tempete

Unfortunately, you can become allergic to something even when your prior exposures didn't produce a reaction. I had a severe allergic reaction to an antibiotic on the second or third round that I had taken before with no problems. This is also why some people have to give up their pets after living with them for years with minimal allergies. The immune system is a very weird thing indeed. If you stop wearing Blood Amber and the rash goes away + if you wear it again and the rash reappears, then it's definitely the cause of your allergies. (I spent some time working with dermatologists who diagnosed drug allergies that cause skin rashes.) But I think that it's pretty obvious that Blood Amber is the source of your problems, sorry

The notes in Phantom emerge in stages on me. I smell myrrh most strongly at first. At this stage, Phantom smells like a lighter version of La Petite Mort without the ylang ylang. Then the musk comes out, although the myrrh is still present as an undercurrent. I'm pretty sure that it's not red musk, because it doesn't smell like the musk in Scherezade or Glasya. I think that it may be dark musk, which didn't work well on me in Hecate. This is my least favourite stage. Several hours later, I can smell the attar of rose and more faintly, the ylang ylang. I catch whiffs of the myrrh note, which seem to ground the florals. I can't detect any musk at this point. The initial stage and drydown of Phantom are gorgeous, but I just don't know if I'll be able to get over the musk stage. I'll have to use the imp more before I can come to a final decision.

My experience with Persephone is pretty similar to everyone else's. Wet, Persephone smells most strongly of a luscious, not-too-sweet fruit which must be pomegranate (I've never had it before). The rose note slowly emerges and mingles with the pomegranate note as the oil dries down. Several hours later, the rose note dominates the fragrance, but the pomegranate note makes it a fabulously non-powdery floral - this is the wet, juicy rose phase that other reviewers have mentioned. I'm undecided as to whether I'll buy a bigger bottle - since my favourite phase of Persephone is the pomegranate-only stage - but I'll enjoy using up my imp.

Blood Lotus is sweet sweet sweet!! I couldn't detect any floral notes in it, but that could be because I had to wash it off pretty much immediately because sickly sweet scents can make me feel nauseous. I've read reviews that the lotus note is very strong in Black Lotus. When I wear it, a watery floral note is dominant and I detect very little contribution from the other components listed in the description. Maybe you could wear Blood Lotus and Black Lotus together to get that sweet lotus scent that you're looking for? And I agree with sarahj that you should skip Old Kathmandu. Definitely very spicy and woody.

The green notes in Machu Picchu come out most strongly on me when wet. The luscious fruit notes emerge during the initial drydown, and the blend of the fruit and green notes is really amazing. I wish that this phase of Machu Picchu could last longer! After several hours, I smell the florals with an amber undercurrent. Although I prefer the green/fruit phase, this phase is quite lovely as well. Smelling Machu Picchu makes me happy for some reason (especially when the green notes are prominent). I am contemplating purchasing a 5 ml bottle.

My body chemistry does funky things with cinnamon and woody notes. So my experience with Hamadryad went something like this: First, I smelled like cinnamon. Next, I smelled like a piece of wood. After that, I smelled like a cinnamon-y piece of wood. Then I went back to smelling like cinnamon. Goddamn I hate my body chemistry sometimes. (edited for grammar)

Bayou ends up being a very watery floral on me. While I don't dislike it, there's unfortunately not much for me to love. I couldn't detect the Spanish moss, evergreen or cypress notes, which is a shame because I think that they would've added some backbone to the fragrance.

Since I do not like pure floral scents that much, I had high hopes that the black amber would ground the florals nicely. Alas, Black Dahlia powdered out on me within ten minutes or so. I think that's a personal record for me. Edited to add that after several hours, Black Dahlia morphed into a black amber note that was very lovely (no florals were detectable at this point). A roundabout way to achieve an amber single note...

A deceptively sweet orchid vanille with a faint trace of stephanotis. I think that I smell the funkiness that malanna described in her review. I get the orchids initially, the wave of vanilla sugariness, a really beautiful phase where it's a perfectly balanced floral vanilla... and then something smells really off. I think that this could be the stephanotis note (although I've never smelled stephanotis - I'm just speculating). On the plus side, Regan doesn't go powdery on me like most florals do...

I didn't have any recommendations for this thread until I came across Blood Lotus. On me, it was sickly sweet, like a piece of candy - but that sounds like it's exactly what you want. Keep it in mind for the inevitable second (or third or fourth) BPAL order...

Yeah, body chemistry is a funny thing... I smell the red wine most strongly when I initially apply Old Athens. As it dries, the myrrh begins to emerge, but the red wine never really goes away. While I'm ecstatic to find another BPAL scent with a strong myrrh note (La Petite Mort is the other), I find the red wine makes this too dark and heavy for my tastes. In the end, I get very little of the florals or the honey, and ironically (because I'm not usually a huge fan of either), I wish that I could smell them more because they would have offset the red wine perfectly. I hate it when my body chemistry screws up a good thing.

I bought an imp of Dragon's Milk off another forumite before I knew how sweet dragon's blood turns on me. I wish that the spicy notes of dragon's blood came out on me, because they would have balanced the sweetness of the dragon's blood, vanilla and honey combo. Thankfully, this is not as insulin-spiking sweet as Blood Lotus was on me, so I plan to layer Dragon's Milk with spicier/earthier fragrances to use up my imp.

This is a slightly spicy, soft, warm scent on me. Dragon's blood is usually nauseatingly sweet on me, but here it's tempered by the amber. However, I agree with previous reviewers who wished for more amber which I think might have added more presence to this fragrance. I like Blood Amber, but don't love it. I think that one of my sisters would enjoy this more than me, so this will be going to her.

This is my first foray into scents containing dragon's blood, and unfortunately, Blood Lotus makes me smell like a piece of candy that could induce a diabetic coma. I hope that this is not due to the dragon's blood, since I've ordered several BPAL scents in which dragon's blood is featured prominently. I don't do well with very sweet fragrances, so I won't be keeping this.

On me, Embalming Fluid is very lemony when wet. It then dries down to an unpleasantly antiseptic scent, which I suspect is the combination of lemon and aloe. :sigh: I wish that Embalming Fluid worked as well for me as it obviously did for most of the reviewers, since there are days when I crave fresh, clean scents and tea scents fit this bill nicely. I've since learned that my skin doesn't play nice with lemon, so that unfortunately eliminates most of BPAL's tea scents since they almost always contain lemon. Kumiho works much better for me in the tea scent department.

I have never been so happy to be sick. I thought that I was developing an allergic reaction similar to summer's, since my throat felt all swollen and closed up yesterday, a day that I was wearing Snake Oil. That would be devastating because I adore Snake Oil and I have a 5 ml on the way. But this morning, I woke up feeling very tired even though I had enough sleep, I've been feeling crappier and crappier as the day progressed and my throat is scratchy and sore (a typical cold symptom for me). Yay! I'm not allergic! This means that I can spend tomorrow watching CSI and posting reviews!

Intrigue initially exudes sharp woody notes which are then softened and smoothed out by the cocoa note. After about thirty minutes or so, I can detect the fig note, which brings sweetness and fruitiness to Intrigue. At this point, the fig and woody notes balance each other beautifully, and the cocoa is a faint whisper. It would be richer and deeper if the cocoa note were just a tad more obvious in the drydown, but for such an unusual and interesting combination, my description doesn't really do Intrigue justice. This is one of the few BPALs I've tried with woody notes which doesn't make me smell like a piece of wood, which is pretty amazing! I'm not sure if I'll buy a bigger bottle of this, but I will definitely use up the imp.

The vanilla note in Snake Oil is rich and rounded rather than overly sweet, and makes B&BW vanilla concoctions seem screamingly artificial in comparison. The Indonesian oils are the perfect counterpoint to the simpler, open, more familiar vanilla note, because they bring an air of mystery, sophistication and exotica to this scent. On me, the vanilla note is most obvious when wet, although traces of it are apparent in the drydown. The end result is extremely addictive and utterly gorgeous! Of the BPALs I've tried so far, Snake Oil is the one I wear when I want to be noticed, as I've received two compliments from co-workers. I also wear it when I know that I'm going to have a shitty day - I get an immediate mood lift when I sniff my arm and remember how amazing I smell I never want to be without Snake Oil, which is why I bought two decants from malanna while I anxiously wait for my bigger bottle...

I was excited to try Old Morroco, because the spices in this BPAL blend are supposed to be similar to those in Snake Oil, one of my faves. However, Old Morroco dries down to a creamy floral (I presume this is the carnation note) with a softly spiced backdrop. Musk is less obvious here than in Scherezade, which is a shame because I need the musk to ground the floral notes as I'm not overly fond of pure floral fragrances. On the other hand, it is a small miracle that the sandalwood doesn't dominate Old Morroco on me, since my skin loves to seize onto sandalwood notes. I will probably use up the imp I received in a swap, but pass the one that is part of a recently placed BPAL order onto one of my sisters and not buy any larger bottles.

A master storyteller who possessed unfailing courage and compassion, a sharp, quick wit, and a true understanding of human nature. Saffron and Middle Eastern spices swirled through sensual red musk. This was an extra in my second BPAL order. At first I wasn't interested in it, because I thought that I wouldn't be interested in smelling like saffron, spices and red musk (the main notes in Scherezade). I was dead wrong. The saffron provides a lovely and unusual floral note that is grounded by the warmth of the red musk. The spices add an exotic texture. I will definitely order a larger bottle of this. I recently had the opportunity to compare it to Old Morroco, and while it is a lovely scent, I prefer Scherezade. On me, the floral note in Old Morroco (which is provided by carnation) is more dominant while the musk is less apparent, and I'm not a huge fan of strong floral scents.

Oh no, not another note that my body chemistry loves to amplify... All I could smell was coffee for a long time. I kept sniffing for the other notes in Mata Hari, but sadly, by the time my skin finally decided to stop smelling like a coffee pot, the other notes had dissipated as well.

I was completely prepared to love Velvet. I adore myrrh and cocoa vanilla, so I figured that a scent which featured both would be a surefire hit for me. What I didn't count on was the sandalwood notes. I have sadly discovered that my skin loves to amp up woody notes, especially sandalwood. So I smelled like damp pencil shavings right after I applied Velvet. Eventually I smelled like a piece of wood that someone had smeared a minute amount of chocolate on, as the cocoa vanilla bravely tried to make its appearance. However, my screwed up body chemistry helped the sandalwood to bludgeon the cocoa vanilla and myrrh into submission (I never did smell any myrrh). I may have to buy single notes of myrrh and vanilla to get what I would have liked Velvet to be.

On me, the honey note in O predominates over the amber and vanilla notes. I would prefer it if the amber note were more dominant. But I suspect that my real problem with O is that I have never done well with strictly sweet scents (they tend to make me nauseous, unfortunately). I think that O would make a good counterbalance for scents that need a bit of sweetness and warmth to them. I will try layering it with darker or earthier scents to see if I can find a combination that suits me better (and post good combos here).

I wanted to try Old Kathmandu because hypothermya noted that it seemed to be a softer version of Scherezade, which I love. Wet, the incense notes hit me right away and then fade into the woody notes. Unfortunately, it seems that my body chemistry loves to latch onto woody notes. For the first hour, I smelled like a piece of sandalwood. The next hour I smelled like a piece of cedar. Finally, the saffron, lotus and Nepalese spices emerged and it was a glorious, heady mixture. At that point, Old Kathmandu did remind me of Scherezade, presumably because of the saffron. I prefer Scherezade as a personal fragrance because I don't have to suffer through "smelling like a piece of wood" phases, but I plan to use Old Kathmandu as a room scent. Edited to add that I'm using it right now as a room scent and it is giving me the most godawful headache

This was a generous freebie thrown into my first order. Unfortunately, Szepasszony was pretty one dimensional on me: it was very sharp, almost painfully so, like a jagged piece of glass rather than slashing rain. Dianella's review makes me think that it's the ozone note that my body chemistry latched onto. It becomes more bearable when the ozone note recedes and the white florals underneath emerge, but it doesn't last for much longer on me at that point.