diabolique

in the bottle: citrusy, green, and acrid. it doesn't smell promising, which sucks, because i ordered a 5mL and got a gimp in another order that arrived the same day.

on my skin: wet, it doesn't smell as green on my wrists, the citrus emerges and all i can smell is orange. i smell a TINY, TINY bit of plumeria, but not enough for my tastes. dry, it smells like, and this is a quote straight from my grandmother, "a dirty, wet dishrag."

she's right. i don't like this one, and i had high hopes.

it smells a little better layered over MMU's mayan gold; the lotion lends a necessary creaminess that this blend lacks, and the "dishrag" stage is postponed for a couple of minutes. i think i'll keep the imp for layering purposes, but my bottle has already found a new home.

VIIIOOOOLET! tons of it. lots and lots of violet.

after a while it starts to get more resinous, and i was surprised to find that this blend didn't contain any wood notes. i expected to see "rosewood" rather than "tea rose."

this is nice and it's definitely something i like to smell once in a while, but it's not me at all. on one hand, it smells very innocent, but on the other, i can't picture a child wearing this. in fact, i can't picture anyone young wearing this. this is the smell of the naive, sweet-tempered old lady across the street who always bakes you cookies.

THE STAR! it's perfect now that it's spring.

well, i'd say aunt caroline's joy mojo. not only does it smell fantastic, but it does seem to induce happiness, which i usually find very enigmatic and charismatic. being bubbly and happy go lucky all the time is one thing, but seeming generally pleased and content with yourself definitely gives one an air of confidence.

love me, queen, and black cat also seem to fit the bill pretty well depending on what kind of charisma/charm you're going for.

my favorite fresh BPAL scents are titania, ophelia, and the star. i should really get on the ball about ordering the last two before spring is OFFICIALLY here..

i thought this was fruity and sweet when i first smelled it, so i thought it'd probably be a keeper. i was wrong, i think.

blood lotus goes on really thick and has a very *drumroll* blood red smell. it actually reminds me a bit of blood (the BPAL scent, not the actual thing) at first. i left it alone so i could review eternal, and now that i smell it again, YUCK! harsh cleaning fluid and cheap incense!! i think dragon's blood is what's doing that cleaning fluid smell. sometimes it does that depending on the other notes in a blend. i hate you, skin chemistry. i'm sure this is beautiful on a person whose skin doesn't hate them.

this one sprayed my glasses when i opened the imp. ha! i haven't looked at the notes yet, so..

i smell violets in the vial, violets and soft, powdery florals.

on my skin, i still get violets, but they're deep and juicy with something almost tangy and sharp underneath.

okay, wow, now that i've looked at the notes and been totally surprised to find no trace of violet, i'm weirded out. i'm wondering what's making the violet scent. maybe it's stephanotis and gardenia? gardenia and i really don't get along, but i can't exactly pinpoint it in this blend unless i really put my sniffer to work. the blend softened up considerably after the initial violet stage, but now it's turned into an extremely syrupy violet smell, kind'f like half-chewed violet gum. i wonder what cyclamen is; it sounds like a birth control pill.

i'll probably gift this to someone else. the notes get me all mumbly-jumbly and generally confuse the hell out of me.

chupachup gifted me with an imp of this, and WOW. i am really surprised by it. it totally caught me off-guard. juniper, lotus, and mint. i hate mint, i don't like smelling like a tree, and lotus and i have never had that good of a relationship.

sweet and minty in the vial, it smells good enough to drink. it's sparkling and fresh, and mmmm, i dig it. the mint overpowers everything else on my skin for the first ten minutes, which i don't really like. i smelled the part of my hand i put it on and it totally reminds me of christmas shopping at the dallas mall when i was younger, with the elaborate christmas tree displays and the smell of soft candycanes permeating the walkways.

a couple of minutes later, it all but disappears. that's really disappointing, but ah well. i enjoy the first couple of minutes.

I HATE SPOOKY AND SPOOKY HATES ME. A LOT.

it really didn't smell bad in the bottle. all coconut and mint, it smelled like the star, which i really didn't mind. on my skin? BAM, PLASTIC! i've been scoffing at these reviews, muttering to myself, "i'm glad i'm not one of those people coconut goes plasticy on." well, i spoke way too fuckin' soon, because i can't decide if this scent is primarily mint-coated plastic or plastic-coated mint.

i'm gonna have to wash this off. i feel no remorse. it's like little plastic army men with mint in their toy guns were hiding in my bottle of spooky waiting to be released onto my skin, and once they were, it was all mint-plastic warfare.

...macha should be a saleswoman. if i weren't positive i'll like dorian anyway and didn't already have a bottle on order, i would've made an order just now for about three 10mLs, debit card be damned.

macha, i don't get cherry from it at all. it's coffee + wine + blood + cocoa. rawr!

i'm going to unrecommend centzon totochtin. um, it smelled like coffee. ha.

short o.

actually, i don't know. i pronounce it like a hybrid between a short o, as in "obtuse," and an o as in "ou," like "ouch."

i'm probably wrong though.

i will see everyone's recommendation of black phoenix and raise them a queen of sheba.

oh, i just looked up the quote from beth (not a direct quote) and snow white has no ALMONDS. whoops. i could have sworn it was coconut. hm.

here's the post about it, just to clarify: http://www.bpal.org/index.php?showtopic=95...29entry138529

iloveitiloveitiloveitiloveit.

this is probably the best blend i've tried in a while.

in the bottle: sharp, acrid florals and a bit of creamy fruit. i can smell the traditional lunar oils.

wet: very bright, sparkling fruits that almost immediately darken, probably because of the amber. i recognize the "traditional lunar oils" from the other moon i've tried, hunter moon.

dry: the dragon's blood is lending a sweet and creamy smell to red moon. the orange is baaaarely there, and i can definitely pinpoint the marigold. the heliotrope hasn't made an appearance yet, and i'm so glad. i was afraid it would be too strong (like in glitter and tamora), but it hasn't made me sneeze yet!

-sigh-

i love this. it reminds me of summer.

hell's belle has a creamy note that makes the blend smell slightly coconutty, and snow white apparently contains absolutely no coconut at all. just for the record.

in the bottle, i get cream and lemon (which i always mistake ginger for).

on my skin, it's immediately the lemony-ginger smell with the same soft cream from the bottle. there's something extremely astringent in this that burns my nose if i smell it too much, which might be the ginger, but it seems like a completely separate entity. something very, very weird is lurking in the background and making this not quite work for me.

this went through TONS of stages on my skin. it morphed from the creamy lemon-ginger smell to a slightly anisey scent. at this point, i really wish the honey and vanilla notes were coming out stronger, because they've disappeared behind this anise stage. i think the pepper, ginger, and black tea notes blended to make a strange black licorice smell. it isn't unpleasant at this stage, but it certainly isn't something i ever want to smell like.

eventually, the anise smell dies down and i'm stuck with a weird smell that isn't quite me.

i'm on my period right now, and i'm sure my hormones are throwing this heinously out of whack. i'll try it again in a couple of days.

oops. i just checked the notes, and thalia DOESN'T have peach. andrabell totally beat me to it. i'd swear there's some in there, though. maybe it's my nose confusing the pear and peach notes, but i do get whiffs of peach when i wear it. still, it's quite gorgeous.

and i think tamora and titania are in completely different boats as far as peach scents go. tamora is very obviously peach, and titania is more pear and watery florals than anything. if you're looking for straight up sunny peach, go with tamora, but i think both are definitely worth having, as they belong to two entirely different worlds. i would be more inclined to wear tamora on a sunny, bright day and titania on a stormy day.

i dig tamora a LOT, but i'd say thalia tops anything else as far as peach goes.

i got this from cuervo! i'm going to structure this post because the notes aren't listed.

first impression the same banana note from manila plus something sweet and floral behind it.

wet on the skin: banana runts! chalky, sweet candied banana.

impression: well, it's unusual, but i dig it.

dry: what the hell? something vaguely civet-like (although i don't think it's civet or any kind of musk) is emerging and pushing the sweet banana smell to the background. i smell something sweet initially, but i'm hit with something very rotten and.. well.. poo-like.

impression: uh, not digging this stage at ALL. it's like an imp of manila rolled around in dirt and dog crap.

i'm gonna keep this one on my wrists for a while and see if it morphs into anything else, but i can safely say that if this stage continues, this one's up for swap.

i normally think it's the combination of notes rather than one note (like cinnamon) that gives a scent its "color."

some blends with definite red vibes:

bordello (more of a maroon)

lust

dragon's heart (dark, polished-wood red)

dragon's milk (candied red)

lampades

blood

blood rose

harlot

lady macbeth

blood countess (smoky, blackened red)

bloodlust

lilith

rage

the red queen

cheshire cat

oh my gosh! cotton candy. mmmm.

i love this one more than i thought i would, which rarely happens with pretty much anything. it's difficult to be dreary wearing this scent. on my skin, it takes a slightly strawberry lollipop turn and i diiiiiig it. aunt caroline's joy mojo almost tops thalia as my "sunny day" scent.

i wouldn't have caught the dish soap comparison if i hadn't read vorona's review above mine.

i wasn't impressed with this on first sniff, it smelled like white flowers and something else very light. it morphs drastically within the first 20 seconds and i get whiffs of buttery, cinnamoned caramel.

now.. yep, vorona's right, cooking spices and dish soap. i don't think i'll keep this one around for very long. i love the initial stages where it smells like the dry leaves from hunter moon and the buttery spices of dia de los muertos, but i'm not digging this part of it.

tenochtitlan is another one my grandpa could pronounce perfectly. scurvy bastard.