plainjean

I smell sap. Very reminiscent of October (the scent). After a while, it turns into dusty, vanilla-y wood. It's really nice, but very close to Tombstone. And Tombstone's more accessible, so I think I'll just stick with that, especially because it doesn't have the weird sap phase.

October 2007 On me, this was all fresh sap and leaves—some dead, some new and green—with a hint of an aquatic note, like rain. It's a familiar smell, and it's pleasant enough, but it is much too masculine for me.

Smoky, tobacco-y, slightly spicy, dark pumpkin. The tobacco adds a bit of a sweetness, the pumpkin isn't buttery at all, the myrrh and clove are blending perfectly, and the black musk isn't overpowering anything. It's grounding the scent, and keeping it from being too foodie. It calls to mind the scene in Lord of the Rings (I'm referring to the movie, since I haven't read the books in years), where Bilbo and Gandalf are smoking their pipes on the hill. That smoke and slight sweetness, mixed with the pumpkins sitting in the dirt of hobbit gardens, surrounded by dusky twilight. Absolutely spectacular. I'm so happy I was able to find a bottle of this.

On me, this was all verbena, citrus, and pesky aquatic notes, with powdery amber. It was faint on my skin, but when I sniffed it, it stuck in my nose and gave me a headache. Needless to say, it was sent off to someone who would love it more.

This is just..wow. It's spectacular. This scent has been on my wishlist since I first got into BPAL, and I'm so happy I finally acquired an imp. On me, it's powdery but not in a bad way. Spicy, smooth, warm, languid, delicious but not in a foodie way. The amber isn't going bad on me, which makes me happy, and the almond isn't attacking either. I think the saffron is the bit of spice I'm getting, and I absolutely love it. I think I might need to seek out other blends with saffron, if it's this good. I envision a golden cat, relaxing in the golden afternoon sun. This scent, as a whole, is very golden. Not shiny, happy golden..but confident, regal golden. Wow, this review is all over the place, haha. Overall, everything is just so well-blended, and it results in something truly magical.

Try Violet Ray (White mint, purple musk, violet, lilac, ylang ylang, lavender moss, and sandalwood). I know it doesn't have sugar or vanilla listed, but on me, it's this beautiful sugared/candied violet scent.

This scent is really beautiful. At first, it's really heavy on the anise (which I'm loving! I need to hunt down more anise blends), but once it dries down, the cherry blossom starts coming out. I don't get much sandalwood, except maybe a little bit when I put my wrist to my nose. This is a soft scent, both in throw and in its general feeling. It truly does bring to mind soft pink petals of cherry blossoms. I'll probably need to get a bottle of this next spring.

Leanan Sidhe (a crush of Irish herbs and flowers, Gaelic mists, and nighttime dew) definitely has the same feeling as Fae, for me.

This is very, very lemony, but I can smell a faint hint of tea, way in the background. The scent as a whole reminds me of LUSH's Whoosh shower jelly, which I love to use during the hotter months of the year. Hm. I'm really on the fence about this scent. It's not my typical thing, but I know I'll probably really enjoy it once summer rolls around again (Even though it still feels like summer here, I am so tired of summer-related things, haha). I'll probably keep the imp around for a while.

Sigh. I wish this worked for me. All I'm getting is sweet, watery roses. It's very pretty, but much too floral for me, and it's actually veering into headache territory. Ah, well. Such is life.

For me, O and Lilith were really long lasting. Kali, though beautiful, was very, very close to the skin and didn't last that long. Blood Rose had average longevity. I've found that scents with wine, patchouli, or vetiver tend to stick around the longest. And it's not on your list but..Mme Moriarty! It lasted all day, through the night, and for several hours the next morning on me.

Mmm, this is so delicious-smelling. On me, it's mostly rum ice cream, with some sticky-yet-creamy butterscotch. If I sniff closely, I think I can get a little bit of cheesecake and the crust. Overall, it's just.. ETA: I've finally gotten a chance to try Grog, and it and Anne Beany are very, veeerrry similar. I do really love the ice cream in Anne Beany, though.

I agree about Ashenrook's suggestions. As for my own suggestions, I think you might want to explore the female figures in Excolo. I find them to be really powerful scents, and belly dancers always seem so powerful and confident to me. Just a thought! These are the ones that stood out to me in a quick glance through the list: Kali (A blend of the sacred blooms of cassia, hibiscus, musk rose, Himalayan wild tulip, lotus and osmanthus swirled with offertory dark chocolate, red wine, tobacco, balsam and honey) Lilith (Red wine, myrrh, black musk, and attar of rose) Oya (Oya’s ofrenda is a Nigerian potion of love and war, sweetened by darkest plum. Oya winiwini!) Persephone (Pomegranate and rose)

Samhain 2010 Oh, man. This is so beautiful. To me, it's exactly like the decant of Samhain 2009 I received about a month ago. Cider mixed with (as the description says) damp woods—which I picture to be carpets of fallen leaves. It's dry, like a late October or early November wind. Like a bonfire, but it doesn't smell like a bonfire at all. It just has that dry smokiness to it, without the dreaded vetiver. Ha, I don't think this review is going to be very helpful. I will say that I'm not really getting any outright patchouli, but I believe it's the patchouli that's giving it a darker edge, and keeping it grounded.

Oh, O. I wanted to love you. I love honey and I love vanilla, and amber can be really good sometimes. You start out promising..in the vial, you smell like delicious, sticky honey! Up close on my skin, you still smell that way, but a little softer. Why, then, do you smell like baby wipes from a distance? I do not understand! I will try you again, though, just to see if maybe today was an off day.

I was really worried about the "one-thousand imaginary flowers". But they really do seem to be imaginary! This scent, on me, is playful strawberries and cream with the cakes of Eat Me and a bit of creamy tea. The florals aren't in-your-face, but more like the notion of florals, the scent of flowers carried in on a warm breeze. This scent is petticoats and ruffles, pink china and laughter. It's so, so pretty and it really captures that special moment that Beth shared with us.

Really quick, horrible camera phone picture of Lilith's Tea Party and Anne Beany. I know we've already seen the label art, but it's always more fun to see the art on the bottle, I think.

Thank you! They look really pretty. And I wish the notes in Harvest Moon would have worked for me! That label is gorgeous.

This! Please?

All Night Long and Horn of Plenty And just so you know, you can access a scent's review page by typing in the scent name under the search function on the blackphoenixalchemylab.com website. Just type the name of the scent into the search bar, find it in the list of scents that the search produces, and then click on its name.

Anyone looking for a masculine scent, definitely give Hellboy (Aftershave, candy wrappers, brimstone, and cat) a shot. It is quite masculine, to me. Also October (Dry, cold autumn wind. A rustle of red leaves, a touch of smoke and sap in the air).

It smells like henna. LUSH's henna, to be precise. As it dries a bit more, I'm definitely getting the aftershave, and a little cat fur. But..wow. Henna. It's an interesting smell, but I can't think of when I'd possibly have an opportunity to wear something like this. And I think it's too masculine for me, anyway. Too bad I don't have a guy I could test this on.

Mm, this is lovely. In the bottle, it's very sweet, in an almost fruity sort of way. On wet, I still get a little of that fruitiness, which is annoying, but it's swiftly becoming overpowered by sweet vanilla. Once it dries, it becomes this beautiful soft vanilla suede scent, as if the suede has been infused with vanilla. And, wow! I feel like I can smell the clay. This may just be power of suggestion, though. The combination of leather and amber definitely is reminiscent of Hunter, but this isn't quite as strong (strong as in confident, not strong as in overpowering) as Hunter. The entire scent has a bit of a dusty feel to it, but it's soft and sweet at the same time. I am going to cherish my bottle.

I find that Bastet (Luxuriant amber, warm Egyptian musk, fierce saffron and soft myrrh, almond, cardamom and golden lotus) greatly resembles the smell of my cat's fur after she's been sunning herself. It's not as good as the real thing, but it's definitely close.

I've never tried it, but Pa-Pow (a scent evocative of bright days running through the grass and sun-warmed puppy fur dusted with California wildflowers) sounds like exactly the thing you're looking for.