innerellipse

I vote against Bordello, I wore it to a rock show a couple weeks ago and it smelled beautiful before I walked in the door but within minutes of coming in contact with the smoke and crowds it went really funky and sort of...screechy, sickly sweet. never again! I second (or third, or fourth) Perversion.

I couldn't tell you much about what was what in this because I don't know enough about the notes, but I can agree that it's dusty and add that this totally made me nostalgic for my grandparents' old house, it's all old furniture and stuff that's been in cupboards for decades. For that reason it's comforting and nice as well as scary (and my grandparents house used to really terrify me growing up, believe me). This doesn't make it sound very appealing, but actually I loved the smell of this, and it also just made me feel really good, grounded somehow. It was beautiful, deep, complex and evocative.

I used to love BabyDoll when I was younger too and liked the sound of Chanel's Mademoiselle as an older alternative (although it was a little expensive so I never actually got around to buying it) so we probably have the same-ish scent tastes. Of the ones I've tried, I'm currently most wild about (on the fruity/citrusy/ but a bit spicy side of things) Carnal, Aizen-Myoo, Blood Countess, Bordello (but it's a bit sweet for every day). Aizen-Myoo and Carnal both start out straight sweet citrusy and flirty like Babydoll but dry down to this gorgeous richness. Others I've liked in different scent families that I would consider "seductive" and aggressively feminine are White Rabbit (sparkling spiced honey on me), Eden, Vice, Perversion, O and Snake Oil. Hope you find something you like in that lot! I especially especially recommend Carnal, it's been heavily used ever since I received the imp a couple weeks ago. The mandarin makes it bright and pretty, the fig makes it sensual and warm and womanly. Yum.

Yes! I ordered Juke Joint because it sounded like a mohito and I really wanted to smell like one! I haven't tried it yet but from the vial it smells a little like a different kind of mint - candy peppermint rather than leaf mint, if you know what I mean. But I'm still hopeful and will try it on tonight and let you know.

I too would avoid anything too floral, because I tend to get hellish migraines with my period. Also anything really woody, herbal or incensey even though I really like these most of the time. I'm thinking round, smooth notes like honey and vanilla (I second Antique Lace), maybe anything with green tea in (Shanghai, Bewitched) and also those reddish fruits that seem to really sing on my skin (Bordello, Blood Countess). I'm not sure it'd make things better, but I think Nosferatu might be an interesting one to try since with all the earth and blood it's a very menstrual scent anyhow. So if you're feeling...er...celebratory!

Oh no! cinnamon hates me! I had an inkling of this before with a solid L'Occitane perfume my sister gave me, but this proves it. I couldn't smell the rose, just harsh, biting cinnamon. Ouch. I'll be avoiding it in future. Funny, because I love cinnamon in food.

OH MY GOSH! I'm so in love with Hollywood Babylon. It's also lasting an incredibly long time on my skin. When I first put it on I could smell just strawberries, but not cloyingly. And it has so much throw! Strawberries ALL OVER THE PLACE. I didn't have to smell my wrist with this one because it was just wafting every where. We were going out for a picnic and even though it's a somewhat cold and miserable day, wearing this put me in just the right frame of mind. It's sticky sweet but also elegant (which is the same thing that appealed to me about Vice). As it dried down I could smell vanilla and other unidentified deliciousness, and then a couple of hours later it was all...pink musk sticks! The ones I used to chew on as a kid. I never liked pink musk sticks really, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE smelling like them. SO GOOD! I'll be getting a bottle of this I think.

Blood Kiss kind of crept up on me. I found it overwhelming at first, too strong, especially the clove, but my boyfriend asked me what I was wearing and said it smelt delicious and also interesting, "unlike the others" which he's just found very sweet. At first, although I agreed it smelt interesting, I felt like it didn't really suit my personality. Later that night I went out to a bar to see a band, and despite all the cigarette smoke and beeriness of the place, I could still catch whiffs of Blood Kiss - this being 5 hours after I'd put it on! It was so warm and musky and like it had settled in to stay. When my boyfriend picked me up at midnight (8 hours after I'd put it on) he said that I smelt good. WHAT??? I sniffed my clothes and all I got was stinky smoke. But then I smelt it too. Blood Kiss really is a keeper. I'll just have to be careful not to put on too much at first, cos that clove smell really knocked me over when it was wet! Oh, and the next morning I *still* smelt like Blood Kiss. And it *still* smelt good! My only reservation is that it's possibly not really me, but the oil itself is genius. Maybe I'll learn to love it as much as it clearly loves me Edit: I agree wholeheartedly with Misfitroxy's description of Blood Kiss as "gother-than-thou". K and I have dubbed it eau-de-goth! Which is perhaps why I don't think it's very me, since my personal style/image is more sexy librarian/girl friday/50's housewife, hah. But it's just stunningly beautiful. Yes.

I didn't *get* Alice. Maybe I need to try it again another day when I'm at full health, but it kind of smelt like the inside of my newly dubbed BPAL box - genericly sweet. It smelt like White Rabbit without the subtlety, and I had it on for four hours and it seems to dry down to just this sweet nothing smell. I put it in my oil burner cos it's pretty enough so maybe it'll work better as a room scent. That's probably blasphemous! But maybe my nose is just fatigued.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this one, I really ordered it for the name rather than the notes, because I've never thought of myself as a floral perfume kind of girl. But it surprised me. It was light and soft and like the smell of petals rather than like the smell of "floral" perfume. Almost, but not quite, synthetic, but it always stayed fresh and lovely and I really like it. It also put me in a happy mood, without being simplistically bright.

I *love* Vice. It's so delectable and also so elegant and so not confectionery on my skin, which is relieving. At first it smells very strongly of powdery cocoa but it has dried down to smell like a fresh pot of my chocolate rooibos tea and just SO WARM. I want this in a bottle. Maybe it's the cherries which make it feel so elegant and ladylike and *me* as well. Lovely.

Persephone Is oh so pretty. But ultimately too femme for me, perhaps. Roses sometimes just smell like old lady soap, and while this is a good rose scent (I think), bright and clean pomegranate doesn't really do anything to make it more complex. I really like pomegranate in more complex scents, which is what I was hoping for with Persephone. I'll give Swank a go tomorrow. Also I'm getting frustrated by my blocked nose and easily fatigued sense of smell, so I'll give this another chance when I'm all clear. Also I don't think I know what I like yet. I mean I've ordered all this bright, fruity stuff when clearly that suits me least! Oops. I'll know better for next time. I wonder if the two frimps (Salome and The Raven) the Lab put in for me will be perfect for me even though they are furthest from what I would ever order for myself. Later in the day Persephone went really lovely, and no longer old lady soapy in the least, but it was sort of too little too late.

OH! I *like* this. I was really very afraid, since the description sounds similar, that it would turn rubbery on my skin like Lady Macbeth did, and for a moment it seemed like it would, but then it turned around and went from sweet and potentially rubbery to red winey in an instant and I was just devouring the winey scents. So yum, not so much boozey but the smell of sweet red wine in the glass. I'm starting to think that plum/berry/currant scents don't work on me, but this one did and still smelt great when I woke up the next morning.

I put this on before going to work, perhaps a bad idea but I thought it'd be interesting. On the way to the station I started getting a headache. Lady Macbeth smells very medicinal at first. Later it got sweeter and I could smell the berries/red currant I think, but even though as I went close I thought "that is a nice smell" I had something like an aftertaste which was sort of sour and then progressively more plasticky or chemical as the day wore on and finally at about 3pm I came to the conclusion that Lady Macbeth smells exactly like scented latex on my skin. Condoms! CONDOMS! Oh well.

I'm starting to get a head cold, so I might have to edit this later. White Rabbit immediately smelt really strongly of honey on me, and not capilano honey, more like the super-strong wildflower honey my amateur beekeeper grandfather used to make in his backyard. The bees ate a lot of Australian wildflowers and the honey always came out tasting less than pure. Anyway, it's not a bad smell, just one I associate with getting sick of the honey smell in honey season. We used to turn the barrel and spray honey all over our legs and chew on the beeswax and eventually you just don't want to ever go near honey again. Then there was ginger, and I never smelt tea, but it always stayed nicely smelling of honey and ginger, and the honey was not so strong, later. I went out to dinner and on the way home I smelt my wrist again and got daisies! Maybe this was the linen? I'm not sure. Anyway I liked it. Aside from the slightly over strong honey I really liked it. I can't wait to try it again when my nose is clear!

It's very fresh and energising, and it really smells like rain, but I don't think it suits me very well. Anyway, I put it on and felt like us kids always did before a November tropical storm in Sydney; antsy and hyperactive. I might use it as a room scent! It also didn't seem to last very long. Maybe a couple of hours, if that. Also, I really liked how it *almost* captured the smell the wet footpaths gave off on our street, all wet and green smelling after the first drench of rain.

This was discontinued while I was waiting for my first order, so I was very relieved that I picked it because it would have stayed on my wish list either way. Wet: Blueberry jelly belly bean. Then crusty toasty blueberry pie. I'm not sure why all the blueberries. Holy yum, it's delicious. I think this might've been a contender had it not been discontinued. It softens down after a while, I'm still getting blueberry but it's more vanilla-y. floral-y sometimes. and then... toasted marshmallowy. I don't know why it smells so foody on me but it does. Later: I think my favourite thing about this scent is its sweet toasty-ness. Like creme brulee or marshmellow or blueberry pie crust. I guess caramel, although I'm not a fan of caramel because it's too sweet, and this isn't. I'll be using my imp sparingly so it lasts a while.

In the botttle Cathedral smells like freshly cut grass, but maybe that's just me. Wet it is very incensey in a not so great way, but when it dries down it's lovely and reminds me of the following things: 1/My grandparents, who were Catholic and always dragged me to church 2/ The smell of caves, giant limestone caves like the ones we have in New South Wales Australia, better Cathedrals than any manmade ones 3/ My local library when I was a kid, because it smells dusty and woody and I'm not sure why other than that. Incidentally I applied for entry into a librarianship course the same day I wore this so maybe I just had libraries on the brain. 4/ My mother's make-up/jewellery drawer that I used to play in when I was a kid. I think it was her face powder that smelt like this and made everything else in the box smell like this too. It's a warm and cosy scent after the freshly cut grass thing goes away. I wore it to bed the other night and felt soooo scubby and good. It's soft and smoky and gentle and reminds me of my childhood, but I think I do that a lot with smells, very strong memory triggers for me.

This is my first experience of BPAL scents and therefore also my first review so bear with me. I got Hearth as an extra little taste (very generous) when I traded (money) for an imp of Cathedral. However I think it's going to have to move on. Not because I don't like it you understand. Anyway, on with the review. In the bottle - whoa, butterscotch schnapps and christmas cake. Wet - Still butterscotch schnapps, port wine, oh but what else smells like Xmas cake? - Of course, that pouch of pipe tobacco that a Canadian friend sent me in the mail and I still haven't been able to unload onto anyone who actually smokes the stuff! Licoricey - reminding me of surprise packages - so full of scent. My first BPAL is definitely a demonstration of what Beth is capable of but I'm not sure I could wear it. So intoxicating on first sniff I felt like I was getting high. But definitely brandy custard on Christmas cake is what I'm getting. Nostalgic and warm. Although it makes me lightheaded it doesn't give me a headache. I really like! Drydown - Maybe a touch of leather, for sure. Feels like falling down sleepy after having eaten too much for Christmas dinner. I now have REALLY high hopes for my incoming order if this is what BPAL can do with smells - so excited! PLEASE COME TOMORROW! My boyfriend K comes home from work then, 20 mins after I've gotten the package and put it on. He doesn't like it but then he doesn't like the smell of pipe tobacco either. Cherry smells, I don't know about wood, just cherry. Oh now I'm getting wood, a little powdery, sandalwoody wood, like that sandalwood necklace I used to wear when I was younger. It's a really yummy drydown I think, still brandy custardy but not quite so tobaccoey. I can almost feel the sixpences between my teeth (a tradition in my family is to hide sixpences in the Christmas pudding). Wood wood wood. Anyway so soon later K continues to complain about the smell and how it seems to have gotten everywhere, even though I only put on the tiniest dab. He admits that he doesn't like it because his old boss (who he really hated) used to smoke a pipe and stank like me. So then of course, since I wouldn't want to smell like K's old misogynist boss, I had to go and wash it off. Way to spoil my fun! I hope he's not a spoilsport about other scents I receive. So... the verdict, Hearth is interesting, but I probably wouldn't wear it outside, and my boyfriend won't let me wear it in the house!