I discovered how BPAL-licious today would be when I keyed open my mailbox and found not one, not two but three packages. Without further ado:

One of the packages is not a swap, but instead an Etsy order: mineral makeup from 8 Bit Cosmetics. I'll review that separately....

The first package is from the lovely Gateau. Karme, Pandy and Hippie Ghost. Originally what drew me to it was Karme-- I've been wanting to smell it since I read the description.

Karmê (Κάρμη): Sun-warmed squashes, peppers, salad greens, snap peas, radishes, green onions, and silphium.

Lab imp. In the imp: a familiar floral? no... oh no. Aquatic note with an undercurrent of garden-y complexity. I never trade for or buy aquatics, because there's a note that smells identical to me in all of them and it reminds me of some perfume-in-a-can I had from Walgreens when I was a kid. And in all those drugstore perfumes it's supposed to be 'water' but to me it's sweet and formulaic. I smell it in Karme. I capped it back up for a minute because if that's what I get from this scent I'm going to cry.

On me: The aquatic dissipates, thank heavens, and morphs a dandelion very reminiscent of Roadhouse or... it's been a long time since I smelled One to Tie Two To Win, did it have this? A Blade of Grass? ... It does smell like plants, though no onions- people mention cucumber, and I can see that-- not actual cucumber but perfume-cucumber, a sweet flowery version of the real. I like having this imp and I will definitely keep it-- at the very least until I acquire Roadhouse and do a side-by-side sniff comparison.

Pandy: Fresh white musk, honeycomb, sweet apricot, elemi, orange blossom, and mischievous pink pepper.

In the decant I smell the sweet apricot and what I'm GUESSING is the honeycomb, because it's reminding me of a sweet food I can't place.

on me: ooh, that's nice. apricot with a sweet background of gentle honey. I wish I knew more about honey notes and how to distinguish them. But other people mentioned they mostly got a honeyed apricot too, so there you have it. I think I smell a bit of pepper beneath it, but as for the rest, if it's there I can't tell. But what there is of it I do like and I'm a-buying a bottle. Comforting and feminine, this is a scent I would proudly go out wearing and expect to catch a few looks.

Hippie Ghost: A faded snapshot of patchouli-stained peasant blouses, soft suede boots, and smoke.

In the decant I smell patchouli and a kick of disagreeable stinky smoke. Some people said pot smoke, but that's a nice smell and this is nasty to me.

on me: Well-blended but not pretty smelling... I don't get anything but a vaguely cologney bite under a muddled grimy almost-patchouli. Maybe a little more weedy-smelling than it was in the imp. It mellows out pretty quickly-- When dry it's a well blended sharpish pot-smoky patchouli with leather peeking out. I like it when it's dry- well-blended and smooth, but I don't need a bottle.

And along with the imps, Gateau included a huge, lovely jar of Nyx eyeshadow powder! Now I'm about to carry my pretties off and incorporate them into my collection....