.

Let me start by saying that, when I was creating my wishlist, Lurid did not make the cut. As much as I love lavender, the blackcurrant weirded me out and the ozone tipped the scale in favour of 'no'. This is the moment when I am so thankful for the lab's generous frimpage.

 

In the imp: Creamy, thick, heavy lavender but there's that frozen quality that I always associate with ozone. It's almost giving me a headache and I am WORRIED.

Wet: No ozone. Really. Now, the muskand the lavender are perfectly blended and I think there's some blackcurrant sweetening the deal in there but I couldn't pick it out for sure.

Dry: It's still a gorgeous creamy lavender but the ozone's back a bit more, giving the whole scent a cold, dangerous edge. It's incredibly sexy -- think of the silent woman in a tight black cocktail dress leaning against the bar with a vodka tonic in her hand and knife tucked down the side of her boot.

 

One day I am going to have a bottle of this.

In the imp: It's a very light, clean ginger with a hint of cream.

Wet: Plasticky ginger.

Dry: Lovely, creamy, delicious ginger. Lightly sugared, really fabulous.

15 minutes later: Totally gone. *cries*

 

I really wanted it to last as soon as it dried. It is such a gorgeous scent but my skin eats it up too quickly.

Cathode was one of those scents that immediately went on my "Okay, not trying that one" list. For the life of me, I can't figure out why.

 

I was frimped this in my last lab order and I was so pleasantly surprised.

 

In the imp: Dark mint, metallic ozone and very, very cold.

On: MINT! It's still dark, but it's smoothly dark, if that makes sense. It slips onto my skin like silk and settles in like it belongs there. There's something green, too dark to be grassy -- I'm guessing that's the moss and it holds the mint under control. It's not metallic anymore, but it's cold and crisp, very refreshing.

Drydown: Still mint and moss, but a bit warmer like it's warmed up to body temperature. I smell like my favourite moroccan mint tea. This was a very pleasant surprise!

 

Maybe a bottle, not sure yet.

At first sniff, all I got was Froot Loops! That's okay, I mean, I don't mind froot loops. I wasn't sure I wanted to smell like them, but it could work.

 

On the skin, the orange blossom and kumquat leap out IMMEDIATELY. This is incredibly wet and citrussy -- it actually reminds me a lot of the satsuma perfume from The Body Shop I wore all through middle school. It's similar, but the pepper gives it a sophisticated kick that keeps it from being too sweet or citrussy and for some reason the white tea makes it feel lightly musky and sexy.

 

This is really nice. I'm thrilled to have a bottle of this!

I can see that this scent would be really gorgeous on the right person. I really wanted to like it too, and was thrilled when I was frimped it with one of my orders.

 

However, somehow I get the worst part of every note. The cherry smells like maraschino cherry syrup rather than real cherries. I don't get any cream. The vetiver makes the cherries smell rotten. The wine just goes wrong in an overly-fermented way. The honey is too sticky. The skin musk is rancid.

 

It makes me so sad. Seriously.

Penny Dreadful is one of my shouldn't-like-it-but-I-do scents.

 

Wet: Dirt. Lots of dirt. Dirt and maybe a bit of sugary sweetness. Not sure where the sugar's coming from.

 

On skin: Dirt, something spicy that makes me think of nutmeg and... rose? Something floral. I kind of like it although I know I smell like dirt. My MOM walked into my room while I was testing it and smelled dirt. This amuses me more than it should.

 

Dry: I don't see myself wearing this often but it is really beautiful. The dirt has mellowed a lot, leaving me with a slightly spicy, grounded rose. It still smells a bit dusty, almost like a penny dreadful would have smelled like if tossed in the attic and uncovered years later. It's warm and totally different than I would have imagined.

 

Not a bottle probably, but I'll definitely use up my imp.

I was really kind of disappointed in Aureus. It doesn't smell like golden light to me at all. It smells like hippie -- rather, it's VERY resinous which always smells dark and heavy to me. It sits on my skin and smells like dusty wood and patchouli. It's okay, but it's not anything I see myself wearing.

 

I think it's going off to one of my guy friends -- it seems like a very masculine scent to me.

Thaleia is heavy on me, unfortunately. Heavy and barbie-doll vanilla. Maybe some honey.

 

I'll give it another shot on a day that isn't topping 100 degrees, but something in my skin chemistry doesn't seem to like it. And it's such a pity -- I really wanted to love this.

Vanilla Lust sounds absolutely TO DIE FOR. There's got to be a BPAL blend that replicates that, right? Please?

Did I seriously NOT review Dorian? Must have been too busy swooning.

 

I don't even know how to describe it. Dorian is intoxicating, just a whiff of it is enough to make my head spin a little bit.

 

Okay, for the first minute or so, it is overwhelmingly lemon-y, but that settles down quickly into a lush, sweetly musky lemon tea cookie orgy. It's like I'm baking in the kitchen, swaying a bit in my stilettos, when all of a sudden there are arms circling my waist and a devastatingly gorgeous man with a beautiful British accent purrs sweet nothings in my ear. And he nibbles it. And we forget the baking and uh... yes. That's it.

 

Dorian is more than lovely. And no, I don't want to slather it on a boy. I just want to wear it and appreciate the beauty that is me.

I can really see how people get a scented candle out of this one. I do as well, for the first 15 minutes.

 

Once it hits the perfect point, it's a rich plum that's fruity without being in my face like berries tend to be, and beautifully spicy from the carnations. There's not much musk, but there's enough to make me feel warm and glow-y.

 

This will be such a gorgeous fall scent.

I seriously amp the vanilla in Euphrosyne, to the point that it competes with the gardenia (which is always strong on me) so that's my pretty-close-to-perfect vanilla. Other than that, Dorian is utterly fabulous for a non-overwhelming vanilla.

I absolutely love gardenia, so I had to snag this.

 

At first, it scares the hell out of me. It is overwhelmingly vanilla which, while I like vanilla, is not what I wanted at all. After about 10 minutes, the rose and jasmine come into play. After 20 minutes, the gardenia finally shows up and takes center stage. The jasmine's still quite strong, with the rose and vanilla in the background. Thankfully, I like the gardenia-jasmine combo quite a bit. There's a LOT of throw -- my mom keeps wandering into my room, standing in the doorway and commenting on how she likes the scent I'm wearing.

 

Once I get past those first 10 minutes, this is a lovely scent. However, if you don't like florals, STAY AWAY. This is floral to the nth degree.

Lovely, lovely, lovely. I'm so glad I ordered a bottle unsniffed. I was a bit nervous about the grapefruit -- I don't even enjoy eating them -- but the apple blossom and ginger, combined with tea (a must-have note) swayed me.

 

Baobhan Sith is a lovely scent, fresh, crisp, clean, spicy without being heavy at all. It's VERY grapefruity at first on me and comes a bit close to going soapy for about five minutes, but then it settles down into a gorgeous apple-ginger scent that's grounded by the tea and made more interesting with a citrus zing.

I don't know what version I got as I bought from a fellow forumite -- all I know is that it's in an amber bottle.

 

I also know that I absolutely love this. I mean, love it in a one-true-scent, want to bathe in this, feel like this is my scent personified. I love it and it loves me back. I love it in a way which is going to make me stalk sales and trade posts just to find more because I NEED it.

 

It's a little bit spicy and incredibly creamy. For once, the rose, jasmine and violet notes stay nicely in the back ground (I love those notes but I was afraid they'd amp on me in this blend), providing a lush backdrop for the honeysuckle and lillies. I barely get any amber, but it is there in the sense that it warms everything and makes it glow.

 

There's something... different about it to. Like it's built on a men's fragrance blend. There's something in here that just barely reminds me of something my ex-boyfriend used to wear, a bit of citrus... and I think that really keeps the florals in line.

 

In summary, this is an amazing scent. It makes me feel so beautiful and SO happy.

In the bottle: Fruit! Fresh lemons, maybe green apples. Something herbal but nothing so distinct as to be named. Tea. Where's my peony?

 

Wet: I got a little bit of peony, which reassured me that I did, in fact, have a bottle of The Dormouse. It's very crisp and settling down too quickly to describe.

 

Drydown: This finally settled on being a lovely, bright peony and light tea. More descriptively, it's a sunny, breezy tea party with freshly-cut peonies, sugary tea and lemon cookie crumbs.

 

It's exactly what I thought it should be.

I love, love, love, love the turtle. I bought a bottle unsniffed off someone on the BPAL LJ community -- that's how much I adored the description and the notes.

 

In the bottle: VODKA. Maybe a bit of mint and lime. It's overwhelmingly vodka and I start to get nervous. It smells like college and a bunch of us sitting around a bottle of vodka, getting ready to take shots until we pass out.

 

On skin, wet: Still vodka, but the apple comes out a bit and the mint amps up and... oh... this is nice. And then the mint backs down almost immediately and settles in with the lime and it's lovely. I'm not sure what iris smells like but there's something I don't recognize and I LIKE it.

 

Drydown: This is lovely. It's cool and crisp, like biting into a green apple and an iced vodka tonic with extra lime crossed with a mint julep. Summer is finally here and I want to go lie out in the backyard and slather myself with this.

 

It doesn't stay strong for very long, but I get the occasional whiff for a couple of hours and, considering how much I love it, that's good enough for me.

I don't know what to think about Aeval. I really don't. In a way, I don't like it at all, but at the same time it's soft and makes me feel nostalgic. It's a bit comforting and other people seem to like it on me. It's one of those scents that's hard for me to break down.

 

It's candied sage with a bit of smoke. It's a little bit too warm and sweet for me, but I can't quite write it off yet. Aeval is so intriguingly different. I think I'm going to hang onto it and see if it grows on me.

 

I don't think I'm going to want a big bottle though.