Lit Chick

The husband tried this one out - and while it was nice, it was not the right scent for him. Lear went dusty and musty on him - similar to what Grandmother of Ghosts did to me. Guess we can't wear dry wood scents.

It was very good at evoking "regal old man", though - so I have to compliment the blend. It's exactly how Lear should smell.

I'll start out by saying I love this, because there's a few moments early on when this is not nice at all.

First sniff - Sweet woods, with citrus.

Swipe - Sweet woods with spices.

Wet - Holy terror of terrors - mentholated sweat. Fresh, tangy, sharp sweaty sweat with some Vicks.

Dry - Clean, slightly sweet and spicy, gentle woods and florals, very cold and fresh. A tiny bit like potporri (berries?). It's a very wearable scent, perfect for the season.

The initial wet stage is very scary - but it passed in under 3 minutes. And the rest of the scent is worth it:

Husband and I were eating toasted nan, and when I put down the plate he thought I had dusted it with cinnamon sugar. Nope, that was just me, lightly sweet and spicy. And about an hour later as we were just watching TV, he took my hand and started kissing it. Not as an advance - he was still watching TV. He just was rubbing and kissing my hands. And where do you think I had applied Snow Moon?

Complete winner, again on my top 10. This winter has been really amazing for BPAL.

**ETA** this also makes for an excellent sleep blend. I lost my bottle of Quietude, and have been using this instead. They don;t smell the same, but put me in my peaceful happy place.

I was nervous about this one... fruit tends to be a bad thing. But more and more, I'm finding fruits that love me.

Everthing in this blend loves me, except finiky rose.

Gorgeous, perfection in a bottle. Bright, summery, happy... pure sunshine and butterflies.

And after a few glorious mintues, this turns to soap.

This gives me hope though, and I will stop avoiding the super-fruity blends.

When first applied, this smells really interesting (in a good way). Musky, dry, floral.

But, as it dried all it turned into musky wood. Sometimes those notes are fantastic on me, sometimes not. This was a not.

It turned into a dusty, airless, claustophobic smell. Ah well, they can't all be winners.

Hmm. Not what I was expecting, but so nice!

None of the notes scream out - it does smell like all the listed notes, just not any one in excess.

I was thinking this would be a room scent, but it's too soft for that. Or possibly a smelly for my hudband, but it's too sweet.

The last thing I expected was a perfume for me, but it's perfect! This is so gentle, very peaceful. It's like a bedtime story.

When I was a newbie, I had a lot of scents that went powdery/soapy/etc. It's a common issue - I guess it's hard to smell the nuances in BPAL when you're used to commerical perfumes. That said, some things are still powder etc on me.

Don;t worry, you'll find something. Of the one's we've both tried from your first post, I had the same reactions. So, my rec'd from your list:

Dorian - very very nice, very interesting

Scherezade -this did go powdery on me, but in a nice way. Worth a try.

Intrigue - one of my all time top 10.

I's suggest Bastet as well. Wet it'a all almond, but dry it's amazing.

Sugary, sugary, with more sugar on top.

Too much sugar for me. However, this and Hearth cooperate well. Nice smell, one that should please the sugar-fiends out there.

C is for Cookie, that's good enough for me....

C is for Cookie, that's good enough for me,

C is for Cookie, that's good enough for me!

OOOOH, Cookie Cookie Cookie starts with C!

[/Cookie Monster]

Ahem.

I am not usually a sweet and foodie kind of gal. Ickers.

But this? AWESOME.

Sweet, yes. But not syrupy. Spicy? Yes - but not burny.

It's utterly delicious, and smells just like the gingerbread I've been baking.

After an hour or so, it's a little more mellow. Delicious!!!!

Whoa, nutbutter.

Exactly as everyone else describes. Sweet foodie nuts with a gentle whiff of pine in the drydown (so gentle - I can't do pine, but this was OK).

On me it was VERY strong and nutty, very very foodie. A bit too much. But a tiny drop of this plus a tiny drop of Sugar Cookie was pretty nice.

Oh.

My.

God.

This is innocence right here. This is Chirstmas Mass when I was a child, singing beautiful songs, wearing a pretty dress that my daddy got me. I am being bombarded with memories. This is making me tear up.

It is the perfect incense. It's not heavy at all if dabbed on, though I suspect you can really amp this up with a slather. Cedar is there, smelling so perfect and clean, another nostalic scent.

This is completely uncorrupted. Not a single thing smells off, or doesn't quite work...

I'm so glad that I impulse ordered this. And now, I'm going to sniffle with happy memories of childhood.

I was expecting this to be light and pretty. And it is.... but....

This is not the smell of the character "Snow White". This is the smell of the entire tale.

In the bottle it is soft and pretty. Ah, so innocent.

And dabbed on, it was delicate, creamy and faint. So I slathered.... and there's the wicked queen.

Suddenly, this was sweet and evil. Still creamy, light - but also something strong was smothering all the delicate snowy notes.

And what have we here? The sharp tanginess of a poisoned apple?

This had tons of throw, and was slightly malevolent. I put on far too much and went to bed - and woke up in the middle of the night feeling suffocated. Multiple washings toned Snow White down, but did not kill it (hmm, is this perhaps Neil Gaiman's Snow White? I should have used holy water.)

In the moring, Snow White was still there. Back to being creamy and white.

This had major staying power, more throw than most, and I would suggest a light application. The tangy sharp note is very similar to Eden.

Very nice, very unexpected.

Wow, the lab description of this is right on. It's innocent, girlish, and then it's very muted, a bit somber.

It's not at all depressing, but it's not purely light and happy either.

I love it.

Wow -it's really quite the scent. I expected a light, springtime floral - and for maybe 10 minutes it is.... and then it deepens. Just lovely.

Going straight to my top 10.

Of course, there's always a dab of High John the Conqueror. It's for you - not a "prepare to die" smell.

I love Antony, but I found I was very aggressive when wearing. Heh - but you want something that will make her back off , not encourage you to catfight.

Bluebeard is very.... well, it freaks me out a little. It's menacing.

Same with Black Dahlia. It made me nervous.

-

I'm in a listy mood, and apparently did not contribute before!

My starter imp pack would be:

Bastet - Lovely sweet incense, a warm smell

Amsterdam - Fresh and clean summer day smell

Lady of Shalott - It was the first BPAL that worked on me - lush aquatic

Kitsune-Tsuki - Gentle and bright light floral

Queen Mab - Playful medium floral

Dorian - musky vanilla tea

My more complex pack would be:

Antony - Amazing masculine scent, works on women too (but try on a man!)

Intrigue - A little foody. My favortie in cool weather.

Leanan Sidhe - Second skin

Dragon's Heart - Very heavy floarl

Red Devil - Deep musk, sexy

Two, Five & Seven - Rose explosion

LOVE THIS!

Ah, that said, this blend caused on of the worst pefume-headaches I've ever had. As other's have said, this smells very commercial at first. So familiar.... so I dug in my old stash and found Calin Klein's Truth. Sniffed the cap - yep! That's the note.

And then I decided to compare the two on. Big Mistake. There's a reason why I stopped wearing Truth. ACK. Evil stink that would not die!

A few days later, when I could smell again, I wore Leanan Sidhe all by herself. Beautiful. While it's super-perfumey when wet, the moment it dries it turns into a soft, clean, second skin scent. I understand why this gets called soapy - to me it isn't - but it is the smell of freshy bathed skin. Bathed in a luxurious pool with flower petals by beautiful attendants....

I get no throw, and it didn't last long. I'm probably going to buy a bottle and make a spray - this is just gorgeous!

Amber, amber, amber!

No other notes even make an appearance- but amber gets amped on me.

It's pretty, not quite my thing. This is very soft and golden and warm, and reminds me of random things I used to like.

This would have been my holy grail circa 1995 - but no so much these days.

I don't think I've met a peony blend I haven't liked yet...

The Dormouse is just lovely. Fresh and sweet, without being sugary - it's breezy and clean and sunny. The tea never turned bitter, like it does in some blends.

BUT - this was here one moment, gone the next. I may order a large bottle for when my Amsterdam runs out - they are very similiar in feel to me, if not in scent.

I had been looking forward to this - and as far as Voodoo goes, this worked.

I was fighting with the DH (and he was refusing to fight back, hee!). I was throwing a tantrum that had a valid basis, but I turned it into a big whine-fest.

He handed me the envelope, I squeed (while sniping), and put some on.

Shortly after that, I gave up on the tantrum, and shortly after that the issue was resolved to our mutual satisfaction (I did a complete reverse, whhaaa?).

Yay, Chuparosa, for making my love for my husband trump my love for dramatic crying jags.

However - as soon as we were all snuggles and happy, I realized that the oil was making me ill. Super-strong floral - is that jasmine? - and I had a headache and a very icky taste in the back of my throat that I associate with lilies that are really pollen-y. It was pretty harshly soapy, too.

I will probably keep this as an emergency blend - while I was crabby, this smelled nice. I think it's only the dry down that killed me - but it was fast acting, so worth it!

I had high hopes - but just as Snake Oil went funky, so did Snake Charmer.

First, it was all lovely, boozy vanilla. Mmm-Mmm. A vanilla blend I could love.

And then, Play-Doh. Why do we get Play-Doh?

After a bit, that icky note goes away, but so does the fun booziness. It turned into a sort of "meh" blend.

I'm still waiting for a good vanilla BPAL. After much hunting, I found a rose, so I'm sure there's something that will work.

Sharp, astringent. Agree with pretty much everyone on that.

I don't like it - but as cuervosueno said, it is interesting. Worth a sample. There's something.... well, very appealing.

Like mouth pain - especially a loose tooth (been a long time, but I remember)! It hurts, but you just can;t stop because in a way it feels good.

Not the blend for me, but very cool.

What?

This has fruit and jasmine?

Then how can I love it?

I should know by now not to judge a note by a few evil experiences... but really? Two of my nemesis have joined together in a fantastic blend. Wheeee!

I had forgotten about this little imp - distracted by some strong smelling others for a few months... and in cleaning out the impage, I tried this on again. It was exactly what I was in the mood for. Love it!

Let's see - it reminds me at first of J'adore, which I love. It was my honeymoon perfume. This has that same light, sweet, happy floral.

Kitsune-Tsuki, like all BPAL, develops. I really didn't analyze this one too much, but it's lovely! Romantic, oddly enough.

Regarding the musks - do not judge any by the performance of another. Sometimes the BPAL musks are the best thing ever, sometimes ick. Don't be afraid to try a varitey of them! Dorian might be a good start, as it's musky cookies and tea. Which sounds nasty, but it's not.

Re foody: Port Au Prince is wonderfully clovey and delicious. Intrigue is foody-but-not, and is probably my all-time favorite cool weather blend. Starts off very chocolatey, but mmmm not sweet. Perfection.

The best bet - hit the swap/sales hard. Try a lot of random things.

I never would have tried this - never. So I'm very pleased that the lab decided I should.

I love it!

As people have noted, it's very citrusy at first, then matures into something a bit darker. It has a slightly commercial smell, but in a very good way.

My DH has been wearing BPAL, and I'm going to make him try this - I want it to be his everyday smell. The others are for particular moods (Grr and swoon). This would just be my great-smelling man.

Unexpectedly wonderful!

WOW!

I think it's the jasmine... but this turned into very bad old-lady perfume on me. Very intense, lots of throw, and something very very wrong behind it. It had the strange tang that homemade soaps sometimes have. Ugh.

Ah well, off to swaps!