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A Corral for my Reviews . . .

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Crib Girls

On my initial application, I got nothing. Zip, zada, nada. Like I'd just bought a 5ml of water.   My nose must've been on hiatus, because I tried it a couple of days later and now I'm suffused with lemon candy happiness. I'm fond of sweet, citrus, fruit scents and I do like the lab's honey - so I bought this unsniffed and I'm happy I did so. It's not a very complicated scent, just light, sweet and clean. I don't really get the sex scent of the more notorious honey blends. It reminds me quite a bit of Aelopile, which is darker and heavier, but still lemony. This is a more feminine, playful version of Aelopile.   I'm going to get good use out of this in the spring and summer and I'm curious to see how it ages. I might need a backup bottle!
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Eat Me

Initially this is delicious vanilla and sweet cake. The currant slowly emerges until at day's end there is a decided spiciness that is reminiscent of patchouli, woods and resins. Just glorious.
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Eos

This was a surprise hit for me. I normally can't do florals. Jasmine initially does it's overwhelming thing. But then there's a while of sweet, gorgeous honeysuckle. The best part for me is the drydown, which is a wonderful skin musk just barely tinged with floral.
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Cockaigne

A rare instance of a milk note that does not sour on my skin. A deliciously foody scent that for some reason resembles Shub-Niggurath to my nose. I think the wine provides some shub-like warmth.   I love it.
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Antonio the Carny Talker

Antonio the Carny Talker - purchased a decant from a forumite and I think it is well aged.   Gorgeously fruity and yet dark. I normally have a bit of trouble with coconut smelling like suntan lotion - but here it is perfect. Also, the green components of vetiver and verbena are subtle - allowing the fruits to play center stage.   This is worthy of a bottle or three.
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Imperious Tiger Lily

sigh. I adored the 'other' Tiger Lily, so I'm sorry but this review is largely a comparison to the other one. I know they're supposed to stand alone and one is not the substitute for the other, but I just can't separate them in my mind.   so, plain ol' Tiger Lily was saturated, indolent, thick, warm, peachy honeyed lilies with a lot of throw while Imperious Tiger Lily is cooler, fruitier more delicate and whimsical. It just strikes me as a more candied, more youthful treatment of lily. Not really more imperious.   So, even if the concept goes a bit awry on my skin, I like them both. I wish Tiger Lily was still around, but this is a very nice lily scent. :love!:
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Manhattan

Manhattan was a frimp from the lovely labbies.   This is a wonderfully light and clean scent. It is lemony and minty with a touch of tea wafting about.   It smells like a very expensive spa in a good way. For all this clean smelling goodness, it does not smell of soap or cleanser.   Unfortunately, Manhattan is all top notes on me and fades quickly. I get no leather, teak or kush. I'm left with a faint amber-lemon on the skin and no throw at all.   It's so lovely that I'm going to order a bottle for those times when I really want to wear a scent, but shouldn't (on an airplane etc).
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Mania

Mania is one of my favorite scents and I can't believe I haven't reviewed it - but then I'm a lazy reviewer.   To my nose Mania is a very juicy, summery scent. It evokes a pale strawberry red tinged with green. I do well with red musk and fruits and that's precisely what I get with Mania although it leans far more towards the fruit end. For me, there's no grapefruit and it seems practically like single note strawberry grounded by red musk. I can't recall that I've ever smelled a strawberry leaf, so I can't speak to the subtle distinction that may exist between leaf and fruit . . .   Mania has quite a bit of throw and duration. Two drops in my hair serum is all I need for 12+ hours of fruity loveliness.
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Skuld

Skuld is a frimp from the Lab. Thanks guys!!!   I would never have ordered this on my own,because I don't get along well with ylang-ylang and I did not have good luck with Urd (I know that shouldn't matter . . . but).   In the imp it is quite floral and honied. I've had recent success with O, so I decide to give it a shot. After a few moments of worrying ylang-ylang, things settle down to a sweet verging on cloying scent that reminds me of fermenting fruit or maybe mead. Once the ylang-ylang dissipates, I am left with a gorgeous honey with light resins.   After it passed the home test, I put a drop in my hair and wore it to work. One of the guys at work followed me around all day flirting with me. He said "there's something different about you today. . ." I don't know, maybe it was the Skuld. I did smell pretty good.
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Fearful Pleasure

Damn. Within moments this leapt to the top of my apple favorites. Actually, it may end up near the top of all my favorites. It's a really beautiful apple cider. I get predominantly apple and cinnamon, but it's not candylike. A really lovely fall scent.
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Anactoria

When it was fresh, I did not like this. It had an unpleasant, sharply chemical smell. Now aged, it has mellowed into perfect soft musky amber.   It has average duration and throw. There's a brief, odd period where it smells like a terrific carmelized cotton candy, but mostly it is musk and amber with a bit o honey.   Mmmm. Nice. Surprisingly delicate.
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O O

O   O is the second most popular girl in school, but she's certainly the most interesting. This bottle of precious, like most women, is much better aged and mellowed.   O is one of those Love it or Loathe it scents. Happily, I it. It's sweet, but not cloying. Ambery, but not overly powdery. Vanilla makes it yummy, but not too foody. The combination produces a skin-musk scent that is very evocative of clean, sea-salted, sun-warmed skin.   O is okay fresh from the lab, but give it 8 or so months and you'll have a real treasure on your hands. My older bottles have started to develop a breath of chocolatey/nutty/beurre noisette that I really like. It takes the scent from being pure golden clear generic honey to being an artisanal honey from happy, sexed up bees.
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Sea of Glass

Cleanliness is next to Godliness.   This smells overwhelmingly of soap.   Clean, Holy soap. I'm not a fan of aquatics or ozone or florals, so I would have been surprised if it had worked.
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Sticky Pillowcase

Mmmmm. Not nearly as sweet as I was expecting, but quite nice. I get a bit of booziness (?!?!) and oddly enough I get the blue spun sugar too. Very pale, powdery blue. I'd bet my bottom dollar there's just a drop of lavender in this. I get no fruit, no strawberry, which makes me sad.   Actually, in a blind-sniff test I would have guessed this was from the Atomic Luau Lounge.   I like it. I'm not sure if I'll get a full bottle though because I'm currently swimming in a lot of sugary, sweet, foody scents. If it had strawberry for me, I probably would.   The label is cute and I adore the concept of this scent.
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Bathsheba

Bathsheba has been on my radar since my first BPAL order, I just always passed it by. It seemed too girly, too floral, too simple.   In fact, Bathsheba is simply elegant. This could almost pass for regular, commercial perfume, like a classic scent that's been around since the 1920's. It evokes the palest pink blush.   It's lovely and it's the first time I've been able to detect carnation in a blend and I like it very much. Florals don't do well on me, so this is a pleasant surprise. I suppose I had some preconceptions about carnation - something to do with high school dance corsages and green dyed St Paddy's day dreck. Despite their down market connotation, they are nice flowers   Sadly, it has practically no throw or duration on my skin so I reluctantly must put it aside.   Jewelbug's reference to Necco wafers is spot on. That's what I smell on my wrists an hour after application: Ghosts of Necco Wafers   Provided your skin does not consume it, this would be a good choice for those times when over the top BPALs aren't appropriate: job interviews, court dates, public executions . . .
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The Unicorn

Thanks to the lab for a frimp of The Unicorn   It's a clean, white floral that starts off with an effervescent bit of gin and tonic. It's not soapy at all.   During the drydown it reminds me a bit of Manhattan, without the wood and leather - it might be the more feminine version of that scent. It quickly fades to a light skin scent and then disappears entirely. It's as elusive as the mythical beast it portrays.   Lovely, but too fleeting.
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Peitho

Peitho was one of the very first imps that I ordered because I liked the name and I didn't know that I can't wear florals. So, I tried it 4 months ago, deemed it too old-lady-ish and sadly put it away.   Recently I have come back to it because I'm having terrible luck with florals and I need something more spring/summery (hey, it's coming eventually). In my initial notes I had remarked that it didn't turn to sour dead plants on me unlike practically every other floral and I am tired of being told that I smell "like incense" every freakin' day no matter what I wear.   Well, I have to say that I do like this. I think this is about as light and floral as I am going to be able to go, and it is very pretty. Normally, I amp jasmine to a sickening degree but it is actually present and yet polite in this blend. The throw is mostly jasmine and lily and girly and pretty. Next to my skin is a lovely light vanilla musk.   I'm so happy I can smell like a girl when I want to. (that's me in the bow). I'm getting a 5ml.   UPDATE: Peitho is still one of the very few florals in my collection. I don't turn to it very often because I gravitate to resins and woods and foody scents. Nearly two years later I pulled it out on a whim and wore it today. I am in utter lust with this blend. It has sweetened and mellowed. The vanilla did that magical thing and the jasmine is a positive delight. This went from being a solid 3.5 to a five star blend. O Beth! How I love you!   I'm ordering another bottle for cellaring!   PS if you like this, you might like Eos
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TKO

I TKO and it's become a staple for me. I'm about to order my 4th bottle. I use it almost every night and I do think it helps me sleep. As much from the lavender as the comforting ritual of applying it. Pre-bpal I would have scoffed at the idea of wearing a perfume to bed, but now I've wised up and I'm sleeping better too! Most days when I wake up, I slightly regret having to shower, because the scent lingers a bit on my neck and wrists.   It's not too complex of a scent, it smells like fluffy purple marshmallows. It gets better, so much better, with age. The lavender loses the sharp edge and the vanilla becomes sweeter and softer. It's just glorious.
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Chimera

Speaking as an unabashed foody whore, I have to say that Chimera is a fabulous example of the perfumer's art. In the imp it smells of wonderful fresh baked sweet pastries. On the skin it blooms into an even sweeter, faintly floral and very warm cinnamon extravaganza. To my nose, it is much more reminiscent of 'true' cinnamon than the stronger, darker, cassia cinnamon that is commonly referred to and sold as cinnamon (at least in the US).   Someone above compared it to the lovely, gingery Shub-Niggurath and I think that's a very apt comparison - they both have a similar sweet and soft tone. Actually, they may be the Yin & Yang of spicy foody scents. Shub has a decidedly cinnamon component to me, but ultimately I'd describe it as GINGER-dark chocolate-cinnamon, dark, sensual and slow Yin. Chimera is more like CINNAMON-vanilla-floral, bright, perky Yang.   I ask you, who the hell gives this much thought to perfume? Oh yeah, you do. Dear reader, I'm drunk on cinnamon, forgive me. Chimera, I love you man, I really, really love you. You know I love you, right??   Too often, cinnamon comes across as Cracker Barrel gift store candle ---> Tintagel , but this is really, really wearable as a perfume. It's by far the most cinnamony of the 20+ blends I've tried that contain cinnamon.   I applied it to my neck and was rewarded with stinging red welts. You might want to test on thicker skin, in your hair or in a locket, but you must try it.
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Troll

Happily, the lab frimped Troll in my latest order, because I probably would have never gotten around to ordering it on my own.   It is not as dark and fearsome as the description would have you believe. Actually, it is a pleasant, soft green scent that is very grounded. It reminds me of a damp conifer forest floor. It does seem a bit foody, but that's not my first impression.   This scent would be marvelous on a man, nice as a room scent (especially if you happen to have a lodge or cabin), and daring and unique on a woman.
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Antique Lace

Yay to the lab for frimping this one!   Another one I would not have ordered on my own. Antique Lace is a very clean soft and sweet vanilla with just a hint of floral. I prefer it somewhat aged so that the vanilla smooths out a bit.
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Madame Tracy

Pah. My stupid skin turns rose (especially pink and red roses) into nasty, sour rotten dead things.   Why are florals so difficult for me?   It was pretty in the imp - and there it will stay.   /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ THE REVIEW/\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/THE OTHER (irrelevant) THOUGHTS\/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/   sniff. my name is tracy (well, tracEy). I am stout and middle aged. Dominatrix is my dream job ------- If ever a scent description captured my imagination, it was this one, so why why why can't this work for me. stupid vile skin.
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Velvet Nudie

I didn't expect to like VN. I sniffed and lightly tested when I got my decant and thought it was kind of bland and unimpressive. This morning I grabbed the decant as I ran out the door. I'm not sure what she's been up to on her two week vacation, but VN has really 'developed'.     As others have noted, there is a decided citrus vibe and clean musk. I don't get any florals from it, which is a relief. It's summery and light, not at all the dark, heavy, oppressive velvet I'd expect from a velvet blend. Actually, unlike its namesake, VN is sophisticated, polite, demure and dare I say, tasteful.     I'm contemplating a bottle because I could see wearing this often. In a way, it reminds me of Manhattan, Tushnamatay, Van Van and maybe a bit of Zephyr.
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Snake Oil

**pouts**   I put off ordering Snake Oil, because the description was just too vague, but since everyone loves it, I decided to give it a chance.   In the bottle SO smells of nice spicy vanilla. mmmm. As soon as it touches my skin, it turns to a gigantic pile of clean disposable diapers. Since diapers aren't really that sexy IMO I'm going to age it for a year, and it if doesn't shape up, SO will be up for adoption.   It actually reminded me quite a bit of Titus Andronicus, only a bit more feminine. Like pink diapers instead of blue. I have a mostly unfounded and untested suspicion that benzoin is the culprit in my diaper/play-doh/band-aid problems and that aging really smooths it out and 'cures' it. We'll see.   ETA: Fast Forward to June 19 2008 - OMG! Snake Oil from the Cellar has absolutely done wonderful delicious things during its banishment. Luckily, I am too lazy to swap or sell things. I wore it today and NOW I see what all the fuss is about. No diapers, it's just deliciously spiced sugary vanilla. I hope my other cellared oils turn out this good! I want to age it forever, but I'm afraid I'll use it all up so I can see I'll have to order some more. F
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Asphodel

Smells exactly like easter lilies to me. Oh yes, and some kind of cleanser. A very familiar smell, but not terrifically compelling as a perfume for me.   Discontinued from Rappacini's Garden
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