forspecial_plate

Sweet and smokey, just as I had anticipated. Somehow I thought I would like it more though. It's not a bad smell. I smell lavender and the blackened sandalwood, mostly. I guess I'm picking up the nag champa too, because it smells pretty sweet to me. Something about the combination is just not doing it for me. Maybe I just don't like incense blends as much as I thought! I won't give up though.

At first Midnight Mass is pretty strong frankincense and myrrh. As it dries, I get flashes of 'lit' incense. Out of nowhere it smells like burning, lit incense, and then it goes back to basic frankincense and myrrh, and back and forth. It's the strangest thing. Also I think I smell just a little bit of cedar in it, but that comes and goes too. Still it's just a little bit more sweet than what I wanted. If it comes up in the Yule scents this year, I will probably pick some up. Otherwise I doubt I will seek an older bottle of it, unless the mood really strikes me.

Hmmm....this sounded like a fun scent. However, when I put it on I could barely smell anything at all. Warming up on my skin, it did put out a little bit of nice, fresh sweetness... but it's barely there at all. I have to put my nose right up to my wrist to smell it. Wonder what gives. It's possible my skin is just really dry today, so I may try this one more time, another day...or might just swap it! ETA: After a couple hours, the throw has increased, so it's detectable now...unless my nose just opened up or something. It's still so subtle as to be not worth it for me to hold onto though, I think.

I too am on a quest for the perfect incense/resin blend. So far I've found I like the drier ones better, like Aureus, and Djinn if you want to count that as smelling like incense (more people think of it as just straight up smoke and fire, based on reviews....). I do like Midnight Mass and Pit and the Pendulum, although both were a lot sweeter than what I was hoping for. Midnight Mass has the interesting feature of suddenly smelling 'lit' as it dries. This comes and goes. It's so weird. It's like....sweet and resinous, then boom, it's lit and burning incense, then back to sweet resins. Pretty neat, actually. I hope it's brought back in Yule scents this year. I had high hopes for Gaueko but it just didn't toot my horn unfortunately. Add me to the list of Caterpillar=jasmine with little or no incense, at least not until it dries a lot.

Dang...on me this is all floral (jasmine?). Where is all the good stuff everyone else is getting? I'd be happy for some earth and incense. Moss? Nope. Nothing and I mean nothing but sweet, deep flowers. Reminds me of jasmine with a hint of rose or some other flower. Don't get me wrong it smells good, just not my thing usually. This is better off with someone else.

whoa. Where's all the cedar coming from? Or is that just patchouli, tricking my nostrils? Mostly cedar, at first, with a little sweet resin in the background. There's also a lot of green in here, as it warms and dries....green, earthy, moist...kind of 'dank', but totally not in a bad way. It's a cool, dim forest with leaves underfoot turning to mulch....and sweet wood smoke in the air, from a distance. Sort of like what I really wanted from Black Forest, actually, without the dreaded juniper. The cedar and smoke are reminding me of Aureus. Hey...now I'm getting coconut too! I wonder if the copal is adding a sweet coconut feel to this. I really like this, it's kind of hard to pin down as far as describing it. I can definitely say it's turning sweeter as it dries. edit: I'm kind of dissatisfied with this review. I will think about it some more and maybe revise it...it's a nice scent and really reminds me of Aureus.

First Brimstone blasted me with eucalyptus. Then that disappeared...*poof*...and it became Djinn's twin. This makes me nervous. Djinn is my first bpal true love, and still my favorite of all bpal's oils. 'What if I like this more than Djinn?'. Worry. I mean, they are almost identical on me. However....I start to detect little differences. Where Djinn is fiery red/orange, Brimstone is more grey/green. And Brimstone is stronger. Actually it's getting stronger as it warms up...not fading yet (I've only had it on a half hour or so). As it dries, the eucalyptus is coming back. And I agree with the person who said there's a coldness here. Overall, I would say this just barely crosses the line and becomes too harsh for me. It has a very sinus-clearing quality. Somehow, even though Brimstone and Djinn are so alike, Djinn is more my speed.

Nefertiti is rich and sweet, but smooth and deep, too. At first I thought maybe there was some jasmine in here but maybe not (I guess that's iris). I think what I'm mostly getting is olibanum and myrrh, because it does smell sweet and resin-y. Which is a good thing. I was a little wary because sometimes sandalwood goes nuts on my skin. It can become overpowering and takes on a weird almost buttery feeling. But so far the sandalwood is behaving. This is a sexy scent!

Right away this reminded me of Goneril....sweet floral with a dry woodsy note mixed in. It contains some notes that I reallywant to like: ginger and fig, tonka....but what I'm getting is overwhelming, high pitched floral. I can sense the other notes but as a whole it kind of screeches on me. I didn't let it dry down....even if it turns into something nicer later, I don't think I could get past the initial wet stage. It's not rose rubbing me the wrong way, but it could be the cyclamen. Or maybe the mixture of the two.

Jezirat Al Tennyn is very unusual. Out of the bottle, and wet on my skin, it's sharp, earthy, and sort of....'zingy', maybe. I see (or smell) where people are getting a eucalyptus feel, but to me it's not quite the same. It has that quality though. Also, it's more like electricity than fire, to my nose. I finally decided that it reminded me of Demeter's Thunderstorm. This doesn't last very long, though...as it dries, a spicy sweetness emerges that reminds me a lot of Dragon's Blood. It pretty much overpowers the sharpness within 10 or 15 minute, and becomes a warm spicy floral with a humid feel to it. Every now and then I get more flashes of the weird (but exciting) sharp note, whatever it is. I do like this, perhaps not enough to buy a larger bottle. I know I'll try it at least once more just to see if anything different happens.

Black musk turns a little bit powdery on me. And something in Black Phoenix is very powdery (the notes aren't listed so I don't know what it is). But powdery doesn't bother me so much. I still like Mad Hatter even though the black musk is a little powdery on me. It could be musk, but keep in mind all the different musks there are in Beth's blends will behave differently on anyone's skin. I have found that the white musk in F5 works really well on me. So I guess it's just a matter of experimenting and finding out what works for you!

Add me to the list of fans....this really is yummy. I love the subtlety...everything is blended so well, the notes sort of swirl around and make themselves known seperately, while still being balanced and blended in a beautiful way, if that makes any sense at all. I can pick out the mint and lime peel, and later on the musk also. White musk must be close to my own natural smell because hours later, I can tell there's still some scent there, but it's very close to my own skin's scent. Moderate throw and lasting power, it lasts a good 3 or 4 hours....I love how the mint is detectable in the throw, but it doesn't scream 'MINT!!'. I would love to get a hold of some tea single notes because I can never pick out tea notes in bpal scents. I do think I'm picking up on the seaspray though, there is a sort of bracing salty quality that I love in F5. Just a great scent and something that is so subtle, I feel comfortable wearing just a little bit to work (usually I don't wear bpal at work). I think my mom would like this too, if I can bear to part with an imp of it for her!! : D ETA...Big thanks to Beth, for making this available to us! edited again, to add...I wore this to work and it lasted a full eight hours on me...very subtle but still definitely there when I clocked out....great lasting power! Or maybe my skin was just exceptionally moisturized that day. : D

I've been wanting to try these: CARNAL Bold, bright mandarin paired with the sweet, sensual earthiness of fig. HUNGER Evokes sheer, unadulterated carnal lust. An undeniably warm and sensual scent. Black narcissus, orange blossoms, and vanilla. ....both sound delicious, and such names! : )

I too am in search of the perfect church-incense scent. My ex bf turned me on to Demeter Holy Smoke, and I'd like to find a similar bpal. On to the review... The first thing I notice about the Pit and the Pendulum is that it's much sweeter than I was expecting, having read the reviews. This is sweet enough to remind me of a dessert food or maple syrup. I think that's frankincense. Then as it settles in, I'm starting to get cedar (which I love). Up close I can smell the cedar, and the dry dustiness mentioned in other reviews. It is like a sweeter Aureus. Have I mentioned that I love it? : ) It lasts a long time, and the sweetness does almost become cloying. It's not every day that I'm in the mood to wear this. I can't imagine Al Azif being much sweeter but apparently it is. I'm still not sure I'll be seeking out a 5ml of this one, but I might. [edit: I just want to say, 8 months later, that I did get a whole bottle of this, and it's a really great woody blend. It's not as sweet as I seemed to think it was here. It's a great part of my collection....woody and smokey, sort of sweet but not cloying at all.]

This is mostly coconut and mint at first. On my skin some of the other notes (maybe the vanilla? the cocoa?) work with the coconut to bring out an unfortunate melting plastic smell. And the coconut is so strong on me that it ends up smelling like mint-tinged suntan oil. If I don't smell it up close, there is a very pleasant waft of sweet minty coconut. But if I bring my wrist up close to my nose.....melting plastic. : ( As it dries it does mellow out and I start to smell the other notes in the background, like the cocoa and vanilla. Not sure I really ever smelled the rum. I'll try it once more but I'm pretty sure it's just not for me. That's okay though, because I got to smell it and now there is one less LE bottle for me to seek out. : ) Hopefully my pending bottle of Creepy works out a lot better!

Sea of Glass is peaceful and serene. Sugar Skull is a warm and cozy scent to me, but it's too sweet and sugary for some. HTH...

Chaos Theory III: CMLXXIV (974) Another foody...this one is candy-cartoony like Hello Kitty. In the bottle, it smells sweet and strangely familiar. On the skin, it has a fruity candy smell, makes me think of pastel colors. There is some kind of faint plastic or vinyl note in here, oddly enough, unless that's vanilla. And I'm pretty sure there's a floral note but I couldn't tell you what it was (maybe lotus?). As it warms up a creamy vanilla-like smell starts to peep out. After some more fading, a sweet coconut like smell starts to make itself known. Sounds kind of cloying or powdery but it's really not. It's subtle, sweet, clean and somehow pure-smelling. Makes me think of cartoon characters and fruity erasers. edit: On second try I think the fruit in this might be something like tamarind or pomegranate. It's more tart than I first thought.

I really like Caliban. I put on just a little bit before work (then I remembered it has a wine note....oops!!), thankfully it didn't really make me smell like wine. I like Beth's ocean blends, and this one is really nice, fresh and green. Right away, wet on my skin, it has that 'crushed green stems' smell that I've read about. As it dries and warms up there's sort of a humid jungle smell coming through. The green-ness is sort of reminiscent of Sea of Glass. I did sense just a little bit of fruitiness which may be the wine peeking through. Overall I would say this is less 'salty' than other ocean blends I've tried (Jolly Roger and Kingsport). I would call it 'breezy' too. It's a fresh, light scent, and I'm going to try applying a little heavier to see if I can get it to last longer. That's my only problem with aquatic/ocean scents, they fade a little too quickly. This has faded a lot in just a couple hours, but again, I put on just a teeny bit. Good stuff! : D edited: Even with a heavier application this vanishes after about 2 hours. I might just have really dry skin but Jolly Roger does the same thing. I like this enough to keep it and try some tricks to make it last longer....but if I can't get it to last, I may not keep it. : (

The first waft smelled a lot like incense to me....then Scherezade smelled a lot like several other things, too. It reminded me of Snake Oil, I guess because of the spices. I also smelled anise in this, which could have been the saffron playing tricks on my nose. As it dried it kept reminding me of anise and, thus, of Blood Kiss and Kabuki. I'm not sure I ever really picked out the red musk, which was what I really wanted to smell in this. Have to try it again but as a whole, too much like those other bpal's I mentioned to really make me excited. It is spicy, sexy, and exotic though. And it clung to me even after taking a shower...5 hours and a shower later and I can still detect it on my skin.

Sugary, spicy vanilla...but light and airy somehow. Sort of like Snake Oil's lighter cousin. I smell ginger too, similar to the ginger in Sudha Segara. The musks come out more as it dries, this is a long lasting oil with a sweetness that hangs around for hours on me. I do like this and will enjoy wearing it again.

It's a pretty scent....smells floral, and I really (still) don't know my florals all that well, but this smells on the powdery side of floral to me. Surprised me to see all the notes because I don't detect jasmine, lemon peel, or even sandalwood really, unless it's all just blending so well I can't pick them out. But I should be able to pick up the jasmine because that usually stands out for me. I get powdery floral with a slight herbal green background, which is nice and pretty but not for me. Another one that I think my mom might like.

...nobody knows for sure about the fall update but we're all as impatient as you are! : D ...as far as the lunacy blends, well, they are out on the full moon. I don't think Beth announces what particular blend it will be but I think she follows the traditional names of the full moons. There are links somewhere in here, I remember seeing the names of all the full moons. But there are different ones for different parts of the world, different cultures, etc.....I think Kindly Moon will be the next one. Can anyone else explain this better? : )

Dirty is a weird combination of subtle and persistent. It has some note that goes sour on me so I can't wear it. But it's sort of a 'barely there' perfume. Also I've heard people say it's good for people who don't like perfumes.

I don't know my florals much, really. At first I thought it smelled like roses, but I know there is no rose in it. Anyway...it's mostly floral, kind of sharp, fresh and clean, smells really good actually. The cedar is in there just a little bit, then comes out more as it dries down. First time I tested it, it had probably the most abrupt shift of any bpal oil I've tried...from mostly floral to mostly dusty cedar. Tried it again today and it started out the same, a pretty fresh flower scent that I like. This time as it dries I can't pick out the cedar at all...it's just turning sort of dusty. I don't think I like this enough to keep. And that in itself is weird because cedar is one of my favorite notes. In this particular blend my skin just turns it into weirdness.

I'm wearing Djinn right now and I think it might come close to what you're describing. And I've read of a few other smokey scents form bpal....Brimstone, Samhain, and Devil's Night, off the top of my head. Also...one of the new wanderlust blends, Jezirat Al Tennyn: "The Dragon’s Isle: smoke and fire, earth and wind. The rage of the elements blasting over a primordial paradise." I bet there are more limited edition bpal blends that would come close.