batsy

In the vial: Oh War, she who I could smell through the packaging, why do you smell like cat pee in the vial?! Not to mention amoxicilin, to which I am allergic? *curses loudly* On the skin: Okay, there we go. You have redeemed yourself, my red-haired sister. Still a little off; I'm not sure if it's the bane of my exsistence aka honeysuckle or the patchouli. Or the fact that Shadwell is quite close to the test spot. Anyway, the redness of this scent boldly makes itself present. I'm so glad the initial scare was just that. I love War and wanted it to work on me so badly! Even with the honeysuckle, I can wear this. A definite keeper!

In the vial: Yargh. Wood and dust. On the skin: Not much else. I can barely get any throw off this one, other then woods. And not a good woodsy scent. My skin ate it and there was nothing left to smell.

In the vial: water-down tea with milk. If ever there was a aquatic-foody, this is it. On the skin: Ooo, now there we go! It's very very sticky like... well this is a stretch, but salt-water taffey. No, seriously. It's smells just like that to me. And carmel corn at the beach. I really like this one, which is a huge surprise! Yum! *gnaws arm*

In the vial: Lemon, leather, and lilac. Not bad. Kinda sexy. On the skin: I get honey. Where's that from?! Or is it the oakmoss and vanilla doing that? Anyway, it's very sickly sweet; I'm sure that's the leather and musk. I could imagine Crowley smelling like this. It's rather hot. Definetly a keeper.

In the vial: *coughs* Charred wood and smoke. Whoa... ouch, my nose. It's very acrid. On the skin: Not a heck of a lot of change, but now I smell BBQ sauce. Probably gunpowder too. Yeah, I dunno. This is probably one of the most masculine scents BPAL's ever made. It's slightly mellowing on the drydown, now reminding me of the inside of a Vegas casino at full capacity. I'll have to give it a second try some time.

In the vial: watery amber, grass and ozone. With a touch of florals. On the skin: It's hard to tell anything different then what I've already listed; I tried it once before and it had almost a musk quality to it, in a good way. It smells a lot like the Oregon coast after a storm, honestly. The florals and the fact that it's an aquatic don't bother me and I find I like wearing this one. Not heavy throw, just enough.

In the vial: Honey and tea, in an chilly aquatic sense. It smells awesome and I can't describe it, really. On the skin: I'm guessing that's the primrose. It's like this sweet little scent, very very aquatic, that charms the pants off me. Plus the whole Selkie deal which endears it more. I wish it lasted longer; the throw on me is very minimal and I'd have to bathe in it to make it last all day. But anyway, one of the very few aquatics I love/can wear!

In the vial: Sugary apples, kinda like those cinnamon apples you get in TV dinners, if that makes sense. Mixed with vial floral perfume. Or is that toliet bowl cleaner? On the skin: Pretty much the same, with a big pop of oranges on me. All citrus on the drydown, which is nice, and a big smack of cinnamon and sugar. I wish it did smell like ketchup, though. It's great for a laugh.

In the vial: that's cedar. Like damp cedar chips. On the skin: Hrm. This isn't appealing to me; I think it's just an over-dose of cedar. And the bay leaf. Neither of which are scents I'm all 'yay!' over. This can go to the swaps.

In the vial: Yeah, that's a complex mix. Musk, fir, mint. It's kinda spicey. On the skin: It reminds me of Jabberwocky actually. All fir and mint. As it dries down, the orange blossom begins to pop heavy, mixed with the black musk before I suddenly smell Fruit Loops. What is with everything smelling like Fruit Loops on me?! Yup, orange Fruit Loops. Argh. It's honestly a male-y scent, if you get past the Fruit Loops. I actually like it, contrary to the five minutes of smelling like kiddie cereal before moving into another phase. I'd keep it.

In the vial: tangerine and saffron, with a hint of black amber. On the skin: I think it's the saffron and black amber... It's so hard, because at first I was very "ahh no!" but on the dry down it's gotten sweet and musk-ish to me. I do smell the cedar and vetiver. I wish I could smell the tangerine. This one's a tough call. I'll have to try it again.

In the vial: Darkness personafied. All smoke, benzoin and balsam. On me: Oh gods yes! I wish I had a bottle of this. It's all resins and smoke, reminded me of Brimstone but without the ashes at first. It reminds me of musky anger in a bottle. It's sex, darkness and yum all at the same time!

In the vial: honey and musk. On the skin: still lots of musk. The cognac likes me and is popping. On the dry down the geranium is fighting with the tuberose and it's not a happy combo on my skin. Held promise but not for me.

In the vial: black musk like whoa. On the skin: Yay! The amber strikes back, making this a delicious juxtaposition between light/dark! This is hot and sinful. This is better then I could imagine. All smokey and golden. Sign me up for a bottle!

In the vial: a dribble of amber and loads of red musk On the skin: the sourness of the roses counteracts the sweet amber. This is a hard one for me. I like it in the vial but on me something happens. I'm gonna blame the roses and musk. Plus I think is is a really old imp, because it's got a hand-written tag tied onto it. Never seen one of these before. Anyway, it's a hit/miss depending on the day, for me.

In the vial: yeah, that's vanilla with a hint of orchid blossom. On the skin: On me this is sour. With a butter note. And a floral backdrop. All are strong in a not-so-cool-to-my-nose way. Rats. Still an extremely interesting blend. (And now on the dry down it smells like My Little Pony plastic on me. There goes that.)

In the vial: honeydew melon, with citrus. It's like green in a bottle. On the skin: It's a dry aquatic, which is totally an oxymoron but true for this blend. You can feel the scoured san all dry and the twisted trees surrounding an oasis of green. The freesia stands out on me, with a backnote of neroli and honeydew. It is alien in nature. Quite smashing!

In the vial: This is a green apple martini with a big drop of lime! On the skin: The above doesn't hold true on my skin. The mint is strong to me, but everything else disappears. In fact, the whole thing just gotten eaten by my skin to the point where I can barely get any throw. Well, except the mint. That's still there. Oh well.

The legendary site of the Viking colony in Newfoundland founded circa 985. Crisp northern wind blowing over loganberry, wild roses, prairie crocus, iris versicolor Linné, mountain avens, yellow birch bark, mayflower and maple leaf. In the vial: berries and juniper. Vikings ahoy! On the skin: Well, the iris is strong, as well as the crocus, on me. It's an aquatic floral befitting of Vinland. It's pretty light, I have to be right up on it to get the throw. Quite lovely. On the drydown the bark/woodsy note comes out to play. Eventually the roses join as well.

In the bottle: sweet sweet currants, with a buttery undertone. On the skin: The roses truly come out, deep and rich and sweet, almost a red wine-like scent. I normally don't go in for rose scents, but this one hit me just right by not being a dominant floral/rose scent. It's sweet as it dries on my skin and lasts a long time with good throw. It's not a true foody, but will appeal to rose lovers and foodies! I sniffed this at C13 and fell in love, promptly bought a bottle!

Oh boy, the oil is red. In the bottle: gardenias'n'cream with a bit of spice. On the skin: There seems to be an oriental-esque quality to all three of these, which is kinda fascinating. Most definitely a floral, with gardenia and a hint of jasmine. I think this blend is the strongest of the three; there's a LOT of rose (to my nose anyway) as it dries, which is very befitting of the City of Roses. Almost like the Rose Garden in the summer when it's dry and all the roses are in full-bloom. That's what this one evokes. If you love rose scents, you'll want this one! Thank you Beth, for capturing Portland's roses in a bottle!

In the bottle: Bamboo, all watery and similar to Dragon Moon. I don't know why lychee nut popped into my head but it did. On the skin: It's a green-y Asian aquatic. That's a mouthful. There's a hint of spice that starts to pop when it hits my skin that's nice. It's got an underlying floral component that I'm not sure if it's jasmine; I think it is jasmine, the more it comes out on the drydown. it's a really beautiful scent, all spooky like I've been literally shanghai'd in the tunnels.

In the bottle: Jasmine, light and sweet. On me: See, jasmine and I do not play well together. It overwhelms me. It's a floral blend, no doubt about that, very evocative of a feminine ghost plying her trade on old-time Portland streetcorner. It's pretty, that's for sure!

Thanks so much!

Whom do you email/contact about TAL orders? Specifically bottles missing from orders...