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We just got a new digital camera for Christmas, so now that I have a working camera (!!!) I am able to oblige with photos of Come and See, all the Muses, and the three Phoenix labels.

Aren't they beautiful?!?!!

Scent - Oh, this is nice. Lavender; juicy fruit tones - sweetly tart grapes, perhaps, but not wine; a hint of cinnamon; and what I think may be olive leaf.

Intent - The lovely Chopchica purchased a bottle of this for me - I wanted an offering and bond to Pallas Athene, with whom I've felt a deep connection in the last few months. Annointing a candle and putting a couple of drops on charcoal last night as I offered thanks for all the recent and wonderful changes in my life left me with a huge smile and a sense of satisfaction that wasn't entirely my own. I very much felt like She was pleased.

I have a lovely tart warmer decorated with olive leaves and branches that I'll be using to fill my home with what is both a lovely scent and a fitting offering of gratitude for the wisdom and protection Pallas Athene has brought into my life.

In the vial: rich, sweetened, condensed milk with a bit of honey and lemon zest

 

Wet, on my skin:  Milk Moon definitely captures a comforting "closeness between mother and child" vibe.  TMI alert: When I was breastfeeding my children I would frequently catch whiffs of something warm, creamy, sweet and milky--very similar to this.  And then I realized it was ME!  Scent of a mother and baby.   I think those members who have breastfed will know EXACTLY the scent I'm talking about.

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I practically don't have to write a review, as Scylla said almost EXACTLY what I was thinking. Condensed milk mixed with my grandmother's secret ingredients for homemade ice cream, that warm and comforting lactation scent that can't be described but is instantly recognizable if you've ever smelled it, and coconut milk. Very good throw and staying power on me, which is an added perk.

My skin doesn't pull out the mint or usual lunar components at all, much like Chaste Moon. I like this even better than Chaste, though, and wish I'd bought more than one bottle so I'd have enough to make lotion for layering the scent. I'm not usually a foody-scent kind of girl, but as always, Beth's so brilliant and talented that her blends are an exception to the rule!

I can't believe I've missed reviewing Strength until now, as it's one of my favorite scents. I'm actually on my second bottle, and since it's a 10 ml. and I switch between scents nearly every day, you can guess how much I love this one.

First on, all I can smell are lilies. Rich, heady lilies, which I don't usually think of as a "favorite" note, but they're so good here. When the amber (egyptian, I think) starts to come out underneath them, the combination of cool and warm never fails to get my attention and produce a little shiver of delight.

I don't know why, but any time I wear Strength after having skipped over it for more than a couple of weeks, I weep. Not cry, but the "curl up in a ball and just weep" for ten minutes thing. Maybe my mind knows something I don't, because I typically am applying at night when those moments come along; it's incredibly cathartic, and not a bad thing, strange as that may sound.

The very final stages of dry-down, just before Strength disappears on me, has a green tinge to it. I haven't figured out what the other notes in this blend are, but the lily and amber seem to me like the perfect representation of the figures on the Tarot card.

A beautiful scent, whether you're meditating on the meaning of the card or wearing it as perfume.

I actually ordered Two, Five, and Seven for my mother, who loves roses to the point of distraction. I've spent the last two years trying to track down more Rose Red for her, as she proclaims it the absolute best rose scent in the world - and one she can wear, no less, in spite of her horrible fragrance allergies. I was hoping Two, Five, and Seven would fill the niche and leave me more time for my own BPAL pursuits, but ...

I'm not giving it to her. I'm keeping it for myself, greedy child that I am. And I don't actually like roses.

I'm not entirely sure this would be rosy enough for her, either.

With seventy-four (or something like that) different kinds of roses in Two, Five, and Seven, I expected it to be ... well, overpowering. It's not, and the green grass note that comes out after about five minutes makes this divine. It has that laundry-clean note of Othello, delicate wafts of rose that are more like standing in a rose garden than sticking your nose into one of the flowers, and the fresh green of a just-mown lawn.

That wonderful, delighted feeling you get when you notice the trees turning green, blooms starting to appear on bushes and in flowerbeds, and the sun making you actually feel warm again, right when spring switches from tiptoeing in to racing across the landscape? Beth put it in a bottle and labeled it Two, Five, and Seven.

In the bottle, Pink Moon was over-the-top sugary strawberry cotton candy, and I was a little hesitant to slather it on for testing purposes.

I shrugged my shoulders, decided to slather rather than dab, and was instantly delighted. Still sweet, and still strawberry, a gorgeous soft floral note popped right to the top and made this something entirely different than I had expected. Honey and tulip are easy to pick out, and they're really lovely.

Probably not something I will wear as often as the autumnal moons; Pink Moon is a little sweet for my tastes. Pink Moon feels new in a way I can't explain - it makes me want to take my daughter to Dallas next spring so we can walk through the Arboretum's spring bulb fantasy while sticky-fying ourselves with cotton candy and strawberry soda.

There's a sense of absolute joy and new beginning to Pink Moon that shouldn't be missed.

Santa Muerte smacks me with the vetiver out of the vial, and it takes a couple of minutes for it to retreat once I've put this on.

But oh, when it does ... ! The vetiver doesn't disappear, but it's not a dominant note. While I'm not a huge fan of rose scents, I can't rave enough about the combination of rose, crysanthemum, and cactus flower. I admit to having no experience whatsoever with the cactus flower, but I feel like it must be what juices up the lush, ripe - but not quite "overripe" of Whip - rose and fuzzy yellow of the crysanthemum. With the vetiver barely discernable underneath, you end up with a very warm, softly enveloping and oddly soothing floral that still exudes quiet strength (not throw, although this had good throw for such a soft scent).

I don't usually rave about florals, even though Beth makes the best rose and violets scents I've ever come across. Santa Muerta is so good that I'm buying a bottle as soon as I finish this review - I'm not even waiting for the next update to add it into my order.

Even if you don't do florals, I'd recommend you grab an imp of Santa Muerta and try it. This may just be the one that changes your mind.

I'm squeeeeeing!!!

I really thought I'd like Pumpkin King ... it has so many rave reviews, and the notes sound so good!

Pumpkin King didn't work on my skin, though. First on, it was a beautiful combination of Samhain, The Hesperides, and Jack, and I was about to start slathering it on when it did a funny little morph. In just a few seconds, it became very sharp and cloying, and that sharpness was like Samhain's edge being amped up past the point of wearability.

Unfortunately, the sharpness didn't fade on me. Whatever caused it, my skin grabbed hold of the note and ran with it. My three-and-a-half year old even mentioned that I smelled like the lawnmower (which gets a bitter, charred smell after prolonged use - I'm guessing that's what she meant, since we'd used it the day before and talked about the scent).

With any luck, your skin will treat Pumpkin King better than mine did. It was beautiful in the vial, and those first few seconds were divine.

Mmm. Coffee, brown sugar, milk, and a splash of booze when I first put on Miskatonic University. Not seriously boozy like Juke Joint or Grog, but it's definitely there.

Most of Beth's scents dry down to their final stage fairly quickly, thanks to my strange body chemistry. Miskatonic U takes much longer than most, so I get to enjoy the yummy coffee and heavy brown sugar notes for quite a while. It seems like they get sweeter over time, so if you're not into sugary goodness, it's something to consider.

The oakwood stays hidden from me. It takes a long time for the bookish feel to come out of this scent, and because it happens so close to the end of the scent's life, it's pretty faint. Mercury from the Astrological oils had this feel to it, but in Miskatonic it's much less pronounced.

All in all, I smell like a very good cup of cappuccino with a flavor-syrup added. While I don't usually go for foody scents, I live for coffee and adore brown sugar, so I'll be wearing this one regularly.

Leather. Gorgeous, sexy leather - over that not-quite-edible sweetness of dragon's blood, and with a smoky tea (think lapsang souchong, dried over campfires). Someone catch me before I swoon!

The more I wear this scent, the more it reminds me of my brother's leather jacket, with his cologne once as much a part of its smell as the leather, that I used to borrow from him. He hasn't been able to wear it in the six years since our car accident, so it's hanging in my closet, and most of the cologne scent has faded from it, leaving just a hint of his smell, leather, and the strangest sense of physical warmth to its scent.

I'll wear this often. It dries down only slightly sweeter than my pre-BPAL (and definitely not sweet) Bulgari Black, but it has that off-the-beaten-path sense of style to it, and it's womanly in spite of notes that are typically thought of as male.

Definitely going on my bottle wish-list.

The salt and water scent stayed with me much longer than I expected; in fact, the dragon's blood didn't come out until the scent had almost faded away.

Is it lily in there? I'm having a hard time identifying the floral note that comes out in Dragon's Tears - it almost wants to be a white floral, but isn't, and it isn't sweet enough to be mimosa ... lilies are the only thing that seem remotely right, and I'm honestly not sure about that. The sweet warmth of dragon's blood is just enough to confuse - and delight! - my nose about this scent, which dries down to a particularly wet warmth.

Very nice; I'll definitely use up the imp.

Most of the musks do funny things on my skin, and turn into overpowering animal smells, so I'm shocked at how much I like Dragon's Musk - it doesn't seem to get out of control, and I very much agree with those who've mentioned Dragon's Milk with a little less candy sweetness.

I don't think this will knock Dragon's Milk off my favorites list, but I won't guarantee it. If you've tried Dragon's Milk, imagine it doing a Varga Girl sexpot number and you've got Dragon's Musk. A little less sweetness, a lot more steaming sensuality, and likely to get you nibbled on in all the right places.

I'd hazard a guess that Beth used more of the "light" musks - red, siberian, and white - than the dark musks, because this stays sensual without going over the line into animalistic and overpowering. The rave results I got from my other half, not to mention the definite "that woman is competition" stiffening-up I got from other women while I was wearing this, tell me that if you're looking for sultry and sexy without flowers, this is the way to go.

Iris (orris, whatever ...), which I love, and that yummy, not-quite sweetened dragon's blood. First on, this isn't a dry scent, but it doesn't take long to get there. I'm not sure what blondewood is, but I'm guessing it's pushing the white sandalwood's dry, almost dusty tone on into VERY dry.

The dragon's blood actually ends up taking a back seat to the dry woods in this blend, and while it certainly achieves the "thin, dry..." characteristic of Beth's description, I think my favorite of the Ars Draconis scents is still Dragon's Milk.

I've got to agree that this is clean, blue-green water.

There's only a little salt tang to Dunwich when I put it on, and it switches to ozone very quickly. I love that AlectoNox has said it all for me, because I sometimes feel like notes morph on my skin in ways that lead to a different scent than everyone else gets. This one seems to be staying true to it's original intent, and I like that.

I wouldn't have thought of lilies, but the slightly soapy - and I mean that more in a clean lather sort of way, not in the "smells like a bar of guest soap" way - and wet floral is a very good thing in this blend.

There's a nice zing to this - it's actually very energizing and ... well, professional. I think I'll save my imp (courtesy of the fabulous Chopchica, as well) for a job interview I have coming up. It's green, but it's not leafy, and it's bright in a "sparkles off the water" sense.

I'll definitely be ordering a bottle!

Nosferatu didn't end up particularly "dry" on my skin. Although the the herbs went on wet and green, they dried down only to the state of the fern in my living room, which gets limp and floopy to tell me it needs a drink.

The wine, very definitely red, took a while to show up, but when it did, I felt like I had spilled a fabulous herb-infused red wine on myself (and smelled pretty good as a result).

Unfortunately, the "new" wine note tends to go overly sweet on my skin, and the grassy notes that are left behind as the herbs fade start to smell like a nice guest soap. Nosferatu's not a scent that I see myself adding to the collection any time soon, but I'd recommend it for testing to those who like the green grass scent and/or the red wine.

I wanted to love Hollywood Babylon - the egyptian amber and heliotrope are notes I enjoy, and I couldn't wait to see how the combined with the strawberry and vanilla.

When I first put this on, I'm delighted with the strawberry, vanilla, and egyptian amber; it's like Snake Oil dipped in ripe fruit, and it's nearly edible. It doesn't take long for the musk to come in, though, and taint this with the smell I've now come to think of as "three day old sweaty sex".

In all fairness, Hollywood Babylon is a perfect representation of "innocence ... dragged into debauch." The musk keeps it from being a scent I'll wear - but oh, that initial Snake Oil with a twist!

I love iris, so I was excited about trying Nefertiti. The Egyptian Iris that Beth uses here is very different than the Florentine Iris I love so, and took me by surprise - it has a very liquid feel to it, and it's beautiful.

I don't get much of the frankincense or myrrh mentioned in other reviews, and Nefertiti keeps her cool and watery green characteristics on my skin. In a hard-to-describe way, this is floral without being floral; it's like a lush little water garden tucked away where you'd least expect it.

I love the aquatic feel of this scent - it's like Prague in that you feel the water without actually smelling aquatics. I'm definitely ordering a bottle of this, as the sandalwoods never come out, let alone take over, as is their usual habit when meeting up with my skin.

Truly beautiful, cool and refreshing, and a wonderful summer scent!

Out of the vial, I can smell that glorious lemon rind, but it never makes an appearance once I'm wearing Ave Maria Gratia Plena. This starts out very sharp and astringent on my skin, like bitter lavender but without actually smelling like lavender.

Luckily, this only last for fifteen or twenty seconds, and the scent starts rounding out into a soft, lush (and very "white") floral. In spite of my aversion to jasmine and the headache it gives me when it's a dominant note, it's beautiful here, combining with the pale musks and lily to produce a delicate and skin-warm perfume. When the rosewood does make itself known, it's in combination with these, making them even warmer and softly glowing, and doesn't stand out on its own.

Ave Maria Gratia Plena gets so soft so quickly that at it's peak it makes me think of sleeping next to someone at the end of the day, your nose buried in their neck, and getting the faintest whiff of what smelled very good when they put it on that morning.

This doesn't have a lot of throw or staying power, and it's more "white" than I could wear without getting a headache, but it's a lovely scent. For those who like this sort of floral, I think that with moderate slathering, rather than a tiny drop for testing, it would be a favorite.

In the vial and for the first few seconds on my skin, The Red Queen has a sweetly tart black cherry smell that makes me think of Kool-Aid powder. It's refreshing and fun, although not what I normally go for in scents.

Red Queen doesn't take long to show the wooden side of her nature, though. While the cherry Kool-Aid note blends very nicely with a warm red-brown note, I don't get rosewood out of it; in fact, the woody rose scent never makes its way out on my skin.

Within ten minutes or so, this seems to have completed the usual oil transformation into what it's going to be during the majority of wear time, and it's a pleasant tart fruit and polished rich wood scent. It's nice, and I wouldn't call it unremarkable, but it doesn't have that resonance that so many of Beth's scents have.

Very mellow, very warm, but there's a reason I swapped away my bottle of this. Just not something I'd wear all that often.

Beth had two single notes in lavender, although one was never on the site; I was lucky enough to get an imp of both the French and Bulgarian lavenders long ago.

The French Lavender is what I think of as "standard" lavender; it's crisp and the more astringent of the two. The Bulgarian Lavender, though, is an entirely different story.

Beth's single notes are always amazing; they're so much better and more true than anything else on the market. The Bulgarian Lavender is no exception to that rule, and it's so sweet and lush that there's almost none of the "pungency factor" to it that turns so many people off when it comes to lavender.

My mother loves lavender almost as much as I do, and I slathered some of each lavender on her wrists. She sniffed the French Lavender, commenting on how nice and true it was. She got to the Bulgarian Lavender, though, and her mouth fell open. "It's so sweet - this is perfect! There's hardly any of that sharp, bitter smell to it! What did she do to this lavender to make it so good?!?!!"

I wish I'd stocked up on this when the Single Notes were still available. I'd use it bath goodies, lotions, linen spray, room spray, candles, and everything I could think of. I go through quite a bit of lavender essential oil each spring, because the pungency and herbal end-result seem perfect for spring cleaning and the beginning of a new time of year, but none of the essential oils I've come across over the years compare to Beth's Bulgarian Lavender.