Laurel the Woodfairy

In the vial: pale clear golden color, a whiff of incense On me: Hymn is beautiful and has the distinctive "old school" BPAL quality I know and love--it's hard to quantify, but this is Beth's unique take on both rose and incense. It reminds me of Love in the Asylum and a number of other scents, without being identical to any. It stays close to the skin but lasts, though the florals fade on drydown and it becomes mostly myrrh. I want to give it to my Mom, the most holy woman I know.

I'm feeling rather envious lately; let's see if this fits my mood! In the imp: English lavender, which I love. Not sweet in the least; just that pure, perfect crisp lavender and maybe something minty. On me: A tricky scent, straddling the line between good lavender and too-sharp herbal something. Yep, it does evoke a certain petulance. I don't think I really like it on me, but it captures the green-eyed monster nicely.

In the imp: pale golden color, smells sweet but alcoholic (in the cologne sense) On me: Much lighter than I expected. Gently sweet, like white honey, while wet, but drying it turns to ambergris. Ambergris doesn't play nice on me; it turns too sharp. This would make a lovely dandy's cologne for a Byronic hero *or* heroine if ambergris is ok with your chemistry.

Nom. Nom. NOM! That's the sound I made huffing my own wrist with White Witch on it. I'd forgotten the notes and expected a white floral (that's Witch Bride; I got both at the same time). This is one of Beth's delicious but sophisticated gourmand scents--that delicious and distinctively custardy Bourbon vanilla note, sexy red musk, and plenty of other well-blended foody notes that are harder to pick out. This is a very sexy witch, which I will wear when feeling like one myself!

This is gorgeous! White florals can skew too sweet or, worse, too astringent, but Witch Bride is perfectly blended and smells like an expensive designer perfume--a great choice for those new to BPAL who like Chanel et al. It's a complex blend, with slight incense undertones, good throw but not overpowering. It would actually make an awesome wedding scent, true to the name!

After an initial burst of mint, I was reminded of Tarot: The Star, which I desperately loved before it was discontinued. That one was lime and marzipan; Treasure Ship is white musk and green tea, but somehow my nose feels they are similar because they are so fresh and yet warm. The mandarin is definitely a new twist, though, and I like it. This is very clean and nice for spring, scrubbing away the darkness of winter.

Lavender and ginger; what a fantastic combination! This is perfection for work or anywhere I want to smell sophisticated and respectable--a classy, elegant scent, spicy in an unexpected way but still very clean. This is the scent of a successful woman who doesn't lose touch with her femininity--a geisha you don't want to annoy, haha! I LOVE it.

Interesting! I was expecting a more floral Titania, but Elephant's Leash is nothing like that other than a shared hint of peach. My skin amps the amber and sandalwood, and the peach and cherry blossoms are just a gentle frame for them, although peach comes out more on the drydown. Very pretty and sophisticated for spring; Oriental with a hint of fruity-floral.

Furo is very much like White Rabbit, but without the linen note--instead, there's a hint of vanilla. It's the same beautiful Earl Grey tea scent overall, though; black tea + bergamot. I love it. I don't need a big bottle because I already have a bottle of White Rabbit, but this is a lovely variation on a favorite scent theme.

Wet, my first thought was "White Linen by Estee Lauder!" That is my Mom's signature scent, so it made me smile. A "classy" white floral with very clean notes, Opiate Southern Gardens of Orchids could easily pass for an expensive department store perfume instead of a BPAL, and thus would be very appropriate for the office or as a gateway scent for those new to BPAL. On drydown, it's more clearly the BPAL orchid note I've smelled before--like paperwhites, a bit powdery. Not heavy or sexy as I rather expected from the poppies, and I don't smell peonies at all.

This is a great example of how complex BPAL is compared to most commercial scents. Wet, it reminded me of Victoria's Secret Vanilla Lace, which I used to wear in college--strong vanilla. However, almost immediately, the soft scent of cotton candy came out, followed by something subtly less sweet for balance...my first thought was "sweet tarts", then I thought perhaps violet. An hour later, it's dried down to a whisp of the beautiful lily-musk base note found only in Snow White and one or two other winter blends (I think I recall Beth saying that this note is only available for her to use seasonally). In short, a soft, sweet, delicate winter scent perfect for a snow I love it and will be wearing it from now 'til the Lupers arrive.

This is beautiful, and a perfect palate cleanser after trying the sweeter or foodier fall scents. A World Where There Are Octobers is a clean, fresh, unisex scent. It reminds me strongly of my favorite Yankee Candle fall scent, Autumn Leaves. It's warmer on the drydown but overall smells cool and crisp, perfect for creating the feel of woods in autumn.

September Midnight smells like a cross between Persephone and Haunted on me, a beautifully blended spicy amber/pomegranate scent. And it got rave reviews from my mechanic. No, seriously: I took my car into the shop and the guy said, "Wow, what is that fantastic smell?! Is that you?" He kept raving about how he wanted to buy some for his wife because it "smells nothing like any perfume I've ever smelled, but it's so fancy and nice!" So I wrote down the BPAL info for him. Another convert.

Mmmm, on me Ooky is pumpkin spice with extra pumpkin and extra spice! Strong, great throw, delicious. There's a yummy light vanilla cream rounding it out, like whipped cream on a pumpkin spice drink, but no lemon showed up for me. Several hours later, the pumpkin has faded and I have creamy spice. I love both phases.

This is less sweet that I expected, and also doesn't have very much throw on me. It's a slightly bitter honey, dominated by red currant and ginger for spiciness. From the notes, I thought it might be rather like Eat Me, but it's nothing like it at all--Eat Me is very strong and sweet on me. This isn't bad, but a decant is enough.

I love all the notes, but one caveat: Propertius doesn't "blend" on me. I don't mean there is anything wrong with my oil; I just mean that I smell the lovely honey from "O" and I smell apricot and I smell hot spice, but they are separate scents to my nose. Odd. Anyway, this is a STRONG scent; my husband loves O but was rolling down the car windows to get away from Propertius because the small dab I was wearing was too much for him. I like it as a sexy summery scent; the apricot makes it seem more warm-weather than other honey blends I have. I just have to use it sparingly.

This is a perfect summery scent! I'm sampling now but planning to save my decant for warmer weather. The clean, fresh tea reminds me of Dormouse, but with fruit instead of floral. The lime keeps it cool and not too sweet, and there's just a hint of ginger for bite. It's like a delicious sangria mixed with black iced tea, and now I want that to be a drink.

Mmmmm, this is all delight and no consternation for me! My decant imp is sludge-free, but there is a dry cocoa note like Velvet. In fact, this reminds me of a more vanilla-y Velvet. It stays close to the skin and makes me smell delicious but very delicate. This is the sort of scent that I think only Beth can do right: gourmand but not "giant cupcakes of dooooom" like some foody scents. It's a sophisticated dessert.

I decided to try Gelt 2012 because I am out of Velvet and love the combo of cocoa and other warm notes. It does remind me of Velvet, but it's less...sophisticated? On me, Gelt smiles exactly like powdered hot chocolate mix, with the barest hint of amber underneath. It's yummy and foody but in a childish fun way instead of the grown-up cocoa I associate with Velvet or Thierry Mugler's Angel. So, I like it for the holidays but wouldn't really say it's a replacement for Velvet, at least on me.

I will order anything with peony as a dominant note; it's the one floral I love even more than rose, but it tends to get drowned out by other notes. I have a big bottle of Dormouse and wear almost nothing else in early Spring. I am happy to say that Little Flora has the same lovely peony as Dormouse but is different enough to warrant having both: the cream starts a little strong and surprisingly spicy but then quickly fades into a nice background as it dries, leaving a light vanilla or buttercream edge to the beautiful peony. A perfect girly scent for Springtime.

I think I'm most excited about this one of all the butterflies/moths, maybe because I can pronounce it. Wet, Miss Passionfly is not as juicy as I expected--she is a rather dry amber. There's a subtle hint of grapefruit, but of the sour kind not the sweet I expected from "pink". Then a faint hint of bubblegum, which must actually be the mimosa. Sort of like Shattered crossed with Haunted, but lighter than that might sound. Meh. Not bad, but not as good as it sounded.

I'm wary of jasmine, but the other notes sound so good that I'm risking it with a decant! Wet, the orange and vanilla are dominant on me--I smell like a Creamsickle! Drying, the vanilla fades and the moss comes out, but the orange remains clear. I really like that the other notes keep the jasmine from getting cloying as it can do. This works well on me.

These notes sound delicious, so I hope it lives up to them! The oil is dragons-blood-red colored in the vial. Wet, this is the OMG-sexy lovechild of "O" and "Dragon's Milk". I'm not getting floral or spice, just dragon's blood and honey in equal measures. But then on drydown, spice and gardenia peek out. I'm wearing this for date night with DH; it's nummy and sexy!

I came here looking for a thread on this! Not excited that it'll get lost in a longer thread, but oh well. The film is almost here and we need BPALs to wear to it! Katniss: Katharina. Not only the closest to her name, but "a strong, willful blend with a soft soul" sounds right for her. President Snow: Blood Rose. Shame to associate a gorgeous scent with him, but...blood and roses; couldn't be more perfect. Gale: Black Forest. Definitely. Peeta: Sugar Cookie, Maison en Pain Epice, or Eat Me--bakery desserts with frosting! Cinna: Hmm, maybe Wilde? Sexy, masculine, but also a bit androgynous and very, very classy. Effie: Ultraviolet. Needs to be girly but strange. Rue: La Belle Au Bois Dormant, because there has to be fruit (from her trees) and flowers for Katniss' gift to her. Prim: Alice. So young and sweet. Finnick: Casanova!

Coyote is a scent I've always meant to try, even though it sounds so different from my normal favorites; it just seems like an unusual scent you can only find with BPAL! It's a pretty light red color in the vial, and smells of amber and resin on me. Soft and warm, it reminds me of a less-sweet dragon's blood but is a little more "grassy" as it dries. It's a very pleasant scent that I think I will give to DH--it's like a much better version of men's scents I have smelled.