Rheliwen

Hm, in the bottle, this is least DBR smelling Draconis blend I've tried. Wet, this is a deep, murky DBR. It's more understated than Dragon's Hide is, and I thought it would be the other way around. Sometimes, darker musks can give me a headache, but in this one, I can definitely smell them, but they carry a different quality. I want to compare the dark musk to the more animalistic ones, but it really isn't. I think the DBR keeps it in check. Wow, this is so much better than I could have ever expected. You get the beautiful DBR but without all the candy sweetness. In it's place you get depth and a bit of darkness.

When wet, this one smell like spicey, powdery florals. As it dries, it takes on a more soapy smell (thanks to the lily and jasmine). But lingering in the background is a wonderful sweet sage with a touch of rose and dry woods (like teak). Filling in the the holes is lemon, but sweet, innocent lemon, not the in-your-face kind. Initially, I really loved this. Unfortunately, it lost most of the yummy spice on the drydown...and I don't want to smell like soap, no matter how gourmet the soap is

Mmmmm! Wet: This smells like berry soda. It's bright and cheery. Dry: It takes on an almost white chocolate, nutty smell. The amber is rich and creamy and the spices are so yummy. Don't be fooled, this is no christmas potpourri blend. The longer it lingers, the more the berries fade into the spice so I'm left with something rich and seductive. Yum, yum, yum!

From doing some searches and recalling some I've tried: For Cashmere Mist: Tushnamatay is a nice warm sandalwoody blend to me. If you like woody with flowers, Ulalume is so yummy and one of my top picks. Velvet might be nice. Queen Mab's another nice blend. Ave Maria Gratia Plena Arkham Revisited is a woody/floral blend. Realities: Aeval Zephyr Rapture Fae Marquis de Merteuil Tamora Titania

I have no idea what Night Queen smells like, but Ophelia is a really nice aquatic floral.

The first note I detect from this is cinnamon. Next comes the tobacco and last is the orange. It reminds me of some of the other spicey voodoo blends. As this dries, the spice from the cinnamon lingers, but the actual cinnamon itself recedes into the background. This lets the tobacco and orange pop right out. It stays fairly true to form dry. I'm going to have to put this one to work. It smells powerful.

Out of the bottle this is pure liquid candy. It's similar in sweetness to Midwinter's Eve, though where ME was the berry flavor, Yemaya is the tropical one. Wet, this reminds me of tropical bubbalicious gum. It's a fun scent and something I could see myself frollicking around a park with in the summer. As this begins to dry, a musk starts to pop up. It's a medium musk, and isn't like many of the other musks I've tried from BPAL. It's turning this one spicey and just a tad animalistic (teeny tiny bit and it's gone in about 10 mins). I can detect fig in there somewhere as the spice reminds me of the fig in carnal. This one is interesting in how it morphs. It goes from sweet and innocent to twisted and sinister. ADDED April 22: Candy sweet in the bottle. Initially on, it continues its candy sweetness. My boy said I smelled like bubblegum and a candy store. As it dries it does warm up. There's an animalistic muskiness in the background. Those musks tend to hit me high in the nose and this is what happened with Yemaya. Amazingly, the candy fruity sweetness blends really well with this musk. The sweetness reminds me a little of R'Lyeh. After about 2 hours, the musk is less abrasive and turns into a really pleasant note. To me, it's like a sweet summer scent for people who like the heavier fragrances of winter. I wasn't sure if I was going to keep Yemaya, but I think I will.

I'm wondering if I got the same Chango as everyone else. Mine smells like dark amber, anise and some other sharp notes. It really is something that clashes with my skin. I wish I could have smelled tropical fruits. Chango, on me, is unfortunately too strong of a musky amber and is giving me a headache. It's has great staying power though! I scrubbed my hand and I can still smell it

Wet, my initial thought was, "Christmas trees dipped in candy, lounging around in the summer months." I know, it was weird. The front notes are definitely the berries, but they are not at all overwhelming. The sage and the dark musk are making me think Christmas trees. Bewtiched, though, is a rather light scent. It's for springtime, not winter. The green tea really polishes off this blend. I really enjoy Bewitched and I rather think of it as a seasonless blend, although I mentioned it was more springtime. I think no matter what season you wear it, you'll be able to find a note in there that compliments the season. I just happen to being wearing it in springtime

Aeval lasted forever on me. It had the best staying power of any BPAL on me to date. I wanted to add that I read a review of another blend that has sage and the person commented that it also lasted forever. My thought is that sage has good staying power.

Saint Germain might be another good one.

I had a really hard time trying to describe what Santo Domingo smelled like right after I applied it. I could barely smell the tobacco leaf, but it was definitely in there somewhere. The rum wasn't overpowering at all...not like Grog. It had a boozy quality to the smell, right along with a spicey, powdery floral. This one turns to powder really, really quickly. After about 30 mins of wear I could detect the tobacco, but it faded away rather quickly and went back to powder. It's a lovely powder smell, spicey and warm, but it's still powder.

In the bottle, Sophia smells floraly with a hint of green in the background. When wet, I initially smell the lavendar, but it's very gentle, not nearly as strong as it usually is in a blend. Behind it I can detect the musk and other subtle blooms. And can I say that lavendar and musk go so well together!? As it dries, I begin to detect some of the other flowers in there while the lavendar is happy to blend into the background. Sophia never really turns spicey on me. I think the spice simply keeps it from getting too floraly. It seems to have the same tone and texture that Morgause does, but Sophia is a much more sublte musky/floral blend. And it has a touch of leafiness to it that makes it very pleasant and wonderful. Overall, Sophia is light, doesn't have much throw, and disappears rather quickly...but it does smell wonderful while it lasts.

Hmmm, I can barely, if at all, smell leather in this one. I really have to start huffing at my wrists to get any mention of it. Whip, on me, smells like tart attar of rose. I love the way attar of rose smells and Whip is making me feel happy...but I want the leather too. I received this in a swap, so maybe it has aged? Ok, after about an hour, the tartness has worn of and NOW I can sort of smell the leather, though it is faint. Ahhh................ Overall, I like Whip

On first application, this one reminded me of moist soot. Like the way a burnt down house would smell after the fire dept finished dousing the flames. As it dried, a sharp, sharp, sharp note appeared, almost out of nowhere. I thought it smelled like eucalyptus, but reading the other reviews, it could have been vetiver. And this note just got stronger and stronger as it dried. It turned into too much of a medcinal smell to me. But I have to say the imagery of it is amazing. The stuff Beth can put in a bottle...

Our signature oil. A dark, languid scent. Promotes hedonistic tendencies and extreme self-love. You won't stop kissing mirrors for a month. Overall, I smell a lot of almond in front of a boozey quality to the blend. I can also detect some cherry and possibly some soft amber in there as well. Black Phoenix is a bit too tart for me, and the almond doesn't want to agree with me. But if you like this note, Black Phoenix definitely will not disappoint.

In the bottle, this is sweet, green and a bit herbal. Wet, this turned into pepto bismol on me. It's actually pleasant. It's very powdery in this stage. Dry is exactly the same as wet. The sage is definitely the star of the show here. I think it combined with the musk is making the pepto bismol smell. Lingering in the background I can smell the sweet pea and just a tad of the tonka. I think the combo here is nice and if you like sage, you'll like Aeval. Alas, I can't get the pepto bismol association out of my head.

This topic on Morocco was brought up on the lj when the forum was down and Beth herself said there was no formula change. I'd go search for it, but it would take me days to sift through all the lj posts.

Moscow is a shapeshifter In the bottle I mostly smell roses. I also only get roses just after application. It's a nice, fresh, green rose though. And then it starts to dry. The first note I pick up on is the carnation, which lends just a tiny bit of spice. After that is the tangerine, making it a bit juicy. Next comes the dark musk. It's very subtle. I wouldn't have thought it would work so well with so many bright florals, but it adds just a touch of musk. Oh, and then it happens...the jasmine comes out in all her garish glory and steals the entire show. What a hog! But wait! Is that the rose trying to crawl back up the stage? She's having a hard time, what with jasmine's spiked heels knocking her down all the time. Eventually the rose gives up and I'm left with soap. So unfortunate...

In the bottle this is very light and airy. It has a tart quality to it. On isn't much different from the bottle scent. I'm getting a spring soapy smell. It's much more pleasant than the white floral soap smell. It actually reminds me of one of the Herbal Essences scents. The peony is totally encompassing anything tea-ish, which is quite sad. Overall I like the way this smells, but it's too tart for my tastes. It would make a great bathroom scent though

I forgot to review poor old de Sade. To me, it's pure, evil leather. It's your riding crop, your oiled leather jacket. This leather is definitely not innocent. It did some strange things to my boy while he wore it. We were in the theater watching Sin City and I kept smelling BO. I discovered that when de Sade interacted with his warm skin, it started to develop a BO smell. If I smell it up close I get the leather scent, it's the wafting from afar that smells icky. Hmm...I have a 5ml otw. We'll have to test this some more.

This is leather with a hint of dragon's blood. Usually, the dragon's blood usurps power from everything else, but in this case the leather did. It's nice de Sade leather, wrapped in blood. My boy is so fascinated with the leather scent atm, I'm going to try it on him.

Oh, was I ever surprised! I was expecting sweeeeet alcohol like grog...which I don't like at all! Wet and dry this smells the same to me. I don't get much mint actually. It's drifting in the background, but never quite makes a noticeable appearance. Instead I'm left with dry, sugared boubon...woohoo! This bourbon note is what I've picked up on in a number of voodoo blends (like French Creole) that I really like. It's juicy and boozy. Thumbs up! ADDED April 21: So I've never had a mint julip before, but I want to try one now. Juke Joint has that same root beery booze note in it that some of the old voodoo blends have (french creole comes to mind). Underneath is a nice, subtle sugared mint. I was expecting something more akin to Grog's ungodly sweetness. I am so surprised and happy that Juke Joint's bourbon note is true to the actual stuff...just not so potent. This makes me want to drink...Bourbon being my fav

In the bottle: Chaste Moon is definitely smelling a tad bit like butterscotch. It isn't sickeningly sweet though, which is SO good. Actually, I think it smells exactly like Orville's Cinnabon popcorn (the microwave kind...so good). Wet: This is creamy, slighty foody...like vanilla frosting. As it begins to dry, the florals really start to pop. The boy said it was really floraly. The nice part is the butteriness is preventing it from getting too heady. Dry: The florals are still popping. But after about 30 mins I'm getting that slight plastic-y smell that I got from Snow White, but not nearly as bad. Then the pineapple starts to hit. Now it sort of smells like toys...but I really like it. It reminds me of a milky Morgause dry. Chaste Moon is probably my favorite lunar blend, with red moon as a close second. I haven't tried blue moon so I don't know how it relates.

In the bottle, the scent is really light. It's definitely floral, but it did not sting my nose one bit. It had a warm, come hither vibe to it. Wet, this is an incredibly juicy scent. It has those ripe, juicy berries that I get from Queen of Spades, but lighter and more springy. I'm also getting a wonderful bubblegum note. It's not bubblelicious, more like Extra bubble gum flavor (which has a bit of a spicey kick in the background). In the background is a beautiful bed of sorrowful blooms. As it dries, the juicy berry notes stays and is even a bit intensified on my skin. Now, I am definitely getting something like red musk. It might not be the red version but it's definitely not dark or white either. It has good staying power, and hasn't morphed in the last couple of hours. The Living Flame isn't fire, but it's definitely red. It's the burning love you carry around deep in the pit of your being. It's deep, sultry, sexy and very moving. It's giving me chills just sniffing it.