Gin

The Label art for Lilith's Tea Party is so cute, I couldn't resist buying a bottle. I've since had to buy another because I liked the oil so much. The one thousand imaginary flowers that I feared are there, but they're weak like a watercolor painting. What stands out for me is the strawberries. They smell kind of watery but not watered-down (maybe by the rosewater? or tea?) This smells kind of like the strawberry flavored Hi-C that comes in juice boxes. Or maybe I should say, it smells kind of like what that Hi-C tastes like, and I mean that in a good way. I loved those juice boxes as a child. I don't get much cake or macaroons, just a funny, cute strawberry water scent.

I've never had Lambs-Wool to drink, but if it tastes like this smells, I wouldn't hesitate. This smells like spiced apple cider, but richer. I feel like I can smell the whole apple, not just the pressed and clarified juice (which isn't even apple cider but some try to pass it off as such). The spices are spot-on. I love clove and nutmeg anyway, but here , they just sing (and make me hungry for apple pie). I can't smell milk or ale per se, but they may be contributing to the overall hearty feel of this. I love BPAL apple scents so much, and this is definitely one of my top picks in that category.

Mmm, love. To me, Cloister Graveyard starts out like Nuclear Winter and morphs into Cold Moon 2004--mint and then that almost-citrus ozone note. Fabulous.

I shouldn't have doubted this one, but rose otto and lily gave me pause. On my skin, it's soft rose, and the creamy coconut that I love in Nymphia and Enlightenment of the Courtesan Jigokudayu. I think I can smell the tonka sometimes, and the orchid, and maybe that's what I like so much about this--that it's not constant. I often dislike the blends that have too many notes, but Gwyneth keeps them harmonious.

I bought Sweet Life for the gardenia. And that's mostly what I get. There's a moment where I can smell the dreaded ylang ylang, but it passes quickly. Very pretty.

I'd ignored Slippery Poppy Tincture because the name was so unappealing to me. When it came my way, though, I felt obligated to try it out. What a surprise! It's actually really nice. I mostly smell acai at first, and flowers that smell rosy. No weird honey note, just a a berry-floral drying down to a lush floral. I probably won't seek out more, but I'm glad I had a chance to try it. SPT is really, really pretty.

Pink Snowballs is indeed like the lovechild of Snow White and Rose Red, with Snow White having the dominant genes. On me, it's Snow White and pink roses (not the dewy, cold long-stemmed roses of Rose Red). I like this better than Snow White, but not quite as well as Rose Red. It's cute, though. I might pass it along to my daughter.

The Waltz of the Snowflakes is like a combination of Snowblind (buttery vanilla mint) and Mistletoe (exuberant pine). Dries down to a sweet vanilla-pine. Nice enough, but I'd like it better with less pine and more vanilla-mint--though that would pretty much be Snowblind, so I guess I'll just stick with Snowblind.

I bought this for my son who once composed a Mother's Day poem for me that included the line, "My mother is as squishy as a marshmallow." Maybe not the most flattering ode to me, but touching, considering how much that boy loves marshmallows. He likes this oil very much, but it doesn't work so well for me. The pumpkin here is so... vegetably. It seems at odds with the sweetness of the marshmallow. As it dries down, it smooths out a bit, but there's still something unpleasant lingering underneath the marshmallow and spices.

No, no. Whoop is not good on my skin. I get a blast of pine, and berry and then just a muddle of potpourri smells. I'd probably like this well enough as a room scent, but on my skin it's very unpleasant.

What more can be said about musk? This is definitely musky--I couldn't say which musks, though. Green? White? Goes on musky, stays musky, and then goes a little powdery. After I put this on, I got quite a headache, and I don't know if it's because of Creature Feature or because I've been sifting and sniffing BPAL for two days now. I don't think it matters, though, because I don't think Creature Feature is my type of scent anyway. I'd probably like it paired with food/fruit, but on its own, I don't think I'd wear it often (evidenced by the fact that it took me a couple of months to even try it on).

I have El Dia de los Reyes 2007. I love it. It's another oil I tend to overlook when choosing my BPAL of the day, but it's magic when I do use it. Primarily chocolate a la Bliss (milk chocolate), it's got a touch of coffee and a touch of brown sugar. I like most of the Lab's chocolates, but this one is really special.

Ohh yes. I smell a combination of the gingerbread and fruitcake--almost more of a gingerbread cake smell, with a musky base. As it dries, I think I can smell dark rum. There's a very nice blend of sweet and spicy here. Gorgeous.

I finally got my hands on some of this! Scorched ginger musk didn't sound pleasant, but the comparisons to ginger ale had me intrigued. When I put it on, it smelled a lot like the ginger in Mother Ginger, but instead of being supported by MG's vanilla sugar marshmallows, Playing with a Loaded Gun is just fizzy ginger and a bit of musk. It's also a good deal quieter than Mother Ginger. PwaLG stays closer to the skin, and it's kind of sexy for that reason. I love light, foody, spicy ginger scents so this is definitely a keeper.

I love Mother Ginger. I loved Mother Ginger from the description alone. It smells like gingersnaps and vanilla sugar. If I had to choose only one BPAL to use for the rest of my life, this could easily be it. It's foody without being too sweet or buttery, it's spicy without being Christmas potpourri. It's almost got a little bit of that BPAL ginger ale effervescence, too, so it's not too heavy. LOVE IT.

OMG, I love Golletes. I don't wear it nearly as often as I should. I think I overlook it for the less-warm candy scents (hard candy as opposed to bakery goods), but I shouldn't! Golletes is pink and strawberryish and foody. It makes me think of strawberry sugar wafers. A pink sugar rush!

This is embarrassing but I had overlooked Theodosius for a long time because I always misread his title. I tend to sort of skim the names, so Theo was always some sort of ledger man. Don't get me wrong, I am all about ledgers, but I figured the oil would be sort of parchmenty. When I finally READ the CD page, I was like, ohhh, that makes a lot more sense! Anyway, Theodosius is a vanilla-tea-citrus (bergamot?) scent. I think I like it, but I think it's a little masculine for me. It could be great on my husband, though.

I can't seem to say no to Beth's cherry blends. Hideous Heart is very strongly cherry, morphing into fierce cinnamon. Very interesting, but ultimately not a scent for me.

I, too, bought Hod Res because of the comparisons to Potion. And I can smell the similarities--carnation, of course, but Hod also has... amber? honey? both? rose? There's something here that is just a tiny bit off and prevents me from wanting to wear it. I suppose I'll pass it along to someone who'll love it.

Aw. I've been wanting to try this for a long time and finally bit the bullet and got a bottle. On my skin, it's a musky-resiny-vanilla-pine pitch combination. There's nothing wrong with that, it's a perfectly lovely smell, it's just not a 'me' smell.

Blue Pumpkin Floss is a crazy strong, spicy pumpkin pie kind of scent. I don't think I smell any blackberry, and it doesn't make me think of candyfloss, but it's still delicious.

I've held on to this little bottle of Spooky for years. I think I felt obligated to it. I felt like I should love it more than I do. On paper, I should love it. On my skin, I don't love it. The amazing chocolate mint is quickly overpowered by the coconut that amps and amps and amps. If not for that coconut note of doom, I think I'd slather this every day. However, since the stomach-turning coconut is there, Spook's gotta go. Sorry, little guy.

Wow, lemongrass! I think Skytyping With Chemtrails is the most lemongrassy BPAL blend I've ever smelled. I dabbed this on, and all I could think was, Lush. Specifically, Avobath. It's not an Avobath dupe, but the lemongrass is similar. I don't get much of anything else, and the lemongrass is not the loud candy lemon of Lemon Scented Sticky Bat (I like loud, foody scents) but I like this one anyway. It's soft but still cheerful.

Wet, Weeping Branches Moon is gorgeous fruit blossoms and strawberries. On my skin, it dries to plum blossom. Pretty, but I wish I could retain more of the initial complexity. Like Strawberry Moon '09, I may have to use this in non-skin applications (or reapply frequently) to keep it from going single-note on me.

Bones Trombone is an odd one. Wet, the hemlock overpowers the other notes, but as it dries, it turns into this bizarre mix of blueberry-lemon meringue pie, with blueberry and meringue being the most apparent notes. I love the Lab's blueberry, so I think this one is a keeper.