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BPAL Madness!

ljaylh

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Everything posted by ljaylh

  1. ljaylh

    Similar to Ferrari's Black cologne?

    Hmm.. I'm not familiar with the Ferrari Black fragrance, and that is an interesting mix of notes! So here's a couple of ideas that might be worth a try: Mr Nancy - sugar cookies with bay rum, tobacco, and lime - not as sweet as it sounds, the 'sugar cookies' have an interesting slightly peppery/spicy smell, and the lime is really nice but not 'girly' or sweet. The bay rum and tobacco together give the whole thing a lovely woody quality. You can't get this as an imp from the Lab, but I'm sure you could find a decant in the For Sale area. Casanova - a rakish blend of leather, anise, lavender, bergamot and amber with tonka, lemon peel and lusty patchouli the lemon peel will give you a similar citrus vibe, and the bergamot in this one is lovely. Rapture - Moroccan rose, Sumatran rose, mandarin, Egyptian myrrh, night-blooming jasmine, bergamot and neroli thrust into Arabian musk - mostly for the exotic rose notes, but also the jasmine + bergamot with the musk are really nice here. Baghdad - amber, saffron and bergamot with mandarin, nutmeg, Bulgar rose, musk and sandalwood - softly spicy but with nice deep florals and a warm/dusky feel from the amber and sandalwood. Spider - white ginger, artemesia, vetiver, nutmeg, King mandarin, bergamot, and lime - gorgeous lime, softly spicy from the ginger and bergamot. Also not impable.. but again, check the sales area. I dunno.. maybe those recommendations are a bit off, but check reviews and see what you think
  2. ljaylh

    Snake Oil Hair Gloss

    Big hugs to my dear friend stargirl who sent me some of her SOHG to try OK.. so I guess someone had to come along eventually to put a dent in the perfect record of rave reviews that have been posted so far.. and yes folks, that person is me Firstly, I should tell you about my hair. It's very fine-textured and light, but I have a decent amount of it and it has pretty good shine in its au naturel state. Length is just above my waist at its longest point at the back. It's blonde - natural, not bleached or coloured (although a little sun-lightened in places, I think), and it's in good overall health although I do have some shabby ends. And it's naturally curly - depending on the day (weather, hair mood or whatever) it can be anything from soft waves to curls to full ringlets, and on days when it wants to be a bitch it goes stringy. It has magical abilities to form tangles and knots all by itself, don't ask me how.. it just does. Oh, and one more thing - I don't brush my hair. I can't brush my hair. Best I can do is run my fingers or a wide-toothed comb through it, but even that's asking for trouble. Brushing turns nice soft curls into floofy candyfloss mayhem. Anyway.. on to the hair gloss. I received mine as a decant in a bottle not a sprayer, so I splotched about 6-8 drops into the palm of one hand and then rubbed my hands together until both palms were slicked with the hair gloss. Then I swiped it over my hair (slightly-damp almost-dry hair, not wet) very carefully to make sure I didn't get too much on. I concentrated more on the ends and sides rather than the top of my head or close to the scalp. I could definitely smell the Snake Oil, and the gloss has a nice slippery texture that isn't sticky at all. Result - well.. to be honest, I didn't really get a result. I thought perhaps there was a bit of extra shine in a few places, but I'm not sure there actually was - I think I just wanted to see it. And even though I was really careful about applying it lightly, it went on too thick in a couple of spots and made my hair look wet/greasy. My hair did feel quite soft after I had first applied it, but it's usually very soft anyway.. then a couple of hours later it was feeling dry and looking really dull and my hair was just as tangled as it normally is so definitely no help there. The fragrance was very mild - I could smell it, but I certainly wasn't walking around in a little waft-cloud of SO all day. And when I tried to smell it again after about 8 hours, it was pretty much gone - I get better results from a couple of dabs of Snake Oil itself through my hair. So I guess this hair gloss just isn't for me - I've tried it four or five times now, but I'm still getting the same non-results - I think my hair is just too fine/light for it. Maybe it's because I'm not able to brush it through my hair, or use it as a styling product - I dunno.. perhaps it's just my silly hair. I'm disappointed, of course, but not surprised - I know my hair pretty well and I was kind of expecting this would happen. I'm going to give it another try on damp hair, and use more of it, to see what happens. If the results are better/different, I will edit this review edited for clarity .
  3. ljaylh

    BPAL for nausea

    aww.. poor little dude, it must be horrible I think the ones you mentioned could all work.. let's see.. Mint is generally soothing, so I'd go for something with a sweet feel - Snowblind would be nice, with that vanilla softness. Lavender - well, TKO is the main one I'm thinking of - this might help just for general relaxation too. I always find ginger good for nausea - but I can't think of a really ginger-heavy BPAL.. maybe Moxie would be worth a try? I hope the nausea passes soon
  4. ljaylh

    #occupywallstreet

    I have been SO excited about this, and I've waited patiently for my bottles to arrive.. and they're here! Finally here!! Why have I been so excited? Well - a couple of reasons; first, my love for Banshee Beat knows no bounds.. so I was hoping that #occupy is going to be like BB's naughtier, chocolatey-er sister. And second, because when Beth uses the words "filthy friggin' patchouli" followed by "dark, deep, rooty, and strangely sexy" I know we're in for a treat I do not have a disappoint. I am so glad I bought more than one bottle, and now I shall set off on a quest to hoard several more, because I love love LOVE #occupywallstreet - it's exactly what I wanted.. it is a filthy friggin' patchouli that's dark and deep and sexy. And it's the perfect patchouli for my skin.. it doesn't smell mouldy, it's not too earthy, it's not bitter, it doesn't climb up my nose and assault my head, it's just dark and warm and sexy. Patchouli is definitely the dominant note here, and for the first few minutes on my skin it's pretty much all I can smell, but then the cocoa comes out.. and it's just the perfect mix - not too much so that it overrides or mixes weirdly with the patchouli.. the cocoa makes itself known, but never oversteps its boundaries - the patchouli holds its place as the star of this show. The tobacco is a bit lost for me - it's a note I often have trouble finding on my skin, and in #occupy it's just a slight hint of tobacco - not strong at all, just a soft tang. The bourbon vanilla is not sweet or sickly, nor particularly strong - like the cocoa, it sits nicely behind the patchouli rather than dominating it (I actually would have liked the vanilla to be more prominent, but I'm not complaining). It took about an hour for the patchouli to mellow out on my skin, and that's when I could smell the cocoa and vanilla at their best - it does take a while for the oomph of that patchouli to fade So is this a sister to Banshee Beat? Yes.. but more in spirit than in fragrance. BB (on me) is all about the heady richness from the vanilla and hemp, with the patchouli underneath. #occupy (again, on me) is all about the patchouli, with the vanilla and cocoa underneath. So they both have that kickass hippie goddess thing going on, but actually they are quite different. Banshee Beat is what I would have worn for Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock in August 1969, where #occupy is what I would have worn for the Rolling Stones at Altamont in December 1969. And if you don't get those references, then you have no business wearing patchouli EDIT! Just adding this as a PSA a few weeks later - in an effort to get a bit more of a cocoa-licious thing going on with my OWS, I sat the bottle on its head and left it that way for half a day, figuring the cocoa would eventually release itself from the bottom of the bottle and mix a bit better with the rest of the oil. But what did I discover? The cocoa was STILL sitting at the bottom of the bottle! Even when it had been sitting upside down for hours!! So I just had to investigate this further.. I grabbed a plastic coffee stirrer and poked at the stubborn bottom-dwelling cocoa.. except that it wasn't soft mushy cocoa down there - it was solid. Yes, solid - like a lump of tar! When I pulled the stirrer out, it had a blob of black goo on it.. so solid that it wouldn't even wipe over my skin. I'm not sure what to do now - this stuff is probably never going to mix with the oil, it's pointless trying to mix it - I'll just have to hope that over time the solid glob of cocoa will be softened by the oil and eventually come free of its mooring at the bottom of the bottle. But the point of me telling you all this is that I didn't notice at first just how separated the cocoa actually was, and I'm seeing a lot of reviews with people saying they're not getting any cocoa out of their OWS - so check your bottle! Poke something down there - have you got a solid glob of cocoa goo too? .
  5. ljaylh

    The Green Apple Of Venus

    This one went through an interesting sequence of note reveals on my skin.. here's how it went down, over thirty minutes. 1. Sweet juicy sugary green apple. 2. Sweet strawberry. 3. Sweet apple + strawberry together. 4. Pomegranate bubblegum with apple. 5. Some sort of pink sweet apple-ish thing. 6. Dusty sandalwood over the pink sweet apple-ish thing. 7. Stale, dusty apples. The end.
  6. ljaylh

    The Black Apple Of Saturn

    I love apple scents, but I don't really enjoy wearing them.. so I thought I'd try this one because I figured the resins and black musk might balance out the apple-ness of the whole thing. I was also hoping it wouldn't be too sweet. And cypress hates me like a centipede hates pedicures, so I was hoping that wouldn't spoil everything. Yay for the triple win! This is much much more than just an apple scent, and it's not too sweet! And I can't even smell the cypress at all! Huzzah!!! It's warm, kinda waxy (myrrh and opoponax are usually very similar-smelling to my nose, and both tend to go a bit waxy on my skin), and the tobacco gives a lovely dry gold tone. But the star of the show here is the black apple.. it's got a sweet base, but a dusky dry top layer - really lovely, and unlike any other apple I've tried in BPAL so far. Sadly, it does end up getting overly sweet after I've had it on for about 30 minutes.. that nice dryness goes away, and a little bit of soapiness creeps in. So ultimately, this ends up being just another pretty apple blend that smells lovely but isn't wearable as a perfume for me. Bummer.
  7. ljaylh

    The Night Hag Visiting The Lapland Witches

    Whyyyyyyyyyyy did I even bother trying a decant of this? I read the notes.. I saw the pine, I saw the cyrpress - did I really think that black sandalwood and woodsmooke would conquer? Was I really so deluded as to hope that the pine and cypress would behave on my skin? I'm a fool.. a FOOL So yeah - hello pine, hello cypress, I hate you. Well.. to be more fair, you hate me. And the styrax isn't particularly helping.. it's taken the side of the trees, so I'm just not winning this one at all. I can smell the lovely black sandalwood, and there's a gorgeous smokiness here too, and even the nutmeg is here - very faint, nice and soft, but there. THe frank and chamomile are completely lost to me though - they're just buried under the greenery. Note to self: next time, remember you will not win against pine. Save yourself the disappointment, back away from the pine.
  8. ljaylh

    Pumpkin Princess

    Yep - no surprises here.. this is exactly what the label says - sweet pumpkin with fluffy vanilla, soft powdery chocolate, sweet honey, sticky meringue and a bit of tang from the guava and tiare. The only thing I can't really find is the red currant, but there's so much sweet fruitiness in here already that I don't really mind its absence. And the pumpkin here is quite mild, it's a timid little pumpkin.. not a big old fat meaty one. This smells just like it should - soft, sweet, fluffy - perfect for a pumpkin princess. Unfortunately, I'm not a pumpkin princess.. this is another Weenie decant that I bought just for interest (I wanted to try it!), not for keeping, so off to the frimpies box with this one
  9. ljaylh

    The Changeling

    This is really interesting - I could swear there's something nutty in here, like hazelnut. It reminds me very much of Wezwanie/Hold from The Salon when it first goes on - it has that same warm golden nuttiness. I do like blonde wood (hehe.. she said blonde wood) - and it's lovely here, soft and clean with just a hint of sweetness. I get the linen swaddling, but more in feel than in fragrance, although it's definitely the same linen note that I know from other BPALs like Wensleydale and Dirty, and Antique Lace. And I love the pumpkin in this - it's not the usual pulpy, fleshy sweet-ish pumpkin that we see in Weenies.. I do like this 'pumpkin rind' - it's a nice change, slightly woody, and it gives the pumpkin smell without making the whole thing smell of pumpkin. And bourbon vanilla - I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I love you. After a full dry-down, the nuttiness does mostly go away - I'm still reminded very much of Wezwanie/Hold though - minus the honey, add pumpkin. The Changeling is really quite nice, but I've got my favourite pumpkin blends already and there's nothing new enough in this one to tempt me into needing a bottle
  10. ljaylh

    The Gorobble

    What was I thinking? Why would I want to smell like the exterior of burnt marshmallows? I wouldn't, simple as that. And since this is *exactly* how The Gorobble smells, I don't want to smell like The Gorobble. I bought this decant just out of curiosity really - knowing it wouldn't be a keeper - I just wanted to smell it It's nice, if you like the smell of burnt marshmallows. But on me, it's too burnt-smelling - that burned brown sugar smell - and I also detect something cinnamon-like, or even coffee-ish, which isn't sitting right with the sweetness of the marshmallow. Interesting, but not for me.
  11. ljaylh

    The Triumph of Death

    Yes! I get this, too.. it smells like sticky buds *ahem* So this is a bit more 'red' than I was expecting.. that red sandalwood has a totally different feel to regular sandalwood - it's warm, and a bit snuggly. Interestingly, the black patchouli and vetiver are very subdued - having tested Expressive Head earlier, which was OMG VETIVER, I have to say I was a bit scared to try The Triumph of Death (there's only so much VETIVER my nose can handle in one day!) but this one's safe I'm really liking the peru balsam here too - very nice. This is really quite a lovely scent - it's one of those BPALs that doesn't have a distinct fragrance - like I couldn't say "oh it's really musky".. or "it's dark and smokey" - once everything's fully dried down, Triumph of Death is so beautifully blended that it's hard to distinguish individual notes. I'm glad I tried it, but there's nothing particularly outstanding about it.. not enough to justify a bottle purchase - it smells nice, but it's not knocking my socks off.
  12. ljaylh

    Expressive Head

    Warning - everytime I use the word 'vetiver' in this review, it will be written as VETIVER.. because that's how it is in Expressive Head. OK? OK Speaking of warnings, this BPAL should come with one: WARNING: VETIVER AHEAD! Ahead. A-Head.. Expressive Head, geddit? Good grief man, as soon as I dabbed this on the VETIVER leapt off my arm, ran up my nose, and invaded my head. All I could smell was VETIVER - dark, nasty, gnarly VETIVER. But thankfully, after about 15 minutes the VETIVER had calmed down a bit.. and things improved. Mmm.. this is a lovely warm patchouli - slightly sweet, and a perfect partner to the VETIVER. Green pepper is a new one to me, but I can smell it in here - it's green without being leaf/plant-y green, and a bit ticklish on the nose but not in a sharp or unpleasant way - I actually really like it, it's different. Clove? Maybe - not really noticing it, same with the cognac and champaca. Teakwood? Nope.. not getting that at all. So half an hour later, and the VETIVER is still going strong - it's nowhere near the nasal assault that it was at first, but if I take a deep huff of my arm it still coils up and grabs me. A light huff and I don't notice it as much - it's the type of VETIVER that gets right into the back of yer nose, like some deranged black booger that you can't get out. And now I can definitely smell the cognac.. also the champaca.. but they're very very light - just a slight top layer of sweetness over the patchouli and VETIVER, and the green pepper is still hanging in there - it's got an almost lime smell to it, which is really interesting - actually, it's kind of like a minty lime.. very interesting. I just don't know about this one - that VETIVER business is really too much for me, but the dry-down of Expressive Head is very enjoyable and I do like the end result. Would I wear it, if I got a bottle? Yes, I think I would. But do I need a bottle? Not sure. Plus - I suspect this VETIVER is going to get more gnarly with age, so.. I just don't know
  13. ljaylh

    The Ta-Ta

    I'm not sure that I have much to add here that hasn't already been said in previous reviews.. but I'll try The Arabian Dance was one of my favourites from last year's Yules, and The Ta-Ta is so much like TAD that it's kind of uncanny. The key difference, to my nose, is that The Ta-Ta is overall more soft and gentle, and the coffee is more present than the leather - on me, TAD was the other way round - leather first then coffee. The Ta-Ta actually reminds me of some of my favourite BPALs - as well as TAD, it has a similarity to Pinched With Four Aces (similar rich coffee) - also A Bachelor's Dog and Brom Bones and dare I say it... *whispers* Quincy Morris - it has the same soft, warm leather. So if you have found any of those things impossible to get hold of, then definitely give The Ta-Ta a try The only note I'm not really loving here is the carnation blossom - although it's not really sweet as such, it's still a bit too sweet for my liking, and it's kind of interfering with the leather + coffee deliciousness. Once again, I find myself wishing for a Note Removal MachineTM. So my problem now is.. having hoarded a few bottles of The Arabian Dance, do I need a bottle of The Ta-Ta? Time for a death match!!
  14. ljaylh

    Sentimental Initiation

    I just can't quite decide what to think about this one There's something here that's just not quite working for me. But it's not as simple as that.. because somehow it keeps drawing me back to take another huff, and I want to like it, I really do. I think there's just too much going on with the notes here, it's like they're all fighting for attention. The red musk is very dominant, but it's held back by the black musk and clove - those two are keeping the red musk from completely taking over so that's a good thing. But red musk + black musk + clove don't seem to work all that well together, and the myrrh isn't helping out at all. Then we've got bamboo and vanilla orchid - both of those are quite syrupy sweet on me usually, so I think they're just at odds with the musks on my skin. I really can't pick up any of the mandarin at all, which is a shame because it's a fave note. In the end, this does a similar thing to The Elephantine Colossus for me - it develops a slightly sickly cloying aspect.. almost honey-ish. Like red musk and honey. I'm beginning to think that red musk is not my friend My best moment with Sentimental Initiation came after I'd had it on for almost an hour.. I had another huff, and the red musk had died down significantly. The clove had sweetened up, and a lovely smokiness had developed. But I can't be wearing something that only smells good after an hour, so this one is not a keeper for me.
  15. ljaylh

    The Seekim

    I love the little globule of chocolate goodness sitting at the bottom of my decant. I also love the word 'globule'.. so even if I hated The Seekim, I would still be grateful that I got a decant of it because it gave me an excuse to say globule. I was expecting something a bit more dark and intense from this - or should I say hoping for, rather than expecting? Yeah.. I was hoping this would be a dark and dirty mix. When I read this from a few posts up: I had to chuckle, because it is kinda like that, except for me it's more like clean yuppie barn sex rolled in chocolate. Yuppies have those very clean barns ya know, filled with matching suites of storage cabinets from IKEA and clean hay stacked neatly in orderly rows. So I wanted dirty hippie barn sex, but I got clean yuppie barn sex. Anyways - all that aside, I really love The Seekim. Once again I find myself wishing I had a Note Removal MachineTM so that I could take out the hay, because I think that's the note responsible for the 'clean' feel that it has. I also find that the black pepper adds a top layer of brightness to the mix that kinda spoils it a bit, and seems at odds with the cacoa and patchouli. Thankfully, no lemon for me here. I'm not really getting any sense of the incense ash, I do know what incense ash smells like - it's not really smokey as such, it's more a dusky powder - but I'm not getting it in here. And this has to be one of the lightest, least in-your-face patchouli blends that I've ever tried.. the patchouli here is soft. I do think that this is one of those BPALs that should be tested from a 5ml bottle, rather than a decant, because oils that contain globules (YAY - I got to say it one more time!!) don't always decant well, and I always wonder whether I've got an even mix of things in my vial. So although The Seekim has turned out to be much less dark and mean than I hoped he would, I might just have to buy a bottle anyway
  16. ljaylh

    The Zoom

    I had a similar experience to Ms stellans... At first, this was all lovely lime, with the bergamot adding an extra layer of juicy citrus and just a slight peppery touch. The dragon's blood was there, but quite subtle - just kinda wafting around in between the lovely citrus vibe. I wouldn't have picked there being any floral element here, but since I know helichrysum is present then I can sense a sort of sunny gold-ness about it.. but it's not a strong feature of the fragrance. But then.. BAM! In strolls cedarwood, and that's when the trouble starts. This is how it goes: Lime - weeeeee! I'm heeeeeeeeere! Smell me! I'm fresh and lovelyyyyyyyyyy! Cedarwood - Lime? Pffft.. get outta my way! There's no room here for lime, and you can take that stupid girly bergamot with you too. Don't let the door hit yer ass on the way out. Lime - *leaves quietly, holding bergamot's hand* Cedarwood - OK, and now - that dragon's blood resin.. let's just push that aside, shall we? *shove* DBR - But.. I wasn't causing trouble, I was nice and subtle, why don't you like me? Cedarwood - Because I am CEDAR, and I will not stand for any other notes to be present in my company! Now LEAVE! DBR - *puts tail between legs and skulks away* Cedarwood - MWWWWWWWWAAAAAHAHAHA! I win! I'm the only one left! So yeah, it's all over for The Zoom - cedar wins the day. The cedar itself is quite pleasant, it's not totally pencil-shavings or mouse cage, but it's.. cedar. And after all that fuss, the whole fragrance (including the cedar) only lasts for about half an hour on my skin before it fades almost completely away. So unfortunately, this one is not a winner for me If the cedar hadn't bullied everything else away, then I would have really liked this because that early stage with the citrus + DBR was gorgeous.
  17. ljaylh

    Halloween: Las Vegas

    When I first dabbed this one.. my initial thought was "Sugar Skull, is that you?" - because it had that same burnt sugar/boozy thing going on. And I was not happy, because burnt sugar is not my friend. So I wait five minutes, because I'm just uber cool like that (give perfume a chance, I say - as would John Lennon have said, had he lived long enough to experience BPAL, but I digress..) and behold! The burnt sugar stink-o-rama is gone! And what do we have here... hmm - red velvet cake, but not the red velvet cake your grandma made for your sweet 16th - oh no.. this is the red velvet cake that Keith Richards had at his 60th. Rich, boozy, ridiculous. Ten minutes in, and I notice that Snake Oil has slithered on to the scene, because now there's a gorgeous smoky/spicy vanilla wafting around. Is there any Dorian here? I dunno.. maybe, but if so then he's being rather quiet. Can't say I blame him really - this is still a pretty gnarly scent right now, so maybe it's best to lay low for a bit. A full thirty minutes in, and everything's changed again! Now it's all tobacco and incense, dark red wine and vanilla. And that burnt brown sugar/boozy thing has reappeared - not as strong as it was on initial application, but it's definitely back. And the overall scent develops a slight 'stale' tone over time, which is not all that great really - it was a much nicer smell earlier on in its timeline. Ya know.. in the end analysis, this is a pretty awesome scent, and it's probably just as I would imagine a debaucherous pirate wedding in Las Vegas to smell. If I ever imagined such things, which honestly I don't. My imagination is filled only with butterflies and rainbows. But I feel some sort of kindred spirit now with the cleaning staff at that particular Las Vegas establishment - the people who had to clean the room after the event, because this is probably how that room smelled. Except this is better, because it's perfume. It's like Monsterbait: Closet on acid, or Cake Smash on steroids. But I'm not sure whether I will actually ever wear this - it's kind of scary. Yummy, but scary. Actually - I will wear it! When I get invited to Keith Richards' 70th birthday party in December 2013. Yep.
  18. ljaylh

    Batty

    First up - if you get a bottle of Batty, make sure you roll the oil before testing! I didn't at first, and I got a weird floral/cologne smell out of it.. not at all what I was expecting.. and then I realised HEY ALL THE CHOCOLATE IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BOTTLE!!!! Yep, I mean ALL the chocolate was at the bottom. As in, a big thick sludge of it. So once that blonde moment of mine was over, I got to smell Batty in all its chocolately goodness - and what a relief! There's a lovely dark chocolate note, but it's slightly bitter rather than sweet - and the lack of vanilla or other 'foody' notes in Batty allows the chocolate to keep that dark/bitter tone rather than going all candy-like - the tonka adds that nice vanilla-like flavour but not the actual vanilla smell. Oudh, how I love thee with your sweet smokey woody sexyvelvet tones. Oudh makes everything better - even dark chocolate. And who knows what bat musk smells like (well, Robin probably has a fair idea) - but there definitely is a furry/musky tone behind the chocolate.. and the sandalwood is in there too, as a lovely balance to all that dark business. The sandalwood definitely makes everything a bit powdery, but not in a bad way - just in.. err.. a sandalwood kind of way. There is a slight peppery spiciness if I really pay attention, but I'm not noticing the cassia as a stand-out - that's is a good thing since cassia pretty much ruined MB Underbed for me. About 10 minutes in, and the fragrance changes quite a bit - what started out as a blast of dark chocolate musk softens up and settles back, and that's when the oleander starts to come into play.. and it's not as sweet as I was expecting - instead, it's slightly sharp and cologne-y. Luckily it's not enough to completely ruin Batty for me, but I would be a lot happier if the oleander would just bugger off because it has kinda spoiled the nice smells I had going on before it arrived. And once again I am wishing I had a Note Removal Machine*TM, because I just know that Batty would be all kinds of awesome on me if I could just get that oleander out of it. Overall, Batty is a weird little scent - I think it probably needs just the right skin chemistry to get the notes to balance out nicely.. I amp the floral aspect a bit too much, unfortunately. It's not a horrible smell.. it's just not something I think I will wear a lot. In the end it wears down to a soft, powdery, dusky tone with a very dry floral top note - it really is quite nice but not what I was hoping for. I think I'll stash it away for a bit of aging, and see what happens - fingers crossed that pesky oleander will go away! *not related to The Cult's Love Removal Machine, which has been known to distract even the most pure of women. Or is that Ian Astbury in his leather pants? I dunno.. I'm all distracted now.
  19. ljaylh

    Different smells/colors, same perfume

    Hmm.. all my imps of Loviatar are a deep rich red colour, and they all smell the same. It's not all that unusual to get different colour variations in the oil, and some difference in the fragrance happens sometimes too.. but if yours is a whole different colour AND a whole different smell then I suspect you might have a mis-labelled imp there. I dunno - I could be wrong, but that sounds like more than just a 'variation' to me, it sounds like a whole other oil
  20. ljaylh

    Crypt King

    Thanks to the lovely devilot for sending me a tester of this! When I first dabbed the oil on, the most prominent note for me was lilac. It smelled sort of like some kind of men's cologne/aftershave had just been sprayed in the air. Ten minutes in, and the pomegranate makes an appearance but it's oh-so-light - hardly there at all really. Where's the spices? Where's the patchouli? Hmph I say, Hmmmmph! I waited thirty minutes before leaning in for another sniff, but by that point it was almost gone completely - all I can smell now is dry, dusty remnants of lilac. So overall, this is really lovely in its own right.. but not for me at all. I was expecting a lot more depth and warmth from the patchouli and spices, something dark and menacing, and that's just not happening on my skin. Sadly, one me - this is no Crypt King... it's more like Crypt Boy
  21. ljaylh

    Where is this scent?

    I forgot to put the link in on my previous post - announcement here. And yeah.. Google is often out of date like that - also usually the mods who look after the Reviews area move the scent to the Discontinued area and add a 'Disc xxx date' to the sub-title of a scent's review thread (like they did on Ether here) but I don't think that's been happening with every discontinued scent recently because I see a few still in their review sub-category of the GC area with no discon date. I know the mods have a lot to keep up with though, so your best option is to check through the Announcements topic if you need to check on anything
  22. ljaylh

    Where is this scent?

    Nope.. sadly, it is discontinued. The announcement was made in July (The Hesperides was one of five GCs discontinued at that time) - you can see it here. Sorry, that's probably not what you wanted to hear
  23. ljaylh

    EPIC BPAL Spreadsheet Thread

    Excellent! Thank you so much for keeping this all up to date for us OCD organised types
  24. ljaylh

    What Scent Is This?

    Oh you're welcome! And I'm glad you solved the mystery Scentbase is great, it has a lot of neat little features that make finding things nice and easy
  25. ljaylh

    What Scent Is This?

    Is there any chance that it's actually "B.B." rather than "B.R."? I was just thinking maybe it's Brom Bones, because the only other 'B.R.' blend I know of is Blood Rose, since you've already said that Black Rose isn't right. But.. this might help - on Scentbase, you can search by letter! BPALs can be searched here, BPTP blends are here, and TALs are here. It's possible that not every blend ever made is in their database, but I've found it to be pretty comprehensive so maybe that will be helpful for you
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