futuregirl

This is really beautiful. My initial overall impression from cold sniff to first application is that of a clean, happy child. This is a very comforting, golden, idyllic nursery scent. Though it's sweet, creamy and has a lovely honey note that's very prominent, it's also, again, so clean and fresh. Post-bath and time for bed. After an hour or so, the drydown is powdery (but not like baby powder), golden and light. It's so beautiful and cozy - this makes me want hot chocolate and bedtime stories. Probably I'll need a backup of this.

I love things that are purple, so this was definitely a must-buy for me. Most of these notes are things I know I like, but I was still really surprised at My Happy Day - it wasn't quite what I expected, but overall I'm really enjoying it. When first applied, it's effervescent grape with some florals hiding in the background. Mostly this reminds me of grape pop, which is not a bad thing! The fizziness calms down after the first 20 minutes or so, and then it's a sugary, purple floral scent. I'm really not picking out individual notes - it's very well-blended and really gives that overall 'purple' impression. I can't detect the plum, blackcurrant or carnation - those are some of my top favorite notes, though, so that's probably why I'm still liking this so much, even without being able to tell the parts from the whole. After a few hours, it's morphed a lot. Even though there's not a vanilla component, I'm getting a deep, resiny vanilla. It's still very sweet and the grape note has transitioned into wine. It's like a 'lite' version of Horreur Sympathique. There's also something about this that really takes me back to being a kid in the 80s - scented stickers, erasers and toys - really happy nostalgia. This is pretty cool.

SELF-PORTRAIT WITH PUFFY STICKERS Multimedia: puffy stickers and marker on copier paper, 2011 This is me with a crown of flowers in my hair. Freshly-squished strawberries, wild roses, orris butter, red clover, and unmowed grass warmed by summer sunshine. Self-Portrait With Puffy Stickers On cold sniff, the strawberry is most evident. The other notes are in the background - I can pick out the rose, and otherwise it's a backdrop of sweet greenery. On initial application, it's mostly strawberry. This is a strawberry dessert - not quite fresh, fruity berries, but not candyish strawberry either. It's a fancy strawberry shortcake-inspired, decadent creamy dessert. Really simple and foody, but unique and beautiful. At the beginning of dry-down, the floral elements are much more evident. The rose is dominant, but the orris is definitely there - I don't know what orris "butter" is, but I'm imagining that I'm catching it here - creamy, white and pink florals. The rose is not overly rosey, but the florals are pink, girly, and perfumey. It's youthful and sweet but again, not like candy. Very classy. After a few minutes the impression is very much a pretty summer day - lots of sweetness, green and pink florals. I love clover notes, and I'm catching a little of that, too. It's like the fresh greenness of Passionate Shepherd with the creamy sweetness of Velvet Unicorn. Beautiful, comforting and very, very happy.

In the bottle: Soft, creamy, super-sweet pink/white floral. When first applied: ROSE. Like Rose Red or Peacock Queen or Katrina Van Tassel, that much rose. This is a pale rose, but very loudly rose. I'm not getting really any other notes; I can sort of tell they're there, trying to come out of the background, but the rose just completely dominates. Dry, 30 minutes after application: This is still a rose scent. If I had no idea of the listed notes, I'd guess it to be some type of rose single note. It's a slightly different rose than most others I've tried, but I can't really put my finger on what's different about it. It smells like roses as living flowers, in a garden or vase, as opposed to perfumey or dried roses. Two hours later: Now that it's calm and mellow, it's still a rose scent, but there's a little more complexity in the background. I still can't pick up any other specific notes, but I know they're there. Verdict: I like this, but I don't really know what I'll end up doing with it. I really wanted some hint of coconut or resin or just the 'whiteness' that seemed to be indicated by the notes, but it's straight-up rose. I already have several other rose scents that I grab when I'm in a rosy mood. It's nice, just not quite what I expected. Anyone who really loves rose and is still looking for their perfect rose blend should definitely give Touched Twice a try!

I love Egyptian stuff and the description for this one sounded very unique - I was expecting maybe a little clash between the warmth of golden metallics and coolness of water. And yep, it's there. But the result is this very 'alive' water effect, which I'm really enjoying. This is the scent of being on a fast-flowing river in the midst of a bright golden sunset at the end of a hot day. Awesome for summer, relaxing and mellow at the same time - love it!

I grabbed a decant of this because of my love of all things Egyptian - based on the notes, I didn't think it would necessarily be something I'd really want to wear, but I at least wanted to sniff. I usually find dirt notes interesting in their accuracy, but not wearable for me. And aquatics aren't my thing. I was happily wrong with this one! The scent description is dead-on for me. The sweetness of the myrrh, combined with the wet, black earthyness is a suprisingly simple, pretty blend. To me, it's totally unisex and very evocative. Incredible wearlength and medium throw. I'll be getting a bottle!

Wet: Very cocoa, but a dry, dusty cocoa; lots of spice. First few minutes: Still cocoa spice, but with cinnamon and fruit in the mix - someone else likened the wine note to sangria with orange wedges in it - that's it, exactly! Hours later: Hanging on nicely - not overpowering but it's still wafting around me. Now it's mellowed into dusty cocoa chai - similar cocoa note to Gelt, but without any of that sharp metallic bite. The cocoa in this blend is equally balanced with cinnamon and wine - really beautiful. This is serious spicy, cocoa goodness, without being overly foody. Definitely not chocolate; sweet, but not creamy or buttery. LOVE! You'll like this if, like me, you're a foody person whose RL cohorts don't enjoy super-realistic dessert scents - this lets you have your foody scent in a way that's friendly to others and tame enough to wear in any company. Perfect for warm weather, too - definitely hoard-worthy for me!

I'm a Snape fangirl, too, and I definitely have some Snapey BPAL associations. Unfortunately discontinued, but wearing Asphodel always makes me think of Severus. But back to HP in general...Dragon's Blood! (It has twelve conventional uses catalogued by Albus Dumbledore, you know). Plus, it smells lovely!

Absolutely! I'm wearing it today, and I'm getting total catnip. Also, I'm even wondering if some of the mint-impressions people are getting might be catnip-related, too. I actually had a cat (a black cat, too!) rubbing on me today because of this oil. Hilarious! I definitely like it though - it's a really nice, complex scent and it does help my mood. I've already ordered a bottle.

Angsting a little over Midnight Kiss.... I really like Midnight Kiss. A LOT. But I'm still waffling over whether to buy a bottle and I need some advice! I still haven't tried Kali. I have an imp of it on the way, but I feel like I really need to compare it to Midnight Kiss before I buy a bottle. My new goal is not to fall in total love with any more LEs, and Kali is GC, and both have cocoa and wine notes, and you know where I'm going with this.... SO - for anyone who's tried both Midnight Kiss and Kali: what do you think? Are they at all similar? For that matter, are there any other current GCs that are similar to Midnight Kiss? (I'm still systematically working my way through every scent with chocolate or cocoa notes).

I would HIGHLY recommend Samhain for you. I'm the same way - I want the autumny scents to work on me, but I can't deal when they get too much like cologne. I actually like Samhain even more than Jack. Where Jack is foody/buttery/peachy on me, Samhain is pumpkiny with all of those other nice autumny notes, and is still really wearable. On me it wears just like the description - fall-y, woodsy, and then spicy fall pumpkin, and (for me anyway) absolutely NO headache in sight. I'm getting a bottle of it for sure.

Regarding Saw Scaled Viper.... I really wanted this one to work. But it burned and turned me red, and the actual scent was too much! As in, it burned my nose, even. I never thought I'd encounter something that was too spicy or cinnamony for me, but there it is. I'm bummed. But here's my dilemma. I'm trying to figure out precisely which of the notes did this to me, or if it was maybe the combination of cinnamon, red ginger and cassia put together. If anyone else has had a similar reaction to SSV, what did you think it was? I've never had a problem with cinnamon, I'm pretty sure this was my first encounter with cassia, and ginger is always good to me - although I don't know that I've ever tried anything with RED ginger before. I've sampled lots of BPAL oils and never had a bad reaction.

I used to be a total Aveda addict, and I've only just started with BPAL (loving it so far!). One of the first BPALs I've tried is Siren, which smells exactly like Aveda's Gaia to me (so a little like Aveda's Mizan, too). Gaia was part of the 'Inspiritu' line that was discontinued a few years ago. They also stopped producing their 'Chakra' scents and the desert trio around the same time, but now I have a lot of hope that I'll find new BPAL alternatives to those old favorites!