Extispex

I love this, despite the fact that it goes through a stinky stage on me (thankfully not for long). I have terrible insomnia (especially when I'm waiting for a CnS ) and I wanted to try one of the Sleep blends.

In the imp, mostly lavender with a sweetish edge. On my skin, JASMINE! I mean jasmine with capital letters and lots of exclamation marks. A sharp, sweet relentless jasmine thats so cloying it borders on stinko. When I first put it on my first impulse was to wash it off, but I let it settle, and the lavender returns very quickly, and this dries down to a nice, balanced, calming blend of lavender and jasmine, with maybe the ghost of some sweet herbs dancing in the background. Its very pretty, and has good throw so it kind of embraces you in a halo of fragrance. And best of all, it works. I slept an entire seven hours (a miracle for me) last night, and never ONCE woke up. I had nice dreams, and actually woke up this morning feeling reasonably lively, for me.

Its not something I'd wear as a perfume, but it could be bottle material for the effects. I want to test some of the other sleep blends first, to see how they work, before deciding which will be my bottle. In the meantime, this imp is going to get plenty of love.

In the imp, dirt-n-wine.

On my skin, wet, dirt-n-wine.

The first time I tried this, I thought, phew - stinky. I think because dirt notes always initially remind me of the bbq-pit note in Coiled Serpent. But no, this is different, and its really starting to grow on me. A LOT.

On the dry-down, dirt is still the predominant note on me, but its kind of a sweet, herby dirt. And the wine note in this is really lovely. Not over the top boozy, but just enough to deepen the aroma a bit. The more I sniff it, the more I like it. Offerings of herbs and wine spilled upon dark soil.

I'm glad I gave this one a second chance. Or maybe not so glad, because I'm not sure my pocket-book can handle it, but yeah, I might just want a bottle.

This one's nearly all mint on me, but the mint isn't sharp and cold. There's something lingering underneath that softens and warms the blend. With wear, it goes a little more floral. The oil has the effect of focusing the mind and relaxing the senses, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to get a LOT of use out of this one. So glad I have a bottle.

I am so very impressed with this blend, and I implore anyone who does ANY kind of memory-work, whether past life, cellular, ancestral, or just trying to remember yesterday's to-do list, to get this oil. Mnemosyne brings such intense clarity and focus to the work, and with its help I've been able to access memories that have been eluding me for some time now. All I have is an imp, but you better believe I'm getting a bottle at the very second my budget allows.

Oh and the aroma - heavenly. Really beautiful. In the vial, it does have that 'vicks vapo-rub' smell, but some of my favorite BPALs start out with the vicks odor. (Nephilim, anyone?) But Mnemosyne doesn't stay vapo-rub for long - it calms down to an aromatic clove and spice scent that seems to have just a hint of creamy sweetness. Its a real pleasure to work with and I just can't recommend it highly enough.

Alright, anyone who knows me will say that the last thing I need is a blend that might exacerbate my already overly-competitive nature. But hey, I like to win. Thats not, however, why I grabbed an imp of this assertive and energetic blend (though if I just happen to accidentally spill a bit on myself before a game... well... )

Anyway, my actual intent for this blend is personal, complex and would make a too-long story, so suffice it to say that so far, I've found this oil to be effective, and I'll certainly update when I've had more in-depth experience with it. If it continues to work as well as I believe it will, I may be springing for a bottle in the near future.

As far as the aroma is concerned, this is a total winner. Its another of those TAL blends that, if it were a BPAL, I'd wear it for scent alone.

In the imp, its a cool herby scent, deceptively fresh, with maybe a hint of spicy resin lingering in the background. Wet, I get herbs and a twist of vetiver. As it dries, the vetiver begins to recede - but slowly. It takes a long time for the vetiver to actually fade, but when it does, I'm left with the most beautiful incense blend, dry and warm, almost churchy and quite surprising for something meant to be martial. It kind of reminds me of the incense in carfax abbey, but somewhat more pungent. I love it, I just love it.

This baby has a lot of throw and is long lasting - just as one might expect from such a blend. It definitely imparts energy and I wouldn't recommend working with it before bedtime (like I did... heh. I'll be up all night.)

My blue moon arrived today, and I've been pondering this scent since testing it. At first whiff, I thought "Meh, perfumy", and it did smell a bit like a commercial floral perfume, with just a hint of cucumbery freshness, clinging like dew to the petals.

Wet, on me, this one goes through a powdery phase. I expect one of the flowers is the culprit, but I don't know which. Thankfully, the tea amps up quickly and the whole thing morphs into a really gorgeous, exotic blend. The tea note dominates for a while then on the dry-down the cucumber emerges once again. Tea and cucumber seem to be the two predominant notes for me, but the blend is overall so much more complex than that, with a gentle balance of floral and herb notes. I do wish I got more woods and sage from this, but its absolutely lovely as is, and I'm kinda falling in love with the cucumber note. I may have to seek out more cucumber blends.

Still, as beautiful as this is, I'm not entirely sure its me. I take a sniff and think, "How often will I wear this?" then I take another sniff and think "Hmmm... maybe a lot". I suppose more testing is needed, but whether its "me" or not, its a gorgeous fragrance.

This was another impulse buy, but I've learned to trust my instinct. I love love love the spicy fig scent that is in Nephilim, and I wanted more figgy fragrances. I'm also fond of date and currant, and I love most herbal scents, so I sprang for a bottle unsniffed. I couldn't go wrong, right?

Right!

This is incredible. Its different from all my other BPALs, a total 'left-field' sort of scent for me, and yet it works so well. In the bottle, its almost sickly sweet with a hint of the medicinal. Overripe on the verge of rotting, a pile of dessicated fruit that someone sprinkled with pungent herbs to cover the decaying odor. The kind of thing no one in their right mind would want to put on their skin.

So of course I put it on my skin. The herbs really amp up on me during the wet phase. Someone in the previous comments said that the herbs in this are BLACK. I concur. Wet on my skin, this is a cruel, dark scent. The sweetness of the fruit is just a whisper, like a muted but malicious giggle.

The drydown on this is kind of edgy, almost sour. The fruit begins to rot again, and it comes close to being unpleasant, but in such an intriguing way its bearable. Once dry, this honey blooms into something truly gorgeous and complex. A maiden in the fields, pursued by a lustful brute, drops her basket of fruits to the ground. Figs and dates are trampled in careless abandon, crushed into the earth during the chase. Yep, thats the smell.

This one's another winner, and I am so glad I have a bottle. It will get much wear from me.

This is one of those that surprised the hell out of me. It was frimped to me by a lovely forumite, and its a scent I never would've bought for myself. Just the orchid would be enough to terrify me. But wow, is this beautiful.

This is one of those rich heady scents, a floral that truly works on me without going sour, powdery or soapy. The bergamot manages to deepen the aroma, and the patchouli doesn't stand out at all. There's just enough earthiness to prevent it from being an over-the-top femme-fest. Its sensual and immersive without being overtly sexual; it has a brazen glow to it.

I think I need a bottle of this one

I have imp decants of many of the prosperity blends and this is the one I feel I most want a bottle of. Its my favorite of the prosperity blends, both scent-wise and the way it works. And it does work. It drew money to me rather quickly, and gave me the ability to spend it wisely. I'm incredibly impulsive with money (and everything else, whimsical Gemini that I am), so I REALLY need this blend, and I'm so happy it works so well.

King Solomon's is a gorgeous rose aroma, with a hint of an herby lemon, like lemon verbena or lemongrass maybe. (?). It isn't a bright pink cloying rose, not too sweet, but very golden and rich. Its definitely a regal fragrance (fit for a King), but with a hint of the sacred. Its an abundant smell, like the coffers of some rich temple.

The oil is thick and syrupy, light golden-yellow in color. I expected it to last longer than it does (rose usually lasts forever on me) but I think it lasts just as long as it needs to. It does have a lot of throw, it doesn't linger in the background. It demands notice.

Great stuff!

(Edited because I can see)

I got an imp of this. I very occasionally use a particular form of divination according to the Golden Dawn method, and I thought it would be nice to have something to honor the method's origins, but because its something I don't do very often, I didn't think I would need more than an imp. But my muse really loves this stuff and is drawn near by it, so I may end up with a bottle. I would say this is very potent and evocative stuff, and I'll end up using it more than I thought I would.

It also smells incredible. This is my third Temple blend and so far they're all just beautiful. The Golden Dawn blend smells... well... a bit like White Shoulders, oddly enough. But a little more 'gold', a deep, glowing aroma. Maybe 'White Shoulders' meets 'Fallen'. It's mysterious, but a bright kind of mysterious, like the moment of awakening from a profound dream.

I've gotten excellent results from this already.

Last night I annointed my computer with Blockbuster, hoping it would get me writing again. Things have been kind of chaotic around here, and I've been procrastinating, and fiddling about... basically doing anything to keep from facing the blank page. Usually I get distracted by surfing and ... uh... hanging out on the BPAL forum.

So I woke up this morning and my internet was down! Obstacle removed, distraction evaporated, block busted. Maybe not in the way I wanted, but hey, it helped! I spent a few minutes feeling a bit lost. (How'm I going to check my email? And the BPAL forums?) Then I started writing. Banged out a full article. Made notes for another article. Made an outline for the next few chapters of my novel. Baked a pie. Baked cookies. Did a ritual I've been putting off for a while. Cleaned the kitchen. I did stuff! And I got caught up with everything I've been meaning to do.

And then my internet connection came back on.

I gotta say, this stuff is the best. Oh and it smells good too - at least to me.

Wowee this is beautiful. If it were a regular BPAL, I would buy this to wear as a perfume. As it is, I'm very glad I get to smell this everyday, because I bought it as an offeratory oil for my altar and I make daily offerings. Whether used upon candles, on my offering bowl (I annoint the rim of the bowl with this), or on my skin, this blend definitely creates a halo of 'sacred space'. It has an enlivening, almost intoxicating (but gently so) quality that I find very conducive to the purposes for which I bought it.

Temple: Greek is a very sweet herby aroma. I can detect honey, sage and other herbs, and also something fruity that gives it a 'juicy-fruit gum' smell for a brief moment after applying. On my skin it dries down to a gorgeous honeyed herb scent, but the honey doesn't overpower. It has good throw, and as I go about my offerings and prayers, I catch whiffs of it as I move. It really creates a lovely atmosphere, reverent but not too solemn, a sense of holiness, but not at all churchy. It lets you know you're going about sacred business, but that the duties are sweet and sublime.

I am so glad I got a bottle of this - Temple:Greek will become a permanent fixture on my altar.

This is a part of my first big TAL order. I got Hymn to Pan because out of all the creative blends, it sounded like it was most suited to the way I work - in 'bursts'.

The scent is incredible, I love it. An herbal lavender with a hint of mint. On me it dries down to a soft, almost floral green. Its the kind of scent you want to breath in deeply, because it is more than just aroma - it is sensation. There is an almost tactile quality to it that teases the olfactory senses.

And yes, so far I've been getting good results from Hymn to Pan. Just opening it and sniffing it from the bottle, I started tumbling vague ideas over in my mind about my novel, which I'd put away some months ago after hitting a brick wall. I wore Hymn to Pan to sleep last night, to see if I could evoke inspiration in dreams, and I woke up this morning with a strong sense of the direction my novel will take, and some excellent ideas. I feel stirrings of inspiration that seem to be building to the point of explosion. I'm going to let this one take its course and see what happens. I'm wearing it again this morning, and I've annointed my creativity mojo-bag with it and Blockbuster.

I also intend to use this in a rite to strengthen my relationship with my muse.

I would use HtP even if it smelled like goat-pee, but the fragrance is a bonus, because its absolutely lovely.

I can be fairly long-winded in my reviews, especially of scents I love, but so much has already been said about Minotaur, and I can only concur. This is a resin-lover's dream. Deep, cthonic, with a feral edge. Its absolutely beautiful.

This one took a while to grow on me, but now that it has, I'm absolutely delighted with it. In the bottle, I get the same murky vetiver and saffron with a hint of citrus as I do with Lenore. But this is brighter and warmer than Lenore.

Wet, on the skin, I get a blast of vetiver, with all the other notes hiding in fear in the background. It has that vague "apothecary's cabinet" smell that Lenore does - lots of Lenore comparisons here. But where Lenore is heavy and sorrowful, Azathoth is a glittering madness.

On the drydown, the saffron kind of twists the vetiver and cedar into something evil. The tangerine adds a glimmer of light, like the glistening of a deep, black inhuman eye, or a maniacal giggle, heard in the darkness. This is truly a weird scent - as crazy and amorphous as its namesake. It goes through several stages, and I love them all. So glad to have a bottle.

This just arrived today. Oh my.

First I need to say that every note in this blend just called to me - I love it all, the mosses, the pepper the herbs, everything. Except two. I wasn't too sure about the lilac, and the caramel terrified me.

I've been avoiding foody scents like the plague. I absolutely do not want to smell like candy, cookies, cakes, chocolate, or a ham sandwich. But I was hoping the caramel note in this would linger nicely in the background, shrouded by those wonderful mossy, spicy, earthy notes.

Know what? It doesn't.

Know what else? I don't care - I adore it.

In the bottle, this is a spicy caramel. And I should also add the label is beautiful. Made me homesick for New Orleans.

On, wet, the mosses and herbs take a front seat for a while, while the caramel grants the ghost of sweetness to the blend, and the gentle veil of lilac softens the scent. I'm going to make a confession. The first time I tried this, the wet stage made me cry it was so gorgeous. And I'm so not a weeper. But I've never smelled anything like this, and for a moment I just sat stunned while the tears gathered in my eyes. Gosh here they come again.

The dry-down brings the caramel back to the fore, but what a gorgeous caramel. It doesn't really smell like something one would eat, but rather something one would drown in. Happily. BLWB is luxurious, with just an edge of darkness, rich and lush and seductive. A whispered promise you follow to your doom.

This is without a doubt the most compelling fragrance in my bpal collection. I still can't believe I've been sitting here getting misty-eyed over an aroma, but Bad Luck Woman Blues just became my favorite. She has totally seduced me, and though I have a rule against hoarding BPAL, I think maybe rules are made to be broken.

This one packs a wallop. But scent first:

In the bottle very green, a touch of earth, a touch of water. Something cold and woodsy floating in the background. It is 'very elemental".

First on, wet, its a kind of earthy primordial scent, mossy green like some ancient primeval forest, deep mulch underfoot, algae floating atop ancient lakes. As the fragrance dries, it 'evolves'... seriously. Trees grow, woodsy scents begin predominate, then flowers blossom. Finally it fades to an airy and mysterious scent. It's fascinating to watch the scent morph and develop and is a pleasant but powerful fragrance.

I've been working with 'evolutionary' energies for many years now, and I decided to incorporate this into a ritual to evoke the primal mind in conjunction with some dream/memory work. This rite was the most powerful of its kind to date, but also set off a tangential chain reaction in my personal life, the repercussions of which I still have not overcome. However, the results were ultimately positive, though the process was painful.

The ritual's side effects included some deep primal fears that kept me awake all night, and the following day some wrath that had been seething and pent up in me for years was released all at once. Fortunately the primary object of my rage was a thousand miles away and my only weapons were words, but I don't think I've ever been so uncontrollably angry in all my life (and nothing set it off). It was huge, explosive... but it also finally severed my relationship with a very negative influence in my life so all is well.

I also have used the Elemental Temple oil in conjunction with more minor workings, as a consecration oil and to seal spells by the elements, and have found it very effective.

Thumbs up to this potent blend, but 'handle with care'.

I'm a big Lovecraft fan. Azathoth was the PiA blend I bought for the name. This was the one I bought for the notes. Everything about this blend screamed 'buy me'. I adore cypress, BPAL's leather is heavenly on me, I love incense and resins, and pepper.... yay! I've also grown fond of BPAL's musks so I figured I couldn't go wrong with this one, and leaped right into a big bottle. I got it a couple of days ago, and have been wearing it non-stop.

In the bottle, I get mostly incense and leather, with a hint of a spicy edge, peppery and also kind of cinnamony.

Wet on me, this almost becomes 'the thing that should not be'. It grows a bit spicier on my skin, with a sour undercurrent of decay, like something's a bit off with this blend. I think the combination of leather and musk act up for a moment, and the result, though not entirely unpleasant, is certainly disconcerting.

Part of the attraction to this blend isn't just how it smells on me, but how it feels. At the wet stage, it actually tingles on my skin, the pepper and spices caress me with a warmth that is just this side of discomfort. Fortunately it never goes beyond a tingle - I get no rashes, redness or burning, so it remains pleasant in a... uh... almost unpleasant way. Just part of the charm of this intriguing blend. However, I may not be able to wear this in high summer, because of the heat it imparts.

The drydown is way too beautiful. I love this combination of leather, incense and spice. The musk stays in the background, adding depth but not glaring. The spice to me leans more toward a cinnamon or cardamom type spice, rather than being peppery, but it isn't as sharp as cinnamon. I regret the cypress doesn't assert itself more on me, but its forgivable, considering how unique and mysterious this smells on me.

This is one of those fragrances that keep my nose glued to my wrist all day, and must go on my top ten list. I'm in love!

So I finally scored an imp of the coveted Swartzer Mond. So many notes in this I love, and I was curious as hell about it.

In the bottle, I get a strong spicy myrrh with a sweetish amber edge, almost caramelly. (caremellish? caramel-esque?)

Wet on my skin I get the usual 'patchouli blast', but its a sharp, spicy and sweet patchouli, not dirty. The patchouli yields to the myrrh and opoponax, and I get a hint of sage-like sweetness (zdravetz?). I also suspect this sage-ish note of supplying the underlying soapiness that detracts from the overall deliciousness of this blend. Its not an overwhelming soapiness, but its there, lingering beneath the resiny goodness.

The soapiness doesn't last, thankfully, and the drydown is lovely. Sweet, spicy resins, kind of warm and rich.

Later it goes through a hippie headshop phase on me, before settling back down into a sumptuous darkness. So I'd have to say that at its best, swartzer mond is a cthonic beauty. At its worst, soap and hippies (though never the twain shall meet).

In the latter stages I get a dusting of amber, deepened by the other resins.

I can certainly see why there's so much fascination with this lovely blend, but it goes through at least two iffy stages on my skin, and there are other dark blends I like much better on me.

I got this because in my birthchart, my Saturn is retrograde and unaspected (ouch) and I'm trying very hard at this time to re-integrate Saturn's more positive qualities into my life. I need you, Saturn!

First sniff: Yeah, this ought'a do it. Its thick and heavy, maybe some myrrh and something herby and medicinal. Might be some vetiver lingering in there too.

Wet on my skin, something smells awfully familiar. I think there's a hint of anise in here. Overall the scent is dark and earthy, but there's a spicy 'bite' behind it (like the spiky point of a scythe).

The drydown is much the same as the wet. Earthy, with that slightly spicy, woody bite. The throw - dear me, what a throw. Its quite intense on me, and I might add, quite beautiful. I'm not going to mind working with this gorgeous blend.

It certainly seems to encapsulate the Saturnine qualities.

Definitely glad I grabbed a bottle of this one.

Today's test-o-rama begins.

Considering my fetish for all things Roman, its surprising that I haven't grabbed a bottle or three of this before now. Even more surprising because it contains one of my favorite notes - cypress. But it was the rose that was steering me away from this one. You see I believed I hated rose, but then I received a frimp of Bess and bravely tried it and... a miracle. BPAL rose smells nice on me.

So I dared to try the Rome.

In the bottle, OMG its incredible. That cypress note tickles the sinuses, the juniper nice and prettily sharp. The rose lingers in the background, barely there, and I don't pick up the chamomile at all.

Wet on my skin I do get the chamomile and the woods, the bite of the juniper contends with the gentle warmth of the chamomile. At this stage, its truly gorgeous.

The dry-down sees the rose asserting itself, but its a woodsy rose, warmed by the chamomile and given complexity by the woods. Its lovely and intriguing. Not a dark femme-fatale rose, or a flirtatious rose, or a sweet victorian rose, but something stately and elegant. More confident than most rosy scents would be, with maybe the slightest hint of austerity.

However to me, there's something that smells 'devotional' about this oil, and I may end up consecrating it and using it as an offeratory oil in my lararium.

In the imp, musky myrrh. Very dark, almost spicy.

Wet on my skin, I get my usual 'patchouli blast'. BPAL's patchouli always blasts me in the face when I put it on, with a deep earthy aroma, then fades into the background. When the patchouli fades, oh wow. This is a true beauty.

Myrrh and patchouli cling heavily to my skin, enriched by a hint of musk; and the orris just adds this spicy violet scent. I can detect the notes but they're beautifully balanced and play well with one another on my skin. Dark and heady with a hint of the melancholy. Can it be that I've finally found an Ars Moriendi fragrance that agrees with me?

Oh yes! This goes on the bottle wishlist for certain.

Light floral in the imp, but gosh does it rev up on the skin.

Wet, I'm getting a sharp floral that I think may be the carnation. I'm not very familiar with a lot of the floral notes, so its hard for me to pick out individual ones. This is very vibrant and glittering. I like it.

On the drydown, powder. In fact, its so powdery I find it uncomfortable to sniff.

Well it was pretty while wet, but there are so few florals that my skin can carry off. I think for those who can carry off a floral, this is really lovely and unusual and certainly worth a try.

I was pretty intrigued by the idea of a volcanic gas note, I'm just hoping its not sulphuric or anything. In the bottle, I smell nothing of the sort - just lush tropical flowers. The kind of scent that portends soapiness on my skin.

Wet on my skin, it gets pretty sharp actually. A kind of smoky spiciness wafts through the floral canopy. Wow, this is really nice, but there's a hint of something that almost makes me want to sneeze, something slightly dry - but not powdery.

I don't get a huge amount of musk from this - just enough to add a warmth to the scent. Nor do I get a lot of greenery. A very heady and lush scent.

The dry-down is very pretty, and thankfully never goes soapy, but its still mostly floral on me, and the sharpness that made it so interesting during the wet-stage is gone. If it had stayed the same as it smelled wet, it would have been bottle material for sure, but alas, in the long run it becomes a lovely, somewhat unusual floral, but not unusual enough to justify a 5ml purchase.

Then again... damn this just keeps morphing on me. One moment, nice floral, the next, a piercing bite of smoke. When I sniff this, there's a sense of something sharp and pointy barrelling into my sinuses first, chased by flowers.

Yes yes.....

No... no....

I don't know.

More testing is in order for this one I guess.

I like this a lot, but....

No, let me start over. My niece thinks this scent smells better on me than any of my BPALS. She loves this one on me, and so do I, sort of.

The best way for me to describe this fragrance is 'surprising'. According to the description, it starts off gleeful and moves toward darkness. On me, it does the opposite, beginning sort of dark and gloomy and moving toward glee. Fortunado Retrograde, I guess.

In the bottle its a rich wine aroma, with a hint of berries and woods.

Wet on me, I get a blast of earthy patchouli (patchouli always smashes me in the face, then fades) with the fruits and wines lingering in the background.

The dry-down is really amazing. Fortunado mellows quickly into fruited wine. On me it smells exactly like an expensive, bittersweet orange liqueur. So good I could drink it. And therein lies the problem.

It smells like I've totally been boozing it up, and I'm not sure how often I want to smell like that. Other boozy scents work really well for me. they hint at booziness without overpowering, but this... this smell just like liqueur. I keep imagining myself parked on the side of the road, "No officer I haven't been drinking. Thats just my BPAL, Fortunado".

"Your pal, Fortunado, you say? But there's no one with you ma'am. Step out of the car please."

And yet surely there are occasions when such a fragrance would be appropriate. I can think of a few. This one deserves more testing.