Mountaingrrl00

This one grabbed me at a meet & sniff. I think it came from Babylon - thank you! I wouldn't have tried this based on the description. I am so not a morning person. Turns out I love Ra, though.

 

Ra really is sunny. To me it smells like light amber, carnation/clove, some other woodsy and spicy notes, and some unfamiliar citrus. It reminds me a bit of my fave Tenochtitlan, though hotter and less sweet. I agree with those who smell something herbal, but I don't find it astringent in any way. It's more of a dusty herbalness to me, and just faintly there in the background.

 

Really beautiful, unusual and cheering.

I really like the jasmine in Crossroads. Any idea what kind that is? Night-flowering, maybe?

This is so much fun! It takes me back to the days when my candy store was an actual candy store (as opposed to, say, my imp box.) I get wafts of bubblegum, Doublemint, Hot Tamales (those cinnamon candies), cherry pops, powdered sugar. It's completely true in its fakeness.

I wore this to work and forgot I'd put it on. Late in the afternoon, I caught a whiff and thought I was wearing Megaera. The drydown is really quite similar, though a bit sweeter and with less tart citrus. (Maybe it's orange rather than grapefruit.) Orris and bubblegum? Sure, why not!

I appreciate this not only for the camp value, but for the genuine pleasure it is to wear. I see more of this in my future.

Tenochtitlan has a warm, golden amber with some unusual herb and spice undertones. Wait a minute for the prickly-pear fruitiness to die down, and it is absolutely gorgeous, sunny amber.

 

Verdandi's another ambery one, with a darker, more autumnal flavor.

 

You should definitely check out The Lion for amber and spice.

The other reviewers have described this very well. I just want to add that this is the first BPAL I was ever totally amazed by. It makes me happy, it makes me feel buoyant, it makes me feel quenched. It's my clear favorite. I so wish it weren't an LE. Please, please, bring it back.

I tend to get headaches from ozones. Machu Picchu was the worst. Empyreal Mist smells lovely to me, but ended up making me queasy. I'm hoping I don't have to give up Sea of Glass.

 

The Great Sword of War left red marks on my skin. Maybe it's the cassia? I still wear it, but not directly on sensitive skin areas. I got a bit of the burning with Black Phoenix as well.

I got this as a frimp a few weeks ago. I wouldn't have ordered it myself, because I loathe carnation - or at least I thought I did. I didn't think I was that keen on musk, either. But I took one whiff of this in the imp and knew it was for me. It's like the smell of warm skin. The spice doesn't announce itself, but just adds to the aura of warmth. Although I like to think my tastes are unusual, I'm with the crowd on this one. It's one of my favorites.

I'm envious of those who get the fruits and flowers - they sound lovely! All I got was an overpowering fog that gave me an instant headache. Oh, if only the ozone smell weren't there .... But I'm surely in a small minority, and was able to swap this immediately.

Love, generosity and scent are powerful forces - a gift like this can't hurt, and may help a great deal.

 

For voodoo oils, I'd say Block Buster and Horn of Plenty. They can be used for room scents or anointing relevant objects. For perfumes just because she'd like how they smell, Snake Oil, The Great Sword of War and Sed No Satiata have that dark, earthy sweetness it looks like she favors.

I find certain wood notes very grounding. You mind want to try Kathmandu, which has a strong combination of woods and a spiciness that I think would mesh with your taste.

I had two men nuzzling my neck the other night. I was wearing Zombi.

I received a decant of this from Astburygrrl at a Meet & Sniff recently. This is an aged version.

 

I already like it because of the color, which is like a good cognac. The scent smells much as it looks. Though not boozy per se, it is intoxicating, warm and luminous. I detect patchouli, dark musk (similar to the musk in Sed No Satiata)and a hint of vanilla richness.

 

On the drydown, the sweetness comes out, along with a sweet, slightly peppery spice -- cardamom? Maybe just a dusting of cinnamon's there, too. I think there's another musk that shows up now, a lighter one, like the one in Morocco.

 

For me, this is not an everyday scent, but one for moments when I have time to savor its luxury.

Xiuhtecuhtli smells rich to me -- similar to the Prada fragrance. It has enough strength for evening and enough light/bright notes for early Spring.

Kiena kindly decanted an imp of this for me at a Meet & Sniff.

 

The overall impression this gives is a quirky autumn bounty -- rich, sweet and foody, but unusual enough to be interesting. The cocoa itself isn't too sweet, just adds to the earthiness along with the nuts. It's like a creative, nourishing dessert made with seasonal ingredients. I find it very comforting worn on its own.

 

This one is also great for layering. I like it with violet to cut the sweetness a bit, or with citrus to give it brightness.

Sed No Satiata is the one I find strongest, and the dark musk in it seems like it would fit your friend's tastes. It also has some brightness from the honey and cognac, but it's a *rich* brightness.

I put this in a plug-in diffuser in my bedroom last night. It's good I didn't put it in an oil burner, because I fell asleep with it on and slept through the night. So it is definitely effective. It's also really pretty after the brief initial lavender stage. I get soft flowers - jasmine? a hint of orange blossom? - and an underlying sandalwood. I could see using this as a room scent at other times when I'm awake to appreciate it better.

The dirt smell in this (which I also get in Graveyard Dirt and Jazz Funeral) has become my favorite BPAL note. As someone who grew up in a very dry climate, it evokes the rare and magical smell of earth that is damp and fertile.

 

There's a vegetable element to this - a smell of decay and new life, like turning a compost pile in the Spring. I'm reminded, too, of a neighbor's root cellar where I liked to hide when I was little.

 

I get a bit of wet stone from this, too. The rose isn't too prominent on me, but gentle and dry, with just a hint of sweetness.

 

This works beautifully with my chemistry - I can hardly believe how good I smell.

 

The throw is medium, which is how I like it for an everyday scent. It doesn't last very long, so I'll want to carry a vial of this with me.

I had a bit of a burning reaction to this on my wrists, so I washed it off, mixed the imp with vodka and sprayed in my hair and on my sweater.

 

This is wonderfully rich - in both the sense of heaviness and smelling expensive. The saffron, black tea and red musk are the strong, grounding notes. Something about it reminds me of a worn leather jacket. The chocolate and orange don't smell foodlike or sweet; they just seem to add dimension to the overall smell. This makes me feel like a million bucks. I'd love to smell this on a man, too.

I ordered this as an experiment. I don't tend to get on well with musks, but I thought BPAL's might just possibly be different, and the other notes looked intriguing. I didn't expect much, really.

 

I'm most pleasantly surprised. This is a warm, sweet, woody musk I can wear. I don't get individual notes; it stays pretty steady and well-rounded. It feels sophisticated and luxurious, like something that would go with dark jewel-toned velvet.

 

Definitely a keeper.

This one was love at first sniff, and I think this is going to be a lasting love. The bergamot-grapefruit zing, the plummy-amber spice, and the amber-orris powder are all lovely and well-balanced. It makes me feel energetic, womanly and absolutely delicious. It is long-lasting but stays close to my skin. I've been sniffing my wrist for hours!

All I get is the birch smell - a kind of wintergreen-ish, rootbeer-ish smell without the sweetness. I can see how this would evoke winter and mountain air for some folks. Unfortunately, it doesn't work for me. The note is too high and piercing for me, and at least with my chemistry, it overwhelms any complexity that might be lurking under it.

These all sound like great suggestions. Thanks for the enabling, I think. I'm excited to see Macchu Pichu on this thread, as I have some in an order that just CNSed!

This one is case of a BPAL I admire but can't live with.

 

I admire the way the development of the scent morphs as if the wearer is theg the black phoenix rising from the flames! It starts out fiery: The almond top note sears my nose and makes my skin hot where I apply it. Then there's a sweet, hot effervescence, like sparks shooting up from my skin - what some have described as the Dr. Pepper effect. Then a smoldering phase, which is indeed langorous; I rather enjoyed this phase. Finally, a perfumey, ozoney burnt-wood drydown.

 

I had a weird psychological reaction. Something about the smell of this made everything else in my apartment seem shabby. I didn't like my own body smell when I was wearing Black Phoenix. Quite the opposite of an extreme self-loving blend.

 

I did not like the incense smell that lingered on my clothes. I'm going to have to swap this one.

To me, this smells like lilacs and waterlilies - not at all what I expected in terms of notes, yet the feel of the scent definitely has glassy smoothness to it. I don't notice any ozone notes - which is good, since they usually give me a headache. I also don't get the citrus notes others have mentioned. The spring flowers are lovely, natural and light, yet lasting. I find it refreshing and rather sexy.

I, too, get a spiced-cider fragrance from Block Buster. I've tried it a couple times as a body fragrance and once as a room fragrance - I especially like it in the latter context. This oil has surprising strong throw and staying power for something so fruity. It's cheering and stimulating. It's too soon for me to report on specific outcomes of its intended use, but I do notice it gives me extra energy to work on my projects, creative or otherwise.