Ghost of a Rose

Lab frimp aged about 6 years. I love the concept of this, and think the notes embody it well. And I love rose and amber; and like sandalwood very much. I'm excited to try it! In the imp: Clear brown oil with a salmon-colored tint. I smell only generic wood, which oddly has an extremely salty and vinegary character that makes me think of dill pickles. On me, wet: The same. At 5 minutes: The wood, salt, and vinegar have all fled, leaving behind an odd fragrance that is neither pleasant nor unpleasant, and which smells vaguely like dill. I don't think it is supposed to smell like this. The imp was stored in a cool, dark place, but nevertheless it appears to be past its "use by" date. What a shame. I'm sure I would have loved this. At 10 minutes: I've gotten an occasional faint and fleeting whiff of rose, but it is overpowered by the main vaguely dill scent. At 20 minutes: Rose is definitely present now. But the weird note - which is now more sour than dill - is still stronger. At 30 minutes: This is definitely a rose scent now. But the off note is sticking around, still with a hint of dill. At 1 hour: The same, but getting fainter. At 1 1/2 hours: The rose has faded away and the fragrance is mostly amber. With just a trace of the off note, I'm getting a glimpse of what this scent should be, and it is heartbreakingly beautiful. At 2 1/2 hours: The off note is completely gone now, leaving a very soft and pretty rose-and-amber powder. Later ETA: After reading the reviews, I notice that another reviewer mentioned dill pickles. So maybe my imp isn't deteriorated, maybe it just smells like that to some people. I know it's not my skin chemistry, because it smelled like that in the imp, before the oil touched my skin. But I've never gotten that from any of these notes before. Maybe there is something else in this that isn't listed? Curiouser and curiouser. I want to try another imp of it to see what happens, and I do have another one.

Lab frimp aged about 6 years. In the imp: Oil is clear, dark brown. On sniffing, my first thought is eucalyptus. Or something similar - sharp and camphoraceous. Some kind of evergreen? On me, wet: Oops, I swiped this on without checking the notes first. And instantly realized my mistake. This has red or dark musk in it. The Snake Oil Kiss of Death. Which I absolutely cannot wear on my skin. My chemistry turns it into something completely different and nauseatingingly unpleasant. I've got to go wash it off. I'll try it again another time, in the scent locket and wearing gloves while handling it. Seriously. I can't let this come in contact with my skin AT ALL. I hope I haven't already ruined the whole sample by touching the oil.

Egyptian iris and olibanum with red and white sandalwood, myrrh, North African herbs Lab frimp aged about 6 years. In the imp: Clear, pale amber oil. A gorgeous floral scent, slightly herbal, with no notes I can identify. Almost aquatic, but not at all sharp. On me, wet: 9:56. Pm. Deeper and greener, less emphatically floral. At 5 minutes: I still can't pin down any notes, but this is incredibly beautiful. Very bright, cool, clean, and feminine in mood. As I keep sniffing, different layers of scent waft up. No incense (olibanum or sandalwood) so far - those are the only notes I'd recognize. At 10 minutes: It has already become very light on my wrist, but is the same gorgeous scent. At 20 minutes: I get a hint of sandalwood now, so light that it is more like powder than incense or even wood. Maybe the white sandalwood. It does inspire visions of a silky and pretty, pearly white powder. Otherwise the fragrance is still much the same. At 30 minutes: No further change. At 45 minutes: Lighter, very slightly woodier and warmer. At 1 1/2 hours: Quite faint, and all powder (but still pretty.) Verdict: This doesn't evoke Nefertiti, or even Egypt, to me. There's nothing of the grandeur, mystery, authority, or exoticism of that powerful Queen. Instead, it is a little girl in a grassy meadow filled with blooms. But it does have one thing in common with Nefertiti: both are stunningly gorgeous. After the first 10 minutes, it becomes quite light, so would be a good choice for wearing in public where some people may be sensitive to stronger scents. It needs more frequent reapplication than the average BPAL oil, more like a traditional cologne in longevity. 6 out of 6 stars

Imp fresh from the Lab. I ordered this because I was looking for a watery scent that was petrichor rather than a sharp note such as ozone. In the imp: Oil is clear and golden. Nice! Bright, green, aquatic but not sharp (yes!!), flowers accenting but not dominating. The green notes do mask the petrichor to some extent (as well as contributing to the classic-perfume vibe), but it is definitely there. On me, wet: Perfumey, greenery, magnolia and/or gardenia, bright, watery. Feminine, reminiscent of a classic perfume. At 5 minutes: Much the same, but lighter, less bright, more floral. Lovely. At 10 minutes: This was heavy at first, but is now already quite light. It still has a good throw. At 20 minutes: Very beautiful florals. They are going a little powdery, but that somehow enhances it even more, makes it softer. There are still green and watery notes as well. At 1 hour: Soft and powdery classic perfume. At 2 hours: The petrichor note I hoped for is still discernable, yay! After that, I went to bed, so I don't know how long it lasted. Probably not much longer, as it was pretty faint. Verdict: An easy scent to wear - classic, bright, feminine, and (after the first 10 or 15 minutes) light. It has a cooling mood that makes it great for warm weather. This does not morph or change, but stays consistent. And yes, it does have a petrichor-like aspect, which is confirmed by the dirt note some reviewers mentioned. Petrichor and florals, how lovely! 5 out of 6 stars

I'm really only reviewing the scent. The effect depends on the situation, a person's mood, expectations, beliefs, etc., so it would be different for everyone and even for one person at different times. But I can certainly use an oil to remind me of, and give me hope for, kindness. Can't we all? Bottle fresh from the Lab. In the bottle: Pretty much exactly what it says. The only note I don't get is jasmine. I don't notice the tartness I would expect from rose hips, but that could be blending in with the other rose elements. The myrtle is interesting, a savory herb note somewhat like bay leaf, in a blend of otherwise sweet things. On me, wet: It takes a minute to warm up. At first there is no scent. But the notes quickly come up, the same as in the bottle but lighter. Mostly rose, honey, and coconut, with that edging of savory herb. Still no jasmine that I can detect. At 5 minutes: The myrtle is stronger now, almost equal to the sweet scents. It's pleasant and so intriguing. Definitely not your typical rose perfume. At 10 minutes: The whole scent is suddenly much lighter, but the same in character. The throw is heavier on the rose, but not particularly heavy overall - medium. At 20 minutes: Rose has become the main event on my wrist as well now. Very lovely. At 30 minutes: Already, this has become a rosy baby powder. But still very lovely! And if I keep sniffing, I can still pick up the myrtle underneath. At 45 minutes: Same as above At 1 hour: The same scent, but softer. At 2 hours: Rosy baby powder with . . . Um, dill pickle? Must be the myrtle summoning up a last hurrah. It isn't unpleasant in the least, and certainly is interesting! After 3 hours: Soft rose baby powder. The herbal note is gone. At 7 hours: Still a presence on my wrist. And now it's a distinctly honey fragrance, backed up with a pleasant light powder. It's a surprise finish! Verdict on scent: A very pretty and somewhat unusual fragrance that is identifiably but not aggressively rose. Long-lasting, and consistent up to the surprise twist at the end. 5.5 out of 6 stars.

So, this has been QUITE the learning experience for me. After more than 10 years of wearing BPAL oils, I learned that my skin chemistry does HORRIBLE things to red musk. I absolutely cannot wear it on my skin or hair, or even touch it. I'm going to experiment with wearing it in a scent locket, handling it with kid gloves. Literally. Well, disposable surgical gloves anyway. So what happens that's so horrible? - It kills all the other notes in a scent. Totally wipes them out. Nuclear holocaust-type destruction. - It amps to 11. - It turns into Syrup of Ipecac, without the orange flavoring. Sickeningly, cloyingly sweet. I mean, literally nauseating. As in, I have to wash it off before I barf. It was a very familiar smell, one I've noticed in several BPAL oils. I thought it was just a note I disliked. It took this one to show me that it isn't supposed to smell like that. It turns out that has been the problem with Snake Oil all along. I knew I hated it, but thought it was the vanilla. But this has no vanilla, and smells EXACTLY the same on me as Snake Oil. (And I've recently discovered a couple of vanilla blends that I actually love.) Except for tolu, I knew all of the other notes in The Starry Crown smell beautiful on me, so it wasn't them. And the info on the internet about tolu says it is spicy, which I never got from this. Also, tolu is pretty rare in BPAL oil, and this was something I'd smelled many times before. Then it hit me: Snake Oil. This smells like Snake Oil. So I checked the reviews for Snake Oil to see what was in it. By now I was pretty sure it was the red musk that was the problem. (Actually, not red musk itself but what my skin does to it.) Bingo. Musk isn't listed in the description, but numerous reviewers mentioned it. And several said red musk specifically. I've never smelled or tested red musk, or any kind of musk, by itself. That's why it took me so long to figure it out. Especially when white musk is one of my favorite notes. For some reason, my skin doesn't seem to interfere with white musk. So obviously I need to avoid any blends that contain red musk. Or wear them only in the scent locket, handling them very carefully to prevent contaminating them with my skin chemicals. It's not this perfume, it's my skin that is the problem. I got some glimpses into what this SHOULD smell like. In the bottle, if I am very careful to touch only the outside of the bottle and cap and not get any oil on my skin, I get some lovely lavender, rose, and chamomile. And on my clothes, I got the most gorgeous draft of rose. Only once, and very briefly, but it showed me what this perfume is supposed to smell like. And undoubtedly does, on other people. Apparently my wrist touched my clothes and transferred some of the oil to them before it got changed by my skin chemicals. So I am interested in trying this out very carefully in the locket. And you know what? It might work for Snake Oil too. But I'll need a new imp of that one that isn't already contaminated with my skin chemicals. My bottle of Starry Crown might still be salvageable since I only touched it to my skin once. An interesting thing: My daughter also hates Snake Oil. Which was very surprising to both of us, since woods, resins, and incense scents - basically anything warm, nonfloral and non-foody - are her favorites. I'll bet she got my skin chemistry genes. I'd love to try Snake Oil in a scent locket on her too. (This one would be too floral for her.)

I wanted this partly for the concept, but mostly for the rowan note. Rowan is my totem (yes, a tree not an animal) and I have never seen this note in anything before. I am so excited about this one! Floral perfumes are really more my thing, but I can enjoy wood ones too. I won't be able to differentiate between the different kinds of wood, but that doesn't matter. I'll know the Rowan is there! In the bottle: Ooh, I'm already loving this! It isn't all wood as I had expected. It's half wood and half vanilla with some golden amber, which I love almost as much as flowers. The vanilla and amber makes this sweeter, gentler, and more feminine than wood fragrances normally are. On me, wet: Just like in the bottle, absolutely gorgeous! At 5 minutes: There's definitely some vanilla, stronger than the wood, and an animalistic undertone that is the tiniest bit unpleasant to me - the musk that others have mentioned? At 10 minutes: The wood is coming on more strongly, and I really like that. It balances the sweetness of the amber and vanilla, and warms up the scent. At 15 minutes: The animalistic undertone has gone. The Wand started out beautiful, and just keeps getting better! At 30 minutes: Pretty much the same. A little woodier, a little lighter. At 45 minutes: Mostly vanilla, with some powdery amber and a little wood. Amber always goes powdery on my skin, in the nicest possible way. At 1 hour: Same as above. At 3 hours: Some vanilla, mostly plastic. After 5 hours: The plastic and vanilla are gone. All that remains is the soft, pretty powder of amber's final drydown. Verdict: A very lovely, consistent and fairly feminine vanilla perfume with light touch of wood. The Lab has surprised me again! I hate vanilla perfumes. But this is the second one that has made it onto my "Favorites" list. The secret to that is that they are not at all foody. 5 out of 6 stars. If there was a little less vanilla and more amber, it might have been a 6. Especially if there was a lot of rowan.

Decant from a lovely forumite. In the imp: The oil is clear and a pinkish light brown. It smells like spice and patchouli, with a sharp, sweet, light, bright edge. This is darker than I would associate with The Fool. I see it more as Aragorn, in his Strider role. Even the light and brightness isn't warm or comforting. It is the cold and dangerous brilliance of glacial ice. Light that can blind you and bite off your nose and toes if you aren't careful. But it can also show you the way forward. It does fit the concept of The Stranger. Which of course is a face of the Fool. It isn't who he is, but how the people of the villages he visits might see him. We know that he is young, adventurous, naive, a little reckless, a little foolish, more carefree than is good for him. But they don't know that. As with Strider, they see him as dark, mysterious, and possibly menacing. And maybe there is a small and hidden part of him that is those things. On me, wet: I smell the same notes as in the bottle, but others as well. Some greenness - maybe the oak moss? The scent quickly warms up and loses that light bright aspect. I don't notice any florals. It is unisex to masculine. At 5 minutes: Pretty much the same. A hint of mystery floral may be starting to develop. At 10 minutes: It is very sweet, with that cloying sweetness that certain kinds of patchouli have. The florals are getting stronger and contributing to the sweetness as well. But I have to work to recognize them as floral - that note is more like soap. Clove is the strongest note. At 20 minutes: The soapy florals are becoming strong enough to compete with the clove and patchouli. I'm starting to recognize a little violet. It goes surprisingly well with the clove. At 30 minutes: The patchouli has settled down quite a bit, and I'm liking this more than previously. I have nothing against patch, but this one isn't my favorite kind. I'm finally getting that sense of purple that others mentioned. It's almost fruity, but not quite. Much less sweet now, too. And the soapiness is mostly gone. At 45 minutes: Much gentler now, in both character and throw. The notes are blending together so nicely. It is difficult to pick out individual notes, except for clove. But even that is mellowing. At 1 hour: I can just barely pick out some spice and patchouli in the throw, with a tint of violet. But it takes some effort. Mostly it's a well blended Oriental spice-and-incense unisex perfume. At 1 1/2 hours: Quite mild now. At 4 hours: It actually seems a little stronger now than last time I checked. For a while, it went powdery - like a spicy-scented powder. Now it has lost the powder and gone to a men's spicy cologne. The last thing I would have expected on final drydown! 11 hours later, I can still smell it very faintly on my wrist, and stronger on my clothing. Verdict: The Stranger is powerful, probably not something you'd want to wear to the office unless you work in a cannibis store. It is basically unisex, maybe leaning just a tiny bit towards the masculine, but in an incensey way, not in a men's-cologne way. It's not really me (I was hoping for more of a violet and lilac presence), but It is nice enough. It will be pleasant to wear from time to time when I'm in the mood for something different. 3 out of 6 stars

Decant from a lovely forumite. The oil is clear and light yellow in color. Oh. My. God. One whiff of the imp, and I immediately ordered a bottle even though I have already exceeded my BPAL budget for the month. I would order 10 bottles if I could. Seriously. This is going to be a short review because I am stunned speechless. It is indescribably beautiful, beyond gorgeous. It is my new absolute top favorite, a slot Rose has held uncontested for decades. There's really nothing else that can be said for except for how long it lasts and how well it holds up on my skin. On me, wet: The same as in the imp. At 15 minutes: The scent is the teensiest bit less fresh and less strong, but still heavenly beyond words. It is a strong perfume, both up close and in the throw. Which is awesome, because it is impossible to get too much of this. It's sweet, and the epitome of girly. At one hour, it is already going plastic. No problem. I can reapply or wear it in the scent locket to make it last longer. But for now, since I am testing, I'll leave it alone to see what happens next. After another couple of hours, the plastic wears off to leave me with the gorgeous floral scent again, only powdery and very subtle now. By 4 hours, it is mostly gone. But a very faint trace still remains and retains its gorgeous character 8 hours after application. Verdict: 6 out of 6 stars, of course!

Bottle freshly purchased from BPAL on Etsy, probably about 6 years old. Well, one advantage to my bottle being so aged is that the lemon note is probably gone from it. I'm not a fan of citrus in perfumes and would prefer a true wild rose single note. In the bottle: No such luck. This is rose and Lemon Pledge, emphasis on the furniture polish. Hopefully my skin will make short work of that. On me, wet. 10:09 pm: I smell rose right at first, but the Lemon Pledge marches up and shoves it aside almost immediately. At 5 minutes: I'm trying not to think about Pledge, to think instead about my lovely lemon-rose geranium plant. But it's not working. The Lemon Pledge is just too realistic and too strong. And the rose note is too thoroughly overwhelmed. At 10 minutes: Whew, the lemon has lightened up to let some of the rose come out again. It's considerably nicer, but still more lemony than I would prefer. At 15 minutes: Continuing to improve. The rose and lemon are about equal now. Which could be rather pretty, but the lemon is just too much like Pledge rather than fresh lemon. At 20 minutes: I'm not getting much of a green note, if any - the lemon is just too overpowering. The fragrance isn't particularly sweet. The rose note that I smelled in the bottle and right at first was very real and lovely, but it's different now. Not so realistic and with a skanky edge. That might be the Pledge influence. I doubt that it's my skin chemistry, because rose is always beautiful on me in other blends. At 30 minutes: As the lemon fades more - it finally is lighter than the rose - the rose note is edging closer to the beautiful original note. But hasn't made it there. That might be intentional, to make the scent more like a wild rose and less like a hybrid tea rose. At 45 minutes: For several minutes there, it got quite pretty, with just a touch of the skanky lemon around the edges. But now the rose note has begun to fade and the lemon is turning plastic-ish. At 1 hour: It's all plastic. No recognizable rose OR lemon. That IS my skin chemistry. This might work best in the scent locket. But that worries me - it might stay all Lemon Pledge in the locket. Well, I won't know unless I try. Verdict: I'm ambivalent about this one. I love the rose, but it has so little presence in this blend. It appeared only rarely and usually in adulterated form even when it did appear. I don't like the lemon. It is too artificial and too strong. So, maybe 4 1/2 stars out of 6.

Frimp fresh from the Lab. This isn't something I would have selected. I detest licorice, and naturally I don't like absinthe either. But I'll try anything once. (Or even several times, in the case of absinthe.) I was offered a sample of licorice fudge once from a booth at an artisanal cheese festival. It had three kinds of licorice flavors in it, and no chocolate. To my utter surprise, it was exquisitely delicious! The maker of it told me that almost everyone says they hate licorice, but love the fudge. And I love anise in cakes and cookies, and in Indian spice mixes. And fennel seed in Italian sausage. And fresh fennel cooked in soups or raw in salads. So, I'm game for this too. It wouldn't be the first time Beth has surprised me. In the imp: Yep. 100% black licorice. A dead ringer for the kids' Halloween candy. I couldn't stand it even when I was a kid. On me, wet: This is different than in the vial. I could swear there are florals in it, and they are as prominent as the licorice. Who'd think to pair those scents up? But it works rather beautifully! The florals really lighten up the bitterness of the licorice, and make it . . . maybe even pleasant. At 5 minutes: The licorice has already faded noticeably, and now there's a green herbal note that must be the hyssop. I love the reference to the color green, and that particular choice of herb is so perfectly fitting! At 10 minutes: I'm kinda liking this. The overall character is of a very unusual and not-too-sweet floral perfume, with a light accent of licorice, not enough to be obnoxious. Just enough to make it interesting. At 15 minutes: The florals or whatever that is, are vanishing. Which means we're back to licorice, but not solely. There are things I don't recognize in it that keep the licorice under control. The hyssop, probably, and maybe the wormwood as well? I have no idea what wormwood tastes/smells like. I've heard that it is bitter. I never noticed anything but licorice in the absinthe I've tried, although at least twice I know it was true absinthe which includes the wormwood. At 30 minutes: The fragrance is weaker. It's almost all licorice again now, but faint enough that it is mild and inoffensive. Interesting rather than unpleasant. At 1 hour: I can pick up the tiniest bit of lemon. Usually citrus are top notes that disappear very quickly on me, how interesting that it shows up now. I think the licorice had to fade a lot before the lighter lemon could be detected. Like the earlier notes, it offsets and balances the licorice to make it more pleasant. The overall fragrance is very light and close to the skin. By 1 1/2 hours, it is mostly gone. But 4 hours later, there is still the faintest trace left. It no longer smells like licorice, or any of BPAL's usual final drydown notes - none of those are in this blend. There is nothing I can identify, but it is very soft and pretty, a little powdery. I never did notice any mint or cardomom. I'm glad about the mint, as I don't like smelling like toothpaste. I'm sad to miss out on the cardomom, though. I think that would go very nicely with the anise. Maybe that's why I didn't notice it, because they blended together so well. Funny thing about the mint: Whenever I opened the shipping box, the interior smelled strongly of minty toothpaste. I was kinda dreading testing whichever oil was doing that. It had to have been this one. None of the other fragrances had any mint in them. And when I sniff the paper label on the imp, I get licorice and mint in almost equal strengths. How odd that the mint in the closed imp (which did not leak) could permeate the whole box and overpower all the other notes in all the other blends, yet I could not detect it in the actual perfume! It's not an effect of skin chemistry, either - or not solely, anyway - because I didn't pick up any mint in the open vial or on the wand. Verdict: It isn't going to make my shortlist of favorites, no surprise there. But I do like it. I won't wear it out in public. I don't want to go around smelling like candy, and certainly not like one that I, and many other people, hate. But it will be perfect for wearing around the house when I get tired of being in the same old rut and have a hankering for something really different. Or when I'm reading Oscar Wilde or Paul Verlaine. 4 out of 6 stars

2007 bottle newly purchased from BPAL on etsy. In the bottle: Rose, violet, patchouli. Very sweet. On me, wet: Even sweeter on me. Rose, mixed florals, a note of green (the woodruff and leaves?), a whisper of lemon. The rose is more understated here than in most rose blends, blended in, a face in the crowd. At 5 minutes: The rose, lemon, and patchouli have come out more strongly, but this is still a light scent (in terms of strength and throw.) In character, it is darker than most floral perfumes, perhaps due to the patchouli. That is the longing in this, I think. At 10 minutes: I'm still getting those three notes, but now also a little jasmine and some woodiness. At 20 minutes: The scent is no longer sweet. Odd, given the honey and all those florals. Rose is the front runner, but the other florals and the lemon are running closely behind. The rose is more assertive in the throw. At 30 minutes: None of the notes are particularly strong, and this has been the case all along. Except for the rose, I have to work to pick them out. And the rose is only slightly more distinct. Even the notes that tend to be aggressive, such as patchouli and jasmine, are low-key in this oil. At 45 minutes: I'm picking up on the green note and the lemon, supporting the rose. This is a very consistent scent so far. Except for losing the sweetness, it has changed very little. All the different notes I've mentioned are just me noticing different things at different times. At 1 hour: Soft rose. You can tell there are other things in there, but I cannot identify anything specifically at this stage. At 2 hours: Patchouli and wood have overtaken the rose, but rose is still a contender. At 3 hours: Baby powder, as many BPAL oils go on my skin at final drydown, including rose notes. This is an observation, not a complaint, as it is quite pleasant. Verdict: This would be a great rose blend for wearing to work, because it is complex and sophisticated, and not so girly or strong or sweet or "dressy" as many rosy perfumes are. 5 out of 6 stars

All those beautiful notes, and my bar didn't smell like any of them. Just plain unscented soap. Both when I unwrapped the bar and sniffed it, and when I washed with it. Was it the batch I got, or was my nose malfunctioning? I hope that the scent will come out when I get deeper into the soap. I've only used it once so far.

According to the internet, Ego Flos Campi et Lillium Convallium is Latin for "I am a rose of Sharon and a lily of the valleys". It is from the second chapter of The Song of Solomon and has inspired numerous musical interpretations. It's almost as if Beth is also foreshadowing The Lovers with this. I love the concept of this, and I adore floral perfumes, so I'm looking forward to trying it. I'm not sure I remember the scent of lilies of the valley by themselves. I don't know what Rose of Sharon smells like. Fresh bottle from a BPAL retailer. In the bottle: Realistic flowers, with that faint edge of bitterness that you get from some very fresh cut flowers. It may be the lily of the valley, because it is very familiar, and I don't get any type of rose note that I recognize. On me, wet: The same. After a minute, I do get a single whiff of rose, but it is gone as quickly as it appeared. It leaves behind a floral note I can't identify. After 10 minutes: This has become a more blended scent, and I no longer recognize any flower that I know. At 20 minutes: Something in this is vaguely reminiscent of orange blossom, but I don't know why. It certainly isn't orange blossom. It's quite beautiful. Heavenly, in both senses of the word. At 40 minutes, it's going a little powdery, but I don't mind. It still retains its own character, too. At 2 hours: The scent on my wrist is pretty much gone. Verdict: A beautiful and somewhat different floral perfume. 6 out of 6 stars Later edited to add: I don't read the other reviews until after I've written mine so that I won't be influenced by them. So when I did, I was intrigued to see that another reviewer also mentioned a similarity to orange blossom, especially because I had wondered if I was imagining things!

Fresh imp from a BPAL retailer. In the imp: I notice the floral first, then the honey, with some sharper-than-usual frankincense underlying it all. And something almost peppery. On me, wet: Ooh, I really love the asphodel. I haven't smelled that before. Something in this is making me think of mint, or menthol. Maybe the same thing that seemed sharp and peppery? At 5 minutes: Whatever that sharpness/pepper was, it's gone. There's still something vaguely minty, though. Mostly I get asphodel and honey. It's unusual and pretty, but fairly light already. I don't notice any frankincense. At 10 minutes: Aha, there's the serious honey. It smells different than the one in my beloved Honey Hair Gloss, but it is nice. The flower is taking a back seat. I like all of it except for that odd mint. Fortunately it is quite faint. Maybe that's something my skin chemistry is doing. At 30 minutes: Honey and asphodel. Very pretty and girly. I'm starting to get some light incense in the background. The mint seems to be gone now. This just keeps on getting better and better. After 1 hour: This honey is super realistic, even more than the hair gloss one. The flowers are fading. I'm sad to see them go, but loving the honey too. After 3 hours: It's been all honey pretty much since the 1-hour mark. Still hanging in there, still beautiful. At 13 hours, I can still faintly smell the honey on my wrist. Verdict: The frankincense plays only a very small part in this oil. I don't entirely get how this blend represents The Magician, whether the archetype, the picture, or the interpretation of the card. To my mind, the scent evokes the image of a sweet and innocent little girl. There is an "As above, so below" connection: the Magician's arms, one pointing up and the other down; the asphodel of the underworld and honeybees flying in the air above. But never mind, it's a beautiful fragrance! 6 out of 6 stars

Fresh bottle from a BPAL retailer. In the bottle: Sweet. Some lovely rose, a little bit of incense in the cap. Then in the bottle, a strong wave of almond extract and extreme sweetness that probably includes the vanilla-like aspect of benzoin. On me, wet: Much like in the bottle. All almond at first, then very quickly a bit of incense mingled with rose starts to swim up through the almond. At 5 minutes: The almond has become less aggressive - less strong, less sweet, and less like extract, more like the nuts. This allows the incense to take on a bigger role. The rose is discernable, but keeps to the background. At 10 minutes: On my wrist, it's virtually all incense now, but the throw is a beautiful rose. Very interesting! The sweetness is mostly gone, and the almond extract with it. Just a hint of nuttiness remains, and maybe a teeny drop of vanilla. At 20 minutes: Incense with a bit of rose, and a papery note that I get from benzoin on the drydown. The rose is still prevalent in the throw. At 30 minutes: Still mostly incense, but I can pick up a liitle rose and vanilla as well. And a little bit of a spicy bite. I wondered if that could be the balsam finally showing up, but there's none of the sharpness that I associate with balsam. More likely it's coming from the frankincense. The throw has lightened up quite a bit, and is showing some incense, but is still mostly rose. At 45 minutes: It's already edging towards the baby powder scent I get from many BPAL oils at their last gasp. With some rose. It's a very pleasant scent - this is not a criticism, just an observation. At 1 hour: It has faded noticeably in the past 15 minutes. But I can still smell a little benzoin, rose, and incense along with the baby powder. As an aside, I had put a drop of benzoin oil on my other wrist, to help me recognize that note in this blend. At this stage particularly, I am really loving the combined scent of both my wrists held together! Last night I put The Magician's Belt on right before bed, and could still smell it in the morning. It seems to be fading a lot more quickly today. How odd, and interesting! Maybe how active I am makes a difference? At 1 1/2 hours: I notice just a hint of cinnamon in the throw. Probably from the benzoin. That must be the faint "spicy bite" I picked up earlier on my wrist. Everything else is the same. At 3 hours: The scent is still hanging in there. It's baby powder, vanilla, and incense at this stage, and in that order of strength. It was still discernible, but weak, several hours later. Verdict: This is primarily a rose-and-incense scent, interesting and lovely. It would be excellent for someone who prefers rose blended with other notes rather than straight up. Or for someone who loves rose for when they don't want to come across as overly girly, such as at work. As for me, I adore any fragrance that has any detectable rose component, so of course it's a win for me! 5 out of 6 stars

Frimp from a BPAL retailer. In the imp: Lovely! Vanilla, but not too foody. With spices and incense. On me, wet: A flowery vanilla, about half and half. I can also pick up the musk. With spice and incense in the background. At 5 minutes: This is totally surprising me. Vanilla is my death note, but I love this! The equally strong carnation keeps it from being foody, and all the other notes - I am getting them all! - make it interesting. At 10 minutes, the carnation is winning over the vanilla. This is so smooth. Every note in this loves every other note. Creamy, too. Catch me before I swoon! At 15 minutes: I spoke too soon. Or maybe they just get along so well that they are politely taking turns. It's vanilla's turn now. I'm swooning. At 30 minutes: Carnation is now in the background, and the vanilla is lighter, but still the main event. Musk is coming out for a turn, though. At 1 hour: I am reminded of a delicious creamy rice pudding with cinnamon sprinkled on top. But there is enough musk and incense on the side to prevent this from being a foody scent overall. At 2 hours: Faded some, but still vanilla with a touch of floral, musk, spice, and incense. It has gone a little powdery, as musk always does eventually on my skin, but I don't mind a bit because it is such a beautiful powder. After 4 or 5 hours, it dies down to a soft baby powder with just a trace of vanilla lingering. Verdict: I'm gobsmacked! I hate vanilla! Vanilla in perfumes is one of my pet peeves! But here is an emphatically vanillic perfume that has made it to my shortlisted favorites list. It goes to show, there really is no such thing as a death note. Beth can always surprise us! I tried this immediately after Silk Road - Resurrected in order to compare the two, because so many people mentioned this in their reviews of both versions of Silk Road. This one is by far my favorite, but really they are so different it's like comparing apples and oranges. This is vanilla, Silk Road is cinnamon. My conclusion is that I am glad to have both! All three, actually. Because there's also Baghdad, which is orange (mandarin and bergamot.). The florals are different, too: Morocco is carnation, Silk Road is magnolia (champaca), and Baghdad is Bulgar rose. All three have Middle Eastern spices and incense. Morocco is unexpectedly soft, gentle, and feminine. It's a harem, rather than a bazaar full of men doing business and smoking hookahs. Baghdad evokes the sense of place best, for me. I think it's the orange notes. 6 out of 6 stars

Imp fresh from the Lab. If I tried the original, I didn't write a rewiew. In the imp: Cinnamon and floral. It's an odd pairing, they don't seem to go together, but fight with each other. This will be interesting. I actually noticed the floral first and stronger. It smells like Magnolia, so yep, gotta be Champaca. My fingertips smell like magnolia (from the cap) without a trace of cinnamon. Interesting that everyone else got a fiery dose of red hots, while to my nose (or with my batch) it's more magnolia. On me, wet: At first, it's just strange. Like nothing I recognize, and not entirely pleasant. I think it's that odd pairing of cinnamon and magnolia, but blended now. Still not a happy couple. Cinnamon and rose makes sense (think baclava), and there may be some Bulgar rose in this too. But cinnamon and magnolia is an odd couple. At 5 minutes: It's already quite light, or maybe just hasn't warmed up enough yet to come out. The cinnamon is strong enough now to identify, but the stronger note is that odd blending. I'm concerned that it might be too light to pick out notes. I put on the same amount I always do, upended the vial tightly against my skin. I think it's equivalent to about one drop. I'm tempted to put on more. But my skin is sometimes sensitive to cinnamon, so I don't dare. At 10 minutes, it is very faint. I'm going to put on more and start over. What I do catch is the cinnamon and magnolia sorting themselves out. Separating. It's nicer. Redo, using two drops: Now that I can smell it much better, I'm picking up some woodiness. Otherwise it is the same scent. The wood helps to pull the two discordant notes together. At 5 minutes: Again, it lightened up quickly. How odd. Again, I can barely smell it. My skin is just devouring this. That's never happened before. I think I may have to test it in a scent locket. But for now I want to just wait and see what happens. At 10 minutes: My skin is starting to burn. Uh-oh. I shouldn't have put more on. I can smell the lovely magnolia champaca on my fingertips better than I can smell the complex scent on my wrist. (I tend to think magnolia because I'm more familiar with that than champaca. But champaca is a species of magnolia anyway, so either name will do.) At 15 minutes: Although it is faint on my wrist, the throw is plenty strong, after putting so much on. I'd better stay home for a while. Both the cinnamon and the champaca are evident in the throw. All of this is so weird. My skin chemistry is obviously seriously messing with this oil. My skin still feels tingly but isn't reddened. At 30 minutes: Still very light on my wrist, but now it's a nice warm cinnamon and wood scent. The throw is mostly magnolia with some cinnamon. It is beautiful both ways. I touched my face with my scented fingertips and now that spot is burning. (My facial skin is even more sensitive.) I will have to be careful with this one. Maybe confine it to the locket. At 1 hour: With the cinnamon note faded, and the magnolia note gone from my wrist, I'm picking up a little ginger and maybe some black tea. The wood might be sandalwood. And perhaps there's some frankincense. At 2 hours: It's very light and very complex. All mixed together now, so it's hard to tease out any individual notes except for some wood and light cinnamon. At 4 hours: Nothing specifically identifable now, just a gentle breath of spice and incense. A little oriental-perfume-ish, a little powdery. Very pretty. I just went out to the mailbox, and a new order has arrived. With a frimp of Morocco! How fateful is that? Now I can compare them. Verdict: Well, it was sometimes a rocky road, but we got there. And smelled some pretty and interesting things along the way. I'll let this age a little, to marry the notes more, and hope for a change in my skin chemistry. I'll try it again this winter. It would be a great warming winter scent anyway. And I also want to try it in the scent locket. 4 stars out of 6

Imp fresh from the Lab. In the Imp: (Without looking at the notes) First there is a wave of orange. I'm not a fan of orange. I don't dislike it, just find it boring. In perfumes, it is often too sharp, giving the blend a men's-cologne vibe. And I'm strongly averse to foody perfumes. But there is something different about this one. It's not orange juice at all. I'm intrigued - what is it? And this isn't either foody or men's cologne in the least. It's warm and spicy and floral as well as orangey. Really very pretty. Something is tickling around the edges of my brain. There's something familiar about this. It's. . . it's. . . something syrupy. And nasty. Oh no!! Lalalalala, I'm not listening. But it's like trying not to think of an elephant. The elephant bursts in, loud and clear. Syrup of Ipecac! No. No. No. This is so beautiful. The lovely flowers and exotic warm spices and that unusual orange. Not ipecac at all. But the thing is . . it sort of is. It's not exactly the same, but there is a definite family resemblance. Which I can't stop smelling now that I've noticed it. I look at the notes. Ah, mandarin and bergamot, not orange. That explains a lot. I've always greatly preferred any of the tangerine varieties to oranges. And every single note in this is something I love. No wonder I got it. I've just got to stop thinking about you-know-what and give this a chance. On me, wet: No floral. Lots of mandarin orange and spice and amber. The orange note is more fresh-smelling than in the the bottle. And you-know-what. No, no. Shut up, brain. At 5 minutes: The orange is already fading significantly, which helps to move the scent farther away from you-know-what. But it's still a bit cloying like the YKW. The amber is amping up. At 10 minutes: It's mainly spice and amber now. Less cloying. If I first smelled it at this point, I probably never would have thought of the you-know-what. But having made the connection, I can still smell it in this. At 20 minutes: I'm beginning to catch some rose now, and noticing the sandalwood more. And the citrus notes are almost completely gone. It's nothing like ipecac now (so I guess I can say it now.) But the scent memory of that still lingers in my brain. Go away and let me sniff this pretty fragrance in peace! At 30 minutes: A lovely soft amber, rose, and sandalwood. And perhaps some white musk. This has completely transformed! There's just a whisper of the citrus left in the throw, none on my wrist. At 45 minutes: The same, except that all traces of citrus are gone now. It has gone dry and powdery in the most beautiful way. Hardly surprising, as all four of these notes do that on me. But it's not a bad thing, not generic baby powder. It's an elegant and expensive powder from the 1920's or 1930's. At 1 hour: The scent has lightened up significantly in the last 15 minutes, letting a tiny bit of spice and citrus back through. At 2 1/2 hours: No further change. The amber, rose, sandalwood, and musk are still predominant. Verdict: This is a lovely perfume. The orangey notes really complement the spices and incense. And it is a vivid interpretation of the place it represents. It's a crying shame that my memory associates the scent with something so unpleasant. Fortunately syrup of ipecac is no longer used or considered safe, so hopefully most people haven't smelled or tasted it and can fully appreciate this oil. And it gets even better on drydown. As for me, I will hang on to the imp. The citrus notes will gentle with age. And maybe the next time I try it, I won't remember ipecac. The way my memory is going, there's a good chance of that! And meanwhile I will keep an eye out for a blend that is amber, rose, musk, and sandalwood. My rating: 4 out of 6 stars

Imp fresh from the Lab. In the imp: Hmm, did I get the right oil? Mine seems very different from the description and the other reviews. It does fit the theme of a little girl's tears in the snow, though. And is indeed very light and beautiful. To me, it is intensely watery. Ozone. Sharp, but less sharp than ozone usually is. Which keeps it - just barely - from veering into men's-cologne territory. There's an impression of a floral, but a mystery one that I can't identity, which makes sense. It's like a classic cologne, a very pure and innocent-smelling one. So interesting. On me, wet: Pretty much the same, but a bit deeper and darker for some reason I can't explain. It must be the earthiness that a previous reviewer mentioned, and that the description called darkly rooty. After 5 minutes: Most of the strength, the sharpness, and all of the earthiness flew away almost instantly. Af 10 minutes: Now all of the sharpness is gone as well, when I sniff right up to my wrist. But there's still some in the sillage. Up close, it is a soft powdery floral with hints of aquatic and green things. And indescribably beautiful. At 20 minutes, the sharpness has left the sillage too, and the impression of water has mostly disappeared from my wrist. Without those, it is less cologne-like. It's very soft, very light and powdery in the most heavenly way. Now it does resemble the other descriptions. At 30 minutes: Same as above. This doesn't smell at all like rose to me, or any other flower I can identify. (I don't know what peony smells like.) But it is unquestionably floral. Simply stunning. At 1 hour: No further change. I was surprised to notice that there is still a whisper of ozone in the arm's-length throw. At 2 hours: Very faint now, basically gone. At 4 hours: I was surprised to discover that a trace of scent still lingers on my wrist. Even more surprising, is that a bit of the sharp note has returned to give it a cologne-type character again. Verdict: I might want to wear this in the scent locket to make it last longer. But since the early aquatic top notes and the soft powdery drydown scent are so different, I'll put it on my wrist as well. Because this is spectacularly beautiful at every stage. My rating: Well, obviously. 6 out of 6. Not just a shortlist favorite, maybe even my top favorite perfume ever. I'm kicking myself for not getting a bottle. But I have so many floral scents already. How could I have known this one would be so stunning and unusual? I looked up Black Hellebore on the internet. It actually has white, sometimes pink, flowers, and may be called black for the unusual color of its roots. It blooms in the depth of winter. The whole plant is gorgeous, with the black roots contrasting beautifully with the green leaves and pink and white flowers in a drawing on Wickipedia. So Beth's scent-interpretation is right-on as always!

Bottle fresh from the Lab. I don't know what any of these flowers smell like by themselves, so my review will have to be very general. I have daffodils, tulips, and crocuses in my yard but have never noticed any fragrance from them. Maybe there aren't enough, or maybe I need to get more up-close and personal with them when they bloom again! I definitely will recognize the amber, though, if it comes through on my skin. It's one of my favorite notes. I also love pretty much any floral scent. So this should be an easy win for me. In the bottle: All floral, but noticeably not the usual culprits. This is much less sweet than floral perfumes usually are. On me, wet: The floral aspect is the same as in the bottle. I can smell a bit of the amber as well. adding warmth to the blend. At 5 minutes: I do like this very much, although not quite as much as the sweeter, more girly, and more typically flowery scents. After 1 1/2 hours: Mostly the same, except that it has sweetend up a little. That also must be the influence of the amber, although the actual note of amber is hidden underneath the florals now. At 5 1/2 hours: The scent lingers very softly. It is primarily the amber now, in its familiar final drydown aspect of a pretty baby powder, but touched lightly with the flowers from earlier. Verdict: This blend is stable, not a morpher. It would be a good choice for when you want an unusual floral perfume, or one that doesn't shout "girly", such as for work. 5 out of 6 stars

Imp fresh from the Lab. In the imp: Strong florals with a mildly sharp green note (the galbanum, no doubt) On me, wet: Very strong, realistic, florals. I'm swooning. This is exactly the kind of perfume I adore. The green galbanum is there, but stays slightly to the background. At 5 minutes: The fragrance is the same, but has settled down a bit. I can't tell the difference between lilac and lily of the valley, so I don't know which one I'm smelling. Maybe both. (Hey, I'm from Phoenix, what do I know? All those gorgeous flowers that everyone else in the northern hemisphere have in their gardens don't grow in the desert heat. Maybe that's why I love floral perfumes so much - scents that I missed out on most of my life!) At 10 minutes: All fresh flowers with their green stems. At 15 minutes: It's a soap scent, but doesn't smell soapy. I mean, a scent that is commonly used in fine soaps. Softer now, about what you'd expect in a freshly applied perfume. No longer super strong. So beautiful! At 45 minutes: I feel Ike I've been walking around in a cloud of beauty. Even my clothes smell heavenly. The scent on my wrist has continued to lighten up. It's still all florals in the throw and at first, but if I continue sniffing right up close, there's something else too now. Probably the dragon's blood. Or maybe the drydown of the galbanum. It's difficult to separate it out from the flowers. At 1 hour: No change. This oil makes me so happy! Like leisurely and meditatively exploring an amazing garden. At 2 hours: The throw is still very floral, but less so on my wrist. There, notes of incense and resin are now full participants together with the flowers. At 3 hours: Back to all flowers. 15 hours later, I can still smell it faintly on my wrist, still the same scent. Verdict: Dragon's Eye stays pretty consistent. The changes I've mentioned are subtle ones. The only significant change is in the strength. As for my rating, this one's a no-brainer. 6 out of 6 stars.

Bottle fresh from the lab. In the bottle: Lavender and lychee. It's a lovely combo! Wouldn't that make an amazing dessert? I'm thinking of one my mom used to make, something between a cake and a cobbler, a sheet cake with islands of fruity pudding-like filling. It would be perfect for this flavor combo. On me, wet: Mostly the lavender. It's the kind I love, that made me fall in love with lavender all those years ago. Old-fashioned and gentle, not the sharp medicinal kind. At 5 minutes: Where's that lychee I smelled in the bottle? The lavender is great, but I already have plenty of lavender oil. At 10 minutes: Still mostly 100% lavender, but every now and then I get a draft of some other floral. It wafts by too quickly and quietly to identify which of the other flowers it is. And I don't know what lily of the valley smells like anyway. The others I used to know well but haven't smelled by themselves for a while, so I'm not certain I'd recognize them either. At 15 minutes: Still mostly lavender. I'm wondering if my skin eats fruity notes. I didn't smell much pomegranate in The Robe of Pomegranates either. I do hope the lychee comes out. It was so delicious in the bottle. I am still getting that breath of another flower. At 20 minutes, I did get a bit of the lychee, in the sillage at first, but now it is starting to peek out on my wrist. Come on, lychee! At 30 minutes: Ah, there you are! Now it's that interesting and lovely combination from the bottle, of lychee and lavender. And with the hint of other flowers - probably the ylang ylang or magnolia or both, because it smells familiar. It could be difficult to separate the ylang ylang from the magnolia, since they both have that tropical, sweet character. It's an inspired pairing, like the lavender and lychee. At 45 minutes: Absolutely gorgeous. I think it must be at its peak right now, because all three components - lavender, lychee, and mixed florals - are in perfect balance. At 1 hour: The lavender has gone, leaving the fruit and flowers. I love how this transitions from herbal to fruity to floral, blending smoothly between each transition. It reminds me of high-quality hand-dyed multicolored yarns, how one color doesn't suddenly change to another but instead gradually blends from one color to the next, so that it's impossible to say exactly where the change occurs. Like those, this is interesting as well as beautiful. At 2 hours: It has faded dramatically. I notice the lychee first, but the florals then come in to override it. At 4 hours: It's over, having finished up with soft florals. Verdict: 6 out of 6 stars

Imp fresh from the lab. In the imp: Flowers and sage, very pretty. On me, wet: At first, it's mostly sage. At 5 minutes: Sage and sweetpea, more of the sage. This is what I hoped Mouse's Long and Sad Tale would be (no vanilla!) At 10 minutes: The sweetpea is stronger, but hasn't quite caught up to the sage. This is so light, fresh, pure, childlike. At 15 minutes: Wow, it has begun to fade already! It's almost like a floral soap. As light as it is, other people might not even realize I am wearing perfume. They might think it was just the remaining traces of soap on my skin. This is not a criticism, just an observation. It would be perfect for wearing in public, where I might be around people who are sensitive to perfume, At 30 minutes: I can smell the musk now. It warms and deepens, and darkens the scent just a hair. Our little girl is growing up, but hasn't yet lost her innocence. I think I can detect a little tonka too, although I'm not that familiar with it, so I'm not sure. I don't think I've ever smelled tonka by itself. This is perfect for hot weather, too, because of its mildness, light throw, and impression of coolness. At 1 hour: The fragrance is almost gone. It has faded down to the familiar baby powder scent that I always get from white musk in the final drydown. But somehow it still retains the fresh feeling. Another blend that I put on my other wrist 10 hours ago is more evident than the Aeval! After 3 hours: Given how faint the scent was two hours ago, I'm surprised to find it still lingering. Barely there, though. Verdict: In strength, throw, and longevity this is more like a classic cologne than an essential oil perfume. But people have been wearing such colognes for at least a couple of centuries, and just reapplying as needed. So I can do that with this as well. And there are situations when those characteristics can be an advantage, too. Plus which, to make it last longer, the labbies would have to add different notes, and that would make it another perfume entirely. Some notes are just naturally volatile. So I'm not going to complain or lower my rating for that reason. It's an exceptionally pretty scent and should stay just the way it is! And, if I want it to last longer, I can always put it into a scent locket. 6 out of 6 stars

Bottle fresh from the lab. In the bottle: Without looking at the notes, I get caramel loud and clear. More sniffing reveals other things in the background: spice, something vaguely floral. The caramel and spice combination is warm and delicious and very sweet. Like caramels with extra sugar and a touch of spice that goes so well with the caramel. But I hope this won't be too foody for me. On me, wet: The first thing I notice is cardamom, much more defined than in the bottle. It's realistic and wonderful. The caramel - which I know now is milk and honey - is right behind it. This is also much less sweet than in the bottle. At 10 minutes: Hot milk sweetend with honey and flavored with chai spices. It makes me want to drink some. There's an odd black note, too, like licorice-y anise. No carnation that I can perceive. At 20 minutes: The honey is more distinct, less like caramel now. Otherwise it's the same as before. At 30 minutes: Ah, there's the carnation. Baclava! The carnation is very delicate, just like the rose water in baclava. With a touch of anise. Is that really in this, or is it my skin chemistry doing something weird? It's intriguing in any case, and makes this just a tad less foody. I know, that doesn't make sense. But that is my impression. At 45 minutes: Cardomom is the star (sorry anise, LOL.) So now it's chai tea. In spite of all these food associations, this doesn't annoy me as foody perfumes usually do. It's all the spice. I do like spice perfumes, as long as there's no ozone to turn it into men's cologne. Probably because spice has many other associations for me besides food: candles, air fresheners, pomanders, potpourri, camel caravans, the open-air markets of Marrakesh, and yes, men's cologne (which is nice enough, just not what I want to smell like. Same as with food.) I'm the same way about honey. I rarely eat it or use it in cooking, only in recipes where it is blended with many other things. So I don't think of it as a foody scent. I think of expensive beeswax candles, and I love BPAL 's honey note. After 1 hour: The cardomom has made a sudden hasty exit, but left its shadow behind. Which allows the sweetness of the honey to show its face again. Together with that mysterious black note which has taken on a sharpness that now is more like black pepper than anise. A faint smidgen of anonymous floral. None of the notes are very realistic anymore. And my skin has definitely done something weird now. Along with these other things, I smell . . . toothpaste. This is no longer foody, but better that than toothpaste. If I were out in public I'd wash it off. But I'm home alone, so I'm leaving it on to see what it does next. After 3 hours: Toothpaste, with a breath of honey and spice. At 8 hours: I had stopped sniffing my wrist, so I don't know when the toothpaste went away, but it did. The fragrance is still there, and it's beautiful again now! And not at all foody anymore. Soft powder with forals and a gentle touch of spice. Verdict: For the first hour, 4.5 stars out of 6. I love the cardomom and honey notes, but overall the oil is a tad too foody to make it into the 5-star category. I wish the carnation was stronger and lasted longer. After 1 hour, it's a disaster. I'm not going to rate that, because I'm pretty sure the problem is my skin, not the perfume. And the final drydown is generic but lovely. I'll wear this in a scent locket, where my skin chemicals can't get at it. It will stay very nice that way!