Miss Landau

I got this plus a few other mysterious looking frimps in a Trading Post order. It smells like damp soil that lots of greenery has been growing in. Not stinky or unpleasant - the soil does not have compost or fertiliser or yucky things in it, it's just damp soil.

What a surprise! I expected a scent inspired by The Most Evil Lady in the Shakespeare Canon (sorry, Lady M, but handing your enemy's daughter over for gang rape and mutilation > conspiring with your husband to stab a king in his sleep in my book!) to be dark and difficult and basically smell like vengeful poison. Instead this smells straight-up pretty, without any hints at steel behind the sweetness. For me the peach is the strongest note, both straight out of the frimp and over an hour later, but I do get a bit of sandalwood and amber too.

… Our Grand Guignol perfume is a shot of sweet apricot brandy; just enough to settle your nerves after a ghoulish, gory brush with the macabre. For me this is apricots steeped in liqueur as opposed to actual apricot brandy. I know that sounds as though they should smell like the same thing but they don't, quite. I agree there's something slightly "fizzy" about it at first - possibly supposed to be fermentation? It's quite sharp and sour on me to start with (which I don't mind), but quickly mellows after about an hour or so.

Currant cake, fresh out of the oven and every so slightly burnt on the top. Amazing, I love it. It hit me like a cake pan in the face straight out of the frimp, but wearing it in a scent locket has calmed down over an hour and now I have to hold the locket to my nose to get a whiff.

My first foray into Snake Oil. I've tried several of BPAL's apple related oils now and so far they seem to work pretty well on me, both in terms of staying power and smelling as they should, as per notes and other reviews. This is absolutely mouth-watering, citrus and red apple, and the spiciness underneath it which I'm guessing is what Snake Oil smells like? If so, I'm a fan.

Neroli and lily for me, I have to be absolutely honest and say I'm not getting ginger, "purple fruits" or frankincense at all. A strong biting bracing scent for me, nothing remotely feminine or "girly" about it. Works well on a hot day.

For me this is a fairly straightforward amber, a warm delicate, pretty scent. Not quite the connotations the word "haunted" has for me. Maybe more haunted by the ghosts in "The Secret Garden" musical than "Crimson Peak".

As a non-smoker, I have to be absolutely honest and say the thought of smoke being breathed across lips did not inspire lustful thoughts, but the idea of pomegranate plus incense intrigued me. I'm very glad I threw caution to the winds and ordered a whole bottle straight up. The smokiness isn't overwhelming for me, just adds a mysterious undercurrent of vague "small dirty thoughts about bad things" to the fruit.

To me this is a blast of chilled air from an orchard cool room where Golden Delicious apples have been stored. Very, very apple-y, and to be honest I don't personally get any of the violet or iris elements. Super refreshing to wear on a warm sticky day.

For me this was a little bit Blood Kiss, a little bit Manischewitz

Haha, I love reading the reviews here because it's fascinating to see how the oils react differently for everyone. Honey, cherries and cloves are the main notes for me, I don't think I get vanilla, vetiver or musk from it AT ALL. I've discovered that BPAL oils tend not to last that long on me (a couple of hours or so), but this one is at the longer-lasting end of things. It's a bit too sweet and rich for my personal taste, but men seem to go consistently apeshit over it, go figure.

The fruit elements are only strong for me sniffing straight out of the bottle, and on my skin for the first 20 minutes or so. Then it becomes mild sandalwood with something vaguely juicy and delicious in the background. Only one person who sniffed it on me identified the pomegranate without prompting, but I reckon it's pretty identifiable. It only lasts about an hour on my skin as its identifiable elements, then about an hour more as a general good subtle scent before fading out.

Bold, bright mandarin paired with the sweet, sensual earthiness of fig. I love this. The orange is definitely stronger than the fig for me - very sweet and juicy and mouthwatering, and it tempers down after about 45 minutes into a warm sweet spice.

I feel ridiculous typing this, given all the other pages of reviews, and the actual published notes, but this smells like coconut-scented sunscreen to me. I'm not getting anything else, just coconut-scented sunscreen. Don't get me wrong, I'm getting a kick out of being able to sniff my wrist and catch a faint whiff of summer holidays when it's been pretty grim winter weather here.

Plums well on their way to becoming prunes, and dust. That sounds terrible but I can't stop sniffing my wrist.

Amazing. Exactly what it says on the label: heather and blackberries. It's completely gone after applying it just over an hour ago, but it was glorious while it lasted.

@ Elspethdixon and Casablanca Thanks for the reply! That makes a lot of sense. Like I say this isn't a complaint, as I know some perfume oils last longer than others, and everyone's skin is different. I have no idea how these things work so was wondering if/how travelling from summer in the US to winter in Australia might affect the oils.

I'm wondering about temperature impact in shipment too. I've never tried BPAL before, but smelling from the bottles and imps they are all less potent than I was expecting, definitely less than, say, a Body Shop perfume oil (both in terms of strength of scent and the staying power on me). Nothing I've tried so far has lasted on me more than a couple of hours. Some smell stronger than others, for example Bess, but I have to have my nose right on the opening to be able to smell them, and I've asked a couple of other people to have a sniff too, just to make sure it wasn't me. The scents themselves so far are pretty lovely and on point, and I'm converting several into sprays. This obviously doesn't improve the potency, but does improve the throw. It could be that BPAL perfume oils are just more subtle than Body Shop ones. This isn't a complaint or criticism about the product as like I say I love the scents themselves. I'm just posting this in case other people have had similar experiences recently.

Got this as a frimp. Warm and golden, but I'm not getting anything more distinct than that. Can't smell it on me after applying less than an hour ago.

Smelled good enough to drink (I managed to control myself). Somehow beats the pants off any other chocolate scents I've tried, even Demeter. Very tempted to buy a whole 5 ml bottle.

Delicate and refreshing, this will definitely be joining my daywear rotation. But exactly what lightly gingered citrus has to do with Scottish folkloric vampires I could not tell you. Just over two hours later it's all but gone and I have to literally hold my wrist against my face to smell anything, but now I can smell the tea as well as gingered citrus.

Just getting spiced cherry compote and almonds from this one - not that that's a bad thing IMHO. Nowhere near as heady on me as I was hoping, but this is only my second BPAL and I know my skin eats up oil. Like it a lot, happy I ordered a 5 ml bottle straight up. Will be converting into a spray perfume pronto.

Really got the rose and bergamot inhaling from the imp and freshly applied to wrist. Has settled down over an hour into honeyed milk. I suspect I'll like this for the office - soothing and comforting, but subtle enough not to intrude on co-workers.

I'm in Australia. Order placed on 4 July and shipped on 7 July. Moved with lightning speed (watching its progress by checking the USPS tracking number was fun!) to Melbourne, Australia. The most recent notification shows that it left Melbourne early morning on 11 July, so nearly four business days ago. I THINK Australia Post handle USPS packages once they arrive in Australia, so I'm not surprised the journey from Melbourne to me is taking longer than from the US to Australia, LOL.