summer

Just beautiful. I'm afraid I can't describe this one very well, but on me it is incency, calming, and just exactly right. The sandalwood is tempered by enough floral sweetness to be grounding rather than bitter -- (I usually don't like sandalwood, but here it's perfect). It smells a bit like the book section of this new-age shop called The Phoenix and The Dragon that I used to love to go to as a child. It's the smell of special books, magical gemstones, and intuition. Oh, I keep sniffing my wrist, and I just absolutely love this. This very special oil will be going on my "Must Get a 5ml Bottle" list.

P.S. I'm also using it as a room fragrance, and oh my GAWD, it's perfect. This is how I've always wanted my home to smell.

Ok so before I take off for Europe next week, there's the tiny matter of the bar exam. I have to take it. It will be grueling. I most likely will wear Venus or Libra, because they make me feel strong and empowered, but I wondered if there are any other fragrances that you all use when you need to feel focused, alert, intuitive, and generally all-around positive, sharp, and on top of your game! The exam extends over two days, and it basically is going to be an exhausting mental endurance test.

Thoughts?

I am going to Europe next week, and I can't decide which fragrances I want to take -- that is, which scents will be a good "fit" for travel through those particular parts of Europe? Which ones will compliment the landscapes and the cultures? Which ones are versitile enough for two weeks of travel? Which ones fit with the vibe of travel generally? And, most importantly, which ones do I want to associate with two wonderful, adventurous weeks?

What are your thoughts?

Oh, this is just so deliciously strange!

When I first apply it to my skin, it smells like spicy carnations. Then as it dries, it morphs into a powdery, baby-nursery scent of sweet milk and scented diapers! But wait . . . it KEEPS CHANGING! About half an hour in, rose starts coming through -- and the spice makes it known that it's still there. And as the scent really settles in, all of these elements kind of merge -- they don't quite blend, but they weave in and out of each other, kind of like the White Rabbit weaving in and out of Alice's vision! This scent is sweet and childish, but precocious and naughty all at once. I LOVE IT. Can't . . . stop . . . sniffing wrists . . .

Edited to add: After living with Alice for a while, I finally had to put her in my swap pile. She just evokes such strong baby-nursery-diaper imagery for me! It's a really interesting blend, but ultimately, doesn't work with my chemistry.

Edited AGAIN: Well, blimey. It's a few months later, and I find myself editing this review AGAIN, because I've rediscovered my love for this precocious girly fragrance. Fortunately, the Lab tucked an imp of Alice in with my last order, so I had a fresh vial of it to reach for this morning when I woke up in the mood for a creamy, powdery, pink-cheeks sort of perfume. I felt marvellously girly and contrary as I applied it this morning. It smells so wonderfully milky, and the honey and carnation are a perfect Sunday-morning combination.

The bottom line, I suppose, is that I have to be in the mood for Alice, but when I am . . . yowza! Lovely.

I wore Black Lotus the other day, and it smelled very much like You Snap the Whip on me. Perhaps a little bit less sweet, but I could have sworn I smelled blackcurrants!

I find this to be a very baby-like, powdery vanilla scent. It reminds me of Stila's Creme Bouquet or B Never's Keep It Fluffy.

I normally enjoy sweet scents, but this one is so powdery and so very young smelling that I just don't think it's for me. It would be a beautiful scent for a baby shampoo, but it seems wrong for a grown woman.

(Thanks, however, to JazzieCazzie for sending it my way! )

. . . . . . . . . .

Edited to add: Ok. I've finally found the right mood for this -- vulnerable, weepy, and a little bit nervous. Regan was the PERFECT ANTIDOTE (or perhaps compliment??) to this feeling. It's not overpowering or intimidating. Rather, it's light, sweet, and comforting. (A very light, dry fruity/floral scent that becomes sweeter and more powdery with wear.) I'm so glad I didn't get rid of this one or swap it away after only one wear. It just goes to show that something may not suit you when you're feeling strong and brassy, but it may be just the thing you want when you're feeling a bit more fragile. I may have to get another imp of this, as wouldn't you know that now that I've decided I like it, I managed to spill 3/4 of it all over my dresser.

JUST GORGEOUS. This is absolutely beautiful on me -- hands-down one of the streight-up loveliest fragrances I've ever worn.

Sweet, honeyed florals, perfectly blended in a round, moist, blissed-out feminine scent. I have never worn floral perfumes before, but this and Libra have knocked my socks off! Venus is a deeper scent than Libra, and has a slightly sexier dimension.

I am a Libra, and these scents simply could not agree with me more. I wore Venus today, and I felt beautiful and alive all day. I ate ravenously at dinner and my food has never tasted so good. This is GOOD STUFF. I am overwhelmed!

I will be purchasing a large bottle of this, you can be sure.

Well, this is the first BPAL fragrance I've tried that is a big uh-uh, no way.

Wet, it smelled like dark chocolate and pipe tobacco -- not a scent I'd usually choose to wear, but not entirely unpleasant. Very warm and masculine.

However, I've worn it all day, and the more I get to know it, the more I dislike it. It has dried down into a very powdery, bitter, old incensey smell that is just not for me. In fact, I usually use fragrance to cover up smells like this when I encounter them in old attics!

I've also used it as a room fragrance today, which, surprisingly, was much nicer. I won't rule it out for that purpose, but I won't wear it again as a perfume.

I am so unexpectedly pleased with Libra!

In the bottle, and wet, I smelled mostly white flowers and immediately feared that this would smell like a drugstore Lilly of the Valley perfume.

However . . . on, this fragrance really agrees with me. In fact, so far, my body chemistry has brought this oil to life more so than any other! I'm a Libra; go figure!

There's no denying that it's floral, but on my skin, the bright white floral scent dissappears almost immediately and is replaced by a warmer, calmer floral with a grounded feminine character. It's not heavy or overbearing, nor is it too light or wispy -- it has a definite presence, but not one that is distracting or overwhelming. It's not sexual or overly mature, but it's not girlish or innocent either. In short, as is befitting Libra, it achieves perfect balance.

It makes me feel comfortable in my own skin. I normally go for more "exotic" fragrances, but this one has a very pretty, fresh, everyday feel about it that is very appealing to me (especially on a day like today, when I started out feeling kind of off-kilter and misunderstood; something about this fragrance brought me back into myself and banished all that). This is a fragrance that I will wear for myself. Not to attract men, not to feel powerful, not to achieve any heightened or altered state of mind. Just to feel like me.

While soaking in the bath, I just felt drawn to try Mercury today. I wasn't sure why. I now realize that Mercury was attracting me only to repel me!

In the bottle, this smelled very metallic to me, like that metallic smell at the dentists office -- the smell of fillings. However, I applied a tiny bit to my wrists to see how it developed.

I noticed a sharp but pleasant cinnamon note coming through, but in the next instant my wrists were burning intensely. I thought I'd wait it out, but the intensity kept increasing, so I had to scrub it off with soap. My wrists and about 1/3 of my forearms look as though they've been sunburned, because a painful, red rash has spread from the point where I applied the oil on up my arms and a bit down onto my palms as well.

Needless to say, my skin had a rather violent reaction to this one, and although I liked the scent, I feel that this oil was trying to tell me that it does NOT want to be on my skin, and likewise my skin does NOT want this oil. I am afraid to try it again, even diluted. However, I do plan to try it out as a room fragrance, as I'd like to develop the more Mercurial aspects of my personality. (My Mercury is in Libra, my sun sign.)

Wow, what more can be said about the widely-beloved Snake Oil?

I can really see why this one is so universally appealing. In the bottle, it's a tad overwhelming-- on a bad day, just sniffing it will give me a headache, just because it's such a heavy, heady scent.

However, this oil really comes into its own on BARE SKIN. I can only wear a teeny drop (because overdoing it with this one is NOT good) -- but fortunately, a drop is all I need. This oil melts right in and instantly becomes warm, sweet, exotic perfection. It's like a warm, thick syrup. Burnished sugar and spices.

It's like having a massage and then going out with the oils still glistening on your skin, making it plump and smooth and moist to the touch. It's like smoking flavored tobacco at a Turkish coffee house, wearing a loose, shoulder-bearing halter top and lots of gold bangles.

Oh, yes.

Over on the "Suggestions" forum, some of us have been discussing how cool it would be to have oils that capture the "essence" or "vibration" of various gemstones. However, Pauline suggested that, in the meantime, it would be interesting to to coordinate existing fragrances with whatever gemstones we're using/wearing.

I love this idea, but I'm afraid I'm not sufficiently well-versed in Beth's scent library to know which oils most accurately match up with which gemstones.

The gemstones I use most are: Carnelian, Chalcedony (blue), Amethyst, Citrine, and Diamond. (Occassionally Peridot and Rose Quartz as well).

Does anyone have any reccomendations for oils that complement or match up with the "energies" of these (or other) stones?

Thank you Pauline, my new phone buddy!

I applied a TINY, tiny drop of Snake Oil about half an hour ago, and so far, so good. I think the key with the sweet oils for me is to apply them SPARINGLY. I suspect that the intensity may have just overstimulated my nose or activated my allergies.

However, if I continue to have problems with any particular oils, I'll definitely email the lab. Hopefully, smaller amounts will take care of the problem!

I am quite an allergic person by nature, although I've never had an allergy to any one thing in specific -- I just generally suffer from year-round hayfever.

It's the strangest thing -- I had a bath (which washed the Dragon's Milk off), and the throat thing and the numbness in my lips went away.

*very perplexed*

Oh my gosh Allamanda, I can't believe you just mentioned your lips tingling, because I've noticed the same thing! Mostly just my bottom lip, but it goes kind of numb and tingly just as the throat thing starts happening with me.

Grrrlennyl, you could be very right. I first noticed this effect last week (when I was sniffing Carnivale and Persephone every five minutes), and I developed a cold the next day, so I attributed it to that. However, I'm over the cold now, and had no further sign of the throat thing until yesterday when I applied Imp. I didn't think anything of it, because when I showered last night it went away, and it didn't return until about a half-hour ago when I applied Dragon's Milk.

How strange! I can't think of any rational explanation for it, but I *feel* like it could be a reaction to the sweet, sugary nature of these scents. There's something about that burnished sugar smell that triggers something in my brain. I really do like the scents very much, but I wonder if my brain's just not tolerating them right now? Or like Allamanda said, maybe it's just olfactory overload? (Not from sniffing too many scents, because I've only smelled the one today, but perhaps from the intense nature of the scent.)

*shrugs*

Hm. I've noticed that about 20 minutes after applying certain oils (Imp yesterday, and now Dragon's Milk today), I start feeling a "catch" at the back of my throat. It's hard to explain, but it's a slight itch or tickle, and it feels as though my throat is closing up a bit. I can't think of any explanation other than that perhaps something in the oils is causing me to have a reaction?

Has anyone else had anything similar happen? And if so, which oils seemed to trigger it? Have you been able to isolate any one ingredient that may be causing it?

(I have worn both Maiden and Twilight before all day with no effect. Strange.)

When I first put this on, it was as if I had spilled Marachino cherry juice on my wrists. A VERY sugary cherry smell.

After a few minutes, it settled into a slightly warmer smell, with a hint of spice peeking through. However, the predominant smell is still quite sugary and syrupy.

Surprisingly, I am enjoying this one. However, I will have to be VERY careful not to apply too much, because this scent easily could become overpowering I think.

Edited to add -- Since writing this review, Dragon's Milk has become one of my favorites. As I get to know it, the warm almond scent comes out more and more. It's a very comforting, lickable scent that I find myself reaching for more and more!

The don't smell *alike* but Imp and Amazonian complement each other eerily well. I wore both today, and I could have devoured myself.

OH my. I think it's high time I reviewed this one, as it's just hit me how much I love it.

At first I feared that this one would be too cloying and heady, because I tried it when I was already feeling a little bit queasy, and while I knew that I loved the smell, it was a little overwhelming when wet on my skin, and it threatened to give me a headache.

Well, I'm very pleased to discover that the headache was the exception, not the rule. I've worn Imp all day today. and it's had me sniffing at my wrists for hours!

The predominant smell, is, of course, peach. But it's a warm, mellow peach that is perfectly enveloped by the earthy patchouli and amber. This fragrance "glows," if you know what I mean. I associate it with a warm, glistening peach glow.

It has remarkable staying power on me, and it maintains it's delicious sweet/spicy balance for hours. As it eventually does start to fade, the patchouli becomes a touch more predominant.

This is the first oil that I've realized I'll be needing a bigger bottle of. It's sweet without being overwhelmingly fruity, and it's just earthy enough to be playfully sexy in a confident, healthy grown-up way. That is to say, this fragrance is no tease -- it's not flirty or cloying or mysterious. Rather, it's grounded, wholesome, but yet still sexy. It's late afternoon sunlight streaming in through your windows, warming up your skin.

It feels very "me," and I can see it becoming somewhat of a signature scent for me, as lots my favorite fragrances tend to combine sweet/spicy, fruity/earthy notes.

*tries hand at this "reviewing" malarky*

Ok. Maiden is one of those scents that can smell lots of different ways to me depending on my state of mind. After reading the reviews, I expected it to smell girly and innocent, and if I think of it that way, I can smell a very non-threatening (i.e., boring) floral perfume, especially right out of the bottle.

Wet on my skin, carnation stems and leaves pop out, giving it a very natural, green scent.

However . . . once it's settled on my skin, it quickly becomes a really appealing dry, warm floral. Lush's Potion has given me a new appreciation for carnation -- I used to regard it as a cheap grocery store flower, but I've grown to love it for it's dry, spicy fragrance. That's what comes through in Maiden for me -- that slightly spicy carnation scent. Carnation with a bit of depth -- but not too much. Maiden is definitely not a deep, overwhelming floral. Rather, it's light, dry, and very wearable.

My only complaint is that it seems to fade awfully fast -- perhaps I'll experiment with applying more next time.

All in all, I really like Maiden and foresee wearing it regularly. A very pleasant surprise for someone who doesn't think of herself as an "innocent floral" type of gal!

I'm definitely interested in playing with Libra -- I am a Libra (and a prototypical one at that!) so I'm curious to see how it develops on my skin! Thanks for the suggestion!

Wouldn't you know, the rain has stopped now . . .

But I'm still interested in all your suggestions, as it's sure to be back!

I've tried a little Venom on my wrists . . .

It seems somehow appropriate, because it's a little bit dark, but also wet and kind of sultry. On the downside, it smells kind of like (I hate to say this, but) perm solution . . . but I have a cold AND it's "that time of the month" so I don't really trust my nose *or* my body chemistry to give me a reliable review right now!

I haven't tried it, but the limited edition June Gloom sounds perfect for that description!

It definitely does!

I agree that the warmer, sweeter scents aren't quite the ticket. I am thinking something mildly floral, but not really powdery or feminine . . .

We are having furious thunderstorms here at the moment -- the kind complete with bolts of lightning, loud cracks of thunder, and big, heavy drops of rain. It's hot, humid, dark, and gloomy!

So naturally, my thoughts turn to -- what fragrance would complement this mood?

I have:

Phantasm
Delirium
Imp
Persephone
Twilight
Endymion
Maiden
Spellbound
Snake Oil
Velvet
Carnivale
Venom
Dragon's Milk
Libra
Venus
Luna
Sol
Mercury

I haven't tried them all, so if one of those strikes you as appropos, do let me know, won't you? I'm also open to suggestions beyond that list.

Thanks!