UltraViolet

This is not "pretty" in the but it sure is interesting and addictive. This is one of the that you keep sniffing over and over and over. It's almost minty in it's spiciness. It's close to a medicinal smell but in an herbal way. (if that makes any sense). I am an Aries and that might explain why I love this when normally I wouldn't.

I smell the honey and what seems like lots of citrus at first sniff, I smell the roses but they aren't the primary smell. I never smelled the sandallwood. Pity because it would have helped to mellow it out a bit. This is definitely a foody one. I liked it but I wouldn't buy it, I like Seraglio, Acuma better. I'd give this a B-

The Raven

It would smell very fresh and green were it not for that underlying rotting celery note that is.

Oh man! My nose is turning this into something not too good at all.

I tried to like it too. I gave it like 5 chances, it's just not for me.

Akuma

Wet

Now I have to say that Akuma could be the #1 scent I've smelled to date.

It's notes are blood orange, neroli, and rasberry.

10 minutes

It reminds me of the Lush soap “Angel's Delight”. It's sweet but not too sweet I don't think, and the rasberry mingles with the sweet juicy blood orange nicely.

This is divine.

It starts out with the neroli very strongly, it almost smells like bergamot.

As it dries, out comes this friuty lushiousness from underneath

I am using up my imp and have bought a 10ml.

Wet
How lovely. It's like a breath of Spring. It's green but not boldly so, light and airy green, like a breeze on green grass. The Peony gives this a touch of a clean light floral.
5 minutes
it's less green now but still light and slightly sweet floral, has good staying power thus far for such a light perfume.
10 minutes
This hasn't changed that much which is refreshing. I'm trying to give an un-biased review but honestly there just isn't anything bad about this blend that I can find.
20 minutes
This has faded somewhat and it was already a light fragrance to begin with so you have to sniff your wrist to smell it but this blend would serve well the wearer who wants a light, fresh, cleaan but feminine surprise waiting for her partner behind her ear, or in the nape of her neck.
I'm needing a 5ml of this.

Wet

I smell orangey citrus and mint, no mint listed but that's what I'm smelling. Very biting acidic citrus and very wonderful smelling.

5 minutes

The grapefruit is still primary but now that it's starting to dry something's allowed to come to the foreground, the chamomile and delphinium perhaps?

10 minutes

I smell the red current way in the background and the lavender is not noticeable to me whatsoever.

20 minutes

I smell red musk and grapefruit primarily now and it's at this stage that I can associate this with the Chesire Cat's smile.

Now it's a bit powdery (this is a good thing) because of the Chamomile I'm guessing.

This fades way too much for my taste. I'm loving this scent and I want more! More I say! Ah well, I'll just have to drench myself or reapply this one. Not a big deal as it is worth it.

Wet

Oh my. I smell sharp floral, with blackberry, plum and amber making it all round and warm. It is indeed a darker scent just as the card is a darker suit.

10 minutes

Sharp Floral....with a capital F. As sometimes happens with scents I like initially, they turn piercingly floral on me very quickly to something quite opposite of the notes I initially smelled. Hopefully I'll be lucky as some blends do seem to turn around once again and settle down.

20 minutes

I think I can take my saddle off now and say that the floral has calmed down with the dry down and the plum and the blackberry are being allowed to reach out and touch someone. I'm finally smelling some fleeting myrrh but none of those "Exotic wood notes" we hear tell about. This is a pity because I quite like the wood notes in Beth's blends.

If this was less floral I'd buy a bucket of it because I can tell that aside from the sharp floral note what's left is really lovely, deep, dark and inticing. Not quite a berry scent, the plum is lighter and less acidic, the plum mixes extremely well with the blackberry, and the amber gives it a mellow, rounded faintly sweet note. Much deeper and darker and thicker then the bright, yummy, fresh floral of "Bewitched".[/color]

Queen

 

Wet

Mmm. Initially nice. I could've sworn I smelled something foody or toffee like for all of 2 seconds.

I smell floral and quite a bit of it, but it's pretty. It's not quite overpoweringly floral. I also smell something warm and golden like amber and thank goodness as it breaks up the floral nicely.

10 minutes

It is mellowing quite nicely and surprisingly. The floral is still there medium strong but nothing eyeball popping. The sweeet golden something is still there making it round instead of so sharp from the floral and the other scent which seems to be greenish and acidic is there too, it's similar to... Celery?

20 minutes

There is one sharp ingredient that needs to go away. If it did this might be a different but nice foody floral. This is all over the place. At times it's nice and at other times it's not so nice at all.

 

ADDED May 2:

 

~Queen~

 

In the bottle

honey , amber, Ylang Ylang (maybe), some note that is also in Van Van.

 

On

On my skin, "Queen" can't decide what it wants to be. Is it floral? Yep, for awhile.

It has a lovely powdery note. It's not enough to tame this down any though.

Is it foody? The honey is trying to make it so....and failing miserably.

 

Throw:

Medium light

 

Scent category:

floral/foody/resin

 

Summary

Ylang Ylang's evil twin maybe?

Headache. Can't write.

Cloying, cloying, cloying.

This is a rare "wash it off" for me.

I'll consider this taking one for the team.

 

Purchase again?

No.

 

1-5 rating (5 being best)

2

Dia De Los Muertos

 

Wet

It’s like a cross between Kali and Sugar Skull.

The syrupy, rich, chocolate and tobacco blend conjure images of burnt reds and browns and there’s a bit of smokines too which reminds me of when I used to go to see “The Burning of Zozobra” when I was younger. Zozobra centers around the ritual burning in effigy of Old Man Gloom, or Zozobra, in Autumn to dispel the hardships and travails of the past year.

10 minutes

More of the floral is out, at first I thought it smelled a bit like jasmine but now not so much. Seems to be some vague floral notes, not too much which is good.

30 minutes

It’s not as rich and the tobacco and chocolate have lessened but it hasn’t changed much other than intensity.

Ice Queen reminds me of Blue Moon, if you have that.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

You know I never noticed this until you mentioned it just now. You're right, they are similar. (Blue Moon being my #1 favorite bpal scent)

Le Serpent Qui Danse

 

Wet

This is a lovely sweet yet strong violet. Reminds me of those candied violets that you can get for decorating cakes.

It also reminds me a lot of the Lush shampoo called DaddyO, which also contains violet. There is a smell in violet that my nose can twist around to be yukky; kind of metallic almost, and it’s in everything I try that is primarily violet, and this blend is no exception. I know I am in the minority with this bizarre metallic thing so I think folks who are looking for violet should try this one first.

10 minutes

This scent has held up for 10 minutes without diminishing.

If you like florals, you will more than likely love Le Serpent Qui Danse.

I would like it more if it had even more vanilla.

I’ve smelled quite a few BPAL violet scents and this is the violet-y-est of the lot and it’s not a shy violet either lol.

20 minutes

As it dries that metallic scent I smell diminishes and what’s left is rounder and nicer and now I can smell the vanilla and gardenia a bit more.

Nice. I think I would buy more of this but it wouldn't be primary on my "Buy more" list.

Wet

Mmm, yummy. Initially the fig and rum were right in the front, the fig being very nice smelling.

10 minutes

I smell berries and chocolate. The fig and the rum are sometimes primary and other times it's the berries and subtle dark chocolate smell that is at the forefront.

It's the berries and the chocolate that make this blend nice for me.

I would buy more of this.

This is nice indeed. I smell musk and light greenery with an iota of sweetness underneath. Tthe primary note I'm getting is musk though.

This is very sexual. I agree with Andrabell, if my husband wore this I wouldn't be responsible for my actions.

Wow.

Wet

There's a light touch of what seems like spearmint in the background. There is the spruce smell and a somewhat watery and almost a lime note, I think that's the tart berries. It's a teeny bit sweet only. (For you Lush users it smells similar to Oxeo cube)

10 minutes

Wow, again this is really close to a "commercial" perfume. Maybe one for men. I think it would be a big hit. That said, I don't believe I would wear this everyday as it might be a bit much for me...But it's addictive and gorgeous. It kinda reminds me of Sea of Glass with an touch of mint and an iota of sweetness.

If I had to pick one word to describe this, it would be "Fresh".

20 minutes

More pine or green smell coming in now and it's turning a bit soapy on me. I hope it turns unsoapy again because I quite like this.

If you're looking for a nice pine or spruce blend I believe this would be the one.

Wet

This smells like the pine trees we have outside, only added to it are cinnamon, alot of cinnamon, and a lovely berry scent. Not a "Swank" berry nor a Lady MacBeth berry, this is a tougher berry, greener, and a little tarter.

10 minutes

The cinnamon is still right there but it's alot less sweet then when I first put it on. The combination with the pine scent is so interesting to the nose that it's almost addictive.

20 minutes

More of a soapy pine smell and the cinnamon while still not shy, is less pronounced.

It's very real smelling but I don't think I would wear it but once in a great while.

Wet

For two seconds exactly I got a whiff of the refridgerated room, where all the roses are, at a really good florist.

The "green" part of this rose is kicking my butt. My skin chemistry is making this way to strong of a green scent, too cloying.

5 minutes

Okay, the "green stem" scent has fallen back a bit and the pure rose scent is primary again. (thank goodness)

15 minutes.

Alas, even though it's mellowed out somewhat to a beautiful pure rose that other green scent is too harsh and won't let me enjoy the rose.

The bottle is gorgeous it's cobalt blue but has a long neck which snakes up and theres a cobalt blue glass ball on top of the stopper. There's also what looks like a stamped wax number "54" on it so it looks kind of like something you'd fnd at an archeological dig almost.
The smell is great. Initially it smells like herby floral cherry, but darker red cherry, sweeter, and smokier. It's such a strange yet addictive combination.
The cherry is very "throw-y" it's so throwy that you don't smell it when you take a whiff of your wrist, but you do smell it when you life your head back up.
This is nice, I really like this blend.

2004

Wet

I can tell you that i'm in love with it already and I haven't even put my head down to sniff my wrist yet.

It's fruity, in fact the plum is close to being orangey and berry like.

This scent strikes me as resembling "Swank" quite a bit except this is berry and citrus.

10 minutes.

Fortunately this blend also has some "throw" and I can still smell it when I lift my head but not when I sniff my arm.

Now I can almost smell something dark green floral and lovely in there.

20 minutes

Oh no, my skins is sucking it all up, it's dissipated quite a bit.

Not long lasting enough, but very pretty.

 

2005

 

In the bottle

Goddess bless AkWill823 for once suggesting that I get this blend after I'd placed my yule 2004 order already...and I did get it thank goodness.

On

This is so wonderful I can't even stand it. It's just sugared plums, with a winter cold breeze of floral just as the description says. Brilliant.

30 minutes

This lasts longer than 2004 on my skin.

Throw:

average

Scent category:

Fruity/Floral

Summary

A 5 star representation of Midwinter's Eve, Sugar Plums and all that's young, yummy and magical about Christmas.

Purchase again?

Yes!

1-5 rating (5 being best)

5

Wet

This is more floral than I thought. It's peaks my noses interest though, there seems to be a resemblance to Sea of Glass (which I love) and some floral blend with perhaps some white flowers.

10 Minutes

It's fresh smelling and floral. This is very close to a posh commercial perfumes I smelled a couple of times and unfortunately don't remember. It is turning quite bitter on me now all of a sudden. I hate when my skin chemistry does that to blends.

You floral lovers will LOVE this though. I'm glad I have it though just to add to the series.

Wet

Ooh, surprisingly nice first sniff. It's lightly minty, and not mouthwash minty but more of a nice spearmint note. It's slightly floral underneath and a little herby and a tad sweet so as not to be too noticeable.

I really like this.

5 minutes

Oh lord here comes the floral, but it gets right up there to the line making me think it's going to choke me like Harvest Moon then it backs off just a tetch. There seems to be some vague citrus in here as well.

I believe I still like this

10 minutes

This is a keeper. While it's not my favorite lunacy blend, it is certainly refreshing and crisp as it's name would suggest.

2004

Wet

Wow, at first I smelled good spicy masala mix. Now I smell alot of ginger, it's almost like pepper.

The sweeter food-y qualities are coming out a bit, but not as much as I'd like. It's not quite as sweet as I'd like but that's just me. It is most definitely a REAL gingerbread smell.

10 minutes

I feel as though i should duck flying objects when I say that I don't know that this blend is for me. I believe it's my chemistry that turns it up to "11" and it's a bit to harsh.

20 minutes

It has great staying power I'll say that. I can smell the lovely sweet strong gingerbread scent at times but it just gets twisted around by my crazy chemistry.

 

 

 

2005

Yeah...I don't know what the heck my problem was with Gingerbread Poppet back then a year ago but I do indeed love Gingerbread Poppet currently.

In the bottle

A subtle gingerspice.

On

Mmmm. It's gingerbread cookies.

Is it just me or is it not as strong smelling as the 2004 blend? I could smell it all day. Oddly cinnamon no matter how strong reddens nor burns my skin. Ginger however does burn a bit but doesn't turn my skinr ed. The smell is addictive.

30 minutes

It's got pretty good lasting power too, it's been on for an hour now. It hasn't morphed at all.

Throw:

average

Scent category:

Spicy/Foody

Summary

It smells just like the best gingerbread you've ever smelled and real.

Purchase again?

Yes.

1-5 rating (5 being best)

5

Eggnog is one of my favorite flavors.

Wet

Oh my. What can I say, its Eggog.

Initially the boozey scent was there for all of 5 seconds. Now I have an eggnog smell, you know real eggnog, not the kind you get in a carton.

You know how eggnog smells when your cooking it and it's cooling down? Not a yukky egg smell, it's a bakery egg smell. Sweet and creamy mixed with lushious nutmeg, but not alot.

And there seems to be a dairy kind of creaminess to the egg and nutmeg mixture, amazing.

10 minutes

It's dispersed and diffused quite a bit, if I smell your arm I can smell the goodness, but it's fading rapidly.

I like this but my skin really sucks this up and it becomes too subtle.

Wet
I can't believe how foody but yummy this is. This is by no means too foody meaning it doesn't get sickening or cloying as some food-y type products do.
You can actually smell that golden brown smell as when pastry or dough is baked and becomes golden because of the butter.
That's exactly what this smells like.
How in the world did Beth get that smell in a bottle?
10 minutes
There's also a sweetish, vaguely fruity bakery smell mixed in with some cinnamon and nutmeg too.
20 minutes
The cinnamon has come out more to the foreground . Damn, this is really good.
I'm impressed. The buttery golden brown goodness is still there just more cinnamony. Still smells as good as it did when wet, this is a real pleasure.
5

2005
In the bottle
Hmm. More creamed and sugared butter smell.
On
Wait a minute, I don't smell the golden brown buttery pastry of 2004.
30 minutes
It's less cream and sugar and more cooked pastry crust.
Throw:
average
Scent category:
Foody
Summary
I like the sweet dough smell of this better than the cinnamony part of 2004 blend. The golden buttery crust part of 2004 is here in the 2005 blend also. Whew.
Purchase again?
Yes.
1-5 rating (5 being best)
4

Oh My. I didn't expect it to smell like this.

Wet

This is gorgeous. It's very almondy and almost coconutty but it's so light and beautiful. This is the best scent I've tried to date from BPAL and i've tried a ridiculous amount so this is really saying something about this blend.

It's a watery blend but this isn't really noticeable. There's a vague blush of a floral smell as well but not enough to make this a definitive floral, which is good (to me anyway). What floral is there is as delicate as fairy wings brushing your face.

10 minutes

It's perfect. The lightly sweet almond is still there. It hasn't changed that much. Mmmm.

If I had to pick one word to describe this it would be "Ethereal". I can totally see this being someone's signature scent (mine for instance). It is the smell of Heaven.

Summary

This smells like Angels would smell I think.

Would buy again?

Yes! 10mls. Bucketfulls to last me until I die.

star rating 1-5 (5 being best)

5

Wet

Lavender, Wow! It's a good thing. It's pure and clear. I love it. There's something peeking out and I'm assuming it's the lemon that people talk about above. It's nice that little bit just rounds it out ever softly.

This is so lavendery as to be eucalyptus-like, but again it's a good thing.

The rosemary is blended really well with the lavender so that my nose doesn't distinguish between the two.

 

10 minutes

I can totally see this as a relaxing blend it's also very clearing on the chatter in your mind. There's something powdery way in there somewhere, it's nice and gives this more of a pretty quality instead of the initial medicinal herby one.

 

20 minutes

Lovely. It's funny to note that each of my wrists smell different. It does diminish quite a bit, too much for my taste but the smell is really pretty. It's got that fierce clear sharp lavender-y scent for you lavender nuts and it dries down to a light lavender-powdery almost fruity scent.

I would buy a larger bottle of this blend.