kayte

I get warmth from Black Pearl, but not sun. To me it is a darker, toasted coconut and hazelnut, a "brown" smell that I want to wear when it rains. I don't get much of the Iris or the musk. It's a sketchy oil for me. Sometimes I put it on and really like it, sometimes I put it on and wish I hadn't. I have no strong feelings about it. It's not in the swap pile yet, but if some other scents come along that blow it out of the water it could potentially end up there.

I don't know what to make of Somnus. I agree that it smells like lavender and jasmine, and these are two scents that I am not really friends with (especially jasmine). I've worn it to bed a few times now, and haven't really noticed any improvement in the deepness or restfulness of my sleep, but it is one of those situations where I will keep trying rather than swapping it off. Maybe continued use will incite a Pavlovian response where lavender leads to sleep.

In the imp it is a bit citrus-y (lemon? grapefruit?) and much like big juicy fruits. I don't smell anything that shouts out to me as being especially floral. Wet it doesn't change all that much. Dry it is soft, light, and airy, I'm finding it difficult to pick out any particular scent. It is very ozone-y, the whole "mountaintop breezes" and "wet jungle" smell. After awhile the amber comes out and it really is pretty, soft, and warm smelling, reminiscent of Florence but much lighter, less *mature*. I don't even really know what to say about this one. It is so soft and so hard to pick out individual scents, but what I do smell is gorgeous. I really like it.

Simply put, mmmmm laundry!! Smells like dryer sheets, or perhaps that short-lived but much-adored (by me) Bounce Fabric Refresher spray. Maybe that is why, while I like it fine on me, I really, really want to put it in an oil burner to scent my apartment, and make a linen spray out of it to freshen things up. Mmm, so nice.

When doing initial sniff-tests of my order, my friend told me to "never wear this," but she was wrong! In the imp it is juicy, fruity, and I smell the wine. Wet the wine and currant come out, and this scent is very red. Dry the oil still smells wet! It is quite fruity, like big juicy overripe berries, and I can easily picture them "bleeding" red juice all over my hands. The wine and currant are still present, and the whole impression I get is just... dangerous. I like it a lot, a very evocative scent.

A celebration of the Bone Church of Prague. Frankincense, rosewood, lily, and geranium rose. When I reviewed Eclipse, I wasn't sure if it was the frankincense or the heliotrope that put me off... Kostnice confirms that it is the frankincense. Oy vey. In the imp it is a thick spicy scent undercut by a light, dainty pink rose. Wet I realize that it is in fact frankincense and not heliotrope that hates me. Um. Between this and Eclipse, remind me to swear off the Frankincense. Dry the frankincense is just so strong, and the rose is there, light and teasing me on my skin, and I keep hoping it will pop out and take its rightful place on top, but to no avail; the frankincense kills rose dead. Bah, this one is a failure.

Eclipse is so rank on me. In the imp it's strong almonds with a dab of cinnamon. Wet...umm. Not promising. Dry is pretty much... yeah, no. I tried Eclipse twice; the first time three friends told me I smelled like an "old woman" and I thought I smelled like a man - either way, that's pretty doubleplusungood. The second time was a bit better, with more almond and a dry-down to a sharp cinnamon that I liked much better than the first time I wore it; however, the "old" smell of attempt #1 was definitely still present. I don't know if it is the frankincense or the heliotrope (not sure what they smell like on their own, but I suspect the frankincense), but it is so not working for me. The smell is really familiar to me, but in a horrifically nauseating way. It's strong and powdery, and Eclipse has the dubious distinction of being the first BPAL I have washed off. Twice.

To me this smells exactly like Santa Eularia des Riu (herbs & lavender), but with added mint. I like the added mint, it gives the scent a cool tone, but the mint dies over a little while and I am left with the herbs and flower. It doesn't smell especially "green" to me, which is surprising given everyone else's reviews. This is my first sample of it, so I will try again later and see if anything changes.

In the imp - Almonds! Wet - Still almonds, but not nearly so strong as in the imp. Dry - It dried really fast, and smells lovely. It's really light, but so nice. Hard to make out specific scents, I think the almond is still there, and milk. It's really fresh, warm, and innocent, reminiscent of baby skin. Very clean, the type of scent that would be ideal for fresh out of the shower. It does last, but not in a strong way - I could still smell it with my wrist held to my nose hours later, but that's all. I really like this, and would likely get a bottle. Update April 20 - I love Dana O'Shee. It is handsdown my most frequently worn BPAL so far, and now when I say "would likely get a bottle"? I mean a 10mL. LOVE!

I got this as a frimp from a friend. Mmm. In the imp - Apricot! Wet - Apricot!! ...and orange blossom. Dry - Apricot!!! ...and musk. And you know what, I love when things are exactly as advertised. Precisely! I love this perfume! It's so fruity and springlike and APRICOT. It also reminds me of a peach body spray I had in high school. I'm only 23, but it makes me feel a little younger and more energetic and just super happy. It's a soft, fruity apricot musk that stuck around for a few hours. I would bathe in this. I would make all my sheets smell like it. I would roll in a field of it. It's the first perfume to make me say that I definitely need more. Squee I have more scents to try, but I don't care, I'm wearing Katharina again tomorrow.

In the imp - spicy and jasmine, the oil itself is light yellow. Wet on skin - thick florals, oh my. Dry - This is a heavy scent that really is reminiscent of humid air. The floral is thick I think due to the fact that it does not at all smell like fresh flowers, these are clearly posies on their last stems, closing up at night and about to die (I guess that'd be the decay). After awhile I smelled a bit of honeysuckle, but never got any lemon at all. This oil smells nice, but it doesn't really do anything for me. It's a bit too overpoweringly floral for me, a bit too thick and old. I can't really think of any occasion for which it would be my first choice of perfume.

I got this imp last week, it's about a third full and of indeterminate age. In the imp - it smells spicy, and the oil itself is a golden amber colour. Wet on skin - umm...pine?! I don't think anybody else got "pine." It definitely smells like a bright, minty FOREST. I wasn't expecting that, but it's actually pretty refreshing! Dry - ...which is why it is really too bad that that minty tree smell is gone within about 15 - 20 minutes, to be replaced by thick, spicy, powdery flower. It actually kind of reminds me of my Chanel No 5 body powder, but I'm not sure if that's more because of the actual scent or the "powder" that I'm getting. This smells nice on me (if a bit mature), and it would be lovely at night. I wore it during the day though, and it was much too much. Also, it lasted forever. I put it on yesterday at about 9 am, and over 12 hours later, despite having actually rinsed off my wrists it was still going strong. I'll have to go easy on this one.

Piquant citrus tempered by jasmine, soft Mediterranean herbs, lavender and orange blossom. My first BPAL ever, and thus my first review. In the imp - smells like flower in the strong, soapy way I associate with stores that sell things like high end candles. Also, possibly sage? The oil itself is very light yellow. Wet on skin - the citrus and herbs start to come out, and I would definitely say sage simply because it reminds me of my sage & lemongrass shampoo. The orange-y grapefruit citrus scent reminds me of my citrus airfreshener (but not in a bad way!). Dry - It smells nice, not especially strong, and the citrus doesn't really last, it is more herb and flower. I thought it was light and airy, with something that made me think of a cool breeze on a hot day. I liked it, and I'll keep the imp.