kwsix

In the imp: Jasmine and a hint of lemon. It's very fresh and feminine. Wet on my skin: Jasmine that actually smells good on me, which is a rare find. It's behaving much like the jasmine in Euphrosyne. But I'm getting odd wafts of cheap beer, and no, I haven't been drinking. I sniff my wrist to be sure, and yes, it's the Venice. That's a first for me - cheap beer from a fragrance. Drydown: Poof - gone! As soon as the scent starts to dry, it starts to disappear. In just a few minutes I can barely detect a trace of it with my wrist right up against my nose. Even the cheap beer scent is gone, which saddens me. I wanted to see how that worked out. Overall, Venice isn't terrible, but it doesn't exactly work well on me either. The jasmine stays nice and non-evil, but it all fades away before I can really grasp what it's doing on my skin. I imagine this scent works really well on some people, goes horribly wrong on others, and leaves some, like me, confused and unfulfilled.

Silk Road is amazing, and smells extremely complex but not busy on me. It stays true from start to finish, with practically no morph. The dominant note seems to be cinnamon. Not a red-hots type of cinnamon, but more like a true spice cabinet fragrance. I can't identify the other notes with any certainty, so I'm going to save myself the embarrassment of trying. I'll just say that I absolutely love this blend. It's warm, exotic, unobtrusive, and oh so much like a collection of wonderful natural smells instead of an artfully created perfume. This is definitely on my most-wanted bottle list.

Madrid isn't anything like I expected, really. I don't get red wine from this at all. In the imp and wet on my skin, I get sweet grape candy, sort of like grape Jolly Ranchers. As it dries, the clove comes out and the "OMG GRAPE" settles down into something less candy-like. It becomes a little less sweet, and settles into an appealing and slightly powdery spiced grape fragrance. Oddly enough, it also reminds me of grape soda now. I think the clove is making it seem fizzy. I am seriously tempted to lick my arm, but I manage to restrain myself. I would certainly wear this again, even though I'm not putting it on my bottle list just yet. For the record, I tried Old Madrid on my skin, but plain ol' Madrid smells identical in the imp.

In the imp - incense and woods; very soft and pretty Wet on my skin - total morph! Wow, the florals have taken over. I get sharp rose, and yes, I do understand the dill pickle comments now. It reminds me of a Glade floral bouquet air freshener. You know, the ones that don't really smell bad, but they certainly do nothing to eliminate bathroom odors, so you're left with the smell of stinky poo and flowers. As it dries, it gets a little soapy, but otherwise it stays the same as the wet stage. There's no frankincense to be found anywhere. Kostnice doesn't work on me at all. I can imagine that it's beautiful on someone with the right kind of skin chemistry, but that someone is not me.

I am totally stunned at how lovely Florence is on me! In the imp, it wasn't anything special - brightly floral with a base of amber. I almost passed it by without putting it on my skin, then I reminded myself that I must try everything on my skin, because I never know how it will turn out. I'm so glad I did. On my skin, Florence turns into the most gorgeous creamy sweet and spicy scent. The flowers stay soft and golden, and the amber just glows in the background. As it dries, it becomes more spicy and the berries start to peek out just a little. It's still a very creamy blend on me, almost like there's tonka hiding in there somewhere. This isn't a candy sweet scent, despite the berries. It's more of a hint of fragrant, deep purple fruits that brightens up the amber and florals. Overall, Florence is a winner on me. It's feminine in a grown-up and sensual way. The spiced floral aspect reminds me of Hetairae without the honey. I am seriously contemplating a 5ml, and at least want to get another imp.I've ordered it already.

Neo-Tokyo has always reminded me of Chanel No. 5. It isn't a dead ringer, but they have a very similar feel, especially when Neo-Tokyo dries and softens. Of course, now that Neo-Tokyo has been discontinued, that doesn't help you much. eta: Oooh, I just noticed that Rouge compared Ozymandias to Chanel No. 5 upthread.

In the imp: I didn't like it at all. It was too rosey, and just too overwhelmingly floral in general. But I had to try it on my skin no matter what. It has leather and cinammon, and then there's my whole Adam Ant issue. Yes, I have an Adam Ant issue. And I am not ashamed. On my skin: It went from bad to worse. I expected the night-blooming jasmine to go wrong on me, because it usually does. The cinammon and leather were nowhere to be found. Maybe they don't get along with night-blooming jasmine any better than I do. Drydown: I don't know, because I couldn't make it to the drydown. My head was starting to hurt from the sharpness of the florals. This is definitely not a scent for me. But if you like rose and can tolerate night-blooming jasmine, you should give it a try. Do it for Adam Ant's sake.

I agree with Forspecial Plate. Dee is love at first sniff! It smells completely true to the description, yet the whole is so much greater than the components. From the description alone, I never would have imagined I would love this scent so much. I am a fan of BPAL leather scents, although many people are not. If you aren't a fan, don't let it stop you from trying Dee. In Dee , the leather note is on its best behavior. It's subtle and soft, and it doesn't hit you upside the head with a raw animal hide like leather scents often can. The notes are extremely well-balanced. Everything is represented in the blend, and they're all playing fair. It isn't overtly masculine to me at all. Overall I would describe it as: woods, incense, leather, soft, gender-neutral, quietly sexy, warm, creamy, comforting, and complex. It's intellectually sexy, like a drop-dead gorgeous geek in skintight leather pants and glasses reading a thick and dusty tome in the rosewood-paneled library.

On me, Antique Lace is a sweet and creamy vanilla with the barest hint of powdery florals. It's very feminine and a little old fashioned, in a good way. My mother likes this scent, and my grandmother probably would have too. My husband is neutral on it, although he did mention that it's a nice vanilla. He prefers me to wear scents that don't smell so innocent. It reminds me a little of Donna Karan's Cashmere Mist, and it also seems like an idealized (meaning 1000x better) version of those inexpensive commercial vanilla perfumes that I can't stand. I imagine that it would be wonderful for layering. Overall I describe it as: classic, feminine, soft, innocent, sweet, creamy, comforting, and generally non-offensive.

If you like sandalwood, and to a lesser degree chocolate, do not hesitate to try Velvet. This is an amazing scent! Through all of the stages, Velvet is a warm and fuzzy embrace of sandalwood and dry cocoa. It's cocoa that's fairly close to being unsweetened, so don't expect it to smell like Bliss. The cocoa definitely takes a backseat to the sandalwood on me, and it isn't sugary, so it could be a great foody-ish scent for the non-foody people. I agree that it's a little nutty. I also can see how it goes to pencil shavings on some people, but thankfully it doesn't on me. It's warm, rich, and creamy from beginning to end, without the sugary sweetness of most chocolate/cocoa blends. I think it's a great comfort scent, and I can't wait to get more.

In the bottle: Soft herbs Wet on my skin: Soft herbs, lavender, and a hint of citrus Drydown: Same as above, but a little woodsy now because the frankincense is coming out to play Overall: I really like this scent! It's soft and comforting on me. The citrus never goes sharp like it seems to for some people. It's a nice alternative to my usual fruity/sweet/girly blends. It stays well blended on my skin, and all of the notes play nice with each other. I was afraid it would be too masculine, but it's definitely gender neutral on me. It's one of my stepson's top 3 scents. He says it smells like trees.

Through all the stages, this is sweet and fizzy, just as described. The fizziness helps keep the sugary fruit in check, so it ends up being sweet-tart on me rather than too sticky sweet. I get a candy strawberries instead of fresh fruit, which is fine with me. I like candy. Bon Vivant is appropriately a playful, lighthearted blend that would be great for warm weather.

Ok, Cockaigne and I clearly have a twisted relationship. Because of that relationship, this is not going to be a very organized review. When Cockaigne first came out, I bought 2 imps. One for my switch witch at the time, and one for me. I loved it. It was spicy sweet honey cakes on me from start to finish. I ended up frimping my imp to someone I swapped with because she desperately wanted to try it. I was sad to part with it, but I loved it so much that I wanted everyone to have a chance to try it. I loved it so much that I put it in my top 10 (temporarily - I'm a fickle soul) and added it to my 5ml wishlist. I just tried it again today, and it smells completely different on me now. It smells exactly like Gingerbread Poppet with the spice turned down to low. Which, on me, is not a Good Thing. There is something in Gingerbread Poppet that immediately turns to stale urine on my skin. I'm not insulting the scents themselves - they are wonderful in the imp and I'm sure they are heavenly on most people. I put all of the blame on my skin chemistry. But that's what scent lockets are for, yes? In the imp and in a scent locket: 4 out of 5 stars On my skin: 0 stars and 1 dirty hobo

I just started filling in the BPAL spreadsheet linked above, and I'm astonished to find that I have tried 331 scents. I had no idea.

MB: biggerCritters smells wonderful in the bottle. I know it's grapefruit, not orange, but it smells just like a creamsicle to me. Sadly, when I put it on, the jasmine takes over and completely obliterates the other notes. It's too sharp, too harsh, too jasmine-y. I love Euphrosyne, so I had high hopes for this one. The jasmine in Euphrosyne plays nice all the way through, so maybe it's the Moroccan jasmine that's being so ornery on me. It's a lovely blend, though, and I'm envious of those who can wear it. I'm definitely going to try this one in my scent locket.

I agree, but I'm here begging and pleading for someone to suggest an equivalent or a similar blend to the original 13. I love it so much. I have 3 bottles, but I've been wearing it almost daily for a couple of weeks, and I'm a slatherer. It's getting harder and harder to find, plus I'm worried about the citrus oils fading with age. The chocolate fades on me quickly, so I'm mainly looking to replicate the iris/floral/mandarin/tangerine/white tea aspects of the scent. I would love to have BPAL suggestions, but I'll also take suggestions for other possibilities through pm.

I second the rec for Cockaigne.

How do you feel about chocolate/cocoa? The Candy Butcher has a strong heavy cream note, on me anyway.

One of my fish died this morning. Yeah, he was just a fish, and just a little neon tetra at that, but I'm still sad. I wonder if his tank mates miss him. It's been over 3 years since Tito, my big albino Oscar, died, and I still miss him. He was the most petlike fish I've ever seen. As irrational as it may sound, I think he knew me as a friend. He got all excited and wagged his tail when I came near the tank. My husband always fed Tito, but he only wagged for me. Random BPAL info: I'm wearing Neo-Tokyo today, for the first time in a long time. It smells weird on me today. Not bad weird, just different than I remember. Aunt Flo is visiting, so it could just be hormonal. This has got to be a candidate for the most boring and uninspired blog entry ever.

I don't like jumping on an already moving bandwagon, so I've never had a myspace or a livejournal or an actual blog. Until now. I just popped my livejournal cherry. Granted, there are no entries and it's all plain and ugly at the moment, but the damage is done. And here I am starting a blog. You people could convince me to do anything. Does anybody remember open diary? That should tell you how long it's been since I "blogged". I think the site still exists, but I'm afraid to check. It just wouldn't be the same and it would make me sad. Since I'm a total lj noob, any advice and/or suggestions on getting started would be welcome. Otherwise I'll just fumble along and generally make an ass out of myself until I figure it out.

In the imp: Gingerbread Wet on my skin: Sweet creamy lemon that reminds me of those lemon dessert bars with powdered sugar on top, with gingerbread in the background Drydown: As it dries, the lemon fades into oblivion and I get deep, rich, gingerbread. Actually, it's more like my molasses ginger cookies instead of gingerbread. It's spicy, dark, and delicious. It's very spicy on me, which is a nice surprise because my skin tends to make spice disappear. Overall: I am one of those people who stayed away from Shub when it was rare, because I was afraid I would like it. I'm glad I did, because I like it so much that I would have been tempted to pay an exorbitant price for a bottle. I agree with Holly - there's something in Shub that is very reminiscent of Snake Oil, although it never actually turns into Snake Oil on me. I can see why so many people love Shub. I'm putting it on heavy rotation.

Gingerbread Poppet for bakery Cockaigne is bakery on me, don't know how it is on others though Just an observation - Haloa isn't foody on me at all. In the bottle, yes, but as soon as it hits my skin all the foodiness goes away.

in the imp: wood smoke and spice wet on my skin: When Priala hits my skin, it's predominantly smoky. It's a gorgeous wood smoke smell, with dry non-foody spices lingering in the background. drydown: This blend never sits still on me! As soon as it starts drying on my skin, the smoke fades and the cinnamon combusts. The cinnamon reaches a fever pitch, then settles at a throbbing warmth. The myrrh steps up to the forefront, and a lovely wisp of smoke returns to swirl around in the spices. overall: So far, Priala is my favorite of all the Carnaval Diabolique scents! It's warm, sexy, and amazingly complex. The transformation of this blend is otherworldly, but what else can you expect from a phoenix?

In the imp: Spicy cinnamon! Wet on my skin: This is the spiciest BPAL I've tried so far. It reminds me of Big Red gum. It's a delicioius, sweet, flammable cinnamon. There's the barest hint of smoke behind the cinammon, as if it really is spicy enough to combust. Drydown: More of the same - it's still a hot, candy-ish cinammon with a hint of smoke. Overall: I am in love! My skin tends to eat cinammon, so most of the blends that others call spicy are not spicy at all on me. I am so happy to have found a cinnamon blend that stays true on my skin. I can't wait to start exploring the layering possibilities.

In the imp and wet on my skin, this smells exactly like delicious gingerbread fresh from the oven. Unfortunately, something goes horribly wrong as it dries. Underneath all the sweet and spicy gingerbread there's a hint of stale urine. I'm going to try it again in a few weeks in hopes that it's just a hormonal problem. Only I could turn fresh gingerbread into enraged incontinence musk.