whataboutprom

A dog's bright, beaming memories of playing in the sun, rolling in the grass, and begging for table scraps. Oh no. I don't want to be first on this one, because so far it doesn't really work on my skin. http://www.bpal.org/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/icon_sad.gif Bub on my skin is a combo of strong soap, ginger, and some other vague spices. The soap is kind of like dish soap; it reminds me of blowing bubbles as a kid. It's just soapy spice so far. I will definitely give it another try and update my review if I get anything different. Caveat: I have uber wonky skin chemistry, so what is funky on me will probably be fine on someone else.

THE TWO-TAILED SOGGPink grapefruit, swamp moss, green musk, orris root, cypress, and honey. In the bottle, this is sweet, powdery grapefruit with a very clean musk in the background. It stays the same while wet on my skin. The Two-Tailed Sogg is a light pink/white scent. I can't pick out the honey note, but maybe it's what is adding the powdery fragrance. This reminds me a teeny bit of a grapefruit version of Jezebel, although with less throw; the grapefruit keeps it from being over the top sweet. This is a happy blend and makes me think of perfume for a young girl. I'm not really getting the swamp moss, orris root or cypress. I'll update this review if they come out later. I would love for this to turn a bit more bitter or earthy. ETA: After a while, the powdery scent does get a little greener, and I think the swamp moss and orris root are starting to come through. It's not as girly as it was when first applied. I think this is one that will grow on me.

Fresh pumpkin puree seasoned with brown sugar, ginger, nutmeg, and clove baked into an anise seed crust. Wow. This is lovely. I can't do pumpkin as a perfume, and I actually don't like commercial scented candles at all, most especially the autumn spice scents. This is a totally different thing, and I love it. The spices smell like actual cooking spices, and although I can't smell pumpkin exactly, there is a soft sweetness with the spice that isn't cloying at all.

So far this is the only scent from the series that works on me. It's a lovely, forresty, earthy scent. When wet it almost smells like a single note patchouli accord, patchouli recreated using other plants. I don't get rose at all, either in the bottle or on my skin. During dry down this can smell somewhat dusty when I put my nose too close to my arm, but that is a common problem I have with perfumes. The scent is nice enough that I don't mind that.

Blood red pomegranate with tobacco absolute, Haitian tobacco leaf, and oudh. I just got my candle in the mail, and I LOVE it! The candle I bought about a year ago was very faint, but this one seems to have more *oomph* to it, without being overpowering. The pomegranate is fresh and tart and blends perfectly with the tobacco. This is one of those blends that smells expensive, somehow- quite fancy. I wish I could afford to buy backups of this!

Just ordered a second bottle. This will be the only BPAL for which I have a backup bottle. I go through perfume so slowly, that I never buy more than one, but I think I have just come to terms with So Below being my Holy Grail scent.

This one surprised me, because it smells very close to the amber oil I make myself. The one I make has about 4 parts benzoin, 1 part labdanum, and a very small amount of vanilla. I had to pull out a bottle of my own to smell the differences. Mainly, Beth's blend has vanillic notes from the resins, but not the straight vanilla in my own blend. It's very nice. This amber does not turn powdery or high pitched at all on my skin. It's in the same family as Gelt, but not as sweet. I love it.

I'm dressed as Beverly Harris from Roseanne, and while I like the idea of wearing a BPAL that coordinates with my costume, I'm still so obsessed with So Below that I'm wearing it every day. Maybe tonight I will wear a white floral to match my character better.

So, uh... Where can I buy this by the gallon? I'm not sure I can add much to what has already been said. The dry-down of So Below is a soft, sensual, amber/better than skin scent that actually has some throw and lasting power. Utterly gorgeous.

LOVE. Even though this smells nothing like how I imagined it, this is gorgeous. At first it screams MUSK with a tiny hint of cacao and patchouli. After a few minutes, the musk calms down, the chocolate disappears, and the patchouli comes forward, dry and woodsy and nothing like the rich earth scent of the more hippie variety. It's almost all red patchouli for a few hours, and then the musk comes back, soft and powdery in the most beautiful way, (nothing like baby powder.) I tested this last night and I slathered it this morning so I can smell it all day at work. ETA: the tobacco is coming out a lot more today. Rich and warm, like the inside of a cigar box. Love it.

First day wearing this, and I am already considering a backup bottle. Cocoa comes out strong in the beginning, but after a few minutes it fades and lets spiced plum take over. I can't pick out hay in the blend, and the hazelnut is adding a warm, rich feeling without taking over, thankfully. Tarantula Fascinator is more in gourmand territory than foodie. All of the wonderful food notes blend into a beautiful perfume that is both sexy and comforting.

Such a gorgeous blend. At first this is strong SASSAFRAS, but after it dries, the vanilla comes to the front. Vanilla usually goes very bad on my skin, but this is one of the few vanillas that works for me. I love cedar, but it's not strong enough for me to perceive as cedar specifically; it adds a general dry wood feel to the oil. Tombstone doesn't have a lot of throw, but I do get small whiffs of a warm, not to sweet vanilla throughout the day.

I received a frimp of Aglaea earlier this year, and it is pretty dark, not clear at all. I can't attest to the scent however, as when I tried it a few years ago, it made me sick. It does seem likely the formulation has changed, since it looks so different now.

Ah... this is what I wanted from The Book! While The Book was all sharp leather to me, the leather in Dee is softened and warmed by the other notes. I can't pick out incense specifically, but Dee smells like an old library where incense has been burned maybe a few days ago. It's definitely a bit masculine, but also glowing and cozy and wonderful, not harsh in any way. This is the closest I have found to my ultimate library fragrance.

I also have thyroid issues and very dry skin. I haven't noticed a big difference when I use a moisturizer before perfume, but I would recommend using an unscented oil instead of an unscented lotion. Usually unscented lotions (that aren't 100% natural) have a chemical in them to suppress the scent of the other ingredients. It can definitely change the scent of your perfume oil. But you can use pure jojoba, almond, grapeseed, or apricot seed oil on the areas you apply perfume, and they will not change the fragrance at all. You can also apply oil all over after showering to lock in moisture. The oils work a lot better when the skin is damp. I often use BPTP's bath oils this way. The damp skin allows me to apply the oils with a lighter touch, and layering the scented oils with the perfume helps the scent to last all day.

Beth does a much better job of describing this than I ever could. I agree on all of the notes listed. When wet, this smelled a bit one dimensional, and that one dimension was the type of soapy musk that can somehow also smell like BO on me. Thankfully the scent evolves quite a lot as it dries, and now it is wonderfully complex. If you think you will like this, you're probably right. This is what I hoped for in an Ambergris SN.

This is from a decant: I haven't tried it in the bath yet, but when I apply this to my skin it smells a lot like Gluttony. I don't get any raspberry, but I get the sweet, boozy smell that Gluttony had on my skin. I am excited to try this in my bath when I get a chance.

I tried lots and lots of imps over several years before I figured out what works for me. The scents I was drawn to initially ended up being terrible on me. Some people have noses and skin that seem to love just about everything. I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum where a majority of scents turn bad on my skin, so it took a great deal of time for me to find wearable perfumes. Another part of finding oils that work for me was training my nose. If you take time testing each imp and take notes of your impressions, you can train yourself to pick out more and more notes. Once you can do this, fewer things will seem to have that generic baby powder smell, which can be kind of a default when your brain doesn't know what else to compare a perfume to. My recommendation would be to buy some more imps with different notes and to take your time with each one. Once you have eliminated oils that you truly dislike, you can swap them on this forum for new imps. This way you can continue to try more and more perfumes until you figure out what works for you. And try all frimps on your skin! The scent in the bottle can be quite misleading.

I think I have finally learned my lesson: I cannot wear ginger. When wet I smell overwhelming ginger, and not much else. After about half an hour, the ginger was so strong and unpleasant that I had to wash this off. For me, it was not worth the ginger to try and reach the other notes during dry down.

I am getting pure white musk with my decant. It's a soft, snuggly musk, almost like a sweet rain kind of blend. I can't pick out any other notes, but the decant is still pretty fresh. It's nice, but I am interested to see if it will gain some complexity with time. ETA: I'm trying this for the second time now, and I can smell a very dry, light, white sandalwood in addition to the white musk. I think this will age well.

At first this smells like woodsy patchouli and a bit of sandalwood to me. As it dries *something* else comes out, but I have no idea what. The patchouli quickly blends into the other notes and becomes less obvious. I like this but I need more time to process it.

Wet, this is a perfumey rose that is somehow sharp and powdery at the same time, and yet, I like it. As it dries, I do sense some violet and a light, musky powder along with faint rose. It smells like a vintage, fancy bath product of some sort, no ordinary soap. Sometimes powdery florals get less powdery with time. I think this will be gorgeous as it ages, and I do like it now.

I tried this without looking at the notes and thought I smelled grapefruit. After looking at the description, it is still hard to pick out much other than the violet leaf. It's quite beautiful, bright and citrusy, but it disappears within minutes on my skin. It is so light that I can barely smell anything with my nose directly on my wrist. I will love my decant, but I can't buy a bottle of something that I can only smell for about 5 minutes. (Take this with a grain of salt- I don't have a very good sense of smell.)

At first this is very, very smoky. I was kind of hoping that this vetiver wouldn't be so strong on the smoke, but that does fade after a while. After that, the scent is a rich, green/brown smell with hints of grass, hay, and soil. It morphs a lot but is always quite earthy. I think I am going to tuck this bottle away for a year or two and see how it ages. It's a bit too sharp for me right now, but I want to see how the vetiver changes with time.

I would start with packing the BTPT items the same way the lab ships them- packing tape wrapped over the lid and then around the lid to keep it from rotating open. I would put each item in a separate, thick zip-lock plastic bag. I would then put everything in a sturdy box filled with lots of bubble wrap, so the items don't get crushed. Good luck with your move!