emzebel

Amsterdam is definitely floral, but it is a light, breezy floral wqith a definitely herby/grassy tone that keeps the floweryness from being too overwhelming.

 

I actually like this. !

Um, wow. I really did not expect to be able to wear this, as pretty much every other aquatic/ozone scent I have tried has enede up smelling like really cheap men's cologne on me and giving me a headache (stupid chemistry)...

 

Insteat, Tempest is light and airy with a hint of something almost tea or citrus like...there are definitely some herbs on the breeze.

 

This is not something I would wear every day, or even probaly put on more than once a few months, but it is a lovely scent.

Another lovely frimp from the lab.

 

Bliss is true to it's description - pure, rich, (good quality) milk chocolate.

 

Which, much as I love to devour, is actually not my favorite perfume scent.

 

I actually kind of like Bliss, though, largely because it does not try to be anything other than chocolate fabulousness. This is a much lighter note than in, say, Vice, which I really disliked, and I can actually see myself playing with Bliss a bit...

Jester is a very very berry scent with just a hint of something herbal in the background. It is similar to Bewitched, but sweeter, almost overripe, and not at all the love affair I expected, to be honest. I have a hard time imagining when I would reach for this instead of Carnivale or Bewitched...

I made it a point to hunt this down largely because it was discontinued, and I wanted to try it, partcularly because of the grapefruit note...which is a nice part of this, but not overwhelming.

 

This is a nice light blend that I will probably try again in warm weather, but I am not heartbroken that I will never see more than this little imp. Rereading the description though, it is sort of sad that a blend this this history had to be discontinued...

I received this as a frimp from the lab and first tried it based on being drawn to the scent without reading the description.

 

THis is a very green, organic blend. Without knowing the notes, the first time I wore it, I guessed olive oil or fig leaf, the latter because the top note reminded me of the green note from Eden, but more mellow.

 

This is not an everyday blend for me, but definintely something I enjoy.

An imp of this was given to me by a generous someone in a swap. At the time I received it, I did not remember it by name, or that it was on my wishlist, I just opened, sniffed, and was absolutely in love.

 

My impressions, having no idea what the specific notes were at the time, were that it was a perfect balance of a tree - the wood and the fruit, with a hint of herby smokyness.

 

I absolutely love this, and will almost certainly be ordering a big bottle, very soon...

Tried very sparingly as part of the TAL Circular Swap.

 

The first thing I thought of when I sniffed this was Spooky. To the point where for a split second I almost thought it was mislabled or something. Except that there is no chocolate in Eleggua.

 

Instead, Eleggua is my very favorite stage of Spooky, about two hours into wearing, after the woah, chocolate mint contingent has settled and the rummy coconut bits come out to dance with the peppermint.

 

Woah, indeed.

From the TAL Circular Swap...

 

This is a very sweet, happy blend. I have just tried a tiny bit for scent purposes, given the nature of the circle, but I can certainly see how dressing and burning appropriate candles with this scent would infuse the atmosphere with hope and happiness!

 

I geta combination of vanilla, something bubblegummy and something herbal out of this blend. I agree with the consensus so far that the latter two are probably lotus (this is similar to a couple of other lotus blends I've tried and this is not candy-Jailbait bugglegum sweet to me, but MMV). There is definitely some resemblence to some of the feel-good Voodoo blends as well.

 

As the extent of my actual use of any of these oils tends to be wearing with a thought of the purpose in mind, perhaps hunting down some Bastet's Laughter of my own would not be a horrible idea...

I've wanted to try Mabon ever since I first read through the LE descriptions and reviews late last spring and thanks to the lovely babykitty, I have my very own little imp!

 

In the imp I get herbs and apples...none of the cherry cough drop scent (I'm not complaining, mind you). Mabon is very soft on me, a little more floral than I normally wear, actually, but it is a beautiful, soft autumn scent, with just enough fruit and sage and twining turning herbs to keep the flowers from overwhelming me. I suspect that an imp is just enough of this to keep me happy, and I am so so so greatful to have gotten to try it.

This was added as a bonus as part of the TAL Circular swap, so I've just tried Uranus once.

 

It is super spicy...baking spices, cinnamon, fresh ground nutmeg, cloves with something almost juicy (but not necessarily fruity, if that makes sense). It is very similar to Three Witches, but where Three Witches is a dry scent, Uranus is wet. I think I may need a bottle of this when it is reissued, or at least an imp when folks start decanting...

 

Edited to add my thoughts on my reissued bottle:

 

I love this scent. It is sweet, spicy, but not candle spicy - it's a warm, yummy, smell with a hint of woodyness (cedar?) that makes it much more wearable for me than, say, Three Witches, which I wanted to love but which made me feel like I was inside a Yankee Candle. It does fade quickly on me and requires some slathering, but that's okay - that's what bottles are for!

Wow, this is really extremely pretty.

 

It was not one of my must tries in SIA, but I swapped for an imp, figuring I might as well try to check them all out if I could.

 

It is floral, without being overwhelming, and there is just enough wild grass/berry/other stuff to keep the flowers from being overwhelming.

 

As with the other SIA scents, Beth really did a fabulous job of capturing the scents and feel of a New England spring and summer - in this case, a field of wildflowers on the edge of a dark wood...

 

I wouldn't wear this every day, but I will definitely play with my imp...

As others have said, this is pure leather. It is like walking into a well maintained barn full of well oiled saddles, or a really good western store where you can buy everything from a saddle to boots to feed to hats. It is rich brown cowboy leather, with trophy buckles, and handtooled boots, and the soft scent of an animal that just drifts...

 

It is a scent that makes me a little nostalgic for visits to my grandparents' farm in Oklahoma, and it is ascent that I think would be lovely on my husband. But it is not a scent I can see myself wearing, to be honest. It is almost too evocative for me, and too much leather. I'm really glad to have tried it, though...

I honestly cannot place what Lustration smells like to me...the chamomile tea with lemon and honey is the closest thing to it, I suppose...

 

When I first opened my decant, I loved this one - there was something comforting, almost creamy about it...then as time wore on, it appealed to me less and less.

 

I have no clue...

Um wow, grapefruit. This one really reaches out and grabs you by the metaphorical balls.

 

I really really thought I would love this one...and it has gone somewhere, as half an imp is gone, but at the end of the day, Moxie is just too loud for me.

 

It is supposed to be loud. That's the idea.

 

I think that the Panacea's and I were just not meant to be...in Moxie, I really enjoy the scent, but I tend to find the intensity irritating after a while...

I received an imp of this from k00kaburra as part of a swap without knowing anything about the oil or the reviews.

 

In the vial, Chango is quite yummy...very tropical fruity, full of bananas and tropical fruits. If Fruit Moon is Skittles in a bottle, then Chango seemed to be the tropical fruit version...

 

In my skin this is bananafannabobanna. This is some serious banana here. At first it is kind of nice banana, then quite quickly it moves into very ripe banana (which I'm not so fond of), then into *really* ripe almost rotting banana.

 

I am also getting the animalistic note that some others are getting, which I wouldn't actually mind so much, if not for the rotting banana.

 

From what I've read here about Chango, this is probablya very apt offering, but since I have no ritual use for this oil, I doubt I'll be keeping it...

I won this along with a host of other LEs off ebay a while ago and it was actually one of the first that I tried. I remember likeing it the first time I wore it, but not...feeling...it enough to really review it. Then it got pushed out of mind by the host of other scents I received and I didn't think to wear it again.

 

Until today, the first truly cool autumnal day we've had this year where I am, and it seems very appropriate. Unfortunately, Wildfire and I are not getting along so well this time. I cannot pick out any of the notes, but it smells almost plasticy, with the same burnt note that literally burned my skin with Brimstone. It may be a cycle issue, so I may try this one again in a week or so, as I remember it seeming much more rich to me.

 

Odd, that.

This is really quite a delightful little scent. It is much more complex than I was anticipating, seeing as it is a single note and all...I like to try different floral honeys and this reminds me a lot of an almost savory Scottish heather honey that I bought once in London...as someone else said, this is not SiouxBee honey in a little plastic bear.

 

It is not a daily wear scent for me, but it is definitely the thing when I want to amp up my honey body products, or add just a little more honey to another blend. Definitely worth the price of admission.

OMG.

 

I'm really not sure there is much more I can say about this oil.

 

It is completely amazing. Definitely in my top five without even trying it on, probably in my top three after wearing. This is just an amazingly beautiful complex luscious spicy berry blend.

 

I almost didn't order it. OMG. I ALMOST DIDN'T ORDER IT. I debated. It didn't excite me at first and I waited until Fruit Moon came along to toss it in my cart because so many people were so excited about it, I figured I should try it.

 

 

Carnivale (the '05 version, to be sure) is...it is everything that every other berry blend I've sniffed has wanted to be. It is fruity, but savory. It is spicy, but soft. It has just enough floral to give it depth, but not so much as to make it scream "perfume!!!!!". The musk and the amber play wonderfully together, the carnation infuses pepper like a champ, and the berries are the sparking wonderful star on my skin.

 

I almost didn't order a bottle! Why didn't I order two?!?!?

I bought Numb with absolutely no expectations. I saw it in the update, saw that it was an LE with an emphasis on the L and it just lept into my cart, no questions asked. And, unless it is a scent I am desparately curious about, I tend to avoid the reviews until I can try things myself. And Numb was just sorta an extra for me.

 

Now when I say no expectations, I suppose it would be fair to say that I was not expecting powdery violets. Numb id very pretty, both wet and on my skin, but it is really not something I will ever wear.

 

So, off to the swaps with it...

I was really looking forward to Fruit Moon and almost had ordered multiple bottles, but held myself back, because, well, just because.

 

In the bottle, I was hit with a blast of Skittles, a whole big bowl full, which was a little scary, to be honest, as I can do sweet, but I'm not a huge fan of candy sweet.

 

On my skin, it stays candy-coated through drydown, when Fruit Moon just blooms. The sugar burns off and the sweetness becomes real fruity goodness. Like otehrs have said, it is different fruits at different times - a true melange. No one note dominates on me.

 

This is a really really nice scent that will be absolutely lovely in hot weather, or as a reminder of hot weather in the dead of winter, when acquiring such wonderful fruits is impossible.

Mmmmm...I regretted not buying this almost as soon as it went down, but I was too nervous and new to BPAL to feel comfortable taking chances at that point. But, thanks to the sales of the love Mmme. Belladonnastrap, I now have a whole lovely bottle to call my own!

 

In the bottle, Queen of Clubs is a very earthy scent. I can smell the full fruity sweetness that is common in my very favorite blends, but it is mixed with something more...sinister is not quite the word, but definitely something a little darker than I usually wear.

 

On my skin though, this is an absolutely lovely blend of fruit and vanilla, with just enough of the earthy, incensy notes to give it some kick and not smell like a bakery. In the beginning it was all pomegranite and current and what I would have sworn to be fig, and the vanilla is really kicking in now after a few hours.

 

I expect this might be a mighty morpher on me and that there might be yet another stage in store, in which case, I will update this review. In the meantime, consider me fully in the Queen's thrall.

I was too new to BPAL when these were released to be brave enough to order this, and was very afraid when I finally swapped for an imp that I would fall in love, as I've been having a good run with fig and tobacco blends.

 

And in the imp, King of Clubs is a beautiful blend to my nose...just enough fig to make it sweet, but dark and earthy and dense...

 

On my skin though, something, perhaps the vetiver or the dark musk, takes over and makes this a far too animalistic blend for me. There are elements which I like, but too many which I don't for me to keep this.

This is really quite a pretty blend. The citrus and the amber save the aquatic for me, and make it a very complex, hard to describe blend. Crystal is quite apt, really.

 

This will not be an every day scent and an imp is just enough, I think, but I am really happy to have some of this to play around with.

When I first sniffed Dunwich, I figured that it was probably going to go the way of almost all of the aquatics I've tried, which is straoght to the swap pile. But the boggy floral really tried to save this one for me. Unfortunately it didn't work. I wish I could give this more of a review, but I had to wash it off quickly to avoid a headache.