jiggahava

when I first applied this, I hated it. Wet it smells like mildewy leaves with vetiver and baby powder. I wanted to wash it off, but decided to give it a chance. A couple of hours later the mildewy leaves smell is gone, and in it's place is baby powder. The dry down is exactly like Black Cat, which I wasn't too keen on either. Not my kind of scent, alas. I'll have to swap it.

What the heck? Why am I getting vanilla in Yew Trees?! At first when I put it on its heavily piney and woodsy. But after 10 minutes...soft vanilla with a background of woods. Was my imp mislabeled or something? Not that I'm complaining...it reminds me of Golden Priapus. Since I swapped that one away :-(, this will be my replacement. Much yummier than expected. Still feel like my imp is mislabeled, though...

By combining Shango + Euphrosyne, you can get a pretty close match to Tiki Queen. Yummmmm.

You guys, I think I've found The One.

Oh my God.

This is going to push something out of my all time top ten.

How good IS Tiki Queen you ask? So good that if I still had the option of buying this, I would buy two bottles. Maybe even three. And I've never bought multiple bottles of anything, ever. Even my favorite BPALs. The way I feel about Tiki Queen is the way most people feel about Snake Charmer.

Now let's get to the actual scent description:

This is the PERFECT tropical scent. A beautiful mix of creamy sweet florals with light, fizzy pinapple and cocoanut. MMMMMM. I feel transported to Tahiti or some tropical island get away. It's light and airy, and when I put it on, it feels like the equivalent of a silk scarf. Not heavy or overwhelming, and perfect for spring and early summer. The heady tuberose gives way to a pineapple-y cocoanut touched with hibiscus. I'm going to hoard and hoard this and never let go. There is nothing else to compare it to in the BPAL catalogue. It is utterly unique.

A+

Not getting much in the way of lush magnolia here, although maybe it's what's giving Yvaine it's staying power. This smells very similar to Bat-Woman, with the "night air" scent. Although that blend disspeared on my skin, and this stands out a little more, although it's still on the faint side. Very pretty. Lots of lavender here too, although it's more floral and less herbaly, which I like. I do like it, but it's not the kind of scent I see myself wearing very often.

In the imp it doesnt smell too hot, but on my skin....oh my!! I havent been this lovestruck over an imp in a long time! This is one of the best things Ive ever smelled in my life. The cocoanut and patchouli balance each other perfectly, its just yummy coanutty-patchouli all day long. I still have no idea what benzoin smells like, and whatever it is, I cant detect it in this blend. Yummmmm. Big bottle purchase for sure. I was craving cocoanut all day long.

When it first hits my skin wet, it's sharp and metallic. Then once it dries it hits this high-pitched note. It smells like soapy lilies. The next stage it's a powdery, soapy rose. I'm not enjoying this.

After a couple of hours, the soapy smell has backed off a bit, and now it's a soft, ambery rose with a touch of aquatic (but still the powdery amber, the kind I didn't like in Haunted). It's nicer now, but I know that I won't wear this one very often. I think I'll swap it to someone who it works better on.

This is a whole different kind of amazing. Delcious spicy rum mingled with soft dry woods, with just a hint of cool sea air after it dries. I'm in love with this. I feel like there are more spices mixed in with the rum, maybe some cloves or patchouli. Whatever it is, it's delicous. Maybe worth a big bottle too.

Very sharp and bitter on my skin. I think it is the neroli that is doing this. Oddly, it smells like a sharp, bar of soap. I'll wait till this mellows more on my skin. Faint wafts of bergamot, but it's smothered under the heavy neroli and orange blossom. I like my citrus scents to be bright and sweet, this is very dark and heavy. It's very dark orange in tone. I'll probably end up swapping my imp. I like other citrus scents way more than this, alas.

I couldn't wait to try this because in my mind green tea + jasmine= Jasmine tea! Well, that's not quite what I'm getting.

This would be a refreshing tea/jasmine scent if it wasn't for that stupid lemon verbena. Gotdamn you, lemon verbena! It is one of my least favorite smells, and it is kind of ruining this blend. It's so astinringent and strong on my skin, and it overpowers almost all the notes. I'm gonna wait an hour and see if it calms down, and I can reach a verdict.

Verdict: Nice, but swappable. I liked the gentle jasmine and slight green tea smell that wafted from my wrist after a couple of hours, but I like Shanghai better. The lemon does get nice and soft after a while though, so it isn't as harsh smelling as it was earlier.

Egle's is a pretty distinctive smelling hyacinth. My personal favorite is Ladon, and it is very lovely and heady smelling, with a crisp apple to balance things out.

Sniffing this, I think it is a perfect scent for a spring wedding. It's soft, pretty and slightly sensual, but not overtly sexy. Nothing that would upstage the bride. :-D

I mostly get soft plum blossom and vanilla. It's a soft, mildly sweet scent. No trace of nutmeg at all, however. So if you're looking for nutmeg, you're not going to get it! Throw is very weak, but this is meant to be a skin scent, like many of the Shungas. A more intimate scent. I'm very happy that I bought a bottle of this. Long wearlength as well, although it does peter out after 8 hours.

Clemence, all the way.

If you want a more vanilla chai I suggest layering Antique Lace over it.

Smells like mulch. and I don't want to smell like this. This scent manages to be both dirty/woodsy and citrus-y at the same time. I think I'm smelling cedar, which always smells like pencil shavings to me-- but I'm totally wrong! It's the patchouli and vetiver togeather that are playing tricks on my nose. The citrus smells all wrong with it...it just doesn't blend well on me at all. I'm swapping it.

This oil is making me crave honey. It is a good sign when a "foody" oil is making me crave sweets! It means My skin chemistry works well with it. I get sweet sticky honey with wine as a background note. The myhrr grounds the scent and makes it slightly amber-y smelling. its a yummy combination, and I definitley want to keep the imp. I'll consider getting a bottle for my honey cravings. Throw is moderate.

Nummy bubblegum. This is sweet, but not TOO sweet. I feel like a little girl wearing this. The throw is moderate, but it fades after a few hours, even when I slather. I definitley think it's worth keeping. It would even work great as a layering scent. Especially with other foody notes.

This is a really good blend for when I'm in my "woodsy" moods. The juniper and the cypress create a very dewy, bright green grass feeling. Like being in the woods on a summer day with the light filtering through the trees. The rose is distinctive, it's a crisp fresh rose. The chamomile I can detect just grounding the whole thing togeather, although it's very light and more of a background note. It makes me feel fresh and pretty. I'll keep my imp around for sure!

My God, this is HEAVENLY. This is a fruity musk. There's the sweetness of strawberry mixed with the sensuality of red musk. The white musk keeps this from going too cloyingly sweet. I get whiffs of grapefruit for approx. five seconds, then it's gone. This is so gorgeous. I might get a big bottle when my imp runs out.

it's actually a relief that I don't care very much for The Illustrated Woman. At first she's all sharp pine. I immediately dislike it. Then she softens up to a pale light vanilla with some light resins in the background. Pleasant for sure, but I have so many vanilla scents that are better than this one. It has almost all notes I ADORE...but something about them all put togeather doesn't quite do it for me. I don't get excited when I sniff my wrist, and that's a key factor. it's lacking that sexy oomph that other vanilla scents have. its also too pale and light on me. I like my vanilla scents headier.

Oh well, at least I'll be spending less money! This one seems like a real crowd pleaser, I'm sure she has a huge fanbase already.

This smells very thin and watery. I misktook the lilies for violet. It's a slightly dusty floral, due to the rose and lily togeather. There's something slightly green and pungent lurking in the background, which I attribute to the moss. It's very light and pale on me, and the throw is minimal. Pretty and pleasant enough, but nothing special. I'll probably keep my imp and use it when the weather gets hotter. It's a nice cool down scent.

Mmm, this is a comfort scent. It's warm and cozy, with the amber, vanilla bean and heliotrope combined. It evokes a golden, warm feeling. The peach blossom gives this a slight fruity kick to ofset the sweetness. This is very much a "me" scent. May be my favorite of the Illyria collection. I'm definitley ordering a bottle.

This honey is very strong and sweet...reminds me alot of Sed Non Satia or Les Bijoux. I think I like those scents alot more though. This is really tasty smelling, but it doesn't quite bowl me over. At first I smell roses and herbs very strongly. They are sort of layered over the honey. It is a very floral honey, not super foody. I wonder why this one isn't more popular. Honey lovers should be all over it.

Medium throw, altough my sister told me she could smell it from across the room. I do like this though, and I'll keep my imp.

Even though I've never been to the south, I like to experience it vicariously through magnolias. Magnolias have become one of my favorite flowers because of the way they smell one me--heady and lush. On me, I smell likes spiced magnolias with hints of mandarin orange. The slight citrus smell complements the flowers and musk very nicely. This is a perfect nighttime/clubbing scent. it makes me feel very sexy....and a little hungry. BPAL oils with spice in it always seem to make me hungry for some reason. I'm defiitley keeping my imp.

On my skin it smells like wet woods. Then the amber comes out and the steamy jungle blooms make their appearance. very bright and pretty. Unfortunaltey, it goes all soapy after an hour. I don't want to smell like I rubbed floral soap all over me. Then another hour later it softens up and the amber takes away the sharp edge of the florals. I don't mind it so much at this stage, but I don't think this scent is for me. I'll probably swap it.

This works SO well on me. At first the lemon and spices clashed with the flowers, giving off some odd dirty-type smell. Then after 10 minutes, the flowers bloom. I know when I love a blend when I want to run out and seek every BPAL with those notes in it. Right now I'm tempted to look up scents with honeysuckle and jasmine and buy them all. I swear there's some magnolia in this as well, even though it's not listed. I might get a bottle because it's so heady and beautiful. Honeysuckle and jasmine are very tropical smelling flowers to me. There's nothing delicate about them, they're big, bold and they make a statement. They're very sweet smelling as well, and I'm a sucker for anything sweet. The throw is moderate, not too strong. It makes me want to visit the south.