Blood onmy hands

Mouse's Long & Sad Tale is one of my favorite GC blends, so I was excited to try the prototype version. Plus, the lemon & cake reviews made it sound like something that I would love. Unfortunately, this scent is really pale and barely there at all on my skin, and what I can smell of it isn't that good on me. In the decant and on my skin, this is like a pale sugared tea with a hint of sweet fruit (maybe lemon, maybe citrus, but not strong enough for me to really tell). After a while, it takes on a chemical sharpness that reminds me of harsh lemon cleaning fluid. Sharp lemon and lightly sugared white tea. I have to press my nose against the skin where I applied this to smell anything at all, though. It's not really cakey or foodie on my skin. More like clean tea, sharp chemical lemon, and a hint of sugar. It goes powdery after about five minutes and disappears entirely before it's been on for even fifteen minutes... This doesn't smell anything like the current Mouse's Long and Sad Tale to me (which is rich, sweet vanilla, candied pink floral, and smooth sandalwood-amber on me). I'm glad that this prototype version didn't get released, because the current GC version is gorgeous and perfect. This version is a major letdown for me.

This used to smell like minty toothpaste and perfumey white floral on me, but now it smells sort of harsh and like lemon floor cleanser. I never did get the violet that others have mentioned, and this one has gotten sharper with age. It is headed to my swaps pile.

I bought four bottles of this and I am not disappointed. I don't get along well with Snake Oil or Doc Constantine, but I can't smell them at all here. I do smell the Dorian quite strongly, which is one of my favorite perfumes ever. Cake Smash is like Dorian + foodie awesomeness. My first thought when I put this on was that it smelled like Dorian and Beaver Moon, but Beaver Moon goes all wonky, sour, and oddly spicy-pie-crust on my skin. This is like what I wanted Beaver Moon to be. I don't smell anything like red velvet cake, but this does smell like sweet, delicious cream cheese frosting and maybe a hint of white cake to me. Also, of course, it smells like Dorian's clean vanilla tea. It's sweet, but it's definitely not too sweet or cloying. Vanilla tea and a slice of white cake absolutely smothered in cream cheese frosting. Yeah. This is wonderful.

First on, I get the soft mint that others have mentioned. It smells a bit green and herbal. It also smells like it's drowning in a bag of damp potting soil. As it dries down, the dreaded apple blossom amps up on my skin. Apple blossom smells like sweet, fruity shampoo on me, so it adds a hint of that soapiness here. Sweet mint, green herbal, dirt, and a hint of shampoo. It's not awful, but I don't really find myself wanting to wear this either. My husband's only comment on this was that it smells "weird."

I never think that bpal's dry leaf blends really smell like dry leaves, but this one really does. Falling Leaf Moon has that spicy, slightly sweet, dry, true autumn leaves smell. Amazing. It makes me smell like I've rolled through a pile of colorful fallen leaves and have them stuck in my hair. I can practically hear them crunching underneath my feet. As it dries down, this blend starts to remind me of Samhainophobia, but with lots of fall leaves added in. This is just gorgeous, and the label is so beautiful. I think that this is my favorite lunacy blend ever, and is going to be one of my top ten bpal scents. I wish that I could get this same scent in a room spray too, because I'd love for my whole house to smell like this. :love!:

Wow. I really love this scent. On me, Mlle Lilith smells like someone mixed Mme Moriarty with Candy Phoenix. I get the red, incensey, slightly fruity feel that reminds me of Moriarty, and the sugared pom and musky candy dust of Candy Phoenix. It's sultry, but also playful. The fragrance starts off more incensey and musky and then dries down to more of a sugary, candied musk with incense in the background. So pretty. I have two bottles of this, but I might purchase a few more backup bottles. I think it's going to age really wonderfully too.

Tangerine cream, benzoin, white sandalwood, white pear, tonka, and ambergris accord. In the bottle, this smells like a musky, sweet orange citrus and something like warm salt water. On my skin, Giant Crab does have a bit of an orange creamsicle smell, but it's very pale and not really sweet or foodie as a whole. It's like someone threw an orange creamsicle into a tub of warm salt water. It makes me fantasize about laying in a warm salt water pool on a sandy beach. Then as it dries down, something in this starts to smell oddly of suntan lotion to me. The warm water feel is very soothing, though I'm not sure that I can see myself wearing this scent. This is clean, slightly sweet, and beachy smelling on my skin. I don't know if it's a keeper or not. I like it, but I don't really love it...

Ozone (and most aquatics) smell like soapy dryer sheets on me. This seems to have a ton of ozone in it, because I get a ton of dryer sheet freshness. It smells a bit chilly and slushy to me as well, so there might be some snow note in here somewhere. After an hour, it's less chilly and smells like dryer sheets and a hint of wood. This is just too soapy for me, but I expected that with my skin chemistry...

I don't remember much about the original Tiger Lily, just that it smelled like honeyed lilies to me and was rather pretty. Imperious Tiger Lily is heavier, sharper, and cheaper smelling on me. In the imp, it smells like a really heavy floral perfume and a hint of sharp spiciness. On my skin, this is sharp sharp sharp and perfumey. It's like a sharp classical perfume that smells aggressive and poisonous. It makes me think of a bad 80s perfume and a woman with her hair teased a mile high, shoulder pads, and way too much hairspray. The scent reminds me more of iris than lily, with its chemical-y sharpness. Nothing about it smells like real flowers to me. After a while, this kinda reminds me of Goneril, if Goneril had sharp white florals added to it... I don't think that this is something I'll ever want to wear. Perfumey, sharp, fake/cheap smelling chemical-floral... my least favorite type of scent.

In the bottle, this smells like the usual men's cologne. Over this past weekend I was treated to a lot of guys on our baseball team abusing Axe body spray, and this reminds me of their taste in fragrances. It's kinda clean, kinda spicy, and very masculine. There's also a really smoky black leather fighting with the cologne. On my skin, this becomes intensely smoky. My throat feels tight and it makes me want to cough or throw up :/. It's like someone took the black leather jacket off of a guy wearing axe body spray and set it on fire. Over time it's less and less cologne and more on-fire leather. This is probably the smokiest bpal scent that I've ever worn. It's so sharp and bad, it makes my head ache like crazy. I definitely hate this blend.

Pumpkin V 07 might be a little easier to find, and a lot of people find it very similar to Pumpkin Queen. It smells like a spicier Pumpkin Queen to me.

In the bottle, this smells like intensely dry, sour roses. These roses are long dead, dusty, and left in an attic to rot. On my skin, the rose sweetens and loses its sour edge. It smells like men's shaving cream (reminds me of the blend Numb), sweet, pale roses, and a creamy, smooth musk. The second that I put this on, the scent seems to sink into my skin so that it's barely there. I can't smell this at all unless I press my nose directly against where it's been applied. It winds up smelling clean and a bit masculine on me. As the scent dries down, it turns rather powdery/dusty, which makes me think there's amber in here somewhere. It's pale rose with dusty powder and a hint of soap. Nothing about this scent is really bad, but I find myself not really caring for it or wanting to smell like this. I think the drydown is just too powdery for me, and it's a little soapy on my skin. It just doesn't smell like anything special or unique to me.

In the bottle, this smells like aquatics and something dark, dank, and earthy, like a damp vetiver smell. On my skin, this is soapy ozone and a dark, earthy something. It doesn't smell appealing at all on me. As it dries down, it gets kind of smoky, like a hint of charred wood fell into the mix. It reminds of Erik, which I also hate. Sarah is just too soapy and too dark/dirty smelling for me.

In the bottle, this smells clean, sweet, watery, kinda fruity and kinda green. On my skin, this morphs into a perfumey white floral smell with hints of green and sweetness at first (like cucumber and a peel of some sort of fruit that I cannot place). It doesn't smell moldy or dirty at all. As Julia Stone dries down, this is an intensely perfumey, sharp, cheap white floral smell with a background of soapy dryer sheet freshness. It makes me feel like my throat is closing up when I smell it :/. It's better in the bottle and goes all sharp and dry on my skin. It's also very heavy and has lots of throw on me. Not good. This is definitely not a favorite for me. I had to scrub it off after an hour.

In the bottle, this smells like heliotrope (which smells like creamy vanilla powder to me). On my skin, this is sweet, innocent, soft, creamy, and slightly powdery. I don't smell any of the grave soil and blood to darken things up. I imagine an expensive vanity with pots of expensive face cream and dusting powders set out over its surface. The woman who owns it prefers to smell clean, cool and collected, but with a soft side (she's firm and expects you to follow her orders, but she's also approachable and kind of motherly). I don't know if that fits the Perle von Mauren character, but that's the impression that I get. Perle von Mauren is a soft and uncomplicated scent. It smells like moisturizing cream with a touch of vanilla and a hint of clean powder. I'm a little disappointed, because I wanted to see how the innocent, sweet heliotrope played with the darker soil and blood notes, and all I can really smell is the heliotrope. Then again, I'm delighted to have this and the result is lovely. I'm surprised that the heliotrope note managed to drown out the other notes (go heliotrope!). I love how soft and comforting/approachable this smells. I'll probably pick up another bottle of this before the LEs go down. It's very wearable and lovely

In the bottle, this smells like a very white, sharp, perfumey-musky floral. On my skin, this becomes less sharp and more sweet and mellow. Much to my surprise, I actually like this scent a lot. As it dries down, it turns earthy and the floral smells creamy and pretty. It's like I pulled up a handful of lilies and there's black dirt and shreds of moss clinging to them. I love gardenia when it's creamy and sweet smelling, and I'm definitely getting that gardenia here. The sharp poppy seems to be staying away. Ariadne Brunnell is like being in a quiet, deathly still graveyard just as the sun goes down, sitting on a gravestone with that bunch of just-pulled white flowers. Creamy, quiet, earthy, sweet, and beautiful. The poppy and water lily almost scared me away from this blend, but this is gorgeous. The touch of earth makes this very wearable for me. Ariadne Brunnell is similar in feel to The Premature Burial, but this has less of an earthy note over time and a creamy, sweet lily/gardenia instead of orchid. I'm definitely keeping my bottle of this one. It's just beautiful

I received a sample of Basil Hallward's Studio room spray in a recent BPTP order and did a happy dance around my house. I just adore the atmosphere sprays. I spritzed a little bit of this on a throw pillow in my computer room and was surprised at just how strong it is. One little spritz on a pillow filled the whole room up with fragrance (it is a smaller room, but still). And this smells so pretty. It doesn't smell soapy or white floral to me at all. It smells like sweet, pink roses and candy dust to me. Pretty, candied roses <3. My husband says that this smells like sweet, pretty flowers. Then again, he tells me that almost all of my fragrances smell like flowers, even fragrances like Boo. He did say that he really likes this one, though.

2009 Version: I thought that Fearful Pleasure from last year was the perfect apple cider, but I think that I like Lambs-Wool even more. Fearful Pleasure was darker and smokier, where Lambs-Wool is sweeter, creamier, lighter, and foodier, and I love foodie scents. When I wear this, I keep thinking that it smells light and angelic. Apple cider from heaven, lol. In the bottle and on my skin, this smells like a mug of warm apple cider sitting next to a slice of sugary angel food cake and an apple fritter, with extra sugar crystals. Sugar, spice, apple cider, and cakes. It smells so delicious . Cider scents easily smell too sharp or too spicy to me, but this is sugary cider heaven. It's not sharp at all, and actually smells very creamy. Lambs-Wool doesn't smell quite like any of the spicy/cidery scents that I already own. It's the best of them. I can see myself reaching for this scent a lot when there's snow on the ground, and I love it in an oil warmer to scent my house as well. 2010 Version: This 2010 version is nowhere near as good as the 09. The vanilla sugary, cakey aspects aren't in the 2010 Lambs-Wool as far as I can tell. This is more tart (like sweet tarts candies) apple and a fresh, almost celery-like, vegetal note along with some sharper spices (gross, sharp cinnamon potpourri). It gives me a headache and barely smells like the original version at all . I'm disappointed with how this one has been reformulated, and glad I still have a couple 09 bottles that have aged really well...

Applied directly to my skin, this starts off smelling like sweet oranges (the neroli, I suppose) and a beautiful rose floral perfume swimming in comforting tea. After ten minutes or so, the rose and jasmine amp up, with just a hint of neroli sticking around. The overall feel is that it's a sweet, heavy, bold floral that conjures up images of blood red and golds. It reminds me of Versailles. In the bath, this is like bathing in expensive floral perfume and tea. It's comforting and decadent at the same time. It leaves a soft rose scent on my skin after the bath. I like the warrior queen bath oils even more than the perfumes. They layer so nicely together, and I can see this layering well with scents like Versailles, Follow Me Boy, and other rose & jasmine heavy fragrances.

In the bottle, I thought that this smelled like cherry blossom swimming around in a mishmash of other clean smelling florals. Perhaps the pink musk is making me think of sweet, pink cherry blossoms? Clean floral, citrussy bergamot, and a spark of pink sweetness. On my skin, I can't really pick out any of the listed notes, but it smells like a clean, musky, white floral. It's slightly soapy on my skin at first. I normally hate jasmine notes, but I would never guess that there's jasmine in this at all. As it dries down, Hua Mulan is less soapy-clean and more powdery-clean. I smell like I dusted my skin with a clean floral dusting powder and spritzed a bit of sharp skin musk over it. I never smell any leather. The scent starts to sweeten up again on my skin after about a half hour, like a drop of sugar fell into the perfume, and it just smells so pretty. This scent doesn't sound like anything that I'd enjoy, but I do kinda like it. I even kinda love it when it sweetens up in the dry down. It makes me feel pretty and clean. It's not something that I'll wear a lot, but I'm happy to have it.

In the bottle and on my skin at first, I cab smell all of the listed notes. The rose smells red, rich, and spicy in the way that florals sometimes can be spicy. The pumpkin adds a sweet, bakery spiciness. And the rosewood and red sandalwood mingle together with the rose to make something like a woody-rose-incense smell. Red sandalwood often smells warm and incensey to me. As this dries down, the sweet rose adds even more of a red feel to the blend, almost like a red jam with hints of rose, and the pumpkin smells like a warm, spicy pie. It morphs into an almost fruity smelling rose. It's like an exotic dessert with sugary, red rose jam piled into a spiced pastry, with wafts of woody incense smoke floating over the whole thing. The woods get stronger for me over time. An odd mix of fruity red rose, foodie pumpkin spice, and woody incense. This blend smells so incredibly RED to me. It's very lovely and exotic. Definitely a keeper . This also has my favorite label of this year's Halloween blends; I just love the pictures of little kids in pumpkin patches. Too cute <3.

In the imp, this smells like a dirty, gritty gunpowder note and aquatics. Strange. I expected this to be earthy, dry, and amber-y, but it smells sort of moldy and aquatic on me. In particular, this is reminding me of Erik's soapy, tangy aquatic + moldy curtains smell. The patchouli comes out in the drydown and makes it slightly earthy. It's like Erik mixed with Hurricane on my skin. I dunno about this one. It doesn't really smell like any of the listed notes to me. I guess it's good that I don't like Tattie Bogle; I don't need to try to track down more of this now, lol.

In the bottle, this smells like sweet, creamy pumpkin with something rounding out its edges and making it smell yummier and more wearable. On my skin, I doubt that I could pick out any of the listed notes in this. It smells like the best pumpkin ever, but I couldn't place my finger on why that is. I think that the myrrh adds a warm, golden, almost sparkly feel to the pumpkin. The clove and pumpkin spice here is sweet and not at all overwhelming. And the tobacco/black musk are just a curl of sweet smoke underneath the other notes. Pumpkin IV is sweet and foodie, but also perfumey and very wearable, with almost a sexy-sugar feel to it. I love this a lot. Pumpkin IV and Pumpkin II are my favorite of this year's pumpkin blends (and I like Pumpkin III as well). I might even get a second bottle of this blend.

In the bottle, this smells soft, light, and almost nonexistent. I get a hint of powdery sandalwood and not much else. On my skin at first, it's a faint, lightly powdery sandalwood. My skin chemistry amps up rose notes like crazy, but I don't smell any roses here. It's very odd. You know how some unscented creams or lotions actually have a faint, creamy, lotion-y smell just from the ingredients in them? That's what this smells like. It has a smell, but it's like it's not a perfume smell or even supposed to be fragranced. I also think it smells a bit like clay. Fifteen minutes into the drydown, ah, there's the rose. It still smells lotion-y or clay-like, but with a hint of very soft, creamy rose. It makes me think of a very delicate hand lotion with rose in it. It's delicate, light baby pink, and pretty, but barely there on me.

In the bottle, the oil is a very dark brown and smells resinous, but also a bit sharp & sour. On my skin, this is a very dark, heavy scent. It smells like sticky, dark resins with sexy, manly musk, clove spice, and something like a hint of bitter orange peel. It starts to get intensely musky and smoky on me in the drydown, though. I like it a lot at first, but the drydown is like a man put on way too much cheap cologne and ran through a housefire... My skin amps up the black musk here and it turns too smoky-sharp for me. I think that this would smell a lot better on someone else, and I can see it aging quite nicely. It's just not for me.