OctoberGwen

Sexy, musky, resiny orchid. The notes blend together beautifully, and I don't get frankincense, honey, nor fig individually - which is good. This is gorgeous, and I'm thrilled to have a bottle.

The honeyed jasmine is the strongest note on my skin, and it's really pretty. The raspberry wine is also evident and lovely, and is not doing the typical wine thing on me (that is, amping into disgustingness.) I do not detect the champaca at all, and I think the sandalwood is just giving it a nice base. Any fans of jasmine should try this one!

Mmmm, I love this, and tinyvulture's description above is exactly how it strikes me as well. The florals are simple and gorgeous and the frank and pepper balance them perfectly, adding just a touch of resiny, spicy kick. Really beautiful.

The purple grapey wine scents never work on me, and this is no exception. I get none of my beloved Haitian Vetiver at all until the far drydown, and even then it remains buried under the wine and fruitiness.

Lucy, Kissed is my very favorite dark and macabre scent so far. It is super evocative, yet also smells fabulous. Hexennacht '05 is dark and witchy. Voodoo and Whitechapel are super evocative, but they are general catalogue scents and thus don't fit your "hard to find" criteria. (I'm not quite sure why you want to start with super rare LE's, but whatever enhances your BPAL experience!)

Oh, so pretty - the same soft musky fur note from Ivanushka, with a light brush of flowers. This is soft but has good presence and staying power. I wore it with Silkybat hair gloss today and I have to say...I smelled great. I love this and I am so happy I found a bottle.

Oh holy fuckballs. I'm so glad I read aphrodite's review of this; otherwise I might have let it pass me by. I freaking LOVE this stuff. The same smoky beeswax note as the Candlelight atmo, with...other stuff underneath it to lift it up. I don't get classic lily at all, nor fruity pom, nor wine, nor rose. Everything just comes together beautifully to create one magnificent scent. I bought a partial, and a decant, and will straight away be ordering at least one full bottle from the Post. Maybe two. And I have a lot of atmosphere sprays. That's how good this is.

This very fruity on me; I am not getting myrrh or cypress, just a surprisingly bright fruity floral. It's very juicy and purple, quite nice but not my sort of scent at all. For some reason I thought this would be darker; it needs some incense or resin or patchouli to work for me, I guess.

Beth's tobacco note is one of my favorites, and I was really excited to see what it would do with these pale green notes. Unfortunately, for some reason I am not getting any tobacco at all here, which surprises me. Koito is all green tea and aloe to me, and while it's very fresh and pleasant it is not a scent that belongs in my wheelhouse at all. Fans of fresh, pale green, almost aquatic scents should definitely try this!

Ye Gods, this is absolutely magnificent. I've finally figured out that I really love resins and roses together, and this is a swoon-worthy example of that type of scent. What I am really happy about here is the lack of fruit (I've tried several things in the above mentioned scent family that have plum in them, and that just ruins the whole thing for me.) I'm also glad there is no honey here, which can often turn things cloying. Now that I've covered what isn't here.... The resins in this are deep and complex, and not too sweet. Something about the labdanum's "darkened" quality is completely preventing the usual sharpness I get with that, which makes me super happy. The amber and myrrh (two of my favorites) are so delicious, and the musk gives everything a sexy, grounded quality without really declaring itself or taking over. Then we have the rose, which reminds me a lot of the rose in the TAL oil called Love Oil 7...it's just gorgeous. The rose is pretty prominent when Queen Venus is first applied, but it never overwhelms the rich beauty of the resins and it never becomes dewy or green. The far dry down sees the rose snuggling in and becoming much less obvious. This scent lasts a really long time on me, which is a bonus. I really, really love this one. I've ordered a bottle, and may get another before the Lupers come down.

Um, yeah. Anyhoo, on me Lucy's Kiss is a girly, lovely, sweet rose scent with just a hint of spice. I too find it nostalgic; it makes me think of an elegant drawing room filled with bouquets of roses in cut crystal vases, lit with the sunlight that is streaming through the French doors and tall leaded glass windows. It reminds me of a rose perfume I wore when I was a teenager. I have no memory at all of what it was called. I think my favorite thing about it is the contrast to Lucy, Kissed (one of my favorite BPALs, btw.) If you've tried one, you really need to try the other. They are two sides to the same coin and as such, each is perfectly executed. (I've always been partial to Lucy Westenra, though.) In short, if you like rose, you should like Lucy's Kiss. It's pretty classic.

I love this as a soft and pretty change from my usual dark, resiny, and smoky atmo sprays. I was most excited by the fact that there are lilac blossoms here, as I love the smell of lilac. I do smell it, but it is by no means a single note; the lilac does not overpower everything else as one might expect it would. This is actually very leafy/oak mossy, with just a touch of lilac and the barest whisper of fig. I used it today while I cleaned the house and now I am dreaming of Spring. Really lovely, and I am glad I bought a bottle!

Is this what Smut is supposed to smell like? Because on my skin, Smut is awful - sugary notes simply don't work with my chemistry. In my hair, OTOH, it smells like ten orgasms. I loooooooove this. I suppose the Goblin-ified version that we have here is a bit different than the classic Smut oil, but what I'm getting is all sweet, musky goodness. Super sexy, deep, and rich. I have a problem, because I now have enough hair gloss for an army...but I will probably need to snag a backup or two. Smutty Goblin is just that delicious.

This smells exactly as I thought it would: a beautiful, cold, citrusy floral. It really does evoke the way the sky looks when I open my shades and gaze out my front window this time of year, especially with all the snow we have right now. Unfortunately, the fresh coldness still just doesn't work well on my skin. I was so hoping for this to be the exception to that rule, but sadly, it isn't - even with all these notes that I love AND the thematic quality.

This was an early favorite of mine and I still love it. I hoard my little Goblin Squirts, and I hope it gets released into the GC some day. I took a swamp tour down in Louisiana once, and this stuff takes me right back there. Spanish moss hanging off the cypress trees, jasmine, gators, and a go-cup full of Hurricane. Good times.

The patchouli in this is absolutely delicious - it reminds me a tiny bit of Tricksy, Feed Me and Fill Me, and Third Charm. I think it's the 'honeyed' quality, which lends a rich sweetness (but it's patchouli, so thankfully not too sweet.) Other than the delectable patch which I'd know anywhere, the other notes just sort of meld into a really complex blend with a seductive hint of darkness to it. Somehow, it is perfect as a Clive Barker scent. I really love this, and it will almost certainly get even better over time.

Nightmarchers! It's on the etsy site right now.

Cooling works really well for me on those days when I'm PMSing and the littlest things are irritating the hell out of me. It actually cools my skin as well as my temper, and it smells lovely. I don't get angry a lot, but I am happy to have this on hand. I can also see myself using it on candles, when I want to cool an argument or angry feelings between others.

I love this blend. I use it both on candles and directly on sources of pain, and I find that it works very quickly. I've used it for headaches, throat and ear pain, and in general "good health" workings for my household. It smells wonderful to me, as do most of the TAL blends, but I never analyze what they smell like.

Well, crap. I really wanted this one to work. This smells nice initially, but ultimately the fig, honey, and sugared date make it too sweet for me. It also smells oddly masculine, which is probably because of the cedar. It is quite woodsy, which I normally like, but something about this particular brand of woodsy mixed with this particular brand of sweet just isn't working for me.

This smells exactly like Juicy Fruit gum on me. Exactly. I may keep this imp just for sentimental value. I probably won't want to smell like this very often! but I will want to just smell it. Maybe I'll use it in the scent locket in the summer.

2013 version I am confused by the pine references here, because all I am getting is citrus and vanilla cream with a bit of slushy snow. I will really enjoy this in the Summer, paired with my Lightning Storm hair gloss.

I was hoping to love this, since the released version is the type of jasmine that goes stinky on my skin and people weren't getting much of the jasmine from this one. Sadly, still stinky. I am so sad, because I love magnolia and I love the city. Damn you, stinky jasmine.

Thank you, sunshinedaisybliss, for including this tidbit in your review. "From wikipedia: According to Hawaiian legend, night marchers (huaka‘i po in Hawaiian) are ghosts of ancient warriors. Legend has it that if you look a night marcher straight in the eye, you will be forced to walk among them for eternity, but if you have a relative taken by them, you will be spared. Hawaiians say that in the presence of night marchers, one should lie down on their stomach, face down to avoid eye contact, stay quiet, breathe shallowly, and don’t move. Some say that they may nudge you to provoke a reaction so they can take you." Like mermaidsdream, I saw the mention of this on the etsy thread and then ordered it after reading the reviews here - specifically, ssdb's wiki quote above. I had high hopes for a dark tropical oil named after a band of ghosts. I am not disappointed. This is gorgeous. I don't really get lavender, but maybe. I do think there's some vanilla here, but it's not the sort that smells like plastic on me. I find this a little powdery, which for me is good thing, and definitely get the dark, tropical floral vibe. It's a little dangerous, and I love whatever is lending this particular blend of spiciness to the mix. Really wonderful, I am so happy I got a bottle of this!

Luminous white musk with lemon verbena, Calabrian lemon, guiac wood, vetiver, Arkansas black apple, white sage, and white thyme. I'll preface this by saying that I adore lemon verbena. Adore it. When first applied, Elaphospyris is all about the verbena. I inhale next to my arm and close my eyes and I'm squatting on the brick path in my mother's herb garden, and the sun is warm on my head and I've just rubbed the leaves on the lemon verbena and sniffed my fingers. I've always had a special fondness for all the lemon-scented herbs: verbena, balm, thyme, geraniums. I'm transported right back to childhood. After a minute, I'm definitely getting lovely white musk, sort of anchoring the lemon, and perhaps a bit of the guic and vetiver - just a touch, grounding everything so it's not too sharply white. This is certainly a yellow and white scent, though, and very much about the lemon verbena right now. Which is just what I wanted, essentially.