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BPAL Madness!

surf-tormented

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Everything posted by surf-tormented

  1. surf-tormented

    Sea of Tranquility

    It smells fresh on me. Like my wrist got hit with a strong floral scented breeze. And like a wind, it is gone now. What? Was that gone in seconds? The scent is close to other fruity ozone blends I have tried like Titania, Embalming Fluid or Queen Gertrude. Intense fresh almost fruity floral ozone scents. How about that for adjectives all strung together in one sentence? The sad thing is, I love scents like this, but none of them last very long on my skin or even on my clothes or as a spray.
  2. surf-tormented

    The Isle of the Dead

    This is a very good scent. It doesn't last long on me though. Like other reviews have said the cypress and lily mix well. I do get a slight bite of labdanum in the background. It reminds me of flowers by a lake. Woody, floral, a little aquatic and earthy though it is very light. I'd get a bottle of this if it wasn't gone in a 1/2 hour. It's pretty.
  3. surf-tormented

    The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed With the Sun

    It goes on wet very buttery and foody. Just when I didn't think I would like it, it settles into a nice woody/resin blend. It's warm and there seems to be a honey note in it or something making it smell like honey on me and that is the only thing slightly unpleasant about it. That could be the nut note. I understand what another reviews said about bread and Chinese take-out. It does smell like those things on me!! Like Chinese food with a sweet but dark sauce with a roll on the side. Sort of brown sugary but not. Hard to really say what notes are coming out on me in this blend. It's bizarre, but not bottle worthy. I would recommend trying it for the sheer novelty.
  4. surf-tormented

    Moai

    Reminds me a lot of Serpent's Kiss minus the dragon's blood. Really nice, but I like Serpent's Kiss more and SK lasts longer on me. It is smokey though! Fab!
  5. surf-tormented

    Cathouse Atmosphere Spray

    I like to break the rules. I don't find this the best room spray, but I love it on my skin. Yes, it says not to use it there, but I don't get the same scent from it as a spray then on my skin. It is a great but not overly heavy floral with enough moss notes and vanilla smoothing it out. It has a sweetest without being sugary and given a few hours becomes a wonderful blend...on my skin. As a spray, it was just so-so. It didn't have much throw and I could smell a sort of floral moss in the air, but it disappears quick. On my skin right now it is morphing into a very fresh cut grass meets mossy floral. It's sultry. It's mainly magnolia and jasmine, but the note is fresh flower stems. So green. I get the tiniest bit of honeyed vanilla and that adds to it and isn't too much, like a bit of humidity to the environment of the scent. It's so sweet yet not the typical sweet. Hothouse flower and green sweet with a bit of flavored smokey vanilla booze. Delightful. And it amps up this pleasant scent over time. I guess if you don't want to take the risk with your skin, you could spray your sheets and roll around in them. Maybe I should do that, I don't want to catch my death at the Cathouse by not adhering to their rules. Or break out in a skin rash from the Cathouse. Or some odd bumps. I bought mine used. I don't think I'd pay $40 for an 8 oz bottle. I'm not a fan of the way the bottles are designed. I know they probably use a plastic bottle to make shipping less and all that, but to me, it doesn't look like a $47 dollar bottle of spray (adding the $6.50 shipping on to the $40). For $40, it should be in an amber glass bottle or something like that. I'm not sure if they are worth the price tag.
  6. surf-tormented

    Khajuraho

    I really like the smell of this in the bottle. I really like the notes in the blend. But this doesn't matter, because the honey doesn't want me to like it. This goes from beautiful to sickeningly honey sweet on me. It doesn't let up. I really wish the honey note wasn't it there. It gives me headaches. It makes me feel sick to my stomach. And no, it doesn't make me feel erotic at all! Hey, but if you love honey, be my guest, you'll probably LOVE this!
  7. surf-tormented

    Day of the Skulls

    This started out floral on me and then ended up foody. I don't like rose, but then it smelled really sugary after dry down. Reminds me in a strange way of Dia De Los Muertos by BPAL, though I haven't bought a bottle of it in years or even know if they still make it as a LE. But it would be Dia with a more baked good sugar poured on top of it. And this is all weird because I would think with the notes, it wouldn't end up sugary bread and honey on my skin at all.
  8. surf-tormented

    Rakshasa

    This is a very good smelling scent. The only problem with it is that is reminds me of a lot of non-BPAL perfumes. Bath and Body Work's Sandalwood Rose is one and AIRS makes a sandalwood blend that smells a lot like this. So I am biased. The rose in this blend comes out really strong for about the first hour of wear and then blends with the sandalwood. I don't get any earthiness or patchouli from this blend at all. The sandalwood with a tiny whiff of rose lasts for a few hours and then fades. That's it. I would wear most of the imp but not by a bottle. Actually, this being the last night of Parentalia, I put most of the imp accidently (only wanted a few drops) on these scent stones I have by the shrine of my ancestors. The shadows are supposed to be easily pleased by small gifts, so I hope they like it.
  9. surf-tormented

    Dracul

    I thought I wrote about this scent before. I recently got a new imp of it. I like it. I reminds me of dirt, spices and sensuality. I get a real earthiness out of it, no mint or chocolate really. It's dark and tasty. The downsize is that it fades quickly into a spicy resin, losing its individual notes. It is spice and dirt for about a half hour and then it is gone. Bye, Dracul, been good to know you. I wish it was stronger and I wish the mint would come out on my skin, even lightly. I get no orange blossom either. Just dirt which I assume is the balsam, spices from the clove and cumin and a very slight smoky note from the tobacco. The heavy notes blend together to make a spicy resin odor on me. Pleasant, but not bottle worthy. I will use the rest of my imp up, tho!
  10. surf-tormented

    Hermia

    I love this scent and I normally don't like florals at all! In the bottle: It smells like one of the best BPAL oils ever. I am just taken back every time I smell it. On skin: Pepper floral with a nice resin base. The amber isn't too strong, the pepper is just right (I need to check out other pink pepper blends, I love this note) and the floral is loud without being overwhelming. And it lasts! I mean, it is strong for hours and I took a shower and it's still sort of around and I used soap to scrub it away so I could use another scent. This has passed Lear as my favorite Illyria scent. I got this for cheap via a member of the LJ sinandsalvation group, mainly because Hermia is inspired by Hemes and I liked the concept. Plus, a lot of people have this as one of their favorite Illyria scents. Now I know why! I am so glad I have a bottle of this. I got it cheap and it will last a long time. It's a lovely scent. I am so impressed by it. It makes me feel very upbeat and golden when I wear it.
  11. surf-tormented

    Candles Moon

    In the bottle: Both delightful and frightening. A little sweetness I am worried about but I can sense the milk note of Nonae Caprotina, which I really like being as bizarre as it is on me. That milk note is very strong in that blend. The milk is fitting of Bride or Brigid, the inspiration for this perfume oil and Candlemas, her holiday for both Christians and Pagans. She certainly bridges the gap between the two religions, being both revered as a goddess and as a saint. On skin, wet: Sweet and creamy, but not too sweet. A natural kind of sweet. Like sweet milk. That must me the candle wax mixing in. It is a natural sweet without being foodie on me. A hint of greenery too, maybe the tree? As it dries on my skin: Amusing. I am getting spice and ozone on top of the sweet milk. It has a good throw. I put it on the back of my hand and can smell it while I am typing this out. After 15 minutes: Ozone has become snow, a note similar to the snow notes in other BPAL oils like Snowball Fracas. I have yet to get berry out of this, but it is good right now without it. This could be the white serpent coming out of its winter roost to show the turning of the year. After an hour: I get an almost Ice Queen note at this point, a minty snow with the blackberry or dark fruit note coming out. The fruit isn't that strong and it is dry and sharp, instead of being sweet. It blends with the snow and milk notes perfectly. Still has a good throw and strength, for I only put one drop on the top of my hand. Later on: This is getting stronger on my skin with time. I can smell it when my arm is at its side (still only got that one drop on top of my hand). It really smells like Ice Queen with milk in it. Might be an Ice Queen replacement for me. I put it on at about 12pm and now it is 2:40pm and it is still about the same strength. By 3:15 pm, it is slowly going way. I would say it has about a 3-4 hour life. Not the best, but because it smells so good, it's acceptable. Verdict: It's everything I hoped it would be. Another blend with milk in it I can wear and it does remind me of Bride, with her symbols of milk, candles and blackberries. I am going to read the book Brigid of Kildare before the full moon this month and then invoke her for my full moon ritual. I usually do this only at the beginning of the month, but with the full moon oil being Candles Moon, I've drug out the Brigid worship into a month long event. I read a bit about the Bride's Day poem in the description of the oil and I have had imagined a serpent that calls off the goddess of the winter as it climbs out of it's cold slumber. Since I am pagan, I would tend to say the chant in order for the serpent to know it is accepted rather than the Christianized way of chanting it to keep snakes away. Geez, what is the problem with the Irish and snakes anyway? There were never any snakes in Ireland, unless they meant the pagans, then shame on them. Seriously. But maybe I should save that rant until St. Patrick's Day! I do wish this would have been the January Moon 2010, because then it would have been closer to Candlemas on the 2nd, but that is a minor quibble.
  12. surf-tormented

    Defututa

    It's a heady floral, which I like, but the honey note makes it very sweet, which I don't like. The honey note is a lot less strong then in other blends I have tried where it was too intense. Like giving me a headache intense. This is much better than that, a honey I can wear. The florals behind the honey are pungent, I can really smell the jasmine and champaca. I can't seem to smell any cinnamon though. And maybe it is the sandalwood that isn't making the honey scream HONEY! on my skin, but I don't get much of that either. I don't get much smoke from the vanilla as well, which would help me like it more. I get honey, vanilla and jasmine with a slight backdrop of champaca. It smells good, but it is something I probably wouldn't wear after this initial test. I wish the cinnamon and sandalwood would come out more. It reminds me of jasmine lotion from Bath and Body Works I once had. The "tanning salon" comment from a review up above is spot on. The thing is, I am not a tanning salon sort of girl. I recommend this to people who like vanilla, honey and jasmine and also to people who have a hard time with honey amping up on their skin that like vanilla jasmine blends. This one, in that respect, isn't so bad. It's too tropical and beachy for my taste and I end smelling like tanning oils, pineapple and honey. Postscript: As I wear it (it has been about an hour) the pineapple amps up. Not my thing. Yuck.
  13. surf-tormented

    A Fit of Artistic Enthusiasm

    This one is definitely in the "snow" category,a long with such notables as Hypothermia and Snowball Fracas. A Fit of Artistic Enthusiasm would be sub-categorized as "snow/lake" as opposed to the "snow/mint" of Hypothermia and the "snow/dirt" of Snowball Fracas. Of the three, Fit is the least strong. The "snow/lake" effect is basically a mix of icy slush, aquatic notes, fresh mossy lily pad sort of greens and wood, be it from the woods around the lake or maybe a tree limb floating in the lake. It's very nice and if I didn't have the other two snow scents, I would love this one. I am not sure if I want to keep this one. It might be nice to have a snow version not as strong for social situations and work, but at the same time, a lot of these begin to smell the same and why do I need three bottles of the same thing? I didn't get much Poe from this, what I got was a nice childhood memory of wooden sheds for ice fishing on a bed of frozen ice with a slight whiff of winter plants and water in the air. It's cozy instead of being cruel. I recommend it if you don't have Snowball Fracas or Hypothermia.
  14. surf-tormented

    Limited editions equivalents in the general catalog?

    MIAIPHONOS! Buy it now...why you still can! It's a very joyful spicy orange on me!
  15. surf-tormented

    Pontia

    It is basically what it says it is: Lavender and Bergamot. Note, this oils is aged, so maybe the two have caught up with each other as opposed to the LAVENDER! others have gotten when it was new. Since I live in a sunny place and I am pale as a ghost, bergamot can amp up how fast my skin burns. I have an oil with that takes out that element in bergamot oil. So, if I wanted this scent, I could blend two of my essential oils together and then not have to worry if BPAL uses a bergamot oil that might make my skin burn more. I can't drink Earl Grey tea for the same reason. Believe me, it blows! The two notes smell great together, BTW, be I have no idea what it has to do with Aphrodite or the sea. Both bergamot and lavender are Mercurial herbs. Don't really get the concept.
  16. surf-tormented

    Proserpina Bath Oil

    I wish this was a GC BPAL oil, instead of the rose/pomegranate Persephone oil they have. The scent is lovely. The frozen pomegranate is a more sharp than sweet fruit with a snowy yet not creamy note. The flowers add to its beauty. It's a rich scent, fit for the Queen of Hades. I'd seriously buy a bottle of this if I could get this in a regular perfume oil. It is close to Ice Queen in nature, but truly is its own thing. I can't use this as a bath oil sadly, because our bathtub really gets tacky easily if I use even a few drops of oil in it. If I do, then I am cleaning the bathtub out for an hour after I am done. It's really not worth the effort.
  17. surf-tormented

    Hell's Belle

    It's a nice blend. I wish it was stronger. I don't get anything from this but spice and musk, which I like, but where is the orange and flowers?
  18. surf-tormented

    Wanton

    It's a great scent if you like being slapped around by a really artificial smelling rose. It has some body in the beginning with the base notes, but then it is all ROSE!!!! I'm not really into it. A few hours later it does get better, the rose almost becomes like a rose-violet candy and the rest of the notes come out. But I have a feeling this stage isn't going to last for long... and... we... are... done... It's gone. Ok, it was for me for about 5 minutes. It became a scent that reminded me of Victoriana. I wish it would come back!
  19. surf-tormented

    Shattered

    Reminds me of Ultraviolet and snowy scents like Hypothermia. I have both of those so I don't need something that smells exactly like them.
  20. surf-tormented

    Namaste

    Smells almost like Proshitapathika on my skin. Sort of like Tin Phoenix too, but more like Proshitapathika. A lot of the lemongrass blends end up smelling the same way, strong lemon and nothing else on me. Which is fine, but I only need one scent from the overpowering BPAL lemongrass family and Tin Phoenix won!
  21. surf-tormented

    Magus

    Reminds me a lot of Valentine of Rome except with cedar in the mix and very little throw.
  22. surf-tormented

    Suspiro

    It is really light floral on me. Like the previous review said nothing in this really stands out. It smells sort of generic.
  23. surf-tormented

    Prurience

    In imp: No strong impression, just spicy On skin: At first this smells like dark chocolate on me. Later on, it really smells like a lot of other oils I have tried in the same grouping, like Mme. Moriarty, Misfortune Teller or Mircalla, Countess Karnstein, where the patchouli becomes the final note at the end. Except this blend doesn't have patchouli in it, but it really smells that way to me. It's good, I just think I've smelled it before. Disappears within an hour on my skin. A little bit disappointing but might work on someone better with a different skin type. I have pale dry skin.
  24. surf-tormented

    Highwayman

    Smells like what would happen if you mixed De Sade and Djinn together. I didn't get much floral in this and once it sank into my skin after 15 minutes or so, I got a very odd plastic meets perm solution smell. It did leave eventually and now I have a full bodied smokey leather scent. I like it. I am not sure if I would buy a bottle of it, but the imp is pretty awesome. One of the better leather scents BPAL has!
  25. surf-tormented

    Priala, the Human Phoenix (2006)

    First impression upon putting on skin: "I'm on fire!" The smoke and cassia amp up on me like a funeral pyre. Lovely. It's a completely dry cassia too, no red hots or cinnamon candy here. I was frimped this and suddenly I think I may have to put this on my wish list. I am not sure if it will last very long, but it is a very nice firey scent for at least an hour. The myrrh stays to the back on this one, without giving me the hairspray note in sometimes does. It smells of everything I like: smoke, fire, wood, resins, cassia...yum!
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