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Hmm.. interesting.. first up - no cherry for me. This is a Good Thing. Grape? Yes.. perhaps.. but not the type of grape that I'm used to in BPALs.. this isn't the candy type of grape or the purple type of grape.. it's the wine sort of grape. And whilst I agree with MA that there's no boozy note here.. I'm categorising this as a wine blend. A very VERY dry red wine - like an old vintage Merlot or Pinot Noir - deep, purple/red grapes - definitely old fruit, not young and fresh wine - with a touch of pepper and smoke. The wine-ness backs off when it's fully dried down, allowing the smokiness to come to the front and reveal a slight spiciness. There's more to this blend than purely a wine-like fragrance though - it's quite complex, but so well-blended that I can't quite pick out what else could be in there. It may be a touch of musk, or perhaps something earthy like a black patchouli.. maybe even some wood - teak, perhaps.. it has a slightly exotic flavour about it. For a prototype, it really does seem quite complete - it's very full-bodied and deep, with just the right balance of top and bottom notes to keep it interesting. This really does seem worthy of Belshazzaz, the last King of Babylon - it's a feast of smells with a definite exotic edge. If you like those rich incense/smoke blends with dark red/purple undertones, you're probably going to really dig this one.

I need to preface this review by saying that I am a BIG fan of Boomslang.. but my little hoard of it is all very well aged to the point where it's dark and thick and sludgy and amazing. So having said that - this prototype version is really interesting because it's totally different to the sludge that I have at home It's definitely the same smell as the released version - no question about it - but as the previous reviewers have mentioned.. it's less intense. The chocolate here seems much softer (more like a milk choc than a dark one), and the Snake Oil component of it seems less spicy and more vanilla-ish - definitely less heavy on the red musk. I've never actually had any lab-fresh Boomslang, so perhaps this is actually how new Boomslang smells? I dunno.. but this version is gorgeous, really soft and yummy, and a kind of toned-down version of the released version. For the first time ever, with this Boomslang I got the 'baby powder' thing that I've seen people despair about with Snake Oil. This has never happened before! But again.. all my Snake Oil is uber-aged too so maybe that makes a difference. Anyways.. I actually like the powderiness of it.. it's lovely, soft and snuggly. So in summary, if you love Boomslang because it's dark and rich and gourmand, then this proto version will probably disappoint you because it's just not as intense. However.. if you find Boomslang a bit too much and would prefer everything toned down a few notches, then this proto version could be just the thing you're looking for!

This is a weird one! My first impression was that it smells like citronella.. but then I paid a bit more attention and found there's more going on. First up, this goes on very strong and pungent - not in a bad way, but the teensy little dab I applied sure does emit a big waft of fragrance! As it starts to dry down, the citronella is still very prominent but I start to pick up other notes.. lavender, and perhaps geranium. I'm not sure about the pennyroyal that the previous reviews mentioned - there is *something* pennyroyal-ish about it, but I'm not 100% sure whether that's what it actually is. Ten minutes in, and now lemongrass is coming through and that initial citronella flavour has dissipated - the lavender is still going strong though! There's nothing in here to sweeten up the lavender (as there is in, say, TKO) - so it's just a nice raw and natural kind of lavender.. pretty much exactly like you'd get if you picked some fresh from the garden - even down to the slight woody green-ness that fresh lavender has. It stays quite strong for a good 30 minutes or so, then starts to soften up nicely.. eventually fading down to a lovely soft lavender/citrus smell after an hour or so. Overall.. a very interesting blend. I'm not sure it's something I want to wear as perfume though, but I'm tempted to keep it until summer comes back to this part of the world.. just to see if it really does piss off the skeeters

Thanks to devilot for sending me a little tester of this one!! Tilt v4 is a tricky one to pin down the exact notes - it's a full on fruity feast! I'd have to agree with fairnymph on the ones she mentioned - I can't say that I picked up all the same fruits she did - but I definitely get the pineapple, melon, mango, papaya and something pinkish that could be cranberry.. I'd add guava and kiwi fruit to that as well. It's quite possible only one or two (or even none!) of those fruits are actually in here, but those are the things I'm reminded of when I smell this. It's very fresh and juicy, and sweet but in the way that natural fruit juices are sweet - not in an artificial candy-like way. When it first went on my skin, there was a cloud of almost menthol-like smell around it - I wouldn't say mint as such, just something slightly mentholated.. almost like a balsam. That went away fairly quickly though. If this ends up being released in the next Carnaval Act, I'm sure it will have a lot of fans. It's really quite delicious and it lasts very well.. I've had it on for more than two hours now and the fruit notes are still nice and clean and fresh. Overall, a very enjoyable scent and I'd grab a bottle of this if I could

#220 (received via swap from the lovely Klepz) In the bottle, the vanilla isn't very noticeable - there's a strong tropical note, and something green coming out. On the skin.. wowsers, this is vanilla city! As Klepz mentioned in her review - this is definitely closely related to Love's Philosophy, even down to the saffron note and that very slight green tinge that LP has. It starts off very creamy, then develops a top end that reminds me of Boo!, and then the vanilla dries down and something tropical comes out - I'm picking pineapple, but it's very subtle and there might even be a tinge of coconut in there. The vanilla isn't one of those sweet/sickly candy types of vanilla - it's more a smoky/rich type of vanilla, which is great cos that's what I like! So overall - creamy, rich, with a hint of tropical sweetness. Not foody, not sweet, just right! I could have handled a stronger vanilla - it's a fairly light blend (even after a good slather) but really lovely nonetheless.

A total chance discovery yesterday, thanks to RaeNarcissus posting something on LJ.. Slather some Panther Moon on first, then swipe a little Bordello over the top. Whaddaya get? Hellion! True fact

Ayup - coffee! My previous experiences with coffee-related BPALs hasn't been great - the two that come to mind are El Dia Reyes and Bah! - whilst I've loved the smell of the oil itself, on my skin they were both too much coffee - too strong, and with a brown sugar background that made them overly rich for me. IXHV4 brings the same beautiful deep roasted coffee note that those previous blends had, but this time it's presented in a more mellow and creamy way that isn't getting up my nose at all. For comparisons, I'd put this one more in the same camp of coffee style that Pinched With Four Aces sits in - deep and dark, but not sweet or artificial. There is some sweetness here, but it's not the foody kind of sweetness. It has an exotic aroma about it - like the kind of coffee you find brewing in Jamaica or Morrocco but I cannot figure it out - something almost musky, and it feels like a 'red' note, it might be a spice of some kind (like a paprika or dried chili) or perhaps a splash of dark cacao, but it's just floating around the edges of the coffee so it's hard to pin down. Overall, this is definitely for lovers of coffee smells - particularly if you love the dark roasted coffee smell or liqueurs like Tia Maria and Kahlúa. At one hour in, it's still going strong on my skin - the initial blast of COFFEEEEE has gone away and now it's developed a lovely creamy softness with a slightly spicy feel but the coffee is still there. This blend is more complex than just coffee alone.. I wish I could figure out what else is in here because it's quite delicious!

Damn it. DAMN. IT. !! Mahogany, I love you - why can't you love me back? Why have you made this perfume smell like stale vomit on my skin? WHYYYYYYYYYY? In the bottle, the smell is intoxicating - I can pick up the deep boozy cognac with a slightly chocolate-y edge, old rubbed wood, and brimstone spookiness. The brimstone is peeking through, but mostly it's the lovely cognac and mahogany. So I dab some on.. and.. instant disaster. I could only stomach it for about 10 minutes, and then I had to go wash it off. This is one of very few major failures I've experienced with BPAL, one of perhaps only two or three times that my skin has turned something gorgeous into something disgusting. I'm either going to have to swap this away, or save it until I can organise a skin transplant. Very sad, I am.

This was a frimp from the lovely scenteddreams! Sadly, I get the brown sugar/burnt butter version of this one - which is kinda what I was expecting because butter is a bastard on my skin sometimes. But I was hoping that perhaps - given the notes/description - this would be a creamy/milky kind of butter. Alas, no. I can smell the tea, and something slightly fruity. For me, this actually smells more like that fruit bread (you know the stuff with raisins and cinnamon etc in it) than just regular plain bread. I bet it's just wonderful on the right skin.. it's a fantastically foody blend, but not for me.

When this first goes on, it smells like fly spray mixed with cherry and honey. If it actually were a fly spray, it might be a pleasant alternative to the other stinky varieties of fly spray.. but as a perfume - not really working for me. The honey here is quite sharp and green, there's definitely a garden-like feel to this one. The cherry is surprisingly subtle, and it does meld nicely with the honey after a while but overall this isn't really blowing my skirt up. The fly spray aroma never quite goes away, and nothing else comes forward to make an impression. As with all the other Infused Honey blends that I've tried, this one is at its best about an hour in - but I just can't deal with that first hour of fly spray to get to the good part.

So this is the one we all expected to smell like a mix of vomit and dirty socks.. I'm kinda scared to try it There's something weird in here that's creating a halo effect of scent above my skin.. it's like there's layers in the smell. The top layer has a waxy and slightly chemical-ish smell to it.. not unpleasant, just a bit clamorous at first. The on-my-skin layer is all fruity goodness, but the boozy kind of fruit that you'd find down the bottle of your tall glass of trifle - under the layer of sponge cake that's been soaking in brandy. That's actually the best way I can describe this one.. it's very trifle-ish, fruit and something brandy-like and something custard-like. Once it's fully dry (about half an hour after applying), that harsh top layer has gone away and blended in with everything else. The fruitiness has mellowed down quite a bit, and there's something slightly rank smelling when I take a big whiff up close on my arm. I think I'll have to refer to Venneh's previous title for it.. ass-fruit. Yeah, sad. I just don't know about this one - I like it, but it's just on the verge of being a bit stinky and not in a good way.. I liked the early fruity custard stage much better.

So far the honey note in all these 'Infused Honey' blends has been really nice.. not powdery, not too sweet, fresh and clean. This one is no exception - the honey's definitely the star of the show here though, where in some of the others it's more subtle. There's a herbal mintiness in here that I'm not really enjoying.. overall, nothing in this blend really grabs me - it's just not my kind of thing and the notes aren't really working nicely as a combination.

I have a love/hate thing with BPAL's honey blends.. but this one is lovely, the honey is clean and fresh rather than mead-y, sweet or cloying. At first it seemed a little bitter and green/woody, but the scent really does change through the drydown stages. After about an hour on my skin, I now have a lovely soft berry with a rich woodiness and a soft wafting honey that's stayed fresh and hearty rather than going powdery. This is very pretty, and it does remind me of Christmas smells - not sure why!

Nothing much to add here that hasn't already been said! The coconut is the most dominant note in this for me, but it's a lovely waxy coconut - the realistic kind, not the suntan lotion or tropical cocktail kind. The licorice is a perfect partner to the coconut - what a dream match.. who wudda thunk it!?! Together, they create an almost honey-like scent, it's really an interesting mix. The amber and sandalwood are just playing around the perimeter of the scent - I know they're there because there's a dusky quality to the throw, but they're not strong in themselves. I would have liked the ginger cream to be a little more forward.. it's barely there, mixed in somewhere amongst the clove and cinnamon which are also very subtle. I honestly can't find the tonka in here anywhere, the coconut is just so upfront in this blend that other things are hard to find! Overall, this has a lot less 'kick' than I was expecting - given the whole 'killer swarm' thing, I thought it would be more spicy and 'hot' with a deeper/darker feel but on me it's more dusky and furry like a fuzzy bee. If you love those kinda-waxy and close-to-the-skin type BPALs, and enjoy coconut, then Paduan is for you. This will probably age nicely - maybe some of the more subtle notes will come out and the coconut might mellow with age. Meanwhile, I'll definitely enjoy wearing this.. it's one of those snuggly yummy BPALs that are just nice to slather on when you feel like something warm and comforting.

Oooh.. if you like chocolate smells, you must try Bliss! I know exactly what you mean about Gluttony.. but Bliss is nothing like that, it's a lovely soft chocolate.. very yummy. Velvet is another nice one - that's chocolate vanilla with sandalwood and myrrh for something a bit different. Oh, and Vice - chocolate with black cherry and orange blossom You could also try to hunt down some Milk Chocolate & Buttercream - this was an LE for Valentine's Day last year so it's no longer available to buy new, but it pops up in the 'For Sale' area quite often. MC&B is a gorgeous creamy chocolate - the butter part of it isn't sickly or sharp at all. I'd suggest you try and isolate the exact type of sugar that you like (and don't like). When you see anything in the brown sugar family, it's likely to have that caramel/toffee tone to it and it sounds like that's something you don't enjoy in your BPALs. So the white sugar things are probably more to your taste. I definitely second the suggestion to find some Boo! - soooo good - and you could also look out for Midway (or Midway Resurrected, which was the re-release) - kinda hard to find, but a delicious cotton candy-ish one. If you like a more 'pink' sugar, you could try looking for some Velvet Unicorn - that's a spun sugar with strawberries and cherries, very sweet but yummy. And as others have mentioned, definitely try to get hold of some Cake Smash On the BPAL website, you can use the 'Search' function.. if you type in 'sugar', it will bring up a list of anything in the general catalogue that contains a sugar note - that's a good way to find specific things and check out what imps you might want to try. Just keep trying lots of things.. you'll find "the one"

This smells like a lemon-lime champagne cocktail. It's fizzy citrus, but so not right for me.. my arch nemesis champagne (or perhaps it's gin or grapefruit) is in here, making everything all nasty sour. If you can wear these 'fizzy' things, lucky you! I'm sure this would be lovely on someone whose skin behaves differently to mine.

Ohh.. this is so good! I was a bit scared of the cherry deal.. the last couple of times there's been a cherry-related BPAL out, it hasn't ended well for me. Sometimes it turns into that nasty cough-syrup fake-plastic type cherry and totally misbehaves by bullying any other notes into oblivion. But not here.. nope.. wooooo! This is very much like Boo for me - it's that same deep vanilla note, but in Gothabilly the sweetness of the vanilla is well tempered by the musk. And the overall feel is slightly boozy, but not in an obvious way - the liqueur seems to be melded with the cherries beautifully so that the overall effect is dark and syrupy rather than sweet and fruity. I like this because it's sweet without being candy-like, and it's not one of those "pink" or "young girl" blends - this is definitely grown-up but with a playful edge. Actually, it really suits the Gothabilly name! Very very nice, something I could wear any time and just enjoy the nice smell.

This is a surprise winner.. my relationship with rose is not a happy one, but here the rose stays softly in the background - blended beautifully with the musks. I've never come across grey amber before, but I can pick up the amber note in here and it's cooler than usual so I guess that's the grey variety. The lavender never really pops for me in this one - it's there, but not very well developed. The standout notes are the carnation and vanilla bean which together put a warm, heady, and slightly spicy glow everywhere. For me, Under The Harvest Moon reminds me of those lovely creamy skin scents in recent Shunga lines - it's that same kind of not-quite-floral blend but with a much warmer and golden edge. Very pretty.

This smells exactly like when I stick my face into my cat's floofy tummy.. all warm and clean and snuggly sweet. I never really get 'aftershave' out of this, but it is slightly soapy. The sweet edge actually does remind me of candy wrappers - the waxy kind, they always retain just the subtlest smell of the candy they once held. I'm also really happy with the brimstone in this - it's staying in the background, adding just a little smokiness but more a musky kind. Yup.. floofy cat belly It's really quite nice, and I think it would work very well on a man - it's semi-powdery but not in a bad way. It's not what I think Hellboy would smell like though.

Thank you so much to damonkitty for sending me a sample of this one! Wow. Just.. WOW. This is one of those sprays that pervades your room in a dark and menacing way - a couple of spritzes is more than enough to instantly fill the space with atmosphere. When it first hits the air, I'm reminded me of a dark and slightly damp wine cellar... the shiraz smell is up front, and it's stunning. It is absolutely spot-on to the wine itself.. shiraz is something we make particularly well here in Australia - our blends are rich and sumptuous with nuances including plum, blackberry, pepper, licorice and chocolate, depending on the origin of the grapes. All those things are in Thriambus, and it's just gorgeous. When the clove and tobacco notes chime in, the combination is sublime - totally decadent and rich. The tobacco is particularly nice in here - it's golden and smooth, with no sharp/sour top end like tobacco can sometimes give. I don't notice the rubber until about 10 minutes in - but it's there, and I think the latex and vinyl are just all part of the same illusion.. it's nothing specific, just a kind of rubbery smell in the background. Quite a masterpiece, and I'm so glad I've been able to try it. As others have already said, I wish this were more widely available - it's a shame more people won't get to try it.. and I'd definitely buy a big bottle of it. Ah well.. I'll definitely enjoy what I've got

In the bottle, this is bright orange candy citrus smell - quite deep and lush. When it first hits my skin, it's the same - a really bright orange, but not natural orange like the actual fruit smells - this has a slight 'fake' smell to it.. it's just *too* orange. Things quickly change.. Now some other citrus notes are coming out. There's more to the orange - it's lost that artificial feel and become a more 'true' orange.. far more deep. More like a tangello, perhaps. I'm getting some lemon now too, and yeah - probably grapefruit although the blend of citrus in here is a little too well blended.. it's hard to pick individual fruit notes - and it's become more sweet.. everything is softening up nicely. About 10 minutes in, the fizz starts to appear. This is more than the kind of tart fizz that grapefruit usually creates.. it has an alcoholic smell to it - I'm calling champagne (or a dry white wine, perhaps) on this one. My skin does not like champagne, not at all.. on me, it becomes a nasty sour thing that with a sharp and acrid edge. And of course, out it comes to override all that lovely citrus I had before. Had the champagne not come out, I would have loved this.

I must preface this review by saying that I have been spoilt with a plethora of BPAL leather blends lately, due to my current obsession of finding "the one". So far, Spanked is my all-time fave but due to its impossible-to-find-without-winning-the-lottery status, Crowley is my #1 and (for me) is going to be very hard to knock down from that position. I like my leather blends complex, hot, throbbing, pulsing and menacing. Whilst I enjoy the softness of leathers like Sacrifice and NGG023, I prefer my BPAL leathers to have some oomph. Bearing all that in mind, Rivet.Goth comes in to the race with high expectations behind him. The leather is very nice - but it's like new leather (ever bought a brand new leather jacket?) - very fresh and clean. The tobacco absolute note is lovely - it was quite sweet at first, but when fully dried down it changed into a nice golden bitterness. The musk, sadly, is more sweet than 'gritty' for me - I was hoping for a darker musk in this one. And machine oil.. hmm.. can't say I'm really picking that up, although there is a slight air de mechanic shop around everything in this. So.. to me, this is the scent of the little guy on the bottle. The wanna-be tough goth, who's got a new leather coat that he keeps shiny and clean and is really not the tough guy people think he is*. Rivet.Goth is just not enough of a standout from other similar blends to really make me take notice. It's nice though, don't get me wrong, but just.. kinda weak. Lacking in grunt. Pretty boy leather *with no offence meant to anyone who is into this style of goth-dom!

Land of the Lost?? hehe.. yeah.. and there's also this:

Hmm.. interesting to see the different reviews on this one so far! My impressions are similar to Midnight Aeval's - a soft and sugary lime (not POW kind of lime, and not a super citrus-y lime like the one in Scurvy) - it's more on the creamy side than the citrus side. There's something else going on in here.. it's almost like pepper, perhaps pink or white pepper, something in the background is adding a bit of kick (making my nose tickle) and there's also a slight bitterness somewhere. And I agree there's probably a musk of some sort in here - not white musk, but not a dark musk either - a nice soft musk. Once it dries right down, the lime-ness does fade a little but it stays true - the overall smell reminds me of the juice drinks I buy sometimes when I ask for all the green things in together - I get a mix of lime, grapes, kiwi fruit, apples, pears and honeydew melon. That's kind of what this smells like - mushed up green fruits with a citrus edge, mainly melon and lime. Quite fresh and pretty, I'd recommend it for anyone who loves things like Scurvy, or the quirky fruity blends like Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat and Schrodinger's Cat or 'Tis The Voice Of The Lobster - it's in that same vein, an eccentric fruit

What a weird combination! I'm guessing lime and lavender, with something VERY ozone/aquatic that's creating the metallic edge. This is kinda irritating my nose - not in a sneezy way, just in an irritating way - it's not a smell I'm enjoying. Very clean and fresh, maybe even slightly fizzy, but for me.. it smells like walking through the men's perfume area at the department store. You know how that smells.. the mix of all those Calvin Klein and Hugo Boss and Armani type colognes. These kinds of BPALs just don't work on my skin, nor are they the kind of fragrance I like. So nope, not for me - I'll stick to using tin foil in the kitchen only.