edenssixthday

Strangler Fig - My first impression about Strangler Fig is is incredibly bittersweet. It is sharply sweet, but has a biting bitterness balancing out the sweetness. Surrounding the bittersweet scent, is something that is very rich and green, and reminds me of the scent that lingers in the air when you trace the edge of the yard with a "weed whacker", shaving to bits and pieces thick, green weeds. The scent is moderately subtle, but it really lasts on my skin. It's still discernible at the 6 hour point; however, around the 3.5 hour point (or so), it loses its green weed scent, and the bittersweet scent fades into the distance, and what is left on my skin can only best be described as Elegba sans coconut. It's the strangest, most unexpected morph-job any BPAL oil has done on me. I am still a bit surprised by the way this blend changes into a completely different scent after it's been on my skin for a few hours. I don't dislike this scent, but it's not one I anticipate finding myself drawn to very often, although I will hang on to my imp and not pass it along.

Moon Rose - I cannot review Moon Rose without comparing her to Whip because they are so similar, yet so very different. Moon Rose is the pale pink sister of Whip. Whereas Whip's rose is blended with deep, black leather for a bold and swashbuckling scent, Moon Rose is blended with delicate moonflower and dew drops for a soft and demure fragrance. Whereas Whip blend is robust, swaggering, cocksure, and has the confidence to last for hours upon hours on my skin, Moon Rose has a significantly more frail constitution and cannot maintain her presence for more than an hour, and when I'm not paying attention, she quietly sneaks away. When confined to a scent locket, however, Moon Rose has no choice but to faintly exude the delicate scent of pale, pink roses and moonflowers. Like a China doll, Moon Rose is beautiful but very fragile and delicate and we shouldn't expect anything from her but the quietest and most reserved demeanor.

Sundew - My friends who sniffed this at Will Call a while back have been raving about this scent for weeks on end. I really expected something truly fabulous, but I don't have the same response to it that they have. It's bright in the way that citrus is bright, but it has no citrus effervescence about it. It's simply bright, yellow, and once it dries, it becomes slightly creamy, as well. This blend sticks very close to my skin, and it's hard to distinguish it less than an hour after it is applied. It's not one I'll continue wearing because while it's certainly not unpleasant, it just doesn't jump out at me the way some BPAL blends do. If this went into my imp box, I think I'd forget about it and never wear it again.

The grey and ghostly flower that fills the fields of Hades. Asphodel is very light and pretty. It’s a gorgeous floral scent that I think a lot of people who don’t like florals might find they actually like. It’s very subtle and has the tiniest hint of a soapy quality, but mostly, it’s just a beautiful floral that has a hint of green-herbal in it. It stays very close to my skin, but I imagine it’ll be perfect for those days when I don’t want a full-on perfume but just want to smell lightly floral and sweet. I bet it would work really well blended with some unscented body lotion.

Black Hellebore - First off, let me say, this is worthy of a 10 ml bottle and I have added it to my list of bottles to add to my next order. The scent is gorgeous. I put some on last night and after about five minutes, went back to put more on. I put more on again this morning. For me to wear a single BPAL scent two days in a row means I’m slightly obsessed with it! It’s hard to describe, but if you’re familiar with Thierry Mugler’s “Alien” perfume, and then try to imagine that significantly lighter, less sweet and more green, then you’ll know what Black Hellebore smells like. I layered the two of them today and they really compliment each other gorgeously. Black Hellebore is light and only has strong throw when it’s dry. It’s light and floral, and although the scent description says it has “a faint rose and peony-like overtone” I don’t smell either floral. I actually smell something that reminds me more of lily – stargazer lily, to be precise. No matter what, this is beautiful and I’m buying a big bottle of it. It’s so pretty and I think I’ll be wearing it often in the coming months.

Born in the shadows of a Temple to Set, this corrupted Egyptian scent evokes images of black pyramids, river demons, and bleak, deadly desert sands. Black lotus flower, amber, myrrh and sandalwood. Black Lotus smells like something sweet and myrrh. I don’t get any of the soft floral of lotus flower at all. I think the sweetness I’m picking up on is the amber. Unfortunately, myrrh rarely works on me, and while this is actually one of my better experiences with myrrh, it still isn’t something I’m going to wear again. I just don’t like the way myrrh smells. This has really terrific throw and a little goes a very long way. If I liked this scent more, I would probably love the way that it creates a veil of aroma around my body that’s not so strong as to be too powerful (i.e., offend others by my presence), but it’s just that right amount that says, “I’m present. Now pay attention to me.” If I only liked myrrh more, I could actually see myself wearing this as a signature scent of sorts because it’s that unique, confident, and sexy. Now I’m torn. I read my words and I smell my arms and I wonder if maybe I can’t force myself to get used to this because it really is the scent of a strong and unique scent of a woman who isn’t afraid to be noticed. I may actually hang on to this and wear it out the next time I dress up and go to a nightclub.

Blood Rose was one of my favorite BPALs I got my very first order of 20 or so imps. I loved the rose scent combined with the dragon’s blood, and I found it would stay with me all day. However, I have since discovered several other BPAL rose scents I like so much more, and so Blood Rose just doesn’t get much wear time at all. The oil has an outstanding level of throw and really good staying power and when I wear it, I feel like I’m wrapped in a veil of beautiful dragon’s blood and rose. However, there are BPAL rose and dragon’s blood scents I enjoy so much more than this one, so it’s moved its way down the pile of scents I wear often and has given its formerly honored slot up to other roses like Whip and Kurukulla.

Baneberry - Oooh, this is pretty! This is a beautiful, fruity-floral that is somehow floral without being typically floral and fruity without being typically fruity (if that makes any sense at all). It’s hard to describe – it’s bitter and earthy the way herbs can be, yet sweet and juicy like fruit. All I know is that I tested a good eight to ten different BPAL scents today and this is the only one that’s not going in the swap pile! It has a light level of throw and has about average staying power. It’s a very unique scent, and I definitely see myself choosing to wear this on those days when I want a fruity-floral that’s not like your every day fruity-floral scent.

Black Rose is one of the BPAL roses that I don’t care much for. I think it must have something to do with the musk notes, as most musks don’t appeal much to me. The oil has a moderate amount of throw and good staying power and I can catch whiffs of it as I go about my daily business, but because there are other BPAL roses I enjoy so much more, I find I would probably never wear Black Rose again.

Belladonna is a strong, green-herbal scent full of camphorous overtones. It’s earthy and smells like your fingers after you’ve been pulling weeds from a garden. It’s an interesting scent, but not one I’d wear for fragrance purposes. Staying power is good – it doesn’t even come off when I wash it, although the throw seems to be about average once it dries down.

Arkham Revisited - I have put off reviewing this scent for several months because it is just so complex that I don’t know how I can possibly describe it. It is one of my very favorite BPAL blends. This scent is woody and floral, yet it doesn’t have the typical fragrance of a floral scent. Rather than smelling like flowers, it smells like scattered flower petals. It’s got a soft bit of kick to it, that I’m guessing may be some combination of the wood notes, which otherwise don’t smell woody in the least. In fact, none of the notes smell like what I thought they would. There’s a distinct level of sunshine in this blend, but it’s not direct sun – it’s more the indirect rays that make their way through the top of a forest of trees that are full of new, green leaves. This is just so incredibly complex and beautifully blended, that the notes work so well with each other that instead of creating a scent that smells like many different things, they work together to create one entirely gorgeous and altogether unique scent. Sadly, the scent doesn’t last worth a hill of beans, meaning I have to apply and reapply and reapply throughout the day, and no amount of putting it in my hair or layering it with body butter, etc. helps in the least. The scent has a lovely level of throw, but as soon as it dries down, it goes away completely. Still, I’ll enjoy my bottle until there’s none left to enjoy – which won’t be that far down the road considering how often I have to reapply!

Torture King - When I first apply this blend, it smells strongly of citrus -- lime and lemon, in particular. As it dries, the scent of vetiver and frankincense take over almost all of the other notes, although I think I can detect the tiniest trace of bourbon...or is it just my imagination influenced by reading the scent description? The vetiver and frankincense remain the dominant notes, but after about an hour, they are joined by the strong presence of heavy, black, smoky leather, which eventually takes over the other notes so it's a predominantly leather blend until it fades away. It's a fascinating cacophony of scents, that are all dark, heavy, and slightly suffocating. This blend is very appropriately named. It is a fascinating scent, but not one that suits my tastes. I imagine it would smell divine on the person of either gender. It has a moderate level of throw and great staying power.

Shill - This is not the scent of buttered popcorn, like I expected it to be. It's the scent of buttered popcorn-scented scratch-n-sniff stickers like I collected when I was a kid. It's very buttery, but it doesn't smell real. It has a highly synthetic quality about it. I definitely wouldn't wear this as perfume and I can't imagine any other use for it -- I wouldn't want my home to smell like it, so the oil burner's out. I haven't read the reviews yet, so I'm really curious what other reviewers think of this one.

Blood Orange - oh wow, I thought I love Orange SN, but Blood Orange SN beats the pants off it! It's a really bright, juicy, orange citrus, but it's much, much sweeter than regular Orange SN. It's almost sugary, like Life Savers or another Orange candy. I don't usually like scents that are so sugary-sweet, but this one is amazing because it's still so fresh and juicy and genuine. It's another truly phenomenal fruit SN. Sadly, like almost every citrus I encounter, it disappears very quickly -- within the first 45 minutes.

Capricorn is entirely vetiver, cedar, and patchouli on me. It's incredibly dark and woody. If you like the scent of TAL Determination but don't want to wear it for fragrance purposes, Capricorn would be a really fabulous substitute. It's very, very similar to Determination. I don't usually like wearing vetiver or cedar and patchouli often doesn't work on me, but on the rare occasion they all work well when blended with the right things, and in this blend, they work amazingly well. This is so uber dark and sexy -- almost malicious in it's depth and darkness. I'm going to wear it until it's all gone. I could see this smelling divine on the right type of man, as well.

Virgo - Oh wow, I never thought I'd like an earthy scent so much. I also didn't think I'd like this because I once dated a guy who was a Virgo and who was constantly reminding the world he was a Virgo (as an excuse, I suppose) that I had unpleasant connotations with this particular oil. However, it's really beautiful! It's incredibly earthy, woody, mossy, slightly sweet and floral. While narcissus doesn't work on me on its own, it's absolutely gorgeous in so many blends, and I really smell the narcissus coming through in this one, tempering the earthy wood and moss notes with its floral softness. Apple usually turns rancid on me almost instantly, but in this blend, it adds just a touch of juicy sweetness to keep this blend interesting. I don't know that I would wear this scent myself as it doesn't really suit my personality, style, or scent preferences, but damn if I wouldn't love to smell my husband in it (and no, he's not a Virgo, either). It's fairly masculine on me, but a really sexy scent overall. The throw is moderate and sadly, the staying power is poor, which surprises me for a scent with patchouli in it. It's very hard to smell after drydown and completely gone within the first 45-60 minutes.

Lime - I don't know how I can live without more of this! A kind soul gave me a bit of this as an extra in a package, and I'm absolutely in love with it. It's the brightest and crispest lime I've ever smelled. Upon dry-down, I distinctly smell the tartness of lime zest/rind, as well. Fabulous! For me, it's pure Mexico in a vial. It reminds me of lime margaritas, tequila with lime, and fresh lime squeezed into a Corona. It's so bright and fresh and sparkly and full of energy and sunshine. I can't get enough of it and will very much enjoy the little bit I've got.

Sweet Grass - I received an empty imp of Sweet Grass that had just enough oil on the glass of the vial that when I put a drop of fractionated coconut oil into the vial, I was able to pick up just enough Sweet Grass SN to test one time. I am really, really surprised at how much I like this scent. I did not expect to like it at all. I am allergic to grass, and so my guess is that when I thought of Sweet Grass SN, I immediately thought of my miserable head allergies. However, this blend is gorgeous. I thought maybe it would smell like a freshly-mown lawn, but it doesn't. It smells like the prairies around here a month or two after a wildfire, when bright green, fresh, clean and brand new prairie grasses have started growing again. That's the only way I can describe it -- green, clean, fresh prairie grass. I don't know if I'd ever wear it as a scent on its own, but it's wonderful to get to test it out and now I'm positive this is the grass note that is used in one of my favorite blends, Coyote.

Egyptian Amber - Ooh, this is pretty! It's a deep, dark golden scent and there's just the slightest bit of a husky woodiness to the scent. The scent is incredibly rich, beautiful, exotic, and I'm surprised at how calming it is. If I had access to BPAL SNs, I'd buy a full bottle. It's positively luxurious.

Narcissus - This is a note that is in several of my favorite BPAL blends, but I wasn't quite sure what it smells like on its own. I'm actually very surprised to discover how what a bitter white floral this is. It's a highly pungent floral, and has virtually no sweetness to it at all, as do most of the florals I really like. It smells like a bitter, floral, old-lady perfume to me. I'm not a fan.

Strawberry - This smells like Strawberry Shortcake's hair! I am surprised that this note smells so much like artificial strawberry since it is real strawberry oil. In its single note form, it takes on a slight plastic scent that I don't get from it in blends with strawberry. It's a bright, sweet scent and I can't help but immediately recognize this note from Strawberry Moon (of course!). It's lovely, but not something I'd wear on its own, as it's way to artificial-sweet for me.

Sweet Clove - I absolutely LOVE the smell of sweet clove! I enjoy it in various blends, but I don't like it on my skin. However, it's still a gorgeous scent and one that I could see using constantly in my oil burner if I had a full bottle. It's very true-to-life, spicy, and simply wonderful.

Lotus Moon is a very simple, but beautiful floral blend. The lotus is light, soft and sweet, as lotus usually is. It's also lightly golden and slightly resinous -- enough so that I think this one is going to age beautifully. I don't smell the pine or rose at all, which really surprises me. However, what surprises me the most is how the lunar oil in this blend is by far the predominant note and makes me realize that is what gives some of the lunar blends their highly "perfumey" quality. It's beautiful and has amazing throw when it's wet, but as with all the lunar blends, it sticks very close to my skin upon drydown, and disappears within an hour. It's very pretty, but I'm just not sure if I'm going to find myself drawn to it often or not. While it's pretty, it doesn't stand out for me the way many other BPALs do. I may just set it aside and try it again once it's had a chance to get a little richer with age.

Lear is very strong, dark and heavy when sniffed in the vial. I thought for sure there was vetiver in it. However, as soon as I applied it to my skin, while it remained just as strong, the scent became quite obviously woods. I first thought there may be a bit of patchouli in it, but as it dried, it became quite obviously the scent of cedar and reminds me of the cedar closet where a woman I used to know would keep all of her out-of-season clothing. The scent is definitely cedar wood, and I don't get pencil shavings from it, like I do with a lot of cedar blends. The sage is completely undetectable, but the bay is also very strong, and gets stronger with time, until the 2.5 hour point, when the bay completely overwhelms the cedar. It's a strong and pungent blend, and not one I see myself wearing again, as it's simply too heavily woody for me. It's also highly masculine and while I know some women love it, I can't for the life of me imagine it actually working on any women I know. I would, however, love to smell it on quite a few men I know. I think it would be fabulous on them, especially on the outdoorsman type guys I know. It kicks some serious ass in the realm of staying power, as it lasts for hours.

Lucretia - This is another beautiful Salon scent. I can't get over how complex the two Salon scents are that I've tried so far. They are quite superior to the rest of the BPAL catalogue, in my opinion. When first applied, Lucretia goes on very soft and subtle, sweetly and softly musky, and that's about it. I'm thoroughly unimpressed...initially. After 15-20 minutes, as the oil warms up on my skin, the most beautiful woods appear. I couldn't quite identify the wood note, as it wasn't quite sandalwood, but that was the closest I could come to identifying it. I see now that Kashmir wood is in the blend. Having never smelled it before, naturally I couldn't identify it by name! No matter what, it's beautiful. Behind the woody notes is something slightly vanilla-sweet (which I know now to be the vanilla musk). After about 2 hours on my skin, the woods have disippated, and the scent left behind is a soft, light swirl of vanilla musk, very soft, wet sage, and the tiniest sliver of sweet violet. By the 3 hour point, I can only smell sweet musk on my skin, and that fades not long after. It's a beautiful blend, and has me excited to try even more Salon scents!