Ariella

Hail unto Thee who art Ahathoor in Thy triumphing, even unto Thee who art Ahathoor in Thy beauty, who travellest over the heavens in thy bark at the Mid-course of the Sun. Tahuti standeth in His splendour at the prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm. Hail unto Thee from the Abodes of Morning! Straight on, this is immediately dry and woody, with just a hint of smokey incense underneath. Soon, it morphs into something lighter, creamier and sweeter. To me, the most remarkable thing about Ahathoor is the way in which it melts into my skin a couple minutes after I put it on. I can't think of any other way to describe it. It's not that the scent is disappearing -- far from it, in fact, I can still detect it hours later -- but it feels like it becomes part of the scent of my skin.

Tezcatlipoca starts off as the deepest, darkest, bitterest and most mysterious chocolate I've ever smelled. After a few minutes, it morphs into a general incense smoke scent. As someone formerly repulsed by the idea of chocolate scented things, I'm extremely surprised by how much I fucking adore the cocoa phase of this oil. Since sniffing a small variety of BPAL oils, I've gotten much more bold in what I'm willing to try... and I guess boldness will be rewarded. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish the chocolate lasted longer. Don't get me wrong, the incense stage of Tezcatlipoca is wonderful in its own way (and it's exactly the scent I was hoping for when I ordered this)... I'm just so shocked that I actually like the chocolatiness. This was almost a revolutionary oil for me. I still can't quite wrap my mind around the fact that I've entered the realm of the foodie. There's something beckoning me deeper into the cave -- I suppose it's too late to turn back now. Why fight it? I'm off to scan the catalog for other chocolate scents.

I also got a similar vibe from Amsterdam. Fresh, crisp and springy. Here's a review.

Oh, is this gorgeous. It brings to mind golden-toasted marshmallows, slanting amber light and rough, honey-toned timber. A warm, light sweetness with just a touch of fragrant smoke, all underscored by rich, aged wood.

Curling, wisping candle smoke is such a wonderfully mysterious smell. I was really intrigued by the mention of it in Gypsy Queen, but alas, I'm broke and there will be no Carnaval Noir (as long as I don't cave in the next week....)

This smells EXACTLY like those fruity gummy candies that are covered in sugar. In fact, throughout the day as I wore this I kept looking around for the candy bowl. I'm continually amazed at how Beth can make such totally sugary, sweetsweetsweet scents without having them be cloying or obnoxious at all. If Midwinters Eve were a smiley, it would be this one: It's really a playful scent (not melancholy on me in the least, either) - perfect to wear when I'm feeling silly (which often involves covering myself in glitter).

Penthus is a nice, light rose on me. Definitely not perfumey or powdery. The really amazing thing about this scent, though, is its distinct air of salty tears, sorrow, peace and calm. I can't pick out any *notes* that smell this way - the main thing I get is rose - but there is some underlying depth to Penthus that gives it this feeling. This is probably totally the lab description influencing me, but the vision I get from this one is an ancient chamber made of pristine white marble, with red rose petals strewn around. The site of intense grieving, where someone (probably young and unexpectadly) was recently lain to rest. All is quiet, except for the faint gurgling of fountains in the distance, and the soft echo of a procession of footsteps sadly walking away. Penthus makes me feel reflective and a bit somber. Not my usual reaction to rose scents, but something I really like.

The first thing to hit my nose is the rosemary - sharp, strong, almost harsh in its rawness. After a while, the rose and orange blossom come out to play, ultimately drying down to a nice if nondescript powdery, flowery scent. I definitely prefer that to the initial blast of rosemary. While Catherine is tolerable, it's not something I'd say that I *like*. I'll use up my imp for sure, but I don't see my self using this one very often.

Straight out of the bottle this smells uncannily like christmas mint fudge. Almost immediately after it's on my skin, though, it turns flowery. Honestly, I'm not very good at identifying flowers by smell, but something in my gut is screaming gardenia. Which is weird because I don't think I know exactly what gardenia smells like. Anyway, theres also some rose in there, too, I'm thinking. After this has changed to flowery, it smells something like I'd imagine an oldfashioned southern lady to. I have to admit that the extent of my BPAL testage is pretty limited, but this is by far the craziest, most unexpected, and totally awesome scent morphing I've ever experienced.

This smells very fresh -- like springtime. That's what it is, a sunny meadow in the first warm days of spring. I don't mean a real life soggy, muddy field. Like standing among the rolling hills of a storybook meadow, with a faint crisp breeze blowing your hair back (away from your face, of course =). All around you a clear deep blue sky and dew covered, shimmering bright green grass with just a few flowers poking up here and there. This just *needs* a picture, and this was the best I could come up with googling http://www.gregoryferdinandsen.com/HNL2004...Beach%20(1).jpg Unfortunately, it doesn't last very long on me; an hour after putting it on I can bearly smell it. The fleetingness somehow fits, though, and I won't mind reapplying often. Like a truly beautiful spring moment - gone before you know it.

I got this in my most recent order and I've only worn it once, but it left such in impression that I couldn't wait to review it. It seemed very sharp when I sniffed it out of the bottle, and I was a little wary about putting it on. It totally changed almost as soon as it touched my skin (I'm growing to expect this). I immediately thought of wood and incense. Remeniscent of, but very different than a church smell. This was brighter, warmer, and as Shollin said in the first review, very much wood rather than stone. It made me think of sneaking into an ancient, musty library. Just a few rays of sunlight penetrating in, illuminating scattered streaks of dust. Something about this gave me a strong, settled yed adventurous (?) feeling, not at all cozy as warm scents usually do. I like it very much. Grounding.

This is one of my (stealing the name from the title of that thread in BPAL chatter) OMFG oils. I dabbed some on my wrists, sniffed, and I swear, my eyeballs practically rolled back into my head out of sheer joy. I could feel myself IN a castle. I could hear the bustle and clank of people eating and talking, see swirling bodies through the half dark murky air, smell candle smoke and spice. I've never had a scent take me someplace so fully before. It was frickin awesome. I couldn't really pull out any specific scents, but together, well, OMFG.

Soft and innocent, but with a slightly bitter edge. This is not at all sweet as rose and carnation can sometimes be. It's light, but not frilly; a little playful yet a bit somber as well. Dreamy.

Honestly, the first time I put this on I did not get along with it at all. All I smelled was grape cough syrup. I was pretty disappointed, cause from the site description and all the raves on here it sounded like it would be perfect for me. I settled on shoving it into the back of my designated BPAL box and attempting to forget about it for a while. It kept calling to me, though, and so occasionally I'd wear it and then decide that I was right in the first place and we just weren't meant to be. But what do you know, I start liking it and even craving the smell (actually, I'm wearing it now). It's not something I smell and go 'hmmm, that smells nice,' no, it's always much more of a 'whooaa.' It's very much of a formal scent to me, something I could see fitting perfectly with dressing up in black and going out in the middle of winter. This would be a long stemmed blood red, almost purple, rose with no leaves and big thorns. A romantic rose, not a garden one.

I really like this. I was amazed the first time I smelled it by how I could pick out the clove, cinnamon and pepper in turn all in the same inhalation. I love getting the dark, slow sweetness of clove and the white pepper's bright, sharp pang at the same time. As others have said, this reminds me of warm, yummy things baking away. I imagine this is the smell you'd get if you stuck your head inside a spice cabinet. Wearing this just makes me feel good. Warm, but (or maybe this is just the name influencing me) in a powerful as opposed to fuzzy way. This isn't at all what I would imagine the three witches to smell like, but I have to admit, when I sniff it, it does seem strangely fitting.