GothicMissManners

YES! Beaver'versary is exactly like my beloved 2005 Beaver Moon! Exactly! Oh, I am a happy happy cupcake of a goth. Beaver Moon is one of my three all-time favorite scents from BPAL (the other two being Pink Moon 2005 and Lump of Coal). You'd better believe I stocked up. -Jilli

The people who have described this as lavender and marshmallows are spot-on, as are the people who say that TKO is a very "cozy" scent. I've suffered from insomnia all my life; I have very vivid memories of staying awake all night when I was 4 or 5. And it's done nothing but get worse as I get older. I have a prescription for Ambien, but I don't like to use them because I don't want to HAVE to take them to fall asleep. Every night I take calcium, magnesium, 5-htp, and melatonin, and even that combination doesn't always work. There are far too many nights where I lie awake, listening to my brain whirr. TKO works. I've been testing it for a week and a bit now, and it works. I dab a little on my temples right before climbing into bed, and I drift off to sleep within half an hour or so, which is unheard of for me. Even on a good night, it normally takes me an hour or so to wind down and drift off, no matter how tired I am. The real test of TKO's prowess will be this coming week, when I'm suffering from PMS. My insomnia always worsens right before my period. If TKO can help me fall asleep during that time, I will be indescribably happy. -Jilli

In the bottle, this is a cup of hot chocolate. Right after dabbing it on, the chocolate diminishes a bit (noooo!), and it becomes more creamy. After dry-down, the Candy Butcher is a sweet, creamy, faintly floral scent. It reminds me of some floral-infused white chocolate truffles I've tried. I like it, but it's nowhere NEAR chocolate-y enough for me. I'm going to try layering it with another chocolate scent and see how it fares. -Jilli

I had such high hopes for Pink Phoneix. It sounded so pink and sweet! And, for the first 15 minutes or so, it is. And then it turns into slightly-burnt hazelnuts mixed with maple syrup, lightly dusted with pink sweetness. I was SO hoping for the pink, sugary, candy-coated experience that other folks seem to have gotten from Pink Phoneix, but alas, no. -Jilli

Lump of Coal is the perfect chocolate scent that I have been searching for lo these many years. In the bottle: Rip the top off of a box of good brownie mix, and take a deep breath. In the bottle, Lump of Coal smells just like that. Sweet chocolate, but a bit dry. On my skin: Freshly-baked brownies, where the tops are slightly caramelized but there's a gooey, rich, almost liquid center to them. A few hours later: Still rich, decadent brownies. Maybe not quite as in-your-face chocolatey as upon first application, but still oh-so-delicious smelling. Lump of Coal seems to last and last on me, which is good. Hopefully this means I won't need to completely slather myself in it, and I can make the bottle last a while. Or at least until I can manage to get my lace-clad mitts on a second (or third, or fourth! ) bottle. (And yes, I tried Lump of Coal with my One True BPAL Pink Moon, and ... ::swoons:: Oh. my. god. This is what I am supposed to smell like.) -Jilli

Oh my goodness. In the bottle: Beaver Moon smells exactly like walking into Cupcake Royale (a Seattle bakery that specializes in fabulous cupcakes). Cupcakes with buttercream frosting. The bottle should come packaged in a pink bakery box. On my skin: Yep, cupcakes. Mmmmm, cupcakes! After ten minutes: There's a faint undertone of cheesecake, but mostly it turned into straight buttercream frosting. I smell like an extremely sweet baked good. This can only be a good thing. The next morning: There's still a faint smell of buttercream! Very long-lasting. Beaver Moon is fabulous. It is everything I ever wanted (but didn't get) from scents like Gluttony, Midway, and Trick or Treat. It has not inspired quite the same level of "OMG must get as many bottles as I can now now NOW!" that Pink Moon did for me, but it's close. In fact, I think I will layer Beaver Moon and Pink Moon today, and see if I reach sugary pink perfume heaven. -Jilli

Oh. Oh dear. When I opened the bottle, I recoiled. The Husband said "Ew!" For me, Trick or Treat is every single thing I didn't like about Gluttony and last year's Sugar Skull, all in one bottle. On me, it smells like stale sugar, burnt coffee, and bad maple syrup. Oh well, those two bottles will go in the 'swap' box, and I'll keep my fingers crossed for Beaver Moon. -Jilli

A dear friend of mine sent me a bottle of Chaste Moon. In the bottle Ooooh, buttercream frosting. Wet on the skin Sweet, still a bit buttery, but honey and caramel seem to be the strongest notes. Dry on the skin Almond, almond, almond. And a smidge of honey. But mostly almond. After a few hours The faintest lingering trace of honey and almond, but that's it. It's almost completely vanished off of my skin, somehow. Well, it's certainly nice, but not for me. (I don't think anything is going to top Pink Moon for me.) I think I'm going to be swapping it for something. Maybe I can persuade requieminblack to trade credit towards a piece of clothing for my bottle! -Jilli

Thanks to a very dear friend who was at C11, I now have a bottle of Pink Moon. I am KICKING myself for not ordering another bottle. Pink! Pink sugar! Pink flowers! In the bottle, it's a very floral scent, with a sparkling, glimmering edge to it, like the faintest dusting of sugary glitter. Right after application: Wheeee, sugar! Mmmm, very, very sweet. Like a sugar syrup made with an infusion of all pink flowers. Have I mentioned that I love sweet, sugary scents? I do. Dry-down: Not as flowery, but the sugar still has a definate pink tone to it, and the strawberries start peeking out. A bowl of fresh strawberries, dusted with sugar, served in antique china decorated with pink blossoms and black lace. In fact, Pink Moon makes me think of the china I collect. My only regret about Pink Moon (besides not having a second, or even third bottle!), is that it's not a very long-lasting scent on me. It seems to vanish in about two hours, which means I'll need to re-apply. Yeah, I'm going to be frantically searching for more of Pink Moon. -Jilli

First sniff from the bottle: holy crap! Thin Mint cookies and booze! Chocolate and mint and rum, which smells odd, but nice. Freshly applied to my wrist: Hey, where'd the chocolate go? All I get is mint & rum. I don't know if I want to smell like mint & rum. A few hours later: Dammit, dammit, dammit. I now smell like minty suntan lotion. I don't like the smell of suntan lotion to begin with (I'm a goth. I avoid the sun. I carry a parasol all summer. Suntan lotion does not trigger happy thoughts for me), and adding mint to it makes it smell strangely waxy. Curses. I had such high hopes for Spooky. I will probably end up swapping or auctioning it off. -Jilli

I *adored* Angel for years and years, but got lured away by all the BPAL scents to try. However, I think I'm going to start layering Angel with Velvet. -Jilli

I forgot to list Gluttony! I do have it, and unfortunately it smells like stale, sweet coffee on me. -Jilli

I have: Bliss (mmmm, Bliss ...) Velvet Vice (which smells like cherry cough syrup on me, dammit) Dia de los Muertos (and none of the chocolate shows up on me, curses!) I also have the "Creamy chocolate" oil by DSH Perfumes (very nummy). Any other suggestions? -Jilli

For me, it's not a soft floral but a strongly ... red floral. It really does remind me of Harvest moon. I don't get ANY of the foody note, and I REALLY wanted those to be the dominant scents out of this for me. I suspect I will be swapping the second bottle of this that I ordered. One will be enough for me. -Jilli

First application: Yikes! I've been covered in maple syrup. Oh dear. I'm not overwhelmingly fond of maple syrup, so this might be a problem. A few minutes later: No more maple, but some sort of sugary fruit candy. THIS I like. Unfortunately after a few hours, it morphs back into maple syrup. Hmmph. I'm going to keep it and keep trying it, but it is not the One True Sugary Scent I've been looking for. -Jilli

Oooh, nifty! I'll try to review it in the next few days. -Jilli

In the oodles and oodles of imps I got today, there was one labeled 'Peace'. I've searched all over the main BPAL site, and cannot find it anywhere. Not even in Up & Coming. Help? -Jilli

Chaos Theory XLIX My first impression is that this is sweet (amber/vanilla sweet, as opposed to chocolate/sugar sweet) with an overlay of crushed flowers. A less heady-mix of Queen Mab and O, maybe. Now that it's dried down a bit, it's mostly vanilla, with delicate whispers of *something* floral. I have no idea what flowers, and I wish I did. It suggests ivory lace, and a table set with antique china for a very elegant tea party with courtly antique teddy bears dressed in faded silks. It's very pretty. It isn't something that I will despair of never being able to replace, but I do like it. -Jilli ADDED Sept. 5: I'm a big fibber. The scent has grown on me, to the point that it is now my default BPAL scent. I will be despondant when the bottle is finally empty. Aaaaaaand, this only reinforces my desire to eventually get a custom scent from the Lab (when they start accepting orders for them again, that is). -Jilli EDIT: Copied a followup post into this one. --Shollin

Velvet has become my favorite BPAL scent. There is something so subtle and luscious about it that it really does evoke the feel of good-quality silk velvet to me. I've been wearing it a *lot* lately, because it's been too bloody hot here in Seattle to wear clothing made of velvet. I only wish it lasted longer on me. After a few hours, only the faintest breath of it is still around. I suspect that when the seasons change and the weather will permit velvet clothing extravagances again, I will adore this scent even more. -Jilli

I *really* wanted to like this scent. From the description, it sounded like it would be perfect for me. Instead, it smelled overwhelmingly of stale, burnt coffee with too much sugar. After a few hours it still smelled like that, plus (according to The Husband) something that smelled like how my body chemistry changes when I'm extremely tired and stressed. I can't figure out what in Gluttony didn't work for me, because I really like foody scents (mmmm, Bliss! Or Velvet!). However, it works well as a bath oil, when mixed liberally with almond oil. I don't get it. -Jilli

Oh. My. (Pulls out organizer, starts writing information down) Guess I better find another job right away. -Jilli

While I've never found Angel to be overpowering, I will admit that O seems to be slinkier and more subtle. I *really* like it. -Jilli

First impression: My goodness! Roses! A whole boquet of them, right in my face! I like roses, but that was a little overwhelming. 5 minutes later, the rose scent has lessened its overpowering grip on my senses, and I can now pick out the underlying notes of amber and musk, which add a lovely shadowy depth to it. By mid-day, the rose has blended completely with the musk & amber into a dark, complex scent. A blood-red velvet gown worn at twilight sort of scent. I *really* like it, and I'm usually not filled with love for rose perfumes. (sniffs wrist again) mmmmm. yep, I like this. -Jilli

Yep, when I first applied Lilith this morning, my immediate thought was "Oh dear. Grape Kool-Aide." Now that it's dried & settled down a bit, I can smell more of the musk & rose. But, I think it's a touch too fruity for my tastes. I suspect that this will smell *divine* on a good friend of mine, so this imp will go live with her. -Jilli

HA!!!! Fat chance...stop buying pointy toed shoes...give me a break...lol. Jilli, I just had to scrimp money other places to afford the custom scent. I could not give up my pointy toed shoe budget!!! What girl needs 7 black pairs of super painfully pointy toed shoes? ME!!!!! Exactly! Besides, even if I DO manage to cut back on pointy-toe shoe buying, there's still the "Oooh! Must buy MORE lace and/or velvet dresses!" habit that I would have to cut back on ... I don't think I'd have much of a problem "staying faithful" to my custom scent. Heck, I've worn Angel for six years straight before being lured to BPAL. Besides, The Husband is quite enamored of the idea of my having a scent made just for me. Now I just need to quit looking at stuff on eBay ... -Jilli