lookingglass

Beautifully blended...DH and I both love this one. Soft and earthy, it reminds me of Zombi but much less monsterous and more everyday wearable...the woods and flowers are alive, not decaying, but resting lightly on the mossy forrest floor. The floral is so soft and dark; the woods are the majority of the throw. There is a spicy-appley feel to it, without being overly so. So many times I think I want spiced fruit scents that just smell like an autumn candel; this is NOT that. I am so, so glad. I don't usually do woods (they are like pencil shavings on me), but this is just working with my chemistry. This is a new favorite for both of us...definately a fall scent (my favorite...).

My 3 year old, Arbor, and I made a "Get out of here, monster!" spray this afternoon. He has been having really bad nightmares that he wakes up from screaming, and still dreaming, seeing monsters in his room. We used Dragon's Milk, because of the dragon's blood magical abilities (plus, he loves the show Dragon Booster), and the calming vanilla scent. I made it water soluable by adding a bit of perfumer's alcohol (a T or so), and put it in a 2 oz aluminum spray bottle. Then we made the lable together. We sprayed it all around his room, and some on him, too. He LOVED the smell (it is suprisingly stong...I usually use an imp in 1/8 oz spray for perfume!), and the idea that Momma Dragon magic was keeping him safe. No nightmares at naptime, and none so far!

Dark red and resinous, a bit like very overripe fruit~smokey, slightly fermented. On the drydown I really get the milk smell, slightly sour, but creamy and sweet; I definately get the image of dragon's milk and the mother dragon feeding her young~powerful, magical, life bearing, fierce if roused... Dry the honey vanilla is just duskied by the dragon's blood. I have gotten several comments that I smell "so good"...

Wet this is very honeyed almonds with a slight green kick and a waft of exotic spice that tickled my nose. Similar to Hecate, though this has more throw...

Oh, snake oil. I really wanted to love it, I did! Wet it was spicy, but not like any I have ever used in cooking...I couldn't identify it...some patchouli...some almond (one of my faves). Dark and sexy. On the drydown, it smells kind of familiar...like some man's cologne...I don't know. It is very exotic, murky, dusty, and sweet. My son smells the vanilla and likes it very much. I really want to like this but there is something...odd about it. It lasted a really long time...all evening. In the morning, DH said he smelled play dough! Ugh! I thought that was just a forum myth, because I had heard it was the almond and Hecate and Bordello (both almondy) are BEAUTIFUL on me and smell nothing like playdough! Oh, snake oil...why?? WHY??? Edit 1 month later: So I swapped him away...there. Gone. Except... I couldn't stop thinking about it...it was the strangest thing...I WANTED MY SNAKE OIL BACK!!!! So now I have some (slather, slather). My nose is older, wiser, more distinguished... I LOVE this! Of course I do~the perfume fates have brought us together again! While is still quite mysterious and odd, like my own dark side, she is a part of me. I will not be without my beloved... ETA: 2008 Nearly 3 years and 3 bottles of Snake Oil later...still my favorite perfume of all time. Several times I have been asked if I am wearing Shalimar. It is that sophisticated and sexy. I feel just as comfortable in it in jeans as I do in fur. It now "smells like me" to those who know and love me. There are other scents in my life, but Snake Oil is the standard. Oh...Never leave me... ETA: 2011 Countless bottles later, she's still my favorite; I may wear others (BPAL addict that I am) but there is always this lingering aroma of Snake Oil all around me. I had to come back just to read the reviews, my initial impressions, and add the following: Because of Snake Oil: People have thanked me for walking into their office to leave a scent trial. Mother's thank me for holding their babies and making them smell good. My children's friends tell their mother's they want their house to smell like mine. People ask to hug me to get closer to the scent. Clients say the scent in my office reduces their anxiety. Strangers comment to the air that something smells so good, but strange...what is it...DH asks if I need another bottle of Snake Oil in my BPAL orders because it's my staple...more like food than a perfumed luxury item. No lie. Magic in a bottle.

In the bottle this is like almond extract. Mmmm. Wet on skin, the myrrh emerges all resinony and sweet, and the almond fades a bit. On the drydown, the musk rears her head... very rich. DH loved this one and said he wanted to try it himself. Dry, she is light and subtle, but powerful...sweet but dark and deep. The three are one, like the goddess herself. Again, I thought I didn't like musk, or myrrh, but this blend is all its own! I will not be swapping her out (besides, I have used up nearly 1/2 the imp already this morning!). I must have more...I have been dreaming of Hecate...

First wiff from the bottle: chocolate MINT (!?) Wet on skin: the mintiness is not as prominent. Bittersweet chocolate...mmmm Drydown: the myrrh and the chocolate are fighting for attention...A very stong visual of a church basement bakesale comes to mind. Then the sandalwood emerges...smooth and deep... Dry: This is very close to the skin...delicious...the resin, wood, and sweet gourmond melt into my skin. It is like making love after dessert! Ughahh! 6 hours later there are still traces of it on my wrist. It is like a little secret I have been carying around all day... Definately a keeper...

I got this one for my little sister, who loves stargazer lilies. I am not a jasmine or musk fan, but, of course, I have to TRY it! In the bottle:jasmine, wet and sweet. On, wet: jasmine...so stong Drydown: hmmm....this is getting...yummy! The jasmine is calming down, getting soft, and there is a green note of myrtle. Dry:ohhh, the vanilla/sandalwood is warm and creamy! There is a small bite in there...the clove..it is just a love nip(!), not readily identifying itself as clove. I do not smell any of the musk note that usually does not work on me. It just smells~young and sexy. This scent reminds me of Lancome's Poeme, which is one of the few florals that I have ever liked. It is like pink cashmire...soft, seductive, classy. Without a doubt, the love goddess's daughter! Definately in my top 10. Who knew? It is BPAL magic!

Oh, a big ol' BPAL snuggle!

Me, too... I have this fantasy that someday DH and kiddos will get a wiff of something wonderful and think "Mom". But there are so many to love! DH jokes that no mattter what I wear, he will always associate me with the smell of toothpaste!

MMM, Velvet! I have some on the way!

He's gotten so good at indentifying notes that sometimes he blows me away! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> My 3 yr old LOVES to sniff and try to pick out the notes, too! He definately likes foody, chocolate, vanilla, fruity, "yummy" scents. He was facinated with Zombi and the whole idea of it~a big Scooby-Doo fan

I didn't want to try this one on as soon as I got it, because it was evening, and I didn't want to go to bed smelling like a zombi! Too scary! But...DH put it on! I could smell him, wafting through the house. A fresh zombi There is no sweet, rotting flesh smell, thank goodness, that would probably be associated with a zombi. The earthiness is very haunting, deep, rich and lovely. But it is sooo rosey, even on DH, that I don't think we'll be wearing it very much...maybe to scary movies or on Samhain. It has tremendous throw. Lying in bed...I cannot sleep next to a zombi!

After loving Bordello, with all of its fun flirtyness, I wanted to try a more sophisticated plum...this delivers. I was obseessed with Elizabeth Bathory when I was a teenager...read everything I could get my hands on...I was really excited to see "her" scent. She begins sour and juicy, almost like grapefruit. On the drydown it becomes more dusty and floral, but not overpoweringly rosey. Completely dry the sweet gardiania and opium make a delcious combination. This is evil The flowers try to deceive me, the berries try to tempt me, but this is cloying, dark, twisted, powerful, and cruel. ETA: this is a very evokative scent...I could not wear it as a delicate new mother. It scared me...now it's in my top 10.

This is definately how a black pearl would smell if it wore a signature scent! The combination of floral and coconut is definately tropical. I agree that it does smell of violets somehow...evocative of a dressing table of a noblewoman in the tropics...The hazelnut does not jump to the front, but adds a nutty sweet base. I am NOT a musk fan, but here it stays fairly subdued. I like my scents a little creamier, and this is just a bit too floral for me...maybe I will learn to love her...

In the bottle and when wet, the greenery is lush, thick and ALIVE...like a freshly blazed trail through the jungle. On the drydown, the coconut emerges. At first it is like sun tan oil, and then it toasts up nicely. I can almost see it browning, becomming crispy. It is sweetened with fig. Ohhh fig. Juicy and delicious-so sultry. While it dosn't have as much throw as I'd like, I am still getting wiffs of myself 2 hours later. I am left with a nutty, sweet and creamy ambrosia on my wrists. Definately a tropical smell. Great for vacation, summer, or a guided imagery getaway!

<div class="bpal" style="background-color:transparent; border: 1px dotted #000033; color: #000099; padding: 5px; width: 90%; align:center;margin:0 auto 0 auto"><i>Kali, the Black One, is the fearless Goddess of Destruction, Creation, Energy [in her Shakti aspect] and Dissolution. Also named Kaliratri [black Night] and Kalikamata [black Earth-Mother], she is the fiercest aspect of Devi, the supreme mother goddess. Kali is a protector Goddess, the destroyer of evil spirits and guardian of the faithful. She, along with her consort Shiva, represent the unending cycle of death and birth, sexual union, creation and destruction. Kali annihilates ignorance, maintains the natural order of the world, and blesses those who strive for spiritual awareness and knowledge of true holiness with infinite tenderness and motherly love. The constant, unending Work of Creation is called the "The Play of Kali". This perfume is 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.<!-- bpal scent end --></i></div> Wet, this scent is thick and juicy. There is a heavy, lusty sweetness along with the alcohol blast. On the drydown the florals steal the show. Hello rose...definately a key player, but it dosn't waft up towards me, I have to go to her. She is dancing with the other notes. The chocolate darkens. When I wake up the next morning, this scent still pleasently lingers. There is a slightly chocolatey, cooked fruit smell deep in my skin. My 3 year old son says it smells like smoke. This scent reminds me of the sacrifical offering that may be made to Kali. Ooooooom Kali Maaaaaaaaa....

At first it is really sweet and fruity...for the first hour I didn't think I liked it...reminds me of a bayberry candel my mother had as a child...then cotton candy, but a little spicy... the backseat of an old boyfriend's car (strawberry air freshener?). 2 hours later the fruitiness has mellowed, melded with my skin, not fermented, as I was fearing. The thick, almondy ameretto lingers. There is a whispering breath of wine. This was a gift from the Lab (thank you so much). I would not have chosen it, but I will definately wear this to summertime evening parties! Edit 8/12/05 This has turned into both my and DH's favorite. After I have worn it a few days in a row, it builds up and is a really sexy sweetness without a fakey fruit smell. I relish in the almondyness, but DH, who "says" he dosn't like almond, wants to eat it up, too. I get lots of compliments...Definately a big bottle!

When I got this in my order (for my husband) I took a quick sniff and really smelled the lavender...it kind of turned me off because I have used a lot of natural bug repellants with lavender! But then my husband walked by me and OMG! A HOT resinony goodness wafted all around him! I chased him around saying, "let me smell you..."! As it dried out more, I could identify the nag champa. It is my favorite insence, but not a single note I usually like on skin. It was so amazing what the lavender did to it...kind of cleaned it up...made it fresher, while still smoldering lingered. A SEXY, complex, scent that I want him to wear everyday! Edit to add: A year later and over 300 BPAL's sniffed...this is still his favorite "everyday, everywhere" scent. 'Just grabbed up a 10 ml.

In the bottle: A fresh, sharpness...almost fruity and flowery. The ginger and tea seem to be on top. Wet: Linen, still very clean and fresh. It is not at all what I expected! Dry Down: The floweryness mellows out into honey...Much like I imagine the transformation that the nectar goes through as the bees work. The vanilla emerges, caressing the honey. Delicious! Dry: slightly peppery, fruity sweet and creamy. The honeyed tea lingers. Very light and dreamy. I'll definately have to slather!