stellans

Rappaccini's Garden - Does anybody have any pictures of bottles from this section?

check Twilight_Eye's Flickr journal; I bet she does!

XXXIX (39)
woo-hoo! I had high hopes for this, as I love the incense/resin of Penitence, and my CTV bottle didn't disappoint! Today's original scent didn't work, so I moved on the CTV series, and Penitence was first up. Again I say:

Incense and resin are among my favorite ways to smell, and this has both in spades. There's something just a little sweet in the drydown which is missing in the original Penitence, but that just sets this blend apart from its namesake, and in a good way, IMO. The sweetness seems to be floral in nature; maybe a deep red rose? I'm not sure. I am still not very good at picking out individual notes, but there is the requisite smokiness I associate with the myrhh and frankincense of Penitence plus that sweetness which just makes this altogether a lovely blend. Hooray for taking a leap of faith for a Chaos Theory...and it works out! I am going to enjoy sniffing this all the rest of the day...and in the future. I'll bet this is a blend which ages marvelously well.

well, isn’t this just crappy. Jasmine strikes again and turns this lovely-sounding blend into sourness and strife on my skin. Sidhe beag-Sidhe Mor, anyone?

And I had such high hopes for the black orchid and sandalwood, and I won't even mention that the rose note never even shows up...but the final word: who needs a Faery War going on right on their very skin? Not I!

Oh well.

anybody know what the label color is for the March 13 blend?

Definitely black pepper in this blend; it’s the first thing which hits my nose. It takes a while to get past the pepper, but the wait is definitely worth it, as honeysuckle is such a treat. Dragon’s blood is also a favorite note of mine, and it serves well in this blend, especially given that Aries is a fire sign. The opoponax is not a scent I was familiar with until finding BPAL, but it has come to earn my respect because of the depth it adds to blends. In my scent locket, the pepper never really goes away to let the other notes come to the forefront, but on my skin it mellows away very nicely.

I wore this blend today to honor my youngest child's birthday. She isn't active on the forum (claims she has too much to do with WoW and LJ as it is, hah!), but Happy Birthday, Ginny!

oh, this blend is definitely one of the Lab’s fabled sex-in-a-bottle blends! The spices which are playing so well together with the red musk make me want to tie some scarfs around my hips, put on some jingly bangles, and shimmy till I just can’t shimmy any more... it’s a belly-dancing scent, it is...much more than a story-telling scent, thought telling tales is the main reason Scherezad is famous!

I like spices, especially non-foody spices, and I love incense, so I was pretty sure this would be a good blend for me. The red musk in this one wasn't the reason I wanted to try it, but it turns out to be one of the reasons I love it so much. Who knew?

Being that today's pick didn't agree with me at all, I turned to my Top Ten box for a pick: Twisted Oak Tree is what I'm wearing instead, and I noticed that I hadn't yet written a review for it even though it's been a couple of years since release! How could I be such a slack, especially for a blend I've named to my Top Ten???

 

My BPAL database notes: strange but lovely aquatic (not overly woody) note on skin; the wood and green notes are wonderful in this blend, despite the description sounding icky. In the locket, there’s a bit of char smell but not unpleasantly so. And def. NO rot! I wonder how this will age?

 

Well, to answer myself: it ages marvelously well! This is just an amazing blend of odors which from the description (Blackened, rotted oak wood blanketed in moss and choked by a cloak of grasping ivy) do not sound too nice, do they? Except when one know the Lab, as those of use who love BPAL do, one know that descriptions aren't always quite what they seem. This is a tricksy blend, which seems one thing but then turns into yet another. There's the aquatic note, but it's not of the sea nor rain nor other fresh water; there's the wood, but it's not your dry wood, oh no. It's the wet wood you smell in the forest, the fallen wood on the ground. I honestly do not get ivy from this blend, nor anything green at all. If ivy is indeed in this, it's dead ivy, withering away.

 

This blend is marvelous, and I wear it quite frequently, especially when something I'm trying for the day doesn't work out. Today (3/20/09) was such a day, and wearing Twisted Oak Tree made it a lucky day for me indeed.

Not so fast. What was fresh spring blossoms, with a touch of greenery and early morning dew in the decant for whatever vile reason has turned to the nastiest sort of plastic-y aftershave today! I can't stand it now, and and I have a bottle! crappity-crap-crap.

This blend is a puzzler; sometimes I like it, and sometimes I don't. I totally blame the night-blooming jasmine, as jasmine in any form is not always a friend of mine. When it hates me, it smells like sour death; when it doesn't hate me, it acts all innocent and sweet, like "me stink? Never!"

 

Today, though I was afraid jasmine was in a snotty hateful mood, it actually turned out to be very good for me with Morgause. This isn't a blend I wear very often, because my younger daughter wears it a lot, and I sort of identify its scent with her (as well as Black Dahlia, but that's another review). But since today we took her to the airpot to fly to her sweetie in Canada (wedding bells may well be in the offing within the year) I wore Morgause in her honor (she wore the Black Dahlia ).

 

It smells very differently on the two of us; hence my calling Morgause a puzzler in my first sentence. On her, it's all lovely violets and incense. On me, not so much with the incense...but at least violet shows up with the rest of the florals. I love violet, and it almost makes up for when jasmine plays her nasty little tricks on me. Almost.

 

Sadly, even dry I get no incense (which I love!) and not a lot of violet (see above). I have a rollerball bottle with several imps' worth of Morgause; that will do me -- no bottle purchase for this blend, though I bought a 10ml bottle from a LJ seller for DD#2's Yule gift a couple of years ago. I'll let her wear the Morgause for me too.

In the bottle, there is a bitterness which does NOT translate to the skin, thank goodness. I was afraid some unnamed jasmine had wiggled its way into this blend, but evidently not. I don't know what the momentary sourness was, but since it doesn't show up while I wear it, it's not something I'm going to worry about.

 

This blend reminds me of walking in my yard, early in the morning, as the iris and other spring flowers are beginning to bloom: fresh, dew-sprinkled, green, and lovely. There’s even a note of what the stems smell like when you pick them; you know, the slightly sticky-smelling, really green liquid smell, though very faint -- it's just enough to make you think of a basket of blooms carried in from one's garden to grace a guest room. This is just a genius blend, and I love it, even if no sandalwood or myrrh ever makes its way to my nose, I like this very much.

I am a big rose scent nut. And I like both orange blossom and rosemary. Therefore, I was predisposed to like this blend, and when I tried an imp, it really made my nose happy before I ever put it on my skin.

 

Once it hit my skin, even bigger love set in! Rose is usually a sweet scent (though it can have a sharp edge; Peacock Queen, I’m looking at you!), and orange blossom too can normally be counted upon to deliver a certain sweetness to one’s nostrils. Rosemary, in contrast, is a much sharper scent, very astringent, and cuts through the incipient floral sweetness of the rose and orange blossom. On me, there is sharpness to be sure, but no bitterness. The florals are enough to keep this a very lovely scent, and the rosemary keeps it from being cloying. I like it!

 

This scent definitely evokes the memory of one of history’s most ruthless women: Catherine de Medici, Queen-Consort of France, Regent of France, and Governor of France.

It is well-known in my family that rose is my favorite scent, but violet is another , and when I saw that the Lab’s Marie was violet and rose, I figured it was a blend I would probably like.

 

Yay! I was right! The sweetly sad note of violet is uppermost, which is very appropriate for a scent named for the tragically executed Queen of France. The rose comes in only softly, and underneath the violet, and lends an extra sweetness to the mix. I wish the throw was a bit stronger, but with two such soft notes, that really isn’t very likely. This blend has a shorter length of stay than I would like, but it stays strong and true for a long time in my scent locket.

I ordered two sets of the Bards and got one imp of Leipreachan, so I don't think it is set related.

 

Mine are all posted on Flickr now too.

 

I just have to say, again, how very much I appreciate TwilightEyes's posting her bottle-label pictures for us all to see... thank you, thank you, thank you! Yours is a very useful resource!

This is delicious, and was such a good trade. The apricot’s sweetness really helps bring out the incense (musk?), though there’s not a lot of citrus in evidence. As I’ve written before, I think citrus is one of the less lasting notes, and in this case, it doesn’t matter at all. There's just a hint of it under the apricot, slightly cutting the sweetness, but not much. I was a little afraid of this after seeing so many Evil Candy of Doom type reviews, but yay for incense-y sweet fruit instead! The only small downside of this blend is the throw is a bit short, and it doesn't last very long on me, but while it does...glorious!

whoa, i haven't ordered a GC bottle in a long time, i had no idea the labels had changed! the last one i got was Rumpelstiltzchen. i am tempted to 'upgrade' some of my favorites for new labels now since my old (non-glossy) labels on the 4+ year old ones are generally stained. thanks for the Irish bards photos! i hope i get mine today!

me too! I have some GC favorites which are nearly the bottom and I want the new labels too, LOL! I'm in a decant circle for the Bards, so I won't order any that don't work on me; I wonder if you still get the Leprechaun imp if you don't order a full set?

I have to admit the ginger gave me pause when I applied this first thing this morning. Evidently I amp ginger like whoa.

 

However, upon drydown, this blend is amazing! The chocolate notes are perfection, and give way smoothly to the spicy goodness which comprise this blend, which also seem to keep the ginger in a nice check so that it merely spikes my nose a bit, not overwhelmingly. And the brown sugar/molasses notes are very, very warm and appealing...Yum!

I wish I were better at picking out notes, especially when there is no official note listing to guide me. However, this blend is amazing in its resin-y goodness! There is definitely patchouli there, which alone would seal this bottle as a keeper, but there are other subtle components which only add to the deliciousness. The spice which enriches the patchouli is lovely, and doesn’t burn my skin as blends which have cinnamon or cassis usually do. There is a sweetness under the spice and patchouli which I can’t identify, but it is nicely balancing, and welcome to my nose. Others have mentioned a fruitiness and I wouldn't rule that out; I just don't have the expertise to name it.

Bottom line: I have a big bottle of this, and I will enjoy it to the last drop.

This is not the spectre which sends a chill down your spine with an eery cry; no, this is your dearly beloved grandmother or cherished aunt, looking after you from Beyond, the gentle breeze you feel brush your cheek when you enter a certain room in the family home, the faint scent of long-gone roses in the attic...

Lilac is uppermost, with the lily a close second, but wet I can find no sandalwood at all. In drydown, however, not only does the sandalwood come forward (as lilac and lily bow out), so does a faint whiff of rose. Truly, this is a ghostly blend, as spirits of scent notes drift around your nose, tantalizing and taunting all at the same time.

Amber on me often turns to aftershave, and this is the case for Mantis, at least while wet. However, once dry the blend turns fresh and herbal, not at all cologne-y. I smell only the tiniest hint of patchouli, and the neroli makes only the faintest of appearances. The musk is there, blending with the patchouli and neroli underneath the fresh herbal scent, all giving a deepness to the blend which is very pleasant. All in all, this is a bottle I will likely wear again and again, especially in warmer weather.

wet, this has a top note very much like that of Dragon Moon 06 or Holiday Moon (bamboo perhaps?), enough so that I turned my bed lamp back on to check the label to be sure I hadn’t grabbed the wrong rollon!)..

 

But...the dry down is so wonderful! Under the bright first notes (hello, nice ozone rather than aftershave ozone!), there comes a dry, woody, hot note which speaks of seared summer landscapes rather than stormy spring growth. This dry heated wood smell is wonderful, and totally different from any other Lunacy I have in my collection. I love this. 4 of 5 stars

Lemon starts out strongly in the bottle and while wet on my skin, but dries away quickly to leave an absolutely delicious sandalwood scent, tempered by the slightest hint of fresh cedar. This is a blend which has aged exceedingly well. It’s been my experience so far that citrus notes tend to age away, and I think that has served Shadow very well for my own personal use. Sandalwood is one of my favorite notes, and though cedar doesn’t always work well with me, in this blend it is just right. The mellowness of this blend is perfect for what turned out to be a nice, lazy day.

eta: I know this is an older bottle because it's cobalt. Hence my reasoning regarding its aging.

When first applied, sweet plummy coconut notes are all I smell. Where are the soft woods, the vetiver, the oakmoss??? As drydown happens, a slightly fermented wine smell emerges, but still no soft woods. I'm not a big fan of wine notes, and even if that isn't listed in the notes of this blend, there is a distinct fermented odor in my decant. This is one rare I think I shall be passing along, because I don’t think further aging will improve my opninon. *sigh*

Wow. This is something I would love to find a bottle of, because the violet and the lavender are in perfect harmony, and the neroli is just barely there to make this wonderful. The dry-down is just as wonderful as the scent wet, only with a bit of an incense note, at least on me. This could possibly be the white musk, but it doesn't normally affect me quite this strongly. Love!

This is a very old imp, the kind the lab first put out, with the hand-lettered tag tied on with black fibers. Therefore, this blend ages not only well but very well, and a bottle of this would absolutely join my personal Top 10. Yum!

Again, I warn hoarders: if you love your BPAL, use it! Don’t hoard it (thinking to keep it forever) because it will either: a) evaporate; b)change its odor, and not necessarily in a good way; c) your skin chemistry will change, rendering it personally unwearable )d all of the above.

The sad thing is: I thought Mystery would be safe from the above rules. During the past few years of testing, I’ve noticed that citrus, lighter florals, and some herbal notes don’t always age well, but so far incense, resins, rose, and most evergreens do. I have many bottles of 4-year-old Snow Moon, and everytime I open the next bottle, it smells just as wonderful as did that first sniff. Same goes for Rose Red, of which I have bottles from 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2008. And those are just 2 examples of scents I’ve found age well.

Mystery is supposed to be incense with a hint of perfume. Unfortunately for me, it is now more of a soapy floral (deep floral, at least, but with soap!), but no incense at all. I am so disappointed that I saved this imp for so long before trying it.

ETA: OK, I read the previous reviews, and now I see 'soapy' was also applied a couple of years ago to this blend. I feel a little better now about having not tried it before, but I still caution hoarders: if you love a scent, wear it now. It's better to use it up while it smells good on you than to keep it until it doesn't, and then you're faced with keeping a bottle which doesn't work or selling it, perhaps at a loss. Enjoy what you have to the hilt!

the neroli is the strongest presence in this blend, which is fine because I like neroli. The lavender seems to help dial down the citrusy tang a bit, but whatever lotus there might have been to begin with has been lost to time and aging. This blend is nice and I wouldn’t mind having more, but luckily for my bank balance it isn’t something I will layout ridiculous amounts to buy.