olympia301

I bet he would love that. I also like the notion of Dana O'Shee.

I smell lavender, but it doesn't grab center stage here, it's made to start off in league with the other ingredients, which is a very pleasant surprise. It is very masculine, but if a woman were to wear it I think it would come off more like she'd just been for a roll in the hay with a great smelling guy rather than she stole his cologne.

After that it gathers itself into an almost floral (masculine floral) melange, with a citrus like bit and the blend is so seamless I can't begin to pick out anything other than amber of some sort holding it together. It is really a beautiful creation which has to be experienced to be understood. I think Antony is one of the seminal works from BPAL. A gorgeous item for anyone.

Welp, I wanted this one and I got it. I love love love the label and the concept. Perfect for this time of year.

I opened the bottle and carefully applied this magic juice. Lemongrass madness, as if the beast was springing upon me from a concealed underbrush and making for my throat! All the while, passionate powder was thumping away in the background like a backup band on dope. This wasn't any ordinary tweet wittle bun-bun. No, this was a furious god of fertility which was screwing everything in its path. It lasts a long time and does settle down to a powdery and sweet life on your skin and the lemongrass background lasts a long time as well, even if it does gracefully degrade into the chorus after its mad beginning. At last musk made its entrance, and a mighty musk it is, though used with a judicious hand and does not overstep it's limits.

I can only describe it as jelly beans laced with crank and carefully tucked into an Easter basket for some unsuspecting adult. Great fun, the perversion of all things twee and sugary.

Damn! I LOVE those new labels! They look more like BPAL labels should look! They really show off the invetiveness of the blends and appear much more cutting (nay BLEEDING) edge than the old ones. Hip Hip Hooray! Macha, you rocka!

Just to be a contrarian, I got a bottle of Velvet from a forumite and is it different from the Velvets I have known and loved before. It's like Velvet in its Glory! My word. I don't know what's different, I'm picking sandalwood out of the lineup of The Usual Suspects. It's positivly strong (not one of Velvet's usual characteristics) and somehow more perfumy (another uncharacteristic part regarding Velvet). I chalk this up to improvement.

I hope this is the way that Velvet is going to be from now on. But, if it isn't, I can be just as happy with the old version as I am with the new. Different variations on a theme. Either way, I look at it that I win.

Toxicology Report:

Appearance: Clear yellowish liquid of viscosity lower than water.

Scent: Citrus (possibly yuzu), aquatic, green, slippery, astringent, slight perfume in the background some slight floral component.

Scent Longevity: Quite good, even for a citrus based scent, it remained noticeable for over an hour.

Diagnosis: A very nice scent indeed. Cool and refreshing. Particularly appropriate for warm weather wear. Would make an excellent addition to a cold compress to combat heat stroke.

Zero was va va va voom floral on me. Lasted for hours (a miracle on my skin) and was just lovely. There is some element of Queen Mab in Zero, and almost red orchid scent (that is a lyrical idea, not a real plant). It's clean, pleasantly astringent in a flowery way, and almost spicy. This one is a real winner and I hope it comes out soon because if it does, I'm going to snag me a bottle of Zero toot sweet.

Macha, the Monsters are original and very good indeed. Pure your imagination & skill. Peony Moon is lovely.

Wow! this is really a great blend but let me preface it by saying that wet in the bottle (that means concentrated and "uncured" by the air) Chango smells like airplane cement. Don't pay that any attention, put it on your skin and shut your pie hole.This stuff goes on a tropical rampage that is really nifty. You can smell the civet in here and it is actually very sexy and blends well with the fruity bits. That is a major miracle. Just for the scent jolt, Chango is a great oil.

What is that icon all about? Well, yes there is a story. The image is of St. Barbara whose picture is associated with Chango due to her being the patron saint of artillery, so she is actually fitting as a symbol of this most masculine of gods, the God of Lightening (a blinding flash of light and huge destruction).

For woody, try:

Aglaea-aprocot and myrtle

Hesperides-apple and wood

Velvet-cocoa, myrrh, and sandalwood.

Clean scents:

Dirty-of course

Dorian-very modern outdoorsy and squeeky clean to me

Baneberry-berries and cleanliness to me

Sea of Glass-grapefruit makes this a pleasantly astringent scent and it lasts.

A very eye popping opening, almost metallic is how Opium Poppy starts out. It is hard to tell where this one is going judging from the beginning alone. As time mellows it out, Opium Poppy starts to fall deeper and deeper into an almost carnation-like floral scent, with spices bringing up an otherwise simply floral atmosphere. It is not carnation, but very much like carnation and does have a character all of its own. This is a very nice blend and one which deserves a lot of attention and love.

Very hot and heavy classic perfume. I smell a lot of musk in it (I don't get dirt though). Exceptionally long lasting, too. This is very formal to my taste and it is a special night out blend which would be at home in the fanciest of restaurants under candlelight.

My only reservation about it is that it is pretty generic to my nose, it doesn't have a particular personality which I admire so much in many of BPAL blends, and I would never have guessed that this is orchid unless I had read the label on the bottle.

Hmmm...so you know something, josey? sounds like my credit card will start weeping like some statue of the Blessed Virgin!

Sudha Segara is milky as in chai, Dana O'Shee might fill your bill, too. You might also want to try out the caramel like ones, many of those are LE's though: Midway, Mitzvah for example. Also try searching on the Lab site for all the things you could be looking for and things that are close: milk, cream, creamy, milky, sweet, etc. You might want to investigate the sugar/honey connection as well. Sometimes the things that are close or related to what you are looking for surprise you, and those are the ones which hit the spot. Good luck. I am a milky lover too.

Snow white is a definate coconut. This is one time it doesn't grab center stage, it actually plays nicely with the other parts of it. Beth, being the clever person she is, got the coconut to sing harmony with the rest of the items, I don't ever think I have seen that before. It's outrageously good.

A very fine addition to the heavy orientals aka The Snake Oil Family. This one is indeed full of Dragon's Blood along with the spices that are really the jewels in Beth's crown. I do smell what I think is Red Musk and they are all perking along nicely with the Dragon's Blood. It lasts a long time

There is indeed cocoa (not milk chocolate or dark chocolate but cocoa) as a raging topnote, and that does indeed go away after a while and snuggle down into a rich but cheery scent which blends so nicely with your skin.

The image is a creation by Salvador Dali. It's a flaming sacred hear studded with jewels and it contains another heart inside which actually does "beat" by mechanical means. It's in the Salvador Dali Museum in Figueres Spain.

Roses, and very nice ones, with a backbeat of something highly metallic. I am afraid that this one does not bring out the best of the roses, a pairing not made in heaven or hell. They just don't get along, even with the best of intentions. Cognac should go with roses, but alas, the combination only fires their unpleasant sides and like two members of an unfortunate marriage, they fight constantly.

It was a real privilage to get this one to try, and I can't say I washed it off. It's just that some things sound like they are going to be the hit of the century and they end up as less than stellar.

Very aquatic, I smell a related scent to Sea of Glass here without the grapefruit but with flowers. I find it to be medium strong and with a green undertone of cholrophyll coming through. On drydown there are more flowers than the other components. It wears close to your body and I would say it is a great candidate for a scent locket if you fancy the aquatic beginnings. This one I would put in more than one scent locket because it is that delicate.

There is something unsettling about The Masque, in a kind of thrilling and familiar way. I can really smell the carnation along with a huge bouquet of flowers. There is also a masculine set of notes thumping away underneath it all and adding a grounding air to the blend. I am sure it is the tobacco, and something reminds me of Black Musk...I don't think that's what it is but it reminds me of it (go figure). It's deep sweet and moody all at once. Don't let the flowers turn you away from The Masque, they are made to work so harmoniously with the heavier parts of it all that the total effect is a throughly new combination neither floral or masculine but a scent suited by its nature to be the scent of the last part of winter but not the first part of spring.If all this sounds too lyrical for you, get yourself a bottle of The Masque and discover it for yourself.P.S. don't experience this one too close up. It really needs atmosphere between you and the source, otherwise it distorts and is not shown off in its best lights.

N.B.-I found that my review of The Masque had disappeared after the forum downtime in early mid March 2006. So, I replaced my review here. It appeared that mine was no where to be seen, and if it comes to pass by electronic mischief that my review appears twice here, well...I will just have to sigh and say "If I were God, that wouldn't have happened."

Very sugar to the point of almost being flowery. In other words sugar and caramelized sugar driven to such an extreme that they start smelling like a totally different entity. This one is just gorgeous wet and it dries down to a sublime foodiness on your skin which is a bit subdued and does diminish rather quickly. Mitzvah is a perfect candidate for the scent locket, so you can keep it and smell it all day long.

It is a pure sugary rush, with very little complexity beyond the ssweet. Even its veering into flowery territory is an expected development in this case. It is just loveliness. What it lacks in character (for instance Trick or Treat's unexpected smokiness) it makes up for in likeabelness. Mitzvah should be all one thing and it is.

If you are a foody lover, this one was a mitzvah for you. I will cherish my stock of it and think of the fun and good deeds lived through when I smell Mitzvah.

Elegba and Perversion and (I think) Black Pearl are all coconutty good. I really am digging Perversion at the moment. Just because the coconut is in the background, doesn't mean you can't love it while it is there.

Alice and Maiden. They are wonderful.

The Black Tower is a blend with great charm and it would be a wonderful day scent for a woman. You can easily wear this one into work without being accused of being a witch or worse. It reminds me of some of the great old perfumes of yesterday, I suspect that is because of the leather note, which was so very popular in the 1940's and '50's. If you are not familiar with that sort of thing, you would love to discover it here in The Black Tower. It is a romantic blend, sharp and long lasting (no that is not a contradiction in thoughts). somehow I don't get any red wine from The Black Tower but it's pretty delicate and I am not disappointed.

This is an absolutely scrumptious floral! It has elements of deep candy (yes that is pretty serious), bright lily sweetness, and though I see there is supposed to be something of the crocus in here, whatever it is it smells much better than any of the crocuses I have smelled. Somehow it generates a kind of spicy part which is alluring and stops it from becoming too "flowers/flowers/flowers".

What a neat idea, this blend starts out with a banana introduction! You might stop right there and say,"Ewwww". Don't. This one is very well done indeed. It does have a very beautiful floral background and scented woody kick which gives a more sultry backdrop to the funny fanfare that opened it. Alas, it doesn't last too long, and that banana note fades rapidly, but it was fun while it lasted. If you try Manila, you would definately want to put it in a scent locket. It's a good blend, I think it's one of the earliest ones and doesn't have the crisp sophistication that blends after about 2005 have, but it is well worth trying out and you might love it for all it's raw monkey goodness. It would be worthy.