yeahbutnobut

Euphrosyne In the imp: it's the jasmine-gardenia combination from Honey Moon! Now, I love those two notes in HM-and I'm hoping this gardenia is the same as HM's since it doesn't go evil on me. Wet on skin: it's like Honey Moon with vanilla replacing the honey! Dry on skin: this is gorgeous! As I said, it's Honey Moon's floral notes with vanilla, and I love that. the gardenia in here, I must say, is gorgeous-it smells like a true gardenia flower and doesn't turn to a sour mess on my skin. I think it's the same gardenia as HM's. The combination of vanilla and jasmine is to die for. I can't really make out the rose yet but that doesn't matter since I'm loving the jasmine-vanilla-gardenia scent I'm getting. After a while: this gets better! The vanilla is becoming stronger and it's such a delicious vanilla-soft, creamy, almost powdery, and it goes so nicely with the heady florals. Beautiful. Verdict: I've been searching for a GC scent which smelt similar to Honey Moon, and despite some stunning scents among the honey BPALs, I didn't find anything like HM. But then I tried this, which despite having no honey, has the exact same floral combination (jasmine and gardenia), and I love it. It smells like the flowers in Honey Moon with vanilla, which is a fantastic combination to me. It's heady, sweet and sultry, has tons of throw and is very feminine, the jasmine is rich and full bodied (I think this is one of the nicer jasmine notes), and the gardenia in this works on my skin! This is a fabulous scent-it's certainly not for the jasmine haters as this flower has a lot of presence here but I adore this-it's my favourite of the Graces and one to get a bottle of once my Honey Moon runs out… Emoticon rating:

The Pool of Tears In the imp: aquatic lavender. The deeper scent of lavender with a lighter, brisker aquatic note. Wet on skin: salty ozone-aquatic, fresh and almost peppery in tone, with lavender. Dry on skin: not bad, but very, very ozone-y. This is a fresh, breezy aquatic note, though it's very airy, and not as salt-watery as I expected. I was hoping for something like Penthus, but this aquatic is more like the ozone in Tempest, a fresh, sea sprayed rainy/stormy scent with a hint of clean washing, and oddly, something reminiscent of pepper. Behind it all is a hint of white floral, probably sweet pea, or a white lily note. Thankfully it's not turning to the nasty 'photocopier ozone' note I got in Tempest, thanks to the florals. After a while: now I see what others mean when they say scents turn to 'dryer sheet' on them. I'm getting that exact effect here-a crisp ozone note which has a real 'freshly tumble-dried' feel to it, with whiter than white clothes thrown in for good measure-and even a hint of the static electricity that sometimes occurs when drying (yup, it's storm ozone alright). It's not a bad scent-it does bring to mind fresh, warm, dry laundry, all warm and fluffy and clean, but I wanted salt water and flowers, not Eau-de-Laundrette. After a few hours, I do get hints of the fresh ozone that I liked in Urania, but event that doesn't get rid of the dryer sheets scent… Verdict: I was really hoping this scent would be a cross between, say, Alice and Penthus-maybe with Alice's rose and carnation with the same wonderful salty water note from Penthus, or maybe the lovely marine note from Sea of Glass. But instead, it's all ozone on me. And dryer sheet ozone at that-this is the first scent when I really do smell tumble-dried clothes, as opposed to clean linen drying in the breeze. This scent is less like floral tears, and more like electrified thunderstorm air with a good portion of clean laundry. It's not a bad scent but it's not what I was expecting…it also reminds me of Tempest, which I wasn't keen on, so this will probably go up for swap. Emoticon rating:

If you like Tushnamatay, you might like Ahathoor-it's got a similar incense feel, but it's spicier and warmer. You could also give Cairo a try-it's fruity incense, warm, spicy, exotic, resinous... I agree with Sin-there's something very exotic about it, it's spicy and warm and sensual. (I've said 'spicy and warm' a bit too much in this post...)

Athens In the imp: honeyed wine! yup, it's a sharp scent, very boozy, and it really does smell like wine with Greek honey. Wet on skin: this is a very dry red wine here, tempered by honey's sweetness. Dry on skin: dry red wine, tart and boozy (though not sour like vinegar), with a crystalline honey note (it smells like genuine Greek honey) and a hint of something smouldering away at the back, like incense. Maybe that's the myrrh? It's not the deep, resinous, sticky myrrh that I love, this is an almost burnt, bittersweet, dry and smouldering myrrh scent. But it's not a bad scent for now-it certainly has an 'ancient' feel to it and the wine note is very true. After a while: the wine does tone down a bit now, becoming a sweeter, fruitier scent, it's a lot smoother now. It reminds me very slightly of a sharper, less spicy Tum, there's a very similar honey note here, it's sweet and soft. This scent does have impressive throw, though. It seems to stay very stable on my skin, it doesn't morph much but I'm glad that the burnt note does seem to fade away. It's a lot more balanced as a scent now as well. After a few hours, it becomes a little bit more honey dominated. Verdict: I'm glad this other Greek Wanderlust scent didn't go the way Delphi did on me-this is a lot better. The wine is very dry, sharp and tart but quite genuine in scent, and the honey note is very pleasant, a sweeter honey than usual. And it smells like my favourite Greek honey as well. I'm not so sure about the myrrh-usually I love it, but here it smells a little bit burnt, not as resinous as I like. It does improve very nicely upon drydown, when the sharpness becomes more muted and it's a very nicely balanced honey and wine scent. It's a very nice scent but I don't love it as much as I hoped I would-I do prefer Tum to this, which smells sweeter and less burnt. I think I might keep the imp though because I really like the drydown. Emoticon rating:

Hymn to Proserpine In the imp: mmm, softly fruity and slightly musky amber. Wet on skin: dark fruit preserve-probably plums, with a wine like edge, with honeyed amber. Dry on skin: now I can smell the pomegranate! This is gorgeous, I must say. A deeply fruity scent of pomegranate and plum, maybe with some berries/currants, a little bit of cherry, maybe even some wine, it gives the impression of a dark fruit preserve, with a sugary edge. There's something about this scent that smells like syrupy honey-which is a good thing, it's like honeyed dark fruit. Maybe it's the amber? If so, it's such a beautiful amber note-glowing and translucent, golden, sweet and resinous with a honey like aspect to it. It's almost jam like at times, but this is the jam of the gods! After a while: after about 5-10 minutes, the scent loses its slightly jammy scent and becomes even more beautiful than I expected. I started to catch wafts of a wonderful soft musk scent when I wasn't sniffing my wrist, and I sniffed my wrist and whoa. Beautiful golden amber with a light musk-I'm thinking of the white or Egyptian variety-with just a hint of fruit! This is a stunning scent-and I totally agree with the Morocco/Black Opal comparisons, because this does have a similarity, only this one is sweeter, and more golden and warm, thanks to the amber, and has a darkly fruity background. There's still a hint of honey to it. Then it becomes a bit more musky (or the musk note becomes fresher and a little bit tangy) and there's a real feel of perfume to it-but that's a good thing. This is a very sophisticated, womanly scent. There's also something about the drydown that reminds me of Eat Me-maybe there's a currant note among those dark fruits. Verdict: another stunning and beautiful scent that I need a bottle of. At first it smelt like a particularly luxurious toast topping, like expensive fruit jam with plums and berries and cherries with a hint of pomegranate, with honey on top. Which was all well and good but then the scent transforms into something even more wonderful. Gorgeous golden amber with a delightful, fresh and sun-kissed skin musk, similar to Black Opal, but with warm sweet amber instead of a cool mineral scent, and with hints of dark fruit remaining in the background. This is such a delightful scent-it's very well crafted, very grown up, almost like a good quality expensive perfume, but so much better. I need a bottle asap. I think this is going to become another BPAL classic! Emoticon rating:

Pluto In the bottle: unusual yet familiar. I smell clean evergreens with an ethereal ozone note, almost soapy or like men’s perfume…a little bit of something dark and earthy at the base, maybe some pepper too? Wet on skin: yup, this is gritty! I’m sure there’s a light pepper note-it has that ‘crackling’ quality and warmth I get from pepper. Dry: whoa, this is an intense, gritty and rather uncomfortable scent on me. I’m getting a sharp floral acridity reminiscent of Evil Gardenia, though it may not be in here-I’m getting lots more pepper now. I also get a dry, dark, dusty note. It’s earthy, almost, but not like soil or damp forest floor or patchouli earthiness…this is darker, more mysterious, deeper…it makes me think of dark rocks dug up from the earth, coal and metal ores and black minerals, with a definite metallic bite. Yes, this is the smell of the underground, the underworld, even. After a while: hmm, this smells very different to Hades but has a similar vibe to it, I think. Well, this is Pluto, after all, but it does seem to evoke the underground, darkness, intensity, minerals and metals…with a more pronounced veil of ghostly floral now, reminiscent of the narcissus in Hades. Maybe this is narcissus? It also smells much like gardenia. Still the scent of black pepper winds it’s way through the scent, adding a shadowy warmth. I also get a little bit of smoke to the scent. After a while, the scent that remains is a ghostly yet edgy floral scent. I’m pretty sure this is narcissus, with the remains of the other notes still hanging around. Verdict: this is such an unusual scent, but very evocative of Pluto, I think. Dark and intense, this scent is not something I’d wear but it does seem to represent it’s planet very well-this is a scent reminiscent of underground, with mineral and metallic notes to it that are so unlike anything I’ve smelt before…it really is a scent of the underworld. I also get a light floral, possibly gardenia or narcissus (or both) on top of these gritty black notes, and a definite scent of black pepper. This is not something I’d wear as perfume-it does go a bit acrid at times and smells so strange and not really a scent I’d wear, but as an oil with purpose, I think this will be fantastic. Emoticon rating:

Neptune In the bottle: orange blossom/neroli! Yup, nothing but that for now. It reminds me of Naiad without the lavender. Wet on skin: still orange blossom, but it’s a little bit tangier now. Dry: this is pretty…this smells very much like Naiad, only a little more complex. I get something almost like lavender now (it may be something else, but it brings the colour of lavender-purple to my mind), and a soft pale fresh floral behind the neroli, I’m guessing a waterlily note…I also get a little bit of something aquatic-a soft sea breeze note, I think. Very appropriate for Neptune. After a while: this has just become much more exotic and beautiful! Gone is the neroli and the ‘lavender’ note. I now get deep sweetness to the scent…almost like sugar or vanilla, but I don’t know if that’s what I’m smelling. Maybe it’s an amber variant (it’s not the usual BPAL amber, that’s for sure), or even benzoin? It’s also quite musk-like. But it really does remind me of Bourbon vanilla extract. I also get a deep, rich floral scent-I think that may be the source of the sweetness. I think I’m smelling a blend of orchids and lotus here, along with some frangipani! The scent of tropical island blooms. Yup, I think it’s vanilla with orchid (or maybe vanilla orchid) and frangipani/plumeria and a little bit of lotus/waterlily, a little benzoin resin at the base with musk. This is a stunning scent, and very grown up as well, it actually reminds me of perfume one of my old science teachers used to wear! The drydown after a few hours is…a wonderful, ethereal white musk! No…it’s not just white musk. I think it’s Egyptian musk! It has that airy, fresh, ‘amplified skin scent’ to it. And I love EM. I think there’s a hint of sweetness clinging to the musk. Verdict: yet another beautiful and well made planetary scent. This and Venus are my new favourites out of the scented solar system. This scent does seem to encompass Neptune’s attributes in scent-it’s a dreamy, ethereal, mysterious scent, the scent of mermaids and faerie glamour. It has neroli and a little hint of aquatic at first before transforming into a bewitching sweet floral scent with a sweet, rich note underneath which I can’t place but it reminds me of vanilla and sweet sticky resins bound with sophisticated musk, with heady tropical blooms above it. It's a scent almost like posh perfume but much more interesting, and a wonderful Egyptian musk drydown lingering on the skin, shimmering like an intangible mirage. It seems to evoke illusory glamour, an otherworldly scent which seems so beautiful that it can’t be real, can it? It seems to arise from the world of fantasy, of dreams…and it’s no coincidence that Beth, a Pisces, can make Neptune’s scent so incredibly evocative of her ruling planet! This is a stunning scent for perfume, and I bet if used ritually or purposefully it will work wonders. (Although I don't get why I love it so-my natal Neptune is not well aspected, and I have very little water in my chart…) Emoticon rating:

Delirium In the imp: dry apple with a little bit of lemon. I also smell another floral note, either camomile or lilac-but it’s not rose. Wet on skin: crisp green apple, sugared lemon, and dry rose petals. Dry: mmm, not bad! This is a pleasant scent, soft and pretty. There’s a very slight soapy/air freshener like feel to the scent at times but it’s not off putting in here. The apple note seems, at times, like apple blossom, and at other times it’s also like green apple peel. I really like the sugary lemon note in here-it’s not a tart citrus, but like sweetened lemon juice. Underneath I get dry rose petals. Oddly, I seem to be getting lilac in here as well. It’s strange, but I like it. After a while: lilac! I really am getting soft powdery sugared lilac with a hint of apple blossom and dry rose in this scent. It’s very pretty! It reminds me of Eve, only a little bit less dry than that scent, there’s a nice sweetness to the scent, like vanilla powder. The drydown after a few hours is a muted green apple. Verdict: this is a pretty little scent, and quite a mad fragrance as well. I expected it to smell of it’s notes, but whilst I do get those, I also get other notes cropping up when I least expect it-like lilac, ylang-ylang, camomile, apple blossom, powdery vanilla sugar…is this scent making my nose delirious? Interesting. It’s a fun fragrance and it’s light and bubbly and doesn’t take itself seriously, but there are times when this scent does smell a little too much like bathroom air freshener for me to really love it. Emoticon rating:

Malice In the imp: smells like Lust, without the musk. Must be the myrrh, ylang-ylang and patchouli. Not much clove yet. Wet on skin: mmm, love the myrrh and patchouli mix here, and the ylang isn’t too heady yet. Dry: mmm, I like this! Now the ylang-ylang is a lot stronger but it’s nicely tempered by myrrh, which darkens and ‘thickens’ this floral note. Yup, that’s some good myrrh action I’m getting here. I can’t really smell the clove directly but I think I can smell its influence on the blend-it’s quite discreet here. This to me is like musk-less Lust. I really like it…there’s something here almost like rose as well, but that might be the ylang playing tricks on my nose. It also reminds me of Phantom and one of the TAL oils as well. After a while: eventually the scent becomes a tad drier and earthier, probably due to the patchouli, possibly a hint of dry clove in there as well. The ylang and myrrh are still going strong. Verdict: this is a lovely, uncomplicated, and deep scent. It’s like Lust and Phantom without the musk note, with the earthy depth of patchouli and myrrh grounding the heady ylang-ylang note nicely. I quite like the combination of ylang and myrrh in BPAL. It would have been nice if the clove note was a bit stronger but I really like this scent-I don’t like it as much as, say, Lust, but I do like this enough to keep the imp. Emoticon rating:

Road Opener The scent: this is a very, very pleasant scent to me. At first it's very much a peppermint scent, very cool and fresh, only a little bit greener, more like peppermint leaves than peppermint sweets. Then I also got something that I think is geranium, and the scent ended up smelling a bit like Lush Aura Suavis, which I love. The intent: I am looking for a summer job. For students like me who are only off from June/July-September, it's near impossible to find a summer job and I have no idea where to look. So I thought this oil would be perfect to open some opportunities for jobs-be they existing ones (there are a few places that may consider me) or completely new ones. I dressed a green candle, visualising me finding job adverts in the local newspapers, or being accepted at jobs I have applied for, saying to myself 'bring opportunities, bring choices, bring opportunities for jobs and give me choices for things to do to keep me busy for the holidays'. I was amazed at the warm tingling I felt in my hands as I did this-a kind of intentional energy, it felt very powerful, very positive, empowering. This oil is powerful and has a lot of 'oomph' to it, I could really feel it. I then took a copy of my CV, dabbed some Road Opener on it, and placed it under the candle as it burnt, and placed my hands with the oil on it, so that my energy and that of the oil would flow into it. Hopefully something good will come out of this. I really like all the other suggestions for RO on this thread and might give them a try when I use this oil again. I think I will get a bottle.

Oh wow...Et Lux Fuit has the Ancient of Days as a label! (which seems fitting) And I love the little Phamished Phantom...please sir, I want some more!!

YES PLEASE! Especially the HGM and ELF ones!

Baron Samedi In the imp: almond…but quite a dark, almost burnt-woody or roasted almond scent. Wet on skin: yup, this is a very dark and nutty almond scent-and I think I can smell vetiver underneath? Dry on skin: now the almond fades and the scent is now of tangy, herbal, boozy and oddly effervescent bay rum, with the dark heavy scent of vetiver underneath. Whoa, that's some deep vetiver here. This is the heavy as lead vetiver that takes an eternity to come off the skin, I think. Intense and smoky and gritty, slightly sweet as well, but with the lighter, tangy scent of bay rum above it. This reminds me of one of my uncle's perfumes, or the vetiver oil my mum burns to fragrance the house. After a while: now it gains that lemony scent that I get in some vetivers, and there is a slightly sugared sweetness to the scent, almost like treacle (it's a dark sugary scent) but the scent is pretty much all vetiver now, perhaps with a little tobacco adding smokiness to it. Which isn't bad, I quite like vetiver but this is very powerful and I know that it will stay on my skin for three days despite much rubbing and scrubbing… Verdict: this one surprised me since I was expecting a light, refreshing spiced booze scent, similar to some of the bay rum scents I've smelt before, I was expecting something like the lovely Santo Domingo. This was not to be-after an almond introduction, this turned to Evil Vetiver on me! No cloves, no Christmas spice, just smoky vetiver with a touch of tobacco. Now, I don't find vetiver too repulsive or nasty as a scent but there's one type of vetiver oil which is exceptionally thick, dark, smoky and heavy and has incredible tenacity on the skin, and also has the habit of taking over a blend. that's the vetiver in here, alright. And it does blot out all the bay rum notes that I got at the beginning. It's not a bad scent-the vetiver has a nice incense like sweetness to it, but it's just a little bit too darkly masculine for me. Not to mention that it will take days of scrubbing to remove…I may swap this. Emoticon rating:

Dublin In the imp: yes, I can see why some people compare this to Skadi, because it smells very similar, with it's frosty pine scent. Wet on skin: yup, still that Skadi-esque winter forest scent, with a hint of citrus and lots of evergreen. Dry on skin: this is very nice! Although, as I said, it has a real similarity to some winter LE scents like Snow Moon and Skadi, this one is a bit warmer…definitely a citrus aquatic note to it but not as cold, this one is, as the description says, a misty forest scent, of damp pine and other evergreens-it is very green. I think I can just about detect some floral at the back but it's not too showy just yet. After a while: the soft green winter pine scent still hangs around, but now the rose is more prominent. Which is a good thing-I love Beth's white rose note, it's beautiful and rich and full, and I love the way it adds a different dimension to this otherwise evergreen scent. it's a sweeter rose than usual, and has a very pretty powdery feel to it. Verdict: I am so glad that I have found a GC scent with that same winter/snowy pine/fir note that I loved in Skadi, Snow Bunny and Snow Moon, although this one is more like Snow Moon thanks to the rose. This definitely has a citrus-evergreen-aquatic feel to it, a real 'winter forest' though it's not as icy as the winter LE's but there is a definite resemblance to them. I love what the rose does to it upon drydown-it's wonderful white rose, the richest and most gorgeous rose of all, and it is very evident after a few hours, like a rose nestled under pine and fir needles, and it's quite sweet and softly powdery in here. I don't think I need a bottle yet because of it's similarity to Snow Moon which I have a bottle of, but I really like it enough to keep the imp. Emoticon rating:

Beltane In the imp: green grass, wonderful grass with a hint of something sweet and herbal, slightly fruity, maybe some camomile too. Wet on skin: beautiful grassy scent, with a hint of herbs… Dry on skin: what a delightful scent! This is green and grassy and smells like a multitude of green plants and wildflowers, meadows in springtime, with herbs and soft floral notes and a hint of evergreen. This is predominantly grass, but I also get something sweet, though I can't tell what it is yet-possibly a floral note, maybe honeysuckle. I can smell camomile here, possibly some lavender, maybe a little hint of rosemary, possibly even some honey. This is a warm and lively scent full of the vitality of spring. After a while: the grasses are still there but now they are less sharp and are a lot smoother now and I get a gorgeous camomile-like scent behind it all, with honey. There may be musk in here, making this scent smooth and quite sexy with a hint of flushed skin that's been rolling in the grassy meadow…in fact, there's something almost Buck Moon-ish to this, only this is more of a daytime scent and the musk (if any) is softer and sweeter. It's much more floral and softly herbal, but still with that lively freshness to it. After a few hours, the scent has dried down to a beautiful soft sweet musk with a bare hint of grass and herbs. I love this stage of the scent and it also reminds me of Hymn to Pan…it also has a hint of something marshmallow like about it, which I love. Verdict: I wasn't too keen on last year's Beltane-though I liked the wet stage, the late drydown stage smelt too much like Raid bug spray for me. This, on the other hand, is so much better and has a drydown to die for! A vivacious and lively scent so evocative of the sudden bursting forth of life that occurs at springtime, an explosion of green grasses (what a fantastic grass note!) and many wildflowers. This is a celebratory scent, so perfect for a Beltane scent. And then the scent slows down a bit, becomes less energetic and much more laid back, smoother, and gentler. The grasses tone down, letting herbs and flowers come out and then at the very end…a delicious, smooth, sweet light musk. this, to me, is the daytime equivalent of Buck Moon, and I think Beth did very well to capture the very peak of the spring season as a scent. I love it and am so glad to have a bottle of it. Emoticon rating:

Litha In the imp: a warm, sunny, sweet yellow floral scent-I think I smell a good true honeysuckle note, as well as sweet honey. Wet on skin: a little hint of green pops up but still this scent keeps it's sunny yellow sweetness… Dry on skin: this is gorgeous! This is a beautifully well blended mix that smells like gentle sunshine. I smell a little bit of something wine-like and sweet, which is the honey mead. I love the honey note in here-it's very sweet and gentle, not a tart, sharp honey at all. I also smell something almost lemony, which may be a herb of some sort…I smell thyme, and also a beautiful true honeysuckle note-this is probably the nicest honeysuckle scent I've encountered. I also get a little spice, which must be from the carnation, and just a little bit of resin. But all in all, the notes are so well blended and work so nicely together in here. After a while: this really smoothes even more to become a lovely, more mellow scent now, a soft blend of slightly boozy (but not strongly so) sweet honey mead with honeysuckle and spicy florals (carnation and probably yahutli) resting on a balmy undertone of herbs. The resinous notes aren't blatant but I can just about make them out and they seem to bind the whole fragrance together…but if I sniff really hard I think I can just make out the frankincense. This is amazingly sunny as a scent-it's warm and has a very yellow feel to it. Eventually it smoothes out even more into a balmy, creamy, sweet yellow floral with a hint of pollen and fuzzy herbs with a hint of mead and spice. Beautiful. The mead comes out just a little more after that, and one thing about this scent that I really like is that the honeysuckle note here doesn't go funny on my skin after a few hours. Verdict: this is a perfect representation of the summer solstice in scent. at times this scent is lively and bright, a real celebration of the longest day of the year, at other times it is mellow, laid back and soothing. This scent brings to mind a vivid sunshine yellow, it is such a solar scent, bright, warm, happy and joyful. The mead note in here is fantastic, with sweet honey and one of the best honeysuckle notes I've smelt in BPAL, along with a myriad of other notes like spicy florals and soft green herbs and just a little bit of resin. The result is a wonderfully rounded, balanced and beautiful scent so representative of the start of summer, with a real sense of light and warmth to it. I'm very glad I have a bottle because not only is this evocative of it's namesake festival, it's also very wearable and so different to anything else. Emoticon rating:

Dragon's Bone In the imp: sharp, piercing dragon's blood with a hint of wood. Wet on skin: an almost medicinal d-b scent but with a dry, wooden undertone…it smells less like warm sandalwood and more like something drier and paler. Dry on skin: that's a lot better. The d-b loses its hold on the scent but still lingers, now allowing the woods to come out more. I can't really smell orris yet but I do smell sandalwood now-and it really is the paler, slightly green (as in, this is a young tree sort of scent) wooden scent. I also get another wood that I'm not familiar with but it does have a wooden furniture feel to it-maybe it's the blonde wood? After a while: ah, here's the orris! I can smell it's telltale powder scent at the back, a white, slightly floral, powdery scent which really does make the scent smell dusty and very pale indeed, but I still get lots of wood here. Very much a furniture-y/DIY wood scent with even a hint of sharp, almost chemical smelling varnish (probably the dragon's blood) but I also get a hint of candle wax/smoke-where on earth does that come from? Eventually this settles into a pleasant woody scent, which to my nose is reminiscent of cedar planks, with a bit of orris. I'm impressed at how dry this scent is-it's barren, dust-covered, left alone and forgotten. Verdict: this was a very unusual and extremely woody scent, dry and dusty, with a hint of sweet powdery orris. the dragon's blood in here is fairly strong (unlike Claw) and it keeps popping up now and then amongst the woods. the woody scent in here is a lot paler and a lot less dark and rich than Claw, which is understandable for the name, and the orris is very pretty. I'm not sure if I like this one enough to keep it-I prefer Claw as my woody d-b scent, and the wood in here smells a bit too much like freshly varnished furniture and dusty cupboards to me at times, though it is a unique and very aptly named scent-it's dusty whiteness is indeed evocative of dry, old bones. Emoticon rating:

Dragon's Claw In the imp: wood! This smells a lot more woody than Dragon's Bone-from the paler colour of the oil, I think there's a lot more sandalwood here than dragon's blood. Wet on skin: polished sandalwood. This is very wooden indeed…but very nice. Dry on skin: sandalwood with just the barest hint of dragon's blood. This blend is all about the sandalwood in all it's complexity. I get the dark sandalwood (I think it's red sandalwood) from Anne Bonny here, it is deep and just a tad spicy, with a hint of the greener, less rich white sandalwood. There's a hint of resin (d-b, no doubt) here which, like the frankincense in Anne Bonny, gives a feel of polished wood. It does smell a bit like a lumberjack's workshop though-so damn woody! After a while: mmm, it doesn't take long before this scent becomes really pleasant and less lumberjack-y. This scent is now a rich, warm, almost single note sandalwood. It's deep, it's smooth, and it's more than just wood here-it's got a nice complexity. There's something about it that smells almost resinous-and I don't mean dragon's blood…it smells more like frankincense. Whatever it is, it's lovely. After two hours, the wood sweetens a bit, and there's a lovely warm powdery aspect to it now. it's quite a comforting scent, it smells velvety soft. Verdict: this is much better than Bone, in my opinion. The sandalwood in here is wonderful, rich and deep and fantastic. This is the same wonderful sandalwood I got in Anne Bonny and Baghdad and possibly Velvet, only this time it's pretty much all wood with very little dragon's blood. This is a delightful and very wearable wood scent, very much a single note sandalwood scent which has a lot of layering potential. Not a bottle scent but a definite keeper for the imp. Emoticon rating:

Lotus Moon In the bottle: soft, sweet, light, slightly creamy lotus, with just a bare hint of opium smoke. Wet on skin: still a soft, faint lotus, but I think it's getting stronger… Dry on skin: now I can smell the pine! This is a gorgeous pine-it's not a Christmas tree/disinfectant smell, this is like crushing pine needles in your hands under the shade of the tree they came from. it's a very green pine, to me. The lotus still lingers sweetly, with that rich opium surrounding it nicely like a darker veil (this is a scent where the opium is gorgeous) and I can just about make out the rose, rich and red, under it all. This scent is very pretty and light right now. After a while: now the lotus is slightly drier, soft and almost creamy in feel, with the rose at the back and still a hint of opium. This is not bubblegum-sweet lotus in the slightest. The scent is now dusty, wispy, almost dreamlike, but with a hint of something deeper thanks to the pine (which now does smell like resin) and a soft rosy base with some amber. In fact, yes, now I do think that the amber and lotus are interacting in the same way as they did in Bastet, because I get a very slight similarity to it now. The lotus gains more sweetness after 1-3 hours. This is really nice, and there's a feel of powder to it (which is a good thing here) which forms a soft undertone for the sweet, crisp lotus scent. I can't smell as much pine now, it's predominantly floral and amber now. Then after a few hours…yup, that's Bastet alright, that lovely merging of amber and golden lotus, only without the deep spices and musk, but this retains a delicious warmth and I love this phase of the scent. I smell a bit of rose (it also has merged with the lotus) but not as much pine and opium. Verdict: this is a very pretty, light, dreamy scent. It is, at times, almost like single note lotus, enhanced and lifted by other notes, and at other times, I can smell the other note components clearly. This is a sophisticated, clean, dry lotus note, not a trace of bubblegum here-I think the rose grounds it. It's not the slightly moist, sweet lotus I'm used to but this is very nice-I love the way the blend shapeshifts and each note merges with the lotus and then moves out again-it's very ethereal and dreamlike. The pine was strong at the beginning and then at the end the amber comes out to play. A gorgeous scent-I really like this and though it's not the true love I was hoping for, I have a feeling it might really grow on me. Emoticon rating:

And There Was a Great Cry in Egypt In the bottle: dark, deep, resinous, spicy, incense-y. It is very reminiscent of some other Egyptian themed BPALs, and it reminds me somewhat of a darker, less dusty Ozymandias. Wet on skin: I can smell the heated, dry saffron and the golden, piercing frankincense most now… Dry on skin: oh wow. Now the red musk has surfaced, and this smell is just gorgeous. Stunning. I agree very much that this is similar to Scherezade (which is a very good thing!) only this one is more complex. I get a lovely dryness thanks to the woods, and the frankincense really shines in here, giving a fabulous incense feel to the scent, with the spices adding warmth, and the musk and probably the myrrh giving the scent a rich depth. Surprisingly, I cannot smell much honey in here…it's a very subtle honey note, I think. After a while: ah, I think I can smell the honey now! It's just about there, I can detect it very slightly. I also get the telltale golden sweetness of amber. The scent is still a beautiful mix of musk and spice and resins and woods, all wonderfully balanced now into scent that is warm, dry, and incensy. It's a scent with luxurious, red-gold tones. It also reminds me of a richer, deeper, less airy Ozymandias-where that was the Egyptian desert in full daylight; this is a magnificent sunset over the desert. Then, it darkens, becomes a bit drier and woodier, with the saffron as the most dominant note, with hints of woods (sandalwood adding a soft, gently powdered feel, cypress adding a hint of green), myrrh and musk. It is very much like Scherezade at this point, with a little bit of Bastet and Ozy. And then, after a few hours, I get that wonderful drydown I get with musk-sandalwood scents…all smoky and warm and a tad powdery/dusty, only this time with saffron. I love the way this scent shifts constantly. Verdict: this is well worth all the coveting. So exotic, mysterious, very evocative of Egypt and the middle east, this is the kind of combination of wonderful scent you could find wafting from ancient temples and desert bazaars, a beautiful, haunting mixture of spices, resins, woods and musk. All the notes work very harmoniously with each other and the result is a warm, sun-touched scent which is dry and also luxurious, very rich and deep and complex without being all over the place, with a drydown of soft incense smoke-this is a very unisex scent. This scent does bear very slight similarities to scents like Ozymandias and Scherezade but still has something unique to it thanks to it's heavy resins and woods. this scent has not let me down-it surpassed my expectations. Emoticon rating:

I adore the Wanderlust series! The scents are beautifully evocative of their names (and in some cases, smell nicer than the cities they are named for-I'm glad London doesn't smell like it actually does but certainly evokes the feel and atmosphere of their namesakes!) Here are some highlights of mine from my Wanderlust Airways World Tour, your pilot is Beth, let us take your nose on a nice flight... Baghdad: wonderfully exotic sandalwood-rose-amber incense, it's gorgeous, dry, mysterious and I love it. Bengal: honeyed chai. Cinnamon buns dripping with honey. Deliciously spicy. Cairo: fruity tangy incense, with a sunny, dry, energetic feel, sums up the city of Cairo and Egypt as a whole-the heat and the chaotic hurly burly, the exotic feel it has, and a slight dusty drydown. Hollywood Babylon: gorgeous, decadent, sexy and glamourous red musk and fruit scent. Sweet and sugary but with a cheeky and raunchy side to it. This is exotic yet brazen and flashy, it's fantastic. London: a stunning yet simple scent of tea rose-this traditional floral is ever so English, but anything but grannyish, in here. Manila: so humid it's uncanny (how can Beth capture climate in a scent? Amazing!), with that muggy jungle scent with lots of banana and forest scent. Morocco: beautiful, exotic, comforting and warm-soft carnation paired with creamy sweet musk on a soft bed of spiced sandalwood…this is probably my favourite Wanderlust. Silk Road: a wonderful, complex and innovative spice scent-cardamom and cinnamon, with greener notes of tea and possibly bamboo, I get ginger and sandalwood too... I can't wait for Beth to add new scents to this line!

Yeah, it's ages since I've written in here... I need to find a way to keep myself occupied on Saturday evenings now that Doctor Who has ended. OMG what an ending as well...I was almost crying. HERE BE SPOILERS! (for anyone in the US that is) Spoiler DALEKS V. CYBERMEN!!! The ultimate deathmatch! But I think that extermination is much worse than mere deletion...I thought the Daleks were destroyed by the time vortex-possessed Rose at the end of the last series but it seems you can't exterminate all the Daleks! And Rose's final fate-that was really emotional. I won't say it all but the bit where the Doctor seemed all lonely and where his speech got cut off was very sad-we never got to hear him say he loved Rose, that almost got the tears going...until Catherine Tate (awesome British comedienne-of 'am I bovvered' fame) appeared and I almost cracked up. Roll on Christmas!! Ok, other news. Crete was amazing, and I would love to post some pictures here-I may do so soon. I also hope France win the Cup tomorrow. I can say that because I'm half French and I think the French team rock. I've also got myself a bit of voluntary work if I don't get the job I'm hoping for this summer-well, sort of. I get to work at the nearby cat shelter! I don't care if it's non-paid work, I love cats and being around those gorgeous furry things makes me very happy indeed. I get to work with some of the most beautiful kittens-some of them were climbing up my trousers and sucking my fingers! So adorable. And then there's the 'hugging cat' who jumps on the chair and puts its front legs around my waist, like a hug. These cats are either donated to the shelter or are found on the street and are nurtured by the staff and volunteers until they find new homes-and if I ever want to get another kitty, I can go and get one here! I really can't wait to get my Lotus Moon order as well. So much new BPAL on the way. I should technically be a very happy bunny right now but PMS is preventing that stupid pre-menstrual headache!

Baku In the imp: lavender and…anise? There’s something a bit spicy underneath the lavender. Wet on skin: yup, it’s either liquorice or anise here, with the lavender… Dry: interesting. This smells like Kyoto with lavender-I get that same cherry-anise scent from Kyoto, but here there’s lavender added to it. There’s an almost medicinal and cherry candy like feel to the scent, it’s rather odd when combined with lavender! At times, the anise (I think) smells piercing, clear and sharp, almost like a eucalyptus scent. This is definitely not one I’d wear as perfume but hopefully it will be a good sleep aid… After a while: after a while, the lavender fades completely, and I’m left with a soapy anise scent. It’s almost like Kyoto but more soapy and medicinal. I think I get a bit of cherry blossom in here. It’s not a scent I’m keen on, but I do feel sleepy right now…let’s see if Baku will keep those nightmares away and send me to sleep. The morning after: this didn’t really work. I didn’t sleep very well that night-but it did keep my nightmares away-I didn’t have any! But I didn’t have any particularly interesting dreams either. Verdict: scent-wise, this isn’t my favourite. It starts off quite interestingly, lavender and anise, but then it smells oddly like medicine and then it turns quite soapy, with a hint of liquorice in the background. An unusual scent and one is ok, but not my thing…it’s a bit too soapy and reminiscent of sore throat or cough medicine for me. it didn’t make any difference to my sleep either-I was still as insomniac as ever when I wore this to bed. But I didn’t get nightmares, so that worked…

Onieroi In the imp: lots of lavender, and a hint of jasmine. Wet on skin: the jasmine strengthens a bit now… Dry on skin: this is a very pretty and very nocturnal scent-warm, fuzzy, heavy lavender with sultry jasmine, and a touch of something slightly herbal (the mugwort? I don't know what it smells like though). It reminds me of Twilight, but a little bit more soporific in feel, and hopefully in effect as well. After a while: when the lavender fades, I'm left with a scent similar to the jasmine-sandalwood combination I loved in Peitho. This is a gorgeous deep jasmine anchored nicely by the wood-though this is much more herbal, and greener in feel, less like perfume, and more like an aromatherapy/working blend. And I feel the zzzz's coming on… The morning after…yup, I had some very fucked up dreams. Including one about a freaky cinema that were covered with Egyptian hieroglyphics and where you had to wear a gas mask to experience the film (which was also a huge console game) in 'touch dimensions' which means it's 3d that you can feel. This was one of those dreams that I seem to be trapped in, even when I was aware that I was dreaming, I just wanted to see what happened next so I tried to stay asleep. Another part of the dream involved BPAL and Beth, though the details of that are fuzzy. Verdict: scent wise, this is a very pleasant sleepy scent, lavender and a very nice jasmine-sandalwood background. it's a real night time scent, like the scent of a sultry summer night-almost like Peitho at times but not as nice as that. However, this is not something I'd wear as perfume…but as a sleep/dream inducing blend, whoa, it works. I had some weird dreams-and they were so strange yet so compelling that even when I was almost awake, I tried to make myself asleep to see what happened next in the dream-it worked for a while until the doorbell rung and that woke me up fully. These dreams were ones I got so lost in, even trapped in, even though I woke up in the middle of them and knew it wasn't real, the dream kept coming back. Pretty freaky stuff. I will keep this on hand whenever I feel the need to escape to somewhere truly far out when asleep… Emoticon rating:

Succubus In the imp: sharp, biting orange blossom and bergamot. Very sharply citrus. Wet on skin: still that dry orange blossom scent (it smells a bit nutty now?) but now I get mimosa. Dry on skin: hmm, not bad, but a very unusual scent. I don't get the cat pee scent from mimosa, it's a soft yellow floral on my skin, like it should be, and it is like that in here. There's a biting dryness to this scent, like dry orange blossoms on fresh mimosa. There's something almost hay like, or even seed/nut like, to this, don't know what that is, but it reminds me of sunflower seeds. The bergamot makes it sharper and with the orange blossom, gives the scent a real 'French cologne' feel. I don't get clove yet. After a while: now the mimosa is much more dominant…that soft, sunshine-yellow blossom scent, warm and smooth with a hint of something sharp to it, which is the citrus and orange blossom. My mum's friend has a mimosa tree which smells really gorgeous when it's warm, this smells like that, but with something dry and lemony. There's something almost soapy about the scent now-sometimes (not always), orange blossom does this. Verdict: I think I'm lucky with mimosa. This is the second mimosa scent I've tried so far and the one that's worked well on me-it doesn't go funky on my skin, it smells just like mimosa should-a yellow and sunshiny, a warm clean floral with a real 'pollen-y' feel to it and a hint of something almost like hay. The mimosa note is my favourite part of this scent-but I wish it was just a bit more dominant, as I get an odd dry note to it which at times smells burnt, and a bit of a citrus-soap drydown which I don't care much about. And I wish I got clove in here-there, but alas, none seems to show up. I'm not sure whether to keep this for the lovely mimosa note or to swap it off-I think it's a swapper for now because it hasn't truly knocked my socks off. Emoticon rating: