forspecial_plate

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.

All I get from this is sharp floral, which in itself isn't a bad thing. However something in it just isn't agreeing with me, and it's reminscent of Ultraviolet so I'm assuming it's violet that I don't like. It does start to turn powdery as it dries on my skin. Just not for me, but that's okay, I think my mom might like it.

This is very true to its description. Sugary-spicy vanilla, very sexy and appealing. It's sort of deep and dark, but sweet too. Intoxicating, really. I wear it at home by myself just so I can smell it. I can see myself wearing this if I can't decide what to wear...very much an 'old faithful' or go-to scent. Yeah there is almost a Play-Doh smell there, but if I hadn't already heard that I might not have detected a Play-Doh smell. Must be some or one of the 'exotic oils' used in the blend. I don't care, I love it and I'll be getting a 5ml as soon as I can afford to. Edit: About a year and a half later....I continue to really like Snake Oil. It's one of those scents I don't wear very often, but never want to be without. It doesn't fit my personality as much as something quieter and smoldering like Djinn, but when I am in the mood, I really love Snake Oil. It is rather heavy and very potent, with a powdery element that comes and goes, almost like heavy incense smoke that's nearly too much. But I get noticed when I wear it, that's for sure.

The throw from Iago reminds me of the taste of these: Panda herbal licorice (in a green box, in case the image ever gets lost). If I sniff closer to my skin the leather is more prominent. It's funny because you would think it's the vetiver causing the herbal association for me but really, I can't much pick out the vetiver here, it's blended really smoothly with the leather and musk. There is a little powder creeping in as it dries down, but not enough to worry me. It really has staying power too. Stays pretty strong after a couple hours: when I washed it off to try something else, I could still detect the Iago underneath (and it doesn't layer well with Blood Moon, let me tell you...). Anyway I do like Iago, mostly because it's so unusual. I know if I wear this to a dance club nobody else will be smelling like me. For that reason I'll keep it around, but probably won't wear it much. It's very emphatic.

I think Blood Moon is a good one for early fall. A little cinnamon-y, a little spicey, very warm and musky, just a great 'red' scent (but doesn't actually smell of dragon's blood resin to me). And I got my bottle just in time!

At first just lemon, veering dangerously towards Pledge, but the other notes keep it from turning into furniture polish thankfully. It's actually very nice, lovely and yes it's refreshing, making me look forward to my pending bottle of F5 even more. After a while a sweetness comes forward, automatically making me think musk, although I suppose it could be the aloe or green tea. But I'm pretty sure it's the musk I'm smelling, threatening to turn powdery and too sweet. But fortunately, there's the lemon keeping it in check, and one never quite overpowers the other. All around enjoyable scent, I'm really glad the lab threw this in with an order. This seems very unisex to me, and something that I think my mom and sisters will like.

This smells strange, tantalizingly familiar, but I can't put my finger on it. It's kind of rich and buttery, spicy, and has a sandalwood feel to it. There is also a weird medicine/medical quality that reminds me of a doctor's office. It's not sweet, but somehow too rich and almost cloying. It's not terrible or offensive really, just not my thing. It is kind of a golden smell. As it dries, another weird note starts to peek out that reminds me of sour puppy breath. I guess it's just going sour on me, but it's a really strange thing to smell halitosis on my skin! I guess I'm just not an amber person, although I do love Aureus which may have amber in it. But the Lion just isn't working for me.

Interesting. This is somewhat similar to Blood Kiss to me, not as earthy but both have a sort of sassafrass feel to me. I wanted Kabuki because it has anise which I love, and unfortunately I can barely smell it. It has a candy sweet sassafrass flavor that is nice but I don't see myself wearing it very often. Also it's not very powerful, it fades from my skin pretty quickly. I put on some Blood Kiss in a different spot, just to compare, and the Kabuki is pretty much overpowered. It's like.....where did the Kabuki go?

At first I get cinnamon and herbs, almost minty. I'll agree that it's a different sort of cinnamon, kind of dry, very appealing. I wasn't sure what grains would smell like, and I'm not sure how to describe it, but the grains are there too, kind of a sweetness, kind of creamy (this could be the musk too, who knows). Then as it starts to dry and warm up, the musk takes over. Up until now I felt a little left out because so many people love Beth's musks and I had yet to have a really good musk experience. Well, this is it. This feels like a red musk, and it goes perfectly with the spicy/sweet backdrop. Everything else in the blend moves to the back seat and the red musk just radiates from me for a good couple hours. It's like walking around in my own spicy red cloud. It's quite lovely and I'm so glad I took a chance on a 5ml. Overall it doesn't last a really long time. I did fall asleep for about 4 hours (I work 3rd shift) and when I woke up it had mostly faded except for a faint sweetness. I would love to wear this to a very formal party or event, something special like a black tie New Year's Eve party. It's a very sexy scent to me. edit, much later: I no longer think this has red musk, at least not the same red musk that's in Fenris Wolf, Krampus, Scherezade, etc....I don't know what kind of musk is in Blood Moon. Still love it though.

The other night I met a lady who smelled just like Sea of Glass to me. I told her she smelled good and she said it was Tommy Hilfiger summer bath gel. I did some searching and I think she was talking about Tommy Bahama Very Cool Woman bath and body gel. Here's the description: "An aquatic citrus floral fragrance that radiates sparkling freshness and energy with traces of sensuality". Anyway whatever it was it smelled just like Sea of Glass from about 5 feet away.