edenssixthday

Dunwich - Initially, this smells strongly aquatic and salty, similar to Tears (but without that icky dryer sheet scent!) As it dries, however, it really starts to smell like cheap men’s cologne on me. It’s not entirely unpleasant, but it’s not something I’d choose to wear. After about 2 hours, the scent does start to smell like dryer sheet. Sadly, this is one I can’t wear.

Kingsport is a really pretty aquatic. Most of the time I can’t wear aquatics, but this one works. It reminds me of some years back, when I lived near the ocean, and the scent of the salt water would waft through my windows, and on foggy, June Gloomy days, the scent of the ocean would be carried inland a ways. This smells just like those foggy, June days when the air is chilly and fog is pervasive, and when you are actually on the water, the sea spray leaves a salty taste upon your lips. Honestly, I’m surprised that this isn’t the scent Beth created in honor of June Gloom. This smells so much more like the real June Gloom than the scent that’s called June Gloom. But really, I’m not here to second-guess Beth. After all, what do I know about making perfume oil blends? This one has a really nice level of throw and lasts for a couple of hours before I have to reapply.

Al Azif - Smells sweet and lovely in the vial. Once it’s on my skin, it’s sweet like maple syrup or a heavy brown sugar sauce, but then as it warms up on my skin, it becomes cloying and smells like rancid syrup with a bit of something dark and unpleasant underneath – hard to tell if it’s vetiver? Incense? Smoke? No matter what it is, it doesn’t work on me. It’s got a nice level of throw and moderate staying power, but I really can’t stand the scent.

Azathoth - I had high hopes that the tangerine and saffron in this blend would overpower the vetiver and cedarwood, but sadly, the first note I detect in the vial is thick, black vetiver, and once I’ve applied it to my skin, it’s all vetiver, black amber and cedar, and on me, it’s entirely unpleasant. It’s an incredibly menacing and masculine scent, and I could see this being really sexy on a man who has a dark, menacing, seductive way about him, but I don’t get the impression it would work well on many people. The throw is too strong for my taste, and it has moderate staying power.

Shub-Niggurath - This is one of my very favorite BPAL blends. It’s also among the BPALs that get me the most compliments and have people asking what I’m wearing. When I first apply it, it is a deep, dark, rich scent full of the crisp, sweet, scent of ginger and spices. It’s almost foody, but not quite (which is good since I don’t care for most foody scents). I have discovered that I can’t apply this scent after I shower, or the spices burn my skin. However, if I wait until my skin reaches normal temperature, I have no trouble with the spices on my skin. When I wear Shub, I can still smell the scent about 4-5 hours later, although it has started to fade, and is time to reapply. If I don’t reapply, as the scent fades, it becomes overly-sweet and rancid on my skin. As long as I reapply in time, I avoid the cloying scent of “dead Shub.” I’m thrilled to have been able to get a little more of this and once I’m out, I’ll be on the hunt for it again. It’s a fabulous scent and I definitely understand all the hoopla that surrounds this particular blend – it’s well-deserved.

Miskatonic University - I heard so many people raving about Miskatonic University that I simply had to get an imp when I saw someone swapping one. When I received it, I excitedly opened the imp, and breathed in the warm, sweet, and creamy scent of Baily's Irish Cream, and I was so excited I thought I may have found the best BPAL scent ever. Boy, was I ever wrong. Within seconds of touching my skin, the "dusty tomes" was the predominant note. There were no "oakwood halls" and the Irish cream scent faded into the background. It reminded me of standing in an extremely dusty room that hasn't seen fresh air in a hundred years, with the very faint aroma of brewing coffee wafting in from somewhere down a hallway fairly far away. So it's not totally a bad scent (the Irish coffee note saves it), but it does make me curl up my nose in a not-so-good way. This scent does to me the exact same thing that Dorian does to me, where it pretty much turns to musty dust on me. Very sad, considering both of these scents are ones that most BPALers I know rave about.

Cerberus is a gorgeous, autumnal woods scent. It's warm, spicy, and full of flavor. Only lasts about 2 hours on my skin, but those two hours are wonderful. It’s hard to describe this scent – it’s similar to Samhain (without the patchouli), similar in spiciness to Gingerbread Poppet, and similar in warmth and sweetness to Harvest Moon. Yet it’s different than all of them, too. It’s very woody, and once I knew what the notes were, it was easy to pick out the chocolate, walnut, fig, juniper berry, etc., but before I knew what notes were in it, it just smelled like Fall to me. Here’s the weirdest part about the scent – it is a GORGEOUS scent, but I’d rather eat a salad with dressing on it that tastes like this smells as opposed to using this as a perfume. Does that make sense? It has the perfect gourmet-salad dressing scent and every time I reapplied this scent today, it made me want to eat salad. Yeah, strange, I know. It’s the first time I’ve associated BPAL with a salad dressing. But seriously – chocolate, walnut, fig, rum… it sounds like it would be delicious over a dressing of dark leaves, sautéed onion, and roasted red pepper, doesn’t it?

Chiroptera - I was really surprised when I read the scent description that shows this scent to include many florals. On me, it was dry and herbal, reminding me of the American Southwest desert. The sage is one of the stronger scents in this blend. Since Beth has distinguished between sage and salvia, I am curious what the difference really is since all sages are salvias. The scent has light to moderate throw, and stays strong for quite a few hours. Sadly, it’s not a scent I find myself attracted to at all. It’s just too dry and grassy for my taste.

Corazon - On my skin, this smells like fruit tea and wood pulp. I was really surprised when I read the description and saw there was no wood in it. The fruit scent is obviously the mango, but I couldn't discern any of the other notes, even after I knew what they were. The scent is neither pleasant nor unpleasant. To me, it's sort of neutral. It's not something I'd be interested in wearing again. It's very subtle and sticks really close to the skin and at least on me, has virtually no throw. I can't smell it unless I stick my nose right up to my arm. It does, however, have really great staying power, and I'm really impressed with how long it lasts on my skin.

Oisìn - This is a truly lovely, lovely fragrance. It is full of white musk, light, and post-rainstorm fresh air that abounds with the scent of Irish flowers and greenery. The florals are wispy, ethereal, soft and gentle, yet there's nothing shy about it. The throw is moderate, as it stays fairly close to my skin, but I can smell it without shoving my nose down my cleavage! While many reviewers claim this is a predominantly masculine scent, I can't imagine my husband wearing this. On me, it's incredibly feminine. I imagine myself wearing this on special occasions when I want to smell sophisticated, sexy, and yet very feminine and pretty. It's such a pretty scent. When I've used up my imp, I will do everything in my power to hunt down more of this, even if it means paying an outrageous price on eBay. I don't say that about many fragrances -- that's how much I love it!

Thunderbird is simply astounding. Wet in the vial, it smells like the air after a warm, summer, afternoon rainshower, when the sun bursts through the clouds, and the grass sparkles with with raindrops and the air is full of purity and freshness. When first applied, it smells exactly the same as it does in the vial: clear, crisp, clean, and fresh. As the scent begins to dry, something a touch lemony becomes noticeable, but it blends wonderfully with the rain and air scent. About an hour after application, the scent is as strong as it was wet in the vial, but another note is now standing out, one that smells slightly green, grassy, and possibly herbal. This is a simply stunning scent and I’m delighted to have found a couple of extra bottles of this blend.

Chaste Moon smells somewhat sweet and buttery in the vial, but it starts turning to plastic the instant it touches my skin. Beneath the plastic scent, I smell something that reminds me of buttercream icing, but I can't get a clear enough hold of the scent due to the way this one goes all plasticky on me. It sticks very close to my skin and doesn't have good staying power at all, and even the plastic scent is completely gone from my skin within 30 minutes after application.

Honey Moon - I don't usually like honey scents, but BPAL often surprises me, so I thought I'd try Honey Moon. This particular fragrance leaves almost no impression on me whatsoever. It's one of the most forgettable BPALs I've tried. It's not bad, but there's certainly nothing special about it. It has a touch of honey and reminds me slightly of mead when it's first applied. As it dries down, however, it turns on my skin by acquiring a plasticy scent. I can smell a bit of gardenia and the faintest hint of jasmine, but mostly I just get a faint, sweet-plastic smell. I definitely won't be wearing this again.

Wolf Moon - It took me a long time to try this blend out because I’d read so many reviews that said it smells like pine, and pine is one scent I don’t care for in the least. Well, I finally tried it – and I LOVE it! It’s definitely one of the more beautiful of the lunacies. Wolf Moon is fresh and clear like pine, but without the evergreen scent that I can’t stand. It’s clean and slightly sweet, and makes me think less of wolves and more of stream banks in a forest glade inhabited by twinkling fairies. It’s stunningly beautiful. The throw doesn’t last long on me, but of all the Lunacy blends, this one lasts the longest on my skin. It stays and stays. The first time I tested it, a good two hours after I applied it, my kitty came up to me and started licking away at my arm. She licked and licked and licked – and this is the cat who has never licked me in the 4.5 years we’ve lived together! So it definitely gets two opposable thumbs-up from me, and to non-opposable thumbs-up from my kitty.

Hunter Moon is predominantly the scent of musk and dry leaves. There is a hint of autumnal spice to it, but it’s faint and it’s difficult to catch beneath the heavy scent of dry, autumn leaves. The scent is dark and heavy, and not remotely pretty. It’s not what I’d call a feminine scent, and I don’t see many men being able to wear it, either – perhaps the “outdoorsy” or “woodsy” type men could wear it well. It makes me think of red plaid shirts and lumberjacks. It’s definitely not the kind of scent I would ever wear myself. It had a low level of throw and medium staying power.

Frost Moon - On me, Frost Moon is almost all mint, softened by a light floral that I'm guessing is the lotus note in the blend, but which is almost too faint to be heard over the noise of the mint. I don't usually care to wear mint scents, so with the mint as the dominating note, this didn't appeal to me in the least. It also disappeared on me within 15 minutes of applying it, leaving nothing but a strange dirty scent behind. Off to the swap pile it went this morning, and it's already out the door tonight.

Red Moon - This is a beautiful and thoroughly unique scent. The scent is simultaneously red and crystalline. I can’t detect any specific notes. From the lovely red color of the oil, I wonder if there is dragon’s blood in the blend, but I can’t detect any. It’s an obviously complex blend because even after I read the scent description and I know some of the notes that are in it, I still can’t discern them. It does tend to have the slightest hint of cherry Kool-Aid scent, but I don’t want to scare anyone off by saying that. It would be like cherry Kool-Aid that has ¼ of the sugar it’s supposed to have in about ten times the amount of water it’s supposed to have. That’s how subtle the cherry Kool-Aid scent is. The best way I can think of to describe Red Moon is to say it’s warm, but it’s clear. It’s sweet, but it’s subtle. It’s calming, but it’s sexy. Sadly, like most of the lunar blends, it sticks very close to my skin (closer than most of the other lunar oils) and is completely gone within the first hour. However, it’s so pretty that I think I’ll hang on to what little I have and wear it when I want to smell really unique and special.

Peony Moon - This is a beautiful, pink floral. I imagine this is exactly the scent I'd get if I crossed Flower Moon with Pink Moon, or maybe Flower Moon with a drop of Pink Phoenix. When initially applied, it's strong, but mellows out within a few minutes, and is then very subtle and pretty. If I sniff up close to my skin, I get the faintest trace of pink plastic, like I get with Midway, but if I don't sniff up close and just allow the scent to waft around me, I occasionally smell a pretty, light, pink floral that's just gorgeous. I really like this blend, and I'm so glad I bought a bottle. It's going to be absolutely perfect to wear regularly this spring.

Blue Moon First impression: Unfortunately, I didn't know about BPAL at the time and didn't purchase any. This is my one and only regret in life to this day! I love Blue Moon. I believe it is my favorite of all BPAL scents. Wow -- I would have never guessed from the description that it would be so beautiful, but it is. It's fresh, clear, soft and ethereal. It smells like breathing in clean nighttime air from atop a flower-laden Swiss Alp. The cucumber swirls softly beneath the surface lending it a clean, refreshing and invigorating (but very soft and soothing) notes while the poppy and orchid round out the scent. This is simply divine. Heaven in a bottle, that's what it is. Sadly, it doesn't last on my skin for any decent length of time and it is fairly subtle on my skin, but it's so pretty I wouldn't mind reapplying and slathering if I only had enough! Later impression: A friend smelled it and immediately said it smelled like sushi. As soon as she said that, I instantly recognized the sushi scent she was picking up on, and every time after, I was unable to get past the sushi scent. Having that association completely ruined the scent for me and I made sure my little imp of Blue Moon found a better, more loving home.

Cold Moon - This is beautiful and not what I expected at all. I hadn’t read the reviews, so I was thinking it would be somewhat along the lines of Ice Queen, but I was wrong. Instead, the first note I detected was grapefruit, which was followed by soft, almost powdery florals and maybe a hint of juicy winter berries. The scent is simultaneously slightly aquatic and slightly green. It’s really beautiful! This is an absolutely perfect winter-time scent. It has light to moderate throw, but as with most of the lunar blends, it doesn’t last very long on my skin. Still, I’m going to hang on to my imp and pull it out next winter on a cold, blizzardy day and see if it doesn’t make me feel a little happier about the icky weather.

Flower Moon instantly reminded me of spending afternoons seated beneath the covered flower garden my mom created in our back yard. I didn’t even need to read the Lab description to know there had to be rhododendron, tulip, daffodil, and violet in the mix. I’d be surprised to find out there’s no honeysuckle, azalea or bougainvillea in the blend, too. Unfortunately, it didn’t take me long to smell the iris, which my mom never had in our garden and which is anathema to my body chemistry. While the iris note doesn’t agree with me, it’s faint, and for that I’m grateful, because the rest of this scent is simply gorgeous. This is all-flower and anyone who doesn’t enjoy florals wouldn’t enjoy this in the least. This is a late-spring/early-summer scent and I'll be getting a lot of mileage out of it this summer.

Fruit Moon - is of my favorite of the lunacies so far. This scent is chock full of fruitiness. It's a sweet scent, but not in the Jolly Rancher or Starburst way that some BPAL fruit scents tend to smell. This is just pure fruity loveliness! It lasts a good while on my skin, and while I haven't tried it in my hair yet, since most BPAL oils last longer in my hair than on my skin, I'll bet this will last all day in my hair with a few swipes of the wand. I first wore this in December, and I set it aside to wear more in the late-spring as the weather becomes warm and flowers start to bloom and a light, lovely fruit scent seemed more appropriate. Sure enough, it smells wonderful during this time late-spring/early-summer time of year.

Storm Moon - A friend decanted an imp of Storm Moon for me because she said I had to smell it. It's a lovely smell -- very "perfumey" but in a really pretty way. It's light and ethereal and I definitely sense a bit of electrical zing in it -- the way the sky smells/feels when you can see an electrical storm coming in, but it hasn't arrived yet. Unfortunately, it has absolutely no throw, it stays very close to my skin, and even when I get my nose right up to my wrist, it's still incredibly faint. Then it's completely gone after about 60 minutes. Just like a summer thunderstorm, I s'pose.... No, I won't be tracking down a bottle of this Discontinued Limited Edition for purchase. But I will try to enjoy my imp until it's gone.

Strawberry Moon - LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!!! Strawberry Moon is exactly what I was hoping it would be. It's the scent of the summer's brightest red and sweetest strawberry (I don't get the cream note that's in the official description) that is light and playful and just ooooozes summertime. The lotus, ylang ylang and green tea are really terrific notes to blend with the strawberry, as they round it out, ground it, and keep it from becoming cloyingly sweet. This was such a lovely fragrance that I immediately went on eBay and found myself a full 5 ml bottle of it and I doubt I will ever regret that purchase. I also have to say that it's gorgeous when blended with both Bon Vivant and a touch of Bliss. Yum!

Pink Moon is very similar to the more recent addition to BPAL’s LE, Pink Phoenix. It’s softer and more floral than Pink Phoenix, but it has the same pink sugar and strawberry swirl that Pink Phoenix has. It’s a gorgeous scent, light and summary, and very sweet and pretty. I really love it. I’m sad that it doesn’t last for long on my skin, but it smells absolutely divine in a scent locket and lasts all day long (and longer!) that way. Great scent, will be keeping a tight reign on my one little imp!