ancilla_morte

*is so excited to finally have this scent!!* in vial: extremely light in the bottle. I can faintly smell eucalyptus perhaps? and something very sweet, like watermelon candy. (Yes I know that's the 2nd or 3rd time I've reviewed something and said 'watermelon candy' lol. I swear Beth could make a scent called 'Man Musk' and it could be likely I'd smell watermelon candy I'm silly) wet on skin: this scent is so perfectly ethereal! It still has this candy sweet scent but I can't detect what kind of fruit smell it is. Lime maybe? Lime skittles! exactly! wow! this is DEFINITLY an OMFG BPAL!! for me!! I love it so much. I imagine the unicorns from the movie Legend more than the Alice in Wonderland unicorn. in fact this scent reminds me of the whole movie!! OMG. this is going to be bought in a 10ml, 20 ml....GALLON. I LOVE IT.

... Her perfume is a crush of Irish herbs and flowers, Gaelic mists, and nighttime dew. in the vial it smells like cheap women's floral drugstore cologne. but at the same time it is not overpowering, it is light feeling. wet on skin: smells very clean, soapy and floral. reminds me a little bit of the smell of Dove soap. Very green and fresh. I think I can smell honeysuckle (I'm so bad at recognizing floral notes!) dry on skin: the fresh flowers meadow scent lightens a bit and becomes slightly powdery. I think I'd want to wear this when I feel my irish/celtic/welsh fiestiness coming out (lol) or just on St. Patrick's day (not to celebrate the awful saint, but rather my heritage) Would be an awesome scent to wear for Ostara, and MAYBE Beltane.

I wish I could use this, but I have a mac.

in vial: very sweet, almost candy like gardenia (makes me think of watermelon candy) wet on skin: It is a BIT less candy-like and I can smell the floral gardenia. I can definitley tell it is an aquatic. However the gardenia is a bit too much, when gardenia has a 'too sweet its almost sour' endnote, I usually don't like it. I like lighter gardenias. dry on skin: I can definitely sense a sort of sadness, loss, maybe even grief? Gardenia tends to do that alot to me though, with those emotions. There is this slightly bitter note that I can not figure out, it clings to the end of the gardenia. It makes it almost sharp and cold. Another one of those notes that remind me of something, but its always a vague something and I can never figure out where I've smelled it before. It reminds me of menthol maybe? very slightly. It makes the gardenias smell sharper. few minutes later: it makes me think of something gone sour. something rotting? the sweet smell of decaying flowers? but its not exactly unpleasant. It also reminds me of crying. I think I would want to wear this scent when I am crying or very sad. more minutes later (now completely dry) the sour and sharp smells have gone away, and I am again left with a much lighter version of the sweet candy-like gardenia. And I like it. I don't know how often I would wear it as I'm not too mcuh of a floral person besides some roses, but I would wear it when I am sad. It seems as though it would be very comforting to wear.

I really like this blend. it is some of what I liked in Black Phoenix, the afterscent of it when it has faded a bit. Its base, undertone is similar to Black Phoenix's. except Hell's Belle is darker, murkier, spicy but not in a tart and overpowering way. I think I can smell patchouli in it, but a sweet patchouli. I have the same exact problem as the above reviewer with recognizing flower scents. Unless they have a distinct, individual odor, I can not tell most apart from each other. but this is so lovely. in the bottle is smells like patchouli, straight and raw. on the skin it is just lovely. I am loving too many scents now. I must have this however in at least a 5mL :

Our signature oil. A dark, languid scent. Promotes hedonistic tendencies and extreme self-love. You won’t stop kissing mirrors for a month. in the bottle, I fell in love when I smelled the rich marachino cherry smell. I was so excited! I put it on and the cherry smell was still there for a little while, but it started to fade and blend into something...else. I swear to god, my mind comes up blank sometimes when I try to identify scents. It smells fizzy, like carbonated like a soda. and it now has a cherry/almond smell. it reminds me of those bottle caps candies that fizz in your mouth. I'm trying to decide whether or not I like this. I'll have to give it another go some other time. but all in all it was a very interesting experience! edited (a few minutes later nonetheless!) to say: um yeah..... I'M IN LOVE!!! It is definitely VERY strong and potent on my skin, which is why I think it overpowered me at first. I need to put less on than I did. but I love the after-smell of it. it seems to scent the air around me, and it reminds me of a very sweet sugary-cherry dragon's blood. and if you have read most of my reviews, you know how much I love dragon's blood.

in bottle: a deep rich dark chocolate mint...hmm. with rose of course. wet on skin: hmm......... very sharp. I'm kind of afraid it is going to bloom into an awful terrible ROSE MONSTER. It's like the calm before the storm. Luckily, I like rose. But more young fresh sweet roses than heavy spicy old lady roses. I'm smelling all sorts of roses. a rose geranium smell, lemony-rose, sharp sharp sharp rose (who knew there was a sharp rose??) in the middle is almost a yummy spicy rose, then at the end I can smell the lemon-ey rose. this is very dark. very sinister, but seems like it could be kind of annoying and suffocating. this stuff is so strong! it stays in your nose for a while after sniffing it. I probably should not have put so much on, but my mom is cooking sausage so I wouldn't have been able to smell it otherwise. I don't know. there seems to be a generic dollar store synthetic rose smell that I just don't really like. I might have to give this a try later.

oh I love this! It is so lemony and fresh! like someone earlier said, "Lemon poundcake and Jasmine flowers"! I can't wait to try this out on boys! The scent sort of has me picturing New Orleans, the French Quarter and all the voodoo shops. It seems as though all the voodoo blends I've tried, (follow me boy, Come to Me, Fire of Love) all have this same base smell. not so much on the skin but in the bottle. And after trying Come To Me and then Fire of Love, I was a little disappointed in the voodoo blends. I guess this reminds me a little of Come to me, except Come to me is much weaker on me. I absolutely love this scent. I might have to get a big one of it!

I'm so undecided. wet on skin:I smell patchouli. very dark dark patchouli. there is something else added to that which may be what others describe as a 'bad breath' smell (meaning, the worst kind you can have, like death-breath lol). it does sort of smell like baby diapers. and also I hate to say it, but... poo. but at the same time not really. because I know it is the patchouli. I can also detect the slightest hint of jasmine. but I agree it is incredibly musky, very very animal. dry: I can understand how it smells like sex. but its pure animal sex. in a desperate, completely uninhibited 'who cares how we smell, let's get it on!' way. which excites me a bit. (actually quite a lot) the 'death-breath' smell is almost undetectable. the patchouli is sweetened. edited to add: PINE! I could not notice it at first as it is a high note and so very high I thought I was the smell of rubbing alcohol (as I was using it earlier to remove another tested scent). I don't know if it is exactly pine, but it definitely smells like a sharp evergreen. final: so I don't know. to me it is really an interesting smell and I'd like to try it out on my boyfriend, just after it dries and the 'death-breath' baby diaper smell has gone. but then again, the turd smell is kind of still there. ehhhh. I like it because it excites me, but I don't like the scents very much. I don't know I might want to try something else.

this is a great scent. in bottle: strong lemon tea. or lemonade iced tea. wet on skin: the linden blossom is making me think lemon. I can smell the strong tea. there is almost a chilly ghastliness about it. like sharp winds, chilly but sunny winter days. it is also a dry smell. dry: for some reason this took a long while to dry (well maybe because I had to put a lot on because I knew it would fade fast). I really like this scent, and I would probably wear it from time to time. I just wish it wouldn't fade so fast from my skin. rating: 3.5/5

in the bottle it smells just like Sea Breeze face astringent.. very alcohol-ey wet on skin: definitely getting a men's cologne smell, but a pleasant one. I have been a fan of most men's cologne since I was a little girl. But its also more than just the cologne smell. I can almost smell the violets at the very end of the scent. Somehow the scent makes me think of wide open spaces, the sky, the sea. just vastness. it also reminds me of the Illuminations candle scents of Waterlilies and of Bamboo, which are my favorites from the store (I used to work there) dry: the sharpness of the cologne smell tones down a bit, and there is a saltiness now. I can definitely smell the deep sea, underwater (if one could smell the deepest parts of the ocean, I imagine it would be similar to this). there is also something dark underlying it, I think. maybe its the seaweed. when completely dry, the lingering scent smells just like Yankee Candle's Midsummer's Night (my best friend always has a car jar of this in her car, so this scent reminds me a lot of her and the times I've spent with her) final verdict: I like it. I don't think I would wear it as it is too masculine. but I like the scent and will keep it around for aromatherapy reasons. I must say I am a bit disappointed with the scent, as I was hoping it would be murky and dark, lonely and sinister. But to depict such elements of a watery grave without having to resort to eau de water-decayed flesh, I think I'll take the clean freshness over that . I do however think I'd be happier with it if it were darker and murkier smelling. As this city is old, decayed, mysterious, and it is a place of darkness and death. Not really getting those images with this as it is so fresh and clean smelling. but that's just me I guess. (also, this scent STAYS on your skin like its life depends on it. after washing and using rubbing alcohol, it is still very obviously there on my wrist. I'm just glad I like the scent ) my rating: 4/5

I don't know what year this is, because it was hand decanted by someone on makeupalley (unless for some reason, these gingerbread poppet imps had individually handwritten tags?) in the bottle it is very yummy smelling gingerbread wet on skin: the ginger is very strong. dry on skin: ginger is still a bit strong, its so true to its name. not yankee candle-ish and over sweet. in fact it is not very sweet, just has a pinch of sweetness, just enough to make it smell like baked gingerbread and not like, raw grated ginger. I can smell cinnamon. I love this! I might have to buy a 5mL

in bottle: a very dark pine, very fresh smelling but not too overpowering. wet on skin: getting a nutmeg sort of smell. gradually getting sweeter and lighter. it reminds me of the dragon's blood oil by Azuregreen. maybe that's the myrrh, as they are both resins. I really love this. it smell really sexy and dark like my usual dragon's blood. I guess I'm just a tree resin kind of gal.

in bottle: at first sniff all I could smell was licorice. on further sniffing, smells like sweet lemon bars wet on skin: still smelling lemon, but I can pick out the tea, the cream, wow! the linen (maybe it is the ginger that's making me think of lemon? it kind of reminds me of lemon verbena, but its not EXACTLY lemon. heh) and there's the honey. its probably the honey and ginger that make me smell lemon. dry on skin: now it is smelling more like ginger, tea and honey and less like lemon. I don't know if I like it or not. it sort of reminds me of licorice (which I hate) and lemon theraflu. I'm sure my mother would love it though. edited: to say that I wore it again today and decided I really didn't like it. Too much straight ginger kind of makes me feel nauseous for some reason. My mother loves it though.

in bottle: oh boy this is strong. it reminds me of all the perfume oils my mother would get from the 70's and 80's. it reminds me of the smell of the incense called Night Queen. wet on skin: still very strong. still reminding me of old perfume oils from the 80's. I don't even know how to pick out the different notes. this scent in itself is a note. dry: it is toned down a lot and I like it a lot more. it smells very exotic and I can smell the jasmine and rose. definitely not me, I prefer more subtle Juliet-type florals.

in bottle: definitely smell the lilies. very strong floral. smells like drugstore perfume. wet on skin: no longer cheapy smelling.first notes are lilies, but blends into something sweet and fresh. fresh spring flowers. yes, I smell a bit of honeysuckle, but it is in the background of lilies. dry: still fresh and sweet flowers. pretty and subtle. very innocent and pure. it's not exactly me, but I'm sure I'll wear it a little as lilies are my favorite flower. edit: also.. this stuff is very hard to get off! I used rubbing alcohol and tried washing it off with soap (wrists) and still I could smell it!

in bottle: apple-grapey.....jasmine also a very slight bitter spice undertone? maybe its just my imagination. wet on skin: a very sweet candy-like jasmine. and daffodil. I have a hard time distinguishing some flowers from others. I'm getting a sweet fruity candy tone right at the end of the smell. it reminds me of something but I can't put my finger on it. WATERMELON! the very end note is a candy-like watermelon! well on me anyway! dry on skin: lighter, more musky now. I can still smell the fruit and jasmine, but it seems everything is perfectly blended into one now. I'm still smelling the candy watermelon. final: this is beautiful! intoxicating! I LOVE IT! I'm definitely going to put this on my wishlist!

in bottle: it smells just like an oil my mother used to put on a lightbulb burner around christmas time. I forget the name of it, I can't go find it because its put away with christmas stuff. I know it was a blended scent, not a single note. Maybe I will update this review when we get our christmas stuff out. Or maybe it will drive me bonkers until I go on a raid one day in the attic. heh. wet on skin: I was kind of afraid to put it on since it was so strong in the bottle. Still getting that christmas oil smell. But now I can definitely smell the beginnings of tobacco, leather and incense. dry on skin: definitely smelling pipe tobacco. and leather. alcohol?? is that possible? At first I thought it was rubbing alcohol, but now it smells a lot like bourbon or brandy or something. final: It isn't an unpleasant smell. in the bottle, wet on my skin, it was never unpleasant. but it is a little overpowering, I only put the teeniest drop on my wrist. I do sort of like it though. I never knew either of my grandfathers, and this definitely smells like a very old fashioned man's library or something. something one of my grandfathers would have smelled like from time to time. leather, pipe tobacco, hard liquor, just...antiquity. I've always sort of liked the smell of pipe tobacco. I won't buy this, but I'll keep the bottle around to swap a couple decants and just to smell.

in the imp: very light, I can barely detect a floral-y lemon wet on skin: more floral, I can smell the heady rose. stronger on skin than in vial. I can also detect a soapy note with the rose. And the rose is a very very strong, citrus-y spicy kind of rose. dry on skin: the headiness of the rose is subdued a bit, though it is still prominent a few minutes later: light to medium rose-lemon-soap smell. smells like Victorian luxury rose soap. I haven't tried its effects on men yet. If there is no effect on men, I won't buy a bottle. if there is then I will because I like the scent enough to wear it from time to time, but I don't like it enough to buy it. Unless of course, it attracts men.

I haven't been able to test many BPAL scents as I am still relatively new to this. But Maenad is so far one of my favorites. I think in fact, it was also the first scent I tested. in imp: very green smelling, slightly sharp with just a hint of strawberry. Smells like the young very fresh greens, but still a bit sweet. wet on skin: powerfully sweet strawberry, but with slight dark hints underneath dry on skin: the initial green and the sweet strawberry unite pretty evenly. the scent here reminds me pretty accurately Coty Airspun loose powder. weird. the scent lasts for a long while. It is not overpowering but still, it is pretty strong. and the strawberry is perfect! I am definitely going to have to buy a 5ml of this.

I got Jabberwocky as an imp, and when I first whiffed it, I hated it. Maybe it was because I wasn't expecting it to be so sharp at first. But then again, was I expecting an oil inspired by a viscious monster to be angel soft with cotton candy and laundry smells? I don't hate it now. I really like how it sweetens after the eucalyptus fades, but I don't think I could take the wait each time through the eucalyptus. I think it is interesting. And though I probably wouldn't wear it, I'd like to keep it for my collection because I think it just so accurately portrays the character the Jabberwocky, it even matches the perception of the monster I had as a child! That's what I like most about BPAL. They don't sugarcoat things and try to make things smell generically good. (I was talking to my mother about this earlier) They actually research and reflect on what certain things, creatures, people would smell like, what emotions that were evoked related to the named subject they would be able to capture in scent. BPAL isn't just about making things that just smell good, but also capturing images, emotions, literature etc in scent. I think that is why I am so obsessed with BPAL. Well anyway, Jabberwocky to me smells like dread, fear, like visciousness. But after the sharpness fades a bit, it is gentler, which reminds me that even the most terrible of beasts have some sort of weakness, and are living beings. Did anyone else think there was rosemary in the scent at first? I mean I know its obviously eucalyptus/pine/orange, but when I first smelled it the first thing that came into my mind was rosemary.