lookingglass

As the Queen of Narnia, I wore Lilith, as she was her daughter....

This one goes on very hot and dry. Not usually what I go for in a perfume, but this is going in my top 10 for my choice for cinnamon. It will be replacing Eclipse, which I was just orgasmo over, until I discovered that I could mix Sin with O for something even more delicious! (Eclipse is quite like O once it is dry on me). The patchouli is the darkest that I have ever smelled; the sandalwood is fresh and true; the cinnamon doesn't leave my skin red, as Eclipse did (yea!). It is a red and black scent for sure~harsh, a little bitter, but so spicy and sexy. As it dries, the amber warms and softens the blend, but only the teensiest bit, so as to not deny the true wickedness of the blend. It melts beautifully into my skin (what I love about amber....umph...) while remaining the black fire that is the wonder of Sin...I see burning embers...I think this is what Hell smells like...

Smells like Blood Kiss (one of my all time faves)without the cherry and vertiver. Dry incense but with a honey sweetness. Pretty nice...but I like the way that Blood Kiss tempers the wine note with the addition of the cherry better than Athens alone. DH says "Mmmm...I like that one!" from across the room...

This is like an autumn version of Bordello. It is initally very tart and fruity, but as it dries out it gets darker...like a damp, decaying autumn forest. I get a very strong visual of the hunt... My husband says I smell like a fruity Snapple tea (though there is no tea in it, the cranberry tang throws a tannin-like scent.).

This is so utterly, hauntingly beautiful. Sweet, slightly fruity (osmanthus flowers smell like apricot and honeysuckle to me), delicately transparent floral wet, it dries out with dusty woods unlike any other. It lives up to its name and description perfectly. It is a cool draft of a scent on me, without being "cold" or aquatic, like the Ghost is... I anticipate wearing this often, and I think it would do well in any season when I don't want something very overstated yet very special and ethereal. Edited to add: I have never smelled a white rose perfume so perfect...I must get a big bottle.

I usually wait until I have worn a scent a few times to review it, but this is one that I just cannot hold back on. I MUST review it here and now... I am in love with Eclipse. Yes, I knew better than to put her on straight out of the shower (cinnamon and all...), so I do have a mild skin irritation...but the scent is INTOXICATING! Wet it is all almonds, which I love, and I haven't really FALLEN for an almond scent (except for Bordello~but that is ameretto, not ALMONDS). As it dries out it gets so sweetly vanilla, but the heliotrope makes all the difference: it is sweet, creamy, but slightly green...a LIVE vanilla scent. The cinnamon is so feisty and blends seamlessly with the frankincense, so that it is so like cinnamon incense, and not candy or baked goods. Bitter, hot, and sweet... Once it is dry, the redness fades, and Eclipse is then quite like my beloved O. OMFG I LOVE this.

Devil's Night...

Yup. It be what it be...smells like I spilled a mint julep on myself.

ROSES, roses, roses.........mixed with the sharp resinous tang. On the drydown, it softens with the white florals. A perfect blend to use for the night's ritual work, but not a perfume for this soul...

A big waft of dusty smoke mixed with a bit of spiced booze hits me first. Then it sweetens down a lot and binds with the musk, maybe some fir or other tree back there. Definitely thugish... It smells like an advent calender I had one year when I was a child...excuse me while I have a scent memory moment...pine trees, candy, cinnimon, the faint smells of scented paper... If you like Blvgari's Black, you should like this. This is more masculine to me, than gender neutral. It smells so much better on DH...That is OK...he deserves at least one of my Halloween blends!

In the bottle: weird...corn? I never thought that CANDY corn smelled like corn. Oh well, here we go! Instantly sweet and spicy, a little buttery. This is making Sugar Skull seem perfumey (one on one arm, one on the other...for ease of description...both are primarily sugar, yes?). Trick or Treat is not exactly light hearted. There is still a darkness in the sweetness. A little toasty, a little spicy...but not as much as Sugar Skull. It is a little more honey type note in here, me thinks... Love it...but not as much as Sugar Skull.

When I opened this up, I had forgotten about the "tree" notes. Not the biggest needle fan...It is very prominent at the beginning. Then I get a big waft of spice, and an odd, earthy, creamy scent that must be the pumpkin. The apple is a bit more understated than I anticipated. Dry, it captures the sabot beautifully...dark, damp, sweet and spicy, full of magic and mystery.

This is for the 2005 edition...Please excuse me if this should go somewhere else... I LOVE this oil. I did not anticipate this scent being so skin compatible. In the bottle it is quite buttery and sweet. Then it is spicy...cinnamon/cardamom light and beautiful. My friend complements me that I smell like an Indian dessert. The sweetness is dark...cooked...like baked good crust. Dry, this reminds me of the Amish maple cinnamon buns that I used to get up North. I am captivated. Must have more!!!!!!!!!!

Lilith does not mess around. This scent is a powerful force: strong, deep and true. Strikingly beautiful, but you wouldn't dare tell her so... The wine note and myrrh give an inital bite. The wine then fades into a slight fruitness, keeping the scent from being too dark. The rose is so fine and pure...again, not too "flowery"(for those of you who may fear rose, as I have). The musk and myrrh blend beautifully, holding it all down. The whole blend softens on me as it dries. I will be keeping her in my arsenal.

A freshly baked triple fudge brownie with a caramel swirl...perhaps a few nuts thrown in. I LOVE this. Love, love, love,love!!!! It is my box of chocolates that I can give myself everyday. I am so edible right now.

This is definitely my new Spring scent...soft, pink and green budding blossoms in a bottle! I am not usually a delicate scent girl, but this is so like a Spring breeze, I cannot resist. The rose is so gentle...do not be afraid...it is like smelling an actual flower...not a cloying rose oil at all. The apple blossom is PERFECT. I had been looking for an apple scent, (I thought for fall~Hesperides, Verandi...but they were TOO appley for me)and I have found her. The honey melts all of the florals into my skin and makes it a PART of me. I am transformed by Eve... An instant favorite. Brava!

Fruity sweetness, rose, and a fresh loam compete on my skin at first...Drying down the earthiness blends with my skin (thank you, Miss Amber), but a bite remains~I am thinking that this is the myrrh, as it is usually a sharp note on me. The rose is a bit cloying at first...rose is often this way on me. I like it though. It is like a femmed out, lightened Zombi.

...she may be all that...but she is also a very, very, very, DIRTY girl. I have turned into a SKANKY pirate who smells as if she has not bathed in a very long time, having been sailing on her scurfy boat, in her only outfit. DH loves the "dirty" smell, but I like mine cleaned up or creamed out.

This is a less brazen version of Kabuki, in my opinion. The cherry and anise 'play nice', not competing for alpha female in this blend. The sandalwood dries her out a bit for me...I like my scents to be, generally, CREAMY .

Wet, this is very raw wood...not juicy, though...dry...it tickles the back of my throat. At first I think that I am not going to like it, but on DH, it gets sweet, like a well used woodwind instrument...handled, loved, worn smooth, with traces of the distinguished users cologne. He's keeping it to wear to work; he is a professor, and makes him feel distinguished and not as sexual as many of the other blends in our collection...

This is another scent that I would classify as feminine, not gender neutral. It is a light, wispy, fruity floral. There is a sweet apricot scent whirling with a pale blue breeze. There is a faint, happy memory through the mournful chill. Complex and lovely, the name is certainly befitting.

Compelling, complex, and utterly enigmatic: a luxuriant, exotic blend of cherry, red musk, and star anise. I think it was Olympia that called this the Snake Oil of the East. I have to agree. It is unbelievably sexy, mysterious, deep, dark and delicious. I never liked "fruity" scents until I discovered BPAL...but I don't think I had ever met EVIL fruit... This is my new favorite cherry. It will be replacing the Red Queen in my Top 10. The anise gives this a bit of a boozy bite, and makes the cherry more "purple than red". The musk blends beautifully with my chemistry. Dry, it is as if I am emanating sweetness, not wearing perfume at all. I get the same "feeling" from Snake Oil when all that is left is the darkened vanilla. It is not "foody" to me at all...it is just sweet skin.

Wet this is large, golden droplets of honey. Ooooh! As it dries, it is more like smelling the inside of a delicate flower. Dry, though, the herbals and florals are competing with the honey. Sadly, I'm just the kind of gal that amps up the florals...I will save it for when I am feeling flowery, because it is quite nice, and I don't have many florals. Definitely one of my favorite LE's, and I will be using it all up.

This is like Alice's older sister. Very floral, but sweet...and more than a little mischievous. This is a timeless scent for me...maybe it is 'old fashioned' (violet, rose, jasmine...) combination of florals with more 'modern' (vanilla, stargazer) scents. It is really lovely. I am a sucker for amber these days...here it emanates its golden light through the pastel florals. It is a tapestry. I must find more! I just hope the name is not a curse!

I waited and waited and then finally received Geek. Oh, I was ready to "snarl"! Sadly, it was not what I had expected, either on me or DH. It just smelled kind of dusty, faintly woody...like a sawmill: slightly dirty with dry and fresh wood.