bluerose

A scent of dark corners and forgotten mysteries, secrets unearthed in dark attics, and cobwebbed, timeworn artifacts: vanilla bean, blackened and smoked, with husky clove, cinnamon bark, and a touch of beeswax. Loved to Death sounded like it would be a heavy scent, but it's actually very light. In the bottle the strongest note I detected is honey with a hint of vanilla in the background. On the skin, it's HONEY. (But I also amp honey.) It dries down to a light honey vanilla with just the tiniest traces of spice. Neither cinnamon nor clove is evident - it's just spicy. It's okay now, but there are better BPAL vanilla blends. However, with the amazing notes (all of which age well), I think this will have massive potential after aging a bit. Edit for spelling.

MOURNING LACE A contemplation of death: fragile vanilla blossom with polished oak, bitter clove, frankincense, myrrh, and green cognac. Very light and pretty. On my skin, it is an odd mix of non-foody vanilla and oak that works very well together. The other notes linger in the background but do not stand out beyond that.

This is going to be a hit with vanilla/cream lovers. Though there's no cream, it almost smells like decadent creamy marshmallows. It's not foody or overly sweet, say compared to A Breathless Chuckle. It is similar, but has more depth than Stekkiarstaur. In a way it reminds me of something that belongs to the Vulva family. Specifically Glowing Vulva - not quite exactly the same, but definitely very close sisters. Also Volcano in Springtime. In the bottle, you can distinctly smell the vanilla and rice powder. I tried this on my skin first as an all over moisturizer. The scent from the bottle combines into a beautiful rich creamy marshmallow goodness. It has decent throw. I kept smelling the palm of my hand. It is so good. Makes me think of being wrapped in a fluffy soft cream blanket. I was worried it wouldn't smell as good in my hair and it would smell more like what was in the bottle. Nope. Also the same marshmallow creaminess. I kept turning my head today to catch wisps of the scent in my hair. This is a scent you can wear all the time. I absolutely love it. My favorite of all the Lupers this year!

BRIGHT FORTUNE An all purpose luck and happiness blend. Review for scent: It's a juicy mouth-watering scent. Smells like juicy green melons with a hint of cucumber and citrus. The best retail example I can think of is the Cucumber Melon scent from Bath and Body Works - only Bright Fortune smells a thousand times better than that. Cucumber Melon is half melon and half cucumber with a slightly artificial tinge, whereas Bright Fortune is freshly made melon juice with a splash of cucumber and citrus. Maybe it's because the scent reminds me of breezy summer day, but there's definitely a bright and uplifting aspect to this blend.

Sweet strawberry with a hint of orange blossom. I wish the strawberry note was just a bit stronger. I was worried about the strawberry note being the same as Pink Lace's (where it gets a bit plasticky) but it's not the same.

Sweet pink strawberry sugar! That's what this smells like on my skin. After a couple of hours all I can smell is a nondescript pink sugar smell. It still smells nice, but I hope the strawberry note strengths as it ages.

This smells exactly like the Gingerbread Poppet perfume to me. A gingerbread scent with subtle spiciness in the background. It is lovely and matches well with the perfume. Whenever I put this on, I can't help thinking of Christmas and a warm kitchen full of Christmastime baked goods on a cold winter day.

This is gorgeous! It definitely smells like a relative of Winter Maiden. It is a less sweet and more creamy blackberry scent with a hint of honey. I think I prefer Winter Maiden, but Winter Maiden is a strong scent that lasts and lasts long after you apply it. Ice Princess lasts too, but it isn't as strong. If you like to switch up scents day by day this would be a better go to. Plus it's a charming skin scent.

Vanilla mixed with something sharply sweet smelling. It smells like sassafras. On my skin, used as an after shower moisturizer, the sassafras amps up. It is licorice vanilla... It slowly dies back down to a sweet vanilla, but I hope some aging will mellow out the sassafras.

If someone blindfolded me, poured this bath oil into a mug, and asked me to drink it - I would. It smells exactly like rich gourmet cocoa. I usually use bath oils as after shower moisturizers. This smells like I cut up a slice of rich decadent dark chocolate cake and smeared it on myself. Less messy, but just as tasty smelling.

On my skin it is initially strawberries and cream. The strawberry note gets stronger as it settles into the skin, but it seems borderline plasticky if I sniff too close. Still, mostly a strawberry vanilla dominated scent with a tinge of linen. This is the same almost candied strawberry note used in Beaver Moon 2010.

This is the same strawberry used in Lilith's Tea Party. In both cases, it smells more like strawberry tea than strawberry. Overall, this smells like strawberry tea infused with some vanilla, but in a non-foody way. The strawberry isn't sweet and the vanilla isn't dominant. It's a nice summery scent.

This blend needs more love. These are simple notes that turn out perfect. It's amazing. In the bottle, I could smell the dark musk, linen, and red chypre. It smelled a bit on the strong side, but on the skin? Dark musk and red chypre blend to form something that smells like tempered red musk on me. Mmmmm.... red musk and linen. It's what I wanted Red Lace to smell like. So very naughty.

This is amazingly beautiful and very versatile. I smell mostly cream and amber combined that makes me think of super soft silky vanilla cream. The scent itself is light, but lasts forever. When I use it as a moisturizer, I can always get wisps of GVBO whenever I move around.

No worries. I thought you found a super secret ninja way to bypass the CA sales tax in CCNow!

Hmmm, that's really weird. I've tried it both ways. On my computer, picking CA shipping or United States shipping both brings up the sales tax on the final page. I also figured that even if you went with the generic United States shipping option, once you get to the second page where you enter your shipping/billing address you have to put CA as your state so CCNow will see that you're in CA, and try to hit you with a CA sales tax. plainjean, is your shipping and billing info both in CA too?

No, we are not suppose to pay CA sales tax. The lab got back to me and confirmed that they do not charge CA sales tax on their orders. However, for whatever reason, the CCNow system charges CA sales tax... You guys should definitely contact the lab so that they are aware of the spectrum of this problem. I think CCNow tries to charge sales tax for quite a few states they're not suppose to. I tried out a Colorado address (which is neither where CCNow is located nor where the lab is located) and CCNow tried to charge a sales tax on that order. It was odd.

Thanks for the answer, ivyandpeony. I thought maybe I was being silly and there was an announcement about sales tax that I missed. I am in California, so I initially thought that maybe there was sales tax for CA orders now. BPTP's CCNow, however, doesn't have the sales tax on. So I tried a few test orders for other states, since we don't have to enter cc information until the third page where the sales tax pops up. For each state that I tried (like Colorado which shouldn't pay CA sales tax or CCNow's MN sales tax), there was sales tax included on the third page. I'll take some screen caps and email the lab about it.

Do we pay sales tax now? Or is CCNow wonky at the moment? In my BPAL shopping cart - the first page reflects the amount without sales tax. On the second page, you enter your shipping info. The third page (where you also enter cc information) takes you to a confirmation that lists the items you're ordering along with the total again. This time, though, it includes sales tax.

Oops. Wrong thread. Sorry - I thought I clicked the CCNow Questions and Problems thread.

I've been eagerly waiting for Snow White Bath Oil to land since I've retried my Snow White 09 perfume. I didn't love Snow White 09 until this year though I tried it intermittently throughout the year. It's aged beautifully. But SWBO... :love!: Instant love. Wonderfully sweet (but in a non foody way), slightly creamy vanilla with hints of white florals and minimal traces of coconut. It also has wonderful throw. I'm wafting in a cloud of sweet scent after using the bath oil as a moisturizer. Like with SOBO, BPTP has made a wonderful Snow White product that could be arguably better than the perfume oil. A definite must try, even if you only just like the perfume oil.

Red musk blends are never clear because red musk itself is a colored oil. Maybe there's something in the first bottle that mimics the scent of red musk to your nose. I have both. The clear oil version has no red musk in it at all to my nose - it's just honey and cream. The dark oil version is red musk heavy - it's exactly what I imagined The Infernal Lover would smell like. For some reason, my skin eats up the red musk in this blend after a few hours. After the red musk burns off, all I smell is the honey and cream - identical to the clear oil version on my skin. Hope that helps.

Glad I stopped by this tread. I have the honeyed cream Infernal Lover too. That explains everything - I thought my skin chemistry had gone completely wonky with the honey and cream overpowering the red musk. I didn't even think clear oil = no red musk in blend. For those of you who have emailed the lab, please keep updating with the lab's response. Thank you!

Thanks! I'm hesitant to try Grindhouse and Mircalla because it's been grouped as being in the same family as Mme. Moriarty. (So sad that it didn't work on me. All the notes should've been winners on my skin, but when I put it on, something went horribly wrong.) Scherezade has been on my to try list. Mmmmm.... Your review of Infernal Lover is making me itch for my Lab order, sunlitgarden.

Looking for some red musk recommendations please. Favorites: Smut, Lucy Kissed, and Mania. Himerus is one of those red musk scents that work on me if I can make it pass the dry down. Even then, the juniper and sandalwood make it too sharp and masculine sometimes. Red musk blends that don't work for me: Mme. Moriarty, Witchblade, and VILF. Are there any other blends that are like my favorites? I definitely plan on trying Infernal Lover and maybe Muilearteach (but the black musk/snow note makes me pause).