sigh

What about Peitho? It doesn't have identical notes, but here's the lab description: "The Goddess of Persuasion, Seduction and Sexual Wiles. A member of Aphrodite’s retinue, she is also Aphrodite’s daughter and sister to Tyche and Eunomia. Lusty myrtle and jasmine with red sandalwood, stargazer lily, and clove over an opulent, rich bed of warm musk and bourbon vanilla. "

Violets and tuberose. A touch of night jasmine perhaps? Cool, crisp and comforting at the same - like crisp fresh sheets on the bed and the AC turned down to meat locker while you sleep. All in all, my new favorite sleeping scent, a somewhat colder version of Somnus if you will. Looooooove it. On a scale of 1-5, this is a 7 in my book. ADDED Oct. 1: After reading all the reviews of soapy violets, I figured that Numb would work it's way into my swap pile. Fortunately, that's not the case. I get no soap, no violets, just a cool, crisp, comforting, pale blue-green-white nothingness. It's the exact opposite of snuggling down into a warm comforter in the misery of February - that moment in the middle of neverending summer when you slide your slightly sunburnt overworked just this side of exhausted self into bed made up with fresh crisp cool sheets. The curtains are drawn, the room is almost entirely dark, your skin is still slightly damp from the shower and you just fall into a deep airconditioned state of coma bliss.

Sweet jebus, this is a haaaaaaaaaappy smell. Guava, melon, passionfruit, pears & (dang, that would make a wonderful smoothie. It's clean fruity though, not cloying or oppressive. Ahem. Now... In the bottle ~ bright & fruity. Tropical fruit salad in a good way. On ~ full bodied, ripe, but not smothering. A good deal of throw, stays light & refreshing. Is there a touch of pale musk in there somewhere? At the end of the day, there's a warm sweet musky sort scent in there somewhere.

Van Van also has a gorgeous grapefruity note. There's a gorgeous creamy sweetgrass/vanillaish undernote as well.

Chaos Theory II ~ LXXX The only description that even remotely comes close is warm, dark piney, bayrum-y goodness. If you followed Beth's Jolly Roger to his hideout deep in the forest, he would smell like this. The oceany tang of initial slathering mellows out rather quickly and lurks on the edge of each sniff along with the slightest hint of lime. After wearing it for awhile, I've become convinced that there's the faintest dribble of patchouli lurking under there somewhere. My other half claims to smell woodsmoke mixed in there, but I don't get that all. Overall ~ warm, dark, piney bayrum-y yumminess. Sexy, deep and slightly salty in tone.

First impression ~ It's roses and honeysuckle floating through shafts of afternoon sunlight and then swirling lazily through slow moving water. After wearing for hours - This scent makes me happy. Not giddy happy, but peaceful happy in my own skin. Extra 30 lbs, stretch marks, mood swings - all included. I'll be purchasing this one by the gallon. My husband said "smells like the middle bit of Turkish delight". Poetic, eh?

You would think that as expensive as AOL is, you could get email from whomever you bloody well wanted to, and that they'd have naked Johnny Depp appear on your doorstep to read it aloud to you. (Not to mention act out all the giant penis spam emails. ) I asked a friend of mine that works for AOL why they don't send a bounce notice - his response, "the volume is prohibitive". What a load of crap, it's an automated message ffs. I can't get email from the lab, but the people selling potions to give me a penis the size of a baby's arm can send me a dozen messages a day. edited 'cuz i can't spell today

Unfortunately due to server and other email gremlins, there have been several people who think they aren't getting a response to their email when in fact the email response is lost in cyberspace or screened out by an overzealous filter. It's terribly terribly frustrating for both parties - the lab doesn't know their emails aren't getting through and the customer thinks they're being ignored. I simply can't imagine that the lab deliberately wouldn't answer your question(s) as long as they were specific and not just a generally phrased "please give me the entire ingredents list for..." sort of thing. You may want to try an alternate email address if you have access to one. I, for one, can't use my aol email address, but my hotmail address works perfectly. Go figure.

First impression from the bottle: So not what I was expecting ~ Cherries? Almonds? Buttery soft leather? This smells sort of like dessert. And not in a bad way. Freshly slathered: My first immediate thought went straight back to 8th grade and a farewell hug that I got from a friend. The first time I ever felt truely safe in someone's arms was at that moment, in his arms. It was warm and comforting, but in a way that I'd never felt before (and haven't really felt since to be honest. Gonna have to track him down and see how he is doing these days.) The cherry note immediately mellows out when it hits my skin and turns into a deep, smooth, gorgeously warm cherrytobaccowood combination. None of the notes individually pop out, they all just blend together in this divinely warm, sexy, comforting way. Final thoughts: Love love love it. Especially on me, so I'll be slathering it on while it lasts and trying to beg some more off unsuspecting forumites. It would be incredibly sexy on the right guy, unfortunately my guy can't pull it off. In case there were any doubts, Beth is a genius.

The White Musk single note dries down to the perfect salty, tangy ocean scent on me. It's a lifesaver for when I'm experiencing one of those Pisces too far from moving water moments.

Most of my faves have already been mentioned, but Eve is also a fabulous springy scent. So is Dana O'Shee.

Oh my goodness ~ this is quite possibly the sexiest scent that I've tried from BPAL. It's very understated sexy on me though - the florals temper the musk in the most fabulous manner. Even after wearing it all day, Oisin stays fresh and somewhat bright. The throw isn't overwhelming, but sort of sneaky. It's there and you can smell it, almost sense it, but it doesn't peel the paint of the walls. This is not sexy in the way that O is sexy - Oisin has a person next door, aww shucks sort of every day sexy. It's not blatant or overstated sexy that stalks in wearing impossibly high heels, it's sexy in the same way that a firefighter is brave (if that makes any sense at all). I also slathered it on my best friend (my hubby is a big baby and steadfastly refuses my attempts at BPAL conversion), and have to say it smelled just as scrumptious on Jason. On him the musk is much more prominent and what is floral on my skin is somewhat herby on his. No matter - he smells damn good in it.

I tried Snow White in 2003, and it just didn't work with my body chemistry at the time. I am so so glad I gave her a 2nd chance in 2004 now that I've gotten my thyroid and hormonal issues somewhat resolved. This year Snow White is just lovely on me - yippee! She dries down to a creamy, slightly coconutty/almondy/vanilla with a touch of honey and a light musk undertone. Very soft and comforting, a bit mysterious and also a bit shy.

Wet: Chilly, musky goodness with a hint of citrus and the tiniest dash of spruce. Dry: Cold, yet very very warm. The musk just sort of glows off my skin and whatever that citrus note is (lime? grapefruit? lemon verbena?) lingers just below the surface. Ice Queen reminds me of long, quiet walks in the woods. A fresh blanket of snow, sunlight filtering through the tree branches - with the dogs walking quietly beside you instead of running ahead like maniacs who have never been allowed out of the house before today. I made my bestest friend Jason sniff it, and he said it reminded him of camping in the middle of winter. (We once went camping in Utah and woke up covered in a very very fine layer of ice crystals - it was absolutely beautiful and surreal. Even our eyelashes were covered with tiny crystals. Gorgeous. And not as cold as you might think.) He gets a hint of tea in there somewhere as well. Ice Queen is incredibly exhilirating, yet very relaxing. Makes me the somewhat sad that I gave away my spare bottle before trying it. (Otherwise, I never would have shared because I'm greedy like that.

Have you tried Akuma? It's not really spicy though, it's got more of a tart kick to it.

I was gifted with Chaos Theory XIX. This smells like late winter/early spring snow showers that pop up out of nowhere and are gone in 10 minutes. There's a chilly white breeze, a tiny bit of mint lurking in there somewhere with an undercurrent of almost warm, sunny spring flowerbuds.

Murron, I've got a spare imp of Incantation that I can put in with your others if you'd like it?

F***. That so explains it.

It is a fab experience. However, it is a bit embarrassing to admit that the colour scheme of your home seems to be dog hair yellow.

Dammit, now I want red bottles.

This scent brings back very strong and very happy memories for me. It smells just like the breezes that used to come in on the sleeping porch of my Grandmother's house. We'd go out there with giant glasses of sweet tea or lemonade (which is why I get yummm, lemonade instead of lemon pledge when I smell it) and watch the storms roll in. The breeze after the storm was always so nice ~ the cooler air, warm, damp flowers with a twang of lemonade still hanging in the air. Is that a drop of white musk in there to keep it warm & hazy? Whatever it is, it works. thanks Ted. I know happy & sentimental wasn't your mission on this one, but it struck a special place in me. I'll be wearing it to the last drop and swapping like crzy to get more. eta: It also makes a damn fine bath scent.

I 2nd (or 3rd or whatever number we're on) VanVan. It works as both a skin and room scent for me. I also really like Bewitched ~ it's not that fake, cloying, artificial Blackberry that you'll find in just about everything these days. The green tea & sage really keep it nice and clean without washing the scent out.

Mmmmm-on me it stayed fresh, sweetgrass-y and a tad orangey ( ? not neroli, but more like Orange Juice tangy oranges) with a fabulous soft musky sweet undertone. As a room (well, office really) scent it's very calming without being sleep inducing. Has made me feel centered and grounded before what will hopefully be a career altering meeting. *must order 10ml* edited to add: I'm a dork-it's Grapefruit not Orange. Either way, I love it.

I should just ask HR to have my paycheque directly deposited into the BPAL bank account.

*wants to go visit Clephan*