Rovylern

In the bottle: Buttered corn. Not candy corn, real corn.

 

Wet: Creamed corn. Eek!

 

Drydown: Butter and sugar, maybe nutmeg and cinnamon? The spicy part smells like a bottle of pumpkin pie spice. Thank *goodness* the real corn scent faded! It doesn't really smell like candy corn on me, but it does smell good. It has a very definite fall feel to it. I don't get any of the booziness that some reviews have mentioned, and that makes me happy as most of the Lab's booze notes don't work well on me. This is foody but not overly so; it doesn't scream "Eat me!" in your face the way something like El Dia de Reyes does. I think it would be wearable even for people who don't tend to like foody scents.

In the bottle: Vanilla cake, a hint of something cherry-ish. Very foody.

 

Wet: Again, something cherry-ish, but that fades quickly. The grapefruit and lemon are in the forefront, with creamy vanilla swirling underneath.

 

Drydown: Sparkling, happy citrus. There is a bit of spice to keep it from going into the cleaning product smell. The cream seems to have blended in so well that I can't pick it out as a separate note but there is still a creamy feel. There's a short time when the pear note gives it a hint of play-doh, but thankfully it doesn't stay very long. This is definitely screaming "Hoard me!"

This seems to be very iffy on me. Sometimes it's very sweet, a sugar overload with hints of strawberry, vanilla, and flowers floating in the background. Other times, the pear note that hates me comes forward and it becomes sugary play-doh. Very very strange, since it doesn't seem to be a skin chemistry issue because it can happen all in the same day. I adore the way it smells when the play-doh stays away, so I'll keep wearing it and hoping for the good application. *L*

I got this as a lab frimp. It's been on my "things I might want to try, but has a scary note so there are other things I want more at the moment" list for a few months now, so I was glad for a chance to try it out.

 

Wet: OMGFRUIT. Banana, coconut, pineapple, apples, I can pick out each one. I adore really juicy fruit scents, the kind that make you thirsty for some fresh juice when you sniff them, and this seems to be one of those.

 

Drydown: This isn't something I can stick my nose in and inhale, the chili pepper makes sure of that (if I try, my nose starts to twitch, heh). It's got a good throw, though, so I don't have to. I was nervous about the chili, but it didn't irritate the skin on my wrist at all. It did burn my face where I accidentally touched the test spot to my cheek, so I think it's a wrist-only scent for me. It only lasted a few hours, but I know that my skin drinks oils up and very few last longer than that. I will definitely be nabbing a bottle of this in the future.

I was a bit nervous when I first put this on. I got a hint of the Vicks-ish note that makes Crypt Queen awful on me, but thankfully it faded after a few moments. It became a gorgeous, juicy fruit scent, just tart enough to make things interesting. I'm so in love. I wish it had more throw, and it fades out very very quickly, but it's so beautiful that it's worth hoarding so that I can slather myself in it repeatedly without guilt.

In the imp: Cherries! Is this finally the so-juicy-it-makes-me-thirsty scent I've been dying to find?

 

Wet: Yummy, juicy, ripe to bursting cherries. Oh yes!

 

Drydown: Wait, what is this? I smell like...sawdust? Freshly cut wood and sawdust. It's very interesting, and quite well blended, but sawdust isn't really on my top ten lists of things to smell like.

In the bottle: Chocolate, lots and lots of it.

 

Wet: This smells just like hot chocolate. Not the powder stuff that gets mixed with water, but the real stuff. YUM. It's incredibly rich, decadent, and lifelike.

 

Drydown: Now I'm getting hints of cinnamon teasing me through the chocolate. There is no coffee, just sweet, thick chocolate and swirls of cinnamon. I am enthralled by this perfume, it's absolutely gorgeous. It's definitely a winter scent, I can't even imagine wearing something this warm and thick during the summer months. Like Midway, this is best described as NOMNOMNOM. The absolute best, most true-to-life chocolate scent I've ever tried.

In the imp: COFFEE!

 

Wet: COFFEE! It's screaming. I'm picturing someone hyped up on 15 espresso shots chanting coffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffee. It's nothing but coffee. If I liked coffee it would be wonderful, but I don't drink it and I'm not a big fan.

 

Drydown: This is still screaming COFFEE! at me. It's very in-your-face. Every now and then a swirl of booziness will bubble up, like someone trying to sober up after a long night, but only rarely. This would be perfect for the teacher my kid had last year who adored coffee and was a wine connoisseur, and I think I may pass this on to her for her birthday. It's very well done, it has a good throw and it lasts a long time, but it's just not for me.

 

Edited to fix spelling. Apparently, I need some of the caffeine from the coffee in this perfume. *L*

In the bottle I get mostly sugar, a touch of something tangy, and a hint of coconut suntan lotion.

 

Wet: It's hovering on the edge of that plastic, playdoh scent Beaver Moon '05 gave me. NOOOOOO!

 

Dry: My skin eats every other note and leaves funnel cake, dusted generously with powdered sugar. NOMNOMNOM is the perfect description for this. I don't get any apple at all, which is a shame, because I love caramel apple and was hoping for some of that to come out. It doesn't have much throw, and fades out quickly, but it's worth the repeated slathering. I'm glad I nabbed two bottles of this while it was up, and I'm sure I'll be on the hunt for more.

Wet, this is basically an almond single note on my skin. There isn't even a hint of floral.

As it dries, well, it's still almond, but with a hint of something sweeter. Since I'm a foody to the core, that works perfectly well for me and I may try layering it. It doesn't feel cold to me at all, it has more of a spring feel. I only wish it had more throw; apparently, Snow White is quite a shy girl because it's so light that I could miss it entirely if I didn't have my nose pressed against my hand.

 

It's not what I was expecting, but still definitely a winner.

In the imp I smell lots of fruit; the cherry and currant dominate. It's very sweet and very juicy. That's really what I was looking for when I sought this one out. On my skin, however, it's a sweet, spicy, almost overblown rose. It took me a few minutes to place it, but finally I put my finger on it: this smells JUST like the rose character from the Rose Petal Place dolls produced in the eighties. It takes me back to some very fond memories of my childhood and it's a beautiful blend, but it has a very young feel so I don't think that I will wear it often.

I admit, I've been prejudiced against carnations. I found that I like some blends with carnations, though, so I was willing to give Pink Moon a try.

 

I really enjoyed the spiciness that I've come to recognize as BPAL's carnation note, but after that initial yummy spice it turned into pure play-doh on me the way Beaver Moon '05 did. One odd note about this one: my cats went crazy over it. Completely and utterly bonkers. They were fighting each other to get to the spot I applied it and wouldn't stop sniffing and licking it. I've never seen anything like it!

My first impression is HELLO FLOWERS! Heh. It's almost overwhelmingly floral. There's an undernote of something tangy that makes the corners of my mouth pucker, something sharp and almost citrus-y. That fades out at about the same time the flowers begin to be tempered by the musk. I don't get much vanilla out of it, though I normally amp vanilla; it smells more like a skin musk on me. This is very feminine and adult, not like my normal foody inclinations but very wearable and pretty. I'm not sure I could use an entire bottle of this, but I might get another imp or two of it.

I have been coveting this for months, ever since I was frimped a sniffie of it, and it was everything I was hoping it would be. It's spicy, with a base of sweet creaminess, and it blows me away. It stayed true, with no plastic or fake-ness in the undertones. It clings very close to the skin, with very little throw, the kind of scent you dab behind your ears and on the back of your neck before you meet a significant other and you want to draw them in close. Unfortunately, something in this makes me itch like nobody's business on every body part I tried it on, even places that I rarely react (like the back of my hand)!

This is absolutely beautiful. It's very true-to-life, like a bowl full of fresh strawberries and homemade cream. I don't get the plastic, fake note that other people have mentioned, but I also don't get any hint of tea or anything green at all. This is very fresh and summery and delicious, and it breaks my heart that I adore it so much because I know I'll never be able to afford a bottle of it!

One of my resolutions for the new year is to be more on top of testing and reviewing my BPAL, especially the approximately 100 untried imps sitting in my imp box. So I've started randomly grabbing two each night and testing them out, whether I thought I would like the notes or not.

 

Wet and Initial Drydown: Ew. EWW. I smell like BO and something flowery. Normally musks work with my skin, so maybe it's the nicotiana or the patchouli.

 

Complete Drydown: Oh yes. This is finally coming together and smells wonderful. Now I get the cherry cola-ish scent that people mention. It's dark, but sparkling and not overpowering. I'm in awe, the lab made something that is dark and light at the same time. It's very sexy, in a commanding way. I think that I could get past the initial funky stage and wear this, but it's definitely not an office scent.

Gorgeous. Florals aren't my normal favorites, but this is beautiful and calming. It's pure, feminine, floral. I rarely get a color feeling from a scent, but this 'feels' midnight blue to me. While sniffing I had an undeniable urge to just close my eyes and breathe very slowly and deeply, and I actually almost fell asleep. I think this would be amazing as a meditation oil or a sleep aid, maybe on an eye mask or a pillow. The throw is medium and it has a long wear time.

I got this as a frimp from the lab, so I decided to try it without looking at the notes beforehand.

 

This, on me, smells like vomit and cigar smoke. My arm smells like a bar bathroom at closing time. I don't know what happened between this and my body chemistry but oh, my dear gods. This is definitely going in the swap pile.

In the bottle, bright golden honey with an undertone of almond and just the faintest hint of flowers in the background. I put it on and BAM. Pretty much instantly it became cat pee. I waited a while, hoping it would change again, but the only morph I got was overripe, almost rotting floral. Oh skin chemistry, how I loathe thee! I love honey scents so I will save one bottle and see if I can age the pee out of it, but I think the extra bottle I got may be swapped out.

This is so very different from other vanilla mint scents like Tokyo Stomp, Lick It, and Lick It Again. The only way I can describe this is as a WARM mint. It is utterly gorgeous and delicious the way the lab's mints always are, but it doesn't have that chilly cold feel that most of the mint scents do. Something in the combination of vanilla and butter in this blend make it feel like mint wrapped in a blanket in front of the fireplace, and I love it so much.

Oh yum. This is absolutely delectable.

 

Wet I get a strong cherry note, almost exclusively. As it begins to dry there's a distinct cake-y smell, like vanilla cake batter before it's baked, that pushes the cherry into the background. Just as it's about to get overwhelming, the strawberry comes up and it all blends together amazingly.

The throw is very very subtle, and as AEris mentioned is only really detectable for about half an hour unless I go nose-to-wrist and sniff for it. It does last for a long time, but even if I slather it on it stays very light. Usually I like a more distinct throw, so I'll be hunting for a locket or something to make this stand out a bit more.

 

Even with the subtle throw, I am so in love with this oil! I'm glad I bought three bottles of this, it's definitely one I'm going to hoard.

I am really torn about this one. I absolutely love the subtle florals and juicy, dark berries. In the bottle, it is absolutely perfect. But on my skin there is an odd smell that comes out, I'm not sure what it is but it makes my nose tickle like a whiff of Vicks Vap-o-rub does. Maybe the pepper? It's not horribly strong but it doesn't fade away. I'm going to give it a few more tries and see how it does around other people, and if they notice that same weird scent when I wear it I may try aging it for a while before trying again.

I don't get any of the mint I expected from this. It's a light, cold, watery floral. It has almost no throw and clings very close to my skin. After a five or six hours it turns very sweet, almost vanilla-ish.

I absolutely love wearing this right now, because it has been insanely hot and muggy lately and sniffing this makes me feel cool even when I'm sweating to death.

This was so odd on me.

 

Emathides started off smelling EXACTLY like Avon Skin So Soft, and it was so strong that I almost gave up on it right then and there. But after it dried it changed to dark, juicy berries with a hint of woodiness underneath. Not my normal scent inclination but very nice all the same, not overpowering but with a good throw. After a few hours it morphed to a very overwhelming baby powder-ish smell. Then that faded out and it became the berry-and-wood scent again, only much lighter. That final stage lasted for another few hours and then poof! It was gone.

It was very pretty and feminine and grown up, and I can see myself wearing this out for formal occasions.

 

And for once, a scent that I love didn't work better on my kiddo than me! Muahahaha. She tends to lean towards light, floral scents, and this was all musk on her. It was a very light musk, but she didn't like it at all and wound up washing it off after about an hour.

'05 Version:

 

The first few times I wore this, I loved it. LOVE. It was gorgeous. If you are baking cookies and you cream together the butter, vanilla, and sugar, and lick the beaters, that taste is how this smelled.

 

Then, apparently, my body chemistry shifted. When I put it on yesterday, I had to take off running for the bathroom and wound up throwing up before I could get it all off. It smelled like rancid butter, and even after scrubbing my arms twice it still lingered. Wow. I'm going to keep this around for those times of the month when it's not awful on me, but I'm going to be very, very careful with testing it each time I use it.