Emma

This is a pretty awesome scent ... It must be amazing in the cooler months if I already like it this much in the sweltering heat of August. It strikes me as a non-food type, grown-up vanilla scent. Very comforting with a hint of mystery.

Ripe, sweet fruit is what I smell in The Hanging Gardens. Not as complex and surprising as some of the other Bpal scents I've sniffed but it's such a harmonious, well-balanced whole that one can't help but appreciate this fragrance. It doesn't last on my skin, alas, but just smelling it makes me feel very good, as if all's right in the world.

Well, for once the lab's description of a scent gave me no guideposts on what to expect. What in the world is "the essence of holy Kyphi" supposed to mean, I wondered? I had a negative impression of this scent on first sniff. It just seemed sweet and muddy, some how. I ordered a few unscented creams and such from The Body Perfumery ahead of time for the sole purpose of mixing with my Bpal imps and so I dumped my imp of Cairo into a 4 oz jar of TBP's Olive body creme. It scented the creme to *perfection*!!! I'm so, so thrilled. My skin feels lovely and smells fantastic with all the golden lemony-incensy sweetness that is Cairo. I feel like prancing around asking people to feel and sniff my skin, it's that good.

I had a suspicion that Tintagel wouldn't work on me as a perfume but being the sucker that I am for the Arthurian legends, I just had to give this scent a shot. Too tart and berry-ish, and mixed with the almost claustrophobic dose of dragon's blood, Tintagel is more of an educational lesson for me on my Bpal olfactory journey. Glad I tried it but won't be ordering this in a larger size.

Athens hit my nose at first like something balsamic, almost vinegary. I stuck the stopper back in the imp and thought "ugh!". Then, a few days later, I decided to give it another go but in a much diluted form. I dumped the imp into about 4 oz. of unscented shampoo I had lying around. Eureka! Much better. Now I can smell the honey notes, a light hint of florals if I sniff hard enough and the burgundy wine notes. Think of Athens this way. In the vial, it's like a peacock with its tail closed up ... a rather ugly, plain bird ... until it unfans its gorgeous tail, then wow! To me, Athens is like that.