roesmoker

Tyche's Kiss reminds me very much of Road Opener, and they both smell minty - I think I'm getting pennyroyal from one or both. Haven't experienced any magickal effects yet but will report back if I do. I could really use some good luck right now - and faith in my ability to have luck, as Proginoskes so astutely puts it above.

Wow, Delousing Powder. I got this on eBay just out of sheer curiosity, and am surprised to find it's not bad! There is a Lemon Pledge wet phase that I don't love, but it quickly mellows out into a lovely sweet powder that's quite yummy. Reminds me of the cake-like drydown I used to get from my beloved French Creole before my chemistry did a 180. *shakes tiny fists at cruel universe* Hey, maybe that's the Sweet Clove someone mentioned earlier? FC wet is like Clove single note, so it's entirely possible that DP has some. I'll have to try it again though because I still get periodic wafts of Lemon Pledge and it may end up not working for me. But kudos to Beth for making something called Delousing Powder smell so great! This highly unoriginal review brought to you by the time of 3:37 a.m.

I get all floral with this, it's very interesting - maybe I'm amping the orris? I don't get any incense or resins, more's the pity.

I wanted to like DA so much, and I'm in search of the perfect coconut blend, but the vetiver just ruined it for me. I got about 4 hours of scary, blasting single-note vetiver (which on me expresses itself as herbal/medicinal/grass) and then 2 hours of faint metallic coconut.

I love Zazzle!! The smell is so beautifully cocoa, better than Bliss I think because Bliss is too much milk chocolate, at least for me, while Zazzle is just pure cocoa. And it was extremely moisturizing, I felt a lot of oil in the bath - but then as an eczema sufferer I crave oil in the wintertime - and it was soothing and wonderful. I wasn't too fond of the brown color of the water, but it helps to think of hot chocolate!

Drive-by reviews of the scents from CT III sniffing circle, package #2: DCLXXVI (676) - Wet: almond. On the dry-down, it got better, more like apple or some other soft fruit. MCCCXXXVIII (1338) - Wet: some kind of industrial cleaning fluid, which probably means a breed of floral (night-blooming florals turn to cleaning fluid on me). Pretty much stayed the same through the drydown. MXCIV (1094) - Wet: some kind of kitchen herb, it smells very familiar but I do not know what it's like. Dried down slightly creamy. CDVII (407) - Wet: rancid apples. This reminds me of High John but sort of a rotten overlay. Dried down considerably better, but still not me. (Previously reviewed by zenvodunista.) MXIV (1014) - Wet: almond again. Dried down into nothingness. CXCV (195) - Wet: very, very faint coconut or vanilla. I like it, but I can barely smell it! Reminds me of a cross between Obatala and Snow White. This would be awesome if it were only stronger. (Previously reviewed by mandragora.) DCCCXXVI (826) - Wet: soap, which means floral, probably rose, or sandalwood. Stayed the same as it dried.

Origin: a frimp from the Lab. I'd almost given up on ever liking a BPAL patchouli blend nearly as much as I like Karma. But Ravenous has restored my faith! Red patchouli is my friend, it's black patchouli that hates me. Wet: very sweet, like orange candy. Dry-down: still foody, now it smells almost cake-like. Like a cross between cake and incense - kind of like what I thought All Souls would smell like from the description. It's the sweet powdery yum I get from the dry-down in Van Van, French Creole and Black Forest. Verdict: I absolutely LOVE this - a big bottle for sure!! I'll test again to make sure, though, because at certain times of the month my skin makes everything super-sweet.

OK, here are my scattershot "reviews" of the many CTs I tried recently. From the CT 3 sniffing circle: CDII (402) Wet: Pear? Cologne? There's something oddly foody & familiar about it, but I can't figure out what it is. Basil? Sage? Reminds me a little of Madrid, Rome or Antony. Previously reviewed by olympia301. MV (1005) Wet: OMG it really does smell like a Sharpie. I am getting a sort of chemical almond/cherry scent. Dry-down is nice, soft and sweet. Last reviewed by Reedsong. CCCXLVIII (348) Floral? It's a little like my 894, sort of soft rubber on me, which usually means night-blooming florals. Last reviewed by edenssixthday. CCLXXIX (279) Cleaning fluid. That probably means it's got patchouli - lots of GC blends w/ patchouli turn to cleaning fluid on me. MLXXXI (1081) Something extremely familiar, but I can't figure out what it is. I know I've smelled this note before. Some kind of moss? Lichen? Or maybe it's lotus - it's getting a little bubblegummy on the dry-down. MCCCIX (1309) Wet: Smells just like Snowblind, but less buttery. I love it!! There's some coconut in this too - it's like vanilla-coconut. God, it's fabulous. DCXCVII (697) In the bottle: Gross, almond! On: It calmed down a LOT and got sort of metallic-sweet. It's drying down almost potpurri-like. Finally ended up nice, incensey. MCCLII (1252) Wet - clove? Yummy. Dry: it also smells familiar, maybe it's amber? sort of a golden resiny scent. Very faint. Previously reviewed by Xiabelle. CCXCV (295) A VERY familiar kitchen herb of some kind - thyme? It's not bad, but too foody for me. non-sniffing circle: MXCIII (1093) Ew, cleaning fluid. Again, probably patchouli. Previously reviewed by Sofia Blackthorne. MCXV (1115) Heliotrope? Something golden, sweet and almost creamy. Mmm, I love heliotrope. Previously reviewed by slave1.

God, I wish I got chocolate or hazelnut from this! Wet it's a blast of almond - in retrospect I can map this to Dragon's Blood - which nearly made me wash it off (cherry/almond makes me seriously nauseous). Then it settled down into a greeny, plant sort of scent that doesn't offend me, but I don't particularly like either. Waaah, off to swaps with you!

Chaos Theory II: CLXXII (172) I'm getting a lovely combination of suntan-oil coconut and plastic. I can see why inkstone was reminded of Snow White - these are the notes in SW that eventually came to disagree with me so much I could no longer wear her anymore. I'm sure this would be beautiful on someone who can wear it. previously reviewed by inkstone

I agree with sophia_helix, both times I've worn Determination I felt like I was being driven to finish whatever I had to do, but I didn't particularly enjoy it. That's okay though - sort of what I thought "determination" would feel like. I didn't particularly notice the scent the last time I wore it, but today I put High John on my neck & ears (because when I wear High John I feel like kicking ass and taking names), and Determination on my wrists. Wet it smelled absolutely terrible (maybe that was the vetiver? I've tried so many scents and I still don't know what vetiver actually smells like!), sort of herbally cleaning fluid, but the dry-down was gorgeous incensy resin goodness. I would have sworn up and down that this had red musk in it - on me it smells a lot like Binah or Arabian Nights (both of which smell like Red Musk SN on me), but I guess that could be the patchouli others are getting. I really like the dry phase of Determination as a scent. I think next time I wear it I will follow the example of some of the other reviewers and make a very specific list of tasks I wish to accomplish, and also give myself permission to stop after a certain amount of time - to avoid staying up all night working, which is what happened the first time I wore it!

In the bottle, this smelled a lot like French Creole to me - must be the clove. But for some reason it dries down to Yankee Candle Company holiday soap on me! Why?? I can't figure out what the note or combination of notes it is that doesn't like me. I know leather and I don't get along. I've never tried black musk but it's possible that's the culprit. Where's the cinnamon and ginger?

While I LOVE the concept of Misk U., I was saddened by the fact that it didn't really work on me. Wet and in the bottle, it smelled exactly as described - coffee, oak and dust, almost scarily exact. On me it dried down to dusty maple syrup, which didn't float my boat at all.

Wow, I get a much more foody smell from TKO than you guys are reporting - on me it's more like a vanilla-flavored sugar bun of some kind. It reminds me quite a bit of Eat Me, in fact. In terms of aromatherapy/effectiveness, I think Nocturne works better, but TKO smells so wonderful I love wearing it anyway. Haven't yet tried it in the daytime though, I'm afraid it might make me sleepy.

THANK YOU LAB - and HALLELUJAH! Fourth time appears to be the charm - MCC (1200). I am in ! I can't for the life of me figure out what this is, but DAMN do I love it. Throwing out everything I know about notes that work on me or what I usually like (i.e., preconceived notions), here is what I smell: Apple pie without the dough. Just sweet delicate apples dusted with powdered baking sugar and maybe a little vanilla - but somehow it's not cloying or overly foody or too tart. Maybe it's like some kind of incredibly fancy apple tartlet. This is the wet stage. The drydown's not that foody at all - it's almost more incensy or some kind of musk note, like red musk. How the hell these two things work together is one of the magical miracles of BPAL. Normally I don't even care for fruit! My world is turning upside down!