ClareN

Freshly applied: Mostly leather - the sweet-chemical-cherry-dusty leather smell from blends like Western Diamondback and Quincey Morris. I like this note, so that's not a negative description. There's also cedar, honey, a hint of smokiness, and lots of rosewood - the note that is in Dee, Libertine and Seance - although it's not listed in VILF. I feel pretty confident that there's some rosewood in here but if not it must be the red sandalwood or the Peru balsam that my nose is interpreting as rosewood. I get no patchouli or musk. The oil is a light orangey colour so even without sniffing it's obvious that there's not a lot of red musk here. Drying: Gorgeous at this stage - sniffed close to your wrist it's a bit too sharp chemical leather, but the throw in the air around you is a lovely sweet leather-honey-sandalwood. This lasts 10-20 minutes. Dry: The leather backs off a bit, and you can smell more of the woods and a little of the pepper, ginger and florals. Smells like a Lush product, can't think of which one, maybe a combination of Lush products. It's quite nice. Later drydown: Light, sweet leather and rosewood. I'm not usually a huge fan of rosewood or leather when they take center stage like this, and I feel like VILF needs more of a base note - some serious vetiver, patchouli or musk would do wonders. Glad I got to try it, though, especially for the early stages. If you like this, try: Dee, Western Diamondback, Quincey Morris, Seance

This is an aged imp, 4-5 years. I mainly get earthy patchouli with a touch of orange - more orange than blossom, to my nose; it doesn't have the nectary sweetness that other BPAL orange blossom scents have (like Hunger or Vixen). There's just a tiny hint of spicy carnation. I love the patchouli note in this, but since I don't get much of the other notes it's a bit too simple for me. With the subtle carnation, it reminds me of a less complex version of Clemence. If you like this, try: Clemence, Ravenous, Rakshasa, Schwarzer Mond

Mine's an aged imp that dates from pretty close to the original release - so around 4 years. It's slightly less citrusy than it was when fresh, from memory, but otherwise it hasn't changed much with aging. Like all the Steamworks scents I've tried, Phoenix Steamworks is an interesting, well-blended scent. Freshly applied, it's sharp, brassy, with strong sage, and something like citron. I definitely get the warm metal and steam feel that others have described. Late drydown, there's something that reminds me very strongly of Saint-Germain and The Bow and Crown of Conquest. There's sage in Bow and Crown, but it's something else too - I think it's a type of moss and/or amber that appears in a lot of BPAL's old-fashioned-masculine-cologne scents. I almost want to say lavender, but I don't get any lavender from the opening, so that can't be it. It's quite sweet and soft at this stage. I don't get much incense. This scent family is not for me, so I'll pass this on, but it's one to try if you're looking for traditional-masculine type BPAL and enjoy the cologney blends. I've been really impressed with the Steamworks line as a whole, but this is my least favorite of the ones I've tried, after No. 93 Engine, The Antikythera Mechanism, Galvanic Goggles and Aelopile (all of which I'd highly recommend).

I'd love recommendations for anything similar to No. 93 Engine - lots and lots of resins please?

I wasn't too impressed by Othello the first time I tried it, but I recently revisited my aged imp and loved the clean, powdery, soft quality it has. The lab description is "Arabian musk with two roses and a bevy of Middle Eastern and Indian spices". I think most of what I'm smelling is Arabian musk; I don't detect much rose, and the spices are gentle, something like saffron - not clove or cinnamon. It's a really lovely scent for when you want something subtle and unobtrusive.

Have you tried Sentimental Initiation? Black musk and bitter clove. I tried Smiling Spider a long time ago, but from memory they are very similar.

Sunlitgarden, thanks for keeping the spreadsheet updated and good work! Quick question - I seem to be able to edit the spreadsheet. Should that be happening, or am I just editing my own version of it? As a test, I added "abc" to the note description of Yuletide 2005 in the last line of the spreadsheet (line #2976). Can you see that? If anyone can edit the spreadsheet, that's a problem, right? I don't want to be able to accidentally mess things up! Also, I'm confused by the sorting method; eg. there are LE Yules both at the very bottom and very top of the spreadsheet, and Hellfire is on line 5 among unreleased scents and Lunacies instead of with the rest of the GC Sin & Salvation category...could it be organised in a more intuitive way?

Patchouli, vetiver and orange - the ylang ylang note is very faint. These are all notes that are readily available as essential oils, so the result is a lot like a typical line of all-natural beauty products or an aromatherapy shop. I love patchouli, vetiver and orange, so it's a given that this smells great on me. On the other hand, it's just patchouli, vetiver and orange, so it doesn't have the uniqueness that I look for in BPAL perfumes. If I wanted to smell like straight-up essential oils, I'd blend them myself.

Woods. Definite cedar and maybe frankincense and sandalwood, with patchouli and faint amber in the background. The amber doesn't make it too sweet though - if anything, it's almost vinegary in that way that sandalwood can be vinegary, especially when freshly applied. It dries down beautifully to a soft woodsy scent that blends beautifully with skin. Fans of dry wood/incense blends need to try this. It's lovely, although I like my woods blended with other things so this is a bit too one-note for me to reach for often. I'll keep the imps I have, but I probably won't get a bottle.

This is an unusual one for me, since I normally like the dark-vanilla-musk-incense ones and can't do florals. But I love Ashlultum. BPAL's lilac scent is gorgeous on me and doesn't go all air-freshener or dusty like many floral notes do. Ashlultum is a smooth, creamy, bright blue-purple scent. Lilac is the most prominent note on me, followed by coconut, with the musk and vanilla getting stronger in the drydown. It reminds me a little of Lush's American Cream conditioner with a lot of lilac added. If you're like me and avoid most florals, I'd recommend giving it a try anyway. It really is a lovely, unusual, well-blended scent. I have a full bottle and may consider getting a backup when this series returns.

Ashlultum is probably my favorite lilac scent. Also the strongest lilac note of any BPAL, to my nose.

Sad that this is gone; it was an interesting one. It's a dark, spicy, herbal sarsparilla (root beer) scent to my nose. According to my notes from when I first tested it, I found it "too angry"; but I did come around to it later. I gave away my imp because there were some similar scents that I liked better - Hellhound on my Trail and Kathmandu, a still-available GC. Kathmandu in particular is very similar (and gorgeous, even if I'm the only one who thinks so).

I like BPAL's narcissus, but the rose dominates here. I love rose too, but there's one rose note BPAL uses that usually goes sharp or sour on my skin. That's what's happening here. I also feel like the perfume is missing a heavier base note, something to ground these high-pitched floral top notes. When I don't sniff my wrist up close, though, I don't get the sharp/sour thing - it reaches my nose as a more pure floral. Like Rose Cross, this should work better as a room scent than as perfume. I may keep it for that purpose, since I like the scent itself - just not the way it behaves on my skin.

Seconding the review above me - Aureus seems like one of those scents that needs to age to reach its full potential. My imp has gotten much softer and sweeter over the year I've had it (and it was already secondhand, so I'm not sure how aged it is now). Cedar is a very comforting scent to me, and while I wouldn't want it in everything, this is cedar at its best. I think there's some copal in here too, a bit of amber, and possibly some sort of soft spice. To me, this doesn't exactly evoke golden light - it's one of those old-wooden-keepsake-box scents, all brown wood and resin. If you like the scent of wood, this is one of the best BPAL offers in that category.

The closest scent is definitely Hope from Carnaval Diabolique, which is currently available, but not GC. Most of the GC roses don't smell as pink and sweet as Katrina van Tassel does to me, but maybe try London, Alice, or Two Five and Seven?

Oh wow! I have always read it as Benisabel, and heard it in my head as "Ben-Isabel". I actually thought you had it wrong, but I checked the website and it is "Bensiabel". Now my world is turned upside down. I'd love to know how to pronounce it correctly...

This is the first decant I tried of the new Yules, and I'm already in love. In the imp, it smells a little like Hand of Glory, which I couldn't really enjoy - something about this beeswax note smells more like too-rich cake, or soap, or plastic, rather than beeswax. But I gave Hanerot Halalu a chance anyway, and thankfully, it is a vastly more wearable scent than Hand of Glory for me. On my skin, it quickly warms up and becomes a glowing, orange beeswax-honey-smoke scent. The smoke is subtle, in the background; it's really all about the warm, sweet beeswax. It occasionally reminds me of lemon pound cake - it's not too foody for me, as someone who doesn't like to wear cake, but if you're strongly anti-foody, Hanerot Halalu will probably be too rich for you. Everyone else should jump on it. Beautiful, comforting, long-wearing, versatile - one of my favorite new releases in a long time. I'll get one bottle for now, but I'm already praying to the BPAL gods that it becomes one of the classic Yules that return again and again.

If you're an Obama supporter, the obvious choice would be Hope. That's what I wore today - I got the idea from Portalkat in the Election Discussion Thread over in the Politics forum. I'm in Australia, so I'll be watching the results come in tomorrow morning. I know I'll be incredibly tense, so I'll have to wear something positive and calming - maybe No. 93 Engine, which smells like being surrounded in golden light. I was also considering Hod, from the Sephiroth, another beautiful, peaceful scent. That's so cool that you're working at the polls, cortney! I envy anyone who gets to play a small part in this historic election. I voted for the first time ever this year, which I'm pretty thrilled about, but I'd love to be volunteering right now if only I were in North America.

I've only seen the dark green Oblivion, but mine is an older imp. There could be a seasonal variation with whatever ingredient it is that makes it dark green...however, my imp doesn't smell sweet and fruity at all, so I guess it might be something else. Maybe you could try to meet up with another BPAL fan in your area and see if they recognize it?

This is from memory because I haven't tried it in a while, but Kathmandu is similar to Hellhound. I think the imp of Kathmandu I have might be aged, but they both have that "spicy herbal rootbeer" thing going on. Kathmandu is a little stronger and darker.

The butchest, manliest of musks covered in well-worn leather. First of all, I have to say a big thank you to the Lab: I ordered two bottles of Brom Bones, one for me and one for a friend, and they left one out by accident, but I emailed them and I was very impressed with how promptly they replied and sent out a replacement. Great customer service. This is a wonderful scent. I can see where people are getting fresh, watery, and green tea-like. I think it's the leather note that's giving that impression. (To clarify - this does not have any of the traditional BPAL aquatic notes, so don't be afraid if you hate aquatics.) It's the same leather note from Quincy Morris, which seems more refined and grey and tea-like than the warmer, smokier leather in De Sade. On the leather scale, I like Brom Bones more than Quincy but not as much as De Sade. Leather is more prominent at first, and the scent turns more musky on the drydown. I can't quite tell what sort of musk it is. It's not black musk, which is good because I don't need another black musk scent. I want to say white musk, but white musk couldn't be "the butchest, manliest of musks", right? It is a cleaner, fresher scent than I expected, although it's still angry and dark, if that makes sense. As others have mentioned, this is very potent with major throw. It's probably not a scent I will wear on its own very often, but I love experimenting with layering, and this will be a good one to add more bite and intensity to certain scents. By the way, I am almost positive that this has a few components in common with Theodosius from Carnaval Diabolique. Brom Bones is the Mr. Hyde to Theodosius' Dr. Jekyll. Short version: if you like the concept, try it! It does what it says on the box.

That Lilith Victoria label on your flickr page is the same image as a Halloween postcard I got from the lab this year! I love that picture, and I wore Dorian + Snake Oil today and it's lovely, so I obviously have to order LV now. If you can see the whole image, the dress the little girl is wearing has black cat faces all over it and black flames down the bottom. I really want a dress like that.

OK, I think I've got it. So the May 2005 and January 2006 versions had the same ingredients and the same paper white label, and there's essentially no way to tell them apart for sure (especially if you haven't sniffed them both). But the October 2006 one had a different colored label. Am I right?

*sigh* I know this question keeps being asked over and over again, but...I have a bottle of 13 and the seller wasn't sure which release it was. White papery label with "13" in black. Smells like a chocolate orange. Any idea which 13 I have here?

Yup, the Love Potions listing does seem to be keyword spam. Ironic, isn't it? It was discussed in that same copyright thread linked above. That Love Potions company creeps me out no end - all that aggressive trademark-defending on eBay where they got other people's auctions taken down for using words similar to "love potion", and now this. Ugly. I sent Amazon a complaint, so maybe they'll finally do something about it.