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BPAL Madness!

filigree_shadow

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Everything posted by filigree_shadow

  1. filigree_shadow

    Josie

    This is a very pretty magnolia scent. It's lovely with the peaches. It smells so... southern. Light and not too heady at all. I like this one. Smells like springtime. I don't go for florals much, and I can't see myself needing a whole bottle of this, but I'll hang on to the decant. Hopefully I'll remember to wear it in the spring.
  2. filigree_shadow

    Now Winter Nights Enlarge

    I automatically try anything that has red musk in it. I like that musk a lot. It's a prominent note on my skin (and it lasts forever), but I enjoy it a lot so that's all right. The difficulty here is that I end up wanting a LOT of red musk blends, and my rational thinking tells me I don't need tons of them. Pick a few that are particularly good and very different from each other, and let the other ones go. So although it's a note I love, it's also a note I have to be pretty ruthless about. Except with this one. Surely I have room in my BPAL box for one more. This one is fabulous. It's deep and smooth, and the red musk is there but not too loud. I love the patchouli, honey, nutmeg, and caramel with it. It's a much more complex-smelling scent than other red musk blends I have. It was a little bit harsh when it was wet, but give it a chance! When it dries it warms up into something spectacular. I think it's beautiful.
  3. filigree_shadow

    The Black Temple Burlesque Troupe

    Mmmmm, nice. Really nice. A dry cocoa scent that's not dusty at all. It's sweet, with a lovely musky undertone. It doesn't smell foody or like a big chocolate bar, which for me is a plus. I like cocoa scents but not chocolate scents too much. I find this scent warm and comforting, and entirely enjoyable. For some scents, I think it's good for spring, or it's good for the daytime, or I'd wear it when I'm feeling cranky, or whatever. This isn't one of those. This is something I'd wear it all the time. And guess what? I think I will. Yep, I could use a bottle of this one.
  4. filigree_shadow

    Hilma

    This smells like jasmine tea on me. Honestly? Not such a bad thing. I kinda like jasmine tea. Unfortunately for me, jasmine is one of those notes that's really loud on my skin, and even though I'm tired of it after about 10 minutes it likes to hang about for hours. So this one doesn't work for me. But I imagine that if I didn't amp the jasmine so much I'd probably like it. It's got a little spice to it that smells good with that tea note.
  5. filigree_shadow

    Crib Girls

    Er, lemon-flavored throat lozenge. Really. Which is better than when it was wet, which was Lemon Pledge. I expected lots of honey, but that's not what I got. It calms down when it's dry, but it doesn't seem to be entirely losing the tart lemony scent. Honey and I usually don't get along all that well, but I keep trying blends with honey in, just in case one works. Looks like I'm going to have to keep looking...
  6. filigree_shadow

    Mother Shub's Spiced Lait de Chèvre

    I didn't get along with the Egg Nog perfume -- it smelled strange and plastic-y on my skin. But I was willing to give this one a whirl because coffee plus egg nog sounded great. I'm happy to report that this does not smell plastic-y on me at all! I'm very pleased about that. I was afraid I'd be disappointed with this. The spices are mild, and the liqueur scent is just barely there. Since I can't wear Egg Nog, this one is a very nice substitute! It smells warm and comforting and yummy.
  7. filigree_shadow

    Countess Willie

    Very nice! I was worried about the red ginger (that has given me some allergic issues in the past), but it seems to be fine. I love the red musk with the fruits -- gives the scent a good balance. Sometimes red musk can overwhelm. Not in this one, though. It's sweet and red-smelling, and the musk is actually rather gentle. Quite lovely. I'd like a bottle of this one.
  8. filigree_shadow

    Velvet Tiki

    Floral, fruity, and a little fizzy. (Or maybe that's because most of the "Tiki" scents smell fruity and fizzy to me so that's what I was expecting.) The fruit isn't overly sweet and the floral notes in it are lovely. It's just a little... tart, I guess. Slightly a bit too YAY CHEERFUL for my personality. I feel like if I tried to wear this someone would say to me, "What in the world makes you think you can get away with wearing that scent?" I like it, but maybe on someone a little younger and a little less crotchety than I am.
  9. filigree_shadow

    Velvet Clown

    Foody + rum but it doesn't smell fresh. I guess that's the cigar smoke and greasepaint. I wanted to say something like this smells a little dirty, but it doesn't smell dirty, it smells like the absence of fresh. lol. Not dirty per se, just not particularly clean. I don't think I smell any licorice in here, mostly sweetness and rum with some smoothness underneath. It's not a bad scent, and my husband says he likes it, but it doesn't suit me personally. If someone sitting next to me on the train were wearing this I wouldn't object at all. It's just not what I want to smell for several hours in a row.
  10. filigree_shadow

    Pumpkin V (2009)

    Argh. I read the description for this and was hoping for a lovely pumpkin/coffee combination. I thought that sounded fantastic. What did I get? Practically a spice single note. There's maybe a little bit of coffee in there, perhaps a tiny bit of chocolate. My nose has to be right next to my wrist to smell it, though. When my wrist is the normal distance from my nose, all I smell is spice. That's it. It's not a bad spicy scent, it's fine. Just really not what I wanted out of this at all. I'm pretty disappointed.
  11. filigree_shadow

    Pumpkin II (2009)

    I'm a huge rosewood fan, and I love pumpkin too, so this one was kind of a no-brainer for me. I wasn't sure what they'd smell like together, but it turns out that I can't really smell much pumpkin in this at all (maybe a wee smidgen giving it some smoothness) so I didn't have to worry. I think just adding tea rose to this would have made it too rosy for me, but adding sandalwood as well keeps it balanced. Not too rosy, not too woody. Very nice. I'm keeping my bottle for sure.
  12. filigree_shadow

    Velvet Pink Kitty

    This one smells like one of the Tikis to me. Fruity and fizzy. The problem with scents like this is that I can't really tell them apart too much. The all just sort of smell fruity and fizzy. It's a nice scent and it smells exactly like the description, it's just not my cup of tea personally.
  13. filigree_shadow

    Agapē

    I wasn't interested in this when it came out because I don't usually like carnation, sweet pea is generally a killer note for me, and apple is too overpowering. Well, I was a dipsquat. This doesn't smell like any of that stuff I don't like. I mean, yeah, there is apple in it, but it's not overpowering at all. More like an undercurrent rather than an in-your-face note. It smells great with the other sweet fruity scents and the vanilla cream. I'm a dummy. Should have gotten more of this when I had the chance. It'd be perfect to wear in the spring and summer.
  14. filigree_shadow

    Lulu

    Very perfumey. Like something my mom used to wear in the 70s. Before I checked the notes I thought maybe it had opium poppy in it or something -- that's how perfumey it smells on me. It kind of smells like a metallic floral. The gardenia comes out when it's dry, but for me that's not really a plus.
  15. filigree_shadow

    Milk Chocolate Buttercream

    This one smells great at first (just like the description) but then turns into that strange plastic-y scent on my skin. It's not the oil's fault, it's my skin's fault. It does this a lot. I'm used to it. Still disappointing when it happens, but not unexpected. I have other chocolate scents that work fine, so I probably didn't need another one anyway.
  16. filigree_shadow

    Fire Phoenix

    Well, it seems like I can smell a bit of the lemon that some other people have talked about, but I sort of think that might be my nose getting confused by the sarsaparilla. To me Fire Phoenix smells like musk and sarsaparilla. It's sweet and musky, and somehow it manages to smell cute, too. That's probably from the pink pepper, I bet. It smells a little bit spicy, but not hot. The spice isn't like cinnamon, more like pepper. I like this one. Not enough to want a bottle of it, but certainly enough to keep the decant.
  17. filigree_shadow

    Bah!

    I like this a bunch when it's wet -- dark coffee. Lots and lots of coffee. Not much mocha, and I don't think I can smell any whiskey either. But, when it's dry, it has an odd artificial-smelling scent to it. I got the same sort of strange plastic-y scent from Midway and a few other BPAL perfumes too. There must be some note or some combination that just doesn't do well with my skin chemistry. I'm uber-picky about coffee scents because I don't like bitter perfumes, and the coffee note has a tendency to be too bitter on me. It's not in this one, which makes me doubly sad about whatever it is that's doing that artificial thing when it's dry. I would have really liked this if it hadn't changed.
  18. filigree_shadow

    Berry Moon 2009

    Berries and fig and a bit of musk. Smells exactly like the description! I don't normally like honey all that well, but when it's with fig usually it behaves. Seems to be behaving just fine in this one. Also, the berries in this were too tart when I first got the decant, but now they're fine. They've mellowed out a bit. I'm glad I decided to hang on to this one for a while. It went from being an "Eek, no!" scent to a "Hey, I wouldn't mind having a bottle" scent.
  19. filigree_shadow

    When the Winter Chrysanthemums Go

    Er... what? I was expecting mums. Like, Mum Moon mums. I smell mint and cold. That's it. No flowers. It's soft for a minty/cold scent, not as bold as they usually are, but seriously. I wouldn't have guessed this had a floral note in it. Guess I'll be sticking to Mum Moon.
  20. filigree_shadow

    Rat

    Goodness, this one doesn't seem very popular. Hunh. It's not spectacular on me, but it's certainly not hideous. Bitter wood with a touch of orange. The orange is a nice touch -- lightens up the scent a lot. This isn't the dark dank basementy vetiver, it's the dry smoky grassy kind. (On me, anyway.) I think this is a bit too dark and masculine for me to wear, but I do like it. It's not what I want to smell 24-7, but I don't find it objectionable.
  21. filigree_shadow

    Earth Phoenix

    For me, this scent might have been aptly described thusly: "Moist soil. The end." It's a musky soil, but still soil. Can't really smell any of those other lovely notes in it at all. Woe.
  22. filigree_shadow

    Diable en Boîte

    I like nearly all the notes listed in this one, and I couldn't wait to try it. It's a little darker and muskier than I was expecting, but I like it a lot. It's a comforting scent to me. One of those ones that's hard to describe but smells good and feels like it's at home on me. There's something in it that's just a touch bitter, and I tend to prefer smooth over bitter. This one has a little bite to it. I think that'll keep it from being a bottle purchase for me, but I think it's something that other people will really enjoy. Also, this scent is one of those decidedly BPAL scents. Like, I could smell this on someone and say, "Yep. That's a BPAL oil. For sure." I think it's because of the red musk, which really seems to be unique to BPAL (and one of my favorite notes).
  23. filigree_shadow

    Pink Snowballs

    I agree with that whole sentence completely. This smells like BPAL's Snow White and Arcana's Rapunzel got together for an afternoon tryst. I approve. Smells fantastic. Lovely, soft, creamy, and not too rosy. My husband likes it a lot as well.
  24. filigree_shadow

    White Chocolate and Strawberry

    Well, I tried. Didn't have high hopes because strawberry notes don't agree with my skin chemistry (they tend to go acidic or plastic-ish). The strawberry in this is much better than in other blends I've tried, and it's behaving itself pretty well. It's nice and round and kinda creamy. Not acidic at all. I'm pleased to find a strawberry blend that's wearable. This scent isn't quite my cup of tea personally, but I think it smells good! I've had it in and out of my swap box at least 4 times because I keep changing my mind about wanting to keep it. But I don't wear it, so... probably it should go. EDIT: Aaaaaand my husband says keep it. He likes it. OK, back out of the swap box. I think this decant has been in and out of the swap box more than any other one I've ever had.
  25. filigree_shadow

    Ol' Roswell Cemetery

    Eek. I should have looked at the description before I put this on. My skin amps dirt notes like you wouldn't believe. Whoa. I smell no flowers, no nothing except sweet black dirt. That's it. And there's a lot of it. I can't wear dirt scents for exactly this reason. I'd love it if my skin would tamp that down to a slight undercurrent rather than OMG YAY A DIRT NOTE JOY JOY JOY WE LOVE THIS AND WANT TO SMELL LIKE NOTHING ELSE EVER, which is what my skin always does. Sadly my nose does not appreciate the dirt scent so much.
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