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I've worn Mlle. Lilith a couple of times now, and am happy to report that she's grown on me. I tend not to like scents that are too floral/sweet/pink and I don't really see that changing as a general rule. On me, Mlle. Lilith is super pink and bubblegummy, but at the same time still a complex blend. Fortunately I don't get a lot of coconut, as that note doesn't seem to like me very much. I might reach for it in the future on these hot days, but can't see myself really wanting to wear it all that often. I could also see the sweetness giving me a headache after a while. Unlike most others, I'm trying Mlle. Lilith before Mme. Moriarty, so I can't really compare them. I will say that if Mme. Moriarty is a heavier, sexier version of this, I'll probably love it! I'll give this one a 3/5.

I ordered a full bottle of Embalming Fluid on a whim a few days ago because I had to order a book from Amazon anyway and it is so muggy and hot where I am. I figured I couldn't go wrong with what is apparently the most popular summer blend. I also love green tea and white musk, though I can take or leave lemon depending on the blend. The aloe note also appealed to me. Wet it smells--- light. Sort of sweet and not too lemony, and I can definitely pick out the aloe. Dry I'm getting a lot more lemon but still no white musk. It smells like what sunshine pouring through a crystal glass of lemon-infused green tea would smell like. It is still quite faint, but that can be nice in hot weather. Just enough light scent to cover up the icky muggy sweat. Actually, I imagine this will sort of make it seem like my sweat just happens to have a vaguely pleasant aroma, win! I think I'd give this a 3.5/5. If I'd had an imp, I wouldn't have bought a bottle, but I'm not going to get rid of the bottle anytime soon. Will try wearing it out and about tomorrow. I'd also note that I got Lolita as a frimp with this and am OBSESSING (I love wearing orange scents in the summer) so that has tainted my opinion of Embalming Fluid. Oh, and I think this would be great as a room scent, actually-- quite unobtrusive.

Frimps from a recent order! I'm not used to not having a scent description to work with, but I will try to do it justice anyway. In the imp: Chocolate? Dirt? Some sort of floral, something heady and full. Wet: This is definitely chocolate. It smells like the shavings from an old bar of baking chocolate I just (re)discovered in my pantry. It's not bad, just... interesting. Huh. Foody but not in a way that makes me want to lick my arm. Dry: Something incensey... maybe patchouli, as cfrancesca mentioned? It's also getting a little lighter, and the chocolate is letting up a bit. I think the floral-type note I got in the imp is showing up again, making it a little richer and a tad sweeter. It's definitely not the sort of thing I would normally go for, but it's actually growing on me. I'm in a little bit of a cranky 'don't touch me' sort of mood today and this fits well. It's a nice, earthy, growly sort of blend. I will likely keep one imp and trade/sell the other.

My two Love's Philosophy decants from Melenass arrived a few hours ago and I simply could not resist putting a droplet on my arm (well away from my wrists, which already feature Tombstone today). Wet: YOWZA that is some sweet, thick vanilla frosting. Oh-so-buttery and creamy. I love the smell to bits, but not sold on it as a perfume blend at the moment. I can smell something a little dry, almost acrid, underneath, which might lend it a nice depth or might screw it up. Drying: It hasn't changed too much, except my fears of something acrid have been laid to rest. The sweetness has mellowed out a bit, but it is still of the strain that makes your teeth ache, but not in a bad way. I am not sure I can make out the saffron itself, but I think it is there lending a nice extra dimension to make the blend interesting and not just pure vanilla. Dry: Wow, this has mellowed out a lot and is quite lovely, actually. I think the saffron is giving it a grounded, almost woodsy quality, but without the obvious "OH HEY YOU ARE IN A FOREST" dirtiness that some woods do to me. Conclusions: Being a vanilla addict, I require a different flavor of vanilla for every eventuality. This is a perfect sweetly mellow vanilla, but more interesting than a bottle of plain vanilla-- for example, I have and enjoy the Body Shop's vanilla perfume oil, but this is so much more complex even while remaining a simple blend, if that makes sense. Throw: I was going to claim that this is one that sticks to my skin, but actually I keep getting very faint whiffs of it while sitting here typing. This, to me, makes it a great blend for everyday use: I know I'll smell great and people might get a lucky whiff, but I don't have to worry about it being overpowering. That said, Love's Philosophy decants are hard to come by. If the chance to buy a bottle arises, I will certainly go for it but I won't lose sleep over it as there are lots of other lovely BPAL vanillas (I am not the type for a tragic love!). However, no one will ever take my imps away from me-- I am very pleased I went with my instincts and bought both decants while I could. They will be much loved. One more thing: Since I have Tombstone on my wrist it is easy to compare these, and I would say that if you like Love's Philosophy you should try Tombstone. LP is much, much sweeter while Tombstone is a little deeper & richer what with the cedar in the mix, but they smell quite related to my nose. EDIT: Oh noooooo. I wore this again and it was so stunning. And the first blend that my boyfriend said, "Woah, you smell amazing" to without me shoving a wrist in his face. My calm reserve of the earlier review is gone. NOOOO I am now doomed to an eternity hoarding my imps and scrounging for a bottle.

Wet: This is EXACTLY like almond extract for the first minute or so. It's nice, but I don't want to smell precisely like my favorite secret baking ingredient. Now the cinnamon is coming out. I'm nervous about this because I am possessed of quite sensitive skin, but so far no rash or anything. Just a bit too much ZING for my nose... will wait until it dries to see if the vanilla I normally amp like woah will come out to temper it a bit. Dry: I'm still mostly getting cinnamon at the moment, unfortunately. It's not really my thing. Happily I'm going to a bakery right now though, so I'll blend in a bit while I let it settle even more! After 4 hours: Hmmmm. The vanilla did come out a bit so the blend is a lot mellower now... but I'm not really feeling it. The cinnamon seems a lot less like the cinnamon in my kitchen and a bit too much like cinnamon-flavored candy. Not a bad blend, just not my thing. Might try it again some other time. Oh, and no reaction on my sensitive skin so far, so hurrah for that!

Oh, what an interesting blend! Especially for the small number of notes. For me, it starts out as a barbecued lemon, all blackened and charred on the outside. As it dries, the grilled bits crumble off, leaving a sweetly smoked lemon behind; high and light, but it is grounded a bit by the leftover musky dust. Ten minutes later and the amber is adding a bit of warmth. Oh, if this does what I think it might, I could actually be swept off my feet, which would be quite a surprise as the lemony phase, while pretty in its own way, isn't my thing at all. Amber, you are my friend. I especially love how you bring Vanilla along to play so frequently. I just deleted a few paragraphs I'd written relegating this to the "not a big bottle, maybe as a bathroom scent" pile and would actually consider a bottle. For me, this is a good "neutral" scent, for all those days when I don't know what to wear. It's like a glorified skin musk on me (not the skin musk note in BPAL as I haven't tried that yet; more like how I would want my skin to smell in an ideal world): a little warmer (amber), a little sweeter .(amber/vanilla), a little deeper (musk). Yay.

Wet: Rich and full roses, as if a big gust of wind took all of the lovely scent out of a large, mature bloom and filled up my nose. Lovely, but extremely one-sided floral: no spice yet. The barest hint of powder, but though I usually HATE any bit of powder it's surprising that I kinda like this one. Drying: Oooo, is that a little spice easing out? I think---- AUGH. Sledgehammer of nasty DOOM (I realize that isn't actually a helpful description, it's just exactly what I thought). It smells like a commercial perfume my grandmother used to wear (no idea what it was). When I was little I used to get really horrible headaches after driving in the car with her solely from that smell: it put me off perfume until I discovered BPAL many many years later. It's going to be difficult to keep this on. Dry: I'll be going to sleep soon and I have to wash this off. It's actually shifting quite a bit: for a minute I'll have that horrible stench, then it will go back to the nice softly spicy rose. I wish it would stay at the latter, but obviously my skin chemistry is freaking out. Unfortunately, Othello is the absolute worst blend on me so far. "Middle Eastern spices" from other blends work well; perhaps I just can't handle "Indian spices"?

I just reviewed Scherezade and figured I should come over here and confess my love for Bastet. Scherezade, for me, is hot, dry, spicy goodness-- a serious storyteller, beautiful but in an unapproachable sort of way: regal, if you will. Bastet is like her sexier, friendlier little sister who flirts with you but isn't an inappropriate tease (not like her friend O, who makes a good layering companion if you really want some fun times). Basically, I adore this blend. I get all the fascinating Middle Eastern spices warmed up by the amber and an almost honey-like sweetness. I don't get any cherry (comparing it to the overwhelming cherry I get in Blood Kiss). Although I wouldn't exactly call it a foody blend, it reminds me of baklava in a way: almond-y spicy goodness. A decadent, rich dessert, but not SWEET FOOD YUM. One caveat: After several successful wearings, she seems to be toying with throwing some powder to my nose today-- never noticed that before. However, I am going to chalk that up to stupid body chemistry changes and order a bottle anyway. Almond extract is my secret ingredient when baking; it looks like it may be a secret ingredient for blends that work on me, too!

Like many others, Scherezade's spices on me are very, very dry. Hot and intense with no enveloping humidity. I get absolutely no sweetness or vanilla, something I usually amp and that usually adds a lovely dimension for me. At first, I didn't know if I liked it, but it really grew on me-- sometimes I even layer it with O to warm it up a bit and I find that combination pretty fabulous. Hmmm, this one is bothering me, because I'm placing an order from the lab today and am undecided on it. I think in conclusion that while I love the smell, it is not yet bottle worthy at the moment, though I will treasure my imp. I would highly recommend it for someone wanting to try the rich, Middle Eastern-spice-y side of BPAL (and seriously, if you have O for layering try it out!).

My father lives on the coast-- this frimp reminds me a bit of being at his home, with the tang of the salt sea air on my lips. I smell like this after a day at the sea. Then the tang becomes a bit more violent, a bit more metallic... the name is the perfect description for this particular blend. I will keep my imp for its novelty: I could see myself having a day of wanting to wear this (maybe a reading day with something like the Count of Monte Cristo or another epic, vengeful, sea-worthy drama) but it's not an everyday or even every month scent. That said, if I had unlimited funds I would buy a bottle for my 'esoteric, evocative smells' collection.

I usually LOVE the smell of jasmine. Unfortunately, after epic failures with other BPAL jasmine blends that I really wanted to love, I must simply conclude that BPAL jasmine does not love me back. At all. In the bottle, I smell the crystalline, starry night time. It should be a lovely one. But on my skin, Zorya swamps me with a sickly, almost ammonia-tinged jasmine that overpowers any of the other notes. I can sense them in the background-- it's like the notes are a bunch of little kids scrambling to show off the lovely things they could do with my skin, but jasmine is the big sister who won't let the little ones even try. Dried down a bit, Zorya is a softer, but extremely powdery floral-- which unfortunately is not the kind of scent I like. Perhaps if there had been more musk, or Oriental spices... but life can be wasted on 'perhaps', so I will just try some more blends. But probably fewer with jasmine, in the future.

In the bottle I can smell a sweet, swirly mystery. Something unusual, fruity-- a light scent but really rounded and full. The vanilla sort of teases my nose a bit, but because it doesn't take the center stage I can focus on the other, more unusual notes. On my skin it warms up a little bit, thanks to the vanilla that my skin loves so much. It still stays clean and light, but complicated. The honey sweetens it but isn't very thick or cloying the way the honey in O always ends up on me. When I smell this, I think about bright golden sunshine filtering through leaves with a light wind picking up hints of spices. It reminds me of making green tea properly, with all the pretty, clean cups and teapots: an exacting, beautiful, slightly mysterious tradition. The notes seem to work together to create a really lovely perfume. Unfortunately, it doesn't stay around as long as I'd like-- but that just makes me want to soak myself in it. I will wear this often-- especially on days I want to feel light, feminine, and sophisticated, but with a special twist. As I will be moving to a warmer climate soon, I can see myself reaching for it day in and out as a bright, summery contrast to the oppressive heat.

In the bottle, I get a sharp, tangy, quite bitter scent. Very woodsy, with a sort of stale, old chocolatey-tobacco flavor. Not at all what I was looking for when I purchased it scent unsniffed! Feral is definitely a good word. On my skin, however, this changes completely. I get a pine smell, but one that reminds me of actually being in a forest. The vanilla comes through clean and soft, reminding of the vanilla in one of my favorites, Lyonesse. I smell my wrist and I am walking through a pine forest in the winter with a mug of vanilla chai, or a warm sugar cookie. I have no idea where the rose is, though I would note that I've been looking for a Hanae Mori-esque BPAL scent-- both HM and this contain Bulgarian Rose, which is why I ordered Sleeping Nymph and Satyrs. I don't smell the rose, but I do note a kind of similarity, so perhaps I am just not sensitive enough to pick it out. I just re-smelled on my skin (love) and re-smelled in bottle (ack!). So either this one is a real morpher or my body chemistry loves it. I don't think it is too masculine, although I could see it being great on a guy (boyfriend has now unknowingly signed up for this duty. I will update with his results!). I am so happy I purchased a bottle and may buy another one or even two to have on hand. I have had mixed luck with BPAL imps in the past (in the sense that things I thought would be surefire winners have been disappointing), but this time around I purchased two un-impable bottles and am now in love with both! I wouldn't wear this on a night out with friends, or to a nice restaurant with my boyfriend. It's not that it's not sexy, it's just more of an outdoorsy or sitting-on-the-couch-and-one-thing-leads-to-another sexy--a bit of the feral feeling from the bottle-scent. I would and will wear this particular scent on a day to day basis. It is beautiful, but unobtrusive, especially because the woodsiness doesn't seem too 'perfumey,' just natural--I hate it when people wear reallyreally strong, obvious perfumes to class/work. Love! EDIT: As promised, I tackled my boyfriend wielding this lovely oil. I regret doing so, because it smells even better on him than it does on me, a nice woodsy vanilla (still no rose). While he used to request to use "that one smell you bought for yourself but smells nicer on me," a suspicious sniff this morning confirmed that he has now taken over the bottle. At least I still get to enjoy it!