suki

in the imp: violet, eucalyptus, mint. in that order. wet on skin: the violet and eucalyptus are battling for first place, the mint takes a back seat and the neroli-thankfully-is nowhere to be found. dry down: oh YEAH! this reminds me of my favorite violet gum (C.Howard's. Get Some!) it's all soft violet and sweet mint. the eucalyptus is still there, but it's calmed down a LOT. in all: a fabulous violet scent. i love violet, it's one of my favorites. when it goes wrong, it becomes soapy and horrible. this doesn't. this is more like a bouquet of violets and mint. sweet, but not sugared like Faith. beautiful. i'll be getting 5ml a.s.a.p.!

in the imp: all the rich smokiness of vetiver. wet on skin: still heavy on the vetiver. it takes a LOT for vetiver to get calm on my skin. dry down: all vetiver, possibly a hint of leather, but nothing more. in all: if you adore vetiver as a note, this is a winner for you. if, like me, it just amps impossibly on your skin, you will likely wanna skip this one.

in the imp: heady, like sweet rose incense wet on skin: it's changing into rose candy. this is the gardenia interacting with my skin chemistry. dry down: weird. it changed *back* to the rose incense thing. :shrug: in all: a beautiful, rich rose, like dried roses in a small room where the windows don't open: heady, powerful, and not what you expect. nicely done.

in the imp: yep. green grass. wet on skin: green grass that has been watered with sea water. dry down: same. in all: well, as far as a vampiric scent goes, i'm afraid it falls short but! if you like green grassy scents, this is a total keeper.

in the imp: like some sort of delicious liquid candy. wet on skin: undefinable fruit jolly ranchers. more yum! dry down: gardenia has come out, which makes sense, because that gets kinda candy-like on me, as in Unheavenly City. in all: this is all sweetness. i get no leather, no sweaty skin or anything like that. in fact, i'd go so far as to say this can be a possible kid's scent!

in the imp: wow. this makes me think of white musk, but something...more meaningful...underneith. wet on skin: white musk, lemon and again, there's another note. i can't place it, except to say it fills me with longing. damn, Beth is GOOD. dry down:it's lighter now, but still a musky sweet skin scent, full of subtleties to keep 'em guessing! in all: if you are looking for a scent that will make you long for your own misspent youth, look no further!

in the imp: lemony and tea-like, yep. strangely, it's reminding me of Body Shop's Dewberry scent, which i used to wear about 16 years ago. wet on skin: yep. dewberry all the way. dry down: ok, it morphed. the green tea has lightened and become really faint, subtle. it's not that my skin ate it, it just became a very present, but very, very light scent. in all: another good one for hot days, this also might be one to enable your friends who don't usually like perfumes because they think they're all too heavy.

in the imp: gardenia and jasmine. wet on skin: the vanilla amps a bit, but it's not the heavy, rich vanilla of, say, Love's Philosophy. this is a lighter vanilla, making me think of the actual pod. dry down: the vanilla has slacked off a bit and the gardenia steps forward to become...powdery air freshener? in all: well, if you like light florals with a powder edge, this is for you. me? i'll stick with Love's Philosophy.

in the imp: strong lemon with an herb edge, like lemon verbena, but less sweet. wet on skin: same. dry down: same! in all: pretty good throw, this lemony scent would do well for those extra hot summer days when you sweat just by thinking about it. light, refreshing, not too sweet.

A scent celebrating Sir Francis Dashwood's Order of the Knights of St. Francis of Wycombe, also known as the Hellfire Club. A swirl of pipe tobacco, hot leather, ambergris, dark musk and the lingering incense smoke from their Black Mass. in the imp: smoky, but not in the usual vetiver sort of way. more sweet and refined. it must be the pipe tobacco. wet on skin: now a light musk has come into the mix. the pipe essence is still present. dry down: this has stayed the same on me pretty much from start to finish. no leahter has appeared on me, which i'm grateful for! in all: because of the pipe tobacco, i can feel the ghost of Black Lace in this blend. like Black Lace's slightly sweeter cousin!

in the imp: indian jasmine- dark, thick and heady. wet on skin: same, but a little more mellow. dry down: the jasmine is still there, but now it's gotten soft and powdery. in all: a very feminine scent, i can see how this would be popular with ladies of the evening. it's a bit too femme-ie for me, however.

in the bottle: mold. in fact, this was *so* mold that i felt nervous about getting an asthma attack! wet on skin: moldy soil, for real. i am so not exaggerating in the slightest. dry down: this stayed pretty consistent on me. there was a 15 minutes interlude wherein a slight spicy floral was peeking out and the mold turned to leather at the same time, but then all at once, the floral pretty much left, the mold/soil combo returned and that's how it stayed for the several hours it remained on my skin. in all: glad i got to try my boyfriend's bottle, equally glad i didn't get one for myself!

in the imp: dark, smoky vetiver wet on skin: the vetiver starts blending with that myrrh people have been talking about- it's a good combo, because the sweet of the resin tempers the vetiver nicely, takes it's claws off a bit. dry down: as it has dried it's sort of shifted to become, what smells to my nose, a mix of leather and citrus fruit. on my kid, it became *all* leather, interestingly enough in all: i like dark fragrances, but this one is a little too heavy on the smoked cow hide end of things. but if that sounds great to you, get some!

in the imp: i'm getting some of the melon straight away, but it's more like melon liquere than the straight, fresh melon of Yemaya for instance. wet on skin: the melon drifts a bit and this becomes heavy, sweet floral. i can't pick out any specific notes, but there's a spring smell as opposed to a summer floral smell. it's a bit cloying at this point, but i'm hoping it'll mellow a bit in the dry down. dry down: this has become, unfortunately, like Hanami on me- a pleasant-smelling shampoo in all: my guess is, if you loved Hanami and it doesn't become shampoo fragrance on you, you will likely *adore* 51!

in the imp: very green, very pine heavy. it reminds me of scratch n sniff pine! wet on skin: the pine sweetens. it's interesting- it makes me think of that heavy sweet smell that pine trees get in the summertime in the heat, rather than christmas time pine. dry down: this oil has stayed consistent on my skin, the throw is average and it's a pleasant fresh smell. in all: though not for me, if you love evergreen scents, this is a winner!

in the imp: lemony, but unfortunately, like lemon pledge type of lemon wet on skin: same! dry down: now it has morphed into one of those floral spray air fresheners with purple flowers on the can. in all: clearly, this stuff hates my skin. off to swap we go!

in the bottle: sweet pear with a hint of good Indian incense behind it- the kind i can only get when i go to India Way in Jersey City. wet on skin: it's...WOW. it's sweet, juicy pear- REAL pear, not 'pear-scented oil'- and dark, carmelized vanilla. this isn't just sugary, it's *burnt* sugary. dry down: the pear lessens slightly and the vanilla in all it's caramel glory comes forward. my skin usually amps BPAL sugar above all else, but in this, it's staying blended, becoming more like yummy creme brule all the time. oh lordy! in all: i got this on a lark, unsure what would happen, and i am SO glad i did! this is a soft, decadent burnt-sugary, custard-laden sweet-but-light beautiful confection :swoon: more, please!

thanks to the ever lovely karihan i now have a bottle of All Souls '06, so i get to do my first-ever compare and contrast review! in the bottle: yes, the sweet mustiness is present in this one as well, but perhaps because of the aging time, there is something more refined about this one: it seems better blended from the start, but also, that cream aspect that i encountered later on with '07 is already present in the bottle. that's exciting! wet on skin: it has morphed into a spicy musk with cream. it reminds me of Smut in combination with Love's Philosophy (2 that i *love* to layer) but with a slight powder note in the mix. the powder is not bothering me, however. :whew: dry down: the foodie aspect of '07 is not here- this is pure musk and incense. If Smut is all about going out and carousing the clubs and bars looking for a good time, All Souls 2006 is her High Priestess cousin who annoints herself for sacred sex on top of an altar in tribute to the Goddess. love. i mean, LOVE. :D

ok, i felt the need to totally edit the post i did for this back in april of 2008. i was fairly new to BPAL at the time and really, my nose was not very refined. so i talked smack about VooDoo Queen and now i have seen the err of my ways. so i wanted to set the record straight: VooDoo Queen is complex, beautiful and yes, sexy as hell. there is spice here, and musk, and the slightest hint of vetiver when i first dabbed it on my skin, but that quickly faded. now, it's incense, it's the musk of dancing slow-without being allowed to touch!-for an entire night. it's the spice of quality sex- the kind people don't have until they've been around the black a few times and can really know what they're doing, and what they want done to them. in all, this is one of the best oils Beth has ever produced- and she's made a LOT of really fabulous scents.

in the bottle: heavy, resinous, spicy. wet on skin: the resin evens out, becomes more musky. i'm getting hints of the kush, which i personally love. dry down: the honey, amber and kush mix into this sexy, deep musky skin scent. i get a bit of the currant, but it's not obvious, it just adds a little spice to the blend. in all: not sure how i missed this when it was out but i just got it in a swap and am *very* glad i did!

in the vial: spicy carnation goodness, straight up! wet on skin: it smells vaguely of cinnamon, but not overpoweringly so. dry down: sweet and spicy. this does smell 'pink' to me! in all: a good daytime scent, interesting, but not overpowering.

this is the 2007 version in the vial: wow. it's got a gentle, mildly sweet note, like floured almonds, but more gentle than that, even. it really *does* remind me of snow, but without the ozone and aqua notes that never work on me. wet on skin: more of the same. i'm getting that 'flour' smell a little more strongly. it's like uncooked pastry dough. i really, really like this dry down: same. it doesn't morph at all. it's a very close-to-the-skin type of smell, slightly reminding me of both a light musk and traces of MB: Closet without being either. in all: complex, beautiful and impossible to describe- now i just have to track down a large bottle!!!

in the imp: sweet, spicy banana! yay! wet on skin: the banana mellows considerably and mixes with a soft floral and something a little candy-like. i'm really enjoying this dry down: everything i already mentioned is still present, but it has mixed further to become something sweet but sophisticated- i'd wear this on a summer nighttime date! in all: not the over the top banana of Has-No-Hanna, this is a beautiful tropics blend that has potential to be a great cross-over for floral and foodie folks

this is the 2007 version. in the vial: sweet, musty incense wet on skin: ooohhh, a creamy note has just emerged- but it's like a spiced-?- cream. it reminds me of carrot cake, without being foodie, if that makes sense dry down: sweet cakes, incense, a musk that is reminicient of Smut. it's really good in all: well, i can make do with Smut, but if anyone wants to send me a bottle of this, i sure wouldn't object!

in the imp: a medium-level floral, slightly cloying, reminds me of a 'grandma' scent. wet on skin: now it has morphed into the fragrance of a hair product i bought in London years ago. so, a good 'hair' scent... dry down: same. in all: for people who did those hair product/shampoo kinds of smells, you'll love this