joyfulgirl

i thought for sure i'd reviewed this! ah well, might as well get to it. in the bottle: lemon! lemon lemon lemon! like lemon pledge furniture polish. wet on my skin: lemongrass like whoa. i remember when i first got an imp of this, i thought i wouldn't like it because i figured for sure i'd walk around smelling like pledge all day. eventually the lemon calms down and i start to get whiffs of other notes...mostly cedarwood at first, then a smidge of patchouli. dry on my skin: the lemon has faded significantly and i'm now getting lots of cedar with a touch of earthy patchouli and sweetened (i'm assuming) by the jasmine. i do not get much in the way of sandalwood or rose. note: i also put some in my hair and i am still getting a definite lemon vibe from my hair. i am guessing my skin either ate or burned the lemongrass. overall: i really enjoy this blend. i think it's great for focusing (as most citrus blends tend to be for me) and fades to a lovely earthy scent. i'm glad i have a bottle, and i will probably replace it when i run out.

necrobump! my mom is/was a HUGE fan of simply, but it has been discontinued. i am looking for mother's day and b-day presents for her...anything bpal that has that lovely soy/soy milk note?

oh wow...THAT is freaky stella!! i have found that nosferatu really freaks me out. the dirt/grit note is just SO realistic that i feel like i'm in a cemetery or mausoleum and the red wine note adds the unsettling feeling that someone else is there too...

thank you puddin' for the frimp! in the imp, this smells watery and florally, as others have mentioned. definitely a light, bright floral...nothing too sexy. i dabbed a tiny bit on my skin and i am getting - unmistakably - the scent of honesuckle...or at least the way my nose interprets honeysuckle. after a little while the initial sweetness/honeyness wears off and i'm left with a light green floral that stays pretty close to the skin. it's delightful, but not quite enough to convince me that i should be wearing a floral.

this scent is the entire reason i did my first decant circle. it sounded so unspeakably beautiful that i knew i must try it... in the bottle: disappointingly harsh and perfume-y. it kind of smells like a pool? wtf...it doesn't smell like a bpal blend at all! on my skin: AAAAAH, there we go...WHEW! blackberry and green tea rush up at me...followed by some fresh, green smelling spices. the honey musk and vanilla are a nice undercurrent to all the green, leafy stuff going on here. they sweeten it up without making it a primarily sweet blend. it is definitely an herbal, green scent. this is one of the rare blends where i can pick out every note with no problem...and i love it! drying down: the green tea takes center stage for me. i was hoping for more blackberry, but we'll see how it ages. it definitely feels summery...warm green grass and sunshine.

Stone and darkness. i have to say, i LOVE the way the oil separates...it's so pretty! in the bottle: aquatic and...lemon? someone said licorice and i can totally see that! on my skin: wtf...against ALL odds, this is an aquatic mix that i like? i think the citrus is keeping it from being offensively aquatic. drying down: the citrus burns off a bit and i'm left with mostly just a strong, pleasant aquatic. too masculine for me (which is unusual), but my sweetie may get slathered.

in the bottle: all sage, all the time. hrm. on my skin: this opens up quite a bit! it's definitely primarily sage on my skin, but the amber and leather are rounding it out quite nicely. i can't pick up the clove directly, but it's definitely there...it just adds a bit of a spicy depth to the blend. it smells a little like something my grandmother used to wear - in a good way! dried down: i hate to say it, but it's gone a bit soapy on me. i suppose it could be the sage? in any case, it was a lovely scent to start with, and the drydown certainly isn't offensive, it's just not something i'd wear all the time.

in the bottle: tobacco and leather. a touch of incense. very masculine feeling. on my skin: oh man, i was worried that the tobacco would take over in this blend, but it doesn't at all. this is just the lovely, wafting, evocative scent of leather and sweet yellowed pages. i agree it is a bit masculine, but not overly so. although, i bet it would smell delicious on my boyfriend... dried down: the incense has kind of taken the lead here...it seems to be the longest lasting note, but i am still certainly getting a bookish vibe from it. it's absolutely lovely. it reminds me of the lurid library for the obvious reasons, but it's more with the cozy and less with the musky/sexy.

in the bottle: almost all myrrh, actually...spice spice and more spice with a bit of carnation. this has me a tiny bit worried...where is my musk?! oh my skin: this turns to almost all airy, waft-y carnation...there is a bit of myrrh holding down the low end...oh wait, oh wait...i smell a tiny bit of something. could it be...? oh YES...holy red musk and carnation combo, batman! i was a little worried that the carnation would turn powdery or overly floral on me, but the red musk has finally showed up and it is playing SO nice with the carnation...the myrrh adds a nice spicy counter-note. oddly enough i am not getting any honey at all, but i'm not too sad about that. this is amazingly beautiful as it is! bottom line: this bottle is a total keeper! i shall cherish it. thank you puddin' for yet another amazing creation!

A sweet prelude to grief: delicate tea rose and strawberry-laced vanilla stained by tobacco, champaca incense, and white cognac. in the bottle: whew! smelling it in the bottle is a little bit overwheming. pink pink pink! on my skin: i actually like this a bunch more than i thought i would...i'm not a girly girl type, so i thought "oh no, pink". but really, the strawberry is kind of fun and bright and i got a tiny tinge of what i thought was pickle but now that i've sniffed it more, i recognize it as the cognac. drydown: i get a faint whiff of the tobacco now and then, but it mostly stays pretty true to the pink berry, slightly boozy scent. bottom line: i don't think i'd go hunt down another bottle, but i'll certainly use the rest of this partial for summer parties!

hey VM! if you are buying imps, you might give the coiled serpent a shot. it's got a great patchouli note and some people say they get a vanilla note from it...i am not sure what the other notes are, but i find it somewhat similar to banshee beat. speaking of which, if you can get your hands on some banshee beat, that'll get you most of the way there (patchouli, vanilla, hemp). goblin also is a patchouli scent with benzoin/coconut notes that a lot of people associate with vanilla. i LOVE the lab's patchouli blends, so i think all three of those are delicious...good luck finding what you're looking for!

mine also lasts forever in my hair...i think it's because my skin chemistry and heat don't destroy the components quite as quickly. plus i love turning or shaking my head throughout the day and getting a waft of lovely scent.

holy moly! i was a little nervous when i smelled this in the bottle and initially in the tub. it smelled a little plasticy...but i just got out of the tub and wheeee, i smell like heavenly carnation bliss! and i will let you in on a secret: carnation usually does horrible things on me...it turns to a watery, overly-sweet mess...THIS however, is divine. it's like a subtle cloud of sweet spicy carnation. LOVE. i may need to snatch up another bottle...

This happened to me before (last October) with a Trading Post order (well, it was only one item that was backordered, but that shouldn't make a difference), and the item that was backordered was mailed to me a week or so later, with no additional communication from the Post or from me (as in, I didn't contact them about it, and I didn't receive a second shipping notice or anything). It would probably still be okay to contact them, but I just wanted to share my experience. thanks NB! that puts my mind at ease...i know puddin just had surgery recently, so i figured i'd give it a while. glad to know it will likely just show up within a few weeks!

i have a potentially dumb question: i had a post order and there was a brief note in it that 2 of the items were backordered. so...am i still getting those items when they arrive? will i get an email notification or another CnS when they are ready? do i need to do anything to follow up with puddin & crew to make sure everything is handled correctly? i haz a confuze.

dark, incense-y woods. i am picking up cedar and perhaps rosewood? i'm not good at identifying wood notes, but this smells a lot like my rosewood knitting needles when i first got them...a lovely wafting scent, earthy but polished. the woods are very solid feeling without being masculine (although this is definitely unisex). also picking up some patchouli, as others have mentioned, which is very grounded feeling. when i close my eyes and inhale deeply, i imagine stumbling across an ancient temple in a humid jungle...forgotten by the world but lovingly cared for by monks and pilgrims...ornately carved polished woods, offerings of herbs and incense, the earthy heat of the jungle creeping in at the edges. what a beautiful image! overall a very centering and calming blend...in my mind, this goes right along with namaste as an excellent meditative scent (minus namaste's lemongrass bite). i like this quite a bit and am looking forward to heating it up on my skin when i do yoga this evening.

Candles Moon 2012: In the bottle: I also get a very cologne-y feel from this blend. I think it is the wind/snow note? It definitely has a chilled feel to it...a very airy aquatic with a slight bite to it. I smell something a bit like cinnamon, which makes me nervous because my skin reacts to it. On my skin: It warms up a bit and I get a hint of berry and wafts of a smoky note. The cinnamon (thankfully) is nowhere to be found. The whole thing feels very formal...I agree with Circaea that it feels very sophisticated. Lots of wind and water, not as much of the berry and wax that I was hoping for. Not at all what I expected, but not unpleasant either. Bottom line: I am going to give it a few more weeks, let it breathe and see if I warm up to it any more. I actually might try it on my boyfriend, since it feels unisex at best and possibly masculine, due to the serious aquatic cologne feel of it.

gods, this is amazing! i always kind of wondered "what's the big deal with smut?" NOW I KNOW! i love bpal musk in pretty much any form, and while i'm not a huge fan of super-sweet blends, i definitely have days that i crave something sweet, so i decided to just snag a bottle of this, unsniffed. i LOVE that the boozy notes + the sugar basically come across as deep, juicy cherry. the musks are dark and sultry and keep it from being over-the-top sweet. it is dark, sensual, sexy and well...smutty! throw is pretty significant and the staying power was excellent for me (i mixed a few drops with unscented body lotion). bpalscentsual said and i agree: i don't think i could wear this at work...but it will definitely be a go-to scent for parties, events and sexytimes. so glad i picked up a bottle!

in the bottle: cooking oil? some kinda incense-y smelling background. hrm... on my skin: for me, this started out smelling like sandalwood-infused cooking oil. not sexy...i will admit that i was VERY worried. dry on my skin: WOW...as other people mentioned, this is quite the morpher. that cooking oil smell burns right off after about 15 minutes. the sandalwood and oudh provide a nice base for the amber and honey notes. the honey note, by the way, is not the usual super-sweet, super-bright one that i'm accustomed to. it's a very dark, smoky, rich honey...it does not even remotely threaten to go sharp or powdery on me, and i am LOVING it. unfortunately i'm not getting much in the way of the currant (boo, i love berries), but this is lovely enough all on its own. not a super strong throw, but i can certainly still catch wafts of it 5 hours later. i'm really glad i was able to snag a bottle so long after it was first released. i don't think it's for everyday wear, but i could CERTAINLY see rocking this at a show or festival where i'll be dancing a lot...or maybe even a yoga workshop...anywhere i might want to channel my inner warrior-goddess.

i took some pics of my RPG bottles this morning cause they're cute and i love all of them so much. elf (female), cleric (female), ranger (male), rogue (female), mage (female) http://i40.tinypic.com/15pix6g.jpg

in the bottle: lemon pledge wet on my skin: lemon pledge. whew. i smell super shiny and clean! dry on my skin: 15 minutes in, it is still VERY lemony to me, but it's becoming more distinctly rhubarb now. 30 minutes in...still lemony, but i'm finding some petitgrain now. and inhaling deeply, i'm catching some musk. no patchouli, amber or leather yet...keeping my fingers crossed that they'll show. those notes were why i picked up a bottle. 45 minutes in...still super light and citrusy. i'm trying not to sweat it too much...this just arrived today, so i'll think i'll give it a few days/weeks and try it again. as arrow mentioned, it feels like it has great potential, so i'm not going to give up on it entirely.

in the bottle: all wood wet on my skin: polished wood dry on my skin: interesting. it's calming down to a very worn, comfortable wood scent with a leather backdrop. it smells like maybe someone's grandma's house...but not in a creepy old person way. it's more of a warm, comforting thing. picking up a tiny bit of spicy amber and a waft of sweetness that must be the flowers/honey/berry, but they're not distinct enough to identify individually. bottom line: comforting, warm, dark...but something feels a little bit off. i'm going to let this age a little bit and reserve judgement on whether this is a keeper or not. i like it, but i don't think it's something i'd wear often. time will tell!

in the bottle: holy cow, i'm getting the whole shebang here! nuts, berries, honey, and pine floating over a faint musk base. wow...lovely, but quite complex! wet on my skin: jeez, this is all hazelnut. ugh, it's totally overwhelming. this could be bad. dry on my skin: whew, the hazelnut has calmed the hell down. thank goodness. i am getting a nice honey/musk mix now, with some nuttiness on top. i agree with glambie that it smells very yummy without being overtly foodie. however, at its core, it is still hazelnut on me, so i am not sure how much i will wear it...i may age it a bit and see if it mellows out a little. it feels like it definitely has potential to be something gorgeous.

i love the smell of this, unfortunately i had a huge allergic reaction as soon as i put it on, so i didn't have time to explore what i liked about it and had to wash it off immediately. i have HUGE red, itchy, hot blotches on my arm...it's the first skin reaction i've ever had to *anything*. so sad. ETA: i'm assuming it's the cinnamon causing the reaction? note to self: no cinnamon!

not in school anymore, but i do work every day in a corporate environment. i slathered on a bunch of luna negra a few weeks ago (which i LOVE) and someone in an elevator with me was like "WHOO, it smells like someone's having fun in here!" i was slightly embarrassed. :X i have found that scents with a bit of citrus in them (i'm looking at you, namaste) really help me focus a bit...every time i get a whiff of the lemon in namaste, i'm zipped right back to the present moment - appropriate for a blend named namaste, huh? also the citrus note keeps almost any scent from being over-the-top sexy, at least on me! i also do well with scents that i find comforting (rogue, leather phoenix), just because they put me in the right state of mind to relax and Get Shit Done. but it's a different type of feel than stuff with citrus notes. less of a hard focus and more of an anti-anxiety effect. but that's just my personal experience, YMMV!