mountainwitch

Woods and cherries! This is a nice one: bright, just a little sweet, happy. Not a lot of staying power, and not really a stand out for me . . . But it turns out that my boyfriend is apparently the king of wood and lavender blends. I had some reservations about trying this as a men's scent--specifically because of the cherry and rose notes--but on the right guy, this can turn into a fresh, masculine fragrance.

Seems that White Rabbit is a love-you or hate-you kind of scent. I don't know if he has me pegged as a cousin to Elmer Fudd or what, but this is one rabbit who definitely does not like me. Maybe I'd gotten too cocky: after all, there were so many great tea scents I'd found on BPAL. (Hey, Severin has made my buy-a-bottle list!) I can do tea; I figured I could wear White Rabbit. Apparently I can't do milk, however, and I think that must be key to enjoying this blend.

"Night-blooming flowers?" I know, even without asking, this probably means jasmine. And lately jasmine is one lady who's been giving me a beating: almost every blend with jasmine in it has been taken over by her rather boisterous presence. But still . . . Morgause! From the moment I saw the name, I knew I had to try it.

 

And I'm very glad I did. For the first few minutes, Morgause was a luscious, jasmine-scented bouquet. I remember yes, I do actually like fragrances with a hint of jasmine--just not at the expense of everything else! Then Morgause softens, becoming something pleasant, mysterious, and enticing. And it lingers just like that, faint and undeniably pretty, for hours afterward.

 

What a wonderful surprise.

Bewitched marks a lot of firsts for me: first scent I picked for my very first order and the first one I tried out of the box. Fortunately . . . While I was kind of stumbling around in the dark there, having never even smelled BPAL fragrances before, this one sealed the deal.

 

The berries were perfect--realistic, and not too sweet. The fragrance was a little dark, a little woodsy, and I discovered that I loved the scent of green tea added to a blend. Now, with a jewelry box stuffed with imps and bottles, this one remains a favorite, and not just for sentimental reasons. Bewitched still strikes me as balanced, a little mysterious, and unlike any of the traditional perfumes I'd ever tried before.

At first this is all powerful, powerful pine. There's also a lovely golden amber-like note (the ambergris, I'm assuming), and the juniper and cypress are pleasantly woodsy. I like this one; it’s cool and woodsy, and it (can't describe this without pun!) just grows on me.

Not your average floral blend! As a latecomer to the lab, I'm very happy that I could swap for this one, and I only wish that Beatrice would visit "Rappacini's Garden" again sometime.

 

This is rich and complex, but not too heavy: an intoxicating, romantic blend with a little darkness around the edges. Lasts for hours on me--and remains utterly lovely the whole time.

So this is what all the fuss is about . . . I don't think I would ever have tried this, if bloodlotus1 hadn't kindly included a decant with a purchase I made a while back. Linen? Perfume? Eh . . . How exciting could it be?

 

What a surprise. I was expecting something purely floral with a bit of air freshener or dryer sheets. Instead this is a warm, rich vanilla scent at first--almost like a creamy caramel. For a few moments the scent is almost edible--but not quite--until the linen smell comes out, giving it a hint of that strange clean-summer smell of line-dried laundry. NOT dryer sheets, not air freshner, but a scent that I honestly thought could not ever be replicated in a bottle.

 

The scent that results is one that I feel as if I could literally wear almost anywhere: dates, work, meetings, church, you name it. And the scent lasts, too . . . it still lingers, just as fresh as when I put it on, almost twelve hours later.

In a word: scrumptious. Lucious and complex, completely unexpected and warmly familiar all at the same time. This doesn’t strike me as a summer scent, but something to brighten up rainy gray days in autumn or winter--the scent equivalent of warm cookies and good surprises.

The description of this one was one of the things that lured me to BPAL in the first place. It was part of my first order, way back in April, and one of the very first scents I tried. Blackberries--I love blackberries! And buttercream! And cake!

 

Didn't work out quite that way in practice, however. After reading some of the forum reviews, I developed a theory that there may be three types of people in the world: the people for whom this scent turns into blackberries and booze, the people who end up smelling like cake, and those who seem to be able to pull off all the notes beautifully. Unfortunately, I fall into the first category, which leaves me smelling like I've gone on a bender with blackberry schnapps.

Honey and more honey--I think I'm in love with the smell of honey mead! At first there was a strangely sweet, sharp note, but it mellowed out almost immediately. This is a perfect, warm-summer fragrance, and I'm very glad I gave into the last-minute temptation to order it.

This is one of those scents I had to try, just based on the enchanting description. Sniffing the bottle, I was in love . . . Until it hit my skin.

 

First there was caramel, rich and sticky, followed by salt. Salty caramel. And then salty burning caramel. Apparently there was a hard lesson I had to learn here: caramel, on me, turns acrid and bitter as burning sugar.

I was hoping for moss--I usually like moss--and the incense, herbs, and all of the other dark and mysterious things a Crossroads would promise. I get . . . Jasmine. A darker-edged jasmine than the other two blends I've tried recently (Nyx and Twilight) but certainly similar enough. OK, skin, I get it . . . You like jasmine, and if jasmine comes over to play, no matter who else is in the party, you're going to spend ALL your time with her.

Exotic. A little spicy, a little floral, a sparkle of citrus--but not too overwhelming on any of the three. Even the jasmine is barely a whisper for me, and the tangerine shines through more with more sparkle than I was expecting. My only complaint is that it doesn't have a lot of staying power on me; all this loveliness ebbs away in just minutes, even after a luxurious slathering.

The lavender and honeysuckle distinguish this a bit from Nyx, both of which I could describe as "jasmine-in-the-summer-evening" scents. For me, something here in Twilight starts out with an almost bitter, musty note--very similar to whatever ruined Goneril and Wicked for me. I don't know what this note is, or why I find it lurking in my usually-friendly florals, but it doesn't like me.

 

This time the note disappears quickly, but eventually everything else is overwhelmed by the same strong, sweet jasmine that I find in Nyx. It's very pretty, but I just don't need another pretty jasmine floral.

Rose and mosses--two of my favorite scents together! Unfortunately, my chemistry did not give me mosses. It gave me a little rose dusted over dirt. Not a warm earthy smell, just DIRT.

 

This is all me, however. Apparently I just can't do "deep brown earth." I passed this one on, and Zombi turned out to be beautiful beyond description on two of my usual swapping partners. And on the right guy, this suddenly turns into an attractive, masculine, swoon-worthy scent. This may not be mentioned in the "Men's Fragrance Recommendations" on the BPAL site, but after smelling this one on a couple of guys, I am a firm believer that it should be.

A slightly-spicy floral, warm but edged in darkness. Florals generally work for me, although sometimes I just get tired of them; Sheol is different--a warm, complex, seductive scent.

 

This one's a new and immediate favorite.

At first Ulalume goes on sharp and medicinal. On me, this stage lasts about 10 minutes . . . And then it's like a veil has lifted, leaving behind a complex, woodsy scent. This fragrance is not at all like Black Forest, which has a straightforward pine scent that shouts, "Look, Ma--TREES!" This is a strange gray wood, full of promise and mystery, and the scent itself makes me want to create something.

First whiff is apples--not air-freshner or candy apples, but lovely speckled apples right off the tree. Combine that with the woody scent, and you have a fragrance I just love. Eventually the apples lose their crispness, but this is still a sweet, warm, familiar fragrance. This isn't a scent that's going to make random gorgeous men swoon on me; it doesn't command that kind of attention. It's the kind of fragrance I'd wear for me to enjoy . . . And considering I've gone through half an imp already, I'd say I'm doing pretty well at that!

Very balanced--I can smell the jasmine, but the other elements keep her from hogging the spotlight too much! Nyx is a bright, warm scent that's just pure summer.

Pure and immediate joy. The doeskin must make this one--another “natural” smelling scent, this time evocative of wild grasses. On me this turns strangely feminine, yet utterly different from any fragrance I’ve tried before. Only one problem: the scent begins to fade after two hours, and before long the single remaining note is kind of flat, dim, and powdery. But hey, it's Coyote, and he never stays put for too long!

Heavy, heavy roses with this one . . . One of the first rose scents from BPAL that I actually don't like. As some reviewers have mentioned, something in this blend is reminiscent of smoke, but not Brimstone-sharp woodsmoke; the florals are ever-present. When I asked my mother to sniff it, without having seen the description, she immediately thought of cigarette smoke.

 

This one's just too heavy for me.

The description of this imp was one of the reasons I put in my very first BPAL order. And for some lucky women, Bess is a benevolent queen indeed. On my mother this turned into a lovely floral; on my sister-in-law (who ended up with said imp) it was a sophisticated creation that showed off the hint of grape spirit like a tiny crowning jewel.

 

And on me . . . A little orange. A little mint. Then rosemary, rosemary, ROSEMARY!

 

Forget the scent of doomed love; I smelled like a spice cabinet.

A pretty, floaty, and above all one of the most feminine scents I've tried yet. Light and delicate and lovely just after I put it on, but it vanishes so quickly. Of all the scents I've tried, this one vanishes the fastest, disappearing just inside an hour. Maybe my skin just absorbs it . . . Or maybe somethings are just too pretty to last!

Just lovely--sweet, fresh, and still a little juicy. A bright and shimmery perfume, the perfect scent for a hot summer night. I agree with Melantha; this is one I'd love to smell just as I'm going to sleep.

Ever since I tried Montresor and Black Tower--with disastrous results--I've been leery of red wine scents. Lilith, however, worked with my skin, and now I can add Lady Macbeth to that list too. This scent is very bright, sweet without being cloying, and just overall fresh and sparkling. It's not quite how I pictured the Lady Macbeth, even though I had a friend who claimed the saddest line in Shakespeare was, "The Queen, my lord, is dead." This Lady Macbeth is younger and brighter than how she's usually portrayed, but she is certainly still ambitious.