filigree_shadow

I get a lot of pink grapefruit from this at first, and just a very faint whiff of florals. As it dries the grapefruit isn't quite so showy, and the florals are more pronounced. It smells sweet and rather tropical to me. It's bright and cheerful, and the whole scent smells pink. Also I can't really tell there's any lemon verbena in here at all, which is a good thing for me. When it's dry it's a little too floral for me, but I like it better than most other florals. It's quite pretty.

Sweet, light green, and soft. The pear is gentle in this, and mostly it seems like a supersweet chamomile to me. I wasn't sure what lettuce would smell like in perfume, but it seems like it's giving the scent a watery crispness. It has a watery feel to it, but I wouldn't call it primarily aquatic. That part of the scent isn't strong. And surprisingly, the sweet pea doesn't ruin it for me at all. This isn't my usual kind of scent, but it does smell good. It seems like a great scent for Cancer, to me.

I know a lot of people think that cat-macro-speak is really cute and funny, and I'm glad that people are enjoying themselves. Personally, though, I really dislike it. A lot. It was sort of cute the first time I saw a cat macro about a year ago, but it got old fast, and now it's pretty much into clenched teeth territory. It wasn't so bad when the macro thread first came out and it was contained just to that thread, but that way of writing and arranging words/letters has now leaked into posts in other threads and it's been showing up on the LJ BPAL communities too. It's gone beyond just being annoying for me. I can ignore it if it happens once in a while, but all of a sudden it's everywhere. I guess that means I have to avoid the forums and the LJ communities for a while. It's kind of weird because I feel like I've put up with lots of things -- being swaplifted, being snarked at, trying to avoid the drama -- and in the end it was cat-macro-speak that ended up being more than I could deal with.

Judging by other reviews I'd say this smells different on me than it smells on most people, but... I think French Love is the best-smelling oil of all the Voodoo Blends. It's one of the few that I'd wear as perfume. It's a spicy but smooth dragon's blood. Sometimes dragon's blood smells kind of sticky and sweet on me, but it doesn't in this one. It's all smooth and wonderful. I don't know what spice that is with it... actually, that might not be true. It's a little bit floral and a little bit spicy, so it might be carnation. It does smell sort of like carnation to me. I already have a bottle of this, and I love it. It's such a great scent -- comforting and alluring all at the same time.

At first I smell a very faint tinge of pear and sweet pea that is amping into the stratosphere. I love lilies and heliotrope, and I like pear too. But sweet pea goes nutso on my skin. It's really not behaving itself at all. When it's dry I can smell lily a little bit, but not enough to save the scent for me. Mouse's Long and Sad Tale is the only BPAL blend I've found so far that works on me even though it has sweet pea in it. I was hoping Juliet would be another exception to the rule, but sadly no.

Sweet mercy. That is STRONG. She is not kidding about that "spiked hard with eucalyptus" part. Fortunately the eucalyptus dies down after a bit and then it smells more like violets and mint. That part is actually not so bad. But I really strongly dislike the blast of eucalyptus at the beginning. I swear it was so strong that when I sniffed my wrist I thought it was going to singe my eyebrows off. It was like a raging bonfire of eucalyptus. I'm liking the violet/mint combination well enough that I'm thinking about keeping this imp around. It seems like a good scent for a hot day, so maybe I'll give it a whirl one of these days in July and August. Some day when I'm feeling really, really brave.

A curious blend of rose and light apples. It smells better than it sounds, I think. The ylang ylang doesn't make it go too sweet at all on me. Interesting... I don't usually like rose or apple scents, but I like them together in this. The apple blossom keeps the scent bright so the rose doesn't remind me of an old lady perfume. This smells young and fresh. Yeah, I like this. I'm surprised that I do, but I do. I'm even sort of wishing I had a bottle of this.

Nobility and haughtiness befitting the Antichrist: sage, carnation and cedar with lavender, vanilla, white musk and leather. This one and Tombstone are my favorite BPAL GC scents that my husband wears. It smells GREAT on him and suits him really well. (Although, to be honest, I can't imagine a man this wouldn't suit.) The leather is pretty strong in it, and the cedar and vanilla are wonderful with it. The whole thing smells a little rugged and manly. Obviously, I really like this one a LOT. It's not one I'd wear myself, but I'm glad my husband has a bottle of it!

The black narcissus is lovely in this and smells great with the opoponax and labdanum. It's dark and hazy without being smoky. It smells kind of lazy and languid to me. Narcissus has a very particular scent, and I can see how some people might not like this if they don't like narcissus. However, I like that flower -- it's one of the few I do like. This one's a keeper.

These Muses don't seem to be working for me at all. Melpomene is no exception. It smells like powdery orange blossom and sharp lavender on me, with some sort of dry wood behind it. I guess that's the cypress. It has a significant edge to it that I don't really care for. It's a little medicinal. *sigh* I wish just one of the Muses would work for me.

This smells extremely familiar to me, but I have no idea what it reminds me of. I feel like it's on the tip of my tongue. It reminds me of lilacs more than a little, but more like lilac perfume rather than the actual flower. It's turning kind of powdery on my skin, which isn't a good thing. It mostly smells like a floral-scented dusting powder to me. I'm uber-picky about florals and this one doesn't make the cut for me. It's really unusual, though, and I'm glad I tried it.

As soon as I opened the imp I got a big whiff of melon. I put it on my skin, and the melon scent morphed into something like cucumber. Green, sweet, and a little juicy. This smells fresh and pleasant. Not clean like laundry detergent, but clean like pure. When it's dry it has more of a floral aspect to it, something bright and almost watery. Very slightly tart. I end up with the overall impression that it smells odd. I'm not sure why. As I was sniffing it while it was drying down, it seemed like I kept liking it. But when it's dry there's something about it that's off-putting to me. I wish I knew what it was. It's like there's an underlying green-ness. Eucalyptus, maybe? Also, it's unbelievably strong on me. I feel like someone would be able to smell it from a mile away. I really can't make up my mind whether I like this. I liked the melon & cucumber stages. But when it's dry whenever I sniff it I feel like I'm getting a sudden headache. It's sort of weird.

OK. I now have 3 BPAL blends that should have smelled terrible on me but turned out to be wonderful. Whippoorwill, R. M. Renfield, and now Robin Goodfellow. I really dislike herbs in perfumes, and sage is like the kiss of death. Moss is generally blech, too. However... when these notes all come together the end result is gorgeous. I thought this oil smelled horrifying in the imp and I was reluctant to even try it. When I first put it on I thought it was terrible. Smelled like wet weeds. Then I ignored it for about 10 minutes and came back to it. Woah! What a difference. The musk and moss came out and stomped out the herbs, and it turned into a rich, deep mossy scent. Dark, and with an edge. I'm still amazed that I like this so much. It's not something I'd wear every day, or for every occasion, but I will definitely wear it.

Hunh. Not what I was expecting. This smells kind of foodie on me. A bit like caramel and amber. I can't smell any floral notes at all here. The pink pepper gives it a really tiny kick but it's barely noticeable. Mostly it seems like a really smooth, warm amber. I'm not complaining! Golden amber is my favorite amber -- it never goes powdery on me. Just smells deep and rich. The pink pepper comes out a little more when it's dry, and yes, it is definitely PINK. Wow. This is a surprise winner. Wasn't sure I'd like it, but I really do. It has great throw, too.

If lilac musk is what I'm smelling here, I like it. (I don't think I've ever smelled lilac musk before.) This isn't something I'd describe as "floral" at all, but there's a very slight floral undertone. My overall impression is that this is mostly a masculine scent. Unfortunately when it's dry the myrtle comes out strongly. That might be great except I don't like myrtle. It smells herby and dusty. This doesn't smell foodie AT ALL on me. Sadly this one isn't going to work for me. I think the myrtle and the blackberry leaf make it a little too dry/dusty for me. If it was mostly tonka and lilac musk on my skin I'd probably love it. However, apparently my skin had other plans.

At first it's an extraordinarily sweet rose. Not the creamy soft kind of rose that I like. But, it's also not soapy or artificial-smelling. As it dries it deepens and isn't quite so sweet. It's quite light, too. I don't like rose scents that knock you over with their rose-ness. This one warms up into a pretty rose scent that isn't very strong. It has a faintly dewy quality and smells pure and rather innocent. I'm not usually a fan of floral scents, and particularly not rose scents, but this is nice. I don't think it's for me, but I'd love to smell this on someone else.

I'm back already! I couldn't even stay away for a week. I think I've developed a tolerance. I can mostly just scroll by now, and it doesn't annoy me any more. I still hope it's a phase, though. Yep. If you want to see lots of examples of this sort of thing, try cuteoverload.com. I can't look at that site without wanting to claw my eyes out, but apparently lots of people think it's great. The macro/lolcats thing has kind of developed a life of its own and it's all over the internet now instead of being confined to certain sites.

Yeah. Me too. (About the Internet-speak, I mean.) I promise, I really do have a sense of humor. I even think some of the cat macros are funny. I laughed at the one that showed a cat hitting a keyboard with the caption "F5! F5! F5!" But the baby talk and purposely stupid-sounding grammar... that's just not my thing. However, since I'm fully aware that I'm rather a killjoy on this and many people love it, I'll just politely excuse myself until things return to normal.

Night-blooming flowers are usually pretty good ones for me, and these are good! I like the florals in this a lot. However, the herbs are not really my fave. I bet if the herbs weren't there I'd probably like to wear this one. It has sweet, pretty, fresh feel.

When I opened the bottle I thought, "That smells like 70s glam-style perfume." On, it smells very traditional. A classic floral perfumey perfume. It has an odd weedy sort of smell at the very beginning when it's wet, but it dries down into being a dark floral. The oakmoss is a really nice touch in it. It's not heady or white or green or lush, it's ... perfumey. Apparently I'm unable to come up with a better word to describe it. It's not strong, though. I was afraid it would be knock-you-over strong, and it's not. Not at all. It sticks very close to my skin. I really wanted to hate this perfume because of the person who "inspired" it, but I don't. As a rule florals aren't my favorite kinds of perfumes, but I do like this one. It smells mature and womanly.

I'll be honest: I couldn't wait to smell this. Ketchup? I had to know what that would smell like in perfume. It's really different on my skin than it is in the bottle. What it smells like, on me, is very sweet fruit perfume. It's so sweet it's twinkly. It reminds me a bit of champagne. I don't smell anything even similar to ketchup at all. There is something in it that makes me think of tomato leaf, but it's not prominent. To me it smells mostly fruity and sparkly. I completely agree with the people who said it's like a wine spritzer. It smells fresh and zesty. I like it!

When I first put it on it smelled extremely masculine. It reminded me a lot of a cologne that young men used to wear in the 80s. It has that sporty, strong scent. When it's dry, though, it's a little different. It still smells masculine to me, but the ozone isn't nearly as strong and I can smell some of the other notes. It really, honestly, smells like rain. Like when you're standing outside just after it has rained and everything is wet. After quite a while the amber comes out and really rounds out the scent. I like it a lot, and I'm glad I bought this bottle for my husband. [ETA] I am editing my review on 12/3/2012 to add how it smells when it's aged. The best way for me to describe it right now is cottony and watery. It smells like aquatics and fresh linens. Not masculine anymore, but fresh and clean. I still like it.

At first Selkie smells a little bit like water and a little bit like fruit, which confuses me. I have no idea what any of the listed notes smell like, except water and honey, so I can't even tell you what I'm smelling. It's smells sort of like watery grass. When it's dry it's a little less water and a little more planty. I'm afraid that's about the best I can do. It smells fine, but it's not really my kind of scent.

I'm really mad at this scent, and I'll tell you why: I'm very picky about florals, but I like every single one of those floral notes. This scent should have been a shoe-in for me. I could wear lilac scents all day long like a carefree happy-go-lucky lilac-loving fool, and I'm always on the lookout for a great new lilac perfume. This one is not that perfume. If I had to guess what's causing the problem, I'd say it's the frankincense. It's giving the whole thing a sweet haze that I really don't care for at all. I was looking for the nostalgia associated with growing up with a lilac bush right outside my bedroom window, and what I'm getting is a distorted lilac scent that gives me the overall feeling that something's just not right. So, no. This isn't what I'm looking for.

If I'm going to wear a strong floral floral, of the traditional floral ilk, I prefer for the flower to be violets. So this scent starts off heavily on the plus side right away, since I can smell the violet in it. The rose is behaving itself magnificently in this (attar of rose usually does, on me) and instead of being overwhelming or soapy or sharp, it smells luxurious and velvety. The white pear gives it some sparkle, and the freesia makes the whole scent smell kind of blue. I think this is an extraordinarily appropriate scent for the emotion of longing. It smells a little sad but it hasn't lost that glimmer of hope. When you long for something, you haven't really stopped hoping that you might one day have it, true? If you'd given up on it ever happening, you would just be sad and miserable. But longing... that requires hope. This smells like that, pretty much perfectly. Wistful, a bit romantic, and a wish for something more. To be perfectly honest I adore this scent, and if that makes me a dopey romantic, so be it.