filigree_shadow

Lavender for sure, and it's very soft. There's something really sour in this (yuzu?) that's distorting that nice soft lavender. It was reminding me of one of those potpourri sachets until it started going powdery. A tart powder. It just keeps getting worse as time goes on. I'm not getting along with this scent very well.

This smells like a combination of vetiver and anise on me. When the anise is too strong for me, which is often, it reminds me too much of licorice. When the anise isn't too strong, which isn't as often as I'd like, it smells like an expensive perfume. It's deep and dry -- not exactly what I'd call "lovely," but certainly intriguing. I can see this scent being terribly sexy on the right person. I would like this quite a lot if the anise wasn't so loud. Alas.

This vanilla bean is sweet and soft, and not too creamy. Smells like a very true vanilla, but it's less beany than I was expecting. The thing is, it's not beany at all, and I thought it would be. (I've smelled tonka bean before, and that one was beany -- it had a definitely planty feel to it.) There's nothing harsh or planty about this. Just a lovely vanilla. And now I'm sure that vanilla is NOT the play-doh or plastic culprit on my skin.

Mmm, this is very nice on me. It has that same sort of sexy feel as Mme. Moriarty but without the slight creaminess. It's definitely more dry, and I love the smokiness of it. It's a dark, dry floral. Not the usual type of floral scent at all. I think this would be a lovely scent for the fall and winter. I like this one a whole lot.

Wet, all I smell is lemongrass, and tons of it. It smells very astringent to me. When it's dry the lemongrass calms down and I can smell some of the other notes, patchouli seems to be fairly prominent. But due to the lemongrass I can't get into this scent. I just really dislike that note.

Eris is extremely sweet; it's candy-like at first. Sort of like a watermelon Jolly Rancher. In the beginning it kinda reminds me of Bordello without the booze, and it's slightly creamier. As it's drying it becomes more floral and a little bit spicy, but it keeps that nice, bright juicy sweetness for quite a while. I have yet to figure out what mimosa actually smells like, but it seems like whenever I see mimosa in the notes I usually like the blend. I like this one a lot.

Something about this scent smells a little bit off to me. I've tried it several times because I always think I should like it, based on the notes. I usually like berries and amber, iris is all right, spices are okay if they're not hot-smelling spices... but something about this one just doesn't work for me. It smells powdery and reminds me of old ladies. The berries don't smell fresh and juicy, they're too distorted in this for my tastes. I normally like ambers, but as I discovered in Hymn to Proserpina, fruits with ambers can be a bad combination on my skin. Unfortunately they're a bad combination for me in this blend, too.

Ooo, I like this scent. Normally the Voodoo Blends aren't oils I'd wear as perfume, but I like this one. It's dark woods and heavy spices, maybe a smidge of civet or a musk that's close to that. It's smells kind of clingy and slithering at the same time. Not sure what wood that is -- maybe cedar. The wood in it reminds me of Cathedral. I can see this being much too heavy to wear as perfume for some people, but I like it. I bet it would smell great on my husband, too.

Woah. Holy moly that's a lot of flowers. The really strong cloying kind. Tons of jasmine. Yow, this is kind of pungent on me. Er, no, this isn't gonna work for me at all. Often I can tolerate florals even if I don't really like them all that well, but I can't even tolerate this one. It's getting washed off.

Pink and soft. This is quite pretty -- I don't get much of a rooty or earthy scent at all. Just softly floral. Not overwhelming, not powdery, not heady. It almost seems a little bit velvety to me, it's so soft. I don't usually like florals, but this is one of the few that I would wear. (I do like peonies, by the way.) This is understated and feminine.

Dark, thick, and kind of sticky. Like syrup and nag champa. This is my favorite BPAL incense blend. This is one of the few BPAL oils that my husband and I both wear. I have a bottle of the old Springtime in Arkham version, and my husband bought a bottle of the new Picnic in Arkham one. The aged version smells a lot deeper and richer and less like syrup -- I definitely prefer the aged version. It's so dark and murky. The fresh version is great too, but it has a slightly foody aspect to it that I don't get out of the aged one. Also I'd like to mention that if you like this, try the Salon's Two Monsters. It has a similar feel.

Very almond-cherry at first, and very sweet. Not at all a bad scent. But then it starts to smell like lemons, and with whatever herbs are in this, it reminds me of a cough drop. When it's still at the lemon-almond stage I don't mind it so much. But after the almond fades out it turns kind of soapy. Like Fruit Loops and soap. Not so great. This is not something I'd wear as perfume, and since I have a couple of the TAL oils that are specifically for love/passion, I don't think I need to keep this one around.

For use only by women. An extremely potent passion blend, used to great effect when you're converting feminine sexual energy into power. When this is wet it smells like peanuts to me. I have no idea why. Kind of salty and very nutty. Then it turns a bit murkier and thicker. There might be something like myrrh in it because I'm getting kind of a dark incense-like scent but it doesn't smell exactly like incense. There are some herbs in this too, but since I usually avoid herbs I'm not good at picking out most of them. Herbs have a tendency to smell sharp and astringent on me, and since there's an aspect to this that smells like that, I assume it's herbs. Could be a little bit of anise. Maybe a smidge of honey too, that could me what's making it smell thick to me. Truth is, I have no idea what's in this. It's not really one of my favorite scents. But it certainly does smell bold and strong. As usual, this Voodoo Blend is not something I'd wear as perfume, but it does make me feel confident. I can certainly believe that it would be potent in ritual work.

This is very strongly floral, kind of heady. It smells yellow to me. Is there some orange in this too? Orange blossom, maybe? Also something slightly woody or resinous. The first time I wore this it did seem to lift my spirits a bit. In all honesty, though, I have to admit that pretty much every BPAL scent lifts my spirits when I wear it. As far as the "rush of good luck," a minute after I applied it I accidentally bumped the table next to me and knocked over a bunch of imps I had lined up on the table. So... not all that convinced about the luck. Or maybe that's just not the type of luck Beth had in mind. Overall much too floral for me to wear as a perfume (I think only two of the Voodoo Blends are ones I'd wear as perfume), but I do enjoy the "lifts the spirit" aspect of this one.

Woohoo! A snowy blend that doesn't smell ENTIRELY of that cold snowy note on me. All the snowy ones smells almost exactly the same to me because that note just screams on my skin. They all wind up smelling like snow and pine. But in this one I can smell something else pretty strongly too: moss! The only problem is that I don't like moss. Except... no, hang on. It's dry now, and I can't smell any moss any more. Darn. I think I might be catching a tiny wisp of something floral and sweet but it's fleeting. I think I'm just going to give up on these snowy ones.

I love dragon's blood resin whenever I smell it, so I'm not very surprised that I like this. When I'm sniffing it in this blend, it smells strongly floral. Like a cross between lilies and lilacs. Very little of that slightly cherry-ish scent I sometimes get from dragon's blood. As it's drying it starts to become deeper and more resinous -- almost sticky. I got that same sort of sticky-resin feel from Love Lies Bleeding. I thought that one was a pink scent; this one seems more like white to me because of the floral scent, except that I still think of it as red. Probably because the oil is red. I do like this, but I like Dragon's Milk and Dragon's Musk better.

One thing I hardly ever talk about is politics. I'm not the type of person who likes to get involved in endless debates between groups of people who will never agree, and all the name-calling and finger-pointing depresses me a lot. I've learned to keep my mouth shut about these things at family functions because both my family and my husband's are Republican and devoutly Catholic. There are certainly aspects of their views that I respect -- they're not fanatics, and they're not ill-informed. They just have different priorities and principles than I have. They don't preach their views at me, and I give them the same courtesy. I'm pretty comfy in this setup. Live and let live, as it were. I'm not a demonstrator, a protestor, or an activist. I write letters and emails, and occasionally I give a little bit of money, but in general I stay away from public rallies and things of that nature. So! Lil' ol' politics-shy filigree_shadow received an email from Barack Obama's exploratory committee a few minutes ago suggesting that I might be interested in attending an event in Springfield, IL, on Saturday morning. They say he will be making an announcement concerning his presidential campaign. I can only guess, judging by the list of locations currently on his tour schedule (Iowa next, and then New Hampshire), that he will, in fact, be announcing that he definitely is going to run. For the first time in my life, I actually want to go to an event like this. Springfield is about three hours away by car. I have no plans for Saturday. The only thing stopping me from going is possibly inclement weather. I've never heard Obama speak in public, and I'd like to. Of course, there's also an Obama Rally in Chicago on Sunday afternoon, which is much closer to me, so perhaps I should just go to that. Still, I'd kinda like to go to the Springfield announcement. It could end up being an historical event.

We didn't wind up going after all. Doors opened at 9 but he wasn't speaking until 10, and we didn't want to stand outside in this cold for two hours. It's 6 degrees right now, not including wind chill, and at 9:00 this morning it was probably 1 F. We're wusses. I'm going to see if I can get a ticket to go to the rally tomorrow afternoon though.

Do you know how old your imp is? I had an older imp of Blood Pearl that didn't smell very strongly of coconut, but when I bought a bottle of fresh Blood Pearl the coconut was a lot stronger.

This smells like that dry papery orris note that I remember from Dance of Death, plus a wonderful sexy musk. The coconut is stronger when it's dry than when it's wet, but it's not a whole lot of coconut, just enough to round out the scent. Something about it smells a little bit like wood to me, but that's probably just the dryness of the orris. I used to have a 10ml of Blood Pearl, but the coconut in it was much stronger than in this little imp I have. I sold the 10ml, and then I read in discussions about Perversion that as it ages the coconut scent in it isn't nearly as strong. I wonder if I had just let that 10ml of Blood Pearl sit in my BPAL box for another year or so it wouuld have been close to the scent in this imp. It's quite pretty.

This smells like a meadow, but a pretty meadow. It smells like very gentle herbs over a background of very light florals. It's breezy and calming. I like this scent quite a lot, and I think it would make an excellent room scent or linen spray. It has a fresh, clean feel to it that kind of reminds me of sheets that have been hung on the line to dry.

Wow. Lemon and mint. When it's wet this is almost achingly sweet on me and smells a lot like candy. The lemon is very strong. This reminds me of cough drops -- it's kind of medicinal when it's dry. Also kind of soapy, for some reason. I'm not too sad this was discontinued because I wouldn't wear this.

When it's wet, I think: "Wow, that's pretty!" I love the musk and bourbon vanilla. It smells so sweet and creamy. But then as it dries the floral notes just get stronger and stronger. It ends up being mainly a lush floral with only a little bit of creaminess underneath. *pout* If it had stayed at that initial wet stage, it coulda been a contender. I like this more than I like many florals... but I also like a few other florals more than this one. It is quite pretty and soft after a couple of hours, so I'll probably keep the imp around to give it another whirl some other day.

The almond scent it very strong at first, but it fades a bit as the oil dries. This burns my nose when I sniff it -- like getting too close to a fire. (Not sure what's causing that, but I don't think I'll be getting my nose that close to my wrist again.) It's much darker than most of the almond scents I've tried. If there are any fruit notes in it, they're dark fruits. It's quite sweet, but it's a bit smoky, too. When it's dry it seems kind of woody and spicy. I like it a lot more after the almond part fades out.

The sandalwood is really nice in this blend. It's not overly dry, it just seems calming and soft. Kind of perfumey. This is definitely a warm scent -- it seems kind of golden. The floral notes are not overbearing at all, in fact they add a lovely depth to the scent. It's just the barest bit hazy from the myrrh. All in all, quite a beautiful scent, but I feel like I'd have to really put on a lot in order for it to be strong enough for me to appreciate it. It would be good for those days when I just want something light and warm.