Geminirubyshoes

I have said before in other reviews that I adore Beth's bubble gum note and henceforth, I really need to try this. In the bottle the bubble gum is there but once applied it's a sweeter version of Snake Oil. I do love me all the Snake Oil so I think this is a win-win.

I feel like this is as close to a red velvet cake single note as will ever happen. The frosting comes out on the dry down. I am seriously loving this...I think aging will definitely make it richer. I remember how intense Sprinklecake ended up being after some years so I am sure this will turn into something of similar strength

Something about this reminds me of my childhood...like a shampoo I had when I was a kid that made my hair smell like clean fruit. Obligatory peach is lovely. This would be wonderful as an introductory BPAL for a tween

This smells like Lights of Men's Lives with Dragons Blood to me. The honey is mild. I love this.

So I love El Dorado from the Wanderlust collection which is how I know that I love copal. This is soft, gorgeous copal with the soil and myrrh giving it a rich background. I don't get the marigolds really, or that I can pick up anyways. I knew I would love this. If you love copal, get yo'self a bottle of this.

I dont know what is going on here but this smells SO CLOSE to my beloved Mother Ginger from the Nutcracker series. I don't lnow how that is possible but yet...

Hnrrrrrggh this is so good. Its like the sister to Captain Lilith and Her First Mate but with berries and less coconut cake smelling. I love rum caramel I tell you! I dont know how I missed this last year but so glad to have gotten it secondhand.

Ted’s interpretation. The ephemeral romance, the fleeting affair: frankincense and blackcurrant, caramelized black amber, and motia attar. So I had to look up what motia attar was and discovered that it's another name for Jasmine sambac I typically love Ted's lunar interpretations because they always have a warm, soft quality to them and this one definitely has it. The frankincense is clean, the black current is mildly fruity and sweet here with the caramelized black Amber giving it a tiny bit of a smoky, sexy quality to my nose. The motia/Jasmine comes through a little bit at the end and makes the whole blend sparkly in feeling, not in smell if you know what I mean. This is really beautiful and will probably age incredibly.

One of my favorite GC's is Knave of Hearts. That one is black currant tarts and crushed roses and this is in the vein of that. Rich, buttery shortbread cookies (crumbs and all) but not cloying. These roses are pale yellow and pale pink and they are romantic and genuine. I am really enjoying this and predict excellent aging.

Childhood happiness bottled up... The blueberry is very much apparent upon first whiff of the bottle but it's creamy, not too high or berry-ish to me.The vanilla and bubblegum notes are also creamy and dreamy. I LOVE Beth's bubblegum take and it makes me happy that Lilith's is also awesome. Evocative of unicorns, smurfs, that old technicolor blue shade that Disney used to use in it's halloween specials where the witch flies by the full moon and that fat bubblicious gum that was the easiest to blow bubbles with when we were pre-teens. And the label art is major cuteness!!

I had to get this because anything with warm notes and myrrh is something that I want in my life. It reminds me a lot of Young Pine Saplings from 2012? Or 2013, I cannot remember. Its creamy and alluring while being sweet but I wouldn't call it gourmand. The vetiver comes out at the end in a fresh burst. I adore this one!

I love this. I posted on FB yesterday that this is the closest thing to my beloved Velvet Unicorn that I have smelled yet. It's the sugary strawberry that makes it similiar. It gives it that fluffy sweetness. The cherry blossom is beautiful and soft too, not sharp at all. I predict gorgeous aging!

Gahhhh this is so amazing. I am so thankful to the kind fairy that picked this up for me!! The patchouli is faint to me with the red musk being front and center. I am obsessed with red musk so this makes me happy. The vanilla is the mellow bridge between the red musk and the opium, I cannot pick up any lilac. Broadway lingers and has that sexy, hazy quality that I also loved in Mrs. Valentine from last year's NYCC exclusives. I will treasure this bottle for sure.

Because isn’t that what this book is really about? Vampire smut: patchouli-infused honey, red musk, red sandalwood, red ginger, pink pepper, Peru balsam, dark Eastern florals, Himalayan cedar, smoky vanilla, bitter clove, and leather. In the bottle this is sweet, smoky and just a hint leathery. In my happy haze of recieving this, I semi-slathered it on my wrists and was met with MUSKY, SMOKEY, sexiness with the leather peeking through. I would have to say that the red musk, vanilla, clove and leather and the things that stand out to me the most in this oil. VILF is not for the faint of heart! I would say this is a Snake Oil- type scent with leather. I typically cannot wear anything that has leather in it ( they usually just make me nauseated) but I think I have found my diamond in the rough leather scent BTW, the label art is super hot.

THE LAST UNICORN The unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone. She was very old, though she did not know it, and she was no longer the careless color of sea foam, but rather the color of snow falling on a moonlit night. But her eyes were still clear and unwearied, and she still moved like a shadow on the sea. Frosty lilac petals, iris pallida root, orris, violet leaf, white chocolate, coconut, wild lettuce, white sandalwood, and oakmoss. This is definitely a perfume befitting The Last Unicorn. Smelling it in the bottle, the oil smells like a garden..like heads of lettuce nestled in the dirt. There is a freshness, airy and a little sweet also. Upon first application, I get the frosty lilac note. Lilac is a scent that makes me sad for some reason but I think it's appropriate for The Last Unicorn. She is a lonely creature but steadfast and determined at the same time and I think lilac is evocative of that.I can smell the coconut underneath there too. As it sits on me I am enveloped in a soft haze of delicate smells all mingled together. It's hard to pick the other notes out, everything blends together so well. I know there was a concern about white chocolate as a make it or break it note for some, but I can't detect any. Oh wait, there's the sandalwood. This is definitely another scent that makes me reminisce about my childhood. This blend is soft, innocent, fantasy and reality all at once. Beautiful. Just beautiful.

Beth's Patchouli changed my mind about patchouli in general. I was not the biggest fan when I was a teen because so many of my friends wore cheap, shitty patchouli oil. But now I luuuurv patchouli and it's my comfort note when I am feeling physically ill (hungover as well). My patchouli blend collection: Ask the Nearest Hippie Black Moths Crypt Queen Imaginer Dionysia Feed Me and Fill Me with Pleasure Goblin Impressions of the Floating World The Ilustrated Woman Mme. Moriarty The Night Raven Nasty Woman Omen The Phoenix Having Burst Her Shell Snake Oil Sin Third Charm Voodoo

LILITH'S TEA PARTY Since Lilith was about a year and a half old, she has loved having tea parties. We each get a small plate of invisible cookies, a cup of invisible tea (sometimes iced, always with cream and honey), and one special item, personalized to each grownup: Lilith always gives Ted a wooden box of play waffles, I get a wooden box of frozen vegetables, and Uncle Brian gets loaded down with wooden fruits and extra tea spoons. Sometimes we have tea in the living room, sometimes we have it in the garden. Sometimes tea lasts for five minutes, and sometimes tea goes on for hours. When we have tea, Lilith is always a gracious, accommodating hostess, and she always has a story to tell. Imaginary génoise cakes, imaginary trifle (with imaginary rosewater, imaginary Madeira and imaginary strawberries), imaginary macaroons, and imaginary Devonshire tea served in an imaginary garden surrounded by one-thousand imaginary flowers. Lilith's Tea Party is definately a child's tea party time in a bottle. Upon opening the bottle I was enveloped in the smell of strawberries and cream with what smells to me like biscuits and a tea note similar to the tea note in Dorian. Upon the skin, the tea note is stronger and takes the sweetness out of the strawberries. I've had this on for about 15 minutes now and it's creamy, light and just a little bit sweet. I think the florals are starting to bloom in the ultimate drydown. This is so nostalgic to me of playing dressup with my friends in my backyard when I was little. It's a very lighthearted, happy smell and I am so grateful that Beth shares these special scents with us.

I knew that I would love this. Magnolia is one out of two white florals that always work for me (Gardenia is the other) so I will always be drawn to anything with Magnolia in it. The floral with the honey musk is all in the wet stage and then the beautiful, sweet, light Vanilla Chiffon comes out on the dry down. This is a lingering scent with decent throw. I could actually smell myself in the car on my hour drive to my boyfriends house today and it was glorious. I cannot wait to wear this in the heat of the summer

I was told by my scent twin months ago that I needed this but I had not had an opportunity to try it until tonight. I am enamoured with it. In the bottle light patchouli and hefty cannabis accord. I was worried at first because I had to stop wearing Baba Yaga when I had it because it smelled waaay to much like weed. I cannot work in a retail environment and smell like pot, it is not a good mix. So I did not want this to end up like that. Luckily, it does not. The cannabis disappears on the drydown and I am left with a softer version of Banshee Beat ot Revenant Rhythm (take your pick). It is extremely comforting.

I received my Gourmand Chaos Theory # 131 and it's a perfect match for me. It smells like vanilla sugar and slightly scorched caramel in the bottle but when I put it on, it smells like vanilla and strawberry ice cream with warm caramel syrup poured over it. It lasts for hours too. Needless to say, I am extremely psyched haha!

PLAYING WITH DANGEROUS TOYS When George's Grandmamma was told That George had been as good as gold, She promised in the afternoon To buy him an Immense BALLOON. And so she did; but when it came, It got into the candle flame, And being of a dangerous sort Exploded with a loud report! The lights went out! The windows broke! The room was filled with reeking smoke. And in the darkness shrieks and yells Were mingled with electric bells, And falling masonry and groans, And crunching, as of broken bones, And dreadful shrieks, when, worst of all, The house itself began to fall! It tottered, shuddering to and fro, Then crashed into the street below- Which happened to be Savile Row. When help arrived, among the dead Were Cousin Mary, Little Fred, The Footmen (both of them), the Groom, The man that cleaned the Billiard-Room, The Chaplain, and the Still-Room Maid. And I am dreadfully afraid That Monsieur Champignon, the Chef, Will now be permanently deaf- And both his aides are much the same; While George, who was in part to blame, Received, you will regret to hear, A nasty lump behind the ear. The moral is that little boys Should not be given dangerous toys. The aftermath: dirt-smeared cocoa, with a Spanish moss, coconut, tobacco absolute, charred wooden beams, and blistered resins. First?!?!? this has never happened to me before! Well I was sure that I would love this and I do! In the bottle: sharp cocoa mixed with smokey wood Wet: Patchoulish mixed with dirt. This is a dirt note like the dirt in Banana Peel in a Graveyard, heavy deep soil. Dry: Moss covered chocolate that has been smushed into the dirt. The smokeyness is faint. The throw is medium. I do not detect the coconut whatsoever. But this is great because usually my skin eats up dirt notes and I cant smell them after 10 minutes or so. I deem this as a good one to put in my scent locket and will probably be able to smell more when the rest of me is slathered with Comforting Plush Companion (see other review)

I have to say, my love for vetiver has grown over the years. I originally did not like it at all when I was first getting into BPAL, it just smelled like smoky bacon to me. But trying different vetiver blends has really heightened my love of it and so as a Vetiver convert, I am in love with A Grievous Swarm . I feel like Annemathmatics really hit the nail on the head with her review. You really have to put this on to experience how it softens. The pepper melts away and all the black elements meld with the tobacco in a luxurious, enticing and almost scandalous way. I feel like this will be incredible in a year and I look forward to using it when it hits that point. For now I will use it sparingly and try to continue to convince people that vetiver isn't always scary

Dry, dry, dry! This may be the driest blend I have ever tried. I actually do like this in the wet stage but when dry it smells EXACTLY like warm animal fur. Like a wolf has been laying in a bed of cedar chips. Not for me but I think this would smell amazeballs on a boy..

Ok, so this is my eighth bottle of hair gloss and it is now my second favorite (Snake Oil is the #1). The honey and the red musk! it's like the Infernal Lover perfume with saffron. It's so heady and rich. There are many things that I have that I get told I smell like a headshop, which people seem to really love and this has that quality also. In fact I would even say that this smells a little bit like Nag Champa which I normally can't stand but Aspen Leaves and Fears is liquid sex. That's the best review I can give haha!

A bottle of this was gifted to me by Heartflood and I adore it. In the bottle it smells like fresh squeezed tangerine juice with patchouli oil but on my skin its an entirely different experience. The patchouli becomes the primary note (I agree with the woodsy deep patchouli that everyone wlse has described). I get the amber a little on the dry down and its a resinous, warm amber not a sweet powdery one at all. The tangerine rounds it out. I can't find any white musk. This is a very different bpal for me and I am enjoying it immensely.