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I love it when a blend turns out to be even more awesome than you were hoping it would be EC is one of those for me.. when the announcement came out and I read the notes, I suspected this would be a good one but I honestly had no idea what it was going to smell like - aside from the root beer and red musk, the rest of the description was a little mysterious. When I first applied the oil, I was hit by a big whallop of red musk and something very cakey/nutty. At this point I'm thinking OH NO this is odd, what are cake and nuts doing in here?!? So I left it along for ten minutes then went back to it.. and oh.. what a relief - things have changed! Now the red musk has deepend and gone slightly powdery (I definitely get the Snake Oil comparison here - SO has the same musky vibe) and the root beer has emerged. To my great relief, the cake and nuts have gone! I think the 'exotic pipeweed' component contains a little bit of spice and tobacco, but really this is all about the the red musk and rootbeer. And behind those two is *exactly* the kind of smell that wafts by when you're walking through a carnival or fairground that's got donuts, candyfloss, popcorn and other sweet treats - you know that smell.. it's not something you can pinpoint as being something specific, just a general yummy smell. This is definitely the Elephantine Colossus of the BPAL world - it's a big stompy blend, a little drop is enough for a good strong throw, and although it gets smoother and more subtle the longer it's on my skin, it keeps all its notes together nicely and doesn't lose its overall feel. It really does conjure up images of bawdy women flashing their coloured knickerbockers from under their long skirts.. it *is* a strumpet's red musk indeed! Sometimes the description for a blend hits it bang on in my mind, and this is one of those times. Seaside hanky panky FTW! This is a wonderful blend, and a lovely tribute to a piece of history. Thanks so much to my lovely NYCC angel for picking this one up for me

At first, I really didn't like this one too much. It started off with such a blast of alcohol that I couldn't find anything else in there - it was really strong on the booze smell. But then, after about 15 minutes on my skin, the boozy tones started to soften up and mellow out and I got a bit of a bubblegum-like smell going on. I hadn't read the notes at that point, so I was thinking maybe there's some strawberry or blueberry in here - I knew it was something berry, but the booziness was still getting in the way a bit. So I left it alone for a bit, read the notes, and checked back at the 30-minute stage. It's completely changed now! The booze is still there, but it's in the background.. mostly rum, I'm not picking up anything anise/licorice like from the ouzo note, and I wouldn't have said 'brandy' if I didn't see it as a listed note but now that I know it's here then yeah.. maybe I can smell it. And blackberry is the fruit I could smell! And it's not turning to cat pee on me! Blackcurrant/blackberry often does the dreaded cat pee thing, but not in this.. it has an almost cherry-like smell to it, which is probably because it's more of a liqueur than a fruit. Black tea? Where's that?!? I honestly can't smell anything tea-like in here at all - on me, it's a fruity cocktail.. pretty much all rum and berry. Having said that, it's actually quite nice - but definitely one for those who enjoy their BPALs on the boozy side

I put this on just now without knowing any of the notes, and my first thought was OH GREEN! I could really smell grass, but not fresh green grass.. more a boggy/earthy kind of grass. After a few minutes, that died down almost completely and I could smell a waxy/creamy kind of soap-like floral element.. and then about 10 minutes later I thought I was getting something berry-like. Then I came here and read the notes, so yep - it all makes sense now! The only thing I'm not really getting is the beer note.. and I'm not a beer lover at all (don't like the taste or the smell of it) so I can't say I'm disappointed in that at all - I guess I would be though, if I had bought this specifically for the 'beer' aspect. After it's been on for about a half-hour, the greenness has reappeared and the soapiness has gone. It's now a nice blend of earthy greens with a very subtle berry/floral vibe - it's a surprisingly clean scent overall, quite fresh and natural smelling. When I read Little Bird's comment that it reminds her of 'The Girl', at first I thought no way! but now I kinda get what she means - they don't smell alike as such, but they have a similar feel in their freshness and creaminess. I can't really identify the berry or the foxglove on their own - everything is really nicely blended. I have no idea what giant hogweed smells like, but I guess that's contributing to the earthy/green feel. It's actually fading very quickly on my skin, so I'm not sure it has a good wear-length, but I did only apply a little smidge to test so perhaps a good slather would give a different result. Overall - a nice blend.. totally not my thing at all, but I think that if you enjoy earthy scents with a fresh creamy tone then this one is definitely worth a try. But if you were expecting something dark and boggy and beer-y, which is the image that that the story and the listed notes created in my mind, this could surprise you

I also love milk notes, but like you.. I don't have a lot of luck with them - and it's always due to what other notes are in the blend! A couple of my faves that you may not have tried yet: Stinky - newly-washed skin with a dusting of milk, white honey, and baby powder The milk is very soft in this, and the honey behaves itself for me. It definitely is baby-powderish, but not in a bad way. Reviews are here. Werepuppy - A fuzzy brown honey-dusted musk covering freshly-washed baby skin and a howl of milk breath. In the background, there's the barest hint of upturned soil and dew-covered squished stems from a trampled flowerbed. This is another of those soft powdery blends, but it's very pretty, and again the honey is super soft and well behaved. I actually swapped mine away because it was so similar to Stinky (and I preferred Stinky), but that's just how they turned out to be for me - you might get different results. Reviews are here. Sadly, both of those were LE blends.. but you should be able to track down a decant if you check the For Sale topic. Just so you know.. I found Nonae a bit sour, and I used to love Milk Moon (the 2007 variety) - it was a fave for ages - but I've gone off that now too, again with the sour. Stinky and Werepuppy are very different to both Nonae and Milk Moon, but I think they're both lovely so maybe you will too

This is pretty much what I expected.. cherry, almond, and coconut. It's not as boozy or rich as Suck It from last year's Weenies, but the cherry note seems to be the same. The amaretto is strong on the almond, rather than a confection I'm getting more of a pastry from this one.. like almond or marzipan cookies. The coconut isn't the tanning lotion kind, it's a nice natural coconut smell. The saffron is being its usual classy self - just adding a touch of shimmer - but really this is all about the cherry & amaretto. It's a fantastic smell, but I'm not sure it's a wearable one for me.

I'm kinda bummed that I only have a half-decant of this to try, because I sort of want to experience the nastiness of this in the bottle that everyone's describing! I don't get anything foul or bad at first - the honeysuckle is sweet and clean, the balsam is adding a bit of waxy herby smell, and that's about it - yep.. slightly minty honeysuckle is what I'm getting.. perhaps a touch of chrysanthemum but it's barely there, everything's pretty sweet and fresh smelling. After it's been on for about a half-hour, the smell has broken down quite a bit.. that initial sweet and fresh-in-the-garden feel that the florals had has turned and now they smell like they've been in a vase in a hot room with all the windows and doors shut.. the pretty flowers have drooped and lost the will to live. The balsam has gone a bit sour, and overall it smells a bit like squashed flowers that are starting to go a bit mouldy. Which sounds nasty, but it's not a bad smell.. it's just not as nice at the end as it was at the beginning. Which is actually completely perfect for the story behind this scent.

Hmm.. this is an odd mix, really more genius than odd though - I can't imagine anyone else looking at these notes and thinking "hmm.. I bet those would smell good together". But clearly Beth knew they would So this is a dark one, as I expected. The incense is more misty than smokey, and the resins are very fluid. Bourbon geranium is a new experience for me - I love bourbon smells generally, but I'm not sure I'm digging this mix all that much - geranium often goes a bit peppery on me, and that's kinda spoiling the otherwise smooth feeling of Odd Portents. The lavender comes out pretty strongly after about 15 minutes, along with the black rose, and unfortunately those two the nice incense and resins - in the end, I'm left with a lavender/rose mix - it's still dark and resinous but now it's more floral than incense, the blackcurrant is there now too, and there's also a slightly sharp green edge (geranium, you fiend) that's upsetting the balance. It really is a genius blend though - if it weren't for the rose+lavender thing, I would really like this one.

I didn't even consider trying this one, since white musk and lemon verbena are usually no-no notes for me.. and grapefruit is a big NO for me. But whaddaya know.. I'm loving Pom II! Thanks to nrl1978 for sharing her decant with me!! The pomegranate is doing its usual bubblegum thing on my skin, which is all good, but on top of that I have a lovely bright zingy lime with just a hint of sweet lemon around the edges. I know the grapefruit is in there, but it's not bothering me at all where usually I find it bitter and/or sour. Can't say I'm finding any white musk in here, but that's OK - the fruits are what this one's all about.. and they're lovely. This is one of those "good enough to drink" smells - it's fresh, fruity and pretty. It's nice as a perfume, but I think it would be lovely to mix with a hand or body creme.. and it would make a beautiful refreshing room spray.

Bad BAD jasmine! I should have known you'd spoil this one. Pomegranate is a note I love, but unfortunately I amp jasmine terribly.. so the uber-strong jasmine combined with the benzoin is creating a sour, nasty dirty toilet smell for me. Nice it is not. Keep I won't.

Pomegranate, 99% of the time, is pure pink bubblegum smell on my skin. So that's how Heraeon Of Argos started - strong pom at first, but then within a minute or two the lovely sweet apple blossom kicked in. Then a minute or so after that, the fig makes an appearance. So within five minutes, I've got a lovely melange of the pom and apple blossom and fig making a lovely sweet fruity deliciousness together. The fig is a little smokey - not too sweet - it reminds me of the fig note in Miller vs California. The willow bark is not a lead note - it kinda sneaks into the mix a bit later on, just dampening down the sweetness a bit. Thankfully, the almond never made an appearance for me - I'm glad, because typically my skin does not like almond at all. Unfortunately the individuality of the three fruit notes doesn't last too long - they blend together within about 10 minutes and mostly what I can smell now is the apple blossom. Actually there's a slight hint of peach now - that's a bit weird! A very interesting combination, fruity without being obvious about it - nice

I'm not really a fan of florals in general, but this one is different to pretty much every other floral I've come across. The marigold is bright and heady, warm and golden. This perfume seems to have a texture - velvety - it's very smooth. There's a slight sweetness, and thankfully it didn't turn to soap on me. I'm glad I got to try this, but I don't think it's a perfume I would reach for if I had a bottle. It really does contain a little bit of sunshine though, it's very pretty and would probably make a perfect pick-me-up type of scent. And I like how findaghost described it - there's definitely a nectar-like sweetness to it. EDIT: just to update.. it's now 7 hours since I first applied this, and I can still smell it on my skin - not many BPALs last that long on me. Plus.. it's now developed a really nice sweet top layer that almost has a candy-like quality to it, but that lovely golden velvety feel is still there. I'm re-considering what I said before - this might actually be something I would reach for

This is an interesting one! The patchouli is that KICK ASS kind of down and dirty/earthy and sticky patchouli and it's all I can smell at first, but the carnation stops it from being too outrageous and actually ends up coming out on top a few minutes after I've applied the oil. The initial cologne-like smell also goes away pretty quickly. What I'm ultimately left with is carnation on top of the sticky tendrils of patchouli with a mix of floral-ish smells around the edges. It actually gets nicer the longer it stays on, everything warms up and balances really well but the patchouli and carnation are definitely the stars of the show here.

To preface this review, I must confess that I'm not a big Dorian fan.. I remember trying it once, a while back, and not being particularly impressed - so the whole "partner to Dorian" thing didn't influence me at all. That said, on with the review! When it's wet on my skin at first, I get the lovely mandarin and the Egyptian musk is also quite present. As it starts to dry down (within less than a minute) the honey emerges and a waft of the white tea also appears, and the vanilla is trying to peek out but not quite getting there. Then... dun dun dun... tea rose joins the stage. Oh.. hello tea rose, what did you do with all those other notes, you nasty bully!! Five minutes in, and pretty much everything else is gone now.. just the tea rose remains. It's a dusky/musky kind of rose, which in itself is quite nice, but I'm not a big rose fan and I hate that it always amps itself over everything else on me. If I try real hard, I can detect a hint of the mandarin and honey, maaaaaaaaaybe the cognac, and the vanilla is still putting up a brave fight to try and get out, but alas.. the evil tea rose triumphs over everything. One hour later, and Sybil has faded down to a very pretty dusky rose with a slight background of mandarin on a musky base. So nothing really changed for me - sadly - and even more sadly, this has become a bit "old-lady's poutpourri" like on my skin. I knew this one was going to be a risk, because of the rose, but when I saw all those other gorgeous notes that I love - cognac, mandarin, and bourbon vanilla - I just had to give it a try. I don't hate this, it's just not my style of perfume. I can see why so many others are loving it though - it is beautifully feminine without being girly, and dusky/sensual without being smutty. Alas poor Sybil - I don't think you will be staying with me. Last but not least.. thank you to my WeHo angel for picking up a bottle for me EDIT = SIX WEEKS LATER! So I decided to give Sybil a chance, and tucked her away for a while. What a difference a few weeks make! Now the tea rose has mellowed right out, to the point where it's hardly noticeable. What I'm getting now is a lovely dusky musk/vanilla with the beautiful warm cognac and a hint of honey - it's absolutely beautiful on my skin. I'm definitely keeping this now .

I agree with previous reviewers - this is a lot like the Pumpkin Pie bath oil. I get the gooey aspect people have mentioned, but on my skin the pumpkin is pretty dominant - the marshmallow either isn't very strong in the mix, or it's just being smothered by the pumpkin. So ultimately this is pretty much a straight-up pumpkin for me.. sweet and spicy (cinnamon? some nutmeg, maybe?) but pumpkin nonetheless. It does soften up quite a bit on the dry-down, but unfortunately the marshmallow never quite gets there - I don't think it can get out from behind the spices. For me personally that's a disappointment - mainly because I already have quite a few of the various Pumpkin Patch blends from years gone by so I was hoping for something a bit different. So yes - Marshmallow Pumpkin is a lovely pumpkin blend, and perfect as a Weenie. Pumpkin lovers should really enjoy this one

I had actually forgotten that this had cacoa in it.. and when I leaned in for that first smell after applying, I was a bit taken aback! My first thought was "wow - this smells like licorice chocolate!!". Then I checked the notes and realised I has the dumbs This is one of those BPALs that smells pretty much like you hoped it would when you read the notes. It's licorice mostly, with the dark chocolatey richness of cacoa dancing around the licorice - but the nice thing about cacoa is that it adds a lovely dusky chocolate rather than the creamy gourmand kind of chocolate. The anise adds a nice organic warmness and stops the licorice being too obvious - although I guess Licorice Bats falls into the 'foody' category, I think the anise stops it from being too candy-like. I could have sworn there's some dark vanilla in here, but it's not listed in the notes so maybe not. This just may be my perfect licorice BPAL for me - finally! I wanted to love Humbug, but it was just too much licorice for me.. way too strong and cloying, sadly. Licorice Bats gives me the gorgeous licorice/anise that I love, but the addition of cacoa is genius! My favourite Weenie so far

This isn't like any other BPAL I've tried that has a ginger note, and I love ginger, so I've tried most of them! In here, the ginger is candy-sweet without being fake or overly sugary - it's definitely a candy type of ginger though, not the warm/spicy kind of ginger. However, I feel that the way it's blended with the quince and pear make it lose its identity slightly - it kinda gets lost in the mix somehow, which is a little disappointing. I think the quince actually flattens out the sparkly aspect of the ginger. The pear is also different to other BPALs like Perilous Parlor for example - here, it's less sweet and bright.. more waxy, a little powdery, and slightly floral-y. I'm not sure it's entirely the pear's fault though - I think the quince has a lot to answer for in this blend, its fruitiness seems to dominate the other notes a bit too much and it's adding a slightly soapy feel to the whole thing. So.. this is a very nice scent, I was hoping for a more zingy kind of ginger, just a bit 'more' ginger overall really. I really enjoyed the first few minutes when it was still wet, but ultimately it dries down and becomes quite soft and subdued. I've had it on for four hours now, and it's lost all its brightness - all I have left is a waxy/soapy generic fruit smell. I do like it, but I don't love it.. and I really was hoping to love it. The lack of zing from the ginger is a dealbreaker for me, unfortunately.

ianastar - it's normal to have to do your BPAL and BPTP orders separately - unfortunately they can't be combined - so nothing to worry about there, you didn't do anything wrong I just checked the BPTP CnS thread here, and people have posted that they've received a shipping notification for orders placed around the same date as yours but it also looks like orders placed a week or so before yours are only just starting to ship now too.. so perhaps it depends what's in the order as to how quickly it can be organised. So going by the info in that thread, I'd say you should be receiving a CnS any day now If you're worried, you can email BPTP - tradingpost@papow.net - but remember Puddin' is at NY Comic Con this weekend so you might not hear back for a few days. Hope that helps!

Ooh.. great choices! I hope Snake Oil works for you - it's one of my faves If you enjoy Snake Oil on your skin, try dabbing a bit along your hairline behind your ears so that it rubs into your scalp and hair a bit (where you won't see it, because it will make your hair oily) - it's gorgeous when you move your head/hair around and get wafts of the lovely vanilla spices.

Hmm.. I would have suggested Midnight Kiss too. And I completely agree about Countess Willie - she is lovely. I'm guessing you've tried Black Temple Burlesque Troupe already - that's a nice musk + chocolate, although black rather than red musk. Apart from those already suggested, I can't think of anything that's quite what you're looking for. Have you tried layering something chocolatey with a red musk blend? Something like Infernal Lover might make a good base, or if you can find the prototypes BB2 or BB3 - they were very strong on the red musk for me. Oh.. and Cerberus - that has musk and chocolate, amongst other things - on me it's like a musky/incense-y dark chocolate.. it might be worth a try for you. As a side note, I'm disappointed to hear that Pom IV was a fail for you, knowing you love cognac, I haven't received mine yet but I have high hopes that it will be a winner!!

I'm another recipient of the famous #55! Thank you to the lovely Edens Sixth Day for sending me a tester OK.. so yeah.. it's really not very nice. The oil itself isn't really an oil at all - it's more like sludgy goop, and it does NOT dry - it stayed sticky on my hand for an hour, which is as long as I could leave it on before hitting the shower. The smell is interesting - not quite as heinous as I was expecting. There's an underlying tone of sour fruit, mixed with a bit of rancid honey and sour milk. As strange as this will sound.. it's not really that bad. I wouldn't choose to wear it, but I'm glad I got to try it! But here's the weirdest part - when I got out of the shower, I glanced at my hand and noticed a little patch of discoloured skin.. exactly where I had smeared the oil. When I rubbed my skin, it came off! Yes, my skin came off!! I now have a little patch on my hand with a layer of skin missing

Mmm.. this is divine! Arrrrrr.. I loves me some pirates!! In the bottle, it smells very heady - quite woody and balsam-y - and there's a slightly tangy air to it,kinda like the chemical smell you get with some paint products - but it's not offensive, it's just.. there. When it hits my skin though, it's a whole different story - the balsam is up front at first, and the grass is pretty strong too.. it's kind of clamorous for the first five minutes or so, until the notes get their groove on and start to balance out. Then it turns all soft and yummy, musky and leathery and woody, with the lime dancing along the top layer. At first it's quite bright and the notes really pop, but on dry-down (after about 15 minutes) it's changed into a gorgeous close-to-the skin scent. A soft powderiness eventually emerges, but it's not baby powder or 'old lady' powder - it's pirate powder! If pirates were clean and fresh, smelling of sea air and leather (rather than BO and unwashed hair and clothes as I suspect most really do) then this is how I imagine they'd smell. About one hour on, that powdery lime-i-ness has pretty much gone and in its place is a soft leather with a slight background of musky wood. I don't see this as a masculine blend at all - it probably smells wonderful on the guys, but it's definitely wearable for the gals. I was actually hoping it would be a little more ballsy.. the leather here is similar to the one in The Blockhead - very soft and subtle - and the other notes like date, tobacco, ebony, palm etc are surprisingly light as well.. the overall result is pretty light and soft. It's the sort of smell I associate with being at the beach on cool summer nights, when the breeze is coming in just enough to carry the ocean spray with it.. and when you get home, you smell slightly salty but fresh and clean and slightly lime-y. My only issue with this one is that it fades pretty quickly on my skin, so I want to keep slathering it! I'm going to need a few gallons of this one, methinks

Aren't they just! I like how they're obviously part of the same collection (ie Weenies) - it looks like Sugar Skull and Golletes are related thanks everyone for the photos!

Hmm.. green musk, herb-ish, almost a lavender-ish kind of feel, and some salty freshness - I wouldn't say aquatic as such, but in that vein. It develops into quite a brazing cologne-type of fragrance, along the lines of Wilde. I'd imagine people who love these herby/salty fresh cologne types of smells would really enjoy this one.

This is more light and soft than I was expecting - the gunpowder and smoke never really come out on their own, but they do provide a nice blanket for the sweetness of the magnolia and apple blossom. The frankincense and chamomile are quite noticeable on my skin, and together with the beeswax they're making this slightly waxy and dusty. I let this settle for a while before giving it my final verdict - I wanted to wait and see what the notes would do.. but ultimately everything melds together in a way that makes it difficult to pick up anything in particular. It ends up being kind of a waxy floral that's kinda flat and unimpressive on my skin.. very light, and it's a touch soapy. Not for me, which is a shame because magnolia and apple blossom should be a gorgeous combination but my skin is just amping the chamomile and beeswax too much for the more delicate notes to come through.

I definitely see the Snow White comparisons here.. and since SW is one of my all-time favourite blends, that makes me very happy! This is like Snow White's Hawaiian cousin - the coconut is sweet and mellow but definitely cold - it reminds me of a coconut icecream milkshake. Plumeria is such a pretty note, and combined with the other ingredients in here it mixes with the coconut and becomes a gorgeous tropical cocktail. I have nothing more to add - the other reviews say it all.. this is beautiful, soft sweet and cool. I really am astounded at its likeness to Snow White though - I see not everyone agrees with that, but on my skin it definitely has a similarity.