Fri 1/5
Geek - just a sniffie! Very heavy on the leather, then cedar, pine and such as listed. A nice gentlemanly, old-world fragrance. Wasn't I lucky to get to try!
Tue 26/5
Eanach Dhuin - LE decant. A sweet, feminine fragrance - however I do not find it conveys grief, as it's just too cheerful for me. One of the girlier ones I've liked.
The Ides of March 2009 - LE decant. I find this quite mind-clearing and clarifying. I didn't initially think anything of it, but I'm now rather drawn to it. Might take to work with me to help my mind stay focussed on things.
...and ordered Agape and Dorian.
Also, recently arrived: Viranhotkantita & Peacocks. I've had those on my wishlist for quite some time and was lucky enough to acquire both. I've had some very good luck with my wishlist of late!
Reviews/testing to follow!
Thu 2/1/09 imp testing. Well, mainly the first two imps, but the rest are ones I think the male persuasion could wear very easily.
Dorian - bliss. I must have a bottle. Why is this so damn good!
Wilde - what a lovely, refined olde-world blend. Not something I'd wear, but I do very much like it. Would love to try it on a lad.
The Dormouse - this is very light on my skin. Takes a while for it to become truly fragrant and can smell green and lemon teas. Gets floral when it's dry. Definitely keeping my imp.
Tezcatlipoca - cocoa, then patchouli, leather, incense and something floral. After that's all faded, left with something quite fecal in a pungent jasmine sort of way.
Tweedledum - sweet at first with the fig then freshens up because of the green, unripe mango and green tea. Becomes musty on drydown with the patchouli. I prefer this upon initial application.
Tweedledee - quite feminine, and strangely, almost foody. I love kumquats as I grew up drinking a drink based on them, and white tea, white pepper and orange blossom are all so subtle! A refreshing scent.
Bloodlust - dragon's blood loves me a lot more since I changed meds. This smells amazing, musky and floral, oddly enough.
Lust - dark, manly. Strong and a lot less sweeter than Bloodlust.
I was extremely lucky to get some decants of:
Erik & Christine
Silas & Ruthyn
Jekyll & Hyde
Erik has leaked a little so I know what *he* smells like, but will be testing the others shortly.
Sadly, a lot of my BPAL is in boxes as yet unpacked - because I'm back at my folks' place and they are renovating, so they've asked me to only unpack bare minimum, sob sob!
A sunny Sunday afternoon seemed a good time to start testing these pretties.
Christine - springtime blooms, seems to be quite a flowery blend. Am hoping for more of the vanilla orchid, as I do love that note so much. This reminds me of a very nice 80s fragrance from my childhood - can't quite remember which one.
Erik - this one tends to impress me easily at first, more so than the aforementioned. I love the leather, wood and kerosene. Who would think the latter note would work in such a blend? It does wonderfully.
Maud Ruthyn - BPAL, you are killing me. I'm wearing a rose-based fragrance that works on me. Usually BPAL rose hates my manky arse. I think it must be the rosehips, as well as the nectarine note. Going to try this again some other time, but so far, it's behaving unusually well on me. I'm stumped!
Silas Ruthyn - oh wow, this is bottle-worthy. Smoky opium is so hard to resist! This is just lovely. Yum.
I decided to test the BPTP roses first, because traditionally, BPAL rose doesn't like me...
White Rose - I cannot believe how heavenly this is. I can barely smell the rose, more the vanilla tea (yum!) and I think the orris. There is a hint of something fruity but it's not listed in the notes. If I had enough money, I'd be chasing down a bottle of this.
Red Rose - smoky goodness. The clove, Indian musk, tonka and tobacco make this just...wow. I can't believe how suited it is to my body chemistry! This is more of a nighttime blend as compared to the one above, which was more innocent. This is refined, more elegant. Am won over.
Earth Ox - smells like lychee sweets, and I happen to personally dislike lychees. I realise I am mad... It does smell a little like plum blossoms later on, but I shan't be keeping my decant.
Bony Moon - beautiful, and unisex too. I'm coming to appreciate these lunar oil based blends more with time. The cedar is not too much in this, and it's pretty easy for that note to overpower a blend. The white sandalwood is just gorgeous, nice and subtle.
Milk Chocolate Buttercream - more buttery version of Bliss to my nose. I'm not particularly fond of milk chocolate BPALs but this seems a little nicer than Bliss, which didn't like my body chemistry.
White Chocolate & Strawberry - the strawberry smells fake, as does the white chocolate, which is by its nature a very fake chocolate! I don't like strawberry flavouring in chocolate so it's not surprising that I don't like this.
White Chocolate & Sugared Violets - strangely enough this was stronger on the violets, but they didn't smell as sugared to me as in, say, Faith. I like sugared violets and much prefer Faith to this, where I could hardly smell the chocolate and sugariness.
White Chocolate, Marshmallow & Coconut - I can't smell the marshmallow and coconut in this at all...it smells a little alcoholic and not as yummy as the name suggested, sadly.
Dark Chocolate & Cherry - the cherry note is too artificial but I do like the dark chocolate in this. I wish the latter were stronger, to be honest.
Dark Chocolate & Pepper-Smoked Caramel - this is just fantastic, and wish it were permanent. It reminds me a bit of Arcana's Frilly Underpinnings. Pepper-smoked caramel is just a wonderful idea. It smells delicious and so complex! I may try to get a bottle of this! Easily my favourite out of the Chocolate Box scents!
This was something of a cheer-up/Christmas present to myself. The most bottles I've ever ordered!
Snow White 2008 (because I forgot that I actually already ordered one, duh!)
Belle Epoque
Zorya
Thalia
Snake Charmer Resurrected
Candy Phoenix
Pickled Imp
Tabella - though this was a mistake of the Lab's - I actually ordered Tabula Smargadina. Have e-mailed them though
Frimps: Sri Lanka, Scherezade, Les Bijoux, Pontarlier, Sudha Segara, Nanshe, Siren, Kurukulla, The Hesperides, Dove's Heart, Independent*, Amsterdam, Sin, Jezebel, Intrigue, Catherine.
Am chuffed with the frimpage. Have tried many of these but wow, Lab is generous!
I don't really swap for imps often because it costs us Australians quite a lot to post out internationally. However I did swap recently with the lovely member Apple and acquired:
Les Anges Dechus
Buck Moon
F5
Am chuffed!
Also received a massive order from the Lab recently. More details to follow.
Have also started photographing my bottles in order to capture, and share the beauty of the labels. Haven't quite finished yet but will give the link to the appropriate album soon. Sadly the board won't let me upload them because it's been a bit temperamental of late.
Last night was horrible. I felt horribly unhappy and unloved, and invisible. Given that I have a mood disorder, trying to talk myself out of it was not working.
Originally I was going to send a friend of mine who feels that his life wasn't going so well two imps - that of Dove's Heart and High John the Conqueror but lately he seems to have forgotten about me.
So I used them on myself: after all, I am (still) heartbroken and though it's getting easier with time, there are those days where it just hurts like almighty feck.
Before finally settling to sleep, I slathered both of those oils on me, and this following morning, I feel so much better. My mind feels clearer, my thoughts are more calm and positive. I feel like I feel when I'm well.
So yeah, those are on my wishlist, haha. Especially Dove's Heart, which I can still smell.
Edit: Water of Notre Dame is even better than High John the Conqueror on me.
Schwarzer Mond - the resurrected one. Wow. This is punchy! Dark, and sexy too. Am so glad I got this in 5mL form! It just gets better and better on my skin, and smells magnificent from afar (ie. when my nose is not glued to my wrist!)
The Gaoler's Daughter - wet, peach! As it dries down, the gardenia becomes more prominent. Such a girlie, flirty scent, am surprised there aren't more reviews for it. It's a very innocent yet cheeky blend. Not sure if it worth a bottle.
Pickled Imp - Very strong of cloves, then cinnamon and pine come out. Doesn't seem so vanilla-ish, but will let it age a bit or stand and this should improve it. I initially got this confused with Bezoar, which I may actually prefer.
Belle Epoque - fresh bottle, needs ageing, as imp had much more vanilla. It'll be a bedtime scent for me. It is gorgeous, and subtle and timeless.
That's it for now, or I risk sensory overload!
