tempete

My skin seems to love both dragon's blood resin and musks, so it was a competition to see whether dragon's blood resin or the red and black musks would win. Oh... it looks like dragon's blood resin won, and that the fruity notes are adding a touch of sweetness. Unfortunately, I'm fonder of musk than dragon's blood resin, so it's likely that I'll be swapping this one away.

Wet, Yerevan is pretty much all apricot, all the time on me. As it dries, I can detect a woody note valiantly trying to break free - perhaps the sweet roots? In the final drydown, the apricot note finally recedes and the woody note completely dominates. I'm not fond of woody scents, so this one is headed for the swap pile.

I've tried Samhain a few times now, and I can't say that I love it as much as everyone else seems to. The initial scent of spiced apple cider sometimes stays with me through the drydown, and is sometimes replaced by a creamy pumpkin note. I wish that I could detect some of the other notes which would make Samhain less foody-smelling, as I love drinking apple cider (just not smelling like it) and I really dislike pumpkin. I am contemplating selling my bottle to someone who will appreciate it more than me.

Although I love myrrh, I didn't jump at the chance to get a bottle of All Saints' for some reason, possibly because of all the floral notes (not much of a floral person). However, I did manage to snag one of fairywingmaker's decanted imps and it made me relieved that I didn't spring for the bottle. It turned very soapy on me, and I think that this was because of the lilies (Juliet does the same thing and lilies are the common denominator). I will be passing on my imp to someone else who will hopefully have a better experience with All Saints'.

I would have never ordered or swapped for R'lyeh on my own, but the Lab generously threw in a freebie imp of this in my last order. R'lyeh is pretty much all grapefruit on me - not the juicy part, mind you, but the rind. As the scent dries down, I think that I can detect the ozone note, but it must be a small component of this scent because it doesn't dominate on my skin like it normally does. All in all, an interesting scent but one that I doubt that I would wear much so it's headed for the swap pile.

I was trying to figure out how to describe this odd chemical-y note that I detected in Sudha Segara when I read darkitysnark's review and realized that she had described it perfectly for me. I'm not fond of my perfumes smelling like soap, so I'll be swapping this one away.

Aizen-Myoo turned into a sweet, fruity scent on me. I mostly got cherry, with a wee bit of citrus thrown in. I couldn't detect the black tea note, which is a shame because I think that it would have balanced the fruitiness nicely. This one is heading for the swap pile.

The wonderful Lab rats threw an imp of Queen of Sheba into my last order The scent of sweet almonds dominates the wet phase of Queen of Sheba. Fortunately (since I hate almonds), the almonds recede as it dries and a gorgeous spiced honey scent emerged. Now, I would buy a bottle of Queen of Sheba if it stayed in this phase, but alas, it soaped out on me shortly thereafter. I don't know what the culprit note was in this scent, but I suspect that it might be star anise, which isn't listed in the official description but wouldn't be out of place in this particular scent.

Rapture was initially all rose on me, though I could tell that there was another note tempering the blast (unsure of whether it was the myrrh or the musk). As it dries down, the rose note quietly gives way to the jasmine note. Normally, jasmine drowns out all other notes on me, but in this phase, the musk and myrrh notes make their presence felt more strongly than in the initial rose phase. The final drydown of Rapture reminds me somewhat of La Petite Mort, albeit a less aggressive version. Since I really love La Petite Mort and already have a bottle of it, I'm unsure if I will also get a bottle of Rapture, although I think that I will enjoy using up the imp or giving it to one of my sisters as a Christmas present.

At first, the rose and salty aquatic notes of Penthus were the most prominent aspects, evoking images of someone weeping over a bouquet of flowers. However, the salty aquatic notes eventually beat the rose note down to a very faint waft (which is unusual because there's not much that can beat back rose on my skin) and selfishly decided to dominate the scent. I didn't even detect the other notes in the description. This also happened to me with Dragon's Tears, so it looks like my screwy body chemistry won't let me wear any BPALs with salty aquatic notes.

Initially, Viola is a very strong rose scent on me (no lilies thankfully because they go completely soapy on me). I can tell that something is subtly altering the rose note, but I can't quite pick out which note is responsible. As it dries down, the rose note recedes slightly as the sandalwood and amber notes emerge. The final drydown is a lovely mix of amber and myrrh, with very light floral notes floating on top. Given the other reviews, I was quite surprised with how Viola developed on me. I'm not overly fond of the initial rose rose rose (with a bit of something else) phase, but the drydown is utterly gorgeous (amber and myrrh just love me). I will use up my imp before deciding whether to spring for a bottle.

Xiuhtecuhtli reminds me of Angel. If you read the reviews for this particular BPAL, you'll see that this similarity is mentioned a few times by different reviewers.

Salome blasts me with sweet almonds when wet (Penance would hate this!), but then something spicy emerges to temper the almonds. At this point, I was thinking that I might grow to like this, but then Salome turned to soap - slightly licorice-y, sandalwood-y soap, but soap nonetheless. Off to swaps.

I wanted to love this, I really did. But the leather note in BPALs gets amped up bigtime by my skin and the overall effect is not a pleasing olfactory experience. Perversion smelled, simply put, like dirty coconut on me. I didn't get any of the other notes in the description, which would have tempered the leather and coconut notes nicely had they appeared. Edited to add: I wrote the above review based on a swapped imp. When I got an imp of Perversion fresh from the Lab, it was a completely different experience. I can smell chardonnay in the wet phase, and the smokiness and leather scent in the drydown is tempered by the sweetness of the tonka bean note. I'm now awaiting a 5 ml bottle of Perversion, and it is definitely in my Top Twenty list.

Like Donnababe, I seem to have problems with blends containing Beth's leather note. Initially, I get a blast of red musk (yum yum), maybe a tiny bit of myrrh and leather. As it settles down, the red musk disappears and the myrrh component becomes a bit stronger and of course the leather is still there. The final drydown is black amber goodness and again, leather. I adore red musk, myrrh and amber, so it's a bit of a shame that the leather note (which bothers my nose somewhat) reigns supreme over every note and phase of Loviatar.

Wet, Kuang Shi is musky and slightly sour on me. I think that the sourness is due to the mandarin orange note, as Katharina also went quite sour on me. Unlike Katharina, however, Kuang Shi dries down to a lovely blend of woody and orange fruity notes, and it is the addition of the sandalwood, I think, that keeps this from being too bright and sweet on me. I'm not fond of the initial phase, but I will keep my imp because the drydown is really lovely.

Somewhat along these lines, I am giving BPAL sets to my three sisters for Christmas: Kumiho (everyone's getting this) Snake Oil (everyone's also getting this) Resin: O, La Petite Mort, Haunted Spicy: Scherezade, Morroco, one to be chosen from Othello, Voodoo, Florence or Black Phoenix Fruity: Apocathery, Bewitched, Persephone Floral: Pele, Spellbound, one to be chosen from Lady of Shallot, Viola, Iambe, Muse or Zephyr Wild card: Machu Picchu, Xiuhtecuhtli, Tamora I stuck in the wild card category because I couldn't pick just 6 imps and also because some BPALs are hard to place in just one category. I also didn't pick any strongly woody scents because I haven't had any good experiences with this particular category - I figure that my sisters can pick those out on their own afterward, if they choose to explore BPAL further. But to get back on topic, I have bought or will buy 5 ml bottles of most of these scents, so I might decant some for 'gift emergencies'.

Wet, the tea and herbal notes dominated, creating a fresh, green, astringent fragrance. However, the peony note quickly emerged and overpowered the green notes. It is not uncommon for floral notes to suffocate all other notes on me, but I was hoping that the Dormouse would strike a balance between the two sides. Oh well, off to a better home with you.

Juliet was recommended to me as a clean-smelling floral scent. It indeed starts out that way, with the musk providing a touch of depth and the pear a touch of sweetness. From this promising start, however, it morphed into a soapy scent with a strange artificial note. Too bad, because the initial fragrance was very beautiful.

I didn't think that Fae would appeal to me, since I tend to like heavier resiny or spicy scents. However, the dominant notes in Fae (white musk, peach and oakmoss) produce magic on my skin. Since Katharina, which is predominantly white musk and peach blossom on me, doesn't work for me, I think that it's the oakmoss note which provides the necessary balance by grounding the scent with its earthiness. Unfortunately, Fae has very little staying power on me, so I would need to apply several times during the day. Still, I am considering buying a larger bottle so I can do just that!

Phantom Queen is indeed reminiscent of Unseelie, except it doesn't powder out on me (yay!). Unfortunately, I suspect that Phantom Queen doesn't turn into a powderfest on me because it is sickeningly sweet, probably due to the apple blossom note. I had to wash this one off because of the overpowering sweetness.

This is the third BPAL I've tried that contains cinnamon. I've learned my lesson: I cannot wear anything containing cinnamon because it dominates the scent to the exclusion of all other notes. Sacred Whore of Babylon made me smell like a cinnamon cookie, which is not exactly what I was hoping for given the name of the scent...

The overwhelming agony of passion crystallized into a singularly dark and magnetic blend: bittersweet neroli, black patchouli and black musk, gilded by apple, bergamot, blood red rose, teak, and vanilla. Desire began in a promising manner - initially, it was a vanilla scent tempered by the various notes. However, as it dried down, an odd note emerged that was vaguely reminiscent of my experience with Regan. Desire and Regan have nothing in common except vanilla, and I can wear other BPALs with vanilla (most notably Snake Oil) so I am unsure of the cause of this strange olfactory experience. So unfortunately, this relegated Desire to the swap pile.

Apothecary has slowly grown on me to the point where it has made it into my top ten and I just put in an order for a 5 ml bottle. It is the perfect fresh scent with surprisingly good staying power on me, and as another reviewer pointed out, the fruity and green notes are perfectly balanced. I don't get any lemon at all, which is a good thing because my body chemistry tends to amp that note up. Of all the fresh-smelling tea scents that I have tried, I greatly prefer Apocathery over Embalming Fluid or Old Shanghai.

Initially, the white musk note in Katharina is strongest on me. It gives way to a sour scent - I think that this might be from the fruity notes emerging and mixing with the white musk. Katharina eventually dries down to an almost purely fruity scent dominated by the apricots (I don't ever really smell the orange blossom). While the drydown is nice, I'm not sure that I want to endure smelling sour in the initial phase. Edited to add that I've since discovered that orange blossom turns sour on me, and is probably why I can't wear Katharina.