stellans

mmm, mmm, good! That's what wearing Tombstone means to me...it makes me feel all warm, fuzzy, and hugged! I love the sassafras note, which mixes so well with the vanilla so that neither is overpowering, and keeps the cedar from taking over as well. This is such a nice, herbal, sweet, woody but somehow dry blend...it really is indicative of a desert town like Tombstone. I love that this blend is so gender-neutral, in my opinion. It smells equally wonderful on Mr. Stellans as it does on me. This is a GC blend which needs to stay around for a long, long time. 4 of 5 stars, easy.

Ahhhhh, lilac! And lily-of-the-valley! And nectarine! And green tea! This is such a wonderful blend, and it has so many lovely notes that it's really not that surprising that I do love it so much. I have no idea why I don't wear it every day...except that BPAL seems to have so very many blends I love that much. What to do, what to do...

Thanks to Miss_Twilight, I have a bottle of this glorious scent of my own, and it was pure happenstance...the one I'd asked for had sold out before my turn came, so she offered a choice of her 'extra' bottles to me, and Antimony seemed to jump out from the text. Thank goodness, otherwise I might have missed out on one of the most wonderful sandalwood blends I've ever smelled. No, really -- the most wonderful! I got no fish, no camphor...just wonderful, wonderful sandalwood. The sandalwood that was prized by royalty back in the day; the sandalwood which gently scents fans, boxes, buttons, beads - you name it. The sandalwood which incense only wishes it smelled like. That is in this bottle, in liquid gold. ETA: This was substituted 6/7/09 because I didn't like the day's selection (Litha 09), and actually, this seems to a daytime version of Schwarzer Mond 06...lighter, a bit more incense-y, but with some patchouli rocking along!

I don't know why I haven't reviewed it before, but I'm doing it at last...even though many people have written better reviews before this and have really already said all that could be said. But I'm going to say a bit anyway. After I was totally gutted by the mint (or at the least, mint-like) note in Blue Moon 2004, I was very nervous about this Blue Moon incarnation. I needn't have worried at all. No mint. Not a bit, not a trace, not a smidgen. NONE. Yay! Instead, a cooling blend with a delicate floral tinge but a definite (to me) cucumber edge makes the night magical. There were so many different floral notes listed I was a little afraid this blend would be overwhelmingly floral, but it isn't at all. It's delicious, and I mean that in a totally non-foody way. Delicious!

hmmm....when I tried this blend out in a decant circle just a few months ago, I got no vanilla at all -- only heliotrope, pear, and sandalwood. I bought a bottle on that basis, because I’m not a vanilla fan at all though I do love pear, sandalwood, and usually heliotrope. Unfortunately for me and my paypal fund, the bottle is almost all vanilla and a sort of honey-type note as well...yes, that’s right -- honey, which is also not a favorite note. Ick. This is far too sweet a blend for me, and it’s rapidly inducing a sugar-high headache. For this particular bottle, my only hope is that age will bring out the sandalwood more to fight off the deadly (to me) vanilla. I have no such hope for the pear heliotrope, or rose. The lily and wine grape never even showed up. Doggone it, I go to the extra expense of decant circles so I will know what to buy in bottle-form, and when the formulation varies so wildly , it’s impossible for one to make an informed decision. This is enough to make me quit buying LEs, especially since this sort of ‘difference’ seems to be happening more and more often. Argh. And double-argh.

I’m not much for grain or nut scents, but this is one wonderful exception. There is definitely a feral element to this blend, and I love the raw power it evokes when I wear it. The musks, herbs, and lunar oils combine to make a really sensual, powerful perfume, one I do not wear lightly. I love the blood note, and do not get the cinnamon so many others have noticed...thank goodness, because both cinnamon and cassia tend to raise red welts on me so I avoid wearing it directly but instead use a scent locket alone -- which would not be good, since I wear Lunacies at night for sleeping purposes. I do love this dry, feral blend -- not only does it have the dragon's blood note I love, but it gets my own blood to racing. Rawr!

This blend proves why the listing of notes in a blend should not be a reason to never try that blend. I have a huge gag reflex caused by mint; it truly is my 'bane,' as the icon I sometimes use in my sig file (made by <b>moonarcana</b>) so decoratively says. This blend, though listing mint as a note, is so nicely done, so well-balanced, that the mint does not emerge separately but helps make the 'snow' scent cold and realistic, along with the aconite and other elements. This is my daytime counterpart to my beloved nighttime Lunacy, Snow Moon. It's a bit lighter, and the snow scent is more pronounced than in the Lunacy, but that only adds to my love for this blend. The Snow Storm is #2 on my list of Top Ten BPAL LE favorites, and I have collected quite a few bottles to hoard. I want to be able to wear this whenever I want for a long, long time. It's just that good. 5 of 5 stars, with no hesitation.

O.M.G. This is such a perfect combination of incense, smoke, vanilla and sex! I love incense notes, so I was excited about this blend from the moment I heard about it. When my bottle arrived, I was in heaven. It was wonderful: smoky sex in a bottle, and I reveled in wearing it. Now, a bit more than a year later this blend is even better than when I first tried it. Age has deepened the incense, mellowed the vanilla, and altogether improved this blend -- and I wouldn't have believed it could improve. But it has, it has, and I love it even more.

I really love Wolf Moon 2007, so when I had the chance to score a bottle of the earlier release, I jumped on it like a hen on a june bug! Although the official description of both incarnations is the same, the scents are different...different like a winter and summer version, imo. The 2007 version, the one I first loved, is a much stronger, heavier version - what I am now thinking of as the 'winter' version, as it seems to have more heft, more fur, more pine, and a much colder aquatic note, as in snow. The 2004 version has the same pine and cool aquatic note but it's rain rather than snow, not nearly as much pine, and all in all a much lighter oil. I like it very much, and will forever be grateful to the eBayer who sold it.

I ordered this blend even though the first note listed is the temperamental jasmine because the story behind it was so very appealing...and I knew the label art would be amazing -- and it is, it is! And surprisingly, the jasmine is playing nicely with me this morning! Woo-hoo! True to the description, jasmine is the first note I sniff both in the bottle and on my skin. The vanilla is in there, lending a bit of sultry sweetness, but it’s the lime and margaritas which really sell this blend on me. Oh my, yes -- I’m a lime-a-holic, and that’s probably why the jasmine works for me in this blend That, and the jasmine’s not lingering past the initial 10 minutes or so. The lime, Dorian’s creamy tea goodness and Snake Oil’s sensual goodness help forestall the possibility of jasmine rebellion, and keep it safely (for me) in the background. Yay! Even had this blend not worked well, I would keep the bottle because that happy little baby face just makes me go weak at the knees and all pudding-soft in the heart. I'm so happy I can wear the scent as well as enjoy the label art. Win-win, w00t!

I spent today wandering around in a happy haze of roses, lilies and dirt! No, really...roses, lilies and dirt, and they all played well together on my skin and made me happy. Madeline is a soft, sad scent but it made me happy because I loved how I smelled wearing it. The white rose in this blend is superb, the calla lily is well-done, and the dirt note is just enough for a nice accent, and there's a slight underpinning of wood as well. I really didn't smell any myrrh, which is unusual with a blend in which myrrh is listed as a note because while I don't amp myrrh, I always can tell it's around. The ivy note is also slight, but the green is there and lends itself quite well to the blend. This was a lucky purchase, because I foolishly thought I had enough rose blends. Silly me...what was I thinking?

I bought a bunch of strawberries from a local farm this week, and I was so happy to realize that my first whiff of Strawberry Moon 2009 smells just like that flat of fresh strawberries. Last night was amazing, falling asleep with the luscious scent of a ripe strawberry in my nostrils... the whole berry, stems and leaves, and yes, blossom. I really didn't smell much dandelion at all this time, so maybe that will come out more as the oil ages. The throw is more than sufficient for sleeping, and the stay is as well. I could still smell whiffs of strawberry goodness this morning, not strong but it was there. Glad I have 2 bottles!

*sigh* Today is the third time I've worn this blend, which for me means it's a make-or-break day. Unfortunately, it's break. As in: break up. I don't know for sure what it is in this blend that reacts so badly to my personal chemistry, but it does. Maybe it's the amber; goodness knows amber is not always a friend to me, though it can be lovely. Maybe it's the lily, as that also can sometimes be problematic. Whatever. All I know is it turns sickly sweet on me, then moves to plastic. Doggone it.

that was the cutest photo! "Lilith and the Mask" or "Lilith and Freddie" -- either one FTW!

I love the Lab's mechanized notes, and even the ozone was kind to me in this blend. This particular mechanical type blend doesn't have the 'hot metal' note that some of the Phoenix Steamworks blends do; rather, this metal is cool, maybe a bit shiny but not too much. It dries down to a very nice slightly watery floral/metallic blend which seemed very suitable to the gray rainy day I wore it. I would classify this scent is a gender-neutral.

Soft, gentle but bright floral, perfect for a quiet contemplative day. Too bad today isn’t such a day for me, but it’s not this blend’s fault. However stressed out I may be, this blend is a nice way to calm down, to center myself, to remember “it is as it is” and “what will be, will be.” Yes. This blend is perfect for that, and now I’m going outside to sit in my garden.

2008 release: Lovely bright combination makes me so very happy! As I’ve said in reviews of other blends, amber is not always my friend, but when amber plays nicely the result is amazing. There is a wonderful earthiness in this blend (the tonka, no doubt), and I’m not exactly sure what costus is nor what galbanum brings to the party, but the slight sweetness that is the rockrose makes this a sunny blend for a sunny day.

Amber has reared its ugly plastic head on my skin in this blend. I had to take this off quickly to avoid the dreaded plastic headache, but I'm going to keep the bottle and try again later and hope for a better reaction. It wasn't like this when I used the decant...I hate when this happens!

Lavender-a-mundo! It’s obvious that lavender is going to be the major note in this blend because that’s pretty much all I smell...until it mellows a bit and the frankincense (and maybe a leeeetle bit of orchid) shows up. There is a certain depth to this that isn’t in some of the other blends claiming lavender as the top note, and I think it’s thanks to the frankincense. I like this very much, and I really need to wear it more often than just in May. However, I do think that age has made this a much better blend, as I remember an off-putting sharpness when I first tried this back in 2007 that has given way to a lovely, smooth blend that I enjoy wearing. It has great throw and good stay, so this blend receives a 4 of 5 stars from me.

Straight from the twisted alleys of Dis, by way of the City of Angels: opium smoke, lemon flower, heliotrope, tuberose, black musk, vanilla, coconut, apricot flower. The lemon flower is very much in evidence on first application, but it doesn’t amp up unbearably on me, as citrus (especially anything lemon) is apt to do. The musk vanilla and the various floral notes all combine nicely to make this a very bright and happy blend, and while I was hoping for a smoky or incense-y blend, this is nice on me. It smells like a Saturday one spends outside in the yard, or at the farmers market, or at a...carnival! The outside part, though, not any of the tent shows... Good throw, medium stay...3 of 5 stars for this nice blend.

Aquatic/ozone notes are not always kind to me, as they mostly end up smelling like men's aftershave. There are a few exceptions, and I'm very happy that The Phoenix is evidently one. The salt water, lime, blood, wood and Snake Oil (gunpowder is a no-show on me) add up to something which smells amazing on me. It's fresh, slightly citrus-y, and just a little sinister. Yum! Bring me Johnny Depp and make it snappy! ETA: Sadly, with the change in medication, like so many other once-favorite blends this one no longer works for me. Now it's all aftershave, all the time. And when it dries? It's dry aftershave. Hold the Johnny Depp. No, never mind: let him console me!

For whatever reason, today my skin chemistry firmly rejected wearing this blend. I bought a bottle after falling in love with a decant (and it was a fresh decant from a fresh bottle, so no aging was in play), but I think once again my change in medication is wreaking havoc with which blends work on me and which do not. The florals turn a horrid plastic-y, headache-inducing miasma on me...and that is so not how it used to be! I hate that this is happening, and that there seems to be not a lot of rhyme nor reason to which or why. *sigh*

I get no discernible florals in this blend, but rather a plethora of different greens: grasses, stems, leaves... everything green! There's even the slightest undernote of something dryer, like bark maybe? I like this blend very much, too much to relegate it to the specials box, to be worn only on Election Day. In my Triple Dagger locket, the greens are more pronounced than on my skin, and have a sharper edge. A blade of grass can cut too...

This blend starts with a bit of sourness which almost calls to mind a bad jasmine reaction, but it passes quickly, thank goodness. The opium may not be a favorite note, but in this blend it seems to work quite nicely with the narcissus (this I do like) and the myrrh (and this I like as well). The sourness I mentioned before gives way to a very nice resin (the myrhh) which is not in the least spoiled by the narcissus; rather, the light floral note serves to lighten the myrrh just a bit, which in this case was needed, IMO. This blend definitely lives up to its name, as it definitely calls gloom to mind, but it’s a lovely blend for any season. Oh, and mine is a cobalt bottle, at least as old as 2005... I don't know how I'd react to a newer version.

This scent was instant love for me, because it called forth all the wonderful memories of my babies: soft powder, milk and honey with a light overtone of lavender and a couple of other herbs. It's just perfect...as a lovely memory. As a perfume, it is softly sweet, barely there at all and then it disappears quickly. The honey does not overpower, the milk does not curdle, and the powder does not go all dry: it is a lovely, lovely blend. It just doesn't last very long. But it's so pretty while it does last that it's a keeper for me. Well, that and the part about it reminding me of when I had little ones still.