GypsyRoseRed

Snake Charmer!

Hahahaha. I came here to make pretty much the exact same review that andrabell just posted! When I originally got Mme. Moriarty, I sniffed the bottle and although it was pleasant enough (and definitely in the same family as Snake Charmer, Snake oil etc) it just didn't grab me, and something in there just wasn't quite right. So it sat in my BPAL box for a year, and last night when I was going through and pulling out everything I wasn't used, I decided to test it. Aging has made ALL this difference to this baby. The vanilla bean mingles perfectly with the musk, patchouli and incense. And the throw and wear length are exceptional!

I wasn't going to write a review initially, but I have a little something to add to what cranberry said. Ignore the green color in the bottle, because in my experiments I've not been able to get anything nearing a green shade out of this polish no matter how many layers I use. And I'm glad. The glitter is exceptionally fine and has a light multicolored aurora-borealis effect. Also, the polish itself leaves a frosted glass effect on the nail which is very unusual and pretty.

Pink Moon '07 with Bliss is similar, but lacking the spicy pink peppery note.

This blend is based on a great contrast - the peach and patchouli complement each other very well, and if I'd read the notes in this I probably wouldn't have tried it. It doesn't have the cloying sweetness I would have expected of True Love at all, instead, the sweetness is more natural and tempered by the dark smokiness of the patchouli. Very well balanced and once it's well into the drydown, the peach is hardly discernable, it's so well blended. This *is* a surprise! Definitely wearable, distinctive and a staple for ladies of mystery and intrigue. I don't know how well it suits my personality and typical preferences, but it's great nonetheless.

I tried an imp of this a while back, and it was very interesting.. The bottle I picked up on Ebay smelled the same, so I have to believe that my body chemistry has changed to some degree. It's still slightly smoky, and patchouli-ish, but wet it develops the same nasty ozone-y air freshener note that Dark Delicacies inflicts on me. It's so nasty that I had to wash it off, which was a crying shame because it's such a pretty scent. Damn body chemistry.

It smelled more promising in the bottle than on my skin, which shouldn't surprise me because this Earth sign girl does not do aquatics. Wet, I could detect the sweetpea and something softer which has to be the marshamallow mentioned in other reviews. Dry, it just smells like a really insipid vaguely floral, aquatic air freshener and then quickly vanishes away into nothing.

The description sums this one up for me, though it doesn't do it justice. Sweet, juicy sugarplums. This makes me think... pink. It's such a feminine blend, and although it's certainly not my everyday cup of tea, it really is beautiful.

I could swear that Robin Goodfellow has a note in common with Shub-Niggurath, because whatever it is, I amp it, big time. This smells kinda green and mysterious in the bottle, which should be two signs that it's never going to work for me.. except somehow it does. In fact, it's outstanding. The dark musk and heather dominate on me, making it a slightly sweet fragrant and spicy blend with a decidedly masculine slant. I never would have picked this for a winner, which just goes to show that BPAL is full of surprises! ETA: I never would have bought this, but I'm glad I got a bottle on impulse because this is *gorgeous*. One of my favorites!

Hmm. I don't get anything even vaguely foody from Lysander. Mostly, I can pick out the lilac musk, tonka and benzoin but the lime makes a brief appearance just before it dissapears inside of 20 minutes.

Mmmm.. Perversion soap is absolutely dreamy. It's a good translation of the BPAL scent which is one of my favorites, and the soap doesn't disappoint. The only thing that could improve it for me would be more moisturising properties because I have dry skin and this does leave my skin feeling a little tight afterward. Maybe some Perversion lotion would help with that?

Pruno smells a lot like Orange Slice to me, but it develops a dry, dusty note on my skin that is distinctly 'yuck'. I knew it would do this as soon as I sniffed it in the bottle. Oh, well. I'll send it on to a happier home!

I loooove Delousing Powder - it reminds me very strongly of Enraged Bunny Musk, but without the cotton blossom note. It's really very lovely!

I've got two bottles of Mama-Ji, both purchased directly from the Lab, both smell very, very different. I'll have to take them both to will call to see what the Labbies think of it.

This is actually a wearable rose.. as in, a rose scent that I could wear if roses were actually my thing. Maybe it's because most rose blends hate me, but I've decided that they're so not me. Still, this one is slightly sweet and ever so vaguely fruity somehow.. I find myself wanting to own this, even though I'll never wear it because it's so pretty.

This is such a dead ringer for soft leather, and it's truly lovely in that sense. I'm just not sure it's something I want to smell like, because my skin amps it and I kinda smell like 'new car interior'. Smells good, but not sex-ay, which is what I was hoping for.

Pretty, sexy and definitely worth the hype. I'm so glad I finally managed to get my hands on a half-imp of this, because it's a must-try for BPAL lovers. It's got glamour written all over it, with some sort of cognac note, dark fruit and yet it doesn't get too dark. Maybe I'm insane, but I also get wafts of hairspray and tobacco. It smells better than it sounds, I promise!

My dog's name is Riley too! My GF puts Anne Bonney on her and it smelles great. She doesn't seem to mind it either. Sometimes I dab Bakeneko on her, even though it's a Kitty inspired smelllie. It's all good, esp. since Riley's best friend is her cat Freddie Mercury It still kills me that your cat is named Freddie Mercury.

Okay - the Lab did NOT make a mistake, except in the way that they paid and trusted someone who wasn't trustworthy. They paid to license images from a third party. The third party obviously had no rights to the images. This is currently in the process of being worked out (which I obviously made reference to in my post) as I understand it, but I am completely entitled to express my opinion, which is that I really still do not understand why the issues was addressed the manner that it was in the first place. My primary point is that I really do not feel personally that the Snake Pit bottles NEED the snakes on the labels, and if it's going to cost BPAL to license more images, I'm one customer who's saying she doesn't feel it's neccessary. The Snake Pit bottles are lovely enough as it is, courtesy of the fabulous lettering.. They match the Snake Oil and Carnaval Noir labels without the snake images.

I'd definitely second the Enraged Bunny Musk - on me, it's white musk, soft lemon and cotton blossoms. If you're a white musk lover, hunt some down!

I'm sort of hesitant to post about this at all since the matter is being resolved and all, but I'd like to say for what it's worth that while I love the current Snake Pit labels, I wouldn't care at all if the snake images were removed. I'd rather that happen than the Lab have to pay to license more images to get species-correct ones (if the current ones are indeed incorrect). And snakegetters, while I admire your work with snakes and welcome you to the forum, I have to say if I'm being honest that your initial post about this on LJ made me kinda angry and uncomfortable - simple because of how you chose to handle it. As a friend of Beth and Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, I really still don't understand why you made the decision to handle the matter as you did. Since it was obviously pretty clear that it *was* your picture of your snake that was used (and he is beautiful, btw) it should have been a simple enough matter to send a letter to the Lab's mailing address listed on their website and handle the matter through professional/legal channels instead of stirring the pot and casting aspersions on a public forum. *shrug* Just my two cents worth and I'm only saying so because I got to this whole topic pretty late in the debate.

I have to agree with edenssixthday - Juju packs a powerful punch as a Voodoo oil. I've been going through a tough time, and the first time I smelled this, I felt this wonderful sense of relief. Like a ball of summery heat in my chest that just burned the bad stuff away. My anxiety, worry and anger was gone for a couple of hours at least. For me, it's only worked as UNcrossing, but then I've never tried to work with it as a crossing blend. Scentwise, I get something dark and resinous, with a hint of something fairly peppery. The overall effect is sweet and warm.

This scent cracks me up. In the vial, I do get a shot of cinnamon with florals, but once it dries, this is a rootbeer float. Rootbeer, but creamy too. Kinda nice and very novel.

Okay. I've heard the comparisons to Monsterbait: Closet and I can see why (the purple fruitiness!) but really, The Crumpet Rebellion is very different to me. It's soooo much better. I couldn't wear Closet because I smelled obnoxiously fruity - like I'd rolled in a giant puddle of dark purple jelly. Crumpet is just... delicious *dies*. There was NO butter in it for me at all, but I did get something foody under the layer of fruit that made it a very delicate and accomplished gourmand scent. It's so gorgeous.. One of those wrist to nose blends. When it's well into the drydown, my body chemistry gave it a slight incense-y twist.. Mmm.. blackcurrant incense.. For me, Crumpet is lovely and I really enjoyed it through all of it's stages. ETA: You know what it reminds me of? A SCONE. Heaps of blackcurrant jam on a fat, fluffy scone topped with a dollop of clotted cream.

If there is pine in this, I'd be shocked because pine smells and I have never been friends. They all go straight to hell on me, but Shanghai Tunnels does no such thing. It's very much a morpher - wet, in the bottle, it does have a dark, damp puddle-y smell but it's still very appealing. On the drydown, it evaporates into a warm, smooth and mild outdoorsy scent (which is a pleasant surprise since those always go bitter on me where this rounds out and blossoms). Very nice, but too masculine for me I'm afraid.