Catmint

This is my greatest BPAL heartbreak of all time. Pear and vanilla are two of my very favorite scents, and not only do I get ZERO pear from this, the sugar note goes totally smoky/scorched on me, and the vanilla turns into plastic. I've tried this 5 times, over a period of several months, hoping that either my chemistry would change or aging the oil would help, but every time I get the exact same thing: burnt plastic doll heads. :D

WET: Creamy vanilla and honey, really warm and yummy and quite sexy. It's foody, but not in the "I-smell-like-a-cookie way," more like sitting naked in front of an open fridge while someone dribbles whipped cream and honey all over you. DRY: So far so good...vanilla and honey with a slightly sharp, almost minty thing happening underneath 10 MINUTES LATER: Arghhhhhh....plastic/baby powder vanilla death soooo sad

I love honey and orange blossom and got this in the hope that they would be the dominant notes. Alas, this is ALL rose and sandalwood on me. There's something a bit sharp and green and medicinal under there too. Like a bowl of potpourri at a doctor's office. Ick.

IMP: sweet, citrusy & green/herbal WET: mega tangerine with a hint of guava and juniper DRY: the juniper really takes over and turns it into a very herbally citrus soap. In fact, it smells remarkably like the old Herbal Essence shampoo. I'd be happy with a soap or shower gel that smelled like this, but I don't think I care for it as a perfume.

Jamaican rum, almond liquor, orange water, sugar syrup, lime peel, black cherry, vodka, and mint. Whoa, this one is one of those Jekyll & Hyde scents IMP: almond extract x100 WET: in yer face cherry & almond, and very very fizzy. I don't get much booziness, just super fizzy soda pop DRY: Initially it stays quite fruity, the lime and mint come out a bit, too. The almond gets more buttery, like marzipan. 30 MINUTES: This is a totally different scent now — no more cherry cola or marzipan, it's very dark, smoky, and incensey. I recognize the incense from Catholic mass when I was a kid — what's that doing in a tiki drink??? I loved the first half hour, but the morph from fizzy drink to church incense was really freaky.

Pineapple, mandarin orange, raspberry, passion fruit, and rum. WET: This is the most incredibly literal BPAL I've ever tried. Not only is there a blast of alcohol with the pineapple & raspberry, I could swear there is something salty/ozoney in there, because it smells exactly like a tropical drink on the beach. This is the only Tiki Bar scent I got that beachy smell from. It's also by far the most alcoholic! DRY: Initially it's super sweet and fruity, mostly raspberry and pineapple. Kind of artificial and candyish/bubblegummy, but I like that! The rum becomes less alcoholic and more sugary/buttery. AFTER AN HOUR: Pineapple and butter, with a hint of raspberry fruit punch in the background. The first half hour or so was amazing, but I'm not so keen on the buttery drydown. If it was just butter and pineapple it might work, but butter and raspberry punch is kind of weird and unappetizing.

Wet, this is all grapefruit & lime, very citrusy and LOUD but also sweet, like one of those Hansens all natural sodas. For the first 15 minutes or so I was thinking I would definitely need to order a bottle, but then the citrus totally disappeared (as it always does on me, sigh) and all that was left was a weird burnt smell. I'm guessing there's burnt sugar or something in the rum notes? Whatever it is, it's really unpleasant.

IMP: very fruity & orange WET: juicy and orangey with a hint of vanilla and ginger. YUM DRY: sadly the fruit goes POOF within minutes, and the florals quickly turn to soap.

When I first tried this 7-8 months ago, it was strong, painfully sharp, and sour. Nothing remotely warm or sweet or milky about it, and I hated it. Tried it again today before listing it for swaps, and it's a totally different animal. Now that it's nicely aged, I'm getting exactly the soft, creamy, gingery honey & vanilla scent everyone has been raving about! The ginger is still fresh but much softer and vaguely lemony — none of that sharp, hot, green bite it had when I first tried it. The milk note is warm and sweet, not sour and curdled. I love love love this!!! Big bottle for sure!

I amp rose like crazy, and not in a good way, so the results were fairly predictable. IMP: lovely watery floral, with a fair amount of rose WET: ROSE, ROSE, and more ROSE. Screaming rose and not much else. DRY: Cloying, overwhelming, old lady dried rose potpourri. Oh, and it lasts forever, and doesn't wash off no matter how much I scrub.

I loooove all things orangey, I have every Body Shop and B&BW orange/satsuma/mandarin product ever made, etc. etc. so this sounded like ultimate orangey goodness to me, and so far I've had great luck with BPAL orange and orange blossom notes. This one, alas, smelled exactly like orange soap from start to finish. I have a problem with BPAL lemon & lime scents turning to soap, but this is the first time an orange one did it. Sigh.

I ordered Tiki Queen at the last minute, so by the time I received my order and discovered it was my favorite BPAL scent ever, it was too late to order more. :D Since in the past I've avoided florals (most smell like old ladies on me), I have no idea what GC scents might come close to the divine Tiki Queen. Also, what do people layer TQ with? I'd like to be able to stretch out my supply as long as possible, since I'm using it up at an alarming rate by slathering it.

I ordered 2 bottles of this hoping for the fruity "sweet tarts" scent so many people were getting, or at least some coconut and vanilla, but I only got about 2 seconds of vaguely fruity floral in the bottle -- the second it hit my skin it was knock-you-over tuberose. I almost washed it off until my husband assured me that he couldn't smell it from 4' away so it was safe for me to go shopping without knocking people out. I was going to put both bottles on my swaps list without even a second try, but several hours later I noticed a faint musky floral smell and realized that Tiki Queen had dried down to something really light and beautiful and quite sexy. So I tried it again the next day....and the next...and now it's one of my favorite scents. I'm definitely not a heavy floral person, so this is a very unusual scent for me, but I can't stop huffing my wrists when I wear it. It doesn't last long on me (and I never get any coconut or vanilla), but I like reapplying it several times throughout the day so I get a blend of the kick-ass floral topnotes and the sweet, musky dry-down at the same time. My husband also loooooves this on me, which surprised me because he doesn't usually like florals either. But this really is drop-dead sexy (in a very sly and sophisticated way) when it dries down.

The only note in here I'm familiar with is benzoin (which I like), so I never would have tried it if I hadn't been frimped. It's dark, sweet, smoky, resinous & woody -- I don't get much floral out of this, other than a sort of dark, sticky sweetness. A bit too heavy/masculine for me (I like citrus, green, and fruity florals) but it's fantastic on my husband. Smells very warm, dark and a bit dangerous on him -- and very very sexy.

I am totally addicted to TKO! I've tried many many sleep blends, including TAL's Nocturne, and while Nocturne does have a relaxing effect on me, I really don't like the dried roses/potpourri smell very much. I also don't like the in-your-face, herbally-sharp lavender which many sleep blends (like Somnus) have. TKO is perfect -- the lavender is soft and powdery, and combined with vanilla sugar it's just the most amazing, comforting, relaxing scent. Also very sexy -- my DH loves this scent on me, while Somnus gives him a headache and Nocturne makes him think of "old ladies." I've suffered from severe insomnia my entire life, and TKO works wonders for me. It doesn't knock me out, but it relaxes me enough that I'm able to drift off to sleep after an hour or so, and my mind isn't madly racing for that hour either. Who knew that a little bottle of oil could totally change your life??? ETA: in reading some of the other reviews, I see that many people have commented on how TKO quiets your mind and stops the racing thoughts/anxious worrying that tends to plague insomniacs. If, like me, that is what keeps you awake all night, definitely try TKO!

IMP: Warm, sweet, buttery gingerbread WET: Exactly like fresh gingerbread (DH sniffed and said "How do they do that????") DRY: The butter and sugar disappear, leaving lots of spice! It's dry and spicy, with clove and nutmeg really coming to the front. A hint of smokiness, like scorched brown sugar. This is my favorite of the yules, and the only one I think I'll be ordering a bottle of. I keep wanting to add something fruity, though, like baked apples or poached pears!

IMP: hot cocoa WET: burnt cocoa powder with a hint of cinnamon DRY: This smells like one of those flavored coffees that come in a tin, Cafe Vienna or something. Instant coffee with a plasticky sweet smell. AN HOUR LATER: coffee and tobacco. TWO HOURS LATER: pure pipe tobacco! I thought I was going nuts, or I'd applied the wrong oil or something, until I read the reviews and saw that at least one other person got the same pipe tobacco note. Ick! The first half hour or so was heavenly, but the instant coffee and pipe tobacco totally ruined it for me. I'll stick with Candy Butcher!

IMP: minty plastic. uh oh WET: minty plastic and playdoh DRY: whoa, playdoh Whenever I saw a review that said an oil smelled like playdoh, I always thought it meant "vaguely like playdoh." Now I know it means "exactly like playdoh." Bummer.

This is a strange one! I tried it this morning on the inside of my arm, and it was in-your-face patchouli so after about 10 minutes I had to wash it off. Trying it again this afternoon on my wrist, it goes through about 2 minutes of medicinal cleaning product before morphing into a resinous floral. I love citrusy/fruity scents, which is why I ordered this, but sadly I don't get any fruit at all! There are notes in here that give it a slight "men's cologne" feel, although I think it would be too floral for most men. A paradoxical blend -- the gardenia/patchouli combination is quite heady and intense, but the throw is surprisingly light and close, like a scent that was applied yesterday and is now mostly faded. This would be the perfect scent for someone who loves gardenia and patchouli but doesn't want to knock people over in the elevator! Definitely not a bottle for me, but I will probably try it once or twice more before I decide to swap the imp.

I put this on my wishlist before I realized that patchouli hates me with a vengence, but I tried it anyway hoping for the lovely citrus/herbal/vanilla notes others were getting from Van Van. Unfortunately, on me this is baby powder combined with an awful antiseptic smell. I closed my eyes and took a deep whiff of my arm and instantly pictured myself in the changing room of a public pool I went to years ago. Damp chlorinated air, antiseptic cleaner, and powdery spray deodorant. Gah. ETA: I asked my husband to close his eyes and smell my arm, to see if he would perceive it the same way. He sniffed and said "Babies and hospitals. Eww."

This is the grapefruit scent I've been dying for! None of the others I tried (Baobhan Sith, Croquet, Cheshire Cat) worked on me, but Aizen-Myoo is exactly what I was hoping for. I love yuzu and have a bottle of yuzu EO that I use alone or to layer with other scents that I wish had more citrus. IMP: grapefruit and fruity white florals WET: tart juicy grapefruit sweeteened with a fruity white floral (I guess that's the cherry blossom) and deepened with a drop of black tea. DRY: A lovely smoky black tea (think Lapsang Souchong) with citrus and faint cherry blossom I wish the in-your-face yuzu/grapefruit note lasted longer, but this is a really nice, fresh clean citrus scent without the cloying florals that ruin other citrus scents for me, and with some smoky tea to give it depth and keep it from being too airy and simple. I love this and will definitely order a bottle, and I'll layer it with yuzu EO to keep the citrus going longer.

I never would have thought to order this myself, but it was a generous frimp from Cinderfallen and I'm so glad I tried it! I've been desperate for a "clean" scent but all of the scents I tried that were reviewed as "clean, fresh, etc" turned to soap on me. And all the milky scents went really sour. Obatala is the holy grail for me: a clean, fresh, milky, slightly sweet scent that works beautifully with my chemistry. IMP: very faint coconut water (not the milk, the water from green coconuts) WET: gorgeous fresh, clean watery coconut with a hint of nutty shea. This is exactly what I want to smell like when I get out of the bath -- and I want my towels and sheets to smell like this too! DRY: goes through a beautifully blended phase where I can't distinguish the individual notes, and it seems like there is a hint of vanilla and faint white florals in there. After about 30 minutes the aquatic note fades and it becomes sweeter, with more pronounced coconut and a hint of vanilla sweetness. Doesn't last very long on me, maybe an hour, but I will slather this on after a bath, and probably make up some coconut/shea body butter scented with this. A very light, fresh, clean, comforting scent -- which I will be ordering by the gallon!

I ordered this because I love spicy, cinnamony scents and was hoping for something like Bengal. I had no idea what Dragon's Blood smelled like, so when I first put it on and nearly threw up, thinking "Gah, what is that horrible stomach-churning, sickly sweet flower from hell in there????" it took a while for me to realize that was Dragon's Blood. I don't even get any cinnamon from this, just Dragon's Blood and clove. It reminds me of a dentist's office I used to go to, where they used clove oil to numb your gums and the whole place reeked of clove and antiseptic. On me, Wrath equals dentist office plus nauseating flowers from hell. Off to swaps.

OMG, I don't know why I waited so long to try this -- this is in my Top Ten for sure! Wet, it smells like fruity honey (orange blossom honey? honey with a touch of orange rind?) and intense cinnamon. I love cinnamon and use huge quantities of it -- I always triple or quadruple whatever amount a recipe calls for, and even like it uncooked and unsweetened (like a heaping teaspoon of really fresh pungent cinnamon stirred into a bowl of oatmeal). So Bengal is definitely the cinnamon scent for me! What I love about it is that the spices are incredibly strong, without any buttery/cakey notes. It's like eating the cinnamon swirl goo out of a Cinnabon without eating the bun -- it's sweet, but it's also undiluted, kick-your-teeth-in spicy.The ginger and pepper and clove make it even sharper, but the honey rounds it out and mellows it and keeps it from turning into red-hots. I will definitely need multiple bottles of this -- Bengal is going in the oil burner this winter, as well as all over me! ETA: Well, I bought a bottle of Bengal, and this is TOTALLY different from the imp. No cinnamon, no spices, it's all honey & musk and they are not playing nice. Honey sometimes turns to baby powder on me, and musk (except for white musk) can turn to pee, and sadly this bottle of Bengal did just that: baby powder & pee. It smells like diapers on me and I had to scrub it off. I even aged this bottle for several months, and it's still awful. I can't believe this is the same scent that's in my imp!

I slathered this on my husband, and it immediately smelled of salt sea air with hints of leather and wood -- very piratey indeed! No rum, but the salty aquatic note was amazing while it lasted. After 10 minutes or so the saltiness went away, leaving a very clean, slightly soapy aquatic, with faint woody undertones and a bit of spice (like spicy soap). DH's summary: WET: poufy Elizabethan pirate DRY: very clean 20th century yachtsman I like this a lot, and it smells great on my husband, although it doesn't last long (maybe an hour). I think this scent would be perfect as an aftershave (scuttles off to the Beyond Perfume thread for recipes....)