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BPAL Madness!

Sheila

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Everything posted by Sheila

  1. Sheila

    Dragon's Milk

    I love dragon's blood, I love vanilla. This is a keeper! Dragon's Milk is very red in the imp. On, it smells exactly like it should: dragon's blood and vanilla. To me, dragon's blood always smells like cherries, roses, and spices--but resiny and thick. Yummy! This starts very sweet (cherry and vanilla) then as it dries, more of the spiciness comes out. Now it smells like a spicy, slightly fruity, slightly floral, vanilla. Onto the big-bottle list it goes. ETA: Oh, and it just gets better and better on drydown--slightly incensey and delicious. It lasts all day, too.
  2. Sheila

    Queen Mab

    I love this! Most strong in this scent (for me) is the sweetness of orchid. This is the same orchid note that I love so much in Regan. However, there's darkness here, too. I can't isolate the other notes (this is very well blended), but it's a velvety-smooth scent that reminds me of a very deep red or purple. The musk grounds the scent and keeps it from being too sweet. A very lovely, very fae floral that perfectly captures the name Queen Mab.
  3. Sheila

    Scherezade

    This is visually a very dark, thick oil. I wish I got spices and musk from this scent, but all I smell is patchouli. I'm not sure why! Maybe it's the incense note that my nose is associating with patchouli? Anyway, I agree with luxuria: This is OK, but I prefer All Saints' for my incense blend, so off to swaps this goes.
  4. Sheila

    What Scent Is This?

    The lab has told me that, since each imp/bottle is mixed individually by hand, it's very, very unlikely that anything would ever be mislabeled. But it looks like you already know that.
  5. I second Kali--it's similar to Dia de los Muertos, but more floral and less "sharp" to me.
  6. Sheila

    'Second Skin' Scents

    About Dublin, I *never* thought I would enjoy any scent with pine in it (I don't want to smell like a Christmas tree)...but I'm totally in love. On me it's musky and deep--like being in an enchanted forest. Your order sounds lovely! (I love Bewitched so much, and also like Alice, White Rabbit, Oberon, Bastet, Blood Amber, and Sudha Segara.) My first order wasn't very successful, but now that I know more about what notes I do/don't like (and what notes work with my chemistry), I've found many, many scents which I totally adore.
  7. Sheila

    'Second Skin' Scents

    My favorite scents are "second skin" scents. They seem to become part of me. HOWEVER. Everyone's skin scents are going to be different. A lot of the recommendations in this thread have been quite spicy / foody / incensey on me. On me, the following are subtle, warm skin scents: *Snow White (so, so lovely) Jezebel (may be too sweet) Haunted (may be too cloying) O (you already said this was too sweet) Unseelie (discontinued) Greed (very powdery) Dublin (very pine foresty) Bathsheba (may be too fruity) Bastet (may be too incensey) Good luck with your search--and let us know what you come up with.
  8. Sheila

    Oneiroi

    Usually I find BPAL's lavender to be too sharp and herbal, but this is very lovely. I smell lavender mixed with jasmine. It's a very pretty, soothing scent. I tried it last night to battle insomnia but it didn't work. (My husband, however, applied only a small amount on his chest and was out completely.) However, my parents are visiting and I'm slightly stressed, so I'll try it another time without the extenuating circumstances! ETA: Tried it again and no sleepy. It's very relaxing, though, and a pretty scent.
  9. Sheila

    Play-Doh smell -- should I dilute?

    Snake Oil does this for me at certain times of the month. It does it less now that my bottle has aged (check out the aging thread for more info). Try Snake Oil again in a week or so, and keep the bottle around. It'll get less play-dohish and more sweet / well-blended as time goes by (at least in my opinion). Good luck!
  10. Sheila

    Bathsheba

    I love carnation so much that I want to have its babies. Plum and musk are also both favorites of mine, so I knew I'd love Bathsheba. Bathsheba is a soft, sultry, deep blend. It's like a lovely plummy musk, with the carnation adding spiciness and sexiness. Yet it's also very comforting and warm. It's a soft scent, but very lovely. Another one for the big-bottle list.
  11. Sheila

    Jezebel

    Jezebel reminds me of a line from Yeats: it's like being in a "bee-loud glade." (Or, in this case, a bee-loud orange grove in bloom. ) This is beautiful. On me it's dripping honey and fragrant orange blossoms, with the rose peeking out only at drydown. Very sweet and slightly powdery, innocent yet seductive--Jezebel is a wonderful combination of scents. One of my top-ten scents--maybe even one of my top two.
  12. Sheila

    White Rabbit

    I this! It exactly captures the name "White Rabbit" and the feel of Lewis Carroll's character. The pepper is what really makes this--I was scared that the smell of pepper would make me sneeze, but it adds a gentle spice to the sweet tea that is just beautiful. It really smells like tea spilled over linen. It's amazing. I just wish it wasn't so faint and didn't fade so quickly. Layer this with Alice for the perfect little-girl-tea-party scent.
  13. Sheila

    Sudha Segara

    Another winner. On me, this is a blast of ginger--very spicy and sharp. I don't smell any milk or honey, but I think these notes contribute to the warm and creamy (but not foody) drydown. This would be a great scent for someone coming to BPAL from commercial perfumes--it's slightly perfumey but still unique. But what really convinced me I need a big bottle of this is how it smells when layered with Snake Oil. Sweet and spicy, vanilla and ginger...oh my.
  14. Sheila

    La Belle au Bois Dormant

    Oh damn, another one for my big-bottle list. This scent is truly beautiful. The best words I can think to describe it are gentle, pretty, and delicate. The pear and plumeria combine in a slightly fruity, light floral. I can't really smell the other notes since they're so well blended. I wish it lasted longer, but this is worth reapplying.
  15. Sheila

    Bruja

    I'm one of those people who love Bruja and miss her! Thankfully I've managed to gather a few imps. This is a deep, dark scent--heavy but not incensey. It reminds me of Haunted but with lilac added--my favorite floral. The amber and myrrh provide a gorgeous base for the lilac, and all three of these notes work very well with my skin chemistry. This scent seems to float around me, becoming a second skin. RIP.
  16. Sheila

    Hunger

    I expected something sweeter from the reviews and ingredients in this blend. Wet and in the bottle, this is very strong and sharp to me--almost patchouli-like. I'm guessing that's the black narcissus? On, it mellows into a nice orange blend. I wish I got more vanilla from this. I'll bet this is one that gets better with age--I think I'll try it again in a few months and see how it's developed.
  17. Sheila

    Blood Countess

    I thought I'd love this scent--I like plum and florals and adore opium. But when I first applied this, I smelled sweet fruit--almost lotus-like--and cinnamon. On me the scent remained sweet berries and plum with something spicy (I don't think it's cinnamon--no burning--but it's similar). I got no florals and no opium (though opium could be contributing to the sweetness of this blend). This wasn't what I expected from the description. It's a nice scent, but not me--off to swaps.
  18. Sheila

    Wings of Azrael

    This should be a scent I love--myrrh, violet, and lily of the valley are some of my favorite scents. But, even though I love the scent of violets, my skin doesn't. It amps up the violet so I can't smell anything else, then turns the violet into dust. The same thing happened to Queen Gertrude and Le Serpent Qui Danse too--I love them in the bottle/at first but then the violet goes wrong. If you have good luck with violet, though, this would be lovely. Off to swaps.
  19. Sheila

    Rosalind

    Rosalind was very pretty for the first hour. I didn't get any berries, but rather a high, green floral, with a slight grassy undertone. Very nice and springlike. Unfortunately it disappeared completely in an hour. This might be nice made into a spray or lotion--something to make it stick around. Still, you'll like it if you like green or aquatic florals.
  20. Sheila

    Endymion

    Ah, Endymion. At first I smell pears--delicate and new, not fully ripe. Then a soft floral scent emerges and mingles with the pear--the light, soapy scent of lily of the valley. It fades (unfortunately quickly) into a soft floral powder. (I don't smell the rose or musk in this blend.) This is a light green scent, perfect for spring. It's on my big-bottle list. ETA: It lasts longer if I apply a touch to my sleeves rather than my skin. ETAA: Now that it's aged a bit, or maybe now because my nose is more sophisticated, I smell sweet, gentle pears--and rose. YUM.
  21. Sheila

    Phantom Queen

    At first I smell the sharpness of apple blossom, followed by the more deep floral scent of orchid--both scents I love. This is a lovely, regal floral, dark but not overbearing. I think it's the moss or hawthorn that keeps this from becoming a "sneezy" floral. Onto the big-bottle list it goes. Edited for punctuation. blergh.
  22. Sheila

    Grog

    Grog smells exactly how it's supposed to. First, a blast of sweet butterscotch, followed by the scent of rum. (Like Belladonnastrap, I am also reminded of the drink called a Buttery Nipple.) It mellows into a sweet, creamy scent. Not something I really want to smell like--but enjoyable just the same.
  23. Sheila

    Vixen

    As other reviewers have noted, this is very similar to Snake Oil. On me, it's like Snake Oil but with a strong patchouli scent instead of vanilla. The background "spices" are identical. I didn't get any orange, unfortunately. Since I'm not a huge patchouli fan and since I like Snake Oil better, off to swaps this goes.
  24. Sheila

    Moon Rose

    The description and name of this scent are dead on. This is a lovely rose scent that is very translucent--in fact, it's barely there! It evokes a silvery pink in my mind. It's an innocent and lunar scent that's very pretty.
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