leapylees

This convinced me my nose is completely wonky. In the vial - sweet, slightly green, slightly fruity but quite a clean scent. On, wet - Hyacinths!!! Dry - squashed stems. A slightly wet green small with a hint of fruitiness. Since grapefruit never smells like grapefruit on my skin, I imagine that's what the fruitiness is. I guess it's like a fruity green tea. There's also the sweetishness I always get from musky scents. Overall - it's not offensive in anyway, but to me this is quite close to several commercial perfumes of the 'spring/summer uplifting' variety.

In the vial this was wonderful - sharp, minty and refreshing. Sadly, once applied it dwindled rapidly to a soft fruity scent. It was pleasant but now what I was hoping for. Minty notes tend to disappear quite rapidly on me and grapefruit barely shows up at all. I was realy looking forward to trying this but it was a two-second wonder on my skin.

R'Lyeh is wonderfully aquatic, and doesn't turn too sweet on me (probably because of the grapefruit note which I can't actually smell).

I got this as a freebie. In the bottle: Mmmm.... grapefruit. On wet and dry: The first thing that springs to mind is Oceanus from The Body Shop. It's been years since I've actually smelt Oceanus so they're probably completely different - faulty memory no doubt, but I'm going to make a point of going to TBS and sniffing the Oceanus. The grapefruit disappeared almost instantly when I applied R'Lyeh and essentially it's faded down to a pleasant, slightly salty aquatic. It's pleasant but not outstanding. I may get a 5ml but it's not at the top of my wishlist.

I'm not sure what to make of Snake Oil. In the bottle it smells sweet and somewhat medicinal. On, wet it smells of thick and vanilla scented with some spice but there's a note i really don't like lurking in this - the medicinalness perhaps. There's also a hint of something reminiscent of Greed (which I love). Dry, something strange has happened. On my left wrist it smells lovely and dry and spicy. Everywhere else it's too sweet and vanilla-ey with a medicinalness that I don't like. It definitely has staying power though. I applied it after dinner last night and it was still there this morning. My boyfriend didn't make any comment on the scent, but he couldn't keep his hands off me so I think this had the desired effect even if I'm not sure about the smell!

In the bottle - cool and slightly fruity. Uh oh.... I'm not sure about fruity. On - dries down to being a pleasant aquatic, not-quite-floral, not-quite-fruity scent. It smells familiar but I'm not sure what it reminds me of. I think I like it. After a few hours - this has turned really sweet, heavy and headache inducing. It might be the musk which I have a problem with in some scents but not others. Overall - Not as cold as I hoped though very pleasant for the first couple of hours. After that it's just too sweet. ETA: now it's changed again after another hour or two. Now it's developed a slightly spicy/floral edge and isn't as sweet. I'm confused.

at Miggins. Tugs said that they were never informed of the Cold Moon order being shipped, so who knows....? Maybe our Yule order will turn up soon... (maybe in time for my birthday next month.)

Okay, our Cold Moon order from November has arrived at our group leader's house . We don't know if the October 13th and 27th orders have been shipped yet though.

Oh my goodness, I love this. In the bottle it smells like carnations and roses - my two favourite flowers. On, the carnation is still there but the roses dominate. Although I love the scent of roses, my skin doesn't usually get on well with them. This, however, is heavenly. Unfortunately, it only lasts an hour or two on my skin but I like it so much I'll probably be buying a 5ml, if not a 10ml.

In the bottle: Jasmine and lemon. Like Lush Flying Fox mixed with Lush Avobath. On: the lemon disappears and it smells of Jasmine. On my skin it smells like Lush Flying Fox shower gel. Yummy.

This is an oil I'm going to have to come back to as I really don't know what to make of it. In the bottle: green and slightly sweet. On wet: Wow! Sharp minty, eucalyptus herbal. Wonderful, I like this. It's very sharp, cooling and refreshing.... but wait... Dry: It has become much sweeter. Too sweet, and I can't identify any of the notes any more. For me it has a slightly 'sicky' sweet smell in the sense that if i was feeling nauseous, a whiff of this would tip me over the edge. I don't know, I'm not sure this is something I want to wear, as I think it's beter suited to a soap or a cheap bath product than to a high quality oil. This is such a shame as I loved the scent when I first applied it. It could be my strange skin chemistry/wonky nose, so I'll come back to this another day.

In the bottle: Cumin! Coriander! Fennel! On: Fennel overload. It has a nice smell but I'm not sure if it's a nice perfume if you see what I mean. I liked the scent but I wasn't sure I wanted to smell of it. My boyfriend loved it though, and for me it did bring back memories of a happy year when I had a flatmate from India who used to make wonderful Indian food. India bouquet didn't last very long on my skin. Great scent but somehow doesn't quite work as perfume.

I was really looking forward to this as I love carnation. In the bottle: a little sweet but I'll give it a go. On: This is really sweet and heavy. A very sweet floral, foody heaviness though I don't get any of the carnation I was looking forward to. I hoped that it would fade and evolve as it dried, and that the carnation note would emerge but it didn't. In the end I had to go and scrub this off as it gave me a headache and made me feel sick. One for the swaps pile.

Hrm. It seems that our outstanding October orders haven't actually shipped yet. Apparently they will be dispatched as soon as possible but I'm running out of patience to be honest.

In the bottle: MOSS and earth On wet: Roses, lots of them - the mossy earth scent has vanished! On dry (at first): the mossy and earth has come back. And is that a hint of eau de cat litter box? There's something unpleasant lurking in this though I can still smell the roses behind the moss and earth. On dry (later): I smell dry, dusty roses. This is lovely. It's faded on my wrists after about 5 hours but I keep getting wafts of rosiness from my neck. Mmmm... Overall: Next stop www.theapothecaryscat.com , need I say more?

I'm really not sure what to make of this. In the bottle it smells lemony but in the first hour of wearing it, I found it had quite a wet plastic scent. I can't define it more accurately than that. Now that I've been wearing it for about 5 hours, the scent has calmed down and it reminds me of aftershave on a leather jacket, or something metallic. It has an odd, 'shiny' scent. Conclusion - I'm not sure I get on with ozone. Sorry, this is a really vague review as the scent reminds me of 'things' rather than giving me notes. ETA: Got it! I knew it reminded me of something. It reminds me of the smell of people who have been working with solder, a scent I associate with my late father who was an electronics engineer. Yes, definitely the sweet metallic smell of solder in there somewhere.

Two of us are doing an order together today in the hopes that we'll get it faster. I might also join in with the larger orders but only for things I can wait for. I can't put in orders myself as due to my credit card situation (second cardholder on two cards, don't have access to the account information etc.), setting up Paypal would be a huge amount of trouble involving multiple phone calls in addition to the fact that I don't trust Paypal (my partner had a bad experience last year). I've also been ordering from The Apothecary's Cat but for the time being I've bought nearly everything I want from there within their limited range.

I should review this since it's one of my top three oils, even thogh I find it very difficult to describe. It was a freebie with my first oil and it became one of my favourites. The name reminds me of old televisions though. In the vial - Minty, but there's something else. It has a very fresh ozone scent. On - It mellows down but is still a very fresh, clean scent. The mint becomes much lighter and gives way to a gentle green herbiness and very, very slight earthiness (the moss?). The mint is still there but it's a lot more subtle. This is good as I don't like toothpastey mint smells. Overall - Well, I've already mentioned it's one of my favourites, and a 5ml is being ordered in my next order. It's not the strongest smelling of scents but it lasts all day at a 'low level.' It's a good summer scent.

I'm in the UK and part of one of Ctrlfreak's group orders. We're still waiting on our Yule order (which I believe was placed on October 27th) and a discontinueds order as well as our Cold Moon order. I believe there's also a Samhain order outstanding from October 13th as well (I didn't participate in that one). We're all getting very antsy about it. Ctrlfreak is in touch with the lab, but as a consequence of this situation several people have decided not to order again. It's not a total disaster for me but some people had christmas presents in the October 27th order. I know the lab was very busy and probably has a huge backlog to clear but this is rather disappointing, though it is still possible that customs have pounced on one of our orders.

It definitely has 'something' reminiscent of Karma and Icon by Lush. The orange perhaps? Masquerade has a slightly bitter note that I'm not sure of and lacks in 'smokiness' to be really like Icon. Despite this, I do like its pine and orange scent (I can't pick out carnations at all).

I've tried this twice now. The first time I made the mistake of slathering it on and I found it overwhelming. The apricot was overpowering and the scent lasted a good 36 hours (very unusual for me), by which time I had decided I hated it. The other day I decided to give it another chance, and I'm glad I did. I tentatively applied a only very small quantity of it, just in case. Well, it didn't change much on my skin but it smells like apricots being crushed into the ground - apricot with the patchouli making a dark, earthiness behind it. I don't normally like fruity scents so I think the patchouli 'saved' it for me. I have no idea how long it lasted on my skin as I applied it 2 or 3 hours before going to bed and it was gone by the morning. I won't be buying a 5ml of it but I will be finishing the imp.

In the bottle, I thought Sudha Segara smelled like a less sweet version of Embalming Fluid. On, wet, I still get Embalming Fluid but it's also starting to smell more sweet than it did in the bottle. After it dried the lemon smell disappeared and it did smell softer and more gingery. Unfortunately, it was a little too sweet for me. It faded fast but hung around just long enough to give me aching sinuses (occasionally perfume seems to do that to me). Overall, shortlived (honey scents vanish on my skin) and too sweet for me, not one I'll be buying again. Edited, revised review 31st October 2005: I'm having a cleaarout and Sudha Segara was one of the bottles pulled from the box for retesting before swapping. There's no way this is going anywhere. I love it. It is still almost too sweet for me, but it's also really comforting in this autumnal gloom. I think Glitzie's review was spot on. I adore this now. I don't know if it's the bottle aging, my tastes that have changed or whether it's just so right for the time of year but I adore it. I can't stop sniffing my wrists!

In the bottle, I smell something very sharp and green (cue moment of confusion - I didn't order a green scent) but boyfriend smells marzipan. Only once I reread the description am I able to smell the almonds. On, the greenness stays for a few minutes while it dries. Once dry, this changes into a lovely rounded, warm, sweet almondy scent. It's a comforting smell. Unfortunately I do't think this is giong to last very long on my skin. I only applied it an hour or so ago and I can barely detect it any more. I'll probably update later, but at the moment my verdict is 'great while it lasts.' Added: Several hours later and it hasn't really faded any more but it has changed to a faint generic perfumeness. It's still nice, just not anything special now. Overall I like this, I just wish it was stronger in the initial dry phase when it smells so warm and yummy. edited 20th January to say that I must remember not to apply this before I go to bed as I've done so on two separate occasions and both times woken up having had vivid nightmares.

I was reluctant to actually try this as in the bottle it smelled exactly like the kinds of perfume that make me feel sick and headachey, but knowing how BPAL scents have a tendency to develop on the skin and can end up smelling entirely different to what they are like in the bottle I decided to take the plunge anyway. I will update later, but after an hour I feel sick and have a headache. It's simply far too sweet and floral for me (I get jasmine and a hint of sandalwood, but the scent is predominantly very sweet flowers that I can't identify, but no rose). Serves me right for ordering a 5ml unsniffed from the Apothecary's Cat last week because I was desperate for a BPAL fix and fancied trying something different from my usual patchouli and earthy scents (luckily the other two 5mls I bought smell more promising). ETA: Four hours on and things haven't changed. To be perfectly honest, Queen Mab is reminiscent of a bus/train ride sitting behind someone who has doused him/herself in far too much cheap perfume. I'm having a bath soon to try and scrape off the rest of this. I'll probably try it again but it's almost certainl destined for the swaps pile. I'm disappointed as I liked most of the individual elements (sandalwood, jasmine, rose, musk) but this combination just doesn't work for me at all.

In the bottle: Mmm... lemony. It's like something lemon scented but there's something behind it, the tea perhaps? This is wonderful, though it's unlike the earthy scents I'm most fond of. On: This very quickly became extremely sweet. Too sweet in fact. Most of the lemoniness disappeared very quickly leaving a too sweet lemon sherbet scent. This is far too sweet for me - in fact, every time I catch a whiff of it it makes the nerves at the sides of my mouth tingle (a sensation I hate). This is just too cloying and sweet for me. After a few hours: thankfully it's faded quite a bit and most of the sweetness has gone. Now it smells slightly musky, but also a little like generic men's aftershave. Overall: Not one for me. Too sweet and similar to big-brand commercial perfumes that I'm not fond of. I'm disappointed as it smells so great in the bottle.