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BPAL Madness!
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MB: Tokyo Stomp

Beckons all giant creatures from gargantuan reptiles and humongous moths! These babies are sure to crush everything from dollhouses to shopping malls! Can even be used to summon colossal robots in a pinch! A sweet and crisp vanilla mint!   Reviewed 07/28/2007   When I opened the bottle, all I could smell were freshly baked sugar cookies. It was definitely sweet, sugary vanilla all the way. I love vanilla, but it was way too sweet. The moment it touched my skin, though, the vanilla faded and the mint came rushing forward. I absolutely adore this scent, and it lasts forever on me. Ten hours after I tried it on yesterday I could still smell it if I lifted my arm past my face! My boyfriend swears he smells chocolate in it, but I don't get that from it. Either way, he liked it as much as I did.   I'm going to have to be careful and sparing with this one, even though I love it to death; my skin just grabs this and holds on for dear life and it could very easily get overwhelming. It's definitely a wrists-only scent for me.

Rovylern

Rovylern

 

Black Opal

A play of geological darkness and jagged brilliance. Soft and luminescent with flashes of black fire.   Reviewed 08/11/2007   I don't get any floral or greenery from this at all, just creamy tonka, soft musk, and something I can't identify but, oddly, brings to mind the sound of a mountain stream bubbling over rocks.   This is a scent of seduction. Not much throw on my skin; it clings very close and getting a whiff makes you want to get closer. A tiny bit lasts for quite a while, too; six hours and still going as strong as when I first applied it.

Rovylern

Rovylern

 

La Petite Mort

Seduction, sensuality, the Act, and the aftermath all in one. The scent of warm, damp skin flushed with the glow of passion, touched by the luxuriant potency of ylang ylang and myrrh.   Reviewed: 08/11/2007   This did not start off well. It was intensely floral and soapy for the first half hour, and I was ready to write it off completely. After about half an hour, though, it faded to a very spicy, subtle floral that was lovely. Unfortunately, it was completely gone within two hours after the morph so it really isn't worth the flowery soap phase for me.

Rovylern

Rovylern

 

Crypt Queen

As sweet as death, as deep as the grave: pomegranate, raspberry, gardenia, plum, and rose with patchouli, black pepper, rose musk, and a hint of blood accord.   Reviewed 09/09/2007   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.

Rovylern

Rovylern

 

Chaos Theory IV: Edge of Chaos CXXXIII (133)

Reviewed 07/28/2008   CXXXIII (133)   In the bottle: Chocolate maple syrup.   Wet: I smell like pancakes!   Dry: Pancakes and syrup, sprinkled with cocoa; not the burnt-sugar note of Sugar Skull. Light throw.   Verdict: Ultra-foody and yummy, but it's definitely a cool-weather scent.

Rovylern

Rovylern

 

The Flower Song

THE FLOWER SONG Unknown, Written during Egypt's New Kingdom To hear your voice is pomegranate wine to me: I draw life from hearing it. Could I see you with every glance, It would be better for me Than to eat or to drink.   Pomegranate wine, lotus root, river reeds, hyssop, and barley.   Reviewed 02/25/2008   Imp: Very sweet, sugary. A touch of something fruity, but very little.   Wet: Sugar and pomegranate. There's no wine or booze note at all. There's an undercurrent of something spicy, like Juicy Fruit gum, as my skin amps the lotus.   Drydown: Lotus sometimes has a tendency to turn to cat pee on me, but this doesn't. I never get any wine notes at all, nothing aquatic or herbal that suggest the river reeds or hyssop, nothing earthy or grainy for the barley. This is all lotus and pomegranate, all the time, and the combination of the two is beautiful. It clings close to my skin but lasts forever; ten hours after I applied the first test patch I could still smell it if I sniffed the back of my hand. I can't wait to try this in my scent locket; this is definitely going to be a multi-bottle purchase for me.

Rovylern

Rovylern

 

Snowblind

The perfect vanilla mint.   Reviewed 10/27/2007   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.

Rovylern

Rovylern

 

Hony Mone

Hony mone, a term proverbially applied to such as be newly married, which will not fall out at the first, but th'one loveth the other at the beginning excedingly, the likelyhood of their exceadinge love appearing to aswage, ye which time the vulgar people call the hony mone. Three honeys blended with seven fruits, flowers, and herbs of passion, pleasure, and joy: honeysuckle, fig, carnation, apricot, jasmine, tonka, and almond.   Reviewed 12/19/2007   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.

Rovylern

Rovylern

 

Sugar-Slathered Candied Apple

Sugar-Slathered Candied Apple -- With a dollop of caramel!   Reviewed 03/05/2008   I can't believe I haven't posted a review of this scent yet because it's one of my favorites!   In the imp: Fresh, juicy apples. Wet: Caramel and apples. This smells like freshly dipped caramel apples, the way you can smell the still-warm caramel and the apple as you take that first bite. Drydown: I'm so happy this doesn't morph on me. I absolutely love it. It smells exactly the same from beginning to end. On my skin it fades pretty quickly, but in my scent locket it lasts and lasts and has a good amount of throw. I only regret not being able to afford a bottle of this at Halloween, because now I'm jealously hoarding my one little imp of it.

Rovylern

Rovylern

 

Crypt Queen, test II

As sweet as death, as deep as the grave: pomegranate, raspberry, gardenia, plum, and rose with patchouli, black pepper, rose musk, and a hint of blood accord.   Originally reviewed 09/09/2007, revisited 11/02/2007   I tried this for the first time back in September, and got a strange Vicks Vap-o-rub scent from it. I decided to give it another try tonight, just to see if there was any reason for me to keep it sitting around in my BPAL box.   I'm still getting a strong Vicks scent from this. I can smell the berries swirling around under the surface, but whatever is going Vicks-ish on me is way too dominant. Unfortunately, it just does not fade away completely. With the exception of that one note, I love this blend...but that one note is so strong and lasting that I can't get past it.

Rovylern

Rovylern

 

Diary of a Lovestruck Teenage Cannibal

The NIGHTMARE TERROR of TEENAGE love gone GRISLY! She's HELL-BENT on romance, THRILL-CRAZED, and HUNGRY! There's NO ESCAPE from her clutches!   A deranged darling, sweet and sociopathic! Clotted vanilla cream, pink pepper, grapefruit, blood lily, red ginger, English pear, and lemon-squeezed candyfloss!   Reviewed 02/09/2008   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.   The pear in this gave me pause, but I still ordered two bottles unsniffed. I'm glad that I did, because it's fabulous. This is definitely screaming "Hoard me!"

Rovylern

Rovylern

 

Review: Lick It, Lick It Again, Lick It One More Time

Lick It: What else could possibly be more lickable at Yuletide? This is a candy cane perfume, minty, sweet and sugared.   Lick It Again: Every holiday season should be full of lewd suggestions and filthy double entendres, right? This is a new take on last year's Lick It -- a peppermint candy cane with an extra jolt of sugar.   Lick It One More Time: Every holiday season should be full of lewd suggestions and filthy double entendres, right? This is a new take on Lick It and Lick It Again -- a peppermint candy cane with a flash of vanilla and an extra jolt of sugar.   Reviewed 11/23/2007   I realized that I have never reviewed any of the Lick It line when my bottles of One More Time came. So what else was there to do but put all three on and do some comparisons?   Bottle: The original '05 Lick It is a very sharp, intense peppermint in the bottle, with just a hint of something sweet underneath. The '06 version is much more mellow to my nose, but '07 is very close to the '05 version.   Wet: On application, all three go on very strong. '05 is immediately very sweet while still maintaining the sharpness of the mint. '06 softens as soon as it touches my skin, with the vanilla and sugar pushing the mint into the background. '07 reminds me of the original again, the peppermint staying strong as the sweetness swirls up, just like smelling a real candy cane.   Drydown: The best wear comes from '05. It mellows considerably and has very little throw, but it lasts for hours if I bring my wrist to my nose. Smelling it is like licking your lips an hour after you've eaten a candy cane, a minty memory on your tongue. '06 has very little throw as well. The mint tends to fade out after a few hours, but the soft vanilla sugar lingers on my skin for much longer. There's something seductive about it, and it reminds me a bit of Snowblind. My skin drinks '07 like water. After less than an hour it is completely gone, with only a faint dusty smell left like I've been carrying around old books. Even the vanilla, which my skin normally holds on to for dear life, disappears without a trace. It's the closest to '05 in scent...while it's there. I love it enough to keep it and just slather it on every hour, but I'm wondering if the aging of the original is a factor in how well it stays so I'll be tucking a bottle away in a dark corner to see if it helps. If not, there's always a scent locket, right?

Rovylern

Rovylern

 

Chaste Moon 2005

Though March marks the end of the desolation and chill of winter, it is not yet Spring, the time of rebirth, fertility and the Earth's fecundity. March's Full Moon is a Virgin's Moon, pure, youthful, unsullied and innocent. This is the Moon of the Child, and the scent is as soft and gentle as a baby's breath: milky blossoms and soft cream touch the last buds of winter, coupled with crystalline, bright traditional Lunar oils.   Reviewed 01/07/2008   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)!

Rovylern

Rovylern

 

Incubus

Spectral white musk and the heart-stopping chill of sheared mint, fanned by caramel-touched body heat, and the diabolical sensuality of black musk, nicotiana, and sage.   Reviewed 01/03/2008   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.

Rovylern

Rovylern

 

Nuit

She is the Goddess of the Sky, one of the Ennead, daughter of the air [shu] and water [Tefnut], lover of Geb and Hadit, the Eternal Mother, and the Receiver, Reviver and Protector of the Dead, whose loving, divine embrace shields our souls from annihilation. She is love, rapture, splendor, continuous and eternal birth and rebirth, infinite space, and the “the naked brilliance of the voluptuous night”. Nuit is Earth’s guardian, and shields her lover and her mortal children from the primeval chaos that threatens Existence. Her perfume is starry and crystalline, a jewel-clad and glittering paean to night: dazzling white musks, white rose and night-blooming jasmine with the soft moss of moonlit meadows, a waft of Egyptian incense, and a gentle breath of moonflower.   Reviewed 01/03/2008   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.

Rovylern

Rovylern

 

Midnight Kiss

Eternal desire, unquenchable passion: red musk, cocoa absolute, Nepalese amber, red sandalwood, aged patchouli, nicotiana, and blood wine.   Reviewed 01/04/2008   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.

Rovylern

Rovylern

 

Strawberry Moon

Strawberry moon is a blending of strawberries and cream with light, dry lotus and soft ylang ylang and a touch of green tea and sage to bring it closer to Earth.   Reviewed 01/04/2008   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!

Rovylern

Rovylern

 

The Oval Portrait

Evil was the hour that she saw, and loved, the painter. Gentle beauty and innocent devotion: honeysuckle, carnation, stargazer lily, bluebonnet, vanilla musk, and rice flower.   Reviewed 01/07/2008   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.

Rovylern

Rovylern

 

Pink Moon 2007

A sweet and silly compliment to the first breath of Spring! Sugared carnation and phlox!   Reviewed 01/07/2008   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!

Rovylern

Rovylern

 

Libra 2007

Cardinal air: the essence of balance. Rose, black cherry, carnation, fig, honey, plum, and black currant.   Reviewed 01/09/2008   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.

Rovylern

Rovylern

 

Snow White 2007

A chilly, bright perfume: flurries of virgin snow, crisp winter wind and the faintest breath of night-blooming flowers.   Reviewed 01/09/2008   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.

Rovylern

Rovylern

 

Pink Phoenix

Silliness in the extreme. Vanilla bean, honeycomb, sugared pear, sweet pea and a dribble of strawberry.   Reviewed 01/30/2008   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*

Rovylern

Rovylern

 

Moon Rose

A crisp, pale, almost translucent rose dusted by moonflower and midnight dew.   Reviewed 03/07/2008   IIn the imp: This reminds me of an Avon perfume my great-grandmother drenched herself in. It's making me really hesitant to try this, but here goes...   Wet: Subtle floral, something fresh and green. Not nearly as strong as I thought it would be, thankfully.   Drydown: Very pretty and feminine. I scanned some of the previous reviews and saw a lot of people describing this as a pink rose, but in my mind it's pure white, a rosebud just beginning to unfurl. It was on the verge of soapy for a while, but it never quite went over. It smells very fresh and clean, very cool, and it's not overpowering at all. In fact, it's very very light and fades away quickly.

Rovylern

Rovylern

 

Eclipse

All the glory, warmth and majesty of the sun -- darkened. A delicious blend of bitter almond, vanilla, frankincense and heliotrope, with a drop of cinnamon.   Reviewed: 03/08/2008   In the imp: Almond, and it's strong.   Wet: Almond, a bit of sweetness from the vanilla. I'm not getting any cinnamon, and so far no skin reaction from it either.   Drydown: The cinnamon never came forward, and this wound up turning into slightly almondy baby powder. Not unpleasant, but not what I was looking for or expecting. I think it would make a nice room scent, and it might work in a scent locket, but this isn't something I'll be reaching for to wear.

Rovylern

Rovylern

 

Fruitcake

Unreleased scent, no description   Reviewed 03/08/2008   I really wanted this to work on me because I love the concept. I don't know what my skin chemistry is doing, but it turned into cinnamon-spiced celery! What the heck?

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