bellumed

Sweet, fluffy marshmellows and coconut over chocolate powder. Yum! I have to be very careful because smelling coconut too much makes me feel sick, but this is quite tasty. And yes, I can smell a little bit of plasticky (googly eyes?) scent. I think I’d prefer Sue if this weren’t there, it doesn’t ruin the blend for me either. This one has a great wear length, btw: I can still clearly smell it the next morning.

Strong musk with something rather citrus-y layered over it. Pretty sharp in the vial, smooths out on the skin. Creature Feature is not at all femme, I’d say this is unisex with a touch of masculinity. This is the shortest review I’ve written so far, but I can’t pick out a lot of different notes in this.

In the vial I get dark orange and sandalwood, yummy! On my skin the orange remains prominent but the woodiness is replaced by a well-blended "spice" scent that's hard for me to pick apart. It starts off a bit sharp and cologne-ish, but fades to something more unisex over time. I'm surprised by how much I like each stage, as I usually avoid masculine scents. Maybe I'll have to experiment more with them. An unexpected favorite! This is a blend that reminds me how new I am and how little I can predict what I'll like.

Prettymuch exactly what you said! Great minds think alike? Most definitely! I love the painting Judith Victorious, and I'm intrigued by the description, but Lucretia also sounds so interesting and gets glowing reviews. Ack, what to do?! Of course my id is screaming "GET ALL THREE!" but Weenies isn't far off...

In vial: Definite baby oil and... brimstone? Is that you? I am already pretty sure this is not the scent for me, but I'm just here for the ride, not for true love on this one. Wet: Okay, now baby powder rather than oil, and as for the brimstone effect-- seriously, chalk it up to BPAL to create something I can only describe as "fruit. Evil fruit!" Not in the sense that it's rotting or dark, just evil powdery fruit. I wish I could describe it more clearly, but my nose is not that refined. Dry: The fruit is gone, and what we have left is mostly baby powder. Yet I'm still getting whiffs of some (non-fruity) sweet smell which borders on sickly. Final verdict: Definitely nothing I want to smell like on a day-to-day basis, but a fun experiment. As always, the Lab works miracles when it comes to bottling a concept.

I haven't tried any of the Salons yet, nor have I bought any bottles of BPAL at all yet, but apparently there's no time like the present as far as that's concerned. I absolutely must try The Arrival at the Sabbath and Homage to the Devil, but I think I can only afford one more. I'm hemming and hawing endlessly over whether to get Lucretia or Judith Victorious.

Morgause (Bewitching Brews) belongs in your King Arthur set! EDIT: Anubis, also, for the canine group.

In imp: Going to reiterate the consensus-- straight-up creamsicle. I was a little surprised by how dominant the cream note was, at first. But BPAL has a way of sneaking surprises like that on me. On skin: Wet, still creamsicle. As it dries, though, it transforms from that tangerine-and-cream to a very gentle, quiet lemon-and-cream. Lemon is a favorite note of mine, but this is not my favorite way for it to be presented. That’s unfortunate, because this sounded fantastic to me! It’s still a very nice blend, and I will keep the decant around.

In the imp: Cherry cola, Dr. Pepper, blech. On me: Cherry (which I don’t like) and almond (which bores me). Someone compared this to Hell’s Belle and I definitely get that: the same heady florals are there, but not as noticeable. And now I can smell the nasty rose from Pride coming out. Oh man, this is so completely, hilariously not for me. I don’t feel like kissing mirrors, but I do feel a little bit like kicking myself for buying this without checking on the notes. When will I learn? Cherry doesn’t work for me, even if I want to like the blend for other reasons.

I admit that I’m not really familiar with “ash manna” as a scent, but to me Meliai smells like a cross between honey candy and a Lifesaver gummy. I can see what other people are describing as “springy” and “green” but it’s just coming off as more fruity/candyish to my nose. Not bad but not quite for me. Swaps it is!

In imp: Holy cocoa powder, Batman! The description wasn’t lying! Immediately, my stomach (which had been behaving just fine) jolted with hunger and started growling. Wouldn’t today be a great day to make brownies? This smells like cocoa powder and water, rather than a creamy hot chocolate scent. On me: Gets even more chocolate powdery, and yes, I can very much smell the resemblence to Nutella. Poor throw but good wear length—if this were richer and had better throw, it would be a perfect 10. Maybe aging will help. Either way, this is an instant favorite.

Wet: Strong floral perfume—some people want to smell that way, but I don’t. Dry: I was scared of this one because I had a nasty experience with the narcissus in Pride, but it’s not nearly as bad here. It has that same smokey campfire scent along with a different kind of smoke from the opium. I get very slight florals as well, but I couldn’t identify which ones I’m smelling. After a few hours the lily and tuberose come out more clearly and the smokiness fades. This smells okay, especially the lily and tuberose at the end, but I don’t think I need to keep it.

The almond that I found boring in Dana O’Shee, now bordering on the sickly sweet and threatening to induce a headache. Pity, because I very much enjoy the sweet-and-spiciness of it. I almost like this enough to keep it. Almost, but not quite, I’m afraid.

Musk and tea and a frosted lemon cake-- but all very subtle and well-behaved. This doesn’t read as masculine at all, maybe unisex at most. Dorian is going into heavy rotation. Fabulous!

It’s official: I amp rose. That would explain why the supposedly gentle Maiden exploded with rose as soon as it touched my skin. Luckily, the rose settles back as the oil dries and lets out the scent of noticeably watery tea and carnation. This scent reminds me quite of bit of Alice (for obvious reasons), but I strongly prefer it over Alice. I’ll have to keep this around.

Well, I now see that some of the stinkiness I attributed to narcissus in Pride was actually coming from the rose, because I get it here too. Persephone is dominated by a powerful, wet, smelly rose and supported by a juicy round pomegranate. It seems like something I could only wear when I’m in a hyper-confident, don’t-give-a-damn-what-you-think mood, which doesn’t come around too often. Bold and very long-lasting, not a perfume for the faint of heart (or nose).

Up close, this smells clearly like a pumpkin candle with notes of nutmeg—something some people might consider a negative, but I actually like the “candle” scent quite a bit. According to my mother, from a couple feet away the spices dominated and then occasionally a whiff of pumpkin would hit her. Either way it’s yummy, and I will use this lots come October!

My brain keeps going: Lemon lemon lemon! Happy happy lemon! Yum yum lemon! I do get what other people are describing as a medicinal or soapy smell (the aloe, maybe…?), but I like it very much. The musk and tea come out a bit more over time. This scent is very sharp and clean. I really, really enjoy this, and will consider a bottle soon.

Viewing that PDF at 400% works for me.

Well I’m surprised how much this doesn’t smell like cat piss! Okay, that’s probably the least complimentary way I’ve ever described BPAL, but it’s true. The first time I cracked this open, I got pure urine (apprently somewhat common with narcissus), so I was pretty bummed out about this one. After waiting a couple weeks, though, I decided to try it again, and it has definitely changed. In imp: Very strong (STRONG) florals. On me: Florals and something that smells almost… burnt? Not in a bad way, a bit like a campfire, but I’m a little bewildered as to what my brain is interpreting as smokey. And just a tinge of cat pee, for good measure. Very long lasting, of course—isn’t that always the way? Glad it wasn’t as bad as I thought, but I feel no need to wear it again.

I'm getting a "you are not authorized" message on that one.

In imp: cherry candy. Wet: Uh-oh… cherry cough syrup Cherry cough syrup softened by lily, but still. Dry: Cherry scented hand lotion. Well, this was a bust! Not repulsive at any point, but not anything I particularly want to smell like. Time for you to go away, little imp.

You know, I like this. Uncomplicated, incensey and sensual. The myrrh really stands head and shoulders above the rest. It’s not soft or sinuous, just sexy in a straight-forward, honest way, if that makes the slightest bit of sense. La Petite Mort is easy to wear and lasts a long time on anything that doesn’t get washed—I could smell it on the cuff of my coatsleeve for two days afterwards, which was impressive. I just… like it, a lot! Feb 2013 EDIT: I, um, am apparently not such a fan of aged La Petite. It's just sort of powdery and... perfumey? And kind of stale, almost. Urf. Swapbox it is.

Okay, this scent is… well, pretty boring, to be honest. I guess what I’m smelling is the milk and the sweet grain. But it’s very unchanging, simple, too quiet. It doesn’t smell BAD by any stretch; I certainly wasn’t embarrassed to walk around with Dana O’Shee on my skin. I just wasn't that intrigued by it. To be fair, though, it makes a decent skin scent for when I want to wear a non-perfume perfume.

Oh, wow! This is just so very pretty. A creamy, pale pink musk, all feminine and lovely. Vasilissa actually reminds me a bit of a commercial perfume, but with a BPALish kick, somehow. It's certainly no delicate flower: this blend has some weight and throw to it! To me, this is the scent of a woman who is not just beautiful, but for whom beauty is a lifestyle. A woman who has enough makeup, perfumes, polishes, and lotions to prettify a small country—but makes it seem effortless. A young scent, certainly, but late teens/early twenties rather than "little girl." EDIT: Sadly, I don't seem to be as fond of aged Vasilissa. Grrr. I'm not good enough with notes to say for sure, but I think the jasmine (or maybe sandalwood...?) may be coming out more than I like. I'll have to swap this now, how sad.