kwsix

Maybe it's because I tried Manhattan at the same time as Shanghai (although on different arms), but I don't get much scent at all from it. It's very indistinct on me from the wet stage through the drydown. After reading what it's supposed to smell like, I think I can detect orchid, grapefruit, and amber. It's a very pleasant scent, but it's so light as to almost be undetectable. I'll give this one another try all by its lonesome, and I 'll revise my review if anything changes.

In the imp: Tea!

Wet on my skin: This is lovely! It's lemony tea with a hint of something woodsy in the background. Sandalwood, maybe? At least it smells like sandalwood to me.

Drydown: Shanghai stays true through the drydown. The lemon fades a little, which is fine by me because the lovely tea scent is coming out even more.

Overall: I really like Shanghai. It's a very clean, inviting tea fragrance with the barest hint of lemon and warm woods. It reminds me of the scent of a lovely old tea chest.

On me, Shanghai is in the same vein as Embalming Fluid, Kumiho, and even Dirty. Kumiho is one of my favorites, and I can't imagine wearing Shanghai much if at all since they're so similar on me. But Shanghai is a wonderful scent, and would do well for people who don't like the ginger note in Kumiho.

In the imp: Florals!

Wet on my skin: Eeek, jasmine overload! Jasmine isn't one of my favorites under any circumstances, so this is really not a good scent for me.

Drydown: The jasmine has calmed, thank goodness. Now this is a nicely balanced blend of jasmine, rose, carnation, and bergamot on me. I don't get any tangerine or musk. I'm getting a hint of powder, which is probably the amber.

Overall: The wet stage was a jasmine-fueled disaster, but the drydown wasn't bad at all. Moscow isn't a blend that I would really ever wear, but I can definitely see the appeal, especially to fans of soft powdery florals.

My husband adores Poison, and he thinks Spellbound has a similar "feel", even though the notes are different.

To add to your list, I think that Eat Me and Black Phoenix also have that thick richness that Snake Oil has.

In the imp: Tobacco, tropical flowers, and rum

Wet on my skin: The rum is out of control! The tobacco and tropical flowers are reduced to bit players. I smell like I've been on a bender in an exotic tropical location.

Drydown: Oh no, the drydown is pure soap on me. It is a nice soap, but still . . .

Overall: Meh. I might have liked this one if the notes would have stayed true on me, but instead I am underwhelmed. It was good while it lasted.

In the imp: Bubble gum, leather, and wine

Wet on my skin: As soon as the oil hits my skin a rush of sweet sticky bubble gum hits my nose. It departs almost as soon as it came, and is replaced by sweet woods, a little spiced wine, and the barest hint of dragon's blood. It's so soft and subtle that I have to put my wrist up to my nose to smell it at all. It's Blood's pale, tentative, wallflower cousin.

Drydown: Same as above, but there's the tiniest hint of leather coming out now. It's a very pleasant scent, but it is so faint that I have to put my wrist right under my nose to smell anything. Within a half hour it's completely undetectable on my skin.

Overall: Tintagel is a warm, sweet, woodsy scent with a hint of spice, but it's too subtle and boring on my skin. I'm sure Tintagel could be lovely on someone with different skin chemistry, but I'll stick with Blood.

In the imp: Tropcial fruit!

Wet on my skin: Still tropical fruit, but some I detect some lush flowers in the background. Something reminds me of tobacco, actually a sweet cigar, but from the description I have no idea what that would be. Maybe the wet woods?

Drydown: As it dries Manila turns into fermenting fruit and pencil shavings on me, which oddly enough isn't as bad as it sounds. It's a soft scent without a lot of throw, and it fades quickly.

Overall: Manila is nice, but it isn't distinctive enough to hold my interest.

In the imp: Verbena!

Wet on my skin: This starts off as a very perfumey scent. It smells like verbena and tropical flowers on me.

Drydown: It definitely improves as it dries. Now I'm getting verbena, ginger, and fresh grass. I think it was the grass scent that made me think of tropical flowers during the wet stage. I can't single out the amber, but I'm pretty sure it's what's giving the scent such a warm golden glow.

Overall: It's a lovely, well-balanced scent that manages to be bright and clean without being too sharp. Luckily it didn't turn into soap, powder, or cleaner on my skin. It does seem a little too perfumey for me, so I'm not sure whether I'll wear it again.

In the imp: Buttery pumpkin and spices

On my skin: Hey, where did the buttery pumpkin go? I'm getting peach and spices. It smells wonderful, but really different than it smelled in the imp. There is absolutely no trace of butter or pumpkin. My freaky skin chemistry strikes again.

Through the drydown, Jack is sweet fresh peach with an accent of of clove and nutmeg. I am a little disappointed that I don't get any pumpkin, but I really like the scent that I do get. Jack is a perfect warm, comforting, cool-weather scent.

In the bottle: Sweet, syrupy almond

Wet on my skin, Bastet is mostly sweet almonds and amber, with a hint of saffron. It's a very warm, golden scent that is perfect for a cat goddess.

As soon as it starts to dry, the musk takes over. All of the lovely almonds, amber, and saffron are virtually indetectable. It still smells good, but it's just too musky for me.

A wonderful antidote to an all-nighter oozing with drunken, addled perversion and debauchery. A fresh, crisp white linen scent: perfectly clean, perfectly breezy.

In the imp: Clean, fresh, flowery. It smells stronger than I expected, but it's a pleasant smell. It makes me think of sunshine.

On my skin: A bright citrus-y floral, which stays the same throughout the drydown.

I expected this to smell like fresh laundry on the line, like a crisp cottony linen scent. Instead, it smells more like a big ol' whiff of laundry detergent to me. On my skin, it isn't so much crisp and fresh as it is sharp and strong. It really is a nice scent, but it's just not for me.

9, rising 10 (please nothing that really falls into the sexy category), Leo

How about The Lion, Bastet, Bengal, and/or Lyonesse in honor of her Leo-ness?

I just received 23 BPAL products from a very dear, generous friend. There were three discontinued scents, 19 current ones, and one that I could not identify. It is in a 10ml amber bottle with a regular label that says "0". She, my benefactor has no memory regarding this scent. I'm really not sure, but it seems to be slimmer not fatter, so I think it is the number, not the letter. I tried searching on "zero" as well, and no answers. Any ideas, anyone? AuntPat

Here are the reviews for O. You can find it on the lab's official site under "Love Potions".

Your friend must be a lovely person to give you such a wonderful introduction to BPAL.

In the imp: Sweet! Cream, honey, vanilla, and cherry. Almost overwhelmingly sweet and rich.

Wet on my skin: Ohhhh, this is lovely. It's still sweet, but nowhere near like it was in the imp. It reminds me of a heavily scented, high-quality vanilla candle. It's very rich, creamy, and a little smoky. The dragon's blood adds a spicy cherry undertone.

Dry: No major changes have taken place. It's still honeyed vanilla cream with smoky spiced cherries.

Dragon's Milk is rich, sweet, and comforting, without screaming "food!!", which earns it a place in my top 10.

From sniffing the imp all the way through the drydown on my skin, this scent is completely true to the description on me. It's all sweet cherries and warm wood. Thank goodness I don't get cough syrup or mothballs or any of the other yucky things some people are getting. This won't be an everyday scent, but I lwill at least occasionally wear it because it's one of the best BPAL cherry scents I've tried. My only complaint is that it fades very quickly on me, and was gone from my skin completely within 45 minutes.

In the imp: Dark, sugared vanilla with a hint of musk. It reminds me of Snake Oil, which smelled great in the bottle but totally bombed on my skin. My fingers are crossed.

Wet on my skin: This smells delicious, but not exactly foody to me. I'm not getting any butter from this at all, just sweet vanilla that's smoky and rich.

Drydown: Aha, now the currants have made an appearance. There's a subtle berry smell mixing with the vanilla. And I mean very subtle - if I didn't know there were currants in this, I may not have guessed. There's also something that I can't identify in the background that reminds me of sugared black tea.

I am loving Eat Me! It's what Snake Oil should have smelled like on me. I expected a light, foody, cake scent but got an exotic "sugared vanilla tea with a wisp of berry" scent instead. I was so sad when both Snake Oil and Dorian tanked on me, but I think Eat Me is more than capable of filling the void.

I got this as a decant from the lovely shadith.

In the imp: Spicy and masculine. I hope it doesn't turn into Eau de Geezer on my skin.

Wet on my skin: On first application, this is all citrus. Who knew Count Dracula was so fruity? I like it, but right now it's brighter and more girly than I expected. And very fruity, like fresh squeezed lemons and oranges.

Drydown: Now this is more like it. I'm getting clove, patchouli, ginger, and leather, with a sweet creamy undertone of something - is there tonka in this? I haven't read the description since the update so I can't remember. It's very spicy, warm, and woodsy but there's nothing Old Spice about it. This is so appropriate for Count Dracula, because I'm strongly tempted to bite my own arm.

I love Count Dracula, and I'm planning to get at least one bottle with my next order. Yes, I would be tempted to devour any man who wore this, but I think it would be sexy and not too masculine for a girl to wear too. This is the smell of power, sex, and mystery in a bottle.

In the imp: Boozy tobacco with rich vanilla creme

Wet on my skin: This is very well-balanced, so much so that it's hard for me to pick out the individual notes at first. The rum and tobacco hit my nose first, and I can detect the leather in the background. It's a very "clean" leather note that is identical to the way deSade smells on me. But it's such a subtle leather, that even leather-haters might like this. And oh, the tonka smells wonderful, like a deep smoky vanilla with a hint of coconut.

Drydown: I'm very impressed with how this one is working on me. The rum isn't overly boozy and I'm not getting any butter from it at all. The tobacco is staying sweet and woodsy, and the leather adds a clean almost herbal scent. It's still a little spicy, like there could be a pinch of clove in there, but I suspect it's just the play of the other notes. The tonka is so dark and creamy, and I suspect it's what is smoothing out this whole blend so well. As the drydown progresses, I finally get a hint of fruity wine, but it's so gentle that I can barely detect it.

Overall: Perversion is a very well-blended and lovely scent on me. It isn't "too" anything, which is amazing because in my experience rum, tobacco, and leather are all notes that have a tendancy to run rampant. It's warm and mysterious and would be dead sexy on a man or woman. I hope my husband likes it, because it would make for some delicious neck-nuzzling. I'm in awe that one little imp can manage to be this boozy, woodsy, spicy, creamy, sweet, and darkly seductive all at the same time without spiraling out of control. Is it really this good, or is it just perfect for my skin chemistry? Who cares? I need a bottle of this now, because I don't think my imp is going to last long.

In the imp: Spicy cherries! It's a mouthwatering, bakery-type scent. It smells just like the time I made snickerdoodles with almond extract because I was out of vanilla. They were oddly delicious, by the way.

Wet on my skin: As I'm putting it on I smell almond extract, cinnamon, and cherries. But as soon as it hits my skin it turns to fresh lavender. Where did that come from?

Drydown: Still lavender! My skin ate all of the spicy almondy cherry goodness. It still smells good, just in a completely different way than it started.

I don't know what is going on with my skin chemistry that could have produced this result, but I get nothing but fresh herbal lavender from application until the scent completely disappears. It's a very nice lavender - very clean and fresh. I expected Eclipse to be sexy and come-hitherish in a foody way, but instead it's a relax and get comfortable scent. Although it would be nice to have that spicy almond smell stick around longer, I'm sold on a bottle either way.

In the bottle: Deep chocolate, with a creamy undertone

Wet on my skin: The chocolate blooms, and it's very very deep and rich. This seems much darker than the lab's other chocolate scents. But as it starts to dry, it lightens up and other notes come out to play.

Drydown: This smells delicious. I want to lick my wrist! The chocolate is getting very faint now, and the creamy notes are coming to the forefront. It's smelling less and less foody as time goes on. It's sweet and creamy, and it's not an overly sugary scent. It reminds me of something I've smelled before . . .

OMG, this IS chocolate-covered Snow White!

Summary: The Candy Butcher is lovely and delicious, but not as innocent and sticky-sweet as some of the lab's other chocolate blends. This will be a good stand-in for Snow White. After it dries, the chocolate recedes and it becomes practically indistinguishable from Snow White on my skin. I'm definitely going to need a bottle of this, especially if Snow White doesn't come back this year.

This will be quick, because Swank is very true to the lab description on me. I get a strong pomegranate martini throughout all the stages. It's delicious and crisp, and very heavy on the alcohol scent. I really like it, so I wear it frequently despite the fact that those around me probably think I'm indulging in 3-martini breakfasts.

Eris was another lucky frimp from the lab.

In the bottle: Watermelon candy!

Wet on my skin: Watermelon candy! It's so juicy it's making my mouth water.

On ther drydown: Surprise - watermelon candy! I also get a hint of soft white florals and something spicy that I can't identify.

Summary: This is a juicy, fruity, girly scent that would be perfect for a sweltering summer afternoon. It's playful and sweet and would work best on the young and young-at-heart. It isn't one of my all-time favorites, simply because it's a little too innocent for me, but I do like it and will definitely keep the imp. Next summer, when the sun is beating down again, I may even go for a bottle.

How can something so good in the bottle be so wrong on my skin?

In the bottle Mum Moon is all that and then some.

Wet on my skin and throughout the drydown she's just plain wrong. There's no spice, no incense, no opium smoke, and no discernable mums or musk. There's just a very sharp (and not in a good way) floral I associate with many commercial department store perfumes, paired with a generous helping of B.O. Is red musk my Waterloo? I'm not sure, but something is disagreeing with my body chemistry. It went so wrong that it even made me grouchy.

I seriously envy those with good Mum Moon experiences. Maybe this is the scent that will goad me into trying a scent locket, because I really love how it smells in the bottle.

London was a frimp from the lab, and a very well-timed frimp. The lab frimped me with Euphrosyne in my last order, and I love it so much that I decided to work my way through all of the tea rose blends.

I should also mention that I am a reformed floral-phobe. BPAL florals have broken all of the rules for me.

In the imp: Glorious tea rose

Wet on my skin: On first application, this smells just like nail polish remover. Which, oddly enough, isn't a bad thing. Keep in mind I also enjoy the smell of gasoline, permanent markers, and hot tar.

Drydown: The nail polish remover scent is gone, and London is back to the lovely tea rose I smelled in the imp. But there's still something acidic beneath the tea rose, something sinister and almost poisonous-smelling. Again, that isn't a bad thing. It's like tea rose with intent. I picture a beautiful, delicate lady with a perfect pink and white complexion sitting in a sunny room. She asks you what you think of her rose garden, and as you gaze out the open window she silently slips something evil and deadly into your drink. But then again, I have one heck of a wild imagination.

This one stays true throughout the drydown, and has surprisingly more throw and longevity than I expected such a soft floral to have. I really like it, much to my surprise, and my husband likes it too. I won't be wearing this one every day, but I don't think I'll have any problem using the imp and then some.