mxtine

First sniff in the vial was eucalyptus. I didn't want to put it on my skin. I tested it a few hours later after it cooled down from the mailbox and now I smell juniper, sandalwood, and lilac. The juniper disappears soon and leaves a creamy, woody, fruity-floral scent on my skin that's surprisingly appealing. Upon further sniffing I discover that the magic note is red musk. I don't need a bottle of this but this imp is a keeper.

In the vial, woody. On my skin, cedar and verbena, which is very lively, earthy and clarifying. Smells more like aromatherapy or even a nice natural cleaning product, but I don't think it's working for me as a perfume. Perhaps it would work on a man. I think that seems to be the trend with most of the Phoenix Steamworks blends.

I got this as a frimp in my latest Lab order. It smells like bubblegum, but I also smell sandalwood which is one of my all-time favorite notes. At first I kind of liked it, but as the scent developed it seemed like the beautiful sandalwood, amber and myrrh are fighting with the bubblegum and it's turning into a chewed-up mess. I like lotus when it's supposed to be in fruity candy scents, but not mixed with resins. The only case I think lotus works well in a non-foody blend is with my beloved Bastet.

When I smelled this in the imp, I was struck with happiness. It reminds me of those root beer barrel candies, which I love. Wet on skin, it stays true and I'm pleasantly surprised that it's not incredibly sweet; but light and fizzy. As it dries down, my skin smells like a buttery French vanilla ice cream root beer float. I want a bottle of this. Bad.

This was frimped from the Lab, otherwise I would have never tried it from reading the notes. It smelled a little like root beer in the imp, kind of like Antikythera Mechanism. On my skin, I smelled teak which is not listed in the notes..could that be the balsam and orange blossom? I get an orangey tang smell from this just like I with with Antikythera, but it's less masculine with a balanced spice cookie sweetness from the clove. I love this imp, and may need a bottle because the name is so cool.

I like jasmine in small amounts if it's the night-blooming variety. I was hoping with the moonflower, moss, and incense that this would be OMG amazing. There was a moment of soft, beautiful jasmine with a promise of a syrupy incense but the evil white rose and white musk overpowered the whole blend (note to self...avoid perfumes with more than one "white" note.) and made the dry down rather soapy.

I have a love-hate relationship with rose. I love the smell of a glorious, velvety red rose but it's difficult to translate into a perfume. I've sniffed a few BPAL rose notes and they all (except Snooty Rose) give me that "ack! get this off of me" feeling.

 

This smells just like a real (x10 of course) when it's wet. I was a little worried it would stay like that but then the amber and red musk kicked in and smoothed it out. 2 hrs later this is going strong but it smells prominently of the red musky note from Smut with a touch of rose. SO beautiful.

I was excited after sniffing this in the imp and wet on my skin. Sweet, juicy red currants. Then it dried and went plasticky and cheap candle. How unfortunate, I really wanted to love this.

Spicy bubblegum cologne. I would like it more if it wasn't so perfumey. Wait...the dry down is getting sweeter and the perfume is going away. Its kind of pretty, but it has very little throw.

Dark red fruits and patchouli. LOVE. I'm getting pomegranate, plum and raspberry, patchouli, benzoin and a little mahogany. It's heavy on the fruit now but I'm hoping as this ages the lovely patchouli intensifies. I love teh sexy label art.

Mmmm, sugar sprinkled with lemon with a beautiful light skin musk. When I first sniffed my bottle a few weeks ago, I felt "eh" about it because I couldn't smell a thing. Now it's amazing. It's drying down to a faintly lemon sugared vanilla. I'm thrilled at how unassumingly sexy this is.

I didn't know there was a review topic for Shub soap.

 

It's the first soap I have tried from BPTP. I was expecting it to be spicy like the perfume that I have a decant of, but it was more cologney. If I sniff it up close I can smell the spices. It stains my soap dish brownish red...even the lather is colored.

It doesn't leave any fragrance on my skin after the shower.

I'm so in love with Rosy Maple! Wet, it smells like syrupy-sugary raspberry lemonade. Dry, the sweet pea note is there but it's not B&BW overwhelming, but mostly it's fading to a less intense tart berry lemonade. This is perfect for Summer, and I need to wear it a few times before it starts to cool down.

Hello Snake Oil and Nag Champa incense. This is what I wanted Urd to be, but Urd smelled like grape blunt wrappers where Temple Viper captured that perfect grape-floral Nag Champa smell that I love so much.

Someone dumped cocoa powder in my Snake Oil! It's that dark and rich. I don't smell rice milk or teakwood but that's probably what's keeping this from smelling like pure chocolate candy on my skin. I love fresh Snake Oil by itself but this bottle could be 10x smoother with age.

This smells like Smut in the bottle. This is one of the strongest BPAL I've tried yet...red musk is very in your face. It was almost unbearable on my skin for a couple minutes (need to apply less next time . There was a sharp cedar and even rose smell that I was afraid of, but the sweetness of honey tamed the beast that is red musk.

 

I want another bottle of this, because I know its going to age beautifully. It's in the same category as Snake Oil, Smut, and Mme Moriarty and I LOVE all of them to death.

This is citrusy, balsamy beeswax and sugar cane with a little floral. I don't get any honey. It's not knocking my socks off. As it dries I'm strangely possessed and I keep sniffing the spot I applied the oil because I can't put my finger on why this smells so familiar. Then it hits me...it smells like Clinique Happy which was one of my least favorite scents. Honey makes a very late entrance but it's still meh because of the association with Happy.

Rose soap, and mint. Not for me.

Interesting~an ethereal coconut blend. The iris reminds me of the orris in Blood Pearl, but it's not as harsh. I smell a little hazelnut and coconut but they are sitting behind the iris. After a few minutes, all I smell is iris and it smells soapy. I was hoping for more coconut.

Pungent aquatic floral in imp and on skin. Like intensely perfumed dryer sheets. Several minutes later...a huge 180 from the initial sniff and application...I smell something like pomegranate, which must be the currants. It's kind of like a more incense-laden version of Lampades now, which is kind of nice. This makes me feel like "I'm nice, but don't p*ss me off". I'll keep the imp, don't need a bottle though.

Lightning makes me long for a beach house. That was my first thought when I smelled this. It's reminiscent of many "ocean" scents I've smelled in perfumes and candles. I barely detected the ozone note because it was overpowered by aquatics, which aren't my friend.

Wow. The perfect caramel scent. I think the musk and teak keep this from being cloyingly sweet just like sea salt makes caramels less toothache inducing. I can smell very faint celery that others have mentioned, but it's barely there and I'm getting mostly caramel apples. As this dries, the honey comes out more. Pure love.

In the vial, gin and strawberry. On my skin, the gin disappears . There's the BPAL cream note, with strawberry. This is so delicious, I smell like a strawberry tres-leches cake. It would be nice if the gin stuck around to give this a little edge but I seriously love this anyway.

Perfect! My mouth is watering now. It smells like all three notes listed, with an emphasis on the coconut because my skin amps it. I usually dislike foody scents, but there are a few that I can do like Cake Smash, Underpants...and this.

 

So far, this is the third "box of chocolates" scent I've tried and it's the best.

Now THIS is smut.

 

It's leather, tobacco, and bourbon with a bit of molasses, honey, and skin musk. I need a bottle of this, and a man to slather it on.