couscous

Count me in as yet another rabid snake oil fan Wet, it smelled just like sweet vanilla syrup, and I didn't like it. Once on, however, it turned into spicy vanilla- like my current favorite, Scherezade, only stronger and with a strong vanilla note. After the initial application, it stayed pretty true to the spiced-vanilla impression. It's foody, more so than any other scent I've worn, but its sexy and hot and feminine and it...it just blows all of my preconceived notions about "sweet" perfume out of the water. I will buy a 5ml of this, with more to come as I go through it

This was the first imp I tried from my new order Forest-y. The woods are alive in this one, not dried. I can definitely smell a tree of some kind. A christmas-y tree, at that! This is...this is christmas!! Yes, it really is. I also smell the mint, but it's a mellow spearmint rather than a sharp tang. The mint heightens the christmas effect. If I get close, I smell orange blossom- but, again, its very, very subtle compared to the fir note. I do not smell anything else just yet, but there is something- or a blend of somethings- cutting the green and bringing a musky ( but not animalistic) comfort into the blend. This season provides exactly the right context for Dracul. Who would have thought?

I don't like florals. i bought this imp for my mother, who also doesn't like florals but makes an exception for gardenia. This sounded like the nicest gardenia scent and so I got it for her to try. The other day, I asked to try it, too. At first smell, Eternal is almost like bubble gum. Not sickeningly sweet, but it has that dusty, pink, "original flavor" gum smell. Kind of like flowers dusted with confectioner's sugar instead of honey or fruit. A few minutes later, it smelled like a white floral. After an hour, though, the gardenia came through over the other notes-and it's not nearly as sweet a flower as I'd thought. It's actually a pretty nice note, which gets even better as it dries. Eternal ended up smelling slightly spicy but light and comforting. I'm more of a wood girl, so I don't think i'd wear this often, but for an occasion where you'd want to feel feminine in an innocent way? It's lovely and beautiful and...pretty. Very very pretty. A nice surprise for me- great job on this!

Fishwomon, I also like wood/resins and hate sweet/foody. Incantation has also been my fave so far. I can take fruit if it's citrus, and in fact like a good citrusy-tea note every so often to cut the "church" smell I usually favor, but no strawberry, cherry, or tropicals of any kind or I get sick. Before I tried BPAL i wore Opium day to day and Bulgari green tea once in a blue moon. Having said that, I'd go through the traditionally masculine scents first. That's what I'm doing. So far Fenris Wolf has been a fantastic choice- there's a slight sweet tinge, but the sweetness comes from wood, and is as far away from syrupy as you can imagine. It's gorgeous and light , but warm and comforting. You could also try Antony. I have it coming up in an order, and it seems very dry and woody from its description. Finally, try and stay away from cinnamon. I found it to be sweet rather than spicy, so don't be fooled!

A profound and entrancing potion. Deep, wispy, and unfathomably dark: vetiver, dark woods, crumbling and burnt black sandalwood and a drop of lemon rind. I wouldn't have chosen Incantation- someone in the lab threw it in as a freebie. It's a dry, wispy woody-floral, not sharp or biting, but comforting as hell. It makes me feel squeaky clean without a bright citrus element, and I didn't think that was possible. Gorgeous 5 minutes in and 5 hours in. I adored having it on me. Someone told me I "smelled like church", but I didn't care. I adore this scent and hope Beth never discontinues it. I think its one of the best I've tried, if not the best. With a lot of BPAL blends leaning towards foody/fruity, Incantation is something truly different- a woody floral with dark citrus. A WARM sort of cologne smell, vaguely reminiscent of high end shaving creams but much, much more complex. Many reviewers say that Incantation is masculine. Maybe it is. But , in the interest of any female considering it, I'll say that I'm a girl, and not even a tomboy sort of girl, and I wear it and love it. I just ordered another bottle and will continue to do so as i run out. This a decidedly unsweetened nighttime citrus. Incantation is unique, and possibly esoteric, woody blend. And it IS sexy. Yes, lemons can be sexy. Who knew?

I bought an imp of Fenris Wolf for my boyfriend to try. He never got the imp, and he may not even get the 5ml I ordered a week later! I didn't really smell the pine on Fenris, or any "green" or mossy notes at all, for that matter. I think I missed the initial "bite" it was supposed to have and skipped straight to mellow, elegant loveliness. I smelled red musk, rosewood, and sandalwood. Violentkitten was right...Fenris sweetens as it dries down. It goes on as a kind of dry, golden-y wood and sweetens to a better-than-skin smell. It's very light and I needed to reapply in the middle of the day. When it sweetens up, it does so in a way that's not cloying, foody, or flowery-it's this subtle touch of femininity in the middle of warm enveloping dry notes. Golden wood- I think that about sums it up. Fenris absolutely glows off your skin and makes your whole body feel a few degrees warmer. It combines to smell like exactly what you wish your real skin did. In a way, it reminded me very much of Scherezade, except without the saffron and spices. They both capture that non-perfume,edible-skin feel that you just can't find at Sephora . My only complaint is that it is too faint to do anything but slather. Get two imps, at least

The Raven smells like a powdery floral, strongly dominated by the violet note. At least on me. If you are reading this and contemplating an imp, I'd say do so only if you KNOW you like the smell of violets. Because I did not know, and now know, how much I DESPISE the smell of violets. You want to talk headache-inducing? One swipe on both my wrists ruined 4 hours of my night. This is how sweet and cloying that note can be on some people. I scrubbed it off 3 times with diswashing soap, 2 times with Ivory soap, and one time with lemon soap. I still reeked of it. The only thing that got rid of the most offensively bad smell i have ever encountered was running olive oil over my wrists, then soaping up. Not only was it sweet and cloying, but it smelled like old lady. I threw this imp out, it offended me so much. And the violet note also ruined bluebeard, which would have been fantastic were it not for this deceptively strong and unpleasant flower. On the positive side, if you love violet than you will love The Raven. Every other note takes a back seat. Also, this was part of my first order with BPAL. Many of the imps I ordered were just terrible on me, but the ones I loved I adored. Like Incantation. BEAUTIFUL. Get incantation instead!