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I can't add much to RosieP's review; this has all the sutlry, slithery, sexy warmth of Snake Oil, with the added tang of juniper berry up front. Drying down, I get an even warmer, more mellowed Snake Oil, which I attribute to the rosewood. I am buying a bottle for myself as soon as I finish this post. It's perhaps more masculine than Snake Oil, but only in the "edge" that RosieP mentioned. This one will likely end up on my list of all-time favorites.

I've been impressed with all of Beth's violet scents so far, and this one is no exception. For me, this never gets cloyingly sweet, although I was a little hesitant about combining sweet tea rose with already-sweet violet. Instead, the tea rose lends a crisper, more enduring strength of character to the violet, and they blend in a decadent and somehow taut fragrance. To give you an idea about this in relation to some of the other violet fragrances Beth's been creating - Veil is softer and smoother, Wings of Azrael is sharper and more intense, and Marie is glossy and rich.

Entropy went on me as distinctly patchouli, but the civet did the most amazing thing - it combined with the other notes to smell like - I don't know how else to explain it - intoxication. If you've ever been around someone the morning after a serious binge-drinking session and before they shower, you know that metallic, grain alcohol smell that seems to come out of their pores; it's not bad, it's just distinct and not-quite sour. This was that smell, about 20 minutes before passing out the night before - boozy, stumbling, falling down drunk. My head was swimming, in fact, and I was at a loss every time I sniffed this for the first five minutes. After that, if pulled back, although it was still there if I got really close to my wrist and sniffed, and there was much more of the poppy-seed husk smell and fuzzy poppy texture, with the faintest rose note under it all. For me, the imp is all I'll need, but I think I'll use it up. This is disorienting, and yet almost clarifying, and it's an interesting and surprising scent overall. It was perfect for my mood today, actually. I'd been pretty well confused and pissy in general, and I went through what's usually a day-long period of this mood in the first ten minutes of wearing Entropy, then I was fine. Seemed to accelerate, and thus alleviate, the chaos in my head.

Definitely masculine in my nose; Snake Oil goes ultra-sexual with civet or one of the musks, perhaps. Even though I usually have issues with civet and the musks, this didn't get out of control on my skin. It didn't do much for me on my own wrist, but if I got a sniff on a fella, I'd not only expect him to try and take me home at the end of the evening, I'd be raring to go. Primal and very definitely sexual, but not in an overwhelming way. More of a "sex-oozes-from-his-pores" thing; think Brad Pitt in Legends of the Fall.

THAT'S JUST WRONG. I am SO jealous. Would it make you feel any better to know that I poured samples off for those desperately in need until I got down to the last bottle? Bought it, got it, loved it, immediately bought more. At least I did one smart thing this year!

Since November, I've managed to finish two Imps. No 5 mls., but I have a ton, and I rotate through them like a crazy woman. My 10 ml. of Old Morocco is about 5/8 full, 5 ml. of Snake Oil is about half full, 5 mls. of Tamora, Queen Mab, and Bewitched all 2/3 full, and Samhain corked bottle about 5/8 full. Oh! I take it back - I have been through a couple of 5 mls. I realized when I went in to look at the bottles that I am on my third and final 5 ml. of Snow White.

My order was in the same batch, but since Beth posted that she was caught up through 3/20 on the 8th of April, I figure that's three business days at the most, and the USPS always takes at least six business days to get priority mail to me from anywhere other than in-state. Even Dallas. I have the special privilege of living in a town where all mail goes to Tulsa to be processed - even in-town mail. What I really love is mail to my parents. When I lived in Oklahoma City, I mailed a letter to my mother, it would get postmarked in Tulsa, and she'd get it in Stillwater (literally EXACTLY between the two towns) about 5 days after I mailed it. Never ceased to amaze me. Now a card only takes three days - one out, one to Tulsa, one back to her house, 12 miles away from me!

Where did you find 1/5 ox roll ons? All I've been able to find are the 1/3's. :\ Couldn't find them; she may be out of stock, but these are 1/8 oz (aka 5 ml); I've been really pleased with these, too. I take an address label, print two or three scent names to a label, cut them out, and stick a patch of packing tape over them to be sure they stay on in my purse. Ships fast, too ... and you can buy from her ebay store in smaller quantities.

Definitely Samhain.

the Empress is divine. That said, I favor ... Rose Red Queen Mab Persephone Othello Pride Old Venice Spellbound

No, Lorajc, you must be thinking of someone else ... I'd never place three orders for myself, one for friends, and have another one waiting until things slow down a bit for Beth, during the recent BPAL dry spell! Sorry I must be mistaken. I thought you were the one that mentioned you keep ordering while waiting for your order. Must have been someone else. You're a sweetie for remembering ... it was me. I apparently didn't do as great a job making fun of my ridiculous ordering craze during the postal spell as I thought I had in that post. I think I'm the one who unintentionally caused the confusion with this. I posted a while back that, based on my experience with the timing of orders being charged to my form of payment and actually delivered vs. the CCNow notes, I guessed that CCNow sent notices to a retailer and perhaps charged the orders when they were pulled by the Lab to be fulfilled. I'm glad Invoke13, who has used the system before, was able to accurately explain the process to us - thanks, Invoke! - so we all know more about when to expect packages from the Lab and what we can do to help Beth save on transaction fees.

Yep. I use 1/5 oz. bottles , though. They fit into the side zipper pocket of my purse a little better that way. I once took some Imps that I really liked, added apricot kernel oil so they'd go a little further while I ordered large bottles, and put in the roll-ons. Something about the apricot kernel oil was too heavy for them, and they don't "roll" well at all. I say it was the apricot kernel oil as a culprit, because I've put BPALs straight into the roll-ons time and again, with great results. Really easy, just like Andrabell said.

No, Lorajc, you must be thinking of someone else ... I'd never place three orders for myself, one for friends, and have another one waiting until things slow down a bit for Beth, during the recent BPAL dry spell!

If you have to be known for something, that's as good a notoriety as any.

The notes on Zephyr that I usually have issues with were really well behaved the three times I tested this, "just to be sure." White sandalwood is definitely the good cousin, while regular sandalwood is the tough one who shakes your hand so roughly at family reunions it hurts for the rest of the day. It's not heavy on the lemon verbena, by the way; this is delicate, pale lemon yellow, but it's not really lemony. The green, slightly powdery note that's underneath Unseelie is back in this one, and it's fantastic in this role as a clump of dried prarie grass waving in the breeze. White musk and vanilla are a nice addition, too ... this becomes more and more drool-inducing as the wearing goes on. I'd like to know what the China Musk smells like - I may have to order an Imp to find out - because the others are all tied together with something airy and cloud-like, and that's not usually the kind of note that does that particular job. Regardless, it's light and lush, soft and full of strength, and very feminine without being foofy. Not lace and ruffles, but more like bottling Drew Barrymore's sense of fashion.

I'm another one of those who turned their noses up the first time they put Belladonna to their skin, but have changed their minds. Thank goodness I tried it again! Juniper berry, juniper berry, juniper berry! The crisp, almost piney scent that lingers and snaps at you is one of my favorites, partially because of the almost medicinal note to it. There's an underlying, and mostly hidden, sweetness to this, though, like just glimpsing flowers held behind a lover's back in order to surprise you. It's the faintest part of this scent, but it's a necessary one, because it's part of what makes this so alluring; without it, there'd be no "come hither;" no "you can't live without me" to this scent. I wonder if it's heliotrope, because it has that soft sweetness that's not outright in its flowery-ness. Grabs your attention, pulls you in, and takes over your senses - in a very good way.

I have no idea why, but even if WithCoffeeSpoons was making that up, it was a great answer.

My thought, exactly. It's rare that something overpowers true, clear rose, and the lily of the valley comes close in Hymn. The two are, very definitely, equals in intensity here, and I wasn't expecting the white tea rose/white and lightly soapy lily of the valley combination to work out like it did. With wear, Hymn dries down just the same, but with a hint of acridity. Pungent, pure, and resonating are terms that come to mind for this scent. The startlingly good rose note that Beth uses is what makes this work, and any other rose scent would have made this fragrance a miserable flop. Not one I'd wear, but it puts me in mind of a very expensive, very good guest soap.

Freshly applied, Baobhan Sith is a rush of grapefruit and apple blossom. At first, I pegged it as a muted lilac, but that didn't seem quite right - so I was relieved to see that my nose wasn't crazy for disagreeing with my brain when I checked the notes. Snappy ginger isn't biting, and it gives the grapefruit note a definite crunch; a solid, strong supporting character that makes the citrus and apple blossom, which melded beautifully, crisp - like a flag snapping in the breeze; one you watch, fascinated, for an hour before you realize how long you were absorbed in it. White tea is one of the last notes to come out on me, and it sweetens this back up just a bit. Not too much, though, as Baobhan Sith retains its absolute clarity of citrus strength and intensity to the end. Perfect for spring, although it fades faster than many other BPAL scents - standard for any true citrus, unfortunately. Well worth the time and effort of lotion and/or body wash, as layering would be a good idea when it comes to this fantastic scent.

Lemony verbena, and the initial happy tone of the scent have all been described to a "T" - nothing to add there. There's a pale grapefruit-like tang underneath this, and more like sniffing the grapefruit through the rind ... bergamot, maybe? It's sweetly pungent, and more of a citrus smell than the green sweet lemon of the verbena. Sage softens and cools the final moments of Eidolon's dry-down, and it, too, is very muted. I end up with pastel yellow-orange and pale lime sherbert green in my nose, and I have to get very close and inhale deeply to get it. My skin sucked this one right up, but it's a deceptively straightforward scent that's lovely to behold.

You're amazing; Beth - thanks for the update! Thanks to Brian and the "new little helper", too.

Saturn's a complicated scent, almost to the degree the Tarot oils are. Warm, woody, and sweetly resinous. The grassy powder note that's in Unseelie is hiding underneath everything here, although it starts to break through a little more after a few minutes. Just a drop of spice comes through after a while, and it carries this to a whole new level - one that has some conflict going on it, but conflict that seems to work, which is made even more blatant when the calamus (?) comes sweeping along behind it. This is strength in a bottle. It has power, it has presence, and it's like digging your heels in so far you can't be swayed but only for the sake of annoying someone else, just because you can.

This is almost biting when I put it on; I wonder if it's representative of that spicy note in mango that's almost peppery to me. White sandalwood, with a light fruitiness, takes the reins, but after a few minutes the white musk warms up and makes this a faint, sweetly citrus, and melted-into-my-skin scent. The final combination is a fantastic one, but it suffers the fate of all citrus scents, which break down and fade quickly. Nice, but too soft, and in the end, a bit too musky, for me.

This is definitely redwood, which is the pencil shaving note for my nose. It is regal and benevolent in my mind, and somehow the pencil shavings are much more subtle here than they are in other blends. Understated, calm and collected (I can practically see the judge's bench and black robe), and a tree growing straight and tall are the first things that flash through my mind. A woody scent that I'd be much more likely to wear for general purposes than Cathedral or Aureus; much more subtle and full of strength, with the added bonus of a less harshly dry nature.

Definitely vetiver, and lots of spice. They blend in a very interesting cinnamon-stored-in-a-root-cellar sort of way, and I'm surprised at the heat in this one. The vetiver fades into the background within the first five minutes, but this retains an earthy feel nonetheless. Beth's right that it's cold-blooded, but it's in the sense of a very distant, harsh personality for me, rather than an animal's physical nature. Dry-down really softens the intensity of this scent, but without losing the sense of spice and earth. Not something I'd wear or purchase, but I wouldn't mind being trapped in an elevator with this one.