Northernminx

This is a beautiful scent, very floral but unlike others, it never lightened on me. It is standing in the middle of a New Orleans garden at night in sweltering heat and being overwhelmed but the subtlety was lost on my skin. A beautiful, rich floral but unfortunately too overwhelming for me.

Hmm... I went from a lemon kick to a floral one. In the bottle... something golden and warm, but definitly flowery as well. On me... Something is reacting with my skin so this smells buttery. It's a little odd, almost like buttery gardenias. It's not an unpleasant scent, but is far warmer than I expected. The imagery of sunwarmed flowers on a casket was very much on the mark for mood. A nice, smooth warm scent. I like it but it's not really calling out to me so I think I"ll pass it on to someone who drools over it.

I bought this for the name - our current role-playing Changeling chronicle has a villainess based off the winter witch mentioned in the description. She is not a nice character...but if she wore this she'd be in a better mood and might stop freezing the rest of us in our tracks. Beautiful. Utterly..utterly...beautiful. This is the clean floral of my dreams. It's the scent of sitting on your porch in sweltering heat when the storm rolls through and pummels your garden into losing its flower petals. It's deceptively ozone like and light in the bottle, but on my skin it's a zap of chill winter air and lightning with a gorgeous light white floral underneath. I'm getting more of a sweet pea and snap dragon scent from the flowers. The floral is never overwhelming and is instead, clean, crisp and beautifully light. Big bottle, definitly a big bottle.

I thought I was going mad with the fifth lemony scent I've tried in a row (one starts to wonder if they're just smelling wierd.) However, the lemon drop smell that always seems to smack me when verbena or lemon citrus are in the mix, died off fairly quickly. I am left with a dry herbal smell of rosemary and a hint of mellow lavender. The lemon was predominant and now the herbs are sort of lingering there. It's a very mysterious but wistful combination, like the first strike of magic and it's lingering after effect. Lovely, but probably not a keeper as the dry down just doesn't leave much scent for me. Edit: I tried this one again before swapping and I'm glad I did. The lemon drop is gone, and this time it's far more lemon chiffon, quite a bit sweeter and lighter with touches of lavender and rosemary. I don't want to keep this one a perfume, but I AM going to try mixing it with my unscented lotion to use before bed. A lovely, calming scent.

Hm...I expected something lightly floral, maybe a bit aquatic on this one. However: wow... no lemon and it smelled like a lemon drop (those little candies) on me. Highly strange, and VERY strong initially. It soaped out after about twenty minutes and I can barely smell anything now. I had high hopes for this one, but my skin sayeth no. I think you have to have a chemistry that works with this one for it to smooth out properly. Sad minx

The more I read about this, the more I desperately want to try getting a custom scent. My "sisters" and I were just chatting last night about how we need to do this... a sort of three fold self-gift, one for each of us that share a brain wave. I suppose it seems like a lot of money but at the same time I would love to go through the process and see what happens. I tend to get stuck on scents for certain moods so having another scent to add to my "favorites" wouldn't hurt. Like Tygher I'm absolutely adoring of the imps that are available right now so I will continue trying those out. I've made myself a deal that when I first sell one of my dolls for my initial asking price, I will use that money and splurge on my own custom scent -or at least on the waiting list. I guess I better get back to sculpting then :grin:

Something about lemon in the oils and my skin doesn't work. Orange and other citrus seems fine but lemon just over-rides every other scent in there. Mysterious and yet crisp in the bottle, this one just washed out into lemon pledge on me. So very sad as it was a lovely scent until the lemon bapped me over the head again. Lemons just aren't me. Into the swap she goes!

Watery and clear with an undertone of something...strange. I couldn't place that somewhat earthy tang when I first put this one on. It mellowed out after a minute and I couldn't smell that strange little hint of something. Unfortunately I couldn't smell much of anything as this one completely washed out on my skin. Sad sad, as I loved the clear watery floral I was getting while it lasted.

in the bottle: Orange pine sol. EEEK! On me: For a minute or two it smelled like a chocolate covered orange - like those oranges made of chocoalte at the store - I presume this was the vanilla and ginger doing a tango on my wrists. A tango definitly works for this one. Ginger seems to go rather citrusy on me but it was a nice, bold refreshing smell. the vanilla tones it down a little and as it mellows the Jasmine kicks in. Very tropical and bright, but not so bold as to be strangling me. I'm going to have to go put imp on my elbow so I can figure out which of these I like better as they are rather similar in evocation of mood for me.

In the bottle: Distinctly boozey with a strong whiff of rum and spice. On the skin: In the first ten seconds it pummeled my nose - maybe that was the hellcat gnawing on me - but it settled into a nice gentle purr after that. It's mellowed into a gorgeous rum-filled, spiced scent. Spice rum, mead underneath, and I get a hint of mellow nuttiness. This, wierdly, reminds me of Christmas - that smell in the house when the cider is mulling and I'm baking and my family is around the table. It's a rich, intoxicating, warm and rich smell. I'm still not certain if this one is getting bought or just using up the imp, as I love it but I'm not sure I love -wearing- it. It would be a wonderful room scent or candle scent.

A nice subtle, smooth violet scent. I'd classify this as a dark floral. It's strong but not cloying, and velvet soft and quiet and so beautiful. This was a lot more floral than I anticipated but Im really enjoying it as it's different than the other florals I'm keeping. Thinking about adding this one to the list of big bottles.

In the bottle - fruity but floral, if a bit strong. The peach jumps right out. On the skin - grape and peach are distinguishable, as is the sweet pea toning the fruit down a bit. The floral keeps the fruit from going nuts. A gorgeously blended bouguet dripping with dew wet flowers and juices, sweet and fruity but somehow not too overwhelming. A definite scent worthy of a fairie queen. Most definitly ordering a big bottle of this one!

Apparantly my skin does wierd things to this one as any sense of floral and vanilla was over-ridden by sticky sweet strawberry. I love natural strawberry scents, but the combination in this one kind of gummed up on me and let me smelling like sticky candy. Sigh. Unfortunately not a keeper for me, though it might make a good room scent.

In the bottle: That old wood smell, strong and harsh like in Anne bonnie. On the skin: Mellowed riiiight out and the floral came out underneath that dusty lovely smell. I'm reminded of my first impression on walking into Disney's The Haunted Mansion - there's that old house dusty flower smell, that tickles your nose but there's something eeriely sweet and beautiful about it at once. A definite keeper.

In the bottle: Fruity merlot, reminding me of blood rose. On me: The merlot is still the predominant scent, but I can get the floral of violet tempering it. I'm not getting the leather or the sex just yet so we'll see how this one works. So far, yummy and vibrant, but very close to blood rose except a little more floral on me. Like it, will use the imp, but I'm far too in love with my blood rose. Note: Will try this one again another day as I just finished organizing all my new samples and am wondering if my nose is wonky from over-use. Edit: Attempt two: THe leather is definitly coming through more this time, though this is still a very wine rich scent on me. I'm not certain I want to get a full bottle as it's not different enough to justify it on my skin, but I will quite likely use up the imp.

Dana O'Shee Queen Mab Anne Bonnie

Smokey, spicey, and complex. I loved this one but it lasted about five seconds in it's smokey/spicey state before it soaped out on my skin. I swapped this one down south to some friends who hopefully will have better luck with it. Unfortunate as it was a gorgeous scent... hmm possibly should've tried it as a room scent

I swapped this one with Tygher and have to say the same verdict: Smelled nice and herbal in the bottle but went soapy on my skin. Glad to see it works with some chemistries but mine said "no way." Oh well, swapping it onward!

A bright, juicy floral in the bottle, this mellowed nicely on my skin. I can pick up a strong hint of peach and white musk and something lightly floral. It's a nice, pretty mellow scent that isn't too overpowering or sickly floral on me. A definite favorite. I wish it lasted a little longer on my skin but it works better applying a bit more

Quite a unisex scent on this one! In the bottle it was very crisp and strong, but I bought this one hoping that it would be perfect for one of my pirate characters. Application was sea salt and wood and leather. An AMAZING blend of scents. It's like strapping an old ship to my wrist and enjoying the effects. Rugged but it mellowed a bit and just kept that nautical scent. My boyfriend also tried this one out and it worked equally well on him. While this is a bit more demanding and strong than I'd wear every day, a definite keeper.

In the bottle: Spicey and warm, can smell the Dragon's blood resin On the skin: Why is my skin so wierd?? I put some of this on praying it was that one scent that would be the Dragon's blood to drive Jake nuts but it went really sweet and floral on me almost instantly. All those individual notes have faded out into a generic sorta florally soap smell. I am hoping that this is just my silly hormones this week and will try again. It's a lovely scent but not the richness and depth I was really really hoping for. So far, Blood Rose is winning this quest for a rich, sensuous perfume with Dragon's Blood in it. Lastability: on the upside i was looking for a light floral so if it stays this way, cool I can use up my imp at the very least. It's still going strong after four hours which is a good sign.

Oh purrrrrr.....I usually like rose scents but most of them dry out to a very old lady scent and are more the tea rose type. Not this one. In the bottle: a deep, dark rose scent that seemed less rose and more wine to me. On application: What a beautiful dry down. Tons of rose at first but it mellowed into a rich, deep dark red almost rotten-fruit wine smell. I love the juxtaposition of these two scents. It's like rose distilled into something wickedly alcoholic. It has some Dragon's blood resin in there too which means this is a definite keeper and added to the bottle list. Wearability: It's worn off my wrists but a lot of typing today so that's normal from all the rubbing on the wrist support. Can still smell it from where I applied on neck and behind ears, quick little fleeting moments of that lovely sensuous smell.

In the bottle: a punch of something clean and crisp to the nose. It reminded me at first of that old kid's perfume several years ago called "rain." They had elemental bottles you could buy in pharmecy stores. On me: Thankfully it was just the sort of citrusy crispness that reminded me of such and Lightning smoothed right down. I'm reminded less of ozone and more of something a little more lemony with a sort of salt air tang. I liked this one, very crisp and fresh, but couldn't imagine wearing it often so this one will stay in the "imp only" pile for those times I feel like something different. Lasting: lasted all day long, mellowed a bit but didn't wear off.

Name: Lana URL, if applicable: Phoenix Rising Art Dolls Photo, if you don't mind: Sin of choice: Lust Virtue you embody: Hmm...compassion. I have no idea if it's a proper one or not Astrological Info: sagitarrius. Fire, it's all about fire. How you found out about BPAL: The lovely Tygher told me about it in payment for an April Fool's joke. Personally I think she wins. Any comments you'd like to add about the Lab or life in general: What a wonderful company! Fabulous customer service and a beautiful and splediferously presented product with scents to boggle the mind and nose! Adoration falls short of my admiration for these folks!

Sadness does not describe my dissapointment on this one, as I adore this scent, absolutely and utterly adore it - and it was quite literally undetectable on me after an hour. I am praying that with extra application that will be fixed or that my chemistry is just wierd this week. I will try it again this weekend. One of those "picked it up for a character" purchases. The venetian cortesan concept for LARP was screaming that I must buy this. So I bought it. She was right. (damned writer's syndrome where the character just keep blabbing and blabbing...) A rich, floral scent, vibrant and not too feminine. The fruity smell kicks the flowers into another gear and all I can picture is red and gold and velvet. Lady like, but a lady who knows what she wants. There is nothing meek and mild about this one. In the bottle: strongly floral in application: slides right into this gorgeous, rich, golden hot floral scent. Predominantly roses at first but there is a definite almost fruity wine undertone to it. Wearability: Where'd it go? I was so dissapointed this one fell off me so quickly. Will try a more liberal application and if that works, a definite keeper.