obsidienne

Mmm, sexy. I love pom, carnation and amber like crazy, but they're not all that strong here. This blend is rather light, actually. The cardamom and opium are giving it a dry effect. The pepper must be mixing with the vetiver, as I'm not really distinguishing them from one another yet. However, even though the vetiver is extremely subtle, it provides a bitterness that isn't entirely to my liking. It's subtle enough to let go of, and that's rare for my ol' nemesis vetiver! As it dries down the pom and spicy carnation climb on top, albeit they seem tired when they get there and don't make a lot of noise about the fact that they're there. A bit bland considering this notes list, really. I think this has the potential to age very very well. This is very autumnal for sure, and a contrast to Pom IV (which is a warmer scent); this is a bit more peppery and dry. I think the thing that's keeping me from going nuts for this is that it's too light, it feels a little like it's lacking something, and it's a little bland at the end of the dry down. I wanted it to be much stronger and fuller.

This smells like a rather even blend of everything that is in the notes list.... well, equal in parts except for two things: the thyme is light, providing a herbal note (not too overpowering, but still faintly medicinal smelling), and then there is the star anise. That darn anise is either amping, or it's just a touch too strong for the other notes to complete with on my skin. Star anise ends up smelling like medicinal licorice to me. That's two notes that make me think of medicine! If I could isolate the thyme and star anise and take them out, I'd be all over this blend. Then it would be all lusciousness. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. I can't find it in me to review this in more detail because I really do feel that it's just very well blended and not much of a morpher on me. This is definitely an autumnal scent, warm and cozy. Just not for me.

I cannot believe how perfectly real this smells. Just like late autumn! I can smell the wind, the leaves, the bit of sap and smoke. It's very -- and I stress very -- soft and light, kind of like if you were actually outside and not wearing this as a perfume; more like you just took a deep breath and the ambient scent of fall just struck your nose. I have to be honest, I don't think I'd wear this as a perfume. But I would throw this in a scent burner! Wow. This is like a very soft A Blade of Grass (minus the grass, anyway). Actually, this is like what A Blade of Grass smells like one month later when fall is transitioning into winter.

A simple, but lovely scent that elicits thoughts of warm sun and langourous summer days in the backyard. It smells like a flower that was made out of oranges. Not like orange blossom, not like oranges... like a floral orange. Marigolds usually smell very "stinky" and almost medicinal; this is so far from that! It has a slightly herbal undertone to it. It dries down to a soft floral orangey scent. Not a lot of morphing overall. I'm on the fence about this; it's lovely, but I wonder if its simplicity will keep me from reaching for it often. It is also very light and soft and will require slathering for me. Beautiful, though!

I've noticed that there are some incense notes in BPAL blends that smell the same from blend to blend. There's a lush incense, that's a bit sexy and warm, and a drier incense, that takes some time to warm up and find its feet. I think this one has the latter. The freshly wet stage is alarmingly weird smelling, but as it dries down it starts to come together. Incense, a lightly buttery cake scent, and light sweetness from the sugar. The currant note is very subtle. However, a kind of funky scent is developing! I think this is what my skin is doing to the incense & cake. Boo. Once this has been on for a while and I go back to sniff my wrist, there's just a subtle incense sugar scent left. Hrm.

Oh my! I love this! Even though it kinda smells like soap? But... it's sooo pretty! I keep getting these mysterious wafts of a spicy rose with a hint of earthy sweet pear. There is a touch of woodiness, so very subtle. The lily of the valley is probably the culprit for the soapy feel, but somehow, I just don't care! It's too elegant and lovely, and so gentle. Lightly sweet. The white musk must be either very subtle or be supporting everything else because it's not overt. This blend is innocently romantic. Like freshly washed clean skin.

This is a very well blended scent considering the large variety of notes in here. And you'd think it would be FLORAL. But in my nose, it's truly not. Instead, I get a very dusky sunset like blend of amber/soft red musk/blood orange, with hints of florals over top. Those florals, despite their number, are quite subtle and (again) well blended. I cannot pick out ANY single floral except for two (see latter part of the review). I am especially sensitive to rose as it is my favourite floral, and I can't smell it at all. Boo. But otherwise, lovely! The scent makes me imagine that I'm sitting on a hill watching the sun go down in a blaze of red and orange gold glory. There are no sharp edges. It's smooth and warm. It's very lightly musky, too (very). Unfortunately, there is a problem. Poppy. And violet. My nemeses. Rarely do those two notes allow a blend containing them work for me. I keep trying. I mostly fail. Although they are just as subtle as the rest of the notes, my nose's refusal to recognize poppy and violet as "pleasant" ruin what is otherwise a perfectly beautiful blend. I don't want to swap this particularly because I keep thinking maybe those notes might pass on, however I've read in various places that they don't tend to fade much with age. I have other perfumes I really love and can focus on, but it hurts that this one didn't quite work because it had (almost) everything going for it! The strength and throw of Two Loves are both fairly light. Edited Jan 1, 2014: This sat on my sales page for a loooong time with no bites. And then I tried it again, and realized it was not going to another home (if someone had wanted it). I used to find the violet and poppy notes off putting, but as this has aged, my initial impression of warmth at sunset has only grown into a glorious feeling, and I no longer have any quibbles about this scent. The rose is a little stronger now, with sweet wafts of other florals. I smell the poppy and violet, but they now seem to add to the dusky warmth of the blend and don't irritate me. I'm not good enough to pick out the individual notes, but the overall impression of deep warm oranges and reds and richness just make me adore this. It's sweet, ambery, warmly floral, and enveloping. It's very sensual, but not a sexpot blend. I've never smelled anything quite like it in the BPAL lineup and I'm so glad I kept it!

I didn't review this when it first arrived in the mail because I was suspicious of how bland it was. Don't get me wrong, I love red musk, and red musk loves me back . But I think that most notes are best when playing with other notes, and the first test resulted in a single note red musk. A bit dry (not good). No creamyness, no honey. Two weeks later, and our little Infernal Lover is becoming a woman! The sweetness of the honey is subtle, but it's there now. And it's exquisite! As it dries down the red musk moves to the background. Dryness: gone. Powder: negligible! Red musk heading further to the background the longer it's on my skin. The resultant scent is soft, not terribly strong in strength or throw, but it does leave a very subtle smoky red-gold scented aura around me. Basically, it dried down to a softly creamy honeyed red musk... wait, isn't that exactly the notes list? ;D I wonder how this will age? Will it intensify? If it does, then this will be even more gorgeous. This is exactly the sort of seductress scent I love to wear! Pros: Smells like teh sexay. Boyfriend approved. Cons: Lighter scent than I expected (by far). Doesn't live long on my skin. Conclusion... YUM. YUM. YUM. YUM. YUM. ... YUM. I don't care that this is a slathering kind of blend. It smells good and that's why we're in this relationship! Stock up. You'll regret it later if you don't. edit for typo fail.

I had very high hopes for this. The notes list, excepting for one thing, looked so enchanting and made of win. Unfortunately for me, that one note of doom, vetiver, ruins the day yet again. I think that I can smell a beautiful and incredibly light tropical scent, but leapfrogging over it and then stabbing me in my nose is vetiver. Why oh why can I not get the nice vetiver that others do? This scent is incredibly faint to me, as well. I truly wish I could review this better, but I can't because the vetiver is all like, "HAI! It's me! Over here! Slicing your nostrils to smithereens! A-ha ha ha ha ha HA HA HA HAAAAAAA *hack hack*!" I'm sure there is more to Lamia. I just can't get at it. DRR.

I got a half decant of this in a swap, and had wanted to try it because one of the reviews in here remarked that it dried down to an amazing beeswax scent. The gunpowder and smoke notes scared me off, along with the chamomile. Which all proved to keep this scent from working for me. Yes, it does dry down to an exquisite and slightly spicy feral beeswax. Love that stage! But to get there, it's a long wait, and for me, an unpleasant one. I just cannot appreciate notes like "gunpowder" "smoke", and things of that nature. Off to swaps.

When smelling this, I feel like I am walking through a forest in late afternoon, when the sun turns golden and slants through the trees. This is a very quiet & calm forest, carpeted in soft green moss. Wild roses grow where they may, and I've gathered a bunch and sniff their heady scent as I wander through the tall and stately trees. This scent is so pretty, and very earthy without being dirty. It's warm and rich and a little bit sweet. The amber is very rich and a touch powdery. While wet, the roses smell red or pink to my nose, that deep spicy scented pink that is so incredible and surprising when you smell it. (I have a cold so I'm probably not getting the finer points of this scent.) As this dries down further, I am noticing a little bit of a soapy note coming out. I am not sure what's responsible... it's not unpleasant, but it's not perfection. But I've wanted to try this since it was released and I'm glad I finally grabbed an imp.

First off, I think that someone mentioned in another thread that this smells similar to Villainess' Dulces en Fuego... and, yes. So that's why this smells familiar! However, this has a greener quality, which is fine with me. When wearing this, I feel like I'm enveloped in a haze of rich chocolate, warm vanilla, bright peppermint, and soft green notes. It's lush and cozy, yet the green bits give it a refreshing, uplifting quality. The cedar does not turn to pencil shavings on me, it just provides a very lovely faint wood effect. And lastly, it is somehow a little bit spicy. Which notes are creating this effect? I have no idea, but that's the nail in the coffin that has elevated this into a favourite. This is definitely foody, but with a welcome twist. The scent is fairly strong, the throw decent, but it does seem to fade quickly on my skin. NOM NOM NOM. Need bottle(s)! BTW, this layers rather spectacularly with Snake Oil, making a minty chocolaty extra smoosh of vanilla type Snake Oil. Divine!

This is all sweet cinnamon, made more interesting with a faint creamy note and perhaps some light musk to round it out. I don't get the nutty or woody notes others are reporting. Really intense and almost hard on the nose when directly sniffing the skin. It registers as almost a cinnamon single note, other than its slightly creamy depth. Really pretty, though I can't say I'd want to wear this all day. Oops, forgot to mention that it's sweet, too. Not marshmallow sweet, just lightly sweet. Like red hots.

This is so beautiful, like sitting out in my backyard on a cool summer's night and smelling the night-scented florals wafting their scent into the air. It's a bit green and also has an aquatic note to it - that note is the only thing getting in the way of 100% pure enjoyment (YMMV, as I personally dislike aquatic scents), but honestly, it's not a deal breaker. This is a simple, yet gorgeous springtime floral. Hard to say much more, other than that I am now a fan!

Starts off with musk and lavender in the decant. Not surprisingly, the beaver musk is a little bit weird. But let it develop on the skin, and the perfume becomes a whole other being. This scent is like a dark purple black to me, with flashes of deep red. It's lightly fruity and resinous, with floral elements, but not registering as a floral. It reminds me a lot of Sugar Moon, that sweet purple & red feeling is very similar. YUM. It has strong incense qualities from the labdanum, amber and opoponax, but all within the floral-fruit overtones. The rose note isn't registering strongly as ROSE, it's more like... deep, dark, mysterious rose that hides in the blend and peeks out occasionally. The black currant is rich and fruity, no sharp corners. This is beautifully blended and my chemistry isn't amping any one thing above the others. The castoreum gives it a hint of the wild, but isn't really standing out as a weird note anymore. I really really like this, and yet it was the one I was worried I would like the least! Bottle worthy.

Unexpectedly, this smells very masculine and like an elegant cologne wafting through an old library full of old books and lit by candles. Key word: cologne. The wax, perhaps because it is so faint, doesn't really smell like beeswax to me, so I am unsure if its meant to be that or another kind of wax. It's musky, a bit incensey, and as it dries down, the paper notes develop. I like those notes, but I wish they were paired with something a bit sweeter and less cologne-like. But they can't all be girly blends, I know!

Sanctus starts off all osmanthus - yummy osmanthus, which I love (it smells kind of like a golden floral with a touch of green and a bit of apricot to me). Then as it dries down, the musk and lily of the valley start to move upwards. These two notes create a very mildly cologne and soap effect, but not too much so, and not objectionable to me. The osmanthus seems to get fruitier as it dries down. In the early wet and early dry down stages, I don't really register the frankincense very strongly, and feel that it's here as an anchoring note, supporting and strengthening the others without stealing any spotlight for itself. Overall, this blend is extremely light and etheral. It's golden and lightly sweet, but osmanthus' unusual quality of smelling floral, fruity, and fresh are what makes this work. I really like this and the throw is amazing -- not intense, but very much there. Every few breaths I get a little whiff of sweet osmanthus and musk and I'm like... MMMMMmmmmm. It's a very light blend, but not weak. If that makes sense. It's been getting fruitier the longer it's on my skin, and the cologne and soap notes are almost entirely gone. Unfortunately, as it enters the far dry down stage, the frankincense begins to get stronger and it smells a bit funky. The osmanthus is but a recent memory at this point. This is not my favourite stage of the blend. I prefer the early and middle stages.

Woah, this starts very strong and a little bit on the side of masculine, at least while wet. Almost entirely a very strong leather with a bit of pepper and spice underneath, but the leather is definitely the star of the show in the wet stage. The spicy woodsy notes hiding beneath the leather are pretty dang gorgeous, though, and I especially love Peru balsam, which is rocking out in my nostrils. It's weird that vetiver isn't listed as a note, because while wet it smells kind of like there is some, whereas in Tombeur I get none at all. Drydown sees this blend settle down quite a bit. It's not as strong smelling, and is smoother, a little sweeter, and less LEATHER and now it's just leather and other beautiful warm things. Definitely a winner in the sexy department, and this will, obviously, age into a thing of incredible beauty. So far, almost everything I've tested in this line has been phenomenal in one way or another. Beth, I admire your artistry!

This is Saint Foutin de Varailles, with added saffron and subtracted wine! Sweet candle smoke and beeswax with a soft, romantic rose, and a bit of spice from the saffron. The saffron note worried me as it can smell a bit funky and foody in a bad way, but it's working out well here, it adds a touch of warm orange to the blend. This is very mysterious and gothic. I love it.

Wow, gorgeous Snake Oil lightened and made more complex by the other notes. I love Beth's antique patchouli note, which is exquisite, it almost smells like metallic patchouli but without being, um, metallic. That made NO sense at all, but I can't describe it any other way! The amber is rich and warm and a touch dry, the vanilla is rather light, and I can't really detect the vetiver, which is a huge relief. Result? Slinky, warm, sexy Snake Oil variant. This blend has three of my "total fail" notes in it - blood, vetiver, and bitter almond, and I can barely tell. Love! Hoard!

This goes on a light floral & soft golden amber, with a tinge of a cologne, but that's not bothering me (I'm generally a girly girl). The violet adds a sweetness to the blend that is really pretty, the sandalwood & woods a very soft wood element without smelling like a lumber yard. It's a rather elegant scent, but not too big for its britches, so to speak. I am not registering the vetiver, so it must have been used with a very light hand because it more often than not drowns and kills a blend for me. Light scent, light throw. I'm having a hard time reviewing this one, but I like it and I'll definitely enjoy this imp!

Ugh! Patchouli and vetivert! It smells like a piece of burning wood that has been doused with water and is now smouldering in the dirt. Get thee away from me!

Dry, dusty, slightly spicy patchouli... and apricot. That is it. This would be really nice if the patchouli was sweeter and smoother and more, um, lush? But that dry note is really unpleasant, it grabs at my nose and scratches lightly. I was going to swap this, but now I want to age it and see what happens. Considering that this imp is not yet a year old, it may be a long wait.

Dragon's blood, my nemesis, something like lilac, perhaps a touch of ylang ylang, and it has a vanillic feel without seeming to really have any vanilla. As it dries down a touch of spice develops, but I can't tell what spices they are. The plastic of the dragon's blood will not allow me to review this in a positive manner, so I'll just end this here.

I think this is jasmine, vanilla, honey, perhaps gardenia... possibly amber? Warm, cozy, and very pretty. A rich orange-red smelling scent. A subtle scent, stays close to the skin for me. Is there rose in here? Is there musk? I can't tell -- it's very well blended and no single note takes precedence over another on my skin in this early stage. Someone wrote that they smell dragon's blood, and the more I sniff, the more I think it might be there, as that would explain the one off-putting note I am getting. If so, it's subtle and I can overlook it. I am starting to think there may be a light touch of red musk, as well, since my skin tends to really love red musk and I'm getting a hint of its delicious warmth. Gah! I wish I knew what was in here, these voodoo oils make me nuts. I can see this scent really growing on me, since I love creamy sweet blends, and this is definitely that!