Lyrical

Sea spray with an undercurrent of leather, Bay Rum, and salty, dry woods. In vial: leather and salt and aftershave. This may be the actual smell of a pirate, assuming that the pirate had good personal hygiene, which seems an unlikely scenario! Wet on skin: quite sweet. If you wanted to smell of leather and salt, this would be a really good scent! I think I'd rather like it on a man. But it's not for me.

In vial: jasmine over something incredibly rich and warm and perfumy with a base of vanilla. Wet on skin: clove, musk, vanilla and JASMINE! If it wasn't for the JASMINE this would be really nice - powdery sweet and complex. Dry on skin: see above.

In vial: wonderfully warm and spicy, like when you put your nose into the bins in a speciality tea shop that has whole bits of spice in with huge, chunky tea leaves! I am very reluctant to put this on my sensitive skin, though. Wet on skin: immediately it becomes sharper, yet the spice is extremely dry and dusty - straight from the jars in the spice rack. There's something almost vetiver-y here too. Dry on skin: dry tea and spices. A little redness, but no welts. This might be fun to layer with something else.

In vial: bathroom air freshener??? or pot pourri. Wet on skin: very sharp and herbal - I'd say pine-y but that must by cypress and juniper. Dry on skin: rose comes out a bit more and balances the pine bathroom cleaner. I can see this being a scent that was worn in ancient Rome, and the concept is nice, but I won't be wearing it myself.

In vial: I get nearly all lemon from this! I guess it's tea served with lemon. No leather yet, but I think I tend to amp that note, so I'm sure it will show up later. Wet on skin: yupp - there's the leather! With lots of freshly sliced lemon and some black tea. Mostly lemon, though, and it's a really nice lemon too! Actually, it's Lift lemon tea - the sweet instant stuff. Dry on skin: I do like Beth's tea scents! The freshness of the lemon and the lovely tea note is just rounded off by a touch of leather in the background. Why oh why can't the men I know smell like this?

In imp: bright and fruity, but with a lovely depth from the snake oil, cardamom and vanilla. Wet on skin: hard to describe! There's a berry-ish note and a warm amber and cardamom background with some gentle vanilla and an orange-y note that is neroli. But it all merges together into an warm, glowing, fruity-amber-vanilla, that reminds me of Fruit Salad penny chews from my childhood! Only it doesn't smell like candy. This is really soft! Dry on skin: the fruit is going a little sharp on me now, as fruit notes often do. There's an unexpected but definite creaminess. And the Snake Oil is making it's presence known in a very subtle way. It's smooth and well balanced, without much throw, and I will wear it a few times before coming to a final verdict. Second wearing: so far so good! There may be a bottle of this in my future!

In imp: unlike the first two Snake Pits I tried, this one actually smells of Snake Oil, but it's very rich and deep with lots of dark cocoa, teak and something smooth and sweet that must be rice milk. Wet on skin: thick and gloopy and very dark. It stains skin and clothes! It's incredibly rich and chocolatey with lots of Snake Oil, and it's delicious! Dry on skin: it doesn't morph much, but gradually the Snake Oil sneaks its way to the front and the scent becomes warmer, "dirtier" and less foody. It's not really me, but I like it a lot. It's an unusual and very grown up scent. A better version of Snake Oil with added dark chocolate! Ends up as mostly Snake Oil. Second wearing: this is sooooo goooood! Under the thick, dark cocoa I can smell the patchouli from the SO, with rice milk, teak and vanilla. This may be the scent that teaches me to love Snake Oil! The best of the bunch! Want a bottle!

In imp: very bright and fruity with no Snake Oil apparent at all. Mostly apple with orange just behind and the florals staying shyly in the background. Wet on skin: spicy and fruity - actually more spicy than most of the others, even though spice notes are not listed. Dry on skin: a slight sourness appears under the fruit. Otherwise it reminds me other other warm-fruity-spicy blends such as Pumpkin Queen. Not much musk here, and only the faintest touch of creamy vanilla. It actually lasted on my skin for almost 24 hours, with a warm, almost powdery feel to it. It feels warm, adult and sexy in the same way Bilquis is warm, adult and sexy. Both scents are somewhere in between the youthful, fruity scents and the dirty, sexy scents, and I really like that place!

In imp: *SWOONS WITH PLEASURE* Wow - this reminds me of Tamamo-No-Mae - one of my favourite LEs! I didn't expect that from the notes. The musk from the Snake Oil must be combining with the gentle flowers to make this. It's sooooooo goooood! I hardly dare to try it on my skin in case it turns to shit! Wet on skin: sweet and pale and musky. Far more vanilla than I've ever got from Snake Oil, even though vanilla isn't listed separately. I don't think I've smelled linden blossom before, but it's lovely! It's also quite fruity in a gentle, peachy, melon-y way. Beautiful! Dry on skin: ah - the fruitiness is giving way to floral now, but in a nice way and still with lots of vanilla and musk. Oh ... uh-oh ... It's not the Snake Oil causing problems, but the florals are going really quite sour. Still very vanilla-y. Ah - the sourness was only temporary, although it's definitely more floral now in a lily-of-the-valley-ish kind of way. *breathes a sigh of relief* It's all kind of white and powdery and it's perfectly balanced between vanilla and fresh flowers. I'm not sure about it and will wear it a few more times before making up my mind. Second wearing: still a very golden, musky vanilla, but the creamy floral makes it kind of sickly.

In imp: interesting. I can smell all the notes, and it's not like any other BPAL I've tried. If it wasn't for the jasmine it would by yummy, but jasmine being jasmine, it's not! Wet on skin: dry and woody - not entirely unlike Ozymandias, only lightened by jasmine. Dry on skin: too much jasmine. Otherwise it's mostly musky and woody.

In vial: a soft, gentle, quiet floral with lovely blue musk. Just what I hoped for so far. Wet on skin: pale and fruity, not entirely unlike Kindly Moon (yay!), with a slightly herbal undertone and a touch of garden mint. (Cereus is a night-blooming cactus - I looked it up!) Long Night Moon is a winter moon, but this makes me think of a moonlit garden in summer. Dry on skin: like liquid moonlight! It reminds me a little of Tenochtitlan and a lot of Kindly Moon. It's very soft and pretty, almost like running water only not at all chilly. This was an impulse buy, but I'm very pleased I got it! An hour later: oh shit! The cool moonlight is all gone and it's going quite yucky on my skin! Oh well - we'll write this one off as skin chemistry FAILURE!

In vial: mmmmmmmmmmm makes me think of Sugar Skull and Midway, but with red fruit in it too. Kind of velvety! Wet on skin: meringues and fruit, and creamy too - a pavlova dessert, topped with sparkling, crunchy sugar! Yum! Fans of Bloody Mary should try this one (and probably already have)! Dry on skin: I smell so pretty! Good throw on this too! Creamy, sugary loveliness, but not as straight up foody as, say, Midway Res. I LOVE THIS!

Can't make out the Roman numerals on the bottle. In vial: OH MY! Rich, sweet honey-amber goodness, swathed in the nicest sort of floral notes, but still predominantly honey and amber. Can't wait to put it on my skin! *grabs cotton bud* Wet on skin: the oil is amber-pink in colour, and quite thin in consistency. The O is identifiable, but it's O+. O with flowers, powdery-er than O is on me, sweeter - but the sweetness is more sugar than honey (which often goes nasty on my skin). Could it be O with sugared flowers? I love this! Dry on skin: hmmmm. Fresh O gets a slightly "off" note on my skin, and it's developing here too. Still wearable, though. *waits* No change. It was better in the bottle, but it's OK on my skin too. The flowers have all but wafted away, and it's mostly O now. I'll be keeping this one. Later: this really rounds out on my skin after a while. There is an occasional waft of fresh wildflowers, which combine with the dark honey to remind me of Mead Moon, and it's all grounded in rich amber. At times it's almost-but-not-quite chocolatey! I usually assume that scents that improve on the drydown will also age well, which is good news!

In vial: ew! No wait, lets sniff for notes ... cloyingly sweet, rich tropical fruit and coconut with enough flowers to stop it being foody. I'm disappointed so far. Wet on skin: mmmm - much better! There's a rich, golden warmth in this - it's no longer cloying, but subtle and lovely! The individual notes elude me, because they blend so well together. I'm so glad I tested this on my skin, rather than rejecting it on how it smelled in the bottle! Dry on skin: ooh - it has throw too! Now I'm getting fruit and coconut again, but it's not like last year's Tiki scents (most of which ended up as pure spice after the bright fruit burned off) - they were fun, but this is their grown up cousin, much more sophisticated, and she sticks around longer! One of the fruit notes is getting a tiny bit sour, though. Next morning: the trace left on my skin in the morning was a sickeningly sour fruity smell that I had to wash off! I must never put this on in the morning if I still want to smell nice at the end of the day! It was disgusting! I guess that's a skin chemistry issue, though, and wish everyone else better luck with it! ETA: Four months later this has settled into a really beautiful scent. The nasty parts have mellowed out, and it's all dark, sugary tropical fruits and flowers, over coconut and a trace of vanilla.

In vial: a very, very pretty, soft, lemony floral. Wet on skin: the sugar cane is definitely flowering! Not too lemony now - more like one of the pale fruity-floral Lunacies, eg Kindly Moon or Lune Noire. It has the crispness of Lune Noire, and is barely sweet at all. Soft and delicate, with a strong green tea note. Dry on skin: a soft muskiness emerges, again like the pale, fruity-floral Lunacies, which include some of my favourite scents, so I'm very happy about this!

In vial: oddly fruity! Wet on skin: sweet and creamy white chocolate, coconut, and perhaps some buttercream. No fig or orange and definitely no mint or spices. But it is beautifully blended. Dry on skin: as it dries fig and orange burst from their hiding places and remind me how much I love Carnal. Now it's orange, fig, coconut and cream! Yum! At this point it begins to sting, although there are no welts - I guess there are spices in it after all! Good throw!

In vial: a balanced blend of chocolate and spice. Wet on skin: ew - what happened to it? Now it makes me think of vetiver! It's kind of rough and dark green. No, wait - it's softening and the chocolate is returning - phew! Dry on skin: it's dark and spicy in a sultry, dirty, masculine way - not my sort of thing at all, although by no means unpleasant. But it was much better in the bottle!

In vial: WHOOPS! Look out - the tops come off of these goblin squirts really easily! Luckily I didn't spill any! It's very perfumy and rather nice at first sniff, but then something deep and damp and green peeks out in the background! In the air: mostly the deep, damp, green part, but with a veil of perfume over it - like a perfumed lady walking through a steamy jungle!

In vial: wow - pretty much just what it says! A cacophony of distinct fruit notes, over a softly spicy, nutty base, and really rather nice! Wet on skin: hard to pin down! The bark/almond/spikenard base is creamy and brown, and it embraces the fruit and blends with it. The apple and grape lend a crispy contrast, and this scent is really something special! Dry on skin: I love this one too! Tamarind just joined the party and is mingling nicely with the other notes. I'm so glad I've got this! This also passed the second wearing test. It's so hard to describe a scent that is creamy/nutty/fruity/brown/smooth. People who enjoy the lab's Autumnal scents, especially To Autumn, should try this. Verdict - I could definitely buy and use a bottle of this.

In vial: metal and leather and smoke and grease. Wet on skin: I get metal and leather, anise and oil. This is not something I will ever wear, but it might be OK on a man - a very manly man, in that case - probably a mechanic! Dry on skin: the same.

In vial: nail polish remover! No, wait ... *sniffs deeply* ... yupp - nail polish remover with a hint of strawberry! Wet on skin: bright and fruity - the nail polish remover departs to leave a sweet, fruity blend. Carnation and poppy give it body. This is a happy scent! Dry on skin: darker and spicier now as carnation and soporific poppy push the bright fruits aside. The contrast of dark and sultry with sweet and bright really appeals to me! I love this! Sadly, the next time I wore it, all I could smell was bubble gum!

In vial: strongly floral. Wet on skin: rose and more flowers. Dry on skin: I don't like rose. If you like them, you should probably try this, though.

In vial: very realistic garden flowers, although I couldn't say what they are. Wet on skin: dark blue flowers, somewhat watery. Dry on skin: as flowers go, it's not bad, but still way too flowery for me!

In vial: sparkling white grape juice with a whisper of strawberry. Wet on skin: still a sparkling grape juice drink, garnished with a fresh strawberry! Very nice! Dry on skin: still the same, but with a soft hint of pale musk. This is a sparling, fun scent - perfect for summer! Short wear length.

I find that in hot weather (just like after a shower) my skin becomes much more sensitive and the majority of BPAL oils burn and leave bright red patches. Some are worse than others, of course, but just when I most want to wear cool, citrussy scents like Holiday Moon, I find I can't! Can anyone suggest some fresh, summery scents that are gentle to hot, sweaty skin?