zankoku_zen

In the bottle: Fresh, aquatic, slight mint and apple. On Skin: The vodka is the most prominent note along with the apple. I sort of smell like an appletini! Woo. On Drydown: I get a slight limey scent to the rest of the blend. After like two hours: I get florals. No more vodka or apple. I get an aquatic sort of floral smell. Verdict: This doesn't last too long on my skin (maybe a total of three hours) but I do enjoy it. I'm glad I swapped for a bottle! (Much thanks to Arylkin for this! )

The Queen has arrived! In the imp: Pumpkin goodness! On Skin: Pumpkin and citrus and spices. Woohoo! On Drydown: It's more pumpkin-lite than say Jack. Also, infinitely less buttery. I get a very similar smell to that of Pumpkin Patch #1. Verdict: I love Pumpkin scents. Occasionally, Jack can be too buttery for me. I really can't get over how similar PP#1 and PQ are. I might have to make a comparison test to smell the differences! Woohoo!

At the beginning, this was a citrusy yellow sort of scent. I do get the sunflower imagery. After a couple of hours, the citrus smells resides and the floral undertones come out to the fore. Verdict: This is a happy scent. But the drydown of it is very similar to other white florals I have. It was a very interesting scent though.

In the imp: Spicy cranberry. On Skin: Spicy cranberry still. There is a hint of floral underneath. It almost smells peppery spicy instead of just general spices. ETA: The second I put this down it smells like someone threw up as everything seems to compete in my skin... and its a BAD competition. Luckily, it's gone after like 10 seconds... and then the spicyness comes through On Drydown: It becomes a more generic fruity and a little more floral. Verdict: I'm not entirely sold on Eris yet. I think I'll give her another whirl before I decide. ETA: Um... yeah. It's a pretty floral after a while but the first 10 seconds were really off-putting.

In the imp: Floral. On Skin: This smells peppery. I think it's the combination of carnation and white poppy. On Drydown: Still kind of peppery. The more I sniff at it, it just seems kinda bitter and makes me think of when you add pepper to food, like in the process of making a meal. Verdict: Erm. Yeah. Not Good. I've been trying to place the smell and it does kinda remind me to burning wax. So far, none of the Muses have liked me...

In the imp: Smells like Nivea's cream, like the kind my mom used to slather my face in when we went out in the beach so I wouldn't burn. On Skin: Rosey... but very much still like Nivea's cream. On Drydown: The rose subsides a little. There is a very clean smell as an undercurrent in this. And yes, this is a sweet floral (must be the sweet pea and the roses). Verdict: This scent is really nostalgic. I used to love how Nivea cream smelled... and the association with it is sun, beach and waves. It's a little perfumey and rose is just, well, I've found out it's utterly overwhelming. This is a really pretty scent though. Just... not for me. I feel weird, because I've been saying this alot lately... ETA: This one must have a little more of something that smells sharp to me, because it doesn't smell like Nivea cream. I have a tiny contained of Nivea Cream and it doesn't smell at all the same.

I got gifted with this because jewelbug thought I would enjoy this: In the imp: Strong florals. Really strong. Even, I, floral lover am going... FLOWER ATTACK! On Skin: SUPER SPECIAL JASMINE ATTACK. Why hello there, young lady. On Drydown: Still jasminey. I get a backdrop of bitter violets slithering through and a residual warmness, which I think is the vanilla. Goes strong for a couple of hours. The jasmine mellows out after about four hours or so, but it remains a strong floral. Verdict: I like florals. I'm not sure I like them THAT much. It's a really well conceived scent... but so far the Carnaval doesn't like me.

A decant from jewelbug! In the imp: Peppermint candy cane goodness. On Skin: Smells just like Lick It. I can't tell them apart. Although I think I detect an extra bit of sweetness to Lick It Again. On Drydown: There is a whiff of vanilla that is more prominent in Lick It Again. After two hours, you can definitely smell the extra sugar. The mint has receded to the background. Verdict: Delicious. I really can't pick a favorite between Lick It and Lick It Again. Yes, it has an extra dose of sugar but really both of them are peppermint candy love.

This is a decant from jewelbug! In the imp: Fruity florals. On Skin: Wet, lush, fruity. It does smell a bit like either my Herbal Essences shampoo or conditioner. On Drydown: I can smell a hint of the lotus, which makes this blend sweet. Overall, it's a complex lush floral. Verdict: I really enjoy this, but I don't see myself wearing it too often. It can be an overwhelming experience. I enjoy the scent but wonder if I would ever go through an entire bottle.

Thanks for the lovely jewelbug! In the bottle: Musk and booze. On Skin: Musk. Very musky. On Drydown: Sweaty male. Much more than Madame Moriarty. I am getting like uberly gross and sweaty male. Verdict: I wanted to love Smut. I really did. It just didn't love my skin at all. Jewelbug's two cents when she smelled me: Wow. That doesn't love you at all.

Again, thanks to the wonderful jewelbug. In the imp: Plumy and floral and patchouli. On Skin: Patchouli and musky. On Drydown: EWWWWWWWw. I smell like a sweaty man. This really breaks my heart, because out of the CD scents out there at the moment, this one was one of the one's I really wanted to try and hope it would work out. I don't understand. Red musk and me usually get along so well. Verdict: Broken hearted. Honestly. The boy: EWWW. What's that? ... Still brokenhearted.

I got to try this one at jewelbugs. Thanks luv. Preconceived notion: Based on the ingredients, I thought I would like it. In the imp: Incensey. On skin: I can't smell anything other than the frankincense and the myrrh. On Drydown: It stays close to the skin, and it's an incredibly complex scent because I can't pick out any individual notes. It's not floral at all but rather in the warm, incensey sort of category. Verdict: I'm glad I got to try this one. But it didn't turn out to be (one of the many) true loves of BPAL for me. I might have to give it another whirl sometime.

I got to try this at jewelbug's. Thanks luv! In the imp: It was a bit incensey, but also smelled a bit like root beer. On Skin: Definitely root beer. I think it's the copal. Greed also had this weird underlying smell (on me it definitely smelled liked old, sweaty money). Verdict: Not for me. I don't care for root beer floats as a perfume. I might drink them... but that's another story. ETA: On a second try, it was more like grape juice and incense. Again... unflattering on me. Damn skin chemistry.

I like citrus... so I have a fair amount of them although not all have worked with my body chemistry. I recommend Et Lux Fuit... it smells like an orange creamsicle, which may be a good compromise between you two. Other citrusy smells: Mock Turtle's Lessons Panacea: Lustration Baobhan Sith (but this has your grapefruit nemesis... and it's floral, so you may hate it... but to me, this is absolute grapefruit love) Calliope Haunted Palace (this is sweet blood oranges on me and I adore it) Succubus (is citrusy and florals combined together to me) I hope your boy and you reach scent nirvana together.

Whew. This is another description that intrigued me, but coconut and I tend to be on unfriendly terms, so I wanted to try it out before I committed. In the imp: maple, caramel goodness. On Skin: Caramel. It smells like a mix between caramel and butterscotch. After a while, I can get whiffs of coconut. On Drydown: Still very foody. The caramel reminds me a bit to the caramel/irish coffee note in Miskatonic University... minus the dusty note. But it's too sweet. Verdict: I love caramel. I love how it smells and I love to eat it. But the caramel note in this is too overpowering to my nose. It's too sweet and a bit nauseating. I think the scent is great... but I wouldn't be able to smell it too often, it feels too cloying.

This is a very white floral. It smells in the imp and on skin all the same. I can get whiffs of tuberose, iris and osmanthus. But the overall impression is of a very clean soap. Like Ivory soap. This isn't an unpleasant smell. But I feel very ambivalent about it. It's pretty... but not a standout in my book. Since it's only a half-imp I'm not sure if I will keep it or not. I feel very fortunate to have tried it though.

Out of all the Yule scents last year, I have to say that Stardust had the singular most appealing description I have read. I was very tempted to buy a bottle, unsniffed but alas, Peruvian postal workers are not very work/ethically inclined. Finally managed to snag an half-imp. For me, this scent was a really sophisticated floral. When I hit the board to see the notes, I realized that I was smelling Charlie. It still smells like Charlie, six hours later. I put this on at 10 at night, managed a whiff when I woke up at 3 AM... and now it's 10 AM and I can still get faint whiffs of it. So, throw wise, this gives Tempest a run for its money (except, Tempest just explodes on my skin). Verdict: This is one of the most perfumey blends of BPAL I have tried. Since it smells of Charlie, it's strangely reminiscent to adolescence but it has a mature and sophisticated edge that Charlie never did. I'm going to enjoy the imp but I'm not sure I love the scent enough to get a bottle.

This one was a straight shot all the way from imp to drydown. It smells like an orange creamsicle on my skin. I find this one cheery, creamy and very uplifting. It is truly a golden scent, like waking up in the morning to soft sunshine on your face and pillow. The only problem is that my skin LITERALLY eats this up. After 15 minutes, I had a really difficult time smelling it. I will definitely be keeping the half-imp I got... but I doubt that I will be trying to hunt down more of it. It was a nice scent, but it just has no throw.

I got a half imp. Thanks TTP! In the imp: Peppermint candy. How did Beth get this in here?!? On Skin: Minty and sugary. Yeah! I'm very excited about this. On Drydown: Still minty and still sugary. Verdict: I smell like a candy cane. I was hoping for a minty sugary combination and it's great. It's cool and wintery and I have been searching for a nice wintery scent. The Lab's snow note ends up tropical on me and pine just lords it over anything else if it's in the scent. But this... this is glorious. The husband approves. Oh so tasty!!!

I got this as a sniffie. In the imp: Smells like a rose. On Skin: I get a bit of jasmine to it. But after five minutes, the rose comes out in full swing. On Drydown: Smells like a rose. Verdict: I'm not a huge fan of rose smells. My skin definitely amped up the rose note in this one. I think I'll pass on it.

I think I've tried most of the Peach scents.... and some of the apricot ones. So far, I throw my hat in for Fae. Juicy, spicy peach and a bit floral. Quite nice. My two runner ups would be Aglaea (peach wine) and Tamora (starts out peachy and then changes to a warm floral). I haven't had much luck with the apricot scents, sadly.

The sublimely beautiful, fiercely independent, impeccably cultured, fascinatingly worldly and witty courtesans of ancient Greece. A seductive and dazzling blend of golden honey, fiery patchouli, sweet fig and clove, and a blushing touch of ylang ylang. In the imp: Honey, fig and clove. On Skin: Honey and fig and something warm. Ten minutes later: The patchouli comes out... uh oh... Drydown: Patchouli overload. I get whiffs of the clove, but that's about it. Verdict: It started so pretty but my skin has a tendency to amp up patchouli. Unfortunately there is nothing in this blend that makes it behave itself. Sad... it started out so pretty...

I should preface this with: I bergamot and grapefruit, so I have high hopes for this scent. In the imp: Grapefruit and bergamot, with a white floral that I smell. On Skin: Grapefruit, with a citrus overtone (from the bergamot). Very pretty. On Drydown: The grapefruit disappears and I get a warm white floral (which I am gonna assume is the orris) with hints of plum. Verdict: This is very pretty. But I feel pretty conflicted. If it had stayed like when I applied it, I would love it very much. The drydown isn't bad... but it's just a white floral like smell. If it had grapefruit in it, I would be overjoyed. But in the grapefruit + white floral category, I much rather slather on Baobhan Sith.

In the imp: Sweet and floral. I smell a whiff of honey. On Skin: It becomes a sweet medicine and after like 10 minutes, it's got this Cokey-soda smell to it. On Drydown: Still sweet. The florals have come out to play but it still has this medicinal/cokey-soda base to it... which I assume is the laudanum. Verdict: Skuld does not love me. I get a medicinal herby feel to it. It's not unpleasant but I'm not sure I want to smell like medicine... no matter how wonderful it smells.

In the imp: Almond and vanilla. On Skin: Initially, it's very bitter. And then it's cinnamon and almond. Drydown: Still, very almond. It's got a faint vanilla undertone to it. However, my skin eats this up! Verdict: It was almost gone after an hour. Overall, it was an interesting blend. I'm not sure I want to smell like almonds/almond extract, regardless of how tasty it is!