abejita

The Other Woman. The scent of dark desire, heady with intrigue, shadowy with deception: black opium, Haitian patchouli, jasmine sambac, French magnolia and kush. From the bottle: Creamy blossoms and a whiff of my beloved opium. On, wet: The French magnolia just bloomed. Hell, it burst into bloom. The jasmine is strong. I have never had a particular problem with jasmine in general, but I can see how the sambac is more... tempered, somehow. This is seriously a lush floral, everything else is hiding right now. Dry: Mmmm, there it is. Ooooopiummmm. So smooth. I am not a big floral person, but the lushness of the magnolia, the clarion sweetness of the jasmine, and that smooth black opium are really doing it for me right now. The patchouli and kush have a light touch. I suspect they are part of what is grounding the jasmine. I love the sweetness of this scent, it's so velvety The Verdict: A keeper. To me, this scent speaks confidence, sensuality, and a very mature breed of audacity. I can really see how it is meant to evoke the Other Woman. I get a feel of independence. This is the scent of the Mistress, but she is no kept woman. She just can't be bothered with drab social convention. The men who know it want her all the more for it, but she won't be tamed. I don't usually go nuts reading a lot into a scent, but this one is tugging at my imagination. Medium to strong throw.

This scent is more than the sum of its parts. I almost passed on trying it at all. Orris is okay, but not something that draws me in. Lotus is often just straight up bubblegum. But I read the reviews, and I remembered how much I like Beth's pink musk and how she interprets "pink" in general. It's pearlescent, delicate, exquisite. Something about this one has texture. Usually, a fragrance that feels so strongly textured is velvety or heavy, but this one is hummingbird feathers and dewy flower petals. It's fresh without being soapy or ozone-y. It's one of Beth's lovely spring-in-a-bottle scents without being a field of wildflowers. It's floral but not floral. I'm getting a bottle.

[No additional description provided.] This is very straightforward. The pomegranate note verges on candy-like, but stops just short of it. I had been wanting Snake Oil with a dark fruit note. This starts out bright and tart, the pomegranate dominating. It settles to darker, still tart, and more balanced with the Snake Oil. It's exactly what I was looking for.

This is my favorite out of the 13s, far and above. I haven't tried them all, but I've been ordering BPAL for 15+ years now, so I've tried a fair spread. It starts out high-pitched, but not screeching. I agree with doomsday_disco about the almost citrus-like quality of the initial sugar. As time goes on, it gets darker and darker, until it smells very turbinado/brown sugary and warm. The longevity is far better than I expected with a perfume like this. Just moving around about the day, I'd often get a whiff of something lovely, and realize it was me, and I tend to apply lightly. There is something like Smut going on here, but obviously without the musks. It's that dark and sexy sugar that comes out as the scent morphs during the day. I do agree that it would be good for layering. I have some old single notes that I don't often wear because they just don't appeal to me on their own (Spanish Carnation, Mandarin Orange, Siberian Musk, especially), and I think this will make them much more wearable. I will say, though, that I'll probably wear this one plenty on its own. It's that good. I love how Beth can take something like sugar and put together so many variants.

On my skin, this is straight up incense. It's a very nice incense, but I'm not getting the carnation. I'll put it aside awhile and see if it balances more in the future.

On me this is dominated by vanilla and pink carnation, with light clove and just a breath of patchouli. I love it! Pink carnation is one of my favorite notes, and I'm glad to have this one for my collection.

LOVE'S PHILOSOPHY Percy Bysshe Shelley The fountains mingle with the river, And the rivers with the ocean; The winds of heaven mix forever, With a sweet emotion; Nothing in the world is single; All things by a law divine In one another's being mingle; -- Why not I with thine? See! the mountains kiss high heaven, And the waves clasp one another; No sister flower would be forgiven, If it disdained it's brother; And the sunlight clasps the earth, And the moonbeams kiss the sea; -- What are all these kissings worth, If thou kiss not me? Vanilla, saffron, and cream. In the bottle: Creamy vanilla. I can tell this is going to be really nice. Wet: A face full of creamy vanilla. There is a hint of Black Lace here. I think it's the same vanilla. The cream is also very apparent. Saffron is just a breath. Dry: This is more or less what I wished Underpants had been. Underpants had a really high-pitched, hairspray kind of note to it that just killed the blend for me. The blend is fairly simple and straightforward. From the notes, I feel like it should be a seriously foody blend, but while that gourmand element is there, this is not a foody like, say, Día de los reyes. I am a vanilla lover, and this is a great vanilla. Saffron is always a winner, too. Cream, though, is hit or miss (though when it hits, it hits BIG). I am pleased to say that the cream in this blend is just gorgeous. No sour milk or buttery weirdness whatsoever. I predict that this blend will be wildly popular.

This is one of those blends that just lends itself to synesthesia. It's cool and starry, but not chill or minty. It has a distinct nighttime feel. Something about it reminds me of Kushiel's Dart, when Hyacinthe addresses Melisande, "O Star of the Evening." It's a clean musk, rather than a dirty one. I tend to prefer the dirty or skin type musks, but this is a very nice change from my usual. I'd like to pair it with Zorya P or one of my cooler vanillas.

From in the bottle to the long drydown, this one is lovely. It's a very warm skin scent. Something about it reminds me a little of Smut. The amber and oud seem balanced, and the amber's red character is very present. I don't get any barnyard or fecal scent to the oud, and neither did my partner, who is a little sensitive to that kind of note. It's a musky/woody oud, but the musk doesn't step over that line into dirty. It lasts a good long while, too. I put it on at 7am, and it's still easily detectable 12 hours later.

In the bottle this is tuberose dominant. The mango is very light. Almost just a fruity character that doesn't specifically seem like mango to me. If I didn't know any better, at first on my skin I would think that this is tuberose single note. It's a lovely tuberose, but no detectable mango. After very long drydown, the mango comes forth. Tuberose is still the central player, though. I like it, but I'd prefer more of a balance with the mango.

Super juicy peach with rich, golden honey against a bright background of musk and slightly tart apricot. All the listed notes are evident to me. The frankincense is a little more present of a resin than the amber and seems to keep things from veering candy-like. No powdery feel on me at all. On dry-down, the rose comes out, and it is a distinctly honeyed one. The overall feeling is bright and sunny, happy, and joyful, which is what they were going for. It’s youthful without being childlike. I think this is my favorite peach blend that I’ve encountered so far.

I love this. First off, I get vanilla and a fig note that reminds me of Eden. As time goes on, the toastiness comes out, and after drydown, I suddenly get the riceflower and clove, very distinctly. Neither are heavy or overwhelming, but I can pick them out clearly. The patchouli is not strong at all. This is very gourmand but stops just short of foodie. Decent throw.

On smelling this in the bottle, my first, overwhelming impression is a rich, honey caramel/butterscotch. Once on my skin, the honey absolute and the tobacco absolute recede enough to be more distinct on their own. It dries down one of those scents that is gourmand, but not foody. Sweet vanilla musk and butterscotch tobacco honey.

[No additional description provided.] Fresh from the Lab, this one is overwhelmingly rice in the bottle and on application. And specifically basmati rice. It's a very rich, savory grain smell. On the skin, the champaca comes out, and, to a much lesser degree, the honey. Moments after application, the savory and the floral/sweet are warring with each other, not quite meshing. As time wears on, the honey comes out more, and the rice decides to stop screaming, but that savory note is still there. It seems to be settling into center-stage champaca, with the other notes balancing and supporting. This one has a lot of throw. Beware-- that rice is STRONG at first. Edit: This is the first scent that my partner has physically recoiled from. The champaca is going very ammonia/urine-like on my skin. Edit 2: In the end, this scent was all heavily buttered popcorn and ammonia on my skin. Traded it away.

This has shot up to my top ten, like the previous reviewer. It is a vivid pink scent, with a lot of texture to it. There is something reminiscent to Sweetarts candies, but it's not a gourmand or candy-like scent. Sweetarts if they were somehow more botanical and fancy. The peony and amber notes complement and balance each other perfectly. I can't stop sniffing my wrist. This smells more "pink" to me than this year's Pink Moon did.

I've always loved chypre the most when it's a non-traditional chypre. Or a traditional one paired with non-traditional notes. This is no exception. The red chypre dominates, and is as bold as the description claims. The other notes, though, tug the chypre into interesting directions, and keep it from smelling like men's generic cologne. It's not easy to detect individual notes here. I don't get a fruity burst of strawberry, for example. There's some sweetness from the vanilla, some richness/headiness from the tuberose, some musky depth from the labdanum and patchouli. It's very well-balanced and bright, and I'm definitely holding onto it.

I have this on fresh from the mailbox, and it's everything I was hoping for. It's sweet without being too sweet, distinctly vanilla, and very, very smooth. Maybe a tiny touch of golden? If this were a color, it might be a nice ivory. My fear was that the pale sandalwood and frankincense might push this to dry and thin, as they do sometimes. It seems like the mallow and osmanthus are adding a richness that strikes a nice chord. The notes are present, but blended into something that works well together. It reminds me a little of some other blends-- Edith Cushing, Crinoline and Lace, and maybe Celeste-- but it stands on its own. As it dries, the osmanthus becomes more prominent, but it doesn't take over. It remains primarily a vanilla and mallow scent.

This scent is extraordinarily loud in the bottle, surprisingly, a loud, super-buttery coconut. On the skin, at first it's still intensely buttery coconut, but the mallow and benzoin try to round it out. For awhile, they fail completely. Finally, the overwhelming butter draws back, and the delicate, creamy lilac shows up. The coconut is still there, but the lilac becomes its equal. If you're afraid of cedar, I can't detect it at all in this.

August is a month of reflection. It is the month of rest before the harvest, and it holds for us a time between toils, a brief period of relaxation before we take up the burden of our work again. It is the Time of the Phoenix, a season of celebrating health, vitality, warmth and joy, but it is also the time at which the Corn God dies for the sake of the land, his blood soaking the earth to ensure a bountiful harvest in the fall. The Full Red Moon of August was named thus by some Native American tribes because as the moon rises, it dons a reddish veil, visible through the hot, sweltering summer evening haze. Our blend for this Moon mixes traditional lunar oils with the warmth of amber, red musk, and heliotrope, the russet haze of dragon's blood resin, sunflower, and crushed orange peel, with a dusting of summertime herbs: chamomile, rue, elder flower and marigold. In the bottle: orange peel, heliotrope, chamomile. Orange dominates, and this is the scent of the peel, not the flower, not the juice. Wet: Sunflower! The dragon's blood is evident, as is a musk/amber duo. The orange peel has receded a lot. Dry: This is becoming more of an amber-y scent. The various notes now seem much more blended and smooth. The orange peel is nearly gone, just a tiny hint of tartness. The herbs are warm and dry, the chamomile is a little sweet. Dragon's blood, which I almost always amp like crazy, is there, but it's just one more note in a well-balanced chorus of warmth. There is something a little decadent about this, lush and opulent. This scent is a gold-tinged red to me, shimmery and rippling. It's very evocative of summer. I have never smelled the first Red Moon, so I can't compare the two, unfortunately.

Dark chocolate and key lime truffle. The Chocolatier series is very straight-forward, as I think they should be. This one is exactly as described, down to the specific (very juicy) key lime note. It's no other kind of lime, it's very much that breed. The chocolate takes more of a background here, but I think that's the nature of a citrus note in perfumery. I anticipate the lime losing its aggression just a little bit. The longer I wear it, the sweeter it gets, though it's still not a blend I'd describe primarily as sweet (not sugary at all).

April, too, marks the apex of the year's fertility, expresses the reawakening of the sexuality of the Earth and her inhabitants, and May's full moon celebrates both the fecundity of the creatures and flora of this world and the vibrancy, rejuvenation and life-affirming energy of Spring. Flower Moon embodies the unrestrained bliss, energy and color of the season: a bouquet of vivid, sexy blooms, coated in thick, golden honey... wisteria, swamp jasmine, honeysuckle, daffodil, rhododendron, phlox, and a mix of California wildflowers. I do not like florals. You hear me? I do NOT like florals. I like scents that may have a floral element, but stick too many flowers in there, and it's all downhill. The only all floral I've liked until now has been Beltane '06. Until now. Oh, my word. This is just beautiful. It's so intensely fresh and innocent and sexy the way that a nymph would be sexy, delighting in one's own skin. This blend has the same juiciness as Beltane, but this is not the same blend. These aren't hothouse exotic flowers, they are definitely wild. The honey holds everything together, enhancing the fresh/sexy thing it has going on. The mood is so joyful, it really captures a wildly blooming spring. I am actually keeping a floral blend. Holy shit.

I almost didn't order this, because I typically dislike icy scents (and all things cold), but I think I've found one of my new favorites. There is an interesting point and counterpoint here-- the coolness of the ice and the warmth of the amber. It's a warm, cuddly amber, rather than a grey one. I don't really get floral rose, but rather a pinkness to the amber itself. No one element dominates, and even after a full day's wearing, I can smell it all clearly. It's one of those simple-yet-complex scents that Beth somehow manages to pull off. I'll be looking for a backup, and I almost never do that.

Velvet-thick vanilla in the description, paired with oudh is insta-buy for me, and this lives up to my expectations. It's deeply sensual and has that perfect amount of throw that announces itself without screaming. Good lasting power, too. It's dominated by the vanilla/red sandalwood, which is always a good combination. It has that Morocco feeling, though not close enough to confuse the two scents. The myrrh gives it an incense background and seems to increase the staying power, rather than take over the scent. The red pepper isn't obvious on its own to me, it just gives it a touch of a spice note that gives the sweetness some counterpoint, bringing out their character beyond just the sweetness. The oudh is a bit more obvious, and adds a fullness and elegance to the vanilla/wood combination. The champaca is more of the incense character than the floral character, which is a good thing for me-- sometimes highly floral champaca turns a little to rotting fruit/garbage on my skin. I love this one so much. After a decade, I have more BPAL than I could ever wear, so I almost never buy a backup bottle. This one, however, may send me looking for a 2nd bottle.

Oriental is my favorite scent category, to the point where I'd say that about 80-90% of my collection veers this way. I don't have a signature scent, but I am instantly attracted to every sort of vanilla (and benzoin, and tonka!), I just prefer it in non-overtly foody blends. #196 - Oil is clear. White amber is dominant. Specifically white amber. I think there is a light skin musk/white musk along with it. Pretty in an understated way. It smells clean, but not soapy. Clean skin with light amber perfume. Intimate, but not at all animalic (the musk is not that kind of musk). Dry, but avoids being powdery. I keep thinking there is a touch of lavender, but it morphs into something else, a very slight astringency. #200 - Oil is slightly orange-tinged yellow. This one is maddening. I recognize a central, dominant note that I got from a Chaos Theory II bottle. I loved it then, I love it now. What IS it? Argh. It's sweet, but not cloying or candy. I have a slight knee-jerk "orchid" response, but it's not overwhelmingly floral. It has something in common with the original Dark Delicacies perfume. Oh, Beth, you confound me. In a good way. Some sweet myrrh present. Edit: The scent has settled and now I detect a touch of orris and some pink carnation. Both are gentle and understated, without being bland. I could see these as oils I wear on days I'm just not sure what I feel like wearing. Neither are screechingly perfume-y in the way that Orientals can be. Keepers.

Another one chiming in with the "Snow White" comparison. I love how Snow White smells in the bottle, but on my skin? Straight up woodsmoke. If I wear Snow White, multiple people that day will invariably ask me if I smell that bonfire, or if I walked through woodsmoke, something to do with me smelling like straight up smoke. And I can't say I blame them, it goes to straight woodsmoke on me. This is what I want Snow White to smell like on my skin. It's like all the other batches were "off," and this one is right. Only, it's not Snow White, it's Go To Sleep, Darlings. (It's really, Snow White, dammit! It is!)