mayhap

Mmm, this is simply fabulous. Luscious coconut and sweet sweet rum, with the tobacco giving it a hint of earthiness. My wrist has been glued to my nose for hours now!

Euterpe reminds me very much of my beloved Katharina -- creamy, effervescent white musk under a fruity/floral combination. The honeysuckle is most prominent on my skin, with a bare hint of lemon and other florals. Very light, sweet and cheerful.

I've been on the fence about trying Jack since my first BPAL order -- many thanks to itbelikethat on LJ for including it with my bottle of Gypsy Queen! In the vial: Pure popcorn butter. I did have certain reservtions about smelling like butter. Drydown: Peaches! And cloves! Oh, the fruity spicy love. Dry: Oh, and here is the butter again, and the pumpkin, finally, puts in an appearance. Now this is making me hungry, and getting me noticed -- lots of oooooh what is that smell? After some hours: Wow, this stuff is still going strong. I'm impressed. I do believe I'll be enjoying my imp very much, and if I ever get an oil burner set up I'll simply have to have a big bottle of this, I think. It's just so very yummy.

Preconceived notions: I adore moonflowers; during the summer we sit on our deck and watch them opening at night, like quiet fireworks, and crowd around with all the bees for miles around to smell them. I was excited about Moon Rose, while at the same time afraid that the rose would overwhelm my beloved moonflowers. In the vial: A little harsh. Hmm. Wet: Something is still stinging my nose. Of course, this is less of a problem if I stop jamming my wrist up against my nose. Drydown: Actually, what I think is dominating this scent on me is the chill, crystalline dew. My chemistry does interesting things with the aquatics/ozones sometimes. I wish the flowers were coming out to play more! Dry: I'm on the fence with this one. I think I'll be hanging onto the imp until summer and seeing how I feel about it then.

Hoo boy. My chemistry is actually rocking out with this scent -- a very heady, thick, animalistic musk with no cat piss in sight, thank goodness -- but there is simply no way I'm going to live up to what it's promising. I am simply insufficiently debauched. I imagine I'll be sticking with Scherezade, which, on me at least, is very similar.

In the imp: Overwhelms my nose! I can't pick out anything. Drydown: Rosemary comes out strong, followed closely by mint. This is smelling very herbal on me at the moment. Dry: Rosy-grapey-citrusy-sweetness is waking up on my skin to balance the rosemary-mint. One hour later: Wow, this scent has a really unusual aesthetic about it and I can't quite decide what I think. The grape spirits have become stronger, along with the orange blossom, and the effect is a little like a fruity candy, but the rosemary and mint are still there to make it seem more real, if that makes any sense; more like standing in a sunny vineyard (not that I've ever actually done that). The rose is peeking out very occasionally. Overall: This really different from anything I've worn before and I think I dig it. I really appreciate the historical aspect of it and the scent is lovely and it has really grown on me. It makes me sad that it doesn't seem to be a very strong or long-lasting scent on me.

I have never had an oil disappear on me this fast! Seriously, it was Gone in 60 Seconds. One second, there was evergreen goodness, next second, there was ... nothing. Ah well. I still have Dublin for my evergreen goodness that actually sticks around after shaking hands.

Mmm, Brisingamen. I didn't know what amber smelled like before BPAL, but now I know that I adore it, and Brisingamen is one of my first loves that I still wear all the time, and I still don't know how to describe the amber-y goodness! I do know that it's rich and sexy in a very confident sort of way on me, and when I put it on, I tend to get all these bemused compliments: "What is that??? Whatever it is, it smells so good!"

Oh, I so wanted to love this, but it turned out to be almost painfully sweet on me. Sweeter than Hellcat, which previously held the title for Sweetest BPAL I've Ever Tried, and with a heaping helping of whatever made Hellcat go bad on me in the end. I don't get any cedar smoke, which sounded so very lovely, and I suspect my skin of devouring the evergreens, because Mistletoe lasted for all of sixty seconds on me. Alas, off to the swaps it goes!

Oh, this is such a comfort scent on me. It wraps me up in sweet, cozy love. Wet: Something -- possibly this cherry tobacco I'm hearing so much about? -- comes out strong at first. For some reason, it makes me think of Lipton tea. I don't much like this stage, but thankfully, it doesn't last that long. Drydown: Scary Lipton tea is gone. Wood and leather are coming out to replace it, along with a lovely sweetness like honey or maple candy. I'm not picking any linen per se, but the whole blend is lovely. Dry: Still going strong! I'm seriously smitten. Just the thing for a grey winter day (like this one!).

I would suggest Katharina, perhaps. It strikes me that way. Of course, I always associate it with the female protagonist from my NaNoWriMo now.

I swapped for this one on a whim and whoa, leather. I wasn't sure I liked it at first, but it's oddly compelling. I'm definitely going to hang onto it and try layering it and/or ensnaring boys to put it on. Yum.

In the imp: Full-out assault on my nose. Help! I think this is jasmine and possibly the aquatics, but it's hard to tell. Wet: Just as I'm about to declare an emergency and wash it off my skin, Bayou mellows out a lot on me. Drydown: Oooh, I'm really liking this now. A nice balance of cool aquatics and warm sultry flowers. Very evocative. Dry: Sadly, I think Bayou may not be for me. My skin is amping up the aquatics a lot and it's harsher and not as balanced as it was. I know this will smell awesome on someone else, though.

This is lovely stuff on me. I've honestly never smelled anything like it in the world besides the crisp, cool air of a snowy day, and I was fortunate enough to have one right after I got my package in the mail to compare. Sadly, it doesn't seem to last very long on me, but I'll be wearing it often and happily to relive the austere beauty of the snow.

Mmm, I adore this. It's like pale golden sweet syrupy fizzy sunshine in a bottle. It's not particularly long-lasting on me, but I don't mind slathering it on and reapplying.