PilotKitten

What's the least feminine rose scent?

For me I think it would be Rose Cross. The spices tone it down so it's not so "floral" for lack of a better term.

None of the notes in this blend seem to go together very well. Maybe it's just me. The super-sweet, heavy caramel just doesn't work well with the green sage and moss. It starts off that overwhelming caramel note and mismatched greenery, then dries down to a strong, perfumey musk and very dry woods and dust.

Ick. I agree with the cheap drugstore perfume comparisons. I expected this to be elegant and bubbly, but this is a very sharp, overwhelming, bad musk.

I hate black licorice, but this at least isn't as bad as I thought it would be. It does smell just like black licorice gummis, but it's softer and more sugary sweet than I was expecting. It doesn't last long either, which is good in my case.

I figured this would be a rich, earthy scent, being that it's a “fixed earth” sign... but it's all fresh florals and herbal notes. Weird. It doesn't seem like a Taurus blend to me. Mainly this blend is a light, herbal mint on my skin. In the drydown it's sort of powdery like spearmint gum. I was hoping the rose and apple blossom would be stronger as they're some of my favorite BPAL notes but this is just... kinda bland and boring in the end.

I've only had one out of the hundreds of BPAL scents I've tried go straight to soap on me but Poisson d'Avril is insane about it. Normally florals do so great on me too.

In the bottle, it smelled sooo good too. Like a light sugary floral and like the other posters said, "springtime!"

But on me... soap. Pure soap. Not a floral soap either (like the other BPAL blend that went to soap on me)... just the sudz. It's awful I was sooo hoping to have a pretty springtime scent (already have the other seasons covered but am still seeking out a good floral) too. I can't help but think what's the point of taking a shower and getting all soapy clean only to put on a perfume worth $17.50 that makes you smell like you just got out of the shower and smell all soapy clean?

I guess this is another one to test out in the oil burner... < sigh >

Bloody Mary starts out on me with this odd soured note. I'm not entirely sure what it is... maybe the cream has gone bad. Either way, it's pretty horrific until the drydown.

After the drydown the black cherry takes the fore and goes to straight up, over-sweetened cough syrup. Which isn't *too* bad I suppose if the sugaryness was toned down a bit. Perhaps mixing this with a calmer floral scent would help a bit. As it is, I'm not sure I could wear this without someone thinking I was taking sips of NyQuil at work just to make it through the day till my AA meeting.

After about 15 minutes, this smells like a Glade scented room freshner plug-in I had once (IIRC, it was some holiday Christmassy scent). Maybe the oil burner would be better off with this one than my wrists....

Final thought: If you're a big fan of black cherry and sugar than go for it. As for me, oil burner it is.

Yup. This starts off sweet and herbal and then quickly dries down to something very reminiscent of cloves and black musk to me. A little masculine and musky, but mostly spicy. Not really a note I would wear unless it was blended with something better as a balance.

Wow, the bottles look completely different than I imagined. A little less epic, unfortunatly. :[ (I was kinda thinking something along the lines of this http://www.turners-retreat.co.uk/acatalog/...rfume-vial.jpg

 

But the labels are very stunning.

Oooh... those are gorgeous! I wish I had some I could decant my favored scents into. They look sturdier than the EXTREMELY delicate glass ones I currently have (seriously, you eyeball these things and they crack) and more unique than just regular ole bottles everyone uses.

I have a small mirrored 'podium' type thing that I showcase my favorites on. So far, the coolest BPAL thing I have on it is my beloved first bottle of Whip with the Sub Rosa cap.

Honeyed, perfumey lilies smothered in a spicy something and with a background of something slightly sharp and smoky. This isn't the soft sweetness that I like from lily fragrances. This is bold and sharp and overpowering. I'll have to pass along my imp of Voodoo Lily.

Huh? This *does* smell like Clinique Happy. Clean, aquatic, with a nondescript sweetness. It's not bad, but there's nothing really interesting or catching about this one either.

This is a weird fragrance. It's hard to pick out any one note but it's warm, slightly powdery, and slightly spicy on my skin. The spice is light fromt the cider and I'm guessing the amber is where I'm getting that warm, powdery scent from. It dries down to a faint, sugary cider and baby powder after a while. It's okay but nothing awesome.

There is a quick burst of citrus with this at first but it quickly dries down to soapy florals and a heavy, bitter musk on me. Perfumey and unremarkable. I expected more from this one

I was so looking forward to this one since cinnamon is one of my preferred scents (both to wear and smell around the house) and I just adore Whip and a few other cinnamon blends.

The Dodo was such a disappointment though... nothing but cinnamon/cassia and an allergic reaction. It made my skin itchy, blotchy and red and was just overwhelmingly spicy.

I got an imp of this for my husband to try out, but neither of us has wound up liking it. Drat. Mainly Calico Jack is a strong, musky leather with a sharp, verrry salty aquatic layered over it.

I love the apple used in this, but the other notes really ruin it. I’m not sure which of the notes is the culprit, but there’s something so sharp and sour underneath the apple. The drydown after 15 minutes is just sharp and powdery, completely eating the crisp, sweet apple note . I suppose the concept is good (a perfect apple soured with poison), but I could never wear this one.

I haven’t picked out anything that smells like coconut in the few times that I’ve tested this. I get dry, musky florals and some sour, sharp resins.

The crisp, refreshing lemon and pretty white musk of Embalming Fluid is definitely present in Herbert West. The ‘aftershave’ part of this eats the other notes on my skin though. I’m left with a light, masculine soapiness that only lasts for about a half hour.

I’ve liked quite a few of BPAL’s aquatics and I thought this would be a great, colorful scent from the description. At first it is insanely sharp like a citrus peel. Tart and stinging. In the drydown, this is the soapiest BPAL I’ve ever worn . Pure, strong, overpowering soap.

This is all sharp, suffocating, heavy, warm musk on me with some bitter spice notes. I can’t pick out anything but musk and spice. It smells sort of cheap and off to me, like a cheap musk perfume that my mother used to wear that was way past its prime. I was hoping for something sweeter and more sultry, but this falls flat on my skin.

I’ve been pretty disappointed with all of my FizzyBOOMs too. Moxie especially had no fragrance in the water and I didn’t find it to be moisturizing at all. After the product quickly dissolves, I can’t even tell that I used anything in the water. I know lots of other companies who use natural, good for the skin components that are moisturizing and smell wonderful. I don’t like fragrances that smell too strong or linger and interfere with my perfume after my bath, but I do like to be able to smell the bath bomb while I’m in the bath…otherwise I don’t see a point in using it at all, especially if it’s not moisturizing. Since the FizzyBOOMs are supposed to have the aromatherapy benefit, it’s weird that they’re so weakly scented.

Ugh was another disappointment for me. The water had more of a slippery, silky feel to it thanks to the sea salts, but my skin actually felt really dry when I got out of the water. The water was a yellowy color with this one, and I know it’s a superficial thing but the dirty water color does turn me off. As for the fragrance, it was once again pretty nonexistent. It smelled like medicinal lemon cough drops in the baggie and had no fragrance once it dissolved. Not moisturizing in the least and pretty ineffective for real issues. Maybe the lab should just stick with perfume oils....

Grr smells like peppermint oil and works much the same way. It’s sinus clearing and gives that cooled feeling throughout my head when I smell it. It’s nice, but not worth $25.50 a bottle. You can get peppermint oil from many good companies for much less that what Grr costs per 5 ml.

The new panacea blends have sort of disappointed me. Well, they seem more like single notes than blends. Oof just smells like menthol/eucalyptus. Others have hit the nail on the head with the Vicks Vaporub comparison. I can go to Walgreens or anywhere and get a jar of this for much cheaper, so I don’t think I’d ever spend the money for a bottle of Oof.

I wish that opium weren’t showing up in so many blends lately. The opium here is pretty strong. A sharp, white smokiness that pierces the other notes. In the drydown, more of the tobacco comes out and this is an incredibly dry, dirty scent. Too dry and too smoky for me. Makes me smell like I rolled around in the floor of a cigarette store