FathomBelow

If there is such a thing as a generic BPAL, this is it. I get vague sweet spices and flowers and the scent, while pleasant, has no personality, at least not on me. I didn't get leather or dragon's blood at all, just a general sweet-spicy Christmas scent. Sadly, this isn't for me.

To me, this smells like bleach with an undercurrent of sweet spices and flowers. The bleach gradually fades as the scent dries, but still...I'm not sure what's going on here, as I usually like all of the notes listed! Oh well, the fact remains - this one is not for me. Which may be a good thing, seeing as it's discontinued.

When this is wet and as it dries, this is a dead ringer for cheap scented underarm deodorant - you know the kind you buy at Rite Aid or Walgreen? As it dries, it gets sweeter and more powdery (if possible). At this stage it's a cross between the lemon powdered sugar you get on doughnuts and baby powder. It's not intolerable by any means, but as I have no desire to smell like any of these things, this one's not for me.

This was just a really, really strong man's cologne on me, as most aquatic scents are. Definitely not for me.

I am in love with Voodoo Lily. To me, it smells not of lily, but of orchid - but here is an orchid note that does not turn powdery or cloying on me! Miracle! It's a slightly sweet, whispy floral that manages to remind me of both fresh air and verdant greenery - the jungles of heaven must smell like this. Will add to my bottle list.

This counts among the thickest, heaviest, darkest BPAL I've tried - right up there along with the Whore of Babylon. It has an incense-y vibe, and is slightly nutty and sweet. I can't pick out the patchouli (the only note in the description that my nose can reliably identify) and I would say nag champa is probably the strongest component, but overall it's extremely well-blended. Overall, this scent is brooding, swirling, moody, and pretty much all the over-the-top, darkly dramatic adjectives you can think of. Imagine inhuman priests presiding over strange jungle temples, demons of black smoke swirling over stormy seas, strange and unimaginably ancient rituals performed by hooded initiates of a forgotten order...you get the idea.

I've had this imp for a while but have put off reviewing it because white musk is listed as one of the notes, and that never turns out well on me. However, once I worked up the courage, I found peony and perhaps mandarin to dominate wet. On the drydown, the floral/fruity bits got mellower and a bit dustier, and an acrid note comes in, probably the pepper. I don't smell the laurel, woods, lily, or white musk at all, which is strange because lily and white musk at least tend to dominate any scent on my skin. Unfortunately it's not really my style, but I'm glad I gave it a chance to show me that white musk doesn't wreck everything on my skin!

In contrast to the last reviewer, I found Lear to be the mellowest of the cedar scents I've encountered so far. It starts off strong, but not as stridently as some (e.g. Tzadikim Nistarim) and quickly mellows into soft, sweet cedar - a very round and satisfying scent - due, I think, to the sage which tempers the potential aggressiveness of the cedar. It manages to evoke dustiness without smelling dry at all...yeah, mellow is the best word I can think of to describe it at the moment. I don't really know what bay leaf smells like, however, so that might be playing a part as well. Overall, Lear is probably my favorite cedar scent so far at BPAL. Definitely a keeper!

The Red Rider contains the same ravening monster of a leather note as Whip - a pernicious, nauseating, synthetic leather that is just plain nasty on me. No moss, no balsam, just that horrid leather. Sadly, this frimp must move on.

As other reviewers have noted, on me Jailbait is bubblegum from start to finish, top to toe, front to back. Bubblegum is Not My Thing so this frimp will be moving on.

I absolutely love Ninon. On me it is a soft, sweetly honeyed lavender, not too strong, not too sweet, but just right. I think of it as a variation on the sweet lavender theme, the most famous of which, of course, is Dorian. Although Ninon and Dorian smell nothing alike, the strength of the lavender is about the same in both - detectable, certainly an important component of the scent, but not overwhelming, for those who are afraid of monster lavender.

The alcohol note in Red Tide is virtually identical to that in Grand Guignol. In addition, I get mostly cranberry and raspberry with just a hint of mango - not enough to be recognizable but enough to make the scent a bit warmer and juicier - and no mint. The combination of these fruits and this booze note makes this smell like fizzy fresh-pressed fruit juice. Yum! This isn't really my style but I quite like it and I'll be keeping the imp.

Like spiced dried fruit. When wet, the fruit is mostly grape, but as it dries the grape is replaced by fig, with the apple and pomegranate running throughout. The pomegranate and tamarind give the scent a twist of tartness, so this doesn't smell too much like something bought at Bath & Body Works. The spice is foody but not too aggressively so, quite mild, and almost dusty - not like Christmas pudding but more like oatmeal spiced cookies that are a few days old. Overall, this scent is pretty but lacking in charisma. I'll probably only need the imp.

Continuing my effort to catch up with reviews: In the bottle: Gack! Really, really sweet! Think smushing a chocolate covered caramel all over your nose! This is comparable to the heavier Lupercalia chocolate box scents in sweet chocolatiness. Wet on skin: Same tooth-achingly sweet chocolate and caramel scent, but with nuts. Think of some sort of ridiculously decadent ice cream flavor. As it dries: The nuts fade as the leather comes into play. The leather isn't as soft as in Dee (my all time favorite leather scent) but it's not overbearing either (as in Whip, for instance). In strength, it rivals the chocolate and caramel and is extremely distinct and easy to pick out to my nose against the foody background. After it dries: All three components, chocolate, caramel, and leather, in about equal proportions. Final opinion: The leather does a good job of holding back the foodiness and taking the scent in interesting directions, but the leather and foody aspects are so clearly distinct that I can't call the scent well blended. But overall, it's an intriguing and wearable scent.

Falling rapidly behind on reviews...gotta catch up! Okay, Red Lace. When wet on my skin, this is all dry, slightly tart fruit lightened by the "sugar-spun vanilla cream cotton" which smells exactly how it sounds. As it dries, the tobacco appears in the middle distance, its distinctive somewhat heavy, smoky sweetness adding needed substance to the composition. It stays this way - a veil of tobacco over red fruit and vanilla cream cotton - until about an hour after drydown, upon which time the tobacco fades away, leaving this scent smelling much like it did when wet. Overall, this would be perfect if the tobacco stuck around. As it is, it's still quite good and I'm glad I got a bottle.

On me Lolita is seriously strawberry pez (matching what Stariel says), but thickly overlaid with lemon verbena. As I always thought of lemon verbena as a rather morally upright, gentle smell (I guess from Gone with the Wind - Scarlett's mother smells of it), this doesn't exactly match the "poisonous sexuality" part of the description. Overall, the strawberry pez and lemon verbena is a strange but not displeasing combination - youthful and pretty and sweet and fresh. I like it but for some reason I can't see myself reaching for it a lot, so an imp is all I need for the moment.

Wet and as it dries, Desire smells like opening a shipment of BPAL! I guess it would depend on what kind you usually order, but it smells like my shipments anyway. After it dries, it becomes a nice powdery-sweetish honey. Pretty, but there are so many other awesome BPALs out there that I'll only be needing the one imp.

Initially, Machu Picchu is a very fresh, wet, mild yet wild scent that makes me want to describe it as "green" but completely lacks the sharpness that I usually reserve the word for. It's incredible. As it dries, it acquires just a drop of dryer-sheet note which blends superbly with the initial fresh, wet quality. Imagine being a kid on summer break walking around your yard at home on an early August morning. The sun is just rising and brushing the houses and trees with orangey-golden light, and you can hear the sprinklers going all along the street. You're dressed in your thinnest, lightest t-shirt and shorts that your mom just washed for you, for the blazing heat you know that's coming but isn't here yet, and the air is cool and moist. You've got the whole day to enjoy yourself and do glorious things in, and you're looking forward to it, but you're content with being where you are, now as well. Overall, you're filled with an immense well-being. This is the scent of that magical childhood moment. Dry, Machu Picchu gets sweeter and almost banana-y but more floral, all the while retaining that initial freshness and wetness. Still reminds me of the early morning, but on a misty jungle plateau. Absolutely beautiful - must get a bottle.

Wet, Arkham is a very sweet pine, almost identical to the wet stage of Nocnitsa except the sweetness is floral and not quite as syrupy. As it dries, the pine recedes somewhat into the background and the flowers come forth - very pretty, smells exactly as wildflowers ought to: dewy, fresh, and just a hint sweet. After it dries, however, Arkham undergoes a drastic transformation into...Ambercrombie & Fitch cologne?!? Yes, smells exactly like walking past A&F or Hollister in the mall. Overall: Due to the smell of this dry, Arkham is really, really not for me. Unfortunate, as I love the place in Lovecraft's stories.

Wet, this is all parched, sere, almost choking-strength woodiness. As it dries, it ever so slowly mellows as the red musk comes forth. It never gets sweet though - the amber is invisible on me. The end product is a nice blend of red musk and dry wood - the rosewood + sandalwood, I suppose. I think I'll keep the imp, but the beginning stages are just too dry, even for me, to merit a bottle just yet.

On wet, Vasilissa reminds me almost of bananas - not literally, but it has the same mildly sweet fullness that the scent of bananas has. Vasilissa is not technically much of a morpher and smells almost the same once dry but it no longer reminds me of bananas in this stage (not sure whether to be thankful or not - the smell of bananas being somewhat ambiguous in my reckoning). Anyway, dry, this is difficult to describe except in the vaguest generalities and impressions. It seems slightly foody but not quite, slightly floral but not there yet. The impression I get is enveloping, gentle warmth touched with sweetness - sublimely comforting but not at all motherly. Very feminine, as other reviewers have said, but also very youthful. A scent for a happy, sweet, deeply loved girl-child. Final opinion: Love it! As I have three imps (one that I ordered and two frimps), I am all set but if I use those up I might get a bottle.

On wet, Euphrosyne is a really thick, syrupy, and sweet floral. Ugh, it's overpowering. As it dries, a really realistic baby powder scent also becomes evident, probably from a combination of the jasmine and vanilla, which can be hit or miss notes on me. Sadly, Euphrosyne is way too much for me, and I'm a floral lover! Will pass it on to someone else.

This is delightful! Shoggoth is coconut meat with some clean, sharpish flowers in the background; it's not a morpher, staying that way from the imp to drydown. This says beautiful and sophisticated but casual, approachable and warm. For some reason it reminds me of White Rabbit - it has that same creamy, sweet goodness. And it's from Lovecraft!! What more could you want? Highly recommended. Definitely going to get a bottle.

Akuma starts off as a very strong, almost cologne-y and woody scent, which must be the neroli, tinged with orange. As it dries, it gets gradually sweeter as the raspberry comes to the fore and eventually takes center stage. Quite nice, but somehow not as a appealing as I imagined it to be when I ordered it - I think it's because it takes quite a while for the raspberry to get in there (in fact, the perfume is beginning fade by the time it gets to the raspberry coulis stage that I hoped for) so be warned!

Objectively, Pele is beautiful. It starts off as an unexpectedly warm, almost sugary tropical floral - and not tropical in a fruity way, but an unabashedly voluptuous way. As it dries, it becomes slightly muskier, which compliments the sensuality of the florals to produce a beautiful, dusky, quintessentially feminine scent. Unfortunately, it also reminds me of public bathroom hand soap. Darn it, I so did want to like this one.