diabolique

i think any of the seasonal blends are wonderful for scenting homes and cars. in the summer, i would use neo-tokyo or something equally light. texan summers get pretty hot. for winter, i would try march hare and three witches.

definitely try march hare (if you like apricot) and blood. blood could be potentially very clovey on the right skin chemistry. i didn't get much clove in three witches, but you might try it. my skin doesn't really amp up the clove factor in anything. i can't even smell it in blood kiss. -shrug-

if you honestly believe you won't get the job, you won't. worry about the disappointment factor later, if you indeed have to-- right now you need to concentrate on being positive and confident in your abilities. DON'T TELL YOURSELF YOU CAN'T DO IT. that is the sure-fire way to sabotage an opportunity.

first off, i'm so proud of you, babe! i hope you get the position. you could definitely use a different job. other than that, i'm another vote for hamadryad. i would avoid wearing anything foody, boozey, or just -too- unique. that isn't to say that hamadryad's not gorgeous and can hold its own, but it isn't something that screams, "HEY! PAY ATTENTION TO ME! I'M SEXY. RAWR," (snake oil, i'm looking at you). it's very understated, calming, and grounding. go on with your bad self, dollface.

pure. fucking. leather. it actually kind'f grosses me out. maybe this would be nice for layering purposes, but i really just don't want to smell like leather at all. i had about 1/4th of an imp of this a long time ago, and needed to sterilize some extra imps for decanting purposes. it took me SO long to get the smell out. i didn't want to waste the oil, so i dumped the remainder of the imp on my grandpa's wrists. the entire house smelled like leather for three or so days, and all of us were pretty grossed out by it. this would be totally nice for a leather-lover, but i have issues with smelling like dead cow skin. this is also one of those imps that stalks me. the lab always gives it to me as a gimp. thanks, lab, but i don't think i'll ever learn to like this one.

the imp i received of this a long time ago was quite lovely. it was girly, sweet, and milky. i loved it, although alice isn't very "me." i'm not sure if my skin chemistry made this go bad or if it's another factor, but the bottle i received from a forumite turned VERY powdery and sour in the bottle. i had to pass this on. if it smelled anything like the imp did on my skin, i would've happily kept it.

i can't believe i haven't reviewed this yet. i really expected to like this since pineapple is one of my favorite fruits, but i didn't get much pineapple from it at all. it wasn't particularly fruity, and i got more of a.. well, generic cologne type smell from it. perhaps an aftershave for freshening up. it reminds me a bit of a more tropical oberon, but a bit more masculine. not really a keeper for me. sorry, baba yaga.

i received a bottle of an experimental blend from a lovely forumite who labeled it as "dragon's milk with spice," and that immediately caught my eye. i love dragon's milk, and i love spice, so what can i say? when i opened the bottle and sniffed, though, my reaction was, "this isn't dragon's milk, this is snake oil!" i wasn't disappointed at all, though. i love this blend a lot. it seems like i got another one of those snake oil + something random scents, and it's actually made me want to try snake oil again. i think, if we didn't at least get the same one, kimmer and i received very similar experimental blends. it took me a while to figure out what the extra random note was, and it kept changing on me. one minute it was cherry, the next minute it was a creamy citrus, and then i couldn't smell any extra note, so i was convinced i just got a bottle of snake oil. this is very luscious smelling. it's sweet snake oil (but very smooth, spicy, and mellow-- almost a medium aged snake oil ) with creamy, fluffy lemon ice cream swirled around in it. it isn't something i'll reach for when i'm going out, but it's very comforting, and i like it.

most people i know just says scherezade smells "good. like incense." :\

actually, last saturday, i noticed that when i wore blood rose, i was getting suggestive looks from a lot of people. i was being flirted with quite a bit, and i even got hit on by a woman at a coffee shop (women NEVER flirt with me, always men. everyone assumes i'm straight). ETA: for the record, i am almost never blatantly flirted with by strangers. most people keep it subtle, but some of this was fairly hardcore. i'm not sure if that's because of the oil or because i was a free woman at the time, so i had no qualms about flirting back.

this has made the list of my least favorite scents. not because of the smell, mind you, but because there's some nostalgic association i have with this that i'm not sure what's causing it. i don't even know what this reminds me of, but it's particularly gloomy and dreary, which seems to be the total antithesis of what this scent smells like. in fact, now that i keep smelling the bottle (which is for hypothermya), i feel a bit horrified. it's aquatic and "weird" in the bottle, although the more i smell it, the more it appeals to me; i've never had nor smelled a martini, so i can't vouch for how true the smell is. i dabbed a bit on my thumb from the reducer cap, and it immediately turned into a very different smell on my skin. it was sweet and round and berryish, and i suppose it's crisp just as everyone else has reported. it eventually turns into a very, very soapy smell. luckily, it faded in about an hour, and it was a tiny dab of oil to begin with. i have no idea what's making me feel so panicky and.. hopeless. this is honestly scaring me. i think it reminds me of my ex-step-father's house. it may be the soap smell i'm getting from this. this is definitely not making me feel happy. unfortunately, when i smelled it earlier to write my review, i got a bit on my nose. i'm about to go see if i can wash it off. sorry, swank, but you're really giving me the creeps. there's something very plasticy that reeks of lost innocence about this, and i think i'm starting to figure out why.

oh, how i love this one. it made me feel so confident last night (the first night i've properly gone out to socialize as a free woman) that i could woo any man i wanted to. it's sexy, deep, and gorgeous. i do get the sweet tart smell from the wine note that i'm all too familiar with, but it mellows down into a dark, wet, slightly fruity scent and the rose shimmies its sultry little way to the top of the blend. this is downright sexy. i love it.

holy HELL. sniffing this put me in a state of panic, it's so damn scary smelling. sharp and acrid, just like jj_j said. this reminds me of the way our house smelled when we came home to find that our kitchen had caught fire and the entire kitchen/dining room had burned down. dreadfully frightening. i'm gonna have to wash this one off. i feel like it's a bad omen just having it in the house.

wow, i knew i would love this one. i almost squealed when i opened up my BPAL package and saw this in there. it smells exactly like that eye pillow fulltiltredhead sent me, and i absolutely LOVE that thing. i usually just sniff it before i lay down and it completely calms me down. i can't sleep with the eye pillow on, because i always fall asleep on my stomach, so i usually just tuck it down into my arms where i'll catch whiffs of it all night. it's all lavender and eucalyptus. i've grown to like lavender because of renee's eye pillow, but i've never been fond of eucalyptus. i love it in this, though. the mint dies down after a while and leaves me with an herbal, faintly minty lavender, but oh my, this'll be a wonderful substitute for that pillow! i can just rub this on the back of my pillow case and i'll be set. it's already calming me down and making me breathe deeper. i actually feel a bit giddy when i smell this. i love you so much, lab!

i can't say i cared for this one, either. i could've sworn i reviewed it. i wonder.. ah well. the mint in this actually made me feel a bit sick, as i've noticed mint (as well as aquatics and mosses) tends to do in a blend. i do wish beth would make more blends with passion flower, though, because it's a total aphrodisiac to my boyfriend. my great aunt loved this one, though, so i passed it onto her. this reminds me a bit of soap. not to say that it's actually soapy, but it just has that clean, minty smell. yeck. :\ poor melpomene.

i think this was a lovely gimp from the lab a couple of orders ago, and i was SO excited to see it sitting there among the others! this smells exactly how i envisioned absinthe to smell. i was tempted to drink it, but i somehow managed to refrain. of course, there isn't much else you can say about it other than it smells like lemon and anise. very herbal-smelling and wonderfully, lightly boozey. i dig it, but i passed it on because there's no sense in keeping something around that you won't wear.

this is one foody scent i definitely do not mind keeping around. it smelled yummy in the bottle, so i just put it on and went "OH MY GOD!" i ran into the office and shoved my wrist under my grandma's nose, and we both went, "how do they do it? how can perfume smell so edible?" this oil pretty much floored me more than any other BPAL has. immediately, it smelled like eggy dough, rolled in nutmeg and cinnamon and freshly plopped in the oven. i can't believe how WONDERFUL this is! this is christmas personified. it makes me think of mrs. claus making cookies with her elves, her kitchen illuminated by a giant, glowing hearth. and yes, i will admit that i just stuck my tongue to my wrist. mm, cinnamon. i wouldn't suggest it, though.

i was really excited to try this one. i guess the name hits close to home. i smell vetiver and something murky and shadowy! woohoo! on my skin, i smell the familiar initial tang of the vetiver, and for about 10 minutes, that's all the blend is. when that fades and makes way, though, wow. hello, black myrrh. how are YOU today? slightly powdery, i see. :\ pure dusty powder. alas..

this is THE lovechild of fae and glitter! tamora took me back to my newly-popped BPAL cherry days. i could totally remember the excitement and happiness i felt when i ripped open that first box of BPAL. putting this next to the imp of glitter (which smells less astringent than the bottle i used to have) i just got, i could hardly tell the difference, but it smells more like fae than it does glitter. overall, this is very nice and sweet, but it's a bit too girly for me. i was really excited to try it, though.

you might want to try gaueko. it isn't exactly dark, but it has some GORGEOUS incensey components in it. lust is another extremely incensey one, as are kathmandu and cairo. blood is a bit incensey, and brimstone might be worth a try. scherezade is nice and spicy. every time i wear it someone says, "something smells like incense. is.. that you?" omen sounds like it has some incense components, as does raksasha.

i think i must have gotten a "bad imp" before, because my imp smells nothing like the last one. the last one was pretty gross. i really didn't like this scent at all, but i think it smells gorgeous now. honestly, i'm gonna try to compare the two: the last imp i got of this was a so-called clear smell, and it was somewhat herbal and light. it actually didn't smell like anything, but i could've sworn there was a drop of civet somewhere in there, 'cause it took on a somewhat.. well, you know where i'm going with this. i don't want to be too rude. this one is so pretty! i gave it a chance and smelled the imp even though i expected what i had last time, and this is almost the opposite. clean, but a very red shade upon first sniff. slightly tart and a bit candy sweet with a hint of roses every now and then. oh, this is so lovely and feminine. i'm glad i gave this a try. i believe i got it from miss_apple, but i had so many packages today i just kind'f ripped them apart and shoved everything in a big pile for sniffing purposes! thanks to whoever sent me this. you opened my eyes.

o, my lady, i've been waiting for you so long. in the vial, on first sniff, lady macbeth is sweet tarts! yay! same sweet tart smell i get from all of the wine blends. i rolled the bottle a little bit because, along with the sweet tart smell, i did get a very distinct whiff of wine that seemed separated from the other smell i got, almost as though i was sniffing two bottles at once. this is absolutely stunning on my skin. it wafts well, and it does smell genuinely like wine. i'm going to make the classic comparison here and say that i think lady macbeth is related to the women who run bordello. perhaps lady macbeth is the owner of bordello; bordello is a very sweet, creamy, sexy wine, charming in that voluptous, wet way. lady macbeth is the regal, proud, and aloof woman who you would love to approach, but you're too intimidated by to stand near. she's rigid and her face is placid, with her chin turned up and her eyes coldly scoping those around her. i love this a lot. this is definitely my kind of scent. decadent and lush, but oddly distant and untouchable.

oooh, lavender. i've rather grown to like lavender lately. of course, that's all i get at first sniff, but it's a softened lavender, unlike the kind i smell in baku. this lavender is indeed misty, just as it's described on the site. there's a note in this blend that's a bit tangy and sharp, making this near-soporific blend a bit electrically charged. i wish i got more sandalwood out of this; i think it would make the blend gorgeous, but i can't smell it at all. after a couple of minutes, this takes a sudden, jolting turn. i can smell smoke! i love these incense blends. i can't believe how gorgeous this is. it definitely took me by surprise. it isn't anything i'd wear as a perfume. it's a dark, gritty, smogged up shade of purple that i REALLY dig. unfortunately, it's just not me at all. hopefully i can pass this onto someone who will really appreciate it.

holy sweet oil, batman! i've never read the reviews for this one, so i was quite surprised when i opened it up and smelled what seems to be lime! it's a candied lime, though, not like the ripe lime juice from the star. i put this on just now and it immediately morphed into a cherryish scent, but not necessarily an overly-medicinal one, and it still retained the lime-ish candy from the initial sniff. it reminds me a bit of the red queen, only a bit fruitier and more artificial. this reminds me of my friend kati's house when we were younger, and how her dad always made the clear citrusy kool-aid because everything in their house was white. i hate kool-aid, so that isn't necessarily a happy association, but i still really like this. this is one of the few voodoo oils i've tried that i would actually wear. it actually makes me feel a little happier just smelling it.

argh. pardon this review if it seems a bit mean. this is my least favorite out of the dark elements. out of the bottle, it's obviously aquatic and very salty. i can't smell much of anything else. on my skin, it's ozonic and, oh god, this is making me nauseous. i tried to give it a chance, i really did. i think this would smell nice on a guy if you're into aquatics, but it's really quite unisex. i would pass this onto the boy if it didn't make me feel so sick to my stomach. when it dries down, the smell that makes me sick kind'f goes away, and the scent turns somewhat pleasant, but i could never wear this. these salty aquatics really agree with my chemistry, but, unfortunately, i can't stand them. i didn't have this kind'f reaction to dragon's tears, tears, or penthus. i thought all of those were quite lovely. there's something in this that just stirs my insides, though. sorry, hurricane.