seamor

Heavy incense notes waft lazily through a mix of carnation, jasmine, bergamot, and neroli over a lush bed of dark mosses, iris blossom, deep patchouli and indolent vetiver. Oooooh, I've wanted to try this for some time! (Woohoo! Thanks for the swap, Kat!) Let's see ... Wet: Heavy, dark, kinda musky. Must be the vetiver. Almost immediately morphs to a luscious carnation, neroli, jarmine, bergamot, (iris?) combo. (I know this because I read the description, not because I can pick out the notes.) This is a terrific combination - one of the better florals I've ever had the pleasure of sniffing. "Beautiful, wonderful, gorgeous, luscious, exquisite" are getting a little repetitive after a number of reviews of BPAL scents, but they all apply here and I can't seem to come up with another adjective at the moment. Sadly, about 1/2 hour later I am left with primarily patchouli, a little vetiver, something honey-like, and a hint of carnation. It's quite pleasant, but there's just no comparison to that amazing initial floral burst. Later yet, a bit of the iris seems to be sneaking back in, but I'm just too saddened by the loss of the other flowers to appreciate it. NOTE: All who read this review, please be aware that my skin eats flowers. It's entirely possible that your skin does not eat, and may even befriend, flowers. If so - lucky, lucky you! Try The Caterpillar! But in the land of celtimor all is patchouli tonight, and melancholy sighing. The flower-eating skin monster has gorged itself again, and a bottle of The Caterpillar is no longer foreseen in a now dimmer future ...

The person who gifted me this imp said that it's the "original, spicy Shub". I can't tell from the previous reviews how that differs from the current (somehow non-spicy?) Shub. Maybe someone will let me know? Wet: Yup, it's a slightly gentler Gingerbread Poppet. Which is great, because I love GB. But wait ... after about 1/2 hour, I'm getting the spices, but no food scent at all. No bread/cake effect any more, just the spices (niiiiiice) with a ghost of something underneath ... what is that? It's there/not there ... I just can't seem to get an olfactory digit on it ... ... then back to soft gingerbread again ... ... and a bit after that, Whoa! Wow! Whatever that was underneath the spices has blossomed! Is it amber? Sweet, lush, and slightly musky, with the aforementioned spices floating softly around inside it, sweetly golden. I definitely can find the ginger, and I suspect nutmeg, maybe cinnamon, maybe others (saffron? cardamom?), and they are so beautifully enveloped in this wonderful sweet, luscious, sexy amber that it's all one luscious, paradisiacal can't-stop-smelling-myself delight. This is so not Gingerbread Poppet! Gingerbread Poppet makes me smell like a walking gingersnap (which I absolutely adore). Shub is more like deep, warm, snuggly, happy sex in a chai spice warehouse. Takes about an hour to settle down, but foreplay is good, right? Wowzers and whoopee! I believe I will want more of this ...

Wet: Cherry Coke, heavy on the cherry. Dry down: Cherry floral spicy, but a more floral cherry. A bit like cherry blossoms now, with some gentle incense and a little something musky underneath. No separate anise smell that I can discern. Not bad. Not bad at all ... I would never have chosen this from the description (partly because I have an intense hatred of anise after the Nanshe debacle - in fact, if I had read the ingredients first, I would probably never have tried this on), but it's really nice. Nice little throw. I like it. On further dry down I'm smelling something reminiscent of the latter stages of Chrysanthemum Moon, but I think with Chrysanthemum Moon I like the initial stages a bit better. This is quite yummy good, though.

Wet: Exactly like gingerbread right out of the oven. Nice gingery throw. Amazing. Dry down: Not quite as strong, but exactly the same scent. Maintains good throw - keeps wafting by my nose, pleasantly surprising me. This doesn't seem to morph at all on me. I say again - Amazing! I like it very much, which is odd because I'm not usually excited about smelling like food. Maybe a little more like gingersnaps after dry down, but who's quibbling? Sweet baked ginger spicily edible goodness! Homey. Comforting. But still spicy. All the best things about gingerbread. Beth, how did you do this?

And now for another adventure in odd skin chemistry ... This smells kind of musky in a not-real-good way for the first minute or two on, but then it blossoms into a full-blown, perfectly awesome rosa foetida! Now, not everyone likes rosa foetida, but it's always been one of my favorite scents - kind of a musky sour orange with clove, spices, and rose. It always smells to me like bright, almost painful, golden light and clean, clean air. And for those of you who are wondering whether anyone would in fact be willing to walk around smelling like a flower called "the stinky rose", the answer is yes, yes, YES!!! In fact, it's been a dream of mine. But, of course, after about 1/2 hour my skin munches the floral components and I am left with nutmeg / cardamom / musk and occasional diaphanous hints of the previous fabulously perfect scent. It has a little nutmeg throw which is pretty, and there's certainly nothing wrong with nutmeg / cardamom / musk with a trace of rose - in fact, I would probably have loved it if I hadn't smelled the other first. And 1/2 hour after that, things have evened out a bit. The nutmeg and cardamom are still primary, but that spicy orangey musky rose is definitely hanging in there. It's much quieter now, and probably would no longer offend even the person who originally named rosa foetida, but still very satisfying. And 1/2 hour after THAT, everything has blended into a perfectly gorgeous combination of spice, incense, musk, and rose, with an occasional breath of sharp orange. Awesome. If this lasts at all well, it's going right to the top of my list (with Chrysanthemum Moon).

Okay, sometimes I have really weird responses to some of these scents ... A few drops of Somnus in an oil warmer made me feel physically deeply relaxed, while amping my mental activity to the point of intense misery. I didn't sleep well, although my body was so relaxed I couldn't muster the determination to move and/or do anything else. I need both parts to relax - this was kinda like what I would imagine it would feel like to be on speed while mostly paralyzed. Nope ... definitely not for me.

Oh, wheee! Dragon mums must have GREAT coconuts! (I wonder how many?) First on, strong, sweet coconut! (Is this actually the honey and milk? No, my nose keeps saying coconut, coconut, COCONUT!!!). After a moment the dragon's blood chimes in, then the floral scent I always associate with dragon's blood - is it gardenia? Nice. Tropically edible. Yum. After about a half hour, the floral has completely vanished (my skin does that) and I have a gentle, coconut-y dragon's blood. Dragon's blood usually hangs in pretty well for me, but in this instance it seems the coconut is going to be dominant. It's a really GOOD coconut, but I'm not sure I'm enough of a coconut lover to appreciate it adequately. I do like the coconut/dragon's blood combination, though, and hope the DB will come in a little stronger as time passes. Which it now seems to be doing ... this one morphs a bit. I'll enjoy seeing what it does over the rest of the day. So, everyone else is getting honey, vanilla, and milk? Hmmmmm ... maybe later .... Clearly I have the weirdest skin in the room. Yes! An hour later, I'm getting a fairly strong honey scent - wild sage honey, I'd say - over the dragon's blood base, but still no milk. ... and the next time I remember to check (about three hours later - busy day at work) ... 1. it's still with me - that's reasonably unusual - and 2. I can smell the milk and honey, with the dragon's blood underneath! Mmmmm ... I'm not sure how long this has been going on, but I liiiike it, it's niiiiice. At lunchtime I'm liking this so much that I decide to renew, just so it won't give up too soon. This time I don't get coconut - I get a wild burst of that glorious gardenia-like floral with the DB base. Wondrous yummy, but pretty intense. I can only imagine what the throw is like. It does calm down after a few minutes, though, so I can go back to work. Now 5 1/2 hours later, it's still with me. It's a sweet milk and honey scent with a hint of spice. Reminds me of lovely warm milk with honey, cinnamon, turmeric, and ginger - my favorite! Still has some throw, still smells yummy and good. This is very nice. I'll certainly use up my imp.

Glorious, so ripe it's just about to go over the edge, PERFECT APRICOT!!! Wow, that is really something! Juicy, sweet, almost terminally luscious. Now, I have never thought of myself as a person who would go around smelling like a ripe apricot, but this is just so yummy, I might have to consider it ... Oh, rats! My skin ate it all under an hour. But who could blame it? I have certainly never been one to leave a jar of apricot preserves unmolested. I like this a lot, but not quite enough to keep applying it every hour. This could really work for someone who loves Beth's peach and/or apricot scents (as I certainly do!), and whose skin chemistry doesn't instantly snarf up all fruits and flowers. I think I'll keep my imp, just to give myself a quick thrill every now and then ...

The chrysanthemum is nicely strong and herbal when wet, but disappears completely when dry, leaving me with a sweet musky scent that reminds me of the Dior "Poison" (but without the stomach-turning-headachey-allergic part). No ginger at all. Wearable, but although many people seem to love Poison (I'm constantly getting trapped in elevators with it), I've never found it attractive. Bummer. I wanted ginger. I really wanted those mums to last. Drat this flower-eating skin. Update: Please ignore above post! It puzzled me that I was getting a completely different result from all the other posts on this scent, and finally I realized that Nanshe , which I tried two days ago and which I have scrubbed my wrists numerous times since trying to remove , is still with me and corrupting every other scent I put on. I'll give Chrysanthemum Moon another try somewhere down the pike, when it has half a chance. 2nd post: Wow! Is that ever different from what I was getting before! This scent is complex, very smoothly blended, and probably indescribable, but I'll try: First on, it's herbal with a spicy chrysanthemum tickle and not quite (but almost) dark. I don't know for sure what I'm smelling, but it feels like one of those evenings when you suddenly realize that it's twilight as you are coming home from work, and that the air feels/smells different, darker and muskier, and that darkness/winter is coming on. I'd expect a scent that evokes that image to be crisp, even a bit nippy, but this is warm and delightful, like snuggling up in your favorite soft blankie. I smell mums and herbs, and maybe a dry leaf or two. I'm not sure where the ginger is, but everything is so well blended that it's probably there and I just can't quite pick it out. As Chrysanthemum Moon dries, the mums/herbs back off a bit (but still there) and a hint of a something sweet peeks out occasionally - sugary sweet - what is that? Is it Snake Oil? A tiny snake oil piskie playing peek-a-boo among the mums? Dry, the sweetness (not sugar, not maple syrple, not flowers, not ... what is that!?!?) blossoms and combines seamlessly with the gently musky base. I still can't pick out and identify anything much. I think someone above compared this to a quieter, gentler Snake Oil and I'm getting a similar effect, although I'm not sure it actually smells the same as Snake Oil. Pretty darn yummy, whatever it is. Oh, wow! There's the ginger! I'm getting a ginger throw! Yippee!!! This is one of those "two scents for the price of one" effects that I sometimes get with Beth's creations! I now have a ginger (ginger/mum?) throw, while close to the skin is that mouth-watering musky sweetness. Wow, this is too gorgeous and completely fascinating. I am so glad that I realized that Nanshe had goofed up my previous test before I stupidly passed it on! I would hate to have missed this. Ahhhhhh ...... sooo lovely ..... Thank you, Beth!

On me, shrieking lemon/citrus peel/lavender with a foundation of anise. The scent is oddly relaxing, considering its sharp intensity. The next morning it seems gone, but I try to wash it off, just to make sure. When I put on another scent, it is overpowered by anise that can only be a remnant of Nanshe. Frustrating. I wonder how long it will be before I can wear another scent without smelling like anise? Don't get me wrong - Nanshe is not an unpleasant scent, even though quite sharp. It's just not for me. Update: A day and a half later (having washed thoroughly several times in the interim) I apply my old favorite Marquise de Merteuil, only to find that it re-awakens that sharp lemon/lavender scent, and I cannot smell the Marquise at all. I simply cannot get this Nanshe stuff off my skin. Update 2: Gods! How do I get this OFF!?!?!?!?! Two days!!! Everything I put on smells like anise or Lemon Lavender Shriek! Has Nanshe cursed me? Please, please, PLEASE, does anyone know a scent removal ritual of some kind? Nanshe seems to have become a part of my skin! [Closeup of wrist skin showing creeping veins of moldy, greenish-purplish corruption ...] Chrysanthemum Moon was no match for her. She whacked Al-Shairan! Sol was eclipsed by licorice. Can nothing save me from the awesome power of Nanshe? Please, please, PLEASE ... HELP ... ME ........... [trailing scream, falling into darkness ...] Update 3: She's gone, I was finally able to soak this scent off in a long bath with white vinegar. Ah well, this has doubtless been a mild example of the folly of playing with ritual concoctions without focused intent. I'm fortunate it wasn't something worse. I have to note that, throughout this experience, I do not remember having had a single dream. Maybe Nanshe kept hanging around because she was having trouble getting through to me? Uh ... unless this is a dream .... [hollow laughter fading into the distance ...] So, sometime when I want to use oneiromancy, and have three days to work with it during which I won't be anywhere that anyone else can smell me, and I decide I can tolerate smelling like anise and Lemon Lavender Shriek the whole time, I may use Nanshe again. But probably not.

Ack! Oh dear, oh no! Some of this unpleasantness has *got* to be because of my weird skin chemistry. Completely indescribable.. swampy? .. something rotten ... dark, humid ... what am I smelling? ... urk ... Okay, just NO. A flash of ozone ... Wow! How the heck did she do that? Amazing! Interesting but, on me, hideously repellent. And not in the anti-mosquito way, either. Phew!

Amazingly dark and dirty, especially after wearing The Dormouse and Tushnamatay for the past few days, LOL! Patchouli, patchouli, patchouli, and not the sweet kind. Patchouli and moist black garden loam. Or maybe that nice juicy dirt around the dumpster ... After a few minutes the patchouli backs off enough for some of the apricot to begin to come through. That's better. In fact, that's not bad at all - an intriguing scent that becomes deeper and rounder with the continued blossoming of the (luscious!) apricot. Somehow this reminds me of my friend's enormous, gorgeous, but psychotic dog. I genuinely appreciate the wonder and beauty of it, but would rather not get close enough for it to take my face off. Ah! Thus the name! I get it! Gotta go wash now ...

Received as a frimp. Not at all what I expected from the description. On me, this smells rather like Snake Oil - quite yummy - enough so that I wondered if it hadn't been mislabeled. But there's one difference ... ... my dog is insanely obsessed with Odin. Not when it's on me, but in the vial. He stole the vial twice (how the heck did he get it the second time?), and finally got the top off and ate all the oil. (Fortunately there were no ill effects and he didn't crunch the vial.) This is completely off-the-wall behavior for him. He has no interest whatever in any of my other BPAL scents. Something about Odin was just too much for him. Must be that "warrior musk", huh? Teacher, I couldn't finish my report because the dog ate my Odin.

Oh, my gods and goddesses, this is FABULOUS! This is so different from what I usually try. In fact, I hadn't tried any of Beth's teas before, because they're usually part of a floral scent and most of the florals sink into my skin and disappear in a flash. Wow, was I ever missing out! In the bottle, this is intense, a bit sharp, lemony. On my skin it blossoms into the finest Earl Grey tea, with extra bergamot and a slight whiff of raspberry jam. (Yes, I know it's peony, but my nose insists that, if it's with tea, it must be raspberry jam.) Suddenly it's a warm, sunny morning and I'm drinking tea in the garden (with English muffins and raspberry jam) with no worries. "Yay! Wow! Whoopee! Gadzooks! This is my signature scent!" I squeal. "How did I not know I was looking for TEA?!?!?! With peony/raspberry?!?!?" (Well, then again, who *would* know that was what they were looking for? I ask you.) Then the tragedy. My skin ate it all up in under an hour. I put it in a scent pendant and it lasted all day, but smelled much more like peony. Which is lovely and not really a problem, but I prefer the tea-and-raspberry I get on my skin. So ... I don't think I've ever done this before ... I guess I'm just going to have to have a LOT of it so I can keep slathering it all over myself.

Wow, I can't believe I didn't review this when I first got it. I loved it instantly, and then somehow put it safely away in the vegetable crisper and didn't get it out again until now .... So, or course, I had to re-test. And ... YIPES! Nasty! Has my body chemistry changed? This is dark and stinging; the orange is viciously sour ... I have never smelled anything quite like this before. Eeek! But - Whew! It settles after a minute or two. Now there is a gentle sweet citrus throw with a whiff of Snake Oil, and a complex amber/citrus/floral/musk close to the skin. Mmmmmmm ... nummy! What a difference! I guess this one likes my body chemistry! (Now, that's a small miracle in itself ...) No wonder I loved this when I first tried it. It' s very different from anything else I have, and almost good enough to eat. Probably even wearable in public, although who knows what might happen with all this musk floating around? Now either my nose is tired, or it's not going to stay with me long, but wow - what a ride! Whoo-ee! I still love it!

I have had an imp of Polyhymnia sitting around (in my refrigerator) waiting to be tested for months. For some reason I finally got around to it tonight. I am SO SORRY this has been DISCONTINUED!!!! First out of the bottle, it was bright, sharp and intense - kind of like lemon zest. Worried me a bit, but I could smell something starting to come through, so I persevered. It began to smell sweet, followed by a billow of incense. I LOVE incense scents! As it dried further, the incense settled back to a gentle foundation for that lovely, sweet scent (what IS that? Wow! Guess I'd better read the description ...), and a hint of more gentle citrus continues to peek out now and then. The throw is very good on me, but not overwhelming (at least, not as far as I can tell). I LOVE smelling like this! This is warm, soft, sweet, and delicious, with spice. I'll probably use it up right away. (sniffle) Can I bribe somebody to make me a vat of it, please? I promise to use it all. Yum, yum, yum!

Wow, I can hardly believe that what I'm wearing is the same scent as the other descriptions I have read. I get no jasmine whatever, and certainly not that candy rose effect I have gotten with some of the other rose scents. In fact, I kept thinking I was wearing red patchouli - must be the myrrh and rose combining in an unexpected way. I have loved this resinous red bite in several of Beth's scents, even though it usually makes me sneeze. Not this time, though. Goody! I'd love to buy a big bottle of this, but I am worried that my imp may have been mislabelled after hearing all about the jasmine and florals everybody else is getting.

Woo hoo! Snake Oil with a bite!!! The description doesn't say anything about vanilla, but on me this has a rather strong (and marvelous) spicy vanilla throw. I have to apply it lightly, or it gets a little intense (but still really, really good). The patchouli and ginger (fabulous combination! Oh, YEAH!) tend to hang closer to the skin, a nice olfactory treat for someone who wants to get closer. Definitely wakes up the fire element. Lasts at least four hours on me. Wahoo!

Right out of the bottle, this is very golden, spicy, and gorgeous - lots of amber, woods, and that mysterious wonderful note I haven't been able to identify yet, but absolutely adore (could it b the musk?). I'm gonna love this! Later: I can still smell the great scent I started out with, but it's overlaid by a violet that has amped to gag-me level. (It's amazing how a shy gentle violet can become Violetzilla on my skin.) Beth, may we please have a version of this with no violet in it?

Erk! Not quite what I had expected. First on: A heavy hothouse floral. A moment later ... uh-oh! It's that (damask rose?) scent that I love but am miserably allergic to! and then ... aaaackkk! the dreaded violet! A double whammy! My head is spinning, and not in a good way! Oh sh*t, oh dear, I really can't wear this. Must wash off right now. Gosh, what's left after I did my level best to wash it all off is really quite pleasant. Kind of spicy and flowery. Still, that first effect was decidedly unappealing. I guess some things are just not meant to be ....

Well, I finally got to try this. In the imp: This is really, really thick. Smells warm, sweet, yummy. Ummmmm.... On the skin: Whoa! Did something cool slither by underneath that? Yes! Under the warm yummies, there's definitely something cool, a little green, and scaly. Not in a bad way, though. Lends a note of intrigue. That interesting cool thing slithers off after a few minutes, and I am left with warm vanilla-sugar over spicy jungle flowers. Words fail me. I just want to roll in this! No wonder this seems to be everybody's favorite. It smells like warm carmel pastries in the greenhouse of an exotic flower grower, and feels like a long luxurious cuddle after a particularly satisfying romp. And - wonder of wonders! - it stays with me! I can actually wear this on my skin and keep it for hours! Ahhh ... so this is what the cat feels like when he gets catnip! I believe I'll have some more ...

Whoa! How does Beth do this? This smells very large, wild and scaly to me. Smooth scales, softly grey, but something spiky somewhere just out of sight. Can't see the whole beast at once because it blends into the swirling mist and darkness - only a huge, scaly coil whipping by. Sadly, it lost that wild and wooly chrysanthemum edge much too quickly on me. I guess my flower-eating skin drank it. Sigh... A bit later - Has this bandersnatch been eating cotton candy? Finally settles into a mild floral, which - of course - doesn't stay on my skin long. I guess this will be another to try in a scent locket or on my hair. I really need that initial "large undefinable wild creature" scent to stay with me. It was marvelous while it lasted!

Wow, wonderful! Sharp dusty ginger/cinnamon/sandalwood spice with an amber base. Not sweet at all. Oooooweeee! I love it, love it, love it! Unfortunately, the spicy part only lasts about an hour and a half on my skin, leaving behind a gentle, almost transparent, amber. Maybe I can try it in a scent locket, or on my hair ... ... or maybe I'll just pour it on by the bucketful.

This is absolutely beautiful right out of the imp. A nice, clean sage with a distinct blackberry background and a slight musky base. Yum! Unfortunately, the sage only stuck with me for about two minutes. After that, I had a slightly musky berry scent, which was quite nice, but not for me. I'm just not a berry-scented sort of person. And the berry scent only stuck with me for a couple of hours. If the sage would hang in there, and everything lasted longer, I would love this. I guess it's just not a good match for my body chemistry. (sigh...)

Ufte! Strawberry taffy with isecticide. Definitely does not work on my skin. Have to wash this off right now.