mystery213

Wet, this one tries to steal the show. It smells like I slathered on Whip and Wanda at the same time and then someone dumped a jar of marschino (sp?) cherries on me (it may sound odd, but this is a *good* thing). It would be the clear cut winner of the bunch, except like it always does, the delicious cherry/almond note fades within minutes, and leaves a somewhat powdery, slightly less boozy smelling Wanda behind. Like Wanda's shy, well behaved little sis who has dreams of booze drenched leather parties, but unlike Wanda, never quite actually goes through with it...

This starts out very subtle rose- not an in-your-face rose, like a lot of roses seem to be. The chocolate note is the first to hit when wet, and the roses lend a sweetness and elegance to the background. How did I not realize how delicious roses and chocolate was when paired up together? As it dries, it becomes this delicious rose liquor kind of scent, as the rose becomes more prominent, with the chocolate dancing on the top. I would not call it boozy exactly, but something in my mind thinks of a rose flavored wine when I smell this. Like lying in bed drinking rose wine and eating bon bons....

Wow, this one barely smells like roses at all, really- it is lurking in the background (and I usually amp rose), and is just covered in a thick layer of the most exotic, incensey spices. When wet, it pretty much smelled like straight up spicy incense. I am really having a hard time identifying a specific spice upon drydown, though I suspect there may be some clove and cardamom lurking in there somewhere?

 

As this dries down further, I am definitely getting a vague Morocco kind of vibe happening over here. It also (surprisingly) seem to be leaning toward being a somewhat masculine (or at least unisex) blend.It is a very clean and rugged kind of spicy happening....

This one is really weird. In the bottle it is a non-descript sort of clove addled spiciness. When it is applied to skin, I think my nose gets really confused initially by the unusual musk and coconut combo that arises, as that is about all I smell. As it dries, the champaca starts peeking out of the background, but it is still predominantly coconut and musk. The clove seems to have largely disappeared, which is strange since it was in the forefront when cold sniffed from bottle. My skin also amps coconut like nobodies business, so my skin chemistry might be burying the clove in coconut.... I don't think this musk will be going anywhere, no matter what else amps itself though, this is a very 'musky' blend.

Hauntingly beautiful! Forgotten elegance- plush dusty curtains infused with years of incense and beeswax candle fumes. If you like Not So Penitent Mini Mag, or Candlelight atmosphere spray, this is a must have!

This is really powerful on the Lab's classic snow note, but instead of pure chilliness, like many of their snow blends, it is warmed a bit, and made very unique by the sweet peach and sugared lemon notes. The tea note adds a bit of sharpness I could probably do without, but it stays mostly tempered by the sweetness of the fruits. When I spritz this in my hair, my daughter and partner both follow me around sniffing my hair, so it seems to be a hit.

Yep, I'll throw my hat in the ring with the others in saying that this is totally a clean, fresh, fancy shampoo. The cherry blossom gives a light, sweet floral note that accompanies the slightly sharper tea note very well, and if I try really hard I can just barely catch a glimpse of the strawberries hiding in there as well. This is a perfect hair gloss for those days that you need something a bit more neutral, or professional, as I have a hard time seeing anyone being offended by this blend. I wish I got more strawberries from it, but it is so beautiful and refreshing that my bottle will still be getting plenty of use.

Delicious! This is pretty much what would happen if you blended a bottle of Velvet, and Bliss together, and turned it into a hair gloss. It has the woods and amber vibe that Velvet does, but with a huge splash of the sweet, rich, decadent yumminess of Bliss added in. This is hands down my favorite chocolate hair gloss put out by the Post to date, and this will layer beautiful with all of my favorite chocolate perfumes.

This blend is amazing! It starts with a blast of sugary sweet cotton candy, with juicy but somewhat vague red fruits playing in the background. It dries down to a somewhat fruity cousin of Pink Wig Spray, with a grounding base of the sweetest Dragon's Blood ever. If you are a fan of blends such as Dragon's Milk, Velvet Unicorn, and Pink Wig Spray, you will probably adore this hair gloss....

This was totally in-your-face banana Runts on me at first, but dried down to an orange creamsicle/Juicy Fruit gum blend. Or something like 'Blue Moon' ice cream (the bright blue ice cream with little chunks of fruity bubblegum in it). It is so, so yummy, but faded quickly on me, as citrus always does with my chemistry....

 

I did not get a chance to try the bath bomb version, so this review is for the oil only.

This is an odd one, that does throw the nose for a bit of a loop- it smells like a mish-mash of an imp box when sniffed in the bottle, but when applied turns into a floral dominant blend with a whiff of a soft green note, and an earthy backdrop. Not quite what I expected, but more pleasant than it probably could have ended up, with all of these notes vying for attention....

Sooo, as a long time vegan, I am pretty disturbed right now. I emailed the lab yesterday questioning about their 'CO2 butter extract' note, and Beth has confirmed that it is indeed a milk based note, and is *not* vegan. Seeing as their website FAQ specifically says 'With the exception of our honey-based products, everything that comes from BPAL is vegan', I am particularly taken aback. My first concern arose with the release of Auri's Perfect Soap, which apparently contains tallow (beef fat). I found that odd, but did not think too much about it (since it was made by someone besides BPAL, though made *for* BPAL), until seeing 'butter extract' listed as a component of one of their oils. Now I am questioning a whole bunch of other blends, and awaiting a response from customer service to let me know which other oils also contain animal secretions. I know there are a handful of other vegans here in the group, so I felt this info was potentially pertinent for at least a few others as well.

 

I am still awaiting an official response, and desperately trying not to jump to any further conclusions..... I will keep everyone updated.

I love this one! I was not as impressed by the perfume oil version of Pecan Pie, and honestly I get very little actual 'pecan pie' out of it at all, but it is a mish-mash or super yummy, heady spices (cinnamon, clove, allspice!) that are just delightful. The scent is also quite strong, and lingers better than many other hair glosses I have tried.

Sadly, some of the labs versions of patchouli go funny on me, and the patchouli in this particular blend totally turns to cedarwood, which I am not a fan of, and the honey is pretty close to non-existent. Maybe it is the patch/honey combo that does the funny hamster bedding thing? Either way, I was hoping for something closer to Silkybat or RR, but this one had to find a new home....

This smells like a slightly less sweet version of Snow Bunny to my nose! A clean and crisp, delightful wintery blend, with the Lab's famous 'snow' note and a background of sweet sappy pine (although I do not actually see that listed in the notes). Beautiful!

Curious if anybody knows the evolution of the Dragon's Milk labels through the years? I know there was the plain black and white label (the first label), the black label with a red dragon and purple lettering on it, and a newer (I think?) with a green dragon wrapped around the name. I am mostly wondering what years these labels all spanned? I have two bottles of the second (red dragon) label, and am curious about rough age on these.....

Yep, this is like a dream blend between Midway and Velvet Unicorn. So much cotton candy- so delicious! This is the first atmo that I have ever really felt the urge to spritz all over my hair and clothing. It is faint though, and fades much quicker than any other atmosphere spray I have yet tried. A handful of sprays on my pillow was gone almost instantly, but it sticks around a bit better on hair.

 

Definitely a 'pink' smell through and through, which I adore. I would take just about as many bottles of this as I could get- it is that incredible!

Rumpelstilzchen is a very woodsy scent to my nose. It smells more sandalwood dominant to me than patchouli, with a spicy background that makes me think cinnamon, though that note is not listed, so maybe the nutmeg and pepper is tricking my nose....

To my nose, The Visionary is a conglomeration of red, white and skin musk, with a honeyed sweetness, and a touch of saltiness (somewhat like Selkie) in the background. Surprisingly pretty, and musky.

Oooh, I do adore this blend so very much. Though do be warned- it is *so* much better after being very well aged. I was frimped a tiny partial decant a long while back with the old flying witch label, so it was obviously very old. It was sweet and syrupy and almost spicy- so rich and decadent! I promptly went and got myself a fresh bottle, and was completely disappointed. Fresh, dragon's blood tends to be sharp smelling and almost medicinal- somewhat harsh. I tucked it away, and after a year or so of aging the bottle, it was not nearly as sharp, but was not the bliss that I had remembered from my tiny frimp.

Fast forward to a few weeks back when I scored my self a bottle of eight year aged Dragon's Milk, and it is so close to what I experienced with the imp. So mouthwateringly delicious and super duper potent!

 

To my nose, this is a sticky sweet/almost fruity resinous blend with a touch of spice to it, but unlike any other spice imaginable. Dragon's blood is really a unique note, and mixed with the honeyed vanilla, it is an incredibly stand alone blend, and totally in my top favorites (once aged, at least).....

Mmm, this is like Nag Champa incense in syrupy liquid form. It is a super thick, rich colored oil that is probably going to do amazing things as it ages. I have tried a lot of 'Nag Champa' scented things, and have been disappointed so many times, but this one nails it. It even has that slightly dusty head-shop smell that the real Nag Champa incense always seems to have. It also has some excellent staying power- my skin totally eats scents, but this even lasted through a hot bath! Awesomeness....

Yep, count me in as another that must have gotten imps from a bad batch- I had three imps that tagged along with my Yules order split the first time I tried to open them...... It was certainly a surprise! I have not ever had that happen from a BPAL imp before.

Ooo, this one is very distinct. It has a strong, sunny neroli top-note to it, and gives a very 'golden' feel overall. After a few seconds, the amber and saffron come out and round this out into a gorgeous scent that is quite reminiscent of very well aged Vixen. The lemon, thankfully, stays in the background, just adding to the brightness of the scent without being obvious. The amber takes forefront at the end of drydown, and the musk and incense finally show up also. This one is going to age AMAZINGLY!

Wow, this starts out on a strong butterscotch note- seriously similar to butterscotch snaps liquor. It quickly fades down like most frankincense and myrrh blends do for me though, into a fairly non-descript powdery note. I also think this will probably age beautifully, and will be very nice for those who do not have the skin chemistry that just morphs it into powder...

From preconceived notion, I thought this would be too 'dark' compared to the violet note I usually like in BPAL's (Faith, White Chocolate and Sugared Violets...etc.). And it is truly much darker and sinister, but still just brimming with beauty. It goes on lush and rich, and is a brooding violet, unlike the usual sweet and candied ones found in most blends. The mint is (thankfully) pretty much non-existent. It goes a bit soapy on the drydown though, and loses a lot of the dark 'purple' feel that it has when first applied. This will likely end up on the frimp pile....