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BPAL Madness!

ajansuz

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Everything posted by ajansuz

  1. ajansuz

    Mage

    In the imp, this is very sweet and resiny, pretty much like a metaphysical bookstore, that blend of sweet incenses that combine to give that distinctive scent. Wet this is really lovely. I am dragons blood, and this is no exception. It's got a very light, almost playful vibe. This particular mage isn't doom and gloom, all work and no play. There's a slightly woodsy thing going on, but it doesn't just scream PINE. Dry down this is flat out delicious on me. I've always liked incense type blends, and I've had enough good experiences working in metaphysical bookstores that this puts me right back there, polishing the shelves, listening to the amazing music, and puttering about while interesting people come and go. I can't be more specific on most of the notes because I'm not familiar with them. I can say they play together very nicely. I'm not amping the Frankincense to headache inducing levels which I sometimes do. There is nothing remotely church-y or liturgical about this. It's pure magic. I didn't expect it, but it's my favorite of the RPG blends to date. Decent throw, decent lasting power.
  2. ajansuz

    Fenris Wolf

    WOW. In the imp, it's sweet, sultry red musk on amber. The rosewood is deep in the background really grounding the overall scent nicely. There's something very feral to this scent, just a touch dangerous. Wet: Holy sandalwood! Pure blast in the face up the nose with both barrels rich, beautiful sandalwood. Red musk eases back to let the wood come to the fore. Amber stays sweet. This is a very sticky oil on the skin. It takes its sweet time drying. Dry down: With my skin chemistry this isn't at all masculine. It's a feral, growly rumble of feminine confidence. The sandalwood and rosewood balance each other so well at this stage that you can no longer pick one from the other. There's something faintly spicy in this, too. The same spice note I get out of Scheherezade (which I'm sure I've misspelled at this hour.) The musk goes softer, probably because the amber under it is sweet enough to tame the bite. I bet this will be ah-mazing aged. Decent throw, decent lasting power. Yet another red musk blend that has been extremely kind to me and could be worth a bottle purchase in the future.
  3. ajansuz

    Y'ha-nthlei

    I ordered this, because I've found so far I really love the lab's aquatics, and they work not only on me but on my husband. In the imp: Fresh and lemony citrus, sweet, and salty. This isn't dark and slithery at all, but effervescent, fresh, and light. LOVE it. Wet: The citrus fades back to sweet creaminess with brine. Still very refreshing and lovely. Dry: Sweet and creamy, briny. So briny I can almost taste it. God, I adore this. It's more feminine than Cthulhu and less laundry detergent/Irish Spring than R'lyeh. Thankfully, I never get much eucalyptus, just the tiniest touch to make this fresh. Not a ton of staying power, but I really wouldn't mind re-apping during the day since it never goes through any bad phases on me. My favorite lab aquatic to date. Forgot to add, there's a quality to the creaminess that reminds me a lot of Black Opal.
  4. ajansuz

    Pussy

    In the bottle, this is gloriously sweet tobacco and herbal honey. Warm and sparkling, faintly spicy. Wet it's pretty much exactly the same scent as it is in the bottle. My skin doesn't amp any one note over the other, and it's so well blended that nothing jumps out above that overall sweet, spicy warmth. Dry down it seems softer, more feminine. Now there's just the faintest touch of orange blossom, like a kiss of Jezebel. The honey in this isn't the honey of O. It's the more herbal honey of Yewberry Infused Honey. The herbal scent is stronger on the dry down, and something a little dry tickles my nose. The only thing keeping me from completely adoring this is how fast my skin ate it. Within just three hours or so, it was very faint, and within five it was completely gone. Still, what a lovely, feminine scent without being overwhelmingly floral. I'll enjoy this a lot.
  5. ajansuz

    Brood XIX

    I ordered a bottle of this untested, because it sounded so delicious, I couldn't resist. Serious winner. This is the smell of late summer, when everything is ripened almost to the point of harvest, the afternoons are hot, humid, and with a small stir of wind, and it feels like autumn might take its sweet time arriving. In the bottle there's a nutty sweetness with the wet rope scent I always associate with hemp. There's a touch of bitterness, like tannin or actual almonds rather than their blossoms, and a sort of dusty whiff of hay. Wet I seem to amp the hay, moss, and hemp the most. The nutty fragrance is almost but not quite hazelnut. It's a really comfortable smell, about as comfortable as a well broken in pair of jeans. This isn't a formal scent to dress up in and go out on a glamorous date. This is a perfume to wear to an outdoor party or for a day of shopping where you'll be walking a lot. On the dry down, it was much harder to pick out any individual note. I was left with the overall impression of a bountiful, sun kissed field of hay with a corn patch not so very far away. After several hours in some hot, humid weather, only the moss remained with me in the end. I've noticed with most BPAL, if that's a note, it has the most staying power on me. Very fortunate that I like it!
  6. ajansuz

    Tombstone

    I was frimped this and extremely excited, because I had been wanting to try it for a while anyway. It's full of notes I love, and I thought for sure it would work on me. In the imp, it smelled lovely, understated vanilla, cedar, and something a little green and herbal. Wet: Plastic. Horrid plastic fake vanilla that burned my nose. Dry down: I was more hopeful. The vanilla settled to something more natural but still more foody than I care for in my vanilla blends. The cedar amped really nicely and started to work well with it, and the balsam picked up to a nice evergreen note. No hint of root beer, though, not even a tiny bit. After about an hour, the plastic was back in force. That particular vanilla has to be different than the one in Gypsy or Black Opal. Those played really nicely with my skin chemistry. This is a disaster on me, like a fake, plastic-y cheap vanilla candle. SO DISAPPOINTING.
  7. ajansuz

    Snow, Glass, Apples Soap

    I loved the packaging of this, very subtle and beautiful. The bar itself is snow white with a blood red dollop embedded atop it and tiny black granules that look like they might be flecks of mica. The texture of the soap is a little softer than the other bars I've tried, more of that vegetable soap texture without as much body. However, it lathers beautifully. The scent is kind of cold, like a cold, winter apple. There's definitely something dark going on there. I'm really enjoying using it in the heat of summer. The scent makes me feel cooler and refreshed. It doesn't last on my skin at all, though, but it does make my bathroom smell nice!
  8. ajansuz

    RPG Combos

    OK, second combo. Chaotic Evil Orc Fighter. Man, was this one interesting! I did equal wand swipes on my wrists, inner arms, and neck, and it smelled different everywhere! On my wrists, opium tar and leather duked it out in a gorgeous mix that was quite unisex overall but leaning a little more toward the feminine. The crooks of my arms were delicious incensey, opium goodness with musk, leather, zucchini, and a slight metallic tang. The mixture on my neck went pure metallic, like I rubbed a piece of steel all over me. It killed and ate every other note. I got lots of compliments, though!
  9. ajansuz

    RPG Combos

    I combined equal parts Good, Elf, and Paladin. It's a sweet, floral leather with something refreshing and almost citrus underneath. Delicious.
  10. ajansuz

    Nephilim

    This was a frimp that came with 13. In the imp, it's a tonic, medicinal scent, almost like mint or camphor with the sweetness of Frankincense. Wet it goes very woodsy, strangely enough smelling like polished teak shelving and incense. It smells a lot like a metaphysical bookstore in Baton Rouge, Coyote Moon. The patchouli comes on strong and earthy with a hint of smoke. Dry the wood scent almost fully takes over, still reminding me more of the lab's teak note than anything else. The Frankincense is like the distant memory of incense once burned in a room and just barely clinging. Throw is low, lasting power is medium. Overall, it's a pretty neat scent but more what I'd think of as a room scent than a skin scent. 3/5
  11. ajansuz

    Tezcatlipoca

    This was a lab frimp that came with my 13. In the imp, smoky, rich cocoa, a floral I don't recognize but really like, and something kind of spicy, almost like a small trace of chiles. Wet: Man, this is seriously gorgeous. Cocoa and copal incense on a bed of soft, sweet flowers and leather. It's the same leather I get from Western Diamondback, saddle leather without the horse. Dry: On my wrists, the leather amps the most, floating atop the sweet floral. In the crooks of my arm, it's more copal incense and earthy patchouli with a touch of dry cocoa and smoke. I think this is hands down the best frimp I've ever gotten that also happens to work like a dream with my body chemistry. This is more or less what I was hoping Western Diamondback would do on me, which it almost did but fell just a little short. I'm bumping it up on my GC list of bottles to buy the very next time I decide to place an order. 5/5
  12. ajansuz

    Thirteen (13): May 2011

    This is one strange brew, friends. I really like it, but wow. Hard to put into words. In the bottle, dry, in your face cocoa floating on a swanky, dirty bed of patchouli with something a little zingy/fruity like August 2010's 13 grape note, honey, and peppercorn spice to round it out. Wet, my skin ate the cocoa alive. It was there for all of a hot minute and gone. The scent went all tar and incense, almost camphor-like and kinda scary. I smelled like a hot asphalt road next to some spicy, sun baked weeds. I reeaaalllly wasn't sure what to make of that phase. Thankfully, it went away on the dry down. Now it's sweet, dry, and spicy. I amped the honey and the spices. For the first time I can pull out the saffron. There's still this peppercorn thing going, and the patchouli gets just a little dirty hippy. I happen to like that, though. After about four hours, it's sweet, spicy, and a little powdery. All in all, this scent made me feel pretty powerful, sunny, and pleased without being bubbly or happy. I think with some aging it's going to be fantastic. I'm very glad I bought it.
  13. ajansuz

    Fae

    This was a generously gifted lab frimp. In the imp: Sweet, juicy, and fruity. The citrus note smells more like grapefruit to me than bergamot. A very ethereal scent, very feminine. Wet: Almost too sweet. The grapefruit citrus amps fairly unpleasantly on me with a candy undertone and soft musk. It's kind of a schizo scent in that it never seems able to decide if it wants to go citrus, musk, or something kind of dead leaf-ish. Dry down: I amp the oakmoss so crazily, that's all that's left. It smells identical to Zombi on me after about three hours of wear. Oakmoss and musk. I like oakmoss, but overall this scent just doesn't fully work with my body chemistry. I'd give it a 2/5.
  14. ajansuz

    Black Opal

    This was a generous frimp from the lab. In the imp: Wow, such a very faint scent. I had to hold it really close and sniff a while to catch anything at all. Soft coconut and vanilla. Wet: It started out faint and grew pretty quickly, coconut, vanilla, and kind of a creamy citrus note. A very beachy, summery scent, like tanning oil. Dry down: It always stayed skin close and didn't morph much from the wet phase. It's a very soft, creamy coconut vanilla scent, very reminiscent of those coconut tanning oils without being quite so strong on the coconut. Pleasant, but not something I've gotta have. I'll use it and enjoy it this summer. Also not at all long lasting. Within about three hours it was gone. Edit: On second thought, maybe I do need a bottle if the husband's reaction to it is any indication.
  15. ajansuz

    The Deep Ones

    In the imp: A very salty aquatic, ozone, and something sweetly fruity, almost but not quite citrus. A sort of less sharp Cthulhu. Wet: For a few hot minutes, it almost smells like Tide laundry detergent. NOOOO! Dry down: Thank goodness, the soapy Tide scent goes away. Salt and brine come up in a very clean, very refreshing scent. Really, I want my clothes or linens to smell like this more than I want to smell like it on my skin, but I do like it quite a bit. Not dark or slithery at all.
  16. ajansuz

    Elf

    In the imp: Something kind of grapefruity and sweet with just a small trace of evergreen and floral. Wet: Whatever it is that smells like grapefruit really amps at first, almost to the point I want to wash it off because grapefruit and I don't get on well scent wise. Dry down: Very fruity and sweet berry, something in it a little waxy like the fig from Bordello. Just a trace of sugared violet under that. After a few hours, it's all candy sweet berry, a great fragrance for a young teen but not something I really care to smell like as an adult.
  17. ajansuz

    Dwarf

    In the imp: Iron, stone, and something very gritty/earthy/dirty. I thought that if a dwarf had a scent, this would definitely be it. Wet on me: This goes straight to a high end men's cologne. I...can't brain it. It smells nothing like it did in the imp. Not even a teeny tiny bit. Dry down: Men's cologne. It's a very nice men's cologne smell. Just not what *I* want to smell like. It lasted a long time, too. I'm kind of hoping it smells similar on my husband. Unfortunately, it's just not at all what the imp promised wet.
  18. ajansuz

    Fighter

    In the imp: A metallic tang sharp enough to leave a taste sensation in the mouth just from a sniff, leather, and heady musk. Wet: Metal, leather, and something that really does have that sort of meaty, metallic blood tang. As odd as that may sound, I found I really liked it. It was strangely appealing. Dry down: Unlike all of the other RPG's I've tried with leather, the leather in Fighter didn't duke it out and win. Metal and musk were the two notes that came out the strongest on me, with a hint of blood and only a touch of leather at the base. It's very true to its description and one of the best interpretations of a class I tried in this batch. My husband said it was a very visceral smell. I asked him if that was good or bad. He said it somehow made him uneasy, but it left him wanting to smell more. I think I love that reaction. Throw was low, but man does it have staying power. Hours later, I still smell the same as I did once it dried all the way.
  19. ajansuz

    Rogue

    In the imp this smelled like wet rope and worn leather to me. Very heavy on the rope scent. Wet, rope stays predominant with a little waft of pine that dies off pretty quickly. The leather isn't the same as the one in Orc or Paladin. It's more like a leather jacket, or how your skin smells if you've been wearing a leather jacket all day. Dry down, leather and rope duke it out with something a little sweet underneath. It has a low throw but a long last. The scent is a little more masculine than unisex, but a woman can easily pull it off. There's a cocky sort of confidence to this scent I really like. I can't wait to see how it plays with others.
  20. ajansuz

    Paladin

    In the imp: Very metallic, a hint of leather, and a sweet base of Frankincense. Wet: It's so metallic I actually get that taste in the back of my mouth. Frankincense amps really strongly, very sweet and incense-y. The leather also begins to amp. No sign whatsoever of the listed musk or vanilla notes. Dry down: The metal goes away, leaving Frankincense and leather. It doesn't morph much after that at all, though after a few hours the only note really left on me was leather. I'm imagining this will layer well. It's not something I think I'd wear a lot of by itself. I like it OK but can't say I love it. I was really, really hoping for the vanilla to do something.
  21. ajansuz

    Good

    In the imp: A very sweet white floral. I know it's not a listed note, but it reminds me a LOT of magnolia, which I love in imps but on me goes sickeningly sweet and funerary. Wet: Uber crazy floral, sickeningly sweet and almost ramping into headache territory. I was strongly tempted at that point to wash it off, but I waited. Dry down: Whew. Some of that really scary floral backed off a little. The honey scent is a very true honey scent, not sex, not sugar, but clean, light honey. The musk is very light, but the floral is still the most dominant note. It still smells like magnolia to me, like the magnolia of Hell's Belle or Black Dahlia, minus the funerary note. I'll try this one for layering. On its own, it's way too high floral for my tastes. The throw is positively obnoxious, too.
  22. ajansuz

    Chaotic

    This was another one I was really excited about, because I love heliotrope. In the imp, it's very much sweet heliotrope, a blast to the nostrils of it. I don't know what mastic smells like, but I do detect some other note, something just a little dry. Wet: Still blasting heliotrope. This is a very perfume-y scent. I don't mean that as a negative, but it's closer to commercial perfume than most of what I get from BPAL. I desperately wanted wasabi. Not detecting that yet. Dry down: The musks start to rise and make this a lot richer than a straight floral. Also, a very fresh, herbal grassy scent emerges that might be the rooibos. I'm not familiar enough with rooibos to pick it out well. I think one might be Egyptian musk. It tends to really like my skin and I amp it. Throw on this is huge. My husband smelled me from all the way across the room, and I only dabbed on a little bit. Of all of the RPG scents I've sampled so far, this is the first I think I'd be perfectly content wearing without layering again and again. Good last, too. Several hours before fading.
  23. ajansuz

    Evil

    In the imp, very strong blast of opium and tobacco. I couldn't pick anything out beyond that, and I was a little worried, since opium can give me a headache. Wet: Something deliciously astringent cuts up through the opium and tobacco cloud. No headache. Just glorious, very grown up, sophisticated perfume. If this is evil, it's Wall Street or boardroom evil, not a mage in a back room trying to conjure forth a demon evil. I adore it. Dry down: The scent doesn't really morph much on me at all. It kept a medium throw and lasted about six hours before going down to something soft and floral. I can't wait to start playing around with the layering.
  24. ajansuz

    Ranger

    In the imp, sharp evergreens, not just pine, although it seems to be the strongest note. Also something a little soft and dusty, almost like a layer of dry pine needles when they're hit by sun. On wet, the pine and patchouli have about equal strength. There are other wood notes that I'm not sensitive enough to pick out individually. I just know they don't have that conifer scent. I get no leather at all, not ever, which made me sad, because that was one of the things that attracted me to this scent. Dry down there's not too much morph. It stays pine, juniper, patchouli, and other woods with a little bit of dust. A very woodsy, earthy scent that I'd say is more unisex than masculine. I like it, and I think it will probably layer really well with some of the other scents. It's not quite enough on its own for me to wear it solo. Low throw. Medium last.
  25. ajansuz

    Miskatonic University

    In the imp, this was primarily Irish Cream with a light touch of oak. The Irish Cream note was very, very strong and sweet, to the point I was concerned it would be way too foody on me, but as with every scent I get, I'm determined to skin test and not judge by the bottle/imp scent alone. Wet on it wasn't nearly as sweet as in the imp. Some of the coffee lifted in a nice, bitter note, and the oak amped pretty strongly. I didn't get dust so much as maybe dry papers or something. There's something dry under the food and wood notes. Dry down is where it went kind of wonky on me, in the same way Calaveras did. In fact, the scent coming up is very similar. Something about most of the lab's stronger booze notes really doesn't like me. It's hard to describe except to say it's a very strong booze note, slightly bitter, slightly burnt, and not pleasant. I had very high hopes for this one. It's a pity it's a no-go with my body chemistry.
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