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Oh gosh.. this is magnificent! The leather is warm and soft, it absolutely smells like a well-worn saddle. The blood is very subtle, but combined with the woodsmoke it's giving the leather a warm and soft sweetness rather than a harsh hardness. The sage does give it a slight cologne-like edge, but nothing that's really noticeable (not like, say, Severin.. which was very cologne-y on me).

 

This is very evocative of the whole cowboy image, it's dry and dusty but not powdery, and warm and comforting with an edge. Absolutely top class, and it stays on my skin for ages. Overall.. just beautiful, and I'd say an absolute must-have for any leather lovers!

In case anyone is wondering, apparently Werepuppy is back-ordered. I inquired a couple days ago about the status of my order placed on 1/2/10 since I'd been seeing CnS's for dates several days after my order was placed. Guess that one is quite popular!

 

Well poo, poo and poop-e-dy-doo! I added that in with my Lupercalia order.. I hope the back-order situation doesn't cause too much of a delay. I think it suddenly became popular when all the rave reviews started pouring in! Well.. that, and the cute label is hard to resist

 

Yep, it's black! Very, very black!! Behold the blackness:

 

 

That's two coats, straight over my natural nails - I didn't have any base coat stuff so this is just straight over the nail. Also no top coat - this photo actually makes it look a little grainy, but that's just camera badness - it's perfectly smooth and even. The polish is thick but not gluggy, and it goes on very easily. Drying time is pretty quick - it was touch dry within about 10 minutes and completely dry within 20.

 

The results are pretty stunning - although it's an opaque/solid colour, it's quite glossy but not in a 'shiny' way - just the right amount of gloss to stop it being a dull black. It wears well too - two days in, and there's no colour loss from the tips and no chipping. And the thing that was worrying me the most, since these are real nails and real nails tend to absorb colour - the polish came off very easily, no problems at all, and didn't leave any staining or discolouration. Pretty outstanding all round really!

 

Finally, the obligatory shot with the bottle.. although it's very hard to see the BPAL branding due to the darkness of the polish.

 

 

I was gifted a bar of Snow White soap by a lovely forumite!

 

So this bar has been aging since around December 2007 I guess, since it was a Yule release from that year. Although the soap was still wrapped in its plastic cover inside the beautiful outer paper, I could smell the Snow White fragrance straight away - it's *exactly* the same as the oil.

 

My first thought was to keep this and never use it, because the wrapping is so pretty, but then I thought I should get over that and just use it. So I did!

 

I'm surprised earlier reviewers mentioned a thin lather - I actually got loads of lather from mine, way more than I expected.. which is a good thing, a little of this goes a long way. It's beautifully soft and creamy, and washes off the skin easily. And the fragrance.. well, if you love Snow White then you're going to love this! The smell from the soap stayed on my skin post-shower.. the only potential problem with this could be that it would be kinda wrong to then wear any BPAL other than Snow White.. but that's not a problem as far as I'm concerned

 

A truly beautiful soap, creamy and silky soft, and a beautiful fragrance. I hope this one makes a reappearance with the new BPTP soaps this year!!

 

I took a risk on this one - cucumber and purple sage didn't really appeal to me but the tonka bean, black coconut, redwood and teak combo did! So I just had to give it a try

 

What a strange little blend.. it is a rickety concoction indeed! The cucumber's actually quite nice here.. it's fresh and light, and gives the whole thing a very clean and crisp feel, and the sage is adding a hint of peppery mint. The redwood and teak are definitely present, and definitely true to form - this isn't a 'brown' wood base like you might get with oak or a darker wood - it's totally a red. I can't really distinguish the coconut and tonka bean separately - I know they're in there, because there's a sweet tone to everything - but on my skin the cucumber and woods are more dominant.

 

The longer it stays on my skin, the nicer it gets - the tonka bean comes out much better after a while and it sweetens up beautifully - even goes a little creamy - very pretty. This is really quite unique, I would never have thought that cucumber and sage would work with the tonka, coconut and woods, but it really does. A very clever blend and quite lovely.

 

Well this is strange.. not at all what I was expecting! As previous reviews have said, it smells quite strong in the bottle - sweet and creamy and a big waft of ginger. However when it first went on my skin, I could swear it smelt like fizzy orange - not a sweet citrus kind of orange but a deep rich blood orange. Ginger doesn't usually smell like orange, so as I said.. strange!

 

Half an hour in, I'm still getting that blood orange thing but now I can tell that there's ginger involved - a very slight peppery spiciness is coming through the sweetness. It's still quite creamy, which I guess is the musk, but I can't say there's much of a 'scorched' aspect to it though.. maybe a teensy hint of smoke, but I might just be imagining that. This would have been right at home with the Atomic Luau Lounge range of BPALs from a while back.

 

Overall, a very interesting blend - not an instant love but I have a feeling it might age beautifully so I'll hang on to it and see what happens

 

Annnnnnd.. many thanks to milo for passing it along to me!

 

When I saw the name "Night Parade of 100 Demons" I thought hmm.. what's this going to smell like?!? and I have to say I was expecting something.. well.. demon-like. Instead, this is actually quite pretty!

 

As milo said, it definitely has a vetiver-like, almost dirt-like zing in the vial and when it first hits my skin. But that fades quickly once it starts drying, and then a fresh floral appears. I'm going with a lily-type floral, or perhaps narcissus, I don't think it's jasmine cos I can usually pick that from a mile away, but it could possibly be a jasmine variant that's lighter than 'plain' jasmine, or it could be the mysterious 'night blooming flowers' that appear in other BPAL blends. It definitely has a fresh, green edge to it. Further into the dry-down, the green ripens and sweetens a bit and there is something slightly fruity in there - a citrus kind of fruit, maybe a dash of lime? Perhaps some ginger? I dunno.. this is a tough one to decipher!

 

Half an hour in, the floral has mellowed and that smoky vetiver-ish thing has come back, but now everything's balanced beautifully and it's a lovely warm scent. I can't wait to see what the notes actually are, when this one gets released!

 

Lolita is the lemoniest lemon pie-ish lemon GC BPAL that I can think of.

 

Is lemoniest even a word?

 

does anyone know when the label for Black Phoenix (the GC) stopped being unique? i ordered one a couple of months ago and received it in december, but it's just got a standard GC label. =(

 

i was expecting this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/miss_twilight...57606847083605/

 

That's so disappointing! I've been putting off getting a bottle of Black Phoenix and I, too am (was?) expecting the different label.

 

I'm interested to know the answer to this one too.. my bottle has the orange label with black phoenix, if I remember correctly it was purchased early 2008.

First up, big love goes to the very special person who sent me this as a surprise in a swap package! Thank you, Sue

 

Alright.. so this is, as expected, completely decadent. It's a true dark chocolate - rich and creamy. The cocoa is very much like Candy Butcher, and (as mentioned in a previous review) Boomslang, but where both of those blends have other notes this seems to be 99% chocolate - I do detect a hint of vanilla and spices in there, which gives it a slightly liqueur-like feel. Deep, rich and ridiculously delicious.

 

I wish I still had my decant of Orange now, so that I could layer the two together as originally intended, but alas I do not. So I shall enjoy this all on its own.. which is not a bad thing!

 

 

 

 

I have a few favourites in this line, and already have a 5ml of Shango which on me is absolutely delicious - not overly sweet or fruity, it's lightly spicy with a 'deep red' feel, almost like a red musk kinda vibe.

 

My imps of Ogun and Osun are well used, so maybe a bottle of either (or both) of those will find their way into my next order

 

Oh.. and Obatala - really very lovely, creamy and soft - for me it's all about the milk but the coconut is very present as well.

 

Re the question of proceeds from imp pack purchases - I think yes, they would be included.. the announcement said "Proceeds from all of January's sales of the #BPAL's Orisha oils.." so I reckon imps would count.

 

Berries! Black ones, I think. Where blackcurrant usually turns to cat pee on me, this one isn't quite doing that.. however there seems to be a definite brown sugar/syrup or caramel in here, because it's all going horribly wrong right under my nose.

 

After about 10 minutes, I'm left with faint berries and a buttery cake smell. There's also something slightly nose-tickly in here.. cassia or cardamon or nutmeg, maybe? Not at all like crumpets - I'm a big fan of crumpets, so I know what they smell like

 

This is definitely a crumpet rebellion on my skin.. the crumpet's fighting valiantly to be found amongst the berries and butter and spices but alas.. it's not to be.

 

When I first put this one, the lily was very strong and rich.. just like a fully bloomed lily or freesia, slightly sweet but very strong. As it dried, the green comes out in full force with a very 'fresh' tone to it - kind of like the blast of green cleanness that I get from something like Squirting Cucumber. Gradually, the two merge back together so that the lily has softened and the green has mellowed out.

 

The wood doesn't really make an appearance until about 15 minutes in, and I can't say that I ever got the 'varnished' aspect of it - just a nice soft oak that provides a nice background to the fresh floral of the lily and greens. It does fade fairly quickly, but it fades in a way that keeps the nice smells - it doesn't just disappear.

 

I'm glad I got to try this, but it isn't something I'd wear - just way too floral for me - but any lily lovers should definitely try it. I think it's more for wearing with a flouncy floral dress and strappy sandals, on a sunny spring day then for laying broken at the bottom of the stairs though

 

 

On my skin, this is quite herbal when wet but that softens up a bit once it dries. I'm left with a somewhat sharp chamomile, a slight hint of vanilla and a wispy smoke - I was expecting this to be rich and heady with its bourbon vanilla and smoky vanilla bean, so I'm disappointed - those are usually two of my favourite things. Everything here is very very soft but the chamomile is too dominant for my liking.

 

On my skin, the leather in this is so dusty that it's hardly discernible at all. If it wasn't a listed note, I most likely wouldn't have recognised it. The musk is very soft and slightly sweet, as are the sandalwoods.

 

Overall, this is like putting a dab of baby shampoo on my arm.

 

Well.. this is interesting, and not like the O we all know so well - what a nice surprise!

 

I can't really add much to what's already been said.. this is very creamy, warm and languid. When it first hits my skin, I'm guessing there's a touch of amber, light honey, and something pink-ish - is it carnation? I'm not getting any of the pepperiness that carnation sometimes has, and this feels more 'pink' than carnation usually does, but I'll defer to the judgement of those with a far better nose than me on that one!

 

When completely dry, the honey comes up stronger but it never goes over the edge into sweet honey - it stays dry and soft, and I'm pretty sure that there's amber in here because I'm now getting a slight hint of baby powder. Actually, it's gone quite girly frills on me - the pink factor has amped up.

 

This actually reminds me a little of my lovely old Hod, it doesn't really smell like Hod, but it has a similar feel - very creamy. Overall, a very nice and smooth blend that I think would be lovely for a summer's day when you want to smell soft, clean and sweet.

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately.. no banana bread for me. When this hits my skin, it's a blast of butterscotch-caramel. Then I notice the strong pastry/cake behind that, and there it is - sticky toffee pudding. You know those little muffin-shaped pudding cakes, the ones you turn upside down and all the hot caramel sauce oozes all over it? One of those.

 

This is very strong - I only put a teensy drop on, but it has massive throw. And it stayed on my skin For Ever, I actually had to wipe it down a bit because I kinda don't like it... brown sugar smells are not my friend. But if this ever gets released, everyone who enjoys caramel/cake combo type blends is going to love it!!

This really is a very snuggly scent, definitely representative of its name!

 

On my skin, it's all about the honey. It's a dusky, powdery honey - sweet but not overly so, and the musk aspect is quite sultry. The rose never really made an appearance - which is unusual since anything involving rose usually turns out to be all ROSE for me - but I can smell the plum.. very faint, but it's there, although it really only came out after about 30 minutes once the honey had softened up a bit. After 1 hour, I can hardly find where it is on my arm.. it's faded away to almost nothing.

 

This one reminds me a little of Mead Moon, but it's not as strong or sweet as that was - Plush Companion has a more 'cakey' feel. If your skin handles honey well, then I'd say go for it - this is one of the nicest BPAL honey blends that I've tried.

 

 

 

 

I'm beginning to think that Little Bird and I have the exact same skin chemistry..

 

When I first put this on my skin and leaned in for a sniff, I actually pulled back in horror.. it smelt nasty. Very, very nasty. Rotten strawberries with a touch of ammonia.

 

I almost went and washed it off, but I decided to let it dry and see how it would go.. so now, 45 minutes later, it's dried down to a very sweet and artificial strawberry but still very sour.

 

I too have trouble with strawberry.. neither variations of Strawberry Moon really worked for me, but this is by far the worst one ever for my skin. I envy those of you who are reporting yummy strawberry candy!!

 

 

Mmm... when this first goes on, it's all lovely woody cocoa - a very earthy feel with a slight smoky edge. Where most of the other Naughty oils I've tried so far have been quite rich and strong, this is more subtle.. verging on powdery when dry.. but it still has a quiet intensity to it.

 

After about an hour on my skin, the tobacco has come out on top with the wood and resins just behind. The cocoa, unfortunately, has pretty much disappeared although its essence still kinda lingers - when wet, it reminded me a bit of the chocolate/cocoa in Cupcake Spatter Analysis, so I guess that's the "dirt-smeared" aspect. Can't say I ever really found the coconut.

 

I'm a bit undecided on this one.. it hasn't got quite enough oomph for me. I'm going to hang on to it for a while because the resins and wood might get more rich with age, but ultimately I'm a bit disappointed that the cocoa wasn't more prominent because I do love a good cocoa/wood/smoke/resin mix.

 

As Forspecial Plate said, you had me at "sooty licorice incense".

 

As with all the Naughty oils I've tried so far, Deathly Pride is the perfect perfume for its story. Much like the snobbish and scornful Godolphin Horne, this is haughty and regal - it's very rich and strong.

 

When it first goes on, it's all about the licorice with the rum just teasing its way through the smoky black feel of the licorice. When dry, everything balances out and the coconut is just peeking through, but only in a very subtle way - it's just playing at the edges of the licorice. My skin is very picky about licorice.. it couldn't handle the strength and sweetness/foodiness of Humbug, but it seems to love this one - probably because this isn't a sweet licorice as such, it's definitely a smoky one. I've never actually come across a licorice incense, but if I did.. I reckon it would smell like this. I'm not really getting a lot of bay rum in the dry stage, but it was there when wet.

 

This is a definite keeper, and will probably smell even more amazing after aging a few months. A masterful blend, just fantastic!

 

 

 

 

I can't really say I got much clove from this either.. orange, definitely! On me, it's more of a wood/orange combo, I wouldn't say it's spicy. The orange is quite rich and tart, rather than sweet, but it has a creamy feel to it. This was lovely while it lasted, but faded very fast.. leaving behind a faint, orange powderiness.. it still smells lovely but I enjoyed that initial blast of orange when it was wet.

 

A lovely buttery, cake-y vanilla, it goes on quite strong at first but dries down to a softer and creamy vanilla. Had I not read the previous reviews, I wouldn't have picked any cocoa or chocolate in this at all, but now that it's been mentioned.. perhaps it is lurking faintly in the background but it's definitely not strong at all. I'm not getting anything like hazelnuts (or any kind of nuts) either.

 

On my skin, BTCS reminds me a little of Cupcake Spatter Analysis and is also similar to Antique Lace, and it's also a bit like the XCDL13 prototype but the vanilla in BTCS is less rich/boozy.

 

The individual flavours of this one are difficult to pinpoint as it's very well blended. I agree with fairnymph on the red musk and vanilla, and probably wouldn't have picked carnation had she not said it first.. but yes, it could well be carnation here. If not.. then maybe chrysanthemum.

 

B.B2 does have a Snake Oil vibe (vanilla, resins, musks, similar colour oil), and also it slightly reminds me of Chrysanthemum Moon. The red musk here is really quite nice - it's not too strong, nor sweet, and it hasn't gone powdery on my skin, but it's definitely the dominant note. I never got any coconut at all, nor any of the black musk or vetiver that ZZ mentioned.

 

Overall, a nice musky blend with a tinge of resin and vanilla.

 

When this first went on my skin, my initial reaction was that it's like a diluted version of Gelt - the chocolate smelt very similar. But that changed within seconds when the incense and vanilla showed up. About 15 minutes in, it went very floral-y and herb-y, and the chocolate completely disappeared. Half an hour later, I can barely find where this is on my arm - there's just a very faint remnant of musky resins/incense, some prune and mixed florals. It's nice, but not enough of anything interesting really and the disappearing act is a dealbreaker.