pekeana

For those of you who like comparisons, Elegba is Spooky without the chocolate and the mint. For those of you who don't, Elegba is just... guh. It's coconut and rum, with a soft smoke tinge to the very bottom of the scent, grounding it. It's so beautiful.

It took me a while to pin bottle IV down, because it's so strange. It's dark, dark, dark like whoa, and totally removed from anything else BPAL that I've ever tried. Chaos Theory IV (4): In the bottle, this is cinnamon butter cookies with a touch of something that almost smells like liquid smoke, and a hint of wintergreen and pine around the edges. (See, told you it was weird.) Once on my skin, it screams wintergreen, pine, and butter cookies -- like jumping off of my arm and beating me upside the head with their heavy, deep, darkness. And then the smoke comes back, the cookies recede, and all I smell is leather, smoke, and pine. AND THEN, it all fades a bit, and I can smell red patchouli and musk, but it isn't heavy musk or civet, more like a soft, smooth golden musk. After a while, it's a conglomeration of everything but the wintergreen and cookies -- mostly pine, leather, smoke, and musk, with just the lightest touch of patchouli. It's truly the oddest scent I've ever, ever smelled, and yet, for some reason, it screams "please come have sex with my arm". WOW.

Y'know, I probably ought to write a review for this bottle before I send it off as spoils of bidding in my Aids Walk auction. Chaos Theory, bottle CII: This is vanilla, coconut, musk, and sandalwood... it smells extremely similar to Blood Pearl, but has more of a woody undertone than a dry orris tone, and the vanilla lends it a sweetness that Blood Pearl didn't have. Alas, it hates me and smells like Beaver's Best Ice Cream Sundae!

Chaos Theory XXXIX (39): In the bottle, it's very watery, crisp, clear, with a twang of wintergreen around the edges. Cucumber, something floral, something aquatic, something really green, and WINTERGREEN! *excited bounce* On me, it sings WINTERGREEEEEEEN for a very long time -- fortunately, I love wintergreen, and it loves me. Then, out of nowhere, bam, there's a very subtle cucumber/moonflower?/aquatic thing going on below the influx of wintergreen. After that, it doesn't really change much, and with the way wintergreen and cucumbery-aquatics last on my skin, I won't have to slather... which is good because I'm going to be absolutely heartbroken when this bottle is gone. THIS is the pentultimate cucumber scent for a cucumber freak like me.

Mmmm, nice. Baba Yaga reminds me a bit of Mi-Go Brain Canister. It smells of musk, light florals, and fruit -- pineapple and a hint of widdle bitty kiwi babies. Not jasmine as the floral, but something softer -- and, alas, Baba Yaga lasts a wee short time.

To me, Al Azif is very sweet and sugary, quite resinous, and, ultimately on my skin, a big old hit of powder. But mega thanks to pkwench for letting me try it.

Hello, rose! Othello is rose and spice with deep musk and heavy spice. It doesn't burn like rose usually does on me, and it smells nice on me, but I'm not sure I can keep it because the amount of rose might trigger me off again.

Oooooh, I like this. Not enough to get a big bottle, but definitely use up the imp. This is Formula 54 without the boozy over the top florals -- it's deep, smoky, and gently tropical floral. It blends in with the skin and is very much a second skin scent.

Milk Moon in the bottle smells like custard -- buttermilk custard with a touch of honey. On me, I swear to goodness, there's coconut in the cream -- it's like coconut cream over a soft cucumbery-floral base (lunar oils, YAY!), with just a touch of something very perfumey on top. Loooooovely, but so strong.

Eclipse is almost all almond and frankincense in the imp, but there's just the slightest hint of spice down beneath all the rest of it. On my skin, I swear that it smells like a cross between Coca-Cola and Dr. Pepper -- it's got the vanilla/cherry/almond thing going from Dr. Pepper, and kind of the slightly spicy sweet heliotrope and cinnamon thing that reminds me of Coke. It's not unpleasant, but after a while, it fades.... very quickly, actually. It's kind of sad, really, as I wouldn't mind walking around smelling like a caffeine-laden soft drink, if the oil stuck around a bit longer.

Seraphim is floral, floral, floral, with just a grounding hint of frankincense. It reminds me of a scent my step-grandma wore to her wedding to my grandpa when I was a wee little kid. And it makes me cry because we just lost her about a week ago. Into swaps it will go.

The sheer amount of lily in this oil screams on my skin. I can smell the pear and the musk and the heliotrope and honeysuckle, but it's so far down under the lily that I can't stand it. If the lighter, sweeter florals came up a bit more, I'd love it -- sweet florals make me happy. But the lily kills me dead.

Water of Notre Dame is a soft, florally, green, gentle aquatic scent. It's calming and centering, which is something I need today. However, it's not something I'll use very often because it's inducing a small headache.

I smell lavender, I smell jasmine -- and down at the very bottom, something immensely smoky and incensey. Despite all of that, Dove's Heart smells almost aquatic on me. Whatever it is, it's a very soft, pleasantly calming blend.

Shadow is overpowering in the imp. On my skin, it's all wood with just a hint of lemon. I smell like a freshly-polished table.

It doesn't matter who it's on -- my vote is for Severin. Hands down the sexiest "come hither" BPAL I've had the pleasure of smelling. (And I had to bitchslap my brother from taking it because the ensuing "SEX SEX OMG SEX" reaction would have been dreadful.) Also, I think Dorian would work for you, too -- it's sweet tea, but not too sweet, and has hints of moss and lavender, and some mild musk. It's definitely my "c'mon and get me" scent.

To me, Loralei is a very subtle floral with just a hint of sweet almost-aquatic notes. I don't smell the sandalwood, so I suspect it's just a small bit to anchor the scent, and the florals are very prominent on my skin. (Evil florals.) Surprisingly, I kind of like it, even though it's a little much at times.

Hmmm, I like this, but I know I'm going to get smacked around by my mother for wanting to keep it and maybe even get more. In the vial: Dragon's blood resin and red musk. On me: Dragon's Musk is very, very powdery at first, then settles in and warms up for the ride. It's slightly sweet, but deeply resonantly spicy from the dragon's blood. I mostly smell Siberian and red musks on me, which lends a deep, warm tone to the overall scent. It's similar to Scherezade and Bastet, but without the sharpness that both of those blends have. And after a while, Dragon's Musk fades away into the land of softness...

In the vial, Voodoo smells like Cherry-vanilla Coca-Cola. Promising, considering my sweet tooth -- However: once on my skin, it dies a withering death into headache-inducing lime jell-o baby powder. I don't know how to describe it -- I can still smell the lime, but it's sitting on top of this powdery scent that won't go away and is making me all yucked up. Alas, Voodoo, I knew the voodoo that you do so well -- just not on me.

It should scare me that I like this, what with my complete hatred of most florals and all, but somehow, it doesn't. New Orleans is very, exceedingly, extremely floral. That being said, it's a light, sweet floral, backed up by warm, humid air and just the barest hints of citrus and spice -- it's a deep, sexy, powerful blend. It works so well with my skin that I might have to eventually break down and buy a bottle of it for when I'm having a "must wear floral, must be girly" moment. But for now, the imp will do me.

At first, Katharina is all apricot. After a while, it loses some of the sticky-sweet aspect and I can smell the orange blossom. Much later, it's all orange blossom and musk. Once in a very long while, I can smell a touch of sweet, sticky apricot. This is definitely one of the most mature of the peach/apricot BPAL blends for me -- it's warm and rich without being powdery or overly sweet.

Shub-Niggurath to me is sweet lemon and bitingly sharp ginger, and it's dethroned Gingerbread Poppet as my favorite ginger blend. It's warm and sexy without being overwhelming.

This reminds me of a Chaos Theory that I swapped for. Unfortunately, I didn't like that either, and I'm thinking my chemistry is just evil. Blood Pearl is dry and has a ton of throw -- there really is no sweet, just kind of a burned, sick, driness that lingers and lingers and -- It also reminds me a lot of Black Pearl, again, which I didn't like that much.

In an effort to create a pleasing environment during a surprise trip to Yuggoth, we have created a soothing yet stimulating blend of pink pepper, peony, jasmine, mango, kiwi, pomegranate, pineapple, white ginger, serene white tea and light musks. Bon voyage! My precious Brains, how I love thee! Mi-Go Brain Canister is kind of non-descript in the bottle, but once it hits my skin, it screams FLOWERS. Of course, being pollen-phobic, I scream "oh hell no, bitch!" After a while, the jasmine and peony back off a bit (probably because I'm threatening them with imminent destruction if they ruin this scent for me), and I can smell the pepper down at the very base of the scent, and suddenly, out of nowhere, comes the fruits! KIWI! MANGO! POMEGRANATE! PINEAPPLE! Sweet! It goes back and forth for a while until there's a quiet negotiation for the cessation of hostilities between the fruit and the flowers, and a triumvirate is formed to belie the evil of the jasmine and peony and end the war. My arm is a warzone. Sheesh. But at least the end result is worth it.

In the bottle, Tulzcha is all mint -- how much mint? ALL MINT. So much mint that I think "hey, dude, why'd you buy this? you know mint hates your skin." Um, yeah. On my skin, the mints hang around and play for about ten minutes, then disappear entirely. I'm left with the sweetest, spiciest freshly-cut green cucumber scent that I've ever smelled in my life. So green and fresh, aquatic without being watery and spicy without being overwhelming. It's subtle and springy, and now I know why I bought 2 bottles of it.